Disclaimer: These characters are so not mine. This particular scenario is though.
Thank you to my reviewers:
Lunatic Lorenzio – Yes, well, I've only let schoolwork slightly delay my writing this time. Rory and Jess may not be perfect, but they are perfect for each other. More Jess goodness, coming your way…
Gilmore-Buffy-Fan13 – I'm trying to move them past all of the little mistakes which doomed their relationship in the past, so I thought having her call him would be a good idea. It was also a way to inject some Jess into the latter part of the chapter; I can't have Logan taking up too much precious screen time, can I?
AvidTVfan – You bet they're together!
Katesque – Thank you so much! My version of Jess is the Jess who evolved from the season three-Jess, after pulling his life together and growing up a whole bunch. He's still a bit rough around the edges, and isn't exactly Mr. Personality with anyone but Rory, but with her, and because of her, he's decided it's time to grow up, open up, and do what it takes to keep her and make her happy. And, once you see his returns in seasons four and six, my Jess doesn't seem quite so OOC, in my opinion, because he really does start to grow up and open up in those episodes.
Jade-Tessier – Thank you so much for reviewing all of my chapters and for mentioning the things you like! I'm really glad you're enjoying it.
just hidden – I'm afraid I haven't exactly been the best little student lately, either, but at least I decided if I wasn't going to get my schoolwork done, at least I should write a chapter, right?
LoVeIsTrUsT – Thank you! I felt like bringing Logan back would bring some closure for Rory, and I don't actually hate Logan, I just don't think he belongs with Rory.
cutebabe058 – I consider my Jess to be an ideal evolution of the old Jess, the way I want him to be, lol.
gilmore15girl – Thank you! Here's more…
lukeandlorealilove – Thank you so much!
Gilmoreaddict – Heh, if only reviews would also factor into my grades. (Can you imagine? 'Sure, my project wasn't finished on time, but look at all the wonderful things people have to say about my fanfiction writing. I think that should get taken into account.')
PR0TECTiNGME11 – Thank you!
Swingflip – What a viscous (albeit enjoyable) cycle! Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Sanfrangiantsfan – If Logan caused major problems for Jess and Rory, I'd have to kill him off or something, and I didn't want to have to do that, so I let them play nice, lol.
Mirax Corran – HAHA! Well, he was being a prick. The first step to healing is admitting you have a problem…
evangeline b – I don't hate Logan, but he can be a bit smarmy for my taste, and he doesn't deserve Rory, that's for sure.
RogueHoney – Ah, yes, an understanding Jess. It's amazing what a little maturity can do…
Tookie Clothespin – Your wish is my command, the date is the primary focus of tonight's chapter. (as if the title didn't give that away…)
Chelsea71490 – Thank you!
IloveJoeL. – Thank you. Here's more…
Miloluver – Thank you so much! And now, on with the latest update!
AN: I'm back again! This update took a little longer because of schoolwork, but I certainly haven't abandoned you. Actually, my schoolwork is possibly in worse shape than this story right now, but I figured writing more for this was better than not doing either! I'm heading home now to eat dinner and drink sangria with my roommate and friends, while you get to enjoy this chapter. Ciao.
Best Date Ever
The clock flipped to 5:42 and the first shades of twilight were setting in as Jess pulled into a parking space in the lot next to the building where Rory was working.
"You cook her food, stay calm when she eats lunch with Logan, and are now twenty minutes early to pick her up for a date. You are so whipped," he muttered to himself, closing his eyes and listening to the last strains of "London Calling" before turning the engine off.
Admittedly, he was overcompensating for his past shortcomings by putting extra effort into treating her well now. His thoughts drifted to the night he had shown up unexpectedly at the hockey game with tickets to see the Distillers. He had returned home to find an angry message from her on the answering machine, which, though he never told her, he had listened to despite her asking him not to. She was upset that he expected her to sit around and wait for him and that he didn't call when he said he would, or at all sometimes. At the time he'd brushed it off, certain that spontaneity and resistance to succumbing to others' expectations were an unchangeable part of who he was. She had said she was used to being spoiled, but his mind, warped by years of volatile and less than meaningful relationships, convinced him that he was treating her as well as he was able. He'd always known that he didn't deserve her, but at the time part of him felt that she asked for what she got when she agreed to date him. And it didn't help that he'd had a distinct aversion to anything associated with Dean, and 'reliable' was high on the list of adjectives used to describe that jerk. Three years space in time allowed him the luxury of hindsight, and he knew now that he really hadn't deserved her at the time, but that he was capable of so much more now.
