Rory was confused.

She'd kissed Xander (well, technically he'd kissed her, but she hadn't exactly been unwilling) after refusing to date him. It had made sense at the time, but-

No. Actually, it hadn't made sense at the time. At the time, Rory knew full well that she was throwing sense and reason out of the window. But she hadn't actually cared. She'd wanted to be kissed, and that was all there was to it.

But that wasn't all there was to the relationship. She was glad that Xander was staying, she was, but... she didn't know what to do. She wanted to take it slow - or at least she thought she did, until she was actually around him. Then she didn't want to go slow at all.

Then there was Jess, which just made everything so much more complicated. If she could just dismiss one or other of them out of hand, that would make things easier. It wouldn't solve everything, but it would solve some things, anyway.

She still felt... something for Jess. Rory hated thinking of herself as one of those stereotypical women torn between two lovers, but it was the truth. Well, sort of. She didn't feel the strong, physical reaction for Jess that she felt whenever Xander was around. But he still had the same mind he'd always had, the mind she'd fallen for, and...

Rory really needed to figure out what she was feeling.

Maybe Lorelai could help.

"Hey, Mom." Rory called.

Lorelai was sitting on the sofa, scribbling something on a pad (no doubt some little detail that needed to be sorted out before the Dragonfly could actually open for business). Her lips twitched when she saw her daughter, and she sat up. "Hi, sweetie. How're you doing? Get up to anything interesting in town?"

"You already know, don't you?" Rory exclaimed. "I can tell, because you're trying not to smile."

"Sorry, honey, but Babette came rushing over here to tell me all about your escapades. You can't really keep great big kisses and water sports to yourself in this town."

"That-that igwitch!/i"

"Yeah, you tell her. So, how was it?"

"You did not just ask that question."

"Oh, I did. I'll even ask it again, if you like. Look, I'm wearing my serious face - how was it?"

"Mom!"

"Come on, Rory, it's not every day you get to see two grown men having a fight in a lake. I want details! Spill!"

"Oh! You're talking about that! I thought you were asking about..." Rory flushed and trailed off. "Never mind."

Lorelai turned serious. "Are you sure you want to get involved with Xander, Rory? I know you like him, but he did let you think he was dead and when he came around earlier he came across as being kind of a mess because of what happened in Sunnydale."

"He came to see you?"

"Yeah. He wanted my blessing, I think. He said he wouldn't stay if I told him not to."

"Really?"

"Serious face, honey. Don't forget it. Anyway, are you sure you want to hang out with this guy?"

"No."

"Hear me out before you - what? Did you say no?"

"Yes."

"Is that a yes you said no, or you saying that yes, you said yes?"

"I'm saying yes, I said no to the first question."

"Seriously?"

"Does that shock you? You're the one who asked the question in the first place."

"Well, yeah, but I expected you to defend your decision and ignore me trying to be all Momish. I didn't expect you to cave."

"He asked me on a date, you know, after I finished my finals. I said no, I wasn't ready for that, not after the last few months. But then we met up on the bridge and... I didn't care that I'd said that. Hence the great big kiss."

"And then Jess got involved. I hear he made a big splash"

"Yeah. Well, actually, he was kind of already involved. I bet Babette didn't mention that, this morning at Luke's, Jess and I had a conversation about my life at Yale and my classes and all that. You know, like we always used to talk. And that was an awful pun, by the way."

"Oh boy."

"Uh huh. Things might be just a ilittle/i tangled."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I haven't got a clue, Mom. I'm bewildered, bemused and baffled."

"Certainly seems so. You haven't done that alliterative trio thing for years."

"This is the point where you're meant to step in and give me some sage advice or something." Rory prompted.

"Confucius say follow your heart, for it bears a remarkable resemblance to a yellow brick road."

"That's not really helpful, Mom."

"Well, how am I meant to help? You've got to make your own decisions, sweetie. I can't help you decide."

"Bah."

"I know what might, though."

"What?"

"Baskets."

"Well, if it worked for Moses..."

"What? Oh, haha. No, I mean baskets full of food."

"We're going on a picnic? Will there be teddy bears?"

"No, silly! It's that time of year when the woman of Stars Hollow prepare baskets of food, like the good housewives Taylor wishes we were, and the menfolk bid on us like cattle."

"Oh. I thought that wasn't going to happen again after Kirk and Jackson got into a fight last year."

"Honey, if everything got cancelled because Kirk did something stupid, this town would stop running within a week."

"True."

"Anyway, you can sell your heart to the boy who wins. Or end up pining for the boy who lost. Your choice. But maybe it'll put things in perspective. Or maybe not. But it'll be fun, anyway."

"Maybe."

"Besides, you've never missed a year. It would be a shame to start now." Lorelai pointed out.

"That's true. It's a tradition. I just wonder whether Xander knows about it."

"If he's seen Taylor, Babette, Patty or one of the signs Kirk's been putting up, he knows about it."

