a/n - okay, i got a much better response to the second chapter than the
first, so i thought i'd give it an update. thanks for all the reviews.
same disclaimers apply.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
03 - The Way Things Used To Be
Lorelei sat on the couch, trying to sort out her thoughts. Rory had been so distant lately. Nothing was the same as it had been... A few months ago, she and Rory were best friends. They shared everything, and when Rory had made the decision to break up with Dean, Lorelai had known even before she did. She had sensed it, felt it just as Rory had. But now... things were different.
Sighing, Lorelai couldn't help but flash back to that night... the night that had changed everything.
Rory, despite the multitude of warnings Lorelai had given her about Jess, refused to admit that there was anything wrong with him. She had insisted that he was really a good guy underneath, that there was something no one but her could see. Lorelai frowned at the memory; she had known better, but had allowed Rory to go out with him anyways. After all, it was Luke's nephew, and how much trouble could he get her in on one date? Rory would go out with him, realize that he wasn't the nice guy she'd thought, and come home. And that would be the end of Jess Mariano.
Unfortunately, that's not at all what had happened.
Lorelai shuddered, remembering that phone call. She'd been sitting on the couch, only half paying attention to the movie on the tv, The Whole Nine Yards, trying to sort out seating plans for the upcoming wedding when the phone had rang.
* * * * * Flashback
"Speak quickly. I have left Taylor sitting precariously close to Luke, and there may be violence before I can separate them." Lorelai answered the phone while suspiciously eying the figures she'd been using for the seating arrangements as if they may begin moving on their own. She'd definitely been alone with them for far too long.
"Mom?"
"That would be me." Lorelai paused her actions, noticing the subdued tone in her daughter's voice.
"Still working on the seating arrangements?"
"Ummm... yeah. Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to come interrupt your date to find out? Date! Why are you calling me in the midst of your date? Did Jess do something? I knew I shouldn't of trusted him! He tried something, didn't he? Ugh! Well, good thinking to get away from him. Where are you? I'll be right-"
"Mom! Chill out a second, okay? Jess didn't do anything."
"Oh. No? Then why are you calling?" She was even more suspicious now, because Rory's voice was unusually high-pitched.
"I am going to tell you something right now, but you have to promise not to freak out on me. I only have another minute or so to talk."
"Fine...." Lorelai's head was racing with thoughts of car accidents and hospitals, deaths, everything but what her daughter was about to say.
"Mom. I'm down at the police station. I need you to come get me."
"WHAT? YOU'RE WHERE?!"
"Calm down Mom, it's not that bad. Nobody is pressing charges, but I do need you to come sign me out of here."
"Fine, fine.." Lorelai was becoming frantic, running around looking for her shoes. "I'll be there in about two minutes, okay? As soon as I find my shoes..."
"Mom?"
"Hmmm?" Only paying half-attention to her
"It might take longer than that."
Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks. "Why would it take longer than two minutes?" A long silence answered her, and Lorelai began to get impatient. "Rory?"
"I'minNewYorkCity."
"YOU'RE WHERE? WHY? HOW? WHAT WERE YOU THIN-" That being the second time that sentence had been spoken, Lorelai was about to lay into her daughter when she heard a voice on the other end, talking to Rory.
"Miss, you have 30 seconds left."
"Mom? Did you hear that? I don't have much time, but we're down here at the NY county Police Dept. Just ask for Sgt. Michaels, he's the one I've been talking to. Oh, and please call Luke while you're at it and have him come with you, Jess is here too. Okay, bye mom."
With that, the line went dead and Lorelai stood staring at the phone in her hands. Her daughter was in jail and it was all Jess's fault. She picked the phone up and dialed Luke's number.
"Luke, I need you to come over here. Jess got Rory and him arrested." She hung up the phone, her eyes blazing with anger. There was no way Jess was getting within an inch of Rory, ever again.
* * * * * Present
Luke was busy filtering the rice out of his salt shakers when he heard the bell on the door followed by a loud pouting voice. "Fooooooood."
"Hello Lorelai." He greeted her without even looking up from the task at hand.
"Luke! You are ignoring me!" She exclaimed. "I am starving, practically wasting away to nothing after my daughter purposely deterred my dinner."
"Oh, I did not. You were the one who couldn't find your black shoes that you just had to wear with those pants." Rory smiled at her mother, who stood defensively with her hands on her hips.
"Excuses, excuses. You hush Franklin girl. If you had not been working on the paper, we could have come down here to eat at five when I got home and I never would have taken the shoes off in the first place, thereby making it all your fault." Without waiting for a response from her daughter, Lorelai turned back to Luke with slight annoyance in her tone. "So what exactly are you doing that is more important than my dinner?"
Luke fumbled with the salt shaker, dropping it onto the floor. "I was trying to remove all the rice from this salt shaker, but seeing as how it's all on the floor now..." The salt shaker made a resounding thud as Luke hurled the entire thing into the trash can.
