Chapter 7- I Solemnly Skate

Jess Mariano raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend.

She frowned. "What?"

Smirking, he shook his head. "Nothing."

Rory set down the book she was reading. "C'mon…" she pouted.

"You're reading Lolita," he pointed out, placing his own book on the table in front of him. They were sitting in a booth at the diner after closing. Luke was already upstairs asleep, so they had the diner to themselves, pretty much.

She blushed. "So?"

"Doesn't seem like your thing," he shrugged. He popped a fry from the plate in front of him in his mouth and leaned deeper into the booth.

"Oh? And why is that, Jess?" she asked, voice laced with a tinge of defensiveness.

"The book is about a middle aged man and his sexual fantasies towards a twelve year old girl. Just doesn't scream 'Rory Gilmore' to me."

She frowned, "It's a classic. Have you ever read it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a few years ago."

"And…" She trailed off expectantly.

"And what? It was good. Not my favorite, but worth the read." He cocked his head to the side. "You?"

She bit her lip in thought. "It's pretty good so far. Not really what I was expecting, but like you said, a pretty good book."

He nodded, finishing off the last of the fries. He noticed her plate was empty as well, so he grabbed both his and hers, and started walking to the back. He dropped the dishes into the sink, and headed back to Rory.

He scratched the back of his neck. "So…tomorrow night?"

She gave him an apologetic smile. "Mom and I are having a movie night, sorry." She blinked. "Hey! Why don't you come?"

Jess raised his eyebrows, skeptically. "Me and your mom?"

Rory nodded, smiling. "Yeah! It'll be great…maybe you and Mom can finally learn to get along."

He shot her a look. "Well, maybe not so much get along, but be able to tolerate each other?" she considered hopefully.

Sighing, he reluctantly nodded. "If you're sure…"

She grinned. "Definitely." She looked at her watch. "Hey…it's getting late, so I'd probably better go."

He nodded. "Wouldn't want Lorelai to worry."

"Course not."

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, engulfing her in a hug. "Tomorrow?"

She kissed his neck softly, it being the only place she could reach. "Yeah, sounds good."

Pulling back, she gave him a gentle peck before untangling herself from him and grabbing her bag.

"G' night," she called out with a small wave as she was walking out the door.

He returned the gesture and watched her walk home. After a few moments, he locked up the diner, turned off the lights, and shuffled up the stairs for a good night's rest. He knew tomorrow was going to be a long day.

-

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Ding, Dong

"You're closer."

"He's your boyfriend."

"I'm making the coffee," Rory countered with a smirk.

Lorelai sighed. "Fine, you win. I'll get the door." She grumbled as she pulled herself off the couch. Pulling open the door, she plastered on a fake-but-tries-to-look-genuine-smile. "Jess," she greeted.

He nodded. "Lorelai."

She moved away from the door. "Coming in?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She rolled her eyes, staring at the back of his head, mocking him, as she followed him into the living room. Rory walked in form the kitchen at the same time. "Jess!"

She glared at her mom. He gave her a half-smile. "Hey."

She kissed him gently before turning to her Mom. "Do you want me to go finish getting all the food and junk ready really quick."

Lorelai smiled. "That'd be great. I'll start the movie."

Jess stood somewhat awkwardly next to Rory. When Rory noticed, she frowned. "Hmmm…Jess…help mom pick a movie? We don't wanna watch something too awful, right?"

"Okay, I guess."

Lorelai shrugged. "Fine by me."

Rory nodded before walking back into the kitchen. Lorelai set the video she was holding on the floor and turned to Jess. "We haven't had a chance to talk."

He raised his eyebrows and settled into the couch. "Okay."

"Look. I know your type…the bad-boy, too-cool, rebel thing you've got going? Smoking drinking, taking back, sleeping around…and the list continues. I've lived enough to know that you can hurt my daughter…and you aren't going to. Understand?"

He smirked humorlessly. "Ya know…I could say the same about you."

She tilted her head warily. "What do you mean?"

"That I know your type. The kind that gets pregnant as a teenager. The kind who run away from home. The kind who can't…"

Lorelai cut him off, angry and raised herself off the floor. "Hey! Hold it. That's not fair."

Jess stood up as well, eyes flashing dangerously. "Oh? And why is that?"

She spluttered. "Because you can't just presume that about me. You don't know me and…"

She trailed off, realization suddenly hitting her. "Oh."

He shook his head. "I'm not dealing with this. Tell Rory…something came up or whatever." He turned to leave.

"No, wait!" She grabbed his arm. "I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't realize…just…I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground.

He sighed and pulled his arm away from Lorelai's. "Understand that I'm not trying to hurt her. I just…want to be with her. I know I'm not good enough for her, but she's too nice. Too nice to see it."

