Okay, I know not much happens in this chapter, but I wanted to write about the craziness of Star's Hollow. I hope the dialogue between Luke, Taylor, and Kirk near the end isn't too complicated...short of making it script-like, I couldn't find a way to clear it up. So just read it, and make educated guesses as to who's saying what. This might prove to be more complicated than it sounds, because Kirk's kids have amusing names, but happy reading!
OnLoveInSadness: I'm glad you liked drunk Jess, lol. Some people didn't, and I felt kinda bad…but I guess I have to take the constructive criticism. So far, none from you though!
Helle18: Wellllll, I guess it wasn't really a 'walking-out'. I have a pet peeve about reusing the same adjectives over and over and a story, and I'd said left several times by then. He did walk out on her, but not in the traditional walking-out way. I was just referring to his leaving Star's Hollow and trying to sound different, but I'm sorry if you were confused!
Everyone: Responding to the feedback on the stupid bitch comment…I thought Jess would be mad and drunk and hurt, so I was just fishing for something he could fling at Lily to try and hurt her. Hope no one was truly offended, because we all love Lily!
And to all of the people who are expecting a confrontation soon, well, that's been a little overdone. And I don't think it's like Rory and Jess. So my plot will be a teensy bit different. Oh, there will be R/J interaction. Don't you worry your pretty little heads.
Rory stood in the drugstore, trying to decide which brand-name pills to buy. Asprin or Advil? Both were tried and true. She picked the latter and tried to navigate her way out of the confusing aisles. Just as she spotted the check-out counter, someone bumped into her, causing her to drop her precious pills.
"Nice. I love this city," she stated wryly as she bent to pick them up. Her attacker froze, and then turned around.
"Rory?"
"Jess?" She stayed in her position, craning her neck to look at him.
"Uh, are you going to get up?"
"Maybe."
"Because if you faint again, it'll be a shorter distance to the floor from there."
"That went into the thinking process."
"Glad to know you weighed your options." An awkward silence descended on them, so Jess cleared his throat.
"Might you know where they keep the Asprin in this place?"
"Yea, it's over there."
"Thanks." Rory waited until he turned the corner near the bread, and finally stood. Her heart pounding, she finished the trip to the cashier.
She hoped to get out of there as fast as she could, in effort to avoid another embarrassing confrontation. The clerk, however, did not speak very good English, and it took a few minutes for him to ring up her purchase. In Rory's opinion that wasn't good for business, but who was she to question Mr. Kramer?
As she left the store, she noticed Jess loitering by the cigarettes. He had his desired drugs in his hand, so he was keeping his distance in an effort to make her feel more comfortable. A wave of gratitude clenched her, and she smiled at him as he glanced up to see if she was done. Surprised at her warmth, he grinned back. She exited the store feeling sixteen again.
At that same moment, all of Star's Hollow buzzed excitedly about the latest news. Miss Patty had told everyone she came across on her walk from the diner to her dance studio that Jess was back, and Rory was having a meltdown in her hotel room. Patty flagged down a car as it drove past her, carrying Kirk, Lulu, and their sons Luke and Taylor inside. Kirk was determined to name his children after some of the important people in his life.
"Lulu, darling! Have you heard the latest gossip?"
"Gena Moesely and the mailman?"
"Oh dear, that was yesterday's news. Hold on a second, you never met Jess!"
"I remember Jess very well. The day that bully left Star's Hollow was the fourth best day of my life," Kirk interjected, shuddering.
"Someone bullied you, baby?" Lulu asked her husband.
"Well, he didn't know he was bullying me, but his mere presence was enough to make me want to scream like a little girl and hide under the diner table. That scowl he wore did nothing to improve his image, and the way he treated customers made me fear for my life every time I ate at Luke's."
