DISCLAIMER: I own neither the show nor the characters of the Gilmore Girls.
Just the messed up way in which I am portraying them.
The snow hadn't melted, but the roads had been cleared. It took Tristan over a half hour, due to the fact that everyone was still erring on the side of caution and driving not more than forty on the highways. He pulled up out front of the Gilmore house and cut the engine. He couldn't quite figure out how Rory felt about him, and after the events that had transpired over the last few weeks, he figured he should be on best behavior in front of her. Lorelai had said they were close, but no girl would tell her mother that, would she? He really couldn't be sure here. He got out and walked up the snow-covered porch and knocked on the door.
Rory opened the door, still in her robe but now with her flannel pajamas on under them. A steaming cup of coffee in her right hand, she looked at Tristan for a moment as if deciding whether or not to let him in.
"Hi, Rory. Is Lorelai here?"
Rory nodded. "Yeah, come on in," she said, opening the door further so he could come in. She turned and headed into the kitchen, leaving him to shut the door behind him.
Following her into the kitchen, he found her sitting at the table, breaking off a piece of Pop Tart, and popping it into her mouth. He sat across from her, but she didn't look up from her newspaper. Instead she just shoved the plate of Pop Tarts closer to him.
"Coffee?" he asked.
Rory smiled. A man after her own heart. "Yeah, it's on the counter, cups in the cabinet above it," she instructed.
He got his coffee and sat back down. He had not seen a sign of Lorelai yet, and he was pretty sure he was in for one of those talks. She looked unthreatening enough in her flannel pajamas that appeared to have kittens with halos on them. Trying not to focus on her clothes, he turned all attention to his Pop Tart.
"So, she'll be down in just a second."
"Yeah, alright."
"I'm going to head over to the bookstore, so you guys can talk," she told him honestly, "but I'm just a phone call away."
"Is that some sort of warning?"
"Let's just say it would be best for you to tread lightly."
"Look, I don't know what she told you, but I didn't do anything to purposely upset her. She just stopped taking my calls."
"She's going through a lot right now, and she doesn't need any more drama from the never ending teen angst sex scene that you're working on here, got me?" Rory got right to the point.
"Look, Rory, I really like your daughter and I'm not making her do anything she doesn't want to do," he said, a little to cocky for her taste.
"I didn't raise a dumb girl. You do the wrong thing, and believe me; you'll be in a world of hurt. Consider yourself warned," she said quietly, as she heard Lorelai's footsteps coming down the hall.
"Oh, you're here. Good," Lorelai said, a little unsure sounding. She looked from Tristan to her mother.
"Well, shower's free, so I guess it's my turn. I'm going to run to the bookstore later, alright, Hun?"
Lorelai gave her mother a knowing look, and nodded. "I'll be here," she promised.
"Right," she said, turning to go upstairs and reluctantly leaving the teens alone.
Lorelai turned to Tristan and smiled. She pointed at her room, and turned to go in there. He shut the door behind him and sat down next to her on her bed. She really wanted to be the first to speak, so she cleared her throat and looked at him.
"Tristan, I want to explain something to you. That night, that we, uh, last Friday night, I'd had this really upsetting night with my parents and grandparents."
"I know. I knew you were going over there, and I could tell you'd been crying when you called," he said sympathetically.
"You could?"
"Yeah, I could."
"Well, anyway, when you picked me up, my head was all crazy and when you started doing that, it just felt so good," she started.
"Lorelai, are you trying to tell me you don't want to do that anymore? Because it's all right if," he rambled.
"No, Tristan, just, please listen to me. It's not that I didn't enjoy it; it's just, fast for me right now. Let's face it, that's sex, and," she was cut off again.
"That wasn't sex."
"Tristan, just because you don't use your dick doesn't make it not sex," she said bluntly.
"Lor," he tried to cut in.
"No, I'm not done. I like you, I really do, but right now I just can't deal with this stuff. I can't deal with boys and sex and if we stay together, it's just going to get more complicated. I just, can't," she said, standing up and putting more distance between them.
"You want to break up?"
She just nodded.
"Because you don't want to have sex?"
"Its not just sex! It's all getting too complicated, I'm telling you. I've got all this stuff going on with my family," she rambled.
"Isn't your dad gone again?"
"He's in Boston," she agreed.
"This isn't about your family. This is about us. Is there another guy?" he asked, not understanding what was really going on here yet.
"No," she said, though her mind flitted to Luke and how understanding he'd been. How safe she felt with him last night.
