Author's Note: Ok, going through a brief period of writer's block right now, and this is what it came out as. Hopefully a new plot twist will come to me soon. Any suggestions?

W O W. I am pretty stupid. Just wanted to clarify some time/age issues for anyone who is confused. Because I'm confused. So, Rory's b-day is October 8th. And in the first Chapter I said it was just after her 16th birthday. So now she's 17. Because if I'm thinking correctly, their two month anniversary was October 29th. So that means that we are just going to pretend that when they were still friends, their sophomore year went by really quickly. Ha. So just pretend there was more time in between each of the chapters. And now it's nearing the end of November. Ok. I'm continuing. Remeber, Rory and Jess are both 17 now.

Review, please and thank you!

"Careful, Rory. Don't strain yourself," Jess said, gripping her hand tightly as she took a tentative step toward the door of her room.

"I'm fine, Jess," Rory snapped back. Jess's eyes widened.

"Jeez," he said, slightly hurt.

"Sorry," Rory said, sighing. "It's just that everyone is fawning over me, and I just want to be trusted to do something on my own."

Jess nodded. "We aren't trying to control you. You've only been awake for three days, and..." Jess said, trailing off.

"What?" Rory said, grabbing his arm lightly to get his attention.

"I can't lose you, ok?" Jess said, his voice harsh. "I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you. Not again. It almost killed me the first time."

Rory let out a shaky breath. "Jess... I'm ok, I'm fine. Nothing's going to happen."

"Yeah, because I'm not going to let it," Jess said determinedly.

Rory rolled her eyes, but didn't protest as he led her slowly and steadily out the doorway.

She never realized how much she really loved the town of Stars Hollow before. After all the scary things that had been going on, she was glad to be back in the quaint and quirky town again.

Three weeks. That was how long she had spent in the hospital. Two of them unconscious, and one recovering. She was so behind on school work. Paris had E-mailed her all of her assignments, so in the week that she was awake but stuck on bedrest with short walks in between, she had been working her butt off to catch up.

Jess had tried to convince her that she was stressing too hard, and that her teachers would all understand that her work was late, due to the fact that she had been in a near fatal accident.

Of course, this did absolutely nothing.

Right at this moment, however, life seemed to be going good for Rory. She hoped that things would calm down a bit after all the drama she had been through.

"Rory, meet me at Luke's," her mom said to her as they approached the town center. Rory nodded, and smiled gratefully at her mother for understanding that Jess and Rory needed to be alone right now.

At the hospital, their time together had been rushed, and longer visiting periods were always interrupted by Lorelai, Luke, or Richard and Emily. They both felt their feet automatically take them to the one spot that they knew they would never be interrupted.

Sitting down on the old and slightly rotting wood of the bridge made Rory break in to a huge grin.

Jess smiled in response, and sat down next to her. He loved to see her happy. "What?" he said, when her infectious grin grew in size.

"Nothing... I just really missed this place," Rory said, shrugging.

"The bridge specifically, or Stars Hollow?" he questioned, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Both. It's nice, like this. Everything is so calm, and peaceful..." she sighed and kissed Jess's shoulder lightly. Jess let the familiar shudder go through him at her casual caress. He didn't think she would ever realize what she did to him.

"Hey, come here," he said, pulling her face up to his hungrily and kissing her feverently.

Rory responded eagerly, and the two stayed like that before Rory's injury pulled them both down to earth. When she raised her arm to put it around his neck, she winced, and Jess reluctantly broke away.

"What is it, your shoulder?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, but I'm fine. It's so easy to forget I was even shot, because it doesn't hurt, most of the time. Just when I move it wrong. But I suppose I was lucky. The doctors said that it could have been so much worse. Just two inches to the left and I probably wouldn't have made it. So I guess it was just..." she trailed off, when she saw that Jess's face was contorted in pain, and his breathing labored. "What?" she said, panicked.

"Can you please not talk about that?" he said weakly. Rory tilted her head to the side, indicating that she didn't understand.

"How... close it was. How it could have been all over if I hadn't come when I did, if I had hesitated just a second longer," he said. "It would have been all my fault if-"

"Whoa, now don't you dare go there, mister," Rory said, angrily interrupting him. Jess's mouth opnened in shock.

Rory continued. "In no way was anything that happened to me your fault. In fact, if it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now," Jess flinched at her words, and Rory calmed down a bit. "You saved me, Jess. You're my hero. You are amazing."

Jess smiled and shrugged, letting her praise wash over him, basking in it. He wasn't going to admit how much he liked her telling him this.

"Whatever. I know you would have done the same for me," he said. "Though I would rather you just stay somewhere safe, and let me take it, if I'm ever in a similar situation."

Rory snorted. "I doubt you'll ever be in a similar situation. And if you are, I'll be doing everything I can to save you."

"I know you will," Jess said, his voice impossibly tender and sweet.

"Bad news, Gilmore," Lorelai said to her only daughter after Friday night dinner. It was November 30th, and the cold air whipped around Rory's bare shoulders. She shuddered, walking faster toward their car.

Once inside, she responded to her mother. "What is it, other Gilmore?" Lorelai started the engine.

"Hey, when did I become the other Gilmore? You should be the other Gilmore, you're the young one." Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's immaturity and responded:

"Fine, I'm the other Gilmore. Now what is it?" Rory questioned, remembering that there was bad news to hear.

