When I lifted myself off this writing hiatus, I never realized how hard it would be to settle down and think. As I mentioned in the last stories I updated and my profile, I'm still mourning the passing of my mom. As it stands now, it's numbing to be alone with thoughts and a book, and even harder to try merging the two. I'm trying; it's just harder than I had originally anticipated. Anyway, here's the next chapter to keep everyone else going. I will get back to a regular updating schedule; I'm just not up to it yet.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter seven. You guys are keeping me going: GrlWithoutAName, DiehardJavaJunkie14, gilmorefanforever, CherryWolf713, ultimategilmoregirl, bartocorleone, ohxrosie, ShaolinQueen, Lynn, chunkymunky85, Curley-Q, Jeremy Shane, and cmtaylor531.

Disclaimer: I still don't anything, which includes Mike's and the menu, any product mentioned, the MBTA and their subway lines and stations, and any Red Sox references.

Jess and Bookmark Chick

"Someone smells pretty," Sully joked as he poured a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Jess scowled as he rolled the sleeves of his black button up shirt to his elbows. "I told you, I'm meeting Rory."

"That calls for some extra cologne?" Sully licked his lips and wolf whistled as Jess groaned.

"You are way too gay for your own good." Jess checked his leather watch before sitting at the kitchen table.

"So, Rory." Sully sat across from Jess at the table with his afternoon cereal and tapped his fingers against the surface. "Bookmark chick, right?"

Jess met the comment with another scowl. "Have you been looking through my things?" he accused.

"No." Sully chewed the multi colored corn rings. "Your book fell off the counter and the picture marking your page slipped out. Really cute picture, bro."

Twitching his nose, Jess pulled the bookmark out of his book. It was a posed picture, Lorelai's idea. He had fought the photo opportunity in the beginning, but loved the picture now. Rory was sitting on the counter in the diner while he was perched on a stool in front of her. Her legs dangled past his shoulders as he held onto her ankles. His smirk was less evident in the print. In fact, it almost looked as if he had smiled, slight as it had been, matching the satisfied expressed on Rory's face. "Yeah. I like her," Jess said simply, shoving the picture back between the pages.

Sully nodded and went back to his cereal. "When are you meeting her?"

"An hour and a half." Jess looked at his watch again. He was starting to get impatient, though it was his own fault he was really so early. "I only have a ride to Harvard Square."

Nodding, Sully brought the spoon to his lips and sucked the cereal off. "You bringing her back here?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Jess fidgeted with crinkled pages of his book. He and Rory hadn't gotten off to such a great start. There was no way of knowing how the afternoon would progress.

"I'm going to force you out if you're going to be all monosyllabic." Scooping the remaining cereal from the bowl, Sully pushed the chair away from the table.

"Don't need to tell me twice. Keep your pants on." Jess smirked and pulled on his leather jacket. Before Sully could say anything else, Jess slipped out the door and into the hallway. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, he realized how early he was going to be. The walk to Davis square wasn't very long, as the apartment was close. Jess looked at the sky. It was a piercing blue, just like her eyes. Smiling at the notion, Jess continued on his way to Davis Square.

He let four trains pass him as he read. He liked reading underground in Davis Square rather than Harvard Square. There were more commuters bustling around at Harvard Station than Davis. Despite the fact that it was a college station, Tufts University being right around the corner, the station wasn't quite as packed as Harvard.

Finally, after about forty-five minutes of waiting and reading, Jess boarded the last subway car bound to Ashmont. It was a quiet ride, but it seemed longer to pass Porter Square than usual. Jess assumed nerves were playing a part in the length, so he attempted to plan what to say when meeting Rory.

The doors opened to the platform at three fifteen and Jess walked up to the outbound tracks where Rory would more than likely head. Jess opened his book and sat on a flat wooden bench to continue waiting.

"Hey, Jess." He looked up to see Rory carrying her own book with a bag slung over her right shoulder.

Standing, he wiped his sweaty palm on his knee. "How long have you been waiting?" he asked, checking his watch. Rory was known to be punctual, and the meeting was no exception.

"Not long." She shuffled her feet. "I went over there to wait for you. Then I thought you might be over here waiting for me." Adjusting the strap on her shoulder, Rory looked at her watch. "You're on time." She was moderately surprised, seeing as Jess was never anywhere when he said he would be.

Smirking, "I'm early." Jess fought the urge to swoop in for a kiss and started walking across the platform.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked while to attempted to keep up.

"You'll see." They sat in silence reading as they waiting for the next train heading to Alewife. "Come on," he said as the train pulled up. They sat next to each other, Jess in his favorite corner spot and Rory one seat over. "You ever been to Davis Square?" Jess asked.

"Not yet. It's on my list of places to visit."

Jess smirked. "Okay. That's where we're going. I said my apartment was by there, didn't I?"

Nodding, "I think so."

"I'm not trying to be cheap or anything, but I'm taking you to Mike's."

"Mike's?" she asked.

"It's where I work. An Italian place on the corner. It's good, though. Sully and I order there all the time anyway." Jess fidgeted with his book and noticed how much he was talking.

"Who's Sully?" Rory asked, vaguely remembering the name being thrown out in conversation.

"Roommate. Best friend, actually."

"You have friends?" she asked seriously before following it up with a laugh. "Sorry. The best part caught me."

Jess chuckled, which caused Rory to laugh again. "We've been friends for years. We lived near each other in New York."

"You're laughing; you're happy," Rory pointed out.

"Well, it's pretty nice here."

"You're different," Rory said. "I like it."

"Thanks, I think." Jess smirked and looked out the window to the dark subway. "This is our stop," he said as the train pulled up and stopped at the platform.

