Warning: Jess
spoilers. I only know the very basics.
___
One Month Later...
Luke and Lorelai lie in Lorelai's bed, both breathing raggedly, after a couple of hours of unexpected privacy.
"Well, Mr. Danes, you still seem to be able to surprise me," Lorelai says, rolling over to lay her head on his chest.
"Repeatedly," Luke observes, running his fingers through her damp hair.
She laughs. "How can you tell?"
"By counting the scratch marks on my back."
Lorelai laughs again. "Is this like counting the rings in a tree to see how old it is?"
"No, it's actually nothing like that at all, but thanks for playing."
"Aw, you're no fun."
"Again, my back begs to differ."
"Roll over and let me see," she says.
So he does, and he hears her little gasp. "Yikes. I did that?"
"No. A very quiet, very angry cat snuck into the room while we were distracted."
"Eep. Sorry about that."
He rolls back over. "It's no big deal," he says. "Although, I don't want to hear any jokes about males marking their territory for a long time."
What he doesn't bother telling her is that he got a pretty light dose tonight. Especially compared to that time at his place, when Jess was in New York for the weekend... And he also doesn't tell her that he really doesn't mind it, being marked by her, because the slight stinging in the shower when the hot water hits his back just reminds him of her and these rare moments they get to spend utterly alone.
Which will be less of a rarity soon; Rory's graduation ceremony was two weeks ago. She'll be moving to a dorm at Yale towards the end of the summer. But before that happens...
"I wish you and Rory weren't going on that stupid trip," says Luke, for the hundred thousandth time.
Lorelai groans. "It's time to have this conversation again?" She holds up a wrist, pretends to check an invisible watch. "Oh, my mistake. It has been three hours since the last installment."
Tomorrow, Luke and Lorelai and Jess and Rory will drive to New York. There, Lorelai and Rory will catch a flight from La Guardia to Heathrow. And spend a month in Europe on their insane backpacking trip.
"I just don't understand why you want to go to Europe in the middle of this mess the world's in right now," Luke says.
"The world's always in a mess," says Lorelai, propping herself up on one elbow and smiling at him. "Besides, I told you, we're going to do like Eddie Izzard says and tell people we're Canadian."
Luke sighs. Doesn't she get it? I don't think I could keep breathing if something happened to you, so soon after we finally...
He can't bring himself to even say it out loud.
But maybe she does get it, because she wraps herself around him like a blanket and says, "I'll be fine. I'm coming back. I promise."
Then she sits up again and grins at him, her eyes glittering. "You clearly need some distraction," she says, reaching under the covers. "I think it's time for you to surprise me again."
***
Lorelai and Rory chatter away to each other excitedly during the drive to New York. Luke and Jess sit in a stony silence the Gilmores pretend not to notice.
Luke gets short-term parking at the hell that is La Guardia, and they get as close to the Virgin Atlantic terminal as they can without making the security guards jumpy. Rory and Jess wander a few yards away to say their own goodbyes without the old folks listening in.
Lorelai faces Luke. "Well, I guess this is it for a few weeks," she says, looking cheerful and nonchalant and probably hoping Luke will follow her lead and not freak out in the middle of the airport, causing some sort of scene.
He pulls her close to him and says, "Listen, Lorelai..."
I love you, he thinks, but he just can't say it, because he has a sudden fear that the first time he says it could end up being the last. And the oddly superstitious feeling freezes the words in his throat.
Lorelai looks at him and smiles, as though nothing is wrong, as though she is not about to fly halfway around the world from him, where he can't protect her from anything. And when she realizes he isn't going to speak, she says, with absolute conviction, 'It's all right. You can tell me when I get back."
***
On the drive back from La Guardia, Luke listens to the radio and Jess reads and they both pretend that absolutely nothing is wrong.
***
The month Lorelai and Rory are gone is not the worst Luke has ever spent, not by a long shot. But it's no damn fun at all. He starts reading the international section of the paper compulsively; watches the steady ticker-drone of bad news on CNN constantly. He tries to keep track of where they are, but they had no specific itinerary and Lorelai only calls every five or six days.
One day Luke's going through the mail, like he does every day now, checking for postcards or other signs that Lorelai and Rory are still alive and haven't been kidnapped and sold into white slavery. Instead he finds a letter to Jess. From Jess's father. It's the third one so far. They come bearing a California postmark.
