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.
~*~*Special Mention: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Wow, I should use cliffhangers more often. Sorry I kept you all waiting for the next chapter (well, okay, it was kinda fun, but let me explain). See, I always wait until I have the next chapter written, so that when I write the "Coming in the Next Chapter" part at the end of every chapter, I'm promising you all things that will actually happen. So I had to wait until I finished the next chapter before posting this one. But don't worry, here it is!
Oh, and thanks to gilmorelvr for her review! Yay, I have finally achieved my life's goal of being pure evil!!!!
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Still looking at Lorelai worriedly, Luke and Rory sat. Jess was sitting across from Maggie and next to Lorelai, who was looking at Maggie. Maggie took a deep breath. "I think I should start from the beginning," Maggie said.
Lorelai nodded. "Yes."
Shooting a glance at Lorelai, Maggie began her story. "I lived in Hartford all of my life. I grew up with Emily Gilmore - " here Maggie smiled at Lorelai and Rory " - and we've always been best friends. I got married and had a son, and raised my family in Hartford."
Maggie looked sad at the mention of her husband and son, but continued. "My husband James and I both loved our son very much, but after high school he started heading down a bad path in life. He dropped out of Yale and started hanging around a bad crowd and making bad decisions. He changed."
Maggie paused, and Jess, Luke, and Rory noticed that Lorelai had been nodding while Maggie was talking about her son, and now also looked sad. Maggie went on.
"About twenty years ago our son came to visit, and James and I got into a horrible argument with him. He left our house angrily, and that's the last time I saw him. A few months later, James died of a heart attack. Within months I had lost my entire family, and although my friends, especially Emily, were there for me, it wasn't the same. I had no other family, and even though - " Maggie's eyes were filled with tears, and she looked at Lorelai. "Even though Emily's family was like family to me, I just couldn't stay in Hartford any longer."
Lorelai's eyes were also filled with tears. Jess was glad that they were finally learning more about Maggie, but he didn't know where this was going, or why Maggie and Lorelai felt that he, Luke, and Rory had to know Maggie's whole sob story. She looked like she was getting really upset just telling it, and he wasn't all that hot at comforting people. Jess snapped back to the conversation as Maggie began speaking again.
"Richard's mother lived in England, and she helped me find a house and get settled. I've lived there for the past twenty years, keeping in contact with my friends back here, but still estranged from my son."
Maggie hesitated, wringing her hands. She looked like she didn't want to continue telling her story, and once again Jess wondered why she was bothering to tell them at all.
"Maggie, please," Lorelai urged, her voice soft.
Maggie gave her a slight nod, and continued. "About two months ago, I ran into a friend of my son's, someone I hadn't seen for a long while and hoped never to see again. However, he told me something that I had been missing out on for the past eighteen years."
All of the sudden Rory's eyes had widened. Lorelai and Maggie gave her small smiles. "Mom?" Rory asked, turning to Lorelai in disbelief.
Jess and Luke still looked puzzled. What had Rory figured out that they hadn't?
"Yes, I know," Lorelai replied. "But just listen."
Rory and Lorelai both turned their gazes back to Maggie, who shot a look at Jess before continuing. "My son's friend told me that I had a grandson. He told me that my son had had a son of his own, then run out on him."
All of the sudden, Jess felt lightheaded. What was she saying? Where was this going? Luke looked how Jess felt. Was this going where they thought this was going? It was impossible!
Maggie noticed the expressions on Luke and Jess' faces and nodded. "Yes, it's what you're thinking. As soon as I realized I had a grandson, I left England and moved back to my home in Hartford, and started getting to know him."
Jess and Luke just stared at Maggie, their minds refusing to comprehend what she was telling them. Maggie stood up, then told the end of her story.
"My son's name was Jimmy, and my name is Margaret…………Mariano."
Luke's head jerked up to look at Maggie, but Jess didn't say anything. He didn't even move. He was frozen, his mind spinning. Lorelai had stood up and hugged Maggie, and Rory had also stood up. Jess and Luke just sat there, both of them in a daze.
Finally Luke snapped to and shot a glance at Jess before turning to Maggie. "Are you……..sure?" he asked her.
Maggie nodded. "Luke, can't you see it?" Lorelai asked. "That's how I was able to put it together. I knew Maggie had a son named Jimmy, and she looks like Jess! It's their eyes."
"And their smirk," Rory added softly. "I figured it out once she started talking because I knew her last name was Mariano from her letters. She always wrote us letters. Why didn't I see it before? I mean, I saw the physical similarities, but I just didn't - "
"When were you going to tell us?" Luke asked, standing up.
