Thank you so much for you support! :) It really does mean so much to me.

Chapter 53

Lorelai followed Luke into the diner, who glanced back at her. "Do you want to have the coffee upstairs?" He asked.

"Jess isn't here?" She asked as they headed up to the apartment.

"No, he's round at Lane's. Making the most of being in the band before he leaves." Luke said.

"Leaves?" Lorelai frowned.

"Charlotte didn't tell you?" He asked surprised.

"No. I saw her yesterday but she didn't say anything." Lorelai said still confused, sitting down at the table in the apartment while Luke stood by the table, leaning against his kitchen counter.

"Oh right, Jess was going over to talk to her about it so she probably didn't know when she saw you." Luke said.

"What's going on? Jess is leaving?" She asked.

"He wrote a book." Luke said not being able to hide the proud smile that appeared on his face.

"A book? Wow!" Lorelai said. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah. Apparently he's been writing it for months now. I had no idea. But he's managed to find an editor and publisher for it." Luke told her. "And this publishing company's actually offered him a job."

"Wow, that's great! Good for him!" She smiled, pleased for Jess. "So he's moving? Where is the publishing company?"

"Philadelphia." Luke said, his smile fading slightly.

"Oh..wow. That's far." She said, glancing at him.

"Yeah." Luke sighed. "He's been worried about it. Taking the job, I mean."

"Why? Because of Charlotte?" Lorelai guessed.

"Surprisingly, not as worried about her. He said they were strong and they'd be fine." Luke said.

Lorelai smiled slightly. "Yeah I'm sure they will be."

"He was more worried about letting Lane down with the band and stuff but apparently she's been really nice about it." He said.

"So he's going?" She asked.

"He's going." Luke nodded. "Decided this morning. He goes on Saturday."

"Wow, that's going to be weird for you huh? Him not being around." Lorelai said quietly, glancing over at him.

"I guess, yeah." He said gruffly. "But he deserves this. He's worked hard and he's finally getting good opportunities out of it. I'm happy for him."

"Yeah he does deserve it." Lorelai smiled.

"And anyway, I've been doing some thinking myself." Luke said slowly, glancing at her.

Lorelai sat up a bit straighter. "Yeah?" She said nervously.

"Yeah, I was thinking it might be time for me to move." He said cautiously.

"Move?" Lorelai said shocked, feeling a pit of dread in her stomach.

"Yeah, I've been thinking when Jess comes back to visit, he'll want his own place to work while he's here. He'll hardly want me walking around noisily, distracting him." Luke said.

"So where were you thinking of moving?" Lorelai asked quietly, trying to keep her emotions in check about Luke possibly not living in Stars Hollow anymore.

"Well..." He said nervously, glancing at her. "I was hoping my fiance might have some ideas..."

"What?" Lorelai said surprised.

"Well...married couples tend to live together when they get married." Luke said cautiously.

Lorelai felt tears fill her eyes. "You still want to marry me?" She said breathlessly.

"I've never not wanted to marry you." He said honestly.

"But I thought...with Chris..." Lorelai said hesitantly.

He tensed slightly at the name but sighed. "I'm never going to be ok with Christopher being in your life but I know he has to be. For Charlotte's and Rory's sakes. But I'm not going to let him ruin the best thing that's ever happened to me." He said.

Lorelai wiped a few tears that fell down her face. "Thank you." She said tremulously.

"I love you. And nothing anyone says or does is going to change that." He said softly.

"I love you too. So much." Lorelai said getting up and hugging him. "And Chris isn't going to be in my life anymore. He might be in Rory and Charlotte's but not in mine. I'm moving forward. With you." She said.

"I've missed you." Luke admitted.

"I've missed you too." She said with tears in her eyes, leaning in to give him a kiss. She pulled away after a moment and looked at him. "You really want to move in?" She asked softly.

"If that's what you want." He nodded.

