Title: It All Starts With A Kiss
Chapter Ten: That Good Ol' Gossip Train
A/N: Okay, I hate to do this to you but...we're fast-forwarding two weeks. Here's the deal: I'm tired of Thanksgiving, completely ready for Christmas, so it's now the middle of December. Okay, so what's been going on here, is that yes, Jess is still moving to New York, and no, Rory hasn't decided whether or not to go yet. Luke and Lorelai haven't told anyone about the baby yet; they're contemplating what to do when the baby comes. And Lorelai, strange one that she is, saw the episode of All In The Family where Gloria suffers from a miscarraige, and--shock shock surprise surprise--she's sworn off all caffiene. I know, I know! Weird, huh? ANYway, that's what happened, and it's so fun, I'm sure. Ooh, and interesting, stupid-for-me-to-know fact: Sally Struthers, better known to us as Babette, played Gloria in All In The Family. So, I guess I should actually write the story now. I know you've all been waiting for it.
~~~~
"Here you go." Luke set a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of Lorelai.
"Thanks, sweetie." Lorelai kissed him. He smiled and left to take orders. The bell over the diner door rang.
"Hey!" Rory smiled at her mother and sat down, quickly discarding her crutches.
"Hey, babe. How was the bus ride?"
"Great. Ooh, can I have a sip of your coffee?"
"No!"
Rory looked at Lorelai strangely.
"Uh, I mean, get your own! You know how protective I am of my coffee."
"Yeah, that's true. I just don't have time to get a cup. Jess and I are meeting Lane in half an hour."
"Oh, where is she this week?"
"Oh, they're actually in Hartford."
"Cool!"
"Yeah! So I might actually spend the night there tonight."
"Really."
"At the grandparents', Mom."
"Oh! That's fine."
"Okay, Mom, I hate to kiss and run, but, I gotta go." Rory stood up and kissed Lorelai on the cheek.
"Bye, Rory."
"See you tonight, Mom." Rory left the diner. Lorelai sighed and walked over to the counter.
"Hi."
"Lorelai, I'd love to hang out with you, but I'm swamped."
"Fine. I'll just be heading home."
"Bye." Luke kissed Lorelai and walked off to take orders. She sighed.
"Guess I'll just go off somewhere, all by my lonesome."
"Okay." Luke nodded from a nearby table.
"Bye." Lorelai grabbed her purse and coat and walked out of the diner. Walking to the Inn through the dreary weather, she smiled slightly. "It smells like snow," she proclaimed as she entered the Inn's kitchen.
"That's wonderful, Lorelai. Bridgette! Slice, slice!" Sookie rushed off to save her vegetables. Lorelai sighed, and realizing that her friend wouldn't be free for hours, walked out of the kitchen to the front desk.
"Oh, no." Michel said as he saw Lorelai coming.
"Oh, it's Michel, the spirit of friendship!"
"I thought it was your day off."
"Oh, it is."
"Well then, what are you doing here?"
"Bored." Lorelai rested her elbows on the desk, put her head in her hands, and stared at Michel as he spoke on the phone. He tried to turn away, but she walked around him and continued to stare as he pretended to look for a room for a guest.
"No, I'm sorry, we're don't have a room on the eighteenth. Alright, let me check once again. No, I'm completely sure we don't have any rooms on the eighteenth. We're completely full. Okay, let me get him." Michel held the phone away from him for a few seconds. When he spoke to the potential guest again, he tried to talk in a deeper voice. "This is the managaer. No, I'm sorry there are no rooms. Yes, okay. Goodbye. Please call again." Michel hung up the phone and sighed in relief.
"That's what you do when I'm not around?"
"No, not always. Sometimes, I curse at them in French and demand they never call here again."
"Well, that's better. At least you're not trying to speak in that ridiculous voice. Oh, no wait. That is your voice! Sorry." Lorelai smiled and walked out of the Inn. She walked back to the center of town, feeling very sad and lonely as she passed by Luke's. Stopping in front of the video store, Lorelai decided to go in.
"Hey, Kirk. I thought Saturday was your day to work at Doose's."
"It is."
"Well, what are you doing here?"
"I'm working extra because my mother says she can't continue to feed both me and all three Cat Kirks."
"Oh, so you're going to help out with the money at home?"
