A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews, peops :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 24

"I told you everything would be fine," said Paris triumphantly, popping another chip into her mouth. "You two are lucky you have me looking out for your relationship. Seriously, I don't know how you'd cope without me."

It was over a week now since Rory and Jess made up thanks to Paris' help, and several days since he had asked her about Prom. Things were finally back to normal, except for the part where Paris wouldn't stop crowing about how great her contribuction was in the fixing of things between her brother and her friend.

"Paris, I'm not saying you didn't help," said Rory with a smile, "but you do realise that me and Jess had something to do with it too, right?"

"Don't even try, Rory," her boyfriend advised her. "As far as Paris is concerned she's now the Patron Saint of our relationship, and we can only function with her there to keep us on the right path," he said, rolling his eyes.

"You should be nicer to me," Paris snapped at him. "I kept your ridiculous Prom question extravaganza to myself, and tried to convince Rory not to dump you during the week of sullen jerk behaviour. I did my part, don't forget that."

Jess knew he couldn't argue with what she said because it was in fact perfectly true. Of course, he wasn't about to admit that so he said nothing at all.

"Speaking of relationships," said Rory with a grin, "you and Jamie certainly seem to getting along really, really well."

"What can I say? The man has taste," said Paris, blushing as she did so.

She could try to play it as cool as she wanted, but her friends knew better. If she wasn't in love with this guy then she was damn close. She talked about him more often than she meant to, and though she always got her studies complete on time and to no less of a standard than before, much of her free time was spent either talking to Jamie or physically spending time with him now.

"I guess it says something about him that he hasn't made you cry yet," said Jess thougthfully. "Believe me, he'd be missing teeth if he had."

"Down boy!" Paris told him, though she was smiling just the same. "If I need a guard dog, I'll yell."

"I don't think Jamie would ever upset Paris on purpose," Rory insisted. "He's one of life's good guys."

Jess rolled his eyes but let it go. Actually, he didn't hate Jamie. The truth was, he didn't know the guy, but he did worry about Paris. Of course the saving grace of the boyfriend was that if the worst happened and Paris didn't get her dream of going to Harvard, there was always Princeton who might take her, the place where the great and wonderful Jamie was to be found.

"So, any sign of college acceptance letters yet?" asked Paris then, almost as if she read his mind. "Nothing interesting in my mail box so far. I'm not sure whether to assume that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"I read that the acceptance letters go out first, and then once the colleges know how many students have taken up a place, they send out the second wave of acceptance letters and all the rejections," Rory explained. "Of course, that's probably not true for every school. So far nothing for me either."

"Jess?" Paris prompted when he was quiet too long.

"Nothing," he confirmed shaking his head.

He hoped she didn't take his concentration on his lunch as a sign he was lying. Actually, Jess was telling the whole truth. He really hadn't received news either way from any of the schools he had applied to, but this wasn't a topic he much wanted to talk about. While the girls were desperate to know if they made the grade for Harvard, Yale, and the like, Jess wasn't sure what result he was hoping for - the big envelope or the small.

Eventually somebody would say something else on a new topic. Jess just didn't expect it to be the teacher's aide coming along to summon both Rory and Paris' to Charleston's office.

The girls shared a look and then went on their way, promising to catch up with Jess later. He thought about wishing them good luck or something, but it seemed unlikely they would need it. Paris rarely got herself into real trouble and Rory certainly never did. It was most likely he wanted to congratulate the girls on some great achievement, or maybe it had to do with them being class president and vice. Jess figured he would find out later.

"I have big news to tell you later," said Lorelai with the widest of grins on her face.

Luke couldn't help but smile along with her, even though he had no idea what she was so happy about.

"You can't tell me now?" he checked, watching as she took a long sip of her coffee and then shook her head.

"Nope. This is non-sharing in public news," she told him, "but happy too. Very happy."

There was really no answer that Luke could give to that. He couldn't imagine what secretive happy news he was supposed to expect to hear, though he did understand Lorelai's reluctance to say anything of importance within the diner. There weren't so many customers right now, but that just meant it was easier to overhear other people's conversations. Gossip spread around Stars Hollow like wild fire as it was. No need to help it along.

Since there were no more customers that needed to be served right now, Luke took a moment to give his girlfriend his full attention. He leaned his elbows on the counter next to where she was eating her sandwich and smiled.

"You got any news you want to share and can actually talk about?"

"Hmm," she said, considering the question way too much before she answered. "Oh yeah, I saw Max today."

