A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, peops. Isn't interesting how Rory is so much more fun now she has something akin to Jess' issues and attitude? lol Yet, most people still like Jess in this story, even though he's a little more like canon Rory. Curiouser and curiouser...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

The rumour mill was in full swing by the time Jess got to school the next morning and the names on everybody's lips were a little too familiar to him. It really didn't bother him at all if DuGrey was getting himself into trouble, that was almost normal these days, but the Gilmore name was getting dragged into it too, and that wasn't okay.

"Ivy said she could hear Headmaster Charleston yelling at Tristan from all the way down the hall. Duncan and Bowman were hauled in too, according to Asia," said Francie, looking all too pleased about the news. "The faculty don't seem to have caught wind of the girlfriend yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"You don't really think Rory was involved, do you?" asked Lem, frowning some.

"Come on, Lemon, don't be so naive." Francie rolled her eyes. "You saw that disgusting display in the cafeteria the other day. Those two have been joined at the lips more often than they haven't."

Through this whole conversation, Jess didn't say a word. He honestly didn't know what he could say. There was no way he wanted Francie asking his opinion on what happened because she probably wouldn't like what he told her, or she'd like it too much, depending on which version of the truth he went with.

The fact of the matter was, Jess had no proof that Rory had been anywhere near Tristan when he was up to whatever fun and games had got him and his bozo friends into trouble this time. That said, he would bet every cent he had that she was there. He couldn't think of anywhere else Rory would've been headed when she left his place last night.

"Ugh, I have Chemistry," Francie complained as the bell rang overhead. "Walk me to class, lover?" she asked Jess with faux-sweetness.

She was lucky he was listening at all since he had just spotted Rory heading the other way down the hall.

"I'm not going that way," he told Francie hurriedly. "I'll catch up with you later."

He turned and left too fast for her to make a grab at him. Jess never even noticed she had her lips pouted for a kiss, or that her friends tried to hide laughter at how put out poor Francie looked at having been left behind. Jess had his full focus on catching up to Rory and he made it a second before she disappeared from his sight.

"Hey," he said, grabbing her sleeve. "I need to talk to you."

"Get lost," she told him, trying to get away but he held firm and met her eyes.

"I need to talk to you, now," he said definitely.

Rory stared at him for a second or two, clearly considering her options. Jess wasn't going to buy that she couldn't be late for class, since he knew damn well it never bothered her before. Besides, they were supposed to be friends, and if she didn't care about that, she would at least care that he could probably land her in some trouble if she gave him a reason to. After all, they both knew she had tried to make him her alibi the other night, before presumably running off with DuGrey.

"You're ridiculous," she said, rolling her eyes as she pulled her arm from his grasp, then stormed into the nearest empty classroom.

Jess followed, checking nobody was paying any mind before closing the door behind them. If nobody was in the room yet then there was no class there first period and they didn't have to worry about being disturbed. Jess was only missing Physics and Miss Ryder loved him so he would get away with one little tardy. Rory didn't seem to care much about that kind of thing anyway, so it shouldn't matter to her.

"What do you want, Jess?" she asked, turning back to look at him from halfway down the empty classroom. "Math isn't my favourite place to be, but somebody is going to notice if I skip altogether."

"Where were you last night?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Rory smirked terribly.

"What seems to be the problem, officer?" she joked, hands held up in mock surrender as she took a couple of steps towards him again. "Did you drag me in here to frisk me for weapons?"

As if Jess hadn't known she was dangerous before, he was doubly certain of it now.

"I'm not messing around, Rory," he told her crossly. "Do you know how much trouble DuGrey and his idiot friends are in?"

"Don't know, don't care," she said, dropping her hands and rolling her eyes as she sat down on the edge of the nearest desk. "I told you before, I'm not married to Tristan, I just hang out with him sometimes. He's... fun," she said with a salacious smile.

Jess tried not to gag at the images that ran through his head.

"He's an ass, Rory. An ass that's probably going to get kicked out of here eventually, and if you keep hanging around with him, they're gonna kick you out too."

At that, she laughed.

"This is not my first rodeo, Jess," she reminded him. "I've been kicked out of schools before, why should this one be different? I mean, what do I have to stay here for anyway?"

"How can you even ask that?" Jess shook his head. "I know you like to put on this whole 'too cool for school' act but I know you're smarter than that, Rory. I've seen it."

