A/N: So happy to see some happy readers/reviewers are still around. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you're enjoying the story :)

(for disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3

Jess wasn't sure if he was being really smart or really stupid as he crossed the street, headed for the Gilmore girls' house. With his hands in his pockets and his head down, he hoped not to attract the attention of any of the neighbours, knowing as he did that they were always on the look-out.

The gossips were already talking. He heard them at that stupid Movie in the Square Night. Wondering if he and Rory were just friends or more than that. Saying Forester ought to high-tail it back to town before he lost his girl. Jess had tried really hard not to smile.

At least Rory hadn't overheard. She was skittish enough whenever Dean's name came up in conversation. Jess didn't want her getting any more weird about it. Not that he would have a problem with her dumping the Jolly Green Giant and spending more time with him instead, but that wasn't on the cards just yet. Maybe soon, but not yet.

At least it seemed to be firmly established that he and Rory were friends now. She even seemed to have convinced Lorelai to make nice, which was as strange as it was amusing. All week long, whenever they came into the diner, there were smiles aplenty and cheery 'good morning's too. Jess made a point of keeping on the right side of civil, just to get that really great smile on Rory's face that made her eyes light up. It was so worth it when she flashed those baby blues at him. Man, was he ever a sucker, but he just couldn't seem to help himself where that girl was concerned.

"You're so whipped and you're not even dating her yet," Jess muttered to himself, heading down the sidewalk to Rory's door.

He barely made it onto the porch, when the front door flew open, as if it had some kind of motion sensor attached. Lane popped out a second later, the two of them almost colliding.

"Oh, hey, Jess," she said with a half-smile. "Um, Rory? You have more company!" she yelled back into the house before hurrying down the steps and taking off at a run.

Jess watched her go, turning back around in time to see Rory appear in the doorway.

"Jess, hi." She smiled widely at him. "Um, come in," she said then, moving aside for him to do so.

"Is she okay?" he asked of Lane as he stepped into the hall. "She was moving pretty fast."

"She lost track of time and needs to get home." Rory explained. "Mrs Kim is kind of scary."

"We had an encounter once." Jess nodded in understanding. "I'm still having the nightmares."

Rory giggled. "Well, we can all expect an explosion of epic proportions if she ever finds out what Lane just told me," she said, leading the way into the living room. "Apparently, she's in love... with a drum set."

"Huh." Jess wasn't sure what he was supposed to say or think after a sentence like that, so he didn't even try to figure it out. "So, I don't wanna get in your way, I just thought maybe you'd wanna see this..." he explained, pulling papers from inside his jacket and presenting them for Rory's inspection.

She looked confused as she took them from in, which was understandable, since he hadn't actually told her what she was looking at. Jess just waited patiently while she looked it over, feeling all kinds of proud of himself when that amazing, patented Rory Gilmore smile came over her face and she looked up at him.

"Jess, this is amazing!" she enthused. "You passed!"

"I passed," he confirmed, glancing at the trig test in her hands.

"See, I told you that you could do it if you just tried, and yes, I know, it's not a hundred percent or anything, but nobody expects perfection, and this is still an A grade performance. That's just amazing."

"So I heard." Jess smiled at the repetition of such a word that was hardly ever used about or even near him. "It's all down to you, Teach."

"No, no way," she insisted, shaking her head definitely. "I barely did anything, except encourage you to try. You did this, Jess. You passed because you put in the effort. I knew you could do this, I knew."

"I know that you did," he agreed, wondering when his voice got so stupidly soft.

It was probably a good thing that Lorelai came down the stairs when she did, otherwise, the rest of him might have followed suit and done something stupid too.

"Okay, so the blue or the green?" she was asking as she appeared, holding up two shirts for Rory to choose between. "Oh, hey, Jess," she said on seeing him there.

"Mom, look at this," Rory told her, waving the trig test in her face. "Jess passed a test."

"Wow. That's good going, Mariano." Lorelai smiled, almost as if she might actually mean it, which wasn't horrible. "Rory kept on telling me, you could do it if you tried. My kid, she's almost never wrong."

