I know, I'm sorry this is so late. I had finals eating away at my time all of March then literally the day after I was done I went on vacation for a week and a half so no computer.
This chapter was also really hard for me for some reason. I kept writing then erasing then writing again, wanting this to be good. I think I got it now though, so enjoy!
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Luke doesn't seem to mind when Jess told him he's going to go straight to Lorelai's after school everyday for the next week, claiming him, Lane, and Dean are working on a project for school together. That same knot of guilt twists away in his stomach after he tells the lie, especially after the two of them made their pact to not keep secrets from each other last month, but he figures it's for the best. It's not like he's keeping a big lie from him. Really, it's so small it can't technically be classified as a lie. It's more like a tiny little fib. Nobody has gotten hurt from a little fib before.
He makes sure to catch Lane and Dean up to speed as well so they don't accidently say the wrong thing to Luke. Although Lane is the only one that still goes to Luke's. Despite Luke saying he's fine with Jess hanging out with Dean, Dean isn't comfortable going near Luke's since him and Rory broke up, mentioning an incident that happened before Jess came to live in Stars Hollow. Jess took his word for it and stopped bugging Dean about it, knowing Luke can be more protective over Rory than him at times.
Him and Chuck have been productive the last few days, flying through the math and chemistry work and are currently on the subject of english. Jess goes the same route he went with Dean, only this time flipping the order and having Chuck read the book before he watches the movie. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a bit of an outlier, since the book is from Chief's point of view and the movie from McMurphy's perspective. If you read the book first then you'll know right away that Chief understands everything around him, spoiling the end of the movie.
With Chuck's class reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Jess just went the simple route and has him read and write out notes on his own. He still glances up from his own work every so often to make sure he stays focused, something Chuck seems to struggle with.
Like right now, Jess notices as he glances up from the article he's proofreading for Rory. Normally this is Paris' job, since she's the editor for the Franklin, but now he got roped into it for as long as Rory and Paris are not on speaking terms.
"Suck it up and get to the second half. That's the only part of the book that anybody actually cares about. The first half is just setting the stage, the trial in the second half is where all the action is." Jess tells him, taking his glasses off and back in their case with a snap.
Chuck tilts his head to the side, paying more attention to his glasses case. "Is that a Hello Kitty sticker?"
"Pay attention to the book and not my case." Jess sticks the case in his pocket for good measure. Lane had given him the sticker as a joke the day after she saw Theodore the Bear up in his room. Taking the joke a step further, he took the sticker and stuck it on the case for all to see, the bright pink standing out against all the black band logos. Everyone he knows has been questioning him about it, but he never elaborates, keeping the story as an inside joke between him and Lane.
Chuck scoffs and shakes his head. "You really don't care what people think about you, do you?"
"Not in the slightest." Jess lies, getting up and knocking on Rory's door. She opens the door a crack, then slightly more when she sees it's just him. She was pretty peeved when Lorelai sided with him on letting Jess tutor Chuck here. It's only fair, since Luke usually sides with her on things, Rory being his perfect little princess and all. He holds the article up for her, leaning on the doorway. "Story on the new bathroom plumbing is good, as far as bathroom plumbing stories can be. Paris sure is giving you all the crap assignments, quite literally in this case."
She snatches the paper from him. "And I will write about toilet paper if I have to, because at the end of the year, my transcript will say I worked on the Franklin." She glances at the minor notes he made in red pen. "Thanks for this." She says reluctantly.
"Make it up for me by getting my transcript to say I worked at the Franklin. Between you and Oliver, I feel like I do."
She rolls her eyes, not dignifying that with a response. Instead, she closes the door in his face.
"Hey, I'm serious here! I've put in a lot of hours, not wanting anything in return. I deserve a little compensation for my time."
The door opens again, this time Rory's shrugging on a jacket. "Wah, wah, wah, somebody call the wambulance." She teases, pushing past him. "Oh! And don't forget, Mom's going to be late since she's on that date with Alex, so she wants us to get food. She left money under the dancing rabbi."
"Alex is that coffee guy, right?"
"You are not calling him that when you meet him. His name is Alex."
Jess shrugs, having no intention of ever calling this guy by his name now. "So by 'us' getting food, you mean me?" He asks as she is obviously on her way out. "Where you going anyway?"
"Mrs. Kim is in the next town over for a church thing, so Lane and I are hitting the music store to stare at stuff we can't afford."
He fakes a gasp. "And listen to the devil's music that's a one way ticket to flames and brimstone?" He shakes his head and tisks. "Mrs. Kim would be horrified."
Rory shrugs. "At least we'll have good music on the trip down. See ya."
He waves her off, sitting back down. "Focus!" He snaps at Chuck when he notices him staring. "That book isn't gonna read itself."
"Was that a real conversation or did I just have a stroke? In the span of two minutes, you guys went from talking about bathroom plumbing, dancing rabbis, and then what sounds like the plot to Footloose. I got whiplash just trying to follow along."
Jess rolls his eyes. "What can I say, talk fast or die young. Now read." Jeez, is this what Luke had to go through before to get him to do school work? Because if so, that guy deserves a freakin' medal.
In the least shocking turn of events, Chuck doesn't listen and continues to stare at him like he's trying to solve a puzzle. Figuring if he just ignores Chuck, he'll get bored and return to reading the book on his own, Jess stands and turns to the fridge, pulling a coke out.
"You want any-" Jess turns back around, startled to find Chuck right behind him now, leaning on the back of the chair. "Jeez, man! Wear a bell! You're gonna give me a heart-" Jess gets cut off again, this time by Chuck diving forward and crashing their lips together. He tries to pull away, but he finds himself pinned between Chuck and the fridge. Forgetting the soda in his hand, he lets go so he can have both hands free to start pushing back. The commotion of the can hitting the ground seems to do the trick though, Chuck scrambling back and across the kitchen in record time. Jess isn't sure who looks more shocked, him or Chuck. It's almost comical if it weren't for the fact that Chuck freakin' Presby just had his tongue down his throat.
