First I want to thank everybody for the reviews! I got way more than I expected! As for your suggestions, they were all so different that I actually wrote three different versions of this chapter before I finally decided to go with this one, so I hope you like it. I hope Jess seems in character, because there's one part that is sort of 'out there' for him, but meh. It was cute so I had to do it. That is what this story is all about. Cuteness! Weeeee!
On with the fic…
"You have to go," Rory said, panic creeping into her voice.
Jess just smirked, and Rory felt her panic increasing. He wasn't going to make this easy. She ran to her window and looked outside. Dean was less than a block away.
"I mean it. You have to leave. Now."
Jess sighed and snuggled deeper into the couch cushions.
"Who was on the phone?"
Rory sighed angrily.
"You know who it was, and you have to leave. You can go out the side door."
"Oh wait, my favorite song just came on!" Jess said, feigning interest.
"'Mony Mony' is not your favorite song."
"How do you know I don't harbor a deep adoration for Billy Idol?"
"Maybe you do. So go to him, build happy lives together. I'm sure he loves you too," Rory said distractedly, wringing her hands.
Jess watched her anxiety grow, and spoke up.
"Don't worry about it Rory. I mean, he 'defiantly' loves you, right? I'm sure he won't mind that I'm here."
"Jess—"
"I don't see what the problem is. I was just helping you with your chores."
"Yeah, but when Dean asked if he could help me, I told him no," she said, walking over to him.
"Really? Why was that?" Jess said, a bit more interested now.
"Because I wanted to have the house to myself for once," Rory said, grabbing Jess's hands and starting to pull him up off the couch.
Jess allowed Rory to pull him up and he stood, still gripping her hands.
"So why did you let me help?"
"Well you just… I don't know you were—"
"Irresistible?" Jess said, sitting back down on the couch and pulling Rory into his lap. "I'm very persuasive, aren't I?" he said, mouth close to her ear.
Rory squirmed in his lap and jumped off of him, ignoring the chills that ran down her spine.
"Jess, quit fooling around. You have to go. Please, I'm asking you as a friend, just leave."
Her voice had risen to a high, shaky tone and her eyes were serious. She looked frustrated enough to cry if he didn't cooperate soon. Jess sighed again and got up. He hated Dean for doing this to her. For making her this afraid. He went to the door, grabbed his shoes, and started to slip them on.
"Oh God!" Rory said suddenly.
"What?" Jess asked.
"The food," Rory answered, gesturing towards the boxes of food strewn about the living room. "He'll know someone was here. Help me hide it."
Jess raised an eyebrow. "Rory, this is insane."
"Just help me, please," Rory said, scooping up some of the boxes and carrying them into the kitchen.
Jess sighed. He looked after her in frustration and followed her, bringing the remainder of the food with him. He saw Rory shoving the boxes into the refrigerator and did the same. Rory breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," she said, looking up at him with a small smile. "Um… he'll be here any second so…"
Jess held up his hand, "I'm gone. Just let me get my coat."
He walked back to the living room where his coat was hung over the edge of the couch.
"Hello? Anybody home?" a voice called from the front door.
Rory whipped around to look at the door and inhaled sharply.
"He's here. Just hide somewhere," she said in a hushed voice.
"What?" Jess said in disbelief.
"Shhh, just go and hide. Please, if he finds you here it's just going to complicate things so much."
Jess looked at Rory and let out a disgusted sigh.
"Fine."
Rory watched him duck behind the couch and cover himself with some random pieces of laundry. She took a deep breath and walked over to the door where Dean was poking his head in.
"Dean," Rory said, forcing herself to smile.
"Hey," he asked, stepping inside. "Why are you out of breath?"
"Oh… I was changing," she lied.
Dean shook his head. "I told you not to worry about it. Were you wearing the puppy dog pajamas?"
Rory smiled. "I was in fact."
"Ah, my personal favorites, although the frogs are a close second."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said, smile growing.
Dean smiled down at her and pulled her in for a quick kiss. For a moment she closed her eyes and tried to forget that Jess was in the next room, but a second later Dean had pulled away and was walking in to the living room. Rory's eyes widened.
"Dean!"
"What?" he asked, turning around to give her a quizzical look.
"Um… it's so messy in there. Let's talk in the kitchen."
"I don't care about the mess."
"I know but—"
"Besides, I brought ice cream and I thought we could veg on the couch for a little bit."
Rory's eyes flitted to the couch and she said Jess poke his head out, glaring at her. Dean was oblivious to the exchange.
"Dean, I'd really rather go in the kitchen."
Dean laughed. "Rory, I swear I don't care about the mess."
