Title: Mending Process
Author: Jenn -- GuardianAngelGirl2005@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13, to be safe!
Pairing: R/J, with a little bit of L/L
Spoilers: Through the season finale, but Rory doesn't make the decision she makes at the end of that episode.
Distribution: Sure, just e-mail me and tell me where it's going!
Archived: 6.18.02
Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I wouldn't be calling this a fanfic, I'd be calling it a script! LOL! No, I don't own the show, I'm not making any money with this, and no infringement is intended.
Summary: Desperate for Jess and her mother to get along, Rory suggests a little vacation for the three of them and Luke.
A/N: First of all, thank you sooo much to my beta for this, PKNight! Second of all, this is the first GG fic I've posted on here, so please (PLEASE) read and review! I live off of the feedback!!! Also, there's a scene with a hammock in it... what happens when the person sits down (if you've never been in one) is true, cuz of gravity! :D
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
uMending Process/u
"I just think it would be a good idea," Luke said, holding his hands up in defense. "Rory wants you to like Jess, I want you to like Jess. Hell, I think even JESS wants you to like Jess!"
"Yeah, well, good for all of you! I want to get along with Jess, I really do! But Luke, a vacation? Why can't I get to like him here?" Lorelai complained.
"Territory. A vacation somewhere would be neutral ground. I don't know why I'm answering all this. Go ask your kid--it's her idea; she'd know better than me!"
"Fine, I will!" And with that, she turned and stomped out of the diner. No more than ten seconds later, she marched back in, scowl still in place, and barked: "Can I get my coffee to go?"
Fighting back a smirk, he handed her the drink. Then she left again.
~*~
About twenty minutes into the drive, after one of Jess's favorite songs on the radio was over, he asked her how she coerced her mother into going on the trip.
"I told my mom I'd make sure she never had coffee again if she didn't come," Rory explained to Jess.
"Oh now that was just mean," he replied.
"But effective."
"What'd you threaten to take away to get her to ride with Luke?"
"Same thing. Except she told me not to let you drive. She couldn't even be manipulated with coffee then!" Her tone was lighthearted, but her words weren't, and her passenger quickly picked up on it.
"I can understand that," he whispered. She glanced over at him for half-a- second, and then responded just as softly.
"I don't blame you for what happened, Jess. You didn't intentionally crash, and I know that. You wouldn't do that. Despite what everyone else seems to think."
Quickly changing the subject, he asked, "How'd bagboy react when you told him you were going on vacation and that I was going to be within a 40 mile radius of you?"
Dead air reigned as Rory contemplated her response. "He wasn't happy."
*Flashback*
"You're going on vacation with him?" Dean yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the-"
"Dean, he's a friend of mine, and I want my mom to like him. This is no different than if I were to go on a trip with Lane!" she explained, trying to control her temper. She was getting tired of him always being so jealous and possessive.
"Who's idea was this?"
She didn't say anything; just stared down at the ground.
"Oh, no. Tell me this wasn't YOUR idea!"
"It wasn't my idea," she lied, still not meeting his eye.
"I can't believe this," he muttered and then heaved an exasperated sigh. "Do you have to go?"
She couldn't believe he would suggest her not going! "No, I don't. But I want to. And if you don't like that..." she trailed off.
"Maybe we should take a break from 'us' for awhile," he suggested. "It helped the relationship last time."
Rory nodded in agreement. "Two months," she said. "We meet here in two months and see what happens, okay?"
"Yeah," he replied, and walked away.
*End Flashback*
The rest of the ride to the cabin was in silence. When the group arrived and checked out the house, they encountered a slight (and cliché) problem: four people, three bedrooms.
"I can't share a room with my mom," Rory announced. "She takes too long to get dressed in the morning and she snores!"
"Alright, Rory gets one, I get one, Lorelai gets one, and Luke sleeps on the couch," Jess suggested, only half kidding.
