Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own creativity. As soon as I have a lead on how to own Jess, I promise I'll share. Probably not much, but a little.

A/N: I suck. I completely and totally fail and I'm sorry. I wish I had an excuse other than "real life has been hectic," but that's once again the reason. I tried to make this chapter a little longer to make up for it. I don't know how long it'll be until the next chapter. I go back to school next week, so hello crazy schedule! Goodbye any free time! All I can do is apologize profusely. I hate to leave you all hanging. I will finish this story though. Oh yes, I will. I don't know how long it'll take, because there's so much I want to happen.

Are y'all still reading? Please drop a review to this chapter to let me know! I love you all.

Oh, and for the purposes of this story, none of Season 6 has happened, in case y'all didn't figure that out by now.

Ocho

"I made a doctor's appointment." Rory said quietly as she walked out of the bathroom. Her hair was dripping down her back, still the victim of several streaks of green paint.

"OK." Jess said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"It's for next week." Rory told him, sitting on the couch and folding her legs underneath her.

"OK." Jess repeated, scratching his head, the orange paint under his fingernails transferring to his messy hair.

They sat in silence for a while before Rory said, "You don't have to come. It's not your problem."

Jess weighed her words carefully, searching for subtext and what she really meant. He knew that she wanted him with her, but he also knew that she was giving him an easy way out of an awkward situation.

Rory understood the meaning of his silence and said, "It's OK, really. Don't worry about it."

"Rory…" Jess started. Then, in a complete change of tactic he said, "Maybe this is something your mom should do with you."

Rory tensed up instantly at the mention of her mother. The two had spoken only once since Rory called her that first time, and that conversation had gone as badly as the first one. Rory refused to tell her mother where she was, and the two had a huge blowout over the phone that ended with Rory saying she didn't need her mother to take care of her anymore.

"You miss her." Jess said. He stood from his chair and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa. "It's OK that you do. Why don't you just call her and tell her you need her?"

Rory smirked. Jess had no idea what had transpired after she quit Yale for that one year. Their reunion had been strained, and their relationship had never fully recovered. They weren't friends first anymore. They were mother and daughter first, and the friendship came in at a distant second. Telling Lorelai that she needed her wasn't nearly as easy as it had once been.

"It's a lot more complicated than that." She said, dropping the smirk as she thought more about the situation. She really did miss her mother, and she really did need her right now.

Jess looked at her skeptically. "I talked to Luke the other day." He revealed. "She's frantic. Knowing you're alive isn't enough for her, Rory. She's driving herself crazy. Luke said she's practically torn the world apart looking for you. Fortunately, it hasn't occurred to her to look here."

Rory looked down guiltily. "I don't want to have to see her face. She's going to be ashamed of me."

"Rory…" Jess started.

Rory shook her head. "Don't. Look, none of this is your problem. I'm sorry I asked you to come with me."

"She loves you." Jess said. "If she knows how badly you need her, she'll drop her entire life and be there for you."

Rory smiled Jess's words, amused that he didn't realize that the description he'd just given fit him as well as her mother. She looked up at Jess, her smile small on her face and her eyes threatening to tear up. "I'm scared."

Jess swallowed roughly and nodded. "I know you are. I'm scared for you. I don't want you to end up more hurt than you already are."

"I don't want to hurt anymore." Rory forced the tears away and put a determined look in her eyes.

Jess was impressed by that look in her eyes. He ran a hand through his hair out of habit more than nervousness and said, "I'll come with you."

"You don't have to." Rory said very quickly, as though she'd been expecting his submission to her request.

"No." Jess said quietly, and it was obvious that his mind was wandering in another direction. "I don't have to. But I want to be there for you, and you need someone. I'm just sorry that it has to be me."

Rory laughed at that and scooted just close enough to rest her hand lightly on top of Jess's. "I think you're my best friend." She said softly.

Jess sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth and smirked. That was not a term that anyone had ever applied to him before. "Sorry."

Rory shook her head. "Don't be sorry. I should be the sorry one. I'm sorry that I can't be a better friend to you. I'm ruining your life."

"No, Rory." Jess said, pulling his hand away from hers and tucking a strand of green hair behind her ear. "Things are fucked up, but hey, haven't they always been with us?"

