Title: This Feeling That Remains.

Summary: In the aftermath of the car accident, the Gilmore Girls try to pick up the pieces and move on.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Gilmore Girls. This story idea is my own, although it does contain some scenes from the actual show in places. (mainly at the beginning)

Authors Note: This fic starts during the episode Teach Me Tonight, right after Lorelai leaves Rory at the hospital to go and find Jess. It's a Java/Lit fic.

Thanks to Arianna, Jayde, Luke Rules, blackrose, alliegirl, yesitsme, Tye, sleepless-dreams, JavaJunkie-ie, JCtigerwolf4e, lilacmoon, Roganu-chan and ILoveJess for your support.

Tye and sleepless-dreams, I'm glad you liked/understood Dean. Even though I'm not a Dean fan at all, I always try and write him in an... unbiased way. I take what they did on the show and I try and fit it in my fic. If I can't hear Dean saying it in my head, it doesn't get written. I hope that makes sense?

*~*~*~*

Rory pulled her suitcase along the street behind her and Lorelai jumped around in front of her.

"Come on! Come on! Pick those legs up girly!" She commanded playfully.

"You know, you could help?!" Rory glared at her.

"Do I look like a bell hop to you?" Lorelai chuckled.

Rory muttered something under her breath and Lorelai laughed.

"You'll feel better when you have some coffee in you."

"I already would if someone hadn't drank the last cup this morning!" She muttered.

Lorelai pushed open the door to Luke's and stepped aside so Rory could pull her suitcase inside.

"My daughter, the future president on the United States, would like some coffee." She chirped and Luke nodded to let her know it was on its way.

"I'm not going to be president." Rory smirked.

"Yes you are. You're going to get to Washington, they'll take one look at you and impeach Bush." Lorelai nodded confidently.

"On what grounds?" Luke asked as he set two cups down at their table and poured them both some coffee.

"Lets see… Lack of style, for one."

"You can't impeach a president because he doesn't know the difference between leather and Pleather." Luke sighed.

"And you do?" Lorelai teased.

Luke paused, a response just waiting to come out. Lorelai looked at him, silently taunting him, daring him to get into a debate with her.
He sighed and walked away and Lorelai started dancing around in her seat.

"How many cups of coffee did you have this morning?" Rory chuckled.

"Three..."

"Three? And you didn't even think to save one for your daughter. Your daughter who, after this morning, you won't see for six whole weeks?!"

"Honey, I don't think at all until I've finished my third cup, you know that!"

Rory rolled her eyes and smiled, shaking her head at her mother. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jess come out of the storeroom. She stared. He stared. She looked away. He sighed and went upstairs.

"Rory, sugar…" Babette hurried into the diner and over to where Lorelai and Rory were sitting.

"Hey Babette." Lorelai greeted her cheerfully.

"Mornin' Lorelai." She smiled, turning her attention quickly back to Rory. "Rory… I just wanted to tell you that we're all gonna miss ya'. You have fun, Darl!"

"I will." Rory chuckled.

"And if anyone in the White House offers you a cigar, just say no!"

Rory and Lorelai exchanged amused glances, and Rory managed to keep a straight face as she assured Babette that she wouldn't get into any trouble.

* * * * *


Lorelai sat in the diner alone. Luke watched her from the counter. He couldn't remember the last time she'd looked so low.

"More coffee?" He called over to her.

"Eh… Nah." She sighed, resting her head on her arms.

Luke frowned. It was unlike Lorelai to turn down a refill of coffee.

"Got any plans for your first night alone in the house?" He asked.

"Yeah… I'm going to wallow."

"Wallow?" He smirked. "That doesn't sound too productive."

"What would you know? You're a guy." She pouted.

"She's only gone for 6 weeks. You'll manage." He offered reassuringly.

"Luke… Rory's my leg."

"Your leg?" He asked in confusion.

"Well… not actually. But… that's how big a part of me she is. She's… she's both my legs! And my arms!"

"That's a big part of you." Luke nodded, amused.

"Yes! Exactly! So… imagine living without your legs and arms for 6 weeks!"

