Author's Note: This chapter was really hard to write. I rewrote the thing at least seven times. I'm relieved to say I finally finished, and I hope you enjoy the direction I finally decided to take.
Thank you Hadar for all your help. And thank you to everyone who has supported me to this point. All of your kind words and enthusiasm mean a lot to me.
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Chapter 2
The air is thicker, hotter. You can actually see stars in the sky without all the light pollution. The lanes are narrower and more trees line the road. But the differences between the greater Los Angeles area and the suburbs of Connecticut don't end at the aesthetics of their highways. Something was just... different about these places that was hard to put into words.
Jess suspected it had little to do with the way they appeared and more to do with the people who lived there. One could grow old with LA in weeks, seeing the same trend on every made-up wanna be super star. It was easy to get sucked into that superficial world if you let yourself. But this place felt untouched by pop culture world surrounding it, almost like the people were hiding from it.
Jess tried to concentrate on the book he was reading. His book light seemed to be the one of the only lights on, aside from a few of the overhead lights that had been turned on. Everything else was fairly dark, with only passing street lights and the moon to serve as illumination. As he read, he tried to ignore the screaming baby in front of him and the drunken man behind him. He probably would have had just as much luck trying to make the earth rotate backwards. Public transportation was a necessary evil that was the bane of his existence for the past 15 hours.
Turning off his book light, he stared out the window, hoping to drown out the background noise. Trees he could barely make out passed by. He noticed the bus start to pull off an exit on the highway and noted the sign, 'Welcome to Stars Hollow'.
He remembered the first time he had passed that sign and the anger and frustration and dread that had accompanied that ride. This time there wasn't any anger. There was just a lot of anxiety and anticipation.
He watched as the outskirts of the town started to take form beyond his window. He could already tell that practically nothing had changed. He had expected something to be different. Maybe they had built a new store or there were some trees being ripped out for the sake of a new development. But there was none of that.
There was something different about this place though that he couldn't place his finger on. Maybe it was the night, but he'd obviously seen the town at night. Maybe it was the peaceful way the town seemed to be resting tonight. Or maybe he saw it differently because he was looking at it through different eyes.
As the bus rounded another corner he could see that it was about to arrive at the Stars Hollow bus station. He suddenly didn't think he could move. Why did he think this was a good idea? He didn't like living here and no one else liked him living here. What did he expect? What was he going to do? Maybe he could just stay on the bus and go back to the Hartford airport -
"Stars Hollow!" the bus driver bellowed out.
He let out the breath he had been holding and stood up. He grabbed his bag from overhead and slung it over his shoulder as he walked down the narrow aisle and off the steps of the bus. He had gotten this far. It wasn't going to change anyone's opinion if he screwed up again anyway.
The doors squealed shut, the engine fired up, and the bus pulled away from the curb. Jess stared at the tail lights as they faded into the darkness and out of sight.
Finally, he turned around to face the town. It looked peaceful. It looked smaller. It looked normal, like it wasn't inhabited by a bunch of people who needed to be medicated.
He was glad he wasn't arriving in the middle of some crazy festival so that everyone in town would be staring him down, hearing them whisper about him, watching the gossip trail get all worked up over his arrival. He only had to deal with... Luke. He wasn't sure that would wind up being a better deal.
He started walking in the general direction of the center of town. The walk was second nature - gone all this time and he still knew the place like the back of his hand.
As he neared Luke's he saw some of the inside lights were still on and he was thankful that Luke was still awake. The blinds were still open but he couldn't see anyone in the dining area right then. The 'Closed' sign was on the door but when he reached for the door handle he saw it wasn't locked. Jess shook his head at how trusting people in small towns were.
As he pushed the door in he saw the diner just as it was the last time he had seen it. A rag was on the counter but with no one in sight, he figured Luke must be in the back doing something. He heard some movement in the back coming towards him, and braced himself for when Luke realized who was there.
A figure suddenly walked backwards out of the kitchen, struggling with a large box as she tried to fit through the opening, "Mom, I told you I can't give you anymore pi - " and then stopped dead in her tracks as she turned around and saw who had entered the diner.
