Author's Note: After a short but serious battle with writer's block, I'm back. The beginning is cheesy, but it gets better. Marginally.

Chapter 5: Tuesday

Tuesday morning dawned crisp and clear, and Lorelai could tell that something good would happen. She wasn't sure what it would be, but it felt like something big. When she stepped out of her bedroom, she knew. Rory stood there, fully dressed, dangling the keys to the Jeep.

"Luke's. Now."

"Whoa, too many monosyllables for this early in the morning."

"I haven't had coffee in days. I can't remember what it tastes like."

Lorelai gaped at Rory in horror. "Surely you jest!"

"Would I joke about something like that?"

"No, you wouldn't."

"Right." Rory grabbed her mother's hand and began dragging her forward. "Let's go quickly, before I get tired again. Well, while I still have energy, at least. I can't remember not being tired. How long will this last?"

"Rory, for someone who has little energy and no caffeine in her system, you sure talk fast."

"Answer my question." Rory opened the front door and, after she and Lorelai had stepped through, shut it behind her and headed for the Jeep.

"Well, Doogie said that the shortest case lasts about six weeks. But, he also thinks that you've had mono for two weeks, so, another it might be another month."

"And that's the minimum." Rory stated.

Lorelai looked pained. "Yeah. Most cases last for a few months, with symptoms that can hang around for years."

Rory sighed and slumped against her seat. "So, this isn't your average flu bug."

"Nope. Sorry."

Rory looked over at her mom. "Did you do the mono dance?"

Lorelai looked puzzled. "What?"

"In a rare moment of lucidity yesterday, I remember we had a talk about apologizing for this. I distinctly remember hearing something about a mono dance."

Lorelai grinned over at her daughter as they reached Luke's. "It was a good line, wasn't it?"

"A very good line. A good point, too. No more apologizing."

Lorelai nodded solemnly, raising her hand in the Scout's salute. "No more apologizing."

"Good." Rory preceded Lorelai into the diner.

Luke looked up as the bell over the door jangled. "Rory, hi!"

"Hey Luke!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Good. Can't complain. Well I could, but it would be a waste of my awake time." Luke smiled at her logic as he made his way around the counter with a pot of coffee in his hand. Rory and Lorelai quickly sat down at the nearest table.

"So, what can I get for you this morning?"

"French toast, please."

"And for you, Lorelai?"

"Chopped liver."

"We don't serve that till eleven; sorry."

Lorelai glared at Luke. "You totally just missed my whole point."

"Lorelai, when was the last time you had a point?" Luke's statement was softened by a smile.

"Well, there was the time I dressed up as Madonna for Halloween. I had two points then!" Lorelai beamed up at Luke, who looked uncomfortable. "I'll have two fried eggs and raisin toast."

Luke left their table, shaking his head.

Rory turned to her mother. "Ok, what was that?"

Lorelai looked confused. "What was what?"

"That smiling, flirting thing that you and Luke just did."

"That was not…" Lorelai looked around and dropped her voice to a whisper, "flirting."

"It was so!" Rory announced.

"Was not."

"Was so."

"Was not."

"Oh, please, it was like watching 'While You Were Sleeping', except without Peter Galagher."

"Hey, Eyebrow Man! What did she see in him? I mean, when the first thing you notice about a man is his eyebrows, you know that something just isn't right."

"Don't change the subject."

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "Ok, maybe it was a little teensy bit of flirting." Seeing Rory's face brighten, she added hurriedly, "But it doesn't mean anything. It was harmless. Fun. It – stop looking at me like that!" Rory was grinning as Lorelai babbled.

"Mom, you two are so obviously in love, and you're the only two who can't see it."

"Rory! Don't say that! It's a four-letter word!"

"Rory is a four-letter word."

"Rory is a name."

"It has four letters."

Lorelai slumped over. "I give up. I cannot win."

"Darn tootin' you can't."

Lorelai looked up again. "Did you just say 'darn tootin'?"

"Yes I did."

"Wow. So your meds are kicking in, then."

"Apparently."

"Huh."

Just then, Luke came over with their food. Lorelai avoided his gaze, and Rory giggled at her. Luke set down the plates, looked back and forth between mother and daughter, rolled his eyes, and walked away shaking his head. Out of all the confusing women in the world, Lorelai Gilmore was right at the top of the list.

-----

As the women were finishing their meals, Jess came downstairs. Lorelai's smile disappeared, but Rory's got bigger. Jess nodded at Rory, but ignored Lorelai. Rory looked to her mother and saw her look of displeasure, and followed her gaze to Jess. Turning back, she questioned Lorelai.

