CHAPTER 4

Spoilers: This chapter contains spoilers for how the season may end. Do not read if you don't want to know!

A/N: Originally, I thought this might also be a Java Junkie, but I found Lorelai and Luke hard to write when I tried, so for now, it's only Literati. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long; I've been extremely busy with schoolwork. I haven't written anything other than essays in weeks, practically. It feels funny to be writing and not analyzing a book for once, so if this is bad, feel free to let me know.

Also, for the purposes of this story, Jess did come in Last Week Fights, This Week Tights and asked Rory to leave with him. However, it didn't happen like it did in the show; he and Rory talked after she said no and he left on good terms with her.

Rory slowly became aware of something heavy on her legs. She tried to move them, but they didn't budge. She gradually opened her eyes, squinting as they took in the bright sunlight. She gazed around the room for a second, taking in the TV still on but with the volume turned down, the empty potato chip bags and ice cream bowls on the floor, and the blankets and pillows strewn across the room.

She looked down at her feet.

"Mom," she groaned. "Move."

Lorelai made a grunting noise and waved her hand in the air before rolling over and going back to sleep.

Rory pushed back the blanket and stood up, then slowly made her way back to her old bedroom. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, relieved to not have to dress nicely for work this morning.

She went into the kitchen and began to make coffee. Almost immediately, Lorelai stumbled into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Lorelai asked.

"How did you know?"

"It's coffee. I just knew." Lorelai poured herself a cup, and sat down at the table. "Come sit," she said to Rory, patting the seat next to her.

"Okay," Rory said, sitting down.

"So, last night."

"What about last night?" Rory asked.

"Well, we talked a lot. You know, typical girl talk, clothes, make-up, the dreamy guy across the street…"

"Mom. I was there. I remember, although anything about a dreamy guy across the street is a mystery to me."

"Right, Okay. But, there is one thing we didn't talk about."

"What?"

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee before speaking. "Why'd you come back?"

"Do I really need a reason? Can't I just come visit?"

Lorelai stood up, setting her coffee down on the table roughly, causing it to splash over the edge of the cup.

"You can always visit me, but you know what, Rory? When you don't visit in four years, you need a reason when you eventually do."

"Fine." Rory dug into her pocket and took something out. She held it up. "I'm getting married. I thought you'd like to know." Rory grabbed her denim jacket from the back of a chair and walked towards the door.

"Rory!" Lorelai called after her, but Rory was already walking down the street.

Rory walked through Stars Hollow, not quite sure where she was headed. She was constantly amazed at how it hadn't changed at all since the last time she had visited.

"Rory?" she heard someone calling.

She turned around, and saw Miss Patty walking out of Doose's Market.

"Hi, Miss Patty," she said.

"Babette said you were back, but I said I wouldn't believe it until I saw you for myself," Miss Patty commented. "So, Rory, what-"

Rory interrupted Miss Patty, knowing that she would ask why Rory was back, and if Rory told her, the whole town would know in under an hour. "How are you doing? Anything new?"

"Well, I've been seeing my second husband again," Miss Patty replied.

"Really? That's great," Rory commented. "I have to get going, Miss Patty, I'll see you later."

"Alright, Rory, see you later."

After walking for a few more minutes, Rory decided to go to Luke's for some coffee. It was late afternoon, right at that lull between lunch and dinner, so the diner was practically empty.

She took a seat at the counter, and looked around. Luke wasn't in the diner, but Rory figured he must be in the back, so she decided to wait a minute.

She heard footsteps coming out from the back, and she looked up. "Luke? Where were you?" she asked.

"What?" Jess said.

"Oh… I thought you were Luke."

"Obviously," he said, walking up behind the counter and picking up a coffee mug. "Want some?"

"Yeah, thanks," Rory answered as he poured her a cup. She took a few sips and then set it down.

"I never realized how much I loved this coffee until I left," she commented. "Coffee in Boston's not that great."

"You've been living in Boston?"

"Yeah. I work for the Globe," she told him.

"Not exactly a Christiane Amanpour yet, are you?"

"Not yet," she said, smiling. "I'm still working up."

"My offer to drive straight at you screaming in a foreign language is still open," he said, and Rory laughed.

They were silent for awhile, and a quote from one of her favorite books came to mind. In such a meeting, no words are necessary: each senses the other's thoughts. She smiled, and Jess looked at her strangely.

"What?"

"Nothing," Rory said, looking down at her coffee and taking another sip. "You want to know why I came back?" she asked him.

"You don't seem like you want to tell me," he said.

"I do."

"Okay," he said, taking a bite of a doughnut from the case on the counter.

"I'm engaged," Rory told him. "His name's Matt and he also lives in Boston. He works with his dad; they do something in foreign relations."

"Congratulations," Jess said, finishing the doughnut.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Rory said, a little surprised.

"What, isn't that what people are supposed to say when they hear news like that?" Jess asked, smirking.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect-"

"You didn't expect me to be happy for you?"

"No, well, yes, I guess I did. I didn't know," she said, holding tightly onto her now empty coffee mug.

"I am happy for you," Jess told her.

"Okay. Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem."

"Well, I better be getting back home," Rory said, standing up. "My mom's probably waiting for me. We didn't part on the, uh, best of terms when I left before."

"Bye," he said.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," she said, as she left the diner. The next sentence after the quote she had thought of came to mind just as she left the diner. In such a meeting, no words are necessary: each senses the other's thoughts. Each is the answer to the other's dreams. She quickly pushed the thought out of her head, reminding herself to call Matt when she got home and let him know what time to come on Sunday.

A/N: The quote is from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. What did you think? I know it's moving kind of slow and I still haven't said why Rory left, but that's coming up soon, I promise! It just didn't fit well in this chapter. Review!