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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The next morning, Rory went into the diner with her mother expecting to see Luke and Jess as they did every morning. She was a little worried that Jess hadn't called her at all yesterday, but she figured that Luke might have kept him busy at the diner or something. It's not like Jess needed to call her every day. But still………
"Rory!" Luke exclaimed, coming up to her and Lorelai. "Have you talked to Jess?"
"No, I haven't seen him since I talked to you yesterday," Rory said.
"I haven't either," Luke said, sounding worried.
"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Jess didn't come home last night?" Lorelai asked.
"Yes, that's what I'm telling you. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning."
Lorelai glanced at Rory before speaking again. "Are you sure? Maybe he came home late last night, then left early this morning to go – "
"Jess doesn't leave early in the morning for anything. Ever," Luke interrupted.
"Well, yeah, but – he could have. Just this once."
"No, something's wrong. Maybe I should call the police."
Luke was pacing up and down, completely ignoring all the customers in the diner trying to get his attention to order their meals. Lorelai sighed. "Everybody out!" she yelled, shooing people towards the door. "The diner's closed. Get out. Come back tomorrow."
She closed the door behind the last person, ignoring the boos being showered upon her. Rory had sat down on a stool and hadn't said a word. "Luke, have you called Maggie?" Lorelai asked him.
Luke looked at Lorelai in surprise. "No. Why, do you think he – "
"I don't know, maybe."
"Good idea!" he said, hurrying to the phone.
As Luke made the call, Lorelai sat down next to Rory. "Rory, are you sure no one saw?"
After failing to find Jess yesterday afternoon, Rory had gone home and waited for her mother. Once Lorelai had come home, Rory had told her all about the incident with Dean in the gazebo.
At Lorelai's question, Rory turned worried blue eyes at her mother. "I didn't think anyone saw, but I guess I'm not one hundred percent sure. Still, if someone saw, wouldn't we have heard about it by now?"
"Unless Jess is the only one who saw."
"Ugh, not happening!" Rory moaned. "If he saw……"
She didn't finish her sentence – she couldn't. She didn't want to think about what would happen if Jess had seen Rory and Dean kiss.
"She hasn't seen or heard from him," Luke said, coming back over to Rory and Lorelai.
Lorelai glanced at Rory again. "Luke, there's something you should know," she began.
Rory looked up, but she didn't say anything. Jess was in Luke's care; Luke deserved to know why he might have run off all of the sudden. "What?" Luke asked. "Do you know where Jess is?"
"No. But we might know why he's gone."
Lorelai hesitated, playing with her hair. "Come on, tell me," Luke said.
"Okay. Yesterday, Dean kissed Rory. And……we didn't think anyone saw, but now we're thinking that maybe Jess did."
Luke sat down heavily. "Oh."
"Luke, I'm sorry," Rory burst out. "Dean wanted to talk, and we went to the gazebo to talk privately, and then he just kissed me! I wasn't expecting it, it just happened, and I told him not to talk to me and left. I didn't think anyone saw, but I haven't seen Jess since before it happened, and……I'm sorry!"
Lorelai put her arm around Rory comfortingly. "It's not your fault," Luke said wearily. "It's Jess jumping to conclusions, and Dean……it's not your fault," he repeated.
"Luke, what do you want us to do?" Lorelai asked quietly.
"Just go home. He might come back, and I'll talk to him."
Rory got up but didn't say anything. Lorelai followed suit, her arm still around her daughter. "We'll let you know if we hear anything," she said.
"Thanks," Luke said, managing a smile in Lorelai's direction.
He just hoped that Jess really would come back and give Luke a chance to explain what had happened to him. Now that he had heard what had happened with Rory and Dean, he was positive that was why Jess had disappeared. And God only knows what he's doing right now, Luke thought.
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That night, Lorelai checked on Rory before sneaking out. Rory was sleeping, and Stars Hollow was quiet.
She was going to find Jess. Knowing him as she did, and not biased as Rory and Luke were, Lorelai felt that she might have a better chance. She could at least try.
First stop……the bars in Hartford.
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Jess was glad he had kept his fake ID. He'd took a bus to Hartford, then wandered from bar to bar for……well, he didn't know how long it had been, but he was pretty sure he had started yesterday. It seemed like it had been nighttime twice now.
A bar is a great place, Jess thought. You can smoke, you can drink, and no one bothers you. How could it get any better?
It would be better if you were sober and with Rory, an annoying voice in the back of his head said.
"Shut up!" Jess said, downing another shot.
