hey baby, I had my friend post chap 2 but it looks horrible. can you
repost it ASAP? thanks. I forgot that I wasted to add something to the
chap, that the one in the prevouse E-mail didn't have. thanks so much. I
owe you big
jewls
(don't forget not to post the above, lol)
Shit, I realised that I failed to place a disclaimer, so here it is. I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything associated with the show. I do own Bree and Dom and their lives and likeness. I also own any other origional charcter that I choose to bring into this
AN-hi everyone. Sorry it took so long, but like I said, I'm not used to writing and posting. But I have gotten a but ahead, so I'm gonna try to do weekly updates. In responce to the person who said that my AN was longer then the chap- there is a reason. All those people have contributed to this fic, and to fail to mention them, would be taking credit for their work-something that I am not about to do.
Also, while I appreciate constructive critisism, flaming for the sake of flaming is not appreciated. If anyone has a personal vendeta against me, then take it up with me, not my story. If you want to be mean to me, fine, but don't bring the other writers into it. Don't make it their problem.
Thank you to the reviewers who have followed Code, and are keeping up with this story, it means so much. Don't forget to tell a friend :) I like reviews, because it lets me know that people are reading. And I love to know that people are enjoying my work-it motivates me to whip my writers into working faster (kidding....it helps all of us to write faster). So thank so much.
And to those who say this is borring, wow, the stuff I have planned...will blow your mind. It took me 6 months just to do the story board, so trust me when I say that this is definatly the calm before the storm. enjoy!
-Jewls
The song is by fastball, and it's called "Fire Escape"
*ok, and this is just because I had intended to repost-I didn't like the way it looked the first time. To "big flamer" I didn't realise that I had an attitude when it came to my writing. But i did say in my AN that all personal attacks were not welcome on the review boards. If you'd like to E- mail me, then we can work this out privately, you know, how personal confilcts should be worked out.
CHAPTER TWO
The next day, Luke served the early morning customers while Jess filled out the specials board. Lorelai came in, purposefully making her exhaustion obvious. Luke automatically poured her a cup of coffee.
"What's up?" he questioned, passing her the mug.
"Hm grr wuh."
"Sorry. I guess your tongue hasn't woken up yet."
"Guess not."
"Why are you up so early, and where's Rory?"
"Rory's not up so early, and I have to go to the inn today. There's some sort of emergency."
"And yet you're here."
"It can wait."
"Which throws the definition of emergency into question."
"Words, definitions, it's too early for that."
Taylor burst in angrily.
"But it's never too early for Taylor. Good morning, Taylor," Lorelai beamed, spirits restored by sensing the upcoming excitement.
"What are you having, Taylor?" Luke asked, although he knew Taylor was not there to eat.
"A word with you, if you would please," Taylor responded in fake calm.
"What is it?"
"Did you happen to notice the time? My store should have been open ten minutes ago, but it isn't. Would you like to know why?"
"Not particularly. I'm sure you have your reasons."
"I do have my reasons. My reason is because someone has filled the keyholes on the locks with super glue so I'm now waiting for locksmiths to break the locks and replace them. Now I think we all know who the someone is."
"Really? Cause I don't."
"Luke, we've been through this. When are you going to face up to the fact that your nephew is a problem?"
"When it's a fact. Right now, it's just your opinion. Anyone could have glued the locks, Taylor. You don't have any proof he did it."
"Well, let's see. Before Jess came to Stars Hollow, I came each day and opened my store with no problem. I never found police tape and chalk outlines in front of my store. I always found the bridge money intact. I ran town meetings where theft was never an issue. Your nephew comes and all that changes. Now by the process of deduction, I would say Jess is the culprit."
"No shit, Sherlock," Lorelai muttered over her coffee.
"Now," Taylor continued, "what more must it take to convince you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Taylor. Maybe if you caught it on video?"
"Don't think I haven't thought about it."
"Jess, do you know about the locks?"
Jess was still mounted on a ladder adding touches to the specials board, pretending he heard nothing. He turned around with a puzzled expression.
"What about the locks?"
"Did you glue the locks on Taylor's store?"
"Not me. Must be a copycat."
"There you have it, Taylor."
"Why did I bother? Don't think this issue won't be discussed at the next town meeting."
"Well, at least I know I'm invited this time."
Taylor and Luke gave each other hard stares, and Taylor marched out as angrily as he had entered.
Luke looked at Jess, who dismounted the ladder and walked towards the door.
"You're paying for the locksmith."
Jess held up his hands in innocence.
"I swear. I'm being framed."
With that, Jess walked out the door.
"Well that woke me up," Lorelai quipped.
"I've had it with him."
"Jess?"
"No, Taylor."
"Huh. Well, yeah. I mean, most of Stars Hollow has had it with Taylor. But word is that Kirk's planning a coup. I don't know about you, but between Kirk and Taylor, I'd prefer Taylor. I'd prefer Taylor? Did I just say that?"
"I can't believe it either."
"But don't you think that he may, on occasion, be right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Luke, you can't turn a blind eye to everything Jess does. You have to admit that he's a problem." Lorelai said gentaly, as to not provoke Luke.
"He's not a problem. And if he is a problem, he's my problem, and I'm dealing with it in my own way."
"But maybe you have to accept that your way might not be working. Ignoring a problem is not solving it."
"Yeah, but I also can't ignore the fact that Jess was sent here, away from his friends who he was really close with, for essentially doing the right thing. There's got to be a lot of anger and frustration that goes with that, and I have to respect it."
"And that's fine, but that was then and this is now, and you can't ignore everything he's done since he got here. Just because he got punished for playing the Good Samaritan then, doesn't give him the right to play Dennis the Menace now."
"I know, and I'm working on that. Look, Lorelai, you're a parent. You know over-night miracles don't happen."
"Actually, I was in labor over-night."
"He's getting better. He went to summer school."
"He barely passed."
"But he did and he's made it to his senior year. And I'd really appreciate it if we dropped this already."
"Okay."
"Thanks."
"Yeah, well, I'd better go. I just remembered the definition of emergency."
"Well, thank God you're not a paramedic." Luke said smiling
"Yeah. So I'll see you later."
Outside, Lorelai found Jess watching the locksmith at work at the market.
"This has got to be one of your best pranks, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. It's pretty simplistic really; I know people who would be very disappointed at its lack of originality."
"Well, it's a good thing you have Luke putting up with all your crap and fixing everything for you."
"Likewise."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Whatever. Later, Miss Gilmore."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and strolled off.
Later that day, Rory came into the diner, also making a display of her exhaustion. She collapsed into the chair next to Lorelai.
"Bad day?"
"Uh huh. How did that emergency go?"
"All fixed up."
"I heard you stopped here first."
"Rumors, I tell you."
"True ones, though."
"Hey, haste makes waste."
"That's the motto of hospital emergency rooms, I hear."
"So what's your story?" Lorlai asked
"You know that person who said the high school years are the best years of your life?"
"Well, we haven't formally met, but I think I woke up next to him in bed after one of those wild keg parties. What about him?"
"Big fat liar."
"You know, I got that impression of him. What happened? Those Kaplan idiots driving you crazy?"
"Paris is driving me crazy. She's obsessing about the stupid SAT, and she keeps talking about what percentage of Harvard students got a perfect score, what percentage were National Merit Scholars, what percentage were Commended Scholars. Now I'm afraid to take the test. I thought going to these classes would make me more confident, but I should have known better with Paris taking them too. And then she's already making all these plans for when classes start up again. She's planning a blood drive in November before the Thanksgiving break. It's still August! We haven't even started school yet! And as if that wasn't enough, she wants it to be mandatory. She's crazy."
