A/N: Y'all love big brother Jess, huh? Gotta say, I have a soft spot for him myself. It is the weirdly cute sibling relationship he and Paris formed in 'The Kids Are Alright' that made me so want to continue on through Season 3 (and maybe further eventually). Of course, I also dig the Literati too, as you will see ;) Anyway, glad I still have readers so far - thanks, all :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

"Well, we went for coffee, and he talked about how he had a great time on our date, and how he finds me fascinating, and how he thought about me all the time," said Paris, talking a mile a minute and grinning the entire time. "Okay, there, happy?"

Rory was happy. In fact she was thrilled to have managed to get Paris talking about her date with Jamie, and more so to hear that it had gone really well.

"Wow, he likes you," she declared, smiling almost as wide as Paris herself.

"I left an impression."

"You sure did."

"I still don't understand why he'd wanna date me," said Paris then. "He's surrounded by college girls all day long who must be prettier than I am, and more experienced than I am. I mean, I'm sure they're all idiots, but usually that's the last thing a guy thinks about when he's looking for a date for the big game."

"Well, Jamie must be special, and that's great, Paris. It really is," Rory enthused. "Isn't it great, Jess?"

"If only Tony the Tiger were here," he replied, rolling his eyes.

Rory laughed and swatted him in the chest for his sarcasm, but Paris didn't even notice. She was on Cloud 9 over Jamie it seemed, and Rory wasn't sorry to see it. As much as she could be a pain in the butt sometimes, Paris was a good person deep down and she deserved to be happy. She certainly deserved a nice guy to treat her well. Besides, it made Rory feel much less awkward herself, being as she was so close to Jess all the time. They were both conscious about making Paris feel like the third wheel. It would be easier now that she had Jamie, even if he couldn't be around all the time.

"So, how long is he sticking around for?" asked Jess.

"Just for the weekend," Paris sighed. "He has to be back at Princeton for a class on Monday, but he seems pretty set on spending as much of his spare time as possible with me," she explained, blushing as she said it which was kind of a new look for her. "I feel pathetic allowing a guy to make me this happy, but he really does. I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed that he likes me this much."

"There are a lot of crazy people in the world," Jess teased her.

Rory almost expected Paris to stick her tongue out at him. With anybody else on any other day, she probably would've committed some kind of violent felony. Her 'brother' could get away with a lot, and especially today apparently.

"So I'm guessing that extra emergency meeting of The Franklin that I had to fight to get out of isn't happening tomorrow anyway, huh?" said Rory.

"I think we'll cope without it," Paris replied, still smiling very wide. "It's only a newspaper, right?" she said, looking at Jess.

"Huh," he replied, reaching into his bag and producing a couple of sheets of paper. "So, I guess this was a waste of time?"

Paris took the papers from him and skimmed the text, eyes going wide when she realised what it was.

"You wrote the article... and it's good."

"You expected it to be anything else?" asked Jess, just a little affronted by that.

"Look at you, all helpful," Rory said happily. "You're like The Good Samaritan this week."

"Keep your voice down," Jess advised, looking around like he expected to be attacked. "I got a rep to protect."

"Well, I don't care if you're the Fonz or Richie Cunningham, I really appreciate this Jess," Paris told him, suddenly throwing her arms around him in a brief hug before turning and walking away.

"Wow!" Rory shook her head. "Being in love is having a profound effect on her."

"Apparently," her boyfriend agreed, shaking off the unexpected hug. "So, remind me again what ungodly hour this Dance Marathon begins tomorrow?"

"Six a.m." Rory sighed heavily. "I didn't even know they had a six in the morning."

Jess smirked but said nothing. As much as he was bound to suffer from being part of a town event, at least the getting up early part came fairly easy. Luke was always up and about at stupid o'clock in the morning to open the diner, and even earlier when deliveries were due. It never did come hard to Jess to be awake so early, but he knew the Gilmore girls suffered terribly.

"It's lucky you'll be there to hold me up on the dancefloor." Rory grinned then. "Did I mention how happy I am that you agreed to this?"

"More than a few times." Jess nodded, trying not to be amused but failing miserably.

They both knew she had been way more grateful than ought to be strictly necessary for attendance at a simple dance marathon, but Jess wasn't complaining. Besides, Lorelai had kind of been all over Luke ever since he agreed to go too. The guys just really liked to see the women they loved be happy.

"And honestly, a couple of hours will probably be more than enough dancing for me. I just like the atmosphere in the beginning when everybody is all hyped up to start," Rory enthused. "After that, we can maybe watch a while and then just head home."

