A/N; I'm back! This idea is actually something I've had in my head for a while now. I always wondered why the show brushed past that Jess and Dean looked like they could have been badly hurt during that fight on 3x19. It then led to the idea of what if Rory checked to make sure he was okay? Then this happened. I hope you like it.

I did a poll on Twitter to try to figure out my next story I should write. This one won above the three other options and maybe depending on the reactions and reviews, it could be longer. So far it's just this but that could change. You never know ;)

Rory wrapped her jacket tightly around her. The air outside was nice, it wasn't cold at all. It was the nerves and anxiety of tonight crashing on her once she left Lane for the night. She made her way towards her destination and as the diner came into view, she panicked.

The whole night had been a mess. Both she and Jess had been looking forward to that party all week. When she had gone to meet him, something had changed. Jess was surly and detached. He seemed distant and she didn't push. Now she realized she should have.

The diner was dark. All of the lights downstairs were off and the chairs were on top of the tables. Rory took a step back and tried to see if any lights were on in the apartment.

When she finally saw a glimmer of light, Rory grabbed rocks from beside the sidewalk and threw them at the window. Within seconds, the familiar face if her boyfriend appeared as he checked to see who was the cause of the noise.

For a short moment, Jess' face softened. He wasn't angry or frustrated, he was the Jess she loved being around. But just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.

Rory frowned, thoughts racing. Before she could process any of the thoughts, Jess was at the door. He unlocked the diner for her and she walked to it, locking the door again once she was inside.

"Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi," Jess said back, a drop of acid in his tone.

Rory almost stumbled back. She didn't expect him to still be angry at her. She sniffed, fighting back the obvious tears. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy," he said, the acid seeped through more soundly now.

"Jess," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What are you doing here, Rory?" He asked, his voice less angry.

"I wanted to see if you were okay," she replied.

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "You can go check on your knight in shining armor now."

Rory bit her lip to stop herself from crying. "I'm here about you. Not Dean."

"Why?" He asked.

It wasn't a snappy response or an accusation. He genuinely wanted to know why she'd make sure he was okay. Rory felt her stomach sink as she realized this was her doing.

"Because you're my boyfriend," she answered. "I care about you."

Jess' face said nothing. He kept a stony face and didn't let his feelings show. "Rory, just go home."

"Not until I know you're all right," she pressed. "Jess, I didn't mean to go to Dean. He was there on the stairway. It's not like I ran to him."

"But you didn't run away either," he pointed out.

"No," she whispered but then spoke up. "What happened in that bedroom, Jess? One second you're fine, the next -"

"If you'd been paying attention tonight, you'd have seen I hadn't been fine at all," he commented.

Rory searched her memories of the night, every second of them. She knew he was right. "Then talk to me."

His expression showed through this time. Jess was torn between letting her in and telling her to leave again. He looked down to the floor and back up again. Rory's eyes were wet and her lower lip had started to bleed from holding it between her teeth so long. He hated that he did that to her.

"Okay," he agreed.

Rory nodded. "Okay."

Jess led her upstairs to the diner apartment. Once inside, he stood awkwardly in the kitchen, reminiscent of the early days of their relationship. Rory watched him carefully until he was ready to speak. When he stayed quiet, she took a step towards him.

"This won't work if you don't talk, you know," she tried to tease.

A small smirk sneaked onto his face but it faded quickly. "You're not gonna like it."

"It can't be worse than what I'm thinking," she said honestly.

Jess nodded. He knew he deserved her thinking the worst. When he moved to sit down, he winced and hoped Rory didn't notice.

Apparently hope was too much. She was at his side instantly. Her face was covered in worry as she looked over him to see what hurt. It was then she saw the bruises forming on his face. "Oh my God."

"You should see the other guy," he joked.

"Jess," she shook her head. "How bad?"

He knew she didn't just mean his face. Instead of answering, Jess stood up again and lifted his shirt. Purple spots appeared over his abdomen, some looked worse than others. Rory found herself being brave without making any decision to be. She reached out and touched around the purple spots. Jess winced.

"Jess," she breathed.

"I'm okay," he said, more strained now.

"This doesn't look okay," she told him.

"It's fine," he replied.

Rory walked around him and lifted up the back of his shirt as well. A small gasp escaped her lips and he knew that his back must be worse. Images of Dean throwing Jess around the room - into walls, smashed tables and even Dave came to her mind.

"This looks bad," she said out loud, not having meant to.

"Rory, don't worry about it," he pulled his shirt down so she couldn't look at the bruises anymore.

She walked back around until she stood in front of him again. "You have to get help."

"No," he said firmly.

"Jess," she said again. "You have to. You're hurt!"

"And what exactly is going to happen?" He questioned. "Dean gets a pat on the back for beating up the bad boy?"

