A/N: Thanks for the latest reviews, folks :) I see some of you realised that Jess would be taking Marty's place for the movie marathon, huh? Well, the results may be different... or very much the same... read on to find out ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 6

Rory wasn't exactly sure why her hands were shaking. It seemed pretty stupid to be so nervous about a friend coming over to hang out. Watching movies, eating junk food, it was all pretty normal stuff that Rory did all the time, with her mom, with Paris and Doyle, with Lane. It was just that this would be the first time in a while that she had a boy in her dorm room.

"It's not a date or anything," she reminded herself crossly.

She had Marty come over before and that was fine. Of course, she also had Dean come over when she was seeing him again, and that had been... well, not date-like so much as having sex. Rory felt the blood rise in her cheeks and she shook her head to clear the thoughts that were coming to mind all in a rush.

"It's just Jess, and he is just a friend, and this is not weird," she told herself, apparently a little too loudly.

"You know, sometimes, I worry about your mental state," said Paris from behind her.

Rory spun around so fast she almost knocked herself over. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm just..."

"Freaking out because you invited a guy over to hang out?" her friend said for her. "Yeah, I got that part. For God's sake, Gilmore, you're twenty years old and not in a committed relationship. If you wanted to have five guys over to spend the afternoon recreating a Roman orgy, nobody cares."

"Paris!" she gasped in shock, though frankly, how she found anything Paris said to be in the least bit surprising anymore was quite a feat. "I thought you were going out."

"And I am." Paris nodded. "Not that it matters, right? I mean, you two are just 'hanging out'," she said smartly.

The smirk as well as the air quotes made Rory squirm.

"We are just hanging out," she insisted, arms folded across her chest in a defensive way, though she moved them the moment she noticed what she was doing. "God, I only met the guy a couple of weeks ago and he's Logan's friend."

"So, he's Huntzberger's friend, so what?" said Paris, shrugging her shoulders. "You know the charming ass isn't just seeing you, right?"

"Yes, I know that." Rory rolled her eyes. "We're being casual."

"And if that's true, then you have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about if you see other guys," Paris said slowly, as if trying to get across a complicated point to a person who was very slow. "What's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander," she said sagely. "Of course, this might all be a moot point if..."

She trailed off when a knocking came on the door. Rory checked her watch and winced on realising it was likely to be Jess arriving right on time. With Paris between her and the door, Rory had no choice but to stand by and watch her friend answer the knocking.

"Hey," she heard Jess say. "Uh, I was looking for Rory Gilmore."

"You found her," Paris replied, stepping aside. "Come on in. Don't worry, I was on my way out. My boyfriend's expecting me," she explained as Jess strolled into the dorm.

Rory felt the breath catch in her throat when she saw him. He really did look good, which she supposed she was allowed to notice. After all, what Paris said was true. She and Logan were just casual and if this were a date (which it wasn't) it couldn't exactly be construed as cheating or anything. That was probably a really good thing.

"So, I'll leave you two to... hang out," said Paris, looking past Jess and right at Rory. "Hey, Gilmore? It's not a moot point," she said with a smirk.

The next moment, she was gone, closing the door behind her, leaving Rory with her mouth wide open and words unsaid. Not that she had a clue what response she was really supposed to give to that, even though she knew exactly what Paris meant.

"Do I wanna know?" asked Jess curiously.

Rory made a point of closing her mouth and then shook her head in the negative.

"Paris is... well, she's my room-mate," she explained then, one hand pushing her hair nervously from her face. "Sometimes she's my friend. Other times I could happily strangle her."

"Huh." Jess nodded. "Yeah, I've known people like that."

They both stood staring at each other for a moment before Rory managed to get her bearings again. She moved towards the couch and gestured for Jess to join her. They sat down with a good few feet between them and Rory introduced Jess to the contents of the coffee table.

"I got all kinds of snacks. Several flavours of chips, some pretzels, popcorn. I figured something in there must be to your taste."

"Looks good," Jess agreed.

"Also, movie choices" said Rory then, dragging a large pile of DVDs forward. "There's a whole stack of stuff that I figured you would like, all based on our previous conversations. I promise not to be offended if there are some there that you hate."

Jess was pretty much forced to move closer if he wanted to properly read the titles and Rory tried not to react when his arm and leg were practically pressed against her own.

"You've got pretty good taste."

"Thank you." Rory cleared her throat. "Um, so, I figured we'll start the whole movie marathon thing with the snacks, and then when we get really hungry, we could order pizza. I know a really great place that delivers fast and doesn't overcharge too much. Sound good?"

"Sure," said Jess, nodding his head.

Rory realised his eyes were very firmly on her now and his gaze just wasn't shifting. She was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly spoke up again.

"I brought a couple of things too," he told her, unzipping his jacket and reaching inside, producing a DVD box and handing it to her. "I didn't know if you had it, though I'm assuming you've probably seen it already."

"A few times." Rory nodded, smiling at the sight of Almost Famous. "But not for a while. I could absolutely watch it again."

"Cool. I also brought you this," he said, suddenly flipping a CD into Rory's hands.

"The Shaggs?" she read aloud from the cover, brow creasing as she glanced at him.

"Trust me," said Jess easily, leaning back against the couch cushions.

"Okay," she agreed, placing the CD on the table. "So, first movie," she said then, opening up the case of Almost Famous and putting it into the DVD player.