"How about if LUKE gets one and YOU sleep on the couch!" Lorelai fired back. The two argued for a moment before:
"How about if I get one, Jess gets one, and Mom and Luke SHARE one?!" Rory shouted above the commotion. The suggestion immediately shut everyone up. Luke fidgeted, looking everywhere except at the other people in the room, and a slight blush rose in Lorelai's cheeks.
"That works," Jess said, shrugging.
"Uh, NO! It doesn't!" Lorelai countered. "I am NOT going to share a room, much less a BED with him!!" The sound of her voice reverberated off the walls.
"Mom, there's two beds in the master bedroom: you won't BE sharing a bed!" Jess turned to Rory and mouthed where the adults couldn't see:
'Unless they want to.' Rory tried to hold back a giggle, but knew she had failed when Luke and her mom gave her sharp looks.
"I guess that'll be alright," Luke finally conceeded.
Lorelai sighed in defeat and then asked, "Well, what are we having for dinner?"
"The closest place is a Pizza Hut. What's everyone want?"
While everybody argued about the pizza, Rory snuck a glance at Jess only to find him looking back at her. He sent her one of his trademark smiles and then turned back to the conversation. "You can't have all that stuff on the SAME pizza, Lorelai!"
"Why not?" Luke protested at the same time.
~*~
"Rory, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lorelai knew she had to keep this conversation short: Luke and Jess would be back with the pizzas in fifteen minutes.
"Sure, what's up?" she asked as she sat down on the couch.
"I know how badly you want me to like Jess," she began. "And I'm trying, I really am. I'll be civil toward him if you want me to be, but I don't trust him."
"Mom-"
"I know you think he's a good guy, and under anyother circumstances I would trust your judgement over mine. I just don't want you to end up being a teenage mom like me. Jess is dangerous, and I know all to well how appealing and seductive that can be."
"Mom--"
"And I don't want you to have to give up your dream of going to Harvard and becoming a journalist because of the town bad-boy."
"Mom, I kissed him!"
"And - WHAT?!" she interrupted herself. "You kissed him? When?"
Rory sighed and stared down at her hands before responding quietly, "At Sookie's wedding."
"At Sookie's wedding? Rory, that was two months ago! Did Dean see you?"
"No! Thank goodness he didn't. If he had, Jess would be in a casket right now!"
"YOU kissed HIM?" Lorelai was in shock.
"I like him, Mom."
"You like him!"
"Can you PLEASE stop repeating everything I say? Yes, I kissed him: I like him. I'm probably going to break up with Dean because of it."
"You're-"
"Mom," Rory warned.
"Pizza's here!" Jess called from the foyer. With a meaningful look at her mom, Rory followed them to the kitchen to get her food.
~*~
By the time the pizza was gone , it was 9:30 and Jess had started a fire in the fireplace. Then he'd gone outside. When twenty minutes had passed and he still hadn't returned, Rory excused herself to look for him. He wasn't on the porch, down by the lake, or even sitting on the roof. She went around to the back of the house and saw him swinging listlessly in the hammock.
"Hey," she said quietly when she walked over to him. He started at the sound of her voice, but covered it well.
"Hey," he replied as he sat up and and patted the spot next to him. She sat down and fell against his side.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked her.
"Looking for you," she replied shyly. He put his arm around her, drawing her head to his shoulder.
"Here I am." She nodded and snuggled closer. "Your mom's not freaking out that you're here with me?"
"No, I think she's starting to warm up to you."
"She doesn't know your here, does she?"
"Nope." The two laughed.
After a moment, he whispered in her ear: "You better go inside; it's cold out here," sending chills down her spine.
"It's ok; I'm feeling pretty warm."
"You just shivered, Rory."
"No, I didn't," she denied.
"Yes you did," he whispered again. "Just then, when I said that, you shivered."
She looked at the ground and admitted, "Yeah, but it wasn't because of the cold."
