When Rory opened her eyes the next morning, the first thing she saw was her boyfriend sleeping next to her. For a moment, she didn't know why he was there or what was going on, but then the events of the day before started to come back to her.

Sighing, she let a small smile touch her lips. He was beautiful. He was insane and irrational and could be a complete jerk, but he was beautiful. She couldn't believe he'd told her that he'd loved her. She had been so ready for a break up that she'd almost broken down when he'd started with his apology. And now here she was, waking up next to him.

Running a single finger through his disheveled hair, she bit her lip and tried not to start crying again. She didn't understand the sudden urge, but it felt as if a dam had broken in her. She hated loving him because now that they had had their first real fight, she knew how much he could hurt her. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

Just as she was closing her eyes again, a shrill ring made her jump out of bed, waking a very disoriented Jess in the process. Leaving him in his confusion, she sprinted into the hallway and grabbed the cordless phone.

"Hello," she picked up, glancing at the clock to see that it was quarter to nine.

"Rory," she cringed when she heard Luke on the other end. "I'm sorry to be waking you up, but I was just wondering if you knew where Jess was. He wasn't here when I woke up and he hasn't been by the diner to start his shift."

"Yeah," she sighed biting her lip. "He's here."

"Really?" she could hear the awkward assumption. "Well, um, could you send him over here as soon as possible?"

"Yeah," she said banging her head a couple times against the wall. "I'll send him right over."

"Thanks," there was something uncomfortable and almost irritated in his voice. "I'll see you later."

"Luke, wait," she said before he could hang up.

"Yeah, Rory?"

"You trust me, right?" she asked, and she heard a tired sigh on the other end.

"Yes," he said almost reluctantly.

"Nothing happened," she told him, hoping he could hear the sincerity in her voice. "You don't have to kill him."

There was a long pause on the other end before Luke's slightly relieved voice filled the line. "I'll see you later, Rory," he said again.

"Bye Luke," she sighed and hung up the phone.

She leaned against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment to take a long breath. Then, turning to head back into her room, she almost ran into Jess.

"Jeez!" she cried as she jumped back, then began laughing as she tried to calm her racing heart. "What is with you and scaring the crap out of me lately?" she laughed.

"Sorry," he smiled apologetically. Then after a minute, "So how dead am I when I get to the diner?"

Rory sighed leaning against the wall again. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "I told him nothing happened but I'm sure you're in for one of those man-to-man talks."

"Oh joy," he replied sarcastically. "Okay," he said reluctantly, "so I guess I should go."

"Yeah," she agreed, "you really should. I don't want you dead by this afternoon."

"That would be bad," he nodded, but still made no move toward the door.

"Go," she urged with a smile, taking his elbow and pulling him toward the exit. "Come on, I'll be by the diner in a few hours."

"Yeah," he said stopping just inside the door, locking eyes with her. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "So are we okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Rory smiled softly, nodding assuredly. "We're okay."

"Good," he said pulling her into a relieved hug. "I love you."

"I love you," she whispered in his ear, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "Now if you don't get your butt out of here, Luke's going to kill you and that won't do either of us any good."

"Okay," he smiled, letting go of her. "I'll see you later."

Rory watched him back leisurely off the porch and down the drive, his hands resting casually in his pockets and his eyes never leaving hers. Then, when he was almost out of sight, he turned around and walked away. She closed the door, resting against it a moment. He was himself again.

Then, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and smiling to herself, she went to take a shower and get dressed.

Jess cringed as the bell above the diner door announced his entrance. Damned bell.

Looking up, his eyes instantly met those of Luke, and he didn't even attempt to talk.

"Upstairs," Luke said as he put a couple plates in front of the two women at the counter. "I'll be up in a few."

Jess nodded, his expression blank as he ascended the stairs and entered the apartment, falling onto his bed. A few minutes later, Luke came through the door, not looking over at him but opting to rummage around the kitchen for a while. He opened the refrigerator, only to close it after finding nothing he wanted. He opened every cabinet and then shut them all. He searched drawers for something to concentrate on.

Finally, after exhausting all other options, he sat down at the table.

