Chapter 7: Growing Ideas

'So he's really gone?' Rory sat at the counter in Luke's Diner, coffee cup clutched in her hands as she spoke to her boyfriend who was leaning on the other side, eyes downcast.

'Well there are pieces of him left, but nothing you'd recognise.'

Rory pouted sadly. 'Poor Rudie. Rotten stupid, stinking car thieves.'

Jess sighed heavily and she felt her heart break a little. Everyone had pointed out time and again that Rudie had been a piece of crap, but to Jess, the car had been his prize possession. He'd worked his butt off to save up the cash to buy him and had taken pride in looking after him.

'Life sucks,' she observed, taking a sip of coffee.

He finally looked up to meet her gaze. 'Yours doesn't.'

'You haven't met Francie.'

'Political power struggle still going on?'

'Yep. And I am no longer playing Switzerland. I started my own mutiny against Francie today.'

'Really?' There was an amused but slightly sceptical tone to Jess's voice.

'Really,' Rory confirmed proudly. 'I stopped her from setting up her blood drive in the cafeteria.'

'Ooh, bold move. How'd she take it?'

'Not well. I expect retaliation.'

'I'd offer to run her down with my car, but…' Jess's voice trailed off and Rory saw his frustration again.

'We don't have much luck with cars, do we?'

'You mean me. I don't have much luck with cars,' he corrected her, ignoring the annoyance in her face. 'It was me that smashed your car last time. Maybe this is karma.'

'Jess! That was not your fault. The furry foxdograbbit whatever should have looked before crossing the road.'

'But-'

Rory leapt off her stool, holding up a hand to cut Jess off and stated firmly, 'Jess, if you're going to start self-flagellating I'm going to leave.'

He held up his own hands in a placating gesture and took a step back from the counter. 'Woah, okay, now I see scary politician Rory!'

Rory grinned, looking mighty pleased with herself. 'Really? I was scary?'

He smirked and leaned forward to kiss her nose. 'Terrifying. I almost feel sorry for Francie.'

'You should.' Rory made a fist with her right hand and rubbed it against her chest. 'I'm totally going to kick her butt the next time she tries to mess with me.' She blew on her fist, glancing nonchalantly at Jess out of the corner of her eye.

Jess was fighting to keep his normal, impassive straight face as his girlfriend adopted her fighting persona. 'I feel like I should alert the feds.'

Rory was giggling as she settled back onto her stool, but quickly her face turned serious. 'Jess? What are you going to do about work?'

Eyebrows raised, Jess blew out a slow breath and shrugged. He was good at shrugging, she'd noticed.

'You can't keep working there without a car, can you?'

'Not unless you can teach me to fly,' he joked lightly, grabbing the coffee pot to refill her cup.

'Are you going to ask Luke for more diner shifts then?'

Jess set the coffee pot down and then paused a moment, before turning back to Rory.

'What do you know about publishing?'

***************************

'Thank you so much for doing this Luke.'

'Ah, don't worry about it.'

'But I do worry. It's just, you were so amazing last night, the way you and Bert fixed the bathroom sink, that when Mrs Jakowski called me and said the sink in her room was leaking, you were the first person I thought of. Not sure why I did that. I'd normally call Mike. Oh! Mike's on holiday. That's right. So naturally, I figured the only person left in Stars Hollow that would be able to prevent the Terrible Flood of 2003 at the Independence Inn, would be you. And Bert. Can I call Bert a person?'

Luke gripped the edge of the bathroom cabinet and hoisted himself back onto his feet. 'Lorelai? Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?'

Lorelai stared at him, blinking in apparent confusion before staggering back theatrically. 'I…what? I talk…too much?'

Luke shook his head at her behaviour and started packing away his tools. 'Well, you can tell Mrs Jakowski that her sink is fixed. No more leaks.'

'What was wrong with it?'

Luke eyed her curiously and seemed to hesitate before answering with a shrug. 'Oh just…stuff.'

'Stuff?'

'Do you really want me to explain it to you?'

'Oh, right, sorry. I forgot who I was for a second.'

Luke chuckled. 'So, I'd better be getting back to the diner. If I still have one. I left Jess there by himself.'

Lorelai gave him a guilty smile. 'In that case, I'm really sorry for dragging you away. If the diner's burnt down, I promise to kill Jess for you in a clean and discrete manner. No way will you be implicated in the crime.'

'Nah, it's okay. He's getting better. Almost seems responsible some times. Did you hear about his car?'

'The Deathmobile? No. What about it?'

'It broke down last night-'

Lorelai couldn't hold back the scoff, Luke's words elicited. Luke frowned and glared at her momentarily before continuing. 'It broke down and then got stripped by car thief types before we could pick it up…Car thieves. Is that what you call them? They didn't steal the car. Engine thieves? Wheel stealers?'

'Oh Luke, that's terrible,' Lorelai said honestly, genuinely regretting her earlier dismissal of Jess's misfortune.

Luke shrugged. 'That's life. He's going to have to give up his Wal-Mart job now.'

