Chapter 2: No hard feelings
All the way on the plane he was feeling this weird emotion he couldn't quite analyze. He guessed he was just anxious to get there, but also a little apprehensive, because he didn't know what kind of welcome he'd get. Luke would probably be not so happy to see him, but he'd listen to what he had to say. Once he heard the decisions he'd made he would probably take him back in, wouldn't he? And then there was Rory. He was not sure how she'd react. Sure, she told him she wished he'd come back, but if things really came to it, he didn't know if that's really what she wanted. She would have a very busy life with Yale and all of that stuff and he'd be in Stars Hollow, working most of the time in the diner. If Luke would let him of course. But there was no turning back now, he spend most of his savings on his plane ticket and he had just enough money to take the bus from Hartford to Stars Hollow. Man, he really was feeling weird about going back. He never thought he'd go back to Stars Hollow on his own free will, but here he was, sitting in a plane, flying back to the place he hated and loved the most, because Rory lived there. She wouldn't live there for much longer though. Two weeks from now she'd start attending Yale and then she'd be home in the weekends, and if he was lucky she'd have some time to spend with him, because she would probably want to spend as much time with Lorelai as possible. There was another problem, Lorelai.He was sure she was gonna kill him or at least make several attempts. She'd be furious when she'd see him again and that was exactly the reason why he and Rory decided not to tell Lorelai Jess was in Miami too. He had a hard time coming, but the thing is, he wouldn't have wanted any other way.
As his plane landed, Jess calculated the time the bus drive would take. If all went well, he'd arrive in Stars Hollow around eleven o'clock. Perfect. At that time the diner would be closed, most of the residents of Stars Hollow would be inside so he didn't have to avoid people while walking to Luke's diner where Luke would probably be getting ready to sleep. He sure hoped Luke wasn't asleep already, because that would mean he had to wake Luke up. And since Luke was a deep sleeper that would involve making a lot of noise and risking waking half of Stars Hollow while trying to get Luke to open his eyes. Fingers crossed.
He checked the bus schedule and saw there was a bus going to Stars Hollow in fifteen minutes. The bus was already there. He paid for his ticket and got in the bus. He found a seat in the back and he grabbed the book out of his back pocket he started reading on the plane. He was reading 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac and in a matter of seconds he was traveling with the main character through America. After a while the bus started to move and Jess looked outside. It was dark and he could see light emanating from the thousands of houses in Hartford. He could see himself in the window. He ran his fingers through his hair and suddenly had a flashback. Rory used to run her fingers through his hair every time they kissed. The thought of their last kiss made the weird feeling he had even stronger and for a minute it filled his whole body. He couldn't wait to see her again. Soon, soon he'd see her again.
The bus stopped and Jess pulled his duffel bag on his back and stepped on the sidewalk. 'Just like the first time I arrived here', he thought. He was right, there was nobody on the street and feeling a little more at ease he walked to the diner where the lights were still on to his surprise. He stopped in front of the window, looking inside he saw Luke cleaning the counter and putting the coffee cups back on the shelve. He walked to the door and took a deep breath. He opened the door and walked inside. Luke had just dived under the counter so he didn't see him entering, but he heard the little bell jingle when Jess entered.
Luke: 'We're closed.'
Jess: 'I know.'
Luke recognized Jess' voice and tried to stand up straight, but hit his head on the counter.
Luke: 'Ouch.'
He put the dishcloth he was using to clean the counter to his head to ease his pain.
Jess: 'You alright?'
Luke: 'Yeah, I'm alright.'
The fact that Jess was standing in front of him didn't quite get through to him. A little sentence was repeating itself in his head, 'Jess is here', and finally it got through to him.
Luke: 'JESS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?'
Jess: 'Geez, Uncle Luke, that's not the welcome I was expecting.'
Luke: 'Cut the crap, Jess, and tell me what on earth you're doing here!'
Jess: 'I'm back.'
Luke: 'I can see that, but why?'
Jess: 'I had nowhere else to go.'
He didn't want to have to say it, but he didn't think Luke would settle for much less than that.
Luke: 'If you had nowhere else to go you shouldn't have taken off in the first place.'
Jess: 'Look, I was angry okay, I didn't know what to do.'
Luke: 'So you just took off. Have you got any idea what you've caused by that?'
Jess: 'Well, actually-.'
