A/N-Wow. Thank you for not thinking that last chapter was AWFUL! It pained me to write it, but the plot was, for lack of better term, pillowy.

Kylie1403-Thanks! We'll figure it out pretty soon. Evil? Yes.

Bittersweetbloodbaby-You are so sweet! You'll see soon enough where it's going. The next few chapters are in the past so we can build a little bit on well, the breakdown. BTW-I LOVE the newest chapters in Lights, Camera, Action! Soooo good. Cannot WAIT for the next chapter. And a sequel? I'm on cloud nine.

Spinaround-I cannot tell you what your reviews mean to me! I heart you!

The Desert Fox-Yeah, that's pretty much where I wanted to go with that. The guilt of their bad relationship had a lot to do with it.

Yeah, Alan Rickman is fairly famous, but, what can I say? I swoon for Liam. I think Kinsey, Love Actually, and Schindler's List are the only movies I've seen him in. You HAVE to see Schindler's List if you haven't yet though. It's phenomenal. And amazing quotes that you leave! Love it.

Kat461-Wow. You amaze me. Thanks so much for reading! That's the sweetest thing!

Moon,gates,slaying-Thank you! Sorry about the last ending, I sort of realized that every time I wrote a chapter I left little to the imagination. Don't worry, you'll "soon enough" be enlightened.

Kal's Gal-Thanks for the comment! Hope to see more of you!

Someone5-I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I wrote something angsty and icky. I much prefer a little bit of conflict here and there, and then LOTS of sweetness. Thank you!

Soph-Then I must be doing something right…lol.

Sanfrangiantsfan-I know! I hate writing him sad, but he'll be fine, I promise. I won't let Jess stay sad.

This chapter is going to take place in the past again, in case you find it easier to skip the part above this.

Rory laid her bed the next morning, waiting for the snooze on her alarm to kick in and her day to start. Provided their first date had occurred on a Wednesday, she still couldn't have thought of a better day to have it. And now Luke and her mom were going to start seeing one another. It was all just too perfect. And this was what was supposed to explain the knot in her stomach.

It was an unexplainable sensation that things had peaked. She was afraid of the downhill slide that she was inevitable to make. True, now she had Jess, but getting him had seemed like more of a highlight than having him, sad as it was. The struggle was over and the sweetness of victory was something that, more often than not, was lost to Rory. And the fact that Luke and Lorelai had finally taken notice of one another left very little to the imagination for the future of Star's Hollow's "Most Likely to Be a Couple in Ten Years" couple.

She rolled over on her side again, staring at the clock, trying to gauge when the alarm would go off again. Just as she let out a sigh, it shook her from her stupor and she sat up straight, turned it off, collected herself, and opened the door.

"Mom?" she called through the house. She heard a small, almost feeble croak from up the stairs. She smiled and ran up the stairs, falling into bed next to her mother.

"Early," Lorelai groaned as she rolled in the opposite direction, taking the covers and her pillow with her.

"Up," Rory said as she took away the pillow that had been covering Lorelai's head. Lorelai gasped sharply at the light that streamed unexpectedly into her eyes and curled into a ball under the covers.

"Seriously?"

"Don't you want to hear about my date?"

"I heard all I needed to know about your date last night. Jess is a sissy girl who likes sappy, sissy movies, and you aren't deflowered. Sleep?" Rory lightly smacked her mother on the head and Lorelai smiled.

"There was much, much more to last night than that."

"Dirty," Lorelai said.

"You are a very strange little woman."

"Well! You started it!"

"Not at all disillusioning."

"Big words, Rory. It is currently six a.m. Come back in about 30 minutes."

"I'm awake now." Lorelai sighed.

"Talk."

xxx

"This isn't going to work," Paris said as she read over an article that Madeline had written about the women's soccer game on Monday. She flipped the page angrily and Madeline and Louise exchanged a look. "You have to stop ignoring every play in the game."

"All I paid attention to were the plays."

"No, all you paid any notice to were which girls needed to wear a different color eyeliner and the center who forgot to shave her legs."

"It was like watching Smokey the Bear meets Bend it Like Beckham."

"Well, adding in a simile with that level of creativity would've kept this article from being complete crap."

"You won't let me report the men's sports anymore. You get what you ask for."

"Actually, I don't. I asked for a suitable article. Simple even. Just to humor some parents who think that their kid is God's gift to Chilton. And all you can manage to say are some major plays and who scored what goals? Madeline. You forgot to say who actually won the match!"

"It's implied."

