A/N: Thanks for those latest reviews - seems everyone loves the fic but can't stand Logan! lol Well, that's fair, I guess. Now, let's see if Jess can't improve this situation at all...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 12

He hadn't been sure that he should follow through on his plans to head home. Jess realised too late how those words had come together in his mind, how he so easily referred to Stars Hollow as home all of a sudden. Years ago, when he was still a teenager, it wouldn't have been so weird, since he was living there and all. Now, it was just stupid and he knew it, and yet.

Either way, after the strange and abruptly-ended call from Rory, he had reconsidered his plans. Now hardly seemed like the right time to go talking to his ex about maybe getting back together, three decades after their first try. Not when her son's father just came back into her life. Not when said son had been suffering with some pretty awkward daddy issues. Basically, the timing for a love confession would really suck, Jess knew. It was why he decided not to drive over to the Hollow that night.

Of course, after hours of barely sleeping, of lying there staring at the ceiling, thinking too hard about himself and Jimmy, as well as Noah and Logan, he ended up setting out early the next morning instead. Maybe it wasn't smart to be driving purely by the power of caffeine and cigarettes, but it wasn't as if he never did it before. Besides, he had a good reason. He could think of none better than Rory and her son.

When he got into town, he had planned to go straight over to their house. Then he realised it was barely nine o'clock on a Saturday and started to backtrack in his plans. Tossing a coin in his head, he picked the old Crap Shack over the diner and went that way instead. Luke would at least be happy to see him, even if Lorelai wasn't so much, and he ought to be home rather than at the diner. Probably. Maybe. The semi-retirement had a habit of not sticking so well.

"Hey, Uncle Luke." Jess smiled in through the open front door.

"Wow. You took 'don't stay away too long this time' very seriously. Welcome back, nephew," he said, pulling Jess right into a brief, manly hug.

"I'd say it's good to be here but, well, I guess you know who showed up at Rory's door yesterday?"

As they pulled apart and Jess saw the look on Luke's face, he knew for sure that he knew exactly.

"Don't even talk to me about that..." he practically growled, apparently not even daring to add any descriptors, for fear of what they might be.

"Right there with you," Jess agreed without pause.

"Oh, okay," said Lorelai, appearing from the kitchen then. "Didn't know we called for the cavalry."

"The cavalry?" Jess echoed, a little confused by the reference.

"Back-up, reinforcements, second wave," Lorelai rattled off like a thesaurus, as if that was the response he had been looking for. "For the Huntzberger butt-kicking festivities, right?" she said then, completely dead-pan as her eyes shifted to Luke.

"That's not something we kid about, Lorelai."

"Who's kidding?" she scoffed, gesturing for the guys to follow her as she headed for the couch. "Seriously, give me five minutes alone in a room with that asshat, and I swear I wouldn't need any help at all, but trust me when I tell you, he sure wouldn't be making any more kids to let down, that's for damn sure."

Jess wasn't surprised to realise that Luke was as quick to cross his legs at the sound of that remark as he was himself. Not that he blamed Lorelai for her attitude at all. The way Logan had treated Rory was bad enough, but abandoning Noah, for no reason that anybody could figure out, that made him a whole other level of douche-bag.

"You were making coffee, right?" Luke asked Lorelai then.

"I put on the machine. Of course, if I'd known we were having company, I would've thrown on the tea kettle too."

"I'll go," Luke offered, getting up to do just that.

"Bring cookies also, please?" she called after him, before her gaze returned to Jess. "Don't get any ideas. He's been trying to limit my intake of fat and sugar for a while, because he loves me, of course, but one of the loopholes of cookies is company. You're company."

"Huh." Jess nodded, unsure what else he was supposed to do or say.

Though things thawed a lot between him and Lorelai at one time, it had been a good long while since they had been around each other much. Besides, with Jess seriously contemplating his romantic feelings for Rory again, it only served to remind him how totally against the relationship Lorelai had been back in the day. It was why he was so surprised when she suddenly spoke up again.

"So, you came here to tell Rory how you feel about her," she said, a statement, not a question, with a smile that almost scared Jess more than any anger he might have expected. "That's some serious love you have for my daughter if the flame is still burning after all this time."

