AN: Not bad on the timing. I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself. Anyway, without tooting my own horn: Here is the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy it and I have some plans for what's to come. It's Until Morning by Dashboard Confessional. If I do nothing else, I'm still giving you a bombass playlist and I hope you're taking advantage of it :)

Rory watched him walk into her bathroom from her bed. He was just wearing his boxers and he thought she was still asleep. He had just woken up himself and he was walking slowly and when he raised his arm above his head to stretch, she could see the muscles in his back working and waking up. She almost felt giddy watching him close the door. She sat up further in bed, shivering and then pulling the comforter up and tucking it beneath her arms. She heard the flush of the toilet and the running water of the sink before Jess joined her in the bedroom.

He smiled when he noticed she was awake and practically crawled on the bed to lie as close to her as possible. She smiled at him and kicked the blankets to cover the lower half of his body. He had to have been cold, the room was freezing. He took his eyes off of her for a moment to find the top and pull it to his waist. She put one of her hands on his cheek and kissed him tenderly.

"Why are you awake? It's only 4," Jess said, his forehead resting against hers.

"I don't know, I'm not used to other people getting out of my bed in the middle of the night," she explained. "I guess it just woke me up."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. She nodded and laid down further in her bed, cuddling into Jess's chest.

"Don't be, doofus," Rory joked. He kissed the crown of her head, she kissed the plane of his chest and they were off to sleep once again.

A few hours later, around nine o'clock, Rory's phone rang on her bedside table. She jumped grabbing it, silencing it, and kissed Jess quickly on the forehead while he slept on. She answered the phone quietly and found her robe before walking into her living room.

"Mom, it's nine o'clock on Sunday. Why are you so mean?" Rory asked, curling into a ball in the corner of her couch.

"I've been at work for hours, I didn't realize. I'm sorry, Babe," Lorelai answered, sounding far too cheery for Rory's ears.

"It's okay," Rory decided, smiling. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"It's your birthday in a couple of weeks and I wanted to know if you planned on coming to Stars Hollow," Lorelai told her.

"Of course, I am," she told her mother. "I always do."

"I know that, but with Jess, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on anyone's feet. Plus, the town has been on my back for days wondering what the plan is."

"Tell them that it's the same as usual. I'll be there, definitely, and I'll work my magic to make Jess come, too."

"Okay, that's perfect," Lorelai said, triumphant. "Let me know whether Paris and Alex are coming too. Sookie's going to want a count for catering purposes."

"I'll talk to them, too. Alex will most likely come and I'll see whether or not his boyfriend makes the cut," Rory told her. "I'm having dinner with Paris this week, so I'll see whether or not she and Doyle are coming. I'll let you know about whether or not they're going to need rooms, too, by Friday."

"Sweetie, that's perfect. You are my angel daughter and I'm so excited to see you."

"I have to go, though, Mom. I love you and I'll see you soon," Rory said, standing from the couch and hugging her robe tighter.

"Alright, Sweets, I should get going, too. I'll talk to you later," Lorelai replied before they both hung up their phones.

Rory tied her robe loosely at the waist and went to the small kitchen to start the coffee maker. She then walked into her bedroom and accidentally let the door slam behind her, waking Jess. When he shook awake, Rory smiled guiltily before climbing onto the bed and straddling his hips, looking down at him.

"I should be mad at you for waking me up, but I think the fact that you're falling out of your bathrobe is enough reason for me to get over it," Jess said, rubbing his eyes and then running his hands up and down Rory's thighs. Her laugh was loud and he couldn't help but smile up at her. She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the mouth before rolling over and lying next to him. Jess rolled to face her, pulling down her robe and kissing the exposed skin.

"You're one of those guys?" She asked breathily. "You like it in the morning?"

"You could say that I have a thing for morning sex," he said, looking up at her. She held his face and kissed him hard while he wrestled her out of the bathrobe and himself out of his boxers. "Especially with you," he whispered, pulling her body into his and kissing her again while her fingernails dug into his shoulders.

