AN: Hey hey! I'm back! Ok so I hope y'all like this one. Btw super cute Jess and Lilly hang out! And obviously a good healthy dose of literati because without them this story wouldn't exist! And also the migraine cocktail is a legitimate thing. My sister gets really bad migraines and she has to go to the ER to get them to go away if she doesn't have her medicine or takes it too late. Oh! And I got a question about Rory and Lilly's place, and it is not Lorelai's house. They saved up enough to get their own place, but they refer to it as Crap Shack 2.0. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I am just too selfish I guess
I know you're tired and restless
It's no surprise we've come undone
But I can't unlove you just because
You say it's better in the long run

-"Better In the Long Run" Miranda Lambert

"Hey, Baby." Rory cooed at her loopy daughter. They had injected the cocktail into Lilly's system and she would be very loopy for the next few days. Lilly hummed in response, and Rory smiled. She couldn't see it, but Jess was smiling too. He was glad that Lilly was fine and that the projectile vomiting had stopped. It was like watching The Exorcist in 3D.

"Mommy come here," Lilly whispered to Rory who leaned in. "Jess got beaked when you were 18." She tried to whisper but failed. Jess huffed as he looked at Lilly's sleepy smirk.

"I told you not to tell anyone." He pointed at her jokingly. Lilly let out a giggle and allowed her droopy eyelids to finally fall. She was still hooked up to a few machines and in an uncomfortable hospital bed, but after being in so much pain she needed a nap.

When Rory was 100% positive that her daughter was asleep, she whipped around to look at Jess with a giant grin on her face. "That was how you got the black eye wasn't it?" She poked at his ribs. He jumped back a mock filled scowl on his face. "Oh my gosh, I knew you didn't have enough buddies to play football with." She went on earning a playful thwap from the book that was in his hands from the bookstore.

"Whatever." He emotionlessly said. Rory giggled, and snatched the book from his hands. He pretended to grab at it, but failed on purpose for the sake of their game. Suddenly, they were interrupted by the nurse that Rory had talked to earlier. She looked between them and shook her head, muttering to herself while she checked on Lilly.

They heard her grumble as she left, "Not married my ass." Making Rory look at Jess embarrassedly. He smirked at her, pulling the copy of Gone with the Wind from her warm hands. She took that as the time to look back at her daughter, make sure everything was fine before going to sign for her release.

"Married, huh?" Jess looked at her. "Never saw myself as the marrying type, but you know when I don't know I'm married I can't really make myself the type." He joked with her. Rory's face blushed a deep crimson.

"Shut up, Pony Boy. I'm not the one who bought Gone with the Wind from the gift shop." She tried to throw a pop culture reference at him to change the subject. "And I told her we weren't; you were the one who made it look like we are." She tried to change the blame from her to him. He scoffed at her in a playful way before reading.

They fell into a peaceful silence; the only thing making sound was the beeping of the monitor connected to Lilly and Jess flipping the pages of his book. "I've missed you." Rory whispered in his direction. The slow yet sure flipping of pages stopped as Jess took in what she said.

"I've missed you too." He replied voice barely above a whisper. The look he was greeted with when he looked up at her sent a tingling feeling through him. Her smile so bright it could light up any room even without electricity she was just that beautiful.

XXX

It was close to one that morning when Lilly was discharged. She had slept through the majority of the evening at the hospital, and she would likely sleep throughout the next day. As Jess's car reached the Gilmore house, Rory – who had been sleeping in the passenger seat – stirred and blinked her eyes rapidly trying to gain reorientation. She looked at Jess while he pulled into the drive way, careful to not jostle Lilly.

She was a bit stunned when he walked around to the side of the car that Lilly was in, and picked her up with ease to carry the teenager into the house. He nodded for her to follow, as she had the key, and smiled as Rory looked around confusedly at her front porch. She finally did realize what was going on when the key was slid into the lock and they entered the still lit living room.

