Buzz, buzz, buzz.

Rory groaned as she turned over and groggily opened her eyes. Her mobile phone was vibrating. She had turned the ringer off when she and her mom had started their movie night. She had returned after her meeting with Jess, not saying a word about it to her mom. She felt a bad for not telling her where she had really been. Part of her was bursting to relay all of the events to her but the other part knew exactly what her mother would say and she didn't want to hear it all right now. The phone was still buzzing on her table so she sloppily reached over and flipped it open.

"Mmm?" was her barely audible greeting.

"Ace? Hey, sorry I'm calling so late but I've been trying to get a hold of you all day."

"Oh..." she mumbled, sleep still clinging on desperately.

He laughed. "So, did I interrupt you from a good dream."

"Yes, as a matter of fact," she was struggling to gain more consciousness.

"Was it about the Ninja Turtles again?"

"Mmm, no. I was Swingin' Door Susie and Cary Grant was serenading me..." she recounted wistfully.

"Ah, you and your mom watched Bringing Up Baby again, huh?" he chuckled.

"Mmmhmmm, and I'll have you know it's all your fault that I'm awake now, mister."

"Hey, I told you, I've been trying to call you all day. Did you have a hot date or something?" he kidded.

That woke her up abruptly and she bolted up in her bed.

The silence hung on the line a moment.

"Ace? Are you still there?"

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm here."

"Okaaay. So, are you all rearing to go to your Star's Hollow Shin-Dig tomorrow?"

Rory relaxed a bit at the subject change. "Yeah, Kirk is having a new booth this year where he tells you what kind of hen you would be if you got reincarnated. It's kinda weird, actually, he says that everyone from Star's Hollow comes back as some type of hen – why he thinks it's only hens is beyond me..."

"Rory honey, I think you really do need to go back to sleep."

"Hey. What's that supposed to mean?" she mocked being offended.

"Nothing, dear," he replied sardonically. "Listen before I let you go I just want to let you know that I'm gonna try to make it out there tomorrow -"

She stiffened, "Why?"

"Oh, thanks."

"Come on, I didn't mean it that way..."

"Well, you tell me so much about all of these crazy town things; I just want to check it out for myself."

"Oh, believe me, you'd be bored after five minutes. It's really not worth the drive out here." She hoped that she had sounded casual.

Logan furrowed his brows, "it sounds like you don't want me there, Ace."

A nervous little laugh escaped her, "Oh, no, it's not that, Logan. I just don't think that you would have a very good time, that's all."

"I'll have a good time if you're gonna be there."
She sighed, knowing that there was no good way out of this. "Well, if you really want to come..."

"I do."

"Ok, then."

"You sound so excited."

"No, I'm sorry. It's great. I'm just really tired, that's all."

"Come on, it'll be good. I can go with you to Luke's and have his magic coffee that you're so obsessed with. Anyway, go to bed chief editor. I miss you."

She paused, "I miss you, too."

"Good night."

"'Night." She hung up the phone.

Aggg, this sucks. Really, really sucks. Tomorrow is going to be the Spring Fever Day From Hell. Rory's brain was bouncing and she found it very difficult to fall back asleep, visions of a certain dark haired boy from her past swimming in front of her. After an hour of fruitless sleep attempts she finally did what her body was screaming for her do. She quickly dressed and oh so quietly crept out the front door. She hugged her heavy sweater to her body, taking comfort from the crunching noises her boots made in the snow. Her heart felt like it had lodged itself in her throat. She reached her solace spot only to see that it was already occupied.

"Hey." Jess looked over at her, not seeming too surprised to see her.

"Hey," she returned softly.

He smiled a half smile and motioned on the ground for her to sit next to him.

She took her place beside him, dangling her feet over the frozen water.

"So, what brings you out here this late in the night, Miss Gilmore?" He looked straight ahead, staring off.

She dropped a soft sigh, "probably the same thing as you." She chanced a glance at him but the cloud covered sky didn't do much to reveal his features.

He turned to her. "I doubt that."

She squirmed a bit. "Jess...what is this?" She elaborated at his blank stare, "this...us. No matter how far away we get from each other, this is always seems to happen."

"What?"

"We always come back to each other..." his expression was still blank. "Don't we?" she asked, suddenly unsure of herself; wondering if she had misread everything. Perhaps she was the only one that kept getting stuck – no, he definitely was, too.

He nodded slightly. "We do."

They both sat there, not knowing where to go with this.

"You're still with blond dick at Yale boy."

"Logan. His name is Logan," she admonished.

"Sorry, Logan," his tone telling her that he wasn't sorry at all. He scoffed. "What kinda name is Logan, anyway. It's almost as bad as Blaine."

"As amusing as your Pretty In Pink references are right now, we really need to talk about this."

He shrugged. "What's there to talk about? Here I am, and you, once again, have a jerky boyfriend."

She wrinkled her brow, looking at him seriously. "I'll leave him."

This was obviously not the reply that he had expected. His face showed surprise. "Will you?"

She slipped on her resolve face. "Yes," she answered firmly.

"Why?"

Her face registered hurt. "You don't want me to?" Her voice came out in a small whisper.

"Of course, I want you to, Rory."

"Logan is not right for me, he never was. I think that I was just afraid of being alone...I was afraid of being left alone and having to deal with not having you. I know it's been years, but it doesn't hurt any less than it did...and if it's still like this after all this time, I don't think it's going to change."

The lost look in her eyes made him break and he reached out and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and he felt her warm tears heat his skin. He sat there a moment, just holding on – holding on desperately to the girl that he had missed unbearably for so long.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

She nodded her head against him before pulling away slightly so that she could look at him. She gazed at him intensely.

"I'm more sure than I have been about anything in a long time."

He leaned his head down, brushing his lips against hers. It was a wonderful sensation, awkward at first from the years of absence, but it quickly grew back to being that old warm, safe, exciting feeling that it had once been. They sat there, kissing each other, each pouring years of want into the other.

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So, what do ya think? I'm kinda uncertain with how this chapter turned out, but...ah, well. I hope you guys like it, anyway. After all, anything with Rory and Jess getting together is a good thing...helpless romantic, here. heehee