Nothing but confusion - chapter 5
-by miss.pebbles.
A/N - february's here - and this might be the last update in a while. Pls read the important author's note at the end of the next chapter okay? And REVIEW!
Enough yapping here - now on with the story!
************************
Chapter 5
Rory sat at the counter, nervously twirling her hair. She looked at Jess, who was calmly walking around the diner, handling the dinner rush.
"Do you think they're okay?" she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
"I'm sure they're fine." Jess looked at Rory, and gave her a hug.
"They just need some time to figure things out, and we're just speeding it along for them. Plus, it was your idea," he pointed out.
"I know, I know, but I'm having second thoughts about this plan. What happens if my mom gets really angry, and bites Luke's head off? Not a pretty sight."
"Not a pretty sight indeed," Jess agreed. He gave Rory a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry okay? We'll bring them food in a little while, when the diner is less busy alright?"
Rory nodded.
"Can I help with anything?" she asked, hoping it would make the time pass by a little bit faster.
Jess nodded, pulling out an apron for her.
"Here," he said, handing her the coffee pot. " Just make sure the people who want extra coffee have their cups full okay?"
Rory smiled, and picked up the pot.
"Okay."
~.~
Luke and Lorelai were sitting side by side, on the floor of the storage room. Both of them stared straight ahead into the row of cans of spaghetti sauce.
"I've had a really tough week, Luke." Lorelai said, breaking the silence. "Chris came back this week."
"Yeah, I know."
"He left this morning." Lorelai looked at Luke, who had turned to face her.
"Really?" he said, genuinely surprised. "Why?"
"I pushed him away," Lorelai replied, looking away again.
"We were having such a good time, him, Rory and I, it was like we were an actual family unit. All nice, and happy, like it's supposed to be. He springs it on me, on Friday night, after I came home from the diner" she said, pausing and looking back at Luke, "he said he wanted to come back, and give another try at a relationship."
"Huh." Lorelai turned to look at him.
"What did you say?" Luke asked.
"I said no."
"Oh." silence "Why?"
"Now, here is where it gets tricky. I'm not sure why I said no. But for sure, I knew it just didn't feel right. I wish Rory were here right now," she muttered.
"Rory?" Luke asked, giving her a weird look.
"She's my therapist," Lorelai explained. "She explained it to me a lot better last night, and it made more sense. Plus, she can help me figure out a couple of other things," she added.
"I told her about everything that went on, and Rory suggested it was because I wasn't ready to try another relationship round with Chris, because I am secretly afraid of getting hurt, or letting Rory get hurt, or just confused about everything."
"Confused about everything?"
"About you." Lorelai said, looking into his eyes.
Luke pursed his lips together, and pretended to look like he understood what she meant. "I understand he said." He paused, furrowing his forehead. "On second thought, I don't understand. What do you mean you're confused about everything. Everything including me? Or just me?" he asked, turning to face Lorelai completely.
"You," Lorelai said, tapping him gently with her index finger on his chest. "You confuse me. You start off all sweet, and nice, especially when you sent Rory home that day with coffee and the danish, and the day before, how you didn't charge Chris for his breakfast, but other times, it seems like you're one big old grumpy grouch, like Oscar on Sesame Street. Those times it makes it impossible for anyone to talk to you. And lately, for the past couple of days, it's like you've been avoiding me, for no apparent reason. And it's got me so confused." Lorelai paused, licking her lips. Luke reached over and grabbed a can of pop, and opened it for her.
"Here," he said, still dumbfounded by all of what she just said.
"Thanks," Lorelai said, taking a deep sip.
"And, to top it all off, Rory thinks that maybe one of the reasons why I turned away Chris is, you Luke."
"Me?" Luke stared into her eyes. "Why me?"
"I dunno," Lorelai said, sadly, turning her eyes away. Luke gently lifted her chin up, so he could look into her eyes again.
"Chris can give me anything in the world that I want; he gave me Rory. But one thing he couldn't ever give me is you, Luke." She paused, taking in a deep breath. Her chest felt a little tighter. 'What am I doing?' she thought.
