AN: Considering that my story is currently set back in 2009 I'm going to be moving things along a bit with the timeline so it doesn't end up ridiculously long by the time we get to the present.

Chapter 11: "I don't think it anymore. I know it,"

Rory woke up Sunday morning with her head on Jess' shoulder and a hand across his bare chest while he ran his fingers up and down her back. "You know I think that's the best night's sleep I've had in a long time," she said as she started to run her hand across his stomach.

"Me, too," Jess said kissing her forehead, "I could really get used to this."

"What, sharing a bed with girl and not having sex?" Rory asked with a laugh.

"No, waking up with you in my arms. Sex or no sex, I like being with you," Jess told her.

"Good, I like it, too," she told him, "Though I would like to experience waking up with you after sex, too at some point, but not yet."

"Whenever you're ready," he told her as he moved so he was resting on his arms above her, planting kisses up and down her jawline.

After their intense morning make-out session Jess prepared breakfast for the two of them.

"Mmm, Luke's coffee and pancakes just as good. Yum," Rory said as she ate the plate of food Jess set before her.

"Pancakes as good as Luke's, huh? Now that's high praise," Jess said.

"Yeah, well, just don't tell Luke," she said.

"I won't," he told her, "So what do you have going on today?"

"I've got a couple story ideas for the paper so I want to write up some notes for the pitch meeting tomorrow. Then at some point I have to call my mom. She sent me a text last night asking how are evening was so if I don't call her soon with details I wouldn't put it past her to drive down here to find out," she told him.

"Very true. Okay, so I was pretty busy with the scavenger hunt yesterday that I didn't get any writing done so I'm going to see what I can do today. Dinner?" he asked.

"Chinese?"

"Sure, we'll order a bunch and then you'll have some for the rest of the week."

Throughout the next few weeks Rory found herself extremely busy at the paper writing various articles for different sections. She was paired with Lacey a lot to have photographs to go with her articles. The editor knew she had written a variety of articles for her high school and college papers so he wanted her to write for different areas to see if she was best suited to write articles as they came and what kind of reader response she got or if he should consider giving her a column of her own.

"Hey guys," Rory said walking into Truncheon one afternoon, three weeks after Valentine's Day.

"Hey Rory," Matt said, "How's it going?"

"Good. I got my article done early so I thought I would surprise Jess. Is he here?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's in the back," Chris told her, "Inspiration struck so he's been holed up back there for hours."

"Am I interrupting?" Rory asked as she opened the door to the office Jess was in.

"Yes, but I gladly welcome an interruption from you," Jess told her as she made her way over to him and sat in his lap, "What are you doing here?"

"I got my article turned in already so I'm free for the rest of the day and we both have the weekend off so I was thinking…" she said.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to Stars Hollow this weekend?" she asked.

"Hmm, Stars Hollow," he pondered before kissing the top of her head, "I suppose we could."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. We haven't been there since you moved. I know you're missing your Mom and I wouldn't mind seeing Luke."

"Great," she said jumping up from his lap, "I've already got our things packed in my car and I called Grandpa so he could make sure the cook has enough food for us and the maid sets places for us at the dinner table. If we leave now, we'll be there in time for Friday Night Dinner."

"Already got the car packed, huh? You were so sure I would agree to go?" he questioned.

"Of course," Rory said, "Like you could ever say no to me?"

"True," Jess said giving her a kiss, "Let me gather up my stuff and tell the guys I'm leaving then we can go, okay."

"Can't wait."

"Richard, why is the table set for six?" Emily questioned coming down the stairs just before Lorelai and Luke arrived for dinner.

"I had the maid set two extra places because we have two extra guests coming tonight," he told her.

"Extra guests? Why don't I know anything about it?" she asked.

"Because they called me and I wanted to keep it a surprise," Richard said.

"Who's coming for dinner, Richard?" she asked, "Rory? Is it Rory? Oh Richard please tell me Rory is joining us."

"Yes, Emily, it's Rory. She called me this afternoon to ask if she and Jess could join us, but requested I keep it a secret so don't say anything to Lorelai when she and Luke arrive," Richard said.