"I wanted to get to know you, both of you, first," Maggie told him. "I wanted to form a relationship before dropping this on you. It was a huge shock when I first found out."
"So that's why you've been avoiding Mom," Rory said slowly. "You knew that she knew enough to figure it out."
"Yes."
Maggie shot a glance at Jess, who was still just sitting there, staring ahead blankly.
"I should go," she said to Luke, Rory, and Lorelai, still looking at Jess.
Lorelai nodded. "Let it sink in."
Maggie nodded in agreement. "I will. I'll be back in a day or two," she told Luke.
Maggie and Lorelai hugged. "It's so good to see you again," Maggie told her.
"It's good to see you, too," Lorelai replied sincerely. "When are you going to talk to Mom?"
"I'm going to go see her tomorrow."
Maggie gave Lorelai a slight smile. "I'll be seeing you soon, I'm sure," she said.
Lorelai gave a little laugh. "Mom wouldn't give us any other option. Not that I don't want to see you!"
Maggie gave Lorelai another smile. "I know. I'll see you soon."
And with that, Maggie left. Rory sat down next to Jess. "Are you okay?" she asked him quietly.
"Yeah," he said, snapping out of his trance.
Rory gave him a hug, but he didn't respond. She pulled away and shot Luke a worried glance. Luke came over to Rory and Jess. "Jess, I - " he started, but Jess cut him off.
"I'm going out," Jess said, getting up.
Rory got up too and followed Jess to the door, where he stopped. "I need to be alone," he said, not turning around.
"Oh," Rory said.
Rory and Luke both looked like they wanted to stop him, but Lorelai came over and opened the door. "Go. Be back by midnight," Lorelai told him.
Jess shot her a grateful glance, then left without looking back. Lorelai went back and sat down. "Luke! I need coffee," she said.
Luke just looked at her. "Are you crazy?" he finally managed to get out.
Rory sank down into a seat next to her mother as Luke continued. "I just get the news that no, I am not Jess' only other living relative, you tell my nephew he can go wherever the hell he wants until midnight, and now you want me to get you coffee?"
"Um……." Lorelai looked like she was thinking about what he had said. "Yes."
Luke sighed. "Fine. Let me put a pot on."
"Good, I need some too," Rory piped up.
"Coffee man? Better make that two pots!" Lorelai called to him.
Rory and Lorelai heard a grunt in response. "Think he's putting on two pots?" Rory asked her mother.
"If he is, it means that he's really freaked out about this whole Maggie thing," Lorelai told her.
Luke came back over and sat down at the end of the table. No one said anything for a moment, until Lorelai broke the silence. "So," she said. "We should talk about this."
"Why?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, why?" Rory echoed.
"Hello! This is the biggest thing that has happened in any of our lives since Britney and Justin broke up. It needs to be talked about."
"What about Billy Bob and Angelina Jolie?" Rory asked. "Or Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman? Remember how upset you were about their divorce?"
"Don't try to distract me. You evil child. Those are horrible memories. I still can't believe it. Billy Bob and Angelina? Who else could they possibly find that's as weird as they are?"
"Well, Billy Bob could always find you," Luke told her.
Lorelai gasped, turning to him. "I am saving myself for Brad Pitt!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"But Mom! You don't want Brad and Jen to break up!" Rory said in mock-horror.
"Now Mini-Me, what have I told you about that?"
"If Brad breaks up with Jen, it can only be because he wants to be with you," Rory recited.
"That's right. You see, Lucas? Billy Bob! I am insulted."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Is the coffee ready yet?" Rory asked him.
"Yeah. I'll go get it."
"Forget the cups! Just give it to us in bowls!" Lorelai called after him.
"Think he'll give it to us in bowls?" Rory asked her mother.
They looked at each other. "Yeah right," they said in unison.
Luke would never give them bowls of coffee, never. Unfortunately. Luke came back and gave them each a cup of coffee, then sat down again.
Lorelai and Rory drank their coffee, and there was silence again. "So…..tell me about what's been happening these past few weeks," Lorelai said.
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked her.
"Maggie. Do you guys like her? Does Jess like her? What did you think of her, before you knew who she was?"
Rory and Luke looked at each other, and then Rory looked into her coffee cup.
"Okay, tell me. What is it?" Lorelai asked, looking from Rory to Luke.
"It's nothing. We like her," Rory said.