Luke: 'And you didn't just walk away from me, but you ran away from Rory too. I'm not sure she'll ever forgive you. Hell, I wouldn't blame her if she refuses to see you again. And Lorelai, wow, you've got something coming there. She's not gonna be happy when she sees that you're back. I'm so gonna be there when she enters the diner and sees you here. Wow, you back in Stars Hollow. You sure nobody put a gun to your head and made you get on the bus?'
Jess: 'Are you saying I can stay?'
Luke: 'Well, -.'
Jess: 'You said, 'when she enters the diner and she sees you here'. Does that mean I can stay?'
Luke: 'For now, yes. But you and I have certainly got some issues we need to discuss. For instance school.'
Jess: 'I'm not going back to Stars Hollow High.'
Luke: 'It's part of the agreement, the former one and this one, take it or leave it.'
Jess: 'I said I'm not going back to Stars Hollow High, -.'
Luke: 'Get out.'
Jess: 'But I'm gonna go to evening school and finish High School there.'
Luke: 'Okay, don't get out.'
Jess: 'So, we have an agreement?'
Luke: 'Depends. What are you gonna do during the day?'
Jess: 'I'm sure I can get back my job at Wal-Mart and help you out with the diner.'
Luke: 'Just so I'm not mistaken, you're Jess, right? Jess Mariano, the stubborn eighteen-year-old who hates school, work and living in Stars Hollow?'
Jess: 'Yeah, last time I checked.'
Luke: 'Good. Now, get your ass upstairs. Tomorrow it's gonna be early since I'm making you open up.'
Jess: 'Didn't expect it to be any other way.'
He pushed away the curtain and walked upstairs, smiling.
Luke stood in the diner, watching Jess walk upstairs, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
THE NEXT DAY
Lorelai: 'Rory, come one, I have to get to the Inn early today.'
Rory: 'You go ahead, I'm gonna need some more time.'
Lorelai: 'Alright, but I'm not gonna wait forever for you. In thirty minutes I'm gonna go to work.'
Rory: 'Okay, see you at Luke's.'
Lorelai walked out of the house towards Luke's diner.
Jess was taking the orders from two customers and looked out the window. From where he was standing he could see Lorelai coming. 'Shit', he thought, 'hell is gonna break loose.'
Lorelai hadn't noticed him yet when she stepped inside and he tactically turned his back towards her so hopefully she wouldn't notice him. He could see Luke was heading toward Lorelai. Man, he was always so quickly at her table, didn't she know Luke had the hots for her? Jess shrugged, Luke would figure things out for himself.
Luke: 'Jess, get Lorelai some pancakes.'
Jess' body tightened up after hearing that sentence. All harm was done now, Lorelai knew he was back.
Lorelai: 'JESS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?'
Jess walked over to Lorelai, realizing he had no other choice but to confront what was bound to happen anyway.
Jess: 'People seem to be pretty unanimous about that.'
Luke: 'Jess, don't get smart.'
Lorelai: 'Since when are you back?'
Jess: 'Last night.'
Lorelai: 'Why did you come back? Did you hurt enough feelings wherever you were and decided to come back again and trash other people's lives?'
Luke: 'Lorelai, come on.'
Jess really didn't like Lorelai making a scene. All the customers were looking at them and Jess started to get angry. He threw his dishcloth on an empty table and went to get his coat.
Lorelai: 'Hey, where are you going? I'm not done talking to you.'
Jess: 'I'm taking my break.'
He walked outside and could just hear Luke yell 'Be back in fifteen minutes', just before he slammed the door.
Inside Lorelai was projecting her frustration on Luke.
Lorelai: 'How could you let him stay here?'
Luke: 'Look, he had nowhere else to go. What was I supposed to do, make him sleep on the street?'
Lorelai: 'That's not such a bad idea after how he treated you and everybody else around here.'
Luke: 'I'm still responsible for him, I have to take care of him.'
Lorelai: 'He's a big boy now. How is he gonna support himself anyway? He can't stay with your forever.'
Luke: 'He's gonna go to evening school. That's why I let him stay, so he can finish High School.'
Lorelai: 'Oh my God! I just realized.'
Luke: 'What?'
Lorelai: 'RORY!"
A/N Well, that's it for this chapter, sorry I didn't post it earlier but you know those damn teachers, always trying to give you as much homework as they can!!! Oh, I absolutely love the reviews, thank you guys!
