Title: It All Starts With A Kiss
Chapter 15: Dancing Around Commitments
A/N: No, RainBlest is not real. Yet. Vanessa Steele is not real either, although Michael Steele is actually the bassist for the Bangles. I don't think she has any kids. The Bangles are back together. I don't know why you'd actually care, although I care cause I'd love to go to a Bangles concert, and I'm sure Lorelai would too. I'm fastforwarding again; about two weeks. I think I'm going to continue fast-forwarding two weeks with every new chapter.
~~~~
"Wait, hold the elevator please!" Rory shouted as she jogged up to it. She made it in seconds before it closed. "Thank you." she breathed to the guy next to her.
"Sure. What floor do you want?"
"Oh, fourteen."
"Top floor, huh? Good thing it's not a walk-up." The guy gestured to Rory's arms, full of groceries, her school books, and the mail.
"Yeah. I'd probably die if I had to walk up fourteen flights with this load of stuff."
"I'm sure."
Rory stared at the numbers flashing higher and higher as the guy stared at her.
"I'm Greg, from 10-D."
"I'm Rory, from 14-B. I'd shake your hand, but..."
"It's fine. So, Rory. That's an interesting name."
"It's short for Lorelai."
"As in the Loreleis that sang sailors to their death in German legends?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Oh, look, it's you." Rory said as the doors opened on the tenth floor. Greg walked out of the elevator and turned to look at her.
"So, whaddya say, me and you get together some time and--"
Rory pressed the "Door Close" button and Greg's voice was cut off in the middle of his dinner invitation. She looked up at the numbers again, watching them change slowly, and breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped onto her floor. It's not like she didn't like Greg; she just, well, didn't like him. She'd never really liked the kind of guys who asked out pretty girls just because they were pretty. They were always the boys who'd love you and leave you. Her background with her hardly-ever-there father made her wary of boys like that. She dropped one large paper bag on the ground in front of the door to her and Jess' apartment and started digging through her purse for her keys. She found them, picked up the bag, and tried to fit the first key on the ring into the wrong hole. She dropped the bag back on the ground and searched through the keys for the right one. She stood up with the right key and the door opened.
"Need some help?" Jess asked.
"Yes, please."
Jess picked up the bag from the ground and took the other one out of Rory's arms and walked into the apartment. She followed him, her arms feeling empty only carrying her four books and their mail. She started sorting through the mail as she settled into a stool next to the counter.
"We got another postcard from Joe." Rory said as she watched Jess put the groceries up.
"Where is he now?"
"Uh, Greece."
"Greece. That sounds cool. What's it say?"
"Dear Jess...blah blah blah...I'm in Greece... it's kinda boring...blah blah blah...keep the place nice, it's where my electronics call home...Joe."
"He's a nice guy."
"Sounds it." Rory gazed at the picture of the Mediterranean Sea on the front of the postcard. Then she sighed and threw it aside, in a pile with the rest of the mail.
"So, how was your day?"
Rory groaned and laid her head on the counter.
"Me, too."
"How'd your interview go?" Rory lifted her head.
"I blew it."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe I should just try to get a job in the diner downstairs. I mean, I've got experience."
"No, I'm not going to let you take a job in a diner. You are so much better than that. "
"Thank you for that wonderful vote of confidence."
"Besides, if you take the job, there's no way I'm gonna get one there."
Jess laughed, and then walked around the counter and held out his hand to Rory. "Come here. I've got something to show you."
"What?" she asked as he pulled her to her feet. "What is it?"
"Come on." Jess' eyes sparkled mischievously. He pulled her out of the apartment and led her up a flight of stairs.
"Why are we going to the roof? Jess?"
"Close your eyes," he said as they reached the top of the stairs. Rory reluctantly obliged, and Jess pushed the door open. He walked Rory carefully to the edge of the roof. "Okay, open 'em."
Rory did, and gasped. There was a small table covered with a linen tablecloth and set with an elegant dinner for two. The only light in the early evening came from white Christmas lights and candles, slightly flickering in the wind.
"Do you like it? Come on, Rory, say something."
