A/N: I didn't really expect this story to be popular at all. It's not necessarily my best work, but hey, thanks for all the lovely reviews, folks! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Week 3

Day 16

"You wanna explain the look?" asked Jess as he wiped down the counter.

"What look? There's a look?" replied Lane with as much fake innocence as she could conjure up. "I don't know what you mean."

"Uh-huh," he nodded, though it was clear Jess wasn't buying. "Y'know Rory is supposed to call me later, after my shift," he said then. "Did you have a message for her or something?" he tried, wondering if that was what this was all about.

Lane didn't hang out in the diner much, mostly because Mrs Kim would throw a fit if she saw her daughter eating a cheeseburger, talking to a boy, or even so much as acting like a normal teenage girl. Jess knew all this very well, both from what he had seen and what Rory had told him about her BFF. In spite of all this, Lane had been in every day for almost a week and usually her focus was very much on Jess. He would think she had a crush on him herself if he didn't know way better than that. Something was definitely going on.

"Nope, no message," she shrugged easily. "In fact, I spoke to Rory myself a couple of days ago."

"Really? Must've been after her last letter," said Jess thoughtfully. "She asked me if you were okay, which I'm guessing she wouldn't if she talked to you herself."

"I guess not," Lane agreed, staring at him as if he were a bug under a microscope.

Jess really didn't know what to make of that, and he was done trying to figure it out. In ten minutes his shift was done and he could go upstairs and wait for Rory to call. That sounded kind of lame in his head, waiting around like a sap for the phone to ring and all. Jess hated the idea that he was whipped, but it wasn't as if anyone had to know about it, not even Luke. Jess was pretty sure his uncle had no idea Rory was calling soon, he certainly hadn't told him, and he wasn't planning on it. The assumption would be that he was upstairs reading, and no questions would be asked. That didn't mean Luke didn't like to ask his questions about Rory and the status of the relationship between his nephew and almost-daughter. Jess couldn't quite figure out what it was all about when Luke started asking if everything was okay with him and Rory, how much they were talking, how much he missed her. Coupled with Lane's staring at him like a science project, all Jess could think was that nobody was entirely trusting his fidelity. All the pieces started to click together when twenty minutes after getting upstairs from his shift in the diner, Rory finally called.

"Hey, you're there," she seemed to smile into those words. "I was worried you'd get held up or something. It was pretty much now or never for me to call. Paris has gone to bawl out one of the supervisors over lunch choices, so I think we're good for a half hour or more."

"Sounds about right," Jess nodded. "I'm glad you called. It's good to hear your voice."

"Yours too," agreed Rory. "So, how're things? I take it you got my letter?"

"Yesterday," he assured her. "And things are fine, normal. Well, as normal as things ever get in this crazy town," he smiled, straddling a chair by the table where the phone sat. "You having a swell time on your educational whirligig of fun?" he teased her.

"Well, I got to see Archie Bunker's chair at the Smithsonian Museum yesterday, so that was a big thumbs up for me," she giggled.

"Wow, now I'm super impressed," Jess dead-panned, as she knew he would. "So, Lane said I don't need to report on her health since she called you the other day."

"Oh, er, yeah, she did."

"You girls have a nice talk about me?"

"About you? Wow, your head really is big if you think all my conversations with everyone are about you, mister!"

She said it like she was mocking him, but there was this weird tone in her voice and Jess heard it all too clearly.

"What's going on, Ror?" he asked her seriously. "And don't tell me it's nothing. I've got Lane staring at me so hard I feel like my head should be exploding off my shoulders from her sheer power of will, and Luke is questioning me about how much I'm missing you like he thinks I don't. Something is going on."

There was an awkwardly long silence before Rory gave in and answered.

"Do you miss me? Really?" she checked.

"You know I do," replied Jess without missing a beat. "Rory, what is going on?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "I just... Remember that joke we made at Sookie's wedding? When I said I was going away and you said you wouldn't be moving on to the first easy blonde that came along?"

