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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"Lorelai, what is the matter with you?" Emily asked as Lorelai grabbed her arm to stop her from getting up.
"Nothing. I - just wait a minute, okay? I have to - to do something first," Lorelai said, jumping up and practically running over to Luke.
Emily and Rory watched as Lorelai grabbed Luke's arm and dragged him back upstairs. "Is she doing what I think she's doing up there?" Emily asked.
"Oh, no, Grandma, don't worry," Rory said distractedly. "It's nothing like that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lorelai, what the hell are you doing?" Luke asked her as she dragged him upstairs.
Jess stopped behind the door to listen. "My mother's here!" Lorelai wailed.
"So? What, want me to hide Jess?"
Lorelai paused. "That's probably a good idea. But listen, she's going to come over and talk to you."
"What? Why?"
Jess smirked. He knew why. "I'll explain everything later, I promise, but we have to pretend we're dating!"
"What?"
"Luke, please!"
"Why?"
"I'll explain later!" Lorelai cried.
Just then Jess opened the door, smirking. "Lorelai told her mom that you two were dating," he told Luke.
"What?" Luke asked, turning back to Lorelai, who was glaring at Jess.
"How did you know that?" she snapped.
Jess raised his eyebrows at her, and he saw that she realized that Rory must have told him. "Why would you tell your mother that?" Luke asked.
"I told her I was going out with you on Valentine's Day because I was trying to get out of Friday night dinner, and - oh, I'll explain everything later, but Luke, please!"
"All right, all right," Luke said gruffly.
"Thank you!"
Luke and Lorelai turned and started walking back downstairs, and Luke looked back at Jess. "Don't come down," he called up to him.
Jess just smirked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lorelai came down and sat down by Emily and Rory again. "I'm going to talk to him," Emily told Lorelai.
"Why?" Lorelai asked, in a much calmer tone.
"I need to ask him something!"
"Fine, but I'm going with you," Lorelai said, seeing that her mother was determined to talk to Luke.
"Fine," Emily replied, getting up and walking towards Luke.
Lorelai shot a resigned look at Rory before following her mother. "Hello, Luke," Emily said.
"Hello, Mrs. Gilmore," Luke returned politely.
Lorelai went over and stood next to Luke. "I wanted to ask you something," Emily said, looking at the two of them strangely.
Luke and Lorelai were standing next to each other, quite a distance between them. "Wait - you two are dating, aren't you?" Emily asked, looking at Lorelai suspiciously.
Lorelai moved closer to Luke, linking her arm through his and leaning against him. "Are you calling me a liar?" Lorelai asked indignantly.
"Well……I suppose not. Anyway, Luke, I would like to invite you and Jess to brunch tomorrow at Maggie's," Emily said, turning to Luke.
"That would be great, thanks," Luke said.
Emily gave him a smile. "Excellent. Now - "
All of the sudden, two people walked into the diner, and Rory jumped up to greet them. "Dad!" they heard her say.
"Oh my God!" Lorelai muttered softly.
She looked up at Luke as Emily hurried over to Christopher, Sherry, and Rory. "We still have to pretend for just a little bit longer," Lorelai told him quietly.
Luke shook his head. "There better be a really good explanation for this," he said, and the two of them made their way over to Emily, Rory, Christopher, and Sherry.
"Lorelai! I bet you're surprised to see us, aren't you?" Sherry asked in a bubbly tone.
"Hiya, Sherry. Yes, I am a little, uh, surprised. You two didn't say you were coming."
Chris opened his mouth to say something, but Sherry continued speaking. "Oh, well, it was a spur of the moment trip. We dropped Gigi off at my parents' place, and I just know that Chris has been dying to see Rory, and so have I, so here we are! I'm just so happy to see Rory again! And you too, of course, Lorelai!"
Sherry stepped forward to give Lorelai a hug. Lorelai reluctantly let go of Luke's arm and gingerly gave Sherry a hug. They quickly broke apart, and Sherry looked at Luke. "Hi, I don't believe we've met," Sherry said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Sherry, Chris' fianceè."
"I'm Luke," Luke said gruffly, shaking Sherry's hand.
"Oh, this is your diner? It's so adorable! And I know that Rory just loves it here!"
