Chapter 2 Notes: Luke does his best to help Jess deal with the news he received in Chapter 1 and Jess goes to Friday Night Dinner. There's not much Kirk in this chapter, but he will have a lot more to do in Chapter 3. Thank you to everyone who read chapter 1 and took the time to review my little story. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are most welcome.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own obsession with Gilmore Girls.

Jess sat at Larson's dock until it got dark. It was still only a little after five o'clock. Though the winter was a mild one so far, the temperature had dropped along with the setting sun, and the cold was now enough to cause physical discomfort, especially to a body sitting as still with shock as Jess'. He knew he would be shivering soon if he stayed out any longer. He could still make it back to the diner in time to help with the dinner shift if he left now, but he somehow couldn't make himself move to stand up. He had always found the shortness of winter days depressing, but he couldn't remember a time when he had felt as bleak as he did at that moment. No matter how long he sat there and dwelled on it, he couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that his life was destined to be over before it had really even started. He would be saddled with a baby before he turned nineteen. The ink wouldn't even have dried on his high school diploma before he was locked into his future. And that future was going to be sleepless nights, dirty diapers, spit-up baby food, and working as many shifts as possible at dead end minimum wage jobs to pay for those diapers and that food. What surprised him the most about the situation was the lack of anger he felt. He couldn't remember a time when anger hadn't been his most reliable companion in coping with the upsets life had handed him. He felt like he should be angrier at himself for pressuring Shane to hook up without a condom. He should be hating her for being stupid enough to listen to him. He should be cursing life for how unfair everything was. But, he didn't feel any of that. All he felt was the overwhelming desire to lay down on the cold dock until he became comfortably numb. And to keep laying there until everything else faded away and he no longer had to deal with the mess he had made of his life. To have everything stop for good. He recognized that he was in shock, but it felt like the whole situation was happening to someone else, and he was just a casual spectator. He knew he needed to snap himself out of it and get home, but moving his body felt like too much effort. Jess heard a soft paddling noise coming from the water to his left, and was jarred from his thoughts by a sudden splash and a fluttering of white rushing toward him.

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It was almost one o'clock in the morning when Luke finally heard the apartment door open. He switched the television off and was on his feet moving toward his nephew in an instant. He briefly thought about how hard it used to be for him to stay awake past ten o'clock or to watch anything on television other than the Red Sox without drifting off to sleep in his armchair. But that was before Jess. It was amazing how alert it kept him knowing that his teenage nephew wasn't home in bed where he belonged. Especially tonight, when he figured the boy was dealing with some very rough news.

"Jess, are you ok?" Luke made a point of keeping his voice steady and calm despite all the panic he was feeling. He had been teeming with nervous energy from the moment Jess and Shane had left the diner together. He needed to know what was going on. Luke noticed the unnatural way the boy was positioning his head, his face angled slightly down and to the side, as he quietly responded. "Yeah, I'm ok, Luke. I'm sorry if I worried you. And I'm sorry for missing my shift."

"It's all right, Jess. I don't care about your shift. It's not the first time I've had to get through a dinner rush understaffed. I'm just glad you're all right."

Jess just nodded. Luke wanted to let his nephew bring up the subject of his talk with Shane. He wasn't technically supposed to know anything yet and he wanted Jess to tell him on his own as opposed to having to drag it out of the boy with questions. He wanted to know that Jess trusted him enough to want to tell him something like this. "So…" he prompted. "You hungry? I could make you some eggs or something."

"No, thanks. I think I'm just going to go to bed if that's all right." Jess paused, knowing he needed to acknowledge the situation in some way, considering how much Luke already knew. "We can talk tomorrow, though, ok? I'm just really beat right now."

"Ok, Jess. You go get ready for bed." Luke was disappointed, but he didn't want to push. That's what you were supposed to do in these situations, right? Let the kid come to you. And the boy did look exhausted. Luke got a brief glimpse of the dark shadows under the kid's eyes as Jess turned to head toward his bedroom. On second glance, it appeared to be one very large, dark shadow under his left eye only. "Jess, wait." Luke reached out a hand to grab the boy's upper arm as he walked by. "Let me see your face." He steered the boy back around until they faced each other. Jess was more docile than usual as he stood in front of his uncle, complying as the man put a hand under his chin and gently guided his face up and to the right to get a better look at his black eye. "What happened, Jess?" Luke asked softly. "Did you get in a fight?"