"I couldn't care less about being cool," she told him, glaring through eyes too heavily made up in dark shades. "You know how I feel about school, it's a waste of my time. I cannot wait to be eighteen so I can get out of here," she said, growling in frustration as she hopped back onto her feet. "You have no idea what my life has been like, Jess. I know you think we're the same somehow, but you're wrong. Your parents suck, I know, that's crappy for you, but at least you knew who they were from the beginning. At least you had Luke, and hey, apparently my mother, to look out for you. What the hell do you think I had?" she asked him, volume rising with every word.

"You have a mother," he reminded, trying not to lose it like she was, but struggling just a little. "Grandparents too, and yes, I get it, they messed up when you were a kid, but it's over now, Rory. You have the truth, you have a family, and they're doing their best for you, okay?"

"What do you know about it?" she countered, getting in his face. "You do not know me, Jess Danes. You can be as book smart as you want, but you do not know me!"

"But Tristan DuGrey does?" he bit back.

Rory grinned but there wasn't a trace of friendliness or humour in the look. It was like watching a rattlesnake smile.

"What's the matter, Jess?" she asked him, leaning in closer. "Jealous?"

He opened his mouth to tell her she was pathetic or stupid or something else that was insulting but ultimately untrue. In the end, he couldn't do it, he couldn't deny what they both knew was true. Yes, he was jealous, and it was driving him crazy. Unable to put any of it into words in that moment, Jess reached out to Rory's waist, pulling her closer and crashing his lips against her own.

Jess hadn't thought it through, so he had no idea how he expected Rory to react. One thing was for sure, she wasn't backing off. She had one arm wrapped around him and one hand creeping up to the back of his neck as she tried to deepen their kiss, and that was when reality hit Jess like a smack in the face. He immediately pulled away, breathless and bemused, even though he had been the one to start the kissing.

Rory stared wide-eyed at him a moment, but before she could say a word, Jess shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he told her, turning and practically running from the classroom, leaving Rory to wonder what the hell just happened.

"I have to say she's been pretty cool the last few days, friendly even," said Lorelai, wrapping both hands around her cup on the table. "I'll take what I can get for now. It's still early days after all."

"I think you're doing great," Luke told her kindly, adding more coffee to her cup. "It's only been a few weeks, but she's obviously settling in better. She came around to see Jess last night for homework help."

"Yes, she is doing the homework." Lorelai nodded. "I personally am amazed. Even I wasn't so great at keeping up with that at her age."

"Yeah, me either," Luke confessed, "but Jess is good for that kind of thing. I'd like to think he's being a good influence on her."

"I think he is," said Lorelai with a smile. "He's such a good kid."

"Rory's not a bad kid. She's just been through hard times."

"Find me a person who hasn't. Ah well, we seem to be on the right path for now and that's all I ask for."

"Does she see your parents at all?" asked Luke carefully, mindful of what a touchy subject that was.

"She's been over there a couple of times." Lorelai nodded. "I went with her on her birthday. My God, was that ever awkward?" she said, shuddering visibly.

"So, you won't be seeing them for Thanksgiving?"

"I'm hoping to avoid it, but I don't know."

Luke nodded that he understood and then continued to look sort of shifty. Lorelai couldn't quite figure out what his problem was and so, in true Gilmore fashion, she wasted no time in bluntly calling him on his odd behaviour.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing," said Luke, shaking his head. "I was just thinking, but it's fine, it's probably a dumb idea anyway," he said, waving it away, even though he hadn't actually said what it was yet.

"Tell me the idea, let me have a vote on whether it's dumb," she suggested eagerly. "Come on, I love a good dumb idea," she teased, grinning wide.

Luke smiled too, he couldn't help it. Sometimes she was too much.

"I was just thinking about Thanksgiving," he told her then, hardly looking at her at all. "I mean, you know we open in the morning, serve the folks that can't or don't make their own food or whatever."

"I do know this." Lorelai nodded. "I am one of those 'can't or don't' folks myself, mostly 'can't'."

"Exactly, but I was thinking, since you have Rory now, and if you weren't going to your parents' place or whatever, maybe after I close up the diner, you and me, and Rory and Jess, could have dinner together. You know, like a real family Thanksgiving. Not that we're an actual family and I'm not suggesting that, but I just thought it might be nice, you know, for the kids."

Lorelai wasn't sure how to respond to that. For one thing, it was rare for Luke to say that many words altogether at once. He was kind of the king of the monosyllable much of the time, not because he was dumb or anything, just because he wasn't so much with the chatter. That had always been Lorelai's area, which was probably why they got along so well.

