Thank you so much for all your support so far. It really means a lot! :)
Chapter 4
"He's miserable there. The amenities are lacking atrociously. He had to eat at a coffee shop last night. The whole thing's terribly insulting." Emily was saying at Friday Night Dinner.
"I hate that he's miserable." Rory said.
"So do I. We really ought to do something." Emily said.
"Warning, warning!" Lorelai said.
"Like what?" Charlotte asked.
"Well I'm glad you asked, Charlotte, because I have thought of a wonderful way to cheer him up." Emily said.
"Cool, how?" Rory asked.
"Danger, Will Robinson, danger!" Lorelai said.
"An oil painting." Emily smiled.
"An oil painting?" Charlotte asked hesitantly.
"I tried, have fun." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, an oil painting of the both of you to hang over his mantle." Emily said excitedly. "He'd love it."
"Well I guess it would be ok." Rory said.
"Really?" Charlotte asked glancing at her sister.
"Come on, it's for Grandpa." Rory said.
Charlotte sighed. "Fine." She said.
"Oh great!" Emily smiled.
"Mom, please don't make them do this." Lorelai said.
"They just said they would."
"Fine but don't make them sit for it. Do it from a photo." Lorelai said.
"A photo?" Emily exclaimed aghast. "That's what they do at malls!"
"It's fine. We'll sit." Rory said.
"Just because your experience of sitting for a portrait was bad doesn't mean Rory and Charlotte's has to be." Emily said.
"What portrait?" Charlotte asked. "And why haven't we seen this?"
"They never finished." Lorelai grinned.
"Why?" Rory asked.
"Three painters started but all three quit." Emily said.
"Why?" Charlotte asked.
"She wouldn't stop scowling." Emily said.
"I was going for the Billy Idol thing." Lorelai grinned.
"Maybe I'll try that!" Charlotte grinned.
"You will not, young lady." Emily scolded.
"Well, it was worth a try." Charlotte shrugged.
"So, the first thing you and Sookie would do is incorporate." Luke told Lorelai as they were sat at a table at Luke's.
"Wow. Sounds big." Lorelai said.
"Not really. It just means you're a single business entity. You'll both be officers and shareholders, and you'll even get to make up a name for your company and everything which I know you'll love doing." He smirked.
"Oh I'm terrible at coming up with names. When we first bought out house, Rory, Charlotte and I wanted to name it but all we could come up with was the Crap Shack. Hence why our house is called the Crap Shack!" Lorelai grinned.
"Nice." Luke chuckled.
Jess walked over with the coffee jug. "Coffee?" He asked bored.
"Oh yeah, thanks." She said. "How are you Jess?" She asked politely.
"Well, I'm not bleeding or anything." Jess said.
"Well, then it's gonna be a good day, huh?" Lorelai smiled sweetly.
Jess just raised his eyebrows and looked at Luke pointedly. "It's 7:45." He said.
"So?" Luke said.
"So do you want me to go to school or do you want to openly defy child labour laws?" Jess said sarcastically.
"Go. Stay out of trouble." Luke said.
"Guess that means calling off the chickie run down at the salt flax." He said dryly.
"Out!" Luke sighed and watched Jess leave, shaking his head.
"Wow, so much love." Lorelai said sarcastically, still not quite understanding why Luke was bothering with Jess.
"So have you found a site for the inn yet?" Luke asked changing the subject.
"What's happening down there?" Rory said as she walked down the road towards Doose's with Charlotte and Lane. "Hey." Rory said as they walked up to Dean who was stood at the front.
"Hey." He said.
"What's going on?" Charlotte asked.
"I don't know. I just got here and found this. I told him that it looked fake, but he didn't believe me." Dean said.
" Aw and you have such an honest face!" Rory grinned.
"Well, he must not love me as much as you do." Dean joked.
"Ok, you two are officially sickening." Lane joked. "See you guys."
"Wish I could come with you!" Charlotte joked.
A policewoman walked up to Taylor. "Everyone's accounted for Taylor. It looks like this is just some elaborate prank." She said.
"But it looks so real. Where would they get the police tape?" Taylor exclaimed.
"Kids have their ways, Taylor." She said.
"Who would be wicked enough to pull a stupid prank like this?" He exclaimed frustrated.
"I don't know. See you Taylor." She said walking off.
Charlotte saw Jess standing across the street smirking as he watched the crowd. She smirked and nudged Rory. "I bet I know who it was." She grinned, gesturing over to Jess.
Charlotte and Rory were in the kitchen at the inn helping their mom take stock.
"I had a dream last night about us and Fran." Sookie was saying.
"Really, what about?" Lorelai asked.
"Well, we were all in the future and we were all old. Me, you, Rory, Charlotte, Jackson. But guess who looked exactly the same?!" She exclaimed.
