A/N: See, I told you I would be nice now. :Grin: Jess is back! YaY! Sorry. But I forgot that I could write about my Gilmore universe. I wasn't sure how to write this, I didn't want Lorelai to like Jess suddenly because he had money, so she's not happy about it at first. Maybe not later. Don't know. I haven't made it to later yet. But at first she's going to be pretty unhappy about it. I watched Swan Song, and I can't figure out why I was so hard on Jess when I watched it. rory was the one that screwed that dinner up, and I got mad at Jess. I am so fickle. Why did she have to keep bringing the black eye up in front of her grandmother? I am now annoyed, but don't worry, I won't take it out on this Rory, i'll just add it to the list of why I hate the real Rory. I am so mad about this. Watch Swan Song. I cannot believe I missed that. I was mad at Jess for leaving, but he was actually trying to make a good impression! I feel guilty. I'm mean. Why did I naturally blame Jess? I love Jess. Look at my penname, for goodness sakes! You know what, I don't hate Rory anymore. I mean, I don't hate her for season four-five. Jess deserved better, and now I'm just mad that he kept coming back for more. I better stop watching Swan Song before I back out on that promise to never stop being a lit. I'm not allowed to stop being a lit, I have stories to finish. So I really have to stop watching Swan Song. But I can't seem to turn it off... and I'm only now being reminded how long it's been since I've seen it... Jeeze, I don't know where my brain was when I watched this show... it must have been.. hiding... under the same rock it was hiding under when I thought I was in love with Bob. It's so funny, when the "spell" wears off you can't figure out what you saw there in the first place. I am turning Swan Song off right now. Or after they do that cute little kiss. But then I'm not watching it again. Really.
I want to date Jess. I wish I never would have said he was a jerk in season three. I'm a jerk for saying that. He was not a jerk. And now I'm sad because I've been a bad Jess fan. But this is the first time in years I've been glad Rory slept with the floppy haired one instead of Jess. Let him deal with her. That's my very un-literati thought of the evening. I don't have to hate Gilmore Girls anymore! YaY! If the show accidentally gets turned on while it's on, and of course, Jessless, that's okay. But I do wish Windward Circle would have made it... I would have loved that show... Oh well, I'll wait for Bedford Diaries.
Another random thing I realized. The whole scary thunderstorm thing... yeah, not so cute anymore thanks to "Bambi." :Gags:
Jess' publishing company is, of course, based only in my imagination. And it's successful, while i'm at. And all the corporate people get their own unicorns. Well, not really, but it is a successful company, because I said so and I rule the world. If the company actually exists, though, no one told me. And if Jess is actually the CEO, I just got a lot more ambition than I had 10 seconds ago.
I actually didn't realize this chapter was done, save for the last two sentences, so I just added them and here it is!
Thanks so much to my reviewers! You guys rock so much:hugs you all:
Rory didn't end up getting home until ten o' clock that night, becuse everytime she tried to leave Jess convinced her to stay a little longer. Then at eight they ended up back in bed, and she got too relaxed while cuddling and fell asleep. She didn't wake up until 9:50 and then she had to practically run home. She snuck in, gently closing the door behind her, and looked around. Hopefully her mom was upstairs and David... well, she really didn't care where he was, because she didn't want to see him.
Lorelai walked down the stairs at the exact moment Rory was walking by and she turned to her mother, hoping she didn't look like a deer in the headlights.
"You're home. It's about time." Lorelai walked down stairs and planted her hands on her hips, trying not to look as irritated as she was. "So, where have you been?"
"Out," Rory said.
"Wow, you're even communicating like him. Tell me, do you have your Metallica shirt stashed in your suitcase?"
Rory sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Jess. I'm talking about Jess, Rory. David, the man you're supposed to be marrying, left. He went back to New York."
Rory frowned. "What?"
"Yeah, but you don't know that because you were off avoiding him, probably with Jess."
"I was not out to avoid David. My world does not revolve around him."
Lorelai nodded. "Where's your ring, Rory?"
Rory looked down and covered her hand. She had been in such a hurry leaving that she forgot to get her ring.
"Where were you guys? You weren't in town or I would have heard about it."
