Chapter Ten – A Question, An Answer and a Visitor
A/N: Hi everyone! First of all, thank you to all those who have reviewed all my chapters of my story. Second of all… (drumroll please) here's Chapter 10! I'm sorry that this took so long but I had evil exams. I never forgot my story though and I started writing little bits of it every now and then in a notebook. So here it is! I hope you enjoy it!
Lorelai Gilmore sat at the kitchen table admiring and playing with the ultrasound photo of her and Luke's baby. She turned it to the side and flipped it around. Lorelai had attempted throwing it into the air earlier but that resulted in the photo almost getting dirty on the floor. Lorelai eventually gave up on playing with the photo and stuck it to the fridge. At that moment, she heard her husband Luke arrive home. Lorelai spun around to greet him but started to fall. Luckily Luke was there in time to save her. Lorelai sat down on the ground as Luke reached down to kiss her. Lorelai quickly got up and directed her husband towards the direction of the fridge.
"Wow. Is that our little Nick or Nora?" Luke enquired.
"Yep but I like the names Sid and Nancy better. Good thing there is only one little baby and not twins. I couldn't deal with twins. Rory used to go to school with a pair of twins in Stars Hollow Elementary and I was convinced that they were evil, grow up and take over the world and get rid of only children. I told Rory this story and she still doesn't go near them." Lorelai joked and Luke eventually started to pull ingredients out of the fridge for dinner. "You know, it's probably a good thing that I married you because now, our fridge is always full. When it was just Rory and I, we either had nothing or funny flavoured Cokes." Lorelai kissed her husband once again and started to head towards the bathroom for a shower.
"Oh, Lorelai! Can you please wait a second?" Luke called to his wife. Lorelai slowly stepped back down the stairs. "We need to set up Rory's old room for a guest."
"Who's coming?" Lorelai asked.
"Jess is coming to stay for a few days here. He's just coming for a visit, you know. I guess it's April's new room too. Not to mention little No-Name on the way. Should we get a bigger house?" Luke babbled on and Lorelai nodded, indicating that the guest room would be set up. Lorelai went back up the stairs to have her shower.
The following Monday morning was an ordinary day at the Connecticut Daily News as everyone worked frantically to ensure that they met their deadlines. Rory Gilmore typed as fast as she could when Cooper looked over her shoulder to see the progress of her story.
"You spelt a word wrong." Cooper whispered in her ear. Rory jumped at his sudden appearance and nearly fell off of her chair. Cooper was able to catch her before she fell to the ground.
"Thanks," Rory mumbled quietly as she started to blush again.
"Rory, are you okay?" Cooper enquired. Rory nodded her head in response as she continued to work. "It's just – actually, can we please talk in my office?" Cooper left for his office to wait for Rory. Rory glanced nervously towards Angela who decided to come around to Rory's desk.
"What do I do?" Rory asked in a panicked manner.
"Can I give you a bit of advice?" Angela offered and at that Rory could only nod. "First of all, relax and remember to breathe. Second of all, it's probably not the best idea to date your boss. Chances are that it is frowned upon. However, you guys do seem to like each other and if anything does happen, I promise that my lips are sealed. I'll always be on your side. Third of all, you should probably go to his office now." Angela stood up and went back to her desk to continue working on her story. Rory breathed deeply to gather herself and get ready to leave.
"Thanks Angie," Rory said as she made her way to Cooper's office.
Cooper was half-sitting on his desk when Rory finally entered.
"You wanted to see me boss?" Rory asked as she closed the door behind herself.
"As a boss, it is my job to ensure that everyone writes and meets their deadline, to ensure that this paper comes out every morning and to look after the welfare of my employees. Are you sure you're okay?" Cooper questioned. Rory tried to calm herself down although it wasn't working very well.
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine." Rory tried to show that she was fine.
"It's just that I seem to be bothering you a bit."
Rory remembered the first time this had happened and Dean had thought that he was bothering her. She had told him that she was definitely interested in him. She was only 15 at the time. A lot of time had passed between then and now. Rory then remembered when she had first slept with Dean and he was married.
"You're not bothering me at all. You're great. You're a great boss." Rory said.
Cooper reminded her of all her recent 'klutz moments' from spilling coffee and knocking over napkins to the most recent event of almost falling out of her chair. "I was also wondering, if you would like to get a cup of coffee with me sometime?" Cooper threw in and Rory was stunned that her boss might be asking her out.
