Title: All Things Considered- Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my cd collection. Don't sue.

Summary: Two and a half years after Jess walks away from her life, for what he thought would be for the last time, Rory's moving on with Logan, and She now has to realize what, or who, she truly wants. Luke and Lorelai are engaged, and waiting for Rory to reconcile with Lorelai before they make a wedding date, but there has been serious planning for it already. Logan proposed to Rory on their Year and a Half anniversary.

A/N- Holy crap. I havent updated in almost three months. I'm so sorry! I've had awful lack of inspiration. This is the LONGEST chapter yet. I like it, a lot. But there are things that could be better, I just really wanted to get this chapter done. It was bugging me. I'm hoping it wont take another three months to update again. But I don't know, my muse doesn't like me. I want to give a major thanks to my beta, Christine. I love her, she got this back to me in less than a day, and she had school. She's my favorite person right now. Plus, she gave me most of the inspiration to get this done, so thanks.

As Jess felt Rory's lips against his, memories of their past together filled his mind, from their first meeting to him asking her to run away with him. What if they broke up again only this time it was worse? Jess pulled back , opening his eyes and Rory didn't seem to want to let him go, her arms wrapped around his neck, refusing to let go.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him softly, looking into his eyes, confused.

Jess shook his head, reaching up and pulled her hands apart. He ran his teeth over his bottom lip and steered her towards the couch. "We can't do this right now, Rory. We have to talk about this," he said softly. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch and she complied.

"What's there to talk about? I want to be here, and you want me to be here… right?" Rory whispered, pulling his arm so the he was sitting beside her. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Rory…" Jess said softly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "I do want you here. But you don't belong here. Not yet. You belong at Yale, or at home, with your mom. You have to get your life together, before you can even think of being in a relationship. You have to think about your future and your career before you even think about me. Everything: your relationship with your mom, Yale, your future, your career. Those things, they're all more important than me. Right now, I have to be last on your list of priorities. Maybe, someday, hopefully soon, I can be one of your top priorities. But for now, I need you to get your act together. Not just for yourself, but for me, your mom, Luke, hell, all of Stars Hollow too."

Rory bit her lip. "You know, its shocking me to see how much you've grown up. And looking at you, right now, makes me wonder how I didn't realize sooner how much I really love you." Rory paused. "I just want to be with you. Nothing else really matters, does it?"

Jess sighed, "Yes. Everything else matters. It's not like we're in high school, Ror. We're adults. We have to work. We have to find out what we want to do with the rest of our lives. We can't just have a relationship with someone and nothing else matters." Jess paused, raking his teeth over his bottom lip. "I don't want you to look back ten years down the road, and wonder why you never went back to school. I want to make sure that you have no regrets about how your life turns out." Jess whispered, taking her hands in his.

Rory smiled sadly at him, "So, basically, you're saying that we can't be together until I get myself together."

"No. What I'm saying is, you can't stay here, with me, until you get your act together. I won't put you into the position for a long distance relationship, unless that's what you really want. I want to be with you. Yes, I really, really do. But right now, you aren't ready for me, but when you are… say the word and I'll be there," Jess said, making slow circles with his thumbs on her palm.

"Jess…" Rory whispered, biting her lip. "Can we just pretend for tonight? Pretend that I won't be leaving here, without you, or that I have my act together. Just for tonight?"

Jess smiled. "We can do that," he whispered, leaning forward slightly and kissing her.

After a few moments, Rory pulled away for air. "How long are you staying?" Jess whispered, kissing her again softly.

"For awhile longer..." she murmured.

"Good…" Jess mumbled, against her lips.

Rory smirked slightly as she pulled away from him.

"You want coffee, don't you?" Jess asked, seeing her smirk.

"How perceptive of you," Rory said with a smile.

"The things I do for you." Jess rolled his eyes and stood up and headed for the kitchen. Rory moved slowly from her seat, looking around his living room. She slowly moved to the entertainment center. She shuffled through the movies he had and smiled slightly, before moving on to look around the room.