She looked up at him to guage his reaction. But his gaze wasn't forcused on her eyes, it was on her mouth. She bit her lip, subtly moistening it. He leaned in slowly, and lightly brushed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and reveled in the emotions surging through her.
When he pulled away, moments later, she gasped slightly.
"Rory, we shouldn't do this. You have a boyfriend and-" He stopped talking when she pressed her lips onto his again. Coherent thought was lost as the kiss deepened.
When the need for air became greater than the need for each other, they brok away.
"Damn," he gasped out. "THAT was un-Rory-like."
"Thank you," she replied, also breathless. There was silence for a few minutes before she said, "And as for Dean... We... He... I..." She paused to collect her thoughts, and then finally came up with a complete thought. "Dean was my first love. But what I felt for him was nothing compared to what I feel for you."
"What DO you feel for me, Rory?"
"I'm not sure 'cause it's not like anything I've ever felt before. All I know it that I want SO badly to find out.
"Me too," he replied, and leaned in to kiss her again.
~*~
"They're out there, Luke! Right now, they're out there, probably making out and doing things my daughter shouldn't be doing!"
"Lorelai, calm down," Luke advised. "They're not doing anything wrong."
"How do you know that? Huh? How? For all you know, they're out there having sex!" Saying the words aloud didn't help her to feel better; it only made the situation more real. "Oh my God, she's gonna get pregnant! She's gonna turn out just like me, and I can't deal with that!" She stood up and began pacing the room as he looked on with amusement. "I should go out there and get her. I can't let anything happen to her." She walked toward the door, but then stopped. "But I don't wanna watch whatever she's doing out there! If I had to see them having sex... ugh!'
"They're not having sex. Rory's a good kid, and Jess really cares about her. He respects her. They're not doing anything they're BOTH not ready for."
She took a deep, calming breath. "Thank you, Luke. I really needed to hear that," she said sincerely.
"Anytime, Lorelai," he replied softly. Then he reached out and stiffly pulled her into an embrace. "Anytime."
~*~
Rory and Jess laid back in the hammock and looked at the stars. She showed him a few consetellations, and then he made up some of his own. He was telling her a story about one of his stars when he glanced down at her. She was fast asleep. "That good, huh?" he whispered. Then he climbed out of the swing, picked her up and carried her inside.
Opening the door proved to be a bit of a problem, but Jess used his foot to press down on the handle while thanking God the girl in his arms wasn't heavy. He looked around the cabin, but Luke and Lorelai were nowhere in sight.
He gently placed the sleeping girl on her bed and then carefully removed her shoes and socks. It only took a second of consideration for him to decide that undresssing her further wouldn't be a good idea.
He pulled the blankets up to her chin and then softly kissed her forehead. Good night, Rory Gilmore," he whispered.
"Good night, Jess Mariano," she murmured back.
~*~
"I'm still worried about them, Luke," Lorelai announced, sitting up in her bed, awaking her friend.
"Lorelai, lie down, go to sleep, and stop freaking out over this! They'll be fine." She was beginning to aggravate him, and he was about to snap at her. To keep from doing so, he got out of bed and walked to hers on the other side of the room. Trying to remember what the perfect guys in movies did, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Now you're supposed to tell me that when we wake up tomorrow, Rory'll be in her bed and Jess'll be in his and they came in seperately and all that stuff."
Luke replied: "When we wake up tomorrow, Rory'll be in her bed and Jess'll be in his and they came in seperately and all that stuff."
Lorelai chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'm going to sleep now. 'Night Luke, and thanks again."
~*~
Rory awoke a little later that night, surprised to be in bed, since she had no memory of how she got there. Unaware of the time, she got out of bed and crept down the hall to Jess's room. Seeing that the light was off, she slowly opened the door.
In the dim light from the moon, she could barely make out his sleeping form. He was the kind of person that slept curled up in a ball, on one side of the bed. She wondered if it had anything to do with his life in New York. Maybe he hadn't had much room to sleep when he was younger, and now it was just a habit. Who knows, maybe he was instinctively making room for someone else in the bed.
