DISCLAIMER: I own neither the show nor the characters of the Gilmore Girls.
Just the messed up way in which I am portraying them.
Lorelai glared at her mother, who was giving her the most innocent face she could muster. Both clad in flannel pajamas on this cold fall morning, they were eating cereal at the kitchen table. Lorelai was grabbing handfuls out of the box, while Rory had actually grabbed a bowl and was eating with a spoon.
"Heinous."
"He wasn't serious, Lore," Rory rolled her eyes.
"How can you date that man? He's annoying, sarcastic, and he uses too much hair product!"
"Why is this such a big deal? Unless. . . OH, I get it," Rory smiled, drinking down the rest of the milk in the bowl.
"No."
"You don't even know what you're denying," Rory laughed.
"I do too. And I don't appreciate it."
"So, you have no interest in dating Luke," Rory smiled.
"I didn't say that."
"So, you do?"
"I didn't say that either. I never said anything! I just looked at him. I look at people all the time! It doesn't mean anything!"
"So, you have decided to see other people besides Tristan?"
"I'm not discussing this," she countered.
"Hey, I think it's a good idea. And Luke is a great kid," she pointed out.
"I'm not dating Luke. To date him, he'd have to ask me out. Which he hasn't."
"So, ask him out."
"What? No way."
"Well, he sees you with Tristan all the time, he thinks you're with Tristan. If you ask him out, he'll know you're available."
"I'm not asking him out."
"Why not?"
"Have you ever asked a guy out?"
"Oh. Well, no," Rory frowned, thinking for a moment. "So?"
"So, that's normal. Girls aren't supposed to ask guys out. The guys do the asking!"
"What is this, 1950? No, it's a whole new century! Come on, ask him!"
"You're crazy," Lorelai insisted, pointing the box of cereal at her mother.
"Fine, fine. Do what you want. Sit around at home, wondering why you aren't doing anything but hanging out with your poor, old mother," Rory sighed, rolling her eyes.
"You won't be at home, you'll be out with Jess," Lorelai commented.
"We won't be together every night."
"You're together a lot of nights now, it'll just get more frequent, right? Until you're basically living together."
"Hey, the only one that lives with me is you. No one else is moving in here," Rory wanted to reassure her, but in all honesty her daughter was moving too fast in her thoughts than Rory was comfortable with herself.
"But what if you get married?"
"What?" Her feelings surpassed discomfort and went straight to full on terrified.
"It's not a crazy question," Lorelai reasoned.
"It is. It's an insane question," Rory looked at her daughter with a look of not wanting to discuss this any further.
"Mom, you love him, don't you?"
"I don't know," she said quietly.
"Then why are you with him all the time?"
"Do you love Tristan?"
"I don't know," she said suspiciously.
"Then why do you spend time with him?"
"To see if I want to spend more time with him."
"Well, that's what I'm doing with Jess. Seeing if I want to spend more time with him. Currently, I do. That's all."
"Fine," Lorelai brought finality to the conversation.
"Fine. What are you doing today?"
Lorelai shrugged. She looked down at her pajamas, as if considering her options.
"I guess I should shower. Maybe see Lane."
"I'm going into the office."
"It's a Sunday."
"The news stops for no man," Rory quoted.
"It does in Stars Hollow," Lorelai laughed, getting up from the table, taking one more handful of cereal as she headed to her room. Rory heard something outside; it sounded like someone was pounding on her porch, then a thump. Curious, she moved to the front door, opening it wondering who was on her porch. She saw Jess, toolbox on the porch in front of him, lying down as he leaned over the porch steps.
"To what do I owe the great pleasure of your ass staring at me this morning?" Rory giggled.
"Loose porch step. I noticed it the last time I was here," came his curt reply.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, I'm fine."
"Jess?"
"Rory, just let me fix the step, or else you or Lorelai, or someone else will get hurt. Is that what you want?"
For some reason, she was pretty sure they weren't talking about porch steps. His tone was not a happy one, or even a concerned one. It cut right to the core of her, and she started to worry.
"No, I don't want anyone to get hurt," she managed, wrapping her arms around herself tightly as a cool breeze swept through the yard. "Why don't you come in, and have some coffee?"
