It was about eleven-thirty when Luke floated into his apartment, just about as happy as he'd ever been from his very recent success in Mission: Courting Lorelai. And through the hazy glow of flannel-covered contentment, he noticed a very familiar form flopped on his couch, eyeing his flickering television with barely-masked boredom. Luke blinked a few times (just in case it was some leather clad shadow), then cleared his throat. Jess turned his head, tilted his chin up quickly, then turned back to the TV.

Don't ask why I'm still here, don't ask why I'm still here, don't ask why I'm still here…

"What're you still hanging around here for?"

Damn.

With a signature shrug, he said, "Just thought I'd stay a few more days." He turned his head around for another moment. "If I could, you know. I appreciate you letting me stay here for the wedding-"

"No problem, no problem. It'd be great to have you around for a few more days. But, ah, didn't you have to get back to work or something?" Luke asked, removing milk from the fridge, sniffing it, and chucking it in the garbage before pouring a glass of orange juice.

"Yeah, but somehow I think the Domino's on 51st can struggle along without me for a couple days."

"You work at Domino's?"

Jess sighed and turned off the TV, flipping himself around on the couch so he could look at Luke.

"Nope."

Luke looked at him for a second, and then let out what sounded like a relieved chuckle. "Ah, God, scared me. I was about to make you move back here and work in the diner."

He smirked at Jess who just seemed to be gazing contemplatively at the wall, and then, standing up with a sigh, he said, "Doesn't sound all that bad." And then, in an unintentional replication of Rory's earlier exit, he wandered over to his bed, with a "night, Luke" tossed back, leaving Luke standing in the middle of his room with his empty orange juice glass, wondering if he'd heard him right, or if Lorelai had invaded his mind and he was now hallucinating.

Both scenarios seemed possible, too possible for eleven-thirty at night. Luke shook his head and shuffled over to his bed, throwing his noose (pardon, his tie.) into the corner as he walked. He had a feeling that he'd spend most of the night thinking about Jess's change of plans, the dance with Lorelai, and the image burned in his head of T.J. in nothing but tights. Luke also had a feeling he wouldn't be closing his eyes any time soon.

- - - - - - - - -

"Morning, sunshine."

Luke tilted his head to look at Lorelai, leaning on the counter, fiddling with her bracelet.

"Hey, Lorelai. Coffee?"

"It worries me when you ask silly questions. Isn't today danish day?"

Luke looked around and then back to Lorelai.

"Do you see any danishes?"

"They could be in hiding."

"Or, they could be on a truck here, arriving tomorrow, which would, coincidentally…"

"…Be danish day, gotcha. Donut, then, please."

"Sprinkles?"

She let out a little gasp and put her hand to her heart. "You have to ask?"

"Let's pretend I didn't."

"Yes, let's shall. Oh, um," her eyes widened a little, "let's also pretend you didn't forget to tell me that Jess was still here."

Jess walked into the diner, backpack in tow, and nodded quickly at Luke before heading towards the door.

"Hey, be back here at noon, huh? Lane took the day off."

Jess turned and nodded quickly, obviously itching to get out the door "No problem. Liz called."

"She say anything important?"

"Just that she's pregnant with triplets, T.J.'s decided to manufacture tights, and Jimmy's become the star of his own gay Las Vegas burlesque."

"You joke now, but I'm not gonna pay for the therapy when all that comes true."

"Domino's can foot the bill."

"Clever. Now move; go to the library or whatever it is you do all morning."

"You couldn't be more charming if you tried. I'm out." Jess began backing out the door, almost running into Kirk.

"Don't forget- twelve!"

"I'll get it tattooed on my forehead." And with that, he was gone, leaving Luke alone with Lorelai, who looked… peeved.

"Luke!" She exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"What?" Luke poured her a mug of coffee (damage control. Obviously.) and shoved it under her nose.

"Yeah, thanks. But Luke! How could you not tell me he was staying another day?"

Luke opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, but closed it and poured more coffee into Lorelai's cup. She narrowed her eyes, and asked, in the most suspicious voice she could,

"What happened, Luke?"

He sighed. "Jess…might be staying for more than today."

"…What?"

"Not, indefinitely or anything, no. No." Luke hurriedly assured her, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Just…maybe, you know, a few more days."

"Luke!"

"Lorelai!"

