What're We Doing?

They sit down on the floor, leaning against opposite walls. She's not entirely sure how they decide on it, but she suspects it has something to do with not wanting to tempt fate by being so close on the bed, which is the only other surface to sit on in the room. And she doesn't really mind. Not too much anyway.

They discuss books for well over an hour, which definitely helps. Everything from the classics to the latest best seller, and their opinions vary wildly, to say the least. It's arguably one of the best discussion about books she's ever had, with anyone, and Rory is starting to feel like her smile will get stuck on her face. It's awesome.

"I can't believe you would say that," she protests to one of his, in her opinion, more controversial comments, trying to sound outraged, but secretly enjoying the fact that he doesn't automatically agree with her.

"Of course you don't," he smirks. "I'm beginning to think that the longer a book is, the more you like it."

"That's so not true, and you know it!"

"Come on," he scoffs. "War and Peace? Anna Karenina? Oh, and don't get me started on The Fountainhead."

"You can't base your theory on three books."

"Sure I can."

"You know," she smiles. "I think this is getting out of hand."

"Maybe," he agrees, smiling back. It's just a slight upturn of the lips, but it conveys genuine happiness, sparking something inside of her as she sees it.

"But it's been fun," she beams.

"Yeah."

"Actually, there are very few people in my life I can discuss books with, at all," Rory says thoughtfully, then backtracks. "I mean, there's Paris at school, but she's certifiably insane, and I wouldn't put it past her to resort to bodily harm if she doesn't win an argument, so…"

Jess raises a skeptical eyebrow at her description. "She sounds… interesting."

"She definitely is that," Rory giggles, and she thinks she's getting tired, but doesn't want to admit it. "What about you?"

"Are you asking if I'm insane?" Jess checks, eyebrow still raised.

"I wasn't," Rory laughs. "But now that you mention it…"

"Thanks," he smirks, and she smiles back at him. Then he sighs. "And there was one person, but he died earlier this year."

Rory's smile instantly falls. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"S'ok," he shrugs. "He was literally a hundred years old, so…"

"How did you know him?" Rory asks, curious.

"He lived across the hall from us about five or six years back. I'd seen him a few times, always with a book, but then late one night I was sitting in the hallway outside the apartment, reading, waiting for Liz and whatever flavor of the week she was with to pass out. And he just walked out of the elevator, took one look at me and my book and told me to get a move on so he could show me something worth the time to read."

"Wow, he sounds like quite the original," Rory muses, deciding not to linger on the other information he had given her, pretty sure he doesn't want her to make a big deal of it. Still, it makes a clump form in her throat, and the off-handed way he said it only makes it worse.

Jess nods. "He was."

"What were you reading?" she asks, needing to focus on something else.

"I don't actually remember," he chuckles and she marvels at the way he can just move past something like that, as if it is nothing. But then again, she assumes that to him, it is probably just another in a long line of similar nights. "It was something I found for a few cents in a Goodwill store around the block," Jess continues, drawing her out of her troubling thoughts. "I remember pretending it was better than just sitting there, but…"

Rory giggles at that, trying to picture him with something really cheesy and lame. The image doesn't come easy. "And did he have anything better?" she says instead, curiously.

"He did," Jess says, looking almost wistful, clearly remembering it fondly.

Rory smiles back, finding it impossible not to. "Good."

"He's the one who got me hooked on Hemingway," Jess adds, looking at her with a smirk.

"No!" she exclaims, eyes widening in horror.

He nods. "Yes."

"Oh well, I suppose everyone is entitled to their flaws."

"Wow," he scoffs. "How very generous of you."

"Well, I am nothing if not generous," she grins, meaning it as a joke, but Jess is not laughing.

"True," he says, watching her with a serious expression.

"What?" she asks, frowning at his sudden mood change, wondering what he's thinking.

He doesn't answer, just looks down at his hands, and Rory is reminded of the situation they're in.

"What're we doing?" she asks instead, rather timidly.

Jess looks up again, frowning. "What do you mean?"

She can't back out now, so she takes a deep breath, motioning beyween them. "This. Us."

"Oh," he swallows, then shakes his head. "I don't know."

"Me neither," she sighs. "I mean, what happens after tomorrow?"

"I don't know," he says again, avoiding looking at her.

"What were you gonna do after today?" she asks and then quickly adds, "Before we met I mean."

He shrugs. "Go to work, actually open up a bank account, and eventually find a new place to live."

"Oh. And in the meantime…" She hesitates, suddenly not so sure about asking her question.

"You want to know where I'll be sleeping."

