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.
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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Why the hell did I promise Rory that I would come to school? Why did I promise Luke I would graduate? I should really start breaking my promises, Jess thought, a scowl on his face.
He was at school, in history class, and the teacher had just assigned them a group project. Lane was in his class, but he didn't really want to work with her. Dean was in his class, and he really didn't want to work with the bumbling giant.
"So we'll number off, and that will be your group," the teacher said, interrupting Jess' thoughts.
Oh no. This is even worse! Jess thought.
He was a number three. He didn't pay attention to what anyone else was. "Okay, now, number threes, raise your hands," the teacher said.
Jess raised a finger almost imperceptibly, and casually looked around. His gaze stopped on Dean, who had raised his hand in the air. No way in hell!
How could they be the only two threes? Dean was looking around for his partner, and he saw Jess. Jess almost laughed at the look of disgust on Dean's face.
All of the sudden, Lane raised her hand. "I'm a three, too, Mrs. Lambert," she said.
Mrs. Lambert looked surprised. "You are? But there should only be two people in every group."
"Well, I don't know how it happened, then, but I'm a three."
The teacher shrugged. "Okay."
Both Dean and Jess glanced at Lane. They recognized that she had volunteered herself for Rory's sake, to keep Dean and Jess from killing each other, but neither felt any desire to make it any easier for her. This was going to be a long week.
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"Oh no! Oh, Lane, you're the best friend ever!" Rory exclaimed.
After school, Rory had gone over to Lane's, who had proceeded to tell her what had happened in history class that day. "Yes, I know," Lane replied. "This will definitely require you to get me some forbidden albums."
"Definitely. I'm on it. You just let me know."
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Lorelai went home after work late that afternoon and listened to the answering machine messages. "You have 2 new messages," the voice said.
"Two? Why, Beatrice, I do declare, you've had a busy day today!" Lorelai said to the answering machine.
She was taking off her coat, then froze when she heard the first message. "Lorelai? It's Chris. Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but we have to talk. Right? We've always been able to talk. So call me back."
"Uh, I don't think so, Christopher," Lorelai said out loud.
"Lorelai, this is your mother. I want you to bring that nice Luke fellow to dinner this Friday. And tell Rory she can bring Jess, too. I'll tell the maid to set some extra places, so make sure you two bring them. Call me back and let me know. Goodbye."
The answering machine beeped, signaling the end of the recordings. "Gee, two calls I won't be returning," Lorelai said, talking out loud to herself again.
Lorelai looked around the silent house. Where was Rory? Probably at the diner, Lorelai thought. I should go, meet her, have dinner………but being around Luke is weird. I told him that I would tell my mother we broke up, and I haven't. Now she wants him to come for dinner! What kind of excuse can I make up?
Or maybe I should just break up with him. Date him? Luke? Oh, what does Sookie know, anyway? If Luke wanted to date me, he would. He has no trouble telling me whatever is on his mind, whether it be thoughts on my eating habits or coffee addiction or housekeeping skills – or lack thereof.
Lorelai sighed. Unless Luke was more like her than she thought. But maybe he doesn't want to ask me out because he's just as afraid as I am of losing our friendship. But how will either of us know for certain if we don't try?
Of course, I could just be crazy to listen to Sookie and Jackson, of all people. Maybe Luke doesn't even think of me in that way. Maybe I'm just completely hallucinating.
"Argh!" Lorelai said. "This is hurting my head!"
She decided to go to the diner after all. She needed some of Luke's coffee to help clear her head.
Lorelai was walking down the street, ignoring the stares and whispers from Babette and Miss Patty as she usually did, when she was intercepted by Dean. "Hi Lorelai," he said.
"Dean," Lorelai said, surprised. "Uh, hi. How are you doing?"
He shrugged. "Okay. Look, I really need to talk to you about Rory. And Jess."