"Can't," he said as he stood up, tossing a hammer back into the toolbox.
"Just for a second," she urged.
"I just, I have to go." The look he gave her was full of hurt. She couldn't imagine what she had done to make him upset, unless he...
"Jess, wait," she said, moving to catch his arm as he stepped off the porch.
"What?" he didn't turn to look at her.
"Is this about, I mean, how long have you been here?" she bit her lip.
"Long enough."
'Damn,' she thought to herself. Of all the times for her to freak out, he had to be listening. He'd come over early on a Sunday to do something nice for her, and what does he find? His girlfriend, talking to her kid about how he isn't a permanent fixture in their lives. Perfect.
"I didn't mean it how it sounded," she began.
"Rory, there was no two ways to take what you said. You're not sure about me, fine. I get it. I'm out of here," he said, moving out of her grasp.
She wanted to run after him, but she felt bolted to the sidewalk. Standing in her front yard in purple flannel pajamas, she stared after him as he disappeared from her view as he rounded the block.
"Mom?"
Rory turned to see Lorelai in the doorway. Lorelai noticed the tears in her mother's eyes, and moved to pull her mother into the house at once. Once they were seated on the couch, Lorelai moved her hand around her mother's shoulders.
"What happened?"
"Jess, he came to fix the porch," Rory managed.
"Wow, there's an undertaking," Lorelai joked.
"He came by while we were in the kitchen, talking," Rory led.
"Oh? Oh. . ."
"Yeah. And he's pissed. He's beyond pissed. He's hurt and I hurt him. I hurt Jess!"
"I'm sure it's fine," Lorelai reasoned. She'd been stringing Tristan along for weeks now, and he always seemed to come back. Surely she got this ability from her mother. Surely it wasn't from her father that she got the ability to ensnare men. If it was, she didn't want to hear about it.
"No, it's not fine, it's over," Rory sniffled, willing the tears to hold back.
"It can't be over, you guys were so intense," Lorelai pointed out.
"It's over. I've blown it," she said, her willpower not enough to stop tears from escaping. She moved out of Lorelai's arm and headed upstairs to let her emotions out.
Deciding she had but one option, Lorelai hurried to get dressed and left the house as fast as she could. She all but ran to the bookstore, ignoring the look on Jess' face as she disappeared up the stairs to the apartment. She knocked quickly, hoping Jess wasn't following to pull her back down.
Luke appeared in the door, in boxers, and his hair all over the place. His blue eyes blinked, as they came to focus on Lorelai. She was leaning over, her hands on her knees, looking out of breath.
"What... are you okay?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Ran here, need to talk, can I?" she gestured to the inside of the apartment, speaking through her gasps. He nodded, opening the door more to let her in. He had to give it to her, every time he saw her, she left quite an impression on him. Everything was dramatic, and large scale. She brought a sense of New York to him, even in this tiny little town.
She sat on the couch, and averted her eyes from him. She did take a good look at his body when she thought he wasn't looking, but now with him staring at her, she politely looked at the refrigerator. His barely dressed body wasn't helping the breath regulation at all.
Luke looked where she was looking, then suddenly felt his lack of clothing. He smirked a little, embarrassed only because she seemed to be bothered in some way, and excused himself to pull on a t-shirt and jeans. Coming back into view, she managed to meet his eyes, then immediately fixated on the fridge again.
"You thirsty?"
"Uh, sure."
"O-kay," he said, moving to the fridge to get out a soda and a bottled water. She took the soda from his right hand, and he leaned against the kitchen table, facing her.
"So?"
"Right, why I'm here. I'll get right to the point. I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"Uh, sort of. It's fine, what's up?"
"Jess and my mom."
"Huh?"
"It's sort of stupid. He overheard her saying something she didn't even mean, and now they're sort of not together."
"What did she say?"
"It doesn't matter. I mean, she didn't mean it, I know she didn't. And he's pissed, and she's crying. We need to fix this."
"Great, he's pissed. 'Cause he's such a joy when he's happy," Luke rolled his eyes, not happy to hear the news about his grouchy uncle. Jess was nice enough to him, but he had a tendency to bark at him more than talk, and wasn't what he'd call a warm guy.
