Part 3
"No."
"Oh come on."
"Even if they were bringing Joey Ramone back from the dead for a Ramones reunion on the stage, I still would never even DREAM of setting foot anywhere near the Chilton Prom." Jess laughed. "Drink some more coffee, cuz you are obviously out of it."
Rory stuck out her bottom lip. "You couldn't at least hear me out?"
"I could, but then I wouldn't get to hear you put your outstanding debate skills to good use, would I?"
Rory sighed and ate a fry, contemplating how she could convince him to go. "Paris will be there."
"Paris is in France. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
"Paris the person. Remember her? You met her last year at my house, that night when my mom was at the spa?"
"The night Dean almost ripped my head off? Yeah, I vaguely remember that night." He walked over to the fridge and got out a soda. "Can I have this?"
"Wouldn't recommend it. It's from Canada."
"What's wrong with soda from Canada?"
"Nothing. Only problem is, neither my mother nor I have been to Canada, and neither of us purchased said soda."
"So how the hell did it get here?"
"That's the million dollar question. Just don't drink it. Trust me."
Jess poured himself a Coke.
"You liked her." Rory tried again. "Remember? We talked literature. It was good, wasn't it?"
Jess chuckled. "Well yeah. She was nice enough. But nice enough for me to drive an hour to drink champage and eat caviar while we schmooze with Muffy, Bunny, and Theodore from the country club? I think not."
Rory stood up and brought her plate to the sink. "Ok, unfair. There is not a single person named Muffy at my school, and there's only one Bunny, but it's not her fault her parents thought that was cute."
Jess downed his soda and brought his plate to the sink. "I'm full. You wanna 'Watch a movie'?"
Rory ignored him. "There will be no caviar, and probably no champagne, and you will not be in any way forced to 'schmooze'. You won't even have to dance much."
"Much? Rory, I gotta tell ya', it's been a while since I've practiced my foxtrot, and it's probably not up to par right about now."
"You're being difficult."
"It's what I do best. Come on, let's go in the other room."
"No!" Rory's eyes widened; she had her game face on. She was serious. "I refuse to kiss, hug, or snuggle with you at all until you agree to go to the Chilton prom with me. Understand?"
Jess rolled his eyes. "Oh God fine. I'll go to the Chilton prom under 3 conditions. 1) If they start to play Britney Spears we will leave immediately with no complaints from you. 2) You never call what we do "snuggling" ever, EVER again. And 3) You have to read the Hemingway book of my choice afterwards." He held out his hand. "Deal?"
Rory considered for a moment, and finally shook his hand reluctantly. "Fine. But only ONE book by Hemingway. I draw the line at anything with volumes."
Jess smiled. "Deal." With her hand still shaking his, Jess pulled her toward him gently and kissed her. Rory smiled.
"Ok," she said. "Let's go "watch a movie."'
*********
"Ok now," Lorelai said, handing her daughter her dress. "There are a few specific rules I must ask you to follow while wearing my clothing. One; no matter how appealing it looks, you've got to resist the temptation to eat that jelly donut. No rolling around on the ground, as much fun as it may be. And I don't care if all the cool kids are doing it, there is no excuse for volunteering to be the target in a pie throwing contest while wearing my dress."
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll try my best not to get involved in all the food throwing and mud wrestling that are guaranteed to take place at any formal Chilton event. Now can I please put the dress on? Jess is gonna be here in half an hour, and he probably won't want to take me if I'm wearing a bathrobe."
Lorelai sighed. "Give me a minute. It's always a traumatizing thing for me to part with my clothing, especially evening gowns."
Rory smiled. She knew when her mother offered to let her wear one of her dresses to the Chilton prom, so she wouldn't wear the same dress twice, it wouldn't be an easy process. The contents of her mother's closet were very sacred to her. Rory added to comfort her, "I promise, I'll treat it like it's my own."
Reluctantly, Lorelai handed it over. "Call me down when you need me to do your makeup."
Rory smiled to her mother, but the minute she was out of the bedroom, the nervous knot in her stomach began to show in her facial expression. She nearly tripped down the stairs. She couldn't really wrap her mind around the idea that she very well could lose her innocence in only a few hours. She knew Jess probably thought tonight would be the night also. "Oh Joy," she thought to herself. "More awkward pauses than usual. I can hardly wait."
In her room she slipped on the dress. It wasn't as fancy as the one she'd bought; it was a baby blue full-skirted strappy dress that fell just a few inches below her knees. It fit her pretty well, but she didn't really care about looking perfect that night. All she could think about was how nervous she'd be when Jess would offer to head home early, as she was sure he would. Of course they wouldn't go right home. There were a couple motels on the drive back, and they weren't due back in Stars Hollow until 1:30 or so in the morning.
Rory had just put on a necklace and some earrings, and was about to start on her hair, but gave up. She couldn't deal with her nerves alone anymore. She closed the door and dialed Lane's number.
"Hello, Kim's antique's."
"Hi Mrs. Kim," Rory said, trying to make her voice sound as sweet as honey. or whatever the Kim's healthy alternative to honey might be. "Could I talk to Lane please? Just for a few minutes, I promise."
Mrs. Kim paused reluctantly. "Ten minutes. She has chores to do."
"Ten minutes. Got it."
Mrs. Kim covered the phone with her hand and called for Lane. Momentarily she was there.
"Rory?" Lane spoke into the phone, bringing it up the stairs to her room for some privacy.
"Oh my God Lane help me."
"What? What happened? Did you and Jess have a fight?"
"No."
"Did Dean break Jess' leg or something? Cuz I had a dream that you and me and Jess and Dave were on a boat, and Jess was dangling his feet over the side and something we thought was a shark tried to bite his leg off, but then we found out it wasn't really a shark, it was ACTUALLY Dean-"
"Lane you have got to stop listening to the Jaws soundtrack before you go to sleep."
"Duly noted. What's going on?"
Rory lowered her voice. "There's a butterfly farm in my stomach and all their cocoons just hatched."
"Weird science reference."
"Well I babble about academic things when I'm nervous."
"So I'm guessing tonight.?"
"Well yeah. I hope. I think. Maybe. If I don't throw up or something."
"Wow. Please don't do that. When they sing about it in songs, how people who love you hold your hair back for you, it's really not as romantic as they make it sound."
"I think that pretty much goes without saying."
"Good point."
"What am I gonna do? He's gonna be here in 15 minutes. I'm so not prepared to know how to talk to him at this point."
"Ok," Lane said, determined. "I'm going in the closet."
"Um. Ok?"
"Alright, let me put on some happy go-lucky encouraging music like the Bangles or The Presidents of the USA to get me in the mood."
"In the mood for what?"
"What you need most right now, my friend. A pep talk." Rory heard "Walk Like an Egyptian" start in the background. "Ok." Lane began. "A few things to remember. First: Jess is your boyfriend."
"Yes generally that would be a good thing for me to remember."
