You are amazing, thank you all so much. God, I have so many ideas for this chapter, hopefully I will be able to do them all justice. For those who had expected a "Catfight", I am not so sure if it's gonna be in this or in the next chapter, but Cat definitely is playing a great deal in this one. I know Jess had been OOC in the last chapter, but I don't think that he seemed weak. He just didn't want to cause anymore trouble.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, not really!

This chapter is dedicated to Mel, because she is… well… she and we share the same freaking fact of being in love. With the wrong guy? We will see!

Rory´s POV:

"I don't wanna go." I pouted like a petulant child as Jess was trying to push me out the door. He smirked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure you wanna go." I shook my head and tried to grab Jess's arm. It had been Mom's idea that I should spend a weekend in Stars Hollow, home. Home? "A bona fide Gilmore movie night. At first I had been excited and had planned everything out, but things between Jess and I really were going great; yes, Cat was still crashing at his place and although I definitely was more comfortable with it now than I had been at the beginning, sometimes at night, when Jess would be lying next to me, oblivious, and Cat would be in the common room, fast asleep on the couch, I was thinking of ways to kill her. I had come up with fifty-two; one actually included stapling a coffee pot to her forehead. But for my own sake and for Jess's sake I had arranged myself with the situation. And as days went on, after having spilled my heart out to Jess, I actually realized that life really was easier and simpler by trusting people. Jess had stopped trying to make us bond, which was a relief for me, because although I really tried, I didn't need to be challenged any more. Over dramatically I placed a hand over my chest and sighed.

"You wanna get rid of me?" Jess shrugged and pulled me closer, which was quite difficult since my hand still rested over my heart and my other hand was occupied with the bag I was holding and when he pulled me closer by my hips, I crashed into his chest forcefully.

"Ouch." Jess exclaimed as he rubbed the spot on his chest where my forehead had landed. I giggled and Jess eyed me accusingly.

"No need to cause me any harm." I just looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Jess rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine, I will cancel my date with that hot stripper I met yesterday. You happy now?" I nodded so that my bangs were covering my eyes.

"Very. I don't like to share my toys." Jess chuckled slightly as he leaned closer.

"Ha! I knew it! You just want me for my body." I nodded again and giggled into his chest, the sound being swallowed by his shirt.

"Finally he figured it out. And here I thought that had been completely obvious." Jess delicately kissed the tip of my nose one last time and softly yet effectively pushed me out of the door.

"Go, I don't like you right now." I beamed at the playful banter.

"Then it's a good thing you love me, right?" I laughed deliberated and didn't give him the opportunity to reply as I started to descend the stairs. I was surprised at myself. In past relationships I had always been the shy one, the one who needed to the verbal confirmation that I was cared about; with Jess on the other hand it was totally different; I just knew it.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

The bell above the door announced my arrival at my hometown; the minute I heard the familiar sound I got excited. I needed to talk to mom; I needed to tell her that I was happy.

I went to the counter and sat down. No one even paid attention to me and once I was glad, but when I looked around I noticed that most of the customers where out- of- Towner's, so that wasn't really so weird. I leaned over the counter to see if I could just grab to coffee pot, but no such luck. Luke was nowhere to be seen and I started to get worried; He would never leave the diner unsupervised when there were customers, but suddenly a sound caught my attention. It sounded like … giggles? My eyes followed my ears and realization dawned on me. That was my mom. My mom and Luke. My mom and Luke in the storage room. My mom was giggling. Please God, let Luke just have told her a joke. Apparently luck wasn't on my side today when I saw my mom emerge from the storage room with her shirt wrinkled and inside out. I wrinkled my nose and cleared my throat.

"Eww, mom. People are actually eating here." My mom shook her head slightly and came over to me to pull me in a loving hug.

"In the storage room?" she teased, raising an eyebrow. Well, she had a point. I chuckled and took in my surroundings.

"It's good to be home." I sighed and laid my head on the counter.

"You mean, you actually manage to stay away from Jess for more than a couple of hours?" Mom smiled at me and I decided to let that comment slip. I had no idea that I would be seeing Jess earlier than I had anticipated.

"So, what do I have to do to get a decent cup of coffee in here?" I eyed mom jealously as she nursed a cup of coffee. Mom's eyes went wide and she started giggling.

"Gotta sleep with Luke." God, mental image, mental image.

"Jeez." Luke apparently had heard mom's last statement and obviously felt as disgusted by the thought as I did.

"Lorelai, now was that really necessary?" He came up to mom while still buttoning his shirt.

"Judged by the look on your faces. Absolutely!" Luke rolled his eyes and I couldn't help but think how alike Jess and he were. The same gestures, the same monosyllabic answers, the same facial expressions. I smiled at this.

"Hey, Rory, nice to have you here. Is Jess with you?" Just as I was about to answer Mom buttered in.

"Ah Lucas, didn't you know that they broke up? How insensitive of you!" Luke blushed a dark shade of red and started stuttering an apology, well rather he stated things he was gonna do to Jess if he would ever see him again. Mom burst out laughing.

