A/N: Glad I'm not the only one who felt the end of Season 3 needed fixing. I only hope now that you like how my version plays out ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Part 2

Rory wasn't much for lying. That was why when Jess told her he couldn't take her to prom she had admitted to being disappointed. Of course she wanted to go back to Stars Hollow High for one night, not just with Jess, but also with Lane and David. She had this perfect night planned in her head and now it could never be. Still, Rory was growing up and learning fast that sometimes things just didn't work out exactly how you planned, but it could still be okay.

There was a back up plan forming in Rory's mind. Chilton was having a prom too, and whilst it wouldn't be quite as much fun, it was still prom. She wasn't entirely sure that Jess would go for it. It had taken enough to convince him on the other prom, and this one would be much fancier. Her Mom had smiled and said Rory would have no problems. As bad as Jess was feeling about disappointing her, he'd probably do anything to please her. That seemed kind of bad to Rory, like taking advantage of her boyfriend, but she couldn't deny the plan was solid.

It had got pretty late, but Rory wanted to talk to Jess about the prom sooner rather than later. There just didn't seem to be another opportunity all day long. Well, that wasn't strictly true and Rory knew it. In some ways she knew she had been avoiding Jess a little bit up to now. He got so mad at himself about not graduating, and mad at her for a while too. Rory did her best to let him know she wasn't disappointed in him or ashamed to be with him. Graduating wasn't everything, not to a guy like Jess anyway. She knew he was smart, and she also knew he felt bad enough already about prom.

There was a smile on Rory's face as she reached Luke's diner, sure as she was that she could make Jess feel better about things, and still get her prom date. It was a win-win when she thought about it. Still, the smile slid from her lips as she neared the door and realised that, despite the late hour, Jess was not alone.

There was a guy sat next to him at a table near the counter. Rory was pretty sure she didn't know the older man, but then all she could see from here was the back of his head. With a frown she turned to leave, only to stop and change her mind. She could knock, go in, ask for an introduction maybe. After all, Jess was her boyfriend, there was no harm...

Rory didn't get any further with her train of thought when suddenly the diner door flew open and the man she had been contemplating through the glass suddenly rushed by her. The door swung in his wake, and Rory ducked through the gap into the diner to see Jess still sat in the same seat, his face in his hands.

"Hey," she said, feeling a little bad that she made him jump. "Jess, who was the guy?"

Rory couldn't make out the look on his face at all. It was like he almost didn't know the answer himself. That was proven untrue when he finally answered.

"That... was my father" he said shakily.

Rory never saw him look so lost. She was actually wondering if she had ever been so confused herself.

"Wow," she said, apparently rendered all but speechless by the revelation.

Immediately, she looked over her shoulder and out of the window, but the mystery man, that was apparently Mr Mariano, was nowhere to be seen. This was a huge deal for Jess, she knew. He didn't talk about his family much but Rory remembered him saying he never met his dad before, that the guy was long gone when he was just a baby. Now he was here, and that was just... wow.

"Yeah, wow is the word," said Jess, wearing an expression his girlfriend could not read.

Honestly, he just didn't know what to think. Jimmy Mariano had never featured in his life before, he was just the guy who knocked up his mom, the guy who's name Jess had but nothing more. Meeting him was weird but not exactly terrible. They really hadn't said much the whole half hour they'd been sat together and then he was gone, very quickly.

"Did he say why he was here?" asked Rory, then off Jess' look she added. "To meet you, obviously," she rolled her eyes. "But I mean, why now? Why not before?"

"I honestly don't know," her boyfriend shrugged. "I'm not even sure he knows."

Rory wasn't sure what she was supposed to say or do in a situation like this. She leaned over and hugged Jess on instinct. He kinda looked like he needed that and proved he probably did when he held her tight a while.

"You're here pretty late," he told her, suddenly noticing the time. "Not that I mind but did you have a particular reason?" he asked, pushing her hair back off her face.

"I did actually," Rory nodded. "Suddenly doesn't seem like quite the big deal it was before."

Jess didn't entirely like the sound of that. Conversations that were a pre-planned big deal rarely ended well, especially when he was on the receiving end of them. After the non-fight they had a couple of days ago over his not graduating, and prom being a no go, Jess wasn't sure what to expect next from Rory. They hadn't seen much of each other, hadn't even really talked, though he had picked up the phone to call at least three times, and headed for her house twice, only to turn back half way. She said it was fine, but it didn't feel that way to Jess. She admitted to being disappointed about prom, but insisted she wasn't blaming him. Maybe it was all the other people in his life that seemed to blame him for everything that made Jess doubt her a little bit. Maybe it was because he was just really good at blaming himself.

"Hey, whatever you came to ask me, just ask," he told Rory when she suddenly looked weirdly nervous.

Honestly, she wasn't entirely looking forward to asking Jess about the Chilton prom in the first place. Their relationship had been a little shaky for a while, she worried that asking this of him, something she knew he would hate, it might lead to a very big fight. She didn't have the strength for that right now, not on top of everything else that was going on. Still, if what her mom said was true, now might be the best time to get him to agree.

"Well, since we can't go to Stars Hollow High prom," she began, talking fast on purpose so they didn't have to dwell on that part too long. "I was wondering if you'd maybe wanna take me to the Chilton prom instead?"

There was a full thirty seconds when she daren't even look up and when she did she saw the expression on Jess' face that she expected, the one that looked like he just licked a lemon.

"'Cause your fancy school, that's really my scene," he said sarcastically, watching her face fall. "Hey," he got he attention back with his finger under her chin, smirking a little as he brought her eyes up to meet his again. "I didn't say I wouldn't go."

"So, does that mean you will?" she asked, smiling because even though his bad joke was at her expense, she'd gotten used to that kind of thing from him by now.

"Yes, I'll take you to your dumb prom," he promised her with an accompanying eye roll, earning a kiss that proved Rory was well worth the sacrifice and getting dressed up like a penguin for one night.

"Have I told you lately that you're the best?" she asked him then, their arms still round each other. "And y'know, it won't be so bad. We won't have to stay that long, and I think you might even get along with some of the people. Paris will be there, you remember Paris, and..."

It wasn't that he didn't find her totally adorable when she rambled, but Jess just had to kiss Rory then to shut her up. As if it wasn't bad enough he just agreed to go to this shindig to please her when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Now Rory was just listing reasons to change his mind and Jess could do without it.

"Don't think I don't know what that was for," she told him when they parted for air. "You're lucky I don't mind being shut up that way by you," she added with a grin, planting one last peck on his lips before she got to her feet.

"You going already?" he checked, even as she ran to the door, making her answer obvious

"Like you said, it's late. Lots of studying to do for finals still, and then there's that whole sleep thing," she smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Jess got up from his seat and went over to the window, watching Rory literally run home until she was too far to see. Studying. Maybe he should've tried that. No, Jess thought he was smart enough he didn't even have to try. Rory was probably even smarter and she hit the books every night, give or take. She made Jess feel stupid, even though she would never intend to. Intelligence wise they were pretty evenly matched, but she was still much smarter in the way she handled things.

Turning away from the window, Jess let out a long breath. Between his father showing up and Rory asking him to the fancy Chilton prom, it had been a hell of weird night. Honestly, Jess wasn't sure where he was going to go from here.

To Be Continued...