Luke sighs and feels his blood pressure rising. He pockets the letter, unopened.
Later that night, after closing, he tosses the letter down on the coffee table in front of Jess. "You ever going to tell me what this is all about?"
He sees Jess getting ready to play typical surly Jess word games with him, so he interrupts. "Jess, just tell me. Ok? I've got a right to know."
Jess throws his head back against the couch cushions, stares up at the ceiling. "He wants to get to know me."
"Yeah, well, maybe he should have stuck around a little longer."
"Maybe so."
They are quiet a few moments, and then Jess says "He wants me to come to California."
Luke nods. He's had a feeling this was coming. "He wants to make it all up to you," he says, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. "You gonna do it?"
"I don't know yet," says Jess.
"You told Rory any of this yet?"
"No."
"Are you gonna tell me, when you decide?"
"Yeah." And their eyes meet a moment and the truth of it is there in front of them, and they both pretend otherwise, and they both find other things that suddenly, urgently need doing.
***
Luke wants to see Lorelai the moment she gets back in the country, but this time she and Rory are taking a puddlejumper from LaGuardia to Bradley International in Hartford. So he's saved the longer drive, but the anticipation is somehow worse; knowing she's back but not quite home.
At Bradley, he and Jess wait and watch the streams of travellers coming out of the terminal. Luke realizes he's never picked up anyone he loves at an airport before, and it's a weird feeling. It's like being a little kid again, like he's waiting for a present and he has no control over when he gets it, he just has to wait. And wait. And wait.
At first he doesn't recognize them from a distance because they're both wearing bandanas over their hair and their faces are tanned. But he hears Lorelai's excited voice, and Rory's, and then Lorelai spots him and squeals and drops her rolling suitcase right in someone's path, but Luke doesn't care because she runs and jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, just like something out of a damn movie.
And so he holds her there and they hug as he twirls her around a little, and the line of people parts and goes around them, grumbling.
Then he sets her on her feet again, and she looks up at him with sparkling eyes and says "Coffee."
"I missed you too," he says, smiling. "Hey, Rory," he says to Rory, who has disengaged from Jess now. And Rory surprises him by hugging him, and Luke is reminded of how paternal he feels about her, too, when Jess isn't busy burning up of all his parenting energy. He's been worrying about how Rory is going to take it, if Jess leaves.
He grabs Lorelai's bags and they all leave the terminal. "So? How was it?" he asks as they ride an escalator. "Just give me the capsule version for now."
"Let's just say you should now refer to me as Miz Lorelai Gilmore, International Jet-Setter."
"Uh-huh."
Lorelai sighs, looks around. "Hartford International just seems so small now. At least La Guardia has that certain je ne sais quois. But it's good to be home." She looks at Rory. "Ne c'est pas?"
Jess asks Rory, "Does she have any idea at all what she's even saying?"
"Not really," says Rory. "But she's spent all week practicing, so be nice."
***
Evidently Lorelai has gotten over the "weird" factor, because she explains to Luke that he's staying at her house the night they get back from Europe. She brushes off his questions about Rory with "She's eighteen." Eighteen, and, Luke assumes, with Jess.
Luke's only gotten to sleep with Lorelai a few times, so he quickly runs out of protest.
At her house, he sits on the couch while she unpacks a really bewildering array of souveniers and gifts. Soon he's got a pile of small boxes of chocolates from various countries, refrigerator magnets shaped like European landmarks, a couple of t-shirts, lots of matchbooks, and a bottle of something called HP Sauce.
"What's this?" he asks, holding up the bottle.
"I don't know, but they had it in every pub we ate at in England, so I figure you need some in the diner."
"What if it becomes wildly popular and then I run out since I've only got the one bottle?'
"It'll be funny to watch people riot over it. Kirk will probably burn you in effigy."
And then she moves Luke's presents to the coffee table and sits down next to him on the couch, leaning into him. He strokes her hair.
"I missed you so much," she says.
"I missed you too," he says, and it's becoming easier and easier to say this sort of thing. "But you had a good time?"
"I had an unbelievable time. I'm so glad I got to do this with Rory." Then she stares at the carpet. "You know I'm going to be a total basket case after she's gone, right?"
"And this would be different from your normal mental state how?" he asks, grinning, because he's not ready to talk about children leaving just yet.
She pokes him in the ribs. "Watch it, mister. I could revoke my invitation to spend the night."
