A/N: I don't know if this is all getting a little bit OOC, for Jess and Paris in particular. Then I think that if these circumstances had occurred, its all pretty believable, isn't it? As usual, the readers will decide! :) Thank you for the continued reviewiage - y'all rock!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see Chapter 1)

Chapter 25

Jess let out a heavy sigh as he rode the bus to Stars Hollow. Just when things seemed to be on the up and up, something always went wrong. He ought to have known it would, that was the way of the world after all. Not that this particular death in the family had a huge effect on him, but that wasn't the point. Liz was making a very big deal about the loss of her Uncle Louie, in spite of the fact she didn't seem to have had anything much in the way of contact with him for at least ten years. Jess was damn sure he had never met the guy himself. Still, death was never a pleasant thing to deal with, and Luke was supposed to be kind of cut up over the whole thing from what Rory said. Jess was due at the diner for his shift, but honestly, he would've gone over anyway in the circumstances. It sounded as if help was needed, and given how Luke and the Gilmore girls had been there for him, Jess felt the need to pay back the favour.

Hopping off the bus, he hurried down the street. Jess found a pretty wacky scene before him as he arrived at the diner. Lorelai was behind the counter, calling out old-fashioned diner terms for food, some of which Jess was pretty sure she invented on the spot - Caesar sure did seem confused! Rory was running around like a crazy person, bussing tables and pouring coffee. She looked good doing it, but then in Jess' opinion, Rory looked good doing just about everything. Luke was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," said Jess as he approached Rory and moved to take the coffee pot from her hand. "You trying to steal my job?" he joked.

She didn't laugh, didn't even smile, just threw her arms around him and held on tight. With the coffee pot in his hand, Jess couldn't really hug her back properly and was so shocked by the sudden moment of affection that he might not have reacted anyway.

"What was that for?" he checked. "I mean, I'm not objecting or anything, but..."

Rory shook her head, looking oddly tearful. "It's just so sad, about your great uncle."

"Well, yeah, I guess," said Jess with a shrug. "But like I told you before, I never met the guy, as far as I know. It doesn't really affect me."

"It affects Luke," said Rory sadly, looking towards the stairs.

Jess had to assume that his uncle was up there, presumably making funeral arrangements or whatever. That would explain why the Gilmore girls were running the diner on this particular Saturday. Shaking his head, Jess told Rory she should take a break before she fell down. She looked pretty harassed.

"I want to help," she insisted.

"And you will, you are," he insisted. "But I'm here now, and I actually get paid to do this. So, I'll serve the coffee" he said, leading her to a stool and pouring plenty of java into a large mug for her. "You take five, okay?" he said with a smile, planting a quick kiss on Rory's lips whilst Lorelai's back was turned.

"Okay," she agreed, smiling widely. "Y'know you're a much nicer person than you want people to think?"

"Don't say that kind of thing so loud," he told her mock-seriously. "I got a rep to protect."

"Whatever you say, Kenickie," she teased him, glad to laugh a while as Jess got to working.

It was pretty sad in the diner with Luke all upset over his uncle. He was grumpy at the best of times but the stress of having to deal with the death of a relative all by himself was definitely taking its toll. It only happened yesterday, at least that was when Luke found out about it. Barely twenty four hours later and it felt like longer. Rory worried for Luke, and then when she thought about it, she started worrying for Liz too.

"Hey, how's your mom doing?" she asked Jess as he passed by with the now almost empty coffee pot.

"Still alternating between mostly fake tears and very real booze," he said, rolling his eyes. "I swear, she was doing better until this happened. Her and Ira had patched things up, it was almost looking positive."

"And now not so much?"

"Gotta expect her to be upset," said Lorelai, having caught the tail end of the conversation. "I mean, Louie was Liz's uncle too, right?"

"From what I can tell, she hasn't seen him in years. Probably couldn't even tell you what he looked like," said Jess sharply. "I'm sorry, but if you never see a person, what's the difference when they die?"

"Well, there's a lot of difference" said Lorelai definitely. "I mean... Well, um, I guess in a way you do have a point. It is pretty easy to imagine that somebody is still there even when they're gone if you never really see them anyway."

"If you're close enough to a person, you see them all the time, then when something happens to them, you feel it," said Jess definitely. "Liz knew her uncle about as well as I know the pool boy at the Geller house, that is to say she knew his name and she could maybe pick him out of a line up... when she was sober," he added after a moment's thought. "Not exactly a reason for all this wailing and drinking."

Slamming the coffee pot back into place, Jess stalked away to serve more customers. Rory shared a look with her mom but didn't say a word.

"Wow. That was intense," said Lorelai softly. "He gets awful upset for a guy explaining why nobody needs to be crying."

"It's not about the death," said Rory, shaking her head and leaning over the counter closer to her mom. "I think it's more about Liz. If her and Ira fall apart, which is more likely if she's drinking again, well, they could break up and then..."

"And then?" Lorelai prompted before the light bulb went off in her head. "Oh, and then she leaves and Jess goes with her. Hon, I'm sorry, I never even thought about it," she apologised sincerely, her hand over Rory's on the counter.

"It's fine" said Rory bravely, forcing a smile and sipping her coffee. "Everything will work out, most probably. Besides, Luke is the one who needs our sympathy and support right now. It's why we're here."

"Yes, it is," said Lorelai, with a definite nod. "So, let's get back to it!"

