Part 7
Too Good To Wait For
I wanted to leave you
Completely pleased
Sleep drifting above you
Sweetly released
I want to see you smiling
Weak in the knees
I want to see you come, come
Completely pleased
I want to give you something
Priceless and free
And free...
I wanted to leave you
Completely pleased
Sleep drifting above you
Sweetly complete at peace
I want to see you hazy
Dazed and confused I
Want to see you come, come
Completely used up
I want to give you something
Forever and true
And true....
Rory pulled her lips away from Jess', nearly breathless. "Is this Semisonic?"
"Uh, yeah," Jess said. He leaned in for another kiss.
"What's the name of the song?" Rory said before he could reach her lips.
"Completely Pleased," Jess answered, somewhat annoyed. "Is this really necessary?"
"Well I like the song," she said. "That, and I really needed to come up for air."
Jess chuckled a little. "Yeah, I think we could both use a little breather." He sat back in the drivers seat with a sigh.
Rory looked around. "Wow. I always thought it was just an effect in the movies," she said, "But I guess making out really does fog up the car windows, huh?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah," he said, looking at the fog. "And we all know what that means don't we?"
"Actually, we all don't. Explain please?"
He smiled. "More privacy for Dawson and Joey to make out in Dawson's car." He kissed her again, and moved onto her neck, fully respecting her need for air.
"So you fancy yourself a Dawson Leary type?" she asked amused.
"Don't start," he laughed. "We've been down this road before."
"Yes that's right, and we both agreed that Dawson's creek is best left unmentioned between the two of us."
"Believe me, I'm kicking myself as we speak."
Rory leaned back against the car door, letting him leave little kisses all over her neck and shoulders. It had only been 5 days since they'd agreed not to be having sex regularly or too often, and already she'd nearly given in twice. Of course, she hadn't told him. But it was so hard for her, being with him, kissing and touching, and having to put the restrictions back when she already knew what lay beyond their restrictions. Anytime they were alone, even if only for a few moments, they found they could barely keep their hands, or lips, to themselves anymore. They'd even been known to both disappear for a few minutes to goodness knows where in the mornings before school when Rory and Lorelai were supposed to be having breakfast at the diner.
Now it was Friday afternoon. Rory had gotten out of school, and only taken the bus half of the way home. She and Jess had agreed that he'd drive out to a bus stop a couple miles outside Stars Hollow, and they'd go find someplace they could really be alone, without Luke or Lorelai bursting in every 5 minutes, someplace they didn't have to worry about people seeing them. They parked in a woody area, and after only a few minutes of kissing, Rory really had to resist the urge to start undressing him. "Just remember," she told herself. "Tomorrow night. It's just over 24 hours to wait. It's not that difficult."
As Rory's thoughts wandered, Jess noticed her inattentiveness. "Hey," he said. "Things are pretty interesting over here, what's it like where you are?"
Rory giggled. "Sorry. Just spaced out a little. It's nothing."
Jess sat up, knowing fully well that whenever Rory spaced out, it was never "nothing".
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Rory sighed. "We're waiting until tomorrow night," she said, stubbornly.
"Um... ok?" Jess said, confused.
"It makes me worry when I realize how unable I am to control myself when we're together," she said, staring at the dashboard. "Why do you do that to me? All my life, I'm little miss responsible; you hear the name Rory, you think 'Mind of her own, strong-willed, sensible'. Then suddenly, you show up in town and I'm cutting school to go to New York City, getting in car crashes-"
"That was MY fault," he interjected. "Why are you beating yourself up over this? So you had sex. You enjoyed yourself. Most people do. I hardly think it's fair for you to be upset with yourself for having hormones."
"I'm not upset about the hormones," she said. "I'm upset because I became THAT GIRL."
"What girl?" Jess asked, looking around. "Where?"
Rory sighed. "THAT girl. The one who loses her head over some guy."
"So I'm just 'Some guy'? Gee thanks, love you too, Rory," he said, a little more defensively than he'd meant to.
"Stop," she said. "Now you're just pouting cuz I wanted to stop making out."
Jess sighed, trying to keep his calm. He knew Rory was a little insane... ok maybe more than a little. And he knew that what she needed most in her times of insanity was someone rational to keep her grounded. "I'm not mad because you wanted to stop, I'm confused because you're making a really big deal over something that's totally normal."
