Rory turned on her turn signal and eased her car on to the exit ramp. She looked to the passenger seat next to her to see Jess sleeping with his head resting on the window. She shook his shoulder to wake him up. "Jess, we're almost there."
"Hmm?" He blinked sleepily at her. "Did I sleep the whole time?"
"Pretty much."
Jess lifted his arms over his head and tried to stretch in Rory's small car. "I must've worn myself out last night." He smiled and patted Rory's knee.
"Umm, about last night. I've been thinking and I'd really like it if we pretended that nothing ever happened. It was a one time thing. We're really good friends and I'd like to just stay friends. I don't want any romantic stuff to mess that up."
"Oh, and I'm sure Logan has nothing to do with this."
"Even if I wasn't still with Logan I wouldn't be rushing into some kind of relationship with you."
"That's bullshit Rory and you know it."
"This isn't even a discussion, Jess. I don't want to date you or have random sex with you or anything even remotely close to either of those things." She pulled into her mom's driveway and put the car in park. "I am in love with Logan."
"You sure weren't in love with him last night." He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. He got out of the car and started walking down the driveway.
Rory jumped out of the car. "Where are you going?"
"I need to clear my head."
Rory sighed as she watched him walk down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets. She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Luke standing behind her. "Hey, Luke." She hugged him warmly.
"Was that Jess?"
"Yeah. It's was supposed to be a surprise so, surprise."
"Oh, I'm surprised." He started to run down the driveway to catch up to his nephew. "You're mom's in the house!" he called over his shoulder.
Rory pulled her suitcase out of the backseat and walked into the house. "Hello?"
Paul Anka came running down the stairs with Lorelai right behind him. She hugged her daughter. "Oh, I've missed you." She picked up Rory's bag and carried it to her daughter's bedroom.
Rory followed Lorelai down the hall. "So how are things?"
"Fanfreakintastic. I think being married suits me."
"How so?"
"Well the other day, I dusted something."
"No!"
"Yup. I'm turning into a domestic goddess."
"What did you dust?"
"The answering machine."
"What else?"
"What do you mean 'what else?' That's it."
"Martha Stewart has nothing on you."
"Is something wrong with your car?"
"No. Why?"
"Well Luke went out to carry your bags in and when he didn't come in with you …"
"No. Umm, you should sit down actually."
"Did you run him over?" Lorelai sat down on Rory's bed.
"No. Last week I got a phone call from Jess."
"How is he?"
"He's fine. He's thinking about doing some work stuff in Hartford and he asked me if he could stay at my place and I said yes."
"What did Logan think?"
"I didn't ask him."
"Uh oh."
"Uh oh? Why uh oh?"
"Well I'm not sure how Logan would feel about having some random guy staying with his girlfriend in his apartment."
"It's not some random guy. It's Jess."
"Actually I think he would perfer a random guy."
"So last night he shows up and everything's going great. We're just hanging out, watching the Discovery Channel …"
"Oh no, the hippo special?"
"Unfortunately. So when the crocodile jumped out of the water and grabbed the baby hippo I jumped and spilled my wine all over myself."
"Red?" Rory nodded. Her mom winced. "I didn't know you even liked red wine."
"Jess brought it. But anyway, I went into my room to change since I was all sticky. And while I'm almost naked he just walks right in." Lorelai raised her eyebrows and gasped. "I know. So one thing leads to another and before I knew it we were having sex." Lorelai was silent. "Mom, say something."
"Oh no. I am not even going to touch this one."
"Come on. I just need some input here."
"Well I think you should tell Logan."
"I don't want to hurt him though. It was just a one time thing."
"Does Jess know that?"
"I was just telling him when we pulled in. He was sort of mad and he ran off. Luke going to try to catch up to him." Rory paused. "Mom, you can't tell Luke what happened. He'd be so mad at Jess."
"My lips are sealed." She mocked zippering her lips shut.
"Good. Wow, I'm glad I got that off my chest."
"So, I've got some news." Lorelai smiled.
"I hope it's better than mine."
"Not as steamy, but close. Luke and I are trying to have a baby."
Rory clapped her hands and hugged her mom, knocking her over onto her back. "Wow. Luke and a baby. I never thought I'd say those words in the same sentence."
"It was his idea actually. Apparently he's all about having a family."
"That's fantastic, amazing, all of the other words that are better than great."
"He even made me go to the doctor yesterday to make sure all the equipment was in working order."
"That's cute in a very intimate, creepy way."
"He's made me get rid of coffee."
"No!"
"Yes."
"The man's out of control."
"So she told you it didn't mean anything?"
"Basically." Jess kicked a rock out in front of him as he walked back to Lorelai's house with Luke.
"Well you have to respect her wishes."
"Yeah but I don't think her wishes are the same as what she told me."
"Look, Jess, I don't want to get into what Rory's wishes may or may not be. To be honest with you, I'm a little creeped out just knowing what happened. You just need to give her some space. She loves this Logan guy and there's really nothing you can do about it."
"What do you think of him?"
"Who, Logan? Eh, he's alright."
"Have you met him?"
"A few times. He seems harmless."
"Yeah, harmless."
"When did you meet him?"
"Last fall. I went to see Rory and he showed up and Rory thought it would be a good idea for the three of us to get something to eat."
"I'm guessing it didn't go well."
"I think I called him a blonde dick or something."
"I think you're the reason they broke up," Luke muttered.
"They didn't break up. They were on a break."
"It was still because of you." Jess smiled. Luke glanced at him and shook his head. "You're such an asshole."
