Hi, everybody. First let me say that I am so sorry about my other stories. I hope I can update them soon, but I don't know if that'll happen. But I am back with a new story, inspired by the incredible and totally awesome Merdarkandtwisty's "Of Love and Understanding". If you haven't read it…do. This is an AU story and explores the idea of "What if Jess had come to live with Luke when he was a baby, not a teenager?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the show….If I did Jess and Rory would have been together ever since he arrived, Dean would have been in an "accident" and Logan would have been arrested for being a pimp.
Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Pilot
Lorelai Gilmore clutched her coat tighter around her chest as she walked down the sidewalk of her small town that lead to her favorite place in town: Luke's Diner.
Walking into the establishment, she smiled as she noticed her daughter, Rory, as well as her best friend, Jess, arguing about a book at the end of the counter.
Noticing a lone coffee cup sitting at a table, Lorelai picked up the mug and approached the man in flannel and a baseball cap, "Please Luke, please, please, please."
Turning around, Luke sighed. "How many have you had?
"None."
"Plus…?"
Lorelai winced, "Five but yours is better."
Luke stopped, staring at her. "You have a problem."
"Yes I do." Lorelai conceded, pushing the mug forward.
Luke, giving up, filled the mug, muttering, "Junkie."
"Angel, you've got wings baby." She smiled going to sit at a table. The diner's phone rang and as Luke went to answer it, he finally noticed the two teens arguing by the end of the counter. "Jess, get back to work, you have school soon."
Jess sighed and nodded and went to work, pouring Rory a cup of coffee, before filling cups for everyone else. Rory smiled and walked over to her mother asking, "Hey, is it freezing out there?"
"Yeah. Do you need something?"
"Lip-gloss."
Grinning, Lorelai tore into her purse, pulling out a clear bag filled with make-up. "I have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and toasted marshmallow."
Staring at her mother Rory said, "Anything not resembling a breakfast cereal?"
Lorelai dug through her bag again, finally emerging with a tube of lip gloss, "It has no smell, but it changes colors with your mood."
Rory smiled and took the lip gloss as she stood up, "Jess, we gotta go."
"Coming." Jess put the coffee down and grabbed his backpack and walked over to Rory.
Rory kissed her mom's cheek and took off with Jess close behind.
RH-RH-RH-RH-RH
"Sookie!" Lorelai squealed as she caught sight of her best friend and head chef of the Inn, Sookie St. James. "It's here. It happened. She did it!"
"I'm going to need a longer sentence."
"The Chilton School. Rory got in." Lorelai grinned bigger as she began to read the letter to Sookie, her excitement barely contained.
Hearing Rory call out, Lorelai and Sookie quickly composed themselves.
Rory walked in and noticed the womens' behavior. "Did you do something slutty?"
Lorelai grinned again, "I'm not that happy." Before Rory could ask something else, Lorelai handed her a bag.
Openinig it Rory pulled out a plaid skirt. "I'm going to be in a Britney Spears video?"
"You're going to Chilton!" Sookie squealed.
Rory's eyes went wide. "Mom?"
"You did it babe. You got in."
Rory broke into a huge smile, "Oh my god, I'm going to Chilton." Rory hugged Sookie and her mom before remembering, "I've gotta tell Jess." Rory hugged her mom once more and left eager to find her best friend.
Rory raced across town, her eyes on the diner. She burst through the door and yelled "Jess!"
Jess raced downstairs, "What? What's burning?"
Rory ran over and hugged him. "Nothing. I'm going to Chilton!"
Jess let the words sink in and then hugged Rory back. "That's great! I'm so proud of you!"
Luke appeared from out of the kitchen and saw the teens, "What's going on?"
Breaking apart, Rory ran over to Luke, "Luke, I'm going to Chilton!"
Luke broke into a grin, "Great Rory! All right, congratulatory meal. What do you want? It's all on the house."
RH-RH-RH-RH-RH
Lorelai took a deep breath, trying to remain calm and rang the doorbell. She reminded herself that this was for Rory, and she knew she had no other options. She quickly dusted her coat and smiled as the dorr opened.
"Hi, Mom."
"Lorelai," Shocked didn't even begin to explain Emily Gilmore's face as she saw her one and only daughter on the other side of the door. "My goodness, this is a surprise. Is it Easter already?"
Lorelai fought the urge to roll her eyes and continued smiling. "No, I just finished my business class and I thought I would stop by."
"To see me."
"Yes."
"Well…isn't that nice." Emily moved to the side, allowing her daughter to walk through the dorr. "Come in."
The only word Lorelai could come up with was awkward as she walked through her childhood home. Her parents and her had never seen eye to eye and she never saw them unless she had to.
"Hi Dad." Lorelai smiled, greeting her father.
"You need money." Richard Gilmore stated as he poured himself a drink.
"I have a situation." Lorelai then told them about Rory being accepted and how she had to put down the enrollment fee and first month's tuition.
"I'll get my checkbook." Richard smiled as he stood up.
"On one condition." Emily's smile caused Lorelai's face to turn uneasy. "I want a weekly dinner, Friday night, you and Rory have dinner here."
"I don't want her to know I borrowed money from you. Can that stay between us." Lorelai knew she was a good mom but she was still too proud to ever let her daughter know she needed help.
"Does seven o'clock work for you?"
"Perfect."
RH-RH-RH-RH-RH
Rory smiled and looked back, trying to figure out what had just taken place. A really cute guy had come up and talk to her. Maybe even-flirted?- with her.
Rory shook her head. Guys weren't interested in her. She was shy and brainy. Guys wanted girls who wore make-up and wore clothes like Britney Spears, not girls who wore jeans and knew more about Charles Dickens than what happened on Dawson's Creek.
