Title: Southern Hospitality

Chapter 6: Questions, Questions…

A/N: Guess what! I'm not dead!

So sorry for the long wait…I finished "Back In Stars Hollow (Again)" and started another story ("The Debutante And Her Entourage"). I also got a website, h t t p: //w w w. home. earthlink .net / ~ sami _ peace2u

Visit it! It's cool….

The story.

The story is now told in different POV's. The two in this chapter are Rory and Jess, and the transitions are pretty short, because the transitions need to be pretty short.

This is a big chapter, in term of stuff happening.

Lots of stuff happens.

*grin*

You'll love it, I swear.

~*~*~*~*~

Jess

"So, uh, I thought you took the MARTA to work," Rory says awkwardly.

From the passenger seat of my SUV. A grand total of maybe ten inches between us.

Ten inches. That's not much.

"We usually do, but we usually go about seven or so, because Brett back there," I point my thumb to my daughter in the backseat, "can't handle rush hour. Unfortunately, this morning someone made us late, so we're driving."

"Ah," Rory stifles a grin. Great. My ex-girlfriend is sitting ten inches away from me, and secretly making fun of me in her head.

To change the subject, I ask, "So what are you gonna do with your two weeks vacation time?"

"Uh, I dunno." Rory shrugs. "I'll probably head up to Stars Hollow, visit Mom and Luke and Susie. Oh, you know what? You two should come with me! I'm sure Brett would love to meet Susie."

Oh, dear God. Did she just ask that?

What do I say to that? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Ugh. Too many baby movies.

Rory

Oh, my God. I'm such an idiot! Did I just ask that? Did I just invite my last serious boyfriend and his daughter to go back to Stars Hollow with me?

Well…in a word, yes.

And that means that I've got to decide one thing.

Do I acknowledge the question, or do I ignore it?

If I acknowledge the question, do I laugh like it's a joke? Do I ask what he thinks, seriously?

"We're here," Jess announces, somewhat awkwardly.

"Okay," I say, slowly unbuckling my seatbelt as Jess jumps out of his own seat.

We're ignoring the question.

Jess

We're definitely ignoring the question. Just bypassing it. Completely.

I unbuckle Brett, who has been uncharacteristically unquiet during the trip. As I lift her from the car and start to carry her into the bookstore, she asks, "Who's Susie?"

"Uncle Luke's little girl," I answer.

"Can I meet her? Pleeeze?" She laces her fingers together and gives me the puppy dog eyes and lowered bottom lip.

"Careful, you're gonna trip on your lip," I tell her. She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest.

"I wanna meet Susie!"

"Okay, okay, we'll go."

"Yay!" Brett jumps from my arms and runs into the back room of the store, where the books she picked out yesterday are still stacked. I walk over to Rory, who's already been taken under Alice's wing.

"We'll go," I tell her quietly.

A smile slowly spreads across Rory's face as Alice nosily asks, "Go where?"

I return Rory's smile and ignore Alice by walking to the front counter.

So we'll go.

Matched by my four-year-old daughter. It's practically a really bad romantic comedy already.

Rory

I follow Jess' boss Alice into the back stacks, where I've already offered to work.

"Are you sure you don't mind this?" she asks.

"Oh, no, of course not. I've always loved books."

"Good." She smiles. "You know, you and Jess will make a wonderful couple."

I blush. "We're not a couple."

"Oh, I know. Not yet. You want to get used to the whole 'daughter' thing first."

"Well, that's not what I meant. Jess and I used to go out; we don't anymore."

"Why'd you split up?"

"Uh…he moved to California." I shrug. A look of understanding comes into Alice's eyes.

"You're the girl," she says softly.

"Uh, what girl?" I ask nervously.

"The girl he left behind. The girl he can't stop talking about."

A weird, warm feeling rushes over me when I hear that. Jess can't stop talking about me. I try not to grin, but it's apparently impossible. Alice smiles.

"I knew it. I knew you two looked amazingly close when you walked in."

"We didn't walk in together," I protest, but she shakes her head.

