Yay update! This is a little more drama filled. Hope you all enjoy! Here's your Christmas present, who knows if I feel like writing, I may add another chapter. R&R

Life's Lessons

Chapter 7

Drama

Rory was reluctant to leave her mom and Luke, but she knew she had to. She had spent the whole day with her mom shopping. Jess and Luke spent some time together, but didn't really have a heart to heart talk, that just wasn't them.

"Rory can't you stay another week?" Lorelai practically begged.

"Sorry mom, but Jess and I both have to go to work. We'll visit again once we get a chance, I promise." Rory hugged her mom and turned to Luke and hugged him. "Bye Luke, thanks for the food for the trip."

"Sure kid. Take care of yourself, and make sure Jess behaves himself." Luke smirked as Jess rolled his eyes.

"Oh I'll keep him in line." Rory smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "Ready?"

"Yep. Let's go." Jess waved to Luke and Lorelai and put their bags in the trunk.

"Bye mom!" Rory called from the car. "I'll call you when we get there!"

"Ok hon."

- - -

The trip seemed much longer to Rory this time. "Why is it taking so long to get there!?"

"Calm down Ror. Maybe you're just restless or the fact that you're pregnant could be another reason." Jess pointed out.

Rory sighed and crossed her arms. "Maybe."

"Try to sleep or something."

"Fine." Rory mumbled and closed her eyes.

- - -

They arrived in Philadelphia at six. Rory woke up and yawned. "Finally!"

Jess chuckled and parked the car. "We can get our stuff later. Let's go relax."

"Ok." Rory got out of the car stiffly, and Jess walked to her side and helped her.

"So what do you want to do on our last day off?" Jess asked as they walked into the apartment.

"Movie night!" Rory excitedly suggested.

"Fine, but nothing with dancing mini people." Jess sighed.

"Aww, come on! I can always put on something really cheesy if you want." Rory giggled.

"No. I will pick the movie then." Jess got up and Rory pulled him back.

"You're going to pick Almost Famous. No one wants to watch that." Rory complained.

"Well let's ask the little tyke then." Jess leaned down and Rory pushed his head away playfully.

"No asking our baby that! You might make him addicted to that movie like you."

"Huh." Jess shrugged and pointed to the TV. "Movie now."

"Bossy!" Rory got up and looked around, she finally decided on Dirty Deeds.

"This movie isn't so bad." Jess smiled and Rory sat next to him.

"Yep!"

- - -

The next morning Rory didn't want to go to work. Jess told her she had to and she finally got up, with much complaining.

"I'll stop by for lunch ok?" Rory said, leaving.

"'Kay, love you." Jess called, mouth full of cereal.

"Love you too!" Rory called over her shoulder and grabbed her coat and keys.

- - -

Rory walked into Truncheon Books out of breath. Her lunch hour started late and she rushed to see Jess. When she walked in she saw a tall blonde asking for Jess.

"Excuse me? You're looking for Jess?" Rory walked over to the blonde and stared at her curiously.

"Yeah. It's important. Do you know where he is?" The blonde asked rudely.

"Um, no, but I could take a message for you." Rory offered.

"Whatever, just tell him that Candace needs to talk to him." Candace walked away and rolled her eyes at Rory.

Jess walked out and saw the confused look on Rory's face. "What's wrong?" Jess asked kissing her.

"Who's Candace?" Rory immediately asked.

Jess froze and looked away. Crap! "Why?"

"She was just here looking for you. You didn't answer my question."

"Candace wanted to date me. I didn't want to date at the time, but she never knows when to give up." Jess sighed, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

"And why didn't you tell me this before?" Rory angrily asked.

"I didn't think it would be a problem!" Jess raised his voice.

"Well it is!" Rory turned around and bumped into Candace.

"Watch it! Gosh!" Candace rudely spat at her.

"Sorry. So what are you here for? Jess is off limits." Rory barked.

"Oh is he? I don't think so. If I remember correctly, he was the one who finally decided to date me. But for some odd reason he decided to change his mind. You don't happen to be the reason?"

