Chapter 10 – Friday Night Traditions

The week went by in a blur. Jess had to deal with a lawyer, landlords who looked at him remembering the rowdy kid he once had been, Taylor when he went over for groceries, Gypsy who seemed to be laughing every time he walked by with Annie in her tutu.

Seeing Rory every morning for breakfast was refreshing, but he almost had no time to see her, so he put it out of his mind. But every morning, he was up at six, and by the time Rory crossed the diner door, he was prepared for her smile.

It was Friday afternoon before he worked up the courage to call her, when Annie was over at Zach and Lane's.

"Pants or skirt?" he heard Lorelai reply.

In a heartbeat he turned seventeen again. Without even thinking, he pressed the off button.

"Oh, crap," he said, panicking.

No way could he call again now. He hit himself over the head with the phone a couple of times.

- - - - - - -

Lorelai was in the middle of a what-to-wear discussion with Rory. "The skirt is better, right?" she asked.

The phone rang. "I think that's a sign, mom. Go for the pants," Rory volunteered.

Lorelai shrugged. "We'll ask." She grabbed the phone with a smile, prepared to toss of a rant, but decided to start slow. "Pants or skirt?" she answered.

Click. Tone.

"Hey, hon, it's Jess," Lorelai said.

Rory gave Lorelai a quirky look and took the phone. "Hello?" she said into the dial tone. She handed the phone back to Lorelai, raising an eyebrow. "Funny, Mom."

"I answer, he hangs up. Nothing new there, right?" Lorelai explained. "Call him."

"Whatever mom. I gotta get dressed."

"Well, hurry. Your grandmother already said she would move the dinner to 8 so we could make it, if we don't make it there on time we'll probably just find a little pile of human bones…"

"Starvation?" Rory asked, taking the phone back from her mother.

"No, they'll eat the maid."

"I'll be ready in no time," Rory replied, running down the stairs.

Once in her room, she closed the door behind her and dialed quickly.

- - - - - - -

The phone was still in Jess's hand when it rang, and he was still beating himself up for hanging up.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey," Rory's voice said back. "My mom said you called…"

"Uhmm…"

"And hung up…"

"Yeah. You know what they say about old habits…"

"You don't need to do that anymore," she said. "She's not gonna bite your head off."

"Right."

"So…" Rory started. "What have you been up to this week?"

"Getting into legal guardian mode."

"What's that like?"

Jess smiled. "Like getting a tooth pulled."

"So… uhm… do you need any help?"

"Well, yeah, but I was actually wondering if…"

"If…"

"If you'd like to go to the movies with me?"

"Oh." Silence. Jess could almost kill the silence.

"Yeah, there's an Antoine Doinel festival this weekend in Hartford… all the Truffaut movies with that character and I thought…"

"What about Annie?" Rory asked.

"Luke wants to take her fishing," Jess explained, laughing. "She thinks she'll see one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, so she's all for it."

"Oh." Silence.

Jess thought maybe he should have hit his head harder with the phone. That way, if he was out cold, he wouldn't have to do anything like answer the phone.

"I mean, it's only if you want. I don't mean to…"

"No, I'd love to. It's just that I thought you'd want my help with Annie or something. I feel like I haven't helped enough."

"You've done more than enough."

"I want to do more."

Jess sighed. "Ok. I have to fill out some forms for Stars Hollow Elementary. You're a pro at applications. I'll go by your house early, we fill them out, and we eat."

"Indian food…" Rory volunteered.

"Whatever erodes your stomach lining better," Jess offered. "And then, if you're up to it, and there's no proverbial gun to your head, we can…"

"Jess…" Rory interrupted.

"Yes?"

"I already said I'd love to go. So stop rambling, it's enough with my mom."

"Right." Jess slapped his forehead a couple of times. "So…"

"Four tomorrow," she replied, a smile in her voice. "But now I have to go. Dinner with the grandparents."

"Good luck with that."

"Hey, Jess…"

"Yeah?"

"Is this a date?" she asked. Pause.

Jess closed his eyes and thought to himself he was busted, screwed, etc. "Do you want it to be?" he asked, tentatively.

"I don't know," she replied, honestly.

Jess took a deep breath. "It's whatever you want it to be, Rory."

"Ok. Good," Rory said, sounding a little bit relieved. "What do you want it to be?"

Jess chuckled nervously. "Now, that's cheating."

"Ok. Yeah."

Jess sighed. "We can talk about it tomorrow if you like? Though I'd rather just… not."

"Ok."

"You have to go now."

"I do."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok. Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight, Rory."

Jess clicked the phone off and shook his head. She knew him too well. It was scary. Scarier than anything else in his life at the moment.

With that thought in mind, he grabbed his jacket and went to pick up Annie.

- - - - - - - - -

For the first time in three years, Rory rang the doorbell of her grandparent's house. She straightened her dress, and readied her smile. Lorelai stroked her adult daughter's back, knowing it was a hard thing to do, this, coming back.