"Apparently," he agreed, shifting awkwardly under her intense gaze. "Not that I... I mean, that was why I was coming here, yesterday. Then after she called and told me about Huntzberger showing up..."

"Serious case of potential bad timing." Lorelai nodded in understanding. "But you came over anyway."

"For Noah," Jess told her, almost amused by the shock that registered on her face. "And for Rory, obviously, but also for Noah. I've stood in his shoes, more or less."

Lorelai nodded once more. "You know, for what it's worth, it didn't take Luke spilling the tea to tell me that you still loved Rory. I mean, I didn't know for sure, but I always wondered. Let's just say it was no great surprise to find out you still had the big feelings."

"And you're not warning me off?"

"Nope, not this time," she said, shaking her head definitely. "Who knows? Maybe this is your time. The era of Jess and Rory," she suggested, with a flourish of her hands.

"Jess and Rory and Noah," he said definitely.

It hadn't been some deliberate move to get her on side, only the truth and the way he saw it. Still, it did put a very big and genuine-looking smile on Lorelai's face. Jess did wonder if maybe he had it wrong, if the grin was only for the coffee and cookies that Luke suddenly appeared with. He got his answer when Lorelai continued to smile as she offered him first pick from the plate, meeting his eyes rather than staring at the chocolate chip treats on hand.

"Thanks," Jess told her, for far more than the cookie.

"You're welcome... nephew-in-law."

Jess smirked and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At least some things never changed.

It was getting close to lunch-time. Rory considered going up to ask Noah if he was hungry, but she knew if she led with that question, he would just say no. Truthfully, for once in her life, she was having trouble finding her appetite too. Ever since Logan's visit, she had been trying to figure out where they went from here. How she was supposed to make it all okay with Noah. How she was supposed to live in a world where Logan ran around like nothing was wrong and she wasn't legally allowed to punch him until he couldn't stand up anymore.

Rory really wasn't the violent type, but as upset as Noah had been last night, Logan ought to be thanking his lucky stars that he left when he did. If she had the chance, she was pretty sure she would have slapped his face, at the very least, for the way he treated their son. She was still resisting the urge to find out where he was was, drive over there, and tear him a new one, verbally if not literally. It was so very tempting, and she knew she wasn't alone in feeling that way either. Her mom and Luke both said she was justified. If only they still lived in the torches and pitchforks part of history...

A knock at the front door startled her from her increasingly-violent fantasy and Rory shook her head. She had to be a better person than that, a bigger person, a more well-adjusted adult and parent. Unless it was Logan who was at the door. Rory was absolutely positive that if it was him coming around again, with anything less than a grovelling apology, she was going to drop him, right there on the porch. It was such a beautiful relief to open the door and see who was actually calling.

"Jess!"

She hardly realised how loud she must have said his name, until he seemed to jump a little at the sound. Not that it mattered. Rory threw herself forward then, right into his arms, hugging him like her life depended on it. Perhaps it wasn't quite that serious, but she did feel a little better when he hugged her back.

"Hey," he said, his hand moving up and down her back. "And here was me wondering if I'd be welcome today."

"You're welcome any day. Every day," she clarified, pulling back to look at him, her face dangerously close to his own and their arms still around each other.

The moment broke very fast when he spoke.

"So, what happened with the blond dick?"

Rory sighed a painfully heavy sigh. "Come in and I'll tell you."

They headed straight for the kitchen, Rory putting on the coffee machine and the tea kettle without even asking if Jess was thirsty. Mostly, she needed something to distract her and also to make a little noise, just to be on the safe side. As much as she was sure Noah wouldn't mind her telling Jess what happened yesterday, it was probably better he didn't hear every word spoken.

"So, when Noah could finally get himself together and tell me what happened, he said that Logan had apologised for not being around enough, which seemed like a reasonable start, but trust me, it went downhill fast from there. Apparently, Noah has siblings."

"Siblings?" Jess echoed, his eyes a little wider than usual when Rory turned to look at him.

"Three of them. Two have the same mother. That would be the first wife."

"So, there was a second."

"Yes, but she actually didn't get the gift of a Huntzberger offspring. The last one comes from wife number three," she explained, showing three fingers, just to hammer the point home. "Not that she and Logan are together anymore, because it didn't work out."