"Excuse me?" the man sitting two seats down from Jess asked.
"I'm not talkin' to you," Jess said, slurring his words together.
The man gave him a look of disdain. Jess could only imagine what he looked like – and what he smelled like – after smoking, drinking, and not showering for a day or two now. But why the hell should he care? He didn't.
Every time he thought of Rory, he would drink more to numb the pain. Still, it seemed like no matter how much he drank, he couldn't get the image of her and Dean kissing out of his mind. I must not be drunk enough.
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After already trying four bars, Lorelai was thinking that maybe she wasn't so smart after all. Okay, this is the last one, and then I'm heading home, she told herself.
Lorelai walked in and saw that barely anyone was inside. There was a couple at a table in a dark corner, and two people at the bar. She headed over to the bar and then she saw – one of the guys was Jess.
Lorelai sat down next to him and didn't say anything for a minute. He reeked of alcohol and smoke. "Jess," Lorelai said, touching his arm.
Jess automatically pulled his arm away, avoiding the physical contact, and almost fell off of his stool. He turned his head to the right and saw Lorelai sitting next to him. "Lorelai?" he asked, thinking he had to be dreaming.
"Yeah. Come on, Jess, let's get you home."
"Get the fuck away from me," Jess growled.
Lorelai was determined to get Jess home and ignore anything he said to her. "I will. As soon as you go home. Come on."
Jess didn't move. "Fine. We'll do it my way. Bartender?" Lorelai called to the man who was eyeing her and Jess warily. "This boy is under twenty-one. Unless you want me to call the cops on you, I suggest you help me get him into my car."
"I checked his ID," the bartender said.
"It was probably a fake. I know that he's eighteen and he's still in high school. Just help me get him to my car."
"Fine, lady."
Between the two of them, Jess got into the car. He didn't – or couldn't – put up much a fight, and he sat there silently as Lorelai drove him to Luke's. Lorelai, for once, didn't say a word. She parked in front of Luke's, who still had his light on, and knocked on the door.
"Lorelai!" Luke said, looking surprised.
"I found Jess. He's in the car," Lorelai said.
Luke looked happy, nervous, and angry at the same time as he followed Lorelai to her Jeep. Jess was just sitting there, and Lorelai opened the door on his side. It was then that Luke caught a whiff of him. "Oh geez," he said. "Where'd you find him?"
"In Hartford."
"What, at a bar?"
"Um……why don't you just help him inside?" Lorelai said, avoiding Luke's question.
Luke got his answer then, and he sighed, then helped Jess walk to the diner. Lorelai opened the door for them, and Luke turned around. "Thanks," he said.
"No problem. You two take care."
Luke looked down at Jess, a slight frown on his face. "Yeah. We'll try."
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The next morning, Lorelai purposely let Rory oversleep. Rory woke up in a hurry and barely had time to get dressed before she had to leave. "Mom, maybe I'll just – "
"Rory, there's not any time," Lorelai said, knowing her daughter wanted to go to Luke's and check on Jess.
Lorelai had to tell Rory that Jess was safely back at Luke's, but she had thus far been able to avoid telling her how he had gotten there and what shape he was in.
Rory chewed on her lip nervously. "How is he?" she asked her mother.
"He'll be okay."
Lorelai put her arm around her daughter. "Come on, I'll drive you to the bus stop."
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Late that morning, after feeding the breakfast rush, Luke went upstairs and saw Jess was still sleeping. He shook his awake. "Jess, wake up," Luke said.
Jess put a hand to his head. "Quit shouting."
Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm not shouting. You're hung-over."
Jess didn't say anything. "Come on, get in the shower and I'll give you some aspirin."
Jess didn't move, but Luke couldn't stand the smell. He pulled Jess into the bathroom, started the shower, and told him if he weren't done in fifteen minutes Luke was going to come in there.
Jess didn't say anything.
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After Jess had showered, changed, and Luke had given him some aspirin, he laid back down on his bed. He didn't read, he didn't listen to music, he just laid there, thankful that Luke had gone back downstairs and hadn't asked him any questions. The fact that it had been Lorelai that had brought him home made Jess sure that both Luke and Lorelai knew what had happened.
I saw Rory and Dean kissing. Rory and Dean. Kissing. Rory. My girlfriend Rory. Kissing Dean, the guy I hate and her ex-boyfriend.
But it looked like Dean kissed her, a voice in his head piped up. She didn't initiate anything.
But she didn't pull away, either, he reminded himself.
