Don't Panic?

She wakes up gradually, and for a few moments she doesn't know where she is. Or rather, she soon amends, with whom. There is another person in the bed with her, and it is definitely not her mother. She hasn't slept curled up like this with her mom since she was a small girl, and she doesn't smell anything like this anyway.

Then she opens her eyes and looks straight into a pair of almost golden ones, and it all comes rushing back to her. She is in a hotel bed with Jess, who she met just the night before, and yet it feels like the most natural thing in the world.

"Morning," she says with a timid smile.

"Morning," he mirrors back, his serious expression turning into a hesitant smile.

"Hey," she grins, and then snuggles in closer, both because it's a wonderful place to be, and because of a strange and sudden urge to hide.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Jess says into her hair, shifting a bit.

"S'ok," she mumbles, then pulls back abruptly. "This is ok, right?"

"Very ok," he smiles back. "I just wanted to get a little feeling back in my arm."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says sheepishly and raises herself up slightly.

Jess gratefully retracts his arm, rolling his shoulder to get back circulation. "It's ok," he says with a half shrug, laying down again, pulling Rory with him.

"Are you sure?" she asks, still feeling a bit bad about it. "I mean, I didn't realize…"

"I'm guessing you haven't done this before either?" he checks, that dangerous smirk back.

Rory instantly blushes crimson, ducking her head down so he can't see her. "Not like this, no," she mumbles.

"Huh. You've got my interest now."

She groans, figuring there is no way out of it. The memory is still embarrassing, but it could've been worse, she knows that. "Well, there was this one time, when Dean and I accidentally fell asleep at the dance studio after a school dance."

"You fell asleep accidentally, at a dance studio?" Jess questions, and she can hear the disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah," she confirms. "It had been a long night, and we were sitting in this really comfy bean bag, reading The Portable Dorothy Parker, and next thing I know, Miss Patty and her morning yoga class is standing over us, and I panicked."

"Oh."

"Yeah, it wasn't pretty. Mom was so angry when I came home, and it didn't help that grandma was there as well.

"Poor Dorothy Parker," Jess smirks. "She's not that boring."

"She's really not," Rory agrees. "It had just been a long night. My first real school dance, and it hadn't been an entirely pleasant experience. So…"

"When was this?" Jess asks, frowning.

"Almost two years ago," Rory says. "So, I was sixteen."

"Ok," he nods. "And you haven't… since then?"

Rory shakes her head, wondering what he's getting at. "No."

Jess lets out a heavy sigh, rolling over to his back on the bed. "Great."

"What?" Rory asks, still confused.

He doesn't answer. "What did you write to your mother?" he asks instead.

"Not much, just that I was staying here…" Rory begins, but is interrupted by a heavy pounding on the door, followed by her mother's voice.

"Rory!" she yells.

"Oh boy," Rory mumbles, closing her eyes for a second.

"Wonderful," Jess sighs, and then gets out of the bed.

"What're you doing?" Rory asks, her voice strangely high pitched.

"Opening the door," he says matter-of-factly,

Rory blinks. "But…" she starts protesting, quickly getting out of the bed as well.

There's another pounding on the door, and this time it doesn't stop, so Jess quickly opens it. Outside is Lorelai, fist raised for another pounding, her hair wild and eyes even wilder. She quickly zeroes in on Rory.

"Mom…" Rory starts, but is shushed with a glare.

"Don't panic?" Lorelai questions, motioning with the note in her hand as she enters the room. "That's how you start a note when you sneak out to spend the night with a guy you just met?"

"Mom," Rory tries again, but Lorelai's on a roll.

"I should've known, when you were so messed up about leaving, I should've known. But I've never had to worry before, so I wasn't prepared. But honey, sleeping with someone…"

"Mom!" Rory yells, almost in a panic. "Stop! Did you even read the whole note?"

"Of course I did!" Lorelai yells back. "Why do you think I'm here?"