"I know. That girl is sweeter than Splenda." She chuckled lightly at her lame joke. "Don't leave. Rory'd get upset at you and me…we can tolerate each other for a few hours, right?" Lorelai proposed, somewhat hopefully.

There was a long pause, each almost staring the other down. "I'm sor-"

Just then, Rory walked in, arms loaded down with food. "Hey guys…wanna help?"

Jess turned his eyes away from Lorelai. "Okay." He grabbed a few bags and boxes, walking over towards the coffee table.

Lorelai did the same a few seconds later.

"Talk about anything interesting while I was gone?" Rory eyed them suspiciously.

Lorelai and Jess shared a look. "Nope," they chorused.

Rory nodded. "Okay, then. What movie did you two decide on?"

"A classic, of course- The Princess Bride," Lorelai cut in, as if it was all planned out.

Jess shrugged as Rory smiled. "Oh, fun. Is it set up?"

"Almost," Lorelai said, struggling with the VCR player. "I just have to figure out how this goes in…no...oh." She gave them a sheepish smile. "It was backwards. The tape," she explained.

Rory chuckled. "That would be a problem."

As Lorelai finished getting the movie working, Jess sunk into the sofa. Rory followed, leaning into his chest when she sat down. Lorelai decided on the floor in front of them. She pressed play.

-

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As the closing credits rolled, Jess took a look at this watch. He nudged a sleeping Rory. "Hey."

She groggily opened her eyes. "Hmm?"

"It's kinda late and I should probably get going," he whispered.

She grabbed his wrist and saw the time. "Oh…right. It's almost midnight. Um…" She gently pulled herself up, careful not to wake her Mom sleeping next to the couch.

Jess followed her up. He looked around the room, noting the mess. "Is this going to be a problem to clean up?"

She shook her head. "No. It's actually not too bad this time. We'll do it tomorrow morning or whatever."

He nodded. "Okay. So…I guess I'm gonna get going, then."

"Okay," she said softly. She furrowed her brow. "Hey, do you want take a quick walk? I'm awake now, and since you're already late with Luke…"

He shrugged. "What about your…" He pointed to Lorelai.

"Oh…I'll just write a note. We'll be back soon. It's just all snowy and pretty outside." She gave him a small smile. "Are you up for it?"

There was a pause. "Sure."

She smiled and ran over to her room. She sat down at the desk, wrote a quick note letting Lorelai know where she was in case she woke up, and slipped on a pair of shoes and a jacket. She turned to Jess, who was leaning against the doorway of her room. "Ready?"

"Yup." She smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist. He did the same.

As they walked out to the hallway, she set the note beside Lorelai, next to the couch. "And we're off," she said, opening the front door.

He held it open as she stepped outside, and closed it behind him after he was on the porch. He shivered. "It's cold."

She gave him an amused grin. "It's snowing."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'll just have to make sure to keep warm by…" He nuzzled her neck. At her giggle, he lifted his head and smirked. "Don't like that?"

"It tickles." She brought her hand up to his cheek. "You need to shave."

He nodded. "Probably."

They were walking in the direction of the bridge. When they arrived, the noticed that there weren't too many lights and that the lake was frozen over.

Rory smiled. "I wanna skate," she proclaimed, ducking out from under his shoulder. She held out her mitten-clad hand. "Come with me?"

He smirked. "How?"

"We'll just glide around the ice with out shoes…come on. It'll be fun." She motioned towards the make-shift rink.

Jess sighed. "Alright, I guess. For a minute."

She smiled giddily and grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"

"As you wish," he returned, giving her a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Westley."

They both timidly walked over to the side of the lake and put their feet warily on the ice. They took a few steps out and got more comfortable. "It seems strong enough."

He nodded. "Yeah. Still be careful, though."

For a few minutes, they slid around the frozen lake, laughing and just acting like kids. Rory tried to do a fancy twirl and slipped.

She groaned, trying to get herself up. Jess just smirked, standing above her.

"Don't say it," she warned, falling back onto the ice for a third time.

He finally offered his hand. "Say what?"

"Never mind," she muttered, grabbing his arm. Instead of using it to pull herself up, she yanked him down with her. He landed with a clunk.

He turned to her from his position on the ice. "Thanks for that."

"No problem." She smiled.

Jess maneuvered himself so that he was half on top of Rory, face inches from hers. He raised his eyebrows.

"What're you doing?" she asked somewhat breathlessly.

He didn't respond, but lowered his lips to hers. She almost giggled at the contrast between the warmth of his mouth and the coolness of his face, but bit it back as his mouth did wonderful things to her own.

They continued like this for a few minutes, until, "Hey, you there. What's going on!" They broke apart as a flashlight moved over them.

Rory squinted at the sudden light. Turning to the source, she thought it was…

" Taylor?"

