Jess POV

Jess woke up with a smile on his face, feeling better than he had in as long as he could remember. Realizing that, and how unusual it was for him to feel that way, a feeling of alarm shot through him making him skip over that half-asleep state and become wide awake, all the events from the day before coming back to him. He opened his eyes, not sure if he hoped it all really happened or hoped it was just a dream he had the night before. He wasn't someone who trusted when a good thing happened to him, let alone something that he'd been hoping, wishing for for almost a decade now. Usually, when things were going good for him, it wasn't long until something came along and fucked it all up. Who was he kidding, it wasn't long until he fucked it all up.

He opened his eyes and saw her lying there, asleep. Her head resting on his chest, her arm thrown over it, and her whole body nestled in his side, not an inch of space between them. Still, though, when he got the urge to pull Rory even closer, he didn't fight it, and he nuzzled down as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. He looked at the clock and realized it was early, not even six yet. It was surprising that he was awake, considering how late they had stayed up the night before, after eating, they watched some movies and talked, not about anything too serious, more just catching up on each other's lives. After that, he took her upstairs, and they spent the night and most of the morning making up for lost time, getting lost in each other.

He knew it was Sunday, and after the day before, whatever plans he originally had for today were certainly not going to happen. So there was no need to be up so early, he decided. He turned into Rory, pulled her even closer, and closed his eyes to go back to bed, inhaling the scent of her fruity shampoo with every inhale.

He wasn't sure how much later it was that he was woken up by his phone ringing. It reminded him of the day before because the ringing just wouldn't stop so he could go back to sleep. It was annoying Rory, too, if the groan and her randomly swatting the air was anything to go by. He let out a groan himself before letting go of her enough to roll over and grab his phone. He was still half asleep and used muscle memory to find and answer it, not even opening his eyes.

"Okay, now Truncheon better really be on fire. You assholes know better than to call me this early." Rory made a sound of discontent and threw the covers over her head.

"Let me talk to her." Came a demanding voice from the other side of the phone.

Jess finally opened his eyes and pulled the phone away from him so he could look at the caller ID, realizing it wasn't anyone saved in his contacts. "What? Who is this?"

"You know who this is."

"You'll have to forgive me, I've been awake for," He pulled the phone away from him again to look at the call length, "27 seconds, I'm not exactly at the top of my game right now. Care to give me a little more information?"

Rory's head popped out from under the covers, looking confused and a little worried, he couldn't help but get lost in her, thinking how cute she looked half asleep, it was the voice on the other side of the line that brought him out of it.

"What was it you called me again? Oh yeah, the blonde dick at Yale. Or was it rich dick? It was so long ago."

"Logan." He said and Rory sat up bolt straight.

"Yeah, it's me, long time no talk. Can't say I've particularly missed you, but I think we both know someone who has. Speaking of Rory, where were you yesterday? I thought for sure you wouldn't miss an excuse to see her."

"Yeah, well, sometimes I like to do the unexpected, gotta keep them guessing, right?"

"Oh yeah, you got that whole mysterious wounded bad boy thing going on, I almost forgot."

"Well, we all have our crosses to bear, from what I remember, you've got that spoiled rich kid asshole thing pretty down pat." Rory gasped. Jess wasn't even sure why he was being an ass hole, maybe because he felt like he was being attacked, maybe because Logan brought the worst out in him. But really, he felt bad for the guy; he knew what it was like losing Rory. Perhaps the real reason he was acting like an asshole was because he was still worried that she'd come to her senses and go back to Logan, again leaving Jess the one without her.

Logan laughed, and it was almost like Jess could smell the alcohol from across the phone, "Yeah, well, I can't deny that. People change, though."

"Yeah." He agreed, not wanting to fight with him, "Well, this catch-up was nice, I guess we'll do it again in another five years."

Jess knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but he figured it was worth a shot. Logan quickly shot his hope to shit, though. "Jess, come on, I know she's there. I just want to talk to her."

"How do you figure?" Did everyone but him know Rory loved him?

"Trust me, I know, I've known."

