As he got out of bed he could feel every bone in his body ache after all of the work he had done the day before. It was already ten in the morning but he still didn't want to get out of bed. Instead of taking a shower first, he decided to head straight to the kitchen for breakfast. He quickly poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. It was only moments later that someone else came into the room.

"Oh hi." The blonde said embarrassed.

"Hello." Dean said quickly looking and then turning back around after noticing that she was wearing very little.

"I'm sorry; I thought that Kyle lived alone. I didn't realize anyone else would be in here."

"It's okay." He said still staring into his cereal bowl.

She proceeded to get a bottle of water from the fridge. "You were at Miss Patty's yesterday too right?"

"Yeah I was."

"There you are!" Kyle said walking into the kitchen. "I thought you had left me already."

"Of course not silly…I just needed some water."

"Oh Dean, I forgot to introduce the two of you. Dean this is Mary, Mary this is Dean."

"Nice to meet you Mary, at least officially."

"You too." She said with a smile. "Kyle do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Not at all, go ahead." He continued to watch her until she disappeared from the room. "There is definitely something about Mary."

"So I take the two of you had a good time last night?" Dean asked walking over to the sink to empty his bowl.

"Yeah we did. You know what, I really like this one. Most of the girls I date are in and out within a week or two but I really think this one is going to be a keeper."

"I really hope so; you really do need to settle down."

"Look who's talking. At least I date, I'm trying."

"I date, just not as much as you do."

"I wouldn't consider two dates in two years dating that much."

"I think you're forgetting about Rachael."

"Okay so you had a three month relationship with her but you didn't seem to care that much when she decided to move. My point is you shouldn't be coming down on me about this when you're just as bad."

"You're right, sorry. I mean I really didn't mean anything by it anyway. I really hope things work out with the two of you is all."

"My suggestion for you is that when she gets here, you find out if there is something still there. If not, then it's time for you to move on and for real this time."

"Are you talking about Rory again? I told you, there is nothing between us anymore. I mean I've barely said hello to the girl since we broke up. You realize that's over eight years since we have really spoken to one another. How could you possibly think that I'm still in love with her?"

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you don't love Rory Gilmore?"

"No I don't." Dean thought about the words for a moment. "At least I'm not in love with her. I will always care for her though; I mean we went through a lot together. But I don't think that is holding me back from anything."

"That's exactly what I thought…man you've got to let go."

"Yeah okay, I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Alright, what time are you going to the party tonight?"

"I think Miss Patty said everyone will be showing up around five. I guess I'll go a little earlier to make sure she doesn't need help with anything. Actually I was thinking of going ahead over there after I get dressed."

"Well I guess we will just see you there tonight then, cause we have an afternoon planned alone."

"Sounds good, have fun." Dean said quickly walking away and into his room.

A few hours later….

"Dean dear…could you please take a break and drive over to Luke and Lorelai's and pick up some of the food. It seems I've given them a bit too much to carry in one trip."

"You call that taking a break?" He asked still unfolding chairs.

"Well yes you'll be sitting in your truck between here and there, that is when you will take a break."

"I'm so glad I came here early to volunteer."

"Oh so am I, if it wasn't for you Dean this party would be a disaster."

"I don't know, it seemed to go well last year and I wasn't here."

"Well it wasn't nearly as fun and festive last year. Now go quickly, they are waiting for you."

Dean quickly drove to Lorelai's house and headed up to the porch. Just as he was about to ring the doorbell, the door flew open and Luke and Lorelai came out hands full of food.

"Oh Dean, hi there." Lorelai said barely able to see him over what she was carrying.

"You need some help with that?"

"Not with this…but there is plenty more inside for you." He watched as she and Luke continued to her jeep and Lorelai quickly ran back to him. "Okay Luke and I are going to go ahead with this load. There isn't a whole, whole lot left; you think you can handle it?"

"Sure I got it."

"Thanks Dean, you're a life saver. There's no telling how long Miss Patty will keep us once we get there so could you lock up when you're done?"

"Yeah sure, no problem."

Dean went into the house as they began to pull away. Once in the kitchen, he noticed there were nearly fifteen more pans to get. Only able to carry three dishes at the most at a time, he had to make a few trips. As he was gathering some of the last dishes the back door to the kitchen flew open, almost causing him to drop the dish he had just picked up.

"Mom I'm home…" Rory yelled as the door flew open and quickly shut. She stopped in her tracks when she was greeted by Dean in the kitchen instead.

"Your mom left already, she and Luke had to take some of the food to Miss Patty's."

"Oh, so you're here…" She asked confused.

"Oh well I'm getting the rest of the food. It didn't all fit in your mom's jeep."

"Right, the rest of the food of course. So Miss Patty automatically volunteered you to get the rest?" She asked pulling off her jacket and laying it down.

"Yeah, she says it's my punishment for not coming to the party last year."

"Oh yeah, you went to see your parents instead right?"

At that moment he realized that Kyle hadn't been messing with him earlier, she really did ask about him last year. "Yeah I decided to spend Christmas with them and Clara."

"Well of course you did, who else would you want to spend Christmas with?"

"Miss Patty kind of insisted that I stay here in town this year. And when my parents called and said that Clara would be spending Christmas in New Jersey this year, I figured I may as well stay."

"Well how lucky for us then…" Rory said walking over to her old bedroom and placing her bags on the bed. "You need some help?"

"Actually I'm on my last trip, but if you want you can help unload…and of course Lorelai is there, so I could just give you a ride."

"Sure." She said putting her coat back on and grabbing the last dish off the table following Dean outside. "So why is Clara in New Jersey? Does she live there now?"

"Oh no, her boyfriend does. They are spending Christmas with his family this year."

"Oh wow, must be pretty serious then. How did she meet a guy from Jersey?" She asked as they got inside the truck.

Dean stopped for a moment realizing that there hadn't been silence between the two of them since she walked through the door. "They met at school."

"Oh what school is she going to?"

"NYU, that's why my parents moved there, my dad found a decent job and Clara really wanted to go to that school but in order for them to afford it, she needed to be in state."

"I have to look for her next time I'm on campus there. I can't believe I live in the same city as your family but haven't run into any of them."

"Well New York isn't exactly small."

"No it's not."

Finally the moment had come; there was silence in the truck. And neither of them seemed to have anything to say at this point. He looked over for a brief moment to find her staring back at him smiling.

"What?"

"Nothing." She quickly answered.

"Why were you smiling like that? Do I have something on my face?" He asked pulling up to the door of Miss Patty's.

"Actually yes, last time I saw you, you didn't have all this facial hair." She said slightly touching his face. "I like it though. I think it's sexy."

And with that said she slipped out of the truck and began to grab what she could to take inside.