Disclaimer: Alas! Gilmore Girls is not mine. If it had been, there would have been much more Lit for everyone sane to enjoy.

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After her little episode, Jess dropped Lori's sleeping form off at Rory's house. It had been such a long hard day on the kid so instead of waking her up when his car pulled into the driveway; Jess carried his daughter up the stairs.

Rory was sitting in the living room reading when Jess came in holding her—their daughter.

Instinct taking over upon seeing Lori, Rory shot up and ran over to where Jess was walking in to lay Lori down on the couch.

"What the hell happened? Is she okay?" Rory asked Jess franticly.

Jess gave her a solemn look, "She's fine, she cried herself to sleep. She told me Ror, she told me everything that sick bastard did to the two of you, how could you not tell me Rory?"

"Well you haven't exactly been here for that long, first off." She said with a slightly irritated tone. "And second, do you really think I enjoy thinking about it?" She told him angrily. "I couldn't protect her Jess." She whispered; a silent lone tear ran down her face.

"It's a mother's job to protect her child and couldn't even do that!" She exclaimed, bursting into tears again and ran into his chest.

He was a bit overwhelmed at first, having her that close, but he pushed that aside and pulled her into his arms. He didn't know what to say though, he didn't really have a lot of experience; all he knew was that he hated seeing her cry. So he said the only thing he could think of, "I'm sorry", and he pulled her closer to him.

"You shouldn't be, it isn't your fault Dean is a complete ass whole." She said, wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her hand and untangled herself from his arms, much to his silent rejection.

"But if I had been there… if I hadn't left like the dick I was, you would have never gone back to him, the situation would have never happened in the first place." He told her in a stern whisper, eyes blazing at her.

It's entirely my fault, I couldn't protect my girls.

"Don't say that Jess." She told him, glancing quickly at Lori's sleeping form; she grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door to the porch so as to not disturb their angel.

"I'm starting to see now…" She told him quietly, even though they were out of ear shot from Lori. "That I was an idiot, an idiot for not calling you ten years ago when I found out about her, but like I said before… I didn't want her to get hurt." He started to say something but she put up a hand to stop him, she had to say this. "But I'm starting to see something now that I repressed for many years, not wanting it to be true."

She held her breath, not wanting to say it.

Jess didn't know if the pause was for her benefit or if she wanted some sort of sign that he was listening. He decided he wasn't going to let her choose.

"Repress what exactly?" he asked softly her, almost afraid of the answer.

Rory didn't know if it was cool night time breeze that was drifting on to the porch, their close proximity, or the too familiar tone of his voice that made her shiver, but either way, Jess shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

She looked up at him, ocean blue meeting coffee brown. He gave her an enquiring look with a slight tilt of his head.

Taking a deep breath, her eyes never leaving his, she told him, "Repress the thought that maybe I didn't call you because I was afraid that maybe you wouldn't want me. That maybe you had already moved on and I was just a small chapter in your complex web of a life." He shook his head in disbelief and looked away from her as she continued with her spiel.

"I wasn't thinking of her in the beginning, the little bundle of life growing inside of me. I was thinking of only myself. I thought that because you had hurt me, the only thing I could do was to hurt you back, by keep possibly the most life changing secret from you. I knew it wasn't fair to my--our child but back then… I was stupid and young. If I could take it all back I think I would, well… I wouldn't take Lori back." She took his chin in her small fingers and forced him to look at her.

"I discovered a long time ago that she wasn't a punishment." Rory finished in a breathless whisper, looking deeply into his eyes.

Neither of them had any idea of how their conversation went from talking about how much of an ass Dean was to her confessing her biggest secret, something not even Lorelai knew.

"Ror-" Jess started to say something but he was cut off when a pair of headlights shinned in both their faces, making her drop her hand from his chin where it was still placed in order to shield her eyes.

"Mom's home." Rory stated quickly; he could hear panic in her voice, this made his lips turn up into a smirk and his eyes roll around in a circle.

"Rory, calm down." He told her soothingly, "It's not like we're teenagers that are going to get caught doing something. Besides what's the worst the can happen? You get pregnant with my child…" He said, his voice thick and husky "oops… too late I guess." A trademark smirk on his face the whole time.

This made Rory giggle and slap his chest. "You're terrible, you know that?"

"Just part of my charm." He told her cockily; then he winked at her and turned to start down the porch. "Night Ror." He said loud enough for only her, his voice like honey, his back still turned to her.

"Wait your jacket!" Rory shouted, taking it off and handing it to him, almost forgetting she had been wearing it.

"It's a short walk to Luke's. I'll be fine for the night." He told her before continuing down the steps, hands in his pockets without pausing, the smirk growing on his lips.

"Night Lorelai!" Jess shouted, startling her and making her jump as he walked past where she was sitting in her Jeep.

She turned to stick her head out the car window and watched in the light from a Stars Hollow street lamp as him stepped off her lawn onto the sidewalk with her eyes squinted.

"We weren't done talking Mariono!" Lorelai heard her daughter shout from the unlit porch. She really had to remember to tell Luke to fix that light, it made snooping very difficult.

"I know!" she heard the hooligan shout from somewhere behind her on the street.

"And when do you suppose we finish!?" Rory called once more from her spot. She couldn't believe she was acting like his around him; it was like she was seventeen again, she was beginning to feel like foolish Juliet, calling to her Romeo from afar.

"I was thinking tomorrow at Luke's, I can't go that far, you've got my kid Gilmore!" Jess shouted one last time, he might have sounded farther away to Lorelai, but he was still very close to Rory's heart, unintentional or not, that's where he was.

And Jess knew it was true, the fact that he wasn't going anywhere. Everything he could have possibly wanted in life was right here, laid out in front of him like a game. If he played his cards right… he might actually end up winning this one.

Rory, meanwhile, sighed to herself on the porch, but shook her head shortly after trying to clear her clouded thoughts.

She heard a car door shut in the darkness and her mother's footsteps walking up the stairs, they got closer until they stopped and Lorelai stood next to her daughter.

"Please, be careful this time Rory." Was all she said with a sad voice before turning and entering the house, leaving the door open behind her with light shinning through on Rory.

Rory couldn't help but notice how her mother's voice sounded, so… desperate. Although she was probably just as worried for Rory as Rory was for herself, maybe even more.

This time however she knew. It wasn't the same, I wasn't just her that would get hurt, she had to think about Lori.

This wasn't just another one of her boyfriends she would bring home so Lori could tell her what she hated about him. No. This was very, very different. It was Lori's father, if things worked out right they would finally be a family she always wanted for her daughter.

But the question was…

Did she want it for herself?

Sighing once again, Rory turned and went through the open door into her warm house where she could see her daughter was still sleeping and her mother was sitting with Lori's head in her lap.

Listening to the conversation, Rory guessed it was Luke on the phone.

She was happy for her mother, she finally got her fairy tale ending and she deserved it.

But Rory deserve her own?

A fairy tale ending that her mother, father and she never got to have?

She knew Lori did, hell, even Jess did, after everything she put him through.

But did she?

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So? How was it?

Too sappy?

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