Title: Expect The Unexpected
Chapter 15: Fated Couples
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Gilmore Girls. Bet you weren't expecting that.
A/N: This chapter focuses on what I consider fated couples. You'll see who they are in a minute, but first I have to warn you, this story contains spoilers to the movie Sixteen Candles, but if you watch it the end is absolutely obvious anyway. Enjoy!
~~~~~~
Lorelai sat up on the couch. She noticed that Rory had cleaned up the junk food and Kleenex mess, but she'd left the videos. Lorelai stood up and folded up the blanket that had been draped over her. She carried the blanket and pillow upstairs and threw them in her room. She walked back downstairs and plopped on the couch, ready to transport herself to a time when she was young and...well, she wasn't carefree, because she was a pregnant teenager/teenage mother, but she didn't think about that. She just pressed play.
"Damn feathers!"
Lorelai was suddenly aware that a grumbling Luke was in the kitchen. She turned off the movie and headed there. As she rounded the corner, she saw Luke at the table in a midst of pink. Pink fluffy stuff, as a matter of fact.
"Did a pink chicken die in here?" she smirked.
"No. I was just trying to glue pink fluffy stuff onto this coffee cup"--he lifted up a white mug with glued-down pink fluffy things on a few places--"and then I was gonna pour you a cup of coffee into it"--he pointed to the brewing coffee behind Lorelai--"and surprise you when you woke up. But you woke up, and the fluffy things wouldn't stick, and now I can't surprise you. I'm sorry, Lorelai."
"Oh, that's okay. I'll get Rory to make me a big huge fluffy coffee cup, and then you can put your coffee in it. And when I say big huge, I mean HUGE!" Lorelai held her arms in a circle as far in front of her as she could.
"No, I don't mean about the cup. I mean about all those horrible things I said to you earlier. I didn't mean it. I was just saying those things in the heat of the moment. I'm really, really sorry, Lorelai."
Lorelai sank into a kitchen chair as she remembered what he'd said earlier that day. "And you didn't come after me."
"And I didn't come after you. But didn't you hear what happened at the diner?"
"No! Oh, my god, what happened?"
"Well, Dean Forester jumped through the big window."
"Rory's Dean?"
"Well, he used to be Rory's Dean. But anyway, then Jess punched him out, and he went to the hospital and there was a whole big mess. I'm really sorry."
"Wow. What a mess. And Rory came over here to wallow with me? What a trooper."
"Yeah, she's absolutely great."
"I guess that's the only good thing about my out-of-control youth."
"I'm really sorry, Lorelai."
"It's okay. I know. I'm teasing."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
They kissed.
~~~~~~~~~
Chris burst into the room he had seen his father enter and was surprised to see his father alone in an empty hotel room, lost in his thoughts. Chris backed out of the room and made his way downstairs. He stole behind the desk and got the guest register from its secret spot under a pile of fake books. He heaved it onto the table and opened it to the month of Febuary 2028. He found the week and the date and the Foresters in rooms 210 and 212. Chris looked back up at the room his father had entered into. Room 202. He flipped through the book under 202 but couldn't find any reason that his father would have gone into it. Then an idea hit him, and he looked through the older guest books until he found the one from 2008. He looked under Febuary, and sure enough, Febuary 23, 2008, Jess and Rory Mariano checked into room 202 for one night. Chris heaved the books off the desk and back into their hiding places. He glanced up at the crowd and noticed it was much smaller than it had been a few minutes ago, and he soon spotted the reason. Sookie and Jackson's twin eighteen-year-old sons were herding people out the door. They got rid of the last unwanted guests and high-fived each other. Chris was in class with them, and had been in class with them for the past twelve years, but he wasn't very good friends with them. Sure, Sookie and Lorelai were best friends and were always trying to get the three of them together, but the twins were best friends and couldn't be bothered to allow anyone else into their elite torturing-little-kids-is-fun club. None of the adults could see it, but it was true. Chris decided to forget the two dumber-than-dirt brutes and visit his girlfriend. Room 212. He headed upstairs.
~~~~~~
Rory was utterly worried. She'd been sitting in the diner for an hour, and she'd seen neither hide nor tail of her husband or her eldest son. She decided to look for them and knew the perfect place to find them. She herded Mini-Luke and Laura into the car and dropped them off at Cathy Clarkson's house.
Cathy Clarkson was a single mother who, like Lorelai, had gotten pregnant at sixteen. Unlike Lorelai, she'd gotten pregnant again at twenty-two, and once more at twenty-eight. She was now the mother of an eighteen-year-old boy, Chris's best friend, a twelve-year-old girl, Luke's best friend, and a six-year-old little girl, Laura's best friend. Cathy herself was Rory's best friend, and they got together a lot, and babysat for each other. So Rory dropped her children at Cathy's house and raced towards her mother's inn.
