Chapter Seven

"Hi Georgie!" Donny appears in front of Rory and Georgia the instant they walk in the door. "Wanna play video games?"

"Can I Rory?" Georgia asks looking up at Rory.

"Of course," Rory hands Georgia the 1/4 of the quarters she had brought along for that specific purpose, "be good."

"Hey Rory." Dean greets.

"Hey," Rory glances around the busy arcade/pizza place, "aren't you missing two?"

Dean shakes his head, "the other two are with Lindsay, every Wednesday and I take one of the boys out for one on one time and every Saturday she takes one of them. It's really helped them adjust to the divorce, helped them to understand that we still love them, even if Lindsay and I couldn't love each other."

"That's a really good idea." Rory comments.

Dean smiles, "we wanted to make this as easy as possible, with as little psychological damage as possible, it seems to have worked."

"They are great kids," Rory adds, "and it looks like Donny and are Georgia are getting to be good friends."

Dean nods, "when I asked Donny if he wanted to have pizza with Georgia he nodded and confided in me that even though she is a girl she's isn't yucky."

Rory laughs lightly, "cute."

"What about Georgia?"

"She gets along with other kids pretty well, but Sookie's kids are a little to much for her, to loud I think. She likes to keep more to herself."

"It's good to have you back, Rory, it's been nice just being able to hang out." Dean states, once the pizza has been eaten and the kids have returned to their games.

Rory nods, "yeah I enjoyed this tonight."

Dean leans in and kisses Rory and as they pull apart Dean murmurs, "I've wondered for so many years what that would feel like."

"And?" Rory whispers nervously, unsure if she even wants to now what Dean's response would be.

"It felt like kissing an old friend," Dean smiles.

Rory lets out a relieved breath, "good, because that's what it felt like for me too."

"So how much longer do you think you'll be in Stars Hollow?" Dean inquires.

"The private school I've got her enrolled at starts the first week of August, so another month I guess." Rory states.

"Anxious to get back to the city?" Dean asks.

"Part of me is," Rory's forehead crinkles in thought, "I've put off coming back for a long time and then when I had to, because believe me only extreme conditions could have brought me back, I thought it would be hard. But it's still the same old Stars Hollow. The same people, everything is the same and it's comfortable, most of the time."

"Except when you're fighting with Jess, right?"

"You heard about that?" Rory asks.

Dean nods, "half of the town was in the diner that night and it's been the topic of conversation all week, that and your mom and Luke finally getting together."

Rory groans, "Jess and I have always been complicated."

Dean nods, "I know, I was in the middle of it at one time, remember?"

Rory rolls her eyes, "I remember."

"I'll beat him up for old times sake if you want."

Rory shakes her head, "I don't think that'll be necessary but thanks."

"So how was your date with Luke?" Georgia inquires.

Lorelai rolls her eyes, "it was a disaster, a mistake."

"What?" Rory stares at her mother stunned.

"Well it was a mistake pretending it was a first date and all the formalities. Neither one of us ate anything at dinner and by the time we finished with the painful meal it was to late to do anything else. So we went back to the diner."

"You went back to the diner?" Georgia asks.

Rory rolls her eyes, "how romantic."

"It was more fun than the restaurant Luke picked, neither of us were comfortable there but back in out element we were fine. So all in all it wasn't terrible."

"So are you guys going out again?" Rory asks.

Lorelai shrugs, "I don't know. So did you have fun last night, sweets?" Lorelai directs her question to Georgia.

Georgia nods, "I got to play with Donny."

Lorelai smirks, "do I sense a crush?"

"No!" Georgia exclaims.

"Oh really?"

Georgia bites her lip, "well he is cute."

Lorelai slips her arm around Georgia's small shoulders, "good for you, goin' for the young men."

Georgia blushes, "he calls me Georgie."

Lorelai grins, "your first crush, I'm so proud. Now come on, let's go get some breakfast."

"Are we going to Luke's?" Georgia asks.

Lorelai shoots a sidelong look at Rory, "it's up to you."

"Luke's is fine." Rory responds quietly.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Upon walking into Luke's Rory immediately regretted agreeing to Luke's for breakfast because Jess was in the process of making rounds with coffee and he appeared to be the only one serving in the diner. As the three take their seats at their usual table Jess immediately sets two coffee cups down in front of them and the chilly silence over the table causes Georgia to look back and forth between the three adults curiously. Luke comes down the stairs in the middle of this scene and he calls Jess, "I've got the table."

"Fine, I'm sure Dean will be joining them anyway." Jess sets the coffee pot down on the table and bolts out of the diner.

"Dean?" Lorelai's gaze falls on her daughter, "what about Dean?"

"Rory kissed Dean last night, Donny and I saw." Georgia informs.

Luke and Lorelai's eyes meet across the table, "you and Dean?" Lorelai asks.

Rory's hand rests on her forehead, "no. No!" Rory sighs and stands up, "I'll be back."

"So Rory and Jess round two?" Babette's words come from the table behind Lorelai when Rory storms out of the diner.

"What is your problem Jess?" Rory asks after catching up with him.

"So you and Dean are what, back together? Because I saw you kissing him." Jess' voice sounds like a mixture between hurt and anger.

"That's none of your business!" Rory exclaims, "you sound like we are together, which we are not and we will never be again. We're over Jess."

"Right and make room for Dean."

"Dean and I aren't together, not that it's any of your business." Rory glares at Jess, "can we just make the decision to avoid each other for the rest of the summer? I won't go into the diner to eat, and if we see each other on the street we'll ignore each other."

"Why are you so determined to cut me out of your life?" Jess inquires. "You and Dean are friends and you have as much of a history as we do."

"Because," Rory can't fight the tears anymore.

"Because, there's an intelligent response I would expect from someone who went to Yale. Maybe something I'd expect from your sister."

"Why are you prolonging this conversation?" Rory asks furiously brushing at the tears on her cheeks.

"I'm trying to understand why this conversation has you so worked up." Jess responds.

"You aren't going to understand, because this conversation is over." Rory turns to walk back into the diner but Jess grabs her arm and spins her around to face him.

"Should I go out there, break them up?" Luke asks from inside the diner.

Lorelai chews on her lip, unsure of what would be better for her daughter, "I don't know, give them a little while longer."

"What are you keeping from me Rory?" Jess demands, "because there's something."

Rory pulls her arm out of Jess' and without another word she bolts, running as quickly as possible toward home, toward her sanctuary from this topic of conversation.

On the next Gilmore Girls:

"What the hell do you know that I don't?" Jess demands of Luke and Lorelai.

Rory runs her fingers over the soft baby cloth of the pink layette but she jumps at the sound of someone clearing their throat.