"Fine, whatever," he said.
"I'm sorry," she said, fighting tears back.
"I, I need to get out of here," he stood, walking past her and out her bedroom door within a matter of seconds.
She sat down on her bed and let the tears slip down her cheek. She honestly hadn't meant to break up with him, but her whole life just seemed to be going in fast forward and she needed it to stop. She needed peace and being with Tristan just wasn't going to help with that. Whenever she was with him, all she could think about was him touching her, feeling him, and sex. She knew it would end in actual sex, and soon. She'd always felt that oral sex was sex, and that's what she'd let him to do her. With no real discussion, no planning that her mother had tried to instill her with. It just all happened. Suddenly she felt for her mother in ways she never connected with before, how she felt with Chris when she was sixteen. This thought just brought more tears to her eyes, and she curled up on her bed, clutching her pillow and let them fall.
Meanwhile, Rory had left for the bookstore. She walked slowly, enjoying the snow and saying hi to the few people who had ventured out in the weather for church or to get groceries. The roads were cleared, though they were deserted as they didn't get a lot of through traffic anyway, and most people from town walked everywhere. She got to the bookstore, and put her hand on the door handle. She could see Luke and Jess, both at work, though there were few patrons browsing today. Taking a breath to let the courage seep into her with the cold air, she opened the door.
The jingle of the bell caused Luke to look up from his shelving duties. He looked a bit uneasy, and stood up, walking slowly to Rory.
"Uh, Rory, I just wanted to talk to you for a second, is that okay?" he stammered.
"Sure Luke," she gave him a smile. She could guess what he wanted to tell her, but figured it was best to just let him get it out.
"Would you like some coffee?" he offered, as she sat at one of the tables.
"Uh, sure. Coffee's good." She looked over at Jess, who had piles all around him, and was scribbling furiously on a pad of paper in the corner of the store. He glanced up at her, smiled and went back to his work. She smiled at his behavior and tried to put on a poker face when Luke came back with the coffee for her.
"Rory, I just wanted you to know, last night, Lorelai and I got locked out and she said we shouldn't go to your house, and," he rambled at her.
"Luke, if you're trying to tell me nothing happened at Ms. Patty's, I already know. I trust my kid, and I like you."
"So, you're not, you know," he started, looking at her gratefully.
"You're not on my hit list, no," she smiled at him, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Thanks. I just wanted to clear that up."
"Thank you," she smiled. He stood to go back to work, but she put her hand on his sleeve.
"What is Jess doing?" she asked in a whisper.
"He's recataloguing the inventory. I think he's lost his mind."
"You're kidding me! That'll take him forever!"
"Hey, don't tell me. I got up earlier, and he had been down here for hours, doing this."
"Huh. I'll let you get back to work," she said, letting go of his arm.
She finished her coffee while reading the book in her purse. When she was finished, she slipped the book back in her purse and walked over to the corner where Jess was still crouched, with pads of paper and books surrounding him.
"Tell me it isn't so!" she said, laughter lilting her voice.
"What?" he said, sticking his pen behind his ear.
"Jess, is this some way of getting out of writing your column?"
"No, I'm organizing."
"Why won't you switch over to using a computer?" she pleaded.
"That's for amateurs," he informed her.
"Jess, it's so much easier. It'll save you time to work on your column."
"I see. You're looking for ways to free me up to do your dirty work," he smirked.
"I'm thinking of ways to let you do two jobs and still see me," she corrected.
Standing and dusting himself off, he looked around before taking her hand and pulling her into the storeroom. She let out a little noise, but let him lead her.
She sat down on one of the stack of boxes along the nearest wall. Her feet dangled slightly off the floor, and she let her purse slip off her shoulder and hit the floor. He stepped closer to her, standing between her open legs. Her eyes widened and watched his face for what exactly he had planned for this little rendezvous. She'd been back here with him before, but that was different. He wasn't yelling at her to get out, and she wasn't pleading for books. She'd never considered the storeroom erotic, but she didn't want to rule out any possibilities at this point. He certainly had the power to make it so. He put his hands on her shoulders lightly and leaned his head down to hers. She closed her eyes, thinking he was going to kiss her, but instead he moved his lips just by her ear and whispered.
"So, you've come back for more, huh?" His voice was deep and resonated deep within her. Instantly, she felt an overcoming desire for him, and wanted to beg him to take her upstairs and repeat all of last night's activities over again.