"You've always been the one, there for me, Luke. You've been so good to me, and I've never realized that maybe you're more than just the diner man, who feeds my enormous addiction of coffee, and dutifully warns me of clogged arteries when I order a burger every day for dinner. You really care about me, and most importantly, you also care about Rory. I never realized how good I had it, until it was gone." A single tear rolled down her face, and Luke gently wiped it away.
"It was never gone, Lorelai," he said. "I was always here, and I'll always be here. For you, and Rory." He took a deep breath.
"I saw you this morning in the diner, with Chris and everyone. You were holding the baby in your lap, and everyone was laughing. I didn't want to interrupt your moment of a happiness." Lorelai looked up at him.
"Really?" she asked. "Why didn't you come out and say hi?"
"I'm not too sure," Luke said, looking away. "I was jealous, that Chris could complete your family like he did this morning. It seemed like it fit perfectly. I'm not a home wrecker you know," he added, causing Lorelai to laugh.
"I was planning on apologizing for being rude to you, in the diner that night. I really didn't mean to ignore you, or be rude. I don't know what happened there.
"Awww," Lorelai said, laughing. She gently touched the side of his cheeky, rubbing her fingers along the scruff. "You were jealous. And I was stupid."
"You weren't stupid," Luke said, taking a hold of Lorelai's hand. 'Damn, it felt good when she was rubbing it on his cheek.'
"I was stupid and to top it off, I was jealous. I should've done something long ago, but I guess it's never too late."
Luke put his hand on Lorelai's cheek, and gently lowered his face towards hers. His lips brushed against hers, softly in a kiss. Lorelai's heart leapt as she froze, realizing that the diner man was kissing her. She finally came back to her senses, and placed her hand on the back of Luke's head, pulling him in closer, for a deeper kiss. Finally, when they both broke a part, both of them smiled.
"So," Luke said, breaking the silence.
"So."
"So."
"I guess we can't go back to how things used to be right?" Lorelai said, breaking their repetitive 'so's'.
"Did you want it to be?" Luke asked, his face full of concern. Lorelai smiled shyly, and shook her head.
"Definitely not, definitely not."
"Sometimes change is for the better," Luke said, and Lorelai responded with a kiss.
"Sometimes change is better," she replied, pausing for a second. Lorelai looked around, and scrambled to her feet. She race towards the door, just as it closed, and the lock clicking.
"Hey!" she screamed, pounding on the door with her good hand. "Hello! Let us out!"
Luke quickly grabbed her hand in mid-air.
"Don't want you to hurt both hands now," he explained, and Lorelai gave him an annoyed look.
"Look," Lorelai said, pointing to the floor. There was a plate filled with a burger and fries. The burger and fries were cut down the middle, and separated into two sections on the plate. There were two small tooth picks poking out of the burger, with small little pieces of paper taped to them. One said 'Luke', and the other said 'Lorelai'. Luke stooped down to pick up the plate.
"It looks like we have dinner," he said, bringing the food towards their noses, and breathing in.
"It looks like we've been set up," Lorelai replied. She took a seat on the floor, taking the plate from Luke.
"Burger?" she asked. "Oh, wait, you don't eat red meat."
"Hey, I never said that." Luke said, picking up his labeled half. "I eat burgers, from time to time. Not all the time, but once in a while." He took a bite out of it.
"Pretty good," he said, after chewing for a while, and swallowing. Lorelai smiled, and continued to eat.
They finally finished the food on the plate, satisfied for the time being. Luke reached out for a napkin, when something dropped out from within it.
Luke's eyes narrowed, as he picked up the fallen object.
"Ah ha!" he said, putting the key into the lock. "We were totally set up." He turned the lock, and helped Lorelai up from the floor. He put his hand on the door knob, preparing to turn it. Lorelai quickly placed her hand over his and said,
"Wait." She quickly reached up and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips, smiling.
"So," she said after they pulled apart, "what should we do? Congratulate the on a mission accomplished, or ground them for locking us up in a room all night."
"Well," Luke replied, smiling, "as a token of our appreciation for their magnificent scheming, we will simply repay them by grounding them. Good idea?"
Lorelai smiled as she took Luke's hand in hers, and opened the door. She felt Luke's fingers pull away a little bit, but intertwine with hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Together they walked out of the tiny storage room.
~.~
Rory was sitting on a stool, watching Jess sweep the floor of the diner. It was 9:30, and the diner had closed for the night.
