AN: Oh my God this was difficult! But it's finished now so that's good. I think we're all in agreement that that last chapter was dumb, right? I mean, it was just... Yeah, anyway, I'm not sure if this is allowed, but I'm gonna do it anyway. I got sick, I got some kind of virus and it made my brain stupid so I wrote that piece of rubbish. Hopefully this will make up for it. And I must thank Addie (Andra-ggfan) for her help on this, you're awesome! And without further ado, I give you the next chapter. Oh yeah, flashbacks are in Italics.
"I come bearing burgers and fries!" Jess announced, letting himself into Lorelai's apartment a few days later. Rory jumped up and met him at the door.
"Coffee?"
"Am I stupid?" he returned, handing over a cup, she kissed him before returning to her seat.
"Given the way things are going here," Tristan interjected, "I would not ask that question again, just to be safe."
"What, you're not having fun playing construction worker?" Jess asked, removing food from the bags and handing it out to the other two.
"I already told her that I'm not good at this sort of thing!" the blonde exclaimed. "This is not my fault."
"Ok, ok, relax. I'm here now, I can help. What do you need?"
"A new partner," Rory replied, smiling sweetly.
"Ditto." Tristan added, picking up his coffee.
"Right, very good. I'm glad you're in agreement on something, but I'm not sure that's going to be a viable option. So what can I do?"
"Help me tie her up and shove her in the closet?"
"You need help with that?" Jess checked, grinning.
"I already tried, she moves fast."
"I'll try this one more time; what can I do to assist you with this assignment?"
"Tying him up isn't a possibility is it?"
"Not today. Sorry."
"Ok, well we need to... we need to take a break." Rory decided, pushing her chair back. "I have to stop this now. Is that alright with you?"
"As long as it prevents either one of you from ending up with rope burns or being found in a ditch on the side of the road, I'm happy." Jess told her moving towards the couch. Tristan grabbed his food and followed the two of them, dropping into another chair.
"I must be missing something here, because aside from this sucky afternoon of forced bonding and academics she has been in a suspiciously good mood, and you are not much better."
"What do you mean? I'm allowed to be happy. I'm not the one being faced with academic torture."
"Today," Tristan pointed out. "You could walk into school tomorrow and be saddled with an assignment ten times worse than this."
"There is no such thing, Tristan." Rory informed him. "I'm pretty certain this is as bad as it gets."
"What about the death scene from Romeo and Juliet for English?"
"Yeah, not fun, I'm sure, but ten times worse? Doubtful."
"I didn't finish. The death scene performed by a group of five guys. Not one girl in sight to play the lovely Juliet."
"Oh I take it back. That would be so much worse. But I'd pay to see it anyway. May have to look away for a moment, but I'd still enjoy the show, I'm sure."
"Ok, that's very nice that the two of you are bonding over my imagined misfortunes, but I think I'll go now, leave you here to work. Like you should be doing,"
"No, no!" Rory grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving. "We didn't mean it, we're sorry, aren't we?"
"Definitely, sorry dude. Didn't mean a word of it,"
"Well that's alright then. Be quiet and eat the food that I've been slaving over, just for you." Jess instructed, sitting back down again.
"You make heaps of these things all day long." Tristan pointed out.
"True, but those two, right there are the very best ones. Mine however is just average."
"In that case, I can't wait to eat this. Thank you." Rory grinned at him and Tristan narrowed his eyes.
"While you try to work out what's going on with her, or come up with an explanation as to why you yourself are acting so peculiar, I'm going to go to the bathroom." Tristan announced, getting up and leaving the room. "Nobody eat my burger!" he called out over his shoulder.
Jess caught Rory's eye, a slight smirk on his lips as his friend disappeared into another room
"Why are you nice to me?" Rory asked taking the drink Jess held out for her.
"What do you mean?" he asked, joining her on the couch.
"The very first day I got here you were nice. I was horrible to you, to everyone for so long, but you didn't give up. Why did you do that?"
"I guess I'm just a better person than you," he joked and Rory shook her head.
"You're probably not wrong there," she replied.
"But seriously? I don't know why I persisted so much, I just..." he shrugged "I guess, maybe I wanted... I wanted to show you there were good people in the world. That we weren't all like the ones you knew in New York."
"But you didn't even-"
"I just had a feeling that if you'd been living in an Andy Hardy movie you wouldn't have ended up here and been so angry. That's why I tried to be nice to you, I wanted you to like it here and be happy. I just knew happiness would look good on you."
"You are a better person than me," Rory decided, leaning over to kiss him. "So... wasn't there a book or something you wanted to show me in your room?" she asked a little hesitantly.
