PART 7

The next few days went by in a blur…and too fast for both of them. Jess not being able to drive her back to New Haven and come back in time, they were waiting at the bus station for her bus to come, sitting on a bench, Rory's head resting on his shoulder.

"I don't want to leave" she suddenly blurted out.

"And I don't want you to go...but you have to. You have to finish Yale." he answered.

"I know...but now that we're back together, it's like nothing else matters to me. I don't want to waste any second far from you."

"Me neither, but, look..." he stopped, not knowing what to say next. "It's not like I'm leaving you behind again. You can call me whenever you want to...except maybe when I'm working..."

"I know that too...I'm just worried, that's all. I'll get over it."

He looked at her for a second then kissed her forehead. They stayed silent for a few more minutes until Rory's bus arrived.

"I think I have to go" she said but not making any move to stand up.

"Yeah" he said, not moving either.

A minute later, she finally stood up, grabbing her bags in the process, and Jess stood up too, then they walked to the coach. She dropped her bags in the luggage compartment then turned to him.

"I gotta go" she said. "School's beginning tomorrow and I have to settle in first."

"Well...have a nice trip, then."

She gave him a fake offended look and he just smirked then pulled her to him and kissed her.

"I love you" he said after they parted.

"I love you too" she answered. "I'll see you soon?"

"Definitely."

She smiled then kissed him again before reluctantly letting go and boarding the bus. He stayed there until he couldn't see it anymore and went back home. A few hours later, she finally stepped off of the coach. She went to take her bags then left the bus station for Yale. On her way there, she decided to call Jess to let him know she had safely arrived.

"Hello?" his voice said on the phone.

"Hey, it's me" she said, smiling.

"Oh, hey. You're in New Haven?"

"Yup. I arrived just minutes ago and I'm on my way to the campus. I was calling just to let you know I had safely arrived...and to hear your voice 'cause I already miss you."

"I already miss you too. It feels empty without you here" he paused. "Deb asked me something that was kind of embarrassing when I got back from the bus station..."

"What is it?"

"Well...she asked me if it was possible for me to ask to be more quiet..."

"More quiet? About what?"

She suddenly understood what he meant and she blushed furiously.

"Oh...oh my god...I feel so embarrassed right now..."

"And how do you think I'm feeling, huh? It's quite embarrassing for me too."

"Yeah...I can imagine...just tell her that I'll try to be more quiet the next time...oh my god..."

He laughed lightly.

"I'll tell her" he said. "Look, I have to go, I have some shopping to do before the stores close, okay?"

"Okay. Call me when you get back from work tomorrow?"

"Sure. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

She pressed the "end" button then decided to call her mother.

"Offspring!" Lorelei answered.

"Hey mom! How are you?"

"Better now that I hear from you. And you?"

"I'm fine. I'm really, really fine."

"So, why are you calling? Not that I'm complaining,but..."

"I just arrived from Philadelphia."

"Oh, right. How was your week?"

"It was great. Well...we were both nervous at the beginning, but that feeling got away quite quickly so the rest of the week was really great...it even passed too fast, I already miss him..."

"Ah, honey. I know what it is. I'm glad you had a great week. How's his place?"

"It's nice. Not that big, but it's enough. You should see his book collection! It's huge!"

"You mean that he has more books than what he had in Luke's appartment?"

"Yes. And what you saw in Luke's appartment was nothing. Three of the four walls of the living room are full with books, floor to ceiling. He also has a shelf in his bedroom that is overloaded. And my collection's supposed to be big..."

"Wow."

They talked until Rory had reached the campus. There, she found her dorm...which she was sharing with, once again, Paris, who didn't know who she was sharing with until Rory came in.

"Rory?" Paris said from the couch.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Wow. I was so nervous to know who was my roommate. I'm glad it's you."

"I'm glad it's you too. And I'm happy to be back."

"Glad to hear it. Welcome back."

"Thanks."

