A/N: Pretty sure only two people are still reading this fic at this point (Is there not enough drama? Meh, I'm just basking in the fluff, myself!) but that's okay and I really appreciate my little audience - thanks so much for the reviews! :) Now, is Dean got a Gilmore girls movie night, then Jess should too, right? :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8

Rory didn't know why she was nervous exactly. It didn't make sense. After all, she was about to spend an evening with two of her favourite people in the whole world, watching movies and eating junk food. That was the trifecta, right there. It wasn't even like she had to worry about her mom and Jess butting heads anymore. They really had come a long way since their first meeting. The one where Lorelai felt Luke's 'troubled' nephew gave an excellent Breakfast Club audition, and Jess felt Rory's mom was trying too hard to be his social worker or similar. Things had changed a lot in the past year - a very lot, actually - which was why there was absolutely no reason to be nervous. Rory knew that, and yet...

"You'll be nice, right?"

"Yes, honey, I'll be nice," Lorelai agreed one more time, pouring chips into a large bowl. "I will be nice, I will be reasonable, I will refrain from calling your boyfriend Holden Caulfield or John Bender or any other hoodlum name, and I will absolutely let him have the first slice of pizza. I will do all of these things, I promise you, but I draw the line at one thing," she said, putting up one finger to represent it more clearly.

"And that is?" Rory asked warily.

"When it comes down to the last Mallomar in the box," she said in absolutely seriousness, "I will not allow Jess to take it from me, because that chocolate treat is mine."

"Absolutely understandable," said Rory, nodding her head. "I pity the fool who gets between Lorelai Gilmore and her Mallomars."

"As well you should!" her mom declared, picking up a bowl in each hand and heading for the living room.

Rory followed suit, bringing the popcorn and gummy bears to add to the snackfest. At this point, the coffee table was looking awfully crowded. They would need to get through quite a bit of what they already had before the pizza arrived, else there would simply by nowhere for it to go.

"You know if Luke saw this, he would literally have one of those conniption fits," said Lorelai, shaking her head sadly, before an almost maniacal grin took over her face. "Let's take a picture and make him look at it tomorrow - see if his head spins around and explodes!"

"Mom, that's so mean!" Rory told her loudly. "And after he was so nice at your graduation."

Lorelai sighed. "Well, yeah, I guess it was pretty sweet of him to buy me a gift like that," she said, reaching for the pendant that hung around her neck even now. "And hey, who knew Luke had any kind of taste in jewellery?"

"No offence to Luke, but it's a tassel hat pendant. What else would you buy the graduate?"

Before Lorelai could come up with a smart answer for that one (though Rory was sure one was right there on the tip of her tongue) the doorbell rang, signalling Jess' arrival, no doubt.

"Come in if you think the Gilmore girls are awesome!" Lorelai yelled, making Rory wince.

The door opened almost hesitantly, and then Jess stepped in, looking more sheepish than Rory had ever seen him, as he lifted his hand in a brief and awkward 'hello' wave.

"You always answer the door that way?" he asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Only when we're in a fun mood," Lorelai told him, shrugging her shoulders. "How are you doing, Jess?"

"I'm not bleeding or anything."

"Then it's a good day, huh? So, come on, come in and sit down. We have all the snacks laid out, so dig right in. We also have sodas - Coke, funky Coke with lemon, orange, grape, and... what is this one again?"

"Uh, that's that weird can with the Asian writing that even Lane couldn't identify. I'm pretty sure it came with the house."

"Oh, right." Lorelai snapped the fingers of her free hand after studying the strange can a moment. "Nobody needs to be drinking that."

With that, she swept off back to the kitchen, leaving Rory and Jess alone. They both seemed to sigh with relief simultaneously as they sat down on the couch, side by side.

"I'm so sorry about this," she told him immediately. "I know you probably don't want to hang out with my mom."

"Hey, it's okay," he assured her, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. "I'm getting free food and most probably the chance to see either a couple of decent movies or mock some bad ones. Plus, as an added bonus, you're here," he said, smirking terribly. "That doesn't suck."

