Author's note: Sorry to those of you that have the story alert on, you must have gotten like 100 alerts. I just had a very hard time posting from a Mac. Anyway... I'm so depressed. There's hardly any feedback going on. Come on people, I love to know what you think, and since does not have a ticker to know how many people stop by and read and lurk, if I don't hear from you, how do I know you've read it? If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it…. You get the idea. Anyway, thank you for sticking around for those of you reading this, still a lot to come, and thanks for the lovely feedback to everyone who drops me a line. So, about this chapter, this was actually conceived as two chapters, so you're getting more for your money… In any case, here we go…

THE KID

CHAPTER 5: Money-back Guarantee

Rory walked Jess and Annie back to the diner, but stopped a block away. She kept her distance, her well-trained distance, and waved Jess goodbye.

The diner was still open, the buzz of the gossip and town meeting keeping the customers busy. Someone helped him with the door. Kirk was sitting on the booth by the door. Jess leaned in threateningly, or at least it seemed so to Kirk.

"What was the verdict?" he asked.

Kirk shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "You have a six-month trial period. The kid can stay as long as she likes," Kirk answered, shoving his sandwich into his mouth so he wouldn't be asked any more questions.

Jess smiled. "Good enough."

He walked upstairs to the apartment, for the first night of peaceful sleep in a while.

Luke watched him go by, with an approving nod.

The kid had grown up.

------

Rory walked home exhausted.

She found herself dreading Lorelai's reaction, as she quietly walked up the porch steps.

Lorelai was sitting on the couch, fixing the hem of a skirt. The only detail that reminded Rory of the passing of time was that Lorelai wore glasses for detailed work.

Lorelai peered up from the skirt. "The cool thing about glasses is that I can look at you like this, like they do in movies."

"Yeah, I was sort of expecting that look. That look makes me feel seventeen again."

Lorelai smiled kindly. "Sit here, babe, and tell me all about it. Is there a Jim Croce song that reflects this situation? I'm feeling a little bit country."

Rory smiled, plopping herself down on the sofa. "That makes no sense, mom."

"Bear with me. Jess, a kid, a town meeting, you walking out… Giving you this look sorta makes me feel like you're seventeen again."

Rory shrugged. "He said all that stuff looking straight at me."

"I could tell." Lorelai sighed. "He's got a six month trial period, money back guarantee, call now!" She smiled with pursed lips. "I have the feeling the town let him stay just so we'd have something to talk about. The biggest bit of gossip this past year was my divorce and frankly, that's stale."

"I'm so glad to take the heat off you," Rory replied, rolling her eyes.

"It's what family's for, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

Lorelai left the stitching on the coffee table, hugged her adult daughter and kissed the top of her head, just like when she was a teenager. "So what did you talk about?"

"I don't know. I think we're friends. I quoted Hillary Clinton, then I made fun of him. We completed each other's sentences." Rory looked at the ground.

"So… friends?" Lorelai asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Rory Gilmore, sidekick extraordinaire."

"I'll go get us some Ding-Dongs."

- - - - - -

The kid was jumping up and down on the bed, as sunlight pervaded Jess' eyelids. "Can I go play with Brian and Lee?"

"Woah, hold on a sec, kid." He raised himself up on his elbows. Seven AM. "Ok, run that by me again."

"Brian and Lee."

"Who are they?"

"Twins!" Annie exclaimed.

"I'm not catching up. Gimme a sec."

Jess pulled on a shirt and rubbed his eyes, shaking off his exhaustion. "Are they downstairs?"

"Yes," Annie replied. "Come oooooon, it's twins!"

"So you said."

Annie led him downstairs by the hand. He was surprised to find before him two dark haired Korean boys, led by Lane Kim.

"Jess," Lane said curtly, while Annie pulled faces at Brian and Lee.

Jess scratched the back of his neck. "Lane."

"These are Brian and Lee," Lane said.

"I've heard all about them," Jess replied. "And this is Annie."

