A/N: Once again, bolded dialogue belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino, as does the scene in which it occurs (with a few tweaks here and there). Enjoy!


The next morning, I woke up with a headache of monumental proportions. But my head wasn't the only thing that felt weird. My back was twisted in an odd position, and my legs were jammed against something hard, and growing stiff. I opened my eyes to find myself on the floor of the bathroom. Oh, goody.

"Mom?"

Her head appeared moments later. She grinned. "Good morning, sunshine!"

I scowled. "Ha, ha."

"Would the Contessa like some waffles to battle the headache?"

Despite myself, I smiled. "Yes, I would."

"Comin' right up." She turned around and disappeared into the kitchen. I sighed, stretched for several seconds, rubbed a knot that had formed in my neck, then stood and followed her. As I entered the kitchen, she put two Eggo waffles in the toaster, then pushed them down. "Waffles will be ready in a minute," she announced.

"Thanks," I said, collapsing into a nearby chair.

Mom sat next to me, wearing her patented "I know something's wrong, and I'm being really nice to you, so I expect the truth" look. After a moment, she said, "Wanna talk?"

"Not really."

"I think it might do you some good."

"I don't want to."

She exhaled slowly. "Honey, I know it hurts. Breakups are tough, but you just gotta bounce back and—"

"How did you even know?" I asked.

"Rory," she gave me a look. "Where do we live? And who lives in this town?"

"Good point."

"Patty told me what happened when I got back to the dance floor." She sighed. "I swear, she and Andrew had to hold me back from finding Dean and garroting him."

I frowned. "Is that why you were so mad when you came home? I thought you were mad at me."

Mom shook her head, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Oh, angel, I could never be mad at you. Not for this. I know how hard being dumped is. You feel like it's the end of the world. But you just gotta move on, and keep living your life."

I was listening, really. I heard, and understood, everything that my mom was telling me. I just didn't agree with it. Honestly, I didn't want to move on. I didn't want to keep living my life. I wanted Dean.

And suddenly, I knew how to get him back.


"Order's up!"

Luke's Diner was as busy as ever when I walked in. I glanced around, looking for a specific person, and eventually found him. Jess weaved his way through the throng of customers, setting the order he'd just picked up in front of an elderly woman. He didn't say much, just a quick, "Enjoy," before rushing back behind the counter and grabbing one of the coffee pots for a round of refills.

Maybe I should wait, I thought, but brushed the thought aside and forged ahead, taking a seat at the counter. Somewhat self-consciously, I ran a hand through my hair to remove any tangles, and smoothed the vest of my Chilton uniform. I had just gotten back from school, and had about twenty minutes before Mom got home. I just hoped it would be enough time to persuade Jess to aid me in my plan.

Speaking of Jess, he was in front of me a second later. "Hey," he grinned. "Coffee?"

"Please," I nodded. He produced a mug and filled it nearly to the brim. (He wasn't supposed to, as Luke had a rule about only filling mugs and cups three-quarters of the way, but Jess still filled it completely for me when Luke wasn't looking.) I very carefully lifted the mug, taking several sips, until the level of the beverage was more reasonable, and I set it down. "Thanks."

"No problem," he shrugged, then went to fill some more mugs.

It was another ten minutes before the rush died down enough for Jess to come and actually talk to me.

"So..." he began, obviously wary, "you okay?"

I shrugged. "I'm alive."

He gave a small, sympathetic smile. "I guess that's better than nothing, right?"

"I guess."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Bingo. "Actually, yes."

His eyes widened in surprise, but he said, "Okay, what?"

I cast a furtive glance around the somewhat still-crowded diner, before whispering to him, "Can we talk upstairs?"

"Uh... sure. Luke, I'm going upstairs for a sec!" he added toward the kitchen.

"Hurry back!" was his uncle's response.

We clamored up the stairs into his and Luke's apartment, and Jess shut the door behind him. "All right, we're upstairs," he said. "So what's going on?"

I took a deep breath. "I want to get Dean back."

His reaction was immediate, and predictable. A stunned, slightly disgusted frown marred his features, and he took a step back. "What? Rory—"

"Just listen for a sec," I interrupted him. "I know you don't like Dean, and you like him even less now after what he did. I'm mad, too, but I still love him, and I still want him back. And the only way to get him back is to show him what he's missing, and in order to do that, I'm going to need your help."

"My help?" he asked cautiously.

"Jess," I began, standing taller, "will you be my boyfriend?" He froze, and didn't speak for a long time. I was starting to lose confidence. "Um... Jess?"

He snapped out of his trance, his eyes narrowing. "Let me guess," he drawled. "Your plan is to pretend to date me, which will make Dean jealous, and thereby eventually cause him to come crawling back to you?"

I gulped. "I wouldn't use quite those same words, but basically, yeah. Will you do it?"

Jess sighed, rubbing his hand back and forth on the back of his head. He looked at me for a long time, before sighing again. "Fine, I'll do it," he groaned. "You are gonna owe me so big for this!"

"Thank you so much, Jess!" I smiled, but then my expression faltered as I realized I had no idea how to proceed. "So... what now?"

He paused, seeming to think about that. "Well... if we're gonna make this believable, we'll have to do some of the standard relationship things. That means holding hands, taking walks, cuddling," he gave a barely perceptible shudder at that, "and... kissing."

I felt my cheeks warm. "You really think we'll have to go that far?"

