A/N: Poor Rory really screwed up with Jess, huh? She meant well, but yeah, not good. Thanks for all the feedback, peops. Now, time for a little intervention in the Lit relationship thanks to Lorelai and (of course) Paris! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 22

When Rory came home crying, telling her mom how everything had gone wrong, Lorelai was ready to rip Jess a new one for upsetting her baby girl. Unfortunately, as the truth unravelled and all the details came out, it was kind of tough to be mad at the guy anymore. Lorelai could see both sides, and it wasn't long before Rory saw it too.

"I can't believe I messed up like that," she said sadly, tears now all dried up but deep sadness remaining as she realised her mistake. "It was supposed to be a nice thing. I was trying to be a good girlfriend."

"And when Jess calms down, he'll probably realise that," said Lorelai kindly, her hand on Rory's shoulder, "but babe, you know as well as I do, the male ego is so, so fragile. Doesn't take much for a man to feel like he's not so much a man anymore, and they really hate that."

"I know." Rory sighed, putting her face in her hands a moment. "I just wish I'd thought it through before, that I'd worded it all a little better. It wasn't supposed to sound like Jess needed me to... well, that he wasn't good enough. I would never say that. I don't think that."

"I know, sweets," Lorelai sympathised, pulling her daughter into a hug and rubbing her back. "Sometimes these things just happen. Y'know me and Luke fight too, but we always figure it out in the end. You regroup, you talk it over. It'll be fine."

Rory didn't answer that even though she hoped that what her mother said was true. It bothered her that patching things up with Jess wouldn't be so easy. She loved him and he loved her, that part was always true, but he looked so angry and so hurt that night. When he seemed unwilling to take her calls all over the weekend and avoided her wherever she went looking for him too, Rory really started to worry that she had broken things beyond repair. Even Luke looked like he felt sorry for her when she went into the diner for the eighth or ninth time to ask if Jess was around and he had to say no.

Monday came and Rory was actually glad. At school at least Jess couldn't avoid her. He had to be there and so did she. Even if he wanted to play avoidance tactics, that would only work for so long. They had classes together and the same lunch period. Besides, he couldn't avoid her and Paris.

It had occurred to Rory to try calling the Geller house when she couldn't find Jess anywhere else. She even thought of maybe driving over there to see if it was where he was hiding out, but in the end she decided against. There was a chance that Paris would side with Jess and then Rory didn't stand a chance of fixing things. The Geller-Mariano tag team was a lethal combination in a debate or argument. Rory didn't have the strength for that over the weekend, and wasn't sure how she would handle it if it came to pass on Monday either, but maybe she wouldn't have a choice.

Catching the bus by herself felt strange, but it had to be done. Rory had been heading into school with Jess for months now, first by bus and then later in his car. Today she arrived at Chilton all alone and immediately headed for her locker. She found Paris there, digging into her own locker, and surprisingly smiling when she saw her friend's approach.

"Hey, Gilmore," she greeted her. "How was your weekend? Because mine was pretty damn good."

"Hey, Paris," she replied in kind. "Um, have you not talked to Jess?"

"Not since we left here Friday," said Paris, shaking her head. "Why? Is something wrong?"

She had started to look concerned by now, eyes darting around the hallway when she realised Jess wasn't there by Rory's side. The two of them were practically joined at the hip since they started dating. It was concerning to Paris that he wasn't there and that Rory was looking like she was about to cry or worse.

"We kinda had a fight, about Prom," Rory explained, trying to keep the shake out of her voice. "Um, it was my fault, I... I need to talk to him, apologise, fix everything, but I haven't seen him all weekend. He's been avoiding me, I kind of thought he would've been at your place."

"Like I said, haven't seen him," Paris confirmed, "but when I do I'll be asking the punk what the hell he thinks he's doing. You said this fight was about Prom and it was your fault? I find that hard to believe, unless you told him you wanted to go with someone else."

"Of course not!" cried Rory indignantly. "Why would I ever want to do that?"

