A/N: I do so love writing these characters in this 'verse, and I'm very glad to have you all along on the ride with me and enjoying it too. Thanks so much for the feedback, folks :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 20

"Tell me again how this happened?" asked Jess as he stood on the Gilmore mansion doorstep for the second time in his life.

He had hoped once was enough, but apparently not. The great Emily Gilmore had decided that he was to come to Friday Night Dinner again, and what Rory's grandmother commanded, so it came to pass. He just wasn't quite clear on how or why he had been invited back, especially when Richard was away. He seemed to be the one of Rory's grandparents that actually liked Jess, after all.

"I told you, we were talking about Summer plans," Rory explained, "and then Prom and that led to who I was dating and so I confirmed it was still you, and grandma invited you."

"That's the uber-short version of what actually happened," Lorelai noted. "but still true. Of course, once Emily decided you were coming there really was no way to refuse."

"How come Luke got out of it?" asked Jess whilst Lorelai rang the bell.

"Pure force of will?" she told him. "Also, I told my mom he'd been sick and was possibly still contagious."

She grinned with so much pride at her lie, Jess couldn't help but laugh. He also wondered if Luke had any idea that he was supposed to have gone down with the bubonic plague or similar. Chances were good that Emily was hoping it would leave him in an unfit state to date her daughter anymore, that was for sure.

The maid appeared then and ushered the Gilmore girls plus Jess into the house before any more conversation could be had. Emily greeted the girls with joy and Jess with the barely veiled disdain he had expected, encouraging them to be seated and getting them all drinks.

"So, Jess, I was quite surprised to hear that you and our Rory are still together."

"Grandma, why would you be surprised?" asked Rory, feeling mortified by the comment.

"Well, you know very well that young people these days hardly stay together five minutes before they're flitting to the next boyfriend or girlfriend," Emily explained, handing a soda each to Rory and Jess. "I swear, these celebrities don't help at all, encouraging that kind of behaviour by example."

"That's not our Rory and Jess, no way," said Lorelai. "They're just about as committed as two teenagers could be," she said with a wide smile, sipping her martini the moment it was handed to her.

Emily's lip curled as she turned away to the drinks cart to retrieve her own glass. Rory mouthed a 'thank you' to her mother. Jess drank his soda down as if it were alcohol and might numb the pain. It was shame he was getting nothing better than sugar and bubbles out of the deal.

"As dedicated as the two of you are," said Emily then, addressing the young couple as she took her seat, "I'm amazed at these plans for Rory to traipse through Europe next Summer with Lorelai. Won't you just be lost without her, Jess?"

"I'll miss her," he admitted, "but if it's what she wants to do, I'm cool with that."

"Exactly." Rory smiled. "I mean, Grandma, you and Grandpa don't spend every minute together. He's away right now, and I'm sure you miss him, but you cope just fine until he gets back."

"That's for work, Rory. I could hardly expect your grandfather not to do his job just so I won't be lonely, but this so-called vacation you have planned seemed so reckless and thoughtless."

"Mom, seriously?" said Lorelai. "Did you actually invite Jess to dinner to try and get him on your side about mine and Rory's back-packing trip this Summer?"

Emily looked affronted by the suggestion, but she wasn't quite that good of an actress. Jess was pretty sure that Lorelai just hit the nail right on the head with her guess.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lorelai!" her mother snapped in any case. "I'm merely pointing out the lengthy list of reasons why your so-called 'dream trip' is a ridiculous idea. If Jess should happen to agree with any of them, that would be his prerogative, I'm sure."

All eyes then landed on the young man in question and he squirmed terribly at the attention. He all but emptied his glass of soda and prayed for a subject change, which Rory thankfully provided.

"So, I was thinking some more about college," she said quickly. "I looked over those brochures you brought back from Yale, Grandma. The campus is beautiful."

Jess tried to keep his sigh of relief down to a dull roar as the conversation spun on without him. If Emily came at him with questions about college, he was going to tell her he had to wait and see who accepted him and then decide. It was all he was going to say and that was that. He already had to deal with Luke, Paris, and various Chilton teachers on the topic, so he had the stock answer down pat by now. He was ready for this. It was almost disappointing when Emily never asked.

Dinner passed fairly uneventfully. Rory's grandma got back onto the dangers of backpacking through Europe on two occasions and had to be reined in by her daughter, but she didn't attempt to get Jess on side again. When they were just done with dessert, he thought she might try, but then the maid came and said Mr Gilmore was on the phone for her and Emily excused herself.

"Oh my God!" Lorelai gasped the moment her mother was gone.

"I'll second that," said Jess, visibly deflating in his chair. "Geez, I can't believe I got fast-shuffled into coming here just so your grandma could try to use me in stopping you going to Europe," he said to Rory. "I'd rather face off with Paris about college again!"

"If I had any idea this is what she had planned, I never would've asked you to come," his girlfriend promised.

"I swear, kid, I would've said something myself if I'd known," Lorelai assured him just the same. "This is beyond even the usual Emily evil plans. However, I have to say, impressed with the answers you were giving."

"I didn't lie." Jess shrugged. "Why would I even ask Rory to not go to Europe when I know how much you guys have been looking forward to this? I'm not a total jerk."