"We met at the bridge and it started raining."
"Okay, so it starts raining and instead of coming home you... what?"
"It was raining too hard to come home."
"Ever heard of a car?"
"Jess flew and I came with David, although clearly that was not a good idea. I didn't have a car."
"I know Stars Hollow's a small town, but we do have a taxi cab. You could have called a cab."
"Mom, there was no reason to call a cab."
"Okay, but, see, it quit raining hours ago, and you just got home. So where were you?"
"I... was with Jess."
"Of course you were with Jess. Where were you and Jess?" she asked, shaking her head.
Rory swallowed and then making sure not to look down she said, "At the Dragonfly."
Lorelai seemed to brace herself. "At the Dragonfly?"
"Yes."
"Visiting Desdemona?" she asked hopefully.
"No. Visitng Jess."
"With tea and cookies?"
Rory sighed. "No, Mom."
"You're engaged, Rory," Lorelai said, shaking her head.
"Not anymore," Rory said.
Lorelai sighed. "Have you thought about this at all?"
"I've been thinking about it all evening. He wants a relationship, too, Mom."
"What about David, Rory?"
"Well, I'm sorry about that, but I knew Jess first and I loved Jess first, and if I were to be honest about it I guess I never really stopped. I was just hurt and upset that he left. But he's back and he's even willing to move to New York so we can be together."
"Did you sleep with him?" Lorelai asked.
Rory glanced sideways and then looked at her mother. "Yes."
Lorelai sighed. "So, it's a done deal then?"
"Yes. He's going back to California to take care of things, he has to arrange for the head guy in New York to relocate to California and he has to teach him what he has to do. He has a brother and sister, and he has to convince his sister that if he moves to New York he will not forget about her and the world will not end." She smiled. "They're really close. She likes to read. He told me when he first got there he met her in a cabinet reading a book. His dad runs a hot dog stand. He said the hot dogs are actually really good. Sasha, that's his step mom, she likes dogs, and he said she has like a zoo full of them. He's going to have his friend Karen watch the bookstore. She's just a friend though, not a girlfriend."
"Friend not girlfriend, got it."
"And... he has a three bedroom home thing in New York, so that's where he's going to stay. He said the second bedroom is like a library with a bed in the middle."
"Sounds like your kind of room."
"He said Lily wanted to see it too."
"Who's Lily?"
"His sister. Well, she's really his step sister, but he said they're close. He told me that when he first got there she was kind of shy with him, but by the time he got a roomie and a new place to stay she didn't want him to leave and she was attatched to his hip. He said she actually went out on the Boardwalk to follow him."
"That's nice."
"It is. He said his first place was a nightmare though. It was a rental home and there were no bedrooms, so they had to sleep on dirty mattresses in the living room. It was green and there was no yard, but he spent most of his time with Carl at the bookstore anyway. Sometimes Lily would come up to the bookstore with him and sit in the corner and read a book."
"Who's Carl?"
"He was the owner of Jess' company and the owner of the bookstore. He only kept it going because it was a family thing. He's the one that left the company to Jess when he died."
"Wow, someone trusted Jess with a company? He must have been senile."
"He was very much in his right mind, thank you, he just saw something good in Jess that a lot of other people missed. Jess went to college, too. He has a bachelor's degree."
"Wonderful."
"He isn't the kid who left, Mom."
"I hope not, because you're giving up the life you had planned for him, and if he is like the kid who left he's going to do just that, leave, and then what will you have? Not Jess, not David, no one. Just like with Dean. He wins and then he leaves."
"He isn't going to do that again. He regrets it."
"He should regret it," Lorelai said.
"Look, I don't want to argue with you about Jess. I won't argue with you about Jess. We're going to be together and I hope you can accept that, but if you can't... well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let you ruin this for me. I'm happy that I'm with Jess again, and there is no reason I shouldn't be. Like Jess said, I'm not married yet."
"Oh, right, if Jess said it..." Lorelai rolled her eyes.
Rory shook her head. "Good night, Mom," she said, walking to her room and shutting the door.
