A/N: Thanks for all the fab reviews, lovely people! :) So, it seems the significance of the end to the previous chapter eluded most people (kudos to JediGirlAcrossTheStars21 and Droolia who got it) including my beta. Well, you're about to find out - tissues on standby, folks. I'd apologise, but the bad is leading to some good, I promise ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

It was maybe the very last place that Rory expected to be, sat in a hospital waiting area with her mom on one side and her grandma on the other. Today had started off so normal and ordinary, then suddenly it turned into one of the very worst days of her life.

There she was waiting for class to begin, Rory Gilmore, good student, with her pen poised over the page ready to take down notes on her own grandfather's lecture. She never expected what happened next, but the events were burned into her brain so vividly she was sure she would never forget. Thinking of it now made her eyes well with tears she didn't even know she had left, as her hand covered her mouth to keep the sobbing in.

"It's okay, honey," said Lorelai, voice sounding strained as she pulled Rory to her. "He's tough. He'll be okay," she promised, even though she shouldn't.

There were no guarantees right now. They all wanted to believe that he would be okay. Rory was hoping and wishing and praying with everything she had that she would see her grandpa again soon, alive and well, but it was a real possibility that she might not be able to.

"I have more calls to make," said Emily, leaping up in the very next moment and moving away from her daughter and granddaughter.

"Mom, I can-" Lorelai began but she was already gone.

It was tough on everybody. None of the Gilmore women knew how to deal with this. It had been hard enough the last time, more than six years ago, when Richard had collapsed at Christmas and here they had all sat in panic and fear. Luke had been around then, and surprised them all when he turned up again today.

Lorelai wasn't sure why she ever doubted him. After everything, Luke Danes was as steadfast and true as he had ever been, agreeing to Emily's ridiculous list of tasks, heading off to carry them out to the letter. There was no-one else to help, no other men in their lives. Rory and Logan had broken up two days ago, and Lorelai and Chris just yesterday.

"I'm sorry," said Rory, sitting up fast. "I should be stronger," she said, pulling a hand across her face to remove the tears. "Grandpa needs us to be stronger."

"I think he'll understand a few tears, sweets," said Lorelai, sniffing hard. "You think coffee would help?" she checked, pushing Rory's hair back behind her ear for her.

"Couldn't hurt," she said, nodding her head.

Planting a kiss on her baby girl's forehead, Lorelai got up and went in search of coffee. Alone in the waiting area, Rory wrapped her arms around herself even though she wasn't really cold. She just felt so vulnerable and open, like an exposed nerve, as if any little thing could break her entirely. It was an awful feeling, the pain of it all, and yet she knew her grandfather was suffering worse.

Checking her watch, she realised it was a good eight hours since she had arrived in class this morning and been forced to watch her grandpa collapse from what seemed to be a heart attack. Since then nothing had really seemed real. A part of her still hoped she was going to wake up at any moment and find it was all a horrible nightmare.

"Rory?"

She looked up at the sound of her name, absolutely certain this really was a dream when she realised whose voice she just heard. Then she saw him striding towards her and shook her head in disbelief. It was only when he reached her at last, arms out to pull her up into his embrace, that she allowed herself to believe he was truly real.

"Oh, Jess," she cried into his shoulder. "It was awful. It was so, so awful."

"It's okay. It'll be okay," he told her, holding her tight, allowing her to cling to him and bawl for just as long as she wanted to.

In any other circumstance, it probably would've been some kind of sweet torture to have her in his arms like this, knowing it all had to mean nothing. This wasn't about them, Rory and Jess, the ongoing saga of what they were to each other, what they had been, what they might be. This was about two people who cared about each other, about one needing the other to just be a friend right now. It was one thing Jess felt fairly confident in not being able to screw up.

"How did you get here?" asked Rory, eventually pulling back enough to see his face. "How did you even know?"

"Luke called about the custody case, to let me know the result and everything," he explained, frowning at the tear tracks on her face and reaching out to wipe them away on instinct. "You know how Stars Hollow is, he heard what happened and he told me. The second I got off the phone, I got my stuff together and headed to the airport. I'd've been here sooner but all the flights were full or they got cancelled..." he explained, shaking his head. "I got here as fast as I could."

