Chapter 170

The next morning, Zack Van Gerbig was feeling pretty good. Sure, he was hungover, from the late night at the bar with the groups of groupies. He could admit to himself (and only himself) that he seemed to be wearing out his welcome with this group, but hey- next week was Columbus and a fresh slate of options. And yes, Luke Danes had come out here to try to Grandpa-guilt his ass, but it wasn't working. Luke could stay in this motel as long as he wanted, for all Zack was concerned. There was a lot he hadn't figured out, but one thing was very clear- he had no desire to go back to Stars Hollow. Zack strode out from the stairwell into the lobby. Uh-oh. Suddenly his day didn't look like it was going so well.

"…Jess."

"In the flesh," Jess answered, not looking up from his book. Zack sighed.

"Why are you always reading, anyway?"

"I'm an author. And I own a bookstore. Or did you forget because you were trying to get drunk at 11 AM last time you visited?"

"…don't tell me Luke dragged you here to finish what he couldn't do."

"Nope."

"So Lane sent you?"

"Nope. Didn't even tell her I was coming."

"…why's that?"

"Well, when I beat the shit out of you, I figure I'll give you a couple days to heal up before I return you to her. You know, so as not to pile on with everything else's she's fucking dealing with right now. I'd say it was to help you save face, but I really couldn't give less of a shit about you, your face, or your pathetic excuse for a life."

"Wow, real persuasive," Zack said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He reminded himself that Jess was short. Zack had always found Jess kind of intimidating, but in those moments he felt particularly intimidated, he tried to remind himself that Jess was short. Strangely, even though he was sitting, Zack didn't feel like Jess was very short right now.

"…go ahead. Test it."

"So you just came here to beat the shit out of me?"

"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but yeah, if that's what's necessary."

"Why the fuck do you care? It isn't even your family, man. Can't you just go play house with Rory and stay out of our crap?"

At this, Jess' eyes flashed, and he slowly, calmly put the book on the table. Two seconds later, Zack was pinned up against the wall. The front desk was, as it had been for most of their trip, totally empty. Jess glared at Zack as he held him still.

"Let's get a couple things straight, because I think the booze and the motel air has been getting to your head. You don't talk about Rory. Period. Ever. Actually, let's change that. Lorelai either. I heard you were being pretty shitty about her yesterday too."

"Luke…was smart enough not to threaten me with violence because of it," Zack managed. Jess let out a dark laugh.

"Smart enough? You fucking imbecile. Luke just didn't want to put Lane through any more pain. He's…nice like that. You don't know me as well, but I'm a lot less nice. If pain is what it takes to get you to go home, and stop letting your family bleed out, that's what's happening."

Zack stared at Jess blankly. "Look, man- I'm not trying to cause anybody harm. I just…they don't need me anyway."

At this Jess sighed deeply, and let the man off the wall, who scrambled into a lobby chair. Jess rolled his eyes.

"…it's your wife and kids. How can you possibly think they don't need you?"

"Look, I'm gone all the time anyway, the boys barely want to talk to me when I am around, and Lane walks around this world like I'm the cross that's been strapped to her back, the weight that she had to carry around. You know?"

"Write a fucking song about it," Jess snarled. Zack perked up.

"I did actually! It's called Weight of the World, and…"

"Fucking hell, man, I wasn't actually interested," Jess sighed, running his hands through his hair, "…they're in the middle of a crisis. They need you. I don't care how much you like your booze or your groupies…Lane needs to be able to depend on you right now. And so do your kids."

At this, Zack had the decency to look a little bit ashamed. "But, what can I even do? Me going won't make Lane's mom healthy, or Lane happy, and the boys don't really seem to care if I'm around or not."

"They care," Jess said stonily, "And it doesn't matter what you do. Being there is what you do. Not fucking leaving them all in the middle of this travesty, making it all so much worse for everybody."

"…I still don't think I can do a lot of good."

"I don't give a shit. You going back will help avoid doing more bad."

At this, Zack sighed and looked down, nodding slightly. He exhaled deeply.

"How…how is she?"

"Haven't seen her. Rory says she's a wreck."

