A/N- Last chapter was crazy, wasn't it?! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this. Author's note is short today, just the usual read/review/recommend and I don't own Gilmore Girls/concepts/characters. Insert wit here, I'm too busy trying to write :D Couple quieter chapters coming because they're needed, but I'm very proud of them and like them a lot, and hope you do too. And for you action junkies who are complaining already, don't worry, soon we'll have a really great explosion again. Enjoy!

Chapter 25

"No."

"Jess."

"No. End of discussion."

"But..."

"It's not happening."

Jess walked away from his uncle, leaving the apartment and heading downstairs. Luke followed him.

After Rory's outburst, they'd helped to revive Lorelai to her normal state with some coffee, at which point she said she would really prefer to leave earlier. She and Luke were going to leave in about an hour, and Luke was supposed to be getting their things. But at this point, he was more concerned with his nephew.

"Jess, come on. We both know that if she's like that with Lorelai, you're the only one who has a decent shot at talking to her. Get her to apologize. I haven't seen Lorelai like that in years. She doesn't deserve that."

"Look, I agree that what Rory did was crap," Jess replied, refusing to meet his uncle's eyes, "Especially now that I can tolerate Lorelai. But if you ignore the presentation and focus on the content, she has a point. She wants space and she isn't a child. She's entitled to that. And she's not here to ask for my help."

"But clearly she needs it!" Luke exclaimed, "Jess, something could be wrong with…"

"Something is wrong with her, Luke! God, you two are the most oblivious people in the world sometimes!" Jess yelled in frustration, "But I can't wave my magic wand and make it go away, and even if I could, she doesn't want that. Has that occurred to you? That she doesn't want help right now? She doesn't want to fix it?"

"She can't act like this, it could hurt her relationship with Lorelai," Luke responded, his voice low, "Hell, it could hurt her!"

"Rory's a big girl," Jess answered, his lips forming a tight line, "She's been making big girl decisions for a long time now. Speaking of which, thanks for letting me know about my ex-girlfriend's adultering. Glad I have you to keep me up to speed."

"You said you never wanted to hear his name again."

"Well, thanks for at least confirming the who, though I assumed that there aren't many married guys Rory would have slept with. That explains the divorce," Jess snarled, "But see? That's the difference. That doesn't piss me off because I love her or loved her then or whatever the fucking situation is. It pisses me off because she's clearly been screwed up for a while now and no one bothered to tell me. If you all think that I'm this be-all, end-all, Mr. Fix It for her, why the hell would you not tell me about that?"

"We all know how you get about him. Got," Luke corrected, "I didn't even know for a long time. And how do I bring that up in conversation? It's not something you just tell someone."

Jess ignored him. "Furthermore, it's frankly insulting to her intelligence for you all to assume I'm the only one who could fix her. Or that anyone could. Or that she's broken at all. Rory isn't a kid anymore. She's a capable, adult woman making capable, adult choices, and whether or not I agree with them, or you agree with them, or her mother agrees with them, they are her choices. She doesn't need anyone to save her, not her mommy, not her Luke, and certainly not some guy she was done with a long time ago. Let Rory handle her own shit. She doesn't need anyone, as she made abundantly clear."

"Jess…"

"Whatever," he cut him off, "I told you, this conversation is done. Now, I'll help you bring the bags down. And I'll answer the phone calls later this week that come when Lorelai is crying to you and you're going insane. Hell, I might even call and check on Lorelai myself. That was a harsh thing to deal with and she didn't deserve it. But I will not do anything involving Rory. I will not call her, I will not seek her out, and I will not force myself on her life when she didn't ask me to be a part of it. Are we clear?"

"Alright," Luke exhaled in surrender, "Look, I'm sorry you had to deal with this. And that we're leaving early."

"Not your fault," Jess said tonelessly, his eyes glazing over, "Don't worry about it. You guys'll come back when this town gets a little less dramatic, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan."

They headed downstairs and outside and began to load the bags into the truck. Lorelai appeared next to them, holding four coffee cups.

"Jess, thanks for everything," Lorelai smiled, pained, "Here. Black as the day is long."

"Thanks, Lorelai. You didn't have to…"

"And Luke? Chamomille. With honey, too," Lorelai said, turning rapidly, refusing to let tears gather in the corners of her eyes.

"Thanks," Luke said gently, putting his arm around her.

"Look, Lorelai…" Jess started.

"We should really be going. Lots to do at the inn," Lorelai nodded. She walked over to Jess and gave him a hug, not even hesitating. "Thanks for having us. We'll come back soon, okay? And you're welcome in Star's Hollow anytime."

"Thanks, Lorelai," Jess smiled sadly, "I might just take you up on that."

As they drove away, Jess could feel the anger rising in his chest again. He inhaled slowly, trying to gather a sense of calm, but he could still feel it building inside him. He picked up his phone.

"Matt?"

"Jess, what the hell happened earlier? Can you please just explain to me what in the…"

"Raincheck. What do you say we close Truncheon a bit early tonight and head out for some beers?"

"That, coming from you?" Matt said incredulously, "Alright. I'll call Chris and meet you at O'Malley's in half an hour."

Jess hung up and sighed deeply. This was going to be a long night.

Rory slept with him. That jackass who built her the car. A sentence that could only apply correctly to one man.

What the hell had she been thinking? Had she? Was she drunk? Temporarily insane?

Jess had figured that Rory had been having sex with the blonde asshole, but of all people…

"Jess," Matt sat down, Chris behind him, "It's time to catch us up."

"In that case, you'll need to catch up to me first. I'm on three."

An hour later, Chris and Matt looked stricken.

"So all those things about us having to be nice to her…"

"Still apply. It's for me, not her."

"But she…"

"Was infuriated. Infuriating. Shock, confusion, rage, all things that have passed through my head in the last three hours."

"So you don't have any id…"

"I have plenty of ideas, Chris, but honestly, I couldn't give less of a fuck anymore," Jess said, slamming another empty glass on the table, "She wants space and she doesn't want help. She wants to act like a child and be treated like an adult. She wants to talk to people who love her like the gum on the bottom of her shoe and she feels entitled to do that. And she's right. But that doesn't mean I have to enable it, or that I'm responsible for cleaning up the broken pieces of glass when it comes apart."

The bartender poured another glass, which Jess pushed away from him, towards Chris.

"I'm fine," Jess said shortly. It wasn't that Jess refused to drink or never drank too much. In fact, today he'd done both. But he knew his limits and refused to cross them. If his childhood had taught him one thing, that was pretty damn high on the list.

"That seems…fair," Matt said hesitantly. He looked cautiously at Chris before continuing. "But Jess, if you did…you know…want to fix it or something, we wouldn't hold it against you. We couldn't."

"I appreciate the support," Jess smirked, "But why is it that you guys only support people who are making trouble for me?"

"True friends."

"I see that."