Little Danes Girl

Posting stuff again woo! This has been nagging me today so I decided to write it. It takes place in the world of all my one-shots, and while you don't have to have read them this mightn't make a whole lot of sense if you don't understand my version of 18ish-year-old April. Or why Rory and Jess are married. Also are Matt and Chris constructs of the Gilmore Girls fandom? Did they ever exist in the show or have so many people written about them that they're like canon to us now? Because I can't remember reading any Jess-related fic without them, but I can't remember ever seeing them either. Oh well, I digress! Enjoy!

"April, go find some single boy to terrorise. Preferably one you're not related to."

"Well, if I have the bride's stamp of approval… woah, who's that gorgeous guy? Please tell me I'm not related to him." April was practically salivating at a man across the room. A man who Jess recognised instantly.

"No."

"We're not related? Hell yeah!"

"I meant no, stay the hell away from Chris."

"Aw, why?"

"He's too old for you!"

"Aren't you the same age? Come on Jess, you're not that old."

(A tiny snippet from Sex, Pop Tarts and Rock 'n' Roll, also by me)

April took one final look at herself. Her father had chosen her dress for the evening, and she felt like a small child. It was one of those three-quarter length monstrosities you see on girls half her age and came accompanied with a small jacket that was 'weather appropriate' and covered the awful cap sleeves, for which she was grateful. Fortunately Luke had allowed her to do her own hair and makeup, meaning she still resembled an eighteen year old woman. Glancing to the other side of the large ballroom she spotted the man who had caught her interest, and she smiled. Shapeless dress or potato sack, April Nardini-Danes had gotten very good at getting what she wanted over the years. Which, as of about two minutes ago, was her cousin Jess' tall and rugged-looking friend Chris.

She walked slowly with purpose as she examined him. He was chatting to Paris Geller, and seemed to be fairly amused. Paris was fun when you caught her on a good day, but hell if you saw her otherwise. April had seen a lot more of Paris in the last few months than ever before, as they both lived in Boston and it seemed Rory had asked her friend to keep an eye on her when she first started Harvard. Their meetings were almost exclusively half-finished coffees before Paris was called into her hospital, but it was nice to know someone around the area all the same. Smiling a little, April slid into a stool at the bar right next to them and ordered herself a mocktail. Fake IDs weren't going to work tonight, but April hoped alcohol would not be necessary in enjoying herself tonight.

After taking a discreet picture of Chris to send to her best friend Clara Forester, April surveyed the room again. Kirk was arguing with the barman about the correct way to make a mojito, Taylor was waltzing with Miss Patty despite the rap song that was currently playing, and Lorelai was getting progressively drunk as she made her way towards the newly married Rory and Jess. Her father was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was probably taking Ritchie upstairs to meet the babysitter the hotel had found. The thought of her baby brother made her smile. She'd asked her mother for a baby brother or sister more times than she could count, and now she finally had her wish, even if it wasn't exactly how she imagined it happening.

"Oh hey, you're Luke's kid, right?" an unfamiliar male voice asked her from behind.

"Depends who's asking." She replied with a smirk almost certainly inherited from her older cousin.

"Name's Chris, though right now everyone seems to keep calling me best man. Either way, really."

April couldn't believe her luck. She was still devising the plan to talk to the man, but he walked right up and introduced himself. Perfect.

"Good to know, best man. You're probably best calling me April, the whole 'Luke's kid' thing wears thin pretty quickly."

"Duly noted." April was pleasantly surprised to see him sitting next to her now. He was even cuter up close, especially with those green eyes of his. "Man, I need a drink."

"Chats with Paris really take it out of you, don't they?"

"Amen. She's so… intense. No wonder Matt likes her, she's the exact Type-A overachiever he normally chases." He made a vague gesture towards a tall black man, who was indeed chatting animatedly with the short woman.

"I'm pretty sure Rory was trying to set her up with you," April said pointedly with a teasing smile.

"And thus, me getting a drink. Want one? My treat."

"It's an open bar."

"But you're eighteen. I'm a necessary component to you getting the glass of champagne and tequila shot."

