A/N: Thank you, wonderful reviewer peops! You make me giddy and smiley :) A little Lorelai/Luke development in this chapter (though I'm not planning full on romance for them in this story) and of course the main attraction - the Literati is a go! ;)

Chapter 10

"Hey, we don't usually see you much on a Sunday, especially not this early," said Luke as Lorelai came rushing up to the counter. "Not that I'm complaining," he smiled amiably, though she didn't seem all that aware.

"Nasty experience!" she shook her head as she hopped up onto a stool. "Only the best coffee will do. That means your coffee, my friend," she said definitely.

Luke felt a little stupid for feeling entirely flattered that his coffee was the only cure for Lorelai's greatest ills. He'd take what he could get where she was concerned, however sad it may seem to anybody else. Turning away a moment he grabbed the coffee pot and poured a large dose for his favourite crazy lady.

"You're a magician, a saint, my hero!" said Lorelai, taking a long gulp from the cup. "They should erect a statue, write a song!" she declared, before going right on back to drinking her coffee.

"I think that might be what is called overkill," Luke said thoughtfully. "So what happened that was so awful nothing but my magical coffee would fix it? You didn't fight with Rory did you?" he asked, as Lorelai drained her cup and pushed it at him to be refilled.

"No, Rory's fine. Studying, would you believe," she rolled her eyes. "My mother called me," she shuddered then.

"Ah, the Emily Gilmore effect," said Luke knowingly.

He only ever met the woman once that he recalled, but all of Lorelai's stories about the delightful person that was her mother had Luke knowing just how unbearable she could be. Most of her wrath seemed to be constantly thrown at her daughter and poor Lorelai didn't always help herself. Still, by definition of being her friend, Luke was on her side and would sympathise accordingly as and when Lorelai chose to explain. Two large sips from her second cup of coffee in as many minutes got her going into full flow.

"It was actually crazy!" she said too loudly and complete with waving hands. "Y'know, Christopher called the other day, one of his usual checking in, seeing how things are going calls? He talked to Rory for a bit and then to me, and the car crash came up. He asked why I hadn't told him about it before and of course I said that I would have if there was something to tell. I mean, Rory was fine, and it's not like he even knew that Rory had a car or had a clue who Jess was, so it really wasn't worth reporting."

"Makes sense," Luke nodded along, even though he couldn't figure out for the life of him what any of this had to do with Emily Gilmore.

"Right, exactly. So he calmed down, told me next time could I please inform him of things like that, even if Rory is fine. I promised I would, though obviously we're all hoping for no more similar accidents," she went on. "Then this morning, when I've been out of my bed for all of thirty minutes, my mother calls me, and I get a forty five minute lecture on what I should and shouldn't be telling her. Apparently she talked to Chris at some point and he mentioned the accident, which she hadn't heard about from us, it was crazy!"

"You didn't tell your parents about the crash? Not at Friday night dinner?" Luke checked.

He knew Lorelai kept things from her folks and he didn't judge since it was none of his business, but he was surprised that Rory wouldn't have said anything about it.

"We haven't been to dinner the last couple of weeks," Lorelai shook her head, swallowing down yet more coffee. "Since Dad retired he and Mom have been taking more trips together. They've been out of state the last two weeks or so, so hey, even if I had wanted to report back on what happened to Rory, they weren't there anyway, at least not until yesterday!" she half-yelled in her exasperation. "I swear, I don't know what is wrong with those people, or with Christopher!" she snapped. "I mean, why the hell was he even talking to my parents? They all make me crazy. People just make me crazy!"

"All people?" asked Luke, deliberately teasing her and she could tell by the smile on his face that he was doing it just to calm her down - it worked too.

"Not all people," she smiled right back. "You I like, and Rory, that's about it a not small part of the time," she sighed, blowing loose hair out of her face.

"Well, my list of people to like in this town isn't so long either," admitted Luke, leaning on the counter as he talked to her. "It's pretty much you, Rory, and Jess, so..."

"Oh, how is Jess?"

"He's doing good. The cast should be coming off his arm at the end of next week, and hopefully the cut on his head will be all healed by then too," he smiled. "Y'know, I think he had a pretty good time yesterday with Rory. Jess isn't exactly the sharing type so when I asked I got the usual grunting and 'whatever', but there was a smile, a rare, almost genuine looking smile."

"Really?" Lorelai shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, Rory has been pretty smiley too, and talkative. Apparently it was a good day those two had."

"You wish they hadn't," said Luke, a statement not a question because he'd known Lorelai long enough to be able to tell when something was up.

"No, it's not that," she told him, feeling so dumb. "I swear, Luke, I'm glad they had a nice time together, I just... And I hate saying this to you, especially after what happened with the car crash and Jess being in the hospital, but he's not exactly... He's just..."

"He's not Dean," said Luke snippily. "Go ahead, you can say it. Jess isn't the kind of guy a mother wants her daughter to bring home. He can be sarcastic and abrupt, moody even. He gels his hair and listens to loud music and gets into trouble for stealing gnomes and chalking bodies on pavements."