That was the moment, the exact second when the last piece fitted into the puzzle and Jess put it all together. It made him mad to think that Rory couldn't trust him, but also a little flattered that she seemed to think he could get another girlfriend that easily. Actually, he probably could, but he wouldn't. He shook his head as he realised he should have figured this out days ago. His hand went to his back pocket and he pulled out the last letter he got from Rory.

I know you always say you don't exactly have a lot of friends in Stars Hollow, but there must be some people around that you can hang out with when you're bored, right? I'm sure there are.

It had seemed weird at the time when he first read it, questioning his friendships around the Hollow, of which she knew there were very few and that was how he liked it. Now Jess saw new meaning in her questions. She wasn't making sure he was having fun hanging out with the guys from the high school, throwing a football around or whatever. She was asking if any girls were interested in him, if maybe he was interested in them too.

"Jess? You still there?" she checked when he didn't answer for too long.

"I'm here," he replied. "Just busy doing cartwheels over all the trust I'm getting right now."

His tone was deliberately cold, and Jess felt justified in being that way. It wasn't as if he had a rep for messing girls around. Rory was the first one in town that he dated and he never gave her cause to believe he wanted anybody else. If they were going to throw stones, he had much more ammunition that she did. After all, Rory had still been dating Dean when she first showed interest in Jess. They had kissed before the break up with her first boyfriend, which technically made her a cheater. If she made this into a fight, he was going to bring that up, and screw the consequences.

"Jess," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I just... I do trust you, of course, I do," she promised.

"Oh yeah?" he checked. "Because you seem awfully interested in who I'm hanging out with while you're gone. And hey, what about you, Rory? How do I know what you're doing in Washington? I mean, you say it's all boring speeches and rooming with Psycho Geller, but is that the truth? Or are you learning more than just your constitutional rights from all the upstanding young American guys upstate?"

Jess didn't believe anything he was saying. There was no way Rory was cheating on him, any more than the reverse was true, but it hurt to be all but accused this way. He had done nothing to deserve it, not a damn thing, even if he did know who the blonde was that Rory eluded to before.

"Jess, I said I was sorry," she told him then, tears in her voice that killed him, but he wasn't going to give in on this one, he couldn't. "You know I would never cheat on you."

"Really? 'Cause the first time you kissed me, you were kinda cheating on Dean."

There was no need for that, not really, but she hurt him and so Jess felt justified in getting in the only jab he could in retaliation. He told himself he wasn't going to be so harsh unless she started a real fight, and she hadn't. She had apologised, twice already, and yet Jess just had to be hurtful, it was like a reflex.

"Look, I have to go," he said then, knowing whatever retort Rory made now would be laced with sadness and tears he couldn't stand. "We'll catch up some other time."

He hung up before she had barely said goodbye, crashing the receiver back into the cradle. Jess felt lousy, mad at himself as much as at Rory. Getting up from his seat, he grabbed up his jacket and headed out, not even pausing in the diner when Luke yelled after him, asking where he was going. He had someone he had to go see and it had to be now.

"Yes, ma'am, we have you all booked in for next weekend," said Lorelai with a smile as she confirmed the reservation over the phone. "Okay, have a nice day and we'll see you then."

It was a surprise to hang up from her call and realise there was somebody waiting to talk to her at the counter. This was no guest of the inn or even a harassed staff member looking for a little help. This was in fact the last person she had expected to see.

"Jess, hi," she greeted him with a somewhat forced smile. "Um, what brings you here?"

He almost looked as if he wasn't sure himself, which seemed strange to Lorelai. If anyone knew their own mind on a pretty regular basis, she would say it was Jess Mariano. He seemed to think he knew everything a not small part of the time, to the point where it was really kind of annoying. Lorelai shook her head, because none of this was important right now.

"I'm an idiot," said Jess suddenly turning as if to leave.

Lorelai frowned. This was just an odd situation. If Rory were around she would say Jess had come looking for her, maybe to patch up things after a fight. With her baby girl in Washington for the foreseeable, Lorelai couldn't understand what was happening, until she suddenly remembered Rory had said she was going to call Jess today. Why that would lead to his being here and in such a weird mood, Lorelai couldn't guess, but she planned to find out.