"You're bluffing," he says.
"How do you know?"
Instead of answering, he pulls her onto his lap and begins kissing her neck.
"Mmmm.... All right, I'm bluffing," she says.
And then she leads him up the stairs. He expects her to be too tired, after the long flight and since her brain is in a different time zone, but she isn't.
Well, she's too tired to leave any scratches. But it's still nice; they go slow, and they spend a long time just kissing, and they've been apart so long it all feels brand-new again.
After Lorelai is asleep and breathing deeply, Luke whispers "I love you."
***
A couple of days later, at the diner, Jess comes downstairs and Luke can see it on his face.
"You're leaving," he says to Jess.
Jess says nothing.
"Aren't you?" Luke asks.
"I was gonna tell you tonight," says Jess. "We don't have to do this right now."
"It's already done," says Luke. "Isn't it?"
Jess sighs and reaches into his back pocket. He hands Luke a folded-up letter.
Luke unfolds it. He ignores the letter itself, because wrapped inside it is a one-way plane ticket to California.
Luke hands it back to Jess. Then he walks out of the diner, right in the middle of the lunch rush.
"Uncle Luke?" he hears Jess call.
He keeps walking.
***
He walks all the way to the Independence Inn, walks in the front door, walks up to the front desk. Just as his luck would have it, that insufferable French guy is standing there, looking at Luke like he's a homeless person who is going to ask him for spare change.
"Get Lorelai," he says to Michel.
Michel eyes him dubiously. "I do not know --" he begins.
"Get Lorelai," he says. "Now."
Michel rolls his eyes and sighs and decides to cut his losses, because he goes somewhere in back.
Then he comes back a minute or two later. "She will be here in a moment," Michel says. Then he sniffs in Luke's direction. "That cologne... you must tell me... Eau de Grilled Cheese, perhaps?"
But Luke is saved from having to pummel Michel's head into the front desk, because Lorelai appears.
"Hey!" she says, cheerily. "This is a surprise. I don't suppose you're hiding a thermos of coffee somewhere about your person? Or maybe some valium for Michel?"
Luke just says, "He's leaving."
Lorelai glances at Michel, who is making no effort to disguise the fact that he's watching them. She walks up to Luke and takes his arm and steers him into the kitchen.
Sookie sees them, and her eyes light up and she starts to walk over to them - God knows Luke and Lorelai haven't had much interaction with the Stars Hollow denizens since they finally got together - but Lorelai makes some sort of gesture with her hand at her throat, shaking her head, and Sookie looks disappointed but goes back to doing something complicated with leeks.
They stand next to the coffee machine. Lorelai takes a deep breath. "Ok," she says. "Tell me what happened."
"Jess happened," says Luke, and he knows he sounds a little melodramatic, but he can't help it. "Jess happened, and now he's leaving to be with his real father. In California."
Luke sees Lorelai's look of panic, and he knows she is thinking of Rory, not him, and he doesn't hold it against her. He rubs his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lorelai. I'm sorry I brought him out here. You were right all along. I didn't know what I was getting into. Now he's going to break Rory's heart, and it's all my fault."
Lorelai frowns, but Luke can't really tell what she's thinking. But people are milling around the kitchen, and Sookie and one of the prep cooks keep glancing at them and whispering, and Lorelai evidently notices it too because she takes his arm again. "Come on," she says.
She leads him out back, past the old potting shed, near the little lake. Even though she's wearing business clothes, she just sits down, right in the grass. "Sit down," she says.
So he sits, and they look at the lake.
"Listen to me," says Lorelai. "You did the right thing by that kid, from the very beginning, and I never had any right to try to interfere in that. I don't want you to ever regret bringing him here."
Luke pulls some blades of grass out of the ground. He can't talk yet.
So Lorelai continues. "I know how hard it must be for you, that he's going to take off like this. And I'm not going to say anything stupid like, 'It's for the best', or 'He has to find himself', or whatever." She puts a hand on his arm and he looks up from his little pile of uprooted grass and meets her eyes. "But I am here for you," she says.
"But, what about Rory? She's gonna hate me."
"Ok, now you've left the Understandably Regretful quadrant and are heading straight for Planet Insanity."
Luke shakes his head. "Give me that one again, in English."
"Rory would never hate you. That's crazy talk."
"But if it weren't for me..."
