Many many thanks go to my fantastic beta, fulfilled, who went over this with a fine-tooth comb several times. She encouraged me and kept after me every day, making sure I wrote my quota for the day. This is better because of her!

Come Away With Me
Chapter 3

"You're back!" Rory's face lit up when Jess entered the apartment, his arms full of bags.

"Looks that way," Jess replied, setting the bags down on the counter, "but you could be imagining it."

"In that case, it's definitely one of my better hallucinations." A smile played on Rory's lips as she met him halfway across the room with a quick kiss.

By Wednesday evening, the two of them had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. During the day, Jess would be at work, making deliveries all over the city while Rory roamed the area, scoping out the best coffee, books, and music. They'd both be back at the apartment in the evenings, sharing, talking, and laughing over takeout. Rory kept teasing Jess about how he hadn't inherited the cooking gene from Luke, and Jess would counter with the fact that his cooking was at least better than hers.

"Where'd you go today?" Rory asked, peering over his shoulder at the food.

"Lower East Side, mostly," Jess replied, trying to block her view. "I was all over the area, back and forth between all the different sections and it got a little confusing – I tried to order chicken parm at the knish stand."

Rory giggled. "So what'd you bring home?"

"Chinese," Jess relented, setting the containers out on the small table.

"Oooh." Rory's eyes widened with delight as the aroma filled the room. "Real Chinese? From Chinatown?"

Jess laughed and kissed her lightly. "You're easy to please. Have you ever had Chinese anywhere other than Al's?" he teased.

"Of course!" She was indignant. "I may not be a cultured big-city person like you, but I do have a life outside of Stars Hollow, you know."

Jess stumbled backward, his mouth open in mock horror. "Really?"

She shoved him playfully, sending him back against the kitchen cabinets. He caught his arms around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her.

"Mmm," Rory protested half-heartedly. "Jess, the food..." Yet she made no move to leave his embrace.

"Leave it," he whispered, trailing kisses down her neck.

Rory closed her eyes and made a small hum of appreciation. Before she and Jess could get too carried away, though, they were interrupted by a loud growl coming from Rory's stomach. She pulled back, looking up at Jess with puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine," Jess said, letting his hands drop to his sides. He shook his head with a small chuckle, kissing Rory's forehead. "Food first, I guess."

Rory giggled, kissing his cheek. "My stomach wins this time…" she trailed off, leaving Jess to fill in the rest of the sentence himself.

"Tomorrow," Jess said, piling food on two plates, "we're going to have to go to the supermarket and get some make-it-yourself food. This takeout stuff is fun and easy, but it's making my wallet hurt."

"Oh!" Rory exclaimed suddenly. "I didn't tell you yet – I got a job!"

Jess stopped, the lo mein dripping back into the container, and stared. "Oh? Where?" he asked, almost too casually.

"At the coffee shop you showed me the other day – The Sunburst." Rory squinted at him, trying to figure out his strange expression. "What?"

Jess allowed a brief smile to cross his features. "Nothin'. I didn't know you were looking for a job."

"I wasn't, really, I was just hanging out there and they mentioned they were looking for help." Playfully, she swatted at his elbow. "I have to do something while you're out traipsing all over the city. And this way I get free coffee."

"Well, I know how important that is." Jess finished dishing food onto his plate and plopped down in the chair at the table.

She stared at him. "Are you mocking the coffee addiction?"

"Hey, I know better than to do that!" Jess up his hands, the picture of innocence.

Rory pointed her finger at him warningly. "You mock, you won't get any coffee."

"Well then," Jess said with a smirk, "I guess you told me, then."

"Yes, I did," Rory stated; the final word.

"When do you start?" Jess swallowed a big bite, and washed it down with a gulp of water.

"Monday," she replied, piling more food onto her plate. "I talked to the manager and both of us agreed it would be best if I started at the beginning of the week."

"Cool," Jess commented. "So, if I stop by during your shift, do I get free coffee too?"

"Of course not." Rory grinned. "You get no perks."

"Oh yeah?" Jess smirked at her, and she blushed. "We'll see."

"I was talking about the coffee!" she cried, her face still red.

"What makes you think I wasn't?" Jess asked, leaning forward.

"Because I know you," came the response.

-------------------------

"Mom, guess what?"

"Uh-oh." Lorelai's voice was cautious.

"What's the matter?" Rory asked, swatting away Jess' hands from her waist.

"Nothing good can follow 'guess what, Mom,'" Lorelai explained. "It could be 'Guess what, Mom, I had sex,' or 'Guess what, Mom, I got my nose pierced,' or 'Guess what, Mom, I –'"

"Got a job," Rory interrupted. She placed her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "Jess, cut it out, I'm trying to talk to my mom!"

"She had you for nineteen years. It's my turn." Jess pulled aside the collar of her shirt and started kissing her shoulder.

