A/N: Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews! So I had some trouble ending this chapter, it was initially twice as long, but it didn't flow too well... So I cut it in half and now it's a bit shorter than the others, but I hope you still like it... Please keep reviewing! Your reviews really gave me a huge push with this chapter!

A/N2: Some of you mentioned that the curfew thing doesn't make sense. I'm aware of that so it'll come up in the next chapter! Also, I haven't forgotten about the Europe trip, I'm already planning how they'll get through that :)

Chapter 8

'Hey sleepy-head.' Rory smiled as Jess entered the kitchen at the Gilmore house. She was already in her school uniform and Jess greeted her with a kiss, but he stepped back quickly when he noticed Lorelai was also in the kitchen, sipping her coffee.

It was an unfamiliar feeling for Jess, to wake up somewhere and not feel like running away. This morning, he'd waited to feel some of the explosive bitterness he'd felt the first time at Luke's apartment. But he felt none of the rage and betrayal from that first morning nearly two years ago. Back then, he'd grunted a few words at his uncle while Luke had muttered something about milk and cereal. His throat had still been hurting from the yelling match he'd had with his mother the night before and he'd made himself sick by chain-smoking nearly a whole pack of cigarettes after. He couldn't keep the cereal down, never mind any real food. He'd felt caged in by the caricature of a town he'd been sent to, but also by the limited say he'd had in his abrupt dislocation. He thought he'd always feel that simmering tightness in his chest, a dull ache always threatening to erupt.

But now? He wasn't going to fool himself into thinking all his problems had magically disappeared. He still had the same shit to worry about, graduation, job at Walmart, worrying about money, figuring out what to do after graduation. But he knew instinctively that this time was different because of her; because Rory hadn't just asked him to stay, she'd fought to get him a second, or rather third, chance. It would be a lie to deny the real reason he wasn't protesting his stay at the Gilmores.

He couldn't pretend he wasn't hoping for a repeat of their night at the garage, or many more repeats, actually. Based on her reaction yesterday, he was sure she'd be into that again too. On her bed, or the couch, hell, even the kitchen counter… Jess caught himself ogling Rory's body and blinked. He quickly put on a bored face, shoved his hands into his pockets, and stepped back to lean against the counter. Thankfully, neither Rory nor Lorelai could see into Jess's thoughts, though Rory was kept looking in his direction as Lorelai talked.

Lorelai was eying a crumpled-up dress in front of her in disgust, making a face. 'So, I told him that plum dress was not miniature-sized when I brought it in. Did he think I had Kate Hudson's waist size? Not even that two-dimensional blondie could fit into it, you know.' She scoffed, 'Then, I told him I wore that dress last Friday night dinner and there's no way it magically shrunk four sizes in the span of two days.'

Rory gave Jess a side-glance, amused at his expression, before she agreed somberly, 'Kirk's not cut out for a dry-cleaning career path.'

'Uh, hello, it's Kirk. He's not cut out for any career path.'

'So what did he say when you demanded a refund? And please tell me my pink sweater was not in this unfortunate pile of laundry.' Rory said. She had her schoolbag open in front of her and was stuffing it full of books.

'Your sweater was in a different pile apparently, before Kirk's temperature sensor went hay-wire, so it survived this massacre. The rest of us, not so lucky. Miss Patty's blue dress is like a size-0 now and no longer even blue anymore.' Lorelai snorted.

'Poor Miss Patty.'

'So after my very colorful 15-minute hell-hath-no-fury speech, Kirk told me to submit an official signed request, with photos of the dress before and after the incident. Photos? Can you believe that? He said he'd bring it up at the dry-cleaners' association meeting.' Lorelai exhaled.

'There's a dry-cleaners' association? Jess, did you know there was a dry cleaners' association?' Rory quirked her eyebrows at Jess.

Jess was trying not to get sucked into the conversation, so he just shook his head in amusement, 'Shocker.'

It felt strange to be listening in on the mundane conversations of another household, so he tuned out of the laundry conversation for a while. He couldn't keep his eyes off Rory's as she talked, but he noticed she was barely glancing in his direction. She was back to her good-natured, soft-spoken self this morning. But he couldn't see her as just that girl anymore, not after he'd seen her fierce anger last night. And not after she'd said that she loved him. Well, not said it, just implied it, Jess reminded himself. And maybe she hadn't even meant it; it was what she needed to say to win the argument with Lorelai and all that matters is that she did.

Lorelai was still talking. 'God, this is worse than the living room carpet dry-cleaning mishap of 2001. We are so changing dry cleaners.' She looked down at her coffee.

'Right with you on that one.' Rory nodded.

'Does this coffee taste funny to you? You forget to change the filter?'

Rory didn't miss a beat, 'I think it's the milk. Did you check the mail yet?'

'You know, Grant's wife runs her own dry cleaner's. I used to just avoid it 'cause I always had the feeling she was one of the seven dwarves, the one that sneezes.'

It seemed to Jess like the conversation on dry-cleaning would never end. Would he ever get to talk to Rory?

Rory was nodding. 'Sneezy. Poor Sandra with all her allergies.'

'Her height doesn't help much either.'

'Still, our clothes are definitely safer with her than with Kirk. Now, did you get the mail?'

'No, we might have to face the reality that our mail will never arrive on time ever again.'

'RIP.'

'I don't think Kirk-the-mailman ever figured out the mail-sorting thing.'

'Another career path he's not cut out for.'

Lorelai checked the wall clock and stepped to the sink to wash her coffee mug. 'We'll probably get the mail at the next town meeting. Do you think I should bring up the dry-cleaning thing there?'

'Only if you think Taylor's gonna refund our dry-cleaning money.'

