AN: Happy? I am!

Disclaimer: I doubt that any of that last chapter would ever be in the show, but just to point it out, I do not own the characters, but I do own these actions.

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With Jess's arms around her, Rory sighed. Luke had already opened the diner; he came upstairs to use the bathroom before officially opening. Rory woke up when he opened the door, but she didn't move. She saw him go straight to the bathroom and back down stairs. Rory closed her eyes and relaxed into Jess.

Rory squeezed his arm and felt safe. It was Sunday; she had to go back to Yale that night. Stars Hollow was her home but she knew she had to go to school. She squeezed his arm again and tried to get as close as she could. Maybe Jess would be at Yale with her soon. It was weird, but she thought that would make Yale feel more like home.

She sighed and felt Jess tighten his hold on her. "Good morning," he whispered to her neck.

Rory smiled, what a good morning it was. "Did Luke give you the day off?" She wasn't complaining that they were able to relatively sleep in...she just didn't know if he was supposed to open or not.

"Something like that," he said and motioned her to turn over. "He apologized to me last night for working me too hard."

"Luke? The Luke that's downstairs?" Rory was surprised.

Jess smiled, "Well I don't know where he is right now…but yes, Luke."

"Weird," she looked into his deep brown eyes. "So no work today?" He shook his head and Rory frowned. "But…"

"I should head down there sometime, probably soon too," Jess said and she looked at him with her best puppy dog eyes. "Don't do that, you know I can't resist when you do that."

Rory giggled and stopped. "Okay, go. I should help Mom at the Dragonfly before I go back up to school." Jess stared at her with what looked to be disbelief. "It's Sunday, I have to go back." She frowned, but knew she had to go.

"You have to come back to the diner before you leave,"

"I promise I will, I bet I'll be starving!" She laughed when Jess obviously faked a frown, "And to see you of course."

"Because I bring the food,"

"Exactly!"

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They had lied in bed for at least a good half an hour before Rory left to see her mom. Jess took his time getting dressed before heading down to the diner. He had to thank Luke for not waking him up at the crack of dawn.

When Jess pushed away the curtain to enter the diner, he found the place packed…with more than a few pairs of eyes staring right at him. He tried to ignore the looks and grabbed his apron. "What is with these people?" Jess asked Luke, not even trying to whisper.

"You know," Luke said and glared at him.

Jess stepped away from him and took an order pad. What is wrong with all of them? He was so deep in thought that he just went to a table and asked if they had been served.

"We haven't seen you around much outside of the diner, honey," Babette commented. "Where ya hiding?"

Jess knew he should've stayed very far away from the gossip queens of Stars Hollow. He was so excited when he came back from Yale that he somewhat spilled the beans. He had been hiding from them, but not voluntarily. Spending so much time at the diner helped but he couldn't avoid them forever. "When I'm not here, I'm sleeping." He poised the pen over the order pad. "What can I get you?"

"You know, we saw Rory come downstairs a few minutes ago," Miss Patty ignored his question. "She's not staying with Lorelai?"

He sighed and shook his head, "No, she's not."

"Are they fighting?" Babette questioned. "I hate it when they fight."

"They're not fighting," he sighed, it was turning into the Spanish Inquisition. "Why aren't you asking Rory these questions?"

"She ran outta here so fast," Miss Patty said.

"Almost tripped too," Babette laughed.

Miss Patty nodded, "She ran into a stool and then almost forgot to open the door." Jess could imagine the scene unfold; why didn't she just leave naked, that would have gathered as much attention. "Where was she going so fast?"

"She's helping Lorelai out at the Dragonfly," Jess said and noticed Luke's reflection in the window. "Hold on." He went over to Luke, leaving Patty and Babette in a huff. "What?"

"You're not working,"

"I'm being cross-examined by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum," he motioned to Patty and Babette, who were leaning towards them, trying to listen. "That definitely wasn't my choice!"

Luke made a growling noise and disappeared into the kitchen. What happened to him? Luke was a polar opposite of his behavior last night. What is going on here? Everyone's acting crazier than usual.

"Jess!" Babette's voice carried over to him. "Get that cute butt back over here!"

He sighed and headed back over, all hopes of taking their order gone. "What?" His tone reflected his youth, he felt like he was 17 again. This was the kind of thing he wouldn't have taken the last time he was in Stars Hollow. Jess took a deep breath and remembered that they meant well. "Sorry, what were you saying before I left?"

"You said that Rory went to the Dragonfly…why would she leave here so quickly?" Miss Patty got the conversation back on track.

Jess shoved the order pad into his back pocket and sat in the extra chair at their table. He ignored the grunt that came from the kitchen, probably from Luke who most likely noticed he wasn't even pretending to work. He was confused on why she left in a hurry as well.

Rory took her time getting dressed while he made coffee. She even stayed for a cup before heading out. She didn't seem to be in much of a rush. "I don't know," he finally told the women, who were staring at him intently while he was silent.

"Well are you fighting?"

He thought back to the night before and smiled. "No, definitely not."

"I know that smile, young man," Miss Patty said like a warning.

Jess looked at her and raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean, 'that smile'?"

"You're in love!"

"Oh," he smiled, "Maybe I am." He started to stand and Babette pulled him down.

"You never told us about that interview," she reminded him. "You can't leave us hanging. Nobody in this town knows you except for Lorelai, Luke and Rory. We couldn't get to Rory, Luke said he didn't know anything and you and Lorelai have never really gotten along…"

Jess realized why Luke was upset. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum got their hands on him before Jess came down. He probably thought he was leaving town or leaving Rory or just going to stop helping at the diner like he said he would. Jess leaned forward and they did the same, "Yale," he said and stood up quickly. He headed to the kitchen, grabbed Luke and dragged him to the back room. The word was going to be spread through the whole town within around 15 minutes, judging from how surprised they were when he told them. He had to set things right with Luke before any of the crazy townspeople could.

"I was cooking there!" Luke said when Jess shoved him into the storeroom. "What the hell is going on?"

"Yale!" Jess said loudly, Luke's attitude had upset him. He was always judged like he had done something wrong, this wasn't wrong.

"What about Yale?" Luke said, impatiently. "Rory goes there and she will continue going there. She is not going to drop out of school for you!"

"Why would you think I'd want her to drop out of school?" Jess matched Luke's tone and volume. Everyone in the diner could probably hear him but he didn't care. "She's the ONLY one that wanted me to STAY in school! I love her and she is going to be the best damn journalist there is. She's going to stay at Yale as long as she wants to, and I am going to be there with her!"

Luke's mouth hung open in shock, "What?"

"I'm going to go to Yale," Jess said and left the storeroom. He took the order pad out of his pocket and went to a table that looked as if it hadn't been served. "What can I get you?" he asked and wrote down their orders as if nothing had happened; as if he hadn't told Luke he loved Rory and was going to go to Yale with her, as if he hadn't told the entire diner at the same time.

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I had a huge rant in here, but screw it. I love that you're reading and that you like it. I also have my buffer back! Yay for a little inspiration (which happened kind of haphazardly...) Please, keep reading. Even if you don't review, I love the fact that I am making people's lives more enjoyable. If anyone wants to email me to talk about anything, go ahead, it's starcastic(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm curently talking to 3-4 different people that I met through here, and you're all fabulous! Please keep reviewing, they make me so happy!