A/N: Thanks to those who took the time to review last go-around. I know this is like a very, very slow burn, but we'll get there, I promise ;) Now, who's ready for Christmas in March? lol

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

"Merry Christmas!"

Lorelai looked so thrilled as she greeted him, Jess half-wondered if she started drinking early. Not that relations between them hadn't improved over the years. With her being Luke's soul mate and him being the nephew, they kind of had to find a way. Now, he supposed, there were even more reasons for them to get along. After all, she was going to be the grandmother of his child. That said, he still wasn't feeling all the holiday enthusiasm that Lorelai clearly was.

"Hey," he said cautiously, hefting his duffle higher on his shoulder. "Uh, I was going to head straight to the apartment to dump my stuff, but the diner was locked up and the spare key wasn't there?"

"Yes, the spare key. My fault!" Lorelai told him, rushing further into the house.

Jess stood on the doorstep, debating whether he was supposed to go in or not. He was still wondering when suddenly he heard Rory's voice yelling to her mother.

"Mom, seriously, why is the door... open?" the last word became detached from her sentence when she actually reached the door and saw who was there. "Jess, hi. Um, did you turn into a vampire since we last met? I mean, why else would you suddenly need an official invitation to cross the threshold?"

"I don't know," he admitted, shaking his head and walking into the house. "Your mom was... I don't know, I think maybe she went to find Luke, or the spare key to the diner. Possibly both?"

"Hmm, I think there was a discussion about that, but I'll admit, I was trying to block it out. I finally found my groove on the next chapter and didn't want to lose concentration," she told him with a smile.

"So, the writing is back on?"

"It is. Well, mostly. I think it would be going better in my previous spot, you know, my grandpa's office, but the house has been shown a lot lately, which I guess is necessary when a person wants to sell a property."

Her happy expression faded a little when she said that and Jess couldn't fail to notice.

"You okay with that? Your grandma selling the house, I mean?"

Rory sighed heavily and pushed off the back of the door, leading the way into the living room. "I'm going to have to be. It's not my house, so it's not my choice. Unless you have a secret fortune in your back pocket that you'd like to use to buy the old Gilmore mansion?" she joked.

"Damn." Jess snapped his fingers. "Must've left it in my other pants."

The bad joke was worth it just to see her smile again. As Rory sat down on the couch, the flowing material of her shirt settled over her stomach, making the bump suddenly very obvious. Jess hadn't realised he was staring until she called him on it.

"Yep, really starting to make his or her presence felt now."

"Sorry," he said like a reflex. "I wasn't... I don't know why it's a surprise. Over sixteen weeks now, right?"

"Right." Rory nodded, her smile widening a little. "I didn't know you were keeping track that closely."

Jess opened his mouth to answer but was actually relieved not to have to when Lorelai suddenly came rushing down the stairs, already talking before she ever got into the living room proper. Seriously, he had no idea what his response to Rory would've been if she hadn't.

"Spare key to the diner," Lorelai announced, dangling the item in question above Jess' hand and then dropping it easily into his palm. "Also, Luke said he wants you back here in a half-hour to help with food prep."

"Sounds fair," Jess agreed, turning to head out. "I guess I'll be back in a half-hour then."

He got all of two steps towards the door when Rory spoke up. "Why don't I come with you?"

"Really, sweets?" asked her mom, as Jess looked between them. "It's pretty cold out and I'm sure Jess can stow his duffle just fine by himself."

"I need some fresh air anyway," Rory insisted, squeezing between the two of them and calling out that she would just be a minute fetching her coat and hat.

"Fresh air," Lorelai echoed, shaking her head. "Must be those pesky pregnancy hormones," she decided, before disappearing back upstairs.

Jess let out a sigh of relief that he immediately felt bad about. He and Lorelai did get along better these days, but since Rory's pregnancy came to light, the awkward had started to set in again. Lorelai seemed fine with Jess being Luke's nephew, and he supposed hers too now, by marriage, but any connection between Jess and Rory made her antsy. Given the history, he supposed he could understand that.

"Okay, all set," said Rory as she returned to his side then, all bundled up in coat, hat, gloves, and boots. "Let's go."

"Right, let's go," Jess muttered, following her out of the front door.

It wasn't just Lorelai who was suspicious about Rory wanting to walk him over to the diner. It wasn't exactly the longest trip and really didn't require a guide or an escort. Not that Jess had any real objection to spending time with Rory, and alone was easier, in a lot of ways. He just couldn't help wondering if there was a bigger reason than just her apparent need for fresh air on a cold Christmas Eve.

"So..." he said, hoping she might take the hint and fill in the blanks.

"So..." she echoed back, hugging herself. "I guess you figured out I wanted more than fresh air. See, always smarter than people think you are."

Jess smirked a little at the unexpected, almost back-handed compliment. "What's up, Rory?"

"Not much," she admitted with a sigh. "Nothing more than what I already told you, I guess. I'm working on the book, on Gilmore Girls, I'm also working shifts at the bookstore, which I know I mentioned in my last email. The house in Hartford is being sold and..."

"And?" Jess prompted when she fell quiet, trying to see her face when she seemed so determined to keep turned away from him. "Rory?"

