present tense

one extra steeped green tea

That Friday night was the last Jess saw of Rory that weekend. The next day he had gone to visit his mother and TJ and then before he left on the Sunday he went for a fishing trip with Luke. Fishing was never his thing but he knew Luke loved it and it's supposed to be a thing that people do with the older males who hold an important place in their lives. Jess and Luke both know what they mean to each other without words. Which is probably for the best because neither of them are experts on vocalizing their feelings.

Now, he was heading back into Stars Hollow after a month, and with new determination. Ever since he had left Rory that night, his head had been full of her. And not in the romantic, white knight sort of way but in the strictly professional, business man sort of way.

He had been thinking over her book, and her pregnancy, and basically the state of her life at the moment. He knew she was going to be a fantastic mother and she would love and care for her kid immensely. However, that shouldn't mean that Rory should lose herself. Rory was the most intelligent, kind and dedicated person he knew. If there was anyone who deserved to have all the things they wanted handed to them, it was her. Now he couldn't hand them to her, but maybe he could help her out a bit. A long time ago, Jess had been pretty sure that Rory had made an internal promise not to give up on him. He owed her a lot of what he had today. He was not going to give up on her either. It was his turn to do the picking up of the pieces.

He skipped his stop at Luke's and went straight to Rory's. He pulled up in front of her building and hopped out. He was rushing his movements so he might be able to have this conversation before his confidence ran out. He buzzed up and prepared to announce himself but Rory just said, "Come on up," over the intercom and unlocked the door.

Jess shook his head as he walked through the door.

"She's been living here too long. She's been lulled into a false sense of security," he thought when in the elevator.

When he reached her door he knocked and was met with Rory shouting that it was open.

"Oh," she said when he stepped through her door, "you were not who I was expecting."

She leaned back in her kitchen chair to observe him with a pleasant smile.

"You should have been expecting a murderer considering how carelessly you unlocked the door without even asking who I was," Jess said while toeing off his shoes.

"You sound like Luke."

"Take it back," he pointed at her with a falsely stern expression and was met with amusement.

"Jess Mariano."

"Hello Rory."

"Have a seat," she said gesturing to the chair across from her.

He complied and pulled out the chair to sit down.

"How have you been?", she asked, getting up.

"Alright. Business is doing well. Although I had this uber eager new author crash through my door the other day and I would have kicked him out on his ass if his writing hadn't been so good."

Rory chuckled.

"What about you?", Jess asked, turning the question around on her.

"Oh, y'know, still tired, still busy, still pregnant," she called from the kitchen, "Do you want something to drink? I'm making tea."

"I'll have whatever you're having."

"Great, one extra steeped green tea coming right up."

Jess hates green tea. Rory knows that very well.

"How long are you in town?"

"Until Monday night. I'm getting away with not going in that day because I'm the co-founder and I say so."

"It's caffeine free. I hope you don't mind," Rory said with a joking air as she set down an earl grey tea in front of him and took her seat, the same tea in hand.

Earl grey is Jess's favourite. Rory's too.

"Anyways, the reason I asked how long you were here for was because Paris is throwing me a baby shower, and if I know Paris at all (which I do), it's going to be interesting. And it's not just a girl's thing, I'm pretty sure all the young people I've ever known in my entire life are coming. It's tomorrow and you're welcome to come along if you're looking for something to do," Rory finished sounding a little breathless.

"Yeah. I don't really have any other plans and that will allow me to stall repairing the ballet bar at Miss Patty's."

Rory laughed and blew on her tea.

"Although I must admit, I came here today with a motive."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"I've been thinking about your book. I think you need to keep writing it."

Rory looked at him curiously.

"Well I haven't stopped, in fact that's what I was doing before you came waltzing through my door."

"Yes, I know, I meant after you have the baby."

"Well as I said, I'm going to try but it's going to be difficult-"

"I know what you said, that's why I'm here. Can't you just let a man make his point," Jess paused and looked at her dead in the eye.

Rory leaned back in her chair with an expression that said she was listening, and making fun of him at the same time.

"You're going to need someone to help. I want to be that person. I will proofread, I will make suggestions and I can really do a lot of my work from Stars Hollow as long as I visit the Publishing House once a week. I could even help out with the baby if you need time to write. I've thought about this a lot and I think it's very important that you don't give up on this, that you don't give up on yourself. Only say no if YOU don't want the help because I am more than willing and more than capable of giving it."

The words "only say no if" echoed in Rory's head. She'd heard those words before. She had watched him walk out the door and she had felt her heart sink and her stomach churn. She didn't want that again.

"You're sure? Because I don't want pity."

"Yes, I'm sure. I would never dream of pitying you."

"Okay," she said cautiously.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay," Jess said finally with a smile.

The two of them sat and talked until Jess's tea was done and then he left to finally say hi to Luke.

After he had gone, Rory sat down on her couch, looked down at her large belly and whispered, "This just got a whole lot more interesting."