She told herself numerous times that she should leave, but she couldn't seem to drag herself away from the room where she could stare at him endlessly with no reprecussions.
The one consequence she hadn't counted on though, was curiosity. She wanted to know the little things about him like what he slept in, covers on or off, how many pillows, etc.
He derailed her train of thought by speaking. "Rory." He already knew she was there, he'd known since she opened the door, but was only now breaking the agonizingly beautiful silence.
"Yeah, it's me," she replied quietly.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting up.
"I don't know," she whispered shyly.
"Do you want to come here." He stretched out his arms invitingly.
Taking the incentive, she crawled onto his bed and into his arms. She closed her eyes, and for a minute, relished in the warmth and security of his aura. Then she said in a voice barely audible, "This is what I'm doing here."
Awhile later, he lied back on the bad, still holding her in his arms. He kissed her gently on the forehead and fell asleep soon after snuggling a little closer to the girl in his arms.
~*~
"Rory, honey, I've got coffee!" Lorelai called through her daughter's bedroom door. When no reply came, she tried again. "Rory?" She opened the door and found herself along in the room. Trying not to worry, she methodically checked the kitchen, living room, and the dining room. Still not finding her, she began to panic, memories or when she spent the night at Miss Patty's with Dean, flooding back.
"Luke!" she called out. "Luke!"
"What?" he yelled back from the kitchen where he was cooking breakfast.
"I can't find Rory! She's gone!"
"She can't be gone, Lorelai. She has to be somewhere." he rationalized.
"What if she went for a walk and got hurt? What if she was kidnapped? What if-"
"Calm. Down," he said, still standing over the pancakes. "Have you checked with Jess? If anyone knows where she is, it's probably him." He flipped the flapjacks over and then said: "We've got two minutes; let's go ask him."
They walked to the closed door of his room and silently opened it. When she saw her daughter in Jess's bed (and arms) she opened her mouth to yell at her. Before she could, however, Luke clapped his hand over her mouth to silence her.
'What are you doing?!' her eyes screamed betrayal at him. Slowly he guided her over to the bed and whispered, "Look at Rory's face, Lorelai." She did as she was instructed, and was almost surprised when she was how obviously safe and content her daughter was. With a small smile of defeat, she turned and left the room with Luke at her side, hurrying back to his pancakes.
~*~
"Luke, I know I've said this a million times, but I can't thank you enough for keeping me calm... calmish," Lorelai said from her place at the breakfast table.
Luke, who was still flipping pancakes, turned around and replied, "You're my best friend, Lorelai. I was happy to do it."
"Best friend, huh?" she murmured, surprising herself with the disappointment she felt.
"Yeah, best friend, unless..." He trailed off, not knowing exactly how to finish. Going out on a limb, and possibly risking the friendship, he questioned, "Have you ever wanted to be more?"
"What?" she responded, confused.
"Have you ever wanted to be more than friends with me?"
"Yeah," she said. "I have... do..."
He turned away from the stove, and looked at her with slight shock written across his face. "Do?"
"Yeah, do." And with that, she stood up, walked over to him, and gently kissed him on the lips.
~*~
Jess awoke a few minutes after the adults left, and took the opportunity to gaze at the girl he was beginning to fall in love with. She looked so peaceful when she slept, as if she were having a perpetual good dream. When she began to stir, he found himself pulling her closer, never wanting to let her go.
"Morning," she murmured, unaware of everything except Jess.
"Good morning," he returned and kissed her gently on the lips.
There was a knock on the door. The two froze and stared at each other in fear.
Luke called out, "It's alright, we know Rory's in there too!" Jess got up and opened the door to reveal a smirking pancake-cooker and an unusually calm mother. "It's time for breakfast. We can discuss these recent relationship developments over a stack." Then, he leaned down and softly kissed Lorelai, giving Rory and Jess something to wonder about while they were getting dressed.
