Jess digs into his lunch at school. Sensing something is off, he glances up to find Dean and Lane both grinning at him. "What? Did you do something to my pizza that I'm not aware of?"
The two look a little too innocent as they share a look. "Oh, we were just wondering how your weekend went." Lane speaks for them.
"Yeah. Anything interesting happen?" Dean adds.
"It was fine." He answers cautiously. "Some business man passing through left a pretty good tip. I'm not lending either of you money, if that's what you're getting at."
"So there's nothing you want to share with us? Maybe dating wise?" Lane pries further.
Jess shakes his head. "No, not while I still live in this town. All the girls my age just want me to be their 'gay best friend' thanks to Miss Patty keeping that rumor alive."
"You really aren't gonna tell us? I thought we were your friends."
"Tell you what?" Jess is starting to get fed up. "Would you quit beating around the bush and just come out with it already."
"We know you were on a date with Oliver on saturday." Dean blurts out, causing Lane to elbow him in the ribs. "Ow! What was that for?"
"We agreed to easy into it." Lane reminds him in hushed tones as if Jess can't hear her across the table.
"Whoa, slow down, Jackie Gleason. Oliver and I were not on a date. What makes you think that?"
"The secluded lunch on the bridge for one." Dean points out.
"And you two looked pretty cozy at the town meeting." Lane jumps in.
"Wha- that- It wasn't a date." Jess settles on. "We were just hanging out. Now can we drop this?"
"Fine, have it your way."
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"So if it wasn't a date then why do you spend hours every night talking to him on the phone?" Lane says in home economics before Jess even has a chance to sit down.
Jess tosses his bag down and slumps into his seat. "What happened to dropping this?"
"Why are you avoiding answering my question?"
"How do you even know that? Do you have me on twenty-four hour surveillance or something?" He asks instead.
"Rory told me."
"And how did Rory know?"
"Luke told her and Lorelai. Now, no more invasiveness, mister, and answer my original question."
Jess rolls his eyes. "Sheesh, does Bush know about you? Because you'd make a great interrogator. We talk on the phone, so what? I talk to you, Dean, and Rory on the phone too. Doesn't mean I wanna date any of you."
"Please, I am so out of your league."
Jess clicks his tongue. "Oh, that's right. The only guys in your league are musicians named Dave that have a thing for sound equipment."
"How- Rory." Lane answers her own question.
"Like I said, I talk to Rory on the phone too."
"So…" Jess glances over at her serious shift in tone. "Does this mean you're really over Rory?"
Jess traces an old drawing on the desk with his finger as he shrugs. "I guess. I mean, between the unspoken thing Luke and Lorelai have, and people mistaking Rory and I for siblings more and more every time we're out, it just got weird."
"I'm sorry."
Jess shrugs again. "If it's not meant been to be, then it's not, best I find this out now before I get in too deep. There are plenty of people out there anyway."
"Like Oliver." Lane teases
"You know what? I'm staying in this class for you. I can still transfer out at any time." He threatens.
"You're not going anywhere." Lane says confidently. "The only other options for you are woodshop and computer science. Here, you get to mock the class with me, you can't do that in either of the other classes."
"I am not telling Rory anything anymore." Jess mutters under his breath, accepting defeat.
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Oliver becomes a familiar face fairly quickly around Stars Hollow. He blended in with the rest of Jess' friends seamlessly, able to trash talk movies with the best of them. Their group of five grew to six after the addition of Dave from Lane's new band. It all happened so fast, one day Jess woke up and realized he barely recognizes himself anymore. He's not the broody loner who hides in the library all lunch, but instead has a group of four he eats lunch with in the cafeteria and then a group of six after school when Rory and Oliver meet up with them. He, Jess Mariano, has a clique.
And the even weirder part, he's entirely okay with it. Sure, he still likes his alone time, and he's rarely the center of a conversation, but he really enjoys just being with a group of people that make him feel relaxed. He doesn't need to put up walls or pretend around them, they just accept him exactly as he is.
A group he wishes he was with now. Instead, Luke decided today was going to be the day they clean out the storage unit. Outside. In the middle of october. That stupid little voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Luke tells him he should have wore a heavier jacket than his leather one to fight the bitter fall wind, but in his defence it's his favorite one now. Luke had given it to him as a birthday present after all the not-so-subtle hints Jess had been giving him the weeks leading up to his birthday.
