A/N: As always, I would like to thank you for sticking with me on this one. It's been a while since I've heard from any of you, so please forgive me for reminding you how much I love feedback. Your thoughts and feedback inspire and motivate me to keep writing. I really hope you're actually enjoying what you're reading.
Jess had loaded his bags into the car and sat down behind the wheel before he noticed the blinking light of his cell phone on the passenger seat. He had 2 missed calls, one of which was Rory. Forty-five minutes had passed since her call.
"Damn it." He exhaled, as he listened to the voice mail.
"Hey Jess. It's me. I, uh...I went out with Graham tonight, and it didn't work out so well. I was wondering...I was hoping...I'm kinda stuck at this bar, Gryphon's or something like that. I wondered if you might be able to help me out. So, um, give me a call when you get this. I didn't really know who else to call."
He quickly dialed her number, flinching when his call went straight to voice mail. "Rory, I'm sorry I missed your call. I just got your message. I'm heading to New Haven now. I'm on my way. Don't go anywhere. I'll be there as soon as I can."
By the time he arrived, she was already gone. The waitress told him that Rory had left with some tall shaggy blonde haired guy. She had barely finished describing the guy before Jess ran out and headed to Yale.
"Please let her be here." He repeated over and over to himself as he jumped out of the car and ran towards Rory's residence hall. He turned the corner and swung open the door, finding Rory in the hallway outside of her room with the last person he had expected to see.
"Rory! Thank god!" He exhaled, finally releasing the breath it seemed he had been holding since leaving Stars Hollow.
"Jess? What are you doing here?" Dean asked, annoyed.
"Are you okay?" He asked Rory, ignoring Dean as he joined the two of them in front of her room. "I'm sorry I missed your call. I left my phone in the car."
"I'm fine. Dean happened to call not long after I called you, and I hadn't heard back from you, so he picked me up."
Jess took a deep breath and turned to Dean. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Oh, and and please thank you wife for me too. I'm sure she wasn't crazy about you playing hero to your ex." Jess snipped, turning his attention back to Rory. "Can we talk?"
Rory opened the door. "Go on in."
Rory stepped aside, allowing Jess to slip past her through the door.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Rory. You've had a long night, and are you sure that you..." Jess rolled his eyes, as Dean tried to convince Rory that she was making a mistake.
"It's okay. Go...go home, Dean. You should go."
"Fine." Dean whispered beneath his breath, and begrudgingly walked away.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that you made it here safely, but...Dean?" Jess asked as Rory closed the door and joined him in the living room.
"It was between him and one of Connecticut's best drunk drivers. I thought I would take my chances with Dean."
"In that case, good call. Just as long as bag boy doesn't read too much into it."
"He's married." Rory dismissed the inquiry.
"Wouldn't be the first time that a married man was led astray by a beautiful damsel in distress."
"It's not like that." Rory argued. "Hope you don't mind if I leave the lights off. My RA thinks that I left a few hours ago. I don't want to draw attention."
"So I guess lighting the fireplace is out of the question."
"Not a good idea. Do you want to sit down? I mean, I don't have much furniture, but the floor is..."
"The floor is fine."
Rory joined Jess on the floor, sitting down directly in a beam of light from the lamp post outside. "So, how was the wedding?"
"It was good. You would have loved it. Prime people watching." Jess fidgeted with the sleeve of his jacket. "Lots to poke fun at, and your mom was Luke's date."
"Really? She hadn't told me."
"It's weird, right?"
"I don't know. Luke has had a thing for my mom for a while now. It's been pretty obvious to everyone, except my mom of course."
"They danced together." Jess added.
"That's what people do at weddings."
"I don't think you heard me. Luke. Danes. Danced." He dramatically paused between each word, trying to make Rory understand. "You know Luke, backwards baseball cap, flannel wearing Luke...Danced."
"Was he wearing the baseball cap?"
"No."
"Okay, you're right. That is weird." Rory smiled, realizing how nice it felt to slip back into their familiar rhythm.
"It's good to see you smile. I was worried after this morning."
"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to...well, I wasn't exactly sober."
"Rory Gilmore!" Jess feigned shock, stifling his laughter. "What has college done to you!?"
