Through Your Eyes #1: People Change
By: Apolla
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc. Oh, but I do own Milo (sucks for you!).
Pairings: Literati and Java Junkie. I'm sorry, I didn't know there were any other options :p
Setting: This story starts about one month after That'll Do, Pig.
Don't Worry: Allow me to put your fears to rest. No matter what happens along the way, in the end, Rory & Jess and Luke & Lorelai will be together.
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"Rory! Must. Get. To Luke's."
"Mom? What's the matter?" Rory asked, coming out of her room the next morning.
"It's Fred!" Lorelai cried out. "He won't make me coffee!"
"Oh no! Mom, we always have at least 3 cups of coffee before we go to Luke's."
"I know. He won't recognize us without it."
"What do we do?" Rory asked worriedly.
"Hurry! Hurry! Must get coffee!"
Rory grabbed her backpack, and she and Lorelai hurried on their way to Luke's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jess! Get your ass down here!" Luke yelled.
Luke sighed as there was no response. I wonder if Lorelai and Rory will be coming in today, Luke thought.
He didn't know if Jess and Rory had made up, or if Lorelai was still mad at Jess. Sometimes he wondered if maybe he and Jess needed to talk more. Yeah, right. As if that kid talks.
His questions were answered as Lorelai and Rory ran through the door and up to the counter. "Luke, coffee," Rory gasped out.
"Aren't you girls in here a little earlier today?" Luke asked from behind the counter.
"Fred broke! Need coffee!" Lorelai wailed.
She and Rory collapsed onto stools at the counter. "Are you telling me that you have a whole pot of coffee every day before you come in here?"
"Mom, just tell him what he wants to hear!" Rory cried.
"Big eyes. Luke, look at Rory. Isn't she cute? She needs coffee to stay that cute."
Just then Jess appeared and poured Rory and Lorelai cups of coffee. They both eagerly gulped it down. "More!" Lorelai demanded.
Rory stuck out her cup wordlessly. Jess looked at them with a smirk and poured them more coffee.
After re-filling their coffee cups four more times, with Luke glaring at him the whole time, the girls sat up straight. "How do you feel?" Rory asked her mother.
"Like I am came this close - " Lorelai held her thumb and first finger up, almost touching, " - to dying."
"You die from having coffee, you don't die from not having it," Luke told them.
"Lukey, I'm hurt. Did he just say he doesn't care if we die?" Lorelai asked, turning to Rory and Jess.
Rory nodded with wide eyes. "I heard it," Jess added.
"Great. So now all three of you are ganging up on me."
Luke walked off, muttering about crazy people. "You know, I'm worried about Luke," Lorelai began.
"Me too," Rory chimed in.
"The first sign of a crazy person is when they start talking to themselves," Lorelai continued.
"Yes," Rory agreed.
"And then he'll start talking to random people - hey, you, are those chocolate chip pancakes?" Lorelai called.
"Uh, no," the confused person replied.
"Oh. So what was I saying? Oh, yes. Crazy people. Then they start talking to inanimate objects. And then - "
"Mom?" Rory interrupted.
"Yes, offspring?"
"You're describing yourself."
"It's not my fault. Fred is upsetting me!"
"Mom, I told you not to talk about Luke's coffee in front of him. Now he has an inferiority complex," Rory told her.
"Fred?" Jess asked.
"Our coffee maker."
"You named him?"
"Fred, like in I Love Lucy. I love Fred, don't you?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure," Jess replied sarcastically.
"LUKEY-BOY! GET OVER HERE AND TAKE OUR ORDERS, COFFEE MAN!" Lorelai yelled across the diner.
Jess shook his head and turned to Rory. "I gave you coffee to keep you cute."
"Yes. Yes you did," Rory said, nodding. "My cuteness thanks you."
"I want something in return," Jess told her, leaning across the counter.
Rory smiled. "Like what?"
"I don't know……..a kiss, maybe?"
"Hmm, maybe. I'll have to think about it and get back to you," Rory said, getting up and walking to the end of the counter.
Jess followed her from behind the counter, until at last there was no counter between them. "Hi," she said.
"Hi."
"Thanks for helping with the coffee emergency."
"No problem."
"We'll be talking to Fred when we get home - "
Jess cut Rory off with a kiss. "And I think Rory would like some Jess for breakfast, preferably over-easy…………ooooh, dirty!" she squealed.
