A/N: So here's something interesting and potentially disappointing. This is the final chapter. I didn't intend for it to be that way when I first thought about how I wanted this chapter to go, but I feel like the theme of this story has been Rory struggling with figuring out her relationships and kind of finding herself and I didn't want to make the story into something else by continuing it down the road it goes. I'd rather keep it on the short and sweet side rather than drag it out and have it feel like two separate stories squished together. So this is the end. I hope you've all enjoyed it and aren't to disappointed by the abrupt ending! I usually try to plan these things out better, I swear. I will try to give more of a heads up in my next story...

In a way, it was a smart move to break up with Dean right before she had a day off from school. On the holiday she didn't have to go into town to go to the bus stop, so she could hole up in her room and avoid Dean completely. Unfortunately, her day long vow of solitude wasn't accepted by everyone else.

"Rory, you have to come!" Lane begged into the phone. "It's our first gig and I need a true fan there."

Before Rory could break the news of her and Dean's split, Lane had called about a house party that her band was playing at that Friday night. Rory had never been to a house party before and didn't really have any interest in going to one, but Lane wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Plus you have to do my makeup for me, because my hands are going to be shaking way too much to do it myself," Lane added, sensing Rory's hesitation.

"You might want to work on that before getting on the drums," Rory suggested.

"See, those are the kind of tips I could use at the party," Lane said. "Come on, it'll be fun. Kyle's been talking about it for a week now. I think the whole school is going to be there."

Lane was not making a very convincing argument. A house party with the entire school crammed in sounded loud and uncomfortable and while Kyle was sweet, he was not the most socially aware kid. He was the kind of kid who would probably lecture you for not putting a shopping cart back in the parking lot, if Stars Hollow had stores like that. Rory thought it was extremely likely that the party would get out of hand very quickly. Then again, everything she knew about teenage house parties came from movies.

"I don't know," Rory said, for the third time during that call. "It's still days away. How about I get back to you?"

Lane sighed. "Rory, this is a big deal for us! It's our first chance to perform for real people. This could lead to a gig where we get paid in real money." Apparently Kyle had told them they could have first run at the keg he was getting if they played his party. Not much of an offer, in Rory's opinion. "Look, just bring Dean and hang out and you guys can leave as soon as we're done playing."

Rory shouldn't have been surprised that Dean came up, but she was a bit taken aback anyway. "I don't think Dean will be there," Rory mumbled. She cleared her throat, trying to sound more confident. "We broke up last night."

The other end of the line was quiet for a minute, but at last Lane spoke up tentatively. "I kind of wondered if you would soon," she admitted. "You just didn't seem happy with him anymore."

Even though they didn't see as much of each other since Rory started Chilton, she knew that she could always count on Lane. "I'll move on," Rory assured her. "You're right, it kind of felt like a long time coming." She had been so comfortable in her routine that she hadn't put much thought into how lackluster their relationship really was. That is, until someone new showed up and made her question if she should settle for just being comfortable. "I'll be at the party," Rory decided finally. If the whole school was really going, maybe Jess would make an appearance.

Lane hadn't been exaggerating by much when she said Kyle had invited the whole school to the party. The house was loud, and the band hadn't even started yet. Despite Lane's assurances that she needed Rory there, once she was appropriately decked out in glitter eye makeup she had stuck with the band. Rory knew that objectively discussing the set list was probably more important than keeping her company, but Lane was the only reason she had gone to the party.

She had never been the most social person at Stars Hollow High and now that she was at Chilton, Rory felt even further removed from the social scene. After half an hour of awkward smiles and waves, she hadn't actually talked to anybody besides Kyle and no one else was making an effort to talk to her. She had gotten a couple of dirty looks, though. No doubt Dean had spread the news about their breakup during the week. It made Rory wonder if Jess had heard about it, but she hadn't seen him at the party to try to guess if he cared.

Rory felt a little more comfortable when Lane's band started playing. It gave her something to focus on, and a focus was good. Halfway through the first set though, Rory was distracted by a ringing noise. It took her a minute to realize it was coming from her mom's cell phone in her pocket. Lorelai had insisted that she take it in case she needed to be picked up, despite the fact that Kyle's house was walking distance from hers and Rory had no intention of drinking.

"Hello?" Rory said into the phone, pushing her way through the small crowd by the band to find a quiet space to talk. Even though Kyle had said he didn't want people upstairs, she headed up anyway. It was too noisy downstairs to even hear who was on the other end of the line. Once she got into a quiet room, she made a face at the phone. "Paris? How did you get this number?"

"You put your mom down as your emergency contact and no one was answering your home phone," Paris said, all business as usual. "I need to talk to you about your article for next week's edition of The Franklin."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Paris, I'm a little busy right now. I can email it to you by Monday."

"Is that leaving enough time for the necessary corrections?" Paris asked.

"When I don't have to have the final draft in until Friday? It'll be fine. I'll see you in school tomorrow." Before Paris could argue, Rory hung up the phone and turned the ringer off. She got enough grief from Paris during school hours. She didn't need her encroaching on her weekend, too.

As Rory went to walk out the door, she smacked right into someone walking past. "Sorry," she said immediately. When she got a look at who she had bumped into, she took a step back. "Oh." It looked like Jess had finally shown up at the party.

"I don't think Kyle wants people up here," Rory said when Jess didn't say anything. It was the first thing that came to mind, and she didn't feel like she could just walk past him without saying anything at all.

"You're up here," Jess pointed out.

Rory held up the cell phone. "I was taking a call."

"Same," Jess said, despite the fact that Rory knew he didn't have a cell phone.

The sounds from the party filtered upstairs, just drawing attention to silence between Rory and Jess. She counted eleven seconds before the quiet was too much for her and she felt like she had to say something. "I broke up with Dean," she offered.

