PAIRING: R/J

SUMMARY: The story starts with the episode 'Help wanted'. The fight between Rory and Lorelai doesn't end well, Rory realises that she loves Jess etc. This mostly concentrates on the relationships between Jess and Rory & Rory and Lorelai.

SPOILERS: None that I know of

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own anything

RATING: R (probably PG for the first few chapters, but as soon as I get to the interaction between Rory and Jess it's gonna be R)

A/N: I am so happy to get reviews, since this is my first fanfic, I was sure no one would read it.. Anyway, I'm really happy you don't think it completely sucks..:) I feel this story is moving on a bit slowly, but there's going to be more action soon, you can be sure about that. I just hope you like this, and please review!

The Day After Tomorrow

Chapter Three

*Luke's, Monday morning*

Lorelai had left for work early and Rory was sitting by the counter alone. Not that Lorelai would have come to the diner anyway since she and Luke were still fighting about the car crash and Jess. And she wouldn't have come to breakfast with Rory, pretty much for the same reasons.

Luke had poured Rory some coffee and now that he was standing behind the counter, Rory decided to talk to him about the new situation.

"Luke?" she said carefully and when he turned to see her, Rory smiled shyly. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yea?" he said and seemed a bit surprised.

"Yea. About my mum and about Jess."

Luke put down the rag he was holding and seemed a bit worried. Rory wasn't quite sure where she should begin, so much had happened and Luke was unaware of it all.

"You and mum aren't talking, and it's because of Jess and the whole accident thing, isn't it?"

Luke nodded cautiously.

"Well, we're not talking to each other either, I mean mum and me. Because we had a huge fight about Jess."

"I see" Luke said and he had to admit he was worried.

He had heard Babette saying something about the break up between Rory and Dean, but he had thought it to be impossible. Then again, he had noticed the special relationship Rory and his nephew had and therefore he wasn't really surprised if Jess had been the reason why Rory had left Dean.  

"You really like him, don't you?"

Rory looked at Luke and it felt good to see the kind look on his face. It was obvious that he could understand Rory's feelings, and it meant the world to her. Rory nodded and smiled, so did Luke.

Rory proceeded to tell him about his phone call and the fact that she had asked him to come back. Luke listened to her quietly and had mixed feelings about what he heard. He was glad Rory and Jess had found each other, but he was worried about Rory's relationship with Lorelai as well as his own relationship with Lorelai. And even though he had really begun to care about Jess and had missed him the short time he'd been gone, he was also worried about Jess's relationship with Rory. Jess had come from a completely different world than the one Rory lived in, it would be a real challenge for both of them to try and make it work.

After school Rory had met up with Lane and filled her in with the latest developments of her suddenly very exciting life. Lane was anxious to hear every detail of the phone conversation Rory had had with Jess and after hearing everything there was to hear, she had only one thing to say. Wow! Rory was her best friend and she wanted her to be happy. And the fact that Jess had called her just when she had realised how important he was to her, made it even better. It was fate, Lane had declared solemnly and her friend had agreed with a smile on her face.

*Gilmore house, 9pm*

Rory was sitting by the kitchen table, she had just finished her homework. Lorelai was with Sookie planning her wedding to Jackson and Rory was now completely lost in her thoughts. These thoughts naturally consisted of only one person, Jess. She could still hear his voice in her head when she thought about his words. 'The day after tomorrow', he had said and his voice had been perfect. Rory smiled a bit, then she smiled more widely and when she was just about to grin, she suddenly became serious. The day after tomorrow was in fact tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would be back. In twelve hours she might see him again, he would be back. Rory got up and walked to the living room. She didn't know what to do, things seemed to be happening way too quickly. All of a sudden everything was upside down, she seemed to have lost all of her confidence in herself and her feelings. She had asked him to come back and he had promised to be there on Tuesday. Tuesday was tomorrow and she wasn't prepared.

Rory grabbed the phone and dialled Lane's number. Mrs Kim answered and after some hard persuading Rory finally got Lane on the phone with five minutes to speak to her.

"Lane!" Rory cried out and fell on the couch.  

"What's wrong?"

"Jess is coming back tomorrow" Rory whispered and sounded breathless.

Lane was silent for a minute, then a smile rose on her face.

"So, you decided to panic?"

"Well, it wasn't really a rational decision… I don't know what to do!"

"What were you planning to do before you panicked?"

"I didn't have a plan. I thought he'd just come back and everything would be great. I didn't have a plan…" Rory moaned quietly and Lane could hear that she was really upset.

"Calm down, Rory. I have to get off the phone soon so I'll make this quick. I know you and I know you really care about him. When he comes back tomorrow, you're going to talk with him. And that should be pretty easy since you two seem to be on the very same wavelength. Tell him how you feel and he'll tell you how he feels. If you get very lucky and he cares about you just as much as you care about him, and we know he does, then you'll probably end up doing something nice that doesn't involve talking."

Rory listened to her friend and took a deep breath. A picture of her and Jess kissing was suddenly clear on her mind and a smile was on her face.