"So you don't think this is a big deal?" Rory said, angrily. She knew she was twisting his words, and she knew deep down that she really didn't make any sense... but she could feel herself panicking at the thought of his completely overpowering affect on her. Being defensive was the only tactic she'd learned from her mother... granted, not the most mature role model, but she hadn't really had a choice in the matter.
"Rory, whatever's important to you can be important to me," he said. "But only if you tell me what the hell you're talking about, cuz I'm definitely not following."
"Maybe I wasn't ready for this," she blurted out. The minute the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.
"For what, making out in my car?"
"You know what I mean, Jess," she said. "I mean I know we can't undo what we did, but... maybe we should just..."
"Pretend it never happened?" Jess asked. It scared Rory that he knew exactly what she was thinking. An uncomfortable silence filled the car. Jess leaned back in his seat.
"So you're saying you want to slow things down?" He asked, surprisingly calm. Rory looked over at his face, to make sure she hadn't misread his voice; she hadn't. He wasn't frowning, or glaring, or making any kind of unpleasant face. He just looked... well, normal.
"Well, yeah," she said. "I guess..." Silence again.
"We're still together though, right?" he asked, not looking at her.
"Yeah of course," she answered, completely grateful for his understanding, and at the same time unsure of whether or not he was going to blow up in a rage any minute. Even though it had been months, she still wasn't used to Jess' calm way of dealing with things. Compared to Dean, he seemed practically sedated.
"And we're still going to the prom tomorrow night?"
"We better be, cuz I don't know where else I'd get a chance to wear my dress."
Jess smiled slightly. "Ok." He turned the key in the ignition. "Wanna go to the bookstore?"
Rory could hardly believe how well he was handling it. "You're not mad?"
Jess chuckled a little. "Mad?" he asked. "No. I wouldn't say mad. More like worried."
"Worried?" Rory asked.
"Worried that my girlfriend might be displaying early signs of bipolarity."
He laughed. Rory tried to glare at him, but couldn't keep her smile from showing. "You better find something really good for me at the bookstore to make up for that one," she said as they drove back towards Stars Hollow.
*****************************
Just past 9:30 that evening, Lorelai strolled into the diner. Since there the diner was virtually empty, it didn't seem out of the ordinary for Luke to stare at her as much as he was... and he was very grateful for this. He always liked it when she stopped by after her Friday night dinners with her parents. She was always dressed up, and in desperate need of the one thing only he could give her. Coffee.
She collapsed on a stool by the counter with a groan. "Ugh....."
"That bad huh?" Luke asked.
"Worse," she replied. "Hey you wouldn't happen to have any-"
"Coffee?" Luke finished for her. "Why? It's not like you wouldn't force me to make more if we were out anyway." He poured her a cup. She grabbed it greedily.
"Ahhhh..." she sighed after a long sip. "Who the hell needs therapy when this stuff exists?"
"So what'd Emily and Richard do this time?" Luke asked, refilling the salt and pepper shakers by the counter.
"You mean besides nearly drive me to stick my head in the fireplace?" she asked, before taking another long sip. "Basically it was a long evening full of "how was the prom Rory? What did you do? What did you wear? What did Jess wear? What songs did you dance to? Now try to repeat every word you and he uttered the entire night, and then paint us a mental picture of the entire environment, right down to every last floor tile in the rest rooms."' She sighed. "It was brutal."
"Sounds it," Luke said, pouring her a refill, knowing full well that arguing with her about her caffeine habit was practically suicidal.
"But get this," she said. "After they were fully satisfied with her retelling of her fairy tale evening, there was another 45 minutes of "Jess seems like such a nice boy. How lucky of Rory to find him. By the way, when was the last time you had a date Lorelai? Wait much longer, there won't be many good catches left out there. Are you interested in dating so-and-so from the DAR's son? He's a stock broker AND an excellent Croquet competitor!"
"Well aren't you lucky," Luke teased her.
"The luckiest," Lorelai grunted sarcastically. "So how's your evening been? Must have been better than mine, seeing as how you don't seem to have any self-inflicted wounds or any signs of attempted suicide."
"It wasn't so bad," Luke said. "Taylor hasn't been in once all day."
"Well aren't you just lucky as an Irish man?" Lorelai grinned.
"I'd do a jig, but I'm not in the right shoes," he replied sarcastically.
Lorelai sighed in contemplation. "What if-and please promise you'll put me out of my misery if I start sounding too much like my mother-what if she was right?"
"About what?"
