Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Do I suck? Yes. Do I love you all? The answer is also yes. I'm sorry I don't update a lot. I wish I had time, but I don't. I'm trying though. And I can't stress enough that I do plan to finish this story. I just don't know when. Reviews are love, but if you hate me, that's cool too. Enjoy.
Nueve
"All this stress cannot be good for the baby." Rory said with a frown. She sat on the couch, reading a book with her legs folded under her.
Jess smirked as he mixed a little sugar into the coffee he made her. "Probably not, but you're done with him for now. You did what you had to. No one could ask you for more."
"For now, anyway." Rory said, still frowning. "I don't know. I don't feel like anything got resolved with him." She sighed. "I certainly don't feel any better."
"You will." Jess said. "Eventually, you will. And are you really saying that it didn't feel good at all to slam that cab door in his face?"
Jess walked over to Rory and handed her the cup of coffee. Rory put down her book and received the mug with a small smile. "Yeah. That part was good."
Rory took a sip of her coffee, and winced at the taste of it. "What did you give me?" Rory demanded.
"Coffee." Jess said innocently, taking a sip from his own mug.
"No." Rory said suspiciously, sniffing the mug. She narrowed her eyes at Jess and said, "This is decaf."
"Is it?" Jess asked, taking another sip from his own mug. "Huh."
"Why are you trying to poison me?" Rory cried dramatically.
Jess shrugged and put his mug down on the coffee table. "Coffee's coffee." He said.
Rory's eyes widened at that statement. "That's blasphemy! Jess, why did you give me decaf coffee?"
Jess stood and went over to his computer. He lifted the top and pressed the button to turn it on. He didn't respond to Rory's question.
"Jess, I asked you a question." Rory said, taking another sip of coffee and again wincing at the taste.
"Stop wincing." Jess commanded without looking back at her. "It doesn't taste any different than regular coffee."
"Maybe not to you. Why are you decaffeinating me?"
At this, Jess did turn around. "Is 'decaffeinating' a word?"
Rory nodded. "Underused, but still in the dictionary."
"Huh." Jess nodded. "Learn something new every day, I guess." He turned back around and faced his computer screen again.
"Jess!" Rory exclaimed, her frustration mounting.
"Yes, Rory?" Jess asked, beginning to type.
"Stop avoiding the question and tell my why you gave me…oh." Rory trailed off as she realized something. "The doctor said I should limit my caffeine intake."
"Did she? How about that?" Jess said.
"You're trying to make me follow doctor's orders." Rory said, a smile creeping up on her face.
Jess just shrugged his shoulders and kept typing.
"Admit it." Rory said, teasingly.
Jess shrugged again and replied, "You can have all the caffeine you want. You're just not getting it from me."
Rory smiled at the back of Jess's head. She nodded. "Alright, fair enough."
After a few minutes of silence while Jess typed, he said as an afterthought, "It really is bad for the baby, you know."
"My mom drank so much caffeine when she was pregnant with me that Juan Valdez sent her a personal thank you note. I turned out okay." Rory responded, dutifully sipping her decaf coffee.
"You turned out to be a caffeine addict like her. That's a family trait you should let die with you." Jess said.
Rory laughed a little and said, "Yeah, maybe. How's the writing coming?"
Grateful for the subject change, Jess responded, "Good. A couple more little things and I think I'll be happy enough with it to call it the final draft."
"I believe that's my decision." Rory responded. "But good. I really want to get it to press, and I think we can do it really soon."
Jess turned around in his chair so Rory could see his smile. "No matter how many times I hear that, it never gets old. You have no idea how exciting this is for me."
"I know it is. I'm really proud of you." Rory said honestly.
"Thanks, Ror." Jess said, keeping his smile. "I'm proud of me too."
He turned back to his computer and said, "And it only took 26 years."
"Do you know what I've been meaning to ask you?" Rory asked suddenly.
Jess smirked without looking at her and said, "I'm not going to tell you where I buried my hidden treasure."
Rory laughed loudly. "Well, as disappointed as I am, that isn't what I was going to ask. Your penname."
"What about it?" Jess asked. "Lots of writers use pennames."
"You think I don't know that?" Rory asked. "But why?"
Jess typed as he spoke. "My last name is Italian. Don't get me wrong. I don't really identify with being Italian. Or English. Or any of the other million things that I am. Nationality isn't really a big thing to me. But my book is about an Italian boy. When I started trying to get it published, I decided that I didn't want people to think I was writing it because I'm Italian. It seemed too gimmicky to me. I don't want a gimmick. I just want to write."
Rory smiled and shook her head, baffled. That much genuine emotion out of Jess; that passion about something he cared about really struck something within Rory. It made her genuinely happy to be a part of what he was doing.
