Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with The Gilmore Girls; it is all the property of Amy Sherman-Palladino. I do own a few individual characters as well as the plot, but there's really no point in suing me because I don't own anything of value.

Chapter Five

"Luke?" Jess called, entering the Gilmore's house, Anna in his arms. "Lorelai?"

"Hello?' came a male voice, definitely not Luke's.

David came out of the kitchen and seemed very surprised to see Jess.

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, um, I'm the ex-boyfriend. Where's Luke?"

"Oh no, I've definitely put my foot in it. Rory wanted you to think all of this was already planned."

"I'll cut you a deal," Jess said, suddenly getting an idea.

"Sure."

"You don't tell Rory you saw me with her grandfather and I'll pretend I've never seen you before."

"Deal," David said, grinning and sticking out his hand.

Jess quickly said goodbye and left, not wanting Rory to know he'd already seen David. He pulled up around the corner from Luke's, the same place he'd parked when he'd first arrived. Anna was now awake but fortunately, she wasn't crying. He lifted her out of her car seat and carried her into the diner.

"Hey there sweetie," Lorelai said the moment Jess stepped inside. "Give her to me!"

Jess smiled and handed his daughter over. He approached the counter to where Luke was, pretending to be busy so he wouldn't have to speak to Jess.

"Luke? Can I talk to you, upstairs?"

Luke sighed and followed Jess up to the apartment.

"What do you want Jess?"

"I thought about what you said."

Luke didn't say anything so Jess continued.

"How would you like to rent me the apartment? At least until I can find something else."

"You're serious? You want to move here?"

Jess nodded. After an extensive discussion with Richard, he'd decided he would do it. Luke had been right, New York was no place to raise a little girl but Stars Hollow was perfect.

"I'll have to go back to New York for at least a month or so, get everything in order. But yeah, then I'd like to move here. I think, if I can, I'll stick with the Times and just work from home."

"That's great Jess," Luke said, beaming. "I'm glad you listen once in a while. Of course you can have the apartment, free of charge."

"I'll pay. Anyway, I was thinking about going back there tomorrow, I have a few things to do, being Christmas and all. Do you think Lorelai would be able to watch Anna?"

"I dunno, let's go ask."

Unfortunately, Lorelai was working the following day, but suggested Jess ask Rory. And so, leaving Anna with Lorelai, he reluctantly headed back to the Gilmore house.

He arrived and knocked on the door. A moment later, Rory flung it open, David standing a metre or so behind her.

"Jess?" Rory asked, looking slightly panicked but recovering quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"You're not going to introduce me to your friend?" Jess asked, rasing an eyebrow.

"Jess, this is David. David, Jess," she mumbled so Jess could barely hear her.

"Nice to meet you, David," Jess said, sticking out his hand and smirking at the surprised look Rory gave him.

"Ah yeah, you too Jess."

"Jess? What do you want?"

"I have to go up to New York tomorrow and your mother is working. I was wondering if you could possibly watch Anna?"

Before Rory could answer, a loud, annoying cell phone began ringing. David sheepishly pulled it out of his pocket and walked back into the kitchen. Rory silently closed the door, stepping out onto the porch so she and Jess were alone.

"You know Rory, I would really appreciate you doing this for me," he said pointedly.

"You're bribing me about the kiss?" she hissed. "That's low Jess, real low."

"What's he doing here anyway, Rory?" Jess asked, trying to stir her up. "You never mentioned he was coming."

"It's been planned for weeks," Rory said, a little too quickly. "Just because you didn't know about it doesn't mean anything Jess."

They were interrupted by the door opening again and David appearing.

"Sorry about that Ror," he said. "That was my boss."

"Oh, that's okay," she said, putting her arm around him and glaring at Jess. "What did he want?"

"I might have to go into the office in a couple of days, but I'll try and put it off for as long as I can."

"Swell," Jess said sarcastically. "Are you gonna do it or not Rory? I kinda need to know."

"Yes," she said, glaring at him again. "I'll do it."

"Great," Jess replied, walking backwards down the porch steps. "I'll bring her by about seven."

"Seven?"

"Okay, seven thirty. Bye Rory. Bye David."

"Bye Jess," David called.

Rory however ignored him and, as he walked away, Jess could feel her eyes on him the entire time.

The following afternoon, Jess pulled up in front of the Gilmore house after having spent the day in New York. Lorelai let him in, beckoning toward the living room as she was chatting on the phone.

Jess made his way into the large room. He spotted Rory in an armchair, nursing Anna and talking to her. He stood where Rory couldn't see him and watched.

"You're so beautiful," she whispered, cradling Anna. "Just like your dad. You've changed him so much, but I don't know if it's for the better. Two years ago, I think he might have loved me. Now, he's got you, he has no room to love me."

Jess quietly backed away until he was outside. He noisily entered the room this time, causing Rory to look up as he did.

"Hey sweetie," Jess said, taking Anna and giving her a kiss. "Did you miss me?"

Jess caught Rory's eye. She was smiling slightly and didn't look away from him.

"What about you?" he smirked. "Miss me?"

"Oh of course,' Rory said sarcastically.

"I knew it," Jess replied, looking back at Anna. "Rory missed daddy, Anna. Isn't that swell."

"You're such an idiot," Rory said, smiling despite herself. "Did you get all your stuff done?"

"Yeah, all of it. I have something to tell you."

"What?" Rory asked, a panicked look crossing her face.

"At the end of January, I'm planning to move here, so I can raise Anna here. You don't mind do you?"

"Why would I mind? I don't care what you do, if you want to move here, move here, doesn't affect me, either way."

Jess' face suddenly clouded over with hurt and anger.

"Thank you for looking after her, " he said tersely, picking up her car seat and bag.

"Jess, wait!" Rory cried to his retreating back. "I-"

She was immediately cut off as David entered the room.

"Hey sweetie," he said to Rory. "Oh, hey Jess. How was the trip?"

"Fine," Jess replied, before continuing out the door.

He placed Anna in her stroller, sitting by the front door. He said goodbye to Lorelai and settled his daughter into his car.

As Jess drove Anna home, he couldn't help but think about Rory again. After they'd shared that kiss, Jess had decided, or rather been forced to admit, he still had feelings for her. Her grandfather had told him that moving back would be an ideal way to show her he cared. So far, it didn't seem to be working.