"Well, she's not the only one demanding blood."
"What happened?" Rory asked
"I think Taylor is finally going to pull out the tar and feathers."
"Oh, the locks thing. I heard." Rory said hiding a small smile
Jess strolled into the diner. He looked over at Rory, but seeing her with Lorelai, he headed clear in the other direction.
"Speak of the devil," Rory said, almost inaudibly. Lorelai looked over her shoulder, but on seeing Jess, she quickly turned away.
"I wonder what happened to Luke."
"Yeah, is he not here?"
"Haven't seen him since I got here." Lorelai said.
"And I really wanted a burger." Rory said, slightly whining
"Caesar's burgers are dry."
"And tasteless."
"Well, if you douse them in salt they taste like...."
"Salt?" Rory finished
"Actually, yeah."
"So, burgers?"
"Guess we have no choice." Lorleai said relenting "But borrow another salt shaker. I'm using this baby up."
"What does it feel like?"
"What?"
"Your arteries hardening as you speak."
"Uh oh. Is this like that movie 'Vice Versa' with Fred Savage, and you're really Luke trapped in Rory's body?"
"You're right. I don't know where that came from."
Lorelai's cell phone rang.
"Hmm. Should I take it here?"
"You know the rules."
"Yeah, and it'd be so cool to break them. I always wanted to use my phone in here. I think it'd change the atmosphere of the place." Lorelai said with mischif in her eyes
"Well, there'd be more radiation in the air here."
"Come on, Luke's not here."
"But you never know when his spirit is going to possess me again."
"Oh, all right." Lorelai said pouting
As soon as Lorelai exited, Rory walked over to Jess at the register.
"Hey."
"Hey." Jess said looking up
"So, am I the one with leprosy or is it you?"
"What?"
"You couldn't have possibly moved any farther away from me."
"Well, I could have picked up the register and moved it to your table, but it seemed pretty comfortable here."
"You normally come over to refill my coffee."
"How I spoil you."
"You've created a monster."
"No, I just feed the monster."
"Well the monster would like two burgers."
"Caesar's? You sure?" Jess said raising an eyebrow
"Well, I have no choice."
"If you put hot sauce on them, they taste like hot sauce." Jess offered
"Thanks for the tip."
"So, you want both to go or just one?"
"To go?"
"That's diner talk for when you want to take your order outside."
"Ah, I see. Why do I want to take my order outside?"
"Okay, I thought this was pretty much routine already."
"Oh, that. But you can't leave."
"Why not, Fuhrer?"
"Because Luke's not here and it's the after-work rush."
"So?"
"So, Caesar needs a hand."
"I could care less." Jess said rolling his eyes
"Fine. But I can't leave now anyway. I have a lot of college stuff to do."
"You haven't even started your last year of high school."
"I guess you've never met the early bird that caught the worm."
"Can't say that I have. But don't you think it's a little presumptuous?"
"What?"
"I mean, what if you fail all your classes and have to repeat the year?"
"The trick is not to fail any class."
"So that's what I've been doing wrong." Jess said enciting a little smile from Rory
"Anyway, it's better that I'm busy because that leaves you free to help Caesar."
"I'm still trying to figure out the 'better' part" Jess shrugged.
"I'll be free in the evening," she stated shyly.
"So why don't we go out later tonight?"
"Okay. Pick me up at seven?"
"Where?"
"My house."
"Oh." Jess said, trying to be casual
"What?"
"Nothing." She eyed him suspiciously... then it hit her. "It's my mom, then."
Jess' silence was itself an answer.
"Well, you're not walking to the other side of the room again. My house at seven," Rory asserted firmly. Jess smirked.
"Jawohl, mein Fuhrer."
******************** Meanwhile outside, Lorelai was on her phone with Sookie.
"Hello."
"Hey. Did I get you kicked out of the diner?"
"No, I walked out on my own free will. Sort of."
"Well, I'm sorry. I was just wondering... see, I'm really sorry about this morning."
"Sookie, it's all right. It was no big deal. Most of the guests were asleep anyway."
"But it was my fault. I caused the fuse."
"One blender doesn't cause a fuse."
"Well, I still feel guilty."
"Because you're Sookie."
"Right. And I wanted to make it up to you with dinner."
"Because you're still Sookie."
"Tonight?"
"Oh, tonight's no good. There's a really good town meeting tonight. I want to get ring side seats."
"Ooh. What happened?"
There was a click on the line.
"Sookie, hold on one second. There's another call."
Lorelai clicked over.
"Hello."
"Hello, Lorelai."
"Mom. Hey. What's up?"
"I have a few matters to take up with you."
"Matters? Uh. Okay. Hold on. I have someone on the other line I have to let go of."
She clicked over again.
"Sookie. It's my mom. She has a few matters to take up with me so I'm guessing this is going to be a long call. I'll call you tonight."
"No, you can't leave me in suspense. I want to know what happened."
"Oh, that's right. All right. So I'll call my mom back. Hold on."
Clicking over again.
"Hey, Mom. I'm sorry but 'm going to have to call you back."
"I thought you were getting rid of the other person."
"But I can't."
"It's obviously not that important if you were willing to let go of the other person before."
"Well, because I thought it could wait but it really can't."
"Well, I'm your mother. If the other person can't wait, neither can I."
"You're just doing this to be difficult."
"So what if I am?"
"All right. Let me finish up quickly on the other line and then I'll get back to you."
Lorelai switched over to Sookie.
"Okay, so here's the thing. You know Luke's nephew Jess."
"Yeah. He didn't eat any of the dinner I made for him."
"Yeah, well, he's the town terror. Luke and Taylor always battle out about him. Luke doesn't want to face up about Jess and Taylor's always in his face with it. One day, after Jess had staged a phony murder scene -"
"What?"
"Yeah. Police tape, chalk outline, and everything right outside of Taylor's store."
"Wow."
"Yeah, so Taylor held the town meeting earlier before Luke came, to discuss the Jess situation, but Luke is always early, and for that matter, we were, too, that day."
"You were early?"
"I know. It's strange. Oh, because that was the day Mia came and she wanted to sit on a town meeting again."
"Oh, all this happened then?"
"Yeah."
The clicking on the line returned.
"Ugh. Sookie, could you hold on."
"Sure."
Lorelai switched over.
"Mom?"
"I thought you said quickly."
"I'm going as fast as I can here, Mom."
"Well, hurry up."
"You know, you can just hang up and wait for me to call you back."
"But it's more pressure this way, isn't it?"
She sighed and switched over again.
"So Luke walks in on the big Jess gripe session and he and Taylor have it out, he pays Taylor his lettuce losses, and yells and leaves, announcing that he won't open the diner after the meeting. So that was the end of that ordeal. But now -"
"You realize it's still me, don't you?"
"Mom?"
"Surprise."
"What are you doing at Sookie's house?" Lorelai said in horror
"You left me on hold to gossip with Sookie? That was the important thing you were doing on the other line?"
"Hey, news is important."
"I can't believe you, Lorelai. Is Rory still allergic to mussels?"
"More like disgusted by them."
"Well then, I'll just have to change the menu for Friday night. Thank you for your time. I see how precious it is."
"Mom."
"Good bye, Lorelai."
She hung up; Lorelai's cell-phone rang an instant later.
"Hello."
"I'm sorry. Jackson had to make a quick call."
"Well, now I really deserve that dinner."
"Tomorrow okay?"
"Tomorrow's great."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. But I want cake."
"Okay."
****************** Lorelai and Rory returned home.
"So what are you going to do about grandma?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should get Sookie to make a cake for her."
"Nothing says 'I'm sorry' like Sookie's cakes."
"It wouldn't work on her."
