Chapter Fifty-Five

Rory was shocked when she woke up the next morning and realized she had slept for another five hours.

"Morning," Jess smiled down at her.

"Hi," she smiled back.

"You seemed to sleep okay," he observed.

"I didn't even realize I fell back asleep," she nodded. "You didn't slip me another sedative, did you?"

"Nope," Jess shook his head.

"Huh," Rory frowned.

"Huh, she says," Jess rolled his eyes.

"Shut up," she grumbled. "I need coffee."

Jess smirked and followed her out of bed, into the kitchen, where he leaned against the counter and watched while she made a pot of coffee and toasted a couple Pop Tarts.

"You're being creepy," she told him, not turning around.

"What?"

"You're watching me. It's creepy."

"It's endearing," Jess corrected her. "I'm in complete and total awe of your beauty and the way you float around the kitchen."

"Don't try and get poetic with me," Rory scoffed.

"I'm not trying," he argued. "It's just the way I am. It's not my fault you fell in love with a writer."

"And God is punishing me for it," she shot back, grinning.

"Ouch!" Jess planted his hands on the counter on either side of her, trapping her in his arms and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Now you're just being mean."

"Karma's a bitch," Rory shrugged.

"When was I mean to you!?" Jess demanded.

"Yesterday."

"I was not mean to you!" Jess scoffed. "I did nothing but take care of you, you nutcase!"

"See what I mean!" Rory turned to face him, trying not to laugh. "There you go, calling me names. That's mean!"

Jess sighed dramatically and shook his head, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Fine, I'm sorry," he kissed her temple. "Better?"

"Maybe," she smirked and turned to pour herself a cup of coffee and grab a Pop Tart.

"That's all I get?!" Jess cried dejectedly.

"For now,"she shrugged. "At least until I've had some coffee."

"Good, because I seem to remember a few promises that were made the last time we were together, and you have yet to deliver."

"Ha!" Rory laughed. "Aren't you cheeky."

"I'm just trying to keep you honest," he shrugged.

"Sure," she smiled and shook her head. "Maybe I'll go hang out with Cynthia this morning. She seemed to have a lot to say to me yesterday."

"Try it," Jess challenged. "See how far you get."

Rory grinned sheepishly and sipped her coffee. "Maybe later."

"Hmm, that's what I thought."

When they finally left the apartment and ventured downstairs, Rory was shocked when Cynthia didn't start yelling at her again.

"What's wrong with you?" She frowned at the other girl.

"What are you talking about?" Cynthia asked, not looking away from the books she was shelving.

"Yesterday you couldn't stop coming up with things to yell at me about, and today, nothing? What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on," Cynthia shrugged. "I just don't feel the need to yell at you today."

"Jess told you," Rory crossed her arms.

"Told me what?"

"Don't try to play innocent with me," Rory pursed her lips. "You and I both know what Jess told you."

"Okay, fine," Cynthia relented. "But in his defence, he was worried about you and didn't think my screaming at you was going to help things."

"Uh-huh," Rory rolled her eyes.

"And I guess he's right, but you still should have told him what was going on. You went through a lot."

"I know," Rory huffed. "Trust me, I've been hearing it from Paris for weeks. I know I should have called."

"So why didn't you?" Cynthia turned away from her shelving, giving Rory her full attention.

"I just figured it would pass," Rory shrugged. "I mean, everyone has bad dreams. How pathetic and childish would I have sounded if I called and told my boyfriend I needed him to come back because I had a nightmare?"

"But that's not what it was," Cynthia tried to make her feel better. "Was it?"

"No," Rory sighed. "I guess not. But I thought I could deal with it on my own."

"But you don't have to."

"I know."

"Was it better last night?" Cynthia asked. "Having Jess there?"

"Yeah," Rory refused to meet her eyes. "It was a lot better. I actually got back to sleep again."

"So are you willing to admit defeat?" Cynthia tried to joke.

"Not yet," Rory pursed her lips again. "But I'm willing to accept that having Jess around helps."

"That's better than nothing," Cynthia smiled. "Just remember I'm always here if you want to talk about it. Or if you just want some company."

"I know," Rory smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Cynthia pulled her into a quick hug, then turned back to her shelving while Rory went to sift through all the crap that had been dumped on her desk since her last visit.