"Point taken." He chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want any more coffee?"

Lorelai looked at her empty cup and sighed before shaking her head. She didn't even look up when Lane burst into the diner.

"I can't believe she's gone." She sighed as she sank into the chair opposite Lorelai.

"Not you, too?" Luke asked.

Both Lorelai and Lane looked at him as if he were crazy and he held up his hands in defense.

"I don't like these extended periods of separation." Lane mused. "It's not healthy. It's not natural."

"I agree."

"How long until she gets back?" Lane asked eagerly.

"Well… she left 3 hours ago. So… 6 weeks. Give or take 3 hours."

"Bummer." Lane sighed.

"I agree."

Luke watched them in amazement. He didn't know why it surprised him that their lives came to a screeching halt when one of them was absent. But he couldn't understand it.

"Please, do something!" He begged. "You cannot just sit there for six weeks."

"Says who?" They asked in unison.

"Says me! And it's my diner, so what I say goes." Luke answered triumphantly.

"He's right." Lane mumbled. "Even if he did let us sit here for six weeks, Mama wouldn't let me."

"Sucks to be you."

Lane nodded and they went back to sitting in silence. Luke rolled his eyes and went into the storeroom.

"Hey… wanna hear what I've been working on?" Lane asked, putting her drumsticks on the table.

"Sure." Lorelai smiled slightly.

"Ok, but you have to imagine that the rest of The Smiths are here too."

"I'll try." Lorelai chuckled.

Lane sat up straight and counted to three silently before banging her drumsticks loudly on the table. It was only a matter of seconds before Luke stuck his head out of the storeroom. He rolled his eyes and disappeared back inside, only to re-emerge a moment later carrying two burger buns.

"Stop." He ordered.

Lane stopped playing.

"Up."

Lane lifted her sticks in the air and Luke placed the buns on the table before lowering her sticks onto them. He smiled and nodded in approval, and then he walked away.

"It's not the same." Lane pouted as she hit the buns with her sticks, generating a dull smack sound.

"It's really not." Lorelai agreed.

The two prepared to drift back into silence, but Lorelai's cell phone interrupted them. She rooted around in her bag and pulled it out.

"Rory?" She asked eagerly. "Oh… Michel."

"Turn it off or take it outside." Luke called from the storeroom.

"Blah, blah, blah!" She shouted back at him. "Michel? What… calm down…"

"What's wrong?" Lane frowned.

"Mi… No don't call the electrician. Michel…" She rolled her eyes. "Did you check the fuse box? No, don't… I'm coming." She turned off her phone and put it back in her bag.

"Problems?"

"Yeah. The lights in the kitchen went out and, whilst stumbling around in the dark, Sookie almost gutted the trainee chef." Lorelai sighed, pulling her coat on.

"Ouch." Lane cringed.

"Luke! I'm going, I'll leave some money on the table." Lorelai called. "See ya'." She waved to Lane and hurried out.

Lane looked around at the almost empty diner, then down at her drumsticks. She sighed deeply and started aimlessly hitting the burger buns.

"Now what could they possibly have done to deserve that?" Jess asked as he slid into the seat opposite her.

Lane looked at him, looked around her and then faked confusion.

"I'm sorry… I must have missed the part where I invited you to join me."

"That's ok. I'll overlook your lack of manners just this once." He retorted.

"Lucky me." Lane sighed.

"So… Rory left for Washington today?" He asked casually.

"Wow, nothing gets past you, does it!"

"Can we skip the sarcastic sound bites and get to the part where you give me the phone number for where she's staying?"

"Ha! Funny!" Lane smirked. "You're a funny guy, Jess."

"So I'm told." He pushed a napkin and pen across the table to her. "Phone number. Please."

"No. Thank you." She said dryly, pushing it back to his side of the table.

"Lane…"

"Why do you want it, anyway? So you can call her up and make her feel bad? Confuse her a little more? Maybe even make her cry again?"

"Again?" Jess frowned.

"I take it back. You really are clueless." Lane sighed.

"Look… I don't want to do any of that… I just want to set things straight." He said sincerely.