"Tell me about it." Jess smirked a little, as Rory playfully swatted him with the test, then handed it back to him. "So, I should get out of your hair..."

"You don't have to," Rory told him fast. "I'm not going to Friday Night Dinner."

"No, but I am." Lorelai sighed heavily. "So, in reference to the hideous flaying of Lorelai Gilmore by the big bad Emily monster, which shirt is going to make me seem less of a disappointment for not bringing the precious granddaughter along?" she asked Rory, lifting up the shirts once again for inspection.

As soon as the blue had been decided upon, Lorelai disappeared upstairs again and Rory looked to Jess.

"I have to go out later, but we could hang out for a while, if you wanted?" she asked, shifting awkwardly in place. "I mean, you don't have to, if you have somewhere to be or something else to do. Studying maybe, or helping Luke in the diner?"

"Homework's all taken care of and Luke gave me the night off on account of the outstanding trig test score." Jess shrugged, rolling up the papers and shoving them in his back pocket. "I was just going to hang out in the apartment by myself, so..."

"So, hang out here, not by yourself. I mean, if you want to," Rory suggested, almost blushing, though she seemed to be trying to hide behind her hair so he wouldn't notice. "I was thinking about maybe ordering a pizza. We could get a big one, pepperoni just on your half?"

Jess smiled at how she remembered the last time they ate alone together, after the Bid A Basket auction. That had been a really great day. Actually, he hadn't hated the night they shared dinner in her kitchen together either, even if Paris had been playing third wheel. Any time spent with Rory was always good, whether he had to share her with company or not.

"Sure, pizza sounds good," he said, pulling off his jacket and taking a seat in the armchair while Rory found the phone to place the order.

Lorelai came down again, now wearing the blue shirt, flipping her hair back over her shoulders just as she hit the living room and saw Jess still there.

"Staying a while?"

"Rory invited me, but I can go if you-"

"No, no, stay if she wants you to." Lorelai waved away his concern. "Just... well, you're past the petty theft stage now, right?" she said with a pointed look.

Jess opened his mouth to argue the point, then changed his mind. They both knew very well what she was referring to. Denying it (again) would only make matters worse. She had been making an effort lately, for Rory's sake, he was sure, so he ought to keep on doing the same. It was only fair.

"That was a misunderstanding," he said quietly, mindful that Rory was only just in the kitchen and might overhear. "I never meant for it to happen that way."

Lorelai stood staring at him for a while before finally nodding her head.

"Okay. You get one mistake and you used it up already, capiche?"

"I get it." Jess nodded once, trying not to let his sigh of relief be too audible when Lorelai finally walked by him and away.

Rory returned to the room, after saying goodbye to her mom who was off to Hartford for the infamous Friday Night Dinner. She announced that the pizza was on its way, then dropped down at one end of the couch. Jess took the hint and sat at the other end.

Silence reigned for a minute or two. Not knowing what else to say to break the awkwardness, Jess asked how come Rory had escaped going to her grandparents' place.

"Oh, well, like I told you, I have somewhere to be later," she said, making a big deal of tucking her hair behind her ears and looking anywhere but at him.

Jess frowned, unsure what would make her so skittish. There was only one thing he could think of.

"Did the boyfriend come home already?"

"No, not yet." Rory squirmed. "But he will, tonight."

"And you want to be there waiting on the doorstep for him when he arrives." Jess nodded. "Cute."

He didn't mean for it to come out so bitter, but somehow it was tough to say it any other way. Before Rory could get defensive or just all out offended, he changed the subject.

"So, what have you been reading lately?"

Rory looked as if she wasn't going to let things move on that easily, but just for a beat before she answered his question. Conversation flowed easily after that, the two of them going back and forth on their latest bookstore finds and favourite things to read over and over.

The pizza arrived and Jess was as impressed as ever by how much food Rory could put away, though he didn't say as much. He knew he mentioned it the last time they shared a similar meal, and though the blush it brought to her cheeks and the pride it brought to her voice were both things he loved, it really didn't need repeating.

Even though Jess was sure he had been at the house at least an hour or more, it still seemed like too soon when he caught Rory checking her watch and looking awkward all over again.

