A/N: Thanks to those who continue to take the time to review - it means a lot :) Now, I think it's about time that Rory & Jess talked some stuff out, don't you? ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

She said she came to talk, and yet, Jess was pretty sure he had been sat waiting for Rory to speak for at least ten minutes now, without a word escaping her lips. That ought to be marked down as some kind of record for a Gilmore girl, though he wasn't about to say as much, or maybe he would. After all, somebody was going to have to say something eventually.

"You know I've never known you be quiet this long, unless you were lost in a book."

She looked up at him from her perch on the desk chair and half-smiled. That wasn't nothing, but it also wasn't words. Jess needed her to say something. Needed something beyond the fact she needed to talk to him, clearly on a topic so important that she had come all the way to Philly instead of calling. His first thought had been the baby, but she quickly assured him everything was fine on the score. It was all they had established so far.

Jess shifted position on the end of his bed, leaning closer to Rory with his elbows on his knees. "Come on, Ror. Whatever it is, just say it."

"I'm sorry," she told him, all of a sudden. "And I don't mean for showing up here to talk and then not talking, which I do know is stupid. So stupid," she said, shaking her head as her hands folded together and came apart in her lap three different times. "Jess, I'm just... I'm so sorry about New Year's."

She looked sorry, he couldn't deny that, but until he knew exactly what she was apologising for, he was reluctant to accept, or make any comment at all, really.

"You're sorry?" he prompted, hoping that would get him a little more information.

"Yes. I mean, I know I said that before but, well, it was midnight and, obviously, people kiss, you know, at midnight, on New Year's. It's a great tradition. It was just that, it's you, it's us, and things have been so... I don't know, complicated, I guess. Not that you've made it complicated, it's this situation. You know, with us being friends, but also..."

One hand moved almost absently over her swollen stomach and Jess nodded that he understood. It was complicated, there was no denying that, but he still didn't feel like he really knew what her big apology was for yet. He already got one 'so sorry' from her right after the event, something that had hurt more than he was ready for.

"So, you're still sorry that we kissed?"

"No." Rory shook her head again. "No, I'm not sorry that we kissed, or maybe I am, but not the way you think. Wow. I am explaining this so badly. You would not guess that I practised this speech a million times before I came here, would you?"

"Not really," Jess agreed with her, smiling slightly, unable to help it.

He could just picture her at home, in front of her mirror, starting over and over on a speech that she would inevitably fail to give. He had known her do the same thing before, practising recitals for school when they were young, or the way she was going to tell Paris something she needed to hear but wouldn't like. All the misty, water-coloured memories faded when Rory started talking again.

"Okay, so I'm just going to say this. On New Year's, I wanted you to kiss me. I wasn't exactly a hundred percent sure why I did or if it was a good idea, but it is what I wanted, Jess. So, we kissed, and then you were pulling away, so I leaned in, and you... well, you responded. It felt good. It felt like old times, but also just like something good. Something that could mean something, and maybe that sounds crazy to you-"

"It doesn't," Jess cut in, knowing he probably shouldn't, but also that he couldn't sit there in silence too much longer without exploding. "Rory, come on. You know that it doesn't."

If she didn't know by now, then she was not the smart girl he met more than sixteen years ago. The one that had no qualms about telling him he was foolish if he didn't try harder for Luke and more so if he didn't try harder for himself. The same girl who became an amazing woman, that inspired him to write a book, that once told him she thought she could have loved him, when it was already too late.

"I just don't know what to do, Jess," she told him then, tears in her eyes and a crack in her voice that almost broke him. "I mean, it's us. You and me. It was always complicated enough before, but now... God, why am I even here?!" She was suddenly on her feet and pacing as much as a person could in the small bedroom space, pushing both hands back into her hair. "This is crazy! I'm supposed to be getting my life back on track, looking to the future, not the past. This isn't fair on you either."

"Hey, let me decide what's fair on me," Jess insisted, getting up himself, just in time for her to turn to face him. "Rory, you and me, it was never really just in the past, was it?"

He was prepared to put himself out there if she was. Her coming all the way to Philadelphia the way she had, the things she said about New Year's, it was as close to a confession of feelings as he could hope for right now. Jess was man enough to meet Rory halfway, if that's what she needed.

