*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.

*A/N: Hey!!! This is probably my last update until next Friday, unless I find the time to write of course. This chapter turned out kind of long, cause I decided not to split it up in smaller chapters. I just couldn't, this chapter is perfect the way it is. It has a lot of emotion and drama in it. And a kiss!!! This is my favorite chapter so far and I really hope that you guys like it. Please leave a review and tell me. Thanks!!! And thanks for the reviews on the last chapter.

*~*~*:-)*~*~*

Rory walked past the phone for the sixth time. She stopped and reached for the phone. But when her hand was only inches away from the phone she stopped. Should she really be the one apologizing here ? So she didn't tell Dean that Jess was joining her for dinner, but she only did that to protect him. She knew how furious Dean would get when he found out. Rory sighed and dropped herself on the couch. If only Lane could have kept her big mouth shut. Rory knew that she wasn't being fair. She never told Lane that she couldn't tell Dean about Jess joining them for dinner. It wasn't Lane's fault it was her own fault. She should have told Dean in the first place. Maybe then he would have showed a little less anger and a little more understanding. But Rory knew Dean and she knew that no matter how or when she told him he would get mad anyway. Mad about what ? What was he afraid of ? That she would accidentally talk to Jess during dinner ? Dean had nothing to be jealous about. Well, maybe he didn't used to have something to be jealous about, but now things were different. Things slowly changed. The more Rory talked with Jess the more she thought of him instead of Dean. She started to like Jess more and more and maybe she was a horrible person for thinking this, but she actually preferred spending time with Jess than with Dean. Maybe it was because she had been Dean's girlfriend for a long time now and she already knew everything about him. She knew all his secrets, all his dreams and all his wishes. And he knew hers.......except for one secret that she had tried to ignore it and locked it away where no one would ever find it. But her feelings for Jess were getting harder to ignore every day. She didn't want to ignore them anymore, but she didn't wanna break Dean's heart either. Suddenly she heard her mom's car and she got up. It would distract her from her thoughts for a while. Moments later her mom came into the living room with a huge white box in her hands.

R: ''Is that the cake ?''

L: ''No, it's just an empty box. We're moving.''

R: ''If we're moving then one box is definitely not enough.''

L: ''Ah, you saw right through me. What did I do wrong this time ?''

R: ''Well, bringing only one box with you and the fact that it's obviously a box where you put cake in.''

L: ''It is ?''

R: ''Yeah.''

L: ''How can you tell ?''

R: ''Cause it's white and it's smaller than your normal boxes.''

L: ''I agree with you on the last one, but boxes don't always have to be brown.''

R: ''The boxes that people use to pack stuff in when they move are.''

L: ''Really ? How do you know ?''

R: ''Cause the boxes that Jess used to pack his stuff in were also brown.''

L: ''So ? And how do you know what color Jess' boxes are anyway ?''

R: ''Mom, boxes that are used for moving are brown. Live with it. And I know what color his boxes were, because I was in his room.''

L: ''Do you think we could invent boxes that aren't brown ? Excuse me, you were in his room ? Why ?''

R: ''Okay, first of all, yes, I think we can invent boxes that aren't brown. All we have to do is color them.''

L: ''With markers ?''

R: ''That's a possibility or we let the people in the factory color the boxes.''

L: ''You're smart. But that still doesn't explain why you were in Jess' room.''

R: ''I was just getting to that. I was there, because I borrowed a book from him and I was returning it. How does pink sound ?''

L: ''Just returning it huh ?''

R: ''Yeah. What would you have wanted me to do ? Throw stones at his window and wait until he opens it so that I can throw the book at him ?''

L: ''Yep.''

R: ''Mom, we're friends.''

L: ''Friends who occasionally flirt with each other ?''

R: ''Mom.''

L: ''Or friends who kiss and don't tell ?''

R: ''Okay, I think you made your point.''

L: ''What point ?''

R: ''That things between me and Jess are different than they were before.''

L: ''Really ?''

R: ''Yeah, I think I like him, but I'm..........''

L: ''Like him like him or just like him as in hey pal ?''

R: ''Like him like him, I think.''

L: ''And what about Dean ? Do you still like him like him too ? Cause my money is on Mr. No.''

R: ''Then you're going to be rich soon.''

L: ''You do really like Jess, don't you ?''

R: ''Am I a horrible person now ?''

L: ''Of course not sweetie, it's perfectly normal to fall in love with guys. It's not perfectly normal to fall in love with Jess though, but.......''

R: ''I never said love. Not once did I mention that word.''

L: ''It's just a saying sweets. So, what are you going to do ?''

R: ''Don't know yet, I'll figure that out tomorrow. Today it's all about Luke.''

L: ''You're right. You wanna see the cake ?''

