Chapter 157

A few days later, Jess and Rory were sitting down to dinner when Rory's phone rang. Rory looked at the caller ID and sighed.

"…who this time?"

"Hi, Paris," Rory said meaningfully, answering the phone. Jess looked at her curiously. "What's up?"

"Well, I thought you'd like to know that I'm moving to New York."

"You're…what?"

"I mean, us. We're moving to New York," Paris corrected. Rory furrowed her brow, confused.

"Wait, how did that happen? Are you sure?"

"It's a move, Rory, not a tattoo. But yes, I'm sure. We agreed last night."

"Doyle was okay with that?"

"He had a job offer there. That's the big reason."

"Oh?"

"It's not important."

"Paris…"

"I'm not being flip. He's got some small thing at the Inquirer or whatever. I didn't want to push it since he figured something out so quickly. And maybe it'll be more his speed."

"Harsh, Paris."

"True. Plus, this gives us time to get settled there by when the baby comes," Paris noted.

"And what about you? What are you going to do?"

"I've put in my notice at the hospital. They're disappointed, but they'll deal."

"Paris, that's…huge."

"It's time," Paris shrugged, "Regardless of anything else, I didn't want to be in that job anymore."

"But…you're not just gonna…well…"

"No, Rory, I'm not becoming a housewife," Paris replied. Rory could hear the eyeroll from here.

"…can I put you on speaker? It'll save me the time of having to catch up Jess later. He told me you talked to him about some stuff, and I'm guessing this was it," Rory sighed. Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Sure," Paris agreed, "I hope it doesn't bother you that I did."

"It's fine, Paris," Rory said. In truth, it had bothered her, but she was trying to ignore that for now. "I'll put you on speaker. Hold on."

"Hi, Paris," Jess said, a minute later.

"Hi, Jess. To catch you up, we're moving to New York and I left my job at the hospital."

"Wow. Already? Um…congratulations," Jess said tentatively, sharing a look with Rory. "So you're both…"

"Yeah, Doyle got a job there. Regardless of anything else, we can be settled there before the baby comes."

"And what are you going to do?"

"I was just telling Rory that of course, I'm not going to be a housewife," Paris said, the annoyance in her voice clear.

"I never said you were!"

"You implied."

"Paris."

"Alright, alright," Jess interjected, "Paris, what are you doing?"

"I got a job as a guest lecturer at Barnard," Paris answered, "This semester I'm doing it remotely, covering for someone who left unexpectedly. I'll start full time in the fall."

"Well…congrats, Paris," Jess said, again. Rory narrowed her eyes.

"Why Barnard? Why not Columbia?"

"Really, Rory? You're going to be an Ivy elitest?"

"It's not that. But you could do Columbia, or NYU."

"What do you have against women's colleges?"

"What do you have for them?" Rory said pointedly. Jess sighed.

"Okay, I'm starting to think you should go off speaker," he said to Rory pointedly, who sighed.

"That's not necessary," she said shortly, "Um…congratulations, Paris. I guess if it makes you happy, I'm happy."

"Thanks, Rory," Paris said shortly, "I just wanted to let you know, particularly since…well, it's closer."

"Closer?"

"To you. And to Stars Hollow."

"That's not why, is it?" Rory asked. Jess held his breath.

"Of course not," Paris said, an eye roll coming across in her voice. Then a pause. Jess wondered if she was waiting for him to out her. He didn't. "I just thought you'd like to know. It's where Doyle's job is, Rory. But I certainly didn't think you'd be unhappy about it." Paris sounded hurt.

"Paris…I'm not," Rory said, her voice softening, "I just…it's a lot all at once, okay? I want to make sure you're okay. That's all. I promise."

"Well, I'm okay. But I appreciate your concern," Paris said, still sounding stiff but a little less stung, "And Jess…one of my classes is doing a lot of contemporary literature, and to be frank, I'm a bit more unfamiliar with the selections than I'd like. Think you might be able to accomodate some time to chat through some of the current landscape with yourself and your colleagues?"

"For you, or for your class?"

"I meant for me. But now that you mention it…it couldn't hurt," Paris said thoughtfully, "A lot of them have their sights on the big publishing houses, of course, being that Barnard's in New York. But it couldn't hurt to give them a little bit more perspective and breadth."

"Do you think they're interested in what three guys have to say?" Jess asked.

"If those three guys are smart enough, I don't see why not," Paris replied. He smiled.

"Alright, well…whatever we can do to help. When's your move? I'm sure you're swamped, but happy for you to come by and chat things through with us, if that's easier."