"Yeah." Rory said, pulling away and returning to her corner of the sofa.

"But we're friends." Jess continued. After a long, heavy moment he murmured, "You're my best friend too."

Rory's eyes widened. She'd never expected such an honest statement out of Jess. He continued to surprise her each day she spent with him. "You don't have to go with me." She repeated, giving him one final chance to get out of it, as she knew he wanted to.

"I still think you should call your mom." Jess said with a shrug. "But you're not going to, and you aren't going alone." His eyes flickered with something resembling pain, but it was gone within a moment and he finished, "I'm going with you."

Rory focused on her hands and smiled. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Jess said with a shrug. "I'm just being a friend."

Rory lay down on the sofa, resting her head in Jess's lap. "You never used to be this fantastic."

Jess stiffened beneath the close contact and at the sound of Rory's words. "Sure, I was. Don't you remember all the amazing things I used to do for you?"

Rory snorted back a laugh. "Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"How about all the books I lent you?" Jess demanded, touching Rory's hair lightly, still unsure how he felt about her closeness.

"Please, you stole just as many from me as you gave to me. Next example." Rory said, rolling her eyes.

"I got us Distillers tickets." Jess reminded her.

"Because you didn't want to apologize for being an ass so you bought me off." Rory retorted.

"I brought you food from Luke's when your mom was out of town." Jess said, straining to think of more examples.

"That was nice." Rory conceded.

"I got Dean to break up with you." Jess said with a smirk.

Rory giggled and slapped at his leg. "Please, only once!" She said. "I got him to do it twice all by myself."

"How is Bag Boy?" Jess asked absentmindedly.

Rory shrugged. "He moved away from Connecticut a few years ago with his second wife. I think he lives in Maine now or something. No one really keeps in touch with him though, except his parents and I don't exactly talk to them anymore."

"I really hated him." Jess said thoughtfully.

Rory smiled at that. Who would've thought Jess Mariano would ever reminisce, especially with his old ex-girlfriend? "I know you did. It was mutual."

"Yeah, but he just hated me because he knew I was going to get you. I genuinely despised his existence." Jess responded with a smirk.

Rory laughed. It felt so good to be able to just sit and laugh with Jess. This was what she'd always wanted with him, and it felt so good to have it now. It may have taken seven years, but it was finally comfortable.

"Jess," Rory said after a moment of comfortable silence, "I'm sorry about Paige. I hope you know that."

Jess nodded. "I know you are, but you know that I can't say that it's okay. Right now, it's not."

Rory didn't say anything. She knew that Jess would take her silence for exactly what it was: acceptance that he was right and there was nothing she could do about it.

"It will be though." Jess finished as an afterthought.

"Will be what?" Rory asked, confused. She sat up, crossed her legs under her and looked at Jess.

"Okay." He responded. "Things will be okay."

Rory's smile started small but soon she was grinning almost crazily, prompting Jess to ask, "What's that smile for?"

"You're being an optimist, Jess." Rory said, still smiling widely.

"Am not." Jess responded childishly.

"You totally are." Rory said, poking him in the ribs.

"Nope. Sorry. You've got me confused with someone else." Jess said, standing up and stretching.

"Whatever." Rory said, adding 'optimist' under her breath.

Jess glared at her playfully. "Do you want to take this outside?"

Rory stood up and put her hands on her hips, trying to look tough. "Are you really going to hit a pregnant woman?"

As soon as the words fell from her mouth, Rory wished she could retract them. The light moment was destroyed as they were both reminded of the reality between them. Rory was pregnant, and unless she went to her mother or Logan came back, she had no one to take care of her but Jess.

"It's getting late." Jess said evenly. "I'm going to go to bed."

Rory nodded, lowering her hands to her sides. "Me too. Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight, Rory." Jess said, walking swiftly to the bedroom.


"The home test was correct, Ms. Gilmore. You're pregnant." The OB-GYN, Dr. Taylor, said as she reentered the exam room where Rory was waiting on a bed while Jess sat in a chair, writing thoughts for his book down on a notepad. At the sound of her voice, both Rory and Jess's heads snapped up.

