A/N: Thanks for all the nice reviews I got last chapter. Woo-hoo. ;)

Chapter 21

The diner grew quiet as Rory entered, and she glanced around in confusion. She leaned over to Babette.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" she whispered.

Babette responded with a big grin. "You look gorgeous. You got a hot date or somethin'?"

Rory blushed. "No. I don't look that dressed up, do I?"

Before Babette could answer, Jess walked into the diner. His jaw dropped when he saw Rory Lane smirked, pushing his mouth closed with her index finger. Jess shrugged her off.

"Ready to go?" he choked out.

Rory nodded nonchalantly. "Let's go."

As they walked to Rory's car, Jess turned to her. "New outfit?"

She shrugged, biting her lip to keep from grinning from ear to ear. "I guess."

"It's nice," he told her, opening the passenger door and ducking into the car.

"Thanks," Rory replied, unable to contain her grin any longer. She locked eyes with Jess as she sat down behind the wheel. Feeling her face grow hot, she turned away and started the car.

"So, this should be fun," she said as she pulled onto the road.

"Yeah."

"How did Luke talk you into this one?" Rory wanted to know, pausing at a stop sign.

Jess fumbled with the dial on the radio. "He didn't." He caught eyes with her for a split second, before she turned back to the road. "I volunteered," Jess went on. "I told him he needed to make their date special."

Rory's lips curved into a smile. "You did, huh?"

He coughed. "Yeah, well, how often does he date? He can't scare the women off forever, now can he?"

"I don't think he scares them off. He just hasn't found the right one yet," Rory responded.

"Maybe. Either way, I figure I'd just try to help him along." Jess shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"That's nice."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"You helping Luke. It's nice."

Jess shrugged again, focusing his attention back to finding a good radio station.

"Alright. From here on out, you're the boss. Go wherever you want and I'll be right behind you."

"I have to stop by the ladies room first," Rory told him.

"Right behind you," Jess joked, starting to follow her.

She grinned at him. "You, mister, will stay right out here and wait for me." She lightly pushed his shoulder with her index finger. A jolt of electricity shocked Jess at her touch. His eyes searched hers to see if she felt it, too.

Rory slowly met his gaze. "I, um—"

Jess took a step toward her.

"I have to, um—"

Step.

"Go to the bathroom," Rory finished, fleeing into the one place she knew he couldn't follow. Or so she thought.

No sooner had the door closed, it was pulled right back open. Jess hesitantly poked his head into the room.

"Jess!" Rory's face flushed. "You can't be in—" Her words died in her throat as he placed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Jess, stop," Rory whispered, pleaded, turning her head from him.

"Rory, I lo—"

"Young man, you're not supposed to be in here."

Rory and Jess glanced up as a somewhat large woman walked in. 'Janitor' was sewn on her uniform in bold letters.

"I know. One second." Jess turned back to Rory.

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you to—"

"Fine. Rory, I'll be outside."

Jess exited the restroom and the door closed with a soft thud.

Rory let out a breath, silently thanking the woman that was standing before her, giving her evil looks.

After going to the restroom, she washed her hands and found herself staring into the mirror, wondering how she had let her life get so complicated. Of course, by 'her life', she was referring to her relationship with Jess. It used to be so simple when they were little, when they both thought the opposite sex had cooties, and the only kisses they had to worry about were from relatives.

Rory jumped out of her daze at the shrill ring of her cell phone. She quickly dried her hands and reached into her purse for her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Are you planning on spending the day in there?" Jess's voice came over the line. "Because I've got a gift to buy. And, frankly, I need your expert advice."

Rory grinned, thankful that he wasn't going to make this awkward for the both of them. She hung up the phone and exited the restroom. Jess looked up and hung up his own phone, as she walked over to him.

"Ready?"

"Yes," she answered, wondering just what exactly she was agreeing to.

An hour and countless stores later, Rory and Jess were still without-present.

"I still think she would like that bracelet we saw back there," Jess declared.

"Yes, she'd like it. But she'll wear it the day she gets it and then it'll get buried at the bottom of her jewelry box and you'll never see it again. Trust me."

"I'm sure if it's from Luke—"

"Okay, fine. What if I told you I bought her a bracelet that is remarkably similar to the one you saw, if not the exact same, and that was the bracelet I was referring to being at the bottom of her jewelry box?"

Jess laughed. "Alright. What do you suggest then?"

Rory thought for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "I know!"

She walked off, leaning Jess staring after her.

"I'm sorry, what do you know? Where are you—Rory!" He hurried after her as she rounded a corner, running right into someone coming out of one of the stores he was rushing past. He nearly fell down from the unexpected collision, and—yes, he lost Rory.

Jess angrily turned to the person who he'd just run into, finding himself face to face with Dean.

"Sorry, man, you okay?" Dean asked.

Jess groaned inwardly. 'Not you again...' he thought. "Hey Dean. Did you see which way Rory went?"

"Rory's here?" Dean's eyes lit up, and his head flew back and forth as he scanned the crowd.

"Did I say Rory? I meant...Luke."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Jess said quickly. "We're trying to find Lorelai a present."

"I'm great at getting gifts," Dean boasted.

Jess nodded, choosing to ignore the hint. "Alright, well, I'll see you around, okay?"

Dean's face fell. "Oh, okay. Tell Luke I said hi."

"Will do." Jess stared at Dean until he left, then went back to searching for Rory. He whipped out his cell phone, redialing her number.

She picked up on the first ring, asking where he was.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"

"You're the one who ran off," he retorted. "You let Dean find me."

"You're with Dean?" Jess could hear the laughter in her voice

"Not anymore. I scared him off."

"Poor guy. He just wants a friend."

"He can have you."

Rory snorted. "Thanks for giving me away," she said sarcastically.

"I would never give you away," Jess said seriously.

A silence fell over them.

"Where are you?" Jess finally asked.

"Candle Scents. Hurry up."

Jess walked over to the store, frowning. He immediately spotted Rory and made his way over to her. "A candle? That's your idea of a romantic first-date gift?"

"I'm not done yet." She picked up a candle and handed it to him.

He smelled it. "Wow, that's strong."

"The way Mom likes it."

"Now your whole house can smell like coffee." He tossed the scented candle back to her.

"Where's the bad?" Rory asked. "I'm thinking we grab a couple of these, go get a few of those travel-size bags of coffee from Doose's, add a thermos of Luke's coffee, and throw it all into a basket or something. She'll love it."

"Well, I give you points for originality."

Rory frowned. "You don't like it?"

Jess took the candle from her hand, grabbing another one just like it from the shelf. "I think it's a great idea," he assured her, leading the way to the checkout line.

A/N: Ehh...this chapter is a little short, I think. But I hope you like it anyway. Took me long enough to type it up. I have absolutely nothing else written after this, so I better get to workin', huh? I keep trying to start new stories, and they end up sounding like crap, so maybe I should take that as a sign and just focus on finishing this one. LOL. Any feedback/suggestions are very much appreciated...Oh, and Lorelai's coming in next chapter. Next chapter should be an interesting one hopefully, if I can write it right...