Author's Note. Ok, I wouldn't seriously make you wait a long time for this. I'm not that sadistic. So here it is. It's short, but I'm almost finished chapter five, so that will be up soon, too.

Disclaimer: Someday, I'm going to take over Amy S-P's job, and then all of this will be mine. But until that day, everything and everyone still belongs to her.

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"Dean – I…" Rory's voice trailed off. Dean looked like someone had just ripped his heart out and given it a love tap with a sledgehammer. The look of shock, disbelief, hurt, and anger on his face was her fault, Rory realized. Except, the anger was directed at the wrong person.

"I am going to kill that asshole with my bare hands." Dean wheeled around and started off in the direction of Luke's. Quickly, Rory grabbed his elbow and planted herself firmly on the sidewalk. This had little affect on the enraged teen, but when Lane did the same on his other side, he was forced to stop.

"Dean, listen to me. God, I didn't want you to find out-"

"Oh, you were going to keep this your little secret, were you? Who else knows? I mean, obviously Lane does. Who else? Have you told Miss Patty yet? The news probably would have reached me more quickly if you'd used the Stars Hollow grapevine."

Rory cut Dean off. "Dean! I was going to say, I didn't want you to find out this way. I should have told you this morning, but I just couldn't. Dean, look at me." He obviously didn't want to, but forced himself to comply. His jaw was clenched so tightly that a little muscle in his cheek was twitching. "Dean, I kissed Jess at Sookie's wedding. He just showed up, and I was surprised and happy to see him, and I kissed him…" Once again, Rory's words trickled off. This was evidently not what her boyfriend wanted to hear. He was looking more murderous by the minute. "Dean, if you want to kill anyone with your bare hands, it should be me. Everything is my fault."

"Oh, sticking up for Jess. How cute. Did you ask him to move back here?" The non-sequitur confused Rory, but she shook her head, indicating that she hadn't. An odd look crossed Dean's face. "Good. Then I can kill him for that."

"What?! Dean, don't do this!"

"Don't do what? Get angry because my girlfriend is making out with another guy? Why should I get mad about something as trivial as that?" Sudden realization crossed Dean's face. "That's why you kept checking the time at the reception! Just couldn't wait to be with him again. Well, fine. Go; run along to your new boyfriend. We're finished, Rory. Forever," he spat out. "I hope he breaks your heart." With that, he shook off the two girls and left them standing there. One girl looked shocked and uncomfortable, and the other had tears running down her face.

* * * * *

The rest of the day was just as fun and emotional. Once Rory had calmed down enough to have a conversation, she went to Luke's. Jess was wiping the counter when she entered, but when he looked up and saw her expression, he put down his rag. Rory walked up to the counter.

"May I have a cup of coffee, please? And, could we talk? Somewhere quiet?" Jess nodded.

"Caeser, take over for me, k? I have to go upstairs for a minute." At the affirmative grunt from the kitchen, Jess led Rory up the stairs to the apartment he lived in with Luke. Once there, he shut the door and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's wrong?"

Rory copied Jess's stance without realizing it. "I was talking with Lane about… kissing you… and she panicked and started dragging me through town trying to convince me to stay away from everyone until I leave for Washington. Anyway, it came up, and Dean was behind us, and he flipped out and dumped me and," she added, her eyes filling with tears, "soon everyone in town will know, and that means that I have to tell my Mom before she finds out from Miss Patty or Babette or, God forbid, Kirk; and Luke will have to find out from one of us, because I don't want mom to spring it on him – I want him to have some time to prepare a counter attack-" Jess stopped her verbal diarrhea by putting his finger over her lips.

"Rory. Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Luke, you talk to your mom, and everything will work out."

"No, Jess! My mom will crucify you and lock me in a box until I'm fifty! She'll probably be madder than Dean was! And once word gets out in town, well, we might just as well pack our bags and move, because no one will let this go. Ever!" Seeing how close Rory was to a complete breakdown, Jess moved forward and hugged her awkwardly. Closing her eyes, Rory sighed and hugged him back. "Jess."

"Rory."

"This is going to be so hard. Everyone here expects me to be perfect, but I'm not. And even though I love you, most of these people," she waved her hand in a circular motion, indicating the dwellers of Stars Hollow, "don't understand. Or love you."

"Hey, no big deal. I've been dealing with their lack of love the entire time I've lived here, so it won't bother me. You, on the other hand. If they do anything to hurt you…" His arms tightened protectively around her, and he dropped a kiss on her hair. She smiled into his shoulder. The next few days would be tough, but they'd make it.