Hey guys. I know it's been a long time but I hope you enjoy this.
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*The next day*
The next day began, and Lorelai honestly couldn't take it anymore. She absolutely needed Luke's coffee. And though she hated to admit it, she had missed his company as well. So she dragged Rory out of bed, with the promise of coffee and rushed off to Luke's.
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Luke's was absolutely brimming with people. For some unknown reason, it seemed that the entire population of Stars Hollow had decided to congregate at Luke's that morning. Jacee, Jess and Chris had been having breakfast when they heard the commotion down below. They had rushed down only to see a giant stream of people coming in. When Jacee had seen the crowd and how overwhelmed Luke, Jess. Chris and Caesar were, she quickly grabbed an apron and despite their protests, began helping out in the diner. Of course, this being Stars Hollow, the presence of an outsider only served to feed the rumor mill. Wild rumors flew across from person to person, each speculating about the mysterious stranger and her relationship with Luke, Jess and Chris were. Some claimed that she was Luke's long-lost daughter, others thought it was another relative of his…perhaps a niece? And others thought that she was Jess' girlfriend, staying over from New York. Yet, they all conceded that she seemed too nice to be hanging around the town hoodlum which led to speculation over whether she was his brother's girlfriend. But still, all of this was pure imagination and no one really had any real answers.
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Lorelai came bounding into the diner with Rory reluctantly following on her heels.
"LUCAS!!!" she bellowed.
"Oh, he's in the back, sugar. Why don't you take a seat first?" Babette interrupted.
Lorelai thought for a second and smiled. "Sure, why not? Thanks Babette."
"No problem, sugar."
As soon as Lorelai and Rory had found a table, Jacee came up to them, ready to take their order.
"How may I help you this morning?" she asked smiling.
"Now this is what I call service with a smile. Unlike that little hoodlum of yours," Lorelai commented to Rory.
Rory just rolled her eyes. Taking a closer look at the girl, she asked "Hey, I don't think I've seen you around. Are you new here?"
"Yup," she replied.
"Well, I'm Rory and the depraved woman sitting opposite me is my mother, Lorelai. You'll have to forgive her. She's suffering from severe coffee withdrawal symptoms," Rory said, gesturing to her mother who was making weird faces at her.
Jacee laughed. "Well, it's nice to meet you both. I'm Jacee."
"So, when did you get in?" Lorelai asked, finally stopping her weird facial antics.
"Well, I just got in—" she stopped suddenly, squealing, as arms lifted her off the ground and swung her around.
Lorelai and Rory both just stared, shocked at Jacee's "aggressor". It looked like Jess, seemed like Jess, but it wasn't Jess. The only difference was his startling blue eyes, and the laughing expression that appeared on his face. Both Lorelai and Rory had never seen Jess look that happy. It was the sort of ecstatic happiness that they had thought that Jess was incapable of.
"Chris, put me down!" Jacee yelled but with a smile on her face.
"Chris?" Lorelai and Rory echoed, dumbfounded.
Luke poked his head out of the storeroom and seeing the scene, tried to contain the grin that was beginning to make its way across his face. "CHRIS, PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW!" he shouted.
Chris rolled his eyes but complied.
"Thanks, Uncle Luke," Jacee said, while playfully swatting Chris.
"Now why does she get to call you Uncle Luke, but I don't?" Jess asked, emerging from the kitchen, with two plates filled with hamburgers, and a small pout on his face.
Luke took one look at his nephew and raised an eyebrow. "Because she's her."
"Oh, my poor wounded heart. Uncle Lukey playing favorites. And not even with his own relatives. You've really hurt me, Uncle Luke." Jess said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
"IT'S LUKE TO YOU, NOT UNCLE LUKE. NOW GET BACK TO WORK, THE BOTH OF YOU!" Luke screamed, referring to the twins, before heading back into the storeroom while incoherently muttering something about "jam hands".
"Sure thing, Uncle Luke," the twins chorused, as Jess made his way over to where Jacee and Chris had crowded around Lorelai's table.
A scream of frustration was heard coming from the storeroom.
Lorelai and Rory, not to mention most of the diner, had been watching this exchange. Needless to say, however, they were completely and utterly confused.
"Um…would someone mind telling us what's going on here?" Lorelai asked.
Luke suddenly re-emerged from the storeroom after hearing her voice. "Well, Lorelai, I'm surprised to find you here at all…considering…" he said, rather gruffly.
"Lukey…" Lorelai began, looking rather sad. Then she flung her arms around him. "I'M SORRY!!!!" she wailed.
Jess and Chris both snickered at this, only to receive an elbow in the ribs from Jacee.
"Uh…Lorelai….uh…" Luke stammered.
"Hehe, I knew that was the only way to get you to get your attention. So, forgive me?"
Luke looked down into her hopeful face and sighed. "Fine."
Lorelai jumped up and down, screaming. "GREAT!!! NOW COFFEE, LUCAS!!!"
"This stuff will kill you." Luke said, but did pour both Rory and her mother a cup each.
"So will you please fill us in on the situation?" Lorelai asked Luke.
Luke looked confused for a second, but then realized what she was talking about. "Oh…the situation. Well, this is Jess-"
"Lukey, I think we know that considering that Jess has been in town for some time now."
"If you would let me finish Lorelai. This is Jess' twin brother, Chris, and this is their friend Jacee."
"Best friend," Jess corrected Luke.
Luke rolled his eyes and corrected himself "Best friend,"
Lorelai looked mischievously at Jacee and Chris, who were standing rather close to each other and asked "So, are you two going out?'
They both coughed. "Excuse me?!"
"She said: Are you two going out?" Jess replied, sarcasm in full force but a smirk on his face.
"Shut up Mariano. Uh, no Lorelai. Chris and I are just friends." Jacee said, blushing slightly and stepping away from Chris.
Rory, who had been silent all this time, trying to ignore Jess decided to butt in. "Well, it's kinda surprising cos he's kinda cute," she mock-whispered to Jacee.
"Don't let him hear that, cos you compliment one twin, you compliment both. And trust me, they have much bigger egos than necessary." Jacee mock-whispered back.
"HEY!" both twins said, in mock outrage.
"It's true." Jacee said simply.
"Well, since both you and Chris are new in town, why don't you come over to our house tonight for a welcome-to-town dinner?" Lorelai offered.
"And we all know how well that went last time," Luke answered.
"Oh, please Lukey. It will go better this time." Lorelai promised. "Plus, I want to ask Jacee all about Jess and his little secrets."
Jess had been gazing at Rory, who had effectively managed to avoid meeting his eyes. However, she now looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, dinner would be nice."
"See Lukey? The angel child has spoken," Lorelai pleaded.
Luke took a look over at his "gaggle" of teenagers. This could help things between Rory and Jess, who seemed to be having issues lately. And of course, him and Lorelai. And he did think that Jacee needed to make some friends. This was a good way to start.
"Fine. But stop calling me Lukey," he said.
"Whatever, you say, Lucas."
"AARRRRRRRGHHHHH!"
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dodgerluv – Hey. I know, majorly long time since I updated, huh? Well, you should prob get more insight into Luke's past in future chapters.
pandapearl – Ok…if you read the chapters carefully, you will realize that Chris is Jess' twin. And that Luke owns the diner but Jess and Chris are running it for him while he is in Hartford, settling some business with a supplier. Hope it is clearer now.
