Chapter 2 Notes: Jess and Jeremy's honeymoon phase is over, but Jess and Mallory's is still going strong...for now. :) Jeremy manages to find a fun way to spend his long weekend, too. This chapter may be a bit schmoopy, but things won't stay that way for long. Thanks for all the comments you guys left me for the last chapter. I love hearing what you guys think.

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

"You ok, Jeremy?"

Jeremy pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up from what he was doing, or what he was supposed to be doing, to find his uncle standing on the other side of the counter, aiming a concerned look his way. It was Saturday afternoon in the diner, during the lull between the lunch and dinner rushes. Jeremy looked down at the napkin dispensers and packages of napkins gathered on the counter in front of him. He must have zoned out while refilling them. He felt embarrassed at getting caught idle. He immediately stood up from where he had clearly gotten too comfortable on the stool. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I'm ok." He started moving quickly then, to make up the time, efficiently pulling napkins out of the package and starting to refill the nearest dispenser.

Luke nodded. "You missing Jess?"

Jeremy scoffed. "What? No. I'm not some little kid who can't be away from his dad for five minutes." Jeremy heard the angry attitude in his voice and was shocked to find that he was actually annoyed at Luke. He was embarrassed at the idea that his uncle saw him as so dependent on Jess, as such a pathetic little kid, that he didn't think he could be away from his dad for more than a few hours without it affecting him. He knew he had probably brought it on himself by insisting on staying home for college, but it still felt shitty. Being annoyed with Luke was something new to Jeremy, and he didn't like how it felt. He made sure to keep the attitude out of his voice, to put a small, if slightly worried, smile on his face. "I'm sorry. I mean, maybe I'll miss him before the weekend's over, but I'm ok so far. I can manage without him when I have to. I'm kind of an adult, now, you know."

Jeremy watched the concern on Luke's face deepen at his reaction. "I know you are. I'm sorry if I upset you. I don't think you're a little kid. You just seem a little down today and I was wondering if Jess being away had anything to do with it."

"I'm fine." Jeremy repeated. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Luke smiled. "It's ok, Jeremy." "But, hey, if there is something else that's bothering you, you know you can always talk to me, right?"

Jeremy nodded, appreciative that things could be so easily set right with his uncle. He didn't think he could handle being in a fight with Luke, not with the way he had already been feeling lately. "I know. Thanks."

"All right." Jeremy could tell that Luke was going to let the issue go, and he was grateful for it. "So, tell me about your orientation yesterday. How was it? You think you're going to like it at WCC?"

"Yeah. I think so. It was fine."

"Yeah? The campus is nice?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, definitely. The campus is pretty nice and much bigger than I expected for a community college. Although, I guess I didn't really know what to expect." Jeremy thought about adding something about the school's best feature being its proximity to home, but he had started to have mixed feelings about that. Sometimes when he thought about Jess dating Ms. Howard, he wondered if he would regret the choice to stay local and commute to college. One thing Jeremy knew for sure was how much it could suck to feel like an outsider, the piece that didn't fit, in your own home. He never wanted to end up in that situation again.

"And, the teachers seem good? Like, they know their stuff?"

Jeremy huffed out a laugh as he worked. "Yeah. They seemed to. I mean, the ones that spoke to us during the orientation seemed all right. And, I got a tour of campus so I know where all my classes are for next week. Everything seems good."

"I'm glad to hear it." Luke smiled warmly at him. "What did Jess think of it?"

"Oh, he didn't go to the orientation because he didn't want to ask for the time off work."

Jeremy watched Luke's brow furrow slightly. "Is he allowed to do that? To just skip it like that? He's not going to get in trouble, is he? I mean, they'll still let him start his class on Tuesday, right?"

Jeremy smiled at Luke's obvious concern for Jess. "I'm pretty sure it's legit. He's taking the part classroom, part online program, so he got to pick which orientation he took, and he opted to do the online version so he didn't have to miss work. He felt funny asking for more time off when Andrew is already letting him switch around his schedule and everything so we can take our first class together."

Luke didn't look convinced, and Jeremy laughed. "Honestly, Uncle Luke. I know he gave you a lot to worry about with school the first time around, but I think it's going to be different this time."

"Oh, yeah?" Luke was smiling now, but Jeremy could still see some thinly veiled worry in his eyes.

