A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short, but I wanted to get something to you guys tonight, in part so I could give out some big news! Today I officially began the much-alluded-to Paris-and-Rory fic! The first chapter should be posted either today or tomorrow, and I'll edit this when I post it so I link to the first chapter here. Anyway, I'm including a little more info below for people who are interested! If not please feel free to skip the rest of this author's note.

So, the fic finally has a name. After lots of delibration it's going to be called "No Men, Just Lots and Lots of Chinese Food". I hope you enjoy it, it will pick up directly during the conversation referenced in the title and will diverge from the original from there. Some elements of circumstance will remain true-to-canon whereas others will be totally different.

One of the most important things about this fic is that it is Rory and Paris-centric and will not involve much or any of the girls' romantic lives. I know this decision will confuse some people, but I think it's important to write strong female characters in their own right, doing their own thing, without needing romantic relationships to make them valuable. As I've previously mentioned, it IS Literati/Poyle endgame, but that won't come until the very end and the continuation fic would probably be in line with both of those but still Rory-Paris centered. So if you need men featured in your fics to be interested, don't read it. It won't be for you. Regardless, I hope some of my readers do check it out and enjoy it. If you have any particular questions about it, please feel free to PM me. I'm also always taking suggestions, though I can't guarantee I'll abide by them :).

As always, I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters or concepts (TYVM, ASP). I do possess about 5 frequent-coffee cards for multiple London establishments since I haven't yet found my Luke's. Coffee addiction is an expensive hobby.


Chapter 113

"So that was…"

"Surprisingly fun?"

"I was about to say tolerable."

"Jess! She's great!"

"Oh no, I completely agree with you there. But we still had to deal with Matt," Jess smirked, turning on the coffee machine and grabbing two mugs.

"Mean."

"Honest."

"They aren't mutually exclusive."

"Exactly," Jess grinned. Rory rolled her eyes, grabbing one of the mugs and filling it. "So you guys seemed to hit it off."

"Me and Matt? I don't know…he's cute, but not really my type," Rory teased, taking an enormous gulp of coffee. Jess furrowed his eyebrows.

"Funny, very funny. I meant Leah. You and her and Hannah really seemed to have a Ya-Ya Sisterhood thing going."

"Well dating a Truncheon man does create a certain sense of solidarity," Rory smiled, "And if you ever compare me to any part of that horrible book again I'm going to tie you up and read you the entirety of Anna Karenina."

"What makes you think I wouldn't enjoy that?" Jess retorted, making Rory blush, "Alright, fair, I probably wouldn't. But that's a very traumatizing choice of book."

"I love that you find that particular part of the threat to be the traumatic part," Rory grumbled, her cheeks still pink, "Regardless, she's really cool. I hope Matt doesn't manage to screw it up."

"Well, as much as I generally think it's safe to assume Matt will screw things up, he really seems to like her," Jess replied, "The entire time you guys were in the living room he wouldn't stop talking about her. That's not typical of him. Plus, he let her have the last piece of pizza."

"The international symbol of true love."

"Shocking perspective coming from a Gilmore."

"Doesn't change the fact that I'm right."

"Aren't you always?"

"Yes."

"And modest, too."

"Speaking of modest…"

"Uh oh. How do I already not like where this is going?"

"We need to go see Paris?"

"Need to? Are you sure we really need to? Maybe we'd just prefer to? Preferences we can delay indefinitely…"

"She called me yesterday, said it was important, and I needed to see her in person."

"So she didn't say anything about me?"

"Nice try. Actually, she did. She wants you to meet Doyle while we're there."

"And I'm pretty sure I have work that weekend."

"You can't use that excuse when you run the place."

"Of course you can. It's even more important to show your drive and commitment when you're in a position of leadership."

"Wow, the rebel without a cause in you truly is dead, isn't he?"

"No, his excuse would just be that he would rather eat rusty nails."

"But you like Paris."

"Maybe she's grown on me. A little bit," Jess admitted grudgingly, "But Doyle? The guy sounds like a…"

"A what?"

"A putz!"

"A putz?" Rory asked disbelievingly, starting to giggle, "Oh my god, when did I move in with Luke?"

"You know what I mean. It just seemed like the best word to express the…"

"'Putz' seemed like the best word."

"Okay, you can stop mocking me now."

"Only once you say yes. We need to go Friday."

"Why Friday?"

"I get off early on Friday so we could take the train over. Plus my next few weekends are going to be swamped, so I'd rather use one of my days now."

"…alright."

"Yes!"

"But only if we can do the Boston bookstores and come back late Sunday night. There's this one Chris mentioned to me…"

"You had me at bookstores."

"What about lobster rolls? I was about to offer up lobster rolls."

"Maybe you had me twice."

"Today? Not yet. But there's still time..."