October 25th
"So Jess, what do you want to be for Halloween this year," Lorelai questioned the boy while they ate their dinner.
Jess and the two Gilmores were sitting at a table at Luke's having supper together as they had grown accustomed to doing over the past few weeks. Lorelai knew that when Luke had late nights in the diner Jess was left to eat alone. When she had started to see the little boy eating his dinners alone at the end of the counter, she had started asking him to sit and eat with them, an idea that Rory had loved as well. Some nights she was even able to convince Luke to take a break and sit to eat as well. One night while she was putting Rory to bed, the little girl had commented on their little 'family' dinners and how much she loved feeling like a real family. The comment had broken the mother's heart, but she had to agree with her daughter. Ever since, she made sure that the little dinners happened at least once a week.
"I'm too old to trick or treat," Jess stated as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes.
"Oh excuse me sir, I had no idea I was dining with such a mature young man," Lorelai teased.
"Jess you have to go trick or treating with me! It's our first one together! And it's getting boring going all by myself every year," Rory begged.
"Hello, I'm sitting right here! I guess I'm a nobody now," Lorelai exclaimed pretending to be hurt.
"Mooom, you know what I mean! I love trick or treating with you, but it would be so fun to go with Jess!" Rory explained, getting excited again, "C'mon Jess! Pleeeeeeease!?"
"I haven't trick or treated since I was like five," Jess admitted, still bored with the subject. Jess could remember living in New York and watching all his friends getting excited every October. They would talk enthusiastically about what costumes their parents had bought them, and the day after the holiday they would return with handfuls of candy in their lunches. He remembered the first few years after Liz had stopped taking him, he would beg his mom to get him a costume and go out to get some candy. Liz had laughed in his face, telling the little boy that trick or treating was for little kids and that he needed to grow up.
The first year that she refused to take him, the six-year old decided he would just go out on his own. He had waited until his mother had brought her newest fling into her room and locked the door before grabbing a sheet, cutting a few slits into it and halfheartedly throwing it over his small body. It started out fine enough. He went to a few doors behind another group of kids and after about ten minutes his bag was already half full. The night got darker and colder however, and the group of kids ran back to their parents, leaving Jess alone blocks from home and severely underdressed for the weather. It was the first of many times that the boy would be alone in the city after dark, but to the six-year old who had never experienced it before, it was terrifying. It took him a shivering hour to make it back to his apartment, hands gone white from clutching his bag of candy tightly. By the time he had reached the apartment he was a sobbing mess. Quickly, he let himself into the small house and collapsed onto his mattress in the corner of the living room, trying his best to find comfort in the mess of blankets. The next morning when his mom had woken up and the man had stumbled out, she had found the cut up sheet. Jess had gotten punished harshly for that one. He was given what his mom referred to as a 'spanking,' although Jess would soon find out that spankings didn't usually involve hits to the back, arms and stomach.
He shook the memory from his head.
"Luuuke," Lorelai called to the man behind the counter, "You need to come knock some sense into this nephew of yours! Tell him if he doesn't come trick or treating with us you'll give him a spanking!"
Jess nearly choked on his food. He knew the lady was making a joke, she was smiling wildly and she quickly stuck her tongue out at Jess. Yet, the little boy couldn't stop himself from freezing at the word. He took a few breaths to calm himself down. Luke was nothing like his mother, Jess knew that. Even the few times when his uncle had given him a few swats after he had gotten particularly mouthy over the last few months, Jess had barely blinked an eye. He wasn't scared of his uncle and he knew the swats were not meant to really harm him. But for some reason it was the word that seemed to have chilled him to the bones. The years and years that his mother had used that word, insisting she was disciplining him like all parents do. But Luke wasn't like that. Luke loved him. His uncle was always reminding him of that fact. And his uncle didn't just say it, like his mom had. His uncle proved it every single day. He made him meals, helped him with homework, brought him over to the park to play catch, ruffled his hair as he passed the boy with his nose pressed in a book. Jess' mom never did any of those things. Luke would never do anything to hurt him. The boy's brain was speeding with thought for a full minute, but he had managed to get himself calmed down enough to regain awareness of his surroundings. He exhaled feeling some relief. He was okay.
"What are you babbling about?" Luke questioned the woman as he made his way over to their table.
"Your nephew is telling us he's too old to go trick or treating," Lorelai filled the man in, "You need to fix this."
"If he doesn't want to go then he doesn't have to go," Luke stated simply.
"Luke! You are so not helping," Lorelai whined.
The man shrugged, heading back over to the cash to tend to a customer.
"Ok well we had better get home sweets," Lorelai told Rory as she took one last sip of her coffee.
"Just think about it for a few days, please Jess?" Rory tried one last time.
Jess nodded getting up as well, "I'll think about it," he gave in.
The little girl gave him a wide smile that almost made Jess give in right then and there.
"I'll see you at school!" She waved and the girls left.
Jess waved back before heading for the stairs with a shaky sigh.