"But why 'J.F. York'?" Rory questioned. She knew it was still a bad idea to comment on Jess's revelations and insights. It just made him uncomfortable, and angry if was in a bad mood.
Jess shrugged and responded, "Because if you say it really fast it sounds like you're saying 'Gee, a fork!"
Rory laughed at his answer and said it several times over in her head. "Wow. I guess it does. That's hysterical!"
Jess turned around and grinned at her. Jess Mariano grinning was still a new sight for her, but it was definitely a welcome one. "I guess I just figured," He started, "I might as well start having some fun in this life."
Rory just smiled at him, and he went back to typing silently.
Rory walked into the apartment with two grocery bags in her arms. She put them down on the kitchen counter and called, "Jess! You home?"
Rory looked over at the table where the answering machine was. Next to it was a notepad, and the top page read, "Got called into work. Back in a few hours. (Around 7) Jess."
Rory picked up the note and crumpled it into a ball before throwing it into the wastebasket. As she did, she noticed there was one new message on the machine. She pressed 'play' absentmindedly and listened to the message.
"Jess, it's Paige. Look…I miss you. A lot. So much, actually. I want to talk. I have a couple of appointments, and then I figured I'd stop by. Around four, if that's OK. I'll see you then."
Rory looked at her watch. It was a little after four. Maybe Jess had heard the message before he left and told her not to come.
Before Rory had even finished the thought, there was the sound of a key turning in the lock.
"Crap." Rory murmured as she turned around to face the door. There was no way that this could end well.
Paige opened the door and looked into the apartment. The nervousness in her jade eyes faded into anger when she caught sight of Rory.
"Hello." Paige said coolly, stepping into the apartment and shutting the door.
"Hi." Rory said uncomfortably, staring at the door behind Paige. There was no way that she could outmaneuver Paige and make it to the door before the petite girl tackled her. Rory had no doubt that Paige could take her if she tried.
"Where's Jess?" Paige asked simply, tossing back her long, black hair.
Rory stared at her for a long moment before responding. "Working."
Paige narrowed her eyes and glared at Rory. "Jess doesn't work on Fridays." She snapped.
"He does when they call him and ask him." Rory responded. That was a little more sarcastic than she'd intended. She didn't want to be mean to Paige, mostly because she was terrified of her.
The stare down continued for a few moments, if it could be called that. Rory's nervousness was obvious in the way that she kept shifting her eyes to different inanimate objects around the apartment.
"You seem to be doing much better." Paige said, eying Rory. She'd just gotten back from work and was in her business suit. This one was her favorite. It was black with white pinstripes. She looked good in it and she knew that she did.
Rory didn't respond to Paige. She just shrugged and continued to look around awkwardly.
Paige nodded and crossed her arms across her chest. "You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"
Rory smiled slightly and shook her head. "No."
"You don't have to lie." Paige continued quickly. "It's not like we're together anymore."
"I know." Rory responded. "You broke up with him."
"Because of you!" Paige snapped.
Rory shrugged. "I didn't do anything. We're friends, that's it."
Paige glared hatefully at Rory. "You're a liar."
"You're insecure." Rory retorted. "I'm not sleeping with Jess. Tell yourself whatever you want. It's the truth."
Paige's eyes almost looked sad for a moment. "I love him." She declared.
"Good luck with that." Rory responded, thinking back to a time when she loved Logan, and how well that had turned out.
"This is all your fault."
That was it. Rory felt herself getting genuinely angry with Paige now. She tried very hard to suppress the urge to flip out at her, but she really was making that very difficult.
"You ruined my relationship with him."
Strike that. She was making it impossible. "With all due respect, Paige, bite me."
That was what Jess heard as he went to put his key in the lock. He'd gotten out of work early. They hadn't needed him after all. He was about to enter the apartment when he heard Rory arguing with someone. He was shocked when the next voice he heard belonged to Paige.
"What'd you just say to me?" Paige demanded.
"I said 'bite me.'" Rory repeated. "You broke up with Jess. You don't get to be upset or blame things on other people. That's not how it works. You don't get to make other people feel like they did something wrong, when you're the one who didn't realize what you had."
Jess was torn between being proud of Rory's epiphany and upset that she was yelling at Paige. Even though she was yelling at her on his behalf, Jess still felt bad.
"I know exactly what I had!" Paige exclaimed, and Jess could hear the tears in her voice. It was a very distinct sound that he didn't hear often. Paige rarely did anything resembling crying.
"And that's why it hurt so bad to realize you wanted it too."
Rory sighed. Nothing was getting through to her. "But I don't want it." She said. "I haven't for a very long time, not since we were kids. And trust me, he wasn't nearly as appealing then as he seems now."