"Let me guess. Fran?" Lorelai said.
"Yep! That woman is going to live forever!" She exclaimed.
"Ugh! That's so not fair!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Wait, did you look up angina? I forgot to."
"Yeah, it's nothing major." Sookie sighed.
"Ok you guys have got to stop talking like this!" Charlotte said shaking her head.
"Like what?" Lorelai said.
"She's right! We love Fran, remember? Fran is great." Rory said.
"Oh of course honey, of course we love Fran. We just want to know what God's little plan is for her, that's all." Sookie said.
Charlotte and Rory exchanged amused glances and just shook their heads. Just then Michel came in. "I would advise that you at least pretend to look busy, the boss is here." He said bored.
"Oh my god, Mia!" Rory exclaimed, her and Charlotte's face lighting up.
"You're kidding! When?" Lorelai grinned.
"I just spotted her walking in." Michel said.
"Let's go!" Lorelai grinned grabbing one of Charlotte's and Rory's hands and leading them out to the reception area.
"Mia!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Oh my babies! I've missed you!" Mia smiled hugging them all.
"Did we know you were coming?" Rory asked.
"I didn't know I was coming." Mia joked.
"Oh no, this isn't a surprise inspection is it?" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically.
"Oh yes, that's exactly what this is." Mia nodded seriously. "Ready?" She asked as the three of them got in a line and she walked around them. "You're too thin as always." She commented.
"But we eat." Rory exclaimed.
"Excessively!" Charlotte nodded.
"And you're all too beautiful." Mia said.
"Oh yes, that's true." Lorelai grinned. "We often feel guilty about that." She joked.
"And I don't see you enough which is my fault, so you all pass." Mia beamed.
"Yes!" Charlotte grinned giving Rory a high five.
Michel then walked over to them and gave Mia a charming smile.
"Oh Michel, it's so nice to see you as well! And look at that suit! You are quite handsome, aren't you?" She grinned.
"Well I had a feeling that a lovely woman was going to be visiting today so I decided I must look my best for her." Michel smiled.
"Oh I'm sorry honey, I didn't catch a word of that." Mia said, her eyes twinkling.
"He said he missed you." Rory said.
"You've been in America for quite some time Michel. Your enunciation really should be better by now." She said, trying to be serious.
"The customers seem to understand me just fine." Michel forced a smile.
"I didn't get that either. Did you get the tapes I sent you?" Mia said.
"Maybe you should man the desk, Michel. A couple of people were looking for help." Lorelai grinned.
"Oh of course." He said sarcastically and went behind the desk.
"So, are you three too busy to sneak out with me for a bit?" Mia asked them.
"Only if it's okay with the boss." Charlotte joked.
"Oh it's a demand." Mia nodded.
"Let's go!" Lorelai smiled. She turned to Michel. "Michel, hold the fort?"
"It's slow now, so no problem." He said sarcastically.
"Michel! He said that he's never liked you and that you're a problem." Rory exclaimed.
"I said no such thing!" Michel exclaimed aghast.
"I really don't know where this hostility comes from, Michel. Can we work this out?" She asked, her eyes twinkling.
"There's nothing to work out." He said sweetly.
"He told you to get out!" Charlotte grinned.
"I did not!" Michel exclaimed glaring at Rory and Charlotte.
"Oh my! I don't know what I did to make him hate me so much." Mia sighed as she linked arms with the girls and walked out with them, Charlotte and Rory grinning at Michel as they did.
The four of them walked into Luke's where Luke was at the counter trying to fix his toaster.
"Oh look at this place, it's exactly the same!" Mia gushed.
"Actually, I made him paint it a few months ago." Lorelai said.
"Good for you." Mia smiled. She beamed as Luke looked up and walked over to them. "Oh Lucas, it's so great to see you!" She said fondly, giving him a hug.
"You too, Mia!" He smiled, reciprocating her hug. "And you're the only one who can call me Lucas, you know." He said.
"Oh I do." She nodded.
"I'm saying it for others who plan to try it later." He said giving Lorelai and Charlotte a look.
"Whatever Lucas." Lorelai grinned.
"Mia, you don't happen to know anything about toasters, do you?" He asked.
"Not a damn thing." She said.
"Well, then sit down and let me get you some coffee." He smiled.
"Coffee for us too please!" Lorelai grinned as Luke returned to the counter. "So, Mia, how's Santa Barbara?" She asked.
"Horrible. Did you know the damn sun shines all the time there?" She joked.
"Oh they've written songs about that." Charlotte nodded.
"Well, no one told me!" She exclaimed. "Half of my wardrobe is not practical!"