"Won't the guy card me?"

"Not if you're with me, babydoll." Chris slung an arm over her shoulders dramatically, making her giggle.

"Bring it on."

"That's the college girl spirit!"

"Technically I think vodka is the college girl spirit, but semantics." This earned a genuine laugh from him as he ordered their drinks. It seemed he knew the bartender, who gave April her glass with a knowing wink.

"Oh, I like you. You're like Jess with boobs."

They drank and spoke for a while, surprised with how much they had to talk about. When April spotted him across the room she figured he was another artist type who was nice to look at and would be fun for a few hours. Therefore when their discussions turned to her studies and science in general she was pleasantly surprised to find he had a working knowledge of geology and seemed genuinely interested in what she was passionate about. They also had a shared love of classic sitcoms and both professed guilty pleasure status of several musicals.

"But really, there are some twists that everybody knows, you know? Darth Vader is Luke's father."

"Absolutely. Rosebud was his sled. Bruce Willis was dead the whole time." Chris agreed with a grin.

"Soylent Green is people."

"Snape kills Dumbledore."

"Paris and Matt are getting drunk in a corner."

"I don't remember that- hey, you're right!" The two started watching their friends share a bottle of champagne in a secluded corner. From the looks on their faces they were obviously in the middle of an intense debate that was causing anger from both sides. "Oh man, she's arguing with him. He's totally getting laid tonight!"

"That is the most illogical thing I've ever heard."

"You're young, don't worry. We old folks have to entertain ourselves somehow."

"Like getting an eighteen-year-old girl drunk in front of her overprotective father?" April asked with a cocked eyebrow, causing Chris to splutter.

"I wasn't… you wanted… I didn't-"

"I was joking, idiot."

"Though technically it's true."

"Well then we better go for a walk outside so this underage drinker can clear her head a bit."

"Plus then Luke won't see you! Genius!"

The two walked into the foyer and out the door, only to meet the brisk November cold of Connecticut. It was lovely and quiet though, and April's mild dizziness as a result of champagne dulled immediately. The relief was soon replaced by shivering as she realised how cold it was. After a few minutes of wandering the grounds her chattering teeth were soon stopped by a warm blanket-like feeling. Chris had removed his jacket and placed in on her slender frame, causing her to be wrapped in its warmth. She inhaled the scent of cologne and something purely masculine quite deeply. She turned to see him in his collared shirt and tie, obviously trying to ignore the freezing feeling.

"You moron, now you're cold." April protested dully, still not moving to give his jacket back.

"You were turning blue, kid. Maybe we should head back inside."

"Maybe. Or we could be penguins." She grinned at his confusion before waddling towards him and ramming up against his chest. Instinctively his arms wrapped around her and the two huddled together. April was positive that she had never felt so warm in her entire life. Chris looked down at the precise moment she looked up. Huddled there in his oversized jacket she looked resolute and strong, her eyes firm and her lips quirked upward as she helped close the gap between them and pulled him into a searing kiss.

April was not some innocent schoolgirl, but this kiss surprised her. It was so intense that she didn't notice they were moving until her back made contact with a tree, shaking a few leaves free and into her hair. Chris was pulling at her hair, tugging her this way and that as she clung to his shoulders in amazement. Soon his breath was hot on her neck as he kissed down her collarbone, stopping at the high cut neckline of her stupid, childish dress. Not one to be deterred, Chris focused again on her neck as one of his hands moved lower on her waist and groped blindly at her butt before his lips met hers again in another breathtaking kiss.

"Dessert's being served soon. Cake. Wedding." He panted in between attacks on her mouth.

"Right. Wedding. Cake." She responded with equal breathlessness. She would've ditched Trevor ages ago if she'd known kissing could be like this. Just kissing, nothing else. Though now she was wondering, if kissing was this amazing, the rest… wow.

"Or…"

"Or?"

"Have you," he paused mid-sentence to brush her hair out of her face, "what I mean is, are you a virgin?" Apparently they were both thinking the same thing. April grinned up at his flush faced.