-*-*-*-

"You cook, but, you see, I'm a master at accepting deliveries," Rory said, later that day, after she had hung up the phone with the Chinese place. "Alex and Kurt will be here in an hour, the food will be here in forty-five minutes."

"Okay," Jess said, distracted, while he typed furiously on his laptop. Rory smiled at him. He was sitting on the floor, in front her couch, with his computer in his lap. His hair was just long enough to fall across his forehead, not quite reaching his eyes. His jaw kept tightening, and she could tell he was trying to come up with the perfect word combination. After a few minutes of being watched from the kitchen counter, where Rory was perched, Jess finally looked up, questioningly. "What are you looking at?"

"You. You're so dedicated to whatever you're doing over there," Rory answered, resting her foot on the counter and hugging her knee. "You look so handsome and bothered."

"Huh," Jess said before looking back down at his computer and typing again. Rory kept watching him until he gently closed his laptop, put it on the floor next to him, and rubbed his face harshly with both of his hands. When he stood up, he strode to stand in front of his girlfriend.

Rory sat on the edge of the counter, her legs dangling apart where Jess stood. His arms were on either side of her body and her arms were resting on his shoulders. "Sorry I was staring," she said, smiling softly.

"It's fine," he told her. He kissed her lightly on the corner of her mouth. "Sorry I was crabby."

"Don't be. I'm learning new things about you," she told him. "Like, don't talk when you're writing."

"You can talk. This is your apartment," he reminded her. His hands were now on her hips.

"I like watching you write. You're so passionate when you're doing it, it's kind of romantic. Like, it's the most important thing you have."

"Not the most important," Jess said quietly and Rory kissed him quickly.

"I wish I was that passionate about anything."

"I thought you liked you're job," Jess asked.

"I love my job, but that's all it is to me; a job," Rory reminded him.

"Find a new one, then. Find one that makes you as crazy and satisfied as my writing does for me," Jess nudged her. "You know that you can do anything."

"You're sweet," she told him softly. "Jess?"

"Hm?" He mumbled, catching her eye.

"Will you come to Stars Hollow for my birthday?" Rory asked and she hooked her thumb into the front of his snug jeans, pulling him a step closer to her. "Please?"

"Of course I will," he told her, kissing her and she put her arms around his neck again, holding him tightly. "As long as you don't call me sweet in front of the whole town."

"I'll try, Sweetie," she said mockingly and he just shook his head and kissed her again. "Jess?" She asked again.

"What's up?" He asked, stepping back slightly at her serious tone.

"I don't want to be one of those girlfriends, but it's been eating me alive for the past couple of weeks," she started and he furrowed his brow in confusion, urging her to go on. "It's mostly been bugging me since this morning, though."

"Okay, Rory. What's going on?" He asked, tugging at her sleeve. She looked up at him, looking embarrassed. "Seriously."

"I don't want to know this, but I need to before my head explodes."

"Rory…"

"Who are all of these women that you've had morning sex with?" She asked after a long pause and a few more tugs on her sleeve. Jess had to physically contain his laugh.

"That's really all that you wanted to know?" He asked incredulously. "You wanted to know who and how many girls I've slept with?"

She nodded, definitely embarrassed now. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he told her with a nod of his head. Her eyes widened and she sat up straighter, defensive.

"Deal. You go," she told him, sliding off the counter to stand in front of him.

"I've had sex with more than ten girls. I can't give you an exact number," he said after a few seconds of counting.

"So, you don't know all of their names? Were you in any serious relationships with any of them?"

"Really, Rory?" He asked and she fixed him with a stony glare. "I was in relationships with four of them. None of them lasted more than six months except for one, not too long after the open house," he told her and she nodded. "The other ones were girls I went on a couple of dates with and one night stands. I went through a one night stand phase. There were two girls before we had even met."

"Was Shane one of the girls you've slept with?" She asked, still stony and Jess couldn't help but laugh now, losing his defensive stance.

"No," he finally said. "Shane and I never had sex. We did just about anything else you can imagine, but there was no sex." She nodded, leaning against the counter. "It's your turn."