It was her grandmother who opened the door. Her hair was tinged in silver, a woman too dignified to die her hair past a certain age. As she had once said, blonde sixty year olds were named Pennilyn Lott, and she would not allow herself to be bumped into that category.

"Rory," Emily Gilmore said, a smile widening in her lips. "Oh, darling, it's so good to see you…" she added, hugging her.

Rory allowed herself to be hugged. Her grandmother backed away and smiled at Lorelai. "Well, it's about time we did this again."

Lorelai smiled relieved. "Yes, it's been ages…"

"Well, come in, come in. Leave your coats on the coatstand there…" Emily said, guiding them into the living room.

Rory's eyes, wide, looked at her mother. "The maid?" she whispered.

Lorelai shrugged. "They ate her?"

They walked nervously into the living room. "Richard, just look at her…"

Rory faced her grandfather after such a long time. Yes, they had kept in touch, and she had paid him back for the Yale money, but still. It was a shock to see him aged.

"Don't look so surprised, Rory," Richard Gilmore ordered. "I just decided to follow Emily's lead," he added, running his fingers through her hair. "My, you are a woman now."

Rory blushed, and ran up to her grandfather and hugged him tightly. "I missed you," she said, gushing.

She separated and looked at her grandmother as well. "I missed you both so much. I gave your love to the Sheltons in London."

"Always a lady," Emily said, proudly.

Lorelai shrugged. "I did my best to undo all that European culturing, but it was such good work that there was no way…"

"So, you'll have to tell us all about it," Emily said.

"Emily, let the girl breathe. Drinks?" Richard asked.

Both Lorelai and Rory nodded.

As her grandfather poured, Rory thought quietly as to how to deflect talk of her work, but knew that she would be forced, at least here, to talk of it pleasantly for a while.

- - - - - -

The streets of Stars Hollow were almost empty. Entering the second half of summer, a few kids had been shipped off to camp, a few parents had gone on vacation. The town was quiet even for a Friday. It almost made him suspicious of secret town meetings.

As he walked back to the diner with Annie, they both ate a lemon popsicle each.

"Is it any good?" he asked her.

Annie nodded. "Better than the ones in New York," she said, skipping along.

They cut through the town square.

Jess's plans to stop momentarily at the Gazebo were foiled by the presence of Dean and his wife, walking in the opposite direction with two kids in tow.

"Jess, can't we stay here for a little while?"

Jess shook his head. "Better not. If you're going fishing with Uncle Luke, you have to be up early."

Dean didn't seem fazed by the presence of Annie. "Hello, Jess," he said, sarcastically. His wife sort of herded the kids along past them, and stood off to a side.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Dean asked.

Jess rolled his eyes. "No, I was going to walk right by you."

"Hello, kid. I'm Dean."

Annie took a step back. "You're too tall," she said. "I'm Annie."

"Yeah, so I heard." Dean's eyes lit up for a second. "So did your brother tell you why the town doesn't like him?"

"No," replied Annie.

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Jess said, guiding Annie along.

"You said asshole, Jess," Annie said in a loud whisper.

Jess shrugged. "I'm sorry kid, I'll explain later. Let's go."

Dean added, "I'll see you around, Jess."

His wife tugged at Dean's jacket. "Come on, Dean. Leave them alone."

Jess used the moment to get away from him and go up to the apartment.

Once inside, both Jess and Annie started taking their coats off.

"Why does the town hate you, Jess?" Annie asked.

Jess had known this time would come, time to explain what had happened before, Dean's anger, the town's discontent, but he had hoped it would take some time. Damn Dean.

"When I was a kid…" Jess started.

"Like me?" interrupted Annie.

"Older," he clarified. "When I was seventeen, I came over to this town. But I was angry back then."

"Why?"

Jess sat Annie down on the couch and sat next to her. He clasped his hands together. "A lot of bad things had happened to me. Liz was sick… like she's now… and a lot of her boyfriends had been mean to me."

"Like Jake?"

Jess nodded. "And I had no one to take care of me."

"Because you didn't have me," Annie reasoned.

Jess nodded, a smile on his lips. "Or anyone else. So I came here to live with Luke, but I was so angry I didn't see that he cared about me. And I did some things, pranks, fights… things I'm not proud of."

"And then what?"

"And then I didn't go to school enough, and lied a lot, and then I left without saying goodbye."

Annie shook her head. "Why?"

"Because I was not proud of what I had done, I thought if I went to say goodbye, everyone would say how disappointed they were. So I just… disappeared."

"Did you do anything to that tall man?" Annie insisted.

"I… took something away from him," Jess started. "Something he loved very much. And I never apologized. And his anger towards me became hate."

"What if you apologize now?" she asked.

Jess searched his mind for a way to explain. There really was none, no clear way. "I think, for some things, it might be too late."

"You could try," she suggested.

Jess smiled at the kid. Too smart for his own good. "Yes. I could try." He nodded to her. "I will try next time."

"Good," she added, content. "It's good you're not mean like that, anymore."

"Yes, it is."

