Previously in "I am the Tower Around Which You Orbited: Butterflies and Hurricanes"

Richard is making his way to Stars Hollow to meet Jess. Aerin, a young girl from Stars Hollow high has begun following Jess. Jess and Dean get into a brawl in front of Doose's market and Luke pulls them apart. Best recap ever.

Chapter Sixteen: One perfect crime, all my life

Rory squeezed my hand tight. "You sure you want to do this?" she asked me, looking over at me. I was staring at the door of the apartment from the inside. I looked over at her and smiled.

"Well, not only am I faerie boy, I'm also a drag queen."

"Hey, that concealer is for a good cause."

"It's for hiding my many facial injuries from your grandpa. Amazing cause."

"Jess, don't be like that."

"Like what?"

"Just, attempt to play nice."

"This stuff itches like crazy, Gilmore. You owe me big time." She kissed my cheek and made a face as she got concealer on her lips. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?" I asked as I opened the door for her.

"Nope," she said, smiling, as we walked down the stairs.

"Damn you and your hyjinks, Gilmore," I grinned and kissed her.

We came out behind the counter, arm in arm, right as Richard and Lorelai walked through the door.

"Good morning Stars Hollow!" Lorelai said, allowing her father to step inside. "My, Jess, you clean up well," Lorelai jested to me. I forced a smile.

"My… this place seems different," Richard exclaimed. Rory rolled her eyes and walked over to give her grandfather a hug.

"Hi grandpa."

"Hello Rory. Ah, I'm assuming you're Jess?" he said as I walked out from behind the counter and extended my hand.

"You assume correctly," Lorelai said.

"Rory tells me you like books."

"She tells you right."

"Books are a large part of anybody's education. If you continue reading books into an old age, who knows, you could be Stephen Hawking."

"I doubt that somewhat."

"Ah, well, he's just trying to be smart. Really, he is Stephen Hawking in disguise."

"Lorelai, your jokes are getting worse every day."

"I know, I'm really trying to work on that."

"Anyway, Jess, I'm terribly sorry we had to move this meeting up a bit. Something came up for this afternoon and I must say, if meeting me in the morning is too awkward for you, too bad."

"It's really no big deal." Rory smiled at me and Lorelai led us to a table.

"Hey Jess, where's Luke?" Lorelai asked.

"He's upstairs, I think Nicole called with an emergency, so he's trying to help her out a little bit."

"Then will you get the coffee?"

"Will do," I got up to get a coffee pot right as Luke came down the stairs. "What was going on there?"

"Nicole just… needed to talk to me about something."

"Okay then, Cryptic man."

I walked over to the Gilmore clan's table and poured coffee for Lorelai and Rory. I went to put the pot back just as Aerin appeared at the counter. "Oh, hello there. What do you want?"

"Coffee. To go." I pulled the pot out again and poured it for her. She took the paper cup, smiled shyly and was out the door in a flash.

I walked back over to the table where Lorelai, Richard and Rory sat and took a chair.

"That girl is really strange," Lorelai commented.

"Yeah."

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes and then Richard spoke up, "So, Jess, what college are you going to?"

"Manchester Community College."

"That's farther away than Yale."

"Well, they have got amazing arts programs there, I've heard."

"Want to be an artist?"

"Or something…"

"Art is fascinating, really. Have you ever been to the Louvre?"

"Unfortunately, no. Never left the country."

"Ah. If you ever do, and you are pursuing art, I highly suggest the Louvre."

"I'm sure many people would."

"Ah, yes, of course." We sank back into the awkward silence as Luke came over.

"Okay, who died?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, it seems like you're all completely silent, so I made a joke," Luke said.

"Could you just take the orders Uncle Luke?"

"Fine." We ordered. Food came. Not much else happened.

As the four of us left to go back to Rory and Lorelai's Richard took me aside while the girls bantered ahead of us.

"What are your intentions with my granddaughter?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I am just curious how long you plan for this relationship to last."

