A/N: Thanks for the latest reviews. If you like what you're seeing in this story still, please do leave feedback, because it does help, especially when I'm struggling to feel inspired/motivated for one reason or another.

Now, for all those that were waiting to see if Rory & Jess slept together, you got that in the previous chapter. For all those that are still waiting for Jess & Luke to meet, buckle up, because here it comes! ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 14

"Well, no matter what else happens between us, I think we can agree that part works," said Jess as he fell back against the pillows beside Rory.

There wasn't a whole lot of room in her too-small bed, but that was okay. Right now, she only wanted to be close to him. What he said was perfectly true, that part really did work, but as far as Rory was concerned, all the parts of what they had worked very well. If she had the nerve, she would probably tell Jess she loved him in that moment, but she didn't quite have the courage, or the strength.

"Not to over-inflate your ego, but I think it's going to be a while before I get my breath back to normal here," she said, gasping a little.

She didn't have to look at Jess to know he was smirking as he put his arm around her and pulled her ever closer.

"Out of practice, Gilmore?" he teased her, kissing the top of her head.

"Honestly? Probably a little," she admitted, happy to hide her face in his chest so he wouldn't see the blush in her cheeks. "Like I told you before, this is not something I just randomly do."

She resisted the urge to ask if Jess was that way inclined. He had every right to be, of course. Somehow, it seemed to be different for guys, though Rory was never really sure why it should be, exactly. If Jess had slept with a lot of other women, then that was his business. They had been safe here today, she had no worries or concerns, and yet, she kind of wanted to know, all the same. It would be cool to think she was actually special.

"You want me to answer that question that you're trying not to directly ask?" he checked then, proving once again that he was too smart for his own good. "Rory, come on." He urged her to look at him and she did so. "I am not going to lie to you. I've had sex before, probably with a few more people than you have, but I can promise you one thing. I never felt about any of those other women the way I feel about you."

She couldn't answer him, could only throw herself further on top of his body and kiss him over and over and over. He was too perfect in that moment, too good at making her feel like the most precious and amazing person in the world. She loved him for that and for a hundred other things. Maybe at some point she would tell him, but for a while longer at least, words just seemed so unnecessary.

They had to get out of bed eventually. There was a chance that Lorelai would come back to the house, since she tended not to work the full day on a Sunday, Rory said. Besides, Jess was aware of the fact he had worked up a serious appetite this morning, and given the way he had seen Rory eat before now, he was sure she felt much the same.

"I guess the tour of the town will have to wait until later," she said as they got dressed and ready to leave. "This is a straight to Luke's situation."

"Sounds good to me," Jess had agreed easily.

They walked out of the house with their arms around each other, talking quietly about nothing important and stealing kisses every few steps. It would take a while to get anywhere, but Jess didn't care and Rory didn't seem to either. They ran into a few of her neighbours on the way, most of which eyed Jess with some level of curiosity. A couple of the older women actually looked as if they found him attractive which was equal parts flattering and disturbing - they had to be as old if not older than Liz!

"I'm glad that your step-father didn't really lose his job at the Huntzberger place," said Rory then. "I know I don't actually know him, but you've only said good things about him, and the one time we talked on the phone, he seemed so nice."

"Joe is the best," Jess agreed easily, "and the Huntzbergers would be idiots to fire him over this. I'll say something for Mitchum, he never once made a big deal about me coming to stay in his house and never treated me with anything but decency. As for Logan..."

"I'm so sorry that I broke up your friendship."

Rory looked so sad and guilty, Jess really wished he never brought up the Huntzberger heir at all. Of course, they were going to have to talk about him eventually, but maybe now wasn't the best time.

"Hey, it is not your fault," Jess assured her, kissing her cheek, just before she opened the door and led him by the hand into the diner. "And at some point, me and Logan might even fix things, but if not, I am never going to regret choosing you."

"I'll never regret choosing you either." Rory smiled at him then.

"Works out well."

"I think so."

One more quick kiss and then they both sat down on either side of a table for two in the corner of the diner. Jess had his back to the counter and would've had no idea anyone was approaching if Rory hadn't started grinning at the spot over his shoulder.

"Hey, Luke," she said happily.

"Hi, Rory. How are things? How's Yale?"

"Things are good, including Yale," she told him, still smiling. "Luke, I would like you to meet someone. This is Jess Mariano. Jess, Luke Danes."

Rory's introduction was flawless by Miss Manners standards, Jess had no doubt, but the ringing in his ears meant he heard nothing that came after that. His heart thudded wildly in his chest and yet his blood ran cold as he turned to look up and realised the truth of the situation was exactly as he suspected. Yes, Rory really had just said Luke's last name was Danes. Yes, he could see the family resemblance between this guy and Liz. Yes, Luke clearly also knew who Jess was too.

Damn.

"Um, are you guys okay?" asked Rory then.

One quick glance in her direction proved to Jess that she had absolutely no idea what she had done. This wasn't some plan, some elaborate ruse to get two guys who hadn't seen each other in more than ten years into the same room at the same time. Poor Rory, she just thought she was introducing the new boyfriend to the old friend and father figure. She couldn't have had any clue that they were nephew and uncle.

"Jess..." Luke began to say.

"It's been a while," he cut in fast, looking back up at his uncle.

"It really has." Luke nodded. "Wow, look at you. All grown up."

"That'll happen in a decade." Jess nodded just the same.

"I'm sorry, hold on a second," said Rory then. "You two know each other?"

