A/N: I had sooooo much fun with this chapter! Paris and Jess being friendly, and Great Grandma Gilmore telling it like it is. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see Prologue)

Chapter 37 - Trix and Treats

Jess was engrossed in a book at the end of the diner counter when the bell over the door jangled and a new customer walked in. He didn't look up at all as he reached the bottom of the page, shoved a marker in and asked 'What can I get you?'

"Um, I'm not really sure," said a voice he recognised and yet was surprised to hear.

"Paris," he said as he finally looked at her. "Er, Rory goes to her grandparents' house in Hartford every Friday night," he told her, sure that was why she had to be here.

Paris shook her head.

"I know, I... I actually came to see you," she admitted, blushing furiously, looking everywhere but directly at Jess. "Now I realise what an idiot I'm making of myself," she shook her head, looking ready to run.

Jess' hand shot out to land on her arm and stop her.

"Why are you an idiot?" he asked curiously.

All Paris could do for a full minute was stare at his fingers near her wrist. She never did this before, chasing after a boy. Not that there was a whole lot of chasing involved, she just drove to Stars Hollow when her parents fighting got so bad she couldn't bear to be in the house anymore. She had vaguely thought about dropping in on Rory before remembering about her Friday Night Dinners with the Gilmore elders. That was when she spotted the diner and thought of Jess and how he said he lived and worked there with his uncle. One minute she was in the car just thinking about how great it had been to talk books with him the other night and the next she was inside, more tongue-tied than she'd ever been in her life just because he smiled at her. She was a fool.

"I don't date," she blurted out suddenly. "Not that I'm suggesting for a moment that I want to start, with you or anybody else for that matter, I have more important things in my life than picking out outfits to go to the movies in," she said fast, retracting her hand from the counter and gripping onto the strap of her purse. "I just... I had to get out of the house, and I liked talking to you the other night, that's all."

Jess tried not to smirk but failed miserably at holding the expression in.

"I liked talking to you too actually," he admitted. "You've got some cracked opinions, but at least you've actually read a decent collection of books," he said, leaning over the counter to whisper to her as if he had a secret. "The kind of people we get through here wouldn't know their Dumas from their elbow," he quipped.

Paris laughed at the absurd comment. Jess was good at making her laugh, and blush, and feel like she wasn't a complete freak for having a hundred and one opinions on literature. She liked him, even if he did work in a diner in some back water town and put way too much gel in his hair.

"I guess you're pretty good company, for a beatnik-loving freak," she told him, smiling still.

"High praise, Miss Geller!" Jess laughed at her gall and the sudden confidence that seemed to come back to her the moment she realised he wasn't going to purposefully embarrass her. "Y'know as soon as Uncle Luke gets back, I'm free for the rest of the night," he told her then. "You like pizza?"

"I'm not supposed to have pizza," she told him awkwardly.

"That wasn't what I asked."

"Yes, I like pizza. Actually, I love it, but..."

"Then live a little, Geller. C'mon, my treat, what do you say? I'll even give you a second chance at trying to convince me poetry isn't a complete waste of time."

That got a renewed smile out of the usually unshakeable Paris as she agreed to his suggestion. Now if she could just stop shaking and turning the colour of a tomato she would be fine.

Rory wasn't paying attention. She knew that she should be and when prompted she got right back into the conversation that her great grandmother was holding court over. It was a thrill to meet the matriarch of the Gilmore clan, and Rory was glad enough to know Great Gran, the first Lorelai. Unfortunately, there was a lot on Rory's mind right now, primarily boys, which she was sure none of the adults in the room would approve of. She kept her thought processes very much to herself, but such a myriad of mixed up emotional dramas in her brain were certainly proving distracting.

Lorelai did her best to keep Rory focused without upsetting her. She nudged her foot under the table when she ought to be listening or giving a response, even answering for her a couple of times. Now they were back in the living room, and Lorelai had deliberately sat next to her daughter so she could continue with nudging her arm, prompting her with answers as needed. That didn't mean nobody had noticed that Rory's focus was elsewhere tonight. Though Emily was distracted enough herself by trying to do every little thing to keep Trix in a good mood (a near-impossible task for her), it wasn't going to be long before Gran realised that Rory was not paying attention, Lorelai was sure on that. Lo and behold the moment came, and the rest of the room collectively winced when Rory was called out on her odd behaviour.