Jess and Rory broke apart as they heard Lorelai talking to Luke. "None of that in my diner!" Luke yelled at them.
"Well, we can just go upstairs, Luke - "
Luke was over there in a flash. "No. You, eat," he said, pointing to Rory.
He turned to Jess. "You, work."
"Pancakes?" Rory asked.
Luke rolled his eyes. "With chocolate chips."
"Yay! Mommy, you're a miracle worker."
"Thank you, child of mine. LUKEY! BEAN ME!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An old lady sat in the diner at a little table in the corner by herself. She had walked in right before Lorelai and Rory had.
She had taken in her surroundings and looked around for a teen-aged boy, but the only person she'd seen working in the diner was a man wearing a flannel and a backwards baseball cap. She knew it had to be Luke Danes, Jess' uncle.
She had watched Luke and seen that he was a gruff man, which made her wonder what Jess was like. However, she had been surprised to see the change in Luke once Lorelai and Rory had entered the diner. She laughed to herself as she watched their exchange. She could hear their conversation - the whole diner could hear their conversation - and she smiled to herself.
Lorelai never could live without her coffee. And she knew it must be Rory standing next to her. Rory looked a lot like Lorelai, although her body stature was more like Christopher's. She saw that Luke liked Lorelai, although Lorelai seemed oblivious. Once again, typical Lorelai.
Amidst Lorelai and Rory begging Luke for coffee, she saw a dark-haired teenage boy come down the stairs. Did Luke and Jess live above the diner? she wondered. It appeared that they did.
She saw Jess come over to the Gilmore girls once Luke had left and pour them coffee. She saw him smirk as he watched them down cup after cup. Then she heard Lorelai yelling for Luke again, and it looked like Rory and Jess were having a conversation, but they were speaking too quietly for her to hear.
She watched in surprise as they walked down the counter until they met and kissed. Rory and Jess? They were together? Her surprise turned to happiness. She couldn't believe it! After all this time, it looked like she and Emily………..well, she was getting ahead of herself. They were only high-schoolers, after all.
She smiled to herself again as she heard Lorelai teasing Rory and Jess, then saw Luke come over after Jess teased him. She was happy to see that Jess and his uncle seemed to know the Gilmore girls so well.
Suddenly, it seemed as if Jess were coming over to her table. Of course he was! Luke had just told him to get to work, and she was a customer. What should she say? Oh, well. She'd play it by ear. Be mysterious. That always caught people's attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What can I get ya?" Jess asked.
He had seen an old lady sitting by herself at a table and had gone to take her order. She had dark, almost black hair with streaks of gray and brown eyes that looked strangely familiar.
I've never seen her before. A new person has come to town. Maybe Taylor will throw a festival. Poor woman. She obviously doesn't know what she's getting in to. But………..she doesn't look like someone from around here.
The woman was dressed nicely, in what looked like expensive clothes and jewelry. Jess mentally shook his head. What did he care, really? He waited for the woman to give him her order.
"Tea, please. And maybe some chocolate chip pancakes?" she asked with a smile.
Jess looked at her strangely. "You must be new," he finally said.
"How can you tell?" she asked with a trace of a British accent.
"You mean apart from the accent?" he asked sarcastically.
She nodded. "Yes," she answered politely.
Jess was a bit put off for a moment. No one liked it when he was sarcastic, especially adults. It usually made them stop talking to him, but it wasn't working with this woman. Huh.
"This is a small town. I've never seen you in here before."
"Do you work for Luke a lot?"
Once again, Jess was surprised. "Yeah. You know Luke?"
"No."
"Huh."
"So. How about those chocolate chip pancakes?"
"I'll try. But Luke only gives in to them," Jess said, jerking his head towards the Gilmore girls.
"Lorelai and Rory, you mean. Yes, I saw that. But you can ask, right?"
Jess didn't know what to make of this lady. She didn't know Luke, but she knew who he was. She knew Lorelai and Rory? And she was supposedly new to town. Jess thought that he was the only mysterious one in this town……….so was the old lady?
"I'll ask."
Jess paused. "What's your name?" he finally asked.
"You can call me Maggie."
I can call her Maggie? Some old, obviously rich foreigner that I've never met is telling me to call her by her first name? What is up with this crazy old lady?
"You can call me Jess."
He paused. "All right. So Jess, what about those pancakes?" Maggie asked, breaking the silence.