"Get over here," he said in his usual gruff manner. "I'm not going to talk to you from behind a wall."

Pulling himself up, Jess walked over to where Luke was staring at his hands and sat across from him. "Was there something you wanted?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Now is not the time for your smart mouth," Luke warned.

"Noted," Jess sighed, and then everything fell silent again.

"Okay," Luke said, obviously struggling with what to say, "how about you just start by telling me what the hell went on between me falling asleep last night and you walking in that door this morning."

"Rory and I had a fight yesterday afternoon," he replied simply, his voice giving nothing away. "I had to go over and apologize."

"And this apologizing took all night?" Luke asked, his voice a little more than irritated.

"We didn't do anything," Jess told him. "We talked for a while, and then we fell asleep. End of story."

"You expect me to believe that?" Luke asked skeptically.

"Yes," Jess replied sincerely, looking up to meet his uncle's eyes head on.

Luke just stared at him for a minute, trying to read him. He couldn't tell if there was any more to the story, but he could tell that he was telling the truth.

"Okay," he said finally, standing up. "I'm going back down to the diner. I want you down to help me in half an hour, got it?"

"Got it," Jess nodded.

After Luke left, Jess let out a slow, unsteady breath before going to take a shower and get ready for work. This was not the time to test his uncle's patience.

"Mom," Rory knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open. "Are you up yet?"

"Hello, my darling offspring!" Lorelai greeted her with a smile uncharacteristic for that time of the morning.

"Um, hi," Rory replied nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lorelai asked.

"Because it's 9 am and you're acting hyper like you've been up for hours," she pointed out.

"I have been," Lorelai said. "I woke up at six when the nurse came in to check my I.V., and since then I've had enough coffee to make me happy."

"Okay then," Rory said with a chuckle. "Remind me to hide the crack when you come home. You obviously don't need it."

"Oh, stop making fun of mommy," Lorelai said dismissively. "Just be glad you didn't come before I got the coffee in me."

"Amen to that," Rory agreed sitting in the chair next to her mother's bed.

"So how are you doing?" Lorelai asked, her voice turning more serious. "Last night when Luke called you, he said you sounded weird."

"I was weird," Rory admitted. "Jess and I had a fight yesterday after the auction and I guess I was a bit of a mess."

"What?" her mom asked. "Why didn't you call me? We could have wallowed together and then I could have sent Luke out to beat him up."

"It's okay," she assured her. "John took me home and made sure I had enough wallow supplies and everything." And then she looked down at nothing and smiled a furtive little smile all her own. "Besides, we made up already so it's all good."

"Wait," Lorelai cut in. "How did you make up already? It's nine in the morning. Not even I'm that talented."

"He came over last night," Rory told her, a little hesitant as to where she knew the conversation was headed but unable to stop it. "Or, I guess, really early this morning."

"Really?" Lorelai had that look on her face, that 'Oh crap, she's getting more like me everyday' look.

"Before you even say it," Rory interrupted, "no, nothing dirty happened, and no, Luke is not going to kill Jess. I told him that when he called this morning, and now I'm telling you."

"Why did Luke call this morning?" Lorelai asked, already knowing the answer.

Rory mentally cringed, knowing that she really wasn't helping herself. "Looking for Jess," she replied reluctantly.

"So he stayed overnight?" Lorelai deduced, her voice a little antagonistic. "Would you like to revise your previous statement?"

"No," Rory said firmly. "Nothing happened!"

"Then why did you have an afterglow when you said that you'd made up?" Lorelai asked.

"What?"

"An afterglow," she repeated. "You know: flushed cheeks, tiny smile, distant stare as if you're thinking of him. It's the exact thing that happens the morning after you've had sex."

"I did not have sex with Jess!" Rory yelled, standing up in frustration.

"What was the fight about?" Lorelai asked suddenly, almost in tears.

"What?!"

"Ten to one," she continued, "it was because you didn't want to and he was pressuring you."

"That was not it!" Rory shouted, indignant. Why is she doing this to me?

"Then what was the fight about?"

