Disclaimer: I.Own.Nothing. I'm learning to cope with it, you should too.
A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews! Keep 'em coming, and I'll keep the story coming.:) And, I know the chapters are a little short, but they'll begetting longer.
Chapter 2
Rory sat at the kitchen table, writing diligently in her notebook. Lorelai looked at her daughter with a proud smile, cup of coffee in hand.
Rory glanced up and tossed down her pencil in annoyance. "Stop!" She exclaimed. "Stop looking at me like that."
"I'm just so proud." Lorelai said, bringing her hand to her chest. "My daughter's first busted party! I've been waiting years for this moment."
"Mom…" Rory started with a roll of her eyes.
"No!" Lorelai cried with emotion, holding her hand out to silence her daughter. "I want more time to savor the moment." She took a deep breath and the two sat in silence.
"Ok." Lorelai said with a smile. "I'm savored."
"You aren't funny." Rory said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know at least two people who'd disagree with you on that." Lorelai said.
"Besides yourself?" Rory asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Fine." Lorelai said with a pout. "One person."
"I just want to forget about that party!" Rory said. "It was a mistake. I shouldn't have gone. A lot of stupid stuff went down. That party is the epitome of why I chose to be a shut-in all through my teenage years."
"Why did it get busted again?" Lorelai asked, sipping her coffee.
"You know." Rory said awkwardly. "The beer…"
"And…?" Lorelai asked, noticing her daughter's hesitation. "What are you holding back?"
"There was a fight." Rory responded hesitantly. "Between Jess and Dean."
"Jess and Dean fighting? What could've come between two best friends like Jess and Dean?" Lorelai asked, feigning shock.
Rory looked down at her notebook. "Dean saw me crying, flipped out on Jess."
"Oh, the shock is too much for me." Lorelai said. "Jess and Dean fighting over you! Who would've thought that'd ever happen? Especially with no precedent to ever hint that such an incident could ever occur."
"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, frustrated. "I'm not going to tell you anything else." She picked up her pencil and began to write again.
The two sat in silence as Lorelai pouted for a moment. Realizing Rory wasn't going to relent, she said, "Fine, you win! I'll be good! Just tell me. Why did Jess make you cry?"
Rory hesitated, and then said, "We were in a bedroom upstairs, and things started moving too fast. Jess wanted to…" She trailed off.
"Ah, gotcha. Did you?" Lorelai asked, nervously.
"No." Rory shook her head. "It wasn't right, but he tried to... So we fought for a minute and I ran out of the room, and into Dean."
Lorelai shook her head. "Well, I'm glad you showed good judgment, kid. So, I guess it's over with Jess now." She tried to keep the hope out of her voice at the thought of Rory and Jess breaking up.
Rory shook her head and a smile spread on her face. "No, actually. We're in love."
"Oh." Lorelai said, actually stunned for the first time during this conversation. "Obviously. If he had raped you, would you be getting married?"
"Mom!" Rory exclaimed, appalled and annoyed at her mother's statement.
"Well excuse me for not understanding the logic here!" Lorelai exclaimed. "You tell me Jess tried to push you into sex, and then you tell me that the two of you are in love. It's early. My mind won't be able to make that kind of jump for another few hours yet!"
"Stop yelling." Rory said quietly, trying to mask how upset she was at her mother's reaction.
"I'm not yelling. My voice is raised for emphasis, which is a perfectly acceptable use of volume." Lorelai said calmly, placing her coffee mug down and flexing her hands to try to relax herself. "Explain it to me. Please."
"After the fight, he tried to run." Rory began.
"Typical Jess." Lorelai interjected.
"I went after him this time." Rory continued as if Lorelai hadn't spoken. "He was freaked about a bunch of stuff that happened to him. He isn't going to graduate, and he's afraid Luke is going to kick him out and…he was feeling lousy and he made a mistake. He knows he made a mistake."
"So he apologized." Lorelai said, nodding thoughtfully. "I'm impressed. I didn't think he had it in him."