Lorelai pulled Dean over to the side of the sidewalk, away from the street. "Look, Dean, I don't think that's such a good idea. You and Rory broke up awhile ago, and – I'm sorry, really, but she's happy with Jess."
"That's impossible. He's a jerk. He'll never love her like I do."
"Well, no, but everyone loves differently. Rory and Jess are doing good, Dean.
Lorelai could see the anger and frustration on his face, and she took pity on him. "Look, you're a great guy. You need to move on, too. Find someone who will love you for how amazing you are."
Dean bit back scathing comments about Jess and nodded. "Yeah. 'Bye, Lorelai."
"Goodbye, Dean," Lorelai said quietly as he walked away.
Lorelai sighed, stuck her hands in her pockets, and continued on to the diner.
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Unbeknownst to her, Jess had been standing inside the store that Lorelai and Dean had been standing in front of while they were talking. He couldn't believe that Lorelai had stood up for him to Dean. Lorelai had loved Dean and thought Dean was the perfect boyfriend to Rory.
All of the sudden, Jess had an idea. Sookie was throwing Lorelai a surprise party this Saturday night, and although Rory and Luke hadn't said anything about it to him, he knew that he was expected to come. Maybe he could actually get Lorelai a present. He knew just what it could be.
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Lorelai came into the diner and sat down at the counter. Luke was out serving the dinner crowd, but she didn't see Jess or Rory anywhere. "Luke, have you seen Rory?" Lorelai called.
"Nope, she hasn't been here at all this afternoon."
"Oh."
Where was she? Lorelai had been so sure she would be with Jess.
Just then Rory came into the diner. "Mom! Here you are, I've been looking all over for you."
"Hey, kid. Where've you been?"
"At Lane's, remember?"
"Oh yeah. I forgot, I guess."
Rory sat down across from her mother and looked at her. "What's the matter?"
Emily, Chris, Dean………"Nothing," Lorelai said, ignoring the voice in her head.
Luke came over to take their order, and Lorelai decided to bite the bullet and ask. "So Luke, do you have any plans on Friday?"
Luke stopped writing and looked at her. "Yes. Why?"
Lorelai was taken aback. Since when did Luke have plans? Luke never had plans. Luke was Luke. He sat home on Friday nights.
Unless he had a date. Oh, God, Luke had a date. "Mom?" Rory said, breaking into her reverie.
Lorelai looked up to see both Luke and Rory staring at her. "Oh. No, it's good. My mother wanted us to invite you and Jess to Friday night dinner, but it's better if you actually have plans, then I won't have to lie."
"I thought you were telling her that we broke up."
"Yeah, I will………eventually."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Jess can't come either. We're having dinner with Maggie Friday night."
"Oh. Oh!" Lorelai said, for some reason feeling happy all of the sudden. "Okay. That's a very good excuse, I can't believe I didn't think of it."
Luke gave her a strange look, then walked away. "So," Lorelai said, looking at Rory with a smile. "How was your day?"
"Fine," Rory said, a smile lurking around her lips.
"What?" Lorelai asked her suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing."
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"Mom, get out of the car."
"But Rory, I don't wanna go!"
"Mom!"
"Fine. You're no fun," Lorelai grumbled, getting out of the Jeep.
They rang the bell and were just settling down for drinks when the phone rang. "Who could be calling now?" Emily asked. "Everyone knows it's dinner hour."
"It could be for work," Richard said. "I'll get it."
He left the room, and Emily turned to Lorelai and Rory. "So. You two are dateless for the evening?"
"Yes," Rory answered.
"Yes, Mom, as I'm sure you know, Luke and Jess are having dinner with Aunt Maggie tonight."
"Yes, I know," Emily said, sounding disappointed. "I wish we could all get together again. That was so nice last time. Well, except for Christopher storming out. Why was he so angry, anyway?"
Lorelai avoided her mother's gaze and took a drink of her scotch. "Yeah, Mom, you never told me, either," Rory added.
