A/N: Hello lovelies! I hope you're having a fantastic week! Here is chapter 15. Read, review, and have a great day!

Chapter 15

The weeks came and went and along with them came challenges that Rory didn't hesitate to tackle. She was thriving in the high-pressure environment of school and working at the paper. Though she wasn't writing as much as usual, she found she was passionate about editing and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

Her weekly routine consisted of classes, homework, working at the paper, daily phone calls with Jess, and dinners at her grandparents' house every Friday night. The dinners were not without their tense moments or their awkward silences, but they brought a kind of familiar comfort to Rory. She was thankful to be back on talking terms with her grandparents, even if there was still work to be done in their relationship. Plus, as a bonus, it was a free meal and time with her mother once a week.

Her phone calls with Jess didn't entirely make up for seeing each other in person, but they were better than nothing. They saw each other on weekends as much as possible, but it wasn't often feasible. They missed each other deeply, but it made every moment together that more special.

Even her relationship with Paris was on the mend. It started off as silent, almost-kind gestures, kind in a way that could only come from Paris. An umbrella left by the door with a passive-aggressive note on it, meant for Rory's use on a rainy day, or a pot of coffee made with more than enough for three people. Rory took note of every small action and did her best to reciprocate, and after a week, she decided to try breaking the silence with an apology. She found Paris sitting at the table studying one evening. She cleared her throat.

"Um, Paris?" she asked quietly.

Paris bristled but didn't look up from her textbook.

Rory faltered, but after taking a deep breath, she strengthened her resolve.

"Paris, please, can I talk to you for just a minute?"

Paris sighed, rolled her eyes, and finally turned to Rory. When Rory didn't speak, Paris gestured for her to get on with it.

"Paris, I'm so sorry for what happened at the Daily News. Seriously, when everything happened, I really did just want to try to be there and support you because I knew how important it was to you. And I had no idea they were going to nominate me! And you know as well as anyone that I can't just turn down job experience like that – I didn't accept the nomination to hurt you at all. I just took it because I was tired of being in that meeting and because it would look good on a resume and I'm so sorry it hurt you…"

"Would you stop with the saccharine babbling, Gilmore? God, you're better than that," Paris said with a slight smile. "And… I'm sorry, too. For freaking out on you like that and kicking you out."

Rory smiled back. "Thank you, Paris."

"I look forward to working under you during your editorship. I'm sure I'll have plenty of feedback when I come back."

With that, Paris went back to her studying, leaving Rory to simply smile and shake her head.

Before Rory knew it, it was the middle of March and midterms were upon her. Homework took the place of time with friends and family, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. As she walked out of her midterm that Friday morning, she felt a weight lifting off of her shoulders. A whole week, plus the two weekends, to do nothing but read, sleep, and watch movies with her mom. And as he had promised, Jess called Rory as soon as he could that afternoon to tell her how proud he was and how much he missed her. Rory's grin as she drove to Friday Night Dinner that evening could not be erased, even by bickering with her grandparents.

Waking up in her childhood room that Saturday brough a kind of strange comfort, and it brought a smile to her face. She had plans to meet her mom for lunch at Luke's and to see Lane that evening, so after lounging in bed, she rousted herself and walked to the diner. But, to her surprise, Lane met her outside of Luke's with a smile that surpassed her own. As Rory went to greet her, she was met with a hug that knocked the wind out of her.

"Lane, hi, I love you, but you're going to kill me if you keep squeezing me like that." Lane relinquished her hold and just looked at her, her smile growing even wider. "Okay you can't be that happy just to see me, what's going on?" Rory asked with a laugh.

Lane held out her left hand, her ring finger the new home of a very large purple ring. Rory took her hand and examined it.

"You've become a Shriner?" Rory asked with a confused expression.

"No…" Lane's smile remained fixed in place. "What hand is it on?"

"Left…"

"And what finger is it on?"

"Your ring finger…"

Lane simply nodded in return. Rory stared at the ring for a few more seconds until the realization lit up her face.

"No!" she gasped.

"Yes!"

"Zack proposed?!"

"Yes!"

"You're engaged?!"

"Yes!"

The two girls embraced and jumped up and down, squealing with delight and not giving any care to the strange looks they were getting from passersby.

"When?" Rory asked after relinquishing her hold on Lane.

"Last weekend!"

"Wait, you guys were broken up, how did this even happen?"

