Rory nudged Jess' foot with her own, the coldness of her bare feet surprised his. He flinched away for a second before he moved his foot back and her foot went back into position on top of his. "Hey, Jess?"

"Hmm?" He murmered. His eyes were closed and he laid on his back. Rory laid beside him as her fingers traced lazy circles on his bare chest.

"We missed our one month anniversary," she told him.

One eye opened and looked down at his girlfriend. "We did?"

She nodded. "We should still celebrate. Can we?"

"Of course," he nodded too and closed his eyes again.

"Jess," she extended his name and leaned closer to him.

He laughed at her effort. "Yes?"

"Let's make a plan," she pleaded. "Pick something to do."

"Oh I can think of something to do," he smirked and raised an eyebrow at Rory. Both of his eyes were open now and she shifted under his stare.

Rory's cheeks reddened. "Besides that."

Jess shrugged and put his arm around her. "Well, if there's no that, just pick something and I'll be there."

"I didn't say there's no that," her cheeks deepened even more.

"Huh," he reached out his index finger and swept it across her cheek. "Then maybe you can persuade me."

"Be serious," she asked. "Let's do something tomorrow, make a day out of it."

"Nothing work-related tomorrow?" He asked her.

Rory shook her head. "Nope. I'm all yours, Mariano."

"I'll say," he smirked and kissed her quick. "Just pick something to do. Whatever you want, we'll do."

"I want you to do something you want to do," she smiled at him. Jess gave her a look that told her what he wanted to do and she ducked to hide her flush.

He shrugged again. "I don't care what we do, Rory. As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter what we do."

"Aww," she smiled bigger and kissed him again. "But really. The first time we were together, you followed with things I wanted to do so come on."

"Really," he said. "I don't mind whatever you want to do."

"So if it was a toss-up between last night and a big, giant bookstore?" She teased.

"Hmm," he smirked. "Can it be last night in a bookstore?"

Rory hit his chest with her palm as her face grew red. "Jess!"

"You asked!" He laughed.

She playfully hit him again and he held her hands when she did so. Jess kissed her then, officially ending the conversation and he felt a thrill at the success. Rory wouldn't ask anything else for a while.

...

Rory typed on her computer at work, fact checking and making sure her article was perfect. Her phone vibrated then chimed and after a few seconds - she had to finish her sentence - she looked down at it. She had expected either her mom or Jess to leave her a message but the name she saw surprised her. It was her dad.

To say they got along was a lie. Ever since years ago, when Rory's parents were married for a brief time, her and her father had grew apart. They were never particularly close to begin with but it seemed like Christopher learning he and Lorelai were over for good meant he believed he and Rory's relationship was over as well.

Back then, she tried everything to try to make it not affect her. It had been hard and if she was being honest with herself, she had forgotten about him. Rory did however miss her sister. She checked her phone to see what message he left.

"Hey Rory!" Christopher's voice exclaimed excitedly. "Its me. Dad. I have fantastic news to tell you! I'm coming to New York this week and I was hoping me and you could get dinner. I've really missed you, sweetheart and I really hope I can see you. Call me back and let me know, all right?"

The message ended and she sighed. Christopher Hayden was going to be here, in New York? She quickly texted Jess and went back to the screen in front of her. Two minutes later, she a response: Shit.

She smiled at the word. Jess knew everything about her history with her father. The first time around they hadn't shared as much as they should have but this time was different. Rory filled him in on it all and Jess had actually opened up about his dad. There wasn't much to tell. He told her what he was like, Sasha, Lily. Jess even told her about the dogs. They also keep a ounce of contact when they called each other to say Merry Christmas each year.

She texted him back : Exactly.

"Gilmore!"

Rory looked up to see her boss, Leslie Hartley, stood over her desk. "Yes?"

"Come into my office, will you?" She asked.

Rory nodded and followed behind her. Leslie walked her into her office and motioned for Rory to sit down. Rory sat and waited for the expected no personal phone lecture she had heard her co-workers get before.

"Something interesting has happened," Leslie told her. "There's a girl who interviewed for an out of state newspaper my brother works at."

"Okay," she said. Rory wasn't sure what this had to do with her.

"She used to work at bookstores," Leslie continued. "We've decided to hire her as a reviewer of independent novels and we'd like you to help her out around here."