"Mom… What's going on?"

"Going on? Is something going on? No," she paused reflectively, "I can't remember anything going on."

"There is clearly something going on. Tell me."

Lorelai looked stubborn. "It's nothing."

"Mom, I've lived with you for 17 years. I know when something isn't right."

"Define right."

"Mom!"

"Alright, fine. I yelled at Jess."

"When?"

"At the hospital."

"You didn't." Rory looked disappointed, and Lorelai felt a twinge of sadness that the emotion was directed at her.

"Yes I did. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have fainted."

"That's not true! And you know it. I got out of bed- I fought with Dean because he wasn't going to let me get up- and I fainted because I was dehydrated, not because Jess was there."

"But if he hadn't come to the house-."

"Then someone else would have, and I would have fainted on them. What if it had been Babbette? I don't know if she could have caught me. Would you be mad at her?"

Rory had a point, and Lorelai knew it. "But-."

"No buts. You wouldn't. So, is it fair that you're mad at Jess?" Rory stared at Lorelai, who stared back. Finally, letting out a huff of air, she shook her head. Rory continued. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Lorelai understood Rory's tone. "Please, don't make me apologize. I'm no good at it."

"I can't make you do anything. But you know you should."

Lorelai made a face. "Fine. I'll apologize." Rory smiled. "But, could you come with me? For backup? Cuz I know Jess won't whale me with a frying pan if you're right there."

"Nope. You got into this by yourself, and you can get out of it by yourself. Besides, there aren't any frying pans within Jess's reach."

Lorelai stood up. "Before I go- when did you get all wise and mother-y?"

Rory explained happily. "I learned it from this really cool lady I live with." Mother and daughter shared a grin before Lorelai moved to the counter where Jess was. He looked up when she cleared her throat. The expression on his face showed that he wasn't thrilled.

"Yeah?"

Lorelai smiled at the teen, trying to psych herself up for what she was about to do. "Jess, hi. Look, um, about Sunday. I'm sorry that I blew up at you. I was nervous; I hate hospitals, and… it wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have blamed you." Lorelai finished with a look of hope on her face.

Jess noticed her expression, and would have dashed her hopes, but he looked over at Rory. She sat there, not even hiding her interest in the conversation, sipping at her coffee. When she felt Jess's gaze on her, she smiled at him, and his resolve weakened. "Ok."

"Ok? As in, apology accepted?"

"Yeah."

Lorelai looked slightly surprised. "Wow. Ok, great. Um, thanks!" She turned around and grinned hugely at Rory as she walked back to her table.

"Well? Was that so bad?"

Lorelai pretended to think it over. "Nah. He didn't bite my head off or anything."

"Well, that's a good sign."

"Yep. Cuz it's really hard to apologize someone when you're being digested by them."

Rory wrinkled her nose at the mental picture. "Eew."

"Yeah, sorry, that was gross. Hey, speaking of gross, guess what Kirk told me yesterday?"

"I don't want to know."

Lorelai thought about it. "Good idea. Maybe I'll tell Luke."

"Yeah, go tell Luke."

Lorelai stood up again and walked towards the kitchen. "Hey, Luke! Guess what Kirk said?"

"I don't want to know."

"How do you know that? It might be really good!"

Their bickering (flirting, thought Rory) continued as she went over to the counter.

"Hey, Jess." He looked up. "Thanks."

"No problem." He set his cleaning rag down on the counter and moved around to sit beside Rory on a stool. "So, you look awake."

"Brilliant deduction."

"Thanks. Chalk it up to Stars Hollow's amazing education system."

The two sat in comfortable silence, which was broken when Luke burst out of the kitchen, followed quickly by Lorelai.

"Please, Luke? It's really funny!"

"No! I refuse to listen to your psychobabble." That stopped Lorelai.

"What is it with people using odd terms this morning?"

Luke spun to look at her. "Maybe it's a reaction to being around you."

"Possibly." Lorelai waved her hands in the air as if dismissing the likelihood. "So, can I tell you now?"

"No."

Lorelai waited for three seconds. "How bout now?"

"No."

Jess interjected. "Why don't you just say it? It's not like he can stop you."

Luke turned to shoot a glare at his nephew that would have killed a lesser man. As it was, Jess shrugged.

"Good idea, Jess. Luke, Kirk was conceived at a Star Trek convention!" There was a stunned silence in the diner, which was quickly followed by an amazing number of words.

"Ew! Mom-"

"That's just wrong!"