He rubbed his chest. His heart literally hurt. She said she loved me. I told her that I loved her. She knows I've never said that to anyone. Why would she do this to me? Why in a public place? It's like she wanted me to see. Why didn't she just break up with me? It would hurt, but it couldn't hurt as much as me seeing her and Dean kissing.
Why doesn't she love me?
Jess smacked his bed angrily. He got up and went over to where his jacket was lying on the floor, then reached into the pocket for his pack of cigarettes. It wasn't there. He searched all the pockets, but the cigarettes were gone. He stormed over to the door, opened it, and yelled, "God damn it, Luke, where the hell are my cigarettes?" down the stairs.
Luke appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "You're not smoking in here," he said.
"Fine, give them to me and I'll go somewhere else."
"No. And don't even think about buying more, I took the money out of your drawer. No smoking, Jess."
Jess slammed the door without saying a word. He opened the refrigerator, looking for some of Luke's beer, and saw that that was all gone as well. God damn Luke! What the hell is he trying to pull?
Jess laid back down on his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to stop thinking about everything and go to sleep.
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That day at school, Rory couldn't pay attention in class at all. Finally, during lunch, Paris asked her what was wrong.
"Nothing," Rory said unconvincingly.
"Oh, please. You've been acting like Mopey, the eighth dwarf, for the entire day. Just spit it out. What's the problem?" Paris asked.
"Nothing. Just……Jess."
"Loverboy? What'd he do, forget to read you a poem on your anniversary of the first time you kissed or something?"
Rory rolled her eyes. "No, Paris. And I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh come on, Rory, quit playing the martyr here."
"Paris! I said I don't want to talk about it!" Rory said angrily, then got up and walked away, leaving Paris to stare after her.
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After school that day Rory went straight to the diner. "Luke, is Jess upstairs?" she asked immediately upon entering.
"Yeah."
Rory paused. "Um, how is he?"
"He's upset. I hope you can make it better."
"Yeah, me too."
Luke gave her a small smile, and Rory went upstairs. She knocked lightly on the door, then entered the room to find Jess lying on his bed. "Go away, Luke," he said.
"Jess, it's me," Rory said softly.
Jess sat straight up. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, Luke told me you were up here, and – "
"Oh, of course he did," Jess said angrily.
Jess still hadn't made eye contact with Rory. "Jess, I need to talk to you. I'm guessing that you saw – "
"Don't say it," Jess said, cutting in.
Rory walked closer to him. "I didn't know he was going to do that, Jess. I'm sorry," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Jess jerked away from her and stood up facing her. He finally looked at her, and Rory was sad to see his eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles underneath them. "Don't touch me," he snapped.
"Jess, don't be like this," she said. "I love – "
"Shut up!" he yelled. "Shut up! No, you don't. Don't ever say that to me again. Don't ever talk to me again. I never want to see you again. Never."
"Jess, you don't mean that," Rory said, tears coming to her eyes.
"Yes, I do," he said coldly.
"That's not fair!" she burst out. "This isn't my fault! I didn't do anything!"
"You're right," Jess agreed. "You didn't do anything. He kissed you, and you sat there and didn't push him away."
"Jess – "
"But I don't know why I'm surprised," Jess continued, his voice mocking. "How does that saying go? 'Once a cheater, always a cheater'? And didn't you kiss me when you were still with him? I should have expected something like this."
Rory froze. "That is a low blow," she said furiously. "You know that I – "
"I don't know anything about you," he said. "And I don't care about you, either. Lane was right, Rory. I just said that stuff to try and get in your pants. Now get out."
Rory just stood there staring at him, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Jess – "
"GET OUT!" he yelled.
He went over and opened the door, staring at the floor until she left. When she did, he slammed it behind her.
Jess sat down on his bed, head in his hands, and felt tears come to his eyes. He refused to let them fall. Once he regained control of himself, he started packing his stuff. Luke came up and looked at him. "What happened?" he asked.
Jess didn't say anything and continued packing his stuff, then zipped up his bag. "What are you doing?"
Jess headed towards the door, then stopped right in front of Luke. "You told her I was up here," Jess said. "You just let her come up. Would it have killed you to be on my side just this once?"
With that, Jess went down the stairs. Luke followed. "Jess, where are you going?" he called.
"Anywhere but here," he yelled over his shoulder.
He got into his car and drove away.
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Rory walked home slowly, crying all the way there. What am I going to do? She asked herself. He's so angry.
Rory couldn't let herself believe that he'd meant all those things that he had said. He doesn't think I'm a cheater, she told herself. He meant it when he said he loved me. Lane wasn't right about that. He's just hurt. Oh, God, I hurt him so badly.
