Full Of Grace

Chapter One – This Ungodly Hour

Summary: Rory and Jess's long-awaited romance begins after the Bracebridge Dinner when Rory, Lorelai, Jess and Luke are trapped in the Inn. But when Rory returns to Chilton after the break, will her relationship be threatened by Tristan?

Disclaimers: If anything actually belonged to me, do you really think I'd be writing Fan fictions instead of scripts for the show?


Rory sat on the bed with her head in her hands. Why did he do this to her? She hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since he had jumped aboard her sleigh earlier that evening. He made her think. He made her question her relationship with Dean. He made her see things from a different angle, and she didn't like that he had the effect on her. She should be devoting all her thoughts to her boyfriend. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was one in the morning. Lorelai had left with Emily after she had knocked pleadingly at the door and hadn't come back since.

Ever since he had come to Stars Hollow, Jess had made her feel different than she had ever felt before. She felt wanted, and in a way that she didn't feel when Dean amiably held her hand. Jess looked at her in a way that sent shivers through her body and caused her stomach to turn with delight. She felt awful for not admitting these feelings to anyone, and especially guilty for pretending everything was perfect when she was with Dean.

She closed her eyes and tried stop thinking about him. But all she could see was his face, grinning back at her with his eyebrow raised, his cheeks so well-defined and shadow falling across his skin, increasing the mystery…

She shook herself. And opened her eyes.

She stood up, slid into her slippers, and headed out of the room and downstairs to the Inn's kitchen. Dirty dishes were piled all around; although Lorelai enjoyed washing them, Sookie had been tired and insisted on doing them the next day. Rory poured herself a glass of milk and put it in the microwave, hoping that she would be able to fall asleep soon and forget about Jess and the uncanny effect he had on her.

As she headed back to the room with her warm milk, she passed Richard on the couch in the Parlour, sleeping with his glasses on and a book in his hand. She gently took his glasses off, folded them, placed them on the table, and unfolded a nearby quilt and spread it over him. She wondered where her mother and Emily were, and thoughts of Jess slipped away from her mind.


Jess couldn't sleep. Luke was snoring, something in the bathroom was steadily dripping, and his pillow emitted a smell that was far too floral for his liking. But the thing that was bugging him the most was the fact that Rory was in the same building as him, and there was nothing but a few walls between them. He pictured her lying on her bed, asleep, with stray strands of hair falling across her creamy skin. He smiled, and then let out a sigh. The smile had vanished from his face. She wasn't going to leave Dean for him.

The room was beginning to annoy him. Luke's snoring was louder than ever, the sound of the dripping seemed to feed off of Luke's volume, and all he could smell were the pillows, intoxicating him with their sickly sweet smell. He decided he needed to get out.

He crept down the stairs and through the dark halls. He paused as he heard someone in the Parlour. He didn't want to have to explain his wandering to anyone so he hid himself in the shadows. He peered around the corner to see who it was.

It was Rory.

She was covering her grandfather with a quilt. She had a look of such tenderness and care that Jess felt a knot in his throat. He put his back against the wall and tried not to be seen, but a part of him hoped that she would notice him as she walked by.

The halls were dark, and he knew she wouldn't be able to see him if he stayed in the shadows. She started down the hall. The knot in his throat rose as she drew closer. A beam of moonlight illuminated part of the hall, and as she walked through it, he saw the nervous look on her face. He took in a breath and as soon as he did, he knew it had been too loud.


She walked through the dark halls, anxious to get back to her room. She wasn't afraid of the dark, but it was playing tricks on her eyes and the shadows seemed to be re-arranging themselves. As she stepped through a patch of moonlight, she paused and shivered.

She heard a noise. Someone was in the hall. She jerked around, searching frantically for the source of the sound.

"Afraid of the dark?" said a voice, and a figure stepped out from the shadows.

It was Jess.

Rory didn't feel any more comfortable. "No. It's just… it was too quiet, and the shadows were…" She paused as she realized how stupid it sounded.

Jess smirked. The moonlight illuminated only half of his face, and Rory caught her breath.

"What are you doing wandering the halls at this ungodly hour?" She said, trying the direct the attention away from her.

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. I see you couldn't either," he gestured questioningly to the glass of milk in her hand.

"Warm milk. It always helps me get to sleep," she explained. "Ever since I was a kid. What, you don't believe me?"

He was looking at her with his eyebrows raised, seemingly amused. "It just seems fairly odd, that's all,"

"Well I'll get you a glass and you'll see for yourself," she said, gesturing for him to follow her back to the kitchen.


