** The Big Lie **

Genre: Romance, Drama
Pairings: Rory/Jess
Rating: K+1
Disclaimer: Rory and Jess and all other recognizable "Gilmore Girls" characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, and the WB. There is no profit from the copyrighted characters or infringement intended.

CHAPTER ONE

When Logan asked her to marry him, she'd turned him down because she said she didn't want to miss out on life's opportunities. She realized, even as she'd spoken the lie to Logan that the reason she couldn't say yes to his marriage proposal was because she would never love any man the way she loved Jess. The very next morning she was on a train to Philadelphia to see Jess and to let him know her relationship with Logan was over.

"Rory, what a surprise! Does Preppie Boy know you're here?"

"Nope, the prepster and I are no longer an item."

"Too bad. Come on in. I'm making lunch and you're welcome to join me."

"Great! What are we having?"

"Philly Cheese steak."

"I always wanted to try one of those."

"Okay, now that we've gotten the small talk, what are you doing here?""Jess asked bluntly.

"Logan asked me to marry him, but I couldn't tell him yes."

"I'd say that was good judgment on your part. Your grandmother must have had a cow that you turned down a proposal from Mr. Richie Rich. Why couldn't you tell him yes?"

"Well I have this opportunity to work on the Obama campaign and he wanted me to turn that down to go to California with him right away, but also, I couldn't tell him yes because when he proposed because I realized it'd be a mistake to marry him because I'm still in love with you," she confessed as she leaned in to kiss him.

"That's interesting. I tried to reconnect with you while you were still with him and you said you couldn't leave him. How do I know you're not going to play me the same way you did him and Dean?"

"I guess that's a fair question. The only way I can prove that I won't is to let you name your condition for us to get back together. You name it, whatever it is, and I'll do it."

"Okay, I won't ask you to do anything as selfish as Logan, by asking you to give up the Obama campaign, but I do have something in mind."

"You name it Jess, I'll do it."

Jess walked out of the room and came back and threw a pad of paper and a pencil on the kitchen table.

"What's this?" Rory asked as she licked some cheese sauce off her pinky that had dripped from her Philly cheese steak.

"This is a pencil and this is a pad of paper," he answered sarcastically as he held them up.

"I can see that, Jess. What do you want me to do with it?"

"Listen, I think you've got some unresolved issues that I want you to work through before we can think about getting back together," he explained.

"So?"

"So! For the next year, while you're out on the road with the Obama campaign, I want you to take some time to write down all your thoughts about all your relationships. Since you're a journalist, this assignment shouldn't be too hard. Start with Dean, then me, Richie Rich and anybody else I might not know about and describe how you met us, why you fell in love with us and why it didn't work out. Keep in mind, I'll know if you're holding out on me. I already know what happened between us and pretty much what happened between you and Frankenstein, so keep it real or this deal's off."

"You want me to write you a dating resume, Jess? I am going to be extremely busy for the next year. I don't see how I'll have the time to –"

"I'm not asking for a full on novel, Rory. Just find the time to work on it when you can and then come back and see me after the election and we'll discuss the results."

"Jess, I can't believe you're asking me to do something crazy like this. Why are you asking me to do this? I turned down a marriage proposal on account of you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"You've already agreed to meet my condition, so just do it."

Rory was fuming on the inside. She thought Jess' request was pointless and an invasion of her privacy, but she desperately wanted to get back together with him so she decided not to push the matter with him any further.