Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything. The characters belong to the creative genius, Amy Sherman-Palladino and all of the brands/products/stores/movies etc., probably belong to people equally creative.
Chapter 2: The Calm Before the Storm
The apartment over the diner had become Lexi's sanctuary. She often hid up there when things got crazy at home. Alexis never resented the fact that she was often overlooked; it was just the way things seemed to work out. Rory was commended because she was the oldest and everything she achieved seemed to have a certain level of prestige. Hannah was fretted over because everything she did was wild, crazy and could potentially lead to jail time. Lorie commanded attention because she was cute and precocious. Lexi hated being in the spotlight. She much preferred being tucked away in the office turned living quarters with a good book. This week she was reading Merchant of Venice... she was going through a Shakespeare stage.
"Antonio is totally in love with Bassanio," Lexi stated the obvious, "That must suck. Being in love with your best friend and never being able to do anything about it…"
Martha, Sookie's daughter, was in the kitchen area of the apartment. She was buttering pieces of bread to make grilled cheese. Martha was slightly older than Hannah but in the same grade. She was very edgy, the kind of girl who wore a short black cocktail dress and pink converse to prom. She had recently gotten a very feminine pixie haircut with a purple side swoop coming across the left half of her face. Sookie and Jackson didn't particularly care for it, but they always encouraged her to express her individuality.
"Well, if I ever fall in love with you, I'll tell you" Martha responded jokingly over the sizzling of the cold butter hitting the hot pan.
"That's good to know," Lexi replied as she went back to her reading.
When Martha finished making the grilled cheese, she cut it into four triangular pieces. She brought the food over to where her friend was reading and sat next to her on the couch. Martha laid down, placing her head in Lexi's lap.
"Is it true that you hooked up with Josh last night?" She asked nonchalantly in between bites of her sandwich.
"No! That was Hannah" Lexi corrected.
"Dude, how do people fuck that up? I mean, I know you guys have the same last name and all… but the similarities pretty much end there"
"I know, it's crazy right?"
"Josh is pretty bangin' though. Your sister's got good taste."
"It's not going to last. It never does," Lexi said solemnly.
"Now, now, let's not be cynical, even Hannah deserves love."
Lexi sighed, "I know she's my sister, and I'm not supposed to think this, but she's kind of…"
Before Lexi could finish her sentence, Hannah did it for her.
"Slutty?" She guessed.
Lexi and Martha got quiet. The three of them used to be best friends. They did almost everything together, but things started to change when Hannah transferred to Chilton for high school. The children of high society had somehow managed to corrupt her. Hannah entered the apartment, helped herself to the grilled cheese on the coffee table, and sat down on the couch next to them as if she was invited.
"It's ok, I know you're just jealous because you're not getting any action" Hannah commented as she exchanged her piece of grilled cheese for a cigarette. She took a long drag and blew the smoke out slowly through her nose. She looked at the girls, encouraging them to continue with their conversation.
"How did things go with Josh?" Martha decided to be brave and break the silence.
"Good, we left the party at like 2 and went to the bridge to blaze"
"2 o'clock in the morning?! You know, we do have a curfew" Lexi didn't mean to sound like a killjoy or a prude but she was worried about her sister.
"Lexi, they aren't going to notice if you're out late on a weekend. Seriously, have you seen mom and dad together? They're all over each other. It's like watching re-runs of 7th Heaven."
"She does have a point Lex," Martha smirked, "I mean it's cute that they're still in love and everything but... Lorelai and Luke could afford to take the PDA down a notch."
"Is dad downstairs?" Hannah asked, "I'm gonna peace."
"He probably is by now," Lexi answered. "You should put that out," she advised, referring to the cigarette.
Hannah abidingly stomped out the cigarette and brushed out the wrinkles in her denim mini skirt. As she left the apartment, Lexi went back to reading her book and Martha flipped through the latest edition Cosmo while carefully painted her toenails to match her hair.
xxx
Hannah thought she could make a clean escape. Sadly, things didn't work out that way.
"Hannah, come here for a second?" Luke asked. He could see that his daughter was trying to bolt out of the diner.
Hannah obeyed her father's orders and sat down at the counter. She helped herself to a glazed donut because she knew it would annoy him.
"You're mom was kind of worried about you this morning and I was just wondering if there was anything you wanted to talk about," Luke asked awkwardly.
"Nope, I'm cool," Hannah replied as she looked around the diner. She wanted to be anywhere else but here.
"Are you sure?"
"Yup."
"Well, if you change you mind, you know where to find me." Luke turned his back to start brewing another pot of coffee. He heard his daughter get up from the stool.
"Hey, where are you going?" he called out to Hannah.
"Out," she replied cryptically as she left the diner.
The bell on the door jingled as it closed behind her.
"Well," Luke sighed, "at least I asked…"
xxx
"Grandma, who is your favorite Disney princess?" Lorie asked as she climbed up onto her bed. The headboard was shaped like a crown and the bed itself was overflowing with an abundance of pink and purple pillows, and various stuffed animals. She had changed from her pajamas into a tutu and she playfully bounced up and down on the bed as she talked to her grandmother on the phone.
"I always liked Cinderella because she had the cutest shoes," Lorelai explained. She was sitting on her kitchen counter looking around at how empty the house was. It was suspiciously clean too. "Was the house ever this clean when it was just me and Rory?" She couldn't remember.