"Don't you think it's too fast?" She asked nervously. "With what just happened, just jumping into something like this."

"I was thinking about it before everything anyway." He shrugged. "We're engaged. In my opinion, we've waited too long as it is."

Lorelai smiled. "Then I'd really like it." She said softly.

Luke smiled. "Good." He said softly. "That's good." He said, leaning in to kiss her again. "So Jess is going to be back soon so this flat won't exactly be empty..." He said.

"Would you like to come over to mine?" She smirked.

"I thought you'd never ask." He smirked.


The following morning after she had seen Luke off who had to get to the diner, she picked up her mail and started sorting through it. She shook her head before picking up the phone and dialling a number.

"Hello?" Rory answered.

"Yeah, we've got to talk mail." Lorelai said.

"Not again." Rory sighed.

"It's all for you and Charlotte! Every piece. How can that be? You only half live here!" She exclaimed.

"This mail envy of yours is not pretty." Rory said.

"Catalogues, business solicitations, credit card offers, oh! And for me, some more stupid Greenpeace return address labels." She said.

"Well, you are the environmental philanthropist in the family." Rory smirked.

"Well, I feel very badly for the planet right now." Lorelai grumbled.

"Hey, you called my cell." Rory said suddenly.

"I know."

"Well, I told you to call my land line. My cell phone bill is astronomical." Rory said.

"But a conversation with me, priceless!" She grinned, continuing to sort through the mail, holding up a postcard. "Oh joy." She said sarcastically.

"What?"

"Well, I did get a piece of mail. The temple of Apollo." Lorelai said.

"Grandma still hitting you with the postcards, huh?" Rory said.

"As if nothing even remotely unpleasant happened between us. How does she do that? Compartmentalise like that? It's weird. She's the serial killer who goes to work and talks about a funny Seinfeld he saw and then goes home and cooks himself a man-flesh sandwich." Lorelai exclaimed.

"Ew." Rory grimaced.

"Let's see how her trip has been since the last card." She said. "Dear Lorelai, kicked a dog then punched a gypsy in the groin. Oh, that's nice." She said dryly.

"Mom..."

"Complained about the foie gras to a waiter whose yearly pay is less than I spend monthly on silver polish, then kicked another dog." She continued.

"Come on."

"Tripped a nun, then burned down an orphanage."

"Sounds like a busy itinerary." Rory said.

"And the sun sets on Apollo." Lorelai said ripping the postcard in half.

"At least you don't get the nothing said all about it reminders about Friday night dinner." Rory said.

"She's putting her hooks in you both, huh?"

"Yeah, three cards in a row, reminding Charlotte and me in no uncertain terms that they'll see us soon." Rory sighed. "Charlotte's annoyed because it coincides with Jess' last night before leaving to go to Philadelphia."

"Urgh, poor Charlotte." Lorelai said sympathetically. "Well at least she's smart enough not to do that to me."

"Well, we're mad at her too, you know. Just for the record." Rory told her.

"I know." Lorelai said.

"And I am mad at dad, too. I know it didn't seem like it when you came here and we were talking about the email." Rory said.

"Rory, I don't want you to fight with your dad..." Lorelai said softly.

"I know but what he did really sucked. What he said to Luke. I hate that he did that to you too." She said quietly. "So I am mad at him." She said firmly.

Lorelai had to smile at her daughter's stubborn tone. "Ok." She said.

"Anything else?" Rory asked.

"Well actually, talking about Luke..." Lorelai said smiling giddily thinking about the night before.

"Oh my god, have you talked? Are you and Luke back together?" Rory said excitedly.

"Well..." Lorelai said.

"Oh hang on!" Rory said. Lorelai heard Rory say something to someone. "Ok mom, Charlotte's here, you're on speakerphone. Now talk!"

"Are you and Luke back together?" Charlotte's voice came on the line.

"Yeah. We are." Lorelai smiled at the excitement in her daughters' voices. "We talked yesterday after the Fiddler of the Roof production and yeah, we're back together."