Things got worse when Emily called to discuss Rory's wedding dress. Apparently if Rory wanted a good dress she needed to pick it now, and it didn't matter if no date was set, as long as Rory didn't gain any weight. Rory knew she should tell Emily about David, but she didn't know how, and she didn't want to, so she figured she would wait until she was back in New York, and then she would call. Emily asked Rory over for lunch to go over the wedding dress designs. Rory didn't want to go. She didn't want to tell her grandmother she broke off her engagement with perfect David for Jess, the "thug" that Emily hated. Rory stalled and turned to her mother to plead for help with an excuse, but Lorelai whispered, "If you're ashamed of Jess maybe you shouldn't be dating him."
Rory frowned and said, "Grandma, I know I told you David and I were engaged, but... it isn't working out at all and we just decided to put a stop to it before anything went any farther."
"What?" Emily exclaimed. "Why? Did something happen?"
"Um, well... it just isn't working out. We just aren't going to see each other anymore."
"Whyever not?"
"Honestly?"
"Of course honestly, I don't want you to lie to me."
Lorelai shook her head and made the cutting motion but Rory just waved her off. "Okay, well, I'm... interested in seeing someone else, and he's interested in seeing me and I don't think that those feelings are proper for being engaged, so I'm not engaged anymore. That was... a mistake."
"Who are you seeing? You've been in town, so it has to be someone local. Or has this been going on for a long time?"
"No, it hasn't been going on. It's an ex boyfriend. Do you remember Jess?"
"Jess?" Emily repeated dumbly.
"Yes, Jess, he was my boyfriend and he... went to Califronia and I ran into him and we've decided that it was a huge mistake to break up in the first place, so we're going to start seeing each other again."
Emily missed a beat. "It seems rather sudden."
"It is sort of sudden, but it's something we've been wanting for years. The whole seperation was stupid. We've just decided to try to sort of pick up where we left off."
"And he's in town?"
"Yes."
"Good. Why don't you bring him over?"
Rory's eyes widened. "Um, I'm not... entirely sure that's a good idea."
"Of course it's a good idea."
"Jess is very busy, I don't think he would have time. He has a conference or... something, I'm not sure, but I really don't think he could make it."
"Well, you'll be seeing him again, won't you?"
"Well, yes, but that's here, and he's staying here, so it's much more convenient."
"That's fine then, I can come there," Emily said. "I haven't been to Luke's in quite some time. When do you think he'll be able to come?"
"In Stars Hollow?" Rory asked.
"Of course."
Lorelai shot Rory a wide eyed look and Rory bit her lip. "You know what, maybe he can push that conference back," Rory said. "Jess is very successful now, Grandma, and I'm sure if I asked him... he could find the time."
"Wonderful! I'll tell our cook to add an extra setting."
Rory quickly said her goodbyes and then hung up, hiding her face in her hands. "Jess is going to kill me."
Lorelai smiled. "Can I watch when you tell him?"
Rory shot her mother a look. "No."
"Please? I'll give you a stale pretzel."
Rory frowned. "Was that supposed to be motivation?"
"We only have stale pretzels. But Luke has these disgusting oat things, I'll give you one of them."
Rory sighed. "I have to go schmooze."
"Let me watch, I can bring popcorn and one of those big fingers and I'll root for you."
"Mom."
"Come on. It was so much fun last time."
"No," Rory said sternly.
"You're very mean to the woman who gave birth to you."
"Sorry."
"Will you at least take a picture of the expression on his face?"
"No."
"Use a tape recorder?"
"No."
"Rory," she whined.
"I have to go," Rory said, grabbing her purse. "I will not tape, take pictures or do any other sort of reproduction."
"Maybe when you get back you could reenact it with puppets," Lorelai suggested with a smile.
"No."
Lorelai frowned. "Mean."
"Good bye," Rory said, offering a wave.
"Take notes," Lorelai called after her.
Rory shook her head and walked down the steps on the porch.
Rory showed up at Jess' room and he greeted her with a smile. "Hey."
She smiled and gave him a kiss. "Hey."
He invited her in. "What have you been doing?" he asked.
"Oh, not much. I actually came by to ask you a favor."
"Okay. What's that?"
"You'll still be here tomorrow night, right?"
"Yeah, I can," he said.
