A/N- Not sure if any of you will have seen this coming...but let me know if you did! Or like the semi-twist. Whatever. Anyway, soon it's about to get a bit more romantic-Lit around here so I hope you guys are excited for that. Please keep up with the lovely reviews, reading them is one of my favorite parts of writing this now. I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters or concepts, but developing Jess has been one of the most rewarding things I've done in writing.

Chapter 37

The following morning Jess had made up his mind. He had to do something. Honestly, she'd been reading The Odyssey. Which is the lost, searching, younger, but equally pathetic equivalent of finishing The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Even though she was looking healthier, happier, he still saw the strain on her face when any reference was made to her normal (prior?) life, the everyday things that at this point were sort of sitting there in an alternate universe, where they couldn't be ignored forever. She still hadn't called Luke or her mother. And she was patently refusing to talk, which was fine with Jess, except for the prior two points. He was fine with her staying, in fact, he'd become accustomed to it almost instantaneously, settling into their routine as easily as he'd settled into his own. Although there was the disadvantage of having to share the coffee, it was nice to have someone else reading in his apartment at night and around when he got up. That beautiful part of quotidian life made sense to him now. He'd have her there as long as she wanted and probably be crushed when she left, even if it was for a good cause, just because he'd miss the company (not company in general, but the specific company). But if she was going to crash and she was going to have time and space to figure it out, Jess was going to intervene when he could and he thought it was in her best interest. And the second she'd told him what she was reading, he'd known it was time.

Careful not to wake Rory, he slipped out the apartment door with his phone. Once he was downstairs, he dialed the number slowly, dreading what was coming.

"Jess?"

"Hi, Lorelai," he sighed, "Sorry to wake you."

"I'm up," she exhaled loudly, "Luke forced me to wake up early since...wait, why the hell did you do this to me again?"

Jess heard something jumbled in the background.

"Apparently I asked him to, but I seriously doubt that. Anyway, is everything okay? Have you…"

"More than heard from her. Sit down, and have Luke bring you some coffee."

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai was essentially caught up.

"So…not that I don't appreciate the information, because I really do, even though I understand why you didn't tell me earlier," Lorelai began, "But why are you telling me now?"

"I think she needs you. I think she's ready," Jess affirmed, "You should come here. Whenever it's convenient."

"I'll be there after work tonight," Lorelai said quickly, "Luke'll handle things here. Anything I should bring? Should say? Shouldn't say? God, I feel weird asking you these questions."

"Clothes," Jess replied, his tone slightly regretful, "And it's okay to feel weird. It's a weird situation. If I were you, I'd stick to neutral things, just being around, and following her lead. Don't pressure her, but be there if she wants you to. And make sure she knows you're okay with this, or that you understand, or something. Just don't give her the impression you disapprove, even if you do."

"Honestly, Jess?" Lorelai sighed deeply, "I don't. I can't. As much I never thought I'd be saying this, I think staying with you right now might be the best thing for her. Taking some time."

"Really?" Jess asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Lorelai affirmed, "Rory's always had her plan, everything figured out. She doesn't respond well sometimes when things unravel or when they don't work out as she thought they would in her head. She coped with those things best when she had you around. You're a calming force in her life, and let's face it, Gilmores need to be calmed."

"Frequently," Jess laughed, "Alright, well, I'll see you tonight. Don't tell her you're coming, I'm not going to mention it, and when you get here, if she's mad, I'll take the blame immediately."

"Sounds like my type of deal," Lorelai smiled, "See you tonight."

Jess hung up. He knew it was time, and even if Rory got mad temporarily, he didn't think she was in the state anymore where she'd take off if he made one wrong move. This was a risk, but a calculated one. Jess could fix a lot of things, but one thing Lorelai was good at was getting Rory to talk, and that might be key at this point in the program. And if not, either way, Rory and Lorelai needed to regain their closeness, at least somewhat. He knew it saddened her, both of them actually, not to have it, at least somewhat regularly. As much as Jess got most of the jokes and the references and had a thing with Rory no one else ever could or would, he had great respect for the mother-daughter craziness that was the Gilmore girls and the place in their hearts that nothing else could fill.

Thinking quickly, he walked upstairs and grabbed his wallet and shoes, leaving Rory a note on the dresser.

Rory,

This feels very backwards, to leave you a note here, but I didn't think about it until I started. Ha. Anyway, went to go pick up some supplies, coffee at 8 at the corner place. And yes, I'm the one who set the alarm on your phone. You can kill me when you see me.

-Jess

With that, he left Truncheon and headed to the grocery store on the corner. He needed a ton of candy and he needed it now.

An hour later, he returned to Truncheon with everything the two of them could possibly need. Chocolate, gummi, unclassified…he'd even found rock candy, a weird specific favorite of Rory's he remembered from an ill-conceived Shirley Temple themed movie marathon. He'd demanded Thai food four weekends for that though, so he still considered it a win. Thinking quickly, he stashed the bags in an unused cabinet in the office before heading out to meet Rory at the coffee shop. Hopefully getting some caffeine in her beforehand would help with what was to come.