A/N: Thanks so much for all the love last chapter!

Rory woke up with a smile on her face; this was the first day in a while she woke up without a worry in the world. Okay, that wasn't exactly true, she had her normal school worries, worries about Paris and whatever crazy spiel she'd be on today, and worries about all the crazy scary things going on in the world. But she had those worries every day of her life, so she'd learn to live with them. What she didn't have to worry about anymore was Jess moving away to New York, or worrying about how he was handling having his mom in town. Because she was gone and Rory was very happy things could go back to normal.

So she walked out of her room with a smile on her face. She saw her mom sitting at the kitchen table hard at work, she was so proud of her mom, she was about to graduate, after she made it through finals, "How's it going?"

"I hate these books, hate them."

"Now, now," She soothed.

Lorelai dropped one of the books off the table, "Ahh! See that? They're trying to escape, they hate me too."

"Your books don't hate you."

"Oh Rory, my brain is full! It has reached maximum capacity. It's Shae Stadium when The Beatles played, it's cramped and girls are screaming, and I think George is fighting with Ringo."

"You have a very active head."

"I simply cannot ingest any more information."

"So take a break."

"I don't have time!"

"Close your eyes, clear your head."

"No! Because clearing my head just means that all the knowledge I have painstakingly stuck in there will leak out. I-In order to make room for stuff, I have to lose stuff, it's a very vicious cycle."

Rory patted her back sympathetically, "I'll make some more coffee."

"I hate finals!"

"Everyone hates finals."

Thank God I'm graduating, and this is the last time I'll have to cram like this. Because my pursuit of higher education has led me to a very interesting discovery about myself. Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure."

"I despise academics. Yup, learning, knowledge, it's all worthless. I have no idea what you see in any of it. In fact, I understand your boyfriend a lot better now."

"Learning is fun! Plus, for me, there's that 'I'm a minor thing' so it's kinda mandatory."

"That's what kills me! This is self-inflicted! I'm a masochist; I might as well be carrying a switch and periodically lacerating myself with it."

"That diploma, hanging on the wall is going to make this all worth it, trust me."

"I guess unless I turn into John Nash and start drooling on people."

"Hey, you're graduating!"

"I know."

"No, you're graduating. There's going to be a ceremony."

"Oh, I don't know. It's a community college."

"Community colleges have ceremonies."

"My community college doesn't even have a lawn. They don't necessarily have a ceremony."

"They must, did you ask?"

"No. Well, now that you mention it, I think someone said something about some cheesy ceremony for my business class."

"When is it?"

"I don't know— Next Thursday or something."

"That's great! You have to do it."

"I don't know,"

"You have to do it!"

"Really?"

"Yes! You've never been part of an actual graduation ceremony before."

"I know! That's because my stupid conservative high school wouldn't let me be in the ceremony and nurse you at the same time."

"Don't be gross."

"Do you really think I should do it?"

"You've worked hard, you've earned it."

"I guess."

"You know deep down you really want to do it. Come on, I'll be there, we'll invite Luke and Jess, we'll be a wild cheering section!"

"Well, I'll admit, I've always wanted to wear one of those gowns."

"And the hat!"

"For the tassel. You know my thing for fringe."

"And they call out your name and people clap and you get your diploma,"

"Then you do that thing where you move the tassel from one side to the other. Very symbolic, very dramatic."

"That's it, you're doing it."

"Alright, if you insist."

"Alright, who do you want to invite?"

"I don't know, you."

"And?"

"That's it, that's cool with me."

"Sookie, Jackson?"

"That would be fun."

"Luke and Jess?"

"Uhh, I don't know, do you really think they'd have fun?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"I don't know, I mean you can invite Jess if you want your boyfriend there but don't bother Luke with it."

Rory sighed but didn't fight, "Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no."

"Come on, it's your graduation, they should be there."

"Forget it."

"But…"

"They won't want to be there."

"Of course they will."

"Rory, I was supposed to graduate from high school, go to Vassar, marry a Yale man, and get myself a proper nickname like Babe, or Bunny, or Shih Tzu."