"You know, for a guy that told me he doesn't know how to be a boyfriend, you're doing a pretty good job so far, let me tell you."

"You could show me too, if you wanted," he offered, a familiar look in his eyes.

Rory wasted no time in pressing her lips against his own in a sweet kiss. Of course, Jess put his arm around her and tried to keep her close just a little bit longer, but Rory was firm in pulling back just as quickly as possible. She knew her mom would be back any second. As high on the cool-and-laid-back spectrum as Lorelai Gilmore was, on a scale from Mrs Kim to Amy Poehler in Mean Girls, Rory was not ready to be caught making out with Jess like that.

"Okay, so movies!" said Lorelai herself as she returned to the room, presumably deliberately loudly. "I asked Rory what kind of stuff you were into, Jess, and apparently, there's a lot of crossover between your taste and the impeccable taste of us Gilmore girls."

"Seems that way." He nodded, knowing as he did from Rory that it was true. "I heard that some movie nights are for quality and others for mockability."

"That is the general rule of the house." Lorelai agreed. "So, we went for a little of both tonight. First up, the amazing Pacino classic, Dog Day Afternoon, then the hilariously so-awful-it's-amazing Final Destination 3, and of course, because I seriously could not help myself..." she trailed off holding up the final video tape for inspection.

"The Breakfast Club," Jess read aloud. "Huh. Can't argue with John Hughes."

That comment brought an epically wide smile to Lorelai's face and Rory knew it wasn't all because Jess approved her movie choices, but she absolutely wasn't saying a word!

Despite his assurances to Rory, Jess hadn't really expected an evening spent with her mother to be that much of a success. He was pleasantly surprised - as they enjoyed one movie, then tore the next to shreds - to realise he and Lorelai shared a lot of the same thoughts on actors, music choices, and such. Even Rory wasn't on his side sometimes, but Lorelai would see his point of view and not argue with him. Jess almost thought she was making nice on purpose, in an over-the-top way, but then she was quick to mock him in the very next moment, albeit good-naturedly, and he knew this was just the real Lorelai Gilmore after all.

It was only when Rory excused herself to the bathroom that he and her mom really had to face up to the elephant in the room. The fact that the last time they were alone at the so-called Crap Shack together for more than a few seconds, things hadn't exactly gone well.

"So..." she said, picking a chip up from the bowl and popping it into her mouth.

"So..." he echoed back. "Am I supposed to ask if I passed the test or not?"

"Depends." Lorelai shrugged her shoulders. "Do you really care?"

"I care about Rory, if that's what you mean, or if you're asking if I care what you think of me, you're both her mother and her best friend, so yes, I do, actually."

He finished his awkwardly honest speech and had to clear his throat and look away from Lorelai's intense gaze. If she was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth, he only hoped it was obvious enough that he was.

"You know, what?" she said, regaining his full attention. "You're alright, Mariano. I mean, don't get me wrong, when you first came here, with the off-the-chart attitude and the prank pulling and all, I was so underwhelmed but," she emphasised with a look, "Rory kept on telling me there was another side to you. After that tutoring session you guys had, you seemed pretty determined to show it off, and honestly, now I see it. This is the Jess that Rory has been seeing from the start, and not to freak you out, but if I was seventeen... well, let's just say, I get it now."

Jess wasn't much for blushing, but he had a feeling he was pretty close to red in the cheeks after that comment. Running a hand over his face to hide the embarrassment, he glanced up in time to see Rory returning to the scene. Her eyes went back and forth between him and Lorelai.

"What?"

"Nothing, sweets," said her mother, waving a hand dismissively. "I was just telling Jess how great it is that he's showing his sunny side lately. You know, you and Luke have that in common," she told Jess then. "Hiding your goodness under a hard shell of grumpy puss energy."

"Grumpy puss energy?" he echoed, looking to Rory for clarification.