"I want to move out," she blurted out very suddenly. "I know that probably sounds crazy, four months pregnant and leaving home where there are people to help me out, but I just feel like... like I need a place that's mine, or ours. Not ours," she clarified, waving a hand between herself and Jess. "Ours, me and the baby, ours. Not that you won't be welcome, obviously, but... yeah. That's what I wanted to tell you."

"Huh," said Jess thoughtfully, just as they reached the diner and he unlocked the door for them to go inside. "And I'm guessing that Lorelai and Luke don't know about this yet?"

"Always the smart guy," she said with a smile.

"So you keep on telling me."

"Well, it's true. It always has been."

Jess didn't have an answer for that, not a good one, anyway. He couldn't help but think, if he had always been so smart, he wouldn't have stupidly screwed things up with Rory when they were first together. Sure, they were much younger then and he had problems a plenty he could blame for the way things went, but there was still a part of him that wished he could go back and change it. It was only a small part, after all, regret wasn't something that played a big part in his life, and if things were different back then, they might be different now. He wasn't sure there was very much he could change, except maybe for one thing.

"What?" asked Rory, the two of them outside the apartment door by then, her presumably wondering (a) why he was staring at her and (b) why they weren't going inside.

"Nothing," he told her, shaking his head and leading the way in.

It all looked very much as it always did. Though Luke moved out a long time ago, he kept the place decent, no doubt liking the fact he had a bolt-hole if he ever needed it. After all, all couples fought sometimes. Better to have somewhere to run to when the trouble started, at least Jess always thought so.

"It's so weird being up here," said Rory as she followed him in, eyes everywhere around the apartment. "Most of my memories of this place involve you. I mean, I never really came up here much for Luke or even my mom, just when you and I were..."

"Yeah, I remember," said Jess awkwardly, keeping his eyes very firmly on his bag as he pulled out clothes and books that he had brought along with him. "So, do you actually have a place to move out into? You weren't thinking of here, were you?" he asked then, the thought suddenly occurring to him and making him feel strange.

"Oh, no, no, that's not... I wouldn't want that," Rory insisted. "I mean, no offence to Luke, but I don't really want to raise a baby over a diner. The stairs alone would probably kill me," she admitted, pushing her hair back with her whole hand as she considered it. "No, I've actually got some information for a couple of apartments over on Cherry and Plum."

"Ah, those good old fruit named streets," said Jess, smirking slightly, recalling all too clearly a conversation with Lorelai a million years ago about apartment hunting. "Don't take this the wrong way, but are they affordable?"

"They should be," Rory nodded, squirming just a little, he thought. "I mean, Andrew doesn't pay much, but with that and what I'm getting from my freelance work, plus... well, I figured I could use a little from the baby account, since it'll be their home too."

"Obviously." Jess nodded. "Rory, you don't have to ask my permission every time you use money from that account. We set it up so we were both contributing for our kid. He or she is going to need a roof over their head and I get that you want it to be your own place. Come on, you know I do."

Rory sighed, visibly relaxing after seeming altogether too tense for a while. "Thanks, Jess. You really are being so great about all of this."

He might have been a little insulted that she would think he would behave in any other way, except he was too distracted to think much of anything when suddenly she was right there in front of him, throwing her arms up around his neck and hugging him tight. Of course, he hugged her back, and of course, he loved having her there in his arms, but he was just smart enough to realise it was probably better not to say as much.

"Don't tell Lane I said this, or my mom, or Paris, actually, but most of the time... well, I guess we're a little old to be using phrases like 'best friends' anymore..." she trailed off as she pulled away and met his eyes then.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he promised her, voice coming out too soft to his own ears, but he just couldn't seem to help it, as he moved a stray piece of hair back from her face.

It would've been so easy to let the years drop away, to forget everything but how he felt about her, and just kiss her like he used to, almost every time they got a moment alone in that very apartment. The look on her face strongly suggested she wouldn't mind at all, but Jess knew better than to go there. Complications. Pregnancy hormones. Regret. Hurt.

"Uh, we should probably get back to the house," he said then, deliberately sliding his arms away from her body and taking a step back. "Luke did say he needed me for food prep, so..."

"Yes, right, you need to be there for that," Rory agreed, shifting awkwardly in place. "Um, when I settle on an apartment, I'll let you know the address, and then, next time you're around, I'll probably be giving you the grand tour."

"Sounds good," Jess agreed, nodding his head, shoving his hands into his pockets because he just didn't know what else to do with them.

They both spent a moment being as awkward as two people could be, then seemed to make a joint decision, without a work spoken, to head for the door. Rory got their first, her hand on the knob, when suddenly she turned back to Jess again.

"Just so you know, we're the kind of best friends that are so close, we don't have to buy each other Christmas gifts, okay?"

"That's what I figured." Jess shrugged his shoulders and flashed her a smile.

The grin he got back from her was worth its weight in gold. Anyway, he could hide away the gift he already bought her and save it for her birthday maybe. Those kinds of gifts might just be allowed between the kind of best friends they were, and if not, by next Christmas, he could always say it was a present from the baby.

"Thanks, Jess," Rory said then, leaning up to quickly kiss his cheek, then heading out the door almost before he could blink.

"You're welcome, Rory," he muttered, following in her wake.

It was going to be an interesting Christmas.

To Be Continued...