Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters. 

Chapter 3: I Turn To You

              “What’s going on?”  He asked, confused by the glares.  He had the same look on his face that a deer caught in the headlights would have.  He saw Rory and Jess who were now off to the side a bit, but still tightly embraced.  From the look on their faces, he knew they knew. 

            Rory buried her head further into Jess’s chest.

            “Make him go,” she whispered just quietly enough so that Jess could hear.  He carefully placed Rory down in a chair and Luke was right by her side, ready to comfort her as Jess handled some business.

            “Dean, I think you should leave now.”  He stated forcefully.

            “No.”  Dean shook his head.  “I need to talk to Rory.  Alone.  Why don’t you stay out of this?  It has got nothing to do with you.”

            “You’re wrong, it has a lot to do with me.  Rory’s my friend, and I don’t know what you did, but you hurt her.  She wants you to leave.”  Rory looked up.  She was Jess’s friend.  She liked to think of it that way. 

            Dean stood there for a minute, obviously not preparing to leave anytime soon.  Jess turned back to Rory and she nodded.  Now it was time for some force.  Jess placed his hand on Dean’s shoulder and tried to usher him out the door, but Dean didn’t move.  His eyes were fixed on Rory.  

            “Dean, go.”  Luke demanded and Dean’s shoulders slumped.  He resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t get to explain himself tonight and dejectedly walked out of the door.  The small jingle of the bell on the door brought everyone back to reality. 

            Jess walked over to Rory and motioned to Luke that he could handle this.  Luke backed away and continued on with business as Jess led Rory up the stairs.  Not once did Jess remove his arms from her shoulders and the tears continued to pour out of her eyes. 

            Once they were halfway up the stairs, Rory remembered that the picture was still on the ground.  Not wanting anyone else to see it, especially Jess, she shrugged away from his grip and ran down the stairs.  Her quick departure confused Jess.  What had he done?  He quickly followed after her, and was relieved when he found her walking back towards the stairs.

            “What was that all about?” He asked her.

            “Oh, I just wanted to get the pictures before anyone else saw it.”  She candidly admitted.

            “That bad, huh?” Rory nodded, but he didn’t even know.  He didn’t know that Dean had cheated on her with Shane, who had in turn cheated on Jess.  It was all some sort of twist love triangle, but in this case, it was actually a square. 

            Jess opened the door to the apartment and ushered Rory inside.  He wasn’t sure if they should go into his room or just stay in the living room area.  He just wanted Rory to be comfortable.  Rory looked at him, questioning, she didn’t know where to sit.

            “Why don’t you sit down.”  He motioned to the couch.  “You want anything?”  She shook her head.

            “I’m sorry about what happened with you and Dean.  You want to talk about it?”  She shook her head again and Jess found her behavior not only unusual, but also hard to deal with.  Not that he minded, but he was just having a difficult time consoling her.

            He was at a loss for words.

            And she was debating whether or not to tell him about Shane.

            “I think it will all turn out ok.”  He told Rory.  It sounded so corny.  And he didn’t really want it to be okay.  She shouldn’t be with Dean.

            “I don’t think it will be.”  She uttered just slightly louder than a whisper.  Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke.

            “Oh, Rory…” He moved a little bit closer to her and embraced her.  She smelled refreshingly like vanilla and her small body fit perfectly up against his.  He didn’t ever want to let her go.  And she didn’t want to let him go.  She enjoyed his…

            …friendship. 

            But was there something more?

********

            “Hello?”  Luke spoke into the phone.

            “Hallo Lucas!”

            “Hello Lorelai,” He sighed into the phone, ready to being the explanations.

“My offspring there? Cause I just called home and she’s not there, so I figured she must be getting her coffee fix.”

            “Yeah, she’s here, but Lor---” She cut him off.

            “Ok, good, well can you tell her that I’m not gonna be coming home tonight?  There’s been a mix-up at the end and Michel is no help.”

            “Something happened with Dean.”

            “Wha---What? Nothing happened with Dean.  Dean does no wrong.” She was shell-shocked.

            “Apparently not.”

            “Speak.  How is my child and what the hell happened?”

            “Well, I think Dean cheated on her, but I’m not sure.  Babette found a picture, and when Rory saw it, she started to cry.  Then Dean came in here, and well, Rory refused to talk to him.”

            “Oh my God.”

            “I know.” He was just as shocked.

            “Well, I need to get home to her right away!”

            “Lorelai, don’t worry about it.  She’s with Jess.”

            “Oh well, that makes me feel better.”  She replied sarcastically.