Jess made a small side to side gesture with his head, constrained by Luke's hand still holding him in place by his chin. Luke noticed and released Jess' face. "Then what happened? How did you get hurt?" When Jess didn't answer, Luke continued. "I need you to talk to me."

Jess could feel moisture gathering in his eyes, and blinked it away. He hadn't been sure how pissed Luke would be or what kind of reaction he would be coming home to. He knew Luke couldn't possibly be happy with him right now, but the only things he felt coming from his uncle were concern and compassion.

"Oh, God, Jess, did Shane do this!" Jess huffed out a soft laugh, both at the idea of Shane clocking him one and at how horrified Luke looked at the prospect.

"No, Luke, Shane didn't hit me. Though I wouldn't blame her if she had."

"Why do you say that, Jess? What do you think you did that's so terrible?"

Jess looked at Luke, unconvinced. "C'mon, Luke, I know you know. Shane told me you got all freaked out when she was in here and touched her stomach or something."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know for sure, but I suspected. How are you doing with the news?"

Jess shrugged and turned away from his uncle, walking slowly over to his area of the apartment and sitting down on the edge of his bed. Luke followed a few steps behind him and leaned on the wall at the entrance to his nephew's room, taking in the sight of the sad boy in front of him. He didn't want to let Jess go to bed without talking about this at all, but he didn't want to pressure the kid either. Part of him wanted to ask Jess how he could have let this happen, and just what in the hell he had been thinking having sex with a girl he didn't care about to begin with. But, he knew there was no point. He already knew the answers. The backseat of a car. Or an empty house. A broken condom. Or a bad choice. Teenage hormones. Or desperately needing to feel a connection. The 'where's and 'how's and 'why's were too universal to matter. Luke sighed.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I know I wrecked everything. I know you're pissed…" Jess looked up at Luke. "She's keeping it. We're keeping it, I guess. I'm going to be someone's father. I feel sorry for this kid already…" Jess felt himself getting choked up at his next thought. "Rory's going to leave me-" He cut off his sentence as his voice cracked. He rested his elbows on his knees and lowered his head into his hands. He couldn't breathe. He felt light headed. He watched a tear land on the leg of his jeans before he even realized he was crying. He felt the bed dip next to him, and Luke's arm wrap around the back of his shoulders. He leaned into the embrace, hiding his face against Luke's shoulder, and letting himself be held as he cried out his grief and frustration over losing the life he had been expecting to have. And he hadn't been expecting much. Just to not be tied down with a kid at eighteen from a girl he barely knew. Was that too much to ask for? And Rory. Always, Rory. Knowing that this was going to cost him Rory was what hurt the most. He felt Luke's other hand on the back of his head, gently smoothing through his hair and holding him steady while he sobbed.

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Jess woke up cold. He had taken off his jacket at some point during the night, but had never gotten under his blankets. His body sought heat and he instinctively nuzzled into the warmth he felt at his back. He turned his head into the heat and realized with an embarrassing start that he was trying to snuggle into the side of Luke's sweat pant covered leg. Jess pulled away from his uncle, who was sitting with his back against the wall at the head of the bed, slumped slightly to one side, still asleep. Jess couldn't remember falling asleep last night, much less that his uncle had passed out in his bed with him. Jess had been a mess. He remembered crying for what seemed like forever. He remembered ending up lying on his bed, curled up on his side. And Luke sitting with him, rubbing his back and making soft shushing noises like someone trying to soothe a baby. And reassuring Jess that he was ok. That everything was going to be ok. That Luke would be here for him and they would figure this out together. That this didn't mean his life was over. Not by a long shot. That this would be something good. Luke was sure of it. That Jess could handle this. That he was stronger and more capable than he thought he was, and Luke knew he would be a great dad. That this baby was going to end up being the most important thing in the world to Jess. That from the minute this baby was born, Jess would feel so much love for his son or daughter that he wouldn't be able to imagine his life without his child in it. The same way Luke could no longer imagine his life without Jess.