"No, she's immune to the debilitating effects of confections."
"I'll think of something. Hey, I just realized, shouldn't you be hanging out with Jess now?"
"I thought he should help Caesar at the diner so I told him I had college stuff to do, which is true. I want to get it out of the way. We're hanging out later on tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Well, not too late, but later."
"Huh."
"What?"
"So is this a date?"
"No... well... no, I don't think so. I mean, I'm not sure."
"You don't think so."
"We haven't even talked about that stuff."
"Uh huh."
"We've never even kissed."
"That fills me with joy." Lorelai said truthfully
"We're just doing what we normally do a little earlier a little later. That's all."
"But moonlight and stars make seemingly platonic things romantic."
"We're not talking moonlight-and-stars later, and it's not like that. But even if it was, would you have a problem with it?"
"Well...."
"Mom."
"I don't know."
"I thought you were starting to like Jess."
"I never said that."
"You were being nice to him."
"I was being polite."
"That's good enough. Mom, if Jess and I are going to be friends, and we already are, I need you two to start getting along. I like him. And I know you would too, if you gave him a chance." Rory pleaded
"You want me to like him the way you like him?"
"Mom...."
"Look, I'm trying. But if he's not going to make the effort too, then I don't see why I should have to."
"He's trying."
"Well, then not hard enough."
"Look, he's coming here at seven so I'm asking you, no matter what, please try."
"What if he insults my mother?"
"You'd agree."
"What if he takes a knife to me? Am I still supposed to be nice?"
"I'm going to my room now."
"What if he's wearing one of those yucky fishnet shirts?"
"Goodbye."
******** That evening, Jess walked to the Gilmore house. He hated having to get through Lorelai to see Rory, but he had no choice. He rang at the door.
"Hello, Jess. How are you?" Lorelai said, faking pleasantries.
"Not bad."
"Good. So, uh, Rory will be right with you. Why don't you come in?"
Jess walked inside but stayed near the door.
"So, uh, did Luke make it back to the diner?"
"Yeah."
"What was he up to?"
"Don't know."
"Probably had to... do some stuff."
"I'm sure that was it."
"Okay. Good. So I was right... So, um, Rory should be about ready soon."
"How'd that thing turn out?" Jess asked suddenly
"What thing?"
Jess rolls his eyes slightly.
"The not-so-urgent emergency."
"Oh, that's right. Yeah, it all got fixed up. No big deal."
"Good."
"Thanks for asking."
"Yup."
Rory finally came into view, with a smile on her face.
"Sorry." she said, still smiling
"So we're going?" Jess asked impatiently
"Yeah. I'll see you later, mom."
"So I guess you're missing the town meeting." Lorelai said trying not to let her voice give away how disapointed she was
"Yeah, I know. But tell me everything that happens." Rory said.
"Yeah. Okay. Have fun."
Outside, Rory smiled playfully at Jess.
"What?"
"You were being nice," she teased.
"Yeah well, 'hi, I'm here to take away your only child and use her for my own private amusement' usually doesn't go over too well. At least that's been my experience."
"If that helps you to sleep at night...."
"Whatever." Jess said it dismissively, but he was smiling.
"So where are we going?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Did you bring the food?"
"It's at the diner. And I guess I'm officially in charge of always bringing the food."
"Well, it's only fair."
"There's nothing fair about it."
"You work at a diner. You live at a diner."
"Which means you're eating me out of house and home."
"Termites were eating my home once." Rory offered
"That's good to know."
"So we pick up the food and then what?"
"We eat."
"At the diner?"
"Wherever you want."
"At the gazebo."
"Okay."
Rory and Jess were at the gazebo, while Rory tried to figure out a possible future for Jess.
"You could be an engineer."
"Fine."
"I'm serious. You fixed that toaster."
"MIT, here I come."
"You never know."
"So, I guess I'll have to pull a Good Will Hunting thing, start mopping floors, cursing out professors, scribbling on chalk boards, and all of a sudden, I'll become the nation's most sought after genius."
"Well, why not? You've got the rest of the Good Will Hunting act down."
"Whatever."
They ate in silence for a few moments, when Rory started once again.
"A writer."
"Rory...."
"You can be a writer."
"You're cracked."
"Write the great American novel."
"Now why would I want to do that?"
"Because no writer has yet to really do it."
"That's not true."
"You really think someone has written the great American novel?"
"I know someone wrote 'The Great American Novel'."
"Who? And please don't say Hemingway."
"No, it wasn't Hemingway. Philip Roth."
"Funny."
"He is."
*********** In the meantime, the town meeting had begun. Lorelai arrived only two minutes late and managed to get a fairly decent seat. Only one thing was missing. Luke had not yet arrived. Miss Patty and Babette were already whispering about this unusual tardiness.
"Moving on to the most important matter on this agenda," Taylor led the meeting on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've discussed this before. Jess Mariano. The town delinquent. This is the second time that his antics have affected my revenues. I see Mr. Danes is not here, ignoring the issue once again. But something has to be done about this. I'm opening the floor to suggestions."
Bootsy stood up. "I say we kick the kid and his uncle outta here."
"Who'd run the diner?" Babette questioned.
"Kick two of the best looking hunks of testosterone out of this town? You've gotta be kidding me." Miss Patty retorted.
"He's really bald. That's why he always wears the cap," Bootsy responded.
Taylor calmed the racket. "Now, now. Enough with that. As much as we all may Want to, we can't legally kick anybody out of the town, at least I don't think we can, I'll have to check."
"Hey," Lorelai interjected, "here's a crazy thought. Why don't we just suck it up and deal with it the way we deal with everyone else's quirks?"
"Who has quirks?" Kirk asked. "Do I have quirks?"
"No, Kirk. Quirks doesn't quite describe what you have." Lorelai replyed
Kirk sighed in relief.
"Lorelai, we're not just talking quirks here. We're talking downright delinquency. That cannot be tolerated."
"But Taylor, you have to let Luke handle it."
"Well, Luke *isn't* handling it. I don't know about you, but I don't see him here."
At that point, Luke came in, accompanied by a young boy.
"Hey, I see him," Lorelai stated, beaming at Luke's impeccable timing.
"Luke, this time you were warned -"
"Taylor, before you say anything else, Mike here has something he'd like to say."
"Mr. Doose, I'm sorry about the locks. It was me. I put the gum -"
"Super glue," Luke corrected.
"Oh, that's right. I put the super glue in the locks."
Taylor looked skeptically at the grown man and the young boy.
"Mike, are you sure you did that? You know it's a very bad thing to do."
"It was a really bad thing to do and I'm sorry. My mom wanted me to give you the money for the locksmith. I'm sorry, Mr. Doose. It won't happen again."
Mike gave Taylor the money and walked back to Luke.
"Well, I should hope it doesn't. I'm surprised at you, Mike. But I suppose with the wrong example" (he gave Luke a pointed stare) "we all make our mistakes."
"Even Taylor makes mistakes, Mike," Luke says, returning Taylor the pointed stare.
"Yes, well, we'll discuss the Jess matter some other time. This meeting is adjourned."
Lorelai walked over to Luke, doubtfully.
"So, are you going to open the diner after this meeting?"
"Yeah, but I have to bring Mike back home. I'll be around in a few minutes."
"Okay."
**************** Jess and Rory continued to confer about books, music, and movies as they walked through the desolate Stars Hollow streets. The moonlight and stars provided something ethereal to the sublime, tranquil ambiance that made it seem almost too good to be true.
"I always wanted to go to Ohio," Rory informed.
"Ohio?"
"Yeah. Ever since I read Sherwood Anderson I wanted to go to Ohio, experience a Winesburg tale."
