A/N: Thanks for all the reviewage on the previous chapter. Now, time for Jess to see Stars Hollow for the very first time! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 16

Jess slept a while on the plane but by the time it landed at the airport in Hartford, he was very much awake, sat bolt upright, his hands starting to shake again. This was crazy. He was headed towards Rory, that was incredible, and Luke and Lorelai were decent people. Liz wasn't in Stars Hollow, not right now. That would've been too much to face all at once. There was really nothing at all to be afraid of, so Jess wasn't sure why he felt so damn nervous. He only hoped it would pass soon, before he made a complete fool of himself.

Concentrating on the task at hand, he went through the process of getting off the plane, getting his luggage, and finding his way to wherever familiar faces would be waiting for him, wondering when this would start to feel normal, like maybe it was a good idea. A part of Jess was really wishing he had stayed in Venice. Jimmy, Sasha, and Lilly suddenly seemed like a million miles away rather than just a couple of thousand, and the world was noticeably colder. Maybe that was less the absence of the family he knew and more the actual shift in climate, but right now, Jess would believe either thing to be true.

Walking out through the gate, he might have known everything would change the moment he saw her.

"Jess!" she yelled, running towards him.

"Rory," he said with a smile.

He let go of the luggage trolley in a second and opened his arms to receive her with the world biggest hug. When she moved to kiss him, he didn't stop her, the two of them lost in a beautiful moment right there in the middle of the airport. Jess didn't even hear the wolf whistles and such for the first couple of minutes, and when he did tune into the sound, he couldn't care much.

"Wow. I didn't know the human body could go so long without air."

Jess moved away from Rory like lightning when he heard her mother speak, looking just a little sheepish. Rory blushed terribly, trying to hide her face in his shoulder. One thing was for sure, she didn't seem willing to let up her death-grip on him, and Jess didn't mind that one little bit.

"Ms Gilmore," he said, nodding his head, "or Mrs Danes?" he tried, looking from her to Luke.

"That twitch you're seeing is because you're making her feel like some kind of senior citizen with the whole 'Mrs' thing," said Luke with a knowing smile. "She has the same reaction to 'ma'am', so I'd stick to Lorelai if I were you."

"Duly noted," Jess agreed.

"Hello, nephew," said Luke then. "It's good to see you."

"Good to be here, I think," said Jess warily. "I don't think I factored in the weather. We don't really have seasons in California," he said, shivering slightly even though they were still indoors and Rory's arms were wrapped tightly around him.

"You'll get used to it," Luke promised, slapping him on the back. "And if you need anything, we're all here for you."

Jess nodded that he understood but said nothing more as Luke retrieved his luggage and Lorelai and Rory both started talking a mile a minute about plans made and those still to be confirmed. Jess wasn't exactly taking in everything being said, it was just too much. He was due to start school on Monday, which only gave him the weekend to get settled in. Apparently, he would have the whole diner apartment to himself but was welcome to hang out in the diner itself, at the house that was affectionately known as the Crap Shack, or even at the inn where Lorelai worked if he wanted to.

"Rory comes by sometimes, does those annoying odd jobs that nobody else wants and makes a few bucks," Lorelai explained. "You're welcome to come with."

"Yeah, and I know it's not the name as your dad's hotdog place, but if you want a couple of shifts at the diner, I can always use the extra pair of hands. I don't want you going short of cash just because you're here."

"Thanks," said Jess, absently nodding his head.

They were getting in the truck by now and he was watching as a sad-faced Rory left his side for a while to get into the Jeep with Lorelai and head home. They would be all of a few feet away from each other for no more than an hour he was sure, and yet Jess well understood what she was feeling. It seemed there wasn't room for everybody all in one vehicle so they had to part for now.

"I'll see you in Stars Hollow!" she called, waving her hand as she climbed into her mother's car.

"Stars Hollow," said Jess quietly. "Still sounds like something out of a fairy tale or something."

"It's a wacky little place, that's for sure," Luke agreed, getting into the truck and encouraging his nephew to do the same. "But it's home, at least for me. I don't know any better, I guess, but I think you'll like it. There's a whole bunch of people who are gonna be excited to meet you."

"Why?"

"Mostly just because you're a new face, but when they find out that technically you're an old face too? Man, the gossip mill will go into over-drive on that one."

"Great," said Jess, not sure what he was really supposed to feel about that.

He and Luke didn't talk all that much on the way into town. His uncle asked how the flight was and everything, but after that things got strained and awkward again. They could talk, they had proven that in California, but it was different now. Jess had a lot to think about and a big adjustment to make in his life. He had literally left behind everything he knew to come here. Leaving places wasn't so weird for Jess, he'd been doing that all his life, but leaving people, leaving Jimmy, most especially, that was very, very weird.

Driving on into Stars Hollow, Jess' eyes went wide as he took in his surroundings. Pumpkins seemed to be in every conceivable place, the golden leaves of Fall in New England hung down from row on row of trees and had already started to carpet the ground too. Kids in matching outfits ran around a gazebo that sat proudly in the middle of the town square, and couples watched hand-in-hand like something out of an Andy Hardy movie. It was like a postcard or a movie or something. A TV special that Jess would never bring himself to watch, and yet this was his home now, for he larger part of a year.

"Huh," he said, taking in the sights.