"Aw, that sucks." Lorelai said with mock sympathy. "Hey, you know that vintagey blue coat?" She started.
"You're not getting it." Mia smiled sweetly.
"Damn!" Lorelai said.
Jess walked up to Luke who was trying to fix the toaster again. "You're making that worse." He commented.
"Yeah big help, thanks." Luke said dryly.
"That's Luke's nephew." Lorelai told Mia.
"Jess." Charlotte added.
"Luke, that's your nephew?" Mia called over to him.
"Yeah it's Liz's kid." Luke said bringing over their coffees. "Jess, this is Mia, she owns the Independence Inn." He said calling him over and introducing them.
"Huh." He nodded.
Luke rolled his eyes. "That's 'Hello, nice to meet you' in slacker." He said.
"You don't need me down here, do you?" Jess said before turning to leave.
"Wait up!" Charlotte said getting up and following him. "You promised me that CD." She grinned.
"Huh, so I did. Come on up." Jess smirked.
"Cool!" Charlotte grinned following him upstairs.
"I'm sorry Mia. He's just…" Luke said not really knowing how to describe Jess.
"Antisocial, sarcastic, would rather be anywhere else but here?" Lorelai offered.
"Mom..." Rory warned, glad Charlotte wasn't there to hear their mom's description of Jess.
"Oh forget it." Mia smiled. "You weren't exactly a talkative boy yourself when you were his age." She said.
"Oh that's right, you knew Luke as a boy!" Lorelai said excitedly.
"I can't imagine Luke as a boy." Rory grinned.
"Can we change the subject?" Luke said uncomfortably.
"He would help people carry groceries home." Mia smiled.
"Aw, how very Boy Scout-y of you." Rory grinned.
"For a quarter a bag." Mia smirked.
"How very John Birch Society-y of you." Lorelai smirked.
"He was never without his skateboard for a time either." Mia carried on.
"Were you any good?" Lorelai asked interested.
"I could hold my own." Luke smirked.
"And then there was that year that you would wear the same shirt everywhere you went." Mia said.
"I don't remember that." Luke said quickly.
"Oh that must have been something flannel." Lorelai said.
"No, it was from that tv show, the famous one." Mia said trying to remember.
"It's not important." Luke said trying to change the subject.
"Oh Star Trek, that's what it was!" Mia exclaimed, causing Lorelai and Rory to laugh.
"Oh my God, oh my God!" Lorelai grinned, jumping up and down in her chair.
"What did I miss?" Charlotte asked rejoining them at the table having acquired the cd from Jess.
"Luke used to wear a Star Trek shirt." Rory grinned.
"Ah geez!" Luke groaned.
"You were a Trekkie?" Charlotte laughed.
"I was not a Trekkie." He grumbled.
"Sure." Lorelai said not believing him. "I do believe that denying you were a Trekkie is a violation of the prime directive." She mocked.
"Indubitably captain!" Charlotte and Rory nodded in unison.
"Look it was a gift from my aunt ok? I wore it to make her happy." Luke said.
"I've never wanted to make any aunt of mine that happy." Lorelai joked.
"I'm sorry. Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Mia said innocently.
"Oh no Mia, that's ok. I just have to cancel everything I have scheduled for the next three months so that I can laugh my ass off about this!" Lorelai grinned.
At that moment, Taylor walked into the diner and for once, Luke was happy about the interruption. "Luke, I need to talk to you." He said.
"What is it Taylor?" Luke asked, now resenting his interruption.
"I have conducted a thorough investigation of all the people who may have been witness to the phony murder at my store last night." He said formally.
"Goodie." Luke said sarcastically.
"There was a phony murder?" Mia asked.
"Oh yeah, the town's too dull to work up a real murder." Lorelai joked.
"But you're one 'beam me up Scotty' reference away from being the victim of one." Charlotte smirked.
"Mmm.." Lorelai agreed.
"Luke, are you listening to me?" Taylor exclaimed.
"Unfortunately. What's it got to do with me?" He said gruffly.
"Three people have reported seeing Jess in that area late last night, skulking, lurking." He said.
"There were a lot of people out late last night. I know because I fed some of them. I'll give you their names so you can add them to your suspect list." Luke said getting annoyed.
"Another person witnessed Jess walking out of an arts and crafts store two days ago with what appeared to be chalk." Taylor continued.
"How do you know that wasn't to draw with?" Charlotte chipped in.
"Oh he drew with it alright. He drew the outline outside my shop." Taylor said.
"You appear to be bugging me Taylor." Luke warned.
"What are you going do about it Luke?" Taylor continued undeterred.
"About what?" He exclaimed.
"About the results of my investigation!"
"Absolutely nothing, but thanks for the info." Luke said.
"You have to do something. People want action!" Taylor exclaimed.
