A/N: I love this site. You people are all so friendly.
To those of you who wrote big long reviews just because I said I liked them: Thanks guys! So very cool. I must tell you, it would be preferable to make them contain some actual review instead of rambling about various impertinent things. Though all of you who did that also had good stuff in there too, so it's all good.
To EvilEmmy: I so love all your reviews. You must have written three pages of review in the last chapter! Amazing! Oh yes, and as I said in an earlier A/N, there is no Max. I just cut him out completely because it was easier that way.**
Jess woke to the sound of his own personal alarm clock.
"Jess! If you're not downstairs in ten minutes, I swear, I'll . . ."
He rolled over, hiding his face in his pillow. It was way too early to get up, especially after the night before. After he'd left Rory's house, he'd just kind of wandered around, trying to clear his head. It hadn't worked. He'd ended up sitting on the bridge reading Poe until only about four hours ago.
About five minutes after Luke had called him, Jess dragged himself out of bed and into a shower. Fifteen minutes after that, he finally went down to help in the diner.
"Morning Sunshine," Lorelai called as he stumbled down the steps. "Wow, you look like you need coffee more than I do."
"Thanks," he grumbled sarcastically. "Where's Rory?"
"I let her sleep in this morning," she replied. "She seemed like she needed it." Then, looking up at him over the rim of her cup, "Any idea why?"
Jess shifted on his feet, trying to come up with an answer. If Rory didn't want to tell her mom what had happened, he certainly wasn't going to be the one to do it.
"No idea," he said completely straight-faced, turning to clean an imaginary spot on the counter just so he didn't have to look into those mother eyes. Those things could kill a guy.
"That's what I figured you'd say," she said, her voice casual but holding a note of suspicion. She took another slow sip of her coffee as he continued to clean. "So the both of you acting strange this morning is purely coincidental?"
"Must be," he replied.
"Okay," she said holding her hands up in surrender. Then after a pause, "So what did he do now?"
Jess looked up at her, his eyes and expression guarded. He didn't want her to know that she was right.
"Look," he told her, "if you want to know what's bugging Rory, ask her. As for me, I just need a few more hours of sleep. It's the summer for heaven's sake."
"Wow," she said with a pout. "You're mean today. Maybe I should have just dragged Rory out of bed so she could cheer you up."
"I'm fine, Lorelai," he sighed. "No need to wake Rory up just because Luke never lets up. I'd rather at least one of us have a good night's sleep."
Just then, the bell rang over the door, and with it, a loud groan.
"Speak of the angel," Jess said to himself, grabbing a cup and filling it with coffee even before she'd reached the counter. "Hey," he said as she sat down.
"Hey," she grumbled back, taking her first sip of coffee and closing her eyes as it ran down her throat. After a moment, she looked back up at him, her eyes slightly clearer. "Thanks," she said in a lighter tone, "I needed that."
"Hey sweetie," Lorelai greeted her daughter, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "How'd you sleep?"
"Alright," she said, her voice obviously hiding something.
"Good good," Lorelai replied. "Jess and I were just discussing why both of you were in sour moods this morning. Care to add your input?"
Rory looked to Jess with a slightly pleading look, silently asking if he'd said anything. He shook his head inconspicuously and she relaxed slightly.
"Just a few weird dreams," she said. "It's nothing to worry about."
"Okay," her mom said. "I'm dropping it now."
"There you are," Luke said coming out from the storage room. "Jess, I've been waiting for you down here for the last half hour! I told you before that if you expect to stay here, you have to help out."
"Yes Uncle Luke," Jess said condescendingly as he went to take a couple's order.
"Hey Rory," Luke greeted her. "You look a little down this morning."
"I'm fine," she said, her lips in a tight smile. She wanted people to stop asking her what was wrong.
"Okay," Luke said dismissing it. "You want anything to eat?"
"Eggs, pancakes, and toast," she replied. "I'm really hungry today."
"Coming right up," he said, disappearing once again into the back.
"So what's up for today?" Rory asked her mother.
