Chapter 25

Once the bedroom door closed, the silence in the kitchen was awkward and loud.

Heavy silences were never Lorelai's strong suit, so she turned to the nearest cupboard and said. 'Would you like some breakfast? I went shopping yesterday and there was a 3-for-2 sale on cereal.' She laid three boxes of cereal on the counter. 'So, fruit loops, chocolate puffs, or cinnamon crunch?'

'No, thanks.' Jess said curtly.

'You could mix all three together. Gilmore-style.'

'I'm not hungry.' He repeated, but his stomach gave him away with a loud growl. He shuffled his feet and shook a hand through his hair, which was starting to dry in messy curls. He always showered before Lorelai was up. She wondered if he did that intentionally, if maybe he wasn't completely at ease in their house after all.

His stomach rumbled again, making her continue. 'We also have this sour-worm cereal that's been lying around for a month. It tastes like rubber and I'm sure it's stale by now, but it's there if you wanna try. I have to warn you though, when you add milk, it tends to dissolve into this gray, gooey paste that bears a close resemblance to liquid cement.'

'How appealing.' He looked at the cereal in question with faint disdain. When he wrinkled his nose, it reminded her of what Rory usually did when she was a little kid.

'Pop-tart then?' She offered.

He shrugged. 'Whatever.'

'Hey, if you want something resembling a traditional TV breakfast, you'll have to wait until we get to Luke's.'

'Pop-tart's fine.'

'I mean, you should know by now that anything that takes more than 7 minutes to microwave doesn't make our grocery list.'

'I noticed.'

'So, no matter how hungry you are, our kitchen caters only to snacks that sustain you for a maximum of 15 minutes. But if you eat at regular 15-minute intervals like we do, you should be fine.'

'I think I got it.'

As she waited by the toaster, the silence stretched and thickened into an unbearable heaviness. Without much thought, Lorelai started. 'So, it seems like you guys had fun yesterday.'

'Didn't Rory already tell you?'

'She's giving me the full version when she wakes up.'

'Well, then.' He let the conversation die down, as he shuffled around awkwardly by the counter.

'She seemed pretty spent yesterday. You both did.'

He tapped his knuckles against the counter and said. 'Is this gonna turn into one of those celibacy speeches? Because I think we both know it's a little late for that.'

And there it was. The infuriating cheekiness, the vulgar insults, triggered for no apparent reason. 'Just sit down, Jess.' She snapped.

He drummed his fingers on the back of the closest chair and looked around, his eyes lingering on the back door. She recognised the look on his face from last time, just before he'd bolted from the house. This time though, she could see something was holding him back.

Once the toaster beeped, Lorelai set the pop-tart on the table and said. 'I won't grill you. Just sit down and eat.' When he hesitated, she added. 'Setting house rules is really more of Luke's thing, not mine.'

'Sure didn't seem like it just now when you barged in like that.'

'I thought you two would be reading or something.' She knew it was bullshit as soon as she said it.

And of course, Jess knew it too. 'Bullshit.'

Lorelai tried again. 'Seriously, what are you, rabbits? It's not even noon yet!'

'Hey, when Rory wants something, she will not be denied.' He sneered.

Why did Rory have to pick this guy of all the guys in the world to fall for? Lorelai just wanted to rip that smirk off his arrogant face. 'And once again, the urge to throw a cream pie right at your face becomes very overwhelming.'

He rolled his eyes. That smug little shit.

She willed herself to stay calm, reminding herself of the situation at hand. 'Jess, I'm not a preaching parent in some Madonna video. I'm past the point of calling you out for sneaking around. If anything, I think adding rules will only lead to more sneaking. So stop bringing up your slutty activities with Rory unless you want to get into what will be a very uncomfortable conversation for you.'

'Fine.' He blinked, not knowing where to put his residual anger.

'And don't ever make me say slutty activities with Rory again. That's something I don't wanna talk about, let alone think about.'

He stared at her like he was waiting for a catch. 'Why am I here then?'

'Just sit down and cut the attitude.'

He glanced at Rory's door briefly, then cautiously settled into a chair and bit into his breakfast. 'So what's this about? Were your ingenious breakfast quips just that urgent?'

'I needed to talk to Rory.'

He sighed with a small eyeroll. 'I don't know if you're off your meds, but you must be seriously confused if you're mistaking me for Rory.'