"And then when he came over and said 'we'll go', that look you two shared! You're definitely in love."

"What?" I scoff. "No, we're not. At least, I'm not. And I've never known Jess to be in love."

"I have. And he is in love. He'll just never show it. But I know." She smiles knowingly, and then shoves a large box of books into my arms. "Put those there, in alphabetical order." She points to a shelf, winks, and leaves.

Boy. News. Big news.

And…he's coming with me to Stars Hollow!

As I shelve the first few books, I try to understand what this means. Does he love me?

Do I love him?

Questions, questions….

But where are the answers?

~*~*~*

Jess

"Is Wory coming over again?" Brett asks after work as I pick her up. I pause at the mention of Wory's—I mean, Rory's—name.

"I don't know; do you want her to?" I ask. Brett nods. "She's nice."

"Okay. We'll have to ask her, but maybe she'll say yes."

"She will." Brett nods.

"Oh, and you know this for a fact?"

Brett nods again.

"Okay." I stop as Rory comes into sight; she's laughing at something Alice is saying. I whisper to Brett, "How about you ask her? Then she'll definitely say yes."

"Okay." Brett wriggles from my arms and skips over to Rory. She tugs on Rory's pants leg and says something. Rory looks over at me. I pick up a book quickly and pretend to read. Rory smirks, and I realize the book is upside down. Found out, I put the book down and wave. Rory smiles and nods to Brett. Brett comes skipping back over and grabs my hand.

"C'mon! She said yeah!" I allow Brett to drag me from the store, smiling at Rory as I'm dragged by her. She smiles back.

~*~*~*

Rory

Jess, Brett, and I have an interesting, completely unhealthy dinner. Luke has apparently passed on his superb burger making skills, and I'm completely grateful to him.

After one and a half burgers each—except for Brett, who had a half burger—and an endless supply of french fries, we gathered on the couch in his living room to watch a movie. Brett picks it out, but still, she drifts off within half an hour of the newest Disney/Pixar movie. Jess and I finish watching the movie, letting Brett sleep.

After the credits roll, Jess pushes himself from the couch and groans under the weight of the sleeping Brett. I half-smile, and he half-smiles back and troupes up the stairs.

I just sit there on the couch for a minute, before realizing that I can be helpful and do the dishes while Jess is upstairs. I make my way to the kitchen and notice a CD player next to the sink. Intrigued, I turn it on—quietly, so as not to wake Brett—as I begin to do the dishes.

The first thirty seconds are vaguely familiar, but it's the drums and bass beat that start after a minute that's got my foot tapping. I recognize this song. It's "Love Burns", by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and one of my favorites.

Cheesily, as the chorus picks up, I start dancing while washing the dishes. After a few minutes, I'm really getting into it, and, holding a sopping wet glass, I spin around.

Jess is leaning against the doorjamb, smirking.

"Hi," I say sheepishly.

He shakes his head and trudges past me to the sink, getting a glass of water. I turn back around to face him.

"What?"

He shakes his head again, leaning on the sink and drinking his water.

I stare at him, waiting.

He finishes his water and puts the glass in the dishwasher, and then walks past me again, smirking.

"You're such a girl."

I run after him as he makes his way into the living room and push.

"Whoa!" he yells, falling over the arm of the couch and landing face down on the cushions. He rolls over on his back so he's staring at me. I smirk.

"I'm not a girl, I'm a woman."

He smirks. I open my mouth to say more, but he hooks his foot behind my knee and pulls, quickly enough that I stumble and fall towards the arm of the couch. He grabs my arm and pulls me to the couch so that I fall on top of him, my head to his chest.

"Fine." God. His smirk. I swear, I can hear it. "You're such a woman."

"And what does that mean?" I ask, putting my hands on the cushions on either side of him so I can crawl where our faces are on the same level. "Are you being chauvinistic?"

"Always."

"I oughta wipe that smirk right from your face."

"Oh, just try."

I pause. He's so very, very, close. I can fell his breath. Ohhh. I feel like a teenager. "I will."