"I love you so much." Rory, tears in her eyes, kissed Jess and threw her arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around her waist to complete the hug.
"So, do you like it?"
Rory laughed, and slightly pulled away from the hug, keeping her arms around his neck. "I love it."
"Really? Cause I worked really hard on it." He wiped her tears away with his thumb, keeping his other arm secured tightly around her.
"Yes, really." She leaned in for another kiss.
"Will you marry me?" Jess asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"What?" Rory broke from the kiss and looked at him.
~~~~
I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee
And he fills it only halfway...
"See, doesn't that sound like me?" Lorelai stopped her Suzanne Vega CD in the middle of the song "Tom's Diner." She sat back on the couch, and Luke wrapped his arms around her as he contemplated his answer.
"I guess so. What's the rest of the song?"
"Oh, well, the rest of the song doesn't really sound like me. She goes on to say that she can't argue cause the guy behind the counter starts making out with this chick who just came in."
"Yeah. So it really applies more to Rory, and you're the girl who comes in."
"Okay, that's just freaky."
"What?"
"Rory said the same thing when I mentioned my theory to her!"
"You know what that means, don't you?"
"That aliens abducted you last night between the diner and here and replaced your brain with one identical to the one they placed in Rory's body last week?"
"Yeah. Well, either that or you're wrong."
Lorelai gasped. "You were abducted by aliens?"
"Yes, and they told me that I should either kill myself or go crazy, because if I spend too much time with you, I will eventually want to do one or the other."
"Now that's just ridiculous. It's too late to decide, you're plugged in for life." Lorelai placed Luke's hand on her eight-week pregnant stomach. "And besides, you're already crazy."
"That's your opinion."
"Yeah, well, I've got crazy-dar."
"What?"
"I can spot crazy people a mile away. Why else do you think I love you?"
"Oh, so that's your secret."
"Yes, that is my secret. Now...it is 80s month on VH1, and you have to watch it with me."
Luke sighed.
"Hey, you knocked me up, and unless you want me to knock you out, you have to oblige my every wish. It's the Gilmore rule of pregnancy."
"Okay, I'll watch it with you."
"Good. Now get me the remote."
Luke handed the remote to Lorelai, and she turned on the TV, already set to VH1. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A." with tight jeans and an even tighter white T-shirt, was singing as a banner rolled across the bottom of the screen. "Next: John Hughes Marathon, starting with National Lampoon's Vacation!"
"A John Hughes marathon?" Luke asked incredulously after reading the banner.
"Yes, and we're watching all 24 hours!"
"You knew it was coming on, didn't you?"
"Of course. It's my life's work to annoy you. And it's now your life's work to make me happy." Lorelai pulled Luke's arms closer around her. "Why don't you ever where a shirt like that?"
"Like what?"
"That tight one Bruce is wearing that shows him off."
"Don't have one."
"You need one. You'd look a hundred times better than Bruce."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah."
Luke leaned down and kissed Lorelai. She turned around to face him and kissed him back. As the kissing and passion intensified, Luke reached for the remote to turn off the TV. Lorelai caught him.
"Oh, you think your kisses alone can tear me away from a 24-hour John Hughes marathon? You're gonna have to work harder than that, buster." Lorelai turned back around so she was laying between his legs again. He sighed and settled in to watch the twenty-four hour John Hughes marathon.
~~~~
"Will you marry me?" Jess calmly and clearly repeated, his heart sinking slightly at the shocked look on Rory's face.
"I don't...I have no idea...what do I say...I'm gonna faint." Rory went limp in Jess' arms.
"Rory? Rory?!"
Jess carried her over to a stretched out lawn chair. He laid her down and lightly slapped her face. Her eyelids fluttered and opened.
"Oh, thank God." Jess hugged Rory, and she slightly hugged him back. He let go and she sank back into the chair, her eyes never leaving his.
"I'm gonna have to think about it."
"About what? OH! Sure, that's great. Take as much time as you need. And if you do say yes, we don't have to get married soon. It could be years before we actually tie the knot. And you don't have to say yes. Actually, you know what, don't say yes. God, I don't even know why the hell I asked." Jess sank into the lawn chair next to Rory's and laid down. He stared at the sky in confusion. Rory looked at him worriedly.
