*Sexual Content, Violence, and Swearing. Do not read if these subjects offend you.*

"What is going on here?"

'Not the best way to wake up.' Jess thought. Groggily, he looked over at Rory who was sleeping in his arms. Then it registered. Lorelai was the one who had yelled, she had saw them together, in bed, the way they were. She had to have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Recognition seemed to dawn for him at the exact same time that it did for Rory, because as his mind started racing trying to find a way to fix it she shot up.

"Mom, Mom! It's not what it looks like! Really!"

It wasn't what it looked liked. Yeah, sure, Jess was in Rory's bed, naked from the waist up, his jeans unbuttoned, hair thoroughly mussed while Rory was in just a T-shirt and underwear. But it wasn't what it looked like.

Rory had changed her mind, decided that what she was doing wasn't right and that it was probably because of all the excitement from when Dean had tried to rape her, Dean being killed, and Jess facing some serious problems that had made her want him. At that moment at least. Right then hadn't been right. And while Jess was more than a bit frustrated he had stopped. They had spent the night talking about books and movies and music. Apparently, they had fallen asleep. That was just wonderful. Exactly what they both needed.

"Jess, get out. Rory, kitchen." Lorelai said between clenched teeth.

Jess gave Rory a small smile, a grim one that was meant to assure her. It didn't do its job. He slipped on his shoes and gathered his clothes and left. Rory walked into the kitchen.

"Mom...." Rory pleaded, not sure of what to say.

Lorelai didn't say anything, instead she went over the phone and angrily dialed a number. It was a few seconds before anyone answered.

"Luke's Diner." Luke said. He sounded grumpier than usual and somewhat bland. If Lorelai had been in the mood to analyze it she probably would have noticed that he was trying to cover up some deep pain. He had thought Jess bolted. He had known that he probably would, but it would have been nice to at least get a goodbye.

"Luke. Glad I could reach you. It's...." She looked at the clock. ".......six-thirty in the morning, do you know where your nephew is?" She sounded very grumpy and angrily sarcastic.

"No. No, actually I don't. He booked last night. He's gone."

"Oh. That's interesting. Because you know what Luke? I know exactly where the little bastard is." Once again her teeth were clenched as she spoke. Rory flinched from her spot at the table.

"What? You do? Where?" Maybe he had told Rory where he was going and she had told Lorelai. That small flicker of hope outweighed the anger he heard in Lorelai's voice and the harsh name she had used.

"Walking back to the diner. Still probably half naked."

"What?" He was genuinely confused.

"Oh, nothing much. I just came in to wake Rory up and found him in bed with her. Both half naked."

"Oh. Did....." He didn't even bother to finish the question. He knew that if that was Jess had gone there for he had probably got it. He hated to admit it but it was true. Disappointment flashed through him. For Jess, for Rory, and for himself.

"I don't know Luke. I just don't know anymore. I thought Rory was a good girl. I thought she knew better."

"I'm sorry, Lorelai." He didn't know what else to say. Just then Jess walked into the diner, still pulling on his jacket. "What the hell were you thinking?" He bellowed. "Get upstairs!" He lowered his voice. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to go, I have to deal with this."

"Yeah, me too." Lorelai sighed. "Bye."

"Bye." Luke hung up the phone. He shook his head. "Caesar, you're in charge." With that he turned and walked up the stairs and into the apartment.

"Luke...." Jess said almost pathetically as Luke walked into the apartment. Usually he wouldn't care that someone thought he did something he didn't. He wouldn't have even taken the time to try to explain it. But this was Luke. Luke who had taken him in when all of his resources had been tapped out and his own mother wasn't willing to give him another go. This was the Luke who had tried to make him comfortable. Usually none of that would have mattered, either. But Luke had basically saved his life. In more ways than one.

"Shut up, Jess. Just shut up." Luke's voice was filled with sorrow and disappointment. He tried to conceal it with exasperation but it wasn't there.

"Let me explain! It wasn't how it looked." He began to stand up but sat back down quickly when Luke whirled around.

