Ok so as I've been rereading my stories, I found this one and I don't know why I never continued it! So here's the next chapter! :) And don't worry, I will be continuing with my other one as well, I promise.

Chapter 8

Rory was sat on a chair in the family room next to Jess while Luke sat on a chair a few places away from them. She looked down at her hands which were still shaking.

"Are you sure you didn't want to go with your mom and Grandma?" Jess said.

"I'm sure. I just...don't want to see him like that. I want to remember him the way I can." Rory sniffed.

"Makes sense." He said. He sighed as Rory wiped more tears from her cheeks. He wasn't good at this sort of thing. "Are you ok?" He said before cringing. "Sorry, stupid question..."

Rory gave him a tremulous smile. "No, it's ok. I appreciate you staying. You didn't have to." She said.

"I want to." He assured her. "Anything you need, I'm here ok?" He said softly.

"Thanks." She said softly just as her mom and Grandma appeared. "Mom!" She exclaimed getting up and rushing to give her a hug.

"Hey kid..." Lorelai said quietly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't go in with you. I just...couldn't..." Rory said.

"No, hon, I understand." She said softly.

"How was it?"

Lorelai sighed and blinked back tears. "Hard. But I'm glad I did it. For mine and your Grandma's sake."

Rory glanced over at her grandmother who had sat down on one of the chairs. "How is she holding up?"

"Not well. I think she's still in shock." Lorelai said.

"I just can't believe this has happened." Rory sniffed. "I can't believe he's not here anymore."

"I know." Lorelai sniffed, giving her daughter another hug. "But she's got us right? We'll get through this together." She said wiping her tears away.

"Mom..." Rory said softly, knowing that she was trying to put on a strong front.

"I'm fine." She said quickly. "I..uh..I'm going to take your Grandma back to ours. I don't think she's ready to go home yet."

"Of course." Rory nodded. "I'll come too."

"Ror, you've just started your internship..." Lorelai said softly.

"I don't care." She said. "They said to take all the time I needed. I will go back, just...not yet."

"Ok." She said softly. She glanced over at Jess. "So how about your travel partner?" She asked casually.

"Oh..uh..I don't know what his plans are."

"Oh. Ok."

"Mom..."

"No, I'm sorry." She sighed. "If Jess is here to support you, then I'm glad he's here."

"Thanks mom."

"So we'll see you back at ours?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, we'll follow you." Rory nodded.

"Ok hon. We'll see you later then."

"Yeah, see you later." She said, feeling a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Luke standing there. "Hey.." She said softly.

"How was it?" He asked. "I feel bad I didn't go with you..."

"No, Luke, I needed to do this alone." Lorelai said softly. "With mom."

Luke nodded, understanding. "I just want you to know, I'm here ok? Whatever you need. I know we only just decided to start things up again but I'm here for you, whenever you need me ok? I'm not going anywhere."

Lorelai smiled tremulously and gave him a quick kiss. "I love you." She said.

"I love you too." Luke said softly.

Lorelai came downstairs from getting changed to see her mom looking at the photos on the mantlepiece in the living room of the Crap Shack. She walked up to her and smiled softly as she saw her mom looking at the photo of herself stood outside the Gilmore Mansion. "I remember that day..." She said.

Emily glanced at her and smiled tremulously. "Your dad insisted on getting a photo of you in your new uniform."

Lorelai smiled tremulously. "Yeah, you got so annoyed by him insisting on taking so many photos so he could get the perfect shot." She said laughing slightly.

Emily chuckled slightly. "Yeah I remember. But I guess he did get the perfect shot in the end."

Lorelai smiled softly at her mom before leading her to the couch. "So..uh..mom, you're welcome to stay the night if you want to."

"But do you have space here?" Emily asked.

"You can take my room and I can bunk with Rory." Lorelai said.

"I don't want to be a hassle..."

"Mom, you could never be that." She said softly.

Emily blinked back some tears. "Well, thank you, Lorelai. I would appreciate it."

"I'm going to get started on dinner." Luke said, getting up, wanting to give them some space.

"Thanks Luke." Lorelai smiled at him.

Emily watched her daughter watch him leave the room. "So...Luke's not staying here tonight then?"