"The residents of Planet Insanity are now throwing rocks at those weird lights up in the sky." Lorelai sighs. "Rory and I talked, while we were in Europe. A lot. She's known for a long time something was wrong, with Jess. She's been expecting something to happen. And I think they talked last night. He might have told her."
"Might have?"
"She seemed really, really sad this morning. But she said she wasn't ready to talk about it. So we had breakfast. That was it."
"You cooked breakfast?" Luke asks, bemused.
"My extensive travels in Europe taught me to appreciate my innate talent for pouring cereal."
Luke shakes his head again, doesn't try to unravel that one.
"Do you think I made any difference at all?" he asks. "Do you think Jess will come out of this a better person?"
"You tried, and that's what matters" says Lorelai. "Even when it meant telling me and the entire town to back off. You did your best." She takes a deep breath. "And that's part of why I love you, too."
Luke looks at her, shocked.
She grins at him mischieveously. "I wasn't asleep the other night."
While Luke's head is still spinning, and he's trying to make sure he really just heard that, Lorelai reachers over and holds Luke's hand.
"Yes," she says. "I did just say that, and I hope you realize how scary it is for me."
"Well..."
"Unfortunately for you, that means you're definitely going to have to come to dinner with my parents soon."
Luke half-smiles. "Your Mom saw us holding hands at Rory's graduation. I think they've got the hint."
"Oh, Luke, Luke, Luke. You know better than that."
"She glared at me and said it took us long enough."
"And she hasn't let a day go by since then without reminding me. That was just the beginning."
"Thanks, you've actually managed to distract me from thinking about Jess for a few seconds."
"Any time." Then Lorelai looks confused. "Hey, who's running the diner?"
"I have no idea."
***
When Luke gets back, things are actually pretty much under control, and he sees Jess at the cash register, cashing someone out.
"Hey," says Jess.
"Hey. Things ok here?" he asks.
"Fine."
"All right."
They don't talk about it anymore, and they never mention Luke walking out of the diner.
But that night, upstairs, Jess says "It's not going to be forever. I'll come back and visit."
"Well," Luke says. "You're always welcome to."
Jess seems to want to say more, but Luke can imagine how hard it must be for him. "Look, Jess," he says. "I get it. You don't have to say anything. You want to get to know your real father, nobody has a right to stand in the way of that."
"He could end up being a real jerk," Jess points out.
"And he might not. You're not going to know until you go find out. When are you leaving, anyway?"
Jess smirks. "Can't wait to get rid of me, can you?"
Luke glares at him. "You know that's not true."
Jess shrugs. "Yeah. I guess I do." He sighs. "My ticket is for next Friday."
Luke feels like he's been hit again. He's leaving so soon. But he stifles it, and says, "I suppose you want me to keep it quiet, otherwise you'll end up with a Stars Hollow farewell festival."
"Yes, please, for the love of god."
"How did Rory take it?" Luke asks.
Jess frowns and looks at his shoes. "Not so well. But she didn't have a meltdown or anything. We're going to try to keep things going, you know, long distance... And I'll come visit, like I said..." He trails off, and Luke can hear the futility and frustration in his words.
"Yeah," Luke says. "I'm sure it'll all work out."
***
Luke gets up Friday morning, planning on driving Jess to the airport for his early morning flight, and opening the diner a little late. But when he gets out of bed, he realizes something is wrong. It's too quiet in the apartment. He goes and looks around.
Sure enough, Jess's suitcases are gone, his bed is made, and there's a letter on the kitchen table.
He sighs and picks it up, suppressing the urge to run down the stairs and try to catch Jess before...
Dear Uncle Luke,
So, I caught the bus. I can't handle the goodbye stuff, it was hard enough with Rory. I think you understand. We would've both hated it. But I'm planning on coming back around Christmas, if I can get a job and scrape up enough money for a ticket. I don't know if I'll be able to find a job as spiritually and culturally enlightening as working at the diner, though.
Thanks for everything. Thanks for Stars Hollow.
I'd say more, but word might get out and ruin my reputation.
-Jess
***
Luke doesn't expect to see Rory and Lorelai in the diner the morning Jess leaves; he figures they'll all be avoiding each other and the Jess topic for a couple of weeks. But they do come in for breakfast, before Lorelai goes to work. The two of them sit at the counter and make brittle, but light-hearted conversation with him. They joke around. They smile at him a lot.
And then Luke realizes: They are here for him.
***
Contined in Chapter Eleven...