"It was nothing. It was just Chris being………Chris. It was nothing."
Just then Richard came back into the room, carrying the phone. "It's Christopher. He wants to talk to you, Lorelai."
"Well, I don't want to talk to him, Dad."
"Oh, Lorelai, really – " Richard began.
"No, Richard, let me talk to him," Emily interrupted.
"Oh, no, Mom, don't," Lorelai protested.
But Emily took the phone. "Hello, Christopher? Yes, this is Emily. It was really quite rude of you to storm out of brunch the way you did. Yes, I'm sure you're sorry. Well, no, Lorelai won't tell me or Rory why you were so angry. What happened?"
Emily didn't say anything for a minute and appeared to be listening to Christopher's explanation. Her gaze slid over to Lorelai, and Lorelai could see it in her mother's eyes. Christopher was actually telling Emily why he was so angry about Luke. Rory and Richard exchanged glances and shrugged.
"I see," Emily finally said.
She paused. "No, Lorelai can't talk now. Goodbye, Christopher."
And with that, she hung up. Emily's eyes met Lorelai's, and Lorelai gave her a small smile. "Well. Who's ready for dinner?" Emily asked.
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"So what time is Lorelai's party?" Maggie asked Luke that night at dinner.
"Five-thirty. It's at Lorelai's and Rory's place. Rory's going to get Lorelai away from the house for the afternoon, and Sookie, Miss Patty, and Babette will get everything ready. Rory's going to bring Lorelai back at five forty-five, and everyone will jump out, yadda, yadda, yadda."
"Who's coming?" Maggie asked.
"Anyone from town who wants to. Jess and I are going. And Lorelai's parents were invited."
"I'll be there," Maggie said with a smile.
She turned to Jess. "Have you made any decisions yet?" she asked him.
Jess looked up from his food. "About what?"
"About what you're going to do……after high school," Maggie said, carefully avoiding using the word 'college'.
Jess shrugged. "I looked at some of those brochures, but I don't know."
Luke looked surprised and pleased. He remained silent, hoping Jess would elaborate. "Did you see anything that interested you?" Maggie asked.
Jess shrugged again, avoiding eye contact. "There was one nearby that sounded all right. It's in Hartford."
"The Hartford Writers' College," Maggie said, unable to hide the shine in her eyes.
"You know it?" Luke asked.
"Know it?" Maggie said with a laugh. "I went there!"
Jess and Luke both stared at her. "You went to a writers' college?" Luke asked.
"Yes."
"But you – I would have thought that you went to Yale or Harvard or somewhere like that," Luke said.
"I was supposed to, but I didn't do well enough in school. My parents probably could have bought my way in, but I didn't want that. Your grandfather," Maggie said, looking at Jess, "was a Yale man. We met in Hartford."
She gave a small smile. "I always blamed myself for the way Jimmy turned out. He always caused trouble in school, too, and dropped out of Yale – which I would have done if my parents had sent me there. We made him go, you know. And that's when everything fell apart."
Luke and Jess were silent. Neither knew what to say. Finally Luke spoke. "You can't blame yourself for how your kids turn out," he said. "They do what they want. Especially if their last name is Mariano, apparently."
Maggie gave Luke a small smile. "Thanks."
Luke looked embarrassed. "No problem."
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"Rory wake up! Rory wake up! Rory wake up!" Lorelai sang, bouncing up and down on Rory's bed.
"Go away."
"But it's my birthday!"
Rory groaned. "Fine. I'll get up."
Lorelai left, and Rory got dressed and came to the kitchen. "Where's the coffee?" Rory asked, looking around.
"Fred's acting up again," Lorelai said.
"We need to get a new coffeemaker," Rory said.
Lorelai sighed. "I know. We will. Soon."
"So what do you want to do today?" Rory asked her mother.
"Oh, I don't know, take over the world?"
"You'll have to fight Paris for that one. Oooh, I know, let's go shopping!"