"Your grandparents want to meet Jess," she said solemnly. Rory stared at her, confused.

"Wait. You told me that Jess was at the hospital every day when I was in a coma, and that Grandma and Grandpa came in every couple of days. And I saw them talking in the days there after I was awake. They've already met."

"Yes. But it wasn't official," Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. Rory gave an exasperated sigh.

"I will never understand them," she said, smiling softly.

"Neither will I kid, neither will I."

"You are meeting my grandparents," Rory said, greeting Jess with a small peck on the lips.

"What? Rory, I've already met-" Jess started, but he was interrupted.

"Yeah, but it's Richard and Emily. They need to meet you again, officially. As my boyfriend," Rory said, wrapping her arm around his waist and leaning in to him. "This Friday. At dinner."

His heart still managed to skip a beat when she used the word 'boyfriend.'

"I was already your boyfriend when they saw me in the hospital."

Rory shook her head, smiling slightly. "I know. Doesn't matter to them."

"Whatever, come here, your hello was pitiful," Jess said, wrapping his arms around her waist firmly.

"Hey," Rory said, indignantly. She looked ready to argue, but Jess broke her off with a deep kiss, which would have continued, had Luke not protested.

"Ok, so here's the deal. Just stay calm, I'll cover for anything you say that my grandma doesn't approve of, and you'll be just fine," Rory said. Jess smirked, for she was quite obviously comforting herself, not him.

"Rory, I'll be fine, I promise."

"Are you sure, because-"

"Rory, he said he'd be fine. It's freezing out here. Will you ring the bell?" Lorelai interjected.

"They're your parents, you ring it."

Jess sensed a long argument in the making, so he simply reached across Rory and rang the bell. Both of the Gilmores gasped at him.

"What?" Jess said. "It's cold, and I want to go inside."

Rory rolled her eyes.

"Well, hello, there, Rory, Lorelai!" Emily said, answering the door. Her voice dropped in enthusiasm. "Hello, Jess."

Rory winced. She anticipated a long night ahead of them.

Drinks were fairly pleasant, if a little awkward. Richard asked Jess about his taste in literature, and that got the two men talking pleasantly. Emily seemed to be very icy and distant, and Lorelai was trying to engage her in conversation. Rory could only watch happily as Richard and Jess conversed like old friends.

Dinner, however, ended up as a disaster, although it started off just fine.

About half way through, Emily ruined everything.

"Jess, what kind of academic goals do you have?" she said in a sugary sweet voice. Rory's eyes closed. Oh, great. She looked toward Jess, trying to portray how sorry she was.

"Well, I know I want to be an English major, reading and writing is my thing," he said smoothly. Rory smiled, proud of him.

"What are your grades like?" she continued in the same friendly tone.

"Mother!" Lorelai scolded, disbelieving of her mom's blunt rudeness.

"No, Lorelai, it's ok, really. Mostly. A's. I have a B in Math and a B- in Science currently," Rory's eyebrows raised. He had really brought his grades up in the past couple of months.

Emily's lips pursed, as if she were trying to find something to disagree with. "You know, Jess, competition to get into an Ivy League school is really tough. Any one with less than a 4.0 shouldn't even apply."

"Grandma, please don't do this," Rory tried to interject, but Emily continued.

"Richard told me what you told him, and if you plan on staying with Rory, you should go to college near by. You are planning on attending a university, I assume?"

"Yes..." Jess said, uncertain.

"Are you planning on going to a competitive four year college?"

"I- I'm not sure... I guess I'll just have to see how things play out," Jess said, raising his eyebrows at Rory.

"Rory is a very special girl," Emily said sternly.

"I know. I know she's special. She's... perfect. And I know I don't deserve her. No one could ever be good enough for her, but for whatever reason, she chose me. And I'm not letting her go. I'm not just going to let her leave, unless that's what she wants."

Emily opened her mouth, probably to say some other cruel comment or other, but Rory beat her to it.

"Ok, Grandma, we need to talk about something else now," she said, desperate. She felt her hand being held by Jess's under the table, an act of encouragement and relaxation.

"Fine. What would you like to talk about?" Emily said shortly, and with that Lorelai swept in a changed the topic, steering the conversation into safer waters.

"I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry, Jess," Rory said into his chest as she hugged him. They were at Luke's, later that night.

"Rory, you didn't do anything," he said softly, brushing through her hair with his fingers.

"But my grandma did. I feel so terrible," she said, kissing him on the shoulder and then the side of the neck.

"You don't have to. Rory, she wants what's best for you, that's all," he said, shrugging.

"She totally insulted you! It was terrible! And what you said? You know that's not true, right?"

Jess hesitated. "What?"

Rory stepped back slightly, not leaving his embrace. "You said you didn't deserve me. That's not true, Jess."

Jess sighed. "I- listen, we're never going to agree about this, Rory. There could be no guy in the entire world good enough for you, in my opinion, but that's not going to be your opinion," he said.

Rory smiled softly and kissed him. "Love you."

Jess's eyes closed in reaction, and he kissed her back, letting his passionate anger toward Rory's grandparents out in his kiss.

Author's Note: I don't like this chapter. But I had to write something. Review. I'm running out of steam. Give suggestions and your favorite moment! (If you want.)