"Jess!" she called to him as she ran out from behind the counter.

He stopped walking at the sound of his name, but didn't turn until her hand caught his shoulder and encouraged the movement. Jess let out a long sigh as he faced her at last.

"Look, we both know that you would only come here to talk to me if something serious was happening with Rory," said Lorelai when she had his full attention, though he was quite clearly wishing to be anywhere but here right now. "What's up, Jess? Did she not call?"

"She called," he confirmed, hands in his pockets, eyes momentarily on the floor and then the opposite wall before he met her gaze. "Did you know she thinks I'm cheating on her?"

Lorelai's eyes widened a little.

"No," she said definitely. "Honestly, Jess, I have not said anything to make her think that if that's what you're suggesting."

Jess didn't doubt that was the truth, though he was a little surprised if he were honest.

"Huh."

"C'mon, come sit down," Lorelai gestured for him to follow her to an empty couch where they sat together. "Now, I know you and me aren't exactly the best of friends, but we've been getting along lately, and we're both suffering the same Rory withdrawal, so how about you tell me what's going on and I'll see if I can help."

Jess wasn't so sure he wanted to do this, and yet if he didn't, what had he come here for? Somebody had put the idea into Rory's head that he was messing around with a blonde, which could only be Shane. He was innocent, that much Jess was clear on, but somebody suspected otherwise. If it wasn't Lorelai then it had to be Lane, and yet none of this was really the point.

"Rory started quizzing me on who I've been hanging out with while she's away," he admitted, running a hand back through his hair and messing up the carefully gelled style without even thinking about it. "She mentioned a conversation we had before she left, something about me getting restless while she was gone and running around with the nearest hot blonde."

"And you've been seen with a hot blonde of late," said Lorelai knowingly. "Now I see why you thought I had a hand in this, but I swear, Jess, I didn't say a word. I was the one that told Luke he should have more faith in you, marvel at the irony," she rolled her eyes.

Jess was a little bemused by that remark, but he let it go. That also wasn't the point right now.

"I'm pretty sure it was Lane that gave up the information," he said with a look. "But that doesn't bother me so much, what kills me is that Rory would listen to that crap. Shane is just... she's just a girl I know," he shrugged.

"A girl that really, really wants to know you better," said Lorelai with a look of her own. "C'mon, Mariano, you know you have the whole James Dean charm going on, and that Rory isn't the only one to notice."

"You comin' onto me, Lorelai? 'Cause that's a little too Graduate for my taste," he smirked annoyingly.

"Down boy!" she teased him, just as much as he dared to tease her. "My point is, Rory really likes you and she hears from her trusted BFF that you've been seen hanging around with another girl. If she were here to see the truth of the matter, she'd be fine, but she's far, far away and... well, it's kind of a new relationship. Us girls, we can be kind of insecure sometimes, no matter how pretty and smart we are," she smiled, bumping her shoulder against his own. "Take it as a compliment that she thinks you're cute enough to score another girl so fast."

Jess had to smile at the way she put it if nothing else. If Rory hadn't confided her worries to Lorelai, she couldn't have put much stock in them, or maybe she already knew it was dumb of her to think such things about him. Either way, it still hurt to realise Rory didn't trust him, and Jess wasn't thrilled about that.

"Thanks, Lorelai," he told her anyway, sparing her a smile before he got up to leave.

"You're welcome, I guess" she said, a little bemused. "I'm not really sure what I did, but..."

"You helped," he shrugged. "Er, if Rory calls you about the fight we had, don't..."

"Tell her you talked to me about it?" she finished for him. "I don't lie to my daughter, Jess, not anymore than you do," she said with a look. "But I don't betray confidences either. I may mention we talked, but I won't tell her what you said if you don't want me to."

Jess was developing quite a healthy respect for Lorelai Gilmore, and never more so than today. He nodded once in further thanks and then left. Today had not been his greatest day, and yet he felt a little better than he had a half hour ago.

To Be Continued...