Shaking himself out of his self-chastising reverie, Jess grabbed the garment bag Rory had packed in the morning and stepped out of the car. If keeping Rory meant being reliable and spoiling her a little, he was man enough now not to argue too much – she was worth it.
Jess entered the building and headed straight for the elevator, quickly pressing the button for the sixth floor before leaning back on the handrail. After just a few moments the elevator stopped at the second floor and the doors slid back to reveal a bored looking Logan reading some files. Jess tensed and couldn't help staring at Logan, but did nothing to attract his attention. The ring announced the arrival of the elevator, at which Logan absentmindedly entered and reached forward to press the button for the sixth floor. Realizing that the button was already lit, Logan glanced up to see who else was in the elevator. Recognition followed by shock registered briefly on Logan's face before he managed to compose himself.
"Jess, right?"
Jess gave only an upward nod of acknowledgment, not shifting from his position leaning on the handrail.
"I assume you're here to see Rory?"
After a moment, Jess nodded in response, but remained silent. The two men stood quietly, each sizing the other up, looking for any revelation of emotion the other might let slip. Jess wondered exactly how many charges could get pressed against him if he was provoked into punching the son of one of the most powerful newspaper men in the country while he was on the job. The thought brought a tiny smirk to Jess' face. The elevator slid to a stop on the sixth floor, the doors opened, and the low ring once again announced its arrival on the desired floor.
"After you," Logan stated politely, gesturing that Jess should exit first.
Jess stared for a moment and then broke his gaze and swiftly stepped out, glancing around quickly to get his bearings in the new environment. Logan promptly exited the elevator and began to walk away, but with a hint of hesitation in his gait. Before he got very far, he turned around to see Jess still standing by the elevators.
"Jess?"
Surprised that Logan was speaking to him again, Jess gave Logan his full attention.
Logan cleared his throat and began hesitantly, "You may think this is none of my business but…if you hurt Rory, I will find out."
Jess scoffed slightly, and shot Logan a look of disbelief.
"Is that supposed to be a threat?"
Logan continued more confidently, grateful for years of practice at hiding discomfort under a veneer of composure, "It's not a threat, just…don't hurt her, alright?"
"I don't see how that is any of your business."
"Why? You have plans on hurting her?" Logan retorted cockily.
"I just don't see why you care."
Logan bristled and Jess guessed he had struck a nerve.
"Look, Rory was the first girl to ever actually give a damn about me. We're not together anymore, I get that. I'm just saying…she doesn't deserve to get hurt…again."
Jess stared at Logan intensely while his mind churned, attempting to formulate an appropriate response. Who did this guy think he was? After the way he treated Rory, he now decides he's going to give protective "Don't hurt her, or else" speeches? Though, there was something Logan said which hit Jess like a punch to the gut. He had said Rory was 'the first girl to ever actually give a damn about me.' It was running through Jess' head repeatedly since hearing Logan say it, but it wasn't unfamiliar. In fact, it was the exact phrase which had run through Jess' head more times than he could count in the last three years. Did he and Logan really have something that fundamental, that unchangeable, in common with each other? He would still gladly take up an opportunity to beat the living daylights out of this guy, but at least now he thought he understood him a bit better.
"No, she doesn't," Jess finally relented before tacking on, "Look, I don't want to be late meeting her so I'm going to go now…"
In the space of a moment, their eyes locked and Jess and Logan came to an unspoken understanding. There was certainly no love lost between the two, but the childish animosity from the night at the bar was gone now. Logan broke the eye contact first, and Jess headed off into the main room of the office and took a right.
"Uh, Jess?" Logan called out unexpectedly, "Rory's desk is over there."
Logan was pointing the opposite way from where Jess had been headed. Swallowing his instinct to be annoyed at receiving any help from Logan, Jess nodded and followed Logan's directions. Logan stood for a moment, sighed heavily, and headed off in a different direction, resigned to sticking out the rest of his evening here at the office.
Jess arrived at Rory's desk while she was completely absorbed in something on her computer, so he stood behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"Hello there."
Rory jumped slightly but smiled as Jess placed a quick kiss on her cheek.
"You're early."
"It's 5:53."
"Meaning you're early."
"Huh. Fascinating. Ready to go?"
"Of course not. Give me fifteen minutes?"
"I've got my book, take your time. Though I we are on a schedule…we have somewhere to be before 8:30."
"8:30? How far away is it?"
