She repositioned her hair, trying to keep it out of the sudsy water. Once her clip held her hair up to her satisfaction, she slid her upper torso and arms back under the surface of the warm water. She kept sliding, even dipping her face under for a moment, as a child would.
"Now, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose?"
"Huh?" she resurfaced, a few suds clinging to her chin.
"You pinned your hair up, just to dunk your head under?"
She shrugged, then released her wet hair so it fell down around her shoulders.
"Maybe I should cut it," she mused.
"Alright."
She eyed his seemingly unaffected reaction. "I could get a bob," she began.
"Mm-hmm," he scooped up a handful of bubbles and blew them at her.
"Or a pixie cut."
If he were concerned, he didn't show it. Instead, he ran a hand up her calf, and intentionally stroked the soft skin behind her knee as she continued 'thinking' aloud.
"Ooh, or a Mohawk."
He grabbed a hold of both of her legs, and in one fluid motion pulled her through the water towards him. A second later, she'd wrapped her legs around his waist, as he'd positioned her in his lap.
"Don't you think you might be the only mother with a Mohawk dropping her kid off at Yale?"
She gathered some suds up in her hands, and arranged them on top of his head, fashioning a soapy Mohawk for him.
"You never know," she shrugged, inspecting her work.
"So, is it me?" he turned his head slowly from side to side, to give her a better look.
"Nah," with one hand she flattened her creation, causing the soap to run down over his entire head. In retaliation, he pulled her to him, kissing her and thus covering her face in bubbles as well.
"You taste like Mr. Bubble," she giggled.
He laughed, and leaned back into kiss her again.
&&&&
Jake followed Jules into Stars Hollow Books. She'd only been 15 seconds in front of him. He went straight to the back of the store. There, in front of the Reference Materials section, she sat on the floor in tears. He slid down next to her.
"Hey, Jules, come on," he said sympathetically, "Don't cry."
"How could he?"
"You don't know what happened."
She wiped her tears back with her hand, and leaned into Jake.
"They're gonna get a divorce," she said quietly.
He had no words, so he just put his arm around her, bracing him and her for her next round of tears.
"Jules," Jess stopped short in front of them, clearly having run all the way there. "Jules, I need to talk to you."
"I'll be at the diner," Jake announced, realizing he wouldn't be needed just now, and stood to go. He looked at Jules, who nodded as she was wiping fresh tears away.
Now alone, Jess slid down into Jake's prior spot, and put his arms around his daughter.
"What you saw, was nothing. I gave her directions to Hartford."
"She gave you her number, Dad, I heard her. That's not nothing."
"So? I don't have to call her. I didn't give her my number."
"Do you want to call her?"
"Jules, that is probably the furthest thing from my mind right now."
"You guys are getting a divorce, aren't you?"
"I don't know."
"Then why would you flirt with other women, Dad?"
He willed her not to ask her next question, but she was too smart not to.
"Did Mom move to California for another guy?"
Her voice made her sound five again. Jess hugged her tighter.
"Yeah. She did."
"Oh."
"Do you want to call her, talk with her about all of this?"
"No," she answered quickly.
"Jules, nothing is decided yet, okay?"
She just hugged him back, even tighter. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes as she clung to him, crying.
"Does Ambrose know?"
"No. Not yet."
More silence. He wanted to tell her it'd be okay, but he wasn't sure what okay meant anymore.
"You ready to go back? We could go get ice cream first," he offered, trying for a smile.
"Dad, it's freezing outside."
"Hot chocolate, then?"
Smile achieved. "Alright," she consented, allowing him to pull her up off the floor.
&&&&
Luke, Lorelai, and Ambrose sat at a table in the diner, shopping bags piled all around them. Jake came in, and sat at the only empty seat at their table.
"She okay?" Ambrose asked immediately upon seeing his friend.
Jake nodded. "She will be. Jess showed up, he's talking to her now."
"I told Jess he shouldn't be so careless," Luke announced, shaking his head.
"Luke," Lorelai shook her head, indicating that now wasn't the time to get into that.
"What did happen?" Ambrose looked to his great-uncle.
