DISCLAIMER: I don't own it, stop asking me!
AN: Thanks to all the reviewers! I didn't plan on Tristan with Lorelai, but I don't hate it. Don't worry, though I said it's a Lit/JJ, and I do plan on taking it there. And if anyone couldn't tell by reading my other stuff, I don't tend to like Dean at all, so I just tend to write him out of my stories. If only ASP would, too. Poor Dean.
While Lorelai and Luke were out roaming the town, Rory was in Jess' apartment, looking through hundreds of titles. Jess sat on the couch, with the book Rory had promised to lend him after she had finished reading it. She wasn't paying attention to him at all, until she turned to ask him where he had found a first edition of This Side of Paradise. Her mouth opened, but her expression changed from one of interest to one of impatience.
"Jess!"
His eyes snapped up to see her glaring at him, her hands on her hips as she continued to clutch the book in one palm. He attempted to appear unaffected by the disapproval she was clearly showing.
"Yeah?"
"How many times have I asked you not to do that?"
"Rory, why do you think they make the margins on the pages so wide?"
"Jess, they're my books."
"Huh. Funny, I don't see your name anywhere on it," he looked over the cover again.
"Jess."
"Think of it this way. Now you have a valid reason to reread it."
To this, she had no retort. The man did have a point. Her hands slipped down off her hips and stared at him, with less contempt now. He may even detect a little bit of excitement. Not that she'd give him the satisfaction.
"Now, did you have another question?" he smirked.
"Where did you find this?" She held up the almost forgotten book in her hand.
"This place in New York I found."
"Do they have a lot of first editions?"
Jess nodded. "I could take you sometime, if you want."
Rory smiled and turned back to continue her search. They continued on like this, him writing while she looked around, until they heard a loud knocking sound coming from the diner. Jess got up and looked down at the street through the window.
"Guess I should have given the kid a key," he commented as he made his way to retrieve the kids. Rory laughed and sat down to leaf through the two books she had decided to borrow.
The three appeared in the apartment, and Lorelai sat down next to her mother.
"So, Luke, how did you like the town?"
Luke shrugged, looking at Rory. "It's very ... small," he offered.
"Has he had a run-in with Patty yet?" Rory asked Lorelai.
"Oh, God," Jess muttered.
Lorelai shook her head. "Well, he does run track. He might have a chance."
"Thank God for that," Rory giggled.
"Who's Patty?"
"The town molester. She's been after me for years, but I'm too quick for her."
"What about two years ago, at the Christmas party, you know, the one at our house? Didn't you get stuck under the mistletoe with her?"
"If you mean, did you she slam me up against the doorframe with her massive build and kiss me under duress?"
Rory nodded, clearly amused.
"I have no recollection of such an event. Shouldn't you two be going now?"
"Aw, did the scary woman get you, Jess?" Lorelai cooed.
"Out, I have to reopen the store."
Lorelai shrugged. "I need to get going anyway. I have a date tonight."
"Again?" Rory asked incredulously.
"What? I can't help it if some boys fall under my spell," Lorelai joked.
"Dear God, Rory get your daughter out of here before her head becomes so large she gets stuck."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't think you're getting out of showing me where that book store is."
"Hey, a promise is a promise. Now get out!"
The girls hurried out of the apartment, laughing and talking, leaving a very irritated Jess and Luke behind.
"So, now you've seen the whole town."
"Yep."
"It's definitely not like New York."
Luke shrugged.
"So, I need to get back to the store. You'll find something to do?"
"Yeah. Jess?"
"Yeah?"
"You're dating Rory? Is that why you sent Lorelai to show me around?"
"Me and Rory? No, we're just friends. If that. Why?"
"It's ... nothing."
"Lorelai is a lot to take at once, I know, but they'll grow on you. Once you figure out the method to their insanity."
"And that is?"
"I'm still working on that one." Jess smirked as he wandered back downstairs. Luke went over to his corner and started looking through his bags. He really needed a dresser or something. He found his track pants and put them and an old t-shirt on and left to take a run. He needed to clear his head, and figure out how to stay sane in this place.
"So, Jess actually let you take books from his collection? You didn't have to sign them out or anything?"
"He's not a library. He knows where they are."
"True."
"So, how was Luke?"
"He's a boy."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, nothing. Why?" Lorelai stuck her head out of her room. She had just pulled a nice shirt on, and was trying to straighten her skirt. Her mom was in the kitchen, making a fresh pot of coffee.
