Ugh, I'm really sorry that this chapter was a long time coming. The whole "real life" thing kicked in with starting back to work and starting school, not to mention that I don't get internet in my dorm room and when I can actually get on the internet in the common room, people randomly yoink my laptop for funny YouTube videos or facebook pages…so that doesn't really help either. Anyway, I'm really sorry for not updating. This was sitting in my notebook and I finally got a chance to type it up. Read, review, complain about how I've suddenly become a shitty updater…all that jazz. Actually, don't make me feel bad. : ( It's my birthday, and I already feel bad enough as it is. Hahaha.
Thanks for the reviews on chapter twenty-eight (even though that was, like, eons ago.) : IAmOneOfThem, gilmorefanforever, Just A Girl Of The Hollow x3, Curley-Q, EdwardBella4Life, LorLukealways, kathi-ryn, JPNeverlosetheButterflies, DiehardJavaJunkie14, lillitgirlx2, dtng4ever, The Labyrinths Scribe, kylielink, Jeremy Shane, Meredith-Grey, xliteratiwhorex, crazynakedsexpart69, Literati44, mizskitles220, coffeecoffeecoffee, kaypgirl, radiogirl, ShaolinQueen, Polly, ilovenat1995, and CalmingWater1098.
Disclaimer: If I owned Gilmore Girls, I wouldn't have had to slum through four classes in a row yesterday…even though my History professors are awesome, so no real complaints here.
Jess woke to find himself curled on the couch with a thin sheet thrown over his body. He could only assume that Luke had been watching out for him once again.
Blinking the sleep from eyes, Jess tossed the sheet aside and threw his arms in the air to stretch. His legs were tight from sleeping on the couch all night, but he fought through the stiffness to shuffle downstairs in search of his uncle.
As he started downstairs, Luke flung the curtain aside and appeared with a plate piled with pancakes. "You're already up," he said, handing Jess the plate. "You didn't finish your dinner last night."
Jess accepted the plate, blinking as he stared at the pancakes. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"You okay?" Luke asked.
He nodded. "Just stiff from sleeping on the couch," Jess replied, stifling his yawn. "Thanks for breakfast."
"Yeah." Luke stomped back down the stairs as Jess carried the plate inside the apartment.
They were blueberry chocolate chip pancakes, his favorite, with a dollop of whipped cream and an arrangement of strawberries in the center. Jess settled at the kitchen table with his pancakes after grabbing a fork and a paperback.
He smoothed the whipped cream across the top pancake and popped a strawberry in his mouth, flipping the pages in his book while he chewed.
"Hi." Jess dropped the book and his fork clattered to the ground. Rory was standing in the doorway with an identical plate of pancakes.
"Hey," he greeted her, ignoring the fallen paper back and utensil. He pushed out of the chair and set her plate across the table from him before pulling her close. Her breath muffled against his neck as he snaked his fingers low enough to pluck at the waistband of her shorts.
"Jess," she protested, reaching back to pull his at his fingers.
"What?" he whispered in her ear. She was freshly showered and smelled of flowers, vanilla, and coffee. After not being able to see her, talk to her, or touch her for a week, Jess wanted to throw her on his bed and fuck her senseless.
She pulled back and reached up to stroke his day old stubble. "Pancakes," she reasoned, looping past him to the table. "And we should talk," Rory added.
Talk. Of course. Jess dropped his hand and sat at the kitchen table. He sat there for a moment while Rory cut her pancakes with the side of her fork. His fork was still on the floor, but he had lost his appetite for pancakes.
When Rory noticed the expression on his face, she set her fork aside and folded her hands on the table. "Should I be mad at you?" she asked.
Jess shifted his eyes. "Why?"
"I don't know. Why are you being like this?"
"Like what?" Jess asked.
"Like what? Like this." Rory sighed. "We had sex, Jess."
"So now you're mad because we had sex? God, Rory, I didn't coerce you."
"That's not what I meant," Rory protested before he could finish his thought. "I mean, the running away and getting lost, then letting Luke hold you captive for a week rather than talk to him? If it wasn't your mom, did he do something? Did I do something?" she asked.
"It wasn't about you, Rory."
"So what was it?" She watched as he bit his lip. The remaining whipped cream on his pancakes was starting to melt and run down the stack.
"I don't know. It was an impulse," he said, dragging his fingers through his morning hair. He lowered his voice and ended up sounding more sensitive than he had planned. "When you've been abandoned your whole life, it's easy to cast the whole world aside and make a run for it."
"Jess…"
"And it was my mom," he added softly. "I lied."
"Why?" Rory asked.
"'Cause it hurt, and I wasn't going to admit it," Jess said. "I denied it for a week so that I didn't have to tell Luke."
"Tell Luke what?"
"That my mother completely forgot about me and had another kid," he said, rubbing the curve of his ear. "Little girl," he added hastily. "Got out of there as fast as I could."
"Are you okay?" she asked gently, sizing up his anguish from the drop in his tone.
"Doesn't matter anymore," he said, leaving the table to get another fork. The pancakes were probably cold by now, but he was starving.