"Why go that far? Being in Stars Hollow is like experiencing a Winesburg tale." Jess said rolling his eyes
"Well, I guess that saves me a plane ticket."
"Or you could go to Ohio to experience a Drew Carey Show episode."
"But doesn't Miss Patty remind you of Mimi?"
"Kirk could sub for Lewis." Jess continued
"Wow, yeah."
"I suppose you could go to Ohio to catch an Indians game."
"You know what? I think I'll just scratch Ohio off the list."
"Good idea. So where else?"
"Iowa."
"You're really into those mid-western states, huh?" Jess asked smiling
"After watching 'The Bridges of Madison County'."
"Don't tell me you liked that movie."
"Don't tell me you saw that movie."
"Half of it, maybe. I got dragged to it by a girlfriend, figuring we wouldn't watch it much anyway, but she was actually into it and I got thrown out for hooting. She actually stayed and watched the rest of the movie."
"You didn't miss much."
"Didn't think so."
The tÍte-=-tÍte fell into a lull.
"Why so quiet?"
"Can, uh, can I ask you a personal question?" Rory asked hesitantly.
"You can ask. I don't have to answer."
"You know what - forget it."
"What is it?"
"It's none of my business."
"*What's* none of your business?" he asked, a little sharply.
"You said you went to the movie with a girlfriend."
"Yes."
"Was it Bree?"
"Are you kidding?" Jess laughed. "Bree wouldn't watch 'Bridges of Madison County' if her life depended on it, even if, and I quote, 'even if there is a naked Clint Eastwood. If he's a wuss, I want nothing to do with him.'"
She laughed along with him for a moment, then asked, "So, how many have you had?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you said you went to the movie with a girlfriend, and if it wasn't Bree, then it was another girl and..."
"I never dated Bree. I thought I explained that, we were just friends. We never actually dated."
"Right."
"So, what are you asking me?" Jess said, with a hint of annoyance.
"Nothing."
"Rory..."
"I was just wondering about your experience, but I don't need to know."
"What do you want to know?"
"I don't want to know anything. Forget it."
Jess paused and pondered for a moment. "What do you want from me?"
"Huh?"
"You spend an hour trying to figure out what I should be 'when I grow up' when you know I don't care about stuff like that. Now just because I mention I saw a movie with a girlfriend you start grilling me about my 'experience'?" His tone grew hotter with every word. "What is it that you
want to know exactly? How many girls I've dated, how many girls I've liked, how many girls I've slept with, how many girls I've ever spoken to? What? What is it you want from me?"
They sat in silence for a while before Jess broke it. "I'll tell you this much. I'm not Dean."
"What?"
"I'm not Dean," Jess said, vaguely bitter. "I'm not the perfect boyfriend who sits around making bracelets for his true love, whom mothers befriend and small towns approve of."
"Stop that. What does Dean have to do with this?"
"That's what you were thinking, wasnít it? The comparison."
"This wasn't about comparison!"
"Oh, don't kid yourself," he snorted. "Point is, you liked Dean, and I'm not him. So the answer to your question, Rory, is if you're looking for another Dean, don't come looking for me."
"That wasn't my question. I barely even had a question. This wasn't about any comparison." Rory hesitated for a moment before continuing into what she knew might be a minefield. "And if it's all about comparison, what about you? I'm not Bree."
"She has nothing to do with this!" Jess said. How *dare* she bring up Bree in this way?
"What? You get to attack me on my ex, but I can't even talk about yours?"
"I told you, Bree and I were never together, OK? She was never my girlfriend and therefore isn't my ex!" Jess blasted back, his tone three parts anger to two parts regret.
"Well, Dean has nothing to do with this either. I don't even know what 'this' is, but whatever it is, I've had enough. I'm leaving."
"Fine!"
Rory got up to walk away, but didn't move.
"What are you waiting for Rory? I thought you were leaving," Jess shot bitterly.
"I am."
They split ways, each leaving without a backward glance.
*******************
Lorelai found Luke's open but empty. She entered casually and ordered coffee.
"So, how much did you have to pay Mike to get him to pull that stunt for you?"
"Too much. Forty dollars and free donuts for a month."
"Wow. Lucky kid. Hey, you should have come to me. I would have done it for the free donuts."
"And I never would have gotten you out of here." Luke said knowingly
"Why'd you do it?"
"It was the only way I'd get Taylor to drop it. At least for now. And maybe he'll think twice about the next time."
"So you're pretty sure there's going to be a next time."
"Well, miracles don't happen overnight."
"No, they don't.... So it took you all day to come to an agreement with Mike? Boy, that kid must drive a hard bargain."
"Well, he does, but I spent most of the day by Louie and my dad's plot. Did some figuring."
"I see. Looking for some fatherly advice."
"Actually, it was more for Louie."
"Which explains the Mike plan."
"I was just thinking about when he died. All anyone could think of was what a big jerk he was. All I could think of was what a big jerk he was. And then I got to thinking how much I'm like him. And maybe I gave him a second chance. And then everyone gave him a second chance. I mean, everyone was here talking about what an ass he was, but... I don't know. It just seemed like you could appreciate him, like, despite it all, he had really been a part of this town. Maybe the fact that he was dead had something to do with it, but whatever." Luke continued, "Point is, I started to think about how Jess is sort of like Louie, and I wanted him to get that chance that Louie got, you know."
"Yeah, I understand." Lorelai said understandingly. But at the same time, she was feeling very uneasy.
********************
//Well I don't wanna be President Superman or Clark Kent I don't wanna walk 'round in their shoes //
That night, Jess tossed and turned, but couldn't get a wink of sleep. Persistent thoughts kept him awake. He looked at the clock, 3 a.m.
"Screw this," he said to himself as he pulled on a pair of pants.
//'Cause I don't know who's side I'm on I don't know my right from wrong I don't know where I'm going to I don't know about you //
Rory was in a deep sleep and it was with great patience and dexterity that he tapped on her window, loud enough to finally wake her, but low enough so as not to disturb the sleeping town. She got up, unlatched the window, and opened it.
"Hey. What are you doing here?"
Without another sound, thought or gesture, Jess roughly pulled her face towards his so that their lips met for the fist time. His lips were rough against her smooth feminine ones, exciting her with his masculine qualities. He kissed her with a strong passion that was unsurpassed in her young life, exciting her as their lips played together leaving her slightly lightheaded. When they parted, Rory felt her heart throbbing in her chest and her head spinning in bedazzlement and all this from only one kiss.
//I'll be the rain falling on your fire escape And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how 'bout you? //
"I'm not Dean, and I'm never going to be that kind of guy."
"That's okay," she said softly, still staggered by the kiss.
"Really?" Jess asked, wanting to make sure she understood.
//I don't wanna make you mad I don't wanna meet your dad I don't wanna be your dream come true //
"I don't want Dean. I want you."
"Good. Now I can get some sleep." Jess said hopefully
//'Cause I don't know just what I've found I don't know my sky from ground I don't know where I'm going to I don't know about you //
He pulled away from the window, and looked back to find her still lingering, thunderstruck.
"Ice-cream pajamas?" he teased, snapping her back into reality.
She smiled and pinched his arm, partly as retribution, but in greater part to verify completely the realness of the moment by the window. Once the apparition was confirmed, she nodded as Jess turned to leave, and shut the window.
//I'll be the rain falling on your fire escape And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how 'bout you? //
Next time....
"Ugh! Go *away*!" Jess growled, dropping down onto his pillows and pulling the covers over his head.
Not taking no for an answer, she rushed over to the bed and straddled his stomach in one swift movement. "Now you don't actually mean that, do you?" she inquired, pulling the covers away from him and fixing her eyes on his.
