A/N: Thank you for the continued supportive reviews, peops! As I mentioned on the previous chapter, it's getting to the time where we wrap this story up. Now, most of you guessed that Jess was going to go hunt down Rory in Boston, and he did, so I'm sure you can also guess how the rest of this story is going to play out, but hopefully, you're still interested in reading it just to be sure ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 37

It wasn't exactly how Jess saw this day going. When he travelled all the way to Boston for the chance of seeing Rory, he had hoped they would have some amazing day together, and by the end of his visit, he might even have convinced her to come back to Stars Hollow. He really had not been planning to fall into her bed and then, swiftly afterwards, be stuck on the phone to Luke, trying to explain what the hell he was thinking when he decided to skip school for a road trip out of state.

Now, a half hour later, he was sat on the couch in the living room, staring at Rory's cell that he had just dumped on the table, not really sure what he was supposed to do. He still had bare feet and his shirt was fastened wrong in the scramble to get dressed. He was switching buttons and buttonholes when he wandered into the kitchen to find Rory who had gone to make coffee the moment he was put on the phone to Luke.

"Hey," he said softly, hoping not to startle her, but she still jumped.

As far as Jess could tell, Rory was long done actually making the coffee and had just been stood staring into space when he walked in. She said nothing, just picked up one of the two mugs and handed it to him.

"Thanks," Jess muttered, leaning back against the counter.

Rory mirrored his stance on the other side of the narrow kitchen and they both drank. She was barely any more dressed than he was, nothing on her feet, shirt falling off one shoulder, hair all over the place. Still, she had never looked more beautiful to him.

"Nothing like calls from the folks to really ruin the mood," said Jess, trying for a smile.

When Rory smiled back, his heart soared. "Yeah, that was... not fun," she settled on eventually. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, frowning a little. "Did you ask Lorelai to call when we were... you know, post-event?"

"I didn't even know there was going to be an event," she said pointedly. "Did you?"

"Nope," Jess told her definitely, staring into his coffee for a second or two. "Doesn't mean I'm sorry it happened."

"Me either," Rory admitted, eyes fixed on her own drink. "You know, I... I meant what I said before," she said, making herself meet his eyes, because it mattered too much not to. "I really don't know why you were nervous. You were... It was... I guess what I'm trying to say, and somehow failing miserably, is that it really meant something to me. Before... Well, it's almost like there wasn't a before, you know? Nothing was ever like this before," she said, making a vague gesture between them with her hand, hoping he understood because she simply didn't have any better words to give.

Daring to look up again and meet his gaze, Rory was relieved to see Jess smiling. He put his mug down on the counter, moved forward to place hers alongside it, then reached for her hands.

"C'mere," he urged her, until she was finally in his arms.

He kissed her like he meant it, like he more than meant it. It was something she had noticed from the very beginning with Jess, an overwhelming feeling of how sure he was about what he was doing, how certain he was about her. It was all the stronger when they had been in her bedroom, when Rory was pretty sure she discovered the difference between sex and making love.

"Jess," she gasped as his lips left hers and trailed down her neck. "We can't," she reminded him, despite how good he was making her feel all over again. "You... you have to go."

The last thing she wanted to think about was the phone call with Lorelai, that had later become his talk with Luke, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't bear the thought of Jess getting into any more trouble than was strictly necessary and all because of her. She cared too much about him to be his downfall, even if he was willing to let her.

"I don't wanna go," he told her, lips back on hers before she could protest anymore, and honestly, Rory wasn't trying all that hard.

Her back hit the counter as Jess pressed against her. They wanted each other so much, and knowing how good it could be only made it all the more intoxicating. Rory meant to say they really had to stop, that he really should go straight home like he promised that he would. Just for once, she thought it might be better if they played by the rules, and yet, Jess was reminding her, with every touch and kiss, how good it could feel to be bad.

"Rory," he said, pulling back even as she moaned in complaint. "If you really wanted me to leave-"

It was as far as he got before she pulled him back to her, lips crashing together, desperate hands prising clothing away for a second time. Maybe Jess would be a little late getting home after all.

"I still don't wanna go." Jess sighed from the other side of the apartment doorway.

"Luke will go crazy if you're any later," Rory reminded him, mirroring his stance, leaning on the doorjamb. "Go on, get lost," she said, playfully shoving him.

"Rory, come on," said Jess, smile beginning to fade. "You're not seriously going to stay here forever. Come back to Stars Hollow, please? You could come with me right now, leave your dad a note, I'm sure he'd understand-"

He got no further as Rory surged forward and pressed her lips firmly against his own. She pulled back a few moments later and gave him a shaky smile.

"You have to go," she told him, her hand still at his face. "And right now, I have to stay. I'm sorry, I just do."

He believed her regret at them having to be parted, and he knew her encouraging him to go was all part of trying to do the right thing. Luke would be worried, Lorelai too, if he was too much later getting back. Still, it was agony to leave Rory behind, especially after what had passed between them in the past few hours, not once, but twice.

"Right now?" he said then, replaying her words in his mind. "You have to stay right now, but not forever?"

Rory shifted awkwardly, arms folding across her chest almost defensively now. "I don't know," she admitted. "But I promise when I figure it out, you'll know about it."

She tried to smile when she said it and almost pulled it off. Jess almost did the same. Everything was only almost until she came home. If she came home.

Jess nodded like he understood, even though he wasn't sure he did, then reached for Rory's hand and raised it to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," he quoted with a smirk he couldn't help.

"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again," she said, countering Shakespeare with Dickens and loving that he knew it too.