Jess was lying on his bed reading when Luke came over to tuck him in.
"Okay bud, book down, time for bed."
Jess' eyes squinted, intensifying his concentration.
"Jess," Luke warned lightly.
The boy didn't move for another moment before sighing and closing his book, "I was just finishing the paragraph Uncle Luke, geez."
Luke smirked, grabbing the book from his nephew and placing it on the nightstand. He pulled the covers up over the boy's body as Jess laid down.
"Sorry you had to entertain yourself tonight. I know Wednesdays are kind of boring when I have to work so late. Did you have fun with Rory and Lorelai at least?"
Jess shrugged, "It was fine."
"Just fine?" Luke inquired carefully.
The boy shrugged again, knowing that he had to get it off his chest.
"Are you mad that I don't want to go trick or treating?" He allowed himself to ask, eyes falling to the blankets quickly.
"What? No, of course not," the uncle ensured, "I think you'd have fun, but I won't be mad if you decide not to."
"Really?" he eyed the man warily, "You wouldn't really like...spank me...like Lorelai said?" Jess could feel his cheeks going five shades of red, but he needed to calm his mind.
"What!? Lorelai was kidding, Jess. Has that been bothering you the whole night?"
The boy shrugged again, feeling extremely embarrassed with this conversation and wishing he had never started it. "Never mind, I was just joking too," he said, unconvincingly.
"Jess you know I'd never hurt you right?" Luke was starting to panic just a bit. His nephew had been through a lot and he should have known that there would still be hurdles he would have to overcome for a long time.
"I know," Jess nodded. And he really did know. He had known before he had even brought it up to his uncle, but he felt a hundred times better hearing it from Luke.
"Are you going to be okay?" Luke asked, rubbing his nephew's knee.
Jess nodded before smiling, "Yep."
"Good," Luke smiled back. It was silent for a moment before Luke spoke again. "I do think you should at least think about doing the whole Halloween thing though. You might just have fun. Plus Rory would be over the moon if you agreed."
"You don't think I'm too old?" Jess questioned, "Because Halloween really is for little kids," he pointed out, mimicking the words of his mother.
"I do not think you are too old," the diner owner assured, not disclosing the fact that he himself had stopped participating in the holiday when he had been only ten. "Besides, you still seem like a little kid to me."
"Hey!" Jess exclaimed, shoving his uncle's shoulder playfully, "Am not."
"Whatever you say kid," Luke smirked, pinching the boy's cheek. "Now it's really time for bed! Goodnight."
"Night Uncle Luke...Love you."
"Love you too...Knucklehead."
October 28th
"I'm so happy you decided to go trick or treating with us Jess!" Rory exclaimed excitedly the following Saturday.
"Yeah well just remember you promised I didn't have to wear some dumb costume," he reminded, trying to hide his own excitement.
"Jess, like I said, I will make you anything you want," Lorelai promised, getting her sewing machine and fabrics out from the closet.
"But it would be really cool if our costumes matched!" Rory commented smoothly.
"Rory, let Jess decide for himself," Lorelai interjected, aware of the conversation the boy had had with his uncle a few nights ago and still feeling incredibly guilty for causing the concern. "We want Jess to be comfortable, right?"
The young girl sighed, "Right..."
"Ok Jess so what'll it be? Vampire? Cowboy? Werewolf? Pumpkin? Your wish is my command!" The woman promised, waving her arms around.
"I don't know..." Jess thought, trying to think of something not so childish. "Something simple. Nothing flashy."
A knock on the door brought the trio out of their brainstorming session. "Come in!" Lorelai yelled from behind her sewing machine.
Luke opened the door and let himself in. "Hey," he acknowledged the room. "Jess you ready to go?"
Jess started towards his uncle and the door.
"Hold it right there young man!" Lorelai commanded, "Luke I'm sorry, but Jess cannot leave until he tells me what costume I am making him for Halloween."
"I can't think of anything good," Jess admitted, "Can't I just go as myself?"
"Not the way it works boy-o," Lorelai chimed.
"How about I'll be a witch and Jess can be my black cat!" Rory suggested excitedly.
"I don't think so," Jess shot down.
"Well Jess what do you like?" Lorelai tried to make things simpler. "Any favourite book characters? Or do you want to be an actual book?" She smirked.
"You like doing magic Jess," Luke pointed out, "Why don't you be a magician?"
Jess thought about it for a second. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad," He decided with a nod. Maybe he would even be able to practice of few of his acts out.
"How am I supposed to match my costume to that?" Rory questioned sadly.
"You could always be his magic rabbit," Lorelai suggested.
"Oh perfect!" The little girl smiled to her mom.
"Well now that we've got that sorted out, can we leave?" Luke requested.
"Yes, get outta here! No boys allowed! Right Rory?" Lorelai bellowed, pushing Luke to the door. Rory chuckled nodding her head.
"Thanks for having Jess," Luke said once they were on the porch.