"No but maybe you won't have to wince when you sit down!" She yelled.

"I'm fine, Rory," he said quieter this time. "Don't worry about me, all right? I've handled worse."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She asked.

"A little," he said.

Rory huffed. "How are you joking? Your back is all bruised up, Jess! Your face looks like the early aftermath of a bar brawl which is not that far off. You're in pain. How can you be cracking jokes right now?"

"Because if I didn't, I'd have to face what's really going on," he said seriously and walked towards his side of the apartment.

"And what's going on?" She wondered.

"Nothing," he lied.

"You just said -"

"I know what I said," he admitted. "But it's nothing. Forget I said it."

"Does it have anything to do with why you've been moody all night?" She asked.

Jess sighed. "Yes."

"Tell me."

"Rory -"

"No," she said strongly. "Tell me what's going on. Tell me what would make you - "

Rory stopped her sentence, unsure how to put it. "Make me what?"

"Behave the way you did," she finished.

"I'm sorry," he admitted, not able to look at her face. "What happened up there - it shouldn't have happened and I got too carried away. I didn't expect it to happen like that. You asked me if I did and I didn't."

"I'm not mad about that," Rory replied with a shake of her head. "Just tell me what's going on."

Jess took a deep breath and walked over to the kitchen sink. When he was sure Rory wouldn't come beside him, he spoke. "I'm not graduating. I flunked out."

"What do you mean, you flunked out?" She asked. "You're smarter than almost everyone there, Jess. How could you fail your classes?"

"I guess I'd need to attend them in order to pass them and I didn't," he told her calmly.

This time Rory came next to him. "You told me you were going enough."

"Apparently, me and the school have a different idea of what enough is," he said, still not looking at her.

Rory turned his shoulders so he'd face her. "Can you take summer school or -"

Jess shook his head. "They want me repeat the whole year. I missed too much."

"Are you?"

"No."

"Jess -"

"Rory, no," he said.

"Why not?" She asked. "You can't just let them flunk you out when you're smart enough to graduate with honors."

"It's no use, Rory," he explained. "I can't do it. Sitting in those classes, with people who couldn't care less about how I do and just want me out - I can't."

"What are you going to do then?" She asked quietly.

He was silent for a moment before he found his voice again. "I don't know."

Jess went to sit down again and just like before, he winced. Rory moved closer to him, worried. "Let me help."

"It's not like I can take you to class with me," he smirked as best as he could.

"As much as I love the idea, I don't mean that," she smiled softly at him. "Come on. Get back up."

"What are we doing?" He stood up and Rory moved him towards his side of the room before she sat him on his bed.

When she was sure, he wouldn't get you, Rory went back to the kitchen. He couldn't see what she was doing but when she came back, there was ice in her hand. "Take your shirt off."

"I'm in pain, Rory, not that I'd say no," he teased with the most serious expression he could form.

"Ssh," a smile almost broke out on her face.

Jess did as he was told. The winces were even worse as he tried to pull his arms out of the sleeves and the shirt over his head. Rory watched helplessly, she knew he wouldn't let her do it for him, not right now.

If she was thinking anything about the bruises, her face didn't give it away. Wordlessly, she put the ice over him. Jess hissed at the cold but easily relaxed once her hand held onto his arm.

"Can you hold this?" She asked about the ice.

"Yeah," Jess put his hands over hers as she slipped hers underneath to let go of the cold.

Rory was out of the room within seconds and back in almost the same time. She held soaking wet paper towels. "Come on."

Jess let out a small laugh. "What's that for?"

"You have too many bruises for just one block of ice," she explained. "I'm gonna see if freezing cold water helps the spot the ice isn't on."

Together they walked into the bathroom, where she sat Jess on the toilet. He held the ice on the worst of the bruises and slowly, she ran the cold water paper towels over his skin. Again, he hissed at the cold so she smiled at him.

"How's that feel?" She asked.

"Cold," he told her. "But not bad."

"I'm not really sure what to do after someone's in a fight," she said.

"I wouldn't want you to know," he said softly. "You're doing good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"It hurts less than it did - before you came," he confessed.

"Good," she nodded. "It doesn't really look any different, though."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "It was only tonight after all and they tend to look worse before they look better."

Rory was silent. She just nodded without a word. His words seemed like he meant more than just his bruises from tonight.

…

A phone rang loudly into the quiet of the night. Rory opened her eyes and saw her cell phone on the table beside her. She sat up from the couch and flipped it open without checking who it was. "Hello?"

"Daughter!" Lorelai gasped. "Finally. I've been worried sick."

"Mom?" She questioned, her hands rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she wondered what time it was.

"Yes, it is I," she replied. "Rory, where are you? I called anyone I could think of. When I called Lane, it seemed kind of tense and Mrs Kim seemed smug that I couldn't find you. Almost like she thought her night was worse and then I called."