Noticing her eyes didn't open, he took the opportunity to kiss under her earlobe, then licked lightly around the outer rim of her ear, from top to bottom, taking the flesh of her lobe into his teeth and tugging a little. She gave a little whimper, and he knew he had her in the palm of his hands. He leaned back a little, breaking contact with her, only for her to take her arms and secure them around his waist, pulling him back into her.
"I have work to do," he informed her, though not so convincingly.
"Jess," she pleaded, looking him in the eye after she slowly opened her lids.
"Rory, seriously. Luke is right out there, and customers," he went on.
"So, Luke can take care of the customers," she insisted.
"All right, but if my business goes under, I'm blaming you," he smiled; leaning in to give her the kiss she'd been craving since he'd left her early this morning. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him flush up against her body, and put her arms around his neck. His hands seemed to be everywhere on her, moving up the front of her shirt, then down the back, before moving them under the hem, moving up to find the clasp of her bra. Just as he found the hook, there was noise coming from beside them.
"Oh, shit! Sorry," Luke exclaimed, taken aback by the sight. He figured something weird was going on, but he hadn't expected to see evidence of it so quickly.
Jess turned around, standing in front of Rory, blocking her from view as any gentlemen does, so she could put herself to rights. She ran a hand behind her, to make sure her bra was fully clasped and straightened her hair and shirt.
"Luke, did you uh, need something?" Jess' voice was gruff and hard.
"I just wanted to let you know it started snowing again, people are heading home. Did you want to stay open?"
"No, no, go ahead and close. Take the rest of the day off," Jess said quickly, knowing Luke wanted to get out of the room as he could look anywhere but at his uncle and Rory.
"Thanks," he immediately disappeared.
"Sorry," he turned to face Rory, who was a little red in the face and neck.
"No, it's fine. We probably shouldn't do that, here," she gestured to their surroundings.
"Well, no matter where we go, they're going to be around," he reminded her.
"We could run away together," she teased.
"Don't tempt me."
"So, do you need some help with your cataloguing?"
"Nah, I'll do it at night mostly. I'm just doing some preliminary stuff 'til the computer comes anyway," he said, wondering if she was paying attention.
"But, you said--!" she exclaimed.
But of course she was.
"What?" he tried his innocent act, his face serious.
"Jess, why did you let me go on about computers and time and all that?"
"You're cute when you're self-righteous," he smirked.
"I'm not self-righteous!"
"All right," he kissed her nose.
"Hey!" she jumped off the boxes, moving after him. Luke was finished closing, as they had barely opened and was nowhere to be seen. Jess moved to pick up his stacks of paperwork, and moved them to the counter.
"Coffee?"
"You had some, and we're closed."
"Yeah, but now I should get coffee any time," she explained.
Jess snorted. "You think you're getting free coffee because you kiss me?"
"Hey, I put out!" she exclaimed, then realized yelling that so loudly in this town wasn't the best idea. But it sure hardened the smirk onto Jess' amused face.
"Stop that!" she said quieter.
"What? You said it!"
"Coffee!"
"No," he reiterated.
"Please?" she moved closer to him, changing her tactics.
He shook his head, moving his pencil over the paper, scribbling something.
"Pretty please?" she said, closer still, moving her hand lightly down his arm, making initial contact.
Another shake. He was holding his ground, but she had yet to unleash her powers on him. Moving as close as she could without actually being pressed into him, she moved her lips to his ear, so when her lips moved, they brushed his skin lightly.
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" came her soft, sugary voice.
Damn, she was good. Jess prided himself on not giving into women, being with them only when it suited him, but Rory was something completely different. She had this effect on him; he couldn't explain it. It was as if his body acted on its own in response to her.
She felt him shudder lightly as her breath and lips touched him, and he put an arm around her waist, drawing her the rest of the way to him. He moved his lips to hers, but didn't kiss her.
"You're sure you'd rather have coffee right now?"
She swallowed audibly and looked into his eyes. They were smiling, though he physically wasn't, and desire filled his tone.
"What about Luke? Isn't he upstairs?" she whispered back.
"Not if he's smart," he responded, kissing her lips again. And again. Again and she nodded, as he continued to kiss her lips with increasing fervor. They turned out the lights at the store on their way up the apartment.