Jess took in the sunlight coming in from the window and the sound of birds chirping outside. He didn't have an alarm clock by his bed since Luke always woke him up, but he could tell it was late. For school and for opening the diner. He was tempted to sneak out before Luke woke up. To skip school and just take some space for himself. But, he knew skipping out on his sleeping uncle would be a sorry way to say thanks for all the comfort Luke had given him the night before.

He reached out a hand to Luke's shoulder and gently shook the man. "Luke, Luke, get up. It's late."

"Huh…...oh." Luke opened his eyes and looked around, disoriented by his surroundings. "Hey, Jess, what time is it? I slept in your bed?"

Jess nodded. "I don't know what time it is, but I think we're both pretty late. How bout we just bail on today and go back to bed? Separate beds this time, just to clarify."

Luke laughed and started to move from his position against the wall, pausing when his stiff back screamed at him to stop. "Oh, ow! Yep, definitely too old to sleep in that position." Luke made it to his feet and twisted his upper body gently from side to side trying to work the kinks out of his back.

"So, what do you say, Luke?"

Jess followed his uncle into the kitchen and took the bottle of water that Luke handed him. "I say drink this. You must be dehydrated from last night." Jess unscrewed the bottlecap and took a long drink, glad to have something to do to distract from his embarrassment over the mention of the breakdown he had had the previous night.

Luke looked at his nephew. The boy's eyes were still a little puffy from all the crying he had done the night before, but he looked to be in much better spirits. The bruise around his eye was still bothering Luke though. He hadn't pushed for answers once Jess had started crying, so he still had no idea how the kid got it.

"Well?" Jess persisted.

"You want to stay home from school, do you?"

"Why, I would love to, Luke, thanks for asking!"

"How about this? You tell me how you got that black eye and I'll call you in sick. Sound fair, tough guy?"

Jess sighed. "I didn't get into a fight. Can we please just leave it at that?"

"No can do, Jess. You're my responsibility, and you've got a huge bruise on your face right now. I can't just leave it. Sorry."

"Oh, shit, I have that stupid dinner with Rory's grandmother tonight! My eye is going to make a great first impression. She's going to think her granddaughter is dating a delinquent. Jeez, I didn't want to go to this thing to begin with!"

"Jess." Luke tried to refocus the boy. "You tell me what happened to your face right now, or I will take you by the hand and walk you over to school myself."

"Fine, relax! It's stupid, really. I took Shane to Larson's dock to talk, and after she left I stayed to think. I was just sitting on the dock minding my own business when this psychotic swan came out of nowhere and beaked me in the eye!"

Luke laughed before he could stop himself. "A swan? At Larson's dock? In February? 'Beaked' you?" Luke was trying, without much success, to hold in his amusement.

Jess scowled. "That's what I said, isn't it? What part of this is such a knee-slapper exactly?"

"Gee, I don't know nephew. The part where you got attacked by waterfowl. Or maybe when you used the word 'beaked' as a verb. There's so much room for comedy here. Take your pick."

"It's not funny! I could have lost an eye! Or gotten some kind of deadly bird flu! And, I was already having the worst day…"

Luke grew serious at that. "I know you were, Jess. And, I don't mean to laugh. Are you ok? Does it still hurt?"

"I'm fine. It's not as painful as it looks."

"Did you get it cleaned up after it happened?"

"Yeah, after it happened, I went over to the Black, White and Red theater and used the bathroom there to wash my face and clean the mark where it hit me. Then I sat through like three movies in a row, until the theater closed. Sorry for staying out so late and everything…I know you were probably worried. I just…I wasn't sure how you were going to take everything, and I didn't feel ready to face you." Jess paused. "So, how come you're not mad anyway? I was expecting yelling, maybe beating, possibly killing."

Luke smiled. "Wow, after all this time, you still have such a high opinion of my parenting skills. You flatter me."