Of course, it also floored her that Luke even suggested in passing that the two of them plus their teenagers could make a happy family holiday scene. It was a nice thought though and, quite honestly, she couldn't think of a reason to say no.

"Wow. That actually sounds like a great plan to me," she said, smiling widely. "Thanks, Luke."

"It's no big deal," he told her, shrugging his shoulders. "I just thought something stable and normal, more like a real Thanksgiving, it might be good for Rory."

"Yeah, I think it probably would be," Lorelai agreed. "You're a heck of a guy, Danes, you know that?"

"Whatever." Luke rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips proved he didn't hate the compliment she had tossed his way.

Lorelai smiled too as she watched him walk away to tend to other patrons. She meant what she said, he really was a heck of a guy, and it wasn't the first time she had noticed. She seemed to have been noticing more and more, ever since Rory came to town and made her comments about Lorelai and Luke being a couple. There was no truth in that, never had been, but it put the thought into the front of Lorelai's mind and, quite honestly, she had trouble removing it. Now really was not the time for her to be getting romantic notions about anyone, least of all Luke Danes, but Lorelai couldn't help but let her mind wander once in a while, and now was one of those times.

"Hey, sunshine!" Lorelai greeted Rory with a wide smile as she came into the diner after school.

"Why did I have to meet you here?" she asked, coming over to the table and sitting down with a bump. "Shouldn't you be doing this at the inn?"

"Sookie is knee-deep in new recipes so the kitchen was out of bounds and you know I can't do paperwork without coffee," said Lorelai, gesturing to both her papers spread over the table and the mug in her left hand.

"What's wrong with the house?"

"The TV lives there," said Lorelai with a look.

Rory nodded, finally understanding. It was strange but despite not knowing each other as well as mother and daughter should and not exactly spending a great deal of time working on that, they had picked up each other's quirks pretty fast. Rory knew that Lorelai was easily distracted by coffee, fast food, and TV, and had a real penchant for fashion magazines. Likewise, Lorelai knew Rory went weak at the knees for Salinger and Indian food, and was weirdly persnickety about the way her laundry was done.

"So, there's no reason why I can't go to the house and get distracted by the TV, right?" asked Rory then, glancing behind her at the door.

"Um, well, I guess not," Lorelai considered, looking up from her papers, "but I was kind of hoping for a little conversation if you have the time. Nothing fancy, I'm not looking for the Gettysburg address out of you, just a simple run down of your day maybe. School was good?"

"It was fine," said Rory defensive, checking the door again.

"No problems?"

"None."

"Oh, there was no trouble in gym? The teacher was cool with the note I wrote for you?"

"Absolutely fine, thanks," said Rory, turning around one more time.

"Okay, either you're practising to become an owl or Linda Blair, and I gotta tell you, honey, I'm not a fan of either choice," said Lorelai then, putting both her pencil and her cup down hard on the table. "Rory, what is wrong?"

"Nothing," she insisted, folding her arms over chest and making a big deal of looking pissed.

"Nothing is making you watch the door like a hawk?" Lorelai checked.

The moment she asked the question the door opened with a jingle of the bell. This time Rory didn't turn, though Lorelai suspected the guy who just walked in was the one she had been watching for.

"Hey, Jess," she said pointedly, trying not to smile too much as her daughter spun around to look. "How's things?"

"Fine," he said shortly, turning swiftly to the counter to talk to Luke. "You need me here, because I have a lot of reading to do?"

"You go do your homework, I've got it covered," his uncle assured him. "But hey, before you go, I wanted to tell you, I invited people over for Thanksgiving dinner."

"People?" Jess echoed, frowning some.

"Hi, we're people!" said Lorelai with a jaunty wave. "Me and Rory, we're the Thanksgiving crashers," she said, grinning wide.

Jess looked from her to Rory, who had now swivelled in her chair again to stare at him. Their eyes met for a beat or two, and then suddenly Jess was leaving very quickly and Rory was turning back around to face Lorelai, looking as sullen as she had ever seen her.

"Okay, what was that about?" asked Lorelai curiously.

"Nothing," said Rory shortly, waiting a few seconds before she got up too. "I'll see you at home," she said and then she was gone.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, this fic is now going on hold 'til 2019. I do this every year as I have a lot of other stuff to do in December, including Christmas-related fics and of course plenty of RL things too. Please rest assured, this story will be back in the new year, and yes, I know, it's a shame to stop here, not least because they're about to have Thanksgiving right around when the real deal is, but there you go, it's got to be done. You understand, right? :) Also, there is some Christmassy GG fic coming your way soon, so keep an eye out for that too ;)