"Well," Lorelai replied, "I'm putting a few hours in at the inn this morning, and then this afternoon I think I'm going to go home and crash. Maybe vegg out in front of the TV. You interested?"
"Always," Rory replied smiling, unable to contain her relief at hearing her mother say that she was going to relax. "What time do you want me to be home?"
"I'm thinking the crashing should begin somewhere around noon. How does that sound?"
"Like heaven," Rory said.
"Okay, babes," Lorelai said standing up, "I'll see you back at the house around then. Otherwise, I'll be at the inn."
"Bye Mom," Rory said. "Love you."
"Love you too." And with that, she was out the door.
"So," Luke said to Rory as he watched Lorelai leave, "how's she doing?"
"I'm not really sure," Rory answered. "I mean, she tells me that she's fine, but she always looks so tired. I never know what to think."
"She's been working a lot lately," he pointed out, trying to sound like it was just a trivial small talk. "Should she be working that hard right now?"
"I don't think so," Rory replied, "but you know mom. Obstinate to the core."
"She is that," he smiled a little as he put a plate in front of her. "Here's your food."
"Thanks Luke," she said digging into her eggs as he went to serve another customer.
"Hey," she heard Jess whisper in her ear as he sat down next to her.
"Hey," she smiled and kissed him.
"So," he said, "you better now?"
"Much," she replied. "Mom and I are spending the afternoon vegging at home."
"Sounds cool," he nodded. Then, a little out of nowhere, "So why aren't you telling her about Dean?"
Rory's face darkened a little, her expression sad. "I don't want to upset her right now," she explained. "I told her about yesterday morning and she got really mad and excited about it. She doesn't need my crap on top of her own right now."
"Understood," he said, and the subject was dropped. "So when are you and your mom starting this vegg night?"
"Noon," she replied. "Why?"
"I have a break at ten," he replied. "Meet me at the bridge?"
"Sure," Rory smiled, still completely confused. "Of course, but what's going on?"
"You'll see," he said smirking secretively before kissing her quick on the lips and going back to work.
Rory sat on the bridge, staring into the crystal water and thinking about the last few days. She could not believe how complicated everything was. Her mom seemed to be getting worse, Dean was screwing with her and Jess, and school was about to start up again. All so not fair.
"Hey," a voice behind her brought her back to reality. "You okay?"
"Fine," she said as Jess sat down beside her, intertwining their fingers. "Just thinking."
"Anything you wanna share?" he asked.
"Just random stuff," she replied. "School's starting up again after next week."
"As Luke keeps reminding me," he said dryly. "But I guess it won't be that bad. I mean, it's just school, right?"
"Yeah," she said, her tone matching his. "Just school, where I have tons of homework and tests. Where I have Paris and Tristan breathing down my neck. I mean, I like school, but with everything going on right now, it's going to be hell."
"I'm sorry," he said putting his arm around her waist. "But at least you get to come home and see me. Won't that be fun?"
"Have the coffee ready," she said. She turned to him, "So what about you? Are you looking forward to your first day at Stars Hollow High?"
"You mean I'm actually supposed to show up?" he asked, mock surprise on his face.
"Yes, you have to show up!" she laughed. "Showing up is kinda required to pass the classes."
"Huh," he said. "You learn something new everyday."
"So," she said still smiling, "what are we doing here?"
"Well," he said standing up and offering her a hand, "I seem to remember a day a few weeks ago when I promised to do something and never got the chance to care it out."
"What's that?" she asked taking his hand and standing up next to him.
"Teach you how to defend yourself," he replied.
"Really?" she said, her voice skeptical. "You're going to teach me to fight?"
"If you're up for it," he said. "I mean, just because we're not in New York anymore doesn't mean that something can't happen."
Rory sighed, knowing that he was talking about what had been happening with Dean, but decided not to push it. "Okay," she said, "Where do we start?"
Jess smiled at her, knowing how much fun this was going to be. He could already imagine Rory trying to throw a punch.
