Disclaimer: Most people have cute disclaimers, ok so
(A/N. sorry this took so long to update, I was having writers block the whole time.)
Disclaimer: Most people have cute disclaimers, ok so... puppies, kittens, Joe Jonas... I own none of these, much like I don't own Gilmore. Blah, blah, blah…
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"Okay, so where to next, kid? I'm yours for the day." Jess asked Lori as they exited the Black, White and Red movie theater and started walking to an unknown destination.
"Um... I don't know. Why don't we head back to Luke's and get something to eat." She suggested as she led them down Plum Street toward the diner.
"How can you be hungry? You just ate your weight in popcorn and milk duds, washing it all down with two green slushies." Jess enquired her, shocked there was still room for any food.
Lori stopped in her tracks, Jess kept going.
It took him a few moments to realize she wasn't following looking back he noticed her standing in the middle of the street.
She was staring at him with wide eyes, jaw agape and hair falling in her face.
"What the hell are looking at me like that for?" Jess asked his daughter has he walked back to where she was glued to the ground.
"I can not believe you would say that! After all the time you spent with my mother and grandmother you should be accustomed to the Gilmore eating habits" she reminded him, slightly screaming, as she stared him down with blue raging eyes.
"Uh…" was all he could manage.
Was he really that stupid? How could he so quickly forget their eating habits? They should be forever implanted in his memory. Not in all his years had he met two other women that could last through four thanksgiving dinners and still be hungry. Of coarse this iron stomach gene, as Luke called it, would be past down to Lori.
"Oh yeah, I must have forgot." he answered once he found his voice.
She rolled her eyes and stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets as she huffed passed him, leaving him standing in the middle of the street.
Jess watched her go, feeling like a compete ass.
How was it possible he forgot something that was such a big part of Rory's personality, he must have had a brain malfunction for those few moments. It must have appeared to his daughter that he didn't care about her mother at all.
Which is not true at all. He told himself, she's always been on your mind, even when you didn't want her to be.
Jess was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of Lori's voice coming from her retreating form.
"Are you coming or not? I need money to pay for the food and besides, you're going to become a pancake in a few seconds if you keep standing there; Kirk's not going to wait much longer" She told her father rudely, not bothering to stop and turn around.
Jess glanced behind him and saw Kirk sitting in his mother's car at the wheel, honking the horn; how he missed that when he was in his trance was unknown to him. The thing was louder then Luke snoring, which was saying a lot.
"All right, all right, I'm going, calm your damn hormones." Jess shouted to Kirk who ceased the honking and gave him an exasperated look through the windshield.
He stared walking in the direction of Luke's again, where his daughter had disappeared into.
Jess was stopped by a person who walked in front of him, almost causing the two to collide.
"Hey watch were your going!" he shouted to person.
"Hello Jess." Said the figure; who was towering over him, Jess froze.
He knew that voice; it was one he couldn't easily forget.
Shaking his head Jess glanced up at the guy "You gotta be kidding me." He said with a bitter laugh, looking back down to the ground.
"What are you doing back here?" the man asked, "She doesn't want you here."
"How would you know what she wants? Do you sit in a tree out side her house twenty-four-seven with night vision goggles?" Jess asked as he brushed past him and continued on his way, he was not in the mood for this.
"Why are you away walking Jess?" the man asked and Jess could hear foot steps following him.
"I have to be somewhere, and if you don't mind, I prefer to talk to people with a slightly higher IQ then your own" he said over his shoulder.
The guy quickened his pace and stepped in front of Jess again, causing him to stop.
"Stop it." He told the man; tone slightly irritated.
"What's the matter Jess?" The person asked, towering over him again.
"I'm not going to fight you, Dean." He said, knowing that this town was too small and the news of the fight would reach Rory before he even had a chance to explain. Then he'll be chased out of town with pitchforks and torches.
"Why not, afraid you'll lose?" Dean taunted, staring down at Jess.
"Nope." He answered in his famous monosyllabic tone, trying to walk pasted again, only to have Dean block his path.
Jess clenched his jaw and balled his fists that were inside the pockets of his jacket, it took every fiber of his being not to haul off and slug the guy right in his nose.
"She's got a nice little hold on you, doesn't she? Is that why you came back, to win her over again? She doesn't want you, Jess, the only reason she is tolerating you is because of Lori. If it was my kid-"Jess cut him off.
"Hey! You leave Lori out of this she is of no concern to you. That is between Rory and me, okay?" He never wanted to here his daughter's name come out of this guys mouth again, something about the way he said it made Jess feel like he needed to protect Lori.
"She is a concern to me, and to this whole town. Where you there when she said her first words in Luke's? No you weren't, but I was. How about when she was six and twisted her ankle running down the street, who do you think carried her to Rory's house?" Dean asked him.
"Luke." Jess answered with a knowing small smile on his face.
"Wrong, it was me." Dean said triumphantly.
"No it wasn't, and I know that for a fact, Lori told me Luke did because she fell right in front of the diner." He told Dean mater-of-factly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Um… well…" Dean stuttered.
"I guess that puts a damper on your little lie, huh Forester?" Jess said as he brushed pasted Dean, finally making it around, seeing as Dean was frozen in his spot.