"This is the most ridiculous event I've ever seen!" Xander exclaimed, pointing at the sign written in a cursive script declaring a basket auction.

Dawn shrugged. "It makes about as much sense as most events. It's no worse than the band candy thing."

"Yeah, but I actually liked the band candy. And teenage Snyder was fun."

"Don't deny that you would like to buy Rory's basket."

"How do you manage to make buying a basket sound dirty when we're standing in front of a sign for a basket auction?"

Dawn smirked. "It's a gift. Anyway, I thought I'd join in."

Xander looked at her incredulously. "You're not serious?"

"Are you the only one who gets a serious face? Besides, if I'm going to live in this town for at least the next year, I should join in as many ridiculous events as I can. I might as well fit in."

"At least promise me you won't cook. I don't think that the world is quite ready for the concoctions that you call food."

"Oh, no. Strictly shop bought stuff for me."

"You do realise that I'll instantly hate anyone who buys you?"

Dawn elbowed him. "Ooer!"

Xander rolled his eyes. "God, you're worse than Faith!"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Go ahead. Just don't knock me out while you're at it."

"I'm not going to cook, so that's not very likely."

"Fine. Whatever. You go buy some stuff and put it in your basket - stop sniggering - and I'll go see if I can convince Giles to buy you. Either that or I'll have to start a harem."

"Come on, that was dirty."

"Yes. Yes it was. That's what you take, you ogling Bugs Bunny pyjama wearing Faith wannabe." Xander said triumphantly.

Dawn stuck her tongue out at him.

"Save that for the harem."

Eventually, after much convincing and even some cajoling, Xander convinced Giles to go to the auction, although Giles refused to bid on Dawn. Xander wondered how Rory would react to being in a harem.

Xander's pleasant musings about such a thing were spoiled when he noticed Jess at the auction.

His mood went up somewhat when Jess didn't bid on Rory's basket at all.

Then his mood plummeted when Jess bid on Dawn's basket. When Jess gave him a smug smile, Xander felt like punching him, dumping him in the lake and then punching him again.

Things only went downhill from there. Taylor said that only one person could buy a basket, and as Xander had already bought Rory's he couldn't buy Dawn's too.

Xander was trying to convince Giles to bid, when Dawn said "It's okay, really. I don't mind."

"What? Of course you mind. He's a jerk!"

"No, he isn't."

"He pushed me into a lake, Dawn!"

"Okay, so he's a jerk to you. He's been nice to me, even if he thinks the Brontës are better than Austen."

"He's right about that, Dawn." Giles murmured.

"Oh, not you too!" Dawn said, exasperated.

"Let her be, Xander. At least he's human, unlike that vampire a couple of years ago."

"I thought we'd agreed never to mention that. Anyway, it's too late, he's already won."

Xander crossed his arms. "I forbid it!"

Dawn patted his shoulder. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Then she went off to collect her basket and Jess.

"What was that about?" Rory said, walking up to them.

"Xander just had his first taste of a rebellious teenager." Giles explained briefly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere less dull to be."

Rory watched him go. "You'd think he could've come up with a better excuse."

Xander shrugged. "I tore him away from his book. He gets grumpy when I do that."

"Ooh, what book?"

"Some Sumerian grimoire or other. Nothing you'd like. Or even be able to read."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me if I say I don't like your taste in exes."

"I thought you liked Dean well enough."

"Huh. He's married to someone who isn't you. And you know full well I meant Jess."

"Can we not talk about that? You've bought me. Let's go have lunch."

"What an unusual euphemism."

"iXander!/i" Rory exclaimed, blushing.

"Sorry." Xander said, grinning unrepentantly. "I blame Dawn. She's a bad influence on me."

"So, I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Jess said.

Dawn snorted. "Yeah, sure."

"What?"

"You couldn't care less if you interrupted something or not."

Jess shrugged. "I couldn't care less if I ruined anything Xander does. But I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

Dawn gave him a sideways glance. Jess saw her looking and smirked, and she looked away hurriedly. "Why'd you buy my basket, anyway?"

Jess shrugged again. "Because I'm no longer sopping wet. Because I've got a thing for blue eyed brunettes. Because you're a good conversationalist. Why shouldn't I?"

"You didn't bid on Rory."

"How observant of you." Jess said sarcastically.

"Why not?"

"It's all part of my master plan."

Dawn stopped walking. "If you bought me to make Rory jealous, I'm leaving right now."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "I didn't. I just want a good conversation with no angst."

Dawn looked at him for a long moment, then shrugged. "Fine. But you're still stuck on her."

Jess didn't even think about denying it. "I am. And you've got a crush on Xander. But that doesn't preclude us having a nice lunch together now, does it?"

"I guess not." Dawn said. Then she realised what Jess had said, and went scarlet. "I do inot/i have a crush on Xander!"

Jess didn't say anything. He just looked at her coolly.

"Okay. Maybe a little one." Dawn conceded.

"Hey, I'm not judging here."