"Yeah. I know Jess is really grateful that you're helping him go to college. I don't think he's going to take it lightly. I think you're going to see a whole new, conscientious student side of Jess."

Luke huffed out a laugh.

"Plus, I'm in his first class." Jeremy smiled mischievously. "If I see him falling asleep in class, I'll throw him an elbow to wake him up." Jeremy took one hand off the napkin dispenser he was working on to demonstrate. "And, if he brings home anything less than a B, I won't let him watch TV for a week."

Luke laughed. "I'm going to hold you to that." Luke sighed. "I know you're right. Jess is a grown man. He wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't really committed to school this time." Luke sighed. "When I think about Jess and school, I go into this automatic panic mode. But, it's not right. He doesn't deserve that anymore." Luke paused. "Sometimes, it's hard to rewire your brain about your kids when they grow up. I know he's become this mature, responsible man and I'm so proud of him for that. But, part of me will always see him as the same seventeen year old punk he was when Liz sent him to live with me."

Jeremy thought about that. He wondered if Jess would always see him as the weepy, pathetic, kid he had been when he had first been sent to live with him. He hoped not. He didn't want that image following him his whole life.

"Hey, you know what would be fun?" Luke's delivery reminded Jeremy of Jess's when his dad had offered up the idea that Jeremy stay at Luke's while he was away, and he braced himself for the same invitation. He knew he wouldn't say no this time. He didn't need a babysitter, but at the end of the day, he loved having a great uncle in his life who cared about him as much as Luke did, and he would never purposely do anything to offend him or jeopardize that relationship. He knew if Luke asked him to stay over, he and Winston would be packing their bags and heading over after his shift at the theater tonight.

"What?" Jeremy asked nonchalantly.

"How about if you and me take the day off on Monday and go out to the lake and take the boat out?"

Jeremy was caught off guard, but in a good way. He had never been on a boat, and he immediately liked the idea of leaving town with Luke, getting away from everything and unplugging for a bit before school started. "Really?"

"Yeah, if you want to. I'm thinking we could get up really early and head out. It's beautiful out there. It's one of my favorite places. I'd love to show it to you if you're interested." Jeremy watched Luke's expression shift as if he was having second thoughts. "But, I understand if you're going to be too busy getting ready for school and stuff. No pressure. It was just an idea-."

"I would love to go."

"Yeah?" Luke was smiling again and it made Jeremy grin.

"Yeah. I've never been on a boat. Or to a lake, or like, anywhere, really. I think it would be really nice to go."

"It will be. It's really nice out there, and relaxing. I know you're used to bigger cities, so Stars Hollow probably isn't a big deal to you, but sometimes it's just nice to get away and just be in nature, you know."

"That sounds great." Jeremy thought about the camping trip that they hadn't been able to make happen over the summer due to scheduling issues. April getting the chance to fill in for a sick co-worker at a conference in New York, Jess coming down with the flu and spending the weekend on the couch, April's college roommate being back in Boston for one weekend only. Jeremy and Luke being the common denominators in disappointment at every rescheduling. "Is there any way-. I mean, I don't know how camping works, but would it be possible to go tomorrow instead and camp overnight? Or is it too late for that, or…...?"

Jeremy watched the grin spread across Luke's face. "I don't think it's too late. I love that idea, nephew! Let me make a couple of calls and talk to Cesar, but I think we should be good."

Jeremy felt himself grinning back. He heard the bell above the door ring, and watched Luke grab two menus from under the counter and walk away to greet the new customers. It wasn't until later that evening, after the dinner rush, when Luke told him that they were all set, that he had booked a campsite, that Cesar would watch the diner and Lorelai and Paul Anka would watch Winston, that the magnitude of what Jeremy had done really hit him. He had been offered one thing, a day trip to a lake with his uncle, and had essentially asked for an upgrade to an overnight camping trip. Asked solely because it was what he wanted. It hadn't dawned on him to be nervous to ask, or scared that he would be rejected. He hadn't assumed that Luke was only interested in a camping trip if Jess and April were going, or that his uncle would want to limit the trip to just a few hours if he only had Jeremy for company. He had wanted something, asked for it, and got it. Just like a normal nephew, a normal kid. It was one thing to know logically that he was a member of the family, but another to know it instinctively, to really feel loved and wanted instead of just knowing he was. He felt ridiculously proud of himself. Jeremy caught himself smiling at the thought as he walked Winston and headed over to the theater for his shift.

