Chapter 169

Luke sighed deeply, lying back on the bed in the motel room. He'd gotten a room at the same dingy motel Zack was staying at. From the short look he'd gotten so far, he was betting his smelled less like booze and cheap perfume from hoardes of groupies.

It hadn't been hard to find Zack. The guy was dumb, and didn't think things through, so it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. Luke had started by going to where Zack had a gig a few days before he decided not to show up at home- Cleveland. He asked around the venue, and it took a while for anybody to know who he was talking about (Zack certainly wasn't a big shot, as much as he clearly liked to think so), but eventually a grip said that he'd taken off from the show with one of his friends who was a groupie (Amanda, Luke thought her name had been). The dude reached out to his friend, who apparently had "hung out" with Zack that last night, but then he'd gone to a party with her and taken off with a different crowd. Eventually, Luke got word that he'd been hanging out at a certain bar at night, partying it up with groupies and strangers. Luke had found that bar, and seen the motel at the corner, and put two and two together. He got himself a room and hung around the lobby for a few hours, waiting for it to get dark. Right around that time, Zack appeared, looking cool and casual, alone, but clearly on the way out.

"…going somewhere?" Luke said from the chair in the lobby, without looking up at Zack. Zack turned, his face immediately shifting from surprise to guilt to irritation.

"…Luke. What are you doing here, man? Did Lane send you?"

"Nope. I volunteered. It's time to come home."

"…I'm not going home."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"Luke, I'm not…"

"Lane's mom had a heart attack. She's in the hospital."

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sorry about that," Zack said, not meeting Luke's eyes, or sounding all that sorry, "I knew. Your girlfriend called."

Luke balled his fists at Zack's dismissive pettiness about Lorelai, and inhaled deeply to calm himself down. "Lorelai called you? I heard you weren't answering your phone."

"She left a message. Real classy, by the way. You found an angry one."

"…I'm sure Lane left a couple herself."

"…look, I don't really care what you think, but you should get out of here. I'm not going back."

"Really? You're just gonna abandon your wife and kids?"

"You're being dramatic," Zack said, rolling his eyes, "I just…need some space. I figured you'd get that, of all people. You're not exactly a social butterfly."

"You have a family. You have obligations."

Zack chortled. "Yeah, obligations aren't really my thing, man. Hence the career choice. And they're fine."

"…you don't know that. One of them's in the hospital."

"Lane's mom is her family, she's got in handled," Zack said dismissively, "And the kids…she's got that handled too. She doesn't even need me."

"Oh, and the groupies do?" Luke retorted, watching Zack blush, "Yeah, I know about them."

"What about them? It's all part of the gig," Zack said, shrugging it off, "Speaking of which, I'm late to meet some people."

"…I'm not leaving until you come back with me."

"Then enjoy Cleveland. It'll be a while."

With that, Zack had departed, leaving Luke in a rage. He hadn't wanted to hit the guy- I mean, he'd wanted to, of course, but he figured the last thing Lane or her kids needed in this stressful time was a bloodied, bruised Zack being returned to their door. So Luke had gone back to his room and quietly seethed.

By the next morning, Luke knew what room Zack was in, when he'd not so quietly returned to it late at night, clearly with company. It sickened him. Not just because Luke Danes was old fashioned, and faithful, but because he cared so much for Lane. He hadn't really thought about her much when she was a kid alongside Rory- he hadn't been one for kids at the time, and she hadn't really stood out to him at all. But when she left her mom's house, got the job at the diner, struck out on her own- all of that made quite an impression on Luke. That wasn't something he saw many kids doing nowadays. He was happy to have given her that job, to have been a helpful part of her story, and he'd tried to keep up with her as well as he could as she got married, had kids, and started her family life.

