The party was still in full swing, which Rory found really amusing considering she hasn't even been present in like an hour, but the two adults had another destination in mind: Luke's Diner.

They were stopping by there because Rory was having coffee withdrawals (even though she just had a cup), and Jess figured he should let Luke know that he is in town and passing through for a few days. But the main reason was that they also didn't want to be active participators in the current town shindig. Plus with Jess being in town... well that could either go semi-decent or terribly awful in less than 5 seconds.

As they made their way across the street towards Luke's, they noticed not one, but two silhouettes in the diner. As they got closer, they came to realize that Lorelai was in there!

"Mom?" Rory asked to not one in particular.

Jess heard Rory and came immediately alert. "Lorelai? Where?"  He looked around and couldn't find her, but then his glance went in towards the diner window. Jess looked at Rory. "Why is it surprising that your mom is in there? She loves coffee, Luke's coffee especially."

Rory shook her head. "I didn't know that they reconciled.... You know about the April-being-Luke's-daughter-June 3rd wedding thing, right?"

Jess nodded. "Luke had hinted to something. I didn't ask him to elaborate, though. He seemed really distant on the topic.

"I did ask him more on April. I was just as shocked as I assume you and Lorelai were, but he didn't really say much. All he really said was he has a daughter, whom he had never met or knew existed, and he is trying to get partial custody so he can see her."

He stopped. "Speaking of, April's mother, what's her name- Anna, she shouldn't have been denying Luke access in his child's life."

"I agree; I just wish Mom had gotten to know her. But she wasn't allowed to," Rory said almost solemnly.

Jess fully turned towards Rory. She turned with him. "Hey. At least they are talking now. As long as no one is ripping each other's head off and the coffee isn't spilt all over the floor, that has got to warrant some hope, right?"

Rory sighed. "Yeah, I guess so.

"Do you still want to go in there, even though you know my Mom is in there as well?"

Jess just shrugged his shoulders. "It's a small town. I was going to inevitably see her anyway, plus it might be better to do it now before word gets out that I'm here and she comes searching for me and questioning my intentions."

Rory nodded. "You're probably right."

Jess walked towards the front door. "After you." He gestured Rory to go in first with his hand.

Rory brought a hand up to her chest and smiled. "My, what a gentleman."

"Yeah, no. That's too much even for me. I just did it because I'm such a polite person," Jess said sarcastically as Rory walked inside the diner.

It was empty, save for the two individuals in the middle. Lorelai was sitting at one of the tables in the centre and Luke was standing up, pouring her coffee. They seemed to have been having a conversation before Rory and Jess entered; their smiles said it all.

Lorelai brought the cup of coffee (that was filled up to the brim, obviously) up to her lips with a smile and noticed Rory as she took a sip. She almost choked when she saw her daughter and the infamous town hoodlum standing in front of the door.

"Ah, my wonderful child! And... Jess," she added with confusion and distaste.

Jess lifted his hand up in a half wave as Rory made her way over to her mom. They immediately started talking in Gilmore rapid fire, no doubt Lorelai questioning why he was here. So, Jess instead walked over to Luke.

"Hey, Luke."

"Jess, how's it going? I didn't think you were going to come." Luke, of course, had many questions after seeing his nephew and Rory walking into the diner together. He was trying to be subtle, but Jess, of course, caught it.

"It's fine, Uncle Luke. If you have questions, ask them," Jess said casually.

Luke just sighed, then gestured towards the curtain behind the counter. Jess understood and followed Luke up the stairs, into what used to be a homey living space; now what was just used as storage.

As soon as the door closed, Luke let everything out.

"So," Luke started. "You and Rory are talking again? I thought everything was done with you both...."

"Yeah. She was on the dock by the lake when I went out there," Jess replied. "She apologized for what happened at Truncheon and I gave her a proper apology from all the shit I put her through a couple of years ago. It was us officially getting closure on, well, us." He finished with a nonchalant sigh and shrug of his shoulders.

Luke slowly crossed his arms. "Wait, what happened at Truncheon last year?"

Jess brought his hand to the back of his neck. "When she came to Truncheon," he gulped nervously, "I kissed her..." Luke immediately looked at him. "And she kissed back, then she dropped the bomb that she had a boyfriend and she came here so she could "get back at him" or "cheat on him the way he cheated on me."