He looked at Rory, holding the phone out a little, and quirked his eyebrow in question; she looked uncertain. Jess knew by that look that she'd talk to Logan she just wasn't ready, so he kept the conversation going. "Care to elaborate?"

He laughed darkly, "You're just loving this, aren't you?"

"I'm not hating it, never thought The Logan Huntzburger would be calling little ole' me, needing something."

"I just know, okay? Our Rory has a way with words, certainly, but she also has a way of letting a lot out, even without saying anything."

"Hmm," Jess replied, half agreeing, half just saying something to fill the silence.

"Listen, man. If she's not there, then you know where she is. She's loved you since before I knew her, no matter how much I tried to ignore it or hoped she'd get past it. She goes to you when she has problems that overwhelm her. Fuck, for all I know, she's been planning this for weeks, and you were there to drive her away from the wedding."

"I didn't."

"Well, that's something, I guess. At least she wasn't a premeditated runaway bride."

"Guess not."

"See, that's what's funny to me, Jess. If you didn't know and had nothing to do with it, you seem to be taking the information calmly. No shock, no jumping for joy, no nothing."

"I'm not really the jumping type."

"Still though…"

Jess opened his mouth to answer, probably saying something about Lorelai, but Rory held her hand out for the phone, with a sigh, he handed it over.

"Logan," She said softly, almost apologeticly. Jess didn't like hearing his name come out of her mouth. "Yeah, it's me…"

Jess was sure there was regret in Rory's tone, so he didn't want to listen anymore. He sat up and prepared to get out of bed to shower, make breakfast, try to finish the chapter he'd been stuck on for a month, whatever, just leave the room so he didn't have to listen to this. He felt Rory's hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned to look at her and saw clarity in her eyes, conviction. She leaned in and kissed him, he wanted more but didn't fight it when she quickly pulled back. She gave him a full smile, and he quirked his lips in return before continuing his exit, sure that she deserved privacy for this conversation, though he'd come back in a moment if she wanted him to.

Rory's POV

Rory watched Jess leave the room, her eyes lingering on the closed door. She knew this was hard for him, if she knew one thing about Jess Mariano, it was that he believed wholeheartedly that things never worked out well for him, that he didn't deserve for things to work out for him. She was going to spend the rest of her life making sure to change his mind.

"So, you're with him." Oh, right, she was on the phone.

"Uh, yeah."

"I woke him up; I didn't hear much rustling around. I take that to mean you two spent the night together." Though he didn't word it as one, it clearly sounded like a question.

"Logan…"

"Just a simple yes or no will do, Ace."

She felt tears gathering; she might not regret her decision to leave him and go to Jess, but she did regret hurting him, waiting till their wedding day to do it, leading him on for so long, lying to him and herself about her feelings. Fuck, she regretted a lot, and she felt terrible about it, but not being with Jess, that was one thing that felt completely clear in her head. "…Yes."

She heard him let out a long sigh on the other end. "Do you remember when I first met him?"

Yeah, she remembered that well, that night was the night that got her back on track, got her back in school, and fixed the mistakes she made. It was also one of the handful of nights that played over and over again in her head at night, wishing she did something different, went after Jess when he left, told Logan not to come to dinner with them, anything that would have ended with Jess and her together. "Yeah, I remember."

"Did you ever wonder why I was such an ass to him? I deserved that 'blonde dick at Yale' comment that night."

Yeah, he did, but she wasn't going to agree with him right now, "I figured it was just seeing me with someone you didn't know, plus everything that was going on with your Dad and stuff. Just a combination of problems and bad timing."

"Yeah, that's true too, but that wasn't the main reason."

"Okay… then why?"

Logan told her about that night in the poolhouse, about what she told him that night while she was too drunk to remember. Rory's eyes widened as she heard the story, almost disbelieving, though not really that surprised after she thought about it for a few moments. "… yeah, so I've known for a long time. I just… well, I guess I always hoped it was just a first love, you know, the one that people look up to and idolize, but after some time and growth, they realize it wasn't nearly as perfect as they once thought."

"Yeah, I hoped the same thing too." She admitted.

"But it's not? Only a first-love kind of love, I mean."

"No, it's more than that."

