Chapter 6 : I Wanna Be Bad

The next day . . .

"So, what did you do yesterday?"

"Why do you ask?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Just a question. I didn't know you were going out."

"I went to Lane's," Rory replied.

"You were there for awhile..." Lorelai said, trailing off.

"I wasn't there the whole time. I went to the movies, too."

"With Lane?"

"No."

"With Dean?"

"No."

"By yourself? Please tell me you went by yourself."

"Actually, I did go by myself," Rory declared. She decided not to add that she met up with Jess there. There seemed no point...nothing good could possibly come from that little piece of information.

"You should have asked Dean to go with you."

"He didn't want to go."

That wasn't exactly a lie; he hadn't wanted to go. Of course, she had told him that she was going to see a different movie than she actually saw, but in all fairness, she hadn't known which movie she was going to see ahead of time. And he probably wouldn't have wanted to see Swimfan, anyway.

"Oh. What did you see?"

"Swimfan."

"Any good?"

"It was alright. But since Dean hadn't wanted to go, I promised we'd hang out today, so he should be here any--"

The doorbell rang, interrupting Rory's words.

"And there he is," Lorelai said with a grin.

Rory went over to the front door and threw it open.

"Hi--" she froze as her eyes locked with her "visitor"'s.

"Jess," he helped her.

Despite her surprise, Rory laughed. "I know who you are. But why are you here?"

"Hun, don't keep him out there all day!" Lorelai's voice rang out from the living room. She got up from the couch and walked over. "Come in--" she stopped in mid-sentence, much like Rory had done, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Jess," he repeated. "Am I that forgettable?"

Rory ducked her head to hide her smile.

"Jess, what are you doing here?" she tried again.

"Yeah, Dean's coming over any minute," Lorelai added.

"We thought you were him."

"Really? I couldn't tell, by the disappointed look on both of your faces when you saw me."

Now it was Lorelai who tried to hide her smile.

Rory frowned. "Hey, I was just surprised," she said defensively.

Jess turned to Lorelai.

"Oh, actually, I think I was a little disappointed, sorry," she admitted, a smirk on her face.

Jess shrugged. "Fair enough."

Suddenly, Dean popped up behind him. Jess glanced down, noticing a huge shadow looming over him. He turned around.

"Bagb--"

"Dean!" Rory cried, pushing past Jess to walk over to Dean. She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss. "Hi."

"What's he doing here?" Dean demanded.

"I don't know, but don't get mad, okay?"

"He's always here."

"Huh. I am?"

"Jess, can you please just go?" Rory asked softly.

He gritted his teeth as Dean smirked at him. Dean smirked at him. He felt like punching him, but of course that wasn't the way to go about it. Not if he wanted to still be a part of Rory's life.

"Is that what you want?"

She hesitated and Jess smiled.

"Rory?"

Rory glanced at Dean, confusion on her face. She turned back to Jess, leaving his question unanswered. "Please just leave," she repeated.

Jess nodded. "Okay."

Dean passed Jess as he walked into the house. He scowled at him and followed Lorelai into the other room.

Rory looked at Jess. "Sorry," she whispered.

"We'll talk later," he replied.

She slowly nodded, not sure if he meant on the phone, or at Luke's, or what. "Okay. Bye J--"

"Ror! Hurry, you have to see this guy on TV!"

Rory reached over and squeezed Jess's arm, smiling at him. He looked at her in surprise for a second. How very un-Rory-like of her. Oh well. He turned around and started walking.

Rory softly shut the door after Jess. She hurried to the living room, falling onto the couch between Lorelai and Dean before realization sunk in.

'Did I just...squeeze Jess's arm?'

A few hours later, Jess sat on his bed, trying to concentrate on the book in his hands. It was useless...he had broken his concentration by thinking about her, Rory, and now he couldn't get it back.

He sighed, closing his book. He went downstairs and asked Luke if he needed help with anything in the diner.

Looking around at the nearly-empty tables before him, Luke replied, "I think I can handle it. Why?"

Jess didn't want to tell him that he was bored. Luke would no doubt find a way to use that against him later somehow.

"Just asking. Since you don't need help, I'm going out."

"Out where?"

"Out," Jess called over his shoulder, the diner door slamming after him.

He started walking around aimlessly for a few minutes and then an idea started to form in his mind. Suddenly, he was at the Gilmore house. Outside Rory's bedroom window, to be exact.

Feeling surprisingly like a stalker, he peeked in her window. She wasn't in there. He was just about to leave, when the door opened. Rory's eyes subconsciously flew to the window, and Jess ducked. He was too late, though. He heard her gasp and call for her mom.

Cursing under his breath, Jess stood up. Rory squinted at him, walking closer. She sighed in relief once she realized it was him.

