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Here you have it: Chapter Four!
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Luke was wiping down a table, finishing his nightly cleaning ritual for the diner. He was awaiting his nephew's return, expecting the kid to walk through the door any minute. Jess had left for his break a few hours ago, the cigarette pack Luke hid in his sock drawl disappearing with him. Luke sighed and moved on to the next table. He'd definitely have to get those black lung pictures out again.
Luke perked up when he heard the sound of the bell ringing above the door. He looked up to see his nephew walk in, the boy giving him a weak smile. He watched his nephew shut the door behind him and lock it with a flick of his wrist. The boy placed his jacket on the coat rack and looked towards his uncle.
"Need any help closing up?" Jess offered solemnly, making his way over to the man. The boy thought that he'd maybe make up for the incident during his last shift by helping the man close. He was exhausted, but five minutes of work wouldn't kill him.
"Yeah, sure," Luke smiled at the boy. It was a rare occasion that his nephew offered to help him. He watched as Jess looked up smugly from his shoes as he answered, the boy's hands stuffed in his pockets. Something was up.
Jess grabbed a rag from off the counter. He began wiping tables down, Luke looking up from what he was doing every few seconds to watch the boy. They needed to talk, but Luke couldn't figure out a good way to start the conversation. Jess didn't seem too pleased the last time he had tried to have a talk with him, and he didn't want to start a fight between the two. He'd start with small talk, Luke decided, then move on to the real problem.
"So," Luke started, causing Jess to glance up towards the man, "How was your day?"
"Oh, just peachy, Uncle Luke," Jess sneered, wiping the table with more force. His mind quickly went to the snooping Gilmore. Dammit, that woman had no right to interrogate him the way she did, it was Stars Hollow, not Law and Order. It wasn't her business what his mother's boyfriends did to him. He wasn't her kid, and he thanked God daily for that (for more than one reason). "How was yours?" he asked Luke, watching his uncle move to another table, placing a chair on top of it.
"It was fine," Luke replied, placing another chair on the tables. Well, this wasn't working too well, Luke thought. He had forgotten that small talk and Jess never mixed. He watched as his nephew wiped the table harder and harder, caught in his thoughts. Whatever the boy was thinking about definitely wasn't something pleasing, Luke could tell, especially since the boy was taking out his anger on a plank of wood.
"Jess," Luke called, causing his nephew to look over towards him, still wiping, "I think it's clean."
Jess' eyes widened as he suddenly stopped wiping and dropped the rag on the table. He hadn't realized how much force he was really using. His mind was still on the events at the bridge. Lorelai knew, dammit! She knew! She had seen him weak and scared, caught up in the lingering memory of his dream from the night before. No one was supposed to see him like that, no one.
Jess took a deep breath and sighed, "Yeah," he nodded his head and stared at the table for a brief moment before looking back over at his uncle, "I guess it is."
Luke heaved a sigh and pulled two chairs off of the closest table. He sat down and noticed his nephew's stare. He patted on the seat of the free chair and called to the boy.
"Sit," he instructed, giving the boy a small smile.
Jess groaned and reluctantly made his way over to the chair. He plopped down next to the man and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He could really use a cigarette right now. Fingers fumbling, he slid down in his seat and looked over toward his uncle.
"Jess, what's up?" Luke inquired. Jess rolled his eyes. Luke watched. He couldn't understand why Jess was so reluctant to talk with him. He had thought they had gotten closer since the boy's arrival, close enough that the boy would open up to him now and then. Maybe he was wrong but it was at least worth a shot to try. "Come on, Jess," the boy shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the sound of his name, "Why can't you tell me?"
Jess let out a snicker and slid down farther into his chair, "It's not that I can't tell you, Luke, it's just that I don't want to."
"Why not, Jess?" Luke questioned. His nephew's sardonic response had been painful for the man to hear. Why did he not want to tell him, did he not trust him? He wanted so bad to be there for his nephew, but Jess wouldn't let him.
"Because," Jess repeated, "I just don't want to." The boy tried to appear complacent, but in his eyes, Luke could see the despair, the repressed torture. There was a problem, and it was like Jess to try to mask it. In that moment, Luke wanted nothing more than to wipe the mask off his nephew's face and hold the boy close, telling him that everything was going to be alright, that whatever had this hold on him, he would make it go away, he would protect him.