Jess watched from the doorway to the kitchen as she looked over at the pictures that were on the shelf near the door. It held the few framed photographs he owned, his keys, wallet and the book he was currently reading.

Rory smiled as she looked over the pictures. One of Liz and T.J. on their wedding day, one of Luke and Lorelai in the diner, blatantly flirting, with smiles that showed the desire they held for each other. She looked at the ones of him and Luke before and after he left Stars Hollow, a few of people she didn't know on a beach. She frowned, realizing that there were none of her. Did she really expect him to keep one of her on his shelf in his living room?

"The ones of you aren't up there." Jess said gently from across this room. She jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Oh. I didn't think you kept any of me." Rory stated, turning to him.

He smirked sadly, and moved to where he was in front of her. "I have a few. I have one on my desk at work too. In fact, I believe that's the only photo I have at work," Jess said with a shrug, looking at the pictures. "I like a reminder of the woman who made me into who I am. Though, that woman is mostly gone now." Jess said the last part to himself softly so that she couldn't hear, then tossed a glance at her before handing her the mug he was holding.

Rory smiled slightly as she took a sip of the hot coffee. "So, I see one book in this entire room. Where are all your books?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, thinking about his book collection he had in Stars Hollow. She hadn't seen that many books outside of a library or bookstore, other than her own room. In fact she hadn't seen any of his CDs either, and he had crates of music back in Stars Hollow.

"In my bedroom. My bookshelves are there. Along with my stereo and music," Jess said nodding toward the closed door.

She smiled, "Can I see?"

Jess raised an eyebrow, "If you must." He stated, shaking his head slightly as she grinned, and walked into his bedroom.

Rory looked around and let out a breath. It was a normal sized bedroom, with a small desk next to a bookshelf and beside a cabinet. His bed was a queen-sized, enough room for two. Rory flinched at the thought of him having another girl in his bed. There were little wall hangings, one above his desk, a framed piece of paper. There was something strangely familiar about this room. She looked around before shaking her head slightly. She wandered over to the cabinet in the corner and opened it. There was his stereo and CD collection, she scanned it for a few minutes, before nodding and shutting the door. She quickly walked to his bookshelves, and ran her eyes over the spines. There was every book he had in Stars Hollow, plus many more he had acquired over the years of her absence. She looked over the texts again before looking at him, where he was lurking in the doorway.

"Wow," she whispered with a look of longing towards the books.

Jess grinned. "You like?" he teased, seeing the look.

"You have to ask?" she said with a mock glare in his direction.

He let out a soft laugh that she rarely heard but loved nonetheless, and walked over to her.

"So…" he whispered, standing beside her.

"So?" she whispered, turning to him, quickly. There was a worried undertone in his voice that in turn made her worried about what he was worrying about.

"What happens after today? What happens when you leave?" Jess asked gently, slowly turning to her. "I know I said I would pretend, but I need to know, Ror. I deserve to know."

"Jess…" she breathed, sighing. "I don't know yet. I know I need to get myself together. I have to get back in school, reconcile with my mother, smooth things over with my grandparents who are going to freak out about my ending things with Logan. I need to move out of his house. I need to do these things. But I know for sure that above all else, I need you to be in my life."

"Okay," Jess said softly, kissing her cheek.

"Okay?" she whispered, in disbelief, was that all he had to say?

"Yes. Okay. I understand you have things to do, I understand that we'll figure out the details of our relationship later. I just wanted to know where you stood on things. For now, let's just…pretend," Jess whispered, kissing her softly.

Rory kissed him back, trying to express her need for him in a kiss, one hand sliding up his chest and ended up on his neck, trying to pull him closer to her, her other hand was holding the mug of coffee, away from their bodies.