"I didn't- I'm not- I don't-"
"Get. out." Jess clenches his fists, focusing on his nails digging into his palms.
"Please-"
"I said get the fuck out!"
For once in his life, Chuck listens, grabbing his stuff and haphazardly stuffs everything in his backpack. Without a glance, he runs out the back door, slamming it shut behind him.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he slides down the fridge, knocking down papers, and magnets digging into his back. He pays none of it any mind though. He just brings his hands to his mouth, wishing the last few minutes never happened. That tightness in his chest is back, only this time he knows what it is. The last two times he felt a panic attack this bad coming on, he had Luke or Lorelai to help him through it, but they can't know this time. Lorelai warned him against socializing with Chuck in the first place and he told her it was fine, that he could handle it. She'll never trust him again if she finds out she was right. And Luke, talk about never trusting him again. If Luke finds out he had been lying about who he's been with this whole time, he might finally figure enough is enough and kick him out.
God, if Luke and Lorelai turn their backs on him, then everyone else in the town will too. Oliver would leave with a giant 'I told you so'. Rory would follow with her mom, along with Lane and Dean. He'll have no one. Again.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shitshitshitshit. Not now, this can't be happening now.
"God fucking damn it!" He grabs the coke can off the floor and tosses it as hard as he can against the wall, soda spraying from the impact. Not feeling any better, he hugs his legs close to him, buries his face in his knees, and tries to breath.
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Rory makes it half way down the block before she realizes her phone is missing from her pockets. Stopping with a sigh, she hangs her head, remembering now with perfect clarity that she had left her phone sitting on her desk. Debating whether or not it's worth the trip back, she figures it's better to go back and get it in case her mom calls.
The door creaks as she tries to enter as stealthily as she can, not wanting stupid Chuck's attention on her. Why did Jess have to grow a heart overnight and decide to help Chuck of all people? And at her house no less. She remembers back in middle school how he would always tease her for being a nerd with all the other dumb flunkies that smelled of cigarette smoke and had gross, greasy hair like they've never had a shower in their life.
Sure, Chuck isn't quite as bad now, him having had discovered how to use a shower at some point between middle school and now. Plus, there must be some part of him that actually cares about passing school if he had to stoop to begging Jess of all people for help. Still, it doesn't mean she still isn't annoyed that Jess keeps bringing him over. At least this will be over in a few days, then she can have her house back.
As she's about to turn the corner, she hears shuffling noises from the kitchen and freezes at Jess' voice. "Get. Out." She feels her chest constrict, having never heard Jess this mad before. Over the last year of knowing him, she's learned that the angrier he is, the quieter and more steady his voice gets.
"Please-" Chuck starts to say, frantic.
"I said get the fuck out!" Jess booms, causing her to jump.
There's a scramble of noise, and for a second she's nervous Chuck is going to spot her frozen in the foyer, but she's relieved to hear the back door open and then swing shut with a bang.
She wants to move and go check on Jess in the kitchen, but her legs are rooted in place. She's only been out of the house for a grand total of two minutes. What could possibly happen in the last two minutes to cause Jess to go completely nuclear like that?
More shuffling comes from the kitchen, then, "God fucking damn it!" Jess yells in the empty room. She flinches again as he throws something against a wall and it explodes with a hiss.
Waiting another minute, she strains her ears for anymore noise, but doesn't hear anything except the pounding of her own heart. Swallowing, she cautiously rounds the corner, hugging the wall.
"Jess?" She calls out softly, not seeing him in the kitchen right away. She stiffens a gasp at the soda dripping from the wall and her door, having been the source of the hissing sound she heard earlier.
Now that she's fully in the kitchen, she hears raspy breathing coming from the fridge and looks around the table to find Jess on the floor, huddled in on himself, his arms wrapped around his legs. "Jess!" She goes straight to his side, her first thought being that he was hurt. He doesn't respond to her either time.
Taking in the trembling shoulders, Rory thinks back to the last time she saw Jess like this. It was back in November when he came to stay with them after his fight with Luke. She remembers being scared and confused, having never seen Jess so vulnerable before. That was the first time she had seen him cry. Shortly after snapping out of the shock of seeing Jess break down clinging to her mom, she excused herself to give him some privacy. About an hour later, her mom came into her room and sat down with her to explain what she witnessed.
She said it was a panic attack and that he's had them before. She went over the symptoms with her and how to cope if she ever feels something like that coming on, and that if she needs someone her or Luke will drop anything to help.
This must be what's going on with Jess now. He's breathing heavy, at the point of almost hyperventilating, shaking, and not responding to her. It's nearly an identical match to how he was that night on the porch.
Copying her mom, she gets down on the floor next to Jess, ignoring the mess of papers from the fridge. A little hesitant, she lightly puts her arm around his shoulders, ready to pull back in case he flinches. The opposite happens though. With his face still buried in his legs, he seems to fold in on himself even more if that's possible and leans into her.
"It's okay," She says softly, remembering that as something her mom had said over and over that night. She holds him tighter as he gasps for air like he's been holding his breath for the last ten minutes. "Everything will be alright." She is going to kill Chuck for doing this to her friend.
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Rory sits with Jess for the next ten minutes as he calms down. She feels bad for ditching Lane without so much as a call, but she'll understand once Rory tells her something urgent came up with Jess. She won't go into detail, partly because she herself is still in the dark about most of it, but also because she knows Jess wouldn't appreciate his dirty laundry being aired, even to Lane.