"This is why I love you," Rory declared, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Best boyfriend ever."

"Uh, second best," said Lorelai pointedly. "My boyfriend is the best boyfriend," she said definitely with a hand on her chest.

Rory met her gaze and frowned.

"Share the honour?" she suggested.

Lorelai considered a moment and then nodded once.

"Deal," she said then, extending a hand to shake with Rory.

Jess tried not to smirk but found it impossible. They were a real pair of nuts, but he loved Rory more than anything, and Lorelai was pretty damn cool for a mom. He'd be jealous of Rory for having a mother like her if that wouldn't be pathetic.

"You are doing really well tonight, Jess," said Lorelai then. "Seriously. I am impressed."

"Probably helps that the black eye cleared up between the invitation and now," he noted, leaning across the table and speaking in a low voice, just sure that Emily would come back any second.

"Amen to that." Lorelai nodded. "Geez, can you imagine that conversation?"

"Really rather not," said Rory, shuddering at the thought. "God, Grandma would have had a field day with that. I guess it's pretty amazing that she never got to hear about the fight. She has friends at Chilton, you know?"

"The great Bitty Charleston." Lorelai rolled her eyes. "I guess Paris scared Hanlin so bad he was too afraid to even tell his wife about the whole thing," she said, laughing then. "Damn that girl is a nut sometimes, but God bless her, she gets the job done."

"That she does," Jess agreed, smiling into his water glass.

The next moment, Emily returned and asked what they were talking about. Lorelai took lead in the lying that followed, or at least half-lying. She said they had been talking about Paris and The Franklin which allowed Rory to tell a few generic school stories until it was time to leave. The only slightly weird thing was when Emily gave Rory a name and number she had apparently promised her. Something about a dress that Jess didn't really hear and wasn't sure he cared about anyway. Honestly, he was just trying to make his escape and felt like a man who just got out after a long prison sentence when he finally stepped out of the front door.

"How do you do that every week and not go crazy?"

"Well, it helps if you're just a little crazy to begin with," Lorelai noted, slapping him on the back, "but you did good, slugger. Trust me, Luke looked the exact same shade of green after his one and only dinner here, and he had my dad to act as buffer. You just went one on one with Emily sans safety net. That takes cojones, my friend."

Jess made a face at that, glad enough of the compliment, but clearly a little squicked by his girlfriend's mother talking to him about the size of his balls, even figuratively.

"Time to go home," said Rory, steering them both towards the car before this night got any weirder.

Lorelai drove them back to Stars Hollow and dropped Jess off at the diner before continuing on home with only her daughter for company.

"So, you still didn't mention Prom to Jess, huh?"

Rory looked over at her mom sharply, mouth moving without any sound coming out for a few moments.

"It hasn't come up," she said then, gaze returning to the window.

Lorelai pulled onto the drive and put the Jeep in park.

"Sweets, seriously," she said, getting Rory's attention back. "What's the problem?"

"No problem, I just... I don't know," she admitted, shaking her head sadly. "I really, really wanted to go to the Stars Hollow High Prom with Lane, and that can't happen now. It's the Chilton Prom or nothing, and you just know it's going to be really formal, and the tickets will be super expensive. I don't want to ask Jess to take me, and I'm pretty sure he would never ask me. Between the dressing up and all the money he'd have to spend, it'd be his worst nightmare."

"But honey, if you really want to go, he'll make the sacrifice. The guy just sat through dinner with my mother and didn't complain at all. That makes him practically saintly."

"Exactly! He's been so good about that kind of stuff. About Friday Night dinner, and the Dance Marathon, and waiting for me with the whole... the whole sleeping together thing," she muttered awkwardly. "He's been the best boyfriend, Mom. It feels wrong to expect more."

"Sweetheart, this is what love is," Lorelai told her. "Decent, loving relationships, they're about doing stuff that you maybe don't like so much to make the other person happy. You think Luke enjoys watching chick flicks with me, or that I love when he puts on a Jethro Tull album for background dinner music? Of course not, but we don't complain. We put up with that stuff because we love each other. And it's not like you never did anything nice for Jess."

"True," she agreed. "I have watched Almost Famous about a hundred and seven times because of his addiction, and denied myself Indian food on a few occasions because he hates it."

"See, sacrifices." Lorelai nodded. "You got him that great first edition for Christmas and you went all out for your anniversary on New Year's. It's all about give and take, babe. It's what people do when they love each other. So, if you really want to go to Prom, why don't you drop some hints and see what happens? Or, if you want to go real modern woman on him, you could actually ask Jess to go instead."

"Maybe," Rory considered. "I thought about asking Paris what she thought about it, being practically Jess' sister and everything, but then I remember that she probably won't be going to Prom herself. I highly doubt Jamie is going to want to go to a Prep School Prom. I don't even know if he'd be able to get away from Princeton if he wanted to."

"Sacrifices for love, sweets," Lorelai reminded her. "If he cares as much as he should, he just might."

She got out of the car then and after a moment or two, Rory followed. Maybe her mom was right. If she really wanted to go to Prom, it was going to have to be the Chilton event, and she certainly wouldn't go with anyone but Jess. She had some serious thinking to do about this.

To Be Continued...