A/N: This is later than I planned, I'm so sorry! This week has been crazy busy and I'm finally able to sit down and concentrate enough to write XD I hope you like it! Also I know I said Jess flashbacks were coming but this chapter does not pick off where the last one left off so you'll find out what the phone call said in a flashback, kind of like the Rory/Luke scene of earlier chapters, hope you don't mind ;)

And to my latest review - Rory didn't invite Jess to stop the wedding, it was more wanting him be there because he was important to her life even as time passed and Lorelai, always being able to sense something between them when they couldn't, assumed that's what she was doing :) I wanted to reply to you but in case anyone else wondered the same thing, I thought it should be answered in the update heh.

The bell above the diner rang as Jess walked in, causing everyone to once again stare at him. He sighed as he walked to the counter. You'd think the town would be over the stares by now. With all eyes on him, he felt like a seveneteen year with a chip on his shoulder all over again.

Lane laughed when she noticed a particular two pairs of eyes on him as he approached. "They really aren't subtle, are they?"

Jess shook his head, quickly looking towards Babette and Miss Patty who turned their heads away when he saw them. "No, they're not."

"How does it feel to be their eye candy?" She asked.

"Very creepy," he answered and smiled at her slightly. "Lorelai demands coffee and a whole list of food."

Lane laughed again. "Is there really a list?"

Jess pulled one out of his pocket. "There is."

"Pregnancy cravings or just Lorelai being Lorelai?" She asked as she read it over and gave it to Cesar in the back.

"I think its both," Jess said.

"It probably is," she nodded. "I don't think I even had these kind of cravings either time I was pregnant."

"Must be different on a Gilmore," he remarked then shut up.

"Yeah," Lane agreed. She noticed the awkward shift at the mention of Gilmores but decided to help move it along. "How long are you here for, Jess?"

"Uh, Matt and Chris told me I can work from here as long as I need," he told her. "I'm not sure how long Luke wants me to stay, though."

"Oh don't say that," she hit his arm lightly. Anyone watching - and there were people watching - might assume they'd been friends all their life. "I'm sure Luke wants you here."

"Like he did for Christmas?" He joked.

Lane was confused. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "The past."

They were kind of quiet after that, only mentioning stuff like how the house build-on was doing, Jess' writing, Lane's review of his book because she had finally gotten around to reading the copy Rory bought her. When the food was dine, Jess gladly took the huge bag from Lane. He whispered to her, "I've been back four days. You'd think they would stop staring."

"I think they'll always stare no matter what," Lane replied.

He nodded in agreement as he walked out the diner. The air was cool and warm at the same time and Jess was glad for it. It kind of reminded him of the old days in New York when the days were never just hot or cold but in-between.

He walked back to his uncle and Lorelai's house in silence. Jess knew as soon as he got there, there'd be yelling and screaming and more yelling and screaming when Kirk messes up like he's been doing the past four days. Luke had only agreed to have him there because he sat in front of the house like a lost puppy and it creeped everyone out.

Approaching the house, he could already hear Luke yelling something then Kirk chiming in. He shook his head, a slight smile on his face that he knew that would be the case. Instead of walking towards the chaos that now included Tom's voice and other ones he didn't recognize, Jess walked to the kitchen. Lorelai was there just as he assumed she would be.

"Food!" She beamed when she saw him enter.

Jess put the bags on the table in front of her. "Lane says you have special cravings."

"I had the same cravings when I was pregnant with Evan," she said with a fry stuffed in her mouth.

"That doesnt make it normal," he told her as he looked around. "Where is Evan anyway?"

"Locked in his room," she motioned her head towards Rory's old room. "Let's say their vocabulary got pretty colorful earlier so I asked him go play in there."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding. "Luke?"

"Who else?" She laughed. "Thought Kirk does a rousing line of 'fudge' when he jams his toe."

"I bet," Jess laughed.

Their laughter faded and they sat there awkwardly. Jess felt once again like a teenager today. He thought he saw something on Lorelai's face, something in her expression. But before he could ask her why she's looking at him like that, it faded and she spoke again.

"You wanna go see him?" She asked.

"That's allowed?" He smirked.

Lorelai squinted her eyes and did her normal snort/laugh combo. "Luke will have to wait a few minutes so his son gets a visit from his cousin."

He chuckled. "That sounds fair."

She nodded at him, that expression appearing on her face for a second before it was gone again. He shook his head, ignoring the nagging feeling that she wanted to say something to him and knocked on Evan's door.

"Who's there?" A little voice asked on the other side.

"A bad hooldum turned good," Jess replied.

The little voice sounded confused when he asked, "What's that?"

"It's Jess," he laughed at the door. Looking back to Lorelai, he could see her snicker still on her face. The door unlicked and before it opened, Jess turned back to lorelai and pointed at it. "He unlocks doors too?"

"That kid is talented," she only answered.

Evan stood in front of Jess when he turned back to the now open door. "Am I allowed out yet?"

"Probably not," Jess laughed. "Your dad is still with...them."

Lorelai snickered again behind them. Both of them looked at her and she stopped. "What?"

"Nothing," Jess said. Evan tugged on his sleeve. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Want to see a picture I drew in kind-er-gar-tin?" Evan excitedly asked.

Jess smiled at his pronunciation of kindergarten. "Sure. Why don't you show me?"

Evan grabbed Jess' hand and pulled him into his bedroom. He grabbed a piece of paper off of Rory's old desk. Jess smiled at it as he remembered how she was sitting there the first time they met so many years ago. Jess took the paper from his cousin's hand and looked down at it.

"Wow," he said. The picture was in crayon of Evan, his parents and next to them was Jess and Rory. He stared at the drawn version of himself smiling next to the girl who always caused his world into a tailspin. "That's really great, buddy."

"They told me draw my family," Evan explained.

Jess nodded, still staring. "I'm part of your closest family?"

"Yep," Evan beamed. "Rory, too."

"I see that," he said and finally looked away from the artwork. "Has she seen this?"

Evan shook his head. "No. Mom says she's coming next week."

"She is?" That caught his attention.

"Yep!" He said happily. "Do you think she'll like the picture?"

"She'll love it," Jess ruffled his hair.

Evan hugged Jess. Jess maneuvered himself to kneel down and hugged him back. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too, kid," Jess said. "Me too."

...

Rory came home from work and went straight to the kitchen. She grabbed a beer out of the fridge, something she only did on rare occasions. Work has been really stressful. First there was a new hire who asked her questions about everything and the coffee machine broke. She was asked to proofread an article instead of finishing her own then which took her even longer to edit her own. She sighed. It was a long day.

She popped the top off and took a long drink. The light blinked on her old message machine and she walked over to it curiously. Everyone usually called her cell phone in the past years. Rory wasn't even sure why she had that old thing anymore if she was being honest. She pressed on the button and was surprised to hear the voice on the other end.

"Hello, Rory," Emily Gilmore's voice said. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience as you must be at work. But some of the girls in the DAR were talking about you and what you've been up to recently. They were wondering if you would attend a meeting we're having on Friday."

"Great," Rory murmered, not exactly having fond memories of that time considering.

"Since we haven't had Friday night dinners since..." Emily stopped then continued. "In a long time, it would be nice to see you for dinner that night. Call me back and let me know your answer. It would be fantastic to tell them they'll be seeing you again. Good bye."

The message beeped off and it was silent once again in her apartment. Rory sighed and sat down on her couch. She hadn't exactly talked to her grandmother in what seemed like years. Really, it was weeks but the conversations weren't as often as they once were. Since her grandfather had passed two years earlier, Friday night dinners were over and Emily had distracted herself with countless things. She had even zip-lined.

Taking a deep breath and thinking of how much she actually missed seeing her grandmother more than a couple of tines every few months, she called her back. Emily's voice was cheerful when she answered. "Rory! My, that was soon!"

"Hi, Grandma," Rory replied. "I just got home and heard your message."

"Well what do you think?" She cut right to the point. "Would you be willing to hang out with a bunch of old biddies for the night?"

"You're not old," Rory told her. There was a pause before she continued. "I would feel honored to come."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Emily beamed. "Everyone will be so excited."

"It'd be nice to see them again," Rory agreed.

"Yes," Emily replied. "Yes, it would be."

"Should I dress up for this?" She asked. "Is it a fancy thing?"

"Its just a meeting," Emily waved off. "Dress the way you would for Friday night dinner."

Rory almost laughed. Her Friday night attire was dresses so in most cases, considered fancy. "Okay. I will."

"Lovely," Emily said in a cheerful voice. "Be here Friday at promptly 7 pm."

"I will," Rory smiled. They hung up nicely and she called her mom right after. When Lorelai picked up, Rory went right into a conversation. "Grandma wants me come over on Friday."

"Hello, dear, sweet daughter of mine," Lorelai said in a cheerful voice then her tone turned suspicious. "And Friday? As in Friday night dinner?"

"She says it's DAR meeting," Rory answered. "That they talked about me and wondered what I was doing."

"Uh-huh," Lorelai said.

Rory heard chewing and laughed. "Are you eating?"

"Maybe," her mother said and the chewing stopped.

"Is this Luke approved?" Rory questioned in her stern voice.

"It was delivered by his nephew, so does that count?" She teased.

Rory's eyes widened. "Jess is there?"

"Does Luke have another nephew?" Lorelai joked then turned serious. "He's been here for around four days now."

"Were you gonna tell me?" She asked. "Or is it supposed to be some secret?"

"No, sweets," she imagined her mom shaking her head. "It just never came up."

"Even after..." Rory paused, trying to find the right words to continue. "After that phone call where I told you how I felt?"

Lorelai was silent for a few seconds. "I could probably give you excuses on how there's so much going on that I didn't think of it, which is part true. But I'm not going to. I'm sorry, hon. I was..."

"What?"

"I was worried maybe you'd reconsider coming if you knew he was here."

Rory let out a huff. "Why would I do that?"

"You two have a history of avoiding each other when there's feelings involved," Lorelai said softly.

"You're right," Rory agreed to her mother's surprise. "We do."

"Are you still coming?" Lorelai asked.

"Mom," Rory said in a serious voice. "Of course I am. Just because I have feelings and he's there, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop visiting my mother and brother."

...

"Hi, Mom," Rory said into the phone.

"Rory?" Her mother asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she reassured her. "Remember the stuff you said to me about Jess?"

"Yes?" Lorelai answered suspiciously. "Why?"

"I do...feel something," she took a deep breath before she said the second half of the sentence. "I think I always have but I don't know. Ever since I saw him again at Luke's, its like the feelings all came rushing back."

"Oh," Lorelai whispered.

"Good 'oh' or bad 'oh'?" Rory asked.

"Thinking 'oh'," she confirmed. Rory nodded and waited. "Is this a good thing to you?"

"I'm not sure," Rory sighed. "I truly believed I would be over him after he left. I'm not supposed to see him twelve years later and have my heart beat the way it does when he looks at me."

"So there's a special heartbeat?" Lorelai teased.

"Mom," Rory laughed despite herself. "Did you feel like this before?"

"Yes," she replied. "A couple of times. But especially with Luke."

They were silent again, letting each other's words sink in. Finally, Rory found her voice and spoke again. "Mom?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"I think there's a chance I never...that I never completely fell out of love with him," she said in a quiet voice.

Lorelai replied in a voice that matched her daughter's. "I know."

"I think I pushed it aside," Rory continued. "For my whole freshmen year, especially. But when everything happened with Dean and then I met Logan...I did love Logan, Mom."

"I know you did," she told her. "But I also know you loved Jess."

"Yeah," Rory simply said. "I did."

...

"Right," Lorelai said. "I'm being silly."

"Yes, you are," Rory teased. "He's not there right now, is he? Like he can't hear us?"

"No," her mother answered. "He's helping Luke right now with the remodel."

"Good," Rory said in relief. She couldn't imagine what she'd do if he heard at least her mother's side. She decided to switch the conversation back to why she had called. "Well, I'm coming and I'm going to Grandma's meeting."

Lorelai didn't seem to mind and laughed then groaned. "Wait. She doesn't want me there, too, does she?"

"Were you ever in the DAR?"

"Oh God, no!"

"Then I'm pretty sure you're not invited," Rory told her.

"Whew," Lorelai was relieved. "Scare a pregnant woman, won't you?"

"Oh, please," her daughter laughed. "It'd take a hell of a lot more than that to take down Lorelai Gilmore."

"Damn straight."

...

The sun was setting when Luke finally got Kirk to leave the house. Jess and Lorelai laughed as he all but kicked him out. Luke turned to them and locked the door firmly behind him. The couch was moved closer to the window during the remodel so it didn't take long for Luke to sit down besides his wife.

"I think he wants to move in, Uncle Luke," Jess said.

"Don't even joke about that," Luke replied.

Jess laughed. "You mean you don't want to adopt him and share custody with his mother?"

"Now that's a family," Lorelai laughed.

"I don't know how I put up with either one of you," Luke said with a small smile.

"You mean you don't love us?" Jess pouted.

"I know why he puts up with me," Lorelai said. "Because I can keep him up all night when we -"

"My ears!" Jess exclaimed. All traces of joking were off his face and replaced by disgust. "None of that or I'll have to find someplace else to sleep tonight."

Lorelai shrugged. "I guess you're finding someplace else, then."

"Gee, thanks," Jess said then turned to Luke. "You'll let her kick me out?"

"No," Luke said then turned to Lorelai. "Yes."

"I'm feeling the love," Jess pointed out.

Luke just smiled at his wife and nephew and his smile turned even brighter when Evan rushed into the room, glad the people were gone and he was alone with his family. In that moment, it definitely felt like things were pretty damn close to how they were supposed to be.