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.
********************************************************************************
"I am so tired," Rory moaned the next morning, coming into the kitchen.
Lorelai was sitting at the kitchen table with her chin propped up by her hand. "Me too. I'm going to call my mom and say you're sick so we can't come to dinner tonight."
"But Mom - "
"Rory, come on. We're both tired, and all she'll be doing is talking about Maggie and grilling you about Jess. Do you really want to deal with that so soon?"
"Well, no, but - "
"Come on. Do it for me. Please?" Lorelai pleaded.
"Okay, fine," Rory relented.
"Yay!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That afternoon, Rory was by her locker talking with Paris about Francie. She had put it off long enough. "Look, Paris, I have to tell you something. Francie really has it in for you."
"What do you mean?" Paris demanded.
"She's………she keeps coming up to me when I'm alone, and telling me that if you don't go along with her ideas, then she's going to make you look stupid and undermine your presidency."
"She can't do that," Paris said firmly.
"She might be able to. Francie's pretty influential………I just wanted to tell you what she's up to."
"Well, thanks for the heads-up, Gilmore," Paris said.
She looked behind Rory. "Looks like I can return the favor. Incoming bad boy."
Rory turned around and saw Jess. "Hi," she said, giving him a kiss.
"Hi."
Paris cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I'll just be going now," she said.
"Okay. 'Bye Paris," Rory said.
"'Bye."
Paris and Jess nodded to each other. "What are you doing here?" Rory asked Jess after Paris walked away.
"I seem to remember hearing you say once that when someone drives you home, they get a dinner date," Jess said, moving closer to her.
"Oh, really? I don't remember that," Rory said playfully.
She backed up a step, but her back was against her locker. "Maybe I can jog your memory," Jess said, putting his hands against the lockers on both sides of her shoulders and effectively pinning her in place.
"I don't know if you can do that. My memory's pretty bad," Rory said, looking into Jess' eyes.
Jess grinned at her. "Then I guess I'll just have to keep trying."
He kissed her, his mouth hot and demanding, and Rory responded, forgetting that she was in school. She reached up and twined her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his air. All of the sudden she heard a loud voice.
"What is going on here?" a male voice demanded.
Rory and Jess broke apart and Rory saw Headmaster Charleston rapidly approaching her and Jess. "Oh my God," Rory murmured. "That's the headmaster!"
"Shit," Rory heard Jess mutter under his breath.
"Miss Gilmore!" Headmaster Charleston exclaimed, sounding extremely surprised.
"Yes, Headmaster Charleston?" Rory asked meekly.
He recovered himself. "I can not believe you would do……you would do this here! In the middle of the hallway!"
"I'm sorry," Rory said.
He turned to Jess. "And you! Who are you? You don't go here."
"Jess Mariano, sir."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jess saw Rory raise her eyebrows at the 'sir'. Hey! I know when I'm screwed and have to be on my best behavior, he thought defensively.
"Mariano?"
"Uh, yes," Jess said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
He took a close look at Jess. "Any relation to Maggie? I heard she's back in town."
Jess was surprised for a second. He didn't realize yet how influential his newfound grandmother really was. And he also wasn't used to the idea that he was Maggie's grandson.
"Yes. She's my grandmother," Jess replied, the words sounding foreign to him.
"Oh. Well. I'll let you both off with a warning. I know your family - " he looked pointedly at Rory " - would be devastated to hear about your behavior, and I don't want to bother Maggie when she's just moved home. But I never want to see this from either of you again! Understood?"
"Yes," Rory and Jess responded in unison.
Rory quickly grabbed her things, and she and Jess walked out to Jess' car, feeling Headmaster Charleston's eyes on their backs the whole time. Rory and Jess quickly got in, and Jess drove off.
Rory exhaled as soon as Chilton disappeared from view. "I can't believe that just happened," Rory said.
Jess smirked. "Afraid he'd tell your family?"
"No!" Rory said defensively. "It's just embarrassing. Being caught like that, I mean. But you put in a pretty good performance."
