A/N I love my beta's. Emily is the kick in the pants I needed to finish this chapter. I love her like Rory loves and books and I also love reviews like Lorelai loves coffee.

"She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time; but alas! Alas! She must confess to herself that she was not wise yet."

― Jane Austen, Persuasion

"Rory?" Lorelai called. "Is that you?" They embraced and Rory handed her the bag of Chinese take out she'd just picked up. "So did I tell you about Boozoo?" she asked over her shoulder as she headed towards the kitchen. "We are going to have Zydeco Music played by Boozoo to liven up the reception dinner. He's gonna be the hit of the wedding... I mean, besides Paul Anka in a tux. Also, you have a dress fitting…"

"Mom," Rory interrupted. "Your letter...I-"

Lorelai stopped. "And Boozoo can wait! So... how'd it go with him? Was he flummoxed?" she asked eagerly, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "I thought it was a good twist, writing it on Dragonfly stationery and sealing it, making him watch you read it..."

"We broke up, or… I broke up with Logan."

"Honey, I'm so sorry. But I thought..."

"It's Jess, Mom. Your letter made me think about Jess more than it did Logan."

Lorelai's eyebrows knit together. "But I didn't say anything that…" She gave her head a shake to try to make the pieces fall into place.

"You said that love is all-encompassing," Rory rushed forward, "and you talked about what you would normally do to a guy who broke your daughter's heart… and you said that if I still loved this boy, maybe I'd want to give it another chance—and it hit me. Logan isn't the one who deserves another chance."

"Well... that's sudden," Lorelai answered stiltedly.

"It's really not."

"Um... explain."

"If I don't think Logan deserves another chance, then I'm obviously not in love with him," Rory said candidly.

"Alright, I get that; but where does Jess come in? You've barely seen him in two years."

"I know; he hasn't pursued me at all. But, we've been friends since..." she paused. "Since he got me to go back to Yale."

"Wait—he…?"

Rory cut her off. "He came to see me at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and he asked me why I was quitting—yelled at me, actually—asked me what was going on with my life; and I just…"

"You just…?"

"I realized that I didn't know what was going on with my life. Did you know he wrote a book?"

Lorelai swallowed. "Yeah, hun, I did. I saw it."

"He wrote a book…" Rory said hollowly, "and I was partying with rich frat boys and hosting Russian tea parties."

Lorelai nodded, her daughter's pain reflected in her own face.

"He said that he couldn't have written it... without me. Something just… I didn't know how to feel, except proud of him and sick of myself."

"Rory…" She put a hand on Rory's shoulder.

"No, I needed it. I needed to be sick of myself—of what I was doing, and what I was letting myself become. That was what got me to pick myself up and pester the Stamford Gazette to give me a job, and go back to Yale—to prove to myself, to him, to Mitchum, to everyone that I have 'got it.' That I always have." Her lips tightened into a small line.

"Oh, hon. Of course you do."

"No, not 'of course.' It wasn't just Mitchum. Logan said that I was sheltered—that I needed to put myself in the thick of it, but I was too afraid—"

"What?"

"And he was right—"

"What? No! Rory what are you saying?" Lorelai took her by both shoulders.

"He was, and Jess said it, too—"

"Wait—whoa, now we're talking crazy town. How dare he—"

"Mom, let me finish! Back when Jess was a mess when he was almost flunking 11th grade when I was tutoring him—"

"The one night you were tutoring him," Lorelai broke in again.

"Yes, the one night I was tutoring him. I told him about Christiane Amanpour and wanting to be a foreign correspondent, and he started describing what that would be like…. bombs and battlefields and…"

"Was he trying to scare you?" Lorelai asked evenly, while her eyes were both angry and incredulous.

"No. No, he wasn't," she said quietly, eyes downcast and pensive. "He was making sure I understood what it entailed. He said it sounded a little rough for me."

Lorelai's eyes dropped.

"And then he told me he knew I could do it; that I would do it. That he'd help me if I wanted. Toughen me up, I guess. I mean, he didn't say that part; but it was kind of implied."

"Rory, what are you telling me?"

"He's always believed in me, Mom. Even before he learned how to believe in himself. He always had my back. He always asked about Harvard, and then Yale. He wanted to see me reach my dreams."

"Wow."

"I told him he could too. Even when he went away and left me hanging, left me hurt… he remembered. He took the things I said to him and built a life. That's… crazy. Who does that?"

Lorelai nodded quietly. "Someone who loves you."