She stared at him wide-eyed and dropped the box of napkins she had been carrying. It hit the floor and the napkins flew out, covering everything in a flurry of white.
They stood, staring at each other for a few seconds, before Rory managed to formulate a thought.
"I thought you were my mom." She paused, "She wants free pie and I had to cut her off about an hour ago."
Jess recovered quickly from his shock, not missing a beat, "I'm surprised you didn't have to do that sooner."
"She was busy today so she didn't get here until late."
"That explains it."
She nods, not really sure what else to do. She looks him over, taking in his presence.
"So - you're here."
"Yeah. I'm here. " He pauses and looked at her, "You're here too."
"I'm here often."
"But not with an apron and a rag and a box of napkins that you dropped all over the place."
She looks down, finally realizing what she had done, "Oh, crap." She bends down to start picking them up, and he follows suit, placing his duffel bag on the ground behind him.
They work silently for a few moments, picking up napkins and putting them back in the box. The quiet settles around them once again as they continue to work.
Jess looked over at her as they continue picking up the napkins, "So, you dropped out of Yale and now you're an aspiring actress?"
Startled by the sound of his voice, she looks up before answering, "What? Oh, no. Luke has the flu or a stomach virus or something. He was sneezing all over everyone's food and it was gross. We told him he had to rest or he wouldn't get better. And that it was a health code violation."
"And that worked?"
"No. I think he was delirious though and too weak to argue. And my mom was very persistent. I'm home for the summer, and since I have more free time than I know what to do with, I figured I could cover for him so doesn't have to close."
"How's that working out for you?"
"I think this is the beginning and end of my dining career."
He smiled at her as they continue to pick up napkins. It was nice to talk to her like this. Like things weren't so screwed up. Almost like they weren't strangers to each other. There were only a couple napkins left, and they both reached for the same one. Their hands brushed past each other, and when he looked up at her their eyes locked. He stared into her eyes, and he for once he couldn't read her. She abruptly pulled away and stood up, bringing the box up with her.
"I should throw these out. Luke is going to be so mad that I wasted all these napkins. I hope there's another box in the back. Cause if there's not people are going to have to walk around with dirty hands and then we'll get bacteria in the food and people will get sick and then Luke will get sued and it'll be all my fault. So I should go. Find more napkins. To prevent the outbreak." She spun around and walked back toward the stock room. Yeah, now you could tell things were screwed up.
Frustrated with himself, he called after her, "Rory, wait!" She stopped and turned her head slightly to the side so he knew she was listening. "We should talk."
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I - I don't think I can. Not now. Just - not now." And with that she was out the door.
He stood there staring at the spot where had last seen her back until he got a hold of himself and bent over to retrieve his duffel bag off the floor. That definitely wasn't in his plans for tonight.
He turned around and walked out the door, back into the night. Back into the dark. He definetly wasn't going to talk to Luke tonight. He'd had to find a hotel to stay in nearby. He supposed to Independence Inn was the closest, but he didn't really care to see Lorelai tonight or tomorrow morning. Nor was he sure if Lorelai still worked there or if it was still open, since the last he heard it was still struggling to stay open from that fire.
He sighed. There was a lot he was going to need to be filled in on, assuming someone would be willing. He walked over to the pay phone and called the cab company. And even that number he could recall from memory, even though he couldn't ever remember using it.
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Jess opened his eyes to the sound of an obnoxious radio personality blaring out of the alarm clock on the dresser next to his bed. He almost missed Jamie and Danny next to these guys, who he stopped listening to about a week after he moved to Venice. As he rolled over to turn it off, it took him a moment to remember what he was doing in this foreign room.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked around trying to place where he was. A hotel room, which he had arrived at after taking a cab from... Stars Hollow. That was it.
Today he was going back to Stars Hollow. He wasn't sure what he should be feeling right now. Nervous, anxious, calm; they all seemed to blend together. Pulling back his covers and stretching, he hoped today would go any better then yesturday.
Half an hour later he was dressed and ready to go. He opened his duffel bag, the same one that had been with him since the first time he arrived in Stars Hollow, to put his things away. He looked down and took out the book that had followed him all the way to Venice and back again. Putting the book on top of the things he was putting into his bag, he closed the bag and headed for the door.