"Well… Yeah," she says quietly.

Jess shrugs. "Depends."

Rory frowns at his ambiguous answer, but doesn't want to tempt her luck. "What about those friends you mentioned?"

"Pretty sure one of them tipped off the muggers," he scoffs, looking angry all of a sudden. "Most of the ones I can actually trust are either in the system or have it worse than I did at home, so…"

Rory's frown deepens, and she struggles to find something to say to that, once more reminded of the fact that Jess' life has most certainly been nothing like hers, but he doesn't seem to notice. Instead he appears to be far off, thinking about something else entirely.

"You want to know the worst part?" he asks after a little while, seeming to be still far off, voice bitter. "If it hadn't been for that bottle, I'd been fine. Or at least a bit less worse off."

"How's that?" Rory asks carefully when he doesn't continue right away.

"Had to use most of my cash to pay for the stitch work. Not much left to rent a place for after that. And then, to top it all off, I just got mugged for most of what I earned since then," he mutters, then looks up quickly and seems to remember where he is. "And I have no idea why I told you all of that. Or anything else tonight for that matter."

"Maybe you needed to?" she suggests quietly, swallowing to keep her composure. She is pretty sure he won't appreciate her starting to cry, or hugging him for that matter.

"Wow," he snorts. "Now you sound like an advertisement for therapy."

"And I'm right?" she counters, not backing down, sure she's right.

"I don't…" he starts, rolling his eyes, clearly annoyed, but then frowns. "Well… I mean…"

"It's ok," she says, trying a smile. "It's like you said to me earlier, when I was completely stressed out about being lost."

"Are you implying that I'm not to be reckoned with?" Jess frowns.

"No!" she quickly protests, eyes wide.

"Whatever," he mutters, letting his head fall back against the wall. "It's probably true anyway."

"Don't say that!" Rory protests. It's her turn to frown, wondering what life experiense has made him become this cynical.

He doesn't answer, just gives her a look. "Seriously though, what are you doing to me?" he asks after a moment. "Did you put something in my pizza?"

"Oh, dang it, you figured it out," Rory sighs, trying to keep a straight face.

"I knew it," he mutters, rolling his eyes, but she can see the corner of his mouth twitch upward.

She wants to ask him so many questions, wants to know how he ended up where he is. She thinks she kinda knows though, from the small tidbits of information he's given her, and she wants to be able to do something. She just doesn't know what. Then she's hit with a sudden thought.

"Don't you have any other family?" she asks.

"Not really," he dismisses off-handedly.

The answer is short and quick in coming, but Rory doesn't miss the not-complete rejection. "So there is someone?"

"There's an uncle, somewhere," he says with a shrug. "But I haven't seen or heard from him since I was around nine or so."

Rory frowns at that. "Oh. Why not?"

Jess shrugs again. "He either couldn't be bothered anymore, or he gave up trying to find us. I wouldn't really blame the guy, considering how often we moved, and how many times Liz changed her last name."

"And maybe he's spent the past nine years worrying about you and would be thrilled to hear from you," Rory counters.

"Damn," Jess mutters, shaking his head. "There really is no end to that positive attitude of yours tonight, is there?"

"There's nothing wrong with trying to be positive," she defends.

"Never said there was," Jess agrees. "I just haven't really met anyone quite like you before."

She looks down, not sure how to respond to that. "Oh."

"So tell me, Princess, how do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Keep the hope up."

"My mom taught me that," she smiles.

"Right," he nods, and she doesn't miss the short frown that passes over his face.

"I never told you about before, did I?" she asks, feeling the need to explain what she meant, trying to remember what parts of her life she talked about at the pizza place.

Jess watches her, clearly confused. "Before what?"

"Before the Crap Shack?"

"What the hell is the Crap Shack?" he asks, staring at her like she's crazy.

"Sorry," she says. "I must've missed that part as well."

"Clearly."

"Well, the Crap Shack is our house that mom bought when I was eleven. We wanted to name it something really good, but…"

He stares at her incredulously. "You named your house the Crap Shack?"

"Yeah."

"Ok…"

"But… before that, we lived in a potting shed on the back lawn of the Inn where mom worked. Still works, actually."

She doesn't miss the surprise that registers in his eyes. "Huh."

"My mom had me when she was sixteen," Rory continues. "Big scandal, everyone wanted her to marry my dad, but she refused, and I'm actually sort of glad she didn't. But, she ended up running away with me when I was still really small, and she found herself at that Inn. She had basically nothing then, except some clothes and a kid in tow. But she got a job as a maid, and somewhere to live, and she turned it into something wonderful. We never had much of anything, but I had a magical childhood in that tiny shed, and that was all my mom's doing."