"You can't just…what about Rory? Did it occur to you that it's the summer? She'll be here, Luke! She'll be in here and she'll see him everyday and I don't care that she's over him, she doesn't need that!" Lorelai took another gulp of coffee, and paused before speaking again. "I saw him yesterday, at the wedding."

Luke looked at her curiously. "Of course you did, he walked Lizzie down the aisle."

"No, no. I mean, after all that. Later. Really later, he was getting food. And he was acting…polite, or something. He's up to something, Luke!"

"Geez, Lorelai. So he was nice to you, that automatically makes him up to something?"

"You didn't see him, Luke! He was nice, he said goodbye…it wasn't like him! He didn't even make a crack about the wreath thing in my hair! And that was just asking to be mocked!"

Luke busied himself with pouring coffee for Kirk, who had plopped down on the seat next to Lorelai.

"Look, he won't bother Rory, he's not staying that long, he'll just be here. Working. Like any other nice 19-year old guy. Speaking of working, "Luke looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "do you think he'll be back at twelve? I shouldn't have let him go out, you know he just wanders around all day…he'll probably forget."

"I'd bet on it." Kirk piped up and shoved his eleventh sugar packet in his pocket.

"Put those back, and what do you mean, you'd bet on it?" Luke asked, observing as Kirk sulkily pulled out the packets and dropped them on the table.

"I just meant he'd probably be with Rory."

Lorelai whipped around. "Why would he be with Rory, Kirk?"

"Well, since they got back together-"

"They what?" Lorelai gripped the counter so hard her knuckles just about turned white. Luke…well, Luke moved back a couple feet. No need to have his arm ripped off or something.

"Well, I saw them yesterday, after I got off my shift from D.J.ing, Carrie said I was doing a fantastic job-"

"Back to Rory and Jess, Kirk. Rory and Jess! Focus!"

"Well, they just sat outside the diner, eating. Ah, young love." He smiled and snuck a sugar packet.

Lorelai grabbed her purse and speeded over to the door. Luke called after her, worried that the third time of attempting to kill Jess just might be the charm.

"Lorelai, wait, where are you-"

"I'm gonna go have a little chat with your nephew. You remember him, that idiot who makes my homicidal tendencies act up? I'll be back in ten minutes with his head!" Lorelai stormed out, and Luke laid his head on the counter. Too much drama. A few seconds later, he heard the bell ring as Lorelai stormed back in. He looked up. Had she changed her mind? Was she no longer on the warpath? Was she finally going to cut Jess some slack?

"I'll be needing that coffee in a to-go cup."

So close, he thought as he hunted around for a paper cup. So close.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jess had been pacing around the Gilmore porch for maybe five minutes.

Just ring the goddam doorbell.

He was afraid that if he did, indeed, ring the doorbell, that one of two things would happen; either Rory would open the door and slam it in his face, or Rory would open the door and the two would stand still, accompanied by their good friend, awkward silence. Of course, he didn't have to ring the doorbell. Nope. He could just wander around, reread "The Picture of Dorian Grey" one more time.

Or you could ring the frickin' doorbell.

Gritting his teeth, Jess jabbed at the doorbell, listening to it ringing happily. Blasted inner monologue. Now Rory would know he was here and she'd freak out or something because it was Rory and who knows what mood she's in day to day-

And then, the door opened. And suddenly the term "his heart was in his throat" become abundantly clear.

"Jess?" She looked surprised to see him (and with good reason). After all, it was before noon, she was still in her pajamas, and, what else? Oh yes. He was also supposed to be two and a half hours away. He was supposed to be in the Big Apple, busying himself with making fun of those who chose to call it "The Big Apple". And yet, here he was, in the flesh, standing on her front porch, running a hand nervously through his hair.

"Rory."

"So, um...what are you doing…here?"

"Oh, I was…you know, this, this was a bad idea. I'm gonna-" He tried to race off the porch; they were talking like they had when they first saw each other, and he wasn't really in the mood to trail off with every sentence like last time. But Rory put a hand out.

"Wait! Don't go. Stay."

He turned slowly and they locked eyes for just a moment before Rory snapped out of it and averted her gaze.

"I mean, don't just...I um, do you want to come in? Maybe?"

Jess smiled slightly and nodded. "Sounds good."

"Good."

"Good."

Rory bit her lip, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

"Alright, I'm going in. You can stay out here or you can come in, too."

