Rory took a deep breath and entered into the diner. There was Jess, sauntering about in a hideous t-shirt with Luke glaring at him over his shoulder.
"Umm?" she inquired, stopping him on his coffee run and motioning to his shirt.
"Luke doesn't like it," he shrugged absently and filled someone else's coffee cup. "Want to see that book?
"That book that we talked about?" she offered, and Luke rolled his eyes.
"I've got it upstairs," he said teasingly, gaining a few stares from the people around them. No one knew about them yet. It was an important part of their ploy to not have everyone following them around constantly.
"Great, so let's go upstairs," she agreed, motioning towards the stairs.
"I'm on a break," Jess barked casually to Luke, tossing the coffee pot on the counter and leading her up the stairs to the apartment. "The book's over there on the table."
"Wait… there's actually a book?" she questioned, and drifted to the table beside the couch and lifted up a copy of the Fountainhead. "You read it?"
"I hated it," he shrugged and tossed her three Hemingways. "And you lost."
"No way!" she objected, looking through the book in her hand and identifying all his handwriting on the pages. "I'm not even past the fifth chapter…"
He didn't say anything, only smirked at her and sat back in the couch with a raised eyebrow. She glared at him, knowing that he'd probably been up all night reading the book just to beat her. Her Hemingway, which had been his challenge, was lying in her sheets somewhere. She'd fallen asleep with it the previous night. Suddenly what could have been a very cute moment was destroyed by a painful lurch of nerves.
"I have something to ask you," she brought up quickly, knowing that she wouldn't get the chance if she didn't do it now.
"No way, I won that means that it's my challenge," he objected, shaking his head slightly.
"Then consider this a forward on me kicking your ass next time," she said quickly and sat down beside him, taking another deep breath. "I have to go to this thing that has these girls in white dresses and fans and names and society and my grandmother's going to be there with my mom and my dad and everyone and I need an escort who's supposed to be my boyfriend and you're sorta my boyfriend, 'cept no one really knows, but you're still my boyfriend and I need an escort and could you please come with me?"
"Wait… white dresses, fans and society? Do you mean a debutant ball?" he stared at her in horror.
"Jess, please?" she begged when she saw him start to pull away.
"No," he shook his head.
"Please, please, please, please?" she begged more.
"I said no," he said evenly.
"I kinda already gave them your name," she cringed.
"Ah," he sighed in frustration and stood up. "I don't do these weird ceremonies and festivals."
"I know, but this is important to me, and I want you to be there," she attempted again, standing up and following him in his meandering around the apartment.
"No," he said firmly, stopping in his place and turning to face her. "No."
"What would it take?" she asked with a wave of her arms.
"More than you're willing to give," he joked and sat back down on the couch.
"Jess," she groaned and followed him, sitting on his lap and forcing his eyes from the book he'd taken to reading.
"Yes?" he asked her nonchalantly.
"Come with me?" she pleaded again, kissing him softly.
"No," he repeated against her lips. Her hands weaved through his hair and pushed him back on the couch so that they were horizontal, her on top of him.
"Come with me?" she said again between kisses.
"No," he declined, shaking his head, but she could see the fractures in his carefully made up armor.
"Come with me?" she asked once more as one of his hands slipped beneath her shirt and he ran his fingertips along her skin there. Her breath caught and fire blazed across her skin, causing her breathing to go short.
"No," he whispered, but she knew that there was only a very small wall blocking her from her goal.
"Yes," she breathed against him and she felt his body shudder ever so slightly beneath hers.
"You know, if your mother comes upstairs, she'd kill us," he informed her, kissing her again.
"Good thing she isn't here," Rory joked and then pulled back. "Yes?"
"No," he declined, and she sat up more, he followed her, trying to kiss her again.
"Yes?" she chirped and saw the annoyance in his eyes.
"No," he growled, and tried to use his hands on her back to pull her towards him again. She jerked away and leapt off the couch.
"Yes?" she requested, standing on the opposite side of the table from him. He grabbed one of her arms and half-lifted, half-threw her over the table so that she was lying beneath him on the couch. Rory couldn't help but feel a thrill of anticipation and give in to him when he did this.
"Jess, say yes," she begged him again.
"Will it make you shut up?" he groaned, hiding his face in her neck.
"Yup," she said happily, knowing that she'd broken him.
"So… tux, tails, gloves, anything else?" he grumbled.
"How are you so well-versed in debutante balls?" she demanded, sitting up and forcing him off her again.
"They're called books. They have pages with writing on them. Occasionally they depict certain traditions," he sighed, sitting on the opposite side of the couch from her.
"You've read books on debutante balls?" she asked him with a grin.
"No, I've read books that have involved debutante balls," he told her, eyeing her in warning.
"Really?" she asked, barely believing it.
"Drop it," he growled.
"But you'll do it?" she attempted to confirm.
"Shh," he shushed her and kissed her again.
"No, stop, say yes," she scolded, pushing him away but following him as well, unable to keep from kissing him either.
"Will there be pictures?" he cringed.
"Yup, lots of them," she assured him.
"And you want to go?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered confidently, kissing him again.
"Yes," he finally said, and pushed her back on the couch. Their hands and tongues fought a battle over which territory they would claim. The lines had already been drawn. Rory was pretty much allowed to do anything to him, but he had to keep his hands above her clothes and not within three centimeters of anything too private, as per Lorelai's demands.