"That would be great. I'll check my schedule," Paris answered, "We're trying to get the move totally handled before Lorelai's wedding. We already have an offer in on a place, and hopefully will have keys in hand by next weekend."

"How is that even possible?" Rory asked incredulously.

"Money," Paris said dully, "A lot of it. The place will do though. It's closer to Barnard, Upper West, lots of families. Marie will have her own room, and we've got one extra which will be for guests, for now."

"That sounds great, Paris," Rory said, trying to sound cheerful, "You'll have all the space Marie could need."

"I mean, it's still an apartment," Paris pointed out, "But yeah, certainly an improvement. The size isn't that different from our current place, other than the nursery, so we'll be able to move all of our furniture directly. That should keep things relatively proficient. And I've been in kind of a cleaning and organizing frenzy with the pregnancy, which is a thing I didn't know was a thing until now, though your mom said it happened to her too," Paris rambled. Rory raised her eyebrow at this but said nothing. "So really this couldn't be coming at a better time."

"Do you think it'll help?" Rory couldn't help herself asking. Paris sighed.

"I don't think it'll hurt," Paris said, sounding somewhat indifferent, "And it'll help more things be better when she's born. That's what matters."

"Well, congrats, Paris. And you're welcome here anytime," Rory offered.

"Thanks, Rory. Jess, I'll reach out to you about figuring out stuff for my class."

"Sounds good, Paris."

Rory hung up, frowning with consternation.

"Yes?"

"…I didn't realize she talks to Mom," Rory said. Jess frowned.

"Haven't they been having lunch for years?"

"Well, yeah…but that kind of started because my mom felt like she didn't really have anyone. I didn't think they talked outside of that."

"Why does it bother you?" Jess asked. Rory sighed.

"I guess…I guess it shouldn't. I just feel like Paris is getting more and more distant from me," Rory admitted. Jess looked at her.

"Were we on the same phone call just now? Rory, she's moving closer to us. I'm pretty sure she's not trying to distance herself from you," Jess pointed out, trying to avoid violating Paris' confidence while still getting through to Rory. Rory sighed.

"Yes, but she shouldn't move to be closer to me, or Mom, or anything like that," Rory pointed out, "She should be focusing on her marriage."

"She said it was Doyle's job that brought her there," Jess pointed out, "Plus…it's her marraige to figure out."

"I just want her to be happy," Rory said, "And things to be good for her and the baby. She shouldn't have to go through what Mom had to go through."

"First…she's not sixteen, penniless, and infinitely charismatic," Jess pointed out, "But…it's really her decision. And you're her friend."

"Are you going to tell me I have to be cheerfully supportive of concerning choices, just because I'm her friend?" Rory raised her eyebrows.

"No, I'm reminding you of the thing you already know- that it's her life to live."

"Which you seem to know an awful lot about," Rory muttered. Jess raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, are you…mad?"

"What?"

"Are you upset that Paris confided in me?"

"…she seems to be going to everyone but me lately."

"Has it occurred to you that it's a good thing for her?"

"Well, first it was Mom, then it was her…I used to be enough for them."

"Rory, that's ridiculous."

"Maybe. But it keeps happening," Rory pointed out, "And I kind of liked being depended on."

"I'm sure you did," Jess smirked. Rory narrowed her eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"It's just…you like control. You like feeling needed."

"I do not."

"You do so," Jess pointed out, "And you get territorial when that's threatened."

"That's crazy."

"It's true," Jess said. "And…I get it. You want to feel valuable to the people around you. But you know you can matter to them, and not have them need you to run their lives for them, right?"

"…I don't want to talk about this anymore," Rory said flatly, "I'm…"

"I wasn't trying to be hurtful," Jess pointed out.

"I know," Rory acknowledged, "I just…don't want to talk about this anymore right now, okay?"

"Okay," Jess sighed, "I was just trying to help."

"Well, I don't want any more help right now," Rory said, not unkindly, "I just…need a little space. Okay?"

"Alright," Jess said, "Tell you what- I'll crash at Matt's tonight."

"You don't have to…"

"Rory…it's okay. There's not exactly a good way to have space here," he pointed out, gesturing around, "And he said Jane's out of town anyway. It's been a long couple of weeks. I'll just…get out of your hair for the night, and text you tomorrow, and we'll go from there, okay?"

Rory sighed, and then nodded. "I love you," she said, giving him a quick hug.

"I love you too. I'll see you soon."