A/N- I was *this* close to updating The Mariano Files, seeing as this chapter and the next installment in that series are set around the same time, but then I was like, "eh, people are probably more anxious to read this than The Mariano Files," so I settled in to write this instead. And it doesn't help that the Driving Miss Gilmore chapter of TMF is intruding on my thought process for the intervening chapters and it's kind of making it impossible to keep writing it.

I would like to say that my new Pavement album is the ONLY reason I finished this chapter. This chapter, therefore, is dedicated to Stephen Malkmus. Thank you, Stephen, for being awesome.

6. Nobody Expects the French Inquisition!

"...So now he's pretty much locked himself in his room, swearing he's not coming out until women stop being confusing," Jess concluded his anecdote about the hapless Matthew's ill-fated fourth date with one of his poets.

Rory laughed. "Does he know that he's going to be in there for a really long time?"

"Wow, a woman actually admitting that the fairer sex make a habit out of messing with our minds on a semi-regular basis? The world might have just tilted off its axis," he teased.

"Hello, I grew up with my mother! I had seen more irrationality and general lack of logic by the time I was six than most people witness in their entire lifetime."

"Right. I keep forgetting that."

Rory fell silent for a moment, simply enjoying the happy, bubbly feeling. Jess had called twenty minutes before, and they had been engaging in idle conversation ever since, just working on reconnecting. It was unbelievable how good just talking to him was. This was their second conversation in the two days since their reunion, the first having taken place not even twenty-four hours after she had said good-bye to him in Philadelphia. Despite his joking at the beginning of that call about the "three day rule" not applying since they already knew each other well, she had a sneaking suspicion that he had actually been anxious to call her. It was kind of sweet, in a very Jess-like way.

"Ror? You still there?"

"Yeah, still here."

"You zone out on me?"

"Something like that," Rory said. "I was just thinking how nice this is."

She could practically hear Jess' cocking a questioning eyebrow. "Talking?"

"Yeah. It's really nice being able to have a conversation with you again. I missed that."

Rory had expected him to respond with something breezy and maybe just a little sarcastic. She was caught off-guard, therefore, when he said softly, "Me too. It was my favorite part the first time around."

And there was no way she could pass up such a golden opportunity to tease him. "Your favorite part? Really?" she asked in a tone laden with suggestion and innuendo.

"Well, maybe not my favorite. There were... other benefits," he conceded, and she could literally hear the smirk. Then his voice grew a little more sober again as he added, "But the conversation was always really good, too."

"Yeah, it was." At that moment, Rory heard the distinctive double-kick that signified someone fighting with the locks and about to enter the apartment. "Oops, that's Paris," she said. "Which means it's five o'clock, which means I need to get going if I'm going to keep my job at the Daily News."

He sounded slightly put out when he said, "Go on, go do newspaper stuff. Be editor."

Rory smiled. "Talk to you soon?"

"Yep. I'll call you tomorrow, provided Matthew has no more meltdowns."

She laughed. "Okay. Tell the guys I said hi."

"Will do. Bye, Ror."

"Bye, Jess."

Rory hung up, regretting the end of the conversation. At that moment, Paris finally won her battle with her security precautions and entered the apartment, flinging down her bag and coat before turning to stare at Rory for a long moment before asking, "What's up with you, Gilmore?"

Rory sighed as Paris' grating, you-just-interrupted-something-important-and-I-swear-to-god-I-will-make-you-suffer tone reached her ears. "What?" she asked, her happy mood fading and losing the smile she hadn't known she was wearing until it slipped.

"Ever since you got back Sunday, you've been wandering around here with a dopey grin on your face," Paris said.

"I have not!"

"You have too!" the blonde insisted. "It's been two days, and frankly it's irritating the hell out of me."

Trying to work out her friend's twisted logic, Rory asked, "Me being happy is irritating you?"

"No!" Paris exclaimed. "You having your I-met-a-guy face on and not giving me the details is irritating me!"

