Punkcatwittissues: Yep. Sid is supposed to look like Dave... and you made me laugh.

In defense of my writing: It's been 21 years since the current season. And yes, Lorelai and Jess have never gotten along. But: 1. I'm taking creative license. And: 2. I think that this is a situation where they would find a way to get along. Would thirty-nine year old Jess do what he does in this chapter? I think he would.

Thanks for all the great reviews!

Fic!

When Stella finally showed up at the diner, people were beginning to leave. She was grateful. She didn't want to deal with these people any more than she had to.

"Stella!"

She blew out a mild curse under her breath before turning to see her great grandmother make her way over to her.

"Stella, where have you been?" Emily asked in her usual demanding tone.

Not that Stella knew much about the woman in front of her. Sure, her mother had insisted on visits to the eldest Gilmore residents, and there were gatherings on holidays, but Stella didn't feel like she knew her great grandparents. Not like she knew her grandmother, or her Uncle Luke.

"Well?" Emily demanded. "Where on earth have you been, young lady?"

Stella merely shrugged. "Out."

"Out where?" Emily asked, following the younger girl over to a tabled piled high with food.

"Walking." She picked up a clean mug and filled it from a coffee pot.

"How many cups of coffee have you had today?" Emily asked.

"Not as many as I'd like," she replied, taking a sip.

"Have you seen your grandmother?"

"Not I, said the Stella."

"She came downstairs looking awful,"

"Dad probably shot off his mouth at her again," Stella commented dryly. "He's pretty good at that."

"He's not the only one," Emily shot back. She became more real for a moment. "Stella, are you alright?"

"Vitals are good. My eyes are open. My feet are planted firmly on the ground. All signs point to alive."

Emily sighed. "That's not what I meant."

Stella shrugged, and refilled her coffee cup.

"Where is your father?" Emily asked. "Your Aunt Lane came downstairs ages ago, but he's pulled a disappearing act."

"Just call him Houdini."

"Why don't you go find him?"

"Because usually when he feigns Houdini, he doesn't want to be found," Stella replied, pouring herself more coffee.

"For heaven's sake, Stella! Stop drinking coffee!"

"Do you realize what you ask of me?" Stella asked, her voice mockingly upset. "You ask the impossible. The unthinkable. I'm shocked."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I'm going to find your grandfather."

"Have lots of fun with that." She refilled her cup a little more, and then walked out of the diner again.

"And so we meet again."

She turned around, and saw Paul standing there. "Hi."

"Hey. That's some party."

"It's a wake," Stella replied. "I don't think it counts as a party."

Paul shrugged. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk at the bridge... I didn't know you knew Sidney Rygalski."

"He's my best friend," Stella replied. "I've known him my whole life. Our parents are close."

"That's... that's cool."

"You don't like him," Stella smirked.

"He's kind of..."

"Eccentric?"

"I was going to say exasperating, but yours works, too," Paul smirked. "You know your way around town yet?"

"What's to know?" Stella asked with an incredulous laugh. "I mean, hell, it's only got one stoplight."

Paul smirked. "There's talk of putting up another one."

"How exciting," Stella droned, taking a sip of coffee.

They passed Doose's Market, where Taylor was already putting up a new sign in the window. He glanced over. "Hello, Paul."

"Hey, Mr. Doose."

"Who's your friend?"

Paul smiled. "This is Stella Mariano. Stella, this is Mr. Doose. He owns the market, and runs the town meetings and stuff."

Stella nodded to the older man, who glared at her a little. She wrinkled her nose. "What's your problem?" she asked pointedly.

Taylor only made a soft snorting noise and rushed into his market.

The teen gave each other confused looks and kept walking.

*****

The closer friends and family had moved themselves from the diner to Lorelai's house that evening.

Lane smiled as she took a sip of her wine. She was sitting on Dave's lap, in a circle on the floor in the living room. She looked around at the faces sitting with her. Jess, whom she didn't' think she'd ever see sit on a floor. Zach and Brian, who were arguing, as usual, and Paris, who was rolling her eyes at the bass player and guitarist.

