"Well, that was…"

"Exhausting?"

"Intense."

"Maybe a bit more than that, Rory."

"Fair enough," Rory sighed. Lane, Zack and the kids had just left after their "weekend visit". Which had lasted less than 48 hours, even though neither of them had anywhere they needed to be on Monday. Lane had specifically reorganized her schedule to accomodate staying through late Monday, but they were gone by noon on Sunday, Zach having claimed that he needed to "get back to the music". When he'd wandered off, Lane had rolled her eyes, explaining to Rory that he always wanted to run off immediately when it was Stars Hollow stuff. Rory had continued being supportive, outwardly, but inside she was fuming. And now that they'd left, Rory and Jess were both stunned at how badd it had been.

Jess had kept a pretty level head the whole time, even when Zack had been at his most unbearable. But he was exhausted. He'd always liked Lane fine, as far as Rory's Stars Hollow crew had gone, and it didn't make any sense to him that she was with this incomparably idiotic dumbass. I mean, sure, Stars Hollow probably didn't have a wide and varied selection- but nothing was far, far better than this dude. Throughout the remainder of the visit, Zack had proceeded to drink a crap ton of beer and then brag about all the attention he gets from groupies ("Just part of the lifestyle, man. I mean, of course, I don't let anything happen, but it's like that just makes them want me more. Can't do anything about it!" he smirked). Beyond that, he made endless cracks about Truncheon and the book-nerdiness he attributed to Rory and Jess ("all in good fun! not that you guys would know much about that…oh, chill out, Lane, I'm just kidding, they know that, it's all good.) They'd tried going out to dinner, and all he did was complain. Jess actually asked Rory to cancel their plans to meet up with Hannah, Chris, Matt and Leah the last night, given how awful he was being, and just do something for dinner with all of them. It ended up being a moot point since they left early, but Rory had been in full agreement. She couldn't stand how he was acting either, and Jess kept noticing her hanging back to do things with the kids, avoiding him as much as possible. Some might assume she was just a kid person, but Jess knew that wasn't her, at least not to that extent. She was definitely avoiding interacting with him. Later, when they went to bed for the night, Rory told him that although she'd love for Lane to meet everybody, maybe they should save it for next time when Zack wasn't able to join them. She told Jess she'd talk to Lane to try to plan for her to visit either alone, or just her and the boys, sometime soon.

Rory did ask Lane, the next morning over coffee. Zack was a late sleeper, and Jess was happy to corral the boys for an hour so that Rory and Lane could meaningfully catch up. They went to the place around the corner this time, to get some privacy. Specifically, they went to the shop Jess frequented with his writers that Lorelai and Rory had visited last time Lorelai had come into town. Once they had their coffees, they sat down at a quiet booth towards the back of the shop. Lane looked at Rory and sighed.

"I know. He's been awful. I'm so sorry."

"Lane…don't worry about it. It's not that…"

"Bad? Rory, it's a disaster. It's okay, you can say it."

"…it's not great. And it doesn't matter either way. You're family and you're always welcome."

"But…"

"Well, maybe, in addition to of course coming whenever you want with Zack and the kids, you could come on your own, or just with them, sometime when he's touring. I'd love to show you more of our life around here, and I don't want him to be bored or anything."

"That sounds like a great idea…and one put very kindly, when my husband is an ass that makes spending time together unpleasant. It's okay, Rory. You don't want him here."

"Lane, if it means you're here, I want him here. But…yeah, he's not the most pleasant."

"What did Jess say?"

"Not much! Jess isn't as…vocal as he once was."

"But you know what he's thinking. And he said something."

"He agrees that you guys are welcome here whenever. But I think he'd also love to spend more time with you, and showing you our life here, maybe without Zack."

"Can't blame him. And honestly, I'm impressed. Zack has been impossible with him, it has to be grating on his nerves."

"Luckily, there's a little more to grate on than there once was," Rory smiled jokingly. Lane's lips curved into a small smile as she met Rory's gaze, before she lowered her head again, looking defeated. Rory sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Lane. This isn't fair that this is happening to you."

"I mean, it's life, right? I got pregnant right away, the first time I had sex, and that wasn't fair. Zack got to go be the rock star and I'm stuck in Stars Hollow, basically a stay-at-home mom, and that's not fair. But it's my life, Rory. Complaining about it isn't going to change it. I just need to make the best of it, I guess."

"Have you thought…"

"I have thought. But I don't want to talk about it. It's not like he's a bad dad, Rory, and I'm able to be a good mom. Things could be a lot worse. At the moment, I just want to keep getting through the day. You know?"

"Sure, Lane," Rory nodded, grabbing her friend's hand, "Whatever you want. You know I'm here no matter what, right?"

"Of course," Lane smiled, though there wasn't any light in it, "Of course I do. But I'd like to reserve the right to revisit the cheese house idea when this is all over."

Rory laughed and nodded.

"But that's the thing," she said to Jess later, telling him how things with Lane had gone, "There's not a time when "this is all over" for her. This is her life, and this is, as far as we know, her only shot at it. It's so hard to watch her just give up on it like this, Jess. She seems so hopeless, defeated even. That's not the Lane I know. The Lane I grew up with started a rock band in high school and managed to keep it going for years, in spite of living with her fundamentalist Christian mother, and when that caught up with her, turned it into her career and her life and made it on her own and just kicked ass every step of the way. It's so hard to watch her resign herself to this."

"Do you think it's because of the religious stuff that she won't consider leaving him?" Jess asked, picking up a book and reshelving it, "I mean, I know Lane didn't take a lot from the way she was raised, but maybe that stayed with her?"

"I don't think that's it," Rory said, shaking her head, "Or at least not mostly. Maybe that's a little of it. But more than anything, it sounds like she just doesn't believe she can do it on her own. Which is crazy! Of course she can!"

"I agree with you," Jess said carefully, "But I can understand her thought process."

"…what do you mean?"

"Rory, her career background includes drummer and waitress, and she's raising two kids. Being a single mom is hard, and I know you know that from watching your mom, and just common sense, but not everyone is as tenacious as Lorelai. Even really great, brave people. And a lot of people, once they have kids, just want that security, and kind of fall into it. I mean, not that I'd know much about that," Jess smirked. Rory nodded.

"Yeah, doesn't seem like that was Liz's approach," Rory noted, "But Lane is strong enough, she can completely handle it. I just wish she had faith in herself and would actually consider how much better her life would be."

"I'm sure she could too, Rory. But it's her decision. Just like you had to figure out your own life in your own time, she has to do the same. And all you can do is be there for her. Trying to convince her of anything will only push her further away."

"You're right, I know," Rory sighed. "I guess I'm doing everything I can. I'll still talk to Mom though…I think it would help if she saw her more. They were really close when we were growing up, and I think Lane has just lost touch with a lot of the people in her life outside of her marriage."

"It couldn't hurt," Jess nodded, "And we'll have her back anytime, whenever she wants, and give her even more places to go and people to have her back. I'm here if there's anything else you need."

"You've done more than enough," Rory smiled, walking over and embracing him tightly, "Thank you."

"Feeling lucky about your own situation?" Jess smirked, as Rory blushed.

"Let's just say love-of-my-life slash part time redeemed hooker is really looking like a good bet right now," Rory retorted, smiling as she headed upstairs.