A.N. Hey, hey! I promised to be back soon with Part Two, and here it is! It's a bit shorter than the last chapter, since it was originally a part of the last chapter, but I hope it still satisfies. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks again to my readers and reviewers. And a word to all of you who just want them to "kiss already!"... may I direct your attention to the title of this story? (and the Beatles song. Go ahead and listen to that too.) *wink* Heh heh! We've still got a ways to go, kids! It's a slow burn. But it'll be worth it, I promise! They'll be stronger and better for it in the end. But in the meantime... shall we give them another little nudge closer?

"So, Jess and Doula are coming over," Rory announced on Sunday afternoon, placing her phone down on her dresser and picking up a hairbrush to do a little damage control (is this what personal grooming had become?) before the company arrived.

"Oh, really?" Lorelai asked in a soft baby voice, as she was currently bent over the changing table, playing games with her grandson's little feet. "Ooh! Is that the widdle piggie?! Yes it is! And he says weeeeee wee wee wee wee allllllll the way home!"

"Yes. I invited them over yesterday. And so I need you to be nice."

"I am always nice! To Doula, anyway..."

"Yeah, well I need you to be nice to Jess too! You married his uncle, so you're stuck with him, and besides that, he's one of my favorite people and I plan on being very good friends with him for a very long time. So it would really mean a lot to me if you could at least make an effort to make him feel welcome here."

The elder Lorelai sighed. "Ok. I'll be nice. I will!" she insisted, when she saw her daughter still glaring sternly at her. "Ohhhh no!" she chirped at Richie again, tickling his pudgy belly. "Lola's in trouble with Mommy! And when Mommy looks at you like that, you say, Yes, Mommy!"

The doorbell rang. "And here they are. I'll get it," Rory said, walking to the door.

"Hey!" she greeted the siblings happily. "Come on in!"

Jess was back in jeans, as usual. Short sleeves and canvas sneakers instead of combat boots seemed to be his only concessions to the weather. He still smelled amazing, Rory noticed as he smiled at her and passed close by her on his way into the house. She'd get used to it eventually, she told herself. Someday, it probably wouldn't affect her at all. Probably. She hoped.

"So, what movie did you guys end up watching last night?"

Jess smirked and turned to his sister with his eyebrows raised. "What did we end up watching, Doula?"

"Labyrinth."

"Seriously?" Rory asked delightedly.

"Yep. 'Bout time, too," Jess answered.

"Lane and I were just talking about that movie last week! I think she called it a 'gateway drug for a kid's appreciation of Bowie,' actually..."

Jess threw his head back in laughter. "Damn! You caught me. My true motives are all exposed, now."

"Bowie?" Doula repeated, wanting in on the in-joke. "That was the Goblin King, right?"

"Gold star. You were paying attention."

"He's kind of scary-looking..."

"I think scary cool is what you meant to say, and I'll play you some of Ziggy when we get home."

Rory smiled at him fondly and turned to Doula. "So, did you like it, Doula?"

"Yeah," she smiled, brushing her unruly hair out of her eyes. "It was really weird, but it was kind of awesome, too."

"You mean it wasn't boring?" Jess teased, his eyes wide in mock surprise.

Doula rolled her eyes, looking uncannily like her brother. "No," she admitted. "It wasn't boring."

"Who was your favorite character?" Rory asked eagerly.

"I liked all of 'em, but I think Ludo's my favorite."

"Aww, Ludo!" Rory cooed. "He's so great… When he calls the rocks!"

"Yeah! And he's all big and furry and sad! And Jess told me he had a Sir Didymus stuffed animal when he was little."

"He did?!" Rory grinned, looking up to see Jess rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the floor in embarrassment. Jess having a little sister was the best thing in the world.

"You were supposed to keep that between us, Doula," he muttered.

"Oh."

"Yeah," he drawled tightly. "Hey, why don't you go find out what Aunt Lorelai and Richie are doing?"

She shrank at his dismissal, looking like a puppy who'd just been scolded. "I'm sorry, Jess. I forgot."

His shoulders slumped guiltily. "It's fine," he sighed, pulling her into a side hug and kissing the top of her head roughly. "I overreacted. We're ok, now go on."