"Jess is Luke's nephew," Patty began to Lulu, ignoring Kirk. Lulu put the car in brake in the middle of the street, and faced Patty excitedly. This promised to be a good story. "One day his mom got fed up with him, stuck his butt on a bus, and sent him here to let us deal with him. At the time, Rory and Dean were a couple. Cutest couple you've ever seen off-screen! And Jess just gets here, the ruffian decides he wants our Rory, and before you know it BOOM! Dean is on the rebound and getting married, and Jess is parading all over town with our girl on his arm, even after he crashed her car and got in a fight with Lorelai. No one thought it would last, but he stuck it out long enough to fail high school and get on a bus to find his estranged father in California- without telling Rory! He skipped town and didn't even tell his own girlfriend! Poor dear was heartbroken, but tried to hide it from all of us. She went off to Yale and he never came back." Patty finished her story and finally stopped to take a breath.
"Wow, I wish I'd come to Star's Hollow earlier!"
"Oh sweetie, don't worry. A little birdy tells me Jess might be back in the neighborhood pretty soon." Patty winked and walked off, lighting a cigarette.
"Kirk, Jess is coming back! This will be so much fun!" Lulu gushed. Kirk blanched as she finished the short drive to Luke's diner, and unloaded her family.
"Luke! I have to talk to you!" Kirk yelled as soon as he stepped inside. Luke looked up from the booth where his girlfriend was sitting, staring silently at her coffee.
"Just a minute Kirk. Lorelai, are you going to drink that?" She nodded, but did nothing. He sighed, and stood up to talk to Kirk.
"I hear you nephew is coming back to town. Is that true?"
"Where did you hear that, Kirk?"
"Because if he is, I'd like to know in advance. I don't want to accidentally run into him. You see, I have an irrational fear of Jess, and I'd prefer not to let my children see me running down the street screaming for my mother. I have a feeling that should they see me doing that, it will come back to haunt me when they're surly teenagers."
"Jess is not coming back, I haven't spoken to him since he took off." Lulu sat down next to Lorelai, trying to engage her in conversation.
"So is it true they're back together?"
"I am going to kill Patty."
"I never knew the kid, but I'm a huge fan of people-watching, and I've been noting the reactions people have when they hear the news. Some people get all starry-eyed because rekindling old romances is so incredibly poetic! However, the majority seems shocked and enraged. You know what, I probably shouldn't be telling you this right now." Lorelai gave Lulu a small smile.
"It might be best not to."
"Okay, Kirk. Your family can order now, or you can go somewhere less hostile for lunch."
"What, are you turning into that hoodlum? Are you going to stare me in the eyes without blinking until I become so entirely paranoid that I pass out on the diner floor? If that's the case, I will take my family and leave!"
"Come again soon. Hey, get out of there!" he yelled at the younger Luke as he lifted the glass dome off the doughnuts.
"We're going, Luke."
"Yes, please get Luke out of here!"
"You threw yourself out of your own diner, Luke."
"I did not, I threw your Luke out of my diner!"
"I was schizophrenic for a time myself. I can recommend you to an excellent therapist."
"Out before I lose my temper!"
"Come with us, Luke."
"Take Luke and Taylor, and don't bring them back here."
"Excuse me?" Taylor Doose had just walked in. Luke groaned, and Lorelai giggled for the first time all day.
"Taylor, take Lulu's hand."
"What? I will not do that, Kirk."
"Now Luke, hold Taylor's hand."
"WHAT?"
"Kirk, please get your offspring off me. I swear, some people should never have been allowed to mate."
"Luke, let go of Taylor. No, hold Taylor's hand, but please release your hold on Taylor's pant leg."
"Lorelai, these children have jam-hands!"
"Luke, please don't kick Luke!"
"Okay, Taylor and Luke are now leaving my diner."
"You cannot kick me out, Luke."
"You kicked yourself out again, Luke." Luke made a guttural noise somewhere between a scream and a growl, and stalked upstairs. Lorelai smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, cheered. Taylor Doose sat down across from her.