"Tough choice."

"I'm sure. We've got cold Chinese food, if that sways you."

"You do owe me an egg roll."

"Then I believe the choice has been made. I'm going to change."

Rory turned and headed off to her room, leaving Jess to step inside and observe any changes; there were none. Well, that's not entirely true. They did have a new ceramic unicorn on the mantle.

Jess wandered into the kitchen, surprised that there was a bowl with…was that a tomato? Yes. Yes it was.

Rory came out, now dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans and what appeared to be socks with pigs on them. Flying pigs, rather. He liked them.

"So, how bout that egg roll?"

"You have tomatoes."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I saw those, too; almost gave me a heart attack. I think my mom's trying to cut back though, with money. Cause of the inn."

"The inn?"

"The inn, you know. The Dragonfly- oh." She paused for a second and then opened the fridge, searching for the Chinese.

"You weren't here. My mom and Sookie started an inn; it's actually opening really soon. It's pretty, they have horses and swans and all manner of farm animals that look cute from a distance but smell like week-old Indian food if you get too close."

"Sounds nice."

"It is. Lo mein?" Rory held up a container and shook it invitingly. "Only a day old."

"Yum."

Rory nodded approvingly and dumped half of it on a plate, which she promptly placed in the microwave.

"So." She said, once the lo mein was warming up nicely, "How are you?"

"I'm…good."

"That's good."

"Generally, yes." He drummed his fingers on the counter.

Where are all the intellectual conversational topics hiding? Somewhere with the danishes, no doubt.

"How's Yale?"

"Yale is...Yale. It's nice, though. Good courses. Newspaper's challenging. Paris is dating a professor."

Had Jess been drinking something, he would have spit it out. However, he was drink-less, so he opted instead for the bug-eyed approach.

"Paris?"

"Yep. She's dating Asher Fleming, 60-year-old friend of my grandfather's." Rory grinned at the look on his face as she pulled the plate from the microwave and inspected it closely for red peppers.

"Geez." Jess shook his head in disbelief, laughing slightly. "Now there's an image."

"You should hear her talk about how frisky he is. Most horrifying conversations of my life."

"I should imagine. So." He started fiddling with the salt shaker, "What about you?"

"What about me?" Rory was only half-paying attention to the conversation; she was more preoccupied with picking out the red peppers which, according to Lorelai, you'd die from ingesting.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Death-peppers momentarily forgotten, Rory sighed. She couldn't help but think of the conversation with Tanna. That stupid collage of couples, and her with a lamppost.

"Nope."

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"God, no." The plate was set in front of him, and he picked at it slowly, waiting for a reaction.

Rory just nodded and bit into a cold egg roll before making a face.

"Not good?"

"Not edible."

Jess grinned. "I probably should have warned you about those things."

"Jerk. I'm making you eat all the red peppers."

Jess was about to explain to her that all the red peppers in the world were not as bad as one cold egg roll, but he was interrupted. Unfortunately, it was an interruption by Lorelai walking through the front door. And hell hath no fury like a Gilmore scorned (or misinformed…).

"Rory!"

"In the kitchen!"

She turned to Jess and said one thing.

"Run."

Jess was about to do just that (in fact, he was halfway across the floor), when in came Lorelai, looking like she was ready to kill something, clutching her empty paper cup in her hand (she'd gone back for refills twice; how was she to battle evil without an exorbitant amount of caffeine in her system? It's not like she was Wonder Woman.)

"Hold it, bucko. Sit down."

Jess turned around slowly, like in those old westerns that Luke used to rent (stick 'em up, pardner). Jess hated those movies.

"You, yes you. Sit down."

Jess supposed this was the eerie calm before the beheading,.

This is how I'm going to die. She's going to attack me with a toaster or something and they'll bury me behind Doose's. They'll never find the body, but Taylor's begonias will be thriving next year.

"Ok. First thing; why is he here?"

"Jess came by to talk. And for an egg roll."

"Not specifically for the egg roll." Jess interjected, then shut up when Lorelai glared at him.

"And so we talked. A little. I don't know, we just…I haven't seen him in a while, and I guess I wanted to see how he was."

"Ok. Ok." Lorelai paced back and forth. "Ok, you-" she pointed to Jess "-go home. Or, diner, I guess. I don't know, just leave."