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Jess heard his phone buzzing on the nightstand, indicating an incoming text message. He didn't want to move. He looked over at Mallory, asleep next to him in bed, her head resting on his arm, her face relaxed and peaceful. They had spent the day at the beach, returning to the hotel room late in the afternoon to lie down for a bit before dinner. Lying down had led to sex, which had led to actual napping. Jess was enjoying himself immensely. Spending the weekend away had been a great idea. He loved that he got to spend time like this with Mallory, lying here post-sex in the early evening, unhurried and enjoying the moment. It felt amazing to be able to give their relationship the attention it deserved and not have to fit their time together around their work schedules or his time with Jeremy.

Jess heard a second buzz and knew he needed to check his texts. It could be Jeremy. His son could need him for something. He started to move slowly, trying not to disturb Mallory, gently extricating his arm from under her head. He took one long look at her sleeping form, pulled up the sheet that had only been covering half her body, and craned one arm behind him to reach the nightstand without rolling over. He fumbled briefly before his hand landed on his phone. He brought it in front of him and saw that the text was from Luke. Hey Jess, I'm taking Jeremy camping at the lake this weekend. We're leaving tomorrow morning and we'll get back Monday afternoon. Just wanted you to know. Hope you're having a good time. And, just like that, a tiny seed of self-doubt took root in his mind, and he was suddenly less sure that he was where he was supposed to be.

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Sunday night found Jess watching Mallory smile in the soft glow emanating from the lone candle in the dessert set in front of her in the dimly lit restaurant. Mallory thanked the waiter and waited for him to walk away. She met Jess's eye and smiled before blowing out the candle on the slice of chocolate torte, decorated in swirls of delicate cream colored icing that spelled out happy birthday on the dark blue dessert plate.

"This looks amazing!" Mallory picked up the dessert forks, handing one to Jess. "You're going to help me out here, right?"

Jess accepted the fork. "I suppose, but only because you're insisting and I'm such a nice guy." He watched Mallory go in for the first bite, chipping the point off the triangle of torte and sliding the piece through some of the icing before bringing it to her mouth. Today was her actual birthday. They had spent a relaxed day, sleeping in, going out for brunch, and walking around Mystic. They had walked by the water, gone into some shops and checked out the historic whaling ship, but mostly they had just enjoyed each other's company, holding hands as they explored the town, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close when they had taken a break to sit on a bench overlooking the ocean, watching the waves crash against the shore. They had watched a plane begin skywriting over the beach. Jess had been about to make some crack about it, about what the need for grand public gestures said about a relationship, and how skywriting itself seemed so antiquated, when he noticed Mallory intently watching an older couple at the next bench, the man holding the woman's hand and pointing toward the sky, a metal cane positioned next to his end of the bench. He kept his mouth shut and was glad he had as he watched the message form against the blue sky, Happy 50th Anniversary, Lucy. The woman was laughing and crying now, one hand over her mouth. The man was holding his phone, taking a picture of the skywriting, then setting up for a selfie of the two of them. Then Mallory was on her feet offering to take a picture for them, snapping the photo and congratulating them before coming back to join Jess, a huge smile on her face. Jess was glad he had kept his mouth shut. As in so many situations with Jeremy, he was starting to learn that that was often the safest way to go. "So." Jess drew the syllable out playfully. "What did you wish for?"

She smirked. "Uh-uh. No way, pal. The birthday girl needs to keep it a secret if she wants her wish to come true. Everybody knows that."

Jess smiled playfully. "I always thought that made zero sense. How can the birthday girl's boyfriend help make her wish come true if he isn't clued in to what she wants?"

"Well, since you're asking what I want…." Jess watched her smirk. "Just to be clear, this was not my birthday wish, which shall remain secret as per appropriate birthday protocol, but there is something I've been thinking about lately. Something I want that you can help me with."

Jess raised one eyebrow as he pierced the torte with his own fork. "Hmm. You have may interest piqued. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm thinking that we've been together for three months now, and that's a decent chunk of time. And I think things are going pretty well." Mallory paused and smiled at him. "I guess, this is where I should check in and make sure you feel the same way."