"-I didn't need-"

"I told you not to tell me."

"-to hear that."

"Sick and twisted."

"Amoral."

"Gross."

"Ok, I get it! But really, isn't that just way too juicy to keep to yourself?"

"No!" came from three mouths. Lorelai looked stunned at their vehemence.

"Oh. Sorry. But now you can tease him about it!"

Luke looked disgusted. "Why would I want to even think about that, much less talk about it?"

Lorelai thought about that. "Yeah. I guess that's a good point."

"Of course it's a good point." Luke headed back into the kitchen, followed again by Lorelai, who was still talking to him. Jess shook his head in amazement.

"Do they have any idea how ridiculous they look?"

Rory smiled gently. "They're in love. They don't care how ridiculous they look."

Jess shot a questioning glance at Rory. "Do they know they're in love?"

"Well, they don't. But everyone else does, so they let them be ridiculous. It's just assumed. Besides, they're fun to watch."

"Man, the people in this town are hard up for entertainment."

"Well, they can't watch Bambi anymore."

Jess grinned quickly, then resumed his normal poker face. "Sure they can. She's just a little more voluptuous than they're used to."

"Ack. What is it with people filling my head with information that I just don't want to know?"

"You're cute when you're grossed out." Jess said before he could stop himself.

"What?" Rory's tone was half amused, half disconcerted.

Jess decided that backtracking was for wimps, and forged ahead. "Your nose wrinkles and your forehead wrinkles and your eyes get bluer. Cute." He shrugged. "You know. Rabbits and kittens are cute, too."

"Oh great. Bambi is the poster child for a Hooters girl, and you're comparing me to Thumper?" Rory asked sarcastically.

Jess decided that maybe backtracking wasn't such a bad idea. "No, I just meant… you're cute, ok? Geez."

Rory giggled at Jess's obvious discomfort. "You're cute when you get disgruntled." Now it was his turn to look surprised. Rory took advantage of his momentary stillness and leaned over to give him a one-arm hug. Unfortunately, the drugs the doctors had given her had messed up her equilibrium, and she fell off her stool. Jess caught her for the second time in as many days. The teens stood there, arms around each other, frozen in time. Jess was about to speak when Lorelai charged out of the kitchen holding Luke's hat above her head.

"Hey, Rory, catch!" She was about to toss the hat when she saw Rory and Jess. "Oh." Luke exited the kitchen, grabbed his hat, and was about to speak to Lorelai when he also noticed Jess and Rory.

The bell over the door was knocked off its hook when Dean stormed into the diner. "Get your hands off of her!"

His statement snapped everyone out of their momentary tableaux. Rory and Jess stepped away from each other, the former blushing and the latter as cool as ever. Lorelai's arm dropped to her side as she continued to gape at her daughter. Luke cleared his throat and tried to hide his smile by ducking his head to put his hat on. Dean visibly seethed.

"Dean! Um, I fell off my stool, and Jess caught me." It was only half the story, but Rory decided that it wasn't vital for Dean to know the rest. "Otherwise I would have fallen. Again."

"Yeah, Jess has a real knack for being there at just the right time to catch you. How convenient."

"Dean, don't make a big deal out of this. Look, I'll fall on you next time, I promise." Rory reached out and took Dean's hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she waited until he looked her in the eye and then repeated, "I promise."

Dean found it impossible to stay mad. "Ok." Rory beamed up at him, then turned to Lorelai.

"Hey, Mom, can Dean and I hang out until I get tired?"

Before Lorelai could answer, Dean cut in. "Actually, some of us," he said, shooting a quick look at Jess, "have to go to school."

Jess rolled his eyes at the dig and moved to the door. "Well, Luke, as Dean has so succinctly put it, we should get going." He grabbed his coat and opened the door, then waited. "Well? Are you coming or not?" he inquired of Dean.

"With you?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we got along so well on Sunday, I thought we could exchange friendship charms on the way." Luke, Lorelai, and Rory looked confused, and Dean looked peeved. "Actually, never mind." Jess stepped through the door and shut it half way. Then, he turned back and addressed Rory. "Oh, by the way, the same goes for when you're flustered." He winked at her and exited, leaving her to deal with the cleanup.

"Um," she stalled as three pairs of eyes turned toward her, "Jess told me that my eyes get really big when I'm talking about Chaucer. Or any author, really. Or, books in general. Or poetry, or plays… you know. Reading stuff." She turned to Lorelai with a look of pleading on her face. "Mom, I'm starting to feel tired again. Could we go home?"