"Do you think they'd figure out that we gave them the key to let themselves out yet?" Rory asked, picking up a cloth, and wiping down the counter top.
"Yeah, they should've figured it out by now," Jess answered, looking up. "But uncle Luke and your mom were probably fighting too much to even notice that they could leave!" He grinned at Rory.
"Jess!"
Rory looked up, her eyes widening with fear. Luke and her mom were out of the storage room. Luke marched into the diner with an angry look on his face, with Lorelai at his heels, with an equally angry look on her face. Suddenly she broke out into a smile, and winked at Rory.
"What are we going to do with you two?" he roared at Jess and Rory. "Who's idea was it?"
Rory quickly handed the towel to Jess, and scampered behind him, intimidated by Luke.
Jess shrugged.
"So you're not going to tell us who planned this ordeal?" Lorelai said, her tone rising as she spoke. She turned to Luke. "What should we do?" she asked him.
"Ground them?"
"How long?"
"Three months?"
"What?" Rory squeaked.
"Uncle Luke, you can't ground us for three months!" Jess complained.
"Yeah, that's a lot. Two weeks then?" Lorelai suggested, moving closer towards Luke.
"Two weeks sounds good," Luke said, smiling. He put his arm around Lorelai's waist and pulled her close. Lorelai gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
Rory looked at Jess shocked.
"Grounded two weeks is our way for saying 'thank you for locking us, and making us realizing our feelings for each other," Lorelai said, laughing.
"But mom! I've never been grounded before!" Rory complained. "You never ground me!"
"This is the thanks I get for making you come to your senses?" Jess demanded angrily. "Are you insane? Remind me never to help you again."
Lorelai rushed over to Rory, and gave her a huge hug.
"I'll unground you when I get home, hun," she whispered into Rory's ear. Jess heard, and his eyes opening wider.
"Hey! That's not fair!" he complained to Luke. "How come she gets un- grounded?"
Luke shrugged. "Rory's not my kid. Now get back to work," he ordered, ignoring the death stares he was getting from Jess.
"Awww," Rory sympathized. "I'll come visit you every day when you're grounded?" she offered, hoping to make him feel better.
"You come and visit me every day already," Jess pointed out. He paused. "Okay then. You get to spend every day with me that I'm grounded, okay?"
Rory smiled, and squeezed his hand. Jess turned to Luke, tossing him the towel. "My shift's over, I'm out." He threw Luke another dirty look, before leaving with Rory.
Lorelai smiled.
"Did you see the look on their faces when you came out, yelling at them?"
Luke laughed.
"If only I had a camera. I've never seen Rory so scared, and Jess so pissed off." Lorelai came over, and put her arms around his waist, her face inches away from his.
"This feels so right," he said, giving her a quick kiss.
"We should've done this long ago," Lorelai admitted, playing with the hair on the back of his head.
"You wanna help clean up?" he asked, holding up the towel.
"Uh uh," Lorelai answered, shaking her head. "But I'll sit here and drink coffee, while you clean?" she offered smiling.
Luke sighed.
"Coffee is bad for you, you know. With so much caffeine in your system so late, how can you even sleep at night? Don't you stay wide awake.."
Lorelai interrupted him with a kiss.
"Coffee it is," Luke relented, grabbing a cup from underneath the counter, frowning. Her kisses made it impossible to refuse, or be angry at her.
Lorelai smiled at Luke, accepting her cup.
"Thanks."
~.~
"I can't believe we did it!" Rory shrieked, once Jess and her were outside.
Jess shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess so," he said, agreeing with Rory. He squeezed her hand, as they walked towards the bridge, a quiet and favorite sitting place.
"You're so smart, you know," he said, in a teasing voice, as they sad down, dangling their legs over the water.
"It's not like I came up with this plan alone, you helped with the key, and the whole supply room thing," Rory replied, looking up at his face. "We work well together."
Jess squeezed her hand.
"Yeah, we do."
~.~
Rory and Lorelai stood in front a giant oak door. Another week had quickly passed, which meant another Friday dinner had arrived.
Lorelai had been dreading it, not wanting to explain to her mother why Chris, once again was no longer in their lives, and this time around, it was her fault.
"Mom, ring the door bell," Rory said, standing side by side with her mother.
