Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Thanks for not lynching me. Remember that kindness during this next chapter too. You guys rock, and your reviews are much appreciated. I know this story has been going for a while, and thanks so much for sticking with me. It's been a year since I started, and I just Rory and Jess to kiss. Seems crazy, but the end is upon us. The story should be done before the end of the summer. Enjoy this chapter! Oh, and download I Hear The Bells by Mike Doughty. It's kinda awesome.

Diez y Seis

Jess stared at Rory in disbelief. Of all the immediate reactions he had pictured, that one had not even made the list. I think I should move out.

"What?" Jess asked. It was dumb, it was simple, and it was the only word still left in his vocabulary at the moment.

Rory slid her shirt over her head before responding. "I can be out today. It's not like I have a lot of stuff. I might have to come back for some of my books, but I'll worry about that later. Turn around please."

"What?" Jess repeated, feeling stupider with each passing moment.

"I need to put my pants back on, and I'm not wearing underwear. I don't even know where my underwear is." Rory said. Jess sighed, but turned around begrudgingly. At Rory's 'ok,' he turned back around. Rory stood there, smoothing the front of her shirt compulsively.

"Anyway, I can be out in a few hours." Rory said.

"Rory, stop." Jess said, running his hands through his hair. He was trying not to get mad until he knew exactly what Rory was thinking, what her logic was. "Why do you want to move out?"

Rory smiled at him, and it was a smile that froze his blood. It could only be described as patronizing. She'd never looked at him that way before, with something so close to pity in her eyes before. She'd never looked at him as if she didn't respect him until that moment.

"Jess, I don't know what you expect me to say here. You think you're in love with me, and that's sweet, but I don't look at you that way anymore. We both agreed we were past all that. I can't…lead you on by living here while you think you feel this way." Rory said, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness as she systematically destroyed and demeaned every thought and feeling Jess had.

Jess stared at Rory, dumbfounded. He could hear her voice wavering, and in his normal state, Jess might be able to analyze that and deduce that she was lying. All he could hear right now was her words though, and her words had formed a point and stabbed him directly through his heart.

"I mean, I'm sorry that you lost Paige, Jess, but you can't just transfer all that emotion onto me out of convenience." Rory said with feigned innocence.

Jess's eyes grew hot and he glared at Rory angrily. "You're the reason I lost Paige, Rory. My life was going fine until you came back into it!"

Rory shook her head sadly. "You never could admit when you were at fault. You haven't grown up at all. I guess anyone can write a mediocre book and call themselves an adult."

"Well if growing up is turning into a heartless bitch, color me happy about that fact." Jess snapped, to angry to be hurt. He wanted so desperately to throw something, but nothing seemed like an appropriate option. So he threw words instead. "No wonder Logan ran off to fuck his secretary. He knew there was something better than you."

Jess stared at Rory, waiting for a reaction; any sort of reaction. He waited for her to get angry, or burst into tears, or maybe even fall into his arms. Any of those, he could've handled. Her cold indifference though, continued to throw him for a loop.

Rory shook her head again. "Jess," She said, sounding almost disappointed in him. "This is getting very childish, isn't it? I'm sorry you misread something between us, but please don't make this more difficult than it has to be."

"No, this isn't going to be difficult. You'll be out of my apartment within two hours. You'll get someone else to finish things with my book. Barring family events I'm forced to go to, we're done and my life will finally make sense again. Very easy."

Jess looked around the floor and quickly pulled on a pair of dirty sweatpants quickly. He slid his shoes on without bothering with socks. He pulled on his T-shirt, paying no attention to the fact that it was inside out and backwards. He looked at Rory once more before and this time; he was the one who shook his head sadly. "I thought I loved you. I don't even know you."

Rory jumped slightly as the door slammed behind him. Dazed, Rory walked over to the bed and sat down. She dropped her head in her hands as she reran what had just happened in her mind. She had to skip past the part where she and Jess had the most mind-blowing sex of her life, because at the moment it paled in comparison to everything else that happened. What had she done?

She knew exactly what she had done. She'd fixed it. Jess thought he was in love with her, and he had to be set straight. There was no way that they could work again, and she wasn't even going to entertain a notion that ridiculous. She knew Jess though, and she knew the only way to deter him was to…well, to destroy him. So she did. Problem solved.

By the time Rory had packed her bags, she almost had herself believing her own lies. She almost had herself believing that everything she had just done was for the best. As she leaned over to grab her beat-up, black Chuck Taylors from under the bed, she knew that she had just saved both herself and Jess a lot of unnecessary pain.

Rory reached under the bed digging for her shoes and she felt something sleek between her fingers. Confused, Rory pulled her hand out and her wedding dress appeared from within the cavern that was Jess's bed.

That was day Jess had saved her life, the day he had taken her in without a single question, without a single doubt in his mind. He'd been willing to throw it all away to help her, and he had. He fixed her. And somewhere along the way, they fell in love, only neither had bothered to voice that to the other one.