"What?" She said surprised.

"Oh come on, Lorelai. I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other and the way he's been here by your side all day..." Emily said. "It seems like you may be back together..." She said cautiously.

Lorelai sighed. "It's not important right now. What's important is us being together right now..."

"Lorelai, I appreciate what you're saying but right now, I could actually do with a distraction so please...humour me..." She said quietly.

She glanced at her mother and then through to the kitchen where she could hear Luke preparing some food. "Ok...we've been talking. Really talking. About everything. And..uh..we decided today that we both wanted to make a go of it again." She admitted.

Emily smiled softly. "Well...I'm happy for you. And...I know your father would have been as well."

Lorelai smiled tremulously. "Thanks mom." She said. "Hey..uh..did dad ever tell you about my thirteenth birthday?" She asked.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" She said confused.

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Well..uh..it was my birthday and Royston Sinclair III had broken my heart in front of everyone. I'd snuck into your closet that morning and took that green beaded top that was your mother's, that you kept so carefully wrapped up in tissue paper in your cedar closet. I was never supposed to touch it. But I stole it and I wore it to school with my Chemin de Fer sailor jeans and I thought no one was as stylish as I was. But Royston laughed. He said I was cheap. He said the only reason he'd been my boyfriend was because he was mad at Angie Morgan and he wasn't anymore. He called me loud and weird. He said there was a rumour going around that I wasn't actually a Gilmore. That I was the gardener's daughter and you'd bought me because you couldn't have children of your own. And I was crushed..." She said.

"Lorelai..." Emily said stunned.

"And I ran out of class and I ran out of school and I went to the mall..." Lorelai continued. "And I was sitting in the food court, wishing I had some money to buy a pretzel because I was starving and I looked up and there was Dad..." She said tearfully.

"Your father was at the mall?" Emily said just as tearfully.

"Yeah, he was there, standing in front of me at the mall. He never came to the mall. That day, he went to the mall. And he was furious. He asked my why I wasn't in school and I tried to think of something, some lie that would make sense but I couldn't. All I could think was that yesterday I had a boyfriend who loved me and today I didn't." She sniffed. "And I started to cry. I just sat there like an idiot, bawling. And finally after what seemed like forever, I managed to control myself a little bit and I calmed down. And I waited. I waited for him to yell at me, to punish me, to ground me forever, to tell me how disappointed he was in me. And nothing came. And finally..." She said her voice breaking. "I got up enough courage to look up at him and he was standing there with a pretzel. A giant pretzel covered with mustard..." She said letting tears fall freely now, glancing at her mother who was just as emotional. "And he handed it to me and he said we should go. And he took me to the movies. We saw Grease and An Unmarried Woman. Something for me and something for him, he said. He bought me popcorn and Red Hots and we sat in the dark and we watched. And then he took me home and he gave me his sweater to cover up the stolen top and he told you that he'd picked me up from school and taken me to the club for a soda. And that was it. We never discussed it again." She said. She blinked out some more tears. "It was the best birthday I ever had." She said tremulously. "I honestly thought he would have told you about it after all these years..."

"No, he never told me." Emily said emotionally.

"I guess he probably didn't want to embarrass me." She said. She glanced at her mom. "I know we didn't always have the best relationship but I want you to know, I always loved you both. If anything like this happened to you after I'd moved here, I would have been back like a shot. I hope you know that." She sniffed.

Emily looked at her daughter for a moment. "I know that." She said softly.

"I miss him so much." Lorelai admitted. "And I know it's a hundred times worse for you but he...was my dad."

"We'll get through this together." Emily said reaching for Lorelai's hand and squeezing it. "Thank you. For telling me about that day."

Lorelai nodded and wiped her tears away. "I..uh..I'm just going to see if Luke needs any help." She said getting up and heading to the kitchen.

"Hey, you ok?" Luke asked, seeing her come in.

Lorelai shook her head and in three strides launched herself at him. "I miss my dad..." She said finally letting her emotions get the better of her.

"I know." Luke said softly, holding her tightly, rubbing her back comfortingly and allowing her to just let it all out.

Meanwhile, Rory was sat on her bed in her bedroom as Jess looked at her books on her bookshelf.