The door smashed open and the three people now in the room jerked away from each other. Rory and Jess to opposite sides of the apartment, Lorelai to the top of the stairs. None of them moved for a few minutes until Lorelai crawled back into the room.
"So… he said yes?" Lorelai asked, shielding her eyes.
"Yup," Rory chirped.
"It works every time," Lorelai cheered, and the two women hugged while Jess rolled his eyes.
"You two are evil, you know that?" he joked, shaking his head slightly.
"Guess what happens now?" Lorelai exclaimed in excitement.
"What?" Rory replied back with just as much enthusiasm.
"Tux shopping!" Lorelai shouted, causing Jess to pale slightly.
"I'll buy my own, thanks," he grumbled.
"No way! I want to see you in a tux!" Lorelai objected.
"And you will… at the ball," he informed her, grabbing his jacket and saluting her with a book on his way out.
"Is he always like that?" Lorelai asked as they followed him down the stairs and watched as he shouted with Luke for a moment on his way out of the diner.
"Define: Always," Rory retorted with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"How can you stand him?" Luke asked gruffly as he stormed back behind the counter.
"I don't think they talk much," Lorelai informed him, causing Rory and Luke to stare at her in horror.
"Mom!" Rory screeched, looking around to make sure that no one else had heard it.
"They're going to find out sometime," Lorelai sighed, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't need to know that," Luke finally said, coming out of his shock a little later than the rest of them.
"Go, go find your lover-boy," Lorelai told Rory dramatically as her daughter started doing the Jess-dance.
"I'll be home… late," Rory told her. It was barely four in the afternoon on a Thursday afternoon, but all three of them knew that it didn't mean anything. The two of them would spend a good hour arguing about books, another kissing, then another agreeing to a new challenge, and then another arguing about the challenge, and then another make out session. Pretty soon it was one in the morning and Lorelai had to come hunt them down. Their system worked well… or at least, after the first time it worked well.
"Meet you at the bridge later?" Lorelai asked.
"Probably," Rory replied with a shrug on her way out. Jess was a barely seeable shadow. He was going into a tux store. She blinked, not having expected him to do it so quickly.
Sneaking, she followed him and hung out outside the shop, trying to see what he was booking.
"What are we doing?" Lane asked, skidding to a stop beside her and going into stealth mode.
"God! You scared me!" Rory whisper-shouted.
"Sorry," Lane shrugged. "Are we on Jess-watch?"
"Yup… he agreed to go to the ball," Rory informed her gleefully.
"Even with the tux?" Lane deadpanned. No one really expected Jess to go through with it.
"And the gloves… he already knew about it all," Rory stated, frowning still at what books they'd discussed where a debutante ball played such a large role.
"Weird," Lane muttered and stared through the window. They were watching as Jess started shouting at the tux guy. At first the tux-guy was yelling back, and then Jess said something that caused him to shrink down to the size of a mouse and do whatever Jess shouted at him to do. "He's good."
"I like him," Rory said cheerfully, admiring her boyfriend. Everyone considered him an asshole, but she loved him. So sue her.
"How long has it been now?" Lane asked distractedly.
"A month," Rory recited.
"It's amazing that you haven't been caught yet," Lane sighed.
"We had help from the best," Rory told her with a small smile. "Speaking of which… why are you out sneaking?"
"Grocery shopping," Lane explained, showing her a few different veggies and some very questionable other materials. "He's coming out!"
"Scatter!" Rory squeaked and she and Lane ran their own separate ways. Rory hid in the little separation between the tux shop and the one next to it. She'd wait until he got a little father away before she started following him.
"So, did you like the colour I chose?" Jess asked, and she smelt the familiar scent of his cigarettes.
"Busted," Rory sighed.
"I knew you were there from the moment I stepped in. When you're hiding, you should probably duck," he informed her with a smirk and flicked away some ashes.
"I'll remember that next time," she grumbled and stepped out from between the buildings.
"I didn't pick up my tux, I don't want you to see it," he explained, discarding his cigarette casually.
"Taylor's going to beat you with that cigarette," she told him for the millionth time that month.
"I think that he'll probably beat you first for spending as much time with me as you do," Jess said quietly, motioning at all the stares they were getting.
"This would be so much easier if we didn't have to lie," Rory mumbled, pulling out a book and pretending to discuss it with him.
"Yeah, but then we'd have our own personal gawking group," he shrugged and pointed out a few different things in the book for affect.
"We need an easier way to do this," Rory grumbled as she tripped over another stone, too concentrated on the whole 'fake reading' thing.
"But how else would we amuse your mother?" he countered with a roll of his eyes and then snatched the book out of her hand and frowned at it.
"Hey!" Rory objected. She didn't even know what they'd been reading, but that wasn't the point. He'd taken her book… again!
"This isn't my handwriting," he pointed out, reading a comment that was written beneath one of his.
"I answered your thoughts," she stated, and he looked at her carefully.
"I thought you didn't vandalize your possessions?" he asked with a small smirk.
"Well, if everyone else is doing it," she grumbled and snatched the book again, shoving it back in her bag and glaring at him.
"When's the ball?" he inquired after a few minutes of silence. They were still on their way to the bridge, taking their dear, sweet time to do it.
"This weekend," she replied, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Giving me a lot of warning, huh?" he scoffed.
"Hey… I had to gain up the courage to ask you first!" she objected.
"Yeah, cause what you did to me was so hard," he snapped.