"You have to go."

"I do," she agreed, nodding her head.

"Okay."

Getting up from the couch, Jess pulled his jacket back on, pulling up the zipper and putting his hands in his pockets. He headed for the door then, waiting next to it for a moment, not entirely surprised when Rory opened it up and looked ready to usher him out.

"You're not coming?" he asked, shaking his head slightly.

Rory made a face. "Oh, well... Um..."

"I mean, you're the one who has someplace to go. I figured, since that means I need to leave too, we could walk together, right?"

It probably wasn't fair for him to do that to her. She was going to meet Forrester and the last person dear old Dean would want to see when he arrived home was Jess. At the same time, he just couldn't help himself. Any chance to spend just a little more time with Rory, he had to take it, especially if it was going to be the last occasion for a while.

"Well, I guess we are going to be headed in the same direction," Rory considered, though she still looked pained.

Jess took pity on her. "I promise that when we get to his street, I'll keep on walking and you can do the last fifty yards alone," he said, raising his hand, "Scout's honour."

"You were a boy scout?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yes," said Jess, too seriously. "I mean, only for two weeks, but still."

Rory laughed at that, then grabbed her coat from the hook and ushered him out of the door. They walked together in companionable silence for a bit, then she told Jess (again) how cool it was that he had passed his trig test.

"See what you can achieve when you just try?"

"I already knew that." Jess rolled his eyes. "But even your mom admitted, as subjects go, it's not exactly vital to life after high school."

"That is not the point."

"Actually, it's exactly the point, but hey, it makes you happy that I passed, so it was worth the effort. Also, kind of didn't suck for me to get a genuine smile out of a teacher, and Luke too."

He didn't like to admit that. To anybody else, he never would've done so. Rory was just different, in more ways than Jess could count. She made him want to care about all kinds of crap. She made him want to be better. Apparently, she also made him want to spill truth bombs all over the place, which was a little unnerving. That meant one day he might just tell her how much he liked her, and for the time being at least, that could only end in disaster. That point was really hammered home to him when Rory suddenly stopped walking at the next turning.

"Forrester lives in this street?" Jess checked, pointing down that way with his thumb.

"He does" She nodded. "So..."

"So..." he echoed back at her. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Probably in the diner."

"For breakfast?"

"Most likely."

"Okay then."

He should have just turned and walked away, but he didn't. Jess wasn't sure what it was he was waiting for, but whatever it was, Rory seemed to be waiting on the same thing. She made no move to head down the side street to see her boyfriend. Instead, she stayed in the same spot, staring at Jess, and he stood opposite, staring back.

There were a million ways to play this, all running through his head at the same time. Smart ass remarks, confessions, romantic words, not to mention the fact he could just take the leap and make a real move in the hopes she wouldn't slap his face or scream or anything. Of course, Jess knew he wasn't going to say or do any of those things. What he was going to do was turn on his heel and walk back to the diner without another word. That was the plan, the only plan, but just when he had quite decided to do it already, Rory stepped forward with a purpose, her hands catching him under the arms as she pulled him closer and crashed her lips against his own.

Jess wasn't a fool. The moment she started kissing him, he made a very definite point of kissing back, one hand at her waist, the other at her cheek, but before he had hardly got into things, it was all over. Rory backed up so fast, he pitched forward a little out of pure momentum, blinking like crazy, wondering if he just dreamed the last five seconds somehow.

"Oh my God!" Rory gasped, both hands flying to her face.

Before Jess could respond in any way, she took off running down the street, right to her boyfriend's house, he was sure. There was a second or two when he really thought about giving chase, but Jess knew just as fast that he wasn't going to do it. The result probably wouldn't be a good one. It never was in these kinds of things.

Heaving a sigh, he watched Rory's back disappear from sight, then did what he should have done in the first place. Jess turned around and headed for the diner, hardly allowing himself to think about what just happened or what it might mean. Still, every time he let the memory of Rory's lips on his come to the surface of his mind, even for the briefest of moments, it was impossible to keep the smile from his face.

To Be Continued...