There was a sticky spot on the counter that never came off no matter how many times Jess rubbed over it. It looked like it was caused with some sort of jam. Probably from a little kid with jam-hands, he thought annoyed. Intensely he scrubbed back and forth, taking any frustration he had at that current moment on the counter. His frustration consisted mostly of the fact that the four days were going by very slowly. Another frustration was that he could not fall back asleep after Rory's impromptu phone call at 4:30 in the morning. His mind stumbled upon the conversation they had. "I miss you," the words played back in his head and his scrubbing became a little lighter. She had missed him. He smirked to himself. According to her, he was worth missing. He had almost stopped scrubbing altogether. He became very concentrated on the past few conversations he'd had with Rory all while still scrubbing the same spot, until the bell on the door demanded his attention. The incoming customer just had to be Dean Forrester. His scrubbing became vicious and sporadic. Jess felt Dean's tall figure standing over him, casting a shadow over the counter. Dean cleared his throat and politely said,

"Excuse me waitress can I please tell you my order?" He had a sly grin on his face that Jess wanted to wipe off with his fist.

"Well judging your intelligence in past experiences, I really don't think you can," Jess toyed with the fact that Dean had used "can I" instead of "may I." Dean's face immediately became a harsh glare.

"Okay that's enough out of you, smart-ass," Dean retorted, only to fuel Jess's enjoyment.

"Such a demanding customer!" Jess claimed.

"It's what crappy service should expect!"

"Ow, that hurt, because you know that my dream was to be good at this job!" Jess's words dripped with sarcasm.

"Well you better start improving, because judging by your school performance you aren't going far. How will Rory like you then?" Jess's first instinct was to punch him, but he backed off for Rory's sake.

"Out. Now." Jess angrily demanded.

"You can't kick me out!" Dean yelled.

"Actually, yes I can," Jess spat, "Luke's number one policy is the ability to kick anyone out at anytime, right next to no cell phones!" Dean's glare intensified,

"This order isn't even for me! It's for Taylor!"

"Oh how cute, Taylor has a little servant! Is there a costume involved? 'Cause I'd pay to see that," Jess's smirk always struck a chord with Dean.

"My advise to you is to shut your mouth right now!" Dean's height seemed to increase somehow.

"You know what, if Taylor wants his food so damn bad, send him instead!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea since you're not exactly Taylor's favorite person right now since you broke the snow cone machine!" Jess rolled his eyes,

"Why does everyone always assume that it's my fault?" Jess continued, "Just like how it was my fault that Rory missed her mom's graduation, like I forced her to go to New York and spend the day with me!" After Jess came back from New York the story of how Rory came and visited him spread like wild fire, almost as fast as the story of Dean catching Rory and Jess kissing at Sookie's wedding.

"And it's also supposedly my fault," Jess went on, "that Rory fell for me instead of you!" Dean's fist reared back to punch Jess but it was caught midair by Luke who had just walked in the diner.

"Out now!" Luke yelled. Dean yanked his fist out of Luke's grasp and turned towards the door. Jess waved with a smile and called out,

"Come back soon!" Dean shook his head with fury before slamming the door.

GGGGGGGGGGG

The phone rang loudly at the "Crap Shack." Lorelai looked at her watch, it was 10:30 at night and she wondered who would be calling. Rory! She remembered. She ran downstairs but the answering machine had already turned it on.

"Hello? Hello? I can't hear you? Just kidding! Leave a message after the beep!" She heard her voice turn on. She giggled to herself and remembered how hard Rory and her had laughed while recording that. There was a beep, and Rory's voice came on,

"You know, that is actually really annoying. Mom pick up! I know you're home!" Lorelai picked up the phone,

"Hello my lovely daughter!"

"Hello my adorable mother!" They laughed.

"What's up?" Lorelai asked.

"Nothing much, just wondering if anything interesting happened today."

"As a matter of fact, your current boyfriend-"

"He's not my boyfriend yet!" Rory reminded her.

"Details, details! About that, have you made your decision?"

"I'm pretty sure I have," Rory was vague.

"And what would that decision happen to be?" Lorelai asked, trying to get more information from her offspring.

"Anyway what did Jess do today?" Rory was obviously avoiding the topic.

"I see how you are! Trying to hide information! But you don't really have to tell me, I'll just hang up on you leaving you to wonder what Jess did today," Lorelai knew that two could play that game.

"Fine! You meanie!" Rory sighed as Lorelai laughed triumphantly, "I am pretty sure that I want to be with him."

"I knew it! Rory is in love! She wants to make out with Jess under the moonlight and share a milkshake with him!"

"Okay, okay! Are we four? What did Jess do today?" She begged.

"Well," Lorelai started, "rumor is, I wasn't there but have many reliable sources, that Dean came into the diner today,"

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes! Anyway, Dean apparently picked a fight with Jess,"

"Oh no no no no! Was anyone hurt?" Rory whimpered.

"Don't worry, it was completely verbal."

"Okay good," Rory sighed with relief.

"Anyway, then Jess proceeded to verbally kick Dean's ass,"

"Not surprising,"

"No not really, Dean can be a nice guy, but his wit is nothing next to Jess's,"

"Are you complementing Jess?" Rory laughed.

"No!" Lorelai back-pedaled, "I'm just saying that he is good at insulting at people. I never said that was a good thing!"

"Mom is this how it's going to be?"

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"Are you just going to hate him for the sake of hating him?"

"No! I don't hate him!"

"Yeah right!" Rory retorted.

"I don't! I just find throwing fiery darts at his picture an amusing past time!" Rory sighed loudly.

"Do you know how much easier my life would be if you two got along? Really, if you could just put the past in the past then I'd think you'd really grow to like him! He'd probably insult movies a lot better than Dean."

"I guess, I could work on it." Lorelai gave in.

"You could?" Rory gushed.

"Yes!" Lorelai sighed loudly but Rory ignored it.

"Okay well it's getting late so I'm gonna go to sleep."

"Okay, goodnight sweets! See you in 3 days."

"Night love you mom!"

"Love you too." Lorelai hung up the phone and sighed. Her get along with Jess? What kind of miracle was she going to have to work?