Author: Jenn -- GuardianAngelGirl2005@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13, to be safe!
Pairing: R/J, with a little bit of L/L
Spoilers: Through the season finale, but Rory doesn't make the decision she makes at the end of that episode.
Distribution: Sure, just e-mail me and tell me where it's going!
Archived: 6.18.02
Disclaimer: If I owned the show, I wouldn't be calling this a fanfic, I'd be calling it a script! LOL! No, I don't own the show, I'm not making any money with this, and no infringement is intended.
Summary: Desperate for Jess and her mother to get along, Rory suggests a little vacation for the three of them and Luke.
A/N: First of all, thank you sooo much to my beta for this, PKNight! Second of all, this is the first GG fic I've posted on here, so please (PLEASE) read and review! I live off of the feedback!!! Also, there's a scene with a hammock in it... what happens when the person sits down (if you've never been in one) is true, cuz of gravity! :D
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
uMending Process/u
"I just think it would be a good idea," Luke said, holding his hands up in defense. "Rory wants you to like Jess, I want you to like Jess. Hell, I think even JESS wants you to like Jess!"
"Yeah, well, good for all of you! I want to get along with Jess, I really do! But Luke, a vacation? Why can't I get to like him here?" Lorelai complained.
"Territory. A vacation somewhere would be neutral ground. I don't know why I'm answering all this. Go ask your kid--it's her idea; she'd know better than me!"
"Fine, I will!" And with that, she turned and stomped out of the diner. No more than ten seconds later, she marched back in, scowl still in place, and barked: "Can I get my coffee to go?"
Fighting back a smirk, he handed her the drink. Then she left again.
~*~
About twenty minutes into the drive, after one of Jess's favorite songs on the radio was over, he asked her how she coerced her mother into going on the trip.
"I told my mom I'd make sure she never had coffee again if she didn't come," Rory explained to Jess.
"Oh now that was just mean," he replied.
"But effective."
"What'd you threaten to take away to get her to ride with Luke?"
"Same thing. Except she told me not to let you drive. She couldn't even be manipulated with coffee then!" Her tone was lighthearted, but her words weren't, and her passenger quickly picked up on it.
"I can understand that," he whispered. She glanced over at him for half-a- second, and then responded just as softly.
"I don't blame you for what happened, Jess. You didn't intentionally crash, and I know that. You wouldn't do that. Despite what everyone else seems to think."
Quickly changing the subject, he asked, "How'd bagboy react when you told him you were going on vacation and that I was going to be within a 40 mile radius of you?"
Dead air reigned as Rory contemplated her response. "He wasn't happy."
*Flashback*
"You're going on vacation with him?" Dean yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the-"
"Dean, he's a friend of mine, and I want my mom to like him. This is no different than if I were to go on a trip with Lane!" she explained, trying to control her temper. She was getting tired of him always being so jealous and possessive.
"Who's idea was this?"
She didn't say anything; just stared down at the ground.
"Oh, no. Tell me this wasn't YOUR idea!"
"It wasn't my idea," she lied, still not meeting his eye.
"I can't believe this," he muttered and then heaved an exasperated sigh. "Do you have to go?"
She couldn't believe he would suggest her not going! "No, I don't. But I want to. And if you don't like that..." she trailed off.
"Maybe we should take a break from 'us' for awhile," he suggested. "It helped the relationship last time."
Rory nodded in agreement. "Two months," she said. "We meet here in two months and see what happens, okay?"
"Yeah," he replied, and walked away.
*End Flashback*
The rest of the ride to the cabin was in silence. When the group arrived and checked out the house, they encountered a slight (and cliché) problem: four people, three bedrooms.
"I can't share a room with my mom," Rory announced. "She takes too long to get dressed in the morning and she snores!"
"Alright, Rory gets one, I get one, Lorelai gets one, and Luke sleeps on the couch," Jess suggested, only half kidding.
