Disclaimer: I don't own GG and soon Amy won't either.

A/N: Let me start off by saying that I am soooo sorry I haven't written in a loooong time. I've been super busy and just kind of spaced. I'll try to make this extra long to make up for it.

Lorelai zoned in on Doose's market. She was like a missile locked onto its target. When she stepped inside, right away she noticed Dean at the checkout. She took a deep breath, and then walked up to him.

"Hey Dean, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um... sure Lorelai. Hold on a minute." Dean signaled to Taylor that he needed a minute and he followed Lorelai out of the store.

Dean ran his hand through his hair nervously. "So Lorelai what's up?"

"Stay away from Rory."

"What?"

"You heard me Dean. Stay away from my daughter."

Dean stood up straighter and started to get a bit aggravated.

"You can't tell me to stay away from her."

"I can if you're sleeping with her."

"You know?"

"She told me. And you know what else she told me? That she thought she was pregnant, and yesterday instead of coming to me she went to New York to see Jess."

"Is she pregnant?" Dean asked Lorelai as fear flashed through his eyes.

"No, but that's not the point. The point is I almost lost my daughter because of you and I want you to stay away from her."

Dean's face turned to the same one of anger and annoyance that he used saved just for Jess.

"You cannot tell me to stay away from Rory."

"Hey Dean, you still married? Yeah, that's what I thought. Get the divorce then maybe you can see her."

Lorelai turned and started walking towards the direction of her house. Dean stared after her for a minute before shaking his head and going back into the market.

---

"Rory, you home?" Lorelai stepped through the door. To tell the truth she was a bit afraid to tell Rory what had just happened. She didn't want Rory to be mad at her for going to see Dean, or Jess for that matter. She couldn't help it though, Rory was her little (well not so much anymore) girl and it was her job to protect her.

"I'm in the kitchen."

Lorelai hung up her coat then walked through the doorway to the kitchen. "Listen Rory, I have some things I need to tell you. I-"

Lorelai saw Rory standing in the kitchen, facing her direction, holding a knife.

"Whoa, whoa Rory. Let's not doing something you'd regret. I mean, I know we don't always get along and I talk too much and I may be a bit overprotective, but that's no reason to stab me." Lorelai backed up away from Rory.

"My mother, always the drama queen. I wasn't going to stab you. I was trying to make lunch."

"With what food?"

Lorelai walked back into the kitchen and towards the refrigerator

"Well I got some Pop Tarts and marshmallows and I popped some popcorn, so I was going to cut up the Pop Tarts and sprinkle them and the marshmallows over the popcorn."

"Like a salad?"

"Exactly."

Lorelai sat at the table and pondered this for a minute.

"You know... if we had this I could tell Luke I had a salad, he just wouldn't have to know what kind."

"You sly fox, you."

Rory set down the knife and sat next to her mother at the table.

"So why didn't you just go get lunch?" Lorelai asked, propping her head up on her hands and looking at Rory.

"Well you were gone and I didn't know when you were coming back, so I didn't want to leave the house -"

"Because I might come home and find you gone, then freak out again?"

"Exactly."

"Good logic."

"Well you know... it wasn't just my charms and good luck that got me into Yale."

"But of course. So do you want to run out and get Luke's? I would go with you, but I'm a bit tired."

"Sure. I may stop at the bookstore first, though. I'll be back in a while."

"Have fun! And don't take candy from strangers or Kirk!"

---

Jess was sitting in the gazebo reading, when a shadow fell over him. Calmly, he shut his book, stuck it in his back pocket at looked up.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Jolly Green Giant. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I know you were with Rory yesterday."

"Lorelai, right?"

"Stay away from her Jess."

Jess stood up and although he wasn't anywhere near as tall as Dean, he looked much more intimidating.

"I should say the same to you. Aren't you married?"

"So?"

"So, if you're married, you shouldn't care what your ex-girlfriend is doing, nor should you be sleeping with her."

"Hey, that's was Rory's decision, not mine. I didn't force her to do anything."

"But you didn't stop her, did you?"

"Hey, chance and you blew it."

"Again, I could say the same to you."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because Rory asked me to bring her here."

"Oh I get it. How long did it take her to jump into bed with you? Did she tell you she loved you afterwards? Did she pick a song for you guys? I never knew Rory was so easy."

Jess clenched his fist and hit Dean in the jaw. Soon Jess were in a full out fist fight.

A crowd had gathered around the gazebo before Luke rushed out and pulled Jess off of Dean.

He shrugged Luke off of him and stared at Dean.

"Don't ever talk about Rory like that again." Jess warned him. Then he fixed his shirt, picked up his book (which had fallen out of his pocket) and headed back to the diner.

"Nothing to see here, move along, move along." Luke shooed everyone away and he wondered what Dean had said to cause Jess to snap like that.

---

"Hey Luke, I'll have two cheeseburgers and a ton of fries. And some doughnuts. And five cups of coffee." Rory walked into the diner holding a bag full of books from the bookstore, "And can you make it to go? I'm bringing them back for Mom."

Luke stared at Rory a minute, wondering if he should tell her what happened, but then shook his head and silently filled her order - including the coffee (only 4 cups though).

Jess came down the stairs and walked into the diner. He stopped when he saw Rory though. Rory, feeling his stare, looked up and saw Jess... with a black eye.

"Jess, what happened? Are you okay?"

He shrugged and tried not to look at her. "I'm fine. I just got in a little fight."

"With who?"

"Dean," he mumbled, hoping she wouldn't hear it.

"What?"

"I got in a fight with Dean, okay Rory? It's no big deal."

"You haven't even been back for a day! What was such a big deal that you just had to fight him about?"

"Nothing. Just leave it alone."

"You know Jess, you had me fooled. I really thought you had changed, but I was wrong. You still won't tell me anything. Silly me, I thought that maybe we could've worked things out, but I guess I was wrong. You're still the same old Jess. Moody as ever." Rory grabbed the bag containing her food and ran out of the diner.

But I have changed, Jess thought, shaking his head.

If only she knew.

---

On the way home from Luke's one of the books that Rory had bought fell out of her bag. As she reached down to pick it up, she heard Miss Patty and Babette talking.

"So then Dean marched up to him and started yelling," Rory heard Miss Patty say.

"What was he saying?"

"I don't know, but Jess stood up and said something back, then Dean said something and they looked like they were arguing. Hands flying everywhere, when all of a sudden Jess hit Dean right in the jaw!"

"He hit him! Then what happened?"

"Well Dean hit him back, and they started fighting, then Luke came tearing out of the diner and pulled Jess off of Dean. Then Jess yelled, 'Never talk about Rory like that again.' And stormed back into the diner."

"Oh man! That boy hasn't been even been back for a day and he's already stirring things up."

"Oh yeah, Jess provides plenty of entertainment around here, not to mention eye candy." Miss Patty replied and Rory could imagine her winking. "Honestly though, I'd never see Jess so angry. Dean must've said something really bad."

"Interesting... Oh! Did you hear about Sunny Bertman?"

Miss Patty and Babette walked away, gossiping about Sunny Bertman and her (latest) surgery.

Rory was stunned. What had Dean said about her? Why did he say anything to Jess in the first place? Why was Jess the one defending her honor? Why was Dean the one trashing her?

She couldn't believe she had just jumped on Jess like that. Maybe she was afraid to believe he had changed. Maybe she hoped that Jess hadn't changed, because if he had, she might fall for him all over again. And she didn't want that to happen again.

Or did she?