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

*A/N: Hey!!! Fanfiction wasn't working properly yesterday, so I couldn't update any of my stories. It did give me some extra time to write though, so I got to update this story and Beautiful Black Rose at the same time. I really hope you check them both out. Please review this chapter and tell me how Jess should act towards Rory. Friendly ? More than friendly ? Let me know. Thanks for the reviews I got on the last chapter! T-H-A-N-K-S!

*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)

When Rory got off the bus she was greeted by the rain that was softly caressing her skin with it's watery fingers. But she barely noticed, she was too mesmerized by her surroundings and by all the people that were outside, smiling even though it was raining. This reminded her a little of Stars Hollow except for the beach and the boardwalk that lead you to all the little shops. But it still had this homey and friendly vibe though. As she made her way towards the boardwalk, a woman shot a friendly smile at her and Rory, being the kind person she was, smiled back. When the rain slowed down and the sun broke through the wall of clouds that were surrounding it, she almost forgot the reason why she came here in the first place. Jess. She looked longingly from the book-store that she spotted in the corner of her eye to the white sand of the beach and sighed. While she started to walk, she looked down at the piece of paper that held Jess' address, not looking were she was going. Anyone who wasn't looking where they were going, would bump into someone or something eventually and that was exactly what Rory did. She collided into someone and had to take a couple of steps back to keep her balance. She murmured a sorry as she made sure that she still had the address in her hands.

J: ''Just watch where you're going next time.''

Jess didn't even look at the person he bumped into. He had been doing that a lot lately. This place was just too small too hold so many people.

Rory, who recognized the familiar, impatient voice, looked up and smiled when she saw who it was she bumped into. Out of all the people here she bumped into him, luck must be on her side today.

R: ''Jess.''

As she waited for him to notice her, a wave of nervousness and anxiety went through her. The one keeping the other from dominating her body.

Jess turned around, ready to give the person a piece of his mind, but stopped when his mind realized why the kindness in the voice had sounded so familiar. He dropped his gaze on the sweet girl in front of him. What was she doing here ? He was sure that he would never see her again.

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

He could see the happiness in her eyes flicker for a moment and wished that saying things before he realized what kind of damage the words could do wasn't one of his charms.

Rory tried to hide the disappointment that was threatening to come to the surface and she tried to ignore the harsh tone that had been in his voice when he asked that question. What was she doing here ? Obviously Jess wasn't that thrilled to see her. And why would he ? He left Stars Hollow without telling her, so maybe he never wanted to see her again. But then again, he did call her at her graduation. Suddenly she remembered what she had said to him that day. What was she thinking ? Of course he wasn't thrilled to see her, she basically told him to leave her alone and then she showed up out of the blue. She wished she could just turn around and leave, but it was too late. She looked up and met his eyes.

They stood there for a while, just looking in to each other's eyes, until Jess finally sighed.

J: ''Luke gave you the address, didn't he ?''

That sentence went through her like a blade, cutting through her heart and slicing her feelings into small and pieces almost impossible to fix. She had heard the disappointment in his voice when he asked that. He was disappointed in Luke that he caved and gave her the address, but it wasn't Luke's fault.

R: ''Yeah, but I asked him too and, well, he couldn't............''

J: ''Resist your charms ?''

R: ''Something like that.''

A silence came crashing down on them and hung around them like a fog. Jess wasn't sure what he was supposed to say or do for that matter. And Rory was trying to find a way to put a stop to this awkward silence between them. She gazed around the boardwalk and spotted the beach. The rain had falling into a light drizzle by now, hardly noticeable and the sky was slowly starting to clear up.

R: ''Jess, can we go to the beach ?''

Jess' neutral expression was almost interrupted by a smile, but he chose to hid it instead. He shrugged and started to head for the beach, knowing that Rory would follow him. When they reached the beach, he heard Rory gasp and glanced at her. Her usual carefree smile was back in place and her eyes were trying to take in everything at the same time.

R: ''It's amazing.''

Finally a small smile broke through on Jess' face. He put his hands in his pockets and slowly followed her as she started to head for the water. Suddenly she turned around and looked at Jess.

R: ''I've never seen the ocean before. I mean I read about it, but seeing it is definitely different.''

