name: Heather
email: heather@hella-good.org
spoilers: Anything in season 2, especially "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", "Teach Me Tonight", "Lorelai's Graduation Day" and "I Can't Get Started"
summary: Rory returns home from her summer away in D.C., both nervous and excited at the prospect of the year ahead.
rating: PG-13
pairing: Rory and Jess!
disclaimer: Absolutely nothing is mine. Everything in all it's Gilmore glory belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and all that jazz. I don't even own the computer on which I type this ;)
a/n: This story was inspired by a challenge at The Chilton Library. First off, I'm a huge, huge Jory gal and secondly, this is the first fic I've written for GG and the first fic I've written in over four years, so be kind...but be honest. Thanks!
Part 6 - Coffee All Around
"What time is it?" Rory asked, putting her book down.
"Far too early," Jess replied.
"I was just curious. I didn't even notice the time before I came here this morning."
"The time was far too early."
Rory looked at Jess sheepishly. "Sorry."
"If there's someone's face I want to to wake up to in the morning..."
Rory blushed. Quickly changing the subject, she said, "It's 8:30! Breakfast? I'm starving."
"Well, that's a shocker," Jess joked.
"Some people enjoy eating. I enjoy eating."
"You enjoy eating for the entire town."
"It's not my fault Luke puts some sort of addictive chemical in his coffee and food." She leaned over and kissed Jess quickly on the cheek and stood up. She held out her hands, Jess took them and she pulled him up off the couch. He went to kiss her and she turned around. "Food first...kissing later, if you're lucky."
"That is just cruel."
"Don't feed me and see what happens."
*****************
Lorelai walked into Luke's and didn't see Rory anywhere. She had that sinking feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Trying to remain calm and sane, she sat a table and waited for Luke to bring her coffee. She drummed her fingers on the table, growing more antsy by the second. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and she thought for a moment that spontaneous combustion was not out of the question.
"You okay?"
Lorelai looked to her right and saw Sarah standing there looking fairly nervous herself. She saw Sarah fidgeting with her hands, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Are you?"
"Do you mind if I...?" Sarah motioned to a seat and Lorelai nodded. "It's been a while since I've dealt with a parent...it still makes me a bit twitchy. Sorry."
"Don't ever meet my mother then."
"You're Rory's mom, right? I'm Sarah."
"Lorelai, nice to meet you." The two shook hands. "You're Jess's babysitter?"
Sarah smiled. "I think I'm supposed to say no to that because he thinks he's all grown up. But me being here? Essentially, I'm a glorified babysitter. I'm actually supposed to meeting him for some study time."
"I think I'm meeting Rory-"
"And yet neither one-"
"Is here. You noticed that, too?" Lorelai asked, feeling sweat break out on her forehead.
"I'm sure it's..." Sarah stopped herself and shook her head. "None of my business. If I was some stranger and tried this on my mother, she would be less than thrilled."
"How much less?"
"Way less."
"How would your mother react to a boy like Jess?"
"Honestly? She would freak out right off the bat and then, once she calmed down, she'd be her normal, cool self."
"How long did off the bat last?" Lorelai asked.
"Depended on the boy," Sarah said, laughing. "What's that saying. Moms...can't live with them..."
"Can't change them into a completely different mother?" Lorelai smiled. She looked around the diner, still not seeing her daughter, which did not surprise her. Her momentary loss of fury was back again. "Where the hell is Luke with my damn coffee?"
"Why don't you get it yourself?" Sarah asked.
"He would throttle me if I went behind the counter. You should know that he's...picky about certain things."
"Such as?" Lorelai pointed to the no cell phones poster. "Wow, you know you're in Small Town X when you see something like that."
"He's quirky."
"I hate cell phones. I have a theory they give you brain cancer."
"You sound just like him. I thought he was the only one not under the cell phone's thrall."
"Does it usually take him this long to take an order?" Sarah asked, taking her turn to look around the extremely crowded diner.
"I don't know why it's so packed. He knows better than to deprive me of coffee for this long. He risks bodily harm when he does." Lorelai spotted Patty sauntering over to the table, a bemused look on her face. "You might want to duck and cover."
"Huh?" Sarah asked, turning around, seeing a large but extremely confident woman coming towards them. "Trouble?"
