A/N : Well, woulda look at that : I'm NOT dead!! And, clearly, since I'm not dead, I have no excuse on why I haven't posted anything in months; other than the fact that my muse left me high & dry. I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things so bare with me here people. Hopefully the next update won't be so far away!! :)

Disclaimer : While I do not own Rory, Jess, Lorelai, Luke, or any of the other Stars Hollow's characters, I do own Seasons 01, 02, & 03 on DVD and the plot for this story. Oh, I don't own the Buckcherry lyrics either...

I lie awake

It takes it toll on me...

Maybe I'm too blind to see...

-

The sunlight was lingering closer and closer to the bed as the morning wore on, urging Rory to curl into the corner, fighting the idea of getting up. Three hard knocks sounded from the front door and she whimpered slightly, tucking her head down into the mattress. Seven seconds of peace went past and she started to smile before letting out a loud groan as the sound replayed.

Bleary eyes craned to see into the drive way from her window, taking in the front bumper of a silver vehicle. Rory slit her eyes and sighed, not in the mood for another showdown. She had barely gotten any sleep the previous night, her fight with Logan and the following conversation with her Mother plaguing her thoughts until well in the morning.

Scoffing with annoyance, Rory left her bedroom as he knocked yet again. Giving in to her more child-ish side, she called out grumpily, "Geesh, I'm coming already! But I'm warning you Logan, not even a oil-tanker full of coffee is getting you back on my good side and I-..."

Rory's voice trailed off as she flung open the door, not finding her boy-eyed, blonde-haired, huffy boyfriend but instead a chocolate-eyed, dark-haired, amusingly confused ex-boyfriend.

"Well," Jess stated, nodding his head down toward the cup-holder in his hands, "I didn't bring an oil-tanker full but I did bring some coffee. Though I'm not on your shit-list so I guess this was just for some brownie points." Smirking, he stepped forward, forcing Rory to retreat back and allow him access to the foyer. "Cute pj's," he added, his voice lower than before.

Rory, shaking off her shock, shut the front door, not missing the way she could feel Jess's eyes traveling down her body then back up. It wasn't like she had answered the door in nothing but heels and smile, but her boy-cut bottoms designed with pink and green skulls and matching tank-top wasn't covering much; and she was sure it was the least amount of clothing she had ever wore in front of Jess.

Too late now she inwardly mused, though she had wished she had at least ran a comb through her hair. Trying to look natural, Rory ran a hand through her dark locks, following Jess's trail into the kitchen. He had taken one of the to-go cups out of the holder and was sipping from it casually, his hip leaned up against the table.

"Drink up," he offered, pointing to cup holder.

Not needing to be told twice, Rory did as he said, though after her first sip-slash-gulp, she did ask, "3 large coffee's just for little ole' me?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "Please, I've seen you down 6 and a half in under an hour."

"Hey," she protested, "that was different; I had a test the next morning and I needed to soothe my nerves."

"By adding a crap-load of caffeine to the mix?"

"Do not mock the Gilmore way. It will end badly."

"Ah, yes. We must all fear the wrath of Lorelai Gilmore," Jess dead panned.

"Hey, it got me 3 cups of coffee, didn't it?" she pointed out with a smile.

"Actually, I had a reason for the number 3."

"Really? Do tell, please."

Sitting down his own drink, Jess ticked the list off of his fingers. "One for you, the second for Lorelai to let me in the door, and the third to urge you to hurry up."

"My mother is not here," Rory told him.

"I can see that."

When Jess just kept standing there, looking in her direction but not adding anything else, Rory finally cleared her throat and took another drink, licking her lips afterwards. The strange silence filled the room with unclear emotions and more clearer ones that she really didn't want to probe too deeply. Searching for anything to fill the void, she asked, "and why do I need to hurry up?"

Jess stirred finally, his eyes leaving Rory's face, allowing her to take in a deep breath. Though her seemed less happy about the moment ending, he answered her with, "if history is correct, I'd say we have about ten minutes or so before we miss the show."

"The show?" Rory repeated.

"Now it's nine," he pointed out in that calm and detached manner that irked and elated Rory all at the same time.

Clicking her tongue, Rory argued, "You wake me up early-" She ignored Jess's scoff and muttering of 'it's after twelve' and continued with, "and aren't even going to have the courtesy to tell me where you're dragging me off to?"

"I'm sorry," Jess stated, adapting a confused face. "When have I ever led you to be believe I know how to be courteous?"

Huffing, she put down her coffee and told him, "you're impossible." Turning on her heel, she added in a lower voice, "I must really be sleep deprived..."

Looking down at his cup with a small smile, Jess called out to her retreating back, "you keep muttering like that and it's gonna be eight minutes."

Yeah, I know, VERY short but it's slow coming. I have a plot-outline for the next couple of chapters (Gee golly, I'm actually thinking ahead for once; the world is coming to an end!!! lol) and I'll give ya'll some juicy tidbits to tide ya over :

1) More Luke, other townsfolk, and the Elder-Gilmore's coming up (dum dum dum...sorry, but Emily kinda scares me so I always hear that creepy music with her...)

2) Everybody loves a good bet, and...

3) We have, sadly, not seen the last of Logan.

Reviews are love!!!

Melissa