"Because he didn't want to do it!" she screamed, and for once, her mother was silent. "He stopped me, and then things just went crazy. The point is..." she took a deep breath and sat back in her chair, her voice calming to just above a whisper when she spoke again, "...he stopped himself because he was afraid that it would change things. He was afraid that we would end up hurting each other, and he didn't want to lose me. He told me he loves me, Mom."

Lorelai was silent for a long while, her face set in a blank expression. "Do you love him?" she asked finally.

"Yes," Rory replied without hesitation.

Lorelai nodded, still not making eye contact. "Are you ready?"

At this, Rory paused. "I don't know," she replied, her voice calm and even. "I think I might be."

Again, Lorelai nodded. "You know you're going to be the death of me, right?" she asked, a tight, tired smile forming on her lips.

"Don't say that, Mom," Rory said, leaning her head on her mom's shoulder. "Considering where you are, it's not very funny."

"Yeah, you're right," Lorelai sighed, putting an arm around her daughter's shoulder and kissing her forehead. "Just do me one favor?"

"Anything," Rory promised.

"Keep me informed," Lorelai replied. "I don't want you to think that you can't talk to me about this kind of stuff just because I got all insane before."

"I know," she said. "And I will. I'm sorry I got you all worried."

"No, I'm sorry I got all fazers-set-on-kill," Lorelai sighed. "I know Jess is a good guy. I just get so insane when I think of you...not being my little girl anymore."

"I'll always be your little girl," Rory smiled, snuggling up to her mother and closing her eyes.

"No," Lorelai said under her breath, a tearful smile on her lips, "you won't."

Jess descended the stairs from the apartment. The diner was a little crowded, but not too much. Luke was in the back making someone's order, so Jess took the liberty of making the rounds with the coffeepot. He wasn't sucking up...no way. Just being especially thankful for all of his body parts.

He let a smile slip onto his face for half a second, thinking about the reason for his newfound appreciation. He would take a thousand of Luke's threats if it meant that the night before had really happened.

When he'd first woken up, he had thought that it was all some kind of sadistic, taunting dream. He couldn't possibly be waking up next to her. What had he ever done right in his life to have deserved something like that? She had looked so beautiful, her hair tangled and hanging in her face and her hands resting gently on his shoulders. He'd dreamed of a situation like that so many times that he'd just fallen back to sleep without a second thought. It wasn't until the phone had rung and he'd felt her absence that he'd realized the reality and remembered the events of that morning.

He had said the words 'I love you' for the first time since he was five and he realized that his parents didn't say it back like his friends' parents did. Back then he couldn't understand what was so wrong with him that he couldn't be loved. But somehow Rory had managed it. Somehow, she had forgiven his disposition. For the thousandth time, he wondered why she would possibly bother. But then again, she could find goodness in everyone, even if they couldn't find it within themselves.

He didn't know where they'd left off on some issues, like what might have happened at the bridge if he hadn't said something. Maybe it would have been nothing, maybe everything. He didn't know, and he really wished he could ask her about it, but he knew that there was a time and a place for that conversation, and it wasn't then. Right then, he just wanted to enjoy them being okay again.

"Hey." He looked up as John greeted him, his usual smile replaced with an expression of curiosity and near anxiety. "So what happened?" John asked, sitting at the counter across from Jess. "Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah," Jess replied, the slightest ghost of a smile playing across his lips as he absently poured his friend a cup of coffee. "I went over there last night and we talked."

"And?" John asked impatiently. "What happened?"

"I told her everything," Jess replied, "and everything's good now."

John let out a relieved sigh. "Good," he smiled. "You know how I hate to see that girl upset."

"I know; me too," Jess agreed, his smile flickering into an expression of regret.

"So you told her everything?" John asked. "As in, you told her what you told me last night. You told her that you..." he trailed off, hoping Jess would get the picture without him having to say it. There were too many gossips in that town.

"Yeah," Jess said, his voice holding something John had never heard in it. It was soft and light and genuinely happy. It was a foreign concept to him. "I told her."

"And she?"

Jess smiled again, looking down as he idly wiped the counter. It was all the answer John needed.

"So then what?" John asked, and this time his tone was a little more guarded.

Jess looked up sharply, his smile gone.

"No," he replied, not even bothering to answer the question and going straight to what he was really asking. "We didn't."