He took the bus back into Stars Hollow this morning. He arrived in the middle of the morning and decided to purposely avoid passing Ms. Patty's as he walked through town. The town was no more busy than usual and for that he was thankful. Walking up to Luke's he could see there were only a few customers inside. He could also see Rory serving a customer by the window. She looked up as he approached and when she spotted him she gave him a tentative half smile and looked away. Moving back into the diner he lost sight of her as he rounded the corner and opened the door.
He walked inside, just like he had so many times before and walked over to the counter, waiting for, well he didn't exactly know.
Rory walked behind him and around behind the counter.
She glanced up at him as she walked by him, "Hey," and then she busied herself putting things away, straightening things, playing with the coffee machine. Jess watched her, unsure if he was supposed to act normal or try to converse with her as little as possible.
"Hey." Smooth. "So, this is a new. Usually I'm over there and you're over here demanding coffee."
"Not recently." She stopped even as the words came out of her mouth, and he knew she regretted them. But she played it cool and continued fiddling around with anything behind the counter she could get her hands on.
"Rory. I don't want to bother you. I'm just looking for Luke. Again."
She stopped what she was doing and turned around, nervously playing with the rag in her hand. "He's upstairs. He's still sick, but he came down a little while ago to make sure I opened okay so he should be awake."
"So, it's okay that I go up there?"
She shrugged, and grabbed a plate Ceasar had just placed on the counter that was ready to be served. As she walked back around the counter, she said, "It's not my decision. Do what you want."
He followed her as she moved through the diner and set the plate on a nearby table. She made some small talk with the customer and then moved on to take someone else's order. She was definetly more cut out for waiting tables than he ever was, at least in the being nice department. He looked over to the opening that led upstairs and braced himself.
Walking upstairs, he wasn't sure what he should expect. He was reaching for the door handle when he stopped. He didn't live here anymore, he couldn't just go barging in. So he knocked.
After a couple seconds, he could hear Luke yell in a very congested voice, "Come in."
He took a deep breath and opened the door.
Walking in was like walking back in time. He was suddenly seventeen again. Looking around, he could see that very little had changed. His side of the room was more bare than when he had left it, but other than that everything was pretty much the same. As his eyes scanned the room, they landed on Luke, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating soup. Luke glanced up and they made eye contact before Jess broke away to shut the door behind him.
Jess gave a pathetic wave, "Hey Luke."
Luke went back to his soup. "I figured it was you. Although I'm more surprised you didn't just appear behind me when I wasn't looking cause that's how I usually find you."
Jess shoved his hands into his pockets and just kind of stood there.
"So, how's... everything?"
Luke glanced up at him, "Everything is good. The diner is good. My health is, well, not great, but I'll be better soon. Anything else you need to know?"
Jess stared at him. "What?"
"I mean, we've had a small version of small talk. So unless there's anything else you need to know, I really need to rest."
"I was hoping we could talk."
"About?"
Unsure of the turn this conversation had taken, he answered unassuredly, "Stuff?"
Luke sighed, obviously not sure where this was going either, and continued with a more matter-of-fact tone, "Jess, what are you doing here?"
"Honestly? I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Well, I mean, physically, I know that right now what I'm doing here is feeling really awkward in your apartment, but the general, what do I plan to do here, yeah, that I don't know."
"Are you coming back?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know. I don't know if I want to stay and I don't know if I want to go. I'm just... here. I don't know if it's temporary or permanent or what. But it is what it is."
"How can you not know. I don't get a phone call or letter from you in almost four years. The last I heard from you was a check, with no note or letter or symbol, the only reason I know it was from you is because your name was printed on the check, how you got a bank account we'll get back to later, and that was over a year ago. And now you show up out of the blue with no notice. You just traveled almost 3000 miles and you don't know why?"
"That pretty much sums it up."
"Don't start being a smart-ass on me. I had a hard enough time putting up with that when I wasn't sick, and I don't intend to when I feel this crappy. What are you doing here?"
