Chapter Two
Spoken

Rory was laying still on her bed, catching up on her reading. It wasn't something she was doing often as of late. In fact, even with Logan in London or New York or wherever the hell he was, she still found herself partying. Not the 'hardcore' partying complete with drinking until the spell of drunkenness arrived, but still, some form of partying was enacted on some occasions. She had just gotten back from a 2002-themed birthday party that was thrown for Lucy and the night hadn't gone so well. Rory's decisive cure was to go live someone else's life—to read a book. Even that couldn't keep her from her thoughts and being distracted and some alcohol didn't seem like such a bad choice right now.

Her cell phone began to vibrate on the small table next to her bed. That was the nice thing about moving back in with Paris, everything of hers was located in a cramped little room where she could easily reach it instead of in some random area of a penthouse apartment. Rory casually stretched her arm to grab her Sidekick and answered the phone immediately after the caller I.D. read: Mom.

"Hey."

"Hey Sweets."

"So, what'd you need?" Rory asked as she sat up on her bed and walked towards the living room.

"What, a mother needs a reason to call her daughter?"

"Well not in most cases, but when you call you usually need something." She sat down on the living room couch.

"Oh, right. Damn my consistency!" Lorelai joked.

Rory let out a chuckle. "So, what's new?"

"I went to Luke's!" Her voice was filled with accomplishment.

"Inside?" Surprise lined her voice.

"Yup."

"Wow. You went inside Luke's. What happened?"

"He offered me coffee."

"How generous of him." A beat. "Was it awkward?"

"Yes. But you'll never guess who was there."

"Who?"

"Guess."

"I don't want to, who?"

"C'mon, guess!"

"Mom, just tell me."

"Fine; Jess."

"Oh." Rory had avoided the subject of Jess since Lane's wedding. Blocked him out of her mind, any thoughts of him led to that night in Philadelphia where she treated him like shit.

"Why do you sound so disappointed? I thought we liked Jess now. He got your cute little ass in gear, remember?"

"Yeah, we like Jess; he did good." Rory tried to sound happier then she felt. Her mind was now replaying that night.

"So why do you sound—"

"No reason." She interrupted too quickly.

"Okay…"

"So why's he here?"

"Liz is having her new baby any time now. He said he wanted to meet his baby sister."

"Oh, right." Rory mentally slapped herself in the head for thinking (even if was just for one second) that maybe he was in town for her. "You mean you actually had a conversation with him?"

"Yes, well it was very awkward talking to Luke."

"Ah, right."

"So when is the next time you'll be coming to the Hollow?"

"Tomorrow, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well I was going to go to New York and stay with Logan for the weekend; but we got in a fight during dinner."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you went into Luke's?" Rory tried to make an excuse.

"Hun, you should have told me. Your news is ten times more important than mine! What did you get in a fight about?"

"He told Lucy that Marty and I used to be friends."

"Wow."

"Yup."

"You should have told her."

"I know…I was just trying to find the opportune time. And now I missed it and she's mad at me."

"Tough luck, Kid."

"Yeah; I guess I'll just try to talk to her again when I get back later this weekend. Give her some time."

"Good idea."

Changing the subject, Rory went back to their original one. "So does your going into Luke's today entail breakfast there tomorrow? Because I've seriously missed Luke's cooking."

"I don't see why not. Except we might need to go while your dad's in Hartford; he would want to tag along and that'll be more awkward than I can deal with."

"I guess that would be wise. Where's he now?"

"Oh, he just went to pick up our food from Al's." Lorelai could hear the door unlock right as she said it. "Actually, I think he's here now. I should probably go."

"Okay, tell Dad 'Hi' for me."

"Will do."

--- Luke's Apartment:

"So, thanks for helping me clean up. It's nice having you around to help." Both Luke and Jess had just come upstairs and Luke was rummaging through the refrigerator.

"Yeah, well, don't get too use to it. I'm going to have to go back eventually." Jess took a seat on the brown couch he knew all too well as Luke handed him a cold beer.

