Jess's POV
Jess kissed Lei goodnight and watched until she disappeared around the corner. Taking a deep breath, he turned and went back to the guys.
Upstairs he found Chris and Matt talking in the living room. They were so deep in the discussion and had no idea he was back. He stood close enough to hear what they were saying.
"I know it's goanna happen and then what? Where does that leave us?"
"I am sick of repeating myself, it will not happen. I know it and you know it. He will not screw us over."
That's when he had to step in. He walked around the couch, passing in front of them purposely as he walked over to the window. He opened it and lit a cigarette before looking at his friends.
"I don't plan on screwing anyone over."
He turned back to the open window and smoked his cigarette. He was taken back at what he heard. How could Chris be so sure he'd screw them over? He would never screw them over. As far as he was concerned, next to Luke and Stars hollow, Philly was home. This wasn't changing homes, this was one of his adventures, to see what will be.
"Jess," Matt said, walking over and standing next to him.
"Thanks for having my back," Jess muttered, not looking at him.
"No problem dude, I know you. You're my brother, you'd never take me from behind."
Unable to help himself, Jess laughed. "No, Matt, I would never do that."
"You never plan on doing something like that, but it happens," Chris said, finally joining them but keeping a distance. "It always happens."
"Huh."
"You did it," Matt exclaimed, slapping Chris on the arm. "You broke him. Now he's back to the huh's."
Matt stared at Chris, who in turned stared at Jess. He was looking out at the New York skyline and wondering how he'd found himself in such an eerie situation. The man who didn't like being tied down, had ties all over the place.
"Jess, I—" Chris started but was cut off by Jess's cell ringing loudly from his pocket.
He slipped it out and checked to see Luke was calling. He answered quickly.
"Yeah Luke? Isn't it late?"
"Christopher died. About an hour ago. Lorelei just called me. The family's moving to Hartford until after the funeral."
"Wow," Jess said in shock but already wondering how Rory was holding up.
"Yeah. Can you come?"
"I'm not family," he said quickly, lighting another cigarette.
"But you are, you're my family and I'm going to need some sanity in all this."
"But-"
"No but's Jess, Get your butt down here. If not for me, for Rory."
"I'll be there as soon as I can," he said and hung up the phone.
"What's up?" Chris asked, stepping closer to Jess and putting his hand on his shoulder.
"There's a family emergency. I have to go. Now."
He walked through his friends and went towards his bedroom. He grabbed a bag and threw things he'd need in. He wasn't really thinking but was more on auto pilot. He was just in Hartford and Rory said her dad was good, that everything was fine. He didn't think it had been 24 hours and the call comes he's dead.
"We're gonna head out," Matt said, tapping Jess on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry guys," he said, turning to look at his friends in the doorway.
"We know. This was unexpected."
"Well, it really wasn't. We knew he was sick and dying. But I was just there and everything was ok."
"Who is it?" Chris asked.
"Rory's dad, Christopher."
"How's that apply to you?" Matt asked.
"Dude, you know his dysfunctional family tree," Chris said. "Her mom and Luke are married. There's how it applies. Luke needs him."
They stood there for a minute, shifting around uncomfortably. Finally Jess broke the trance by tossing the jeans in his hands into the bag. Chris coughed and Matt bounced on his heels as he did when he was uncomfortable.
"Call us and tell Rory…I don't know, something," Chris said one final time.
Jess nodded and watched them leave. He stood there for a second before continuing his packing. He only closed up the bag after he'd put several books in. He packed up his laptop and some notebooks before going leaving himself.
"So much for coming home," he muttered.
Tristan's POV
Tristan got his pills from Paris only minutes before Francine Hayden collapsed and created a commotion. Immediately he went in search of Rory. Paris had tried to stop him but he shook her off, not even noticing his arm pain. The minute he saw Rory just standing there with the phone up to her ear, he knew he'd been right to look for her.
"Mary?" he asked when he stopped in front of her.
She looked at him and he could see her blue eyes brimming with tears. He took the phone from her with one hand as he pulled her to him with the other. He didn't have to ask, he knew what had happened.
"This is Tristan. I'll have Rory there as soon as I can."
"No, no. There's no point in coming here. There's nothing to do here. Tomorrow though, tomorrow she needs to be here by noon."
"I can do that. But are you sure you don't want her tonight?"
There was silence on the phone and he thought he could hear a muffled conversation before Rory's mom got back on the phone and told him no again. He said goodbye and hung up, thinking that it was an odd thing to not expect her daughter to come when her father died. Since it wasn't his place to argue, he just put his arms around Rory and escorted her towards the door.
"Is it her father?" Paris asked, appearing next to me and whispering.
He nodded but didn't answer. His only task was to take care of Rory and she hadn't spoken since he found her.
"We'll stick close, call us for any reason and especially when you know the details."
