A/N: We are inching ever closer to the end. How are you guys enjoying this so far? I hope you are enjoying this ride as much as I am! Thanks again for reading! At the risk of sounding repetitive... PLEASE REVIEW!

Disclaimer: I – unfortunately – do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters, not even Jess Mariano (even though I wished for him for my birthday). I also lay no claim to Grizzly Bear, The Kinks, Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" or any other cultural references: music, literary, or other. This story is for pure entertainment purposes only.

Ever After You

by FuriousRose920

Chapter Fourteen

For the second time in as many days, Rory awoke in an unusual place with an uncomfortable crick in her neck and an angry-looking man starting down at her. Disoriented, she bolted upright, clutching the still-open book tightly to her chest. Upon further review, the man standing over her wasn't just angry; he was downright fuming. Hands crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed, Rory was sure she could see steam coming from his ears.

"Where the hell have you been?" His voice was controlled but dripping with ire.

"I, uh well…"

"Your mother has been worried sick. You couldn't have returned one of the dozen calls she made to you?"

As Rory pulled the phone out of her back pocket, it was only then she noticed that it was dead – and probably had been for some time. "Luke, I'm sorry. I didn't think – "

"No. You didn't. No one has seen or heard from you in days. How do you think that makes us feel? You could have been dead in a ditch somewhere!"

Rory slowly rose from the couch, taking in the man who, to her, had always been like father. His anger was finally giving way to relief now that he knew she was safe. As his furious façade crumbled, Rory was so touched she had to hold back the tears.

"Luke. Really, I'm so, so sorry. I was just waiting for Jess and I fell asleep. I never meant to make any one wor – oof!" She couldn't finish her apology as the big bear of a man enveloped her in a tight hug. Stunned only momentarily, Rory wrapped her arms around Luke and returned the embrace. What was it with the men in that family? On the exterior they were so gruff and yet soft like marshmallows on the inside.

"Luke," she coughed. "I think you are crushing my lungs." She took in a deep breath and Luke finally released her.

"Sorry. It's just that, you wouldn't pick up and Jess left town and turned his phone off so we had no idea what happened to you."

Rory felt her heart drop into her stomach. "Jess left town?"

"Yeah, his editor in Philly called. Some girl with an unusual name like Luna or Lela."

"Lola?" Rory asked, closing her eyes, silently hoping it wasn't the same girl Jess used to be involved with.

"Lola. Yeah, that was it. He's doing some book-reading event tonight. They liked his manuscript and they want to start promoting him? I'm not really positive. He's not exactly a wellspring of information."

"So he left… yesterday?"

"Yep. He left a fairly-cryptic message on the register with as few details as possible. "

"Did he mention where the book reading would be?" Rory mentally crossed her fingers. And her toes too for good measure.

"At that publishing house he used to work at. Trashcan?

"Truncheon," she corrected quietly. Why can't anyone get that right?

"Right. Truncheon. Wait, you didn't know he was going? I though you guys were…" Luke dropped off with embarrassment, unsure how to end the sentence.

"We got into a little tiff, is all. Nothing major." Liar. She chastised herself. And she could tell from the way Luke was studying her that he didn't believe her for an instant. Thankfully, he held his tongue and simply nodded.

"Well, I guess I should get going." She said with attempted coolness as she picked up her personal effects. Purse. Check. Book. Check. Jacket. Hmmm. She momentarily thought of handing over the leather jacket to return to Jess and started to extend it toward him but changed her mind at the last minute, swinging it over her shoulders and walking towards the door. Check.

"Hey, Rory," Luke called after her.

"Mmhmm?" She intoned, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"Whatever it is you're about to do, will you stop by the house and let your mom know you're OK first?"

Nodding, Rory smiled at the man who clearly loved her mother more than anything and hoped that she hadn't ruined her chance to have one of those gruff marshmallow men all to herself.

After stopping by the house to conciliate her mother, and somehow sidestep the barrage of questions that flew her way, Rory quickly freshened up, packed an overnight bag (just in case) and hit the road again. The four-hour drive to Philadelphia was nothing to scoff at but Rory was invigorated. She was determined to fix the damage she'd done and keep Jess from running back into the surely-awaiting arms of his ex-girlfriend Lola. "Lola?" She scoffed out loud. "Psh. Sounds like a vicious trollop's name to me."

As she drove, she tried not to think too much about the fact that tonight, for good or for bad, she would have an answer. Despite her best efforts, scenarios played in her head - some ending with a passionate kiss and others with her curled into the fetal position, people pointing and laughing maniacally at her. The closer she got to the publishing house, the more anxious she became. When she finally turned onto the street where Truncheon was located, she though she might explode from the anticipation. She found a spot relatively close to the building and gave herself one last pep talk as she pulled into the space. It was now or never.

With a deep breath, she walked towards the unassuming storefront. She was relieved to find that there was no bell above the door to signal her entrance. Slipping in, she closed the door quietly behind her and took in her surroundings. The bookshelf-lined room was mostly empty save for a trio of people by the wooden staircase. The group, which hadn't noticed her yet, consisted of a slightly-dopey but sweet-looking guy with light brown hair, an opinionated and well-spoken black guy and a drop-dead gorgeous woman with eye-catching red hair. She remembered the two men as Matthew and Chris, Jess' former partners. She didn't recognize the woman. She strained to hear the conversation that had the group so oblivious to her entrance.

"So everything is all set for tonight?" Matthew asked the vixen.

"Yep, the reading starts at 7 and he'll read a passage from his new novel as well as some from his older works. There should be a pretty decent crowd too. I really pulled some strings to make this happen." She responded.

"This is so awesome. One of our own is finally getting a shot. I knew that selling this place to a bigger company would be worth it. I mean, we still get to work here but we do more important things, we actually are making money and now Jess is getting his big break. Your help has been monumental, Lola."

Hearing the name and putting two and two together made Rory lose complete control of her motor functions. As she turned to rush back out the front door, she bumped into a bookshelf, bounced off said bookshelf and tripped over a book table, causing many of the volumes to fall loudly to the floor.

Finally aware of their guest, the group turned to see a red-faced Rory scrambling to place the books back up on the table.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Chris asked, walking towards her, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to place her.

"Uh, no. Thanks. I was here for the book reading but I guess I'm a little early." She let her hair fall in front of her ears in attempt to hide her face.

"Do I know you?" He was close enough to reach out and touch her now.

"No. No, I don't think so."

"Oh my god. It's you." Realization and anger filled his eyes. "I remember you. You're the girl that sent Jess off the deep end the last time you were here. Are you the reason he's been a monosyllabic jackass since he's been back?"

"My guess is yes," she responded quietly, dropping her head. "But that's why I'm here. I screwed up... again. And I want - no - need to fix it."

Matthew and Lola walked up beside Chris. The former looked sympathetic and the latter simply stood stoically with her arms folded across her chest.

"You nearly killed him the last time you were here," Matthew accused with sadness evident in his voice. "He drank so much in the months following your little visit I thought he would end up dead or a mental institution."

"Oh my god. I - I had no idea. I know I hurt him... But I never meant to... I was just so screwed up at the time..." Rory couldn't help the tears that started to well in her eyes. She bit her lip to hold them back.

"He talked to me about you, you know." Lola said finally. She spoke unwaveringly but with a slight gentleness in her voice. "We were friends before we were ever together. And after as well."

"He told me about you too."

"Let's take a walk," Lola said with authority. "I think we need to have a heart-to-heart."