Okay, I only realised after I'd posted the last chapter that Luke didn't find out about Jess coming until "Nick & Nora…" but let's just say that because Lorelai and Rory didn't stay at the "Cheshire Cat", some other guy who was going to go to New York ended up getting their room and then he was supposed to catch a certain taxi in New York, but because he was at the B&B, someone else ended up on that cab and the cab got caught in traffic and the person who caught the cab was meant to meet Jess, but because she was caught in traffic, he ended up waiting in the café the were meant to meet in for a few hours, ingrossed in a book and by the time he got home, it was in the early hours of the morning, and his mom went nuts on him and called Luke… so there you have it… Let's just say it's like "Run Lola Run" where every little incident can cause catastrophic events to occur and Liz called Luke early… okay, now that I've inhaled, let's get on with the rest of the story…

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CHAPTER 6:

"Is he here yet?" Lorelai bounced up and down on the spot, annoying the hell out of Luke.


"No."

Lorelai stopped bouncing and looked around innocently for a few seconds before repeating "Is he here yet?"

"Lorelai, please, shut up." Luke was surprisingly calm on the outside, but inside he was a mess. Lorelai had insisted on coming with him to meet Jess off the bus – why, he still couldn't figure out, but it was nice to have her there to distract him. Or at least, he'd agreed to have her tag along at first because he thought she'd be a nice distraction, but now she was just being a pain in the ass.

Lorelai was tempted to ask Luke for the eighth time that morning whether Jess had arrived, but decided that she'd better stop driving Luke crazy before he threw her in front of a passing car. She'd made up some completely ridiculous reason for coming with Luke to meet Jess, but her real reason was so that she could tell Jess a thing or two before he had the chance to cause Luke any grief. When Luke had told Lorelai that Jess was coming, she was a little annoyed at first. She'd hoped that for some weird cosmic reason, Jess wouldn't end up coming to Stars Hollow, but due to her prior agreement with herself not to mess with Rory's life, she knew that she couldn't purposely do anything to stop him from coming. And it wasn't just Rory. Lorelai knew that deep down, Luke loved Jess… or would love him, and she couldn't take that away from him.

She was about to risk her life and ask Luke if Jess had arrived when a large bus with a sign stuck to the window reading "Stars Hollow" pulled up in front of them. A few people climbed off the bus that Lorelai recognised before Jess made his entrance. Wearing his "I hate the world" look, he glanced at Luke, then shifted his gaze to Lorelai before looking back to Luke.


"Jess," Luke greeted his nephew.


"Luke," Jess replied curtly.

"Plaid," Lorelai stated matter-of-factly. When Luke and Jess both looked at her as if she were crazy, she shook her head quickly, blinked, and said "Oh, sorry, I thought we were playing a word association game." She smiled and extended her hand to Jess "Hi, I'm Lorelai, a friend of Luke's."

Jess looked away and ignored Lorelai's outstretched hand. "Great."

"Luke, do you mind if I have a word to Jess real quick. I just wanted to let him in on the latest town gossip before you had the chance to grab the scoop." Luke raised his eyebrows in a questioning look and said "Ah, Okay."

Jess was now somewhat concerned for his safety. He certainly hadn't expected that when he left all the nut jobs behind in New York, he'd find their leader living in Stars Hollow.

"Jess," Lorelai forced a smile to appear on her face. "Jess, Jess, Jess." She was trying to remember what she'd practiced telling him. She'd gone over it in her head a few times, trying to get her point across without allowing him to think she was a nutter who thought she could see into the future. When they were out of earshot of Luke, Lorelai began her speech.

"Look, here's the thing. This is a very small town. A very, very small town. And Luke over there – he may not like to believe it, but everyone in this town loves him. And I have a little girl. She's your age and she's wonderful. Everyone loves her too. And I promise you, if you do anything – and I mean anything that causes either of them any kind of pain or sadness or cause them any grief whatsoever – I promise you that this entire town will come after you. And it may not look like it, but I can be a very vindictive woman and if you hurt the two most important people in my life in any way, I will personally make your life a living hell. You will not vandalise, you will pull no pranks, and you will attend school regularly. You will make Luke proud of you and make me like you so that if one day something happens between you and Rory, I won't have to tell my little girl that I really don't like the guy she's fallen for, okay?"