- - - - - - -

"And then that man in Soweto said he'd give me the haircut of a reporter, and told me to close my eyes, and this is what I got," Rory finished, causing a laugh to explode all around her. "I guess he'd only ever cut male journalists' hair before."

"Well, I think it looks lovely," Richard countered.

Emily pursed her lips. "Well, it certainly is different," she said, taking a last sip of wine. "Dessert?" she said, getting up from the table.

"Uhm, Mom, is there a reason there's no maid today?" Lorelai asked. "You haven't gone broke, have you?"

Emily looked sternly at her daughter. "Lorelai, please." She turned to Rory to explain. "I felt like this should be a family time, and so I told them to leave everything ready and take the night off. No strangers."

Lorelai smiled at her mother's intentions. She took the napkin from her lap and left it atop the table. "Come on, I'll help with dessert." She pointed to Rory and Richard. "You two, bond."

Rory and Richard couldn't help laughing. But when it subsided, Richard did have questions for his only granddaughter.

"So, Rory," he started, dabbing at his lips with a cloth napkin. "What are your plans?"

Rory took a deep breath and looked at her Grandfather head on. "Honestly?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else," he added, his smile encouraging.

"I'm taking a year off," she replied.

He let the napkin fall on top of the table. "Why did you come to that decision?" he wondered, sternly.

"Have you ever felt that you're not experiencing your life?" she asked, softly.

"Elaborate," he asked of her, kindly.

She shrugged lightly. "I walk through my work as if it was a regular office job. No offense," she corrected.

"None taken."

"But my work… it shouldn't be that way. I deal with these people and then I just… leave them. Not looking back."

"That is what happens in the world of journalism."

Rory nodded. "Well, I need time to find another way of approaching it. That or a way of dealing with the nature of that world."

Richard took a sip of wine.

Rory expectantly looked at his grandfather.

"What does your mother think?" he asked.

"I haven't told anyone about this."

Richard Gilmore nodded. "I'm glad you've decided to confide in me. I understand fully why you've made this decision. I hope you find the way." He took a second to take in his granddaughter's relieved smile. "You might find some ideas in the journals of explorers and chronicle-writers. They faced this problem, the deepening of bonds versus the desensitizing of themselves. I have a few I could lend you."

Rory's smile widened. "Thank you, thank you so much. I would love to read them."

Richard nodded. "You're alright financially?" he asked, less concerned than curious.

"Yes, I am."

"Good. Now, Emily and your mother are about to come back. So let's look like we're talking Chaucer."

- - - - - -

The drive back to Stars Hollow breezed by, but Lorelai seemed tired after arriving home, and headed to bed with scarcely a word. Rory, however, was jumping off the walls. Her fingers itched, and she dialed almost without thinking.

"Hello?" Jess answered, then paused. "Luke Danes' residence," he added.

"How formal," Rory said, smiling.

She could hear Jess shuffle to his feet. "Hi," he said, nervous. "How was dinner?"

"Enlightening," she replied.

"Good. Good."

"So…"

"Yes?"

"About tomorrow?"

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath and braved it. "I want it to be a date."

Jess was shocked into silence.

"Jess? You still there?" Rory asked, her finger fidgeting with her necklace.

"Yes. Here. Shit. Ok."

"Huh?"

"Sorry. Just shocked is all."

"Is it ok with you?"

Jess took a second. "Yes. Very."

"Good. So we leave the forms for some other day. And…"

"And?" he asked, afraid. There was more?

"Uhm… you pick me up at eight?"

"Yes. Right. At eight. I pick you up. Good."

"Jess, are you alright?"

"Just trying to figure you out," he confessed.

Rory laughed. "We'll have time for that."

Jess paused. Ok. She planned for them to have time to figure each other out. Ok. Breathe. "Uhm, just one thing," he said, nervously.

"Shoot," she said, her heart on a string.

"If the date sucks, can you still help me with the kid's school forms? 'Cause I can't figure them out," he said. He laughed nervously, just a bit.

Rory laughed. "If the date sucks, I'll fill them out for you."

"Rory, don't give me that good a reason to make a date suck. These things are in ancient Aramaic."

Rory chewed on her thumb for a second. "Hey, stop complaining. Either way I'll help you."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"So tomorrow, at eight."

"Yes."

"Good."

"Good."

"'Night, Rory."

"Goodnight."

- - - - - -

TBC…

Author's note: Thank you thank you thank you for all the wonderful feedback. Please feel free to criticize what I'm doing here mercilessly, I'm open to suggestions and feedback is learning!

Anyway, as you see, Dean got mean again. Don't worry, I'm planning on getting things back on track here. But just picture the resentment for a second. No, Dean is no wifebeater, as he's sometimes portrayed in Lit fanfic, neither is he a saint. Things will get better… I think.

Also, I'm trying to keep the Jess essence without loosing the changes he's been through. And I just addressed the haircut issue (I actually had it written this way before your question, my anonymous reviewer, but it's nice to know y'all were curious. I realize I'm taking a long time between some updates, it's a mixture of real life vs. my need to have written at least three chapters ahead of

what I'm posting…

Toodles, and thank you for stopping by….