His birthday was perfect too. Luke was the only one that knew and didn't make any kind of fuss, just gave him the jacket in the morning with a gruff, "Happy birthday." and that was it. No big party or scene, exactly as he likes it.
Until Lorelai spilled the beans. A few days after his birthday, she had noticed the new jacket and commented on liking it (after the obligatory Danny Zuko jokes). She then made a weird face then ran out of the diner without another word. Jess didn't think twice about it at the moment, chalking it up to just Lorelai being Lorelai, but then a week later he had shown up at the Gilmore's to find her throwing a joint surprise party for both him and Rory. He had been irritated at first, but she later explained that she thought he would like it better if only part of the attention was on him and that if he gets too uncomfortable, that they could shift everyone's focus to Rory, whose birthday was only two weeks away. He'd never admit it out loud, but it was one of the best birthdays he's ever had.
He'd be hanging out with Rory now if she wasn't giving him the silent treatment over him lying to her about when his birthday was. He sighs for the third time in the last hour from his perch on an old table Luke has been keeping in storage.
"If you're so bored, why don't you, say, help me clean this place out like I asked you to." Luke complains.
"Rory hasn't talked to me since the party." Jess says, not making any indication that he's going to be helping anytime soon.
"Yeah, well, that's what you get for being an idiot and lying to her about when your birthday was." Luke coughs as a cloud of dust kicks up into his face.
Jess groans. "I didn't mean to lie to her. She had just assumed it was months earlier, and I didn't feel the need to correct her. How was I supposed to know she'd get so grumpy about it."
Luke stops what he's doing and turns to his nephew. "Oh, Jess, a lie of omission is still a lie. Of course she's going to be upset. Just, give her a little space, then apologize. Okay?"
"Fine."
Luke gives him a nod, then gets back to work moving boxes around. "So, things still good with everyone else?"
"Yup." Jess answers as he digs through one of the boxes sitting next to him on the table, curious about his uncle's sudden interest in his social life. "Why?"
"Just wondering. Oliver sure has been around a lot lately." He says it in an off-handed way that implies it's anything but. "Lot of sleepovers."
"There's nothing going on." Jess stresses for the hundredth time.
Luke holds up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I never said there was." He waits a beat. "I'm just saying, Dean never sleeps over."
Jess throws his head back. "Dean only lives two minutes away. Hartford is forty minutes away on a good day. Now would you people leave me alone about it?"
"Fine."
"Thank you."
Jess turns his attention back to the box, thinking Luke finally dropped the topic for good.
"I just mean, hypothetically speaking," Luke starts up again a few minutes later.
"Ah, jeez, it never ends." Jess grumbles as he rolls his eyes.
"If you two, say, were to get together or decide to want to be more than friends-"
"We are just friends."
"-If any of these hypotheticals were to become not-so-hypotheticals, I, uh, just want you to know I'm always here." Luke continues, ignoring Jess' interruption.
"You're hypothetically getting on my nerves. If you talk about this anymore than hypothetically I'm gonna show Lorelai the infamous Star Trek t-shirt."
That gets Luke's attention. "What? No, I got rid of that years ago."
"Oh, yeah? Then how do you explain this?" Jess pulls a shirt out of the box he had been digging through and holds it up.
"Gimme that!"
Jess holds it behind his back. "No way! This musty old shirt is my insurance policy."
"Hand it over, Jess."
"I still can't believe you were a trekkie. Butch Danes, captain of the geek squad."
"Jess William Mariano, give me that shirt right now."
"Oooo," Jess laughs. "Full name, I'm trembling in fear now. What? Are you gonna threaten to take away my dessert next?"
Luke sighs. "Fine. You and Oliver are platonic, now and forever. Happy?"
"Having a gay old time." Jess says sarcastically as he tosses Luke the shirt, who scoffs. "Hey, gay used to mean happy. You'd know that if you cracked open a book every once in a while."
"Whatever you say, nephew."