"It wasn't? It wasn't. You didn't sleep with Rory? That's rich, Jess. That's real rich!" His voice was dripping with anger.

For once in his life Jess kept quiet.

"I told you to stay away from her, Jess! We had a deal! A deal! But no, you couldn't do that could you? Damn it Jess! Damn it! How could you do that to my Rory?" Suddenly he felt the same feeling he had when he found out Liz had gotten herself pregnant. A hot poker straight into the belly. Once again he had failed someone. Not just someone, two someones.

"Your Rory?" Jess was furious. "Who the hell do you think you are? You're not her fucking father and you sure as hell aren't mine! If we chose to sleep together it would be our goddamn business, not yours. But it just so happens that we didn't sleep together! But you don't care do you? You can only see the bad things in me, you don't give a goddamn do you? You want to believe I spoiled your perfect little Rory, go on believing it."

"Jess..." His teeth were clenched and his voice very quiet. A dangerous stillness had surrounded them, encased them into the room. Even the diner downstairs had gone quiet. Anger, pure anger, weighed everything down.

"I don't give a shit what you think about me, Luke!" Jess went on, not even hearing his own words. "But you will not, will not, talk about Rory like that. Do you think she's stupid enough to sleep with me? Do you really think that Luke? Do you really think Rory is a..." The word was in his mouth, the tip of his tongue. It tasted foul, worse even than soured milk. "a whore?"

Quick as lightening, loud as a thunderbolt. Then he was reeling, falling backwards into his chair. His cheek, his left cheek, was humming. He stared up at Luke with a look of utter confusion on his face. Then it struck him, nearly as hard as the actual hit had been. Luke punched him.

"Don't you ever call Rory a whore." It was barely a whisper. Something unreadable crossed Luke's eyes and instantly a shiver of terror traveled down Jess' spine. Almost as quickly that terror was replaced once again by anger.

"I wasn't the one insinuating that Rory was a whore! I wasn't the one who even suggested that she'd sleep with someone she has barely known for a few weeks! Rory Gilmore may be a lot of things but she is no whore! You want to know what I think?" Jess was up in Luke's face, a very dangerous thing to do considering.

"What? What do you think, Jess?"

"I think that you know Lorelai spread her legs when she was sixteen and you know where that got her. And you can't help but think Rory is going to follow in her footsteps and screw her life up. You think it's your fault because you brought me here, little Jimmy Jr., the impregnator in your eyes. And oh, I'm a bad ass so of course little Gilmore is going to follow in big Gilmore's footsteps and go straight to bed with me. And it's all your fault."

Ouch. Right to the bone.

"Get out." Once again it was barely audible.

"What?"

"You have to go, Jess. Get out."

"Fine. Fine." Deep down he felt the pain. But he wouldn't acknowledge it. " I'll pack my stuff and be out within the hour."

"No. Leave the stuff. I'll send it to New York. Just go, Jess." The same sorrow that was in his voce when he had first walked into the room was present, and very palpable now.

Dropping it, Jess walked to the door. He stopped as if he were about to say something else, then started walking again. Moments later Luke walked down into the diner. Everything was quiet surreal. He walked behind the counter. Taylor walked up.

"No!" Luke yelled at him and walked into the kitchen.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm just writing a short A/N checking in. How is everyone? I'm good. Oh, thanks to everyone who has been reviewing. I really appreciate it. And I do listen to you comments, I worked in something that someone, I apologize for not remembering exactly who it was, said. The 'Rory only knowing Jess for a few weeks' thing. So, if you have any ideas on what you want to happen in later chapters you can mention them. I may not use them but then again I just might. I'm sorry this was so short, but I didn't want to add anything else to it and spoil the Luke/Jess scene. I tried, but it all downplayed the emotion there. You guys get what I mean. So, I had this done like, a month ago, but I was fiddling with extensions. Sorry it's late. I may be taking a little longer to post stuff than usual, but the time in between posting I'll use to make it really good. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Any questions or concerns write them in a review. I'll check back in in a few chapters.

Also, did anyone else notice that Milo Ventimigla's name was not in the opening credits this past Tuesday?

~*~*Manda*~*~