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Chapter Ten: You Can Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Jess dropped down into his chair, relieved that it was finally over. He had given his speech and toasted the happy couple. His duties as best man were officially taken care of, and now he could relax.

Rory stood up next and gave her maid of honor speech, sharing many wacky stories of her and her mom's adventures. The end turned heartfelt and sincere, and by the time she raised her glass, there weren't many dry eyes left in the crowd. Lorelai stood up from her seat at the head table and embraced her daughter tightly as the gathering applauded. When they pulled back, they began wiping each other's eyes, laughing at the effort to salvage their makeup.

Next, the photographer, Kirk, ushered the couple over to cut the cake. Jess watched them go and was surprised when Rory plopped down beside him instead of following the guests to the cake table. She took in a shaky breath, her eyes a little red rimmed.

"Well, I didn't expect that to happen," she said, laughing at herself and smoothing out the skirt of her dress self-consciously.

Jess smirked. "So much for the theory that just saying what's on your heart is easy, huh?" he mocked good-humoredly.

Rory narrowed her eyes at him with a mild scowl.

"Hang on a second!" Jess exclaimed in exaggerated alarm. "Is this the infamous withering stare?"

Rory laughed, rolling her eyes at the reference from their day in New York.

"I can't believe you remember that," she laughed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, I remember," he said, laughing as well. "I've got a memory like an elephant." A half-truth. He couldn't remember a lot of things that had happened in school, with Shane, or at his various jobs, but when it came to Rory, everything was high definition. Every word, every touch, every kiss was permanently ingrained in his memory. He couldn't forget even if he wanted to.

The crowd began cheering, and the two looked over in time to see Luke and Lorelai smear cake across each other's faces. Laughing and shouts of encouragement resonated throughout the crowd, but before a full-out food fight could start with her masterpiece as the ammunition, Sookie stepped in as referee, much to the group's disappointment. As Sookie calmly began cutting the cake, the guests began forming a line.

Rory laughed at the spectacle, a sound that Jess never tired of.

"What kind of cake do you want?" she asked, standing up.

"Hm. Surprise me," he answered.

Jess watched as she got in line next to Paris, and the two immediately struck up a conversation. Paris's loud, monotonous voice carried across the square, obviously impassioned by the subject matter. From what he could tell, she was talking politics as per usual.

As he looked away, he accidently made eye contact with Lorelai. She was laughing with Babette and Miss Patty, wiping the last remnants of icing off her cheek. Her smile faded a little when she noticed Jess, her expression thoughtful. Glancing to where Rory stood in line, and back at him, she excused herself and started in his direction.

Jess quickly averted his eyes, cursing himself for not doing so sooner. He could feel his blood pressure escalate as dread seeped into his chest.

The rustling of fabric alerted Jess to Lorelai's presence as she sat down in the chair that Rory had occupied moments before. He immediately straightened, on edge. After all, he hadn't spoken to Lorelai one-on-one since he was a seventeen year old delinquent who happened to be dating her daughter. He was also the guy who had dumped said daughter without even having the guts to do it in person. Lorelai's opinion of him hadn't been spectacular then, and he was positive it could only be worse now.

Bracing himself for the onslaught, he warily met her gaze.

"Hi, Jess," she said with a friendly smile.

Jess nodded and attempted a smile in return.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked, putting off whatever real reason she had for talking to him.

"Yep," he answered stiffly.

"That was a nice speech you gave," she complimented him. "I know Luke really appreciated it."

"Thanks," he replied awkwardly.

"Are you going to get some cake? Sookie's cake is outstanding."

"Uh, Rory actually went up to get us some," he said, growing more anxious by the second. He wished she would just say what she had come to say.

Lorelai nodded, her glance going to Rory who was about halfway through the cake line, still in conversation with the heated Paris.

"Look," she began abruptly, "you and Rory have been through a lot."

Here we go... he thought, preparing himself for the worst.

"And I know that you and I have never been on the best of terms," she said tactfully. "But, I wanted to say…thank you."

Surprised was an understatement. Floored was closer. Astonished seemed to fit the best. She wanted to thank him? Where was this coming from?

His reaction must have been written all over his face because Lorelai smiled. "I know, right? You probably would have never thought I'd have anything to thank you for," she chuckled.

"Nothing that comes to mind," he answered, trying to regain his composure.