Jess was nodding before she finished speaking. "I do, Mal. Absolutely. I'm really happy with how things are going." Jess was conscious that they hadn't exchanged I love you's yet, even though Jess knew he already loved her. He could say he was waiting for her to go first, but he suspected that he needed to see her with Jeremy first, to get a glimpse of how they might someday fit together as a family, before he could let himself fully go there and make that declaration.

A warm smile lit up her face, and Jess could feel a smile spreading across his own face in response. "Good. Me too. And, I've been telling my family about you, and how happy I am with you. So, as you can imagine, they're pretty eager to meet you. And, I'm pretty eager to meet your family, too, and to spend time with Jeremy. So, I'm thinking we should do all the family meet and greet stuff soon and get it out of the way. I pretty much told my parents that if things went well on this trip and we didn't break up or kill each other once we've spent a whole weekend together, that I'd let them meet you. What do you think?"

"Huh. If that's the criteria, shouldn't we wait until tomorrow night to decide this? There's still twenty-four hours left of this trip. That's plenty of time for a break up or murder to happen."

Mallory laughed and Jess smiled. He had known this was coming. He knew it was time, had already prepped Jeremy for the same thing. But he still felt a familiar apprehension at the idea of meeting her family and having her meet his. "Yeah." He agreed. "I think it's time. I would love to meet your family."

"And….?" Mallory prodded playfully.

"And, what?" Jess played innocent.

"And, you would love for me to meet your family, too, right?" Jess watched her smile and tried to picture what Mallory would think of Liz and TJ. He knew he was too old to be embarrassed by his parents, but he could only imagine the world of difference between her pediatrician mom and veterinarian dad and his renaissance faire working, jewelry hawking, chakra balancing mother and stepfather.

Jess laughed. "How about we start with Jeremy? I know it's cheating because you already know him, but he makes the best impression of anyone in my family. Then, we can add Luke and his family. But, it could be a while for the rest." Jess smirked. "I want to make sure I have you really locked down, and so head over heels crazy about me that you can't even consider dumping my ass before I let you anywhere near my mother. I don't want her scaring you off by…..well, being herself."

Mallory laughed and shook her head at the same time. "Whatever you're comfortable with, but if that's your criteria, it might not be as long a wait as you think."

Jess put a forkful of chocolate torte in his mouth and watched Mallory do the same. He was loving this trip. He felt content, sitting here with Mallory on a romantic dinner date, making plans to increase the scope of their relationship and become more deeply entwined in each other's lives. In the moment, he could only see good things in his future. Dinner with her parents, him winning them over with his earnest affection for their daughter, despite his lack of education and professional success. Her pediatrician mother openly impressed with him for adopting a teenage boy as a single parent. Her veterinarian father equally in awe over his saving a senior dog from euthanasia. Jess being modest and self-deprecating and charming them easily. Good things felt possible, almost guaranteed. He could have this. A stray thought flitted through his mind. He hoped Jeremy was having a good time at the lake.

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"Jeremy! Hey, Jeremy, wake up!" Jeremy heard the urgent whispering and felt a hand on his ankle, squeezing gently through his sleeping bag. He rolled onto his side, trying to block it out and go back to sleep. It was dark in the tent even though he could tell from the breeze that the front flap was open. It felt way too early to do anything other than sleep. "Jeremy, c'mon." Luke persisted. "I don't want you to miss the sunrise." His leg was being shaken now, and the sleep he had been previously enjoying seemed to be giving up on him, pushing him into wakefulness against his will.

He finally opened his eyes and lifted his head to look up at his uncle. He could barely see the man's silhouette as he crouched just inside the entrance of the tent. "There you are, nephew. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was Jess's genes in you that make you sleep like that. Your dad slept like the dead when he was your age." Jeremy couldn't make out Luke's face in the dark, but he could hear the smile in his uncle's voice. Jeremy was normally a light sleeper, but he had been tired out from all the activity and fresh air of the previous day, hiking, setting up camp, even just being out on the boat had taken a lot out of him. And, he hadn't slept very well the night before. He had uncharacteristically fallen asleep as soon as he had laid down in the tent.

Jeremy sat up, putting his hand down next to him for balance and feeling only the plastic of the tent floor in the empty space beside him where Luke had slept, his uncle's own sleeping bag already rolled up and stashed in a corner of the tent. "What time did you get up?" Jeremy wasn't sure why they were whispering. They had only seen a few other campers last night, none of them too close by, but it felt right to mirror Luke, keeping his voice down until the sun was up and the day had really started.