"Who's acting?"
"Oh, please! You called him sir! I've never heard you call anyone sir."
"Well, I didn't want to get you in trouble," Jess muttered.
Rory smiled. "Thanks."
They were silent for a moment before Rory spoke again. "I can't believe he knew Maggie," Rory said.
"Yeah, that was weird."
Rory thought about it. "Well, maybe not. Mom said that she's involved with charities and stuff like that, like my grandma is. That's probably how they know the same people."
"Huh."
"But still," Rory mused aloud. "It'll be interesting."
"What will?" Jess asked suspiciously.
"The first event that Maggie and my grandma drag us to. If today was any indication, Maggie is pretty high up on the social ladder."
Jess threw Rory a quick look. "Did I miss something?"
"Jess, I've known the headmaster for awhile now. He knows the parents of everyone at school, and he certainly doesn't care about calling and telling them what awful children they have. Normally he would have called my family and yours, and even if someone he knew had moved back, he wouldn't care about calling and telling them what problems their child has caused."
"But he said he didn't want to bother Maggie," Jess interjected.
Rory nodded. "Exactly. But what that really means is that he doesn't dare bother her."
"And what does that mean?"
"It means that she's pretty high up there."
Jess looked at Rory again, then looked back at the road. "You figured all of this out from one conversation? And you know how these people's minds work?"
Rory shrugged. "You'll figure it out soon too."
"This is too crazy."
"Yeah, it is. Welcome to my world."
"Gee, thanks," Jess muttered.
Seeing the scowl on his face, Rory tried to think of a way to distract him. "So, I meant to tell you," she said.
"Tell me what?"
"I think my memory might have been jogged a little."
Jess smirked, remembering their earlier conversation. "A little?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'll just have to keep working on it."
They pulled into Rory's driveway, and Jess turned off the car and turned to face Rory. "I can be very persistent, you know," Jess said, leaning towards her.
"Oh, I know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That same afternoon, Maggie was standing on the doorstep of the Gilmore home in Hartford. She rang the doorbell, and waited patiently until a maid answered the door.
"Hello, my name is Ida. How may I be of service?" she asked politely, yet nervously.
"Hello, Ida," Maggie said, suppressing a smirk.
Emily obviously hadn't changed, and was still intimidating her maids. "I'm here to see Emily Gilmore."
"May I ask your name?"
"Well……..I suppose you may," Maggie said, now struggling now to smirk.
Maggie waited, and Ida just looked at her blankly. "Well? Are you going to ask me?" Maggie prompted.
"Oh, yes! Of course. What is your name?"
"Well, I really don't think I want to reveal that just yet," Maggie said thoughtfully. "Can you just tell Mrs. Gilmore that an old friend is here to see her?"
Ida looked nervous, and her eyes darted from side to side. "Well - but I'm supposed to - "
"Just tell her."
"Well, I - well, you'll have to wait here, then."
Ida closed the door and Maggie knew she was probably running off to find Emily. Maggie now smirked openly. She was very kind to her own servants, but couldn't help but find it amusing when toying with other people's servants, especially Emily's. It always got Emily so upset.
Maggie heard Emily and Ida approaching the door, and could hear Emily berating Ida. "How could you not get her name?"
"She wouldn't tell me, ma'am!" Ida cried.
"An old friend? If she's really a friend of mine, and you left her on the doorstep……" Emily's voice trailed off threateningly.
Suddenly the door was flung open, and Maggie found herself face to face with Emily. "I hope you don't mind that I didn't leave my name," Maggie said. "I thought it would be better to surprise you."
Emily had been staring at Maggie, but at her voice, she started. "Margaret? Come in!" Emily exclaimed, swinging the door wide open.
She turned to Ida. "You," she barked. "Get us some tea."
"Yes, ma'am," Ida said meekly.
"Really, Emily," Maggie said, closing the door behind her as she walked into the Gilmore home. "I was just having some fun. Don't go blaming her."