"Well, I do," she replied in all seriousness. "If it wasn't for your visit to Rory a couple years back, I don't know where she'd be right now."

Finally, Jess' brain connected the dots. This was about when Rory was taking time off from Yale. When he had come to give her a copy of his novel and tell her that he couldn't have done it without her. He initially tried to keep his thoughts about her choices to himself, but in the end he couldn't take it anymore. He had more or less yelled at her, but it was only because he was worried about the direction her life was headed in. He wasn't going to let her throw away her dreams like that.

"Nothing I said, nothing I tried got through to her," Lorelai continued earnestly, pulling him back to the present. "But whatever it was that you did, it worked. She was lost and you helped pull her through."

Jess squirmed, uncomfortable at her praise. "She would've figured it out sooner or later," he shrugged.

"Well, whether that's the case or not, thank you, Jess," she said resolutely, standing up.

Jess nodded, and she smiled and went to join her husband.

Moments later, Jess watched Rory approach juggling three plates piled with cake. Jess stared at her incredulously.

"Is any of that for me?" he asked, shaking his head as she carefully set the plates down.

"If you're good," she consented.

"You know, when I said surprise me, I didn't have this in mind," he laughed.

"I got a piece of every flavor," she said, ignoring his comment as she sat down. At his raised eyebrow, she explained, "Mom couldn't decide on just one or two flavors of cake, so she made every layer half and half of two different flavors. We've got Swiss Chocolate, Marble, Strawberry, Funfetti, Yellow, Red Velvet, Lemon, Spice Cake, Dark Chocolate Fudge, and White with raspberry filling."

Jess surveyed the massive amount of dessert. "Wow," was all he could think to say.

Rory grinned and handed him a fork. "Shall we?"

For the next hour, the two talked about anything from books to movies and music. They discussed the movies they had seen, both critiquing and praising. They talked about bands they had discovered, as well as the bands that just needed to stay in the garage. When it came to books, they were mainly trying to persuade the other into reading the ones they loved, all the while plowing through the piles of cake.

"Mmm!" Rory exclaimed, her mouth full of Funfetti cake. She swallowed. "Have you heard anything by Owl City?"

"You mean the insomniac who lives in his parents' basement?" Jess scoffed, stabbing another forkful of the Yellow cake.

"Mm-hmm," she giggled through another mouthful.

"Yeah, I've listened to a few things."

"And?" she prompted.

He shrugged. "They're alright," he conceded.

"I like them," Rory replied confidently, finishing off the Dark Chocolate Fudge.

At that moment, Kirk came over the loud speakers announcing that it was time for the tossing of the bouquet and garter, requesting that the ladies come out onto the dance floor.

Rory, always a sucker for tradition, joined the other women on the hardwood floor as Lorelai came to the front of the gathering. Lorelai counted to three and tossed the rose bouquet over her head. Miss Patty caught the flowers, and proceeded to wave them in the air, as if the simple gesture would attract her fifth husband.

Rory came back to the table as Kirk announced for the men to come onto the floor. Jess didn't move out of his seat.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, a playful smile on her lips.

"The better question is what am I not doing," he replied, smirking at her.

"Oh, come on, get out there!" She tugged on his arm and dragged him to his feet. "Go, go, go!" She gave him a push and he reluctantly walked onto the dance floor, shoving his hands into his pockets. It was no use fighting her sometimes. When he reached the congregation of males, he looked back at Rory who gave him a thumbs-up. He exhaled, shaking his head with a wry smile.

"Don't think that just because you're young that you're going to beat me."

Jess looked around to Jackson who stood in what looked like a wrestling ready position, facing the front.

"You're already married," Jess stated. "It doesn't really count for you."

"Oh no, you don't!" Jackson exclaimed, shifting his weight from side to side. "You're not going to psych me out. No Sir-ee Bob."

There had to be something in the water in this town…

Sitting on a chair in the middle of the dance floor, Lorelai extended her right leg suggestively as Luke knelt down. The crowd, now more rowdy than ever from the mass consumption of alcohol, erupted into hooting and whistling. It sounded like a monster truck rally.

When Luke threw the garter, Jess had absolutely no intension of even attempting to catch it, especially with Hulk Hogan standing next to him. As the garter came straight at him, however, he reflexively put out his hand and caught it. Perfect.

