Previously in "I am the Tower Around Which You Orbited"

I could feel her arching into me and I knew that this was not a good idea, not with Lorelai in the house. But I couldn't think, all I could do was feel Rory under me and want to know that she loved me.

Chapter Twenty-two: For the first time, she feels just fine

An alarm clock rang somewhere off in the distance. As my eyes flittered open, I could see faint light coming in through the open window.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, and rolled over. Rory was beside me, waking up slowly to the sound of the alarm clock. "Rory, wake up, now," I whispered sharply in her ear. Her eyes widened and she hit off her alarm clock. She sat up and put her hand to her head. "How the hell did this happen?"

"I don't know."

"Crap." I scrambled to get dressed as Rory clutched her sheet to her chest protectively, like girls do in the movies. "How did we fall asleep?"

"Jess, I don't know." Rory looked hysterical. I buttoned my pants and went over to her, holding her face lightly in the palm of my hand.

"Rory, look at me," I said quietly, "What happened last night, don't tell your mom. What you need to do is get dressed and act like nothing happened, nothing's wrong. Call me when you get home from school, or just drop by the diner, okay? It's okay, it's all okay." She shivered and I kissed her cheek. "You're going to be okay, Rory." She just nodded her head and got to getting dressed.

I pulled my shirt over my head and as I was pulling my jacket arm over one of my arms, Lorelai's voice came down the stairs.

"Rory, honey, I need coffee. Are you awake yet?" She knocked on the door, and I looked around frantically. Rory seemed panicked but calmed herself quickly, smoothing over her hair. She motioned for me to hide in the closet, which I did. Luckily, I did it silently and the moment before Lorelai opened the door. "Hey, honey, are you alright?" Lorelai asked, concerned mother tone kicking in.

"Yeah, just, a bad dream is all."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine once I shower and eat and everything."

"Okay. Just remember, today is Friday! The best day of the week!"

"Yeah, well, I think I'll just make my bed and then take a shower."

"Okay, well, I'll start the coffee," Lorelai said quickly and almost closed the door, but something she saw stopped her. "Why is the window open?" I cringed in my hiding spot.

"Uhm, I was kind of hot last night and I just opened the window. That may have been the root of my bad dreams, you know, the cold. Hopefully I won't get sick."

"Okay, what is really going on here?"

"Nothing mom, I swear. I just… opened the window because I was hot and I forgot to close it. If it bothers you, I'll just put a fan in here."

"Mhm," Lorelai sounded suspicious. After a moments pause where I could only hear their breathing, Lorelai spoke up again. "Jess, wanna get out of the closet now?" Rory gasped. "Oh, c'mon, I know you're in there. I heard you scrambling in when I opened the door. I see Rory and her bed all disheveled, and the window's open. All clues point to you. Plus, there's the fact that your book of choice is on the floor."

Rory sighed and said, "Jess, just…" Before she could finish, I clumsily opened the closet door and revealed myself.

"Hi, Ms. Gilmore."

"Hi Jess! Say, how are you? Isn't this weather just great, and hey, what the hell were you doing in my daughter's room?" Rory and I both cringed. "And, quite clearly, you can't say 'At least we were safe' this time, because I see no evidence of that whatsoever."

"Mom, I can explain…" Rory started.

"I didn't ask you to explain, Rory. I'd like Jess to explain right now."

"Lorelai…"

"Call me Ms. Gilmore, I like that one better."

"O…kay, Ms. Gilmore. Uhm, well, I couldn't sleep last night because I thought Rory was avoiding me, so I went out to come and ask her what was going on and one thing led to another and we really didn't think, so I'm sorry." Now I turned to Rory and repeated, "I'm sorry."

Lorelai sighed. "I understand the whole sneaking around thing, I really do, but I do not want Rory getting pregnant, understand? And, since you two are still in high school and have college careers facing you, how about you just stay out of each other's rooms, okay? And I'm really not fine with this, but right now, I'm tired, and I need coffee." Lorelai turned around and was about to go into the kitchen when she turned back to me, "You're very lucky I put Rory on the pill." Rory blushed at this and Lorelai turned and went into the kitchen.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the front door and a familiar male voice shouting, "Lorelai! Lorelai, open the door, I need your help." Lorelai rushed to open the door for Luke. I swore under my breath.

"Luke, what's going on?" He had obviously entered the house by now, as we could hear his feet stomping through the foyer.

"Jess was gone when I woke up. He's not there. I figured, maybe he got up early and went to get something – an hour later, still no Jess. I run around the town looking for any sign of Jess and I can't find him anywhere. Maybe he left. Maybe he was axe murdered. Maybe…"

"Maybe he's here," Lorelai said.

"What?"

"Jess is here. He and Rory had a little sleepover."

"What? Are you kidding me? God…" Luke stormed into the kitchen to stare at Rory and I. "Okay, that's it. You're grounded. Not that that'll do anything, but I will have eyes on you at all times. No car, no leaving the diner unless supervised, and no going near Rory, understood?" he said, dragging me by the ear out of Rory's room.

"Okay, that hurts," I exclaimed and Lorelai rushed to part us.

"Luke, hold on here. I understand the fact that you want to lock this kid up. I do too, but that's not what we can do here. I think the best idea is to just sit down and talk about this, with both of them. I know they're both smart generally, but when it comes to each other, they're going to need some guidance. So why don't you let go of Jess's ear and sit him down at the table like a civilized human being, okay?"

Luke snarled and then gave me a chair. Lorelai took her coffee and sipped it carefully. "Rory, your turn." Rory came in, redfaced, and sat down across from me. "Okay, the only way we can keep track of the two of you is by grounding, and apparently, we still wouldn't be able to do that very well, so we have no choice but to chain you to your respective beds and let you starve. However, that's not a very good choice, so it's not the choice we're turning to. I'm not entirely sure how to deal with this except to tell you to stay the hell out of my daughter's room, and Rory, stay out of their apartment. You two will always be supervised when you're around each other, do you understand?" We both nodded. "Good. Now, Luke, take him and do what you want with him, I have to get my daughter ready for school." Luke nodded and pulled my up out of the chair by the arm. Rory gave me this sad look as we left.

As soon as we were a good distance from the Gilmore residence, Luke whispered sharply in my ear, trying not to burst, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We weren't okay? We just weren't thinking. Maybe we deserve lobotomies, or something, I don't know, but I'm tired of people asking me that goddamn question. I'm not dumb; I just don't think things through some times. So back the hell off me," I shouted and shrugged Luke off, walking about ten times faster than he was.

THE END of chapter twenty-two