"Maybe-just maybe-there really aren't that many good catches out there anymore," Lorelai said. "I mean think about it Luke. How many girlfriends have you had in the past few years?"
"I don't know," he answered gruffly. "I never really took the time to count."
"Not enough I'll bet," she said. "And the same goes for me. The more time goes by, the more I just give up trying. I mean admit it, you could have a dating life that's a hell of a lot more exciting if you just put yourself out there."
He looked at her. "Something tells me that's not the biggest reason."
Lorelai looked up, completely taken aback by his comment. Did he mean what she thought he meant?
Jess came down the stairs, his loud footsteps giving Luke a reason to break their eye contact. Lorelai looked down quickly taking her last few gulps of coffee.
"I'm goin' out Luke," Jess said.
"Hold it," Luke commanded. "You going to meet Rory?"
"No," Jess responded. "Believe it or not, we don't spend every waking hour together."
"No but it's pretty damn close," Lorelai commented, standing up and avoiding Luke's eyes. "I should be getting home. See ya later Luke."
Luke replied, obviously just as uncomfortable as Lorelai was. "Yeah, see ya."
Lorelai hurried out, calling to Jess over her shoulder, "Rory says hey!"
Jess nodded to Lorelai in acknowledgement, before turning to Luke with a smug smile. "So," he asked. "What was that about?"
"What was what about?" Luke said, turning away from him to start drying mugs.
"You and Lorelai," he said. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Nothing but a conversation," Luke answered. "I thought you said you were leaving."
"No worries, I'm out of your hair," Jess said, still smiling. He walked out of the diner, whistling just loud enough for Luke to hear, the melody of "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah."
Luke tried not to blush as he returned to his work.
****************************
"I feel so stupid," Rory admitted, closing her eyes to let Lane sweep eye shadow over her eye lids. "I mean, I don't even know why I said it!" she sighed. "I don't want to slow things down."
"Well good," Lane said. "I was starting to worry."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Lane," Rory said, "but what does it matter to you?"
"Hi. I'm Lane Kim, daughter of the Christian health food Nazi, Mrs. Kim. Up till last month, I could count the number of times I've kissed my boyfriend on my right hand. I'm living vicariously through you here, Rory, you can't wimp out on me and lose the steam. Otherwise I'd just have to find a new best friend." Lane put down the eye shadow. "Open."
Rory opened her eyes. "So what am I supposed to do? Just say 'Hey Jess, remember what I said yesterday about slowing things down? That thing I made such a huge deal over? Yeah well I take it back."' She sighed. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I AM bipolar."
"Well why don't you just wait a couple weeks, and then say, 'Hey, I messed up. I was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?' And then give him a really passionate, intense kiss before he has a chance to say no?"
"Because," Rory said, feeling ashamed of herself before she even got the words out. "I don't think I can wait that long."
"Wow," Lane said with a grin. "So Rory Gilmore's got regular teenage hormones. I was beginning to wonder."
Rory sighed. "It's just so weird, Lane! Yesterday, after I said I wanted to slow things down, he was totally cool about it. I'm talking John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever cool. But we got to the bookstore, and we were just talking... I mean it was nice. I like the talking and all, I really do, I just.... Every time I looked at him-"
"You wanted to attack him?" Lane finished her sentence. Rory buried her face in her hands.
"I'm a horrible, horrible person," she groaned.
"I don't really think he'd mind if you took it back, Rory," Lane said. "I mean he's a guy. Generally, they aren't opposed to their girlfriend actually wanting to be physical."
"But I just said it today," Rory said. "He's gonna think I'm crazy."
"Ok, 1) you ARE. And 2) he already knows it." Lane unzipped the bag her dress was hanging in. "It's gonna be fine. Your craziness is part of what makes you special. He might even think it's cute."
"Yeah," Rory said. "Cute in a psychotic, Girl Interrupted kind of a way."
"Perhaps," Lane answered. "But cute is cute." Lane slipped her dress on. It was surprisingly nice for a dress that had been approved by Mama Kim; It was a sleeveless dress, in a medium blue color, with a slightly full skirt. "Zip me up?" she asked. Rory obliged.
"You look really good," Rory said. "Dave's gonna go catatonic."
Lane didn't even bother trying to hide her giddy reaction. "You think so?"
"I KNOW so," Rory said. "Face it Lane. You worked your magic on the boy. He's fallen head over heels. He's probably even written songs about it."
"Ok, now you're just teasing me," Lane said. "But then again, I really don't care."