___
One Month Later...
Luke and Lorelai lie in Lorelai's bed, both breathing raggedly, after a couple of hours of unexpected privacy.
"Well, Mr. Danes, you still seem to be able to surprise me," Lorelai says, rolling over to lay her head on his chest.
"Repeatedly," Luke observes, running his fingers through her damp hair.
She laughs. "How can you tell?"
"By counting the scratch marks on my back."
Lorelai laughs again. "Is this like counting the rings in a tree to see how old it is?"
"No, it's actually nothing like that at all, but thanks for playing."
"Aw, you're no fun."
"Again, my back begs to differ."
"Roll over and let me see," she says.
So he does, and he hears her little gasp. "Yikes. I did that?"
"No. A very quiet, very angry cat snuck into the room while we were distracted."
"Eep. Sorry about that."
He rolls back over. "It's no big deal," he says. "Although, I don't want to hear any jokes about males marking their territory for a long time."
What he doesn't bother telling her is that he got a pretty light dose tonight. Especially compared to that time at his place, when Jess was in New York for the weekend... And he also doesn't tell her that he really doesn't mind it, being marked by her, because the slight stinging in the shower when the hot water hits his back just reminds him of her and these rare moments they get to spend utterly alone.
Which will be less of a rarity soon; Rory's graduation ceremony was two weeks ago. She'll be moving to a dorm at Yale towards the end of the summer. But before that happens...
"I wish you and Rory weren't going on that stupid trip," says Luke, for the hundred thousandth time.
Lorelai groans. "It's time to have this conversation again?" She holds up a wrist, pretends to check an invisible watch. "Oh, my mistake. It has been three hours since the last installment."
Tomorrow, Luke and Lorelai and Jess and Rory will drive to New York. There, Lorelai and Rory will catch a flight from La Guardia to Heathrow. And spend a month in Europe on their insane backpacking trip.
"I just don't understand why you want to go to Europe in the middle of this mess the world's in right now," Luke says.
"The world's always in a mess," says Lorelai, propping herself up on one elbow and smiling at him. "Besides, I told you, we're going to do like Eddie Izzard says and tell people we're Canadian."
Luke sighs. Doesn't she get it? I don't think I could keep breathing if something happened to you, so soon after we finally...
He can't bring himself to even say it out loud.
But maybe she does get it, because she wraps herself around him like a blanket and says, "I'll be fine. I'm coming back. I promise."
Then she sits up again and grins at him, her eyes glittering. "You clearly need some distraction," she says, reaching under the covers. "I think it's time for you to surprise me again."
***
Lorelai and Rory chatter away to each other excitedly during the drive to New York. Luke and Jess sit in a stony silence the Gilmores pretend not to notice.
Luke gets short-term parking at the hell that is La Guardia, and they get as close to the Virgin Atlantic terminal as they can without making the security guards jumpy. Rory and Jess wander a few yards away to say their own goodbyes without the old folks listening in.
Lorelai faces Luke. "Well, I guess this is it for a few weeks," she says, looking cheerful and nonchalant and probably hoping Luke will follow her lead and not freak out in the middle of the airport, causing some sort of scene.
He pulls her close to him and says, "Listen, Lorelai..."
I love you, he thinks, but he just can't say it, because he has a sudden fear that the first time he says it could end up being the last. And the oddly superstitious feeling freezes the words in his throat.
Lorelai looks at him and smiles, as though nothing is wrong, as though she is not about to fly halfway around the world from him, where he can't protect her from anything. And when she realizes he isn't going to speak, she says, with absolute conviction, 'It's all right. You can tell me when I get back."
***
On the drive back from La Guardia, Luke listens to the radio and Jess reads and they both pretend that absolutely nothing is wrong.
***
The month Lorelai and Rory are gone is not the worst Luke has ever spent, not by a long shot. But it's no damn fun at all. He starts reading the international section of the paper compulsively; watches the steady ticker-drone of bad news on CNN constantly. He tries to keep track of where they are, but they had no specific itinerary and Lorelai only calls every five or six days.
One day Luke's going through the mail, like he does every day now, checking for postcards or other signs that Lorelai and Rory are still alive and haven't been kidnapped and sold into white slavery. Instead he finds a letter to Jess. From Jess's father. It's the third one so far. They come bearing a California postmark.
Luke sighs and feels his blood pressure rising. He pockets the letter, unopened.
