A/N: Thanks to those who continue to review - always much appreciated. Penultimate chapter here - hope you like! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 27

"Thank you for this. I'm sorry about having to ask," said Jess, as he put on his seatbelt.

"It's fine," Rory told him easily. "I kind of wanted to swing by the Hollow anyway, catch up with Lane and with Mom too. They've both had so much going on lately and I feel like I'm hardly here for them when they need me. The least I can do is a favour for my boyfriend when he needs a ride to work."

"I'm still grateful," he assured her, leaning back in the passenger seat as she drove them out of town square. "And this should not become a regular thing. Gypsy says she can fix my car, it's just going to take her a while. She seems to have a lot going on lately too. Everybody's so busy with everything."

He heaved a sigh that Rory wasn't sure how to interpret. It wasn't as if Jess was feeling left out of all the busy. He always hated town events, or maybe not hated, but certainly there was a case of violent dislike a not-small part of the time. He would go to certain things for a little while, if Rory wanted to, but she was absolutely certain he had no wish to be involved in prep for such things.

The Firelight Festival was Stars Hollows latest special occasion, something that Kirk had been put in charge of this year. It wasn't going so well, of course, but that was on Taylor for choosing the most inept person in town to organise such a big event. He would learn that the hard way, Rory supposed. It wasn't anything she was too concerned about. Firstly, because she was sure the rest of the townsfolk would pull together to get the job done. Secondly, because she had another event on her mind right now.

"So, I was talking to my grandma today..." she said, trying not to squirm, keeping her eyes firmly on the road and hoping Jess believed it was purely a diligent driving thing and not avoidance tactics.

"Wow, you might actually be suffering even more than I did when I was forced to meet Liz's latest shmuck boyfriend."

"Ah, the infamous TJ." Rory nodded in understanding. "I haven't had the pleasure, but I hear he is a real winner. So different to all her previous partners."

"Seriously? That's what she told you?" Jess scoffed. "I don't know why I'm surprised. It's what she says every time she gets a new guy, but they're always the same. Losers."

"Is he really that bad?"

"Rory, he's a grown man with an Etch-A-Sketch."

"Oh." She really hadn't been expecting that one. "Well, don't make any sudden movements around him. I mean, if you scare him, he might start shaking and then disappear."

She looked sideways at Jess the moment she pulled up at a red light and found him trying desperately not to smile at her terrible joke.

"That was so lame," he told her, and yet the half-smile remained. "So, anyway, you talked with your grandmother?"

"Yes, I did." Rory nodded, eyes back on the road as she continued on the journey back to Yale. "She's been very busy lately, also. Crazy busy and all panicked because she and Grandpa have this charity function they have to go to. Apparently, they have a table and they have to fill it with people or they'll lose face with some person or panel or group? I'll be honest, it was hard to pick out the details from the crazy rambling, but the upshot is, I pretty much got the royal command to attend the event."

"Rory..."

There was a kind of warning in Jess' voice when he said her name, letting her know he had absolutely guessed what was coming next. Still, she tried to ignore it, ploughing on regardless, hoping against hope that by the time she was done, he would take pity on her.

"And of course, Grandma said that one person for the table was great, but two would be so much better, and that maybe, if you weren't busy, I could possibly bring you along."

"Rory..."

That time he sounded more pained than annoyed, his hand coming up to his face, finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. Either he was trying not to get a stress headache or trying not to get mad. Whichever one it was, Rory hoped he was winning the battle, or that she was, or both.

"It would just be for a couple of hours, and even though I've never seen you in a tux, I just know you'll look so good. Didn't you tell me once you thought tuxes were cool, you know, like James Bond? What guy doesn't want to be James Bond for a night, right? And like I said, it's not even a whole night, just a couple of hours, one-hundred-and-twenty minutes, and I would totally owe you one. A big one. I'm just realising now that sounds kind of dirty, which is not what I meant, but that's not to say the favour couldn't be kind of dirty, maybe."

"Rory!" Her name actually had laughter in it when he said it that time, which seemed like a good sign, even if she didn't understand where it was coming from. "Can you pull over or something?" he urged her.