He must not have watched long enough to see me pull away from Dean or hear me tell Dean never to talk to me again. If only he knew that! I tried to tell him, but he's so angry. And it's all my fault. What am I going to do?
Rory let herself into her house, then picked up the phone and called her mother. "Independence Inn, Lorelai speaking. How may I help you?"
"Mom, it's me," Rory said, trying to hold back her tears. "Can you come home?"
"Of course I can. What's the matter?"
"I just talked with Jess."
"I'll be right there."
Rory hung up the phone and sat down on the couch. She wouldn't let herself believe that Jess was gone forever.
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Lorelai rushed home to find Rory sitting on the couch, staring off into space. There were tearstains on her cheeks, although she didn't appear to be crying right now. "Oh, honey, are you okay?" Lorelai asked, coming over and sitting down next to Rory.
She put her arms around her daughter and hugged her. "Mom, it was horrible," Rory said, Lorelai's arm around her shoulder. "He said all these terrible things. He's so angry and hurt. I don't know how to make it better."
"Give him some time to cool off before talking to him," Lorelai suggested. "He'll be okay. He just needs some time."
They sat in silence for a while before Rory, sniffling, spoke. "Mom, do you know where Jess was? How did Luke find him?"
Lorelai hesitated. "Uh……"
"Mom, tell me."
"I found him."
"You did?" Rory asked, looking surprised.
"Yes. I went out last night after you were asleep, then brought him to Luke's."
"Where was he?"
"In Hartford," Lorelai said vaguely.
"Just tell me, Mom."
"I found him in a bar in Hartford."
"Oh."
Rory didn't say anything for a moment, then asked, "How did you know he'd be there?"
"Well, it was the fifth bar I searched, actually."
"How did you know he would be in a bar? I never would have thought of that."
"I know," Lorelai said, stroking Rory's hair. "Luke wouldn't have, either. You guys are too close to Jess and wouldn't want to think of him going off to some bar. But I knew he would be upset, and I just lucked out there, I guess."
"Yeah. I guess so."
The two of them sat in silence for the rest of the night.
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The next morning, Lorelai was greeted at the inn by Sookie. "Good morning!" she said, seeming even more perky than usual.
"Morning," Lorelai replied glumly.
"Uh-oh. What's the matter?"
"Oh, it's Rory," Lorelai said, taking off her coat and gathering the stack of messages at the front desk. "She and Jess are having major problems, and she's upset."
"Well, you always said that kid was bad news," Sookie pointed out.
"I don't really think he is anymore," Lorelai said thoughtfully. "This thing with him and Rory, it's not his fault or her fault. It just happened, and now they're both hurt."
Sookie nodded sympathetically. "Well, enough gloom for the morning," Lorelai said. "What's on the menu for today?"
"Actually, I have some news," Sookie said, smiling brightly.
"Okay," Lorelai said. "Good news, I'm assuming, since I'm going blind here."
"Yes. I'm pregnant! Jackson and I are having a baby!"
"Oh my gosh, Sookie!" Lorelai said, giving her a hug. "That is so amazing! Oh! Congratulations!"
Both of them started crying a little bit. "I can't believe you're having a baby!" Lorelai said.
"I know! I can't either!" Sookie said, sniffing back tears.
"This calls for a celebration. Michel!" Lorelai called. "Get us some non-alcoholic champagne!"
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After school that day, Lane came over to Rory's house. "So, what happened? You sounded upset on the phone."
"Lane, was Jess at school today?"
"No, I haven't seen him. Why?"
"We got into a huge fight. He broke up with me. He said he never wants to see me again, and – "
"Whoa, slow down!" Lane said, holding up a hand. "Last I heard, you two were happy and in love. What happened?"
"Dean kissed me."
"Oh. Wow. When did this happen?"
"A few days ago. He said he wanted to talk, and we went to the gazebo, and he kissed me. And then I got up and said I didn't want him to talk to me anymore."
"Okay. So what's the problem? You didn't tell Jess, did you?"
"No. Apparently he saw for himself."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. And he didn't see me push Dean away, either, he only saw us kissing."
"Oh no," Lane repeated, sitting down.
"Wait, it gets worse. Jess disappears and no one knows where he is, and my mom finds him in a bar in Hartford. Apparently he's started drinking and smoking again. So I went to the diner to talk to him, and he's so angry, Lane."
"What did he say?"
"He said you were right and that he didn't really love me, he only said it so I would sleep with him. And he said that he should have expected this from me, because I kissed him when I was with Dean, and apparently once a cheater, always a cheater."
