Title: Remembering Floyd Nightingale
Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.
Summary: Jess is a nurse, with a doctor for a girlfriend. He's older, more mature, and has made friends with people he works with. So, the one thing to sour his life? Rory Gilmore. However, she doesn't seem to remember much, as she might have amnesia.
A/N: Once again, thanks to my kick-ass betas. Sorry it's taken so ultra long for this to come out. I've had computer trouble, writing trouble, etc. But you guys kicked me up to 36 reviews. And that's why you are awesome. Enjoy, and review.

--

Jess pushed his apartment door open and threw his keys on an end table, before returning his hand to Rory's arm.

He looked at Ben, on the other side of her, and said, "Thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it."

"No prob," Ben said easily. "Alice was nagging at me for coming home drunk again, and my shift starts in two hours anyway."

"Well, still. Thanks."

They led Rory to Jess' bed, and laid her down. She curled up around a pillow, muttered, "Jess Mariano is very sexy," again, and then closed her eyes. Ben glanced at Jess, but he gestured for them to stay quiet, and led the other man out of the room.

Ben burst out laughing as Jess closed the door. "How many times has she said that now?"

"Just the two," Jess said, sounding much less amused than Ben. He ran his hands through his hair, staring at his closed door. "I'm worried about her, man."

"Oh, don't be," Ben said, waving a hand. "She's just got a touch of retrograde amnesia. I don't even think she's got a concussion. Although...I would check her regularly. Just to be sure."

"Yeah," Jess nodded. "I was planning on doing that, even before I realized the medication was making her high."

"Why is that, anyway?" Ben asked, looking curiously at Jess. "That medicine is what we give every amnesiac patient. Granted, we don't get a lot of them, but still."

"I don't know," Jess said vaguely, ignoring his friend's gaze. "Maybe her wound's worse than we thought."

"Yeah, maybe," Ben said. "Whatever, man. Just keep an eye on her and call me if she gets worse. I'd stay for a bite to eat, but I can't stand your food."

Jess grinned. "Get outta here."

"Will do."

"Thanks again," Jess called as the door shut behind Ben. He sighed, and walked into the study. Another restless night, he supposed. He picked a random book from a random shelf and collapsed on the futon.

He was forty pages into Jitterbug Perfume when the door to the study creaked open. He lowered the book onto his chest and smiled.

"Hey."

"Hi," she said softly, walking into the room. She looked around for a place to sit, and he sat up, making room for her on the futon. She gave him a small, grateful smile and settled next to him.

"Have a good nap?" he asked.

"I feel a little better." She nodded. "But I'm still confused."

"Me, too."

He watched as small wrinkles popped out over her brow. "What are you confused about?"

"What you know. Why you're pretending to have amnesia. Why you're wearing that ridiculous outfit."

She smiled. "I'll have you know that this sweater reminds me of one I had my sophomore year in high school. Mom called it a muumuu."

"See? That's what I'm talking about. You can remember random things like that, but you don't remember that Luke and Lorelai are married?"

She shook her head. "The last I remember, Mom was dating Scooper."

"Scooper?" Jess let out a short laugh.

"Yeah, I dunno. It was some childhood name. He's my grandfather's business partner, and he knows my parents from summer camp or something."

"Well, it's been Luke and Lorelai for a while now." Jess put his hands behind his head and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I think they started dating at my mom's wedding, which was... God, it's almost twelve years ago." He shook his head. "Somehow, my insane step-father is actually good for her. You know, they've got a kid."

"Really?" she asked. She pulled her legs onto the futon and curled them around her. "How old?"

"Well, Ben's going to be 8 in June, and his cousins Leo and Loeb will be 6."

Her mouth dropped open, and then she grinned. "No! Really? Mom had twins?"

He nodded. "Two years to the day after they got married."

She did a little dance in her seat, and clapped her hands. "Ha. That's awesome. I hope I'm close to them."

That was when Jess' face dropped. She noticed and frowned.

"What is it?"

"Well," he started, "you see, you...haven't really been close to your Mom for a while now. And...you've hardly talked for about the past ten years."