Later that night, after closing, he tosses the letter down on the coffee table in front of Jess. "You ever going to tell me what this is all about?"
He sees Jess getting ready to play typical surly Jess word games with him, so he interrupts. "Jess, just tell me. Ok? I've got a right to know."
Jess throws his head back against the couch cushions, stares up at the ceiling. "He wants to get to know me."
"Yeah, well, maybe he should have stuck around a little longer."
"Maybe so."
They are quiet a few moments, and then Jess says "He wants me to come to California."
Luke nods. He's had a feeling this was coming. "He wants to make it all up to you," he says, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. "You gonna do it?"
"I don't know yet," says Jess.
"You told Rory any of this yet?"
"No."
"Are you gonna tell me, when you decide?"
"Yeah." And their eyes meet a moment and the truth of it is there in front of them, and they both pretend otherwise, and they both find other things that suddenly, urgently need doing.
***
Luke wants to see Lorelai the moment she gets back in the country, but this time she and Rory are taking a puddlejumper from LaGuardia to Bradley International in Hartford. So he's saved the longer drive, but the anticipation is somehow worse; knowing she's back but not quite home.
At Bradley, he and Jess wait and watch the streams of travellers coming out of the terminal. Luke realizes he's never picked up anyone he loves at an airport before, and it's a weird feeling. It's like being a little kid again, like he's waiting for a present and he has no control over when he gets it, he just has to wait. And wait. And wait.
At first he doesn't recognize them from a distance because they're both wearing bandanas over their hair and their faces are tanned. But he hears Lorelai's excited voice, and Rory's, and then Lorelai spots him and squeals and drops her rolling suitcase right in someone's path, but Luke doesn't care because she runs and jumps into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, just like something out of a damn movie.
And so he holds her there and they hug as he twirls her around a little, and the line of people parts and goes around them, grumbling.
Then he sets her on her feet again, and she looks up at him with sparkling eyes and says "Coffee."
"I missed you too," he says, smiling. "Hey, Rory," he says to Rory, who has disengaged from Jess now. And Rory surprises him by hugging him, and Luke is reminded of how paternal he feels about her, too, when Jess isn't busy burning up of all his parenting energy. He's been worrying about how Rory is going to take it, if Jess leaves.
He grabs Lorelai's bags and they all leave the terminal. "So? How was it?" he asks as they ride an escalator. "Just give me the capsule version for now."
"Let's just say you should now refer to me as Miz Lorelai Gilmore, International Jet-Setter."
"Uh-huh."
Lorelai sighs, looks around. "Hartford International just seems so small now. At least La Guardia has that certain je ne sais quois. But it's good to be home." She looks at Rory. "Ne c'est pas?"
Jess asks Rory, "Does she have any idea at all what she's even saying?"
"Not really," says Rory. "But she's spent all week practicing, so be nice."
***
Evidently Lorelai has gotten over the "weird" factor, because she explains to Luke that he's staying at her house the night they get back from Europe. She brushes off his questions about Rory with "She's eighteen." Eighteen, and, Luke assumes, with Jess.
Luke's only gotten to sleep with Lorelai a few times, so he quickly runs out of protest.
At her house, he sits on the couch while she unpacks a really bewildering array of souveniers and gifts. Soon he's got a pile of small boxes of chocolates from various countries, refrigerator magnets shaped like European landmarks, a couple of t-shirts, lots of matchbooks, and a bottle of something called HP Sauce.
"What's this?" he asks, holding up the bottle.
"I don't know, but they had it in every pub we ate at in England, so I figure you need some in the diner."
"What if it becomes wildly popular and then I run out since I've only got the one bottle?'
"It'll be funny to watch people riot over it. Kirk will probably burn you in effigy."
And then she moves Luke's presents to the coffee table and sits down next to him on the couch, leaning into him. He strokes her hair.
"I missed you so much," she says.
"I missed you too," he says, and it's becoming easier and easier to say this sort of thing. "But you had a good time?"
"I had an unbelievable time. I'm so glad I got to do this with Rory." Then she stares at the carpet. "You know I'm going to be a total basket case after she's gone, right?"
"And this would be different from your normal mental state how?" he asks, grinning, because he's not ready to talk about children leaving just yet.
She pokes him in the ribs. "Watch it, mister. I could revoke my invitation to spend the night."
"You're bluffing," he says.
"How do you know?"