Jess ran his hands through his hair, wondering how this got screwed up already, "It was different before, when I was a kid. I lived where I lived because it was where someone made me live. And then it was because that's just where I was so I stayed there. There's no one to tell me where to go anymore. And I somehow ended up here. I'm not sure what that means. But that's the best answer I can give you right now."
Luke stared at him for a minute. "So, what do we do now?"
"You're asking the wrong guy."
"Where are you staying?"
"A hotel in Hartford. It's not too bad."
"Were you planning on sticking around for awhile?"
He shrugged, "Was thinking about it."
"And I'm guessing you'll need a place to stay, and probably a job?"
"Well, I didn't schedule the bank job till next week, so yeah." Luke glared at him out of the cover of his eye.
"Listen, you know the apartment building on Peach, with the pink apartment? I own it now and someone just broke their lease. It's yours if you can afford it. And if you can't you can work here till you can."
"Seriously?"
"It might just be the sickness talking, but yeah."
"That's too easy."
He shrugged, "Maybe. But it is what it is. There's an envelope on the dresser by the door. You'll need that."
They looked each other in the eye, realizing the understanding they were coming to.
"You should probably get out of here before you catch whatever I have. You can start work tomorrow if you want. I'll tell Rory that she doesn't need to be here anymore when I go downstairs later. I'm sure the whole town will be thankful for that."
"She didn't look like she was doing a half bad job."
Again, Luke glared, "Assuming you remember how to open and close a diner."
Jess walked over to the dresser Luke had indicated, looking over the envelope. It was just a blank envelope, with no address or stamp that might indicate where it was going, but it seemed like so much more than that to him just then. "So, I guess I'll go check that apartment out."
"Yeah. And I'll go pass out."
"You do that." On his way out, he stopped and looked at Luke, who was putting his dirty dish in the sink. "Hey Luke?"
He looked back at Jess over his shoulder, "What?"
"Thanks." They both knew he meant for more than just the apartment. He nodded.
"That's what family is for, right?"
Jess nodded, finally realizing there was truth in that statement. "Yeah." And then he walked back downstairs, through the diner, and back into the streets of Stars Hollow.
Thank you Hadar for all your help. And thank you to everyone who has supported me to this point. All of your kind words and enthusiasm mean a lot to me.
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Chapter 2
The air is thicker, hotter. You can actually see stars in the sky without all the light pollution. The lanes are narrower and more trees line the road. But the differences between the greater Los Angeles area and the suburbs of Connecticut don't end at the aesthetics of their highways. Something was just... different about these places that was hard to put into words.
Jess suspected it had little to do with the way they appeared and more to do with the people who lived there. One could grow old with LA in weeks, seeing the same trend on every made-up wanna be super star. It was easy to get sucked into that superficial world if you let yourself. But this place felt untouched by pop culture world surrounding it, almost like the people were hiding from it.
Jess tried to concentrate on the book he was reading. His book light seemed to be the one of the only lights on, aside from a few of the overhead lights that had been turned on. Everything else was fairly dark, with only passing street lights and the moon to serve as illumination. As he read, he tried to ignore the screaming baby in front of him and the drunken man behind him. He probably would have had just as much luck trying to make the earth rotate backwards. Public transportation was a necessary evil that was the bane of his existence for the past 15 hours.
Turning off his book light, he stared out the window, hoping to drown out the background noise. Trees he could barely make out passed by. He noticed the bus start to pull off an exit on the highway and noted the sign, 'Welcome to Stars Hollow'.
He remembered the first time he had passed that sign and the anger and frustration and dread that had accompanied that ride. This time there wasn't any anger. There was just a lot of anxiety and anticipation.
He watched as the outskirts of the town started to take form beyond his window. He could already tell that practically nothing had changed. He had expected something to be different. Maybe they had built a new store or there were some trees being ripped out for the sake of a new development. But there was none of that.
There was something different about this place though that he couldn't place his finger on. Maybe it was the night, but he'd obviously seen the town at night. Maybe it was the peaceful way the town seemed to be resting tonight. Or maybe he saw it differently because he was looking at it through different eyes.