"That's…" Jess begins, but seems to be struggling to find his words.

"Amazing," Rory finishes decidedly. "So yes, I try to stay positive, because I've seen what a difference that makes."

Jess nods, smiling a little. "Ok."

"So," Rory continues. "What do you know about this uncle of yours?"

He blinks. "Oh… well. His name's Lucas, I think. Or maybe Luke. He lives, or at least lived, in some small place up north. Connecticut maybe?"

"Connecticut?" Rory asks, feeling something like hope flare up inside of her. No matter how insane it is.

Jess frowns, thinking. "Yeah," he finally says. "Some small town with a weird name."

Rory just stares at him, but he doesn't seem to notice.

"It's probably no use trying to figure it out anyway," he continues. "About a year ago Liz was going on and on about how she'd tried to ship me off to him, but he'd refused. Not sure what actually happened, but we moved again about the same time, so…"

"Jess…" Rory mumbles, trying to process all of it, staring at him in amazement. "Do you remember the name of the town?"

He frowns. "No."

Rory takes a deep breath. "Could it be Stars Hollow?" she asks, holding her breath as she waits for his answer.

"Yeah, could be," Jess says slowly, narrowing his eyes at her. "What…"

Rory shakes her head, feeling a huge smile spreading over her face, and continues. "Do you remember me talking about Luke's Diner earlier?"

Jess nods, and then he freezes. "No."

"Yes," Rory counters. "It has to be."

"But…"

"I remember mom and him talking about a nephew last year. I don't know many details, but I do know he would've agreed if he could."

Jess still looks stunned, and seems to be struggling to find something to say. "So why didn't he?" he eventually asks.

Rory frowns, thinking back. "He was really sick then. I don't remember exactly, but I think he was running a pretty high fever. I remember mom telling me about it, and that he'd asked to call back when he could think straight, but when he did, the number didn't work."

"Huh."

"Actually," Rory continued. "He spent a lot of time the following months trying to find you."

"You can't be serious," Jess mutters, shaking his head in disbelief.

Rory smiles brightly. "Small world, huh?"

"Miniscule," Jess agrees, leaning his head back against the wall, eyes closed.

Rory just sits there, trying to wrap her head around this new development, wondering what this could possibly mean. For him, for her, and for them. And she wonders what Jess is thinking. She itches to ask him, but doesn't dare. This is all pretty strange, and she's sure it must be doubly so for him.

"Of all the girls in all the parks…" Jess suddenly mutters, still in the same position, still with his eyes closed.

"Yeah," Rory agrees, glad he's talking, but still not sure what he's thinking about all of this. He doesn't continue, and Rory goes back to studying him.

Finally, he opens his eyes and looks at her. "So, I've got an uncle, who I hardly even remember," he says, catching her gaze immediately.

She has to swallow at the intensity that's in that look, and only manages to nod in response.

"And he's basically been like a surrogate father to you for the past… eight years?" Jess continues, and Rory is starting to feel uncomfortable at his unwavering stare.

Rory thinks back to what she's told Jess about Luke, and has to agree, even if she's never thought of it exactly like that. "Yeah, I guess," she finally manages to mumble.

"Huh."

Rory doesn't know what more to say. It's such a weird coincidence that the guy she meets on a chance, in New York, is the long lost nephew of Luke Danes. And she figures that if it is strange for her, it's got to be even more so for him.

"What are you thinking?" she finally asks after they've been sitting there silently for close to fifteen minutes.

Jess blinks and looks at her. "I don't know," he says, shaking his head. "I mean… It's kinda crazy, right?"

She does know what he means. It's almost as if something orchestrated their meeting, even if she doesn't believe in things like that. But there's one thought that's been on her mind ever since she made the connection, and she can no longer stop herself from blurting the words out. "You could come back with us."

"What?" Jess stares at her in what she can only describe as complete shock, and her excitement for the idea diminishes somewhat. But she refuses to let it go completely.

"I know it's weird," she starts, and soon she's in full on ramble mode, "and we just met so you don't really know me, or my mom, or Luke I guess. And you've got your life here, but I just can't see, with what little you've told me, that you'd be that eager to stay here. Luke is great. He'd give you a place to stay and probably a job at his diner until you can find something else, and I…" She stops abruptly, suddenly scared to say the words out loud, and looks down.

"And you…" Jess prods, ducking his head to catch her eye, but she is still staring at her hands, not brave enough to continue while looking at him.

