A/N: Last chapter seemed awfully popular and I appreciate all the supportive reviews when you know I'm having issues in the future planning of this particular story. For now, please brace accordingly for Friday Night Dinner, with special guest, Jess Mariano!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

"Huh."

Jess was less than impressed by the demonstration in the town square by one of Stars Hollow's more eccentric citizens, and he wasn't the only one. The gathered crowd seemed generally underwhelmed by the whole event, and Taylor was giving them all the 'I told you so's in creation. Shaking his head, Jess turned on his heel and continued on back to the diner, whilst the townsfolk bickered and fussed like usual. He actually hadn't realised Rory was at the front of the assembled group until she called his name and hurried to catch up to him.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" she said of the town loner's unsuccessful protest.

"No more so than anything else in this town," he said, kissing her. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied with a smile. "You didn't see me over there?"

"I was way in back," he explained. "Didn't even plan on being there but-"

"But sometimes even you can't resist a town event," Rory finished for him.

Jess didn't answer that, just smirked some more.

"So, tomorrow's Friday," she said, her arm around his waist and his around her shoulders.

"Traditionally follows Thursday." Jess nodded.

Rory clearly didn't find him amusing. He could tell what expression she was wearing without ever turning his head.

"C'mon, Ror. You know I'm not exactly psyched about dinner with Adolf and Eva."

"You've been talking to my mother, haven't you?" said Rory with a look, just as they reached the diner door.

"You called, loin fruit?" said Lorelai, appearing behind them.

"Have you been leading my boyfriend astray?" Rory asked her mother as they all entered Luke's. "He just referred to grandma and grandpa as Adolf and Eva."

"Well, you can't deny there are similarities." Lorelai shrugged.

Jess tried not to laugh as he dropped a kiss onto Rory's cheek and got back behind the counter to help with the breakfast rush.

"Tomorrow night is going to be a disaster, isn't it?" Rory sighed, dropping down into a seat beside her mother, allowing her head to fall onto Lorelai's shoulder.

"Oh now, come on," she said, putting her arm around her daughter and rubbing her back. "This is not a tragedy. A tragedy is three men trapped in a mine, or police dogs used in Birmingham."

"Thanks, Mr Hausmann. Really helpful." Rory rolled her eyes as she righted herself. "So, what held you up between the demonstration and here?" she asked then, smiling at Luke as he brought them both coffee.

"Oh, right. Mail man!" said Lorelai, producing envelopes from her over-sized purse. "We have bill, bill, catalogue, bill," she sighed, flipping each one onto the table. "Ooh, special envelope for you, baby girl!"

She handed it to Rory who stared at it with a frown.

"Huh. Return address in Boston. From Dad?" she guessed, opening up the envelope. "Wow."

"What, wow?" asked Luke as he returned to take their breakfast order.

"I don't know," Lorelai answered when Rory seemed struck dumb for a few moments. "Babe, you okay?" she checked.

"Uh, yeah. This... It's from Sherry. It's an invitation. To her baby shower," she explained, showing the card to Lorelai.

"Wow," she said, just as her daughter had moments before. "Um, you want to go?"

"Honestly? I really don't know," Rory admitted, looking a little overwhelmed.

"I'm guessing now would be a good time for bacon and eggs, side of pancakes... maybe the kind with chocolate chips?"

"This is why I love you!" said Lorelai with real enthusiasm, pulling Luke down to plant a kiss on his lips. "At least one of the many reasons," she confirmed.

"I do my best," he told her with a smile he couldn't help before walking way to get their food.

"I think," said Rory suddenly, "that I should go. I mean, I know I don't have to, but this baby that Sherry's carrying is going to be my half-something, right? That's a blood relation."

"Very true." Lorelai nodded.

"If I don't go, I think maybe I'd regret it."

"Then you should go."

"I should. I will." Rory nodded.

Lorelai smiled, proud of her daughter for coming to that decision by herself, and so quickly too. That was quite a feat for Rory Gilmore, Queen of the Pro-Con lists. Her mother had to agree she had made the right choice. As painful as it was for Lorelai herself to realise Christopher was going to be there for Sherry in ways he never was for her when she was pregnant, she couldn't exactly be mad about that. She all but pushed him away back then, had no-one but herself to blame. That didn't stop it hurting, of course, but she really did want Rory to be in Chris' life, and to get to know her half-brother or half-sister when they came along. It was important.

"Hey, could we maybe not mention this to Emily and Richard tomorrow night?" she said eventually. "I know they like to know what's going on with us, and it would probably be a great subject change if things get dicey between the grandparents and your boy, but... I don't know, it's probably selfish, but I could use one less occasion for Emily to remind me of what I could have had if I followed her plan, y'know?"

"That's not selfish," Rory promised her. "Of course, we don't have to mention this at Friday Night Dinner."

"Thanks, kid." Lorelai smiled. "And y'know, I will try to help when the Jess roast begins."

"For that, I am grateful."

Jess felt like he had been over-prepped for Friday Night Dinner. He had now been given so much information with regards to the right things to say and not say, that he had no idea what any of it was anymore. He knew everybody was trying to be helpful, Rory most of all, but Lorelai had pitched in too, and even Paris had given advice, not to mention Luke. Everybody wanted him to make a good impression on the overlords of the Gilmore clan. Honestly, though he would never say as much out loud, Jess kind of hoped they liked him, more for Rory's sake than his own, but he doubted it would happen somehow.

"You ready, slugger?" asked Lorelai, reaching towards the Gilmore's doorbell.

"As I'll ever be," he told her, taking a deep breath.

"You're going to be fine," Rory promised, holding tight to his hand, leaning in to plant a quick kiss on his cheek for good luck.

The maid appeared in a second, ushering them inside and taking their coats. Emily and Richard were there in the next moment, the latter approaching Jess with a hand out to shake.