"Whoa. Bad day?" Rory smiled at his irritation.
"Yeah. Taylor decided that it would be much more sanitary if we had a salt/rice mixture in all the salt shakers, thereby keeping the salt fresher longer. So he took it upon himself to fill up half the salt shakers in the restaurant while I was talking to Jess' principal."
"Uh oh. Am I going to have to build a stage for you?"
"What?" Luke was still occupied with wiping the salt off the counters.
"Well... last time I met with Rory's principal, I ended up in a fashion show, and YOU," Lorelai pointed at the confused man standing opposite her, "ended up building me a stage. So I was just wondering..."
Realizing a rant was beginning, Luke interrupted her before it could go any further. "No stages."
"Whew! That's a relief. Because I don't think I could build one, much less one that doesn't lean. I mean..." For a second, Luke stood and watched her speak, irritation growing on his features. Then, in a desperate attempt to shut her up, he grabbed the coffee pot
"Here, drink this."
"Oooh! I should talk about carpentry more often! Free coffee!" Lorelai bounced giddily as she raised the mug to her lips.
"So... Jess' principal called you?" Rory tried to casually reintroduce the subject, but was met with a suspicious glance from her mother. Pretending not to notice, she swivelled on her stool, turning her back on her mother.
Oblivious to the rising tension, Luke resumed talking. "Yeah... he thinks that the weekly conferences are helping. Jess' grades have gone up and he's not getting in as much trouble."
"As much trouble." Lorelai grumbled into her coffee cup, earning irritated glances from both of her companions.
"Talking about me again?" Coming down the stairs, Jess stopped directly behind Lorelai, implanting himself in the conversation.
"No! I just said... is it so much trouble to get a simple hamburger around here?" Lorelai lazily covered herself.
"Right... I'll see what I can do." Luke headed for the kitchen, eager to extract himself from the uncomfortable scene they'd created. Unfortunately, Jess was seeming to enjoy the discomfort. Pausing, Luke stepped back to watch the trio from the back room.
Jess sauntered around the counter, grinning like a madman as he addressed the two women. "And how are we doing tonight?"
"We WERE fine." Lorelai made her feelings clear as Rory shot her a dirty look.
"We're good Jess. How are you?"
"Can't complain. I've actually had a pretty great day so far- " It was obvious that the boy was intending on continuing talking, but Luke interrupted him.
"Jess! Get back here."
The smile made one final showing before disappearing as Jess left the two in silence.
~~~~~~~
a/n - so what do you think? decent so far? do you want more? and you know how to get me to post the next chapter faster.... review!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
03 - The Way Things Used To Be
Lorelei sat on the couch, trying to sort out her thoughts. Rory had been so distant lately. Nothing was the same as it had been... A few months ago, she and Rory were best friends. They shared everything, and when Rory had made the decision to break up with Dean, Lorelai had known even before she did. She had sensed it, felt it just as Rory had. But now... things were different.
Sighing, Lorelai couldn't help but flash back to that night... the night that had changed everything.
Rory, despite the multitude of warnings Lorelai had given her about Jess, refused to admit that there was anything wrong with him. She had insisted that he was really a good guy underneath, that there was something no one but her could see. Lorelai frowned at the memory; she had known better, but had allowed Rory to go out with him anyways. After all, it was Luke's nephew, and how much trouble could he get her in on one date? Rory would go out with him, realize that he wasn't the nice guy she'd thought, and come home. And that would be the end of Jess Mariano.
Unfortunately, that's not at all what had happened.
Lorelai shuddered, remembering that phone call. She'd been sitting on the couch, only half paying attention to the movie on the tv, The Whole Nine Yards, trying to sort out seating plans for the upcoming wedding when the phone had rang.
* * * * * Flashback
"Speak quickly. I have left Taylor sitting precariously close to Luke, and there may be violence before I can separate them." Lorelai answered the phone while suspiciously eying the figures she'd been using for the seating arrangements as if they may begin moving on their own. She'd definitely been alone with them for far too long.
"Mom?"
"That would be me." Lorelai paused her actions, noticing the subdued tone in her daughter's voice.
"Still working on the seating arrangements?"
"Ummm... yeah. Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to come interrupt your date to find out? Date! Why are you calling me in the midst of your date? Did Jess do something? I knew I shouldn't of trusted him! He tried something, didn't he? Ugh! Well, good thinking to get away from him. Where are you? I'll be right-"
"Mom! Chill out a second, okay? Jess didn't do anything."
"Oh. No? Then why are you calling?" She was even more suspicious now, because Rory's voice was unusually high-pitched.
"I am going to tell you something right now, but you have to promise not to freak out on me. I only have another minute or so to talk."
"Fine...." Lorelai's head was racing with thoughts of car accidents and hospitals, deaths, everything but what her daughter was about to say.
"Mom. I'm down at the police station. I need you to come get me."
"WHAT? YOU'RE WHERE?!"
"Calm down Mom, it's not that bad. Nobody is pressing charges, but I do need you to come sign me out of here."