"Aw mom, we're so happy for you!" Charlotte squealed excitedly.

"There is something I need to talk to you about though." Lorelai said biting her lip nervously.

"Shoot." Rory said.

"Well when Luke and I were talking, we might have discussed the possibility of him moving in." She admitted.

"Into our house?" Charlotte asked.

"What would you two think about that?" Lorelai asked nervously.

"Well I think we'd think about time." Rory laughed.

"Really?" Lorelai said letting out a breath or relief.

"Mom, you're getting married. Wait, you are still getting married right?" Charlotte said.

"Yes we are." Lorelai smiled.

"Well then it makes sense for Luke to move in." She said. "And with Jess moving, it would mean Luke not having to be at the diner alone."

"Talking about Jess, how are you feeling about that?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm ok. I'm sad I won't get to see him as much but we'll talk lots on the phone and we'll visit each other. I'm happy for him." Charlotte said.

"Well that's very mature of you." Lorelai smiled.

"He deserves this. I'm glad he gets to prove to the world how amazing he is." Charlotte smiled.

"So I'll see you late on Friday?" She asked them both.

"You'll see me." Rory nodded.

"Yeah I think I might go to see Jess after the dinner." Charlotte said. "Is that ok?"

"Of course. So I'll see you Friday, Rory, and you Saturday." She smiled.

"Yep! Bye mom." Rory said.

"Yeah bye mom! And say hi to Luke from us!" Charlotte smiled.

"I will. Bye girls." Lorelai smiled, hanging up.


The following morning, Rory was placing her order the coffee cart in the Yale courtyard, while looking thorugh her purse. "Hi. I'd like a large caramel macchiato with an extra shot and whip cream, please." She smiled at the coffee guy.

"Coming up." He said.

"Wait, hold on. How much is that?" She asked.

"Four eighty-five."

"Ok, better drop the extra shot. What does that make it?" She asked.

"Four twenty." He said.

"Better make it a small. What does that make it?"

"Three thirty."

"Better drop the whip cream. What does that make it?"

"Less calories." He said.

She sighed. "Just a plain old small coffee, please." She said turning round and immediately dropping her change all over the ground. "Oh shoot." She said crouching down to pick them up.

"This would definitely qualify as a cute meet if we hadn't already met." A voice said crouching down next to her.

"Tristan. Hi." Rory said blushing slightly. "This is embarrassing."

"Are we going after the rollers? A couple of them are headed into the bushes." Tristan smirked.

"No, I think I've supplied people with a sufficient amount of silly images of me for one day." She said.

"Small coffee for me, and put the lady's on my tab too." Tristan smiled at the coffee guy.

"Oh no, Tristan, you don't have to do that." Rory said.

"I can't take a chance of you pulling out that purse again. Someone might get hurt." Tristan smirked paying for the coffee.

"Well, thank you." Rory said giving him a small smile.

"So I stopped by the paper the other day to see you." He said.

"You're coming back to the paper?" She asked happily. Tristan had left it after they broke up seeing as Logan was on it and it would have been awkward.

"I kind of missed it." He admitted. "Is it ok if I come back to it?" He asked hesitantly.

"What? Yes of course! You don't need to ask." Rory smiled.

"Well good then." He smiled. "Anyway, I stopped by but then I tried to sneak out when I realised you weren't there. But our omnipresent editor cornered me. Does Doyle ever leave that place?"

"Unfortunately yes, otherwise I would be denied the regular pleasure of seeing him in Property of Alcatraz pyjama pants." Rory smirked.

"Thanks for the image." He chuckled. "Which way you heading?" He asked.

"That way." Rory said pointing towards the building.

"Me too." He said, walking with her. "So I had fun the other night..."

"Oh..yeah, me too." Rory said, giving him a small smile.

"Maybe we could do it again some time?" He asked hesitantly.

