A/N: So, Jess is headed for Stars Hollow and everybody seems quite excited about that, so that's very cool. Thanks for the continued support by way of reviews, folks :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

"Oh, babe, I would love to help you out, but I just can't."

Rory was frankly amazed when her mom just up and let her down like that. For the life of her, she just couldn't understand why Lorelai would be against having Jess stay at the inn. Okay, so she was also asking for her to give him the friends and family rate, and when the business was so new and everything, that was probably a little audacious, but Rory still expected something more than a flat-out no.

"Mom, please," she urged her, glancing over at Jess standing out in the lobby while she pleaded with her mother for help on his behalf. "He has nowhere else to go, and it wouldn't be for long, and yes, he would need a deal on the room, but I'm sure-"

"Honey, it's not that I don't want to help," Lorelai cut in, her hands on Rory's arms. "You know I would do anything for you, including help out the latest flame who, by the way, I much prefer to that Huntzberger kid you could've chosen instead," she said definitely. "Apparently he more than showed his true colours last night."

"And how." Rory rolled her eyes. "I guess some of that was my fault for not making a definite decision between the guys before now."

"Oh, babe, come on," said Lorelai with a look. "I thought you said Logan was the one who kept on insisting you two were just casual, because I know for sure that was not an idea you came up with by yourself."

"That's true." Rory sighed. "I mean, I did say I could do casual if that was what he wanted, but only because I knew it was the only way."

"But I'm guessing Jess is not casual guy?"

"He doesn't seem to be," said Rory, smiling like a loon and unable to help it as she glanced out into the lobby one more time. "We kind of haven't labelled anything yet, not least because I don't know how long he's going to be around. I was hoping a while longer yet, but with Logan kicking him out of the house?"

Lorelai sighed. "And like I said, I would love to give Jess a room here, I seriously would, but we are just booked solid. Left to right, floor to ceiling," she explained, hands making gestures to prove the point in full.

"Seriously? No room at the inn?"

"Not even a stable out back for if the mother of the Lord shows up."

Rory really hadn't been expecting that to be the problem.

"Wow. Well, that's great, you know, for you and for Sookie."

"It is," Lorelai agreed, "but it kinda sucks for your guy."

"I told you, he's not exactly 'my guy'," Rory insisted, even as her mom smirked terribly in her general direction.

"You're sure about that?" she checked, the two of them turning as one to look at Jess.

He was, in that particular moment, staring right back at them. It could be no surprise to him that they were talking about him, but he must have realised it was a little less about the getting of a room and more personal, as Rory noticed he seemed suddenly more awkward than before. Then he was approaching them, talking before Rory had a chance to jump in herself.

"Look, I really don't wanna make an awkward situation here," he said definitely, "so I'll just go find some other place to stay."

"Jess, no, please" Rory urged him, grabbing onto his sleeve, really hating how pathetic she knew she must sound, but somehow, unable to help herself.

"Rory..."

"Hey, it's not that I don't want you here, Jess," Lorelai insisted, when he seemed fit to argue. "I swear, if I had a room, it'd be yours, no questions asked, but I just don't have one available right now," she explained. "We're kind of a success story here at the Dragonfly. Booked solid for the next two weeks at least."

"Congratulations," Jess told her without pause.

"Thanks, but unfortunately, it means no room for you, and that part sucks," she said, looking genuinely sad about it. "Of course, if you're staying home tonight, babe," she said, turning to Rory then, "I have no problem with Jess staying too, you know, on the couch. Oh, unless... well, um, unless you two are...?" she said, making vague gestures between them.

Rory felt her face turn scarlet and stammered horribly when she tried to speak. Thankfully, Jess handled it way better than she did.

"The couch is good, thanks," he told Lorelai with his most charming smile.

"Cool," she said, smiling back at him. "I'm just really sorry that there's no room here for you."

Since the phone was ringing in reception and Michel was otherwise engaged, it was clear she had to go then. Rory watched her mom hurry away and, thankfully, felt some of her embarrassment fade too. The last thing this crappy day needed was an awkward discussion about sex.

"Well, that could've gone better," Jess considered, turning to face her, "but it also could've gone worse. At least your mom seems to like me."

"What's not to like?" Rory shrugged easily, glad to see Jess smile and happily receiving a quick kiss on the lips.

"So," he said then, "you have any friends or neighbours with a spare room or something?"

Rory made a face as she considered it. There was Lane and the band, but it might be awkward given how tight for space they were already. Babette and Maury had a spare room, but that would mean explaining to her neighbours exactly who Jess was and Rory wasn't sure she could without making an idiot of herself. Jess must've realised she was struggling for an answer, given what he said next.

