AN: Uh.. Just a warning here… There's some smut in this chapter. I've changed the rating back to M, if you don't want to read it, sorry… .:sings:. its my fiction I can do what I want.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, I'm doing this just for fun.

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"Do you know what's going on?" Jess asked Luke as they sat on Lorelai's couch.

Luke shrugged and shook his head, 'no.' "They're probably up to something."

"Aren't they always?"

The girls had been upstairs for a good half an hour, they had told them to stay put in the living room. Every few minutes the guys heard muffled giggles, but they couldn't hear any snippets of conversation. Jess had thought about turning on the TV but he figured there was nothing on – especially nothing that Luke would like as well. "So…" he said, annoyed that it had gotten to be small talk.

"So," Luke mimicked, looking at his nephew. "How did you get roped into this? If it was the same way I was…"

"It was just a matter of coincidences, actually," Jess shook his head, figuring out Luke's last statement. "I was going to play a vacation this weekend. I thought we could get away before things around here got crazy."

"They're already crazy,"

"You know what I mean," Jess said just as Rory popped her head out from around the stairwell.

There was a large grin spread across her face and he recognized the sparkle in her eyes, "Close your eyes," she said, laughing. Jess continued to stare at her while Luke gave a resigned sigh and closed his eyes. "Come on, please? For me?"

With the exact same sigh, Jess reluctantly closed his eyes. He kept his ears open to keep track of her.

From a few feet away from him Lorelai said, "No peeking."

Jess turned in her general direction and, with his eyes still closed, raised his eyebrows. "Ow," he yelped as her finger flicked his forehead. "Not cool."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lorelai said, laying on the sweetness in her voice. "Are you guys ready?"

"Do we have a choice?" Luke asked almost rhetorically.

"Yup," Rory answered.

Her voice came from right in front of him and Jess kicked himself for not paying attention. "Really? We do?"

"Uh-huh. You can be ready and open your eyes when we tell you to, or you can sit there forever with your eyes closed,"

"Great choices," Luke muttered. "Jess?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"

Luke gave another resigned sigh, "We're ready then."

Rory and Lorelai squealed and practically screamed, "Open your eyes!"

Jess opened his eyes to find himself staring in Rory's eyes. They were wide open, eyebrows raised in questioning and excitement. He was slightly confused until he lowered his gaze to what she was holding. "I feel like I've said this recently, but.. You've got to be kidding me."

Eyes suddenly filled with worry, Rory bit her lip while she looked between him and the uniform. "You don't like it," she said, voice wavering.

It almost broke his heart to hear the sadness in her voice; it was all too familiar when she talked to him. Jess stood up and grabbed the uniform in one hand and embraced her with the other. "Ror," he whispered into her hair, "I love it."

After a sharp inhale, Rory pulled away. "What? But…"

Jess winked and pulled her close to him again, "You didn't put me in a penguin suit," he said and laughed. "Plus… Do I get a gun?" He heard her giggle and looked in her face: Rory was smiling again. "I'm sorry I upset you…"

Shrugging, Rory replied, "It's okay I guess. I was just so worried that you would hate it and refuse to go and that everything would be ruined-"

"I've changed," Jess interrupted. "I don't ruin things anymore." He traced a finger down her chin and let it linger on her lips. "I promise."

Rory nodded, "I know." She kissed his finger and he pulled it away, replacing it with his mouth. She kissed him hard and he was even grateful she was there and that they had the opportunity to do the dance marathon. Jess raised his hands up to her hair but stopped when he heard a hoot come from Lorelai.

Breaking the kiss, he turned to Luke and Lorelai. Luke looked a little shocked but he had a smile on his face – he was holding a dark, pinstriped suit. Lorelai winked at Jess and he groaned. "What?"

"Typically it's the girl that has that sort of reaction to a suit, not the guy," she said, laughing. "I mean, jeez. I was about to push you into Rory's room."

"Mom," Rory whined. "We were just excited."

"Oh, OH, TMI!" Lorelai shrieked, covering here eyes.

A groan/laugh escaped Luke and he grabbed Lorelai's hands. "You need to get your mind cleaned."

"Like Kate Winslet in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Cos that was cool,"

"No, by a psychiatrist,"

"He was a psychiat- oh nevermind,"

Jess laughed at the insane conversation that just happened and thought it was best to change the subject – it would go on forever if he didn't. "So," he started, "I obviously know our theme…" Jess pointed to the uniform. "What's yours?"