"Oh..uh.." Rory said taken by surprised.

"You don't have to. Sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot." Tristan said, ducking his head.

"No you didn't. Uh..that would be nice." She said giving him a small smile.

"Ok. Cool. So I guess I'll see you around then." He said.

"Yeah. See you around." Rory smiled.

"Bye Mary." Tristan said giving her his trademark smirk, before walking off, leaving Rory smiling after him.


"Mom?" Rory called letting herself into the house that evening.

"In the kitchen!" Lorelai called.

"Hey!" Rory said coming in. "I wanted to get a load of my clothes going before I go to Grandma's."

"Sure." She said. "Charlotte not with you?"

"She's gone round to see Jess while I do this and then we're going to drive together." Rory said.

"Good idea." Lorelai smiled, watching Rory go out the back door before coming back in quickly.

"You're using it!" Rory exclaimed.

"Yes, I know." Lorelai grinned.

"Well, I had dibs!"

"No, you didn't call dibs."

"I'm a college student coming home on Spring Break. That implies dibs on the washer and dryer!" She said.

"There's no implied dibs in dibs. If you don't call it, you don't get it." Lorelai said, watching Rory go back outside.

"Well, this is just wrong!" Rory called from outside.

"What?"

"You're washing two socks!" She exclaimed coming back in.

"Well, they were dirty."

"That's wasteful."

"I really wanted to wear them tonight." Lorelai said.

"They are your dancing Santa Claus socks. You're not going to wear those for another ten months!"

"No, I can wear them eccentrically any time I want!"

"Well, then you're going to have to put one of my loads in while I'm gone." Rory gave up.

"And risk a hernia?" She joked.

"I'll never finish otherwise!"

"I'll do two loads. How's that?"

"Thank you. Alright, I've got to take off." She said.

"Ok. Drive safe, and you've got gas, right?"

"Yeah, I've got gas."

"Ok. Enough gas to get to Hartford?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Oh, well, because I've got a twenty...ah ha! A twenty! On the fridge, here!" Lorelai said taking it off. "I'm not going to use it. You should use it for gas."

"Is it that obvious I'm broke?" Rory said.

"Well, you mentioned the minutes on your cell phone, a hint of panic in your voice and now the months of saved up laundry." Lorelai pointed out. "And here, give this one to my other daughter." She said handing her another twenty.

"Well there are just no good jobs at Yale right now and I'd take anything. Trust me." Rory sighed.

"Well, I took the liberty of asking around town for you. Made you sound all pathetic and ragged. And there are a few temporary things you could take. You are very in demand in Stars Hollow." Lorelai said.

"Like what?"

"Well, the radio station needs someone to drive up the hill a couple of times a day and shoo the cows away from the transmitter."

"I'm not good with livestock."

"Well, the road crew needs a part-time 'Slow Down' sign holder-upper. You get to wear a helmet." Lorelai grinned.

"I don't think so."

"I saved the best for last. Obviously Jess is leaving so Andrew needs help doing inventory at the bookstore. I think that's probably your best bet." She said.

"That sounds great actually." Rory said.

"Cool, just give him a ring." Lorelai smiled.

"Thanks." She said. "Right, now I just need to borrow some clothes to wear to Grandma's."

"You're in clothes."

"Well, she'll insist I take my jacket off and I'm down to my 'Give Bush a Wedgie' t-shirt." Rory said.

Lorelai gasped excitedly. "Please wear that to Grandma's!"

"I'm going to borrow some clothes."

"There's another twenty in it for you!" Lorelai said.

"Start one of my loads." Rory said heading upstairs.

"Forty if you snap a picture of her seeing it!"

"Finish your socks!" She called down.


"We could just turn round. Bail on her." Charlotte said as her and Rory stood outside their grandparents' house.

Rory sighed. "I know you'd rather be with Jess right now and trust me, I'd rather be anywhere else but here but we made a promise and we don't break promises." She said.