"Okay," he said moving behind her, "first you have to develop a stance."
"How do I do that?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Well," he said putting his hands on her hips and moving her into a more balanced position, "you have to be balanced with one foot in front of the other. That way, it's harder to catch you off guard and sweep you off your feet."
"Isn't that usually a good thing?" she asked smiling.
"Not when you don't want to be," he said, but he was smiling as well. He moved in front of her and looked at her position. "That's good," he said, "but you have to put more weight on your back foot so you can change directions easier."
"Okay, got that," she said shifting accordingly. "I feel silly."
"You look silly," he agreed, "but watch when I do this." He reached out and pushed her unexpectedly, and though she fell back a little, she kept her balanced.
"Hey," she said, her eyes widening with delight. "Look! I'm still standing!"
"Yes you are," he smiled with her. "Don't you feel special?"
"Very," she said with excitement. "Now what?"
"Now," he said, "you try to hit me."
"What?" she asked. "I am not going to hit you."
"You're right," he agreed. "I said you'd try."
"Fine," she said, "here I go."
She swung at him, and he easily blocked her. She swung again and he ducked out of the way. One more time, and he caught her hand, spinning her in front of him so that he was holding her arm behind her back.
"Not as easy as it looks," he said as she squirmed.
"You can let go now," she said with frustration.
"I'm just showing you what can happen if you're up against a guy who knows what he's doing," he still held her there.
"Jess, let go," she said, her voice a little more urgent, almost scared.
Picking up on her apprehension, he released her arm and she stepped away from him.
"You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice as he stepped up in front of her. He could hear that her breathing was erratic.
"I'm fine," she said, her head down. "Just don't hold me like that, okay?"
"Yeah," he said, not understanding. "Rory, what's wrong?"
"It's just . . ." she said looking up at him with a mix of embarrassment and helplessness, ". . . that was how that guy was holding me, back in New York. Before you came, he had me pressed up against the building and my arm was . . ." She trailed off, rubbing an imaginary spot on her arm.
"I'm sorry," he said, his face softening as he realized what had happened. "I didn't know. I just . . ."
"It's okay," she told him as she pushed a smile to her face. "I'm fine. See me fine."
"Are you sure?" he asked. "We can do this another time."
"We're doing this now," she assured him. "Now what's next?"
"Okay," he took a breath, "here we go . . ."
***Forty-five minutes later***
Rory and Jess are sparring, mostly her trying to hit or kick him while he blocked. Both were visibly sweating under the summer sun, and Jess had removed his shirt to reveal a white, sleeveless undershirt. Secretly, Rory was wishing that she could do the same with the heat, but that would lead to something quite awkward . . .
Every once in a while, she would land a soft blow to his upper-body, but it was never hard. Both were smiling and laughing with every attempt.
"Ha!" she squealed as she landed another one to his abdomen, smiling and doing a little happy dance.
"Don't get over-confident," he warned her, poking her in her exposed side to accentuate his point. "You still need some work."
"Yeah, yeah," she said laughing as she sunk back into her sparring position.
"So," he said, as he rocked in his stance, "are you ready to go one-on-one, really let it go?"
"I don't think so," she said with a chuckle. "I just figured out how not to end up on my butt every time I try to hit you."
"I think you could take . . . well, not really, but you're getting better," he teased her. "I'm pretty sure you couldn't take me if you're life depended on it."
"Oh really," she asked arching an eyebrow.
She stepped forward suggestively, her eyes locked onto his. She put a hand on his chest, running it up and down in a way that made him think about so many things he knew he shouldn't be. With her other hand, she twisted a strand of his hair around her finger, smiling up at him as he stepped in closer to her. She was driving him crazy. Then, with agonizing leisure, she tilted her head up and kissed him.
It was a slow, rhythmic kiss, deepening as he cupped her face in his hand, his other resting on her hip. He had no idea where he was right then, but he wanted so much to stay forever.
Finally, she pulled away from him.
"Do you still think I can't take you?" she asked, her eyes wide with mock innocence.