"No honey, you ring it," Lorelai replied, nudging her daughter closer to the door.
"Uh uh." Rory shook her head. "I rang it last week."
"No you didn't. We didn't get a chance to ring the door bell last week cause we were late, and Mom opened the door before we could get out."
"So? I rang it the week before then."
"So?" Lorelai mimicked. "I gave birth to you, so you have to do what I say. So there!"
"Fine." Rory pressed the door bell once. "At least we're on time today."
The door opened, and the girls were greeted by the maid.
"Mrs. Gilmore is expecting you in the parlor. Please, come in," she said, taking their coats as the walked in.
Emily stood up as Lorelai and Rory walked into the room.
"Hello Lorelai, Rory. You two aren't late today." She paused, and looked behind them. "Where's Christopher, and his daughter?"
"In Boston."
"Why on earth would they be doing there?"
"They live there."
"I thought they were staying in Stars Hollow with you."
"They left."
"When?" Emily demanded. "Wine?"
"Yes please, white." Lorelai replied, sighing. "They left Saturday."
"Rory? Soda?" Emily asked, before turning her attention back to Lorelai. "So soon? Why?"
"I'm not sure, mom. Chris needed to go back to work."
"I'm sure he could've waited until Sunday before leaving."
"No he couldn't mom."
"Why not? Did you kick him out or something?"
"No."
"Why not?"
The maid shuffled in, interrupting the heated conversation.
"Dinner's ready."
"Please tell Mr. Gilmore dinner is ready."
Emily looked a little bit distraught, and stood up. "Let's go," she commanded, walking towards the dining room. "We'll talk about this over dinner."
~.~
"So, Rory, how is school?" Richard Gilmore asked.
"Good, good. It's getting quite busy, with the Franklin, Paris, and planning for prom. Exams are coming up soon."
"I can't believe you're almost done now, it seems like it was just yesterday when you started going to Chilton." Lorelai commented, taking a bite of her salad. Emily was being unusually quiet, compared to minutes before in the living room.
"Good salad today mom. Very fresh. Did you get her to hand pick the spinach in Mexico?" Lorelai commented, joking about the salad.
"Good."
Rory looked at her mother, warningly. Lorelai shrugged.
"Emily, is there something wrong?" Richard asked. "You're being awfully quiet at your end of the table."
Emily snapped.
"Richard, look around you. Who was at the table last Friday, and isn't here this week?" She paused, allowing Richard to peer around the room, looking at the faces seated at the table. It dawned on him: Christopher and Georgia. Before he could say anything, Emily cut him off.
"Yes, that's right, Richard," Emily continued, not allowing Richard to answer. "Christopher and his daughter. Christopher isn't here. Where is he, you may ask? In Boston!"
"Mom," Lorelai said, in a very strained tone of voice.
"Lorelai, why isn't he here? What did he do this time, to make seem like that you two will never be able to get together?" Emily sighed, putting down her fork and waving away her unfinished salad. The maid quickly picked it up, avoiding a verbal lashing from Emily Gilmore.
"Why are you always interfering with my life? Do you really want to know why Chris isn't here? Perhaps, have you ever thought, that he just wasn't the right person for me, at any point in time in my life? He was upset that Sherry left him. He tried starting up something again with me, but I turned him down."
"Turned him down?" Emily's face started to turn a shade of purple.
"Why are things ever so complicated? This time, you stopped him, not him stopping you? What is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"It wasn't what I wanted Mom. Raising a child that isn't mine? I love Rory, she's my kid. Also, I didn't want to be the rebound girl. Getting my heart broken isn't the best feeling in the world, Mom. I love him, always, but not anymore. He needs to figure some things out, but we're going to keep in touch more often now."
"Well, Emily, there's your answer," Richard commented, cutting into the lamb chop on his plate. He turned to Lorelai.
"I'm glad you made your own decision. I don't think I could love a granddaughter who isn't our own." He smiled at Rory, who blushed. "We're Gilmores, that's how it's going to be." He raised his glass, in a toast.
"To the Gilmores."
Lorelai and Rory smiled, picking up their glasses. Emily grumpily followed in suit.
"To the Gilmores."
~.~
Done!!:) What do you think? Should I continue this story, moving forward and doing more r/j? Feed back pls!
pebbles.