She was starting to accept that the only way to have a conversation with Jess was to ignore his hostility. 'This concerns you too, James Dean.'

'Look, if this is about not answering your calls last night –'

'It's not that.' She shook her head impatiently. 'It's Rory's grandmother. She came by yesterday.'

He didn't look surprised. 'Yeah, I figured. She called and freaked Rory out about the prom. Big thanks for that, by the way.'

'She called Rory? When?' Did Rory already know what her grandmother knew?

'Right. Like you didn't know.' He scowled, narrowing his eyes.

'Do you ever worry your face might freeze like that one day?'

She got another eyeroll in response.

Lorelai sighed, twirling the saltshaker in front of her in circles. Then, the words tripped out of her mouth quickly. 'She came by yesterday and she found out, okay? Words were exchanged, furniture was thrown, hair was pulled out. All the usual yelling and screaming and motherly disappointment I'm sure you're very familiar with. And we are never ever talking to Taylor ever again. Next time we see him, we're gonna turn around and walk away like he's the invisible guy from the Fantastic Four.'

Her anxiety had manifested itself into a faster-than-usual ranting, but she hoped Jess would be able to keep up.

When she stopped talking, he stared at her, then he said. 'Girl.'

'What?'

'Fantastic Four. There was no invisible guy, it was the girl. Sue Storm.'

'Not the guy?'

'No.' He said flatly.

Lorelai hated having her movie references corrected. She was now losing patience. 'Ok, back to the point here.'

He shook his head dismissively, a worried crease appearing on his forehead. 'So Rory's grandmother found out… about me being here?'

'Yes, she found out about you being here. Are you deaf?' She snapped. It was strange ranting to him, not Rory. They weren't quite on the same wavelength, not like she and Rory were.

'I'm sorry, my ears are still ringing from your pitch.'

'Taylor told her everything. Now, why he would do that, I don't know.' He looked at him pointedly.

'Sure is a big mystery.' Jess replied sarcastically. It was clear from his face that he knew, just as well as she did, that there was only one reason behind Taylor's actions and that was him. Taylor's Jess-vendetta and his efforts to chase Jess out of town had been clear since day one.

She paced into the living room, going in circles around the sofa as she explained again. Jess followed her begrudgingly, standing in the periphery. He looked like he didn't quite know what to do.

'It could be 'cause I asked for extra chocolate chips on my chocolate ice cream last Tuesday, but never paid him the extra 25 cents.' She exclaimed.

'Yes, that must be why.' Jess deadpanned, eerily similar to how Rory sometimes does.

'Could be all the jokes about his hair. Maybe comparing it to Willy Wonka's going a little too far?'

He snorted. 'I'd say it wasn't going far enough.'

'I know it wasn't 'cause I vandalized his street signs or stole from his cash register or drew a fake dead body outside his store.' She said pointedly.

'Do you have a point or do you just like hearing yourself talk?'

'My point is that my mother knows. So I will now be forced to deal with a lot of unpleasantness just to keep your joyful butt around.'

'I don't see why this is a big deal. It's not like your mother's with the Hartford police department. What's she gonna do? Frame me for murder?' He leaned against the door, crossing his arms.

'I wouldn't put it past her. No one can ever really predict what Emily Gilmore will do in the name of social propriety.' Lorelai replied. 'But you can be sure she'll make our lives very uncomfortable. She'll probably call here every day, pay us some gracious visits. She'll try to talk to you, get you alone somehow –'

'How kinky.' He interjected.

'Then, depending on how you badly you insult her, she may or may not hire a hitman.'

'And it keeps better.' He responded.

'That's not to mention the reverends she'll be sending our way.' Lorelai said with a dry laugh.

'Reverends?'

'Off-topic, but I really need to get a video camera for this special occasion. It'll be Rory's very first threat of eternal damnation.'

'Glad you're enjoying this.' He said dryly.

'Well, it's mostly Rory who'll have to suffer through the Reverend thing. I've had my fair share of those guard-your-virtue speeches and my mother thinks you're hell-bound anyway, past the point of redemption.'

'That's not an unpopular opinion.' He nodded in agreement, almost proudly. He shrugged as he said. 'Look, all I'm hearing here is that she'll call a bunch of times and give a few speeches. I'm only here for a couple more weeks anyway, so doesn't sound like a big deal to me.'