"How about if LUKE gets one and YOU sleep on the couch!" Lorelai fired back. The two argued for a moment before:
"How about if I get one, Jess gets one, and Mom and Luke SHARE one?!" Rory shouted above the commotion. The suggestion immediately shut everyone up. Luke fidgeted, looking everywhere except at the other people in the room, and a slight blush rose in Lorelai's cheeks.
"That works," Jess said, shrugging.
"Uh, NO! It doesn't!" Lorelai countered. "I am NOT going to share a room, much less a BED with him!!" The sound of her voice reverberated off the walls.
"Mom, there's two beds in the master bedroom: you won't BE sharing a bed!" Jess turned to Rory and mouthed where the adults couldn't see:
'Unless they want to.' Rory tried to hold back a giggle, but knew she had failed when Luke and her mom gave her sharp looks.
"I guess that'll be alright," Luke finally conceeded.
Lorelai sighed in defeat and then asked, "Well, what are we having for dinner?"
"The closest place is a Pizza Hut. What's everyone want?"
While everybody argued about the pizza, Rory snuck a glance at Jess only to find him looking back at her. He sent her one of his trademark smiles and then turned back to the conversation. "You can't have all that stuff on the SAME pizza, Lorelai!"
"Why not?" Luke protested at the same time.
~*~
"Rory, can I talk to you for a minute?" Lorelai knew she had to keep this conversation short: Luke and Jess would be back with the pizzas in fifteen minutes.
"Sure, what's up?" she asked as she sat down on the couch.
"I know how badly you want me to like Jess," she began. "And I'm trying, I really am. I'll be civil toward him if you want me to be, but I don't trust him."
"Mom-"
"I know you think he's a good guy, and under anyother circumstances I would trust your judgement over mine. I just don't want you to end up being a teenage mom like me. Jess is dangerous, and I know all to well how appealing and seductive that can be."
"Mom--"
"And I don't want you to have to give up your dream of going to Harvard and becoming a journalist because of the town bad-boy."
"Mom, I kissed him!"
"And - WHAT?!" she interrupted herself. "You kissed him? When?"
Rory sighed and stared down at her hands before responding quietly, "At Sookie's wedding."
"At Sookie's wedding? Rory, that was two months ago! Did Dean see you?"
"No! Thank goodness he didn't. If he had, Jess would be in a casket right now!"
"YOU kissed HIM?" Lorelai was in shock.
"I like him, Mom."
"You like him!"
"Can you PLEASE stop repeating everything I say? Yes, I kissed him: I like him. I'm probably going to break up with Dean because of it."
"You're-"
"Mom," Rory warned.
"Pizza's here!" Jess called from the foyer. With a meaningful look at her mom, Rory followed them to the kitchen to get her food.
~*~
By the time the pizza was gone , it was 9:30 and Jess had started a fire in the fireplace. Then he'd gone outside. When twenty minutes had passed and he still hadn't returned, Rory excused herself to look for him. He wasn't on the porch, down by the lake, or even sitting on the roof. She went around to the back of the house and saw him swinging listlessly in the hammock.
"Hey," she said quietly when she walked over to him. He started at the sound of her voice, but covered it well.
"Hey," he replied as he sat up and and patted the spot next to him. She sat down and fell against his side.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked her.
"Looking for you," she replied shyly. He put his arm around her, drawing her head to his shoulder.
"Here I am." She nodded and snuggled closer. "Your mom's not freaking out that you're here with me?"
"No, I think she's starting to warm up to you."
"She doesn't know your here, does she?"
"Nope." The two laughed.
After a moment, he whispered in her ear: "You better go inside; it's cold out here," sending chills down her spine.
"It's ok; I'm feeling pretty warm."
"You just shivered, Rory."
"No, I didn't," she denied.
"Yes you did," he whispered again. "Just then, when I said that, you shivered."
She looked at the ground and admitted, "Yeah, but it wasn't because of the cold."