"You really don't have to stay here. I'm ok." Rory said.

Jess glanced at her. "I know. But I want to." He said.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you." She said softly. "After the way I treated you, this is more than I deserve."

"Hey, don't talk like that." Jess said coming to sit next to her. "That's in the past. What's important now is helping you through this. I know if it was the other way round, you would be there for me."

Rory smiled tremulously at him. "You're such a good guy, Jess." She said softly.

Jess ducked his head slightly. "I don't know about that."

"I know we've had our ups and downs but this...today...just puts everything in perspective. I'm glad you're here, Jess." She sniffed.

"Well, there's nowhere else I'd be." Jess said, smiling softly at her.

Rory glanced at him before suddenly leaning in, her lips meeting his. She was confused when he pulled away. "Jess?"

"We can't do this." He said.

"What? But I thought..." She said confused. "Jess, you've been so great today and..."

"Rory, you're upset. You just lost your Grandpa. Today." Jess said softly. "Your mind is going to be all over the place. I don't want people to think I took advantage of that."

"How would they think that if I'm the one who instigated it?" She said.

"I just..." He sighed. "Rory, you know I want this. I've wanted this for years but I know now I needed those years we were apart to...well, grow up."

"Then why..."

"This shouldn't happen until you mean it, Rory. And I don't think you do. Not today." Jess said. "I think you're just doing it because I'm here and you're upset."

"Then why on earth are you here, Jess?" She exclaimed suddenly, frustrated. "Why have you been by my side all day if this wasn't what you were after?"

"Because you're my friend, Rory. I wanted to be here for you."

"I don't get it. I thought this was what you wanted?" She exclaimed, feeling embarrassed.

"Rory..." Jess sighed.

"No, just forget it! You should go." She said.

"Rory..."

"I mean it. You should go." She said crossing her arms against her chest.

He sighed. "Ok. If that's what you want."

"It is." She said stubbornly.

"Ok."

"Fine." She said. "I guess I'll see you again in like four years." She snapped before leaving her room. She was stopped in her tracks when she saw her mom breaking down in Luke's arms. She suddenly felt like she shouldn't be witnessing this. She hurried through to the living room, quietly. There, she was stopped again as she saw her grandmother sat on the couch, looking through some photos in her purse and crying quietly. Rory blinked back some tears and rushed back to her room and shut the door. "Jess, I'm..." She started but stopped when she saw the room empty and her window open. She sighed and collapsed on her bed. She took a photo from her bedside table and felt tears fall down her face as she looked down at her Grandpa's proud smile on the day of her Yale graduation. She glanced over at her bookshelf and noticed something on her dresser. She walked over and saw that Jess had left his new book there with a note saying, I didn't know if you still wanted to read it but I hope you will. I know you probably won't take me up on it but I'm here for you, if you do want to talk. I'll always be here for you, Rory. J x Rory felt more tears fall and before she knew what she was doing, she was climbing out of her window and running down the porch steps. "Jess! Jess, wait!" She called, running after him. "Jess!"

Jess turned round. "Hey..." He said.

"Jess, I'm sorry. You were right. My mind is all over the place at the moment and when I get like that, I say things I don't mean. I don't want you to go. I want you to stay. I need you." Rory said tremulously.

"Rory..." He said.

"No..." She said shaking her head. "I don't mean it like that. I mean, well I don't know what I mean. But what I do know is that I need you to stay. I miss my Grandpa." She admitted. "I miss him so much that it hurts and I...I don't know how I'm going to get through it without my friends..." She said, not even trying to wipe her tears away now. "I don't know what that kiss might mean but what I do know is that I don't want it to screw up anything between us. Maybe in the future, we could talk about it but right now, I just need you or I...I think I might break. And I...I just don't know what to do." Rory cried. "I don't know how to get through this...I just...I don't know..." She finally broke down.

"Hey, come here." Jess said softly, bringing her into a hug.

"Please don't go. Please don't leave me." Rory sobbed.

"I'm not going anywhere." Jess assured her, holding her tightly and kissing the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere." He repeated.

So I hope you all still want to follow this story because I really hope I can make something of it. Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. :) Thank you for all your support! :)