"Thank you," said Rory shakily. "Thank you so much," she told him, throwing herself back into his embrace as she cried all over again.

They were still stood there, clinging onto each other, when Lorelai returned with a vending machine coffee in each hand. It was a credit to her love of the beverage that she didn't drop both cups at the sight that met her eyes.

"Wow. So wasn't expecting this," she said, wide eyed as Rory pulled away from Jess at last.

"Mom. Er, Jess... he heard about grandpa from Luke and he came straight here."

"From Philadelphia?" she asked, eyes even wider then, if such a thing were even possible.

Jess nodded, not daring to say a word.

Lorelai handed one of the coffees to Rory then took a sip of her own.

"Okay. So, I'm pretty sure I've turned over two pages at once," she said, shaking her head. "But now is so not the time for that. All sympathetic bodies welcome right now," she said, giving Jess the smallest of smiles, not because it was him, just because it was literally all she had right now. "You want coffee? I can lead you to a machine."

"I'm okay." Jess shook his head, moving to sit down by Rory the moment she returned to her seat.

Lorelai joined them and silence reigned. It wasn't as if Jess and Lorelai had anything to say to each other before, they certainly couldn't think of anything now, and with the worry she and Rory were suffering, Jess wasn't exactly expecting small talk anyway.

With a sigh, he leaned his head back against the wall, wondering, not for the first time, if he was a real fool for coming here like this. All his doubts about his actions were put to rest when he felt Rory's hand find his own, fingers intertwining as she got a good hold on him and didn't seem as if she planned to let go. Turning his head to the side, he found her looking at him, smiling just slightly. He returned the look and shifted a little closer, until her head found his shoulder.

Rory woke up, bleary-eyed and confused as to where she was at first. This wasn't the apartment, and it wasn't her bedroom at home either. Also, she wasn't alone. Shifting a little and blinking hard against the half-light, the world around her slowly came into focus and her memories returned one after the other, dropping into place like cards in a deck. Yale. Grandpa. The heart attack. The hospital. Jess.

Despite all the heartache she had suffered, all the tears she had cried, a smile came to her face as she realised he was there. The news had been good, or at least not as bad as it could've been. Rory's grandpa wasn't dead, not even in too much danger anymore. He had to have surgery, but the doctors were confident about his recovery.

As soon as they knew he was out of danger, Lorelai had insisted that Rory go home and get some rest. Luke stayed with Lorelai, and Rory let Jess bring her back to the Hollow, though they hadn't actually gone to her house in the end.

"Hey," said Jess as he woke up and found her staring at him.

"Hi," Rory replied, suddenly bashful now he was awake too. "Um, this is new," she said, eyes everywhere but on him.

Jess smirked, he couldn't help it.

"Yeah, well," he said, shifting awkwardly. "At the time, you didn't wanna let go of my hand, so..."

"I know." Rory nodded.

It was strange, being in the same bed like that, albeit they were both fully-clothed. Stranger still perhaps that it was Luke's bed. They were supposed to go to the Crap Shack last night, but Rory realised too late that her house keys were all the way back in New Haven. That had led them to the diner apartment, since Jess always had spares for the place. He had meant to take his old bed, which he supposed was April's place now, and let Rory sleep in Luke's bed, but like he said, she really hadn't been too keen on letting go of him, so he stayed.

"I'm sorry," she said then. "I didn't mean to make things weird."

"You didn't," Jess promised her. "Rory, you know that if you need me, I'm here."

"I know," she agreed, nodding her head, tears she didn't know she had left to cry spilling down her cheeks.

His arms were around her in a second, pulling her in as close as he could get her, holding her while she cried some more. It had been a hell of a last twenty-four hours, that was for sure. Jess couldn't help but think back to the email he had sent two days before, wondering vaguely if Rory saw it before all this happened.

They had been talking about such normal things in those emails, even on the phone at New Year's. His biggest concern then had been if she was still dating the dick from Yale. If she was, Jess made a mental note to kill the guy for not being there now, when Rory needed him most, even if it had meant that Jess got the chance to step into the breach himself. It was only then as he thought about it more that Jess realised there had been another absence at the hospital, another person who should've been present in all of this family drama.