"And you can be free to go somewhere?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Well, we have to go to my grandmother's for dinner and I thought I could get out of telling her about the breaking of the engagement until I was in New York and we were safely hidden away from her, but she wanted to pick out wedding dresses, so I sort of had to tell her, and I told her that we wanted to date again, and... she sort of wanted me to invite you to dinner."
"Got that conference in London," he said.
"Jess."
"And September Blackberries, Micheal is feeling very neglected."
"I know it won't be fun, but it will go better this time. You're older, more mature, no black eye."
"Rory, your grandmother hates me."
"No, she used to hate you."
"Yeah, and then I ditched her granddaughter and ran to the other end of the country, clearly she has reason to approve of me now."
"Well... Okay, that wasn't exactly a brownie point thing, but it would work out this time. She'll like you."
"Tell her I couldn't get out of work."
"I already sort of told her you could."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "When do I have to pick you up?"
She smiled and kissed him again. "Seven o' clock. Thank you."
"You're welcome. But you owe me now."
"I'll make it up to you."
"Uh huh."
"I will," she insisted. "Just... don't get a black eye, please."
"Stay away from swans, got it," he said with a smirk.
"What?"
"Long story. Better things to do," he said, pulling her into a kiss. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Could you two be more disgusting?"
Jess smirked. "I can do anything I put my mind to."
Rory grinned and glanced down at their entwined hands. "We're not being that bad. You should see us when we're alone. We call each other cutesy names."
"We do?" Jess asked.
"Of course we do, Sugar Lips."
Jess smirked. "How could I forget Sugar Lips?"
She shook her head, pretending to be deeply disappointed. "I don't know. I must not be very important to you."
"You're right, that must be why I'm moving my entire life to New York," he said sarcastically.
She smiled. "Of course it is. If you cared about me you would stay in California."
He leaned in and kissed her right by the ear. "But then I couldn't do that."
"Aw, maybe God does answer prayers," Lorelai said with a sweet smile.
Rory smiled and leaned against Jess.
"Guess what, Pretty Woman, you get to ring the doorbell," Lorelai said to Jess.
Jess rolled his eyes. "I'm scared."
"You should be. Four out of five people that enter this house do not come back out."
Jess looked at Rory before ringing the bell. "Around how much does your grandmother remember about that last visit?"
"She still brings it up every Thanksgiving," Rory said with a nod.
"Huh." He shrugged and pushed the doorbell. "I'll have to try to do a little better this time."
"Well, you don't have a black eye, so that's a good start."
"Yeah, just don't tell her about the time you spent in jail and maybe flash your wallet occasionally and you should be pretty much good," Lorelai said.
Jess frowned but before he could respond the door opened and there stood Emily Gilmore.
"Dun dun dun," Lorelai said.
Rory rolled her eyes at her mother and smiled at Emily. "Hi, Grandma."
"Hello, Rory," she greeted warmly, then looked over at Jess. "You must be Jess."
He nodded. "Hello, Mrs. Gilmore."
"Hello. Well, come in," Emily said, backing up.
Lorelai and Luke followed Rory and Jess in and Lorelai grinned at Rory. "Tell Jess to break something."
Rory shot Lorelai a look and looped her left arm through Jess' right. He glanced over at her and smiled, lightly touching her hand before letting his left arm fall back to his side.
"I wish I had known ahead of time you were coming," Emily was saying, "I would have asked your meal preferences."
"Oh, I'm not picky," Jess said.
Emily glanced at the arm Rory had linked through his and then made eye contact with Jess and smiled. "Well, good. Do you like salmon?"
He nodded, lying through his teeth. "Yes."
Rory bit her lip and sent him an apologetic smile.
"Good," Emily said with a smile. "If you would come and sit down, Rory, dear, I have something I wanted to show you."
"Oh. Okay." Rory and Jess walked in and took a seat side by side, Lorelai and Luke sitting down on a seperate piece of furniture.
"Nice couch, Mom," Lorelai replied, looking down at the antique couch she was sitting on.
"I've had it for two months, Lorelai," Emily replied.
"Oh. Well, I just sat on it."
