A/N: Well, Rory's first time certainly went down well with you guys, and she quite enjoyed it too ;) On we go, but fair warning, this story doesn't have much further to go!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 23

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" said Rory, grinning wide as she reached for the coffee Jess had brought in.

"Never get tired of hearing it," he promised, joining her under the covers and kissing her cheek. "Never get tired of this either," he admitted as she carefully curled into his side, mindful not to spill her coffee or the drink in his hands either.

"It is pretty good."

It was over a week now since she first spent the night here, and in the ten nights that followed Rory had barely seen the dorm room at Yale. When she wasn't in class or studying at the library she was visiting with Jess, and much of their time had been spent in his bedroom. Rory did not at all object to that, in fact, she had to admit she had instigated quite a bit of the physical activity. Jess was teasing her about that just yesterday, something about her only wanting him for his body, but she didn't care because she knew he was kidding. What they had was amazing, both physically and in every other way too. She was more than okay with that.

"So, I was thinking," said Jess, moving to put his mug down on the night stand. "And I don't want to freak you out or anything, because this is not a big deal."

"Okay," said Rory, looking just a little spooked, putting her mug down safely too. "Honestly? There's nothing that says 'big deal' more than a person saying something is not a big deal."

"Well, it could be, depending on your point of view," Jess considered.

Rory still looked bemused and he didn't wonder at it. Somehow he could be a perfectly articulate person a not small part of the time, but still when it came to anything serious with Rory he tended to get tongue tied. It mattered too much to screw it up, and somehow Jess just always expected to make a mess of this relationship. It wasn't as if he didn't have form for that anyway.

"Okay," he said after another moment, reaching into a drawer and producing a small metal item that he quickly pressed into Rory's palm.

Confused, she looked down to see what she had received, eyes going wide when she finally saw it.

"A key," she said, glancing up to meet his eyes. "Jess, is this...? Is this a key to your apartment?"

"I just thought that if you needed a place to crash or to study, when Paris is making you crazy or whatever," he explained, looking everywhere but at her. "Because when I'm here it's no big deal, but when I'm in Stars Hollow, working or whatever, you might need to let yourself in. Now, you can."

He ended just a little more certainly than he began, and yet still looked weirdly nervous. Rory couldn't believe how sweet he was being, and how worried he seemed to be about it. It was incredibly special and she loved it, she loved him.

"Oh, Jess!" she said happily, all but throwing herself at him as she kissed him long and hard on the lips.

"Well, that was a better reaction than I thought," he said when they parted, her body almost entirely on top of his by now. "Who knew you could excite a woman this much with a key?" he joked, tucking Rory's hair behind her ear.

"Who said it was the key that was exciting me?" she said with a less than innocent look, shifting her body.

Jess had the key out of her hand and out of harm's way a second before he flipped her onto her back, ensuring she knew all the good reasons why she should continue to visit his apartment, and as often as she wanted. Rory wasn't arguing, not even a little bit.

"Y'know you're a real life saver, Luke," said Liz with genuine enthusiasm. "I don't know how this wedding would ever be happenin' without you."

"It's nothing," he told her, waving away her gratitude. "Just a little food and some decorations. No big deal."

The truth was that there was significantly more to it than that, but Luke just didn't want a fuss made. Honestly, he was happy Liz was getting married if that was what she wanted, but he didn't really hold out much hope of it lasting. If anything, he just wanted to get this event done and move on. Liz and T.J. would go back out on their Ren Fayre circuit with their wacky friends, and life would return to normal for a while.

Having Liz around was all fine for Luke, but he knew Jess wasn't thrilled by her presence. Mother and son got along a whole lot better at distance than in close confines. Luke was only glad for his nephew that he had moved out to his own place when he did and wasn't right upstairs where Liz could bug him all of the time. That was definitely a positive thing for everyone.

The phone ringing took Luke's attention then, though he had his hands full and was unable to pick up. Liz rushed around the counter to assist but instead of taking the plates from her brother's hands she answered his phone instead, which didn't thrill him.

"Hey, Lorelai!" she said cheerfully. "Sure, Luke is right here, but he kind of has his hands full. Yeah, I'll tell him, no problem, hon."