"Hey."
He looked over at her.
"It'll be okay." She reached her hand towards him. He smiled and stretched his arm to meet hers. She smiled back as their fingers twisted together, and then they both watched the stars, each alone in their own thoughts. Someone in the building next to theirs started playing a CD that sounded suspicously like Stars Hollow's own troubadour. Rory, slightly homesick, wondered what her mother was doing.
~~~~
"You see us as want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, and athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal." Lorelai recited part of the opening lines of The Breakfast Club right along with Anthony Michael Hall. Watching the opening scene unfold, she noticed a strange noise coming from behind her. It almost sounded like someone...singing. She looked up at Luke, who was staring at the TV and singing along with Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me."
"Don't don't don't don't. Don't you forget about me. Will you stand above me, look my way, never love me. Rain keeps falling, rain keeps fallin' down, down down..." Luke trailed off and looked down at Lorelai, who just grinned this big grin and turned back to the TV. "It came out when I was seventeen. I kinda liked it."
"You liked it enough to memorize the song."
"You memorized the opening sequence."
"And many other scenes. But not really in 1984, more after it made it onto video and TV."
"Why?"
"Because in eighty-four, I was in the same trouble I am now currently in."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
The couple settled back to watch the movie, but before long, the kids had to eat lunch, and the mere mention of food sent Lorelai to the bathroom. Luke, used to this routine by now, visited the kitchen for saltines and medicine for Lorelai's stomach and was waiting on the couch for when she returned. Lorelai took the medicine, which made her grimace, and curled closer to Luke on the couch, feeling horrible. He handed her a package of crackers, covered her with the blanket from the back of the couch, and hugged her to him with one arm. She settled her face in his chest, and fell asleep in the scent of Luke. Realizing she was asleep, he scooped her up in his arms. The blanket fell off of her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in close. He navigated the clothes-strewn stairs and hallway, and slowly let her settle into her bed. Their bed. Whatever. He laid the comforter over her and kissed her softly on her head.
"Stay," she murmured, half-awake.
"I'm just gonna go check on the diner. I'll be right back." Luke whispered. He didn't understand why he was whispering when she was awake, but he whispered just the same.
"Okay. Bring back you."
"Sure. Love you."
"Love you, too." Lorelai smiled, her eyes still closed. She kissed the air in his direction and murmured bye. He whispered goodbye to her and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walked downstairs, pulling his coat from the coatrack, and walked out of the house, locking the door with his keys. He walked past his truck, parked in the driveway, and made his way to the diner. It looked like things were running smoothly, so he pretended like he was just there to get something from upstairs. He entered his apartment seconds later and realized it didn't have to be his apartment anymore; he could use it for his office, like his father had. It was almost like an office now, except for the beds and the kitchen. Luke went through his room, packing up the last of his clothes and belongings that hadn't already migrated over to Lorelai's. Jess' room was already empty, and by the time Luke was through, his was empty too. He picked up a few more things from around the apartment, including a few videos, the only books he owned that weren't business ledgers, and his "baby TV", as Lorelai called it. He felt like some phase of his life was ending, and a longer and hopefully happy phase was beginning. He turned out all the lights, and locked the door to his apartment for the last time. The next time he would open it, he would be living someplace else, officially. He slipped his keys into his pocket and took the stairs two at a time, whistling. He walked into the diner, a big smile on his face, and waved goodbye. He'd already told Cesar to close, and he'd open in the morning. Feeling a lot more cheerful than he'd ever felt in his life, he started back to his and Lorelai's house, stopping at a store just in time for one purchase before they closed.
~~~~
"Jess, I've been thinking all night, and I've finally come to a decision." Rory said as Jess unlocked their apartment late that night.
"Can we please just forget I ever asked that question? I made a big asshole of myself, and I'd prefer if we didn't talk much about it."
"No, no, it's okay. I've found a solution."
"Okay, what is it?" Jess sank into a couch and pulled Rory onto his lap.