Lane eyed him suspiciously, looking back and forth between him and the napkin.

"Say I gave you the number. There are only a select few with access to it. I don't want to be the traitor that supplied you with it…"

"I won't tell her who gave it to me. I swear…"

"And when she asks who…"

"I'll say that my source wishes to remain nameless." Jess suggested.

"And she'll hear 'Lane – worst best friend ever!'"

"Why would she think it's you?" He frowned.

"Well… Lets see. Did you get it from her mom?" She chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. Her grandparents, maybe? I don't thinks so. Dean? Pah!"

"Oh, didn't you hear? Dean and I are best buds now." Jess mocked. "He gave me Rory's number in Washington and in exchange, I'm helping him understand some words he's having trouble with. Like 'tedious' and 'redundant'."

"I see… so I give you this number and you continue to drive a wedge between Rory and Dean." Lane said in disgust. "I don't think so."

"Continue to? I didn't know I'd started." He smiled innocently.

"You can go now."

Jess pushed the napkin and pen back over the table to her, looking her in the eyes.

"Please."

Lane held his stare for a moment and then looked down.

"Shoo." She waved him away. "If, when I leave, there's a phone number on this napkin, it didn't get there through me. If there is nothing but a lousy tip, then I take full responsibility for it."

Jess nodded in understanding and got up. Lane stared in contemplation at the blank napkin.

* * * * *


Rory gazed out of the window of her dorm room, a small smile slowly creeping onto her lips.

Freedom.

"Rory!"

Almost.

She sighed and turned around to see Paris standing in the doorway, arms folded across her chest in a way that made her impatience clear.

"Paris, if you don't slow down you'll run out of things to organize before dinner." She warned playfully.

"If only." Paris rolled her eyes. "Did you see the brain-dead B students we have to share this floor with?" She asked indignantly.

"I'm sure they're nice." Rory shrugged, walking over to her bed and sitting down.

"Yeah. Nice. Great. That's just what I'm here for." Paris muttered.

Rory smiled and shook her head as Paris barked some orders at a rather frightened looking young girl just outside the room. To anyone who didn't know Paris, it would have looked like she was chasing the girl down the hall. It was the other girl's fault for running away!

The phone beside her bed started to ring harshly and she picked it up, eager to stop the noise.

"Hello?"

"Baby!"

Rory's face lit up as she lay back against her pillows.

"Hey mom." She chirped.

"So… how's it going? Has Paris taken over the dorms yet?" Lorelai asked knowingly.

"Not quite yet. But she's working on it. You can't rush these things."

"Oh, I know." She chuckled.

"How's Stars Hollow?"

"Oh… you know, same as it was yesterday and the day before… and the year before…" Lorelai droned. "It's boring without you here. I told Luke you and I were getting matching mother and daughter tattoos on our butts… and he didn't even look shocked. It doesn't work if you're not here to remind him how darling and innocent you are!"

"I'm sorry. I'll be home soon." Rory reassured her softly.

"No, you won't." Rory could almost hear the pout.

"Well… it's sooner than it was this morning." She offered.

"Fine." Lorelai conceded. "What have you got planned for tonight?"

"Um… I think we're all having dinner together, and then they're leaving us to our own devices. Which, ordinarily, would be a bad idea. But since Paris is here…"

"No one will be up past 8pm, gotcha." Lorelai laughed softly. "Ooh! Did you unpack yet?"

"Some… why?"

"Did you unpack that small suitcase?" Lorelai asked eagerly.

"Nope." Rory frowned as she looked around the room for it.

"Well, open it! Open it!"

Rory sat up and sighed slightly as she peered over the end of the bed and finally saw it. She grabbed the handle and pulled it up onto the bed with her before unzipping it.

"What's this?" She laughed as she pulled out a stuffed cow.

"He's called Egbert." Lorelai declared proudly. "He's gonna keep you company."

"Hey Egbert." Rory chuckled, looking him over and smiling more. "Thanks mom."

"No problem, babe." She said warmly. "I have to go. But call me if you need anything."

"Ok. Love you."

"Love you too." Lorelai sighed sadly. "Bye."