"Jess..." she said, looking as lost as he had ever seen her. "God, why is our timing just the worst?"

"Because fate has a really weird sense of humour," he told her, completely deadpan, "but look at it this way, Ror. For all the crappy timing and bad decisions and unfortunate circumstances, we always end up back in the same place at the same time. That's gotta mean something, right?"

"I guess." Rory nodded slowly.

"Come on, we've known each other half our lives already. We wait all that time to sleep together, and the one time it happens, you get pregnant. We're having a kid, Rory. That's the kind of bond that nothing breaks. I don't know if it's God or destiny or what, but somebody, somewhere really wants you and me to be together."

He watched Rory swallow hard before she spoke again. "What about you? I mean, do you want us to..."

"Are you kidding me right now?" he asked before she was even done, possibly more loudly than was absolutely necessary, but he just couldn't help it. "You want the truth about how I feel about us, Rory? Here it is. I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you since the first moment I saw you, before I really knew what being in love even was. I screwed up, so many times, and I'm not afraid to tell you that you screwed up too, because I know that you know that, but nothing, not one thing, has ever changed how I feel about you, not for a second. I love you, Rory. Always."

It was quite the impassioned speech. If Jess had heard anyone else make it, he probably would have called them a sap or a liar. Maybe that meant he was the former, because he absolutely was not the latter. He really did love Rory that much, and from the look on her face, it was something she was not entirely expecting to hear from him.

"Wow," she said then, wide-eyed and visibly shaking. "I wasn't... I never..."

"It's okay," Jess replied, taking pity on her in a second. "I'm not expecting you to feel exactly the same way, not right now."

He would love for it to be true, but Jess wasn't stupid. When he first fell in love with Rory, she was dating another guy. When they were finally together, he made a real mess of their relationship, and though she didn't help, he was well aware a lot of it was on his teenaged self. Later, when he thought maybe they were on the same page at last, she used him to try to get back at her cheating ex, the blond dick from Yale. From there, they had a friendship that grew and blossomed over the course of almost ten years. It seemed like the smart thing to do, to leave the whole romantic side out of things. Of course, on Jess' side, it never came easy. He never got over Rory, but he had started to accept that she was well and truly over him.

"Jess, I... Of course, I love you," she said, so suddenly that he felt the words hit him like a punch in the face, even though they were all he wanted to hear for so long. "I mean, how could I not, after everything? I do, I love you, but I was afraid that if I let it be... if I let it mean something, that it could ruin everything. I don't want to be with you just because we're having a baby, Jess, and I don't want you to want to be with me just for that either."

"Not a problem" he told her, shaking his head. "Rory, there is no point, from the first day we met to now, that if you asked me to be with you, I would've said no. It couldn't happen."

"Wow." She looked stunned, which made Jess think maybe he was a little better at hiding his feelings for her all these years than he ever thought possible. "So, you and me, together again," she said, smiling a little more confidently then. "You think that can work? Because I would love to think so, it's just-"

"Hey, take a breath," Jess urged her, noticing the signs of her beginning spiral and approaching with caution. "Just, before we get into how the hell everything else is supposed to work out," he said, reaching out a gentle hand to her cheek and encouraging her to meet his eyes. "I love you, Rory Gilmore," he told her straight one more time, loving the smile that lit up her face as she leaned into his touch.

"I love you, Jess Mariano," she replied, blue eyes shining with what he hoped were happy tears, at this point. "So much."

It seemed only natural to kiss her then, so he did, and Jess was elated to find that Rory really was kissing him back, her arms going around his neck and holding on tight as they got lost in a moment he had no wish to get out of.

At some point, they overbalanced. Conscious of saving Rory more than himself, especially in her condition, Jess made every effort to ensure they landed safely on the bed, his body under her own. Still, the kissing continued, through surprised laughter and an intense look that conveyed equally as much of what they were feeling as the three little words they had finally each confessed at the same time.

Things got heavy pretty fast, which wasn't much of a surprise, even though it had only happened this way with them once before. It made Jess think twice as his hands moved lower on Rory's body, over the swell of her stomach, the result of that last night they spent together.

"What is it?" Rory asked worriedly, when he shifted away from her.

"I don't... Uh, are you sure you don't wanna stop before...?" he asked her vaguely.