"I'm aware of that, Lorelai." Emily picked up a booklet and handed it to Rory with a sweet, grandmotherly smile. "There you go. Miss Selene compiled this for you."
"Miss Selene?" Lorelai asked, eyes widening. "What could Miss Selene possibly have to give Rory?"
Emily just smiled and watched Rory open the book.
Rory's jaw dropped in mute horror and she snapped the book shut, wanting to glance at Jess to make sure he hadn't seen, but not able to look in case he did. "Um, Grandma, I don't really need this at the moment."
"Well, I know that now, but she gave it to me when you were engaged to David."
Rory felt the muscles in Jess' arm tighten next to her and she fought the urge to grimace.
"I thought I would give it to you anyway. You never know what will happen. David seemed a very nice man."
"Mom," Lorelai said, giving her a look. "I really doubt Rory and Jess," she said, emphasising Jess, "want to talk about him."
Emily raised her eyebrows in feigned innocence. "I know that, Lorelai, I was only making an observation."
Lorelai looked at the book and said quietly, "Wedding dresses, right?"
Rory nodded.
Lorelai nodded and sighed. "Oh, Mom, you should really try new ways of trying to force us into marriage." She glanced over at Rory and Jess as if they were talking about the weather or a movie. "She did the same thing when I was pregnant with you and she wanted me to marry Chris. Miss Selene was the same age, too. I think she's a witch."
"Who's Miss Selene?" Jess asked Rory.
Emily answered. "Miss Selene is- was going to make Rory's wedding gown."
Rory swallowed, looking away, wondering if she could make it to the door without the maid tackling her.
Jess merely smiled coolly at Emily and wrapped an arm around Rory. "She's right, you should keep it for future reference. You never do know what's going to happen."
Emily's eyes widened and her smile tightened, as he had been looking directly at her while he said it.
Lorelai smiled reluctantly at Jess.
Emily's haughty gaze briefly raked over Jess. "Rory tells me you had some sort of business conference. I hope I'm not cutting into your time."
"Not at all," he replied. "It's just as easy to have the conference over the phone and I have to deal with less people."
She smiled a tight smile. "What is it you do? I'm not sure Rory's told me, but then you haven't been together very long, have you?" she asked rhetorically.
"I'm the CEO of Waltman's Publishing Company," he replied.
"Yeah, they're like Bantam and Signet," Lorelai chimed in.
Jess raised an eyebrow in her direction and smirked. "Thank you, it's always good to know you have to mention the competition to know the company."
She smiled cheerfully. "No problem."
Rory rolled her eyes. "She's just trying to annoy you. We've bought all kinds of books that your company printed."
"I'm sure Carl would be happy to hear that," he said with a little smile.
"You should me, you're the CEO," she told him with a smile.
"You're the CEO?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.
He nodded. "Yes."
"Who's Carl?"
"He owned the company before he passed away and I took over."
"I see. So you actually own the company?" she asked, her raised eyebrows somehow seeming more sincere.
"Yes, I own the company," Jess said.
Emily looked at Lorelai. "You didn't tell me that."
"Sorry, the private eye I hired to check him out was dumb, he actually thought Jess was the janitor," Lorelai said with a rueful nod.
Emily rolled her eyes and then turned her attention back to Jess. "How old is your company?"
"It's been going since 1879."
Her eyebrows lifted again. "Really? It's established then?"
He nodded mutely, his lips pressed into a firm line.
Emily looked up as Richard entered the room and she smiled, standing. "Richard, meet Jess, Rory's new boyfriend." She turned and beamed a smile at Jess, then turned back to Richard, stating, "He's the CEO of Waltman's Publishing Company."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Really? Didn't they just publish that book by that rock star, the controvertial one with the name of a vegetable?"
"Carrot Top," Lorelai chimed.
Jess didn't bother acknowledging Lorelai, merely nodded at Richard.
"Good company. It was absolute rubbish, sold tons of copies I believe," Richard said with a little nod, stepping forward as Jess stood up and shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, Jess."
"The pleasure's mine, Mr. Gilmore," he replied automatically.
"Good handshake," Richard said, slanting a small smile in Rory's direction.
Rory smiled and nodded, taking that as approval from him.