"In my... well, I was thinking we could have something to eat first, talk for a bit? There's no rush, right?"
Rory nodded emphatically, biting her lip. "Right, no rush. We have all night, it's not like we have to run in there this second. No one's keeping time."
"You've changed your mind, haven't you?" Jess asked, shifting in his seat. "That's ok, if you have. I mean, you probably shouldn't go home, because that might raise a few questions, but I can sleep on the floor, or out here. Upstairs even if you-"
"No. I haven't changed my mind and I don't want you to sleep on the floor. I just... I'm a little scared. But you're right. We should eat, talk. Relax for a bit. Just see how things progress."
"I'll go and dish up the food," Jess decided, standing up. "Maybe a distraction is just what we need right now."
"Ooh, what are we having?" Rory asked, following Jess into the kitchen, feeling a little better already.
"I have spent the last few hours perfecting my world-famous spaghetti and meatballs." He replied, spooning some into two bowls.
"Oh, excellent, more Italian,"
"Is that a problem?"
"Well, ever since mom learned how to cook, she has. Every Saturday night,"
"Oh, ok, well I could..." Jess moved over to the fridge and started rooting around. "I could try and come up with something else,"
"No. It's fine. This smells very good, and, it's not lasagna, so, its fine. Don't worry about it."
"If you're sure,"
"I am, come on, let's go." Rory grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge. Jess grabbed the food and they returned to the couch. After she'd sat down and gotten comfortable, Rory reached for the remote and switched on the TV. "What are we in the mood for?"
"Something light, I think."
"Okey-dokey." She flipped through the channels for a bit before settling on a movie, some silly comedy she couldn't remember the name of and they both sat back to enjoy their dinner and the entertainment.
"I'm ordering pizza," Rory decided a few days later, picking up the phone. "And don't even try to pretend you don't want any. I've seen the way you stare at the 'unhealthy' food the customers order all day long. You're a closet junkie aren't you?" she asked Luke as she muted the TV.
"I don't know what you're talking about." he argued. "The only reason I stare is because I can't believe they-"
"I can get you a vegetarian one if that would make you feel better. But we both know that all you'll be able to think about while you're eating it is sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to stuff your face with whatever's left over of mine."
"Just order the food, alright," Luke instructed. He glanced over at Rory a moment later, she looked as if she were daydreaming.
Jess put his bowl down and looked over at Rory. She was no longer watching the TV instead she was pushing the food around her plate, having only eaten a little. He switched off the TV and took her food away, causing her to look up at him.
"Did I miss the end?" she asked, looking over at the blank screen.
"And the middle." He replied, nodding.
"I'm sorry. I got distracted."
"That's ok. It wasn't really ground-breaking comedy. You ok? Anything I can help with?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just... thinking about later."
"And?"
"It's not just me, right? I mean this..."
"Panic? No. It's not just you. And like I said earlier, if either one of us decides at any point that this is not a good idea, I'll stay out here or wherever you want me to go."
"Thank you for dinner," Rory replied, shaking her head a little at the idea of him sleeping on the couch, "It was very nice. Well, the bit that I had anyway. Guess I wasn't really all that hungry."
"There's a first time for everything right?" Rory laughed and nodded. "So we haven't really talked
much the last couple days, huh?"
"I know. It's funny, coz we usually can't shut you up." Rory commented with a smile.
"Oh, I know. Mom's constantly yelling at me to stop talking. But I was actually trying to ask you a question."
"Sorry, ask away."
"You're new schedule, any better than the old one?" he asked, hoping to get both of their minds off why they were there. He'd been trying to act calm all night; cooking and watching TV had helped, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to last much longer unless he had another distraction.
"Well, my English teacher is pretty cool. She's a little strange, but in a good way. There's a pretty cute boy in my math class too, although he's sitting right next to this annoying blonde guy and... Well I guess the other one isn't that annoying." Rory conceded, she'd been getting along a lot better with Tristan lately. "But having that class first thing on Monday morning really sucks. The best part of all is that I don't know anyone in gym."
"Meaning no more locker room showdowns with the bunny boiler?"
"Precisely. I think me and Chilton may just work out after all."
"I'm glad to hear that. So tell me about this guy in... Was it your math class?"
"Oh yes, he's definitely worth a conversation." Rory grinned and started to talk about the boy sitting right beside her.
Rory shook herself out of her reverie and looked up at Luke who was now standing in front of her, waving a hand in her face. "What?"
"I told you to hurry up and order. Then you seemed to disappear, kind of. You ok? You looked a little out of it."
