(Next day)

Rory was on her way out of her bedroom and walking towards the door when suddenly Jess appeared in front of her.

"Good morning."

"Jeeze… how long have you been standing there?"

"A few minutes. I thought you were going to be late for school." He looked at his watch. "But we still have twenty minutes." Jess turned and opened the townhouse door. "Let's go."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding…"

"I'm not going to be late for school, just because you want to stand there and gawk all day."

"I'm not gawking…" Rory replied as she headed out the door.

Jess smiled and walked out behind her.

"If this is some joke to get back at me for what I said last night…"

"It's not a joke." Jess quickly replied. "You're right. I should be more of a gentleman."

"Yeah, like you're really going to listen to me."

"I opened the door didn't I?"

"So hard…" Rory mocked.

"I'm walking you to school, aren't I?" Jess continued.

Rory stopped. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you expect me to." Jess replied.

Rory gazed at him for a moment. He had no true emotion on his face. He could be bursting inside with happiness or dying of sadness and you could never tell. "I don't expect you to be my boyfriend. That was all a misunderstanding…" She began walking again. "You're Luke's nephew… Mom and Luke are getting married… we're all going to be living together…"

"So…"

"So, we could never date."

"Is that the only reason we could never date?" Jess asked. "Because we'd be living together?"

Quickly becoming confused and aggravated Rory began to walk faster. "Jess, I don't want to talk about this."

"Have you even had a boyfriend before?" Jess picked up his speed to match Rory's.

"No." Rory replied. "And I don't intend on getting one soon."

"Interfere with your studies?" Jess asked. "Might get in the way of Med School?"

Rory stopped. "This is all just a game to you isn't it? You're not sincere about anything… this is all just a challenge to see if you can win me over. You don't care about me or my goals or my thoughts… you just think it'd be cool to have a girlfriend that lives in the same house as you. Well, you know what Jess, even if we didn't live in the same house and Luke and my mom weren't getting married, I'd never go out with you."

Jess was hesitant to reply, but did anyway. "Why not?" He asked somberly.

"You're not my type." Rory said harshly and mockingly. She coolly turned and started walking again.

Jess stood still for a moment and watched the girl walk away. He pulled out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit it. He crossed the street and headed towards the local book store. He wasn't going to waste his day at school.

A few days later, Lorelai and Luke were preparing for their wedding. Lorelai was filled with butterflies, and Luke had smiled more in the last three days than he had in his entire life. The couple had never been more confident in their decision.

Rory and Jess had hardly seen or spoken to each other over the last few days. Jess wouldn't admit it, but his feelings had been hurt. Rory was still convinced she was the good one between the two and that Jess was a heartless and cold scoundrel. Lorelai had noticed that Jess and Rory weren't really communicating or socializing together and though it worried her that it could cause problems later on for her and Luke, she figured she'd give it more time before she addressed it.

The night before the wedding, Luke and Lorelai were laying peacefully in bed discussing their honeymoon.

"Three days away in a winter cabin… it sounds so peaceful." Lorelai yawned.

"Roasting marshmallows on a fire…" Luke added. "Relaxing in the hot tub."

"Do you think Rory and Jess will be okay while we're gone?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Luke replied. "Miss Patty will keep a good eye on them."

"I've never left Rory alone before…"

"She won't be alone… Jess and Miss Patty will be here."

"You know what I meant." Lorelai smiled.

Luke laughed. "She'll be okay."

"She's really growing up…" Lorelai continued. "I've noticed so much has changed about her. She's not a little girl that I have to protect anymore. But I'm lucky, you know."

"You are?"

"Instead of growing up and wanting me out of her life, Rory wants me in it even more. She wants us to be friends and talk about everything. It's incredible. I don't know what happened to make her feel that way, but I'm so glad she does."

"You're great mom, Lorelai." Luke said soothingly as he rubbed her arms. "I can't wait till we have our own kids."

Lorelai smiled. "Wow… do you think childbirth has changed much in the last 14 years?"

"I'm sure it'll be easier."

Lorelai thought back to Rory's birth. "Do you remember when we saw her for the first time?"

"Yeah." Luke smiled. "She was so tiny."

"And pink." Lorelai laughed. "You were afraid to hold her."

"I wasn't afraid." Luke defended. "She was just so small, I didn't want to hurt her."

"You were a really good father to her… even though it was for a short period of time." Lorelai snuggled closer. "I always loved watching you two together."

This was it. The most perfect moment in all of Luke's life. He held Lorelai close. Her hair smelled like tropical fruits and her skin was silky smooth. He could stay in this moment the rest of his life and never complain.

Meanwhile, downstairs Jess was listening to his cds in his stereo. He turned up the volume so loud that it began to shake Rory's floorboards. She let out a long frustrating groan and headed towards the basement door. She walked down the steps and into the dim light basement. Jess was laying on his bed reading by a table lamp. He hadn't even noticed Rory had walked in. She walked over and switched off the stereo.

"Hey!" Jess replied as he bolted up from his bed. "You can't just come down here and turn of my music."

"How can you read with that crap playing so loud?"

"It's not crap." Jess replied. "And I guess I'm just good at multitasking." He folded his arms.

"You're probably reading some metal music band magazine anyway. I'm sure it fits right in with your music selection."

"Actually…" Jess handed Rory his book. "I'm reading Hawthorne."

"Yeah, right." Rory laughed as she grabbed the book. "The Scarlet Letter." She huffed. "Okay, so you like one decent book."

Jess walked over to his bed and pulled out a box. "Charles Dickens… Eager Allen Poe… Harper Lee… Tom Clancy…" he piled the books on his bed.

"You really read all of these?" Rory asked as she stepped closer to the pile of books.

"Yeah." Jess answered casually. "What'd you expect… comic books?"

"It would fit the Bart Simpson analogy I had for you."

"Trouble maker, huh?" Jess asked. "Let me guess… you'd be smart little Lisa."

"Couldn't really imagine Luke as Homer though." Rory smiled.

Jess smiled as well. "Funny…I could."

There was a long pause between them. "Well… I'd better get back up stairs. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah…" Jess put the books back in his box and slid it under the bed.

Rory hadn't moved yet, instead she stood still gazing down at the spot where Jess kept his books. Jess slowly walked over towards her. He could tell she was thinking deeply about something, he could only hope it was about him. He slowly lifted his hand to her cheek. He was about to lean in and kiss her when suddenly, Rory's reflexes kicked in and she quickly backed away.

"See you tomorrow." She spat as she dashed up the stairs.