"Honey, you were always a bad liar. I don't think you should start lying now. And just because you're looking down doesn't mean that I don't see your eyes doing that blinky thing."
"My eyes do not do the blinky thing when I'm lying!"
"Yes they do, and you know it. Now, tell me."
Rory looked back into her coffee cup and stubbornly remained silent. "Fine," Lorelai said.
She turned to Luke. "Okay then, you tell me."
"Tell you what? There's nothing to tell. I don't know what you're talking about. Then again, that's not anything new, since I never know what you're talking about," Luke rambled in his usual gruff tone.
Lorelai pouted and batted her eyelashes. "Lukey?" she said, putting a hand on his arm. "You know you want to tell me."
Luke rolled his eyes, and Rory pretended to start coughing. Lorelai distinctly heard her say 'Cleopatra'. She glared at Rory, then turned back to Luke, her pout back into place.
"Fine. Yes, I - " he glanced at Rory. " - we liked her."
"Especially at first," Rory added.
"And, uh, we still, you know, like her," Luke said.
"Right. We still do. She's very interesting," Rory said.
Luke and Rory glanced at each other again. "Okay, stop, this is just weird!" Lorelai said. "Since when are you two so connected?"
"Since Maggie came and Jess started……started……they have this connection - " Rory started to blurt out, then stopped.
"Oh. I see," Lorelai said in an all-knowing tone.
"No you don't. What do you see?" Luke asked, sounding irritated.
"You guys are jealous."
"What?" Luke and Rory asked at the same time.
Lorelai gave a little laugh. "You're jealous of Maggie's relationship with Jess. Neither of you are used to sharing him. Hehe, this is getting good! So tell me more about it," Lorelai said, taking another gulp of coffee.
"We are not jealous of anything," Luke told Lorelai.
"Right," Rory added, sounding a little less certain.
Lorelai gave them a look. "Not jealous. Maybe just a little…….surprised," Rory relented.
"Yeah. Surprised," Luke said, looking at Rory and nodding.
"Sure. And you call me Cleopatra?" Lorelai said to Rory.
"Cleopatra?" Luke asked.
"Because Mom is in denial. You know, Cleopatra? Queen of de-Nile?"
Lorelai gave Rory a death glare. "Okay. What's she in denial about?" Luke asked, curious.
"I gave you life, and I can take it away," Lorelai said to Rory.
Rory smirked at her mother. "Jess would make your life miserable," Rory told Lorelai smugly.
Lorelai gasped. "You would sic your boyfriend on me!"
"How could I do that if I were dead?" Rory retorted.
"Good point. But now I've told you my master plan, so you'll tell him in advance."
Lorelai smirked back at Rory. "Hiding behind your big bad boyfriend? Hoping he'll protect you from your mother?"
"I know who could protect you from him," Rory said innocently.
"Okay, change of subject! So, Luke, are you seeing anyone?" Lorelai asked.
Her eyes widened as soon as she realized what she had just asked. Why did she care? It had just popped out, she hadn't meant to ask Luke that. Because she didn't care. She really didn't. What did it matter to her? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Uh, no. Do I even want to know what you two were talking about?" Luke asked them.
Lorelai and Rory answered at the same time.
"Yes," Rory said.
"No," Lorelai said.
Luke raised his eyebrows at them. Suddenly Lorelai hit her hand on the table. "You two! Trying to distract me! It won't work, I tell you! It won't work! Now tell me about the whole Jess/Maggie, you two getting jealous situation."
"Okay, fine. But we're not jealous," Rory said.
"Yeah. That's ridiculous," Luke added.
"So?" Lorelai prompted them.
"It's just……..now that we know that she's Jess' grandmother, it all makes perfect sense. It didn't surprise me, either. I mean, yeah, I was surprised, but it explained why Jess was always so drawn to her," Rory said.
She frowned slightly. "We got into a fight because of Maggie once," she said.
"You did? When?" Lorelai asked. "You didn't tell me about this."
"It was last week. Luke wanted to talk to Maggie alone, so he asked me to get Jess out of the diner. I said I would, because I thought it would be no problem. But it turned out to be a problem. Jess didn't even want to go with me because Maggie had just gotten there and he wanted to talk to her."
Rory had been unable to mask the slight annoyance in her tone. Lorelai was looking at her daughter, surprised, but Luke was nodding in agreement. "It's just little things like that," he told Lorelai. "You know that paper Jess wrote? Maggie got him to do it. Not me. I've been trying to get him to do schoolwork for the past year now, and he never did it until Maggie wanted him to."