Paris tapped on the bedroom door and waited for Liz to tell her she could come in. It still felt strange to approach her parents room like this and find Liz in the bed. Honestly, Paris couldn't ever remember even being welcome near her parents room when they actually shared it, and that had been years ago. Her father barely had time for her, her mother even less so. Liz might be a crazy drunk much of the time, but she had been nice to Paris over the last few months, and right now she needed support. It was hard when people died, that much Paris did understand. You had to be nice to the relatives and friends of the departed, whether you liked it or not.

"Hi," she said as she moved into the room, trying not to make a face at the sight of Liz hunched down under the duvet, used tissue piled up around her and a glass in her hand. "I, er... I brought you some lunch" she said of the tray in her hands. "I didn't make it or anything, I mean, that's not what I do, but I brought it," she explained, putting the tray on the bed by Liz. "I just thought... Well, in your state, I wouldn't want anybody to see me, at least, not the staff."

Liz smiled through a veil of tears and reached for Paris' hand which she reluctantly let her hold a moment.

"You're a good girl, Paris," she told her. "I don't always get where you're coming from, but you're a good girl," she repeated.

"Thanks," said Paris stiffly, retracting her hand just as soon as she could. "I can't say that I know exactly what it is to lose a loved one. I'm not really close to any of my surviving grandparents so if they should die, I don't know that it would really have a fundamental effect on me. My mother isn't around, but then she never cared all that much for me when she was. Obviously I'd prefer she doesn't die. That kind of thing shouldn't be wished on anyone, though it is tempting with some of the evil in the world-"

"Paris," Liz interrupted what had become a completely non-relevant ramble by now. "Thank you for the lunch, honey," she told her then. "It means a lot, you tryin' to help me out. Is Jess doin' okay? I haven't seen him."

"He's fine," said Paris, nodding her head. "I think. It's sometimes hard to tell with him. He says he doesn't even remember meeting Louie."

"Y'know he probably didn't... and now he never will," said Liz, starting to cry all over again, pouring another shot down her throat in-between sobs.

Paris was not at all comfortable with this. She couldn't help but think that maybe Jess had a point when he told her that Liz was using this death in the family as an excuse to get attention and drink herself into oblivion.

"Jess went to Stars Hollow, to help out at the diner," she said, loud enough to be heard over Liz's sniffling and wailing. "Your brother is supposedly pretty shaken up by the passing, and he has all of the arrangements to make. If you wanted to go and help, I could drive you," she suggested.

"Oh, I'm... I'm not good at arrangements like that." Liz shook her head. "Luke will handle it. Luke always handles it," she insisted, pouring herself another drink.

"You seem to be handling the bottle just fine," muttered Paris.

She slammed from the room before Liz had a chance to react. Honestly, Paris wanted to be nice to Liz because she had been nice to her, but right now she just felt angry. Liz was ruining everything and Paris hated her for that. She was being weak and pathetic, using the loss of an uncle she barely knew as an excuse for her behaviour. If she was a decent person she would be assisting what family she had left.

Paris made a snap decision, grabbed her jacket and purse, and headed downstairs. Her car keys were in her hand long before she reached the vehicle, and the moment she was in her car she had her foot down hard on the pedal, headed for Stars Hollow.

"Okay," said Lorelai, checking her watch. "I hate to do this but I'm going to have to go grab Luke."

"Why? We're coping," said Rory as she hurried to clear another table and put another pot of coffee on the machine.

"Yeah, we are, but I really have to head over to the inn," she said, looking pained. "Normally Michel and Sookie would have most everything covered but things have been so crazy lately. We're fully booked right now, and okay, maybe they could handle that without me, but I also promised Sookie I would drop off those material samples for her dress. Oh, and you need your book for school, which I left under the Reception desk, again!" she literally face-palmed as she recalled one more problem. "But I can't leave you kids to run things alone."

"There must be somebody who could help cover so we don't disturb Luke right now," said Rory, trying to think.

"Lorelai, can you ask Caesar to move his ass?" said Jess as he joined them. "If the woman in the corner doesn't get her food soon, I think she's going to eat me instead."

"I'm on it," she said, rushing into the kitchen.

Rory moved to assist with serving again as another rush came upon them.

"Must be lunch time," she said to herself, not even looking up when the bell over the door clanged loudly. "Take a seat, we'll be right with you," she said as she passed by the new arrival.

"Actually, I was planning on being more useful than that."

"Paris?" said Rory with surprise as she looked at her friend properly. "Er, you came to help us out? In the diner?"

"I can't cook or anything," she admitted, "but then I know that's not your strong suit either."

"Seriously?" asked Jess with wide eyes as he passed by them. "The great Paris Geller came to Luke's diner to wait tables?"

"I can change my mind pretty fast, Mariano!" she snapped at him, though she was smiling the whole time. "Family sticks together in a crisis, right? Your mother certainly won't pull her weight. I figured maybe I should."

Jess wasn't sure he ever saw Paris look genuinely nervous before, but right now she really did. They didn't have time for too many niceties. As it was, Paris was buffeted by three more people trying to get in the door within a second, and Rory and Jess couldn't afford to hang around either.

"Lorelai!" Jess yelled for her attention. "You got yourself a new waitress," he said, inclining his head towards Paris. "You know my sister, right?" he said with a smile as he glanced back at Paris herself.

The grin on her face grew tenfold as she walked up to the counter and was welcomed by Lorelai too. Waiting on the denizens of Stars Hollow didn't thrill Paris Geller, not at all, but being here to help out, feeling like part of a real family, that was pretty cool. She certainly had never expected this to happen when her father remarried, but she couldn't be happier about it right now.

To Be Continued...