AN: I hate me, too. I have no excuses. I got caught up in the summer. I am so sorry that this took so long. I'll be updating soon, I promise. Please review even though I suck.

The title is Hey Beautiful which is a song by The Solids.

They were in his living room alone. Rory was sitting in the far corner of the couch reading a book. Jess's head was resting in her lap as he was lying down, typing on his laptop. Her free hand was running through his hair and if he weren't concentrated on the review he was writing for the next issue of the zine, he would have been close to sleep. He had never felt so comfortable and content in his life. He knew that the night before had changed everything, but he wasn't afraid of the new intensity of their relationship. It was something that he had always wanted. They weren't teenagers anymore; they were in an adult relationship and the differences were positively evident.

With her hand in his hair, Rory was having a hard time turning the pages of her book, but she was managing. At some point, though, the turning of pages became a sort of habit; she had stopped reading the words. She was focusing on the man whose head was resting in her lap. If you had asked her two weeks earlier where she would be on this particular day, she never would have said Philadelphia and Jess never would have been part of the equation. She couldn't be happier, though. She never felt the way she felt with Jess when she was with Dean or Logan or Hugh or Jeremy; none of them left a lasting impression on her like Jess did. She really thought it to be impossible that anyone ever could. All of a sudden the silence of the apartment caught her interest.

"Where are your roommates? They haven't been around all morning," she asked, lying the book face down on the armrest. Jess stopped typing and bent his head back to look up at her.

"Chris is probably at Julia's or downstairs catching up on work. Matt's probably still asleep," he explained.

"Oh, I was just wondering," she told him.

"I'm really sorry that you have to sit here and watch me write this, but the guys kind of threw it at me last night; they're both swamped with their own stuff," he apologized. She ran her fingers through his hair again.

"Jess, I don't mind. You have a job, I understand," she told him before leaning down and feathering a couple of kisses on his forehead.

"We can do whatever you want when I'm done. It shouldn't be much longer, only a hundred words or so," he told her and she smiled.

"I want to spend time with your roommates before I leave," she told him. "I know that they're a big part of your life and you know all of my friends."

"We can have dinner with them tonight if you want. I think Dylan's coming over, too," he told her.

"Okay. Maybe when you're done with work we can get some coffee and you can show me around Philly?"

"We can do that," he assured her and she picked her book up again. He waited a few seconds to make sure she had no more questions or comments before finishing his review; he knew how she could carry on a conversation. She flipped a few pages back and read over the words using Jess's typing as a soundtrack to the story. He saved his work and closed the laptop before sitting up.

"I'm going to take a really quick shower before we leave," he told her and she nodded.

"I'll just read while you're in there," she smiled up at him as he stood in front of her. He leaned down and kissed her quickly before turning towards the bathroom. Rory jumped at the sound of the slamming door, but continued reading immediately. She threw her legs on the couch and relaxed until she heard another door down the hall open up. She glanced around her novel and saw Matthew pulling on a t-shirt and heading towards the living room. She put her book down and waited for him to notice her. When he did, he fell back a step, surprised in his half-awake state.

"G'morning," he mumbled, scratching his head. Rory smiled.

"Morning," she returned. She moved her legs ands watched as he threw himself onto the opposite end. "Rough night?"

"Friday nights are always rough," he corrected, smiling. "Where's Jess at?"

"He's in the shower. We're going sightseeing in a little while," she explained and Matthew nodded appreciatively.

"I don't think that Jess knows any of the sights; he's a pretty simple being and he likes his order," he explained. "He's either in the apartment, the store, the bar, the grocery store, or on the road looking for new authors. I can't remember him spending any time in the actual city."

"Looks like I'll need a guidebook, then," Rory decided. "Where should we go first?"

"There's the Liberty Bell, museums, shopping on Locust Street, and you have to get a cheese steak," he told her, counting things off on his fingers. "Oh, and if you're out later tonight you should try and catch a show at the Khyber."

"That all sounds perfect, but what's the Khyber?" She asked.

"It's this little bar in Old City that these great bands love to play at," he explained, sitting up and getting excited. "Jess and I saw Broken Social Scene there not too long ago."

"I love them," Rory exclaimed, turning to face him.

"So does Jess," Matthew said, smiling slightly. "I can see why he's been pining for you all of these years."

Rory looked down at her lap and smiled shyly, her cheeks turning bright red and Matthew chuckled slightly before getting up from the couch and going to the kitchen. She heard him looking through the cabinets for something and then heard the clang of a bowl being set down and a box of cereal being rattled. When the box was set down and the noises stopped, she turned to look at him. He was resting against the counter and looking back at her. He started to say something and then stopped. This happened at least two times before Rory sat on her knees and looked at him over the back of the couch.

