DISCLAIMER: No.
Friday night rolled around quickly. Dinner with the grandparents even went by fast, leaving Rory in a fairly good mood. She turned the music up and the girls sang all the way back to Stars Hollow. They hurried into the house to change out of the nice outfits they wore for the dinner and into come comfy sweats. Rory came downstairs to see Lorelai rifling through the movie collection.
"What, no hot date tonight?"
"Mom, I don't have to see him every waking moment. Besides, he's coming over here tomorrow for a movie night. Is that okay?"
"You already invited him, right?"
"Well, yeah, but I told him I had to run it by you first."
"How sweet. Yeah, it's fine. Do I get to stay?"
"Of course. I can't very well kick you out of your own house, now can I?" Lorelai teased.
"So, I made you an appointment today. Next Wednesday, after school in Hartford," Rory tried to keep the mood light, but immediately sounded more somber.
"So, it's official."
"Yep. It's official."
They looked at each other for a moment, and Lorelai turned back to a movie search.
"What are you looking for?"
"Anything with Johnny Depp. Don't we have something with him in it here?"
"We should have several."
"Where's Sleepy Hollow?"
"It has to be there somewhere."
Lorelai continued searching for a few moments, and came up with a video high in the air.
"Ah-hah! You tried to hide from me, Johnny, bad silly boy. You can't hide from us!"
Rory smiled at her daughter's antics. She went into the kitchen to retrieve the popcorn and came back in to join Lorelai on the couch. They watched Sleepy Hollow, by the end sitting smashed up against the other. Rory clicked the television off at the end as the credits rolled.
"Want to sleep with me tonight?"
"Nah, I should be good."
Rory nodded. "Can I sleep with you then?"
Lorelai giggled. "What are you, five?"
"It's scary!"
"Mom, it's a movie. It's a movie we've seen a billion times."
"Then why did you jump and clutch onto me when you saw Christopher Walken?"
"I did not!"
"Oh, you so did so!"
"That was you!"
"No, that part doesn't freak me out."
"What part freaks you out?"
"The sisters. Well, the evil sister."
"Sleep in your own bed. You can leave the lights on," Lorelai laughed.
"Fine. But if I have one nightmare, I'm coming and sleeping with you."
"Fine. Baby!" Lorelai called out to her mom as they walked to their separate rooms to go to sleep. As it was the weekend, neither set their alarms, letting them wake up when ever the mood struck them. The sun had long come up over Stars Hollow before Lorelai heard her cell phone ringing. She groped around her bedside table for the offending tone, and she made a mental note to change her ring tone.
"No one I know would call this early."
"Lorelai?"
"Lane?"
"You have to do me a favor!"
"What?"
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Movie night, with Tristan."
"Do you want to make it a double date?"
"What?"
"Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry. Good morning!"
"Good morning," Lorelai smiled at her overanxious friend.
"You know the new kid?"
"Who, Luke?"
"Yeah, Luke."
"Yeah, I met him."
"Well, so have I. In fact, we have almost every class together. And I would like to get to know him better."
"So, you want to come over here as a cover and have me to happen to invite him as well. Hence, the double date."
"You are amazing and brilliant. I knew you were smart enough to figure it out!"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"Well, Tristan and I aren't even official or anything."
"So?"
"So, it would be awkward to ask him to do couple things with friends, since we aren't a couple. At least, we haven't talked about being a couple."
"No, cause I'm not a part of a couple. It's just a group of people, watching movies."
"Okay. I'll go ask Luke."
"Really?"
"Really. I'll do it as soon as I get up."
"I love you!"
"I love you too. I'll see you around six."
"Perfect! Bible Study ends here at 5:30, that gives me enough time to de- Koreanize myself."
"That's not a word, Lane."
"It is in my life."
Lorelai smiled as she hung up the phone with her best friend and got up. She went into the kitchen and saw no other signs of life having been about so far this morning. She would get coffee at the café, so she got into the shower. When she was ready to go, she still saw no sign of movement from her mother. She left a note saying she'd be back later; she was going out to get movies and snacks for later. She left the house via the backdoor, and headed out to find Luke.
Jess strolled up the front walk about the same time Lorelai was leaving. He knocked, but got no response. He walked over to the turtle and got the spare key out of it, and let himself into the house. He looked around, but saw no signs of either of them. He made his way slowly up the stairs to Rory's room. He found it slightly ajar, and saw that she was still passed out cold. He glanced at his watch, to see it was 11am. Shaking his head, he walked into the room and stood next to her. He watched her sleep for a moment, and noticed that she started to stir. Her eyes flipped open, as if she knew someone was watching her and sat bolt upright in bed.
