Jess woke up early the next morning to Rory talking on the phone.

"I can be there," she said quietly before hanging up.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"The Inquirer. There's been an explosion off the Gulf Coast that killed eleven people and they're calling everyone in."

"Oh," he said rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she said, gathering her things and heading into the bathroom to shower.

Jess got up and got coffee started for Rory. They were up most of the night; he told her about his time in California and when he moved back to New York. There were a lot of things he kept to himself, but he revealed more to her more than he had ever told anyone before.

"I'll tell you what's going on as soon as I know," she said when she was dressed and ready to leave.

"Okay," he said as she walked out the door.

Rory leaned in to kiss him. "Love you."

"Love you too April O'Neal," Jess smirked.

Jess didn't hear from Rory until later that evening when she came into Truncheon. Everyone had left for the day and he was working alone. "Hey," he greeted her.

"I've been assigned to cover the oil spill. I'm not going to the gulf coast, I'm covering it from here in Philadelphia," Rory was in full on Gilmore ramble mode.

Jess just sat back and let her explain.

"I have a contact with the EPA and the senator for Louisiana and Texas. When I talked to my guy at the EPA, he said this whole thing is huge and to say that it's potentially damaging for the Gulf Coast would be an understatement.

"When I filed the story, my editor called me in and asked if I wanted to cover this story from the Government side of things for the Inquirer. I won't have to travel a lot except maybe to DC. I can still work for Hugo; my story for April is done already, plus the stories I still have from Haiti and Chili. Plus, I won't be traveling again until the end of May…"

Rory was forced to stop talking when Jess got out of his chair and kissed her.

"That's one way to shut up a Gilmore," she laughed.

"I thought so," he said after he kissed her again. "So this oil spill is huge?"

"It is," she pressed her forehead against his. "I'm going to have the entire paper backing me with resources I only had when I was at the Sun. Plus press credentials from The Inquirer. I'm still a stringer…but they are giving me a higher day rate."

"Well I guess I'm gunna become an expert on this oil spill by proxy."

"I'll tell my editor I have one loyal reader," Rory laughed.

"Let's get dinner to celebrate," Jess said, leading Rory out the door and locking it behind him.

For the next two weeks, Rory worked a lot of long hours. She occasionally stayed with Jess, but most nights she wanted to be in her bed. The subway was closer from her apartment then Jess' and she usually had an early train to make. Mandy spent a lot of her nights with Chris at his place. The girls amended the "No boys," rule to "No boys when we're both home."

"There are just some things we don't need to know about each other," Mandy joked one night over Chinese food. "Especially since we've both broken the…"

"Well, you weren't home…" Rory blushed.

"Neither were you," Mandy laughed.

Rory finished the 'Zine, and the guys were satisfied with the turnout. They hired the person that Rory would train as her replacement; she would still act as managing editor. The next issue was due to come out until August.

On May first, Truncheon's new website was launched along with the release of the 'zine and two new novels shipping nationwide along with Jess' newest effort. Truncheon was going to be featured in the IIP monthly magazine, so they had a reporter following them around. Alicia Matheson was working on an article that would be released ahead of the awards ceremony.

The guys were busy with preparations for the upcoming IPPY Charity and awards dinner. It was a black tie event. The guys all spent an afternoon getting fitted for a tuxedo. Matt found a good deal, promising the owner he would use them for his wedding so they got an additional twenty percent off their rental.

"It's not fair," Mandy pouted before the event. "I have to get all waxed and shellacked for this thing and these guys spend an afternoon at a tuxedo shop and will look like they walked off the cover of GQ."

"Oh you poor baby," Jess teased. "You have to go shopping," he said in mock seriousness.

"Hey it takes a lot," Mandy said gathering her stuff. "And now I must go to my hair appointment, to trial different styles"

"Yea, but when Chris sees you in the dress you picked out…" Trudy added.

"–His jaw will drop to the floor," she said with a mischievous grin. "Matt, wait until you see Trudy's dress."

"Dress tease!" Chris and Matt said looking at their respective woman.

"I saw Rory's dress last night," Mandy said. "If ANYONE'S jaw is dropping to the floor, it's going to be Jess."

"It's beautiful," Trudy gushed. "Very classy, but super sexy."

"I'll believe it when I see it. At this point, I'm sure this dress is just a myth."

"Hey," Jess said, greeting Rory with a kiss when she walked in the door after work.

"Something smells good," Rory smiled.

"It's pasta and some gourmet pasta sauce. I got a basket from IIP."

"Fancy.".

"There's chocolate and wine for later," he said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"And I suppose you need help with the wine and chocolate…"

"I couldn't think of anyone better," he said between kisses when the buzzer went off in the kitchen. "That's dinner. You wanna pick something for us to watch?"

Rory went into living room and turned on the TV. She settled on High Fidelity.

"Here," Jess said handing her a plate of italian sausage, pasta and bread smothered with red sauce.

"That was amazing," Rory said when she was finished with the dinner. "You should get congratulatory baskets more often."

"I can't wait for this thing to be over with."

"Really?"

"The closer it gets, the more nervous I get. I can't decide if I really want to win or not. I mean, it would be amazing for Truncheon and everything we have accomplished, but this whole thing has been crazy -I'm not sure I want the extra crazy that would come with winning."

"Jess, you and the guys have built this amazing business together. It should be recognized."

"I never got into this for the awards."

"I know," she said softly. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't get them."

Jess sighed and got up to get the wine and chocolate. Rory sat back and closed her eyes. Something had been on her mind and tonight it was weighing heavy on her.

"Here," he handed her a glass of wine and held out the chocolate for her.

"These are terrible!" Jess said when he took a bite. "Why would anyone…" he stopped when he heard Rory start crying.

"Jess...I"

"Rory, what's wrong?"

"I have to talk to you," Rory swallowed hard. "I'm a terrible person… like I don't deserve you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you so much and I am so proud of you and everything you've become. I always knew you could do amazing things if you wanted, but you were the one to actually go out and do it," she was launching into a hysterical rant.

"Rory...calm down."

"I'm such a -I let you go on and on about how much you regret leaving Stars Hollow. I pushed you into talking…"

"You weren't pushing. You deserved an explanation."

"So do you," Rory sighed.

"Okay," Jess said tentatively.

"I know we have talked a lot about putting the past behind us. But I was so awful to you the first time I came to Truncheon."

"Oh, Rory…"

"It was a terrible thing to do."

"Rory, I forgave you the way you forgave me. That was a long time ago."

"I know, I just...I want you to know that I regret leading you on like that."

"We were good at hurting each other," Jess said simply. "But it lead to me make decisions that I otherwise wouldn't have made."

"It did?"

"Yea. I don't think I would have started a second book. And I think we both had to grow up before we could really be together."

"I guess that's true," Rory said shakily

"It is," Jess assured her. He intertwined their fingers together. "I tried hating you once. It lasted less than a second and I realized that it wasn't possible."

"But I –".

"But we're here now. That's what matters. We had to go through all of that to get here."

"But I still feel -"

"Stop. If anyone doesn't deserve anyone, it's me not deserving you; that's my tune. You've done a pretty good job at convincing me that I don't need to feel unworthy of your love. How could you possibly believe in me so much without believing in yourself? We're right where we're supposed to be. Four years ago was four years ago. We love each other now. We're in this now. Now, it's the real thing," Jess paused to let out a heavy breath and took Rory's face in his hands. "Okay?"

"Okay," Rory nodded quietly.

"I love you," he said wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I love you too."

He pulled her closer into a tight embrace and kissed her softly.