Chapter 2: Movie Madness

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Gilmore Girls!

Downstairs:

Luke realizes that the entire diner is silently listening to this exchange, and explodes. "Hey! Go back to your talking and gossiping, or whatever it is you all do around here!"

Jess walks down the stairs and grabs a notebook once again to start working. He walks over to the table Lane and Rory are sitting at, and mumbles, "What can I get you?"

Lane was the first to recover her voice, and replies a little too loudly, "A hamburger please!" This seemed to snap the rest of the customers out of their reverie, and it was noisy again. Ms. Patty and Babette hustled out of the diner to go and spread the word of their newly found gossip.

"Uh, sure. And you?" Jess directs his question toward Rory, looking intently into her eyes.

"Uh, um… well… uh," Rory stutters, blushing under his gaze. "I'll have the same," she dejectedly mumbles, having made a fool of herself.

"Coming right up," he says with a smirk, eyeing her as he walks away to give Caesar the order.

Lizzy comes down the stairs, and the customers make a point of keeping the diner-bustle going as to not upset Luke or Lizzy again. As Jess was bringing the food to the girls, Lizzy gives Jess a look of "I know you like her" and duplicates that look for Rory. Both, in turn, glare back at her, denying the obvious.

It is then that Dean walks into the diner and sits next to Rory, putting a possessive arm around her. "Hey babe," he whispers, sloppily kissing her head.

Elizabeth steps slightly behind Jess as Dean walks in. Jess takes notice of this as he sizes Dean up. He once again walks up to the table to take the newcomer's order. Lizzy falls into step with him after a few seconds, seeming to have settled the battle going on in her head. "Can I get you something?" Jess asks quietly.

"Huh?" spits Dean, confused as to why some kid in a leather jacket is bothering him.

"Can-I-get-you-some-food?" he says, pronouncing every word slowly and articulately while gesturing toward each object he mentions.

"Uh, no? Who are you and why are you taking my order?"

He's my cousin, and he's moving in and working here," Elizabeth explained in the same over-exaggerated, slow tone.

"Come on, Rory, let's go. How can you call these people your friends when they can't even support you in your relationship decisions?" Dean sneers.

"No, Dean. Just go somewhere and cool down! I'll see you later," she quickly replies.

Just as Dean was about refuse, Jess picks up a ladle from the counter and starts twirling it in his hands threateningly. "She said to leave."

Dean stomps out the door in a huff, and Rory turns on Lizzy, Jess, and Lane. "What is wrong with you three?" she shrieks. She receives three confused faces looking back at her. She continues, "Elizabeth, that was just plain men! I thought you and Dean got along. Jess, I don't really know you, and you definitely don't know Dean! How dare you put him down like that! And I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, without you and your spoon. And," she turns to Lane, "you just sat there! Ugh!"

"Rory! Calm down! We are just trying to protect you! Dean is not a good guy!" Lizzy interjects. "Chill. We all will apologize to Dean the next time we see him, okay?" she murmurs, almost inaudibly.

"Yes, fine. I'm sorry for exploding like that, I just don't like to fight with him." Rory could have sworn she saw a pained expression cross Lizzy's face when she had said, "Apologize to Dean," but it was only a split-second, so Rory figured she imagined it.

Jess, however, notices this expression as well, yet doesn't let it go. He makes a mental note to talk to Lizzy about it later. "Oh, and since when do you call me Elizabeth?" Lizzy asks, teasing Rory.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

At this point, the diner had cleared out, except for Kirk. The four teens decided they wanted to go to the movies. "LUKE! Can we go to the movies?" Rory shouts into the storeroom, slightly louder than necessary. They decided Luke was most likely to say yes to Rory.

"Yeah, sure. You have two and a half hours until the mad rush, so Jess and Lizzy be back by then!"

"Kay!" Lizzy shouts on their way out the door. Once they were outside the theatre, Lizzy spots Dave. "Jess, Rory, you guys go get us seats. Lane and I have to go talk to someone."

"Being elusive are we? Okay, we'll go get seats. Come on Rory." Jess then proceeds to steer a nervous-looking Rory into the Black White and Read Bookstore/theatre.

Elizabeth and Lane walk over to Dave, who is talking on his cell phone. As they walk up, they here the tail end of a conversation. "Yes, mom, I'll be home within the hour… Okay… It's only three o' clock!… Yes, I know I have piano lessons!… Okay, love you too…. Yes… Bye." He turns around, sees Lane and Lizzy, and feels the heat slowly creeping up his face. "Guys, hi…"

"Hey Dave!" greets Lizzy cheerfully, saving him from having to create an excuse for his phone conversations. "I hear you're looking to start a band!"

"Yeah, why? You play?"

She laughs, "Who me? No. Lane does! She's amazing, and she's been hiding her obsession with music from her mother for years! Put an instrument in front of this girl and look out!" Lizzy always did sound a little dorky when talking to people she didn't know too well.

"Oh yeah?" Dave inquired, looking at Lane with new eyes. "Well, we'll just have to give you a try with the guys from the band! Can I call you to give you a time that we can meet up and play?"

"NO!" Lizzy and Lane both shout in unison. "Uh, my mom is very strict. How about you give Lizzy your number and she will call both of us, so I can pretend to be talking to her!"

Dave lets out a laugh. "Okay, sure." He gives Lizzy his number, then turns to Lane and says, "Hey, I'm really looking forward to hearing you play." With a wink to Lane and a nod to Elizabeth, Dave walks off.