Still confused, Rory took the next exit and did as Jess asked. Shutting off the engine, she unclipped her safety belt and turned as best she could to look at him. He didn't seem mad, but he also wasn't laughing anymore. For a moment or two, he just stared at her, and then, he sighed.

"Two hours?" he checked. "In a tux, with your grandparents, for charity, but only for two hours?"

"Maybe not even that long," she hedged. "If we can escape sooner without causing a problem, we absolutely will. Oh, and it's highly likely that Mom and Luke will be there too, so you won't have to deal with any of this alone. Safety in numbers, lots of friendly faces."

"When?"

"Tomorrow night."

"What about the Firelight Festival? You already pretty much begged me to go to that with you."

"We can still go, after the charity event. Like I said, we won't be there long, so..."

"So," Jess echoed, then heaved a sigh. "You're lucky you're cute, Gilmore."

"I am, aren't I?" she said with a grin. "So, yes?"

"Yes, I'll go. Probably proves I need to be lobotomised, but I'll go."

She couldn't help herself, she just had to dive right across the car to hug and kiss him, thanking him at least six times for being so great. Jess didn't exactly protest at all, at least, not until they started to get kind of horizontal, and parts of the car started to dig into parts of their bodies, making them both pretty uncomfortable.

"We should probably continue this later in a less confined space," Rory realised, righting herself and straightening out her hair and clothes.

"Good plan," Jess agreed, as his watch beeped the hour. "Also, we're about to be late for work and for class," he pointed out, setting Rory right into action.

They were back on the road within moments and Rory was grinning the whole way to Yale.

"Luke? Please tell me you got my message!" Jess called, the moment he walked into the diner that evening.

"Message?" His uncle frowned at him from behind the counter. "I didn't get any messages," he insisted, turning around to double check the pad pinned to the wall by the phone.

"It's fine, I got it!" Lane called, reappearing from the kitchen with two plates. "One second!" she added, delivering the order to its correct table, then rushing back to where Jess and Luke were both waiting for an explanation.

"I took a message from Jess to give to you, Luke, about renting a tux for the Gilmore charity event tomorrow night. However, I did not pass on the message, because I know how expensive renting a tux can be, and I knew that I could score you a free one."

"A free tux?" Jess frowned at his friend. "How does that work?"

"It's not free for you to keep, just free to rent. Well, borrow," she corrected herself. "You've done so much to help out with the band, and recommending me for the job here, I just wanted to pay you back a little. So, I called Brian and asked if you could borrow his tux. I know his parents bought one for him when prom came around and you guys are kind of the same size, and don't worry, it's a real tux. Like the James Bond kind. No crazy colours or patterns or anything. I checked. A lot. So, that's cool, right? I did the right thing?"

She looked so uncertain as she glanced worriedly between Luke and Jess. It was almost funny to watch her squirm, but only almost. Jess didn't leave her blowing in the wind for too long.

"You did good, Kim," he told her, a smile on his lips that he couldn't seem to shift. "Seriously, thank you. I was wondering how I was going to cover the cost."

"You're so welcome," she said, grinning up at him. "Brian will bring the tux to band practice tonight, so you can either swing by the garage and grab it from him, or I can bring it over here when we're done. Either way, you're covered."

Before Jess could say anything more, Lane was off again, grabbing the coffee pot and whipping away to go top-up cups.

"She is kind of amazing." Jess shook his head in wonderment.

"A very good friend to have," Luke agreed easily.

"Rory always said that. I guess now I know from experience too."

With that, he took himself off upstairs to look for some decent shoes and a shirt to wear with the tux. With the money he was saving on the rental, he figured he could probably do something nice for Rory too, an idea that had been floating around in his head ever since she asked him to go to the charity event in the first place.

Reaching for the phone book he started flipping pages, coming up with what he wanted within a minute. Picking up the phone, he dialled the unfamiliar number and waited until somebody picked up.

"Blooms and Bows Florist Shop, how can I help you?"

"Hey, do you sell corsages?"

To Be Continued...