"Well, we just need to fix this," she reiterated.
Luke took a swig of his water. "How?" he said, after swallowing.
"I don't know. Just, talk to him. I'll talk to her."
"And say what? 'Gee, Uncle Jess, I think you two were swell together, come on, give her another chance'?" Luke used his best Eddie Haskell, then rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to Lorelai on the couch.
"Fine, then we'll get them to the same place at the same time, then lock them in together."
"Look, Lucy," he started.
"Shut up! You come up with a plan, then," she huffed, taking a drink of her soda, her mind trying to focus on how to help her mother.
"I don't want to. It's none of our business," Luke pointed out.
"It IS. Them being together makes them happy. Them being happy means they are off our respective backs, therefore making our teenage years much more enjoyable."
"I hate to say this, but you might have a point," Luke conceded.
"Hah!" she pointed a finger at him.
"Don't do that," he said, grabbing her outstretched finger.
She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he wasn't letting her off that easily. He pulled her back a little harder than he'd anticipated as she quit pulling away, and he ended up with a soda covered Lorelai on his lap, with his water on the floor.
And of course, this is when Jess came upstairs to figure out what was going on.
"Just what I need," he mumbled, throwing a towel at the two. "Must I ask what's going on here?" his tone not pleased.
"Nothing," Lorelai scrambled to mop up the mess, Luke following her lead.
"Right. Look, you're basically adults, and I've never been a fan of over- supervision of teenagers. Mainly because you tend to walk in on them on top of each other. Just, God, get a room next time."
"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, as his uncle moved to get something out of the closet.
"What?" Jess sighed.
"She said nothing was going on," he insisted.
"Please," Jess rolled his eyes.
"What's your problem?" Luke said, standing his ground.
"Fine. Nothing's going on. Just be downstairs in an hour," he reminded him, grabbing some change and going back downstairs, pulling the door closed behind him.
Luke turned to Lorelai, still trying to soak up the soda off her clothes. She gave him a weak smile, and he moved closer to her. But not too close.
"Sorry, he was out of line."
"It's fine, Luke, it's okay. I'm more concerned about the soda all over me," she said, looking up at him.
"Here, let me get you something else to wear. We can wash your clothes, and figure out what to do," he offered.
She smiled, and nodded, as he moved to his dresser to pull out clothes. He returned and gestured to the bathroom.
"Uh, they're too big, but that's what I have. You should probably change in the bathroom, there isn't a lot of privacy here," he informed her.
"Thanks, Luke," she said softly, taking the pair of sweat pants and t-shirt from him, moving towards the bathroom. She felt different, nervous and a little on edge. It was different than what she felt with Tristan. With Tristan, it was the constant urge to attack his lips, but more of a curiosity of what it would feel like with Luke. She knew it was good with Tristan. But the unknown with Luke was more intriguing, wondering if it would be even better.
'Lane had to say those things!' she thought, shutting her eyes and as she stripped her top up over her head. She hadn't even thought about Luke, like that, not really. She wondered if Lane was right as she pulled the t-shirt up to her face before slipping it on. It smelled good, like detergent, and Luke. She couldn't pinpoint what he smelled like, it was unique and wonderful. It made her think of male qualities—strength, agility, heat, and hardness—yeah, she was in trouble.
Jess tried to concentrate on his paperwork, but couldn't help the thoughts that filled his head. He wondered if he should call Rory. She should probably know about the scene he walked in on earlier, whether it was nothing or not. He felt he vibe in that room, and something was definitely up. He wondered if he should call and give her a chance to explain what made her say those things to Lorelai.
He winced hearing her words all over again in his mind. Just when he thought things were going good, that they were actually a couple. A serious couple. He should have known it was too good to be true.
He couldn't call her. He didn't want to, and she didn't deserve it. She could come to him, not that he would listen to her. The night before, they were joking on the phone, he was sending her coffee care packages, and today she wasn't sure what she wanted? And worse, he had to overhear it while she explained to her kid not to get too attached? He decided right then and there that he didn't need this type of bullshit and it was a mistake to mix business and pleasure. He'd always known that, and why he let his rules slip was beyond him.
