A/N: Have a great 2010, everyone! Thank you for the reviews, you keep my going :).


Too little, too late

Saturday morning, Rory walked downstairs in the diner, finding her mother already there, having breakfast. Sitting down on the barstool next to hers, she smiled.

"Morning."

"Hey." Lorelai smiled, drinking from her coffee cup. "Did the hoodlum get here ok last night?"

"Oh, yeah, he did." Rory looked at Luke, who had just dropped an empty cup in front of her and was getting ready to fill it. "Luke, can I also get breakfast? Omelet, bacon, toast, all that times two. And another cup of coffee."

"Jess is dragging his butt downstairs at breakfast time?" Lorelai asked, looking surprised.

"No. I want to bring it up to him."

"Ok, why are you the one getting him breakfast in bed?" Looking at her husband, Lorelai sighed. "Luke, is there such a thing as a maternity test? Because I'm not so sure anymore she's my child."

"We got into a fight last night, which was mostly my fault. I'm trying to make up for it." Rory clarified.

"With breakfast in bed? Nice. Luke, can we fight so I can get breakfast in bed tomorrow?" She looked after the man again and he shook his head, leaning over and kissing her quickly.

"No."

"You're doing an awful job at spoiling your wife rotten, just so you know." She grinned again.

"I've already made my wife breakfast. Now can I go work?"

"Sure, fine, whatever!" Sighing, she turned to look at her daughter again. "So what happened?"

"I got mad at him for being late and not picking up his phone and decided to be completely irrational. Yelling was involved. It was fun." She made a face, remembering the night before.

"I'm sorry, hon. Everything alright now?"

"Yeah. And, I don't know, even though I hated fighting with him, it's nice knowing we can actually fight like normal people, none of that horribleness from high school. Although really, not being in a fight is even better."

"Yeah, I'm sure you had fun getting over said fight."

"You're disgusting."

"I try." Lorelai grinned. "But I think you had the right to be slightly angry with him for being late."

"Yeah, I did, and he apologized for that one. But I was mad at him for not picking up his phone, even though he didn't have it with him. Hence the irrational."

"Ok, that makes sense." Picking up the last bits of her pancakes from her plate, Lorelai finished eating quickly, looking at her watch. "I have to go, your party won't get itself ready."

"I can come help."

"Still don't get it, do you? God knows I've tried to explain it. You don't help on your birthday!"

"Technically, it's not my birthday."

"Yeah, well, you were away on your birthday. Stupid job. Thank goodness it's over."

"We all agree on that one."

Luke dropped the two plates on the counter, making Rory smile gratefully. "Thanks, Luke."

"You're welcome. You leaving?" He looked at his wife, who was digging through her purse for her cell phone.

"Yeah, I have to drop by Sookie's first and see how the food is going. Coffee to go, please."

"Go one day without coffee."

"No." She smiled as she took the take-away cup he handed her, then leaned over the counter and kissed him. "I love you."

"Addict." The man smiled before returning to the kitchen.

"I'm off." She announced, looking at her daughter. "I'll see you tonight."

"You sure I can't help?"

"What's that?" Lorelai looked confused, starting to head for the door. "I can't understand you. You couldn't possibly be offering to help me again, because I've been explaining that rule to you since you were 2."

"Bye, mom." Rory smiled, waving at her mother before taking her plates and heading up the stairs again.


A while later, her and Jess were walking down the street, on their way to the book shop, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Books! I get to buy books! I haven't bought books, not really bought books anyway in almost a year."

"I don't think we have enough shelves for this." He smirked, trying not to laugh at her childish enthusiasm.

"We'll stack them on the floor then. I get to buy books!" She grinned happily again, kissing his cheek.

"Really? Why didn't you mention it before?" He asked sarcastically, making her snicker.

"I have a list. Make fun of me at your own risk. I'd kick you out of the house just to have room for my books."

"I don't think books can do what I can." He leaned over, nuzzling her neck.

"I'd still keep you around for that. Just live with the books."

"We're going to have to move in a year because we'll run out of room, won't we?"