Luke had gone out for a walk in the snow, this time wearing his heavy jacket and hat. He fingered the keys in his jacket pockets. The snow fell around him, not as heavy as last night's had become, but it had already started to cover tracks made around town by people out doing shopping or going to church. He had no destination in mind, but he ended up where he seemed to end up a lot these days. Right in front of the Gilmore house. He knew his uncle and Rory were going to be occupying the apartment for a while, though he really didn't want to think about that. He liked Rory, and living with his uncle wasn't really the worst thing ever, but seeing them just reminded him of his lack of love life. Not that he'd been having so much luck with girls in New York, but it was different there. If you wanted to hook up with a girl in New York, it just happened. It had nothing to do with relationships, it was just physical. Which was fine with Luke, most of the time. He'd seen too many relationships get violent, messy and just plain hurtful. His mother had shown him that enough times. Strings of boyfriends, all of them losers that used her, had been in his life since he was born. His dad, well, who knows what happened to him. Liz mentioned him sometimes when she was really drunk, but Luke just tried to shut it out. It was easier that way.
Still staring at the house, deciding whether or not to knock, he noticed Lorelai on her bed through her window. It looked like she was crying. He really hated to see girls cry. Couldn't stand it, wasn't good with them, he avoided it at all costs. But it didn't stop him from going up to the door. Before he could stop himself, he was knocking.
It took her a moment to pull herself to the door. Expecting Tristan, she slung the door open, having wiped her tears away, hoping not to show signs of having been crying for the last hour. She wasn't successful though, and she could tell by the look on Luke's face.
"Hey," he opened.
"Hey. Did you need something?"
"Uh, no, I had to clear out of the bookstore."
"Why?" she was confused. Then it occurred to her where her mother had been going. "Oh. Right. Do you want to come in?" she stepped back; now back in her pajamas, to let him in.
"Sure. Thanks."
He walked into the living room and sat on the couch. "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"
"No, I was just going to eat a ton of junk food and watch some chick flicks."
"Why would you do either of those things?"
"Because Tristan and I just broke up," her voice breaking along with the words.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he cringed. Now really had been a bad time to come over.
"Do you want me to go?" he offered, still uncomfortable. She continued to cry, but shook her head no.
"Could you stay? Just 'til my mom gets back?"
"She's at the apartment, I could call..."
"No, no. Let them, figure out what they're doing. I don't want to ruin this for her," she sniffled.
"I'll stay. Come on, sit on the couch, I'll go get your food. What do you want?" he asked, trying to soothe her.
"Just grab all the bags in the pantry, and the pop in the fridge."
Luke nodded, deciding to wing it. She moved to put in a movie, and he returned a moment later, loaded down with bags of crap. Setting them all down on the coffee table, she began to dig in, as he watched her.
"Aren't you going to eat, too?"
"That's okay," he looked at the food like it might bite him.
"What's the matter?" she asked, a little confused.
"I just, don't eat a lot of sugar."
"You're one of those healthy eaters?" her eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah. I'll just get some water, I'm sure you have some vegetables in your house somewhere."
"Luke, seriously, you'll starve. There's nothing resembling food in our fridge."
"I'm fine. You have graham crackers here and those are remotely healthy," he assured her. "I'll just get some water."
"I wouldn't. Our filter is broken."
"Soda it is," he smiled at her, as she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and gave him a grateful look. She knew he would probably rather be anywhere other than here right now, given all the circumstances.
Back in the apartment, Rory and Jess were progressing nicely on Jess' cramped twin bed. He shifted, so when he moved she wouldn't roll off the bed, and she giggled.
"What?"
"It's just this bed, I'm sorry. You need a bigger one."
"Well, maybe now that I have a good reason to get one, I will," he kissed her hard. Her stream of thought lost, she sank back down into the mattress, tiny or not, and let him explore where he wished.
Halfway through Terms of Endearment, Luke groaned and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie.
"Who wrote this crap?" he groaned.
"What are you talking about? This is a classic, my friend," she argued.
"Classic? This is drivel!"
"Luke! I can't believe you!"
"I understand you're watching this to make yourself cry, but honestly, I don't think I can take it anymore. I'm going to cry, out of pain," he gave her a look.
"What is it with guys? God, are you incapable of understanding human emotion?" she erupted, not meaning for Luke to get the brunt of it.
"What?"
"Seriously. Are women the only ones capable of having more than one thought going through their minds at a time? We have to juggle school, or work, men, families, the future, not to mention the past. It's just too much, too much to deal with, and when we can't, we get punished and," she rambled, bursting into tears all over again.
Luke moved closer to her, putting his arm around her awkwardly at first, but then wrapped the other arm around her pulling her in close when she turned into him. He held her as she cried, smoothing her hair and whispering words of comfort to her, letting her cry.