"Okay. But let's make it kinda early, I want to – "
"No, let's go in the afternoon. Come on, we'll have lunch at Luke's, then go."
Lorelai looked at Rory strangely. "Okay. Sounds good."
"Great! Come on, get dressed, then we'll go to Luke's."
A little while later, Rory and Lorelai went and sat down at Luke's for lunch. "Happy Birthday," Luke said to Lorelai, coming over.
"Thanks, Lukey. Where's my present?"
"Your what?"
"My present."
"Since when do I have to get you a present?"
"Uh, since we're dating?" Lorelai said as if stating the obvious.
"We're not dating."
"Everyone else would say otherwise."
"We're not dating."
"You're just saying that because you don't want to buy me a present."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
Luke sighed. "I'll give you your present later."
Lorelai clapped her hands. "Ooh, dirty!"
"Mom! I am trying to drink coffee here," Rory said. "I don't want those images in my head."
Luke shook his head. "I can't believe how you've corrupted your daughter."
"It wasn't me," Lorelai said innocently. "It was……"
Just then Jess came down the stairs. "Him!" she said triumphantly, pointing at Jess.
"How could I have done anything? I just got here," Jess said, coming over to them.
He sat down next to Rory and put his arm around her. "Hey," he said.
"Hey," she said back, giving him a kiss.
"See?" Lorelai said to Luke. "I told you he corrupted her."
Jess smirked. "I didn't think Rory was telling people about that."
"Jess!" Rory said, blushing.
"Dirty!" Lorelai squealed.
"Jess!" Luke said warningly.
Jess got up. "I see my work here is done."
He went to take someone's order, leaving Luke and Rory to avoid each other's eyes, both feeling uncomfortable. "I told you it wasn't me," Lorelai said.
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That night, everyone from town – and Richard, Emily, and Maggie – were gathered in Rory and Lorelai's home. It was almost time for Rory and Lorelai to come home, and Sookie shut off all the lights. "Everybody hide!" she said in a stage whisper.
Richard, Emily, and Maggie looked at one another, then went to another room. They would not hide behind pieces of furniture, just stay out of sight of the door.
A minute or two later, the door was opened. Rory came in first, followed by Lorelai. "SURPRISE!" everyone yelled, jumping out and turning on the lights.
"Oh my God!" Lorelai said, a huge smile on her face.
"Happy birthday, sweetie!" Sookie said, coming over and giving her a hug.
Lorelai hugged her back. "Sookie, I know you did this! Thank you!"
Lorelai hugged and greeted everyone, and Richard, Emily, and Maggie came out of the kitchen. They hugged Lorelai as well, then went to get some drinks. "Happy birthday," Luke said, handing Lorelai a present.
"Aw, thanks, Bubba."
"I'll ignore that because it's your birthday. I told you you'd get your present later."
Lorelai smiled. "So you did. Thank you."
They hugged, a bit awkwardly, then stepped apart. "So, let's see what food Sookie's made for us," Lorelai said quickly.
"I'm right behind you."
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Rory and Jess stood off to the side, watching the festivities. "It actually worked," Rory said to Jess.
"Your lying skills must be improving."
"Hey, I did not lie. I just didn't tell the whole truth."
"That's the same thing. You're a liar now."
"I am not!"
"I think you are."
"No I'm not!" Rory said, hitting Jess playfully.
Jess looked down at his arm where Rory had hit him, then looked back at her. "I'm going to get you for that."
"No!" Rory shrieked, running through people until she got outside.
Jess chased after her, knocked her over, and the two of them tumbled to the ground in the darkness. "Okay! Maybe I lied a teeny bit," Rory said breathlessly.
"Mmm, my kind of girl."
Jess leaned over Rory and started kissing her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down on top of her.
All of the sudden, someone loudly cleared his throat. Rory stopped kissing Jess, who sat up. Rory got up and could make out Dean's face in the darkness. "Dean."