"Wow. That guy has been busy."

"Oh, but we didn't get to the best part yet," Rory said, aware that her sarcasm was in full flow as she put a mug of tea down in front of Jess and picked up her own over-sized coffee cup in both hands. "Apparently, the reason Logan has so many failed marriages, the reason he doesn't come see his son, guess whose fault all of that is."

"No way!" Jess gasped. "He blamed you? He seriously blamed you?!"

"Trust me, I have had the full range of emotions about that one in the last twenty-four hours," Rory assured him, "but honestly, in the end, I don't care. I mean, I do care but, but if it stops Noah feeling like it's his fault..."

Jess looked ready to argue, ready for a fight, though Rory had no fear that it was her he was looking to get into it with, neither physically nor verbally. Much like her, and Lorelai and Luke besides, he would just love the chance to go a few rounds with Logan. Rory wasn't sure she could love Jess any more than she already did, but his wanting to beat her ex into the ground for the sake of both her and her son might just do it. Not that she could possibly condone that kind of behaviour. Not out loud anyway.

"Rory..." he began to say, just as the kitchen door opened.

Both she and Jess turned as one to look.

"Hey," she greeted her son. "Look who's back," she said of Jess then.

"Hey, Jess." Noah smiled as best he could, but it didn't really come off. His gaze then shifted back to his mom. "Uh, I was thinking, since you're most likely gonna start bugging me to eat again soon, do we have any of that pasta with the crazy sauce?"

"Oh, no, but I can get some," said Rory fast, leaping up from the stool and making a grab at her purse. "You two are cool, right?"

"We're cool," Noah promised, not even trying to complain when she kissed his cheek and rushed out to the store.

"So, probably a dumb question, but how are you holding up?" Jess asked Noah, the moment he heard the front door close behind Rory.

The kid shifted awkwardly in place for a second or two, then sat down heavily on the next stool over at the kitchen counter.

"I honestly don't even know."

He looked tired. Also, not unlike Rory when she was puzzling over one of her pro-con lists. It was strangely comforting for Jess to notice, though he wasn't entirely sure why. For the longest time, when they were young, he had struggled with trying to help Rory through any problems she was facing. Distracting her, that he had been good at, but very little else. It had taken years to know how to talk to people about anything that mattered. Thank God he had learned a few things in the past three decades.

"If you need to talk at all, I'll be around for a few days," he said eventually. "I mean, you don't have to, but if you want to."

Noah nodded, but didn't actually say anything. His eyes moved along the counter, as if maybe the answer to life, the universe, and everything might lie in the formation of the mugs, the stains on the worn countertop, the pattern in the surface.

"I don't blame Mom," he said eventually, eyes shifting very suddenly to look at Jess. "I'm guessing she told you that's what he said. That it was her fault he hadn't been around. Her and all the other little Huntzbergers, anyway."

"She told me." Jess nodded.

"Well, I don't blame her."

"That's good," Jess assured him. "Your mom has always put you first, which is exactly how it should be. You're lucky that way. At least one of your parents did that."

Noah nodded one more time, seeming as if he might just fall into painful silence all over again, only he didn't quite. When he spoke again, he took Jess so much by surprise, he always did a spit-take with his tea.

"So, did you come to see my mom or me?"

Jess sighed, replacing his mug on the counter. "Honest answer? Both."

Noah stared hard at him for a second or two. "I believe you," he said eventually, then proceeded to get up off his stool and head for the door.

He turned back at the last moment and looked at Jess again. "You know, if you ask her out, I won't make a big deal."

Jess bit back a smirk. The kid really was as smart as everybody said and then some.

"I'm honestly not sure if I should now. You know, in the circumstances."

Noah shook his head this time. "There's a slim chance my father could be in my life from here on out, but trust me, he's not going to be in hers. She doesn't want him, even if he wanted her. One thing I do know is that Mom deserves to be happy. If you want to help her out with that..."

"I would love to do that," Jess confirmed without pause. "I'm just not sure if she's going to want to let me try."

The front door clanged shut, signalling Rory's speedy return, and Noah smiled.

"Why don't you ask her and find out?"

To Be Continued...