"You love him, and have told him so. He loves you, and has told you so. In fact, he loves you enough to wear a tux and go to, not only one, but two proms. At one of these proms, no one but you will know him. At the other one, everyone will know him, but most of them will hate him. This is not something he would do if he didn't really care about you."
"I get all that," Rory said. "And it makes sense, I just. what if it's. weird?"
"Ok, keep in mind now that I love Dave and in no way have any attraction to Jess ok?"
"Yeah?"
"Rory, he's hot."
"I've noticed, Lane."
"Seriously. Have you seen the way he walks? Or have you seen the way he kisses you?"
"Ironically I haven't gotten the chance to see him kissing me. We haven't gotten around to video taping it yet."
"He looks like his name might as well be Casanova. Trust me, Rory, Jess probably knows what he's doing."
"Yeah, but I don't. That's kind of important. I am half of the relationship, you know."
"My point is, Jess cares about you, and he's probably just as nervous as you are. Just try to relax and remember you trust him. Even though you are one of few who do."
Rory sighed. "You were so close to getting me calm until that last sentence."
"I'm sorry. Just remember; Jess good. Jess trustworthy. Jess loves you. You must relax."
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was getting it, but the caveman phrases at the end gave it a real punch."
"Hey I tried. I don't have the right music, I'm not at my best."
Rory smiled. "Thank you, Lane. And I promise I'll see you tomorrow and tell you everything. Well not everything. But everything that's not dirty."
"It's a plan. Good luck!"
"Thanks! Bye!"
Rory hung up with a sigh and called her mother to come do her make up.
***********
Luke came bursting into Jess' room. "You're gonna be late. you're wearing that?"
Jess rolled his eyes. "No, this is just the decoy outfit. Don't tell, but Rory and I are actually going to a pajama party. We're gonna change on the way."
Luke ignored him. "You're not gonna wear a tie?"
Jess chuckled. "Luke, do you know me at all?"
"And you're not gonna wear that- that THING that goes around your waist?"
"Luke, what in my history of apparel ever led you to believe I would, under any circumstances, wear a cummerbund?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "And you're just leaving your hair like normal?"
"I like it this way," Jess retorted. "That's why I do it like that. You think you can save the critique on the rest of my appearance till I get back? Cuz I'm kind of on a schedule here."
Luke sighed, and tried his hardest not to sound like some sappy idiot. "I'm sorry, ok? You don't look. bad or anything."
"Apology accepted. Why are you still in my room?"
Luke sat down awkwardly. "We gotta talk."
Jess rolled his eyes. "Come on. The "don't hurt Rory" speech again? Don't you think if I were planning to hurt her, I would have gotten it done BEFORE our 7 month anniversary?"
"That's not it." Luke awkwardly gestured to the bed. "Sit down. I hate looking up at you like I'm some goddamn munchkin or something."
Jess reluctantly sat, and said in sarcastically sweet voice, "Yes, Uncle Luke?"
"Jess, you're goin' to Chilton."
"I'm aware of this."
"Chilton is a pretty formal place. It's Rory's school."
"All pieces of information I've heard several times before, what's your point?"
"Don't embarrass her! You can't act the way you do around here when you're with those people. They'll throw you out on your ass. So please resist the urge to act out your usual problems with authority, and no intoxication of any kind, and just. try not to do anything Rory couldn't tell her grandparents about, ok?"
Jess plastered on an obviously fake smile. "I'll try my extra hardest Uncle Luke!" Picking up his wallet, keys, and little box, he strolled out of the room. "I'll be back late."
************
"Ok I think you've had enough fun with the eye shadow, Mom."
Lorelai pouted. "Fine. I'll put it away. You know they always used to say, a girl can never wear enough eye shadow."
Rory smiled. "Yeah well they also used to wear corsets and think the world was flat."
Lorelai put the eye shadow down and examined her daughter. "You look beautiful babe. Really. Jess is gonna be speechless."
Rory smiled humbly. "I don't look that good."
Lorleai rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, we don't allow fishing for compliments in this house. You look great, accept it."
"Thank you, mom." Rory's nervousness was pushed aside by a new feeling; complete guilt. She wanted to tell her mother. She and Lorelai shared EVERYTHING. But she knew now was definitely not the time to mention, "Oh by the way Mom, I'm gonna let Jess deflower me tonight." She'd send her to live with the Kim's or something.
"Hey, Kid, what's the matter?" Lorelai asked.
Rory tried to play it off. "Nothing's wrong. Really."
"Honey you never were very good at lying."
Rory sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just a little nervous."
Lorelai smiled comfortingly. "Ok, even though your last experience with a Chilton dance ended. well not wonderfully, it doesn't mean every Chilton dance is gonna end with your boyfriend having a public fight on the dance floor and you staying out all night. There is every possibility that tonight will be fun filled. as long as they don't play any Britney Spears."
Rory smiled. "You know, you and Jess are a lot more compatible than you guys think you are."
Lorelai looked confused. "Rory, queen of the non-sequitur."
The doorbell rang. Rory and Lorelai froze.
"Did you order pizza?" Rory asked hopefully.
"Nope."
"Chinese?"
"No."
"Barbershop quartet?"
"Creative. But no."
They both sighed.
"So you think that's him?" Rory asked.
"Probably. You want me to answer?"
"Considering I can't feel my legs, that would probably be best."
Lorelai headed to the door. "I'm on it." she turned back one last time. "You're gorgeous, he loves you, it will be ok."
Lorelai closed Rory's bedroom door. Rory smiled to herself, looked in the mirror one last time, and said under her breath, "Here goes nothing."
******************
Lorelai opened the front door.
"Jess, wow," she said, trying to stifle giggles at the sight of him in a tux. "You, uh. you look great."
Jess chuckled, embarrassed. "Yeah right. Is Rory ready?"
"In Just a minute. Come on in. Have a seat. Prepare something fantastic to say when Rory comes out looking like a princess."
Jess chuckled and took a seat on the couch. Lorelai sat on the chair opposite him and tried her best to break the awkward silence. "So did you get her a corsage?"
Jess shook his head. "I was warned not to buy flowers or anything that dies."
"So I'm guessing she told you about the time she brought her corsage from the debutante ball home?"
"You mean the time you insisted on having a funeral for the flowers when they died? Yeah she told me."
Lorelai smiled, awkwardly. "Yeah well. Rory tends to exaggerate when she tells stories about me."
Jess smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Lorelai stood. "I should probably go get Rory huh?"
"That's probably a good idea."
Lorelai went to Rory's door and knocked. "Cinderella! You're prince has arrived! Wanna make an appearance?"
Rory called back through the door. "Did he bring flowers in any shape or form?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No, and you're never gonna let me forget that one incident, are you?"
Rory opened her door with a smile. "Mom, I think it's sweet that you care so much about the flowers that you want to mourn their death."
"Yeah right," Lorelai replied.
"Really! I do! It's just. time consuming, planning the services and all."