They stood in an awkward silence as they waited for the milk to warm up in the microwave. Jess felt that two minutes had never lasted as long as they did at that moment. His eyes were fixed on her face as she watched the glass slowly turn around and warm up inside the appliance. When the two minutes was over and a beep was emitted from the machine, Rory opened the door and gingerly picked up the glass. She blew on the top and took a sip. After finding that it was heated to her satisfaction, she handed it to Jess.

He held the glass stared at the place where her lips had touched. He looked back at her and saw her blush in realization.

"Come on, I don't have cooties," she said, her face crimson.

He grinned and placed his lips on the glass in the exact spot where her lips had touched. She didn't notice.

"Well, I should get back to bed," she said, breaking the silence.

Jess nodded and watched her back until she was around the corner.

When he went back to the room and lay on his bed, he realized that he had only made it worse for himself. He leaned back and sipped his milk, thinking about Rory and how nice she had been to him despite what he had said to her earlier that evening on the sleigh ride. She was too good for him. But he still wanted her.

There was no way he was going to get to sleep now.

He finished the glass of milk and sighed, putting it on the table and lying down.

He was beginning to feel drowsy.


"Well, that was successful, don't you think?" Lorelai remarked the next morning as the second-last set of guests left the Inn.

"Well, the Inn is still standing an everyone appears to be alive," said Rory as she unfolded the guest list, "So yes, I'd say it was successful." She wondered why she hadn't seen Luke and Jess emerge from the stairs yet.

"So is everyone gone? Can we finally get down to the cleaning of the dishes and dirty sheets?"

Rory glanced at the list that she was fidgeting with. "Everyone but Luke and Jess."

"Hmm, maybe we should go check on them," Lorelai said, starting to ascend the stairs. She stopped and glanced back at Rory expectantly.

"What?" Rory saw the gleeful look on her mother's face. "No. I'm not going up there."

"Oh come on," Lorelai said. "I can't do it by myself. You're no fun."

Rory shook her head.

Lorelai lowered her head and walked back to Rory, pouting her lip. "You ruin all my fun." As she approached her daughter, she grabbed her hand and let out an "Aha!" while pulling her up the stairs.

They stood outside the closed door.

"Think about it, anything could be inside," whispered Lorelai as they stood side by side, facing the bronze numbers without making a move to knock or open the door.

"Well, not anything," Rory hissed back, annoyed at being dragged upstairs against her will.

"Yes, anything," Lorelai said. "For all we know, there could be coyote carcasses and satanic drawings on the wall with blood!"

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go on in!"

"What? You're the one who dragged me up here, you're the one who has to knock or go in or whatever it is you're planning on doing."

"Hmm, I hadn't thought that far," Lorelai admitted. "It just sounded fun. Okay, let's do it in together."

"Fine," Rory said, knowing that she would not be able to escape any other way.

"On the count of three…" they both raised their fist to the door. "One… Two…" Lorelai paused dramatically. The door opened and they both flew back in surprise.

"What do you want?" Luke growled, his hair a mess and in his pyjamas.

"Did you just wake up?"

"No, I think the half-asleep look is attractive," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, it's working for you," Lorelai grinned, and got a glare from Luke. "Is your other half still passed out?"

"His bed was farther away from the door," he said, as if that explained it all. After seeing Lorelai's blank look, he added "He wasn't jerked out of sleep by the bickering that was going on a minute ago,"

"Yeah, I can hear him snoring," Lorelai commented.

"So…" Luke said, leaning on the doorframe.

"So what?" asked Lorelai.

"So why did you come here and wake me up? I happened to be having a very pleasant dream."

"Oh, I so don't want to know about that," Lorelai said. "It's just that all of our other guests weren't quite as comatose as you two."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're the last ones here."

"What?" He turned back and yelled into the room "Jess, get your ass out of bed. Jess!"

"No, it's fine, as long as you don't pull a Jack Torrance on us."

"Jack Torrance?"

"You know, it's an empty Inn, nobody here except us and you guy. The Shining," she added.

"Oh. Hey, I'm sorry for not waking up sooner. Those beds are just so damn comfortable, and… Dammit, Jess! Wake up!"

"Well, if you're that sorry, you'd better make it up." Luke looked at her blankly. "Sookie and Jackson went home, and we have a load of dishes to do."

"You don't have anyone else here and you want us to help."

Lorelai looked at Rory. "By George, I think he's got it!"

"Alright, alright. We'll be in the kitchen just as soon as I can drag Jess out of bed."

Lorelai and Rory headed back downstairs; Rory silent and Lorelai with a smug look on her face. The Inn was completely silent, except for the "For the love of God, Jess! Get the hell out of bed already!" that could be heard echoing through the halls.

Rory looked out the window. It was beginning to snow.


Author's Note: Alright, I know nothing really eventful (Rory/Jess-wise) happened yet, but I should have the next chapter up within this week (possibly even tomorrow) so stick with me.