All the way on the plane he was feeling this weird emotion he couldn't quite analyze. He guessed he was just anxious to get there, but also a little apprehensive, because he didn't know what kind of welcome he'd get. Luke would probably be not so happy to see him, but he'd listen to what he had to say. Once he heard the decisions he'd made he would probably take him back in, wouldn't he? And then there was Rory. He was not sure how she'd react. Sure, she told him she wished he'd come back, but if things really came to it, he didn't know if that's really what she wanted. She would have a very busy life with Yale and all of that stuff and he'd be in Stars Hollow, working most of the time in the diner. If Luke would let him of course. But there was no turning back now, he spend most of his savings on his plane ticket and he had just enough money to take the bus from Hartford to Stars Hollow. Man, he really was feeling weird about going back. He never thought he'd go back to Stars Hollow on his own free will, but here he was, sitting in a plane, flying back to the place he hated and loved the most, because Rory lived there. She wouldn't live there for much longer though. Two weeks from now she'd start attending Yale and then she'd be home in the weekends, and if he was lucky she'd have some time to spend with him, because she would probably want to spend as much time with Lorelai as possible. There was another problem, Lorelai.He was sure she was gonna kill him or at least make several attempts. She'd be furious when she'd see him again and that was exactly the reason why he and Rory decided not to tell Lorelai Jess was in Miami too. He had a hard time coming, but the thing is, he wouldn't have wanted any other way.
As his plane landed, Jess calculated the time the bus drive would take. If all went well, he'd arrive in Stars Hollow around eleven o'clock. Perfect. At that time the diner would be closed, most of the residents of Stars Hollow would be inside so he didn't have to avoid people while walking to Luke's diner where Luke would probably be getting ready to sleep. He sure hoped Luke wasn't asleep already, because that would mean he had to wake Luke up. And since Luke was a deep sleeper that would involve making a lot of noise and risking waking half of Stars Hollow while trying to get Luke to open his eyes. Fingers crossed.
He checked the bus schedule and saw there was a bus going to Stars Hollow in fifteen minutes. The bus was already there. He paid for his ticket and got in the bus. He found a seat in the back and he grabbed the book out of his back pocket he started reading on the plane. He was reading 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac and in a matter of seconds he was traveling with the main character through America. After a while the bus started to move and Jess looked outside. It was dark and he could see light emanating from the thousands of houses in Hartford. He could see himself in the window. He ran his fingers through his hair and suddenly had a flashback. Rory used to run her fingers through his hair every time they kissed. The thought of their last kiss made the weird feeling he had even stronger and for a minute it filled his whole body. He couldn't wait to see her again. Soon, soon he'd see her again.
The bus stopped and Jess pulled his duffel bag on his back and stepped on the sidewalk. 'Just like the first time I arrived here', he thought. He was right, there was nobody on the street and feeling a little more at ease he walked to the diner where the lights were still on to his surprise. He stopped in front of the window, looking inside he saw Luke cleaning the counter and putting the coffee cups back on the shelve. He walked to the door and took a deep breath. He opened the door and walked inside. Luke had just dived under the counter so he didn't see him entering, but he heard the little bell jingle when Jess entered.
Luke: 'We're closed.'
Jess: 'I know.'
Luke recognized Jess' voice and tried to stand up straight, but hit his head on the counter.
Luke: 'Ouch.'
He put the dishcloth he was using to clean the counter to his head to ease his pain.
Jess: 'You alright?'
Luke: 'Yeah, I'm alright.'
The fact that Jess was standing in front of him didn't quite get through to him. A little sentence was repeating itself in his head, 'Jess is here', and finally it got through to him.
Luke: 'JESS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?'
Jess: 'Geez, Uncle Luke, that's not the welcome I was expecting.'
Luke: 'Cut the crap, Jess, and tell me what on earth you're doing here!'
Jess: 'I'm back.'
Luke: 'I can see that, but why?'
Jess: 'I had nowhere else to go.'
He didn't want to have to say it, but he didn't think Luke would settle for much less than that.
Luke: 'If you had nowhere else to go you shouldn't have taken off in the first place.'
Jess: 'Look, I was angry okay, I didn't know what to do.'
Luke: 'So you just took off. Have you got any idea what you've caused by that?'
Jess: 'Well, actually-.'
