Author's...something-or-other: OK, guys, I'm off to MSA (Missouri Scholars' Academy...that's me, the stupid overachiever) bright and early Sunday morning, but I thought I would give you a tiny, semi half-a'd update. Another WARNING: this is NOT a full chapter! This isn't even a third as long as the last one! This is merely a short little passage that I hope will tide you guys over.

And an author's note to Mabon: usually I don't do this, speak to reviewers specifically because it always annoys me when other people do it, but I do have ONE thing to say to you. No offense, but perhaps you should think before you write stuff in your reviews. Moreover, perhaps you should read the rest of the chapters before you review. Everyone else realizes the pairings in this story, or I hope and think that they do. But like I said, please wait until you read everything to review. Hopefully that will make everything a lot better thought-out. Thank you.
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"Coffee. Pronto," Lorelei told Luke, bursting in the door to his bedroom. Luke, who was barely awake, finally opened one eye. Once he realized that Lorelei was in his room, thought, he was fully awake to say the least--letting out a shout, Luke grappled with the pillows and sheets until he found himself landing with a thud on the cooled wood floor.

Luke looked up at Lorelei with a glare. "What...the...hell are you doing here, woman?" he asked her, and she laughed with glee.

"Coffee, Luke!!" Lorelei said again, still giggling. Luke, too, was still glaring.

"Luke, coffee? Please?" she groaned, flopping down on the bed. Luke then noticed she must have come straight from her bed; she was still dressed in pajama pants that were covered in the cups full of the object of her demands and a slightly skimpy spaghetti strap top. Luke, unfortunately, turned fully to her as the strap slid off one smooth shoulder. He groaned and ducked back under the sheets quickly, but Lorelei, not to be dissuaded, followed him. "Luke, gimme coffee. Please! I broke the coffee machine AGAIN! Can't you see I came straight from bed?"

Suddenly Luke couldn't find his voice at all. "Umm...ah...yes, I can...uh, see that," he said with a strangled voice. Lorelei finally noticed his discomfort and grinned, sliding closer to him under the covers, rubbing her bare shoulder against his.

"Luuuuuke..." she said, widening her eyes and flashing the patented Gilmore smile, "please...give me some coffee? I promise to pay you back." This came with an affected wantoness, and Luke groaned again.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Lorelei--" he warned, flipping over and moving to the other side of the bed. But she followed, not caring. "I will not get out of bed just to get you coffee! There is absolutely nothing you can do, I'm sorry!" Luke told her firmly.

Lorelei gazed up at him for a split second before she captured his lips in hers, an early morning dance, cool bed sheets against their skin, surprisingly intimate, and then she intertwined her fingers in his hair, pulled him closer to her. Luke rolled over gently as she wrapped one leg softly around his waist, moaning into her mouth as the sleepily groped for each other's hands in the early morning light. Finally, on a breath, he pulled away, and she blinked. It was astounding. The light shone softly around her face, creating a soft halo, as she sleepily opened her eyes. On the inside, Luke was shaking; it was much--much--too much as if they had spent the night together, slept together, woken up together.

Nothing would ever be the same if he woke up with Lorelei Gilmore, this much Luke knew.

"I'll go get you that coffee now," he told her, and Lorelei just lied there for a minute, listening to his bare feet padding on the cool wood floors, and she couldn't help but feel like crying.
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"I think I need to go away," Rory said, lying with her head on Jess' stomach on the Gilmore's porch swing.

"But I can't," she continued, "I need to stay here." Jess said nothing.

"I don't have anywhere to go, either," she said. In front of them, the street lights glowed softly through the trees, and jazz music floated quietly from next door. The night was cool, cooler than the days still were, and Rory settled into the folds of Jess' sweatshirt-like jacket.

Jess swallowed, and Rory spoke again. "But if I did...I couldn't go alone. And I couldn't go with mom. And I couldn't go with Lane..."

"And I can't go at all. Really, it wouldn't work out."

"I know, I know...well, it wouldn't work out because I need to stay here, don't I, Jess?" There was silence. "Jess?"

A pause, in Jess, around Jess, and Rory's heart sped up for a second. "Why stay here?" he asked quietly, so low that Rory had to strain to hear him.

"I don't know," she answered after a moment. "My mom, I guess."

"Rory, she has Luke." Rory balked for a moment, but realized it was true--if she were to go away for a weekend, even a week, Lorelei would have plenty of company in the diner owner.

"Then Lane," Rory offered again.

"House arrest, so there'd be no point."

Rory was grasping at straws. She didn't know why she should stay there--Jess was right. But there was a reason, an undeniable pull on her heart, that told her she couldn't leave, couldn't think of it.

"I don't know. But there's something."

"Something I'm sure of..." she continued, speaking to the quiet, breeze-filled outdoors rather than to the again-silent Jess.

Jess.

"Jess," Rory began haltingly, "were--was it--were you--were you outside my window the other night?" She tensed her muscles, embarassed to be asking what was surely a stupid question.

"Yes," came the monotone answer.

"Well...what were you doing?" she pursued, a bit boldened by the thought she wasn't hallucinating.

"I don't know..." he started to say. "Something...something I'm sure of," he repeated her own words to her.

Rory looked up, and a lone tear splashed on her upturned face as Jess looked up the the stars.
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The end, for now. What did you guys think? I know, it took me forever to get this up here...I didn't get it put up before MSA, and therefore, when I got back 3 weeks later to find that FF.net was not in the...best of health...it's taken me longer than previously estimated. Anyway, review, please? And I promise I'll update before I leave again. Really this time!!--Annest