Instead of answering, he pulls her onto his lap and begins kissing her neck.
"Mmmm.... All right, I'm bluffing," she says.
And then she leads him up the stairs. He expects her to be too tired, after the long flight and since her brain is in a different time zone, but she isn't.
Well, she's too tired to leave any scratches. But it's still nice; they go slow, and they spend a long time just kissing, and they've been apart so long it all feels brand-new again.
After Lorelai is asleep and breathing deeply, Luke whispers "I love you."
***
A couple of days later, at the diner, Jess comes downstairs and Luke can see it on his face.
"You're leaving," he says to Jess.
Jess says nothing.
"Aren't you?" Luke asks.
"I was gonna tell you tonight," says Jess. "We don't have to do this right now."
"It's already done," says Luke. "Isn't it?"
Jess sighs and reaches into his back pocket. He hands Luke a folded-up letter.
Luke unfolds it. He ignores the letter itself, because wrapped inside it is a one-way plane ticket to California.
Luke hands it back to Jess. Then he walks out of the diner, right in the middle of the lunch rush.
"Uncle Luke?" he hears Jess call.
He keeps walking.
***
He walks all the way to the Independence Inn, walks in the front door, walks up to the front desk. Just as his luck would have it, that insufferable French guy is standing there, looking at Luke like he's a homeless person who is going to ask him for spare change.
"Get Lorelai," he says to Michel.
Michel eyes him dubiously. "I do not know --" he begins.
"Get Lorelai," he says. "Now."
Michel rolls his eyes and sighs and decides to cut his losses, because he goes somewhere in back.
Then he comes back a minute or two later. "She will be here in a moment," Michel says. Then he sniffs in Luke's direction. "That cologne... you must tell me... Eau de Grilled Cheese, perhaps?"
But Luke is saved from having to pummel Michel's head into the front desk, because Lorelai appears.
"Hey!" she says, cheerily. "This is a surprise. I don't suppose you're hiding a thermos of coffee somewhere about your person? Or maybe some valium for Michel?"
Luke just says, "He's leaving."
Lorelai glances at Michel, who is making no effort to disguise the fact that he's watching them. She walks up to Luke and takes his arm and steers him into the kitchen.
Sookie sees them, and her eyes light up and she starts to walk over to them - God knows Luke and Lorelai haven't had much interaction with the Stars Hollow denizens since they finally got together - but Lorelai makes some sort of gesture with her hand at her throat, shaking her head, and Sookie looks disappointed but goes back to doing something complicated with leeks.
They stand next to the coffee machine. Lorelai takes a deep breath. "Ok," she says. "Tell me what happened."
"Jess happened," says Luke, and he knows he sounds a little melodramatic, but he can't help it. "Jess happened, and now he's leaving to be with his real father. In California."
Luke sees Lorelai's look of panic, and he knows she is thinking of Rory, not him, and he doesn't hold it against her. He rubs his eyes. "I'm sorry, Lorelai. I'm sorry I brought him out here. You were right all along. I didn't know what I was getting into. Now he's going to break Rory's heart, and it's all my fault."
Lorelai frowns, but Luke can't really tell what she's thinking. But people are milling around the kitchen, and Sookie and one of the prep cooks keep glancing at them and whispering, and Lorelai evidently notices it too because she takes his arm again. "Come on," she says.
She leads him out back, past the old potting shed, near the little lake. Even though she's wearing business clothes, she just sits down, right in the grass. "Sit down," she says.
So he sits, and they look at the lake.
"Listen to me," says Lorelai. "You did the right thing by that kid, from the very beginning, and I never had any right to try to interfere in that. I don't want you to ever regret bringing him here."
Luke pulls some blades of grass out of the ground. He can't talk yet.
So Lorelai continues. "I know how hard it must be for you, that he's going to take off like this. And I'm not going to say anything stupid like, 'It's for the best', or 'He has to find himself', or whatever." She puts a hand on his arm and he looks up from his little pile of uprooted grass and meets her eyes. "But I am here for you," she says.
"But, what about Rory? She's gonna hate me."
"Ok, now you've left the Understandably Regretful quadrant and are heading straight for Planet Insanity."
Luke shakes his head. "Give me that one again, in English."
"Rory would never hate you. That's crazy talk."
"But if it weren't for me..."
