Dedication: To Susie, my wonderful beta. And to Janine, who might not read this but she deserves it for stalking me.

Chapter 12: Caring

Liz Mariano wouldn't have been surprised to see Lorelai Gilmore sitting at a table in the diner had she not known about her break up with Luke. Being one of the only people privy to that information; she was definitely taken aback to see the other woman there. She carried the coffee pot to Lorelai's table and refreshed her cup. "He's not here. After breakfast he just mumbled that he was going fishing."

"Oh." The usually verbose woman stared into her coffee mug, almost glumly. "Do you know when he's coming back?"

Liz shrugged. "I don't know a lot about my brother."

"Yeah, I sensed that." An awkward pause. Lorelai took a sip of coffee. "How's he doing?"

"His sentences are shorter and more gruff, if that's possible and he follows his routine, which is pretty much normal." Liz sat down across from Lorelai. "Top it all off with me back in town and you've got Hermit!Luke 2.0." Lorelai furrowed her brows. "You know, like Jake 2.0."

Lorelai grinned half-heartedly. "Thought so. Good show."

Liz nodded and smiled sadly. "I kinda missed a few episodes."

"I know this might sound ridiculous but I have the last two episodes taped. The last two weeks have been crazy and I haven't even watched them yet. I could lend them to you when I'm done or something…" Lorelai offered with a sheepish smile. "I know how out-of-the-loop I feel when I miss episodes."

"That'd be really nice." Never in a million years did Liz think she'd be having a conversation like this with someone in Stars Hollow. But then again, there were a lot of things Liz Mariano could have never predicted. "I haven't had much to do at night lately. Luke usually handles the night shifts now that I'm here during the day and Jess won't even talk to me, so..."

"He's a…complicated kid," she said kindly although it took her a couple of minutes to think up a euphemism for the original adjective for Jess that probably came into her mind. "I really don't know what to tell you. Jess and I didn't get off to a very good start."

Liz grimaced. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Luke told me vaguely about it. I guess you weren't really pleased when he started to date Rory."

"I didn't give him much of a chance," Lorelai answered, somewhat embarrassed. "We both learned to tolerate each other, though. For Rory's sake. And Luke's."

Before she could stop herself, Liz let out a sigh. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do with him. Say to him."

"They're not easy to handle at this age."

Liz let out a light snort. "Says the woman whose daughter's the town's angel."

Lorelai shrugged but couldn't contain a grin. "I got lucky. But in case you haven't noticed – and you may not have – she's dating Satan himself."

"The blonde kid? With the fancy car? Oh yeah, he's got that look to him," Liz replied knowingly. "Jimmy had that look. Not as polished and spruced up but just as dangerous. Made my legs jelly."

Lorelai looked wistful. "I guess we all have one of those in our teens." 

Liz refrained from asking if Lorelai's teen guy was the reason she couldn't make it work with Luke. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and gave the other woman a somewhat surprised smile. "You know what I just realized?"

"What's that?"

"We're very much a like. Except that everyone in this town loves you and you love them right back."

It was Lorelai's turn to snort. "Well, if you have grown up with Emily Gilmore as a mother, you'd love Stars Hollow too."

"Oh right. You look like you're rich." When Lorelai scrunched her nose, Liz clarified, "Aristocratic. You look like you've come from a rich family."

"How can you tell?"

Her smile was bitter. "I've lately become an expert when it comes to rich people."

Lorelai looked a little concerned and curious. "Are you talking about Paris?"

"Her too, I guess." Liz leaned forward. "I don't know her too well but…I don't know, she looked harmless enough - "

"She is," Lorelai interrupted. "Sure she's neurotic, demanding, and vindictive on occasions and has enough energy to outrun the Energizer bunny but she's a good kid."

"Jess usually doesn't go for girls like her." She mulled over her words and then shrugged. "Not that I know what kind of girls he goes after at all."

Lorelai reached over and patted Liz on the hand. "It's okay. I completely get where you're coming from. But to tell you the truth, I think Paris is good for him. It's been a while since he's shown any real interest in a girl since Kathy Smith."

Liz looked up quizzically. "Who?"

"Luke didn't tell you?"

"Must've slipped his mind."

As Liz listened to Lorelai recount all of the girls Jess had seen ever since he moved to Stars Hollow, she realized the chasm she had created between them was bigger than it had been in New York and he was too far away to reach.

She was beginning to think it was too late, anyway.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Paris always thought that making out in the backseat of a car – or in the front seat, for that matter – was pretty tacky and immature. If you were going to engage in such acts, it was better left in places like a hotel or the privacy of ones own bedroom. But in the back of a Mercedes Benz? Never an option.

That was before she started to make out with Jess Mariano on a regular basis.

Now, in her opinion, you were allowed to engage in a very torrid game of tonsil hockey wherever and whenever the urge came to you.

With her worldviews shifting only slightly to accommodate her new policy, she settled comfortably on the leather interior in the back seat of her car so that her body was angled directly under Jess'. Very pleasantly, indeed.

At that moment, she didn't care that she was supposed to be in school. She didn't care that Jess had made her ditch classes and was missing a very important quiz in Physics.

All she cared about was that Jess had taken her to Chuck-E-Cheese when they were driving around aimlessly in a nearby town and she had mentioned she had never been there.

"Another first," he had stated as she pulled into the parking lot.