"Prince Charming is waiting," Lorelai changed the subject in a sing song-y voice.
Rory walked down the hall into the living room. Jess looked up at her as she entered and his eyes visibly widened. She could feel herself blushing. Jess stood.
"Wow," he said. "I'm certainly impressed." He paused awkwardly. "You look. really good. REALLY good."
Rory smiled, embarrassed. "Thank you. You too." Both of them were obviously too nervous to know what to say. Lorelai looked from one embarrassed teen to the other, hoping for somebody to break the ice so she wouldn't have to.
"Ok!" She began. "You guys should probably get going, you'll be late. You got the tickets?"
Rory nodded. "Yeah, we're all set." She took a deep breath. "See ya later mom."
"Bye, you two. Have fun."
Lorelai sighed, watching Jess take Rory's hand and lead her towards the door. She tried to hold back her tears at least until they were out the door. She felt so silly; it was Rory's prom, no big deal. But it was so weird for her. She never even got to go to her prom, and by the age of 17 she was single, a high school dropout, with a baby, and she'd never even really gotten a chance to grow up. And now here Rory was; 18 years old, about to graduate high school, in no danger of being pregnant, and on her way to her senior prom with a boy who really loved her. She went to the window to wave at Rory as the car drove away, but saw only Jess, standing unaccompanied by the side of the car. She heard the front door open, and saw Rory run through the living room to hug her.
"I love you Mom," She said with a goofy smile.
Lorelai wiped away a tear. "Love you two, Ror. But you gotta stop doing stuff like this to me, or my new nickname's gonna be Crybaby."
Rory giggled a little. "I'll be back soon. Bye." Rory headed out the door and actually made it inside the car this time. Lorelai grabbed a tissue and smiled to herself. She knew she'd screwed up a lot of things in her life, and it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to get pregnant at 16 years old. But right then, she knew for sure, she didn't have a single regret about it.
*************
The tension in the car was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. Neither Jess nor Rory said a thing for the first 15 minutes of the drive. But they both had a pretty good idea what the other was thinking about.
"So." Rory began, trying not to sound too nervous. "You did a good job making the tux look cool." Nice going, she thought to herself sarcastically. That wasn't an awkward thing to say at all.
Jess chuckled. "I look like a dork. I hope you're not planning on taking a lot of pictures."
Rory smiled. "I have to get a few. My mom and Grandma might smother me with pillows if I don't. But you really don't look like a dork." And the awkward silence returned.
"So um. after we leave the dance." Jess began. Rory's heart jumped. I can't believe he's actually bringing this up, she thought. "I have something planned. You know if you get bored and wanna leave early."
"You have something planned?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "It involves a place that serves good coffee, if that helps."
Rory grinned. He had something planned that didn't include a motel bed. That was comforting. "Well it does help. A lot." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks again for doing this. I know it's not really your thing."
"Oh no, are you kidding?" Jess said, with good natured sarcasm. "I was born to be a prom escort."
Rory smiled. "I should warn you, there are a few girls who'll try to throw themselves at you the minute you walk through the door. I'll try to help you steer clear of them, but if they corner you while you're alone."
"No big deal," Jess said. "I'll use a really good dungeons and dragons reference, and maybe throw a Star Trek quote in there. They'll lose interest before you can say "Beam me up Scotty."'
Rory sighed with a smile. "Ok. Good plan."
"Thanks." He shot a smile at her. "Just promise you'll point out Bunny when we get there so I can steer clear."
Rory giggled. "Scout's honor." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
********************
"Wow," Jess said in awe. "It's really big."
Rory sighed, scanning the dance floor. "Yep. Chilton's not exactly known for being understated. Oh hey, there's Bunny by the refreshments."
Jess looked over. "The blond one talking to a chaperone with the really bad fake tan?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Thanks for the warning." Jess looked over at a smiling Rory and suddenly felt really comfortable. He laced his fingers through hers. "You wanna go sit down?"
Rory nodded. "I have no desire to dance at this point," she said, gesturing to the DJ, who was playing a Mandy Moore tune. Rory led Jess by the hand to an unoccupied table and they sat, facing the dance floor. Rory pointed at certain members of the crowd discreetly.
"That guy there, that's Henry."
"Lane's ex Henry?" Jess asked.
"Yeah," Rory replied, confused. "How'd you know about that?"
Jess smiled mischievously. "I have my ways. Continue."
Rory scanned the crowd. "Those two girls, they're Madeline and Louise."
"Friends of yours?"
"Well I wouldn't say friends exactly. We know each other. We talk sometimes. We don't dislike each other. It's a pretty platonic relationship."
"I see. Hey there's Paris."
Rory looked and saw Paris walking over to their table. She sat and mumbled.
"Oh my god I'm so embarrassed."
"Paris, what's wrong?" Rory asked, confused.
Paris looked like she wanted to die. "My date just started up a conversation with my English teacher."
"So what's the problem?"
"He doesn't know a thing about literature. He's such an embarrassment." Paris looked up and suddenly became aware of the fact that Rory wasn't sitting alone. "Oh," she said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you guys alone to your date." She stood up to go, but Jess spoke.
"What's up, Paris?"
"What?" Paris asked confused.
"I think he just asked you how you were, Paris." Rory chimed in.
"You called me Paris," she said to Jess.
"Well yeah, that IS your name isn't it?"
"Yeah," she said. "You remembered me?"
Jess chuckled, a little confused. "Yeah I did. Last year. I came to Rory's house. Brought food. You were there, Rory made you play chaperone."
"I did not," Rory interjected.
Jess ignored the comment. "We talked books. Sound about right?"
Paris seemed impressed and almost flattered. "Wow. Good memory."
"Thanks." He looked over and saw Rory smiling hopefully. He turned back to Paris. "You wanna sit down? We could have some heated literary discussion and try to distract ourselves from the painfully bad music."
Paris smiled. "Are you sure? I mean don't you guys want to be alone?"
Rory shot a smile at Jess. "It's ok. We're alone most of the time. To be honest, I'm a little sick of him."
"Thanks a bunch, pumpkin," Jess said sarcastically with a smile, knowing she'd hated it when her mother used to call her that.
"No problem, Honeybear." Rory giggled, knowing Jess hated being called anything cute. She leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly. Paris sat down with a grateful smile.
"It really is awful music isn't it?" Paris said.
Jess chuckled. "Yeah, it kinda makes you wish Jimi Hendrix were alive to see this, huh?"
Paris looked confused. "Jimi Hendrix? He's dead?"
"Oh my god," Jess muttered shaking his head.
"Paris," Rory offered, "Maybe we should just stick to literary topics."
**************
Lorelai walked into the diner, her eyes still kind of puffy. She sat at the counter as Luke walked toward her.
"A gallon of coffee please and make it strong. I'm talking make-my-eyes- water strong, burger boy."
Luke reluctantly poured some into a large cup. "Please. Don't call me that anymore. Some of the other customers have overheard it in the past and tried to get away with it themselves. It's pretty annoying."
