Chapter Five

"What are we doing?" Georgia appears beside Rory who after they got back from the park had settled at the kitchen table and was attempting to file through the papers Taylor had given her.

"I am working on something for that man you saw me talking to at Luke's today."

"Luke?"

"No," Rory shakes her head.

"Oh the bossy one." Georgia nods. "So how longs it going to take you?"

"I'm not exactly sure, it's sort of like the work I used to do back in New York."

Georgia glares at Rory's statement and then turns on her tail and stomps off into the bedroom she was sharing with Rory. Rory sighs and pushes herself away from the table walking into the room she finds Georgia sulking on the bed, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Georgia crosses her arms over her chest.

"Something's wrong, what is it?" Rory asks sitting on the bed beside Georgia, only to have Georgia scoot down.

"Nothing, I don't want to talk to you." Georgia states.

"All right," Rory glances over at Georgia, "if that's what you want." Rory gets up off the bed and returns to the kitchen table with the hopes that Georgia would come out to talk to her on her own. Two hours later Georgia hadn't and it was time for them both to leave to meet her mother and Sookie for lunch.

"Georgia come on, we have to meet my mom for lunch." Rory sticks her head in the open door.

"I don't wanna go." Georgia responds setting her book down and crossing her arms, again.

"Good thing I'm not giving you a choice then, isn't it?" Rory asks and picking up Georgia's shoes she hands them to her, "now put your shoes on so we can be there on time."

Georgia does as Rory insists but not without throwing glare Rory's way every once in awhile, "all right I'm ready."

"Good, let's go." Rory responds nearly pushing Georgia out the door and most of the way to the Dragonfly.

"This must be Georgia." Sookie greets warmly when she and Rory walk into the lobby.

Rory nods, "this is Georgia."

"Hi, I'm Sookie." Sookie sticks her hand out to shakes Georgia's but the young girl completely ignores her.

"We aren't in the best mood today." Rory comments as she hugs Sookie. "Did you bring the kids today?"

Sookie nods, "yes, they are in the dining room, all of them right now. Meaning Michele is probably going crazy." Sookie leads the way into the dining room, and sure enough her five children are seated around a long table and Michele seems more frazzled then usual.

"Georgia these are Sookie's children," Lorelai introduces, "this is Davey, he's 8, Amy is six, Daryl is five, and the twins are 3 and are Skye and Sara."

"Hi." Georgia responds taking in the rambunctious children around her.

"Why don't you sit down there with the kids and I'll have the food brought out, I'm sure everyone is hungry." Sookie states before hurrying off to the kitchen.

"So did Taylor find you?" Lorelai asks once all the kids have taken a seat at one end of the table.

"I can't believe you sent Taylor into Luke's just to upset Luke, what happened upstairs?" Rory asks.

"He refuses to hear anything I have to say." Lorelai states, "he says that we will never be in the same place at the same time. That's a direct quote if you'll believe it. So I told him that it's not my fault he married Nicole."

"You didn't throw that back in his face." Rory sighs.

Lorelai sighs, "I did."

"Mom."

"I know, I shouldn't have done it, but he is so dumb sometimes."

"You're both pretty dumb." Rory responds.

"So wha'd you guys do after Luke's?" Lorelai questions.

"We went to the park." Rory responds, "I ran into Dean, met his kids."

"They are nice boys, Dean through and through, you'd like them though. They come over here to play with Amy, Daryl and the twins, since they are all about the same age."

"I ran into Jess again too." Rory adds.

Lorelai arches an eyebrow, "what happened?"

"He said he was going to leave town for the summer." Rory informs.

"Sounds good to me." Lorelai states.

Rory shakes her head, "I told him that we can't hide from each other forever. And then we acted as immaturely as we did when we were teenagers and we went our separate ways."

"I'm sorry Rory, maybe it would be better for him to go away for the summer." Lorelai suggests.

Rory shrugs, "maybe, but I'm the one who invaded his town."

"Rory this will always be your town, he knows it, why do you think he came back?" Lorelai asks.

"If you are even suggesting what I think you are suggesting I don't want to hear it." Rory snaps quietly.

Lorelai lifts her hands up, "I'm not suggesting a thing."

"Good."

"So you want to go to Luke's for dinner?" Lorelai suggests, "give me another chance to talk to Luke?"