"People, meaning you." Luke pointed out.
"Not just me. I speak for the Stars Hollow Business Association, the Stars Hollow Tourist Board, the Stars Hollow Neighborhood Watch Organization, and the Stars Hollow Citizens for a Clean Stars Hollow Council." He listed.
"All of which are you!" Luke exclaimed exasperated.
"So are you going to act?"
"Yes I am. I'm going to act like you never came in here." Luke said.
"Fine, but I warn you, there's gonna be a lot of unhappy people!" Taylor said.
"I look forward to it." Luke said gruffly.
"Oh, you're impossible! Impossible!" He exclaimed turning to leave until he saw Mia. "Oh, hi Mia." He said a bit calmer.
"Nice to see you Taylor." Mia smirked watching him leave. She then turned back to the others. "I really have to get out of Santa Barbara. I miss the small town theatre." She joked. "And I miss you." She said sincerely. "Hey, do you realize it was fifteen years ago almost to the day?" She told Lorelai.
"Yeah it was." Lorelai smiled.
"What was?" Rory asked.
"Fifteen years to the day since this skinny little teenage girl showed up at the inn. She had these two tiny little things in her arms." Mia smiled.
"The littles things called Rory and Charlotte." She grinned pinching their cheeks.
"God, no physical reenactments please!" Charlotte exclaimed pushing her mom's hands away.
"You marched up to me, looked me right in the eye and said, 'I'm here for a job. Any job.'" Mia smiled. "Work experience none, recommendations none, skills..." She said.
"Besides flawlessly applying mascara in a moving car, none." Lorelai joked.
"I didn't have a single thing to recommend hiring her. Just the who cares look in her eyes...so I gave her any job. The other maids hated you." Mia laughed.
"Well they were all so slow." Lorelai grinned.
"You were special." Mia smiled fondly at Lorelai.
"Mia, why don't you move back here? We miss you." Charlotte said.
"Or at least visit more? You used to check in. You never come at all anymore." Lorelai whined.
"I don't have to. You've made me redundant." She joked.
"I have not." Lorelai said uneasily.
"Don't be humble. The inn is covered. Beyond covered in fact. It's never been run this well or been this successful. It's like your place now. Without you, I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be lost." Mia said.
"Oh lost, yeah." Lorelai said quietly, glancing at her daughters who also looked sad.
"Why do you look so sad?" Mia asked worried.
"Oh, uh, nothing." Lorelai said forcing a smile on her face. "Nothing." She repeated.
"Urgh how could I not think about telling Mia?" Lorelai exclaimed. "I'm such a horrible person!"
"No you're not." Sookie assured her.
"I should have told her! I should have told her the day we came up with this idea. She deserved that." Lorelai sighed. Her cellphone suddenly rang in her pocket so she brought it out and answered it. "Hello?"
"Lorelai, good! Your daughters are being impossible." Emily grumbled. "They won't pose in an appropriate manner."
"We're trying, Grandma. It's just awkward." Rory said.
"Very awkward!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Let me guess, they're wearing a silly gown on a silly grown with their hands raised in a silly way." Lorelai said.
"No just one of their hands are raised and none of it is silly." Emily said stiffly.
"Pick a simpler pose mom." Lorelai sighed.
"This was the simplest pose! And it wasn't my choice." She said petulantly.
"And your choice was...?"
"For the swans to sit regally on their thrones." Emily said.
"Swans? Thrones?" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Oh now you have a problem with swans and thrones." Emily said.
"Just make a change mom." She sighed.
"I suppose you would have Rory just sit in a chair reading a book and Charlotte with her sketchbook." Emily mocked.
"Yes actually. That's a great idea." Lorelai said.
"Oh please be serious Lorelai!" Emily exclaimed.
"I am! Those are the most natural poses for Charlotte and Rory and I know dad would love them." Lorelai said.
Emily huffed but relented. "Well I suppose it could work." She said.
"Good. And mom?"
"Yes?"
"Let them lower their arms." Lorelai said.
Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory walked down the street with Mia towards Miss Patty's for the town meeting.
"We're late." Rory complained.
"We're not late." Lorelai said.
"The last time we were late, Taylor said that there would be consequences." Rory pointed out.
"He didn't. He said there would be severe consequences." Lorelai grinned.
Charlotte rolled her eyes at the two of them. "Mia, what time is it? Are we late?" She asked hoping to bring an end to the argument.
"Oh I hope so." Mia grinned, her eyes twinkling.
"Mia!" Lorelai laughed.
"I'm sorry, but it's been two years since I've been able to come to a town meeting and I want some controversy." She joked.
Lorelai saw Luke in front of the diner, locking up. "Aha!" She exclaimed, making him jump.