As she parked her car and walked into the Dragonfly, Rory passed Mike and Mark, Sookie and Jackson's bumbling idiot twins. But she'd never tell Sookie she thought that.
The lobby was almost completely empty, so Rory walked behind the front desk to sneak a peek at the guest register. She noticed that the registers were slightly messed up, and she sneaked a peek at which ones were out of place. She picked up the one hanging out the most and opened it on top of the desk. The book fell open to Febuary 23, 2008, and Rory caught a glimpse of her name. She hastily closed the book and shoved it back underneath the desk. She grabbed the key to room 202 and ran upstairs.
~~~~~~~
Lorelai dragged Luke into the living room and pushed him onto the couch. She picked up Sixteen Candles and shoved it into the VCR. She sat next to Luke and draped his arm over her.
"Oh, no, what movie are we gonna watch now?"
"Shh! It's starting." Lorelai hissed as the camera came up on Samantha Baker talking on her phone before school. "They're gonna forget her birthday." Lorelai said gleefully.
"You sound way too happy."
"Well, her family's gonna forget her birthday, but the cute senior who likes her is gonna give her a birthday cake and make her wish come true and kiss her."
"Great, I know the plot. Now can I leave?"
"No! Ooh, look, Luke, the sex test!" Lorelai pulled his arms tighter around her. He sighed and settled in to watch the movie.
~~~~~~
Chris unlocked room 212 and edged the door open.
"Hello?" No answer. He peeked around the door. Empty. He walked into the room and glanced at the beds. Empty and empty. He noticed the closed bathroom door and moved towards it.
"What are you doing here?"
Chris spun around to face the speaker. "Jen, hi." He leaned over to kiss her, but she backed away.
"What are you doing here?"
"Jen, honey, you're repeating yourself." Chris laughed nervously.
"Don't call me honey," Jen shoved Chris aside and entered the room, threw her bag on the bed, and then spun around to face him, "and what are you doing in my room? No, first answer how you got in."
"Key." Chris dangled the object in front of Jen's face. She snatched it out of his hand and glared at him. He smiled.
"Were you spying on me?"
"No, of course not!"
"Then how did you know my room number? And how did you get a key?"
"I looked up your room number."
"Where? How? Why?"
"My grandmother owns the inn."
"Your grandmother's Lorelai Danes?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. That's the how. Where? Why?"
"Downstairs at the front desk."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because."
"Okay, I understand that teenage boys mature slower than girls, but this is ridiculous! Would you tell me why the hell you came into my room?"
"I thought my dad was gonna beat up your dad, so I followed him here, but he went into a room, and it wasn't yours, and I found out that your room was 212, so I came up here to make sure you were okay." Chris proudly finished his elaborate story, thankful to his mother, father, and grandmother for the fast-thinking. Jen looked a little doubtful, but accepted the story.
"Would you like to go for a walk around the town, m'lady?" Chris extended his arm.
"Why, yes, I'd be delighted, m'lord." Jen placed her arm over his, and their lowered their arms until they were holding hands. Chris squeezed her hand, and she smiled at him. They walked out of the room, locked it, and walked downstairs and out of the inn.
~~~~~~~
Rory unlocked room 202 and edged into the room. She softly closed the door behind her, and just stared at Jess for a minute. Then she sat next to him on the bed, twined her arm into his, and rested her head on his shoulder. He greeted her with a kiss, not at all surprised to see her, and they shared in a memory of their early married life.
**
After a long and extensive fight between Mrs. Gilmore and Mrs. Danes, it was decided that the newly-wed Marianos would spend a week in New York at the Plaza, (the New York courtesy of Lorelai; the Plaza, Emily) and then a week in Fez (courtesy of Richard), all of which would be paid by the Gilmores, the Danes, and the Haydens. The Marianos gracefully accepted and went on their honeymoon, only to return to an even bigger surprise.
"Surprise!"
The town stood in front of Luke's diner, which boasted a huge sign declaring, "Welcome home, Jess and Rory!". Lorelai jumped in front of her daughter and son-in-law with the biggest smile in the world on her face.
"Guess what!"
"What?" The newly-weds asked simultaneously.
"You have to guess!"
"No, you don't." Luke appeared from behind his wife."We're giving you the diner."
"What?" The newly-weds asked simultaneously again.
"You get the diner. You get to run it, and own it, and the aparment above! Isn't it great?"
"Well, yeah, but, Luke, what about you? What are you gonna do?" Rory asked, concerned.