Rory nods, "sure. Georgia liked it there. She likes all the people in Stars Hollow, she likes to watch them she says they are all funny. Funnier than the people in New York."

"So Rory it's too bad that you aren't staying in town more permanently than the summer." Sookie comments once they have all settled down with their food.

"How come?" Rory asks taking a sip of her coffee.

"The news paper was just bought by a private owner after Mr. Jacobs passed away and his family doesn't want it. The new owner is looking for an editor-in-chief and every other position I guess."

"Who bought it?" Rory asks.

Sookie shrugs, "nobody knows, all I know is that we haven't been getting a daily paper and we won't be until the new own hires a new staff. It was a family owned paper and once Mr. Jacobs died his family moved out of Stars Hollow, to Chicago I think."

"You're kidding." Rory comments.

"Rory, this is still Stars Hollow." Lorelai laughs, "crazy stuff like this happens all the time."

Rory nods, "right. Thanks for the suggestion Sookie, but I really am just here for the summer. My job's waiting for me once the summer is over."

Sookie nods, "you and your big city paper."

Rory smiles, "it's not the New York Times, but it's a big paper."

"Are we going to go in or what?" Georgia asks as she, Rory and Lorelai all stand on the front steps of Luke's.

"Georgia, please get in a better mood." Rory requests, "and yes we are going in right now." Turning to her mother Rory asks, "ready?"

Lorelai nods, "ready." Walking into the crowded diner Luke and Lorelai's eyes connect immediately and once again Luke tries to make an exit. "Luke I've got to talk to you."

"I'm busy." Luke calls across the diner, "if you're here to eat then eat, if you're here to talk then you are wasting your time because we have nothing to talk about."

"Well I love you! You dumb jerk!" Lorelai exclaims in front of the entire diner, "you would let me say it before but I just said it." Lorelai glances around the crowded diner at all the non-stunned faces, "and everyone here is witness to this and can we have the rest of this conversation away from the rest of the town?"

"Yeah, upstairs." Luke gestures to the stairs as the entire diner cheers.

"Finally!" Miss Patty calls.

"It took her long enough!" Babette adds.

Rory can't help but smile brightly as she leads Georgia to the counter, the only available seating in the entire diner. Before they can order Jess comes downstairs his eyes wide, "did you know your mother is upstairs fighting with Luke about love?"

"Yeah," Rory can't help but laugh, the first time she's done such a thing if front of Jess in years, "you missed the public show."

"Trust me I think I got the gist upstairs."

Rory's smile disappears as she realizes who she has actually been carrying on a conversation with, "so we're speaking then?"

"Well, I guess we were, I can't say anything for the future. You know since we have a history of fighting." Jess responds.

Rory doesn't remember that she is in the middle of the diner much like her mother and Luke earlier until she hears Gypsy's words, "now these to have some issues to work out."

"Can we talk outside?" Rory requests.

"Fine." Jess leads the way outside to the sidewalk, "what's your problem."

"I don't know I thought you were the one who hated me, hated everything I had become." Rory responds, "or at least that's what you said the last time we spoke."

"I never said I hated you, and you were the one who walked away!" Jess yells.

"You walked away plenty of times before that, I just thought I would get a jump start on the inevitable." Rory fights back the tears that threaten to spill.

"How do you know I was going to walk away that time." Jess demands. "Because I don't remember saying I hated anything about who you were, I said I didn't understand who you were anymore. And I still don't."

"You don't know me anymore, can't we just leave it at that?" Rory asks turning away so Jess can't see the tears in her eyes.

"Fine! And I'll do what you expect me to do," Jess' words are cold, "I'll be the one to walk away as usual."

"Rory." Lorelai is standing in front of Rory then.

"Mom," Rory gasps through her tears as Lorelai hurries to her side quickly wrapping her in a hug as Rory's legs give out from the tears, "it hurts so much."

"I know baby," Lorelai whispers, "I know."

On the next Gilmore Girls:

"This isn't right." Lorelai sighs in frusteration.

"You look great Mom." Rory responds, "besides it's Luke, he's seen you at your best and your worst."

"It's not just Luke, Rory, it's my first date with Luke." Lorelai responds.

"I hate you!" Georgia's words are biting, "I hate you1 You're not my Mommy and I hate you!"