They hugged briefly then Rory went to unpack her things. Paris helped her while catching up.

"So, how's Huntzburger?" Paris asked while she was unpacking books.

"Well...I'm not with him anymore. I dumped him about two weeks ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, you'll never know who got me out of all the crap I was in."

"No, who?"

"Jess."

"Jess?"

"Yeah, Jess."

"Wow. I mean...He didn't seem to be the I-help-the-others type."

"He's changed, Paris. And for the better."

"That's great."

"Definitely."

They talked more while unpacking then when they sat down for dinner and until they went to bed. The next day, Rory went nervously to her classes but she relaxed when the people she knew welcomed her back. As promised, Jess called her when he got back from work and they talked for almost all the evening. A few nights later, Rory got a phone call from her mother.

"Hey mom!"

"Spring break!"

"What about spring break?"

"My wedding, I want it during spring break."

"Oh."

"What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea."

"And I want you to be my maid of honor."

"Sure!"

"Wanna come shopping with me next weekend?"

"Definitely!"

"Great!"

"Hum...mom?"

"Yes hun?"

"Could you come and pick me up Friday after my class?"

"Uh...sure. What time?"

"Huh...2."

"Okay. I'll be there."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I have to go, Luke's calling me."

"I so don't want to know why."

She hang up and got back to her homework. Minutes later, the phone rang again.

"Can't a girl have peace!" she exclaimed before answering, a little annoyed. "Hello?"

"Hey, am I disturbing you?" Jess asked on the other end of the line.

"Ah, you, never" she said happily. "What's up?"

"Well, I just had a phone call from my uncle."

"Luke?"

"Yup, Luke."

"What did he want?"

"He wants me to be his best man at his wedding."

"That's great! I mean...did you agree?"

"Yeah, why not? After all he did for me, I've never done anything to thank him. That's the least I can do."

"Ah, it's nice of you."

"Don't tell anyone, my reputation could be compromised."

She laughed.

"We wouldn't want that, huh?" she asked.

She paused.

"You know what, my mom just asked me to be her maid of honor. And I, as maid of honor, have to make-out with the best man. Good for me it's you!"

"Huh. I would have killed the other guy."

"I feel so privileged. Anyway, if it hadn't been you, I would just have had to walk down the aisle and share a dance with him. Now that it's you, I think there are more things I can do with the best man..."

"I don't dance."

"Oh no mister, you won't get out of that one. You'll dance."

"Will not."

"You will."

"Will not."

"You will."

"Will not."

"Will not."

"I will. Ah, dammit!"

"Ha! Gotcha! Jess, I only ask you one dance. And it will be the first dance of the newlyweds. We can't get out of that one anyway."

"Fine. But just that one."

"It's fine for me. Look, I have to hung up, I want to finish my homeowrk tonight, okay? Mom's coming to pick me up tomorrow after my class so I won't have anytime to work this weekend."

"Okay. I let you get back to your work. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok. Love ya."

"Love you too. Bye."

With that, they both hang up and Rory could finally get over with her homework. The next day, as planned, Lorelei was waiting in her jeep near her daughter's dorm for her daughter to come out. She finally appeared at 2:05 with a backpack on on of her shoulders, which she put in the jeep's trunk before sitting in the passenger's seat.

"Hey mom" she said happily.

"Hey hun. Ready to go?"

"Yup!"

So Lorelei pulled out of the parking lot and drove to Stars Hollow. She dropped Rory at Luke's then went back to work, telling her she would see her for dinner at Luke's. Rory entered the diner and took a seat at the counter.

"Hello Rory" Luke said.

"Hey Luke. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Good too. Can I please have a to-go cup of coffee?"

"Sure. Comin' right up."

"Thanks."

Luke turned around to prepare her order. He gave it to her a few seconds later.

"So, how are things with Jess?" he asked after he had given her the to-go cup.

She grinned.

"They're great. He's really changed, huh?"