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Things settle down for a while after Jess' talk with Luke at the storage unit. Jess followed Luke's advise and swallowed his pride, apologizing to Rory for not being truthful about his birthday. It worked like a charm and she dropped the whole silent treatment she had been giving him. Even all the gossip involving Oliver dies down after the arrival of a new neighbor. He's some middle-aged guy who just got out of a marriage who likes to call his house 'the oasis'. From what he's heard between Lorelai and Rory, it's like the tiki room threw up in there and he has a closet filled to the brim with board games. He's the definition of pathetic if you ask Jess. And unfortunately for the Gilmore's, they know this because they got roped into watering his plants and grass for him while he's away on business. Serves them right for being social.
Oliver had spent the night on a school night for once, so he offered to drive Rory to their school, saving her from having to take the bus. Jess and Oliver are waiting on Rory as she goes to water the lawn, chatting to kill time when she runs up to them soaking wet, begging for help to turn off the sprinkler while out of breath.
They all end up getting soaked in the process, but get the job done nonetheless. That is until Rory's pager goes off with a message from Dean that he's on the way.
Without a word, Jess turns the sprinkler back on to full blast despite Oliver's confused look. "We should get going before Dean shows up." Jess tells Rory, ignoring Oliver for the time being.
"Yeah, probably for the best. I'll meet you at the car after I change. If the ride is still an option, that is." Rory shifts uncomfortably.
"Of course." Jess answers for him. Jess then pulls him along before Oliver starts asking too many questions.
It isn't until they're halfway to the diner that Oliver collects his thoughts and pulls his arm away. "What the hell just happened? Why did you turn the sprinkler back on when Rory got that page from Dean?"
Jess sighs, put out. "It's a long story. One that I don't wanna tell while soaking wet. Now, c'mon, you can borrow some clothes." Jess waits with bated breath before Oliver nods.
With the light vibes from earlier gone, they silently head to the diner. When they walk in, their shoes squeak loudly on the tile floor, gaining the attention of the owner who does a double take at the state they're in. "I thought you two were off to school? What the hell happen, get in a fight with a fire hose on the way there?"
"Sprinkler." Jess answers, not stopping. Sensing his bad mood, Luke only nods, most likely wanting a full explanation later.
Upstairs in the apartment, Oliver hovers awkwardly as Jess heads straight to his dresser to grab some clothes. "It's a good thing you're about my size." He says as he tosses his friend a shirt and jeans. "You can just leave your uniform up to dry in the bathroom."
Oliver says a quiet thanks before heading into the bathroom, leaving Jess alone. Without wasting any time, he changes in record time and is toweling off his hair when Oliver returns.
"When I first moved here, Dean and I used to fight. A lot. Mostly over Rory." Jess admits softly. "I thought we were past all that, but apparently not. To be fair though, I really was an asshole. Like, grade-A asshole."
"I know." Oliver realizes how that sounds and back tracks. "I mean, on my first day here, when I went into Doose's to get that soda, he had seen me with you and gave me this long-winded warning about how you're only trouble and that if I knew what's best for me I would stop associating with the likes of you."
"And yet you stuck around."
"You don't have to sound so surprised. I told him I can make my own judgments. So far you haven't made me regret it yet."
Jess huffs. "Key word being yet. I may not be a full blown asshole anymore, but I still have my moments."
Oliver shrugs. "Everyone has their faults. I tend to talk too much and put my foot in my mouth, you haven't kicked me to the curb. So you used to like Rory? Past tense?" Oliver changes the subject.
"Yeah, things got complicated and I backed off."
"And Dean knows this?" Jess nods. "Then honestly, I don't think this dog and pony show you two put on was necessary. If you and Dean really buried the hatchet, and he trusts Rory, then he should understand you really are just friends with her. If he doesn't then that's on him."
Jess weighs that mentally. "Have you always been this smart?" He finally asks when he can't find any solid argument against him.
"Duh. You just haven't been paying attention." Jess snorts, leading Oliver out of the apartment with his hands on his shoulders.
"Alright, Einstein, Rory's probably waiting for you by now. And unless Chilton's eased up on their dress code to allow Metallica, you still need to stop home and change."
"But school doesn't start for another hour. Also, as a side note, shoving me down the stairs won't get me there any faster."
"Trust me, if you cause Rory to be late, being shoved down the stairs will be the least of your problems." Down in the diner they see Rory pacing across the street where Oliver is parked. Jess gives him a final pat on the back before giving him a small shove. "Have fun." An idea forms and Jess has Oliver wait a minute while he pours some coffee in a to-go cup.