"Yes, but…"

"Instead, I got pregnant at 16, I didn't finish high school, I didn't marry your father, and I ended up in a career that apparently Jessica Hahn would think is beneath her."

"That's not…"

"I humiliated them. The two proudest people in the world, and I humiliated them. I spoiled their plans. And I took their fine upbringing in a world of comfort and opportunity, and I threw it in their faces. I broke their hearts and they'll never forgive me. I guess I can't expect them to."

"Maybe you're wrong about how they feel about all this. It was a long time ago."

"Rory, I don't want them to go. It'll just hurt them, and me, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Plus, do you really want to subject Jess to the Gilmores for the first time when they're already in a crappy mood from stepping foot inside a public building?"

"That's true…" She sighed, "You should get back to studying."

"Fine," She moaned. "Oh great!"

"What?"

"I think I've already forgotten everything I've read in the last two hours."

"No, you haven't!"

"Yes, I have! In fact, I may have forgotten everything I've ever known." She grabbed Rory's arm, "Child, what be your name?"

"Study!"

Lorelai sighed but didn't complain anymore, putting her attention to finishing her final school year strong while Rory went off to school. When her school day was over, Rory did something she knew her mom would be mad about but in her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do. She set up a meeting with her grandparents. They greeted her warmly and even went as far as to set up an authentic English Tea for them to enjoy while she was visiting. She sat across from her grandparents and spoke to them with poise and confidence, she wanted them to take her seriously.

She laid out everything, that her mother was graduating, how she was sure Lorelai wanted them there even if she wasn't going to admit it, how her mom would be mad if she knew Rory was there talking to them about this, how if her mom was right, and going would make them upset, if they were angry instead of proud, that they should stay home because that day was about her mother and she earned it. How she knew this was what her mother wanted because she once had a school thing she didn't invite her mom to, she thought her mom wouldn't want to come, and during that whole kindergarten play while she was dressed in a broccoli costume doing a tap dance with a boy dressed as a beet she just wished her mother was there and knew it was her fault she wasn't. In the end, she handed them the tickets and left the decision up to them, not asking if they were coming or not.

"Those are the tickets, It's Saturday, 7 pm. It's indoors, so weather isn't an issue, you can use them, or not, no hard feelings, do what you feel is best. And, if you don't mind, I'd really appreciate it if you considered this conversation private, kept between the three of us. That's all I have to say. Thanks very much for your patience. Now, I believe I have time for a scone before my bus comes."

Her grandparents shared another look, both impressed and a little surprised at their grandaughter's presentation. Emily cleared her throat before going for a sip of her tea, "Yes, yes, eat, it's delicious and I want you to get as much homemade food in as you can before going back home and living off of that diner food and take out." She said diner food like eating it was one of the seven deadly sins.

Rory was used to ignoring those snide comments about their life in Stars Hollow so she just smiled, "Thank you, I think I will. I can use it after everything today."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom wasn't even going to attend the graduation ceremony, thinking it wasn't that special or important, so I had to convince her. And ever since then, I've been setting everything up so everyone important to her can be there to celebrate with her."

"Oh? And who else is coming?"

"Well, me, of course. Plus Sookie and Jackson. She told me not to bother Luke but I'm sure he'd love to be there, and Jess." Rory realized a second too late she shouldn't have added that last name."

"Who's Jess? A girlfriend from her college?" Emily asked.

"Huh? No. She's a he, actually, and he's Luke's nephew…. And my boyfriend." She mumbled those last few words while taking a bite of her scone hoping her grandparents wouldn't hear. Plus, she knew it was unladylike to talk with your mouth full, so she was hoping that was enough to distract Emily.

"Wait, what was that about this Jess fellow? A woman's name, by the way. And Rory, you know better than to speak with your mouth full, you might have been raised away from us but I know you were around us enough to learn common manners."

She cleared her throat before sitting tall and straightening her back, deciding to be confident again, "I said he's my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Richard asked, sounding surprised, and maybe a little disappointed.