"But it's alright for others to break promises." Charlotte mumbled.

"Look, as much as we hate what Grandma did, none of this was down to Grandpa was it? We can't bail on him. It wouldn't be fair." She said.

"I guess so." Charlotte sighed.

"Plus we know something that Grandma doesn't." Rory said.

"What?"

"Mom and Luke are back together."

Charlotte smiled slightly. "Yeah."

"Ok, so let's just go in there, eat and then we can leave." Rory said. "Deal?"

"Deal?" Charlotte sighed, ringing the doorbell.

"Rory, Charlotte hello! Come in!" Emily answered the door cheerfully.

"Hi, Grandma." Rory smiled tightly.

"Oh we've missed you!" Emily said dramatically, hugging them both but not getting hugs back.

"It's only been a few weeks, Grandma." Charlotte said stiffly.

"Give your coats to Eliza." She carried on, not noticing their tone of voices. "That's an interesting outfit you have on." She smiled at Rory.

"Laundry day." Rory said.

"Laundry day. Everything young people do sounds like fun to me!"

"No, it's pretty dreary." Rory said.

"Well, come in!" She beamed at them, leading them through to the living room. "Richard, the girls are here. Hurry down and don't forget to bring the you-know-whats!" She called up the stairs. "Forget you heard that." She told them.

"Consider it forgotten." Charlotte said.

"Our trip was wonderful. We have so much to tell you." Emily said enthusiastically.

"Good." Rory said sitting down next to Charlotte.

"We'll have to wait until next week to show you pictures. Richard bought this new digital camera that's supposed to be so simple a child can use it. So now we need to find a child who'll show us how." She said laughing but barely getting a smile from either girls. "Are you two feeling ok?" She asked them both, finally noticing they weren't exactly themselves.

"I'm feeling fine." Rory said.

"Me too." Charlotte said.

"Ok, so did you go to Athens on that first big European trip of yours?" She asked them.

"Uh yeah." Rory nodded.

"I hope you saw the National Archaeological museum. I thought of you there the whole time. The room with the Mask of Agamemnon?" Emily said.

"Yep, we hit that." Rory said.

"Interesting, huh?" She said.

"Yep." Charlotte nodded.

Just then Richard came down the stairs. "Charlotte! Rory!" He smiled.

"Grandpa! Welcome home!" Rory smiled getting up and giving him a hug.

"It's so good to see you! We've missed you!" Charlotte grinned, giving him a hug as well, leaving to watch them frowning slightly.

"Well, thank you! We've missed you too! Look at this outfit! I like the colours." He smiled at Rory.

"Thanks! It's borrowed." Rory smiled.

"So we've got quite a bit to catch up on." He said, sitting down on the couch next to his granddaughters.

"We know, we want to hear all about it!" Charlotte nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, I'm sure your grandmother has caught you up somewhat." Richard said.

"I started to." Emily smiled tightly.

"And with the dozens of postcards she sent, you probably remember the trip better than I do." Richard chuckled.

"We still want to hear your account." Rory smiled.

"Have them open the gifts, Richard." Emily said.

"Oh, yes. Please. Open them!" Richard smiled handing the gifts over.

Charlotte and Rory pulled out the same antique book. "Oh my god, it's amazing!" Rory said enthusiastically.

"Pretty cool!" Charlotte nodded.

"Leaves of Grass in Greek. A hundred years old, some beautiful engravings." Richard said.

"Now we have to learn Greek." Charlotte quipped.

"Feel the leather." Emily said.

"Grandpa, thank you so much!" Rory smiled at her grandfather.

"Yeah it's really cool, thanks!" Charlotte smiled.

"Well, you can thank your grandmother. She helped pick it out." Richard said.

"Thank you, Grandma." Rory said not even looking up.

"Yeah thanks." Charlotte said just as unenthusiastically.