"Of course," Rory agreed.

Leslie handed her a folder and Rory opened it up to see a pretty blonde, around her age and a profile on her. She wondered what her own profile looked like. "This is her. You should get an idea of who she is."

"Yes," Rory agreed. "Thank you."

"Now," her boss smiled softly with a stern look in her eyes. "Back to work. You have am article to finish."

"Yes, sir," Rory nodded with a smile.

She got up to leave with the folder in hand when Leslie called her again. Rory turned back to her. "And, Gilmore, hide the phone."

Rory nodded and walked out of the office.

...

Jess threw his bag down on the floor of the apartment. He just had a meeting with an author who lives in New York City. Chris had requested he talk to them and see if the guy would want to be published at Truncheon. Though he had to admit the guy kind of got on his nerves even if his writing was pretty good.

He grabbed a beer he had stocked in Rory's fridge and sat on the couch. There was no new messages, none from either Rory or Luke. It was a bit weird. Instead of wondering about why they hadn't called, he made a different call.

"Hello?" A young voice asked on the other side.

"Hey, Doula," Jess smiled.

"Jess?" She asked. "You're calling here?"

"I am," he agreed. "And I would have hung up if your dad answered so consider yourself lucky."

She laughed. "I guess I am lucky I picked up the phone. Did you want to talk to Mom?"

"I called for you," he told her. "I wanted to make sure we were still all right."

"We're all right," she whispered. "I just miss you."

"I'll come see you," he told her. "I promise."

"When?" She asked.

Jess sighed. "I...I don't know when exactly."

Doula was silent than she whispered, "Because of Rory?"

"Not only her," he admitted honestly. "I'm doing work here, too. I even just came back from a meeting."

"But you work in Philadelphia," she said. "How can you have meetings in New York?"

Jess laughed. "Because there's authors everywhere, silly."

"So its more than just some kind of dating-moon?" She questioned her brother. "You could actually stay there."

"Dating-moon," he said skeptically. "I don't know what that is."

"Its like a honeymoon but you're not married," Doula explained.

"Oh," he tried to not laugh but was having quite a struggle at that.

"Is it serious?" She asked.

Jess stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "Yeah. Its serious."

"How serious?" Doula continued. "Are you gonna marry her?"

"Whoa," he replied. "Slow down. We're not even back together that long."

"Do you want to marry her?" She asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe. One day."

Another silence in the other end. He heard a sigh then Doula's voice. "Really?"

"I've never really thought about marriage," Jess confided. "But...I guess if there was anyone I would...think about it with, it would be her."

"Oh," she said sadly.

"You're worrying over nothing," he said with a small laugh. "Even if I did ever propose to Rory, who's to say she'd say yes anyway?"

"She'd say yes," Doula confirmed.

"And what makes you so sure?" He asked.

"I saw the way she looks at you," she said. "You don't look at someone like that if you don't love them enough to stay with them."

"That's probably true," he nodded in agreement. Jess didn't really know what to make of her observation. He wasn't exactly sure if he could believe it just in case it wasn't true, either.

"Remember how wise I am," she said.

He grinned. "How could I forget?"

"Forget what?" A familiar voice asked.

Jess turned around in his seat on the couch and his grin turned into a full-blown smile when he saw Rory standing there in front of the door. She smiled back brightly. Her eyes shined and he almost forgot he was even on the phone with his sister.

"How wise Doula is," he answered and he heard a laugh on the other end of the line.

Rory nodded, her smile still in place. "That should be obvious to anyone who knows her."

"She agrees with you," Jess said into the phone, to Doula.

"Told you I'm wise," Doula replied.

He scoffed jokingly. "I think I told you first."

"Fine," she caved. "So Rory's there?"

"Yep," he agreed. He still hadn't turned around, his eyes glued to his girlfriend.

"Go," she urged. "Do...whatever you two usually do. I'll let you go."

"You don't have to do that," he said as he finally turned around. Rory almost pouted. Her eyes were glued to him as well.

"It's okay," she told him. "Go be a boyfriend. I'll be around for brother mode."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Positive," she said.

He nodded and they both hung up their phones. Rory took off her jacket and put it on the hook. Jess jumped over the couch and rushed over to her. He placed a lingering kiss on her lips and smirked when he pulled away - her eyes stayed closed.