"I'm fine." She replied, slightly embarrassed to have been caught thinking about that night again. Especially by Luke "I was just thinking of all the extra toppings I'm going to get on my pizza. This is your treat, right?"
"Nice try. Can I at least make you some salad to go with it?"
"If that's how you want to spend your time..." Rory picked up the phone again and dialled. "Pete, hey it's Rory,"
"Alright, so I know we've talked about this already," Lorelai began as she and Rory sat in the Jeep, on their way to Friday night dinner. "But can you just tell me again-"
"Mom! It's been over a week. A week of you asking me, every chance you get, the same questions. The answers have not changed, and will not be changing anytime soon. So can we please not discuss this right this second? I'd rather have other things on my mind when we walk through that door. Or, nothing at all, if possible,"
"I'm sorry. I'll stop, I'm just... you know, it's a bit of a challenge to wrap my mind around it."
"I know, I know. You're a mother and it's all... but just try not to think about it, at least while we're in the presence of your parents. I don't want to be trying to explain what's wrong with you all night."
"I'll be good, I promise." Lorelai replied, manoeuvring her car through the streets that lead to her parent's home.
"Ok. And when we're done here, if you have been good, then I'll buy you a piece of pie."
"With ice cream?"
"Only if you're really, really good,"
Rory came out of her room the next morning to find Jess looking over the photos by the TV. They were mostly of him, but there were a couple of her there now as well, one from her birthday and a group shot of everyone on Christmas day.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" she asked him, coming over to join him. "People will talk,"
"Oh, let them talk all they want. I wanted to see you. Do you realise we haven't been alone since you came back here on Sunday morning?"
"No, there was the time at Mom's when-"
"We had two minutes while Tristan was in the bathroom." Jess finished.
"Ok, well what about the last five days, going to and from school on the bus?"
"Not exactly my idea of quality alone time, what with all those other people around. Strangers or not, they were there."
"Right, yeah, and I'm guessing those couple of minutes in the storage room on Thursday didn't count either?"
"With Luke just outside the door? Not a chance."
"Look who went and turned into a teenaged boy, ruled by his hormones all of a sudden." Rory grinned as Jess pulled her closer.
"Not my fault, your fault." He told her, as she brought her arms up around his neck.
"Ok, I have to accept the blame for that one, I guess. So what exactly are you proposing here?"
"That we spend the whole day together, just you and me. I talked to Luke and he said that he'd call Caesar to fill in for me."
"That sounds like a great idea, really. But I have to go into Hartford to finish that project with Tristan."
"You have to? Today?"
"It's due on Monday, so, yeah, kind of."
"Well that sucks."
"I'm sorry."
"No, that's ok. You're almost done, so you'll be all mine again soon anyway, right?"
"You betcha."
"Ok, well, I guess, since I've got the day off and nothing important that needs to be done I could always go and spend some time with Lane."
"There's a good idea,"
"I do have those sometimes, you know?"
"Yes, you're right. I apologise again. Go and enjoy your time with Lane."
"I will. And I know I sound like a broken record, but-"
"Hey have you seen a single scratch on either one of us?" Rory asked, cutting him off before answering for him. "No, you haven't, so just relax. We're cool. We don't need supervision or a time out or a boxing ring. Tristan and I have reached an understanding."
"Which is?"
"Well, like he said, we both love you, so that's pretty much enough to keep us in line." She explained, picking up her backpack.
"That's right, you both do, don't you?"
"Oh, stop it. Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Alright fine, I'll go. Enjoy your last day stuck on that evil project."
"You know I just might." Rory replied as they made their way down the stairs before each calling out a goodbye to Luke and heading outside. "Say hi to Lane for me," Rory added before they kissed goodbye. Jess nodded and made his way to the antiques store as Rory headed towards her mom's apartment to collect the jeep.
"Alright, that's it! Tell me what's going on." Lane demanded an hour later as Jess returned to the gazebo with coffee and doughnuts.
"What do you mean?" he asked, feigning innocence.
"You have your 'I have a secret' face on. So what is it?"
"How do you know that face?"
"We've been friends for almost ten years Jess. I worked out most of your faces a long time ago. This one became clear six and a half years ago when you broke Luke's singing 'Be Happy' bass."
"Yeah, I'm glad Mom was able to find another one of those. Shame Luke noticed it was missing first though."
"You're trying to distract me, but it won't work. I am too determined. What are you hiding from me?"
"It's... nothing really. Not a big deal."
"Jess Will-"
"Ok, ok, don't full name me, alright? I'll tell you. But you can't freak out."
