Hope you're liking this so far. I know it's been a joy writing it. I'm really flowing I think, and I'm staying fairly regular, which is a good thing. I hope that everyone will drop me a line and let me know what you think about this. I could use a beta reader, if anyone is interested. I know that things may seem like they're moving a little quickly, but that's the way it is intended. Jess has grown up, and Rory needs someone, so it's natural that they'll get back together. It starts out as a symbiotic relationship, and it'll grow throughout the story to be something more. They are in love, and they love one another, its just right now that's all the relationship is based on. Love and their history. It'll slowly grow into a future. So bear with me, and we'll get there eventually. I already have the last chapter and epilogue planned out, though I'm not sure how long this is actually going to be. Also, let me plug one of my favorite stories. Go read Ruined in the Rain, it's awesome. Lights, Cameras, Action is good too, I like Incoming a lot, and Echoed is also good. And they are all Lit fics, so if you're reading this, you'll like them. I promise. And drop them a review too while you're over there reading their stories. After you read this chapter, of course. All we authors live off of reviews, and we'd really like to know what you think about our work.

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Luke looked up when the bell over the diner door chimed. No one had been in all day because of the carnival, so the diner was completely empty. When he saw Jess supporting Lorelai and Rory and Lucas and Garrett attached to his legs, he smirked. The Gilmores had OD'd on junk food, no doubt.

"A little help here." Jess grumbled, taking two steps into the diner. "She's your wife, and they're your kids. The only one I lay claim to is the one who can actually walk."

Rory giggled and sagged against him a little more dramatically. "But that's no fun. If you have to help Mom walk, you should have to help me too. Luke, the baby wants a cheeseburger and chocolate chip pancakes."

Luke lifted his eyebrows. "Well, you'll just have to wait. Lorelai, stop molesting Jess and sit down. Boys, leave him alone." He pinned Jess with a glare as well. "Why do you have to encourage them?"

"I don't encourage anything except them walking on their own."

Lorelai sagged into a chair, laid a hand over her stomach. "I am never eating again."

Luke sighed. "If only I could get that lucky. Boys, go bother Caesar. He could use the company. And tell him to get the regular for Rory. How much did you eat, Lorelai?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Everything that looked good. Ooh, Luke, have you ever had deep fried Oreos? They're soooo good. Jess, go get some for Luke."

Luke shook his head. "Don't you dare. I don't eat Oreos that aren't deep fried. Jess, how much did she have?"

"Everything that Rory had, which is roughly three times the amount any normal human could ingest over the course of a week."

"That sounds about right. I wish I knew how they did it." Luke sat a mug of coffee in front of Lorelai, who looked at it suspiciously. "Don't worry, it's caffinated. I promise."

Rory leaned on Jess while she waited for her food. "You're too nice to us, Jess."

Jess patted her head absently. "I know."

Lorelai gulped down her coffee. "So when are you going back to California, Jess?"

Jess' brow furrowed. "I'm not. I have an apartment in New York."

"Oh? Where in New York?"

"Meat packing district."

Lorelai's eyebrows nearly met her hairline. "You're kidding."

"No. Why?"

"That's where Rory's apartment is. It's apparently the new place to live in New York. Close to downtown, which means it's just a short cab ride for her to go to work at the Times, and it's relatively safe compared to the rest of New York, and surprisingly affordable."

"Well, I don't suppose it's all that surprising that we picked the same neighborhood." Jess said thoughtfully, watching Rory shovel in pancakes. "I'm working for a record company, and I have a book coming out, so we're working in roughly the same part of town which means that there are a limited number of places to live close. Add on to that that we're both just starting, we're recent college graduates, and not making all that much money, and the number gets even smaller."

Rory nodded, grasping the logic there just fine. Lorelai, who was inclined to be suspicious of Jess anyway, had problems with the coincidence of the situation. Not that she didn't like him, because she did. At least, in the time that he had been back, she liked him. And it wasn't that she didn't trust him, because she did. It was just the basic principle that old habits died hard.

"What building are you in?" Lorelai asked, not noticing that Jess had moved on to talking to Luke about something else. He answered her absently before turning back to his conversation with his uncle. "That's the same building Rory's in."

That got his attention. That got everyone's attention. Jess turned back to Lorelai, looking confused. "What do you mean that's where Rory's living?"

"I mean exactly what it sounds like I mean. That's the building in which Rory has her apartment."

Rory laughed. "Imagine that. We're going to be neighbors."

"Did you know Rory was moving to New York?"

Luke lifted his eyebrows at his wife. "I don't see how he could have, Lor. I didn't tell him. I haven't talked to him in months."