He takes his time before responding. "Okay."

I take my time. "Okay."

"Okay," he whispers.

"Yeah," I whisper back.

He leans up.

I lean down.

We kiss.

God, he's a great kisser.

Jess

I've missed Rory. Like hell. It doesn't hit me until our lips touch. All of the emotion that's been shoved into the back of my head and heart rushes forward and I transfer it into Rory.

Rory

I can't believe I'm doing this.

I grab Jess' shirt and start to pull us to a standing position. He helps, moving his hands from my back to the couch and pushing us up.

Jess

When we're both standing she starts to walk me to the front stairway, moving her hands from my shirt and hooking them behind my neck. I shake my head slightly and lead her to the back staircase, which isn't twisted and harder to fall on.

Rory

We start climbing the carpeted back stairs. As we reach the top, he leads me down the hallway. We pass Brett's half-closed door, and then he turns us around and pushes me flat against a closed door.

Jess

She moves one of her hands to the doorknob and I nod.

She pushes and we fall into my bedroom, onto the bed.

Rory

He sprawls on top of me and moves his head to my neck. I take this opportunity to remove his shirt.

Seconds before our lips make contact again, he asks, "Are you sure you want to do this?

Jess

She nods. "Positive."

Rory

He attacks my lips fiercely and we continue.

~*~*~*

Jess

I lay in bed, just staring at her. Rory. God, she looks so damn beautiful….

She smiles slightly in her sleep, and I reach out as if to trace it. I made that smile. I'm the one who helped that smile come about.

I sigh and roll onto my back. Oh, my God, I just had sex with Rory. Rory Gilmore. The princess of Stars Hollow. My ex-girlfriend. The girl I devastated all those years ago.

But the feelings she stirs inside of me….

"Daddy." Knock-knock! "Daddy!" There's frantic knocking from the other side of my door…I groan and push myself from bed, slipping into a pair of boxers on my way to the door.

"What is it, Brett?" I ask, opening the door a little ways and crouching on the floor, at her level. She tries to push the door open, but I don't let her.

"I had a bad dream." She tries the door again, and grunts with the effort with which she's pushing the door. "I want to sleep with you."

"Let's go sleep back in your room."

"But I wanna sleep in your room!" Her lower lip juts out, and I can see she's preparing to wail.

"Shh, shh, in your room you can keep all of your stuffed animals."

She pauses, and then grins and puts her hand in mine. "Let's go!"

I sigh. "Let's go."

I hazard a glance in at Rory before softly shutting my door behind me as I allow Brett to drag me down the hall.

Rory

I wake up alone in bed, curled up in a warm flannel comforter. I almost panic, but then realize I'm lying in Jess' bed.

I grin.

Jess' bed. It sounds so…forbidden. I pull the comforter around me tighter, and then almost panic again when I realize I'm alone. But then I hear a slight murmuring coming from down the hall.

"I'm the man who murdered love. Yeah! Whaddya think to that?"

I smile, gather the comforter around me, and make my way towards the singing.

"If you never ever use it, you know you're gonna lose it. If you never ever kiss it, how you ever gonna miss it?"

"Jess?" I ask as he pauses.

"Oh!" He looks up from Brett's empty bed, but keeps his head on her head and continues rocking her in his lap. "Sorry. She just…woke up." He shrugs. "But, you know, I wasn't running out or anything."

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to. It is, after all, your house." I grin and lean against the doorjamb.

"Oh. Right." He nods, and then slowly ceases rocking. When he's at a full stop, he glances down at Brett. When he realizes she's definitely sleeping, he carefully transfers her into her own bed, replacing his arm with a stuffed bunny. He rubs her hair off her forehead tenderly, and then walks to where I'm standing.

"Let her sleep," he whispers, leaving her door ajar and leading me back to his room. I sit on his bed, and he wanders over to a chair near the window. He glances at the rapidly lightening sky, before turning back to me.

"We have quite a few things to talk about," I say.

"Yes, we do."