"Max as in Medina?" asked Luke, watching her nod. "As in the guy you almost married?"

"That'd be him," Lorelai agreed, wiping mayo from the corner of her mouth. "Kind of weird running into him like that, just there in the middle of a pharmacy. Kinda nice though."

"Really?"

Lorelai saw something in Luke's expression that was both ridiculous and adorable at the same time.

"Luke, seriously," she said, rolling her eyes. "Please tell me you are not about to get jealous over my talking to Max. Are you really that insecure about this relationship?" she checked, almost ready to feel hurt about it if he were.

"No, I'm not... insecure," he said awkwardly, moving to adjust his hat. "I'm just... Well, what did he want?"

"A pack of aspirin, I think," said Lorelai, smiling at her own joke. "He didn't want anything," she explained then. "We bumped into each other, agreed that each of us looked good. He told me how he's been teaching at Stanford and was back for a little bit at Chilton. We mentioned Rory and how well she's doing, oh, and then I told him about you."

"About me?"

"Yes, about you. I told him you and I were together now. He seemed very not surprised by that," she said, smiling as she thought of it now.

"Really?"

Luke smiled too, recalling the couple of times when he had conversations with Max Medina. Man, Luke had been jealous of that guy, but always liked that he seemed able to rattle the English teacher by pushing the point of how close he and Lorelai were. In the end, everything had worked out for the best. Medina was out of the picture, and Luke and Lorelai couldn't be happier together.

"I can't believe I ever thought Max was the guy for me," said Lorelai then, chewing thoughtfully on a bite of her sandwich. "I mean, he was great and everything, such a nice guy, but... well, he's not you, babe. I shoulda seen it sooner," she said, smiling widely.

Luke leaned over the counter to kiss her lips.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Sure," she agreed happily. "And I love you. That's kind of the point."

Just as they parted, the bell over the door rang. Rory and Jess came into the diner together, hand in hand as they often were.

"Hey, kids. How was school?" asked Lorelai, turning on her stool to greet them.

"Pretty average for me," said Jess. "A little more than that if you're Rory or Paris."

"Okay. Explain please," Lorelai urged her daughter.

Rory hopped up onto the stool by her mom, whilst Jess tossed his jacket and bag behind the curtain and joined Luke on the other side of the counter. He was as eager to see the reaction to this as Rory was to tell the story.

"Well, Headmaster Charleston called me and Paris into his office today to talk about our speeches. You know, the ones we prepared last week? Apparently, we both did so well, we have to work together, combine our speeches, and then present them in front of an audience of students, teachers, and parents for Chilton's Bicentennial, plus cameras will be present - we're going to be live on C-SPAN!"

"Oh my God!" Lorelai gasped, leaping from her stool with delight and hugging Rory so tight her daughter couldn't actually breathe for a minute. "Honey, this is amazing! Epic! I can't believe this!"

"Congratulations, Rory," said Luke with a wide smile. "What can I get you? Anything at all, on the house."

"Oh, wow. Thanks, Luke," said Rory happily, trying to decide what she wanted.

Just as soon as she made her choice, Jess said he would go and make it. The truth was, he could not be more proud of his girlfriend or his sister. The whole education thing didn't thrill Jess at all, but he knew what it meant to Rory and Paris to excel. Their upcoming appearance on C-SPAN made them so happy (if not a little nervous in Rory's case) and that was all Jess wanted for either of them. It also gave Paris something other than college applications to talk about for a while. Rumour had it that people were starting to receive acceptance and rejection letters from the Ivy League, which meant Jess, Rory, and Paris were all expecting their large or small envelopes at any time.

Jess wasn't sure what worried him more, that he would or would not get into Harvard, Yale, or any of the other places he had applied to. Not being where Rory and Paris were going to be didn't thrill him, but at the same time, he really wasn't sure that the whole further education thing was such a great idea. Luke told him not to think about the money, but Jess found that tough. Plus he wasn't convinced he could stand another four years of being talked down to by teachers, writing papers, and spending most of his time enclosed in a classroom. It had never been something he thought was possible for him until recently, and now that it was, even at this late stage, Jess wasn't sure what to do. He supposed he didn't have to worry too much until he found out for sure if he even could go to any of the schools he applied to. He was bound to find out soon, whether he liked it or not. In the meantime, he could enjoy Rory's happiness over her upcoming C-SPAN appearance, and Paris' silence on any topic that wasn't said appearance. That wasn't nothing.

To Be Continued...