A/N: So glad to know at least a few people aren't bored of this fic yet, because I'm not - thanks for those reviews, folks! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 17

It took some getting used to, as Jess had known it would. It wasn't so tough to share space with other people, because he had been doing that all his life. Sometimes with people he knew and liked, other times with strangers he could happily do without, but co-habiting in general was something he was more than used to. Of course, it was very different when the other person in the house was his former girlfriend, turned close friend and step-cousin, turned mother of his unborn child and girlfriend again.

On the upside, that first day they moved in together, Rory had seemed even more apprehensive and awkward than he felt himself, noting it was strange to be going to a room together that was actually theirs rather than just his or hers. Knowing they would be waking up together in the morning, every morning. Sharing a bathroom. Eating breakfast together.

"I mean, it's a nice kind of strange. I love it, I do, it's just..."

"Strange," he said for her, with a smirk he could hardly contain. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

It did make it easier, knowing they were both in the same boat, but that didn't take away all of the weird factor, not by a long shot. Still, after three weeks, Jess was glad to realise they seemed to have settled into a routine. Obviously, he made breakfast on any day they chose to stay home and not go out to the diner. Rory did the dishes, because she insisted that if he cooked, she would clean. After that, they both had work to do, one way or the other. Some days, they met up for lunch in the middle of the day, other times, they didn't see each other until dinner, and that was fine too.

Weekends, they made a point of putting the laptops and cell phones aside, to spend some real time together, though the first Saturday and some of Sunday had been filled up with many visiting townies with their home-baked goods and well wishes.

"They just love us," Rory told Jess when he sighed over the fifth visit in two hours.

"No, they love you," he told her, taking the casserole from her hands and walking it through to the kitchen, "and I'm not complaining, but seriously, they're not going to do this every weekend, right?"

"I doubt it. Although, with Stars Hollow, you can never be sure."

Thankfully, her first guess was right, and the second weekend was that much quieter, with the third just the same. Jess liked being curled up on the couch with his arm around Rory, the both of them reading silently a while, then stopping to eat. Over food, they discussed the books they were currently into, argued some about what good writing really entailed, and then, on calling a truce, they made out a while.

As living situations went, Jess couldn't exactly think of one he would rather be in. At one point, Rory asked him if he was missing the guys at Truncheon and he actually laughed out loud. As great as the guys were, and they really were good friends, there was no way in hell he would trade the place they had now for his cramped room over the publishing house. He would also never trade his new family for his old friends.

Strangely, he could even truthfully say that he wouldn't give up the simple life in Stars Hollow for the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia or even New York, though he wasn't about to admit that one to anyone beyond Rory.

"Sometimes I miss the city," she admitted in reply, practically laying all over him on the couch on a Sunday afternoon. "Not much, but sometimes. There was something about being in the middle of things that was cool."

"Gets old after a while," said Jess, his fingers running through her hair. "I honestly never thought I'd appreciate the peace and quiet around here, but weirdly, I'm kind of enjoying it this time around."

"Maybe you're mellowing with age," Rory suggested, the smirk on her face betraying the fact she was teasing, in spite of how serious she was clearly trying to be. "I don't know, I keep thinking about what I expected my life to be. It's funny how things turn out so differently."

Jess wondered what specifically she was thinking about. For him, his mind had gone racing back to a night so many years before, when they were both seventeen, driving back to the diner after a trip out for ice-cream. Rory was supposed to be helping him study and had been doing her level best to drum history, English, and more into his brain, in spite of his best efforts to stop her from doing so.

In the car, it was different. She started to open up and really talk to him. Despite his better judgement, he opened up to her too. That was when he found out she had aspirations to be the next Christianne Amanpour and promised to help her achieve the goal, if she would let him. It all seemed such a long time ago now.

"Jess?" She looked worried when he glanced at her then.

"I was just thinking... about that time when I offered to drive straight at you screaming in a foreign language, to get you used to being out in war zones as a big-shot overseas correspondent."

It was nice to see the smile return to Rory's face. "I almost forgot about that," she said, giggling just like she had back then. "You were so determined not to make anything of yourself then."

"Ah, but everything I said turned out to be true, didn't it?" he countered. "Dropped out of high school, went out into the world, worked for money, lived wherever, and ended up in a pretty good place."

"That is true," Rory considered, her smile beginning to fade. "Maybe I aimed too high."

Immediately she said it, Jess felt like a heel. Of course, he should've thought before he opened his mouth, but that wasn't always his forte, especially in situations like this. All that Rory said that night so long age, all her big dreams and big ambitions, he struggled to think of a single one she had really achieved. Harvard never happened, though it had been a possibility, one she had turned down, at least partly because of him. Her big journalism career hadn't really taken off like she wanted either and she certainly never became a big-time overseas correspondent.

"I guess, in the end, I can't say I really have any regrets though."

Those words surprised Jess more than a little. Given some of the crap that had happened in Rory's life lately, he couldn't blame her for having at least a few things that she wished were different. Apparently there was nothing.

"Look at it this way," she continued, shifting position to better look at Jess. "If all the things that happened in my life hadn't happened exactly like they did, I wouldn't be here right now, with you, in this house, having our baby," she said with a smile. "And that would really suck."

Jess smirked at the way she phrased it, but he couldn't deny she had a point. "You're right, that would suck."

