All Hallows' Eve
This story picks up after the Dance Marathon, but rather than implicitly getting together after the event at the bridge, Jess and Rory have not discussed the break up yet. Dean breaks up with Rory and there is no Jess & Rory meeting afterwards. Based on the timeline of Season 3, I'm going to guess that the Marathon takes place in early or mid-October. Consequently, this story takes place October 30th-October 31st, which still works with the Jess/Rory Thanksgiving three weeks later. The OS felt a little anti-climatic, so I wanted to see Jess and Rory have the conversation about getting together. Feedback is always appreciated-enjoy!
Chapter 1
Lorelai and Rory are driving through the streets of Stars Hollow on their way back from Friday Night Dinner around 7:30 p.m.
The two Gilmore women drive in silence, aside from the hum of the Jeep's engine. Lorelai glances over at Rory who stares blankly at the dashboard ahead of her.
"I never thought I would say this," Lorelai remarks, breaking the silence, "but thank God for the 700 Club." Rory is too lost in her own thoughts to acknowledge her mother's statement.
"I mean, if it weren't for the good, divine folks at the 700 Club, we wouldn't have been able to skedaddle out of the Grandparents' so early. "I just love," she snorts, "that Emily and Richard put on the evangelist caps for one night of the year to attend a benefit dinner and pretend they weren't rooting for Judas."
"Uh huh," Rory mutters, eyes still fixed straight ahead.
"It's still pretty early, hun, want to stop for pie at Luke's?" Lorelai asks, fully aware that her daughter has been avoiding Luke's for the past two weeks. The mentioning of the diner seems to finally evoke a response from Rory.
"No! I mean, I'm not really in the mood for pie. We had apple turnovers at dinner. I'm really kind of tired, anyways, and…"
"Kid, you've gotta stop running from whatever you're running from," Lorelai interrupts as she slowly pulls the Jeep into a parallel spot near the Gazebo. "Or should I say whoever."
"I know," Rory says plainly. She folds her arms across her chest and stares out the windshield. It had been thirteen days since the seismic Dance Marathon. She thought her feelings towards Jess had been clear, as she hadn't corrected Dean in any of his assertions that she in fact was "into Jess." Since the day he arrived in Stars Hollow, nothing about them had been platonic: the way they looked at each other, spoke to each other- heck- they had kissed four months ago… what was Jess waiting on? Or did he just enjoy the cat and mouse aspect of their courtship, but had no interest in being her actual boyfriend? Rory felt anxiety rise up in her stomach and spread across her chest and up her spine.
Lorelai continues, "Don't get me wrong, I am queen of conflict avoidance and have forced us to skip out on Luke's numerous times because we were in a fight. But I don't want you to handle things like me, running away from your problems." She pauses. "It means less pie and less convincing Kirk that Cesar is trying to slowly poison him by injecting small doses of arsenic into his food," Lorelai adds the last line lightly.
"You're right," Rory replies, "I'm officially being pathetic. If he wanted to be together, he would have talked to me by now. For all I know, everything that happened at the Dance Marathon was for nothing."
"Sweets, I hate to ever, ever, side with teenage Stephen Blumberg, but..."
"Who?"
"You know, the guy who stole millions of dollars of rare books from museums!" Lorelai replies animatedly.
"You mean the creepy "Book Bandit" guy? With the hair and the crazy eye thing? Jess only took one of my books once. And it was cute." Rory says sheepishly.
"Well, the point is, I don't want to cut him any slack, but you have to admit...you haven't exactly been around lately. You've avoided any spot in Stars Hollow that he could possibly be at and abstained from your usual bus stop because he parks his car near it. The guy is probably terrified and has no clue what is going through your head after the break up. For all he knows, you and Dean might have made up afterwards."
"Oh, come on! Dean clearly broke up with me in front of him. And Miss Patty charged $5 for people to tour the dance studio and "Relive the Golden Days of Rory and Dean!" There was a banner and everything! If Jess didn't notice, well, then, I don't know."
Lorelai places a hand on Rory's shoulder and gives it squeeze. "Talk to him, hun. Clear the air. If he still doesn't do anything after that, then move on."
"Okay," Rory exhales.
"Okay," Lorelai mirrors her daughter's exasperation. "Pie?" she asks, nodding her head in the direction of the diner. "For all we know, James Dean isn't even working tonight."
"Let's get this over with," Rory replies nervously, opening the door and stepping out of the jeep. She straightens her jean jacket and smooths the fabric of her light pink dress. As the two women approach Luke's, Rory carefully surveys the diner through the window and internally concludes that there is no Jess in sight. She looks to her mother with a small smile before opening the door to Luke's.