Disclaimer: Making up creative disclaimers is getting harder. Blah. Not my characters, much to my dismay.

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It was Thursday night and Rory had officially decided that Friday classes were overrated. The note on her door said that Jess had gone back to Stars Hollow and she planned on following him. She turned in her article to Doyle via Paris and packed enough clothes to last until Sunday night. She made sure to have her computer, just in case she needed to get schoolwork done for Monday.

With her iPod on again, Rory made her way back to her real home. She wasn't paying attention to the music; all her thoughts were focused on Jess. What had Jess been doing all day? She had classes and more time at the paper, because Jess had told her to finish the article before contacting him. Now she knew why, he knew her too well. He knew that she wouldn't stay at Yale without him when she could drive 45 minutes and be with him.

Around halfway to Stars Hollow, Rory took out her cell phone and called Jess. When he didn't answer, she hung up and called the diner. "Luke's Diner," Jess said absentmindedly.

"You don't have your cell on you," Rory informed him. "Where's Luke?"

"Off with Lorelai somewhere…He left me in charge,"

"Whoa Mr. Responsibility!"

"Ror, it's the dinner rush. I'll call you when it slows down. I gotta go." He hung up the phone quickly.

Rory could hear the bustle in the background before he was gone. She didn't even get to tell him she was on her way. "I can't believe Luke left him in charge," she said aloud. Jess really had changed, and it was becoming more evident with every passing day.

When she got into Stars Hollow, Rory went to the house before going to the diner. It was still the middle of the dinner rush, and she wanted to take a shower and relax a bit before seeing him. She brought her bag in with her and used the familiar shower. Rory dressed and read some of her Econ textbook on the comfy old sofa she had spent so much time on in the past. When she looked at the clock and figured it would be late enough for the diner to be slowing down.

Rory put on some mascara and lip gloss, tossing the containers into her purse and headed out the door. She loved the smell of the fall air in Stars Hollow. It was so different from Yale, she thought as she entered the town square. Everyone knew each other here; there was a sense of home and belonging that she never really felt at Yale.

When she passed by Miss Patty's, the portly woman rushed out to greet her. "Hello, dear," she said and blocked Rory's way.

"Hi Miss Patty," she said politely. It was never a good thing when Miss Patty actively sought someone out. "Am I missing out on something here?"

"Well, well, well…What makes you think that?" Patty said, tapping her foot to the beat of the music coming out of her studio.

Rory shook her head, Miss Patty was so bad at hiding things she knew. That's why they call her the head of the gossip chain. "Come on Patty, you're not telling me something."

"Well, Jess…" Rory's ears piped up when Patty said Jess's name. "He told us some interesting news today…"

Rory raised her eyebrows, "Yes? I'm really hungry Patty, just tell me."

Patty made a tsking nose before continuing, "You're a lot like your mother, you know."

Rory nodded, she actually looked forward to being her mother. "What did Jess tell you?"

"He said he had an interview of some kind today. That boy is so sneaky, he always was. He refused to tell us what kind!"

"Us?"

"Babette and I were just having lunch at Luke's when Luke left Jess in charge. He came to serve us and just started talking."

"Oh Miss Patty," Rory said and sighed. "Jess didn't stand a chance!"

Patty laughed heartily. "Whatever do you mean?"

Rory just shook her head again. "I'll talk to you later Patty."

"See you honey!" she said and returned to her studio.

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"Surprise!" Rory said as she entered the closed diner. Jess looked up from his position at the register and smiled.

"I called you when we quieted down, but you didn't answer," he said as she approached the counter. "And you chastised me for not answering my phone!"

Rory giggled. "I think you have some explaining to do, mister."

"What about?" he asked and feigned innocence.

Rory turned around and saw Miss Patty peeking in the corner of the window. "That," she said and pointed. Miss Patty waved, obviously caught, and walked towards her studio again.

Jess raised his left hand, "I plead the fifth!" He started laughing, he couldn't believe Miss Patty had gotten to Rory already. Yeah, he knew that the gossip mill could spread news within the hour, but he didn't figure Rory would be a part of it just yet. "So, what made you come down?"

"You know exactly what did!" she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

With a smile on his face he thought, yeah, I did. "So what's on the agenda for tonight?" He asked before turning back to the register. Luke hadn't been in since he left earlier and Jess had decided to close the diner when every paying customer had left. He had to kick Kirk out of course.

Rory didn't say anything, but he could feel her watching him. He finished counting the register before looking up at her. "Ror?"

"You know what?" she asked, avoiding the question at hand.

Jess smirked, "What?"

She leaned in close to him, so that her upper torso was over the counter and her face was inches from his. He could feel his heartbeat rising to dangerous levels and his palms started to sweat. "I…" she started. He couldn't help looking at her lips when she talked. "I am so hungry!" she giggled and sat back down in the bar stool.

"You are so mean," he said and went back to the kitchen. He had let Caesar off at the same time he kicked Kirk out.

"Yeah, but you love me!" she said, obviously not realizing the meaning of her retort.

Jess popped his head out of the kitchen. "You're already using that against me?" he asked, pretending to be hurt. He laughed heartily when he saw the look on her face; like she didn't know what to say. She always knew what to say. "Lighten up Ror."

He headed back in to the kitchen before she regained her speech capabilities. "I think the absence of food has affected my judgment!"

"No problem," he said and came out with a two plates with burgers and fries.

"I'm not that hungry," she joked, seeing the massive amounts of food.

"Ha ha. Follow me," Jess said and disappeared behind the curtain heading up to Luke's apartment. Rory didn't appear behind the curtain until he was almost at the top of the stairs. "Took you long enough."

Jess couldn't see the look on Rory's face in the dark staircase, but he assumed she was confused. He would be if he was in her position. "Jess?" She questioned, confirming his suspicion.

"Don't worry," he said and pushed the door to the apartment open and placed the food on the table. "Luke knows we're here."

Rory shrugged as she sat down at the table. Jess opened up the fridge and was thankful to find that Luke really sucks as cleaning things out. "Beer?"

"Sure," she said and shrugged again.

"You better stop that shrugging or you'll stick that way," he handed her a beer and sat down across from her.

"That's for facial expressions," she corrected him. "Why didn't we just eat down in the diner?"

"I could see Miss Patty coming back," Jess said and reached across the table to hold her hand. "I think we've already given her enough information to last a day, at least."

"So, are you going to tell me what the whole Miss Patty/Babette thing was all about?"

Jess thought about it for a minute. "Well… Start eating and I'll tell you." Rory picked up her fries and dipped them in the salt and pepper dip he had placed in the middle of the table. "I didn't leave Yale immediately after I dropped you off…"

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Ha, I love it! Okay, just a warning to everyone...I won't be posting much over the next few days. .:rant:. Right now I've been posting EVERY DAY and I know you've all been loving it. Saturday is my birthday, and I may or may not write. I may or may not post. I have to devote all of Sunday to writing the best damn research paper I've ever done in my life. I have school all Monday and was just reminded today that I have a concert I'm going to monday night (an hour and a half away) that I have to leave for right after my last class. I won't get back to my apartment until 11 at the earliest...probably more around midnight or later. Then I have to keep working on that paper becauseI'm not kidding it has to be the best paper ever. AANNNDDD I work Tuesday and I just hope I am still alive after tonight because I'm having MAJOR dramas. MAJOR. DAMNIT. .:rant:.

Thanks everyone that has review'd, please do it again! More, I want more! (If you really don't want to, don't… I'm kinda just goofing off right now.)

Hope you liked it, hope you keep reading!