She stared at him for a minute, and then laughed. "God!" she said, shoving him gently. "That's so mean to say. Like my mom and I would ever not talk."

He kept his eyes on her, not changing his expression, and eventually she sagged against the futon, defeated.

"That's ridiculous," she said, her voice smaller. "What happened? Do you know?"

"I only know what Luke knows, and he only knows what your mom's told him. But, what I do know is, when they really got together, the end of your first year in college, you guys had a fight and didn't talk for three months."

"Do you know what the fight was about?" she interrupted.

He sighed. "Yes. Do you really want to know?"

She nodded without hesitation.

"Okay, then. You had sex with Dean."

Her mouth dropped open, and she stared, shocked, for a minute. When she regained the ability to speak, she said, "Ew! Dean? But he's married!"

Jess nodded.

"Man. Is it all this bad?"

Jess hesitated, then nodded.

She sighed. "Give me that pillow," she commanded, pointing to Jess' pillow from the night before, which was sitting on the floor. He handed it to her, and she put it behind her, before stretching out on the futon and putting her legs in Jess' lap. She got settled, closed her eyes, and said, "Okay. Give it to me straight."

"Alright. Here goes. From what I've heard, eventually you and your mom made up, and the rest of the year was good. Of course, then you stole a yacht with your rich boyfriend and dropped out of Yale."

She snorted. "Okay, now you're just making this up," she said, looking at Jess.

He shook his head slowly, and she sighed, closing her eyes again. "I must have been mental."

"Agreed."

"Hey! I'd hit you with this pillow, but it's really comfortable."

He smirked. "Can I continue?"

"Of course. Carry on," she said, waving a hand.

"Okay, so, you dropped out of Yale and didn't speak to your mother for months. Eventually you got a little closer, but not near as close as before."

"Did I ever go back to Yale?"

"Yep. Graduated, too."

"Good," she said softly.

"Anyway, so after you graduated, you got engaged to, as your mother refers to him, Richie Rich. And she stopped talking to you."

"Just because of that?"

"Well, you'd had trouble because of Richie. He was the guy you stole the yacht with."

"Oh."

"But your mom couldn't stay mad at you for long, and so she sent you a birthday card. And you sent her a wedding invitation, but they didn't go. And then you started corresponding somewhat regularly, but you haven't had face time in years."

"This is ridiculous," Rory said, sitting up but keeping her legs on Jess. "I can't believe this. I'm going to call her." She stood and moved to leave the room, but Jess grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said softly. "At least hold off 'til tomorrow. I don't think the first time you speak in years should be half past midnight."

The determined look on her face melted away and she sank back onto the futon. "I hate this."

"To be honest with you, I'm pretty sure Lorelai hates it too. But she loves her sleep. And you need sleep." Jess stood up and held out a hand for Rory. "Come on. Let's get you to bed."

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her up, but before he could lead her back to his room, she said, "Actually, I'm starving. Do you have any food?"

He grinned. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask that. Come on."

He led her to the dining part of the living room and gestured for her to sit in the chair closest to the kitchen door. She obliged, and he disappeared into the other room. She heard him opening and closing cabinets and rummaging through what sounded like plastic bags.

"Okay, I've got apples, a few satsumas--which I definitely recommend--and stuff to make salads," he called while still rummaging.

She made a face, and then called back, "Anything not...grown? I mean, I'm not just a fruit and vegetable kinda girl, you know."

"Yup, I remember." Jess appeared in the doorway and leaned against the jamb. "So, not in the way of grown things, I've got some salmon with a garlic butter rub I cooked last night."

She struggled not to make a face, and asked, "Don't you have like a hamburger or some fries or Red Vines or something?"

He laughed. "I don't eat red meat, I eat carbs very sparingly, and I never liked Red Vines; that was you."

"Oh." She blushed. "I guess I'll take a salad and a satsuma?"

