A/N: Sorry for the slow update, I've been stuck reading "Twilight" over and over, plus as I've pointed out before, I have my thesis coming up. It's waving at me from the horizon of promise, and I'm trying to connect with it. Once I actually get to writing it, I'll probably find a good rhythm, and my updates will be a little less… sporadic. Anyway, new chapter here, and I hope you enjoy it. Browniepoints for those who checked the Apocalyptica-song in the previous chapter. Reviews keep me happy, you know how to use the button.

Disclaimer: I, the author of this story, do not own any of the characters from Gilmore Girls. That honor belongs to the wonderful Amy Sherman-Palladino. I am not making any money on this (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm losing money over it…).

3. Unfinished sentences and business

It wasn't until Jess had closed the door behind him that he realized how much he was freezing. It wasn't like it was summer anymore, the water had been cold, and he was surprised he'd been able to ignore the coldness until now. He unbuckled his belt as he walked into the bathroom, and let his pants drop to the floor with a loud slosh. That noise had always amused him, and he smiled widely, before quickly pulling off the rest of his clothes and stepping into the shower. He let the hot water run over his body, which was surprisingly numb from the cold water.

Ten minutes later, he almost felt human again. A knock on the door woke him up from his warmwater-induced haze, and he stepped out, draped a towel round his hips and went to open the door. No surprise, it was Luke standing outside, with a paperbag under one arm.

"Luke," Jess said. "Come in."

"Yeah, why say 'hello', or even call ahead to say you're coming over. Oh no, let's just fall into a freaking pond and then have Lorelai call me and tell me you're here and to bring clothes, and then hang up on me before I even have time to ask what the hell she was talking about."

"Hey, Rory came home yesterday and asked if we could come here. I said yes, because she's been out on the road for way too long, and I'm happy to come back to the town that loathed me, just so she can have some quality freak-out time with Lorelai."

"Yeah, that much I could gather…" Luke muttered and shoved the paper bag into Jess' arms. "Here. Some of your old stuff that you so convieniently left. Don't know if it all fits, but it was all I could find."

"I only need it to get back to Rory's. Jeez, you make it sound like that…" he said, and pointed with his foot towards the wet pile of clothes in the bathroom. "…would be the only pieces of clothes I own."

"How long are you two staying here?" Luke asked as he dressed.

"Don't know, a week I think. Depends on Rory, and how much time she needs to get back to normal. She didn't like being out on the road again."

"Like that would be a surprise…" Luke grunted. "Stuck in a small, stinking bus, that's enough to make anyone claustrophobic."

"And I made her go." Jess said, feeling guilty. "I shouldn't have, she was tired of it and wanted to quit after the election, but I convinced her to go on."

"Why?"

"I don't know! I've been asking myself the same question ever since she got back on that freaking campaign trail. I thought it was because I needed time to adjust to the fact that I would be living with her, but how the hell was I supposed to do that when she wasn't there and I missed her like crazy every night!"

"Didn't really think that one through, huh?" Luke commented.

"Obviously not…" Jess answered with a grunt.

"So… Last time we talked, you…"

"Yeah." he interrupted. "It's fixed, I'm just…"

"Yeah, I know… You think..?"

"I don't know. Thanks for the clothes Luke."

"Anytime. See you round, Jess. Maybe there's a whole sentence waiting for us somewhere." Luke teased.

Jess dressed quickly, and went downstairs and into the kitchen, where Rory sat on a stool with a plate full of something that looked like chocolate-cake. She was smiling widely, munching away at the cake.

"Mom, when you said there was a piece of cake for me with my name on it, I didn't think you meant it literally."

"Hey, it was the only thing that kept Michel from cheating on his diet. Me too, come to think of it." Lorelai responded.

"You're on a diet?" Sookie asked, still chopping vegetables.

"God no, I just needed a good reason not to eat it all."

"And having me putting Rory's name on it helped? Perhaps that would've saved Clyde…"

"Clyde?" Lorelai asked confused.

"Yours and Max's wedding cake. It was heartbreaking to throw him away…" Sookie said dreamily.

"Jess!"

Rory had spotted him where he stood just inside the door, smirking at them.

"Oh, if it isn't the prodigal, reformed hoodlum!" Sookie greeted him.

"Hey, Sookie." he greeted her back.

The girls got back to eating cake and chatting, so Jess excused himself and said he'd return home to change clothes.

"As much as I know you love me in my old Metallica t-shirt, I prefer my slightly more sophisticated look." he teased Rory.

