A/N: No. It's not true. Leslie's just really, really evil. A/N #2: Again, Thank you guys for all the great feedback! You rule!

Lindsay walked into the diner and stood behind Rory, who was seated at the counter, waiting for Jess to come back with her cheeseburger and coffee.

"How long does it take?!" she cried.

"What, you wanna eat it raw?" Came Jess's voice.

"I'm hungry!"

"I know!"

"I want food."

"I know!!"

"Don't yell!"

"If I don't yell, you can't hear me!"

"Oh! Yeah!"

Lindsay shyly tapped Rory on the shoulder, and she jumped slightly and whirled around.

"Oh, Lindsay, hey. You kinda scared me."

"Sorry," Lindsay replied. "I didn't mean to... mind if I sit?"

"No, not at all," Rory replied, turning back around as the other girl sat next to her.

"So... Jess is getting you food?"

"Yeah," Rory replied. "You want something?"

"Salad?" Lindsay asked.

Rory nodded. "Jess!"

"What?!"

"Can you get a salad, too?!"

"You hate salad!"

"It's not for me!" Rory replied. "Lindsay's hungry, too."

She heard his distant sigh. "Yeah! I got it!"

"Thank you!" Lindsay called.

He grunted in reply.

"So, uh... how are... you and Dean?" Rory asked awkwardly.

Lindsay nodded. "Uh... fine. You and... and Jess?"

Rory nodded. "Great."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Lindsay turned to her. "Can I... can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Rory shrugged. "Shoot."

"Do... ah. This is kind of an embarrassing question," the blond girl muttered to herself. "Do you still... still have feelings for Dean?"

Rory blinked and stared at the other girl. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Lindsay, listen," Rory replied. "Dean... he was really sweet to me when we were together, and I really cared for him, but... I'm in love with Jess."

Lindsay smiled, seemingly to relax a little. "I'm in love with Dean." Her smiled faded. "But I don't think he's in love with me."

Rory was about to reply when Jess stormed out of the kitchen carrying two plates. One with a greasy looking cheeseburger and fries, and one with a happy-looking salad. He glared back at the kitchen door for a moment, before setting the food down in front of the girls.

"What took so long?" Rory asked.

"You're welcome," Jess replied. "Caesar tried experimenting with the food again. He had to start from scratch."

Rory shook her head. "I hope he's not getting his hopes up for Iron Chef."

"He's mentioned it a few times," Jess replied. "Don't let him get started."

Rory nodded. "My lips are sealed. Hey Jess?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you go back in there for a minute?"

Jess blinked. "Why?"

"Girl talk," Rory replied, gesturing to Lindsay.

"With pleasure," Jess replied, walking back into the kitchen.

*****

"Wow, so she's really thinking of... like... divorcing him?" Lorelei asked over Tai food that night.

Rory nodded. "Yeah. It's so sad. I feel bad for Dean."

"I thought you were all about the Dean-hating after that whole putting Jess in the hospital thing."

"I was," Rory nodded. "But... divorce sucks."

Lorelei nodded. "That it does. So... why? I mean..."

"She says..." Rory turned a little red. "She says she thinks he still has feelings for me."

"Oh, lord, not this again," Lorelei muttered. "If he still has feelings for you, why is he married?"

"I don't know!" Rory cried. "I didn't even know he still had feelings for me! I thought he was just fighting with Jess because Jess is...well... Jess, and frankly, Jess can be pretty annoying sometimes."

Lorelei nodded. "He really can."

"Hey!"

"What? You said it."

"But I'm the girlfriend," Rory told her. "I'm allowed to say it."

"Yes, Ma'am," Lorelei saluted. "So... what? Are you going to talk to Dean?"

"Probably not so much," Rory replied. "I really don't think it's a good idea. I think that whatever he and Lindsay are going through... I don't wanna be in the middle of. At all. Ever."

"Smart girl."

"Mama didn't raise no fool."

"Damn right."

*****

"I think we should start the 'We Hate Leslie Club.'"

"I'm in," Jess replied as he paced around his apartment a couple of Thursdays later after work. Jamie had called, and they'd talked about nothing but the fiasco with Leslie for an hour.

"I just can't believe it!" Jamie cried. "I can't believe she did that."

"Jamie?"

"What?"

Jess sighed. "Why... did you freak out and take her to the hospital, when you hadn't slept with her in two years?"