Lorelai got the idea. "Well, it's a good thing you didn't hang out with Dean, or you may just have fallen on him really soon." She turned her most charming smile on the tall teen. "Dean, shouldn't you get off to school?"

He looked at his watch. "Oh, yeah, I should go." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on Rory's forehead. "I'll see you later, ok?"

"Yeah. I'll call you when I'm awake again." She held Dean's hand as long as she could while he picked up his fallen backpack, then stood and began walking away. He too turned back at the door, but he only waved once before leaving the diner.

Rory's shoulders slumped as the turned back to Luke and Lorelai. She hadn't been too tired earlier, but she was now. All she wanted was to crawl back into bed and sleep for a day. Lorelai saw the exhaustion on her daughter's face and began moving. She grabbed her bag and keys from the chair she had been sitting on and put an arm around Rory, who leaned against her for support. "Bye, Luke!" she called over her shoulder.

"Yeah." He called back.

When the door closed behind them, Lorelai spoke again. "You definitely have some 'splaining to do, Lucy."

Rory sighed. She couldn't hide anything from her mom. "Ok. Next time I'm awake." Lorelai began to protest, but decided to leave it alone. Rory was practically sleeping on her feet, and Lorelai had to decide what to wear to her parent-teacher thing in the afternoon. It could wait. Silence reigned as the women drove home.

-----

The next time Rory woke up, it was dark outside. She was still tired as usual, but decided that she had to get up and do something. She made some toaster waffles, and as they popped up, Lorelai came in, wearing a Spiderman shirt and plaid pyjama pants.

"Oh, waffles! I forgot we had those!" Lorelai opened the freezer and got two waffles for herself. "So, how do you feel? Should I call Dean?" She shot Rory a look that clearly expressed her desire for information. Rory sighed and put down her knife and fork.

"You want to know why I keep falling on Jess."

"Well, now that you mention it, yeah. What is up with that?"

"Maybe he secretes a falling pheromone that I really react to."

"Oooookee."

"Ok, fine, it's a dumb idea. But it makes just as much sense as any other explanation I could come up with. The first time I was dehydrated; the second time I was disoriented."

"Maybe next time you'll be decapitated. No, wait." Lorelai thought about that for a second. "Not decapitated."

"Thanks. I rather like having my head where it is."

"Me too."

Mother and daughter munched their waffles in companionable silence. Suddenly, Rory perked up. "How did the meeting go?"

Lorelai put down her fork and sat up straight. "At first it was a bit weird, cuz Max was there, but we both kindof decided to put all that history behind us and just focus on you. So, there are your books," she said, pointing to a pile on the counter in front of the coffee machine, "And there's a list of stuff to do- readings, questions, whatnot." Seeing the look of despair on Rory's face, she kept talking. "Now, in spite of the whole 'We are Chilton, we have no soul' thing, all that your teachers want is for you to get better. They don't mind if you can't do it all. All that stuff is for the whole next month. So just do what you can. You don't have to do any tests, and each of your teachers is assigning a classmate with really good penmanship to make a copy of their classroom notes. So you'll get the discussions and stuff."

The look of panic was fading from Rory's face. "So, I'm not getting kicked out of school?"

"Nope."

"Good." Having finished her waffle, Rory put her plate and silverware in the sink. "Mom, can we do something? I'm getting sick of my bedroom."

Lorelai looked at her daughter, contemplating if she was well enough to be doing any sort of activity. "Yeah, I guess so. What do you want to do?"

That made Rory pause. She wasn't really in a movie mood, all of the malls in Hartford would be closed by the time they got there… obviously there was only one option left. "Let's go to Luke's!"

"Wow, you actually had to think about that?"

"For all of three seconds. I was dismissing other options first."

"So, Luke's was a second choice?"

"Mom. Luke's is never a second choice. It just wasn't the first choice."

"Therefore making it a second."

Rory sighed in exasperation. "I refuse to argue this with you. Let's go."

"Lemme finish my waffle." Lorelai shoved a full quarter of the Eggo into her mouth. "Ok."

Rory went to put some clothes on, but Lorelai looked at her own outfit and decided that it was safe to wear outside. Soon, they were on their way, talking and laughing as they usually did.

-----

A/N= Ok, that ending isn't working the way I want it to, but I've been struggling with it for a while, and it's the best I can do. And, really, you all wanted a new chapter, and I want to move on to the next plot point, so I decided to just go with this. So. New chapters may be a little slower in coming, depending on how much homework I have (and how much I "forget" to do). Just warning you.