Story: "Getting to Like…"

Author: Manda…* [email protected] *

Distribution: If you like the story that much, its great, go ahead, but, please just ask first.

**DISCLAIMER: I, in no way, am affiliated with Gilmore Girls. Trust me on this, if I were, Jess would not be leaving the show, and he and Rory would have gotten together along time ago…Also, if I owned the show, I would play Rory to Milo's Jess…You get the picture. But, in case you didn't, this story is a Rory/Jess story, with possible Loralei/Luke undertones….we'll see what happens, won't we…**

**SuMmArY: One day, while Rory is out of town, Jess realizes something about their relationship that she should know about. He lets something slip to Loralei, and the story will continue from there, with Rory returning, if you all like it enough to review and LET ME KNOW if you like it, so I can continue. *Sorry, that was repetitive.* Please review and let me know, constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't be outright mean, its not nice. Also, this is my first Gilmore Girls fanfic, but not my first fanfic. If you watch ER, you should read my ER fic, "You Make Me Forget," I think its pretty okay. Please let me know what you think of this GG fic, I really want to continue…Sorry this was so long and rambling….but, here we go!

And, without further interruptions…on with the story. I hope you like it!

*^*ChApTeR 1: Eyes and Admissions (this is Jess' point of view, though in later chapters, that may change.)

Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano had been dating for a few months now, and were quite happy, though not without their own obstacles. There were the all too memorable and countless 'Dean interferences' and a certain 'swan situation', but those had long since been forgotten, replaced with happier memories of long talks, long walks, reading sessions, and lots of displays of affection, admittedly, some of them being public.

Rory's mother, Loralei, a mere 16 years older than her pride and joy, once quipped that, "Rory and Jess: The Early Years, was just beginning." She was nothing if not right.

The aptly titled, "Rory and Jess: The Early Years" was anything but typical, by anyone's standards, especially because it was a teenage romance of sorts.

'Its definitely anything BUT typical, ' Jess thought, ' and I definitely can't stop thinking about Rory…next to her, I AM the typical one…How did that happen?'

Jess had been thinking about his relationship with Rory a lot lately, at least, more than was normal for him. It was almost enough to drive him crazy. Almost.

'But if thoughts of anyone have to drive me crazy, at least there of Rory Gilmore. Its way too easy to think of her all day: The way her amazingly beautiful face feels as I tuck her hair behind her ears and lean down to kiss her. Then there's the way that right before our lips met, her breath taxingly blue eyes close so innocently. Her eyes are so…their so…her eyes…'

"Her eyes get me every time, " he muttered as her realized that he had been lost the last few minutes, to thoughts of nothing but his girlfriend.

"Her eyes get you what? To serve coffee, clean the counter, take orders? Unless they are ACTUALLY doing any of those things, I highly suggest that you get working and stop thinking about her eyes…You ARE thinking about RORY'S eyes, right, cause, Jess, I swear…."

"Calm down, Uncle Luke, of course I am."

"Well, I'm not paying you good money to just stand around, then. And, by the way, its NOT Uncle Luke. Its Luke. Better yet, Mr. Luke. Yeah, that's it. Mr. Luke. Oh, you aren't even listening! Forget it!"

Luke Danes stalked off to refill costumer's cups of coffee, and Jess had to chuckle about Luke's 'good money' comment. It wasn't even enough to live on, but with his job at Wal*Mart, he managed to treat Rory to some nice surprises every once in awhile. He smiled as he remembered surprising her after an argument with Distiller's tickets. He loved the smile she'd given him. It made the extra hours more than worth it.

Jess had been so enthralled with his thoughts of Rory that he hadn't heard the jingling of the bell above the diner's door, and consequently, was startled when Loralei started speaking.

"Hey, did you know that the Ottoman Empire was once referred to as 'the sick man'? So, the next time you see a sick man, call him Ottoman Empire! No! Call him Ottoman. You know, like the footrest. Wait, better yet, call him 'Otto.' Like the Simpson's bus driver. 'Otto-man!'Haha, get it Jess? Otto-man! Ottoman! Otto-man! Otto---"

"I take it you haven't seen Rory lately," Jess, all too familiar with the crazy lady known as Rory's mom, wasn't phased by her ramblings, just grateful that it was only when Rory was gone that Jess had to be subjected to Loralei alone.

"Almost a whole day! Its been 22 hours since I've seen my offspring…Wait, how did you know she was gone?" Loralei sniffled, having finished her pity fest and looked up, awaiting Jess' answer.

"Uh, Loralei, you must be forgetting that Rory was with you when she told me she was going to the Grandparent's this weekend. Remember? And even if she HADN'T told me, the only time you come in here without her is when she's in school, or with me, and in that case, I KNOW where she is…obviously."

Jess would have added that another reason he knew Rory was not there, besides the obvious reason that he wasn't staring at her, was because Loralei was behaving more crazily than normal, if that were even possible. But he kept this to himself, knowing fully that if he mentioned it, or even thought about it too long, Loralei would become 'the crazy lady that the nice men in white jackets had to take away', and Jess didn't want Rory to be mother-less.

Chuckling, he realized that Rory would be more upset about missing her mother's 'taking away' than about being mother-less for a little while. Boy, would that scene make her laugh….'I love her laugh….', he thought.

"Jess? Yoo-hoo, Jess! Earth to monosybillac boy! Hmm…maybe you don't like being called 'boy.' Hmm….what goes with 'guy?' Hey! I've got it! You're going out with Rory. Rory Gilmore. So, you're 'a Gilmore's Guy.' Perfect, if I do say so myself," Loralei did indeed seem happy with herself, having found a new nickname for Jess that she knew he would not like.

Having heard what would undoubtedly become his new nickname, from Loralei anyway, Jess was startled out of his reverie about Rory's laugh and Loralei's 'crazy house and nice guys in white coats adventure.'

"Rory's coming home today, isn't she," Jess asked, hoping that she would be home soon, he had realized something he wanted to tell her.

"Uh huh. I told her that she should just skip out on my parents, but she started talking about responsibility and trust and all this other stuff. I blocked it out though, I don't want her corrupting me. Who needs responsibility. My Mini-Me must be crazy, thinking about things like that," she was off on another tangent, and Jess happened to pick up a word. 'Special.' That described Rory perfectly.

"Rory IS special," Jess agreed, "But not in the SLD way. Though, sometimes, if I didn't love her so much, I would be quite afraid about some 'special' tendencies she has…Oh no."

If Jess hadn't realized then what he had just admitted for the first time to anyone, especially Loralei, he would have known something was wrong by the shock apparent on Loralei's face. Shock was an understatement, really. Loralei was speechless for a moment, a look of amazement and bewilderment on her face.

When not even coffee would distract her, Jess knew he had to wait for her response to his admission. He just hoped she wouldn't jump down his throat, hoped that she would believe him. Things between Jess and Loralei were still a bit sheltered, only every once in awhile becoming unsheltered, today for instance.

Loralei must have recovered from the shock of Jess admitting his feelings about her daughter, because calmly, she asked, "You love Rory? Does she know?"