A Match Almost Made

            "Coffee?"

            Rory looked up at Jess and couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You have to ask?"

            "Yes, I do. Coffee?"

            "I didn't mean that…You're impossible."

            "Why thank you. Coffee?"

            "Yes!" Rory sighed loudly.

            "What, it was just a simple question. Not my fault you didn't answer it's not."

            "There are other customers to serve."

            "But none who are as interesting as you Rory Gilmore," Jess said, winked and headed off.

            Rory turned her attention from fighting with Jess to looking out the door for her mother. It was odd for Lorelai to be late for diner, especially on a Thursday night. Thursday's were usually when everyone decided to rent rooms and Lorelai always came running to whine about her day.

            Plus, Rory had a date with Dean and she wanted a chance to talk to her mother about her before she headed off with Dean.

            As if on cue, Lorelai came wandering into the diner. "Hey, sorry I'm late! You wouldn't believe the mad rush at work today!"

            Rory smirked. "Oh, I can't imagine."

            "You really can't!"

            "Geez, keep your voice down," Luke called over at her from the counter.

            "Sorry…dad," she said, slightly blushing at the cheeks as she slid into a chair across from Rory. "Umm, I want whatever she's having!"

            "I already put a burger on for you," Luke said. "No lettuce."

            "Wow, thanks," Lorelai said. Don't make anything awkward, do not make it awkward. "So, skipping my very not-interesting day, tell me about yours."

            "Well, I got an A on my French test."

            "An A? Rory, I would never think such a thing would happen."

            "And, I have a date with Dean."

            "Oh! I knew that one."

            "We're going to see a movie."

            "Ooh, which one?"

            "I'm not sure."

            "Right, 'cause that would take all the surprise away," Lorelai nodded. "Is he taking you out for food?"

            "I don't know," Rory shrugged. She was about to say something but Jess came over to the table again. "I already have…" She paused as Jess began to poor Lorelai coffee. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to ask?"

            Jess grinned. "Miss Gilmore, do I need to ask if you want coffee?"

            "Are you kidding! Of course not," Lorelai said, eying at Jess carefully. Now what is he up to?

            "See?" Jess said, continuing to grin at Rory.

            "That is really annoying," Rory sighed, folding her arms.

            Luke slid two plates down in front of Rory and Lorelai. "Try living with him," he said, glancing at Rory.

            "No thank you," Rory and Lorelai said together.

            "Aww, don't you love me?" Jess asked, and pretended to pout.

            "No," Rory snapped and looked off in the other direction.

            "Don't you have any other people to bother?" Luke asked, glancing in Jess's direction.

            "Hey, I just got here," Lorelai sighed.

            "Not you," Luke said.

            "I don't know," Jess said. "Everyone here seems pretty happy."

            "I need my food!"

            "No one's even taken my order!"

            Luke glared at Jess.

            "I'm going, I'm going," Jess said, throwing his hands up, grabbing the coffee container and walked away.

            "He's acting weird," Lorelai said, as Luke wandered back to the container.

            "Not really," Rory shrugged, eating her food.

            "No, I think he is."

            "Mom," Rory sighed. "This whole town is weird."

            "He's not from this town."

            "Look at us," Rory reminded her.

            "Hey," Dean called, waving at Rory. "Am I too early?"

            "No, right on time," Rory nodded. "Sorry, I'm kind of running late."

            "It's fine, I can wait. Movie doesn't start for another 20 minutes. Not like it's a long drive," Dean reminded her.

            "More coffee?"

            "Stop doing that!" Rory cried. "And, um, yeah, more coffee."

            "What's the magic word?"

            "Give me more coffee."

            "That's four words. I thought you went to Chilton."

            "Please," she sighed.

            Jess nodded and poured the coffee. "Hey Dean, how you doing?"

            "Fine," Dean sighed.

            Dean was staring right at Jess, which didn't seem to bother Jess the least bit. "Good, good. You get that math homework done?"

            "Yes," Dean nodded, clearly getting annoyed.

            "Well, uh, I'm all done!" Rory cried, standing up. "Dean, you ready?"

            "Yeah, I'm very, very ready," Dean said, still staring at him. "Movies?"

            "Yeah," Rory nodded.

            "What movie are you going to see?" Jess asked.