"He got me to see my dreams again, Mom. He even got me to stick it out and go to that lousy therapist to see if it could help—even if he thinks Yale should scrap the guy and find one who knows what he's doing."

"They should," her mother agreed, finally letting one of her hands drop from Rory's arm. "So… Jess got you to go back to Yale, back to the Gazette, and go to a therapist?" In response to Rory's nod, she made a scoffing sound. "Sheesh! I think I've just been demoted."

"You've helped me to do everything my whole life. You're not as easy to unseat as that," she contended.

"Yeah, well… I'm beginning to think writing that letter was shooting myself in the foot."

"Come on, now," Rory chided.

"Much less telling Jess that you might be needing a friend."

Rory's mouth dropped open. "You… did not."

"I might have."

"So, you've been marionetting multiple boys and their interactions with me," Rory smirked.

"Only a little." She held her thumb and finger a quarter-inch apart.

"You've been taking lessons from Grandpa!" Rory accused.

"Ah! Now that's just mean!"

"But a little bit true?"

"Stop it! I was not trying to orchestrate you dumping Logan and falling in love with Jess—that is what you're telling me is happening, isn't it?"

"No one said you were as good at it as Grandpa," Rory shrugged. She turned the conversation, seeing her mom's mock indignation. "And, yes… I think it is."

Lorelai went quiet...for several long seconds… "Huh."

"What are you thinking?" Rory asked worriedly.

"I'm thinking it's a good thing I'd already started warming to the punk a little."

"But…? I can hear the but in there. You've been my mother too long." Rory searched the blue eyes in front of her.

"But I don't think you should tell him."

Rory drew back, confused and trying to figure out whether to be hurt. "You don't… you still don't want me to be with him. You still don't think he's good enough, do you?"

"I didn't say that," Lorelai contended quickly.

"You didn't have to. It's right there with the unspoken but. I can't believe after all of this, you still think he isn't good enough for me. Don't you realize you're treating him the way Grandma treats Luke?"

"Whoa—hold on! I need you to stop putting words in my mouth right now. I never said anything about Jess not being good enough for you; and I stopped trying to think for you when it comes to Jess back when Emily Gilmore "agreed with me completely"; so don't you try to make me into the worst parts of both my parents in the course of one otherwise completely pleasant conversation," Lorelai rebutted, picking up the bag of takeout and setting it forcefully on the counter.

"Well, what then?" Rory's arms raised, in a manner that looked as if she was being controlled by a puppet master's strings. "Why shouldn't I tell him? Because he's somehow going to hurt me? Because the woman who proposed to her fiancé thinks I should wait for the man to say something? What? This doesn't make any sense!"

"Because I think it could hurt him, all right!" Lorelai said, louder than she might have if Rory hadn't entered rant mode, and more candidly than she would have if she hadn't been made to feel as hard-hearted and manipulative as the elder Gilmores the moment before.

"You think I would hurt him?" Rory asked, so shell shocked that she dropped into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Not the way you're thinking," Lorelai amended, feeling guilty over the look her words had put on her daughter's face. "Just…" she grappled for a way to defuse the misunderstanding which had escalated so quickly, "dial it back and let me finish now."

Rory nodded mutely.

Lorelai took a deep breath and sat in the chair nearest Rory's. "Not even two weeks ago he called here sounding like a very drunk lost puppy, having gotten drunk for God knows what reason

when he self-admittedly barely drinks. He confided to you about a sister he didn't even know he had, and I saw how shaken he was with her. It seemed to be stirring up old poisons in a big way. And he's been going back to school, which he always hated, so that's got to be pretty stressful. And then there's all the work stuff he's doing—that's big. I just think… he probably really needs a friend right now. So, if you suddenly turn into his ex-girlfriend who he screwed up with as a teenager, but who would like a brand new start, and to figure out a whole full-fledged I'm-in-love-with-you relationship….. he might snap. I know it's not my decision to make, but... I think it could be too much for him right now." She reached over and pressed Rory's hand in hers. "Be his safe place. You love him… be what he needs. The rest can come."

"We cannot allow such vulgarity," Taylor insisted loudly, calling to the back of Luke's Diner in the middle Thursday night's dinner rush. "It's nothing short of obscene! What will tourists think?"

"Would you leave him alone? You can't make people show you their internet network name- it defeats the purpose of having a password," Patty said.

"Yeah, Taylor. Besides, how many tourists do you think come here for the free wifi?" Lorelai asked.

"They come here for the small-town charm," Rory added.