Now Rory had gone and ruined any future for them, destroyed it beyond repair, turned it into nothing more than a torn, discolored wedding dress stuck underneath a bed. It didn't just symbolize her failed relationship with Logan anymore, but also the relationship she'd never have with Jess.

She'd throw it in the incinerator before she left the apartment building for the last time.


"William's asleep." Lorelai said, coming down the stairs to the living room.

Luke smiled at his wife and reached for her hand. He pulled her down into his lap and kissed her. Lorelai smiled at him and said, "I only had to read him one book. It's such a nice change from the three or four I had to read to Rory every night."

"How is she?" Luke asked. "Jess said she's OK, but Jess also thinks that she doesn't have feelings for him."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "You're nephew's an idiot. Rory's not at her best yet, but she is OK with the Logan thing. She definitely has it bad for Jess again."

"He's in love with her too." Luke revealed. "He didn't deny it when I talked to him the other day."

"Wow." Lorelai said, impressed. "That's like getting it tattooed on your ass."

"Yes, very similar." Luke said, shaking his head at his wife.

Lorelai sighed. "How long 'til they figure it out?"

Luke shrugged. "Who knows? Sometime soon though. They're smart, and I think they're finally ready to make it work."

Lorelai nodded with a sad smile. "I think so too. Scary thought."

"William is going to be so confused." Luke said.

"William? That's who you're worried about? Our three-year-old son? Please! I am going to be so confused. I was confused the first time they dated and I have a feeling that the puzzle hasn't gotten easier with time." Lorelai exclaimed dramatically.

Luke stared at her. "Are you done now?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to start again, but was stopped by the doorbell. Lorelai closed her mouth and pouted. "I guess I am." She stood up begrudgingly and walked towards the door. "You're cutting into my rant time!" She called to the unknown visitor.

Lorelai pulled the door open to see Rory, her eyes red and a pile of luggage at her feet. "Hi."

Lorelai smiled comfortingly at her daughter. "Luke!" She called. "Now I'm even more confused!"

Luke made his way to the doorway and stared at Rory in amazement. "Rory, what're you doing here?"

"Not the time for that question, sweetie." Lorelai said, touching her husband's arm. "Grab her bags."

Luke picked up Rory's suitcase, duffel bag, and laptop case. He offered a sympathetic, if not completely baffled, smile before taking the bags over to Rory's old room.

Lorelai put an arm around Rory and led her into the house. "How'd you get here, babe?"

"Train to Hartford, cab to Stars Hollow. I didn't have enough money though, to pay for the rest of the ride up to the house. Only enough to get me to the square. So I tried to walk the rest of the way but Kirk gave me a ride. Since when does Kirk have a car?"

"It was a very scary day in all our lives, trust me." Lorelai said in response to her daughter's babbling. "Do you want to go to bed? Do you want coffee? Luke can feed you if you want."

Rory shook her head and sat down on the couch. "I'm OK."

"Umm, what is that phrase I'm looking for? Oh yeah, liar, liar, pants on fire." Lorelai responded, sitting down next to Rory.

Rory sighed and her eyes filled with tears. She brought her legs up underneath her and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "Everything sucks."

Lorelai ran a hand over Rory's hair and asked, "Did Logan come back? Does mommy need to kick some rich, blonde boy ass?"

Rory shook her head. "No. Logan got the message. He's starting the process of selling the house next week."

"Oh, is that it then?" Lorelai asked. "Break up remorse? Because I've got to tell you, kiddo. I really think this was for the best, no matter how nice the house is or how big the diamond was…before you threw it off the roof of a building."

"That's not it. Logan and I, we're done. I don't love him anymore." Rory said as forcefully as she could under the circumstances.

Lorelai nodded in realization. "Ahh, I get it. What happened with Jess?" Rory looked at her mom defiantly and Lorelai said, "Don't try to deny anything, babe. You're upset, and I know it's about a guy. You only know two, and you've already narrowed it down for me."

"Jess and I are done too." Rory said quietly.

Lorelai tilted her head to the side. "Is it possible to break up with someone you aren't even dating?"

"We slept together." Rory blurted, blushing deeply.

Lorelai closed her eyes tightly, wincing at the statement. "OK, we're sharing. Communication is the key to a good mother-daughter rel- oh God, I pictured it! It's burned in my brain."

"Mom." Rory said with a sigh.

"That's going to be the image I see until I die. My daughter and a very naked Jess. Eww! Naked Jess!" Lorelai said, shuddering.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, "Your sense of timing really, really needs work."

"Sorry, I'm focused. I'm a camera." Lorelai said, patting her daughter's shoulder. "You. Jess. Nudity. I'm sorry, but oh my God eww!"

"Mom! Did you ever think about me and Logan having sex like this?"

Lorelai looked down, ashamed.

'Mom!" Rory exclaimed, disgusted.