            "It's really none of your-"

            "We don't know," Rory cried, interrupting Dean. She wrapped her arm around his and smiled.

            "Right, that would take all the surprise out of it."

            Oh, is that creepy or is that creepy? "Well, bye!" Rory yelled, in a high pitched voice.

            "Have fun," Lorelai said. Jess just waved.

            Rory tore out of there, trying to avoid a fight breaking out, and Dean followed her quickly behind.

            "Jess!" Luke yelled.

            "On it," Jess sighed and started off toward the other tables.

            Lorelai decided it would be best just to ignore what she'd just seen between Dean, Rory, and Jess. For now… She had this odd feeling that she hadn't seen the last of that. Whatever it was she had seen.

            "Anything else I can get you?" Luke asked, hovering over her table.

            "I should probably just go home. Long day, but then again, Thursday's usually are."

            Luke laughed. "Same for the diner. It's as if everyone in Stars Hollow decides they can't make dinner on Thursday's."

            "Hey," Lorelai protested.

            "You eat here everyday," Luke reminded her. "And when you don't, it's pizza or Chinese."

            "That's unfair. Sometimes it's…sometimes it's homemade."

            "Only when you're at your parents," Luke said. "And then Saturday night, you're right back here."

            "Or pizza," she reminded him. "What do you eat?"

            He shrugged, sitting down across from her. "Do you mind?"

            "No, not at all," she nodded. "Could you teach me how to cook?"
            "No one could teach you how to cook."

            "That's not true!" Lorelai protested. "I used to know how to make macaroni and cheese."

            "Which I had to talk you through," Luke reminded her.

            "And, oh, I can work the blender."

            Luke nodded and smiled. "Do I need to remind you of what happened with the blender?"

            "I don't remember that," Lorelai blurted quickly.

            Luke nodded. "I do. You called me up yelling about how your blender was spurting food out at you. Strawberries, ice cream…"

            "Shakes are hard!" Lorelai protested. "And it was spurting food at me…If I remembered, I would know that."

            "I don't see how you can forget, it was last month," Luke sighed. "Anyway, do you remember what the problem with the blender was?"

            "No, I don't."

            "When you called you said that it was possessed."

            "It could have been!"
            "You said it was a good plot for a movie: 'Attack of the Blender.'"

            "Stop mocking me! What was wrong with it?"

            "You didn't have the lid on," Luke said, trying not to laugh.

            "No!"

            "Lorelai, you made me come over and look at it."

            "It was an evil blender. Evil! Evil I tell you!"

            Luke just nodded and kept trying not to laugh.

            "Oh, yeah. Like your Mr. Perfect, like you never screwed something up in the kitchen."

            "I have. But I never forgot to put the lid on a blender. And I never had to call someone to help with macaroni and cheese, from a box."

            "I can work the toaster!" Lorelai cried.

            "Well that's good. As long as you have some means of feeding yourself," Luke nodded. "We wouldn't want you to starve to death now would we?"

            "I always have the pizza guy."

            Luke sighed. "And you always have me, as a last resort."

            More like a first choice. First choice? I'm so killing my mother… "Hey Luke. Um, you know how I have Friday dinner tomorrow?"

            "Yeah," Luke nodded.

            "Well, uh, maybe on Saturday, instead of calling my good friend the pizza guy, I could come over here for dinner. Or maybe you and I could-"

            "Luke! Hello! I've been yelling at you for five minutes!" Taylor sighed. "My coffee is cold."

            First, kill Taylor. Or, move box from one side to the other, then kill.

            What wonderful timing this man has. "Alright Taylor, I'm coming," Luke snapped, and got up from the chair. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

            Lorelai felt herself chicken out. It felt as if the whole diner was watching her. "Um, I forgot."

            "Oh, okay," Luke nodded and headed over to where Taylor was. Luke had never disliked the guy so much in his whole life.

            Lorelai sighed, and dropped the money she owed on the table and headed out the door.

* * *

            Jess sighed, as he watched the entire display from the corner of the diner. "Come on guys, not even I'm that bad," he mumbled.

            "What was that?" Kirk asked as Jess poured his coffee. "Are you talking about me behind my back?"

            "No," Jess snapped. As he watched Lorelai leave, a thought entered his head and a smile crept up his face.

            "What? What? I don't get it," Kirk snapped.

            "I do."