He'd never liked Zack, but as far as he could tell, few people really did. Maybe people didn't hate him, but Luke had always just found him kind of generally useless and poseresque. Someone who made being an artist into an excuse, rather than a job or a craft, like his nephew had done. Luke turned over in his bed. Jess had pretty much interrogated him about where Zack was when he'd called, and eventually Luke had told him, after making him promise not to tell the girls just yet. He knew that them flying in here wouldn't help them, or make it more likely for Zack to come home.

Luke got up and walked over to his suitcase, looking for his wallet. Maybe it was time he go grab a bite to eat, and then make another effort when he got home. It was already dinner time and Luke had skipped breakfast and eaten leftover beef jerky from the drive for lunch. He knew he'd have to go figure something out. Sighing again, he picked up his wallet and phone and headed towards the door. Just then, he heard a knock on the other side. Confused, he opened the door.

"Jess?"

"Miss me?"

"…what are you doing here?"

"Same thing you're doing here."

"…go home."

"Nope."

"You can't…"

"I'm gonna."

"Didn't you give this stuff up?"

"Relax. I'm not gonna hit him or anything. Unless I have to."

"Jess…"

"Luke. I'm staying."

Luke looked at him for a moment, and then sighed, nodding.

"You have anything to eat?"

"Nope. You heading out?"

"Yeah. Let's grab a bite and I'll get you up to speed."

Jess nodded.

"How did you find my room, by the way?" Luke asked. Jess smirked.

"Old habits die hard."

"I don't want to know, do I?"

"Nope."

Half an hour later, they were sitting over plates of burgers and fries at a Fuddruckers.

"Do Rory and Lorelai know you're here?"

"Yep," Jess nodded. "I told Rory, so I assume Lorelai knows too. But Rory didn't really ask questions."

"…how'd you manage that?"

"…I think she picked up on the tone."

Luke nodded, taking another bite of his burger. Jess sighed.

"So, no progress so far?"

"I'm progressing towards shoving my foot up his ass," Luke answered irritably. Jess smirked.

"That sounds about right. I still can't believe he's this much of an asshole."

"I can," Luke said, fries in his mouth, "Never liked him. Lane could always do better."

"Yeah, and you're usually right about those things," Jess joked, earning a small smile from Luke. "So you talked to him?"

"Twice. Think he's hiding from me now."

"And?"

"He said he's not coming home, he knows what's happening, but he's not coming home. I told him I wasn't leaving until he did, and he told me to enjoy my stay. He was also an ass about Lorelai."

"…and he's still standing?"

"…I figure the last thing Lane needs after seeing her mom in a hospital bed is having me deliver her husband to her battered and bloodied."

"…very selfless of you."

"…so, you think you can do better?"

"Probably not, but I'm still gonna try," Jess shrugged, "I have to, you know?"

"…why does it matter to you so much?"

"…not important."

"…it's Jimmy, isn't it?"

Jess sighed, looking downwards. After a moment he raised his head.

"Fine, yes," Jess admitted, "That's a part of it. Those kids don't deserve a fucking deadbeat. I got lucky. My parents were duds…we can argue about Liz another time, okay? But I didn't pull the Bradys out of the parent hat. But all that said…I had you. They don't have a you."

"They'll have a me," Luke said gruffly. Jess smiled.

"I know," he nodded.

"…hell, they'll be really lucky, because they'll have a you."

"…is this the part where we hold hands and skip?"

"…I'll find a bridge in this goddamn city if I have to."

"Yeah, this is…not my town," Jess said, looking around.

"Me either," Luke admitted, "But I'm staying until he drags his ass outta here."

"I mean, do we really think he's gonna be any help to her at home though?"

"…I thought about that," Luke admitted, "And I don't have a good answer. But at least then he won't be making a bad thing worse." At this, Jess nodded.

"Well then, first thing tomorrow it'll be my turn."

"My room's got an extra bed, if you want to crash there."

"Thanks, I think I'll take you up on that…why'd you get a room with two beds?"

"I had a suspiscion you might show up when you heard what was happening. And if not, I could have something to tie Zack to so he couldn't get out of my sight."

"Ever the pragmatist."