'Oh. Can't he use your truck?' Lorelai asked, not too keen about Jess having more time to spend with Rory. Although she had accepted her daughter's relationship, Jess still made her nervous. One of the silver linings of the situation was that Jess having two jobs kept him satisfactorily busy during hours when supervision wasn't possible or practical.

But Luke was shaking his head. 'I thought about loaning him the truck, but he didn't seem too thrilled. It'd get complicated. Coordinating schedules. He'd be wanting the truck when I need it, then I'd be out with it when he'd get a call asking him to cover an extra shift or whatever…So he's gonna give up Wal-Mart and find something else.'

Lorelai perked up again. 'Something else?'

'Yeah. He said he'd been goobling something at school on the computer. I'm not sure what that means.'

Lorelai laughed at Luke's ignorance. 'Did he maybe say googling?'

'Whatever. He's looking for more work anyway, so…you don't have to worry.'

Immediately Lorelai feigned nonchalance. 'Worry? What would I worry about? I'm not worried!'

'You were too. You were worried about him and Rory having more time to…to hang out. I know you.'

Lorelai was momentarily surprised at how easily Luke had read her thoughts, but quickly dismissed the implications of that in favour of mocking him. 'Hang out?' she asked with a chuckle. 'Is that what you call it? Is that what Butch Danes used to do with his high school girlfriends?'

And true to form, Luke reacted as expected. 'Ah, jeez Lorelai!' he said, as his hands reached up to adjust his hat.

Grabbing Bert, Lorelai led the way out of Mrs Jakowski's room and back downstairs to the front desk, where Michel was sorting through papers with a scowl on his face. He looked up as they approached.

'Is it fixed?'

Lorelai nodded. 'Yes Michel. It's fixed. You can let Mrs Jakowski know.'

The phone on the desk started to ring, but Michel eyed Luke suspiciously before answering it. 'Will it stay fixed? I do not trust plumbers who wear flannel and do not remove their hats in doors.'

Throwing an annoyed glance at Michel, Lorelai turned straight to Luke as she handed Bert back. 'Ignore him. Or hit him. I'm fine with either.'

Luke just grunted. Over the years he'd learnt to ignore the digs at his clothing choices. Lorelai was about to speak again when Michel's voice cut her off, raising significantly as he spoke into the phone.

'No Mr. Lindermann, we are not able to provide you with an extra room at this time…Because you did not book one! You reserved three rooms, so we have three rooms for you… Well maybe you should cancel them!' Michel sighed heavily. 'Fine. You can speak to the boss.'

Lorelai's face blanched at this and she smiled apologetically at Luke as she moved to take the phone from Michel. 'I'm sorry Luke. I need to…'

He nodded in understanding and started to head for the door. 'Okay. I'll see you later.'

'Yeah I'm meeting Rory at the diner for dinner anyway. We'll hang out.'

'Uh…'

Lorelai looked curiously at Luke, trying to work out why he'd suddenly frozen in his tracks. A split second later she remembered their conversation from minutes earlier. From the look on his face, Luke had been remembering the same thing, but by now was pulling himself together. Lorelai laughed awkwardly. 'I mean, we'll…'

'Yeah. Sure. Okay.'

'Okay.'

'Bye.'

'Bye!'

Taking the phone from Michel and almost tripping over her own feet as she rounded the counter, Lorelai watched Luke's back retreating through the door and wondered why the hell her hands were suddenly unsteady.

*********************

Rory stood in her old bedroom, rifling through the papers on her desk. She found it amusing to see notes scribbled across legal pads for ideas for articles and assignments. Particularly in depth notes for an article on the Middle-Eastern conflict, that she knew would never be published. In approximately two weeks time, Paris would pull the story, announcing that the idea was too over done. She sighed to herself, wondering how much the world would spin off its axis if she could share what she knew was coming in the future with the people here.

'Ha! Found you.' she victoriously unearthed her high school date planner from the disaster zone of her desk. Manipulating the future was much easier when you could figure out the exact dates of certain events. She picked up a pen and was about to start copying the pertinent details into a notebook when she heard the front door open and her own voice rambling excitedly.

'…that would be perfect! I can't believe you never thought of this before. I can't believe I never thought of it before. Okay, you grab sodas and the Oreos from the cupboard. I'll turn on my laptop.'

Heart racing, Rory rocketed out of the desk chair and spun around to scan her room for a hiding place. She was about to head for the wardrobe when her own footstep on the other side of the door sent her diving for cover on the floor, from which point she rather smoothly rolled under her bed. As the door swung open she grinned, quite pleased with herself for her wicked fast reaction. Her pride was short lived however, as she realised that her rolling had left one of her legs bent rather awkwardly under the other. It was going to be annoying as hell, but she daren't adjust it for fear of making a noise. Crap.

A voice called from the kitchen. 'How many Oreos?' That was Jess. Stupid question Jess. Have you forgotten who you're talking to?

'That's a stupid question,' she heard herself respond. 'Have you forgotten who you're talking to?' Wow, okay, that's weird.

She heard more footsteps moving into the room and Jess spoke again. 'Sorry. No. My bad. And I actually found two boxes.'

'My hero! Soda please?'

