Chapter Seven
Rory awoke the next morning, surprised she had slept for twelve hours without waking up once. It took her a few moments to realize that she was still in her mother's bedroom but realization came to her when she turned around and saw Lorelai laying next to her, eyes open and staring.
"Morning," said Lorelai softly.
Rory groaned and closed her eyes again. "I can't believe I slept that long."
"You were tired. I guess you haven't been getting much sleep lately,"
Rory opened her eyes and gave her mother a look. "Mom,"
Lorelai grinned. "Sorry. What do you say we go to Luke's for breakfast? I'm sure you miss it there."
Rory smiled slightly. "It's been five weeks, not five years but…yeah, I have. Especially the coffee."
"Well, the coffee has been lacking lately since Luke isn't around but he's due back today so,"
Rory noticed that her mother had a large, dopey grin on her face the moment she mentioned Luke.
"It must have been weird not having Luke around," commented Rory, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I guess you missed him…"
Lorelai remained laying down and stared at her daughter, not saying a word.
"What did I say something?"
"Well…I have to talk to you about something." Rory sat down at the foot of her mother's bed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Shoot," she said.
"Um, Luke and I are…officially dating."
Rory's eyes widened. "Wow…that's….when did this happen?"
"I told you about the wedding and how we danced and the night of the inn's test run we…kissed."
"You kissed? Like…kiss, kiss?"
"Well it certainly was one hell of a kiss. Might have even been a kiss, kiss, kiss." Lorelai paused. "I wanted to tell you, obviously but…well, when I got back to the house things sort of escalated."
Rory groaned. "I'm a terrible person."
"No, Rory…you're not."
"Here you were having the best night, kissing Luke! Getting together with Luke and I ruined everything because I didn't have any self control whatsoever."
"Rory, sweetie, you did not ruin everything."
"I ruined that night for you,"
Lorelai grinned. "There will be plenty more kisses to be had."
"Not a first kiss," mumbled Rory.
"How about you stop beating yourself up, take a shower and we'll head to Luke's."
Rory sighed and stood up. "I shouldn't be allowed Luke's."
"Yes you should." said Lorelai following her daughter out of her bedroom. "Although you always were better at punishing yourself that I was,"
Forty minutes later, Lorelai and Rory were seated at the counter in Luke's. Lorelai was craning her neck to look into the kitchen to see if Luke was around but she pouted when she didn't see anyone.
"Maybe he's not coming back till later," said Rory, noting her mother's disappointment.
"Maybe," Lorelai sighed. "Hey Ceaser, can we have two very large coffees?"
"Make that two small coffees." said Luke, who had entered the diner from his apartment.
Lorelai sat up straighter, a smile appearing on her face. "You're here?"
"This is my diner," said Luke, although he was smiling also.
Rory looked between the two of them, feeling a bit uncomfortable. They continued to smile at each other and Rory was about to politely interrupt but the bell above the door did the job for her.
"Jess?" asked Luke, staring at the person who had walked in.
Rory spun around in her chair and looked at Jess who was standing at the entrance, a determined look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I need to talk to you,"
Rory glanced at her mother who was looking a little worried, but she nodded at Rory nonetheless. "Can we use your apartment, Luke?" asked Rory.
Luke nodded, looking more confused by the minute.
"What the hell is that all about?" asked Luke, once Rory and Jess disappeared behind the curtain.
"You have been gone a long time, buddy." said Lorelai. "Where do I begin? Well, the night we…well, the night of the test run, I went back to the house to find Rory and to get a few things when I found Rory and Jess together."
"Together…you mean they were hanging out?"
"Oh they were just about finished 'hanging out'."
"The little punk, I'll kill him…"
"Wait, I'm not finished," said Lorelai. "Rory then tells me that she and Jess had purchased an apartment and were now living together."
Luke looked stunned; it was almost comical, in Lorelai's opinion.
"Then, when Richard and Emily found out about it they threatened to stop paying for Yale."
"What? Rory can't drop out of Yale!"
"Your nephew seemed to think so too. He decided that Rory should move out, they got into a fight and now we're here and I'm still waiting for my coffee."
Luke moved to Lorelai's side of the counter and sat down. "I've been gone a long time."
Lorelai smiled at him and touched his shoulder lightly. "You have,"
"I can't believe they had sex. I could kill him for that."
"Rory is nineteen, Luke. I had sex a lot younger than that. She's officially an adult."
"Still, this is Rory! She's supposed to wait until…I don't know… marriage or something."
Lorelai giggled. "Alright, simmer down Sister Mary Katherine."
Luke sighed and stared at Lorelai. "How have you been?"
