A/N: It's been a while since my last update, but this is going to be a longer chapter. Oh, and I also took the idea for Truth in this chapter from the book The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. Good book. Yeah, that's about all I have to say, so... thanks for all the great reviews, and please R&R.

Disclaimer: Though I babysit, I don't think 6 bucks an hour is going to cover the amount it would need to purchase the rights to Gilmore Girls.

It had been two and a half months since Rory left him, and now that classes were over (which meant book discussions) she was doing just fine, thank you very much, Not that she said that when people asked. She shortened it to a nicer 'fine' when asked by her mom, Luke, Andrew, Lane, Dean, Gypsy, Kirk, and a drooling Babette and Miss Patty. Stars Hollow had been having a gossip dry spell, and they were practically down on their hands and knees asking Rory what happened. But she didn't give them that satisfaction.

Rory and Lorelai were now at Luke's, playing a rousing game of If You Had To.

"'If you had to'?" Luke asked, confused. "I thought it was 'would you rather?'"

"No, no, no," Lorelai scolded him. "That is an entirely mainstream sleepover game. This is if you had to choose something for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

"Yeah," Rory added. "And if you refuse to answer a question, you loose."

"And you have to tell the truth- you can't just pick something for the sake of picking something."

"It's my turn, so I'll ask mom: If you had to pick, um, would you choose beer or Coke for the rest of your life?"

Lorelai was silent for awhile. "Could the Coke be diet or the beer be light?"

Rory thought about it. "No. The calories in their entirety."

Lorelai stayed quiet for a little while longer. She turned to Luke. "What would you choose?"

Luke stared at them. "Neither. I will drink beer, but not for the rest of my life. And Coke is just a bunch of factory-produced chemicals, so not that either."

"Factory-produced chemically goodness!" Lorelai scoffed. When Luke continued to look at them incredulously, she followed up with a weak, "Oh, that is so not in the spirit of the game," knowing she had already lost.

Luke shook his head at them, and walked away to give Caesar their order. When he returned with their food (two burgers, two fries, and eight Cokes), they had moved on to fast food.

"Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut?" Rory grinned evilly.

"No!" Lorelai wailed. "Not the two best fast food road restaurants!"

Rory shrugged her shoulders. "Gotta choose, or you loose."

"You rhymed," Lorelai said hopefully.

Rory shook her head while saying, "Sorry, I'm not going to forget."

Lorelai pouted as Luke watched the mother-daughter pair play this ridiculous game. "How will I ever choose between medically enhanced chicken and pizza made in the grease Luke pats off our bacon?"

"How did you..." Luke looked at Lorelai in a confused, angry, and somewhat amused way.

Lorelai patted his arm. "Years of spying and eavesdropping, my friend."

"Hey, I didn't know that!" Rory turned from her mom to Luke. "I want extra greasy bacon next time!" Before Luke could respond, she had already turned back to Lorelai. "So, KCF or Pizza Hut?"

"Kentucky Chicken, Pizza in a Hut," Lorelai said in a pained voice. Suddenly, a smile crossed her face, and she started to nod. "Yeah, yeah, that'll work!"

"What?" Rory and Luke asked simultaneously.

"I just had a HUGE epiphany!" It was Lorelai's turn to grin evilly. "I," Lorelai took a pause for dramatic effect. "I would go to a KenTacoHut!"

"Hmmm," Rory considered. "I will give you full points for creativity, and the fact that no one can live life without KenTacoHuts."

"Yes!" Lorelai pumped her arm up and down. "So, taking that amount of skill and wit to come up with that brilliant answer, do you still think the game is stupid?" She raised her eyebrows at Luke expectantly.

"Well, I don't know about the game, but you are the only person that could come up with an answer that skates around the rules without it looking like your skating, so I guess that takes a certain amount of skill and wits," Luke conceded.

Lorelai gave him a wide smile. "Well, what can I say?"

"You are amazing," Luke heard himself say, and then immediately regretted it when he saw the puzzled but pleased look on Lorelai's face. Oh crap, Danes, you've done it now.

Suddenly, Liz burst through the door. "Big brother, big brother, big brother!" She wrapped him in a giant bear hug, and as Luke returned the gesture, he mentally wiped his forehead. Saved by the bell.

"Have I got the most stupendous news for you!" Liz, gripping Luke's arms, beamed at him. Just then, TJ walked through the door.

