Chapter 172

Lorelai sighed with relief when she walked into the Inn. God, she'd missed it. Any time she went away she missed it. She hated leaving it in a way that was probably a little possessive, a little overwhelming, and a little too personalized. But it felt like home, in a way only her own home and maybe Luke's did, and she reveled in the feeling of warmth that overcame her as she walked into the kitchen to grab a coffee, and then sat down at the front desk. She knew it was a quick repreive, but god, did she need it. She took a sip of the familiar coffee, looked around the Inn, and smiled genuinely to herself for the first time in days. She was home.

Across town, Jess took a deep breath as he had a slow moment in the diner. The last day or two had been nonstop, and the last few weeks had been generally quite a lot to handle. And some of it was starting to get under his skin. He hated to admit that, and honestly, was very relieved Luke had asked him to stay at the diner and cover that. It would keep his mind off things by keeping him busy, it would give him a break from the intensity of the Lane and Zack of it all, but above all else, it really would give him some time to himself, at least away from the larger situation. As the afternoon rush died down, he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a book out of his back pocket. Some things never change, even when it seems like everything else is changing around you.

In the car on the way to Hartford, Rory looked carefully at Luke. "You did that to give him a break."

"Yep."

"You know he wouldn't have taken one otherwise."

"That I do."

"…thanks, Luke."

"Why? I didn't give you a break," he joked. She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean. He wouldn't do it for himself. I'm glad you did it for him."

"He's having a hard time with it," Luke said. Rory nodded.

"Not hard to guess why."

"Nope."

"…I'm sorry."

"It doesn't bother me the same way." Rory understood that. It was different for Luke. He was the party that had always been there, and reliable and able to be counted on.

"But…let's both take this as a break, okay? It's been a long couple days. Tell me about Paris or Matt or Chris or something."

Rory smiled widely. "Well, Paris is being very Paris," Rory said, "She's in her third trimester and is changing careers, traveling a bunch…nothing in the world slows her down."

"You think the baby will?"

"I really don't know. It does seem like it's changing her. She seems happier." Luke nodded.

"And so does the career move. Did Jess mention she's gonna be working with them a little?"

"…no. Working with Jess and Truncheon?" Luke asked, confused. Rory nodded.

"Her new job has her teaching a contemporary fiction class, so she's gonna work with them a little to teach the students about independent publishing."

Luke nodded. "That sounds like it could be good for both of them. Guess you'll be seeing more of her."

"Yeah, probably. But I don't think I mind," Rory admitted. Luke smiled back at her.

"Yeah, good company is hard to complain about." They spent the rest of the drive mostly in companionable silence.

Two hours later, two cars (and one U-Haul) pulled up to Lane and Zack's. Surprisingly, there was already a car there.

Rory gave Luke a wary look, and then said, "I'll go first, and let you guys know." She got out of the car and headed for the door, shaking her head at Jess and Lorelai, who were looking at her questioningly. She knocked.

"Rory! Good to see ya!" Zack smiled widely, opening the door. Rory furrowed her brow.

"Good to…"

"Ya know, even though the circumstances aren't great. Mama Kim and everything."

"…yeah, I do. Is Lane here?"

"Hi, Rory," Lane said, coming in from the other room, looking tired, "Sorry I forgot to text you again to let you know we came over. Is everyone here?"

"Yep."

"…well have them come in and we'll start loading things up."

Rory nodded. Lane wasn't meeting her eyes.

"…everyone?" Zack asked. Rory frowned.

"Luke, my mom and Jess."

"…Jess is here?"

"…why would that be a problem, Zack?" Lane asked pointedly. He sighed, and pasted back on the fake grin.

"Of course it's not, just a surprise. I'll go start moving heavy stuff- send the guys up to help when they get in, okay?" Zack asked. Lane nodded. "Love ya babe." He kissed her cheek. Rory watched him walk away with an eyebrow raised.