Luke chuckled. "About twenty minutes ago." He whispered back. "I let you sleep in."

Jeremy huffed out a soft laugh. "Yeah, thanks."

"I thought we could go down to the lake to watch the sunrise. It's a great view down there. I didn't want you to miss it."

"Ok." Jeremy's brain was feeling more alert now. "Let me just get dressed."

"There's no time. Just grab your jacket and pull on your sneakers. We should go now."

Jeremy grabbed his jacket and pulled it on over his sleep shirt as he crawled out of the tent. He pulled his shoes out with him and quickly shoved them on his feet before standing up. "Ok, I'm ready."

"Ok. Follow me." Luke flicked on a small flashlight and directed the beam at the ground, illuminating a small patch of dirt in at their feet. "But, be careful. We should be fine if we stick to the path down to the lake. The ground's pretty even on the trail, but just watch out for anything that might be sticking out or in the way, ok? I don't want you to trip and hurt yourself."

Jeremy didn't know how he was supposed to watch out for anything in the dark, but after a few minutes of walking blindly behind Luke, his eyes began adjusting to the dark. As Jeremy followed Luke, he started to feel a familiar morning urge that seemed to intensify with every step. "Uh, Uncle Luke?" He whispered.

"Yeah, Jeremy?"

"I have to pee."

Jeremy heard Luke chuckle in the dark. "Ok. Let's stop here." Jeremy came to a stop behind Luke. Luke aimed the flashlight beam to the right, lighting up a few feet off grassy dirt and low growing vegetation off the trail. "How about right there? Just take a step or two over there and aim away from the trail."

Jeremy had never relieved himself outside. The day before they had been using the campground bathrooms, which were primitive, but still technically bathrooms. "Right here?" Jeremy was incredulous.

"That's what I'm thinking. Unless you can wait until after sunrise to walk over to the bathrooms."

Jeremy considered, wanting relief as quickly as he could get it, but not exactly comfortable with peeing in the woods. The growing need won out. "Ok. I'll go right here. Is, uh, is this legal?"

Luke laughed softly. "I'm not sure, but I do know you won't be the first guy to do it out here. You're getting the full camping experience. This is what people do when they're camping out in the wild, without campgrounds and bathrooms."

"Can you put the light over there again, just until I get off the trail?" It wasn't that Jeremy was afraid of the dark, he was just leary of any wildlife that might be lying in wait in the forest flora, waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting city boy with his private parts hanging out.

"Sure, Jeremy. Here, you go." The few feet in front of Jeremy were lit with the soft glow from the flashlight.

Jeremy took a few steps, feeling ridiculous and brave at the same time. "Ok." The beam of light moved away from him, leaving him in the dark. He pulled himself out of the slit in his pajama bottoms and listened to the sound of his stream of urine hitting the plants in front of him. He hoped nothing was splashing back on his sneakers. As he was finishing up, he heard a distinct rustling sound in the vegetation, way too close for comfort in his vulnerable situation and he jumped back mid-stream, heart pounding in his chest, yelping in terror and reaching a arm out for Luke. The flashlight beam was instantly back in front of him, and he felt a hand gripping his shoulder.

"Are you ok, Jeremy? What happened?" Luke's voice was close and urgent.

In the patch of light near his feet, Jeremy saw a small, brown animal, the size of a very small squirrel, momentarily frozen in the light like the proverbial deer in the headlights, before it bolted, almost soundlessly into the woods. He felt Luke's hand squeeze his shoulder. "It's ok. It was just a chipmunk."

Jeremy stood motionless in the dark, his heart hammering in his chest.

"You ok, Jeremy?"

Jeremy nodded. Then realized Luke likely wouldn't be able to make it out in the dark. He opened his mouth to tell his uncle, yes, he was ok. "I think I peed on him."

Luke laughed then, still keeping his voice low. "Well, that's one hell of a way for the poor little guy to get woken up."

Jeremy started to giggle then.