"What's wrong?" She asked nervously. The fact that she didn't really know Matthew had her worried; it looked like he was nervous about whatever he wanted to say.

"I don't want to sound like an asshole when I say this…" he started. He turned his back to her and started to pour his cereal into the bowl.

"Okay? What's up?" Now she was confused. He looked at her quickly and then turned back to what he was doing.

"If you're going to hurt him again then you should probably do it sooner rather than later. He took it really badly the last time he saw you and it really sucked for him. Just, you know, as his best friend, I'm doing my job and pulling the 'you hurt him, you die' card."

"Oh," she said, stunned. It literally felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She knew that if Lane had spent anytime with him she would've said the same thing to Jess, but still. She also knew that it was completely justified considering that Matthew was there when she left Philadelphia and he knew better than she did.

"Please, don't take this the wrong way. I like you and the other guys will like you, Jess loves you. I have no doubt in my mind that you care about him, but you broke him. I know that he broke you once, but he never stopped loving you. Please, don't break him again," Matthew said. He grabbed the milk out of the fridge, poured it in and finally turned back to look at Rory.

"I don't plan on hurting him, Matt. Thank you for telling me this, though, I guess," she said. He watched as she sat down on top of her legs and he decided to sit down next to her. "Is he afraid that I'm going to hurt him?"

"Jess doesn't talk about that kind of stuff unless he's drunk so, I wouldn't know," he explained, slurping his cereal as Rory moved to sit correctly on the couch.

"I think I love him," she whispered and Matthew coughed into his cereal.

"I can't know that before he does. I don't like secrets," he said, getting nervous. His door opened down the hall and a leggy blonde came towards them in a long sweatshirt and tube socks that were too big for her.

"Every time I sleep here I forget that you have hardwood floors and my feet freeze," the blonde said, talking to Matthew. She noticed Rory sitting on the other side of the couch. "Oh, I'm Morgan; a friend of Matthew's."

"I'm Jess's girlfriend, Rory," Rory told her, smiling slightly.

"That's a weird name. I thought that Jess's girlfriend's name was Julie," Morgan answered, shifting her weight to her left foot.

"No, Morgan. Julia is Chris's girlfriend," Matthew explained, shaking his head in disbelief. "How about you go get dressed and I'll walk you home?"

"Whatever," Morgan said as she turned her back to them and walked back down the hallway.

"Girlfriend?" Rory asked, trying to contain her laughter.

"No, absolutely not. She's an old friend and we sometimes sleep together," he explained, smiling triumphantly. "She's a peach, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah," Rory agreed, smiling in return. Matthew got up from the couch and put his bowl – half-full of cereal – into the sink before walking back to his bedroom. Rory shook her head, laughing silently. She sat silently mulling over her conversation with Matthew. She had to give him credit for speaking up like that. It's the kind of thing that Jess wouldn't like if he knew about it. She was happy that he had friends who cared enough to defend him and his feelings. She had never known a Jess with friends, but she liked it.

Jess walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and Rory walked down the hall to stop him before he reached his bedroom door. She cut him off and stood tall to stop him. He smirked slightly and stopped. "What's up, Ror?"

Without answering, Rory put her hands on either side of his face and pulled herself closer to his body, kissing him deeply. It caught him off guard, but he recovered and put his arms around her waist, completely closing the gap between their bodies. They kissed a few more times until they heard Matthew's door open behind them. Jess turned to look and saw Matthew and Morgan staring awkwardly at the two of them; he nodded with a nervous smirk.

"Nice dude," Matthew said before grabbing Morgan's hand and pulling her out of the apartment.

"What was that for?" Jess asked, rubbing the sides of her stomach and leaning his forehead against hers.

"No reason," she answered and kissed him softly one last time, rubbing the back of his neck. "You can get dressed; I'll be in the living room." Jess nodded and walked into his room once they had detached themselves from each other.

~*~*~

"Do you want some coffee?" Jess asked as the two of them turned the corner onto Jess's street. Rory had a bag full of cheap souvenirs that she knew Lorelai and Alex would love. Jess's arm was around her waist and her free thumb was hooked into the belt loops on the back of his pants.

"Is that even a question worth answering?" She asked back, smiling a toothy smile. He rolled his eyes at her roundabout answer and kissed the side of her head.

"Right, what was I thinking?"

"I guess you weren't."

Rory and Jess had always had communication issues in their relationship, but, at the same time, they knew how to keep up their loving teasing. This time around, though, they hadn't spent enough time as a couple to have the same issues they did the first time around. Not to mention, since the night before had been such a big step for the two of them, they were still living in the moment, completely happy. Rory didn't want to ask him about his past relationships even though she really wanted to know what he had been up to since they were last together. Jess didn't want to bring up Dean or Logan or anyone else that she may have slept with. He wanted to know, but he didn't want to ruin what they had going on. He was happy and that was rare.

