A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up! I just started a new job at a comic book store, and it's a lot more stressful and tiring than I had expected. But, tonight I just decided to screw sleep and write instead. And the chapter is actually a decent length. Yay.

Also, wasn't "Luke Can See Her Face" a great episode! I haven't been able to think of anything but Jess since Tuesday (well that's not really true, but he did look damn hot, didn't he?!?!) I'm really excited about the prospect of Luke and Lorelai Finally getting together! Too bad things probably won't work out for Jess and Rory L

So, without further ado, chapter 4, complete with poseable jess/rory action! With kung-fu grip! (not really)

Disclaimers: Don't own nothin.

Chapter 4: "Beware doll, you're bound to fall."

The bell on the door of Luke's diner jingled as the Lorelais walked in, laughing about Kirk and Miss Patty's most argument—caused by creative differences on the direction Kirk's "performance art" piece should take.

"Yeah, did you see the look on Kirk's face when Patty compared him to Jose?" Lorelai asked.

"I know. Everyone knows Jose was Patty's worst lover! I can't believe she said that to poor Kirk."

"Well, he did remind me a little of Jose in that spandex costume…"

"I shudder to think of it," Rory said as they sat down.

"Hey guys." Luke came up to the table with a pot of coffee. "What can I get you today?"

"Burgers, with bacon, and cheese."

"And fries," Lorelai added, "Lots and lots of fries! I'm starving!"

"Yeah, me too. All that studying makes me hungry." Rory said.

"Okay," Luke said, "Two bacon cheeseburgers with fries coming right up. Oh, and ummm…Rory…"

"Yeah?"

"Uh…I have something for you…upstairs." Luke and Lorelai exchanged a knowing look.

"Oh, what is it?"

"Umm, it's a umm…it's a book. Yeah. I left it on the…um…dresser. You should go up and get it." After a brief but awkward silence, Luke returned to the kitchen.

"That was weird."

"Yeah, I guess so. Maybe you should go see what it is."

"But since when does Luke get me books? Since when does Luke read? This is very weird. I think he's up to something."

"Maybe he is. But you'll never know if you don't go get it."

"Ok, I'm going. But let it be noted that I think something fishy is going on and that you and Luke are both in on it." Rory got up.

"Duly noted."

Something about this didn't feel right to Rory. Luke had never been one for subterfuge, except when he was desperate. There was definitely something going on that Luke and Lorelai were both in on. She hoped it was a good surprise. At the top of the stairs, she paused before entering Luke's apartment. She scolded herself. It's just a book Rory, calm down, there's nothing to get worked up about. She turned the knob and opened the door.

"Way to make it obvious that you were up to something!" Lorelai told Luke.

"I know, I just couldn't think of a good reason to make her go upstairs…I'm not very good at subterfuge."

"Yeah, no kidding. So Jess wanted to see her so soon?"

"Yep. I wanted him to wait, but he refused. He even tried to walk over to see her, but since all his clothes were in the wash, he didn't get far."

"Not a mental image I needed, Luke. Why is he so desperate to talk to her? You'd think he'd be a little more nervous after what he did to her last year."

"Yeah, well, she's not the only one who's had a tough year. I'm not trying to defend what he did to her, but we talked earlier, and he had a really bad time of it in California. I think he's changed…a lot. At least I hope so. God knows I've been wrong before, but I have a good feeling about this."

"Ok then, I guess that's the best I can hope for too. And can I have some more fries?"

Rory stood in the doorway and scanned Luke's apartment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just Luke's shabby but neat apartment, kitchen, sofa and tv, Luke's bed made up neatly, Jess, the dresser…JESS. One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn't belong. Jess, lying there on his bed, asleep in jeans, boots and his bomber jacket, ala Fonzie. No, this was too weird, this couldn't be happening. What was Jess doing back? Suddenly, unbidden, a wave of feelings welled up inside Rory. Good feelings—feelings from the distillers concert and all those times on the bridge, and bad feelings, the feelings she'd been stuck with since he left. This could not be right. Jess was gone. She hadn't pined; at least she hadn't admitted it to herself. She had gone to Europe and Yale, she had moved on. But now here was Jess and her feet were suddenly glued to the floor. A tiny gasp escaped her lips.

At the tiny, delicate noise, Jess sat straight up in bed. "Rory."

She couldn't say anything. She was feeling so many things it was hard to decide what emotion to go with first.

"Rory, please stay. I came back to…to…tell you. To tell you I'm sorry and I love you." Well, ok, cat's out of the bag. This talking thing really isn't so bad, He thought. I should try it more often. But not too often, I don't want to turn into Kirk.

She had decided on an emotion. Anger. She was definitely angry. "What right do you have to ask me to stay? That was my line. Or it would have been, if you had bothered to tell me you were leaving. But no, all you said was, 'I'll call you,' that didn't really cut it, you know. I mean, of all the things you could have said then, that wasn't in the top ten best choices, now was it."

"I know. I'm a dick, an asshole, a jerk, the biggest loser in the world and there's probably a lot more adjectives you could come up with, since your vocabulary is much more impressive than mine. I don't have any excuses…I just want to apologize." He coughed hard into the collar of his jacket.  "You were the only good thing that ever happened to me, and I treated you like dirt. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." Jess's pale features remained stoic, as always, but his eyes pleaded with Rory to understand.

"I… Jess, you…you really hurt me. Why did you have to run? I was here for you, I was your girlfriend, you could have talked to me. That's the whole point of having a girlfriend, so you can talk to her. But you never told me about school, or Wal-Mart, or Jimmy. You just walked away. Why? Why wasn't I enough?" Crap. The anger was giving way to hurt and missing Jess, and if she wasn't careful, those were going to crack and let how much she loved him show.

Jess looked at her with those heartbreaking brown eyes. "It was just easier to run. I thought it would hurt less to run than to open up to you. And it was, at first, but I couldn't stand the fact that I hurt you and that I was just like Jimmy. You were always enough, I just fucked everything up."

"I don't know what to say to you, Jess. I just, … I don't know what to do. You left, and now you're back…and I don't know what to do." Get a hold of yourself, Gilmore, she thought. She couldn't let him know how she felt about him. Not yet…she was still too angry.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jess suddenly doubled over, a deep cough wracking his body. She just stared at him, willing her feet to stay in place, willing back the wave of compassion that threatened to make her go put her arms around him. She would be strong…for now.

"Jess, are you ok?" She could at least ask. That wasn't the same as doing anything about it, right? Right.

"Sure. I'll be fine." His voice came out choked and hoarse.

"Well, I umm…" the panic was finally starting to set in. "I have to go…my mom is waiting…I'll umm…I'll see you around." Rory turned and fled down the stairs.

Jess collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh. It could have gone worse. But, he still didn't know how she felt. That was okay though. He had come back, he had told her, he wasn't Jimmy.