Jess didn't say anything, but silently agreed with her. He had never seen the ocean before he moved here either. And the first time he came here, he remembered standing almost at the same spot, just staring at the water and the sky above it. Amazed by the different shades of blue that could be found in them. Just like Rory's eyes. There were too many different shades of blue in them. He wasn't even sure if there were names for all the different colors. He sat down and watched Rory as she looked at the ocean for a while, waiting for the waves to reach the shore. Every time they did, she would run away, not wanting her shoes to get wet. Finally she joined him again and sat down next to him.

R: ''Remind me that I bring my bathing suit next time.''

J: ''You came to Venice Beach without a bathing suit ?''

R: ''Yeah, well, I kinda had some other things on my mind.''

J: ''Bringing a bathing suit wasn't one of them ?''

Rory shook her head and curled her knees up so she could wrap her arms around them. Now that the awkwardness faded she started to think about how nice it was to be so close to Jess again.

J: ''So, where are you staying ?''

Rory shrugged.

R: ''Hotel probably. One with the view of the ocean.''

J: ''No you're not.''

R: ''Okay, one without a view of the ocean then ?''

J: ''You're staying at Jimmy's.''

R: ''No..............I can't.''

J: ''Yes, you can and you are.''

Without giving her another chance to object, he got up and started to walk, but Rory stopped him though.

R: ''Jess ?''

He turned around and met her unsure eyes.

R: ''What's your father like ?''

Jess shrugged.

J: ''He's okay.''

R: ''Okay.''

Rory shot him a small smile, glad that he was getting along with his dad. Jess didn't smile, but the shadow that had been covering his eyes disappeared, as if finally realizing that Rory was really here. He reached out his hand and as soon as Rory placed her hand in his, he closed his hand around hers. He promised himself not to ever let go again, but as soon as he helped her up, he let go of her hand again. Not because he didn't want to touch her, but because he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. What was she expecting from him ?

They were on their way to Jimmy's house when suddenly Rory stopped walking. Jess noticed and turned around to face her.

J: ''What ?''

Rory lowered her eyes.

R: ''I'm not good at meeting parents.''

J: ''Well, Jimmy's not good in meeting or taking care of teens.''

Rory raised her eyes and locked eyes with Jess. She caught a glimpse of regret in Jess' eyes, but when she looked again it had been replaced by his usual unreadable expression.

R: ''Jess...............''

J: ''Sasha is though.''

R: ''Who's Sasha ?''

Jess smirked slightly at the fact that she got the subtile hint that he didn't want to talk about Jimmy. They could still read each other. At least that didn't change.

J: ''His girlfriend.''

They continued walking again, Rory not sure what to expect. When they reached Jimmy's house, they were greeted by at least ten dogs. Rory smiled.

R: ''I love animals. We had a fish once, but my mom is so not a pet person, so you get where I'm going with this, right ? The fish, I think his name was Lucky, well he wasn't so lucky, cause he accidentally ended up being cooked. I think she did it on purpose though, cause she was jealous of how much attention I was paying to Lucky.''

Jess shook his head, but couldn't help to smile. He actually missed her rambling, which was strange cause he had only been here a couple of weeks, a month maybe. As he walked into the garden, the dogs came closer and started to bark.

R: ''They don't bite, right ?''

J: ''I thought you loved animals.''

R: ''Animals that don't bite. Did I forget the not biting part again ?''

Jess softly chuckled.

J: ''Don't worry. The last time I checked they didn't bite.''

R: ''Good, cause if they attack me or anything, you're coming down with me.''

J: ''That's reassuring.''

The first thing Rory noticed when they entered the house, were the bright colors. She smiled. She liked all the pictures and stuff too. She felt as if she just stepped into an abstract painting or something. It was amazing. When they went into the living room, they ran in to two people, which she figured were Jimmy and Sasha.

Jimmy: ''Jess, you already have a girlfriend ?''

Rory cringed at the thought of Jess having a girlfriend. What if he did ?

Sasha shot Jimmy a warning look and returned her gaze to Jess and Rory.

S: ''Who's this ?''

J: ''Rory.''

Both Jimmy and Sasha looked at Rory and she started to feel uncomfortable under their curious gazes. Subconsciously she reached for Jess' hand. Jess entwined his fingers with hers, hiding a grin behind his careless expression. It was comforting to know that she still reached for him when she felt uncomfortable around people.