Taking a handful of chips, she settled down to watch, highly aware of Jess moving in the moments that followed, getting himself some snacks and a can of soda too.

It was a little weird at first. Rory was pretty sure she spent at least the first half of the movie feeling self-conscious and overly aware of her friend on the other end of the couch. It was only when the bus scene hit, the room filling with the sound of Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer', that she caught herself singing along and realised she could hear at least humming from Jess too.

"What?" he said when she turned to look at him, barely holding in her laughter. "It's a classic song and a classic movie moment."

"I know," Rory agreed, feeling herself relax as she laughed and then got back to singing some more.

From there on out, things were better, more comfortable, just easier. The second half of the movie was full of commentary from both her and Jess. The bowl of popcorn was pulled onto the couch and balanced in the space between them, that was forced to shrink a little so they could both properly reach it.

The moment Almost Famous was done, Jess insisted Rory take next pick and she immediately pushed The Outsiders into the machine.

"Obviously, you've read it and seen it already."

"Actually, I never did get around to the movie, just the book," Jess admitted. "So, you made a good choice."

"When it comes to movies, I usually do," said Rory smartly. "Oh, and speaking of good choices, you wanna order pizza before we get really into this?"

"Sure," he agreed easily.

"I'm really a straight-up plain cheese girl myself," she told him, reaching for the phone, "but if you have preferences, I'm fairly flexible."

"How are you with pepperoni?"

"Not a huge fan, but we can just get it on half. Like I said, I order form this place a lot, there'll do whatever."

"Sounds good."

Rory smiled as she made her call and placed her order. A couple of minutes later, she was settling back into the couch cushions and putting on the movie. She was unaware that, as the opening titles played, Jess was looking at her rather than the screen.

He knew before he ever got to her dorm that this whole hanging out thing was a big mistake. They really were not friends, not because they hadn't known each other long enough, because somehow, that didn't seem to matter at all. They had so much in common, they just got along so well, as if they had known each other forever. The problem really wasn't how far apart they were, it was how close together.

That took on a very literal meaning now, since Jess was well-aware that, with very little effort, he could be touching Rory. The larger issue was just how tempted he was to just do it. To reach for her, to pull her even closer, to just kiss her already. It was so stupid after such a short acquaintance. Dumber still when he knew damn well she was interested in Logan. Of course, that didn't automatically mean she couldn't be interested elsewhere too. Logan certainly never seemed to believe in only one person at a time.

"You know, I always go into this movie swearing that I won't cry this time, but I never make it through," said Rory suddenly. "The acting is too good. Ralph Macchio? Oh my God, he's just amazing."

Jess meant to say something in reply, but he seemed to have missed the cast list already, and even though he was vaguely aware of who starred in the movie, he just wasn't taking in the words Rory had been saying. He was so distracted by her closeness, by how much closer he would ultimately like her to be, and how potentially wrong that was. Unless it wasn't?

"Rory..." he began to say, gaining her attention just as a knock came on the door.

"Oh. That must be the pizza," she said as she scrambled to her feet.

Jess closed her eyes when she was gone and forced a deep breath through his lungs. Saved by the bell, or at least by the knock, before he said something he really probably shouldn't have. Of course, there was every chance he would get stupid again as the evening wore on and then became the night. Rory was talking movie marathons, something that went on for hours yet. He wanted to be around her that long, it sounded great, but it might just drive him insane.

Jess wasn't sure whether to be glad or not about the interruption, especially when he realised it wasn't a pizza delivery guy at the door.

"Logan," Rory gasped with surprise.

Jess got up very quickly, unsure why he ought to feel nervous. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong. Not yet, anyway.

"Hey, Ace. I just rolled in and yours was the first door I felt like knocking on."

Jess rolled his eyes at that one, and at Rory asking Logan if he had fun on his trip.

"No, very dull. Let's not talk about it. We're all going to China Palace for food. Grab your coat, let's go."

"Oh, um. I can't," said Rory, glancing back at Jess. "I kind of have company," she admitted then, pulling the door further open so Logan could blatantly see who was there.

"Hey, man. Good trip?" asked Jess pointlessly, since he already heard Logan say it was dull.

"Jess. Well, probably the last guy I expected to see here," he said with a tight smile. "You two been hanging out a lot this past week?"

"No, not a lot," Rory said fast before Jess could even get his mouth open. "We ran into each other a couple of days ago and I invited Jess over to hang out. We were just watching movies."

"Right, right." Logan nodded, eyeing Jess with no small amount of suspicion, though the smile remained. "Well, if you can both tear yourself away, I'd love to take you out to eat. China Palace, Jess?"

"Sure, why not?" he said, shrugging his shoulder. "If Rory wants to," he added purposefully.

"Ever the chivalrous one." Logan smirked, his gaze shifting to Rory. "What do you say, Ace?"

She looked awkward. More than awkward, actually, as she looked from Logan to Jess and back again. It made Jess almost regret putting the decision on her, but only almost. There was a part of him that really wanted to hear her answer, a tiny little piece of him that thought maybe, just maybe, she would tell Logan no and say she wanted to stay in the dorm, alone with Jess for the rest of the night.

"I have a pizza I need to cancel," she said awkwardly, "but I guess I can do that on the way to the restaurant. I'll get my coat," she said, hurrying to her bedroom.

Jess tried not to sigh audibly. Stupid wishful thinking.

To Be Continued...