"We've got a bit of a drive ahead of us, but I think it'll be worth it…"
Rory shot Jess a questioning look, but he just shrugged his shoulders and gestured that she should get back to work. He pulled up a chair and grabbed "Ham on Rye" from his back pocket. He had already read it about fifty or sixty times, so it made for easy reading that he could pick up and put down at a moment's notice. He also thought it was interesting to read the notes he had left in the margins over the years. At this point some of those notes were nearly eight years old and it was almost as fascinating to see how his thoughts on the work had developed over the years as it was to read the actual text again. He was able to peruse the book and his notes for half and hour almost uninterrupted except for when Rory picked up the garment bag and told him she would be ready to go soon. He simply nodded and continued reading while she walked off to change.
"What're you reading, anyway?" Rory asked as she came back in comfortable jeans and one of her favorite blue tops.
Jess raised the book so she could see the cover then met her gaze with a devilish glint in his eye.
"You know, Bukowski's grandmother was named Emily."
"And?"
"And she says 'I will bury all of you" over and over when the family gets together to eat…" Jess trailed off.
"And?"
"Hey, I'm just saying."
"Are you implying what I think you're implying?"
Jess shrugged his shoulders and gave Rory a small wink, to which she rolled her eyes.
"I'm trying to like my grandmother again, remember? You're not helping!" she chuckled. "Let's get out of here."
"As you wish."
Rory gathered some papers she wanted to bring home with her while Jess picked up the bag with Rory's work clothes in it. They headed out to the car and got on the road immediately.
"So, I ran into Logan earlier," Jess ventured carefully.
"You did? Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"There isn't much to say really. He got on the elevator when I was on my way up to your floor."
"Oh," Rory said a bit sadly, "Did he say anything?"
Jess glanced over and saw that Rory was clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"He was civil, I was civil. The whole thing was over with before I knew it. He even pointed me in the right direction to find your desk."
"Oh. Well, that was good, I guess."
"Yeah, I suppose. It's not like I could've punched him and gotten away with it."
"I can't even imagine how many charges you would get pressed against you..."
Jess smirked as he responded quietly, "That's the same thing I thought."
"New topic?"
"New topic."
"Where are we going and will there be food? I'm getting hungry."
"You'll see where we're going when we get there, and I guarantee there will be food."
"What kind of food."
"The kind you like."
"Way to be vague there, buddy. Alright then, if we're eating there are we doing something afterwards? Eight-thirty seems late to be eating dinner if there's more to do later. And we're heading north, is this place near Stars Hollow?"
"The eating and the activity for the night will take place at the same time, we're practically driving past Stars Hollow, but where we're going is further north on route 8, and that's as much info as you're going to get out of me."
Rory sighed her resignation and turned the topic of conversation to the article she was currently working on for the Stamford paper. An hour and forty-five minutes after leaving her work, Jess pulled onto a side road and Rory began looking around for clues as to where they were headed.
"We're in Pleasant Valley. I've never even heard of Pleasant Valley, let alone been here before."
"I'm surprised. This type of thing seems right up your and you mother's alley."
"Really? I'd have to know what type of thing this is to judge. Where are we going?"
"Look at the sign."
Rory looked out the window and her eyes lit up.
"A drive-in movie theater! We're going to a drive-in?" Rory exclaimed as she bounced excitedly in her seat.
"You bet."
Rory leaned over and threw her arms around Jess' neck, planting a kiss on his ear.
"Hey now, I'm still driving here. And there'll be plenty of time for that during the movie."
Rory's eyes widened.
"You're not going to bug me the whole movie are you? Is that your evil plan? Lock me in the car so I can't storm off to sit on the other side of the room?" Rory teased.
"Hey, you know what drive-ins are famous for…Hey, what do you think my chances are of getting away with a stretch, sneeze, grab combo?" Jess deadpanned.
"Death. Slow and painful death," Rory warned.
Jess paid for their tickets, pulled into a spot, and tuned the radio to appropriate station.
"Hungry?" he asked unnecessarily.
"Starved, of course."
"Want to come with me, or stay here?"
"Just bring back lots of food."
"I was thinking dinner type food first, and then during intermission I could go back and get snack/dessert type food."
"Intermission?"
"It's a double feature."
Rory's eyes once again lit up and she pulled Jess to her for a quick but passionate kiss.
"This is the best date ever and it's barely even started."
Jess smiled while a feeling of warmth and happiness spread over him. Making her happy felt so good he could hardly believe it had taken them this long to get it right.
Fifteen minutes later, Jess arrived back at the car laden down with cheese burgers, fries, onion rings, sodas, and coffee.
"You were right, Jess. This place does have my favorite food and we're watching movies, which is my favorite fun activity. It's like a movie night, only cooler since this screen is huge, and we're in a car, and we're surrounded by other people who are eating and watching, too," Rory rambled before stopping when she noticed the look Jess was giving her.