He went back to his paperwork, trying to ignore the one persistent answer to his question.
'Because it's her.'
Lorelai glared at her mother, who was giving her the most innocent face she could muster. Both clad in flannel pajamas on this cold fall morning, they were eating cereal at the kitchen table. Lorelai was grabbing handfuls out of the box, while Rory had actually grabbed a bowl and was eating with a spoon.
"Heinous."
"He wasn't serious, Lore," Rory rolled her eyes.
"How can you date that man? He's annoying, sarcastic, and he uses too much hair product!"
"Why is this such a big deal? Unless. . . OH, I get it," Rory smiled, drinking down the rest of the milk in the bowl.
"No."
"You don't even know what you're denying," Rory laughed.
"I do too. And I don't appreciate it."
"So, you have no interest in dating Luke," Rory smiled.
"I didn't say that."
"So, you do?"
"I didn't say that either. I never said anything! I just looked at him. I look at people all the time! It doesn't mean anything!"
"So, you have decided to see other people besides Tristan?"
"I'm not discussing this," she countered.
"Hey, I think it's a good idea. And Luke is a great kid," she pointed out.
"I'm not dating Luke. To date him, he'd have to ask me out. Which he hasn't."
"So, ask him out."
"What? No way."
"Well, he sees you with Tristan all the time, he thinks you're with Tristan. If you ask him out, he'll know you're available."
"I'm not asking him out."
"Why not?"
"Have you ever asked a guy out?"
"Oh. Well, no," Rory frowned, thinking for a moment. "So?"
"So, that's normal. Girls aren't supposed to ask guys out. The guys do the asking!"
"What is this, 1950? No, it's a whole new century! Come on, ask him!"
"You're crazy," Lorelai insisted, pointing the box of cereal at her mother.
"Fine, fine. Do what you want. Sit around at home, wondering why you aren't doing anything but hanging out with your poor, old mother," Rory sighed, rolling her eyes.
"You won't be at home, you'll be out with Jess," Lorelai commented.
"We won't be together every night."
"You're together a lot of nights now, it'll just get more frequent, right? Until you're basically living together."
"Hey, the only one that lives with me is you. No one else is moving in here," Rory wanted to reassure her, but in all honesty her daughter was moving too fast in her thoughts than Rory was comfortable with herself.
"But what if you get married?"
"What?" Her feelings surpassed discomfort and went straight to full on terrified.
"It's not a crazy question," Lorelai reasoned.
"It is. It's an insane question," Rory looked at her daughter with a look of not wanting to discuss this any further.
"Mom, you love him, don't you?"
"I don't know," she said quietly.
"Then why are you with him all the time?"
"Do you love Tristan?"
"I don't know," she said suspiciously.
"Then why do you spend time with him?"
"To see if I want to spend more time with him."
"Well, that's what I'm doing with Jess. Seeing if I want to spend more time with him. Currently, I do. That's all."
"Fine," Lorelai brought finality to the conversation.
"Fine. What are you doing today?"
Lorelai shrugged. She looked down at her pajamas, as if considering her options.
"I guess I should shower. Maybe see Lane."
"I'm going into the office."
"It's a Sunday."
"The news stops for no man," Rory quoted.
"It does in Stars Hollow," Lorelai laughed, getting up from the table, taking one more handful of cereal as she headed to her room. Rory heard something outside; it sounded like someone was pounding on her porch, then a thump. Curious, she moved to the front door, opening it wondering who was on her porch. She saw Jess, toolbox on the porch in front of him, lying down as he leaned over the porch steps.
"To what do I owe the great pleasure of your ass staring at me this morning?" Rory giggled.
"Loose porch step. I noticed it the last time I was here," came his curt reply.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, I'm fine."
"Jess?"
"Rory, just let me fix the step, or else you or Lorelai, or someone else will get hurt. Is that what you want?"
For some reason, she was pretty sure they weren't talking about porch steps. His tone was not a happy one, or even a concerned one. It cut right to the core of her, and she started to worry.
"No, I don't want anyone to get hurt," she managed, wrapping her arms around herself tightly as a cool breeze swept through the yard. "Why don't you come in, and have some coffee?"
"Can't," he said as he stood up, tossing a hammer back into the toolbox.