"No, mom. Did you read all of it?" Rory tries again, taking the paper from her hand and holding it up in front of her face.

"Yes… Or well…" Lorelai falters, then her eyes focus on the words in front of her, reading aloud. "Hey Mom. Don't panic, but I'm staying with Jess tonight. And no, nothing more than kissing has happened, and nothing else will. I promise. Love you / Rory." Lorelai stops and looks up at her daughter. "Oh."

"Yeah," Rory mutters.

"Sorry," Lorelai says then, somewhat awkwardly. "I guess I'm not quite awake yet."

"Yeah, that must be it." Rory says, rolling her eyes.

"You know I'm not really awake until I've had my morning coffee," Lorelai defends.

"I know that," Rory agrees. "But did you have to wake up the whole hotel?"

"I didn't…" Lorelai starts to protest, but then stops.

"The pounding begs to differ," Jess mutters from over by the desk where he's standing awkwardly.

Lorelai blinks, apparently not expecting him to speak. "Yeah," she agrees.

"So, we're ok?" Rory checks.

"Well... I need some time to digest this," her mother says, for the first time looking awkwardly at the decidedly unmade bed, gestuiring vaguely with her hands. "But, yeah, we're ok."

Rory breathes out in relief, glancing over at Jess. "Good," she mumbles, finding herself unable to look away.

"Will be even better after coffee and something to eat," Lorelai declares loudly, breaking both Rory and Jess out of their stare.

"Breakfast sounds good," Rory agrees, looking down at the floor to hide her blush.

Lorelai claps her hands, excited at the prospect of food, and coffee. "Let's get ready and we can head down."

"Yeah," Rory says, glancing back at Jess. "Just give me a minute."

"Oh, sure," Lorelai agrees with a smile that Rory can see is clearly forced. But it's a smile and not a frown, so that's always something.

"I'll be right over," Rory continues. "And you know, this way you can have the bathroom first."

"Always a plus," Lorelai nods. "See you in a bit, sweets."

"You too mom."

Lorelai turns towards the door, but then hesitates. "So…nothing else happened?" she asks.

Rory rolls her eyes. "No, mom."

Lorelai nods. "Ok." Then she opens the door, and after one last look at the two teenagers in the room, she leaves.

"Sorry about that," Rory mumbles as soon as the door is closed.

Jess just nods, looking a bit awkward where he stands.

Rory smiles to herself and walks closer. "Thank you for tonight," she says, stopping right in front of him.

"You're welcome," he smirks, reaching out to lace his fingers with hers.

"I liked waking up next to you," she says, blushing at her own words.

Jess brings her closer by the hand, until she can feel his breath against her skin. "Me too."

Next thing she knows they're kissing and she bumps into the desk behind her back, gasping at the unexpectedness of it. Before long she finds herself lifted onto the wooden surface by strong arms at her waist and instinctively she grabs onto him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer. When she gasps this time it's for breath as she feels herself lose control of everything but the powerful feeling building inside of her. All she wants is to get closer, and she can't think straight. She doesn't even notice when she starts to push his shirt up, but that's when he suddenly pulls back.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, his voice a bit shaky and breath labored.

"Why'd you stop?" Rory breathes out, the sudden loss of contact almost painful.

"I shouldn't…" he starts, looking everywhere but at her.

"I'm here too," Rory protests, still trying to catch her breath.

Jess nods, closing his eyes for a moment. "Yes, but where this was going, and you never…" He trails off with sigh and finally meets her eyes again. "And I didn't think you'd want it to be like this."

Rory freezes as his words registers, and she realizes just how close she came to crossing that line. "Oh God, I can't believe I almost…" she exclaims, jumping off the desk and fixes her pajama shirt. "I never thought I'd…" She trails off as she starts pacing the small space between the desk and the bed.

"Rory, calm down," Jess implores. "Nothing happened, right?"

But Rory doesn't listen, just stops abruptly as another thought hits her. "I can't believe it. Mom was right. I almost slept with a guy I just met. And God, I don't even know your last name!"

