Wow thank you so much for your lovely comments! You have no idea how much they mean to me. :) Here's the next chapter! It's bit shorter than the others but I wanted to end it where I did!

Chapter 21

Tristan sank into the chair next to Jess while Lorelai reached out and gripped Luke's hand tightly, everyone in shock.

"But she will wake up right? She'll be ok?" Jess was the first to speak up.

"We're doing everything we can for her. I'm sorry but all you can do is wait. I wish it was better news." The doctor said sympathetically.

"Can we see her?" Lorelai asked shakily.

"Of course." The doctor said. "Although we would like to get you two boys checked out first." She said looking over at Jess and Tristan.

"You haven't got looked at yet?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"We're fine." Tristan said.

"Rory needed their attention, not us." Jess said.

"You two are getting looked at now." Luke said firmly, taking charge. "Don't even try to argue."

"But Rory..." Tristan said.

"You can come to see her straight after but do you really think she'd want you risking your health? She would want to make sure you're both ok." Luke said.

Tristan and Jess sighed but nodded. They knew Luke was right. They went off with the doctor while the others waited in the corridor.

"I'm going to ring my parents." Lorelai said quietly so that only Luke could hear. "Maybe they can look after Katie and LJ while we stay here. They shouldn't have to go through this. They're in shock as it is."

Luke nodded, agreeing. "Ok." He watched as she pulled her mobile house and noticed her hands were shaking. He took hold of them and gave them a squeeze. "Rory's going to be fine." He said.

Lorelai blinked away tears but nodded and then went off to make the call.

Once Jess and Tristan had been checked out and told that they needed to take it easy as they had inhaled quite a bit of smoke as well but other than that it was just cuts and bruises which would heal and Katie and LJ had been picked up by Emily and Richard who Lorelai assured would keep them updated, they all went to Rory's room.

As soon as they opened the door, Tristan rushed to his girlfriend's side and took hold of her hand. "Rory?" He said. "Rory, can you hear me?" He asked but there was no response.

Luke and Lorelai went to the other side of the bed, Lorelai taking hold of her daughter's other hand, while Jess stood next to Tristan and Paris hung back a bit. "Hon?" Lorelai said. "Please, if you can hear us let us know. You can wake up anytime, you know?" She said emotionally. She felt Luke's hand on her shoulder and she glanced up at her husband who she could see had tears in his eyes as well but was trying not to show it. "Why do bad things always happen to us?" She asked quietly.

Luke swallowed a lump but just squeezed her shoulder.

Days passed and there was still no change in Rory's condition. She still hadn't come round and it was worrying everyone. Tristan had stayed vigil by her bedside and everyone else had visited every day as well.

One morning, he heard the door open and turned round to see Luke come in. "Hi.." Tristan said quietly.

Luke took in Tristan's exhausted appearance and sighed. "Have you slept at all? Have you even gone back to the apartment?" He asked.

"Not really." Tristan admitted. "And no, I can't leave her." He said quietly.

Luke sighed. "Tristan, you need to get some rest. You're exhausted. Go back to the apartment and get some sleep and change your clothes." He said.

"I'm fine." Tristan said.

"You're not." Luke said. "I know you're worried sick. We all are. But you won't be any use to Rory if you get ill yourself, will you?" He said.

Tristan sighed. "I guess not." He said.

"I'll sit with her until you get back so she's not alone." Luke promised. "I'll call you if anything changes."

"Ok." Tristan said quietly and slowly got up. He looked down at Rory. "I'll be back later, I promise." He told her.

Luke patted him on the shoulder. "Jess and Paris are coming later as well."

Tristan nodded and with one last look at his girlfriend, finally left the hospital since the day of the accident.

Jess and Paris were walking down the corridor to Rory's room and were about to go in when they heard Tristan talking.

"Please Ror, it's been 4 days." Tristan said emotionally. "Your dad made me go get some sleep and change my clothes today. I stank so much. You so would have told me off." He chuckled a little. He then sobered a little. "I miss you so much, Rory. You're everything to me. I'm nothing without you so please wake up. I need you. Your family needs you. I don't want to go back to how my life was before I met you. So please, please just wake up so I can hear your voice again." He choked.

Jess turned to Paris who had tears in her eyes. "Hey, are you ok?" He asked.