He's always been a private person, only opening up to Luke or her mom. That week he was staying with them, she had waited for him to tell her on his own about the anxiety issue, but he never did. They just awkwardly existed in the house together without having any conversations that got deeper than, 'Hey, the weather sure is getting colder out now.'. She missed her best friend.
Speaking of, Jess is starting to move again, seemingly coming back. He pulls away from her, lifting his head off her shoulder, and she takes her arm back to give him a little space to get his bearings. He rubs his hands up and down his face as he uncurls from himself.
"Sorry. I'll clean everything up." He croaks, starting to get up and avoiding eye contact.
In a flash, she grabs his wrist to keep him from leaving. "That can wait. Please, tell me what happened. I want to help."
He slumps back down, staring at her hand still on his wrist to keep him in place. "Rory…"
She squeezes. "Please, Jess. I hate seeing you this clearly upset. I didn't do anything about it before and we saw how that turned out." He winces at the reminder of his trip to New York. "I sorry to bring that up, but it's true. Maybe if I had gotten you to talk instead of just ignoring the problem, I could have done something, been able to help."
"It's not your job to take care of me. I can handle my own shit."
"Maybe you can handle your own shit," He glances up at her for the first time, shocked at her unusual use of foul language. She just keeps pushing on. "But you don't need to do it on your own. You're there for me all the time, let me return the favor."
He bites his lip, thinking it over. "Has anyone ever told you you would make a good lawyer? Or police interrogator?"
"Yup. Now spill. What happened?"
He sighs, letting his head fall back against the fridge with a thud. "Well, I can say for certain that I am no longer the only gay student at Stars Hollow High."
"What- Do you mean Chuck is…"
Jess shrugs, lifting his head up. "Gay, bi, I don't know. I do know he has a serious problem with kissing people without their consent though."
Rory makes a face at that. "Gross. I'm assuming that's why you kicked him out?" Jess nods wordlessly. "Are you… Are you going to tell anyone? Like an adult or Oliver?"
"No!" He answers right away. "No way. He looked about as shocked as I was, there's no reason to drag an adult in the middle of this. And Oliver was already nervous about Chuck and I's history, telling him Chuck might actually be something other than straight will cause more problems than anything. Ignorance is bliss, right?"
Rory isn't so sure about that. "I don't know…"
"Promise me." He stresses.
Rory sighs, knowing Jess will only dig his heels in further if she keeps pushing right now. "Fine, I promise I won't say anything. But for the record I still think you should tell someone, Oliver at the very least."
"Your opinion has been noted." Getting off the floor, he grabs the cleaning supplies out from under the sink. Shaking her head, she gets up as well to give him a hand.
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Jess keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far Rory's kept her word about keeping quiet. As soon as they finished cleaning the kitchen Lorelai had walked in, tales of her wonderful date on the tip of her tongue. She froze at the entrance of the kitchen, eyeing them suspiciously as they awkwardly stand in the middle of the room after shoving the cleaning supplies under the sink.
"Do I wanna know, or is this something Mommy is better off ignorant in?"
Jess swallows, glancing at Rory as he's sure she's about to spill the beans, but she just smiles. "I dropped a soda and got the floor all sticky, so Jess helped me clean up. Right, Jess?"
"Uh, yup. You know Rory, total cluts."
She slaps his arm. "Hey!" Yeah, he deserved that.
Lorelai looks between the two. "Right… Word of advise, neither of you should go into any type of field that involves lying. Anyway, what are the chances I can learn to fish in the next two days?" She lets the subject drop, changing the topic to how she stupidly lied to coffee guy about how she loves fishing.
'You owe me.' Rory mouths at him when Lorelai's back is turned.
'Whatever.' He mouths back.
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Rory walks with him back to the diner for his shift, planning on heading over to Lane's. "So… What are you planning to do about school with Chuck there?"
He shrugs. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" She parrots back. "But he-" He shushes her with a glare, knowing where she's going with this. "But he kissed you." She whispers. "From the sound of it, you're the only one that knows about his newfound sexuality. What if he wants you to be his gay Yoda or something?"
Jess snorts at that. "I am definitely not going to be his gay Yoda."
She has that fight in her eyes again, but luckily stays quiet as they go single file through the construction zone Taylor caused from his remodeling of the old flower shop, both nodding at Tom as they pass. They stop right outside the diner, Rory sighing again. "Just think about how you felt when you first came out and how much easier things got once you had Luke on your side. Chuck may be the most annoying person on the planet, but from the sound of things, he doesn't have a Luke. I'll see you later."
He waves her off, irritated that she made a good point. Walking in, he only gets to hang his jacket on the hook by the door and stash his bag behind the curtain before Luke's tossing a rag in his direction to wipe tables. Great, Taylor's got him in a mood still from all the construction next door. This shift is going to be oodles of fun.
Grabbing the tub from behind the counter, he gets to work clearing a table, wiping it down afterwards with the rag that had been lobbed at his head earlier.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for a Mr. Lucas Danes."
Glancing up, Jess scoffs internally at the formal use of his uncle's name, knowing he likes being called Lucas about as much as Jess likes being called Jesse. He takes in the lady in front of him, not recognizing her from around town. "Oh, Lucas." He calls Luke over.
"What?" Luke snaps like expected.
"IRS." He says sarcastically, tossing the rag back in the bucket.
"I'm not- I'm not IRS." She corrects quickly. Jess ignores her as he takes the dishes back to the kitchen. "I'm not IRS." Jess overhears her tell Luke.
"I'm Luke Danes. Ignore him, he's a teenager and hasn't reached his quota of bothering people for the day."
"Luke Danes. Sorry. And it's quite alright, believe it or not, was a teenager myself once upon a time. My name is Nicole Leahy. I'm Taylor Doose's attorney."
After dumping the tub in the back, Jess hovers around the corner to listen in more, curious what this is about.