"We're too young to even think about getting married, correct?"
"Sure."
"Okay, well I think we should just say that we're pretty serious; serious enough to live together, and marraige maybe might be an option in the very distant future, but not serious enough to sleep together and actually plan a wedding."
"I agree."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do. I have, unfortunately, seen the consequences of an early marriage firsthand."
"And I am the consequences of sex before marraige."
"Yeah. I love you and everything, Rory, but I don't want a baby."
"Neither do I."
"So we're agreed. We're serious, but not too serious."
"Right."
"Okay. It's getting late, so, good night, Rory."
"Good night, Jess." Rory slid off of Jess' lap and they started hand-in-hand to their rooms. They kissed each other good night and entered their rooms.
~~~~
Lorelai was lying in bed, half-asleep, half-awake, when these loud drums started playing. She jumped out of bed and started downstairs. There, in the living room, was Luke, wearing tight jeans, and a tighter white T-shirt, looking for all the world almost like Bruce Springsteen. He lifted a microphone and started lip-syncing.
"Born down in a dead man's town
"The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
"You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
"Till you spend half your life just covering up
"Born in the U.S.A.
"I was born in the U.S.A.
"I was born in the U.S.A.
"Born in the U.S.A."
Lorelai was clapping along with the music, grinning. Luke looked like he was having the time of his life playing the Boss. Neighbors were walking outside to find the source of the noise. Babette and Morey stuck their heads outside; Dwight from behind them stepped onto his porch. Sophie was dancing in the music store a few blocks away; Mrs. Kim was steaming in Kim's Antiques. Taylor was trying to find the source of the noise; Grant, the town troubadour, was noting the drums, and decided he needed cymbals. At the end of the song, Lorelai cheered, and Luke reluctantly set the microphone down to not quite so reluctantly head into Lorelai's waiting arms. She grinned as they started up the stairs, whispering about how nice those jeans looked; she couldn't wait till they were off. Luke grinned back just as widely, and they walked into their bedroom and closed the door.
Chapter 15: Dancing Around Commitments
A/N: No, RainBlest is not real. Yet. Vanessa Steele is not real either, although Michael Steele is actually the bassist for the Bangles. I don't think she has any kids. The Bangles are back together. I don't know why you'd actually care, although I care cause I'd love to go to a Bangles concert, and I'm sure Lorelai would too. I'm fastforwarding again; about two weeks. I think I'm going to continue fast-forwarding two weeks with every new chapter.
~~~~
"Wait, hold the elevator please!" Rory shouted as she jogged up to it. She made it in seconds before it closed. "Thank you." she breathed to the guy next to her.
"Sure. What floor do you want?"
"Oh, fourteen."
"Top floor, huh? Good thing it's not a walk-up." The guy gestured to Rory's arms, full of groceries, her school books, and the mail.
"Yeah. I'd probably die if I had to walk up fourteen flights with this load of stuff."
"I'm sure."
Rory stared at the numbers flashing higher and higher as the guy stared at her.
"I'm Greg, from 10-D."
"I'm Rory, from 14-B. I'd shake your hand, but..."
"It's fine. So, Rory. That's an interesting name."
"It's short for Lorelai."
"As in the Loreleis that sang sailors to their death in German legends?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Oh, look, it's you." Rory said as the doors opened on the tenth floor. Greg walked out of the elevator and turned to look at her.
"So, whaddya say, me and you get together some time and--"
Rory pressed the "Door Close" button and Greg's voice was cut off in the middle of his dinner invitation. She looked up at the numbers again, watching them change slowly, and breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped onto her floor. It's not like she didn't like Greg; she just, well, didn't like him. She'd never really liked the kind of guys who asked out pretty girls just because they were pretty. They were always the boys who'd love you and leave you. Her background with her hardly-ever-there father made her wary of boys like that. She dropped one large paper bag on the ground in front of the door to her and Jess' apartment and started digging through her purse for her keys. She found them, picked up the bag, and tried to fit the first key on the ring into the wrong hole. She dropped the bag back on the ground and searched through the keys for the right one. She stood up with the right key and the door opened.