They'd been throwing memories at each other for the past hour or so. Mostly of Rory. Remembering the good times helped. So did the wine, actually. Lane wasn't sure how many glasses she'd had, and she didn't care. The kids were off somewhere, but she trusted them enough to look out for one another. And this, after all, was Stars Hollow.

"Remember the keg party?" Brian asked.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Probably up there in the top ten worst nights of my life."

"I didn't know you could fight like that, man," Zach commented. "I thought you were going to snap Dean's head off."

"God, that's a great image, isn't it?" Jess smirked.

"I puked my guts out that night," Lane commented.

"Your own fault," Dave replied. "You're the one who got drunk."

"Because of you."

Dave looked baffled.

"I thought you were about to dump me because what's-his-face was in love with more or... something!" Lane cried. "I don't remember!" She smiled. "Remember Vegas?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What kind of question is that?" Jess quipped, taking a sip of wine. "Who could forget Vegas? You guys tied the knot there. I was best man. I don't even know why I was best man."

"You were there," Dave replied. "It worked. Rory was the maid of honor."

"And the minister was dressed as Shaft," Lane smiled.

Paris rolled her eyes. "How classy."

"It was all totally spontaneous," Lane told them.

Dave rolled his eyes at his wife and kissed her cheek. "Who are you kidding? You'd been planning on marrying me in Vegas for years."

Brian smirked. "I saw the video. It was some wedding."

"Crazy," Jess added.

"Not nearly as crazy as your wedding," Paris pointed out to him, draining her glass. "If I remember correctly, someone started a betting pool amongst the congregation concerning whether or not you would make it through the vows without running away like a frightened kitten."

Jess glared. "I am not, nor have I ever been, a 'frightened kitten,'" he said. "Who started that pool anyways?"

"I did," Lorelai said from behind him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "I want words with you in my kitchen."

He nodded. "Be back," he told the gathered group, and got to his feet to follow Lorelai.

******

"Grandpa? Where do people go when they die?"

Richard Gilmore cleared his throat as he looked down at his younger great granddaughter. The innocent six-year-old looked up at him from his knee, eyes questioning. He briefly thought that he was too old to be doing things like this, but those thoughts dissipated almost immediately. He shuddered to think what his grandson-in-law would tell the child.

"Well... Julia... many people believe many different things about where people go when they pass on," he told her. "Your sister, I'm fairly certain, thinks that when people die, they don't go anywhere."

"Oh," Julia frowned. "Is that true?"

"No one knows for certain," Richard smiled. "But I don't like to think so."

"What do you think?"

"I think your mother went to heaven," he told her. "I think that she is smiling down on us from the stars, thinking we're silly for being so sad."

Julia nodded and seemed to accept this. "I like that."

Richard smiled and looked up at the sky from the porch. "Good."

"There you are!" Emily's voice snapped as she walked up to them. "I've been looking for you."

Richard nodded. "Well, Emily, we are right here. Aren't we, Julia?"

Julia nodded up at the older woman. "Grandpa says that Mommy went to heaven."

"Well of course she did," Emily replied, looking slightly distraught. "Where else would she go?"

"Valhalla!" Julia replied proudly.

Richard let out a short, hearty laugh. "Where on earth did you get that?"

"Daddy read me a book about it," Julia replied. "You drink a lot there."

Emily rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile. "Julia, isn't it past your bedtime?"

"I don't want to sleep," she replied. "I want to look for Mommy in the sky."

"It's getting very late, Julia," Richard pointed out. "Aren't you tired?"

"I have to wait for Daddy," Julia replied. "He reads to me every night."

Emily glanced into the window to see Jess and Lorelai standing in the kitchen. "Why don't Grandpa and I read to you tonight? Would you like that?"

Julia considered for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay... but Daddy has to come up and say goodnight, too."

"He will," Richard reassured her. He got up, and lifted her with him. "Come along, Julia. It's story time."

