A/N: Did 17 of you seriously leave me awesome reviews on the previous chapter? Wow! I am in awe. Thank you all so much. Here was me thinking this story might not be a popular idea! lol Anywho, here's the next part, which I hope y'all enjoy as much as the previous 3 :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4

"But we always ride our bikes to the park," Lilly whined. "Why do we have to get the stupid bus today?"

Jess winced at the tone to her voice and ushered her towards the door.

"Because, today is different," he told her quietly and through mostly gritted teeth. "Because I have a surprise for you, but you're not getting it if you don't quit complaining."

The realisation that she was getting some kind of perceived gift perked Lilly right up and certainly put paid to her whining. That was a good thing because Jess could really use Jimmy not waking up and asking what was going on. Sasha already went out to run errands, leaving Jess some cash to treat Lil with at Pacific Park, and nobody had mentioned anything about Rory this morning.

It had been bad enough last night when he got home from his impromptu date to a barrage of questions from both parents. Lilly was in bed by then, with no idea that Rory had even come back into Jess' life. He chose not to tell her, or the parents, about today's arrangements, and honestly, Jess wasn't sure why he was covering everything up. Jimmy and Sasha were kind of cool about him dating. He didn't get lectures on safe sex or the correct way to treat women. They trusted him, Jess was glad about that, but this was different. He really, really liked Rory, and until he figured out all that these feelings he was having really meant, he didn't want anybody else's opinion on the whole thing. Keeping secrets was going to be impossible now Lilly was involved, but for today at least, he might get away without too much fuss.

"Come on, let's get going," he urged her, hurrying her out the door.

"When do I get my surprise?" she asked, bouncing up and down like a bug on a hotplate. "Before the park? Or do we have to be in the park for me to have it?"

"Geez, and this is before you have any sugar," Jess complained, rolling his eyes, though it was impossible not to smile too.

As kid sisters went, Lil was pretty cool. He wouldn't be without her, that was for sure, and usually she only got this pumped over books and sometimes movies. Pacific Park was a weird anomaly, one of few places beyond the walls of their home that really appealed to her. She loved that park, especially the Ferris wheel. Jess was just mildly concerned that she would consider her trip with him spoiled if Rory came along. He hoped that wouldn't prove to be true.

"I'm gonna tell you a secret, okay? And when I tell you, you have to promise you're not going to go crazy and make one of those high-pitched little girl noises that deafens me."

"Please! I have way more class than that," said Lilly, folding her arms across her chest like a little version of Jess himself in a lot of ways.

"Sure you do. Okay, so the thing is, I saw Rory again yesterday."

"I know that." Lilly rolled her eyes. "I heard Jimmy tell mom when he got home from work."

"Yeah, well, what you don't know is that I spent a lot of time with her last night, and, er... I like her," Jess explained awkwardly. "I like her enough that I asked her if she wanted to go out again, today, to Pacific Park."

He winced when he said it, Jess couldn't help it. He really wasn't sure whether to expect joy or anger from Lilly when he told her about the invitation he extended to Rory, but he had a feeling that either option was going to be freakishly loud and obnoxious.

"Oh my God!" Lilly suddenly gasped. "I get to meet Rory? That's so cool!"

Jess let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Joy was good. Relatively quiet joy was even better. Honestly, he didn't really think Lil would have any other reaction to his bringing a date to their day out. She liked to meet people, and she seemed to really love the idea of Jess dating someone in a serious way. If he could hang out with Rory and keep Lilly happy too, Jess considered that a win-win. All he had to do now was gain a little insurance that he wasn't going to come out of this day looking a fool.

"Look, this is the deal," he told his sister. "You can meet Rory, we can all hang out, and I will pay for you to do anything you want at the park, but you have to promise me, no embarrassing stories, nicknames, or anything like that in front of Rory, okay?"

"Why would I even want to do that to you?" asked Lilly, almost looking hurt at the accusation, at least until she saw the look on Jess' face. "Okay, why would I do that to you when you just offered to pay for everything?"

"Good answer." Jess smirked, ruffling her hair as they continued on walking towards the hotel.

When they got there, Rory was sat on the steps waiting for them, even though they were early yet. She was only wearing jeans and a top, nothing fancy, but the sight of her knocked all the air out of Jess. Somehow he had started to think he must have imagined how beautiful she was, but apparently not, and that was with those amazing blue eyes of hers hidden behind sunglasses.

"Hey," she greeted them happily.

"Hi," Jess replied. "Er, Rory, this is Lilly. Lil, Rory," he introduced them in as few words as possible.

"Hey, Rory," said Lilly with a cheery wave, and a grin that was too much. "Do you like Ferris wheels?"

"Er, yeah, I do," Rory agreed, a little startled by the sudden question. "I'm guessing you do too?"