Rory looked around the diner apartment. She could lie but what could she say? She went for the truth. "I'm at Luke's."

"Honey, I know I made you as coffee reliant as I am but Luke's is closed," she pointed out.

"I'm in the apartment," she closed her eyes and got ready for the freakout.

Lorelai was quiet for a moment. "Please don't tell me you're there why my mind thinks you are there. And before you say no, I know Luke's at the inn."

"Dean and Jess got into a fight at the party," she explained. "He got hurt pretty bad."

"Oh my God," her mother couldn't believe what she heard. "Dean and Jess? Did jess' start the fight? What happened?"

"No, Jess didn't start it," Rory answered. "Jess went missing during the party. I went to go find him and he was upstairs and we got into a really bad fight. Dean saw me come downstairs and I was crying -"

"Jess made you cry?" Lorelai interrupted.

"Yes but there's more," she said. "Jess saw me with Dean and he tried to leave I think. Dean put two and two together and he hit him, hard."

"Wow," she replied. "Dean punched Jess first and let me guess - he didn't let that go, did he?"

"No," she whispered.

"How bad was it?" Lorelai asked.

"Bad," Rory nodded. "They fought through the whole downstairs and then out onto the lawn. Mom, it was horrible. I couldn't not watch. I was so worried something really bad would happen."

"And how is Jess now?" She asked, surprised at her own concern for her daughter's boyfriend.

"Sleeping," she looked in the direction of his bed. "I tried to take care of him and he wanted to take a shower so I guess he was okay enough for that."

"And where are you sleeping?" She could almost see her mom raise her eyebrow.

"Jess is in his bed and I'm on the couch," she told her. "He told me not to stay but I wouldn't listen and he offered the bed. He needed the bed way more than me, though. The bruises look bad, Mom."

"But he's okay now?" She wondered.

"I'm not sure," Rory sighed sadly. "Is it okay I'm staying here? I should have called or said something but so much happened and it slipped my mind."

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai said. "I'll be expecting to see you in the morning though, miss."

"Will do," she nodded in agreement.

"Now go back to sleep," she scolded. "I'm not being to blame for a Gilmore not sleeping. Especially now that I can sleep knowing where you are at least."

"I'm sorry, Mom -"

"It's okay," she said. "I'll see you in the morning, all right?"

"Okay," she said and they said their goodbyes.

Instead of going back to sleep, Rory climbed off the couch and walked towards Jess' bed. His breathing was a little slow as if he was having slight difficulty. After his shower, he'd changed into a tee shirt and sweatpants. She thought of the bruises underneath the shirt and winced herself.

Once she was sure he was all right, Rory walked back to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and poured some water into it. In one motion, she downed the entire glass and rinsed it out.

Her mind went through the entire night from the moment she left for the party. Jess had been right. He never had been fine tonight, not even a little. There was moments where he seemed like he could be but he wasn't. She didn't know how she didn't see it.

Everytime she tried to make sense of the night, even about whether or not he drank and then how much did he drink, it didn't help. Silent tears started to fall from her eyes. They quickly became less quiet as she leaned on the kitchen counter for support as she cried.

How much of what was going on with Jess did she miss? She didn't even know he'd been working extra at Walmart. She couldn't blame herself for that, she was at school but there were things a girlfriend could tell, right? She should have at least sensed something.

Rory wiped at her eyes but it was no use. The tears flowed freely whether she wanted them to or not. She couldn't pinpoint exactly where things had gotten messed up. Maybe it was after that disastrous Friday night dinner. Maybe it was this past week. Maybe it had been the beginning.

She took deep breaths and calmed herself down. The tears finally stopped enough for her to go back to sleep. With one more look at a sleeping Jess, she was on her way to the couch for the rest of the night.

…..

Someone was watching Jess. He was sure of this before he even opened his eyes. At first, he thought it might be Rory. That was until he opened his eyes.

"Morning, sunshine," Luke said to his nephew.

"Jeez," Jess rubbed his eyes as he awoke. "What are you doing here? I thought you were away with Nicole."

"I got a phone call late last night," he explained. "From someone who doesn't typically call me at 2:30 am. She told me you were in a fight last night and that her daughter was staying in my apartment."

"Lorelai," Jess muttered. He still didn't move from his sleep position. He felt like crap. The pain hurt again.

"Yes, Lorelai," be confirmed. "That explains Rory out there asleep on the couch then. You wanna tell me about the fight?"

"Dean started it," he said.

"Dean?" He was stunned. "Dean was who you fought with?"

"Lorelai didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Something had to cause Dean to do it," Luke said.

"He's been itching to punch me for over a year," Jess replied. "He saw Rory crying and took his chance."

Luke's expression turned angry. "What did you to Rory?"