"No, he really said that?"
"Yes. Every word."
"Oh, Rory."
Lane gave her a hug. "So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know what I can do. He said he never wants to see me again, but Lane………I still love him. I can't just give up."
"Just give him time to cool off," Lane suggested.
"That's what my mom said."
The girls sat in silence for a moment. "This is so Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall."
"You think?"
"Oh yeah."
"But things didn't end well for them," Rory pointed out.
"Oh. Right. Never mind then."
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After Jess had stormed out of Luke's, he had drove away and ended up in Hartford. Without really thinking about where he was going, he ended up at Maggie's house. He parked, then looked up at her house. Well, why not? He had nowhere else to go.
He got out and knocked on the door, bag in hand. A maid answered. "Yes?"
"I need to talk to Maggie."
The maid looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you?"
"Her grandson," Jess snapped.
Just then Maggie came up to the door. "Jess! What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.
"Can I come in?"
"Of course. Rosa, can you leave us, please?"
Rosa left, and Jess followed Maggie into the living room. "Sit. What's the matter? Does Luke know you're here? He called me a few days looking for you, you know."
"Yeah, I've seen him since then."
Maggie looked at Jess. He didn't look like he'd be doing well. "What's this about, Jess?" she asked softly.
"I need a place to stay."
"You can stay here, of course. But you need to tell Luke where you are."
"I'm not talking to him," Jess said bitterly.
"Why not?"
"Because he never takes my side. Ever. He'll always choose Rory and Lorelai over me, and I can't deal with it right now."
"Jess, what happened?" Maggie asked again.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Maggie looked at him consideringly, then agreed. "Okay. You don't have to tell me. But I'm calling Luke and telling him that you're here."
"Whatever."
Maggie tossed him his bag. "Go upstairs and pick out a room."
After Jess left, Maggie picked up the phone and called Luke. He answered on the first ring. "Jess?"
"No, Luke, it's Maggie."
"Maggie. Have you seen Jess?"
"He just showed up on my doorstep."
"Oh, thank God."
"Luke, what's going on?"
"He and Rory aren't doing very well, and I let Rory come in, and apparently I shouldn't have done that."
"Oh. I see."
Maggie paused. "Luke, I told him he could stay here, but that I was calling you to tell you where he was."
There was silence on the line for a minute. "Luke?"
"What? Oh. Yeah. That's fine."
"All right. You can call anytime you want."
"Yeah. Thanks, Maggie."
"Goodbye, Luke."
Maggie hung up the phone. Trouble with Rory? That explained a lot. Her grandson didn't look good at all.
Still, a part of Maggie was pleased that he had come to her.
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That night, after the diner was closed, Lorelai knocked on the door. Luke was cleaning up, but he went and opened it for her. "Hey," she said.
"Hey."
She looked around. "Is Jess upstairs?"
"Why, did you come to talk to him too?"
"No, I was just wondering."
Luke sighed. "No, he's not. He left after he and Rory argued."
"He left? Where?"
"He's at Maggie's."
Lorelai was behind the counter pouring herself coffee as Luke talked. "Oh."
"Yeah. She called and let me know."
"I'm sorry, Luke," Lorelai said.
"It's not your fault."
"Well, it is my daughter he's upset with."
"That's not why he left," Luke said.
Lorelai sat down, putting her coffee down. "It's not?"
Luke started wiping down the counter. "No. Rory came in, and I told her he was upstairs. After she left, I went up there and he said I never take his side. And then he left."
"Oh, Luke," Lorelai said, coming up to him.
She gave him a hug, then pulled back slightly to look at him. "That's not true. Trust me, I know. You do take Jess' side."
"Thanks, I think."
"Sure," Lorelai murmured.
Their faces were inches apart, and they were staring into each other's eyes. Suddenly, without thinking, Lorelai leaned forward and kissed Luke.
Just as suddenly, she pulled away from Luke, who had been so surprised he hadn't moved at all. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'll just be going. I – okay. I will go now," Lorelai said, rambling as she started walking towards the door.
You kissed Luke! You kissed Luke! You kissed Luke! her mind screamed at her.
"Lorelai, wait," Luke said before she opened the door.
She stopped, and he went up to her. "Don't go."
He pulled her close to him and kissed her, and Lorelai wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
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Author's Note: Review! Especially all you Java Junkies out there, this has got to be good for you! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Coming in Chapter 17………Will Lorelai and Luke become a couple? How is Jess doing? And who will Rory lash out at?