Wow guys...I'm so sorry that this took me so long to get up. I was busy, then my computer wasn't working, then I got busy again, and then I just got lazy. But I finally forced myself to sit down and type it out, so here it is. I've got the next chapter halfway done.

Sorry if it's horrible...I'm exhausted and sick, but I really wanted to get this up for you guys. So please excuse any errors.

So this entire story has about two more chapters and epilogue left before it's done. Sad, I know. Hopefully you guys will like the ending.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with it. I thought that would be obvious by now...

"Jess?" Rory asked.

"Can we talk?"

"Now?" she said and Jess could see a wave of irritation pass over her face.

"Please?"

She sighed, "Alright, give me a minute to get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs at the breakfast place."

He nodded, "Okay."

Jess turned and walked back down the hallway. He swore that he heard Rory groan before he heard the door click shut.

Fifteen minutes later, Jess was sitting in the Casino Grill, waiting for Rory to come down. He really had no idea what he was doing, but somehow he felt that she would have all the answers for him. She used to always encourage him, guide him even, and he hoped she would tell him how to get out of this mess.

He finally saw her, she had actually "dressed up" which is the equivalent of wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Rory was also carrying a large cup of coffee, that was undoubtedly from the Starbucks that was situated on the other side of the lobby.

She sat down and caught him looking strangely at her, "What? You thought I was going to show up in sweats and without coffee?"

Jess continued staring at her, "Something like that..."

"You're seriously off-balance then," she snorted.

The corners of his mouth twitched, though he was trying not to smile, "Are you going to order anything?"

"Well, if I'm going to get through this conversation alive I'm going to have to eat."

Coincidently, the waitress showed up right at that moment, "Hi, I'm Rachel. What can I get you guys?"

"You can order first," Rory said, obviously still contemplating her decision.

He went ahead and ordered (a small meal, he didn't want to overwhelm her), then waited for Rory.

Now, just because Jess went small didn't mean she was going to, "I'll have four pancakes, a waffle, three slices of bacon, a side of eggs, and a side of hashbrowns."

The waitress looked surprised for a fraction of a second, but she held in her comments, "Anything else?"

"Oh! A slice of toast and lots and lots of coffee," Rory closed her menu and smiled up at the waitress, "That's all."

"Alright then,"she said as she collected the menus and hurried back towards the kitchen before they could order any more.

After she was gone, Rory looked back at Jess, "So, what's up?"

He sighed, finding that he had lost his nerve, "I...made a mistake."

Rory looked him straight in the eye, "Are you sure?"

Jess didn't even have to ponder the question, "Yes. I'm sure."

"Oh, Jess," Rory groaned. He was surprised that she already seemed to know what happened. Jess would recognize her 'I'm-disappointed-in-you' voice anywhere.

"I know," he sighed in response.

"How could you do this to her!" she half-whispered, half-screamed at him.

'Maybe this wasn't the best idea...' he thought to himself.

"Well?!"

"It just...happened. And it was a huge mistake that I completely regret."

"You're damn right it was a mistake!" her voice raising slightly, "Danielle is a sweet girl and she goes not deserve this, Jess."

"I know she doesn't deserve this! That's why I'm here Rory, because I love her and I don't want to lose her."

Rory took a long hard look at him. He looked exhausted and at a loss of what to do. She felt her heart soften; she could tell that he really did love Danielle with all his heart.

"Alright, what happened?" she asked taking a deep breath.

This is what he was afraid of. He didn't necessarily want to relive the event.

"I don't know. Danielle and I had fought earlier in the day and I was a little depressed and angry. Anyways, Olivia noticed-," Jess paused, "-do you know who she is?"

"Yes I know who she is," Rory replied impatiently, "Continue."

"She took me up to her hotel room- she lives here- and then..." he trailed off feeling uncomfortable.

Not satisfied, Rory prodded him farther, "And then?"

"And then I kissed her and she kissed me back. Then our clothes were coming off, but I stopped her. It didn't go any farther than that."

She breathed a sigh of relief, 'Thank god you have a conscience in there somewhere."

"What?" He just told his ex-girlfriend that he had cheated on his present girlfriend with a woman he had met only a couple days earlier. He was kind of expecting a different reaction.

"You stopped her Jess. You could have continued and taken that extra step, but you didn't. You stopped. Jess, if we were eighteen years old again and back in Stars Hollow, you wouldn't have stopped."

He immediately felt guilty for his actions towards her when he was younger and at odds with the world, "Rory-"

But she raised a hand to stop him, "It's okay. I got over it a long time ago but Jess, you've changed, in a good way of course. I look at you and you're...good. You seem happy; you're an author and you have an amazing girlfriend. I have never been more proud of you."

Jess didn't want to admit it but Rory's praise meant everything to him. She had seen him at his worst and now she finally got to see him at his best. It felt good.

"So you're not going to mess that up because of your stupid and idiotic mistake," she finished with finality.

