A/N: Now that I posted about the Halloween party, Thanksgiving is next week already. Oh well. Truth be told, I'm still trying to figure out a more solid direction for this story. As it turns out, "Jess and Rory" isn't actually a real plot. Who knew? Don't worry, I'm not leaving this story behind!

The Halloween party sparked something dangerous in Rory. Suddenly, she had gone from being the girl who was perfectly fine being single to the girl who wanted to spend every single second with a guy. She wasn't sure if she could officially call Jess her boyfriend or if they were even dating exclusively, but she had no interest in seeing anyone else and hoped Jess felt the same way. If what Rosemary had said at the party was true, Rory didn't think she had to worry about Jess finding some other girl. The way Jess rubbed her back while they laid on her bed was similarly reassuring.

Jess said he had work to do for the paper but Rory had insisted that he come over anyway. Just being in the same room with him was comforting, even when they were doing their own thing. Jess was editing articles for the paper on his laptop, but every now and then he would reach over and stroke Rory's hair or look at the book she was reading.

"I can tell when you're doing that, you know," Rory said, turning a page in her book. "Are you waiting for me to get to the good part or something?" She was taking a Russian literature class and they had been assigned a Chernychevsky novel that Rory could just not get into. Jess had taken the same class the year before so he had already read the book, and kept looking over Rory's shoulder to see what part she was at. She had already made a mental note never to do that to anyone again, because it was getting slightly annoying. It was a good thing Jess was so cute.

"Nah, there isn't really a good part," Jess said. "I liked The Brothers Karamazov better. Are you reading that when you talk about Dostoyevsky?"

"I think we might be reading Crime and Punishment instead, although that's kind of mainstream by now," Rory said. She had read it in high school and enjoyed it, but she hoped her class would expose her to new books. As she finished the chapter she was on she slid a bookmark into the novel and tossed it on her nightstand. "Can I convince you to continue this conversation over some lunch?" she asked. Her stomach had been growling for half an hour, but she had been comfortable.

"Or we could start a conversation that's not about politically charged Russian authors," Jess suggested. "Over lunch."

"Lunch was the important part there," Rory said, walking to her closet to dig out her shoes. Paris refused to let them keep their shoes by front door, and she sniffed pointedly every time Rory left them out in their bedroom. She said between the binge drinking and indiscriminate sex, college campuses were cesspools just waiting to get everyone sick. Rory failed to see how leaving her shoes in the common room added to the rampant filth of college life, but she had learned long ago that some things weren't worth arguing over when it came to Paris. "Do you want to go somewhere other than the dining hall? I think their lunch special today is meatloaf," she said, wrinkling her nose.

Jess shut down his laptop and grabbed his coat off Rory's desk chair. "We can go wherever you want," he said.

"Would you kill me if I said Hector's?" They had already been to Hector's that week, but Rory couldn't get enough of their tacos. She had no idea what they were spicing their beef with but she was fairly sure it couldn't be legal. Rory gave Jess an angelic smile, knowing there was no way he'd say no.

He sighed, but nodded. "But do not order the platter of tacos again," he warned her. "I've still got a couple of them in my fridge."

"Sixteen tacos seemed like a perfectly reasonable amount at the time," Rory said, even though she had tapped out after eating four. She had eat the remaining four that night while she was studying, pleased to find out that they held up pretty well even when eaten cold. "But out of deference to you and your slightly bizarre health-consciousness, I will order something different."

"Not wanting to eat eight tacos in one sitting has nothing to do with being health-conscious," Jess said. "I think that's just considered being a normal person."

Rory shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said as they walked out of the dorm. "I think today's going to be the day I try the jalapeno surprise taco."

Jess winced. "Why would you order anything with the word surprise in it?"

"It's like a present," Rory explained, slipping her hand into his. "The surprise might be the jalapenos, or it might be slathered in cream cheese or something."

"If it has jalapeno in the name that's probably not the surprise," Jess said. "I'll stick with the chicken burrito."

Rory looked at him blankly. "Why? You know they make burritos with beef, right?" She appreciated chicken, especially in its nugget or tender form, but chicken had no place in a burrito.

"Hey, I like chicken even when it hasn't been breaded and deep-fried," Jess said. "You should try it grilled on a salad sometime." Rory just shook her head sadly.

"You are so lucky I like you, because that was the worst suggestion anyone has ever made," she said. "That was the saddest thing I've heard a person say since I heard Robin Williams died."

"Oh come on, you cannot compare a salad with grilled chicken to Robin Williams dying," Jess said as they walked into Hector's. He got a strange look from the people sitting at the table closest to the door.

Rory giggled. "They think you're weird now," she said.

"You did that on purpose!" Jess argued. "You were the one talking about Robin Williams and now I'm the jerk because it looks like I was the one comparing him to salad."

For a minute they were preoccupied with ordering their food, but once they sat down with their tacos and burritos Rory smiled and poked him with a straw. "Be honest, you're totally regretting taking me to a public place," she said.

"I wasn't until you ordered that," Jess said, nodding at her taco. Apparently the "surprise" part of the jalapeno surprise taco was an unholy amount of sour cream and verde salsa. "That looks disgusting."

"I can get a box and take it to my room to eat by myself," Rory suggested. "That way you won't have to be seen with me while I eat it." She wasn't serious, of course, but she knew Jess wouldn't take her seriously.

He raised an eyebrow. "So I'm forced to picture you sitting in your room, eating the world's grossest taco all alone? Not likely." He took a bite of his burrito and seemed to enjoy it, despite the fact that it was lacking a decent filling. "Besides, I kind of like you here."

Rory looked up at him, feeling a little shy all of the sudden. "I kind of like me here too," she said. She gave Jess a small grin, and he smiled back. Hopefully, she would be there for a long time.