Jess rolled his eyes and sat up.

Taylor frowned. "Rory Gilmore? What are you doing out this late? And on the lake, for that matter? Who's with you?"

The beam of light almost blinded Jess.

Taylor's frown deepened. "Oh, it's you. The hoodlum. I'd expect something like this from you, but Rory…never." He sounded almost scandalized.

She used Jess' shoulder to push herself into a standing position. Sighing, she addressed the shocked man. " Taylor, we're just gonna go. We weren't doing anything wrong, and you were right earlier when you said it was getting late."

"Oh, hold it right there, young lady." Taylor put his hand out to stop her. "According to the Stars Hollow law, it's illegal for a minor to be out in the water after midnight. And right now, it's twelve o' eight on the dot. You and that boy of yours have broken the law."

Jess stood up with a little help from Rory. "It's eight minutes. And we weren't in the water. We were on the water. Technically, we didn't do anything wrong."

Taylor seemed flustered. "But you were…eight minutes…in…on, what's the difference?" he finally spluttered, face turning red.

"You can't do anything to us unless that little law book of yours says that minors aren't allowed to walk on water after midnight. Does it?"

"Young man, I don't appreciate this attitude. I'm letting you off with a warning, but hear this. At the next town meeting, this law will be changed. You'd better not be gallivanting at night again," Taylor huffed. He shot them on last glare before marching off towards the center of town, muttering about "stupid loopholes" and "technicalities" all the while.

Rory turned to Jess before bursting out laughing. "That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I can't wait to tell Mom," she managed to get out between breaths.

Jess gave her a half smile. "You're the only person I know who'd want to tell her Mom about almost being arrested after sneaking out late at night."

Rory shrugged, still giggling. "Maybe…but you wouldn't had this much fun with anyone else, huh?"

He didn't say anything to that, but slung an arm around her shoulders. "Ready to head back home, then?" he offered.

They were walking in the direction of the Gilmore House. "I guess. Tonight's been fun, though."

"Yeah. Seeing Taylor turn thirteen shades of red is never dull."

-

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As Rory and Lorelai were walking to Luke's the next morning, they noticed Taylor relentlessly shooting glares in their direction.

Lorelai looked confused, while Rory looked guilty. "I wonder why Taylor keeps looking at us like that?"

Rory sighed, defeated. "Uh, it's me he's upset at, not you."

The elder Gilmore raised her eyebrows. "Um…why?"

"Last night, after you fell asleep, Jess and I took a walk around town. It was kinda late and…"

Lorelai crinkled her brow, a little worried. "Oh, I left a note in case you woke up and started worrying. It was just for a little while…no big deal."

The tension in Lorelai's face eased a bit. Rory continued. "Anyway, we headed over to the bridge, and I noticed that the lake was frozen over, so I managed to drag Jess into skating. We just messed around for a while, until I fell. He started laughing, and when he put his hand out, I pulled him down with me. We kinda started kissing, and that's when Taylor caught us."

Lorelai fought back a laugh. "And…"

"So, he started going on about some stupid law that we broke, but Jess found this loophole, so we got away unscathed," Rory finished, arriving at the diner. She held the door open for her mom.

Lorelai walked into Luke's. "That would explain the glares."

"Definitely."

They headed towards an empty table. As they sat down, Jess came over with a pot of coffee, and gave Rory a short kiss. "Hey," he greeted.

She smiled. "Hey, back. I was just telling my mom about last night."

He smirked and turned to Lorelai. "Next town meeting's gonna be interesting, huh?"

Lorelai downed the last of her coffee and laughed. "Hell, yeah. More coffee, please?"

He poured her what was left of the pot. "I gotta got refill this and get back to work." He turned to Rory. "Hang out later?"

She grinned. "Sure. When's your shift over?"

"Two. That's about four hours."

"Okay," she said. "I think I'll catch up with Lane for a little while, then."

He nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna get going." He gave Rory another kiss. "Rory. Lorelai."

"Bye," they chorused, already laughing at something else going on outside. Jess rolled his eyes, but went to the counter to ring up a customer. "Never a dull moment with those two," he muttered. "Never a dull moment."

A/N: So...I am practically done with the next chapter, so as soon as I reach, say...100 reviews, I'll update. Sound reasonable? Only one more review than last time...and this chapter's a bit longer. Hmm?

So, I need your help with something: Jess' sexual history. (Ha, ha, get your giggles out of the way now). I want to know two things. A) How many girls he's been with and B) How old was he when he lost his virginity. Whatever comes up as the most common opinion...I'll probably use, or at least take into consideration. Does that work okay for y'all?

I think that's it...so, REVIEW PLEASE! (P.S...I don't own it...I'm not sure if The WB or The CW or ASP or the new writer does, so...it's not me. That I'm sure of.)