"What happened to that other boy, the tall one?"

"We broke up."

"Because of this 'Jess'?"

"No, I just didn't love him as much as I thought I did."

"Well then, we'll have to meet him, you'll bring him to dinner this week." Emily decided.

"Oh grandma, I don't know, you can just meet him at the graduation. If you go, I mean."

"No, you're correct, no matter what that day is about your mother, not a new boyfriend."

"Oh, well, I don't know if he's available, he works a lot."

"A good work ethic? That is good." Grandpa spoke up.

"Oh yes, and I think he might even read more than I do, Grandpa, I think you'd like him."

"Well then your grandmother is correct, we simply must meet him."

"I— I'll see if he's available."

"Make sure that he is," Emily demanded. "It'll be nice."

"Yeah, it'll be nice," Rory said, feeling forced into the situation. "right grandma?"

"Very nice, we'll have a lamb."

"So, it'll be nice for everybody? Everybody will be nice to everybody. Keyword being nice."

"Yes, very nice."

"Really, really nice?"

"Of course it'll be nice, that's what I just said."

"Good," She nodded decisively, "Nice will be nice."

"And a nice night it'll be." Emily agreed.

"Rory, why does it sound as if you don't think it'll be a nice night?" Richard finally spoke up, a little offended.

"No reason, Grandpa."

"Good, then I'll be looking forward to it."

Rory nodded a little weakly, taking another bite of her scone. She wasn't sure how Jess was going to react, and for his sake, she hoped he was already working so he didn't have to go to the Friday night dinner. Her visit ended pretty quickly then; she took a few big sips before excusing herself to catch her bus, her grandparents got up as she left to give her a hug and a kiss. She worried about what she had just gotten her boyfriend and herself into the whole ride home.

She stepped off the bus as the sun was starting its downward descent, and she took a second to appreciate the pretty view of her town. She jumped, being brought back to earth when an arm wrapped around her. Her slight fright turned into happiness when she saw it was Jess, she smiled and turned to hug him, "Hey, how was your day? How was school?"

Instead of answering the question, he leaned in and kissed her. The school was just as shitty as normal, although, to be fair, he had absolutely no idea what happened at school today, what was taught, what his homework was supposed to be, hell, he couldn't tell you about the newest piece of gossip going around the high school, and normally, it'd be impossible to ignore that, but he spent his whole day in the library because he forgot his current reading book on his nightstand so he obviously had to get a new one. When he found it, he decided to sit down and the next thing he knew, the closing bell went off and he was free.

"You look pretty today," he said with a quirk of his lips. She always looked pretty but something about her smile today captivated him.

She smiled brighter, "Thank you, but don't think I didn't realize your avoidance of my questions."

He laughed and started walking them towards Rory's house, he was going to walk Rory home and hope she didn't have a lot of homework so they could watch a movie or something, "You know me too well."

"Seriously, how was your day?"

"Fine."

"More than one syllable would be helpful."

"It was fine, boring, nothing special happened at all."

"Well, okay, that's good, right? No news is better than bad news, right?"

"I think I heard that somewhere."

"Wanna watch a movie and order way too much Chinese food tonight?" Rory asked. Lane came out of Doose's as they were walking by, Rory waved and Jess nodded at her but they were too deep in conversation to talk to her at the moment.

"Sure, it's my turn to pick the movie though."

"What movie do you want to get?" She asked but she had a bad feeling she already knew.

"Almost Famous."

She groaned, "No, not again!"

"I can't help it, I'm addicted!"

"Fine, but if I'm going to spend two hours sitting there watching Kate Hudson commit suicide again then we're getting Indian food, not Chinese."

"What, are you looking for an excuse to have to burn down your house?" now Jess was the one groaning.

"Hey, last night when we watched Ed Wood we got burgers like you wanted to."

"Okay fine, tonight we get Indian food but tomorrow Saturday Night Fever and Thai food."

"Aww, you guys are really cute you're like a really sweet old agoraphobic couple." Lane chimed in.