"Ok, probably not the killing, and maaaybe not the beating, but I was definitely expecting yelling. Lots of yelling. About how stupid I am. How I completely fucked up my life. You know, things of that nature."

"I don't think you're stupid. I don't think you have completely fucked up your life. And, even if I did think those things were true, yelling wouldn't have changed anything anyway."

Jess was looking thoughtfully at his uncle. "Wow, you've finally realized that yelling doesn't actually solve problems. You're really stepping up your parenting game, huh?"

Luke laughed. "I'm not exactly happy about the situation. It's not the path I would have ever chosen for you if it had been up to me…...But, getting angry doesn't serve a purpose in a situation like this. And last night, I saw a kid who needed a hug more than anything else. Definitely more than he needed beating or killing."

Jess let out a soft laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something. Shane said her mom was pretty pissed until she had a meltdown and cried her ass off, then her mom started comforting her. I guess she was on to something."

"Hmm…...I guess she was. All right, a deal's a deal. I'll call you in sick and then I'm going to get dressed and go downstairs to help Caesar. Stay out of trouble. If you leave this apartment, you come tell me first, got it? I don't want a repeat of yesterday and not knowing where you were all day."

"I got it. And thanks, Luke, seriously."

Luke nodded. "I'm here for you, Jess." He patted the boy on the shoulder and walked to his area of the apartment to start getting ready for work.

Jess headed back to bed, feeling grateful for how understanding his uncle was being about everything. He had a feeling that breaking the news to the only other person whose reaction he really cared about wouldn't go as well.

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Dinner had been tense from the start. Jess had arrived almost half an hour late, due to the traffic buildup from an accident that had left a tractor trailer blocking two lanes of the highway. He had apologized for his tardiness and tried his best to be sociable and make a good impression on Rory's grandmother. He might have pulled it off, too, if Rory had let up about his eye. She had started in on him about getting in a fight with Dean as soon as he walked in and she wouldn't let up even when he asked her if they could discuss it later, when they were alone. He had been ready for his eye to be an issue, but not for the level of anger it had brought out in Rory. Or the unrelenting questions. He was already stressed about the pregnancy, and tense and self-conscious about this dinner. He had never met a girlfriend's family like this before. He had run into Shane's mom a couple of times at their house, but never in a situation as formal as this. He would rather have spent his Friday night anywhere else. He would have refused to come if he thought he could get away with it without looking like a jerk to Rory. He expected to feel uncomfortable in the Gilmores' home and to feel judged by Mrs. Gilmore, herself, but he hadn't been expecting this level of aggression or accusation from Rory. She had made him come to this stupid dinner. The least she could do was be on his side while he was there. His frustration level had been rising since he had walked in the door. He recognized that he wasn't exactly putting his best foot forward with her grandmother when she tried to make small talk with him about his job at Walmart, but he felt unable to stop himself. He was uncomfortable and embarrassed and turned to his usual snark and sarcasm as a coping mechanism. He couldn't wait for this night to be over.

Jess' frustration turned into real anger when Rory asked her grandmother if they could be excused for a moment. Instead Mrs. Gilmore had excused herself with the explanation of going to check on something in the kitchen, as though it were a normal event for her to leave the table during the salad course to give one of her guests the privacy to yell at the other. Jess found himself in awe of her composure. She never hit a wrong note as a hostess, or made him feel unwelcome at any point, even though he was sure that deep down she didn't understand why her granddaughter was with him. He briefly wondered what it would be like to have grown up in a family like this, and how much easier life would be to navigate if he had learned social skills like hers.

As soon as Mrs. Gilmore left the room, Jess turned to Rory, keeping his voice low since he had no idea how sound would travel in a house like this. "What is your problem? Why can't you just let this go? Do we really need to talk about this here with your grandmother in the next room?"

"We wouldn't still be talking about this at all if you had just told me what happened the first time I asked you about your eye?"

Jess tried to rein in his anger. "I told you that I didn't want to talk about it here. Why couldn't that be enough for you to let it go for a couple of hours?"