"Well, it's not the first time she's annoyed me. Last night, we didn't have dinner until seven thirty!"
"No!" Maggie gasped, pretending to be shocked.
Emily and Maggie sat down in the living room, and Emily couldn't help but smile. "Oh, Maggie, how do you always lighten every situation?"
"By showing you how you've darkened it," Maggie responded promptly.
The two women smiled at each other. They had only had a few visits over the past twenty years, but they had been friends since they were children, and easily slipped back into their old comaderie.
"It's good to see you," Emily said. "I must say, though, it's quite a surprise. For the past twenty years, you've never come back to Hartford. I've always had to go and visit you."
"No one was forcing you to visit me."
"Now, dear, you know I didn't mean it like that."
Maggie smiled, reaching across and taking hold of one of Emily's hands. "I know. But I have the most wonderful news."
"Really?" Emily asked, looking excited.
One was always excited when Maggie was sharing something with them. She had that effect on people. Maggie smiled at Emily. "I've moved back to Hartford."
"No! Really?"
Maggie nodded.
"Oh, this is wonderful! Wait until Richard hears, he'll be so thrilled. Who else knows?"
"Well, I'm sure the rumors have already started being spread. I moved back a few weeks ago, and by now, I'm sure my help have told other people's help."
"A few weeks?" Emily asked, looking put out. "You've been back a few weeks, and you haven't come and see me once?"
"I had a reason," Maggie said mysteriously.
Just then, Ida reappeared. "Tea?" she asked Maggie.
"Yes, please, Ida," Maggie said.
Maggie felt slightly bad when she saw how nervous Ida was. She guessed that she had made Ida's situation with Emily worse. She took the tea Ida offered her and took a sip. "Oh, Ida, this is wonderful! Emily, I must say, this is some of the best tea I've ever had! Where did you find her?" she asked, shooting a smile towards Ida.
Emily waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, you know. One of those maid services."
"Well, if you're not careful, I'll snatch her up from under you!"
Emily shot an appraising look at Ida, and didn't notice Maggie wink at the maid. "Well, we can't have that, now, can we?" Emily asked, looking more cheerful. "That will be all for now, Ida, thank you."
Ida quickly left the room, shooting a grateful glance towards Maggie, who nodded to her. "Now, where were we?" Maggie asked pleasantly.
"I believe I was asking why you hadn't come and see me before now," Emily said, sounding slightly irritated again. "Who else would you possibly see before me?"
"Oh, Emily, you're the first from our circle that I've come and see. It's just……..I came back for a reason, and I had to see to that first."
Emily sighed impatiently. "Stop being so mysterious! You know that doesn't work on me, it doesn't pique my interest. Just tell me what you've been up to."
Maggie smiled and shook her head. "Of course, I've forgotten that you could always see right through me. It has to do with my own family."
"Jimmy?" Emily asked, looking surprised.
"No, no. Not Jimmy. When I was in England, I found out that Jimmy had a son."
"What?!"
Emily looked shocked. "I ran into one of Jimmy's old friends in England. Well, truth be told, his friend found me. He wanted some money."
"Oh, no, it wasn't that dreadful Brian boy, was it?"
Maggie nodded with a scowl. "Yes, the very same. How he even found me, I'll never know. I guess he was just really desperate for money."
"You didn't give him any, did you?" Emily asked, suspicious of Maggie's tone.
"I wasn't going to……..until he told me something."
"That you had a grandson?"
"Yes. At first I didn't want to believe him, so after he told me what he knew I told him to come back in a day or two, that I'd think about giving him the money. I made some calls and verified that what he had told me was, in fact, the truth, so when he came back I gave him some money, told him I never wanted to see him again, and moved back to Hartford."
Emily appeared deep in thought, as though she were digesting this information. "So, have you met your grandson? What did Jimmy say?" Emily finally asked.
There was a hint of sadness in Maggie's eyes as she spoke. "Well, as it turns out, Jimmy left his son."
"Oh. Maggie, I'm sorry," Emily said sincerely.
