The phone call with Gigi the other day had been followed up by a phone call from Christopher an hour later, apologizing on her daughter's behalf and an hour later from Gigi, who'd clearly struggled with pushing the apology across her lips. But after all it was that or finding some other place to live and giving up her dream of living 'alone' that had already sunk deep in her. Rory could only imagine how much that alone was a matter of pride for Gigi amongs her friends.
The moving company had had some cancellation and as Rory had told them that they could do parts of the move earlier if they had a moment, their old place was looking increasingly patchy and their new place decreasingly so. This again gave Rory more and more reason to hang out at their new place.
Right now Rory stood in Gigi's small upstairs apartment - a bedroom overlooking the roof terrace, a kitchen and living room combo, where the kitchen was possible to hide behind hinged doors, and a small bathroom and a closet just as big as the bathroom. The living area overlooked the street, the gridded roof window creating a studio-like light-filled space.
The decorator had indeed done wonders in the past week or less, knowing Gigi would be arriving the following day. The dull pavilion gray had been replaced by luxurious emerald green interior, the kitchen cabinets in salmon pink offering contrast, here and there accented by gold. The curved light pink couch ready to accommodate at least six people took up the majority of the living space - clearly she was looking to entertain people in her. It looked like she'd walked into a lounge or club for some sort. And the bedroom didn't really look like it belonged to a 16-year-old either. The four post golden queen size canopy bed, the of a lush palm-leaf-patterned wallpaper making it stand out, and mirror-accented furniture making Rory cringe inside.
"How bad is it?" Lorelai asked while being on the phone with Rory, having listened to her silence for a good few minutes already. It was Lorelai that had urged her to go up there and take a look at the place, despite Rory thinking it perhaps wasn't her place to snoop.
"It's pretty bad," she exhaled, switching to speaker and taking a few photos for her, continuing to stare at the apartment with a grim look on her face. She wasn't sure what it was - jealousy of her father's spending, envy of a different type of teenage years or simply frustration that her father allowed this. She knew she shouldn't be feeling any of it. It simply didn't feel to her like a 16-year old should have all that just for going to school. Then again in the back of her head she kept hearing get grandmother's voice talk about the "40 000 dollar sex house" they'd got her. Maybe she was just being a hypocrite herselt?
"Uh-uh," Lorelai simply noted as she glanced at the photos.
"Just say it?" Rory said, having just earlier discussed her earlier attempt to set some ground rules for Gigi with Lorelai.
"Say what?" she tried to appear innocent.
"That you told me so..," Rory replied.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that you've got your hands full," Lorelai said. This particular conversation was frankly reminding Lorelai a great deal of the one she'd had with Luke when Jess had first come to live with him. God, how thinking back that far in the past made her feel old.
"But I mean, my suggestion about the curfew and texting me back was fair, right?" Rory asked, continuing on towards the bathroom. "A golden bathtub," Rory exhaled as if she should've expected it. Sure it was just painted on the outside of the bathtub, no doubt a clever move to change the appearance of the place, but to her it simply seemed that Gigi even liked all things that she didn't - was there any hope for them for getting along at all?
"It was very fair, rather chill actually. I mean it would've been spot on in Stars Hollow, but in New York I'd added a driver or tracked her phone or something in addition to everything. Oh, and don't forget to ask to see her grades every week," Lorelai added.
"I don't know.. Checking her grades just seems so… ugh," Rory made a face. She didn't want to 'mother' her. She wanted to be the supportive but responsible sister here. But frankly she didn't have much experience in either.
"Just check in on things, maybe invite her over for dinner or something… start her off easy, like a friend.. So she'll talk to you," Lorelai suggested supportively.
She really should've known all this. This was what her mother had always done to her. The only difference was that she'd never wanted anything else until a few years ago.
"I guess…," she hesitated with a sigh. She was increasingly beginning to feel like she really wasn't ready for a teenager, but she liked to think that some day her sister would be grateful for her for doing this. For now, at the very least it was giving her something other to think about than the babies.
"Oh, I got an idea - you should have Logan and Jess talk about their teenage years around her," Lorelai suggested.
"I'm not sure they'd go for that, but the idea isn't half bad," Rory replied. Jess had a inside depth overview of the dark underside of the City, though from twenty years ago, but still - it was the kind that involved sketchy parties, drinking and recreational drugs and parties busted by cops, and Logan, while his teenage years had little to do with New York per se, he knew the upper class version of this - where the parents were not around and where him and his friends would simply treat girls like some commodity. Rory knew Logan wasn't particularly proud of those years, but on his defence he hadn't seen or known any better from the relationships he'd seen either.