"Did ja' tell him babe? The news?"

"Just about, TJ."

"What news?" Luke looked down at his sister and her idiot of a boyfriend that Jess had so rightly pegged as 'having a certain something.' One of the only things he had in common with that kid, besides their mutual hate for fluffy Stars Hollow stuff and Taylor. But those two things usually came hand in hand.

"Well..." Liz was bopping up and down now. Luke did too, since Liz still had a hold on him. Otherwise, he'd have no part in the 'bopping.'

"It's real big!" TJ jumped in. "Huge, I'd dare say."

Luke slowly pulled his arms from Liz's and crossed them. "Just tell me."

Liz stopped bopping and starting bouncing. Not being able to contain her excitement any longer, she burst out, "We're getting married! TJ and me, married! Can you believe it?"

Luke could only raise his eyebrows.

-gGg-

When Rory heard Jess' mom announce to the whole diner she was getting married, time stopped. Though she heard Luke say Wow, uh, great Liz, and her mom pop up and say Congrats, Rory didn't process it. All she could think of was Jess.

Lorelai glanced over at her daughter. Rory quickly looked away. But her mom caught the look. The how-freaking-great look. The I'm-about-to-barf look. The I'm-getting-the-hell-out-of-here look.

"Oh, Rory, don't you have some studying to do?" Lorelai asked Rory, eyes full of meaning. Rory gave an emotionless nod, and proceeded to walk out of the diner. Lorelai was still looking at her, and Rory could tell she was trying to relay a message mentally. Rory guessed that her mom was trying to tell her that she'd tell Rory what happened when Rory got home. That Rory would get through this. That Jess probably wouldn't go anyway. All through wiggling her eyebrows. Rory nodded and walked blindly out the door, pausing only to listen to Luke say:

"What? He's not coming? The punk... Don't you worry, I'll call him. And- Lorelai, what the heck is wrong with your eyebrows?"

-gGg-

Jess was lounging on his air mattress, reading Great Expectations for the umpteenth time. He was deep in the book, as he had learned to block out the sound of Todd's snores and the smell of Pete's pot (he'd gotten over the alliteration about the thirtieth time Pete had tried to come up with a name for his business.) Jess tried to steer clear of these guys, mostly on the fact they were stupid morons. He only dealt with them because between his messenger job, Todd's security position, and Pete's 'business,' they barely managed to pay the rent, even for one crummy room in Manhattan. He only insisted that Pete keep the goods out of the apartment. He had no desire to get arrested.

It was due to this reason that Jess almost missed the phone. It was on the last ring that he leaped over Todd and dived on the couch, answering right in the nick of time.

"Nice, man," Todd said appreciatively, the sound of the phone having woken him up. Jess rolled his eyes and he began to speak.

"Lo'?" Jess wasn't into long greetings. It invited too many conversations with random friends of his roommates, who, not unlike his roomies, spoke slowly and with no apparent reason.

"Jess? It's Luke." Jess let out deep sigh. He was in no mood to talk with his uncle.

"Yeah, what?"

"You're not going to Liz's wedding?"

"Um, no. Hey how'd you get my number?"

"How did you find out that I took your car?" Luke retorted.

"Touché," Jess replied sarcastically.

"Anyway," Luke said, ignoring Jess' last comment, "you are coming to your mother's wedding, no questions asked."

"Why do I have to listen to you?" Jess said, sounding stupidly like a 5-year-old.

He heard Luke make an aggravated sound. "Because, because, you took some of my books when you left, didn't you?"

"Um, yeah," Jess said, not knowing what this had to do with the conversation. "You were never going to read them."

"I never said you could take them," Luke answered triumphantly. "You stole! But I won't say anything if you come to the wedding."

"Fine," Jess gave in.

"What?" Luke sounded surprised, probably because Jess agreed so readily.

"I said fine. But not because you asked," his male ego spoke out. "Only because you won't stop bugging me if I don't agree." When Jess heard silence on the other end, he added, "And not because of her."

"Who?" Luke asked innocently. Well, as innocent as an unshaven mid-30's man can sound.

"Whatever. I'm over it, she's over it, and I won't talk her." Jess really wasn't in the mood to discuss their meeting in California. "I'll see you tonight, and I'm staying at your place."

