A/N: Ooh, so sorry if the end of the chapter wasn't clear. The italics part was meant to be a flashback of the night where Jess stayed. Thanks so much for all the reviews. I really love hearing your opinions. And to Melissa, who's writing rocks my socks. And Mai: *hums Mai is a goddess song* Thanks for all the help. And the muffin.
Chapter Two
"Guess what!"
"I swear, if your answer is 'chicken butt', I will not only lose all respect for you, but will also never speak to you again. Ever," Rory replied, shoving her hands into her jeans' pockets.
"Uh, kind of harsh if you ask me, but really, I have news!" Lorelai announced.
"Alright, don't keep me in suspense…"
"I've decided to buy a cat."
Rory nearly tripped over her mother's unexpected words, but somehow, she kept her balance. Slowly she turned her head, cocking an eyebrow, but Lorelai was too busy smiling over her recent decision to notice. There was a few seconds of the two walking in silence, and then, "A cat? As in a living, breathing, four legged feline?"
"As if there was another type of cat."
"There is, although I don't see why you'd want to purchase a man devoted to jazz." Rory paused, thinking over her words. "I beg you not to turn that into something dirty."
Lorelai's devilish grin faltered and a pout took its place. "Fine, no mentioning payment for sexual favors," she sighed ("Oh, yeah, thanks," Rory muttered), "Sooo, what do you think?"
"Of your random outburst? I think you're insane."
"It's always good for a mother to know she has her daughter's support."
"You cannot take care of a cat or any animal, for that matter. It goes against the laws of nature."
"Unfair!" Lorelai insisted, turning the corner. "I took care of you for eighteen years!"
"You got lucky with me. A miracle occurred. Divine intervention… Somewhere, someone was praying for you."
"Cats are easier than kids, you know. They don't need to be clothed, only bathed occasionally. As for feeding, you have to keep their bowl full of food with canned once in a while, and no diapers! They get a litter box."
"One you'll forget to clean out. And then you'll avoid doing it because the smell will make you gag."
"Oh! I'll teach the cat how to use the toilet! Like Jinx from Meet the Parents, except Little Rory will, of course, know how to flush," she explained as she opened the door, and allowed Rory to head inside before her.
"Yeah, there's a good plan," she rolled her eyes. "You might as well try to teach the cat how to jump through burning—wait. Little Rory? Please tell me I heard you wrong."
"I forgot the most important part! I already thought of a name for the cat," she announced, leaning down towards her daughter. She playfully hit her on the shoulder, "Rory! Isn't that the best name?"
"I can't believe you're replacing me with a cat. You're damaging my emotional well being."
"Save it for therapy."
"It seems as if I'm headed down that road…"
"If it makes you feel any better, you can send me the bills," Lorelai offered, sitting down. "Come on now, put on your hungry face so Luke will come over."
Rory took the seat opposite her mother. "He'll come over here faster if you unbutton your shirt more."
"Hey, why don't I just take my whole shirt off?" Lorelai asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm.
"I guess it all depends on how hungry you are."
"I suppose I could perform a little striptease a lá Demi Moore style."
"At least I know that if we ever go bankrupt, we won't starve because you'll strip for a living."
"I have such outstanding morals," Lorelai smiled. "But here's a rule you must remember: No stripping on an empty stomach. I need coffee. Now. …where's the smaller, scarier version of Luke?"
"He's on break," Rory gave a small nod in his general direction, slightly ashamed that he was one of the first things she noticed upon entering. In the corner of the diner, Jess sat alone in a booth, eating lunch. Lorelai twisted in her seat to confirm this, and then began looking all around the diner.
"Of course he is because everything is against me today. Ugh. Now where's the real Luke?" Lorelai whined. "He's usually much more dependable than this."
"He's doing this on purpose just to torment you. He's part of the universe's master plan to drive you crazy," Rory agreed, all the while giving Jess a sideways glance. Now that she had pointed him out, she couldn't help stealing a look. Two weeks back from Europe, and they still hadn't exchanged more than a few words to each other. She blamed it on him because, after all, she did try to strike up a conversation that second night back. He was the one who had blown her off, and she wondered if maybe it was just too soon. But they had had all summer. Would enough time ever pass? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him move, taking a sip of his drink. She moved her head slightly, and a clearer shot of him entered her line of sight.
Damn peripheral vision.
"Wow, Rory, you would make an awful spy."
Rory's head snapped back to face her mother. Whoa, she hadn't realized she had turned so far to the left. "What? A spy?"
"Yeah. You can definitely cross that off of your list for possible future careers."
"I wasn't aware that was a probable choice. But what are you talking about?"
"The whole looking over at Jess thing. It's blatantly obvious."
"Staring at Jess?" Rory shook her head, feigning confusion. "I'm not looking at him. You're imagining things."
