A/N: Alas, the pressure of lack of fluff was too much for me. This set emcompasses the first seven episodes (excluding episode three) of the third season and the companion piece to this one (ASoOS - Part Three) will take on the rest of the series. This set follows the first ASoOS in that it focuses on getting Lit together before they actually did. As previously, all OOC chapters will be warned, but because it is fluff, let's face it, there's gonna be OOC parts. Without further hesitation, here's Part Two:

Season Three - Part One

Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days - Rory's POV

The Haunted Leg - Rory's POV

One's Got Class, the Other One Dyes - Rory's POV

Eight O'Clock at the Oasis - Rory's POV

Take the Deviled Eggs... - Jess's POV

They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They? - Jess's POV

Yeah... there are a lot of Rory's POV, but that's simply because it was mostly thanks to her and Dean that they weren't together in the first place. Thus, it's up to her to make it that way. Onto the story!

Make Your Choice

Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days, Episode 3x01

IC Chapter

Rated K+

"Alright, I get it, just stop!" Rory shouted at her mother, flailing her arms a little bit and looking crushed. She'd come back from summer holiday expecting Jess to be waiting for her… of course she had. They'd shared at moment, and she hadn't been able to get him out of her head, or her heart. Now he was standing over there, with some blond slut, acting as though it had never happened. Tears struck her eyes and anger blazed through her. She looked over at him and felt a rush of rage, something that she didn't feel very often. "I'll be back."

"Rory, wait," Lorelai squeaked, rushing after her daughter as it was apparent Rory was going for Jess.

"What?" Rory demanded, still angry at her mother for the scolding.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai prodded, her eyes showing her worry.

"I'm making a choice," Rory informed her sulkily and pushed past her again, making a beeline for the kissing couple.

"Which is?" Lorelai attempted again, running after her daughter when Rory picked up speed and started running to Jess in an effort to get away from her mother. The shouting hadn't attracted much attention, but the running sure did.

"I don't know, I'll know when I get there," Rory shouted and then hesitated when she was within talking distance of her prospective target.

"Do you know yet?" Lorelai taunted, panting and leaning over to attempt to catch her breath.

"Nope," Rory sighed and stepped over to them. "Excuse me, this is a public area."

"Yeah, so," the girl said, turning around in Jess's arms to give her a look. Jess didn't look at all apologetic. In fact, she saw a challenge in his eyes.

"Hey," he shrugged, wrapping his arms around the girl's waist. "Shane, meet Rory."

"This is Rory?" Shane scoffed.

"Hey," Lorelai bit, but Rory shushed her.

"Jess, can I talk to you for a minute?" Rory asked, although her voice was strained and angry.

"Do I get a choice in the matter?" he taunted.

"Nope," she quipped back and nodded towards Luke's.

"Okay," he sighed, grabbing Shane and kissing her harshly. "Talk to you later."

"Sure," she replied casually and went off to fix her lipstick.

Rory watched her in disgust for a few seconds then looked at her mother, who was staring at her warily.

"Know what you're doing yet?" she requested again.

"Nope," Rory admitted tensely and chased after Jess.

"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked as she fell into step beside him.

"Who is she?" Rory snapped angrily.

"I told you, Shane," he repeated.

"Okay… why is she, I mean, what are you… why are you, gah," she finished in frustration as he pushed open the door to the diner.

"Smooth," Lorelai sing-songed from behind her. Rory turned to give her a dirty look and followed Jess further.

"She's my girlfriend," Jess shrugged and leaned against the counter.

"Can we go upstairs?" Rory asked, and then turned around to her mother. "Alone."

"Dirty," Lorelai gasped and walked to the counter, sitting down beside where Jess was leaning and giving him a glare.

"Sure," he agreed again, and then led the way to the curtain and the stairs.

"Your break ended ten minutes ago," Luke grumbled at Jess, who ignored him and continued up the stairs.

"Sorry," Rory shrugged at Luke and followed him up, needing to talk about what was going on.