"Rory! Stop!" Jess tries again, to no avail.

"It's just insane," Rory charges on, once more starting up her pacing of the room, completely ignoring Jess' tries to make her stop and listen to him. "I mean, seriously, I was with Dean for almost two years and the thought barely occurred to me, and now I've known you for, what, twelve hours, and I…"

Her rant stops abruptly when Jess steps into her path, taking a hold of her arms and forcing her to stand still. "Rory, calm down, ok?"

She blinks, completely unprepared to suddenly find him that close. "But… I…"

"And it's Mariano."

That effectively stops her mind from reeling out of control, but it takes her a moment to connect the dots. "Jess Mariano?" she finally asks, wanting to make sure, because she's feeling all kinds of confused right now.

He nods. "Yeah."

"I like that," she says after repeating it silently to herself a couple times, and then smiles.

He quirks an eyebrow at that, a smirk playing at his lips. "Huh."

"God, I'm sorry for freaking out like that," she says then, wincing at her own behavior. "You must think I'm crazy."

"Well…" he mutters, appearing to be considering it.

"On second thought, don't answer that," Rory hurriedly cuts in, knowing she's given him more than enough evidence to make that assumption.

"As you wish," he says with a smirk, and Rory suddenly finds herself blushing a deep red.

She knows there's nothing behind those words, no hidden meaning, no ulterior motive, but still, she can't stop her heart from beating faster, or the bright smile from taking over her whole face.

"I need the bathroom!" she exclaims loudly, turning away abruptly. He's still got a loose grip on her arms, and she almost yanks herself free and all but flees into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and leans against it, closing her eyes and breathing hard to get herself under control.

It takes her a few moments to get her breathing back to normal and then she sighs, shaking her head at herself and her own behavior. If he didn't think she was crazy before, he certainly does now. But, her excuse wasn't entirely made up, and after a few more breaths she focuses on the small room in front of her.

What she sees are clothes. Clothes she recognizes as the ones Jess was wearing in the park when she met him. They're hanging on the towel rack, obviously having been washed, and she sighs, once more reminded of their entirely different lives.

She quickly uses the bathroom and washes up as well as she can without taking a real shower, and when she's done she feels a lot calmer than before. With a final check in the mirror and a last steadying breath, she eventually emerges from the bathroom, ready to face Jess again, and possibly explain her own weird behavior.

She steps out, finding him sitting on the edge of the bed, and his eyes immediately come to land on her. There's a slightly wary look on his face, and she sighs.

"Sorry about that," she mumbles, looking down at her feet. "I don't know why I'm acting like this. I just…"

"It's ok," he says, voice somewhat guarded. "I get it. It's a weird situation."

"It is," she agrees, looking up again and gives him a trying smile. "I don't know what you're doing to me," she confesses then, feeling her cheeks turning a slight pink, but refuses to look away.

"I could say the same thing about you," he quietly agrees.

She smiles for real at that, taking comfort in knowing she's not alone to feel overwhelmed. "I really am sorry about freaking out before," she says, feeling the need to say it, now that she's calmed down. "It's just, well… you know I never… did it," she says awkwardly, not able to say the actual words, suddenly extremely self-conscious about it. "So, it's kind of a big deal."

"It's ok," he assures her with a small smile. "And it is a big deal. Or, at least it should be."

She frowns slightly at his last remark. Then asks before she can change her mind. "You have though, right?"

He nods, answering without reservation. "Yes."

"Oh," she blinks, not expecting any other answer, but still not entirely prepared for it. "I mean, I kinda figured, 'cause you seemed to know what you were doing before. And I…"

This time he shuts her up with a kiss, and she responds instantly, the world around them once more melting away until there's only the two of them and this moment. It's almost overwhelming, but now that she's experienced it, she can't imagine ever being without it.

"Maybe we should save that conversation for when we've known each other a little more than twelve hours," Jess suggests, his hand at her cheek, gently tilting her head up.

