Raining Recipes on My Coat Chapter 7

"You do realize that you will be washing those sheets in the morning?" Lorelai asked. "Because I'm not touching anything that naked Jess slept on."

Rory snickered. "Yes, Mom."

They sat across from each other on the floor of Rory's room.

"So...how are you?"

Rory smiled. "I'm good."

"Good as in 'Jess's penis is really tiny and cute and it was no big deal,' or good as in 'my god that boy can-'"

"Mom!"

"What?! This is awkward! I'm trying to figure out how you're doing."

They sat in silence.

"He was really careful," Rory said finally. "And in regards to your question, it was the latter."

Lorelai grinned a little. "Really?"

Rory nodded.

"Well..." Lorelai said. "We should make a couple of doctor's appointments, and... get you on The Pill."

"Sounds good," Rory replied.

"So have you talked to Jess?" Lorelai asked. "Is he staying here?"

"We haven't talked about it yet," Rory muttered.

"What? Why not?"

Rory sighed. "Because Dean showed up and now I'm talking to you and Jess is talking to Luke."

"He doesn't need to talk to Luke," Lorelai scoffed. She snagged Rory's cell phone from the floor and flipped through the phone book until she came upon Jess's number.

"If you quit that crap-assed job, move back here and go to school, you don't have to pay me back."

Jess rolled his eyes. "I told you. I want-"

"I don't want the money," Luke told him. "I want you to get your god-damned high school diploma."

Jess stayed silent.

"Come on, Jess," Luke said. "How do you think Rory is gonna feel if you leave? You just got her back."

"I love her, but I can't live my whole life for her," Jess replied. "I hate it here."

Luke sighed. "Living here doesn't mean being stuck here forever."

"It sure as hell feels like it," Jess snapped. "Jeez! Y'know, what I have in New York? It sucks! But it's mine!"

"It's no way to live, Jess," Luke pleaded. "You can do better. You can be better."

Jess opened his mouth to retort, but his phone rang. He grumbled and answered it. "Hello?"

"Put Luke on!"

Jess wrinkled his nose. "Lorelai?"

"Luke, please!"

He shook his head and handed the phone to his uncle.

Luke put the phone to his ear warily. "Hello?"

"Hi!"

"Lorelai?"

"That would be me," Lorelai replied. "Hey, you're hogging Jess."

"What do you need Jess for?" Luke asked.

Jess gave him a disturbed look.

"Not me," Lorelai told him. "Rory."

"Ah. Rory."

Jess sighed heavily.

"Stop being such a hoodlum-hog and send him up," Lorelai ordered.

Luke smirked a little. "Okay." He said goodbye and squinted at the phone. "How the hell do you turn this thing off?"

"Press that button that says 'off,' Mr. Hawking."

Luke glared and turned the phone off.

"He's on his way up!"

Rory shook her head. "You didn't have to do that. They were probably having a really good talk."

Lorelai sighed. "I can't imagine them having a 'really good talk.' It's... It's just not them."

"It wasn't them a year ago," Rory pointed out. "Maybe it is now."

Lorelai nodded. "Maybe."

The knock on the door made them both look up.

"Come in!" Rory called.

The door opened a little and Jess looked in. "Hi."

Rory smiled. "Hi."

Lorelai eyed him warily. "Hi."

"Hi," Jess repeated, a little more humbly to Lorelai. He cleared his throat.

"Okay," Lorelai replied, getting to her feet. She looked Jess over, and then looked back at Rory.

"Bye, Mom," Rory said.

"Bye," Lorelai repeated.

"Bye," Jess offered.

Lorelai gave him another suspicious look. "Bye."

He sighed. "She hates me more than she already did, doesn't she?"

"Nope," Rory smirked. "She's just trying to make you think she does."

"Right." He slowly walked in and sat in Lorelai's former spot across from her. "So..."

Rory nodded. "Yeah..." She blinked and glanced at the pocket of his jeans. "What's that sticking out of your pocket?"

Jess blinked and glanced down. "Oh..."

Rory snickered. "It's true. All guys actually ever think about is sex."

"Hey!" Jess cried awkwardly, pulling the condoms out of his pocket and tossing them in-between them. "Girls think about it, too."

"Not nearly as much as guys."

"I just thought... if we wanted to do it again..."

Rory laughed out loud. "Is that chocolate flavored?!"

Jess blushed and stayed silent.

"We should talk," Rory told him.

He nodded.

"I want you to stay," she blurted out quickly.

He sighed. "Rory-"

"For the summer?"

"So you expect me to drop my whole life for you, but you didn't think twice about turning me down when I asked you to do the same?" He got to his feet.

She did so as well. "Jess..."

"Why does everyone keep trying to keep me here?!" He snapped loudly.

"Because we miss you!" Rory exploded. "If we didn't, you wouldn't be here!"

His angry expression melted.

"And I heard Luke telling Mom the other day about your place in New York..." Rory went on. "That it's gross, and that he's worried about you. And I didn't think it was possible for you to be skinnier than you already were, but oh! Look! I was wrong. You're a skeleton! And don't tell me the jacket is slimming, because I saw you naked an hour ago!"

He stayed silent.

"No one is trying to hold you back, Jess," she told him. "No one wants you to fail, or be trapped." She took a few steps toward hi and placed her hands on his arms. "We just want you with us." She pulled him closer. "I want you with me." She leaned in and kissed him softly.

He pulled away too soon. "Rory..."

She stared at him.

Jess sighed. "I need to think about it."

She nodded. "Okay... how much time do you need?"

He shrugged. "Can I go on a walk or something?"

"How do I know you're coming back?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Jess sighed again and unzipped his leather jacket. He slid it off and handed it to her.

She smiled a little and accepted it, wrapping her arms around it.

"I want this to work," he told her quietly. "I do, I just..."

She silenced him with a short kiss. "Go walk."

He blinked. "But what're you-?"

She reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick, worn novel. "Never fails."

He smirked. "Oh, I see. This is all just a ploy to get your hands on my books."

She smiled back and blushed darkly. "Among other things..."

They stared at each other for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her again.

She dropped the book and jacket and wrapped her arms around him.

"So... looks like we're sharing a room..."

Lorelai nodded nervously. "Yup."

They stood awkwardly, each on opposite sides of the bed.

"I uh... left all my stuff in the other room," Lorelai told Luke.

He nodded. "That could be a problem... since... Jess and Rory..." He cleared his throat. "You can borrow a t-shirt to sleep in if you want..."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

They stood in more silence.

He moved abruptly. "I'm gonna go get that t-shirt," he mumbled as he walked over to his suitcase.

She smiled again.

He came back and handed the garment. "So uh... I'll take the floor."

Lorelai frowned. "You don't have to."

Luke gave her a quizzical look.

"I mean... we could... share the bed," she stammered.

"We don't have to," he told her. "The floor's fine, really." He looked down at his shoes. "Looks great."

"Oh, come on," Lorelai smiled. "We can share... it'll be fun... like a sleepover!"

He looked up from his shoes to stare at her.

"...Or... not..." She shook her head out quickly. "I'll take the floor."

"No."

"Yup."

"Lorelai..."

"You're taking the bed," Lorelai went on. "You put a lot of money into this place, and you are here as a guest. Take the bed."

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor."

"Just take the bed!!" Lorelai exploded.

He stared at her for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Okay... I'll take the bed."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you." With that, she stormed into the bathroom to change.

Luke shook his head and sat on the bed to wait for his turn in the bathroom.