A/N - february's here - and this might be the last update in a while. Pls read the important author's note at the end of the next chapter okay? And REVIEW!
Enough yapping here - now on with the story!
************************
Chapter 5
Rory sat at the counter, nervously twirling her hair. She looked at Jess, who was calmly walking around the diner, handling the dinner rush.
"Do you think they're okay?" she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
"I'm sure they're fine." Jess looked at Rory, and gave her a hug.
"They just need some time to figure things out, and we're just speeding it along for them. Plus, it was your idea," he pointed out.
"I know, I know, but I'm having second thoughts about this plan. What happens if my mom gets really angry, and bites Luke's head off? Not a pretty sight."
"Not a pretty sight indeed," Jess agreed. He gave Rory a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry okay? We'll bring them food in a little while, when the diner is less busy alright?"
Rory nodded.
"Can I help with anything?" she asked, hoping it would make the time pass by a little bit faster.
Jess nodded, pulling out an apron for her.
"Here," he said, handing her the coffee pot. " Just make sure the people who want extra coffee have their cups full okay?"
Rory smiled, and picked up the pot.
"Okay."
~.~
Luke and Lorelai were sitting side by side, on the floor of the storage room. Both of them stared straight ahead into the row of cans of spaghetti sauce.
"I've had a really tough week, Luke." Lorelai said, breaking the silence. "Chris came back this week."
"Yeah, I know."
"He left this morning." Lorelai looked at Luke, who had turned to face her.
"Really?" he said, genuinely surprised. "Why?"
"I pushed him away," Lorelai replied, looking away again.
"We were having such a good time, him, Rory and I, it was like we were an actual family unit. All nice, and happy, like it's supposed to be. He springs it on me, on Friday night, after I came home from the diner" she said, pausing and looking back at Luke, "he said he wanted to come back, and give another try at a relationship."
"Huh." Lorelai turned to look at him.
"What did you say?" Luke asked.
"I said no."
"Oh." silence "Why?"
"Now, here is where it gets tricky. I'm not sure why I said no. But for sure, I knew it just didn't feel right. I wish Rory were here right now," she muttered.
"Rory?" Luke asked, giving her a weird look.
"She's my therapist," Lorelai explained. "She explained it to me a lot better last night, and it made more sense. Plus, she can help me figure out a couple of other things," she added.
"I told her about everything that went on, and Rory suggested it was because I wasn't ready to try another relationship round with Chris, because I am secretly afraid of getting hurt, or letting Rory get hurt, or just confused about everything."
"Confused about everything?"
"About you." Lorelai said, looking into his eyes.
Luke pursed his lips together, and pretended to look like he understood what she meant. "I understand he said." He paused, furrowing his forehead. "On second thought, I don't understand. What do you mean you're confused about everything. Everything including me? Or just me?" he asked, turning to face Lorelai completely.
"You," Lorelai said, tapping him gently with her index finger on his chest. "You confuse me. You start off all sweet, and nice, especially when you sent Rory home that day with coffee and the danish, and the day before, how you didn't charge Chris for his breakfast, but other times, it seems like you're one big old grumpy grouch, like Oscar on Sesame Street. Those times it makes it impossible for anyone to talk to you. And lately, for the past couple of days, it's like you've been avoiding me, for no apparent reason. And it's got me so confused." Lorelai paused, licking her lips. Luke reached over and grabbed a can of pop, and opened it for her.
"Here," he said, still dumbfounded by all of what she just said.
"Thanks," Lorelai said, taking a deep sip.
"And, to top it all off, Rory thinks that maybe one of the reasons why I turned away Chris is, you Luke."
"Me?" Luke stared into her eyes. "Why me?"
"I dunno," Lorelai said, sadly, turning her eyes away. Luke gently lifted her chin up, so he could look into her eyes again.
"Chris can give me anything in the world that I want; he gave me Rory. But one thing he couldn't ever give me is you, Luke." She paused, taking in a deep breath. Her chest felt a little tighter. 'What am I doing?' she thought.
"You've always been the one, there for me, Luke. You've been so good to me, and I've never realized that maybe you're more than just the diner man, who feeds my enormous addiction of coffee, and dutifully warns me of clogged arteries when I order a burger every day for dinner. You really care about me, and most importantly, you also care about Rory. I never realized how good I had it, until it was gone." A single tear rolled down her face, and Luke gently wiped it away.