"Right. Uh. I'll be right back with your tea."
"Thank you, Jess."
"No problem," he muttered, walking away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Luke, some lady over there wants chocolate chip pancakes," Lorelai and Rory heard Jess tell Luke as he came up to the counter.
"What? You've got to be kidding me."
Lorelai and Rory tried, unsuccessfully, to hide their smiles. Luke turned to them. "You. This is your fault," he told Lorelai.
"Luke, I think you're jumping to conclusions here. You know, it is possible that someone else in the world likes chocolate chip pancakes."
"Yes, but no one else orders them from me. Everyone knows better. Who is it?" Luke asked Jess.
"I don't know," Jess said, his brow furrowed. "I guess she's new to town or something."
"Oooh, a newcomer! Why hasn't Taylor given a parade?" Lorelai wondered out loud.
"Maybe she's trying to be covert," Rory suggested.
"Like Sydney Bristow?" Lorelai wondered.
"Exactly," Rory replied.
"Wow," Lorelai said, leaning back and looking deep in thought.
She turned to Jess. "What else do you know about her?"
"Her name's Maggie. And - " he hesitated.
"And what?"
"Well, she knew who you two were. And you too, Luke."
"What?" Luke asked.
Jess shrugged. "What's her last name?" Lorelai asked him.
"Dunno."
"She just said 'Oh, you can call me Maggie'?" Lorelai asked him skeptically.
Jess nodded. "Yeah."
"It's a mystery!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Huh," Rory said.
Lorelai turned to Jess. "I blame you for that."
"Hey, I told her not to use it."
Rory giggled. "I have to get to school."
"I'll walk you," Jess said. "LUKE! I'M GOING TO SCHOOL!" he yelled across the diner.
"Yeah, right. I'm supposed to believe that?" Luke asked him, coming over to the door.
Jess shrugged. "Believe what you want. I'm out."
"'Bye sweetie," Lorelai called to Rory.
"'Bye Mom."
"Franklin?" Lorelai asked her, referring to the Franklin meeting Rory had after school.
"Yeah."
"'Kay. See you tonight, then."
"See you then."
Rory and Jess walked out of the diner to the bus stop. "You don't have to wait with me," Rory told him.
"It's okay."
"Are you going to school today?"
"Yes ma'am."
Rory smiled. "Good," she said, giving him a kiss.
"Huh. Maybe I should go to school more often," Jess said after they broke apart.
"I think that is an excellent idea. Promise not to flunk out?"
Jess shrugged. "Come on, Jess, I know you're smart. You wouldn't even have to put in any effort, just actually show up for school, and you'd pass."
"I told Luke I'd graduate," he finally said.
"I know, but I want you to promise me."
Jess didn't say anything. "Please?" Rory asked, giving him another kiss.
"Fine. Okay," Jess said after they broke apart.
"Good."
Rory gave him another kiss, and then her bus pulled up. "Ugh. I gotta go."
"See you after school?"
"I have a Franklin meeting. We'll probably stop by for dinner, though. Maybe after we could do something?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. 'Bye," Rory said.
"'Bye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the last bell rang at three, Jess thought it was the best sound he had ever heard. Why did I promise her I wouldn't flunk out? Why did I actually come to school today? he asked himself.
He smiled inwardly as he remembered Rory's kisses. Oh yeah. That's why.
He went to his locker, threw his books in, and grabbed his English Lit book and his jacket. He had said he wouldn't flunk out, but that didn't mean he was going to start doing homework. He took his English book because, well………..This counts as homework. I can't be seen doing actual homework. But it's just reading. I read anyway. He glanced at the book. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He'd never read it before, but what the hell? He wouldn't do any of the journal entry crap, but he could read the damn book if he wanted to.
Jess was so lost in thought that he walked right in to someone. "What the - " he started, then looked up and saw it was Lane.
She's Rory's best friend. Maybe I shouldn't start swearing at her. "Sorry," Lane said. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Yeah. Me too."
Lane looked surprised that he wasn't being a jerk to her, and Jess had to fight the urge to laugh. "Later," he said, walking away.
He saw Dave walking over to Lane, looking at him suspiciously as Lane stared after him. Jess shook his head. This school is full of freaks, he thought.
A little while later he reached the diner. He went upstairs and threw his jacket down, then stuck the book in his back pocket. "JESS!" Luke bellowed.
