They go back to the guys' apartment. Lucy and Matt disappear upstairs, and Rory and Jess awkwardly stand in the bookstore. Rory checks out the books, smiling when her eyes skim over a book she knows Jess would love or hate.

Jess starts to make coffee, not knowing what else to do. He feels like that 17 year old again, standing in Luke's apartment, trying to figure out how to make a move.

It seems Rory is thinking the same thing when she says, "I think we should try to get within a foot of each other," with a smile.

"Okay," he replies, smirking at how similarly their minds work. He strides forward and loses all hesitation when he reaches her and wraps his arms around her. They kiss again, each one better than the last. It's like a breath of fresh air; it's been so long since they've each felt so safe, so at home. She runs her fingers through his hair, and he groans with pleasure. He pulls her flush against him, and begins trailing kisses down her neck.

"Jess, I've missed you so much. You're the only one who understands me. You always know exactly what I need," she says breathily.

He stops and looks into her eyes. "Rory, you've always been the only one."

And that was it. Simple, just like Jess. She smiles; he brushes her cheek. "Let's go upstairs," he said. She follows him, ready to give herself to her soul mate.

She wakes up and has to remember where she is. She looks over at Jess, and smiles. She can't believe what's happening. It's been so long, but they fit together like it's only been minutes. She's missed Jess this whole time, and it took being with him to maker her realize it. She's finally gotten her life back together, and this was the final missing piece.

She starts to get up when she feels his arms around her again. She laughs and turns to face him, not really wanting to be out of his grasp for even a second.

She takes a look around his room as he showers. The books are dominated by Hemmingway, but she finds one incredibly worn out Rand book and smiles. He really did try. He doesn't know she has an equally-dog-eared Hemmingway buried in her bookshelf for when she was feeling sad. Logan had always asked her why she read something she didn't like; he never understood. The whole time they had been dating, Rory convinced herself it wasn't fair to compare Jess and Logan — in her mind, Logan always lost. But now she realizes that she only couldn't bring herself to compare them because she knew who would win, and she couldn't handle that.

She realizes she needs to call her mom. She grabs her phone and dials, before she has a chance to second-guess her decision.

"Hello? Rory? Where have you been?" Lorelei answers frantically. "I thought you were just going out one night with Lucy and some guys! Are you okay?"

"Mom, mom, calm down. I'm okay. Lucy accidentally set me up with Jess."

Silence.

"Mom? Are you still there?"

"Yes…I'm digesting. So you're with Jess now?"

"Yeah. I am," she says sheepishly. "I know you might not be happy with me right now, but I haven't been this happy in a long time. And I didn't realize it until I got here. So I'm sorry I didn't tell you but —"

"Rory, hun, it's okay. We can talk about the details later. As long as you're happy? And I hate to bring this up, but you might want to make sure he really is different. I mean, he's broken your heart before. Just make sure you're in the same place."

"Okay, I will. I just wanted to let you know. I'll call you soon to let you know what's going on."

She hangs up as Jess steps out of the shower, and she grins widely. "Hello, I see you have taken a liking to Ayn Rand," she teases.

"Yeah, uh… it's your fault." He runs a hand through his hair. "So, look. I'm bad at talking, so I wrote you a note last night. I want you to read it. But you have to promise not to make fun of me." He smiles and hands it to her.

Rory,

I love you.

I've loved you for a long time now, and I think you love me. We're just kidding ourselves if say think we won't work. We're in the same place now, and if we both set our minds to not screwing it up, I think we can be good together.

I know I've hurt you before, but you've hurt me too. We've grown up. I think we're ready.

I love you. I'll say it every day if it convinces you how much you mean to me.

A tear streaks down her cheek as she reads it again. "I love you too. I think you've always known that though. I promise to try and make it work. Do you really think we have a chance?"

He steps forward and grabs her face. He looks straight into her eyes and says, "Yes."

They kiss, just as the door creaks open. "Jess?" a blonde girl whose boobs are popping out of her top. "Who is this? What are you doing?"

That's all for now! I hope you guys like it… I've picked the story up (again again) and hopefully I won't suck so much and will update!