And the chips fell into place. "Oh," she said, suddenly understanding. Paris hated not being in the loop about anything. "I didn't exactly meet a guy, per se. I mean, reacquainted is really the best word for it because I already knew him," she began, drawing out the suspense and getting a little kick out of making Paris squirm for the details. Well, that and she wasn't really in the mood to have her day spoiled by a patented Paris Gellar lecture, this time to the tune of 'You Have To Stop Recycling Old Boyfriends.'

"Please tell me you're not talking about Naked Guy," Paris groaned.

Rory laughed and shook her head as she pulled on her shoes. "Marty? No way. Marty and I are just friends. He's really not my type. Actually, I went to see Jess on Sunday." Paris' eyebrows rose slightly, and Rory braced herself for the tirade.

"Well it's about time," Paris said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

The blonde shrugged. "It was only a matter of time before your Beat Generation Romeo came back around."

Rory stared.

"You didn't seriously think I didn't notice, did you?" Paris asked. "You've been weird since he bailed back in high school. Your year-long celibacy did not go unnoticed, believe me. And even after that, you started doing stuff that... well, wasn't you."

She continued to look, goggle-eyed, at her roommate. Had Jess' abrupt departure really affected her that noticeably? Rory had been all too painfully aware of just how much that particular event had hurt her on the inside, but had it really reflected so clearly in her actions that Paris, of all people, picked up on it and accurately determined the cause?

But Paris continued speaking, unaware of Rory's inner turmoil. "Back when you two were dating in high school, I thought you were surprisingly compatible. And if he's managed to develop any people skills at all in the interim-"

"He has," Rory interrupted, feeling a grin creep across her face.

"-Then you might actually be kind of perfect for each other. He's the yin to your yang, the Romeo to your Juliet, the Pip to your Estella, the Heathcliff to your Catherine, the Howard to your Dominique, the-"

"Right, I get what you're saying, Paris," Rory said, wondering just how long she could go on in that vein, and fearing that if she didn't stop her quickly, Paris would proceed to list every literary romance ever imagined. Not to mention, she couldn't help but feel slightly insulted upon being compared to Estella Havisham! "Listen, I have to get going. I need to put the paper to bed, and Bill sent me an SOS page a few minutes ago."

Paris frowned, but nodded. "Fine, go, do whatever. But as soon as you get home, I want details! My love life has become boring and predictable. I need to live vicariously through your upheaval for my entertainment!"

Rory waved over her shoulder to show she'd heard as she made a hasty exit from the apartment.

When she returned several hours later, Rory wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a Twix bar. Sadly, her blonde roommate was waiting to pounce on her the second she stepped into the apartment. "So, inform me!" she demanded the moment Rory had freed herself from her coat. "What's the deal with you and Diner Boy?"

Rory pondered how to answer when the house phone rang. Paris was closer, and reached for the receiver with a decidedly annoyed air. "Paris here," she bit out. "Oh, hi Lorelai. Yeah, she's here. I was just interrogating her about the new man in her life. What do you know that she hasn't told me? What? Well for the love of god, why not? You two have that whole freakish mother/daughter... Fine, here she is."

The blonde shoved the phone at Rory, who took it apprehensively. It had only been a few days since that dreamlike night in Philadelphia, and Rory had wanted to keep her 'happy bubble' to herself for a few days before telling anyone and risking having said bubble burst by the intrusions of the outside world. She couldn't believe how happy the knowledge that Jess still cared for her made her. Only a month previously, she had still been happily residing in Denialville; moreover, part of her still thought it should've been harder. There should have been a screaming match in Doose's market, or he should have had a girlfriend, or she should've had a boyfriend. There should've been something standing in their way. There hadn't been, though. It had been easy, just a silent, blissful surrender to the inevitable, and it made her hope that maybe this time, they could make it stick.

But for now, though, she had to deal with Lorelai, whose reaction to the news might not be as positive as she hoped for. "Hi," she said, moving away from Paris and into her bedroom, shutting the door (though she knew it would do know good, suspecting that Paris would simply listen at the keyhole). "Thanks for saving me. Paris was giving me the third degree."