"How long are you planning on staying?" He took a sip as he sat down on the opposite side of the sofa.

"Probably a week. A stack of paperwork is most likely waiting for me on my desk right now."

Luke displayed a smirk that could rival his nephew's.

"What?" A smile played at his lips.

"It's just good to hear you're so accomplished."

"I edit. Not exactly my first career choice." He rolled his eyes. More like the old him.

"Yeah, but you write too."

"Can't do it as often as I'd like." Another sip and the cold liquid was sliding down the back of his throat.

"You're published."

"It's just a small novel."

"I'm proud of you." Jess looked away and Luke quickly picked up on the need for a change of subject. "Where are you staying?"

"I'm staying at the Dragonfly. Lorelai gave me a good dea—Sorry, it was the closest place to crash around here and she offered."

"No, no, it's fine. I just, uh, I mean you could stay here if you want."

"I didn't want to be a burden."

"You wouldn't have been."

"Well, maybe next time. I already paid for the week so I might as well…"

"Yeah, I guess you should. It's a really nice place."

He gave his uncle a sympathetic smile. How could Luke have screwed up something that was going so well? The answer to his internal question came to him sooner than he expected. It was simple really, it was in the genes.

--- The Next Morning:

"Offspring!"

"Hey Mom." Both Gilmore's wobbled in the door way as they each gave in to a large embrace.

"So are you ready to go?"

"I just got here."

"Well, your Dad left about two hours ago and if we don't get to Luke's quick then he might get back in time to catch us."

"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" A slight sense of sarcasm could be heard on Rory's end.

"Well…"

"You told me Luke told you he was okay with the break up. That one day in the street, remember? He told you."

"Sweetie, he probably didn't mean it."

"He still said it."

"Well…"

"You shouldn't have to hide the fact that you've moved on. You're married now. There's no reason to be ashamed."

Lorelai looked her daughter sadly in the eyes before turning her head slightly.

"You have moved on, right?"

There was silence at first, a second or two that seemed much longer. "Yeah. Of course. I'm married."

Rory smiled. "Okay let's go." Turning around, Rory started walking towards the road.

Lorelai waved her hand slowly in front of her, examining the rock on her finger as if she hadn't noticed it there before. "I'm married." She whispered to herself.

---

The opening of the door was, as always, signaled by the chime of the bells. Rory, who was standing behind her mother, gave Lorelai a slight push to get her momentum geared towards the counter where they both took a seat.

Luke emerged from the storage room and smiled as he saw Rory who gave him a slight wave. His head turned to Lorelai who gave him a small smile.

"Hey." He said casually.

"Hi." Lorelai responded.

"So, uh…did you want something?"

"Coffee."

"I'd like some, too." Rory interrupted.

"Okay."

"Could I get some pancakes?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Me too, please."

"Okay." Luke turned around and walked into the kitchen to give Caesar the order.

"Wow." Rory stated, astonished.

"What?"

"You were right."

"About what?"

"Yesterday…when you said it was awkward."

"You thought I was kidding?"

"I thought you might have embellished a bit."

"Me? Embellish? Never!"

Rory laughed as Luke returned with two plates of pancakes as well as the coffee.

"So, Luke, how are you doing?" Rory nonchalantly asked.

"Good." Clearing his throat, he said it more firmly. "Good."

"Good." A beat. "The front of the diner looks nice. I don't think I said that when I was in here a few weeks ago. Did someone help you fix it?"

"I fixed it. Well, T.J. helped."

Rory looked at her mother who had remained quiet during the conversation. She nudged her slightly with her elbow to get her to say something. Finally, "It looks nice."

"Thanks."

"I didn't see it with the big, gigantic hole in it, but Rory told me about it. It looks the same so I'm assuming you did a good job with fixing it." Lorelai rambled, saying the most she had said since they got there.

"Yeah." Luke nodded and walked away with the coffee pot.

Quiet.

"Mom! It's scone day!" Rory stated out of nowhere.