"We're gangsters," Luke muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Gangsters!" Lorelai said, thrilled at the idea.

Slowly nodding his head, Jess repeated her, "Gangsters… This is going to be interesting."

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"I hate you so much," Rory groaned into Jess's shoulder.

Jess moaned and responded, "I hate you too." Rory felt his arms grasp around her as he held her close. This is nic-

A bang on the door interrupted her thought and reminded her of the recent bitterness. "Go away!" she said as loudly as she could, which was barely above a whisper.

"Nurgh!" Jess yelled and curled down with Rory into the bed.

The pounding on the door continued but this time it was accompanied by a voice, "It's FOUR in the morning! Wake up! We have to get there by FIVE to get checked in and it starts at SIX!" Lorelai's voice carried through the heavy wooden door that separated the apartment from the stairwell.

"I hate your mother,"

"I'm sure she hates you too," Rory whined and tried to push away from Jess slowly. "Ugh," she muttered and collapsed into him again.

Lorelai continued pounding on the door, seemingly shaking the whole apartment. Rory and Jess continued to groan for what seemed like hours – until the shaking stopped. "Thank god," Rory said, squeezing him tight.

Dreams were starting to appear but were squashed down by her evil, non-step mother, "Get up!" Lorelai yelled while standing right above them. "We've got to get ready."

Rory rolled away from Jess and laid on her back, looking up into Lorelai's eyes. "Every year… Every year I forget this starts at six in the morning."

"The good thing is that it ends at six in the morning and you can promptly return back here – to where you are right now – and sleep for the next week,"

"I can't believe you conned me into this," Rory muttered, groggy but starting to move. She did agree to go and they had to be on time. "Come on Jess."

A gargled noise escaped from Jess as he rolled over onto his stomach and pulled the pillow down over his head. Rory grabbed the hand that was holding down the pillow and yanked it towards her. Lorelai stood beside her and helped pull, trying to get the stubborn boy out of bed. "Jess," Lorelai whined and let go of his hand as he pulled it back – resulting in Jess inadvertently hitting himself in the head.

The already dressed and ready Lorelai walked away from the bed and started a pot of coffee. As she was sitting down with a mug, Rory also gave up on Jess for the sake of coffee. Just then, Luke walked through the door in his gangster suit, shiny shoes and all. "What's going on here?" he asked. "I get up at three to prepare for this stupid thing and Jess is still in bed? Rory, you're not dressed!"

"Early morning Luke is even worse than everyday Luke," Rory commented and stood up. "I'm going to get ready now." She left Lorelai at the table with her coffee and headed towards the bathroom, picking up her dress on the way. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Luke clomping over to the bed and therefore also Jess. She shook her head and closed the bathroom door behind her.

The person staring back at her in the mirror appeared very tired and grouchy. No matter how good Luke's coffee is, one cup is not enough. Rory hopped into the shower, washing her face and brushing her teeth in it to save time.

There was a loud knock on the door as Rory stepped out of the shower. "Sanctuary!" Lorelai screeched and knocked again. "Sanctuary!" Rory grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before opening the door to let Lorelai in. "Oh thank heavens," she said and pushed the door closed behind her.

"Mom?" Rory asked, eyebrow raised and hand clutching the towel. "Sanctuary? What was that about?"

Panting, Lorelai explained, "The guys! Luke shook Jess awake and caused him to roll off the bed. I stayed at the table watching the whole ordeal and I thought it was sooo funny until they both started complaining about the time and the shoes and the outfits! They work in a DINER, they're supposed to be MORNING PEOPLE," she emphasized that last part so they could hear. "But then I might have muttered something and I think they heard me and then they went on and on about how it was all my fault.."

Rory reached out her free hand and grabbed her mother's. "It's okay, it's just really early. I'm surprised I'm not more of a grump."

"The magical powers of coffee babe," Lorelai joked. "I know it's early but they seemed really upset. How are we going to make it through 24 hours?"

"Everything will be fine! Now, we won't have to worry about lasting the full 24 hours if you don't let me get ready,"

Lorelai turned around and faced the door. "Get dressed and I'll help with the hair and makeup."

With a small sigh, Rory did what she was told. Lorelai continued to face the door until Rory was fully dressed and gave the okay. "So I guess you have an idea for the hair?"

