CHAPTER SEVEN

** Something Borrowed **

Genre: Romance
Pairing: Rory/Jess
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Rory, Jess, Emily, Luke, Lorelai, Marty and all other recognizable "Gilmore Girls" characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, and the WB. There is no profit from the copyrighted characters or infringement intended.


Marty showed up fifteen minutes later and picked Rory up in front of Jess' apartment building.

"Hungry?" he asked Rory as she climbed into the car with her stuff.

"I'm starving," Rory admitted.

"Well, you're in for a treat, my sister Monica's making Mexican food tonight and she said you're definitely welcome to join us for dinner and to spend the night."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful, Marty. Thank you for coming to rescue me. I don't know what I what I would have done if it hadn't been for you and your sister. Jess can be such a moody jerk. It's pretty scary to think I was almost going to marry him."

"Well… I guess you at least know where you stand as far at that goes and you don't have to worry about that decision anymore. Are you still planning on going to New York?"

"Damn straight!"

"That's good to hear. I live there now, you know."

"You do?"

"Yeah, that's where I caught the bus this morning… oh, that's right… you weren't awake when I got on. Anyway, I'm a Director there for a large non-profit organization that's involved with a lot of volunteer work and I live about three blocks away from my office, on the Upper West Side. You'd love the Upper West side, Rory, it's a beautiful area of Manhattan and there's a lot going on there. Maybe you should think about living near there, too. I have a great broker who could show you around and probably get you a good deal on a place."

"Well, I should probably check with Logan, I'm sure I'll want to live near where he lives," Rory replied frankly.

"Logan from Yale?" Marty asked incredulously, he thought he'd be spared from ever hearing that name again, let alone having to hear that they now occupied the same island.

"Yeah, he's gonna get me a job at the New York Times and my grandmother thinks we should live near each other, but hey, I'm sure I'll get to see you around the city at least once in a while," Rory remarked, making it sound like to Marty that it would be a privilege to ever actually get to see her.

"Maybe we will, but my job and friends do keep me kind of busy, though" Marty responded, stopping short of saying something else he wanted to say in response to Rory's sophomoric remarks.


The next day Marty dropped Rory off at The Philadelphia Greyhound Bus Terminal bright and early so she could catch the first bus back to Hartford, after the way she'd rubbed Logan in his nose the night before, when he'd picked her up from Jess' and offered to try to help her out with a place to live in New York, he'd figure he didn't need to spend any more time with her than was necessary.

Coincidentally, Jess happened to be driving by as Marty was dropping Rory off and Jess had to do a double-take, from a distance, when he thought Marty was Dean.

"Ah, geez!" he muttered out loud to himself. "Is that do-goody Frankenstein coming here to rescue Rory? What's he doing here? He must be on his third marriage by now. – " then Jess took a closer look and realized it wasn't Dean, after all. Well… well… well…add another number to this Sudoku puzzle. Who the hell is that now? he thought and his curiosity finally got the better of him as he pulled into the station to catch up with Marty.

"Hey, weren't you just dropping off Rory Gilmore?" Jess called out from his car.

"Yeah, I… Are you Jess?" Marty asked, quickly getting that it couldn't be possibly be anyone else in Philadelphia asking about Rory.

"Guilty," Jess answered flatly.

"Nice to meet you, name's Marty," he said cordially. "I knew Rory at Yale and I just dropped her off here so she could catch the bus back to Hartford."

"You must be relieved," Jess replied sarcastically.

Marty started laughing at Jess' remark. He'd been somewhat taken in by Rory's declaration that Jess was a moody jerk, but so far he seemed like an okay guy from what he could see.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but I am relieved," Marty replied, still laughing.

"I guess we're starting to block traffic over here, and I'm actually on my way to join some buds from my publishing company for brunch at a restaurant over near Washington Square. You're welcome to join us," Jess offered.

Marty found the opportunity to talk to Jess about Rory very intriguing so he quickly accepted the invitation. "Sounds good, Jess!"

"Follow me," Jess instructed as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove over to the Silk City Diner.

As they walked into the kitschy 50s style diner, Marty cast an amused glance around the restaurant, this place definitely did not look like the type of place he pictured Jess hanging out at.

Jess caught Marty's expression out of the corner of his eye, "Don't let the diner atmosphere fool you. They serve some of the best food in the city and they have music acts here on Friday and Saturday nights that are totally off the charts."

The three friends from Truncheon Books that Jess was meeting for brunch had already arrived ahead of him and were waiting for him at a large booth in the corner of the diner.

"Hey everybody, sorry I'm late," Jess announced as he and Marty joined them at the table. "This is Marty, he's a friend of a friend of mine. Marty, this is Amber, Adam and Nick. We all work together at my little publishing company called Truncheon Books and we get together every Saturday morning to blow off the shit that got on us during the work week."

"Hey, Marty," Amber said, immediately extending her hand. "Jess ,where you been hiding this guy? He's hot!" Amber declared playfully.

Marty thoroughly enjoyed receiving Amber's compliment. She was a gorgeous woman with silky blond hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back, and she had deep, golden caramel colored eyes that perfectly matched the color of the stone that she was named for.

"Settle down, Amber and keep a sweater on your imagination," Jess said, pretending to scold her for coming onto Marty.

"Nice to meet you, too, Amber," Marty chuckled warmly.

"Hey, Jess, should we get a pitcher of Bloody Marys?" Nick asked.

"Nick, you ask the same fu****** question every time we come here. Just order the damn pitcher of Bloody Marys and quit asking me," Jess grumbled impatiently before he turned to Marty to resume the conversation they'd started at the bus station.

TO BE CONTINUED…