A/N: Thank you for the reviews.

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"Dinner smells nice," Rory remarked, walking into the Gilmore house on Friday night. "I'm starving," she added, sitting on the couch next to Lorelai. "My stupid stomach decided pizza was unbearable today so I've had some toast and a whole lot of anger at this betrayal. Really, pizza? I'm pretty sure I will actually die if pizza goes off the table."

"Don't know why you think dinner's going to work, you should see how many vegetables Luke got," Lorelai answered.

"If I can hate pizza, maybe some actual miracle will have happened and I won't hate vegetables." She watched Lorelai's eyebrows go up in disbelief. "What, it could happen!" she tried to argue back. "You ate apples."

"Yeah, but apples are sweet, so they're a bit like candy. Terrible, terrible candy that no one wants to eat, like those strawberry things old people always have, but still acceptable, whereas vegetables have absolutely no redeeming features."

"They'll make you live longer."

"Yeah, in misery at having to eat them."

"They also get Luke off my back," Rory pointed out. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out, checking the text message.

"What's up?"

"Jess got to town," she answered, typing a reply at the same time.

"And first thing he did is text you?"

"I'm not sure it's exactly the first thing he did," she rolled her eyes. "Just complaining about traffic."

"Right."

"Mom."

"I said 'right', that's it."

"The way you said it…"

"There was no way."

"Fine," Rory gave up.

"You hanging out with him tonight?"

"I'm hanging out with you tonight, it's Friday night."

"If you wanted to…"

"I'm going to go see how long until dinner, I wasn't joking about the near starvation." Rory announced, standing up. "And yes, I am doing it to get away from you."

"I said nothing!" Lorelai protested again.

"Out for a walk, hm?" Rory laughed, cocking her eyebrows as she opened the door to her apartment for Jess later that night.

"You can't offer sanctuary and then mock when I take it."

"Have you been around a Gilmore before?" She stood out of the way to let him in. "Decaf?"

"Yeah." Jess nodded, taking his coat off. "Is that sofa still in your mother's garage?"

"No. And you'd die of exposure." She waved him towards the couch, waiting for the coffee to brew. "So, TJ?"

"Have you ever seen a grown man whine about having to wait an extra day for presents?"

"And again I ask, have you been around a Gilmore before? Mom spent all dinner trying to convince Luke to let her open one present."

"You know, I bet we could still get a flight somewhere warm and with booze."

"I can't drink."

"I'll take one for the team."

"Have some coffee. For the team." She set two cups down on the table, sitting down next to him. "You always have sanctuary here. And there's some beer in the fridge from when mom and Luke painted the place, if you're desperate."

"I'll save it, TJ's bound to manage to really piss me off."

"Any time." She picked up her cup, curling her legs under her.

"Appreciate it," Jess took the other cup. "You look better than last time I saw you."

"It's amazing what not puking every five minutes will do for one's complexion."

"So that's the secret."

"I'm looking into trademarking it, help pay for college. Or a swimming pool if the kid's dumb."

"I like the vote of confidence," Jess smirked. "You don't have TJ, why are you awake this late?"

"You read so much in my having conked out by ten thirty every night these past few weeks."

"Yeah, it was a big leap there."

"Maybe I just knew you'd be in need of rescuing."

Jess cocked an eyebrow, waiting.

"Fine, I'm…" she took a sip of coffee, looking away from him. "I can't sleep."

"Your grandma?"

"Dad too." Rory nodded. "Getting it all out in one day because I've waited far too long and it's going to be obvious soon and that would be such an added layer of fun to the conversation. And I don't know… I… I'm worried and panicked and I don't want to get into a fight or make things awkward and all that plus… I feel so guilty too."

"About?"

"The way I'm telling them. I wanted to do it in person, you know, 'cause if felt weird doing it over the phone, but I told Logan in an email and I've been feeling like a jerk about the whole thing. And I know…" she preempted his strike "…I need to give myself a break before I go crazy, yes, I remember."

"Think about it tomorrow, Scarlett."

"Tomorrow will be too late."

"And this is going so great?"

"I'd stop if I could. But since I'm not sure where Tara is…" she shrugged. "Am I a terrible person?"

"No." Jess answered.

"But…"

"You can't ask for my opinion and then ignore me."

"Once more on that Gilmore thing." Rory smiled. "I feel bad about it, and if the price I have to pay is one sleepless night, then I'll take it. Plus now I have company, so it's not like I'm going to be sitting here sulking by myself."

"Have you heard from him at all?"

"No. I don't expect to, either," she answered with a small shake of the head. "I sort of wish I would, because we didn't figure anything out, so I'm stuck here and I don't know if I should email him with updates or if he'd rather not know anything at all or…" another shake followed by a sigh. "I'm going with nothing. He knows where to find me if he wants to know, right?"