"I am not. Want to come up to my room and let Paris and Matt crash in yours?"

"Oh yeah." Pausing to readjust their clothing, they noticed the time. Rory and Jess would be leaving the reception about now, driving back to New York for work (they wouldn't be honeymooning until a few months later). Chris was buttoning up his jacket again as they made it inside just in time to rush back out with the crowd of well-wishers.

"Where have you been, man?" Jess asked with a small amount of interest. He was too busy staring at Rory laughing next to him. "You almost made me miss creeping you out about what Rory and I are going to do the second we get home."

"Jess!" Chris and Rory said simultaneously, though Rory couldn't stop from laughing as she slapped his arm. Chris noticed his newly married friend respond by pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head. He was so glad that one of his best friends was so unashamedly happy that he couldn't stop smiling and waving as their car sped off back to New York. The next time Chris would see them would be when he came to housesit while they went away for a month next year. Working as a literary agent for a small publishing house had its advantages, and being able to work anywhere was definitely one of them. The fact that he didn't need to rush off tonight was certainly another.

Walking inside he felt a small hand brush his arm as April strode in front of him. Like a lost puppy he began to follow her upstairs and to her room. Shutting the door behind him he turned to see her removing her much-hated Luke-approved dress to reveal a matching pink lingerie set that were definitely not sanctioned at all. She walked towards him purposefully and removed his jacket without once touching him. She was in the process of doing the same with his tie before he pulled her close and kissed her yet again. April responded by wrapping her legs around his waist, causing Chris to stumble them to her bed.

"You don't mind if I stay here tonight?" Chris asked for what had to be the third time. April was in the process of pulling on an oversized t-shirt, a piece of clothing he found as equally sexy as any overpriced set of underwear. Still, part of him wish it was his shirt she was wearing, but considering they were in her room that was far from likely.

"As long as you're okay with spooning." She grinned as she climbed back into bed a faced away from him. As she suspected a set of arms encircled her waist as she felt the weight of his body behind her.

"Very okay. Very, very okay." Sleepily he began to trace patterns on the exposed skin of her stomach.

"Good." A silence drifted between them as they both got lost in their own thoughts. "What would've happened if I had said I was a virgin?"

"I don't know. I guess I would've bought you dinner first?" He laughed at his own terrible joke as April turned around to glare at him. "You're really something, you know that?"

"Oh, I know," She said dismissively with a massive grin. "Can I confess something right now?"

"Go for it."

"That was… you were… absolutely incredible. I had no idea I could feel things like that, and it's so weird. Like, I had a boyfriend for three years and we had sex, but it was nothing compared to tonight." April felt silly saying such things, but they were true. Chris looked on in shock; he was not expecting that.

"Oh, wow. Awesome. I mean, I kept it pretty basic, but there's a lot I could probably, uh… help you with." He finished lamely.

"So we're going to have a student-teacher thing going on?"

"Aw come on, don't make it creepy!"

"Sorry!"

"When do you need to go back to school?"

"Oh now who's making it creepy?"

"You know what I mean."

"Not for a few more days."

"We should go stay somewhere."

"Excuse me?"

"You. Me. Cheaper hotel room than this because this place is expensive."

April paused. When she had sought out Chris it had been for some flirting, or maybe a secluded make out session in a broom closet somewhere. She didn't expect him to have substance, and she certainly wasn't expecting to sleep with him. But here they were, and she found herself wanting to see more of him. Besides, that offer of helping her out was too tempting to resist.

"I'll tell my dad I need to go back to study. I'm pretty sure he was used to it with Rory."

"Ah sweet, innocent Rory."

"Except he knows that I'm not quite as snow white as her, so he might be suspicious."

"How so?"

"Well, there was this party…"

Several Months Later…

It was an early spring morning in New York City as Jess and Rory returned home from a month exploring Europe. Their honeymoon had been worth the wait, even if it had rained in England, France and every country that wasn't Greece. Visiting in late winter wasn't their smartest idea, but it was the only time they could both get off and they made the most of it, and of the off-peak tourist attractions. Right now they were looking forward to spending the weekend in their tiny apartment in Brooklyn before they both had to fly back out for various assignments on Monday.