Lorelai was looking at both of them in surprise. She couldn't believe that the two of them really felt that way. It made her wonder if they felt that way about her, too. Jess was important in both Luke and Rory's lives, but Lorelai knew that she was important in both of their lives also. If she had been drawn to someone else, like Jess had, would they be just as upset? It certainly gave Lorelai something to think about, but she pushed it to the back of her mind for the moment.
"And now that you know the truth?" Lorelai asked, her voice soft and gentle.
Rory looked at the table, and Luke looked at the wall behind them. "It'll just take some getting used to," Rory finally said.
Luke nodded. "Yeah."
Suddenly he got up. "Look, it's almost six thirty, and if I open the diner again, I can still catch most of the dinner crowd."
"Oh, yeah. We're leaving," Lorelai said.
She and Rory also got up. "I'll see you later, Luke," Rory said, leaving.
Lorelai hung back a little. "You're going to be okay, right?" she asked.
"Yeah. Although tomorrow I'll probably try and talk to Jess. Who knows how that will go."
Lorelai got a thoughtful expression on her face. "Right. Who knows," she echoed, her mind spinning with a new idea.
"Hey Lorelai," Luke said as she turned to leave.
She turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
She looked at him. "For what?"
"For, you know, listening to me. This thing with Maggie and Jess…….it's going to take some getting used to."
Lorelai walked back over to him. "Luke, this is only the beginning. From now on, we're all linked."
"What are you talking about?"
"Maggie's linked to me, my parents, and Jess. Jess is linked to Rory, who's linked to me. He's also linked to you, and I'm linked to you, too."
Lorelai shrugged. "We're family now. The Gilmores and Marianos have always been family. Even when Jess didn't know, he ended up being a part of Rory's life, which brought him into the Gilmore world. And you're his uncle, which brings you into our world too. We're all family now, Luke. Better get used to it."
Then, to both Lorelai and Luke's surprise, she hugged him. Luke, although surprised, hugged her back. Suddenly they both realized what they were doing and broke apart. "I'll, uh, flip the sign on my way out," Lorelai said to fill the awkward silence.
"Right," Luke said, going over to the table and picking up the coffee cups. "See you, Lorelai."
"'Bye Luke."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So what did you and Luke talk about while I was waiting for you outside?" Rory asked curiously.
Lorelai shrugged. "He said thanks for listening to him."
"What'd you say?"
Rory and Lorelai kicked off their shoes and plopped down on the couch. "I told him he better get used to it because we're family now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Family. Rory, listen up, because you have to know this before we see my mother. I'm sure Maggie will have called her, and it's all she'll be talking about. The Gilmores and Marianos have always been family to each other. This includes us, my parents, Maggie, and now Jess and Luke."
Lorelai stopped, thinking of something. "Oh, that reminds me. Not only will my mother want to meet Jess, but there's a much greater chance that she'll like him, since he's Maggie's grandson."
"Oh. It seems like everything's changing."
"Well, it's a good change, I think," Lorelai said. "Do you know how thrilled my mother will be? She and Maggie have always wanted someone from our two families to get together. Thank God Jimmy didn't listen to his parents any more than I did."
"What?"
"Jimmy. Maggie's son - and wow, Jess' father. That idea is going to take some getting used to."
"You knew Jess' father?" Rory asked.
"Of course I did. He was several years older than me, but he was always nice to me. At first our parents wanted us to get together, but Jimmy and I were never more than friends. And then Jimmy……..changed, and my parents were glad that I had nothing more to do with him."
"This is definitely weird," Rory said, then got up.
"Where are you going?" Lorelai asked.
"I have to do homework. I do have school tomorrow, you know."
"Ugh, and I have to work tomorrow. Wanna play hooky?"
"No."
"You're no fun," Lorelai pouted.
"I know."
Rory yawned. "I'm so tired. Can we just order pizza later?"
"Yeah, sure babe. Hey!" Lorelai called, trying to sound casual, as Rory started walking away. "You don't think Jess is, you know, causing trouble somewhere, do you? Because then Luke would blame me."
"No. He's probably at the bridge."
"Why would he be there?"
Rory gave a small, secretive smile. "He goes there a lot."
"Uh-huh. I see. Go do your homework, missy."
Rory left, and Lorelai turned on the TV. She tried to pay attention the TV, but her mind kept jumping from Jess to Luke.