As the bus rounded another corner he could see that it was about to arrive at the Stars Hollow bus station. He suddenly didn't think he could move. Why did he think this was a good idea? He didn't like living here and no one else liked him living here. What did he expect? What was he going to do? Maybe he could just stay on the bus and go back to the Hartford airport -
"Stars Hollow!" the bus driver bellowed out.
He let out the breath he had been holding and stood up. He grabbed his bag from overhead and slung it over his shoulder as he walked down the narrow aisle and off the steps of the bus. He had gotten this far. It wasn't going to change anyone's opinion if he screwed up again anyway.
The doors squealed shut, the engine fired up, and the bus pulled away from the curb. Jess stared at the tail lights as they faded into the darkness and out of sight.
Finally, he turned around to face the town. It looked peaceful. It looked smaller. It looked normal, like it wasn't inhabited by a bunch of people who needed to be medicated.
He was glad he wasn't arriving in the middle of some crazy festival so that everyone in town would be staring him down, hearing them whisper about him, watching the gossip trail get all worked up over his arrival. He only had to deal with... Luke. He wasn't sure that would wind up being a better deal.
He started walking in the general direction of the center of town. The walk was second nature - gone all this time and he still knew the place like the back of his hand.
As he neared Luke's he saw some of the inside lights were still on and he was thankful that Luke was still awake. The blinds were still open but he couldn't see anyone in the dining area right then. The 'Closed' sign was on the door but when he reached for the door handle he saw it wasn't locked. Jess shook his head at how trusting people in small towns were.
As he pushed the door in he saw the diner just as it was the last time he had seen it. A rag was on the counter but with no one in sight, he figured Luke must be in the back doing something. He heard some movement in the back coming towards him, and braced himself for when Luke realized who was there.
A figure suddenly walked backwards out of the kitchen, struggling with a large box as she tried to fit through the opening, "Mom, I told you I can't give you anymore pi - " and then stopped dead in her tracks as she turned around and saw who had entered the diner.
She stared at him wide-eyed and dropped the box of napkins she had been carrying. It hit the floor and the napkins flew out, covering everything in a flurry of white.
They stood, staring at each other for a few seconds, before Rory managed to formulate a thought.
"I thought you were my mom." She paused, "She wants free pie and I had to cut her off about an hour ago."
Jess recovered quickly from his shock, not missing a beat, "I'm surprised you didn't have to do that sooner."
"She was busy today so she didn't get here until late."
"That explains it."
She nods, not really sure what else to do. She looks him over, taking in his presence.
"So - you're here."
"Yeah. I'm here. " He pauses and looked at her, "You're here too."
"I'm here often."
"But not with an apron and a rag and a box of napkins that you dropped all over the place."
She looks down, finally realizing what she had done, "Oh, crap." She bends down to start picking them up, and he follows suit, placing his duffel bag on the ground behind him.
They work silently for a few moments, picking up napkins and putting them back in the box. The quiet settles around them once again as they continue to work.
Jess looked over at her as they continue picking up the napkins, "So, you dropped out of Yale and now you're an aspiring actress?"
Startled by the sound of his voice, she looks up before answering, "What? Oh, no. Luke has the flu or a stomach virus or something. He was sneezing all over everyone's food and it was gross. We told him he had to rest or he wouldn't get better. And that it was a health code violation."
"And that worked?"
"No. I think he was delirious though and too weak to argue. And my mom was very persistent. I'm home for the summer, and since I have more free time than I know what to do with, I figured I could cover for him so doesn't have to close."
"How's that working out for you?"
"I think this is the beginning and end of my dining career."
He smiled at her as they continue to pick up napkins. It was nice to talk to her like this. Like things weren't so screwed up. Almost like they weren't strangers to each other. There were only a couple napkins left, and they both reached for the same one. Their hands brushed past each other, and when he looked up at her their eyes locked. He stared into her eyes, and he for once he couldn't read her. She abruptly pulled away and stood up, bringing the box up with her.