"Can we play now?" Annie asked.

Jess looked at Lane inquiringly. "This your idea?"

"Zach's… We were at the meeting last night. He's pro-you," Lane explained.

"I gather that means you're anti-me."

Lane conceded with a shrug. "Guilty until proven innocent."

"You sound like your mother," Jess muttered.

Lane half-smiled. "We can have her back here at 6 pm. That way you have some time, you know, to get settled."

"Thank you," he replied, his voice grateful. The kids waited no longer before bounding out to the square, where Zach was waiting.

"Oh, just one thing…" he added, leaning in closer. Lane listened. "She's got a couple of nasty bruises… kind of why we're here. But I don't want people… staring at her, ok? So just… don't take her swimming, and just… you know…"

Lane nodded. "Not a word from us…" She paused before leaving. "You know, if you do this right, everything will be alright. Does that make sense?"

Jess nodded.

"Good," Lane added. "See you this afternoon."

- - - - - -

Luke parked the truck as the exchange between Lane and Jess finished. He saw the kid running around the square with Lane's twins.

Jess helped him carry in a couple of boxes into the diner.

"You don't have to do this," Luke said.

Jess tied on an apron and grabbed a notepad. "I have to do something. I can't be… just staying here."

"You've always worked hard. It was part of the trouble we had, remember?" Luke reminded him.

"She's my responsibility."

"Nope, she's your mother's responsibility." Luke shook his head. "Look, I know you're… independent… but… you can't go this alone. I can help you get an apartment, help you get on your feet. And I want you to let me help you."

Jess looked straight into Luke's eyes. "You don't owe me anything."

"Maybe not. But we owe the kid," Luke replied. "And you can't sleep upstairs forever…"

Jess nodded.

Luke handed Jess a pen to take the orders. "Let me help you settle in. After that, you can do this however you choose. Your call."

"Ok. Ok." Jess smiled. "Then I need a favor."

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"I need you to help me get Liz to sign some papers…"

Luke scratched the back of his neck. "Let's talk about this when the breakfast rush is over, how does that sound?"

"Fine by me," he said, approaching table 2, a party of three.

------

"Hon, what are your plans today?" Lorelai asked, calling in to Rory through the half opened door.

Rory woke with a start. Jetlag had settled in, she decided, staring at her clock.

"Oh, I missed breakfast," she groaned. Lorelai popped her head into the room.

"Afternoon, sunshine."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Lorelai pondered. "Well, if I'd woken you, you would've needed breakfast, and breakfast is too early to face Jess, and I don't cook breakfast, so we would've had to go to Luke's."

"I can cook," Rory reminded her mother.

Lorelai opened the door all the way. Gigi's toys were still all over the room, and the pink sheets made it obvious the room wasn't Rory's anymore. "But then I would've had to have raw food, and that's just not sanitary."

"So it's alright for me to have lunch at Luke's but not breakfast?"

Lorelai smiled. "Hey, it's not my fault you overslept."

"Your logic astounds me."

"Welcome back."

"So you were asking about my plans for today?" Rory asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

Lorelai sat at the edge of the bed. "Actually, I was curious about your plans in general."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"I don't know if I've though too far ahead. I was wondering if I could stay here for a few weeks."

"You don't even have to ask… but I have some stuff to ask. Like, what about your job?"

Rory shrugged. "I needed a break from all the noise, you know?"

"I don't know if I do."

"I'm ok for money for at least a year. I just… I'm not doing things like I should. I need to rework what I need and what I want."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with our visiting hoodlum, would it?" Lorelai asked, suspicious.

Rory shook her head. "It was on my mind before that. When I bought the plane ticket. Everything these past five years has been…violently fast. Logan, Josh, the paper, being abroad, seeing all the… seeing what I've seen. I need to take it in."

"Hmm."