Jess uncomfortably looked back down at his notepad, while Rory stared straight at her obstetrician. She nodded. "I knew it."

Jess began to draw small circles on his pad, trying as hard as he could not to let his awkwardness show.

The doctor opened her mouth to say 'congratulations,' but from the looks on their faces, it seemed to be inappropriate. Instead, she looked at the readout on her clipboard and said, "You're about 2 months along. We'll run a few more tests and find out your exact due date."

Rory stared straight ahead silently while Jess continued to doodle on his pad, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"What do I have to do?" Rory asked quietly.

"Well, as of now your lifestyle doesn't have to change too much." Dr. Taylor said, sitting down on a chair facing Rory's bed. "Obviously, we strongly recommend against smoking, drinking, illegal drugs of any sort. Oh, and limited caffeine intake is also recommended."

Rory frowned at this statement, while Jess smirked and tried hard not to laugh.

"You shouldn't overexert yourself in any way, but you can still do most things you usually would. You can go to work, exercise, travel, have sex."

Rory smiled at that, and looked over at Jess. He was wearing a smirk of his own. Dr. Taylor had seen Jess and Rory walk in together, coupled that with Rory's lovely engagement ring, and assumed that the two were a couple. Neither had bothered to inform her of the complexities of the situation.

"Well, why don't we set up another appointment where we can do an ultrasound?" Dr. Taylor asked.

For the first time, Jess actually looked up at the two women. He was interested in Rory's answer. If she said no, it was because she knew she was going to have an abortion.

Rory nodded her agreement. "Fine. Whatever works for you, I can make work."

Jess tried his best not to show any emotion. He felt torn between happiness that Rory was keeping her baby, concern for her, and something else that he refused to put a name to.

"Well, I have an opening on Wednesday in two weeks. How does that sound?" Dr. Taylor asked.

Rory hesitated. She and Jess were supposed to be in meetings about his book all day on that day.

'Don't worry, Rory. Take the appointment." Jess said, not looking up at her. "We'll reschedule those meetings."

Rory acted as though Jess hadn't spoken. "What else do you have?" She asked Dr. Taylor.

Dr. Taylor smiled at the little dispute. "I can make an appointment for that Friday instead if that works better for the two of you. Say…10 o'clock?"

Rory looked at Jess, who nodded. "That'll be fine."


"We let her believe you and I are together." Rory said thoughtfully as they stepped out into the street.

"Yup." Jess said as he raised his hand to hail a taxi.

"Why did we do that?" Rory asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Jess shrugged. "Because imagine how it would've gone otherwise. 'No, he's not my fiancée. He's my ex-boyfriend and current roommate who took me in after my fiancée left me at the altar and I was too destroyed to go anywhere else.'"

"Good point." Rory said, smiling slightly.

"We could've moved those meetings." Jess said as a cab pulled up to them. He opened the door and allowed Rory to sit down and slide over. He entered the cab himself, shut the door, and gave the driver the address of the apartment.

"It's not a big deal." Rory said. "The appointment is only two days later." Besides, Rory knew that it was the least she could do for Jess after all this. "Besides, I didn't want to reschedule those meetings. This is probably the first step to sending your book to press."

Jess smiled at those words. "My book is going to press." He said, slightly awed.

"Well, not quite yet." Rory said, looking down at her stomach. She placed her hands on it and said, "I'm going to have a baby."

Jess smirked at her, and placed his hand over hers. "Well, not yet."

"It's Logan's baby." Rory said with a sigh. "What am I doing?"

"Having a baby." Jess responded immediately, removing his hand. "Didn't we just establish this?"

Rory couldn't contain her smile. There he went again, making her feel like this was completely normal.

"Gonna tell him?" Jess asked.

Rory sighed. "I'm going to have to call him."

"That'd probably be the first step in talking to him." Jess responded with a nod.

Rory frowned in thought. "It's been over a month, and he hasn't tried to call me once."

Jess remained silent, knowing that she wanted right then was to be angry about that fact. After a moment, he said, "He still needs to know."

"Yeah." Rory said, leaning her head back against the seat of the taxi. "I know that."


"I don't wanna." Rory said, knees pulled up to her chest. She was staring at the phone as if it had the power to hurt her. It did. She knew that it did.

