A/N: Hey everyone, this is a one part Lit fic. I hope you all like it. Thanks go out to Stephanie for beta-ing and encouraging me to post this. Please review if you like it.

She showed up at his doorstep one night.

He was coming home from a long day of delivering package after package when he saw a figure slumped against his door, their head down, resting on their knees which were drawn up to their chest.

At the sound of his approaching footsteps, the person lifted their head and stood up. As he slowly approached them, the person's face finally came into his view and his eyes widened.

It was her.

The same her that he had been slowly trying not to picture every time he closed his eyes.

The same her who had turned him down and sent him away just a few weeks ago.

Jess spoke passionately as he followed her into her now empty dorm room

"Look, you know we're supposed to be together. I knew it the first time I saw you two years ago, and you know it, too. I know you do. "

Rory yelled, "No, no, no, no, no," trying to deny what she felt inside.

"Don't say 'no' just to make me stop talking or make me go away." Jess said, "Only say 'no' if you really don't want to be with me."

Rory paused for a minute and said quietly, "No!"

Jess backed away, stunned before he nodded sadly and quickly turned and exited her room.

Anger was slowly building inside of him as she spoke. "Hi," she said quietly, "I need to talk to you."

He sent a glare in her direction and said hostilely, "I think you've said enough already Rory."

"Jess...." She sighed.

"God Rory," he said as let his anger surface, "You can't keep doing this. You can't continue to cast me aside only to change your mind weeks later and suddenly want me again. It's not fair. You made your decision already. It's too late."

"No," Rory said firmly, "It's not too late. I need to talk to you."

"God," Jess thought, "I need to get out of here." He fumbled with his keys, not able to find the correct one to unlock his door. "Perfect," he thought, "the one fucking time I can't find my key."

Rory just stood there, watching him.

He sighed, finally finding the key and unlocking the door and said, "Rory, go away."

"No," she said firmly once again, "I'm not leaving until I talk to you."

Jess looked at her and finally broke, "Fine," he said as he sighed, "Come in and you can talk, but I won't guarantee I'm going to listen,"

They entered his small studio apartment that he had just recently moved into, with Luke's help. The guys now talked regularly and Jess was slowly continuing to change his life, piece by piece.

Jess kept himself busy by placing his keys and various other things on a small table by the door. He nodded towards a small table near the kitchen and said, "Have a seat."

Rory thanked him and sat down. Silence took over the room as Jess moved around in the kitchen, the drip-drop of the coffee maker the only sound in the small apartment. Jess walked over to his answering machine and hit the play button.

"You have 3 new messages...

Jess honey, it's your mom! Just wanted to check in and see how my baby was doing! TJ and I are fine! Call me back!!...

Hey Jess, It's Erin, from your English Lit class? Just letting you know that our group meeting is on Friday, with Stephanie, Lee, Meghan, Ben, Chris and Ali at 6 at Ben's apartment, ok? I'll see you then. Bye! ......

Hey Jess, it's Luke. Just wanted to check in on you. clears throatI've got something to tell you. It's about Rory....and Dean. coughs Just, uh, call me back ok? Bye.......

End of Messages."

Jess turned to look at Rory, who was suddenly sitting stiffly in her chair. He poured her a cup of coffee and placed it in front of her and then sat down across the table from her.

Rory slowly took a sip from the cup and look at Jess, an uneasy expression on her face.

"So that's what you came to tell me. You're back together with Dean? Congratulations, he was always good at being a human doormat" Jess said roughly.

"I'm not with Dean, Jess!" she said quickly, "He's married!"

"Then what did Luke have to tell me about you two? I mean, he doesn't normally bring you up in conversation, especially sounding as uncomfortable as he did on the message," Jess questioned.

"I slept with Dean." She blurted out.

Pain flashed quickly in Jess's eyes before blankness replaced it, "So you decided to come here and tell me this to hurt me even more," he said, "You thought that you saying no wasn't enough so you came here to throw it in my face?"

"No!" Rory exclaimed, "Of course not, I would never purposely hurt you."

"Oh really, Rory?" Jess said, "Because you're doing it now. And you did it a few weeks ago."

"Jess," Rory said, "Sleeping with Dean was a mistake. A big mistake."

Jess nodded and she continued, "I did it because I was lonely, unhappy and scared."

"Scared?" Jess said.

"Yes, I was scared. I was scared because when you asked me to go away with you, I actually wanted to go. I was willing to leave behind my family, friends, Yale, Stars' Hollow, and my mother and that scared me to death. But I was scared most by the fact that even after everything you put me through, I still love you."

"Rory...." Jess said as he tried to comprehend everything, "I...."

"Jess," Rory interrupted, "I made a big mistake with what happened with Dean. But I made a bigger mistake the day I said no to you and made you believe that I didn't care about you."

"Rory..." Jess said as he slowly shook his head, "It's just hard for me to believe. A few weeks ago, you were turning me away after I poured my heart out to you, and now you're telling me that sleeping with this guy I can't stand helped you realize that you still loved me? I'm sorry, that's just sounds a little impossible for me to believe."

Rory slowly moved her hand so that it was resting next to Jess' on top of the table.

"Jess," she paused until their eyes met, "I love you."

Jess looked at her for a minute, slowly taking in her face and the look of pure seriousness on her face.

His hand slowly moved so it was lying on top of Rory's and instinctively, their fingers intertwined.

Their eyes met and Rory smiled. Jess's face slowly turned into a smile.

"I love you too."