"Come on, we'll figure something out," he told her, throwing an arm around her shoulders and kissing her cheek as they headed for the exit.

Rory wasn't thrilled that they didn't have a plan, but at least Jess wasn't talking about giving up and leaving town immediately. That wasn't nothing.

"At least Mom said you could stay at our house tonight," she considered as they headed for her car, "which means if we can't come up with a place for you today, there's always tomorrow to try again."

"I guess so." Jess nodded his agreement.

"Come on, we'll go back to the house, put your stuff there all safe, then I can give you the tour of the Hollow and maybe we can grab lunch or something."

"At the famous Luke's diner?"

"Maybe." Rory smiled, feeling weirdly thrilled that he had listened to her enough to recall that little detail from her life.

"Sure, let's go," said Jess, as they both got into her car to leave.

His eyes lingered a moment on the inn when Rory drove away. It would've been easier, staying in a hotel room like a paying guest, even if the actual paying part wouldn't have thrilled him. Lorelai said she would've given him a good deal. At least Jess wouldn't have had the awkwardness that was bound to be present when he stayed over at the Gilmore house tonight. His undefined-girlfriend in one room, her mother in the other, and him on the couch. Yeah, that wasn't going to be weird at all.

Jess knew there was one real simple solution to all this. Take his stuff, climb on the next bus that was headed out of town, and just go. Sure, he had no specific place to head to, but that never stopped him before. He could figure it out, Jess always did. It wasn't so hard when there was only himself to think of. The difference now was, it wasn't just about him anymore.

Looking across at Rory, Jess felt his heart constrict in his chest at the very idea of telling her he was leaving. It would hurt her, he knew that from when he even suggested the possibility of his going this morning, but it would also hurt him too.

God only knew how it had happened, it never had before, but suddenly Jess found himself needing to be wherever another person was, wherever Rory was, no matter how tough things got. He had already screwed up things with Logan, a friend from more than a decade before, he might even have lost Joe his job, and yet, Jess couldn't regret getting close to Rory. He was pretty sure he was in love with her, as nutty as that seemed. Jess just couldn't come up with any other words to describe what she made him feel.

"What?" she asked, suddenly bringing him back to reality with her question.

The car had stopped and he hadn't even noticed, and there before them was the Gilmore house, looking much as it had a couple of months ago when he first saw it.

"Nothing," he said, realising Rory was still staring at him, expecting some kind of response.

"You're thinking about nothing?" she checked, disbelief written all over her face.

"Yep." Jess nodded once.

Rory waited a beat or two, presumably for a further explanation that never came. Then she rolled her eyes.

"I could not believe you less," she declared, even as she moved to get out of the car. "Come on," she urged him, until finally Jess followed her.

They grabbed his things from the trunk and then Rory lead the way inside.

"So, this is the house... which I'm now remembering that you've seen before, at least, most of it anyway," she said as they ventured inside. "Um, we can just put your stuff under here for now," she suggested, shoving the bags she had been carrying under a shelf in the hallway and encouraging Jess to follow suit with the boxes he had brought himself. "It'll be safe and nobody will trip on it."

When everything was safely stashed, Jess shoved his hands in his pockets and followed Rory further into the house.

"This is the living room and the kitchen, which you're familiar with, and the bathroom is upstairs, on the right, you know, across from my mom's room, where you took the TV that day," she told him, gesturing in all necessary directions as they walked.

"I remember." Jess nodded.

Rory turned from him to face the last door in the house, feeling strange as she put her hand to the knob and pushed.

"Um, this would be my room," she said, leading the way inside, wondering why she felt like it was such a big deal all of a sudden. "There's not much in it, obviously, since most of my stuff is at Yale."

It felt weird, having Jess in her room. He had been in her dorm at Yale, but not her actual bedroom, and this was just strange. Rory's childhood room and Jess was standing in the middle of it. She felt suddenly very unsure of herself, but relaxed almost instantly when he made no comments about her decor or the half dozen plushies spread around the place. Instead, he went straight for the bookshelf, running his finger along the spines of the volumes arranged there.

"You left so many behind," he said of their number. "I didn't expect that."

"Oh, this is just a fraction of the collection," Rory told him fast, ducking down to open a drawer and prove her point, "and I switch out what's here and what's at Yale a lot."

"You really are hooked on phonics," Jess noted, nodding appraisingly.

"I don't think I'm the only one, given the boxes you brought in here." Rory smiled. "They seemed a little heavy for clothes."

"I try to travel light, but there are some things a guy just can't do without."

Jess' eyes had returned to the shelf, taking in all the titles there. Rory closed the drawer beneath and stood up, finding herself rather more in his personal space than she had intended to be when he suddenly turned to look at her. Any closer and he would've been completely out of focus.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied in kind.