"Again, I ask you, what do you want to talk about?" Jess muttered as he pushed open the apartment door and led them both inside.

"There's a bra on your pillow," Rory deadpanned, staring at it in horror.

"Huh," Jess replied, walking over to the scrap of clothing and admiring it for a second before tossing it into the 'Shane Box', which was articles of clothing that the girl had left there.

"Why… why are you with her?" Rory finally managed to get out after a couple minutes of silence. She knew he knew why she was here. It was obvious, plain site. He was just waiting for her to say it aloud.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he returned, sitting on the opposite end of the couch and leaning on his legs slightly.

"Because of what happened at Sookie's wedding," Rory bit out, glaring at him now.

"Ah," he sighed, shaking his head.

"What?" she snapped.

"Did I hear from you, at all, this summer?" he inquired, and she suddenly saw the flaw in her logic.

"No," she cut him off before he could go on some sort of rant.

"Huh," he said again, rolling his eyes and looking away from her.

"I tried," she admitted, looking down at her shoes. "I tried all summer."

"Right," he agreed sarcastically, nodding at her with wide, mocking eyes.

"You didn't try to get a hold of me either!" she pointed out shrilly, not liking being on moral low ground.

"Did you even tell me where you were so I could send you anything? I didn't get a phone number, an address, a state even, until I asked Luke why you weren't coming into the dinner two weeks into summer. With such attentiveness as that, why wouldn't I be crawling at your feet, waiting for you to get home?" he snarled at her, and she felt what little ground she'd attempted to gain for herself being swept away.

"I'm sorry," she admitted after a few minutes of silence.

"That's not good enough," he shrugged and rose to his feet. "Gee, look at the time. It was nice having his conversation with you, but your session is up."

"No, it's not. Do you even like me?" she asked him, feeling her heart break a little bit at the question. At first he looked like he was going to strike her down, but then he hesitated. The hesitation brought her hope.

"Are you still with Dean?" he finally asked.

"Don't answer my question with a question," she snapped.

"You didn't answer me," he pointed out.

"You didn't answer me either," she countered, standing up to glare at him.

"You're the one who ran away," he replied, shaking his head.

"You're still avoiding the question," she growled at him.

"Yes, fine, jeez," he admitted, not looking very pleased at the moment.

"Then no," she shrugged, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh," he said and advanced on her. They met in the middle and their hands intertwined.

"What about Shane?" she asked as their mouths hovered against each other's, not quite kissing, just… there.

"Shane," he repeated, letting her hands go and turning away. "I guess I have something I need to do."

"So do I," she told him, her heart soaring.

"I'll see you later, Rory," he smirked and turned to leave out the door.

Rory hovered for a few seconds in the middle of his room and then dashed down into the dinner, jumping around a little bit. Her mother stared at her with a raised eyebrow and she nodded happily.

"So you made your choice?" Lorelai asked, although it was obvious that she wasn't thrilled with said 'choice'.

"Yup!" Rory chirped, sitting down on one of the stools and twirling around.

"Be careful, okay?" Lorelai pleaded.

"I will," Rory beamed, and watched Jess delve into the festival to talk to Shane. There was a moment when they were shouting, and then she slapped him and marched away. Jess shook his head and started back to the dinner. "I'll be back."

She didn't wait for her mother's response. She was out of the diner and into the festival in a second. They met somewhere near the center of the ruckus and he caught her in his arms. Her own wrapped around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her.

"Hi," he smiled. There was a red mark on his cheek, which she removed one of her hands from his back to touch gently.

"Hi," she replied with a small frown.

"It doesn't hurt," he told her, and her eyes were drawn from his cheek to his eyes.

"So it's done?' she asked.

"It's done," he confirmed with a nod, and hugged her closer again.

"Good," she whispered against his lips and kissed him, there, in the middle of the festival. Hundreds of eyes were staring at them, even the barbershop chorus was faltering with the sudden lack of attention. But for Rory and Jess, the world had just shifted back into focus, and everything was perfect.