Rory walked into the house, threw her bag down, and plopped down on the couch. She turned on the TV, looking for something good. There wasn't anything. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move and turned her head to see Lorelai coming towards her.
"God!" she yelled, turning off the TV.
"I love you too honey," Lorelai said, sitting down next to her with a bowl of popcorn.
"What are you doing here?"
"I uh, live here."
"Thanks for the update. I mean what are you doing here, now? I thought you worked late tonight."
"Not anymore."
"Thanks for the update."
"Any time. So, what do you want to do for dinner tonight? Al's is having a special for the next couple days that sounds just disgusting enough to work."
"Sounds good."
Lorelai poked Rory. "Your quiet."
"I have to study tonight."
"You do that every night."
"No, but I have to study with someone."
"Please tell me it's not…"
"It's not Paris."
"Yes!" Lorelai said, shooting her fist up in the air.
"It's Jess."
"Who's Jess?"
"Luke's nephew."
"How is it you've met him and I haven't? And why are you studying with him?"
"1 question at a time missy. He goes to Chilton, and he's in one of my classes. We have to do this project with a partner and neither of us had a partner, so."
"I always hated that."
"What?"
"Not having a partner and getting paired with some one you either hate or is disgusting."
"He's not so bad."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he seems okay."
"Well keep your paws down, you have a boyfriend, Dean? Remember him? Tall, funny hair cut."
"If you think he has a funny hair cut you'll love Jess's."
"Not the point honey. How do you think Dean's going to feel about this? Does this Jess know you have a boyfriend? I mean, you and Dean are doing really good. Your anniversary is next week and everything!"
"Mom, I don't have a choice. It's a school thing. And no, when I met Jess the first words out of my mouth weren't I have a boyfriend. They were much more stupid than that."
"Tell the mommy."
Rory reached over and grabbed some popcorn. "I said his last name sounded Italian."
"I can't believe Luke is raising a nephew."
"Focus!"
"Want to hit my hand?"
Rory slapped her hand lightly. "So I said his name sounded Italian and that Mariano would make a good name for a pizza shop."
Lorelai laughed. "That is a good one."
"Don't mock!"
"Please, you should be used to it by now."
"So, he's coming over here tonight at 7."
"The more the merrier. I'm starving."
"You just ate a whole bowl of popcorn."
"Exactly! Time to move on to the main course!"
"Fine, let's go," Rory said, her and Lorelai linking arms and walking off to Al's.
[later that night
Rory and Lorelai were sitting on the couch, feet on the table, empty containers in front of them, watching TV. Rory had her head on Lorelai's shoulder.
"Too full to move. When this Jess comes, you'll have to answer the door," Lorelai said, holding her stomach.
"Oh no! It's 7, I'm not ready!" Rory said, jumping up and getting her books.
The doorbell rang. "Rory! The door! It needs to be answered!" Lorelai yelled. She wasn't coming. "You and your dirty little schemes," Lorelai said, getting up to answer the door.
He was certainly not what she had expected. For Rory to approve, he had to be big and fuzzy, like Dean. This kid definitely didn't look fuzzy.
"Hi, I'm Lorelai, Rory's mother."
"So I've heard," he said, a scowl on his face, hands full of books.
"So, she's right in here," Lorelai said, letting him in and leading him to the kitchen. "Rory! He's here!"
Rory appeared out of her room, carrying an arm load of books. She set them down on the table and turned to Lorelai and Jess. "I have a boyfriend," she said.
Lorelai watched him for a response. He put his head down, and was that, disappointment? It couldn't be.
"So Jess, you like Chilton?" Lorelai asked.
"It's just dandy," Jess said as the doorbell rang.
"And on that note, I'm going to get the door," Lorelai said, leaving.
Jess stared at the ground. "So, let's study," Rory said, sitting down at the table, him doing the same.
"So Adams was," Rory began.
"Who's your boyfriend?" Jess said, interrupting her, playing with his pencil.
"Him," Rory said, a worried look on her face and she gazed over his shoulder at Dean.
Jess turned around and looked him up and down. He looked slightly confused and angry at the same time. You've got to be kidding me. "Does he have a name?"
"I'm Dean. It's nice to meet you," the guy said, holding out his hand.
Jess stared at it. "I'm Jess and I have an issue with germs."
"Okay then," Dean said, pulling his hand back. "I didn't know you were studying tonight," he said to Rory.
"Yeah, it was kind of last minute."
"So, you want to get ice cream afterwards? At Luke's?"
"Oh, yeah. Sure."
"I'll pick you up later then."
"Yeah, I'll call you," Rory said, unsure of all of this.
"See ya later Dean," Lorelai said, leading him to the front door before he had time to kiss Rory goodbye in front of Jess. But why would she be trying to help him?
"So, lets start with the basic facts, then we can look up more interesting ones on the internet. I thought we could put it all on a time line," Rory said, back in the kitchen.
"Sounds super."
"I know you hate school Jess, but give this place a chance. You could go big places by going to Chilton."
"That's not the road I want to take. I'm not going to kill myself in high school. I just want to chill."
"I never thought I'd hear you say chill."
"Hey I'm the chilliest."
"Ever thought about that?"
"About what?"
"Chilli, the food, is never served at a temperature that is actually chilli."
"Nope."
"Well I guess I have to much free time on my hands."
"I doubt that."
"Why is that? You hinting that I'm a stripper or something?"
Jess laughed a little to himself. The thought of this beautiful girl doing anything like that was absurd. "No. Just with trying to cram all this wonderful knowledge into you and with that guy squiring you around probably not much free time."
"His name is Dean."
"Getting defensive?"
"No. But he does have a name."
"Okay, well I prefer the term Farmer John."
Rory sighed. "Jess? What is up with this?"
"I just get a little moody sometimes," he said sarcastically.
"Seriously. Your going to hate everyone in my life that much?"
"Just certain people."
"Dean being one of them."
"Yep."
"More reasons please."
"His hair. It bothers me."
"Fine, I give up. Come on, let's study," she said, flipping open a book.
"Whatever you say Miss Gilmore," he said, both of them locking eyes for a moment.
She grinned. "Come on. Open your book," she said, looking down at the pages.
He grinned back where she couldn't see, observing her features like he hadn't been able to before. Her shiny, perfectly brown hair. Her bright blue eyes. Her intense concentration. He stopped his thoughts before he went any farther and shook his head. "I gotta go to the bathroom."
She looked up and he froze, embarrassed and taken back by those eyes. "Upstairs. Shouldn't be hard to find."
"Okay," he said, getting up and stopping, looking into what he assumed was her room. He looked back at her, studying, as he slipped into her room. The books. They were all over. He looked at the titles, running his fingers over them. She is perfect.
A/N-I'm sorry for the lack of updating my stories, I've been really busy lately. And for the lack of anything truly eventful in this chapter, but it is coming up next my friends. Stay tuned.