Jess stood up, putting his arm around Rory. "Did you come for the party?" Jess asked, smirking. "Because that's inside."
"Rory, I want to talk to you," Dean said, ignoring Jess.
"Dean, I don't think – "
"She doesn't want to talk to you," Jess said, speaking over Rory. "Beat it."
"Make me."
"Fine, I will."
"No, you won't," Rory said, stepping away from Jess and standing between him and Dean. "You two are not going to fight at my mother's birthday party. Dean, just go."
With that, Rory grabbed Jess' arm and dragged him inside after her. They stood alone in the kitchen, and Rory watched Dean out of the window. He stood where they had left him for a moment, then walked away. Rory sighed and leaned against the kitchen door.
Jess was silent, and Rory finally looked over at him. "Say whatever it is you want to say," she said irritably.
He still didn't speak. "Fine, don't say anything. I don't care," Rory snapped.
She started to walk out of the kitchen when Jess spoke. "The guy's obsessed with you."
She stopped. "No, I don't think he is," Rory said. "He just thinks that I'll go back to him any day now."
"Right."
"Which I won't," she added quickly.
She went over to Jess and put her arms around him. "I love you," she said.
He smirked. "I know."
Just then Lane came in. "Hey, Rory, Lorelai's looking for you. She's opening her presents."
"Okay."
Rory took Jess' hand, and they followed Lane into the living room just in time to see Lorelai rip open a biography of Brad Pitt. "Rory! Look! It's your future stepfather!" Lorelai crowed, holding up the book.
"Hello, Daddy!" Rory said to the book.
Emily and Luke rolled their eyes. "Thanks, Dad," Lorelai said to her father.
She had been more than a little surprised to discover that the book was a gift from her father. Lorelai had no idea her father knew her so well!
Lorelai grabbed Luke's present next. She opened it to discover a small box, and inside that box was a silver necklace with a silver coffee cup hanging from it. Lorelai smiled, her eyes shining. "Thanks, Luke," she said softly and sincerely.
"You're welcome," he said, embarrassed, but unable to keep from smiling at her.
Maggie and Rory exchanged a look and smiled. Yes, Luke and Lorelai were getting closer to what they wanted every day.
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"Where have you been?" Rory asked Jess as he came back into the living room.
"Got a drink," Jess said, holding up his can.
Rory, Lorelai, Luke, Sookie, and Jackson were all cleaning up. Everyone else had left by now. "Oh, good idea," Lorelai said.
She went into the kitchen, then came back carrying a bag that said 'Happy Birthday' on it. "Mom, is that another present?" Rory asked.
"I think so."
"From who?" Sookie asked.
"I don't know, it doesn't say."
"Well, open it!" Rory said, coming over to her mother.
Lorelai opened it and pulled out a new coffeepot. "Oh, look!" she said, already opening the box. "It's exactly like our old one!"
"Wow, how did someone know we needed a new one?" Rory wondered.
Lorelai pulled the coffeemaker out of its box and gave a surprised laugh. "Rory, is this from you?"
"No, why?"
Lorelai handed the coffeepot to her daughter. On it was a sticker that read 'Hello, My Name Is' and someone had written in 'Ethel'.
Rory looked up at her mother, who shrugged. She looked back at the nametag. "Wait a minute," she said. "I recognize this handwriting."
Jess had gone over to help Luke pick up empty beer cans, and Jackson had disappeared to take the garbage outside. "Who's is it?" Sookie asked, coming over to Rory and Lorelai.
"This is Jess' handwriting," Rory told her mother quietly.
"Of course! He knew all about Fred," Lorelai said.
"Fred?" Sookie asked.
"Our old coffeemaker. It kept breaking, and we kept complaining about it at the diner. We named it Fred, after Fred in I Love Lucy. And now we have Ethel."