The snow hadn't melted, but the roads had been cleared. It took Tristan over a half hour, due to the fact that everyone was still erring on the side of caution and driving not more than forty on the highways. He pulled up out front of the Gilmore house and cut the engine. He couldn't quite figure out how Rory felt about him, and after the events that had transpired over the last few weeks, he figured he should be on best behavior in front of her. Lorelai had said they were close, but no girl would tell her mother that, would she? He really couldn't be sure here. He got out and walked up the snow-covered porch and knocked on the door.
Rory opened the door, still in her robe but now with her flannel pajamas on under them. A steaming cup of coffee in her right hand, she looked at Tristan for a moment as if deciding whether or not to let him in.
"Hi, Rory. Is Lorelai here?"
Rory nodded. "Yeah, come on in," she said, opening the door further so he could come in. She turned and headed into the kitchen, leaving him to shut the door behind him.
Following her into the kitchen, he found her sitting at the table, breaking off a piece of Pop Tart, and popping it into her mouth. He sat across from her, but she didn't look up from her newspaper. Instead she just shoved the plate of Pop Tarts closer to him.
"Coffee?" he asked.
Rory smiled. A man after her own heart. "Yeah, it's on the counter, cups in the cabinet above it," she instructed.
He got his coffee and sat back down. He had not seen a sign of Lorelai yet, and he was pretty sure he was in for one of those talks. She looked unthreatening enough in her flannel pajamas that appeared to have kittens with halos on them. Trying not to focus on her clothes, he turned all attention to his Pop Tart.
"So, she'll be down in just a second."
"Yeah, alright."
"I'm going to head over to the bookstore, so you guys can talk," she told him honestly, "but I'm just a phone call away."
"Is that some sort of warning?"
"Let's just say it would be best for you to tread lightly."
"Look, I don't know what she told you, but I didn't do anything to purposely upset her. She just stopped taking my calls."
"She's going through a lot right now, and she doesn't need any more drama from the never ending teen angst sex scene that you're working on here, got me?" Rory got right to the point.
"Look, Rory, I really like your daughter and I'm not making her do anything she doesn't want to do," he said, a little to cocky for her taste.
"I didn't raise a dumb girl. You do the wrong thing, and believe me; you'll be in a world of hurt. Consider yourself warned," she said quietly, as she heard Lorelai's footsteps coming down the hall.
"Oh, you're here. Good," Lorelai said, a little unsure sounding. She looked from Tristan to her mother.
"Well, shower's free, so I guess it's my turn. I'm going to run to the bookstore later, alright, Hun?"
Lorelai gave her mother a knowing look, and nodded. "I'll be here," she promised.
"Right," she said, turning to go upstairs and reluctantly leaving the teens alone.
Lorelai turned to Tristan and smiled. She pointed at her room, and turned to go in there. He shut the door behind him and sat down next to her on her bed. She really wanted to be the first to speak, so she cleared her throat and looked at him.
"Tristan, I want to explain something to you. That night, that we, uh, last Friday night, I'd had this really upsetting night with my parents and grandparents."
"I know. I knew you were going over there, and I could tell you'd been crying when you called," he said sympathetically.
"You could?"
"Yeah, I could."
"Well, anyway, when you picked me up, my head was all crazy and when you started doing that, it just felt so good," she started.
"Lorelai, are you trying to tell me you don't want to do that anymore? Because it's all right if," he rambled.
"No, Tristan, just, please listen to me. It's not that I didn't enjoy it; it's just, fast for me right now. Let's face it, that's sex, and," she was cut off again.
"That wasn't sex."
"Tristan, just because you don't use your dick doesn't make it not sex," she said bluntly.
"Lor," he tried to cut in.
"No, I'm not done. I like you, I really do, but right now I just can't deal with this stuff. I can't deal with boys and sex and if we stay together, it's just going to get more complicated. I just, can't," she said, standing up and putting more distance between them.
"You want to break up?"
She just nodded.
"Because you don't want to have sex?"
"Its not just sex! It's all getting too complicated, I'm telling you. I've got all this stuff going on with my family," she rambled.
"Isn't your dad gone again?"
"He's in Boston," she agreed.
"This isn't about your family. This is about us. Is there another guy?" he asked, not understanding what was really going on here yet.
"No," she said, though her mind flitted to Luke and how understanding he'd been. How safe she felt with him last night.
"Fine, whatever," he said.
