A/N: Wow, and here I was wondering if anybody was even reading GG fic on this site anymore, and also, if anybody would want to read my strange new story anyway! lol Thanks so much to all those who left reviews. Now, onward! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2

"You publish books, right?"

"The company I work for and own a share in does." Jess nodded, ushering Noah into the apartment.

Honestly, it was nice to hear the kid speak. Not that Jess had ever been much for small talk, but his few meagre attempts on the walk and subway ride over had fallen on stony ground. Apparently, Noah had words enough, when he had a mind to use them.

"Not a bad place," he said as his eyes moved around the living are of the apartment. "I guess I figured it'd be a little bigger."

"Truncheon isn't exactly Penguin Random House or Simon & Schuster, but we do okay. Trust me, this is not a small New York apartment. There wouldn't be room for the two of us to stand up if it were," he explained, gesturing for Noah to dump his bag on the couch and even sit there, if he wanted to. "Bathroom's that way, if you need it," he pointed. "The other door is the bedroom, and this, obviously, is the kitchen," he said of the area in the corner with a few units and appliances. "That's it, that's the grand tour."

Noah's eyes moved around the room, taking in all the details, Jess suspected. He wasn't sure he could say much else about the place, and now that he had the kid there, Jess had no idea what to do with him. Offering food or drink seemed sensible, given he was a Gilmore, but they had just come from an eatery, so maybe not. He was about to ask if he wanted to watch TV or something, when suddenly, he watched Noah dig into his bag and pull a book straight out. He was settled into the couch cushions, reading contentedly within seconds.

Jess closed his eyes and pushed away the thoughts that immediately came to mind. The fact that Noah looked a lot like Rory. The fact that, on some weird level, he reminded him of himself, even though it was impossible for Noah to have any trace of Jess in him. Mostly he was just glad he saw nothing of Huntzberger when he looked at him. He definitely had more of the Gilmore colouring. Rory had to be glad about that, he was sure.

Leaning back against the refrigerator, he tried to think of how to proceed from here. His cell was heavy in his pocket, even heavier in his hand as he pulled it out to check the screen. It hadn't made a sound or vibrated at all, so he didn't really expect any messages.

At this point, Jess wasn't sure if he was hoping to find some kind of response or not. He hadn't heard from Rory in God knows how long. Not that he blamed her. It was him that had stopped keeping in contact first. He had his reasons. The main one was sitting on his couch.

Heaving a sigh, Jess put his phone back in his pocket, and turned around to put on the tea kettle. Despite the usual Gilmore poison being coffee, he couldn't imagine Rory letting her kid gulp down caffeine like that. Of course, he could be wrong.

"Uh, you want a soda?" he called out.

"Sure, thanks," Noah replied, never once moving his eyes from the page he was reading.

At least that, and the tea he was making for himself, gave Jess something to do for a few brief moments. It wasn't much, but right now, he would take what he could get. He got a mumbled 'thanks' from Noah when he put the can down on the coffee table in front of him, but nothing more. Jess muttered 'You're welcome' and dropped into the nearby chair, holding his mug of tea between his hands. He tried not to stare at the teenager, but it didn't come easy.

"Whatever you wanna ask, just say it." Noah glanced at him then. "The staring is still creepy."

Jess smirked a little, sipped at his tea, then put the mug down on the table, staying leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

"You have any actual memories of me?" he asked curiously, not even sure why it mattered, but he supposed it was better than not talking at all.

"I don't know, kind of, I think." Noah squirmed a little, holding his book down in his lap and looking more at the can of soda than at Jess. "It's hard to know what I remember and what somebody told me. Like I said, they talk about you, sometimes. Grandpa Luke, mostly. I think he misses you."

Jess opened his mouth to give some response to that, but no words seemed like the right ones. He missed Luke too. He probably should have made more of an effort to go see him, even to call a little more often, but it was tough. Much tougher than he had ever expected in the beginning, when he first heard that Rory was pregnant.

"Uh, yeah, I haven't been around too much for a while," he admitted, one hand coming up to scratch the back of his head as he tried so hard not to squirm and was sure he failed. "You know, my dad lives in California, so I spend time over there with him and his family, and then, I was in Europe for a while, for a work thing... You're probably not all that interested," he realised aloud, shaking his head.

"Hey, at least when Grandpa Luke complains that you never come home anymore, I can tell him why. Doesn't seem like you've been keeping him in the loop."

Jess ought to have had a comeback for that. Maybe he would have, if the phone buzzing in his pocket hadn't taken his attention.

"Talk of the devil," he muttered, accepting the call without pause and standing up to move away from Noah at the same time. "Luke."

"Hey, nephew. It's been a while."

"Yeah, I guess it has." Jess bit his lip, hating that it was true, hating more that Noah had been the one to make it patently clear, long before his uncle could. "So, April called you?"

"No, April called Rory, but her cell went to voicemail. She figured any message she left was just going to lead to panic, so then she called me. You have the kid with you?"

"Right here on my couch." Jess nodded, in spite of the fact Luke couldn't actually see him, turning around as if to check that Noah really was still there where he left him.

Luke audibly sighed, then either muttered to himself or more likely talked quietly to somebody standing close by, which would be Lorelai, Jess suspected.

"He doing okay?"

"He's fine. Got a lot of his mother in him."

"That I know," said Luke, with a knowing smile that Jess could just hear. "Look, I'd love to say I'll just drive over there and pick him up, but it's not really my decision. We're going to have to tell Rory what happened, and then, it's going to be her choice what happens next. I just wanted to check in, let you know the situation, make sure everything was okay."

"Everything is okay," Jess confirmed, clearing his throat right after. "Ah, you wanna talk to him?"