"You know I was told you were quite the intelligent and conversational young woman," her great grandmother snapped. "I am honestly starting to wonder if I was misled, Rory. All I have seen you do so far is stare into space and look as if you ought to visit the bathroom."

Rory felt silly and so embarrassed when she looked up and found all eyes upon her. She couldn't explain herself, that would mean talking about her break up with Jess and worse what she had done with Dean. She hadn't even explained herself fully to her mom yet, and she really didn't want to be doing it here, in front of her grandparents and the great-grandmother she was meeting for the very first time tonight. Of course coming up with another reason for her distracted manner on the fly with all the pressure of four adults staring and waiting for an answer was not going to happen.

"Oh, Gran, she's just... Rory's just tired," her mother said quickly. "Y'know they work 'em hard at Chilton," she smiled.

Trix narrowed her eyes at first her granddaughter and then her great granddaughter again. Rory attempted a smile, but it kind of fell flat under such an intensely unimpressed look.

"An education is very important, and I'm sure you will find your further education even more tiring, but you mustn't lose focus, Rory," she said definitely. "Of course I don't believe for a moment that you can be so tired from school alone, or so very distracted. You have been in deep thought all evening, and in my experience, the looks you have had on your face can only be caused by one thing - boys."

Emily looked scandalised and took a long drink from her glass. Richard chuckled softly.

"Trix, our Rory is not so thoughtless as to let her mind get caught up on boys, especially at her age," he advised, even as Rory shifted awkwardly and looked away. "She doesn't even have a boyfriend."

Lorelai felt as if she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her and Rory both. She and Rory had told Emily and Richard about their dating Luke and Jess respectively, and duly informed them that the great Rory/Jess romance had since ended. Emily had looked rather too pleased about that whilst Richard had sympathised but said ultimately he couldn't be too sorry about it as Rory was far too young to be in such a relationship. Now he seemed quite happy to talk about Jess in the past tense and pretend everything was fine. Lorelai knew better. She knew how distracted and unhappy her daughter had been since the best friend turned boyfriend dropped out of her life. It was the most awkward situation the Gilmore girls had ever been in, especially since Lorelai and Luke were still together. The last thing anybody needed was Gran's opinion on the matter, but it seemed they were going to get it before long.

"I did have a boyfriend," said Rory. "Actually he was my best friend and then, well, we dated but it didn't work out."

Lorelai felt her heart break all over again at her daughter's explanation. It was so awful to lose the equivalent of two people all in one go like that. She and Jess were so connected, everybody knew it was a gamble when they pressed forward into dating, but Lorelai had assumed, much like Luke and the couple themselves, that it would all be fine. Rory and Jess were so close, so in synch, it seemed impossible to think anything would ever tear them apart. Now it had happened and there seemed to be no way to repair the damage, not even as far as allowing the two to be friends again.

"Your best friend is a boy?" asked Trix with an odd expression. "How very progressive."

Lorelai tried not to smile at Gran's odd way of phrasing such a thing. She supposed it was a little weird to somebody her age to hear that teenage boys and girls could be friends and nothing more. That whole concept got lamp-shaded by the fact that Rory and Jess had in fact tried being more, it just hadn't worked out, unfortunately.

"Richard, it's customary to ask a person if they would like their drink refreshed when their glass becomes empty."

"I'm sorry, Trix. Can I get you another?" her son immediately got up.

"I'll help," Emily offered going with him.

Lorelai knew it didn't take two to get a couple of drinks, but her mother really didn't want to leave to chance that she might be Gran's next victim. Of course this way her focus stayed on Rory and that wasn't necessarily a good thing either. Lorelai opened her mouth to change the subject, to ask her grandmother something about her life in London or about Korn staying in her Hartford home, when suddenly Trix leaned in closer to the couch and spoke quietly.

"Now, you listen to me, Rory," she said definitely. "I don't know if your distraction is over this best friend of yours or some other young man that has caught your eye, but the women in this family didn't get anywhere by waiting for men to figure out how good we are for them."