"AHH! OH MY GOD!"
"WHAT?" he yelled back, mainly freaked out that she had immediately started screaming.
"What?! What are you doing here? What time is it? And how did you get in here?"
"Calm down! It's 11am, I'm here for a reason, and I got in by using the turtle when no one answered."
"The turtle is for emergencies!"
"Well, no one was answering and I thought here might be a problem."
"Liar."
"Only sometimes."
"Why are you here?" she asked, realizing she was in her pajamas and pulling the covers up over herself more.
"I'm heading to New York, to the bookstore I promised to take you to."
"And you couldn't have called to invite me?"
"Check your machine. You two must sleep like the living dead," he commented.
"Yeah, well, we had a late night last night."
"Ah."
"Johnny Depp was involved."
"So, you like pretty boys."
"Shut up. And get out, I need to change."
"You don't have anything I haven't seen before," he smirked.
"Charming. You can wait downstairs, on the couch." She pointed to her door, to which he reluctantly walked.
"You have ten minutes."
"Twenty, and we stop by for coffee."
"I'm doing you a favor, you know that, right?"
"I'll meet you downstairs, then," she said, motioning for him to keep moving.
"I don't even know how she got me to do this," he muttered, walking downstairs to wait for her to get ready. He flipped through magazines on the coffee table. 'Jane, Cosmo, Elle, what a selection'. He at least expected one copy of Vibe or Rolling Stones or something. Sighing, he picked up the latest Cosmo and flipped through.
Rory came down the stairs after getting ready for an impromptu outing to New York. She hadn't been in quite a while, not since her last major shopping outing with Lorelai. She found Jess sitting on the couch as she had instructed, reading a Cosmo. Jess reading a Cosmo. Nope, still funny the second time.
"What are you reading?" she giggled.
"How do you read this crap? Please, tell me this is Lorelai's."
"Check the name on the front."
"Rory, this stuff is crap."
"What? I will tell you that I've gotten a lot of good information out of that magazine."
"Like what?"
"I found the perfect bathing suit for my bust size," she offered.
Jess rolled his eyes.
"What's wrong with Cosmo?"
"How to get guy, what to do if you've lost a guy, the perfect day according to your fictitious horoscope to meet the poor sap," Jess rambled.
"Let's go, Jess."
"Ah, her highness is ready," he mocked as he stood up.
"This is going to be a long day, isn't it?"
Jess smirked and extended his hand out to his side. "Ladies first," he offered.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her purse and brushed past Jess.
Lorelai got to the café and looked around. She didn't see Jess or Luke. Looking from side to side to see if anyone was watching, she quickly went behind the curtain that 'hid' the staircase to the apartment. She tried the doorknob to find it unlocked and walked in. Luke was sitting on his bed, books open. His head snapped up when he heard her shoes clicking on the hardwood floors. He grabbed the bedspread to cover himself, as he was wearing only his boxers and a t-shirt.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, uh, sorry, it was unlocked, and," she said, turning to the side.
"Ever heard of knocking? People live here!"
"Sorry, I was just coming by to see if you wanted to come over to my house tonight, for a movie night."
"Oh."
"So, are you free?"
"Yeah, I'm free. What time?"
"Six."
"Okay."
She stood there, not wanting to move, a little embarrassed. He didn't look directly at her, partially because he was embarrassed, partially because he didn't want to show her how happy he was at the invitation.
"Alright. I'm just going to uh, go now. See you," she said, quickly turning and leaving the apartment.
Rory and Jess were almost out of Connecticut when she remembered something. She pulled out her cell phone, muttering about the refrigerator and pens.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I didn't leave Lorelai a note. I'm supposed to be there tonight, I just want to tell her I won't be home."
"What's tonight?"
"She's having Tristan over."
Jess looked concerned for a minute. "I can get you back early."
"No, it's fine. Really. I trust her."
"How much do you trust him?"
"Okay, you aren't helping. I'm calling her. Do you want her to give Luke my cell number, in case he needs to reach you?"
"No. I don't have a cell phone just for the purpose of I don't want people to be able to reach me anywhere."
"Some day, you'll walk out of the Stone Age, and realize how wrong you've been."
"I'd rather prefer to think of myself as living in the times of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, personally."
"Ignoring you now." She dialed Lorelai's cell phone and waited.
"Hey, Mom!"
"Where are you?"
"Didn't you get my note?"