"Geez! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, I was lucky you had your phasers on stun, huh?" She joked.
"Well, at least we're not late. Luke's never late." Rory said satisfied.
"Actually, we're 2 minutes early." Luke told her.
"Ha! We should get a prize for being on time." Charlotte grinned.
"Hey Luke, let's go back to the diner and get some pie as our reward for being on time!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Then we would be late." He said.
"Funny." She said. "But I want pie." She pouted.
"You're harassing me now." Luke grumbled.
"I'm not harassing you! We're your groupies." She grinned. "Oh Luke, you're so dreamy, be my guy!" She said in a high voice.
"No, be my guy!" Rory joined in.
"No he's my guy!" Charlotte grinned.
"I'm bringing up the need for more police protection at this thing." He grumbled as they walked into Miss Patty's.
They stopped when they realised the town meeting had already started. "I think we're late." Mia commented.
"What's going on?" Luke demanded.
"Uh, nothing." Taylor said guiltily.
"The meeting was supposed to start at eight Taylor. It's a minute to eight." Luke said.
"Well..." Taylor said.
"Oh you might as well be honest with him Taylor." Miss Patty said.
"Honest with him about what?" Lorelai asked.
"Well, if you must know, there was a special issue that the business community had to deal with first. So we decided to start early tonight." Taylor said.
"I'm in the business community and I wasn't told about it!" Luke exclaimed. "What's going on, Taylor?" He asked frustrated.
"Alright, fine. You weren't invited, Luke." Taylor said.
"Why?" Luke asked.
"Ooh controversy." Mia whispered to Rory and Charlotte.
"You weren't invited because we are dealing with the Jess situation." Taylor said imperiously.
"The Jess situation?" Luke said not believing what he was hearing.
"Uh oh." Rory said as Lorelai led them to some seats at the back. She glanced at Charlotte who wasn't looking very happy.
"Damnit Taylor!" Luke exclaimed.
"Luke, honey, calm down." Miss Patty tried to say.
"After all, this is all your doing." Taylor said pompously. "If you hadn't dismissed the issue earlier, we wouldn't have had to do this. I lost business because of what your hooligan nephew did."
"How was business lost, Taylor? If you had to open a little late that day, your customers just came back later." Luke shouted angrily.
"Wrong!" Taylor said. "When Mrs. Lanahan couldn't buy her lettuce that morning for her lunch, she drove straight to Woodbury to buy lettuce from a competing market. I was out of business! Word on the street is that she was telling other Doose market shoppers that Woodbury lettuce is crisper and to go and shop there."
"Ok fine. How much is a head of lettuce, a buck?" Luke said storming down to where Taylor was standing. "Actually let's go crazy, give me five heads."
"This goes well beyond a head of lettuce, young man." Taylor said superciliously. "The charges against your nephew are numerous. He stole the 'save the bridge' money."
"Hey, he paid that back!" Charlotte shouted out.
"He stole a gnome from Babette's garden." Taylor continued ignoring Charlotte.
"Pierpont was also returned." Luke said gritting his teeth.
"He hooted one of my dance classes." Miss Patty joined in.
"He took a garden hose from my yard." Fran said.
"My son said he set off the fire alarms at school last week." Another person chipped in.
"I heard he controls the weather and wrote the screenplay to Glitter as well." Lorelai called out. As much as she didn't like Jess, this was a bit overboard.
"I think it's time for me to pipe up here." Bootsy said.
"Oh yeah, that'll be good." Luke grumbled.
"I have every right to pipe in here Luke. I'm a local businessman." Bootsy pointed out.
"You took over your father's newsstand Bootsy. It doesn't make you an entrepreneur." Luke said sarcastically.
"And you took over your old man's hardware store." Bootsy said.
"And turned it into a diner!"
"Big whoop. Who can't fry an egg?"
"Ok let's keep this moving please boys." Taylor interrupted. "The bottom line here is that there is a consensus amongst all townspeople who are in agreement that Stars Hollow was a better place before Jess got here."
"This is unbelievable!" Luke exclaimed. "So you saying he should get banished?"
"Well..." Taylor said.
"Look, I've lived in this town my entire life, longer than most everybody here." Luke ranted angrily. "I've never bothered anyone. I've kept to myself and I've done the best I could. I pay my taxes and I help people when I can. Sure I haven't pitched in on the insane town stuff because it it is just that! Insane! But I don't get in the way of that stuff either."
"What's your point, Luke?" Taylor asked getting bored.
"His point is that this sucks what you're doing!" Charlotte suddenly exclaimed standing up, not being able to hold it in anymore. "Sure, Jess isn't the perfect person. But who is? You should at least give Luke the time and the respect to deal with it before you storm the diner with torches and pitchforks!" She said angrily before storming out.
