A/N: Anyone who has come here looking for a plot, please turn around and exit the way you came in! This is a 3-part companion piece/spin-off for Stars Hollow Next Gen, showing Rory & Jess' weekend trip to Philly. It picks up directly after they leave Stars Hollow in Chapter 15 of Next Gen and runs until they are headed home, their return being in Chapter 19 of the same (date-wise, that's 22nd-24th January 2022). There will be appearances by the Truncheon guys plus Literati fluff and sexy times (of the PG-13 variety). That is all! Of course, if that's what you're looking for, feel free to read on! :)

(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and other folks that aren't me)

1. Saturday

It was almost noon when Jess and Rory arrived in Philly. They had spent most of the time singing along to various playlists of punk and rock classics, waxing lyrical on the past when they were teens and such. It was nice to get away. Not that they didn't love their lives in Stars Hollow, surrounded by family and friends, raising their teenage kids, but there wasn't all that much alone time to be had. Jess had the diner to run alongside Luke, Rory usually had a deadline to meet. When they weren't working they were with the kids, with their friends, or Jess was working on another novel. By the time they got in to bed, they were usually too tired to really do much but curl up together and sleep. They were lucky when they even got to read a book sometimes! A weekend away but most definitely a good thing, and though Jess had a real car nowadays rather than a junk heap, and both he and Rory were a couple of decades older than that first summer in New York, it was easy to feel young and carefree again the further down the freeway they drove.

"Hello, Philadelphia!" said Rory happily as they arrived into town. "It's been a while."

She had visited before, just tagged along on 'business' trips with Jess, and the kids had usually come along too. As far as she could recall, she and her husband had never once come here alone to stay for more than a flying visit. They never got nights away alone together, which might explain why the hotel they had just pulled up outside of looked so fancy.

"Jess, what did you do?"

"Booked a hotel," he replied, shrugging his shoulders, though the smirk playing at his lips proved he knew she was referring to how not cheap this particular establishment seemed. "C'mon, Ror, how often do we do this?"

"Pretty much never."

"So, I figured if we're going to get one weekend alone together, it should be in a decent place."

Even after all these years, whenever Jess tried to do something nice for Rory, he would look uncertain about the decision. She smiled widely and leaned over the gear shift to kiss his cheek.

"You did good, Mariano," she promised him. "Thank you."

Smiling just as brightly as she was, Jess moved to get out of the car and opened the passenger door for his wife. Getting their bags from the trunk, Jess reluctantly handed his keys off to a valet and the Marianos headed inside.

Rory got an even bigger surprise when they stepped up to the Reception desk and were advised their suite was ready for them. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she followed Jess into the elevator, not even reacting when he refused help with the bags or an escort to the room. His smirk grew wider.

"What? You don't stay in a fancy place like this and then get a regular room. Besides, I happen to think you deserve the best. I always did," he told her, not objecting at all when she encouraged him to drop the bags so she could get closer.

Rory was wrapped in Jess' arms, kissing him like it was going out of style, to the point where they didn't even notice the ping of the elevator or the doors opening. An older gentleman clearing his throat got their attention at last and they parted, Jess smiling, completely unabashed, whilst Rory went terribly red.

Grabbing the bags Jess hurried to keep up with his wife who was practically running away from staring eyes. It never failed to amaze him how she hadn't grown out of the easily embarrassed thing, but it never stopped being cute.

"Well, we're officially the world's biggest cliché," she said as she used the key card to open their door. "Making out in the elevator? They should use our picture in the illustrated dictionary!"

"Pretty sure the bigger cliché would be checking into a hotel as Mr and Mrs Smith, but hey, who am I to argue?" Jess muttered as they went inside.

Rory looked thrilled when she saw the suite. Jess was a little taken aback himself because he hadn't expected it to be quite so big or so fancy. They certainly had every luxury by the seem of things. Living room with couches and a huge TV, bedroom with a king size bed, another TV, and adjoining bathroom that Jess noted was probably bigger than his first solo apartment, complete with a tub for two.