Rory really wasn't sure who moved first that time, but the kissing that ensued was certainly not a problem in any way. Thankfully, Jess didn't even seem to be having any further lip bleeding problems, which was a bonus.

With their arms wrapped around each other and passion completely ignited, things heated up pretty fast. Rory was so entirely lost in the moment, she actually forgot where she was, until suddenly she realised she was laying back on her bed and Jess was leaning over her. That was a significant position.

"Jess..." she gasped, pulling away with a purpose.

Something about saying his name seemed to break the spell they had both got caught up in. He blinked at her as if momentarily confused and then recognition dawned in his eyes.

"Sorry," he said, immediately retracting. "I wasn't... When you brought me in here, it was to show me books, right?"

"Yes." Rory nodded, even as a voice way in the back of her mind called her a liar. "I mean, I did want to show you the books, and the room, in general," she said, making a random swirling gesture with her hand.

Jess nodded his head, hands firmly clasped together, as his eyes travelled around all four walls.

"It's a good room."

"I've always liked it," said Rory, doing much the same but wondering why.

Here she was, a grown woman of twenty, sitting next to a guy that she really, really liked, who obviously liked her back in much the same way. The house was empty and was likely to be that way for at least a few hours yet. They were two consenting adults who wanted something to happen here, so what in the world was holding her back?

Without given it one more moment's consideration, Rory's hands came up to Jess' face, guiding him back towards her so she could kiss him again. This time, when they started to get caught up in each other, it was Jess that seemed willing to stop first, but Rory made it plain that wasn't what she wanted. He didn't seem to need telling twice.

Horizontal on the bed by now, it would've been so easy just to let it happen. It seemed very likely it was going to when they started unbuttoning each other's shirts, but even then, there was a niggling feeling inside of Rory. She had to say something, she couldn't help herself, even if Jess did think she was crazy for wanting to talk in the middle of a moment like this.

"Jess?" she said, voice coming out rather more breathy than she intended, as his lips attacked a spot on her neck that made her brain scramble. "I... I need you to know that I don't do this kind of thing lightly."

She worried a little when he pulled back to meet her eyes, at least until she realised he was smirking at her.

"Bring guys you haven't known all that long to see your library?"

"Jess, I'm being serious!" she told him, smacking his shoulder, but laughing just the same.

She had been serious, but he was making it kind of impossible.

"I know," he told her then, seemingly finding a little serious himself for the moment. "I get it, Rory, you're... not that kind of girl," he said diplomatically, which Rory appreciated.

"Not really," she confirmed "I mean, I never... with Logan," she said awkwardly.

It was the last name she wanted to bring up and could see Jess felt the same when he glanced away.

"I figured," he said anyway, "and I'm glad," he admitted, his gaze returning to her own. "I know I have no right to be, but I am."

"Me too." Rory smiled, her hand at his cheek. "And you should also know that I have, you know, before. I mean, I've had boyfriends. Only two, but it's not like I don't know what I'm doing or-"

It was as far as she got before Jess dived back in to kiss her long and hard on the mouth. When he finally let her breathe, Rory wondered if she cared to. For as long as he was making her feel that way, she could probably go without oxygen and not mind at all.

"You really don't have to give me a play-by-play or a list or anything," he told her softly.

"Oh, no, I know, and I'm not asking you for that either," she confirmed, "I just... I want to be clear. I want you to understand that... that this means something to me," she explained, hoping she was making herself plain. "You mean something to me, Jess."

This was the part where - rightly or wrongly - she half expected a bad reaction. She last thing she wanted was for him to laugh, or worse, bolt for the door, but Rory was braced for it, just in case. It was a great relief when neither happened.

"Rory, I don't know what this thing is between us," Jess told her straight. "I did not see it coming, I know that much, but it's definitely something. Sappy as this is gonna sound, you're like nobody I ever met before," he told her with a soft smile, "and I am not just giving you a line so that something happens here."

"I know that. I trust you, Jess," she promised him. "Maybe that makes me crazy, I don't know, but I do."

It probably was foolish to have so much faith in someone she had known such a short time, but then Rory supposed Jess was doing just the same. He stayed with her last night, was putting his life on hold to hang around Connecticut for however long, entirely for her benefit. If not for their relationship, he would still be friends with Logan, or if not, he would've left last night and maybe never come back.

"If you're crazy then that makes two of us," he told Rory, pushing her hair back from her face.

"It might be fun to go crazy together," she suggested, sure her meaning must be more than clear as she pulled him closer.

"It gets my vote," Jess agreed, kissing her hungrily.

Rory found she had nothing more to say after that.

To Be Continued...