"Just kidding Lucas, Rory´s here alone, but they are not broken up." Luke looked at her with wide eyes.

"Why the hell would you say something like that? That´s sick! I was already thinking of ways to kill him." I decided to take that as my sign to ask for a cup of coffee just as mom opened her mouth to say something. Luke glared at her.

"Don't!" Mom closed her mouth and pouted as Luke made his way behind the counter; just as he reached for the coffee pot he stopped in his tracks,the air visibly floating through his nostrils, and glared at Mom.

"Did you just call me Lucas? Twice?" Mom looked at him and smiled innocently and then directed her attention to me.

"Did I, Rory?" I held my hands up in surrender.

"Leave me out of this insanity." Mom's only reply was the sound of her sipping coffee.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

"Why? Why? Why? Mom? Why did you make me watch that?" Disgusted I pointed to the television screen. Mom and I had just spent the whole evening watching sequels of movies we adored. Unfortunately that included Dirty Dancing, which logically meant that we just finished watching Dirty Dancing two and unfortunately I will never ever be able to erase Patrick Swayze- the later years- out of my head. He should sue his plastic surgeon. Mom, who was lying on the couch, covering her face with a pillow, sighed dramatically.

"Can I look?" I chuckled.

"Rory, is it over?" She asked like a four year old girl who had just seen the Lion King for the first time. I remember when I saw the movie for the first time, I had cried for days about it. Now that I think about it, it seemed extremely insensitive to kill the Dad off in this movie; it was for kids for crying out loud. I took a handful of popcorn and threw them at Mom.

"Here, take this, for making me watch this. I am scarred for life." Mom chuckled and started to pick up the popcorn that I had thrown at her and popped them into her mouth.

"Well, make sure to mention that during therapy." She replied nonchalantly and sat up straight. She patted on the spot next to her, signalizing that I should come over to her. Lazily I got up and tool my new position next to her on the couch. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to her.

"So. How are things with Jess?" She looked at me and I couldn't help but thank her silently that I inherited her blue eyes. Just when I was about to answer, she continued.

"And when I mean things, I mean like is he still alive, does he take his vitamins, not if he's good in bed." I blushed and wondered if I was that prudent that I couldn't even talk about sex to my best friend; but well I came to the conclusion that she was my mother too, which meant that some things better be not explicitly discussed. Mom rolled her eyes dramatically and pinched me in the cheek.

"Ha! I knew it. He is good in bed." If it had been possible I would have even blushed more. I fiddled with my hands, wrecking my brains to come up with something to say.

"Yes, he is still alive." I lamely responded and mom shook her head at this.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you are really my kid." I pointed to her eyes.

"What? Wanna poke out my eyes." I shook my head and relaxed into her embrace.

"I got your eyes and yes, right about now, poking your eyes out seems to be an option." Mom smiled and squeezed my hand.

"So, everything's good with the two of you?" I nodded and smiled, thinking of Jess.

"Yes, very." Mom raised an eyebrow and licked her lips subconsciously.

"The Cat issue? Everything's good with that too?" I hesitated but nodded anyhow.

"Yeah, well she's still crashing at his place, but I think she's gonna move out soon. She has already missed most of the semester. I have arranged myself with the situation and although I am still not very comfortable with Jess running around naked in the apartment, I decided that I need to trust him." I stated self-consciously.

"But do you trust her?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Honestly?" Mom nodded yes.

"No." Mom shrugged her shoulders.

"Shouldn't matter though, because you trust him. Period!" Apparently something distracted mom from my issues with Cat, because her eyes went wide and she started giggling.

"Jess runs around naked? That's somehow weird." Now it was my time to shrug my shoulders.

"Why? He lives there. You run around naked all the time in this house." Mom gasped.

"I so do not run around naked. Only" She added, "when Luke is here." I wrinkled my nose disgusted.

"Ewww, mom, please. I have already have been scarred for life once today, no need to add another thing to the list." We fell into a comfortable silence. I heard the clock ticking in the hallway and somehow it made me calm and relaxed. Whispering, I interrupted the silence.

"We're happy." Mom leaned back and took me with her.

"We're happy." Once again silence surrounded us, the two of us thinking about our significant others.

Suddenly a sound shot through the house. I sat up straight and tried to make out where it was coming from. Someone was standing on our porch, knocking at the door. Mom opened her eyes, sighed and got up.

"Maybe it's Luke." She wondered out loudly and went to get the door. I turned in my position and yelled after her.

"Make sure you keep your pants on as long as I am here." I could hear mom chuckling. She reentered the living room a minute after, someone trailing behind her. I was too lazy to take a closer look, so I was surprised when someone started rubbing my shoulders. I turned around in a swift motion and was even more surprised to come face to face to Jess. Something about the situation had me worried and I eyed him curiously.

"Hey." He greeted me and leaned down to give me a light kiss on my slightly parted lips.

"Hey." I replied and tilted my head.
"What are you doing here?" I asked alerted.