Maybe I should go talk to Jess. I mean, I could answer any questions he has about Maggie or even Jimmy. I knew them well; he could ask me about them if he wanted. But then that would mean I would have to talk to Jess and be nice to him. Sure, he might be growing on me, slowly, but that doesn't mean I'm all ready to have a heart-to-heart with him. He better not be doing anything illegal, or Luke will have my head.
Lorelai sighed. Luke. I can't believe I asked him if he was dating anyone. Where did that come from? I most definitely did not mean to ask him that. But……what if he were dating someone? That would be weird. It's always weird when Luke is with someone else………not because I like him in that way or anything, just because his girlfriends never understand that we're just friends. It's like they always think something is going on between the two of us. Which if ridiculous. Because we're just friends.
Lorelai frowned slightly. What was she watching? It looked like Fear Factor or something. She changed the channel and found an old sitcom. She tried to pay attention, but her mind wandered back to Luke.
Why did I hug him? Lorelai wondered. It was an impulsive thing. It was like a welcome-to-the-family kind of hug. Yeah, that's what it was. But Luke hugged me back.
A small smile crept onto Lorelai's face. It felt really nice when he hugged me back. His arms were so strong and safe, and -
"No!" Lorelai said out loud.
She shook her head. No way am I falling for Luke. That is ridiculous. Crazy. Because we are just friends. That's all. Nothing more. Just friends.
Lorelai changed the channel on the TV again. She needed to find something that would hold her attention. When her mind wandered, it was a dangerous thing. She found an old James Dean movie, and her thoughts jumped to Jess again.
I could go find him now. Go to the bridge. Rory would never know. I could talk to him, then come back and order the pizza. It's not like Jess would tell anyone.
Lorelai shook her head. She couldn't believe she was actually thinking about going to find Jess. Why would I do something stupid like that? The kid's finally starting to grow on me, kinda, in an extremely small way, and now I want to ruin that by having an actual conversation with him? I know he'll be rude as hell and just make me angry. So why am I even considering this?
Because he's family now, a little voice in the back of her head told her.
This was getting much too complicated for Lorelai to think about anymore. But it was kinda comforting, in a way. Luke and Jess were a big part of Lorelai and Rory's lives, and now they were officially family. Lorelai smiled slightly. The thought wasn't altogether horrifying.
Lorelai turned off the TV. That's it. I'm going to find the kid and talk to him, she told herself resolutely. For Luke's, Rory's, and even Maggie's sakes.
Lorelai got her shoes and put on a coat, then went to the front door. She opened it, then let out a gasp of surprise.
"Jess! You scared me," she said, her hand over her heart.
Jess was standing on the doorstep. "I was about to knock," he muttered.
Lorelai stood back and held the door open. "Come on in. Are you here to see Rory? She's doing homework, but - "
Jess was looking at the ground uncomfortably. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you," he interrupted. "But if you're going out, then fine, I'll just go."
Jess quickly turned around and started walking away, and Lorelai glanced inside her house, then made her decision. She closed the front door and followed Jess into the yard. "Hey, wait!" she called.
Jess stopped. "What?"
"I was on my way out, actually. I was, uh, I was going to come find you. To talk."
"You were? What, did you three pull straws and you got the short one?"
"Yes. So now I'm the one that has to talk to you," Lorelai said, refusing to be put off by his sarcasm.
Jess shot her a surprised look. He was never really sure when she was joking or not, but usually she got annoyed when he was sarcastic to her. Huh.
"So what are we talking about?" Jess asked as they walked.
"Well…….I don't know. I know Maggie and Jimmy pretty well. You got anything you want to know about them?"
"You knew my dad?"
"Of course I did."
"Oh, of course," Jess said sarcastically.
Lorelai sighed. "I have explained it to Luke, I have explained it to Rory, and now I shall explain it to you. So be quiet, no sarcastic comments until the end, please. Thank you very much."
Jess just looked at her as if she were crazy. "Okay, here goes. The Gilmores and Marianos - okay, you know what's weird?" Lorelai asked, immediately getting off track. "I've known your last name since forever, and it never even occurred to me that you could be Jimmy's son. I mean, Mariano, you'd think I would at least think of Maggie or Jimmy. But I never did. And I didn't have any dreams with you or Jimmy in them or anything either. This could mean I'm not psychic."
Lorelai seemed disappointed at the thought. "But maybe I wasn't supposed to know. No one was supposed to know, until the time was right. That's why I didn't dream about it. Because I am psychic, you know."
"I believe you," Jess said, remaining quiet as she rambled on.
