As soon as they had entered the apartment the lights went out. Due to the lack of windows in the living room and kitchen the place was completely dark. "Jess?" Rory asked timidly. "I'm right here," Jess answered from behind her. Grabbing her hand Jess pulled her towards the kitchen. "I left the flashlight and candles in the kitchen," he said as he felt his way towards the kitchen.

"Ow! Damn it," Jess muttered as he ran into the couch.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really scared."

Grabbing the flashlight off the counter Jess turned around and looked at her in the harsh light of the beam, "Yeah I know, so am I," he admitted. "So has that school of yours ever taught you how to deal with tornados?"

"Ummm..well they're more into teaching us what a triangle equals, not really any useful survival tactics. I think though during a tornado or earthquake or something you're supposed to stand in a doorway or get under a table or something."

"Okay so which one should we do?" Jess asked just as something came crashing through his bedroom window sending a gust of wind and rain through the opening. "Uh..I think it may be wise if we got under the table to keep safe from flying objects."

"Good idea," Rory exclaimed as a book came flying past her head. She quickly crawled under the kitchen table as Jess followed her.

After a few minutes without either one of them saying a word Rory looked at Jess and laughed, "I'm bored."

Hiding a smile Jess replied, "Only you could be bored while the building comes down around us and a natural disaster is ripping the town apart."

"I know! Is that wrong of me?" Rory asked innocently.

Glancing at her Jess took the flashlight and started making animal shapes on the kitchen floor. Rory laughed, "See you're obviously bored too." Rory jumped when they heard more glass breaking and what sounded like a train running through Luke's room. Fully aware that when she had jumped she had grabbed a hold of Jess she looked at him embarrassed, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We're both a little freaked." Another loud crash made the two teens jump into each other's arms. Rory glanced at him, "Maybe it would be better if we just stayed this way."

Surprised at how forward she had been Jess had to agree. Trying to distract her from the noises that they heard Jess started asking her questions about her childhood. Within a couple minutes Jess could feel her start to drift asleep. Letting her sleep he held her for nearly an hour before Luke and Lorelai came crashing through the door.

"Rory!!" Lorelai yelled. "Jess!!" Luke yelled.

"We're over here," Jess answered as he woke Rory up. Still groggy from her nap Rory almost jumped up when she heard her mom at the last second she remembered that she was under the table. Crawling out from under the table she flew into her mother's arms, "Oh my god! I was soooo scared. Are you okay mom?"

Standing up Jess watched the pair wishing he had someone who cared about him that much. Without warning Luke pulled him into a hug. "Thank god you two are okay. When we saw the downstairs we were almost afraid to come up here," Luke said as he let go of Jess.

Embarrassed by the display of affection the two men just looked at each other. Jess smiled slowly, "It's okay Uncle Luke. We're fine." Nodding Luke walked off briskly to survey the damage done to the apartment. Emotions made him rather uncomfortable.

Disentangling herself from her mother Rory stepped over to Jess, "Are you okay?"

Not trusting his voice he simply nodded.

"Jess, I want to thank-you for keeping Rory safe," Lorelai said stepping over to him. "Don't look so surprised. From time to time I give credit where credit is due."

Stepping back into the room after taking a look at the damage in his and Jess' room Luke looked at the weird expression on his nephew's face. "Well it looks like the most damage actually happened to the diner."

"How bad is it?" Jess asked.

"Oh my god," Rory whispered taking in the destruction to the diner. Tree limbs had taken out every single window. Looking outside she could see a few tables and chairs in the middle of the road. There was debris strewn through out the diner and on the counter. It would take at least a good day just to clean up the inside let alone repair the windows. Glancing at her mom Rory asked, "What does our house look like?" "I don't know honey. We came straight here. After seeing this though I'm a little afraid to find out."