"Our combined book habit is dangerous."

Jess tried to answer but saw someone standing a few feet away from them on the sidewalk, waiting for them to get closer.

"Fuck." The word escaped his lips and Rory looked at him, suddenly concerned.

"What's wrong?"

Pointing with his head in the direction of the person, he sighed. "It would be too obvious if we turned around now, right?"

"Probably. Not that I care." Rory kissed his cheek again. "We can turn around if you want to."

"Fuck it, I have to do this at some point." He grumbled, tightening his hold on her and she did the same as they reached the blonde woman. "Hey, Liz."

"Hey." The woman smiled at them, but neither returned her smile. "How are you?"

"Great." Jess almost hissed, trying not to get annoyed.

"I haven't heard from you in a long time." She sighed sadly and he nodded, not sure of how to answer. "I…can we talk somewhere?"

"What do you want from me, Liz?"

"Talk. See you. We were doing so well before last time."

"What definition of 'well' are you using here?"

Moving closer to him, Rory put her hand over his, trying to calm him down.

"Jess, what do you want from me? What can I do to fix this? I've been trying to call you for the past year, but you won't pick up your phone. I've talked to Luke, Lorelai…I'm running out of options here. Give me a chance to apologize before you shut me out of your life completely."

Looking from her to Rory, Jess took a deep breath before addressing Liz again. "Go to Weston's, I'll meet you there in a couple of minutes."

"Ok." She nodded quickly, leaving them alone again. Pulling Rory to him, he cupped her face in his free hand, the other one still holding her.

"I'll meet you at Andrew's."

"Jess, I..."

"I have to do this by myself, ok? I won't be long."

She nodded quickly, lowering her eyes and he kissed her forehead, his fingers playing in her hair. "It's fine. Quick cup of coffee then I'll come meet you." He tried to reassure her and she bit her lip, looking up at him again.

"Fine." Rory sighed, kissing him. "I love you." She whispered, making him smile.

"I know. Go buy your books, I'll be done in ten minutes."

"You haven't seen my list if you think ten minutes is going to be enough." She smiled as well, kissing him one more time.

"Well then go get started on your list. Just don't buy the entire shop, I need room to sleep, please."

"I'll try to stop myself. I'd rather share a bed with you."


Almost ten minutes later, Jess walked into the bookshop, finding Rory standing in front of one of the shelves in the back, leafing through a book. Smirking when he saw the title, he leaned closer to her, kissing her neck.

"All at once we were madly, clumsily, shamelessly, agonizingly in love with each other." He whispered in her ear, making her smile.

"Do you have every book ever written memorized?"

"Nope." He shook his head, kissing her neck again. Turning around, Rory looked at him, a concerned look in her eyes.

"How did it go?"

"She apologized. For everything."


In Weston's

Picking up a cup of coffee, Jess sat down at the table in front of Liz, his face cold and emotionless. Smiling, she looked at him.

"You look good. Are you good? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." He replied, waiting for her to get to the point. When she didn't say anything more for a few seconds he took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. "What do you want, Liz? I don't have all day."

"I just…I'm so sorry, Jess. I was stupid and wasn't thinking of anyone but myself."

"No kidding."

"I don't know if you can forgive me, but you should know that not a day goes by when I don't wish I could go back and be a better mother to you. I did a lot of bad things, I gave up to soon, I just…I didn't know what to do. And you got caught in my mess and I am so sorry for that, you have no idea."

"Oh, well, that's just what I wanted to hear. Everything's better now. Can I fucking go?" He snapped, his fists clenching under the table.

"I'm not hoping everything will be fixed today but…give me a chance. I am trying so hard and I love you, you have to know that."

"Did you ever regret having me?"

"No."

"Bullshit." He snapped again. "Sorry, try again."

"Why won't you believe me?"

"Because you think that just because you're sober now and you have your perfect little Stepford life, I should forgive you. You haven't changed, Liz. This is just the no-alcohol Barbie version of you."