As he leaves, out of the range of hearing, Lane quietly shrieks, "Eeeeh! He is so sweet! He wasn't even turned off to the fact that my mother is a whack job! He's perfect!"

This makes Lizzy laugh. "Looks like you've found your prince charming after all! I'm happy for you. Now, let's go. We are going to miss the movie!" They walk into the theatre, both minds wandering toward Rory and Jess alone together.

In the theatre, the two girls find the couple-to-be. "What are you guys doing?" Lizzy asks incredulously. Are you seriously that attracted to each other that you wouldn't be able to sit close without jumping on each other? You honestly have to leave an empty chair in between you?" Lizzy, furious with the pair of them, especially for not receiving an immediate explanation, sat down heavily between the two.

"Calm down. I think someone's a little moody…is it that time of month again?" Jess asks playfully while receiving a slap on the arm from Lizzy. "No, this was not my doing. I sat down first. Little Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes over here is the one that left a seat between us." He smirks, seeing a light pink blush creep up Rory's fair face.

"I have a boyfriend! And I know he wouldn't be happy knowing I were sitting next to a… well, Jess… in a dark movie theatre."

Right, remind me why I came here. It doesn't seem as if I'm wanted," Jess fumes.

"Because it's better than sitting in an empty diner and watching each-other breathe," Lizzy snaps moodily. She still wasn't over her cousin's and best friend's stubbornness. "Let's just watch the movie."

After Pippi Longstocking, walking out of the theatre, Lizzy announces, "I have to pee." Lane agrees, and they go off to the bathroom, leaving Jess and Rory alone again.

Jess, being who he is, pulls a book out of his pocket. He starts reading Howl, by Allen Ginsburg and Barry Miles. Rory just stares at him. Finally, she simply takes his book out of his hands. "Hey!" he yells. After realizing where he is and whom he is with, he shrugs it off and pulls out a cigarette. As he starts to smoke, still to some extent ignoring Rory, he turns to the street to stare into space.

At last, Rory gets so sick of this sullen, independent behavior of a guy she met a few mere hours ago, that she starts, "So… I see you enjoy vandalizing books?" encouraging him to take the bait and start a conversation.

"Yup, that's me. Jess Mariano, book vandalize-r," he replies, smirking, teasing her. He had decided he likes this girl, possibly a lot. He wasn't going to let her know that though… not just yet. Only when he is sure the feelings are mutual will he share his thoughts.

"Well, I guess one thing we have in common is our love for this book… if you write all over books you enjoy. I must have read this book about twenty times," she said, almost flirtatiously.

"Well, then I guess you wouldn't want to borrow it… I mean if you've read it so many times…" he humorously suggests, reaching to take the book back.

"What, you think you are getting this back? I need to read this again! Besides, I have to see what oh-so-insightful notes you wrote in this wonderful book. You don't get this back 'til I'm done!"

He smirks again, though Rory thought for one second she saw a slight smile cross his face. "Whatever you say. But now, you owe me a book to read. I need to keep myself busy somehow."

Then, Jess feels someone flick his ear. As he turns around to see who it is, his cigarette is ripped out of his hand. He spins around to find Lizzy and Lane. Rory is laughing hysterically at the confused look on Jess's face, and Lizzy is wearing a furious expression as she viciously stomps out the cigarette. Just as she is about to scold him, very loudly in fact, Dean shows up. She slightly winds down and mutters, "We'll talk about this later."

Dean kisses Rory full on the lips, pulling her closer to him, and finally whispering a quiet, "Hey. I've cooled down a little."

She him back, then nods and adds, "Okay."

"So, are you the lucky man…Rory's boyfriend? I can see why she chose you," Jess states, his words dripping with sarcasm.

Dean scratches his head, trying to remember if he was serious or not. "Why would you think she wouldn't be? I did just come up and kiss her—"

"Oh! So she IS your girlfriend!" Jess cuts him off, also scratching his head, mocking Dean's ape-like demeanor. "I don't know, I thought maybe Stars Hollow had some strange small town tradition, where you kiss everyone who isn't your girlfriend first!"

Dean looks back at him stupidly, before shrugging off Jess's insult because he didn't understand it. They both end up chuckling hollowly, and Jess suddenly becomes serious. "No. Listen to me," he says as he walks up and gets in Dean's face. "You lay even one finger on her, I'll kill you."

"Who? Rory? Dude, what's your—"

"No. Lizzy. Elizabeth. Don't touch her." Turning to Lizzy and Lane, he says, "Come on. Rory, you come too. This jerk is not worth it. I don't know what you see in him." The three look at Rory expectantly.

Rory turns to Dean and says coldly, "You know what? Now it's my turn to go and cool down. I'll see you later." With that, she whips around and stomps off toward Luke's, the others following closely behind her. They could all tell it was going to be a long night.

A/N: I am very depressed. Only 8 reviews. Do you guys hate my story? Haha however, thank you sooo much to all my reviewers. You make my day! Sorry it's taken so long, I've had this thing written forever, I just needed to type it… but with exams things have been kinda hectic! PLEASE tell me if you like this story! Look! The little blue button! It says, "Submit!" PLEASE R.E.A.D A.N.D R.E.V.I.E.W!!!!

P.S.- definitely more lit to come soon! Please give me any suggestions that you have about making Jess more "Jess-like." Thanks!!