A/N: hi guys! I had tons of fun writing this and I hope you have tons of fun reading it! Let me know what you think, please. This is in two parts. Here's part one. Um, I do not own the Gilmore Girls… oh, yeah, in this story jess is living with Luke when he's little… I don't know, just go with it. Thanks! ;-)
Realistic Fiction
"Mommy, mommy!" yelled the goat. "Mommy!"
"Ah!" Lorelai yelled. "Scary goat!" Then she opened her eyes, escaping from her nightmare, and saw her eight year old, second grade daughter standing over her. "Honey…." Lorelai began.
"Mommy, get up, Christmas vacation's over, it's January 5th! It's Monday! Ms. C said we're starting realistic fiction! And we have to get to the diner early to give Jess his birthday present!"
"Fine. Just give me 20 minutes." Lorelai dragged herself out of bed and was rewarded by a big Rory-hug. "Ah. You're so sweet. You get any sweeter, someone's gonna try to eat you. Be careful." Lorelai spoke seriously, but her eyes grinned.
"You're being silly, Mommy", Rory laughed. "Can't fool me, I know when I'm being kidded, I'm too intelligent for you!"
"Intelligent is right, when I was your age I probably didn't even know the word intelligent. You oughtta be in 3rd grade, you could be, you were eight in November, but that idiot cut-off rule Taylor refuses to bend…." Lorelai grumbled as she walked into the bathroom.
A half hour later, at 7:30, Lorelai and Rory walked into Luke's Diner. They sat down where Luke gestured, and he served Lorelai coffee and Rory grapefruit juice. Then Jess came in. He sat down at their table.
"Hey", he greeted.
"Happy birthday!" Rory crowed, and handed him a present. He unwrapped it quickly, before Uncle Luke could tell him to wait.
"Oliver Twist for Under 12 Year Olds", he read. "Cool, I wanted to read this, but Luke said I wouldn't get it yet! Thanks!"
"Your welcome, Sweetie", Lorelai said, giving him a hug.
"Too bad I have to go back to school on my 8th birthday, though," he pouted.
"Aw, Jess, c'mon, you'll have me", Rory said, smiling sweetly.
"Yeah, I guess", he said, but he sounded happier.
"Speaking of which, you two should get going," said Luke.
"Okay", they choruses. They each hugged Luke and Rory kissed Lorelai before they set off on the two blocks to Stars Hollow Elementary School.
Luke sat in Rory's chair across from Lorelai, and the two smiled as they watched their little angels skip and talk together. Luke and Lorelai shared a smile, then Luke got up to take orders and Lorelai paid and left for work. She managed the local Independence Inn. Luke paused to watch her go and smiled to himself before continuing to wait on his costumers.
"Lane and Lindsey", droned Ms. C. "Tom and Sue…." Lane and Rory, best friends, made faces at each other. Poor Lane. Lindsey was so bossy. Horrible to have as a partner. "Rory and Jess", Ms. C continued. Rory and Jess high-fived in the air, grinning at each other from opposite sides of the room.
When Ms. C was through reading the list of partners, Rory waved a gloomy goodbye to Lane and cheerfully joined Jess in the corner.
"Hey", he greeted her. "This'll be fun!"
"And convenient", said Rory, throwing in a big word, "because Luke's like my dad and Mommy's like your mom, kind of."
"Yeah", agreed Jess, and they got to work.
Their "realistic fiction" study included a project. Each pair of partners had to write and perform a fictional story starring the characters of their real moms, dads, guardians, relatives, or siblings. Working hard for one week would result in a Saturday performance for all the parents, plus other people portrayed in the performance. Rory and Jess happily began planning, a very good idea forming in their heads.
Every day after school, Rory and Jess walked to Luke's to have a snack. Today they burst through the diner door at their usual time. This time of day was usually slow. Now, only Lorelai was there. She and Luke looked startled when the two children crashed their way in. As a matter of fact, before Jess and Rory had arrived, something had been going on….
Ten Minutes Ago
Lorelai walked into the diner at about 2:30. Rory and Jess usually got there around a quarter to 3, and she enjoyed being with Luke for a few minutes beforehand. Lorelai always liked spending time with friends, but something about Luke was… different from her other pals. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was there. Sometimes there'd be a look, a touch, a word, a moment, a hint of the possibility of something more than they had…. Who knew, maybe it was because Rory and Jess were so close. It was almost like they were one family. But somehow, Lorelai thought this was something more than that. At any rate, she was always happy when she was with Luke.
Today Luke was reading a newspaper when she came in. Before he eve looked up, he knew it was her. Of course, it was always here this time of day, but he thought it was more than that that made him know. The bells above the door seemed to tingle more cheerily when it was Lorelai, the sun through the windows shined a little brighter. It wasn't just the fact that Luke didn't have many friends besides her, or that their kids were best friends. No, what it was was that Lorelai was… special. Almost perfect. She made things better.
"Hey", Lorelai said cheerfully.
"Hi."
"Whatcha reading about?"
"Oh, some famous movie star broke up with some other one." Luke sounded disgusted and thoroughly bored.
Lorelai giggled. "You know, I think it's so stupid how famous people date because they're both famous and it's good publicity. Like, if Meryl Streep decided to marry Stephan Goopulstorf, the- the milkman from Delaware, because she really loved him, then I say, what the heck!"
"Yeah", said Luke. "I mean, I think people should date- or marry- because they love each other- they make each other happy, make things better for each other- and they light up each other's lives. If one's sad, all the other has to do is walk in and things look brighter."
"And they're comfortable together- like best friends- and make each other happy and would do anything for each other. They just accept each other as they are, and are just- so important to each other", Lorelai finished, staring into space.
Luke shifted, and his hand accidentally brushed hers. They looked at each other… and looked… and looked… and ever- so- slowly- began to lean in-
And then the door burst open and in came the kids.
Lorelai shifted gears immediately. "Hey Sweetie," she said, scooping Rory up in her arms. "How was school?" she asked, as Luke ruffled Jess's hair.
Rory shot Jess a careful-what-you-say look. "Well, we're doing a realistic fiction project, and Jess and I are partners."
"That's terrific, Honey. What's the project?"
"Well- it's a surprise. But you'll find out later."
"Okay, Rory. Do you two wanna go to the park?"
"That's alright, Mommy. We hafta work on our project." And with that, Rory and Jess skipped off to Luke's apartment above the diner, leaving Lorelai and Luke to smile and pretend to forget the Moment. They'd always had a sort of silent agreement to never pursue theses Moments, because if they did they risked jeopardizing their friendship, and neither was ready to take that risk yet. Yet.
A/N: continued in part two……….
Bye!