"Oh, jeez." Luke groans.
"He wanted me to bring-"
"Yeah, the lease agreement, I know." Luke finishes. "I told him to walk them over here, but, hey, what's the fun of being Taylor, right?"
"I'm sorry if this is a bad time. It won't take me very long."
Luke sighs. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. Let's get this over with. Want some coffee?" Hearing Luke get closer, Jess backs up a little to stay hidden as Luke rounds the counter to get her a mug.
"Yeah, sounds great."
Now that the coast is clear, Jess pokes his head out again to see the woman, Nicole, sit at the counter with some papers. Tired of skulking in the dark like a spy, Jess heads back out behind Luke, pretending to be busy as he grabs the other coffee pot to refill the mugs as he listens in.
"I really just need to witness your signature is all. It's actually just a formality."
"In other words, completely ridiculous and unnecessary."
"Uh-huh." She agrees with a smile.
"Okay." Luke puts his coffee pot away behind him.
"Mr. Doose really likes things to be formal… and neat… and in triplicate. He just loves things in triplicate." She takes a sip of coffee. "Mmm, that's a really good cup of coffee."
Huh. Is it just him or is she flirting with Luke? Yup, she just did the 'brush some hair out of my face' move, she is totally flirting with Luke. Gross.
"Thanks." He says absentmindedly as he signs the forms. Wow, is he really that oblivious that he doesn't see that she's flirting with him? "So tell me something." He continues as if nothing just happened. "What's it like being Taylor's lawyer?"
"Well, actually, I'm not exactly Mr. Doose's lawyer. Or only lawyer. He's one of our select clients, so all of our attorneys deal with him on a rotating basis. It's my month."
"My condolences." Wait, did he just flirt back. Because he's pretty sure Luke's still in the dark about her flirting with him. Is it possible for him to accidentally flirt with someone?
"Yeah, my father always told me, 'That which does not kill you makes you stronger.'."
"You're gonna be really strong." He just did it again. Why does he keep doing that? And why is it bothering him that he is? Luke should find someone, at least to get all of his attention off Jess, so he's not breathing down his neck twenty-four seven.
"He's not that bad."
"Seriously, if you run into someone pinned under a truck, pick it up. It'll be a piece of cake." The two continue on as Jess mentally has a mini crisis across the room. Oh, god, now she's doing the eye flutter thing. Luke can't see since he's still staring at the documents, but Jess sure as hell can. Makes him want to go barf. "Okay, it looks like that's the whole nine yards." He hands back the pen and papers, oblivious to what just happened, again.
"Great." She gets back to business. "You and Mr. Doose are officially in business together." Luke visibly flinches at that. "I'm so sorry. I meant that as a good thing."
"It's okay."
Wanting to get a closer look again, Jess casually comes back behind the counter to put the coffee pot he's been holding away. He keeps his head down as he makes busy work so he can stay and listen where he is. "I will let you get back to work. Let me," She starts digging into her purse for her wallet as she stands.
"Oh, no. On me."
"Tell you what, it's business, let's let Mr. Doose pay for it." Maybe he didn't give her enough credit, looks like she caught on to the fact that Luke isn't Taylor's number one fan.
"Even better."
She gives him a little grin, gathering everything together and heading out. With a grin of his own, he comes over to his uncle's side. With how heavily she was flirting, he has to have caught on. Maybe he just ignored it since he has his eyes on a certain brunette that also loves his coffee.
"That was an interesting show." He leaves it at that, seeing what Luke will admit to.
"What're you yammering about?" He goes back to his grumpy tone from before. Huh.
"Guess Gloria Allred wants to go slumming." He breaks it down for him.
"Shut up." Luke tries to run, but Jess follows.
"She was totally coming onto you."
"She was not."
Jess lets his jaw drop. "Couldn't you hear her panting when you were signing those things?"
"Didn't see it." He avoids him again, going to the other end of the counter.
"She laughed at your jokes. We both know there's gotta be some ulterior motive if people laugh at your jokes." He follows after again, leaning back against the counter.
Luke spins around, voice raising to the point that everyone is watching now. "Okay, whatever. Even if there was something, which I'm not saying there was, what makes you the leading expert on women? Huh? Last I checked, you're dating a guy, and the last girl you liked now sees you as a brother. Can you answer me that, wise ass?"
Jess scoffs, no longer finding this fun. "Wow." Is all he manages.
Luke sighs, regret clearly on his face. "Jess, I didn't mean-"
"No, I got it. Message received loud and clear." He grabs his jacket off the coat rack, shrugging it back on.
"Come on, take your coat off. I'm sorry."
"No, you're right. I'll stay outta your way. Be back in a bit."
Luke tries to get him to stay again, but Jess ignores him as he lets the door shut behind him. First the stupid thing with Chuck and now this, he just wants to get away from everyone for a while.
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Luke tries to ignore that part of his brain that's itching for him to go looking for Jess, letting him have his space. It's just, ever since Taylor started construction next door, it's been one giant headache for him. Then when Jess started to tease him about Nicole, he just sort of snapped without thinking about what he was saying. He did notice the flirting, he's just not interested. She's a suit, totally not his type. Plus, after that close encounter he had with Lorelai a few weeks back, he'd rather keep his options open in case that turns into something more. Who knows, she's never been into fishing before and now all of a sudden he's teaching her to fish tomorrow. That's gotta mean something.
After closing and still no Jess, Luke heads upstairs to watch some tv to keep his mind from going crazy as he waits up for Jess.
He perks up when he finally hears footsteps on the stairs, signaling Jess is back. He tries to remain casual, remembering what Lorelai said a while back about not jumping on him the moment he walks through the door. He leans back on the couch and keeps his eyes steady on the football game that he's been too distracted from this whole time.