R: ''Nice to meet you.''

Jimmy: ''Wish you had some of her manors Jess.''

Sasha shot him another look and smiled an apologetic smile at Rory. Rory liked Sasha even though she didn't really know her..........yet.

S: ''I'm Sasha and the one that resembles the IQ of a three-year-old is Jimmy.''

Jimmy: ''So, are you his girlfriend ?''

Sasha sighed as she mouthed hopeless to Rory and Jess. Rory shrugged, avoiding Jess' eyes.

R: ''I'm not sure.''

It was the truth. She wasn't sure if she was his girlfriend anymore.

Sasha nodded in Jimmy's direction.

S: ''The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It took me a year to figure out if it was okay for me to kiss him in public.''

Rory softly laughed at Sasha's comment. By the looks of it they were both really nice people and Jess was lucky to have them.

Jimmy: ''So, I'm guessing you're staying for dinner ?''

Rory looked at Jess, not sure what to answer. Her eyes filled with insecureness.

J: ''Well, I was kinda wondering if she could crash here for a little while ?''

Sasha looks from Jess to Rory and nodded.

S: ''You're welcome to stay as long as you want.''

Jess let out a sigh of relief. He could always rely on Sasha to make things easy for him.

J: ''Thanks Sasha.''

Jimmy: ''You can just share Jess' bed.''

Rory started to blush and wanted to back away, but Jess stopped her. Sasha hit Jimmy on the arm and gave him an annoyed look.

S: ''Jess can take the couch and you can sleep on his mattress.''

Jimmy: ''Which is on the ground.''

R: ''I can't. I already told Jess that I couldn't, but he wouldn't listen.''

Jimmy: ''I know someone who does that too.''

Sasha shot him an angry look and Jimmy smiled sweetly at her.

Jimmy: ''Love you too Sash.''

Rory caught Jess rolling his eyes, but she knew that he didn't really mind. He just had to get used to all this family stuff.

S: ''There's no way I'm letting you stay at an hotel, kay ?''

Rory nodded.

R: ''Thank you.''

S: ''You're welcome. Now, I'm going to get some groceries. Lily ! Are you coming !?''

Rory looked at Jess with a confused look on her face. Who was Lily ? Sasha saw it and answered her question.

S: ''Lily's my daughter. Not Jimmy's.''

Jimmy: ''Yeah, we're still working on that.''

He winked at Sasha.

J: ''Ah geez.''

Rory smiled and leaned towards Jess to whisper something in his ear.

R: ''They're nice.''

For a minute they both forgot about what they had said and done and enjoyed being so close to each other again. Jess smirked slightly at the feel of her warm breath against his cheek. Rory was captivated by his neck and wanting nothing more than to place soft kisses on it, but of course she didn't.

Suddenly a girl came running into the room. She was wearing glasses and had her hair into two pigtails that cheerfully bounced when she came jumping into the room. When she noticed Rory she stopped and looked at Sasha.

L: ''Who's that ?''

S: ''That's Rory.''

Lily turned around to look at Rory.

L: ''You're Rory ?''

R: ''Yeah, I'm a friend of Jess.''

She couldn't believe how easily those words slipped out of her mouth. She immediately regretted saying them when Jess let go of her hand.

S: ''She's staying with us for a couple of days.''

A huge grin appeared on Lily's face as she started to jump up and down.

L: ''Do you wanna sleep in my room ?''

Rory looked at Sasha, who nodded at her.

R: ''Sure.''

She smiled at the girl who smiled back at her.

L: ''You wanna come to the store with us ?''

R: ''Yeah, I would love that.''

Lily reached out her hand and Rory took it.

L: ''Do you read ?''

Sasha rolled her eyes as the two girls got into a conversation about the books they had read.

S: ''Let's go. We'll be back.''

The three girls left, leaving Jess and Jimmy alone.

Jimmy: ''So, Rory huh ? Is she your girlfriend ?''

Jess shrugged.

J: ''Don't know.''

Jimmy: ''She seems nice.''

J: ''She is.''

Jimmy: ''Then what the hell is she doing with you ?''

It was meant as a joke and Jess knew it, but still he couldn't laugh about it. What was she doing with him ? What was she doing here ?