"Oh yeah. The Ferris wheel is the best thing about Pacific Park. It's huge!"

"Great."

Rory was smiling when she said it and yet something told Jess she wasn't quite as enthusiastic as she implied. Maybe she was regretting this trip already, now she saw Jess in daylight and was confronted with his rambunctious little sister. He hoped that wasn't the case, but didn't really want to call her on it just in case he was right.

"Come on! Let's go!" Lilly urged him, grabbing his hand and pulling hard.

Jess lurched forward ungracefully, almost bumping into Rory, who laughed at the spectacle.

"You ready?" he asked, holding out his free hand for her to take then.

"Yes." Rory nodded, putting her hand into his without hesitation. "Let's go."

When they hit the park, Jess struggled to keep a hold of Lilly who, as usual, wanted to go everywhere, ride everything, and eat all of the food. What surprised him the most perhaps was that Rory was up for most of the rides, even the kiddie-sized ones, and more than that, all of the food.

For hours they ran around the park, riding coasters, eating cotton candy, and taking a turn at the games. Lilly was having the time of her life, as always, and didn't seem to mind walking a pace ahead of the teens that were taking care of her so they got to talk a little without her interference. It made Jess more than happy that he agreed to buy her anything she wanted today. She really was a good kid.

"Lilly!" a voice suddenly called from across the way.

"Tessa!" she yelled back, waving wildly.

"Friend from school," Jess explained to Rory, the two of them moving quickly to keep up with his sister, as she in turn hurried to reach her friend. "Pretty sure she's been away most of the Summer visiting with the grandparents or something."

"It's tough to be parted from the BFF." Rory nodded in understanding. "I miss mine and I've only been here a week so far."

When they paid attention to Lilly again, she and Tessa were talking a mile a minute, as the other little girl's mother looked on in amusement.

"You'd think they hadn't seen in each other for a year," she said, smiling but rolling her eyes at the same time.

The next thing Jess knew Mrs Cortez was eyeing Rory with interest and he just knew he was going to have to explain who she was. It wasn't as if she wouldn't find out by proxy anyway. Oddly enough when he opened his mouth to make introductions, he found himself completely cut off my Mrs Cortez herself.

"You know, if you'd like, Lilly could stay with me and Tessa a while?" she suggested kindly. "The girls clearly want to catch up, and it would give you and your friend," she said pointedly, "a little alone time."

Jess glanced at Rory and saw she was blushing furiously. He felt like he would probably be doing the same if he had any less self-control. Not that he hated the idea of spending some time alone with his date, and it seemed like a fair bet that Lil wouldn't mind. Of course, it would help if she were listening.

"Hey, munchkin!" he called for her attention, crouching down to her height so she could hear him better in the crowd. "Are you cool hanging out with Tessa and her mom for a while?" he asked seriously. "I'm okay if you do or if you don't," he advised her, wanting her to know he really didn't mean to get rid of her at all, if she didn't want to go.

"I wanna hang out with Tessa," she said after a moment's pause. "If that's okay?"

"It's fine. Just call me when you're ready to go and we'll find a spot to meet up," he told her, not even minding when Lilly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

What surprised him was the part where she whispered in his ear; "Win her a prize then take her on the Ferris wheel. You can't lose."

She had let go and run off with her friend and Mrs Cortez before Jess had a chance to fully process what Lil was suggesting. Ten years old and she had him pegged exactly. Maybe they let her read too many grown-up books. He really needed to talk to Sasha and Jimmy about that later.

"You okay?" asked Rory as he got to his feet and stood beside her.

"Sure, yeah. So, anything in particular you wanna do?"

"Hmm," Rory considered, looking all around. "My hand-eye co-ordination leaves a lot to be desired, but I'll try if you will?" she said of the games a few feet away. "I figure if we both play enough, at least one of us has to win a bear, right?"

"Sound logic," Jess agreed, taking a hold of her hand again as they weaved through the crowd.

It made him wonder if Rory had heard what Lilly said. Either way, he didn't mind much. He had been playing these games on a semi-regular basis for years now, since Lilly liked to come here pretty often. Jess had learnt all the tricks from Jimmy, how to throw the ball just so, or toss the dart at the right angle. When Rory chose the water in the clown's mouth game for her first choice, Jess knew he was on a winner.

"You know the trick to this one?" he asked her.

"Other than take your best shot?" Rory asked with an amused smile.

Moving in close to her to impart his secrets, Jess put his hands over hers on the water gun and spoke softly in her ear.

"Aim high, then the water arcs down. More pressure, makes the marker go up until..."

He stopped talking as the bell rang, signalling a prize had been won. Rory laughed happily, turning in Jess' arms to hug him. Though it seemed like kind of an over-reaction to winning a toy that was barely worth the cost of a turn in the game, Jess wasn't objecting at all.

