A/N: Chapter Eighteen!
Wow. I had a really hard time starting this chapter. Major writer's block. Which is why I would like to give a REALLY BIG THANK YOU to dodgerluv, who didn't mind (or at least didn't mention minding) when I asked for help. She gave me some really good ideas, and without her you guys would have gotten an author's note/apology instead of a chapter. So let's all give her a big thank you!
Hey – has anyone else noticed that my chapters are getting longer? I'm so proud of myself. :D
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: R/T, R/J (hmm. should i change that?)
Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.
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Rory walked into the house and sighed, setting down her bag. She'd just stopped by Doose's for some groceries. Not surprisingly, there was nothing edible in the house. Although, that didn't make complete sense, since Luke was now living with them, and he was generally good at keeping the house stocked. Rory shrugged. It was probably because of the wedding. She cringed inwardly. The wedding.
Lorelai walked in with a smile on her face. She seemed to be hiding something, but Rory brushed it off, too tired to figure it out. "Hey, hon. Back already?"
"Yeah," she smiled tiredly. "I think I'm going to go to bed, 'kay?"
"Sure," Lorelai smiled reassuringly. "I'll take care of Tricia."
Rory smiled gratefully and started walking upstairs. She hit the bed like a brick and was out like a light.
***
Lorelai yawned as she started the coffee. She really needed Luke's, but he'd already gone to the diner, claiming to need to help Jess. She didn't blame him, since Jess really did need help (in more ways than one), but she couldn't go to the diner until Rory was up so that she and Tricia could set their plan in motion.
Tricia jumped into the kitchen, grinning like a … well, Lorelai was too tired to figure out what her granddaughter was grinning like. "Why are you so cheerful?"
Tricia shrugged, pulling out some cereal.
Lorelai glared at her playfully. "It should be a crime to be cheerful this early in the morning."
Tricia just grinned wider. "It's eight, grandma."
Lorelai just rolled her eyes as she set the coffeepot to catch the drips. Sitting down at the table, she stared off into space, waiting for her daughter to come down the stairs.
She didn't have to wait long, as only a few minutes had passed before Rory stumbled down the stairs, sniffing the air. "Coffee…"
Lorelai grinned. "You'll have to put up with mine till we're all dressed. Then we can go to Luke's."
A look that can only be described as sheer panic leapt into Rory's eyes. "No!" she shouted, then, realizing they were staring at her (and that she'd shouted), she repeated, more quietly, "No."
"Why not?" Lorelai asked, giving her daughter a puzzled look.
"Uh…" Rory suddenly realized how strange it was for her to be refusing Luke's coffee. She faked a yawn. "You know what? I think I'll just go back to bed. I'm really tired…" She turned and raced back to her room, leaving two bewildered Gilmores in her wake.
***
"Well, that went well?" Lorelai quipped.
Tricia was still staring off after her mother. "I don't get it. Why wouldn't she want to go to Luke's? Doesn't she want to see Jess? I mean, she loves him, so doesn't she want to see him?"
"She might still be in denial." Lorelai furrowed her brow. "Or they could've had a fight."
Tricia snorted indelicately. "Yeah, right."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Everyone has fights. Luke and I had a fight just a few days ago. He wouldn't give me coffee."
Tricia rolled her eyes. "He never gives you coffee. That doesn't count."
"Fine." Lorelai sat down in her chair and stared at the coffee. Realizing it was done, she got up and poured herself a cup.
"Hey, me too," Tricia got a cup and held it out to her grandmother, who filled it without question.
***
Rory tried to get her breathing under control and think rationally. They had to talk sometime. And wouldn't he think it was weird if she didn't show up with her mother and daughter? Maybe she should just go back downstairs.
No. She didn't know what to tell them, and they were bound to ask. Why wouldn't she go, anyway? She had no idea why she'd reacted the way she had.
Well, she had some idea. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she'd just discovered, less than twenty-four hours earlier, that she loved Jess Mariano. The diner boy. The guy who'd always been there. For her, for her daughter, and even for her mother. He'd never refused anything she'd asked for. Well, except for coffee, she thought with a smile. But that was just the Danes tradition. And Jess was a Danes, even if his last name was Mariano.