"Oh, no, I'm just trying to steer clear of home for awhile. I'm actually hoping she'll get rid of all the cats."
"Why?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm afraid of cats now."
"Oh, because of the original Cat Kirk?" Lorelai took her three movies to the counter.
"No, actually I saw this special on the Discovery Channel about lions killing people in the jungle, and cats are descended from lions, so."
"Oh, makes sense. I guess."
"Here you go. I'll call Pete in a sec." Kirk handed her the bag with the movies.
"Oh, no that's okay, I don't want any pizza. I've been feeling a little sick to my stomach lately."
"Oh, I wish you hadn't told me that!" Kirk pulled three tissues from the box near his hand and covered his mouth with them as he ran to the bathroom.
"Ew." Lorelai watched him run and then left the video store, passing Babette whispering into her cell phone. What she didn't realize, however, was that Babette was whispering about her.
"Luke, sweets, I need a cup of your finest!" Lorelai proclaimed as she walked into the diner. She nodded to Miss Patty whispering into her cell phone and headed to the counter where Luke was working on her hot chocolate. "Looks like the gossip train is working overtime."
"What?"
"Miss Patty is probably talking to Babette. I saw her doing the same thing when I was coming out of the video store."
"Oh, they're always doing that."
"Yeah, you'd think with Jesus and Morey, it'd slow down a little."
"Who?"
"Jesus is Miss Patty's boyfriend, Morey is Babette's husband."
"Oh! Yeah, that never slowed them down before. They've been gossiping since my dad was young."
"More like since the earth was young."
"Here you go. One extra-large cup of hot chocolate!"
"Luke! Shh!" Lorelai whispered.
"What? Oh! We don't want anyone to know. Sorry."
"'S okay. Hopefully, no one noticed that you yelled it."
"Hot chocolate, donut," Luke handed her one, "kiss," he kissed her, "bye."
She smiled and turned to leave.
"Oh, I'll be waiting for you when you get home."
"Thanks." She smiled again and tried to leave the diner, but was stopped by Miss Patty.
"Lorelai, sweetie, where's Rory?"
"Oh, she and Jess are visiting Hartford."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, Lane Kim's band is playing there, and we're having dinner with my parents later."
"All of you?"
"I don't know. Probably not. Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"Okay." Lorelai turned to go, but Miss Patty stopped her once again.
"By the way, how's the coffee today?"
"Oh," Lorelai sipped her hot chocolate. "Great! Bye, Miss Patty."
"Goodbye, Lorelai." Miss Patty waited until after Lorelai left the diner and whipped out her cell phone. "Babette? It's Patty. You'll never guess who's given up coffee..."
~~~~
"Okay, slowly, slowly, ow! Ow! Ow! You're leaning on the wrong arm!"
"Oops. Sorry, Jess."
"I'm okay, I'm okay. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I need my other crutch."
"I got it, here it is."
"Thanks. Okay, should we go?"
"Sure. Where are we going again?"
"To see Lane's band."
"I know that. Where is the band?"
"Uh....I don't remember. I thought you knew."
"I thought you knew."
"No." Rory shook her head.
"We're screwed."
"No, not yet. I just have to call Lane." Rory reached for her purse. "Okay, purse: gone. Phone: in purse. Us: screwed."
~~~~
"I'm getting worried. Their bus got in half an hour ago." Lane turned from the window in the basement dressing room to the other members of the band.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Dave squeezed her hand.
"Okay, 'London Calling' before or after 'What I Like About You'?" Brian asked the group at large.
"Before," Zach responded, at the same time Dave answered "After." As the three boys descended into an argument, Lane turned back to her worry-filled watch through the window.
~~~~
"You have? Okay. Okay. All right, we'll be there in ten minutes." Jess hung up the pay phone.
"How are we going to make it to the Transportation Department in ten minutes? We're not taking the bus."
"Of course not. We're getting a taxi. They called one for us and they're gonna reimburse us when we get there."
"Cool!"
The couple hardly talked during the five-minute taxi ride, just sat there, feeling comfortable in each other's company. Rory leaned into Jess, and he wrapped his arms around her. As they helped each other out of the car in front of the city building, she whispered something, and then repeated it with more confidence.
"Okay."
"What? Okay to what?"
"Okay, I'll move in with you. I got the call from NYU yesterday; they accepted me for the spring sememster."