"I'm not talking Miss Cleo psychic, I'm talking - has Rory said anything to you about me lately?" Lorelai suddenly asked, reminded of Rory calling her Cleopatra when she mentioned Miss Cleo.
"No. Why do you ask, Cleopatra?" Jess asked with his trademark smirk.
"I can't believe it! How much do you know?" Lorelai exclaimed, not really upset but pretending to be.
"How much is there to know?"
"She is not my child, you know. I found her on the street and thought she looked cuter than the guy I was supposed to go out with that night, so I brought her home instead."
"Huh."
"Yes. Because honestly, could I ever have such a crazy, lying child? She lies, you know. Constantly. She makes up these lies about me and Luke and about him liking me and me secretly liking him, and it's all lies."
"Yeah. She does the blinky thing," Jess said, playing along with Lorelai.
Lorelai's rambling was distracting him from the thoughts that had been swirling around in his mind for the past couple of hours. Lorelai shot him a surprised and appreciative look. She was surprised that he was playing along with her and appreciated that he wasn't openly being rude to her.
"Didn't know you had it in ya, Richie Rich," Lorelai said to him.
"Didn't know I had what?"
"Well, you played along with me right there. Only Rory does that. Well, Luke does sometimes. But no one else gets it. You get it! Wow, you really are a Mariano. This one time, at a party, me and Jimmy started this whole insane conversation, and everyone else thought we were completely crazy, so they left us alone, which was what we wanted in the first place. Then he snuck out and brought me back a beer. Ah, that's what got me through that party," Lorelai said, fondly remembering.
Suddenly she remembered who she was talking to and looked at Jess to see his reaction to hearing about his father. "Richie Rich?" was Jess' only response.
"Well, duh. You're the heir to the entire Mariano fortune, Richie. And there's a lot of it."
"What?"
"Maggie and your grandfather, James, were both only children. Jimmy was an only child. You're an only child. That means that you, Maggie, and Jimmy are the only ones left. Jimmy and Maggie have been estranged for twenty years now, so I doubt he'll be the one left with the money. It's all you."
Jess looked like he was digesting the information. "You really never thought of that? I mean, you had to know Maggie had money."
"Well, yeah, but………"
"Don't worry, I don't think your street cred will go down any just because you're rich all of the sudden."
Lorelai grinned. "We can say that you killed some guy and stole his money……or, I know, you're this huge drug dealer, so that's how you got all the money!"
Lorelai nodded, satisfied. "People would believe that."
Jess, once again, looked at Lorelai as if she were crazy. "Why do we have to tell them anything?" he asked.
Both Jess and Lorelai looked surprised after he said that. Never had Lorelai and Jess referred to themselves as a 'we'. They usually tried to avoid each other. Lorelai quickly spoke up to break the uncomfortable silence that had befallen them.
"This is Stars Hollow! You're lucky if everyone doesn't know already."
Jess shrugged. Lorelai and Jess continued walking. They had circled the town twice already. "So you really hadn't thought about the money?" Lorelai asked. "I know I would have."
"Nope."
"Oh."
They kept walking. Jess glanced at Lorelai, who was looking around, her hands in her coat pocket. It was kinda nice of her to talk and walk around in the freezing cold with him.
"So what were you going to tell me before?" Jess asked, breaking the silence.
"What?" Lorelai said, looking surprised that Jess had initiated conversation with her.
"Before you started rambling about being a psychic."
Lorelai thought back. "Oh yeah. Oh! Okay, this is important. Rory and Luke understand, and now you have to, too. The Gilmores and Marianos have been family to one another since……….well, since I can remember. I mean, did you know that even after Maggie moved to England and I was on my own with Rory, she still wrote to me? I always liked her. When my own mother didn't understand me, Aunt Maggie always would."
Lorelai's voice had gotten quieter, and Jess knew that she was talking to herself rather than to him. Suddenly Lorelai tripped on a stick and grabbed Jess to steady herself.
"This is why you shouldn't think and walk," Lorelai told him.
"Gotcha."
"Okay, so what was I talking about?" Lorelai asked, letting go of his arm.
"Many things."
"Yeah. But……..oh yeah. My mom and Maggie have been best friends since forever, and so we always really were one family. And now that we've found out that you're Maggie's grandson, that means you and Luke are part of our family too."
"How do you figure?"
"I just told you. You're a Mariano, and Luke's your uncle. That makes you family with the Gilmores. And……..well, I don't know if I should tell you this, but you've got to know."
"What?" Jess asked suspiciously.
"My mother and Maggie have always wanted to be a real family."