"No, I seem to have missed that."
"I left it on the fridge."
"I never made it into the kitchen."
"Where are you?"
"In Jess' car, headed to New York."
"What?"
"You heard me. Where are you?"
"In Doose's Market, getting stuff for smores."
"Well, get less stuff, since I won't be there."
"Actually, is it alright if a few more people come?"
"How many more?"
"Luke and Lane?"
"Sure, that's fine."
"You're sure?"
"You mean, am I sure that I'd rather have two chaperones there with my daughter and her oh-so-hot boy toy?"
"Mom."
"I'm sure. I encourage it. Why the change?"
"Lane likes Luke."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope."
"So, this is a set up?"
"Sort of. It's more of a group of friends getting to know each other better."
"This was Lane's idea?"
"Yeah."
"Make sure Mrs. Kim knows I won't be home."
"Mom,"
"I mean it, Lorelai."
"Fine."
"Alright. I'll see you when I get home."
"You mean, from your date with Jess."
"It is not."
"Whatever you say, Mom."
Rory hung up the phone, blushing furiously despite the fact that Jess couldn't have possibly overheard what Lorelai had just said.
"So, what's this about chaperones and hot boy toys?"
"Lane and Luke will be accompanying Lorelai and Tristan tonight, at our house. Are you cool with that?"
Jess shrugged. "If he wants to, it's his life."
"Jess, you have to know where he goes, and have a say in what he does."
"He's almost seventeen."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he's old enough to know better."
"Wow. That's a dangerous parenting assumption."
"Jeez. What does that mean?"
"That means that I was a seventeen year old with a three month old."
"I'm fairly sure Luke can't get pregnant," Jess smirked.
"Yeah, well, it's thinking like that that got me here." Her tone was serious, and she looked upset now. He wanted to immediately lighten her mood. While he usually enjoyed pissing people off, she was the exception to most of his rules.
"Hey, Rory, you're right. Call him and tell him I give him permission."
"This isn't funny."
"I know. Seriously. And tell him to get all his chores done before he leaves and to be home by 9."
"Jess..."
"Is nine too early? Alright, make it 9:15."
"I hate you."
Jess smiled, seeing she had broken into a large grin. He popped a new CD into the player and turned it up as they neared their exit.
Friday night rolled around quickly. Dinner with the grandparents even went by fast, leaving Rory in a fairly good mood. She turned the music up and the girls sang all the way back to Stars Hollow. They hurried into the house to change out of the nice outfits they wore for the dinner and into come comfy sweats. Rory came downstairs to see Lorelai rifling through the movie collection.
"What, no hot date tonight?"
"Mom, I don't have to see him every waking moment. Besides, he's coming over here tomorrow for a movie night. Is that okay?"
"You already invited him, right?"
"Well, yeah, but I told him I had to run it by you first."
"How sweet. Yeah, it's fine. Do I get to stay?"
"Of course. I can't very well kick you out of your own house, now can I?" Lorelai teased.
"So, I made you an appointment today. Next Wednesday, after school in Hartford," Rory tried to keep the mood light, but immediately sounded more somber.
"So, it's official."
"Yep. It's official."
They looked at each other for a moment, and Lorelai turned back to a movie search.
"What are you looking for?"
"Anything with Johnny Depp. Don't we have something with him in it here?"
"We should have several."
"Where's Sleepy Hollow?"
"It has to be there somewhere."
Lorelai continued searching for a few moments, and came up with a video high in the air.
"Ah-hah! You tried to hide from me, Johnny, bad silly boy. You can't hide from us!"
Rory smiled at her daughter's antics. She went into the kitchen to retrieve the popcorn and came back in to join Lorelai on the couch. They watched Sleepy Hollow, by the end sitting smashed up against the other. Rory clicked the television off at the end as the credits rolled.
"Want to sleep with me tonight?"
"Nah, I should be good."
Rory nodded. "Can I sleep with you then?"
Lorelai giggled. "What are you, five?"
"It's scary!"
"Mom, it's a movie. It's a movie we've seen a billion times."
"Then why did you jump and clutch onto me when you saw Christopher Walken?"
"I did not!"
"Oh, you so did so!"
"That was you!"
"No, that part doesn't freak me out."
"What part freaks you out?"
"The sisters. Well, the evil sister."
"Sleep in your own bed. You can leave the lights on," Lorelai laughed.
"Fine. But if I have one nightmare, I'm coming and sleeping with you."
