Chapter 24

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Jess waited for Rory to open the door with that genuinely caring smile of hers. And the mere thought of it made the corners of his mouth curl into one – of course, it wouldn't be Jess if it wasn't a smirk.

Then the door opened with Jess expecting to be met by Rory's bright blue eyes; peaches and cream complexion; plum, pink lips and beautiful sugar brown hair—

Oh.

Jess's smile faltered when Lorelai's narrowed, glaring eyes met his, instead of Rory's beautiful ones.

"Jess," Lorelai said with a single eyebrow raise.

"Lorelai," Jess said, breathing heavily through his nose with a stern look across his face.

"Hm." Lorelai raised her chin, turned around and walked off quickly and swiftly.

Jess bowed his head, accepting her cold shoulder and let out a breath he was very aware he was holding in. "Round one..." He muttered, then cautiously stepped into her house. Jess stopped when he entered, turning his body back and forth from the door to the kitchen, not knowing exactly what to do.

Jess was saved by Rory's quick enter to where he was, contemplating the huge door debacle. "Hey," she greeted him with a wide smile, then frowned. "...What are you doing?"

Jess stared at her. "I don't know what to do," he whispered.

Rory laughed. "Well, you move the left foot first, then the right; creating sort of a—"

"Yes, thank you, Sherlock," Jess said with a glare. Rory smiled and he sighed. "I meant about the door."

"The door?" Rory asked with a raised brow, glancing at the subject in mind.

"Yes. The door."

"...What about the door?" Rory asked, trying really hard not to laugh.

Jess looked at her with what seemed like fear. "I don't remember the rules," he hissed.

Rory grinned. "The rules...? What rules?"

"The ones your mother laid out for me."

Rory scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course she did," Rory growled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouted.

Jess smirked, "Yeah, well I can't say I blame her..."

Rory grinned at him again. "You mean after you crashed my car, bailed on me – twice and practically flipped my mother off her first day here, and multiple times after that?" Jess glared at her. "Yeah, it's a wonder she didn't kiss you on the forehead and announce you part of the family," Rory said with a cheeky smirk.

Jess gritted his teeth. "Geez..."

"So what are the rules?" Rory asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"I think... I'm allowed in your room and the kitchen, and that's it."

Rory pondered this. "But what if you need to pee."

"Huh?"
"Aren't you allowed in the bathroom?"

Jess frowned. "Well, I doubt your mother will like me any more if I start urinating in her yard."

Rory dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "It's not like the yard could get any worse – well, actually... the mailbox is okay..."

Jess frowned. "It's broken—"

"I mean it's nice to look at."

"The paint's chipped."

"I know. It gives it a kinda vintagey look to it."

"That's a positive spin on things..." Jess muttered.

Rory smirked. "Then maybe I should go work for Bush."

"Maybe," he said with an arched brow and a sarcastic smile.

The two of them were finally comfortable as they shared what truly was a comfortable silence. Uma and John would be proud. (Watch Pulp Fiction – it's epic.) Rory smiled even wider. "So we gonna go, or do you wanna stay here and do a Mrs. Robinson thing with my mother?"

"Dear God, I hope not," Lorelai's deepened voice interrupted as she walked past them through to the lounge without so much as a glance.

Rory and Jess stared and waited for her to be out of view. "Ok, come on," Jess said, grabbing Rory by the waist and pulling her out the door. "What are you doing?" Rory asked, stunned.

The door closed behind them which is when Jess pulled her in for a kiss. That's what I was doing, Jess thought proudly as his tongue lingered in her mouth.

Jess pulled away. "Hey."

"Hey."

Jess pulled her by the waist again into another kiss, but Rory pulled away.

"No," she stated.

"Huh?"

"Stop."

"Stop what?" He asked through squinted eyes.

"Kissing."

"Rory—"

"Sit."

"Huh?" He repeated, still with the same stupid, yet really, really pretty look on his face.

"Sit."

Jess said nothing, just stared at her with his brow stitched together.

"Sit." Rory repeated.

Jess took his time to look at their surroundings. "..Sit where?"

"There," she ordered cutely but with a stern face, pointing at the porch railing, where it's sturdiness was in question.

Jess looked at her quizzically, but sat down.

"Okay, Jess I know you love me, so if you really do mean it, then you will be okay with us... taking things slow."

"Rory—"

"No, I talk while you do what you do best which is being even less than monosyllabic." Rory paused to see if he would respond, which he didn't like a good little boy. "Now, last time I wanted to take things slow was because of Dean and how I didn't want to flaunt it. And this time it's different... Sort of... This time it's because I want us to work out and – and I think if we took things slow, this relationship could really work. And I want it to work, but this means we have to go slow, which I know is not what you want! – But you'll just have to deal with that, whether you like it or not! So deal!"

Jess looked at her blankly while a flustered Rory Gilmore pushed her perfectly straightened (and re-straightened at least 20 times that night,) hair behind her ears.

And Jess just stared at her, almost indifferently.

"...Say something..."

Jess cocked his head to the side with a lowered brow. "Should I be putting a tongue-depressor in your mouth right about now?"

"Stop it," Rory said blushing, like he had complimented you. "Jess, are you going to be okay with this?"

There was a cruel silence.

"Jess?"

One half of his mouth quirked into a charming smile. "Come on," he said, standing and holding his arm out.

Rory smiled like a love-struct teenager and let Jess drape his arm over her shoulders, holding her close.