"Well, he came into the diner that Wednesday night and he gave this whole speech about how everything felt wrong, and he never felt good anymore and then he just… asked me to marry him! And he pulled out the ring and it just felt right… Rory, it felt so right. So, I said yes!"

"Aw, Lane!" Rory couldn't have been happier in that moment. "You're getting married!"

"I am, aren't I?"

"Wow, how cool is that?" Rory's eyes were full of happy tears as she reached to hug Lane.

The two ran into the diner, arm in arm, to meet Lorelai.

"Mom!" Rory yelled excitedly.

Lorelai choked on her sip of coffee in surprise. "Rory!"

"Did you hear?!"

"Hear what?"

Lane held out her hand as Rory squealed, "Lane's engaged!"

Lorelai gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" Lane and Rory shouted together.

"Aw, Lane, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Lorelai. So am I!" Lane giggled. "The ring isn't exactly traditional but it's all Zack could afford right now. Plus, I think it's pretty rock and roll."

"The rocking and the rolling-est!" Lorelai gushed.

Lorelai, Lane, and Rory stood in a tight circle, oohing and awing at Lane's ring and asking her for all the details of how Zack proposed. Rory was so distracted she didn't hear the footsteps coming down the stairs from the apartment above the diner. She felt a tap on her shoulder and reluctantly drew herself out of the conversation and turned around, only to see…

"Jess!" she gasped as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

In that moment, the diner went so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Rory drew back slowly as she and Jess looked around at the bewildered crowd, all of whom were staring at the two with eyes so wide they could almost see their reflections in them. Lorelai snorted as she tried and failed to stop a laugh from escaping.

"I guess we haven't really been couple-y in Stars Hollow yet, have we?" Rory whispered.

"Nope," Jess whispered back, a smirk forming on his lips. "Yes, we're dating, now mind your business and go back to your lunch," he shouted and leaned in to surprise Rory with another kiss. Everyone in the diner quickly returned to their food, still eyeing the couple discretely.

Rory giggled as she pulled away, blushing and glancing around to see if people were still watching. She knew everyone well enough that despite appearing uninterested, they were definitely still watching. Still, she appreciated that they didn't make it obvious. She and Jess sat at the counter together.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked.

Jess shrugged and smiled. "Thought I'd come surprise you."

"Well, consider me surprised! What about work?"

"I may have over exaggerated how much I had to do. I had to throw you off."

"Wait, how long are you here?"

"A week." Jess smiled mischievously.

"A whole week! Jess, that's…" she hopped off her stool and hugged him.

"I take it you're happy to see me?" he asked with a laugh.

"Extremely. Jess, this is going to be the most time we're in the same place since we started dating."

"I know. What will we do with ourselves?" he asked in mock confusion.

"I mean, I have a few ideas…" Rory said as her eyes darted back and forth between Jess's eyes and mouth.

Lorelai interrupted their moment. "Hey, we still exist!" she shouted, gesturing wildly to herself and Lane. "Hands and eyes to yourself there, Romeo."

"Hey, c'mon, Rory was obviously the one that started this, she kissed me first." Jess retorted.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lorelai argued back.

"She was just—" Jess started.

"Just let it go, babe, you're never going to win this one." Rory patted Jess on the back.

"Trust me, I know better than to argue with your mother by now," he grumbled.

"Ah, he has learned!" Lorelai shouted victoriously.

Rory was desperate to change the subject. "Jess, did you hear Lane's news?"

"No, I just got here this morning. What news?"

"I'm engaged!" Lane shouted excitedly, sticking out her hand to show off her ring yet again as Rory clapped excitedly, her eyes wide and bright.

The color drained from Jess's face. "Wow, Lane, that's…" he cleared his throat. "Congratulations, that's awesome."

Rory struggled to contain her laughter seeing that Jess was squirming with fear over her apparent newfound love for marriage. Rory couldn't let the opportunity slide.

"Isn't that great?" she asked in a sickly-sweet voice. "I mean, now she'll get to plan the wedding and be married and have kids… doesn't it all sound amazing?" She looked at Jess with big, pleading eyes. Lane was suddenly very focused on wiping the counter and Lorelai was taking her time with a sip of coffee, both women putting all their focus into containing their giggles at the look on Jess's face. "Marriage and babies, a future together… first mom and Luke, now Lane and Zack… who knows, maybe we might be next."

Jess gulped. For a second, it seemed as though he might be sick. "Um…" he cleared his throat. "I mean… uh…"

Rory burst into laughter, as did Lane and Lorelai. Jess's face showed only shock and confusion.