"It was a roommate thing. Anyway, I'm sorry for the way I treated you. My grandma and Graham...and then you walked in out of the blue. Oh god, did my grandma see you?"
Jess nodded. "Yep. Maybe she doesn't remember the whole black eye, running out on you before dinner thing?"
"Oh, believe me. Emily Gilmore forgets nothing." Rory shifted uncomfortably. "So, did you mean it?"
"Mean what?" Jess asked, confused by the sudden change of subject.
"Did you mean it when you said that you loved me?" She blurted out, surprising herself by being some forward.
"Yes."
"Do you still..." Rory stumbled on her words. She looked away from him, focusing instead on an imaginery spot on the floor between them. "I mean, do you..."
The ringing of Jess' cell phone interrupted them. "Hold that thought. I'll just be a minute." He stood up and pulled the phone from his pocket.
"Hello?"
"Thank god! Where have you been, Jess? Matthew has been trying to reach you." Eva sounded breathless on the other end of the line.
"Slow down, Eva. Who?" Rory stood and turned her back to Jess, staring into the abyss outside her window.
"My cousin, Matthew. He left you a voice mail, but hasn't heard back from you. He called me trying to find you."
"I left my phone in my car during the wedding. I haven't listened to all the messages yet."
"He's offering you the internship! Isn't that great!"
Jess glanced over at Rory. "That's great," He said, lowering his voice. "but this isn't exactly a good time. Can I call you back?"
"Is everything okay? I thought you'd be excited." Eva asked, concerned.
"Everything's fine, and I am excited. I'll call you back, okay?"
"Sure, but call Matthew first. He's waiting to hear from you."
"I will." He promised before ending the call.
"Sorry about that." Jess apologized to Rory, as he hurried back to the spot where he had left her.
"No problem." Rory answered, turning to face him. "Something wrong?"
"No. Nothing's wrong, for a change things are looking up for me." Jess admitted, trying to make sense of the news.
"I couldn't help but overhear. Eva..." Rory couldn't stop the words from falling from her mouth. "Your girlfriend?"
"No. She's an old friend from my pre-Stars Hollow days."
Rory bit her bottom lip and chastised herself for the pangs of jealousy she felt taking hold.
"So, where were we? I think you were about to ask me something." Jess prompted, hoping that he hadn't misunderstood where her questions seemed to be leading.
Rory took a step closer to him. "Would you do me a favor?"
"Anything, you name it."
"You caught me completely off guard the night of the firelight festival. You spent all day running away every time you saw me, and then all of a sudden, well you know." Rory spoke softly, her voice hitching in her throat. "I was kinda hoping you'd give me another chance to respond."
He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face upward until she met his gaze. "I love you, Rory."
Without hesitation, she raised her hand to caress his stubbly cheek and spoke the words she wished she could have said months before. "I love you too, Jess."
It was now Jess' turn to be speechless, not that words were necessary at that exact moment. He wrapped his arms around her, and losing himself, for just a moment, in the hollow of her neck.
"You seem happy." Rory observed. "I don't think that I've ever seen you smile this much."
"Just don't tell anyone. I do have a reputation to uphold." He cupped her face in his hands and leaned down, brushing her lips softly with his.
"Your secret is safe with me." She chuckled, as Jess trailed a line of soft kisses along the line of her jaw and down her neck. Her mind drifted back to their days in Stars Hollow, walking through the streets, barely able to keep their hands off each other. He slid his hand beneath the rough fabric of her brown corduroy jacket, pushing it back to expose her bare shoulder.
Rory grabbed hold of the collar of Jess' jacket, dragging him back to meet her gaze. A mischievous grin lit her face as she took Jess' hand and led him to one of the only rooms in the suite which still had furniture.
A/N cont'd: Ok, so there's Chapter Seven, the last of my pre-written chapters. (I had the first five chapters written before I even posted the first chapter of this story). This has proven to be really good for me, because I don't have to struggle to come up with something just to meet my promise of a weekly update. With that said, it may be a week or maybe two before I update again. I really want to write a little ahead again before I post my next chapter. Let's consider this the season finale cliffhanger. More to come when I get the next five chapters written. If you are enjoying the story so far, or have some insight you'd like to share, please leave me some feedback. It would really be helpful as I write the next few chapters. Thanks for reading!