Jess looked puzzled and although he didn't let it show, he was actually quite impressed by how passionate her speech was. He shrugged nonchalantly and replied "Whatever". He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet.

"I'm serious Jess. I really want to like you. I really do, so please, just try to be a good kid. I know this town is tiny and can be boring at times, but just try to make it work okay? You may one day be glad that you made the effort."

And with that, Lorelai waved goodbye to Luke then directed a meaningful look towards Jess before walking home.

*****

Later that day, Lorelai entered Luke's and smiled as she heard the familiar ring of the bell jingling above her head. She approached the counter and sat directly in front of Luke.

"So…?" she stated, looking up at him expectantly.

"So… what?"

"So, how's Jess fitting in?"

"Ah, he's doin okay. I mean, he hasn't met anyone except you yet and has been upstairs since we got here. Nothing to say, really."

"Okay, just thought I'd ask…" Lorelai gazed around the room before returning her attention to Luke. She cleared her throat.

"What?" he asked without looking up.

She cough and said "Coffee" while looking over her shoulder at nothing in particular.

"You really need to work on your subtlety, you know," Luke grumbled as he reached for the coffee pot.

"Ah, you know you love me!" Lorelia smiled widely up at him as he poured her coffee. His gaze was fixed on the coffee mug, but she watched his reaction intently. To her surprise, he smiled slightly before looking up and sarcastically mumbling "sure" while rolling his eyes at her.

Before she even had time to make another narky comment, there was a loud rumble coming from behind Luke. Jess emerged, book in hand, and headed for the door.

"Hey Jess - where ya goin?" Luke asked, trying to sound casual.

Jess stopped in the middle of the diner and turned to face Luke and Lorelai, who were both looking at him waiting for his answer. "Out" was his only reply before he turned around and continued his journey towards the door.

"Ah, Jess?" Lorelai smiled sweetly. "Out where?"

Jess stopped and this time didn't turn around straight away. He inhaled deeply and then turned to face Lorelai once more. Luke just watched on in silence.

"I dunno. To look around a bit, I guess…"

"When will you be back?" she retorted, a sweet-as-honey smile still planted firmly on her lips.

"Ah, later."

"Later when?"

Jess stared straight at her and was about to say something offensive, but then he realised that he wasn't going to win with this woman. Shrugging his shoulders he mumbled "Eight, I guess" and then turned and left the diner before she could ask him any more questions.

Lorelai turned back to Luke and was surprised to see him looking at her with a look of admiration painted across his face. "That's the most that kid's said since gettin' here."

"Well," she sighed, nonchalantly, "I've had a bit of practice."

Luke smiled at her and refilled her mug without saying a word.

******

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Sorry it's short but I wanted to get this out there and remind you all that I'm still alive and haven't given up or anything.

After my little "Run Lola Run" comment up at the beginning, I just had to mention how much I LOVE that movie and how great "Amilie" is as well. I'm not the world's biggest fan of foreign films, but those two are awesome. If you haven't seen them – do! RIGHT NOW!!! Seriously great movies! And I'm SO SO SO SO SO sorry that I haven't updated this sooner. I've been really busy with work and I'm going to "Homebake" next weekend so this probably won't be updated again for at least a week. But never fear – I will be completely free by next Monday and I can write my little fingers off between then and Christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to get back into your good books! Sorry again… and see "Amilie"!!!

P.S. Remember to review again and again – give me all the feedback you feel is necessary. Tell me it's hopeless if you want, I just want to know what you think. And I will incorporate all ides given to me as long as they don't clash with the ideas I already have. Thanks again to all of you who have already reviewed. You are all awesome!