Grinning, Lorelai nodded and motioned for Rory to turn around. She took her daughter's towel-dried hair and quickly dried it with the travel hair dryer in the bathroom. Lorelai rummaged through Rory's toiletries bag and found some hair product to keep it soft for the full 24 hours. Then, grabbing the curling iron, she set the hair into soft curls to match her own. Almost a whole can of hairspray was used by the time Lorelai had reached the hair near Rory's face. She grabbed a lock of hair from the left and swung it over to the right, brushing and pinning until it stayed in place. Then a large, soft curl was formed and the lock of hair was pinned behind her right ear so that it was covering Rory's right eye.

"A brunette Veronica Lake," Rory said when she looked into the mirror. "Nice."

"And I am…?" Lorelai asked and turned around.

Rory thought for a minute, "Vivien Leigh." Her mother's hair was in curls like hers, but they were rolled in on the sides and pinned away from her face; with the exception of a few strands that had already made they're way out. "You need to fix it though."

A laugh escaped Lorelai's mouth, "I ran out of hairspray at home."

"We're going to run out here soon,"

Lorelai shrugged, "Oh well. Just as long as we're good for the next day."

"I feel like I am going to create a hole in the ozone just by walking outside,"

"When did you become an environmentalist?"

Rory stuck out her tongue and changed the subject. "How do you think they're doing out there?"

"I think they're fine. How about you put on a little makeup and I'll survey the damage."

"Sounds good,"

Lorelai nodded and opened the door. Once she entered the living room, she closed the door and Rory was alone again.

Examining herself in the mirror, Rory pumped herself up for the marathon. She looked great and she bet Jess looked fantastic in his uniform. Hello fantasy! Rory put on some lip gloss and hid a tube of it in her dress for future applications. After some mascara and a little bronzer, she was ready to go. Too much makeup and look even worse than usual come the end of the marathon.

Rory checked herself in the mirror one more time before returning to the rest of the apartment. What she found when she got there was the three of the, sitting at the kitchen table – Lorelai and Jess with almost empty mugs of coffee.

Even only seeing him from the back, Rory felt like she fell in love with him again. Jess's hair was parted on the side and slicked down with gel. It was classy and respectable – something she wasn't used to with him. "Isn't this just the Kodak moment?" she said, happy that the argument Lorelai mentioned was no longer happening. Rory walked up to the table and wrapped her arms around Jess. "You look great."

"So do you," he said and kissed her on the cheek.

Rory kissed him back quickly and looked at Luke and Lorelai. "Are we ready to go?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," Lorelai replied.

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"Crazy, they're all crazy," Jess muttered as they left the diner and saw the crowd of people outside of Stars Hollow High. There was a line to get into the gym and a line outside in front of a table. It seemed like the entire town had paired off to participate in this thing.

Each couple was dressed in 1940's themed clothing which made him question what decade he really was in. Considering the residents of Stars Hollow he could've woken up a half century earlier. Jess was thankful that when they approached the line to the table, people were speaking in current day language. It would've been too much if the residents of an entire town had decided to roll play for 24 hours straight.

The four of them entered the line for registration and Jess smiled when Rory snuggled in close to him. He put his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Five AM really was a little much, especially when they'd be staying up so long. Thinking about it, Jess figured out that it actually did make sense to start it that early – then he cursed himself silently for thinking so much in the morning. The good thing about the diner is that it wasn't a real cognitive job; he could do it in his sleep.

Rory and Jess were creeping forward in the line, not talking but happy being with each other. Jess was aware that Luke and Lorelai had started talking to some of their friends; he heard the word 'lemon' and 'asparagus' and figured it was Sookie and Jackson. Rory said something about everyone being there, but that was one of the things he didn't really care about. He didn't even care if they won…for him it was just for fun. Rory didn't seem too gung-ho on the idea of winning either, he guessed she was in it just for her mother. Jess figured the early hour was getting to him, he was actually happy that they were participating in a town event together. Crazy.

"Thank you," Rory said, looking up at him and almost sensing exactly what he was thinking about. "I know it's early…"

"Yeah, it is. But I figured out why: If they started it in the afternoon, people would have already done things during the day and worn them out so they wouldn't last 24 hours," he pulled his arm around her tighter. "And I'm here with you, so I don't mind that much."