He nodded again and Paris walked away. They were almost to the door when they were approached again. This time it was someone he knew Rory wouldn't want to deal with at the moment.
"Where on Earth do you think you are going? We have a situation here," Emily hissed as her eyes darted back to Francine.
"Rory needs to go," he said firmly.
"No, she needs to attend to her duties and do the proper thing. Rory Gilmore, you turn around and go see to Francine like a proper lady would," Emily said, staring Rory down.
Tristan looked at Rory and became frightened when she didn't even blink. There was no reaction to her grandmother. She just stood there calmly and patiently waiting for him to lead her again. It was almost like she didn't hear her grandmother or was even aware she was there.
"Like I said, Rory needs to go," Tristan repeated and moved to walk around the older lady who stood between them and the door.
"And who are you exactly? I should know who you are," Emily said, her eyes finally resting on his face.
"Yes, ma'am, you should but since you don't, you'll know when Rory decides you need to," he said with an edge. "Now, for the third time, we have to go."
This time he made it around and to the door without any interruptions. Outside he gave the valet the slip for the car and turned to face Rory head on. Her eyes were glazed over and she looked like she was somewhere miles away.
"Rory, Mary, talk to me, please," he pleaded with her to no avail.
He got her in the car and back to the pool house. She still didn't react and he was starting to get anxious. He truly blamed her mother for not letting him bring her and he thought he should take her anyway. He wasn't sure what to do or what was right and it was scaring him. He could feel the tension of it creeping into his muscles.
Finally making a decision, he changed her into a big T-shirt he'd found and laid her in her bed. Once he done all that, he walked into the kitchen and drank a couple glasses of water while he thought. After putting the glass down, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. It took several rings before it was picked up.
Logan's POV
After leaving Rory, Logan went in search of Kalli. He couldn't find her anywhere and it broke up shortly after the incident. He went home never finding out what happened. Instead he was hoping she'd turn up once he was home, but she never did.
He slept in the next day, even though at one point he could have sworn his phones rang and there was a pounding on his door. He never checked it out and they went away, leaving him to dream of the ocean.
When he did finally get up, he ignored his phones and went to the TV, turning on one of his many superhero movies and vegged out. He thought about making the call for a flight back to California. He didn't feel there was a reason to stick around any longer, when there was a knock on the door.
He opened it to find Kalli standing there in a purple mini dress with thigh high brown boots. He smiled when he saw and stood a little straighter, realizing he was in old blue sweatpants and that was all.
"I've never known you to knock."
"I thought it'd be a nice change," she said as she walked past him and into his house.
He shut the door and turned around, eyes darting over to the movie and back to her. Watching her as she sat down on the couch confidently, he wished he felt the same. That was the one thing that got him after all this time. When he was younger he was too confident and now, he didn't have any.
"So what happened to you last night?" he asked after sitting in the chair and stopping the movie.
"I got some information that was worth following up on," she said as she started the movie back up.
Shaking his head, he said, "I talked to her and she has a new guy, one she likes a lot."
"Tristan DuGrey," Kalli said, looking directly at him.
"Yeah, him, I guess. How'd you know that?"
"I know things, remember?"
"I didn't, whatever, it's cool."
She laughed and he looked away.
"Is she ok?" Kalli asked suddenly.
"Is who ok?"
"Your Ace," she said and he noticed the distaste with witch she said the nickname.
"Why wouldn't she be? Do you know DuGrey hurt her?"
"No, no. He's a good guy actually. A real good guy," she said almost wistfully. "Her father, he died. That's why the Hayden woman went down."
"Wait, what? I wasn't aware of all of that because I was looking for you," Logan said, getting up and moving over to the couch next to her. "You were more important."
She gave him a look, patting the top of his head. He busted up laughing, reminded of a scene in the movie Dazed and Confused. When his laughter subsided, he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss that turned longer.
"You are…something different," she said, looking at him, almost studying his face.
"Good different I hope."
"It seems so."
"I'll take it," he said, smiling at her. "I guess I better check my phone."
"Might be a good idea."
Jess's POV
Jess had almost made it to Hartford and had no clue where he should go. That's why he was grateful when he had to pull over and answer his cell phone. It was something he refused to do most of the time, it didn't matter who was calling. Driving was something he paid close attention to and phone calls were distracting.
"Tristan, what's up?"
"Rory needs you man her dad died and she won't…anything and it's freaking me out."
Jess sat there a second and looked out at the highway, wondering what was wrong with Rory. He knew she'd handle this badly. He knew it the minute Luke had called.
"Where are you guys?"
"The pool house."
"I'll be there."
He quickly got back out on the highway. Now he had a plan, a destination. He had something to work with. He needed to get to Rory and see what was wrong with her. It all was beginning to make sense to him, in his deep, dark and twisted mind.