She looked up at him to guage his reaction. But his gaze wasn't forcused on her eyes, it was on her mouth. She bit her lip, subtly moistening it. He leaned in slowly, and lightly brushed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes and reveled in the emotions surging through her.
When he pulled away, moments later, she gasped slightly.
"Rory, we shouldn't do this. You have a boyfriend and-" He stopped talking when she pressed her lips onto his again. Coherent thought was lost as the kiss deepened.
When the need for air became greater than the need for each other, they brok away.
"Damn," he gasped out. "THAT was un-Rory-like."
"Thank you," she replied, also breathless. There was silence for a few minutes before she said, "And as for Dean... We... He... I..." She paused to collect her thoughts, and then finally came up with a complete thought. "Dean was my first love. But what I felt for him was nothing compared to what I feel for you."
"What DO you feel for me, Rory?"
"I'm not sure 'cause it's not like anything I've ever felt before. All I know it that I want SO badly to find out.
"Me too," he replied, and leaned in to kiss her again.
~*~
"They're out there, Luke! Right now, they're out there, probably making out and doing things my daughter shouldn't be doing!"
"Lorelai, calm down," Luke advised. "They're not doing anything wrong."
"How do you know that? Huh? How? For all you know, they're out there having sex!" Saying the words aloud didn't help her to feel better; it only made the situation more real. "Oh my God, she's gonna get pregnant! She's gonna turn out just like me, and I can't deal with that!" She stood up and began pacing the room as he looked on with amusement. "I should go out there and get her. I can't let anything happen to her." She walked toward the door, but then stopped. "But I don't wanna watch whatever she's doing out there! If I had to see them having sex... ugh!'
"They're not having sex. Rory's a good kid, and Jess really cares about her. He respects her. They're not doing anything they're BOTH not ready for."
She took a deep, calming breath. "Thank you, Luke. I really needed to hear that," she said sincerely.
"Anytime, Lorelai," he replied softly. Then he reached out and stiffly pulled her into an embrace. "Anytime."
~*~
Rory and Jess laid back in the hammock and looked at the stars. She showed him a few consetellations, and then he made up some of his own. He was telling her a story about one of his stars when he glanced down at her. She was fast asleep. "That good, huh?" he whispered. Then he climbed out of the swing, picked her up and carried her inside.
Opening the door proved to be a bit of a problem, but Jess used his foot to press down on the handle while thanking God the girl in his arms wasn't heavy. He looked around the cabin, but Luke and Lorelai were nowhere in sight.
He gently placed the sleeping girl on her bed and then carefully removed her shoes and socks. It only took a second of consideration for him to decide that undresssing her further wouldn't be a good idea.
He pulled the blankets up to her chin and then softly kissed her forehead. Good night, Rory Gilmore," he whispered.
"Good night, Jess Mariano," she murmured back.
~*~
"I'm still worried about them, Luke," Lorelai announced, sitting up in her bed, awaking her friend.
"Lorelai, lie down, go to sleep, and stop freaking out over this! They'll be fine." She was beginning to aggravate him, and he was about to snap at her. To keep from doing so, he got out of bed and walked to hers on the other side of the room. Trying to remember what the perfect guys in movies did, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Now you're supposed to tell me that when we wake up tomorrow, Rory'll be in her bed and Jess'll be in his and they came in seperately and all that stuff."
Luke replied: "When we wake up tomorrow, Rory'll be in her bed and Jess'll be in his and they came in seperately and all that stuff."
Lorelai chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'm going to sleep now. 'Night Luke, and thanks again."
~*~
Rory awoke a little later that night, surprised to be in bed, since she had no memory of how she got there. Unaware of the time, she got out of bed and crept down the hall to Jess's room. Seeing that the light was off, she slowly opened the door.
In the dim light from the moon, she could barely make out his sleeping form. He was the kind of person that slept curled up in a ball, on one side of the bed. She wondered if it had anything to do with his life in New York. Maybe he hadn't had much room to sleep when he was younger, and now it was just a habit. Who knows, maybe he was instinctively making room for someone else in the bed.
