A/N: Finally! I have been looking forward to this chapter so so much and I'm even more excited to write this one then the last one! I really hope you like it. And the flashbacks will be shorter in this chapter but trust me, it will worth it! Or at least I hope you think so!
Rory collapsed on the couch, still laughing. Evan fell asleep a half hour ago and Jess had carried him to his current bed. Doula, on the other hand, was a different case entirely. She did not want to go to sleep, saying she was eight years old and didn't have to follow after a five year old. Jess had to read her multiple chapters of Lord of the Rings in order to get her to sleep.
He came and sat beside Rory on the couch, exhaling in exhaust. Rory looked over at him and smirked. "This happen everytime you see her?"
"Pretty much," Jess let out a small laugh. "Always asking me to read one more this or that."
"She's a smart girl," she pointed out. "Like her brother."
He shook his head, bashful. "Nah. That's all her."
"Come on," she said. "A brother who reads every kind of classic possible? She had to get something from you."
"She got the same mother," he shrugged.
She shook her head, smiling. "Its more than that and you know it."
He looked at her, stared almost. She suddenly felt uncomfortable under the weight of his eyes and looked away. Jess looked away too and spoke again. "Too bad she has a brother who couldn't even graduate high school, right?"
Rory looked back over at him and saw the regret all over his face. "You know that has nothing to do with how smart you are."
He shrugged. "It proves how stupid I was, though."
"Jess -"
"No, I know," he said. "I've heard it from Luke enough since. He says my GED counts for something."
"You got your GED?" She asked. "I didn't know that."
"File that under how no one wanted to tell us about the other," Jess said. "I could see why Luke left that out after what I did."
She nods, not in understanding exactly but in agreement. She could see why Luke never told her that bit of information. "Why did you leave? I mean, I know your dad came and you weren't graduating...but why exactly?"
"You remember the night we got into the car accident?" She nodded. "You said to me how I could do more, you believed in me."
Rory waited for him to continue, staring at his face in the meantime. This expression was different, it wasn't the Jess she'd been seeing lately but a Jess of the past. The one she saw glimpses of p during her freshmen year at college and on the bus that faithful morning.
He finally spoke again. "After I was told I wasn't graduating, I thought 'Shit. My girlfriend wanted to go to prom.' I even mentioned that go the principal, actually."
She answered in a sad voice. "I didn't care about that. You could have told me."
"Now I know that," he continued. "But back then, I felt like I was crap. I failed Luke and I failed you. The two of you had so much faith in me and I screwed it up."
She nodded, listening. "Did you...did I make you leave?"
"No," he said without hesitation. She tried to interrupt him but he didn't let her. "I left because of me. Because Luke didn't need to clean my messes and because you deserved more than me, more than how I treated you."
This time she did interrupt. "You didn't treat me bad."
Jess gave her a look. "I certainly wasn't a prince."
"I didn't say you were," she smirked. "But for all the bad times, we had more good."
"If you say so," he replied.
"I do," she nodded ad changed the subject. "I read your books."
"Why?" He asked. "Needed to fall asleep?"
"Shut up," she hit him playfully. "They're good, really good. I couldn't put them down."
"Please," he scoffed.
She laughed. "I'm not lying to make you think they're good. They really are."
Jess gave her a look. "You really like them?"
"I loved them," she corrected.
"I'm glad," he said with a genuine smile. "Thanks."
"I should be thanking you," she said. "For writing them and sharing them."
"Hard not to when you have people like Chris and Matt around," he said. "I read your articles."
"Which one?" She asked.
He shrugged. "All of them."
She stared at him. "You read all of my articles? Every single one of them?"
"Had to keep tabs on you somehow," he said. Rory just kept staring at him so he added, "Besides, I had to know if you followed your dream of international journalist."
"I stayed in the same country," she replied.
Jess nodded. "The Obama campaign. Both of them."
"Exactly," she smiled.
"Did you like those?" He asked. "Following a presidential candidate and reporting on his speeches?"
"I did," she smiled, remembering. "We were on a bus for months and the hotels weren't always the best but...I loved it. I made good friends there and good memories..."
Jess watched her face as she smiled at the memories inside her head. The stupid, high school side of him had to ask. "And that's when you and Logan got married?"
