A/N: My new Literati fic takes place after Season 4 episode 12 - A Family Matter. But I changed few things. Jess came back in Stars Hollow after year of absence. He and Rory met again in the night when he spent in his car before his uncle diner. In my fic Lorelai is single and Rory just started her first year in the college. What would happen if they actually had a chance to fix things between them? What choices Rory would make if Jess was a factor in her life? What if Jess hadn't ran? Read and you'll see.

As a special note I would add – my first language is not English. Please excuse my grammar here and there. Review if you like and please – enjoy the story. I really hope my Literati muse came back. I missed writing for these two.

Yours,

ArinnaVal


Chapter 8 Fighting for his heart

No one noticed when Lorelai left the room quietly. Rory and Jess just stared at each other, both with stern faces. The atmosphere in the room was thick and full of tension. Rory was still sitting close to Jess and her hand was still holding his. He hadn't noticed that apparently, because he didn't pull back. Rory was sure he would in otherwise.

"Go back to your fancy school and just forget about me, okay?" He coughed. His throat felt dry. Rory got off her chair and held his head, helping him to drink from the glass of water.

"You obviously can't live without me, I get it." She muttered when she put the empty glass back on its place.

"What?" Jess frowned.

"I'm just so irresistible for you." She sighed theatrically. "But Jess, you should've told me you can't live without me instead of crashing your car."

"What the-", his face darkened even more.

"It's okay." Rory carefully pet his hair.

"I just told you to go away!"

"I'll be back." She nodded and leaned to kiss his forehead as if she hadn't heard him at all.

"Jess!" Luke's voice interrupted them, but Rory grinned when she turned around to see him standing by the door. "Lorelai told me you're awake!"

"He is!" Rory grinned even more and looked back at Jess. "I'll see you soon, Dodger."

"But-but…" Jess stammered.

"Take care of him okay?" She tapped Luke's shoulder on her way out of the room. Luke was only able to nod.

That day looked really good, she thought on her way out of the hospital. Rory looked up at the sky and thought the Sun was never looked brighter than now. She got into her car with a smile on her face and drove off to her home, knowing her mother was already there.

Rory was mistaken though. Lorelai wasn't at home. The house was empty and quiet. Rory rubbed the back of her neck and got into her room, closing the door behind her back. The bed looked tempting, but she looked at the books over her desk and thought a little studying would be nice. She's been neglecting her classes since the car crash. Now she had to do some work.

Lane stopped by to see her later that day. She wanted to know how Jess was. Rory was surprised, but invited her in. A small escape from the study was well welcomed.

"So, how's the things?" Lane folded her legs on the big couch in the living room. Rory sat on the armchair opposite her and just shrugged. Lane frowned. "What is that supposed to mean, Gilmore?"

"You want to eat something?" Rory offered her a fake smile.

"Nah, thanks. My roommates cooked me really nice dinner. I went out for a walk only because it was too noisy there. You know how boys are." Lane babbled.

"Uh… No?"

Lane waved her hand and leaned her head back on the couch. "I met your mom and she told me you're back home. She was chatting with Caesar right before the Luke's place, telling him that his pancakes don't work for her." Lane shook her head. "Anyways…"

"So, Jess came by to see me before the crash." Rory said all of a sudden.

"I've been here 20 minutes, and you drop this now?" Lane's eyes widened.

"He just showed up that night."

"Why? What did he say?"

"Well –"

"Wait!" Lane took a pose as if she's going to listen to Rory really carefully then sighed. "Go."

"My mom and I were on our way to the burgers and he just showed up out of nowhere."

"What did he want?"

"Nothing… he just… he said he loves me and-" Rory looked down at her clasped hands.

"Oh, my God!" Lane squealed. "What did you say?"

"I said - I don't know. It was so weird. He was just... Jess. I mean, he shows up out of no where, telling me this. It was awful."

"It doesn't sound awful."

"What are you talking about?" Rory looked up at Lane. "Jess bailed on me twice."

"I know, but how incredibly romantic to have this guy show up out of the blue and tells you he loves you." Lane sighed with dreamy eyes. "Maybe the next time he's gonna ask from you is to sail away with him."

Rory frowned. "Sail away? What are you talking about? When I first met Jess, I thought, "What could be better than this? He's smart, good taste in books and music, so cute." But Jess is great one minute and then the next - you know, as far as I know, I could have said yes, packed my bag, and by the time I got to the car, he would have changed his mind… which he did…. And then he had the car crash! Everything he's doing from then on is to just push me away!" Rory bit her trembling lower lip. "I love that idiot and I know… I know it's a mistake. A huge one!"

"It's part of why he's cute. He's unpredictable." A small smirk danced onto Lane's lips.

"I guess. You know, when I was with Dean, I always knew that no matter what happened, he would be there."

"Dean was very dependable." Lane nodded.

"It was more than that. He's - well, he was so... um, I was safe, and he was so nice to me."

"He really loved you… and he was also boring." Lane trailed off.

"I think I really blew it there, you know? I didn't appreciate it, but…" Rory's voice trembled again. "Jess came into my life and took every piece of my heart. I wish I could control my feelings for him, but…"

"Every girl has to fall for a bad boy. It's the rule." Lane put a side of her head in her hand. "But you fell for Jess really hard and you've never gotten your heart back… maybe it's time to listen to it. If you want him then…"

"… I have to fight with that stubborn ass, I know." Rory sighed.

She went back to studying and Lane eventually fell asleep on the couch. Rory threw a blanket over her friend and went back to her study. She fell asleep eventually, with her head on the books instead of the fluffy pillow. Her neck hurt when she woke up, but she simply rubbed it and put her books in the small back she had for the classes.