"I should throw these out. Luke is going to be so mad that I wasted all these napkins. I hope there's another box in the back. Cause if there's not people are going to have to walk around with dirty hands and then we'll get bacteria in the food and people will get sick and then Luke will get sued and it'll be all my fault. So I should go. Find more napkins. To prevent the outbreak." She spun around and walked back toward the stock room. Yeah, now you could tell things were screwed up.
Frustrated with himself, he called after her, "Rory, wait!" She stopped and turned her head slightly to the side so he knew she was listening. "We should talk."
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I - I don't think I can. Not now. Just - not now." And with that she was out the door.
He stood there staring at the spot where had last seen her back until he got a hold of himself and bent over to retrieve his duffel bag off the floor. That definitely wasn't in his plans for tonight.
He turned around and walked out the door, back into the night. Back into the dark. He definetly wasn't going to talk to Luke tonight. He'd had to find a hotel to stay in nearby. He supposed to Independence Inn was the closest, but he didn't really care to see Lorelai tonight or tomorrow morning. Nor was he sure if Lorelai still worked there or if it was still open, since the last he heard it was still struggling to stay open from that fire.
He sighed. There was a lot he was going to need to be filled in on, assuming someone would be willing. He walked over to the pay phone and called the cab company. And even that number he could recall from memory, even though he couldn't ever remember using it.
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Jess opened his eyes to the sound of an obnoxious radio personality blaring out of the alarm clock on the dresser next to his bed. He almost missed Jamie and Danny next to these guys, who he stopped listening to about a week after he moved to Venice. As he rolled over to turn it off, it took him a moment to remember what he was doing in this foreign room.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked around trying to place where he was. A hotel room, which he had arrived at after taking a cab from... Stars Hollow. That was it.
Today he was going back to Stars Hollow. He wasn't sure what he should be feeling right now. Nervous, anxious, calm; they all seemed to blend together. Pulling back his covers and stretching, he hoped today would go any better then yesturday.
Half an hour later he was dressed and ready to go. He opened his duffel bag, the same one that had been with him since the first time he arrived in Stars Hollow, to put his things away. He looked down and took out the book that had followed him all the way to Venice and back again. Putting the book on top of the things he was putting into his bag, he closed the bag and headed for the door.
He took the bus back into Stars Hollow this morning. He arrived in the middle of the morning and decided to purposely avoid passing Ms. Patty's as he walked through town. The town was no more busy than usual and for that he was thankful. Walking up to Luke's he could see there were only a few customers inside. He could also see Rory serving a customer by the window. She looked up as he approached and when she spotted him she gave him a tentative half smile and looked away. Moving back into the diner he lost sight of her as he rounded the corner and opened the door.
He walked inside, just like he had so many times before and walked over to the counter, waiting for, well he didn't exactly know.
Rory walked behind him and around behind the counter.
She glanced up at him as she walked by him, "Hey," and then she busied herself putting things away, straightening things, playing with the coffee machine. Jess watched her, unsure if he was supposed to act normal or try to converse with her as little as possible.
"Hey." Smooth. "So, this is a new. Usually I'm over there and you're over here demanding coffee."
"Not recently." She stopped even as the words came out of her mouth, and he knew she regretted them. But she played it cool and continued fiddling around with anything behind the counter she could get her hands on.
"Rory. I don't want to bother you. I'm just looking for Luke. Again."
She stopped what she was doing and turned around, nervously playing with the rag in her hand. "He's upstairs. He's still sick, but he came down a little while ago to make sure I opened okay so he should be awake."
"So, it's okay that I go up there?"
She shrugged, and grabbed a plate Ceasar had just placed on the counter that was ready to be served. As she walked back around the counter, she said, "It's not my decision. Do what you want."
He followed her as she moved through the diner and set the plate on a nearby table. She made some small talk with the customer and then moved on to take someone else's order. She was definetly more cut out for waiting tables than he ever was, at least in the being nice department. He looked over to the opening that led upstairs and braced himself.
Walking upstairs, he wasn't sure what he should expect. He was reaching for the door handle when he stopped. He didn't live here anymore, he couldn't just go barging in. So he knocked.
After a couple seconds, he could hear Luke yell in a very congested voice, "Come in."
He took a deep breath and opened the door.