"And I would really like you to come," she almost whispers.

"Oh."

When he doesn't say anything else she finally looks up and meets his gaze. "So…"

"I don't know, Rory," he sighs, and this time it's he who looks away.

"But…" she starts to protest, only to be cut off.

"Look, I know this must be a no brainer for you, and I'm probably crazy for not jumping at the chance of getting the hell out of this place, but…" He pauses, dragging a weary hand through his hair. "It's just… I don't know this Luke. And he doesn't know me. I can't just…"

"That's your only concern?"

"No… Yes…" he mutters, then sighs. "I don't know."

"Jess?"

"No, Rory, I mean, I hadn't even met you…" he frowns as he checks his watch, "eight hours ago. And since then you've basically turned my whole world upside down, and to top it all off, served up my long lost uncle on a platter. I just… I need some time to wrap my head around all of this."

"Ok," she nods. "I get it."

"Ok."

They sit there for a while, just looking at each other, and then Rory yawns. She instantly covers her mouth, feeling strangely embarrassed, and looks away.

"You tired?"

"Yeah," she nods, "I didn't sleep much last night and it's really late…"

"It's ok to be tired, you know," Jess chuckles, and despite still feeling a bit self-conscious she's delighted at the sound.

"Yeah, I know," she mutters.

"I guess you need to get back to your mom then," Jess says, standing up abruptly and offering her a hand.

"Well… I…" Rory begins, quickly losing her train of thought when she puts her hand in his. She had almost forgotten about that instant electricity. Then she's standing up, not even a foot from him. She swallows and blurts out: "I was actually wondering if it'd be ok if I sleep here."

"You want to…" he begins, but then quickly nods. "Ok."

"Ok?" she asks, a huge grin spreading over her face.

"Yeah," he confirms. "What about your mom though?"

"Oh," Rory blinks, finding it hard to think when she's this close to him. "I guess I'll have to write her a note. Um… you don't happen to have a pen and some paper?"

"The hotel does," he says, nodding towards the desk in the corner.

"Right," Rory giggles. "Of course."

She moves over to the desk, reluctantly letting go of Jess' hand, and after grabbing a pen and paper starts to write. She figures her mom won't be very interested in reading a novel when she wakes up, alone, so she keeps it short and to the point. When she's done she gets up and turns to find Jess sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her.

"I'll be right back," she says, motioning needlessly with the letter in her hand.

"Ok," he nods, watching her with a small smirk.

"Ok then," she mutters and moves to walk past him, only to find herself leaning down to place a kiss on his cheek. Then she springs up, hurrying towards the door, her cheeks flaming, wondering what is wrong with her.

The door closes behind her and she leans back against it for a moment, trying to get her breathing under control. Then she shakes her head at her own behavior and hurries over to the door across the hallway, letting herself in as quietly as possible.

She immediately hears Lorelai's soft snoring and breathes out in relief. Slowly and carefully she creeps across the floor, placing her letter on top of her pillow. Satisfied that it will be easy to spot she makes her way back over to the door again, casting one last glance at her sleeping mother, before slipping out of the room.

She smiles when she looks up and spots Jess, casually leaning against his partly opened door. "Mission successful," she grins, and then she yawns again.

He smirks at her. "Let's get you to bed then."

"That sounds wonderful," she mumbles as she walks past him into the room.

She stops a couple steps in, contemplating, but finally she pulls her sweatshirt over her head. When she looks up again Jess is standing in front of her, holding out his hand. She takes it without hesitation and walks the few steps towards the bed, unceremoniously dropping her sweatshirt on the floor.

Once there, Jess seems to be hesitating, so Rory decides to be the brave one, climbing in and pulling him with her. Soon they're lying on their sides, facing each other, and she feels that wonderful tingling all over her body.

"Did I ever tell you, I really like your pajamas?" Jess suddenly asks, and Rory can't help but laugh.

She smiles, and then she just can't stop herself, so she pushes forward, kissing him. It's just as good as earlier, and she can't get enough, but eventually they slow down and pull back.

"I don't want to never see you again either," Jess mutters as they lie there, foreheads together, her hand tangled in his hair and his hand pulling her closer by the small of her back.

"Ok," she acknowledges, deciding to not make a thing out of it. Then she curls in closer, until her head is resting on his shoulder. She closes her eyes and feels sleep taking over her. "Is this ok?" she whispers as she's about to drift off.

"Yeah," she hears him say quietly, and feels a soft kiss to the top of her head. "It's perfect."

She falls asleep with a smile on her face.