"I know that you don't." Jess responded. "What choice do you have though, Ror? It's his kid. You're going to have his kid. He needs to know."

Rory scrunched up her face and said, "Don't wanna."

Jess smirked. "Well, I could call him."

Rory considered the option for a moment, weighing each way that situation could go. She smiled at the thought of Jess lashing out on Logan, but eventually shook her head. "That probably wouldn't end well. It might end humorously, but not well."

"Exactly my point." Jess said, pushing the cordless phone towards Rory. "Call the guy."

Rory frowned, but took the phone. "Fine."

With shaky fingers, Rory dialed Logan's work number. It rang several times before his secretary answered.

"Logan Huntzberger's office." She chirped cheerfully.

"Is Mr. Huntzberger in?" Rory asked, trying to maintain a steady voice. "It's very urgent."

"Let me see if he's available." His secretary said, not losing her cheery tone. "May I have your name please?"

"Rory Gilmore." She said.

There was a brief silence on the other end, indicating that his secretary knew very well who she was. "Hold, please."

The next voice that spoke on the phone was Logan's. "Huntzberger." He answered.

Rory smirked tightly. His secretary hadn't told him who was calling. "Hello Logan."

The telephone was electric with the silence on the line. Jess saw the tense look on Rory's face as she waited for Logan to say something. He hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether Rory needed him to stay or to leave. After a moment of contemplation, he sat down next to her on the couch and picked up a book from his coffee table.

Rory threw him a grateful smile and said into the phone, "If you want me to think you hung up, then stop breathing through your nose."

"Rory." Logan said, sounding uncomfortable. "Hi."

"Hi." Rory repeated. "How are you?" The moment the question was out of her mouth, both she and Jess winced. What a question to ask the man that left you at the altar.

"Good." Logan responded. "Good." It was a long, painful moment before he asked, "How are you?"

Rory sighed. The question sounded so hollow, so forced. At the same time, Rory felt a familiar pang at the sound of his voice, an excitement that only he was able to provide her. She almost…missed him.

"I've been better." Rory said.

Before she could continue, Logan said, "You have the whole world looking for you."

Rory sighed. "My mother is not the whole world."

"Where are you?" Logan asked.

Rory hesitated for a long time, looking at Jess as he sat reading a book. "I'm where I need to be."

"That was vague." Logan said.

"As was it was intended to be." Rory snapped. "Why do you care anyway?"

Jess cringed as Rory's voice became angry.

"You haven't been looking for me." Rory continued. "Don't pretend you have been."

Logan sighed. "I don't know what you expect from me, Ace."

"I expected you to marry me. Stupid me." Rory responded quickly.

Jess looked up at her in amazement. This was the angriest she'd gotten over the situation yet. He'd expected her to get weepy and hang up, not get sarcastic and let her bitterness show.

"Ace…" Logan started.

"I didn't call to fight with you." Rory cut him off. "I called because we really need to talk. Like it or not, we need to talk."

"Rory…" Logan said hesitantly. "What's this about? Because I haven't changed my mind about the…"

"Wedding." Rory prompted. "The word you're searching for is wedding. And this isn't about that."

"Then if it isn't about the…wedding, what's it about?" Logan asked. Rory could hear him shuffling papers as he spoke. He was working as they spoke. The thought made her furious.

"It's not something we can talk about over the phone." Rory said with a frown. "Believe me, I wish it was right now."

Logan hesitated for a long time, and then asked, "Are you OK?"

Rory was taken completely aback. The question was sincere and filled with concern. Did he miss her too? Did he still think about her?

"That's debatable." Rory said, trying to remain detached. "Can we meet to talk? Tomorrow maybe?"

Logan was silent as he debated the question. "Yeah, OK. I guess. Where?"


"Nice suit." Rory said as she walked up to the table where Logan was sitting.

Logan stood to greet her. "You look good." He said. He looked ready to hug her, but then he caught himself. He awkwardly extended his hand.

Rory knew she looked good, because she'd spent three hours debating what to wear for this meeting. She'd settled on a straight black skirt from one of her business suits and a blue shirt that perfectly complimented her eyes. She stared at Logan's hand, amazed, before shaking her head in disgust and sitting down.