"Excuse me, Jess Mariano, sophisticated?" Sookie interrupted. "Have I missed something?"

"Sook, remember, the keyword is reformed. I hear that comes with a new look these days." Lorelai smiled.

Jess shook his head and leaned over the counted to give Rory a kiss.

"Meet me at the Cr… the house?" he asked, not really wanting to call the house by its nickname.

"I might just be stuck here, me and Buck here are bonding for life." Rory answered and pointed with her spoon to the piece of chocolate cake on her plate.

"You're abandoning me?" he asked, mock hurt. "In Stars Hollow? Do I have to call the national guard or request witness protection so as to avoid the wrath of Taylor and his gang of lunatics?"

"Taylor has a gang now?"

"It's all very low key, I caught them trashing Taylor's garden back in the days." Jess responded in a whisper.

"He's gonna hear about that on the town meeting tonight!" Lorelai said, looking aback.

"Your funeral…" Jess muttered with a evil grin, and then exited the kitchen.

He took the regular route home, managing, as if by a miracle, to avoid any form of swans, ducks or crazy townpeople. It felt sort of suspiscious, but he didn't doubt the power of Stars Hollow's gossipmill, it was just a question of whether Babbette and Miss Patty would beat East Side Tilly to the punch. When he came to the Crap Shack, he quickly glanced over to Babbette's and Morey's. Yup, Pierpont was still there, although he was chained to a tree now. "Nothing a good bolt clipper couldn't fix…" he thought mischieviously to himself, smiling at the memory of nicking the small gnome. It had just looked so stupid, a silly little gnome with an oversized pipe stuck in the mouth. And what the hell kind of name was Pierpont? When Luke had barged in yelling about where he had put Pierpont, Jess actually had to think about who the hell that could be.

He entered the house, walking quietly, although no one was home except for Paul Anka, and he didn't mind, oddly enough. He snuck into Rory's room, grabbing the bag of clothes he had dumped infront of her wardrobe. He found a pair of jeans he knew would fit him better than the ones he was wearing. From the bottom of the bag he pulled out a shirt far less consipcuous than the Metallica one. He finished his look off with the black blazer he had been wearing during the open house when Rory came to see him. He looked around her room again. Rory hadn't really lived here for years, but the room still had that feeling of belonging to her. She was ever present in the room, the Yale wall, her book collection, the mere feeling he got from standing there. He went over to the window, fidgeting with the lock, remembering how he had tried to sneak out through it. She had refused to follow him, somehow even managed to get him out of the room. He had found her so odd, so strangely fascinating. She still fascinated him, how she could stand him to begin with. Jess knew he wasn't the easiest person to live with.

His thoughts broke off when his phone rang from somewhere inside his bag.

"Mariano." he answered, not having time to check the caller-id.

"Aren't we sounding all business-like?" Rory laughed on the other end.

"Oh come on, you never get to tired of hearing my last name."

"True. So, you all decent now?"

"I'm so decent I'm feeling out of place." he answered.

"Good, 'cause mom said something about her taking an early day off, she wanted to plan her Taylor-ambush in detail, and I do not need her feeding me bad pictures."

"Like I could ever be a bad picture in your head." he scoffed.

"You have yet to spend any longer amount of time with my mom."

"Point taken. Where are you, should I get indecent?"

"No, by all means, stay decent. I'm heading over to Lane's. You wanna come by, I know Zach and you got along at that party when Hep Alien played."

"Hep Alien? They finally settled on a name?"

"I haven't told you that? I should be ashamed!"

"You should." he laughed.

"So are you coming? I think Zach could use the testosterone kick, all the babycuddling has him going all soft."

"What, babies? Zach have babies?"

"I can't believe myself!" Rory exclaimed. "I have left you seriously on the down low! Zach and Lane are married, they have kids, twins, and I'm their godmother. Are you sure I haven't said that?"

"I think I would remember Lane and Zach having kids, or at the very least them getting married."

"Then you defintely have to come. Meet me at Luke's and we'll go together, as something tells me you wouldn't find your way there…"

"I'll meet you in five." Jess said, and ended the call with a quick "Love you."

"Zach, a dad… God help us all…" Jess thought and shook his head as he walked out of the house, and headed towards Luke's. But it wasn't just the fact that Zach was a dad. Zach was a married man. Zach, rock'n'roll Zach, was a married man with two babies, and what was he, Jess, doing?

"I need to fix this…" Jess muttered to himself, feeling all Luke for a second or two.

He was nearly at Luke's now, and he could see Rory waiting outside, with a wide smile on her face. Yup, he really needed to fix this…