"Hey Luke, ever hear of child labor laws?" Jess asked him.
"Hey Jess, ever think that maybe I know when your birthday was? You're 18."
"Huh. Really?"
Luke rolled his eyes. "Yes. Really. Now get to work."
"There's maybe three people here. I think you can handle it."
"Jess, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."
"Yeah, yeah."
The bell rang and Taylor burst in. "Now Luke, see here - " Taylor began.
"Taylor, I already told you, I'm not putting up Valentine's Day decorations! It's my diner, and I said no!"
"Luke, this is ridiculous. Must we go through this every year? Maybe you don't like it, but your customers will. Now - "
"Taylor. Get out of my diner."
"Luke, must you always be so hot-headed and unreasonable? Now, will a couple of paper hearts kill you?"
"Yes."
"Really?" Jess interrupted. "Let me put a few up."
"Jess," Luke said warningly.
Taylor turned his attention to Jess. "Don't think I'm not watching you, young hoodlum. You - "
"Excuse me."
Jess, Taylor, and Luke turned around to see Maggie standing there. "Can I help you?" Luke asked her.
"Yes. I - "
"Who are you?" Taylor interrupted.
"Who are you?" she responded.
"Taylor Doose, owner of Doose's and the Soda Shoppe. Are you new to town?"
"No."
"But I've never seen you before, and I make it my duty to know everyone here, and welcome those who are new here. "
"Run," Jess muttered to her.
She smiled. "That's delightful to hear, Mr. Doose. But I don't live here."
"Oh. Then where do you live?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you had a right to interrogate me while I'm trying to order some tea."
"See here, Miss - what is your name?"
"Margaret."
"Margaret……." Taylor trailed off, waiting for her to tell him her last name.
"Yes?" she asked.
Jess was smirking and even Luke was fighting a smile. Taylor threw his hands in the air. "Fine. I'm leaving. But this isn't the end of this, Luke. And I'm watching you, you troublemaker!"
"Don't worry, I'll give you something to watch for!" Jess called after him.
Taylor slammed the door behind him. "Well, that was interesting," Luke remarked. "Can I get you your tea, uh - "
"You can call me Maggie," she told him.
"Maggie - you're the woman who ordered the chocolate chip pancakes this morning?"
She shrugged. "Possibly. Did I receive them?"
"I made them, but you were already gone, it seems," Luke answered her.
"Hmm. So maybe it wasn't me after all."
Luke glanced to his right and saw Jess looking at the woman with ill-concealed admiration, and he had to admit that even his curiosity was piqued. She was harder to talk to than Jess was. "I'll get you your tea," Luke said.
"Thank you, Mr. Danes."
Maggie went and sat down at the same table in the corner and pulled out a book from her rather large handbag.
Jess came behind the counter and Luke handed him the cup of tea. "Here. Give this to her."
"Afraid to talk to her?"
"No. Why would I be?"
Jess shrugged. "How did she know my name?" Luke asked Jess.
"Dunno."
"And she knew Lorelai and Rory, too? Do you think this is some crazy prank they're pulling?"
Jess shrugged again. "You know, talking to you is like talking to a wall."
"A wall can't shrug."
"Just give her the damn tea."
Jess walked over to Maggie and put the tea down in front of her. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked her.
Maggie looked up from her book. "No, thank you, Jess."
"Okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Paris, there's nothing left to talk about," Rory told her.
It was 5:30 in the afternoon, and Paris had gone over ever article for the Franklin at least twice. All Rory wanted to do was go home.
"Listen, Gilmore, I know you've been in la-la land all day, but we have an important job to do here. If you don't want to be a part of it, then just go."
"I want to be a part of it. I just - "
"Well then, quit your daydreaming and maybe we'd get something done!" Paris snapped.
Daydreaming? I have not been daydreaming! Have I? Well, I might have thought about Jess once today………or twice………I wonder if he actually stayed in school the whole day, without getting into trouble. I wonder if he'll keep his promise. Well, why wouldn't he? He's kept promises to me before. And he promised Luke. Well, okay, so that might not mean anything. I wonder if he'll be glad to see me. Maybe he'll be mad that I made him go to school.
"Gilmore!" Paris' voice interrupted Rory's thoughts.
"Yes Paris?" Rory asked obediently.
Madeline and Louise giggled. "I said, I want you to redo this article and have it done for me by Friday."
"Okay."