Luke looked pained about his sister taking a message for him from his girlfriend, and yet there didn't really seem to be anything he could do about it. He stared expectantly at Liz the moment she got off the phone waiting for her to explain.

"Everything's fine," she insisted. "Lorelai just wanted to let you know she's still coming over for dinner tonight but she may be a little late. Something about the contractors at the inn."

Luke nodded that he understood and then shooed Liz back out from behind the counter so he could serve his customers. He wasn't thrilled to know that Lorelai was having more problems at the Dragonfly. She had gone through quite enough lately, in his opinion, though she had calmed down a lot in the past couple of weeks. That night when they had to go talk Jackson out of the zucchini patch had led to all five of them - Luke, Lorelai, Sookie, Jackson, and Michel - falling asleep at the produce place, and waking to realise it was the best night's sleep any of them had had in a very long time. Lorelai started re-evaluating things then, Sookie too, and everybody involved in the setting up of the new inn seemed to find renewed energy and a better sense of what was important. Luke was glad, not least because Lorelai was way less stressed. That led to her making a little more time for him, which was in no way a bad thing. It had taken long enough for the two of them to get it together, there was no way he wanted to have everything go south so quickly.

"Y'know you get this special kind of smile on your face when you think about her," said Liz, annoyingly perky and probably completely correct in what she said - Luke hated that.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told her anyway.

Liz laughed. "You do too! Face it, big brother, you and Lorelai are just perfect for each other. She makes you happy, you make her happy. The moment I met her and I saw the way she looked at you, the way you looked at her... I'd say I wish I could have that, but I already got it," she said with a happy sigh. "I finally found the one, Luke!"

"Then I'm happy for you, Liz," he promised her, even though he wasn't entirely convinced.

Maybe she was right about him and Lorelai, Luke sure hoped so, because there was no doubt in his mind that Lorelai definitely was the one for him. Unfortunately, it was harder to be convinced by Liz that any guy she brought home as her latest find was her one true love. She had just said it way too many times, at one time about Jimmy Mariano, and that sure as hell hadn't turned out well.

"Y'know, I know you said it's early days yet, but I seriously think you two could be the next ones down the aisle."

"Please!" Luke scoffed at the very idea. "Jess and Rory have been dating longer than me and Lorelai, and don't you dare start telling them they ought to be picking out a ring."

"As if!" Liz rolled her eyes dramatically. "Although, I never saw my baby boy look at another girl the way he looks at Rory. She's a special one, just like her mom."

That at least Luke had to agree with. There was no better person for Jess than Rory, and no better match for Luke himself than Lorelai. If one day it could work out for both couples to make that kind of commitment, he would be more than thrilled, but that was a long way off in the future, he suspected.

"For now, how about we just concentrate on getting you married off?" he told Liz with a smile that didn't take much forcing right now.

"Sounds like a plan."

"My coffee is cold," said Rory sadly when she reached for the mug on the nightstand.

"As much as you love your java, I'm going to be offended if you say that wasn't worth sacrificing a cup of coffee for," Jess told her, kissing her shoulder.

"More than worth it," she promised, turning into his arms and kissing him soundly.

"Quite the compliment."

"Well, you're quite a guy," Rory grinned, sparing Jess one more kiss before she moved to get out of bed.

"You really can't wait for another caffeine fix?" he complained at her leaving him.

"It's not that, Jess, you know I have to go," she insisted, getting back into her underwear and then the rest of her clothes.

Jess was not at all adverse to watching from his place in the bed, even if he did think the reverse strip tease was a bit of a let-down compared to the more traditional way. He did know she had to go, but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

"You really have to study today? I'm not due at work until late, I thought you could stay a while longer?"

"Really can't, sorry," said Rory, even as she searched high and low for her missing shoe - she definitely came here wearing a pair! "Jess, you know how important my finals are, and I'm not going to have time tomorrow. I have classes and then Friday Night Dinner."