"How else was I supposed to get you to agree?" she shot back.
He said nothing, didn't even look at her. She sighed and turned away, not quite sure what to say about things. When they were only a block away from the bridge, finally, someone chased after them, calling Rory's name.
"Rory!" it said, and she felt her blood run cold.
"Jess… meet me at the bridge," she requested under her breath.
Instead of listening to her, he turned around to see Dean running at them. Jess raised an eyebrow. This kid had been trying to talk to her the entire month they were together. Rory had only told him that he was an ex-boyfriend, none of the details and especially not why he'd been chasing her around like a little puppy dog.
"Dean, hi," Rory said as he gained ground on them. "Jess, please." Jess didn't move or speak, just watched.
"Rory, I need to talk to you," the guy told them. He was wearing his apron from Doose's market. He was probably on his break.
"What do you want, Dean? I really… I don't think I'm ready to talk to you yet," she informed him gently, not wanting to make him as mad as he'd been at her house a month ago.
"Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I guess that I can keep waiting if you want," he shrugged, as though he was still the one in her heart.
"Dean, I already told you… I don't love you," she replied softly.
"Who's this?" Dean asked suddenly, pointing at Jess.
"I'm no one," Jess told him harshly.
"He's Jess," Rory amended.
"Jess who?" Dean growled, as though Rory was still his to protect.
"Jess from Luke's, he works there," she broke in and stepped between them.
"So why isn't he working there?" Dean continued, and Rory bit her lip, looking at Jess. She could see the slight tightness to his emotionless façade that said he wasn't amused and that the guy was getting on his nerves.
"Because I'm showing him around town," she lied through her teeth.
"He's been here a month and he hasn't seen the town yet?" Dean snarled at her, seeing through the lie immediately.
"Leave," Jess finally said, breaking up the interrogation.
"What?" Dean snapped at him.
"I said: 'Leave'," Jess repeated.
"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?" Dean shouted, stepping around Rory and standing against Jess. They each had to crane their necks to see each other, if it would have been a different occasion, she probably would have thought it was funny.
"Someone who's getting their tour interrupted by a jealous asshole," Jess hissed in return. He wasn't about to raise his voice.
"Stay away from Rory!" Dean exploded, shoving Jess back.
"Dean!" Rory screamed, running to Jess's side as he stumbled backwards and slammed into a tree.
Jess didn't give her enough time to get to him. He launched himself at Dean, shoving him back into a tree behind him and punching him in the stomach. Dean shoved him back again and swung at him. Jess ducked and punched Dean in the head then grabbed his shirt, tossing him to the ground and straddling him, punching him repeatedly.
"Jess!" Rory bust in, grabbing his arm. He looked at Dean and then at Rory and took a deep breath. He let his arm, which was armed for another swing, drop and climbed off her ex.
"Let's go," he said softly, taking her hand and leading them away.
"What the hell was that?" she exclaimed when they reached the bridge, tearing her hand from his.
"That was me being attacked," Jess pointed out, reaching into his back pocket for a cigarette.
"Why did you hit him back?" she screamed.
"Because you're not his anymore and he needs to see that!" he shouted right back.
"But you didn't need to hit him!" she continued to object.
"Whatever," Jess scoffed, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep drag. After a few seconds of non-speaking, he turned to glare at her again. "I'll see you this weekend."
"That's two days away," Rory pointed out, following him as he started back towards town again.
"Huh," Jess muttered.
"Jess," she started, but he continued to ignore her. "You didn't need to attack him!"
"I didn't attack him!" Jess shouted, but still didn't turn around.
"Stop!" Rory pleaded, grabbing his hand and turning him around. By now they were in the middle of the square. All the people who'd gathered around for the Jess/Dean battle were now standing there watching them, confused as to what was going on. They'd never spent this much time around each other in public previously. So far as everyone in town knew, they were just friends… friends who argued a lot.
"Why, why should I stop?" he raved, throwing her arm off him and turning around to face her in frustration.
"Because… because!" she said, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Because 'why'?" he shouted, stepping backwards to get away from her.
"Because I love you!" she screamed, and they both froze. It had been a month… only a month, but those feelings had already been there. They both knew it, but neither had bothered to speak them, fearing what it would mean for them.
"What?" he gasped, his voice losing all its former anger and strength.
"I love you!" she said again, not quite as loud. The crowd around them started chattering mercilessly.
"Huh," he replied, still floored with her very loud admission, especially in the middle of town where all the people who didn't know they were together would hear them.
"Jess?" she asked, wanting to hear the words back desperately.
"I'll see you on Saturday," he repeated, turning around and walking back to the diner in a state of shock.
Rory watched him; feeling like her heart had been torn out of her chest. She thought about the things she could say to make him stay, but nothing came to mind. She'd pretty much offered him her heart on a platter, and he'd sharpened his knives.
Tears streamed down her face as she turned towards her house. She walked absently, ignoring all the worried glances around her and trying desperately to ignore the feeling of her heart shattering. When she opened the front door, her mother greeted her from the couch.
"You're home early," she stated, standing up and walking over to the struggling teenager.
"I just told him I loved him," Rory told her shakily.
"What?" Lorelai gasped, grabbing Rory into her arms and hugging her close.
"I told him I loved him," she cried again, sobbing into her mother's shoulders.
"What did he say?" Lorelai pressed, gathering her closer.