"Just wondered. He seemed to look at you in a certain way."
"In what way?"
"Like he was enchanted by you."
"Maybe it's time for you to get glasses, Mom."
"I know, you can't see it, you'll all wrapped up in your living Ken doll to notice, but," Rory started, pouring the coffee into a travel mug.
"Mom, he's not got molded plastic parts."
"Okay, I'm going to ignore the fact that you said that."
"Sorry. I'm hoping not, that's what I meant."
"Wow, different, yet just as bad."
Lorelai blushed a little. "We're just going to take a walk, get some ice cream, innocent stuff."
"You're showing two boys around town in one day?"
"So?"
"The gossip mills will have a field day. I can see it now; I'll be doing a lot of editing to Patty's column tomorrow. How do you like the name 'Brenda'?"
"Mom, so I'm seen with two guys. One was just Luke, they'll figure out who he is fast enough, if they don't already know."
"Good point. So, he'll be here soon?"
"Yep."
"Well, have fun. I'm heading over to the paper to do some work. I'll be back later."
"Alright," Lorelai said as Rory left the house.
Lorelai finished off the remains of coffee that her mother didn't take with her and sat looking through magazines on the kitchen table. She jumped up when she heard someone at the door. She saw Tristan's unmistakable form through the glass and smiled.
"Who is it?" she called.
"It's Tristan."
"Tristan? Hmm. That name sounds sort of familiar ... ," she teased.
"Lorelai, come on. There's someone peering at me through the blinds next door. It's sort of creepy," he pleaded.
Laughing, she opened the door and pulled him in by the front of his shirt. He smiled at her, grateful to be inside.
"Sorry."
"Who is that?"
"Oh, she's harmless, really. That is Babette."
"You're kidding me."
"Nope. She's one half of the Gossip Duo of Stars Hollow. I'm sure by now, half the town knows you're here."
"Wow. So, who's the other half?"
"Her name is Patty. She's not so harmless."
"Do I even want to know?
"Don't worry, I'll protect you. We'll probably see a little bit of everyone, I should imagine. I thought we'd walk around, get some food, I can show you my town."
"Whatever the lady wants," Tristan said.
She smiled. "I like the sound of that."
"But first," he said, stepping closer to her. She knew what he wanted, and just like the night before, everything seemed to stop. Time, the earth's rotation in general. His lips met hers and he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling he heat radiating off of him there, and kissed him back, slowly and gently, matching him move for move. She noticed how light-headed she felt, and smiled as she pulled away slightly to catch her breath.
"We should probably get going. I have to be home by 10:30."
"Lead the way," he said, brushing her cheek with his lips. She groaned and grabbed his hand as she walked towards the door.
Rory sat at her desk, where she should be editing some articles to run in this week's paper. But instead, she was going over some of the notes Jess had put in the last book he had borrowed from her. She was going over the book, reading each section after the notes Jess had made. She was amazed at the different points of view he caused her to see this time. She smiled, getting an idea and put the book away to get some work done.
Lorelai and Tristan roamed around in the cool night air of October. She kept a hold of his hand as they strolled along. They stopped and got ice cream, and she insisted on paying since she was showing him around her town. He relented and allowed her to do it, just this once he informed her. They continued to walk around, though hearing whispers as they passed and Tristan felt slightly uncomfortable having people leer at them. She laughed at him, and said they didn't get too many outsiders, especially ones as attractive as him.
"So, you think I'm attractive."
"Well, you're okay on the eyes, anyway."
"Right. Well, Lorelai Gilmore, you might just be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," he said into her ear.
She blushed and felt him give her hand a squeeze. She squeezed it back and glanced quickly in his direction. He was smiling just as much as she was. She led him into the bookstore. Jess was nowhere to be seen, but Luke was working a few shelves back.
"We're in a bookstore."
"Ah, not just a bookstore. The bookstore that serves the best coffee in Connecticut."
"So, you brought me for coffee?"
"Well, I only bring people here that I really like, it's the best coffee."
"This coffee seems to be important to you."
"You could say that. It was the first food ever introduced into my system."
Tristan raised an eyebrow as if he couldn't quite believe her.
"Ask Jess," she pointed at the dark haired man that appeared from the backroom.
"Ask Jess what?" he barked.
"How much do I love coffee?"
Jess snorted. "Most people don't need an IV drip just for the stuff put in."
"We'll take two coffees."
Jess nodded. "So, is this the boyfriend?"