"Yeah, I figured." He said, sounding defeated.

"Logan, I…"
"We could have a great life together, go anywhere. You know that California position that I turned down to stay with you after the failed proposal is open, we could go there, getaway, keep our distance from him, and be happy. I can forget the last 24 hours ever happened, and we can just go back to normal. I can forgive and forget your momentary insanity. Just tell me where you are, and I'll come pick you up." There was pleading in his voice that made her feel even worse.

"Logan… I can't, you know that."

"Yeah, I guess I do." He took a deep breath, and when he spoke, he sounded more like his normal playful self, the Logan she fell in love with in the first place. "I would ask you to put him back on the phone so I could warn him that him hurting you would have me and everyone else in your life after him, but I doubt the guy that's been pining for you for so long is dumb enough to fuck up twice."

Rory let out a laugh, surprised it was a little watery, and that was when she realized she was quietly crying for a while now. "No, I don't think I have to worry about that."

"Yeah, me either." He was quiet for a long time, so quiet she was about to call his name, wondering if he hung up, "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Ace. I hope you're happy and stay that way."

There wasn't any sarcasm in his words, which made her cry a little harder. "You too, Logan. You deserve someone whose whole heart belongs to you."

"Yeah. I was fine with only having half of yours, I just wish it was the bigger half." Another deep breath. "Bye, Rory, I love you."

"Bye, Logan. I'm sorry." She hung up the phone and sat there, cross-legged on Jess' bed but staring at it, her mind somehow whirling a thousand miles an hour, and all completely calm and clear at the same time.

She heard the shower on and considered joining Jess, getting up to do it before sitting back down, deciding she had at least one more phone call to make beforehand. She knew the number by heart, so she didn't waste time looking for her cell. She just used Jess'. When she opened it, she accidentally opened a text that arrived; it was from someone named Tara. Hey Jess, hope to hear from you soon. It was disappointing that our morning was ruined by the interruption.

Rory huffed, sure that this was the girl from yesterday. She considered deleting the text and contact information before deciding against it, she trusted Jess, and deleting them would just be childish. She quickly dialed to get her mind off of it and wasn't surprised when she picked up on the first ring.

"Fruit of My Loins! Finally decided to call your Mommie Dearest?"

"Hey, you got mad the last time I called you that."

"Yeah, well, I don't have a strong opinion for or against wire hangers, so it was unwarranted."

"But it is now?"

"No, but you're allowed some leeway these next few days."

"How did you know it was me? This is Jess' phone."

"Because I knew you were there, and I also knew Jess wouldn't call me unless it was a life-or-death situation. It was a calculated guess."

Rory laughed, "Imagine if you called him Fruit Of My Loin. I still hate that nickname, by the way."

"Oh, I know, you only tell me that every time I say it."

"Then why do you keep calling me it?"

"Hey, I pushed that pumpkin head of yours out of my body, I earned the right." They both laughed before simultaneously taking a deep breath and sighing on the exhale. When Lorelai spoke, it was much more serious, "So, you finally told him, told both of them."

"Yeah…"

"Wow, you really waited until the last seconds, didn't you? Were you trying to give Mommy a heart attack? I was considering doing that cliche thing and object when asked if anyone had a problem with the marriage." She laughed at her own joke before continuing, "I'm assuming that he took it well? You're still with him after all and already got him lying to me about you again."

Rory laughed, "Yeah. It went well, as well as could be expected, anyway."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, there's only so many times someone can ask for another chance before they stop believing that another chance is possible. I'm pretty sure he's waiting for the moment I tell him to drive me back to Logan."

"I didn't think there'd ever be a day in my life where I'd say this, but I gotta say, I see Jess' point of view."

"Yeah, me too. I just wish he didn't."

"Give it time, kid, he'll get there. So, I'm guessing you're planning on staying down there for a while?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"But you will come back? Or are you staying?"

Rory was surprised when Lorelai's words were just a question; there was no judgment, or guilt in her words trying to convince her. "Of course, I'll be back up there. But for visits, I'm going to live down here. Jess' job needs him here; I can work from anywhere, it only makes sense."