She looked down. "Yeah. I got a break from the campaign so we planned it in short time around that."
"Were you happy?" He asked. He really wanted to know. "With him. Were you?"
"I was," she answered. "Sometimes. Mostly. We had problems, big ones. But when we didn't, he did."
Jess nodded. "How bad was it?"
"We got divorced, didn't we?" She replied then put her head down. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" He asked.
Rory whispered, "You don't want to talk about Logan."
"Not really, no," he laughed.
She smiled softly. "Me, either."
They're both quiet for a moment and she remembers something she had wanted to say moments earlier but didn't say. "You know, for the record, you should have let me decide what I deserved."
"What?"
"When you left," she explained. "You said you thought I deserved better. Maybe I didn't want better. Maybe I wanted you."
Jess stared into her blue eyes, his brown eyes probably saying the same thing back to hers. He couldn't take it anymore, and before she said anything else, he kissed her.
...
"Hello?" Jess said as he answered the phone.
"Hey, Jess," Luke said in his usual gruff voice.
"Luke," he smiled, glad he hadn't gone out with Matt now. "Hey. What's up?"
"Nothing is up, exactly," the older man said. "But I do have news."
"Really?" Jess smirked. "Well, tell me. Don't keep me in suspense, Uncle Luke."
"Lorelai and I are getting married," Luke finally said. "For real this time. We're gonna do it."
"Wow," Jess was speechless. All sarcastic comments were erased from his mind as he thought of how much this means to Luke. "Congratulations. I'm glad to hear that."
"Really?" Luke asked. "And you have no smart-ass replies to say?"
"None," Jess answered and leaned back in his chair. "I'm happy for you, Luke. This is a good thing."
"Thank you," Luke replied. Jess bet that he was blushing if he could see him right now.
Jess nodded. "You're welcome."
"Which leads me to another thing," Luke said. "One I'm not sure you'll be too excited for."
Jess sighed. "Like what? Are you forcing me into something?"
"Only the wedding party," Luke said.
"What?" Jess asked. "You want me in the wedding party?"
Luke's voice was a mix of hopeful and trying to hold back when he spoke next. "I want you to be my best man, Jess."
"Wow," Jess repeated. He wasn't expecting that at all.
"You can say no," Luke backed up. "I'd understand if you did."
"I'm not saying no," Jess found himself saying.
Luke sighed in relief. "You're not?"
"No," he smirked. "After all you've done for me, Uncle Luke, I'd be honored."
"I'm glad," he said truthfully. Both men were glad about this really. "I thought maybe you might think it was weird because of Rory. You almost didn't come to your mom's wedding because of her, after all."
"That was different," Jess said. "That was Liz, first of all. Second...it was closer to, well, to everything. I've changed since then."
"Good," Luke said and now Jess imagined him smiling. "I'm glad."
"Me, too," Jess said into the phone. "Congrats, Luke. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks, Jess."
...
Rory kissed Jess back with everything in her it felt like. All the things she'd been thinking about since she'd seen him again at Luke's, since that kiss before she went back to the city all came out in that kiss. His hands were on both sides of her face, holding her to him. Her hands slid to his hair, while now shorter still felt as soft as she remembered.
Neither if them felt like they could pull apart if they tried, not even for air. Finally, she did because as much as she was enjoying this, she had a question burning the back of her mind. "What are we doing?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly.
She panted, staring into his eyes. "I thought we were trying to be friends."
"We were," he answered.
"Then why -"
"Did I kiss you?" He finished for her. Rory nodded. "I don't know. What you said, I just couldn't help it, I guess."
"Oh," she said.
His eyes searched her face. "What?"
Rory looked anywhere but his face, feeling his eyes on her. She leaned out of his embrace and sat back. "So its only what I said? There's no lingering feelings? If I said something else, it never would have happened?"
"I didn't say that," he defended.
"Then what?" She felt like her emotions were all bubbling over, as if she wasn't sure she could make it through this another second if he said he didn't mean it. It felt embarrassing to be the only one of the two who felt this way.
"I don't know," he simply said. "It sounds like bullshit but its not. And hearing you say you wanted me, that I didn't need to feel and be like the jackass I was back then...it means something."
Rory just nodded then spoke. "I wanted to say yes. Did you know that?"
Jess gave her a strange look. "What?"