"Jess told me that Cinderella was a bad role model for little girls because she was helpless without her prince, " Lorie responded. Not only did she highly respect Jess' opinions, Lorie also had a very independent attitude- much like the Lorelai's that came before her.
"Well, who do you like missy?"
"I like Belle because she is beautiful and she likes to read and she isn't shallow; she fell in love with the prince even when she thought he was just a beast"
Lorelai was often amazed at the things that came out of Lorie's mouth. It was hard to believe that she was so young. Lorelai had to think about how to respond. "Hmm, Belle has a pretty good fashion sense too, she got to wear that yellow ballroom gown"
"Grandma! You can't just like a princess because of what they wear," Lorie somewhat reprimanded.
"You're right, you're right, but a girl's style can tell a lot about her character, remember that."
"Ok…" Lorie's mind began to wonder and she suddenly became very excited. "Hey grandma! Guess what!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Lorelai asked, echoing the enthusiasm in the child's voice.
"I'm going to see you next week!"
"You are?" Lorelai was thoroughly confused.
"Yeah, mommy said that we were going to go to Friday dinner at Nana Emily and Papa Richard's house and you were going to be there too!"
"Well… I can't wait to see my favorite granddaughter."
"I'm your only granddaughter."
"But you are still my favorite."
"You're silly," Lorie giggled.
"So are you!" Lorelai teased. "Hey, can I talk to your mom?"
"She's not here right now. Do you want to talk to Jess?… I'll go get him!" Lorie jumped off the bed and went to into the kitchen where Jess has cleaning up. Before Lorelai could refuse, Jess had already answered the phone.
"Lorelai?" Jess was surprised that she would want to talk to him.
"Jess?" Lorelai could not believe that this was happening.
"It's good to hear from you," Jess said politely
"Likewise," Lorelai replied with a forced smile… she didn't even know why she was smiling. Its not like Jess could actually see her.
"How are Luke and the girls?"
"Luke is well… you know Luke. And the girls are fine."
"Yeah, well, fine never means anything good."
"Well Hannah is kinda giving us a run for our money."
"Well it's about time," Jess scoffed. "You got lucky with Rory and possibly even luckier with Alexis"
"Yeah, I guess I did." Lorelai was usually never pessimistic, but lately, she had a hard time seeing the good things in her life. Surprisingly, talking to Jess was making her feel better.
"Did Rory tell you that we were coming up for Friday dinner next week?" Jess changed the subject.
"No… but Lorie did."
"It will be…nice. You know, having everyone together," Jess said kind of slowly. As the words were coming out of his mouth, he thought back to his strained history with the Gilmore's. He never thought he would be looking forward to spending time with them.
"Yeah, it will" Lorelai smiled at the thought of her family being together again. Although she still entertained herself by poking fun at Emily, their relationship had improved a great deal.
"Well… I'll see you then," Jess interrupted her train of thought.
"Right, see you then."
Although the conversation with Jess was a bit awkward, she was happy and somewhat proud of what Jess had become. She could not believe that he was the same boy who crashed her daughter's car and broke her daughter's arm. He had now published two books, the second of which had almost made the bestseller list. He was living in a trendy apartment in Soho and he had become a father figure to Lorie. Despite his accomplishments, Lorelai wasn't ready to see Rory settle down with him. It wasn't just the simple issue of letting go of her first born that troubled Lorelai. What she really couldn't understand was the fact that her daughter's life finally seemed to be falling into place while she could feel her own life slowly slipping through her fingers.
xxx
Rory sat at a booth by the window in Starbucks. She never thought she would give into the chain's consumerism but there were almost two Starbucks per block in the city and it was convenient. Rory sipped her quad venti caramel macchiato and continued to work on her laptop. She loved her daughter and Jess more than anything, but they were quite a distraction. She got almost as much work done at the coffee shop on the corner as she did at her own office. Just as she was finishing up, she nervously looked down at her watch and quickly moved her eyes up to look at the bar.
He was here. Just like he said he would be. He was wearing a blue-stripped collared shirt underneath a charcoal grey argyle sweater. He had the sleeves neatly rolled up so you could see his defined forearms. "His looks have gotten better with age... like cheese. or wine," Rory thought to herself. As he walked over to the booth where she was sitting, Rory could feel her heart racing and a lump forming in the throat. "Maybe this was a mistake" she continued to ponder, "Things are going so well with Jess, why mess it up now?" He sat down across from her and took a sip of his chai tea latte. He put the cup down and ran his finger seductively around the perimeter of the plastic lid. He locked eyes with Rory. They were silent for a moment. Both of them were thinking about everything that had happened in the past and what they could have done differently.
"So…" Rory cleared her throat, "It's been a long time."
He smirked playfully and his eyes sparkled as he responded, "You're right Mary… it's been a looong time."
Author's Note: I hope you guys liked the second chapter! It will probably be a while before chapter 3, I have finals coming up. I hope this is clarified by now but Hannah and Lexi are Lorelai and Luke's daughters. Luke and Lorelai are married however Jess and Rory are not. If you want to know who Lorie's father is, you are just going to have to keep reading. Review please! Like i said before, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask and I do not intend on changing any of the details of the past so if you notice any discrepancies PLEASE feel free to point them out.