"I suppose it does. Though, I hope you know I'll never forgive you."

"For moving far away?"

"Well, that too, but no. I'll never forgive you for not letting me be your runaway ride." Rory couldn't help but laugh, "I'm serious, I had a bag packed and snacks already in the car."

"I know you're serious; it's just that I told Jess that was why you'd be mad."

"Ahh. Okay. Well, I'm happy you called, and I'm glad you're okay. Tell loverboy he's a terrible liar; I knew you were with him from the moment his voice went up an octave after realizing it was me on the phone."

She laughed again, "Will do."

"Love ya, kid."

"Love you too, mom."

Rory took another deep breath when she hung up this call, this one a lot lighter than the one after the call from Logan. She laid back down on the bed, considering striking a seductive pose for Jess when he got back in here, but by the sounds of things, or lack of sounds, he'd been out of the shower for a while now, and was probably downstairs waiting for her to finish.

She got up and grabbed another one of Jess' shirts; she really needed to get some clothes of her own before going out to look for Jess. Her eyes lit up when she found him on the couch typing away on his fancy laptop; she wondered if he was working on his next book. She, of course, devoured them whenever she got one from him in the mail, this most recent one that came out last year even made it on the New York Times best-seller list, she was so proud of him. She was also dying to see what the next installment was about, where the people ended up, and who they ended up with.

She walked up to him, sat down on the couch, and nonchalantly rested her head on his shoulder, trying to get a peak of his work. Jess wasn't a famous author, or anything, not really, anyway. But he was on his way, and he'd already made a reputation of being a recluse, and someone who was notoriously private with his work, not letting many people get a look at it until it was complete. Truthfully, Rory wasn't really sure if he was on his way to becoming famous or if she only thought so because she followed his work so much and might have had a Google alert for his name, so anytime he was mentioned, she knew about it, so she might have lost perspective.

She felt herself blush, glad he couldn't hear her thoughts and a small smile came over her face when she felt his head rest on hers. "Phone call go okay?"

He was stiff, worried, she realized as he closed his laptop and pushed it away. She pulled her head back so she could turn and look at him, "About as well as could be expected."

"Hmm," He said, not giving any of his emotions away, when they were young, she always hated when he closed down like this, she hadn't seen it since she came down here, kissed him, and stupidly told him the only reason she did it was to get back at Logan. Of course, Logan is the reason she had to see it again. At least this time, she was thinking a little more clear-headedly, and she understood why he might feel like he had to hide from her. Even if she understood it, it didn't mean it didn't still hurt, but she worked hard not to let it affect her or her next words.

"Apparently, I told him I was in love with you a long time ago."

Jess' eyebrows shot up, surprised, he sat forward and sounded in much better spirits when he replied, "Oh yeah? Do tell."

"It was a long time ago, before you met him, before we were even dating, I had just broken up with Dean…" She trailed off when Jess looked confused, "Oh, you didn't know about that? Whatever, doesn't matter, it's not an important part of the story. Anyway, I was sad and drinking at my grandma's 'My grandaughter is of age and open for business party' and…" She trailed off again because Jess was back to looking confused, "Oh, yeah, she thought since I was in Yale, I needed a man of higher stature to date, so she invited 50 of her closest friends and their sons, and, well, I'm not sure what she was hoping, maybe that I'd be overwhelmed by their greatness and give myself to one of them right there? I don't know, but anyway, Logan was there, and I got drunk and told him all about you and how I loved you and regretted not running away with you. I think it was a big reason he was such an ass to you the next year when we went out to eat."

She thought this story would cheer him up and make him feel better, and it seemed to, at least a little bit, but something was still off, and she didn't like that. She moved herself so that she was straddling his lap; his hands automatically went to her hips, and she leaned down to kiss him. When she pulled back, he seemed much more calm. "So that's it, the hardest conversations are over. I feel much better now. We can start our life together, here, in Philly."

"What about your mom?"

"I called her after I talked to Logan, she knew where I was, she said you're a terrible liar."

"Am not, remember that time she caught me sneaking out of your window at like seven in the morning, she definitely believed that I just came to bring you a book you needed for school, I know that because I'd be dead right now if she hadn't."