"When you came to my dorm," she clarified. "And begged me to run away with you. I wanted to say yes."
"Why are you telling me this now?" He asked.
"Because..." She stumbled for words and said the beat ones she could find. "You deserve to know. That when I said the final no, it wasn't because I didn't want to be with you. It was because I was afraid of you hurting me again."
"So you told me no because it was the only way I'd go away," he finished. "Just like I said not to. I guess I didn't exactly deserve your honesty after all I'd done."
"It wasn't about being honest," she shook her head. "I was scared. You broke my heart so badly and I said on the phone I wasn't going to pine but I did. Everyone knows I did."
He listened carefully and watched the expressions change on her face as she talked. "How? How did they know?"
She laughed without humor. "I didn't date for a year. I couldn't even imagine dating after you. It wasn't until after you came to my dorm that I tried to move on."
"Logan?" He asked as carefully as he listened.
"No," she shook her head and closed her eyes. "Not Logan."
His face was confused, trying to figure it out, why she looked so pale. Then it clicked. "Dean."
Rory closed her eyes and looked down in shame. "It wasn't my proudest moment."
"You and Dean -" he started then stopped, afraid of what exactly he wanted to ask. "You got back together?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Wasn't he married?" He asked. He hadn't really paid much attention to him right before he left besides the fight and he paid even less when he came back.
Rory's eyes tightened and he knew the answer. She wasn't sure if she was answering about their marriage or her and Dean 2.0 when she replied. "It didn't last."
"What happened?" He asked in a quiet voice.
"He got divorced," she sniffled. "We dated for a few months and I met Logan while we were together. He broke up with me at this ridiculous party my grandmother threw to pair me up with a Yale man."
Jess resisted the urge to say a sarcastic comment about how that figured she would throw a party so she can date a rich playboy. He nodded, still listening. "Did I push you to him? By coming that night?"
"I don't know," she answered though she did know; she probably even had back then.
"I am sorry," Jess told her in a low voice. "For everything. For coming after you while you had a boyfriend, for not treating you right, for leaving, for coming back when I should have left you alone."
"Its okay," she smiled. He was glad to see her eyes open again. "It really is. I think we needed to go through that pain to get here, right now."
"All of it?" He smirked on the outside while wincing on the inside as he imagined as he had felt in her dorm and at Truncheon.
"All of it," she confirmed.
Jess let out a laugh. "Even Dean?"
She laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. "Yes, even Dean."
"You sure?" He asked, still laughing. "What even happened to him? After you guys broke up?"
"He worked for Tom in construction for a few years," she said. "But a couple of years ago, he left Stars Hollow to start his own company I think."
"Wow," Jess said. "So you haven't seen him?"
"Not in about five or so years, give or take," she replied.
He just laughed again and was glad they steered it away from thinking how he possibly pushed them together.
...
"Oh my god," Rory exclaimed. "You're not kidding me? You're serious?"
"Yes!" Lorelai said with a nod. Her daughter hugged her so tightly in excitement. "We're getting married! Luke proposed last night."
"Oh my god," she repeated. "Mom, this is incredible. I'm so happy for you."
Lorelai beamed as they each pulled out of the hug. "I told you the news was worth being here for, right?"
"Yes," Rory laughed. "Are you gonna do it soon or are you waiting?"
"We only just got engaged, hun," Lorelai laughed in a teasing manner. "But I'm hoping fast because we've waited long enough."
Rory nodded. "Way too long."
"And right now," she said to her daughter. "Luke is calling Jess and asking him to be his best man so it is my duty to ask will you be my maid of honor?"
"You even have to ask?" Rory gasped. "Of course I will be!"
"Oh, sweets!" She hugged her daughter again. "I'm so happy, you have no idea."
"I think I have some," Rory smirked. "Mom, you're getting married."
Lorelai smiled widely. "I know, kiddo."
"To Luke," she said excitedly. "Finally."
"I can't wait," Lorelai said with a huge smile as she hugged her daughter again. "So get ready because we're gonna look for dresses later!"
Rory laughed. "I should have figured."
"I told you we're not waiting," she joked. "I don't think I can wait after everything we went through."
"Good," the younger girl beamed. "When do you want it to be?"
"Soon is all I know," Lorelai laughed as she led Rory to the couch. "Luke is going to Philadelphia to get Jess ready."
"Why isn't he just coming here?" Rory asked curiously. She would never admit how nervous she was about the idea of seeing Jess again after what happened.
"I don't know," she waved it off. "All I know is Luke will be my husband and it is really going to happen this time."
Rory hugged her mom again. "I'm so happy for you, Mom. Rely really happy."
"Thank you, kid."
...
Jess opened the apartment door as slow was possible. Why had he offered to get coffee and pie alone? Opening a door should not be this difficult. Rory smiled happily when he returned, face glowing at the prospect of food and coffee. "This was not as good of a plan as I pictured."
Rory laughed. "You could have asked for help, you know."
"I thought it'd be fine," he gave her a sad face and placed the tray in front of her. "Here. As you asked for."
"My hero," she smiled and took a fork and immediately started eating the peach pie. "Oh my god."
"What?" He asked.
"This is amazing," she half-moaned and wiped her mouth with her index finger. "Like even more than usual."
"You really think so?" He smirked.
She nodded with a giant smile on her face. "If I could marry this pie, I would."
"I'm glad to hear that," he said, smirk still in place. "Because I made that."
"What?" She asked and her fork almost dropped.
He nodded to the plate in front of her. "I made that."
"You made this?" She asked in surprise. "You bake?"
"When Luke asks for help," he shrugged and took his own plate and coffee.
"Wow," she said. "You're really good."
"Thanks," he said.
Both ate in silence, Rory occasionally stealing glances at Jess as he finished his plate. She finished off her coffee and quietly asked, "Jess?"
"Hmm?"
"What's going on with us?" She said.
He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean?" She half-laughed then said more seriously. "We were just kissing. And not just a short kiss, either."
He was quiet again and she almost huffed out in loud in annoyance. Rory really wanted to know what was happening before she assumed anything. "I don't know."
She nodded. "Me, either."
"What do you want us be doing?" Jess asked in a whisper.
"I want you in my life," she admitted honestly. "And more than what we usually do. Not just acquaintances who see each other occasionally because they have important people in common."
"I'd like that, too," he said seriously. "Whenever something happens, you're still the first person I think of to tell it to."
She thought she felt her heart swell when he said that. Rory looked into his eyes and saw honestly in them, no lies. "Me, too. I miss when we were friends, back before we dated, before we kissed. It was so easy."
"It was," he agreed. "I remember you were the only person I wanted to talk to. Sometimes, you still are."
"But we had good times after, too," she said. "We still had that friendship in our relationship, even if we didn't share everything."
"And by we, you mean me," he stated.
"No." Jess gave her a look that challenged the two little letters. "Really. I wasn't entirely honest either and you probably more than know that."
"You mean the stuff about Dean?" He asked curiously. "That seems little compared to what I hid."
"I still didn't tell you everything," she apologized. "And I'm sorry. I'm sure I didn't make it any easier to talk to me about stuff when I wasn't telling you everything myself."
"You're forgiven," he smiled at her and she smiled back. They found themselves staring into each others eyes and once again, found themselves leaning in. Before their lips could touch, the door to the apartment opened and they jumped away from each other. Both Rory and Jess looked to the door to find Luke and Lorelai standing there. It felt like high school all over again.
"Hey!" Lorelai said. She looked at the two of them on the couch and the plates and forks with coffee cups on the table in front of them. "What's going on here?"
"Evan and Doula went to sleep a little over an hour ago," Rory told them.
"Oh," Lorelai zipped her lips. "Sorry."
"Let's go downstairs," Luke suggested. "Though it looks like you two already stole from down there."
Jess smirked. "We were above a diner. It was too tempting not to."
Luke glared at him. "You're paying for it, you know that, right?"
"Yes, sir," he kept smirking.
The four of them went downstairs to update on how Luke and Lorelai's date went and how the babysitting was - not mentioning certain events afterwards. Rory was happy to hear they went to where they had their first date and that Lorelai had even made it through dinner without feeling sick. They'd even made plans to tell the town about her pregnancy before Rory left tomorrow night.
The whole time they talked, Lorelai asked Rory silent questions with her eyes. Instead of answering, she just looked away and tried to prepare herself for whatever tomorrow meant and the interrogation that was sure to follow.