In her rushing, Rory had left the lights on and the house in even more disarray than normal. Jess grunted as he tried to get Lilly through the door without accidentally hitting her head on the doorframe. Rory wordlessly led him up the stairs to where her daughter's room was. She huffed in exhaustion while she trudged up the staircase. She flipped on a switch in a blue room, and walked in.

Jess followed slowly, taking in the bright room. He noticed the built in bookshelves obviously done by Luke. The shelves were set up in a decorative yet organized way. He could tell Lilly had a system for her books, and she didn't like it any other way. He also noticed a window seat with a pillow that looked incredibly well-worn from the past year's use.

Rory drew his attention away from the bookcase, and to Lilly's unmade, twin size bed. He placed the girl on the mattress, and watched with a slight smile on his face as Rory assessed to her daughter even in sleep. She placed the comforter up near her chest, and set a full water bottle on the floor next to the bed. The woman turned around; her blue eyes watching for his next move.

He nodded toward the bookshelves, and he looked back to see the ghost of a smile on her lips. He turned back skimming over the titles. He stopped short as he looked at the top shelf where a stack of books sat in an orderly pile. He reached up to grab the book on the top, and let out a soft, "Huh." At the sound, Rory's head whipped around to see what he was so entranced with.

She looked at the book in Jess's hand and held back a gasp. She didn't know that Lilly had found that book. She noticed how worn it had become in the years, and she realized how many times her daughter must have read that book. The man's gaze fell back on her as he held it up, notes in the margins that were obviously not hers.

Rory waved her hand to indicate she wanted Jess to follow her. He conceded and stepped out and back down the stairs. They reached the couch when she finally knew it was safe to use their voices. "I didn't know she had that." She told him her voice soft. "I-I…" She couldn't think of anything to say. He nodded, not in understanding, but hoping to quiet her irrational fears.

"I didn't think you still kept it." He replied to her. Rory ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She stretched, and he did his best to keep his eyes from looking at where her shirt rode up slightly. They each took shaky breathes, and shyly gazed into the other's eyes.

"I could never get rid of it." She confessed. He chuckled slightly, gaining an odd look from her. "I'm serious, it's amazing." Rory continued. Jess's chuckling grew into quiet laughs. The blue eyed woman adjacent to him watched him with uncertainty worried that he had finally cracked.

"It's horrible." He laughed. Rory moved back slightly in a surprised and joking manner. She absolutely hated when he threw himself and his work under the bus, but it made her laugh that 17 nearly 18 years after their last encounter he still thought it needed to be scrapped. Rory pushed his arm, and he grinned at her.

"I love that book." She smiled brightly. Jess shook his head in defiance, and he flipped through it a few more times.

"Seems Lilly does too, 'cause I know for a fact that you do not write in your books." He picked a random page and smirked widely. Rory glanced at him curiously, and Jess held the book higher prepared to read what Lilly wrote. "'Good God, you idiot. I don't even know what to say. Why do I keep reading this?'" He barely finished reading the sentence when both he and the woman next to him busted into laughter.

"That is high praise from Lilly. That's the stuff she says over and over again when she really likes something." She giggled, her blue eyes shining with something indescribable. It makes him feel something, something he hasn't felt in a long time. "So it's not the intellectual stuff you put in the margins, but she at least speaks her mind… Oh you should see her copy of Pride and Prejudice. Five pages full of yelling at Lizzy to get with Darcy. Good stuff there."

They fell into an awkward silence as Rory pulled her legs up to her chest, and Jess placed the book on the coffee table. He stood to leave, but was stopped by her soft hand reaching out to him. He stared at her, questioning in his deep brown eyes. "I-I… Can you stop by tomorrow? I just, I have to work, and I don't want Lilly to be alone all day tomorrow, and…" The brunette trailed. Jess smiled at her softly and nodded.

"I'll be here at eight." And she gained a hopeful look in her eyes. He turned from her, and she couldn't help but think about all they could have been. And maybe, just maybe, this time they can make it work. So for the first time since Lilly was born, Rory thinks she might just be able to tell the truth.