"Looks a lot different to what you're used to, I know," said Luke with a smile. "Like I said, it's a wacky little place here, but they're mostly good people, friendly, helpful. They mean well, even if it doesn't always seem like it."

"Sure." Jess nodded absently. "Uh, I'm sure it's great, and thanks. Y'know for letting me come here, stay here, whatever," he said then, suddenly realising he maybe should have said it way back at the airport.

"You're very welcome, Jess," Luke assured him, pulling the truck up to the kerb outside what had to be the famous Luke's Diner. "So, this is it."

"Looks cool."

"Thanks."

They got out of the truck and started to unload. It took more than a few trips to get all of Jess' stuff into the diner and then upstairs to the apartment. Thankfully, Luke told him he could stay put after his first run and that he'd bring the rest, since parading Jess back and forth through the diner seemed like bad idea.

"I'm guessing you don't want the third degree on your first day, not on top of the jet lag and everything."

"Thanks," said Jess. "Again."

They shared a smile and then Luke went down to fetch the rest of his nephew's luggage. Left alone, Jess surveyed the apartment. Not that it really looked much like a living space. He recalled being told it had once been an office, his grandfather's office, truth be known. It was weird to think that he'd ever had a guy he might call Grandpa, that he had worked here, walked on this floor, sat at a desk somewhere in this very room. A shiver ran through Jess, and if he didn't know any better, he would swear a ghost just brushed by him.

"That's crazy," he muttered to himself.

"What's crazy?" asked Luke, coming back into the apartment, laden down with bags.

"Nothing," Jess insisted. "I was just... This is a great place."

"It's not so bad." Luke shrugged. "I lived here for years before Lorelai and I got married, then it just made sense for me to move in over at the house. Y'know, we would have you stay there with us, it's just... Look, it's not that we don't trust you, we do, but Rory is... and you're... Teenagers can get..."

"Luke, it's cool," Jess assured him. "I get it. Rory and me sleeping in the same house would freak out Lorelai, and probably you too. I'm not offended or anything, and like I said, this is a great place."

Luke smiled at that and patted Jess on the shoulder.

"You're a good kid."

He turned and went back downstairs for the rest of the luggage before Jess had a chance to react to that. A good kid. Yeah, he supposed that was exactly what he was right now. At home, he mostly got treated like an adult, unless he gave his folks any particular reason to remember he was technically still a child. He doubted it would be much different here, except for maybe when he met Liz.

That was the part of this whole adventure that Jess still wasn't sure how to feel about. He was going to meet his mother in the next couple of days, the woman who gave birth to him. That was weird to say the least. In some ways, he was thrilled. In others, he almost couldn't stand the idea of coming face-to-face with her.

"Hey, again."

Jess turned at the sound of her voice and smile when he saw Rory framed in the doorway.

"I saw Luke unloading and volunteered to help," she said, hefting a large bag into the centre of the room and dropping it down at Jess' feet. "I can't believe you're here."

"Believe it, because it's true," he told her, smiling still.

This felt weird and they both knew it. In Venice, when she was on vacation and he was basically her summer romance, they knew how to act, it all just felt so natural. Now they were here in her real-life situation, her hometown and everything, with his uncle and her mom who were married. It was strange, a little unsettling, and yet Jess knew his feelings for Rory hadn't changed one iota.

"C'mere," he said, his hands going to her face, urging her forward into a sweet kiss.

"I missed you," she whispered against his lips. "I didn't realise how much I would until it was too late."

"I missed you too," he promised, arms wrapped around her now and keeping her close. "If everything else goes to hell, at least I'm here with you. That's the best part about this whole thing."

"Won't the best part be getting to know your mom and Luke?"

"Are you kidding me?" he asked, eyes widening slightly. "I mean, Luke seems like a nice guy, and yeah, I guess I do want to meet Liz and everything, but you... You're the biggest reason why I'm here, Rory," he told her what he thought she had already known. "I told you before, I love you. I never felt like this about anybody."

"Me either," she admitted, visibly swallowing hard. "Jess, I thought maybe when I got back here things would be different, that everything in California was just so special because it was a vacation and the summer and... I don't know, I thought I was fooling myself in what I felt for you, but I wasn't. I love you too, I don't think I'll ever stop," she promised.

They were kissing again in a heartbeat, only parting when Luke appeared in the doorway, clearing his throat very loudly.

"Lorelai is down in the diner, hoping you'll both join her," he explained. "I told her that maybe Jess didn't want to be centre of attention, but she said I had to ask you rather than make that assumption. Apparently, if you're old enough to come all the way across the country on your own, you can decide if you want to eat in the diner without any help from me," he said, rolling his eyes.

Jess suspected he was quoting almost directly from Lorelai herself and it made him smile. Seemed to him that his uncle was just a little bit under his wife's thumb. Of course, though it may not be cool to admit it, Jess wasn't so sure he'd be any different where Rory was concerned, if that was how she wanted him to be.

"I could eat," he said, nodding his head, "and I guess I gotta face the masses before long. May as well get it over with."

"You're going to love Stars Hollow, Jess. I swear you will," Rory promised him, curled into his side still as they headed for the stairs.

Looking at her, Jess was pretty sure he loved it already, no matter how everything else panned out.

To Be Continued...