"You know, actually, nobody goes to soccer games anyway, Paris," Rory said as she rubbed her temples, with her eyes squeezed shut.

"That's why we report it, Gilmore. Wake up," she stated as she lightly smacked her gavel to the table.

"Christ almighty, Paris!" Rory whined loudly as she raised her head to look angrily at the student body president herself.

"Finally," Paris sighed. "Respect." She looked down at Rory suspiciously.

"Can I help you?" Rory said, annoyed.

"I'm just wondering why you're so…drained. Normally you're perkier than all sin."

"I didn't get in until late."

"Wait, be quiet. What Rory?" Louise said, hushing Madeline with a wave of her hand. "Out late on a week night? Sketchy."

Rory blushed. "Not really."

"For the love of-," Paris started, but was cut off.

"Quiet," Madeline said. Paris looked taken aback. "Continue," she said, her gaze falling on Rory.

"I went out on a date," she said, blushing even more. Louise motioned for her to continue as they leaned forward to hear her better. "With a guy from Star's Hollow."

"Who?" they squealed simultaneously. Paris rolled her eyes at Rory and slumped down into her chair.

"Star's Hollow's resident James Dean," Paris said with her arms crossed defiantly.

"Bad boy," Madeline said, giving Louise a knowing look.

"His name is Jess. He likes to read and used to cause a lot of trouble around town. Paris hasn't known him since he got back from New York."

"And from the big city," Louise added.

"Born and raised," Rory said, trying to alleviate the interrogation.

"He got shipped here, because he caused too much trouble, shipped back because he broke the Ice Princess here, and shipped back here yet again because he wanted to come back for her."

"He's not computer software that you 'ship' places," Rory said, glaring at Paris. "He moved back because he promised he'd stop getting into trouble."

"A refined bad boy. We're moving to Star's Hollow when we graduate," Louise said to Madeline.

"At any rate," Rory said, interrupting their musings. "I got in late, I'm tired. Can we wrap this up?"

"Definitely," Paris said, regrouping. "Rewrite the article, and you can start with the men's tennis match in a refresher course in how to pay attention," she said, glaring at Madeline.

Paris wandered up to Rory at her locker after the meeting, nonchalantly leaning against the one next to it.

"So. You went out with him," Paris stated.

"I did."

"How'd that go over with Lorelai?"

"Shaky at first. She made fun of me for a while because he took me to see Love Actually."

"Please be joking."

"It's actually a really good movie."

"You're not kidding."

"Swear I'm not."

"I find that hard to believe."

"And my mom's going out with Luke now."

"Diner man?"

"And uncle of Jess. It's all very twisted if you think about it too long. I prefer not to dwell on the subject for fear of nausea."

"So if your mom and Luke got married-," Paris started.

"No! See, you think about it too long, it gets icky."

Paris was silent for a few seconds as Rory finished packing her backpack and started to close the locker door.

"Rory?"

"Yeah?" Rory said, looking for a way to leave sooner rather than later.

"Jamie asked me to spend Thanksgiving with his family."

"Paris! You should do it!"

"Should I? Because while the whole family bonding thing is very lost to me, I still feel compelled to experience once or twice before I actually die."

"Paris," Rory said, grabbing Paris by the shoulders, shaking her from her rant. "Just go. Have fun."

"You got it," Paris said, grinning largely and walking down the hallway.

xxx

"If you do not stop taking hour long breaks, I will very unceremoniously kick your ass to the curb," Luke hissed as Jess and Rory came down the stairs from the apartment, looking mighty guilty.

"Unceremoniously and everything? Gee Uncle Luke, with this town, you'd think they'd throw a parade every time someone walked across the street," Jess commented, sneering all the while as he pulled on an apron. In the meantime, Rory had taken a seat at the counter, going for her coffee cup, which she could now feel was frigid. Jess shot her a warm look that made her flush from her toes up.

He took away her cold mug and she smiled thankfully as she checked her hair and the buttons on her blouse. She and Jess hadn't gotten quite that far, but one appraising look from Jess usually made her question her decency.

He put a fresh cup of coffee in front of her as he walked by to take a couple's order.

"Aren't you just full of piss and vinegar today," Luke said when he came within chiding distance again. Jess shrugged him off and walked by, grabbing the coffee pot as he went.

"Which is different from yesterday…?"

"You're a hopeless case, you know that right?" Luke said as he walked back into the kitchen. Jess smirked at Rory and she chugged her coffee happily. Looking up briefly, she noted that it was almost five.