Jess sighed and threw off the covers, deciding if she really wasn't coming back to bed he may as well get up too. After all, it was kind of sad to be in bed on a Thursday afternoon without his girlfriend. Sliding into his jeans, he spotted Rory's missing shoe under the edge of the bed and leant down to retrieve it. She came back from the living room just in time for him to toss it into her hands.

"Thanks," she said, sitting down on the end of the bed to put it on. "Y'know if you have nothing else to do, you could go over to the Hollow anyway, maybe give Luke a hand? Mom mentioned he was almost as busy as she was with the whole wedding thing going on."

Rory knew she probably wasn't going to get the best of reactions from Jess when she brought up Liz's wedding. Honestly, it wasn't that she didn't understand why, but she meant what she said about helping Luke. She had no great love for Jess' mother, but his uncle was one of the best people she knew. The last thing Rory wanted was for Luke to be working himself into the ground or stressing himself out, especially after he was so instrumental in stopping the very same thing from happening to Lorelai recently.

"I still don't get why he's even bothering," said Jess dropping down to sit beside her. "Liz gets married on a semi-regular basis, it's not like it's really a special occasion."

Rory leant in closer and kissed his cheek, putting her arms around him. Her chin rested on his shoulder as she looked at him.

"I know you and your mom don't have the best relationship," she said, letting it slide when Jess made a scoffing sound at how much of an understatement that really was, "but don't take that out on Luke. Please? Trust me, I more than get why you're not Liz's biggest fan, I really do, but I also know that you can be the bigger man here."

It was only after the words were out there that Rory realised they could be made suggestive. The fact that Jess didn't seem to notice, especially here and now after their recent activities, just proved how serious the topic was for him.

"Sometimes I wonder how I lived so long without you and didn't go insane," he said, his hand at her cheek and a smile playing at his lips.

"I'm sorry, you're looking at me to keep you sane? Because I think you've got the wrong girl, mister," she joked, smiling back at him.

"Nope, no chance of that," said Jess, serious in a second as he kissed her softly on the lips. "Go on, scram already," he told her then. "You stay any longer and I'm not gonna want to let you go."

"And I have that studying to do," she said, nodding her head, even as she gave serious consideration to putting it off until later. "Remind me again why I need to do that?"

"Because even the genius Rory Gilmore can't pass her finals without at least trying to cram for a while first," he reminded her. "Tomorrow is full of classes and the great Friday Night Dinner, remember?"

"Yes, I do," she said, sighing heavily.

Getting up from the bed, Rory tucked her shirt into her pants and then went looking for her purse. Jess got up, grabbed the key he had given to her from the nightstand and brought it out to her in the living room.

"You forgot something," he told her, handing it over.

Rory smiled widely as she took the key and put it safely onto the chain with her others. There was no way she wanted to lose it. She thanked Jess one more time, both with words and a good long kiss, and then she repeated how she really did have to leave.

"I'd say give my regards to the grandparents tomorrow night, but I'm guessing they still don't know we're back together yet," said Jess as she headed for the door.

"They don't," Rory admitted, looking just a little shame-faced about it. "But it's not how it sounds, Jess, I swear. I would've told them last week, but they're still digesting the Luke and Lorelai relationship right now. I promise, it's not because it's you. I mean, yeah, after the last time, it is a little awkward to explain, especially to Grandma, but I am in no way ashamed of you or regretting us being back together, I swear."

"Hey, it's fine. I get it," Jess promised her with a smile that she was sure was genuine. "Rory, just go," he urged her when she hovered by the door too long. "It really is fine."

It wasn't entirely fine. Rory knew she should just tell Emily and Richard that she was back with Jess, that she was happier than she had been in a long time, and then they would just have to deal, whether they liked it or not. It also wasn't easy to walk away from Jess when he was standing there looking so good, wearing nothing but his jeans and a half a smile.

Coming back over to him, Rory wrapped her arms around Jess' neck and kissed him soundly one more time. He wasted no time in reciprocating, but he knew she wasn't staying, he knew he couldn't let her.

"Study hard," he told her when they parted.

"Always," she said with a smile before she finally left the apartment.

Jess watched her go with a grin that wouldn't shift. It wasn't like she was gone for good, and now she had a key for whenever she wanted to get back in.

To Be Continued...