Jess gave her a blank look. "You and Rory?" Lorelai asked. "Remember her? You guys are dating? She's a Gilmore, you're a Mariano? Now do you get it?"
Lorelai thought she saw a panicked look in Jess' eye, and she grinned. "Don't worry. Just tell them you don't want to rush things and get married young."
Jess had a horrified look on his face. "Luke and I will try out best to keep them off of you two. But think of the bright side. My mother will probably love you now," Lorelai continued.
"Oh goody," Jess said, masking his face of emotion once again.
Lorelai laughed. "Exactly."
Lorelai suddenly turned serious. "No, but I really came out here to talk to you. I can listen, or you can ask me about Jimmy or Maggie or anything."
Jess didn't say anything for a moment, but Lorelai knew he was thinking of what to ask. "Why would she come to town and not tell anyone who she was?" Jess finally asked.
"Wow, you picked the tough one. Well, think of it this way. Maggie doesn't know anything about you, and you know nothing about her. She said she wanted to get to know you before she told you to form a relationship. I mean," Lorelai gave a little laugh. "What would you have done if she just showed up at the diner and said 'Hey, guess what? I'm your long-lost extremely rich grandmother'?"
Jess smirked. "Well - "
"Yeah, I know what a charmer you are to strangers."
"Hey, I try my best."
"Yeah. Listen, we either need to go home or sit down somewhere, because this is the most walking I've ever done in my whole entire life," Lorelai told him.
She started dragging her feet. "Don't. Think. I. Can. Make. It. Oooh!" she squealed. "We're home. Fred can make me coffee!"
"I thought Fred broke."
"Well, he did. But now he works again. I've been spending more time with him, so he's been working lately."
Jess gave her a strange look. "Huh."
"Yeah. Listen, we can just stop for coffee and then leave again, but I warn you, Rory might attack. Ooh, we could sneak in! I'm sure you're good at that."
Lorelai paused. "Then again, I don't want you to figure out how to sneak into my house. Scratch that."
"No, I'm gonna go," Jess said.
"Oh. Okay."
Jess walked away, then stopped and turned around. "Thanks," he called to Lorelai.
He smirked at Lorelai's shocked expression, then kept walking. Lorelai walked back into the house. That was extremely odd. Did Jess just thank me? I didn't know he knew how to be polite. Well, okay, maybe calling it across someone's yard and then walking away isn't exactly polite behavior, but still. He was actually………not horrible. This is shocking. I must get to the kitchen and make coffee.
Lorelai sat down and was waiting for her coffee to be done when Rory walked into the kitchen. "Hey," Rory said.
"Hey. Done?" Lorelai asked.
"Yeah."
She sat down across from Lorelai, and they both waited for their coffee. "Want me to order?" Rory asked her mother.
"Sure. Extra pepperoni."
"Obviously."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jess went back to the bridge, where he had been sitting and thinking before he went to find Lorelai. He sat down, but instead of thinking about Maggie he was now thinking about Lorelai.
Huh. I guess if you're nice to people, they're actually nice back. Lorelai isn't so bad after all. I told Rory I would make an effort, and I did. I expected it to be extremely painful, though. I'm glad that it wasn't. Lorelai's actually pretty funny. Crazy, but in a funny way. At least, I think she was joking. It's hard to tell………but I never knew anyone could talk that much. Sure, Rory rambles on sometimes, but her rambling is nothing compared to Lorelai's!
Jess threw a rock into the water and watched the water rippling. The Gilmores and the Marianos. One family? And suddenly Luke and I are a part of that. That's gonna be weird. I hope they don't expect us to all go to those stupid Friday night things and talk about our lives or feelings. If we do, there's no way in hell I'm not dragging Luke with me. He'll probably hate it even more than me. Huh. That could be amusing. I don't know if it'd be worth it, though.
He thought back to the story Lorelai had told him about Jimmy. Seems like he wasn't always so bad. Still………
Jess remembered Maggie talking about how he had dropped out of Yale and started hanging out with a bad crowd. That's weird. To think that my father went to Yale, and my grandmother is a millionaire. When I went into Chilton that one time to find Rory, I felt like I didn't belong. But I guess I would. I'm as blue-blooded as the rest of them.
Jess shook his head. This is too crazy. But……I always knew there was just something about Maggie. She's cool. It could be kinda cool to have her as a grandmother. She doesn't put any pressure on me or demand anything from me. She just seems to actually like me, the real me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, it was almost ten at night. Rory was trying to read, but her mind kept jumping to Jess. She hoped he was okay and wasn't out doing something stupid. She wanted to go find him and talk to him, but he probably needed some space.
