Rory stormed off the bus home from Chilton that afternoon. She had been in a bad mood the whole day.

"How could he?" she raged in her head.

She took her time walking home from school, "Jess knew that I didn't like Shane! He just did it to rub it into my face! How could he!!"

Her mood didn't improve and as she walked home she steered away from Luke's diner, therefore adding 10 minutes to her walk home.

Walking slowly, with her head down, she thought over and over again to the 'meeting' in the diner. The conversation - everything that took place. The tone in which he had talked to her...and then she began thinking about other things - how his unshaved stubble had looked so attractive, how his eyes gleamed a chocolatey brown, the messy, but oh so alluring way his hair was rumpled into that trademark Jess hairstyle.

She marvelled at how his face could send her heart into tremors - minor earthquakes even, and then she detested how that same Adonis-like face could send her into tears, hating herself for being attracted to him in the first place.

"Why!? Why!?" she moaned inwardly, balancing on the kerb.

Suddenly, just as she was nearly at the end of the road, she bumped into someone.

So engrossed in her thoughts and so annoyed about Jess, she didn't realise who she'd hit quite immediately, "Watch where you're going!" she said sourly.

"Excuse me? Watch where I'm going?"

Alarm bells sounded in Rory's head - she knew that voice - she'd recognize it anywhere, "Go away, Jess, I don't want to talk to you."

"Well, sorry, Miss High and Mighty, but I think I should teach you how to watch where you're going next time - can't have you knocking into people everywhere, wouldn't want you to have an accident, now would we?"

"That self-conceited, arrogant....pig!" Rory marvelled at his chauvinism. To his face, she said, "Look, Jess - I'm really tired, I don't exactly want to talk right now. And I have to go home. My Mum's waiting for me."

"Ooooh-kay, maybe next time then," Jess said nonchalantly.

How she hated his self-important talk! Who did he think he was? "Why don't you just go back and...and kiss Shane or something?"

"...Maybe I don't want to," Jess caught her by surprise.

Embarrassed, Rory said, "Well - then...don't you have to go to Wal-Mart and work or something?" her cheeks flamed.

"Nope," Jess quipped.

"Yeah, well - other people have commitments - unlike some....some....'other' people who might not!"

"How can you possibly have any commitments without Dean around?" Jess asked innocently.

Rory looked up, startled at the harshness of his words, and acted impulsively. She slapped him on the cheek as hard as she could and ran home.

* * *

"What happened, hun, are you okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned.

"I'm fine - leave me alone," Rory ran to her room, eyes streaming.

Two hours later, Lorelai felt safe approaching Rory again. Knocking on the door, she went inside her bedroom and sat down on the pink frilly bed.

"Leave me alone!"

"I'm just trying to help, Rory! Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong or not!?"

Rory looked at her helplessly, daughter to mother, "...Yes...!"

"Okay, why don't you start at the beginning, honey," Lorelai said stroking Rory's head, then cautiously added, "This has to do with Jess, doesn't it?"

"...Yes..."

"What's wrong, Rory?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, Mum! It's Jess! It's always Jess! How can he be so darn good-looking, and still so annoying Mum! I met him today, on the way back from school, and he was acting so self-righteous...like - like he was my brother or something! Why can't he just lay off my life for once! I can't help it - I can't stop thinking about it - I haven't stopped thinking about it since we met him in the diner! Oh, Mum - help me, please help me!"

"Oooh-kay...whoa, that's a lot to take in, Rory. Sadly, Jess is just the way he is. I'm sure we'd all love it if he was perfect boyfriend material like Dea - I mean, like...like, some boys I know. But he's not - and you have to accept him that way, no matter how much you hate it."

"You can say 'Dean', Mum, I'm not going to explode into tears or anything."

"Okay...he may not be perfect boyfriend material like Dean but -"

Lorelai was stopped short by a sob from Rory before she burst into tears, "Mum - I miss him! I miss him like hell! But, why - why! I mean - I love him, but I think...I think...that I love Jess more," she said the last few words so sincerely that even Lorelai was stunned.

"Oh...kay....erm...have you thought this through, Rory?"

"How many times do I have to say it, Mum! I've been thinking about it the whole day! And it's killing me! It's eating into my mind! I couldn't concentrate in classes, couldn't listen to Lane, couldn't even eat properly at lunch-time! What's wrong with him? ...What's wrong with me...?"

"Nothing is wrong with you, Rory," Lorelai added comfortingly, opening her arms wide. Rory leant gratefully into her Mum's warm embrace, "I just don't know...what should I do now, Mum?"

"It's totally up to you whether you choose to go out with him or not."

"But that's exactly it, Mum - I don't know if I should go out with him!" she moaned, "Why can't someone just, I don't know, invent a decision-maker for you or something - then life wouldn't be so complicated, would it?"

"That's the easy way out, Rory - it's up to you - I know this may be a hard choice to make, but in the end - I know you'll make the right one," Lorelai kissed her on the top of her head and left the room.

Rory was left to go to sleep early and think about the pressing question - did she love Jess enough to want to go out with him?

NOTE: Thanks to everyone who pointed out that I had misspelt Jess and Lane! It won't happen again - please keep those comments coming! Thanks also to Jessica for her suggestion of Rory bumping into Jess after school! I've also made some changes to detail.