Summary: He's a dog. How neurotic could he possibly be? Lit oneshot.

Disclaimer: I really wish I owned these characters. That would be so super.

A/N: Blame Ashley for being insane, and Hider for being three times as insane and far too influential on my behavior. So, I bring you random Lit fluff with a subplot … again, because my friends are basket cases.

--

She flung the door open with a flourish, smiling triumphantly.

"I told you I would win."

"You were fighting with a key; not that hard of a battle."

She glared playfully at him as he dropped their bags in the front hallway and shrieked when he picked her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and he kissed her quickly, smirking.

"Put me down," she commanded. He shook his head and tightened his grip on her, smiling against her mouth when she leaned down to kiss him again, arms wrapping around his neck loosely.

A small whimper from a few feet away caught her attention and she pulled away from him slowly, turning her head to identify the intruder. She laughed when she saw the dog's tail sweep around the corner and turned back to her fiancé.

"I think you scared him."

He sighed and put her down, leaning over to pick up their luggage and move it into her room.

"He'll get over it."

Rory bounced after him and shook her head vehemently. "You obviously don't know Paul Anka."

Their bags landed on the twin-sized bed with a thud and he turned around to face her. "He's a dog. How neurotic could he possibly be?"

Rory tapped her chin in faux-contemplation. "Hmm. He belongs to Lorelai Gilmore…" she trailed off with a grin. Jess rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Good point," he whispered as he grabbed her hand to pull her closer. She smiled a little and leaned down to kiss him, pushing his hair back from his forehead.

The door slammed loudly and she stepped back from him with an apologetic look before leaving her bedroom to greet her mother. They chatted excitedly and Jess sauntered into the living room, glancing around at the changes that had been made since the last time he'd been there.

"…and Paul Anka already doesn't like Jess," Rory finished her story, smiling at her mother. Lorelai raised an eyebrow and turned to her future son-in-law.

"What did you do?"

"Waved a huge stock of broccoli in front of his face," Jess deadpanned. Lorelai gasped dramatically.

"Terrible boy!"

He rolled his eyes and Rory snickered, smiling at him when he glared at her over Lorelai's shoulder.

"Well, try to stop traumatizing him," Lorelai teased, brushing past him on her way into the kitchen, "We wouldn't want your ring bearer to be terrified at the wedding!"

Jess looked back at Rory and blinked at her. "Ring bearer?"

She shrugged, "She thinks it would be cute."

"Kittens as bridesmaids would be cute, too, but I didn't see that in our plans." She rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ignore mom; Paul Anka will love you," she promised. She kissed him gently and smiled at him. He sighed and held her closer.

"We've come to visit four times before this and I have never even seen the damn dog," he complained lightly. Rory kissed the tip of his nose.

"That's because he was hiding," she said matter-of-factly. Jess sighed resignedly.

Lorelai brushed past them on her way back into the living room and she covered her eyes overdramatically, squawking out various protests. Rory rolled her eyes and kissed him once more, joining her mother on the couch a moment later.

"Oh, and if Paul Anka doesn't approve, then you can't marry my daughter," Lorelai said seriously. Rory smacked her arm and she laughed, promising she was kidding but winking at Jess anyway.

Jess sighed and sat on the floor in front of the couch. It was going to be a long weekend.

--

He ran a hand through his wet hair as he stepped out of the bathroom, heading toward Rory's room when something caught his eye. He turned to look at the furry little ball that was sitting on the floor in front of him and sighed a little.

"She trained you to hate me, didn't she?"

Paul Anka whined and lay down on the carpet, paws coming up to cover his head. Jess shook his head and walked into Rory's room, leaning against the door way. She was still asleep and they had thirty minutes to get to the diner.

Lorelai had threatened death if they were late to lunch with Chris.

He sighed and stepped further into the room, sinking down onto the edge of the mattress.

"Ror," he whispered, pushing hair out of her face. She moaned tiredly and swatted his hand away, burying her head further into her pillow. He chuckled a little and traced his hand down her bare arm, smiling when she shivered from the contact.

"Rory," he sang quietly. He ducked down and nipped at her ear, whispering her name again. Rory opened one eye to look up at him.

"How long have you been up?" she questioned, noticing his damp hair and clean clothes. Jess smirked.

"An hour. And we have twenty minutes to get to Luke's before your mother comes down here and kills us."

She sighed and sat up, pushing her hair out of her face in the process.

"You should've woken me up earlier," she grumbled, pressing a lazy kiss against his mouth. "Now there's going to be no hot water."

"So skip the shower. We'll be late if you don't," he cut her off when she opened her mouth to speak. She huffed and then nodded, kissing him one more time before getting out of bed to change.

Jess spotted a tail as Paul Anka walked past the doorway to her room and frowned.

He had actually underestimated a dog. Huh.

--

Rory smiled when she walked into the diner and greeted her parents with hugs, shouting a greeting to Luke as he wandered back into the kitchen to help Caesar with the orders. He waved absently and she giggled, taking Jess' hand when they sat down at the table.

"So how are the plans going?" Chris asked interestedly, smiling at the couple. Rory launched into the details and Jess listened intently, voicing his opinion every now and then. Lorelai watched the interaction with interest, smiling when she caught Jess staring at her daughter as opposed to participating in the conversation.