Rory, seeing the look on Luke's face at Sherry's perky dialogue, gave him an encouraging smile. Luke glanced at Rory, then looked at Sherry. "Uh, thanks," Luke said.
Sherry beamed at him. "Luke and Lorelai are involved," Emily told Sherry.
"Really," Chris said, finally getting a chance to speak.
"Yeah. Hi Chris," Lorelai said, giving him a hug.
"Hey Lor. When did - " he gestured between Luke and Lorelai - "this happen?"
Luke looked at Lorelai. After all, he had no idea how long she had told her mother that they had been dating. "Oh, a couple of weeks - almost a month, in fact," Lorelai said, coming over to Luke again.
She put her arms around Luke's waist, and was surprised when Luke did the same, putting his own arms around Lorelai. "Oh, you two are just so cute!" Sherry exclaimed.
She turned to Rory. "Now, Rory, we realize this is short notice, but we'll be here for a few days. What do you say about us spending the weekend together? And your dad, too, of course!" she said with a small laugh.
Emily glared at Sherry, and Rory glanced at Lorelai. "Well, yeah, um, that would be nice. It's just that tomorrow, we already have plans," Rory said.
"And they can't be altered just a teeny tiny bit?" Sherry asked.
"No," Emily spoke up. "We're having brunch with a friend of mine who's just moved back."
"Really? Who?" Chris asked.
"Margaret Mariano," Emily replied.
"Margaret's back?" Chris asked. "I had no idea."
"Well, she's only recently moved back," Emily told him.
"Why the sudden move? If I remember correctly, she couldn't wait to leave Hartford," Chris said.
Emily glanced at Luke and Lorelai, not sure of how much to tell Christopher. She finally decided to be brief. "She found out that Jimmy had a son, and moved back to get to know him," Emily said shortly.
"Really? Jimmy had a son?" Chris asked.
"Yes. His son, Jess, lives here. Luke is his uncle."
"Really? That's so weird!" Sherry cut in.
"Yes, well," Emily said, clearly not wanting to speak with Sherry at all.
"So you're all going to Maggie's tomorrow?" Chris asked.
"Yes. Jess is Rory's boyfriend," Emily informed him.
"Oh really," Chris said, turning to look at Rory. "You never told me that, young lady."
Rory smiled. "Must have slipped my mind."
"Yeah, I'll bet. Any chance I could meet him?"
"Oh, well - " Rory didn't know what to say, but she didn't have to worry about it, because Sherry interrupted her.
"Oh, Mrs. Gilmore, do you think we could come tomorrow, too? Then we could meet everyone!" Sherry exclaimed, sounding delighted.
"Oh. Well - " Emily glanced at Luke and Lorelai, who have her helpless looks, then turned back to Sherry. "I suppose so."
"Great! This will be so great!" Sherry gushed.
Emily glared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Chris, Sherry, and Emily had left, Rory and Lorelai went back to their table, followed by Luke. "Lorelai, I need to talk to you," he said.
"Can it wait?" Lorelai asked innocently.
"No. Why did you tell your mother we were dating?"
Rory stifled a giggle. Jess came downstairs and, seeing the three of them, walked over to their table, plopping down next to Rory. "What'd I miss?" he asked.
"My dad and his fiancée, Sherry, are coming to Maggie's tomorrow," Rory told him.
"Great. This is just getting better and better," Jess said.
"Jess, shut up. Lorelai, answer me," Luke demanded.
Lorelai spoke quickly, looking down at the table, her words coming out in a rush. "Rory and I were trying to get out of the Friday night dinner on Valentine's Day, because Rory had plans. And I wasn't going to go to dinner with my parents by myself, so I said I had plans too. But for some reason, my mother seemed to think I was lying - "
"You were," Jess interjected.
"Sssh!" Lorelai told him in a dramatic whisper. "Where was I? Oh, yes. For some reason, she thought I, sweet, innocent little Lorelai, was lying to her, my own mother, and so she asked me what my plans were, and I said I had a date."
Lorelai stopped talking and looked up, but Luke was still glaring at her. She quickly looked back down again. "And, um, she asked me who I was dating, and your name just kinda popped out. And……..well, she still thinks we're dating."