Walking in was like walking back in time. He was suddenly seventeen again. Looking around, he could see that very little had changed. His side of the room was more bare than when he had left it, but other than that everything was pretty much the same. As his eyes scanned the room, they landed on Luke, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating soup. Luke glanced up and they made eye contact before Jess broke away to shut the door behind him.
Jess gave a pathetic wave, "Hey Luke."
Luke went back to his soup. "I figured it was you. Although I'm more surprised you didn't just appear behind me when I wasn't looking cause that's how I usually find you."
Jess shoved his hands into his pockets and just kind of stood there.
"So, how's... everything?"
Luke glanced up at him, "Everything is good. The diner is good. My health is, well, not great, but I'll be better soon. Anything else you need to know?"
Jess stared at him. "What?"
"I mean, we've had a small version of small talk. So unless there's anything else you need to know, I really need to rest."
"I was hoping we could talk."
"About?"
Unsure of the turn this conversation had taken, he answered unassuredly, "Stuff?"
Luke sighed, obviously not sure where this was going either, and continued with a more matter-of-fact tone, "Jess, what are you doing here?"
"Honestly? I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Well, I mean, physically, I know that right now what I'm doing here is feeling really awkward in your apartment, but the general, what do I plan to do here, yeah, that I don't know."
"Are you coming back?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know. I don't know if I want to stay and I don't know if I want to go. I'm just... here. I don't know if it's temporary or permanent or what. But it is what it is."
"How can you not know. I don't get a phone call or letter from you in almost four years. The last I heard from you was a check, with no note or letter or symbol, the only reason I know it was from you is because your name was printed on the check, how you got a bank account we'll get back to later, and that was over a year ago. And now you show up out of the blue with no notice. You just traveled almost 3000 miles and you don't know why?"
"That pretty much sums it up."
"Don't start being a smart-ass on me. I had a hard enough time putting up with that when I wasn't sick, and I don't intend to when I feel this crappy. What are you doing here?"
Jess ran his hands through his hair, wondering how this got screwed up already, "It was different before, when I was a kid. I lived where I lived because it was where someone made me live. And then it was because that's just where I was so I stayed there. There's no one to tell me where to go anymore. And I somehow ended up here. I'm not sure what that means. But that's the best answer I can give you right now."
Luke stared at him for a minute. "So, what do we do now?"
"You're asking the wrong guy."
"Where are you staying?"
"A hotel in Hartford. It's not too bad."
"Were you planning on sticking around for awhile?"
He shrugged, "Was thinking about it."
"And I'm guessing you'll need a place to stay, and probably a job?"
"Well, I didn't schedule the bank job till next week, so yeah." Luke glared at him out of the cover of his eye.
"Listen, you know the apartment building on Peach, with the pink apartment? I own it now and someone just broke their lease. It's yours if you can afford it. And if you can't you can work here till you can."
"Seriously?"
"It might just be the sickness talking, but yeah."
"That's too easy."
He shrugged, "Maybe. But it is what it is. There's an envelope on the dresser by the door. You'll need that."
They looked each other in the eye, realizing the understanding they were coming to.
"You should probably get out of here before you catch whatever I have. You can start work tomorrow if you want. I'll tell Rory that she doesn't need to be here anymore when I go downstairs later. I'm sure the whole town will be thankful for that."
"She didn't look like she was doing a half bad job."
Again, Luke glared, "Assuming you remember how to open and close a diner."
Jess walked over to the dresser Luke had indicated, looking over the envelope. It was just a blank envelope, with no address or stamp that might indicate where it was going, but it seemed like so much more than that to him just then. "So, I guess I'll go check that apartment out."
"Yeah. And I'll go pass out."
"You do that." On his way out, he stopped and looked at Luke, who was putting his dirty dish in the sink. "Hey Luke?"
He looked back at Jess over his shoulder, "What?"
"Thanks." They both knew he meant for more than just the apartment. He nodded.
"That's what family is for, right?"
Jess nodded, finally realizing there was truth in that statement. "Yeah." And then he walked back downstairs, through the diner, and back into the streets of Stars Hollow.