"Hey," He says, taking a sip of his now warm beer.
Jess glances at him. "Hey." He makes his way to his bed, kicking off his shoes on the way.
Luke waits for him to get comfortable on his bed, cross legged and back against the headboard, with a book (luckily wearing his glasses without being asked), and then another ten minutes before turning the tv off. "Listen," He picks at the beer label. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It was pretty rude of me."
Jess glances up from his book, listening.
With a sigh, he sets the beer he's been nursing for the past hour on the coffee table and makes his way over to the foot of Jess' bed, the mattress dipping with the extra weight. "Taylor's had me in a bad mood for, well, the last twenty years or so, and I took it out on you. That wasn't fair and I'm sorry."
Jess stays silent, just staring at him with unblinking eyes. Luke shifts uncomfortably, feeling like a kid again when he got in trouble with his dad. He had the same blank yet disappointed look too.
"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I, uh, haven't developed mind reading powers in the last few hours, so you're gonna have to tell how else I can fix this."
Jess blinks. "Shame." Is all he says before going back to his book.
Luke hangs his head with a sigh. "Jess, c'mon, bud, give me something to work with here."
He shifts his gaze back, this time shutting his book after dogearing the page. "I've dated girls before."
"I figured as much." He spent most of his teenage years in New York unsupervised, Luke would be shocked if he hadn't dated before now.
"I've dated a lot of girls. Even had se-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Luke cuts him off with a grimace, waving a hand in the air. "You don't need to go into details on that, I got it."
Jess finally smirks a little, amused at his discomfort. "Like we established, Oliver is an exception. Just because I'm currently dating a guy doesn't mean I've suddenly forgotten how to spot a girl that's into you."
Luke nods. "You're completely right. I'm sorry for implying otherwise."
Jess nods this time. "Thanks."
Luke smiles, glad to have that out of the way. "So, when did she start flirting? Was it when we were talking about her being strong enough to lift a truck?"
Jess snorts. "Try more when she sipped that coffee. 'Mmm, this is one good cup of coffee.' and then she did the hair flip thing."
"Hair flip thing? That can't be real."
"Oh, it's real. Ask Lorelai next time you see her, she'll demonstrate."
Luke chuckles. Speaking of Lorelai, that reminds him of something she always mentions concerning her, Rory, and dating. "And, um, how would you feel? If I were to date someone. Not Nicole persay, but in general."
Jess shrugs. "Doesn't matter. I'm not gonna be dating her."
"No, but we're a democracy remember. You come first. If you have a problem or are uncomfortable with anyone I'm dating, tell me. I want you to be comfortable in your own home." Jess stays silent at that, and it suddenly hits Luke. Knowing Liz, she probably never made this sort of agreement with Jess. Once again, he adds another thing to the ever growing mental list of reasons he should have fought harder for Jess a long time ago. "Well, it's getting late and I have an early start tomorrow. Night, kid." He gives the back of Jess' neck a light squeeze, then claps him on the back as he gets up.
"Night, Luke. And, um… thanks."
Luke pauses, turning back to Jess, but he's already got his nose back in his book. He has the overwhelming urge to gather the kid up in his arms and never let go, but he knows Jess would never go for it, so instead he drops a hand on top of his head, ruffling his hair. "You're a really good kid, you know that?"
As expected, Jess bats him away, face slightly red. "I thought you had an early start. Jeez, could you be more annoying?"
Luke takes his hand back. "Alright, I'll leave you to your," He squints at the book cover. "Slaughterhouse-Five. Decided on some light reading before bed, I see."
With one final roll of the eyes, Jess ignores him now, going back to his book. Figuring Jess is done conversing for the day, he starts to head to his side of the room. "It is cool with me. If you want to start dating." Jess surprises him by striking up the conversation this time.
Luke turns back again, winging a brow. Jess keeps his gaze on his book, but is obviously not reading the words on the pages. "Yeah?"
Jess glances up over the rim of his glasses. "Well, yeah. You can't keep living like a monk on my account. Spoiler alert, but at some point I am going to be moving out. It's a right of passage all young adults go through."
Luke scoffs and shakes his head. "Alright, wise guy. Get back to your slaughterhouse." He grabs Jess' head with one hand and turns it to his book to really drive home his point. Surprisingly Jess doesn't bat him away, just struggles to fight back a grin.
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Jess spends the whole night tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. It was easy to lie to Luke when the guy was grumpy and being a pain, but then he had to go and apologize, then pretty much outright saying that he'll dump whoever he's dating without a second thought if Jess didn't like her.
Now all the lying involving Chuck makes him sick to his stomach. He used to have no problem lying to Liz, but Liz never offered to dump any of her boyfriends for him. She just told him that he needs to give whatever guy she was seeing at the time a chance. Liz also never sat up with him while he was drunk/hungover like Luke did. Or pay enough attention to him to notice the need for glasses like Luke did. Or even just ask him about his day like Luke does.
The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets at her. If it weren't for her stupid pride and whim to play Mommy, he could have had all of that to begin with. She robbed him of all those little things that Luke does for him every single day.
And Luke doesn't know this, but the other day Jess had found his stash of books from the library on all the schools he had applied to. It's not like Luke skimmed the books either, they had a forest's worth of sticky notes between all the pages. He hates reading, yet he probably knows more about all the schools on the east coast better than Rory does at this point. He's doing all of this in secret for Jess when it still could be months before he hears back from any of the schools. All of this will come crashing down then. The rejection letters will start flooding in and Luke will realize he wasted all of his time for nothing. Maybe if stupid Lizzie or the courts had let Luke take care of him from the beginning, then he could have been preparing as early as Rory did. Sure he got his grades up and got a pretty good score on the SATs, but that's only been the past year. That's nothing compared to Rory or Paris or even Oliver who have all been model students since preschool. He didn't even go to preschool. Or kindergarten for that matter.