Lorelai grinned. "Hey! I started a trend! I'm like J.Lo!" Her grin faded as she felt Luke examining her face closely. "Um, why are you looking at me like I have spinach in my teeth? I mean I know I don't. I haven't eaten spinach since I was 8 years old and the maid force fed it to me while my parents were gone."
"Have you been crying?" Luke asked. Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"No!" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Seriously! I wasn't crying, I. was chopping onions. Lots of onions. Giant ones."
"Nice try. You don't eat onions."
"No I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't like to cut them. I watch the cooking channel and I like to bring my cutting board and chop vegetables with a big knife and pretend I'm that guy, Emeril. Except taller and less manly."
Luke chuckled. "You have no idea how greatly it disturbs me that you have access to any kind of big knife, Lorelai."
"Yep, that's right," Lorelai said, sipping her coffee. "Sleep with one eye open, Luke, cuz Lorelai's got a big knife and she knows where you live!" Luke rolled his eyes and started making more coffee.
"I'll watch my back."
Lorelai sighed. "Alright, enough with the third degree already. I confess."
"What third degree? All I said-"
"Shhh, Luke, I'm about to have a moving, Lifetime network worthy moment here, do you really wanna miss it?"
Luke sighed. "OK. Go ahead."
Lorelai lowered her voice. "I admit, I have been crying. But only a little bit, mind you."
"I see," Luke said. "Why were you crying? Something wrong?"
Lorelai smiled mischievously. "I'll tell you if you get me some fries."
Luke glared. "Fine, but someday, I'm gonna stop playing along in these little games of yours."
"Aw but who else would you get to entertain you?"
Luke ignored her. "Caesar! Fries! An extra big plate for Lorelai!" he turned back to her. "Happy?"
"Very. Now you get to hear why I was crying."
"Oh Joy."
Lorelai sighed. "Rory went to the prom."
Luke glared. "That's it! That's all? I knew that! That was cheap."
Lorelai sipped her coffee. "Not satisfied? Fine. I have a secret, and I'll tell you but only if you SWEAR you won't let Jess know that I told you."
Luke passed her the plate of fries. "I can pretty much guarantee I won't tell him. We're not really too chatty these days."
"OK." Lorelai grinned and whispered to him, "Jess told Rory he loves her!"
Luke's eyes widened in disbelief. "He WHAT?"
"He told her he-"
"I heard you the first time."
"I know. I just really like saying it."
Luke sighed. "I don't believe this."
Lorelai examined him, confused. "Are you MAD about this or something?"
"No!" Luke exclaimed. "No, I mean. it's great. Great for them. It just. sounds out of character for Jess."
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah well I used to think liking Jess was out of character for Rory. But I guess they both have a weird effect on each other, huh?"
Luke chuckled. "You could say that again." He paused. "You know he got Rory a present for tonight."
Lorelai leaned in, eager for information. "Really? He didn't tell me."
"Yeah he wouldn't tell me what it was either. But he's been working extra hours lately. Saving up his money. Hasn't bought a book or CD in over a month."
"Ooooh, so he got her something expensive. Oh, maybe he bought her a lifetime supply of coffee!"
Luke laughed. "Yeah, that's likely."
"Hey don't sound so sarcastic! It could happen. He knows Rory well, he knows she'd like it."
"Yeah and he also knows you, and therefore knows that if he got her that, you'd drink it all."
"Gee, burst my bubble why don't you?"
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, half-meaning it. "More coffee?"
Lorelai smiled. "You sure know the way to my heart, Luke!"
Luke poured her more coffee. "You know you don't have to keep guessing what he got her. She'll probably show you when she gets home."
Lorelai sighed dreamily. "Yeah. She'll probably come home, all glowy and tired and walking on air with this ridiculous smile stuck on her face. And she'll prance into my room, and say "Oh Mom it was so perfect, I loved my prom. It was the best night of my life."'
Luke snickered. "You haven't been to too many proms, have you?"
"Well not exactly," Lorelai said. "But hey, who's to say it's not gonna be the perfect night for Rory?"
"You know there's a law, right?"
"What law?"
"The law that says everyone's prom sucks except people who win positions in the prom court and people in teen movies."
"Pessimist."
"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist."
Lorelai ignored him and got a twinkle in her eye. "You think they're dancing right now?"
Luke shook his head. "Jess doesn't dance, Lorelai, trust me."
"Well I'm not saying he's doing the tango or anything. You know all dancing means to kids is standing there with their hands all over each other and swaying 2 centimeters in either direction, right?"
"Oh how romantic," Luke said sarcastically.
"Call me overly optimistic, Lucas," Lorelai said, "But I think whatever they're doing, Rory and Jess are having a great time. They're with each other, and they're in love and they're both dressed up and look like models, and neither of them has to worry about paying taxes. What could be better?"
Luke examined Lorelai's face discreetly, and reluctantly resisted his urge to reply with a sarcastic retort. He sighed, wiping off his hands with a dish towel. "I don't know," he said softly. "I guess they could be having a good time."
Lorelai smiled at him. "God. They're really lucky, don't you think? I mean to have found somebody who's just as gorgeous as you are who lives near you and who likes the same music as you and has the same weird slightly obsessive hobby, and who loves you? And at their age too." Lorelai chuckled ironically. "I guess the daughter gets all the luck in this family, huh?"
Luke sighed. "I'm sure you'll find somebody someday."
"Someone who likes my music and my hobbies and who lives here?"
"Well what music are you hoping they like?"
"Metallica, Sinead O'Connor, Ash, and the Go-Go's."
"Well maybe we'll have to go for hobbies then. What are you're biggest hobbies? Besides guzzling coffee and trying to annoy the local diner owner."
Lorelai smiled. "Mocking stupid movies ruthlessly, watching the cooking channel as I mentioned before, having conversations with inanimate objects, and avoiding my mother."
Luke sighed. "Ok, maybe it'll be tough finding someone who shares the same taste in music and the same hobbies as you."
Lorelai stuck out her bottom lip. "Told you. I'm never gonna find love."
Luke remained silent for a minute before saying, "Well maybe the person you love doesn't have to have everything in common with you, ya' know? They say opposite's attract. I always thought it was crap, but hey. you're the optimist right? Who says you can't love someone who's different from you?"
Lorelai smiled at him. "You're pretty good at this."
"Good at what?" Luke asked.
"Talking romantic. That bit there, that should have been in a movie."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Stop."
"I don't mean it in a bad way really! It was actually very nice and comforting, and made me feel good enough to go back home now." Lorelai stood and picked up her purse. She paused before leaving. "Thank you Luke."
She strolled out of the diner. After she was out of earshot, Luke muttered, "Anytime, Lorelai."
******************
A/N:
Second half of prom night comes soon, and I promise it will be juicy and complete!!!!!
PLEASE send feedback; I live for the stuff
"No."
"Oh come on."