"Exactly! They come for the small-town charm, and instead, they get 'Blankety-Blank Wifi Network.' It's terrible."

"At Luke's, that IS the small-town charm," Lorelai said brightly, fluttering her eyelashes to match the sarcasm in her tone.

"Actually, I think 'Blankety-Blank Wifi Network' is just quirky enough to work!" Rory piped in, mostly addressing her mother.

Lorelai shrugged, tilting her head. "Heck, I'm almost sorry it's taken."

"Luke, you have absolutely no respect for common decency! It's bad enough that you spew that kind of filth at any wandering passerby who happens to step into your diner, but now you are polluting local cyberspace!"

Luke had been in the kitchen up until this point, grinding his teeth and making a valiant attempt not to break any dishes. "Taylor, I'm about to launch you into cyberspace if you don't either leave my diner or shut up and mind your own damn business!"

"There you go again!" Taylor lectured in a near-whine, foolishly leaning across the counter toward the irate man in flannel who had miraculously restrained himself from visiting any sort of bodily injury upon the older man thus far.

"I'm surprised Taylor knows what cyberspace is," Rory muttered.

"Not entirely sure Luke does," Lorelai returned in the same useless stage whisper.

Taylor was continuing to rant at Luke, who had stopped listening when Jess and Matt walked into the diner.

"You!" Luke said, with an expression Jess hadn't seen directed at him in a while.

Every head in the diner suddenly turned to see the object of Luke's ire. Rory lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw who it was but quickly turned away from Jess so he wouldn't see.

Jess raised his eyebrows mildly, following the abrupt greeting.

"Hi," he said meekly, watching warily as Luke glared at him. "The drive took longer than we thought; we hit some traffic. By the way, this is Matt." Jess gestured toward Matt.

"Nice to meet you," Luke addressed Matt. "Follow me," he ordered and when they were out of earshot, "Now explain why Taylor is upset!"

"Excuse me?" Jess looked behind him, side to side, without moving his head.

"Taylor is out there accusing me of being obscene and vulgar and polluting cyberspace, whatever that means...and all I know is that he's been looking at your internet from out on the street!"

"Looking at my internet?" Jess arched an eyebrow with a wild expression. "What does that even mean?"

"How should I know? All I know is that Kirk was wandering around with a laptop and showing Taylor our internet… your internet, and now he's in here yelling at me! I don't know what you did, but you sure as hell did something! Is it like… broadcasting porn or something?!"

"Yep, you caught me… Everyone can see naughty nurses in 3D."

"WHAT?"

"I don't know. I don't know what you're babbling about. No one can see...ohhhh." Jess drew a fist up in front of his mouth.

"'Oh'? Oh, what, 'oh'? What is 'oh,' Jess?"

"When I set-up the Wi-Fi here, I asked you what you wanted to name the network and I...wrote down exactly what you said."

Luke's eyes got big as he remembered the interaction with his nephew. "All I said was that I didn't give a— Wait, you wrote that down? As the name of the… the..." he stammered, waving one hand in a rolling motion, not remembering what you called the thing Jess had named.

"Well…"

"Jess!"

"What?"

"Fix it, and do not mention that it was you…"

"...who wrote down what you said," Jess finished for Luke.

Luke glared at Jess, wanting to say something more but for once finding it difficult not to laugh at his nephew's antics, particularly since Luke could never get enough enjoyment out of Taylor's displeasure. "Just restock the napkins," Luke said, throwing his rag at Jess.

Rory noticed Jess emerging from behind the curtain, just as she was rejoining the debate.

"Do you really want to waste town resources on such minor things?" she asked reasonably. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jess behind the counter, his back to everyone, shaking silently as he listened to Taylor resume his rant.

Meanwhile, Matt had taken up residence at one of the tables in the back, entertained by the small-town controversy.

"There must be something in the town bylaws," Taylor said. "And if there isn't, it ought to be established."

"We all KNOW Luke and how he feels about his privacy being breached," Patty reasoned, rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of which..." Luke called from the back.

"Well, I'm bringing it up at the next town meeting," Taylor insisted. "The Stars Hollow Business Association will have something to say about this. I will institute martial law if I have to."

"You do that," Patty said, rolling her eyes before getting up to leave.

"I'll call the town lawyer, I will not let decent children…"

"Now where are you going?" Luke asked Jess as he headed toward the storeroom.

"Coffee filters, we need more napkins," Jess said, barely able to keep a straight face.