"Thank you very much," Jess said awkwardly, barely able to look Lane in the eyes.

"Isn't it cute how embarrassed he gets when someone sees his sweet side?" Rory asked with a little laugh.

"Adorable." Lane laughed.

"Whatever, I'm going to get the movie."

"At this point, you should just buy a copy!" Rory yelled at Jess as he crossed the street to get to the video rental place. When she turned to Lane her smile dropped completely.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lane asked, worried.

"I went to visit my grandparents today."

"Okay? I understand getting that reaction from your mom when she has to visit them but you usually have fun."

"I let it slip about my new boyfriend and now they're demanding I bring Jess to Friday night dinner."

"Oh… oh no. I guess you think the two won't get along?"

"I don't know, if I can keep Jess and Grandpa talking about books all night, it should be fine. But Grandma already doesn't like him just because of his relation to Luke. You should hear how she says the word diner—it's like she's conjuring up the Ringwraiths from some twisted Tolkien fever dream, a dark omen that ruins everything it touches."

"Ouch, that doesn't sound like a fun evening at all."

"No, no, I'm worrying too much. Mom will be there to help and take the pressure off if the night turns bad."

"Yeah, Lorelai will have your back. Hell, for all you know, they'll get along great and it'll become a weekly thing."

Rory looked at Lane dubiously but didn't have a chance to respond because Jess was back with the movie in his hand, "What will be a weekly thing?"

Rory's shoulders slumped, sure Jess wouldn't be excited about it. Lane decided it was best to leave before the conversation started, "Bye!"

Jess watched his friend walk away at a pace that was probably the closest she'd ever come to actual exercise. When he turned back to his girlfriend, his guard was already up—whatever this was, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. "What would be a weekly thing?"

"Oh, look at the time, we better order our food before the dinner rush starts or we'll be there all night," Rory said as she looked at her wrist, she cringed when she remembered she hadn't put her watch on that morning. Either way, she quickly started walking to the end of the street where the Indian restaurant was. She quickly walked in and started ordering and after a long sigh, Jess added a few things. They went to sit at the town center to wait for the order.

Jess opened his mouth to ask again but Rory wanted to push it off for a few more minutes so she spoke first as she quickly started digging through her backpack. "Oh, look at this, I've been wanting to show you."

Jess waited until she pulled out a book and handed it to him, the thrill of a new book was enough to distract him. He read the back of the book and then quickly skimmed through the first few chapters while she patiently waited. "Do you love it?"

"It's great." He said giving her a small smile.

"The Holy Barbarians' I mean, what a title. And it's by a Venice Beach beatnik, about Venice Beach beatniks, and to top it off, the beatnik who wrote it is the father of the guy who does those 'Actors Studio' interviews on TV."

"The guy with the beard?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, the pointy beard." Jess closed the book to look at the picture on the back cover, Rory pointed at it, "That's his dad writing at his desk."

"It's weird that such a weird beatnik-y guy would have such a conservative son like that."

"Maybe he's not so conservative, maybe at night he like, takes off his clothes and parties."

Jess scrunched his nose, "Oh man, get that picture out of my head."

Rory laughed, "It's a cool book, you gotta admit."

"It is. Thanks."

Rory quickly snatched the book back, "I-I'm not lending it! I'm not done yet."

"Then why'd you show it to me?"

"I like showing you what I'm reading."

"You knew I'd wanna read it. You're a tease, a book tease!"

"You'll get it when I'm done."

"Cruel woman."

Rory smiled but then cleared her throat, deciding to just get it over with as they started walking back to the restaurant, "So you're not tied to the hours you have at work, right?"

"There's some flexibility…" He answered, still unsure where this was going, he just knew he had a bad feeling about it."

"You got any flexibility for Friday night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought maybe you could come to dinner with us."

"Us?"

"To my grandparents."

"To meet your grandparents…" He trailed off, officially uncomfortable. He started walking again and Rory followed along.

"Yeah, I mean, they'll be there, so yeah. It might be rude not to introduce you to them." Rory was uncomfortable now too.