"Aw we had fun," Lorelai waved her hands in a no big deal sort of way, "I'll have your costume ready soon okay Jess?"
Jess nodded and after a nudge from Luke he spoke up, "Thanks for making my costume."
"No problem kid," Lorelai smiled, "We did sort of force you to come with us didn't we?"
Jess shrugged even though he may have been secretly looking forward to the 31st.
October 31st
"Hello boys!" Lorelai sang as she entered the apartment above the diner with an arm full of costumes. She was dressed in bright colours and had a bright red nose attached to her face.
Rory hopped behind her dressed in a white bunny costume.
"Jess! Hurry up and put your costume on so mine will make sense!" She demanded.
"Rory you're a bunny, I think people will understand regardless," Lorelai pointed out.
"Yeah, but I don't want them to think that I'm just some cutesy bunny! I want them to know that we match!"
"Okay, here bud, go get ready it's starting to get dark," Lorelai handed him the costume and Jess headed towards the bathroom.
Luke watched them with a smile until he noticed Lorelai handing him a bag.
"What's that?" Luke asked warily.
"Your costume, obviously," Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Wait a minute," Luke took a step back, "I'm staying here. You were going to take Jess and I was staying here to run the diner. We already discussed this."
"Well, y'know we did discuss it, but after we had that discussion I got to thinking," Lorelai began.
"Oh no," Luke grumbled.
"Yeah, I was thinking about how it's your first holiday with Jess and it just wouldn't be right to miss out on seeing him go trick or treating!" She explained, gushing.
"I need to run the diner," Luke reminded.
"You've got Caesar and Jack down there right now and it's dead," Lorelai pointed out.
"Well...even if I did come I don't need a costume," Luke challenged.
"Nope, not the way it works buddy boy," Lorelai shook her head, "If you want to go trick or treating you have got to wear a costume!"
"But I don't WANT to go!" Luke exclaimed, waving his hands in frustration.
At this point Jess had made his way out of the bathroom and the two kids were giggling wildly at the show in front of them.
"Just go put it on," Lorelai finished, shoving the bag into his hand and pushing him towards the bathroom.
The three sat at the kitchen table while Luke changed. They waited patiently, hearing mumbling coming from the bathroom, along with some groaning and a sigh. A few minutes later, Luke was exiting the bathroom, an unimpressed expression on his face.
"Are you serious!?" Luke questioned. Looking down at his body which was covered in brightly coloured fabric resembling fish scales. In his hand he held a cap with a fish fin sewn onto the top.
Jess burst into giggles at the sight of his uncle.
"What?" Lorelai asked innocently, "You like to fish."
"And a fisherman costume wouldn't have been easier?" Luke questioned, agitated.
"Huh, well I didn't think of that!" Lorelai pondered with a grin. "C'mon cap off, fin on!"
She grabbed the ratty baseball cap from off his head and quickly replaced it with the fin. Stepping back, she admired her work with a grin.
"Ok now who's ready to do some trick or treating!" The woman clapped her hands together.
The two children whooped enthusiastically as they made their way towards the door, Luke grumbling behind them. How did he always get himself roped into these situations?
Luke and Lorelai walked side by side along the street, watching the two kids run up to each door in their path, smiles growing wider as their bags grew heavier and heavier.
"I'm so glad Jess decided to do this," Lorelai mused suddenly, "They're having a blast."
Luke nodded thoughtfully, fin flopping with the movement. "He just needs a little push every now and then. I swear that sister of mine made that boy so paranoid of his every act. It hurts to see him always trying to push away his childhood."
"Well he's lucky he's got us now to show him that he doesn't have to do that," Lorelai smiled sadly.
"Yeah. I just wish I had gotten him out of there sooner. I should have been more aware, seen the signs."
"You got him out as soon as you could have," Lorelai countered, "And he's here now. He's enjoying a fun holiday with his best friend, he's happy and loved and that's all that matters. You know," Lorelai continued after a moment, "I'm glad you decided to come out too. You can push things away just as much as Jess can. You two are way more similar than you might think."
"Like uncle like nephew huh? I guess we both sort of lost our innocence in a way," Luke agreed.
"I guess you're lucky to have me to show you that it's still there deep down, aren't you?" Lorelai smiled.
Luke stared at the woman in front of him for a moment before smiling, "you bet."
The couple walked a little further, a comfortable silence between them. Slowly, Lorelai's hand crept over to the man's, fingers slipping through his until they were locked.
Another moment went by before the woman whispered softly, "This okay?"
Luke glanced at her slowly, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He nodded once and squeezed her hand a little tighter. The kids ran past them and hand in hand they followed them to the next house.
A/N- Ok this was supposed to be a lighthearted chapter but it seems little Jess had a story to tell first. I just didn't want it to seem like Jess had just moved on from his old life. It is still affecting him a lot. But I hope there was still enough fluff to make up for it :)
Please review and let me know what you think!