Lorelai came in through the front door. "Marco!!!!" she called.
"We're in my room, Polo!" Rory answered. Lorelai came in and immediately collapsed on the bed.
"Oh lord help me," she swooned. "They're so much more beautiful than I..." she sat up with a look of defiance in her eyes. "Damn you and your youth! Oh how I envy thou-for thou art- oh I give up, Shakespeare's not my thing." She sighed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, Joan Rivers," Rory said to Lane with a look of amusement.
"You guys look fantastic," Lorelai said. She handed them the bag from the drug store. "I come bearing last minute purse-fillers. There's two packs of gum, two chapsticks, two packets of fake nails, two boxes of Altoids, should you think gum takes too long to freshen the breath, and of course, two snickers bars."
"Lorelai, you're a Goddess," Lane said, taking out the candy bar and putting it in her purse.
"Thank you, I know," Lorelai said with a smile, walking into the kitchen. "I'm making coffee!" she called as she closed the door.
Lane turned to Rory and tried to keep her voice down. "Are you gonna tell her?"
Rory shook her head quickly. "No! God no. Do you have any idea how disastrous that would be?" She picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair.
"Wow," Lane exclaimed. "I'm impressed. A secret between the Gilmore girls. How are you dealing with that?"
"By talking to you," Rory answered. "I like just having this one thing that's totally mine, anyway. It's nice. It's like I sort of have a life of my own, and I'm not just half of the Lorelai and Rory team." Lane looked confused. Rory sighed. "It's like I'm a guitar player in a band who's finally getting the chance to do some solo work without the rest of the band."
"Oh!" Lane said. "I get it. Good for you."
The doorbell rang.
"They're here," Lane said, excited.
"Looks like it," Rory said, trying to mask her dread of this virtually kiss- free evening with Jess with fake enthusiasm. "Let's go."
When they reached the living room, Dave and Jess were both sitting on opposite ends of the couch, apparently engrossed in a very interesting conversation.
"Static Age," Jess said. "Definitely the best Album."
"No, no, no," Dave argued. "It's gotta be Earth AD."
"Oh come on!" Jess said. "Are you forgetting 'We are 138'? Or 'Hybrid moments'?"
"I have 7 words," Dave said. "Mommy, can I go out and kill tonight?"
"That's 8 words," Lane interjected.
"Oh right," Dave said, then did a double take, suddenly noticing Lane's presence. "Oh, Hey!" he said, standing. "Wow. You look... much better than you usually do when your mother dresses you. I'm impressed."
Lane smiled. "Thanks. But your flattery won't convince me to side with you about this. Jess is right. Static Age was the best Misfits Album."
Jess stood and walked over to Rory. "Hey," he said, seemingly nervous. Cautiously, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Is that all right?"
Rory smiled. "Of course it is. We're not Amish."
Jess laughed. "Good point."
Lorelai came in from the kitchen. "Ok everybody," she said. "I've got a camera, and I sort of know how to use it." She put it to her eye. "Everybody pose, and please, pose does not mean give me the finger."
"Aw well now I've got nothing," Jess joked. Rory laughed a little, but smiled gratefully as he put his arm around her waist. At least he wasn't going to avoid touching her completely, she thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"Ok," Lorelai said. "1, 2, 3, say cheese!"
No one did. She took the picture anyway.
"All right guys, you better get going. Don't wanna miss anything."
The two couples headed out the door, Rory leaving last. "This ought to be interesting," she muttered to herself as she closed the door.
A/N: So I know I've been posting short chapters lately.... But it's easier than doing long chapters and posting once a month. I'm on a serious roll here-a chapter a day every day for like 4 days. So forgive me if there are slight mistakes. I'm exhausted. Anyway, I'm loving your reviews, guys, you're what drives me to do this as much as I do. I promise the next chapter will have some Rory and Jess action, and then the one after that.... Well that one's gonna be really juicy... hehehe so keep reading! It's gonna get good soon!
~Emaline
oh and in case you're reading the reviews of other people, this is in response to a certain review which said that "Will you still love me tomorrow" was actually done originally by Carole King. Um... it wasn't. It was done by the Shirelle's. sorry, I mean whoever said that, I'm sure it was an honest mistake, and I don't mind. But trust me, guys. I'm a class A audiophile. I know my music. It's all accurate. Wow that made me sound bitchy. It wasn't meant to be. Ok I'm gonna shut up now.