Lorelai went over to Jess and stood there, not saying anything. Luke and Jess both stopped what they were doing and looked up. Lorelai hugged Jess before he realized what was happening, then stepped back. "Thanks."
Jess took a step away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Lorelai gave him a smile. "All right, flannel junior, we'll play it your way."
With that, she walked away, leaving Luke staring at Jess. "What was that all about?"
Jess shrugged. "I think she's finally lost it."
But he caught Rory's eye across the room and gave her a smile.
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"Luke, can I have some cake?" Lorelai asked.
"Lorelai, I let you have cake once. Last week. You know, when it was your birthday?"
"So, what, are you saying my birthday is over?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying."
"You can't decide that."
"I didn't. The calendar decided that."
"Oh, sure, blame the calendar. What did it ever do to you, huh?"
"I'm not giving you cake."
"Fine. I'll just have a coffee and a doughnut to go."
"But it's Saturday."
"So?"
"So you never get coffee to go on Saturday."
"I know. Michel claims he's ill, so I have to go into work today."
"He claims he's ill?"
"Oh, everyone knows he's not really ill! He just doesn't want to deal with the teacher's convention coming in today. Stupid French man," Lorelai muttered.
Luke gave her her coffee and doughnut, and she left. Jess came down and looked around. "Isn't Rory here?"
"No. Lorelai came in by herself," Luke said.
"I'm going out."
"Fine. But you're helping later this afternoon, so you better come back."
"Yeah, yeah," Jess said, already out the door.
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Rory was heading towards the diner when Dean came up to her in the street. Rory sighed. "Look, Dean – "
"Rory, I know I've been stupid, okay? I just want to talk to you this one time."
"Fine," Rory relented.
"Come on, let's talk in here."
Dean led her to the gazebo, and they sat down. "Are you really happy with him?"
"Well……yes. Look, Dean, I don't want to hurt you, but I can't lie to you. I'm with Jess, and I'm staying with Jess. We are never going to get back together, and right now I don't even know if we can be friends."
Dean sighed. "I guess I just needed to hear you say it."
They were both silent for a moment. "But Rory? One more thing," Dean said all of the sudden, leaning towards her.
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Jess happened to be walking towards the gazebo when he saw Rory and Dean sitting in there. He stopped walking and scowled.
Then, unable to believe his eyes, Dean and Rory kissed.
Jess froze, then turned around, and walked away.
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When Dean leaned forward and kissed her, it took Rory completely by surprise. She froze, then realized what was happening and pulled away. "Dean!" she said, standing up.
"Nothing?" Dean asked.
"I told you I'm with Jess now!" Rory said angrily.
"I know," Dean said, putting his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I just – I just needed to know for sure that we were over."
"Well, gee, did you get the message now? Don't talk to me, and don't tell anyone about this."
With that, Rory left.
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Jess scowled. He was standing outside the diner and Rory had taken her sweet time leaving the gazebo. She and Dean had been in there for awhile now – still kissing, probably. When he finally did see her leave, Jess knew he couldn't talk to her. He quickly headed in the direction away from Rory.
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Later that day, Rory came to the diner. "Hey Luke, have you seen Jess? I've been looking for him all day."
"No, I thought he was with you," Luke said, looking surprised. "He left to find you early this afternoon."
Where could he be? Rory wondered.
Where, indeed.
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Author's Note: I'm back! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! And don't worry your pretty heads about Rory and Jess, they'll be okay in the end. I haven't written anything for this story for almost a year, so hopefully it all flows okay. Oh, and I love Rory and Logan together and totally support them with where the show is now, but I think that Rory and Jess were made for each other, the writers just screwed up their relationship at the end of Season 3 because they wanted to get rid of Jess. So this story will definitely remain Literati!
Coming in Chapter 16……………The ramifications of what happened between Rory and Dean and what Jess saw will have to be dealt with – if Jess can be found. Whose side will everyone land on? And what about Luke? Will he be torn?