"Gran, Rory and Jess decided together that they were better off as friends," Lorelai said quickly, putting an arm around Rory and hugging her close. "He's not a bad guy, it's just..."

"Lorelai, if he were a bad guy as you put it, I'm sure Rory would never be mixed up with him in the first place," Trix rolled her eyes, before focusing on Rory again, taking her hand in hers. "You listen to me, young Rory. If you think that this Jess is a worthy partner, then do not allow him to slip through your fingers. Good men are rare commodities, and worthy ones ever more so. The moment you make a choice, don't waste any time in putting your plans in motion. Whichever man you decide is right for you, don't wait for him to come calling. He won't know what's good for him, men never do, and a great many women are similar afflicted, but we are Gilmores. We know our own minds and we go out there and get just exactly what we want or need. Don't you forget that."

Rory smiled then, even as tears felt as if they were filling her eyes.

"Thank you," she said seriously.

"That's good advice, Gran," Lorelai agreed with a smile of her own.

By the time Emily and Richard returned to their seats, squabbling over the drinks they had been preparing, the moment had passed and conversation moved on, starting with Trix's opinion on Emily's decor and questioning where so many gifts she had bought might have got to. Rory did her best to focus from now on, and yet her mind still wandered a little. Kissing Dean was a mistake, she knew it from the moment it happened, and now more than ever she had clarity on that situation. As for Jess, she cared a lot for him and really did regret that things hadn't worked out with them romantically. Maybe it could yet, if she just tried harder. Great-Gran had sure given her a lot to think about, as if she didn't have enough already, but Rory felt better about it right now than she had all week long.

"Okay, there's something on your mind that you want to tell me but you're not," said Lorelai definitely as she pulled up at the red light outside of Luke's diner.

Rory shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"How did you know that?"

"Er, because I'm your mother, because you have that expression that you always used to get when you did something wrong like eat a cookie I told you that you couldn't have or spilled paint on the carpet, and because you have been way too thoughtful ever since that party you went to with Lane and Paris," Lorelai explained the way only she could. "C'mon, sweets, you were pretty quiet and distracted after the whole break up debacle, but something happened at that party, didn't it?"

Rory took a deep breath and let it out as a giant sigh.

"More than one thing happened," she admitted, staring out of the passenger window. "I introduced Paris and Jess. They got along."

"Oh, okay. Well, that's okay, right?" said Lorelai with a look. "I mean, they're both your friends, so I guess it makes sense they might be friendly with each other?"

"I guess," Rory nodded, though she didn't seem willing to say any more on that topic. "The other thing that happened has more to do with me... and Dean," she said awkwardly.

Lorelai tried not to visibly wince.

"I thought Dean was dating Lindsay now."

"Kind of. He said they're off and on," Rory explained.

"And at the party, they were off?" Lorelai guessed, sure now that something must have happened between her daughter and the bag boy.

"He, er... Dean kind of kissed me," she admitted at last. "We kissed, and... and I don't know how I feel about it. I mean, it felt wrong, but I don't know why. I mean, I'm not with Jess anymore, and Dean and Lindsay aren't serious, so we didn't do anything wrong, right?"

Lorelai wasn't sure where to start in answering that. She checked and saw the light was still red and knew she didn't have an easy out that way.

"Um, well, no," she said at last. "I mean, if two people are single or at least not in a serious relationship, it's not exactly crime of the century if they kiss each other. On the other hand, well, are you sure you want to go back to trying things with Dean? I mean, I guess it depends on if you're really sure that you and Jess are done."

Rory opened her mouth to answer that question but no sound actually came out. She watched as two people appeared around the corner headed for the diner. One was Jess and the other was Paris, the two of them laughing at some joke they were sharing, looking very close and very happy. Lorelai followed her daughter's line of sight and bit her lip at the view. Jess wasn't doing anything wrong by hanging out with Paris, and yet she could well understand why Rory was hurting, even though she seemed to have been the first one to take a step in moving on when she kissed Dean.

The light turned green a second later and Lorelai put her foot on the gas. She and Rory needed to have a talk and the middle of the street was no place for it. Lorelai was not looking forward to this one little bit, and she doubted her baby girl was either. Sometimes relationships were just too hard.

To Be Continued...