"He's uh, this is Tristan," Lorelai stammered.
Tristan smiled and extended his hand. "Tristan Dugrey."
Jess looked at the boy strangely, but took his hand to shake it briefly. "Two coffees."
"Thanks. We can sit, over here." She pointed at the tables in the café area and walked over. They sat down and continued talking. They talked about classes, their families, friends and everything in between. Jess looked over to see they were low on coffee and asked Luke to refill their cups. Luke let out a long sigh and walked over to grab the coffee pot. He refilled their cups and Lorelai looked up to smile at him. He smiled back, and started to walk away.
"Oh, Luke, I'd like you to meet Tristan."
"Tristan, this is Luke. He just moved here from New York."
"Nice to meet you," Luke semi-grumbled.
"Yeah, you too," Tristan said, eyeing this guy. He seemed to take a much longer look at Lorelai than Tristan would have liked. He wondered how long whatever this was had been going on, but didn't really want to make an issue of it. Luke felt the vibe from Tristan and walked off, replacing the coffee pot and going back to work. After and excruciating amount of time of hearing her laugh at this guy's stories and seeing him grab her hand under the table, they finally left. Luke let out a groan and continued shelving the books. He knew what she saw in him. He was a pretty boy, with too much time on his hands, too much money, so he spent that time and money making himself look good.
"So, I have to tell you. You live in a really weird place."
"It's beautiful here."
"True, but the people are strange."
"They mean well. Everyone sort of looks out for everyone else. Particularly me. I'm sort of considered a surrogate daughter to a lot of people around here."
"Like Babette, Patty, Taylor, Kirk and Jess?"
Lorelai giggled. "So, you're good at names. And yes, to name a few."
"What about Luke?"
"Luke? As in Jess' nephew?"
"I guess so."
"What about him?" Lorelai asked in trepidation.
"Well, I picked up a definite vibe there."
"A vibe? There was no vibe."
"He likes you."
"That's crazy. He just met me."
"I liked you when I first met you," he admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. You probably didn't like me, though."
"True. But you did ... intrigue me."
"I can live with that," he smiled, as they got nearer her house. She saw the light in the living room on, meaning her mother was home for the night.
"Do you want to come in, for a little while?"
"I would, but I should get home. Maybe next weekend?"
She nodded. "I'd like that."
He kissed her lightly, and ran his hand down her spine, so his fingers just barely hit each vertebrae. She shivered under his touch.
"Are you alright?"
"Just a cold chill," she said, pulling herself closer to him.
"Let me help warm you up," he whispered as he pulled her tighter, kissing her more intensely this time. She still felt tingly, and worried her knees would give out. They continued like this until Lorelai heard someone clearing their throat loudly. She pulled back from Tristan and turned to see Rory standing with her arms crossed on the porch. She looked somewhat amused and somewhat freaked out.
"Is she mad?" he whispered almost inaudibly to Lorelai.
"No. But I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"
He nodded as she walked up to her mother. Rory watched as her daughter smiled at her and walked into the house. Rory grabbed a hold of her shirtsleeve and whirled her around as they got into the entryway.
"Uh, excuse me," Rory started.
"What?"
"What?! It was very Nine and a Half Weeks out there. I almost got the hose!"
"We don't have a hose."
"Well, I need to go get a hose, then."
"Mom, it was just a little goodnight kiss."
"Hah."
"Is it going to be like this every time he comes over?"
"Well, until the hormones calm down a little, maybe."
"Mom! What's wrong with you?"
"Lorelai, I can't help it. When I see you getting your face sucked off like that, it makes me nervous!"
"He wasn't sucking my face off! God!"
"Look, we'll talk about this later. When we're both a little more calm."
"Fine."
Both stood their ground, looking at the other. No one made a move to leave or say anything. Lorelai's face softened and she bit her lip.
"Mom, I barely know him. But being that as it may, I do really like him. In the future, maybe something more will happen, so fine. I'll go see a doctor next week."
Rory felt like someone had just sliced her in half, completely down the middle. She felt sad and proud at the same time. Her baby wasn't so much of a baby anymore. She was about to get mixed up in all the wonders and pains of real relationships. She didn't know what to say other than "Okay." She nodded at Lorelai and held out her arms to her daughter. Lorelai gave her mom a hug, and they just let the other one hold each other for a few moments. Rory pulled back and wiped a few tears that had pooled in her eyes, and smiled.
"Go on, you have school in the morning."
"Night, Mom."
