Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rory stayed by Jess's beside for a further hour and a half until Lorelai rang asking where she was. In another 10 minutes, Lorelai arrived in Jess's doorway, a shocked look on her face. She had never really liked Jess all that much and both he and Rory knew that. However, she still felt genuine concern for him and smiled comfortingly as she stood at the end of his bed. Lorelai made her concern known to Jess and he forced a weak smile and replied "thank you".

Then Lorelai turned to Rory, "we should be getting home."

Rory looked at Jess then frowned at her mother. "I want to stay here with Jess."

Jess shook his head, "thanks, Rory. But you should go home, it's getting pretty late."

Rory began to protest then stood, "okay. Bye Jess, I'll try and come back tomorrow to see you".

He smiled as Rory and Lorelai left the room.

They headed back towards the elevator and as soon as they stepped inside and the doors closed, Lorelai turned to Rory and asked, "what happened? You didn't tell me the full story over the phone."

Over the time that they emerged off the elevator and exited out of the hospital, making their way to Lorelai's car, Rory explained exactly what had happened a few hours ago. She told her of the kiss outside Luke's diner, how Dean had showed up furious and beaten Jess as he lay on the ground. Rory hesitated as she mentioned that she had stood there, completely numb, her body frozen with fear, as she witnessed all of this. Lorelai looked at her sternly for a moment after hearing her daughter did nothing but then she nodded, gesturing to Rory to continue. Rory explained further, how Jess went inside and how she followed him. She told of how the men from the ambulance hurried up the stairs towards Jess's room then reappeared carrying him out on a stretcher and that when she hurried outside after them, Dean's car had vanished.

Lorelai remained silent for a moment as she drove them home; trying to soak in the information Rory had given her. Then she sighed and said quietly, "I can't believe Dean would do that."

Rory nodded, agreeing, "I know. But he was just being protective of me."

They pulled up in the driveway of their home and walked inside. They sat down on the couch and Lorelai asked, "are you sure Jess hadn't done anything to provoke this? I mean, apart from kissing you."

"What?" Rory gasped, shocked. "Don't just assume that Jess caused all this! It was just a kiss; he didn't do anything else that would make Dean do this."

"Alright, Rory. Calm, down, I believe you."

Rory fumbled around with her fingers as she quietly asked, "should I call the police? Jess told me I should and I know it's the right thing to do but Dean would get in so much trouble. Do you think he would go to jail? I don't want to be responsible for that."

"I don't know whether Dean would go to jail or not but you should call the police, even though there is a chance of that happening."

Rory nodded, "okay".

Rory sat at the table with the phone in her hand.

"You did the right thing, Rory," Lorelai said gently.

Rory stared at the table, her eyes intently following the grains in the wood. "I feel happy for Jess now, but scared for Dean."

Lorelai went up behind the confused Rory and wrapped her arms around her slightly shaking body. "You did the right thing, I'm proud of you."

She simply nodded again.

Not long after, a policewoman arrived at their doorstep. Lorelai greeted her and brought her to the table. The woman sat down opposite Rory and began to ask her a few questions. Rory replied to all the questions calmly and although she was worried what Dean's consequences would be, she told the policewoman exactly what had happened and didn't try to purposely adapt the story to make Dean come off sounding better.

The woman nodded and gave Rory a smile, "thank you. You did the right thing, Miss."

She left and as soon as she did, Rory muttered, "everyone keeps saying it's the 'right thing' but I feel really bad for it."

Lorelai shook her head slightly, "you need to stop beating herself up for it. It is the right thing, don't worry about it."

Later that day, Rory went to the hospital to visit Jess. She smiled at him and sat down in the chair next to his bed. He was watching the tiny television on the wall opposite him. Some form of nature programme. When she arrived, Jess turned off the TV.

"Hey Rory," he smiled at her.

"Hi, Jess. I called the police."

He smiled approvingly. "That's good. Thanks."

She smiled back and caught his gaze. They held their eye contact and Rory slowly leaned forward. Their lips touched gently then Rory leaned back again.

"I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?"

"Because us kissing was the cause of all this."

"Rory…" Jess's eyes melted into her's.

'Dammit,' she thought, as Jess slowly pulled her towards him and kissed her. She allowed him to pull her close and was careful not to lean on his chest. Rory wasn't sure she should be kissing him again but couldn't bring herself to stop. She had wanted to do this for a while and during that kiss at Luke's Diner, Rory realised how great kissing Jess was. She had just called the police on her boyfriend but even still, she continued to kiss the bad-boy.

End of chapter 3. This chapter was pretty short but oh well. Please leave reviews