"Dinner is served, Mrs. Gilmore." The maid said coming in.

"Thank you Eliza." Emily said. "You can flip through those a little later."

"Ok." Rory said as she and Charlotte put the books away. They then deliberately linked arms with Richard as they headed through to the dining room. "So, Grandpa, is it true that every restaurant in the Placa has a view of the Acropolis?" Rory asked.

"Well, they like to think so. But we found this charming little taverna, Dionysus. The view was spectacular and the Ouzo certainly lived up to its name." He told them.


A while later, Charlotte, Rory, Richard and Emily were tucking into their dessert of their dinner.

"So, where are all of your Yale friends for Spring Break?" Emily asked trying to start some conversation.

"Oh, here and there." Rory said.

"Did your friend Paris make interesting plans?" She asked.

"Not really." Rory said.

"What about that friend of yours? Marty, is it?" Emily asked Charlotte.

"Not sure." Charlotte shrugged.

"And how's the shortcake?" She asked.

"It's fine, thanks." Rory nodded.

"Yeah it's good." Charlotte said

"I know this seems a bit basic but Eliza found the first decent strawberries of the year. I'm so mad at California." Emily said.

"Well, you'd think that rain would be good for crops. It's counter-intuitive." Richard chuckled.

"Anyway, these strawberries are wonderful. Could you pass them to me, Rory?" She asked. Rory did without looking up at her. "Can you pass the cream, Charlotte?" She then asked but frowned when Charlotte did exactly the same. She looked up at Richard for help.

"So, girls...is everything all right with you both this evening?" He asked.

"We're fine, Grandpa." Rory smiled up at him.

He looked helplessly at Emily but she gestured for him to keep going. "You'd tell us if anything was bothering you."

"It's nothing." Charlotte told him.

"Seems as though there might be something on your mind." He said.

"Not really." Rory said.

"Alright." He said.

"So, Grandpa, you hardly told us anything about your trip! How was the Archaeological museum?" Rory smiled at him.

"Oh yeah, was it amazing?" Charlotte smiled.

"Oh, now, that's it!" Emily exclaimed.

"Emily..." Richard warned.

"What is wrong with you both?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Rory frowned.

"I asked you about that museum earlier and all you did was mumble something about hitting it!" She said.

"We should have been more expansive. I'm sorry." Charlotte said sarcastically.

"You've been pushing me away all evening!"

"Emily, please." Richard said.

"You asked your grandfather question after question and make polite chit-chat about the duck with the maid, what's her name, tell her it's wonderful..." Emily said annoyed.

"Because she made it! And her name is Eliza!" Charlotte frowned.

"I told her to make it! You're enjoying duck because I requested duck!" Emily exclaimed.

"Well, it was a great duck, Grandma! Kudos on the duck!" Rory said.

"This isn't you, this attitude of yours. This is your mother." She said.

Rory saw her sister's head whip up and could see her eyes glaring. "Don't bring up Mom." Charlotte said vehemently.

"Look, all of you. Let's try to calm down." Richard tried.

"Why are you acting this way?" Emily demanded.

"Your memory can't be that short, Grandma!" Charlotte exclaimed finally letting her annoyance out.

"What does that mean?"

"Do we really have to get into this?" Charlotte scowled.

"You should both walk out that door and come in again. Start all over." Emily said imperiously.

"They don't need to do that, Emily." Richard said.

"We have a contract!" Emily frowned.

"A contract!" Charlotte snorted.

"We pay for Yale. You both come to dinner every Friday night and you act pleasantly and decently." She said.

"You're right, Grandma. We do have a contract." Rory intervened, seeing that Charlotte was about to explode. "But it's to come to dinner. Period. There's no agreement on how vivacious or bubbly we have to be."

"You need to act like you!" Emily exclaimed.

"We are!" Rory said.

"This isn't you!" Emily said.

"Look, Grandma, you know what you did." Charlotte said, not being able to take it anymore, getting up and crossing her arms against her chest.