'That's not the point. Jess, my mother's persistent and she never forgets anything, so even if she can't do much to change the situation, she can cause a lot of unpleasantness. So I'm asking you, well, telling you that... when she talks to you, I need you to act civil.'

'Fine. No egging her car. Got it.'

'Because if you're gonna be part of Rory's life, then you'll have to deal with her grandparents –'

'Whatever.' He dismissed.

'The things you'll say will directly affect Rory's relationship with them. And Rory hates being on rocky terms with her grandparents. They've done a lot for her and she get along with them, so she'll want to keep the peace and she'll want you to get along too. It's important to her.' She added. 'That is, if you're planning on staying together with her for a while, otherwise –'

'I am.' He interrupted defiantly.

'Well, then you don't want to be the reason Rory's alienated from her grandparents, do you?'

He was silent for a moment, chewing on his lips. There was no hostility or sarcasm in his voice when he said. 'Are they gonna blame her for…?'

'For you being here? No, no. My parents like to think Rory is a naïve, innocent dove. It's other hell-bound people like you and me who get blamed for corrupting her. So, to my mother, you're the source of all evil in Rory's life and she'll try to belittle you and possibly bribe you into breaking up with Rory – God knows she'll try to bribe me into kicking you out, but you need to keep your cool. Don't make this harder than it has to be for Rory.'

He nodded slowly, eyes darting to the front door and back at her. His voice was quiet when he said. 'Are you? Kicking me out?'

'No.' Lorelai said, then hesitated. 'I don't know yet. I'll have to talk it through with Luke, decide the best way to handle this.'

'Handle this?' He echoed. He didn't sound angry, just defeated.

Lorelai watched him fidget uncomfortably. He crossed and uncrossed his arms. His hands went in his pockets, momentarily searching for something that evidently wasn't there. Car Keys? Wallet? He glanced at the door again and sighed.

It suddenly clicked in Lorelai's mind. The smoking. Rory had told her he was trying to quit. That would explain the excessive fidgeting.

'Jess.' She said, her tone a little gentler. 'Let's not jump to conclusions, okay?'

He stared at her wearily. He didn't need to say a word. She could see it on his face. How tired he was of moving around, of having the adults in his life shuffle him around. If she went back on her deal with him, she'd be yet another adult giving up on him, dumping him on Luke as soon as it becomes inconvenient for her. She suddenly felt very selfish.

'Could you maybe… hold it off for a few days?' He said, looking away.

'What?'

He hesitated, as if he wasn't quite sure what he wanted. 'The talk with Luke. Maybe just hold it off until the Yale funding thing blows over.'

'You know about that already?'

'Rory told me yesterday, after you guys talked.' He said uncomfortably. 'If she finds out about this, she'll get stressed and freak out… and on top of everything else…' He trailed off.

He was a smart kid, but sometimes he was very transparent. 'So, basically you don't wanna ruin your post-prom honeymoon bliss with Rory?'

He looked away, shifting noticeably. 'No… I just…' His voice cracked. 'I mean, it's just…'

She held back a smile. It was amusing to watch him struggle to explain himself. If this is what he was like around Rory, then she was beginning to understand a little what her daughter saw in him. You don't know the real Jess. Her daughter's voice floated back to her.

She sighed, deciding there was no need to talk to Luke at all. 'You know what? Forget it. You're staying here until your GED exam. That was the deal.'

His shoulders visibly relaxed. 'But –'

'When I promise something, I tend to keep my word. The whole point of you staying here was so you could get your diploma and that's exactly what's going to happen. '

'What about –'

'Don't worry about that. Just focus on passing your exam.' She said as resolutely as she could, then added. 'But I mean it when I say you have to pass.'

He nodded, looking both relieved and uneasy. 'I know that.'

Lorelai contemplated mentioning that his exam was in two weeks and asking whether he had any plans at all afterward, but she could see how that might lead to a bigger fight. So she let the silence stretch between them for a while. Jess glanced back, turning towards Rory's room. How very discreet, Lorelai thought amusedly.

Just before he could make his exit, Lorelai found herself saying. 'Salted licorice.' At his confused look, she elaborated. 'It's disgusting, but it helps with the whole quitting thing. Trust me.'

He blinked, then gave her a very small smile, barely there, but it softened his whole face. 'Thanks.'

A/N: Review, review, review! Please, please, please!