"Rory, where's your dad?" he whispered in the dim light.

"I don't know," she sniffled against his shirt. "He and Mom had a fight, a big one. She tried to call him once but... but then Luke showed up."

Jess closed his eyes, held Rory tighter, and kissed the top of her head when her voice went away again. He hated himself for feeling happy when she was so broken up over her grandpa, but it was tough. Lorelai getting rid of Christopher and making room for Luke again, it seemed like a step in the right direction to Jess, even if that probably wasn't the right thing to say out loud right now.

"I'm so glad you're here" she said then, words muffled, but clear enough to Jess given how close the two of them were.

"Me too," he told her.

He couldn't bring himself to ask where Logan was. It seemed to be tough enough for Rory to explain her dad's absence, and if she and the entitled asshole were over, it probably wasn't something she would be thrilled about. No break up was fun, after all, and Rory had cried too much already.

"I called you yesterday. No, the day before," she said, pulling herself up beside him. "Sorry, time is a little wonky right now, but I called. The line was busy, I'm guessing it was Luke."

"Probably." Jess nodded, watching her push her hair back off her face.

"I wanted to tell you... about me and Logan," she explained. "We broke up."

Jess nodded again, without words this time. He really didn't know what he was supposed to say to that. Admitting he was glad sounded callous, saying he was sorry would be an out and out lie. The state Rory was in right now, it seemed safer to let her talk and keep his own mouth shut.

"Now I guess I really have fixed everything," she said softly, leaning closer again.

Tempting as it was to give in, Jess made himself be stronger. He hopped off the bed so fast he made his own head spin, but it had to be better than the alternative.

"I'll make coffee," he said fast, heading for the kitchen.

Immediately he remembered that Luke didn't keep coffee up there and so, muttering about the same, headed down to the diner.

Rory stared after him a moment, blinking hard. She really hadn't been expecting that reaction, but perhaps she should have done. Here she was, no doubt looking like a mess, having cried all over Jess for several hours straight, and then, when she finally told him she and Logan were over and thought about kissing him, he ran. Could she blame him in the circumstances, given what happened the last time? Not really, was the answer to that one.

Climbing out of bed, she scrubbed at her face with her hands, pushing her hair back and straightening it out as best she could with only her fingers to use as a comb. She had to use the bathroom and washed her face in the sink after she washed her hands.

When she came out, Jess still wasn't back yet and so she went in search of him. Rory found him staring blankly at the coffee machine that had since fallen silent. Instead of pouring their drinks, he was just standing there, presumably lost in thought. Rory could relate.

"Jess?" she said, her hand reaching out to his shoulder.

He was suddenly in motion, before she quite made contact, pouring coffee into two large mugs, handing one to her without pause.

"Thanks," she said, blowing on the surface of her drink before she dared to take a sip.

When she looked towards the windows she could see it was still mostly dark out, not quite dawn. God only knew what time it was, but time seemed to have lost all meaning from the moment Rory saw her grandfather collapse. She wasn't even really certain what day it was anymore.

"Did you break up with him or did he break up with you?"

The question came so suddenly it actually made Rory jump, though that might've been more to do with the fact it was the first time she had heard Jess' voice at full volume since he arrived. It had all been whispers and soft comforting tones up to now. She supposed she couldn't blame him for getting back to normal eventually, everything was going to have to at some point. Besides, he was asking a perfectly valid question and he deserved a proper answer too.

"Um, it was sort of mutual, in a way," she said, gazing into her coffee a while. "But I guess, mostly, I broke up with him."

She glanced up when she was done talking, in time to see Jess visibly let out a long breath. Rory wanted to ask what that meant, but she didn't really dare.

"Okay," he said eventually, nodding his head. "Maybe you really did fix everything this time."

"No one person can fix everything," said Rory, biting her lip, thinking of her grandpa again, that much was clear.

Jess moved to her side and put his arm around her one more time, squeezing her to him. He had no idea what to say anymore and it seemed she didn't either.

To Be Continued...