"I doubt anyone would believe us for a second if we didn't," he pointed out.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"So..." he took a deep breath, "in order to perfect this, I think we ought to practice."

"Makes sense," I agreed. "How do we practice?"

"Um... we kiss," he stated matter-of-factly.

Oh, God, I'm an idiot. "Right," I blushed. "Sorry, I just... I've only ever kissed Dean, and most of the time, he was the one starting it, and besides that, you're my best friend, so it's kind of weird for me, and I don't really know what to do." Great, now I'm rambling.

"Well..." he paused for a second, then his eyes took on a determined look, and they met mine. "First of all," he began authoritatively, "we should try and get within, say, a foot of each other."

I realized then that we probably had several feet between us. "Okay," I said, my heart pounding in my chest. He started moving toward me, his eyes never leaving mine. I took a few steps in his direction as well, stopping just when we hit the usual "personal bubble" range. "I think that's about a foot," I said unnecessarily.

"Huh," he smirked. "That school of yours is really paying off."

Part of me wanted to laugh; typical Jess. But the situation was far too tense and unusual for me to find humor in it. "So," I said distractedly (had his eyes always looked like melted chocolate?), "now what?"

"Now we should..." he trailed off, gesturing between us with his hand.

I nodded. "Well, I think we either need to get a little closer, or we need to warm up."

It was his turn to nod. "Okay," he said, glancing away for the briefest of moments, before they returned to mine. We inched closer, and my skin felt like it was being poked with needles, but not in an altogether unpleasant way. It didn't hurt, I just felt on edge, extremely alert, and slightly fidgety. I fought to stay still though, as Jess continued to close the distance between us, his chocolate eyes smoldering.

He glanced down again, then I felt something warm touching my hands. I realized a moment later that they were his hands. My heart was running a marathon by this point, and I was starting to feel dizzy. His eyes found mine again, and as he toyed with my hands, he got closer... and closer...

And then the door opened.

Luke stood in the doorway, eyes wide, mouth open. There was no way he hadn't seen how close we'd been; the thought made my already pink cheeks turn a bright shade of red. "I... came for my supply ledger," he said lamely.

I nodded, then turned to Jess. "See you."

"Bye," he waved, obviously just as tense as I was. I practically ran from the diner, only stopping long enough to get my backpack and coat. I hoped Mom wasn't home yet. I didn't want to have to explain to her what I was doing. Not yet, anyway.

Though I didn't see the car in the driveway, I still ran into my room, hoping to calm the fiery blush that still burned my cheeks. I hurriedly changed into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, and had just finished pulling my hair into a ponytail when I heard the door open, then close, and my mother called out my name.

"In my room!" I yelled back, glancing at the mirror. My face was still a little pink, but not as bad as it had been before. The way it looked now, it could have just been the lingering bite from the cold outside.

Mom appeared in the doorway a second later, and smirked. "Having fun, sweet pea?"

I rolled my eyes, facing her again. "How was work?"

"Customers came and went, Sookie sprained her thumb, and Michel insulted people left and right."

"So, normal day, huh?"

"Pretty much. You?"

My stomach did a somersault, and for a split second, I stood undecided. Should I tell her the truth, that I was fake-dating Jess to get Dean back? Or should I just say that we were dating, and leave off the "fake" part altogether? I eventually came to the conclusion that telling her the truth was for the best.

"Actually..."

Mom's eyes narrowed, and she stepped into my room, sitting on my bed. "Actually?"

I sat down beside her, contemplating how to explain it. "So... you know I broke up with Dean."

She looked like she wanted to make a snarky comment, but she held back. "Yes."

"Well... I've decided I want to get him back." Her facial expression was similar to what Jess's had been, but I stopped her before she could protest. "Hold on! Let me explain! Yes, I'm angry that he hurt me, but that doesn't mean I love him any less, and I still want to be with him. Now, just waltzing up and asking him to take me back isn't going to work, so I've come up with a plan, and I need for you to keep an open mind about this." She was quiet, then gave a cautious nod. I took a breath. "I asked Jess to pretend to be my boyfriend."

For several seconds, she stared blankly at me, then she said, "You what?"

"Temporarily!" I insisted. "It's just until Dean realizes that he misses me, and that he still loves me just as much as I love him. Because I'm sure he does, Mom. And then, he'll ask me to be his girlfriend again, and everything will be perfect!"

"Oh, honey, I don't know," Mom shook her head. "Games and tricks of the heart just never end well. I'd hate to see you get even more hurt than you already are."

"It'll be fine, Mom," I smiled. "This is going to work. I know it."

She sighed. "Well... it seems your mind has been made up, so I guess... go for it."

I hugged her tightly. "Please don't say anything," I whispered.

"Not my job," she patted my back.

"I have to go find Jess. Luke caught us almost kissing."

"Caught you doing what?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "We were just trying to practice, you know, just in case we have to do it in public, to make the relationship believable." No need to mention that that one almost-kiss made me blush and made my heart beat faster than any of the countless kisses I've shared with Dean... That's probably just because it was so weird.

Right?

Mom sighed again. "Okay, then. Just... be careful, okay?"

"I will," I assured her, before kissing her on the cheek, and skipping out the door.


A/N: Awkward ending, but it was getting long. I absolutely LOVED writing that near-kiss scene! Oh my gosh, so much fun! :D Please leave a review!