Jess pulled away for air and quickly took her mug of coffee and set it on the end table next to his bed, before kissing her again. He cupped her face with one hand and pulled her by the waist closer to him. Rory, grinding her hips against his, moved to kiss his neck as she slid one of her hands under his shirt, pushing it up to take it off. The shirt was soon on the hardwood floor, before she kissed him again, he pulled her towards him so her flesh against his, suddenly needing the feeling of her against him. Rory steered him towards the bed, never breaking the kiss. He was so caught up in her kiss that he briefly registered the fact that he had hit the bed, knees buckling, leaving him to fall onto the bed, and now lay under Rory. Rory shifted against him, and kissed his neck again, one hand moving down to the waistband of his pajama bottoms. Jess now registered what was going on and where this was heading. He flipped her off him and stood up quickly. Jess grabbed his shirt quickly and pulled it over his head before even looking back to her.

"Jess?" she whispered, looking up at him, her lips swollen and her cheeks flushed, eyes dark with lust.

"We… can't," Jess said, hoarsely. "It's too soon. I mean, we just… got back together, I guess you could say. And we haven't seen each other, haven't talked to each other in two years. Yet here we are, going down this road. I don't want it to happen like this. I want our first time together to be special. Not because we were just caught up in the moment," Jess said, sighing.

"Oh," she said softly, looking away from him.

He frowned, "I want this. But, we can't just start back where we left off. I want our relationship to be different. I think that we need to get to know each other again. I'm different than I was when we were seventeen. And so are you. So let's just… wait."

She looked up again at him, with a slight smile. "I can tell you're different," she stated, before smirking, "And I understand. We won't, until… we're ready, and its right," she said, standing. She pressed her lips to his softly, for a few seconds before pulling away.

"So, do you have to do anything today, or can you hang out with me?" Rory asked, a few moments later, when they had gone back to the living room.

"It's Saturday. My day off. I had some grocery shopping, but I can do that tomorrow." Jess said with a smile.

"Ooh. Or I could go with you grocery shopping, and we could swing by a movie-rental place, and pick up some movies, and have a movie night!" Rory said, excitedly.

"Do you recall the last time we had movie night? We were watching uh… I don't remember the movie, but you quoted the first half of the movie until I held my hand over your mouth to shush you. And then, you bit me!" Jess exclaimed, with a mock glare in her direction.

Rory giggled, and smiled innocently. "You should have expected that. I am a Gilmore after all." Her smiled faltered when she thought back to her movie nights with her mom, and then looked back over to him, "Please?" she whispered.

Jess sighed, "Fine. I don't want to hear you complain about all the stuff we have to get. Plus, I need to get more coffee for you. All I have left is what's in the pot."

"Yay!" she exclaimed, pushing Jess back into his room so he could change.

"Damn woman." Jess mumbled with a smile, happy to have the crazy youngest Gilmore back in his life.

Rory was leafing through Jess' only book in the living room when he emerged from his room in jeans and a green t-shirt.

"You were taking forever, what are you, a girl?" Rory asked with a slight smile.

Jess smirked. "I like to look presentable when I go out," Jess said, tossing her a glance.

She let out a soft giggle. "Sure," she stated, before moving from the couch and to his side. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door. He let her, laughing, grabbing his keys before shutting and locking the door, when they left the apartment.

Jess and Rory stumbled through the door hours later, weighted down by bags. They had spent two hours in his favorite book store, and then hit the video store before finishing off the day at the grocery store. They had only bought a few books. Jess two, Rory three. Rory had wanted to get more, but the ones she had wanted Jess already had and said he'd lend them to her.

They picked up three different movies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Almost Famous and Empire Records. Almost Famous was Jess' favorite, Rory had wanted to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but her mother had called it blasphemous, that remaking Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was just, wrong. And Empire Records was a movie both of them could agree on watching.

Then, they headed to a small grocery store down the block from his apartment, and picked up a few things for their movie night, popcorn, chips, cokes, coffee and every type of candy known to man. Jess picked up a few other things he would need for the rest of the week before they headed back to the apartment.

Jess put the bags on the counter and then took Rory's and did the same, shuffling through them quickly. He put things in their places, leaving the junk food out on the counter. He glared at it, realizing just how much she had made him buy.

"Dear god. I hope your metabolism never slows down." he whispered in her ear, kissing just below her earlobe, sliding his hands around her midriff as she made popcorn.

She leaned back into his embrace. "You'd love me anyways," she said smiling.