She wasn't sure if she meant what she said, if she had truly intended to give him the hope he seemed to gain from her talking of meeting again. Rory wondered who she was kidding, thinking even for a second that she would stay in Boston forever and never see Jess, or Lorelai, or Luke, ever again. Maybe she was a fool to even think she could.

Jess wasn't all that surprised to find Luke waiting on the doorstep for him when he got home. His uncle was doing the full-on arms folded, parental glare when he pulled the car up to the kerb, and Jess couldn't exactly say he blamed him. On a very short list of rebellious acts in his life, Jess knew this was the biggest, but he couldn't ever say it was the worst. In fact, to his mind, it would always be the best.

"I know what you're going to say," he admitted the moment he stepped out of the car. "I'm irresponsible, stupid, thoughtless, and way too much like my parents," he said, knowing it came out just a little bitter as he slammed the car door shut behind him.

Luke shook his head. "Kid, you are nothing like your parents," he told him definitely, one hand landing on Jess' shoulder. "Honestly, I could not be more thrilled that you are so lacking in qualities from Jimmy or Liz."

"Come on, Luke." Jess sighed. "Running away from my responsibilities, not telling anyone where I was headed, leaving you to worry where I was?"

"You seriously think I didn't know exactly where you were the second the school called me?" Luke said with a look. "I may be older than you and not half as book-smart, but I am not stupid. Besides, it didn't seem much like running away to me," he continued, manoeuvring Jess towards the house and taking him in through the front door. "You were running toward something. There's a difference. Of course, that doesn't mean you're not in some trouble for the part where you told no-one that you were going to Boston and made me lie to your school on the fly."

Jess sighed. It was something that Luke was being understanding, but it would be too much to expect him to forgive the whole adventure without some sort of punishment being doled out. He was about to make his apology and take his sentence like a man when they finally got as far as the living room and Jess realised they weren't alone.

"Lorelai?" he said, frowning a little at the sight of her.

"Hey, Jess," she replied, smiling brightly though it didn't quite meet her eyes. "How's our girl doing?"

Jess made a conscious effort not to squirm at the mention of Rory. The last thing he wanted was for Luke and Lorelai to realise what he and his girlfriend had spent much of their time doing while he was in Boston.

"She's good," he said, clearing his throat, pushing a hand back through his hair. "I tried to convince her to come back with me. I thought for a minute that it might even work but..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

"No go, huh?" Lorelai sighed. "Well, hey, I appreciate that you tried. Obviously, you didn't exactly go about this trip in a way that made Luke wanna do cartwheels," she said with a look then.

Jess smirked. "He's really not the cartwheeling type."

"Standing right here," Luke reminded them. "Not appreciating your jokes, by the way."

Lorelai sniggered as she stood up from the couch and moved towards the door, stopping on the way to pat Jess on the shoulder.

"I don't wanna get in the middle of anything. I just wanted to hear that Rory was okay."

"She is," he promised. "And for what it's worth, I think I got her thinking about maybe coming back to Stars Hollow. She didn't actually say she would, but I got a feeling it was a maybe more than a flat-out no."

"That's not nothing." Lorelai nodded, finding a more genuine smile.

"I'll walk you out," Luke told her, following her to the door, but turning back at the last to glare at Jess. "Sit, don't move," he said, pointing first at his nephew and then the couch. "Sentencing begins in five minutes."

"Can't wait." Jess sighed, dropping down into the seat.

Luke tried not to smile himself. He knew he should be mad at Jess for what he had done, but it didn't come easy. The kid was in love, that did strange things to people, and really, trying to get Rory back was no bad thing, not just for himself, but for Lorelai too.

"He's a good kid," said Lorelai herself as they stood either side of the front door, almost as if she read Luke's mind.

"I know," he agreed. "You know, Rory is too," he told her easily. "She's been through a lot, but things were going pretty well for a while there. I think you really made a difference. If not for the accident here..."

"At least Jess thinks he might have got through to her." Lorelai nodded. "There's a chance she'll come back, in her own time, when she's processed everything. It has to make a difference, knowing she has people here who really want her around. Me, Jess."

"If it helps, next time you talk to her, tell her I miss her too," said Luke with a smile. "I mean, it's the truth. We kind of had a rapport going. She was one of the few around here that agreed with me on the stupidity of all those dumb town events."

"Look at you, missing the Statler to your Waldorf." Lorelai laughed lightly. "But thank you, Luke. Next time I talk to Rory, I will absolutely tell her that, and thank you for letting me be here when Jess got home. I know I get to talk to her on the phone, but he actually saw her. I just needed to know she seemed okay, you know?"

"I know." Luke nodded his agreement. "Listen, I know things with us keep getting put on hold when these things happen," he said awkwardly, adjusting his hat, "but if it wasn't clear already, I am still all in on this thing, Lorelai. Nothing's changed for me, with us."

Lorelai smiled then, a real genuine smile, the like of which had been a very rare occurrence on her face of late. Stepping forward she reached up to plant a sweet kiss on Luke's lips.

"You're quite a guy, Luke Danes," she told him, her hand lingering at his cheek.

"And you're a hell of a woman, Lorelai Gilmore," he assured her. "A hell of a mother too. Don't ever doubt that."

What he hoped was a happy tear streaked down her cheek then as the wattage of her smile seemed to grow exponentially. Knowing now wasn't the time for anything more, Luke leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead, then opened the front door for Lorelai to go. They parted without words, just a smile and a wave, but that was enough. They were going to be okay, more than okay. With a little luck, everything else could work out just as well too, in the end.

To Be Continued...