Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

            Rory pushed open the unlocked front door and was welcomed by the sweet aroma of gingerbread.  And it wasn’t burnt gingerbread, so that could only mean one thing.  Luke!

            “Mom!” Rory shouted as she made her way to the kitchen.

            “Rory!!!” Lorelai popped out of her seat and sprung herself at Rory.  The mother and daughter hugged like they hadn’t seen each other in decades.

            “Hey Mom,” she continued to hug her mother.  After a few moments, they pulled apart.  “Hi Luke!”

            “Hey Rory, good to have you back.” Luke welcomed.

“Sweetie, how are you? How was the ride? Traffic? It’s really snowing out there.  Wait, where is Jess?” Lorelai immediately zeroed in on Rory asking question after question, not waiting for a response. 

“I’m right here,” Jess called from the hallway.  Lorelai smiled.

“And you’ve come bearing gifts!” She immediately reached for the pile that Jess was carrying. 

“Oh, no you don’t.”  Jess backed away.  “I’m under strict orders not to let you open these before Christmas.”  Lorelai pouted.

“But I neeeeeeed something to tide me over.” She began her whining charade.

“Mom, that’s why at Thanksgiving I gave you that present-a-day advent calendar.” Lorelai looked away.  “Mom, you didn’t!”

“Fine, I didn’t!” Lorelai tried to get out of it.

“Mom, you are only supposed to open one a day.  Not all of them in one day!”

“I know, I know, and I was doing really well, until I got to day 5, and I was sorely disappointed with that cheap piece of crap inside, so I um…opened 6, thinking it would be better.  But it wasn’t!”

“So, then you continued on to open all of them, hoping to find what? A new pair of ice skates?” Jess’s sarcasm rang true.

“Well, no, not ice skates, but at least something as good as the ones from the first 4 days.  I swear that those advent people are playing me.  They make their calendar seem sooooo good because they give away good stuff in the beginning.  It’s a conspiracy.  I think I’ll add them to my list.”

“Alright, you do that, Mom.” Rory smiled, it was nice to be back.

“So, Rory, Jess, why don’t you two sit down.  I made some gingerbread,” Luke let out a grunt in response to her claim of the gingerbread.  “Luke made some gingerbread and I want to hear all about college.  Don’t leave anything out.”

“Mom, you already know everything.  I talked to you on the phone two nights ago.  And I was back here for Thanksgiving three weeks ago.”

“I know, but humor me.” Lorelai stated and Rory nodded.

“Ok, so my roommate’s name is Courteney.” Rory heard Jess utter a faint ‘rah rah’, in reference to Courteney’s cheerleading background, but Rory only smiled at him and continued.  “And she is really nice, pretty clean.  But we don’t have many classes together.  And speaking of classes, they are going pretty well.  Most of my professors are interesting, except there is this one guy who---” Rory was cut off from her mother.

“You were right, I already know all about it.  You go, Jess.” Rory pretended to be hurt but dropped the act once Jess began to talk.

“Well, I don’t have a roommate, and you already knew that, but my apartment complex is okay.  You two saw it when you came to visit.  It’s not Trump Towers, but it’ll do.  And my classes are going well.  I just finished finals.” Jess sat back in his chair and there was a moment of silence.

“Jess is at the top of all of his classes.”  Rory proudly squeezed his hand. 

“Jess, that’s great!” Luke was thrilled.

“Well, it’s nothing too great, it is not Yale, only the community college.”

“It’s still great.  You are learning and experiencing new things.  And you get to live just a few minutes away from Rory.”

“I’m not complaining.”  Jess smiled one of his rare full out smiles.

“Well, I guess we should be going soon, they aren’t going to wait for us to light that tree.”  Lorelai stood up and the other three followed suit.  “Jess, you and Luke are going to sleep on the couch, bed, thingy while they fix up Luke’s apartment.  Is that ok?”

Jess looked to Luke, not exactly wanting to sleep in the same bed as his uncle, but he didn’t really have much of a choice. “Yeah, that’s fine.”  Jess replied and Luke grunted.  Luke wasn’t exactly thrilled about this either. 

“Ok, well, we’ll leave in like ten minutes then.”  Lorelai pushed Rory to her room and left the nephew and uncle to re-acquaint themselves. Once Lorelai and Rory made it to Rory’s old room, Lorelai closed the door and sat on the bed.

“So, Ror, how are things with you and Jess?” Now was the time for gossip.

“Great.” Rory couldn’t hide her smile.

“I can see.”

“Yeah, these past few months have been great.  After classes we go to cafes and read, and look for vintage books.  And sometimes we go to concerts.”

“Sounds very fairytale.”

“It is.  And we’re coming up on one year.”

“True, true. So you are fairly committed?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Can you see him being, like you know, the one?” Lorelai asked seriously.

“Yeah,” Rory shyly admitted.

“He’s good for you.”

“I know, but enough about me, how’s this thing between you and Luke going?”