"Wow," he said, completely dead-pan, as Rory was presented with the sad looking little bear.

"I think he's cute," she declared happily. "I think I'll call him... Jess."

He didn't really get a chance to react to that before she set off walking towards the next attraction she wanted to see. Jess figured she wasn't great about giving compliments any more than taking them and probably wanted to hide the fact she was blushing again. That was fine with him. She had a hold of his hand and was dragging him towards wherever she wanted to go next, and Jess knew he would happily go anywhere she wanted to take him.

They wandered around for a while, playing the games, taking a turn on a couple of rides, and eating. Jess was a little in awe of how much food Rory could put away. With Lilly, he felt the need to keep reminding her to slow down so she wasn't sick as she asked for cotton candy, ice cream, popcorn, and a hotdog all at once. Rory seemed happy to buy herself all these things and pretty much eat continuously. In the end, it got the better of Jess and he had to ask about it.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you can really eat a lot," he told her. "Do they not feed you at home?"

Rory laughed at that, which was a good thing. Whilst he was pretty sure she wasn't the type to be offended by a comment like that, he really didn't know her all that well yet. The last thing Jess wanted to do was screw up with this girl.

"Me and my mom are kind of known for our ability to eat junk, drink coffee, and never gain weight. We're the envy of Stars Hollow," she said proudly.

"I'll bet you are," Jess agreed, wondering if she had any idea how many ways he meant that. "So, what do say to hitting the famous Ferris wheel?"

Suddenly Rory wasn't so much smiling anymore and Jess was just a little concerned.

"Um, yeah. I guess we should do that," she said, nodding her head. "I just... You're going to think this is so lame, but I'm a little nervous about the whole height thing. I mean, rollercoasters are fine, which I know is ironic, but it's moving so fast I kind of don't notice how high it's going, but the Ferris wheel practically stops up there and... and you think I'm pathetic."

"Not pathetic," Jess promised her. "And if you don't wanna go up, it's fine. It's just that the view is pretty spectacular, and I didn't think you'd wanna miss it."

Rory looked torn as Jess watched her glance from him to the Ferris wheel and back. She was clearly weighing up her options, and eventually, with a deep breath, she seemed to come to a decision.

"Okay," she said, nodding he head. "I guess if you're with me, I won't be so scared."

Jess couldn't explain the feelings those words gave him, or more so the shiver that ran through him when Rory looked at him just like that. Maybe Jimmy and Sasha were right. Maybe he really had fallen in love the second he laid eyes on Rory Gilmore.

"This is going to end badly," he said to himself, as he and Rory headed for the Ferris wheel, hand in hand.

She was going to leave. She already told him that two weeks from now she would be gone, and Jess knew he would probably never see her again. After all, it wasn't as if she was even from the same state, the same coast. She was a New England girl and he had so easily become a California boy. It was hopeless and pointless to pretend anything could come of the two of them running around together, but for as long as it lasted, Jess was already so certain he couldn't stop himself from going with it.

They sat down in the Ferris wheel gondola together, as the safety bar came down and the wheel began to move again. Rory was fine until they really gained some height. Not far from the top of the arc, her hand gripped Jess' a little tighter and she scooched as close as she could get on the seat.

"Relax, you're fine," he promised her. "I've ridden this thing a hundred times, and I'm still here."

"I know. I'm okay," Rory told him, though Jess had a feeling she was telling herself as much as anyone.

"Hey," he called for her attention, and the moment he had it, Jess put his hand to her face, guiding her closer and kissing her lips.

Rory didn't seem to mind at all, in fact she got very into the moment. They parted just as their gondola hit the highest point of the Ferris wheel.

"Wow," Rory gasped.

"Was that for the kiss or the view?" asked Jess, trying not to smirk.

"Both," Rory admitted, looking past him at the buildings, the boardwalk, and the ocean in all its glory. "This is amazing!" she declared happily.

As they began to slowly descend again, Rory caught Jess staring at her and looked a little wary.

"What?"

"Nothing," he told her. "Just admiring the view."

She blushed again, curling into his side as they headed back down towards the ground. It was getting late into the afternoon now, and no doubt Lil would be calling to say she was ready to go before long. Jess hated that this day had to be over, and more so that he didn't know how many more chances he would get to spend time with Rory before she was gone from his life. Two occasions that barely counted as dates in some ways, and he was already hooked on this girl. It would not be a stretch to say he was in love with her, and that had to mean he was doomed.

"Y'know the view up there is even more impressive at night, with all the lights and everything," he said, nonchalant as he could manage as they stepped off the Ferris wheel onto the ground again.

"I'd love to see that," said Rory, smiling brighter than any neon lights could ever be to Jess.

Yeah, he was definitely doomed.

To Be Continued...