Rudy Can't Fail #15

Jess blinked at the large boat sitting in front of the diner. "That's…"

"Hey!" Luke called. "Why are you just standing out there?"

Jess looked from the boat to Luke, and pointed at the half-finished monstrosity. "Boat."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Inside, please."

Jess walked into the empty diner. "So, how did your play go?" he asked as he took a seat at one of the tables. The diner had obviously closed hours ago, due to Luke's involvement with the town's production of "Fiddler on the Roof."

Luke nodded as he sat down across from Jess. "Okay."

Jess stared at his uncle.

"What?"

"You miss Lorelai," Jess commented.

"Cut it out," Luke replied darkly.

"You did something stupid, didn't you?" Jess asked.

Luke sighed and leaned back. "I yelled at her…"

"Jeez…"

"I just…got mad," Luke muttered.

"And then?"

"And then we were backstage tonight," Luke went on. "And she was just standing there, and they were doing this stupid love song."

Jess squinted. "When the hell did we switch places?"

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"You're having problems with Lorelai, you yell at her, and then you feel depressed. You won't get back together with her, even though everyone knows you want to. I, on the other hand, am in a stable relationship. I mean, I'm even thinking about asking her to move in, and-"

"You're what!"

"Nothing."

"Jess…"

"What?"

Luke glared. "You're gonna ask Nadia to move in?"

"I didn't say that," Jess replied quickly.

"The hell you didn't," Luke snapped.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jess said.

"You wanna ask her to move in," Luke nodded.

"What's 'Fiddler on the Roof' about, anyways?" Jess asked, avoiding the topic. "I've never seen it."

"You and Nadia living together," Luke grinned.

"How was Kirk as the lead? I hear that beard looked ridiculous."

"Jess…"

"I bet the dress was funnier."

Luke shook his head and got up, walking to the stairs to the apartment. "Goodnight, Jess."

Jess gave Luke a wide smirk. "G'night." He waited for the other man to disappear before taking out his cell phone and dialing a number. "…Hey."

Nadia smiled on the other end. "Hi. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Jess nodded. "Luke just went to bed, so I thought I'd call."

"Sounds good," Nadia replied. "No trouble there?"

"No, not really," Jess said. "Luke is an ass, and he won't get back together with Lorelai…but other than that, nothing. Not even a Rory run-in."

"Good," Nadia sighed. "What're you gonna do if you see her?"

Jess shrugged and leaned back a little. "Nothing. It's her business if she wants to go at it with some pretty-boy, man-loving, ass-kissing Yalie SOB."

Nadia snickered.

"What?" Jess asked.

"You're cute when you're indignant," Nadia replied. "See you tomorrow night?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah."

"Bye," she said softly. "Love you."

"Yeah," Jess repeated. "I do, too…love you…I mean…"

Nadia smiled. "Night." She hung up, and Jess sighed

Jess held the phone in his hand for a moment, before shoving it back into his pocket.

Luke grinned as he stood in the stairwell. He shook his head and made his way up to bed.