Rory laughed, "Oh, she for sure didn't believe you, but there was no proof, and I didn't admit it, so she had to move on, after that, she started randomly bursting into my room at night."

"Ohh, so that's why you started locking the door."

"Yup."

Jess smiled at her and stole her lips for another kiss. He kept kissing her, pulling away ever so often to speak, "So we're… really doing this?… you're staying… here with me?'

She slapped the side of his shoulder hard, "Ow! What was that for?!"

"How are you really asking me that? Have you not listened to anything I said these last 24 hours? I left my freaking wedding for you!"

Jess smirked, content with her answer, and put his attention back to her neck, licking, nipping, kissing, pulling her skin in his mouth, between his teeth. Rory's breath quickened, and she had no choice but to push her body closer against Jess', anything for more contact, more touch, more of his clean pinewood and minty scent that was so uniquely Jess, somehow he still always had the smell of menthol on him even though she knew he stopped smoking years ago. Whatever, she loved it, and she needed more.

Since she'd been living in his t-shirts for the last twenty-four hours, all it took was pulling it over her head to be completely naked on top of him. She wasn't even sure how she did it because she was almost positive that Jess' mouth never left her skin once. She reached down to Jess' sweatpants and rubbed his member over them, groaning after feeling how much he wanted her. His mouth started migrating south, her chest, collarbone, and the top of her breast, before taking her nipple in his mouth and using his hand to massage the other one. Rory pushed her chest forward and threw her head back, just enjoying the stimulation as she started rocking her hips over him.

She let out a squeak when she wrapped his arm around her hip and quickly flipped her over so that she was lying flat on the couch and he was on top of her. She shivered at the darkness in his eyes, the lust, the command. He didn't even have to say anything, and she already knew he was in a dominating mood, she felt her center clench and her arousal grow in excitement. She never thought she'd enjoy something like this, and she hadn't wanted to try it with anyone else she'd ever been with, but with Jess, it just felt so natural and exciting. She was surprised at how easily she just fell into it. She might not have been the most demanding person in the bedroom, but she had no problem taking what she wanted, now, though, she knew their rules and was excited to comply.

Jess' hand snaked behind her head and gripped as much of her hair as he could before roughly pulling it to the side, leaving her long neck exposed, Rory gasped at the sensation and wanted more, wanted to get closer, she tried to thrust herself closer to get more contact, friction but he was holding her in place, not giving her much room to move. Rory whined, and then she wanted to slap him when he let out a dark husky chuckle.

"Jess…" He wasn't even touching her anywhere other than her hips, keeping her in place, and she felt like she was going wild from his eyes alone and the small mindless circles he was rubbing over her hip bones.

"Hmm?" He asked the evil smirk he was sporting made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing.

Rory decided to try to affect him as much as he was her. "I want you to fuck me."

His eyes widened ever so slightly, not used to her cursing much at all, much less using those curses to talk dirty to him. If the twitch she felt next to her thigh meant anything, he liked it, though there weren't any other outward signs. "Oh, I will, believe me. Just not yet."

He kept eye contact with her as he slowly leaned down, set on playing with her. He ran his tongue around her nipple, making her gasp, but he managed not to touch it at all. He started roaming her body with his hands and his mouth, light touches, small strokes, a lick here, a kiss there; it was probably the most sensual experience she ever had. She was panting at that point, sure she hadn't been this turned on ever, especially staring at him, their eyes locked, seeing the pleasure he was getting from just touching her. Soon, though, she was writhing, gasping, whining because he wasn't touching any spot on her that'd bring her even the slightest relief.

She knew what he was doing, what she wanted, but she wasn't going to give it to him. His hand slipped in between her legs, moving so that he could spread them and nestle himself inside, she held her breath when he touched her outer lips and groaned when he went up her leg to her thigh. This continued so long it was as if every part of her body was on edge, so worked up, so close, she could see that she had goosebumps everywhere, her hips were constantly trying to rock, though Jess was still holding her. It was torture, exquisite torture, but torture nonetheless.

"Does this feel good, Rory?"