He sat down on the couch and Rory reluctantly followed him. He smiled at her and gently put his hand on her neck, bringing her in for another kiss. Rory froze. She pulled away.
"Rory, what's wrong with you?" Dean asked, confused.
"Nothing, I just…" she looked at Dean and realized that soon he was going to start suspecting something.
"It's nothing, never mind. I thought I heard the washing machine beep."
She laughed nervously and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned in and gave him a deep kiss, and he responded by tangling his fingers in her hair and kissing her back with equal passion.
Jess closed his eyes and tried to imagine being anywhere else. He was going to be sick if he didn't run out of that house in the next three seconds. He could hear them doing… whatever the hell they were doing.
Rory pulled away from Dean.
"Wait, did you say something about ice cream?"
Dean laughed and held up the bag in his hand.
"Chunky Monkey."
"Ooh, excellent choice."
"I thought so. Can't go wrong with monkeys."
Jess snorted.
"What was that?" Dean asked, looking around the room.
"Uh… the washer makes strange noises sometimes."
"Oh. I could check that out for you sometime. Mine used to do the same thing."
"Oh good. That would be great. 'Cause you know, nobody wants a noisy washing machine…" Rory realized that she was babbling and trailed off.
"Right," Dean said, giving her a curious look. "Listen, I'm going to go put the Chunky Monkey in bowls and grab us some spoons, and you can find something good on TV. I mean, it's not that I don't love Billy Idol, but this song has a tendency to make my ears bleed in pain."
He walked over to the CD player and clicked it off.
Rory gave him a small smile. "Great, I'll get right on that TV thing."
Dean gave her one last questioning glance before shaking his head and heading off to the kitchen. As soon as he left the room Jess popped up from behind the couch.
"I'm out of here," he hissed, putting his coat on.
"No! You can't leave! He'll see you!" Rory pleaded, trying to shove Jess back down behind the couch.
"If you knew I was stuck in the room with you, the least you could have done was refrain from trying to suck his face off!"
"Hey, I didn't want him to suspect anything."
"Well if you kept it up my retching would have tipped him off."
"Your little snort almost gave you away as it was," Rory angrily retorted.
"It's not my fault. Your boyfriend is the genius who commented on the appeal of monkeys."
Rory glared at Jess. He glared back. Suddenly Rory looked over to the kitchen.
"He's coming badck in. Just stay quiet for a couple more minutes and I'll get rid of him," she whispered in desperation.
Jess continued to glare, jaw clenched until he finally relented.
"Fine. But if I here the smacking of lips, I swear to God, I'm out of here whether Dean sees me or not."
"Fine," Rory said, nervously pushing him back down as Dean approached. She fumbled with the remote and flipped the TV on.
Dean entered with two bowls and looked at the TV.
"I didn't know you liked golf," he said, raising his eyebrows.
"Oh, um, I don't," Rory said, changing the channel. "I was still flipping through. There's nothing good on."
"Oh, well that's fine. Besides, I can think of better things to do than watch TV," he replied with a smile.
Rory's eyes widened as she thought of Jess' threat.
"Wait! This looks good," she said, a little too loudly.
"The Powerpuff Girls?" Dean asked, a little put off.
"What? You don't think that Bubbles is adorable?"
Dean smirked. "I would never say that. This is fine. An excellent show. My little sister loves it."
"She has good taste," Rory answered, smiling and settling back on the couch as Dean handed her a bowl. Rory immediately started to eat, shoving spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth without looking at Dean.
"Rory, is something wrong?"
Rory looked up from her bowl. "What? No, of course not. I'm just really hungry."
Dean chuckled. "I can see that. You have a little chocolate right here," he said, gesturing at her lower lip.
Rory tried to wipe it away with her finger, but failed.
"Here, let me get it," Dean said, leaning in close. He placed his lips on her and was about to lick the chocolate away when Rory pulled back as if stung.
"I think you should go," she said stiffly, looking at him seriously.
"What? Rory, what is going on here? What's wrong with you today?"
"Nothing is wrong with me Dean, it's just that… this was supposed to be a night just for me and it's turning into a date and I just… I still have a lot of laundry to do."
Dean's eyes narrowed.
"Fine. It was stupid of me to think that it was okay to come see my girlfriend. What was I thinking?" he said angrily, slamming his bowl down on the table and getting up.
"Dean, I didn't mean it like that, it's just—"
"It's just nothing Rory. I didn't realize I was such an inconvenience."
"This is crazy Dean! I just wanted one night alone!"
"It's gotten to the point where you'd rather spend time alone than with me Rory!" Dean shouted.
"That's not true!"
"That's how it feels, okay? And I just can't deal with it right now!"