"Oh, thanks, but I'm not really a coffee drinker."
"Good, because it's not for you. Word of advice, never approach an irritated Gilmore empty handed." Jess presents the cup of coffee to him with a flourish.
"Noted. See you after school?"
Jess leans on the counter. "I'll be here, making minimum wage as I serve people their food."
"I'm sure someone's drawing up plans for your monument as we speak." Oliver says sarcastically before leaving.
Luke comes up casually beside him and leans forward mirroring him. "Shut up." Jess makes sure to get the first word in.
Luke shrugs. "I didn't say anything. Thinking on the other hand…"
"Get a life. I'm heading to school, try taking up a hobby while I'm gone. Like sewing or meditation, anything that doesn't have to do with me." Jess makes to the door before Luke stops him.
"Hey, you have breakfast?"
"I'm not-" Luke tosses him an apple, which he nearly drops. He slumps his shoulders with a sigh. "Luke-"
"You don't need to eat the whole thing if you really aren't hungry. I would like you to, but-"
"Alright, fine!" Jess cuts him off, his embarrassment rising as he notices most of the customers are watching them now. He shoots Luke an annoyed look before leaving for school himself.
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It wasn't until Luke brought it up the other day at the storage unit that Jess realized just how much time Oliver really spends in Stars Hollow now, particularly at the apartment with Jess or downstairs in the diner keeping Jess company while he works. With work and after school sports keeping Dean busy now, and student government and the new band keeping Rory and Lane occupied respectively, most of the time it just ends up being Jess and Oliver.
Today ends up being a lazy day for the two of them upstairs. Well, lazy for Jess anyway. He got all his assignments done in class, so he's just resting on the couch while some old B movie plays in the background as he waits for Oliver to finish an article he's writing for the school paper.
"You know, I'd get this done a lot faster if you weren't reading over my shoulder the whole time. I get enough of that at school from Paris." He complains, eyes never leaving his laptop's screen.
"I can't believe you wore the Metallica shirt under your uniform the whole day." Jess says instead, picking at the shirt in question.
Oliver bats Jess' hand away. "I only had time to change my pants and by then your ever so loving sister slash not-sister started to honk the horn so I just had to slip on the school sweater over the top and oh, yeah, stop reading over my shoulder." He repeats, not letting Jess change the subject.
"I'm just so bored." Jess moans, sinking lower on the couch. "This is the number one mockable film ever and I have no one to mock it with. I am mockless." He sits up again and rests his arm behind the couch as he glances at Oliver's screen. "You slipped into passive voice again."
"That's it." Oliver shuts his laptop and sets it to the side. "There. I'll watch the stupid E.T. ripoff with you and finish this later."
Jess gasps. "Take that back. Mac and Me is not just some stupid E.T. ripoff. It's a cinematic masterpiece."
Oliver scoffs. "Doesn't it have, like, a five minute dance sequence in the middle of a McDonald's for no reason?"
"It totally serves a purpose. Eric uses all the dancing as cover to escape the government guys trying to take Mac away. You just don't get it because only genius can recognize genius."
Oliver snorts. "Yes, that must be it."
They watch the movie for a bit until Jess notices Oliver staring at him. "What?"
He shakes his head with a grin. "Nothing. I'm just glad you decided call me back. I like hanging out with you, even though your taste in movies is crap."
Jess chuckles. "Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel special."
The next thing Jess knows, Oliver leans forward quickly and starts to kiss him. In shock, Jess freezes, not sure what to do. Oliver pulls away, face beet red. "I, um, thought… Guess I was wrong. Sorry, I made this weird. I'll just, uh, I'll go. I should go." Oliver gets up, gathering his things and stuffing them into his backpack as he avoids looking at Jess.
Jess snaps out of it. "No, I'm sorry. You don't need to go. You can stay, I want you to stay."
Oliver shakes his head as he shrugs his jacket on. "No, this article is due tomorrow and I really need to focus on it. I'm gonna head home."
"Wait." Jess jumps up. Oliver stops, staring down at his shoes. "We're still good right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"I'd feel a little more confident about that if you weren't saying it to the rug."
Oliver finally looks him in the eye and gives him a strained smile. "I promise, we are good. Now, I really do need to get this article finished. I'll bring your shirt back tomorrow as well-"
"You can keep it. It suits you."
"Thanks."