"This is amazing!" Rory enthused. "I have to take pictures," she said then, rushing around with phone in hand, photographing just about everything from the mini bar to the view from the window.

Jess sat down on the end of the bed, dumping the bags down there too. It was a great room, and quite honestly, he would happily spend the whole weekend holed up in here with Rory. It wasn't that he objected to seeing Matt and Chris. On the contrary, he loved the idea of getting to catch up with his buddies. It was the event he had to attend tonight that bothered him.

Jess loved to write and he certainly didn't hate being a published author that got good reviews and plenty of readers. The problem was the actual mingling amongst people, mostly fake people who would want to hang off his every word just because he was known. Though he was better now than as a teen, Jess still wasn't much for people, especially large crowds of strangers.

"All done, Annie Leibovitz?" he said as Rory came and sat down on the bed beside him.

"Pretty sure if I take any more pictures my phone will be full," she told him, checking her memory card. "It's worth it. Mom will love to see this place, Tori and Sookie too, probably."

"What is it with women and fancy hotel rooms?" Jess wondered aloud.

"I don't know," admitted Rory, looking thoughtful. "It's just nice to feel special, I guess. Also, have you seen the size of this bed? You could fit a family of eight on this thing!"

"I was planning on it just being for the two of us," said Jess, his hand in her hair as he moved in closer. "Better than that apartment in New York twenty years ago, right?"

"It's fancier," said Rory. "I don't think anything could've been better than that Summer," she told him with a smile, moving in for a kiss.

They were a tangle a limbs on the bedclothes when Jess' cell started to ring loudly. He didn't seem bothered by the distraction but it soon started to annoy Rory and she reached to grab the phone from his back pocket.

"That's not what I hoped you were trying to do," said Jess as she slipped out from under him.

Rory smiled and answered the call. "Matthew! How are you? Yes, we have arrived."

"Well, we might've if-"

Rory covered Jess' mouth with her free hand to keep the dirty comment from escaping. She shook her head at him but was smiling all the same as she continued speaking to Matt about meeting up for lunch. Jess wasn't at all ready to eat yet and was much more interested in satisfying other appetites first. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

"We'll be there in a half hour," said Rory then. "I'll pass you over to Jess. I have to go change."

She giggled before actualy handing the cell to Jess, which let him know that Matt just told her she would look great no matter what she wore. He continued to be kind of a flirt but Jess never worried about it. He trusted Rory implicitly, and for the most part he would trust Matt too, after all this time.

Walking by her husband, Rory dropped a kiss on his lips, then grabbed her tote and went into the bathroom. Jess sighed and concentrated on the voice in his ear.

"If you knew you were probably interrupting, why'd you call?" he asked Matt, not quite joking but not quite angry either. "You're an asshole, Matthew," he told his friend just as soon as he gave a smart-alec answer, and yet it was impossible not to laugh too.

Lunch turned into a whole afternoon event. The moment they got to Truncheon, Jess and Rory got the warmest of welcomes, all hand shakes and hugs, as always. They got a tour of the place, which had expanded some since the last time they came visiting, and then over a lunch ordered in from a local deli, they got to talking about just about everything.

Matt and Chris had much to tell about the publishing house, new acquisitions, funny stories about tortured artists and over-dramatic authors.

Rory gave them all the news from Stars Hollow, not bothering Jess by taking over the conversation. Even with the guys he wasn't much for chit-chat. He was happy to sit back and let them all talk, just offering a comment or opinion wherever it was really necessary.

"Let's see, what news have I missed?" Rory asked him suddenly.

"Er, April's getting married," said Jess, thinking about it. "You guys remember my cousin, right?"

"Little April is getting married?" said Chris with wide eyes. "Isn't she fourteen?"

"Time has moved on, Chris!" Rory laughed at his expression. "April is twenty nine this year. It's Tori who is fourteen now."

"Wow, little Victoria Lorelai is fourteen?" asked Matthew, completely bowled over when Jess pulled out his phone and showed his friends the wallpaper, a perfect family portrait of Rory, Jack and Tori. "Damn. What happened to the four year old who was gonna marry me when she grew up?"