"Yeah. But I like that new Jess."

"Me too. He's more opened. He's less afraid of his feelings. I think this relationship can just work from now on. I think...I think last time was at a bad time. The timing wasn't right."

"I tend to agree with you. He was mad at his mother...nothing was going right in his life at that time. But I still think nothing better could have happened to him than you, Rory."

She blushed lightly.

"You succeeded to knock some sense in him. He was beginning to change...Until he started neglecting school...as well as you. I wish he hadn't turned like that, but I can't do anything about that. Liz raised...well...I can't say she really raised him, but...anyway. His mother raised him like that. Since she wasn't living here when she had Jess, I couldn't have helped her. But now I see where Jess has gone and I'm proud of him. I'm glad he finally made something of his life. And I'm glad he's still young after he found a meaning to his life. I now trust him more and I have no objection with you two seeing each other...even if you're going to be step-cousins soon..."

"Don't even talk about it, please. Anyway, I don't care. We're not related by blood, only by alliance. It doesn't matter to me. I love him, that's all that counts."

"Yeah. I don't want to even think about that."

"Well, it was a nice talk, Luke, but I think I'll go home and unpack before mom come home 'cause I know I won't be able to unpack with her around. I'll see you for dinner."

"Sure thing. See you later!"

"Later!"

And Rory left. As she was passing by the square, she heard her name being called, and soon, Lane joined her.

"Hey Lane!" she said as she hugged her best friend. "How are you? It's been ages!"

"I know. I'm fine, and you?"

"I'm really good. Want to come with me to unpack my stuff? We could catch up in the same time."

"Sure!"

And they walked together to the Crap Shack. A few hours later, they headed to Luke, where Rory was supposed to meet her mother for dinner. They separated and Rory entered the diner. She joined her mother at a table near the window.

"Hey mom."

"Hey hun. I already ordered since you were taking your time to come."

"Did you order for me?"

"Yes."

"Thanks. So, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Wedding dress shopping for me and maid of honor dress shopping for you. Oh! and shoes."

They grinned.

"Sounds great. What time do we leave?"

"I was thinking 8."

"You think you can wake up that early?"

"When it come to shopping, always."

"Okay then."

Luke arrived with their plates, put them in front of the girls then went back to work. That night, the girls talked until Luke's arrival then went to bed. The next day, the girls left Stars Hollow after a quick breakfast at Luke's and headed to Harford for their first bridal store of the day. At lunch time, they still hadn't found anything, much to Lorelei's discouragement. In the afternoon, they shopped for Rory's maid of honor dress, which they found quite quickly. It was of a light shade of blue, strapless and asymetrical. It was simple, but Rory looked beautiful in it.

"You look amazing, hun" Lorelei said when Rory got out of the changing room. "Jess's going to go insane. Just try no to be more beautiful than me, please?"

"I promise" Rory answered, smiling. "You really think it suits me well?"

"I just told you, hun. You look amazing. Now go and change back so that we can go shoe shopping to ma my morale up again."

"Okay!"

Minutes later, Rory re-emerged out of the changing room. She went to pay for the dress then they excitedly went to the shoe store. A couple of new pairs of shoes later, right on time for dinner, they entered Luke's.

"Hey girls" Luke said, "take a seat, I won't be long."

"Anywhere?" Lorelei asked.

"Anywhere."

Lorelei approached a table that was already taken.

"Could you please move?" she asked the couple sat at the table.

Luke arrived and pushed her to the nearest empty table.

"I hate when you to that. Now sit, I'll come and take your order in a minute."

"Okay."

He gave her a quick kiss before going back to what he was doing. Rory and Lorelei sat down and waited for Luke to come. After dinner, they went home and, after they had put away the stuff they had bought, they met in front of the tv. The next day, Rory went back to Yale after another day of shopping with her mother, who had maybe found THE dress.

Sorry for the time I took to update, school's keeping me really busy...Please review!