There was the sound of cans being popped open and cookies being munched as Rory relaxed into the ground and stared up at the bed springs above her.

'So where do we start looking?'

The bed dipped and Rory could imagine herself settling down against the pillows, sitting cross legged with her laptop on her knees.

'I started with google. Didn't get very far. The librarian kept looking at me like she was going to come after me with a pitch fork.' There was a creak as Jess spun the desk chair around a couple of times and sat down in it, his chest against the back, rolling closer to the bed.

'Ooh, was that Mrs Pottney? She is scary. Any time a boy goes near a computer she starts pacing around like she thinks they're going to look at porn or…or something.'

Rory heard Jess chuckle and somehow knew that her younger self was blushing.

'Exactly!' Jess was saying. 'Because of course, the school library is exactly the place to do that.'

More joking followed and Rory knew that Jess was trying to talk her blushing self out of her embarrassment at having brought up porn. Eventually though, the conversation moved on. They always do.

'Okay, I've got a list of publishing companies in the area. Or, in Hartford at least.'

'Anything that won't need me to have a car?'

Older Rory grimaced guiltily at that, but tried to remind herself that it was all for his own good.

There was a sigh from the teenage Rory before she replied. 'Is it really an unrealistic idea for you to learn to fly?'

Jess chuckled dryly. 'That bad, huh?'

'They're all in Hartford. And none of them are really near a bus route.' Both teenagers groaned in frustration.

Under the bed, Rory wanted to do the same, until her younger version saved the day. 'Call them anyway.'

'What?'

'At least find out if you can get work with them. I mean, you're only looking for stuff after school, right? The hours wouldn't be like your crazy Wal-Mart hours. I'm sure Luke could lend you his truck some days.'

Jess hummed in agreement, trying to sound thoughtful, although both Rorys sensed his hesitation. Of course only the Rory hiding under her bed understood where it came from; Jess didn't want to just work after school.

'Come on! Call them.' She recognised the sound of the phone handset being turned on and had to smile at how persistent that Rory was and how optimistic. She idly wondered when she'd lost that…Ugh. Deep thoughts. Save them for later.

There was amusement in Jess's tone. 'Rory it's nearly six.'

'So?'

'Business hours are over.'

'Oh. Damn.'

She wanted to chuckle. She swore she could hear the pout in her own voice. The thought was confirmed when she heard Jess concede, 'Don't worry. I promise I'll call them tomorrow.' Yeah. That pout works every time.

'All of them?'

'Every publishing house in the US. I'll just keep calling them all until one of them offers me a job,' he joked, before pausing thoughtfully. 'I bet there'd be stuff in New York…' Both Rorys tensed at this.

'New York?'

'Yeah. You know, the big city? I'm sure you've heard of it…' Jess's voice had gotten teasing.

The dips in the bed above Rory's head were shifting about now and she didn't hear herself respond to Jess's question. She did, however, hear the unmistakable sound of kissing. It freaked her out a little, to consider exactly what was going on above her. Was she going to have to lie here and listen to herself make out with Jess?

Finally there was a break in the silence and teenage Rory stated seriously, 'You can't apply to just anywhere in the country, because then you could end up too far away from Stars Hollow.'

Of course, everyone in the room knew that it wasn't Stars Hollow that Rory was worried about Jess leaving.

'Stars Hollow?' Jess asked lightly. Rory ignored him and more smooching noises followed.

'Jess?'

'Rory?'

'Don't go back to New York. We'll find you a job nearby…we will!'

'Don't panic. I'm not going anywhere yet. I was just thinking out loud.'

'But would you really go back to…?'

There was a lengthy pause and from her position under the bed, Rory could only imagine what was going on above her.

Finally there was a manly sigh. 'Nah. It's too far away.'

Both Rorys relaxed at this, but both had to cover their sighs of extreme relief. There was some shifting again on the bed above her and Rory knew Jess was making out with her. She actually felt jealous of herself, which she was sure was a ridiculous notion. In her high school years, the situation hadn't often arisen for her and Jess to be alone for this long. The thought suddenly struck her that this could progress to more than just making out, but seeing her own legs flop off the edge of the bed, she dismissed the idea.

'Okay, copy these places down and call them tomorrow,' Rory instructed, then let out a yelp. 'And do it quick, 'cos I'm supposed to meet my Mom in the diner in three minutes and if I'm late....'

'Ah shit. She's going to kill me!'

The teenagers both sprang into action and were soon hurrying from the bedroom. Rory heard the front door close and immediately rolled on her side, slowly unfolding her leg and groaning as the sensation of pins and needles shot through it. She wasn't too bothered about the pain though, because as she hauled herself slowly back to her feet she was too busy being excited that her scheming seemed to be paying off.

After copying out the details she'd come to get from her diary, she slipped quickly out the back door of the house and headed back to the centre of the town.

A/N: I was starting to feel like I was sort of treading water, 'cos the next 'significant event' I want to mess with is technically still a few weeks away. Halfway through writing this chapter though, I got a couple more ideas about things future Rory could do to mess with the world. Fun fun fun! Stay tuned. And review!!