"Relax, Jess. I'm kidding." Jess's shoulders relaxed as he started breathing again, a slightly dazed and embarrassed smile appearing on his face.

"You are mean, you know that?" He asked, clutching his chest.

"Hey, you had this panicked, my-girlfriend-wants-to-get-married face, I couldn't pass up the chance to tease you relentlessly," Rory said, still giggling.

"Mean!" Jess said as he learned in to kiss Rory.

"Yeah, but you love me," Rory said with a smile.

"You know it." Jess smiled, cupping Rory's face in his hand.

"We have a whole week together," Rory said quietly, a smile inching its way across her face.

"I know."

"It's going to go so fast," she said, a small frown starting to form on her face.

"Hey, don't end our week before it starts."

"Sorry, I just don't want to waste a single second that we're in the same place."

"I know, neither do I," he said softly, tucking a strand of hair behind Rory's ear.

"Do you have any plans made?"

Jess smirked. "I have a few things in mind."

"Dirty!" Lorelai mumbled into her coffee.

Rory blushed. "Mom!" she chastised. "Private conversation here?" she said, gesturing between an embarrassed-looking Jess and herself.

"Sorry, continue your flirting. I have to go to the inn, anyway. Dinner? Or will you two be too busy with your plans with Cyrano here?"

Rory blushed even further. "Yes to dinner, but keep pushing your luck and you might not see me until Tuesday."

"It sounds like you'd have plenty to keep you busy until then," Lorelai teased as she donned her coat and grabbed her purse.

"Bye!" Rory said emphatically. Lorelai simply blew a kiss to Rory and a kiss to Luke and breezed out the door of the diner.

"God, sorry about her," Rory said, turning her attention back to Jess.

"Rory, I've known your mother for as long as I've known you. No need to apologize for her."

Rory grinned. "Hey, you're pretty nice, you know that?"

"Don't say that too loudly, you'll ruin my street cred," Jess whispered.

Rory snorted. "I'm pretty sure any cred you had was thrown out the window when you started willingly came to Stars Hollow," she said as Jess rolled his eyes. "Now, about those plans you had?"

Rory's week was spent reading with Jess, catching up on movie marathons with Lorelai, and working with Lane to start wedding planning, and every day started with breakfast at Luke's. It was pure bliss.

All was perfect – except for the whispers. Every time she and Jess were in public together, the people of Stars Hollow would glance and point conspiratorially at the two of them. The more she noticed it, the more annoyed she became. But when she brought it up to Jess halfway through the week, he simply shrugged it off.

But Rory couldn't ignore it as easily. They were sitting on the couch in Rory's living room, Rory leaning on Jess's chest, Jess with his arm around her shoulders, when she suddenly paused the movie they were watching.

"Hey, what – " Jess started.

"How does this not bother you?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Rory, the gossip and the weird looks? That's all I've ever gotten around here. I'm sure it has nothing to do with you." Jess rubbed her shoulder gently, attempting to calm her down.

Rory sat up to look Jess in the eye. "Even if it's only about you, that's still not fair! It's been what, four years since you first moved here? They should give you a chance! I swear, I feel like a broken record I've said that so much lately."

"Put down the pompoms. I appreciate how much you care about this for my sake. Really, I do. But they aren't going to change their minds. We might as well just let them make their assumptions and ignore them."

Rory looked up at Jess with a pout. "But—"

"You're really cute when you make that face," Jess mumbled with a smirk.

Rory tried and failed to hide a smile. "Complimenting me isn't going to get me to let it go!"

"Hey, look, movie! Let's keep watching," he said with a smirk, trying to distract her further.

"Fine… but I'm not letting it go." Rory grumbled as she pressed play and snuggled back into Jess as he kissed her temple.

Rory continued to stew on it for the rest of the night, becoming increasingly frustrated. It felt like they were 17 again, the town blaming Jess for every little problem and worrying about Rory getting involved with him because he was a troubled kid. Only now, he was a responsible adult. It infuriated her that she was still having to fight for people to see Jess for who he really was. She tossed and turned in bed, trying to convince herself to let it go. Jess didn't care, neither should she. He had even specifically asked her not to care. But no matter how hard she tried to forget it, she couldn't. She had an uncanny feeling that the murmurings were just the beginning, and she couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop.