"I'm sorry," she said, fighting tears back.
"I, I need to get out of here," he stood, walking past her and out her bedroom door within a matter of seconds.
She sat down on her bed and let the tears slip down her cheek. She honestly hadn't meant to break up with him, but her whole life just seemed to be going in fast forward and she needed it to stop. She needed peace and being with Tristan just wasn't going to help with that. Whenever she was with him, all she could think about was him touching her, feeling him, and sex. She knew it would end in actual sex, and soon. She'd always felt that oral sex was sex, and that's what she'd let him to do her. With no real discussion, no planning that her mother had tried to instill her with. It just all happened. Suddenly she felt for her mother in ways she never connected with before, how she felt with Chris when she was sixteen. This thought just brought more tears to her eyes, and she curled up on her bed, clutching her pillow and let them fall.
Meanwhile, Rory had left for the bookstore. She walked slowly, enjoying the snow and saying hi to the few people who had ventured out in the weather for church or to get groceries. The roads were cleared, though they were deserted as they didn't get a lot of through traffic anyway, and most people from town walked everywhere. She got to the bookstore, and put her hand on the door handle. She could see Luke and Jess, both at work, though there were few patrons browsing today. Taking a breath to let the courage seep into her with the cold air, she opened the door.
The jingle of the bell caused Luke to look up from his shelving duties. He looked a bit uneasy, and stood up, walking slowly to Rory.
"Uh, Rory, I just wanted to talk to you for a second, is that okay?" he stammered.
"Sure Luke," she gave him a smile. She could guess what he wanted to tell her, but figured it was best to just let him get it out.
"Would you like some coffee?" he offered, as she sat at one of the tables.
"Uh, sure. Coffee's good." She looked over at Jess, who had piles all around him, and was scribbling furiously on a pad of paper in the corner of the store. He glanced up at her, smiled and went back to his work. She smiled at his behavior and tried to put on a poker face when Luke came back with the coffee for her.
"Rory, I just wanted you to know, last night, Lorelai and I got locked out and she said we shouldn't go to your house, and," he rambled at her.
"Luke, if you're trying to tell me nothing happened at Ms. Patty's, I already know. I trust my kid, and I like you."
"So, you're not, you know," he started, looking at her gratefully.
"You're not on my hit list, no," she smiled at him, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Thanks. I just wanted to clear that up."
"Thank you," she smiled. He stood to go back to work, but she put her hand on his sleeve.
"What is Jess doing?" she asked in a whisper.
"He's recataloguing the inventory. I think he's lost his mind."
"You're kidding me! That'll take him forever!"
"Hey, don't tell me. I got up earlier, and he had been down here for hours, doing this."
"Huh. I'll let you get back to work," she said, letting go of his arm.
She finished her coffee while reading the book in her purse. When she was finished, she slipped the book back in her purse and walked over to the corner where Jess was still crouched, with pads of paper and books surrounding him.
"Tell me it isn't so!" she said, laughter lilting her voice.
"What?" he said, sticking his pen behind his ear.
"Jess, is this some way of getting out of writing your column?"
"No, I'm organizing."
"Why won't you switch over to using a computer?" she pleaded.
"That's for amateurs," he informed her.
"Jess, it's so much easier. It'll save you time to work on your column."
"I see. You're looking for ways to free me up to do your dirty work," he smirked.
"I'm thinking of ways to let you do two jobs and still see me," she corrected.
Standing and dusting himself off, he looked around before taking her hand and pulling her into the storeroom. She let out a little noise, but let him lead her.
She sat down on one of the stack of boxes along the nearest wall. Her feet dangled slightly off the floor, and she let her purse slip off her shoulder and hit the floor. He stepped closer to her, standing between her open legs. Her eyes widened and watched his face for what exactly he had planned for this little rendezvous. She'd been back here with him before, but that was different. He wasn't yelling at her to get out, and she wasn't pleading for books. She'd never considered the storeroom erotic, but she didn't want to rule out any possibilities at this point. He certainly had the power to make it so. He put his hands on her shoulders lightly and leaned his head down to hers. She closed her eyes, thinking he was going to kiss her, but instead he moved his lips just by her ear and whispered.
"So, you've come back for more, huh?" His voice was deep and resonated deep within her. Instantly, she felt an overcoming desire for him, and wanted to beg him to take her upstairs and repeat all of last night's activities over again.