A small smile cracked across Jess' face despite his protest. "Never," he answered seriously.
Shit, I realised that I failed to place a disclaimer, so here it is. I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything associated with the show. I do own Bree and Dom and their lives and likeness. I also own any other origional charcter that I choose to bring into this
AN-hi everyone. Sorry it took so long, but like I said, I'm not used to writing and posting. But I have gotten a but ahead, so I'm gonna try to do weekly updates. In responce to the person who said that my AN was longer then the chap- there is a reason. All those people have contributed to this fic, and to fail to mention them, would be taking credit for their work-something that I am not about to do.
Also, while I appreciate constructive critisism, flaming for the sake of flaming is not appreciated. If anyone has a personal vendeta against me, then take it up with me, not my story. If you want to be mean to me, fine, but don't bring the other writers into it. Don't make it their problem.
Thank you to the reviewers who have followed Code, and are keeping up with this story, it means so much. Don't forget to tell a friend :) I like reviews, because it lets me know that people are reading. And I love to know that people are enjoying my work-it motivates me to whip my writers into working faster (kidding....it helps all of us to write faster). So thank so much.
And to those who say this is borring, wow, the stuff I have planned...will blow your mind. It took me 6 months just to do the story board, so trust me when I say that this is definatly the calm before the storm. enjoy!
-Jewls
The song is by fastball, and it's called "Fire Escape"
*ok, and this is just because I had intended to repost-I didn't like the way it looked the first time. To "big flamer" I didn't realise that I had an attitude when it came to my writing. But i did say in my AN that all personal attacks were not welcome on the review boards. If you'd like to E- mail me, then we can work this out privately, you know, how personal confilcts should be worked out.
CHAPTER TWO
The next day, Luke served the early morning customers while Jess filled out the specials board. Lorelai came in, purposefully making her exhaustion obvious. Luke automatically poured her a cup of coffee.
"What's up?" he questioned, passing her the mug.
"Hm grr wuh."
"Sorry. I guess your tongue hasn't woken up yet."
"Guess not."
"Why are you up so early, and where's Rory?"
"Rory's not up so early, and I have to go to the inn today. There's some sort of emergency."
"And yet you're here."
"It can wait."
"Which throws the definition of emergency into question."
"Words, definitions, it's too early for that."
Taylor burst in angrily.
"But it's never too early for Taylor. Good morning, Taylor," Lorelai beamed, spirits restored by sensing the upcoming excitement.
"What are you having, Taylor?" Luke asked, although he knew Taylor was not there to eat.
"A word with you, if you would please," Taylor responded in fake calm.
"What is it?"
"Did you happen to notice the time? My store should have been open ten minutes ago, but it isn't. Would you like to know why?"
"Not particularly. I'm sure you have your reasons."
"I do have my reasons. My reason is because someone has filled the keyholes on the locks with super glue so I'm now waiting for locksmiths to break the locks and replace them. Now I think we all know who the someone is."
"Really? Cause I don't."
"Luke, we've been through this. When are you going to face up to the fact that your nephew is a problem?"
"When it's a fact. Right now, it's just your opinion. Anyone could have glued the locks, Taylor. You don't have any proof he did it."
"Well, let's see. Before Jess came to Stars Hollow, I came each day and opened my store with no problem. I never found police tape and chalk outlines in front of my store. I always found the bridge money intact. I ran town meetings where theft was never an issue. Your nephew comes and all that changes. Now by the process of deduction, I would say Jess is the culprit."
"No shit, Sherlock," Lorelai muttered over her coffee.
"Now," Taylor continued, "what more must it take to convince you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Taylor. Maybe if you caught it on video?"
"Don't think I haven't thought about it."
"Jess, do you know about the locks?"
Jess was still mounted on a ladder adding touches to the specials board, pretending he heard nothing. He turned around with a puzzled expression.
"What about the locks?"
"Did you glue the locks on Taylor's store?"
"Not me. Must be a copycat."
"There you have it, Taylor."
"Why did I bother? Don't think this issue won't be discussed at the next town meeting."
"Well, at least I know I'm invited this time."
Taylor and Luke gave each other hard stares, and Taylor marched out as angrily as he had entered.
Luke looked at Jess, who dismounted the ladder and walked towards the door.
"You're paying for the locksmith."
Jess held up his hands in innocence.
"I swear. I'm being framed."
With that, Jess walked out the door.
"Well that woke me up," Lorelai quipped.
"I've had it with him."
"Jess?"
"No, Taylor."
"Huh. Well, yeah. I mean, most of Stars Hollow has had it with Taylor. But word is that Kirk's planning a coup. I don't know about you, but between Kirk and Taylor, I'd prefer Taylor. I'd prefer Taylor? Did I just say that?"
"I can't believe it either."
"But don't you think that he may, on occasion, be right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Luke, you can't turn a blind eye to everything Jess does. You have to admit that he's a problem." Lorelai said gentaly, as to not provoke Luke.
"He's not a problem. And if he is a problem, he's my problem, and I'm dealing with it in my own way."
"But maybe you have to accept that your way might not be working. Ignoring a problem is not solving it."
"Yeah, but I also can't ignore the fact that Jess was sent here, away from his friends who he was really close with, for essentially doing the right thing. There's got to be a lot of anger and frustration that goes with that, and I have to respect it."
"And that's fine, but that was then and this is now, and you can't ignore everything he's done since he got here. Just because he got punished for playing the Good Samaritan then, doesn't give him the right to play Dennis the Menace now."
"I know, and I'm working on that. Look, Lorelai, you're a parent. You know over-night miracles don't happen."
"Actually, I was in labor over-night."
"He's getting better. He went to summer school."
"He barely passed."
"But he did and he's made it to his senior year. And I'd really appreciate it if we dropped this already."
"Okay."
"Thanks."
"Yeah, well, I'd better go. I just remembered the definition of emergency."
"Well, thank God you're not a paramedic." Luke said smiling
"Yeah. So I'll see you later."
Outside, Lorelai found Jess watching the locksmith at work at the market.
"This has got to be one of your best pranks, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. It's pretty simplistic really; I know people who would be very disappointed at its lack of originality."
"Well, it's a good thing you have Luke putting up with all your crap and fixing everything for you."
"Likewise."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Whatever. Later, Miss Gilmore."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and strolled off.
Later that day, Rory came into the diner, also making a display of her exhaustion. She collapsed into the chair next to Lorelai.
"Bad day?"
"Uh huh. How did that emergency go?"
"All fixed up."
"I heard you stopped here first."
"Rumors, I tell you."
"True ones, though."
"Hey, haste makes waste."
"That's the motto of hospital emergency rooms, I hear."
"So what's your story?" Lorlai asked
"You know that person who said the high school years are the best years of your life?"
"Well, we haven't formally met, but I think I woke up next to him in bed after one of those wild keg parties. What about him?"
"Big fat liar."
"You know, I got that impression of him. What happened? Those Kaplan idiots driving you crazy?"
"Paris is driving me crazy. She's obsessing about the stupid SAT, and she keeps talking about what percentage of Harvard students got a perfect score, what percentage were National Merit Scholars, what percentage were Commended Scholars. Now I'm afraid to take the test. I thought going to these classes would make me more confident, but I should have known better with Paris taking them too. And then she's already making all these plans for when classes start up again. She's planning a blood drive in November before the Thanksgiving break. It's still August! We haven't even started school yet! And as if that wasn't enough, she wants it to be mandatory. She's crazy."
"Well, she's not the only one demanding blood."
"What happened?" Rory asked
"I think Taylor is finally going to pull out the tar and feathers."
