Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea.
A/N: See Chapter One for full premise. To sum up, this is an AU (Alternate Universe) in which Jess Mariano never existed. In his place, Jessie Danes, daughter of Liz, has come to live with her Uncle Luke for the summer. I am very pleased that so far people are enjoying this. Reviews are always welcome, no matter how short or long (just in case you're reading and not reviewing…you know who you are). A special thanks goes out to Lindsay for letting me bounce all my crazy ideas off of her. This story would not be here without her. Literally. She had to talk me into posting it. And another big thanks goes out to my new friend Sarah for taking the time to read drafts of recent chapters.
July: Cowboys and Ballerinas
Chapter Ten
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When Luke arrived at the dance studio to pick Jessie up at seven, he found a very tired girl. All the energy she'd had before the class had been burned away. Patty sauntered up to Luke as he helped her put her shoes on. "Luke, you're back. No Lorelai?" she asked suggestively.
With an eye-roll that Jessie could be proud of, Luke looked up at Patty from the floor where he was with Jessie and said, "Lorelai went home. She just helped me with Jess's hair earlier, that's why she was with us."
"Riiiiiiiight," Patty replied with a knowing smile.
"Patty," Luke warned looking pinched.
"What?" she asked innocently. "You're both adults. If you can't figure it out on your own, the least you can do is accept a little push from those who love you."
Listening intently to their conversation, Jessie studied her uncle's features. True to his word, Luke had never brought anyone home to spend the night and she was grateful. But Patty was making it sound like there was something going on that she didn't know about.
"Leave it alone, Patty," Luke ordered before turning back to Jessie and finishing with the shoes. "Let's go," he said, helping her to her feet.
On their way back to the diner, Jessie pondered what they'd said. She didn't understand it, but she knew it had something to do with Lorelai, figuring something out, pushing, and the people that love you. With her hand safely tucked into his, they crossed the street and entered the diner. For a Thursday evening it was dead and Luke had sent Lane home, leaving Caesar more than capable of handling whatever customers showed up.
Luke pushed the curtain back and Jessie ascended the steps quickly with Luke close behind. She was still in her tights and leotard and her hair was still up in the bun, with soft tendrils trailing down around her ears and neck. As they entered the apartment she looked up at her uncle and she saw that his face was still looking a little pinched.
"Will you take my hair down?" she asked, heading for the couch.
"Sure," he answered, following her. Luke sat down where Lorelai had seated herself, in fact, where he had been sitting before Lorelai had arrived, and allowed Jessie to stand between his knees as he slowly went through the bun and pulled out as many hair pins as he could find. He found that they were much easier to take out than put in.
"So you had fun?" Luke finally asked, pushing his own distractions aside.
"Uh-huh!" Jessie chirped as she balanced one palm on each of his knees and kicked her legs out in front of her. "It was really fun. We learned all about first position and second position and then we pretended to be animals. I got to be an elephant with a long trunk," she explained.
"Good," he said, wincing a little at the abuse she was giving his knees. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."
"Uncle Luke?" she asked as he pulled the last pin out and undid the hair tie keeping the ponytail up. He tousled his fingers through her hair and said warily, "Yeah?" She never used his name unless she really had something to talk about. Usually she just started a conversation with "Hey!" or "Guess what!"
"What did Miss Patty mean?"
"When?" he asked with no little suspicion. Patty was famous for making all sorts of inappropriate remarks around the kids she taught.
"About Lorelai," Jessie said as she turned around with her hands on her hips.
"Lorelai?" he asked, the pinched look returning to his face.
"Yeah, she said you needed to be pushed by those who love you. Pushing's not nice, though, is it?"
Luke heaved a sigh. "Pushing is never nice," he confirmed, hoping she'd drop it.
"So then why did Miss Patty say she was going to push you?"
"I don't know," Luke hedged. He knew what Patty had meant, but there was no reason in the world to explain it to Jessie.
"She acted like Lorelai should be with you when you picked me up."
"You think so?" he asked warily, hands fidgeting in his lap.
Jessie nodded. "But I talked to Lorelai and she said she didn't want to be your girlfriend."
"What? You did what??" Luke cried, astonished. Gripping her shoulders in his hands, Luke fought the urge to shake her. "What did you just say?" he asked in what he hoped was a calming voice.
Startled at his response, Jessie stammered, "I…I talked to Lorelai. After the night I made her go home. I felt bad so I told her that she could be your girlfriend as long as she didn't sleep over."
Closing his eyes, Luke took his hands from her shoulders and used them to cover his face as he tried not to imagine how that conversation must have gone. "Are you kidding? This is a joke, right?" he voice was muffled behind his hands.
"No," she answered slowly, her brown eyes wide and troubled. "I thought it was a good thing. You like her, don't you?"
"Yes, I like her," Luke replied taking his hands away from his face and letting them rest lightly on his thighs. "But you can't just…tell people they can be my girlfriend."
"Why not?" she demanded. "How else is it done? And I didn't tell everybody – just Lorelai."
"It's complicated," he began, "but at the very worst, the person who's actually going to be the boyfriend should be the one doing the asking."
"But, why?" Jessie asked, still not understanding what she did wrong.
"Look," he said, "women want to be wined and dined. They want candles and music and flowers, okay? I do not have that stuff, nor do I want to have that stuff, so it's silly to even discuss. Lorelai is my friend, yes, and I like her, yes, but that does not mean that she would ever want to be my girlfriend."
Jessie scrunched up her face, trying in vain to understand. "That's what she said, too, but then what did Miss Patty mean?" They were back where they started.
Luke stood, too impatient for words. For years he'd been avoiding this subject with the townies and now he was embroiled in his own private hell, right here in his living room, courtesy of Miss Patty. Considering his earlier conversation with Lorelai, he was in fact newly resolved not to ever pursue anything with regard to that subject.
"Look," he said, deciding to come clean, "Miss Patty and all the other crazies in this town think that Lorelai and I should date."
"Date?" Jessie asked, not understanding the concept.
"Yes, date," he confirmed. "That's when you spend time with people of the opposite sex to see if you want to spend more time with them. Eventually, if you're lucky, you find one person who you like enough that you want to spend all your time with them because you love them and you decide to be together forever. It all starts with dating."
"So why don't you date Lorelai?" asked Jessie reasonably. "You already know you like her."
"Because!" he exclaimed. "Why would she want to date me? She comes from one of the best families in Hartford. I'm just the diner man to her. And besides, who says I want to date her?"
"I don't know," Jessie shrugged.
"Okay, then," Luke replied with a "See? There you have it" hand gesture.
"But –"
"Argh!" Luke stopped her with one hand up. "This subject is closed. Forever. Understood?"
With a deep sigh of complete incomprehension, Jessie nodded and said glumly, "Understood."
"Good, now go take your shower and we'll get some dessert."
Her face lit up. "Really?"
"Really, now go before I change my mind," he ordered.
Jessie quickly ran off to the bathroom and Luke sank down onto the couch again, leaned his head back and covered his eyes with one hand. That hadn't gone so badly. He'd explained what needed to be explained, forbidden her to ever mention it again, and then distracted her with dessert. If he were lucky, this would be the last he heard of it.