Too Good To Wait For
I wanted to leave you
Completely pleased
Sleep drifting above you
Sweetly released
I want to see you smiling
Weak in the knees
I want to see you come, come
Completely pleased
I want to give you something
Priceless and free
And free...
I wanted to leave you
Completely pleased
Sleep drifting above you
Sweetly complete at peace
I want to see you hazy
Dazed and confused I
Want to see you come, come
Completely used up
I want to give you something
Forever and true
And true....
Rory pulled her lips away from Jess', nearly breathless. "Is this Semisonic?"
"Uh, yeah," Jess said. He leaned in for another kiss.
"What's the name of the song?" Rory said before he could reach her lips.
"Completely Pleased," Jess answered, somewhat annoyed. "Is this really necessary?"
"Well I like the song," she said. "That, and I really needed to come up for air."
Jess chuckled a little. "Yeah, I think we could both use a little breather." He sat back in the drivers seat with a sigh.
Rory looked around. "Wow. I always thought it was just an effect in the movies," she said, "But I guess making out really does fog up the car windows, huh?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah," he said, looking at the fog. "And we all know what that means don't we?"
"Actually, we all don't. Explain please?"
He smiled. "More privacy for Dawson and Joey to make out in Dawson's car." He kissed her again, and moved onto her neck, fully respecting her need for air.
"So you fancy yourself a Dawson Leary type?" she asked amused.
"Don't start," he laughed. "We've been down this road before."
"Yes that's right, and we both agreed that Dawson's creek is best left unmentioned between the two of us."
"Believe me, I'm kicking myself as we speak."
Rory leaned back against the car door, letting him leave little kisses all over her neck and shoulders. It had only been 5 days since they'd agreed not to be having sex regularly or too often, and already she'd nearly given in twice. Of course, she hadn't told him. But it was so hard for her, being with him, kissing and touching, and having to put the restrictions back when she already knew what lay beyond their restrictions. Anytime they were alone, even if only for a few moments, they found they could barely keep their hands, or lips, to themselves anymore. They'd even been known to both disappear for a few minutes to goodness knows where in the mornings before school when Rory and Lorelai were supposed to be having breakfast at the diner.
Now it was Friday afternoon. Rory had gotten out of school, and only taken the bus half of the way home. She and Jess had agreed that he'd drive out to a bus stop a couple miles outside Stars Hollow, and they'd go find someplace they could really be alone, without Luke or Lorelai bursting in every 5 minutes, someplace they didn't have to worry about people seeing them. They parked in a woody area, and after only a few minutes of kissing, Rory really had to resist the urge to start undressing him. "Just remember," she told herself. "Tomorrow night. It's just over 24 hours to wait. It's not that difficult."
As Rory's thoughts wandered, Jess noticed her inattentiveness. "Hey," he said. "Things are pretty interesting over here, what's it like where you are?"
Rory giggled. "Sorry. Just spaced out a little. It's nothing."
Jess sat up, knowing fully well that whenever Rory spaced out, it was never "nothing".
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Rory sighed. "We're waiting until tomorrow night," she said, stubbornly.
"Um... ok?" Jess said, confused.
"It makes me worry when I realize how unable I am to control myself when we're together," she said, staring at the dashboard. "Why do you do that to me? All my life, I'm little miss responsible; you hear the name Rory, you think 'Mind of her own, strong-willed, sensible'. Then suddenly, you show up in town and I'm cutting school to go to New York City, getting in car crashes-"
"That was MY fault," he interjected. "Why are you beating yourself up over this? So you had sex. You enjoyed yourself. Most people do. I hardly think it's fair for you to be upset with yourself for having hormones."
"I'm not upset about the hormones," she said. "I'm upset because I became THAT GIRL."
"What girl?" Jess asked, looking around. "Where?"
Rory sighed. "THAT girl. The one who loses her head over some guy."
"So I'm just 'Some guy'? Gee thanks, love you too, Rory," he said, a little more defensively than he'd meant to.
"Stop," she said. "Now you're just pouting cuz I wanted to stop making out."
Jess sighed, trying to keep his calm. He knew Rory was a little insane... ok maybe more than a little. And he knew that what she needed most in her times of insanity was someone rational to keep her grounded. "I'm not mad because you wanted to stop, I'm confused because you're making a really big deal over something that's totally normal."