"Really?"
Rory nodded.
"Yes! That's great!" He hugged her tightly, and even lifted her a few inches. Her crutches fell to the ground.
"Jess, my crutches!" she laughed, her face half-buried in his jacket.
"Ah, forget 'em!"
"We've got to get my purse."
"Later. You just agreed to move in with me!"
~~~~
"Rory?" Lane pounced on the bands' cell-phone as it rang.
"Lane."
"Oh, my God, where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. We just lost my purse on the bus--with my phone and the directions to where you are in it--and so we tracked it around Hartford, and we just got it back. We'll be there in about two minutes; we're in a cab right now."
Lane breathed a sigh of relief. Her friend laughed on the other end and she could hear Jess say something, but she couldn't make it out.
"Okay, I'll tell her! Hey, Lane."
"Yeah, Rory?"
"I'm moving in with Jess."
"Oh, my God! That's great news!"
"Yeah, we think so! Anyway, we're pulling up right now, so we'll see you in seconds."
"The dressing room's in the basement. Just follow the front steps inside the door all the way down."
"Is there a star on the door?"
"Of course! I carry it with me wherever I go," Lane added, referring to the very glittery star that Lorelai and Rory had presented to Lane when she'd started touring with the band.
"Of course. See you. Gotta save my battery." Rory hung up her cell phone after Lane's goodbye, and she started crutching down the stairs after Jess.
"If I fall and you don't catch me, I'm suing you."
"Feel free to. I'll always catch you."
"Ooh, mushy Jess. Scary. Don't ever do it again."
"Oh, never." Jess smiled up at Rory. "Here we are. 'The greatest band in the world, loved by everyone.'" Jess read the star. "Boy, think a lot of themselves, don't they?"
"Jess, do you recognize the writing on the star?"
"Maybe....Yes, I do. Oh, you think that much of them."
"Yes, I do."
"Ever heard them perform?"
"Once."
"What'd you think?"
"They're great, once they get loud enough."
"Not even gonna ask about that." Jess opened the door to the band's dressing room and they both entered.
~~~~~
A/N: Hey, does anyone know the name of Lane's band?
Chapter Ten: That Good Ol' Gossip Train
A/N: Okay, I hate to do this to you but...we're fast-forwarding two weeks. Here's the deal: I'm tired of Thanksgiving, completely ready for Christmas, so it's now the middle of December. Okay, so what's been going on here, is that yes, Jess is still moving to New York, and no, Rory hasn't decided whether or not to go yet. Luke and Lorelai haven't told anyone about the baby yet; they're contemplating what to do when the baby comes. And Lorelai, strange one that she is, saw the episode of All In The Family where Gloria suffers from a miscarraige, and--shock shock surprise surprise--she's sworn off all caffiene. I know, I know! Weird, huh? ANYway, that's what happened, and it's so fun, I'm sure. Ooh, and interesting, stupid-for-me-to-know fact: Sally Struthers, better known to us as Babette, played Gloria in All In The Family. So, I guess I should actually write the story now. I know you've all been waiting for it.
~~~~
"Here you go." Luke set a steaming cup of hot chocolate in front of Lorelai.
"Thanks, sweetie." Lorelai kissed him. He smiled and left to take orders. The bell over the diner door rang.
"Hey!" Rory smiled at her mother and sat down, quickly discarding her crutches.
"Hey, babe. How was the bus ride?"
"Great. Ooh, can I have a sip of your coffee?"
"No!"
Rory looked at Lorelai strangely.
"Uh, I mean, get your own! You know how protective I am of my coffee."
"Yeah, that's true. I just don't have time to get a cup. Jess and I are meeting Lane in half an hour."
"Oh, where is she this week?"
"Oh, they're actually in Hartford."
"Cool!"
"Yeah! So I might actually spend the night there tonight."
"Really."
"At the grandparents', Mom."
"Oh! That's fine."
"Okay, Mom, I hate to kiss and run, but, I gotta go." Rory stood up and kissed Lorelai on the cheek.
"Bye, Rory."
"See you tonight, Mom." Rory left the diner. Lorelai sighed and walked over to the counter.
"Hi."
"Lorelai, I'd love to hang out with you, but I'm swamped."
"Fine. I'll just be heading home."
"Bye." Luke kissed Lorelai and walked off to take orders. She sighed.