"Maybe," Rory agrees, smiling, her eyes still closed, but then suddenly snaps them open when what he said registers in her mind. "When we've…" she begins, but quickly starts over, not even trying to hold back on the hope in her voice. "Does that mean you're coming with us?"

"I…" He quickly closes his mouth again. "I'm thinking about it," he finally says, then sighs. "It just doesn't feel like something we can decide here. I mean, we can't just assume Luke'd want to…"

"We'll call him," Rory quickly cuts in, stopping the list of obstacles she just knows was coming. "But I can tell you right now, that if he knew where you were, and that you needed help in any way, he'd drop everything and come find you."

"Wow," Jess mutters. "You're making him out to be some kind of Superman."

"Yeah, I guess," Rory says after a moment's thought.

Jess takes a deep breath and then nods. "Ok, so we'll call him." Before he's even finished the sentence, Rory throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly and she hears him chuckle. "So, I guess that means you're happy?"

"I am," she nods against his shoulder. "This is the best birthday ever, or at least a close second to when mom made me that…" She trails off, eyes going wide and pulls back from Jess. "Mom! I have to go!"

She barely registers his surprised expression before she hurries over to the door, pulling her shoes on as she goes, almost tripping herself in her hurry. She's already been here way longer than she planned, and she's sure her mom is waiting anxiously, trying not to barge in again. When she finally has both shoes on she looks up and finds Jess standing right next to the door, and sighs.

"I'm sorry," she grimaces. "I didn't mean to just run off like that, I just really need to talk to mom. I need to tell her about tonight, and about Luke, and…"

Once more he cuts her off with a kiss, though this one is much shorter. "Ok."

"Ok?" she frowns.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" he checks, pulling her close by the waist. "I won't say I wouldn't rather have you stay here, but you told me about your mom, and I know you talk to her about basically everything, and though I can't say I'm completely cool with you discussing… us, I can't exactly force you to stay."

"Thank you," she smiles, leaning in for another short kiss. "We'll probably go down to eat some breakfast pretty soon, as soon as we've gone over the most important details and I've changed my clothes," she says, blushing slightly when she remembers the pajamas she's wearing.

"Ok," he nods.

"You're coming down too, right?" she checks.

"That was the plan," he confirms.

"Good," she nods. "So, I'll see you in… ten minutes or something."

"Or something," he agrees, and she can tell by his smirk that he doesn't quite believe her estimation.

"Hey," Rory protests. "I'll have you know us Gilmore girls can talk really fast if we have to, or anytime really, and I am really starting to get hungry, so there's a very good reason to talk even faster now."

A low rumble comes from her stomach then, the prefect punctuation to her statement, and still Jess keeps smirking. "I guess we'll have to wait and see," he says, and she can definitely hear the challenge in his tone.

"I guess we will," she agrees, grinning at him, and still she doesn't move.

"Shouldn't you be going?" he asks, eyebrow raised in question.

"I am," she confirms. "I'm just waiting for you to let me go."

"Huh."

That's all it takes for Rory to give up all pretenses and she launches forward, her lips crashing into his almost violently. He isn't late to respond, and soon they're all caught up in each other, his hands travelling up her back and hers buried deep in his hair. She never wants it to end, but when it eventually does, she's flushed and out of breath.

"I really should be going," she mumbles once she's able to speak properly.

"And I need a cold shower," Jess mutters.

Rory's eyes widen at his words and she turns an even darker shade of pink. "Oh."

"I don't mind," he smirks and then suddenly takes a step back. "Though it might be a good idea if you go now."

Rory is startled by the abrupt move, as well as the sudden lack of contact, but after a moment she nods. "Right. I'll see you again soon." And before she can change her mind she quickly turns around, opens the door and almost leaps out into the hallway.

Once there, she takes a deep breath, closing the door behind her, not missing Jess' laughter from inside that is cut short once the door's in the way. Yeah, he definitely has reason to believe she's crazy.