He was clearly amused, but there was something more to the way he was looking at her. She couldn't quite place it, but it looked familiar. He was biting his lip slightly, and though it was a cheesy metaphor, his eyes seemed to stare past her body and directly into her soul.
"What?"
"Nothing," he responded nonchalantly, turning his attention to the screen where the previews were beginning to play.
"Jess, seriously. What?"
"The movie is about to start."
"Changing the subject are we?"
"Shh, I thought there was no talking allowed on movie nights?"
Rory flounced slightly as she settled back into her seat and began unwrapping her hamburger, all the while stealing furtive glances over at Jess. He too had begun to eat, but he seemed absorbed in what was happening on screen. She decided she'd just enjoy the night for now, and bring it back up later on.
Halfway through the second movie, Rory was so stuffed with junk food she thought she'd barely be able to move. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle with Jess, which wasn't easy considering they were in the front seats of his car. For half a second her mind flashed back to the car Dean had built her and how perfect that bench seat would have been for something like this. Jess glanced over, gave an exaggerated yawn, and stretched his arm around her shoulder.
"Smooth move, Danny Zuko."
Jess ignored her, gave a fake sneeze, and pretended to attempt to grab Rory's chest. Rory playfully hit him and shoved him away.
"Sandy, don't worry about it, nobody's watching." Jess teased as he leaned in to kiss her neck mischievously.
Rory laughed. Jess was very rarely in a silly mood like this, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the way he'd been looking at her earlier. She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eyes for a moment before crashing her lips to his. The movie was quickly forgotten as they began the awkward but strangely exciting process of making out in a car in a lot filled with other people. Rory felt a rush like she used to back when the two of them would walk through town kissing, barely avoiding oncoming traffic as they crossed streets without looking. It was fun to be carefree and completely caught up in each other, even if it could only be for a little while.
About twenty minutes later, Rory was halfway on top of Jess, whose seat they had reclined, in an awkward but strangely comfortable position when they were startled by someone tapping on the driver's side window. Rory leapt up, hitting her head on the roof of the car while Jess struggled to sit straight. Once they were both more or less recovered, although Rory felt like her face was on fire, Jess rolled down his window to find a clearly uncomfortable worker carrying a flashlight.
"Uh, hi, I'm just here to ask you…um…this is a family establishment, and, uh…"
"You'd appreciate it if we keep it PG in here?"
The man cleared his throat and nodded, "Sorry to bother you. Gotta do my job, though."
"No problem. We'll be good, I promise," Jess managed to say with a straight face.
The man walked away slowly as Jess rolled his window back up. Rory and Jess looked at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing.
"I can't believe we just got in trouble for making out at a drive-in movie theater. Shouldn't that happen when you're seventeen and, I don't know, wearing bobby socks or something?" Rory said sheepishly while rubbing the spot on her head which had hit the roof.
It took a few minutes for both of them to recover enough to stop laughing every time they looked at each other.
"You ready to go home?" Jess asked finally, when he realized he no longer had any idea what was going on in the movie.
Rory looked at Jess and nodded before once again bursting out laughing.
"Yeah, this is definitely the best date ever," she managed to choke out in between her laughter.
Jess rolled his eyes, shook his head, and started the engine. It was going to be a long ride home if she didn't stop laughing at him every few minutes.
When they pulled into her driveway in Stars Hollow, Rory was already nodding off in the passenger's seat. Jess stopped the car and walked around to open her door and help her up. Once she was standing, she put her arms around his neck and leaned heavily on him, looking at him through sleep-heavy eyelids.
"Best date ever," she murmured.
"I'm glad you liked it," he said softly.
He started to lead her towards the house, but she stopped him.
"Before the movies started, when you were looking at me funny, what was that about?" Rory asked slowly.
Jess hesitated. He wanted to be honest with her but he also wasn't sure that now was the best time to explain exactly what his thoughts had been while he was watching her earlier. He decided on a compromise; he would give her the gist of it, but save the actual words for later, sometime when they would be special and spontaneous.
"I was looking at you like that because I…think you're amazing, and wonderful, and beautiful, and crazy enough to make out with me at a drive-in theater…" Jess trailed off into humor at the end.
"Aha," Rory replied sleepily, "so that was it?"
"Yes, c'mon now, it's late, let's go to bed."
Jess led Rory into the house and helped her get ready for bed before getting himself ready and slipping under the covers next to her. She was already mostly asleep, but she buried herself as close to him as possible when she felt him next to her. Giving her a small squeeze, he placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder before allowing himself to relax and let sleep overcome him.
AN: I don't know when I'll update again, because I only have a week or so left to work on my thesis. Once that's over with, I have another week-long break though, so my guess would be during that break, if not before. Thanks for your patience!