"Fine. Baby!" Lorelai called out to her mom as they walked to their separate rooms to go to sleep. As it was the weekend, neither set their alarms, letting them wake up when ever the mood struck them. The sun had long come up over Stars Hollow before Lorelai heard her cell phone ringing. She groped around her bedside table for the offending tone, and she made a mental note to change her ring tone.
"No one I know would call this early."
"Lorelai?"
"Lane?"
"You have to do me a favor!"
"What?"
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Movie night, with Tristan."
"Do you want to make it a double date?"
"What?"
"Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry. Good morning!"
"Good morning," Lorelai smiled at her overanxious friend.
"You know the new kid?"
"Who, Luke?"
"Yeah, Luke."
"Yeah, I met him."
"Well, so have I. In fact, we have almost every class together. And I would like to get to know him better."
"So, you want to come over here as a cover and have me to happen to invite him as well. Hence, the double date."
"You are amazing and brilliant. I knew you were smart enough to figure it out!"
"I don't know."
"What?"
"Well, Tristan and I aren't even official or anything."
"So?"
"So, it would be awkward to ask him to do couple things with friends, since we aren't a couple. At least, we haven't talked about being a couple."
"No, cause I'm not a part of a couple. It's just a group of people, watching movies."
"Okay. I'll go ask Luke."
"Really?"
"Really. I'll do it as soon as I get up."
"I love you!"
"I love you too. I'll see you around six."
"Perfect! Bible Study ends here at 5:30, that gives me enough time to de- Koreanize myself."
"That's not a word, Lane."
"It is in my life."
Lorelai smiled as she hung up the phone with her best friend and got up. She went into the kitchen and saw no other signs of life having been about so far this morning. She would get coffee at the café, so she got into the shower. When she was ready to go, she still saw no sign of movement from her mother. She left a note saying she'd be back later; she was going out to get movies and snacks for later. She left the house via the backdoor, and headed out to find Luke.
Jess strolled up the front walk about the same time Lorelai was leaving. He knocked, but got no response. He walked over to the turtle and got the spare key out of it, and let himself into the house. He looked around, but saw no signs of either of them. He made his way slowly up the stairs to Rory's room. He found it slightly ajar, and saw that she was still passed out cold. He glanced at his watch, to see it was 11am. Shaking his head, he walked into the room and stood next to her. He watched her sleep for a moment, and noticed that she started to stir. Her eyes flipped open, as if she knew someone was watching her and sat bolt upright in bed.
"AHH! OH MY GOD!"
"WHAT?" he yelled back, mainly freaked out that she had immediately started screaming.
"What?! What are you doing here? What time is it? And how did you get in here?"
"Calm down! It's 11am, I'm here for a reason, and I got in by using the turtle when no one answered."
"The turtle is for emergencies!"
"Well, no one was answering and I thought here might be a problem."
"Liar."
"Only sometimes."
"Why are you here?" she asked, realizing she was in her pajamas and pulling the covers up over herself more.
"I'm heading to New York, to the bookstore I promised to take you to."
"And you couldn't have called to invite me?"
"Check your machine. You two must sleep like the living dead," he commented.
"Yeah, well, we had a late night last night."
"Ah."
"Johnny Depp was involved."
"So, you like pretty boys."
"Shut up. And get out, I need to change."
"You don't have anything I haven't seen before," he smirked.
"Charming. You can wait downstairs, on the couch." She pointed to her door, to which he reluctantly walked.
"You have ten minutes."
"Twenty, and we stop by for coffee."
"I'm doing you a favor, you know that, right?"
"I'll meet you downstairs, then," she said, motioning for him to keep moving.
"I don't even know how she got me to do this," he muttered, walking downstairs to wait for her to get ready. He flipped through magazines on the coffee table. 'Jane, Cosmo, Elle, what a selection'. He at least expected one copy of Vibe or Rolling Stones or something. Sighing, he picked up the latest Cosmo and flipped through.
Rory came down the stairs after getting ready for an impromptu outing to New York. She hadn't been in quite a while, not since her last major shopping outing with Lorelai. She found Jess sitting on the couch as she had instructed, reading a Cosmo. Jess reading a Cosmo. Nope, still funny the second time.
"What are you reading?" she giggled.
"How do you read this crap? Please, tell me this is Lorelai's."
"Check the name on the front."
"Rory, this stuff is crap."
"What? I will tell you that I've gotten a lot of good information out of that magazine."
"Like what?"
"I found the perfect bathing suit for my bust size," she offered.
Jess rolled his eyes.
"What's wrong with Cosmo?"