"Mmmm." She wasn't sure if that was an affirmative or negative answer, but it didn't seem to matter to Jess, his smile grew.

She wanted to scream when he took himself out of his boxers and started lazily stroking himself; she damned him for being so mean. She gave in and tried to move her hand down her body; if he wouldn't give her relief, she'd damn well do it herself.

"Ah-ah, you know better than that." He tutted.

He was evil, she decided. And with a sigh of defeat that might have been a scream (She wasn't sure at this point), she gave in. "Jess, please!"

"Please, what?" He asked with victory in his eyes, though his tone suggested he had no idea what she could possibly want.

"Please touch me!"

He pointedly looked down at his hands, which were still doing their slow torture routine. "Rory, I am touching you."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it!"

"I'm afraid I don't. I'm going to need the words, Rory."

She shivered; his eyes were on her, and the tone in his voice was driving her insane. She officially hit that line, she couldn't take anymore, "Jess, please, make me cum, use your hands and your mouth to make me feel good."

He groaned before doing exactly as she bid, resting her legs on his shoulders before using his mouth and hands to bring her pleasure, she was already so close, so stimulated that it only took one, two swipes of his tongue over her clit for her to climax. He didn't back off and let her come down slowly; he kept playing with her already overstimulated center to drive her on. She had the idle thought that she hoped the walls of this apartment were thick because if not, she'd be embarrassed meeting the neighbors, she was not being quiet. Truthfully, Jess wasn't being quiet either; he sounded as if he was enjoying this as much as she was, if not more.

After, well, she wasn't sure how long, he finally pulled back and gave her time to come down, to catch her breath, to relax her muscles, he slowly made his way up her body. He kept her one leg on his shoulder and brought it up with him, stretching her. He looked at her, and she saw a myriad of emotions swimming in his eyes: love the clearest to see, yearning, affection, and so much more, she had never felt so loved before. He leaned in and kissed her deeply, lovingly, and she felt herself melt into him, wrap her arms around him, and pull him closer.

When he finally broke the kiss, his eyes were back to that dark, dominating look that made her shiver. He leaned back in and kissed her roughly, teeth clinking against hers, he took her bottom lip and rolled it between his teeth, and just as she was losing herself in the kiss, she felt him quickly align himself with her center and enter her, she moaned into his mouth, enjoying the rouch treatment, the pace he set was fast and hard she almost had a problem keeping up with him, rolling her hips, drawing moans out of him.

He left her mouth and rested his head in the crook of her neck before continuing the rough treatment; she was sure she was going to have marks by the time they were done. He was gripping her hips, pulling her to him with every thrust, one hand moved down to her clit and started quickly playing with it, making her eyes roll in the back of her head as she came again, it was only one, two more thrusts until he followed her, moaning into her neck and lying limply on top of her.

After giving himself a few moments to catch his breath, he tried to roll them over so that he wasn't lying all his weight on her, though it was a lot more difficult on the couch compared to doing it on the bed, it almost ended with him falling off of the couch taking her with him, causing them both to laugh. Eventually, they managed, and Rory laid face down on his chest, just enjoying the closeness and the feeling of his hand running up and down the spine of her back. She wasn't sure how long they stayed that way, but she knew she was almost completely asleep by the time her stomach growled.

She smiled at the feeling of him chuckling under her, "I haven't fed you breakfast yet, have I?"

"Nope, and you know I'm like the anti-Gremlin, if you don't feed me, I turn into something scary and dangerous."

"Don't I know it?" She lazily slapped his side for his comment, "Okay, okay, no need to get violent. Uh-oh, it's already starting. Thank fuck we have a lot of leftovers, I would have been in trouble."

She laughed again before getting up and taking him with her, making her way to the kitchen. She wasn't sure how she made it through these years without him, how she convinced herself that she could be happy with Logan for the rest of her life. She was insane or in denial because she hadn't felt this content, this happy in years, maybe ever. She felt like she had a permanent smile on her face, which was very out of the normal for her, but she liked it As they sat down and ate together, she realized how happy and excited she was for their new lives together, and even though she felt bad for hurting Logan, she couldn't regret it, not even a little bit.