Lorelei was laughing loudly as she sat at the counter in the diner. Sofia had given Rory a few old photos before they'd left for Stars Hollow that morning, and she'd immediately shown them to her mother, who was more than happy to see them.

"Oh my god! Look at that tushy!"

Thankfully, Jess wasn't there to hear this. He had gone up to the apartment to sleep more.

Rory laughed. "Wasn't he cute?" She pointed to the Batman picture. "Look at that glare? Is that not the cutest glare on the face of the planet?"

"Oh, he was cute alright," Lorelei replied. She looked up at Luke. "What happened?"

Luke rolled his eyes and brought some food over to a table. "So what are you guys planning to do today?"

Rory shrugged. "Probably just hang out."

"You're leaving tomorrow," Lorelei whined. "That sucks. You should stay."

"Mom, I have to go back to school," Rory replied. "If I'm not back by three tomorrow afternoon, Paris will probably send out a search party."

Lorelei sighed. "I have you for the day, though, right?"

Rory nodded. "All day."

Lorelei smiled.

*****

Jess hated phones.

It kept ringing, and ringing, and he really wished that Luke had bothered to put in an answering machine. He stumbled out of bed and picked up the phone with a clumsy, sleepy hand. "H'lo?"

"Jess?"

He sat down. "Sasha."

"Hey, kid."

"Hi."

"How you doin?"

"You woke me up."

He heard her smirk. "You sleep too much anyways."

"What do you need?"

"Just making sure you're okay," Sasha replied.

"You're a month late on that one," he told her.

"There's a reason, though," she replied. "If I'd called right after your dad had come back, and he'd walked in, and I told him it was you, he woulda gotten all grouchy about it. See, he'll just put on a stoic face and say 'huh.'"

"Yeah."

"You're doing okay?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. Just got back from New York, actually. Had to bust a buddy out of jail."

"Ah," Sasha said wistfully. "I remember those days. He okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Jess replied. "Dumber than ever, but fine."

"And you? How long had it been since you've been back there?"

Jess sighed. "Over a year."

"Was it good?"

"It was New York."

Sasha sighed. "What does it take to get you to open up?"

"A scalpel."

She laughed a little. "I gotta go, Jess. You take care."

"Yeah, you too," Jess replied. "Tell Lily I said hi."

"What do I tell Jimmy?"

He hung up the phone and went back to sleep.

*****

"Tell me everything!"

They were walking around Stars Hollow, just roaming. Rory smiled and thought about her weekend.

"Jess's grandmother is so funny," she started to tell her mother. "She's really take-charge, and I think she's the only person that Jess actually takes orders from."

"Wow," Lorelei marveled. "You mean... she says 'Jess! Go to bed!' or... 'Jess! Clear the table!' and he does it?"

Rory nodded. "Yup. And he has a cousin, too. Her name is Gloria, and she's really nice."

Lorelei looked shocked. "Jess has nice relatives? You mean they aren't angry, and bitter like he is?"

Rory laughed. "He's not that angry. He' just... Jess. We ran into his ex-girlfriend."

"Oooh," Lorelei smirked. "Drama. What was she like?"

Rory shrugged. "We didn't talk to her. It was kind of in-passing, and Jess didn't even turn to look at her. Gloria looked kind of worried. I think something really bad happened between them."

"What did she look like?"

"Slutty," Rory replied. "She was wearing this purple thing that showed off... just about everything... Oh! And...I went shopping and got this dress. I gotta show you."

"Oh, can I borrow it?"

Rory nodded. "Sure. Just don't leave it at Jason's house... speaking of..."

"Luke and Nicole are getting divorced."

"Wow," Rory looked shocked. "That's not what I was going to inquire about, but wow."

Lorelei sighed. "I don't know why that matters to me. It shouldn't, should it?"

"Well... Luke's your friend... this has to be really tough on him. But what does this have to do with Jason?"

"I think I'm losing interest," Lorelei replied worriedly. "I don't think Jason and I are going to last too much longer... I don't know. I just... your dad came back, and I... I feel like it turned my whole world upside- down."

"Well... you did kinda cheat on Jason with Dad."

"I know!" Lorelei cried, flinging her hands out. "And I feel awful. I'm an awful, awful person! I don't know what to do."

Rory put an arm around her mother and sighed. "You'll figure something out. Don't worry so much."