"Luke, I don't even care about most of that," Lorelai assured him, reaching out to put her hand on his arm but he stood up straight fast and backed off deliberately. "I swear, the kid might be moody and snappy with everybody else, but he is always sweet with Rory. She's told me and I've seen it too," she explained. "The pranking is kind of an issue, and the stealing, though apparently he apologised for that..."

"What stealing?" asked Luke, clearly confused.

"Rory's bracelet," said Jess suddenly appearing from behind the curtain.

"You stole Rory's bracelet?" his uncle checked, looking entirely unamused.

"Didn't really steal it," he shifted awkwardly. "I just picked it up when she dropped it and... and took my time giving it back is all."

"Well, no real harm done, I guess," said Lorelai with a smile, happy to save the kid who looked guilty for maybe the first time that she had ever witnessed. "You apologised, Rory forgave you. No harm, no foul."

Jess nodded his agreement but didn't say anything else, at least not until he pointed out it was time for his shift. He moved past the adults to bus some tables and Lorelai sighed.

"I'm a bad person," she said, looking back at Luke. "I'm sorry. I'm judging him, and I barely know him. I should trust your opinion, and Rory's opinion... Oh my God!" she gasped suddenly. "I'm turning into my mother!"

The look on her face was too priceless not to get a smirk out of Luke. Sometimes she was just so overly dramatic.

"You are not your mother," he said definitely, leaning over the counter a little again. "And I promise you, if I ever see signs, I'll let you know so you can stop."

Lorelai smiled and thanked him for that kindness before asking for another refill. Though Luke reminded her again that she was going to kill herself was so much coffee, he still filled the cup. There was just no arguing with his favourite crazy woman.

"Speaking of parenting, y'know, you are doing a great job... with Jess," she whispered, mindful of the fact the teen in question was now wandering freely around the diner. "Those pranks we talked about? Haven't heard about any more of those for a while, and the apologising to Rory... Maybe he's settling down?"

"I like to think so," Luke considered, smiling perhaps a little too much at Jess as he passed by into the kitchen with an order some customer wasn't happy with. "I think it helps him to know people around here actually care what happens to him. As much as I love my sister, Liz isn't... well, I'm not sure she's been a great influence on Jess' behaviour, or cared much about what he gets up to."

"I did think it was kind of cold the way she just shipped him out here," Lorelai admitted, mindful of how she spoke about Luke's sister, in spite of what he said himself. "Maybe you're right, maybe knowing we're here for him does help."

"We?" he checked, meeting her eyes.

"Yes, we," she confirmed with a smile. "Like I said, if you and Rory trust him and like him so much, maybe I need to be a little nicer, give the kid a chance."

"Thank you, Lorelai," said Luke the, putting his hand over hers on the counter. "That means a lot to me."

Lorelai couldn't quite explain the feeling she got then, or her sudden inability to speak that was rare in the extreme. A moment later, she was shaking her head and getting back to her coffee, whilst Luke resumed serving his other customers. All was right with the world once again.

Rory thought she heard a sound and so turned down her music. She had been alone in her room studying and found a little background noise worked wonders when she had a lot of intense reading to do. With the volume decreased she realised what she had heard was a knocking at the front door. Scrambling from her seat she yelled 'coming' and hurried to see who was impatiently waiting on the porch.

"Hey, sweetie," Sookie greeted her as soon as she opened the door. "I came to see your Mom about some wedding stuff, is she here?"

"No, she went to the diner for emergency coffee," Rory explained. "She and Grandma had kind of a phone-call confrontation."

"Ooh, nasty!" her friend sympathised. "Well, I guess I'll catch up to her there. Honestly, I could use a coffee myself. I so want this wedding to happen but busy, busy, busy!" she laughed almost hysterically.

Rory watched Sookie turn to go and then suddenly called her back.

"Um, I... Well, I don't want to add to your stress for the wedding but..."

"What is it, sweetie?" the bride-to-be checked, concerned by the way Rory looked so nervous and jittery.

"Well, you know me and Dean broke up," she said, hugging herself and barely meeting Sookie's gaze. "The thing is, I haven't really talked to him since, and I'm assuming he won't just show up at your wedding without me, so... well, if it's okay with you, I was wondering... Could I ask someone else?"

"Oh," said Sookie thoughtfully. "Well, sure, honey, that'd be fine," she smiled then, leaning in closer to Rory as she whispered. "It's Jess, isn't it?"

The way the teen blushed to the roots of her hair as her eyes went to the ground was answer enough for Sookie. She squealed and bounced in place, clapping her hands like a woman of half her age or less. It was strange, since Rory half-expected he to be more awkward about having Jess at her wedding. Most people really didn't like the guy after all.

"You're sure it's okay?" she double-checked. "I mean, I wanted to ask him, he might say no..."

"Oh, I don't think he'll say no to you!" said Sookie happily. "You're Rory Gilmore, and everybody knows he likes you," she winked. "Besides, I was feeling a little weird about the fact we didn't invite him before. I mean, Luke is coming so, yeah, you ask him, sweetie, and good luck!"