He nodded. "Excellent choice." He re-entered the kitchen, and this time she stood up and followed him. It was a tiny hole of a room, just barely enough space for a dishwasher, refrigerator, stove, and sink. She was tempted to sit on one of the counters, but knew that she'd be hunched over because of the cabinets. Instead she leaned against the doorjamb, much as he had a minute ago.

"What a strange day," she said softly, watching as Jess tossed together a salad.

He looked up and smiled at her. "What was yesterday like?"

"Well, it was the firelight festival. And Mom and I were starting our attack of all of the food booths, and then suddenly I spotted you. Again. And you'd been running away from me all day, so I decided it was my turn. And that's what I yelled as I started sprinting in the opposite direction. And you chased after me." She laughed. "It's so strange for me to be running. I don't run. And it reminded me of that time in my senior year, right before we started dating, and that guy's lawn exploded on me and I was running through town soaking wet, and you chased me down. You made me tell you what had happened, and even though I was looking for Dean, you came and fixed the sprinklers. And then when Dean said he was coming, you understood and turned them back on and left me soaking wet, waiting for him." She smiled, and caught his eyes. "Remember that?"

He didn't smile, but nodded solemnly. "I remember."

"Anyway, so last night, I started running, and eventually I stopped running or you caught up to me, and I rambled about what you could have to say to me, and that I'd been waiting for this for forever, and you just said, simply, 'I love you', and that was it. You got into your car and you left, and...and I was devastated." Her smile faded and her far-away look disappeared, and Rory looked directly into Jess' eyes. "Why, Jess? Why'd you leave?"

He sighed, and dropped his gaze from hers. "Let's go into the other room," he said, reaching a hand and touching her shoulder gently.

She shook his hand off and stayed rooted to where she was. "No. I wanna know right now. Why did you say that and then leave? Why didn't you wait? Give me a chance to yell at you, or say it back, or anything?" She was practically wailing now, and she definitely had tears in her eyes. "Jess?" she said after a minute of silence.

"Because I was scared shitless, okay?" he yelled suddenly. "I was madly in love with you, and I just knew that you were still pissed at me for leaving, and I was afraid you'd laugh at me, and yell at me and break my heart like I broke yours! And then you did! I changed, and I came back again and I wanted you to know, needed you to know, and then you yelled at me and slept with Dean!"

She cringed. "Did I at least say goodbye?"

"No," he spat bitterly. "You said no, and that's all I remember."

"Why are you bitter?" she asked, amazed. "How can you be bitter? You were brutal to me! Every time I saw you! I fell fast, I fell hard, and you were never there to catch me!"

"Why do you get to be bitter? What gives you the right? I changed, goddammit! I got a job and I buckled down and I went back to school and made something of myself. And every time I came back to tell you this, you blew me off for someone even worse for you than me! So once again I ask, why do you get to be the bitter one?"

"Why do you get to be the stable one?" she shot back. "I'm stable. That's what defines me. My mother's flighty and my father's never there and I'm stable. I worked my ass off in high school, made it into an Ivy League school, and graduated from said Ivy League school. Hell, I started at Chilton my sophomore year and worked my way up past Paris to be the valedictorian. So I'm the stable one. That's my role, dammit! Mine!"

"Well, too goddamn bad, Rory. I'm the stable one now." He lifted his arms in a mock-apologetic shrug. "Get the hell over it."

She was flustered for a moment, and then shot back, "No!"

"No?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

For half a second, she was conflicted about what to do next. He had her backed into a corner, and she felt childish and discombobulated. She struggled internally for a second, and then closed the two feet between them with one step and one kiss.

He didn't kiss back, like she'd thought he would, and instead fought back. He finally succeeded in pushing her away, and he kept his hand on her arm as he said, "Stop it!"

"Why?" she asked defiantly.

He screwed up his face, and then pulled her towards him and kissed her. The kiss went from angry to fervent, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back. He relaxed the hand still clenched tightly around her arm, and started rubbing her back. She moaned, and the noise seemed to pull him from his reverie. With slight reluctance, he pulled away from her.

"I'm not so hungry anymore," she said after she got her breath back, and he smiled slightly.