"Guess I'll just go off somewhere, all by my lonesome."
"Okay." Luke nodded from a nearby table.
"Bye." Lorelai grabbed her purse and coat and walked out of the diner. Walking to the Inn through the dreary weather, she smiled slightly. "It smells like snow," she proclaimed as she entered the Inn's kitchen.
"That's wonderful, Lorelai. Bridgette! Slice, slice!" Sookie rushed off to save her vegetables. Lorelai sighed, and realizing that her friend wouldn't be free for hours, walked out of the kitchen to the front desk.
"Oh, no." Michel said as he saw Lorelai coming.
"Oh, it's Michel, the spirit of friendship!"
"I thought it was your day off."
"Oh, it is."
"Well then, what are you doing here?"
"Bored." Lorelai rested her elbows on the desk, put her head in her hands, and stared at Michel as he spoke on the phone. He tried to turn away, but she walked around him and continued to stare as he pretended to look for a room for a guest.
"No, I'm sorry, we're don't have a room on the eighteenth. Alright, let me check once again. No, I'm completely sure we don't have any rooms on the eighteenth. We're completely full. Okay, let me get him." Michel held the phone away from him for a few seconds. When he spoke to the potential guest again, he tried to talk in a deeper voice. "This is the managaer. No, I'm sorry there are no rooms. Yes, okay. Goodbye. Please call again." Michel hung up the phone and sighed in relief.
"That's what you do when I'm not around?"
"No, not always. Sometimes, I curse at them in French and demand they never call here again."
"Well, that's better. At least you're not trying to speak in that ridiculous voice. Oh, no wait. That is your voice! Sorry." Lorelai smiled and walked out of the Inn. She walked back to the center of town, feeling very sad and lonely as she passed by Luke's. Stopping in front of the video store, Lorelai decided to go in.
"Hey, Kirk. I thought Saturday was your day to work at Doose's."
"It is."
"Well, what are you doing here?"
"I'm working extra because my mother says she can't continue to feed both me and all three Cat Kirks."
"Oh, so you're going to help out with the money at home?"
"Oh, no, I'm just trying to steer clear of home for awhile. I'm actually hoping she'll get rid of all the cats."
"Why?"
"To tell you the truth, I'm afraid of cats now."
"Oh, because of the original Cat Kirk?" Lorelai took her three movies to the counter.
"No, actually I saw this special on the Discovery Channel about lions killing people in the jungle, and cats are descended from lions, so."
"Oh, makes sense. I guess."
"Here you go. I'll call Pete in a sec." Kirk handed her the bag with the movies.
"Oh, no that's okay, I don't want any pizza. I've been feeling a little sick to my stomach lately."
"Oh, I wish you hadn't told me that!" Kirk pulled three tissues from the box near his hand and covered his mouth with them as he ran to the bathroom.
"Ew." Lorelai watched him run and then left the video store, passing Babette whispering into her cell phone. What she didn't realize, however, was that Babette was whispering about her.
"Luke, sweets, I need a cup of your finest!" Lorelai proclaimed as she walked into the diner. She nodded to Miss Patty whispering into her cell phone and headed to the counter where Luke was working on her hot chocolate. "Looks like the gossip train is working overtime."
"What?"
"Miss Patty is probably talking to Babette. I saw her doing the same thing when I was coming out of the video store."
"Oh, they're always doing that."
"Yeah, you'd think with Jesus and Morey, it'd slow down a little."
"Who?"
"Jesus is Miss Patty's boyfriend, Morey is Babette's husband."
"Oh! Yeah, that never slowed them down before. They've been gossiping since my dad was young."
"More like since the earth was young."
"Here you go. One extra-large cup of hot chocolate!"
"Luke! Shh!" Lorelai whispered.
"What? Oh! We don't want anyone to know. Sorry."
"'S okay. Hopefully, no one noticed that you yelled it."
"Hot chocolate, donut," Luke handed her one, "kiss," he kissed her, "bye."
She smiled and turned to leave.
"Oh, I'll be waiting for you when you get home."
"Thanks." She smiled again and tried to leave the diner, but was stopped by Miss Patty.
"Lorelai, sweetie, where's Rory?"
"Oh, she and Jess are visiting Hartford."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, Lane Kim's band is playing there, and we're having dinner with my parents later."