"I was really surprised when you wanted to meet here." Logan said. "This isn't exactly our part of town."

That was deliberate planning on Rory's part. She didn't want Logan tainting Jess's neighborhood, and any place near Rand Florin or her apartment already held memories from time spent with Logan. This was neutral territory.

"Rory, look…" Logan began. "I'm sorry about the way I did things. It…it was wrong."

Rory shook her head and tried not to let his words affect her. This wasn't about him apologizing. This was about telling him what he needed to know. This wasn't about the scent of his cologne, or how good he looked in his suit, or the way his mouth twitched in the left corner- the only give away that he was nervous at all.

"I didn't come here to listen to you apologize, Logan. There's nothing you can say that'll fix what you did." Rory said, trying to be brave.

"It wasn't because I didn't love you." Logan said, the corner of his lip twitching once again.

Rory closed her eyes tightly. He would go and say something like that. She was so tempted to ask the question she knew she shouldn't.

"I'm not here to talk about that." Rory said quietly. She wanted so bad to ask what had happened to make him run away, but she was way too scared of the answer.

"You deserve to know what happened though, Ace." Logan said. "I've been working up the courage to tell you…it's why I haven't called."

"OK." Rory whispered, knowing that probably wasn't the only reason he hadn't called. "Tell me."

Logan took a breath before he asked, "Did you ever meet my secretary?"

"No." Rory said tensely, her jaw clenching in anticipation of where this was going.

"Her name is Miranda." Logan said. "And she's an amazing girl."

Rory's eyes filled with tears and she curled her hands into tiny fists. "So you slept with your secretary? How trite."

"No." Logan shook his head quickly. "No, that's not what happened. Well, not entirely. I did sleep with her, but not until after I called off the wedding."

"Ran away from the wedding." Rory corrected him, a tear spilling over and her knuckles turning white.

"Ran away from the wedding." Logan conceded. "But here's the thing. When I met her, I was attracted to her. I never loved her more than you. But I panicked. I got scared that marrying you was all there was."

Rory sniffed, feeling hurt and insulted and pained beyond belief. Her broken heart felt like the pieces were stabbing into her chest, trying to bore their way through her skin and out onto the table.

"You thought there was something better out there than marrying me." Rory said, dropping her head and letting her hair cover her face as more tears fell.

"I thought that there was the possibility of something better, and I couldn't marry you if I thought that it was out there."

Rory was silent for a long moment as tears fell from her eyes onto her hands, which had unclenched and were lying lifelessly in her lap.

Logan hesitated as he contemplated reaching out to touch her hair. He wanted to. He wanted to touch her so badly at that moment. In the end, he decided against it.

"Say something." He said quietly.

Rory was silent for a little longer, before she looked up. Her cheeks were wet, but there were no longer tears falling from her eyes.

"I wanted nothing more than to marry you. Everyone thought you were wrong for me. No one wanted to see us work. I didn't listen to anyone. I loved you and wanted to be your wife. I still love you, though I'm not really sure why. But if for even one second, you had a doubt about us getting married, then you're right. There is something better out there." Rory said, her words coming out slowly and heavily.

She stood slowly. She looked at Logan seriously and said, "I'm pregnant. It's yours. Unlike you, I haven't slept with anyone else. Have a great day." With as much dignity as she could muster, Rory walked out of the diner.

As soon as she was out the door, Rory's legs began to shake. She needed a cab and she needed it now. She raised her hand to call for one.

"Rory!" Logan called, emerging from the diner and onto the sidewalk.

Rory sighed. "You're killing my dramatic exit, Huntzberger."

"You're pregnant?" Logan asked. His lip was going into overdrive.

Rory nodded.

"We were always careful." Logan said, dumbfounded.

Rory shrugged, and was almost tempted to smile. "You can't plan everything."

Logan looked at her, in complete shock. "What do you need from me?" He questioned.

A cab pulled up to Rory, and she opened the door. She looked at Logan, and she did smile. It was a smile full of pain she'd never be able to vocally describe to him.

"Nothing you can give me." She said, right before slamming the cab door. As the driver pulled away, Rory slumped back and sighed. At least she'd gotten her dramatic exit after all.