"Maybe we should change the subject," she said, though it was clear she was trying not to laugh. "Oh, I meant to tell you, Paris roped me into the whole student body president thing. She knows she can't get elected on her own and, apparently, I have a more presentable image that the student populus will go for, so I'm her running partner."

"Huh." Jess nodded. "Sounds like all kinds of fun," he deadpanned.

"It's not so bad." Rory shrugged, reaching for another handful of popcorn from the bowl across the table. "I don't actually think we'll win or anything."

"But if you do, free trip to Washington," said Lorelai. "That wouldn't suck, right?"

"Washington?" Jess checked curiously.

Rory nodded. "For six weeks this summer, which is another reason why I kind of hope we don't win. I mean, summer is my vacation time, no studying, nothing but fun with the people I love most. So, everybody should have their fingers crossed for not winning, okay?" she said, glancing between Lorelai and Jess.

"Sure thing, babe," her mom agreed easily.

Jess nodded dumbly. He was still stuck on 'the people I love most.' Even though it was just a turn of phrase and probably didn't mean much, he had a feeling he wasn't getting past it for quite a while.

It had been pretty tense when the night started, but as it progressed, Rory had to admit she had been hit by the twin emotions of relief and genuine joy on realising that her mom and her boyfriend actually could be in close quarters for a reasonable amount of time without tearing each other limb from limb. Better than that, in fact, they seemed to almost like each other, at least as much as a mother and her daughter's significant other could.

"Well, I can honestly say this was fun." Lorelai smiled as she and Rory walked with Jess to the door at the end of the evening. "I'd say we should do it again sometime, but let's be honest, you two are probably looking to have a few more dates without the chaperone, am I right?"

"You're not wrong," said Rory in a small voice, feeling just about as awkward as she ever had in her life. "Not that this wasn't fun, because it was. At least, I think so," she added, looking nervously toward Jess.

"It was fun," he agreed, more easily than she ever could've expected. "Thanks for having me over, and for the food and everything," he said, scratching the back of his head and making a face that suggested he wished he hadn't even started that sentence.

It did come off a little like a kid thanking a friend's parent for the play-date on the insistence of his mom or similar.

"So, I should..." he said, hiking his thumb over his shoulder and out of the door.

"I'll walk you out," Rory said pointedly, trusting that her mom wouldn't follow any further.

Thankfully, she took the hint, waving a hand in goodbye to Jess and taking herself back to the living room without further comment. Rory sighed with relief and stepped out onto the porch with Jess, pulling the door almost closed behind them.

"So, I wanted to thank you for tonight. I know this wasn't your idea of the perfect date or anything, but it meant a lot to me and to my mom."

"It honestly wasn't that bad," Jess assured her, helping her awkwardness to come down a notch or two. "I meant what I said in there, it was actually fun. Your mom is cool, when she's not getting all After School Special on me."

"For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure she thinks you're cool too, when you're not putting on your best John Bender impersonation. You know that's why she picked The Breakfast Club, right?"

"I admit, I didn't get it right away - I mean, it's a John Hughes classic, anybody with taste could choose it for a movie night - but the way she kept on side-eyeing me during a couple of Bender's more F-bomb oriented scenes? Yeah, I got it." Jess rolled his eyes.

Rory shifted awkwardly in place. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he told her, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not honestly sure I can even blame your mom, really. Neither one of us made the best impression the first time we met."

Rory smiled reaching out to put her arms around his neck and pull him closer. "Well, if it helps, you made a much better first impression on me."

"Oh, yeah?" He smirked.

"Yeah," she assured him, right before their lips met.

A good five minutes later, when they finally came up for air, they were both smiling like loons.

"I should probably scram before somebody sets the dogs on me or pulls out a shotgun or something" said Jess, pushing Rory's hair back from her face and letting his hand linger at her cheek. "Goodnight, Rory."

"'Night, Jess," she replied softly, stealing one more kiss before he finally backed away off the porch.

She shivered, feeling chilly from the absence of his body wrapped around hers, but still, she was smiling. Tonight really had gone so much better than she ever could have imagined and she was happy. So, so happy!

To Be Continued...