"Are you seriously asking me out?" Rory asked to clarify and Cooper simply nodded. Rory remembered when her mother was dating her English teacher, Max Medina at Chilton. They had clearly both moved on since then and Rory was happy for them both. "I don't think that's such a great idea. It's probably frowned upon to date your boss. It's almost like when my Mom dated my English teacher in High School." Rory was stunned that she had said this out loud to a complete stranger. "Oops." Rory looked down at the ground in embarrassment.
"Do you want to go?" Cooper let this new information about Rory's past slide away.
"Yes, wait, no, I can't. We could both lose our jobs. If that happens, I'll never get to work at The New York Times." Rory rambled on.
"We both do our jobs well. It could work if we didn't get distracted and this type of stuff happens all the time in books and movies. Let me know when you do decide." At that, Rory left Cooper's office without another word.
'What am I doing?' Jess Mariano thought to himself as he drove in the night on his way to Stars Hollow. 'Come and visit your Uncle Luke and your new Aunt Lorelai for a few days here in Stars Hollow,' Jess relayed the phone conversation from yesterday between him and Luke in his head. He couldn't believe he was going back. He could never believe he was going to Stars Hollow. As a rebellious teenager, he was dragged away from New York and stuck in a small Connecticut town that no one had ever heard of. After the car accident, he moved back to Stars Hollow after being sent home to New York. There was only one reason that he had moved back or stayed there for so long at all: Rory Gilmore. Perhaps she was the reason he was going back now. Perhaps she was the reason he had agreed to visit Luke and Lorelai. Also, his new Aunt Lorelai? He and Lorelai had never truly gotten along, even when he was dating Rory. Perhaps he was really going back to see if Rory was also visiting Luke and Lorelai. Him and Rory were now step-cousins and he was sure that Rory would find it creepy dating him again in these circumstances. What did he call her now? Step-Cuz? Jess laughed out loud at the thought. The headlights of the car lit up the 'Welcome to Hartford, Connecticut' sign. Jess decided that this was a great place to take a break and put a few of Truncheon's new releases in some bookstores here. Jess continued to drive around and found a vaguely familiar car parked outside of a bookstore. It was a faded blue Toyota Prius that he remembered seeing when he came back to Stars Hollow and told her that he loved her. Jess wondered whether he still loved her. He probably did as he wrote The Subsect all for her. Jess parked his car in the same car park and headed into the bookstore.
Rory Gilmore tapped her pen against the Pro/Con list, trying to decide whether to date Cooper or not. She was considering going home at that point when she saw a familiar figure walk into the bookstore she was parked in front of. Immediately tossing the Pro/Con list onto the passenger seat, she ran into the bookstore before he would be able to leave. Rory wandered aimlessly through the aisles until she found him in the classic literature section. He was leaning against the bookshelf, reading a thin book. His dark hair was longer it was the last time she had seen him at Luke and Lorelai's wedding. Aside from that, he was exactly the same.
"Jess?" Rory quietly asked. Jess spun around on his heel and smiled as he saw Rory standing there.
"Hi Rory, how've you been?" Jess asked politely. Rory simply shrugged her shoulders. "Huh." Jess replied, reminding Rory of his old monosyllabic ways.
"So, what are you doing here in Hartford?" Rory finally asked.
"I'm on my way to visit Luke and Lorelai in Stars Hollow for about a week. I was going to also put some of Truncheon's new releases in here and a few other bookstores." Jess told her.
"Well, maybe I'll drop by the Hollow this weekend and we can catch up properly." Rory suggested, although she felt awkward offering it.
"That would be nice. So, what are you doing here in Hartford? You're not at The New York Times?" Jess enquired.
"No, I'm not at The New York Times yet. I live here and work here." Rory stated.
"You live here? In this bookstore?" Jess teased.
"Jess!" Rory complained although she was secretly enjoying his company.
"Am I standing where you sleep? I could move if you want me to." Jess continued to tease Rory who had crossed her arms over her chest at that point.
"I work at the Connecticut Daily News and I live in an apartment, here in Hartford." Rory stated and Jess simply nodded along.
"Are you going to continue to drive to Stars Hollow tonight? Where are you staying?" Rory enquired and it was Jess' turn to shrug.