"Well hello to you, too," she smiled when her eyes opened.

"Hello," he smirked. "How was work?"

"Good," she nodded. "My boss wants me to help some new hire out."

"Oh?" He said. "Is that something they normally do?"

Rory shook her head and they walked back to where he was seated just seconds before. "I'm not sure. But I guess so. I've just never done it."

"This is good, right?" He put his arm around her.

"I guess so," she took his beer and took a sip. "I'm not really good at training people."

He laughed. "I can't imagine you being bad at anything."

"Sophmore year at Yale," she started. "I was supposed to be watching this girl from Chilton. And I lost her."

Jess laughed so hard. He noticed Rory's expression and saw she was serious. "That really happened? You lost a high schooler at Yale?"

"Charleston called me when they found her," she cringed.

"Well, I don't think you're gonna lose this girl," he kissed her forehead. "Neither of you are students anymore to start with."

"Right," she agreed. "But what if I mess up?"

"Then you'll find a way to fix it," he said honestly. "What's this about anyway? Why are you doubting yourself?"

"I'm not," she defended.

"You are," he stared at her. Rory turned her head from under his gaze. "This is about your dad calling, isn't it?"

"Maybe," she sighed. "He never calls anymore so why now?"

"Maybe he heard we're back together," Jess teased. "He wanted to tell you dating the hoodlum who got you into the car accident would be a mistake."

Rory scoffed. "More like talking to him would be the mistake."

"So don't talk to him," he shrugged.

"He's gonna be here," Rory explained. She hadn't told Jess more than Christopher called her. "In the city this week."

"Shit," he said and took the bottle out of Rory's small hands and drank some for himself. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," she answered and she really didn't know. "He wants to get dinner but all I want is to stay with you in my free time."

"So I'll come," he shrugged as if it was the most simple solution.

Rory stared at Jess for a moment before speaking again. "You're serious."

"As I can be," he said.

"I can't ask you to do that," she said though she really did want to ask him to do that now that he suggested it.

"Ask me," he instructed.

"My dad..." She sighed. "He's not the greatest guy and he doesn't like you from what he knows of you."

"My mom wasn't the greatest either and you know her," Jess countered.

"That's different," she said. "I met her before we were even friends again. That couldn't be helped as long as I had Luke. You can escape this."

"Maybe I don't wanna," he stared right into her eyes seriously.

She stared back. "You're serious?"

"You keep saying that," he laughed.

Rory shook her head surprised. "Jess. You really want to go to dinner with me and my dad?"

"Yeah, why not?" He said. "I'll get the time with you instead of hours apart and I'll get to start working on changing his mind about me."

Rory smiled brightly and leaned over. Jess wrapped his arms around her back to hug her back. "I love you, Jess Mariano."

"You better," he smirked.

She smiled still and got off of him as she grabbed her phone. "I'm gonna call him now."

Jess watched her happily go into her -their - bedroom and close the door. His smile faded as he started to worry how the hell he would manage a meet the father dinner, especially with Rory's father of all people.

...

When she hung up the phone, she wasn't as happy as she was before she dialed. He watched her come back and instead of sitting where she was, Rory sank into the single sofa.

"What is it?" Jess asked. "He doesn't want me come?"

"Oh, the opposite, actually," Rory answered. "He's thrilled to officially meet you."

"Then what is it?" He kept going.

She sighed. "He wants dinner be tomorrow night."

"Oh," he understood. They were gonna celebrate their one month anniversary tomorrow.

"He says tonight is too late but he wants dinner as soon as possible," she grumbled.

"So we go tomorrow night," he shrugged.

"I wanted to be alone with you," she admitted.

"We'll be alone before and after," he said. Jess stood up and went to sit by her.

"Promise?" She asked.

Jess nodded. "Promise."

She smiled a little one and he lifted her off the seat only to sit there himself and rest her in his lap. "We can always find other ways to celebrate."

He raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. Rory blushed and he understood completely. "Rory Gilmore, did you just suggest improper thoughts?"

"Maybe," she gave him her own smirk.

"Well in that case..." Rory squealed as Jess picked her up again off his lap and carried her into the bedroom.

...