Luke wandered over to take their orders and Lorelai smiled brightly at him. She took the opportunity to ask the question she'd been dying to since the couple walked in.

"Met Paul Anka yet, Jess?"

Luke smirked in amusement and wandered off the fill their orders. Rory tried to contain her snicker and Jess sighed but nodded. Lorelai grinned.

"Does he like you?"

"Couldn't tell," Jess shrugged. Rory laughed quietly and he shot her a glare. She frowned playfully and traced his knuckles with her thumb in a placating gesture. Chris furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You guys have visited before this, haven't you?"

Rory nodded, "But Paul Anka was hiding all four of those times." Chris nodded knowingly and Jess rolled his eyes.

"That dog is neurotic."

"But loveable, and that is all that matters," Lorelai smiled cheekily. Jess rolled his eyes again and inwardly thanked Chris when he changed the subject.

--

Rory pushed through the front door with dozens of bags in her hands, mentally going over the list she'd made that morning. They still had so much to do before the wedding; she wasn't sure they'd be able to get it all done. She sighed and dropped the bags in the front hall, hanging up her coat and wandering into the living room. She smiled when she saw Jess spread out on the couch reading and crawled up on top of him, yanking the book from his hands.

"Hey," he greeted. She smiled and kissed him, marking his page and setting the book on the coffee table.

"Hey," she returned with another kiss as she snuggled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed. "We still have so much to do."

"The wedding is in two months," he reminded her, "We'll get it done."

Rory sighed and nodded, kissing his chin absently. She noticed Paul Anka curled up on the chair a few feet away and grinned as she looked back at her fiancé.

"Did you and Paul Anka bond?"

Jess rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on her. "He tried to eat my book." She blinked at him.

"Did you take it from him?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

She sighed and leaned up to kiss him again, pulling away before he got the chance to deepen it.

"Buy a new copy," she said simply. He shook his head and kissed her again.

"I am not contributing to his insanity. He has the Gilmores to do that."

"And Luke!"

"I pity him." Rory snickered and kissed him again. Paul Anka jumped off his chair and ran up the stairs. She frowned. "Maybe he's just afraid of PDA," Jess suggested. She smacked him in the chest and laughed brightly when he flipped them over and kissed her as she sunk further into the couch cushions.

--

Luke closed the front door quietly behind him as he walked into the house and started toward the stairs. Lorelai would be home from the Inn in half an hour; that gave him time to take a shower and start dinner before she did.

When he noticed the couple curled up on the couch and the dog staring at them from the stairs, he frowned. Rory and Jess were talking quietly to each other, kissing occasionally and laughing every few seconds. Paul Anka was watching them with one paw covering his face, sighing every time they kissed.

Rory noticed him first and smiled, greeting him happily. Luke nodded in turn and looked back at the dog.

"We think he dislikes PDA," Rory said by way of explanation. "That or he dislikes Jess."

Jess groaned and let his head fall back against the couch, not bothering to move when Rory pressed a kiss against his throat and cuddled closer. Luke shook his head and wandered up the stairs, not bothering to voice his opinion on the matter.

The dog was crazy. Everyone in that damn town was.

--

Jess lay back on the mattress with a tired sigh. The evening had been spent discussing the wedding with Lorelai and Luke, and his head was throbbing from the confusion of the entire interaction. He just wanted to sleep.

Rory crawled in next to him after a minute and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Why so blue?"

He looked down at her and smirked softly, tucking her hair behind her ear gently. She smiled at him.

"Tired," he whispered. Rory nodded and reached over to turn the light out, snuggling closer and closing her eyes with a sigh.

The door creaked open a moment later and the bed shifted. She burst out laughing when Paul Anka crawled up onto Jess' chest and panted at him. Jess groaned and covered his face with his hands, trying to ignore the sound of her laughter and figure out the best way to get the damn dog off of him at the same time.

When Paul Anka whimpered and got off of him, Jess idly wondered if the dog was reading his mind. He shook the thought away and pulled Rory close again, kissing her to cut off any further laughter.

Paul Anka watched around his paw from the end of the bed as the couple curled up against each other and fell asleep.

--

Jess tossed their bags into the trunk with a sigh, slamming it shut as he walked back into the house to double-check that they had everything. Rory was triple-checking her list and she smiled at him when he leaned against the doorway of her room.

"Did you say goodbye to Paul Anka?" she asked pointedly. She held up her list to him and pointed at item number seven, which stated very clearly that he had to say goodbye to the dog. Jess sighed and snapped the list out of her hands, kissing her soundly as he crumpled it up and tossed it into the garbage can behind him.

Rory dug her nails into his jacket, tugging him closer as the kiss deepened and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Paul Anka barked at them from the kitchen and she laughed against his mouth, pulling away lazily and placing a series of purposefully chaste kisses against his mouth before letting go of him and leaving the room. Jess sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the dog.

After a moment, he wagged his tail and wandered over to Jess. Jess crouched down to pet him and he licked his hand before taking off and running up the stairs. Rory watched the interaction with amusement from the hallway.

"Maybe he is just crazy," she giggled. Jess rolled his eyes as he stood up and made his way over to her, grabbing her hand and leading her out the front door.

"Which is why we aren't getting a dog," he said wryly. She frowned.

"Why?"

"Like mother," he kissed her quickly as he shut the door behind them, "Like daughter."

--End--