"Works for me," Jess agreed, leaning in to kiss her lips.

As it turned out, the Dance Marathon really wasn't so bad. Rory had meant what she said about all the hype in the beginning when everybody was taking part, but a whole lot of couples got hungry or tired and gave up fast. Jess was amazed when he realised he and Rory had been keeping up with the pack for a good five hours before they decided to give in and watch for a while, and it was actually her that said she had enough, not him.

An hour or so of watching the other couples mostly make fools out of themselves and Rory was full on starving, her stomach making sounds that had her blushing like crazy. Since the only food on offer at the event was some disturbing kind of egg sandwiches courtesy of the Kims, Jess suggested they head home and get some real food.

The plan had been to hang out at the diner, but Rory insisted she would rather go home so she could change clothes. The dress, that she did in fact look great in, was starting to get uncomfortable apparently. Jess offered to pick up food from the diner and then follow her over to the house, arriving just in time with burgers, fries, and a whole pie.

"You're so good to me," she told him with a grin as he dumped all the food onto the kitchen table.

"I paid and everything," he took her with a smirk. "Without Luke there it would've been pretty easy to liberate this stuff from under Caesar's nose, but I couldn't do it to the guy."

"He doesn't really deserve to be duped," Rory considered. "Although his pies don't usually measure up to Luke's."

"It's fine, Luke made this before he came to the Dance Marathon."

"It started at six," said Rory, eyes ridiculously wide.

"Luke started at four, which means I was awake from three thirty," Jess pointed out as they divided up the food onto plates and headed for the living room.

"Aaaw, poor baby," Rory sympathised, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "And speaking of babies, that was some fight Sookie and Jackson were having," she said as they sat down on the couch to eat.

"Was he really suggesting they have four kids in the next four years?"

"I think so" Rory nodded, taking a big bite out of her burger.

"Crazy," muttered Jess before doing the same.

Rory hated to see people she loved fight, but she had to agree with her boyfriend that it was a pretty crazy concept. Rory couldn't imagine having one kid, and always marvelled at how her mom had coped on her own raising her. Sookie and Jackson had each other, a house, good jobs, all of the security, but four babies in four years would be truly insane.

"On the topic of crazy," she said then, deciding a subject change was in order, "I can't believe Luke is still at the Dance Marathon and really getting into the whole dancing thing. I didn't even know he knew how to dance. I didn't know you knew how to dance."

"Must be in the Danes blood, I guess." Jess shrugged. "I don't think it's so surprising that he's still there. Your mom seems hell-bent on winning this year since Kirk started baiting her, and all Luke ever really wants is to make Lorelai happy."

"It's a beautiful thing, to love somebody that much," said Rory, looking pointedly at Jess.

He glanced up and smiled back at her. They both knew he had sacrificed some pride by agreeing to go to the Dance Marathon with her today, and that she probably feigned tiredness when she did for his sake, so he didn't have to endure the full event. It was no secret that they loved each other, they had said it enough times before, her more than him perhaps, but she never really doubted his feelings. Actions spoke louder than words, and he did so much to make her happy.

With the burgers and fries all done, Jess cleared the containers away and muttered something about fetching forks for the pie. Rory wasn't sure she was feeling all that hungry anymore, at least not for dessert. She followed Jess to the kitchen, caught him when he turned around from the drawer and pulled him close, her lips on his own. The forks went clattering to the floor as he grabbed onto her, the two of them lost in what turned out to be a very intense moment. When Rory leaned her weight on him a little too much, Jess staggered into the table, and the spell was momentarily broken.

"Not that I'm complaining about this," he said, gasping in a breath, "but we should probably slow down a little."

"What if I was okay with not slowing down?" asked Rory, blushing uncontrollably but looking altogether sure of herself at the same time.

"Rory..."

"I'm serious, Jess," she promised. "Very serious. I love you."

"And I love you," he swore, pushing her hair back off her face, "but I also know you're feeling five shades of grateful because I went that Dance Marathon-"

Her lips cut off his words with another searing kiss.

"I am grateful, but that's not what this is," she said, shaking her head. "Jess, I want this. I've wanted it for a while, I think, I just... It's kind of a big deal, y'know?"

"I know," he promised, nodding his head. "That's why you have to be sure."

"I'm very, very sure," she told him, punctuating each word with a kiss to his face. "Are you?"

"In my whole life, you're probably the one thing I've always been sure about," he told her, fingers tracing a line down her cheek before he kissed her softly.

Rory took a hold of his hand and headed for her bedroom, leading the way with a shy smile. The door closed on the rest of the world and then it was just the two of them, as it should be.

To Be Continued...