"Where are you going?" Lorelai asked after Rory got up. "Don't you want to hear Taylor's plan to contact the Internet provider?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"I'll be right back, Jess needs help with the napkins," she said quickly.

"You're just friends," Lorelai said in a sing-songy voice.

"Friends are helpful," she said, disappearing into the storeroom. She found him leaned up against the wall, covering his face. "So it was you?"

All he could do was nod his head. "Luke said," he finally offered as an explanation, still barely able to control his laughter.

"Glad your sense of humor is still intact," she laughed, leaning up against the doorway. "And that some things never change."

"I forgot how easy it was to piss Taylor off. Or how much fun it could be," he sniggered.

"Jess…"

"I'll change it when I get upstairs," he assured her. "I only wish I could have seen his face when he saw it," he said, calming down.

Rory smiled fondly. "Don't get too close... the rumors of him being a member of the Thought Police may be truer than we thought," she said.

"Big Brother is watching," Jess deadpanned. They both laughed for a second. "Hey uh," he turned serious. "Can you help me with something?" He asked. "And don't get too excited."

"Sure," Rory answered. "What is it?"

"I, uh," he paused because he wanted to make sure he could see her reaction. "I need help filling out transfer applications."

"Transfer app…?" Rory said, trying very hard not to be too excited or let Jess know how excited she was at his news. "You're going to school!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah," Jess said. "I am."

"I'm not gonna say that I'm proud of you for going to school."

"Good," he said, then grabbed another pack of napkins.

They walked out of the storeroom together, Jess going behind the counter and Rory going back to sit with her mother because she was beaming and since becoming painfully aware of her feelings for Jess, she wouldn't want to blurt out something she shouldn't blurt out in a room full of people.

Luke threw everyone out of the diner when Taylor started theorizing ways to get the governor involved.

"So that's Stars Hollow?" Matt asked when they had retreated upstairs from Luke ranting at Taylor.

"In all their collective craziness," Jess sighed as he put his backpack on the floor.

"This place is like a writer's wet dream," Matt said. "That Taylor guy is right out of a George Orwell novel. And that fast-talking lady with the dark hair, drinking all the coffee...for a small town chick..."

"Careful," Jess warned, "she's about to marry my uncle."

"Duuude, Aunt Hotty!"

Jess rolled his eyes.

"And who's that pretty girl with the blue eyes following you into the storeroom? She looked awfully happy to see you..."

"Oh. Uh, that's Rory, actually..."

"Hot Chick Rory! Man, I KNEW she sounded hot..."

Jess rolled his eyes, "Say that to her face and see what she says, I dare you."

"I'll wait till she signs the none disclosure agreement."

Jess pulled out his computer and logged on the internet. He chuckled a little when he saw the network name, "I'm surprised it took Taylor this long to even notice the wi-fi name." Jess showed Matt what the fuss had been about when they walked in.

Matt laughed when Jess showed him.

It took Jess five minutes to fix the offending wi-fi name.

"Nice job changing the subject, by the way," Matt said, pulling out his own computer.

"I can't hear you over the stack of work I have to get through tonight," Jess said, turning on music. "I'm about to send you fifty emails."

Later that night, Jess was awoken by Matt's snoring. When he saw the time, he got up to get some coffee, dressing just enough to be appropriate if anyone came into the business.

"Hey," he greeted Luke, who was mixing pancake batter.

"What are you doing up this early?"

Jess shrugged, "Matt snores. And I have homework I need to get through."

Luke smiled, "So how are you? How's school?"

"It's good," Jess answered getting a cup of coffee. "My graduation ceremony is the first Saturday in May."

"Do you want me to come?"

"That's why I told you the date."

"I'll be there with bells on. But tell your mother too."

"There's something else," He looked up at his uncle and swallowed, "I'm going to get my bachelor's degree. I haven't a clue where to start or where I'm going, probably the first school that accepts me and doesn't charge an arm and a leg."

Luke stared at his nephew in stunned silence, a lump formed in his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out, "You are?" he finally got out.

"Yeah, I am. It's a recent decision. I think I want to stay in publishing and Matt and Chris are great, but I might not always be able to work at Truncheon."

"That's smart," Luke said, he shifted his back leg, the time on the clock said that he only had a few more minutes before Kirk would find his seat and demand coffee. "You know, I have a free room for you to stay in. I know you have a lot of things to decide, but living arrangements could be an easy fix."

Jess smiled at his uncle, "thanks."

"Hey," Luke said, "Make sure you tell your mother that too."