Rory looked at her inquisitive mother. "I'll be clearer soon, I think, and I'll be able to explain better. Right now, the reason I need this break is because I can't explain anything better." Rory pulled off the covers. "I'm not going to be here the whole time. I'll look for a place. I need to… organize my ideas. Write. I need to work out a different way of looking at the world than the one I've been using."

Lorelai repeated her harrumph.

Rory placed a hand on Lorelai's shoulder. "You need to trust me. I found my way before. I'll do it again."

"Somehow, finding your way almost always involves Jess, doesn't it?" Lorelai added, with a sigh.

Rory shrugged. "I just saw him yesterday. He's not an all-powerful master magician…"

Lorelai made a face. "You know that you can stay in this house as long as you like, right? This is your house as well."

"I know." Rory stretched and yawned. "So, breakfast?"

"Lunch," replied Lorelai. "Unless hamburgers and fries are suddenly breakfast food."

"The first food of the morning is breakfast, whatever it is. It breaks the fast, get it?"

Lorelai smiled. "You blow me away with your logic. Now get a move on, I'm hungry."

-------

Breakfast rush turned into lunch rush and before he could do anything about it, Rory and Lorelai were in his section. Not that there was much of a distinction, there was his section, and Luke's section. And since Luke was out, pretty much anywhere they were to sit was now his section.

Just a day after encountering Rory again, and he was already ranting in his head.

"Hey," Jess said.

"Hey," Rory replied.

"Hi," Lorelai added.

"Hi," Jess answered.

"Whoa, déjà vu," Lorelai couldn't help pointing out. Jess looked down at his order pad. Rory looked down at the menu. Lorelai smiled.

"So, what would you like," Jess asked.

"Two cheeseburgers, 2 fries, 2 cherry cokes, and some onion rings," Lorelai checked off.

"Ok. Coming right up," he said, walking away quickly.

"Mother!" Rory whispered, giving Lorelai a LOOK.

"What? I couldn't help it. It was just so… "

"Adolescent?"

Lorelai smiled. "That too."

Rory looked up from her menu to find Jess staring at her. She blushed intensely.

"Go talk to him."

"You seem extra-annoying today."

"Ten years ago you would have called this supportive." Lorelai rolled her eyes and took the menu from Rory's hands. "Go. I know you have stuff to ask."

"I hate you intensely," Rory replied, getting up and walking across the diner.

Rory sat at a stool, right in front of Jess. "Hey," she said quietly.

"I think we've had this conversation before," Jess quipped.

"Yeah…" Rory added, rolling her eyes. "Uhm, so where's Annie?"

"The kid is playing with Lane's twins, believe it or not."

"I haven't seen those two in a while."

Jess nodded. "They both had rock concert t-shirts, down to their knees."

"Sounds like them." Rory replied. She looked down at the counter. "Ok, I feel like I'm seventeen again."

"I know what you mean. I bet you can't wait to get back to real life," Jess offered.

Rory shook her head. "Not really… it's complicated."

"Things with you Gilmores are always complicated."

Rory looked him in the eye, giving her famous withering glance. Jess closed his mouth and hid his smile. "I heard you're staying a while," she said, changing the subject.

"I'm on probation and Taylor is my parole officer," Jess replied.

She nodded. "Good. I mean… Never mind. I'm glad you can stay…"

Cesar rang a bell repeatedly. "That's your food," Jess said quiety.

Rory started back to the table, but thought better. She had something to say, and she decided it was time to say it out loud. "What you asked me yesterday? About being friends…"

Jess nodded. She'd started looking into his eyes, and he felt his throat knot. "Uh-huh?"

"Whatever you need," Rory said, honestly.

Jess nodded. "I'll get you your food."

------

When Luke arrived he found the diner half-empty and Jess hiding out in the store room, his back pressed against the wall.

"Are they gone?" Jess asked.

Luke laughed out loud. "Are you for real?"