"How are you taking Celeste's and Jess' move?" she asked, knowing how close they'd gotten.
"It's sad, I'm going to miss her. But I'm not fooling myself with the idea that I'll have a lot of time to be a good friend at this point…," she replied, feeling now more and more like every time she went to sleep could potentially be her last chance to sleep uninterruptedly. A the same time she truly was happy for Celeste and Jess for getting the fire house - it seemed so unique, so them - and she did want Celeste to find what she was looking for.
"Don't worry, she'll be around plenty, just like me - only try and keep us away!" Lorelai said. Celeste was probably going to be pretty busy with renovating their own place and work, but still - getting to know Rory's twins was more important - they both knew it.
"There's a big guest apartment on the 5th floor here, both them and you and Luke have designated rooms there. They're unpacking the furniture as we speak," she announced proudly. They'd put up an extra wall in one of the smaller living rooms to make it into two bedrooms, so now they really had space for everyone, even a bunk bed if Leo and Evie were ever visiting at once.
"Wow, I feel so special," Lorelai giggled. "I'll be over next week to help out, I can't wait to see the place," she added.
Celeste walked over to Jess, having just put Evie down for her nap in their Brooklyn home. It was bitter sweet - a place they had made their home, and now they were leaving, but thankfully not having to part for good at this point. They'd spent the week largely packing, Jess finishing up some things at work and overall getting ready to head over to Stars Hollow for a long weekend, Jess' apology and as much stuff as a U-haul could fit with them, so they could get the transaction over and done with as quickly as possibly. They knew that they'd probably have to stay at Luke's for some time in the beginning, but it was survivable - as long as they knew it was short term. And strangely enough Jess didn't much mind the prospect of spending the couple of weeks of vacation time he had from Truncheon on repairs and renovations on their new home. Physical labor, well pretty much anything that didn't involve staring at the computer screen seemed like a holiday.
"So what do we have here?" Celeste asked, grabbing the legal pad from Jess' hands, and leaned against his desk.
"Just my list or priors," Jess replied with a crooked smile. He'd been trying to recall everything he'd done to entertain himself in Stars Hollow all those years ago. He'd considered briefly that he'd just limit the list to the big stuff, say, the fake murder, but he couldn't help but to feel some pride in the full list, having decided that he could just as well cross a few off later once he typed them in to a 'formal' document.
"I see…," Celeste began teasingly. "Faked a murder scene in front of Doosey's market, fighting Chuck Presby and Dean Forester, trashing Kyle Gibson's place during a fight, pulled the fire alarm at Stars Hollow high twice, switched out the DVDs inside of Bambi and Babe at the movie rental…," she began to list. "What did you switch them for?" Celeste inquired curiously.
"Flashpoint X and Body Heat," he replied smugly.
Celeste laughed, her head falling back just at the thought of those parents discovering those mix ups, and nodded approvingly.
"Stole Pierpont the garden gnome, a garden hose, some carved pumpkins, money from "Save the Bridge" donation box," she listed, adding, "now the last one is a little less honorable…," raising her eyebrow at him.
"All were returned, and it was 30 cents I lacked for getting a bag of chips and a soda," Jess replied.
"Stole all the baseballs from Stars Hollow Highschool?" she continued.
"They had to use tennis balls the entire semester," Jess chuckled, still feeling rather proud of that particular stunt. "But also, they never truly left school premises, they were just conveniently misplaced in the attic," he added. "I wonder if they ever found those actually," he pondered.
"Destroyed a snow-sculpture?" Celeste continued to list.
"The guy was a pompous jerk," he added with a shrug.
"Disrupted Ms. Patty's dance class by loud commenting," she added.
Jess shrugged. That had just been something to kill time, and hadn't really turned out the way he'd wanted.
"Crashed a car to avoid running over a kitten," Celeste read out next.
"I should add 'hurt Rory's wrist in the process' - they'll never let me forget that," Jess noted.
"But all this because of a kitten, that's adorable," she smiled, stroking the back of his neck with her fingers.
"Switched out the entire section of 'readers recommend' section at Stars Hollow Books, exchanged Elm street and 3rd Street signs, pretended there was a rat in the high school locker room," Celeste continued. This certainly sounded very much like him. "Huh, that's all?" she inquired in a slightly dissapointed tone.