"Night, Honey."
AN: Thanks to all the reviewers! I didn't plan on Tristan with Lorelai, but I don't hate it. Don't worry, though I said it's a Lit/JJ, and I do plan on taking it there. And if anyone couldn't tell by reading my other stuff, I don't tend to like Dean at all, so I just tend to write him out of my stories. If only ASP would, too. Poor Dean.
While Lorelai and Luke were out roaming the town, Rory was in Jess' apartment, looking through hundreds of titles. Jess sat on the couch, with the book Rory had promised to lend him after she had finished reading it. She wasn't paying attention to him at all, until she turned to ask him where he had found a first edition of This Side of Paradise. Her mouth opened, but her expression changed from one of interest to one of impatience.
"Jess!"
His eyes snapped up to see her glaring at him, her hands on her hips as she continued to clutch the book in one palm. He attempted to appear unaffected by the disapproval she was clearly showing.
"Yeah?"
"How many times have I asked you not to do that?"
"Rory, why do you think they make the margins on the pages so wide?"
"Jess, they're my books."
"Huh. Funny, I don't see your name anywhere on it," he looked over the cover again.
"Jess."
"Think of it this way. Now you have a valid reason to reread it."
To this, she had no retort. The man did have a point. Her hands slipped down off her hips and stared at him, with less contempt now. He may even detect a little bit of excitement. Not that she'd give him the satisfaction.
"Now, did you have another question?" he smirked.
"Where did you find this?" She held up the almost forgotten book in her hand.
"This place in New York I found."
"Do they have a lot of first editions?"
Jess nodded. "I could take you sometime, if you want."
Rory smiled and turned back to continue her search. They continued on like this, him writing while she looked around, until they heard a loud knocking sound coming from the diner. Jess got up and looked down at the street through the window.
"Guess I should have given the kid a key," he commented as he made his way to retrieve the kids. Rory laughed and sat down to leaf through the two books she had decided to borrow.
The three appeared in the apartment, and Lorelai sat down next to her mother.
"So, Luke, how did you like the town?"
Luke shrugged, looking at Rory. "It's very ... small," he offered.
"Has he had a run-in with Patty yet?" Rory asked Lorelai.
"Oh, God," Jess muttered.
Lorelai shook her head. "Well, he does run track. He might have a chance."
"Thank God for that," Rory giggled.
"Who's Patty?"
"The town molester. She's been after me for years, but I'm too quick for her."
"What about two years ago, at the Christmas party, you know, the one at our house? Didn't you get stuck under the mistletoe with her?"
"If you mean, did you she slam me up against the doorframe with her massive build and kiss me under duress?"
Rory nodded, clearly amused.
"I have no recollection of such an event. Shouldn't you two be going now?"
"Aw, did the scary woman get you, Jess?" Lorelai cooed.
"Out, I have to reopen the store."
Lorelai shrugged. "I need to get going anyway. I have a date tonight."
"Again?" Rory asked incredulously.
"What? I can't help it if some boys fall under my spell," Lorelai joked.
"Dear God, Rory get your daughter out of here before her head becomes so large she gets stuck."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't think you're getting out of showing me where that book store is."
"Hey, a promise is a promise. Now get out!"
The girls hurried out of the apartment, laughing and talking, leaving a very irritated Jess and Luke behind.
"So, now you've seen the whole town."
"Yep."
"It's definitely not like New York."
Luke shrugged.
"So, I need to get back to the store. You'll find something to do?"
"Yeah. Jess?"
"Yeah?"
"You're dating Rory? Is that why you sent Lorelai to show me around?"
"Me and Rory? No, we're just friends. If that. Why?"
"It's ... nothing."
"Lorelai is a lot to take at once, I know, but they'll grow on you. Once you figure out the method to their insanity."
"And that is?"
"I'm still working on that one." Jess smirked as he wandered back downstairs. Luke went over to his corner and started looking through his bags. He really needed a dresser or something. He found his track pants and put them and an old t-shirt on and left to take a run. He needed to clear his head, and figure out how to stay sane in this place.
"So, Jess actually let you take books from his collection? You didn't have to sign them out or anything?"
"He's not a library. He knows where they are."
"True."
"So, how was Luke?"
"He's a boy."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, nothing. Why?" Lorelai stuck her head out of her room. She had just pulled a nice shirt on, and was trying to straighten her skirt. Her mom was in the kitchen, making a fresh pot of coffee.