"I can't believe I live in New York." Rory said suddenly from her resting place on Jess' shoulder. He shook with silent laughter.

"You've lived here for almost four years."

"Be nice to your wife."

"Yes, dear."

"I hope Chris is still here."

"I called him this morning and he said he'd probably be hanging for a few more days. I forgot to tell him we were coming home early."

"Stupid work." Rory mumbled.

"Stupid work." He agreed.

The cab pulled up in front of their building and after paying the two got their luggage and made their way to the elevator. Rory had teased Jess about carrying her over the threshold, but their combined bags were going to make that impossible. He'd actually done it the night they returned from their wedding, which probably counted more seeing they were still in their fancy clothes. Shaking her head at her foolish decision to drive hours in a wedding dress, Rory opened the door to their place.

Chris jumped from his laying position on their couch in a flourish. His face looked surprised and panicked, which was strange. It probably had something to do with him being in only his underwear, though he quickly pulled on a nearby pair of jeans.

"Oh hey, I didn't think you guys were coming home for-"

"Chris, I thought we were going to shower toge- shit." A female voice, a very familiar female voice, was heard echoing from their bathroom as she walked towards the three. Entering the living room in only a towel, April Nardini-Danes came face to face with her cousin and stepsister, who were both frozen in shock.

"Clothes please." Rory mumbled to her step-sister, who nodded vigorously and left the room, most likely in the search for pants. The silence in the room after that lasted a bit too long to be healthy. Eventually Chris decided to defend himself.

"I'm guessing you're waiting for me to say that it's not what it looks like? Well I'm not. April and I-"

"Please don't finish that sentence." Jess said finally. Rory noticed he had his 'I'm eighteen again and I want to punch something' face on. This was not going well. She knew she should diffuse the situation, but she found herself yelling instead.

"This is our place, Chris! She's eighteen, Chris! You've been screwing around with my barely-legal little sister in my own house when we trusted you to take care of the apartment. How did you even meet her? You live in California, and she's in Boston. It doesn't even make sense!" Rory's rant made something click in Jess' mind, and it took all his composure not to just storm out of the room for a few days.

"It was at the wedding, wasn't it? That's where you snuck off to! So what, you guys had sex at my wedding and then decided to meet up while you were in New York?"

"Not exactly." April's voice sounded from the hallway. "Yeah we, uh… met at your wedding. But then we hung out for a few days and it kind of went from there. When I went to New Mexico for Christmas to see my mom-"

"Oh god, you were seeing him? You lied to Luke!" The mention of her father made April look terrified, as though she hadn't thought of him in all of this.

"No, Mariano, I didn't. I was with mom for Christmas and all that, I just… may have spent a few days in California as well. It's not like we're doing anything wrong!"

"Do you want to tell Luke?" Jess asked with a hint of finality.

"Dad's a problem, sure."

"Well if you're not willing to be honest with him then obviously you are doing something wrong!" Chris and Rory just looked on at the verbal sparring from the two cousins. April had idolised Jess for the entirety of her teen years, and something about his disapproval of her was really bringing out her temper.

"Right, because you're always totally honest with him! You're such an open book, Jess! I'm sure you tell Luke every little detail of your life."

"I'm twenty-seven years old, April!"

"Well I'm nineteen in less than a month!"

"I know! Then three days later Chris will be turning twenty-nine. You are quite literally ten years younger than him!"

"Not all of us can find someone our age, Jess! Just because you and Rory met in some two horse town and happened to be absolutely perfect for each other doesn't mean it happens to everyone!"

"I need coffee." Rory said suddenly. All eyes turned to her in surprise, and she smiled a little. "Really, me asking for coffee is that big of a shock? April, do you mind tagging along?"

"Sure, Rory." April sounded confused, but obviously eager to escape the tension of the situation. After giving Jess a comforting squeeze on his hand, the two girls left the building.