"So you don't think this is a big deal?" Rory said, angrily. She knew she was twisting his words, and she knew deep down that she really didn't make any sense... but she could feel herself panicking at the thought of his completely overpowering affect on her. Being defensive was the only tactic she'd learned from her mother... granted, not the most mature role model, but she hadn't really had a choice in the matter.
"Rory, whatever's important to you can be important to me," he said. "But only if you tell me what the hell you're talking about, cuz I'm definitely not following."
"Maybe I wasn't ready for this," she blurted out. The minute the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.
"For what, making out in my car?"
"You know what I mean, Jess," she said. "I mean I know we can't undo what we did, but... maybe we should just..."
"Pretend it never happened?" Jess asked. It scared Rory that he knew exactly what she was thinking. An uncomfortable silence filled the car. Jess leaned back in his seat.
"So you're saying you want to slow things down?" He asked, surprisingly calm. Rory looked over at his face, to make sure she hadn't misread his voice; she hadn't. He wasn't frowning, or glaring, or making any kind of unpleasant face. He just looked... well, normal.
"Well, yeah," she said. "I guess..." Silence again.
"We're still together though, right?" he asked, not looking at her.
"Yeah of course," she answered, completely grateful for his understanding, and at the same time unsure of whether or not he was going to blow up in a rage any minute. Even though it had been months, she still wasn't used to Jess' calm way of dealing with things. Compared to Dean, he seemed practically sedated.
"And we're still going to the prom tomorrow night?"
"We better be, cuz I don't know where else I'd get a chance to wear my dress."
Jess smiled slightly. "Ok." He turned the key in the ignition. "Wanna go to the bookstore?"
Rory could hardly believe how well he was handling it. "You're not mad?"
Jess chuckled a little. "Mad?" he asked. "No. I wouldn't say mad. More like worried."
"Worried?" Rory asked.
"Worried that my girlfriend might be displaying early signs of bipolarity."
He laughed. Rory tried to glare at him, but couldn't keep her smile from showing. "You better find something really good for me at the bookstore to make up for that one," she said as they drove back towards Stars Hollow.
*****************************
Just past 9:30 that evening, Lorelai strolled into the diner. Since there the diner was virtually empty, it didn't seem out of the ordinary for Luke to stare at her as much as he was... and he was very grateful for this. He always liked it when she stopped by after her Friday night dinners with her parents. She was always dressed up, and in desperate need of the one thing only he could give her. Coffee.
She collapsed on a stool by the counter with a groan. "Ugh....."
"That bad huh?" Luke asked.
"Worse," she replied. "Hey you wouldn't happen to have any-"
"Coffee?" Luke finished for her. "Why? It's not like you wouldn't force me to make more if we were out anyway." He poured her a cup. She grabbed it greedily.
"Ahhhh..." she sighed after a long sip. "Who the hell needs therapy when this stuff exists?"
"So what'd Emily and Richard do this time?" Luke asked, refilling the salt and pepper shakers by the counter.
"You mean besides nearly drive me to stick my head in the fireplace?" she asked, before taking another long sip. "Basically it was a long evening full of "how was the prom Rory? What did you do? What did you wear? What did Jess wear? What songs did you dance to? Now try to repeat every word you and he uttered the entire night, and then paint us a mental picture of the entire environment, right down to every last floor tile in the rest rooms."' She sighed. "It was brutal."
"Sounds it," Luke said, pouring her a refill, knowing full well that arguing with her about her caffeine habit was practically suicidal.
"But get this," she said. "After they were fully satisfied with her retelling of her fairy tale evening, there was another 45 minutes of "Jess seems like such a nice boy. How lucky of Rory to find him. By the way, when was the last time you had a date Lorelai? Wait much longer, there won't be many good catches left out there. Are you interested in dating so-and-so from the DAR's son? He's a stock broker AND an excellent Croquet competitor!"
"Well aren't you lucky," Luke teased her.
"The luckiest," Lorelai grunted sarcastically. "So how's your evening been? Must have been better than mine, seeing as how you don't seem to have any self-inflicted wounds or any signs of attempted suicide."
"It wasn't so bad," Luke said. "Taylor hasn't been in once all day."
"Well aren't you just lucky as an Irish man?" Lorelai grinned.
"I'd do a jig, but I'm not in the right shoes," he replied sarcastically.
Lorelai sighed in contemplation. "What if-and please promise you'll put me out of my misery if I start sounding too much like my mother-what if she was right?"
"About what?"