"Okay, I know I say this a lot," she turned to address the other employees, her voice rising over the music playing and the people chatting. "But just because I'm not here, doesn't mean you can use my desk as a dumping ground! Jesus Christ!"

"Don't look at us," Terry, one of the girls they had hired to help out, spoke up, pointing between herself and her fellow employee Mitch. "We don't go anywhere near the desks."

"Oh I know," Rory assured them, turning her fury to Matt and Chris, who were both shrinking back towards the stairs. "Freeze!"

"It was him!" Both boys cried, pointing to each other.

"What are you, five?" Rory frowned. "Get your asses over here!"

Terry and Mitch watched in amusement as she ripped the boys a new one, poking their chests and pushing their work back into their arms while lecturing them on responsibility and doing their jobs.

When she had finished, both boys looked terrified and slightly amused, and Rory was red in the face and ready to pull her hair out.

"STOP DUMPING YOUR SHIT ON MY DESK!" She finished, turning on her heel and stomping back up the stairs.

"Is it just me, or is she scarier than usual?" Chris turned to Matt when she was gone.

"Jess says she's suffering from sleep deprivation," Matt mused. "Maybe that's it."

"No, she just likes yelling at you," Jess joined them, an amused look on his face.

"Hey, you dump shit on her desk too," Chris reasoned. "Why don't you get yelled at?"

"She has more important things to yell at me for than dumping my extra work on her desk," he shrugged.

"Fair enough," Matt agreed. "But how about a little head's up before she comes back next time, so we can avoid the yelling? That girl is scary."

"Tell me about it," Jess laughed and headed for the stairs. "But it's fun watching her yell at someone whose not me."

"Glad we can help!" Chris called after him sarcastically.

After her usual screaming match with the guys about dumping all their crap on her desk, Rory took the work that actually belonged to her upstairs and started to sort through it, setting aside things that she should probably get done sooner rather than later.

"You really don't have to worry about that stuff," Jess joined her. "You should just be focusing on graduation."

"I don't mind," she shrugged up at him from her spot on the living room floor. "It's nice to have something to do other than filling out job and fellowship applications."

"If you're sure," Jess frowned.

"I am." Rory continued to focus on the work in front of her, not really paying attention to Jess, until she noticed that he was still watching her. "Yes?"

"Nothing," he shook his head.

"Liar."

"Seriously!" Jess held his hands up. "I just like watching you work. It's not like you don't watch me when I write."

"I guess," she narrowed her eyes at him for a minute, then turned back to her work.

After a while, Jess picked up his laptop and turned his focus to his own work. He had been toying with a couple ideas for another book and was in the middle of deciding which one was going to pan out best. It wasn't until Rory finished deciding what to take back to New Haven with her that he realized how much time had passed.

They had been working for almost four hours, lunch time had passed long before and both their stomachs were grumbling.

"This is getting to be a problem," Rory frowned, dropping onto the couch and putting her head in his lap. "We've really got to stop skipping meals."

Jess chuckled and put his laptop down to give her more room. "We're not skipping, we're just late."

"Music to every girl's ears," Rory chuckled, making Jess frown. "It's a pregnancy joke, Sweetie."

"Oh," he nodded uncomfortably. "Right."

"Are you blushing?" Rory smirked.

"No."

"You are! You're getting all squirmy!"

"I am not," he shook his head.

"Do you have something you need to tell me?" She joked. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"Ha ha," Jess rolled his eyes. "What does your schedule look like tomorrow?"

"Nice segue," Rory snickered. "I have Microeconomics at two, nothing else."

"Do you really need to go to that?" Jess asked. "I mean, wouldn't you rather spend another day here?"

She seemed to weigh this idea in her head. It would be nice to spend another night or two in their bed, away from everything else. She had to admit, it had been easier to sleep there. But she didn't want to let herself fall behind. She had already missed so much school this semester, she didn't want to let everything build up beyond what she could handle. On the other hand, though, it was only Microeconomics, a class that she really didn't care about.

Deciding that she would rather get a couple more nights of sleep, Rory relented and nodded.

"I guess it won't kill me to miss one class."

"Good," Jess smiled. "Now that that's out of the way, how about lunch?"

"Lunch sounds great."