Jess nods, letting him leave. Once he's alone, he flops back onto the couch, trying to remember how to breathe. He's only just got his breathing under control when Luke comes in with a worried expression.
"Hey, what's going on? Oliver just left in a hurry. I thought he was staying the night again?"
Jess turns off the tv, not in the mood to watch the movie anymore. "He, uh, remembered he has a lot of work due tomorrow for school."
Luke nods slowly. "Alright. Hey, you feelin' okay? Your face is red." He comes over to feel his head with the back of his hand.
Jess bats him away, getting up off the couch and away from Luke. "I feel fine. Lorelai mentioned some extra shifts at the Inn this week, I'm gonna head over there and see if she has anything for me to do." He pulls on his leather jacket and zips it up.
Luke looks like he wants to talk more, but he only nods. "Yeah, okay. Just keep me updated."
"I will." Jess slips out of the apartment before Luke can say anything more.
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Jess is grateful for the forethought of keeping a change of work clothes at the inn, that way he doesn't have to turn around and face his uncle for a second time. He's pretty sure if Luke gave him one more of his piercing stares Jess would have spilled his guts right there and told him everything that happened. At this point, he has no idea what he could have said, mainly because he has no idea what he's thinking. He has a set of facts in front of him, but he can't make heads or tails of what any of it means.
Oliver kissed him. That's one thing he can say for sure. The thing that's bugging him though is that he completely froze. He didn't return the kiss, but he also didn't pull away. He just… froze.
God, he really hopes Lorelai has something for him to do. What he needs is get out of his head and let his mind focus on something else for a while.
And it works. He spent a solid four hours focusing on the guests and solving all their problems. For four straight hours his mind was blissfully distracted, until Lorelai sent him home. Technically, the correct term is kicked out. She was on her way out when she noticed him still at the front desk and had to physically push him out the door and order him to go home.
Feeling his breathing start to hitch again on the way back to the diner, Jess makes a detour to the Black, White, and Red movie theater where he knows they're playing some double feature. Right before going inside, he pulls out his phone and calls the apartment to leave a quick message to Luke to let his uncle know he won't be back until around eleven, knowing he'll get the machine since he can see Luke closing up still across the square. With that done, he turns his phone off and heads inside, hopefully to give him the distraction that he needs.
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It's completely dark by the time he creeps into the apartment, not wanting to wake Luke up. After the movies did their job of letting him mentally check out, he found a voicemail from Luke telling him he's turning in early for the night and that he left a spare key in the usual spot for him above the door jam. He's surprised how chill Luke was for once, not getting on his case about being out late, or even staying up to yell at him when he got home. Instead, only snores greeted him when he got back. Guess the whole letting Luke know where he is shtick does work.
Changing into a shirt and sweatpants to sleep in in the dark, while also trying to stay quiet proves to be harder than he thought, but by some miracle, by the time he crawls into bed he can still hear the soft snores coming from the other side of the room.
He closes his eyes and spends a solid ten minutes wishing he could just fall asleep, but his mind is buzzing still. For the first time in months, he has an urge to blast his music again just to shut up all the noise in his head. Instead, now that he's only surrounded by silence, he just keeps replaying what happened earlier with Oliver, and now that he's thinking about that again the question of why he didn't pull back keeps coming up and he really doesn't want to think about that and his breathing is hitching again and it's too dark to read so he has nothing to distract himself with.
He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to will himself to sleep and to slow down his breathing, but the more he tries, the harder it is to breathe, like there's an elephant on his chest and it's only getting heavier and heavier. Without even realizing it, he starts to claw at his arms, trying to get some control over his body again. The more he can't breathe, the more he panics, and the more he panics, the more he can't breathe and now he's just stuck in this terrible cycle that won't end.
"Lu-" He tries to call out. "L-luke." He tries again, but it only comes out as a whisper. "Luke. Luke! Luke!" His heart feels like it's about to beat out of his chest. "L-luke! P-please!"
He faintly hears a lamp clicking on and a thump across the room over the roaring of his heartbeat in his ears. The next thing he knows, Luke is beside him and has a hand grasping his shoulder. "Jess, what's wrong?! Talk to me here, bud!"
Jess grasps Luke's wrist like a lifeline, trying to focus on him as he gasps for breath. "C-can't b-b-breathe… Ma- make it s-stop!"