Jess' face remained impassive, but Rory thought she saw a flicker of something in his eyes. Maybe it was a trick of the light, standing in the shadow of the dim bedroom. But maybe it was something more. Rory wanted to believe that there was something more there.

"I think I heard something about that," he said. "Although that's not the way I heard it."

It figured that Dean would be spinning some story to look like he came out the winner. "Well, I broke up with him," Rory clarified. "It just seemed like time."

"Like time," Jess repeated.

Rory just nodded, unsure of his meaning. "Well, I should get back to the party and let you get back to… whatever it is you were going to do," she said, realizing she had no idea why Jess had gone upstairs in the first place. She made a move to walk past him, but he stepped back in front of her.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Watch the band, maybe eat some pretzels." Rory tried to sound casual, but Jess was standing very close to her. It was unnerving.

No, exciting. Rory's heart was racing, but she didn't feel nervous like she did before a big test or during a scary movie. It was more like the exhilaration of climbing the biggest hill on a rollercoaster, knowing that in a few seconds she would be screaming down the other side. The feeling only got stronger as Jess moved in even closer, stepping back into the dark bedroom. "Or," he said with an air of suggestion, his lips just centimeters from her face.

That was good enough for Rory. She leaned in kissed him, surprising herself by not feeling at all tentative or worried. Dean was gone for good, and it was finally time to make her move. Jess seemed to agree whole-heartedly, because he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her over to the bed. Rory pushed the door shut behind her. The noise from the party faded out almost entirely, and it was just her in Jess.

Even though she had kissed him before, Rory was surprised to learn that kissing Jess was a lot more fun than kissing Dean. With Dean it had always felt so serious, like he was following his basketball playbook or something. Maybe it was the thrill of kissing someone new, but Jess just seemed more interesting. They'd been laying there kissing for a few minutes when Jess leaned over and lightly bit her ear. If Rory hadn't giggled, she might have heard the door open.

"Jess?" someone said, stepping into the room. The light from the hallway fell across the bed and Rory looked up, unfortunately making eye contact with Shane. She pushed Jess off of her and tried not to look guilty, but Shane wasn't dumb enough to fall for that act. "Seriously, her?" she asked. The look on her face was a mix of anger and what Rory though was embarrassment. For herself or for Jess, Rory didn't know.

Rory felt compelled to say something, but Shane spun on her heel and swept from the room without giving her a chance. Jess took that as a sign to resume kissing her, but Rory squirmed. "Shouldn't you go talk to h-?"

"Nope," Jess said, his lips still touching her neck. He moved to kiss her collarbone and for a moment Rory let him, but after a second she gently pushed him away.

"Jess, the door's open," she said, laughing. "People could see us." In that moment a part of her didn't even care, but she knew she would be mortified later if someone saw them and she became the subject of high school gossip.

He pulled her onto his lap, bushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. "So shut the door and we can pick up where we left off," he said, his mouth brushing against her ear.

Rory shivered, but climbed off the bed anyway. With Shane's appearance and the light coming in from the hallway, the mood was kind of ruined. "What, on Kyle's Superman sheets?" she asked, noticing for the first time whose room she was in. "And with his family picture staring at us?" Kyle was the only high school boy she knew who would keep a framed photo from Disney World on his dresser. Him or maybe Dean.

"Hey, it's the risk of throwing a party," Jess said, though he did get off the bed too. He ran a finger through his gelled hair, but it still looked slightly mussed.

"We could get out of here," Rory suggested. "Now that they're playing I'm sure the band won't miss me." Lane would understand when Rory explained everything later on. She was so busy on the drums that she didn't even notice when Rory and Jess slipped out the front door.

Once she and Jess were sitting in her car, Rory realized that she had no idea what was going to happen next. Or more accurately, where things were going to happen next. Her house was out given that her mom was home for the night, and she didn't really want to go to Luke and Jess' one-room apartment. "I'm not sure where to go," she said, idling at the curb.

Jess was already flipping through a stack of CDs he had found in her glovebox. He eventually decided on one, and a few seconds later the sound of The White Stripes filled the car. "Luke's busy working," he said.

"But the diner closes in like five minutes," Rory pointed out. The more she thought about it, the more she realized despite their feverish energy before, tonight was not going to be the night for anything more. She had her car, sure, but now that the moment in Kyle's room had passed the idea of trying to do anything in her cramped backseat just wasn't that appealing. She wanted them to be able to get comfortable and take their time doing whatever they wanted to do. "Let's just drive around," she said, pulling away from the curb. She turned right, heading toward the edge of town.

Jess nodded, his head leaned back against the seat. Rory knew that he hadn't wanted to stop what they were doing, but he didn't look angry or upset. With the dim light from the dashboard and the streetlamps outside, he almost looked peaceful. For a second Rory allowed herself to believe that this could be their thing, driving around at night listening to CDs and just enjoying each other's company. At least until they could get a house to themselves for a few hours.

She kept glancing over at Jess as she drove. When they reached the Welcome to Stars Hollow sign his eyes were closed, his head bobbing slightly with the music. Rory wondered if he was falling asleep, but he startled her by speaking up. "We could get ice cream," he suggested.

"What ice cream place is open at 10 at night in January?"

Jess shrugged. "I don't know, but we could find one. Worst case scenario, we end up at a 7/11 with an ice cream freezer." He reached over and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. His hand was warm even with the cold winter air.

She wasn't sure about the logic of eating ice cream in freezing temperatures, but she suspected she would have agreed to anything. "Then ice cream it is," Rory said, heading toward Woodbridge. She didn't remember if there was anywhere there to find ice cream, but it didn't matter. If they did, she and Jess would find it together.