'Ugh, fair point.' Lorelai ran her hands over her face. 'Alright, well, I need to head to that inn meeting.'

'Don't forget your papers.' Rory handed her a thick folder from a nearby chair.

Lorelai paused at the corridor. 'Don't forget to buy some milk on your way back. Bye, hon!' Then, she turned to Jess for the first time as she left, 'Bye, Jessie.'

Jess rolled his eyes and nodded back indiscernibly at Lorelai, his eyes focused solely on Rory's.

Lorelai called back one more time. 'And keep your clothes on, both of you. Luke's coming over any minute to get Jess's car.'

After Lorelai left, Jess shifted his feet and busied himself with spinning the saltshaker on the counter around its axis. 'So… I thought you guys always go to Luke's in the morning.'

'Oh, yeah. Mom has an early meeting at the inn, so we're skipping that.' Rory explained, her eyes darting to the door. 'But you and I could go, if you want. I mean, if you're hungry.'

'Meeting, huh? This early?' Maybe Lorelai wasn't as stifling as other adults after all, giving them alone time like this, Jess thought. Either that or she just didn't want to spend any more time around him than necessary.

Rory shrugged sheepishly.

Jess stared at her intently. They hadn't gotten a chance to talk yet about what had happened last night. After Luke had left, he hadn't seen much of Rory. It was Lorelai who had helped him set up everything on the couch, helped drag his stuff into the living room and made sure to reinforce the 10 pm Jess/Rory curfew, by stepping out onto the stairs every couple of hours to check that he was still asleep alone on the sofa, not defiling her daughter. Jess could tell, because he'd slept very lightly himself, his thoughts buzzing too loudly against the silence of the house. Having his metal music blaring would've helped, though having Rory there would've been even better. He somehow imagined Lorelai wouldn't appreciate either option.

And so, Rory had been absent for the rest of the night. Maybe she was just giving him space, or maybe him being at the house was making her a bit nervous. Truth be told, it was making Jess a little nervous too. The magnetic pull he was feeling towards her was much stronger than he was comfortable with. He didn't know what to say to her as she walked closer and leaned against the counter right next to him, her shoulder grazing his softly.

She smoothed her hair away from her face and said, 'So… hi.'

'Hi,' He exhaled slowly. His hand came up behind her, snaking around her waist.

'You sleep okay?' She glanced at him.

He turned to look at her and nodded. 'Yeah, it was good.'

'Good.' He noticed her glance at his lips.

'The couch, it's comfortable.'

'Good.'

'Yeah.'

'So… you start planning your great escape yet?' Rory asked, her eyes darting away again.

'I think I'll wait before I start digging the escape tunnels just yet.'

Rory looked down, smoothing her plaid skirt. 'I know you didn't wanna stay in Stars Hollow.'

'The endless supply of coffee in here is really changing that.'

'I feel like I kind of forced this on you. I jumped on it a bit too hard.' She closed her eyes and chewed on her lip, looking embarrassed.

With Rory's eyes still closed, Jess had the perfect chance to close the distance between them. He pressed his lips softly to hers and turned her body to face him, his hands clutching at her waist. He inhaled the coffee taste of her lips and deepened the kiss before she could pull away. As their lips moved together in perfect unison, Rory's fingers found Jess's hair, weaving through the soft curls and pulling gently. It made him slide down lower against the counter and lean against it to support his weight. She responded by parting her lips, so he could trace her lips with his tongue. He continued to kiss her, their tongues dancing together, as she stepped in between his legs. His arms tightened around her waist and he heard her sigh in relief, pulling back to whisper against his lips. 'So I guess you're okay with the new living arrangement?'

He smiled crookedly, 'I can't complain.' He leaned in to kiss her, but she drew back once again.

Rory was still panting. 'You sure you're good? 'Cause I realized I never really asked what you wanted before I…'

He shook his head and silenced her by cupping her cheeks and kissing her as hard as he could. There was a lot he wanted to say to her, a lot he knew he owed her at that moment, but the words were frozen in his mind and he couldn't really materialize them into speech. Instead, he resorted to parting his lips against hers, sucking on her lower lip. She leaned her cheek against his palm and pressed herself against him. Soon, the were both panting wildly, but neither of them letting go.

Rory dropped one hand from his hair and ran it down his back. Her hand stopped at the waist of his jeans before it slipped under his sweater to massage his back, moving back upwards and lifting his sweater as her fingers worked. Her touch was making his skin turn into fire and he suddenly craved her fingers everywhere.

He pulled away from her lips to grab the edges of his sweater, lifting it over his head and then pulled her in against his bare chest, kissing her in the same wild frenzy again. He could feel her chest rising up and down against his own, and wished desperately for her body to mold against his. Her palms started creating fires again, as her fingers circled the muscles on his back. Once again, they were heavily panting in between their kisses. He was becoming very aware of Rory's hips rubbing him against his jeans. In fact, he was slowly losing awareness of much else. Had she ever rubbed against him like that? He reached his hands to grab her hips, bunching up her skirt and squeezing her towards him.

Suddenly, she sprang away from his grasp. Her arms reached out to put some distance between them, trying to control her heavy breaths. Just as he groaned, he heard it too. A car pulling up at the house, and Luke's voice ringing a moment later. 'Hey, Jess. You coming?'

Rory smiled apologetically and whispered. 'Good luck, Dodger.'

She pecked his lips, hastily grabbed her bag, the zipper still wide open, and paused again, 'See you tonight?'

Jess nodded weakly, watching Rory run out the door and muttered. 'Timing's brilliant, Uncle Luke.' He could only sink back against the counter and shake his head back to reality.