"I can't, I have work." He cringed, she was too smart and knew to ask him if he could get off before asking, so she trapped him.

"You just said you could get out of it!"

He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, "Didn't know what you wanted me to get off for."

"Jess…" She whined.

"Rory…" He copied.

"I already kind of agreed…"

"Oh, man," He sighed.

"So I'm kind of jammed here."

"Do they know what I look like?"

"I don't think so." She said, confused.

"Perfect, you can find someone who vaguely resembles me and take him, just don't kiss him goodnight."

"That's not gonna work."

"Andy Warhol did it all the time." Her smile fell but after a moment she came up with an idea and handed the book over to him, he took it, "Add five dollars and you've got yourself a deal."

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him instead, when she pulled back she said, "That's worth five, at least."

"You Gilmore's think a lot of yourselves…" He sighed then reluctantly agreed, "Okay."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said resting her hands on his cheeks and pulling him in for another kiss.

Jess smiled as he pulled away, Rory wasn't expecting that reaction so she asked, "What?"

"I'd have gone for free."

"Jess!" She yelled and tried to grab the book back.

"Nuh-uh-uh, I'll let you know how it ends." He said, snatching it out of her reach.

"Now who's the book tease?"

"Good, you need a taste of your own medicine. Now come on, the food should be ready," He said as he tucked the book into the safety of the inner pocket of his jacket.

They talked for the rest of the wait for their food and the ride to Rory's house. They were both surprised when they pulled into her driveway and could hear music blasting from inside the house. The shades were pulled up and they could see Lorelai dancing around the house with a big drink in her hand. Jess couldn't help but laugh, "Someone's having a good time."

"Apparently," Rory said as they got out of the car and started walking inside.

When Lorelai heard the door open she let out a loud Woo and danced her wait to the front door, "Rory, man, I'm feeling so good, sister and that's because it's over! No more finals, no more studying, no more school."

"Are you sure it's that and not the very large cocktail in your hand that's making you feel so good?" Jess chimed in like the little asshole he still sometimes was.

Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him but quickly continued, "… The pressure's off! Finally off! Do you know how much pressure I was under? Do you?! All last week I felt like a giant man and his brother were sitting on my chest."

"A giant man?" Rory asked.

"And his giant brother!"

"Did they have names?"

"Clem and— Clem," she huffed a laugh, "Same names. Which did not reflect well on the imagination of their mothers."

"Mother," Rory corrected realizing her mother must have been drinking for a while now.

"Mothers, there were two Clems."

" But one mother 'cause they were brothers."

"Yes, so they had mothers."

Rory shook her head and walked to the living room to put the food down, "Okay you're drawing me into your drunken world."

"Not a bad place to be, my friend." Lorelai laughed as she took another sip and the sound of her straw slurping nothing up made her realize her drink was empty. "Mhmm, the tank's empty."

She walked back into the kitchen, and Jess started unpacking the food, "I've never seen her drunk before."

"I've seen it a few times but not often."

"At least she's a funny drunk."

"What do you mean?"

"Like she has a good time, laughs a lot, makes the people around her laugh. I've seen people get mean when they drink."

He didn't have to say it, Rory knew instinctually that he was talking about his mother. So she decided a change in conversation was in order, there was a little red book sitting on the table, she picked it up and quickly looked through it as Jess put the DVD in. She yelled loud enough for her mom to hear, "Hey, what is this?"

"What?" Lorelai asked as Jess plopped down next to Rory with one arm slung over her shoulder as he looked at the book she was holding too.

"The 'Life Plan' book thing."

"A little gift for the grads from the happy people at Hartford Community College. Hey, how many margaritas is too many margaritas?"

"Uh, if you can't remember where the living room is," Rory suggested.

"Or if you wake up in the wrong house," Jess added.

"What?" Rory and Lorelai asked at the same time.

"Oh, it's happened. A really fun way to wake up is by cops knocking at the door returning your mom because she broke into the neighbor's house thinking it was hers."