"I don't know! Somebody slaps you with a possible paternity suit and you don't really think about it."

"Jamie, you don't really think about anything."

"That's not the point." He sighed. "Fuckin... fuck."

"Nice."

"Oh, shut the hell up, man. You're no better." Jess could hear him smirk. "So... how's that girlfriend of yours?"

"Jamie, I swear to god-"

"What?! I'm just trying to make polite conversation..." he paused. "Have you fucked yet?"

"Oh, Jesus! Shut up!"

"Sorry," Jamie snickered. "Seriously, how is she?"

"She's alright... Her finals started this week, so we haven't spoken too much lately. Just short phone call to reassure ourselves that we're both still alive and well."

"Wow. Y'know, I'm sure she doesn't have to study that hard to get good grades," Jamie pointed out. "She already goes to fuckin' Yale."

Jess shrugged. "True but-"There was a ding sound. "Hey, hold on. Call-waiting."

"You have call-waiting?"

"Oh, fuck you."

Jamie laughed. "You have CALL WAITING?!"

Jess sighed and pressed the flash button. "Hello?"

"Jess?"

"Sasha."

"Jess.... We have a problem."

******

Rory followed Paris into newspaper the next afternoon, feeling as if a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Finals were over. Done. Finished. She was supposed to go to Jess's that evening and watch movies as her gift to herself for getting all of them done.

She sat at her station and dug through her purse for her discs, but came upon her cell phone instead. She'd neglected it due to finals, and hadn't bothered to check her messages.

She shrugged, and turned it on, dialing to her voicemail.

"You have twelve new messages."

She sighed. This was what she got for failing to check it for an entire week. After going through the ten that were from Lorelei, and the one that was from Luke, begging her to call Lorelei back to get her to stop talking his ear off, she finally came to the last one, that was dated the night before.

"Hey... it's me... It's Jess. Uhm. Uh... Jimmy. He uh... he had a heart attack. Yeah. And uh... I... I have to go. I'm really sorry about tomorrow night. I have to go. I'm really sorry. I'll uh... I'll call you... y'know, when I get there. I promise. I'm really sorry. I love you."

She shut off the phone when the message ended, and Rory got to her feet and began repacking her things. She headed for the door, but was stopped by Doyle.

Her short manager looked up at her. "Where do you think you're going, Gilmore?"

"I... I have to go, Doyle, I'm really sorry."

"It's the last meeting of the year," Doyle replied firmly. "You just got here."

"Ugh..." She took her phone back out, cued it to Jess's message, and held it up to Doyle's ear.

He listened, and blinked. "Who's Jess?"

"My boyfriend."

"Who's Jimmy?"

"His dad."

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Go!"

She nodded. "Thanks! Sorry!" She ran out.

******

They'd been stumbling around Venice Beach all night, and all day. It had been Jamie's idea of course. To get drunk, that is. He'd offered to come with him after Jess had gotten off the phone with Sasha. He couldn't very well let his best friend deal with this alone. And sober.

"Dude... dude..." Jamie slurred. "Dude."

"What?" Jess laughed. It was more of a giggle, but who was really counting at that point? They certainly weren't.

"I d'no. I just... Dude."

Jess laughed. Well... giggled.

*****

She knocked frantically on her grandparent's door, and prayed that her grandmother was out.

She was in luck, because it was Richard who opened the door. "Rory!" he smiled. "What a nice-"

"Grandpa, I have an emergency."

He frowned. "Oh? Well, come in. Tell me."

"I don't think I have time... I just... this is going to sound really lame, and really awful, but I was wondering if I could borrow some money."

"What for?"

Rory became even more frantic. "Jess's dad had a heart attack, and I think he went there, but I don't know, because I just got his message from last night today after my last exam, and I don't know his number, and he doesn't have a cell phone, and I don't know anything about what's going on, and I just-"

"Rory."

She stopped.

"Give me a couple of minutes. I'll drive you to the airport."

She threw her arms around him.

*****

Lorelei and Emily stared at Richard in shock at dinner that night.

Emily looked about ready to have her own heart attack. "You drove her to the airport to go to a place she knows nothing about to find people she has no idea how to find?!"

"She'll be alright, Emily," Richard replied. "She's nearly nineteen, and the boy's father had a heart attack."

"That's not her problem!" Emily cried.