Jess didn't want to get into details and definitely not before he talked to Rory about what happened. "We fought."

Luke sighed. "And let me guess, Dean just happened to be there? I never liked that kid."

"I can't say I entirely blame him," Jess sighed too. "If I saw some jerk made her cry, I'd probably hit him too. I guess I just hoped the jerk wouldn't be me. Kinda hard to punch myself in the face, you know?"

"Then what happened?" He continued.

"It escalated," he confirmed. "We fought out pretty much frustration this past year has brought for as long as we could. Until the cops came."

"I'm gonna get a call, aren't I?" He asked.

Jess smirked. "Probably."

"And Rory?" He wondered.

"Rory found me later," he said. "If it wasn't for her, I'd probably be in a lot more pain."

Like nodded. "All right. We'll talk about this more later. When we're alone."

"Okay," he said and when his uncle started to walk away, he called out Luke's name. "I need to tell you something else."

"What is it?" Luke asked.

A deep breath exhaled out of Jess' mouth. "I had a meeting with Principal Merton today when I tried to pick up prom tickets. I'm not graduating."

"What did you say?" He asked. "I could have sworn you just said you're not graduating, which you have to be. The deal was to graduate."

"I could go to the ceremony but, you know, they might kick me out," he said calmly as he tried to sit up. It turned out he hurt even more than last night.

"Jess!" He exclaimed a little louder than he meant. They both glanced in the direction of Rory.

"Can this be one of those things we talk about later too?" Jess asked. "I rather not wake Rory up because of a shouting match."

"You brought it up," he pointed out.

"Because you should know," he admitted then looked over towards Rory again. "And because I shouldn't keep things from people that care about me."

"Good," Luke gave him a small smile. "Come down when she's awake. It's better she wakes up before her mom gets here."

Jess nodded and Luke turned back around to leave. His mind already formed conversations and points to make in them about both school and the fight. Jess didn't care at the moment. He finally felt like maybe things could be better.

….

When Rory finally woke up not too long after like had been upstairs, Jess was seated at the kitchen table. The pain hurt bad but he was determined to not sit in his bed all day. Rory stirred awake and looked around, at first she didn't recognize her surroundings. Her eyes landed on Jess and it rushed back to her.

"Morning," he said to her.

Rory sat up and stretched. "Morning. That couch isn't too comfortable, is it?"

"That was why I offered you the bed," he replied.

"Maybe if you hadn't been hurt," she said. "And I was definitely not staying in Luke's bed. That's too weird."

"You didn't have to stay," Jess told her. "I know you were worried but you could have stayed at home. It'd have been comfortable at least."

Her face fell. "You didn't want me here, did you?"

"I didn't say that," he said.

Rory frowned and stood up from the couch. "I think I should go then."

She headed towards the door and Jess thought quickly. He stood and reached out for her hand. He winced but tried not to let it show. "Rory, wait."

"What is it?" She noticed the struggle he'd tried to hide. "Does it still hurt?"

Jess nodded. "Worse than last night."

"Oh my God," she said and frantically looked around.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Come on. Come back."

"I don't know what to do when someone's in that much pain," she said sadly. "Maybe we should get help."

"No help," he said. "It's just pain."

"But what about internal blee-"

He chuckled. "You think you're getting rid of me that easy? Bleed out because Forrester had a good arm for a couple of shots?"

"Please don't joke," she said. "Not about this. It's serious, Jess. You're hurt."

"And I'll get better," he told her. "I always have."

"I know," Rory said. "I just don't want you to hurt. Not if I could do something."

"Ditto," he said sadly.

"Jess, I'm fine," she clarified.

"That party was a disaster," he replied. "And I am sorry. For all of it."

"I know that too," she smiled softly. "But it doesn't mean I'll be okay with you wincing at every movement."

"Not every movement," he said. "Look."

Jess moved his his thumbs then his index fingers. He continued to do so with each finger until all ten have been moved. When he was done, Rory took his hands and held them in hers. She kissed his knuckles lightly and smiled at him again.

"I have an idea," she said. "Let's do something today. Let's go somewhere."

"Where?" He asked.

"I don't know yet," she said. "But if we're gonna make this work, we have to be a team and not just a couple, right? We can talk and maybe we can figure out what's been going on."

Jess smiled. He was surprised at how much the idea didn't scare him. For once, he didn't mind the suggestion of going somewhere to talk. "I'd like that."

Rory beamed brightly. "But we're gonna take it easy."

"It's a plan," he said back. "Just one thing - Luke knows about the fight. He wants to have a talk with me later."

"We'll be back in time," she smiled.

He excused himself to get dressed and Rory headed down the stairs. Jess had two important talks with people today and for the first time in a long while, he was okay with that. Luke and Rory cared about him, which was more than he ever had before Stars Hollow. Maybe, just maybe, things would be all right.