Thursday evening, Rory, Jess, Luke, and Lorelai strolled through the town square, on their way to attend the town meeting. It had been far too long since Rory had had a chance to go to one of these meetings and wasn't going to miss her chance, even if she was frustrated with her neighbors. She and her mother had mentioned going and surprisingly, Jess had decided to tag along, as did Luke, albeit a bit more begrudgingly. The four walked together at a slow pace, enjoying the fresh spring breeze that had begun to flow through the town.

"You know you didn't have to come to this."

"Really? Huh, I thought it was required." Jess said sarcastically.

Rory responded with an elbow to his ribs. Jess winced and grabbed his side dramatically.

"I just mean, you hate these town things. I don't want you to go and torture yourself just because I'm going."

"Hey, we only have a couple more nights together before we go back to barely seeing each other. I want to spend as much time with you as possible, even if it means sitting through Taylor ranting about some idiotic Stars Hollow 'problem'," Jess said, putting finger quotes around the final word.

"Well as long as you're coming willingly, then I won't complain about spending time with you." Rory smiled as she wrapped her arm around Jess.

Luke and Lorelai strolled a few paces behind them, holding hands and watching the young couple.

"Hey, they're pretty cute," Lorelai said with a cheesy grin.

"Aw, jeez…" Luke grimaced.

"No, Luke, seriously! I'm happy for them." She looked up at Luke, who was watching Jess and Rory pull each other even closer as they walked. "Aren't you?"

"Y'know, actually, I am. It's about time they found each other again."

"They're both so different. They aren't kids anymore," Lorelai mused, a wistful tone overtaking her words.

"No, they aren't."

"We did pretty good with them."

"We?" Luke looked at Lorelai with a furrowed brow.

"Me with Rory, you with Jess. And, really, you with Rory, too."

Luke scoffed.

"Seriously, Luke. You've been her stepdad for years, even if you and I are just now getting married. And with Jess, do you really think he'd be where he is now if you hadn't taken him in back then?"

"I don't know…"

"Because based on what I've heard from you and Rory, and from what I can glean from some of Liz's thinly veiled comments… he would not have turned out this well had he not come here or had you. Sure, you guys fought and sniped and didn't get along, and back then he pulled some really crappy moves. But you encouraged him. Gave him a safe space. Fought for him. You got him to where he needed to be, Luke. You did good."

Luke looked at Lorelai with almost misty eyes and kissed her. "Thank you," he croaked.

"Just speaking the truth." Lorelai smiled kissed him back as they reached the steps of Miss Patty's dance studio, where they already heard commotion coming from the other side of the door.

"Are we late?" Rory asked, looking at her watch.

"Shoot! I thought we were early!" Lorelai exclaimed as she climbed the steps.

"Well, one way to find out…" Jess pulled open the sliding door, only to be met by a crowd of townspeople standing on the other side, looking at them as if they each had four heads.

"Uh…" the four said together.

"I think we're late," Lorelai whispered to Rory.

"What the hell's going on, Taylor?" Luke barked.

"Uh, well, you see…" Taylor stuttered.

"Spit it out!" Luke yelled.

"You're early, I'm a little unprepared."

"Am I the only one having déjà vu?" Rory whispered to Lorelai.

"Do I look like I care?" Luke demanded of Taylor.

"Well, no…"

"That was a rhetorical question." Luke rolled his eyes. "Do I really need to ask again?"

"Well…"

"We're here for Rory," Miss Patty cut in.

"Huh?" Rory cried and spun around to face the crowd.

"Yeah, doll. We're here for you," Babette said in what could be considered a soft tone. For Babette, at least.

"Am I dying?" Rory whispered to mother as she eyed the crowd.

"Not that I know of," Lorelai shrugged and whispered back.

"Sick?"

"Nope."

"This is an intervention," Kirk said.

"A what?!" Rory exclaimed.

"Rory, why don't you come sit over here." Taylor tried to usher her into a chair at the front of the room.

"No!" Rory yelled, folding her arms across her chest in anger.

"Uh… well, fine then. Rory, we've all noticed that you seem to be… reverting."

"'Reverting'?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes. Now, we know you seemed to take some time off from Yale, and we didn't see you here for quite some time, and then you were back, and we thought all was fine. But now, here you are, back with this hoodlum, just like when you were younger, and we're all afraid that you've had some sort of psychological break and you've reverted back to making the same mistakes you made as a teenager. Now, we're simply concerned about you and your safety, young lady…"

Taylor continued to speak, but Rory didn't hear it. All she heard was her blood rushing in her ears from the pure rage that had been building up since Taylor began talking. Here it was, the other shoe. The town had decided to try and rescue her from making mistakes they seem to think she made in high school. She glanced at Jess who stood off to the side, staring at his shoes. He was unreadable in that moment, even for her, and that added fear on top of the anger. She was about to explode when someone else exploded next to her.