"Oh, the locks thing. I heard." Rory said hiding a small smile
Jess strolled into the diner. He looked over at Rory, but seeing her with Lorelai, he headed clear in the other direction.
"Speak of the devil," Rory said, almost inaudibly. Lorelai looked over her shoulder, but on seeing Jess, she quickly turned away.
"I wonder what happened to Luke."
"Yeah, is he not here?"
"Haven't seen him since I got here." Lorelai said.
"And I really wanted a burger." Rory said, slightly whining
"Caesar's burgers are dry."
"And tasteless."
"Well, if you douse them in salt they taste like...."
"Salt?" Rory finished
"Actually, yeah."
"So, burgers?"
"Guess we have no choice." Lorleai said relenting "But borrow another salt shaker. I'm using this baby up."
"What does it feel like?"
"What?"
"Your arteries hardening as you speak."
"Uh oh. Is this like that movie 'Vice Versa' with Fred Savage, and you're really Luke trapped in Rory's body?"
"You're right. I don't know where that came from."
Lorelai's cell phone rang.
"Hmm. Should I take it here?"
"You know the rules."
"Yeah, and it'd be so cool to break them. I always wanted to use my phone in here. I think it'd change the atmosphere of the place." Lorelai said with mischif in her eyes
"Well, there'd be more radiation in the air here."
"Come on, Luke's not here."
"But you never know when his spirit is going to possess me again."
"Oh, all right." Lorelai said pouting
As soon as Lorelai exited, Rory walked over to Jess at the register.
"Hey."
"Hey." Jess said looking up
"So, am I the one with leprosy or is it you?"
"What?"
"You couldn't have possibly moved any farther away from me."
"Well, I could have picked up the register and moved it to your table, but it seemed pretty comfortable here."
"You normally come over to refill my coffee."
"How I spoil you."
"You've created a monster."
"No, I just feed the monster."
"Well the monster would like two burgers."
"Caesar's? You sure?" Jess said raising an eyebrow
"Well, I have no choice."
"If you put hot sauce on them, they taste like hot sauce." Jess offered
"Thanks for the tip."
"So, you want both to go or just one?"
"To go?"
"That's diner talk for when you want to take your order outside."
"Ah, I see. Why do I want to take my order outside?"
"Okay, I thought this was pretty much routine already."
"Oh, that. But you can't leave."
"Why not, Fuhrer?"
"Because Luke's not here and it's the after-work rush."
"So?"
"So, Caesar needs a hand."
"I could care less." Jess said rolling his eyes
"Fine. But I can't leave now anyway. I have a lot of college stuff to do."
"You haven't even started your last year of high school."
"I guess you've never met the early bird that caught the worm."
"Can't say that I have. But don't you think it's a little presumptuous?"
"What?"
"I mean, what if you fail all your classes and have to repeat the year?"
"The trick is not to fail any class."
"So that's what I've been doing wrong." Jess said enciting a little smile from Rory
"Anyway, it's better that I'm busy because that leaves you free to help Caesar."
"I'm still trying to figure out the 'better' part" Jess shrugged.
"I'll be free in the evening," she stated shyly.
"So why don't we go out later tonight?"
"Okay. Pick me up at seven?"
"Where?"
"My house."
"Oh." Jess said, trying to be casual
"What?"
"Nothing." She eyed him suspiciously... then it hit her. "It's my mom, then."
Jess' silence was itself an answer.
"Well, you're not walking to the other side of the room again. My house at seven," Rory asserted firmly. Jess smirked.
"Jawohl, mein Fuhrer."
******************** Meanwhile outside, Lorelai was on her phone with Sookie.
"Hello."
"Hey. Did I get you kicked out of the diner?"
"No, I walked out on my own free will. Sort of."
"Well, I'm sorry. I was just wondering... see, I'm really sorry about this morning."
"Sookie, it's all right. It was no big deal. Most of the guests were asleep anyway."
"But it was my fault. I caused the fuse."
"One blender doesn't cause a fuse."
"Well, I still feel guilty."
"Because you're Sookie."
"Right. And I wanted to make it up to you with dinner."
"Because you're still Sookie."
"Tonight?"
"Oh, tonight's no good. There's a really good town meeting tonight. I want to get ring side seats."
"Ooh. What happened?"
There was a click on the line.
"Sookie, hold on one second. There's another call."
Lorelai clicked over.
"Hello."
"Hello, Lorelai."
"Mom. Hey. What's up?"
"I have a few matters to take up with you."
"Matters? Uh. Okay. Hold on. I have someone on the other line I have to let go of."
She clicked over again.
"Sookie. It's my mom. She has a few matters to take up with me so I'm guessing this is going to be a long call. I'll call you tonight."
"No, you can't leave me in suspense. I want to know what happened."
"Oh, that's right. All right. So I'll call my mom back. Hold on."
Clicking over again.
"Hey, Mom. I'm sorry but 'm going to have to call you back."
"I thought you were getting rid of the other person."
"But I can't."
"It's obviously not that important if you were willing to let go of the other person before."
"Well, because I thought it could wait but it really can't."
"Well, I'm your mother. If the other person can't wait, neither can I."
"You're just doing this to be difficult."
"So what if I am?"
"All right. Let me finish up quickly on the other line and then I'll get back to you."
Lorelai switched over to Sookie.
"Okay, so here's the thing. You know Luke's nephew Jess."
"Yeah. He didn't eat any of the dinner I made for him."
"Yeah, well, he's the town terror. Luke and Taylor always battle out about him. Luke doesn't want to face up about Jess and Taylor's always in his face with it. One day, after Jess had staged a phony murder scene -"
"What?"
"Yeah. Police tape, chalk outline, and everything right outside of Taylor's store."
"Wow."
"Yeah, so Taylor held the town meeting earlier before Luke came, to discuss the Jess situation, but Luke is always early, and for that matter, we were, too, that day."
"You were early?"
"I know. It's strange. Oh, because that was the day Mia came and she wanted to sit on a town meeting again."
"Oh, all this happened then?"
"Yeah."
The clicking on the line returned.
"Ugh. Sookie, could you hold on."
"Sure."
Lorelai switched over.
"Mom?"
"I thought you said quickly."
"I'm going as fast as I can here, Mom."
"Well, hurry up."
"You know, you can just hang up and wait for me to call you back."
"But it's more pressure this way, isn't it?"
She sighed and switched over again.
"So Luke walks in on the big Jess gripe session and he and Taylor have it out, he pays Taylor his lettuce losses, and yells and leaves, announcing that he won't open the diner after the meeting. So that was the end of that ordeal. But now -"
"You realize it's still me, don't you?"
"Mom?"
"Surprise."
"What are you doing at Sookie's house?" Lorelai said in horror
"You left me on hold to gossip with Sookie? That was the important thing you were doing on the other line?"
"Hey, news is important."
"I can't believe you, Lorelai. Is Rory still allergic to mussels?"
"More like disgusted by them."
"Well then, I'll just have to change the menu for Friday night. Thank you for your time. I see how precious it is."
"Mom."
"Good bye, Lorelai."
She hung up; Lorelai's cell-phone rang an instant later.
"Hello."
"I'm sorry. Jackson had to make a quick call."
"Well, now I really deserve that dinner."
"Tomorrow okay?"
"Tomorrow's great."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. But I want cake."
"Okay."
****************** Lorelai and Rory returned home.
"So what are you going to do about grandma?"
"I don't know. Maybe I should get Sookie to make a cake for her."
"Nothing says 'I'm sorry' like Sookie's cakes."
"It wouldn't work on her."
"No, she's immune to the debilitating effects of confections."
"I'll think of something. Hey, I just realized, shouldn't you be hanging out with Jess now?"