"Just for a second," she urged.
"I just, I have to go." The look he gave her was full of hurt. She couldn't imagine what she had done to make him upset, unless he...
"Jess, wait," she said, moving to catch his arm as he stepped off the porch.
"What?" he didn't turn to look at her.
"Is this about, I mean, how long have you been here?" she bit her lip.
"Long enough."
'Damn,' she thought to herself. Of all the times for her to freak out, he had to be listening. He'd come over early on a Sunday to do something nice for her, and what does he find? His girlfriend, talking to her kid about how he isn't a permanent fixture in their lives. Perfect.
"I didn't mean it how it sounded," she began.
"Rory, there was no two ways to take what you said. You're not sure about me, fine. I get it. I'm out of here," he said, moving out of her grasp.
She wanted to run after him, but she felt bolted to the sidewalk. Standing in her front yard in purple flannel pajamas, she stared after him as he disappeared from her view as he rounded the block.
"Mom?"
Rory turned to see Lorelai in the doorway. Lorelai noticed the tears in her mother's eyes, and moved to pull her mother into the house at once. Once they were seated on the couch, Lorelai moved her hand around her mother's shoulders.
"What happened?"
"Jess, he came to fix the porch," Rory managed.
"Wow, there's an undertaking," Lorelai joked.
"He came by while we were in the kitchen, talking," Rory led.
"Oh? Oh. . ."
"Yeah. And he's pissed. He's beyond pissed. He's hurt and I hurt him. I hurt Jess!"
"I'm sure it's fine," Lorelai reasoned. She'd been stringing Tristan along for weeks now, and he always seemed to come back. Surely she got this ability from her mother. Surely it wasn't from her father that she got the ability to ensnare men. If it was, she didn't want to hear about it.
"No, it's not fine, it's over," Rory sniffled, willing the tears to hold back.
"It can't be over, you guys were so intense," Lorelai pointed out.
"It's over. I've blown it," she said, her willpower not enough to stop tears from escaping. She moved out of Lorelai's arm and headed upstairs to let her emotions out.
Deciding she had but one option, Lorelai hurried to get dressed and left the house as fast as she could. She all but ran to the bookstore, ignoring the look on Jess' face as she disappeared up the stairs to the apartment. She knocked quickly, hoping Jess wasn't following to pull her back down.
Luke appeared in the door, in boxers, and his hair all over the place. His blue eyes blinked, as they came to focus on Lorelai. She was leaning over, her hands on her knees, looking out of breath.
"What... are you okay?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. "Ran here, need to talk, can I?" she gestured to the inside of the apartment, speaking through her gasps. He nodded, opening the door more to let her in. He had to give it to her, every time he saw her, she left quite an impression on him. Everything was dramatic, and large scale. She brought a sense of New York to him, even in this tiny little town.
She sat on the couch, and averted her eyes from him. She did take a good look at his body when she thought he wasn't looking, but now with him staring at her, she politely looked at the refrigerator. His barely dressed body wasn't helping the breath regulation at all.
Luke looked where she was looking, then suddenly felt his lack of clothing. He smirked a little, embarrassed only because she seemed to be bothered in some way, and excused himself to pull on a t-shirt and jeans. Coming back into view, she managed to meet his eyes, then immediately fixated on the fridge again.
"You thirsty?"
"Uh, sure."
"O-kay," he said, moving to the fridge to get out a soda and a bottled water. She took the soda from his right hand, and he leaned against the kitchen table, facing her.
"So?"
"Right, why I'm here. I'll get right to the point. I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"Uh, sort of. It's fine, what's up?"
"Jess and my mom."
"Huh?"
"It's sort of stupid. He overheard her saying something she didn't even mean, and now they're sort of not together."
"What did she say?"
"It doesn't matter. I mean, she didn't mean it, I know she didn't. And he's pissed, and she's crying. We need to fix this."
"Great, he's pissed. 'Cause he's such a joy when he's happy," Luke rolled his eyes, not happy to hear the news about his grouchy uncle. Jess was nice enough to him, but he had a tendency to bark at him more than talk, and wasn't what he'd call a warm guy.
"Well, we just need to fix this," she reiterated.
