As I mentioned earlier, I started writing chapter 7 before writing chapter 6, so it's already done and here it is.


For the second time that day Rory walks up the stairs to Paris' apartment, still wearing the same dress. A shower and some new clothes, that's all she wishes for in the entire world right now. Well, that and a phone call from Jess.

She picks up her keys and attempts to unlock the door when she realizes that it's already open. Paris would never leave the door unlocked, even if she was at home; that's the first thing Paris imprinted in Rory's mind the first time she moved in: never, ever, under any circumstances leave the door unlocked! Worried that something might be wrong, Rory rushes in to the apartment, only to find Paris and Doyle in a very incriminating position on the couch. Apparently they have resolved their issues and made up.
Without them even noticing Rory's presence, she backs out of the apartment and closes the door.

What now? Where to go? Rory checks her phone again. Still no word from Jess. She steps out of the apartment building and starts wandering aimlessly through town. She decides to call her mother, to tell her about the break up with Logan. She sits down on a park bench and dials Lorelais number.

"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me."
"Hey you! How was the wedding?"
"Well.." Rory takes a deep breath. "Logan and I kind of broke up and I'm back living with Paris again."
There's a silence on the other end of the phone.
"Mum? You still there?"
"Wh-what? Why? What happened?" Lorelai sounds confused.
"Well, he cheated on me."
"No. Oh, I'm so sorry hun. When did this happen? At the wedding?" Lorelai is furious, but she figures she better not bash too hard at Logan until she knows what has happened. Logan has always been a sensitive subject between the two of them, and she doesn't want to say anything she might have to regret if the break up would turn out to be just a temporary one. Besides, Rory doesn't sound that crushed, she sounds more informative, as if she might as well be calling to tell her what the weather was like in New Haven.
"No…no, it happened at Thanksgiving, when he thought we were broken up. I just found out about it at the wedding. Before the wedding actually, apparently he hooked up with Honor's bridesmaids."
"Woo…Wait a second here! Bridesmaids…as in plural, as in more than one?"
"Yeah, well, I really rather not talk about it right now."
"Okay, I get it. So, how are you holding up? You're okay? You want me to come pick you up, take you home, smother you with my motherly affection?" Lorelai is on her way out the door, keys in hand.
"Nah…it's okay." She hesitates a moment before she continues: "I…I have some things I need to do."
"Yeah?" Lorelai stops and slowly puts the keys down. Something is going on. Rory's boyfriend since many years back has just cheated on her, and still she doesn't sound upset. She continues: "Like what?"
"Well…I sort of ran into Jess yesterday."
"Jess? Luke's nephew Jess? Tells you he loves and then skips town, Jess?
"Yeah, him."
"Okay. Wow. So what now? You're with Jess now?" Lorelai sounds irritated, she doesn't mean to, it's just the sound of Jess' name that upsets those emotions.
"No…he…eh…we…we kind of got into a fight this morning."
"Whao…whao, whao, whao, back up the tape here missy. This morning? You ran into him yesterday and you got into a fight this morning? Meaning, you spent the night together?"

Rory sighs, she should have anticipated this. Even though she was not 17 anymore she should have anticipated her mother freaking out at the thought of her daughter spending the night with Jess, or with any guy she wasn't in a relationship with for that matter.
"No mum, I swear, it was nothing like that. He slept in an armchair the whole night, he let me take the bed, and he slept in…an armchair, a pretty uncomfortable one as well by the look of it. He was a perfect gentleman."
"Jess? Jess was a perfect gentleman?"
"Don't sound so shocked. He's changed you know, he's grown up, matured."
"Okay. If you say so."
"He has. Rory's voice is tired, she wants to go home, she wants to change her clothes, take a shower and sleep.
"Okay. Great. I mean…that's great. You sure, you're okay? You don't sound so okay."
"I'm okay. It's just…the break up…it was hard. I've never broken up with anyone before, I mean I have never been the one doing the actual breaking. Dean did the breaking both times we were together. I most probably drove him to it, sure, but still he did the actual breaking. And Jess, well, he just left. Suddenly I can see where he was coming from, seems like an easy out."
"Calm down honey. It was something you had to do. He'll be okay."
"He just looked so crushed. When I left, he just stood there…looking crushed. Oh my god, what have I done? I've crushed another person, I'm horrible. Yesterday, I told him I loved him, today I crushed him."
Lorelai hesitates.
"Well…do you regret doing it? Breaking up with him?"
"I don't want to be with him anymore, not after…everything. So, no I don't regret it, I just wish he hadn't looked so crushed."
"Well, despite what he did, he loves you honey, of course he's crushed."