"All right, meeting dismissed."
Rory let out a sigh of relief and started gathering up her things. As she walked out of school, she heard someone behind her. "Gilmore! Rory, wait," Paris called.
Rory stopped. Now what? she wondered.
"Where were you back there?"
"What are you talking about, Paris?"
"You. You've been daydreaming all day."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Things are going well with what's-his-name, huh?"
"Jess. Yeah."
"Well, that's nice. But you've got to pay attention."
"I will, Paris."
"Okay. Do you need a ride home?"
"Well, I was just going to take the bus - "
"I can give you a ride."
"Paris, it's okay. I mean, Stars Hollow is out of the way for you."
"It's not like I have anything to do tonight. How about you?"
"Well, my mom and I are going to have dinner at Luke's."
"Isn't that where your boyfriend works?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Well, I can just drop you off at your house."
"Well, okay. Thanks, Paris."
Rory put her bag in the backseat of Paris' car, then got in the front. Rory and Paris were silent for most of the ride to the Gilmore home.
Finally, they pulled into Rory's driveway. "Well, thanks, Paris."
"You're welcome. Don't forget about that article, okay?"
"I won't."
Rory grabbed her bag from the backseat, then stopped. "Hey, Paris, what are you doing tonight?"
"Well, I'm probably going to start thinking about the layout for the next Franklin, or start working on that speech for the assembly next week."
"That can wait. Do you want to have dinner with us?"
"Oh, no. You don't have to try to repay me for the ride home."
"I'm not. I'm asking you if you want to have dinner with us."
"Oh, well - " Paris paused. "Sure, I guess I could. Just let me call Nanny."
"Okay. I'm going inside."
"I'll come in when I'm through," Paris said, picking up her cell phone and starting to dial.
"Okay."
Rory walked in to her house. "Mom?"
"Upstairs!"
She went upstairs to her mom's room. "Ready for Luke's?" Lorelai asked her.
"Yeah. Um, Mom, Paris gave me a ride home."
"Oooooookay," Lorelai said, drawing out the word. "That's fine."
"Well, she didn't have any plans for tonight, so I kinda asked her to have dinner with us."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. As long as she doesn't start telling me her plans on how to take over the world."
"I'll tell her. Not a word."
"Great. Where is she?"
"Um, she's outside. She was going to call home."
"Okay. Well, go get changed, I'll tell her you're in your room."
"'Kay. Thanks Mom."
Rory went downstairs into her room to change, and a few minutes later Lorelai went downstairs and heard knocking. She opened the door to find Paris standing there. "Hello Miss Gilmore," Paris said.
"Hello Paris. You know, you didn't have to knock. Come in."
"Okay. Thank you."
Lorelai and Paris stood in the hallway, both looking around. "So," Lorelai finally said, breaking the silence. "Do you want to borrow some clothes or something?"
"What?"
"Your uniform."
"Oh."
"Come on, you can borrow something of Rory's."
"Oh, well, okay."
"Rory! Incoming!" Lorelai said, opening Rory's bedroom door.
"Hey," Rory said, brushing her hair.
"Ooooh. Rory's getting pretty for Jess," Lorelai whispered to Paris.
"Mom!"
"Okay, okay. I told Paris she could borrow some clothes."
"Okay………..um, Paris, what do you want?"
"Whatever is fine."
"Ooooh, we get to dress you!" Lorelai and Rory exclaimed.
"Should I be afraid?" Paris asked.
"Yes," Rory told her.
"Can we dress you like a hooker?"
"No!"
"Mom, I don't have any clothes that a hooker would wear."
"Oh yeah. Didn't I tell you to start dressing sluttier?"
"It's on my to-do list."
"Good. Hmm…..you have boring clothes. Here," Lorelai said, throwing Paris a red t-shirt and jeans.
"You can change in here. We're going," Rory told Paris, who was looking at them a little uncomfortably.
"Okay. Good."
As Rory and Lorelai headed into the living room, Lorelai giggled. "I am going to have so much fun tonight!"
"Mom. Don't be too cruel."
"Who, me?"
"Yes."
Lorelai sighed. "You ruin all of my fun."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Is she still here?" Luke asked Jess quietly.
"Yeah."
Maggie had stayed in the diner all afternoon, ordering tea and reading her book. She always thanked them politely, saying 'Thank you, Jess' or 'Thank you, Mr. Danes', and Luke was stumped. He could tell by her clothes and jewelry that she was well-to-do, and she had told Taylor that she didn't live in Stars Hollow. So then what was she doing spending the afternoon in his diner?