Rory furrowed her brow as she thought back to the night before. He hadn't apologized. He might have implied an apology, but he never actually apologized. He said he loved her though. After he had said that, she hadn't even wanted an apology. She was so happy that he had said he loved her that the fact that he didn't apologize hadn't even crossed her mind.
Rory looked at her mom with a smile. "He said he loved me."
"Unprovoked?" Lorelai asked, trying to read her daughter's expression, and failing. It was very rare for her to not be able to tell how her daughter was feeling, but she truly couldn't right then.
"No, as a matter a fact, there was a pack of wild dogs nipping at his legs as he said it." Rory said sarcastically. "What do you mean unprovoked?"
"Did you have to say it first?" Lorelai asked, knowing the answer.
"I didn't have to say it first. I did say it first, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have said it if I didn't." Rory said defensively. She knew it was a lie. If she hadn't said anything, Jess would've just walked away from the relationship. In fact, that's what he tried to do. If Rory hadn't said that she loved him, he wouldn't have said it first. He would've just let things be over. Rory looked back at her mom, happy smile in place.
"OK." Lorelai said, forcing a smile. "Then I'm happy for you. Your second love. Just as important as your first love, but with much more smutty stuff." Lorelai's smile turned from forced to wistful, and then disappeared all together. "We need to put you on birth control!"
Rory opened her mouth and looked like she was going to protest, but her look turned thoughtful and she said, "OK. It might be best."
"Wow. I keep forgetting how old you're getting." Lorelai said, looking at her daughter. "You're growing up on me."
"I didn't mean to." Rory said with a small smile. "It just kinda happened."
Lorelai stood and touched her daughter's hair. "I'll make a gynecologist appointment for some time this week."
"Thanks, mom." Rory said.
"There you are!" Jess exclaimed as Luke walked into the diner. "We're swamped. I'm dying here."
"Oh, don't tease me." Luke said, removing his coat and walking behind the counter.
"Are you going to order something?" Jess asked to a man sitting alone by the window.
The man looked up at him nervously and said, "Just…more coffee."
"You got it. Glad to make your dining dreams come true." Jess snapped as he headed back behind the counter.
"That was pleasant." Luke said dryly as he made a fresh pot of coffee.
"Well, charm school's really paying off. Table 4 wants ham and is probably going to go Soylent Green on somebody if she doesn't get it." Jess said as picked up a plate of fries.
"I was at Kyle's house talking to his parents." Luke said, turning to face Jess.
"Dean started it." Jess said, quickly walking over to a table and putting the fries in front of them.
"You're really gonna go with that excuse?" Luke demanded as Jess came back behind the counter.
"It's true. He sucker punched me. I was defending myself." Jess said.
"I believe you, but Jess, you still have to pay them back. You and Dean trashed their house." Luke said, trying to remain calm.
"Dean started it!" Jess exclaimed.
"And that's why he's paying them back too." Luke said. "He was there when I was. Jess, you're going to pay back every cent you owe them."
Jess opened his mouth and looked like he was going to snap, but he just said, "Fine." He grabbed the now full coffee pot and walked away from Luke.
Luke stood there, shocked. "Well, that was a little too easy." He turned around and said, "Cesar, I need ham!"
Jess walked over to the table by the window just in time to see the man who was sitting there bolt out the door. Jess looked at the table and saw a black wallet sitting there. He put the coffee pot down on the table and grabbed the wallet. He walked over to the door, opened it and said, "Yo! Coffee guy! You forgot your wallet!" The man appeared to not hear him and continued to walk hurriedly down the street.
Jess walked back inside the diner and flipped open the wallet to search for the man's ID. He stared blankly at the California driver's license for a moment. The name on it read 'James F. Mariano.'
"Huh." Jess said to himself, still staring at the license.
Luke said, "Jess! Swamped, remember? Get back to work."
"Yeah." Jess said, pocketing the wallet and hurrying to clean the table that the man who might have been his father had just vacated.