"You wouldn't, that was kind of my point." Paris rolled her eyes.

The bell ringing overhead put paid to their conversation and neither girl was at all happy about that.

"Look, go to class. Try not to blub like a baby, and when I find Mariano I'll talk to him."

"You don't even know what happened yet."

"He'll tell me, and it'll be the truth," Paris insisted, even as she backed away down the corridor. "He's not dumb enough to lie to me, you know this."

They parted ways because they had to and Rory found a slight smile for her friend as she went. Maybe she shouldn't have worried so much about Paris automatically siding with Jess. She was pretty fair-minded most of the time. In fact, Paris was the only person who struggled in debate class at times simply because she was too good and could in fact adequately fight both corners almost perfectly by herself. She had been a good friend to Rory this past year or more. In fact, they had been good friends to each other. It wasn't just Jess and Paris that were like siblings sometimes. If Rory ever needed a sister, she had a feeling she could rely on Paris to fill the spot, and would like to say she was equally capable of stepping into the breach for her friend, as needed. Maybe things could be worked out, if Paris was prepared to play mediator. It helped Rory to feel a little more positive about where today was headed, that was for sure.

Jess really did not want to be in school today. In fact, he didn't want to be anywhere that might lead to him running into Rory. She made him so mad and hurt this weekend, he couldn't even describe. Even after he calmed down enough to realise that she probably didn't mean any harm, he just couldn't face her. He spent a lot of time walking around Stars Hollow, being anywhere she wasn't, and even more time outside of town, playing hide and seek. He had gotten as far as Hartford but never ventured to Paris' house for fear of what she would say when she heard the whole tale. Girls liked to stick together in stuff like this, he knew that. Best case scenario, Paris would come down on his side and offer to tear into Rory on his behalf. That wasn't what Jess wanted either. Mostly he would love to rewind back to the point before Rory ever mentioned the Prom to him, and get his chance to ask her first. It had always been the plan.

For months now he had been putting money aside to pay for all the things they would need for a great night at the end of the school year. Maybe that was the part that bugged him the most, having his carefully laid plans hijacked, even though Rory could have no clue that he had any ideas on the subject of Prom at all, because it was going to be a surprise. He could tell her now, just explain how she hurt him, accept the apology that she was doubtless ready to give and move on. Unfortunately, Jess was too stubborn for that, and maybe too stupid, he would rather avoid the issue until it went away. With Paris in play, that just wasn't going to happen.

The piece of paper came flying from two desks over, landing in the middle of the novel Jess was reading instead of listening to the history lesson. Usually he paid more attention in class, because he had to, but today was an exception and he really didn't care.

'Open and read, moron,' said the words on the outside of the folded piece of Paris' legal pad.

Jess side-eyed his sister and gave her a look. She clearly cared nothing for his evil glare and gestured for him to read her note already, which he did.

'You're going to tell me exactly what happened with you and Rory this weekend. Meet me under the south staircase before fourth period. I will not be responsible for my actions if you don't show.'

Jess did not like giving in to threats and he certainly didn't like letting Paris tell him what to do, but on this one occasion he didn't see he had a choice. First off, he trusted his sister to at least try to be sympathetic and helpful in a bad situation. Second, Paris knew all his secrets and didn't make threats lightly. It probably wasn't worth the fall-out if he didn't show up.

Scribbling on the piece of paper she had thrown, he refolded it and threw it back the moment the teacher turned her back the next time. Jess watched Paris open it up read.

'I'll be there, sis.'

He hoped she would know from his carefully chosen words that whatever happened with Rory, he didn't want it to affect the two of them. When Paris smiled, Jess knew she got it. Maybe today wasn't going to be a total bust.

"Paris!" Rory called as they passed by each other on the way to fourth period. "Did you-?"

"On the case, Gilmore," her friend promised. "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

"Okay." Rory nodded, though it looked as if it was tough for her to keep smiling.