Luke took a swig of his water. "How?" he said, after swallowing.
"I don't know. Just, talk to him. I'll talk to her."
"And say what? 'Gee, Uncle Jess, I think you two were swell together, come on, give her another chance'?" Luke used his best Eddie Haskell, then rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to Lorelai on the couch.
"Fine, then we'll get them to the same place at the same time, then lock them in together."
"Look, Lucy," he started.
"Shut up! You come up with a plan, then," she huffed, taking a drink of her soda, her mind trying to focus on how to help her mother.
"I don't want to. It's none of our business," Luke pointed out.
"It IS. Them being together makes them happy. Them being happy means they are off our respective backs, therefore making our teenage years much more enjoyable."
"I hate to say this, but you might have a point," Luke conceded.
"Hah!" she pointed a finger at him.
"Don't do that," he said, grabbing her outstretched finger.
She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he wasn't letting her off that easily. He pulled her back a little harder than he'd anticipated as she quit pulling away, and he ended up with a soda covered Lorelai on his lap, with his water on the floor.
And of course, this is when Jess came upstairs to figure out what was going on.
"Just what I need," he mumbled, throwing a towel at the two. "Must I ask what's going on here?" his tone not pleased.
"Nothing," Lorelai scrambled to mop up the mess, Luke following her lead.
"Right. Look, you're basically adults, and I've never been a fan of over- supervision of teenagers. Mainly because you tend to walk in on them on top of each other. Just, God, get a room next time."
"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, as his uncle moved to get something out of the closet.
"What?" Jess sighed.
"She said nothing was going on," he insisted.
"Please," Jess rolled his eyes.
"What's your problem?" Luke said, standing his ground.
"Fine. Nothing's going on. Just be downstairs in an hour," he reminded him, grabbing some change and going back downstairs, pulling the door closed behind him.
Luke turned to Lorelai, still trying to soak up the soda off her clothes. She gave him a weak smile, and he moved closer to her. But not too close.
"Sorry, he was out of line."
"It's fine, Luke, it's okay. I'm more concerned about the soda all over me," she said, looking up at him.
"Here, let me get you something else to wear. We can wash your clothes, and figure out what to do," he offered.
She smiled, and nodded, as he moved to his dresser to pull out clothes. He returned and gestured to the bathroom.
"Uh, they're too big, but that's what I have. You should probably change in the bathroom, there isn't a lot of privacy here," he informed her.
"Thanks, Luke," she said softly, taking the pair of sweat pants and t-shirt from him, moving towards the bathroom. She felt different, nervous and a little on edge. It was different than what she felt with Tristan. With Tristan, it was the constant urge to attack his lips, but more of a curiosity of what it would feel like with Luke. She knew it was good with Tristan. But the unknown with Luke was more intriguing, wondering if it would be even better.
'Lane had to say those things!' she thought, shutting her eyes and as she stripped her top up over her head. She hadn't even thought about Luke, like that, not really. She wondered if Lane was right as she pulled the t-shirt up to her face before slipping it on. It smelled good, like detergent, and Luke. She couldn't pinpoint what he smelled like, it was unique and wonderful. It made her think of male qualities—strength, agility, heat, and hardness—yeah, she was in trouble.
Jess tried to concentrate on his paperwork, but couldn't help the thoughts that filled his head. He wondered if he should call Rory. She should probably know about the scene he walked in on earlier, whether it was nothing or not. He felt he vibe in that room, and something was definitely up. He wondered if he should call and give her a chance to explain what made her say those things to Lorelai.
He winced hearing her words all over again in his mind. Just when he thought things were going good, that they were actually a couple. A serious couple. He should have known it was too good to be true.
He couldn't call her. He didn't want to, and she didn't deserve it. She could come to him, not that he would listen to her. The night before, they were joking on the phone, he was sending her coffee care packages, and today she wasn't sure what she wanted? And worse, he had to overhear it while she explained to her kid not to get too attached? He decided right then and there that he didn't need this type of bullshit and it was a mistake to mix business and pleasure. He'd always known that, and why he let his rules slip was beyond him.
He went back to his paperwork, trying to ignore the one persistent answer to his question.
'Because it's her.'