"All of you?"
"I don't know. Probably not. Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
"Okay." Lorelai turned to go, but Miss Patty stopped her once again.
"By the way, how's the coffee today?"
"Oh," Lorelai sipped her hot chocolate. "Great! Bye, Miss Patty."
"Goodbye, Lorelai." Miss Patty waited until after Lorelai left the diner and whipped out her cell phone. "Babette? It's Patty. You'll never guess who's given up coffee..."
~~~~
"Okay, slowly, slowly, ow! Ow! Ow! You're leaning on the wrong arm!"
"Oops. Sorry, Jess."
"I'm okay, I'm okay. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I need my other crutch."
"I got it, here it is."
"Thanks. Okay, should we go?"
"Sure. Where are we going again?"
"To see Lane's band."
"I know that. Where is the band?"
"Uh....I don't remember. I thought you knew."
"I thought you knew."
"No." Rory shook her head.
"We're screwed."
"No, not yet. I just have to call Lane." Rory reached for her purse. "Okay, purse: gone. Phone: in purse. Us: screwed."
~~~~
"I'm getting worried. Their bus got in half an hour ago." Lane turned from the window in the basement dressing room to the other members of the band.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." Dave squeezed her hand.
"Okay, 'London Calling' before or after 'What I Like About You'?" Brian asked the group at large.
"Before," Zach responded, at the same time Dave answered "After." As the three boys descended into an argument, Lane turned back to her worry-filled watch through the window.
~~~~
"You have? Okay. Okay. All right, we'll be there in ten minutes." Jess hung up the pay phone.
"How are we going to make it to the Transportation Department in ten minutes? We're not taking the bus."
"Of course not. We're getting a taxi. They called one for us and they're gonna reimburse us when we get there."
"Cool!"
The couple hardly talked during the five-minute taxi ride, just sat there, feeling comfortable in each other's company. Rory leaned into Jess, and he wrapped his arms around her. As they helped each other out of the car in front of the city building, she whispered something, and then repeated it with more confidence.
"Okay."
"What? Okay to what?"
"Okay, I'll move in with you. I got the call from NYU yesterday; they accepted me for the spring sememster."
"Really?"
Rory nodded.
"Yes! That's great!" He hugged her tightly, and even lifted her a few inches. Her crutches fell to the ground.
"Jess, my crutches!" she laughed, her face half-buried in his jacket.
"Ah, forget 'em!"
"We've got to get my purse."
"Later. You just agreed to move in with me!"
~~~~
"Rory?" Lane pounced on the bands' cell-phone as it rang.
"Lane."
"Oh, my God, where are you? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. We just lost my purse on the bus--with my phone and the directions to where you are in it--and so we tracked it around Hartford, and we just got it back. We'll be there in about two minutes; we're in a cab right now."
Lane breathed a sigh of relief. Her friend laughed on the other end and she could hear Jess say something, but she couldn't make it out.
"Okay, I'll tell her! Hey, Lane."
"Yeah, Rory?"
"I'm moving in with Jess."
"Oh, my God! That's great news!"
"Yeah, we think so! Anyway, we're pulling up right now, so we'll see you in seconds."
"The dressing room's in the basement. Just follow the front steps inside the door all the way down."
"Is there a star on the door?"
"Of course! I carry it with me wherever I go," Lane added, referring to the very glittery star that Lorelai and Rory had presented to Lane when she'd started touring with the band.
"Of course. See you. Gotta save my battery." Rory hung up her cell phone after Lane's goodbye, and she started crutching down the stairs after Jess.
"If I fall and you don't catch me, I'm suing you."
"Feel free to. I'll always catch you."
"Ooh, mushy Jess. Scary. Don't ever do it again."
"Oh, never." Jess smiled up at Rory. "Here we are. 'The greatest band in the world, loved by everyone.'" Jess read the star. "Boy, think a lot of themselves, don't they?"
"Jess, do you recognize the writing on the star?"
"Maybe....Yes, I do. Oh, you think that much of them."
"Yes, I do."
"Ever heard them perform?"
"Once."
"What'd you think?"
"They're great, once they get loud enough."
"Not even gonna ask about that." Jess opened the door to the band's dressing room and they both entered.
~~~~~
A/N: Hey, does anyone know the name of Lane's band?