"I thought he should help Caesar at the diner so I told him I had college stuff to do, which is true. I want to get it out of the way. We're hanging out later on tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Well, not too late, but later."
"Huh."
"What?"
"So is this a date?"
"No... well... no, I don't think so. I mean, I'm not sure."
"You don't think so."
"We haven't even talked about that stuff."
"Uh huh."
"We've never even kissed."
"That fills me with joy." Lorelai said truthfully
"We're just doing what we normally do a little earlier a little later. That's all."
"But moonlight and stars make seemingly platonic things romantic."
"We're not talking moonlight-and-stars later, and it's not like that. But even if it was, would you have a problem with it?"
"Well...."
"Mom."
"I don't know."
"I thought you were starting to like Jess."
"I never said that."
"You were being nice to him."
"I was being polite."
"That's good enough. Mom, if Jess and I are going to be friends, and we already are, I need you two to start getting along. I like him. And I know you would too, if you gave him a chance." Rory pleaded
"You want me to like him the way you like him?"
"Mom...."
"Look, I'm trying. But if he's not going to make the effort too, then I don't see why I should have to."
"He's trying."
"Well, then not hard enough."
"Look, he's coming here at seven so I'm asking you, no matter what, please try."
"What if he insults my mother?"
"You'd agree."
"What if he takes a knife to me? Am I still supposed to be nice?"
"I'm going to my room now."
"What if he's wearing one of those yucky fishnet shirts?"
"Goodbye."
******** That evening, Jess walked to the Gilmore house. He hated having to get through Lorelai to see Rory, but he had no choice. He rang at the door.
"Hello, Jess. How are you?" Lorelai said, faking pleasantries.
"Not bad."
"Good. So, uh, Rory will be right with you. Why don't you come in?"
Jess walked inside but stayed near the door.
"So, uh, did Luke make it back to the diner?"
"Yeah."
"What was he up to?"
"Don't know."
"Probably had to... do some stuff."
"I'm sure that was it."
"Okay. Good. So I was right... So, um, Rory should be about ready soon."
"How'd that thing turn out?" Jess asked suddenly
"What thing?"
Jess rolls his eyes slightly.
"The not-so-urgent emergency."
"Oh, that's right. Yeah, it all got fixed up. No big deal."
"Good."
"Thanks for asking."
"Yup."
Rory finally came into view, with a smile on her face.
"Sorry." she said, still smiling
"So we're going?" Jess asked impatiently
"Yeah. I'll see you later, mom."
"So I guess you're missing the town meeting." Lorelai said trying not to let her voice give away how disapointed she was
"Yeah, I know. But tell me everything that happens." Rory said.
"Yeah. Okay. Have fun."
Outside, Rory smiled playfully at Jess.
"What?"
"You were being nice," she teased.
"Yeah well, 'hi, I'm here to take away your only child and use her for my own private amusement' usually doesn't go over too well. At least that's been my experience."
"If that helps you to sleep at night...."
"Whatever." Jess said it dismissively, but he was smiling.
"So where are we going?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Did you bring the food?"
"It's at the diner. And I guess I'm officially in charge of always bringing the food."
"Well, it's only fair."
"There's nothing fair about it."
"You work at a diner. You live at a diner."
"Which means you're eating me out of house and home."
"Termites were eating my home once." Rory offered
"That's good to know."
"So we pick up the food and then what?"
"We eat."
"At the diner?"
"Wherever you want."
"At the gazebo."
"Okay."
Rory and Jess were at the gazebo, while Rory tried to figure out a possible future for Jess.
"You could be an engineer."
"Fine."
"I'm serious. You fixed that toaster."
"MIT, here I come."
"You never know."
"So, I guess I'll have to pull a Good Will Hunting thing, start mopping floors, cursing out professors, scribbling on chalk boards, and all of a sudden, I'll become the nation's most sought after genius."
"Well, why not? You've got the rest of the Good Will Hunting act down."
"Whatever."
They ate in silence for a few moments, when Rory started once again.
"A writer."
"Rory...."
"You can be a writer."
"You're cracked."
"Write the great American novel."
"Now why would I want to do that?"
"Because no writer has yet to really do it."
"That's not true."
"You really think someone has written the great American novel?"
"I know someone wrote 'The Great American Novel'."
"Who? And please don't say Hemingway."
"No, it wasn't Hemingway. Philip Roth."
"Funny."
"He is."
*********** In the meantime, the town meeting had begun. Lorelai arrived only two minutes late and managed to get a fairly decent seat. Only one thing was missing. Luke had not yet arrived. Miss Patty and Babette were already whispering about this unusual tardiness.
"Moving on to the most important matter on this agenda," Taylor led the meeting on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've discussed this before. Jess Mariano. The town delinquent. This is the second time that his antics have affected my revenues. I see Mr. Danes is not here, ignoring the issue once again. But something has to be done about this. I'm opening the floor to suggestions."
Bootsy stood up. "I say we kick the kid and his uncle outta here."
"Who'd run the diner?" Babette questioned.
"Kick two of the best looking hunks of testosterone out of this town? You've gotta be kidding me." Miss Patty retorted.
"He's really bald. That's why he always wears the cap," Bootsy responded.
Taylor calmed the racket. "Now, now. Enough with that. As much as we all may Want to, we can't legally kick anybody out of the town, at least I don't think we can, I'll have to check."
"Hey," Lorelai interjected, "here's a crazy thought. Why don't we just suck it up and deal with it the way we deal with everyone else's quirks?"
"Who has quirks?" Kirk asked. "Do I have quirks?"
"No, Kirk. Quirks doesn't quite describe what you have." Lorelai replyed
Kirk sighed in relief.
"Lorelai, we're not just talking quirks here. We're talking downright delinquency. That cannot be tolerated."
"But Taylor, you have to let Luke handle it."
"Well, Luke *isn't* handling it. I don't know about you, but I don't see him here."
At that point, Luke came in, accompanied by a young boy.
"Hey, I see him," Lorelai stated, beaming at Luke's impeccable timing.
"Luke, this time you were warned -"
"Taylor, before you say anything else, Mike here has something he'd like to say."
"Mr. Doose, I'm sorry about the locks. It was me. I put the gum -"
"Super glue," Luke corrected.
"Oh, that's right. I put the super glue in the locks."
Taylor looked skeptically at the grown man and the young boy.
"Mike, are you sure you did that? You know it's a very bad thing to do."
"It was a really bad thing to do and I'm sorry. My mom wanted me to give you the money for the locksmith. I'm sorry, Mr. Doose. It won't happen again."
Mike gave Taylor the money and walked back to Luke.
"Well, I should hope it doesn't. I'm surprised at you, Mike. But I suppose with the wrong example" (he gave Luke a pointed stare) "we all make our mistakes."
"Even Taylor makes mistakes, Mike," Luke says, returning Taylor the pointed stare.
"Yes, well, we'll discuss the Jess matter some other time. This meeting is adjourned."
Lorelai walked over to Luke, doubtfully.
"So, are you going to open the diner after this meeting?"
"Yeah, but I have to bring Mike back home. I'll be around in a few minutes."
"Okay."
**************** Jess and Rory continued to confer about books, music, and movies as they walked through the desolate Stars Hollow streets. The moonlight and stars provided something ethereal to the sublime, tranquil ambiance that made it seem almost too good to be true.
"I always wanted to go to Ohio," Rory informed.
"Ohio?"
"Yeah. Ever since I read Sherwood Anderson I wanted to go to Ohio, experience a Winesburg tale."
"Why go that far? Being in Stars Hollow is like experiencing a Winesburg tale." Jess said rolling his eyes
"Well, I guess that saves me a plane ticket."