"Need some help?" Jess asked.
"Yes, please."
Jess picked up the bag from the ground and took the other one out of Rory's arms and walked into the apartment. She followed him, her arms feeling empty only carrying her four books and their mail. She started sorting through the mail as she settled into a stool next to the counter.
"We got another postcard from Joe." Rory said as she watched Jess put the groceries up.
"Where is he now?"
"Uh, Greece."
"Greece. That sounds cool. What's it say?"
"Dear Jess...blah blah blah...I'm in Greece... it's kinda boring...blah blah blah...keep the place nice, it's where my electronics call home...Joe."
"He's a nice guy."
"Sounds it." Rory gazed at the picture of the Mediterranean Sea on the front of the postcard. Then she sighed and threw it aside, in a pile with the rest of the mail.
"So, how was your day?"
Rory groaned and laid her head on the counter.
"Me, too."
"How'd your interview go?" Rory lifted her head.
"I blew it."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe I should just try to get a job in the diner downstairs. I mean, I've got experience."
"No, I'm not going to let you take a job in a diner. You are so much better than that. "
"Thank you for that wonderful vote of confidence."
"Besides, if you take the job, there's no way I'm gonna get one there."
Jess laughed, and then walked around the counter and held out his hand to Rory. "Come here. I've got something to show you."
"What?" she asked as he pulled her to her feet. "What is it?"
"Come on." Jess' eyes sparkled mischievously. He pulled her out of the apartment and led her up a flight of stairs.
"Why are we going to the roof? Jess?"
"Close your eyes," he said as they reached the top of the stairs. Rory reluctantly obliged, and Jess pushed the door open. He walked Rory carefully to the edge of the roof. "Okay, open 'em."
Rory did, and gasped. There was a small table covered with a linen tablecloth and set with an elegant dinner for two. The only light in the early evening came from white Christmas lights and candles, slightly flickering in the wind.
"Do you like it? Come on, Rory, say something."
"I love you so much." Rory, tears in her eyes, kissed Jess and threw her arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around her waist to complete the hug.
"So, do you like it?"
Rory laughed, and slightly pulled away from the hug, keeping her arms around his neck. "I love it."
"Really? Cause I worked really hard on it." He wiped her tears away with his thumb, keeping his other arm secured tightly around her.
"Yes, really." She leaned in for another kiss.
"Will you marry me?" Jess asked out of the corner of his mouth.
"What?" Rory broke from the kiss and looked at him.
~~~~
I am sitting in the morning at the diner on the corner
I am waiting at the counter for the man to pour the coffee
And he fills it only halfway...
"See, doesn't that sound like me?" Lorelai stopped her Suzanne Vega CD in the middle of the song "Tom's Diner." She sat back on the couch, and Luke wrapped his arms around her as he contemplated his answer.
"I guess so. What's the rest of the song?"
"Oh, well, the rest of the song doesn't really sound like me. She goes on to say that she can't argue cause the guy behind the counter starts making out with this chick who just came in."
"Yeah. So it really applies more to Rory, and you're the girl who comes in."
"Okay, that's just freaky."
"What?"
"Rory said the same thing when I mentioned my theory to her!"
"You know what that means, don't you?"
"That aliens abducted you last night between the diner and here and replaced your brain with one identical to the one they placed in Rory's body last week?"
"Yeah. Well, either that or you're wrong."
Lorelai gasped. "You were abducted by aliens?"
"Yes, and they told me that I should either kill myself or go crazy, because if I spend too much time with you, I will eventually want to do one or the other."
"Now that's just ridiculous. It's too late to decide, you're plugged in for life." Lorelai placed Luke's hand on her eight-week pregnant stomach. "And besides, you're already crazy."
"That's your opinion."
"Yeah, well, I've got crazy-dar."
"What?"
"I can spot crazy people a mile away. Why else do you think I love you?"
"Oh, so that's your secret."
"Yes, that is my secret. Now...it is 80s month on VH1, and you have to watch it with me."
Luke sighed.
"Hey, you knocked me up, and unless you want me to knock you out, you have to oblige my every wish. It's the Gilmore rule of pregnancy."