This left Jess and one of his best friends, who he had trusted with his home and felt rather betrayed. At the same time, April was right. They were two adults conducting themselves in an adult relationship that Jess had no bearing in. His unjustified anger was the equivalent of Lane or Lorelai interfering with his relationship with Rory. Part of him knew this, and was trying to come to terms with the part of him that wanted to punch Chris' face.

"Trying to not punch my face?" Chris asked with amusement, forcing a laugh from Jess.

"You should be on TV with mind reading skills like yours."

"Look man, I-"

"Save it. I'm sorry, I overreacted. It's none of my business really."

"Except this is your house."

"Well yeah, there's that."

"It just worked out pretty well with me being here. She doesn't have classes on Fridays and starts late Mondays."

"How many weekends has she stayed here?"

"Well you've been gone for four, so… four?"

"What are you doing, Chris?"

"Talking my best friend out of punching me?"

"I mean with her."

"I'm not using her, if that's what you're getting at. There are plenty of women in California if all I wanted was a string of booty calls."

"So this is serious?"

"When we met, I thought it would be a one-time only thing, you know? She was interesting, and incredibly smart, and a lot of other things you don't want to hear about. But then we spent the next few days together, and… damn. She's probably the most amazing woman I've met in my entire life."

"Huh."

"Don't go all monosyllabic on me now, dude."

"It's so weird to hear someone talk like that about my kid cousin. Who not so long ago went through such a Harry Potter phase that she made Luke go to see one of the movies five times, all in costume. Though to be fair a year later she orchestrated a cop-raided house party that featured one of the kids getting his stomach pumped. April hasn't always made the best decisions, is what I'm saying. Especially with guys. I punched her last boyfriend out, you know?"

"How the hell did that happen?"

"Well it was around Valentine's Day and she was spending the weekend at our old place… eh, it's not really important."

"I'll ask her for the story later."

"You do that." With that, the tension was broken. The two friends revolved their fight in the manliness way possible: beer. Both stood in the kitchen with their beverages and caught up on what was happening in their respective lives (sans discussion of April, of course). Jess was delighted to hear that Truncheon had found a new author to promote, and that they were able to pay her more due to the ongoing success of his new book. Having left the country just as his novel hit the shelves, Jess had several positive reviews to catch up on. The only one he'd seen so far was on a card in a dusty old bookshop in France. He didn't understand a word of what was written by the owner of the store, but he figured four stars meant the same thing everywhere. Unless it was out of ten.

"So why are you back so soon? Paris not all it's cracked up to be? Ooh, did you get Rory pregnant?"

"Paris was great and no, Emily Gilmore can rest easy as I have yet to knock up her angelic granddaughter. Work stuff happened. The producers called about meeting in LA about the rough outline I gave them in January, and Rory has to fly off to Canada to report on some TV show being filmed. I actually booked you a flight too, to say thanks for minding the apartment."

"We'll be flying buddies?" Chris said in a childish voice.

"Not if you refer to it as 'flying buddies'."

"Your inner child is one of those weird Dakota Fanning 40 at age 8 kids, isn't it?"

"You're a moron."

"I'm endearing. Going home sounds good, I need to sort some stuff out, actually."

"Such as?"

"I think the life of eternal sunshine is wearing thin, Jess. I miss seasons."

"You're thinking of moving?"

"More like I'm definitely moving."

"Where? Back to Philly?"

"And ruin Matt's love life by moving in on his city? I think not. New York's a cool place, even if I'd have to sell a kidney to live here. Or write a bestselling novel and be continuously named Hottest Author Ever."

"I still haven't ruled out punching you, man."

"Well excuse me mister twenty-three on the Fifty Hottest New York Somebodies."

"What's that, fist? You need some exercise? Well let's just see if Chris stops running his mouth, okay buddy?"

"I knew a guy who called his hand buddy a lot. Total chronic-"

"So New York, huh?"

"Maybe. I'm definitely thinking east coast. New York, Connecticut, uh… Boston."

"Hold on, this is an April thing!"

"What? No!"

"You want to move closer to her!" That hit Jess hard. "Holy shit, you're really serious."