When she walked out her room, Lane was gone and her mother also. She had left her a note on the fridge, telling her something about some horses. Rory laughed and got out of the house, leaving a message on Luke's cell that she's going to visit Jess later.

Rory got into her car and drove off to Yale. When she finally got there, she was too sleepy to even walk. She just went in and fell on her bed there, leaving a message on Lorelai's voicemail. "Mom, it's me, I left you a message at home, too. I love that you got horses. As far as that pony ride when I was a kid, you were forgetting one little tidbit there. That pony did not lie down. He died, okay? He died. And then the owner dragged him away by the back legs. Every time I use glue, I think of him. But I'll watch you ride, how's that? Call me back, bye."

She dropped the phone onto the nightstand and closed her eyes, finally trying to get some sleep.

"What are you doing here?" Lane's voice made her growl and she opened her eyes again.

"I live here and I thought I could finally get some sleep."

"But you have game theory class in fifteen minutes." Lane knew her schedule surprisingly well.

"I just thought I would lie down and rest for a while." Rory yawned. "And what are you doing here? Are you following me?"

Lane didn't answer directly. "I knew it. You were up too late last night. I know I should have told you "lights out."

"I had to finish my paper." Rory frowned. "I did that and I got only few hours of sleep… well, maybe only two."

"Your brain needs sleep."

"It can sleep when I finish my paper."

"And then there'll be another paper… or Jess…"

"Mom-" Rory rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean." Lane shook her head. "And by the way, your mom told me where to find you. She wanted to make sure you're alright… and I had a day off."

"You look out for me." Rory grinned.

"It's what I do. Okay, go lay down."

"Yes, ma'am." Rory yawned again, but managed to giggle. "And I'm lying. Now only need some sleep."

"And stay off drugs." Lane joked and stormed off the room, laughing.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, a weird smell made her to open her eyes again. "Whoa, what's that smell?" She yelled and her other roommate, Tanna peeked out the other open door.

"It's the smoke from my soldering iron. I love it. I love burning things. I love the hot tip of my soldering iron as it liquefies metal and singes the wires –"

"Honey, how long you been doing that?" Rory rolled her eyes, sitting on the bed and kissing her sleep bye-bye.

Tanna checked her watch. "Three hours."

Rory got off her bed and removed the iron from Tanna's hand. "Take a break, okay?" Tanna just nodded and Rory dropped the iron onto her desk, before heading back to bed. "Now sleep…" She mumbled, but just then the door got slammed again and she jumped off her bed. "WHAT?"

She saw Paris walked in, followed by Jannet's grumpy face.

"Oh, good, you're all here, so we can clear this up." Paris started with her shrill voice. "I found this lying around, and it must belong to one of you because who else would have clothing here? I ask you." She holded up a shirt with the name Kleebold across the back. "Anyone? Anyone?"

"Paris." Jannet rolled her eyes, dropping on her own bed. "Oh hey, Rory."

Paris continued. "Anyone? You know, maybe I misspoke. It may not be a shirt. Anyone lose a car cover? Anyone? Anyone?"

Jannet grunted out. "Knock it off."

"I'm just trying to find a nice way to tell you that your behemoth boyfriend is getting a little too comfortable around here. And I speak for everyone." Paris didn't stop tho.

"Leave me out of this." Rory put a pillow over her face.

"Me too, please." Tanna shrugged.

"I just don't want to walk into our bathroom and find him sitting on the john shooting up steroids." Paris was furious.

"He does not take steroids." Jannet chimed in.

"You mean that unsightly girth is nature given? He must curse God nightly."

"Enough!" Jannet scoffed, but that didn't stop Paris.

"And the shirt—".

"He's big, Paris. She got it." Rory interrupted her. "Can you calm down now? Some people here are trying to sleep! The key word is… trying!"

"You're not supporting me in this?" Paris looked at her friend with disbelief in her eyes. Rory couldn't blame her. She was always on her side, but right now and with all the problem she had, a scandal over a man's shirt was too much even for Rory's nerves.

"Just leave Jannet alone, okay? Tanna can have her experiments and you can all chill so I have a little sleep! I haven't slept in few days! But who's asking me how I feel? No one! You know what? I'm just gonna put the pillow over my head again and you just pretend I'm not here!" And Rory did just that.

"What's wrong with her?" Rory heard Paris asking and then the silence. "Hey, Gilmore!" She nudged her.

"I'm not here!"

"What's going on?" Rory heard a door closed, this time quietly and when she uncovered her face, she saw Paris standing in the room alone. "You're not the nice little girl we all know. Spill!"

"Jess came back."

"Jess as in…"

"The same." Rory nodded. "He had a car crash. I was there 24/7. He kissed me before that. Then I kissed him. He told me he loved me and I just… I don't know what to do."

"It looks like you know." Paris muttered under her nose.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, did you keep your notes from when you took Major English Poets? I kind of missed that class… because of… you know." Rory yawned again.

"I've got them somewhere." Paris nodded.

"Can I borrow them?"

"Sure."

"Great, 'cause that means I can skip a class this week." Rory closed her eyes, already thinking of taking care of Jess. "Buys me two hours."

"I taught Asher that phrase, "on the down low." He called it delightful." She heard Paris steps to the door.

"It's a cool phrase." Rory settled under the covers, already falling asleep. The last thing she heard was the sound of the closing door.

She slept the next few hours and woke up just in time for the last classes of day. Then she drove off straight to her home. On her way there, she saw Luke's car parked right before his place. He was helping Jess to get out of his car. Then he put him to sit on the wheelchair near by.

Rory just stopped the engine and got out her own car.