"Am I not enough of a bad boy for you?" he teased pulling her onto his lap, her letting out a small yelp at the unexpectedness of the move.
"Somehow I expected worse - I don't know trespassing, drinking, graffiti, hiding out in girls' closets?" she smirked.
"Taylor just doesn't know about those," Jess whispered sneakily against her ear. He could've added smoking, not something he was particularly proud of, but he knew she knew.
Jess knew Celeste had a bit of a soft spot for bad boys, hence the way she'd read out his list had already been a lengthy tease - small glimpses, touches, a few dirty thoughts. And somehow, as she'd read it and in her presence overall he'd almost completely forgotten that many of those things had in a way been to impress Rory.
She rose, just for a moment, and sat down on his lap facing him this time, wrapping his arms around his head, letting her fingers run through his hair. His eyes were intense and focused - she knew that look.
"I would've gladly hid you in my room," she whispered to his ear, the hot air making him melt in an instant.
He turned his head towards her, his nose gently brushing hers before stealing a kiss from her. She loved when he did that.
"Oh, I would've definitely hid in your bedroom," Jess smirked back at her cocklily.
"Would you now?" she teased, kissing him back, her tongue ensnared his, sending a delicious jolt through his body.
"Oh, yea," Jess murmured, as her lips trailed down his neck.
Her wrap-dress was already pushed up her thigh, allowing him easy access to caress her buttocks and thighs, reaching his fingers firmly around her, as she pressed firmly against his stiffening bulge.
"You have too many clothes on," she said, as she pulled the knot of her wrap dress, allowing it to fall open. Celeste wasn't wearing a bra, the summer heat being too much for extra layers. She also no longer cared that they were sitting in front of the window, that technically looked into the neighbours, perhaps 60 ft away. But who was really paying attention on a weekday afternoon, right? Besides, they'd be moving soon enough.
He pulled his t-shirt off his back, letting her inhale a strong whiff of his scent that the motion created - masculine, hint of blackcurrant and bergamot.
Celeste kissed him again, making him smile against her lips as his hands stroked her curves moving towards her hard nipples, breaking the kiss only so he could have a taste of them.
"Hmm.." she moaned at the sensation, her fingers continuing to fondle his scalp, neck, shoulders and arms. In the past few months since she'd been home, Jess had been working out again, his muscles slightly leaner than before.
She moved her hips gently, needing to feel him, and kissed him again. The first gentle, soft kiss, turning quickly into hot and heavy - urgent even.
He then scooted down his pants, Celeste smiling approvingly. While she ran her palm over his length, Jess just couldn't help to imagine what it would've been like to know her when he was younger - he was pretty sure she would've been too much for him to handle but still - just think of the stunts he would've pulled for her - considering that Taylor had gotten lucky. Jess kissed her once more, demandingly as she continued to press onto his member firmly. His fingers pushed aside the stretchy fabric of her underpants and sank them into her slit, making her moan into his mouth.
She was soaking already. She gyrated her hips against him, making him throb even more, letting him know what she craved, soon taking the lead and lowering herself onto him.
That feeling never got hold. Hot, moist, welcoming - firm, wide and just what she needed - all at once. She began to ride him slowly, teasingly, making him groan, the movements turning more and more merciless, reckless even, as the need grew. Jess held her thighs, almost possessively, aiding her, their lips meeting again briefly.
Their breathing grew heavier, him taking her control by lifting her and roughly slamming into her for a change, setting a wild pace. Celeste's nipples brushed against his chest, the pumping motion making them hard as pebbles and the friction definitely helping. For a split second their rhythm slowed down, and they stared calmly into each-other's eyes - a wordless conversation.
Her insides tightened against him, toes curling in anticipation, and then the rhythm picked up again, until he drove her over the edge, Celeste biting into his shoulder to keep her voice down. He kept going, ministrating deep, demanding thrusts, as his strong arms held her until finally letting out a groan louder than he'd meant to whil he still felt her contract around him.
They sat there for a while, unwilling to part, melting into each other.
"Thank you," Celeste purred into his hair. It was for so many things - even for the bloody prior's list, the apology, for the willingness to pick up and start over with her, to put sweat into building their new home together yet again. She couldn't believe how lucky she'd gotten with him. Thinking it made her heart ache, almost making her want to cry, but the tears remained in her throat instead, thankfully.
"I love you - there's nothing I wouldn't do for you," he murmured, clinging onto his wife.