He sighed, in defeat. "Always," he said before drawing away from her. "Okay, I'll go put the food in the other room. When you come out, after making your coffee, which I know you will, will you bring me a bottle of water?" he asked, taking a couple of bowls out and pouring different candies or chips into them.

She smiled. "You should have a coke. Maybe it'll get you more excited about movie night!" She said, nodding.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Bring me anything except coffee, please," he said with a smile, and then left the room with the bowls and movies.

Jess was leaning against the back of the couch, watching the credits of Almost Famous. Rory was asleep on his shoulder, curled against him, a smile on her face. Jess smiled at the sight. He detangled himself from her, and scooped her into his arm, and taking her into his bedroom.

"Jess?" she mumbled, snuggling closer into his chest.

He smirked, and told her to go back to sleep. He placed her under the covers and kissed her forehead.

"Stay with me," she mumbled, not letting go of his neck.

Jess smiled slightly. "I need to get ready for bed, so you need to unlatch yourself from me if you want me to stay with you," Jess stated.

Rory let him go and Jess stripped down to his boxers and pulled on some pajama pants. He left the room quickly, going to the bathroom and brushing his teeth, before heading back into the living room to clean up a little before going to bed.

Jess slid in between the sheets, when Rory shifted closer to him in her sleep, tossing an arm across his stomach and burying her face in his chest. He smiled and set the alarm for eight before falling into a content slumber.

The beeping noise filled the once silent room. Jess groaned and swung a hand to hit the snooze button. Rory moaned, feeling slightly disoriented. Where was she? With the rise and fall of Jess' chest she realized where she was and smiled, cuddling closer to him, and kissing his chest.

"Too early," Jess groaned.

"What time is it?" she said, hoarsely.

"Eight o' five," Jess mumbled, tightening his hold on her waist. Rory smiled slightly, wiggling up his body to press a kiss to his lips.

"I'm leaving today," she whispered, sadly.

"I know," Jess said, opening an eye to look at her.

"I want to stay."

"But you can't. You have to work things out. You can come anytime you like," Jess whispered, frowning.

"I will. You'll see me constantly. You'll get so sick of me," Rory stated. "You'll come visit me too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" she whispered.

"Yeah."

"Do you think you could make me some coffee first?" she said with a slight smirk.

"Rory," Jess groaned.

"Please?"

"Come on."

Rory placed a heated kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a few seconds. Jess groaned. "I hate you," he grumbled, rolling out from under her and stumbling into the other room to put the coffee pot on. He went to the bathroom before making her a mug and taking it back to his bedroom. He handed her the mug and turned off the alarm before sliding back in between the sheets. She drank some of the coffee slowly, watching him as he fell back asleep. She reached over him and put the mug on the end table and curled up beside him again, falling asleep a few minutes later, lulled to sleep by his breathing.

Hours later they stood in the parking lot of the hotel she had a room at to stay the night before, but didn't. She was leaning against her Prius and he was standing in front of her.

"I had fun," Jess whispered, his hands on her waist.

"Me too. I'm going to miss you," Rory whispered, kissing him softly.

"I'll miss you too. Come back soon," Jess demanded weakly.

"I will. You'll call me?" she asked.

"I'll need your cell number," Jess stated. She just nodded, reaching into her car and grabbing a pen. She uncapped it and wrote on his hand.

"Call me to say you got home safe," he whispered, looking at the ground.

"I'll see you soon," she promised, kissing him.

"I know."

She nodded, hugging him tightly. He held her close, and squeezed her once, before releasing her.

She slowly turned and got in her car. She gave him a small wave as she made her way out of the parking lot. She saw him turn and start to walk in the direction of the subway.

She tasted the saltiness of her tears on her lips as she felt her cheeks start to wet. She pulled off the road a few minutes later and wiped her eyes. Who knew leaving would be this hard? She gained her composure before putting the car into gear and heading towards Stars Hollow.

A/N #2- Okay. How'd you like that? Please review, I love those reviews. They make the hours stressing over this worth every second. 3