"Charlie..." Rory said softly, getting up too, trying to calm her down.

"Girls, please sit down." Richard said.

"I mean, what did you expect?" Charlotte exclaimed angrily. "Ten Acropolis postcards and we forget the fact that you broke up Mom and Luke?" She exclaimed, deliberately leaving out the fact that they were back together. "Now, we respect our contract. And we will continue to come every Friday night and eat dinner with you. But I, personally, won't guarantee an attitude that will please you. Excuse me." She said going to leave.

"You are certainly not excused, we're not through." Emily exclaimed.

"We have had dessert, we'll skip the port." Charlotte said sarcastically. "Now tonight's the last night before my boyfriend leaves to work in Philadelphia and I won't see him for a long time so I'm sorry but I'd rather spend the evening with him than here arguing with you." She said. "Goodnight." She said before walking off.

"Rory..." Richard said.

"Everything Charlotte said was right." She sighed. "Goodnight, Grandpa. We'll see you in a week." She said before leaving after Charlotte, leaving Emily and Richard looking at each other shocked.


Rory drove into the driveway of the Crap Shack after dropping Charlotte off at the diner to see Jess. "Hey." She sighed as she entered the house and found her mom and Luke on the couch.

"Oh hey!" Lorelai said. "How was dinner?" She asked.

"Loud." Rory sighed, sitting down on the couch.

"Meaning?"

"There was yelling."

"Why, what happened?" Lorelai asked.

"We just got so mad. She was acting like nothing was wrong. Like it was totally normal that you weren't there. And we couldn't take it." She said glancing over at Luke. "Sorry you probably don't want to hear about this..."

"It's ok." He assured her.

"We left during shortcake." Rory told her mom.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Hey, Grandma did this. You didn't."

I know. I just hate that you're both fighting with them." Lorelai sighed.

"Don't worry about it." She sighed. "So long as you two are good." She smiled.

"We're good." Lorelai smiled. "Right?" She said to Luke.

"Right." Luke smiled at her.

"Good." Rory smiled. "I'm just going to grab a drink." She said getting up and going into the kitchen.

"So I was thinking...there's probably one person who we should thank for our reconciliation." Luke said.

"Yeah? Who's that then?" Lorelai asked.

"Tristan." Luke said unaware that Rory was listening in surprise from the hallway.

"Tristan?" Lorelai asked equally surprised.

"Yeah..well you said he was the one to step in and tell you the truth and I guess he talked some sense on the camping trip we went on." He shrugged. "Figured we should give him some credit."

"I guess you're right." Lorelai smiled. "He's sort of been a surprise to everyone huh?"

"I'll admit I was never a huge fan...but he's a good guy." Luke said honestly.

"Yeah he is." Lorelai smiled, leaning her head onto Luke's shoulder.

Rory, meanwhile, walked back into the kitchen surprised. She hadn't known how big a part Tristan had played exactly in her mom getting back with Luke. She'd known he'd punched her dad and Logan but she didn't know she had told her mom the truth about stuff or had encouraged Luke on the camping trip. She slowly went to get her laundry her mom had done for her and then started packing her bags. She then walked back into the living room. "Hey mom? I think I might pop back to Yale tonight, if that's ok?" She said.

"Yale? Why?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"I..uh..there's just something I need to do there. But I'll be back tomorrow." Rory said.

"Well...ok then. But make sure you are! I want to spend some time with you." Lorelai smiled.

"I will. Thanks mom! Have a nice evening." She smiled. "Bye Luke!" She waved.

"Bye." Luke said watching her leave. "Did we push her out?" He asked Lorelai.

"I don't think so." She frowned. She shrugged. "I'm sure everything's fine." She said. "Come on, let's finish this movie and then head upstairs. I'm assuming Charlotte's staying with Jess tonight so we have full reign of the house now Rory's gone back to Yale." She grinned.

