A/N: And here it is...the answer to my small cliffy from last chapter...enjoy :)

Disclaimer : While I do not own Rory, Jess, Lorelai, Luke, or any of the other Stars Hollow characters, I do own Seasons 02 & 03 on DVD and the plot for this story. Oh, I don't own the Buckcherry lyrics either...

Chapter 04 - Backyard Meetings

His eyes were twinkling with mirth, making her mind go numb for a few seconds as she stared up at him from her back. Coming to, she finally grasped his out-stretched hand, letting him help haul her up to her feet.

"Jess...what are you doing here?" she questioned, still slightly dazed by his amused face. She had rarely seen his face so animated and when she had it had never been like this; never been so open and unforced.

"You know, there are better ways of climbing through your window," he told her, ignoring the question.

"Of course you would know," Rory said without thinking, her mind instantly pulling forth old memories of Jess sneaking into her bedroom late at night. She felt her face go red at her apparent subject reference and looked down.

"Yeah, I guess I would," Jess said simply, avoiding her eyes and stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jean coat.

Swallowing, Rory bit her lower lip and continued to look down, not sure what to say or do now.

"So, uh, Luke said you were home."

"Yeah," Rory agreed, jumping onto the subject. "Just for a few days, visiting mom."

She saw a slight look cross his face before he nodded. "Oh. I'm in town visiting Liz."

Now it was her turn to nod. "Luke told me earlier today."

Jess smirked faintly. "Give ya a heads up?"

Rory laughed slightly, crossing her arms. "Something like that." Biting her lower lip, she eyed him and asked once more, "What are you doing here, Jess?"

"Didn't we just play this game?"

Licking her lips, Rory smirked herself and told him, "so you're visiting Liz in my yard after midnight?"

"Well, ya know - that job skulking driveways really panned out; got promoted to peeping tom." He grinned impishly at her and she couldn't help but grin back.

"Jess," she scolded, though she knew her voice was more lighter than she would have liked; almost flirty.

Rolling his eyes, he finally grew more serious and shrugged. "Just...just wanted to see you."

Caught off guard by his truthful answer, Rory froze. "Oh."

Obviously not happy with his response, Jess went back to the sarcasm and wit and tossed out, "plus the surprise factor doesn't really give ya a choice."

Battling with her thoughts, Rory bit her lip once more before telling him softly, "it's a pleasant surprise..."

"Really?"

Hearing the slight uncertainty to his voice, she nodded. "Yeah, really."

"Huh."

Rolling her eyes this time, Rory laughed.

Tilting his head to the side slightly, Jess pondered her for a second before asking, "you wanna get out of here?"

Trying to hold back her smile, Rory nodded, following him into the darkness and down her driveway.

"Rory...wake up, Sweets..."

Groaning, Rory slowly opened her eyes, instantly throwing a hand up to ward off the sunlight. "Too bright..."

"Well, considering that it's after noon, I'd agree that it is bright."

"What?" she asked groggily, eyeing her mother, who was standing over her, a cup of steaming coffee in her hands. "My alarm..."

"No worky." Grinning, Lorelai shook her head. "Come on, up and at 'em - I have a lovely fun-filled day planned for us!"

Groaning again, Rory slowly sat up, reaching for the coffee, slightly confused when Lorelai stepped back, cradling the cup to her chest.

"Oh, little spawn, this is mommy's."

"Such a tease..." Rory muttered, watching her mother flounce out of the room.

"You might wanna hurry up before I finish this pot off and you have to make more!" she called over her shoulder.

Rolling her eyes, Rory swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes, seeing that it was indeed almost one. Confused, she searched around for her cell phone, not seeing it on her desk. Finally finding it in the pocket of her lounge pants, she tried to check and see if she had indeed set the alarm like she had thought but couldn't, noticing it was dead.

"Huh," she mumbled, knowing for a fact that she had charged it last night. Shrugging her shoulders, she left it off but placed it back in the charger before walking out into the kitchen.

"I looked," Lorelai was saying into her own cell phone, holding out a full cup of coffee for Rory to take as she walked by. "It was still plugged in...no, I'm not looking again...why would I look again when I have you to do that?...Um, hello, girlfriend in crisis here..."

Sitting down at the table, Rory took a long sip of the coffee, listening to her mother.

"Luke, we both know how this is going to end. I'll beg, you'll gruffly tell me no, I plead, you'll still try to fend me off, then I'll start to annoying you. This part usually last really long and can, in reality, can get really annoying, so if you would just give in in the first place it would save everyone involved a good amount of time and energy...what if I agreed to wear that red lacy nightgown you like so much?"

"Ugh - too much information," Rory cried, covering her ears.

Sending her daughter a look, Lorelai said into the phone, "Thanks hon," before hanging up. "Don't say mommy didn't teach you nothing."

Flattening her lips, Rory nodded. "Rule number one, if begging doesn't work, resort to sexual bribes - go it."

"Only if he's cute, of course," Lorelai amended.

"Of course." Taking another drink, Rory swallowed before asking, "dare tell, what is broken now?"

Sitting down, Lorelai told her, "the phone. Darn thing is doing nada. So, why the zombie impression this afternoon?"

Rubbing her forehead, Rory leaned back in her chair tiredly. "I was out-" Catching her slip, she quickly amended, "up late, is all." Quickly draining the rest of her coffee, she placed the cup down and stood. "I'm gonna go get ready."

"Ok, sweets," Lorelai said, eyeing her daughters back for a moment before staring down at the tabletop in contemplation.

So, I'm sure that wasn't what some of you were hoping for - the Jess and Rory scene, but I've chosen to not just jump into their inner turmoil...it will progress naturally.

Melissa