Noticing her eyes didn't open, he took the opportunity to kiss under her earlobe, then licked lightly around the outer rim of her ear, from top to bottom, taking the flesh of her lobe into his teeth and tugging a little. She gave a little whimper, and he knew he had her in the palm of his hands. He leaned back a little, breaking contact with her, only for her to take her arms and secure them around his waist, pulling him back into her.
"I have work to do," he informed her, though not so convincingly.
"Jess," she pleaded, looking him in the eye after she slowly opened her lids.
"Rory, seriously. Luke is right out there, and customers," he went on.
"So, Luke can take care of the customers," she insisted.
"All right, but if my business goes under, I'm blaming you," he smiled; leaning in to give her the kiss she'd been craving since he'd left her early this morning. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him flush up against her body, and put her arms around his neck. His hands seemed to be everywhere on her, moving up the front of her shirt, then down the back, before moving them under the hem, moving up to find the clasp of her bra. Just as he found the hook, there was noise coming from beside them.
"Oh, shit! Sorry," Luke exclaimed, taken aback by the sight. He figured something weird was going on, but he hadn't expected to see evidence of it so quickly.
Jess turned around, standing in front of Rory, blocking her from view as any gentlemen does, so she could put herself to rights. She ran a hand behind her, to make sure her bra was fully clasped and straightened her hair and shirt.
"Luke, did you uh, need something?" Jess' voice was gruff and hard.
"I just wanted to let you know it started snowing again, people are heading home. Did you want to stay open?"
"No, no, go ahead and close. Take the rest of the day off," Jess said quickly, knowing Luke wanted to get out of the room as he could look anywhere but at his uncle and Rory.
"Thanks," he immediately disappeared.
"Sorry," he turned to face Rory, who was a little red in the face and neck.
"No, it's fine. We probably shouldn't do that, here," she gestured to their surroundings.
"Well, no matter where we go, they're going to be around," he reminded her.
"We could run away together," she teased.
"Don't tempt me."
"So, do you need some help with your cataloguing?"
"Nah, I'll do it at night mostly. I'm just doing some preliminary stuff 'til the computer comes anyway," he said, wondering if she was paying attention.
"But, you said--!" she exclaimed.
But of course she was.
"What?" he tried his innocent act, his face serious.
"Jess, why did you let me go on about computers and time and all that?"
"You're cute when you're self-righteous," he smirked.
"I'm not self-righteous!"
"All right," he kissed her nose.
"Hey!" she jumped off the boxes, moving after him. Luke was finished closing, as they had barely opened and was nowhere to be seen. Jess moved to pick up his stacks of paperwork, and moved them to the counter.
"Coffee?"
"You had some, and we're closed."
"Yeah, but now I should get coffee any time," she explained.
Jess snorted. "You think you're getting free coffee because you kiss me?"
"Hey, I put out!" she exclaimed, then realized yelling that so loudly in this town wasn't the best idea. But it sure hardened the smirk onto Jess' amused face.
"Stop that!" she said quieter.
"What? You said it!"
"Coffee!"
"No," he reiterated.
"Please?" she moved closer to him, changing her tactics.
He shook his head, moving his pencil over the paper, scribbling something.
"Pretty please?" she said, closer still, moving her hand lightly down his arm, making initial contact.
Another shake. He was holding his ground, but she had yet to unleash her powers on him. Moving as close as she could without actually being pressed into him, she moved her lips to his ear, so when her lips moved, they brushed his skin lightly.
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" came her soft, sugary voice.
Damn, she was good. Jess prided himself on not giving into women, being with them only when it suited him, but Rory was something completely different. She had this effect on him; he couldn't explain it. It was as if his body acted on its own in response to her.
She felt him shudder lightly as her breath and lips touched him, and he put an arm around her waist, drawing her the rest of the way to him. He moved his lips to hers, but didn't kiss her.
"You're sure you'd rather have coffee right now?"
She swallowed audibly and looked into his eyes. They were smiling, though he physically wasn't, and desire filled his tone.
"What about Luke? Isn't he upstairs?" she whispered back.
"Not if he's smart," he responded, kissing her lips again. And again. Again and she nodded, as he continued to kiss her lips with increasing fervor. They turned out the lights at the store on their way up the apartment.