Doula sighed in relief and squeezed her arms tight around his middle for a moment before running towards the kitchen.

Rory studied Jess sadly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know?" she said gently. "That you were a kid once, that you cared about innocent, childish things…"

He looked at her, and she was startled by the haunted look in his eyes. "Yeah," he said in a hollow sort of voice. "Just don't have many of those moments to share, I guess. But now you know this one, so… I found him in a big toy bin at the second hand store. I was kinda obsessed with the movie, so I was pretty excited."

"Do you or Liz still have him packed away somewhere?"

"Nah," Jess said softly. "We moved around too much, got lost in the shuffle. Too bad, too… He'd be worth a few hundred bucks by now, according to eBay." Jess smirked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hey, Jess!" came Lorelai's greeting from the hall as she led a little procession comprised of Richie, Doula, and Paul Anka from the kitchen. "How has your weekend been going?"

"Oh, Jess is making it his mission to make sure his sister is educated in all the classics, so he just introduced Doula to 'Labyrinth' last night," Rory interjected with a smile, shooting a protective glance towards Jess. He gave her a little smile in gratitude.

"Ooh, Jim Henson and David Bowie! A solid choice," Lorelai nodded in approval, her eyes lighting up. She grinned at Doula. "Was it amazing? Did you love it?"

"Yeah."

"Good! Well hey, what else is on the list? We could knock another one off right now, 'cause I am totally on board with this lesson plan!" Lorelai gushed, looking eagerly between Jess and Doula.

"Uhh," was all Jess could get out, seeming a little shell-shocked by Lorelai's uncharacteristic enthusiasm for anything involving himself. "I don't know if there's a list, per se… I pretty much just wait for inspiration to strike."

Lorelai didn't seem to be perturbed. "Sure. Ooh! What about Pippi? Have you watched Pippi Longstocking yet?"

Jess turned to look at Doula, furrowing his brow thoughtfully, head cocked. "I know we read it a couple years back… Did we ever watch the movie?"

Doula shrugged. "I don't remember it…"

"Oh, you have to see it! Do you wanna watch it now?"

Doula and Jess exchanged glances. Doula shrugged again, which her brother seemed to interpret as a yes. "Uh, sure. Ok," he answered, smiling weakly.

Lorelai handed the baby off to Doula and went to set up their impromptu movie matinee, while Rory walked Jess to the kitchen to gather snacks. "Are you sure you're ok with this?" Rory asked him quietly. "'Cause we can do something else if you want. You don't have to let my mother steamroller you…"

"Nah, it's ok," he shook his head, putting a packet of popcorn kernels into the microwave and punching a couple buttons. "Doula wants to. But speaking of your mother, what is she on, today? I mean, disturbingly cheerful seems to be her modus operandi in general, but she's almost acting like she's excited to see me, and it's weirding me out."

Rory laughed. "I told her to make an effort to be nice to you. So, I guess this is her making an effort. I think she might be over-correcting a bit, though."

"You think?" Jess smirked.

"Hey! You be nice too!" She whacked him lightly on the chest with a package of Red Vines.

"Excuse me, I am always nice," Jess insisted, feigning indignation. "It's one of my defining characteristics. 'That Jess Mariano, he's such a nice guy!' That's what everybody always says."

Rory snickered. "Oh, always! I think I overheard Esther say those exact words once…"

Jess snorted. "I'm sure you did," he muttered wryly.

"Though, actually, Jess… I hate to break it to you, but… you are a nice guy."

"Shhh!"

The four of them (four-and-a-half if you count Richie) were squashed together on the Gilmore's couch, watching Pippi Longstocking. Rory had staked out a spot between Doula and the arm rest, leaving Jess and Lorelai to sit awkwardly side by side at the other end of the couch. This arrangement amused Rory greatly, with the additional benefit that she had Doula as a buffer zone between herself and Jess, since she didn't think she could handle being pressed against him for two hours.

On-screen, Pippi's father, the Cannibal King, was presiding over the lavish and ridiculous party he and Pippi had organized for all the children in town, he and his sailors performing impressive feats of strength for the entertainment of their guests.