"Then tell her we broke up."
"I can't! Tomorrow we're all supposed to have brunch tomorrow, and if I tell her we broke up, then she'll want to know why we're both still coming, and why we're acting like everything's fine."
"We can't pretend to be dating tomorrow! Maggie knows that we're not, remember?" Luke reminded her.
"She won't say anything to my mom, though," Lorelai told Luke.
Luke just looked at Lorelai. "Do you realize how crazy this is? Don't you think Christopher knows you well enough to figure it out?"
"We just have to be really convincing!" Lorelai told him.
"If I catch you two making out in a corner - " Jess began.
Rory giggled, but Luke and Lorelai both glared at them. "Fine," Luke said. "I'll do it. But after tomorrow, you have to tell your mother that we broke up."
"I will," Lorelai promised.
Luke scowled, getting up. "Come on. Get to work," he told Jess.
"See you later," Rory told him.
"Why?" Jess asked suspiciously.
"You didn't think we were going to forget about dressing you two, did you?" Lorelai asked.
She grinned wickedly at Jess. "Maybe Sherry wants to help!" she told Rory.
Rory smiled at the look of horror on Luke's face. "Mom! I would never be so cruel as to subject my boyfriend to that. I do like him………kinda."
"Hey!" Jess said in mock-hurt.
Lorelai and Rory got up. "I'll see you at two o'clock sharp," Rory told Jess.
"Yes ma'am."
Rory smiled. "Good boy."
She gave him a quick kiss. At the same time, Lorelai was talking to Luke. "I'm coming over this afternoon to help you pick something out," she told him.
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am, mister, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
Luke sighed resignedly. "Fine. Just go now."
"Okie dokie. See you later, Lukey."
With that, Lorelai and Rory left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mom! Come on, we're supposed to be at Luke's by now!" Rory yelled upstairs to her mother at two o'clock that afternoon.
Lorelai came downstairs. "What's the rush?"
"I'm having dinner with Dad and Sherry tonight, remember? I have to have enough time to drag Jess to some stores."
Lorelai and Rory left the house and started walking towards Luke's. "Can I come? Pleeeeeease?" Lorelai whined. "I wanna make Jessie go shopping."
Rory giggled. "Go ahead, ask him," she said.
Rory smacked her forehead. "Oh, wait, I forgot," she said, pretending to remember something. "You're helping Luke pick out something to wear."
Lorelai quickly looked at Rory. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Rory softly started humming that annoying song 'Cleopatra Comin' Atcha'. Lorelai frowned, trying to think of what song Rory was humming, and as they entered Luke's, it hit her. "You!" Lorelai said loudly. "You…….you……."
"I what?" Rory asked innocently.
"I know what you're doing. Evil child!"
Luke and Jess came over to them, and Rory looked up at them with big eyes. "I'm not evil," she told them.
"Uh, right," Luke said, not knowing what was going on, as usual.
"You're the spawn of Satan," Jess told her.
"Hey!" Rory said, punching him on the arm.
"Ha ha!" Lorelai said, sticking her tongue out at Rory.
There was a pause, and then Lorelai realized what Jess had just said. "Hey! I am not Satan!" Lorelai said indignantly.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Aren't you leaving?" he asked Jess.
"No."
"Oh yes you are," Rory told him.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes," Rory persisted.
"No."
"See? I told you, he doesn't want you to dress him," Lorelai told Rory.
She looked at Jess. "He wants me to pick out clothes for him!"
"No!" Jess said in horror, taking a step back.
Rory giggled. "Come on then," she said, pulling on Jess' arm.
"Jessie! I'm hurt!" Lorelai told him, slumping into a nearby chair dramatically.
She clutched her chest, her hand over her heart. "You got me right here!"
Jess rolled his eyes, then gave in to Rory's pulling on his arm and started following her. "Wait!" Luke called after them. "You probably need money."
Jess turned around, an evil grin on his face. "Yes, I do," he said, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.
Luke took out a credit card, looked at Jess, then handed it to Rory. "For his new clothes only," he emphasized to Rory.
She nodded, and Lorelai smirked. "He's too smart for ya there," she told Jess.
"Uncle Luke, I'm hurt that you don't trust me," Jess told him.