"I'm done here. I'm done with all of you. Oh and I was going to stay open later in case anyone wanted to eat after the meeting but forget that!" Luke said angrily before storming out just like Charlotte.
"His turkey burgers are very dry anyway." Bootsy chipped in again.
Lorelai, Rory and Mia all walked out of the town meeting together.
"Well, I must say that was quite exciting." Mia commented.
"A little disturbing. I think the whole town needs a field trip." Lorelai laughed shaking her head.
"Do you think Luke's okay?" Rory asked.
"I think he will be. He just needs to cool off a little." Lorelai said.
"Ok. I'm going to see if I can find Charlotte and then I'm going to check on Dean. He's been scraping that outline off the cement for two days now." Rory said.
"Good idea. Tell Charlotte to take no notice of Taylor." Lorelai said. "And try not to distract Dean too much." She smirked.
Rory rolled her eyes. "She's all yours Mia."
"I'll take her." Mia laughed. "I am having the most wonderful time. And I am so proud of you, Rory and Charlotte. You all have just come so far. Talking of whom, is Charlotte ok? She seemed upset."
"Oh yeah, she just..well she's formed a bit of an attachment to the bad boy of this town." Lorelai said.
"Jess?" Mia asked surprised.
"Yeah." Lorelai sighed.
"You don't seem very happy about it." Mia said cautiously.
"I'm not extremely but...oh it doesn't matter." Lorelai waved it off. She glanced up at Mia. "Uh Mia?"
"Yes?"
"I need to talk to you about something." She said nervously.
"Of course. What is it?" Mia asked.
Rory found Charlotte sat on the bridge staring out at the water. She walked up to her and sat down next to her. "Hey." She said softly.
"Hey." Charlotte said sullenly.
"So that was quite a show you put on back there." Rory said.
"Well it sucked what they were doing. Ganging up on Luke. He didn't deserve that." Charlotte mumbled.
"No he didn't. And Jess didn't either." Rory said.
"I don't care less about Jess." Charlotte grumbled.
"I think you do." Rory smirked a little.
"I don't! He's brought this on himself. If the town want to banish him then fine! I couldn't care less." She snapped.
"Charlie..." Rory said softly.
"No don't Rory! I'm too mad right now. I just...I want to be by myself." She said.
"I don't want to leave you like this." Rory said.
"I'm fine." Charlotte said quietly.
"Charlie..." Rory said.
Charlotte sighed. "Ok I'm not. But I do want to be by myself right now. No offence." She said.
Rory laughed. "None taken. Ok, I'll go find Dean." She said getting up. "Look, if it means so much to you, why don't you talk to Jess?"
Charlotte gave her a look.
"I get it. You're mad right now an you have the right to be. But...you never know, he might just listen to you." Rory shrugged. "I'll see you at home." She said softly before walking off, leaving Charlotte to stare out over the water.
"Urghh!" Lorelai exclaimed as she walked into the house the following day after an awful day at work.
"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked looking up from the couch.
"Nothing." Lorelai brushed it off.
"Doesn't look it." Charlotte said.
"I just had an argument with Sookie, that's all." She said.
"Well I'm sure you'll make up." Charlotte reassured her.
"I'm not so sure." Lorelai snapped.
"Ok..." Charlotte frowned. "No need to take it out on me." She said annoyed, still frustrated by the whole Jess situation.
"I'm not in the mood for this right now." Lorelai warned.
"Well me neither! I haven't exactly had the best day either!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Oh yeah, poor you!" Lorelai snapped. "You know, maybe it is best if Jess gets banished because then at least you won't act like him!"
Charlotte scoffed and stood up. "You know what, screw you! You have no right to tell me who I can be friends with!"
"I can if they're bad news! And trust me, Jess is bad news!" Lorelai shouted.
"I'm not talking to you like this! I'm going out!" Charlotte shouted, storming out of the house, slamming the door behind her. She walked into town just wanting to get away from her mom. She saw Rory and Dean head into Doose's so she decided to wait outside for them.
" Hey, should you be standing here all alone? I hear this is a pretty dangerous corner." Jess smirked coming up to her.
"I'm fine." Charlotte scowled. She so wasn't in the mood for Jess right now.
"Feeling succinct today?" Jess asked.
"Pretty much." She said.
"Hmm...did I do something to offend you?" He asked.
"Me?"
"Yeah."
"No." She lied.
"Good." He said.
"You might want to ask that same question to Luke though." Charlotte said pointedly.
"Meaning?" Jess said.
"You've got this whole town down on him." She exclaimed.
"Huh really? How did I do that?" He said.