Jess frowned. He wasn't sure why, but his whole body seemed to fall when he heard Rory said that, starting at his heart. He didn't know what part of her statement had upset him, but he was afraid it might've been the whole thing.
"I refuse to compete with you." Paige said, regaining her composure.
Rory rolled her eyes. "It isn't a competition. You love him. I don't. End of story."
"Are you ever leaving?" Paige demanded.
Rory shook her head. "Not for a while. I need him. I've never said I didn't. He's my friend, and I need him. That's not going to change. Not right now. But he needs you. You're so dumb if you don't know that."
Jess smiled and leaned his head against the door as he listened. It felt good to know he was still needed, and it also felt good to know that Rory understood him well enough to know he still missed Paige.
Jess turned his key in the lock and opened the door. He stood in the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb, trying to look as casual as possible. "Hey."
Rory took one look at his smirk and knew that he had heard a good deal of the conversation.
"Hey." Rory responded, eyes on Paige. Paige's fists were still balled at her sides, and she was staring at Jess. She was trying to keep her look blank, but failing miserably. Her eyes had softened to moment they fell on him.
After a moment of silence, Rory's lips curved into a small smile. "I think I left my purse at the office." She said, feigning innocence. "I'd better go back and get it before Rand Florin closes for the day. I'll be back whenever Jess calls me and tells me to come back."
Rory walked over to the counter and picked up her purse. Realizing what she did, she said, "This is my backup purse." She quickly winked at Jess brushed past him and out of the apartment.
"Lying isn't her strong suit." Jess said, finally entering the apartment and closing the door.
"No." Paige responded. "But making people realize how dumb they've been sure seems to be."
Jess sat down on his couch and shrugged. "What are you doing here, Paige?"
"You know what I'm doing here." Paige responded, not moving from her spot.
Jess smirked. She'd just handed over all the power to him, and damn if he wasn't going to abuse that. "Actually, you're going to have to enlighten me. Last time I saw you, you left me with a rather nasty ultimatum as I recall."
"You're going to make this hard, aren't you?" Paige demanded.
Jess let his lips curl up into a smirk and he lightly shrugged his shoulders at her. "Why should I make it easy?
"Because you love me?" Paige asked. She was looking for confirmation, plain and simple.
"Well, you said you loved me too, but you still walked out." Jess retorted.
"What, you're the only one allowed to be stupid?" Paige asked, smiling a little.
Jess smirked a bit at that before catching himself. "Paige…" He started. "Nothing's changed. Rory still needs me. She's still living here."
"I'm never going to be fully OK with that." Paige admitted. "But I miss you, Jess." She paused a moment, and then said, "I've grown accustomed to your face."
Jess tilted his head to the side. "What an odd moment for a My Fair Lady reference."
Paige shrugged. "It seemed appropriate."
"I miss you too." Jess said quietly. "But I'm not going to abandon Rory. I can't do that to her."
Paige took a deep breath and said, "I'm not asking you to."
"Yes, you are." Jess said, looking directly at her. "And I won't do it. You and I can't be together. Not now. You're not strong enough for it. You can pretend you are all you want, but the truth is that nothing has changed."
"I don't want to live without you." Paige said. "That hasn't changed either."
Jess sighed. She still loved him, and he missed her too. Maybe they could make this work, even with the complications Rory brought along with her. That was when it occurred to Jess…Paige didn't even know about the latest complication.
"Rory's pregnant." Jess said, staring intently at Paige to gauge her reaction.
Paige's eyes flared for a moment and her jaw tightened. "And it's yours?"
Jess shook his head. He could feel his walls going up and he allowed them to do so. His defenses were back up instantaneously, just like they used to be when he was younger. "No. Remember that guy she almost married? He'd be the obvious guess and the correct one too."
"She's pregnant." Paige said stonily.
"She's pregnant. She's alone. She needs me. The end." Jess stated firmly.
"So, that's it?" Paige demanded. "We're done, and it's because of some girl who don't have any intention of sleeping with?"
Jess shrugged. "Guess so."
"You're going to regret it." Paige said. "You're going to regret letting me walk out." As if to prove it, she chose that moment to stand.
"Maybe." Jess agreed. "Won't be my first, won't be my last."
A single tear rolled down Paige's cheek. "I didn't want us to end like this."
"Well, that's life." Jess bit out.
Paige shook her head sadly, and walked out of the apartment.
Jess sighed and dropped his head into his hands. This wasn't supposed to be his life. Things were not supposed to be this complicated. Life was supposed to get easier as he got older. At least he knew that things couldn't get any worse right now.
Twenty minutes later, he got the call that Rory was in the hospital.