"You done here, Jeremy?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Poor little chipmunk. I feel bad that I scared him like that." Jeremy realized with embarrassment that he was clutching a handful of Luke's green canvas jacket in one hand, the way a small child holds onto their security blanket. "Oh, god! Sorry." He immediately released his grip and adjusted his pajama pants. He really hoped he hadn't gotten pee on that hand when he'd flinched. He could feel his cheeks warming with embarrassment and was grateful for the darkness. It was one thing to pee on a chipmunk that he didn't know personally and would never see again, but another thing entirely to get pee on his uncle. The thought made him giggle.

Luke chuckled good naturedly. "It's ok, Jeremy. And, don't feel too bad about the chipmunk. I think the scare was mutual."

Jeremy laughed softly as they started moving again, keeping his eyes on Luke's back as he followed him through the trail in the dark, the flashlight illuminating the path in front of Luke. "I peed on a chipmunk." His giggling intensified as his adrenaline crashed post-fright and he thought about the ridiculousness of what he had done. "I peed on a little chip or dale."

He heard Luke's laughter mingle with his in the dark. "Aren't you going to ask me if it's legal to pee on a chipmunk?" The question gave them both another bought of whispered giggled as they walked. As their giggling petered out, Jeremy was already cataloging the detail in his mind, a private joke between him and Luke to be brought out later, when they talked about this camping trip, hey, remember the time I peed on a chipmunk. Jeremy could feel a happy smile spreading across his face.

As they turned with the trail several minutes later, breaking from the wooded area onto the lakeshore, Jeremy could see a soft, barely-there glimmer of light seemingly emanating from the far end of the lake. He followed Luke down to the edge of the water, where he stood next to his uncle watching as the light spread out over the lake, starting out pale and intensifying in color, first a glowing yellow, streaking toward them across the lake, then a bright line of orange spreading out along the horizon as the sun rose, the colors blossoming out slowly in the sky, chasing off the dark, the colors mirrored on the water of the lake, stretching outward, bursting with bright yellow and orange colors. Jeremy felt something visceral stirring inside him. The sunrise had seemed slow moving at first, with barely noticeable changes, and then all at once it was done. The new day's sun hanging in the sky, the lake reflecting its light, shimmering brightly, but paling in comparison to what they had just witnessed. Jeremy felt himself getting unexpectedly emotional. He sniffed once, quietly. He felt Luke's hand on his shoulder, through the material of his jacket. "That was something, wasn't it?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah. Definitely." He felt his voice come dangerously close to cracking on the last word. What he was feeling didn't feel like a happy sadness. He compared the feeling to the happy tears he had cried the first time Jess had told him he loved him, the first time Luke had, and his adoption day. This felt different. He didn't feel overcome by happiness at the beauty of the sunrise, but bereft that it was over, as though the sight had somehow disturbed the reservoir of loss-based pain inside him. It left him with an uneasy feeling of grief and hopelessness that he couldn't explain. He could feel Luke's eyes on him and he looked away briefly, taking a minute to make sure he had himself under control before he turned to look at his uncle, taking in the man's warm smile.

"You ok, Jeremy?"

Jeremy wished Luke would stop asking him that, even as he appreciated having someone who cared about him enough to keep asking him. He smiled at the absurd contradiction of his emotional reaction. But, he knew he needed to put on a better face if he wanted Luke to stop checking on him. He made himself smile. "Yeah. I'm good. Thanks for waking me up. I'm glad I got to see that."

Luke squeezed his shoulder, his eyes looking concerned even as the man smiled at him before directing his gaze back to the lake. "It looks like everyone had the same idea." Luke nodded toward the lake, where Jeremy could see several other groups of people at different points around the lake's edge, too far away to see their faces, some already turning to start back toward their campsites. He wondered how many of them felt the way he did right now.

"Well, it was a good idea." Jeremy said.

Luke dropped his hand to his side. "What do you say we head back and get dressed? Have some breakfast?"

Jeremy looked down at himself then, feeling ridiculous as he took in his appearance, his plaid pajama bottoms pooled around the edge of his sneakers, trailing in the muddy dirt at the back. He huffed out a breath. "So, this is why you sleep in sweatpants out here, huh?"

Luke laughed. "Hey, you look good. Lots of serious campers where plaid jammies. Plus, think about how much more effort it would have been to pee on a chipmunk in sweatpants."

