Spoilers: Written in the Stars
Rudy Can't Fail #3
"You took her to Sniffy's?"
Luke sighed heavily and took a swig of his beer. He looked around the old, nearly empty New York bar. He'd driven up to the city to celebrate Jess's new job.
And, of course, inevitably, Luke's new relationship had come up.
Jess cracked a wide smirk. "You took her to Sniffy's."
"Stop saying it."
"I had my first beer at Sniffy's," Jess mused. "I think I lost my virginity shortly after leaving Sniffy's once."
"Jeez!" Luke cried.
Jess's smirk turned to a grin. "You had sex after leaving Sniffy's."
"What?!" Luke asked, blushing ever-so-slightly.
"You slept with Lorelai," Jess stated. "You dog."
"Shut up."
Jess shook his head and took a sip of his own beer. "How'd the date go?"
"Fine."
"You got some," Jess mused. "Finally."
Luke smacked him upside the head. "You should go visit Macey and Buddy more often. They miss you. They asked about you before I left."
"Yeah, and I bet you told them I was just peachy on your way out the door as you thought about how many you had left in your thirty-year-old condom supply."
"Jess!"
"Can't believe you took her to Sniffy's," Jess repeated. He sighed. "So, who knows about you two?"
"Whole town."
"Big surprise," Jess muttered. "How'd they find out?"
"Lorelai..." Luke took a deep breath. "She walked downstairs the morning after in my shirt."
Jess fought to hold back laughter.
"You laugh and I kill you."
"Lorelai... in your flannel shirt," Jess chuckled. "You know... I forgot that she was kinda hot."
"Hey!"
"Just stating a fact," Jess replied, putting up his hands. "Don't get so territorial." He took another sip of his beer. "So how'd the town take it?"
"Not well."
"Oh?"
"They made charts."
Jess set down his beer and stared. "Charts?"
Luke nodded. "Charts. Pie charts... line graphs... it wasn't pretty."
"What did you do?"
"I told 'em off," Luke muttered.
"Whole town?"
"Wasn't the first time."
Jess nodded. "Good man."
"What about you?" Luke asked. "We're here to celebrate the fact that you have a new job. How's it going?"
Jess nodded. "Good. It's...good."
Luke blinked. "What?"
"What?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Something's up," Luke shook his head, and stared at his nephew. He grinned. "You have a girl."
"Do not."
"Do so," Luke countered. "You've got girl face. Who is she?"
"Nobody."
"But there is someone," Luke confirmed. "Come on. You just got to mock me for a whole ten minutes."
Jess sighed. "Her name is Nadia. She... We just met. She works at the independent coffee house across from the street from the bookstore..."
Luke smirked and pinched Jess's cheek. "That's cute."
Jess smacked his hand away. "Cut it out."
"When's the first date?" Luke asked.
"Tomorrow night," Jess mumbled, taking another sip of beer.
Luke nodded. "That's great... I'm glad you're getting over what happened with Rory."
"Yeah, well, it's time to move on," Jess nodded. "She certainly has."
Luke nodded again, as they fell into silence, until a thought occurred to him. "Hey..." He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Jess. "You have any of these?"
Jess squinted at the list. "U2... Blondie... Bowie...I have all of these... why?"
"Good," Luke sighed. "You're making me copies of all of them."
Jess shook his head. "If this is music to screw to for you and Lorelai, I'm afraid I can't help you."
Luke glared.
Jess smirked.