Rory's point of view:

Rory stood down by the creek, taking a moment to think about what it would be like to spend the summer in Washington DC with Paris. She turned around to find Jess standing before her. "What are you doing here?" she was shocked to realize that she had said that out loud when he replied "Hello to you too."

She took a deep breath, trying to recover from the loss of control that little mechanism in her brain that kept her from saying every little thing she thought. And then a terrible thought crossed her mind. The only reason he could possibly be back is that there was an emergency of some kind. "Is everything okay?"

"You look nice." That wasn't quite the response she was looking for, but at least it signaled that nothing was wrong.

"Thank you," she responded shyly, looking at the ground. But then she came back to reality. If there was no emergency, why was Jess back? "What are you doing here?" she asked again.

"I moved back."

"What?"

"I moved back." About a million different thoughts crossed her mind all at once. Why had Luke let Jess move back? What would her mom think? What would Dean think? And then, the ultimate question: why did Jess want to move back? He hated Star's Hollow. Why did he give up New York for this? All Jess had here was his relationship with Luke and his friendship with Rory. Jess wouldn't have damned himself to an eternity in Star's Hollow for Luke, which left Rory. And that's when she knew. He moved back for her.

At this point, having lost control of that little mechanism that kept her from saying every little thing she thought wasn't quite the problem-it was that little mechanism that kept her from doing every little thing she wanted that she needed help with. She was kissing Jess. Once she realized what she had done, Rory quickly regained control and pulled away. "Oh my God. Oh my God," is all she could spit out.

"Rory." but she didn't want to know how he was going to finish that sentence. "Don't say a word!"

"Okay."

"I have to go," and with that she turned around to leave. But, in an effort to keep things as natural as possible, turned back to face Jess and said "Welcome home."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jess' point of view:

Jess walked alongside the creak, hoping not to be noticed by anyone. Anyone but Rory of course. And then he saw her. God, she was beautiful. She turned around, a shocked look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Not exactly the response he was hoping for, but he'd recover.

"Hello to you too."

He could see the wheels turning in her mind; she was trying to figure out why he was here. And then a scared look crossed her face. "Is everything okay?" But he wasn't listening. He was concentrating on how beautiful she looked in that blue dress.

"You look nice."

"Thank you," she replied. But she wasn't going to let the fact that he had suddenly reappeared go. "What are you doing here?"

"I moved back."

"What?"

"I moved back."

"But.why?" Well, let's see, he thought, because I had to see you again, because I love you. But there was no way he was going to tell her any of that. She had a boyfriend and there was no way he was going to pour his heart out to her only to have her say "I love Dean." So he'd give her as little information as possible.

"Just.wanted to."

Before he knew it, Rory's lips were on his. She had kissed him so suddenly that she practically knocked him over. By the time he realized what was happening and started to put his arm around her, she had pulled away.

"Oh my God. Oh my God." Again, not quite the reaction he was looking for.

"Rory."but she cut him off with "Don't say a word."

"Okay." The truth was, he was kind of relieved she cut him off. He had no idea how he was going to finish that sentence. He wasn't exactly very good at telling people how he felt, and he had never felt anything like he did for Rory.

"I have to go," she said. But before she left, she added, "welcome home."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Dean's point of view:

Where was she? Where was Rory? He'd been waiting around for twenty minutes and she still hadn't come back. Dean surveyed the scene again. She wasn't at the top of the stairs where the processional would start. She wasn't with her mom. She wasn't even with her dad. Where was she?

And then he spotted her. She was standing down by the river, wandering around aimlessly. Dean hated it when she was more than thirty feet away from him. He hated it even more since that Jess guy had shown up. It wasn't that he didn't trust Rory; he didn't trust Jess. Thank goodness he was gone forever.

Just as Dean was about to walk down the hill to Rory, the guy he'd been thinking about showed up. Jess. What was he doing here? He was supposed to have been outcast from Star's Hollow, never to return. But he was back. And he was talking to Rory. What did Rory see in this guy? Well of course she didn't see anything in him in that way, but why was she even friends with him? Dean would just have to walk down there, make a tough face at Jess, and pull Rory away.

But then it happened. It took only an instant, but Dean knew exactly what happened. Rory and Jess kissed. But it wasn't just any kiss. Rory had initiated it. Rory. The only person in that pair he thought he could trust had ripped his heart out and stomped all over it. Dean was about to run down there, but just as quickly as she had kissed Jess, Rory ran away, out of Dean's sight. He was going to have to have a serious talking to with her after the reception.

Next time: Not that Dean knows, Rory has nothing to hide and she and Jess can be together, right? Things aren't going to be that easy when the three find themselves together at the reception.