"I love you,"

"I love you too," he said sweetly and kissed her on the forehead.

Jess lost himself in the feeling of her against him until a voice called, "Next," from the table. They shuffled up to the table and he gave the lady their names. "Here's your number, now you have to go to the infirmary and get checked out but since we have so many people this year…you can just go inside when they give you the okay."

"Thanks," he said and ushered Rory off to the room marked the infirmary.

"Hold on," Rory said, stopping abruptly. She turned around and looked back to where her mom and Luke were standing. He could hear Lorelai explain that they heard her when she explained to Jess and Rory but the lady at the table gave her the same spiel anyways. Luke accepted their numbers and they headed over to where Jess and Rory were standing. "Mom, coffee."

"I know sweetie, let's go," Lorelai said and took Rory's hand, leading her away from him.

Saddened because Rory was no longer by his side, Jess called out, "Wait!" The two women turned around. "We have to get checked out before we can go inside."

"Don't you think that if there are so many people that you don't actually have to check in that you got your physical, that you don't actually have to get your physical?"

Jess focused on the words coming out of her mouth but he had a hard time making sense of what Lorelai was saying. "I…"

As if sensing his confusion, Rory walked up and kissed him on the lips quickly. "I'm going to down a few cups of liquid caffeine. You go with Luke and stake out a spot on the dance floor since it's going to be so crowded. Once we're fully awake, Mom and I will come back and hopefully there will be enough time for us to escape for a bit before the whole thing starts."

Jess leaned forwards and kissed her again, lingering a bit before removing his lips from hers. He placed his hands on her chin and looked into her eyes, "You know what you're doing."

Rory nodded and kissed him again before turning to walk away with Lorelai. Jess breathed deeply and sighed. He turned to Luke, "You heard the girl."

There was a small smirk on Luke's face as they turned to go into the gymnasium. "You are SO whipped."

"I don't see you saying no. Look at your shoes," Jess said, pointing out his hypocrisy. "Let's face it, the Gilmore women have us tied around their fingers." Both of them thought about the statement and sighed. It was completely and utterly true. Jess and Luke would do anything Rory and Lorelai asked…the best part being that they were both happy about it. "How do you feel about participating in this thing?" Jess wasn't sure of Luke's opinion; from what he remembered, Luke hated town events as much as he did.

Luke continued walking in silence for a minute until they had found a spot on the dance floor. He turned to Jess and smiled an uncanny smile. "I'm happy."

"But it's a town event…at six in the morning…"

"Lorelai deserves to win," Luke said, calmly. "I plan on helping her achieve that. Plus, I'll be happy if anyone but Kirk wins – that damn trophy is annoying." He laughed at the thought of a trophy-less Kirk and Jess joined in. He hadn't been there for the last few marathons but guessed that Kirk walked away a winner each time. That guy was pretty annoying…

"So I guess I'm not the only one unnaturally happy to be here," Jess said and shrugged. He figured the 40's atmosphere was getting to him as he thought, well I'll be.

Instead of making their own conversation until the women returned, Jess and Luke listened in on the people around them. There were grunts of, "It's too early," which he agreed with, and people were even taking bets on who would win. Jess was shocked to find his and Rory's name mentioned a few times but it oddly felt nice to be accepted into the town that formerly hated him.

Lost in thought, Jess was thoroughly surprised when Rory and Lorelai had approached their spot on the dance floor. He was taken out of his trance by a light touch to the hand and her eyes staring into his. "Come on," she said, hauling him away just as he heard Taylor step up to the microphone. Lorelai looked at them questioningly but Luke was just staring at Lorelai. Jess followed Rory out a side exit of the gym and only managed to catch a few bits of what Taylor was saying.

"Rory?" He asked when she continued to pull him farther away from the gymnasium. "Rory, wait!"

Jess thought he had finally gotten her attention when she stopped and turned around. He was caught off guard when she pushed him against the wall and started to kiss him deeply. "Rory," he gasped when she finally broke the kiss. "Rory."

Rory's mouth upturned in a twisted smile, he didn't know what had gotten into her. "They're going to start the marathon in like…five minutes. If we're not there, we can't participate…" She quieted his complaints with a kiss and he found himself pulling her closer, even though her entire body was pressed up against his.

They separated again, Jess panting for air and Rory's eyes gleaming. "Is five minutes not enough?"