"Why yes I am." Rory showed her left hand to Candace and walked out angrily.

"Rory! Rory wait!" Jess ran after her. He stopped outside just as he saw the car coming at her. "Rory watch out!" Jess ran to her, but it was too late. The car hit her.

"Rory!" Jess ran over to her and knelt down next to her. Luckily the car wasn't going to fast, but it still hit her. Jess turned to the nearest pedestrian. "Call an ambulance. Quick!"

The ambulance arrived five minutes later. "What happened sir?" The paramedic asked.

"The car hit her. It wasn't going that fast, but it hit her and she's been out of it since then." Jess anxiously replied.

"Alright. Let's get her into the car and take her to the hospital."

Jess nodded and helped them life her into the ambulance and got in with her. "She's going to be ok right?"

"She should be, but we won't know anything for sure."

"She's pregnant." Jess whispered.

"Well that changes a lot of things. Speed up!" The paramedic yelled to the front.

"Rory, stay with me here, be strong. You and the baby." Jess quietly spoke into Rory's ear.

- - -

Everything seemed to be going by so fast. But to Jess it seemed like the world suddenly stopped and nothing was going fast enough. The arrived at the hospital and took Rory to the emergency room immediately. They had to check her vitals as well as the baby's.

"Mr. Mariano?" A nurse came out and asked Jess, who was pacing the room frantically.

"Yes. How's Rory and the baby?"

"Follow me."

No answer, great. That must mean something happened. Jess thought to himself. He walked quickly, desperately wanting to see Rory.

"This way sir." The nurse motioned him to a room. Jess walked in and saw Rory hooked up to machines and stitched up. "The doctor will be in shortly to explain everything."

"Thanks." Jess sat next to Rory and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry Ror. This shouldn't have happened. It's my fault."

The doctor walked in and looked at Jess. "You must be the husband."

"Yeah."

"Well Rory will be fine. Just some cuts and bruises. She didn't receive major damage and there was no concussion."

"And the baby?" Jess worriedly asked.

"The baby is ok. We would like to keep her here for a few days to watch the baby's pulse and make sure no stress was caused to it. If anything goes wrong we'll know immediately."

Jess sighed, relieved. "Thank you."

"Relax a little kid. She'll be fine."

Jess nodded and looked at Rory. "Come on Ror. You have to wake up, be strong."

- - -

Jess decided to call Lorelai and Luke. They arrived at he hospital four hours later.

"Where is she?" Lorelai frantically asked.

"She's here. Doctor says she's fine, and the baby too. They just want to keep her here for a few days." Jess explained.

"You look exhausted." Luke pointed out. "Go rest. We'll watch her."

Jess shook his head. "I want to stay with her."

Luke pulled up a chair and sighed. "Fine, but you sit down and close your eyes. You need rest too."

Jess stubbornly sat down and closed his eyes. Within moments he dozed off. Luke and Lorelai smiled. Lorelai walked over to Rory and stroked her hair gently.

"Hon, please wake up. For mommy."

Rory stirred a little and slowly opened her eyes. "Mom? Where's Jess?"

"Over there." Lorelai pointed and smiled. "You really scared him. He's so tired, I think this is the first time he's slept in hours."

Luke walked over to Rory. "How are you feeling?" Luke flinched seeing all of the needles and stitches.

"Better than you." Rory smiled softly.

Luke grunted. "I hate hospitals. Sorry."

"It's ok." Rory's eyes widened. "How's the baby?"

"Fine, the baby's fine. They want to keep you here to monitor it though. To make sure the baby didn't get stressed because of the accident."

Rory nodded. "Ok." She looked over to Jess who was now sleeping in what seemed like the most uncomfortable position possible. "We had a fight right before I got hit."

"Why?" Luke and Lorelai asked in unison.

"Some girl came in and apparently wanted to get together with Jess. Jess showed no interest, but I got upset and left. It's my fault I'm here, and he's probably mad at me." Rory sighed and closed her eyes.