"I'll still work in the diner. I just won't own it. If that's okay with you."
The newlyweds turned to each other and silently conversed. They turned back to Luke and Lorelai and the crowd. "Okay."
A cheer went up from the crowd, and random people started coming up to the couple and congratulating them.
"You make the perfect couple."
"I think it's great you're getting the diner. You deserve it."
"I think it's completely cute how you talk at the same time. You're perfect together."
"Rory, you made the perfect catch."
"Jess, you caught just the girl to keep you in line."
"If you break up, I want my present back."
The last two well-wishers were Luke and Lorelai.
"Listen, our house is always open. We're always there for you. I'm glad you're happy, Rory." Lorelai kissed Rory on the cheek. "You, too, Jess." She kissed Jess on the cheek, too. Rory stared at her mother and husband, shocked to see that they were happy around each other. She looked pointedly at Jess. He shrugged.
"Rory, you're the best thing that ever happened to Jess. You're the best thing that ever happened to your mother. Hell, you're probably the best thing to happen to me! Besides your mother, I mean." Luke quickly added at the look on Lorelai's face. He then awkwardly hugged Rory, and shook hands with Jess before Jess pulled him into a hug. Then the older couple departed, arguing about coffee, and left the newly-weds alone. They stared up at the diner, which seemed so much bigger now that they owned it. They entered the empty diner and headed up the stairs. In the lock was a key, with a note hanging on it.
Thought we forgot to give you the key, didn't you?
Nope, here it is.
We also moved everything into the apartment for you.
And, just for Rory, we (Luke) made coffee.
Love,
Luke and Lorelai Danes
Rory and Jess smiled at each other and then turned the key and entered the aparment. It was immaculate. Everything was in its place, and it looked like the two of them had been living there forever. The kitchen was completely stocked, the bathroom had towels and shampoo and everything, the beds had sheets on them, the TV had videos stacked next to it. But the biggest fixture in the apartment was the books. There were bookcases all over the apartment, and they were stacked full of books, some old, some new. The couple each headed to a bookcase and picked out a book, then sat down on the couch and read, entwined in each other's arms.
**
Rory looked up at Jess and shyly pulled a book out of her purse. It was the same one she'd read that first day home. Jess picked up the book next to him and showed it to Rory. They switched books, opened them, and started to read, entwined in each other's arms.
Chapter 15: Fated Couples
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Gilmore Girls. Bet you weren't expecting that.
A/N: This chapter focuses on what I consider fated couples. You'll see who they are in a minute, but first I have to warn you, this story contains spoilers to the movie Sixteen Candles, but if you watch it the end is absolutely obvious anyway. Enjoy!
~~~~~~
Lorelai sat up on the couch. She noticed that Rory had cleaned up the junk food and Kleenex mess, but she'd left the videos. Lorelai stood up and folded up the blanket that had been draped over her. She carried the blanket and pillow upstairs and threw them in her room. She walked back downstairs and plopped on the couch, ready to transport herself to a time when she was young and...well, she wasn't carefree, because she was a pregnant teenager/teenage mother, but she didn't think about that. She just pressed play.
"Damn feathers!"
Lorelai was suddenly aware that a grumbling Luke was in the kitchen. She turned off the movie and headed there. As she rounded the corner, she saw Luke at the table in a midst of pink. Pink fluffy stuff, as a matter of fact.
"Did a pink chicken die in here?" she smirked.
"No. I was just trying to glue pink fluffy stuff onto this coffee cup"--he lifted up a white mug with glued-down pink fluffy things on a few places--"and then I was gonna pour you a cup of coffee into it"--he pointed to the brewing coffee behind Lorelai--"and surprise you when you woke up. But you woke up, and the fluffy things wouldn't stick, and now I can't surprise you. I'm sorry, Lorelai."
"Oh, that's okay. I'll get Rory to make me a big huge fluffy coffee cup, and then you can put your coffee in it. And when I say big huge, I mean HUGE!" Lorelai held her arms in a circle as far in front of her as she could.
"No, I don't mean about the cup. I mean about all those horrible things I said to you earlier. I didn't mean it. I was just saying those things in the heat of the moment. I'm really, really sorry, Lorelai."
Lorelai sank into a kitchen chair as she remembered what he'd said earlier that day. "And you didn't come after me."
"And I didn't come after you. But didn't you hear what happened at the diner?"
"No! Oh, my god, what happened?"
"Well, Dean Forester jumped through the big window."
"Rory's Dean?"
"Well, he used to be Rory's Dean. But anyway, then Jess punched him out, and he went to the hospital and there was a whole big mess. I'm really sorry."