Jeremy laughed softly. He walked beside Luke, wrapping one arm around his uncle's lower back, tucking himself against the man's side as they walked. He felt Luke's arm circle around his body, holding him close, in a half hug. "Thanks for bringing me here, Uncle Luke. I really like being out here with you."

"Thanks for coming. I really like being out here with you, too, Jeremy." Luke's voice sounded as warm and loving as always, but it was also tinged with concern. Jeremy knew he had likely caught the man off guard with the hug, and he started to feel a little foolish for it. He pulled away as they re-entered the trail, falling in line behind Luke, as if doing so because the width of the trail wouldn't allow for anything else.

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Late Monday morning Jess and Mallory were standing side by side in front of the sink in the hotel bathroom, still in their sleep clothes as they brushed their teeth. The sink wasn't built for two, and they were standing close together so they could both look in the mirror. They had kicked off their day exactly how Jess thought vacation days should go, a lazy start, lounging in bed well past a respectable wake up time, snuggling close and talking, then joining together in what felt more like making love than having sex, slow and unhurried, completely in the moment, with nothing to distract them from each other. Jess was loving the peaceful domestic feeling of waking up with Mallory and sharing their morning routine. He met her eyes in the mirror and couldn't keep himself from grinning. "Oof!" He felt the foamy toothpaste lather running down his chin from the movement and quickly wiped at it with the hand not holding the brush. He bent forward, turning on the faucet, cupping water into his hand and splashing water onto his chin, not wanting to ruin the moment by slobbering toothpaste all over his face like a five year old. There was nothing sexy about that. When he stood back up, Mallory was looking at him, the toothbrush still moving methodically in her mouth. Jess could see her lips forming the beginning of a smile.

"Ah luf hu." She said around the toothbrush, mouth full of toothpaste.

Jess quirked an eyebrow inquisitively as he continued to brush, thinking maybe he had understood, but the pragmatist in him needing clarification for something this big before he reacted.

"Ah sed, ah luf hu." She started laughing now and a mist of white foam sprayed from her mouth. She took out the toothbrush and spit into the sink, rinsing her mouth out with water. Jess rushed to follow suit not wanting to be the guy stuck with a mouthful of Colgate during this pivotal moment.

They stood, fresh-breathed and clean-mouthed, smiling at each other in the small bathroom. Mallory laughed, amusement and affection clear in the sound. "I said, I love you. What? Do you need it written in the sky or something?"

Jess could feel himself grinning like an idiot. "I love you, too." He said it. He meant it. Now that the moment had come, it felt very, very right. He closed the distance between them and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her, feeling the warmth of her body through her light tank top, her breasts again his chest. He felt her arms around him, one hand resting on the top of his ass through the thin layer of his cotton sleep pants. He knew they weren't going to make it out by check out time.

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"You look like you're deep in thought over there. What's on your mind?"

Jeremy pulled his gaze from the truck's windshield and looked over toward Luke, his uncle's eyes already back on the road in front of him as he drove. "Nothing. Or, I was just thinking about Winston, I guess."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering if he missed me last night."

"I'm sure he did, but he had Paul Anka and Lorelai to keep him company."

"Do you think Winston and Paul Anka had fun together?" Jeremy asked.

Luke laughed lightly, a small smile on his face. "I think they did their usual, sleeping on opposite sides of the living room with one eye open so they can keep an eye on each other."

"I hope Winston doesn't think I abandoned him. Last night was his first night away from me and Jess since he moved in with us."

Luke glanced at him again as he drove. "I think Winston knows how much you guys love him and that you'd never abandon him. I think dogs are pretty smart about stuff like that, who they give their loyalty to. I think he trusts you at this point to come back for him."

"Yeah, I hope so." "Sometimes it still seems crazy that I have a dog. Like, how Jess knew I cared about Winston, so he adopted him for me and saved him from being put down like that. It was such an amazingly nice thing to do. He barely even knew me then."

"It was a really nice thing to do. Jess is a pretty nice guy."

"Yeah. He is."

"Well, we'll be home soon. The little guy is definitely going to be happy to see you. I know that much. There's going to be lots of tail wagging and yelping going on."