"There have been five guys and that's including you. I'll name them all in chronological order; Dean, Logan, Hugh, Jeremy, and you. Anything else?"

"I knew about the Dean thing, but I don't know why it happened and, honestly, I don't want to," he told her. "But who the hell are Hugh and Jeremy."

"Hugh and I dated while we were following around the president. He's one of the sweetest, most fun loving guys I've ever met. He's from Georgia, but lives in New York now. We only dated out of convenience, but he is a great guy. Jeremy's a lawyer in Boston. He's thirty-four and wildly successful for his age. We were together for under year and there was nothing between us. We met on a blind date and then I just went with him to all of his work shin digs and he came to Stars Hollow once for my birthday. My mom hates him, she liked Hugh, though."

"So, why the breakup with Hugh if he was so amazing?" Jess asked and he wasn't jealous or angry, just curious.

"It was convenient. He went to New York, I came here. We were more of friends with benefits, you know? We would have never survived outside of hotel and conference rooms."

"Why did you want to have this conversation, Rory?"

"I want to know you, Jess; even the uncomfortable things."

"Conversations like this never lead to anything good," he told her.

"What do you mean? You've slept with, like, three times as many people as I have. I honestly am not upset, I just needed to know who's slept with my boyfriend," she told him, pushing herself onto the counter again. He stood next to where her legs hung.

"That one night stand phase that I mentioned? It started right after Luke told me about the double date he and Lorelai went on with you and Dean."

"Jess, I'm not going to lie to you. My sleeping with Dean had a lot to do with the fact that I had to choose between the two of you again," Rory started to explain. "You had just asked me, after months of silence, to move away with you to New York and leave my entire life behind. When I said no, you just left again. I was weak, but Dean was there and I thought he could take care of me because you never tried to. I'm not saying this to hurt you; I absolutely don't want to hurt you."

"I fucked up, Rory. I know," he said in a harsh whisper and Rory hopped own from the counter to stand in front of him. "But you did, too. You broke up a marriage. Neither of us is innocent."

"No, we aren't. It's like I said to Alex, you and I are two people that are really good at hurting each other. But, Jess, I don't ever want to hurt you again. I love you and I know that now. I am in this."

Jess stood up straight and hooked his arm around Rory's waist, pulling her into his body for a hug. She nestled her face into his neck and kissed him lightly. "I love you, too, Rory. I don't want to hurt you, either," he said into her hair. Rory jumped at the sound of the doorbell and smiled weakly. She left Jess in the kitchen as she went to accept the delivery at the door.

When she came back, Jess was on the phone, laughing. "Seriously, man, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't let Chris near the customers anymore," he said before hanging up and putting his phone into the back pocket of his black jeans. Rory smiled at him and placed the bags on the small table. Jess started unloading the bags while Rory got out all the dishes that they would need. Suddenly, Alex came bustling into the apartment, holding Kurt by the hand. As soon as Rory saw him, she handed Jess the plates and jumped into his, now open, arms.

"Hello, Princess," he said. Rory said hi back and grabbed Jess's hand, pulling him into the group. "Jess, it's nice to see you again." Alex reached for his hand and he accepted happily.

"It's good to see you, too. Thanks for letting me crash," Jess said and Alex waved him off, smiling.

"Jess, this is Kurt. Kurt, this is Jess," he said, wildly gesturing between the two outsiders.

"Hello, Jess," Kurt said, and shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

"You have no idea," Kurt responded and Alex gave him a look causing him to stop talking, and therefore, stop talking in such a manner that sounded like he wanted to take off Jess's tight t-shirt right there in the living room. Jess found Rory's waist and pulled her close to his body and she responded by putting her arm across his back and hugging him lightly before speaking,

"The food just got here, still warm. You guys help yourselves and I'll get the DVDs situated," she told them and Alex reluctantly pulled Kurt by the hand to the kitchen while Rory and Jess went to kneel in front of the TV. "He's a nice guy; he just comes off a little strong."