"How to get guy, what to do if you've lost a guy, the perfect day according to your fictitious horoscope to meet the poor sap," Jess rambled.
"Let's go, Jess."
"Ah, her highness is ready," he mocked as he stood up.
"This is going to be a long day, isn't it?"
Jess smirked and extended his hand out to his side. "Ladies first," he offered.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her purse and brushed past Jess.
Lorelai got to the café and looked around. She didn't see Jess or Luke. Looking from side to side to see if anyone was watching, she quickly went behind the curtain that 'hid' the staircase to the apartment. She tried the doorknob to find it unlocked and walked in. Luke was sitting on his bed, books open. His head snapped up when he heard her shoes clicking on the hardwood floors. He grabbed the bedspread to cover himself, as he was wearing only his boxers and a t-shirt.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, uh, sorry, it was unlocked, and," she said, turning to the side.
"Ever heard of knocking? People live here!"
"Sorry, I was just coming by to see if you wanted to come over to my house tonight, for a movie night."
"Oh."
"So, are you free?"
"Yeah, I'm free. What time?"
"Six."
"Okay."
She stood there, not wanting to move, a little embarrassed. He didn't look directly at her, partially because he was embarrassed, partially because he didn't want to show her how happy he was at the invitation.
"Alright. I'm just going to uh, go now. See you," she said, quickly turning and leaving the apartment.
Rory and Jess were almost out of Connecticut when she remembered something. She pulled out her cell phone, muttering about the refrigerator and pens.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I didn't leave Lorelai a note. I'm supposed to be there tonight, I just want to tell her I won't be home."
"What's tonight?"
"She's having Tristan over."
Jess looked concerned for a minute. "I can get you back early."
"No, it's fine. Really. I trust her."
"How much do you trust him?"
"Okay, you aren't helping. I'm calling her. Do you want her to give Luke my cell number, in case he needs to reach you?"
"No. I don't have a cell phone just for the purpose of I don't want people to be able to reach me anywhere."
"Some day, you'll walk out of the Stone Age, and realize how wrong you've been."
"I'd rather prefer to think of myself as living in the times of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, personally."
"Ignoring you now." She dialed Lorelai's cell phone and waited.
"Hey, Mom!"
"Where are you?"
"Didn't you get my note?"
"No, I seem to have missed that."
"I left it on the fridge."
"I never made it into the kitchen."
"Where are you?"
"In Jess' car, headed to New York."
"What?"
"You heard me. Where are you?"
"In Doose's Market, getting stuff for smores."
"Well, get less stuff, since I won't be there."
"Actually, is it alright if a few more people come?"
"How many more?"
"Luke and Lane?"
"Sure, that's fine."
"You're sure?"
"You mean, am I sure that I'd rather have two chaperones there with my daughter and her oh-so-hot boy toy?"
"Mom."
"I'm sure. I encourage it. Why the change?"
"Lane likes Luke."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope."
"So, this is a set up?"
"Sort of. It's more of a group of friends getting to know each other better."
"This was Lane's idea?"
"Yeah."
"Make sure Mrs. Kim knows I won't be home."
"Mom,"
"I mean it, Lorelai."
"Fine."
"Alright. I'll see you when I get home."
"You mean, from your date with Jess."
"It is not."
"Whatever you say, Mom."
Rory hung up the phone, blushing furiously despite the fact that Jess couldn't have possibly overheard what Lorelai had just said.
"So, what's this about chaperones and hot boy toys?"
"Lane and Luke will be accompanying Lorelai and Tristan tonight, at our house. Are you cool with that?"
Jess shrugged. "If he wants to, it's his life."
"Jess, you have to know where he goes, and have a say in what he does."
"He's almost seventeen."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he's old enough to know better."
"Wow. That's a dangerous parenting assumption."
"Jeez. What does that mean?"
"That means that I was a seventeen year old with a three month old."
"I'm fairly sure Luke can't get pregnant," Jess smirked.
"Yeah, well, it's thinking like that that got me here." Her tone was serious, and she looked upset now. He wanted to immediately lighten her mood. While he usually enjoyed pissing people off, she was the exception to most of his rules.
"Hey, Rory, you're right. Call him and tell him I give him permission."
"This isn't funny."
"I know. Seriously. And tell him to get all his chores done before he leaves and to be home by 9."
"Jess..."
"Is nine too early? Alright, make it 9:15."
"I hate you."
Jess smiled, seeing she had broken into a large grin. He popped a new CD into the player and turned it up as they neared their exit.