She told herself numerous times that she should leave, but she couldn't seem to drag herself away from the room where she could stare at him endlessly with no reprecussions.
The one consequence she hadn't counted on though, was curiosity. She wanted to know the little things about him like what he slept in, covers on or off, how many pillows, etc.
He derailed her train of thought by speaking. "Rory." He already knew she was there, he'd known since she opened the door, but was only now breaking the agonizingly beautiful silence.
"Yeah, it's me," she replied quietly.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting up.
"I don't know," she whispered shyly.
"Do you want to come here." He stretched out his arms invitingly.
Taking the incentive, she crawled onto his bed and into his arms. She closed her eyes, and for a minute, relished in the warmth and security of his aura. Then she said in a voice barely audible, "This is what I'm doing here."
Awhile later, he lied back on the bad, still holding her in his arms. He kissed her gently on the forehead and fell asleep soon after snuggling a little closer to the girl in his arms.
~*~
"Rory, honey, I've got coffee!" Lorelai called through her daughter's bedroom door. When no reply came, she tried again. "Rory?" She opened the door and found herself along in the room. Trying not to worry, she methodically checked the kitchen, living room, and the dining room. Still not finding her, she began to panic, memories or when she spent the night at Miss Patty's with Dean, flooding back.
"Luke!" she called out. "Luke!"
"What?" he yelled back from the kitchen where he was cooking breakfast.
"I can't find Rory! She's gone!"
"She can't be gone, Lorelai. She has to be somewhere." he rationalized.
"What if she went for a walk and got hurt? What if she was kidnapped? What if-"
"Calm. Down," he said, still standing over the pancakes. "Have you checked with Jess? If anyone knows where she is, it's probably him." He flipped the flapjacks over and then said: "We've got two minutes; let's go ask him."
They walked to the closed door of his room and silently opened it. When she saw her daughter in Jess's bed (and arms) she opened her mouth to yell at her. Before she could, however, Luke clapped his hand over her mouth to silence her.
'What are you doing?!' her eyes screamed betrayal at him. Slowly he guided her over to the bed and whispered, "Look at Rory's face, Lorelai." She did as she was instructed, and was almost surprised when she was how obviously safe and content her daughter was. With a small smile of defeat, she turned and left the room with Luke at her side, hurrying back to his pancakes.
~*~
"Luke, I know I've said this a million times, but I can't thank you enough for keeping me calm... calmish," Lorelai said from her place at the breakfast table.
Luke, who was still flipping pancakes, turned around and replied, "You're my best friend, Lorelai. I was happy to do it."
"Best friend, huh?" she murmured, surprising herself with the disappointment she felt.
"Yeah, best friend, unless..." He trailed off, not knowing exactly how to finish. Going out on a limb, and possibly risking the friendship, he questioned, "Have you ever wanted to be more?"
"What?" she responded, confused.
"Have you ever wanted to be more than friends with me?"
"Yeah," she said. "I have... do..."
He turned away from the stove, and looked at her with slight shock written across his face. "Do?"
"Yeah, do." And with that, she stood up, walked over to him, and gently kissed him on the lips.
~*~
Jess awoke a few minutes after the adults left, and took the opportunity to gaze at the girl he was beginning to fall in love with. She looked so peaceful when she slept, as if she were having a perpetual good dream. When she began to stir, he found himself pulling her closer, never wanting to let her go.
"Morning," she murmured, unaware of everything except Jess.
"Good morning," he returned and kissed her gently on the lips.
There was a knock on the door. The two froze and stared at each other in fear.
Luke called out, "It's alright, we know Rory's in there too!" Jess got up and opened the door to reveal a smirking pancake-cooker and an unusually calm mother. "It's time for breakfast. We can discuss these recent relationship developments over a stack." Then, he leaned down and softly kissed Lorelai, giving Rory and Jess something to wonder about while they were getting dressed.