Maggie sighed. "Well, my grandson was living in New York with his mother, but then his mother sent him to live with her brother, his uncle."
"Oh? Have you met this uncle?"
"Yes. So have you, I believe. Luke Danes."
"No! Not………." Emily was doing some quick thinking, knowing that she knew that name. "That diner man?"
Maggie nodded. "Yes."
"Lorelai's dating him."
"She's - what?"
Maggie knew that Luke and Lorelai weren't dating. Sure, the potential was there, but neither Luke nor Lorelai had acted on it. She knew that. So what was Emily talking about?
"Lorelai. She's dating him……..Luke."
"Are you, um, sure?"
"Well, of course I'm sure. Lorelai told me herself."
"Oh."
Maggie didn't want to get in the middle of why Lorelai had lied to Emily about that - she always tried to stay out of Emily's and Lorelai's relationship - but she had to know what Lorelai had told Emily.
"So, when did you find this out?" Maggie asked nonchalantly.
"Well, it was about two weeks ago. We have Friday night dinners with Lorelai and Rory because - "
"I know."
"You do?"
Emily stopped talking for a moment, looking surprised. "How do you know?"
"I've kept in touch with Lorelai," Maggie said simply.
"Oh. Well, Lorelai and Rory couldn't make the next dinner because they had Valentine's Day plans, and I was so sure that Lorelai was lying about it, but she said she had plans with that diner man."
"Oh."
You're right, Emily, Maggie thought, with a hint of amusement. Lorelai was lying about it. I wonder if Luke knows? This could get interesting.
"So, tell me more. What about your grandson?"
"Well, he works at Luke's diner. So a few weeks ago, I went in and started spending most of every day there - but I had to avoid Lorelai, because of course she would know who I was."
"You didn't tell anyone who you were?"
"No. They thought I was some crazy old lady, I suppose," Maggie said with a slight smile.
"Hmmph. As if anyone ever thought that about you," Emily said, a grudging admiration in her tone.
"Well, maybe not," Maggie admitted.
"So why didn't you tell them who you were?" Emily asked. "That's the first thing I would have done."
"Emily, please. My grandson is eighteen years old. I'm not just going to suddenly waltz in and tell him that I'm long-lost grandmother, the mother of the father who abandoned him! I got to know him first, without telling him who I was. I only told them my first name."
"Them?"
"Well, I did my mysterious lady bit to both Luke and my grandson, and it worked."
"I see. It had him coming to you."
"Yes. Both my grandson and his uncle. And I met Rory."
"You did?" Emily asked, a smile lighting up her face.
"Yes. I only avoided Lorelai. My grandson, Rory, and I had quite a few conversations about books."
"Oh, so your grandson likes to read?"
"Yes, he has that in common with me……..and Rory too, it seems."
"Yes, she's quite the little reader," Emily said proudly.
"Yes. And yesterday……..Lorelai came in, and before I could leave, she had come over to our table, and she knew."
"How did she know?"
"Well, my grandson has the same last name as I do. And she said we look something alike."
"I see. Maggie, you never told me, what's his name?"
"Jess."
Maggie waited to see Emily's reaction. Did Emily know about Rory and Jess? "His name is - Jess?" Emily asked.
"Yes."
"And…….he lives in Stars Hollow?"
"Yes."
"But doesn't that mean that he's dating Rory?"
"Yes."
"Our……….our grandchildren are dating?"
"Yes."
Suddenly Emily smiled. "I can't believe it! Our grandchildren?"
Maggie smiled back. "Yes."
Suddenly Emily stopped smiling. "I haven't heard a lot of good things about your grandson," Emily told Maggie.
"Really," Maggie replied, keeping her tone casual.
"Yes."
Emily looked around somewhat nervously. She didn't want to bring this up with Maggie, but she had to get it all out in the open. "Lorelai didn't like him much, especially at first."
"Yes, I know. They're getting better, though."
"He crashed Rory's car and broke her wrist."
"I heard that story. Something about an animal in the road."