            “Hold on a sec.”  Luke placed the phone on the counter and went upstairs to peek on Rory and Jess.  The two were hugging but it seemed that Rory had stopped crying.  He hurriedly walked down the stairs and picked up the phone once more.

            “Lorelai?”

            “Yep?”

            “He got her to stop crying.  She’ll be fine.  You can stay at the Inn tonight.”

            “But she just broke up with her boyfriend.  She can’t stay home tonight by herself.  She needs me.”

            “She has us for tonight.”

            “What about ‘solidarity sister’?”

            “Lorelai, finish your work.  She can stay over on the couch tonight and we’ll help her out, ok?”

            Lorelai hesitated.  “Alright.”

            “Ok, so we’ll see you tomorrow?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Buhbye.”

            “Luke?”

            “Yep?”

            “Thanks.”

            He smiled.  Anything for her… and Rory.  “You’re welcome.  Goodnight.”  He hung up the phone and continued cleaning up the diner.    

********

            After ten minutes in his arms, Rory finally raised her head off his chest.  She sat back on the couch and he shifted his body a bit.  He felt a little bare without her there. 

            “Jess, there’s something you should know.”

            “What is it, Rory?”

            “Well, in the picture, it was Dean and…”  She needed more courage, she just couldn’t do it.

            “And who?”  He prompted.

            “Um…Shane.”  She closed her eyes not wanting to see his reaction.  After a few seconds, she opened one and saw that he had been completely unaffected by her news.

            “Don’t you care that your girlfriend cheated on you?”  He cringed at the sound of Shane being called a girlfriend.  Let alone, his girlfriend.

            “She is not my girlfriend.” He said quietly.

            “What?”  Of course she was his girlfriend. 

            “We weren’t together.”

            “But wait, I’m confused.  What about all the times I saw you kissing?”

            He eyed her suspiciously.  “You were watching us?”  Rory shifted uncomfortably.

            “Um, no, but it’s not like you were hiding it.” The corners of Jess’s mouth formed a small smirk that went unnoticed by Rory.  She had been watching.  Did that mean she was jealous? Or just a snoop?

            “So, how is she not your girlfriend?”

            “Rory, I don’t even know her last name.”  He said nonchalantly.  “I only consider a girl to be my ‘girlfriend’ if I know at least her last name, where she lives, how old she is, her favorite book, what music she listens to, and her favorite color.”

            “So, you’re pretty particular?”  She smiled.  Jess knew all of those things about her.  Well, except for her favorite color.  But not that she wanted to be his girlfriend.  But she just wasn’t sure.

            “I guess you could say so.”

            “Ok, then what are you doing with Shane?”  She countered.

            Jess hesitated.  “It’s like when Luke’s all out of coffee, so you settle for tea.”  He hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

            “Except Luke is never out of coffee and only a crazy person would settle for tea.”  She was no fool; she understood perfectly what he was trying to say.  He obviously liked some other, unattainable girl, but whom? She wondered.

            “Yep, only a crazy person would settle…”

            After Jess’s comment, the two were quiet for quite some time until…

            “So, can I see the picture? Or are you gonna burn it without showing anyone?”

            “No, you can see it, then we can both burn it.”

            “Pyro.”

            “Do you want to see it or no?” She eyed him.  No one could call her a pyro.  She had learned her lesson a few years back…

            “I do. I do. I do.”

            “Abba much?” She smiled and handed over the picture.  He took it quickly and looked at it for a second, but remained unfazed.

            “Huh.”  That was all he said.

            “Huh.” She mimicked. 

********

            The rest of the evening went along rather uneventfully.  Jess noticed that Rory had seemed to have gotten over Dean quite quickly and he hoped it was his company that had prompted her to do so.  The two of them talked for hours about books and music.

            “Wait, let me get this straight.  You were in a school play?”

            “Yes.” He nodded.

            “And you had the leading role?”

            “Yes.”

            “And you had to sing?” She smiled.

            “Yes.  But in my defense, I was only 10, and I was forced to be in the play.”

            “Oh, so back then you actually did what you were told?” She countered.

Jess shrugged.

“Huh, so I guess the nickname ‘Dodger’ really fits then, Mr. Edouard Trebaol.” Jess was surprised that she knew who Edouard Trebaol was.

            “You certainly know your stuff.”

            “I like to think so.”  After a moment, she continued.  “So, can I have a little “I’ll Do Anything”?” She blushed a bit when she remembered what I’ll Do Anything was about. 

            “You’re not gonna drop this, are you?”

            “Nope.” Rory yawned a bit and they both glanced down at their watches.  It was almost eleven o’clock.

            “You tired?” He asked her.  He was glad to change the subject. 