"Fine, fine.." Lorelai was becoming frantic, running around looking for her shoes. "I'll be there in about two minutes, okay? As soon as I find my shoes..."
"Mom?"
"Hmmm?" Only paying half-attention to her
"It might take longer than that."
Lorelai stopped dead in her tracks. "Why would it take longer than two minutes?" A long silence answered her, and Lorelai began to get impatient. "Rory?"
"I'minNewYorkCity."
"YOU'RE WHERE? WHY? HOW? WHAT WERE YOU THIN-" That being the second time that sentence had been spoken, Lorelai was about to lay into her daughter when she heard a voice on the other end, talking to Rory.
"Miss, you have 30 seconds left."
"Mom? Did you hear that? I don't have much time, but we're down here at the NY county Police Dept. Just ask for Sgt. Michaels, he's the one I've been talking to. Oh, and please call Luke while you're at it and have him come with you, Jess is here too. Okay, bye mom."
With that, the line went dead and Lorelai stood staring at the phone in her hands. Her daughter was in jail and it was all Jess's fault. She picked the phone up and dialed Luke's number.
"Luke, I need you to come over here. Jess got Rory and him arrested." She hung up the phone, her eyes blazing with anger. There was no way Jess was getting within an inch of Rory, ever again.
* * * * * Present
Luke was busy filtering the rice out of his salt shakers when he heard the bell on the door followed by a loud pouting voice. "Fooooooood."
"Hello Lorelai." He greeted her without even looking up from the task at hand.
"Luke! You are ignoring me!" She exclaimed. "I am starving, practically wasting away to nothing after my daughter purposely deterred my dinner."
"Oh, I did not. You were the one who couldn't find your black shoes that you just had to wear with those pants." Rory smiled at her mother, who stood defensively with her hands on her hips.
"Excuses, excuses. You hush Franklin girl. If you had not been working on the paper, we could have come down here to eat at five when I got home and I never would have taken the shoes off in the first place, thereby making it all your fault." Without waiting for a response from her daughter, Lorelai turned back to Luke with slight annoyance in her tone. "So what exactly are you doing that is more important than my dinner?"
Luke fumbled with the salt shaker, dropping it onto the floor. "I was trying to remove all the rice from this salt shaker, but seeing as how it's all on the floor now..." The salt shaker made a resounding thud as Luke hurled the entire thing into the trash can.
"Whoa. Bad day?" Rory smiled at his irritation.
"Yeah. Taylor decided that it would be much more sanitary if we had a salt/rice mixture in all the salt shakers, thereby keeping the salt fresher longer. So he took it upon himself to fill up half the salt shakers in the restaurant while I was talking to Jess' principal."
"Uh oh. Am I going to have to build a stage for you?"
"What?" Luke was still occupied with wiping the salt off the counters.
"Well... last time I met with Rory's principal, I ended up in a fashion show, and YOU," Lorelai pointed at the confused man standing opposite her, "ended up building me a stage. So I was just wondering..."
Realizing a rant was beginning, Luke interrupted her before it could go any further. "No stages."
"Whew! That's a relief. Because I don't think I could build one, much less one that doesn't lean. I mean..." For a second, Luke stood and watched her speak, irritation growing on his features. Then, in a desperate attempt to shut her up, he grabbed the coffee pot
"Here, drink this."
"Oooh! I should talk about carpentry more often! Free coffee!" Lorelai bounced giddily as she raised the mug to her lips.
"So... Jess' principal called you?" Rory tried to casually reintroduce the subject, but was met with a suspicious glance from her mother. Pretending not to notice, she swivelled on her stool, turning her back on her mother.
Oblivious to the rising tension, Luke resumed talking. "Yeah... he thinks that the weekly conferences are helping. Jess' grades have gone up and he's not getting in as much trouble."
"As much trouble." Lorelai grumbled into her coffee cup, earning irritated glances from both of her companions.
"Talking about me again?" Coming down the stairs, Jess stopped directly behind Lorelai, implanting himself in the conversation.
"No! I just said... is it so much trouble to get a simple hamburger around here?" Lorelai lazily covered herself.
"Right... I'll see what I can do." Luke headed for the kitchen, eager to extract himself from the uncomfortable scene they'd created. Unfortunately, Jess was seeming to enjoy the discomfort. Pausing, Luke stepped back to watch the trio from the back room.
Jess sauntered around the counter, grinning like a madman as he addressed the two women. "And how are we doing tonight?"
"We WERE fine." Lorelai made her feelings clear as Rory shot her a dirty look.
"We're good Jess. How are you?"
"Can't complain. I've actually had a pretty great day so far- " It was obvious that the boy was intending on continuing talking, but Luke interrupted him.
"Jess! Get back here."
The smile made one final showing before disappearing as Jess left the two in silence.
~~~~~~~
a/n - so what do you think? decent so far? do you want more? and you know how to get me to post the next chapter faster.... review!