"You've come this far for him, Rory. Don't even think about backing away now. This hasn't happened overnight, you felt a connection with him the first day you saw him and talked with him. You don't have to marry him tomorrow, Rory. Tomorrow is simply your chance to make something of that connection."

"Lane Kim, if I have never told you this before, I worship you. Honestly, thank you, I was about to go crazy."

"It's understandable that you're nervous, it would be worrying if you weren't. Just remember that you know him, he's not some stranger. He's Jess. And he's probably nervous, too"

"Yea, he is Jess." Rory said and smiled. "I'll let you know what happens after I've seen him."

"I count on you to do that!" Lane said laughing and wished her friend good night.

Rory put the phone down and went to her room. She lied down on the bed and thought that she had never wanted anything as much as this. It felt right, it had to be right.

*Tuesday, 3pm*

Rory got out of the bus in Stars Hollow and felt her heart beat harder than it probably ever had. Her day at school had been terrible, she hadn't been able to concentrate, all she was thinking about was that the day after tomorrow was in fact today. Jess would be back, and as she walked toward Luke's she wondered if he was already there.

Rory walked to the diner and tried her best to look calm. She went to the counter and Luke turned to see her. He had only one thing to say

"Upstairs."

Rory nodded slightly and Luke saw how nervous she was. Rory took a deep breath and headed for the stairs. She felt sick. She wanted to turn away, but something kept her going. She got to the door of Luke's apartment and before she even realised it, she had knocked on the door. She waited, for an eternity, she thought. Then she heard footsteps, then the door opened and then he was there.

Jess is standing right in front of me, she thought. He looked great, gorgeous, incredible, perfect. Rory knew she looked nervous, but then again, so did he. She didn't know that he had been walking around the apartment for the last two hours, not knowing what to expect when he'd see her. And now they were both there.

"Hi" Jess managed to say and he smiled slightly.

His smile made Rory smile and silently they went inside the apartment and Jess closed the door after her.

"So, hi" Rory finally said as they were standing in the middle of the room.

"Yea" Jess replied and looked her in the eye.

Rory stood a few feet away from Jess when she realised that it was Jess. She knew him, he wasn't a stranger and he was probably nervous as well. So, she stepped a bit closer to him and took a deep breath. Jess tried to look calm when they were suddenly closer to each other than they had ever been.

"I missed you" Rory said and when she looked into Jess's eyes, it was obvious that he knew how she felt.

Jess lifted his hand and gently touched Rory's cheek. She closed her eyes instinctively and enjoyed the feeling of his warm fingers on her skin. His fingers descended slowly to her neck and traced her pulse. She shivered and opened her eyes. Jess's face was only a few inches away from hers. She could feel his warm breath and she closed her eyes when his lips touched hers. It wasn't even a kiss, more like a gentle brush that made them both shiver. He placed his hand carefully on the small of her back and Rory honestly thought that she might faint. She had never experienced anything like it before, it was so intimate, there seemed to be so much more sexual tension between them than there had ever been between her and Dean.

Jess's hand slowly stroked her back and when their lips met again, Rory responded to the movements of his lips without hesitation. They kissed slowly and gently, not wanting to break the magic of the moment they were in. Rory's hands wondered to his lower back, the other rested on his hips as the other moved up to his hair. She stroked his hair tenderly and he pulled his lips from her. He had a smile on his face, he looked happy. Rory couldn't help but smile when she looked into his eyes, but then her eyes wandered back to his lips. Softly he placed a kiss on his lower lip to which he hungrily replied. He pulled her closer, so that she was tightly against his body. Jess's hand came to cradle her face and as the kiss became more passionate Rory felt her knees getting weaker. Soon their lips parted, and Jess placed a line of kisses down to her neck. Then he stopped, she could feel his warm breath on her skin, his hands were tightly around her, so were her hands wrapped around him. Rory leaned her head to his shoulder and took a deep breath, he smelled good. She hadn't remembered the smell, it was very, very nice.

They stayed like that for a while, it felt good, a bit like their bodies had been glued together. Then Jess took his hands from behind her back and pushed a bit further away. He looked serious when he said

"I was actually expecting a talk"

Rory smiled a bit and then stroked his cheek kindly.

"Sorry to disappoint you"

"I think I can live with it" Jess smirked "So, did you ask me to come back just for this?"

"Sort of" Rory said smiling and placed another kiss on his lips. "You think you could do this on a more regular basis?"

"How regular are we talking about?" Jess said and dropped his hands to her waist

"Would you mind if this was a daily occurrence?"

Jess looked at her and he felt the whole situation to be rather unreal. He was holding Rory in his arms, kissing her when just a few days ago he hadn't been sure if he'd ever see her again.

"Are you sure about this, Rory? You just broke up with Dean"

"I don't love Dean the way I should if we were together. And what I feel for you, really isn't what people normally feel for their friends"

"What do you feel then?"

Rory looked at him and she couldn't help but blush. It made Jess chuckle and therefore Rory blushed even more.

"I want to be with you, I want you, Jess. I'm sure, really, really sure. Are you?"

"Do you even have to ask?" he said and leaned a bit closer to her.

"I guess not" she replied before his lips were once again covering hers.

A/N: Reviews, reviews, please!!!