Luke looked to Lorelai, who seemed interested herself.
"Well, nothing, really. He was just giving this woman directions."
"That's it?"
"That's it. So, who's hungry?" Luke asked, standing up and moving towards the back, not wanting to discuss this any further. Besides, maybe that was all that had happened.
&&&&
Will pulled the car up outside the Melville residence. He cut the engine, and looked over at Anna, who made no move for the door handle. Looking out her window, he noticed it looked like it might snow later on, as gray clouds gathered overhead. The chance of snow made him think of his mom, and he decided he should head over to his parents house next to help out with wrapping gifts.
"Maybe we shouldn't say anything to anyone yet, about us."
He looked from the window to her, wondering if she was wanted to back out. If she just wanted to remain friends.
"Oh, well, if that's what you want," he agreed.
She could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and put her hand over his to reassure him.
"Don't you think it'd be better to take our time with this? Think about it—our mothers? Davey? They aren't going to let us breathe once we tell them. I mean, assuming there's anything to tell," she explained.
Her words made sense, but the feel of her hand on his overloaded his sensations. He wondered how he'd never noticed it before, this almost vibrating energy emanating from where they made contact. She'd touched him, perhaps a million times before this moment. Maybe it was because this was the first deliberate touch. He flipped his hand underneath hers, so he could interlace his fingers with hers. He instantly felt like a puzzle piece, his specific grooves and shape meshing seamlessly against her.
"You're right," he quietly agreed.
"Good."
"So, I'll call you later, about tomorrow?"
"Oh, right. Tomorrow," realizing that she'd offered to go out this weekend, and it was already Saturday.
"Unless you want to do something tonight," he offered quickly.
"Oh, I can't. We're going to see the play that Lia's in, at the high school. It's the last performance, and Mom got tickets for all of us."
He nodded, not really ready to let go of her hand. She leaned towards him, and pressed her lips into his cheek before moving away to open the door.
"See you later," she said before shutting the door and heading towards the house.
He watched her go into the house before starting the car back up again. "Yeah, later."
&&&&
Rory handed Tristan a towel, after he pulled the plug out of the bathtub's drain.
"We should get one of those," he said as he dried off his hair.
"Just think, in two more years, we'll have our house to ourselves like this again," she looked sad by the end of her thought.
"They'll be in college, they'll come back," he wrapped his towel around his waist and drew her towards him.
"For laundry," she sighed.
"For more than laundry," he leaned his head down against hers. "We could have another one," he reminded her.
"Sixty, Tristan, we'd be almost sixty."
"You take all my fun away," he announced. "Besides, you'll still be hot when you're sixty."
She rolled her eyes as she went down the hall to answer the phone. She saw the tarp, and smiled as she answered.
"Danes residence."
"It's me. We'll all be there in about 15 minutes."
"Oh, okay."
"Just thought you might like some warning."
"Thanks, Mom."
"Do I need to disinfect the place?"
"Better have it tented," she joked.
"15 minutes."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"15 minutes to incoming!" she cried out, folding up the tarp, still wearing just a towel. The bed itself looked all right, with no visible signs of their escapades left. Tristan came back in, and she shoved the tarp at him.
"Trash," she instructed.
"Hello, clothes," he said, pointing to his towel.
"Sorry," she said as she gathered the dessert topping bottles and headed downstairs, hoping to hide all evidence before her family reinvaded the house. Once they were both dressed and the house was looking as it had upon their arrival, they flopped onto the couch. She curled up under his arm, and closed her eyes. He smelled of bubble bath, and a pleased look crossed her face.
"Thank you," he kissed her temple. "Today was perfect."
The front door opened, and Jake was the first to enter. He carried a couple of bags of Luke's Takeout.
"We brought food," he said, noticing his parents on the couch. "God, you guys are so embarrassing. Are you ever more than an inch apart?" He walked off to put the bags in the kitchen.
"Ah, if he only knew," Tristan snickered.
"Not even when he's 21," she warned.
"Hmm. Cranky. Let's go feed you," he helped her up, and they joined the crowd in the kitchen.