"Even if they were bringing Joey Ramone back from the dead for a Ramones reunion on the stage, I still would never even DREAM of setting foot anywhere near the Chilton Prom." Jess laughed. "Drink some more coffee, cuz you are obviously out of it."
Rory stuck out her bottom lip. "You couldn't at least hear me out?"
"I could, but then I wouldn't get to hear you put your outstanding debate skills to good use, would I?"
Rory sighed and ate a fry, contemplating how she could convince him to go. "Paris will be there."
"Paris is in France. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"
"Paris the person. Remember her? You met her last year at my house, that night when my mom was at the spa?"
"The night Dean almost ripped my head off? Yeah, I vaguely remember that night." He walked over to the fridge and got out a soda. "Can I have this?"
"Wouldn't recommend it. It's from Canada."
"What's wrong with soda from Canada?"
"Nothing. Only problem is, neither my mother nor I have been to Canada, and neither of us purchased said soda."
"So how the hell did it get here?"
"That's the million dollar question. Just don't drink it. Trust me."
Jess poured himself a Coke.
"You liked her." Rory tried again. "Remember? We talked literature. It was good, wasn't it?"
Jess chuckled. "Well yeah. She was nice enough. But nice enough for me to drive an hour to drink champage and eat caviar while we schmooze with Muffy, Bunny, and Theodore from the country club? I think not."
Rory stood up and brought her plate to the sink. "Ok, unfair. There is not a single person named Muffy at my school, and there's only one Bunny, but it's not her fault her parents thought that was cute."
Jess downed his soda and brought his plate to the sink. "I'm full. You wanna 'Watch a movie'?"
Rory ignored him. "There will be no caviar, and probably no champagne, and you will not be in any way forced to 'schmooze'. You won't even have to dance much."
"Much? Rory, I gotta tell ya', it's been a while since I've practiced my foxtrot, and it's probably not up to par right about now."
"You're being difficult."
"It's what I do best. Come on, let's go in the other room."
"No!" Rory's eyes widened; she had her game face on. She was serious. "I refuse to kiss, hug, or snuggle with you at all until you agree to go to the Chilton prom with me. Understand?"
Jess rolled his eyes. "Oh God fine. I'll go to the Chilton prom under 3 conditions. 1) If they start to play Britney Spears we will leave immediately with no complaints from you. 2) You never call what we do "snuggling" ever, EVER again. And 3) You have to read the Hemingway book of my choice afterwards." He held out his hand. "Deal?"
Rory considered for a moment, and finally shook his hand reluctantly. "Fine. But only ONE book by Hemingway. I draw the line at anything with volumes."
Jess smiled. "Deal." With her hand still shaking his, Jess pulled her toward him gently and kissed her. Rory smiled.
"Ok," she said. "Let's go "watch a movie."'
*********
"Ok now," Lorelai said, handing her daughter her dress. "There are a few specific rules I must ask you to follow while wearing my clothing. One; no matter how appealing it looks, you've got to resist the temptation to eat that jelly donut. No rolling around on the ground, as much fun as it may be. And I don't care if all the cool kids are doing it, there is no excuse for volunteering to be the target in a pie throwing contest while wearing my dress."
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll try my best not to get involved in all the food throwing and mud wrestling that are guaranteed to take place at any formal Chilton event. Now can I please put the dress on? Jess is gonna be here in half an hour, and he probably won't want to take me if I'm wearing a bathrobe."
Lorelai sighed. "Give me a minute. It's always a traumatizing thing for me to part with my clothing, especially evening gowns."
Rory smiled. She knew when her mother offered to let her wear one of her dresses to the Chilton prom, so she wouldn't wear the same dress twice, it wouldn't be an easy process. The contents of her mother's closet were very sacred to her. Rory added to comfort her, "I promise, I'll treat it like it's my own."
Reluctantly, Lorelai handed it over. "Call me down when you need me to do your makeup."
Rory smiled to her mother, but the minute she was out of the bedroom, the nervous knot in her stomach began to show in her facial expression. She nearly tripped down the stairs. She couldn't really wrap her mind around the idea that she very well could lose her innocence in only a few hours. She knew Jess probably thought tonight would be the night also. "Oh Joy," she thought to herself. "More awkward pauses than usual. I can hardly wait."
In her room she slipped on the dress. It wasn't as fancy as the one she'd bought; it was a baby blue full-skirted strappy dress that fell just a few inches below her knees. It fit her pretty well, but she didn't really care about looking perfect that night. All she could think about was how nervous she'd be when Jess would offer to head home early, as she was sure he would. Of course they wouldn't go right home. There were a couple motels on the drive back, and they weren't due back in Stars Hollow until 1:30 or so in the morning.
Rory had just put on a necklace and some earrings, and was about to start on her hair, but gave up. She couldn't deal with her nerves alone anymore. She closed the door and dialed Lane's number.
"Hello, Kim's antique's."
"Hi Mrs. Kim," Rory said, trying to make her voice sound as sweet as honey. or whatever the Kim's healthy alternative to honey might be. "Could I talk to Lane please? Just for a few minutes, I promise."
Mrs. Kim paused reluctantly. "Ten minutes. She has chores to do."
"Ten minutes. Got it."
Mrs. Kim covered the phone with her hand and called for Lane. Momentarily she was there.
"Rory?" Lane spoke into the phone, bringing it up the stairs to her room for some privacy.
"Oh my God Lane help me."
"What? What happened? Did you and Jess have a fight?"
"No."
"Did Dean break Jess' leg or something? Cuz I had a dream that you and me and Jess and Dave were on a boat, and Jess was dangling his feet over the side and something we thought was a shark tried to bite his leg off, but then we found out it wasn't really a shark, it was ACTUALLY Dean-"
"Lane you have got to stop listening to the Jaws soundtrack before you go to sleep."
"Duly noted. What's going on?"
Rory lowered her voice. "There's a butterfly farm in my stomach and all their cocoons just hatched."
"Weird science reference."
"Well I babble about academic things when I'm nervous."
"So I'm guessing tonight.?"
"Well yeah. I hope. I think. Maybe. If I don't throw up or something."
"Wow. Please don't do that. When they sing about it in songs, how people who love you hold your hair back for you, it's really not as romantic as they make it sound."
"I think that pretty much goes without saying."
"Good point."
"What am I gonna do? He's gonna be here in 15 minutes. I'm so not prepared to know how to talk to him at this point."
"Ok," Lane said, determined. "I'm going in the closet."
"Um. Ok?"
"Alright, let me put on some happy go-lucky encouraging music like the Bangles or The Presidents of the USA to get me in the mood."
"In the mood for what?"
"What you need most right now, my friend. A pep talk." Rory heard "Walk Like an Egyptian" start in the background. "Ok." Lane began. "A few things to remember. First: Jess is your boyfriend."
"Yes generally that would be a good thing for me to remember."