Luke: 'And you didn't just walk away from me, but you ran away from Rory too. I'm not sure she'll ever forgive you. Hell, I wouldn't blame her if she refuses to see you again. And Lorelai, wow, you've got something coming there. She's not gonna be happy when she sees that you're back. I'm so gonna be there when she enters the diner and sees you here. Wow, you back in Stars Hollow. You sure nobody put a gun to your head and made you get on the bus?'
Jess: 'Are you saying I can stay?'
Luke: 'Well, -.'
Jess: 'You said, 'when she enters the diner and she sees you here'. Does that mean I can stay?'
Luke: 'For now, yes. But you and I have certainly got some issues we need to discuss. For instance school.'
Jess: 'I'm not going back to Stars Hollow High.'
Luke: 'It's part of the agreement, the former one and this one, take it or leave it.'
Jess: 'I said I'm not going back to Stars Hollow High, -.'
Luke: 'Get out.'
Jess: 'But I'm gonna go to evening school and finish High School there.'
Luke: 'Okay, don't get out.'
Jess: 'So, we have an agreement?'
Luke: 'Depends. What are you gonna do during the day?'
Jess: 'I'm sure I can get back my job at Wal-Mart and help you out with the diner.'
Luke: 'Just so I'm not mistaken, you're Jess, right? Jess Mariano, the stubborn eighteen-year-old who hates school, work and living in Stars Hollow?'
Jess: 'Yeah, last time I checked.'
Luke: 'Good. Now, get your ass upstairs. Tomorrow it's gonna be early since I'm making you open up.'
Jess: 'Didn't expect it to be any other way.'
He pushed away the curtain and walked upstairs, smiling.
Luke stood in the diner, watching Jess walk upstairs, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
THE NEXT DAY
Lorelai: 'Rory, come one, I have to get to the Inn early today.'
Rory: 'You go ahead, I'm gonna need some more time.'
Lorelai: 'Alright, but I'm not gonna wait forever for you. In thirty minutes I'm gonna go to work.'
Rory: 'Okay, see you at Luke's.'
Lorelai walked out of the house towards Luke's diner.
Jess was taking the orders from two customers and looked out the window. From where he was standing he could see Lorelai coming. 'Shit', he thought, 'hell is gonna break loose.'
Lorelai hadn't noticed him yet when she stepped inside and he tactically turned his back towards her so hopefully she wouldn't notice him. He could see Luke was heading toward Lorelai. Man, he was always so quickly at her table, didn't she know Luke had the hots for her? Jess shrugged, Luke would figure things out for himself.
Luke: 'Jess, get Lorelai some pancakes.'
Jess' body tightened up after hearing that sentence. All harm was done now, Lorelai knew he was back.
Lorelai: 'JESS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?'
Jess walked over to Lorelai, realizing he had no other choice but to confront what was bound to happen anyway.
Jess: 'People seem to be pretty unanimous about that.'
Luke: 'Jess, don't get smart.'
Lorelai: 'Since when are you back?'
Jess: 'Last night.'
Lorelai: 'Why did you come back? Did you hurt enough feelings wherever you were and decided to come back again and trash other people's lives?'
Luke: 'Lorelai, come on.'
Jess really didn't like Lorelai making a scene. All the customers were looking at them and Jess started to get angry. He threw his dishcloth on an empty table and went to get his coat.
Lorelai: 'Hey, where are you going? I'm not done talking to you.'
Jess: 'I'm taking my break.'
He walked outside and could just hear Luke yell 'Be back in fifteen minutes', just before he slammed the door.
Inside Lorelai was projecting her frustration on Luke.
Lorelai: 'How could you let him stay here?'
Luke: 'Look, he had nowhere else to go. What was I supposed to do, make him sleep on the street?'
Lorelai: 'That's not such a bad idea after how he treated you and everybody else around here.'
Luke: 'I'm still responsible for him, I have to take care of him.'
Lorelai: 'He's a big boy now. How is he gonna support himself anyway? He can't stay with your forever.'
Luke: 'He's gonna go to evening school. That's why I let him stay, so he can finish High School.'
Lorelai: 'Oh my God! I just realized.'
Luke: 'What?'
Lorelai: 'RORY!"
A/N Well, that's it for this chapter, sorry I didn't post it earlier but you know those damn teachers, always trying to give you as much homework as they can!!! Oh, I absolutely love the reviews, thank you guys!