"I was pretty bad for awhile because Rory wasn't talking with me. But now I'm alright…I was just worried about her."
"You should have called me," he said, touching her leg lightly.
"I didn't want to bother you."
"You wouldn't have been bothering me."
Lorelai grinned. "Well, now I know that for the next time I have a crisis on my hands and you're not around."
Luke smirked. "Good."
They leaned into each other and their lips touched for just a moment before a cry was heard outside. Both Luke and Lorelai pulled apart to find Miss Patty staring at them through the window, a shocked look on her face.
"Uh-oh," said Lorelai, cringing. She watched as Miss Patty hurried off and she turned to face Luke who was shaking his head. "Welcome back?"
Rory and Jess walked up to Luke's apartment silently and remained silent when they stepped inside.
"So you went to your moms?" asked Jess after a few moments of just standing around.
Rory nodded and stepped closer to him. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Snapped?" asked Jess, amused. "That was a little more than snapped."
"I know…I lost it. I don't even know why exactly . I knew everything you were saying was true but…I guess I didn't want to admit to myself that we made a mistake."
"We didn't make a mistake; it's just not the right time. It doesn't have to be all or nothing with us." said Jess. "We can still be together and not live together."
"What are you going to do with the apartment?" asked Rory.
"I think I'm going to keep it," said Jess. "That way I can be close to you when you're at Yale. You can even spend the night there a few nights…"
Rory grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh, I will be definitely spending the night there. Are you going to be able to afford it on your own?"
"I think I can swing it. So, we're good?"
Rory kissed him lightly. "We're great. I'm sorry this didn't work out, though Jess."
"Me too. It was nice living with you."
"It was nice,"
"I guess it will be something we'll look forward to for the future."
Rory kissed him again, this time deepening the kiss. They pulled apart a few moments later and rested their foreheads against each others. "I can't wait,"
Jess smiled and kissed her again.
"I'm glad you finally got to see the place," said Rory as she, Jess, Luke and her mother helped move Rory's things to Lorelai's home.
Lorelai nodded and wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "It's nice,"
"You don't mean that,"
"I do. It's cute. I'm sure Jess will enjoy living here."
"Living here without me, you mean."
"The offer still stands," said Luke, looking at his nephew. "Your bed is still there. You're welcome to stay at the diner."
"Letting me work there weekends for extra cash is more than enough," said Jess, smiling slightly at his uncle. "Thanks,"
"It will be nice to have you in Stars Hollow again, even if it is just for the weekend." said Rory, walking towards Jess. "It's been lonely there without you."
"Yeah, and much less eventful." said Lorelai.
Rory glared at her mother slightly before taking Jess' hand in hers. "Is that all of it?" she asked.
"I think so," said Jess. "I'll walk you down to your car."
The two left, leaving Luke and Lorelai alone.
"Thanks for helping out, Luke." said Lorelai, walking towards him.
"It was no problem," said Luke, wrapping his arm around her. "You happy she's coming home?"
"Yeah, I am. I missed her being there. I just wish she was a little more enthused about it."
"She's nineteen. She was just told she couldn't live with her boyfriend. She's happy to be home, believe me; you just have to give her time."
"It was nice of you to let Jess work at the diner. That way Rory will spend her weekends in Stars Hollow because lord knows she's going to be here every chance she gets."
"Not every chance," said Luke, tightening his grip on her. "She still loves to hang out with you."
"Who me? The evil mom who made her move out of her sex pad?"
Luke cringed. "Lorelai…"
"Well it's true. If I were her, I would hate me too."
"This is Rory we're talking about. She could never hate you."
Lorelai sighed. "I guess so. I did the right thing, right?"
"Of course you did. Any mother would have done the same, and Rory is going to be very grateful you did this in the long run, too."
Lorelai smiled. "You always know what to say."
Luke grinned and leaned down to kiss her. They remained kissing for a few minutes until someone cleared their throat, causing them to break apart.
"Please, I need to live here." said Jess, standing in the doorway.
"Sorry," said Lorelai.
"The amount of times I walked in on you and Rory kissing in my apartment makes up for it,"
Jess smirked and clapped his uncle on the back. "I suppose you're right."
"Rory's in the car?" asked Lorelai.
"Yup, just waiting for you."
Lorelai nodded and patted Jess' shoulder. "Thanks again, Jess."
Jess gave Lorelai a half nod and watched as she and Luke left the apartment, leaving him by himself.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I know it took me awhile to update. This summer is a busy one. Work is completely killing me and for some bizarre reason, I've gained a social life outside of my computer. I know, I'm thinking of calling the newspapers to let them in on the scoop.