            “Nope.”

            “Yes you are.  You just yawned.”

            “No I didn’t,” she lied.  She wanted to keep talking to him, not go to bed.

            At that moment, Luke walked into the apartment.

            “How are you doing, Rory?”

            “I’m fine Luke,” She looked gratefully at Jess.

            “Well, Rory, your Mom called from the Inn a while ago and said she wasn’t coming home tonight, so you’re gonna stay here, is that ok?”  Rory smiled.  She could continue talking with Jess.

            “That’s fine, thanks Luke.”

            “No problem.  Jess, why don’t you lend her some sweats to wear tonight and make up the couch for her.” With that, he wished them goodnight and went into his room.

            Jess stood up and walked into his room.  He began shifting through his drawers.

            “Rory, get in here.” She obediently got up from the couch and wandered into his room.

            “What would you like to wear?”  She looked down at the things he had picked out.

            “Oooh, Mest?  I didn’t know you liked Mest.”

            “A great band.”

            “I concur.”

            “So, what’ll it be?”

            “Well, Pat, I’ll take the Mest shirt and those black sweats.” She pointed them out.

            Jess smirked.  “Here ya go.”  Rory took them and looked around for a place to change.

            As if he could read her mind, “You can change in here, I’ll leave you alone while I make up the couch.”

            “Thanks.”  Jess left his room and closed the door as Rory took off her jeans and sweater and put on Jess’s clothes.  They smelled just like him.  But it wasn’t really cologne; it was that inherent smell that every person has.  She liked his smell, which was weird, but true.  When Rory finished, she had this urge to snoop around his room, but decided against invading his privacy so instead walked back into the living room where Jess was just finishing up the bed.

            “Wow, Betty Sue, wherever did you learn to make a bed that pretty?”  She joked.

            “It’s not funny.” But he was smiling slightly.

            “Oh, on the contrary, I think it’s perfectly deserving of a good guffaw.” Rory sat down on the bed and Jess took it as an indication to leave her for the night.

            “Well, goodnight, Rory.  I hope you feel better.”  He stared walking to his room.

            “Jess, wait!”

            He turned around.  “Yeah?”

            “Will you, I mean, do you want to, I mean, it’s a big bed…Will you sleep here with me?  Cause my mom would always sleep in my bed when I was upset.”  She looked at him with begging eyes, but he was hesitant to say ‘yes’.  It probably wasn’t such a good idea to sleep that close to her.

            “Ok, let me just go change.”  She smiled.  He was such a good friend.  But friend, not anything more, she reminded herself.  Even though now she was a single woman, she was just looking for a friend.  A few minutes later he came out with a Cold Play t-shirt and sweat pants on.  He slowly got onto the bed, as far away from her as possible.  He settled down under the sheets.

            “Cold Play is good too.”

            “Yep.”

And then they were silent for a while.  Finally, after a few minutes, Rory tried to see if he was still awake.  She couldn’t fell asleep.  Maybe it was the heat she could feel radiating from his body that was keeping her awake.

            “Jess?”  She whispered.

            “Hold on a sec.”

Rory was confused, but was silent until he responded.

            “Ok, what?”

            “What were you doing?”

            “Nothing,” he lied.

            “That was not ‘nothing’.  That was something.” 

            “Fine, I was praying…” He voiced got lower on the last word, but Rory still heard him.

            “I didn’t know you were religious.”

            “I’m not.”

            “Oh.” Huh.  “What do you pray about?”

            “Well, I pray for the people I love.”

            “Oh, like who?”  Jess looked at her and smiled through the dark.  He could see her bright, blue eyes glowing.

            “Rory, do you want me to pray for you?”

            “That’s ok, you don’t have to.  Unless you already did…” She said trying to act like she didn’t care even though it was obvious that she did.

            “But do you want me to?”

            Rory hesitated.  “Doesn’t much matter, if you want.” She tried to keep her answer ambiguous.  Jess smiled.

            “Ok.”  A minute later he said, “Done.”

            “Thanks.”

            “Yep.”

            “What did you say?”

            “My, aren’t you inquisitive?”

            “Sorry,” she shied away, embarrassed by her curiosity.

            “I prayed about how I want you to be happy and that I want Dean to have a really good excuse for that picture, if he’s what makes you happy.”

            “Oh.  But maybe Dean doesn’t make me happy.”  She stated.  And then they were silent.

            “Goodnight Rory.”

            “Yellow.”

            “What?”  Jess asked her, confused.  But Rory didn’t respond.  She turned around and finally was able to fall asleep.  She was comfortable.  This was good.

Here with you, Near with you

Oh I

I need to be next to you