"If I can do anything…" she started.
"I'm okay," he said, pulling the chair back in toward the table.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because it's hard to know that your parent has another family."
"It doesn't matter," Jess said. "It's not like I was ever close to my mother." He pushed her pancakes closer. "I thought you wanted those."
"I do," Rory said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine," Jess repeated. "Just eat. Maybe we can go out after we're done."
Rory smiled. "Okay." She shoved a forkful of pancake in her mouth. "I missed spending time with you."
Rory bit into her ice cream cone as she and Jess strolled around town square. He was sucking the liquefied ice cream from the point of his cone while he rested his hand at Rory's hip. They had been silent for a while, with the whole process of ice cream eating. As Jess popped the remainder of his cone in his mouth, Rory's eyes traveled up to his.
"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked, finishing off her own cone. "I know it's a weird question, and you probably don't remember, but I was just…"
"Over there," Jess said, cutting into her rant. "I was reading and walking and you were about to cross the street, and I bumped into you."
Rory smiled. "And then I fell and cut my knee open."
He cracked a smile and took her hand. "So I had take you over to Luke's and he gave you a bandage and a doughnut."
"I can't believe you remembered," Rory said, her teeth showing from the size of her grin.
Jess shrugged. "Why's that?"
"You're many things, but nostalgic isn't one of them."
"Says who?" Jess asked, peeking up at the night sky.
Rory gripped his hand harder. "I don't know."
"I remember a lot of things," he said.
"I know."
"I'm allowed to be nostalgic," he said, sounding defensive.
"It doesn't tarnish your bad boy image?" she asked jokingly.
"Nah," he said. "I'll rephrase that. I'm allowed to be nostalgic with you."
"Oh, okay." Rory felt his hand tighten around hers.
"Tell me this, then," Jess said, "do you remember the first time I kissed you?" His brown eyes challenged her as she searched to remember not the kiss on the bridge, but a childhood smooch.
She smiled as he sat down in the gazebo with her. "We were twelve and it was the Stars Hollow Middle School winter dance." He nodded for her to go on. "And there was mistletoe. I didn't want to kiss you, but you leaned in and got it over with." Rory pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.
"It's only June," Jess reminded her, noticing the sad expression that had taken over her features. "We have three months."
Rory lolled her head to look at her boyfriend. "I know."
"I'm only grounded for a couple weeks," he reminded her.
"I know," she repeated.
"We should do something for your birthday before you leave," he said.
Keeping her eyes locked on Jess, Rory let her feet touch the floor. "And your birthday," she reminded him.
"Luke's probably going to do something," he said. "I'm leaving a week and half before my birthday."
"We'll be okay," Rory said as she swung her legs back and forth.
"Yeah. I told you we would." Jess hooked his arm around her shoulders and she nestled close enough to settle against his chest. In the background, the crickets chirped gently and the stars sparkled in the night sky.
Rory was flipped a page in her book as Lorelai set down the phone to join her daughter on the couch. Instead of acknowledging her mother, she continued to read as Lorelai slid closer to her.
"Hey."
Rory looked up and jumped a mile as Lorelai moved away from her face. "Jeez. You could kill a person like that." She marked her place and glanced at Lorelai, who had settled at the other end of the couch.
"That was your grandmother," Lorelai said as Rory focused her attention on her mother.
Rory nodded. "Okay."
"Remember when we were going to spend the summer backpacking through Europe and made the mistake of telling your grandmother?"
"Yeah? But we had to cancel in order to pay for Harvard," Rory reminded her, almost saddened by that fact.
"Well, guess who's going to Europe?" Lorelai asked, tossing her head back.
"Grandma?"
Lorelai shook her head. "Happy Graduation."
"What?" Rory asked, sitting up. "But I was supposed to spend the summer with Jess!"
"Whoa, slow down. Before you get mad about going to Europe, it would only be for a two weeks." Lorelai clasped her hand over Rory's mouth while she spoke.
"Oh, okay," Rory said softly. "Why is Grandma sending us backpacking through Europe?"
"You have it all wrong, kid. She's coming with us, booking us hotels, and getting us the best tour guides."
"Europe Grandma's way."
"The Emily Gilmore way."
"But it's Europe," Rory reminded her.
"It's Europe."
"It won't be tainted too much," Rory said. "She'll avoid all the nondescript places and take us around to tourist attractions."
"But it's Europe, Sweets. We're going to Europe."
Rory sighed. "I know. I should go tell Jess. Luke's apparently not letting him leave the diner until next month."
Laughing, Lorelai boosted herself off the couch. "He's not going to know if he leaves the apartment."
Rory laughed in response. "Actually, he installed an alarm on the door."
"So, Europe." Jess slid a slice of apple pie across the counter to Rory.
"Europe," she confirmed as the fork met the point of her apple pie. "I want to go, but I feel bad leaving you here."
Jess shrugged. "Luke grounded me," he reminded her." Might as well go when I'm not allowed to leave the diner."
"Okay." Rory watched as her boyfriend lean across the counter to prop his face up with his arm. "I'll bring you back something."
"I'll hold you to that."