Rory got a better handle on the box full of things that were stuffed in her locker and walked faster toward her house, passing the diner as she did.
At the counter, Jess's hold on the cloth tightened, an uneasy feeling in his gut as he had witnessed what had just taken place between Rory and that guy.
Jess would never admit it to anyone, but he was in love with Rory, just like the way Luke was in love with Lorelai.
"Luke, I'm going on my break." Jess yelled and stalked out of the diner, a box on cigarettes in his hand.
RH-RH-RH-RH-RH
Lorelai and Rory stood in front of the Gilmores' elaborate home, the tension in the air so thick Lorelai could barely breathe.
"So, do we go in or just stand here reenacting The Little Match Girl?"
Lorelai turned to face her daughter, "Look, I need you to be civil, at least through dinner. Then you can pull a Menendez on the way home."
"Fine." Rory grunted and crossed her arms even tighter. She and her home had had a huge fight the night before and when she had snuck out of her house at midnight to talk to Jess about it, he hadn't been home, something that both confused and worried Rory.
Rory went through the routine, she asked her grandfather about his work, she asked her grandmother about the DAR but she couldn't focus on their answers. Why had Jess not been home?
He might have been out reading somewhere? He always loses track of time.
Rory hoped he hadn't been smoking. Rory knew Jess smoked, she had caught him with one when they were fourteen. She had spent an hour telling him that those would kill him. He had told her that his mom had smoked and it didn't kill her. At least as far as he knew.
Jess's mom was Luke's sister and she abandoned Jess when he was about two. She just waltzed into the diner, handed him a note and told him to give it to Luke, and left. Jess had stood in the diner for the better part of an hour before Ms. Patty had noticed him. He handed her the note and she called for Luke. That had been the last form of communication between Liz and Luke. The note had said that Liz couldn't handle being a mother, and she and Jimmy were going to California to try and fix their marriage, which she thought would work if they didn't have a two-year-old with them. Jess had never spoke about his mom and Rory never asked.
Rory was shaken from her thoughts when she heard her grandfather mention her father. Rory never knew her dad that well. Lorelai had gotten pregnant at 16, and even though he proposed, she refused to marry Christopher. After she refused, they lost contact. Christopher changed schools and went on to Princeton. Lorelai dropped out and gave birth to Rory. Rory had only seen her dad four times in her whole life.
Rory noticed her mom leave the table, and felt bad. Lorelai hated when her dad was mentioned.
"I should go-"
"No, I'll go." Emily smiled and got up and walked after her daughter.
Rory looked down, this wasn't going to end well.
RH-RH-RH-RH-RH
Rory and Lorelai walked up to the diner, their fight forgotten.
"You and Grandma had a nice talk."
Lorelai stopped and looked at her daughter. "You heard that."
"Yeah. I think it was brave to ask them for money."
Lorelai sat down and smiled at her daughter, "I really don't want to talk about it."
Rory looked down, "So how many dinners until we're off the hook."
Lorelai looked up and smiled, "Does that mean-?"
"Can't let a perfectly good plaid skirt go to waste."
"Oh, honey. You're not going to regret this."
Lorelai looked up and saw Luke, looking cleaned up approach. "Woah Luke, you look good."
"Meeting at the bank today."
Rory decided to interrupt her mother's flirting, "Hey, Luke is Jess upstairs?"
"Last I checked."
"Thanks," Rory stood and looked at her mom. "I'll be right back."
"Okay kid," Lorelai smiled at her daughter before turning her attention to Luke, "Meanwhile I will have coffee in a vat."
Luke groaned, "Coming right up."
Rory walked up the stairs and entered Luke's small apartment, before walking over to Jess's room. She knocked quietly and waited for him to answer.
"Luke I told you, tonight's my night off, I'm not-" Jess's rant stopped as he saw Rory in the doorway. "Hey, what's up?"
Rory had to remember how to speak. Jess, who usually wore shirts that nearly swallowed his skinny frame, was now wearing a wife-beater and Rory couldn't help but stare.
"Uh, I j-just wanted to know uhm,"
Jess was confused, but as soon as Rory's cheeks turned red, he held back a smirk and pulled on a shirt to cover the wife-beater.
Rory looked up and saw Jess pull a shirt on and felt relieved and disappointed. "I wanted to know why you weren't home last night."
Jess swallowed. "What do you mean?"
Rory rolled her eyes, "Jess, I came over here last night and you weren't home. Where were you?"
Jess sighed, "Rory-"
"Were you smoking?"
"Rory, I-"
"You were!" I knew you were."
"Rory, I just-"
"You promised that you would quit."
"I did."
"Apparently not."
"Rory, look. I'm sorry, but sometimes I just need to be by myself and do stuff that you wouldn't approve of. I know that you hate that I smoke but really, I just need you to let it go. I only had one and it's the first one I've had in months. I won't get hooked again."
Rory looked up and stared at him. "Promise."
Jess smirked, "Pinky promise."
Rory smiled and hugged him, "You're my friend Jess, I care about you."
Jess sighed. Friend. That's all he'd ever be. I know.
Rory took a step back, "Do you want to hang out tomorrow. Mom has to work so we could have a movie night."
"Can we watch Almost famous?"
"Really, that movie just came out and you're addicted."
"I can't help it."
"Fine, but I pick the candy."
Jess smiled and stuck out his hand to which Rory shook. "Deal."
Rory smiled, "Night Jess." She waved before she walked to the door and went down the stairs.
Jess stood there awhile, staring, "Good night Rory."
There done! I feel so accomplished! Anyway, thanks to the awesome Merdarkandtwisty for giving me permission to create this story and I hope I have a new chapter up soon. Take care!