"You love him, and have told him so. He loves you, and has told you so. In fact, he loves you enough to wear a tux and go to, not only one, but two proms. At one of these proms, no one but you will know him. At the other one, everyone will know him, but most of them will hate him. This is not something he would do if he didn't really care about you."
"I get all that," Rory said. "And it makes sense, I just. what if it's. weird?"
"Ok, keep in mind now that I love Dave and in no way have any attraction to Jess ok?"
"Yeah?"
"Rory, he's hot."
"I've noticed, Lane."
"Seriously. Have you seen the way he walks? Or have you seen the way he kisses you?"
"Ironically I haven't gotten the chance to see him kissing me. We haven't gotten around to video taping it yet."
"He looks like his name might as well be Casanova. Trust me, Rory, Jess probably knows what he's doing."
"Yeah, but I don't. That's kind of important. I am half of the relationship, you know."
"My point is, Jess cares about you, and he's probably just as nervous as you are. Just try to relax and remember you trust him. Even though you are one of few who do."
Rory sighed. "You were so close to getting me calm until that last sentence."
"I'm sorry. Just remember; Jess good. Jess trustworthy. Jess loves you. You must relax."
"Thanks. I wasn't sure if I was getting it, but the caveman phrases at the end gave it a real punch."
"Hey I tried. I don't have the right music, I'm not at my best."
Rory smiled. "Thank you, Lane. And I promise I'll see you tomorrow and tell you everything. Well not everything. But everything that's not dirty."
"It's a plan. Good luck!"
"Thanks! Bye!"
Rory hung up with a sigh and called her mother to come do her make up.
***********
Luke came bursting into Jess' room. "You're gonna be late. you're wearing that?"
Jess rolled his eyes. "No, this is just the decoy outfit. Don't tell, but Rory and I are actually going to a pajama party. We're gonna change on the way."
Luke ignored him. "You're not gonna wear a tie?"
Jess chuckled. "Luke, do you know me at all?"
"And you're not gonna wear that- that THING that goes around your waist?"
"Luke, what in my history of apparel ever led you to believe I would, under any circumstances, wear a cummerbund?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "And you're just leaving your hair like normal?"
"I like it this way," Jess retorted. "That's why I do it like that. You think you can save the critique on the rest of my appearance till I get back? Cuz I'm kind of on a schedule here."
Luke sighed, and tried his hardest not to sound like some sappy idiot. "I'm sorry, ok? You don't look. bad or anything."
"Apology accepted. Why are you still in my room?"
Luke sat down awkwardly. "We gotta talk."
Jess rolled his eyes. "Come on. The "don't hurt Rory" speech again? Don't you think if I were planning to hurt her, I would have gotten it done BEFORE our 7 month anniversary?"
"That's not it." Luke awkwardly gestured to the bed. "Sit down. I hate looking up at you like I'm some goddamn munchkin or something."
Jess reluctantly sat, and said in sarcastically sweet voice, "Yes, Uncle Luke?"
"Jess, you're goin' to Chilton."
"I'm aware of this."
"Chilton is a pretty formal place. It's Rory's school."
"All pieces of information I've heard several times before, what's your point?"
"Don't embarrass her! You can't act the way you do around here when you're with those people. They'll throw you out on your ass. So please resist the urge to act out your usual problems with authority, and no intoxication of any kind, and just. try not to do anything Rory couldn't tell her grandparents about, ok?"
Jess plastered on an obviously fake smile. "I'll try my extra hardest Uncle Luke!" Picking up his wallet, keys, and little box, he strolled out of the room. "I'll be back late."
************
"Ok I think you've had enough fun with the eye shadow, Mom."
Lorelai pouted. "Fine. I'll put it away. You know they always used to say, a girl can never wear enough eye shadow."
Rory smiled. "Yeah well they also used to wear corsets and think the world was flat."
Lorelai put the eye shadow down and examined her daughter. "You look beautiful babe. Really. Jess is gonna be speechless."
Rory smiled humbly. "I don't look that good."
Lorleai rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, we don't allow fishing for compliments in this house. You look great, accept it."
"Thank you, mom." Rory's nervousness was pushed aside by a new feeling; complete guilt. She wanted to tell her mother. She and Lorelai shared EVERYTHING. But she knew now was definitely not the time to mention, "Oh by the way Mom, I'm gonna let Jess deflower me tonight." She'd send her to live with the Kim's or something.
"Hey, Kid, what's the matter?" Lorelai asked.
Rory tried to play it off. "Nothing's wrong. Really."
"Honey you never were very good at lying."
Rory sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just a little nervous."
Lorelai smiled comfortingly. "Ok, even though your last experience with a Chilton dance ended. well not wonderfully, it doesn't mean every Chilton dance is gonna end with your boyfriend having a public fight on the dance floor and you staying out all night. There is every possibility that tonight will be fun filled. as long as they don't play any Britney Spears."
Rory smiled. "You know, you and Jess are a lot more compatible than you guys think you are."
Lorelai looked confused. "Rory, queen of the non-sequitur."
The doorbell rang. Rory and Lorelai froze.
"Did you order pizza?" Rory asked hopefully.
"Nope."
"Chinese?"
"No."
"Barbershop quartet?"
"Creative. But no."
They both sighed.
"So you think that's him?" Rory asked.
"Probably. You want me to answer?"
"Considering I can't feel my legs, that would probably be best."
Lorelai headed to the door. "I'm on it." she turned back one last time. "You're gorgeous, he loves you, it will be ok."
Lorelai closed Rory's bedroom door. Rory smiled to herself, looked in the mirror one last time, and said under her breath, "Here goes nothing."
******************
Lorelai opened the front door.
"Jess, wow," she said, trying to stifle giggles at the sight of him in a tux. "You, uh. you look great."
Jess chuckled, embarrassed. "Yeah right. Is Rory ready?"
"In Just a minute. Come on in. Have a seat. Prepare something fantastic to say when Rory comes out looking like a princess."
Jess chuckled and took a seat on the couch. Lorelai sat on the chair opposite him and tried her best to break the awkward silence. "So did you get her a corsage?"
Jess shook his head. "I was warned not to buy flowers or anything that dies."
"So I'm guessing she told you about the time she brought her corsage from the debutante ball home?"
"You mean the time you insisted on having a funeral for the flowers when they died? Yeah she told me."
Lorelai smiled, awkwardly. "Yeah well. Rory tends to exaggerate when she tells stories about me."
Jess smiled and nodded. "Sure."
Lorelai stood. "I should probably go get Rory huh?"
"That's probably a good idea."
Lorelai went to Rory's door and knocked. "Cinderella! You're prince has arrived! Wanna make an appearance?"
Rory called back through the door. "Did he bring flowers in any shape or form?"
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "No, and you're never gonna let me forget that one incident, are you?"
Rory opened her door with a smile. "Mom, I think it's sweet that you care so much about the flowers that you want to mourn their death."
"Yeah right," Lorelai replied.
"Really! I do! It's just. time consuming, planning the services and all."