"Yeah, there will." Jeremy smiled as he thought about how happy Winston was going to be to see him. The thought made him glad he hadn't gone away to school. Winston would have missed him, and the dog was already pretty old. Jeremy wouldn't have wanted him to go through the trauma of another loss. He liked the idea of being there for Winston until the end. Winston was one of only a handful of living beings that had ever made Jeremy feel truly loved in his life, and the thought of losing him made Jeremy's heart hurt. Jeremy sighed and tried to steer his mind toward happier things. He thought about the sunrise, being out on the lake, Luke teaching him how to sail, the lone deer they had encountered only a few feet away on their morning hike, cooking dinner over the campfire, and Luke's undivided attention through all of it. "Thanks for taking me camping, Uncle Luke. I had a really good time this weekend."

Jeremy watched Luke smile as he drove. "I enjoyed it, too. I love getting to spend time with you like this, nephew." Luke shot him a quick glance, his expression warm and caring.

Jeremy felt a relaxing warmth spread through his chest at Luke's words. "Me too."

"I think about how you're pretty much grown. How we only got to have you in our family as a kid for such a short time. In a few years, you'll be done with college, out on your own somewhere, with a job, maybe a family of your own. You won't have as much time for this kind of stuff, so I really love having you home for school and getting the chance to spend time with you like this now."

Jeremy wondered if Luke was thinking about Jess and April and not being able to coordinate the camping trip with either of them this year. The idea made Jeremy sad for Luke. "I'll never be too busy to hang out with you. You're one of my favorite people to be around."

Luke gave him another smile. "You're one of my favorite people to be around, too." Jeremy liked hearing that. He knew Luke had likely taken an interest in him and become his surrogate grandfather because of Jeremy's need for family and companionship rather than his own. Jeremy knew Luke had lots of family, lots of favorite people to be around, and he appreciated that Luke had welcomed him into his life anyway. "You know, I was thinking, you're the first person I've had in my life to really share some of my interests with since my dad died. Like camping and baseball, and woodworking. We were really close, me and my dad. He was the one who took me camping when I was a kid, and taught me carpentry and threw around a baseball with me. We were working on building a boat together when he got sick."

"This boat?" Jeremy angled a thumb behind him to where they were towing the boat.

"No, a different one. It was smaller. I had kind of an…...unhealthy attachment to it. I could never bring myself to finish it, probably because it would have meant taking it out without him, but I was obsessed with the idea of holding onto it. I ended up selling it to Kirk and buying this one." Luke paused. "You know, no one else in the family ever wants to go out to the lake with me, or take the boat out or even watch a Red Sox game. April did all that stuff with me when she was younger, and she does like camping and being out in nature, especially birdwatching, but I never felt like she was really into the other stuff, more like she was humoring me or was too nice a kid to tell me she didn't want to do something."

Jeremy thought about that. "What about Lorelai? Won't she do that stuff with you because you like it? Isn't that how it works when you're married, like you have to do some stuff with her because she likes it and she has to do some stuff with you because you like it?" Jeremy knew he had limited experience around functional families or relationships, but he'd read enough books and watched enough TV to know that's how it was supposed to go.

"Maybe she would. I don't know. She's never offered and I've never pushed it." "I guess, I've come to realize over the years, that we work better as a couple when we're either doing our own thing, or doing her stuff."

Jeremy frowned. That didn't seem fair, but he didn't want to risk sounding like he was insulting Lorelai by saying so. "Well, I'll always be willing to hang out with you, Uncle Luke." Jeremy thought back to playing catch with his uncle during breaks from the diner, watching the Red Sox game in the apartment the night of the prom, spending time in the workshop with Luke, making the birdhouse last year and the bookcase for father's day this summer, and everything they had done together this weekend. "You do happen to like doing some pretty cool stuff. But, even if you didn't. Even if you were into…" Jeremy racked his brain for activities he had no interest in. "Stamp collecting and clog dancing." He heard Luke laugh. "I'd still want to hang out with you. And, I'd learn about stamps and take a clog dancing class."

Luke smiled. "Thank you, Jeremy. That means a lot to me."

"The stuff you do for me means a lot to me, too. You spending time with me like this. I hope you know that." Jeremy said, his voice earnest.

"You're a good kid, Jeremy. I hope you know that, too." Jeremy smiled at the compliment. He felt like a good kid. He felt good in general.

Jeremy felt like the trip had been the perfect break from his life before starting school, but as the scenery became more familiar as they neared home, he could feel himself starting to come down from the experience. They drove on in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Jeremy wondered how Jess's weekend was going.