"There's no way he could be mad at you. He's been worried sick, and he hasn't slept…except for now. We had to practically twist his arm to get him in that chair and close his eyes. He's not mad."

Rory nodded slightly and yawned. She looked at Jess one last time and closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"Poor kid. This must really scare her, especially after the last one." Luke mumbled to Lorelai. Lorelai nodded and sat down on a chair next to Jess.

"Should we get him a pillow or something? He's going to have a major pain in his neck sleeping like that."

"I'll get it." Luke offered and carefully placed it under Jess's head.

Jess moved and mumbled something, but didn't wake up.

- - -

Two days later the doctor finally decided to release Rory. The baby was healthy and Rory was healing up nicely.

"Take it easy. No work unless it's from home." The doctor ordered. Rory nodded and Jess carefully pushed the wheelchair to the car, followed by a nurse.

"I hate this thing." Rory quietly told Jess.

"I know. But they won't let me take you any other way. So sorry." Jess carefully helped Rory into the car and the nurse took the wheelchair away.

"Jess. I'm sorry I freaked out and ran out like that. I should have just let it go."

"Don't worry about it. It's my fault I didn't tell you about her. And I'm sure she'll be stalking me for the next few days. I'll get Matt on it though." Jess tried changing the subject.

"I shouldn't have put myself and the baby in danger. If we lose this one too…" Rory began crying.

"We're not going to lose this baby. You just need to be more careful." Jess joked.

Rory nodded. "I know. I'm so stupid. Running into the road like that."

Jess placed his hand on hers and sighed. " Don't beat yourself up over this. You're ok, the baby's ok. That's all that matters."

"If she's there today, I'm going to sock her a good one." Rory angrily replied.

Jess stifled a laugh and pulled into Truncheon's parking lot. "I just have to take care of a few things here and then we can go home." Rory nodded and followed him inside.

"Matt! How's everything going here?" Jess asked, cautiously looking around.

Matt looked up at Jess and tilted his head to the back of the room. "Great." Jess looked around nervously and spotted Candace in the back 'reading'. Jess sighed and looked at Rory who also spotted her.

"I can get Matt to take care of it, or I could go." Jess waited for Rory to answer.

"You get rid of her. If Matt does it, she'll be more persistent."

"You want to come with?" Jess held out his hand. Rory took his hand and nodded.

"Candace what are you doing here?" Jess angrily asked.

"Why waiting for you silly. Oh and it looks like you brought wifey with you."

"Shut up." Rory snapped.

"Ooh, fiesty are we. Is that why you married her? Does this reflect how she is in.."

"Candace get out. I don't want to see you here again, I don't want to see you ever. If I do, I'll get a restraining order on you." Jess raised his voice.

"Fine!" Candace shouted back, but as she began to leave she suddenly turned around and slapped Rory. Rory fell back. Jess didn't know what to do, he couldn't just hit a girl.

"Rory. Are you ok?" Jess knelt down, but Rory immediately stood up and slapped Candace back.

"Don't ever touch me again!" Rory yelled.

Candace smirked and swung again, but Rory was faster than her and ducked. Jess seeing what could happen, stepped in between them. "Get out Candace."

Matt saw the whole thing and decided to intervene too. "Out. You're no longer welcome here. If you show up again, we'll call the police."

Candace sneered and walked out.

"Rory are you ok" Jess turned to her and checked her face. "You're face is red."

"I'm fine." Rory fell into Jess's arms and began crying.

"I'll make sure she doesn't show up again." Matt said leaving them.

"Thanks man." Jess stroked Rory's hair. "Let's go home."

Rory sniffled and nodded. "Can we go to the bookstore first?"

Jess laughed. "Do you have to ask?" Rory smiled.

"I guess not. Let's go!" Rory pulled Jess along and leaned against him. She wanted to get her mind off of today, and going to the bookstore would help.

There you have it! Drama, but not too much. Hope you liked. Reviews are welcomed with open arms! Any suggestions for next chapter?

Beth