R: ''Yeah.''

Lorelai opened the box and showed Rory the cake. It was the biggest cake she had ever seen and it was beautifully decorated with roses of white chocolate and frosting. In the middle Sookie had written Happy Birthday Luke.

R: ''It looks great.''

L: ''Yeah, Sookie surpasses herself every time.''

R: ''So, are we going to tell Luke that Sookie actually baked the cake instead of us ?''

L: ''We could, but we're not going to.''

R: ''Thought so.''

L: ''How about we go get Luke ?''

R: ''Yeah, he'll be so surprised.''

L: ''He better like cake.''

R: ''Are we going to sing Happy Birthday for him ?''

*~*~*

About ten minutes later Lorelai entered the diner and made her way towards the counter where Luke was standing. Rory slowly followed. At least the place wasn't crowded, so she didn't have to feel guilty about sending all the people home with an empty stomach. She looked around the diner while she followed her mom to the counter. She was looking for him and when she didn't see him a disappointed look appeared on her face. But then she saw him. He just came out of the back and he hadn't seen her yet. She casually walked over to the counter, her heart beating faster with every step she took towards him. When she almost reached the counter he looked up.

When Jess looked up he was surprised to find Rory standing on the other end of the counter. He smiled when he saw that the disappointed look on her face disappeared. A content look washed over her features, making her even more beautiful than she already was. He nodded at her. His recognition of her was rewarded with a sweet warm smile that would be able to melt the heart of every guy on this world. And he apparently was one of them, cause he started to feel weak and for one second he let his true feelings show. He let his guard down and he smiled a true smile at Rory.

Rory's heart almost stopped beating when she saw the smile on his face, it softened his features and made him look less rugged.

L: ''Hey Luke.''

Luke: ''What are you doing here ?''

L: ''What do you think ?''

Luke: ''Coffee.''

L: ''Normally yeah, but today, no.''

Luke: ''Good one.''

L: ''Actually we need your help.''

Luke: ''With what ? Digging your grave ?''

L: ''No, maybe next week though.''

Luke: ''Lorelai, what do you want ?''

L: ''Well.........Rory tell him.''

Rory looked up and shot her mom a confused look.

L: ''Tell him what happened ?''

R: ''What happened ?''

L: ''Yeah, remember the thing that I did to the thing ?''

R: ''Oh, right. Well, this morning mom actually tried to wash the dishes. But she said that the water wasn't warm enough, so she started to hit the faucet with a wrench.''

L: ''Right and then I kept hitting and hitting it until it broke.''

J: ''The faucet broke ?''

She shot Jess a look before she looked at Luke again.

R: ''Yep, right down the middle.''

L: ''Well, not really obviously. But it's still broken. Water keeps coming out of it and the entire kitchen floor is wet.''

R: ''Exactly.''

L: ''So we need you to.........''

Luke: ''Fix it ?''

L: ''Yeah. So, do you mind ?''

Luke: ''Now ?''

L: ''Well, yeah. If you don't want us to drown that is.''

Luke: ''As tempting as that sounds.''

L: ''So, you'll come with us and fix it ?''

Luke: ''Yeah, Jess can look after the diner for a little while.''

R: ''No he can't.''

J: ''You took the words right out of my mouth.''

Luke: ''Why not ?''

R: ''He needs to come too.''

Luke: ''Why ?''

R: ''Cause I need help with my homework ?''

Jess slightly laughed, but stopped when Rory shot him a warning look.

L: ''Right, she needs help.''

R: ''You don't mind, do you Luke ?''

J: ''Yeah, uncle Luke. You know a mind is a terrible thing to waste.''

Luke: ''Sometimes I think it's already wasted.''

R: ''So ?''

J: ''Yeah, so ?''

Luke: ''Fine, I'll just get my toolbox.''

L: ''No.''

Luke: ''How am I supposed to fix your sink if I don't have any tools ?''

L: ''We have our own tools.''

Luke: ''Waterproof mascara isn't a tool Lorelai.''

L: ''For your information we have a real toolbox. With all kind of tools that fix things.''

Luke: ''Okay, let's go.''

L: ''Thanks Luke.''

Luke sighed and followed Lorelai to the door.

Jess looked at Rory with an amused look on his face.

R: ''What ?''

J: ''You need help with your homework ?''

Rory sighed and grabbed Jess by his arm.

R: ''Let's just go.''

Jess let her pull him towards the door. He looked at her fragile hand that was around his arm and smiled a sly smile. But quickly wiped it off of his face when she let go of his arm. She just needs help with her homework he reminded himself. Nothing more. Yeah, right.

*~*~*

When they reached the house of the Gilmore Girls, Lorelai covered Luke's eyes with her hands and lead him into the kitchen. Rory and Jess followed them.