Paris sighed. She really wasn't wired to be a marriage guidance councillor, but somehow she figured she was going to have to play that part today. Rory and Jess might only be dating in high school, but they were so serious and in love, it may as well be a long haul relationship. Honestly, Paris couldn't imagine either of them ever being with anyone else.

"First we have to fix this fight before they get happily ever after," she muttered to herself, hurrying towards the south staircase and ducking out of sight before anyone saw.

Jess arrived within a minute and Paris wasted no time in getting the truth of what happened out of him.

"Geez, you're like a woman possessed today," he complained, coming over and sitting down against the wall.

"And you're like a little boy who just got his lollipop taken away," she countered, joining him there on the floor. "Talk."

It might've been fun to argue, but Jess didn't have the strength. Actually, it felt pretty good to talk about it all. Luke had asked what happened, but all Jess had told him was he and Rory had a fight, refusing to say another word about it. He figured his uncle would get some version of events from Lorelai who wold have had the whole story from Rory. It was why he did his best to avoid everybody for as long as possible, just because he couldn't handle the family drama. Sharing with Paris didn't seem so tough, and when he was done, she actually seemed to see things from his point of view.

"To coin one of your phrases, huh," she said, smirking some and then full on smiling when she saw Jess unable to keep from doing the same. "So you're both idiots. You realise that, don't you?"

"Oh really, that's your theory on this situation?" asked Jess, eyes widening.

"No, it's not a theory, it's a fact," Paris countered. "Geez, Mariano, buy a vowel! Rory loves you and she was trying to do something nice for the two of you. She wants to go to Prom but she thought it would be impossible or at the very least improbable that you would want to escort her given the expense of the event. Her simple solution was to help you out, make your role as small as possible in an attempt to make it easy for you to say yes," she explained all too easily. "Unfortunately, she forgot that the male ego, particularly in the teen of the species, is more prone to serious damage than a light bulb in a spin dryer. You take away a man's role in anything or diminish it in any way, you may as well take out a knife and castrate him right there on the spot."

Jess winced at the too graphic imagery but he couldn't say Paris was wrong. She had laid out both sides of the argument perfectly, landing herself squarely in the middle between Rory and himself. She saw both sides, and she thought they were both fools. There was every chance she had a point.

"Maybe you're right," he conceded.

"Of course I'm right." She rolled her eyes. "If you thought your reaction was one hundred percent justified then you wouldn't still be avoiding Rory, and I already know she's regretting the way she proposed her plan to you because she was practically crying at my locker this morning, just praying she got a chance to apologise to you today," she said quickly. "So, her idea was sound, but poorly executed, and your reaction was perhaps justified if not a little over the top. She'll be sorry, you'll be sorry, the two of you will kiss and make up and I'll finally be allowed to look happy about the fact that I actually have a date to Prom myself," she said, a smile breaking through that she really couldn't keep in check for another minute.

"Seriously?" Jess checked. "Prince Charming of Princeton is going to shlep on over to Chilton Prep to bring you to your Senior Prom?"

"He happens to think I'm worth the effort," said Paris, her tone landing somewhere between ticked at his sarcasm and proud as punch at the same time.

Jess smirked hard. "That's probably because you are, sis," he told her, nudging her shoulder with his own. "And thanks."

He didn't have to say what he was thanking her for, it was obvious enough. He needed someone with the potential to be on his side to hear what happened and make a rational response. Paris was that person, even if it didn't seem likely to anyone other than the two of them, and maybe Rory.

"You're welcome, idiot brother," she told him, rolling her eyes one more time. "Now, I have to go, and so do you. As it is I'm going to have to suck up to Mr Brownlow in a big way for missing his class. You have the much easier task with Miss Jones."

"She does love me," said Jess with a smile as they both got up from the ground and headed out.

"One day your looks are going to fade and life won't be so easy for you."

"I'll still have my charming personality," Jess countered. "Besides, if I get in a jam, I'll call you in to fix things."

Paris laughed at his gall, mostly because she knew that every word he said was true.

To Be Continued...