"I know what I see. You're gawking. Spies don't gawk. They inconspicuously observe. You would so get shot if you were a spy."
"I am not gawking! I'm not even surreptitiously glancing! And I wouldn't get shot."
Lorelai raised her right hand in the universal gun position, and pointed it at Rory. "I saw you looking at him," she said in a horribly unconvincing Russian accent. "You foreign spy, eh?"
Rory rolled her eyes and placed her head in her hands in mock defeat. In this position, she was able to steal a look without Lorelai noticing. She suppressed a sigh as the full realization of just how right her mother was washed over her. This was borderline pathetic.
"Hey, little spy girl, I talking to you."
"Leave me alone," Rory whined.
Her mother was silent was for a second, thinking hard. "Why don't you just talk to him?"
"Because he doesn't want to talk to me. Which I don't get because it's not as if it's all my fault."
"Maybe he doesn't want to talk because he thinks it's his fault."
"It is," Rory quickly replied. It was a reflex, she realized, throwing it all on Jess. In the beginning, at least, it was him. It was his clamming up, his pulling back, and his running away. But in the end, maybe she didn't try hard enough. Maybe he had finally worn her down to the point where she really didn't care. She didn't always protest his leaning down for a kiss even though she had just inquired how he was doing. That thought hurt more than she'd like to admit. In the end, had they both given up? Had their relationship already been too far gone?
"All right then, I think you just proved my theory correct," Lorelai said, taking a mini bow. "Ooh! Luke!" She spotted him walking toward them and waved. "Finally!"
"What do you mean, finally?" Luke asked, stopping at their table.
"We've been waiting forever," Lorelai insisted.
"You mean to tell me you've been sitting here since the dawn of time?"
"Damn right. And to think, I don't look a day over three million."
"My diner wasn't here that long ago."
"True," Lorelai gave in, "But this booth right here?" She patted the table. "Yeah, this has been here forever."
Rory rolled her eyes at this pointless conversation, and without really thinking her actions entirely through, she slid out of the booth. Her mother noticed her departure, but she either realized exactly where she was headed, or was too wrapped up in her argument of the age of the building to say anything. Rory walked to the far corner of the room, her pace quickening with each step in hopes that she wouldn't suddenly turn around. Without a word, she plopped into the seat across from Jess, causing him to jump.
"Whoa," he remarked at her sudden appearance.
"Hi," she choked out. "Can I sit?" Immediately, she cursed her stupidity. "Don't answer that," she said as his mouth opened to reply.
"I was going to say 'Yes'."
"Sure you were."
"Well, the yes would have come complete with a sarcastic remark, but I'll save it for another time."
"Knew it."
"You know me well." His eyes shifted to her ear, and she noticed that he was doing his best not to make eye contact. Her presence was causing him discomfort, and the realization relieved her. It was proof that he wasn't perfectly fine with what had happened. She still had an effect on him too. His gaze continued to dance around the room, although not as obvious as she had been earlier, but it still caused her to smile.
"You'd make an awful spy," she commented.
"What?"
"Never mind," she smiled, wondering where to go from here. "How was your summer?" She tried, unsure if that really was the way to go. Last time she had inquired, he had walked away. Although today, he was sitting down and eating, so escape wouldn't be as easy.
"Good."
"Good?" She asked. "Can you give me a little more?"
"Grrrreat."
"Nice Tony the Tiger impression. But your monosyllabic tendency is obnoxious."
"My…summer…was…great," he pronounced each word slowly and deliberately, and she couldn't help letting out a groan of frustration. "How was that?" He asked, using the most innocent expression he could muster up.
"Having a conversation with you is like pulling teeth."
"You came over here yourself."
"I plead temporary insanity. And hunger. Your French fries were calling me."
"My fries spoke to you? Now, did you hear these voices in your head?"
"Yes. They were telling me to come over here and pick up the knife…" she reached across the table but he pulled his utensils away. An amused smile was tugging at his lips, but he did his best not to show it.
"No knife. You want a fry? Take one," he offered, shoving his plate a fraction of an inch closer to her.
"No, that's fine. I don't want one."
"Yes you do. You're starving, and you came to the diner looking for a burger and fries, something you have yet to receive."
"You know me well," she echoed his earlier remark. "But I'm good. Really."
"Fine," he shrugged, reaching down for one himself.
Rory, still looking at his face, didn't notice the direction of his arm and went to grab a fry despite her previous statement. Their hands collided, and even though the contact was only minimal, it felt like a shot of static electricity. Startled, she pulled away quickly, and in the process, her elbow hit the salt shaker, knocking it over. Her face grew hot, and she could only hope it wasn't turning scarlet. At that moment, she wished she was still sitting at her mother's table, arguing over which came first: The diner or the booth?