"Or you could go to Ohio to experience a Drew Carey Show episode."
"But doesn't Miss Patty remind you of Mimi?"
"Kirk could sub for Lewis." Jess continued
"Wow, yeah."
"I suppose you could go to Ohio to catch an Indians game."
"You know what? I think I'll just scratch Ohio off the list."
"Good idea. So where else?"
"Iowa."
"You're really into those mid-western states, huh?" Jess asked smiling
"After watching 'The Bridges of Madison County'."
"Don't tell me you liked that movie."
"Don't tell me you saw that movie."
"Half of it, maybe. I got dragged to it by a girlfriend, figuring we wouldn't watch it much anyway, but she was actually into it and I got thrown out for hooting. She actually stayed and watched the rest of the movie."
"You didn't miss much."
"Didn't think so."
The tÍte-=-tÍte fell into a lull.
"Why so quiet?"
"Can, uh, can I ask you a personal question?" Rory asked hesitantly.
"You can ask. I don't have to answer."
"You know what - forget it."
"What is it?"
"It's none of my business."
"*What's* none of your business?" he asked, a little sharply.
"You said you went to the movie with a girlfriend."
"Yes."
"Was it Bree?"
"Are you kidding?" Jess laughed. "Bree wouldn't watch 'Bridges of Madison County' if her life depended on it, even if, and I quote, 'even if there is a naked Clint Eastwood. If he's a wuss, I want nothing to do with him.'"
She laughed along with him for a moment, then asked, "So, how many have you had?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you said you went to the movie with a girlfriend, and if it wasn't Bree, then it was another girl and..."
"I never dated Bree. I thought I explained that, we were just friends. We never actually dated."
"Right."
"So, what are you asking me?" Jess said, with a hint of annoyance.
"Nothing."
"Rory..."
"I was just wondering about your experience, but I don't need to know."
"What do you want to know?"
"I don't want to know anything. Forget it."
Jess paused and pondered for a moment. "What do you want from me?"
"Huh?"
"You spend an hour trying to figure out what I should be 'when I grow up' when you know I don't care about stuff like that. Now just because I mention I saw a movie with a girlfriend you start grilling me about my 'experience'?" His tone grew hotter with every word. "What is it that you
want to know exactly? How many girls I've dated, how many girls I've liked, how many girls I've slept with, how many girls I've ever spoken to? What? What is it you want from me?"
They sat in silence for a while before Jess broke it. "I'll tell you this much. I'm not Dean."
"What?"
"I'm not Dean," Jess said, vaguely bitter. "I'm not the perfect boyfriend who sits around making bracelets for his true love, whom mothers befriend and small towns approve of."
"Stop that. What does Dean have to do with this?"
"That's what you were thinking, wasnít it? The comparison."
"This wasn't about comparison!"
"Oh, don't kid yourself," he snorted. "Point is, you liked Dean, and I'm not him. So the answer to your question, Rory, is if you're looking for another Dean, don't come looking for me."
"That wasn't my question. I barely even had a question. This wasn't about any comparison." Rory hesitated for a moment before continuing into what she knew might be a minefield. "And if it's all about comparison, what about you? I'm not Bree."
"She has nothing to do with this!" Jess said. How *dare* she bring up Bree in this way?
"What? You get to attack me on my ex, but I can't even talk about yours?"
"I told you, Bree and I were never together, OK? She was never my girlfriend and therefore isn't my ex!" Jess blasted back, his tone three parts anger to two parts regret.
"Well, Dean has nothing to do with this either. I don't even know what 'this' is, but whatever it is, I've had enough. I'm leaving."
"Fine!"
Rory got up to walk away, but didn't move.
"What are you waiting for Rory? I thought you were leaving," Jess shot bitterly.
"I am."
They split ways, each leaving without a backward glance.
*******************
Lorelai found Luke's open but empty. She entered casually and ordered coffee.
"So, how much did you have to pay Mike to get him to pull that stunt for you?"
"Too much. Forty dollars and free donuts for a month."
"Wow. Lucky kid. Hey, you should have come to me. I would have done it for the free donuts."
"And I never would have gotten you out of here." Luke said knowingly
"Why'd you do it?"
"It was the only way I'd get Taylor to drop it. At least for now. And maybe he'll think twice about the next time."
"So you're pretty sure there's going to be a next time."
"Well, miracles don't happen overnight."
"No, they don't.... So it took you all day to come to an agreement with Mike? Boy, that kid must drive a hard bargain."
"Well, he does, but I spent most of the day by Louie and my dad's plot. Did some figuring."
"I see. Looking for some fatherly advice."
"Actually, it was more for Louie."
"Which explains the Mike plan."
"I was just thinking about when he died. All anyone could think of was what a big jerk he was. All I could think of was what a big jerk he was. And then I got to thinking how much I'm like him. And maybe I gave him a second chance. And then everyone gave him a second chance. I mean, everyone was here talking about what an ass he was, but... I don't know. It just seemed like you could appreciate him, like, despite it all, he had really been a part of this town. Maybe the fact that he was dead had something to do with it, but whatever." Luke continued, "Point is, I started to think about how Jess is sort of like Louie, and I wanted him to get that chance that Louie got, you know."
"Yeah, I understand." Lorelai said understandingly. But at the same time, she was feeling very uneasy.
********************
//Well I don't wanna be President Superman or Clark Kent I don't wanna walk 'round in their shoes //
That night, Jess tossed and turned, but couldn't get a wink of sleep. Persistent thoughts kept him awake. He looked at the clock, 3 a.m.
"Screw this," he said to himself as he pulled on a pair of pants.
//'Cause I don't know who's side I'm on I don't know my right from wrong I don't know where I'm going to I don't know about you //
Rory was in a deep sleep and it was with great patience and dexterity that he tapped on her window, loud enough to finally wake her, but low enough so as not to disturb the sleeping town. She got up, unlatched the window, and opened it.
"Hey. What are you doing here?"
Without another sound, thought or gesture, Jess roughly pulled her face towards his so that their lips met for the fist time. His lips were rough against her smooth feminine ones, exciting her with his masculine qualities. He kissed her with a strong passion that was unsurpassed in her young life, exciting her as their lips played together leaving her slightly lightheaded. When they parted, Rory felt her heart throbbing in her chest and her head spinning in bedazzlement and all this from only one kiss.
//I'll be the rain falling on your fire escape And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how 'bout you? //
"I'm not Dean, and I'm never going to be that kind of guy."
"That's okay," she said softly, still staggered by the kiss.
"Really?" Jess asked, wanting to make sure she understood.
//I don't wanna make you mad I don't wanna meet your dad I don't wanna be your dream come true //
"I don't want Dean. I want you."
"Good. Now I can get some sleep." Jess said hopefully
//'Cause I don't know just what I've found I don't know my sky from ground I don't know where I'm going to I don't know about you //
He pulled away from the window, and looked back to find her still lingering, thunderstruck.
"Ice-cream pajamas?" he teased, snapping her back into reality.
She smiled and pinched his arm, partly as retribution, but in greater part to verify completely the realness of the moment by the window. Once the apparition was confirmed, she nodded as Jess turned to leave, and shut the window.
//I'll be the rain falling on your fire escape And I may not be the man you want me to I can be myself, how 'bout you? //
Next time....
"Ugh! Go *away*!" Jess growled, dropping down onto his pillows and pulling the covers over his head.
Not taking no for an answer, she rushed over to the bed and straddled his stomach in one swift movement. "Now you don't actually mean that, do you?" she inquired, pulling the covers away from him and fixing her eyes on his.
A small smile cracked across Jess' face despite his protest. "Never," he answered seriously.