"Then what do I do?" he asked.

"You tell her and hope for the best."

"Um...what?" Again, he was dumbfounded by her words. He was expecting some elaborate plan that consisted of winning back the girl's heart and living happily ever after. Not, 'tell her and hope for the best'. To him, that seemed like a suicide mission. Danielle would be on a plane back to LA before he had the chance to explain.

"You. Tell. Her," Rory punctuated, not understanding Jess's hesitancy towards the plan. But then it dawned on her, "You weren't going to tell her."

He shrugged, "Well, why hurt her if it didn't even mean anything? It would be better not to open that can of worms."

She looked at him incredulously, "She's going to find out Jess and it's going to hurt a hell of a lot more if she finds out later, rather than if you just tell her now."

"And how's she going to find out Rory?"

"Women know things. It's like a sixth sense. We're just able to tell when something happens, so I advise you to tell her or I guarantee there is no way you're getting her back."

Jess sighed, he had way too many things running through his head. Should he tell her? Should he risk hurting her? Could he risk it? He knew that Rory was right, the only way that they would ever be able to move forward would be for him to tell her. Or else they would still be stuck in their Vegas hotel room, arguing over her choice of friends.

"Alright," he said almost reluctantly, "I'll tell her."

Rory shot him a sympathetic smile, "Good."

Right then Rachel, their waitress, came out with their large breakfast. After the food had been distributed, the two exes ate in silence. Rory was watching Jess carefully; he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice.

She cleared her throat, "You're doing good Jess. You're still an idiot, but you're doing good."

"Oh thanks," he replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious," she laughed, "and I am proud of you."

Jess gave her a small smile and a nod of his head. He sighed again, "Do you ever think about how things would have been different if I had never left?"

Rory stayed quiet for a minute and when she finally spoke, her voice was soft, "I used to, you know, back when you first left."

"And now?"

"No. I guess as the years passed, I stopped focusing on the past and looked towards the future. I met new people, I met Logan, and before I knew it the past was in fact, the past."

"You're happy, right? With your life I mean," Jess wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I am," she replied softly, "I really, really am Jess."

He chuckled, "I can't believe I don't even know how the two of you even met."

She raised her eyebrows, "Do you really want to know? Or are you just saying that to be polite?"

"Uh..." he faltered, "You know, yes. I do want to know."

"Okay, you're in for it. We met through Stephanie freshman year. He was a well-known playboy so I didn't show any interest in dating him at all, but all of us, me, Steph, Logan, Colin, and Finn, became really close friends. Anyways, sophomore year rolled around and I got out of a bad relationship. I really wasn't interested in dating anyone, so I decided to have some fun."

Jess smirked as her face flushed red with embarressment.

"One night, it was just the two of us and we had a little too much to drink and...yeah," Rory was seriously blushing now, "We started seeing each other casually, you know, non-exclusively, for a couple months, but after a while I just couldn't do it anymore. It definitely wasn't his fault or anything and I didn't regret it, but I think I was finally ready to go back to dating."

"So how did you go from being 'done', to being married?" he interrupted.

She shot him a look, "Well if you let me finish I would tell you."

"Oh right. Sorry, continue."

"Anyways, I went to his dorm to tell him that we needed to go back to being 'just friends' and he might of seen it as an ultimatum," Rory smiled at the memory, "He basically told me that if he wanted to be a boyfriend, he could. And now...we're here."

"Well, that is one hell of a story," Jess exclaimed.

"Tell me about it. Imagine having to tell it to everyone who asks."

He chuckled, "Aww...poor Rory."

She giggled along with him.

When their laughter subsided, a heavy silence descended upon them. Both of them were thinking about their previous conversation, the first real one they had had in a long time.

Finally Rory spoke, "So, you can see why I never really thought about the past. I was already way into my future."

Jess just nodded, actually understanding her explanation. Though one question was bothering him: "Do you think things would have been different?"

"Maybe for a little while," Rory sighed, "but Jess, we were way too different. I was heading off to Yale while you had flunked out of high school."

He cringed at the memory. She noticed.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "What I'm trying to say is that we were on completely different paths and I don't think we would have made it in the real world."

"What do you mean the 'real world'?" Jess asked, honestly curious.

"In Stars Hollow it was easy. We were basically living in La La Land. Don't get me wrong, I love it there, but we weren't necessarily presented with any huge changes. We just cruised along and tried to get over any bumps we encountered. Although with those bumps, we had to make up because living in a small town made it impossible not to."

"I guess...sometimes I wish that I could go back though."

She snorted, "No you don't and I don't either."

"Why not?" he asked angrily, "Things were easy back then."

"Things weren't easy! It was so far from easy that you wouldn't be able to touch easy with a ten-foot pole."

"Okay, so it wasn't exactly easy, but it was good, right? We were good for a while."

"Yeah Jess, we were for a little while."

"Then what happened?"

"Life got in the way."

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