It took him a few seconds to realize what she was implying and his eyes widened. "Rory!"

Grabbing the collar of his uniform, she pulled him to her and turned so that her back was to the wall. They were in the hall of their former high school, in between sets of lockers. They could hear the band in the gym warming up, waiting to begin. Here he was, making out with his girlfriend – who was struggling to get the complicated military belt undone.

"This is not part of the fantasy," she said, angry. Rory looked up at Jess and he saw the desire in her eyes. He pushed her up against the wall with one hand and distracted her from his belt by kissing her deeply, using his tongue to explore her mouth for the millionth time.

Jess undid the belt and found her free hand, placing it on the zipper. As Rory undid his zipper, he bent down slowly to grab the hem of her dress. The silky fabric was smooth in his finger and he was careful not to wrinkle it. Jess ran his hand up her thigh until he felt the lacy material of her thong underwear. This is no time to be romantic, he thought as he hesitated to touch her softness. They didn't have the time to waste. He pushed away the lacy material and rubbed two fingers over her clit.

Rory moaned and he muffled it with another deep kiss. With his tongue, he mimicked the motion he was doing with his fingers. He teased her as much as he felt he could in the situation, inserting a finger into her a little bit, then a little more, then two fingers and so on until he couldn't take it anymore. Her gentle hands were pulling on his hardness that she had released from his pants. She was pulling him to her but when he got close, she let go and lifted up her dress so it wouldn't get dirty. "Jess," she moaned between kisses.

The moan was enough to take away all his self control. He plunged into her, making her body arch with pleasure. He continued to kiss her deeply, moving to her neck and careful not to give her hickeys. She remained clutching her dress but was moving to meet his rhythm. Each time she went to moan, he felt it and kissed her, keeping her quiet. "I love you," he said when he parted the kiss again. Rory dipped her head down in pleasure and nodded, unable to speak. She had been like that many a times before and he knew what it meant – she was close.

Jess took her dress material out of her hands as he continued to stroke in and out. "You do it," he said and plunged all the way in. Rory's hands went to his pants-covered ass and pulled herself towards him. He pulled back and she continued to rock back and forth. "Come on," he encouraged, feeling her body tense around him. "Come on Rory."

Rory took a deep breath in and her hands clenched his butt. He didn't pull away that time, but stayed inside her, feeling the vibrations of her climax. Jess looked into her eyes and she nodded again. Her hands raised up to her waist but quickly fell to her sides; she was tired. Jess stroked in and out a few times quickly until he could feel himself about to climax as well. He kissed her hard as he pressed against her, coming inside. "I love you," he repeated.

"I love you too," she said slowly, the pleasure of the last few minutes wearing her down. "We should go…"

Jess nodded and pulled himself out of her and replacing himself in his pants. Rory rearranged her panties and let down her dress. They surveyed each other to see if anything looked out of place, nothing was. He grabbed her hand and walked them back to the direction they came from.

The entire gym floor had filled with people in the time they were gone. Jess spotted Luke and Lorelai, who were standing by Lane and Dave. Rory and Jess rushed over to meet them. Lorelai looked at both of them suspiciously and Luke was once again lost in the wonder that was Lorelai. Lane and Dave weren't paying attention to details, they just greeted them with hugs and got in position to start dancing.

"Coffee," Jess said, letting Lorelai take it as an excuse instead of a statement of want. They were going to need a lot of coffee to get through the next 24 hours. He wasn't sure if Lorelai accepted the excuse but just glared for a few seconds before returning her attention to Luke.

All three couples had just gotten into dancing positions when the big band started playing swing music and Taylor blew his foghorn.

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Oh, sorry for the smut. I was horny… :D. That's what uniforms do to me I guess. I hope you guys didn't mind, I'm sure you don't considering the response I had from the last semi-sex scene. I took this one just a tad further, as you could see. I enjoyed writing it, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

This chapter isn't exactly as long as the last one but I think I needed to stop here. Chapter 30 will be the actual bulk of the dance marathon, drama and all (I hope). Next week of school has the potential of being very, very demanding. I don't know yet. I'm going to try to write as much of it as I can tomorrow but no promises as to when it will be up. I'm guessing next weekend. Sorry if you all liked the short chapters daily, I'm the author and I can do what I want! J/K, but seriously, just take it for what it is… I have a life outside of my fanfiction.

Please review, reviews are love.