A/N: Hello, my loves! I'm sorry that I haven't updated much this past week or so, but I've been busy... and also binge watching Heroes in my down time, but I'm here now. This upcoming week is my spring break, so I'm going to try and write as much as I possibly can in that time!

"No, no! Absolutely not!" That's all Jess heard from the inside of the Gilmore House as he walked up the porch steps the next morning. He and Rory had plans to go apartment hunting in New York that afternoon, but from the sound of it, Lorelai was trying to convince her daughter otherwise. Instead of knocking on the door right away, he stood there, listening to the conversation inside the house.

Rory groaned. "I'm going with him, mom. Nothing you say will change my mind." She and Lorelai had been at this for over twenty minutes now. She knew that telling her mother that she was going away with Jess would be a terrible idea, but it had to be done. By now, Lorelai had called him every name in the book and Rory was growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"Rory!" Lorelai snapped. "He's no good. You know that. You spent almost a year trying to get over him and now you want to start back up all over again? That's so not like you."

The girl scoffed. "He's changed," she said in a stern voice. "Believe it or not, he's changed. I can trust him. I can get through to him. What is it that you don't understand?"

Lorelai sat down on the couch and placed her head in her hands. "No one just changes out of the blue, Rory. He's going to break your heart all over again." Rory stayed quiet and Jess' heart dropped thinking that the silence meant that she agreed with her mother. "What are you going to do? Drop out of Yale?" She shook her head.

"I'm not going to drop out of school, mom." Rory's voice was now at a normal pitch, sounding more defeated than ever. "But, I do love him. I need to make this work. You have to trust me."

Lorelai looked up at her daughter, baffled at her honesty. She was twenty years-old, nothing that she could do or say would stop her with running way with the hoodlum at this point. Her mind was already made up about this decision and it broke her heart.

Outside on the porch, Jess smiled to himself. She loved him and that's all that mattered. He made a vow that she could rely on him now and that she could trust him. He wasn't going to screw up this time. He had left that part of himself somewhere in California and it needed to stay there. He was going to be everything the girl needed and more and he was going to be the reliable one, the one that she could depend on for all of her needs. After a few moments of silence in the house, Jess knocked on the door, hoping that Lorelai wasn't going to pounce him the moment he stepped in.

"That should be Jess," Rory told her mom as she headed towards the door. Lorelai didn't say a word, but instead frowned after hearing his name. Rory opened the door and greeted him with a loving smile on her face.

He smiled back at her and felt as if his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He never got what he wanted, but for some reason, this time he got the entire world with Rory Gilmore. "You ready to go?"

"Give me a few minutes," she told him, "come on in."

He stepped inside with hesitation, almost wondering if he should stay outside and wait. Lorelai never liked him. He knew all the reasons why, and it was probably because he was nothing like Dean. He smoked, acted rudely in the presence of others, and stole Rory away from the perfect boyfriend. All of that was part of his personality, though, and he hoped soon that Lorelai would find a way to understand that after a few years of knowing him.

Jess followed Rory into the living room and he stuck his hands in his pockets out of nervous habit. He looked at the floor, trying not to make eye contact with Lorelai who was sitting on the couch, looking like a disappointed mother. He had seen that face on Liz's face more than a few times, so he knew immediately that even saying hi would irk her more than it should.

After what felt like hours of standing there, Jess finally looked over to Lorelai and found her waiting for one of them to speak up. "So, uh... You and Luke, huh?" Jess scrunched his brow together at his words. He didn't know what else to say. He could've gone on a rant as to why he was good for Rory, but he chose to keep that one for a rainy day.

"You and Rory, huh?" Lorelai reiterated with her eyebrows raised. She had a stern look on her face, one that Jess remembered well. It was pretty much the only way she had ever looked at him since he arrived in Stars Hollow a few years ago. The boy didn't say anything afterwards, too scared that Lorelai would rip his head off if he even mumbled a mhm in her direction.

Rory walked into the living room from her bedroom with her purse in hand and looked at the two of them. She knew that no matter how much time passed, things would still be the same. She remembered saying that if Jess cared about her, he would be nice to her mother. And he was. But Lorelai wasn't too fond of him still, making Jess act out even worse. She knew there was nothing she could do about it anymore, so instead she let out a silent sigh and looked at Jess. "I'm ready now." The right corner of her mouth turned up slightly to show a sympathetic grin. "I'll see you later, mom." She bent down to give Lorelai a kiss on the cheek - her silent apology for arguing with her just minutes ago.

The girl threw her keys at Jess. She didn't want to take his piece of crap all the way to New York and she also didn't want to drive there. "Seriously?" He smiled. "You're letting me drive? Of all people? Rory Gilmore, you must've lost your mind." He smiled as he watched her laugh. He was a more careful driver now, that he was sure of. "So," Jess said as they pulled out of the driveway, "I have to ask you something."

"Go on."

He sighed as he adjusted his seat at a stop sign. "How dead set are you on New York?" He wanted to make her happy, he really did, but there was no way in hell that he'd be able to afford some apartment there that wasn't with ten other people and he knew it.

Rory's face dropped. "Why do you ask?"

Jess was half expecting her to get out of the car and run home at this point, but he continued. "What about Philadelphia? It's a little bit further away, but it's affordable." He pursed his lips together and waited for her to say no, that she was out and it was a dumb idea in the first place.

"Philadelphia," Rory whispered and nodded slowly. "That doesn't sound too bad." Jess shot his head over to her, needing to see if she was serious or not. She had her eyebrows raised like she was thinking and a grin was growing on her face. "Let's check it out."

"Yeah?" Jess asked as his gaze went back to the road. In the corner of his eye, he could see the girl nodding. "You're not mad?"

Rory let out a small chuckle. "I'm not mad," she assured him. "It actually sounds pretty nice."

"I thought you'd be furious," he admitted.

"Jess," she smiled and placed a hand over his, "I'll go anywhere as long as it's with you."