Luke: ''Lorelai, what are you doing ?''

L: ''It's a surprise.''

Luke: ''I'm going to die, aren't I ?''

Lorelai ignored Luke's comment and signaled for Rory to open the box. Rory did so and took a step back. Lorelai removed her hands from Luke's eyes.

Luke: ''What the..........''

L: ''Surprise !''

R: ''Happy Birthday Luke.''

Luke looked from the two girls to the cake and back again.

Luke: ''You didn't have to do this.''

L: ''We wanted to.''

R: ''Yeah, it's your birthday Luke. Everyone gets a cake on their birthday.''

L: ''Yeah, tradition.''

Luke: ''Thank you.''

L: ''Any time. Now it's time to cut the cake.''

Lorelai grabbed a knife and started to cut the cake. Luke stood next to her, feeling uncomfortable, but with a small smile on his face. It was nice of them to remember his birthday and bake him a cake. He didn't even know that they could cook. They probably ordered the cake or something. Even still, it was a really nice gesture.

Jess took a step towards Rory with his hands on his back.

J: ''Homework huh ?''

R: ''I had to tell Luke something.''

J: ''If you say so.''

They locked eyes, but Rory looked away when she heard her mom call her name.

L: ''You want cake sweets ?''

R: ''Ooo of course. I love cake.''

L: ''How about you Jess ?''

J: ''Eh........''

R: ''That's a yes.''

L: ''I didn't hear Jess say yes. That's funny. Jess said yes.''

R: ''Mom.''

L: ''What ? It is.''

R: ''Just cut the cake.''

Lorelai shrugged and went back to cutting the cake.

J: ''It's a good thing that I don't have the knife.''

Rory smiled.

Lorelai handed Rory and Jess their cake. When everyone finished their cake Lorelai got another piece of cake out of the box.

L: ''You know what I have always wanted to do ?''

R: ''Fly ?''

Lorelai shook her head and took another step towards Luke.

R: ''Get abducted by aliens ?''

L: ''No, this.''

She took another step towards Luke and threw the piece of cake at him. It hit him straight in the face and both Lorelai and Rory started to laugh. While Luke was wiping the cake out of his face Lorelai got another piece and walked up to him.

Luke: ''Lorelai, I swear if you do that again I'll........''

L: ''You'll do what ?''

She threw the cake at Luke and again it hit him in the face. Luke gently pushed Lorelai aside and grabbed two pieces of cake.

L: ''You wouldn't dare.''

Luke: ''Wanna bet ?''

Lorelai shrieked when Luke threw the first piece at her. It missed her. Lorelai turned around and went outside. Luke didn't give up easily and followed her.

Jess shook his head and turned around to say something to Rory, but before he could Rory threw a piece of cake at him. It hit him on the side of his face and Rory tried very hard not to burst out laughing.

R: ''Cake looks good on you.''

J: ''Really ?''

He walked over to the box and grabbed the last piece of cake.

J: ''I wonder how it will look on you ?''

He started to walk over to Rory. Rory backed away from him, but stopped when she felt the wall against her back.

R: ''Jess, I'm warning you........''

Jess ignored her and walked up to her. Rory planted her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but it didn't work. Jess took another step towards her and lifted up the piece of cake that he was still holding in his hand.

R: ''Jess, don't.''

But Jess ignored her and gently grabbed her face with one hand. With the other he rubbed the cake in her face. Rory shrieked. Finally Jess let go of her face and took a step back. He smiled when he heard her laugh. She wiped the cake off of her face and looked up at him.

R: ''I can't believe you just did that.''

Her eyes were shining with laughter and her lips were curled up into a smile. She ran her hands through her hair to make sure that there wasn't any cake in it. Then she looked up at Jess and held his gaze. She wondered if there was a rule that said how long you were supposed to hold someone's gaze ? How long before you look away ? Someone always had to look away. You couldn't look in each other's eyes for eternity.

Jess wondered what she was thinking about ? He took a step towards her and reached for her lips.

J: ''There's still cake on them.''

Rory followed his every movement carefully. He brought his hand to the corner of her mouth and wiped the piece of cake away. But even though the cake was gone now, he still didn't remove his hand from her lips. Rory was well aware of his touch on her skin. A shiver ran down her spine. She slowly brought her eyes up and met Jess'.

Jess met her eyes and searched for a sign. He looked deep into her eyes.

Rory wondered what he wanted ? What did she want ? Did she want him to remove his hand from her lips ? No, it felt too good. She didn't want him to stop touching her. She took a step towards him so that their bodies were even closer.

When he felt her small body against his chest he experienced something that he had never experienced before. He felt love and the anxiety to kiss her got even bigger. He couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't stand being so close to her without having her lips on his. He brought his head closer to hers and kissed her.