"Lorelai and Rory are coming for dinner," Jess told Luke a little while later.
"They do that a lot."
"Yeah."
"So why are you telling me this?" Luke asked him.
"Thought you might want to clean up."
"What?"
"You've got grease all over your flannel."
"So?"
"I'm just saying."
"What are you saying?"
"Nothing."
"Then what are those words coming out of your mouth?"
"Nothing."
"You're impossible."
"I was thinking I might start counting how many times a day you say that."
Jess looked to see if Maggie needed more tea and saw that she had gone. "Huh," Jess said.
"What?" Luke asked.
"She's gone."
Luke looked over to where Maggie had been sitting. "There's something weird about her," Luke told Jess.
Jess shrugged. "Whatever. She reads good books."
"How do you know?"
"I looked at the book she was reading. It's a good one."
"Okay."
The diner was emptying out, and Luke gave an order to Caesar, then turned to Jess. "I'm going to change."
"Yup."
"For the town meeting tonight."
"Oh, yeah."
"You know how Taylor is."
"Yeah."
"So that's why I'm changing."
"Okay."
"Yeah. So you're in charge for the next couple of minutes."
"Okay."
"Okay," Luke repeated.
Luke went upstairs to change, and Jess smirked. Town meeting. What a load of bull. Who does he think he's kidding? Everyone in this whole damn town knows he's in love with Lorelai.
Jess was lost in thought and didn't notice anyone else entering the diner. "What's that smirk for?" Rory asked, coming up to him.
"Nothing."
"I don't believe you."
"Huh."
They kissed. "So how long did Paris keep you?" he asked.
"Until after 5:30."
Jess looked up and saw Lorelai and Paris sit down at the counter. "And then I kinda invited her for dinner," Rory said.
"Kinda?"
"Yeah. She gave me a ride home."
"Maybe I should give you a ride home."
"Maybe you should," Rory said with a smile.
Jess went behind the counter and Rory sat down in between her mother and Paris. "What can I get you?" Jess asked.
"Where's Luke?" Lorelai pouted.
Jess shrugged. "I'm not good enough for you?"
"Frankly, no."
"I'm hurt."
"You'll get over it."
Lorelai sighed. "I'll have coffee. But it's just no fun ordering it from you."
"Huh."
"I'll have coffee too, please," Rory said.
"Paris?" Jess asked.
"What? Oh, I'll have a Pepsi."
"Coming right up."
"That's your Jess?" Paris asked after he had left.
"Yup."
"Isn't he that one that was over at your house when your boyfriend came over?"
"Um - " Rory glanced at Lorelai.
"And then Dean got all mad and I covered for you?"
"Uh - "
"And after all of that, you're dating him now?"
"Yes, Paris."
"Oh. Okay."
"Whoa, back up. What?" Lorelai asked.
"You remember, Mom, that night Paris slept over? Well, Jess showed up that night and brought us food."
"Uh-huh," Lorelai said skeptically.
"He did! And so the three of us were eating - "
"And discussing books," Paris added. "He liked this one that was horrible! It was by - "
"And then Dean came over unexpectedly," Rory continued. "And he got all mad when Jess was there, so Paris covered for me."
"What did you say?" Jess asked interestedly as he brought them their drinks.
Paris blushed. "I told Dean I liked you and was trying to get Rory set us up," she said.
Jess smirked and Lorelai started laughing. "It's not that funny! It was obviously a lie!" Paris said defensively.
"Paris, I had no idea you felt that way about me," Jess said, leaning in towards her.
"Hey! I am right here, you know," Rory said.
"Oh yeah. Paris. I'll see you later," Jess said with a wink.
"Oh my God. Did you just wink at her?" Lorelai asked him.
"Nope," Jess replied.
"Yes you did, I saw you," Rory told him.
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did."
"No I didn't."
"Okay, this conversation is officially over," Rory said.
"Okay."
"But you did, you know. I saw you."
"Whatever."
"LUKE!" Lorelai called desperately. "Help!"
Luke came downstairs wearing a different flannel, and Jess smirked. "There's that smirk again," Rory said.
Luke glared at Jess. "Okay, what is going on?" Lorelai asked.
"Nothing," Luke said.