“Well…it’s only been a couple of dates, but I know him so well that it seems like…

********

As the foursome walked back to the Gilmore house from the tree lighting, they gradually spilt into twosomes. 

“I’ve got a surprise for you when we get back.”  Rory admitted to Jess.

“Oh yeah?” He placed his arm around her shoulder and she fit perfectly into place.

“Yeah, I hope you like it.”  Then they were silent for a while.  “It’s nice being back.”

“You know, I never thought I would say this, but it is nice being back in Stars Hollow.”

“Yeah, you know it’s not so bad.”

“Well, it stopped being ‘so bad’ once we got together.”

“Stop,” Rory lightly commanded.  “You are making me blush.” Rory and Jess both laughed and Jess kissed her on the cheek.  He was so happy.

The couples continued to bask in the glory of love the whole walk home.  Back at the house, Jess followed Rory into her room and Lorelai and Luke sat talking at the kitchen table.

“Luke?”

“Yeah?”

“Wanna come with me?”

“Where?” He asked cautiously.

“To see what Rory and Jess are up to.”

“Lorelai, give them privacy.”

“I just want to make sure that they are sticking to G.” Off Luke’s stare, Lorelai corrected herself, “PG...” another stare, “…13.”

“I wouldn’t worry about what they are doing now, I would worry about what they do back in New Haven.  Without you watching over their shoulder.” 

Lorelai stood up shocked. “Oh my God, you are so right! I’m going to have to move there, or enlist a full time spy…”

“I take that back. I didn’t say that.” Luke groaned knowing he had just made the situation more complicated.

“Yes you did.  How much do you think a spy would cost?”

“Lorelai, don’t worry, Rory’s a smart girl, and Jess has definitely been softened by Rory.”

“But…”

“Ok, I’ll go with you to check on them.” Luke reluctantly acquiesced. Anything to stop the madness.

Lorelai walked down the hallway and stopped in front of Rory’s door, which happened to be slightly ajar, to her good fortune.  Luke positioned himself just behind Lorelai and they both had a good view of Rory and Jess.  Lorelai was surprised to see that all they were doing was talking; the two were sitting Indian style across from each other on the bed. 

Oblivious to the on lookers, Rory and Jess continued their conversation.

“Ready for your surprise?” Rory asked. At this point, Jess was a little bit scared after seeing Rory’s facial expression, but nodded his head anyway.  Rory bent over the bed and picked up a magazine.

“Cosmo?” He asked.

“Yep, they have this cool exercise thing I want to do with you.”

Jess rolled his eyes.  Rory handed him a pen and piece of paper.

“Ok, so what you do is write two things you are grateful for, two things that make you happy, and two things that you wish for in the future.  Not so hard, right?”  Rory chirped and Jess eyed her for a moment before quickly scribbling his responses. Both he and Rory were done in just minutes and Lorelai tried to read what was written on the paper from afar, but to no avail.

“You read yours first.” Rory demanded.

“Why do I have to go first?”

“Because I said so.” Rory laughed and Jess cleared his throat to read the list.

“Alright.  I am grateful for your love and your friendship.” He looked up to see her smile, and he continued.  “Your heart and your smile make me happy.” He looked up once more to see her grinning.  “There it is.” He pointed to the smile on her face and she blushed.  He continued. “And I wish that in the future, you’ll always love me and there will never be a day when I don’t get to see you smile.” Jess placed the paper down on the bed and Rory leaned forward to kiss him.  Her very similar paper fluttered to the floor where Lorelai was able to discern just how much Rory loved Jess.

Lorelai left the door and walked back into the kitchen.  Luke sat across from her at the kitchen table and squeezed her hands. 

“I don’t think he’ll ever hurt her.” She admitted.

“Me neither.  He really does love her.  He did follow her to college.”

“I know.”  She paused.  “But if he does hurt her, I get first dibs on…”

“We’ll do it together.”

But they both knew that they would never need to.  Rory and Jess were together forever.

Telling my heart I didn't mean it
Pretending I've run from these feelings for so long
that I was better off alone
But I know that it's just a lie
So afraid of taking a chance again
So afraid of what I'd feel inside

But I need to be next to you
I need to share every breath with you
I need to know I can see you smiling each morning
Look into your eyes each night
For the rest of my life

Here with you, Near with you
Oh I
I need to be next to you

Right here with you is right where I belong
I'd lose my mind if I could see you
Without you there is nothing in this life
That would make life worth living for
I can't bear the thought of you not there
I can't fight what I feel anymore

'Cause I need to be next to you
I need to share every breath with you
I need to know I can see you smiling each morning
Look into your eyes each night
For the rest of my life

Here with you, Near with you
Oh I
I need to be next to you

I need to have your heart next to mine
For all times
Hold you for all my life
I need to be next to you

I need to be next to you
Need to be need to be next to you
Share every breath with you
I need to feel you in my arms babe
In my arms, babe
I need to be next to you