"You know how you did that." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm not really familiar with the crazy laws in this town, so you can be talking about a lot of things." He smirked. "Dropping a gum wrapper, strolling arm in arm with a member of the opposite sex on a Sunday?"
Charlotte glared at him and gestured to the faint chalk outline on the pavement below them.
"Huh. What about it?" He said.
"You did it!" She exclaimed. "The whole town knows you did it. They had a meeting about it!"
"You actually went to that bizarro town meeting? Those things are so 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Jess smirked.
"Yes, I went. And Luke went. And when he got there, everyone ganged up on him! They all want you gone!" Charlotte exclaimed getting worked up at his nonchalant attitude.
"Wow, bummer." He said sarcastically.
"And he's standing there yelling at everyone and defending you and I was defending you and Luke was paying Taylor back for his lettuce losses!"
"Wait, his what?" Jess said confused.
"And now Luke's a pariah and it's all because of you!" She exclaimed angrily. She waited for him to say anything. "What a shock, you don't care about any of this." She snapped.
"I didn't say that." He said.
"You didn't need to. Go, I'm tired of talking to you." Charlotte scowled at him.
"Fine." He said starting away.
"You care nothing about Luke and his feelings!" Charlotte called after him.
"Got a second wind, huh?" He smirked walking back over to her.
"You know, all he does is stick up for you and all you do is make his life harder. And also, I thought we were friends also?" She exclaimed getting into full rant mode. "I've defended you numerous times to my mom and now I've defended you to the whole town and you don't care less! They're threatening to banish you and you know what? Maybe that would be best! You obviously don't care about anything!" She shouted. "But you know what? It doesn't matter how I feel but what you're doing to Luke stinks! Luke has done a lot for my mom and a lot for me and Rory, and I don't like to see him attacked." She snapped. "Now get lost!"
"I didn't know they were coming down so hard on him." Jess said almost sincerely.
"Funny, I never pegged you as clueless. My mistake." Charlotte said dryly. At that moment, Rory and Dean emerged from Doose's "I'd say see you around but to be honest, right now I couldn't care less whether I see you ever again." She snapped. "Come on, let's go." She told Rory, leaving Jess watching them thinking.
"Are you ok?" Rory asked glancing back at Jess.
"I'm fine." Charlotte grumbled. "Just said some things he had to hear."
"Ok." Rory said dropping it. "You want to go get some food?" She asked.
Charlotte smiled at her sister. "Yeah food would be good right now." She said softly.
Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory walked up to the front door of the Gilmore Mansion.
"I wonder if Grandpa's still in Akron?" Rory said.
"Well for Akron's sake, I hope he's moved on to Boise." Lorelai said. She rang the doorbell and the maid answered. "Hi. We're the daughter and the granddaughter." Lorelai said handing the maid her coat.
"You are majorly crabby." Rory commented.
"And judgemental." Charlotte muttered. She still hadn't made up with her mom.
"I just have a headache." Lorelai mumbled. She had wanted to make up and apologise to Charlotte but Charlotte didn't give her the chance earlier.
"Oh Good! Come in! It's all done, and it's great!" Emily smiled excitedly. They walked into the study and Emily showed them Rory and Charlotte's portraits. "Tada!"
"Whoa." Rory said.
"What do you think?" Emily beamed.
"It's freaky." Charlotte laughed.
"Freaky?" Emily said downhearted.
"Well, just seeing us here, up on the wall like that. It's uh...I like it though. It's good I guess and I'm sure Grandpa will love it. Charlotte and I should probably take ourselves out of the judging process though." Rory said.
"I think Richard's just going love it." Emily smiled. "It's the perfect thing, don't you think?" She asked Lorelai.
"Mmm..." Lorelai said.
"You've got to admit, it's turned out better than you thought it would." Emily said.
"Yeah." Lorelai said.
"Well, come on, say a little more than that." Emily said annoyed.
"It's great Mom. It's fabulous. It's just a notch below Rembrandt." Lorelai said with forced enthusiasm.
"Well, you don't have to take that attitude." Emily said hurt.
"What do you want from me, mom? I would light up some sparklers and jump up and down yelling but I'm out of sparklers and my feet hurt too much to jump. But I promise next week when I have more energy, I'll write a love song for the chandelier." She said sarcastically.
Emily stared at her and then left the room without another word.
"Way to go." Charlotte said.
"Mom..." Rory said.
Lorelai sighed and left the room following her mother.
A few minutes later, Lorelai and Emily returned to the girls having obviously settled their argument. "Hey Charlie, can I have a quick word?" She asked Charlotte before they headed into the dining room.
"It's time for dinner." Charlotte said stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest.
Lorelai sighed. "I'm sorry ok? I was worked up and upset yesterday and I didn't mean to take it out on you." She said. "I didn't mean what I said."