"Okay," John said, his voice a mix of relief and surprise. Then after a moment, "You know I'm not going to kill you if you do, right? I mean, it's really none of my business."

"I know," Jess smiled softly, "but it wasn't time. I mean, even if she thinks she is, I don't think she's ready to take that step. Not yet. But I don't mind; she's worth waiting for."

"You know," John said, genuinely happy for the two, "there's no one else in the world I'd trust her with. I hope you guys work out."

"Yeah, me too," Jess replied sarcastically.

"Well there you go, ruining the whole blessing with that mouth of yours," John chuckled, only to get a dishrag thrown good-naturedly in his face.

"Did anyone ever tell you not to throw things at the customers?" Luke asked coming out of the kitchen.

"Gee, Uncle Luke," Jess replied dryly, "you learn something new every day. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah," Luke said handing out food to customers, "sarcasm is the leading cause of death in this diner."

"And I thought New York was a dangerous place to live," John smirked at Jess. "If that was a rule there, you wouldn't have made it past infancy."

"Look who's talking, smartass," Jess replied before going to take an order. John just laughed and drank his coffee.

"He what?!" Lane squealed, then covered her mouth tightly.

"Lane!" Rory hushed her friend, peaking out the door of the closet to see if Mrs. Kim was ready to burst in on them. "You have to promise not to tell anyone! I don't want this all over town."

"Cross my heart and hope for tofu," she replied. "Just tell me, what exactly happened after you got off the phone with me last night? You can't go straight from crying to 'I love you' without some sort of transition. I need details!"

"Well," Rory replied, "I went to bed, but I couldn't get to sleep. Then around three, he tapped on the window."

"Very Romeo and Juliet," she chimed in. "Romantic and rebellious at the same time. That's talent."

"It scared the crap out of me," Rory laughed. "He's lucky he didn't get hit by an umbrella. Anyway, so I let him in, and he was all weird and jumpy. It was like he thought I was going to tar and feather him."

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Lane smiled. "I mean, I wonder what a person who's been tar and feathered looks like. I'm sure Taylor would fully support the idea."

"We are not torturing my boyfriend for the amusement of the town," Rory sent her a stern look. "Maybe we can catch Kirk doing something and try it on him."

"Sounds like a plan."

"So he was stammering and babbling and everything, which is so not like him," Rory continued. "I've never seen him be anything but completely controlled. It was really kind of scary. He actually looked like he was about to bail, but then I just told him to spit it out."

"And then he just said it?" Lane's eyes widened.

"No," Rory smiled. "First he went into this weird, third-person account of how he screwed up with his girlfriend and he didn't know how to apologize."

"Kinda strange," Lane sent her a sideways glance.

"But it was cute," Rory smirked. "And I asked him why he did what he did, and do you want to know what he said?"

"What?" Lane asked, on the edge of her seat.

"He said, 'Because I'm so in love with this girl that I'm not thinking straight.'"

"That's a great line," Lane smiled. "That's a really great line."

"Isn't it?" Rory grinned.

"So did you say it back?" Lane asked.

"Of course," Rory replied.

"But do you really?" Lane looked a little skeptical. "Love him, I mean."

"Yes," Rory replied firmly, her tone holding a hint of annoyance. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"But you thought you meant it with Dean, and you guys had been going out a lot longer than you and Jess," Lane pointed out.

"It's not like that," Rory argued. "They're two very different people, and two very different relationships."

"I'm just saying," Lane held her hands up defensively. "I think it's a little strange that things are going so much faster with Jess."

"They're not," Rory protested. "They're going exactly as fast as I want them to go. I don't know what everyone has against Jess. He is not the horrible guy everyone thinks he is."

"Whoa, easy there," Lane said waving a white shirt out in front of her like a flag. "Where is this coming from? You know I have no problem with Jess. Was I not just doing the swoony thing with you?"

"Yeah," Rory sighed, her anger deflated. "I just hate what my mom said this morning when I told her. She accused him of pressuring me, and then accused me of having sex with him."

"Wait, what'd I miss?" Lane cut in, eyes wide. "Where did the sex thing come in? Why did she think you had sex? Did you have sex?!"