"I need to talk to you." By now my adrenaline level had reached its limit.

"Okay?" I asked rather than stated. Mom who had witnessed our little weird exchange cleared her throat and declared:

"I'm gonna go to bed. Sleep tight, sweety. You too, Rory." If I hadn't been as scared as I was right then, I would have laughed out loud at her little joke. She came over to me and kissed the top of my head. She patted Jess on the back and ascended the stairs.

Jess sat down next to me and starred right ahead. I decided to give him as much time as he needed to formulate his thoughts verbally although it took all of my willpower not to start shaking.

Finally he took a deep breath and came right to the point.

"She told me that she was in love with me." I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the big lump in my throat.

"Cat?" I whispered. I had no idea why I was speaking so quietly but it seemed appropriate.

"No, the stripper. Yes, Cat." Jess replied and raised an eyebrow. I couldn't help but think that maybe now wasn't the right time to joke around, but I didn't call him on that, since I could sense his nervousness. He played with a pen that was lying on the coffee table and sighed again. I didn't know what to say.

"Say something." He whispered and turned to look at me. I placed a hand on my forehead and took a deep breath. No need to freak out, right?

"Okay." Jess shook his head in confusion.

"Okay, you say something or okay to that confession?" Jess rubbed the spot between his eyebrows as if he had a headache; he probably had.

"Both?" I replied insecurely, my voice barely audible.

"Why are we whispering?" Jess asked me in the same soft and quiet voice he had been using since the minute he came to the house.

"Whispering makes it less real." I stated illogically and dropped my head. Jess took my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"What did you tell her?" I asked, wanting to know everything. From the "how" to the "what the hell had she been thinking"! Jess leaned back and started his story.

"You had just left when Cat got back home from jogging. I was in the kitchen, I don't remember why anymore, I think I made some coffee or whatever, well; she came in and sat down on a chair. I was about to ask her if she wanted something to drink when she interrupted me and told me that she was in love with me. Just like that, I swear she was nonchalant, as if she was asking me how I was. I was stunned, completely taken aback, and I was an ass." I looked up, surprised.

"What?" Jess closed his eyes.

"I think I yelled at her or something. I don't remember really; then I left."

"The apartment?" I asked disbelievingly. Somehow I felt for Cat. I knew that it took all your courage to confess something like that and being yelled at for that, wasn't fair, even it we were talking about Cat here.

"Yeah." Jess responded sadly. "I told you, I was an ass." He added after a while.

Here we were sitting, talking about the fact that some other girl had just confessed her love to Jess, but all I felt was pity. Not a hint of doubt or anger in the picture; this actually surprised me even more.

"What now?" I asked after some minutes. Jess pulled me closer and kissed the crown of my head.

"I came back after I cooled off. I apologized and told her that I was with you; that I loved you. I tried not to make her feel even worse; I tried not to make her feel as if she had just lost a friend and ruined our friendship."

"And?" I asked insecurely.

"She apologized, cried and apologized and cried some more. I have never seen her that down." Somewhere along the conversation I got angry at Cat. What had she been trying to do? Did she just have to get it all out of her system or did she have the plan to break us up?

"She offered to get a hotel until she went back home." Good course of action I thought silently, but didn't say it out loud. I raised an eyebrow as Jess shook his head.

"I know she can't afford a hotel room. These things are expensive, but I know that she couldn't stand staying with me, so I thought, that maybe I could stay at your place until she's gone?" I swallowed.

"Like, you wanna move in with me and Lane?" I asked, trying to understand what she had told me.

"Not permanently of course, but yeah something like that. Just for two weeks anyhow. She's going back home soon." Although the reasons of his questions didn't really make me comfortable, I couldn't help but be excited by the prospect of Jess living with me. I have never really lived with a guy; I mean not even with my Dad. It would be something to get used to, but it definitely was worth an attempt. I cradled Jess's face in my hands and made him turn his head to face me. I leaned forward and whispered.

"I have to talk to Lane, but if she's okay with it then I am okay with it. More than okay actually." Jess smiled and leaned forward, brushing his lips softly against mine.

"Yeah?" He pulled back and looked me in the eye.

"Yeah." I replied and crashed my lips against his, kissing him passionately. When we both pulled back due to the lack of oxygen, he rested his forehead against mine.

"I should have trusted your instinct." Jess apologized. I shook my head slightly.

"No one could have seen that coming; I was jealous back then, so I would have accused her of anything really."

"We're okay?" Jess asked just as our lips were about to touch again. I nodded into the kiss and welcomed the familiar feeling. Maybe, I thought, I should have a talk with Cat. Maybe not, I corrected myself as I felt Jess slip his tongue into my mouth, after all: I won.

So? What do you think? I wanted to show the trusting bond those two are sharing, but I'm not so sure if I succeeded. Anyhow, I am aware of the fact, that Rory seemed to take this as a competition, but she really does not. She just realized that she didn't need to humiliate Cat even more. Review please and thanks for reading, it means a lot to me. Do you think I should end it here or write a sequel or should I just continue?