Rory grabbed her things and followed Jess off the train and up the stairs. "It's nice out here." She stared at the quaint square. It wasn't as busy as Harvard Square was. The sidewalks and streets weren't as packed as she was accustomed to at school.

"Over there is Mike's." Jess pointed to the corner where Rory had just noticed the red sign. They waited for all the crosswalks to clear and walked over to Mike's.

"Mariano!" Ben yelled from the counter.

"Hey, Ben," Jess greeted him. "What do you want?" he asked Rory. Shaking his head, he turned back to Ben. "Two large pizzas with everything, and order of mozzarella sticks, and an order of cheese fries. Anything else?" he asked Rory.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh, and two large Cokes." Jess dug out his wallet and fingered the debit card. Before Ben could tell him the total, Jess handed over his card. Rory toyed with the zipper on her purse. "It's all taken care of, remember?"

"Okay." Rory accepted the large cup and poked the straw through the hole in the plastic cover.

"Come over here; we'll sit." Jess grabbed his own cup and straw before choosing a window booth and sliding in.

"So, hi."

"Hi."

Rory blushed. "This could go on forever."

"What's going on with you?" Jess asked, fidgeting with the straw.

Rory sucked the soda up her straw. "I've just been going to school and hanging around the city. Everything is nice here. I love my classes at Harvard. I'm really glad I decided to go there."

"That's good. I'm glad I didn't disrupt your life too much." Jess twirled the ice in his soda as he stuck the straw in.

Rory shook her head. "I don't want to talk about us yet. How's school and the best friend?" Rory looked back at the counter in anticipation of food.

"Bunker Hill isn't too bad. It's just a community college, so I'll probably look into transferring to a four-year college. I'm getting my life together." He noticed Rory smiling and went on. "When I moved down here, I found out that Sully had an apartment. He ordered me to move in with him. We're having a great time, even though he's always cleaning up after me."

Smiling, "I've never heard you talk this much." She sipped her soda. "It's different."

"Jess!"

"Hang on." Jess stood up and collected the plates waiting for them on the counter.

"That's a lot of food!" Rory exclaimed as she grabbed a pizza trays and some clean plates.

"I've seen you eat," Jess reminded her smugly.

Rory stuck her tongue out at him. She loved that they were being friendly and hadn't started fighting. In the back of her mind, she knew the fighting would happen. Even when they started to get along, an argument was never that far away.

Jess scooped a slice of pizza off the pan and slid it on Rory's plate. "Sully and I usually grab a pizza every Friday night. We watch TV and catch up for the week."

"Sounds nice," Rory said as she sucked the toppings of the point of her pizza slice. "No dates on Friday night?"

Shaking his head, "I don't date."

"You don't?"

"There's no time. I'm a busy person." Jess flicked aside a loose piece of sausage and looked away from Rory. "What about you?"

"Nope. No dates. Mom has tried to force me to go out with someone, but I'm just not interested right now." Rory shifted her eyes nervously.

"What about today?"

"What about today? This isn't a date," Rory said quickly. "It's you and me eating pizza and starting to catch up."

Jess set a second slice on his own plate and toyed with folding the crust. "I know. I was just asking."

Both ate slice after slice and munched on the appetizers in silence. Neither wanted to be the first to speak up, but it had to happen eventually.

"Do you want the last slice?" Rory asked before going after the remaining piece. Jess shook his head and she grabbed slice, taking a large bite.

"I almost forgot how much you could pack away," Jess teased as he dunked a mozzarella stick into the tub of marinara sauce.

Rory reached across the table and slapped his arm playfully. "You held your own. We're almost done with enough food for five people." She grabbed a mozzarella stick from the pile and bit off the end. "Now what?"

"Well, we can always go back to the apartment." Jess paused. "If you want to."

"You're inviting me over?" Rory finished the last fry and chewed thoughtfully.

"Sully will be there. It won't be us alone," Jess assured her.

"Okay, why not?" Rory stacked the cleared plates and stood up.

"Just leave the plates there. Ben will get them."

"Okay." Rory followed Jess out the door.

"It's just a block or so away. Come on." Jess fished through his pocket for his keys as they walked up the street to his apartment. "Here it, home sweet home," Jess said as they walked up the stairs. He stuck the key in the lock and swung the door open. In the living room, Sully was bouncing on the sofa wearing a pair of Red Sox boxer shorts and a blue shirt with a red number thirty-three on the back. "Jesus! Sully!" Jess covered Rory's eyes with his hand. "I told you to keep your damn pants on!"

"Curt Schilling signed with the Sox!" Sully shouted as he bounced on the couch.

"And that means you need to take your pants off and jump on the furniture?" Jess asked as he turned his back to Sully. "Come in here." Jess grabbed Rory's hand and dragged her into his bedroom.

"What was that?" Rory asked as she sat on the bed.

"That was my roommate and friend Sully. He has some serious attachment issues to Boston sports teams. Apparently, his new thing is parading around the living room without pants on. He's a little obsessed."

Rory laughed. "You were right, though. He does seem nice."

Jess sat down next to Rory and his bed creaked. "So, hi."

"Hi."

"Hi." Jess looked down at his shoes.

"Now what?" Rory asked.

Jess leaned in closer until he could feel Rory's uneven breath against his skin. She shut her eyes and he brushed his lips chastely against hers. Rory slid her fingers slowly under his mop of unruly hair. The kiss deepened and Rory broke away quickly, bolting to the side of the room and leaning against the door.

"Jess…I…" she paused. "I have to go." Rory grabbed her bag from the corner and sped out of the room.