"Wow," came Lorelai's commentary, voice dripping with mock awe. "You'd have to be pret-ty strong to lift something like that. How much weight do you think that would be? Like if you were bench-pressing?" She turned to look at Jess, slouched down next to her. "What would you say, Jess?"

Jess kept his face turned resolutely towards the screen, but he cast a suspicious glance at his uncle's wife from the corner of his eye.

"Gee, I don't know…" he drawled. "I'm just a high-school dropout, Lorelai. I don't think I paid enough attention in math class to be able to answer questions like that."

"Hmm, well yes, I suppose that's true," Lorelai played along. "But I think you and I would both agree that knowledge can also be attained in more… practical ways…" she hinted.

Rory shook her head in exasperation at her mother's attempts to get Jess to admit to being a gym rat. Unstoppable Force, meet Immovable Object, she thought wryly.

"Maybe we should ask Rory," Jess suggested innocently, his eyes glinting with mischief as he turned his head to look at her. "She's better educated than the rest of us put together..."

"You leave me outta this!" she muttered.

Jess chuckled lowly as he turned back to the movie. "Guess we'll never know, then."

"Shhhh!" Doula hissed furiously. "Stop talking!"

A few minutes later, it was Richie who was interrupting, and after several failed attempts to calm him, Rory finally had to face the fact that she would not be finishing the movie.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "I think he needs a change and then I'd better put him down for a nap. I'll see you guys later."

"Aw, ok sweets," Lorelai said sadly.

"Bye, Richie," Doula cooed, kissing the top of the baby's head even as he squirmed and fussed angrily.

"Actually, Jess, would you mind coming with me for a sec?" Rory asked. "I wanted to talk to you about something before you leave and I don't know if I'll have the opportunity later."

"Yeah, sure," he answered, getting to his feet.

"Do you want us to pause it for you?" Lorelai offered.

"Nah, I've seen it before. You guys go on without me."

Jess followed Rory down the hall into her old room and leaned against the doorframe while she shushed the baby and began changing him. The changing table now stood where her desk used to be, and Jess smiled softly. "You know," he said, "this is about where we were standing when we met."

Rory turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Yeah, it is," she murmured, smiling wistfully. "Which is funny, because I was just about to offer you a book again, too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, I heard your birthday's next week-"

"Ah, jeez…"

"-and I got you a present. Why are you so weird about birthdays?! Suck it up, cupcake, and open your present! It's in the bookshelf, but it's wrapped, so…"

"I see it," he sighed, pulling it out carefully and turning it over in his hands as he sat on the bed to unwrap it. Rory glanced at him eagerly as she finished snapping Richie's onesie. "Hey, cool," he smiled, after tearing off the paper. "The Sun Also Rises. It looks like an old one," he observed, running his fingers over the faded cloth binding, a stylized neoclassical figure embossed on the cover.

"Uh-huh!"

He looked at her gleeful expression suspiciously and then carefully opened the book to the title page. His eyes widened almost comically and a fervently whispered "Holy sh**!" burst from his lips. Rory giggled, delighted with his reaction.

He stared at her with wild eyes and then flipped to the publication date and swore again. "A first edition, Rory?" he demanded severely. "A signed first edition? What the hell is this? Is this your way of trying to get around my refusal to let you pay me, or…?"

"Relax. I didn't spend anything on it. My Grandpa left it to me," she explained.

He only looked more disturbed. "I can't accept this," he said softly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Of course you can!" Rory insisted blithely, bouncing Richie in her arms to distract him until she could finish her conversation. "I don't hate him as much as I did in highschool, but Hemingway's still not a favorite of mine and I knew you'd appreciate this much more than I do."

"Yeah, but… but…" he sputtered, "it belonged to your grandfather! Do you have any idea how much this is worth? The historical importance goes beyond personal preference, Rory! I just…" he shook his head. "I can't take this. You should save it for him," he said, gesturing towards the baby in Rory's arms. "I mean, he's gonna grow up someday, and… and what if he actually appreciates great literature, and you'll have to tell him, 'Oh, you could have had a signed first edition of Ernest Hemingway's first full-length novel, that belonged to your great grandfather, but I just gave it away to some guy…'"

"You're hardly just 'some guy,' Jess!" Rory protested, finding his concern endearing, even if it was starting to annoy her a bit. "You're practically family at this point."