"And you must be Jess," he said, smiling. "Yes, I believe I remember you."

This was not at all the welcome he had expected, but Jess went with it.

"Hello, sir," he said politely, shaking Richard's offered hand. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Our pleasure, young man," said Rory's grandfather kindly. "But please, no need to be quite so formal. You are welcome to call me Richard, and of course, this is Emily," he introduced.

"Good evening, Jess," she said, her nose in the air as she looked him over. "I hope you came here hungry."

"Of course he did, Mom," Lorelai cut in, beginning her deflection early. "He's a growing boy, they're always hungry."

"I suppose I should have asked if there's anything you don't eat," Emily continued, still staring at Jess, almost as if Lorelai had never spoken. "These days everything is so complicated with nut allergies and vegan diets."

"I'm a carnivore. No known allergies," Jess confirmed.

"Well, I suppose that's something," said Emily, every syllable as condescending as it could be.

She led the way into the living room with Richard and Lorelai right behind her. Rory and Jess brought up the rear, her gripping his hand tighter. He sighed.

"It's going to be a long night."

Everyone was furnished with drinks and conversation began again with Richard asking Jess what his interests were and how school was going. He gave the most polite, non-wordy answers he could, and Rory filled in the details to make him sound like some kind of genius and the best boyfriend ever. Before dinner was served, she had Jess himself believing he was a cross between Shakespeare, Einstein, and Cary Grant. He really didn't recognise himself, but it was a small price to pay to know he was getting out of here alive tonight.

"And when you're not excelling at Chilton or taking our Rory out somewhere special, what else do you do, Jess?" asked Richard, with what appeared to be genuine interest.

"I work," he said, surveying his dinner with interest. "For my uncle Luke at the diner, and also lately at Wal-Mart."

"How industrious," said Emily. "I hear Wal-Mart is a wonderful corporation. Of course, we've never been in one of the stores, but we own the stock."

"Thanks for the pay check," said Jess.

Richard laughed at that like it was the best joke over.

"Well, I suppose any kind of work is suitable for now, whilst you're still young and in school," he considered, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of lamb. "I suppose you have greater ambitions for the future?"

"I don't quite have it all figured out yet," Jess admitted, heaping his fork with food in the hopes of filling his mouth to the point where Miss Manners wouldn't allow him to talk much more. "I applied to a couple of colleges though."

Rory started choking the moment those words left her boyfriend's lips. Lorelai dropped her fork in the same moment, and Emily noticeably jumped in her seat.

"Lorelai, really!" she complained.

Jess hit Rory on the back when she seemed to be turning every possible colour that a person shouldn't be and she recovered quickly, reaching for her water to help the food down.

"You okay, sweets?" asked Lorelai, sure she knew what had caused the choking fit but not willing to say so right now.

"I'm good," Rory squeaked, looking at Jess who seemed very interested in his potatoes all of a sudden.

There was a chance he was lying, just saying what he thought her grandparents would want to hear. Rory couldn't and wouldn't blame him for that. She had been talking up every good point about him all night, and even embellishing here or there to stop her grandparents from cutting him down. So far, Emily had tried to be severe, but Richard had been super-polite and decent. Rory really wasn't sure about the college thing though and didn't want to question Jess on it now for fear of spoiling things. That would have to wait until later when they escaped.

They didn't talk much on the way home. Lorelai dominated conversation, recapping the evening with her own colour commentary, complete with self-serving laugh track. Jess didn't mind. He was just glad to have gotten out alive and unscathed. In fact, Rory's grandpa seemed to actually like him. The grandmother was a whole other deal, but she had at least been some form of polite tonight and not openly attacked him. That wasn't nothing.

Lorelai asked Jess if he wanted to be dropped off at the diner or if he was happy to walk from The Crap Shack. He said the latter was fine and the Jeep was duly parked in the driveway.

"I'll see you inside," Lorelai told Rory, knowing the teens would want to say goodnight in private, like always. "You did good, kid," she told Jess, pointing at him as she backed up towards the porch.

"Thanks," he said, nodding once.

Rory watched her mom go into the house, then turned back to Jess. She went easily into his arms for a good long kiss.

"Thank you for tonight," she said as their lips parted, though their arms stayed around each other. "I know it wasn't your favourite way to spend time."

"It was fine," he assured her. "Hey, I'm sorry about the choking incident. I never meant for that to happen."

"Is it true?" asked Rory then, meeting his eyes. "That you applied to colleges?"

"Yes, it is true," he said, looking awkward the moment the words were said. "I mean, I brought it up because I knew it was what your grandparents would want to hear, but yeah, it's true. Don't ask me why, I plead temporary insanity," he said with a sigh. "I guess I just figured I may as well go ahead, see what happens."

Rory smiled, maybe a little too much, though she tried to rein it in. She was wary of influencing Jess' decision, or making him regret it. As sweet as it would be to think he did this for, it wouldn't be quite right for him to do such a thing against his will just to please her. This was his life they were talking about. She wanted to be a big part of that but she had no plans on controlling it at all.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think that's a very smart decision," she said, hoping not to sound too over-eager about his potential college attendance.

"Yeah, I figured you would," he said, smiling because he couldn't help it, "but could you maybe not tell Paris about this? At least, not right now," he urged her, smile slipping some. "I don't think I can handle her thinking she got to me like that."

"I promise I won't say a word," said Rory, pulling him closer. "And thank you again, for tonight. You really were great."

One goodnight kiss led right into a couple more, until finally Jess pulled away and promised to call Rory tomorrow. She all but floated to her front door, having really enjoyed a night that she had originally been quite worried about. Sometimes things just worked out for the best, she supposed. Tonight really had gone so well.

To Be Continued...