"Seriously?" said Jess incredulously. "Man, I remember that first meeting. You asked, and my daughter, with all her taste and wisdom, said no way."

Chris cracked up at the memory and perhaps more so at Matt's defeated expression. It was a little unfair perhaps. After all, Matthew really did have the worst luck with woman. Once again, he was single, whilst all those around him were married, engaged, or at the very least in a serious relationship.

"How about you, Chris? Any closer to getting the lovely Chelsea down the aisle?" asked Rory as she sipped her soda.

"Not yet," he said, shaking his head sadly. "I mean, I've asked. I've asked a lot. She just keep saying she wants to be sure. It's been seven years, how is she still not sure?"

"Don't ask me, man," Jess advised. "I knew Rory was the only woman for me within thirty seconds of meeting her."

His buddies made a collective 'aaaw' alongside Rory who was the only one not being sarcastic. Chris and Matt got a dirty look and balled up napkins tossed their way courtesy of Jess, but honestly, he didn't care. What he said was true, and he wasn't ashamed of it. Rory knew he spoke the truth, and blushed a pretty pink just hearing it again.

"Maybe you'll meet a nice girl at the event tonight?" she told Matthew then. "I mean, there will be a lot of people, right?"

"Everybody who's somebody in the publishing world," said Chris, nodding his head. "Well, only the ones that care enough to show up, but it should be quite the party."

"It was going to be here originally, just like the open houses of the old days," Matt explained. "But the whole thing got so big and complicated, we actually ended up renting a frickin' hotel ballroom..."

Rory and Jess got back to their hotel around six, leaving just an hour or so to get ready before they really ought to make their appearance at the Truncheon Anniversary Gala. Of course luck wasn't on their side enough to be staying in the same hotel as the event, that would've been too perfect.

"Now, I brought three dresses, because honestly I could not choose between them. Mom said it was probably best to bring them all and maybe let you pick. I mean, I'm your date after all, and it's you the people want to meet..."

Rory's voice trailed away as she headed into the bedroom. Jess stayed by the door, leaning back against the wood with his eyes closed a moment. Catching up with Chris and Matthew was great. He had felt relaxed with sandwiches and a beer, just talking about whatever. Now they were fast closing in on this stupid event that required him to put on a suit and be polite to strangers. It was not Jess' idea of fun and if he could get out of it he would.

"Jess?" Rory called, coming back into the living room and seeing him standing by the door. "Hey, you okay? You're not sick, are you?"

"Not sick," he promised, not wanting to worry her. "Just... you know me and parties," he reminded her with a look.

"But you wanted to come here."

"Yeah, I wanted a weekend away with my wife. I wanted to catch up with Matthew and Chris. The whole gala thing..." he trailed off, making a face.

"Aaaw, poor baby," Rory teased him, walking over and putting her arms up around his neck. "It's tough being popular, huh?"

Jess smirked at her fake sympathy and over-the-top pout on his behalf.

"I like being popular with you," he told her, hands at her waist pulling her body flush against his own. "Y'know we could stay here, have a party of our own, just the two of us?"

Rory was tempted. She would be lying if she said she wasn't, especially when Jess started attacking her neck with kisses, his hands roaming over her body. After all these years, he knew exactly how to distract her, how to turn her on. Actually, he had been a fast learner even back in the beginning when they were seventeen. Unfortunately, she was a responsible adult now, and they really should be getting ready for this event.

"You always were a bad influence," she said breathlessly, making herself pull out of his arms before it was too late. "Not now," she told him definitely. "C'mon, Jess. It's just for a few hours. We get dressed, we go to the party, hang around just for a little bit, and then when we get back here..."

The look in her eyes was full of promise and Jess couldn't refuse her. He knew they really should put in an appearance at the party, and when she grabbed his hand to take him to the bedroom and show him the choices for her dress he knew it would be worth it. She was going to look beautiful and incredibly sexy in any of the three options, plus he had to put on a suit and for reasons he didn't fully understand himself, Rory did seem to find Jess doubly attractive when he was dressed up. Maybe it would be worth suffering the gala to get to what came after.

To Be Continued...