"The boys?"

"Sookie had them with her kids, but Lane got back last night. They're upset."

"…and her mom?"

"Had a fucking heart attack. Has heart disease that is going to certainly, painfully kill her over time. She can't live on her own anymore."

"What?" Zack jerked up in surprise at this. Jess rolled his eyes.

"See, this is why we don't take off in the midst of family crises," Jess said sarcastically, "Yep. It's not safe for her to live by herself. Rory and Lorelai are helping Lane and the boys move in this weekend."

"…we're moving in with them?"

Jess looked at him carefully, choosing not to ask questions, and not to push. "Yep."

Zack sighed. "Well…I guess…go tell Luke I'll go home."

"We'll take you. Heard you missed your bus."

"Can I ride with you instead?"

"Your funeral. As you pointed out, Luke's the one who didn't want to put you in physical danger."

"…Luke it is."

Jess and Zack walked back up to Luke's room. Jess knocked and Luke opened the door.

"Wha…"

"Zack's going home. You're driving. We'll leave here in ten. I'll stay in Stars Hollow this weekend to help with the move. Got it?"

"Got it," Luke said finally, shooting a glare at Zack. Turning to Jess, he gave him a relieved look. "Thank you."

"We'll hold hands and skip later," Jess said, rolling his eyes and heading out the door, still filled with some degree of rage from the interaction he'd had to have with Zack.

An hour or so later in the car, Jess called Rory.

"Hey, one sec," she said. Jess could hear her quickly moving out of a room. "…how'd it go?"

"…he's coming back. He's driving with Luke. We'll be there by afternoon, early evening."

Rory let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jess. You know you didn't have…"

"I know."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

"So…is he…"

"In one piece?" Jess smirked, "Yep. Barely had to lay a hand on him."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

"And did he say anything about…"

"Look, Rory, I'm gonna be straight with you. He wasn't excited about coming home or anything, and didn't seem very regretful."

"…well that's a great start."

"But at least now he'll be back, and not making this moment worse for Lane."

"We hope."

"We hope."

"…seriously, thanks for this."

"Nothing to thank me for. I'm coming back to Stars Hollow too, and can help with the move this weekend. But then I could really use a good, calm week in Philadelphia."

"You and me both," Rory admitted, "You should go back on Sunday either way. If Lane wants me to stay longer, I might."

"Work's okay with that?"

"For another day or two, yeah. I could make it work remotely. I have a good team."

"Well then, do what you gotta do."

"How are you? You sound…"

"Not my best?"

"Let's go with that."

"Well, that's the answer," he said, sighing, "It was rough."

"Jess, you can just come home, you don't have to come to Stars Hollow…"

"I'm coming. Try to stop me. I just need the car ride to decompress, I think."

"Okay," Rory said, nodding, "Well, take that time. Maybe we'll see you for dinner."

"Sans Lane and Zack."

"100 percent. I could use a break too," Rory admitted. Jess sighed.

"How's she doing?"

"Really well, all things considered. It's just, intense. And personal. I hate that this is happening to her, you know?"

"I do," Jess nodded, "And I'll be there soon, and you'll get that break. I love you."

"Love you too," Rory said, hanging up.

Upon hanging up, Rory quickly walked back into the main room of Mrs. Kim's house.

"Mom, can I…"

"Sure," Lorelai nodded. Lane was distracted with the boys, and Mama Kim was upstairs resting. They quickly walked into the next room. Rory looked at her mom.

"He's coming back."

"Jess?"

"…yep."

"You got a good man, hon."

"I did," Rory said, before pausing, "…look, Jess said he's not exactly happy about it. Or regretful about leaving."

"…great. Well, at least he'll be here for the boys, and not making things harder by not being here."

"That's almost exactly what Jess said."

"Creepy. Do we tell Lane?"

"…I think we let her know in a couple hours, when they're close. They're about 8 hours out."

"Where were they?"

"Still don't know."

"Well, I'm sure they'll be up for 20 questions upon return."

"Why on earth wouldn't they be?" Rory smirked, walking back into the main room with her mom to keep unpacking.