The both of them just sits quietly at each end of the phone, until Lorelai unexpectedly shouts out:
"Dean!"
"What?" Most of the time Rory has no problem following the winding paths of her mother's thoughts, but this time she has no idea where she's going, or where she's coming from.
"You said you never actually done the breaking part of breaking up before, but you broke up with Dean, remember? When he built you that car?"
"That's not exactly helping."
"Sorry. But guess you and Jess have more in common than just that intellectual book-loving stuff, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when you broke up with Dean. I mean, it wasn't you telling him you loved him and then running away, but it's not that far-fetched."
"Mum!" Even though she tries to sound irritated, Lorelai can hear a faint sound of smiling in Rory's protests, which she takes as her cue to continue trying to cheer Rory up, take her mind of everything going on around her.
"I'm just saying. If you and Jess hit it off and start dating, you'd probably want to clear that up first. I mean…you guys get in to a fight, you both start running in the same direction, that would just be awkward you know." She pauses for second, not sure she dares to ask the question she's about to ask. "Are you by the way?"
"Are we what? Running? Well, I'm sitting down at the moment, so no. And Jess, well, I'm not sure."
"Hitting it off. Thinking about dating. Are your hearts beating as one, are the stars aligned, is there a choir of angels singing sweet songs about eternal love in your ears?"
"I don't know. I think so. I like him." Rory bites her lip and hesitates before she continues: "Would that be weird for you though?"
"Well, the angel choir might be a bit weird, but as long as you keep them in your head I think I can live with them."
"No, I mean you being with Luke and all?"
"I haven't thought about it. Should it be?"
"I don't know."
"Well, there'll be plenty of time for figuring out whether we should feel weird about it or not. So you are thinking about it? About being with Jess?"
Rory smiles, it's a shy smile, as if she's afraid someone's going to see it.
"Yeah, I think I am."
"He has always been the one that got away."
Rory is a bit surprised, hearing her mother speaking about Jess like that, she had been sure Lorelai would be dead set against them dating. She smiles again, openly this time.
"Yeah, guess we never really had any closure."
"Yeah…and you know what they say, when you don't get closure…"
"What do they say about that?"
"Well…um…you know…then it's…not…eeh…closed."
"Who says that?"
"Yeah…I don't know."
They both laugh.

"Hey!" Lorelai says. "Just thinking…if you end up with Jess, and I'm with Luke. What does that mean?"
"What do you mean, what does that mean?"
"Well, does that make me both your mother and your…I don't know, aunt-in-law?"
"Euw…and I don't think there's such a thing as an aunt-in-law. I really hope there isn't!"
"At least we would still have the same last names, even if we got married. We would be the big, happy, just a little bit creepy, Danes family."
"Mom! Stop it, otherwise I'm gonna regret this decision! Besides, Jess' last name is Mariano, after his father, remember?"
"Ah, pity. Well, kiddo, I'm gonna let you go chase after your man, should I maybe at least alert the border guards? Make sure he doesn't leave the county before you get a chance to talk to him?"
"Mom, I mean it! Stop!"
"Okay, I'm sorry. That was the last one. I promise you, no more 'we're gonna be related in more ways than one' or 'Jess fleeing the county' jokes. Ever."
"I know you, you're so not done with those."
"No, I'm not. I have dozens of them, just lining up in my head. I can't stop them, they have a life of their own. But I'll write them down, maybe read a few of them out to Paul Anka, that dog really loves my jokes, and I'll serve them to you at a more appropriate time. So now go! Go tell him how you feel. I don't have time for you anyways, I got some serious writing to do."
"Bye mom."
"Good bye, my one and only daughter…and soon to be niece-in-law."
"You promised!"
"Sorry, kid. Life of their own, I told you! Bye."
"Bye."

Rory checks her messages to make sure Jess hasn't called while she was talking to her mother. Sure, she has call waiting on her phone, but maybe she missed it anyway.
"You have no new messages." The sound of the automated voice makes her heart drop. Why hasn't he called? She looks at her watch, it's been several hours since he left the hotel room. He doesn't know anyone in New Haven besides her and he left some of his stuff in the room when he walked out on her so he must have gone back there, he must have seen her note. She sighs.

"No!" she says to herself with an upset tone. She's not going to put herself through this once again. She's a grown up woman for god's sake! She doesn't have to sit around like an insecure teenager waiting for his call. She could just go over there. Yes, she could march right up to him and give him a piece of her mind. She doesn't have to play along at this immature game of his.

Decidedly she gets up from the bench and starts walking towards the hotel. So, he thought he could just up and leave? Well, think again Jess Mariano!