Luke had gone out for a walk in the snow, this time wearing his heavy jacket and hat. He fingered the keys in his jacket pockets. The snow fell around him, not as heavy as last night's had become, but it had already started to cover tracks made around town by people out doing shopping or going to church. He had no destination in mind, but he ended up where he seemed to end up a lot these days. Right in front of the Gilmore house. He knew his uncle and Rory were going to be occupying the apartment for a while, though he really didn't want to think about that. He liked Rory, and living with his uncle wasn't really the worst thing ever, but seeing them just reminded him of his lack of love life. Not that he'd been having so much luck with girls in New York, but it was different there. If you wanted to hook up with a girl in New York, it just happened. It had nothing to do with relationships, it was just physical. Which was fine with Luke, most of the time. He'd seen too many relationships get violent, messy and just plain hurtful. His mother had shown him that enough times. Strings of boyfriends, all of them losers that used her, had been in his life since he was born. His dad, well, who knows what happened to him. Liz mentioned him sometimes when she was really drunk, but Luke just tried to shut it out. It was easier that way.
Still staring at the house, deciding whether or not to knock, he noticed Lorelai on her bed through her window. It looked like she was crying. He really hated to see girls cry. Couldn't stand it, wasn't good with them, he avoided it at all costs. But it didn't stop him from going up to the door. Before he could stop himself, he was knocking.
It took her a moment to pull herself to the door. Expecting Tristan, she slung the door open, having wiped her tears away, hoping not to show signs of having been crying for the last hour. She wasn't successful though, and she could tell by the look on Luke's face.
"Hey," he opened.
"Hey. Did you need something?"
"Uh, no, I had to clear out of the bookstore."
"Why?" she was confused. Then it occurred to her where her mother had been going. "Oh. Right. Do you want to come in?" she stepped back; now back in her pajamas, to let him in.
"Sure. Thanks."
He walked into the living room and sat on the couch. "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"
"No, I was just going to eat a ton of junk food and watch some chick flicks."
"Why would you do either of those things?"
"Because Tristan and I just broke up," her voice breaking along with the words.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he cringed. Now really had been a bad time to come over.
"Do you want me to go?" he offered, still uncomfortable. She continued to cry, but shook her head no.
"Could you stay? Just 'til my mom gets back?"
"She's at the apartment, I could call..."
"No, no. Let them, figure out what they're doing. I don't want to ruin this for her," she sniffled.
"I'll stay. Come on, sit on the couch, I'll go get your food. What do you want?" he asked, trying to soothe her.
"Just grab all the bags in the pantry, and the pop in the fridge."
Luke nodded, deciding to wing it. She moved to put in a movie, and he returned a moment later, loaded down with bags of crap. Setting them all down on the coffee table, she began to dig in, as he watched her.
"Aren't you going to eat, too?"
"That's okay," he looked at the food like it might bite him.
"What's the matter?" she asked, a little confused.
"I just, don't eat a lot of sugar."
"You're one of those healthy eaters?" her eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah. I'll just get some water, I'm sure you have some vegetables in your house somewhere."
"Luke, seriously, you'll starve. There's nothing resembling food in our fridge."
"I'm fine. You have graham crackers here and those are remotely healthy," he assured her. "I'll just get some water."
"I wouldn't. Our filter is broken."
"Soda it is," he smiled at her, as she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and gave him a grateful look. She knew he would probably rather be anywhere other than here right now, given all the circumstances.
Back in the apartment, Rory and Jess were progressing nicely on Jess' cramped twin bed. He shifted, so when he moved she wouldn't roll off the bed, and she giggled.
"What?"
"It's just this bed, I'm sorry. You need a bigger one."
"Well, maybe now that I have a good reason to get one, I will," he kissed her hard. Her stream of thought lost, she sank back down into the mattress, tiny or not, and let him explore where he wished.
Halfway through Terms of Endearment, Luke groaned and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie.
"Who wrote this crap?" he groaned.
"What are you talking about? This is a classic, my friend," she argued.
"Classic? This is drivel!"
"Luke! I can't believe you!"
"I understand you're watching this to make yourself cry, but honestly, I don't think I can take it anymore. I'm going to cry, out of pain," he gave her a look.
"What is it with guys? God, are you incapable of understanding human emotion?" she erupted, not meaning for Luke to get the brunt of it.
"What?"
"Seriously. Are women the only ones capable of having more than one thought going through their minds at a time? We have to juggle school, or work, men, families, the future, not to mention the past. It's just too much, too much to deal with, and when we can't, we get punished and," she rambled, bursting into tears all over again.
Luke moved closer to her, putting his arm around her awkwardly at first, but then wrapped the other arm around her pulling her in close when she turned into him. He held her as she cried, smoothing her hair and whispering words of comfort to her, letting her cry.