"Prince Charming is waiting," Lorelai changed the subject in a sing song-y voice.
Rory walked down the hall into the living room. Jess looked up at her as she entered and his eyes visibly widened. She could feel herself blushing. Jess stood.
"Wow," he said. "I'm certainly impressed." He paused awkwardly. "You look. really good. REALLY good."
Rory smiled, embarrassed. "Thank you. You too." Both of them were obviously too nervous to know what to say. Lorelai looked from one embarrassed teen to the other, hoping for somebody to break the ice so she wouldn't have to.
"Ok!" She began. "You guys should probably get going, you'll be late. You got the tickets?"
Rory nodded. "Yeah, we're all set." She took a deep breath. "See ya later mom."
"Bye, you two. Have fun."
Lorelai sighed, watching Jess take Rory's hand and lead her towards the door. She tried to hold back her tears at least until they were out the door. She felt so silly; it was Rory's prom, no big deal. But it was so weird for her. She never even got to go to her prom, and by the age of 17 she was single, a high school dropout, with a baby, and she'd never even really gotten a chance to grow up. And now here Rory was; 18 years old, about to graduate high school, in no danger of being pregnant, and on her way to her senior prom with a boy who really loved her. She went to the window to wave at Rory as the car drove away, but saw only Jess, standing unaccompanied by the side of the car. She heard the front door open, and saw Rory run through the living room to hug her.
"I love you Mom," She said with a goofy smile.
Lorelai wiped away a tear. "Love you two, Ror. But you gotta stop doing stuff like this to me, or my new nickname's gonna be Crybaby."
Rory giggled a little. "I'll be back soon. Bye." Rory headed out the door and actually made it inside the car this time. Lorelai grabbed a tissue and smiled to herself. She knew she'd screwed up a lot of things in her life, and it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to get pregnant at 16 years old. But right then, she knew for sure, she didn't have a single regret about it.
*************
The tension in the car was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. Neither Jess nor Rory said a thing for the first 15 minutes of the drive. But they both had a pretty good idea what the other was thinking about.
"So." Rory began, trying not to sound too nervous. "You did a good job making the tux look cool." Nice going, she thought to herself sarcastically. That wasn't an awkward thing to say at all.
Jess chuckled. "I look like a dork. I hope you're not planning on taking a lot of pictures."
Rory smiled. "I have to get a few. My mom and Grandma might smother me with pillows if I don't. But you really don't look like a dork." And the awkward silence returned.
"So um. after we leave the dance." Jess began. Rory's heart jumped. I can't believe he's actually bringing this up, she thought. "I have something planned. You know if you get bored and wanna leave early."
"You have something planned?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "It involves a place that serves good coffee, if that helps."
Rory grinned. He had something planned that didn't include a motel bed. That was comforting. "Well it does help. A lot." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks again for doing this. I know it's not really your thing."
"Oh no, are you kidding?" Jess said, with good natured sarcasm. "I was born to be a prom escort."
Rory smiled. "I should warn you, there are a few girls who'll try to throw themselves at you the minute you walk through the door. I'll try to help you steer clear of them, but if they corner you while you're alone."
"No big deal," Jess said. "I'll use a really good dungeons and dragons reference, and maybe throw a Star Trek quote in there. They'll lose interest before you can say "Beam me up Scotty."'
Rory sighed with a smile. "Ok. Good plan."
"Thanks." He shot a smile at her. "Just promise you'll point out Bunny when we get there so I can steer clear."
Rory giggled. "Scout's honor." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
********************
"Wow," Jess said in awe. "It's really big."
Rory sighed, scanning the dance floor. "Yep. Chilton's not exactly known for being understated. Oh hey, there's Bunny by the refreshments."
Jess looked over. "The blond one talking to a chaperone with the really bad fake tan?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Thanks for the warning." Jess looked over at a smiling Rory and suddenly felt really comfortable. He laced his fingers through hers. "You wanna go sit down?"
Rory nodded. "I have no desire to dance at this point," she said, gesturing to the DJ, who was playing a Mandy Moore tune. Rory led Jess by the hand to an unoccupied table and they sat, facing the dance floor. Rory pointed at certain members of the crowd discreetly.
"That guy there, that's Henry."
"Lane's ex Henry?" Jess asked.
"Yeah," Rory replied, confused. "How'd you know about that?"
Jess smiled mischievously. "I have my ways. Continue."
Rory scanned the crowd. "Those two girls, they're Madeline and Louise."
"Friends of yours?"
"Well I wouldn't say friends exactly. We know each other. We talk sometimes. We don't dislike each other. It's a pretty platonic relationship."
"I see. Hey there's Paris."
Rory looked and saw Paris walking over to their table. She sat and mumbled.
"Oh my god I'm so embarrassed."
"Paris, what's wrong?" Rory asked, confused.
Paris looked like she wanted to die. "My date just started up a conversation with my English teacher."
"So what's the problem?"
"He doesn't know a thing about literature. He's such an embarrassment." Paris looked up and suddenly became aware of the fact that Rory wasn't sitting alone. "Oh," she said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you guys alone to your date." She stood up to go, but Jess spoke.
"What's up, Paris?"
"What?" Paris asked confused.
"I think he just asked you how you were, Paris." Rory chimed in.
"You called me Paris," she said to Jess.
"Well yeah, that IS your name isn't it?"
"Yeah," she said. "You remembered me?"
Jess chuckled, a little confused. "Yeah I did. Last year. I came to Rory's house. Brought food. You were there, Rory made you play chaperone."
"I did not," Rory interjected.
Jess ignored the comment. "We talked books. Sound about right?"
Paris seemed impressed and almost flattered. "Wow. Good memory."
"Thanks." He looked over and saw Rory smiling hopefully. He turned back to Paris. "You wanna sit down? We could have some heated literary discussion and try to distract ourselves from the painfully bad music."
Paris smiled. "Are you sure? I mean don't you guys want to be alone?"
Rory shot a smile at Jess. "It's ok. We're alone most of the time. To be honest, I'm a little sick of him."
"Thanks a bunch, pumpkin," Jess said sarcastically with a smile, knowing she'd hated it when her mother used to call her that.
"No problem, Honeybear." Rory giggled, knowing Jess hated being called anything cute. She leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly. Paris sat down with a grateful smile.
"It really is awful music isn't it?" Paris said.
Jess chuckled. "Yeah, it kinda makes you wish Jimi Hendrix were alive to see this, huh?"
Paris looked confused. "Jimi Hendrix? He's dead?"
"Oh my god," Jess muttered shaking his head.
"Paris," Rory offered, "Maybe we should just stick to literary topics."
**************
Lorelai walked into the diner, her eyes still kind of puffy. She sat at the counter as Luke walked toward her.
"A gallon of coffee please and make it strong. I'm talking make-my-eyes- water strong, burger boy."
Luke reluctantly poured some into a large cup. "Please. Don't call me that anymore. Some of the other customers have overheard it in the past and tried to get away with it themselves. It's pretty annoying."