Richard, Emily, Lorelai and Luke are sitting in the living when the doorbell rings. "Are you expecting company, Emily?" Richard asked trying not to give away that he already knew who was at the door.

"No, I don't believe so," she says, trying to hide the smile threatening to grace her face.

"Surprise!" Rory announced as she and Jess walked into the living room after the maid let them in.

"Oh my God, Rory!" Lorelai yelled jumping up to give her daughter a hug, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming tonight?"

"I wanted to surprise you," Rory told her.

"Well you definitely did. How long are you guys here for?" she asked.

"We've got the whole weekend," Jess told her.

"Yeah, well we definitely have to plan some movies to watch, fill you up on Al's Chinese, oh and tons of Luke's coffee," Lorelai said.

"I definitely agree with you on the coffee. Jess still has one bag hidden from me so I'm going to drink as much as I can while we're here," Rory said.

"Dinner is served Mrs. Gilmore," the maid, Natalie said as she walked into the living room.

"Thank you, Natalie," Emily told her, "Shall we?"

After a relatively calm dinner, the only real outbursts were from Emily to Lorelai who couldn't contain her excitement at the fact that her daughter was here, the younger four headed to Stars Hollow. They ended up at Luke's where they had pie and coffee before Luke and Jess both declared they were tired and were going to sleep above the diner to allow Rory and Lorelai time at the house to themselves to catch up.

"So, things with Jess are good?" Lorelai asked as they sat down on the couch putting a movie on.

"Yep, real good," Rory said.

"Great. You can spare me the details, but you guys are being careful with everything, right?"

"We're not sleeping together if that's what you're asking."

"You're not? You were all ready for it to happen back in high school. What's stopping you?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. I want to and I know Jess wants to, but…"

"You're scared?"

"Yeah. With all my previous relationships sex happened pretty much right away. With Dean it started because of it. With Logan, it was based mostly on sex in the beginning and with Nate, sex was all it was because we were hurting and wanted the companionship."

"But, since what you have with Jess is more than just physical you're scared having sex will change things. That's perfectly understandable, Rory, but I don't think it will."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't. While I don't want to be encouraging my daughter to have sex with her boyfriend I think you should give it a chance."

"Even though we've only been together a couple of months."

"Rory, you may have only been dating this time for a couple of months, but you've known each other for nearly eight years. You've seen each other at your bests and worsts."

"You're right. I want to do this. I've thought about what it would be like since we were seventeen. It's time."

"Okay. Just wait until you're back in Philly okay? I don't even want to think about you having sex under my roof and Luke would kill Jess if you did it in diner apartment."

"Don't worry. We won't. I want to plan this anyway. I want it to be perfect. Okay, new topic. Tell me about the wedding plans. How's that going?"

"My dress is almost done," Lorelai told her.

"Almost done? You're making it yourself?" Rory questioned.

"Yep, I didn't want to use the other one. Too much bad voodoo," she said, "We're skipping tuxes because they are just too formal so Luke has a suit picked out. I've got material for your dress so I'd like to get started on that while you're here."

"Oh, definitely. What else?" Rory wondered.

"Well, it's at the inn and Sookie's handling all the food so we're covered there. The flowers are done and we sent out the invitations last week so basically we're done," Lorelai said.

"Excellent. I'm so happy for you and Luke, Mom. I can't believe it's finally happening."

"Me either, kid. I can't wait."

In between watching movie after movie that weekend, Lorelai managed to get her dress done as well as a rough start to Rory's. She just had to add a few minor details and a final fitting before the wedding and it would be perfect. They also talked Jess into getting a new suit to match Luke's and Lorelai made him a tie using the same material she used for Rory's dress.

When she wasn't watching movies with Lorelai, Rory spent the rest of the weekend visiting with Lane and hanging out at the bridge with Jess. It was nice just being there together, her head in his lap as he read aloud to her from Emma.

"I'm really glad we came here," Rory told him interrupting his thoughts as he paused his reading to write a note into the book.

"The bridge or Stars Hollow?" he asked.

"Both. I missed my Mom and Luke and everyone, but it's also nice just being here with you. After everything we've been through and all the time we've spent apart, I like that we can still just sit here like we did when we were kids. It just feels so…"

"Perfect?"