"What…"

"I'll catch you up later. The short version is that she showed up, extremely remorseful and apologetic, saying how much he missed me and the boys and how he just panicked and got scared by what was happening but that he knows how important it is that we have him around right now and that he's going to be here, and I said okay, and we agreed to just…keep going. Not make it a thing right now. The longer story is that I'm too fucking exhausted to have the conversations that need to happen, and this isn't the time. Okay?"

"Okay," Rory nodded. She hugged Lane tightly. "I'll go send in the guys and Mom. Any order you want to…"

"As long as it all gets in there, I don't care," Lane said, shrugging, "I already reached out to Brian, he has a friend that can sublet starting Wednesday, and our lease is up in a couple months. We'll barely skip a bit financially."

"That's…good," Rory said, taking a minute to realize that Lane was really just trying to compartmentalize and move ahead. She nodded dumbly. "I'll…go get the others."

Rory walked outside. Lorelai was the first to get out of her car and walk over to her.

"So?"

"So…it's weird."

"…Okay?"

"Just…have the boys go inside and help Zack with the heavy stuff, okay? You and I will help Lane, I guess."

"What did she say?"

"A bunch of stuff I don't know what to make of, but we can talk more about it later. Suffice it to say, Zack acted remoreseful and she didn't want to have the fight right now." Lorelai's eyebrows raised at this, and then she sighed deeply, nodding.

"Alright. Let's…just get through it. I'll tell the boys. You try to give her a little normal, okay?"

"I'll do what I can. She's not being normal either," Rory said noncommitally. Lorelai sighed.

"Look, it's hard, and it's stupid. But it's probably just gonna be this one more day, okay?" At that, Rory sighed reluctantly and nodded. She headed back in. Jess was the next out of his car, walking slowly up to Lorelai.

"What's happening?"

"They're…acting peaceable. Apparently he showed some remorse and Lane doesn't feel like imploding more of her life right now," Lorelai said, not bothering to be delicate. Jess rolled his eyes.

"Yep, that's me too. Apparently he's upstairs getting the heavy stuff, and asked you and Luke to help carry."

"Anything for the distraction. And Rory?"

"…starting to crack a little, I think. I'm gonna run interference with her and Lane, but I think you're both ready to be home."

"Not even gonna argue with you this time."

"Jesus, it's worse than I thought."

"…yeah."

"Luke? Why don't you head in and help Zack? Tell Rory we'll be right there," Lorelai called to her fiance as he got out of the car. Luke looked confused for a second, but saw the expression on Jess' face and nodded, walking straight inside.

"Get in," Lorelai gestured to her car, and Jess found himself without the energy to argue. He sat down in the passenger side.

"It's stupid."

"I doubt that."

"…I should be past it."

"Jimmy?" she guessed. Jess exhaled, nodding, not meeting her eye.

"It shouldn't even matter."

"But it makes this harder."

"It makes me care too much about this."

"…it makes you a person who's going to be a good husband, and a good father."

"…how do you figure that?" he said, not bothering to correct her presumptions that he wanted to be both of those things.

"You've had a front row seat to what not to do," she pointed out, "And even now, this far removed, it bothers you enough that when someone else does it you want to intervene. Bodes pretty well for the standards you're setting for yourself and those around you."

"But it's not my business here," he pointed out. She nodded.

"Yeah, and you're normally really good about that. But no one is all the time, and the result here is a net positive."

"Is it though? Is it really a positive that he's back?" Jess asked bluntly, looking to Lorelai. She looked down for a moment.

"…yes," she answered, slowly, "Even if it doesn't stay that way. It helps Lane and the boys right now to have one less change or crisis to think about."

"I don't get why he did any of it if he didn't want to go through with it," Jess said. Lorelai smiled sadly.

"I know a little about that from Rory's dad," she admitted, "And…oh."

"Yeah?"

"…nevermind. We should get inside though. Rory really is hitting her limit."

Jess nodded, choosing not to ask any further questions about Lorelai's abandoned train of thought. "Thanks, Lorelai."

"Anytime. Really. Plus, I owed ya one."