Lorelai burst into the room just then, with Dean following close behind.

"Rory?" she cried. "Are you alright?"

Rory glanced at the window, but Jess was already gone. She looked from Dean to Lorelai. "I'm fine. I thought I saw something outside my window."

"Want me to check?"

Lorelai moved to the window, but Rory stopped her.

"Thanks, but I already checked. Nothing's out there. Sorry I scared you guys."

Lorelai smiled, giving her daughter a hug. She and Dean went back into the living room and Rory closed the door after them. She went over to her window and opened it.

Jess stuck his head in and she hit him on the head. He laughed. "Okay, okay, sorry!"

"You scared me to death!" Rory exclaimed.

"Sorry," he repeated.

"What are you doing hanging around outside my window, anyway?"

"Sorry, I forgot about your boyfriend coming over."

"You forgot? It's only been three hours."

"Really? Well, gosh, that's how memorable he is."

Despite the fact that he was making fun of her boyfriend, Rory found herself laughing. She stopped abruptly, though, as a thought occurred to her. "If you forgot about Dean, then why are you breaking into my house?"

"I hardly call this a break-in, Rory."

"You know he'll kill you if he finds you in here..."

"I'll take my chances. Unless you want me to go?"

Rory was quiet again and Jess nodded.

"Are you going to be online later?"

"Uh, I don't know--"

"Well, I better go before Bagboy comes back. See you online, Rory."

"Okay," she whispered, more than a little confused.

Jess left, and she closed her window, staring after him.

NYer02: hey

CoffeeJunkie02: Dodger! How's it going?

NYer02: good. you seem happy.

CoffeeJunkie02: I am. :)

Jess bit his lip, staring at the computer screen. His fingers hovered over the keys as he contemplated how to answer.

NYer02: what happened?

CoffeeJunkie02: he showed up outside my window.

Jess laughed out loud.

NYer02: like a knight in shining armor?

CoffeeJunkie02: I wouldn't go that far. :)

NYer02: so since I'm sure your boyfriend uses doors, I'm guessing this knight you're talking about wasn't him.

CoffeeJunkie02: nope

NYer02: yet you're still happy

CoffeeJunkie02: I guess I am. :)

Jess felt a smile come onto his face.

NYer02: have you finally come to a decision?

CoffeeJunkie02: not yet...

NYer02: what about your 'knight'? coming to your window to see you...that sounds awfully sweet

CoffeeJunkie02: it was :)

NYer02: aw. and where was your boyfriend during all of this?

CoffeeJunkie02: in the other room with my mom.

NYer02: and it gets interesting. so why stay with this boyfriend (that you hardly talk about, by the way), when you clearly like this other guy

CoffeeJunkie02: how do you know

'Uh oh,' Jess thought. 'She's getting defensive.'

NYer02: Sorry, I'm just judging by all your virtual smiles.

CoffeeJunkie02: wow, I guess I did smile a lot. Hm.

NYer02: so, forget the smiles. Do you like this guy or not?

He held his breath, waiting for an answer. At least he knew that since she didn't know who she was talking to, she would be fairly honest.

CoffeeJunkie02: I don't know.

NYer02: how could you not know?

CoffeeJunkie02: I just don't.

NYer02: I think that you should choose, before one of them just gives up and gets sick of competing.

CoffeeJunkie02: what do you mean? I really don't think...

CoffeeJunkie02: besides, like I said, it's not that easy. My mom...

NYer02: What. Your mom what?

CoffeeJunkie02: My mom loves my boyfriend almost more than I do, it seems sometimes. But the other guy...

NYer02: the knight...

CoffeeJunkie02: she doesn't like him at all. I have a feeling if I wasn't in school, and if we could bring my boyfriend with us, she'd pack up and move, just to keep me away from him.

NYer02: sounds like you don't want to stay away, to me.

Jess was starting to feel a little guilty talking to her about her relationships with Dean, Lorelai, and himself. If he was talking to her face to face, it would be fine. But, now, she didn't even know she was talking to him.

CoffeeJunkie02: I guess I don't.

His conscience getting the best of him, Jess told her he had to go. She replied simply with an "okay, bye" and she promptly signed off.

Jess turned off his computer and lay back on his bed with a sigh.

Well, at least he knew one of the main reasons why Rory was so resistant to him. Her mother didn't like him, and Lorelai's opinion of, well, everything mattered to Rory. They were best friends, after all.

He knew Lorelai didn't like him--that was painfully obvious. But he didn't know Rory would build a wall between the two of them because of it.

He reached over and punched a button on his radio, and music filled the room. He gradually fell asleep, and the last thing he thought before drifting off: 'Looks like I have to start being nicer to Lorelai, though I'm not so sure I'm the problem anymore...'