And before he could even respond, she hooked her foot behind his, pushing him over it into the lake.
"I got you, I got you!" Rory called in a singsong voice as he emerged wet and staggered.
"That was cruel and unfair!" he professed. "You know I can't concentrate when you do that!"
"Exactly!" she smirked.
"You better not use that on anyone else," he said running his fingers through his now dripping hair.
"Promise," she smiled.
"Give me a hand," he said holding his out so she could pull him up. Taking the hand she offered, he jerked his back and pulling her with him into the lake.
"Oh my gosh!" she screamed as she surfaced. "You are evil!"
"Just returning the favor," he chuckled, pulling her to him and kissing her lightly on the lips.
"Thanks," she said before pushing his head under the water again.
"You are so asking for it!" he said moving toward her. Before she could escape, he pulled her into his arms and began to tickle her mercilessly.
"No!" she screamed trying to wiggle away from him. "No! Please don't! Ah!"
"Say you give," he told her. "Say it."
"I give!" she squealed. "I give!"
"Okay," he said calmly letting her go.
"That's not nice," Rory complained. "You're bigger than me. You have an unfair advantage."
"Live with it," he teased her. "You have those eyes, and that's more of an advantage than I'll ever have."
He was looking so deeply onto the objects of his affection, searching her soul. She felt like he was trying to hypnotize her, and it was working.
'I wouldn't be so sure about that last statement,' she thought, melting into the intensity of his gaze.
She looked away, a blush growing high in her cheeks, but her currently soggy position disguised it nicely. Looking back at him, she caught him looking her up and down. This only served to intensify her blush, considering how her clothes were clinging to her at that moment.
This, however, also gave her ample excuse to notice the same for him. She hid a smile as she saw how his clothes were hanging on him. They hugged his form, showing off his tones arm and abdominal muscles. She shivered, a tingling running up and down her spine.
"You cold?" he asked, snapping her out of her stupor.
"A little," she said. Really, she could feel her face burning up.
"Come on," he said wrapping his arms around her. "Let's get you warmed up."
"I'm all for that," she replied, not seeing the double meaning until the words were out of her mouth. Then she mentally slapped herself and shook her head.
Not noticing her internal 'Three Stooges' routine, he led her up the riverbank and back onto the bridge, his arms never leaving her.
"Here," he said handing her the shirt he'd discarded earlier. "At least it's dry."
"Thanks," she said pulling it on over her wet blouse and buttoning it all the way to the top. It was big on her, the short sleeves reaching to her elbow, and she snuggled into it. It smelled like him.
Jess smiled at the sight of her. She looked so small in the shirt, a little girl playing dress-up in her father's flannel.
"What?" she asked self-consciously. "What are you staring at?"
"You look cute," he said, his voice teasing.
"Stop," she said, though a small smile crept across her trembling lips. "Hey," she said a moment later, "don't you have to be getting back soon?"
"About two minutes ago," he grimaced checking his watch.
"Let's go," she said, and they took off towards the diner.
"Where have you been?" Luke demanded as they walked in. "You were supposed to be back five minutes ago, and the lunch rush is starting." Then, noticing their unusual attire and dampness, "And why are you all wet?"
"Oh, you know," he replied sarcastically. "We're going for the 'Deep Blue Sea' look. You think there are any sharks in that river?"
"Rory," Luke looked to her, not even bothering with Jess's answer.
"I pushed him off the bridge," she chuckled, "and then he pulled me in after him."
"You pushed him in the lake?" Luke asked, a small smile coming to his face. To Jess, "She pushed you in the lake?"
"Yes, I did," Rory replied proudly when Jess wouldn't say anything. "He said I couldn't take him, so I pushed him in."
"You used unfair tactics!" he protested, making Luke laugh even harder.
"Well then," he said, "that's worth a few minutes alone with the lunch crowd. I only wish I could have seen it. Jess, go get changed and then come down and help me."
"Bye Rory," he said, kissing her on the mouth. "I will pay you back for this. Extra because it made Luke happy."