Jess shook his head. "No. I bought the place because of it's literary history, and the fact that my grandmother on my father's side left me the lease in her will. It's rent controlled, which means I can actually afford it, and it's huge, which is another plus, and I spent a lot of time there when I was a kid."

Lorelai looked at Luke, who nodded. "I was only there once, but I remember it being in the meat packing district."

Satisfied that Jess hadn't plotted the whole thing out, Lorelai nodded. "Good. I like knowing someone will be close to Rory to call me and take her to the hospital when she goes into labor."

Jess paled at that thought. "What?"

Lorelai laughed, getting a kick out of making him squirm. "You're the boyfriend, kid, remember? That means Lamaze classes, and crushed fingers in the delivery room, and helping her with cravings, and maneuvering stairs when she can't even see her feet, and lugging her out of bed in the morning. And birth. That means that you get to be in there during the birth of my grandchild."

Rory slapped a hand over her mother's mouth. "Mom. Much. Too. Early. For. This. Discussion." She enunciated every word so that there was no way her mother could pretend that she hadn't heard what Rory was saying. "Got it?"

Lorelai nodded, and Rory released her. Though before she could say anything, Jess had leapt from his seat and was dragging Rory out the front door. She looked at Luke like a child with her hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar. "I think I just made a boo boo."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

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Jess didn't stop until they were at the bridge. It had been the place of most of their groundbreaking talks thus far in the time they'd known each other, and neither felt a need for things to be any different. He sat down, and she slowly lowered herself beside him, placing her flip flops safely on the bridge beside her so that she didn't lose yet another pair in the creek.

"Jess, Mom was just teasing. You know she didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Jess looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Rory, we need to talk."

Rory felt her heart drop into her stomach, and tears threatened to well in her eyes, but she was determined to hold them back. She couldn't blame him for wanting out. It was too much to ask anyone to take on. Too much to expect from anyone. "Okay. Talk."

He heard the catch in her voice, twisted around to face her, then tipped her head in his direction so that he could lay his mouth over hers. He kissed her gently, then pulled back. "It isn't what you think it is, Ror. I just want to talk. Serious stuff, yeah, but nothing bad. I promise."

Rory nodded. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?" she laughed. "I don't suppose the new edition of Howl is an option?"

"Nope. It's paperback, and the same as all the other ones save the first edition. Not even worth mentioning." He took a deep breath and turned to watch the water some more. "Your mom was right. You are going to need help. With the pregnancy thing, and the labor thing."

"Jess, women do it on their own all the time. I mean, no it won't be easy, but Mom is only a couple hours away, and you're in the same building. It isn't like I don't have people to help me when I need it."

"Yeah, but a couple hours is a long time if something happens, and what if you fall or something, or get sick and can't call me? What then?"

Rory was confused. "What are you talking about? I'm not even really showing yet, Jess. And I get sick every morning almost. That isn't anything new."

"And you can't go out in New York City in the middle of the night to satisfy a craving, and I know you're too polite to call and wake me up."

"What are you trying to say? That you think I should stay here in Stars Hollow?"

Jess gaped at her. "No! I thought I was making it obvious what I thought. You can't stay by yourself, Rory. You don't need the stress. And what if someone tries to break in in the middle of the night, hmm? What then?"

"So you think I should hire a body guard?"

"No, Rory! Dammit! I think you should move in with me! I have three bedrooms. That's a room for each of us and one for the baby. And I won't have to worry about you, and your mother would feel better, and it would just be a better situation all around. I'd be right there, and I could go get the stuff for your cravings, and I could help you get out of bed in the mornings, and be there when you go into labor. It's either that or I'm sleeping on your couch for the next six months, cause I know you don't have a spare room."

"Okay."

"I mean, I know it's a big change, and that it'll take some getting used to, and that you may not, we may not, be ready for this, but I think it's the best option, and I really want to make this work. Wait. Did you say okay?"

Rory giggled. "I said okay. One condition though."

"Name it."

"I don't want my own room. If you're serious about this, then you're gonna be up too when the baby kicks and keeps me awake, or when my back hurts and I can't sleep. And this isn't about sex, so don't think that's what I mean. I have problems sleeping by myself at home, so it'd be ten times worse in a strange apartment in a strange city."

Jess nodded. "Deal." He pulled her up and started tugging her in the direction of the diner, her hopping the first few steps as she got her shoes back on.

"Where are we going?"

"To tell Luke and Lorelai."

Rory hurried to catch up, a grin spreading across her face of its own volition and without her permission. He wanted to tell people. He wanted to tell them that they were together and they were moving in with one another. She didn't think anything could have made her happier at that particular point in time.

Jess opened the door to the diner and dragged Rory through. Luke and Lorelai looked up from where they were coloring with the boys. Jess took a deep breath. "We've decided to move into my apartment together."