It was Luke who fielded that particular question, though Jess would have done it if he hadn't. He had nothing to hide here. Some shock to work through, sure, but that was about all.

"Jess is my sister Liz's kid," he said, shifting his gaze to Rory. "Wait, you didn't know this?"

"I really didn't." She shook her head firmly. "I mean, Jess mentioned his mom's name was Liz, but I never thought... What are the odds of this?"

"I'd say pretty big," Jess considered. "Uh, no offence, but could we maybe get out of here?" he asked her then, already on his feet to go.

"Jess, don't just run out," Luke urged him. "Come on, stay, eat. We could even-"

"We could even what?" he asked crossly, unsure where all the anger was coming from exactly, but sure that it was present and making him want to bolt before he said or did something he regretted. "I didn't come to this place for a family reunion, Uncle Luke," he said pointedly. "I came here for Rory, who obviously didn't know anything about our family history. Frankly, I could do without this crap after everything else."

With that, he turned around and left the diner, hoping that, just once more, he could trust in Rory to follow him. Of course, she did just that, meeting him about a block down the street, but by the time she reached his side, Jess was finding it oddly difficult to breathe.

"Hey," she said, her hand on his back as he bent over some and tried to take a deep breath. "Are you okay?" she checked. "Sorry, stupid question. That was obviously a huge shock. I am so sorry, Jess. I swear, I had no idea-"

"How could you have?" he asked her, shaking his head as he finally righted himself, feeling a little better.

Still, he leaned his back against the wall a while, let his mind process and his body recover. It had been a hell of a last twenty-four hours, he had to admit. The party, the fight with Logan, getting kicked out of the house, staying over at Yale, trying to find some other place to stay, making love with Rory, and then showing up at her favourite eatery, only to find it was run by his long-lost uncle. Jess wasn't sure he could take much more of this.

"So, I'm guessing you and Luke aren't close," said Rory with a sigh as she came to stand in front of him. "He's never really mentioned a nephew."

"You've known him, what? Ten years?"

"Um, around nine," Rory considered.

"Yeah, well, it was around then that he stopped coming to visit," Jess explained. "Used to be semi-regular when I was a little kid in New York, and then, when Liz hooked up with Joe and we were living in Hartford, it was even more often. We never came here, not that I remember anyway, he always came to us. It's weird, I don't even remember him mentioning Stars Hollow, and that's the kind of place name you would remember, right? Anyway, It was nice, you know, having another guy around that actually gave a damn. Most of Lizzie's husbands and boyfriends and conquests would rather not have a kid hanging around. Except for Joe, obviously."

"What changed?" asked Rory, shaking her head. "I mean, Luke's been so good to me, ever since we've known him. He's been the closest thing I have to a dad, since my real one hasn't exactly been around much. I can't imagine him just abandoning his actual family."

She had a point, Jess supposed. He couldn't really accuse Luke of leaving without a trace for no good reason. Liz had driven him crazy and then some. After Joe, the guy she picked next was a real loser of the dangerous and nasty variety. They went back to New York, but Jess couldn't handle it. He had left for a while, come back and stayed with Joe to keep out of the firing line. He got back home in time to find that things were worse than ever before, and that Uncle Luke had come to the rescue one last time.

That was the point when he said, very definitely, that it was the last time. He was done cleaning up messes for Liz, done watching her throw her life away, because it hurt too much. Jess remembered every word of that speech, even though he had been so sure at the time that Luke didn't really mean it, that he would be back around again next time Liz got herself in too big of a jam. He was wrong. Luke had never been seen again.

"It's not like I can really blame him," he said after a while, wondering when his own voice got so soft. "Liz is a lot to handle. Just as soon as I could make it on my own, I got out. God knows what she's doing now. I heard something a while back about a potential husband number five," he said, rolling his eyes, then running his hand over his face. "Families just suck sometimes."

"Sometimes." Rory nodded like she understood.

Maybe she did. Sure, she was close to her mom, and she had Luke, plus she mentioned some grandparents that seemed like a feature, but Jess also recalled she had got into a pretty serious fight with the grandmother not so long ago. Also, she just this second got done mentioning her absent father. Seemed as if nobody had the perfect set-up, not even a girl like Rory. At least Jess always had Joe, and for a while at least, Luke.

"You wanna go back to the house, maybe call for a pizza or something?" she offered. "I mean, unless you're not hungry anymore. I'm so sorry, again, about the shock, and about last night, and-"

"Rory," he cut her off before she could hit full ramble mode and really upset herself. "Please, don't," he urged her, his hand at her cheek, guiding her closer. "None of this is your fault, okay? I promise, it's not."

"But if you never met me..." she began, lip wobbling just a little.

"Then I'd be worse off," he assured her. "Okay?" he said again, meeting her gaze and holding it until finally she nodded.

"Okay," she confirmed, finding him a half-smile.

"Good," he told her, pulling her in for a brief kiss. "Now, let's go eat," he suggested, putting his arm around her shoulders as they set off for the house, much the same way as they'd left it.

Truth be told, Jess wasn't exactly feeling hungry, and naturally, the thought did occur to him that his life might be somewhat less complicated right now if he hadn't met Rory Gilmore a couple of months ago. Still, what he told her was true. He had no regrets and he would definitely be worse off without her. Crazy as he knew it was, he loved her already and didn't know how he would get along without her. Man, he was so completely screwed, and yet, given the chance, he honestly wouldn't change a thing.

To Be Continued...