"Well, you know how my mind works. And it isn't like I go into detail. I'm just extremely aware that it happened…a lot." Lorelai said, trying to get out of the topic. "Anyway, you and Jess…"

"We messed up. We fell in love."

Lorelai shook her head sadly. "Very stupid of you, but not at all unexpected. Even Luke knew."

Rory's eyes widened. "Luke knows?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup."

"Anyway," Rory continued, "It doesn't matter. It's done. No more Jess."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No matter how many times you say something like that, it's never true."

"This time it is. I completely blew him off, told him he was ridiculous for having feelings for me, and pretty much demeaned everything he's done with his life."

"Wow. Ambitious." Lorelai said with a nod. "So why'd you do it? Why'd you deny an attraction so obvious that Luke noticed it?"

Rory thought about her mother's question, and looked up at her with tired eyes. Her mouth hung open with intent to answer, but instead she just said, "I just want to go to sleep, Mom."

Lorelai looked at Rory, tempted to push for more information. In the end, she just kissed her daughter's head and said, "OK. Go to bed, babe."

Rory padded into her bedroom, mumbling a quick goodnight to Luke, who was hovering awkwardly in the kitchen. As soon as her door closed, Lorelai spread out on the couch and said, "What are we going to do with those two?"

Luke walked back in the room and said, "Well I'm thinking of killing Jess. Or possibly castrating him. I can't believe him and Rory…"

Lorelai waved her hand at him. "Don't make me think about it again!"

"So what do we do? Can we fix this?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Not that I'm saying I want to fix them, but even if I did, we couldn't. They make such messes when it comes to each other."

"They're in love. That's the way it works." Luke said, taking Lorelai's hand. "Case in point."

Lorelai smiled at him and rested her head against him. After a moment she asked, "So do you need a beer as much as I do?"

Luke was off the couch as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "I need like four. You can have what's left."


Jess gave Rory two and a half hours before he walked back into his apartment. He knew Rory would be out in less than two hours. She was probably out in under one, but he wasn't taking any chances. He couldn't bear to pick that fight up where it left off, couldn't bear the thought of her being so cold, or of forgiving her if she apologized.

It had been wrong. The whole thing had been wrong. Well, not the sex part. Nothing had ever felt more perfect than that. The rest of it though, was wrong. He shouldn't have let his emotions get the better of him like that; used his excitement over his book as an excuse to act on what he was feeling for Rory. He should've remained calm when she had that reaction. He should've held it together until he could talk rationally with her, but her passivity had gotten under his skin and he'd blown up at her. They had both said harsh things, and he knew the argument had affected Rory more than she'd allowed herself to show.

He also knew that she probably didn't mean most of what she said, but she'd still said it, hadn't she? She'd had those thoughts in her somewhere, and she had used them to make him mad and kick her out. She wanted to leave. Because she was scared? Yeah, probably. But why should he have to guess about something like that? She talked about everything with him. Why should he have to guess whether or not she was running away because she was scared or because she really didn't love him? Why couldn't he just be a normal, ignorant guy who took what the girl he liked said at face value?

Why was he holding on to the belief that maybe she did love him?

Jess took his coat off and hung it on the hook next to the door. He walked over to his refrigerator and grabbed a beer out of it. It seemed a little cliché to drink a beer to mourn a failed relationship, but it also seemed very appropriate. He opened it and took a long sip.

Jess's gaze moved to the counter, where Rory's key lay lonely and bright like a beacon for his misery. He took another sip of his beer and looked at the key. Why had he been there when she showed up in her wedding dress? Why hadn't he gone to the grocery store like he had intended? Why had he got caught up in his writing? He didn't believe in fate, or at least that's what he told himself. Maybe he did believe though, and maybe that's why he couldn't let the idea of Rory go.

Nothing about them made sense. He knew that. The amazing thing was that everything about them was perfect. OK, perfect might have been a stretch, but not an extreme one. There were good together. They understood each other, and they lived well together. Maybe they'd been stupid when they were younger. Maybe he shouldn't have run away, maybe she should've come with him when he'd asked. Maybe they were meant for each other.

Or maybe it was all in his head. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Rory was in the right here. Maybe she knew what he didn't, that they weren't meant to stay in each other's lives for more than a few months at a time. Maybe he was seeing something that wasn't there.

No matter how many beers he drank, he didn't believe it was true.

What was he supposed to do though? He was in love. Fan-fucking-tastic. She walked out. Whether she was scared or angry or whatever, that was still the heart of the situation. He said he loved her, and she moved out of his apartment. He couldn't fix that, couldn't reverse time and change what had happened. He couldn't go after her either. He still had some semblance of his pride. He was at a stalemate, and he had no idea when closure would find him or in what form it would come.

Jess sighed and downed the rest of his beer. There wasn't anything more to do right now, and quite frankly the last thing he wanted to think about right now was Rory "I-Think-I-Should-Move-Out" Gilmore.

Which would be so much easier if everything didn't remind him of her.