"It's just because I'm so goddamn good looking; everyone loves me," he joked, starting up the DVD player and putting in the disc that Rory had handed him. She punched him in the arm and stood up, smiling. Jess brought his laptop into Rory's bedroom before joining the rest of them in the kitchen.

As soon as they were all situated in front of the movie, Jess in on corner of the couch with Rory sitting in front of him, and Alex in the other corner with Kurt sitting in front of him, they were all happily eating in silence. Movie nights with Alex were different than movie nights with Lorelai. Alex liked to watch the movies; most of the ones Rory made him watch were ones he had never seen. Rory had to learn not to talk or mock too much when watching movies with Alex, but after their long, hectic weeks she enjoyed sitting with him and watching movies for hours.

Jess had been a part of Gilmore movie nights before, and he was surprised at how Rory just sat, ate, and watched. As soon as they were done eating, she took all of their dishes into kitchen and left them to rinse in the sink before joining the others and sitting with Jess on the couch. Jess held her and he could tell that she wouldn't make it through the entire movie; they had been busy all day.

Rory took him to the harbor and they sat and talked with their feet dangling above the water and watching the planes take off from Logan Airport across the way. She had brought a travel mug of coffee and they shared it and ate cookies he bought for them at Quincy Market. After that, she dragged him to the subway and they took it all the way to Fenway Park. They walked around the Back Bay for awhile and walked down Newbury and Boylston streets before going back to Rory's apartment. And as soon as they got back, he asked if she would mind if he wrote for a while. Of course she didn't mind, but he was annoyed with himself.

He wanted to get the stories in his head out and it would just so happen that the only time he could think straight was when he was with Rory. All week he works his ass off on other people's writing and stories and his weekends are supposed to be for Rory. No matter how much Jess loves his job, he knew that he would eventually need to slow down and focus on Rory. As much as he wanted things to work out with them with the whole long distance thing, he knew it wouldn't work for more than a few months. After all of the years they had been apart, they both craved each other physically and every weekend wasn't enough. It was more than physical, though. They both had grown up and gone through so many things that there were parts of each other's lives that they couldn't possibly know, even through the grapevine.

Rory kept falling asleep and jolting awake against Jess's body. She wanted to make it through the movie, but she could see Alex and Kurt falling asleep on their own. At one point, Alex's leg twitched and he kicked Kurt in the ribs, even gently, it woke him up immediately. Jess was the only one perfectly awake; he was playing with her hair and not watching the movie, but at least he was awake. She jumped up suddenly, surprising Jess and causing Alex to bolt awake again.

"I need to sleep if I'm ever going to get to work on time in the morning," she said, cracking her back.

"Oh, thank god," Alex said, pulling Kurt with him to his bedroom. Jess turned off the movie and took Rory, by the hand, into her bedroom. They both stripped down to their underwear and got into bed.

"Jess, I'm sorry that I asked about your ex-girlfriends or whatever earlier," Rory said into his chest. "I was wrong; I don't want to know everything, just the important things."

"What are the important things?" He asked, smoothing her hair as he spoke.

"I don't really know, but everything that happened before this doesn't matter. You are here and I am happy. That's all I need from you," Rory told him, kissing his chest. "I want us to be happy and not dwell on stupid shit that had nothing to do with each other."

"I would have been happy never knowing about any of the guys that you've slept with. I've spent a lot of time in my life trying not to think about you and the guys you could be with," Jess told her honestly. "But Rory, you can ask me whatever you want."

"You can ask me anything, Jess. I am an open book as far as you're concerned," Rory told him, curling into his body.

"I don't have anything right now, but that's good to know," he said and Rory giggled until it turned into a yawn. "Go to sleep."

"I don't want to wake up and watch you drive away," she said quietly.

"I know; I don't want to drive away," Jess said, just as quietly.

"Maybe it'll be easier this time."

"Yeah, and maybe by next week Hell will be frozen over." Rory laughed and kissed him slowly, drawing it out until they ran out of breath and had no choice but to fall asleep together.