He physically jumps from his thoughts as Luke snores across the room, shifting in his sleep. Jess watches until he settles back into a deep sleep. He should've said something about Chuck earlier, should've come clean about the tutoring and the kiss today.
God, was that only today? Feels like he's been keeping this secret from Luke for years and yet it's only been nine hours.
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It felt like he had only just fallen asleep when he jerks awake to the sound of Luke's alarm going off. Stupid five am deliveries. He listens as Luke stumbles around his side of the apartment in the dark, not turning on a light so Jess can theoretically stay asleep for an extra hour. Normally he still would be asleep, as Luke once put it he can sleep through the Huns invading, but his anxieties and guilt have been keeping him awake.
After Luke is finished in the bathroom and heads downstairs, Jess drags himself out of bed and goes through his normal morning routine. The regular early townies are eating as Jess makes his way down, rolling his eyes as Luke silently motions for him to sit at the counter where he's setting out a plate of scrambled eggs for him, mouthing for him to eat. Dropping his bag where he's standing with a loud thud, he comes over to the counter and plops on a stool. With a roll of his own eyes, Luke grabs his backpack and stashes it behind the counter where no one will trip over it.
He can feel Luke's gaze on him as he eats his breakfast. "You okay?"
"Fine." He stabs the eggs with his fork with a little more force than necessary.
Luke sets down the ordering pad, his full attention on him now. "You sure? You're not looking too good, did you sleep okay?"
"Gee, thanks for the confidence boost, Uncle Luke. People must come far and wide for your sparkling personality alone." He spits out.
Luke blinks at the harsh tone. There he goes again, being a dick to the one guy that always ever seems to give a damn. It's for the best though. After thinking about it all night, he's come to the conclusion that it will be better for the both of them if they stop getting so close. It's like he said last night, he's going to move out eventually. Probably when Luke finds out he's been lying, and got rejected by all the schools he applied to, and when Luke gets stuck having to choose between him and a girlfriend and come to the same realization Liz did, pawning him off to the next relative and masking the reason as 'for his own good'. Who knows, maybe the parrot won't be as bad as he thinks. Or Cousin Jack will let him stay for free if he helps out with the triplets. Back in New York when him and Liz came up short on rent he used to make up the difference by cutting class to take care of babies and kids in his building, so he has the experience.
Appetite completely gone now, he jumps from his seat and snatches his bag from behind the counter. "I'm gonna be late." He mumbles to Luke, not able to look him in the eye.
"Yeah, alright. Have a good day."
He rushes out of the diner as fast as he can, wanting to get away from Luke and his worried looks.
It's for the best.
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Stifling a yawn, Jess wanders the near empty halls. With his rush to get out of the diner he hadn't realized just how early he made it to school. With how screwy his thoughts are right now though, it's probably best to do some laps through the halls to try and clear his head. He was so out of it this morning he forgot to stick a book in his pocket and the school library doesn't open for another twenty minutes, so walking is his only choice.
Glancing at his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, he doesn't notice the hand reaching out of the men's bathroom and pull him in until it's too late.
"Shit! What the f-" He stumbles in, barely keeping himself upright. The lock clicks in place and he spins around to find Chuck of all people blocking the door. "Ah, geez! Seriously?! What will it take for you to leave me the hell alone?"
"Did you tell anyone?"
"That you are at stalker levels of creepy now? No, not yet."
"You know what I'm talking about!" He snaps, hitting the side of a stall, the bang echoing in the small room. It takes all of Jess' self restraint from physically flinching. "The thing that happened, the… you know…"
"Kiss?" Jess fills in for him. The sooner he gets this over with the sooner he can leave. Chuck nods, not looking as sure as he did a second ago. "No, I didn't." Jess knows Rory won't tell anyone, but Chuck doesn't, so it's better for everyone involved if he just leaves that little tidbit out.
"Okay, good. That's good. Because it was a mistake. It didn't mean anything."
Jess snorts, earning him a glare. "Alright, whatever you say."
"I'm not gay." He says firmly.
Jess shrugs a shoulder, leaning back against the sinks. Looks like he's stuck here for the foreseeable future. Well, if Chuck's little gay crisis keeps his mind off things with Luke, then he'll take it. "I'm not either."
"Yeah, well, I'm not that other thing either."
"Great, glad we got that all sorted out. Can I go now, or am I going to have to shimmy out the window? Because let me tell you that is really hard on the hips."
Chuck shuffles to the side, clearing a path for the door. "How…" He starts again as Jess is unlocking the door. Glancing back at him, Jess waits patiently as he finishes his question. "How, um… How did you know? Hypothetically."
With a sigh, Jess locks the door again. "Not right away. It wasn't like I woke up one morning and thought, 'Hey, I like dick now'. Talking helped, as much as I hate to admit it. It also helped that every single one of my friends and family seemed to know before I did."
"Your mom seems cool. She's the only mom I've ever seen wearing a The Who shirt before. Your dad scares the shit out of me though."
Jess can't help but smirk. Yup, that sounds like Lorelai and Luke alright. "He's all bark and no bite. It's Lorelai you gotta look out for, she has a mama bear side you would not believe. Now, does that answer your hypothetical question?"
Chuck nods. "And… can I still get help after school? I finished the book and everything, I just want to make sure I got all the main stuff the teacher will be looking for on the final."
Jess thinks on it. Rory won't be too happy, but she has student government after school today anyway. "Yeah, okay. But for real this time, last chance. One inch out of line-"
"-And I'll be gone for good. I swear."