"Jess, I…"

"Nope. I can tell you at least five separate times when you told me you wished I hadn't been born. And that's just off the top of my head. Now, ok, you were drunk out of your mind, but aren't drunk people supposed to be honest? That's why you should stay away from phones and other people, so you don't end up telling someone something they shouldn't know."

"I was stupid."

"No, stupid doesn't even cover it. At least Jimmy had the decency to leave when he realized he didn't want me."

"I always wanted you."

"Oh, fuck off, Liz." He hissed under his breath, trying to stay quiet.

"I made mistakes and yes, you have every right to tell me I was a horrible mother, but I always loved you."

"What a great way of showing it you had. You lost your last chance when you sent me here."

"I was trying to do what I thought was best for you."

"You took me away from everything I knew. And while in the long run, it ended up being for the best, it took a lot of work to make it that way. And you had nothing to do with how things ended up."

"I know. You're stronger than I am. You managed to pull yourself together way before I did."

"And not almost completely ruin someone else's life in the process. If you're that great of a person now, where the hell where you 5 years ago when I was in New York, fucking my life away?"

"I thought you were doing well. That's what you'd tell me every time we'd talk."

"You never actually cared enough to actually get off your ass and come see what my life was like, did you? Luke had to be the one that came and dragged me to your fucking joke of a wedding. What, I didn't fit in your perfect life? Now that I'm doing something and managed to pull myself together, with no help from you, it's fine, you want forgiveness, I can go back to being your son?"

"Jess, it was never like that. Ever. I thought I was doing what you wanted me to do by leaving you alone. I'm sorry."

"Too little, too fucking late." He hissed, getting up and throwing a couple of bills on the table, walking out of the coffee shop.


"And that's pretty much what happened." He finished telling Rory about it and she crushed her mouth to his, kissing him until they were both out of breath.

"Can I resume my hatred of her now?"

"Sure." He nodded, smirking.

"I'm just…so angry at her." She whispered, kissing him again. "And I love you. So, so much." Her hands clutching his shirt tightly, she smiled, pulling him to her. "Want to go somewhere else?"

"Get your books, I'm fine." Jess shook his head, kissing her. Pointing to the book she had abandoned on the shelf, he smirked. "Not Lolita though. I have that one."

"We're sharing books now?"

"We're sharing everything else, why not books as well?"

"I love you." She smiled again, kissing him.

"I don't know, now that I know you haven't read Lolita, I might feel differently about you."

"I've read it, I just never had a copy, I guess. Not sure why." Leaning over to him, she kissed a trail from his lips to his ear, smiling. "It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight."

"Go buy your books." He smiled again, his hand letting go of her.


Later that night, at Rory's party.

Walking into the kitchen and seeing her standing alone, pouting in front of the empty coffee machine, Jess smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, kissing her shoulder quickly.

"It's a party, you're supposed to be getting drunk, not having coffee."

"I'm working on that. But I haven't had coffee in about 6 hours now."

"Withdrawal?"

"Terrible." She laughed, turning around and kissing him, after checking that no one was around. "Where are you hiding?"

"In your room. Reading."

"Nerd."

"You love me for it." He pointed out, kissing her again before pulling back when he heard someone's footsteps coming into the room.

"You guys realize the party's in the other room, right?" Lorelai laughed, picking up a new pitcher of drinks from the fridge.

"I'm coming in a minute."

"Hurry up, the grandparents just arrived and I am not fending them off by myself."

"Coming." Rory smiled at her mother, then turned around, squeezing Jess' hand. "I'll go talk to them, you go hide again."

"And have your grandmother think I'm not here? Nope." He shook his head, taking her hand and starting to walk towards the living room. As they reached her grandparents, Jess let go of her hand and she hugged her grandfather quickly, smiling.

"Hey, grandpa. Grandma." Her smiled faded as she looked at the woman who nodded politely at the two of them.

"Rory. Jess."

"Thank you so much for coming."

"We wouldn't have missed your…what is this called again?" Richard asked, trying to remember.