"He didn't say anything," Rory whispered, barely believing it.
"Oh, Sweetie," Lorelai attempted to console her.
A few hours later, Rory laid half-dead on her bed. She stared blankly at the wall before her, unable to do anything. Books couldn't help her, music was making it worse. They all reminded her of him. He was everywhere, she couldn't avoid him. How was it that someone she'd known for a little over a month could have such power over her? Another three hours later, she was still sitting there. Dinner had come and gone, but she hadn't moved from that position.
"Rory…" Lorelai began as she entered into the room. "I talked to Jess."
"What?" Rory gasped, sitting up on her bed for the first time since she'd collapsed there.
"Do you still want him to go on Saturday?" Lorelai asked softly.
"I don't think I could get anyone else," Rory cried softly.
"I think you need to talk to him," Lorelai brought up.
"I'm not ready to talk to him," Rory rejected.
"Alright… so, movies and junk food?" Lorelai suggested with a clap of her hands.
"Sure," Rory agreed tearfully.
Her mother was asleep on the couch another five hours later. They'd attempted a movie marathon, but her mother hadn't lasted through the second. It was almost two in the morning, she had school the next day, but she didn't feel like sleeping. At the end of the third movie, Lorelai finally woke up.
"Hey… have you slept?" she asked drearily, curling an arm around her daughter.
"No," Rory admitted guiltily.
"Come on, let's get you to bed. Do you want to go to school tomorrow?" Lorelai asked cautiously, knowing how much it meant to her.
"Yeah, I have to," Rory whimpered as they staggered to their feet and into Rory's bedroom. The second that they hid the mattress, she felt tired. Her mother fell asleep with her arm draped across her stomach and she soon felt herself follow.
The alarm woke them barely four hours later and Rory couldn't help but hate herself for agreeing to go to school that day. Nudging her mother awake, she crawled out of her bed and into her uniform.
"Get up, we need coffee!" Rory mumbled at her mother, shoving her off the bed.
"Urgh!" Lorelai exclaimed as she hit the ground and glared up at her offspring.
"Luke's awaits," Rory chirped, and Lorelai instantly jerked up.
"Luke's?" she attempted to confirm.
"Yup, Luke's," Rory agreed and walked out of her room.
Half an hour later, they were both full clothed and on their way to Luke's. The bus was going to arrive in another twenty minutes, perfect coffee-obtaining time. As they stumbled into the diner, Rory instantly looked around for Jess. All she saw was the swing of the curtain as it closed and Luke's eyes glancing at her in fear.
"Coffee!" she begged, throwing herself over the counter.
"Make that two, and a dozen doughnuts!" Lorelai proclaimed, swinging herself in beside her daughter.
"Get off the counter," Luke grumbled, nudging them both with coffee cups.
Rory attached herself to hers and watched in fascination as the brown liquid was poured into the cup. She instantly started drinking when he was finished and was finished before he was even done pouring Lorelai's.
"More?" she pleaded.
"Already?" Luke asked in horror.
"More?" she said again.
Luke looked at Lorelai, who nodded towards the cup. He poured more coffee into it and then wandered away before they could ask for any more insane favors.
"Is she gone yet?" was growled from behind the curtain.
"You're being an idiot," the women heard hissed back. Luke was standing suspiciously close to the curtain, talking to someone behind it.
"I'm going to be late for school," the person behind the curtain replied. Rory rolled her eyes and stood up, going to the curtain and stepping behind it to see Jess standing there, looking awkward.
"Don't say anything. I want you to be there on Saturday, and I'm sorry that you don't feel the same way. But I wanted to give you a warning and tell you that my dad is going to be there and that I 'am' going to be introducing you as my boyfriend and that you'll probably want to meet him before we actually go in there. That way at least the awkward meeting will be a little less awkward than it could be. Don't say anything!" she interrupted him as he was about to say something again. "Just… meet us there, because I have to be there a few hours early. Goodbye."
"Rory!" he objected, stepping out into the diner to chase her as she ran to the bus.
"Sorry, kid," Lorelai mumbled.
"Jeez…" Jess sighed, shaking his head.
"Didn't tell her?" Luke questioned.
"She didn't let me open my mouth," Jess pointed out.
"Smart girl," Lorelai chimed in.
The men both sat and glared at her. "I have to go to school," Jess grumbled and stormed out of the diner.
Rory stared absently out a window, not realizing that class had ended ten minutes ago.
"Gilmore!" Paris shouted.
"What?" Rory jumped, suddenly realizing that she'd missed the entire class.
"We have to go out for dinner," Paris informed her with a glare.
"Why?" Rory grumbled, placing her head on her desk again. Paris didn't know about the Jess-situation.
"What's the matter with you?" Paris harped and sat down on the desk beside her.
"I have a lot on my mind right now… I don't know if dinner's such a good idea," Rory admitted.
"But the ball is tomorrow. Tomorrow, Rory! I only agreed to go to it because you said that you didn't want to be the only idiot there, and now you're leaving me here without any other idiots to go with? Fine then, I won't go," Paris proclaimed.
"No, I'm still going… and fine, let's go," Rory attempted to appease her shrieking.
"Good," Paris snapped and they got to their feet. Rory shuffled to her lock and slammed her books into it and took out the one she needed to place into her backpack. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."
"You wanted to go, you were just looking for an excuse," Rory quoted, remembering Paris's former statement when Rory had originally asked her. Apparently Paris had a deep, hidden urge to at least be 'accepted' into society, even if she wasn't liked.
"That's beside the point," Paris brushed off. "So we're going to the salon at ten, we'll be there until two and then go to the hall and my mother hired someone to have our make up done and someone to do the final placements on our hair, because I have it on good word that your grandmother's stylist has multiple girls there and I don't want us to be 'multiple girls'."
Paris continued to ramble, but Rory had stopped listening awhile ago. They'd gone over this a million times and Paris would probably recite it a million more times over dinner. Even though she dearly wished to have a good time, she knew that she'd be miserable knowing that Jess didn't love her as well.
"Alright, what's going on?" Paris snapped again, grabbing Rory's shoulder and forcing the sullen girl's blue eyes to hers.
"It's nothing," Rory sighed.
"It's that diner-boy isn't it?" Paris half-shouted. "I'll kill him."
"No, I mean, yes, it is Jess, but don't kill him. He's still my escort," Rory objected. "Did you get someone? You were saying that you had someone in mind last week."
"Yes, I did," Paris admitted, a blush rising on her indignant cheeks.
"And he is…?" Rory continued, glad that the spotlight was off of her.
"Tristin," Paris proclaimed, and Rory tripped over her feet. She had to catch herself on a passing car.
"What?!" Rory exclaimed, staring at her in horror.
"Tristin Dugrey," Paris stated again, getting into the driver's seat of her car as Rory slipped into the passenger seat.
"I thought that you hated Tristin?" Rory muttered. "I mean, after what he did last year."
"Yes, but I wanted to see Summer squirm," Paris said evilly, and there was the slightest hint if malice in her eyes.
"Wow," Rory muttered after a few seconds. Paris started the car and drove them towards Stars Hollow.
"Are we still allowed to go to Luke's?" Paris inquired.
"Why wouldn't we be?" Rory questioned, the statement about Tristin chasing Jess away from her brain for a second.
"We're still not allowed to go into Doose's," Paris pointed out.
"Oh… no, Jess knows. He has to be there, my dad's coming," Rory explained.
"What?" Paris swerved a little bit. "I thought that it was just going to be you, Lorelai and I."
"Well… my dad actually agreed to come, so we decided that we'd do introductions so he wouldn't slaughter Jess tomorrow night," Rory said with a shrug.
"In order to avoid a scene that will embarrass me for the rest of my life, I will agree with you and move on," Paris nodded, knowing how terrible Jess was with adults.
They swung into Stars Hollow and made it to the last good parking space outside Luke's just as Lorelai was turning the corner. They grinned at her as she glared at them and had to park across the street.
"Hello Lorelai," Paris greeted stiffly, but there was still that little glint in her eye.
"What's she so happy about?" Lorelai asked with fear in her voice.
"She's tormenting Summer," Rory explained.
"Oh… you mean that girl that vandalized the paper a few weeks ago?" Lorelai inquired, searching in her mind for that particular rant.
"Yes," Paris snapped, and then motioned to the diner. "Are we eating or not?"
"Chris isn't here yet," Lorelai said softly, and Rory's eyes instantly fell downwards.
"He isn't coming?" she whispered.
"No, he's coming. I called him… he's just not here, yet," Lorelai attempted to deflect.
"Either way, I'm hungry," Paris grumbled and marched to the diner.
"Remind me again how you can stand her?" Lorelai moaned, shaking her head in disbelief.
Rory didn't say anything. She just grumbled a little under her breath and stormed off after Paris. Lorelai sighed and followed the two stormy teenagers.
"Coffee!" the two Gilmore women asked in unison.
"On the way," Paris told them, pointing at a booth that had two cups on it and then at Jess who was on his way to said table with a pot of coffee.
"My savior!" Lorelai chirped, grinning at Jess, who looked at her warily.
"You're not going to attempt to get Patty to 'repay' me again?" he twitched, looking around for the woman.
"Nope, and speaking of Miss Patty, you two have a dance lesson in the studio in two hours," Lorelai informed them with a very evil look.
"What?" they both deadpanned, and Jess accidentally filled Lorelai's cup too much, spilling coffee in her lap.
"Hey! I was just joking!" Lorelai shrieked, and Jess pulled back.
"Shit," he muttered and went for a cloth.
"Smooth," Rory grinned, nodding at her mother.
"I didn't think he'd attempt murder," Lorelai grumbled.
"That wasn't murder. What's murder is if he forgets to put the extra salt on the fries again," Paris snapped, sitting down next to Lorelai in anticipation of Jess's arrival at the table. A man walked into the diner and Rory and Lorelai grinned.
Rory jumped off her seat and took off at him, hugging him tightly. "Dad!" she greeted.
"Hey," he returned, hugging her close and smiling at Lorelai.
"I didn't hear the bike," Lorelai commented, and looked out the window for it.
"That's because it's not here," he informed them.
"Where is it?" Rory questioned.
"In Boston," Chris deflected again and led her back to the table. They sat down together and Paris raised an eyebrow at Rory, who cringed and looked at the counter were Jess was standing.
"Uh… hey, Jess! Could you come here for a minute?" she called. They were staring at each other the entire time, it wasn't as though he didn't know precisely what was on her mind, but she felt that she had to say it anyway.
"What?" he grumbled as he got to their table.
"Two burgers and some Mac and Cheese," Luke said as he got to their table, placing their orders in front of him and interrupting Jess's rude entrance.
"Thanks," everyone at the table replied.
"Did you want something?" Luke asked Chris coldly.
"I'll be fine," Chris blinked, not understanding the animosity.
"Jess, can you sit down?" Rory asked, noticing him standing off to the side awkwardly.
"Yeah," he muttered after a second, as though he was attempting to think of some sort of excuse not to stay. He sat beside Paris, which earned him a disgusted look. Awkwardness seemed to spread over the table. Paris was the only one immune. She was eating her Mac and Cheese with enthusiasm, watching the others with amusement.
"So…" Chris began, looking at everyone curiously.
"Dad… this is Jess, Jess… this is my dad," Rory finally said after another few seconds of silence.
"Uh…" Chris responded, obviously not sure where this was coming from.
"He's her boyfriend," Paris scoffed.
"Oh," Chris stated, finally realizing why this had been so awkward.
"Jess…" Rory pleaded, looking at him carefully.
"Nice to meet you," he said, every word had to be forced from his mouth.
"You too," Chris returned, and they shook hands awkwardly.
"Wow…" Lorelai muttered, shaking her head.
"What?" Paris instantly questioned.
"I knew it was going to be weird but… wow," Lorelai repeated.
"What?" Rory continued on Paris's line of questioning.
"They're the same," Paris explained.
"What?" Chris and Jess asked in unison, and then gave each other strange looks.
"They're the same," Paris said again. "Both of them were in the same position at this time in their lives. Jess, behold, your future."
Jess and Chris stared at each other in horror and then looked at the women who were looking at them calculatedly. "I guess I can see it," Rory finally admitted.
"So… wow," Lorelai said again.
"I'm not this guy!" Jess objected, glaring at Chris.
"My hair wasn't that pointy!" Chris chimed in.
"I like my hair," Jess snapped.
"I like it too!" Lorelai chirped, gaining both of their glares. "And your hair was just as bad."
"I think we need to go for a walk," Chris suggested to Jess, who merely nodded at him sharply. They stood and stormed out of the diner, continuing to glare at each other.
"Jeez, what was that all about?" Luke asked as he made his way over to their table with refills for their coffees.
"That was a mirror seeing its own image," Paris informed him.
"What?" Luke inquired, and Rory and Lorelai sighed.
"Chris and Jess are just a lot alike," Lorelai explained before Paris could go into some long-winded explanation.
"Oh…" Luke shrugged and left again.
"I guess I won't get to talk to him tonight, then," Rory muttered, hanging her head a little bit.
"As much as I'd love to sit here and watch you mope some more, I have to get home and sleep so that I'll be ready for tomorrow," Paris stated.
"It's not even five o'clock," Lorelai deadpanned, staring at Paris.
"But it'll take me an hour to get home and then another two hours to do my homework and then I have to read the next ten chapters of my biology textbook," Paris explained.
"But that's a second year university textbook," Rory objected.
"You have to be prepared," Paris shrugged and stood up. She placed down some money and stormed out of the diner much the same way that she'd come in.
"Don't say it," Rory snapped to her mother, whose mouth had opened to ask the age-old question.
"As amazingly awkward as that was, it was funny to watch them," Lorelai said instead.
"Yeah… at least she didn't start comparing them, that would have been bad," Rory sighed.
"Especially with the whole 'pregnant' thing," Lorelai grumbled.
"Hey," Rory objected with a glare.
"No 'hey' about it," Lorelai shook her head. "It's going to happen… you two can't keep your hands off each other. It's cute, in a disgusting way."
"But he doesn't love me," Rory sulked, leaning back in her booth a little bit.
"I think that you need to talk to him before you say that," Lorelai informed her gently.
"Why?" Rory grumped.
"Remember how I told you I talked to him?" Lorelai reminded her with raised eyebrows and stood up to leave.
"Wait, he said that…?" Rory questioned, chasing after her mother.
"You need to talk to him!" Lorelai deflected.
"Do you think dad will kill him before I get to talk to him?" Rory asked, suddenly nervous for her boyfriend's wellbeing.
"You're doing the Jess-dance again," Lorelai pointed out.
"Well, I can't help it. If he loves me… then I wanna know!" Rory whined.
"You'll just have to wait until tomorrow," Lorelai sighed, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder and leading her to the door.
"But I won't see him until the ball!" Rory gaped in horror.
"You can always come for some breakfast before you go to the salon with Paris," Lorelai shrugged.
"But Paris will probably be over tomorrow at seven to do a couple hours worth of panicking before we actually have to go," Rory whimpered.
"Then I guess you're out of luck," Lorelai chirped happily and wrapped an arm around her.
"Why are you so happy?" Rory asked suspiciously, glaring at her mother.
"Because with every fight there is a make-up, and as long as that make-up is being put off, I'll be happy," Lorelai proclaimed. "In fact, why bother even making up? Just stay fighting!"
"I thought that you were apart of the non-fighting movement?" Rory grumbled.
"But that was before I remembered the making up bit," Lorelai pointed out.
"But what if I want to do the whole 'making up' bit?" Rory sulked.
"Then I will support you and give you this," Lorelai stated, and handed her daughter a condom.
"What?" Rory shrieked and hid it in her pocket.
"I know that it's coming… and as much as I want you to stay my little girl forever, I want even more not to be a grandmother before I'm forty," she stated, hugging Rory close again.
"I won't…" Rory trailed off.
"I know, but… still," Lorelai sighed and they broke apart, walking towards the jeep again. In the distance, they saw Chris and Jess glaring at each other some more. Shaking her head, Rory crawled into the jeep and got ready for the long night ahead of her that would be followed by the long day ahead of her tomorrow.
It was barely five o'clock and Paris and Rory were sitting in front of a pair of lighted mirrors in the dressing room. Paris had literally kicked out the two people who were sitting there, verbally abusing them until they'd rather take a non-lighted mirror than deal with her.
"Good work," Rory praised her as she fiddled around with her make-up a little bit.
"They're late," Paris snarled, checking her watch.
"By what, fifteen seconds?" Rory scoffed.
"Thirty now!" Paris pointed out as the ladies entered. "You're late!"
"We're sorry, Miss Gellar," the women apologized fearfully and got started on their charges.
Another hour and a half later, the girls were sitting in their chairs, fully dressed, and made up, jeweled and beautiful. Rory had never seen Paris glow quite as much as she did in that moment.
"Do you still like him?" she asked curiously.
"I don't know," Paris admitted guiltily.
"I'll threaten his life if you'd like?" Rory suggested.
"You would?" Paris asked with large eyes.
"Of course!" Rory chirped and they shared a moment of understanding. They both understood the other better than a lot of people would think possible.
"Rory!" someone called from the door, and she turned in confusion to see her mother bustle into the room.
"What's the matter?" Rory asked as she noted the panicked expression on her mother's face.
"It's Jess," Lorelai informed her.
"What about him?" Rory felt her stomach drop. "Isn't he here?"
"Oh, yeah, he's here," Lorelai sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Did we never mention that this thing was supposed to be black and white?"
"What's he wearing?" Rory gaped in horror.
"Red," Paris interjected.
"What?" Lorelai and Rory said in unison, turning to look at her.
"Red… he'd wear red. It's passion's colour, the opposite of white on a tuxedo. Of course he'd wear red," she shrugged. "He also called me last night."
"So he's wearing red?" Rory stated.
"Yes," Lorelai confirmed, still glancing at Paris in fear.
"How is grandma taking it?" Rory attempted. Damage control, it was something she'd gotten rather good at since she'd started dating him.
"Not well," Lorelai sighed. "They're currently fighting over whether or not they're actually going to let him participate."
"What?" Rory shrieked, and rose to her feet, ready to go downstairs to give them a piece of her mind.
"Don't worry, Chris is down there. He thinks it's funny so he's defending him. Apparently they came to an understanding last night," Lorelai said, catching her daughter and tossing her back into her chair. "But I still need to get back there to help."
"Thanks for telling me," Rory whimpered, holding her head in her hands and sighing.
"Don't do that, you'll ruin your make up," Paris reprimanded. "And we have to be in the hallway in two minutes."
"Okay, fine," Rory growled, snatching her fan angrily and storming into the hallway. Paris rolled her eyes and followed her.
"Paris Gellar!" was called from the microphone on the stairs and Rory watched in fear as Paris descended the stairs with her grandfather on her arm. For some strange reason, it was difficult to imagine Paris being escorted. Even now, she was escorting her father. Their arms were in the reversed position. She'd put up a fight when they'd attempted to tell her that they needed to be the opposite direction.
"Hey dad?" Rory said as it was just about her turn. He looked down at her with a nod. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything," he agreed with a small smile.
"Just… don't let me fall," she requested.
"Right back at'cha," he quipped and she smiled tightly at him.
"And thank you… for standing up for Jess," Rory added.
"You're welcome," he smiled at her, and then they returned to listening tensely.
"Lorelai Gilmore!" the woman called. "Daughter of Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore."
Rory carried on her tight smile as she descended the stairs. Unable to keep herself, her eyes flickered down to Jess. He was standing in a black tuxedo with a red over shirt, black cummerbund and red gloves. The red brought out his dark complexion and made her heart swim. On her entire descent, their eyes never left one another's.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her dad kissed her cheek and handed her off to Jess. The second her hand touched his, she felt a thrill of anticipation run up her arm. He smirked down at her, knowing precisely what he was doing to her, and she couldn't help but smile shyly up at him. He escorted her over to the platform and helped her up onto the stage.
"He looks good," Paris commented from beside her, but her eyes were locked on one of the other escorts. Rory looked over to see Tristin and Jess size each other up and stand next to each other tightly. Of course they would fight, two roosters in the same hen house never worked out well.
"Yeah, he does," she agreed absently, but her eyes were locked onto Jess's. When the 'fan dance' began, she started into it hesitantly, constantly distracted by Jess and then by someone laughing in the crowd. Her eyes flickered over to her family's table, where her father was attempting to hold back his laughter and Lorelai was desperately attempting not to laugh with him. When the fan dance finally ended, the escorts were waiting to take them into the first dance.
"You're beautiful," Jess whispered into her ear as he helped her off the stage. She grinned up at him and laid her head on his chest.
The first dance went well. Surprisingly, Jess knew what he was doing. Rory was able to follow him through the dance, his hand gently guiding her whenever she lost her step. At the end of it, she was finally free to take him onto the side of the floor. He sat down and she stepped between his legs.
"Jess…" she started, but he cut her off with a soft kiss.
"I love you," he told her carefully yet confidently. It never ceased to amaze her how he could be so amazingly insecure in his comments and yet mean them completely.
"I know," she nodded and kissed him again.
"Hey love-birds," Paris snapped from behind them. They broke away and glared at her in annoyance. "Dinner's about to start."
"Hey Mary… or not so Mary," Tristin greeted her.
"Bible boy?" Jess inquired with a frown.
"Yup," Rory agreed and stepped away from him so he could stand up. "Hi Tristin."
"Who's this?" Tristin asked, motioning towards Jess.
"Her boyfriend, Jess," Paris growled, emphasizing 'boyfriend'.
"Ah," Tristin replied, rolling his eyes and offering his arm to Paris.
"That's a weird couple," Jess stated when they walked away.
"Any weirder than us?" Rory inquired with a small smile.
"Opposites attract," he shrugged, wrapping an arm around her waist casually and walking her to the table.
Two hours later, Rory, Jess, Lorelai and Chris were struggling down the street, attempting to get to Luke's. "I'm hungry," Rory proclaimed loudly.
"After an evening of fighting grandparents and Paris… I can't blame you," Lorelai sighed and turned to Chris. "You want something?"
"Actually, I have to get back to Boston," he cringed.
"Oh… okay, Rory, I'll meet you inside," Lorelai told her, and Rory nodded, taking Jess's hand and stumbling the rest of the way into Luke's.
"Coffee?" Jess asked, walking behind the counter and getting her a cup.
"My hero," she worshipped, taking the coffee and drinking it soothingly as he poured it.
"What do you want to eat?" he asked her, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair beside her.
"Cheeseburger?" she requested.
"Fries?" he inquired, writing something on a pad of paper.
"Sure," she nodded. "And one for my mom too!"
"Already got it," he smirked at her and handed the order to Cesear in the kitchen. Rory took the moment to watch him. He'd come a little undone over dinner. His shirt had been yanked out of his pants, his bowtie was hanging undone around his neck and the first two buttons on his shirt had been undone, bearing just a little bit of his chest to the world. His hair was a mess, although that was mostly due to her, and he had just the slightest hint of a smirk on his face. Rory smiled at him when he turned around and he looked at her suspiciously.
"Were you watching me?" he demanded.
"Yup," she admitted cheerfully.
"Stalker," he accused, walking over and sitting beside her. They kissed softly at first, but it grew in passion until she had slithered out of her chair and was sitting on his lap, ruining his hair some more.
"Break it up," Luke grumbled as he stepped down from the stairs. "Food's up."
"Got it," Jess sighed, placing Rory back on her chair and going over to grab their meals. When he stepped back to their table, Lorelai was just getting there.
"Hey," she said to them.
"Hi," Rory greeted back, Jess merely nodded.
"So, back from the ball?" Luke greeted as he meandered to their table.
"Yup, I left a glass slipper and a business card in case the prince if very dumb," Lorelai quipped, smiling at him. Jess sat down again beside Rory and their hands entwined beneath the table.
"Good and desperate thinking," Luke rolled his eyes and looked at Rory and Jess. "The secret's out."
"Yeah… kinda came with the 'I love you' in the square," Jess scoffed under his breath.
"Guess you two will just have to deal with a pack of groupies," Lorelai taunted, but there was something off about her.
"Guess so," Rory sighed, taking a bite out of her burger hungrily.
"Jess, upstairs, change," Luke ordered with a thumb towards the stairs.
"Alright," Jess agreed, kissing Rory's cheek and picking up this jacket.
"So you two talked?" Lorelai asked when Luke stepped away.
"Yup," Rory chirped.
"And…?" Lorelai pressed.
Rory didn't say anything, the smile said it all. She blushed a little bit as she thought about what had gone on in the past few days. A month… only a month and they were already positive that they were completely in love. It was weird. She'd dated Dean three months and she hadn't loved him. Maybe Jess was just special. She spaced out and was brought back to life when her mother started talking to her. Even through their little discussion about having someone to talk to, she couldn't help but think back to him again and again.
Getting home was a blessing, and she was out of her dress within a minute of their entrance. Her hair was down. She was in her pajamas and was just settling into a book when her phone rang. "Hello?" she greeted cheerfully.
"Rory?" Paris's panicked voice asked on the other side of the phone.
"Paris?" she asked, putting the book down. "What's up?"
"I had sex with him," Paris admitted quickly.
"What?" Rory whispered into the phone, looking around to make sure that the imaginary fairies in her head hadn't heard.
"I had sex with Tristin," Paris repeated.
"Okay… wow, what happened?" Rory prodded.
"We were at my house, he was dropping me off, and my parents weren't home. I asked him if he wanted dinner, he agreed, and it happened there… on the kitchen table," Paris blurted.
"Ew… are you okay with this?" Rory cringed.
"I don't know, should I be okay with this?" Paris shot back.
"Paris… calm down. Is Tristin still there?" Rory soothed.
"Yes, he's in the washroom," Paris hissed.
"Talk to him and call me back after," Rory sighed.
"But I don't know what to say to him!" Paris objected loudly.
"Just talk to him!" Rory snapped.
"Fine, I'll call you back," Paris growled.
An hour later, Paris still hadn't called her back, and Rory felt her eyes wanting to close. She thought back through the day, and then over the past month. It had been perfect. They were perfect. What would things have been like if she hadn't met him in New York? Would she still be with Dean? Would he have still been sent here? The thoughts swam around in her head as her eyes closed and she fell asleep, the Hemingway dropping from her tired hands.