"Maybe-just maybe-there really aren't that many good catches out there anymore," Lorelai said. "I mean think about it Luke. How many girlfriends have you had in the past few years?"
"I don't know," he answered gruffly. "I never really took the time to count."
"Not enough I'll bet," she said. "And the same goes for me. The more time goes by, the more I just give up trying. I mean admit it, you could have a dating life that's a hell of a lot more exciting if you just put yourself out there."
He looked at her. "Something tells me that's not the biggest reason."
Lorelai looked up, completely taken aback by his comment. Did he mean what she thought he meant?
Jess came down the stairs, his loud footsteps giving Luke a reason to break their eye contact. Lorelai looked down quickly taking her last few gulps of coffee.
"I'm goin' out Luke," Jess said.
"Hold it," Luke commanded. "You going to meet Rory?"
"No," Jess responded. "Believe it or not, we don't spend every waking hour together."
"No but it's pretty damn close," Lorelai commented, standing up and avoiding Luke's eyes. "I should be getting home. See ya later Luke."
Luke replied, obviously just as uncomfortable as Lorelai was. "Yeah, see ya."
Lorelai hurried out, calling to Jess over her shoulder, "Rory says hey!"
Jess nodded to Lorelai in acknowledgement, before turning to Luke with a smug smile. "So," he asked. "What was that about?"
"What was what about?" Luke said, turning away from him to start drying mugs.
"You and Lorelai," he said. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Nothing but a conversation," Luke answered. "I thought you said you were leaving."
"No worries, I'm out of your hair," Jess said, still smiling. He walked out of the diner, whistling just loud enough for Luke to hear, the melody of "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah."
Luke tried not to blush as he returned to his work.
****************************
"I feel so stupid," Rory admitted, closing her eyes to let Lane sweep eye shadow over her eye lids. "I mean, I don't even know why I said it!" she sighed. "I don't want to slow things down."
"Well good," Lane said. "I was starting to worry."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Lane," Rory said, "but what does it matter to you?"
"Hi. I'm Lane Kim, daughter of the Christian health food Nazi, Mrs. Kim. Up till last month, I could count the number of times I've kissed my boyfriend on my right hand. I'm living vicariously through you here, Rory, you can't wimp out on me and lose the steam. Otherwise I'd just have to find a new best friend." Lane put down the eye shadow. "Open."
Rory opened her eyes. "So what am I supposed to do? Just say 'Hey Jess, remember what I said yesterday about slowing things down? That thing I made such a huge deal over? Yeah well I take it back."' She sighed. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I AM bipolar."
"Well why don't you just wait a couple weeks, and then say, 'Hey, I messed up. I was wrong. Can you ever forgive me?' And then give him a really passionate, intense kiss before he has a chance to say no?"
"Because," Rory said, feeling ashamed of herself before she even got the words out. "I don't think I can wait that long."
"Wow," Lane said with a grin. "So Rory Gilmore's got regular teenage hormones. I was beginning to wonder."
Rory sighed. "It's just so weird, Lane! Yesterday, after I said I wanted to slow things down, he was totally cool about it. I'm talking John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever cool. But we got to the bookstore, and we were just talking... I mean it was nice. I like the talking and all, I really do, I just.... Every time I looked at him-"
"You wanted to attack him?" Lane finished her sentence. Rory buried her face in her hands.
"I'm a horrible, horrible person," she groaned.
"I don't really think he'd mind if you took it back, Rory," Lane said. "I mean he's a guy. Generally, they aren't opposed to their girlfriend actually wanting to be physical."
"But I just said it today," Rory said. "He's gonna think I'm crazy."
"Ok, 1) you ARE. And 2) he already knows it." Lane unzipped the bag her dress was hanging in. "It's gonna be fine. Your craziness is part of what makes you special. He might even think it's cute."
"Yeah," Rory said. "Cute in a psychotic, Girl Interrupted kind of a way."
"Perhaps," Lane answered. "But cute is cute." Lane slipped her dress on. It was surprisingly nice for a dress that had been approved by Mama Kim; It was a sleeveless dress, in a medium blue color, with a slightly full skirt. "Zip me up?" she asked. Rory obliged.
"You look really good," Rory said. "Dave's gonna go catatonic."
Lane didn't even bother trying to hide her giddy reaction. "You think so?"
"I KNOW so," Rory said. "Face it Lane. You worked your magic on the boy. He's fallen head over heels. He's probably even written songs about it."
"Ok, now you're just teasing me," Lane said. "But then again, I really don't care."