"Okay," he heard Luke answer, right before he clicked the phone off. He pushed himself off the couch and grabbed his duffel bag. He shoved the Dickens in it, as well as a couple other books, money, and minimal clothing. Putting his leather jacket on, he left the apartment, not bothering to tell Todd where he was going or how long he would be gone. He walked out of the falling-apart building, and headed to the bus station, getting ready to purchase a round trip to Stars Hell-ow.

-gGg-

One hour later, Rory was sitting on the couch, eating a variety of chips, and her mom bounded through the door. Lorelai sat down, grabbed a handful from each bag, and started in.

"So, babe," she said with her mouth full. "Want to know what's happening?" When Rory shrugged, Lorelai continued. "So Liz is getting married, Renaissance theme," she smiled when she said this. "Anyway, Luke called Jess and got him to come. Are you okay with that?"

Rory shrugged again. "I have to be."

Lorelai sighed, and put her arm around Rory and squeezed. "Come on, Rory. Tell me more about what happened in California. I need to know to understand."

Rory looked at her mom with sad eyes, and began. "Well, at first we fought. Then we started to talk about books, and we were sort of friends again. Then I met him at a concert with Paris, and he asked me to dance."

Chips spewed out of Lorelai's mouth. "Jess asked you to dance?"

"Uh huh, but I said no. Because I hadn't really forgave him, you know? But he seemed to understand when I said it was too fast, but the next day he said he was staying in California, and I was leaving. I said that it was weird, and I was still mad at him, and we hadn't even talked about it, and then I left."

The two were quiet for a little while. Lorelai spoke up. "Well, hon, did you ask him anything. Like why he left? Why did he get mad at you when you wouldn't, you know," Lorelai gestured, the words not coming.

"No," Rory answered quietly. "I didn't. But he should have explained, or apologized, or something."

"Well, that's not really the Jess," Lorelai gave Rory a pointed look. "Now, I know I am that kid's biggest hater, but this is really tearing you up. I can tell. So, maybe, you should talk about it instead of getting mad that he didn't bring it up. " Lorelai took another handful of chips. "Have him give a cracked up answer, then get mad."

Rory thought about it. "I'm more mad that he didn't say he was sorry than that he left. I mean, he wasn't a very good boyfriend. And he shouldn't have left without telling me. But, it was good for both of us. I thought we could be friends, or something, though. I still like talking to him."

Lorelai gave Rory a little pat. "Why don't you go grab us some of those good sugary doughy things from Al's, and I'll pick up Mission Impossible, and you can think about it."

"Appropriate title."

"I thought so."

-gGg-

Rory had just arrived at Al's, and already she was disappointed. And it nothing to do with Jess, which was strange, because that had been the cause of most of her frustration for the past two and a half months. Al's was closed, which meant no sugar buns.

Rory made and exasperated sound, then muttered, "Why the heck are they closed at 2 on a Wednesday?"

"Well, I heard Kirk say that he was going Algerian, so that means you have about a 3 hour wait, if I am remembering right," she heard a familiar voice say behind her.

Rory whirled around. "Jess," she said breathlessly.

He held up his hands. "The one and only." He gave her a small, sad smile, and then said, "I'll go now." He turned around and started to walk away, but then stopped when Rory said, "Wait."

He turned around and looked at her expectantly. Rory took a deep breath, and then said, "We need to talk." When he didn't shoot down the idea, Rory continued. "I like being your friend, and I think I dealt with California wrong, but I'm still mad at you. I think, though, maybe you explained some stuff, maybe we could be friends again. Maybe."

Jess nodded once. "So, you just want to sit down right now and pull a Full House heart-to-heart?"

Rory smiled against her will. "No, I was thinking we could play a game."

"A game," Jess repeated.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's kind of a sleepover game," Jess made a noise, but Rory went on. "It's called Truth. I ask you a question, you have to answer with the truth. Then you ask me, and so on. You can pass one question, but you loose if I can't answer the next one." Rory waited as Jess looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"Okay."

Rory was instantly relived. Maybe, just maybe, this would work. "Meet me at the gazebo at 3? We could get something to eat, or do another thing, whatever we want." Noticing the look on Jess' face, Rory added, "No matter was any resident of Stars Hollow thinks."

Jess gave a smile, barely noticeable, but there. "Okay."

Rory smiled back. "Good."