"What? Before we go too far?" she tried, apparently amused by his concern. "I think it's a little late for that Jess. I'm already pregnant."

"Which is kind of my point," he said, looking as much at the evidence of what she said as her face by then. "You sure you want to?"

"Oh, I'm sure," she insisted without pause, the confidence in her still coming as a surprise somehow. "We just have to be a little careful is all."

Jess nodded that he understood that. Not that he lingered a long time on that particular subject when he was reading up on pregnancy, assuming it wouldn't really apply, but he did know that sex was okay. Like Rory said, they just had to be a little more careful than the last time.

"C'mere," he urged her then, pulling her close once more, kissing her gently at first and then with more urgency as the passion reignited between them.

Rory felt so stupid, curled up against Jess' chest, crying without really knowing why. What they just shared was beautiful, she made sure he knew that, but the tears just wouldn't stop coming.

"I swear, this part really is the hormones" she assured him, sniffling terribly. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he told her kindly, kissing the top of her head. "Just so long as you're okay."

"I'm fine. We're both fine," she promised, smiling up at him. "I swear, Jess, I am happy. Probably the happiest I've been in a while. I just can't seem to tell my eyes that," she joked, swiping away further tears as best she could. "Oh, this is ridiculous."

"Don't worry about it," said Jess, shifting down in the bed a little, still holding her close. "I still love you, Weepy."

A strangely wet laugh escape Rory's throat. "I love you too," she replied all the same, planting a kiss on his chest.

It was true. There was a part of Rory that believed it always had been. She couldn't say for sure that she had been in love with Jess for as long as he had been in love with her. The day they first met would be a stretch, but she knew she liked him then. When exactly she had realised it was love, she couldn't say, but she knew it now. She was so aware of it, it almost overwhelmed her, but that was okay. Her and Jess, they had come so far. They could do anything together, even raise a baby, even live happily ever after, maybe. Not that Rory was expecting a fairytale or anything, nobody really ever got that outside of books, but it could be good. She was so very sure that it could be, even if she wasn't sure on the how yet.

"It's not going to be easy, is it?" she said with a sigh she couldn't help. "I mean, I knew that before, obviously, but now we've decided to be together - that is what we've decided, right?"

"Obviously," Jess told her, with a look, when she peered up at him.

"Okay, so we've decided to be together," she repeated, "but that doesn't fix everything. You live here, I live in Stars Hollow. That's the first and biggest hurdle."

"Pretty sure the first and biggest hurdle was you and me admitting how we actually feel about each other," said Jess with a look, "and yes, I know, the living situation is still a big deal, but we'll figure it out. We'll figure it all out, Ror, I swear, we will. You believe me, right?"

"You know I do," she assured him, reaching up for one more kiss.

What might have happened next was anybody's guess, but a knock on the door meant one simple kiss was as far as they went that go around.

"Are you kidding me?" Jess muttered, sitting up a little more to yell in the general direction of the door. "Whoever it is, get lost!"

"Ah, I'd love to," said an awkward-sounding Matthew, "but, uh, you kind of have another visitor downstairs."

Jess looked at Rory and she stared back, completely bemused by the idea of someone else coming calling. She was sure it was nobody that could have followed her to Philly. Her mom and Luke plus Lane were the only people she told she was even going to be there, and they were all supportive about the trip. Of course, none of them knew exactly what she planned on saying or doing when she got there.

Rory wasn't sure what to think as she watched Jess hop out of bed, pulling on his jeans and nothing more before going over to the door and yanking it open.

"Whoever wants me can come back later. Now is not a good time," he said definitely.

Rory missed what Matthew's reply was, only conscious that there were other people around and she was decidedly naked. She had on her underwear and a shirt by the time she realised her name was being mentioned, not in relation to Jess' reluctance to receive guests, but as the person the visitor had actually come to see. That really was confusing.

"What's going on?" she asked, joining Jess in the doorway, mostly dressed but decidedly dishevelled and all too aware of it. "Who wants to see me? Who even knows I'm here?"

She got the shock of her life when a voice spoke to her from somewhere behind Matthew, and then a familiar face appeared, wearing a too-serious expression.

"Hello, Ace."

"Logan?!"

To Be Continued...