Lorelai came in through the front door. "Marco!!!!" she called.
"We're in my room, Polo!" Rory answered. Lorelai came in and immediately collapsed on the bed.
"Oh lord help me," she swooned. "They're so much more beautiful than I..." she sat up with a look of defiance in her eyes. "Damn you and your youth! Oh how I envy thou-for thou art- oh I give up, Shakespeare's not my thing." She sighed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, Joan Rivers," Rory said to Lane with a look of amusement.
"You guys look fantastic," Lorelai said. She handed them the bag from the drug store. "I come bearing last minute purse-fillers. There's two packs of gum, two chapsticks, two packets of fake nails, two boxes of Altoids, should you think gum takes too long to freshen the breath, and of course, two snickers bars."
"Lorelai, you're a Goddess," Lane said, taking out the candy bar and putting it in her purse.
"Thank you, I know," Lorelai said with a smile, walking into the kitchen. "I'm making coffee!" she called as she closed the door.
Lane turned to Rory and tried to keep her voice down. "Are you gonna tell her?"
Rory shook her head quickly. "No! God no. Do you have any idea how disastrous that would be?" She picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair.
"Wow," Lane exclaimed. "I'm impressed. A secret between the Gilmore girls. How are you dealing with that?"
"By talking to you," Rory answered. "I like just having this one thing that's totally mine, anyway. It's nice. It's like I sort of have a life of my own, and I'm not just half of the Lorelai and Rory team." Lane looked confused. Rory sighed. "It's like I'm a guitar player in a band who's finally getting the chance to do some solo work without the rest of the band."
"Oh!" Lane said. "I get it. Good for you."
The doorbell rang.
"They're here," Lane said, excited.
"Looks like it," Rory said, trying to mask her dread of this virtually kiss- free evening with Jess with fake enthusiasm. "Let's go."
When they reached the living room, Dave and Jess were both sitting on opposite ends of the couch, apparently engrossed in a very interesting conversation.
"Static Age," Jess said. "Definitely the best Album."
"No, no, no," Dave argued. "It's gotta be Earth AD."
"Oh come on!" Jess said. "Are you forgetting 'We are 138'? Or 'Hybrid moments'?"
"I have 7 words," Dave said. "Mommy, can I go out and kill tonight?"
"That's 8 words," Lane interjected.
"Oh right," Dave said, then did a double take, suddenly noticing Lane's presence. "Oh, Hey!" he said, standing. "Wow. You look... much better than you usually do when your mother dresses you. I'm impressed."
Lane smiled. "Thanks. But your flattery won't convince me to side with you about this. Jess is right. Static Age was the best Misfits Album."
Jess stood and walked over to Rory. "Hey," he said, seemingly nervous. Cautiously, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Is that all right?"
Rory smiled. "Of course it is. We're not Amish."
Jess laughed. "Good point."
Lorelai came in from the kitchen. "Ok everybody," she said. "I've got a camera, and I sort of know how to use it." She put it to her eye. "Everybody pose, and please, pose does not mean give me the finger."
"Aw well now I've got nothing," Jess joked. Rory laughed a little, but smiled gratefully as he put his arm around her waist. At least he wasn't going to avoid touching her completely, she thought. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"Ok," Lorelai said. "1, 2, 3, say cheese!"
No one did. She took the picture anyway.
"All right guys, you better get going. Don't wanna miss anything."
The two couples headed out the door, Rory leaving last. "This ought to be interesting," she muttered to herself as she closed the door.
A/N: So I know I've been posting short chapters lately.... But it's easier than doing long chapters and posting once a month. I'm on a serious roll here-a chapter a day every day for like 4 days. So forgive me if there are slight mistakes. I'm exhausted. Anyway, I'm loving your reviews, guys, you're what drives me to do this as much as I do. I promise the next chapter will have some Rory and Jess action, and then the one after that.... Well that one's gonna be really juicy... hehehe so keep reading! It's gonna get good soon!
~Emaline
oh and in case you're reading the reviews of other people, this is in response to a certain review which said that "Will you still love me tomorrow" was actually done originally by Carole King. Um... it wasn't. It was done by the Shirelle's. sorry, I mean whoever said that, I'm sure it was an honest mistake, and I don't mind. But trust me, guys. I'm a class A audiophile. I know my music. It's all accurate. Wow that made me sound bitchy. It wasn't meant to be. Ok I'm gonna shut up now.