"What are you saying?" Rory asked.
"Nothing, just… never mind. I'm just going to go home and cool off and we can talk tomorrow," Dean said quietly, getting up slowly.
"Dean, don't go."
"You want me gone, Rory," he answered. She knew he meant more than just leaving her house.
"No I don't," she pleaded.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said, grabbing his coat. He walked out the door, leaving Rory standing by the couch.
The door slammed shut and Rory jumped. She sat down on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. Jess slowly rose from behind the couch and looked at her nervously.
"Are you okay?" he asked, moving around the couch towards her.
"No," she answered numbly.
"He was an asshole."
Rory didn't answer. She just continued to look miserable. Jess wanted to go find Dean and punch him. Just a second ago he and Rory were having such a good time and now she was practically in tears.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked anxiously, praying that she'd say no. He wasn't exactly great at that whole 'cry on my shoulder' thing.
"No."
Jess breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Do you want me to go?"
Rory paused.
"No."
"Really?" Jess asked, squinting at Rory.
"I'm fine. We're fine. He'll call tomorrow and we'll be fine."
Jess eyed her critically.
"Really," Rory reassured him. "I'm fine. Come on, let's continue the laundry sorting."
She forced herself to smile. She really just wanted to forget about Dean tonight. She was actually having fun with Jess. 'Maybe too much fun,' she thought, remember their position on the couch not too long ago.
"Okay," Jess said reassuringly. "Do you want me to get another basket for us to sort?"
"Yes, please," she said, trying to sound happy.
Jess reentered a moment later and on his way over he turned the CD player back on. Soon "Ice, Ice Baby" started to play.
"Now *this* is a classic," Jess said, dropping the basket at the foot of the couch. "Yo VIP, Let's kick it!" he said quietly along with the song.
"Oh my God," Rory said slowly. "Tell me you're kidding."
Jess ignored her and continued to rap a little louder… and badly.
"All right stop. Collaborate and listen. Ice is back with my brand new invention. Something grabs ahold of me tightly. Then I flow like a harpoon daily and nightly. Will it ever stop?"
"Yes, PLEASE make it stop!" Rory squealed, tackling Jess. They both landed with a thud next to the laundry basket.
"I can't believe you know the words to that song. And that you actually made this known to me," Rory said, laughing.
"Hey, I had to do something to get you laughing again," he answered.
Rory smiled sincerely at him. "Well thank you." She paused. "But I hope you don't think that because your embarrassment was a selfless gesture of kindness that I'm not going to exploit it."
"What are you saying," Jess asked, smirk lessening.
"I'm saying that maybe some other people need to be informed of your awesome rapping skills."
"You wouldn't!" Jess challenged, eyes wide.
"I think my mom deserves a little call. This just can't wait. Or maybe my Luke!" Rory giggled, jumping up and running towards the phone.
"I can't believe you!" Jess yelled, running after her.
Just as Rory picked the phone up and turned it on, Jess caught up to her. Rory tried to dodge past him, dialing as she did so, but he clamped his arms around her and picked her up. Rory shrieked and he dropped her onto the couch with a threatening glare. Rory dialed the last number and smiled evilly at him.
"Rory, I'm warning you," Jess said towering over her.
"Oh hello Luke!" Rory said cheerfully into the receiver. "Why am I calling? Well that's an interesting question."
"Stop talking right now Gilmore!" Jess said dangerously.
"Make me," Rory whispered, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Okay," he said simply. She looked at him questioningly.
"What is it Rory?" Luke asked impatiently.
"Well I just thought you should know—"
But she was cut off at that moment. Jess' covered her lips with his own and took the phone from her hand, tossing it aside.
Rory was in a state of shock. She lay frozen beneath Jess as he moved his lips against hers. Suddenly her brain clicked back on and wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer.
"Hello? Rory? Is something wrong?" Luke asked, unheard by either teenager. The phone lay prone on the floor. Luke started to panic. What if some madman had broken into her house and kidnapped her? He yelled to Caesar to take care of things for a few minutes while he stepped out, and he walked out the door.
Jess and Rory had lost track of what was going on. Rory faintly heard "Ice, Ice Baby" change into "Leader of the Pack" and then "Walk Like an Egyptian," but to her it felt like time was standing still. She could only focus on the feeling of Jess' lips on hers. She parted her lips to give him more access and he immediately deepened the kiss, with what almost sounded like a growl. He pressed her into the couch and let his hands roam up and down her sides.
"What the hell is going on here?!"
Jess sprung off of Rory and turned to face the owner of the voice.
"Luke?"
TBC… please review and give suggestions! I worship suggestions! *gets out her ceremonial alter* Seriously!