"Good." Jess watches as he sighs in relief and jumps up on the counter. "Also you should know, for me at least, being bi isn't a fifty-fifty thing." He finds himself repeating what Luke had told him. Geez, maybe Rory wasn't too far off with the gay Yoda thing. "Oliver's an exception, he's the only guy I've ever had any type of feelings for." He leaves it at that, exiting the bathroom for good this time.
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"So the weirdest thing just happened in the hallway." Lane says as she sits at their lunch table, dumping her brown sack off to the side. Without a word, Jess rips off his pizza crust and passes it to her. As part of their routine, Dean hands over the extra bag of chips he always brings from home. Dave puts his soda between them to share and Lindsay follows Jess' lead and hands over her crust as well.
"Yeah?" Dean speaks for the both of them.
"I was at my locker, when I overheard Chuck Presby of all people defending some freshman from his stupid loser friends. You should have seen the look on the jerks faces, it was priceless." Lane talks through her mouth full of pizza crust.
Dean, along with Lindsay and Dave share a look of shock at the news before the four of them move on to another topic. Glancing around, Jess spots Chuck eating alone at the end of their table, head down. He ignores the others questioning looks as he leaves his stuff, getting up and walking down the length of the table.
He sticks his hands in his pockets, not sure what he's doing himself. "Hey."
Chuck glances up from his tray. "Hey."
"So, I didn't think you were listening when I told you to get better friends."
Chuck lets out a wry laugh. "Yeah, well, as it's been recently pointed out to me, they were complete and utter dicks. I'd rather be alone than dragged down to their level."
Jess smirks at that. "I used to do the alone thing myself. It's not as great as the movies make it out to be. We have space, if you're interested." He gestures with his head at the other end of the table where the others are not-so-subtly listening.
"Thanks, but I'm fine."
Jess shrugs, stealing a fry. "All up to you. Consider it an open invitation, if you change your mind."
"Will do."
Giving him a final nod, Jess heads back to the others, who are staring at him. He ignores them in favor of his pizza.
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After school, the tutoring with Chuck went off without a hitch and he was able to get him out of the house before Rory and Oliver showed up. They hung out for a bit before Oliver had to head home and Jess had to get to the diner for his shift, which he is not looking forward to. Now that he's had the space to think things over, he came to the realization that he was being crazy trying to push Luke away this morning. The whole thing with Chuck reminded him of what Lorelai told him when he first met her. He is super lucky to have Luke. Lorelai too now. Two adults that care enough that Chuck mistook them for his parents, an assumption he didn't feel the need to correct.
He stops his train of thought right there, not wanting to think too hard on why that is.
"Hey." He greets Luke as he gets straight to work, hoping he won't bring up this morning.
Luke drops what he's doing and gestures to the store room. "With me. Now." Damn it.
Jess follows after, sitting on the crate that Luke's points at and watches as his uncle crosses his arms and starts to pace back and forth. Jess picks at his nails, keeping his mouth shut for once.
Luke sighs, taking a seat across from him. "So, wanna explain what got into you this morning? Last night we were fine, but then come morning you were acting like I killed your hamster."
"I got possessed by a crazy person. But luckily today was exorcism day in class and now I'm all dandy."
That earns Jess a grin, but Luke quickly smothers it down. "Anything else?"
"And I may have felt the teensiest bit bad about lying all week."
"Ah, there it is."
"There was no project. I've been tutoring Chuck Presby at Lorelai's for the past week." He leaves out the part about the kiss. Luke's awkward enough when they talk about Oliver, no need to make things unnecessarily worse.
"Presby…" Luke steeples his fingers, thinking for a second. "Wait, isn't that the kid that gave you a black eye last year?"
Jess nods. "He's failing and said his parents were going to kick him out if he didn't get his grades back up. When Liz kicked me out, at least I had somewhere to go. He doesn't."
Out of all the reactions he was expecting from Luke, chuckling was pretty low on the list. He glares, getting up to leave. "No, wait wait. Sit back down, kid." He turns back around, but doesn't sit down. Luke sits up a little, sobering up. "You have to be the weirdest kid I know. Why in the world would you think I would be mad at you for helping another kid in school?"
Jess rolls his eyes, sitting back down. "Gee, thanks." He gives a shrug. "And I don't know, maybe I didn't bring it up because last time Chuck was brought up you were threatening murder. Kinda hard to run a diner from behind bars."
Luke winces. "I'll admit, I was mad in the moment-"
"The secretary still gives me weird looks."
"Sure she's not just looking at your hair?"
Jess doesn't dignify that with a response, not in the mood to defend his hair again.
"Jess, my personal feelings for that punk aside, if he's making the choice to focus on his school work, then power to him. You didn't need to lie about helping him."
"You said he wasn't allowed in the diner if it was the last place on earth that sold food." Jess points out.
"How about we ignore all the things I said after I found my kid with a black eye?"
"So his ban has been lifted?"
Luke nods. "I think you're capable of choosing who you want around."
Jess gives him a grateful smile. "Thanks." He sniffs. "But I don't think anyone will be coming around when you smell of fish. Does that have anything to do with the kiddie pool full of trout in front of Lorelai's place?"
Luke sniffs his jacket, groaning and standing to take it off. He leaves it on a crate, probably so he can wash it later. "So you met Pinky and crew."
Jess bites his lip to keep from laughing. "They have names?"
Luke leads him out to the diner. "Blame Lorelai. I was teaching her to fish, but it turned into a fashion show, and meet and greet."
Jess takes a seat at the counter, watching Luke as he tops off everyone's coffee. "You taught Lorelai to fish for her date with coffee guy?" That must have been torture, it seems like everyone knows of their crush on each other except for the two of them.
Luke pauses for a second before continuing on to the next table. "You knew she was dating someone?"
"Yeah. This will only be the second date though. His name is Alex something."
Luke keeps his gaze down. "You meet this Alex something?"
"No, but I could. He's picking her up tomorrow morning."