"Okay, I'll watch it with you."
"Good. Now get me the remote."
Luke handed the remote to Lorelai, and she turned on the TV, already set to VH1. Bruce Springsteen, "Born in the U.S.A." with tight jeans and an even tighter white T-shirt, was singing as a banner rolled across the bottom of the screen. "Next: John Hughes Marathon, starting with National Lampoon's Vacation!"
"A John Hughes marathon?" Luke asked incredulously after reading the banner.
"Yes, and we're watching all 24 hours!"
"You knew it was coming on, didn't you?"
"Of course. It's my life's work to annoy you. And it's now your life's work to make me happy." Lorelai pulled Luke's arms closer around her. "Why don't you ever where a shirt like that?"
"Like what?"
"That tight one Bruce is wearing that shows him off."
"Don't have one."
"You need one. You'd look a hundred times better than Bruce."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah."
Luke leaned down and kissed Lorelai. She turned around to face him and kissed him back. As the kissing and passion intensified, Luke reached for the remote to turn off the TV. Lorelai caught him.
"Oh, you think your kisses alone can tear me away from a 24-hour John Hughes marathon? You're gonna have to work harder than that, buster." Lorelai turned back around so she was laying between his legs again. He sighed and settled in to watch the twenty-four hour John Hughes marathon.
~~~~
"Will you marry me?" Jess calmly and clearly repeated, his heart sinking slightly at the shocked look on Rory's face.
"I don't...I have no idea...what do I say...I'm gonna faint." Rory went limp in Jess' arms.
"Rory? Rory?!"
Jess carried her over to a stretched out lawn chair. He laid her down and lightly slapped her face. Her eyelids fluttered and opened.
"Oh, thank God." Jess hugged Rory, and she slightly hugged him back. He let go and she sank back into the chair, her eyes never leaving his.
"I'm gonna have to think about it."
"About what? OH! Sure, that's great. Take as much time as you need. And if you do say yes, we don't have to get married soon. It could be years before we actually tie the knot. And you don't have to say yes. Actually, you know what, don't say yes. God, I don't even know why the hell I asked." Jess sank into the lawn chair next to Rory's and laid down. He stared at the sky in confusion. Rory looked at him worriedly.
"Hey."
He looked over at her.
"It'll be okay." She reached her hand towards him. He smiled and stretched his arm to meet hers. She smiled back as their fingers twisted together, and then they both watched the stars, each alone in their own thoughts. Someone in the building next to theirs started playing a CD that sounded suspicously like Stars Hollow's own troubadour. Rory, slightly homesick, wondered what her mother was doing.
~~~~
"You see us as want to see us...in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, and athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal." Lorelai recited part of the opening lines of The Breakfast Club right along with Anthony Michael Hall. Watching the opening scene unfold, she noticed a strange noise coming from behind her. It almost sounded like someone...singing. She looked up at Luke, who was staring at the TV and singing along with Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me."
"Don't don't don't don't. Don't you forget about me. Will you stand above me, look my way, never love me. Rain keeps falling, rain keeps fallin' down, down down..." Luke trailed off and looked down at Lorelai, who just grinned this big grin and turned back to the TV. "It came out when I was seventeen. I kinda liked it."
"You liked it enough to memorize the song."
"You memorized the opening sequence."
"And many other scenes. But not really in 1984, more after it made it onto video and TV."
"Why?"
"Because in eighty-four, I was in the same trouble I am now currently in."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
The couple settled back to watch the movie, but before long, the kids had to eat lunch, and the mere mention of food sent Lorelai to the bathroom. Luke, used to this routine by now, visited the kitchen for saltines and medicine for Lorelai's stomach and was waiting on the couch for when she returned. Lorelai took the medicine, which made her grimace, and curled closer to Luke on the couch, feeling horrible. He handed her a package of crackers, covered her with the blanket from the back of the couch, and hugged her to him with one arm. She settled her face in his chest, and fell asleep in the scent of Luke. Realizing she was asleep, he scooped her up in his arms. The blanket fell off of her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in close. He navigated the clothes-strewn stairs and hallway, and slowly let her settle into her bed. Their bed. Whatever. He laid the comforter over her and kissed her softly on her head.