"Sounds good." He smirked.


"You really shouted at her?" Jess chuckled.

"It's not funny!" Charlotte said playfully hitting him. "I've never shouted at her before. Ever." She groaned sitting down on the couch next to Jess.

"Well I'm sure it's not as bad as you thought." Jess smirked, trying to reassure her.

Charlotte sighed. "No, it really was." She said. She glanced at him. "Anyway, enough bout me, this is your night! What do you want to do?" She asked.

"You really need to ask that?" Jess smirked.

"Jess!" Charlotte laughed, nudging him. "Is there anything else you think about at all other than that?"

"When I'm with you, no." He smirked.

Charlotte shook her head, smirking. "Well, seeing as it's your night." She said getting up holding out her hand. "Your wish is my command."

Jess smirked, taking hold of her hand and leading her over to his bed, pulling her down on top of him, kissing her passionately. "Have I told you how much I'm going to miss you?" He said.

"Many times." Charlotte smiled.

"Well let me show you how much." He said deepening the kiss.

"I'm liking that suggestion." Charlotte smirked, reciprocating the action.


Rory got back to Yale later that night and she found herself standing outside a door. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door, hoping the occupant was in. Almost everyone was away for Spring Break but luckily the door opened. "Hi..." She said quietly.

"Hi.." Tristan said surprised. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Can I come in?" She asked nervously.

"Sure." He said stepping aside to let her in. "I thought you were home today?"

"I was but Charlotte was with Jess and my mom and Luke were at our house so I didn't want to be the third wheel..." She said.

"Your mom and Luke?" He said. "They worked it out?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah they did. And Luke's moving in. They're strong as they've ever been."

"Good. I'm glad." He smiled.

"I've come here to thank you actually." Rory said nervously.

"Thank me? For what?" Tristan said confused, frowning slightly.

"Seems like you had a hand in their reconciliation." She said.

"What? Oh, no..." He tried to shrug it off.

"Mom said how you made sure she knew the truth and Luke said you talked some sense during that camping trip. I guess I just wanted to say thanks." Rory said shyly. "Mom's happy again and that's down to you." She said.

"I didn't do much..."

"Well then some part of it was down to you. That's good enough for me." She said giving him a small smile. "So thank you."

"Well, you're welcome then." Tristan said.

"And..uh..thanks...for punching Logan." She said nervously.

"You don't need to..." He said.

"I do. Just hear me out please. I need to say this." She said quickly. "I'm so sorry, Tristan. I treated you horribly and I know you deserve someone who doesn't treat you so badly like I did and I know I probably don't deserve a second chance. I was a jerk to you, a real jerk and I'm so sorry." She said feeling tears in her eyes.

"Hey, it's ok." Tristan reassured her. "It's all in the past."

"And that's why you're amazing. Why you're such a good guy and I so don't deserve you being nice to me after everything I put you through..." She said. "But the last few days, talking properly with you again, bantering like we used to, I don't know, it just felt right..." She rambled. "Sorry I'll shut up now because I'm sounding like an idiot..." She said cringing, feeling a blush appear on her cheeks.

"Rory.." Tristan said softly.

"What?" She said quietly.

Tristan slowly leaned her head up so that she was looking at him and then he slowly leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "I never stopped loving you." He said softly.

"Tristan..." Rory said softly.

"I don't care what's happened in the past ok? It's in the past and I know you're sorry. What I care about is you and me. And I would like there to be a you and me again...if that's what you'd like..." He said softly.

Rory looked up at him with tears in her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. I'd like there to be a you and me. I'd really like that." She smiled softly at him.

"Good." Tristan smiled. "So we're in agreement then?" He smirked.

Rory laughed slightly. "Yeah we're in agreement."

"Good. So stand still so that I can kiss you again, Mary." He smirked before leaning down to kiss her again.

So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! I really do appreciate each and every one of your support so thank you so much! :)