Luke shrugs. "Up to you. Although, how much do we really know about this guy? He would know Rory's home alone while it's still dark out, I'm sure Lorelai would want someone else to be in the house with her, at least so she doesn't have to wake up to an empty house."
Jess shakes his head. Luke is so transparent it's not even funny. "Alright, I'll head over in a little bit. For Rory, of course."
"Yeah, of course. And it wouldn't hurt to have multiple people seeing what he looks like."
"Want me to get a picture too? Or maybe get his prints off a glass of water?"
Luke levels a stare at him, putting the coffee pot away. "Get to work, wise ass. I'm not paying you to sit there."
Jess scoffs. "You're barely paying me at all."
Luke flings a washcloth in his direction, nailing him in the chest. "How about, get to work or I won't pay you at all."
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Jess lies on the couch, unable to open his eyes. It's Saturday. Five-thirty am should not exist on a Saturday. From the sound of Lorelai and Rory arguing in the kitchen, they would agree with him. At the sound of the doorbell, he sits up slowly, rubbing his eyes.
"Great!" Lorelai yells, going for the door. "Five-thirty am and no coffee in my system! How can there be three people in this house and no coffee!" She answers the door, much calmer, especially since he seems to have coffee and donuts for her.
Rory makes her way to the living room, leaning back against the couch. He gets up to join her. She pulls her robe on as coffee guy comes in.
"This is Rory." Lorelai introduces them. "And this is Jess."
"Hi, I'm Alex." He gives them a little wave, way too chipper for someone before the sun is even up.
Jess only grunts, while Rory forces a smile and gives a halfhearted, "Nice to meet you." Then as she's tying off her robe she mumbles under her breath, "Would have been nicer in the daylight, but…" Jess snorts, fully agreeing.
"Okay! Time for us to get going! It's not like the fish are gonna wait for us all day." Lorelai says to change the subject. She turns to coffee guy. "I'll take that coffee now." She grabs the bag, juggling with her fishing rod and net. What kind of fishing does she think she's going to, open sea fishing? "Bye, babes!" She sends each of them a quick kiss, then heads out the door.
"You're not secretly an axe murderer, planning on hiding her body in the middle of nowhere, right?" Jess asks.
Coffee guy stops and thinks about it. "That's not on the agenda, no."
Jess nods, too tired to care. "Cool."
He looks back to see Lorelai struggling to get the fishing rod out of the house, then turns back to them. "Your guys's mom has never been fishing before, has she?"
"Oh, no, she's a well-seasoned fish killer." Rory lies through her teeth.
"Yup." Jess talks over her. "She doesn't even go in the seafood aisle in the grocery store." Rory elbows him in the side, so he elbows back.
"Right," Coffee guy doesn't even blink at their conflicting answers. "I made lunch reservations at the Shahaela Lodge and Spa afterward. Think she'll like that?"
Rory nods. "She'll love that."
"Good. You two can go back to sleep."
"Thank God." Jess proclaims, flopping back onto the couch. Rory hits his legs until he moves them, then puts them in her lap after she sits down.
"He wasn't too bad, despite the time." Rory says after the front door shuts, putting her feet up on the coffee table. "Thanks for not calling him 'coffee guy' to his face."
Jess cracks an eye open and tilts his head up. "He was on thin ice suggesting fishing for a second date, but made up for it with the lunch. Sounds like these dates are going to be two for two." He doesn't think about what that means for Luke. The relationship is still young though, so who knows.
Rory hums in reply, already starting to fall asleep.
"Hey," He pokes her in the thigh with his toe after a couple minutes, unable to get something off his mind.
"Wha'?" She turns her head to him, eyes closed but listening.
"Don't let this go to your head, but you were right."
"About?" She opens her eyes, a little more awake.
He takes a deep breath. "I became Chuck's gay Yoda yesterday."
That wakes her up completely. "No! Seriously? I told you!" She slaps his leg.
He rolls his eyes at her excitement. "Yeah, yeah, you told me. And it got me thinking, I'm going to start a club. I was lucky to have Luke help me through everything when it came to me and Oliver getting together, but not everyone has a Luke. One of Chuck's problems was that he didn't have anyone to talk to, hell, he didn't even know being bi was a real thing until I told him."
She calms down, nodding along. "So you're gonna try and start a GSA club at Stars Hollow High?"
"That's the plan. I'm not too good at all the paperwork crap though, think a student body vice president can help me out?"
She shares a grin with him. "I'm helping Lane with the wedding at her place tomorrow afternoon, but afterwards I'd love to."
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Jess yawns. He came into the diner in the late morning, positive he is never taking Luke up on his offer to go fishing now. Luke started to drill him about Alex the coffee guy, and Jess had to admit, the guy seemed alright. By the look on Luke's face, that wasn't the right answer, but what was he supposed to say? That the guy was the devil incarnate?
Luke gets to work after that, barking orders at Jess left and right. Luke suddenly stops, staring out the window. "Coffee, right here." He points at a table before heading outside.
"Wha- Where are you going?"
Luke doesn't answer, bolting out the door. Grabbing the coffee pot, he rushes back over to the window to see what Luke is up to.
Oh. He's talking to Nicole.
Who is smiling and doing the eye flutter thing again, this time for Luke to see. Luke nods at something she said, then turns back to the diner with a grin.
He forces a smile on his face when Luke comes back in, causing Luke to scowl at him. "Shut up."
"I didn't say anything."
"Well… Don't." Luke snatches back the coffee pot, walking away with it.
Once Luke's back is turned, he lets the smile drop from his face into a frown. He has no idea why he's so bothered by the idea that Luke is going on some date with Nicole. He told Luke he was cool with him dating, and Nicole seems nice enough, so why is he not happy for Luke like he should be?