"Bye Jess," she chuckled, choosing to ignore his last comment as he disappeared up the stairs.
"You really pushed him in the lake?" Luke asked one more time, his voice jovial.
"Yup."
He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he went back to his customers.
"So you pushed him in the lake?" Lorelai said, trying really hard to keep a straight face as they sat at the kitchen table.
"That I did," Rory replied, her voice holding a note of sadistic satisfaction at the fact. "And then he pulled me in and I was cold so he gave me his shirt."
She had been explaining for the past ten minutes why she had shown up at home wearing a guy's shirt. It had been none-too-comforting to her mother, and she needed reassurance.
"I see," her Lorelai said. "And that was it. There was no funny business?"
"No funny business," Rory replied. "I promise."
"Good," her mom sighed. "So what do you want to do now?"
"Whatever you want," she replied. "Movies, TV, pizza, whatever."
"I'm thinking all of the above sounds pretty good right now," Lorelai said wagging her eyebrows. "You call for the pizza and I'll go to the video store."
"No way," Rory said adamantly. "This is your relax time. You call for the pizza and I'll hit the video store and Doose's for snacks."
"Angel child," Lorelai smiled as she grabbed the cordless. "Where did you come from anyway?"
"The stork dropped me off," Rory replied as she headed out the door.
"That's it!" Lorelai called after her. Then into the phone, "Hey Joe, it's Lorelai. Give me a large garbage and throw in some of that . . ."
Rory put her hands in her back pockets as she walked down the street towards the video store. It was turning out to be a pretty good day. She smiled, remembering the feeling of Jess's arms around her as he'd directed her, showing her how to move and maneuver. He had promised to meet up with her again the next day, another lesson in self defense, and she was really looking forward to it. Not only was it an excuse to see him, but she really liked knowing that she could protect herself if need be.
"Hey," she greeted Kirk as she entered the video store. "How are you today?"
"Not bad," he answered. "Mother let me have my roller skates back this week so I've been good."
"That's good," Rory said suppressing a chuckle as she browsed the aisles for a good movie.
After five minutes, she decided on a Mel Gibson marathon: 'Lethal Weapon,' 'Hamlet,' 'Maverick,' and 'Conspiracy Theory.' Lorelai would really appreciate it; she loved the actor. Paying for the films, she departed the store and headed towards Doose's.
As she approached the market, she began to regret her decision to let her mom stay home. She really didn't want to go in and end up in another confrontation with Dean. She didn't think he would hurt her, she wasn't afraid of him in the least, but the things he said were infuriating and embarrassing. Just the thought of it was making her sick.
Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, she opened the door and entered with her head high. She didn't want anyone thinking that he was getting to her. Peeking around subtly, she sighed in relief when she didn't see him. Now she could go about her shopping without having to worry about being harassed.
After picking up all of the necessities (red vines, Reese's cups, pixie stix, cookie dough, ice cream, etc.) she headed back to the register to pay. She smiled, feeling almost like she'd overcome a fear by coming here. She knew it was irrational, but she had never claimed sanity in the first place.
Walking out the door, she ran headlong into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said as her purchases scattered on the ground. She didn't even look up to see who she'd bumped into as she stooped to gather her stuff.
"No problem," she heard his voice and froze.
She paused for a moment, not knowing what to do. Finally, she said in as casual a voice as she could muster, "Hi Dean."
"Rory," he said as a reply, and after a moment, bent to help her. "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."
"It's fine," she said, relaxing a little as his voice became a little less hostile. "I was just in a bit of a hurry."
"Movie night?" he asked, a small smile on his face.
"Yeah," she replied glancing up at him. "Mom is taking the afternoon off and we're having a bum day."
"Sounds fun," he said.
Having gathered all of her stuff, they stood up. It was more than a little awkward as they just stood there, facing each other but not daring to hold eye contact for more than a second at a time.
"Look," he said finally, his voice a little sad, "I'm sorry about how I've been acting. I've just been going through some stuff and I was taking it out on you. It wasn't fair, and I'm really sorry."