*****

Jess blearily watched Luke slam around the apartment looking for different items. "What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem," Luke snapped. "You're not gonna sleep all day, are you?"

"What else am I gonna do?"

"Oh, I don't know, Jess, How about... get your ass downstairs and work?"

Jess tilted his head. "Work? What is this... work you speak of?"

"Fine," Luke growled. "Just... Fine!"

"If it's that bad this month, I can pick you up some Midol," Jess offered. "Or did you just run out of tampons?"

Luke gave a harsh glare and stormed out, slamming the door behind them.

Jess shrugged, and went back to sleep.

*****

Rory walked into the diner that evening and sat across from Luke at the counter. She stared at him intently as he wiped the counter with a bleach rag. He stopped and stared back. "What?"

"Can I ask you to do me a favor?"

"Okay."

"Will you lecture me?"

Luke blinked, obviously confused. "What?"

"Oh! And... and you should threaten my life, too."

Luke shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uh... okay."

"What would you do to me if I hurt Jess?"

Luke stared. "You wouldn't hurt Jess."

"How do you know?" Rory asked. "How do you know I won't become some... scarlet woman, and-"

"Scarlet woman?"

"Just... go with me on this," Rory pleaded. "What if I really hurt Jess? What would you do?"

"Uh... nothing."

Rory stared, shocked. "Nothing?"

"He doesn't need me to defend him," Luke told her.

"What if he hurt me?"

"I'd beat him with a metal spatula."

"See?" Rory asked. "That's not fair! You'd hurt him but not me."

Luke gave her another bewildered look. "Why is this a bad thing?"

"Because! What if I hurt him and the entire thing goes completely unnoticed and unpunished?!" Rory looked slightly on the hysterical side. "What if... he's hurting because I hurt him, and nobody cares?! That'd be awful!"

"Rory-"

"And it'd be my fault! Oh, god! I'm a horrible girlfriend. I don't deserve him. I'm despicable!"

Luke took her by the shoulders. "Rory!"

She stopped and stared at him.

"You haven't hurt Jess. He's upstairs. Asleep." He blinked. "When he should be down here working. Lazy brat. JESS!!"

A moment later, Jess stumbled down the stairs, looking groggy.

Rory saw him, and didn't think, for once in her life. She launched herself at him and kissed him deeply in the middle of the diner. The inhabitants that morning stared, fairly shocked, and when Rory let go of a very stunned Jess (who was wide awake all of the sudden), she looked around, and turned bright red.

"Uh..."

"Good morning," Jess said pleasantly.

Rory was still looking around. Dean and Lindsey were sitting at a table, and Dean was glaring harshly at Jess.

"I... I have... Bye!" Rory rushed out.

Jess was smirking when Rory zoomed out the door, right past her mother who was walking in.

Lorelei surveyed the scene. Luke was standing behind the counter, looking confused. Jess was standing in the middle of the diner with a huge grin on his face, and Dean was glaring at Jess from his seat across from Lindsey.

Lorelei pouted. "I miss all the good stuff!"

****

"Right in the middle of the diner?!"

Rory nodded into the phone. "I can't believe I did that... Luke... Ms. Patty... Kurt... Dean... there were so many people in there!"

"It's not like no one knows you guys are dating," Lane reasoned. "You're bound to kiss."

"I threw myself at him. He was coming down the stairs, he'd been asleep. And I threw myself at him!"

"Rory, calm down," Lane said soothingly. "It's fine... wait... did you say Dean was there?"

Rory's eyes widened. "Uh-oh..."

*****

Jess was taking a cigarette break when Dean walked out without Lindsay.

"Good. You're alone."

Jess grabbed the taller boy by the shirt and slammed him against a wall away from prying eyes.

"What the hell, Mariano!"

"I've got a bone to pick with you," Jess replied calmly.

Dean tried to move, but Jess held him in place. "Get off!"

"No, no. Just wait."

Dean glared.

"You made Rory cry."

Dean's glare turned to a stare that didn't meet Jess's eyes.

"You ever... ever... make her cry again, and I will make sure that you never... ever... walk again. Is that plain enough for you, Bagboy?"

Dean finally broke free of Jess's grip and shoved him.

Jess didn't retaliate. He only pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

Dean stormed off when he saw Lindsay walk out of the diner.