"No Hun, scone day is on Thursday. It has always been on Thursday. It's Saturday, therefore it's not scone day."

"I see scones." She said matter-of-factly.

"It's probably a mirage. You haven't been here in a while. You just think they're there."

"But I do see them."

"If they are really there, I would just have to turn my head," Lorelai did so, "and there would—Scones!"

"Told you."

Lorelai turned around on her stool, looking for Luke. Once spotting him, she shouted. "Lucas!" Luke jumped slightly as he was pouring coffee in some elderly lady's mug. His sudden movement caused him to spill some of the brew onto the table.

"I'm sorry Ma'am. Let me go get a rag for that." He walked behind the counter and began his search for a rag.

"Luke." Lorelai tried again.

"What?" He was definitely irritated.

"I was wondering if you could get us a couple of scones."

"You haven't touched your pancakes."

"Well, now we want scones."

"Eat your pancakes first."

"No fair." Rory pouted as Lorelai began shoving pancakes in her mouth.

With her jaw full of food, Lorelai attempted speaking. "Can we have the scones now?"

Luke rolled his eyes and walked towards the glass display that was holding the scones. With the tongs, he placed one on both of the Gilmore's plates.

Before they could thank him, Luke placed another in a paper bag and put it in front of the two diner patrons.

"What's that one for?" Rory asked.

"I figured you might want to bring one home for Chris."

Lorelai didn't say anything; her face simply flashed disbelief.

"Thanks Luke, that's very considerate." Rory added, always quick to be polite.

"No problem." He found the rag he was searching for and headed back towards the elderly lady's table to clean up his mess.

Lorelai leaned over towards her daughter and whispered. "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Rory matched Lorelai's tone.

"We just had a conversation. A conversation that wasn't awkward. It wasn't awkward! It was…normal."

"But he ruined it when he mentioned Dad on purpose."

"Still…" Lorelai smiled.

Rory was about to say something when she suddenly felt a cool draft. Turning around, she saw the door was opened and there was Jess Mariano was standing at the threshold.

For moments, their eyes seemed like they were glued to one another's. Luke walked in front of Jess and broke their gazes. "Hey Jess."

"Hey Luke."

A pregnant pause. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, but I'll come back later."

"Okay..."

"Yeah."

"See you later then?"

"Right." Jess turned around and paced himself quickly away from the diner.

--- Later:

The fierce knocking that was suddenly heard at the door could serve as the perfect nuisance for anyone's slumber.

Ignore it, it'll go away.

A moment goes by with silence as he drifts back to sleep; almost grasping what he is in desperate need of.

There are small bags under his eyes. Nothing that won't go away; that is, if a proper sleeping schedule is attained.

The knocking persists. If the noise created by bare knuckles on wood could make a noise sound desperate, the current sound filling the room would do the trick.

Ignore it.

He reaches for the edge of his blanket and pulls it over his head as if the thin piece of fabric could block out the noise.

"Go away." He mumbles, barely audible as his voice is low and muffled by his new barrier.

The knocking stops for another moment and he thinks that maybe the person has gotten the hint. Then again, another instant and it's back again.

"Jess." A familiar voice comes through.

Damn it, why did it have to be her?

"Go away." He says it louder now, not really wanting her to. He has every right to be mad at her and she knows it.

"Jess, please open the door."

He inhales deeply and sighs, letting a deep breath out. Throwing the hotel comforter on to the floor, he rises. Briefly pausing as he sits on the edge, attempting to clear the grogginess from his system.

He's aware of how tired he looks. He's tired of it all; tired of this game of they are playing. They—not like there was such a thing as them anymore.

"Please." She attempts again, unaware that he's made an effort to get to the door.

He takes another deep breath as he stands up and walks towards the door.

As she hears the dead bolt click, she smiles softly. Although as the door opens, the small chain is still attached from the door to the wall; she's aware that a barrier still remains and the smile quickly dissipates.

He looks at her through the small crack he's created but doesn't say anything. She came here, she can do the talking.