Luke rolled his eyes. "You should be used to the pain by now."
Rory and Jess walked towards the door. Lorelai waved and blew Rory kisses, calling after her, "Don't forget, a pink shirt is a must!"
"No way in hell," Jess muttered under his breath.
Rory grinned, and the two made their way to Jess' car. They got in and Jess started the car, then turned to Rory. "Where are we going?" he asked her cautiously.
"The mall in Hartford," she responded instantly.
Jess sighed, then started driving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rory and Jess walked into the mall. Rory looked over at Jess and couldn't help smiling. He had a tortured look on his face and was slouching as he walked, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "What?" he asked, noticing Rory looking at him.
"You know, it's not going to be that bad."
Jess scowled. "Yes it is. You're going to dress me like one of those guys from the GQ magazine, and don't try to deny it, I heard you and Lorelai talking about it."
Rory giggled. "Well, yeah, but come on, it'll be fun."
"No it won't."
"Yes it will. I'll make it fun."
Jess' curiosity was instantly piqued. "How?" he asked.
Rory shrugged, looking thoughtful. She caught the look on Jess' face, then blushed. "I don't know," she said.
Jess smirked, until Rory stopped in front of a store. "Why are you stopping?" he asked suspiciously.
"Because we're going in."
Jess looked at the store in dismay. "No. We're going in there? I am not going in there."
"Yes you are."
"But - "
"No buts. Come on!"
Rory grabbed Jess' arm, pulling him in after her. There were no other customers in the store, so three salespeople ran over to help them at once. "Welcome!" they cried.
"Can I help you with anything?"
"What are you looking for?"
"Um, well, we'll just look around on our own, thanks," Rory said.
All three salespeople looked dejected. "Oh, all right," they said, with much less enthusiasm. "Let us know if you need anything."
"We will, thanks," Rory said.
Jess stared at their retreating backs. "I think I'm going to be sick," he said.
Rory tightened her hold on his arm. "Come on."
She dragged Jess over to some shirts. "What size are you?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Dunno."
"How can you not know what size you are?" Rory asked him, starting to get exasperated with his lack of cooperation.
Jess, however, ignored her. Rory sighed, picking up the same shirt in different sizes. "You expect me to wear that?" he asked her.
"Yes!" Rory told him.
Jess looked at the shirt in disgust. It was a dark blue collared shirt that buttoned up. "I have never worn a shirt that buttoned up the front," he told Rory.
"Well, there's a first time for everything. Come on, let's find some pants. Oh, but wait, you probably don't know what size you are," Rory said, sarcasm creeping into her voice.
Without waiting for a reply, Rory dragged him over to some pants, picking out a couple pair, then shoved the clothes into his arms. "Look, there's a dressing room. Try these on."
"Fine," Jess said, scowling at her.
Rory scowled right back, and Jess abruptly turned his back on her and went into the dressing room. Rory waited a minute, then called to him. "Come out, let me see."
"No."
Rory grinned, forgetting her earlier annoyance. "Come on," she wheedled.
She was surprised when Jess actually opened the door and came out. He looked up at her glumly, but Rory's breath had caught in her throat. Wow……he looks good……, was all Rory could think.
He had left the top buttons undone on the dark blue shirt, and it looked extremely sexy. The outfit was dark in color, matching his dark looks, and Rory suddenly, instantly, remembered why she was so attracted to him…….physically…….in the first place.
Jess, meanwhile, had finally looked up and caught the expression on Rory's face. He smirked, stepping closer to her. "So?" he asked in a low voice, his mouth close to hers.
"Lose the white socks, and it's a keeper," Rory told him, starting to breath faster.
Jess' mouth descended on hers and Rory responded, before remembering where they were. Her face flushed, she pushed Jess away. "See? I told you it'd be fun," she told him, catching a breath.
"No. You said you'd make it fun. Looks like I just made it fun," he told her, his smirk firmly in place.
She shoved him back into the dressing room. "I'm going to get you some more shirts. What size is that one?"
"Why?" he asked, instantly suspicious.
"So you can try some more shirts on."
"But I have one."
"And?"
"And nothing. I have one," he repeated.
"You need more than one," Rory told him patiently.
"No I don't," Jess said stubbornly.