"I was going to drive to Stars Hollow tonight but I'm pretty tired at the moment. I drove here from Philadelphia today." Jess stated.
"Well, you know, you could always crash at my place tonight and sleep on the couch. It's a comfortable couch." Rory hesitantly offered and Jess decided to take her up on her offer. At that, Rory and Jess left the bookstore to have dinner together.
Rory ran ahead into her apartment and started to clean up her mess and threw her Pro/Con list onto the couch.
"Need more time to clean up?" Jess asked as he waited outside the door. They had gone to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and Rory sped off ahead of Jess to clean up her apartment.
"Dammit!" Rory cursed as she threw her clothes in her room and cleaned her apartment. "Come on in!" Rory yelled out to Jess who took that as an invitation to do so. Jess sat down on the couch and he realised that he was sitting on a pad of paper.
"Pro/Con List of Dating Cooper?" Jess read aloud and gave Rory a wary look.
"What?" Rory questioned as she sat down. She felt herself flush at his name.
"So who's the guy?" Jess enquired.
"What guy?" Rory questioned back.
"The guy you're contemplating dating and wrote a whole Pro/Con list for. The guy who could jeopardise a position at The New York Times if you dated him and things ended badly. The guy whose name sounds like he should be a cherub cupid carrying a bow and arrow and striking hopeless romantics instead of having a decent job as a journalist, I assume?" Jess read aloud
"Oh, him." Rory said in hopes of satisfying him.
"Did you write a Pro/Con list for me in High School?" Jess asked.
"At some stage, yes. Not when I visited you in New York or kissed you at Sookie and Jackson's wedding. I think it was around when we started to become friends." Rory admitted.
"What about Dean? Or that Yale rich blond jerk?" Jess scoffed. "I thought you would've married him by now and be living a rich, comfortable, stuffy life."
"He asked me to marry him, right before I graduated from Yale." Rory stated. "Obviously I rejected him as I'm not living a 'rich, comfortable, stuffy life.'" Rory quoted. "Well you can obviously sleep here on the couch. I'm sorry that I don't have anything better for you."
"It's fine." Jess stated and Rory left to get him blankets and pillows. "I want my pillow mints." Jess joked and Rory simply laughed at his comment.
Rory fumbled her way through the dark from her bedroom to the kitchen. She instinctively switched the light on and saw Jess at the sink, filling up a glass of water. He turned around to see Rory standing at the door beside the switch.
"I'm sorry." Rory apologised and saw Jess simply shrug.
"Hey, it's your place." Jess turned around to look at Rory. Rory carefully walked further into the kitchen as if the floor was covered with broken glass.
"I just came for a glass of water." Rory said, as she got closer to the sink. Jess politely filled a glass of water for her. Their fingers brushed slightly as he passed the drink to her. Rory stood beside the sink as she drank the water. She set the glass down on the kitchen bench. When she turned around, Jess and Rory embraced in a passionate kiss. Rory felt Jess leading her back to her bedroom. As she kissed him back, all their memories came flooding back to her. Howl and Dodger. The phony murder. The Bracebridge Dinner. The Bid a Basket Festival. The car accident. Her visit to him in New York. The kiss at Sookie and Jackson's wedding. Shane. The Dance Marathon. His old James Dean attitude. The care package. The Winter Carnival. The black eye. The fight at Kyle's party. The wake up call. The Subsect. The kiss at Truncheon. She was overwhelmed with their past and she pulled away. This was wrong, Rory told herself.
"Oh my god!" Rory complained.
"Wow! That was pretty 'wow', right up until you pushed me away." Jess smiled to himself.
"Wow? Wow?! That was so not Wow! That was so wrong. It felt incestuous." Rory complained.
"Incestuous?" Jess questioned.
"Yes! My mum is married to your uncle who I've known all my life. We are step-cousins. This is totally freaky." Rory freaked out.
"What about back in high school? Was that incestuous?" Jess questioned.
"No but they weren't together then." Rory justified her argument.
"Rory, you invited me to sleep here." Jess argued.
"So you didn't crash and die from fatigue on your way to Stars Hollow. Not to mention, to sleep on the couch over there, not with me." Rory argued as she paced angrily around the kitchen.
"Oh come on!" Jess complained in frustration.