"How does she do that?" Jess asked, a hand on his forehead. "I hadn't thought about her for years. I pushed her out of my head. And yesterday I go and ask her, hey, can we be friends?" He hit the back of his head against the wall. "What am I? An after-school special? I can't go reverting back to seventeen, you know? I've got to be stronger."

Luke rounded Jess' shoulders. "Maybe facing this is being stronger."

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't feel that way. And she says she's here for whatever I need, and my mind goes R rated all of a sudden. I was over this. Ten years is enough time to be over this, right?"

"Technically, seven."

Jess gave Luke a scowl. "Are they out there, yes or no?"

"They left," Luke answered, smiling knowingly.

Jess shook his head. "I got two tables to clear."

-------

Rory's curiosity got the better of her and she parted ways with her mother. Yes, she wanted to catch up with Lane, but she had a nagging need to see what this kid Annie was all about.

Lane's apartment was the same one they'd been living in for so long with Zach. They'd transformed it, kidproofed it, made it a home.

The last time she'd seen the twins, they were four years old, rowdy and inquisitive.

As soon as the door opened, she could tell that three years had not changed those main characteristics.

Lane greeted her with nothing less than a huge smile and a hug. "I love your hair. It's very rock and roll," she said, inviting Rory in.

"Thanks. Yours too. Glad to see the purple is back," Rory answered, while the kids ran around them.

"Get back here, Brian," Zach called, coming out of the bedroom. "Oh, hey, Rory."

Rory hugged him hello as Zach grabbed Brian by the waist and hoisted him up. "The two terrors have a new friend, I see."

Zach nodded. "Yeah, the kids are pro-Jess."

Lane shook her head. "They're pro-Annie," she corrected.

"Whatever, dude." Zach airplaned one of the twins back to the room, the other one running closely behind them. From the doorway to the room, Annie stared at Rory.

"So…" Rory started.

"Last night," added Lane.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

They exchanged a look and giggled. "I swear, I just got here and I feel like a teenager again," Rory said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. My Jess-resentment rushed right back to me this morning when I went to invite Annie over. But…"

"And there's always a but…"

Lane walked them over to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for Rory. "He seems… he seems to me like he's trying. For the kid."

"How weird is it to see him… like that…" Rory added.

Lane nodded. "Twilight Zone weird."

"Michael Jackson's latest hairdo weird." Rory laughed. She took a sip of coffee, gesturing towards the room. "What's she like?"

"Normal kid, I guess. Attacked the twins' Dr. Seuss collection. Pretty quiet. Takes after Jess," Lane replied.

Rory nodded. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Jess is basically going to take on the role of a father now."

From the bedroom, Zach could be heard explaining to the twins. "Don't unscrew those... Nope, your bedknobs are not going to take you to a magical land…"

Lane shrugged. "Hey, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm a mother now, and I've had seven years to get used to it."

Rory bit her lower lip. "I missed him, you know?"

"Even after Logan?"

Rory nodded. "Even after Logan was over. Even after Josh…" She sighed. "I loved them both, but once in a while, I would find a book Jess had lent me, with his scribbled notes, and I would wish he was around to talk about the book or… anything."

"He doesn't seem like the talking type."

Rory shrugged. "But when he did talk… It just worked."

Lane furrowed her brow. "Past tense, right?"

Rory looked away. "Yeah. Past tense."

"Right."

"He asked me to be friends with him."

Lane looked concerned. "That didn't work out too well last time."

Rory shrugged, and buried her face in the coffee cup. Between Lane's worried stare and Lorelai's tentative inquisition, Rory knew that she was going to be closely watched these following weeks.

She looked at Annie, at her long reddish hair, at the brown eyes that were very much like Jess's, and she wondered how friends fit into Jess and Annie's lives now.

Rory wondered how she would fit now.

She shook her head and smiled, lowering the coffee cup. "So… do you have any new pictures of the twins?"

Lane smiled and rummaged through the book-case turned record-display case.

Subject changed.

------

TBC… Tell me what you think. I hope you're enjoying it!