"I won't be able to come to Boston this weekend until Saturday," Jess said suddenly. "If you want me to come down at all, that is."

Rory smiled softly to herself before turning to look at Jess. "Of course I want you to come. You can come on Saturday, whenever you want. Why not Friday?" She asked.

"Chris is moving out and I need to help him and start moving my things into his room," he explained, rubbing her side softly.

"Do you think that you could stay until Monday morning? You could join Alex and me for Sunday night movies," she suggested. "I could have him invite Kurt, like a double date."

"I can swing that," he answered, chuckling.

"Good, because I don't want to miss spending any time with you," Rory said, softly. She kissed his shoulder lightly and he kissed the crown of her head.

"The distance thing doesn't need to become any harder than it already is," he agreed and directed her into a small café a few doors down from Truncheon.

"I don't want to say this, but it's going to get harder every time one of us has to leave the other. I'm already dreading having to get into my car tomorrow afternoon," she told him sadly.

"We'll deal with it then. I don't want to think about it until I have to. I don't want to see you drive away," he told her as he slid his arm from her waist and reached into his pockets for rumpled bills. He looked to the barista, "I'll have a large coffee, just sugar." Then he looked at Rory so that she could order.

"Can I have a medium coffee with extra sugar, please?" She asked politely.

"Is this together?" The bored teenage girl asked from behind the counter.

"Yes," Jess answered before straightening out his money and handing it to her. They both waited quietly for their drinks to be handed to them. Rory smiled when she was handed her cup and reached for a coffee collar before turning away. She waited for Jess by the door and reached for his hand when he came closer. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly before opening the door with his foot.

"You still taste like that steak and cheese," she joked when they reached the sidewalk. Jess chuckled and sipped his coffee.

"I wouldn't be talking," he joked as he placed a hand on the small of her back, gently guiding her down the sidewalk.

"Oh, you're so cute. No wonder I keep you around," Rory teased. Jess took her hand and pulled her against the wall of Truncheon. He kissed her slowly, drawing out a quiet moan from her lips. "I keep you for that, too."

"Huh," he replied, kissing her again, laughing into the kiss. "Want to go upstairs and see if the guys are around?"

"I would love to," she answered and waited for him to lead the way. They sipped their coffees through Truncheon where Chris was sitting alone, typing away.

"Hey guys," he said, suddenly. Jess and Rory stopped walking. "Jess, I just finished the zine for this month. It can go to print on Monday."

"Sounds good," Jess answered, counting the days out in his head. "You're going to be home for dinner tonight, right? I figured I'd get pizza or Chinese, maybe cook."

"I'll definitely be there; Julia might show up at some point, too," Chris answered as he organized the papers on his desk. He stood up and pushed his chair in. "I have to go out for a while, but I'll see you at dinner." Jess nodded and Rory nodded with a smile.

As soon as Chris was gone, the two started u the stairs toward Jess's apartment. They walked into the apartment and Jess put Rory's bag on the floor near the door and called out Matt's name. There was no answer. He smiled slightly and pulled Rory towards the couch, placing their coffees onto the coffee table before lying down and pulling her on top of him.

"We have the whole apartment to ourselves," he whispered before leaning his head forward and kissing her gently. She smiled into his kiss. "What?" he asked as he pulled away.

"I feel like we should be expecting Luke to barge through the door in ten minute increments," she laughed and buried her head into the crook of his neck. She could feel his slight chuckle throughout his entire body.

"We're big kids now, Rory. There's no chance that Luke will be showing his face in my apartment," Jess told her. Rory nodded into his neck before shifting her body to lie next to him. She put her leg over his and hugged his torso while kissing his cheek.

"No Luke, but you do have roommates," she reminded him. That didn't stop her, however, from kissing his neck. It didn't stop him from slipping his hands underneath her shirt. Their magnetic force was stronger than any feeling either had ever felt. There was something about the two of them that made it impossible for them to deny the other. Ever since Jess first walked into her bedroom when they were in high school, there was something that always led them back to each other and there was usually something or someone standing in their way. Let it be Dean, Logan, school, their past, there was always something. Maybe they were lucky enough this time around that Rory and Jess could just skip the bullshit and let things happen.

He was now hoisted over her on the couch and he was attacking her lips with his own. She responded immediately, kissing him back strongly. She felt like he could taste every part of her, every part of their past, and everything that made her who she was. She hoped that what she tasted was the real Jess; that he was opening himself up to her like he had never done before. If that were the case, and at that very moment she believed it was, then she was justified in what was said between their heated kisses, their rough, loving touches, and their feverish bodies.

"I love you."