"Child? My first-and-only born? Is that you?" Lorelai croaked as she walked into the diner, clutching her stomach in exaggerated starvation. Rory smiled and Jess walked past her, shaking his head.

"Get over here and stop being such a melodramatic," she said, waving her over.

"I got through today with TWO cups of coffee. Not twenty-two, not forty-two, not even twelve. TWO. If I do not get more caffeine into my system in the next ten minutes, people may think I'm a recovering heroin addict and throw me into rehab with George Carlin and that weirdo from the Backstreet Boys," Lorelai said as she begged Jess with her eyes. He set a cup in front of her and tousled Rory's ponytail as he walked behind them again.

"God forbid," Rory said.

"Wait-," Lorelai said after a few moments of silence. "I told Luke that I'd go out with him on Friday, didn't I?" Lorelai said, her eyebrows drawn together guiltily.

"You did not!" Rory said indignantly.

"I think I did. I'm so sorry babe, but I can't break this date! You know how much it means to me."

"Does this mean I have to go there alone?"

"Unless…," Lorelai said, her gaze slowly following Jess as he bustled around the diner silently.

"Abso. Freaking. Lutely. Not. Do you know what kind of mental pain could be inflicted in three hours of Emily and Richard Gilmore versus Jess Mariano and Rory Gilmore?" Rory said, gesturing wildly.

"I'm thinking Sybil like tendencies in the post-trauma stage. You know, multiple personalities. But essentially I see a full recovery on all fronts on the horizon."

"Mom."

"Sorry. Well, who else would you take? Mama Kim wouldn't let Lane out of the house, especially to Hartford to someone's alleged grandparents for dinner. I'm out of the picture. You aren't willing to make Jess lose his new, unscathed, boyfriend countenance. I'd say you're on your own."

Rory sighed as she watched Jess ring up a customer moodily. They took their change and went steadfast out the door, probably rushed from the brooding, raven-haired boy who was now leaned against the counter, reading some obscure novel.

"I really don't want to take him. Not yet. I mean, eventually they'll have to meet him, like at our wedding or something. But they don't even know about him yet. Let alone the fact that I would be bringing him over. And all they remember about Jess is that he drove the car that broke me."

"They do hold a solid grudge on that one."

"Wait!" Rory said after a moment, her eyes flitting open wider. "We're sick. I have a deathly flu and I can't walk. I simply cannot risk my health by driving all the way to Hartford," she said, hunching over in her seat, holding her stomach, and coughing.

"We tried that once. She may demand a doctor's note."

Rory held up a finger as to say, 'one moment,' and waved Jess over. He looked at her curiously and walked over.

"How can I help you?" he said, leaning down and looking at the two of them.

"How good are you at forging doctor's notes?" Rory asked, clandestinely.

"Hey!" Lorelai said, her eyes wide in surprise. "You two are bad influences on one another!" She contemplated them for a moment before looking back to Jess. "Well, are you? Spit it out Surly, we don't have a whole lot of time!"

Jess blew out a sigh on a smile. "You need it tomorrow? I'll have it ready in the morning."

Rory and Lorelai burst out laughing and Rory leaned across the counter to kiss him. "I knew there was a reason I was with you."

"Wow, ego trip for Jess. Be careful, my head may float away," he noted sarcastically.

"I think you'll be fine."

xxx

"You know what?" Lorelai said as she and Rory walked into the house noisily. "I think I may like Jess a lot more than I thought I did."

"You only say that because he's going to get us both out of a night at grandma and grandpa's."

"Well, can you blame me?" Lorelai looked at the phone as it started ringing and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai?" Emily asked.

"Senior or junior?"

"Lorelai, be serious."

"You got it."

"About tomorrow night for dinner…," Emily started.

"Actually, Rory and I kinda caught a little flu-bug that's been going around. I don't think we'll be able to make it tomorrow," Lorelai said in mock apology.

"That's terrible! I didn't know the flu went around so early in Star's Hollow."

"It was sort of a Kirk thing. He went to a film festival in Saskatchewan and he brought it with him," Lorelai deadpanned. Rory stifled a laugh and ran into the kitchen.

"Ah. I see. Well, I expect to see you next week then."

"We'll be there," Lorelai said. The conversation closed at that and Lorelai found Rory in her room, curled up on her bed laughing. She fell with her.

"I amaze myself so much."

(Okay, yes I know, fluffy again. But this chapter is sort of a cushion for the next chapter. Coming soon, I promise, my muse is back and kicking! Next chapter we've got Lorelai and Luke's date and much, much more! And I live for reviews of all kinds!)