"It was never gone, Lorelai," he said. "I was always here, and I'll always be here. For you, and Rory." He took a deep breath.
"I saw you this morning in the diner, with Chris and everyone. You were holding the baby in your lap, and everyone was laughing. I didn't want to interrupt your moment of a happiness." Lorelai looked up at him.
"Really?" she asked. "Why didn't you come out and say hi?"
"I'm not too sure," Luke said, looking away. "I was jealous, that Chris could complete your family like he did this morning. It seemed like it fit perfectly. I'm not a home wrecker you know," he added, causing Lorelai to laugh.
"I was planning on apologizing for being rude to you, in the diner that night. I really didn't mean to ignore you, or be rude. I don't know what happened there.
"Awww," Lorelai said, laughing. She gently touched the side of his cheeky, rubbing her fingers along the scruff. "You were jealous. And I was stupid."
"You weren't stupid," Luke said, taking a hold of Lorelai's hand. 'Damn, it felt good when she was rubbing it on his cheek.'
"I was stupid and to top it off, I was jealous. I should've done something long ago, but I guess it's never too late."
Luke put his hand on Lorelai's cheek, and gently lowered his face towards hers. His lips brushed against hers, softly in a kiss. Lorelai's heart leapt as she froze, realizing that the diner man was kissing her. She finally came back to her senses, and placed her hand on the back of Luke's head, pulling him in closer, for a deeper kiss. Finally, when they both broke a part, both of them smiled.
"So," Luke said, breaking the silence.
"So."
"So."
"I guess we can't go back to how things used to be right?" Lorelai said, breaking their repetitive 'so's'.
"Did you want it to be?" Luke asked, his face full of concern. Lorelai smiled shyly, and shook her head.
"Definitely not, definitely not."
"Sometimes change is for the better," Luke said, and Lorelai responded with a kiss.
"Sometimes change is better," she replied, pausing for a second. Lorelai looked around, and scrambled to her feet. She race towards the door, just as it closed, and the lock clicking.
"Hey!" she screamed, pounding on the door with her good hand. "Hello! Let us out!"
Luke quickly grabbed her hand in mid-air.
"Don't want you to hurt both hands now," he explained, and Lorelai gave him an annoyed look.
"Look," Lorelai said, pointing to the floor. There was a plate filled with a burger and fries. The burger and fries were cut down the middle, and separated into two sections on the plate. There were two small tooth picks poking out of the burger, with small little pieces of paper taped to them. One said 'Luke', and the other said 'Lorelai'. Luke stooped down to pick up the plate.
"It looks like we have dinner," he said, bringing the food towards their noses, and breathing in.
"It looks like we've been set up," Lorelai replied. She took a seat on the floor, taking the plate from Luke.
"Burger?" she asked. "Oh, wait, you don't eat red meat."
"Hey, I never said that." Luke said, picking up his labeled half. "I eat burgers, from time to time. Not all the time, but once in a while." He took a bite out of it.
"Pretty good," he said, after chewing for a while, and swallowing. Lorelai smiled, and continued to eat.
They finally finished the food on the plate, satisfied for the time being. Luke reached out for a napkin, when something dropped out from within it.
Luke's eyes narrowed, as he picked up the fallen object.
"Ah ha!" he said, putting the key into the lock. "We were totally set up." He turned the lock, and helped Lorelai up from the floor. He put his hand on the door knob, preparing to turn it. Lorelai quickly placed her hand over his and said,
"Wait." She quickly reached up and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips, smiling.
"So," she said after they pulled apart, "what should we do? Congratulate the on a mission accomplished, or ground them for locking us up in a room all night."
"Well," Luke replied, smiling, "as a token of our appreciation for their magnificent scheming, we will simply repay them by grounding them. Good idea?"
Lorelai smiled as she took Luke's hand in hers, and opened the door. She felt Luke's fingers pull away a little bit, but intertwine with hers, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Together they walked out of the tiny storage room.
~.~
Rory was sitting on a stool, watching Jess sweep the floor of the diner. It was 9:30, and the diner had closed for the night.