"Stay," she murmured, half-awake.
"I'm just gonna go check on the diner. I'll be right back." Luke whispered. He didn't understand why he was whispering when she was awake, but he whispered just the same.
"Okay. Bring back you."
"Sure. Love you."
"Love you, too." Lorelai smiled, her eyes still closed. She kissed the air in his direction and murmured bye. He whispered goodbye to her and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walked downstairs, pulling his coat from the coatrack, and walked out of the house, locking the door with his keys. He walked past his truck, parked in the driveway, and made his way to the diner. It looked like things were running smoothly, so he pretended like he was just there to get something from upstairs. He entered his apartment seconds later and realized it didn't have to be his apartment anymore; he could use it for his office, like his father had. It was almost like an office now, except for the beds and the kitchen. Luke went through his room, packing up the last of his clothes and belongings that hadn't already migrated over to Lorelai's. Jess' room was already empty, and by the time Luke was through, his was empty too. He picked up a few more things from around the apartment, including a few videos, the only books he owned that weren't business ledgers, and his "baby TV", as Lorelai called it. He felt like some phase of his life was ending, and a longer and hopefully happy phase was beginning. He turned out all the lights, and locked the door to his apartment for the last time. The next time he would open it, he would be living someplace else, officially. He slipped his keys into his pocket and took the stairs two at a time, whistling. He walked into the diner, a big smile on his face, and waved goodbye. He'd already told Cesar to close, and he'd open in the morning. Feeling a lot more cheerful than he'd ever felt in his life, he started back to his and Lorelai's house, stopping at a store just in time for one purchase before they closed.
~~~~
"Jess, I've been thinking all night, and I've finally come to a decision." Rory said as Jess unlocked their apartment late that night.
"Can we please just forget I ever asked that question? I made a big asshole of myself, and I'd prefer if we didn't talk much about it."
"No, no, it's okay. I've found a solution."
"Okay, what is it?" Jess sank into a couch and pulled Rory onto his lap.
"We're too young to even think about getting married, correct?"
"Sure."
"Okay, well I think we should just say that we're pretty serious; serious enough to live together, and marraige maybe might be an option in the very distant future, but not serious enough to sleep together and actually plan a wedding."
"I agree."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do. I have, unfortunately, seen the consequences of an early marriage firsthand."
"And I am the consequences of sex before marraige."
"Yeah. I love you and everything, Rory, but I don't want a baby."
"Neither do I."
"So we're agreed. We're serious, but not too serious."
"Right."
"Okay. It's getting late, so, good night, Rory."
"Good night, Jess." Rory slid off of Jess' lap and they started hand-in-hand to their rooms. They kissed each other good night and entered their rooms.
~~~~
Lorelai was lying in bed, half-asleep, half-awake, when these loud drums started playing. She jumped out of bed and started downstairs. There, in the living room, was Luke, wearing tight jeans, and a tighter white T-shirt, looking for all the world almost like Bruce Springsteen. He lifted a microphone and started lip-syncing.
"Born down in a dead man's town
"The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
"You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
"Till you spend half your life just covering up
"Born in the U.S.A.
"I was born in the U.S.A.
"I was born in the U.S.A.
"Born in the U.S.A."
Lorelai was clapping along with the music, grinning. Luke looked like he was having the time of his life playing the Boss. Neighbors were walking outside to find the source of the noise. Babette and Morey stuck their heads outside; Dwight from behind them stepped onto his porch. Sophie was dancing in the music store a few blocks away; Mrs. Kim was steaming in Kim's Antiques. Taylor was trying to find the source of the noise; Grant, the town troubadour, was noting the drums, and decided he needed cymbals. At the end of the song, Lorelai cheered, and Luke reluctantly set the microphone down to not quite so reluctantly head into Lorelai's waiting arms. She grinned as they started up the stairs, whispering about how nice those jeans looked; she couldn't wait till they were off. Luke grinned back just as widely, and they walked into their bedroom and closed the door.