A/N: I know, I know, I haven't post in a while.. I'm not trying to find some lame excuse, I just want to let you know the facts. One of my friend passed away. I wasn't in the mood to write. This chapter might not be the best, but I'm trying to go back to my writings.  I'll try to write more often, but I can't promise anything. Again, sorry for making you wait so long for this chapter. Jess' surprise to Rory will come soon. Next chapter I think.

Chapter 7 – Tell her what?

The trip was quite pleasant for both Rory and Jess. They were happy together and they had a lot of fun. Jess was anxious though. He didn't know if Rory would like his surprise. His old friend from New York was in Daytona Beach to help him with the surprise. Everything was already ready, Jess knew it 'cause he had called Mark earlier when they had stopped in Jacksonville, Florida. They were almost in Daytona Beach!

Jess glanced at Rory. She had just fallen asleep and she seemed so peaceful with a soft smile on her face.

A long moment later, Jess parked his car in the driveway of a small house. It was a small cottage with only four pieces: a kitchen, a living-room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Either they would share the bedroom or Jess would sleep on the couch. He didn't mind; he didn't want to scare Rory with a too-fast-for-her relationship thing. He was exhausted because he had driven all the way here, but he didn't want to wake Rory up so he managed something to carry her in the cottage.

He gently put her on the bed and sighed. He was about to head to the living-room when he heard Rory call his name.

"Jess."

"Yes?" he asked.

"Jess, stay with me", she said.

Jess barely heard what Rory said, but he understood. She was feeling lonely and he didn't want her to be scared in the middle of the night, not knowing where she was.

He didn't say anything; he just laid down next to her so he could protect her. It was a good thing, 'cause in the middle of the night, Rory screamed. It woke Jess up. He glanced at his watch; it was 3:47 a.m.

"Rory, shhhh, I'm here", Jess said, trying to comfort her.

"Where are we?" she asked, still sleepy.

"In Daytona Beach", he replied.

"Oh", she said, remembering the trip. "Why aren't you sleeping?" she asked.

"I was…" Jess replied with a small smile.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up! It's just that I didn't know where I was and I terribly miss my mother," Rory said.

She was starting to panic. Her mother would certainly call her first thing in the morning, as usual. Also, there was Paris. She couldn't forget to call her. She had promise she would call to let her know where she was.

"Go back to sleep, Rory. You'll talk to your mom this morning," Jess said.

He was still tired, but he couldn't help thinking of what he would do later that day. He would open up to Rory. Maybe she would understand now what he had been trying to tell her for months. He had never done before what he would do this afternoon. He had never done anything for a girl. Rory was different.

Rory sighed. A moment later, Jess could hear her softly breath. She was already asleep. Jess smiled and laid down next to Rory again.

When Rory woke up in the morning, Jess was in the kitchen, making breakfast.

"'Morning Sleeping Beauty!"

"'Morning Diner boy. Having fun?" Rory asked, smiling.

"Oh yeah! You're really missing something," Jess said with a smirk on his face.

"I'm sure I am, but it's for your own safety. You wouldn't want the kitchen to be burnt, would you?"

"Of course not! That's exactly why you'll sit down and wait", Jess replied.

"I won't sit down and wait!" Rory protested.

"Yes, you will."

"No, I won't."

"Yes, you will."

"Nuh-uh."

"Whatever", Jess said.

"I won, I won!" Rory exclaimed playfully. "I'm calling Paris," she added.

Jess glanced at Rory, a bit concerned, but he said nothing, afraid that it might confuse Rory more than she was.

Rory headed to the room and searched for her cell phone. It was in her yellow pack sac. She took it and dialled Paris' number.

"Paris Gellar", a cold voice said.

"Paris, it's Rory", Rory said.

"Rory!" Paris exclaimed. "Where are you?" she asked.

"Daytona Beach", Rory answered.

Paris gasped.

"What? You are in Florida?" she asked. "What are you doing in Florida? When will you be back? You do realize that you'll be gone longer than we expected, right?"

Rory wanted to laugh, but didn't 'cause she knew Paris was serious.

"Paris, calm down. Everything's okay."

"You want me to calm down? Rory, you want me to CALM DOWN? You are in Florida and I'll have to lie to a lot of people to protect you. God, Rory, I can't believe I'm doing this. It better be worth it", Paris shouted.

"Yes, I'll tell you everything, Paris", Rory promised.

They hung up. Rory sighed. Just then, her cell phone rang.

"Paris, I told you I would tell you everything, what more do you want?" Rory asked.

"Tell her what?" Lorelai asked on the other line, curious and full of energy as always.

"Mom! Well, huh… tell her about.. the super meeting I'm going. She's.. sick! She can come with me and you know Paris, she wanted to come too, but I told her to stay in bed and that I would tell her everything. She called me twice in ten minutes so I thought it was her calling again", I rambled.

Lorelai didn't catch the lie, Rory wouldn't lie to her, would she? She had nothing to worry about.

"Mini-Me, I miss you!" Lorelai said.

"I miss you too, Mom. You know, there's only like.. Two weeks remaining. I'll be home in no time. How's the Inn?" Rory asked.

"Oh you know, the usual, Michel being himself. Enough said", Lorelai said, laughing.

"And Sookie? How is she?", Rory asked.

She missed everyone in town. Asking questions made her feel better.

"There was no mention of a fire in Stars Hollow so she didn't burn the kitchen this week", Lorelai replied with a funny tone.

Rory laughed with her mom.

"Don't forget to buy me a lot of gifts", Lorelai added.

"I promise", Rory said.

She was sure she would have to control herself not to buy some gifts to her mother from Florida. It would be a real hard thing.

"I love you, Mini-Me."

"Love you too, Mom."

Rory hung up and turned to Jess.

"Well, that wasn't that bad", she said. "I thought it would have been harder to keep this a secret from my mom…"

"You'll tell her eventually. I know you will. You can't keep something away from her for a long time. She always knows", Jess simply declared.

Jess didn't really care. As long as Rory kept the secret while they're here, everything would be perfect. Back in Stars Hollow, he would just say it was all his fault. Lorelai would hate him and so would Luke. He didn't want to think about it for now. He had something else in mind.

In the afternoon, Jess decided that it was the time. While Rory was in the shower, he called his friend Mark.

"Mark." A voice said.

"Mark, have you never learnt how to greet people on the phone?" Jess said sarcastically.

"Jess, my man! Ready for the big day?" he asked, amused.

"Yeah. You better not laugh at me", Jess warned.

"I hope the girl is worthy it", Mark said, suddenly serious.

"Believe me, she is."

"Okay, so see you in an hour", Mark said.

"Yep yep."

Jess hung up and waited for Rory in the living room.

Okay, sorry about this chapter, it sucks :s I'm not really in a creative mood. I'll write chapter 8 as soon as possible.  Thanks for reading.

Sarah