Was that why she'd fallen for him? Rory supposed that was part of it. He'd always been there, like she'd said. Like the time when Tricia had gotten appendicitis. Luke had been busy, Lorelai had been at the inn, so Rory'd gone straight to Jess. And without him, Rory remembered, her eyes clouding, Tricia might have died. Appendicitis was rarely taken seriously, since all they had to do was take it out, and it was a fairly simple procedure – but if they failed to take it out soon enough, the patient could die. Rory had panicked.
That was another thing. Where had Tristan been through all of that? She'd claimed to love him, and had in fact not had a boyfriend in the eleven years since he'd left and then come back, and yet… There wasn't really a reason for it. It was more like it had been habit or something. Her loving him. Something safe. He wasn't there, which had made it even more safe.
Loving Jess wasn't safe, not only because he was actually there, but because there was a chance he loved her back as well. And she knew it, as much as she wanted to deny it. Everyone had been telling her for years. Miss Patty, Babette, Tristan – even Taylor had mentioned it. The town had slowly started to lay off of Jess after he'd started cleaning up his act towards the end of junior year. After there wasn't anything to blame him for, then they didn't know what to do, so they'd mostly just ignored him.
And now, after all this time, she finally understood that it was probably because of her. She frowned. She really didn't have any proof, and it seemed kind of conceited to assume that he loved her enough to change himself. So she pushed those thoughts aside, and started back on her own.
***
Lorelai picked at her pancakes, peeking a look at her granddaughter before asking quietly, "Any ideas?"
Tricia frowned into her coffee. "No," she replied shortly. Suddenly she brightened. "Luke!" she shouted.
Luke suddenly materialized by their table. Lorelai gasped. "Don't – do – that."
Luke smiled at her and looked at Tricia. "Yeah?"
"I'm going to let you in on a secret." Luke raised his eyebrows. "Sit down," Tricia commanded. Luke did as she said, looking at her expectantly. "We want to try and get mom and Jess together."
Luke raised a brow. "And why would we do that?"
"Because mom loves him." Tricia stated it as though it were obvious. Which Luke supposed it was. Just not quite as obvious as Jess' love for Rory.
"Well… What are you going for?"
"Right now," Lorelai started, taking a sip of her drink – which, surprisingly, was not coffee – "We just want them to talk. Can you believe Rory refused to come here?"
Luke looked at her, dumbfounded. "You're kidding."
Lorelai shook her head emphatically. "Nope. Completely serious. So we think that they need to talk."
"Well," Luke said, slowly. "Why don't you just do the old thing where you," he looked at Tricia, "tell Jess you want to talk to him at the bridge, and you," he turned to Lorelai, "tell Rory to come to the bridge with you, then leave with the excuse that you forgot something, telling her to go on without you." A corner of Luke's mouth lifted slightly. "If you remember, she did the same thing to you when I proposed."
A smile came to Lorelai's face, and her eyes watered as she looked at her husband.
Tricia smiled to herself and slowly got up from the table, intending to go upstairs. The planning could wait a few minutes.
***
Rory sighed, getting out of bed. She needed food. Her stomach growled and she stifled a laugh. Definitely. She walked downstairs and nearly fell over when she saw a picnic basket on the table. Her mother was sitting at the table reading a magazine, but looked up when she heard her daughter come in.
"Hey, kid. How about a picnic?" Lorelai smiled.
"Uh," Rory stumbled, looking for words. "Okay."
Lorelai smiled and picked up the basket, humming to herself.
***
Meanwhile, Luke handed Jess a note that Tricia had written only hours earlier. "It's from Tricia."
Jess opened it curiously.
Jess,
Could you meet me at the bridge? I need to talk to you.
Tricia
Jess stared at the printed words, weighing them in his mind. He should go. He knew he would go. It was Tricia he talking about here. He could never refuse anything she asked for. He had promised himself long ago that he would always be there for Rory and her daughter, no matter what…
Jess sat in the waiting room nervously with Luke. Lorelai had been admitted to the birthing room only after annoying the doctors till they probably wanted to strangle her. Emily had gone also, although she had gotten in more because of her social skills than being annoying. Tristan was obviously allowed in because of his status as the father. Jess almost screamed at the injustice of it all. He and Luke were relegated to the waiting room, where Luke was wearing a hole in the floor and Jess was working himself bald.