He grimaced. "Does that weird you out sometimes? It weirds me out sometimes…"

"Yeah… but at the same time it feels kind of… right, you know? That we'll always be connected in this way. I like knowing that you'll always be in my life somehow," she confessed shyly, flushing at how intensely he was looking at her now. "So, anyway… I wanted to give you something that…" She took a deep breath. "I do know how much it's worth, Jess. That's how much you… your friendship means to me. It seemed an appropriate gift for someone like you," she said seriously.

His dark eyes held so many emotions at once that she couldn't read him. He just stared at her for a moment before dropping his gaze to the book he still held in his hands, running his thumb across the embossed lettering on the cover. "I…" he started, then seemed to choke on his words. "Thank you," he finally murmured. He looked up again. "Thank you," he repeated fervently, "but I still think-"

"You know, Luke gave me a string of pearls for my 21st birthday," Rory interrupted, "that he said had belonged to his mother, your grandmother. I can't tell you how much it meant to me, but sometimes I've wondered why he thought I should have them, why he wouldn't have given them to Liz instead…"

"Because he knew Liz would've pawned them for booze money years ago," Jess scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, but what about Doula, or what if you end up having a daughter someday? But he loved me, and he wanted me to have them, so I do. But if Doula wants them when she's older, or… you need them someday, I'd gladly give them up. So, I'll make you a deal," Rory sighed. "What if I just gave you temporary guardianship of the book? You can take care of it until Richie's old enough, and then… if he wants it, you can give it back to him."

Jess smiled softly and then sighed. "Ok," he finally relented. "I guess I can do that."

"Good!" Rory grinned.

"A first edition Hemingway," Jess repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. "You rich girls and your extravagant gifts…"

"Well, only the best for you…" she teased, and then he stood and rested his hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes in a way that made her forget to breathe.

"Seriously, thanks," he said, sliding his hand to grip the back of her neck and pulling her in to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You're welcome," she breathed dizzily, but then Richie finally became fed up with the pacifier she'd kept shoving in his mouth and made his presence known with an angry wail. "And I'm sorry, but I really need to put Richie to sleep now!"

Jess grinned sheepishly. "I'm goin'," he said, backing towards the door. "Oh, and I'd like to see those pearls sometime," he added. "Preferably on you..." And then with a wink, he was gone, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Thank you for reading! What are you thinking about all this? I'd love to know!

A word on timelines: I decided to give Jess a summer birthday, which fits some of the information given about his age on the show... but it conflicts with others, which is unfortunately unavoidable because the show contradicts itself! This is apparently only one example of inconsistencies regarding time on the show, or so I've been told, never having noticed it myself because… I have no concept of time. At all. Haha! For me, "time blindness" is a function (dysfunction?) of my ADHD, and yet another reason why I think Gilmore Girls is the most ADHD show ever! From the rapid-fire dialogue, to the free-associative pop-culture references, to multiple characters who fit the description (Lorelai, Sookie, Jess, and Liz all come to mind, and possibly, I'm more and more convinced, Rory. I'll tell you why later, if you're interested. It really would explain so much.), the particular style of humor, and the rather iffy awareness of the passage of time… I wouldn't be at all surprised if ASP herself is One of Us. So many women are now being diagnosed later in life, because all the early research was focused on how it presents in boys, and it often shows up very differently in girls, who then get overlooked because they don't fit the stereotype.

Anyway… I'll get off my soapbox now, but I just had to say… I read back through my story so far, and I was embarrassed to discover that this Gilmore "time blindness" definitely applies to this story too! My timeline is such a mess… don't even try to think about it, honestly! Just think of it as a kind of poetic, "Impressionistic" depiction of a sequence of events, and please do not take markers such as "x number of months" literally, because it will not make any sense if you do! I will try to be more careful about that going forward, but I don't have a lot of confidence in my success. I am so sorry, haha!