*****

Jess leaned against the counter and watched his mother-in-law fidget in front of him.

"I..." Lorelai sighed. "I'm... sorry... about before... you're new at this whole single parent thing and... I shouldn't be telling you how to raise your kids."

He nodded. "Uh... it's okay... I'm sorry, too... for what I said..."

"I don't want Stella to end up like you were," she told him suddenly.

He blinked for a moment. "Me either," Jess said. "But she's not me. She likes to think she could be, sometimes. She's better than that."

She noticed his face take on a little anguish and self-disgust. "Jess..."

"And maybe she smokes, and maybe she's got a bad temper, and maybe she bottles things up like I do, but she's not a bad kid like I was. We made sure..."

Lorelai watched him shake slightly and turn to look out the window.

"She misses Rory," he said quietly. "She's never lost anyone before... anyone really significant in her life, at least. She's angry, and she's scared, though she'd never admit that." He sighed. "I'm doing the best I can. But I've got to pick up my own pieces before I can help her with hers."

Lorelai stood slightly shocked behind him "I think that's the most you've ever said to me in one talking-to in the twenty-one years I've known you."

He sniffed almost inaudibly. "Huh."

She saw his shoulders shake slightly. "Oh, Jess."

"I uh... I need a cigarette."

She could tell he was losing it. "I thought you quit."

"I d-did."

"Jess."

He tried to storm out of the room, but she grabbed his arm before he could. She watched tears slide down from his eyes, and remember a time when she couldn't stand Jess Mariano. When the very sight of him made her blood boil and her teeth grind together; a time when she only tolerated him for her daughter's sake.

She'd been furious when he'd left then showed up on their front porch over a year later. She'd been even more furious when Rory had taken him back. But he'd grown on her. Like a weed. He'd snuck under her radar and become apart of her family years before he and Rory were married.

For all her criticisms, and teasing, for all her sarcastic remarks, Lorelai cared about Jess.

It shocked her to no end how much it hurt to see him cry like this. It hurt to see him cry like it had hurt to see Rory cry.

Lorelai took a step closer and wrapped motherly arms around him, bringing him into a gentle hug. He stiffened immediately, but she didn't let go. After a moment he relaxed a little and let out choked sighs and breaths as his tears dampened her shoulder. He made no move to hug her back.

She shushed him gently, and wondered if Liz or Sasha had ever held him like this. She wondered if he had ever let them. Neither had made it to the funeral. Sasha and Jimmy because of the distance, and Liz was missing in action, which was nothing new.

"I know," she said gently, feeling her own tears start to well up. "I miss her, too. But we're tough, you and me. We'll get through this."

He nodded and pulled away quickly, mopping his eyes up and quickly with his shirt sleeves, shame and embarrassment written on his face.

She offered him a small smirk. "Careful. That's how make-up smears."

He sniffed a little and nodded. "Wouldn't want that."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"I'm gonna take a walk," he muttered.

She nodded and watched him make his way to the kitchen door leading to the back porch.

He stopped. "Lorelai?"

"Don't worry," she said. "I won't tell anybody."

He nodded. "I was gonna say... thank you." With that, he walked out.

Lorelai sighed and turned to see Luke standing in the doorway. She jumped slightly. "Luke... how long have you been there?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing her forehead. "You're the best mom ever."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she began crying again. "I was," she choked out.

*****

"What do you see in Forrester?"

Stella glanced sideways at Sid. "What do I what?"

"What do you see in him?"

Stella raised an eyebrow. "We're just hanging out."

"He's a geek."

"He's a nice geek."

Sid shrugged. "He's stuck-up. He thinks he knows everything."

"So do you."

He smiled proudly. "I do know everything." He glanced at her. "Like I know you're still reeling from your mom's death."

"Gee, that's a tough one, Sid."

"I'm serious, Stel. When're you gonna start to act like she's gone."

She didn't reply, only reached for the pack of cigarettes in her jacket pocket.