She went off towards the diner then, singing some little ditty about Rory likes Jess and Jess likes Rory. Rory could only hope she stopped before she actually got to Luke's, otherwise things were going to get embarrassing. Still, she couldn't really mind the idea of what Sookie was suggesting. She really did like Jess a lot and he seemed to like her too. Since she broke up with Dean, there was nothing stopping her and Jess being more than friends, and yet Rory wasn't sure how to make that happen. It gave her something serious to think about as she headed back to her studies.

"No, I have school tomorrow and you have work, we have to pick just one movie," Rory insisted as her Mom suggested trilogies and double-features galore for their impromptu movie night.

"Oooh, the Pride and Prejudice BBC mini-series!" said Lorelai then, holding the video tapes aloft.

"Now you're just being silly on purpose," her daughter complained, hands on her hips as she stared at her.

"Well, I don't hear you coming up with anything better, missy," Lorelai complained, going back to her fruitless search through a large pile of tapes.

Rory knew there were plenty of singular movies down there that they could watch, and yet she had an urge to suggest going to the video store for something else altogether. It wasn't that she was desperate for any particular movie, more that the video store wasn't so very far from the diner.

"Okay, how about you drive us into town, pick up one regular-length movie from the store, and I can swing into Doose's for extra snacks?" she suggested eventually.

Lorelai looked up from her search, considered a moment and then nodded.

"Deal," she agreed, and so they set off.

The Jeep was duly parked in the street outside Taylor's store a few minutes later. Lorelai advised Rory to make it fast and mostly make it chocolate and then headed for the video store.

"Run time of two hours or less!" Rory called after her, even though she knew it was probably pointless.

"That's a weird specification for a movie choice," said a voice.

Rory whirled around so fast she almost knocked herself over.

"Jess! Seriously, that's creepy!" she complained.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't exactly sneaking up on you or anything," he apologised. "Just bringing out the trash," he demonstrated by showing her the black bag in his hand.

"Oh," she replied awkwardly. "Well, I didn't just mean that you appeared out of nowhere, although that was weird, I... well, I actually came into town hoping to see you."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Jess, trying not to smile too much at that confession.

"Yes, I... well, the thing is..." Rory tried three times to begin what she meant to say and every time failed after no more than three or four words. "This is ridiculous!"

"Rory, whatever you have to say to me, just say it," Jess urged her then, hoping it was something good he had been dreading the words 'I'm back with Dean' coming out of her mouth and shattering his heart.

With her eyes closed and a deep breath of cold night air pulled quickly into her lungs, Rory finally said what she came to say.

"Do you want to be my date to Sookie's wedding?"

Jess hadn't quite been ready for that. The truth was he wasn't enamoured with the idea of attending a wedding for some crazy lady he didn't know well and her equally crazy produce-obsessed husband-to-be. It would mean dressing up, being polite to a whole bunch of people he didn't care about, and listening to stupid speeches, he was sure. On the other hand, Rory had just called this event a date, and it would mean spending a lot of time in her company.

"Your date?" he echoed. "Are you asking me out, Miss Gilmore? 'Cause that's awful modern-thinking of you," he teased her.

"Yeah, well, who knows how much of an old maid I'd get to be if I waited for you to ask," she countered, finding a little bravery somewhere deep inside that she hadn't quite known she possessed until he smiled at her that way again.

"If I'd known you were waiting..." he shook his head slightly, though he never finished the sentence. "Yes, Rory. I'll be your date to the wedding, if you really want me to."

"I do," she nodded, the weight of those words not lost on her given they were talking weddings. "Um, so if this is a date..."

"Then I guess we're, y'know, dating now," Jess considered, that familiar smirk on his lips to match the familiar blush in her cheeks. "That work for you?"

"I think so," said Rory, wondering for a moment if he was going to kiss her, almost wishing he would and yet...

"Rory?" her mother's voice called,

Both Rory and Jess spun around to see Lorelai headed towards them and moreover the Jeep. She had a bag from the video store in her hand a look of confusion on her face that quickly faded into amusement and understanding when she saw her daughter with Luke's nephew.

"Got distracted, huh?" she asked Rory, who bit her lip.

"My fault. Sorry," said Jess, looking ready to make a swift getaway.

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai literally waved away his concern with her head. "Er, you two finish your conversation, I'll go get the snacks," she insisted, hurrying into Doose's before anyone could say anything else.

Feeling entirely busted, both Rory and Jess shifted awkwardly in place a moment before finally looking up at the same time and meeting each others eyes. She smiled, he smiled back. They both seemed to shift forward a little at the same time so there was barely a gap between them anymore. Jess gave in first, closing the final few inches of distance and putting his lips to hers. Rory was quick to fall into the moment, even though it didn't last too long. They were both well aware that Lorelai, or even Luke, could appear at any moment. When they parted, what felt like a little too soon, they were both still smiling.

"Well, whatever else happens, I'm pretty sure we're not gonna have a problem in that department," he told her, eyes sparkling.

"Nope, that part definitely works," she agreed.

They went their own separate ways then for the rest of the night. They would see each other tomorrow, and every day after that. It would be impossible not to after what they had just agreed. Rory and Jess were finally and officially dating, and neither could feel anything but happy about that.

To Be Continued...