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No I - "
"Yes you do," Rory cut him off.
"Why?" he demanded.
"Because you might have to go somewhere else where you have to dress up, and wouldn't you rather go shopping only once?"
"Yeah, but - "
"No buts."
"What if - "
"No."
Rory pointed to the dressing room. "Go in there and take your shirt off," she said without thinking.
Jess grinned. "Yes ma'am."
Rory turned red, realizing what she had said. "You know I didn't - I mean, not that there's anything wrong - but we're - "
Jess didn't say anything. He just stood there watching her squirm. "You're squirming," he told her.
"I am not."
"Yes you are. It's quite entertaining, actually."
Rory spun on her heel. "I'm getting you more clothes to try on!" she called over her shoulder.
"I'll be here……..shirtless………."
Rory kept on walking, pretending to ignore him, but she couldn't stop the red blush heating her cheeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So Lucas, you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Luke asked, eyeing Lorelai warily.
"We get to play dress-up! Well, actually, I get to dress you up."
"We've gone through this before, remember? You've picked out clothes for me, I have them upstairs, and tomorrow morning I'll just take some of them out of the closet," Luke said, going back to pouring over his account ledgers.
"But which ones?" Lorelai asked him.
"What?" he asked, looking up.
"Which ones are you going to take out of the closet?"
"Oh, well………well, you know, I was thinking about……..it's quite simple, actually, I'm going to - "
"Ha! You don't know. Come on," Lorelai said, getting up and grabbing his arm.
Luke dutifully followed her up the stairs, and she went to his bedroom. "Now," she said, flinging open the closet. "Let's see."
She took out several pairs of pants and some shirts and threw them on the bed. All of the sudden, she stopped. "What?" Luke asked.
"We don't know what Jess is wearing."
"So?" Luke said, not seeing the problem.
"Well, you guys don't want to clash!"
"Excuse me?" Luke asked, thinking he hadn't heard her right.
"You and Jess. You can't clash."
"We can't clash? God, Lorelai, it's just brunch! Are we supposed to be wearing matching outfits?"
"Don't get your thong in a bunch, Lucas! We'll just work around the problem."
"Problem? There's not a problem! And I don't wear a thong!"
Lorelai looked him up and down. "Yeah, you're right. You don't look like you would wear a thong."
"What kind of guy wears a thong?"
Lorelai grinned and winked. "My kind of guy."
"Oh my God. I do not want to be hearing this."
"You're the one who brought it up!" Lorelai said.
"No, you did."
"No, you did," Lorelai repeated.
"No, you said it first."
"It was just an expression! You're the one who keeps talking about guys wearing thongs."
"No I don't! And that's not the expression, the expression is 'don't get your panties in a bunch'."
"But I wear a thong," Lorelai said innocently.
"Oh my God. I do not want to be having this conversation with you."
"Making you uncomfortable?" Lorelai asked with a grin.
"Yes! No. Should it be?"
Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. You're the one freaking out here."
Luke sighed. "Is this over?"
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Lorelai asked, sounding shocked that he could ever want such a thing.
"Yes."
Lorelai put a hand over her heart. "Lukey! I - "
"Don't call me that."
"Come on, you know you like it."
"No I don't."
Lorelai clapped her hands. "I can call you that tomorrow!"
"Oh no you don't."
"Aw, come on, I need a pet nickname for you!"
"No."
"Can I call you Bubba?"
"What?"
"I've always wanted to date a guy named Bubba."
"My name's not Bubba, and we're not dating."
"Oh yes we are."
"Oh no we're not."
"Bubba, if you keep that up, you're going to ruin our act."
"That reminds me. What's our story?" Luke asked.
"Our what?"
"Our story. How we got together?"
"Oh."
Lorelai frowned, thinking. "How about………you were in the hospital, and I realized I couldn't live without you, and when you got better you said you'd always loved me, and that you were really the father of my baby, which I didn't know because I was knocked out by too many vodkas, and so we got together and - "
"Is that a soap opera storyline, or did you really think of that all on your own?" Luke interrupted sarcastically.
"It's believable!"
"No it's not. And besides, Christopher will be there, remember? I don't think he'll buy it."
Lorelai frowned. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that. There goes our story."