Then Emily smiled brightly. "Shall we go in to the dining room? Dinner will be done in a few minutes and the food will get cold if we don't start eating our salads soon."
Everyone stood and Rory smiled and gave Jess' arm a little squeeze. He offered a small smile in return and escorted her to the dining room.
"Wow, that was actually amusing," Lorelai stated as she sat her purse on the coffee table.
Jess was sitting on the couch next to Rory, loosening his tie. "Oh yeah, very amusing," he said dryly.
"What are muttering about? They loved you," Rory said.
"No, your grandpa loved me, your grandma just loved Carl's company," he replied.
"Well," she said, rolling her eyes slightly and leaning into his side, prompting him to wrap his arm around her, "either way, she approves."
"It was fun watching you purchase Emily Gilmore," Lorelai said, smiling down at Jess. "I wish I had it on tape. You schmoozed."
"I did not schmooze," he said, rolling his eyes.
"You totally schmoozed. I've never seen you schmooze before, and I can't decide if I'm more amused or disturbed. When you started talking about the yacht I thought I might die right then and there, and I probably would have if it wouldn't have made me miss dessert."
Jess shot her a look. "Well, it worked, didn't it? She was ready to welcome me into the family by the time they brought out the soup."
Lorelai scoffed. "Welcome you? By the time we got to the main course I think she would have unrepentantly abducted you and forced you into the family. I was sitting there wondering who you were and what you did with my daughter's rebel without a cause boyfriend."
He shrugged insolently. "I left him back at the inn, he wasn't such a hit last time."
"My fault," Rory admitted.
"Oh well. Last time she never would have made that parting remark about what beautfiul coloring our children will have," Jess said, smirking at her.
She blushed. "I can't believe she said that."
"Why not?" he asked, playfully putting a hand on her stomach. "We already had the little Jess discussion, I thought we were in agreement."
Rory blushed and smiled at the same time, placing her hand over his hand and moving it. "You're making Luke blush."
Luke was indeed flushed, and he muttered something about changing clothes before escaping up the stairs.
"Okay, stop being gross," Lorelai said. "I have to go pick up Will from Sookie's house. Can I leave you two unsupervised?"
Rory smiled. "Very funny."
"I'm serious. I cannot leave you two on that couch if you're feeling cozy. I mean, Luke and I fell victim to that couch's innocent facade, but let me tell you..." She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "Well, I'll never think of the couch the same way."
Jess grimaced and immediately stood up while Rory stood, wrinkled up her nose at her mother and said, "That is not funny."
"We can pick up Will if you want," Jess offered.
Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
"Well, I have to leave anyway, I could pick him up and bring him back if you want."
Lorelai frowned and pressed the back of her hand to Jess' forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"
He moved back, giving her a look. "I'm fine, Mom."
She scowled at him. "Watch it, mister. I am not so easily won over as Emily Gilmore."
Jess raised his eyebrows. "Do you want me to pick him up or not? I'm about to take back the offer."
"I take it you're spending the night with him?" Lorelai asked, looking at Rory.
Rory nodded. "Yes."
Lorelai nodded. "Well... yeah, that would be nice. Thank you, Jess."
"You're welcome." He nodded at Rory. "I'm going to go to the car."
"I'll be right out," Rory said.
He nodded and walked out the door. Rory sighed and looked at her mother. "See, I told you everything would work out. Grandma and Grandpa loved him."
"Grandma loves his money," Lorelai amended.
"Well, yeah," Rory admitted. "But Grandpa loves him. I knew Grandpa would love Jess. They have the same taste in books, and now they can talk business. I just knew they would get along. And look, everything worked out with Grandma. Maybe she didn't accept him for the right reasons, but she did accept him."
Lorelai nodded. "I know."
Rory picked up her purse, putting it on her shoulder. "You might want to take some hints," she suggested. "Everybody else approves."
Lorelai pouted dramatically and Rory just smiled, shook her head, and waved as she walked out the door, calling out a farewell.
Lorelai sighed. "I think I liked him better when he vandalized books," Lorelai muttered.
A/N: And then there was none.
Review please! Let me know what you thought:Grin: