A/N: Sorry this took me so long to put up! I obviously don't own Gilmore Girls.

Jessjunky - Okay, I added Matt and Chris in here. They turned out to be a little...crazy. Hope you like them!

He had no idea why the phone was ringing at two in the morning, but he reached out and grabbed it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hi. It's Rory."

His heart sped up. She wouldn't be calling unless something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Sorry for calling so late."

He would never be able to figured this woman out. He rubbed his eyes. "It's okay. It's not every night that I get a call from a reporter. Did you want an interview, though? 'Cause I'm probably not at my sharpest."

"I just…How's the writing coming?"

"It's good. I've got some ideas floating around."

"That's good."

Time to get some real answers. "Why'd you call?"

His mind flashed back to when they were seventeen, after the Bid-a-Basket marathon. He'd asked the same thing when she had called without reason. He had said he was glad she'd called. Jess opened his mouth to say the same line, almost unconsciously wishing to bring back the nostalgia of better times. Before the first word was out, he shut it. Nothing would ever be the same between them. He was still reeling from the pain of losing her, while she went through life as if nothing had happened between them. Only, he thought bitterly, when she needs to use me. But he knew that under the bitterness, he still loved her. And he hated that fact. Jess was used to being tough and independent. To admit that he wasn't over a girl that he loved at eighteen was embarrassing. But he knew - the whole world probably knew for all the times he had tried to get her back - that it was true.

Her voice jolted him back to the present. "I, uh…"

His chest tightened. He couldn't do this to her. "So, how much time do you have for reading with your new job?"

He heard a small sigh of relief. "I make time."

They lapsed into an easy conversation about books, transitioning to movies and Stars Hollow, to Paul Anka and first pets.

"When I was three or four, I named a caterpillar I found. Made it a home between some rocks and put leaves in there for it. Of course, it was gone by the next day. Does that count?" He'd never actually told anyone that story.

"That's so sweet!"

"Aww, come on, Rory." He rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep from grinning.

"What was it's name?"

"Um, Larry."

She giggled.

"You can stop laughing now."

"Sorry."

"Sure you are."

"It's just funny - you with a pet caterpillar. It's not what I would have expected. You were always a little more on the tough side. You do know they turn into butterflies, right?"

He chuckled. "What did you expect me to have - a pet spider?"

"More along the lines of centipede."

"Very nice."

She yawned. "Well, I should probably get going. I've got an early morning tomorrow."

"Yeah, and you never know when crazy people are going to call in the middle of the night."

He could almost see her rolling her eyes. "Bye Jess."

"Bye Rory."

"Oh, and Jess…?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep in touch."

He swallowed. And just like that, he was once again fell into the whirlwind that was Rory Gilmore, hook, line, and sinker.

"Where are my keys? Why do I always lose them?" Matt asked.

"Probably somewhere in that mess you call a desk." Chris said from across the room.

"Oh, like you can find anything either."

"At least my mess is organized."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that."

"I will."

"If I don't find my keys, I can't grab the pizza and movie for tonight."

"Is that supposed to tempt me into helping you find them?"

"Indirectly, yes."

"Fine." Chris lifted a few papers. "Right here."

"How do you do that?"

"Must just be one of my talents."

"It comes in handy."

"What's with the big celebration, anyways?"

"It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on Friday," Matt sang.

"Okay, how about you pick up that pizza now?" Jess said, covering his ears.

Matt sighed. "Fine." He walked out the door.

Jess chuckled. "Very nice."

"What?" Chris asked innocently.

"Hiding his keys?"

Chris grinned. "It's fun to mess with his head."

Later, they sat talking and eating the last remnants of the pizza.

"So, why the 'end of the week' celebration? You do realize that we still have to work tomorrow, right?" Chris asked Matt.

"I was trying to forget that."

"I'm still trying to forget your "Friday" performance."

Matt took a deep breath. "It's Friday…" He began.

"You'd better watch it." Jess said. "Chris looks like he's about to boo you off the stage."

"He's right. If I had a tomato, I'd throw it."

"Criticize it one more time and I'll do it again."

Chris was quiet.

"You know, we're almost like The Three Stooges." Matt said.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing." Jess remarked.

"Oh, come on. Everyone loves The Three Stooges. I can be Larry."

"Hold on a second. What about Jess?" Chris asked.

"What about him?"

"He's not Larry…not Mo…"

Jess snorted. "I feel like I just stepped into one of those kids games of 'which item doesn't belong.'"

"You're just not very Stooge-ish."

"More like Scrooge-ish." Chris snickered.

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"You know, you're right. You're more of the angsty writer type."

"Thank you very much."

"You should talk to my uncle."

"Why? Is he a Stooge?"

"Try Scrooge."

"So that's where you get it from." Chris said.

"I thought we decided I wasn't Scrooge."

"That's susceptible to change. But we can meet your uncle and then we'll talk."

"Ah, he's not that bad."

"That leaves you to be our Scrooge."

"Why do we need a Scrooge in the first place?"

"Because you're not a Stooge."

Jess just sighed.

A few seconds later, his phone rang. He quickly picked it up and started for the other room.

"Who is it?" Matthew asked.

"From the way he ran out of here, I bet it was a girl." Chris laughed.

"Hey, Luke." Jess said, rolling his eyes at Matt and Chris.

"Okay, not a girl."

"Is that Scrooge? Tell him we said hi." Matt called.

"Who is that?" Luke asked.

"Uh, just Matt and Chris. I think you met them at the open house."

"What was that about Scrooge?" Luke snorted. "Actually, I don't even want to know."

"That's probably wise."

"Is that the little hoodlum?" A voice in the background said.

"He's a grown man, Lorelai."

"Mmhmm. I'm going to Sookie's."

"Sounds like you're not the only one with someone listening into your phone conversation." Jess said.

Luke sighed. "So…how are you doing?"

"Fine."

"That's good."

He recognized Luke's way of approaching a serious conversation. He rolled his eyes and braced for another 'talk'. It was never quite that simple when it came to Luke. "Yep."

Neither spoke for a few moments. "Did you want something, Luke?"

"Well, I just…"

"Just spit it out."

"Are you talking to Rory?"

Well, that'll do it. "We've been calling each other occasionally."

"So help me, Jess, if you hurt her again -"

"Where is this coming from?"

"Oh, come on."

"Did Lorelai put you up to this?"

"You just don't have the best track record."

"Oh, I'm always going to be the one to hurt her."

"Pretty much, yeah."

Jess was angry now. He couldn't stop the tone of his voice or the words that poured out. "So she can just come in here and kiss me? Let me think she wants to get back together and then tell me she's in love with some rich jerk who cheated on her? But I can't even talk to her without the entire population of Stars Hollow thinking I'm going to hurt her?"

"What are you talking about?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Nothing," He said in a quieter voice. "Forget I said anything."

"She did that to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Jess-"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it." He stated louder.

"Fine."

Jess hung up. He grabbed his coat, and walked past Matt and Chris on his way to the door. Their silence told him they had heard at least part of his conversation.

'I'm going for a walk."