"She's in a serious relationship," Richard countered. "She felt she needed to be there for him, and I support that."

"You didn't even ask Lorelei!" Emily yelled. "How do you think she feels?!"

Both parents turned to their daughter, who could only stare off into space.

*****

Rory stood there, looking quite awkward. "Hi... uhm... I'm Rory Gilmore... I'm Jess's girlfriend. He left me this message and-"

The blond woman in front of her smiled. "Come in, Rory. I know who you are. Lily hasn't been able to talk about pretty much anything but you since she got back from her visit."

Rory smiled a little as she walked in and was immediately pounced on by a troop of dogs. "Whoa!."

Sasha sighed. "Don't mind them. They'll lose interest in a minute."

"So... wow, I'm really sorry about Jimmy," Rory said. "Is he okay?"

Sasha nodded. "It was pretty mild, but a heart attack all the same."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. My grandfather had one a couple of years ago. It was pretty scary."

Sasha nodded. "I uh... I don't know where Jess is. He showed up at the hospital with a buddy of his, and then left a while later."

"Buddy?"

"Tall guy? Blond?"

Rory shook her head. "He brought Jamie?"

Sasha shrugged. "Didn't know the guy. You hungry? Or thirsty?"

Rory sat down on their couch. "No, I think I'm okay, thanks."

Sasha nodded. "Hey, Rory. Thanks for coming all this way. I know Jess is gonna be floored when he comes home."

Rory smiled, just as the door swung open loudly, and Jess and Jamie came stumbling in.

Both girls looked over to them and Sasha groaned. "Dammit."

Jess wobbled over to the couch, and attempted to sit next to Rory, but missed completely, and wound up on the floor, and laughed.

Jamie never made it through the doorway.

Rory stared down at Jess. "Uhm... hello?"

He blinked up at her and gave her a thousand-watt smile. "Hi!"

"Oh my god. Are you smiling? And did your voice just... crack?"

His smile grew wider.

"Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

He laughed... giggled.

Rory frowned. "Oh, my god. You're really, really drunk."

He nodded. "I am."

Sasha stormed over, and dragged Jess to his feet by the arms.

"Hi!" Jess smiled at her.

"Ugh... god, Jess, don't smile. It's disturbing," Sasha told him. "Come on. You're gonna take a shower, now."

"Can Rory come?"

"No," Sasha snapped.

"Are you gonna take a shower with me?"

"God, no. Just come on."

Jess stumbled after her. "Okay."

Rory got up and walked over to Jamie, who was lying in the hallway. "Can you get up?"

Jamie smiled. "Yeah."

"So why don't you?"

"Cause the floor is spinning... and it's so cool."

"Oh, my god," Rory shook her head. "What possessed you to do this?"

Jamie laughed. "It's fun."

Rory shook her head.

*****

After a very cold shower, and a few rounds on his knees in front of the toilet, Jess was lying on the mattress that was still set up for him in the storage room in the small apartment. He probably should have told Jamie that he ought not get drunk, but he didn't. As usual. He just didn't care enough to say no.

The knock on the door made his head pound slightly. "Come in."

The door opened and Lily walked in, and slammed it behind her.

Jess flinched.

"And guess who's still an idiot?"

"Go away, Lily."

She opened the door, and slammed it again.

He groaned. "Do you have to do that?"

She nodded. "I'm teaching you a lesson."

"Great... I'm getting an education from a nine-year-old," Jess muttered, putting his pillow over his head. "I'm so lucky."

"We sent Jamie home."

Jess took his pillow off of his head. "What?"

"Mom and Rory are driving him to the airport right now," Lily replied. "He's going home."

"Oh."

"Don't you care?"

He shrugged.

She looked upset all of the sudden. "Don't you care about anything?! Jimmy's really sick, and you just walked out today! You came all this way and you just walked out!!" She sniffed a little. "Why did you come if you were just gonna be stupid again?!"

He sat up and sighed. "Lily..."

"If you're just gonna be stupid, w-why don't you just go home!" She sniffed again.

He got to his feet slowly, and walked to her, but she ran out of the room. He sighed and followed her as best he could.

"Lily, come on. I'm sorry, okay? I just... I'm stupid, okay? I'm really, really stupid. And it was stupid, and I'm sorry."

She was crying in full, and sitting on the couch. "You should be sorry."

He sat down next to her and she hugged him and cried more. He sighed.