"I don't know why you're trying to hide it. If you picked a fight with Dean, I'm going to find out about it anyway."

"Oh, you are, are you? What does that mean? You'll read about it on one of Miss Patty's flyers? Maybe if it's a slow news day, they'll be an article in the Stars Hollow Gazette about it? Oh, wait, I know! You're going to run right to Dean to ask him, right? Because you believe everything good ol' Dean says. A standup guy like Dean would never lie or do anything wrong." He knew he needed to tone down the sarcasm. He usually reserved this level of attitude for people he didn't give a shit about or for Luke, who he knew would put up with him letting off steam and still care about him anyway. It wasn't for people that he cared about, but could potentially drive away.

"At least I can trust Dean to tell me the truth!"

"Yeah, he's a real prince! And, why are you only jumping to conclusions where I'm the bad guy? If there was a fight, why are you assuming it was my fault? How do you know Dean didn't attack me and I had to defend myself?"

"Dean wouldn't do that. He's not someone who gets in fights, except with you. And you were already pissed that I sat with him at Miss Patty's."

"I didn't get in a fight with Dean. There was no fight. Are you happy now? Can we please drop this?" Jess knew at this point, he should tell Rory about the swan. He had wanted to avoid the explanation out of embarrassment at first, but now he was feeling defensive about not being trusted and didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

"Why won't you just admit it? Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Why don't you just trust me?"

"Trust you? Are you kidding me, Jess? You got mad at me for talking to Dean at Miss Patty's rehearsal, which was a town event that I got pulled into, in a public venue. You make a point of asking me to tell you when things like that happen so that you don't have to read about it on a flyer, and then last night, Lane tells me she saw you and Shane sitting at Larson's dock together. You are such a lying hypocrite!"

Jess felt his heartbeat speed up. He started to sweat. This was the last conversation he had expected to have tonight, at Rory's grandmother's house of all places.

"What's the matter? Nothing to say, Jess?"

"It wasn't like that, Rory. Shane just wanted to talk to me."

"Oh, really? Ok, then. Why didn't you just say so? That seems totally believable since you two spent so much time 'talking' back when you were dating. I remember seeing you guys 'talking' all over town. I feel so much better about the whole thing now that you've explained it!" Jess hated being on the receiving end of this level of hostility and sarcasm from someone he cared about as much as he did Rory. It instantly made him sorry for all the times he had spoken to Luke the same way he was being treated now.

"Rory-"

"No, tell me, Jess. What stimulating topic were you and Shane discussing? Politics? The economy? World events? What's her take on recent events in the Middle East?" When Jess didn't respond, she continued angrily. "No, none of those topics came up? Maybe you were discussing literature then? What is Shane reading these days? Is she still working through the Dr. Suess collection, or has she moved on to Encyclopedia Brown?"

"Don't do that, Rory." Jess wasn't sure if he was pissed that Rory felt the need to put Shane down in general when the girl hadn't done anything to her, or if the Dr. Suess comment had hit too close to home, knowing that reading Dr. Suess was exactly what he and Shane both had to look forward to in a few months.

"Do what, Jess? I just want to know what you were talking about with your ex-girlfriend? The same way you wanted to know what I was doing with Dean. I'm sorry, does that not seem fair to you?"

"It's different, Rory. Shane and I weren't serious. We never loved each other. I wasn't even that into her. And she's not trying to get back together with me."

"Oh, no? So, you two just happened to run into each other in a nice, secluded spot like Larson's dock to talk about, what was it again? Oh, wait, you never actually said!"

"Apparently, it's not that secluded if Lane saw us, is it? We didn't run into each other. She came by the diner because she needed to talk to me in private so I took her there. To talk."

"Just talk, huh? Lane said she saw you touching her. You had your hand on her shoulder."

"Jesus Christ, what did Lane do, stand there spying on me!"

"I find it interesting that you still haven't told me what you were talking about."

"It was private, Rory."

"So, you can have secret, private meetings with your ex, and I'm supposed to be ok with that, but you grill me for ten minutes and give me a guilt trip about what I'm doing with Dean when you hear that we sat next to each other at a show at Miss Patty's?"