"Yeah, sure, that'd probably be good."

Turning around, Jess caught Noah eavesdropping, though he did his best to put his eyes back on his book, making a show of being nonchalant when his attention was called for.

"Hey, it's your grandpa," said Jess, gesturing to the phone before tossing it in Noah's general direction.

He caught the cell easily, letting out a huge huff of a sigh, like everybody was just such a pain. Still, he put the phone to his ear and talked to Luke without any real complaint.

Realising he didn't want to be an eavesdropper too, Jess grabbed up his mug and went back towards the kitchen to finish drinking there. He stayed at the sink and made a bigger job than was really necessary of cleaning up after himself, trying not to listen. Clearly, Noah didn't think he was doing a good enough job, as Jess noticed he got up and headed further across the room, even going so far as to go stand in the bathroom.

Jess sighed and shook his head, leaning back against the counter, trying to think what to do for the best. In the relative silence, he thought he heard a sound. Buzzing maybe. Like another cell phone on vibrate? It couldn't be his own, since Noah was talking on that. Moving back towards the couch, he noticed the kid's bag lying there, a light visibly flashing in the front pocket.

"So much for a dead battery," Jess said to himself, checking that Noah hadn't come back out from the bathroom yet, and pulling the cell from his bag.

He figured since they were in his apartment, and the kid was a minor, and the screen said 'Mom Calling', he had a right to intervene. He probably had a duty to, actually. Jess hesitated just for a beat, then he answered.

"Noah Richard Lucas Gilmore, what on earth do you think you're doing?!"

Jess winced at the full-on mom-voice yelling in his ear, loud enough that it even got Noah's attention from the next room, or perhaps that was pure coincidence.

"Hey, Rory. This is Jess."

There was a horribly awkward silence, that felt like so much longer than the few seconds it must have been, then a loud exhale from her.

"Jess. Oh my God, I am so sorry. For the yelling, but also for all of this. For Noah. I mean, seriously, what is he doing?!"

"Right now? Looking pretty uncomfortable about this whole thing."

He watched and listened as Noah muttered to Luke about Rory being on the other phone and that he had to go, barely hearing Rory herself as she apologised some more for the whole situation.

"I really appreciate you stepping up and trying to help like this," she told him, even as Noah put his hand out to take his own phone. "I mean, it's not like you owe me any favours. It's been a long time and-"

"It's no problem," he told her fast, wincing when he realised how he cut her off, but deciding it was better than letting her go on. "Uh, so, here's your son."

He handed off the cell then, taking himself off to the bathroom this time, so he wouldn't hear what was said. That was for his benefit as well as for Noah's sake.

Alone in the smallest room with the door closed against everyone and everything else, Jess leaned heavily on the basin and tried to remember to breathe. This whole situation was insane, or maybe it was just him, maybe he was certifiable. It wasn't the first time he wondered if he was a few screws lose. Given his DNA, not to mention some of the substances Liz had no doubt been messing around with when she was carrying him, Jess wouldn't be all that surprised if he had serious problems with his brain. It would certainly explain a few things.

Glancing up into the mirror, he tried not to shy away from his own reflection. It had taken a long time for him to be able to look himself in the eye and feel good about himself, but he could do it now, most of the time. The idea of Rory and Stars Hollow and all the crap from his teen years and after, it made him waver, made him think too much.

A loud rapping sound startled Jess. He moved quickly to open the door and there was Noah, holding out his cell, though he seemed as if he wished he didn't have to.

"My mom wants to talk to you again."

Taking a deep breath that he hoped the kid didn't notice, Jess took a hold of the cell and put it to his ear as he followed Noah out the door. "Hey."

"Hey, again. Also, sorry, again. This whole situation is just so... I don't even know where to start! Um, I guess I should come collect Noah, since I absolutely do not trust him to make his way home alone. It's just that my car is in the shop until at least Monday, and I could probably ask Mom or Luke, but..."

"What if I brought him home?"

The words were out of his mouth before he had time to check them, and Jess probably would have literally face-palmed if he wasn't very much aware of Noah watching him, complete with incredulous look on his face.

"Oh, you would...? Uh, are you sure? I really don't want to put you out any more than we already have."

"It's fine. Come on, Rory, you know it's fine."

He wasn't sure how he expected her to know it was fine. After all this time, how could she really know anything about his situation or capabilities or anything anymore? Honestly, Jess wasn't feeling all that fine about the offer he had made anyway, but there it was. He made it and he would follow through on it, no matter what Rory or Noah or anybody else thought. One word from her and it was a done deal.

"Okay, then I guess it's fine," she said at last. "If you wanna get my number from Noah, at least then you can text me if there are any issues."

"Sure, no problem."

Text, not call, Jess noticed, but he didn't say anything about it. After all, it probably would be easier to keep communication to text only from now, especially if that was what she wanted.

God only knew how awkward it would be when they came face to face again, after all this time, when he dropped the kid off in Stars Hollow. It was all Jess could do to focus on the here and now, to keep himself from spiralling in a decidedly downward direction on the 'what happens next' stuff.

"You wanna put me back on with Noah one more time?"

"Okay." It was all he could manage to say, not even a goodbye or see you soon or anything, as he handed the cell back to the waiting teenager.

Jess didn't hear what was said after that. He wasn't trying to listen, he honestly didn't have the capacity for it. In the next twenty-four hours, maybe less, he was going to see Rory Gilmore again. The idea hit him anew, with the impact of a freight train, so real and violent that the concept almost knocked him completely off his feet. He wasn't ready, he was pretty sure he was never going to be, but he was going to have to be, and that was all there was to it.

To Be Continued...