"You have no idea how much it sucks to be the entire country away from somewhere you really care about."

"Believe me, I know."

"When did you… oh yeah! See, you know what I mean! Try and tell me you didn't move back to New York because of Rory a tiny bit."

"More than a bit, yeah."

"Except you guys weren't even dating! Imagine what it would be like if-"

"We got coffee! Hopefully Chris has pants on this time!" Rory sang as she opened the door.

"I do but Jess doesn't!" Chris hollered back.

"I am more than okay with this!" She giggled as April made gagging noises. The two women entered the kitchen and stood next to their respective men. With Rory and Jess it was comfortable familiarity, a coffee in one hand as they rested on each other slightly. April and Chris were unsure how to react around others, but stood in close enough proximity that outsiders would pick them as a couple. "Hey, your pants are still on." Rory pouted.

"Give me ten minutes to get rid of these two and we'll see what we can do about that." Jess grinned as he pulled his wife closer by the waist.

"Gross." April crinkled her face up at their antics.

"That's no way to be speaking to the people who will be speaking to Luke on your behalf." Rory said with a cheerful grin. Clearly the coffee was working in perking her up. April looked at her with amazement.

"Really?" She asked in disbelief. Rory glanced at her husband, who gave a small nod.

"We'll do it, but I'm going to lay down some ground rules. Firstly, April, I'm driving you to Stars Hollow tomorrow and you can catch the bus back to school, okay? I want to see my mom and you should say hi to your dad. Chris, you're flying out with Jess on Monday. You two can stay in the guest bedroom tonight because we're all adults and treating you like children makes me feel old and like I should have fuzzy slippers and last week's newspaper under my arm. Most importantly, you guys gotta tell Luke. Jess and I will smooth it over as much as we can, but you need to lay down the foundation. Understand?"

"Yes mom." April and Chris said together, before laughing uncontrollably. Rory rolled her eyes and glared at her also-laughing husband.

"I think we'll just go, uh… see the sites a little." Chris muttered, glancing at a confused April. Turning to Rory and Jess it clicked in her mind and she jumped up from the counter she was sitting on.

"Right! So we'll be back in a few hours, and then we should all go out for dinner. There's this place two blocks from here that does the best-"

"Fettuccine this side of Italy!" Rory and Jess chimed in unison.

"Oh right, you guys live here." April said glumly as her possibly discovery was taken away from her.

April and Chris soon departed, and Rory was quite happy to see that they were holding hands. Her immediate reaction to April dating the older man was fuelled by what she called 'Ritchie Syndrome'. When her baby brother was born, something clicked inside her and she realised that she had to protect him. For some reason this extended to April, who was almost an adult at the time. Funnily enough it never seemed to click with her other half-sibling Gigi. Though to be fair she'd only seen the eight-year-old twice in the last year, so it wasn't exactly like they were close. As for Jess, she figured his reaction to the couple was due to a mixture of 'Doula Syndrome', and strong memories of punching out April's long-term boyfriend Trevor.

"Now what?" Jess asked quietly from his spot next to her on the couch. His hand rested idly on her thigh as he too seemed to be staring in the direction of the door his cousin and best friend had just exited.

"You're still wearing pants," Rory said sadly.

"All our luggage is out here, and we still need to unpack, and-"

"You're still wearing pants," She repeated with the same whiny tone.

"Fine, we'll do it your way."

"Heh, dirty!"

"Do I have to put a muzzle on you, Gilmore?"

"Ooh, kinky."

"You're incredibly jetlagged, aren't you?"

"Indescribably so. So take of your pants already."

"Yes, dear."

So that ended very Lit-ish, didn't it? But there you have it, a full-length story on the April Nardini-Danes I keep dropping hints about in my one-shots. Which makes me wonder, would any of you be interested in reading a chaptered fic about her and her good friend Ms Clara Forester? I have a few fun ideas about their time in high school, including stuff about Trevor (who gets punched by Jess at some point, apparently) and April's slight skid off the rails. Let me know okay? I promise I'll finish any multi-chapter stories I might be putting off writing before I start it. Reviews?