Luke blinked. Then blinked again and let his arms fall to his side.

"Wow. I- I didn't know about that, Jess. I'm sorry," Luke said with genuine sympathy, even if he felt kinda awkward giving it.

Jess just simply shrugged. "It is what it is." He internally cringed at his own words. They carried too much baggage and memories he would much rather not talk about anymore.

Luke could sense that Jess was uncomfortable talking about this, so he dropped this particular topic. He figured changing tactics was a good idea.

"So, how are things in Philadelphia...?"

--——————

The Gilmore girls watched the Danes men walk up the stairs and waited until the door shut to start up conversation, ensuring that they definitely wouldn't be heard.

Rory talked first.

"Are you and Luke...?" she gestured with her hands, a smile creeping up onto her face.

Lorelai immediately broke out into a grin. "I don't know. We actually just kissed and we were going to talk about everything in depth over a cup of coffee, hence the reason I have a cup. I was also craving it, so Luke gave in and made me a pot of it. But then you walked in here with Jess- Jess! Wait, why were you walking with Jess? Also, why the hell is he back here?" Lorelai definitely lost some enthusiasm when bringing him up.

Rory leaned back in her chair.

"I was at the bridge just thinking about... everything. That talk with Lane really got me realizing that I really am leaving Stars Hollow for awhile and I'm going to miss you, Grandma and Grandpa, this town so, so much!"

Rory shook her head. "It's all going so fast. And sure enough, while I'm deep in thought, I hear the wood creaking and bam! Jess. Of all people, Jess Mariano is back in Stars Hollow."

Lorelai took a sip of coffee and stood up. "I was definitely very surprised by that. He has wanted nothing more than to get out of here for the past couple years. And now he just shows up. Willingly, too." While she was talking, Lorelai busied herself with getting a cup for Rory. She tried to do it as quietly as possible so Luke wouldn't find out she was behind the counter.

Rory nodded. "I know. But it was also good, you know? Seeing him. We had a lot to talk about."

"We? He is the one who has stuff to talk about with you. He was the one who left you abruptly and with no goodbye. Twice!" Lorelai replied.

"No, Mom. We. Trust me when I say we both had things to apologize for."

Lorelai turned to look at Rory. "What do you have to apologize for? Being a great girlfriend?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm old enough to know that while he did leave during our relationship, I wasn't the greatest girlfriend. I could've tried harder but I didn't. And yes, I did have something to say sorry for."

Lorelai brought Rory's coffee over for her and heard her daughter mumble a thank you. She waited patiently for Rory to finish taking a pleasurable sip of her favorite beverage before she started talking.

Rory sighed. 'It's now or never' she thought.

"Last year, I got an invitation in the mail for an open house. Jess' open house for his book store, Truncheon Books. Really beautiful place, by the way," Rory added with a smile.

Lorelai didn't say anything. She just nodded.

Rory cleared her throat and continued. "So, I went. I figured after everything he did for me, this would be a great way for me to properly thank him-,"

"Wait what did he do for you?"

"Oh, crap! I forgot to tell you. Basically, long story short, Jess was the reason I went back to Yale," Rory said casually, with a bit of an apprehensive tone.

Lorelai's eyes went wide. "Jess? Jess Mariano is the reason you went back to Yale? Now, how the hell did that happen?"

"He came to see me briefly before we had started talking again. He showed me his book that he wrote and published, which again is really, really good and we made plans to meet up the next day. Sure enough, Logan crashed the dinner and pulled the jealous boyfriend bit and incessantly made fun of Jess' success and what he had accomplished. Suffice to say, the dinner didn't go too well."

Lorelai interjected. "I see Jess' affect on your boyfriends hasn't changed."

Rory gave her mom an annoyed look. "Not funny. Jess was actually very mature given the way Logan was acting. Looking back, I would've been grateful for either of us, or anyone for the matter, to just slap him for how rude he was.

"But then, he stormed out of the restaurant, so I ran after him. We got outside and he starting yelling at me about how "this isn't me", "going out with this jerk", and why I dropped out of Yale. He got me to see that the path I was going on wasn't even a path. It was an easy way out of the hole I dug myself into. And even then it wasn't an easy way. It was just... not right.