"Sh!" Rory clapped a hand over her mouth. "That's just what I need: your mom forbidding you from seeing me because I might set a bad example in my promiscuity."

"I need answers woman!" she whispered loudly. "Did you?"

"No," Rory whispered back. "We fell asleep, fully clothed, and didn't wake up until Luke called in the morning to see if I knew where Jess was."

"Oops," Lane cringed. "I'm guessing that was an awkward conversation."

"You have no idea," Rory replied. "After this, I'm going by the diner to see if he's still alive."

"Good luck with that," Lane said sympathetically.

"Anyway, enough about me," Rory said. "What's been up with you? How was the auction for you?"

A brilliant smile lit up Lane's face. "Oh, you mean with Dave?"

"Dave, yes," Rory smiled at her friend's reaction, "the cute guitarist with a sweet spot for everyone's favorite undercover drummer."

"It was good," Lane grinned. "My cousin did everything he was supposed to, and Dave and I snuck out to the lake by the Inn for our picnic."

"Who picked the spot?" Rory cut in.

"I did," she explained. "I figured that it was romantic, but not too much so, and my mother probably wouldn't walk by there."

"Good planning," Rory nodded.

"Anyway, it was so great," Lane continued. "We listened to Dashboard Confessional and talked about trying to set up this gig we have in a few weeks. Isn't that great? We have a gig."

"As long as I'm invited," Rory replied.

"That's a given," she nodded. "Also, we got into a deep discussion on the merits of recent punk versus original punk, and whether some bands that now call themselves punk should be allowed to carry the label."

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Rory smiled.

"I did," Lane sighed. "I really did."

"You know what?" Rory chuckled. "I think I finally know what you meant all those times when you said Jess and I were so cute it was sickening."

Lane laughed and threw a pillow at Rory before going back to breathless account of their picnic.

Jess was balancing three plates on the way to the table in the corner when the phone rang. Luke was at a meeting with the diner's distributors and John had gone back to the Inn, so when he heard the ring, he almost dropped the plates in the laps of their owners.

"Sorry," he mumbled as he unloaded them hurriedly on the table before sprinting back and vaulting the counter to get to the phone.

"This had better be life threatening," he said into the phone, turning back to take the bill of a departing customer.

"Hello, Jess," he cringed as he heard Lorelai's voice over the other end. "Is this a bad time?"

"Sorry," he replied. "It's a little busy here and Luke's out for a while."

"Oh," she said, "so I guess you're too busy to come by for a talk, right?"

"At the moment," he told her, his pulse jumping at the way she said the word talk. This was not going to be a pleasant chat. "I don't know when Luke's coming back, but maybe I could stop by then."

"Good," she said, and he could hear something in her voice that unnerved him. "I'll see you then."

"Okay," he said. "I'll be by within a few hours."

"Bye."

He let the dead line buzz in his ear for a moment before putting the phone back in its cradle and returning to the task of serving customers, one thought ringing through his head:

I'm not going to live through the night.

It was almost noon by the time Rory and Lane emerged from their closet. When they went downstairs, Mrs. Kim was busy haggling with an antiques collector from Denver but told them that there were muffins and soymilk waiting for them in the kitchen. Very healthy. Only good another hour. The girls wisely decided to stuff the cardboard muffins in their pockets for later disposal and dump the white, unidentifiable liquid down the drain. One quick, furtive look around, and they made a break for Luke's.

"You think she suspected?" Lane asked as they literally ran through the door of the diner.

"I don't think so," Rory replied holding onto the back of a chair for support as she tried to catch her breath. "If she did, she didn't let on."

"I think maybe we're safe," Lane smiled.

"Evading the scary Korean woman again?" Jess asked, setting two cups of coffee in front of them as they collapsed at a table.

"Hey, that scary Korean woman is my mother," Lane piped up. "And yes."

"Can you use these for anything?" Rory asked taking the muffins out of her pockets and dropping them heavily on the table. "You know, paper weight or bone crusher or something."

"How are you still alive?" he asked Lane as she added her muffins to Rory's.

"Lots of evil rock music and Luke's burgers," she replied sadly. "I accept pity in the form of The Doors or French fries."