Lorelai grinned. "Hey! I started a trend! I'm like J.Lo!" Her grin faded as she felt Luke examining her face closely. "Um, why are you looking at me like I have spinach in my teeth? I mean I know I don't. I haven't eaten spinach since I was 8 years old and the maid force fed it to me while my parents were gone."
"Have you been crying?" Luke asked. Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"No!" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Seriously! I wasn't crying, I. was chopping onions. Lots of onions. Giant ones."
"Nice try. You don't eat onions."
"No I don't, but that doesn't mean I don't like to cut them. I watch the cooking channel and I like to bring my cutting board and chop vegetables with a big knife and pretend I'm that guy, Emeril. Except taller and less manly."
Luke chuckled. "You have no idea how greatly it disturbs me that you have access to any kind of big knife, Lorelai."
"Yep, that's right," Lorelai said, sipping her coffee. "Sleep with one eye open, Luke, cuz Lorelai's got a big knife and she knows where you live!" Luke rolled his eyes and started making more coffee.
"I'll watch my back."
Lorelai sighed. "Alright, enough with the third degree already. I confess."
"What third degree? All I said-"
"Shhh, Luke, I'm about to have a moving, Lifetime network worthy moment here, do you really wanna miss it?"
Luke sighed. "OK. Go ahead."
Lorelai lowered her voice. "I admit, I have been crying. But only a little bit, mind you."
"I see," Luke said. "Why were you crying? Something wrong?"
Lorelai smiled mischievously. "I'll tell you if you get me some fries."
Luke glared. "Fine, but someday, I'm gonna stop playing along in these little games of yours."
"Aw but who else would you get to entertain you?"
Luke ignored her. "Caesar! Fries! An extra big plate for Lorelai!" he turned back to her. "Happy?"
"Very. Now you get to hear why I was crying."
"Oh Joy."
Lorelai sighed. "Rory went to the prom."
Luke glared. "That's it! That's all? I knew that! That was cheap."
Lorelai sipped her coffee. "Not satisfied? Fine. I have a secret, and I'll tell you but only if you SWEAR you won't let Jess know that I told you."
Luke passed her the plate of fries. "I can pretty much guarantee I won't tell him. We're not really too chatty these days."
"OK." Lorelai grinned and whispered to him, "Jess told Rory he loves her!"
Luke's eyes widened in disbelief. "He WHAT?"
"He told her he-"
"I heard you the first time."
"I know. I just really like saying it."
Luke sighed. "I don't believe this."
Lorelai examined him, confused. "Are you MAD about this or something?"
"No!" Luke exclaimed. "No, I mean. it's great. Great for them. It just. sounds out of character for Jess."
Lorelai smiled. "Yeah well I used to think liking Jess was out of character for Rory. But I guess they both have a weird effect on each other, huh?"
Luke chuckled. "You could say that again." He paused. "You know he got Rory a present for tonight."
Lorelai leaned in, eager for information. "Really? He didn't tell me."
"Yeah he wouldn't tell me what it was either. But he's been working extra hours lately. Saving up his money. Hasn't bought a book or CD in over a month."
"Ooooh, so he got her something expensive. Oh, maybe he bought her a lifetime supply of coffee!"
Luke laughed. "Yeah, that's likely."
"Hey don't sound so sarcastic! It could happen. He knows Rory well, he knows she'd like it."
"Yeah and he also knows you, and therefore knows that if he got her that, you'd drink it all."
"Gee, burst my bubble why don't you?"
Luke sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, half-meaning it. "More coffee?"
Lorelai smiled. "You sure know the way to my heart, Luke!"
Luke poured her more coffee. "You know you don't have to keep guessing what he got her. She'll probably show you when she gets home."
Lorelai sighed dreamily. "Yeah. She'll probably come home, all glowy and tired and walking on air with this ridiculous smile stuck on her face. And she'll prance into my room, and say "Oh Mom it was so perfect, I loved my prom. It was the best night of my life."'
Luke snickered. "You haven't been to too many proms, have you?"
"Well not exactly," Lorelai said. "But hey, who's to say it's not gonna be the perfect night for Rory?"
"You know there's a law, right?"
"What law?"
"The law that says everyone's prom sucks except people who win positions in the prom court and people in teen movies."
"Pessimist."
"I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist."
Lorelai ignored him and got a twinkle in her eye. "You think they're dancing right now?"
Luke shook his head. "Jess doesn't dance, Lorelai, trust me."
"Well I'm not saying he's doing the tango or anything. You know all dancing means to kids is standing there with their hands all over each other and swaying 2 centimeters in either direction, right?"
"Oh how romantic," Luke said sarcastically.
"Call me overly optimistic, Lucas," Lorelai said, "But I think whatever they're doing, Rory and Jess are having a great time. They're with each other, and they're in love and they're both dressed up and look like models, and neither of them has to worry about paying taxes. What could be better?"
Luke examined Lorelai's face discreetly, and reluctantly resisted his urge to reply with a sarcastic retort. He sighed, wiping off his hands with a dish towel. "I don't know," he said softly. "I guess they could be having a good time."
Lorelai smiled at him. "God. They're really lucky, don't you think? I mean to have found somebody who's just as gorgeous as you are who lives near you and who likes the same music as you and has the same weird slightly obsessive hobby, and who loves you? And at their age too." Lorelai chuckled ironically. "I guess the daughter gets all the luck in this family, huh?"
Luke sighed. "I'm sure you'll find somebody someday."
"Someone who likes my music and my hobbies and who lives here?"
"Well what music are you hoping they like?"
"Metallica, Sinead O'Connor, Ash, and the Go-Go's."
"Well maybe we'll have to go for hobbies then. What are you're biggest hobbies? Besides guzzling coffee and trying to annoy the local diner owner."
Lorelai smiled. "Mocking stupid movies ruthlessly, watching the cooking channel as I mentioned before, having conversations with inanimate objects, and avoiding my mother."
Luke sighed. "Ok, maybe it'll be tough finding someone who shares the same taste in music and the same hobbies as you."
Lorelai stuck out her bottom lip. "Told you. I'm never gonna find love."
Luke remained silent for a minute before saying, "Well maybe the person you love doesn't have to have everything in common with you, ya' know? They say opposite's attract. I always thought it was crap, but hey. you're the optimist right? Who says you can't love someone who's different from you?"
Lorelai smiled at him. "You're pretty good at this."
"Good at what?" Luke asked.
"Talking romantic. That bit there, that should have been in a movie."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Stop."
"I don't mean it in a bad way really! It was actually very nice and comforting, and made me feel good enough to go back home now." Lorelai stood and picked up her purse. She paused before leaving. "Thank you Luke."
She strolled out of the diner. After she was out of earshot, Luke muttered, "Anytime, Lorelai."
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A/N:
Second half of prom night comes soon, and I promise it will be juicy and complete!!!!!
PLEASE send feedback; I live for the stuff