Instead of commenting on her strange actions, Jess merely said, "That's bad luck."
At first, she was confused as to what he meant, but then she nodded. "You're right. What are you supposed to do again?"
"Throw salt over your left shoulder."
"Are you sure it's your left?"
"Apparently that's the shoulder the evil spirit is standing over," he said, teasing, although his face held a serious expression.
She stifled a laugh as she recalled Lorelai attempting to explain the very same thing to her grandmother, after she had spilled the salt at a Friday night dinner. Ah, superstitions. They were utterly insane. Nonetheless, she complied with what he said, and scooped up a pile of salt and chucked it over her shoulder.
"Hey!" Came a voice from behind her. She turned around only to see Kirk with salt speckled hair, an unpleasant expression fixed on his face. "I don't appreciate you two taking your domestic disputes out on me!" He scolded.
Baffled, she replied, "Uh Kirk, I'm really sorry about the whole salt thing, but I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You two are fighting and I got stuck in the crossfire. You're in a public place, so you should try to keep a hold of yourself!"
"Uh, no, you don't understand, I spilt the salt, and there was an evil spirit and…left shoulder…" She rambled off, realizing that she would most likely never explain this correctly.
"Evil spirit? Now I know Jess isn't the nicest guy, but I wouldn't go as far as calling him evil," Kirk replied, leaning over the top of the booth.
"I didn't… but… I never said he was evil," she pouted.
"Teen angst, I remember those days. I had me a girl once. Her name was Anna, and she once through a salt shaker at me. And a couple of spoons, not to mention a spork. Such bad memories you stirred up…"
"Sorry," Rory mumbled, sinking lower in her seat. "Next time, I'll be more careful."
"It's alright, I understand," He shrugged, turning back around. He shook his head causing most of the salt to hit the floor and continued with his meal.
"Uh. I… never mind," she gave up, turning back around.
"It seems we were having a domestic dispute?" Jess questioned.
"Over French fries." She sighed, using a weak joke to calm her nerves. It was now or never, she decided. This wasn't the smoothest transition, but Kirk had mentioned their fighting…
"I'm taking a survey," she blurted out.
"Huh."
"Alright, which came first the--"
"Egg."
"That's not what I'm asking," she insisted. "The diner or the booth?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to stick with the egg," he replied, obviously lost as to what in the world she was referring to.
"Good call. Alright, next question. There's been quite a debate over this one…" She took a deep breath. "Your fault or mine?"
She noticed a quick flicker of anger in his eyes, but for the most part, his expression remained the epitome of composure. "If you're referring to the Kirk incident..."
"I'm not."
"Somehow, I didn't think you were." He paused. "Yours."
"No," she said as if it was simple as that.
"Why'd you ask if you were just going to shoot down my answer?"
"Because it wasn't all my fault!"
"You kept badgering me with questions."
"Questions you never answered," she shot back. "You never told me what was going on with you. Just kept spouting off lies…"
"I didn't lie to you."
"How's school, Jess? Have you been going? What's that? You have it all under control?"
His jaw clenched tightly, "That wasn't a lie. I thought I had it under control."
"You told me you were going. Actually attending school and you weren't. That's called lying."
"Fine," he relented. "So I lied about that, I didn't want to have to deal with your lecturing on how I needed to go or your insisting that you could help me 'catch up'."
"I'm sorry, how could I have forgotten? I was your girlfriend. I was meant for only the physical aspects."
"Okay, is this about our break up or is this about us having sex? Look, sorry, I took your virginity. I'd give it back if I could," he snapped, sarcasm seeping in.
His words, void of sympathy, cut into her deep. A direct stab right in her chest, causing her heart to slam against her ribcage. She kept silent, unsure if she still had the ability of speech. She wasn't sure he fully understood how hurtful his words were. Somehow, he didn't quite get how sensitive this subject was for her. He was acting as if this was just another issue the two of them had to work through, a simple everyday matter that could easily be under rug swept. It wasn't. Didn't he remember how sure she wanted to be? Didn't he recall each lingering kiss that she cut agonizingly short because she wasn't ready? Then she had given in because she'd feared he'd leave. Again.
"Hey, better me than some one night stand at college, huh?"
She swallowed hard, forcing the knot that had formed in her throat to disperse. The anger coursing through her veins seemed to explode inside her. How stupid was she to come over here? What was the point of trying? "You're an asshole," she spit out. Immediately she stood up, her hastiness causing her to slam her legs against the table. Ignoring the shooting pain, she hurried back over to her mother's booth and dropped into the seat across from her.
"What happened?" Lorelai asked, eyes wide, her arm frozen in mid-sip position.
Rory took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm. "I called him an asshole. And I threw salt at Kirk."
"I'm sure he deserved it."
"Which one?"
"Both, I would imagine."
