Author's Note: Yes, I know it's been awhile since I updated this. You will have to forgive me. If you're reading Whatever Tomorrow Brings, you'll see that this is a little behind in the timeline sense, that is, Jess and Paris are still at the party. You're just going to have to overlook that.

Chapter 10: Firsts

"You weren't kidding when you said you were bad at this," Paris commented over Jess' shoulder when he stepped on her foot again. He moved awkwardly, stepping away too quickly from her. "Exceptionally bad."

"Can't say I didn't warn you," Jess replied. She could feel the tension in his muscles; how rigid his body was each time he tried to move gracefully with her. He stepped on her foot again and she winced. "Jeez, I'm sorry." 

"Maybe we shouldn't be dancing," she suggested and pulled away from him.

He nodded, a little disappointed by the lack of body contact. "Yeah."

She smiled at him, a teasing gleam in her eyes. "You don't have to be good at everything, you know. Besides, too many people are watching. I need to get out of here."

Now there was an idea he could definitely get behind. "Madeline won't mind if you ditch the party early?"

Paris rolled her eyes. "She probably doesn't know I'm still here."

Jess nodded again. "I'm going to go find Rory and let her know we're leaving."

She smirked. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to be disturbed, Jess."

"That's why I'm going to go find her." He grabbed her hand and weaved them through the rest of the dancing couples, making a beeline for Rory and Tristan who were dancing blissfully unaware of the rest of the world.  He tapped on Rory's shoulder twice. The brunette opened her eyes and lifted her head from Tristan's shoulder, looking a little dazed.

"Jess?" she asked, her brows furrowing as the couple stopped swaying to the music.

"Glad you remembered."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Paris and I are heading out. You'll take the Jeep back home? I have no idea where Kim is so it's up to you to find her." He looked between her and Tristan and then grinned. "As you were."

Rory blushed and Tristan laughed before giving Jess and Paris a meaningful look. "See you guys later. Don't do anything I would."

A few minutes later, they were driving away from the Lynn mansion. Jess didn't know where they were heading but he sensed that she wanted to go somewhere quieter, more private. Which was exactly what he had in mind. And then some.

That's why he was completely shocked to see where she ended up.

He turned to her, brows drawn together. "Where are we?"

"They call it Pleasure Point," she replied, her lips twisting into a wry grin. She glanced out the window to the car parked next to hers – the ones with the windows steamed. "I'm pretty sure you can figured out why."

"Maybe I should rephrase the question – why are we here? Aside from the obvious reason of course."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't get any ideas, Mariano. It's not what you think."

He leaned back against the leather interior again and smiled. "And what was I thinking?"

"Oh no," she replied with a laugh. "We're so not going there."

"Alright. I'll stop with the innuendo."

"Good. Then I'll tell you why we're here."

She didn't say anything but got out of the car, waiting for him to follow. Once they were standing outside, he looked around to see that her car was parked out near a precipice that overlooked the semi-glittering city of Hartford. It was for all rhyme and reason the picture perfect place for overzealous teenagers to come and hook up. Jess knew that the five other couples in the other cars were probably exploiting that fact to the hilt.

He turned to Paris, who looked extremely tempting, with the lights from the city below dimly lighting her face and with the wind causing her hair to whip around her face. She reached up and tucked them behind her ear and smiled. He returned it and dug his hands deeply in his pockets to keep from reaching out and grabbing her. "So, explain away."

"It's not a very elaborate reason. It's quiet up here." She paused and made a face. "Well excluding the faint moans and grunts and the occasional fight about impropriety."

He grinned. "Of course."

She shrugged and walked closer to the edge of her precipice. He followed and stood beside her, the two of them looking at the distant streetlights below. "You can hear your own thoughts here. My house is pretty big but sometimes I feel like the walls are going to cave in on me or something. Does that make sense?"

"Completely."

She gave him a sideways glance. "This is kind of like a sanctuary. Ironic, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"This place and me," Paris gestured behind her dismissively. "I mean, who would ever figure that me, Paris Gellar, would find solace and peace at a place like this. Somewhere she would very rarely frequent on a date." She let out an amused chuckle. "Look what it's called for crying out loud."

He laughed and finally gave up fighting the urge to pull her close. He reached for her hand and tugged her to him. "There's always a first time for everything, Par."

Her brows shot up, surprised. "What did you call me?"

The nickname had slipped out unconsciously on his part; he hadn't even realized that he used it until she asked. He cleared his throat and avoided eye contact. "I called you Par."

"As in 'partridge in a pear tree'?" He shifted a bit. He was really against cutesy nicknames. Especially ones boyfriends dubbed girlfriends. It was too pop-culture-y for his tastes. "No one's ever given me a nickname that wasn't spiteful."

"I could not call you that."

"I don't mind," she answered, looking up at him. She slipped an arm around his waist as he held her to him. "I thought I would, but I don't."

"Another first tonight then, I guess."