"He's practically flunking out of high school. A public high school, mind you! What kind of college will he go to?"
"A writers' one, actually."
Emily stopped. "What?"
"Well, Luke says it was my influence, but really I think it was his and Rory's. Jess wrote a paper for his English Lit class, and it was extremely well-written. His teacher called Luke in for a conference and told him that Jess could get into one of those specialty writers' colleges."
"Really?" Emily asked skeptically.
"Yes, of course really, Emily. Do you think I'm lying to you? Do you think my grandson has none of my writing skills?" Maggie asked, a slight edge to her voice.
"No, that's not what I meant," Emily said hurriedly. "It's just……well, I suppose I shouldn't make judgments until after I meet him."
"Yes, I suppose that would be a good idea," Maggie said, her tone pleasant once again.
Suddenly Emily looked excited. "Oh, wait until everyone knows that you're back! People will be knocking your door down. I should throw a party for you! And………you should bring Jess."
"A party? Oh, Emily, you know I don't like to make a big production out of things."
"But don't you want to see everyone?" Emily pressed. "You know that everyone will be dying to get a chance to talk to you! Living abroad for twenty years, you must have so many stories – "
"Please, don't rush into a party. Jess isn't………he only found out yesterday that I'm his grandmother. I need some time."
"Well, of course, we'll wait. But there must be a party, Maggie, there simply must!"
Maggie gave Emily a small smile. "Of course there must be, Emily, if you have anything to say about it. Look, I have to be going, but you should stop by sometime soon. I would invite you for dinner tonight, but I know that you have your Friday night dinners."
Emily frowned. "Lorelai cancelled. She said Rory was sick, although I know that's not true. I have no idea what she's thinking half of the time, honestly, I don't."
"Well, maybe this weekend you all could come and have dinner at my home."
"All of us?"
"You, Richard, Lorelai, Rory, Jess, and Luke. We could all get to know one another."
"That would be nice. If I can even get a hold of Lorelai. She doesn't even answer her phone half the time, and you should hear her answering machine message! Sometimes it amazes me that she's my daughter, really, it does."
Maggie smiled inwardly. She knew that as much as Emily complained about Lorelai, Emily loved her daughter very much. "You should try Luke's diner," Maggie told her. "Lorelai's always there."
"Oh. You're right, I should. In fact, I think I will. Soon. When would you like us to come over for dinner?"
"Well, I was thinking, maybe a Sunday brunch? That will give you some time to track down Lorelai."
"All right. Sunday brunch it is."
Maggie stood up. "Well, I must be going. Tell Richard I said hello, and can't wait to see him on Sunday."
"Of course I'll tell him. I'll see you on Sunday," Emily said, also standing up.
The two older women hugged, and then Maggie left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Maggie made her way to Luke's. It was only eight-thirty in the morning, and the diner was about half-full. Maggie didn't see Jess anywhere, but Luke was behind the counter.
Maggie sat down at her usual table and waited for Luke to come over to her. "Hello, Luke," she greeted him as he came over.
"Maggie! Hi. Um, how are you?" Luke asked awkwardly.
Maggie suppressed a smile. "I'm fine. I'd like some tea, please."
"Of course," Luke said, sounding relieved.
Maggie always ordered tea. It was normal. Things didn't seem so different after all. Luke brought Maggie her tea, and Maggie spoke to him. "I went and saw Emily Gilmore yesterday," she told him.
"Oh," Luke said, trying his best to sound interested, but inwardly wondering why she was telling him this.
"She wants to meet Jess."
"Because he's your grandson?"
"Well, yes. But also because he's Rory's boyfriend."
Luke winced. "I don't know how great of an impression he's going to make."
"Well, Emily wanted to meet him, and I want the two of you to see my home. Emily and Richard are coming over on Sunday for brunch, and I wanted to know if you and Jess could come."
"Jess………and me?" Luke asked.
"Of course. He lives with you. You're his uncle and guardian. Did you think I was just going to cut you out of the picture?"
