A/N: The next one is up! Please don't forget to leave me a review!

Chapter 41

Rory chewed on her pen as she went through her American History notes once again. She was vaguely aware of Jess's eyes fleeting over her body, but nonetheless, tried to stay focused. With textbooks open all around her, she was on the bed, lying on her stomach, Papers were scattered all over the bed and the floor.

'This is bullshit.' Jess said again. He occupied a corner by the door and rested a textbook on a propped-up knee. 'If I ever needed a reminder why I used to skip school, well then.' He gestured to his book.

Rory smiled, shushing him.

Despite the complaining and occasional profanities, he actually seemed to be making an effort. Also, there was nothing else to do, no other distractions, nothing besides Rory herself studying. It seemed to be having an effect on him and Rory was sure he'd pass if he kept it up.

She met his eyes and smiled again.

It was easy to forget everything else that was going on when she stared at him, when he smiled at her. She knew, on some level, about dopamine and all the other ways her brain was reacting to their new closeness. Just looking at him steadied her whenever her thoughts became too much.

That day, she was feeling even more of a rush towards him than usual. She'd spoken to Lane this afternoon. It was a phone call that'd seemed nearly impossible, so out of reach that Rory hadn't even fathomed it. He'd made that happen. He'd gone back to a town he hated and reached out to her best friend and made this phone call happen, for her. And when she'd thanked him for it, he'd simply shrugged and gone back to the book he was reading. It was so like him to be incredibly kind and unbelievably dismissive of it. He never liked taking credit for that sort of thing.

She noticed his growing smirk. I know you've spaced out. His eyes seemed to say.

Did she mention he distracted her?

Lately, using the summer heat as an excuse, he often only in sweatpants. Rory didn't fight him on it. She was less than attractive though; cladded in old shorts and a tank top, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. She was a picture of exam-messiness.

He put his book away and got up, plopping down on the bed next to her. His arm wrapped around her as she tilted her neck up. He kissed her warmly. When her lips parted, he kissed her again.

'You hungry yet?' He murmured, his lips close to hers.

'No, I'm good.'

He stared at her for a moment longer. 'We still have leftover pizza.'

She shook her head.

'It's almost 9.'

'You can have it.'

He brushed her hair back and kissed her again. 'Okay.'

'I think I found something.' He said to her the next morning, as they were getting their coffee from the reception area. 'It's small, but it doesn't look too shabby.'

'In New York?'

He nodded. 'It's not furnished, but second-hand furniture's not that expensive.'

She clutched her coffee cup excitedly. 'That's awesome! Jess, that's so great!' She clung to his arm. 'Are we gonna put down a deposit?'

'Well, yeah, but we should probably check it out first.' He said knowingly.

She nodded, as if she knew this. 'Of course.'

'This means we'd need to start packing soon, you know.' He nudged her elbows.

'Oh, here goes.' Rory rolled her eyes playfully.

'Just saying, maybe we should try not taking your entire house with us this time.' His tone was light as he walked her to the car. He placed their coffee cups on top of the car and somehow, without noticing, she was between him and the car, her back to the door. Jess dipped his head down to suck on her neck.

'Hey, I packed only the really important stuff.' Rory defended breathlessly.

'Rory, you've got three dictionaries in our room.' He teased, lips still against her neck.

'For my English exam!'

More kisses to her neck. 'And two encyclopedias?'

'On American history. They'll come in handy!'

'Come on, you packed like forty pairs of socks.'

'Most of which you've now stolen.'

He chuckled, kissing her, his arms coming up on both sides of her. She pulled him closer, flush against her body.

'It's gonna take forever to load up the car.' He complained.

'Maybe we don't need all those Hemingways.' She blinked innocently.

'Don't you dare.' He warned.

'It's the only way we can get our stuff to fit.'

He shook his head in disapproval, making his way down to her collarbone again.

'It is!'

'Hopeless. You. Are. Hopeless.' He smirked, punctuating each word with a gentle kiss to her jaw.

She smiled sweetly.

'So...' He drawled. 'How about Sunday?'

'Hmm?'

'To check out the apartment?'

'Oh.' Rory's mind scrambled to keep up. 'But your exam's on Sunday.'

'Yeah, but we could go after. We don't have to stay overnight and we'll be back with plenty of time to spare for your graduation.'

Rory nodded at this, wrapping her arms around him.

He handed her back her coffee with a swift kiss to her cheek, then made his way to the driver's seat.

She was once again taken by surprise at how good he was at this stuff. This adult stuff. Apartment hunting, handling money, making arrangements for moving. The last thing she'd expected was for Jess to be responsible. But there was no doubt about it. Where she was overwhelmed, he was completely in control. As if he'd done this before. As if he'd always done this. Maybe he had, with Liz. Wherever he'd gotten his savviness from, she was grateful for it.

It weighed down on him though. She could see past the playful carelessness. She could see it in the bags under his eyes and the slump in his shoulders. His bitten-down nails. The numerous times he calculated and recalculated how much money they had.

She vowed to herself to become more helpful, more responsible, to carry some of this weight. She wanted to take care of him just as he was taking care of her. She couldn't wait for her exams to be over. Only a few more days left.

School days were long and they couldn't be over soon enough. But at least Rory's exam had gone well, she took a sip of water and tried to clear her mind. Her next exam was the following day and she needed every remaining second until then to prepare.

'Excuse me?' She said to a group of Puffs standing by her locker, blocking her access.

A few of them giggled, before dispersing around her.

'You have a stain on your sleeve by the way.' A blonde girl said, just before leaving.

'Guess she doesn't have a washing machine wherever she's staying, Tess.' Another girl said under her breath.

'Hope you're not sick, Rory.' One of them called out over her back. The others giggled again as they walked off.

Rory pursed her lips, hiding her face in her locker, recomposing herself.

It's just a few more days. Just a few more days. Just a few more days and I'm out of here.

Still, she spent the next ten minutes dabbing her shirt in soap, muttering about stuck-up rich kids and entitled Puffs.

The bathroom door opened, startling her, before Madeline and Louise stepped in.

'Oh, Rory.' Louise pouted. 'Hope you didn't have an accident with your uniform or something.'

Rory frowned at them, meeting their eyes through the mirror. 'It's an ink stain. Go away.'

'Just for the record, we think it's so brave that you're keeping it.' Madeline said, not unkindly.

'Huh?' Rory blinked.

'Plus, we've seen your new beau around the parking lot. So we get it.' Louise touched her arm. 'What was his name again?'

'Is this some sort of prank?' Rory sighed.

'He's sticking around though, right? I mean, not that you couldn't totally pull off the whole Juno super-mom thing if you wanted, but we were just wondering.' Madeline cocked her head with a raised brow.

'What on earth are you talking about?' Rory scoffed. It was the only response she could think of.

There was a pause as both Madeline and Louise gave her identical looks.

'You really don't have to hide this, Rory.' Louise said.

'No! I'm not preg—' She paused, going cold. 'Wait, who else knows about this?'

'Duh. It's all everyone's talking about.'

Rory froze. 'Everyone?'

'Not in a bad way or anything.' Louise reassured. 'Most people were actually impressed that you weren't little Mary anymore.'

'Oh, God.' Rory was horrified.

'Must be so cool to have your own place now though. That's so grown up.' Madeline smiled supportively.

'I don't think I could ever stand my ground like that with my mom.' Louise quipped, flipping her blonde hair back.

'It's so brave.'

'Totally.'

What is wrong with this school? Who would spread a rumor like this about her?

Oh, no.

Rory sucked in a shaky breath and tried her best not to scream.

A/N: So... Where do you think this will go? As always, would love it if you left me a review!