As he made his way back towards Rory, it was obvious she was trying to contain her laughter.

"Don't say it," he warned her, knowing she would anyway.

"You and Miss Patty will make a lovely couple," she told him, her expression matter-of-fact.

He sighed, tossing the garter onto the table and sinking into his chair. He drained the rest of his champagne.

"And don't worry about being compared to her past husbands," Rory continued, sitting in the chair next to him. "You've got the whole youth thing going for you."

"Stop," he begged.

"Okay," she consented. There was a brief silence. "Mrs. Patty Mariano…" she murmured, as if testing out the name.

Jess groaned and Rory laughed.

Soon after, it was time for the bride and groom to depart for their honeymoon. As Rory was saying goodbye to her mom, Luke approached Jess.

As Luke opened his mouth to begin, Jess interrupted.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to burn anything down, I'll open on time every day, I'll have patience with the customers, even Kirk, I'll clean up nice and tidy, and try to keep the open diner raves to a minimum," he droned. "Did I leave anything out?"

Luke closed his mouth, opened it again, then closed it. "Nope, I think that's everything," he concluded.

"Alright, well you two kids have fun," Jess said, clapping Luke's shoulder.

"Thanks again, Jess," Luke said in a low voice. "For watching the diner and just being here and everything."

Jess smiled. "You're welcome."

"And Jess…" Luke hesitated for a moment, glancing in Lorelai and Rory's direction. He looked back at his nephew, his expression wary. "Just be careful."

Jess nodded in acknowledgement, surprised at his uncle's phrasing. For once Luke didn't tell him to not do anything stupid or threaten him about staying away from a certain someone. In a strange way, it showed that Luke actually trusted him, and that faith affected him more than Luke knew.

Final goodbyes said, everyone gathered around as Luke and Lorelai climbed into Luke's truck, a 'Just Married' banner across the tailgate and empty coffee cans dangling off the bumper. The engine started to life and the couple waved and drove out of the square.

The party dwindled from there, the number of guests gradually decreasing until there was only a handful left.

"Hey, how is your book selling?" Rory asked, taking a sip of champagne. She and Jess were sitting on one of the large loud speakers, watching Kirk and Lulu, the last remaining couple, dance to a slow song out on the floor. The only other people around were the caterers who were busying cleaning up the reception area.

"It's doing better," he shrugged, adjusting his rolled up shirt sleeve. He had long abandoned his tux jacket and bow tie, and his vest hung unbuttoned. "I wasn't really expecting much, but my editor keeps assuring me that once I put an ending on this manuscript I'll be living large." Jess rolled his eyes doubtfully.

"Wait, wait, wait; back up," Rory quickly interjected, sitting upright in a flash. "This manuscript?"

Oops.

"Are you writing another book?" she demanded, her expression eager.

Jess cringed at his stupidity. He hadn't meant for that to slip out. He sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Sort of…?"

"Is it the sequel to The Subsect?" she asked, her enthusiasm building. "Do you have it here with you?"

"Whoa, take it easy, Katie Couric."

"You do! You do have it with you, don't you?" she exclaimed.

Stretching his arms out, he faked a yawn.

"You know, it's getting pretty late," he began, hopping off the speaker and heading toward Luke's.

Rory was right behind him. She caught up and grasped his forearm, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Oh, come on, Jess!" she beseeched him. "Let me read it!"

Jess grimaced, not knowing how he could refuse her, especially at this proximity. "It's not that good," he objected. "It hasn't even been to the editor yet."

"But that's why I want to read it," she insisted.

"It's not even finished yet."

"Jess, I want to read it!"

"It's late…"

"Jess, face it," Rory said stubbornly. "You're not talking me out of this."

Grasping for something to say, he finally just exhaled roughly. "Alright, fine," he replied abrasively, annoyed that he had given in so quickly.

Rory grinned, more than a little smug.

"But if you whip out your editor's pen, you're out the door," he warned her.

"Yeah, yeah," she said teasingly, pushing him towards the diner.

As they passed the drink table, Jess swiped a bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket.

"I don't know about you," he said, turning to face her while still walking backwards, "but I'm going to need this."

Rory rolled her eyes, smiling at her victory.

Hope you enjoyed reading cuz I enjoyed writing it! Review pretty please!!!