Rory thought back to dinner with her mom. Lorelai had told her that Jess was probably heir to the entire Mariano fortune. She asked her mom what that meant, exactly, and Lorelai had said that Maggie had millions of dollars, and was as involved in as many charities and the like as Emily was.
Jess, a millionaire? Jess is probably as rich, if not more so, than some of the other kids at Chilton. I can't believe it. And Mom thinks that Grandma will like Jess now. It's so weird. It's like it was meant to be, me and Jess. We both grew up away from our family's fortunes and pressures, but now we're slowly getting back to them.
Suddenly Rory heard a tapping on her window. She flung it open and found Jess standing outside. "Hey," he said.
Rory immediately slipped into some shoes and climbed out her window. "Hey," she said back, moving closer to Jess.
Jess wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. "Come to the bridge?" he asked, his voice muffled in her hair.
"Yeah," Rory said softly.
Jess released her, but Rory slipped an arm around his waist as they started walking. They reached the bridge and sat, and Rory leaned against Jess. They sat in silence before Jess broke it by speaking.
"Did you talk to your mom tonight?" he asked.
"About what?"
Jess knew then that Lorelai must not have told Rory that she had talked to him. "I just wondered if she mentioned anything about me," he said.
"No. Why?" Rory asked curiously.
"When you were doing your homework, she and I kinda talked."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"And you're both in one piece?" Rory asked.
"Guess so."
"Wow."
Rory absorbed this piece of information. "She has a new nickname for me," Jess told Rory.
Rory smiled slightly. "What is it?"
"Richie Rich."
Rory started laughing. "That's a good one! It fits, too."
"What are you talking about?"
"Mom told me how rich Maggie is. She has millions of dollars."
Jess looked surprised, but quickly recovered. "Huh."
"Yeah. She thinks Grandma is going to love you now."
"Yeah, she said something about that to me."
"Did she give you the whole 'one big family' speech?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah. She said she gave it to you and Luke, too."
"Yeah."
They were silent again. "So what have you been thinking about?" Rory finally asked.
She was dying to know, and couldn't put off asking any longer. Jess shrugged. "I don't know. Just trying to absorb it, I guess."
"Are you upset?"
"No."
Rory looked relieved. "That's good."
She was quiet, waiting for Jess to say something. "It's not a bad thing, right?" he finally said. "I mean, Maggie's cool."
"Right."
Jess looked at her. "What?" he asked.
There had been something in her tone. "Nothing."
"You're a bad liar."
"So they tell me."
"So?" Jess persisted.
Rory sighed. "Okay, I like Maggie, really. I do. But Luke and I………"
"You and Luke?"
"Yes. We both like Maggie, but……..I don't know."
"But what?"
Jess didn't get what she was trying to say. "We don't want to get replaced," Rory said quietly, looking at her hands.
"What?"
Rory looked up and looked straight at him. "Me. I don't want to be replaced. I don't like being second to her. And Luke didn't like that he's been trying you to do homework since you moved here, but you didn't do anything until Maggie got you to. Not him. That's all."
Jess looked surprised by her admission. He had no idea she and Luke felt that way. He had no idea he had even been doing that to them, either. Well, he and Rory had fought about it that one time, but he didn't know that Luke felt the same way Rory did. Huh, he thought.
"You're not going to be replaced," Jess finally said.
Rory shot a quick look at him, then looked back down at her lap. "Okay."
Jess reached over and put a finger under Rory's chin, tilting her face up. He leaned forward and kissed her, and she eagerly responded. As the kiss progressed, Jess and Rory's hands wandered over the others' body. Each craved the other's touch, and when they finally broke apart for air, Jess pulled away, knowing that if it went any further he probably couldn't control himself.
"You should - get home," he said.
"Yeah," Rory agreed breathlessly.
Jess walked Rory home, and she climbed back in through her window. "'Night Dodger," she said, leaning forward and giving him a kiss.
"'Night Princess."
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Author's Note: Well, you know who Maggie is now! The mystery has been solved! Oh, dear. What will you do now? I know! Review! Review, review, and review!
And some of you guessed right about who Maggie is! You're just too smart!
Coming in Chapter 10………..Someone catches Rory and Jess together, Maggie goes to see Emily, Jess and Luke talk (until they're interrupted), and the little lie Lorelai told her mother about her Valentine's Day plans is about to take a surprise turn.