"Huh… well I'm still good then!" Lorelai said as she poured herself another."

"Here's an interesting question for you," Rory said still looking at the book, "Have you given any thought to how many children will work into your future plans?"

"Oh well, they're not going to stand in my way, that's for sure. I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but, I'm just gonna knock them out and have a nanny catch 'em and care for 'em, and make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near 'em…"

"Smart," Jess agreed.

"… and just have the nanny return them to me when they're 21."

"Well, what about me?" Rory asked.

"You are my favorite eldest child, you get to stay by my side."

"I feel so privileged," the phone started ringing, "I'll get it."

"Well if it's Mick Jagger, hang up and blow that whistle I gave you."

Jess was comfortable enough in the house to go to the kitchen to grab plates and drinks. He grabbed Lorelai one, too. "Here. We got so much, you'll probably have leftovers for a week—even with how much you two eat," he said.

"Great, I'm starving. What'd you get?" Lorelai asked, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"Indian."

"Bleh!" She scrunched her nose like he'd just set down a plate of moldy bread. "Great, now I'm going to have to burn down the house."

"That's exactly what I said when Rory suggested it."

Lorelai sighed dramatically. "Ahh, Jess, we've talked about this. You're supposed to let Rory get her way in absolutely everything except when it comes to ordering Indian food. Although, I suppose I should be proud that she's persuasive enough to break even your stubborn streak."

"Hey, I didn't, like, lose myself to her feminine wiles—we compromised!"

"Oh yeah?" Lorelai narrowed her eyes, using exaggerated finger quotes. "And what exactly did you get out of this 'compromise'? And do me a favor—never talk to me about my daughter's feminine wiles again."

"Deal," he agreed immediately, regretting his choice of words as soon as they left his mouth. "And I got to pick the movie."

"Oh God, not Almost Famous again!" Lorelai groaned, flopping back against the couch. At the victorious smirk he sent her, she knew she was right. "Fine, that's my cue—I can't sit through another viewing. I'll be in the kitchen cold-calling all my high school classmates who made fun of me for getting pregnant, just to let them know how wrong they were. I did finish college. I did make something of myself. Who's laughing now, Susan Holloway?!"

Jess smirked, barely holding back a laugh. "Have fun."

She pointed at him as she walked off. "You kids behave."

A few seconds later, Rory walked back into the living room and smiled when Jess handed her a plate already piled with her favorite food.

"Thanks," she said before pausing, her brows furrowing. "Why was my mom digging through the kitchen cabinets, muttering something about 'showing them'?"

"You don't want to know."

She stared at him for a long second before sighing. "You're probably right. Now, let's get this over with."

Jess gave her a mock-offended look. "It's a good movie. Great, even."

"It was great the first time we watched it. Maybe even the second. But it lost its shine somewhere around rewatch number five."

"We did not watch it that many times."

"You're lucky I love you because if I didn't, I'd take that DVD, perform some type of ceremonial sacrifice on it so I'd never have to see it again, and then leave you with the rental bill."

Jess grinned as he leaned in for a kiss. "Vicious woman."

She smiled into the kiss but quickly pushed him away before she could get lost in the kiss like he had a habit of making happen. "Food first."

He groaned, "Seriously, you're trying to torture me, aren't you?"

She laughed as she took a bite of her food and then leaned forward and pressed play on the remote, "Jess, we've been dating the better part of the school year, if you don't know by now that food comes first, you're nowhere near as smart as I thought you were."

He let out a fake exaggerated groan but smiled a moment later as he wrapped his arm around her again, started eating his own plate, and turned his attention to the opening credits of the movie. He realized how relaxed he was just sitting there with her, how he hadn't felt this way in years, maybe ever. Never felt so comfortable, safe, like he no longer had to look over his shoulder, he might even be, dare he think it, happy. He realized that it was true, he was happy, and it was because of Rory and even Lorelai and Luke. He thought he'd hate everything about this town when he was forced to come here but it turned into the best thing to ever happen to him. He finally felt like he had a home.