"You gonna feel bad about this one?"

"I heard it comes with motherhood, the double guessing of every decision. Didn't expect it to start this early."

"Before I forget…" Jess set his cup down and dug through his pocket, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper and handing it to her.

"You're Nicholas Cage and want me to hold on to the Declaration of Independence for you while the heat dies down? I've got to say, I was expecting it to look older."

"Nah. Though good to know you'd stash stolen goods." He watched her unfold it carefully, then scan it. "I asked Matt if he had a list with stuff for the baby he really liked. It's not definitive or anything, but it's somewhere to start. It's got his reasoning for stuff there too."

"Jess, this is…"

"Look, he jumped at the chance to talk about the kid, so don't go thinking it's some great sacrifice. It was that or work, and we'll do anything to avoid that one."

"How is Truncheon still going?"

"Divine intervention."

"Well thank the gods then. And thank you for the list. And Matt."

"He says let him know if you need anything else."

"Thank you. To both of you." She took a sip of coffee, then put the empty cup on the table. "So, what books did you bring with you?"

"Hey," Rory greeted Jess the next day, sitting at the diner counter. "Is mom here yet?"

"Not seen her. Coffee?"

"Yeah. Regular, please, I get one cup a day and I need it after last night."

"How'd it go with your dad?"

"Oh, you know. He's taking out a full page announcement in the paper." Rory bit her lip, watching him pour her coffee. "It wasn't that bad. Just… awkward. It'll get better once he's had some time to process and come to terms with this whole thing, because it's out of the blue."

"You know, I can kick his ass too if you want."

"You're like a knight in shining leather." She smiled. "He's fine, Jess. It's dad, my expectations of him aren't very high."

"I know that one."

"You and Jimmy, do you talk?"

"Every few weeks."

"Oh, wow."

"It's mostly about music, we're not having heart to heart talks or nothing. So, food?" He changed the subject, picking up the order pad from the counter.

"I'm having lunch with grandma in a while. Mom's supposed to come pick me up." She checked her wristwatch.

"Speak of the devil," Jess tilted his head back to the door slamming behind someone.

"Hi, sorry I'm late!" Lorelai interrupted, crashing onto the chair next to Rory's. "Uhm, Jess?"

He picked a cup from behind the counter and set it down in front of her, filling it with coffee.

"And no lecture. You'd be my favorite if your coffee was anywhere near as good as Luke's."

"I like your coffee," Rory defended it.

"Man, this pregnancy must have destroyed your taste buds," Lorelai shook her head. "Details?"

"On my destroyed taste buds?"

"On how it went with your dad."

"Later. We're going to be late for lunch."

"And speaking of, can I borrow something to wear? I spilled coffee and you've met my mother."

"My closet is your closet."

"Literally."

"I will eventually buy one."

"You should have asked Santa for one!" Lorelai took a gulp of coffee, spilling some more on her top. "Gah!" she mumbled, wiping at it as she stood up. "Ok, I'm going to go get changed."

"How late are we going to be?"

"I'm aiming for fifteen minutes at least."

"I will take your car and leave without you!" Rory threatened her mother as she rushed out of the room.

"Does she know?"

"That I think Jason is a better bass player than Cliff?"

"You're wrong. And you know what I'm talking about." He looked at the curtain to Rory's apartment.

"No," she shook her head. "She makes it sound like it's some big deal so I just…"

"Don't tell her." He finished the sentence she'd left hanging.

"Do you mind?"

"Yeah. So hurt." Jess smirked. "I just wanted to know so I don't say something stupid."

"You're ok, Frank." She smiled too.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why is it a big deal?"

"Ask her," Rory shrugged again. "She's got it in her head that there's something between us, because I'm definitely in a position to date right now, and she's her usual dog with a bone about it. It's just easier if I skip over details so she has less ammunition."

"So you've sworn off men, huh?"

"I've sworn off you, at least." She mirrored the teasing in his tone, ignoring the light flutter in her chest.

"I'm a terrific prospect."

"The last date you went on lasted an hour."

"That wasn't me," he argued, trying not to laugh. "On the bright side, I'm at least rating high enough on Lorelai's scale that I can be considered for you."

"She did retire the voodoo doll a while ago."

"Told you."

"Friend-ish, I remember," Rory said. "And maybe it's not you, maybe I've just gone down in her eyes so much."

"Ok, if you don't start being nicer to me, I will move the slice of pie I've hidden in the back in case your thing with Emily goes bad."

"Aw, you saved me pie?" She gushed, then frowned a moment later. "One slice?"

"It's more like half a pie."

"You're the best." A grin took over her face, and the fluttering got a lot worse, so she forced herself to look away from him and down at her cup. "How long do I have to wait for her before I can actually take the car?"

"Five minutes."

"Good to know."