"Birthday plus a month plus a week party." Rory laughed, her hand squeezing Jess's.

"Your mother's idea?"

"Why, yes, it was." Lorelai announced, dropping in on the four. "Guys, Miss Patty and Babette are asking about Rory. Can I steal her for a second?"

Shooting Lorelai a look, Jess sighed, making Rory smile before shaking her head, looking at her mother. "Tell them I'll be over in a minute."

"Ok." Lorelai nodded, leaving again.

"How are you? Emily told me you're moving in together."

"Yeah, we are." Rory confirmed, smiling at her grandfather. "A week from today. Our apartment is so great. You should come see it if you're ever in Philly, grandpa."

"We'll see what I can do. But first I want to know about everything that's been going on in the last year. Including this thing I hear about you going for an interview at the Philadelphia Inquirer."

"Give me a second to go say hello and then I'll be back and we can talk." Looking at Jess, she smiled. "I think they might want to see him as well. We'll be right back." Starting to walk towards the fireplace, where Patty and Babette were waiting for them Rory grinned, leaning closer to Jess' ear. "Run outside now."

"I love you." He smirked, kissing her cheek before heading for the front door.

"Where did Jess go, doll?" Babette asked and Rory smiled, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Oh, we need more ice."

Some time later, Lorelai walked to the back porch, finding Jess standing there, a bottle of beer in his hand, trying to open it against the wooden railing.

"Well, this is familiar. Déjà vu, anyone?"

"You're not here to bust me again, are you?" He smirked, leaning against the railing.

"You're a grown up, you're legal, no busting."

"Good to know."

"I heard you and Liz had a talk today."

"How?"

"Jess, this is Stars Hollow. You must have known that the second you walked into Weston's, half the town was going to know."

"Figures." He closed off again, his smirk fading away.

"Now Jenny, the waitress, didn't catch what was going on, so no one knows for sure. But we have a pretty good idea." Lorelai leaned against the railing as well, standing next to him, smiling softly. "She tried to talk to me, you know?"

"She mentioned."

"I didn't let her. We're friends, but what you and her do is your business."

"I appreciate it. Can we drop it?"

"Oh, no, that would be too easy." Lorelai grinned, drinking from her bottle. "I don't know what happened between you or what she did, and Rory won't say anything, which is fair because it's not her thing, but I just…I think you should give her a chance."

"God, do you have a thing for butting in my life?" He snapped at her, frustrated.

"No, Jess, this is just me offering you the one perspective you don't have, that of a mother. Yes, she made mistakes. A lot of them probably and some of them were pretty awful, I guess. I wasn't impressed of her sending you here, to say the least. Or how she handled that entire situation."

"You have a point?"

"Sometimes people fail, Jess. And I know I have no right to tell you how to feel, but I was young and with a small kid once and I know how easy it is to make the wrong choices. I was so lucky, I had an entire town to help me raise Rory, but she didn't. And I could have ended up the exact same way, if that bus had dropped me somewhere other than Stars Hollow. But her mistakes don't mean she didn't love you or wanted to hurt you. It just…happened and it was unfair to you but she' trying to do good now and if you cut her out of your life completely you might regret it someday."

"No, I don't think I will."

"The longer you shut her out, the harder it will be to start anything again if you ever change your mind. I don't know, you might have kids someday, and I'm not necessarily implying that this should happen with my kid just that it could happen, and then you'll have to explain to them why they don't have a relationship with their grandmother? And you're going to miss your sister growing up and so many other things…She's trying, Jess. Give her a chance."

"Is she bribing you?"

"No. No one sent me here, Rory doesn't know I'm here, Luke doesn't know. He's staying out and letting you figure this out by yourselves. But I had to tell you that. And now I have, so I'm going to go back inside and eat my weight in Sookie's bacon and cheese cracker thingies and leave you alone. You should come inside, though. It's not that bad."

"I'll think about it." He sighed, looking at her and she nodded.

"Thanks."

"I'm not saying that..."

"Thinking about it is a start." Lorelai smiled again, ruffling her hair before heading back inside the house.