Back Again?

He left Jess standing with the phone to his ear, a mixed expression of annoyance, relief and .. well, eagerness to leave and see Rory once more.

Apparently he'd stood there with the phone to his ear, sounding the tone, for quite awhile because he got a sharp gaze from the girl on the counter. "Jess?" She eyed him with a mix of curiosity and annoyance, folding her arms over her chest expectantly. For some reason, that made him so mad. "Who was it?" she asked when he made no move to answer, or even look at her.

He turned his gaze to her then, pulling the phone from his ear and placing it in the reciever. "My uncle." he said, arching a brow. "I did say that while talking to him." he added, in a 'don't you /listen?' tone of voice. She wrinkled her nose slightly, opened her mouth to reply, and he shook his head. "I have to go back when the weekend's up." he said and she closed her mouth, paused, then blinked. ".. Oh." she shrugged.

Not like she meant anything to him. Or vice versa. He liked the noncommital flings, even if they /were/ absolutely .. well, stupid. He realized he was drifting off again by the time he was thinking about he and Rory's mindless bantering, and quickly came back to attention. "Then I guess we don't have much time." he said, eyeing her carefully. She nodded. "So c'mere." she said and grabbed his hand, pulling him to her. And then they were kissing again.

xx

She bit her lip anxiously, half-glaring at her mother. "It's only for two weeks, babe." Lorelai reminded her daughter helplessly, shrugging. She tapped her fake nails against the counter, watching for expression and waiting for an answer.

Rory, however, had nothing more to say. Until a second later when she shrugged. "I can't believe you /agreed/ to this. You hate him as much as I do." she said, wrinkling her nose unattractively, shoving her brown locks aside. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

All around them was bustling; they were in Luke's Diner for a nice little lunch, where Lorelai sprung the news on Rory.

"He probably won't even talk to you." Lorelai said, arms folding across her chest. And then the whiny Lorelai face came on and she pouted. "Now can't we /go? I'm bored." she said, staring down at the plate that had held chili fries moments before and the cup that didn't even have a drop of coffee left (and Rory did the same - healthy meals those two ate) before aiming the pout at Rory.

Rory, who wasn't looking before, was looking now. She relentlessly shook her head. "Mo-om." she moaned, as daughters tended to do, running both hands through her hair. She was, if nothing else, exasperated. "I can't belive Jess Mariano was your first choice to run the diner." she said.

"No, no." Lorelai said, shaking her head now. "It was /Luke's/ idea. He really likes the kid. Now we're sitting here arguing over someone you can ignore anyway with empty plates in front of us - what does that tell you?"

"We should order more food?" Rory said innocently. "Either that or we can stop the bickering by you telling Jess to stay where he is." And yet ..

xx

The flight to Stars Hollow had been annoyingly long and tiring. He was seated by a screaming squirming six year old, and he'd hardly gotten any reading done. Ironically, he'd tried to read Pride and Prejudice (which was what Rory was reading, again, at that moment). He wished .. he was back at home in New York, snuggled under the covers, half asleep but here he was. On his way to goddamn Stars Hollow again to work the diner as if he was still seventeen.

"Uncle" Luke (the thought alone brought a smirk to his lips) was going to get an earful for forcing him to come down. He hated the diner, he hated Luke, he didn't want to see Rory again (that he had decided approximately an hour after he got on the plane) and he definitely didn't want to sleep in the same house as her. But now there he was, anxiously awaiting the scruffy man in the backwards cap's arrival. He was tapping his foot, clad in black combat boots, against the dirty tile impatiently, arms folded over his chest.

He was the same old Jess, a paperback book shoved into the back pocket of tight jeans and a leather jacket keeping him warm. He hadn't grown up in the time that he'd been away from Rory - he was still wondering why she wouldn't pick up and leave for him. Well, actually, he'd come to the conclusion that she didn't love him, but that .. was fine. Whatever.

xx

Rory was, for lack of a better word, distressed. She'd torn her closet apart in search of the right "old-Rory-meets-new-Rory" outfit to go with Luke to pick Jess up and she still hadn't come up with anything. Until she raided her mother's closet, coming up with a black skirt that fell just short of her knees and a fitted black and white polka-dotted spaghetti strap shirt. It would be even better if it wasn't cold, but that was the last thing on her mind.

"Rory! Would you hurry?" sounded Luke's impatient voice.

"Sorry, Luke!" she called back apologetically, then applied just one more coat of lipgloss .. then she was good to go. She turned. Wait, no. She turned again and glanced at her shoulder-length hair, smoothing it. There. She ran downstairs, slipping on black flip-flops at the door.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Luke asked, eyeing her apprehensively, but she hadn't heard him. After all, she was already out the door.

A/N: Again, read, review, be brutal .. I'd appreciate honesty.