There was a short scream which sent both men to their feet, ready to race down the corridor. Luckily for the doctors and nurses, it wasn't repeated. Jess sat back down, and Luke resumed his pacing. After another few minutes, a baby's wail pierced the stillness and quiet, and Jess and Luke raced down the hall, stopping only when they reached Rory's room. They ignored the many people trying to get them to leave and forced their way in, looking at the child cradled in Tristan's arms.
Jess' heart clenched at the way that Rory was looking at Tristan and the child. Tristan walked over to her, and held the little baby near her, so she could see it. "It's a girl," Tristan said, his voice shaking slightly. "We have a baby girl."
"Yeah, we do." After one more glance at Tristan and the baby, she drifted off. Jess stared at her, then glanced back at the child. He didn't know what had happened between Tristan and Rory, but Jess had never liked the man. He didn't know what the future held in store for any of them, but he vowed, then and there, to make sure he was always there for Rory and the baby. No matter what.
Jess took a deep breath, attempting to smile at his uncle. "I'll just go down to the bridge, okay?"
Luke raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway.
Jess grabbed a jacket and headed to the bridge. As he neared it, he noticed that Tricia wasn't there yet, so he sat down, assuming that she'd gone to get something. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a crackle of leaves. He turned his head towards the disturbance. He almost blanched. "Rory?"
***
Almost three-quarters of the way to the bridge, Lorelai smacked her head with her hand. "I can't believe I forgot. Rory, hon, go on to the bridge. I'll be there in a few minutes."
Rory raised her eyebrows, but nodded acquiescingly, taking the offered basket. She headed to the bridge, humming the tune that Lorelai had been humming only moments before. She smiled as she realized it was the one that she and Jess had always joked was 'their song.' They hadn't been a couple, but now, thinking back over the past ten, eleven years, Rory realized they'd acted like it quite a bit.
It was strange, really. The way that they'd done stuff like a couple, but never really been one. It had been eerie, how they'd finished each other's sentences, always known what the other would eat. And at first – for the past however-long-it-had-been, in fact – she'd always just thought it was because they were best friends. And they were. But even Rory and her mother had never known each other so well.
Rory sighed, shaking herself back to reality. She looked at the ground, fresh with fallen leaves that were crunching as she walked. She was almost to the bridge.
"Rory?"
Her head shot up and she stared, her mouth open, at Jess. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same question."
"Yeah, well, I asked it first."
"Waiting for Tricia." He turned back to the water. "Why don't you sit down?"
"I'm… waiting for my mother."
"Well, then. Sit down and wait. You can wait sitting down just as easily as you can standing up."
Rory glared at Jess' back. "Fine." She stalked over to within about five feet of him and sat down, setting the basket between them.
After ten minutes of silence, Jess spoke again. "So, what are the bets that we've been set up?"
Rory looked at him, confused. "Huh?"
"Tricia just needed to talk to me at the bridge, right now? And Lorelai just decided to have a picnic at the bridge, right now?" He snorted. "Yeah, right."
"But why…" The color drained from her face. She glanced at him, hoping he hadn't noticed. He had, and was looking at her curiously.
"Yes, why?"
"Uh, I don't know. Could be any reason." Her stomach growled. She scowled. "Well, I'm going to eat." She opened the basket and stared. "Okay, that's it. My mother is officially insane." She showed him the contents. There was a red rose on top, followed by a bucket of something Rory didn't even try to name, and a few other containers that she'd just as soon toss as eat. She pulled everything out, and at the bottom found a letter.
Hey, kids,
You're probably wondering why we did this. Well, we thought you should talk. Jess, you need to tell Rory what you did the morning of her wedding. And Rory, you know what you need to tell him.
With love and hugs, hoping you come to your senses,
Lorelai, Luke, and Tricia
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A/N: Thanks for reviewing chapter 17: Alexis, anonymousthinker, destiny, dodgerluv, girldevil, indigo-chica, kinera, klm111a, MaryATroryFan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, nikki, Phoebe1912, Selina, starshollow, Sugahmuffin, TemptingFate, and Tiffany.