"See you later Farmer John!" he shouted over his shoulder to Dean as he made his way to Luke's.
-In the Diner-
Jess walked through the door and heard the familiar bell ring about his head and made his way over to the counter were his daughter was talking to Luke and eating a sandwich with fries.
"What took you so long?" Lori asked, still sounding a little tick off over the incident in the street.
"I ran into someone I knew." Jess said not looking at her, instead, looking at Luke who questioned him silently with a raised eye brow.
"Oh really? Who?" the young girl asked, picking her coffee cup up and bringing it to his lips.
"No one you would know." Jess told her and got up from his seat, moving behind the counter to help as Luke walked upstairs into the apartment.
"I would too know them! I know everyone in Stars Hollow." Lori told him rather loudly; she glared at Jess who was wiping down the counter.
"Ok then let me rephrase that: no one you would want to know." He said while moving out from behind the counter and walking around to refill Miss Patty's coffee cup and shooting her a warning look.
"You're no fun." Lori said pouting at him and crossing her arms.
"It's part of my charm." He tells her with a small smirk.
Just then the bell above the door rang, signaling someone entering. Jess glanced from the cup of coffee he was pouring for Andrew and froze.
"You gotta be kidding me." He said shaking his head as he walked over to where Dean was standing in the doorway.
"We weren't finished, Jess." He told the smaller man as Jess set down the coffee pot.
"Oh I think we were." Jess said lamely.
By now Lori had turned around on her stool, seeing Dean, she froze. Her heart thumped against her chest, hands sweating and face going pale.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Lori asked Dean as she slid off her seat but did not attempt to move any closer to the two men standing in the middle of the diner.
"Lori…I…I didn't know that you would be in here." Dean stuttered looking around the diner nervously checking to make sure Patty and Babette weren't sitting somewhere. They were.
"Get out! Get out of here now!" she screamed at him but he didn't budge from his spot and Jess looked between the two of them obviously lost. "Or I will be forced to call the police and don't think I won't. And I were you I would leave now before Luke comes down here and beats your sorry ass." Lori threatened him.
She was on the verge of crying and Jess could tell. He wasn't one hundred percent sure about what Dean had done to get Lori so freaked out about him being here but he wasn't about to sit back and let this guy mentally destroy his daughter; she looked in pain.
"I think it's time you leave Forester." Jess said as he opened the door and all but threw Dean out.
He slammed the door behind him and turned to Lori who now had tears streaming down her face. She ran over to Jess and buried her head in his chest while sobbing into his shirt.
Jess was still confused on what exactly had just happened but he put his arm around his daughter anyway and steered her towards the stairs.
Lifting the curtain he tried to get her up the stairs but she wouldn't unlatch herself from his shirt. Sighing he bent down and scooped her legs out from under her and carried her bridal style up the stairs as she sniffled into his now tear soaked shirt.
Once he reached the door he kicked it with is foot trying to get his Uncle's attention seeing as he couldn't turn the knob with her in his arms.
Luke then appeared at the door and looked down at the Lori in Jess's arms, "What happened is she alright?" Luke asked franticly as Jess walked passed him and into the apartment making a path straight for his bed and set her down on it.
Lori still refused to let go of his shirt and did not lift her head from his chest. He draped his right arm over her back and pulled her into a tight protective embrace.
"Jess what happened?" Luke questioned again worry over taking his voice. He loved this little girl more then himself just like he did Rory when she was growing up.
"I was walking over to the diner to meet Lori and I ran into Dean-" Jess was cut off by Lori whimpering upon hearing his name and held on tighter.
"What!? He's back! Did he see her?" Luke asked at he pointed to the girl hunched over in Jess's arms.
"Umm… yeah he followed me into the diner after I refused to fight him. Lori saw him and started screaming at him, next thing I know I'm pushing him out the door and Lori's running into my arms. What was that about? I'm assuming that there is a story behind all of this." Jess told Luke looking at him from where he stood above them.
"It's not my story to tell." Luke said looking down and Lori specifically, Jess followed his gaze.
Lori remained silent her face still buried in his shirt. "I don't want to make her do that, to see her in that much pain again." He said sadly to Luke, it would kill him to see her that depressed again, it physically hurt him and he had to resist the urge to leave and go kick the crap out of Dean, and he didn't even know what caused this outburst.
"I'll tell you." Came a small weak voice from the figure in Jess's arms.
"You don't have to if you don't want to Lori, I'm not going to force you to do that." He told his daughter in a soothing voice while rubbing her back.
"No." she sniffled "I want to, you're my father you deserve to know about my life." She told him as he stared into her pink puffy eyes and tear stained face.
"Are you sure Lor?" he asked her he really didn't want to force her and he wasn't even sure he wanted to know because if it was something really bad he didn't know if he could be able to contain himself from killing Dean.
"Yeah, I'm sure." She said while nodding her head and her black hair bobbed with it.
"I'm going to down and help pit Caesar; he's probably losing his mind down there alone." Luke said wanting to give them some privacy.
"Okay." Jess and Lori said together, Jess's eyes never moved from Lori's face and her eyes never left the bedspread.
Once Luke left they sat in silence for a few moments until Lori began.
Here goes everything; she thought to her self as she aloud the horrible memory to take over her mind as she told her story to her Dad.
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