"Bye."

Rory hung up the phone and lay back down, Egbert resting on the bed beside her.

"You and me, Egbert. All alone in this crazy world." She sighed.

* * * * *


The slurping sound coming from across the diner caught Jess's attention and he looked over. Lane was cleaning every last drop of liquid from her cup via her straw.
She was doing it on purpose. He knew that. She had spent the last hour sitting, eating and drinking at the slowest pace she could.

"Can I get you anything else?" He sighed.

"Hmm… can I see the menu again?" She asked innocently.

"No."

"Excuse me?" She raised her eyebrows at him playfully and then looked down at the napkin.

"Fine." He muttered, walking over and practically throwing the menu on the table.

He stood over her, tapping his foot impatiently on the diner floor. He could tell she was trying not to smile, she was biting her lip and every so often an amused semi-chuckle seemed to escape her lips.

"Now… are the pies made on the premises or delivered?" Lane asked thoughtfully.

"Lane…"

She looked up at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Delivered." He muttered.

"I see. And… the burgers, are they pre-made or hand made here at the diner?"

"Caesar makes them. Why?"

"Just curious." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Now…"

"Ok, I give up. Either leave me the number or don't. I really don't care anymore." He grumbled.

As he walked away Lane began to smile triumphantly. Holding power over Jess was something only one female in Stars Hollow could claim to be capable of. She knew hers was limited and nowhere near as strong… but to control the rebel, even for a moment, was the most entertaining thing she'd done in a while.

Jess looked up again when the bell above the door rang. His eyes caught the sight of Lanes retreating form as the door shut behind her. He sighed and looked back down at his book.

Luke came out of the storeroom and looked at Jess, then at the table with dirty plates and glasses on it.

"Uh… bus boy?"

Jess managed to stop him self from glaring at Luke, but he didn't make any move to clean the table.

"Jess… you're supposed to be working." He sighed.

"I am. I'm working really hard."

"Doing what, exactly?" Luke asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm trying really hard to pretend you don't exist, this town is all a bad dream and in about 10 seconds, I'm going to wake up from the coma I'm in, and discover that this isn't my real life."

"Sounds exhausting." Luke snorted.

No response came from his indifferent nephew, compelling him to step forwards and snatch the book out of Jess's hands.

"Hey!"

"Clean the table and maybe I'll give it back." Luke ordered.

"Clean it yourself. I've been out here on my own all afternoon while you've been in that storeroom, probably sleeping."

"I was unpacking yesterday's delivery." Luke protested.

"Good for you."

"Clean the table. Now!" Luke snapped.

Jess snatched up the rag on the counter and glared at Luke as he passed him. Luke couldn't help but allow him self to smirk for a reason he couldn't pinpoint.

Jess threw the rag over his shoulder as he started to stack the plates and glasses into a manageable pile. He rolled his eyes when he saw that not only was there no number on the napkin but that Lane hadn't left him a tip either.

"Nice." He muttered, carrying the dishes into the kitchen.

Luke followed him with his eyes discreetly, pretending to be emptying new change into the register. He sighed as he watched Jess drop the napkin and half of the money Lane had left to pay for her meal.

"That's great for business, by the way. It gives the place a touch of class in a 'We're so rich we just throw our money around' way." He deadpanned.

Jess ignored him and kept walking, forcing Luke to pick it up himself.

"Jess…" He called out, holding up the napkin.

"What?"

"What's this?"

Jess frowned and peered at the napkin. Printed on the back, in black ink, was a phone number.

"It's mine." He answered quickly, seizing it protectively from Luke.

"Did Lane leave it?" Luke pressed.

"Why?"

"Listen Jess… I do not need Mrs. Kim in here yelling at me 'cos you messed with her only daughter, ok?"

"You think Lane and I…?" Jess shook his head. "You're unhinged."

"Just don't go getting involved with her unless you're prepared to deal with the very prison guard-like consequences of her mother!" Luke warned.

"Don't worry, Uncle Luke." Jess teased. "I know what I'm doing."

"Jess…"

Luke sighed as Jess waved him off dismissively and headed upstairs.