"Do you think they'd figure out that we gave them the key to let themselves out yet?" Rory asked, picking up a cloth, and wiping down the counter top.
"Yeah, they should've figured it out by now," Jess answered, looking up. "But uncle Luke and your mom were probably fighting too much to even notice that they could leave!" He grinned at Rory.
"Jess!"
Rory looked up, her eyes widening with fear. Luke and her mom were out of the storage room. Luke marched into the diner with an angry look on his face, with Lorelai at his heels, with an equally angry look on her face. Suddenly she broke out into a smile, and winked at Rory.
"What are we going to do with you two?" he roared at Jess and Rory. "Who's idea was it?"
Rory quickly handed the towel to Jess, and scampered behind him, intimidated by Luke.
Jess shrugged.
"So you're not going to tell us who planned this ordeal?" Lorelai said, her tone rising as she spoke. She turned to Luke. "What should we do?" she asked him.
"Ground them?"
"How long?"
"Three months?"
"What?" Rory squeaked.
"Uncle Luke, you can't ground us for three months!" Jess complained.
"Yeah, that's a lot. Two weeks then?" Lorelai suggested, moving closer towards Luke.
"Two weeks sounds good," Luke said, smiling. He put his arm around Lorelai's waist and pulled her close. Lorelai gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
Rory looked at Jess shocked.
"Grounded two weeks is our way for saying 'thank you for locking us, and making us realizing our feelings for each other," Lorelai said, laughing.
"But mom! I've never been grounded before!" Rory complained. "You never ground me!"
"This is the thanks I get for making you come to your senses?" Jess demanded angrily. "Are you insane? Remind me never to help you again."
Lorelai rushed over to Rory, and gave her a huge hug.
"I'll unground you when I get home, hun," she whispered into Rory's ear. Jess heard, and his eyes opening wider.
"Hey! That's not fair!" he complained to Luke. "How come she gets un- grounded?"
Luke shrugged. "Rory's not my kid. Now get back to work," he ordered, ignoring the death stares he was getting from Jess.
"Awww," Rory sympathized. "I'll come visit you every day when you're grounded?" she offered, hoping to make him feel better.
"You come and visit me every day already," Jess pointed out. He paused. "Okay then. You get to spend every day with me that I'm grounded, okay?"
Rory smiled, and squeezed his hand. Jess turned to Luke, tossing him the towel. "My shift's over, I'm out." He threw Luke another dirty look, before leaving with Rory.
Lorelai smiled.
"Did you see the look on their faces when you came out, yelling at them?"
Luke laughed.
"If only I had a camera. I've never seen Rory so scared, and Jess so pissed off." Lorelai came over, and put her arms around his waist, her face inches away from his.
"This feels so right," he said, giving her a quick kiss.
"We should've done this long ago," Lorelai admitted, playing with the hair on the back of his head.
"You wanna help clean up?" he asked, holding up the towel.
"Uh uh," Lorelai answered, shaking her head. "But I'll sit here and drink coffee, while you clean?" she offered smiling.
Luke sighed.
"Coffee is bad for you, you know. With so much caffeine in your system so late, how can you even sleep at night? Don't you stay wide awake.."
Lorelai interrupted him with a kiss.
"Coffee it is," Luke relented, grabbing a cup from underneath the counter, frowning. Her kisses made it impossible to refuse, or be angry at her.
Lorelai smiled at Luke, accepting her cup.
"Thanks."
~.~
"I can't believe we did it!" Rory shrieked, once Jess and her were outside.
Jess shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess so," he said, agreeing with Rory. He squeezed her hand, as they walked towards the bridge, a quiet and favorite sitting place.
"You're so smart, you know," he said, in a teasing voice, as they sad down, dangling their legs over the water.
"It's not like I came up with this plan alone, you helped with the key, and the whole supply room thing," Rory replied, looking up at his face. "We work well together."
Jess squeezed her hand.
"Yeah, we do."
~.~
Rory and Lorelai stood in front a giant oak door. Another week had quickly passed, which meant another Friday dinner had arrived.
Lorelai had been dreading it, not wanting to explain to her mother why Chris, once again was no longer in their lives, and this time around, it was her fault.
"Mom, ring the door bell," Rory said, standing side by side with her mother.