Nobody expects the French Inquisition!" her mother exclaimed as she bastardized the infamous line.

"Isn't it supposed to be the Spanish Inquisition?"

"Paris? France?"

"Oh. Of course. How stupid of me."

"So what's this I hear about a new man? Did you hook up with some random guy at a party? You did? Oh, you are so my hero!"

Rory sighed, hearing the slightly accusatory, sarcastic tone in Lorelai's voice. "No, Mom, no random kegger hookups. You know that freakish mother/daughter thing Paris was talking about just now? Well, I'd like you to remember that when I tell you this." Sensing Lorelai's consent without having to hear it confirmed, Rory said, "I went to Philadelphia on Sunday."

There were approximately two seconds of dead silence while her mother put the pieces together. Then a sigh could be heard. "You went to see Jess."

"Yes."

"Yes, Jess?"

"Not this again!"

Lorelai laughed. "Fine, I'll be nice. However, I reserve the right to mock him to his face, and if the name happens to be the easiest target..."

"Mom!" After a momentary hesitation, Rory asked, "Are you okay with this?"

"I'm... I don't know. I haven't seen the guy in two years. People change a lot in two years, and Luke seems to think he's grown up into some kind of decent human being, so I'm going to reserve judgment on him."

Rory ventured some teasing. "Wow, that's a first!"

"Hey! I'm not that judgmental!"

"Whatever you say, Rush Limbaugh."

"Ouch. I think my democrat street cred took a nosedive just hearing that!" Lorelai feigned a hurt tone. Then, resuming her normal voice, she continued, "So. Jess, huh?"

"Yep."

"I gotta be honest, Sweetie, this isn't as much of a surprise as it should be," Lorelai said.

"What do you mean?"

"You remember when we found the Jess Box last week?" At Rory's assent, she explained, "You should've seen yourself. You were giving 'starry eyed' a whole new definition, especially once you started talking about his book- which, by the way, I just finished."

Rory grinned. "What did you think?"

"I think there's a whole lot more going on in that head than it seems."

"That's what I always said!"

"And it would seem you were right. I humbly extend my apologies for having doubted your insight and wisdom. So, I want all the details. What happened? You were in Philadelphia at his thingamajig and then what?"

Rory smiled, leaning back against the headboard of her bed as she settled in for a long chat. Now that she had ascertained that Lorelai didn't intend to freak out, she was more than happy to fill her best friend in on the events of the weekend. "I stayed at the open house pretty much 'til the end, and we were the only two left in Truncheon and we were talking and the kissing just naturally kind of progressed from the talking."

"There was kissing?"

"There was a great deal of kissing."

"Ugh, I shouldn't have asked that. First off, because it's Jess and that kid never could keep his hands off you, and second off because ewwwwww!"

"Like you have room to talk, after that time I walked in on you and Luke making out on the couch..."

"Right, got it. From here on out, as far as the other is concerned, we are both totally celibate, totally pure virgins."

"I don't think it works that way," Rory said.

"Ugh. I can dream, can't I? So what then?"

Rory's grin widened as the horrifying, eye-searing memories faded, replaced by happier thoughts. "Jess introduced me to his friends and we pretty much just hung out with them for a few hours."

"Jess? Friends?"

"Yes. As hard as it is for you to believe, he has friends. Really cool friends, actually, who really seem to care about him."

"Wow. That is a tricky concept!"

"I know. I'm so used to thinking of him as this loner, but it's really nice to see a different side of him."

Lorelai was quiet for a few moments, digesting that. Then she asked, "Are you happy, kid?"

"I am," Rory said, her face-splitting grin settling into a smaller, gentler smile. "It's still new. Really new. But, you know, this is Jess. Falling for him again would be incredibly easy, and it just seems right. He and I click, you know?"

"Well, as long as you're happy," Lorelai responded, apparently satisfied.

"I am. I really am," Rory assured her, feeling it to be true.