"What's been going on?" she asked, desperate to understand why her ex-boyfriend had turned into Mark Wahlberg all of a sudden.
"Just some stuff at home," he replied, looking away as if he really didn't want to go into it. "It's nothing important. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry, and I'm not going to be giving you anymore trouble."
"I don't understand," she pushed, her voice betraying her confusion. "How is it that you turn into 'Insane Jealous Ex-boyfriend Guy' one day and then apologize all of a sudden? It's bipolar taken to a whole new extreme. And all that stuff you said? It wasn't just mean; it was almost sadistic how much fun you seemed to be having. I mean, what happened? Were you possessed for a couple days?"
"Just drop it, Rory," he said more firmly. "You don't want to get into it."
With that, he was inside Doose's before she could even reply. She just stood there for a moment, wondering what had just happened. Turning around, she headed towards the diner, her mind more than a little clouded. She was only distantly aware of the chime ringing above her head as she entered and walked to the counter.
"Two coffees to go," she said in a montone, still not really paying attention.
"You okay?" she heard someone ask, and she looked up.
Blinking a few times to clear her mind and her vision, she saw Jess looking at her with a worried expression on her face.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she replied a little after-the-fact. "Just a little confused, but I'll be fine."
"You sure?" he asked as he poured coffee into a couple Styrofoam cups and putting them in front of her.
"Yeah," she forcing a small smile onto her face, "I'm sure."
"This confusion is stemming from . . ." he trailed off, making it a question.
"Dean just apologized," she replied making him do a double take.
"Why would he do that?" he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders, her voice nonchalant with a hint of her underlying puzzlement. "He just said that he's been having some trouble with something else and has been taking it out on me. He said that he was really sorry and that he'd leave us alone from now on. That was it."
"Weird," Jess said. Then after a second, "I still don't trust him."
"You're prerogative," she said, her voice and eyes still a little distant. After a moment, she snapped back to reality and looked back at him. "I'm just hoping that we can put all that ugly weirdness behind us now."
"Amen to that," he said. "But I'm still teaching you more self-defense. You can never be too careful."
"I'll see you tomorrow at ten then," she smiled, picking up the coffee with the grocery bag around her wrist. "Thanks for the coffee." She kissed him quickly and headed back to the house.
"Hey honey," Lorelai said as her daughter came in and joined her on the living room couch. "You look weird," she said giving her daughter an appraising look. "You see Jess?"
"Yes," Rory said, "but that's not really why."
"Do tell," Lorelai said sitting up straighter, eager for some good gossip.
"Dean apologized," she said, her voice betraying how amazed she still was.
"For the other morning?" Lorelai asked.
"And for last night," Rory said a little sheepishly. "He kind of went off on Jess and me after Jess closed the diner."
"And I'm only hearing about this now?" Lorelai gave her daughter a pointed look.
"I didn't want you to worry," she explained guiltily. "You got so gung ho about the thing before, so I didn't want to upset you again."
"I don't want you to feel like you can't come to me," Lorelai said. "You can."
"I know," Rory said. "I'm sorry."
Lorelai sighed. "Hand me the cookie dough and pop in a movie, and all is forgiven."
"Deal," Rory smiled.
"So Dean apologized?" Lorelai asked again.
"Yeah," Rory said. "There's something wrong with him, but he won't tell me."
"I don't know what to tell you, honey," Lorelai said. "But I still want you to be careful with him. You never know."
"Noted," Rory nodded. Then, ready to change the subject, she held up one of the shopping bags. "You'll never guess what movies I got."
"'Footloose'?" she asked.
"Better," Rory replied pulling one out. "Mel Gibson."
"Have I mentioned that you're my favorite daughter?"
"Not lately," Rory smiled, popping 'Conspiracy Theory' in and settling back onto the couch. Lorelai put an arm around her and she rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Popping a peanut butter cup into her mouth, she sighed contently and watched the opening credits.