"Just say………..just say that we were friends for a long time, and then it turned into something more."
Lorelai looked at Luke carefully, but his face wasn't betraying any emotion. "Um, yeah, that's a good idea………much more believable………" Lorelai's voice trailed off.
She walked over to Luke, who was standing in front of the mirror, and for some unknown reason, she put her arms around his waist as she had earlier that day. Luke responded in the same way, and they looked at their reflection in the mirror. "The happy couple," Lorelai murmured, staring at their reflection.
We look good………we look like a real couple………Lorelai's thoughts were quickly interrupted.
"Luke!" Jess called, coming up the stairs.
His voice held a note of desperation, and he flung open the door. Lorelai and Luke jumped apart instantly, but Jess stopped and looked at them, smirking. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.
"No!" Luke and Lorelai said at the same time, avoiding each others' gazes.
"Riiiiiiight. Rory's at your house," Jess told Lorelai.
"Right. Um, okay. I should go there. Home, I mean. Because, Rory. You know, she's there," Lorelai rambled.
"Yeah. Right. Rory. She's at your house. So you should, you know, go home. Rory's waiting for you," Luke said, making as little sense as Lorelai had.
Jess' smirk widened. "'Bye," he said to Lorelai, who wasn't moving.
"Right. 'Bye."
She was at the top of the stairs when she remembered Luke's outfit. "Your outfit's on the bed!" she called to Luke, then quickly exited the diner.
Jess turned to Luke. "What was that?" he asked Luke.
"What was what?"
"That. You and Lorelai."
"Don't know what you're talking about," Luke said, putting his other clothes away.
"Okay, have it your way. But in case you're too blind to see it……she's starting to look at you in that way."
"What way?" Luke asked sharply.
"The same way you look at her."
With that, Jess left, forgetting to complain to Luke about all the new clothes Rory had made him buy. Apparently Luke had enough on his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mom, they're here!" Rory called.
Lorelai and Rory made their way to the door, Lorelai still looking distracted. "Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked.
Lorelai had been looking dazed ever since she had come home that afternoon. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Lorelai said dismissively.
They opened the door, letting in Christopher and Sherry. "Hey! Rory, are you ready?" Sherry asked brightly.
"Yeah, I'm good to go," Rory replied.
"Okay. Have fun, you three!" Lorelai said, in a fake cheery tone.
Rory and Chris looked at her strangely. "Mom, what happened between you and Luke?" Rory asked in a low voice.
Sherry didn't hear what Rory asked, but Christopher did. He frowned at Lorelai's reply. "Oh, nothing. We - nothing. Go, have fun!" she added in a loud, bright voice.
"Okay, let's go!" Sherry said enthusiastically.
No one noticed the frown on Christopher's face as he, Sherry, and Rory walked towards the car. Lorelai hadn't dated anyone since she had told Chris that she wasn't waiting for him anymore……..until now. And it was Luke.
Luke, the man who was like a father to Rory - the father he should have been. The guy Lorelai and Rory called if they needed anything, the man who was always there for them.
Chris' frown deepened. He hadn't even believed, really, that Luke and Lorelai were dating. It had seemed like Lorelai was lying in the diner, and Lorelai lying to Emily about who she was dating was nothing new………..but the way she had been behaving back in the house. Something had happened between Lorelai and Luke, he knew it. He could tell by Lorelai's vague response.
Sure, Chris was with Sherry now……….but that didn't mean he liked Luke moving in on his girls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lorelai flopped down on the couch after Chris, Sherry, and Rory left. The house was quiet - too quiet. It was letting her think, which was bad. Because all of her thoughts seemed to lead to Luke.
We're so comfortable with each other. I mean, we were talking about thongs in his bedroom! Well, maybe Luke wasn't too comfortable with the topic, but still. It was nice and comfortable, it was how we always talk.
Lorelai laid down, feeling tired, then sighed. Luke. I put my arms around him. But I was just seeing how we looked, as a couple! The mirror was right there, and I wanted to know if it looked believable.
Lorelai smiled slightly as she remembered Luke putting his arms around her, too. Oh, it looked believable. It almost looked………real.