"I'm not sure if Shane wants me to tell anyone-"

"And, you don't want to upset Shane, do you? Wow, it's really impressive how considerate you are of the feelings of a girl you claim to have never been that into."

"I know it looks bad, but I just don't-"

"Why are we even together if you don't trust me enough-"

Jess felt cold fear at where this conversation was headed. He couldn't lose Rory. Before he even realized what he was doing, he blurted out the truth to make her stop. "She's pregnant!"

Rory stared at him, stunned.

"Who's pregnant?" Mrs. Gilmore had walked back into the dining room, a smile on her face and a carafe of water in her hands. Her genial hostess demeanor still intact, the question sounded more like, 'who wants dessert' than an accusation. Jess was surprised she hadn't turned on him then, but he supposed that hearing the pronoun 'she' relieved her of worry that Rory was the expectant mom in question. And the woman was probably delighted that Jess fathering a child with another girl would prompt her granddaughter to dump this clearly unsuitable boyfriend.

Rory kept her eyes on Jess, still in shock, as she answered her grandmother, who was making her way around the table, refilling water glasses that had barely been touched. She spoke slowly as though still processing the situation. "Jess' ex-girlfriend is pregnant, Grandma." "Is it yours, Jess?"

Jess nodded. "That's what she tells me." He hadn't meant for that to come across as flippant as it did, or to imply he didn't trust Shane. "Yeah, it's mine."

"Oh dear, that is startling news, isn't it?" Mrs. Gilmore had returned to her seat at the head of the table, still taking everything in stride, but with a subtly gleeful look on her face that told Jess she was already looking forward to the demise of her granddaughter's relationship with him. He could see her counting down the minutes until he was out of her home and Rory's life for good. When he realized she had overheard their conversation, he had expected to be thrown out. Were they really all expected to sit through this interminable evening and make small talk about Shane's pregnancy while a woman he just met weighed in on the biggest event of his life? He wanted to get out of there, before things got even more uncomfortable, just get in his car and drive, but he didn't want to risk pissing Rory off even more. He didn't know what to do. He wished Luke was at this dinner, too. It would have felt good to have one person there who was always on his side.

"And, is she keeping it?" Rory asked, voice flat.

"Yeah, she's keeping it. And, that's what we were talking about. That's it, Rory, I promise. That's all."

"That's all?" Rory repeated, hurt evident on her face. "Ok, then." She averted her eyes from Jess, staring hard at the plate in front of her.

"So, how is everyone taking the news?" Mrs. Gilmore asked, her tone interested, but still conversational. "The girl's parents? Your uncle…Luke, isn't it? A pregnant teenager can be such a source of stress on the whole family. I speak from personal experience on this." She speared a bite of her salad and watched Jess as she chewed, patiently waiting for a response. Rory still was staring at her untouched salad, avoiding looking at anyone.

The whole situation felt surreal to Jess. Like he would wake up any minute and realize this whole night had just been a crazy, fever dream. "Uh, Shane said her mom has been really great. And, Luke, my uh, my uncle, has been cool about it."

"He's been 'cool about it'?" What does that mean? Does he actually think it's a good idea for an eighteen-year old with a job at Walmart to father a child?" Jess marveled at how the woman's tone continued to stay sociable and above reproach while she insulted him to his face.

"Uh, no. I wouldn't say he thinks it's a good idea, exactly." Jess kept glancing at Rory to see if she was going to save him from her grandmother, but she wouldn't look up or meet his eye. "He's not happy about it, but he's been supportive. He hasn't kicked me out or anything yet." Jess laughed nervously as he touched on what had been his biggest fear prior to talking to Luke.

"Well, that's a relief." A pleased smile played on her lips as she spoke. "For a moment, I was concerned this story was going to lead back to the bruise on your face."

Rory looked at her grandmother then, brow furrowed slightly. Jess had resolved to put up with whatever he needed to this evening to not worsen the situation, despite his instinct to want to retreat to somewhere private to recover from what had already transpired. But, he wasn't going to let anyone talk shit about Luke, not even Rory's grandmother. "Luke didn't hit me, if that's what you're getting at." He was aware that, unlike Mrs. Gilmore, he wasn't very good at keeping the attitude out of his own voice. "He isn't like that."