"Hey!" Lorelai yelled at the top of her lungs. "Shut up!"

Taylor sputtered. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said, shut up! That's enough! How dare you? How dare any of you? I know that you care about Rory. You always have and I'm pretty sure you always will. But this is none of your business! You have no right to judge Rory, or Jess, or their relationship! Yes, Rory took time off from school. Any of your business? No! Yes, she and Jess are dating again. Any of your business? Again, the answer is no! And you're accusing her of making mistakes by dating Jess again? Like I said, it's no one's business but theirs, but you all were pretty quick to judge when you haven't even known Jess since he was a teenager! If you had taken the chance to even try to know him again, you'd see that he's grown up into a… a pretty decent guy, a guy that loves my kid how she deserves to be loved! So, take your noses out of their lives and worry about your own problems!" Lorelai stormed out of the room, leaving a stunned audience in her wake. Luke followed, smiling proudly. Rory looked at the stunned faces of the crowd with a stern expression and nodded firmly before grabbing Jess's hand and leading him out into the night, sliding the door closed behind them and walking them to the bridge.

"So that was something," Rory mumbled, her arms folded across her chest as they reached the lake. "Are you okay?" she asked Jess. He hadn't made eye contact with her until that moment when his gaze shot up from his shoes.

"Am I okay? You're the one who just got attacked by a room of idiots because you're dating me again." Jess ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Rory. I'm fine with being judged by them but I didn't realize how much this would affect you."

"Hey, no, you have no reason to be sorry, Jess. You're right, they're idiots. They don't know you and plus, they have no right to be trying to control me."

"They're doing it because they're worried about you," Jess said quietly, looking out at the lake in front of him.

"They don't have any reason to worry about me."

Jess's eyes shot up to hers. "Rory, they saw me hurt you over and over again. I'm the one who crashed your car and broke your wrist, the one who left you multiple times!" Jess yelled. "To them I'm just the messed-up kid who came in and pulled pranks, and got into fights, dropped out of high school, and hurt people they cared about! That's all I'll ever be!" Jess was spinning out and for once he couldn't stop it. His past was something he'd always been good at putting behind him. But now his past was affecting Rory negatively, turning her friends against her, and he hated it.

Rory stood firm as Jess yelled at her, knowing he wasn't really yelling at her. "To them, maybe," she said in voice so calm and comforting it snapped Jess out of his thoughts. "If they continue to refuse to see you as anything else, anything you are now, that's the person you'll be to them. But that's not at all who you actually are. You are the nephew who helps his uncle before he asks for it. You are the man who supports me and challenges me and makes me feel safe and strong, the man I have loved since I was 18 and will love forever. Hell, Jess, you're a boyfriend my mom approves of. If that doesn't shout 'you've changed,' I don't know what does. If people won't trust us when we say that, it's their loss that they'll never get to know the real you."

Jess stood with his hands at his sides and his head down as Rory spoke. Once she finished, she placed her hand on his cheek and he leaned into it, softly accepting her touch. He looked up at her with watery eyes, startling Rory just the slightest. His eyes had always been expressive, but she couldn't remember a time she'd ever seen anything resembling tears in them. She pulled him in for a tender kiss before placing her forehead on his and wrapping her arms around his neck as he closed his eyes.

"I know you, Jess. I trust you. The idiots have no reason to worry," she said softly.

"Thank you," Jess whispered.

"Hey, I've had multiple freak-outs where you've calmed me down. It was about time the roles were switched," Rory joked, thankful to get a small chuckle out of Jess. "I love you."

He opened his eyes and met hers. "I love you, too."

Rory smiled and embraced Jess. "I know," she whispered in his ear. They released each other and Jess grabbed Rory's hand and started to walk slowly back to the Gilmore house.

"Hey, how's it feel to have the Lorelai Gilmore Seal of Approval?" Rory asked with a grin.

Jess smirked. "Honestly, I have no idea what to do with it."

"Well, you'll figure it out," she said, squeezing Jess's hand and looking forward to the path in front of them.

"Yeah," Jess whispered, looking at Rory as she walked beside him, facing the path ahead. "We will."