"Yeah, perfect," she said climbing onto his lap so she was straddling him, pulling his face towards hers.

"Hey Jess?" she said pulling away after a few minutes.

"Yeah?" he questioned.

"I don't think it anymore. I know it," she said.

"You know what, Ror?" he asked.

"How I feel," she told him, "When you called me at graduation I told you I thought I may have loved you. I don't think it, I know it. I love you, Jess."

"I love you, too, Rory. I always have," Jess told her before attaching his lips to hers once again, deepening their kiss immediately.

They arrived back in Philly late Sunday night and reluctantly separated to their own apartments as they both had to be up early for work the next morning. They spent the next couple weeks very much like before except Rory asked Jess to teach her how to cook some things whenever he decided to make dinner for them instead of ordering out. She told him she just wanted to learn a new skill, but really she was planning for their two month anniversary. After telling Jess she loved him she had made the decision that she wanted to do something special for him on their anniversary so she wanted to be able to cook him a nice meal before inviting him into her bedroom.

"Rory?" Jess called for her coming into her apartment the evening of their anniversary, "Are you cooking?"

"Yep," she said coming out of the kitchen to greet him with a kiss, "Why do you think I asked you to show me how? I wanted to be able to surprise you."

"This is definitely a surprise. Do you need any help?" he asked.

"Nope, I've got it covered. So you just have a seat and glass of wine. Dinner will be done in just a few minutes," she told him.

"This is delicious, Rory," Jess said taking a bite of the penne alla vodka Rory made.

"Thanks, I just doctored up a jarred sauce, but I did make the salad dressing from scratch," she told him.

"It's amazing," he told her.

"I can't believe it's been two months already since our date at Osteria."

"And to think it all happened because of a ridiculous bet."

"It wasn't a ridiculous bet, Jess. It proved to you that you have fans besides me and we made friends with a rockstar."

"True. Happy Anniversary, Rory," he said raising his wine glass to her.

"Happy Anniversary, Jess," she said clinking her glass with his and then leaning across the table to kiss him, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

After dinner they sat down on the couch and exchanged their gifts. Rory got him a Hemingway biography he had mentioned wanting to read, but hadn't yet purchased. Jess gave her a book as well, but it wasn't one that was published, yet.

"Jess, is this?" she questioned.

"A sequel to The Subsect. It's what I've been working on the past few months. I finished it last week," he told her, "I'd like you to read it first before I give it to Matt and Chris."

"It doesn't have a title," she said.

"No, I haven't come up with one, yet, but it does have a dedication," he said with a smirk.

"What did you do?" she questioned flipping to the dedication, "To the girl that's owned my heart since I was seventeen; My Lexi, I love you, Rory Gilmore."

"What to do think?" he asked.

"It's perfect. I love it, but wait. These pages are dated," she said.

"Yeah, I date the pages before I print them so I have a clear account of when I wrote everything."

"This page is dated from November. The day I had my interview at the paper."

"I told you I've always loved you. I wrote it after you left that day."

"Oh, Jess," she began slightly tearing up, "You're such a sap, but I love it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he told her before taking the pages from her hands and pushing her back onto the couch cradling her face in his hands as he kissed her.

"Mmm, Jess, wait," she said pushing him away slightly.

"What? Is something wrong?" he questioned.

"No, I just have one more gift for you. Wait here," she told him heading to her room.

"Wow! Rory, you look, uh, wow!" Jess said as Rory came out of her room in a navy blue, strapless, lace babydoll that barely covered everything.

"You like it?" Rory questioned as she made her way over to his lap, straddling him as she placed kisses along his neck and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Like it, no. I love it. You're beautiful, Ror, but you know I don't need all of this, right?"

"I know, but we've waited six years for this moment. I just want our first time to be special."

"Oh it will be, trust me," he told her.

AN: Okay, so I originally wrote this chapter with the sex, but since I didn't want to up the rating for this story I decided to follow what I've seen a few others do and create a posting just for the mature stuff so if you want to read it, it's there. Also, Jess' book doesn't have a title because I haven't come up with one so I am open to suggestions.