"She likes to spread it," Lorelai grumbled. "Hey, Patty."
"Rory hasn't come back yet, hon?" Patty asked, her eyebrows rising so high, both women thought her eyes would fall out.
"Oh, you've seen Rory?" Lorelai asked, trying to remain calm, making the imaginary creases in her napkin go away.
"Well, she came rushing in and went straight upstairs. No one has seen her since."
"Uh-huh," Lorelai commented, her voice cracking.
"Hi, I'm Sarah," she interjected before Patty could say any more. "You own the dance place down the street, right? Great space you have there. Do you have a website? It's a really great way to promote your business."
"Misspattydotcom, darling," Patty stated. "Lorelai, I was wondering-"
"So who designed it?" Sarah interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
"Your website. You had it professionally done?"
"Of course. I spare no expense when it comes to me." Patty looked to Lorelai and opened her mouth to say something but Sarah interrupted again.
"Well, if you're looking for a new design or maybe more...you...I could help you out at a very reasonable price. It's what I do." Sarah reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. "If you're interested in something better..." She handed the card to Patty, who was speechless. She took the card and headed back to her table.
"That's the first time I've ever seen someone actually shut Patty up."
"You had the same look my mother used to get when someone from the sewing circle felt the need to dispel information about me that my mother might otherwise not want to know."
"She doesn't get that look anymore?"
"My mom passed away a couple of years ago."
"I'm sorry. I've gotten use to the taste of my foot in my mouth."
"Don't apologize, Lorelai. You didn't know." Sarah looked her in the eyes and smiled. "My foot pays rent to live in my mouth, so no harm done."
"Good to know...I need coffee. Luke! Luke!" Lorelai yelled, standing up from her seat, desperately searching the diner and not seeing him, either. "Everyone in town is here for some reason except the owner, my daughter and the rebel."
"I know you probably don't want to hear this..."
"It's about Jess?"
"Yes."
"You're probably right. I'd need coffee first. It keeps me balanced. It keeps me from going all out Sybil. Luke!!!"
"He's not a bad kid." Lorelai shot her a look that went right through Sarah. Against the part of her brain that told her to shut up, she continued, "I'm going to say it quickly. Like pulling a band-aid off and then I'll shut up. I just feel the need to say something because I'm probably the closest thing Jess has to a mother and I have this intense need to explain him."
"Due to the fact that I'm faint from caffeine withdrawal and most likely losing a part of my mind while waiting for my missing daughter...talk quick."
"Liz didn't care who watched Jess as long as she didn't have to. So when we moved to New York and I saw the card in the apartment lobby, I went up to 15B, knocked on the door and saw an adorable five year old answer the door and smile at me. From there, I was done. What kind of person tells their five year old to answer their door, especially in New York...am I right?" Lorelai nodded. "So I watched him every night, every weekend, I took him to the library, to the bookstore, bought him all kinds of books. I wanted him to be able to be something and some people need help to realize that they're special and Jess did...still does and he'll probably kill me for saying that. But if you're in an environment that tells you you're nothing special, you believe it, no matter how young or old you are and I refused to let Jess believe that he was nothing."
"That was nice of you."
"It wasn't about being nice. It was about what was right. My mother and I...I suspect we mirrored you and Rory. It killed me to see this little boy with absolutely no one in his life. His father was gone, his mother...hell, his mother was never there even when she was. It infuriated me. And I blame myself so much for how broken he is now. I did no better than anyone else in his life. My mother became sick and I went back to Boston to take care of her and I abandoned him. I haven't seen him since my mom's funeral and two years later, he barely resembles the boy I watched. It breaks my heart, Lorelai." She took a breath, looked around the diner again and wrinkled her brow. "Is it even more crowded in here?" she asked, not letting Lorelai respond to her speech.
"Yes! Yes it is! I'm never getting my coffee. I've had enough of these shenanigans!" Lorelai got up from her seat in such a hurry that the napkin she had ripped apart when Sarah was talking blew everywhere.
Lorelai grabbed Kirk by the shoulder and spun him around. "What in the name of all things coffee and sugar is going on here? Where is Luke?"
"He's cooking, he's serving, he's-"
"Kirk...where is he physically?"
"Back there."