"Well, I plan for it to last for as long as it possibly can. If it ends prematurely, I'd be pretty damn sad, and I'm not sure about how Rory would feel about it. But, I'd like for it to last for as long as it possibly can, which can mean a myriad of things."

"Well said."

"Thank you."

"Hey dad, are you going to at least give him a trial before taking him to the noose?" Lorelai asked back at us.

"Mom…" Rory began, but Richard cut her off.

"I just want to know if his intentions are honourable."

"Oh, they're completely honourable. Nobody ever has quite as honourable intentions as Jess Mariano here," Lorelai said.

We arrived at the house and Rory pulled me inside before Richard or Lorelai could pounce on me. She took me into the kitchen where she kissed me for as long as she possibly could before the two reopened the doors. She jumped off me and mouthed the words "Thank you." I nodded at her.

"Oh, were you two kissing?" Lorelai goaded.

"Lorelai, honestly."

"Well, dad, I'm allowed to joke with my daughter, aren't I Jess?"

"I have no say in this whatsoever."

"Okay, well, Jess," Richard said, extending his arm. "It was very nice to meet you." I shook his hand.

"Hope you got a better impression than Emily did."

"I do believe I did."

"Lovely."

"Well, I should be going. I have to have a late lunch with a client."

"Bye Dad."

"Bye grandpa," Rory said, giving him a hug. He looked around the room one last time and smiled meekly at me.

"Well…" he said, about to say something else, but he instead shut his mouth nodded and left.

"That was… interesting." Lorelai left the room and climbed up the stairs.

"He did have a point about MCC, though. I mean, it's kind of far away."

"It's in Manchester. You know, where they have the good mall?"

"Yeah, but it's like, forty five minutes from here and an hour or more from New Haven."

"Don't worry. I'll pull it off, trust me," I said, pulling her close to me and kissing her. "Too bad your mom's here now, huh?"

She smiled and resumed kissing me. "I have a question actually."

"What about?"

"Prom." I grimaced and gave her a look. "C'mon. It's that whole rite of passage thingie. All the cool kids are doing it these days."

"Yeah, but it's prom. And would we go to both or one?"

"I'd much rather go to the Stars Hollow prom. Lane and Dave will be there, assuming Mama Kim is allowing Dave to take Lane. We could all pile into a limo and you get to wear a tux and I get to wear a pretty dress and it'll be fun. Trust me."

"Rory…"

"Jess, I know it doesn't sound all that fun, but it will be."

"So, you can tell the future, now can you?"

"Yes," she said, kissing me.

"Well, if Pierce Brosnan can wear a tuxedo and kick ass, then I can wear one and dance, right?"

"Right."

"Okay then. I shall buy the tickets when they come on sale this week and we shall go to the prom."

"I can take care of the limo."

"Oh no you cannot."

"Oh yes I can. You should use your money for making better accommodations for yourself if you're going to school in Manchester. That way, you won't have to drive the full forty five there and home every day."

"As good as that sounds, you will need the money for Yale, so I'm getting the limo."

"Fine. You can get the limo. But I'll pout."

"I like it when you pout," I said taking her sleeve between two of my fingers, kissing her sweetly.

"Okay, so now that…" Lorelai came in midkiss and Rory jumped away from me, into the table. "Well, okay then. So, uhm, Rory, Jess, Spock, let's go do something other than stand around foreplaying."

Rory smiled embarrassedly at me and I returned the look.

"I'd better get going and wash this crap off my face."

"Bye bye, Birdie," Lorelai said after me as I went out the back door.

On the walk home, I thought about it. I was taking Rory to the Stars Hollow High prom. Proms weren't my thing, but I was taking her. So, I'd have to get a tux, a limo, a corsage, etcetera. But those weren't the only thoughts about it parading through my mind.

THE END of chapter sixteen

Get ready for some amazing action in the next chapter. Wondering about Aerin? Well, be prepared to learn, my friends.