He leaned down to kiss her then and she lifted her head to meet him. She was right in what she said. They had both been through their fair share of bad luck and crappy circumstances over the years, but maybe it was necessary to get to where they were now. Jess had to admit that if he thought changing a single thing about his past would blow the present to hell, he wouldn't dare risk it.

"You know, writing the book has made me think a lot about these things," Rory said then, settling back down comfortably, with her head in his lap. "Since I got a little blocked on the latest part, I've been going back to re-read and edit some of the earlier stuff. I don't know, sometimes, I just get thoughtful when I revisit the part where you show up."

"Huh," said Jess, unsure how to proceed from there.

Of course, he knew he was going to feature in Gilmore Girls. After all, it was Lorelai and Rory's whole life, laid out for the world to read. Jess had been there, as a fairly major character in Rory's story, albeit only for a brief time in real terms.

"Should I even ask about that?"

He wondered if he were more nervous for himself or for her. Rory wouldn't write anything in her book that wasn't true, he knew that, but his behaviour back in the day was not exactly something he was entirely proud of. Having the world know what a bad boyfriend he had been once didn't thrill him, even if he supposed he did have a fairly decent redemption arc in the end.

"It's fine. I didn't mean I get thoughtful in a bad way. I mean, for all the stuff with us that wasn't the best, there are some really great memories too," she told him with a smile. "You know, when I'm done I want you to read it, right?"

"The part that I'm in?"

"The whole book," she confirmed without pause. "I mean, who better? Obviously, I do want your opinion on the parts that concern you, because if there is anything, absolutely anything that makes you uncomfortable, I'll change it."

"If you're telling the truth, which I know you will be, I have nothing to hide," he assured her, wondering at his own bravery and resolve in some ways, but standing by it all the same.

"Okay, well, I still want you to read it. Like I said, I want you to read the whole thing, and before you get too flattered or anything, you should know I absolutely plan on exploiting our relationship for free editing."

Jess laughed at that, he found he couldn't help it. "Wow. You're not even trying to be subtle about this, huh?"

"Nope," Rory confirmed, grinning once more. "Come on, there have to be perks to dating a guy who owns a publishing house."

"Part-owns," he corrected her, "and we're not exactly Random House or anything, although..."

"Although?" she prompted when he trailed off, pulling herself up a little to better look at him. "Jess?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking is all. I mean, if your book is good - and you're writing it, so it will be - I guess Truncheon could publish it. Just to start off with," he clarified. "I mean, obviously, you're gonna submit to the big players, but a short print run, build some traction, it can't hurt your case with the larger, traditional-"

It was as far as he got before Rory's arms were very definitely around his neck and her lips were pressed firmly against his own. For a few seconds, he was stunned and unable to breathe, and then, it was over and she was beaming at him again.

"Thank you," she said definitely. "I mean, I was going to talk to you about it, but it seemed a little... I don't know, nepotistic? Well, no, because you would be the nepotist. I don't actually know what I would be in that situation. The nepotee?" she considered a moment before shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. The point is, I didn't want you to feel you had to publish the book because it was mine. I would only want you to if you thought it was good, or mostly if the guys thought it was good. Not that I'm saying you'd be biased or anything, not in general, but I don't actually think you'd be able to help it in this particular circumstance, so I didn't want to-"

Taking a page from her playbook, Jess suddenly pulled her closer and kissed her this time, cutting off any further words that may yet have come spilling out. A few seconds later, he let her go, not surprised when she sucked in a lot of air. Between the rambling and the kiss, she had to be suffering a little.

"Okay," she said after a while. "So, you're going to publish Gilmore Girls," she said happily.

"If you ever finish writing it," he pointed out, "and if the guys agree."

"Obviously." Rory nodded. "Well, I guess that should be inspiration for me to get onto the next chapter," she said, checking the clock which read 4:12 already. "Kind of late to be starting today though. Besides, religious or not, I do believe in Sunday being the day of rest."

"Me too," Jess agreed, encouraging her to lie back down on the couch with him. "Seriously though, how much more time do you think you'll need to finish a first draft?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I got a little blocked, so I'm back in the middle right now, editing and looking for inspiration to go on. The next part just isn't my favourite, I guess. The whole affair thing with Logan," she said awkwardly, "and the up-and-down of my career... but then it'll get better, obviously, and I'll just keep going until I land up in the present, I guess." She sighed. "I don't know, I may not include everything right up to the present day. I'm still figuring it out."

"Well, when you get far enough that you want me to start reading, let me know," Jess told her easily. "I promise to try not to tear up any pages with your ex's name on them."

Though it was supposed to be a joke, Jess was well aware his tone betrayed him. Maybe he might just be tempted to cut Logan Huntzberger out of Rory's life, even if only in print, despite what they said earlier about not changing anything about their personal journey's to their current situation. It was almost amusing when Rory misunderstood him.

"You still hate Dean that much?"

"I never hated Dean." Jess rolled his eyes. "I couldn't care less about Dean."

"Hmm," Rory mused. "You seemed to care a lot in the beginning, when I was dating him and not you."

"I didn't hate him and I didn't care about him either," he said definitely. "He was just... in the way," he settled on eventually. "I guess mostly I couldn't understand how someone as boring as that was with somebody as amazing as you."

"Oh, good answer." Rory smiled up at him.

"Yeah." Jess smirked back at her. "I thought so."

To Be Continued...