"The residents of Planet Insanity are now throwing rocks at those weird lights up in the sky." Lorelai sighs. "Rory and I talked, while we were in Europe. A lot. She's known for a long time something was wrong, with Jess. She's been expecting something to happen. And I think they talked last night. He might have told her."
"Might have?"
"She seemed really, really sad this morning. But she said she wasn't ready to talk about it. So we had breakfast. That was it."
"You cooked breakfast?" Luke asks, bemused.
"My extensive travels in Europe taught me to appreciate my innate talent for pouring cereal."
Luke shakes his head again, doesn't try to unravel that one.
"Do you think I made any difference at all?" he asks. "Do you think Jess will come out of this a better person?"
"You tried, and that's what matters" says Lorelai. "Even when it meant telling me and the entire town to back off. You did your best." She takes a deep breath. "And that's part of why I love you, too."
Luke looks at her, shocked.
She grins at him mischieveously. "I wasn't asleep the other night."
While Luke's head is still spinning, and he's trying to make sure he really just heard that, Lorelai reachers over and holds Luke's hand.
"Yes," she says. "I did just say that, and I hope you realize how scary it is for me."
"Well..."
"Unfortunately for you, that means you're definitely going to have to come to dinner with my parents soon."
Luke half-smiles. "Your Mom saw us holding hands at Rory's graduation. I think they've got the hint."
"Oh, Luke, Luke, Luke. You know better than that."
"She glared at me and said it took us long enough."
"And she hasn't let a day go by since then without reminding me. That was just the beginning."
"Thanks, you've actually managed to distract me from thinking about Jess for a few seconds."
"Any time." Then Lorelai looks confused. "Hey, who's running the diner?"
"I have no idea."
***
When Luke gets back, things are actually pretty much under control, and he sees Jess at the cash register, cashing someone out.
"Hey," says Jess.
"Hey. Things ok here?" he asks.
"Fine."
"All right."
They don't talk about it anymore, and they never mention Luke walking out of the diner.
But that night, upstairs, Jess says "It's not going to be forever. I'll come back and visit."
"Well," Luke says. "You're always welcome to."
Jess seems to want to say more, but Luke can imagine how hard it must be for him. "Look, Jess," he says. "I get it. You don't have to say anything. You want to get to know your real father, nobody has a right to stand in the way of that."
"He could end up being a real jerk," Jess points out.
"And he might not. You're not going to know until you go find out. When are you leaving, anyway?"
Jess smirks. "Can't wait to get rid of me, can you?"
Luke glares at him. "You know that's not true."
Jess shrugs. "Yeah. I guess I do." He sighs. "My ticket is for next Friday."
Luke feels like he's been hit again. He's leaving so soon. But he stifles it, and says, "I suppose you want me to keep it quiet, otherwise you'll end up with a Stars Hollow farewell festival."
"Yes, please, for the love of god."
"How did Rory take it?" Luke asks.
Jess frowns and looks at his shoes. "Not so well. But she didn't have a meltdown or anything. We're going to try to keep things going, you know, long distance... And I'll come visit, like I said..." He trails off, and Luke can hear the futility and frustration in his words.
"Yeah," Luke says. "I'm sure it'll all work out."
***
Luke gets up Friday morning, planning on driving Jess to the airport for his early morning flight, and opening the diner a little late. But when he gets out of bed, he realizes something is wrong. It's too quiet in the apartment. He goes and looks around.
Sure enough, Jess's suitcases are gone, his bed is made, and there's a letter on the kitchen table.
He sighs and picks it up, suppressing the urge to run down the stairs and try to catch Jess before...
Dear Uncle Luke,
So, I caught the bus. I can't handle the goodbye stuff, it was hard enough with Rory. I think you understand. We would've both hated it. But I'm planning on coming back around Christmas, if I can get a job and scrape up enough money for a ticket. I don't know if I'll be able to find a job as spiritually and culturally enlightening as working at the diner, though.
Thanks for everything. Thanks for Stars Hollow.
I'd say more, but word might get out and ruin my reputation.
-Jess
***
Luke doesn't expect to see Rory and Lorelai in the diner the morning Jess leaves; he figures they'll all be avoiding each other and the Jess topic for a couple of weeks. But they do come in for breakfast, before Lorelai goes to work. The two of them sit at the counter and make brittle, but light-hearted conversation with him. They joke around. They smile at him a lot.
And then Luke realizes: They are here for him.
***
Contined in Chapter Eleven...