"Burger and fries it is," Jess said writing the order on his pad. "And what for the other little lady?"

"Same please," Rory replied laying her head on the table. "Extra cheese on the burger."

"Coming right up," he said heading back to put in the order. "Rory, can I talk to you over here for a minute?"

"Sure," she said following him to the counter. "What's up?"

"I got an interesting call a couple hours ago," he replied leaning on his elbows, his voice somewhat uneasy. "What exactly did you tell your mother that she wants to have a talk with me?"

"Oh dear," was all that came out of Rory's mouth.

"That really doesn't make me feel any better," Jess pointed out.

"Oh dear," she repeated, chewing at her bottom lip as she thought of the conversation she and her mother had shared that morning.

"Seriously, Rory, you're freaking me out," Jess said. "What did you tell her?"

"Just about everything," Rory grimaced. "I left out the finer details of the fight and what exactly happened when we made up, but pretty much everything else was there."

"Did you tell her about..." he trailed off, running his hands through his hair.

"Yeah," she replied. "I told her about what you said, and then what I said, and what we both said. She knows."

"And her reaction was what?" Jess asked with some foreboding.

"To yell and scream and demand if you were pressuring me into sex," she replied, closing her eyes to the look she knew was crossing his face.

"You set her straight, right?" he asked, his expression of dread. "Right?"

"Yes," she replied quickly. "Of course I did. I told her that you weren't pressuring me into anything and that you actually stopped me and that we weren't sleeping together at all. She calmed down after a bit, but now I don't know. Did she say what she wanted to talk about?"

"She just said we needed to talk," he told her.

"I think it'll be okay," Rory said reassuringly. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now, but I think you'll come out relatively unscarred."

"Thanks," he replied dryly. "Remind me of this moment the next time I'm feeling particularly nice. That'll fix that."

"You'll do fine," Rory assured him, giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "I promise you, she's not going to kill you or forbid you from seeing me or anything that you would ever have to really be scared about. Just remember that I love you and I'm worth it, okay?"

"I wonder why I put up with you," he replied, kissing her again, "and then you do that." Just then, he looked up to see Luke coming through the door of the diner. "Now it's time for me to go meet my executioner."

"I'll see you later," she leaned her forehead against his for a moment before leaning back and waving an encouraging goodbye.

"Where's he going?" Luke asked as Jess walked out the door without a word to him.

"Where no man has ever gone before," she replied with a soft smirk, and then went back to her table with Lane leaving Luke to wonder what she was talking about.

Jess walked up and down the halls of the hospital for twenty minutes, unable to gather the nerve to push open Lorelai's door. He just kept turning down random passages, hoping to get lost in a sea of white patterned walls and, therefore, have an excuse for not showing up.

I'm not afraid, he thought, running his fingers through his hair and then stuffing his hands forcefully in his pocket. No, I'm just getting my week's worth of exercise. That's all.

He chuckled at his own irrationality. Of course there was nothing to worry about. Lorelai was a cool mother. She wasn't the type to lock her daughter in a closet and throw away the key. She wouldn't forbid Rory from seeing him just because she was worried about the whole sex issue, right?

Of course, the mere disapproval of his and Rory's relationship was a powerful weapon for Lorelai. She and Rory were really tight, and that sort of thing could severely sway Rory's decisions about everything, including him.

Again, Jess turned down a random hall, not trying to navigate his way to any certain position. He was too busy thinking, too busy going over every worst case scenario possible. When he came face-to-face with Lorelai's door once more, he was tempted to turn around and walk away.

You can't run forever, buddy, he thought with a grimace. She's only in here one more day; she'll catch up to you some time.

Then, shaking the fears forcefully out of his head, he took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Lorelai was sitting calmly in her bed, which by itself was irregular and slightly unnerving. She had a magazine in her hand and was flipping through it quietly. She didn't even recognize his presence in the room.

"Hey," he said to fill the empty silence. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," she said, not looking up. "Come sit down. I'll be with you right after this quiz tells me if I'm too much of a flirt."