Paris wiped them away embarrassingly and went and sat down on one of the chairs outside. "I'm sorry. I just...Rory's like my first proper friend. Even when I was horrible to her, she didn't give up. She gave me so many chances and I'm so grateful she did." She sniffed.

Jess came and sat down next to her, putting his hand over hers.

"Oh god, look at me going on and it's worse for you. She's your cousin and all I can think about is how I feel. Your family and Tristan are going through hell and I'm just being same old Paris." She exclaimed.

"Paris..." Jess said.

"My parents are right. I'm just an inconsiderate and selfish person. I never think about about others..." She went on.

"Paris.." Jess tried to interrupt her.

"I'm so sorry Jess! I just...I'm such a horrible person and..." She continued with her rant but she was shocked when she was stopped in her tracks by Jess' lips on hers. She sat there for a moment in shock as he pulled away from the kiss. "Wha...What was that?" She asked.

"A way to get you to shut up." Jess smirked slightly.

Paris blushed embarrassed. "Sorry.." She said.

"You're not a horrible person, Paris. You're not inconsiderate or selfish. You're such someone who's missing their friend and is worried about them." Jess said.

"Really?" Paris asked quietly, glad that Jess wasn't mad.

"Do you really think I would kiss you if I thought you were all those things?" Jess pointed out.

Paris glanced down at the floor. "I guess not." She said.

Jess sighed. "Look I don't know where that kiss came from but what I do know is that I like spending time with you. You get me and I get you too." He said. "But...everything...with Rory being here..." He said quietly. "The kiss wasn't just to shut you up. I wanted to do it. But I think we should keep it quiet for now. Until Rory wakes up. I don't want to upset Tristan."

Paris nodded. "Ok." She said. She gave him a small smile. "For the record, I feel the same."

Jess smirked. "Good. I haven't just humiliated myself then." He tried to lighten the mood.

Paris smiled.

Jess stood up and held out his hand. "Come on, let's go see Rory." He said. "Before Tristan hears us."

"I think it's too late for that." Paris said nervously gesturing behind him.

Jess turned round and found Tristan standing there. "Hey.." Jess said sheepishly.

"I wondered what was taking you so long but now I can see you were finally plucking up courage to ask Paris out." He said with a slight twitch of his lips.

"We weren't trying to keep it from you." Jess said. "We just...We didn't want to upset you."

Tristan shook his head. "It's fine. It's about time we get some good news for a change. I'm happy for you. Both of you." He smiled. "And I know Rory will be too." He added quietly.

Jess and Paris gave him a small smile and then Jess turned to Paris. "Go on, you go in first. I'll meet you in there." He said.

Paris nodded, understanding that he wanted some time with Tristan and disappeared into the room.

Jess looked at Tristan. "You're really ok with it?" He asked.

"You don't need my permission." Tristan said amused at Jess' nervousness.

"I know. I just..you're my best friend. I don't want to upset you when you're going through this at the moment." Jess said quietly gesturing towards Rory's room.

Tristan sighed. "Honestly, mate, I'm happy for you. You and Paris are good together. Just..make sure you look after her ok?" He said.

Jess nodded. "I will."

"Good." Tristan nodded. He sighed and sat down into one of the chairs.

"Are you ok?" Jess asked.

"Not really." Tristan admitted. "It's been days..."

Jess sighed and sat down next to him. "I know."

"It's not a good sign right?" Tristan said. "I know it's not but I can't bear to think about that..."

"You know, when Rory and I were younger, our Grandma had a fall and she was in a coma for weeks." Jess said.

Tristan glanced at him. "Really?" He asked surprised.

Jess nodded. "It was a bad fall." He said quietly. "But she did come round. Just before Katie was born actually. And she was fine." He said. He looked at Tristan. "Rory's just like her. She'll be fine."

Tristan took a deep breath and just nodded. "Yeah..." He said.

Just then, Paris' voice startled them. "Jess! Tristan! Quickly!" She shouted from inside the room.

Jess and Tristan glanced at each other and then got up in a shot and rushed into Rory's room.

Sorry to leave you on such a cliffhanger but I need something to make sure you come back for the next chapter! ;) Hope you liked it! Please keep your reviews coming so I can see what you think! Thanks! :) :)