"Just wondered. He seemed to look at you in a certain way."
"In what way?"
"Like he was enchanted by you."
"Maybe it's time for you to get glasses, Mom."
"I know, you can't see it, you'll all wrapped up in your living Ken doll to notice, but," Rory started, pouring the coffee into a travel mug.
"Mom, he's not got molded plastic parts."
"Okay, I'm going to ignore the fact that you said that."
"Sorry. I'm hoping not, that's what I meant."
"Wow, different, yet just as bad."
Lorelai blushed a little. "We're just going to take a walk, get some ice cream, innocent stuff."
"You're showing two boys around town in one day?"
"So?"
"The gossip mills will have a field day. I can see it now; I'll be doing a lot of editing to Patty's column tomorrow. How do you like the name 'Brenda'?"
"Mom, so I'm seen with two guys. One was just Luke, they'll figure out who he is fast enough, if they don't already know."
"Good point. So, he'll be here soon?"
"Yep."
"Well, have fun. I'm heading over to the paper to do some work. I'll be back later."
"Alright," Lorelai said as Rory left the house.
Lorelai finished off the remains of coffee that her mother didn't take with her and sat looking through magazines on the kitchen table. She jumped up when she heard someone at the door. She saw Tristan's unmistakable form through the glass and smiled.
"Who is it?" she called.
"It's Tristan."
"Tristan? Hmm. That name sounds sort of familiar ... ," she teased.
"Lorelai, come on. There's someone peering at me through the blinds next door. It's sort of creepy," he pleaded.
Laughing, she opened the door and pulled him in by the front of his shirt. He smiled at her, grateful to be inside.
"Sorry."
"Who is that?"
"Oh, she's harmless, really. That is Babette."
"You're kidding me."
"Nope. She's one half of the Gossip Duo of Stars Hollow. I'm sure by now, half the town knows you're here."
"Wow. So, who's the other half?"
"Her name is Patty. She's not so harmless."
"Do I even want to know?
"Don't worry, I'll protect you. We'll probably see a little bit of everyone, I should imagine. I thought we'd walk around, get some food, I can show you my town."
"Whatever the lady wants," Tristan said.
She smiled. "I like the sound of that."
"But first," he said, stepping closer to her. She knew what he wanted, and just like the night before, everything seemed to stop. Time, the earth's rotation in general. His lips met hers and he pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling he heat radiating off of him there, and kissed him back, slowly and gently, matching him move for move. She noticed how light-headed she felt, and smiled as she pulled away slightly to catch her breath.
"We should probably get going. I have to be home by 10:30."
"Lead the way," he said, brushing her cheek with his lips. She groaned and grabbed his hand as she walked towards the door.
Rory sat at her desk, where she should be editing some articles to run in this week's paper. But instead, she was going over some of the notes Jess had put in the last book he had borrowed from her. She was going over the book, reading each section after the notes Jess had made. She was amazed at the different points of view he caused her to see this time. She smiled, getting an idea and put the book away to get some work done.
Lorelai and Tristan roamed around in the cool night air of October. She kept a hold of his hand as they strolled along. They stopped and got ice cream, and she insisted on paying since she was showing him around her town. He relented and allowed her to do it, just this once he informed her. They continued to walk around, though hearing whispers as they passed and Tristan felt slightly uncomfortable having people leer at them. She laughed at him, and said they didn't get too many outsiders, especially ones as attractive as him.
"So, you think I'm attractive."
"Well, you're okay on the eyes, anyway."
"Right. Well, Lorelai Gilmore, you might just be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," he said into her ear.
She blushed and felt him give her hand a squeeze. She squeezed it back and glanced quickly in his direction. He was smiling just as much as she was. She led him into the bookstore. Jess was nowhere to be seen, but Luke was working a few shelves back.
"We're in a bookstore."
"Ah, not just a bookstore. The bookstore that serves the best coffee in Connecticut."
"So, you brought me for coffee?"
"Well, I only bring people here that I really like, it's the best coffee."
"This coffee seems to be important to you."
"You could say that. It was the first food ever introduced into my system."
Tristan raised an eyebrow as if he couldn't quite believe her.
"Ask Jess," she pointed at the dark haired man that appeared from the backroom.
"Ask Jess what?" he barked.
"How much do I love coffee?"
Jess snorted. "Most people don't need an IV drip just for the stuff put in."
"We'll take two coffees."
Jess nodded. "So, is this the boyfriend?"
"He's uh, this is Tristan," Lorelai stammered.