"Yes you did." Charlotte said but unfolded her arms.
"Ok maybe I did. Maybe Jess isn't my most favourite person but he's your friend. And I respect your judgement. If you say there's some good in him, then I believe you." Lorelai said.
"Really?" Charlotte said.
"Yes. Really." Lorelai said. "I really am sorry."
"It's fine." Charlotte sighed. "I'm not that keen on Jess right now anyway."
"Come on, let's go eat." Lorelai said putting her arm round her shoulders.
"Yeah." Charlotte said softly, smiling up at her mom. "You're going to make up with Sookie aren't you?"
"Oh I definitely intend to. I'm going to grovel for America." Lorelai joked.
"Good!" Charlotte laughed.
"Oh man, it's such a relief to have that Sookie thing fixed." Lorelai said as she was sat at a table at Luke's with Rory and Charlotte.
"I know. I hate fighting with friends." Rory said.
"It does suck." Charlotte sighed glancing up as Jess appeared from behind the curtain.
"Luke, where's our toast?" Lorelai called over to the counter.
"Sorry it's going to take a while." He said. "My big toaster's broken so I got stuck with just this tiny one."
Jess went over and pushed down the handle on the big toaster, showing Luke that it worked.
"How did that happen?" Luke asked surprised, pushing the handle up and down.
"You're going to break it." Jess said.
"It was broken before!" He said.
"Well it must have got better." Jess said.
"Inanimate objects don't usually get better. Jess, did you fix this?" Luke asked.
"Please." Jess scoffed.
"Jess..." Luke said.
"I have no idea what you're babbling about. I don't fix things." He said.
"But yesterday…" Luke started.
"I've got school." Jess said ending the conversation and heading for the door. He glanced over at Charlotte who had been watching the exchange. He gave her a small smile which she returned and then he left.
Later that afternoon, Charlotte was heading to the bridge to do some sketching. She was surprised to find Jess sat on it. She hesitated before walking slowly over to him. "Hey." She said.
Jess looked up at her. "Hey." He replied.
"This seat taken?" She asked gesturing to the space next to him.
"Be my guest." He said.
Charlotte sat down next to him and they were quiet for a moment. She glanced over at him. "I'm glad you listened to me. What you did for Luke was really sweet." She said.
"Who said I listened to you? Or did that for Luke? I was bored and had nothing to do so I fixed it." Jess shrugged.
Charlotte frowned. "That's not true." She said. "I don't believe you."
"Your prerogative." He shrugged.
"You know what, I was going to apologise for shouting at you yesterday. But you deserved it! You can never be honest, can you? Is it so hard for you to admit that you did something to be nice?" Charlotte snapped. "Maybe my mom was right. Maybe the town was right! Maybe it would be better if you weren't here!" She exclaimed angrily, embarrassed as she felt tears prick her eyes. She furiously wiped them away and got up, walking away so he wouldn't see.
"Charlotte wait!" She was surprised to hear Jess jump up and run after her.
"What?" She snapped turning round. "I've gone out of my way to be nice to you. I actually like you and I thought you liked me too. I thought we were friends. I guess that was my mistake." She said.
"I'm sorry." He said.
"What?" Charlotte said surprised.
"You're right ok? I fixed the toaster for Luke. I was listening to you yesterday and I felt bad the town was coming down hard on him so I fixed the toaster to try and make it up to him." Jess admitted.
"Ok.." She said.
"And we are friends." He said. He sighed. "Look, I'm not very good at this emotions stuff. I've sort of had to fend for myself before so I'm not used to people being in my corner, having my back."
"I like you." Charlotte admitted. "Maybe more than friends ok? That's why I got so mad yesterday. I was scared the town was going to send you away and I wouldn't get to see you again. And you didn't seem to care less so I just got mad." She said.
"Huh." He smirked.
She immediately felt embarrassed. "Just forget it, I shouldn't have told you that." She said. "I should go..." She said walking away.
"Charlotte wait!" Jess said running after her again.
Charlotte sighed and turned round, suddenly feeling angry. "Look Jess, I'm sick of you playing these games with me. I'm sick of sticking up for you when I don't even know if you even care." She said.
"I care." He said.
"Funny way of showing it." Charlotte muttered.
"What about showing you like this?" He said before pulling her towards him and leaning in to kiss her.
They pulled away after a moment and both of them just stared at each other not really knowing what to do.
"So..uh..did you at least find the chalk outline prank funny?" He smirked.
Charlotte laughed. "Oh yeah." She nodded.
Jess smirked. "I knew you did." He said before bringing her into another kiss.
So I hope you liked it! This is possibly the longest chapter I've ever written so please let me know what you think! Thank you! :)