A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews.

Disclaimer: Lather, rinse, repeat the last few disclaimers.

Ch. 7- Holiday Hangover

The sun had finished rising and Rory Gilmore was still sleeping peacefully. Her body was trying to awaken at the faint aroma of freshly brewed coffee, but her brain wouldn't listen. The previous night had been exhausting, but the ending had been so good she kept reliving it over again in her dreams and she did not want to wake up and have it all end. So she stayed in a half-conscious, but still technically asleep state, waiting until she had an undeniable reason to get up. She got one when a familiar voice caused her eyes to pop open and her body to jolt upright.

"Hmm… I wonder where Jess could have gone. He's not on the couch anymore" Lorelai said loudly in a sing-song voice right outside of Rory's bedroom door.

"What's wrong? Lay back down" Jess said lazily when he felt Rory sit up abruptly.

"My mom is awake and she knows you're in here" she replied frantically.

"So? If she was that upset about it, she would have come barging in and started beating me with a shoe or something" he calmly reasoned with her, sitting up and putting his arm around her.

"Oh no. This is worse, trust me. She's just messing with me now. The real bomb is going to drop in about ten minutes. It's gonna be bad" Rory said dramatically.

"Fine, fine. I still think you're overreacting" Jess said, climbing across her and starting to dress himself.

"You remember the first night we met and you tried to get me to climb out the window with you? I'm totally up for that now."

"Hey, you know me, I'm always down for sneaking out, and I certainly wouldn't have resisted that offer last night at your grandparent's house, but how is coming in from outside any better than coming out from here? You said your mom already knows. Won't she make fun of you more if you try to hide it?"

"I wasn't planning on coming back… ever. God, I'm stupid. I will never hear the end of this" Rory lamented, shaking her head slowly as she pulled on a fresh pair of jeans.

"Seriously, you two, Luke will be down soon so you better get out here now if you want to avoid the freak-out" came Lorelai's voice through the doorway.

Jess smirked at Rory, clearly thinking it was safe to exit now, and headed from the bedroom to the kitchen. Rory was torn between staying in her room and locking herself in forever and going to the kitchen to at least enjoy one last cup of coffee before the killing commenced. The strong aroma of coffee now that the door was open made her decision for her. She walked in, shocked to see her mother pouring Jess a cup of coffee and not even spilling any of it on him "accidentally". She took a deep breath.

"Morning, Mom. Coffee smells good" she said, trying to sound as nonchalant as her mother and boyfriend were acting.

"I convinced Luke to let me take some from the diner to make at home when I'm running late. I even stole some of his to-go cups, but he found them and took them back. I got this handy travel mug instead" Lorelai explained, grabbing a mug from the counter that had clearly never been used before and handing it to her daughter.

"Hey, I could actually use one of these on the road so I don't have to keep drinking crappy coffee all day long. Do you think Luke would let me have a bag or two of his coffee, too? I miss it so much when I'm away."

"No way! If he gives you his coffee, you'll have no reason to come home" Lorelai said as she snatched the mug back from Rory.

"He doesn't know that you took the coffee does he?" Rory accused.

"Well, not technically, but in a few months the whole 'what's mine is yours' thing goes into full effect, and I intend to take advantage of it" Lorelai defended herself.

Jess sat back, watching the two women bantering back and forth, glad he wasn't being forced to make awkward conversation. He actually listened to them, allowing a distraction from his own thought process. He wanted to have a pleasant morning before the goodbyes began. He was dreading the afternoon. It was obvious that Lorelai felt the same way, otherwise she would probably be making jokes about the events of the previous night. When Luke finally came downstairs, there was no evidence that anything untoward had happened. He had a new found respect for Lorelai for not being angry and even being nice toward him. He had thought she would be one to hold a grudge to the grave, but was glad to be wrong about it. Once Luke left for the diner, Jess decided to go with him so he could start packing and give Rory and her mom some alone time. With the men gone, Rory waited for the barrage to start, but it never came. She decided to approach the topic herself because she couldn't take the suspense anymore.

"Mom, why aren't you mad?"

"Why would I be mad? You haven't done anything wrong. Besides, this is the third guy I've caught you with, I'm kind of used to it by now" her mom replied.

"Geez, way to make me sound slutty," Rory said jokingly, "So you're really okay with me and Jess?"

"You know, I think I am. I know the situation is not very traditional, but he seems to make you happy and he's making an effort to be a decent human being to the rest of us, so yeah. He's not so bad all grown up."

"I don't want to leave yet, Mom" Rory said, starting to tear up.

"I don't want you to leave either, kid."

"I feel like I haven't gotten to spend any time with you. I'm so sorry. I've been so caught up with the whole Jess thing that I didn't even realize how little time I had with you."

"That's what happens when you fall in love. You forget all the important people, like the ones who gave you life…" Lorelai teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Okay, I get it. I'll stop blubbering like an idiot now. Let's just enjoy our last day together."

"That's the spirit! Now, do we want to go to the mall and exchange the gifts your grandmother got us?"

"You are so bad! And yes." Rory replied with a smile as she prepared to spend some quality time with her mother, finally.

A/N: I'm so over this chapter. Sorry if the end sucks, but the next chapter should be entertaining if I can get it out of my head properly.