"Why would I freak out? You're not dying are you? Oh God, am I dying? No, it's my mother, isn't-"
"No one's dying! Psycho, geez."
"No one, you're sure?"
"Positive. I know of no one who is dying. Are you calm enough now? Do you want to hear this?"
Lane took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, looking as if she were centring herself. "Alright, I'm good now. Tell me."
"Well, it's... I mean, I said it wasn't a big deal, but really, it... Rory said that she... loves me."
"What?" Lane screeched, her eyes growing large behind her glasses. "An hour! We've been together for-" she checked her watch, "-sixty-seven minutes and you're only just telling me this now?"
"There's more," Jess told her. Lane sighed and picked up a doughnut.
"More? Well since she told you she loves you and I haven't heard about the two of you breaking up, and you don't look at all depressed then that must mean-"
"I said it back."
"You said it back. Ok, well that's good, right? I mean, I know that my experience in this area is ... well, nil, but still, I've got to think that that's a good thing."
"Yeah, good thing, it was... is good. But there's more."
"There's more than she said she loves you and you saying it back? Ok, well, what, you proposed or something?"
"No."
"Good, because that would just be-"
"We had sex."
"I'm sorry, my heart just stopped beating for a second there, I think I missed that last part, you what?"
"Last weekend when Mom and TJ were in Providence, Rory and I-"
"Ok, don't say it again. I will die. Are you being completely serious with me here? This isn't some sort of joke is it?"
"No, I, I'm one hundred per cent serious."
"Oh my God!"
"I mean, she brought it up and we talked about it and had everything planned, which included lying to Luke and our parents and everything but it actually worked."
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Lane dropped her doughnut on the ground, completely forgetting it even existed.
"What?"
"I'm just picturing it in my head, and -- oh, my God!"
"Lane! You're freaking out, you can't freak out!"
"I know, I'm sorry, but this is just..." she trailed off before whispering, "You know?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Ok, so, I have to ask you this, although, I'm not sure I really want to ask you, but I have to... How was it?" she finally managed, whispering again.
"Why are you whispering?"
"Well, because we're in the centre of town and I know no one's listening, but still... and I've got this feeling that no matter where she is or what she's doing, my mom can hear this conversation."
"I was kinda terrified." Jess admitted after a moment. "We both were, but at the same time... I don't know, it just... it was nice."
"Oh, my God. I can't believe... And no one else knows about this?"
"No, I told you we worked it all out. It was a Luke night, so Lorelai was under the impression that Rory was there, but she told Luke she was staying at her mom's and Babette didn't check on me. Rory got back to the diner before anyone was the wiser so now I guess we're in the clear."
"That's... I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here, congratulations?"
"Thanks," Jess laughed before sipping his coffee. "Eck, maybe we should go and get refills. And you'll be needing another doughnut," he pointed out and Lane looked down at the floor.
"Yeah, sorry about that,"
"No problem, I probably would have done the same."
"Yeah right. Like this conversation will ever be reversed."
"You don't have to tell-"
"No, Jess, I mean that I'm probably never... I mean, until my wedding night and it's just... Ok, let's go get more coffee. I need coffee now, more than I've ever needed it before in my life."
"Alright, we'll get coffee." Jess agreed and they stood up to go.
"Are you serious?" Lane asked again. "I mean, you really-"
"You said you weren't going to freak out!"
"I'm sorry!"
Jess nodded at Mrs. Cassini as he put her dinner down in front of her and then turned around to locate the eyes of the person watching him. Rory stood behind the register, having just finished ringing up a customer's bill. She smiled at him from across the room and he began to make his way over to her.
"You can't keep doing that." He admonished her, coming to stand beside her.
"Doing what?" she asked, innocently.
"Looking at me like that, I'm trying to work here."
"Well so am I, but you keep on distracting me."
"How? I'm not doing anything."
"Oh, but you are."
"Alright, fine. I'll go work in the kitchen and send Luke out here, Will that help?"
"No. Don't do that."
"Well stop looking at me like that and I won't have to." He replied, moving off to see a customer.
"Order up!" Luke called out and Rory jumped slightly, heading off to work again with a smile on her face.
Rory walked into the kitchen with the last of the plates and brought them over to the sink before fetching herself a drink of water from the fridge as Jess moved around the room, checking on things. She pursed her lips and looked over at his bedroom door for a moment. She put down her glass of water and turned back to Jess.
"Ready for bed?" she asked quietly.
"Uh... y-yeah, sure." He replied. Rory nodded and kissed him before taking his hand and they both moved towards the door.
AN2: Review!