"Luke would never do that, Grandma." Jess knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help but feel a little resentful that Rory was speaking up for Luke when she hadn't said anything in his defense.

Mrs. Gilmore was unfazed. "I don't know this Luke. But, I do know it's very possible for otherwise composed men to lose their tempers when they've received such upsetting and disappointing news." Jess knew the extra emphasis she placed on 'disappointing,' was for his benefit, in the off chance he had yet to realize what a huge disappointment he was. "I can still hear Straub threatening Christopher with grievous bodily harm when we learned about our daughter's pregnancy."

"Well, then I guess I'm lucky that Luke's a better man than Christopher's father is, because he's been really great. He's always really great."

"That's just lovely. And I would assume it's much easier to remain calm in a situation like this when the teenager in question isn't your own child. And you're not watching the situation happen to someone that you love and have watched grow up and for whom you have high expectations." The woman took another forkful of salad and smiled appreciatively after swallowing the bite. "Olivia outdid herself on the salads this evening, don't you think? This goat cheese is just divine with the raspberry vinaigrette."

Jess couldn't deal with anymore. "I'm out of here." He jerked his chair back and stood up, looking at Rory. "Are you coming?"

Rory looked uncomfortably between her boyfriend and her grandmother, before responding. "I think I'm going to stay here tonight. I'll come find you tomorrow and-"

"Fine. Have a great night then!" Jess stormed out of the dining room and headed to the front door, stopping only to realize that the maid had taken his jacket off his chair when he had sat down to dinner and he had no idea how to reclaim it. Before he had time to consider just cutting his losses and leaving without it, the maid appeared as if on cue by the front door, proffering the garment. He took it with a quick thank you and wondered if the maid could tell how early to have the jacket ready by the look of the guest. A scowling teenage boy with a shiner, oh he won't last long, have the jacket ready by the door in half hour tops. He felt some relief just stepping out of that house, and heading to his car, but his desire to get back to Stars Hollow surprised him. When he was enduring the dinner, he had fantasized about getting in his car and driving as far as he could on the gas in his tank, just getting away from everything and everyone. But, now that he was free, the only thing he wanted to do was get back to Stars Hollow, help Luke close up the diner, get himself a sandwich since he hadn't had dinner, and maybe spend the rest of the evening hanging around with Luke, talking or watching television. Definitely a surreal night all around.

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The next night, Luke was closing up the diner by himself. It had been slow for a Saturday so he had let Caesar go home early. And Jess was still out with Rory. Luke hoped that was going well. The kid had been so anxious about seeing her today after the dinner debacle last night.

Luke carried two trash bags over to the dumpster behind Doose's Market since the diner's trash cans were already full. Jess was right about him needing to get more trash cans, this was annoying. He hefted the bags into the dumpster and as he turned around to head home, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye in the gazebo. It was unusual to say the least for anyone to be lingering in the town square on a night as cold as this one, but it looked like someone was lying on one of the benches. Someone with a death wish in this weather. Luke instinctively knew it was Jess. The date must not have gone well. Maybe Rory had even ended things. The boy had probably needed some time to himself to decompress before coming home. Luke's heart went out to his nephew. That kid had been smitten with Rory from the first time he'd met her and for him to lose her like this, after finally getting together after all this time, just seemed so unfair. No matter how sad Jess was, Luke couldn't let him stay outside in this weather. He'd get sick. Luke sighed as he made his way through the square to retrieve his boy.

Luke approached the gazebo tentatively, not wanting to startle its occupant. It was dark and he wasn't able to see the boy clearly until he had actually stepped inside the gazebo. He took in the backpack and the large brown paper Doose's shopping bag sitting on the floor, the Care Bear sleeping bag spread along the bench, and its resident's face sticking out from the top, barely visible under a knit cap pulled down as far as it would go. For the second time this month, Luke was completely shocked. "Kirk?"