A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They make me smile. Enjoy chapter two!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Sad.

Ch. 2- A Lack of Perspective

Rory knew she should have gone to Luke's to see Jess as soon as her stuff was put away, but for some reason, she couldn't. Instead, she walked to Lane's to gain some perspective. Lane was the only person she had told about her visit to see Jess in Philadelphia. In fact, she had called Lane while walking back to her hotel room after having coffee with him. She had needed an unbiased (well, less biased anyway) opinion on the situation.

"So you had coffee, talked like old times, and that was it? Then he asked you to dinner? And you accepted?" Lane recapped after listening to her best friend's newest saga.

"Yeah, pretty much. It was weird that it wasn't really weird. Now I'm just confused."

"You're not sure what you feel for him anymore, that makes total sense" Lane reassured her.

"No, I do know what I feel for him. I'm pretty sure I still love him, which is crazy because I though I was over that a long time ago. I mean, I moved on, a lot. And then I go to see him and it's like I'm seventeen again. What I'm not sure of, though, is what he feels for me. I was sure that he had a girlfriend or something when he completely ignored me when I told him I broke up with Logan. But then he asks me to dinner out of nowhere. He wouldn't do that if he had a girlfriend, right? I mean, I practically offered myself up to him and he acts like I'm his sister or something. It's just not normal" she ranted.

"Well, maybe he's just being practical."

Practical. This was certainly not practical. Lane needed to give her a better reason than 'he's being practical'. If he had gone home after dinner, that would have been one thing. She would have known then that he was over her. But no, he had to listen to her and stay in her hotel room. Why had she decided margaritas were a good idea? Granted he had sat in a chair the entire night and not made one single move to hit on her, but still. When did he become a gentleman? It was unnerving. Then, just when she was about to walk away and forget that she had ever attempted this, he had to give her a single kiss and tell her he'd see her at Christmas with that trademark half-smirk, half-grin he did so well. She needed an outside perspective before she could see him again and get transfixed on those eyes and that voice. Lane, however, was not home when she got there. She knew she should have called first. Of course, Lane had seen this coming a left her a note taped to the door. It read: "Rory, the twins have a doctor's appointment. Jess loves you. Just go with it. Lane". So much for un-biased opinions. Since when was everyone on the 'I love Jess' train anyway? It was apparently time to bite the bullet.

Rory walked into the Diner, but he wasn't there. She wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. Maybe he wasn't really going to come. Maybe she had dreamed the kiss. Maybe she had dreamed Philadelphia altogether. She sat down at the table by the window to wait for her mom and Luke. She didn't have to wait long. She heard her mother's voice drifting from the storage room where Luke was emerging. He saw her and his eyes lit up as he walked toward her.

"Rory! It's good to see you! How are you?" Luke greeted his soon-to-be step-daughter with a hug and a smile.

"I'm good Luke. It's good to be home. I've missed everything and everyone!" she replied.

"Did your mother tell you?" he whispered conspiratorially.

"She did, right when we pulled up to the house. But I already knew, so it didn't matter that she's a big procrastinating chicken."

"Good. I wanted to tell you earlier, but she threatened me. You know, your mother is one scary lady sometimes. Wait, how did you already know?" he asked, although he was sure he knew the answer.

"I heard it from the horse's mouth himself, actually. When is he getting in, by the way?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but by the look on Luke's face it hadn't worked.

"He's here now. You can go upstairs and say hi if you want."

"Oh, um, okay" she said awkwardly. Things were getting more bizarre by the minute. Now Luke was telling her to go see Jess, upstairs, alone… what did everyone else know that she didn't? She climbed the stairs, debating on whether she should knock or not. She was just starting to mentally tell herself a story, like her mom used to do when they were outside her grandmother's house, when the door opened and she was face-to-face with Jess.

"I… uh… Luke said you were up here and.. Um… and I…" she stuttered, shell-shocked.

"Came up to say hi?" he finished for her.

"Yeah. That's it. So… you're here."

"I told you I was going to be here. You don't have to act so surprised. Geez… so, are you coming in or what?"

There was that trademark smirk-grin. She wanted to grab him and kiss him and throw him on the bed… she mentally shook herself and merely smiled shyly and slinked past him, sitting on the couch to wait expectantly. Jess sighed slightly as he closed the door and turned to head for the couch himself. He wanted to just grab her and kiss her and tell her he had always loved her and always would, but that was really cheesy and he wasn't sure how she'd react to that anyway. He hadn't even meant to kiss her back in Philly either. He had wanted to, he always wanted to, but he had told himself to take things painfully slow to avoid any kind of impulsive maneuvers that had gotten him in trouble so many times before. Besides, throwing her off guard was very satisfying and downright fun.

"So how was your trip?" he started off innocently.

"It was good. How was yours?" she matched his casual tone perfectly.

"Fine. Lots of driving."

"Yeah. I guess you have a car that works now."

"It's got an engine and wheels and everything" he couldn't help but respond a little sarcastically. She was trying to get him to crack first, but he was on to her and determined to make it the other way around. They sat for a few moments in silence, neither wanting to be the one to break it.

"Jess…" she said finally, half question, half statement.

"What?" he asked slyly, proud at his victory.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm visiting my family for Christmas," he said in a patronizing voice. He paused before adding, "And I promised this really amazing girl that I would see her at Christmas and I am a man of my word." Damn, she got him again. Calling her amazing was not playing it cool. It was the exact opposite. Why did her eyes have to get so big and blue like a lost puppy?

"Oh. Well, those reasons sound pretty good to me" she noted, leaning slightly towards him, hoping he'd kiss her again.

He noticed her breath catch as she moved closer to him and it took every inch of willpower he had to not get sucked in. He stood up abruptly and saw the disappointed look in her eyes, but he wasn't going to start something she wasn't prepared to finish. Not again. He was definitely playing with fire here and was tired of getting burned.

"We'd better go downstairs or your mom and Luke will come up here looking for us and they'll undoubtedly blame me if we're late for dinner" he said with a chuckle to let her know that he wasn't just blowing her off for no reason. He didn't want to hurt her even more than he didn't want her to hurt him. He was relived when she smiled and headed for the door.

Of course, then she stopped right as she passed him and whispered, "I had almost forgotten about dinner. I was ready for dessert." She giggled to herself as she bounced down the stairs. If he was going to play dirty, so could she. Jess shook his head and followed her into the diner. Tonight was certainly going to be interesting, because he was not going to give up yet. One way or another he was going to win this little game they were playing.