"Wow. What a mess. And Rory came over here to wallow with me? What a trooper."
"Yeah, she's absolutely great."
"I guess that's the only good thing about my out-of-control youth."
"I'm really sorry, Lorelai."
"It's okay. I know. I'm teasing."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
They kissed.
~~~~~~~~~
Chris burst into the room he had seen his father enter and was surprised to see his father alone in an empty hotel room, lost in his thoughts. Chris backed out of the room and made his way downstairs. He stole behind the desk and got the guest register from its secret spot under a pile of fake books. He heaved it onto the table and opened it to the month of Febuary 2028. He found the week and the date and the Foresters in rooms 210 and 212. Chris looked back up at the room his father had entered into. Room 202. He flipped through the book under 202 but couldn't find any reason that his father would have gone into it. Then an idea hit him, and he looked through the older guest books until he found the one from 2008. He looked under Febuary, and sure enough, Febuary 23, 2008, Jess and Rory Mariano checked into room 202 for one night. Chris heaved the books off the desk and back into their hiding places. He glanced up at the crowd and noticed it was much smaller than it had been a few minutes ago, and he soon spotted the reason. Sookie and Jackson's twin eighteen-year-old sons were herding people out the door. They got rid of the last unwanted guests and high-fived each other. Chris was in class with them, and had been in class with them for the past twelve years, but he wasn't very good friends with them. Sure, Sookie and Lorelai were best friends and were always trying to get the three of them together, but the twins were best friends and couldn't be bothered to allow anyone else into their elite torturing-little-kids-is-fun club. None of the adults could see it, but it was true. Chris decided to forget the two dumber-than-dirt brutes and visit his girlfriend. Room 212. He headed upstairs.
~~~~~~
Rory was utterly worried. She'd been sitting in the diner for an hour, and she'd seen neither hide nor tail of her husband or her eldest son. She decided to look for them and knew the perfect place to find them. She herded Mini-Luke and Laura into the car and dropped them off at Cathy Clarkson's house.
Cathy Clarkson was a single mother who, like Lorelai, had gotten pregnant at sixteen. Unlike Lorelai, she'd gotten pregnant again at twenty-two, and once more at twenty-eight. She was now the mother of an eighteen-year-old boy, Chris's best friend, a twelve-year-old girl, Luke's best friend, and a six-year-old little girl, Laura's best friend. Cathy herself was Rory's best friend, and they got together a lot, and babysat for each other. So Rory dropped her children at Cathy's house and raced towards her mother's inn.
As she parked her car and walked into the Dragonfly, Rory passed Mike and Mark, Sookie and Jackson's bumbling idiot twins. But she'd never tell Sookie she thought that.
The lobby was almost completely empty, so Rory walked behind the front desk to sneak a peek at the guest register. She noticed that the registers were slightly messed up, and she sneaked a peek at which ones were out of place. She picked up the one hanging out the most and opened it on top of the desk. The book fell open to Febuary 23, 2008, and Rory caught a glimpse of her name. She hastily closed the book and shoved it back underneath the desk. She grabbed the key to room 202 and ran upstairs.
~~~~~~~
Lorelai dragged Luke into the living room and pushed him onto the couch. She picked up Sixteen Candles and shoved it into the VCR. She sat next to Luke and draped his arm over her.
"Oh, no, what movie are we gonna watch now?"
"Shh! It's starting." Lorelai hissed as the camera came up on Samantha Baker talking on her phone before school. "They're gonna forget her birthday." Lorelai said gleefully.
"You sound way too happy."
"Well, her family's gonna forget her birthday, but the cute senior who likes her is gonna give her a birthday cake and make her wish come true and kiss her."
"Great, I know the plot. Now can I leave?"
"No! Ooh, look, Luke, the sex test!" Lorelai pulled his arms tighter around her. He sighed and settled in to watch the movie.
~~~~~~
Chris unlocked room 212 and edged the door open.
"Hello?" No answer. He peeked around the door. Empty. He walked into the room and glanced at the beds. Empty and empty. He noticed the closed bathroom door and moved towards it.
"What are you doing here?"
Chris spun around to face the speaker. "Jen, hi." He leaned over to kiss her, but she backed away.
"What are you doing here?"
"Jen, honey, you're repeating yourself." Chris laughed nervously.
"Don't call me honey," Jen shoved Chris aside and entered the room, threw her bag on the bed, and then spun around to face him, "and what are you doing in my room? No, first answer how you got in."
"Key." Chris dangled the object in front of Jen's face. She snatched it out of his hand and glared at him. He smiled.
"Were you spying on me?"
"No, of course not!"