She cared when he won her a ridiculous plastic slinky by winning the Whack-A-Mole.

She cared when he paid for the greasy pizza they had inside even though she knew he was probably running low on cash and remembered to bring napkins.

She cared when he held her hand back to the car.

And right now, she cared that they had managed to end up at Pleasure Point again, this time to do something much more than talk.

As Jess's lips moved to an extremely sensitive spot under her jaw, she wondered how it was she had managed to go without making out – really making out- with a boy for so long. Suddenly, all of Louise's and Madeline's exploits didn't seem so frivolous or foolish. All the pop-culture notions about sex and love from shows like Dawson's Creek and Beverly Hills 90210 didn't sound so ridiculous.

It was like she finally understood what it was all about.

The perfect mesh of lips against lips. The tremble that rippled through her as Jess's hands skimmed up her bare legs. The weakness in her knees when he groaned against her mouth; kissed her deeper in response to her own ministrations on the small of his back. The liquid heat that seemed to unfurl somewhere deep in her stomach and spread through her like wildfire as his tongue did wonderful things with her own.

Even the stupid teeny-bopper music that played faintly from the radio while the windows progressively steamed up made complete sense.

She was Diane Court being pursued by Lloyd Dobbler in Say Anything and she freaking didn't care. She loved it.

She giggled softly at that comparison (Jess Mariano as a John Cusack character was definitely giggle-worthy) and he lifted his head from the crook in her neck and looked at her curiously, eyes hooded with lust. She felt a sudden rush of power surge through her and the amusement seemed to subside.

"What's so funny?"

She bit her lower lip to keep from smirking. "Nothing."

"It's obviously something; you're still smiling." He pulled away slightly, not looking hurt but a little offended. "Something wrong?"

She reached up and tangled her hand in his messy hair before she told him about the reason for her mirth. "It's kind of jarring to think of you as John Cusack. Although, you have 'underdog' written all over you."

He smirked slightly at her description. "So, do you always compare guys to the movie character of your choice when they're kissing you?"

"I couldn't think of someone to equate Tristan with," she returned mock seriously, "so no, it's not a habit of mine."

"Good to know." She nodded, shifting slightly under his weight, her muscles cramping a bit. "Do you want to…?"

"Stop? No," she answered quickly and caused him to grin. "I mean, I just need to get comfortable again. You're heavy."

He laughed now as she squirmed under him. Finally, he shifted back and leaned over her so that all the weight was off of her and on his own elbows. Paris stared up at him just as his mouth moved closer and fused with hers again.

Sighing, she wrapped her arms around him again and felt something odd tug inside her, something that was separate from the lust that was coursing through her. As his tongued dueled with hers, she came to the sudden realization that she cared.

Probably too much.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Jess slid the plate of pancakes across the counter to Rory Gilmore, the next day at breakfast. She was frequenting Luke's single now, her mother nowhere to be seen after her break up with his uncle. Jess didn't know how he felt about that yet, he wasn't sure what it would be like to see less of Lorelai, although he was grateful that maybe now he wouldn't keep walking in on his uncle in a compromising position.

"Someone seems to have gotten their appetite back," Jess commented as he watched her sip on her coffee, as soon as she stuffed a forkful of pancake in her mouth. "Need your energy for DuGrey?"

"Shumfhup," she replied, her mouth already full of pancake.

"Very ladylike."

She swallowed and then managed to glare. "I'm gonna be late for school."

"Not the end of the world."

"Maybe not to you," she returned with a scoff. Then, she grinned. "Speaking of being late for school, was it just me or was Paris extremely late yesterday? In fact, I think she missed school altogether."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied innocently as he swiped a strip of bacon off her plate.

"Don't even act like the two of you weren't out cavorting all day," she accused good-naturedly. "Paris would never miss a quiz unless she was under someone's bad influence."

"I am pretty good at persuading people."

Rory returned his grin and finished off her second pancake. "Just try and keep her on the straight and narrow, will you?"

"I make no promises I don't intend to keep." And before he knew it, she was running out the door in a flurry of hair and books. Shaking his head, he picked up the plate she left and turned around to bump into his mother. "Sorry."

"Chop, chop kid," she returned easily. "Your uncle doesn't pay you to chat with friends."

"At least I get paid," he muttered under his breath. He checked the next order that was ready and Caesar yelled something incomprehensible to him over all the racket in the kitchen. "Where's Luke?"

Liz shrugged. "Don't know. Fishing."

"Again?"

"The break-up with Lorelai hit him hard," Liz whispered to him as she passed. "He'll be okay, though. He's Luke."

That doesn't mean anything, Jess thought bitterly in his head. You don't get okay with stuff just because of who you are. Out loud, he replied, "yeah sure."

"Oh your school called yesterday."

Oh shit. "What did they say?"

"I think you know, Jess," she replied as she efficiently maneuvered around him with plates of orders in her hands. "After you come home, we're going to have a nice long talk."

"That's very Maggie Seaver of you Ma, but I think I'll pass," he answered sarcastically as he wiped his hands with the apron. Since when did she care about his attendance record? "I'm leaving."

Liz reached out as and grabbed his arm before he could pass. "You're going to go straight to school, stay there until 2:30 and you're going to come home and we're going to have this discussion, Jess."

Their gazes locked, neither of them backing down; the ultimate power of wills. Jess jerked his arm from her grasp and walked away. "Whatever."