Lorelai went into the back and saw Luke cooking eggs, batches of pancakes, home fries and French toast. He didn't see her standing there as he quickly flipped and stirred, lifted and nudged, making sure nothing was burning.
"Where's Caesar? Better question, where's Jess?"
"Not the time for that. I'm a bit busy."
"I see that, Luke. And my body knows it because it's been sitting out there for a half hour without any coffee."
"Caesar is sick and Jess...I don't know. Been too busy to care that much."
"Why so busy?"
"Can you at least flip or toast toast if you're going to insist on being back here?"
"You want me to cook?"
"Yes, I'm that desperate."
Lorelai walked to the grill and picked up a spatula. "So this is a flipper, right?"
"Or a spatula."
She flipped a pancake. "Ooh, look at me go. What's with the chaos?"
"I'd rather say nothing."
"It's Rory and Jess, right?"
"She came here this morning, looking very determined and went upstairs. Someone told someone who told everyone and now every loon in Stars Hollow is here, waiting to see what happens."
"Unbelievable. Actually, completely believable, now that I think of it. How long have they been up there?"
"What time is it?"
"Uh," Lorelai looked at the clock behind her. "8:30."
"A little more than an hour."
"What?!"
"Lorelai, calm down...flip that. See the smoke coming from it? It's not a good sign when that happens."
She did what he asked and said, "You know what they can do in an hour? I think I just felt what my mother felt every time she came to my room late at night and I wasn't there."
"Don't get upset."
"Are you kidding me? Here's upset." She pointed to a pancake and picked another one up with the spatula. "And here's me." She threw it across the room.
"Did that help?" Luke asked as he put more batter on the grill.
"No, but I know what will. I'm going up there. What I said yesterday? Forget it. I was delirious. I was happy my daughter was home. It was temporary insanity-"
"Temporary?"
"This is funny to you? Explain to me how this is funny because I'm completely missing the punchline."
"I went up there earlier."
"And?"
"And I opened the door and heard Rory reading some book."
"And?"
"And that was it. I left. When I came down, the place looked like that." He pointed to the diner.
Lorelai put the spatula down and walked to the door. "Lorelai..." Luke began but she was already through it. He heard banging on the counter and walked over the pick-up window to see her hitting the counter with a napkin dispenser.
"Hey! Everyone! Shut-up!" Lorelai yelled. The diner fell silent. "If you're looking for today's entertainment, I just found out that it has moved away from here because you are all crazy. That is all. Now get out."
"I'm not leaving. I didn't get my breakfast," Kirk said.
Lorelai picked up a handful of Sweet & Low packets and threw them at Kirk. "Breakfast is served. Stay if you're actually here to eat." Nobody left. "Okay, they went to the Inn to find out about Paris from Michel because they are planning on running away together."
Lorelai watched as everyone quickly left the diner on their way to Lorelai's work. Soon only Lorelai, Sarah, and Luke were left.
"If Michel didn't hate you before..." Luke said.
"We know he did so it's fine. I make my own kind of fun." Lorelai walked back to her table and sat, sighing a deep sigh and resting her head on the table.
"I can't believe you think Faulkner actually has any validity in literature. I don't know about you," Rory was saying to Jess as they walked into the diner. "Between that and Hemingway, I'm seriously considering never speaking to you again."
"C'mon The Sound and the Fury?"
"Amazingly pompous and self-fulfilling." Rory stopped looking at Jess and saw her mother. "Mom? You okay?"
"Luke! Coffee all around!" Lorelai cried in exasperation.
a/n: I don't want anyone to think that because Sarah doesn't like cell phones and neither does Luke that I'm trying to build something...no way! I'm a hardcore Junkie so it's not even a possibility. Also I received a couple of e-mails asking why the introduction of Sarah and it was merely because I believe that everyone, at least once in their life, has one person that they can depend on, talk to about anything, etc...and I made Sarah for Jess. Yes, she's a girl on purpose. Jess, to me, seems more apt to be closer to an intelligent woman than a guy his own age. I wanted her to not be his age but to be the only strong older figure in his life but I didn't want it to be perfect which is why there is the big long ramble about her blaming herself for what is going on with Jess. And anyways, it's mine and I can do what I want, right? :) Thanks again for the reviews! Keep 'em coming!
Of course...more tomorrow (hopefully)