Lorelai rolled over onto her side. But it's not real. It's fake. Luke and Lorelai………Lorelai and Luke………
Lorelai drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jess smirked as he made his way out of the diner early that evening. Luke still had that dazed look on his face. Jess wasn't sure exactly what he had interrupted between Luke and Lorelai, but it had obviously been more than 'nothing'. Luke didn't even notice that he had left.
Jess got into his car, then decided to go to the bookstore he had taken Rory to on Valentine's Day. He liked the place, and decided that he should buy Rory a book. He could use it as a bribe - after he made a horrible impression on her grandparents and dad, like he knew he would, he was sure a bribe would come in handy. It would have to be a good book, though.
A little while later, Jess parked his car and walked into the bookstore. He immediately headed towards the Classics section. He picked up a few books for himself, then reached towards Atlas Shrugged. Rory would like this, he thought.
However, someone else reached for the book at the same time he did. Both Jess and the other person pulled their hand away, and Jess turned around to see who it was.
It was an older man, who was tall and………well……..portly was the only word Jess could think of to describe him. He had gray hair and was wearing glasses. The man and Jess looked at each other, sizing the other up.
"For you?" the man asked.
"No," Jess said shortly.
"I want it for my granddaughter. Who do you want it for?"
"Girlfriend," Jess answered shortly.
They looked at each other. "All right, take it," the man said.
Jess gave him a small grin. "Thanks," he said sincerely.
Twenty minutes later, the same thing happened. Jess was reaching for another book he thought Rory would like when the same old man reached for the same one. "Girlfriend?" the man asked.
Jess nodded. "Granddaughter?" he responded.
The man nodded. Jess gave the book to him. "Yours."
"Thanks."
This old man's granddaughter obviously likes good books, Jess thought.
Well, he had a couple of classics for Rory. He decided to go to the Biographies to find one for her. He walked down an aisle and saw a biography of Brad Pitt. This is different from the classics, Jess thought. At least I won't see that old guy here.
No sooner had Jess thought that when he saw the old man again! "You!" he couldn't help saying.
The man gave a small smile. "Yes, me. Girlfriend again?"
"Yeah. Granddaughter again?"
"I'm looking for both her and my daughter."
They looked at each other. "Follow me," the man finally said.
Wondering why he was even bothering, Jess followed the man to a table. "Maybe we can compare notes……..find the perfect thing for both my granddaughter and your girlfriend?"
Jess shrugged. "All right."
They both placed their stack on the table. "All right. I'll give you The Fountainhead for that biography of Brad Pitt," the old man said.
Jess couldn't resist smirking. "For you?" he asked.
"No. My daughter, actually."
"What's the occasion?"
"Her birthday. What about you?"
"I'm meeting my girlfriend's family tomorrow, and after they all hate me, I can use a couple of good books as a bribe to get her to forgive me."
The man laughed. "I'm sure they won't hate you."
"Yeah, well," Jess said, getting uncomfortable with talking about Rory to this stranger.
Jess leaned forward and looked at the man's stack of books. "My girlfriend already has The Fountainhead," he said.
"But you can never have enough copies of a book," the man argued.
Jess gave him a small nod. "True. You can have the biography if I can have The Fountainhead and Jane Eyre."
The man looked at him skeptically. "Two for one?"
"Are you comparing great literature to a man of Hollywood?" Jess asked, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
The man gave a defeated sigh. "You're right. All right, agreed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, both Jess and the old man were almost done. They had been discussing books and trading them the entire time. "My granddaughter doesn't like Hemmingway, though I have no idea why," the man was telling Jess.
"My girlfriend doesn't either. She says he puts her to sleep."
"That's what my granddaughter says! I just don't understand it."
"Me neither," Jess said, shaking his head.
The man looked at his watch. "Well, I have to be going. Good luck tomorrow," he said.
"Yeah, well. Uh………thanks. See you, uh………."
"Richard," the man supplied.
"Right. See you, Richard."
"Goodbye. Nice meeting you, son."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: What did you think? I couldn't resist adding that last little scene - it just came to me, and I loved the idea! Well, review, review, review!
Coming in Chapter 12………It's the brunch at Maggie's! Who comes face-to-face with someone they already, surprisingly, know, who actually comes EARLY, and who gets into a fight?