"So, the prodigal nephew returns?"
Rory took a long, cold shower before ordering food. She could have gone to one of the restaurants on the list she googled before coming here, but she felt like hanging with herself today. So she watched CNN while she waited for her room service, and then debated calling her mother again. Lorelai hated being out-of-the-loop for anything, and Rory knew she'd be freaking out wondering what the 'Jess-situation' was. She didn't know herself. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she couldn't just run in to him after all these years, and let him walk away again. She didn't know when he was leaving. She'd have to talk to him soon.
She dialed Lane and Dave's number when she finished eating. Dave was a keeper. He'd actually come back from California, for Lane. Lane was her best friend in the world, other than her mother. Rory and Lorelai were closer than close, and acted more like best friends and roommates than mother and daughter. That didn't mean that Lorelai was thrilled about Rory's encounter last night, though.
"Lane? It's your favorite Pulitzer princess," Rory quipped as Lane picked up.
"Rory? Thank God, I've been waiting for you to call me with details!"
"Uh, details of what?"
"You and Jess!"
"How do you know about Jess?"
"Patty."
"How would Patty know? I'm in New York!"
"She's Patty. Her sources reach far beyond Connecticut."
"They must,"
"So tell me!"
"There's nothing to tell! I just ran in to him last night, and we started talking and drinking and before you knew it, we were both smashed and hitting on each other and then he said something cruel and insensitive and I ran to my room, called my mom, and fell asleep."
"That's it? The town is talking like you're back with him, and we thought he was coming back to Star's Hollow!"
"That's it. Well, we ran into each other, literally, when we were buying painkillers this morning."
"And?"
"And...we kinda smiled at each other. I think things are going to be okay."
"Oh my God, smiling? You guys had a moment!"
"We did not have 'a moment'! It was just an unspoken agreement that nobody gets hurt."
"So what now?"
"I honestly have no idea. I mean, I can't find any logic that tells me to seek him out before he leaves, but I can't fathom the thought of actually seeing him for the first time since he left me, and not doing something."
"What's something?"
"Not a clue so far,"
"Oh my God, you're getting back together!"
"What? No, that's not what I meant!"
"Rory, go for it! You haven't been in a healthy relationship since Jess left, and maybe there's a reason for that."
"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. So now that the whole town knows, how are people taking it?"
"Well, Kirk is still scared of Jess."
"Still?"
"I know, it's heartbreaking. Your mom is looking a little dazed, but that might be because she's confused. Everyone else is on their toes waiting for Patty to find out more."
"Lovely. I'll call Patty later and set her straight."
"Luke looks a little mad. Jess is a sore subject for him, so I don't think he's too fond of the latest gossip. Dean is...Dean. He still cares about you, Rory. I think he's mad."
"We're just friends now, Lane. When he and Lindsey decided not to go ahead with the divorce, we had to forget our feelings for each other, and we did. Lindsey trusts us now, and yes he still cares about me, but it's more of an older-brother thing."
"Still, he's Dean. Which means he hates Jess, and he doesn't want you to be with him. It's a guy thing, I don't understand exactly how it works. Dave tried to explain it to me once, but no good."
"Well, I doubt very much that Jess will come back to Star's Hollow, so we can avoid a repeat of their last encounter."
"I'll drink to that. Of course, I don't have anything to drink, but I'll pretend I do because that is a good idea, avoiding."
"I'm going to go call my mom and Miss Patty now. I'll talk to you later, Lane."
"Wait! One more question!"
"Shoot,"
"Do you want to get back together with Jess?" Rory was silent for a few moments.
"What I want and what I do are two entirely separate things," she said finally. It seemed the safest answer, especially because she wasn't sure she could answer the question yet.
"Live for yourself, Rory. No one's stopping you. Even Lorelai would want you to be with him if it makes you happy." Rory half-smiled, even though Lane couldn't see her, and hung up.
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