Rory carefully kissed him back. When they broke apart Jess looked at her with a soft look in his eyes. Rory never saw that look before in his eyes and smiled at him.

Jess wiped a strand of hair away from her face and kissed her again. This kiss was longer than the first one. More gentle too. He knew that she couldn't break, but he didn't wanna hurt her by moving too fast. When Rory started to run her hands through his hair, he couldn't help but smile.

Rory started to smile to and they stopped kissing. Their faces were only inches apart and she could feel his warm breath on her skin. Then all of a sudden everything fell apart. Rory stopped smiling and got a panicked look in her eyes.

J: ''What's wrong ?''

Rory didn't answer. She just kept looking at something behind him. Jess turned around and understood what was wrong.

J: ''Dean.''

D: ''I could trust you huh ?''

Dean shot Jess a look that was filled with fiery. And for a moment Jess thought that Dean would punch him, but he didn't. He just turned around and left.

R: ''Dean !''

She pushed past Jess and headed for the door. Jess wanted to stop her and tell her that she should just forget about Dean. Dean wasn't worth everything that she went through. All the times he had yelled at Rory and all the times he accused Rory of something that wasn't true. But he didn't, instead he watched her walk away, wondering if she was coming back ? Coming back to him ?

*~*~*

Rory caught up with Dean and pleaded for him to stop. Finally Dean did and turned around to look at her.

R: ''Dean, let me explain.''

D: ''Explain what ? That you have obviously been lying to me this entire time ?''

R: ''I didn't lie to you.''

D: ''Didn't you ? Weren't you the one that said that Jess was just a friend ?''

Rory lowered her eyes. He was right, she did say that.

R: ''I'm sorry Dean, I wanted to tell you, but............''

D: ''You couldn't ? You were afraid of hurting my precious feelings ?!''

Rory cringed when he raised his voice.

D: ''Tell me Rory, who do you really wanna be with ?''

R: ''With you.''

D: ''Don't lie to me Rory. You can break my heart, hurt my feelings, but please don't lie to me. We have known each other too long for that.''

Rory nodded. They had known each other for a long time. They had been friends before they had become a couple and for the first time she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who really cared about her and who would do anything for her. Was she really ready to give that all up ?

D: ''Who do you wanna be with ? Me or Jess ?''

Rory was on the verge of tears when she looked up at him. He was really going to make her choose between him and Jess. If she gave him the right answer everything would turn out okay between them. They would work this out somehow, they always did. But if she gave him the wrong answer he would walk away and probably never look back. What did she really want ? Was she ready to give up what she had with Dean for Jess ? She thought about it for a second and finally she made a decision. She couldn't be the perfect little girl all the time. You had to take risks every now and then, right ? She closed her eyes to hold back the tears and bit her lip. It was now or never. She opened her eyes again and met Dean's eyes.

R: ''Jess.''

Dean looked at her and nodded.

D: ''I guess I'll see you around then.''

And with that he turned around and walked away from Rory. He didn't look back once, pretending that it didn't hurt him. But it did. As he went around the corner a tear slid down his cheek and fell to the ground.

Rory slowly turned around, shocked about the decision that she had made and went home.

*~*~*

When she entered the kitchen Jess was still there. But he wasn't alone, her mom and Luke were also there. Laughing at something. She couldn't take it anymore and started to cry. Lorelai immediately got up and walked over to Rory.

L: ''What's wrong sweets ? Why are you crying ?''

Rory didn't answer and looked at Jess before she disappeared into her room.

Luke: ''I think we better go. Thanks for the cake Lorelai.''

L: ''You're welcome.''

Jess looked at Rory's closed door. His eyes darkened and the walls that took her ages to break through went back up and hid his emotions from the world again. He put his hands in his pockets, pretending that he didn't care, that it didn't bother him that she was in her room crying and followed Luke outside.

Lorelai closed the door behind them and went to check on Rory. She knocked and waited for an answer, but it never came. Lorelai opened the door anyway and went into Rory's room. Rory was lying on her bed crying, her entire body shaking. Lorelai couldn't stand the sound of Rory's cries any longer and walked over to her. Without saying a word she sat down next to her on the bed and started to stroke her hair.

L: ''What's wrong sweets ? Why are you crying ?''

R: ''Me and Jess kissed and then Dean walked in and.............saw us.''

Rory's cries got even louder.

R: ''I didn't wanna hurt Dean. I followed him outside to explain, but he said that there was nothing to explain and...........he was right. There is nothing to explain. Mom, I chose Jess over Dean.''

Lorelai didn't know what to say, so instead she just kept stroking Rory's hair, waiting for her to finally stop crying.