"Well……..no………." Luke said unconvincingly.
"Well, now you know. I'm not trying to take over here. Emily's going to ask Lorelai and Rory to come, too."
"Oh."
"So can you come?"
"Well………sure, I guess," Luke finally said.
He paused, looking around the diner. "Jess is still sleeping," he told Maggie. "But I can tell him we're going."
"I'm sure you want to talk to him," Maggie said. "Maybe I'll stop by later for dinner and talk to him then."
"Okay," Luke said, sounding relieved once again.
Maggie stood up and took some money out of her purse for her tea. "It's on the house," Luke told her.
Maggie smiled at him. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
Luke looked slightly uncomfortable, but gave her a brief smile. "No problem."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Get up!" Luke said, barging in to Jess' room.
"What the hell?" Jess asked, disoriented, as Luke started pacing in front of him.
"We need to talk."
"Stop pacing, you're making me sick."
"Are you hung over?" Luke suddenly asked.
"What? No!"
"Where were you yesterday?"
"You woke me up to ask me that?" Jess asked, pulling the covers back over his head.
"Yes."
"Then get the hell out! I'm trying to sleep here."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me."
Jess let out a sigh of frustration. "Fine. I talked to Lorelai for awhile, and then Rory."
"You talked to Lorelai?" Luke asked, ripping the covers off of Jess' bed.
"We ran into each other. Ask her if you don't believe me, just get out and let me sleep."
"It's eleven o'clock in the morning."
"It's still morning, and I'm still going to be sleeping," Jess said, pulling his covers away from Luke.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. Get out."
"We're not done talking," Luke told him.
"I am!"
"Maggie was here this morning."
Jess sat up. "Huh."
"She went and saw Lorelai's mother last night."
"So?" Jess asked.
"She's having Lorelai's parents, Lorelai, and Rory over tomorrow for brunch."
"Did you just say the word brunch?" Jess asked with a smirk.
"Yes."
"Huh."
"What?" Luke asked, sounding irritated.
"Nothing."
"We're invited, too," Luke continued.
"What? I am not going to a brunch."
"Yes you are."
Jess squinted up at Luke. "I say I'm not."
"I told Maggie we'd be there," Luke said, now even more irritated.
"Oh, Uncle Luke, you shouldn't have," Jess said sarcastically.
"She said she's going to come back for dinner tonight."
"Dinner and brunch? What else is on our social calendar?"
Luke scowled. "This is not a joke. This is you getting to know your grandmother, seeing her house, and making a good impression on Rory's grandparents."
"I already know my grandmother, it's probably a mansion, and why would I want to make a good impression on Rory's grandparents?"
"Because they're Rory's family, and Maggie's friends. Just don't be yourself."
"Gee, Uncle Luke, you sure know how to make a guy feel special."
Luke didn't say anything for a moment. "What do you mean, it's probably a mansion?" Luke finally asked.
"Lorelai told me that Maggie's loaded."
Luke ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Great. Do you know what that means?"
"That I don't have to work and I'll still have money?"
Luke glared at him. "No. That we'll have to dress up tomorrow."
"What? I am not dressing up. I don't even have anything nice."
"Well, a Metallica t-shirt is definitely not going to cut it!" Luke told Jess, annoyed.
"Neither is a flannel!" Jess shot back.
Suddenly the door swung open and Lorelai stood in the doorway. "Do I hear you two discussing fashion?" she asked.
"No!" they both replied quickly.
Rory followed her mother in. "I heard it."
"Me too."
"What will we do with this new piece of information?" Rory asked her mother.
"I don't know, we'll have to think of something."
Lorelai surveyed Luke and Jess, then smirked. "Why were you talking about what you're going to wear?" she asked.
"Hasn't your mother told you yet?" Luke asked.
"Told me what?" Lorelai asked, her smirk disappearing.
"Maggie went and talked to her yesterday."
"Really? We skipped dinner last night, so I haven't talked to her."