Nodding, he stood up and walked out the back door, taking a second to look back at Rory before heading outside. Shutting the door, he let out a breath and leaned against the house. He wasn't going to die from a toaster.

Not today, anyway.

- - - - - -

There was silence in the kitchen. Lorelai was rubbing the bridge of her nose, and Rory was sitting perfectly still, not daring to move or speak or sneeze.

"Just tell me you didn't take him back."

"What? No, no. I didn't even know he was still here! He just showed up and it was awkward and then I invited him in cause I wanted to see him, and I haven't seen him-"

"Since last night, right? Since you guys had a cozy little meal outside the diner?"

Rory was surprised. "You saw us?"

"No." Lorelai laughed humorously. "No, Kirk saw you. And I'm sure the rumor mill is especially busy now.

"Oh." Rory looked at her hands in her lap. "Why are you so mad?"

"I'm not mad."

Rory raised her eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe a little mad. Maybe more than a little. But how would you feel if you were sitting at the diner, having a leisurely cup of coffee and debate with Luke about danishes, and then Kirk walks in and tells you I went back to…Dad!"

"…I'd probably be mad you didn't tell me, too."

"And me going back to your dad is not half as bad as you going back to Jess. Why? Because your dad did not take off to California. Your dad did not come back to town and tell me he loved me. Your dad-"

"I know, I know all the stuff he's done, Mom! I was there."

Lorelai's face softened and she sat down next to Rory, putting a comforting arm around her.

"Then why are you doing this to yourself, sweetie? Why do you keep setting yourself up for hurt? If you let him back in, he's just going to wreck everything like last time. You know that."

"No, I don't. And I'm not 'letting him back in', we were just talking." Rory crossed her arms indignantly and looked at the now-cold Chinese food. She noticed that she had missed a pepper. And with her mother ranting about everything he'd done, she sort of wished he had eaten it.

"Talking about what, where's the best place to make out where none of Stars Hollow can see you and report back to me?"

"No! We're not back together, we're not getting back together, and none of this even concerns you! It's between me and him and nobody else!"

"Rory-"

"No." Rory stood up abruptly and walked over to the back door. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in a little bit."

"Honey, don't-"

"I'll be back." With that, she walked out the door, leaving her mother alone in the kitchen, wondering why Taylor didn't just hire guards to stand on the state line and prevent Jess from entering Connecticut.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rory had set off with no particular destination in mind, and wound up at the diner. She was mad at her mom for reminding her why she was supposed to be mad at Jess.

"Hey."

"Hey."

She looked at Jess with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Sorry for making Lorelai mad."

"She's generally mad when it comes to you. Not your fault. Well, I guess it is. She's mad you went to California, mad you came back, mad you told me you loved me-"

"Her list sounds like it should be yours."

"Remember last night when I said I was still mad at you? Did you think it was because you only got two turkey legs and I'd been hoping for three? No. It's cause of all the things I just said. Plus some other stuff."

"Well, geez Rory, why don't we just write down every little mistake I've ever made and we can go through point by point until my ego is nonexistent?" he snapped.

"So telling me you loved me was a mistake?"

"No! That's not what I said-"

"Well that's what it sounded like!"

"It's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean? C'mon, Jess! Tell me! What was going through your head? Did you come back for the car, did you come back to tell me that? Would you not have told me had I not been hungry therefore been in line for a burger when you walked past at that exact moment? Would you never have told me? Did you even mean it? Why are you here, when the wedding was over yesterday? Tell me, Jess!" Rory was desperate for an answer, any answer. She didn't want to pretend that everything was fine, she wanted to understand him.

"I didn't…I just…"

"What, Jess? Just what?"

For God's sake, tell me something. Anything.

"I…" he looked up and, in a moment of what appeared to be great decisiveness, grabbed her hands and pulled her to him.

"Come with me."

…Huh?

- - - - - - -

A/N: Thank you so very very much for all the reviews! I especially love that Angeleyez, smile1 and Lipton Lee reviewed, since I am a VERY big fan of the three of them! Not that I don't love you all AND your fics, but I've been reading theirs for a while and I would give anything to be half as good as them! Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be getting the next one up ASAP. Review, if you please.

Little thing- If you have any ideas, or if you want to see something happen, I could always make rearrangements in the whole scheme (I have an idea of where this is going, and I'm not trying to get you guys to write the thing for me, but I do enjoy reader input).