She finally looked up at him, and Jess was relieved to see humor in her eyes. Taking a cleansing breath, he pulled a chair up beside her bed and sat down. After a moment, Lorelai sighed and put her magazine down on the bedside table.

"Okay, it's official," she sighed heavily. "I'm a shameless flirt."

Jess smirked and nodded his head a couple times. "Thank goodness the magazine let you in on that because I'd use a totally different description."

"Hey," she pointed her finger at him with half-serious firmness. "Remember, you're talking to your girlfriend's mother."

"Point taken," he replied evenly.

"So I'm guessing that you're wondering why you're here," Lorelai said.

"No," Jess replied. "I pretty much know why I'm here. Rory told you what happened yesterday, I'm here for the scheduled 'Hurt my daughter and die' talk. Am I right?"

"Almost," she admitted, a certain smile look in her eyes. "I just wanted to ask you a couple questions before I decide whether or not I should kill you in your sleep."

"Fair enough," Jess chuckled dryly.

"Okay, here goes," Lorelai said taking a deep breath. "Are you and my daughter sleeping together?"

"No," he replied straightly.

"Are you planning on sleeping with my daughter anytime in the near future?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I don't think she's ready."

"Do you care?"

"Of course." His voice still held no defensiveness. "I wouldn't go farther with Rory than she's willing or ready to go."

"Rory said that you stopped her yesterday. What made you do that?"

"I didn't want her doing anything she'd regret later," he told her. "I know what can happen to a girl who gets caught up and stops thinking. I don't want Rory to be that girl, and I don't want to be the guy who does it to her."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation.

She paused a moment, taking in the answer. "Do you really?" she asked again.

"Yes, I do," he replied definitively, not an ounce of doubt or inhibition showing in his voice. "And I know that you probably don't believe me because every mother by instinct thinks that any guy who says so is just trying to get into her daughter's pants, but I really don't need your permission to feel what I do. I do know that Rory takes what you think very seriously, so if you hate me that might screw a lot of things up. But no matter what happens, I'm still going to be in love with your daughter."

Again, Lorelai was silent for a long while, her face set in an unreadable mask as she stared off into a space somewhere above Jess's right shoulder.

"Okay," she said finally. "I have a couple ground rules. Number one: whatever happens, I don't see it. If it happens in my house, make sure I'm not there and will not be there. I don't want to walk in on anything dirty. Two: You'd better be safe. My daughter will not under any circumstances end up like me. Three: If you hurt her in any way, so help me God I will remove any and every appendage of your body. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," he replied bobbing his head a few times.

"Okay," she sighed. "Then I guess I don't have a problem with you and Rory continuing to see each other."

"Thanks," he smiled softly.

"No problem," she replied picking up her magazine again. "Make sure you shut the door on the way out. I wouldn't want my shameless flirtatiousness to spread to the rest of the population."

"No," Jess replied standing up. "We wouldn't want that."

Without another word, he walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.

"Well," Lorelai said to herself, "that went well."

Jess had a small smile on his face when he entered the diner again. It was almost empty, only a few customers and Luke left after the lunch rush.

"So where'd you disappear to?" Luke asked as Jess grabbed the coffeepot and headed to refill some mugs.

"Lorelai wanted to talk to me," he replied.

"So how'd that go?" Luke asked with a little visible discomfort.

"Not bad," Jess replied vaguely. "How long ago did Rory leave?"

"About twenty minutes ago," Luke replied.

"Can I take off?" he asked. "This place is empty."

"You weren't here this morning," Luke pointed out. "So be back to close."

"Sure thing, Uncle Luke," he saluted and headed out the door.

Ten minutes later he knocked on front door of the Gilmore household.

"He's still alive!" Rory exclaimed, throwing open the front door dramatically. "And he still has all of his limbs!"

"All of the ones you can see, anyway," he joked back, stepping over the threshold.

"So how was it?" she asked, her voice hesitant. "Did she threaten? Did she yell? Did she make you sign anything in blood?"

"None of the above," he replied. "She just asked a few questions and set down a couple rules that I already knew anyway."

"So we're okay?" Rory smiled, resting her arms around his neck.

"Yeah," he smiled, slipping his arms around her waist and kissing her softly. "We're okay."