"Hey, hey, you're alright. I'm right here, Jess." Luke sits beside him and gathers him in his arms. "Deep breaths, okay? Slow, deep breaths. There you go, that's it, kid." Jess lies still against Luke, taking in his steady heartbeat and letting it calm his own erratic one. His breathing finally slows as well and he feels relaxed for the first time tonight. "Better?"
Jess nods, too out of it to speak.
"You wanna talk about it?" Luke asks cautiously. "You really had me scared for a minute there, kid."
Jess shakes his head this time. "Sorry." He adds in a whisper, not sure if he's apologizing for not wanting to talk about it or for scaring Luke. It's probably both. "Can, um, can you stay with me? Just for a little bit?" Panic spikes in the pit of his stomach at the thought of being left alone with his thoughts again.
Luke shifts, getting more comfortable. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. Whatever you want. I'm here for you, Jess. I'll always be here." He gives him a quick squeeze and a kiss in his hair.
Jess shuts his eyes, relishing at the feeling of safety he has in his uncle's arms.
"Did I ever tell you about the first day I opened the diner?" Luke asks softly.
Keeping his eyes closed, he shakes his head and hums in the negative.
Jess feels more than hears Luke as he chuckles. "Oh, man, I was only about a year older than you are now. I wasn't even old enough to a buy a beer and yet I was opening a restaurant. People told me I was crazy, that restaurants almost always fail and I'd have better luck just keeping it a hardware store. But I was young and stupid, and thought, 'What do they know? They don't have a crystal ball.' so I went and got some help from Buddy, you remember Buddy right? I've taken you to his and his wife's restaurant a few times," At Jess' nod Luke continues. "Well, I went to him and his wife, told them I wanted to turn the store into a restaurant, and they didn't even hesitate before asking how they could help. With their backing, I went full steam ahead and was ready to open in no time."
"What's all that gotta do with opening day?" Jess drowsily asks. "Good thing you didn't go into storytelling, 'cause I'm gonna be fifty by the time you get to the point." He can't help but add on.
"The point, as you put it, is that I thought I knew everything I needed to know. Like I said, I was young and stupid, and by the time opening day came around I was a mess. I didn't sleep a wink the night before, and all the talk about how I couldn't do it came rushing back. I was so scared, I was puking my guts out all morning then had a panic attack that was so bad I passed out in the back and hit my head."
"Seriously?"
"Yup. I still have the scar to prove it too."
Jess finds that hard to picture. Luke has always been so sturdy, he's like a rock. Just the thought of Luke having any type of panic attack like what he just had is just… weird. Relatable, which was probably what he was going for, but still weird.
Biting his lip, Jess thinks about what to say. He has a pretty good idea now on what's going on in his head, but just thinking it, let alone saying it out loud, is freaking him out. "Hey, Luke," He finally says after some time passes.
"Yeah?" Luke jerks awake a little.
"I, um, I just- I wanted to tell you… Let you know, that today... uh, during the movie, when Oliver was here… We- or, uh, he… kissed me. And I didn't kiss him back, but, uh, I… I also didn't pull away. And I think that's because the… the hypothetical is becoming not-so-hypothetical. That I might, um, have feelings for Oliver. Maybe." Jess holds his breath as he waits for Luke to respond.
"I know."
Out of all the things that Luke could say, that was pretty low on the list. "You knew? How? I didn't even know."
"Well, I didn't know know, but the phone bill was a pretty big clue. Plus, you have been so happy lately, right around the time he started hanging out here. And, I had an idea something happened today. First, Oliver runs out like a bat outta hell with his face ten different shades of red, then I come upstairs to find you with an even redder face if that's possible." Luke pauses. "Kiddo, I love you, so much. I'll always be proud of you, no matter who you want to date."
"Thanks. And I'm still not sure yet, if I want to date him, but I just wanted you to know, it's a possibility." Now that it's out there, Jess feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Luke's always been accepting of him and saying he didn't care who he dated, but that's always been in the abstract. To hear Luke say it now, when it's a real possibility, makes him so relieved.
Emotionally and physically drained at this point, Jess slips into sleep in minutes.
This will be in two parts otherwise it was shaping up to be the size of a novel. This is the best place to end it. Not sure when exactly chapter two will be out, but my guess is a few weeks.