"Yeah. What he said," Jess said very unconvincingly.
"Is this what your dinners are always like?" Paris asked.
"More or less," Rory told her.
Lorelai's eyes lit up. "Paris, do you want to have some real fun?" she asked.
"No."
"Oh, come on! You can come to the town meeting! It's in a half an hour."
"A town meeting? That could be interesting. I'd like to see how it's run."
Lorelai and Rory giggled. "I can't wait for you to see it," Lorelai told Paris.
Paris looked at the Gilmore girls strangely, then decided it was best to disregard anything they told her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are all of the meetings like this?" Paris whispered loudly to Rory, who was sitting next to her.
"Yes," Lorelai loudly whispered back.
Paris was sitting in between Lorelai and Rory, with Jess on Rory's other side and Luke on Lorelai's other side. "We haven't even gotten to the best part yet," Rory told Paris. "Wait until you see the Luke/Taylor argument."
"Oh, gee, I didn't think it could get any better from when you put to vote whether or not you should start to control the rabbit population," Paris replied sarcastically.
"Hey! I like rabbits," Lorelai said, butting in to their conversation again.
Paris rolled her eyes. Jess was glad to see that someone besides him realized how lame these meetings were. He put his arm across the back of Rory's chair, and she leaned against him, when all of the sudden Paris jabbed Rory in the side. "Hey, isn't that Prince William himself?" she asked Rory.
Rory looked and saw Dean sitting a couple of seats to the left of them in the row ahead. "Yes, that's him," she told Paris.
"Prince William?" Jess asked.
"It's just crazy Paris talk," Rory told him.
"Paris, I'm hurt that I don't have a nickname," Jess told her.
Paris looked at him as if she couldn't believe he was acting so childish, and he sat back in his seat. "Some people fail to see the humor in life," he muttered to Rory.
She giggled, then put her head on his shoulder. Jess was glad to see that she didn't seem to care about 'flaunting their relationship' in front of anyone anymore.
"And now, we have a last topic to discuss. Luke has, once again, refused to put Valentine's Day decorations up at his diner. His is the only Stars Hollow building that is not decorated for this holiday. Luke, I must ask - "
"Taylor, it is MY diner, and I will not put up decorations for some stupid holiday!" Luke yelled, jumping to his feet.
"Now, Luke - "
"The answer is no!"
"Look at him get all worked up," Miss Patty told Babette.
"Yeah, I like it!" Babette replied, and the two started giggling.
"Ladies, please!" Taylor told them.
"Ooooh, Luke, they think you're hot," Lorelai told him. "They like to see you get all excited!"
Lorelai giggled. "Mom!" Rory said.
"I know. Dirty!"
"That's better."
Luke and Paris looked at Lorelai and Rory as if they were behaving extremely immaturely. "Okay, we'll be good," Lorelai said in a small voice.
As Taylor and Luke continued to argue, Lorelai turned to Rory and Jess. "What are you two doing for Valentine's Day?" she asked them casually.
Jess looked at her as if she were speaking some foreign language, and Rory looked embarrassed. "Mom!" Rory exclaimed.
"Sorry."
Lorelai went back to making comments to Luke while he was trying to argue with Taylor, and Paris just watched the whole debacle with a look of disbelief that any meeting could actually be run this way.
Rory sneaked a look at Jess and saw that he still had that she's-speaking-a-foreign-language look on his face. "It's okay," Rory said. "Valentine's Day, I mean. It's not for a while, we don't have to do anything big."
Rory could tell Jess was doing some fast thinking. "Isn't it on a Friday?" he asked.
She nodded. "What about those Friday night dinners at your grandparents?"
"Oh, Mom and I just tell them we have plans."
"Your mom has plans?"
"No. But she says she does."
"Ah."
"We don't have to talk about it now," Rory assured him. "We can talk about it later."
Holy shit, Jess thought. What am I supposed to do for Rory on Valentine's Day?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Review! Please review! Reviews are to me what coffee is to the Gilmore girls! The elixir of life! Give me what you have to say, I can take it!
Coming in Chapter 3……………… It's a Friday night dinner! Enough said!
Special Mention: I'm sorry for having these first chapters so focused on Rory and Jess, but that's just the way the wind blows. This is going to be a many-chaptered, multi-story series, so I'm not really in any rush to get every character in every chapter, but trust me, when all's said and done, the series will have a broad view.