"After that, I got into a fight with Logan, then immediately started the process of changing my life around. I made plans to return to Yale, I asked if I could stay with Paris again, and I called you on the drive home," Rory sighed. "I was finally doing what I should've months ago.

"But with what happened during our more recent meeting," Rory exhaled and leaned forward. "I used him to properly cheat on Logan."

"You what?!"

"Yeah. Logan cheated on me and I felt hurt and betrayed, so once I got Jess' letter I went to Truncheon, lead him on, and broke his heart. All in one night." Rory felt slight tears prick at her eyes. "I didn't know he still had feelings for me."

"He still had feelings for you?" Lorelai inquired with wide eyes.

Rory nodded numbly. "Yeah. Or at least I assumed as much. Would he have initiated a kiss if he didn't?"

"He kissed you first?"

"Yes and I let him. Didn't push him off or anything; I kissed him back. Then a couple of seconds later, I immediately regretted it. The look on his face said everything, Mom. I really hurt him."

Lorelai put her hand on Rory's "Oh, honey..."

Rory took her hands back. "No. I don't deserve sympathy. I majorly screwed up and I need to take responsibility for that."

Lorelai nodded. "I agree. I'm not Jess' biggest fan, even though I have a newfound respect for him given that he is the reason you went back to Yale, but that wasn't right what you did."

Rory dropped her head. "I know. I apologized, but I don't think it's enough."

"Well, what did he say?"

"That it's in the past; forgive and forget."

"I guess that's all you can really do at this point."

"Yeah..."

By the time the Gilmore's had stopped talking, the curtain moved and Jess and Luke emerged from behind it. Luke went behind the counter to clean up and Jess went towards Lorelai and Rory.

Lorelai stood up and turned towards Jess.

"Jess, listen. I know you and I have never really gotten along. But I want to say... thank you. Rory told me what you did for her, getting her to go back to college and start talking to me again. Without you, she wouldn't have her wonderful mother back in her life or a Yale diploma hanging on her wall."

"You both would've made up eventually."

Lorelai shook her head. "I don't know. We are Gilmore's, who are as stubborn as they come. We don't really give in too easily."

"It's true," Rory piped in from behind Lorelai.

Lorelai smiled. "But really Jess, thank you. So much."

"No problem."

Lorelai looked back at Rory. "All right kid, I'll see you back at the house. I'll start putting some things aside for you, but you might need to come home kinda early. You leave early tomorrow and we don't want you looking like a zombie on your first day."

"Goodbye, Mom," Rory said a little too loudly.

Lorelai smirked and walked out the door.

Luke pointed towards Jess. "You'll lock up the diner when you're done."

"Yep."

"Alright. Goodnight, Rory. See you tomorrow morning. Knowing your mother, she'll want to come here for coffee regardless of the time."

Rory smiled. "That she will."

Luke smiled back and walked up the stairs.

Rory looked at Jess. "And then there were two."

Jess smiled.

"Well, I guess I should get going," Rory said begrudgingly.

"Yeah. You don't want to look like a dead zombie tomorrow morning."

Rory gasped and smacked his arm. Jess just laughed and walked towards the door.

He opened the door for Rory and they were immediately engulfed in the warm summer air. Rory looked at Jess with a saddened expression.

"How many days are you in town for?"

"Not long. Maybe another day or two. Truncheon's getting busy so Chris and Matt need me back there as soon as possible."

"Obligation can be a prison."

"At least this is a prison that has great atmosphere."

"Any place with books or coffee is a great atmosphere."

Jess nodded his head. "Truer words have never been spoken."

Rory smiled.

Jess grinned a bit, but retained a kinda serious expression."Goodnight, Rory. Good luck tomorrow; you're going to do great."

"Goodnight, Jess. And thank you. For... everything."

Before she lost her nerve, Rory quickly stood on her toes and pecked Jess on the cheek. She smiled at him and started walking away.

Jess wasn't even mad about the way she walked away with no explanation, how that could've meant nothing on her part. All he knew was that he is still in love with Rory Gilmore. Forever and always.

And no matter what happens in the future, that was enough.

                  --——————

Yay! I finished my first Jess and Rory mini story. I hope you enjoyed reading it because I had so much fun writing it!