The next day came quickly. Rory woke Jess up to the smell of coffee and he laughed when she asked him to make her breakfast. He made her French toast after five minutes of puppy blue eyes she gave him. Rory smiled triumphantly once they were finished.

"You really want to see my dad?" She asked him as she poured syrup on her food.

Jess nodded. "Yeah. I never actually meant the guy to be honest so I should."

She smiled at him and swallowed a piece of her food. "I love you just for wanting to come. So I'm going to apologize in advance for my father."

He laughed. "You really think its gonna be that bad?"

"I think my dad is protective at times," Rory admitted. "He's not even around much and then when he is, I kind of want him to go back away. And I think he still remembers you as the guy who fractured his daughter's wrist."

"I'll just have to be my usual charming self," he smirked. "That should win him over."

Rory gave him a look that could compete with her withering stare. "That might not work."

"Oh, come on," he laughed. "You don't have to sound so doomed about it. He can't hate me any more than he does already."

"Oh, you'd think that," she said. "My dad holds grudges."

Jess leaned forward over the table, pushing his plate slightly out of the way. "Do you not want me come with you?"

Her face fell. "No. God, no. That's not what I want at all."

"Then what?" He asked. "It doesn't really seem like you want me meet him."

"Its not that I don't want you meet him," she leaned over too and rested her hand on top of his. "Its just...he's my dad and I love him but sometimes..."

"You hate him?" Jess finished for her.

Rory nodded. "And I feel terrible about it. But I also feel like he's gonna be rude to you about the past and I really don't want that to happen."

"I'm a big boy, Rory," he said seriously. "If he says anything like that, I'll tell him he's wrong."

"And what if he fights with you?" She asked.

Jess shrugged. "I will politely correct him so I'm not the one starting a fight."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "That sounds possible."

"Hey, I'm a changed man," he grinned. "I can hold my own to your father."

"Okay," she stopped her laughter. "I will not doubt you or your ability to stay calm."

"As you shouldn't," Jess said. He moved his plate back to directly in front of him but looked up with a thoughtful look on his face. "I figured out what I want to do today."

Rory smiled brightly. "Tell me."

He gave her a smirk and told her of his plan.

...

They spent almost the whole day in Washington Square Park. Rory packed a picnic and brought a blanket. Jess brought books and they stretched out on the blanket. They ate, they talked, they even read to each other. Rory never had a better day, she thought.

Around 3pm, Jess gathered up their stuff and packed it away. Rory stood and watched him. "What time is dinner with your dad?"

"Um, I think 7," she answered. "I should call him to make sure."

Jess nodded. "We still have a few hours to go."

"What do you want to do until then?" Rory crossed her arms. Jess was done packing everything, even the books were in the picnic basket. She smiled as she remembered their technical first date so many years ago.

"This was my big idea," he stood up too and took her hand in his free one.

"You mean there's nothing else you want to?" She questioned as they walked away from their spot in the grass.

"Oh, I can think of a few things I want to do," he smirked and looked

at her, which caused Rory to blush.

She playfully hit his arm with her own free one. "Is that all you think about?"

"Maybe," his smirk seemed to answer yes, though.

"Oh my god," Rory blushed deeper and ducked her head.

"Take it as a compliment," he whispered to her. She looked at him and he wanted to laugh at her red cheeks. "Like you don't want to do that most of the time?"

"I didn't say that," she smiled small as she looked down at their interlocked hands. "But I'm not always the one suggesting it, either."

"You mean to tell me that after all this time, we finally reach that step," he smirked with a whisper. "And you're not thinking what I am?"

"Let's say I am," she whispered back. "Let's say I suggest we go back to my apartment and celebrate for a couple of hours then get ready for dinner."

Jess grinned down at Rory. "Then let's say we head back home as fast as possible."

She smiled at his use of the word home. Rory could definitely get used to that. "That sounds like a good idea."

Jess laughed and kissed her hair as he took his hand out of hers and wrapped his arm around her. Rory cuddled into his chest and smiled brightly. "Then let's go home."

A/N: This chapter was originally going to have the dinner with Christopher in it but then the chapter got longer than expected and I really wanted to get another chapter up sooner rather later. So the next chapter will have the dinner and I really love writing domestic lit in NYC. I really hope you all like it too.