"Later," Rory promised. She took her hand off the phone, turning her attention back to her mother. "Sorry, Mom. Jess doesn't feel I'm paying enough attention to him."

"Hmm. So, you got a job?" Rory raised her eyebrows slightly at her mother's attempt to stay on topic.

"Yep! In a coffee shop." She grinned. "I get free coffee, and I get paid to make it…for the customers, too, of course, but that's beside the point."

"And, um, does Jess drink coffee?" Lorelai asked awkwardly.

"He already hit me up for freebies." Rory sidestepped Jess and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Don't stick that out unless you plan to use it!" Jess called to her.

Rory shot him a teasing glare, and closed herself in the bathroom, perching on the closed toilet seat. "Okay, no more interruptions," she told Lorelai.

"So tell me about this place. Is it nice? How's the coffee?"

"It's good, their lattes are incredible – and the pastries, too. I will never go hungry," Rory said, settling back against the tank. "So what's new up there? "How's the inn?"

"It's almost ready," Lorelai said, a note of pride creeping into her voice. "Just a few minor things – and a few important ones, like the fact that we still don't have doors yet."

"No doors?" Rory asked, laughing slightly. "Everybody's going to get really cozy really quickly."

Lorelai giggled. "Can you picture it? Sookie and Jackson, Babette and Morey, Miss Patty, Kirk and Lulu, Luke, Michel, Taylor – all in one place with no doors? That's what Saturday will be like."

"The doors will come," Rory assured her mother. "Or you'll just have to make sure there's a camera on hand! Really, though, the inn's gonna be great. I can't wait to see it." Rory cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder and lifted her hair off her neck.

"Yeah, well, maybe sometime soon."

Rory let her hair fall back down, sitting up and taking hold of the phone. "What? No. Mom, I'll be there this weekend."

"Really?" Lorelai's voice was skeptical. "What about Jess?"

"This has nothing to do with him," Rory responded almost before the words had left Lorelai's mouth. "But, actually, I just had a thought."

"You have those?"

"Once in a while."

"My smart girl…what's the thought?"

"Well, I was wondering – and I haven't talked about it with him yet – if you have room, would it be okay if Jess came to the test run?"

"Oh, honey, I don't know," Lorelai hedged. "All the rooms are full."

"Well, Luke's staying alone, right? Jess could stay with him," Rory suggested, letting her toes play with a loose tile on the floor.

"We'll see," said Lorelai. "Talk to him, have him talk to Luke, and maybe we'll work something out."

Rory grinned into the phone. "Thanks, Mom. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you!" She closed the phone and opened the bathroom door.

"Hey," she said, settling comfortably on the bed next to Jess.

"Mmm," he grunted in response, lost in Fitzgerald.

"Jess?" she said, tucking her arms though his.

"Hmm?" He didn't look up.

"Jess, can you put the book down? I have something to discuss with you." She brushed the hair out of her face.

That got his attention. "Discuss?" he repeated, marking his place and setting the book down.

"Yeah. It's about this weekend. I don't know if you remember, but I have dinner with my grandparents every Friday."

"How could I forget?" he muttered.

Rory rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored the remark. "And my mom is having a test run of her new inn on Saturday. It's just friends, so she can work out all the kinks before the paying customers get here. It's a really big deal, and I have to be there for her. To see this." She looked up at him, waiting for a reaction.

He nodded in understanding. "Okay."

She narrowed her eyes. 'Okay'? What did 'okay' mean? "Is that all you have to say?"

Jess shrugged. "Have fun? I'll miss you? Say hi to your grandma for me?" He smirked.

"Come with me?" Rory requested, kissing his cheek.

"Where?" Jess groaned.

"To Stars Hollow for the weekend. To the test run. You can hang out with Luke on Friday," she suggested, "and then come to the Dragonfly on Saturday."

"I was just there last week. I don't want to go back so soon for something like this." He flopped back onto the pillows at the head of the bed.

She laid down next to him, tucking herself in close by his side. "Please, Jess? This is important for my mom, and it's important to me, too."

He groaned, taking the pillow from under his head and holding it over his face. "I hate that town. I can't stand most of the people there and the feeling is mutual. I have no desire to see them."

"Jess…" She gave a little pout. "I want you there. Please?"

"Rory…" he mimicked her tone. "No. You go and enjoy and I'll see you back here Sunday night."

"It's one weekend, like a day and a half," she reasoned, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

"Don't give me that look. It won't work," he warned her.

"Well, how about this?" Rory pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. The kiss deepened and she almost forgot the reason for it in the first place. She drew back before she got too lost in the sensation.

Jess cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips, considering it. "Can I borrow a book? And do I have to be polite to everyone?"

A grin spread across Rory's face. "You can be sullen and rude to anyone who pisses you off, except my mom and Luke. You can sit in the corner and read all night."

Jess sighed in resignation. "Fine. I'll come."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rory squealed, planting kisses all over his face. "Besides, this way you won't have to miss me."