Jess pushed his chair in and stood up slowly. "I'm going to go upstairs," he announced to his uncle, motioning towards the stairs. Luke studied the boy for a brief moment before nodding.
"Yeah," Luke knew there was nothing more he would get out of the boy that night, "Go on." Jess began to walk.
Luke watched as his nephew slowly made his way to the stairs, disappearing quickly behind the curtain. Luke let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. This was killing him. He couldn't stand seeing his nephew like this. He couldn't take just sitting by, pretending to buy Jess' disaffected act, and letting the problem go unsolved. He was supposed to fix things, he always fixed things. He wanted so badly to fix this, but he couldn't. He couldn't find a solution when he didn't know the problem. He shook his head. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to let himself stand idly by while his nephew was clearly not alright. He wasn't going to let something happen to that boy, especially when he could stop it.
Jess fell onto his bed, his body exhausted. He needed sleep more than anything right then. He turned on his stereo, Sex Pistols blasting from the speakers. He had the stereo almost on full volume, but the loud music still couldn't drown the demons out. He had decided he would go that extra notch on the dial that night on the way home. Not the most pragmatic idea, he knew, but it was worth a try. He turned the volume knob to its limit, the music now blaring out of the speakers. He pulled his blankets over his body and shut his eyes, trying to concentrate on the music, hoping his mind would stick with the lyrics rather than his terrible pressing memories. He began to drift off after a minute of Holidays In The Sun, the music lulling him to sleep.
The music was suddenly shut off, Johnny Rotten being cut off mid sentence. The room went silent and Jess pulled his blankets off his body. He sat up and looked up towards his uncle, the man standing above him, his arms crossed. He could tell Luke wasn't too pleased.
"Why'd you turn my music off?" he asked his uncle, "I need it to sleep." He'd been living here for a while now, the man should at least know that.
"The thing was on full volume. You trying to go deaf?" Luke questioned, outraged. Walking into his apartment after a hard day's night to hear that music was not exactly the homecoming he had wanted. "You know, you're not the only person who lives in this apartment."
"Why, thanks for pointing out the obvious there, Uncle Luke," the boy sneered. Luke just didn't understand, he needed that music, he needed Johnny Rotten's voice to yell God Save the Queen as loud as it could. It was the only way he'd get any rest.
"Jess, you can listen to your music, but not that loud," Luke told his nephew as he made his way over to the couch. He sat down and looked back over to at the boy, Jess watching him with a hard glare, his arms now crossed. Did Luke want him to have another nightmare? Did the man want to put him through another horrific flashback?
"I'd rather not lose my hearing." His uncle added after a moments pause. He turned his attention to the television and turned the box on. Jess watched as he flipped quickly through channels before settling on an old rerun of Leave It To Beaver.
Jess turned his stereo back on, the song blaring at full blast. He received a quick warning glance from his uncle, the man turning his attention from the old show to him. Jess reluctantly turned down the volume and looked up towards his uncle. The man nodded at him in approval, causing the boy to roll his eyes. Luke turned his attention back to Beaver and his parents. Jess grabbed his covers and pulled them back over himself. He adjusted himself into a comfortable position and shut his eyes.
"Why are you going to bed so early anyway? Luke asked, glancing over at the boy for a brief second. Jess opened his eyes, irritated, and sat back up. He let out an annoyed sigh and glared at the man.
"Oh, I don't know, because I just love laying on my crappy air mattress for hours on end," he rolled his eyes. Would Luke just let him be? He was exhausted and he wanted to get some rest before he got to stage 3 sleep. "I'm tired, Luke," he told the man matter-of-factly.
"Alright," his uncle nodded, looking back at the television. Jess laid down and pulled the covers over himself once more. Luke looked over at his nephew once again and studied him. He wanted to know so badly what was wrong, he hated having sit there unknowingly, no way to fix whatever had the boy so vexed. "And Jess," he added, the boy opening his eyes to look towards the man, his body wrapped up tightly in sheets, "If you ever need to talk--"
"You're here, got it," he mumbled, exhausted. He propped himself up a bit with his elbow, "But unless you want to talk about counting sheep, there's nothing to talk about. Good night." Jess laid back down.
He shut his eyes and concentrated on the music once again. He hoped that the lyrics or melody would somehow block out the dreams and make sure he didn't have to see Ron or any of his mother's boyfriends ever again. It was an unlikely reality though.
Thank you all so much for reading!
I don't know if I'll be able to update the next chapter this weekend, but I will try to get it up.
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