The next few days went by in a blur for Rory, she had got in touch with Lane and Jess was officially invited, he had told her he would arrive Thursday evening at the latest, Luke was going to be out of town so he was able to stay above the diner. Rory had spent most of the time getting everything she would need ready before she left, the argument for who would take control of the Yale Daily News had been long and excruciating for her. In the end she had agreed Paris and Bill would both be taking on additional duties while neither being in complete control, neither were happy with the outcome but neither were exceptionally upset with it either. On Wednesday she made sure everything was set for her time away and that she would come back to all the notes she would need to any lectures missed, she had everything set up so she wouldn't need to worry about anything but her best friends wedding for the next few days.

"I'm a disappointment to mothers all over again." Rory had just got out of her car in the late afternoon in front of her mums house, and was surprised to see this was first thing her mum said to her.

"What have you done now, it can't be the teenage pregnancy thing again?"

"Ha, no. I haven't got a date for the wedding and apparently I need one or I can't go."

"Oh, well I'm sure we can find you someone."

"In two days, this is what happens when you plan a wedding in a week, how can anyone do find someone to go with?" Her mum had reached rambling mode and she knew she wasn't going to stap talking for the rest of the evening and so just walked around her to get herself indoors while still half listening to her mum.

"It's ok mum, we aren't going to let you miss this wedding, we will find you someone, I promise."

"Easy for you to say, you've managed to get yourself a date."

"Not really a date, we haven't really discussed what it is given we are just friends for now."

"Yeah well, it's better than being alone."

Rory and Lorelai spent the evening talking about the wedding and bachelorette party the following night. Lorelai had made a pile of wedding themed movies for the days that they were together, they picked out a few and put together a table full of food to eat for the duration of the evening.

Jess woke up on Thursday with Rory on his mind, he would be seeing her soon, he had to finish a small amount of work and then he would be able to go. He had stayed up well into the early hours of the morning to get more work done so he could leave earlier. He was thankful when he managed to finished what work he had left, he went downstairs to tell Matt and Chris that he was heading out.

"Right, I'm out of here. I'll be back at some point before Monday." He wanted out of there before too many questions were asked.

"Tell Rory we say hi, and no breaking her heart while you are out there, we actually like this one." Chris smiled as he said it but there was a ring of truth in what he said, any girl he had dated in the years he's been with them, they hadn't been able to stand.

"I'll let her know." Jess refused to rise to anything they said, he was used to them by now.

"Good, and tell her to visit us again soon." Matt liked Rory as much as Chris did, he was glad that his friends were so taken by her.

"I will, once again, I'm out of here. See you in a few days."

Jess turned and went straight out the door before they could say anything else about the weekend. It was only 10 o'clock in the morning so he was hours earlier than he had planned, he was hoping to surprise Rory by turning up early and possibly having some time just the two of them.

Rory hadn't heard from Jess all morning, but she assumed he was busy getting whatever work he had done before he had to leave. She hadn't had anything planned until that evening so she took to walking around the town, she found her way to one of her favourite spots. The bridge looked the same as always, it was so quiet here, it reminded her of the times she would come here with Jess, it was one of the places they used to love coming to. She sat on the edge of the bridge with her feet dangling down towards the river, she lay back flat on the bridge, closed her eyes and let the memories flow within her mind.

Jess arrived at Stars Hollow and went straight to the diner, he was glad it was after the lunch rush and the place was quiet. He said a quick hello to Caesar and went to drop his duffel bag up in the apartment before heading out again, he wanted to try to find Rory as soon as he could. He first went to the Gilmore house, it looked so much different than the first time he came here, and yet it felt the same to him, he remembered the first time here when he had met Rory for the first time, he was different now too. He went and knocked on the door but much to his disappointment there was no answer. He thought she might have gone to the inn with her mum but he wasn't ready for that meeting yet so instead he just walked around the town hoping they would cross paths along the way. He had no such luck and was starting to give up on the idea of some alone time with her when he made his way to the bridge and saw her shape draped across the edge of the bridge. She looked almost asleep laying there, so peaceful and without worry. He didn't want to disturb her but also didn't want to leave without talking to her, she stirred while laying there, he thought maybe she could feel his eyes on her. He was aware of her opening her eyes and slowly turning her head towards him, he smiled as their eyes met and saw her smile brightly in return as she sat up.

"Jess, you arrived early!"