XXX

Jess showed up at the Gilmore residence at eight sharp. He was prepared to knock when he noticed a note taped to the wall. 'Jess, went to work. Don't knock, key's under Tom. Thanks, Rory.' The note pointed down to a small figurine of Tom Sawyer. He smirked at the idea of such a Gilmore quirk. He let himself in quietly, knowing full well that Lilly would probably be out for the morning and possibly some of the afternoon.

He took out his computer and began working. He finished some extra things on the building of Truncheon II, and stopped abruptly when he felt the soft buzz of his phone. He read the text from Rory, and couldn't help but role his eyes at her worry. She had texted with a thousand questions on Lilly's health, and then some about him doing random things around her house. If he wasn't such a sucker he wouldn't have done them.

So that's how Jess found himself doing house chores while waiting for his ex-girlfriend's daughter to wake up from her drug induced sleep. He did all the things he could that weren't noisy and then some that he thought that Rory was in need of, but would never have the time. He eventually ended up in the kitchen, reading a recipe for banana bread in Lilly's sloppy yet neat script.

He found the ripe bananas in a draw in the fridge, completely surprised that a Gilmore had food in the fridge and knew how to cook. When the beater started, Jess cringed at the sound, hoping he didn't wake up the sleeping teenager. It was only ten, and after the pain of the day before, she didn't need to lose anymore sleep. Finally, the banana bread was in the oven, and he could finally get back to work. Even though technically he could have worked before making the banana bread, but as most writers do best he procrastinated instead.

He had finally sat down to watch an episode or two of TV when he heard a knock come from the door. He listened carefully for any sign of Lilly waking up, thankful when he heard nothing, and walked to the door. He opened it to find Lee standing on the front porch, Lilly's guitar in one hand and a bundle of sheet music in the other.

"Jess, right?" The blond kid asked confusedly. Even though he had been back in town for about 3 weeks, Lee knew next to nothing about Jess. He had asked rather carefully too in case it was not Jess, and the guy at the Gilmore house would end up getting angry. The adult in question nodded, and Lee handed the items to him. "Tell Lilly I hope she feels better soon. She hasn't gotten a migraine where she actually had to go to the hospital in years." He said before dashing down the steps.

Jess turned inside hoping to actually get some work done. He luckily succeeded until noon rolled around, and Lilly finally made her appearance. She trudged down the stairs, her hands covering her face from the sun, grumbling about her head and how tired she was. It confused Jess that if she was tired, why didn't she go back to sleep?

"Good morning, Sleepy." He said in a mocking tone. His eyes widened in shock when he noticed Lilly holding up her middle finger in his direction while she walked to the kitchen. He didn't think Rory's daughter would have it in her to flip someone off. She came back into the room holding a piece of warm banana bread, and her homemade blanket wrapped tightly around her small frame.

"Why are you here?" She asked finally registering that Jess was sitting on her couch while her mother was at work. She took another bight of the bread as she turned on the TV not even waiting for his reply. She didn't even seem to care that he had already been sitting on the couch as Lilly lifted her feet and curled up on the edge of the couch, one leg stretched out as another was tucked closely to her chin.

"Your mom, she asked me to come over." He said simply, but was completely taken aback by the look Lilly threw his way. He realized now the thoughts that would be running through the teenager's head, and Jess also made a face while slapping her foot playfully. "No, no. Stop," He shook his head quickly trying to throw the thoughts and memories from his mind. "It wasn't like that, she wanted me to come over in the morning to stay here with you when you got up. Get your mind out of the gutter."

Lilly shook her head, a knowing look gracing her features, and flipped through the different shows on Netflix. She set the volume very low before deciding on The Dick Van Dyke Show, and snuggled back down into her blanket sending a warm smile Jess's way. Lilly really did appreciate him being there to stay with her during the day, and she enjoyed the way that he and her mom got along.

Jess lightly tapped her foot as she dozed off, and Lilly thought maybe this was what it was like to have a dad. Someone who was around to help when you're sick, someone who makes banana bread while you sleep, someone who enjoys spending time with you even though you're annoying. Moments like these were never really fulfilled by just having a grandfather in Luke.

Lilly knew she needed a father. Now she had the right idea to get one.