Tristan smiled and extended his hand. "Tristan Dugrey."
Jess looked at the boy strangely, but took his hand to shake it briefly. "Two coffees."
"Thanks. We can sit, over here." She pointed at the tables in the café area and walked over. They sat down and continued talking. They talked about classes, their families, friends and everything in between. Jess looked over to see they were low on coffee and asked Luke to refill their cups. Luke let out a long sigh and walked over to grab the coffee pot. He refilled their cups and Lorelai looked up to smile at him. He smiled back, and started to walk away.
"Oh, Luke, I'd like you to meet Tristan."
"Tristan, this is Luke. He just moved here from New York."
"Nice to meet you," Luke semi-grumbled.
"Yeah, you too," Tristan said, eyeing this guy. He seemed to take a much longer look at Lorelai than Tristan would have liked. He wondered how long whatever this was had been going on, but didn't really want to make an issue of it. Luke felt the vibe from Tristan and walked off, replacing the coffee pot and going back to work. After and excruciating amount of time of hearing her laugh at this guy's stories and seeing him grab her hand under the table, they finally left. Luke let out a groan and continued shelving the books. He knew what she saw in him. He was a pretty boy, with too much time on his hands, too much money, so he spent that time and money making himself look good.
"So, I have to tell you. You live in a really weird place."
"It's beautiful here."
"True, but the people are strange."
"They mean well. Everyone sort of looks out for everyone else. Particularly me. I'm sort of considered a surrogate daughter to a lot of people around here."
"Like Babette, Patty, Taylor, Kirk and Jess?"
Lorelai giggled. "So, you're good at names. And yes, to name a few."
"What about Luke?"
"Luke? As in Jess' nephew?"
"I guess so."
"What about him?" Lorelai asked in trepidation.
"Well, I picked up a definite vibe there."
"A vibe? There was no vibe."
"He likes you."
"That's crazy. He just met me."
"I liked you when I first met you," he admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. You probably didn't like me, though."
"True. But you did ... intrigue me."
"I can live with that," he smiled, as they got nearer her house. She saw the light in the living room on, meaning her mother was home for the night.
"Do you want to come in, for a little while?"
"I would, but I should get home. Maybe next weekend?"
She nodded. "I'd like that."
He kissed her lightly, and ran his hand down her spine, so his fingers just barely hit each vertebrae. She shivered under his touch.
"Are you alright?"
"Just a cold chill," she said, pulling herself closer to him.
"Let me help warm you up," he whispered as he pulled her tighter, kissing her more intensely this time. She still felt tingly, and worried her knees would give out. They continued like this until Lorelai heard someone clearing their throat loudly. She pulled back from Tristan and turned to see Rory standing with her arms crossed on the porch. She looked somewhat amused and somewhat freaked out.
"Is she mad?" he whispered almost inaudibly to Lorelai.
"No. But I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"
He nodded as she walked up to her mother. Rory watched as her daughter smiled at her and walked into the house. Rory grabbed a hold of her shirtsleeve and whirled her around as they got into the entryway.
"Uh, excuse me," Rory started.
"What?"
"What?! It was very Nine and a Half Weeks out there. I almost got the hose!"
"We don't have a hose."
"Well, I need to go get a hose, then."
"Mom, it was just a little goodnight kiss."
"Hah."
"Is it going to be like this every time he comes over?"
"Well, until the hormones calm down a little, maybe."
"Mom! What's wrong with you?"
"Lorelai, I can't help it. When I see you getting your face sucked off like that, it makes me nervous!"
"He wasn't sucking my face off! God!"
"Look, we'll talk about this later. When we're both a little more calm."
"Fine."
Both stood their ground, looking at the other. No one made a move to leave or say anything. Lorelai's face softened and she bit her lip.
"Mom, I barely know him. But being that as it may, I do really like him. In the future, maybe something more will happen, so fine. I'll go see a doctor next week."
Rory felt like someone had just sliced her in half, completely down the middle. She felt sad and proud at the same time. Her baby wasn't so much of a baby anymore. She was about to get mixed up in all the wonders and pains of real relationships. She didn't know what to say other than "Okay." She nodded at Lorelai and held out her arms to her daughter. Lorelai gave her mom a hug, and they just let the other one hold each other for a few moments. Rory pulled back and wiped a few tears that had pooled in her eyes, and smiled.
"Go on, you have school in the morning."
"Night, Mom."
"Night, Honey."