A/N: The episode that makes everyone want to look the other way. Sigh. So I did write about an earlier scene from this ep, rather than rehashing the dreaded Bedroom scene. This takes place just before we see Rory and Jess watching Lane's band rehearse. After this one, future chapters are going to have to deal with the yucky stuff, but please stick around, 'cos I do plan on eventually getting to a happy ending. And I actually have some fun ideas for dealing with the yucky stuff. Oh, and I keep meaning to pimp MissGoalie75's incredible R/J one shots. 'Cos they are amazing. And they make me happy. If you haven't already, go read and review them (after you're finished here).

Enjoy,

VC

Joe Strummer

Rory looked like she was ready to explode as she burst out of her front door and grabbed his hand. 'Quick, quick, quick!' She tugged him up the porch steps so roughly that he almost tripped.

'Jeez Rory! Is there another fire?'

'Nope. This is better than a fire.'

'Funnily enough, that doesn't comfort me.'

'Trust me! This is awesome.'

He smiled as they made it into the house in one piece. 'Does it involve making out?'

She scoffed at him as she pushed him forcibly onto the couch. 'No. Now sit there and don't move.'

Intrigued and slightly turned on by Rory's behaviour, Jess did as he was told. His girlfriend disappeared up the stairs and he could not for the life of him figure out what she was up to. Sure, he could fantasise, but somehow he didn't think any of his fantasies were exactly realistic.

'Okay, close you eyes!' Rory's voice floated down from the upstairs landing and again, Jess did as he was told, trying to ignore the fact that forty percent of his fantasies started something like this.

Footsteps clomped ungracefully back down the staircase and he knew Rory was standing in front of him again. 'Are you done? Can I look?' he asked, trying to keep his voice cool.

'Yes you may,' Rory answered primly.

Jess opened his eyes slowly, having no idea what to expect. Rory stood in front of him, fighting back a grin. Nothing appeared to have changed except for the fact that she was now wearing a black leather jacket- Maybe wearing was the wrong word. She really looked like she was drowning in it.

'Huh,' Jess blinked, trying to work out what this was about. 'I think it's too big for you.'

Rory raised her arms, shaking them awkwardly until her hands appeared from the edge of the sleeves. 'That's because it's not mine, it's my mom's. It kind of fits her. But…' she paused, Jess guessed for dramatic effect, 'It fit Joe Strummer perfectly.'

Jess's mind usually worked at warp speeds, picking up details and observations, analysing, contemplating and so on much quicker than the average Tom, Dick or Taylor.

He was ashamed to admit therefore, that he sat in stunned silence trying to process this particular comment for ten long seconds.

He thought he'd just about made sense of everything when Rory pulled a piece of paper from a pocket and thrust it into his hand. It was a certificate of authenticity, declaring that this was Joe Strummer's leather jacket, as worn during the 1979 Pearl Harbor tour.

He launched himself off the couch, staring wide eyed at the jacket. 'No way!'

Rory was now smirking smugly. 'Yup.'

'No!'

'Yes!'

'Really?'

Rory laughed. 'Do you want to try it on?'

'Really?'

Shrugging her shoulders out of the jacket Rory snickered. 'Your vocabulary is getting worse.'

He knew that warranted some smart ass comment but at the moment, he was too distracted by the jacket that Rory was handing him.

'Wow. It almost fits you.' Rory sounded jealous. Jess smirked as he shifted around inside the jacket. It did fit. Jess Mariano fit into Joe Strummer's jacket. And it felt good!

'This is insane!' he murmured, eyes wide as he looked at Rory.

'I told you it was.'

'How the hell did your mom get this?'

'Birthday present from a crazed sycophant.'

'Wow. I wish I knew a crazed sycophant.'

Rory grinned and stood on her tiptoes to peck him on the lips. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, Jess couldn't help but notice how easy and comfortable he was with these gestures. It felt right. Normal. Wonderful… His hands rested automatically on her hips as if that was their rightful place and it occurred to him how amazing it was that this incredible, small town girl understood how awesome Joe Strummer was. He loved the fact that she understood the significance of this jacket. He loved that she knew him well enough to know without asking, how much he would appreciate it. He loved that she genuinely was as excited by it as he was. He loved…everything. All of it. All of her.

Rory spoke. 'Well if you behave, maybe for your birthday, I'll be a crazed sycophant.'

Jess eyed her in amusement. 'What? You gonna track down the rest of Strummer's wardrobe?'

She glanced up at the ceiling nonchalantly and shrugged. 'I really can't say. It wouldn't be appropriate to tell you.'

He wondered exactly what that meant. He got the feeling she was planning something. Of course, the only response he could come up with was, 'Huh.'

She kissed him again, quickly, chastely, but he moved his hands, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his body before she could move away. They both shared a cheeky grin at that moment and Jess was sure that they were both on the same page.

But Rory's face changed suddenly and she shifted uncomfortably. Jess felt his whole body tense. Had he screwed something up again? 'Rory?'

She shook her head and offered him a small smile as if to assure him that things were okay. 'The band,' she explained. 'They're going to be here in a minute.'

Straight away he relaxed; an easy grin on his face. 'Rory; we're talking about Dave, Lane, Zack and Brian… They might get here in two minutes but it's going to take them half an hour minimum to decide what song to play first.'

He watched her bite her lip, processing this and he quickly attempted to strengthen his argument. 'Then you know they'll have to figure out if Brian is going to stand on the left or the right side of the garage and then he'll have a panic attack while Zack storms off and Dave and Lane will be too busy flirting to fix anything and they're not going to need us for an hour at least.'

When he finally stopped, Rory was grinning and he swore if there really was such a thing as 'laughing eyes,' he had the prime example right in front of him. 'You talk too much,' she stated softly, grabbing his hand in hers and pulling him towards her bedroom.

'Never thought I'd hear anyone say that,' he mused, allowing himself to be manhandled on to her bed.

'Shut up,' she ordered, grin still in place as she lay down next to him and gripped the lapels of Joe Strummer's jacket to pull him in closer.

'Yes m'am,' he smirked. A heated silence fell on the room for some time, until Rory pulled back and giggled suddenly.

'What? Since when was making out a joke?' Jess asked in confusion.

Rory was still giggling. 'I was just thinking…since you're wearing the jacket…'

He wasn't sure he wanted to know where this was going, but he had to ask anyway. 'Yeah?'

'Could you hum London Calling while we make out?'

Of course, Jess was vehemently opposed to the idea, but the thing about dating Rory Gilmore was that she had incredible powers of persuasion; and it seemed, these days, she wasn't afraid to use them. It took all of thirty seconds for Jess to cave, though as it turned out, he barely made it to the first chorus before all thoughts of The Clash and Joe Strummer had left both their minds.

Neither were aware of Lane and her band mates arriving outside. Jess had no idea that Brian couldn't figure out which side of the garage he should be standing on. It didn't matter to them that Zach had stormed off in annoyance or that Lane and Dave were too wrapped up in each other to wonder where Rory and Jess were.

Ignorance, on this occasion, really was bliss.