Christmas Unwrapped
Chapter three: Vacuum Sealed Regrets
When dinner was over Rory and, by extension, Jess volunteered to do the dishes while the "adults" kicked back in the living room and the "kids" fell asleep on the floor. Rory watched as Jess visibly deflated the second they were left alone.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked as she wrapped his arms around him from behind.
"I'm fine," he said, "just tired." As if on cue he yawned. "Long day."
"Well, think about it this day," she said, "if you were J Lo today would have been a piece of cake."
"I guess it's a good thing I'm not J Lo, then."
"I've gotta say, I much prefer you this way."
He laughed. "I hope so." He gave her a quick kiss and then turned to the sink.
They worked on the dishes in silence for awhile, developing a rhythm of washing, rinsing, drying and stacking.
"Hey, Jess?" Rory asked after a minute.
"Hmm?"
She was silent for a moment and he looked up. Finally she said, "I don't want us to be the way we used to be."
He didn't say anything.
"I don't want us keeping secrets and not communicating." Her voice had started out as a near whisper, but was growing steadily in volume and strength. "You're already shutting yourself off. I can't be in a relationship with you if you're going to do this to me again."
"You...what?"
"You won't talk to me! You haven't changed at all."
He stared at her in shock.
"How am I supposed to believe that you won't run out on my again if you won't even tell me what's wrong?"
He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off before he could.
"And don't say that you're fine, because I know you're not. You're sick or you're stressed or something, but you are not fine!"
Before she could say any more he spoke, not loud or frantic but calmly and firmly. "Don't say I never opened up to you, because I did. Do you think that I would have gone so crazy over anyone else, Rory? I wouldn't have. I thought that I could trust you and that I could talk to you, but the second I tried to you stomped all over me." He paused to breath and she stared at him in shock. "Don't try to tell me that I messed up, I already know that, but how about taking some responsibility for yourself."
Without waiting for a response Jess turned and walked out the front door. Without giving one Rory left from the kitchen.
----
From the living room Lorelai, Luke, and Emily had heard the entire thing (Richard was snoring, and Kirk, Lulu, Sookie and Jackson had left with their sleeping children).
As soon as the second door had slammed Emily opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Lorelai spoke.
"Don't, Mom."
"What?"
"Don't make a snide comment about Jess when you've met him once, on a bad day, when he was 17."
"You don't like him any more than I do, Lorelai," Emily said.
"I don't know him any better than you do, Mom. What I do know is that my daughter called me this morning and really talked to me for the first time in ten years, and Jess was the reason." Lorelai stood as she spoke, trying not to yell, but barely holding back.
"It's your own fault," Emily said, standing as well. "You let her drift away, and took her from the rest of us in the process."
"I let her drift away? You're the one who took her to Europe for a summer!"
Luke was watching silently as they fought. Emily's own regrets were clear in her words, but Lorelai was too busy fighting back to take notice.
"Richard!" Emily shouted, still glaring at Lorelai.
He jolted out of his nap mid-snore to the sight of his wife and daughter standing above him fuming. "Yes, Emily?" he asked.
"We're leaving," she said. "Say good bye." Without waiting for him she stormed out the door to the car.
"Well," Richard said, still half asleep. "I guess we're leaving." He shook Luke's hand. "Thank you for having us, Lorelai. Dinner was wonderful. Merry Christmas." He left in his usual cheerful mood.
"I'm going to bed," Lorelai said almost stomping up the stairs.
Luke sat, slightly dazed on the couch.
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Jess found the key to the diner in its usual hiding spot and slipped inside. All the lights were out, but the two years he had lived there had stuck with him and he was able to navigate his way up the stairs and into the apartment.
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Rory knocked lightly on the door and attempted a smile when it was opened. "Hey, I know Lane's not here, but do you think I could crash in her room?" she asked a sleepy and somewhat intoxicated Brian.
"Uh, sure." She stepped inside. "What's your name again?" he slurred.
"Rory."
"Right."
She slipped down the hall and into Lane's room without another word.
The next morning was bright and cold. Jess woke up to typical diner sounds, something that he hadn't heard in years, and leaned back against his pillow with a sigh. This was not how he had imagined this trip going.
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Rory woke up to Zach pounding on the bathroom door and Brian screaming. She leaned back against her pillow with a sigh. This was not how she had imagined this trip going.