"I'm going to bed, Jess." Rory stated as she left the kitchen and switched the light off on her way. Jess was left standing alone in the dark kitchen.
The following morning, Jess Mariano drove all the way from Hartford to Stars Hollow in silence. She had promised him that she would visit him on the weekend, regardless of the incident that had occurred the previous night. He could still taste her on his lips. Jess, feeling frustrated, accidently hit the steering wheel so hard that the horn sounded. Jess had not been able to sleep afterwards and even now, he felt tired. Jess concentrated on driving to Stars Hollow in one piece, without falling asleep or crashing. He knew that he wasn't very far now. Jess felt relief wash over him as he approached the 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' sign. He couldn't ever remember feeling relieved as he entered Stars Hollow before. Jess looked around at the town as he drove to Luke and Lorelai's house. Some of his happiest memories had happened in this tiny backwards town. The memories came flooding back to him. He remembered the Bid a Basket Festival and the Winter Carnival. 'Did this happen to Rory last night?' Jess thought to himself as he remembered Rory pushing him away. Jess felt a pang in his chest and he pushed that awful memory away as he drove into the driveway.
Jess took the key out of the turtle and let himself in to the house. Jess set himself up in Rory's old room. It looked different than he remembered it before in high school. That was to be expected. After all, it had been a very long time. The Harvard paraphernalia was replaced with Yale paraphernalia. Rory's articles were stuck to the walls. The original travel posters were still there but were now faded and old. There was a trundle bed set out and Jess wondered whether he was the only visitor. Many of Rory's books had gone and all that remained were the ones placed in the only bookshelf. He assumed that Rory had taken the rest with her to Hartford. The paint looked old and faded. The sense that this was only Rory's room had long since disappeared. Jess decided to leave the house in search of the diner and let Luke know that he had arrived. As Jess walked through the town, he made note that there were no decorations for any upcoming crazy festival shindigs.
The bell chimed above the door signalling Jess' arrival into Luke's diner. The diner was packed with people at this point and Jess realised that it was the morning rush. Silence fell over everyone as they turned to stare at Jess Mariano, back at Stars Hollow. A scene that no one had expected since Luke and Lorelai's wedding. Luke looked up at Jess, who sat himself down at the counter. The usual chatter of various conversations at once resumed and everyone tried to ignore him.
"Hi Luke." Jess greeted quietly.
"Hey Jess. How are you doing?" Luke asked excitedly. "I'm really glad you're here. Your cousin April will also be coming down this evening. Aren't you glad that you're here?" Luke enquired. Jess looked Luke in the eye.
"I'm not sure yet." Jess replied.
Rory paced angrily back and forth in the CDN kitchen. Rory was relaying the story with Jess to Angela who was anxiously awaiting to hear more.
"He just kissed me." Rory stated. Angela was shocked to hear this.
"What?" Angela questioned.
"Yep, in the middle of the night. It just felt so wrong. I couldn't help it. I mean, his uncle and my mum are now married. Married! We are step-cousins. It just felt too close, which I stupidly brought up." Rory continued to pace angrily.
"No, that wasn't wrong to bring that up. It was right. How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Angela assured Rory who couldn't figure out how she was feeling.
"I don't really know. Does this mean that I'm over Jess? At least romantically?" Rory questioned and Angela agreed. "There was so much that happened between us. He was so unpredictable but he's so smart." Rory stopped pacing the kitchen when Angela made an 'awww' sound. "I guess I have an answer now." Rory stated.
Rory knocked on Cooper's door to his office. She heard a quiet 'come in' and Rory slowly twisted the doorknob. She glanced back at Angela behind her who gave her an encouraging smile. Rory entered his office and closed the door behind her. She turned to face Cooper, who seemed anxious at Rory's sudden arrival.
"Hi Rory. Can I help you with anything?" Cooper asked. Rory took a deep breath.
"I have an answer for you." Rory stated.
A/N: Would you believe it? Chapter 10 is finished! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. As you can see, it's pretty damn long. I changed bits of it and made it a bit longer because it all looks long when you write it down and it's so small when you type it up. For instance, that scene with Jess and Rory on the couch was initially in Rory's car and then I remembered Jess' car so I changed it. That's enough of my babbling. I hope you enjoyed Chapter 10 and I'll get writing Chapter 11.
-Palforpolkadots.