"Well, Maggie came in this morning and told me that she's invited your parents to her house tomorrow……….for brunch."
"Did Luke just say the word brunch?" Lorelai asked Rory.
"You know, I think he just might have," Rory replied.
Both she and Lorelai were still standing in the doorway. "Get out of my room!" Jess told them.
"Well, somebody's grumpy this morning," Lorelai said.
Rory came over and sat down on Jess' bed. "Aw, poor baby," she teased.
Jess sat up again and put his arms around Rory, pulling her into his lap. "Good morning," Rory giggled, giving him a kiss.
"Ew! I'm blinded!" Lorelai cried dramatically.
She came in and sat down on Jess' bed next to Rory. "Hi Jessie," she said, bouncing up and down on the bed.
"Hi Lori – "
"Don't you dare!" Lorelai said, sticking a warning finger in his face.
Jess smirked at her. Lorelai decided to ignore him, and got up and walked over to Luke. "So what does my parents going to Maggie's have to do with any of us?"
"We're all invited, and expected to go," Luke grunted.
"Oh, great. I get us out of Friday night dinners, and I still have to see my parents! This is your fault," Lorelai said, pointing at Jess.
Jess shrugged, trying not to smirk. He had to admit that he wanted to see Maggie's home, and it could be funny to see Lorelai with her parents, from what he had heard.
"Come on, Mom, it could be fun," Rory said, also getting up.
"Oooh, and you guys don't know what to wear! Mini-Me, we get to dress them!" Lorelai told Rory excitedly.
"No!" Luke said vehemently.
Lorelai pouted. "Come on, I can help. I want to dress you!"
She turned to Rory. "You get that one," she said, jerking her head towards Jess.
Rory pouted. "Hey, he'll be harder!"
Jess smirked, and got up. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only pajama pants, and Lorelai covered her eyes. "He's not dressed!" she shrieked. "I never want to see again!"
Jess rolled his eyes, pulling on a shirt. "Lorelai, please, just go downstairs," Luke said.
Lorelai winked at him. "See you down there," she said, trying to sound sexy.
Luke rolled his eyes, and Rory and Lorelai left. "Get dressed," Luke told Jess. "You have to work this morning. And yes, we are going to brunch tomorrow."
"You can't tell me we're going to let them dress us."
Luke sighed. "How could we stop them?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lorelai and Rory were giggling together as they made their way downstairs into the diner. "We get to dress them!" Lorelai exclaimed gleefully.
"Lorelai!" came a sharp female voice.
Lorelai and Rory looked up and saw that Emily was in the diner. "What's she doing here?" Lorelai muttered to Rory.
"I don't know," Rory murmured quietly back.
Lorelai, with Rory following her, made their way over to where Emily was sitting. "Mom! What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked.
"Well, I need to talk to you, and you never answer your phone."
"Oh."
Both Lorelai and Rory sat down at Emily's table. "We have been invited to brunch at Maggie's tomorrow," Emily informed them.
"Uh-huh," Lorelai said.
"You two are expected to come."
"Okay."
"Okay?" Emily asked skeptically.
Lorelai shrugged, not telling Emily that she already knew about the brunch. "Sure."
Just then, Luke came down the stairs. "Oh, there's the diner man……….I mean Luke!" Emily said, quickly correcting herself. "I have to go talk to him."
"What? I mean – Mom – why?" Lorelai asked, trying not to sound panicked.
"Lorelai, I can talk to him if I want to. Why wouldn't I? He's your boyfriend, and I want to talk to him. I have to ask him something."
"No – Mom – wait!"
Oh no! Lorelai thought, turning panicked eyes towards Rory. Mom thinks Luke and I are dating, and Luke doesn't know that I told her that! I can't let her talk to him!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Review, please! It's what keeps me going! And you DO want me to keep going and writing this, right? Right? Review!
Coming in Chapter 11………I hope Lorelai has time to tell Luke what's going on! And you'll never guess who else ends up going to Maggie's! Plus………who has a moment, and who meets up with an unexpected person?