"No honey, you ring it," Lorelai replied, nudging her daughter closer to the door.
"Uh uh." Rory shook her head. "I rang it last week."
"No you didn't. We didn't get a chance to ring the door bell last week cause we were late, and Mom opened the door before we could get out."
"So? I rang it the week before then."
"So?" Lorelai mimicked. "I gave birth to you, so you have to do what I say. So there!"
"Fine." Rory pressed the door bell once. "At least we're on time today."
The door opened, and the girls were greeted by the maid.
"Mrs. Gilmore is expecting you in the parlor. Please, come in," she said, taking their coats as the walked in.
Emily stood up as Lorelai and Rory walked into the room.
"Hello Lorelai, Rory. You two aren't late today." She paused, and looked behind them. "Where's Christopher, and his daughter?"
"In Boston."
"Why on earth would they be doing there?"
"They live there."
"I thought they were staying in Stars Hollow with you."
"They left."
"When?" Emily demanded. "Wine?"
"Yes please, white." Lorelai replied, sighing. "They left Saturday."
"Rory? Soda?" Emily asked, before turning her attention back to Lorelai. "So soon? Why?"
"I'm not sure, mom. Chris needed to go back to work."
"I'm sure he could've waited until Sunday before leaving."
"No he couldn't mom."
"Why not? Did you kick him out or something?"
"No."
"Why not?"
The maid shuffled in, interrupting the heated conversation.
"Dinner's ready."
"Please tell Mr. Gilmore dinner is ready."
Emily looked a little bit distraught, and stood up. "Let's go," she commanded, walking towards the dining room. "We'll talk about this over dinner."
~.~
"So, Rory, how is school?" Richard Gilmore asked.
"Good, good. It's getting quite busy, with the Franklin, Paris, and planning for prom. Exams are coming up soon."
"I can't believe you're almost done now, it seems like it was just yesterday when you started going to Chilton." Lorelai commented, taking a bite of her salad. Emily was being unusually quiet, compared to minutes before in the living room.
"Good salad today mom. Very fresh. Did you get her to hand pick the spinach in Mexico?" Lorelai commented, joking about the salad.
"Good."
Rory looked at her mother, warningly. Lorelai shrugged.
"Emily, is there something wrong?" Richard asked. "You're being awfully quiet at your end of the table."
Emily snapped.
"Richard, look around you. Who was at the table last Friday, and isn't here this week?" She paused, allowing Richard to peer around the room, looking at the faces seated at the table. It dawned on him: Christopher and Georgia. Before he could say anything, Emily cut him off.
"Yes, that's right, Richard," Emily continued, not allowing Richard to answer. "Christopher and his daughter. Christopher isn't here. Where is he, you may ask? In Boston!"
"Mom," Lorelai said, in a very strained tone of voice.
"Lorelai, why isn't he here? What did he do this time, to make seem like that you two will never be able to get together?" Emily sighed, putting down her fork and waving away her unfinished salad. The maid quickly picked it up, avoiding a verbal lashing from Emily Gilmore.
"Why are you always interfering with my life? Do you really want to know why Chris isn't here? Perhaps, have you ever thought, that he just wasn't the right person for me, at any point in time in my life? He was upset that Sherry left him. He tried starting up something again with me, but I turned him down."
"Turned him down?" Emily's face started to turn a shade of purple.
"Why are things ever so complicated? This time, you stopped him, not him stopping you? What is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"It wasn't what I wanted Mom. Raising a child that isn't mine? I love Rory, she's my kid. Also, I didn't want to be the rebound girl. Getting my heart broken isn't the best feeling in the world, Mom. I love him, always, but not anymore. He needs to figure some things out, but we're going to keep in touch more often now."
"Well, Emily, there's your answer," Richard commented, cutting into the lamb chop on his plate. He turned to Lorelai.
"I'm glad you made your own decision. I don't think I could love a granddaughter who isn't our own." He smiled at Rory, who blushed. "We're Gilmores, that's how it's going to be." He raised his glass, in a toast.
"To the Gilmores."
Lorelai and Rory smiled, picking up their glasses. Emily grumpily followed in suit.
"To the Gilmores."
~.~
Done!!:) What do you think? Should I continue this story, moving forward and doing more r/j? Feed back pls!
pebbles.