"Then how did you know my room number? And how did you get a key?"
"I looked up your room number."
"Where? How? Why?"
"My grandmother owns the inn."
"Your grandmother's Lorelai Danes?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. That's the how. Where? Why?"
"Downstairs at the front desk."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Just because."
"Okay, I understand that teenage boys mature slower than girls, but this is ridiculous! Would you tell me why the hell you came into my room?"
"I thought my dad was gonna beat up your dad, so I followed him here, but he went into a room, and it wasn't yours, and I found out that your room was 212, so I came up here to make sure you were okay." Chris proudly finished his elaborate story, thankful to his mother, father, and grandmother for the fast-thinking. Jen looked a little doubtful, but accepted the story.
"Would you like to go for a walk around the town, m'lady?" Chris extended his arm.
"Why, yes, I'd be delighted, m'lord." Jen placed her arm over his, and their lowered their arms until they were holding hands. Chris squeezed her hand, and she smiled at him. They walked out of the room, locked it, and walked downstairs and out of the inn.
~~~~~~~
Rory unlocked room 202 and edged into the room. She softly closed the door behind her, and just stared at Jess for a minute. Then she sat next to him on the bed, twined her arm into his, and rested her head on his shoulder. He greeted her with a kiss, not at all surprised to see her, and they shared in a memory of their early married life.
**
After a long and extensive fight between Mrs. Gilmore and Mrs. Danes, it was decided that the newly-wed Marianos would spend a week in New York at the Plaza, (the New York courtesy of Lorelai; the Plaza, Emily) and then a week in Fez (courtesy of Richard), all of which would be paid by the Gilmores, the Danes, and the Haydens. The Marianos gracefully accepted and went on their honeymoon, only to return to an even bigger surprise.
"Surprise!"
The town stood in front of Luke's diner, which boasted a huge sign declaring, "Welcome home, Jess and Rory!". Lorelai jumped in front of her daughter and son-in-law with the biggest smile in the world on her face.
"Guess what!"
"What?" The newly-weds asked simultaneously.
"You have to guess!"
"No, you don't." Luke appeared from behind his wife."We're giving you the diner."
"What?" The newly-weds asked simultaneously again.
"You get the diner. You get to run it, and own it, and the aparment above! Isn't it great?"
"Well, yeah, but, Luke, what about you? What are you gonna do?" Rory asked, concerned.
"I'll still work in the diner. I just won't own it. If that's okay with you."
The newlyweds turned to each other and silently conversed. They turned back to Luke and Lorelai and the crowd. "Okay."
A cheer went up from the crowd, and random people started coming up to the couple and congratulating them.
"You make the perfect couple."
"I think it's great you're getting the diner. You deserve it."
"I think it's completely cute how you talk at the same time. You're perfect together."
"Rory, you made the perfect catch."
"Jess, you caught just the girl to keep you in line."
"If you break up, I want my present back."
The last two well-wishers were Luke and Lorelai.
"Listen, our house is always open. We're always there for you. I'm glad you're happy, Rory." Lorelai kissed Rory on the cheek. "You, too, Jess." She kissed Jess on the cheek, too. Rory stared at her mother and husband, shocked to see that they were happy around each other. She looked pointedly at Jess. He shrugged.
"Rory, you're the best thing that ever happened to Jess. You're the best thing that ever happened to your mother. Hell, you're probably the best thing to happen to me! Besides your mother, I mean." Luke quickly added at the look on Lorelai's face. He then awkwardly hugged Rory, and shook hands with Jess before Jess pulled him into a hug. Then the older couple departed, arguing about coffee, and left the newly-weds alone. They stared up at the diner, which seemed so much bigger now that they owned it. They entered the empty diner and headed up the stairs. In the lock was a key, with a note hanging on it.
Nope, here it is.
We also moved everything into the apartment for you.
And, just for Rory, we (Luke) made coffee.
Love,
Luke and Lorelai Danes
Rory and Jess smiled at each other and then turned the key and entered the aparment. It was immaculate. Everything was in its place, and it looked like the two of them had been living there forever. The kitchen was completely stocked, the bathroom had towels and shampoo and everything, the beds had sheets on them, the TV had videos stacked next to it. But the biggest fixture in the apartment was the books. There were bookcases all over the apartment, and they were stacked full of books, some old, some new. The couple each headed to a bookcase and picked out a book, then sat down on the couch and read, entwined in each other's arms.
**
Rory looked up at Jess and shyly pulled a book out of her purse. It was the same one she'd read that first day home. Jess picked up the book next to him and showed it to Rory. They switched books, opened them, and started to read, entwined in each other's arms.