A/N: Wow. I want to thank all of you for the fantabulistic reviews. After I posted Apples and Sand, they almost doubled! Also, to all of you who have been keeping up with my story, not to mention reviewing every chapter, thank you so so so so much. Keep it up ; ) And, as a heads up, this chapter will include JESS! Yes, Jess. Actual Jess, too, not just the one in Rory's head.

Disclaimer: Don't even get me started.

Dan da na na! THE FIC!

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Without stopping to re-think, or talk herself out of it, or make a goddamn pro/con list, she held the phone up to her ear, waiting for some sort of greeting.

Ring. Rory took a deep breath. Ring. Ring. She let it out. Ring.

"'Lo?" said a groggy voice from the other line.

Oh, shit, she thought. Say something. "Um—hi," she said quietly, her voice cracking. Smooth. She cleared her throat. "I mean, hey."

"Rory?" said Jess, sounding more awake.

"Yeah," she said. God, his voice was sexy. She made a face. You're married, Rory, she yelled inside her head. "Married," she whispered.

"What?" said Jess, his voice still deep with that just-woke-up kind of volume.

"Um, nothing," she said quickly. "I was just—um, the television was—yeah," she said the last word louder. "See, the TV was on 'cause I couldn't sleep, and then I saw the book you sent me—you know the one—and I saw the phone number on the back and then I thought, well, who else just might be awake at—" she looked at the clock, "—four in the morning, although apparently I was wrong since you sound pretty tired, but it made sense in my head and—"

"Babble much?" Jess interrupted.

She blushed. "It's early."

"Rory," Jess said, his voice more serious than when he was mocking her, "Why'd you really call?"

I'm glad you called.

"Because…" she trailed off, trying to think of an answer.

Because maybe you can explain what the hell this crazy woman is talking about.

"Because?" he asked. She could hear his smirk through the phone.

I promise. Commit to it one more time and if it still is awful for you, I will make it up to you.

"Because…" she repeated. "Because…you never told me if you liked it," she blurted out.

"What?" said Jess.

"The Fountainhead," she said, proud of herself for coming up with something.

"Ayn Rand?" asked Jess, a trace of a smile in his voice. "You woke me up at four in the morning to ask me about Ayn Rand?"

"You're saying she's not worth the call?" she retorted.

"I never said that," he backtracked.

"You insinuated."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Okay," he laughed. Man, she loved his laugh. "I give."

"You still didn't tell me," said Rory.

"Tell you what?" he asked innocently.

"Oh don't act so naïve, Dodger, you know exactly what."

"So you got the book, huh?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I did," she said, her tone softening. "Hey, don't think you're gonna weasel your way out of anything, mister."

"Didcha like it?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Come on, Rory, I really wanna know."

"Okay," she said. What was it about him that made her give in to anything? "I loved it," she said quietly. "It was incredible."

"It was nothing," he said modestly.

"You know it wasn't that, Jess," her tone was sad. It was everything.

"It was nothing," he said again.

"It was anything but nothing," she said firmly. "It meant so much to me, and you know that."

"Yeah, well," he said. "Whatever."

"Aww, there's my Holden Caulfield."

"You mock, but I hope you've noticed that I've still avoided your question."

She laughed, and then stopped when she heard some noise coming from Logan's bedroom. My bedroom, she corrected in her head.

"Um, I gotta go," she said.

"Okay," he said. "Bye, Rory."

"Bye, Jess."