"I get the feeling I'm going to have a lot of first with you, Jess," Paris mused. She said it so innocently, without realizing the insinuation behind that comment that he had to hold back a chuckle so he wouldn't embarrass her. Unfortunately, she was a smart girl and she quickly recalled what she said. Even in the dimness he could see the blush that stained her cheeks as she stuttered to rectify her statement. "I-I…I mean, I didn't mean -"

He decided to spare her the misery and cut her off with a laugh. "I know what you meant, Paris." He brushed an errant strand away from her face with one hand and smiled. "You're right, though. A lot of firsts."

She was smiling widely when she lifted her mouth to his.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Jess, come on, that play is filled with sexual innuendos." Paris settled back on the thick wool blanket under her. They had been discussing books, movies and songs for what seemed like hours on end under the stars at Pleasure Point. When it started getting chillier, she had pulled out the blankets she kept in her trunk and the two of them laid down on it, mid-discussion-slash-argument. "The play opens with Romeo and Meurcutio sword fight. And in the movie, it's a pool table. There are phallic symbols everywhere."

"I've actually never thought of it like that," Jess replied, hands behind his head. "Of course, I'm not really a Shakespeare buff. The guy never made much sense to me. But I do have to say you're the first girl I know who would look past the romance of Romeo and Juliet and look for sexual references. Figures."

Her eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He laughed, lifting his hands up in a universal sign of peace. "I just mean most girls would get swept up with the lovey-dovey-they-died-for-each-other crap and miss the murder and mayhem."

Oh, that's what he meant. She nodded. "Romeo and Juliet were selfish and horny."

He laughed out loud at that. "You don't believe they loved each other at all?"

"How could they have? They hardly knew each other. He sees her at a party and that's it?" She shook her head vehemently; she had major issues with this play. "Were they in lust? Yeah. Love? I don't buy it. Call me cynical or jaded but love at first sight is just too easy."

He nodded, sighed and looked up at the stars. "It is."

The words were simple but she could hear the conviction behind them. "You sound like you know about it firsthand."

"That's because I do." He turned to her and propped up on his elbow. "It was kind of like that with me and Rory."

Paris wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the rest of this but she cleared her throat and nodded. "You thought you loved Rory when you first saw her?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"But?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the timing was wrong. She has this way about her, you know? She's one of those people under normal circumstances you wouldn't really like because they're just too perfect…someone you really -"

"Really want to hate but somehow can't?" Paris finished for him and then gave him a wry, knowing smile. "Preaching to the choir. I wanted to hate her so badly. Especially when Tristan fell for her."

It was his turn to grin. "Ah yes. Your crush on DuGrey."

She was mortified. "I can't believe Rory told you."

"Many of her rants often include your name."

"Good to know."

"I don't get it though," Jess pondered. "What is it about DuGrey?"

"I don't know. What is it about Gilmore?"

"Touché."

She decided to answer his question anyway. "It wasn't love at first sight for me with Tristan, though. I've known the guy my entire life. It was inevitable."

"So what happened?"

"Not much," she replied. She turned to her side too this time, clasped her hands underneath her cheek, so she could see his face. "He was into Rory from the start. The sensible, cynical part of me knew that. But I went out with him anyway. Pretty pathetic, huh?"

"No." He paused for a moment and looked her in the eye, as if trying to read her thoughts. "It just makes you pretty human."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The apartment was dark when Jess came home and he was grateful for it. He crept into the kitchen, without opening the lights, groped his way to the sink to get a glass of water. After downing it in one gulp, he peeled off his jacket and went into the living room.

"Did you have fun tonight?"

Damn, he had been thankful too quickly. He turned to see his mother sitting curled up on the edge of the couch. Even in the darkness, he knew she was wearing his Metallica T-shirt. It had mysteriously disappeared in the morning and he had been looking for it all day. Since he hadn't said much to Liz that entire time, he hadn't bothered to ask her.

He sat down on the other end of the couch. "Yeah."

"Where'd you go?"

"A party."

"Did you drink?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, a soda. Are you going to ask if I danced to?"

The pale light that came in from the window illuminated her face and he could see that she was grinning, lopsided. "Did you?"

For some reason, he wanted to laugh. "I tried. I kept stepping on Paris' feet."

If she was going to comment on Paris, she refrained. Instead, she laughed lightly. "You've always had two left feet. Like your father."

They hardly ever mentioned him. It was kind of taboo. "Yeah well it figures I'd get some kind of ineptness from him."

They sat in silence until she shifted and broke the silence. "He called."

"Here?" He was surprised but his voice came out even.

She shook her head, her curls tumbling past her shoulders. "A few days ago."

No wonder she came to Stars Hollow. He shook his head, hating his father for influencing his life without even being a part of it. "What did he want?"

"He wanted to know how you were."

"Bullshit."

"Jess -"

"Listen Ma," he cut her off, without sounding too harsh. "I'm tired."

"Okay," she answered, picking up on his uneasiness. She got off the couch and walked to his bedroom. Turning at the door, she paused before saying, "You can't keep avoiding me forever, Jess. I'm still your mother."

He let out a frustrated sigh and fell back on the couch. As if she'd ever let him forget that.