"Hey, Rory." Jess said as she walked into the diner. "What can I get for you?"

"You're actually working?" Rory asked teasingly.

"I figured I'd give it a shot." Jess smiled. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Rory answered. Jess poured her a fresh cup. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He pulled out his order book. "What would you like to eat?" he stood waiting for her answer.

Wow. Rory thought to herself. Jess was being extremely nice. "French toast." Rory stated certainly.

"Coming right up." Jess wrote down the order and took off behind the counter.

Lorelai walked in and sat down at the table. She had a look on her face that meant one of two things, she had seen something very disturbing, or she had done something very disturbing. Rory took the bait.

"What's up?" Rory asked.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "I walked by Taylor's this morning."

"And?"

"He has a sign in the window, that says 'DO NOT SQUEEZE GROCERIES'." Lorelai's mouth stiffened. She found the situation to be very unfunny.

Rory smirked. "A whole sign, just for you?"

"He's such a jerk." Lorelai shot back.

"Mom..." Rory replied. "It's Taylor."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "He goes too far."

"Calm down." Rory said pushing over her coffee.

Lorelai's bad mood broke. She sighed. "Thanks..." She smiled and took a sip of the coffee. "It's just a sign right?"

"Right." Rory confirmed.

"French toast." Jess said as he placed the plate in front of Rory. "And what would you like?" he asked focusing on Lorelai.

"A slap in the face, cause this is happening." Lorelai remarked.

"I'll start by pouring your own cup of coffee..." Jess ignored her.

Lorelai looked over at Rory who had the same look of surprise on her face. "Um... Pancakes sounds good."

"Pancakes it is." Jess took off behind the counter once more.

"What is up with that?" Lorelai asked nodding over towards Jess.

"No idea." Rory replied. "He's been like that all morning."

"That's... Wow." Lorelai gaped. "I wonder how long it will last?"

Rory shrugged. "People wouldn't hate him so much, if he'd stay this way."

Lorelai snickered. "1 week tops."

"I don't know." Rory replied. "Maybe he's finally ready to grow up."

Lorelai gave a Rory an awkward look. This girl truly believed in the good of everyone. She didn't get that from Lorelai, that's for sure. Lorelai looked around and noticed Luke was missing from the diner.

"Hmm.. That's odd." Lorelai noted. "Luke's missing."

Rory looked around and noticed the same. "That is odd."

Jess came back over and handed Lorelai her pancakes. "There you go."

"Hey, where's Luke?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"Don't know." Jess answered. "Said he had some business to take care of."

Lorelai frowned. "Luke has other business besides the diner?"

"I have no idea." Jess replied. "He just said he had some business. Asked if I could run the diner for a while."

"You're a doing a good job." Rory spoke up.

Jess looked over and smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah, your attitude improvement rocks." Lorelai added.

Jess wasn't sure about this comment. He never fully understood Lorelai. "Well, I got some stuff taken care of." Jess stated. "Someone was causing me a lot of problems, so I finally put an end to it. The wrong people can really bring you down."

"That's true." Lorelai remarked, beginning to let down her guard. "Maybe, you'll get your fresh start after all."

"I hope so." Jess smiled. "Enjoy your breakfast ladies."

(Later that day)

Rory was sitting under a tree reading a book and waiting on Dean to finish basketball practice. She noticed a big commotion was taking place over by Taylor's townhouse. At first she figured it was some type of town function, since Taylor was always the one in charge of them, but she became alarmed when she saw a police car and ambulance pull up. She quickly shut her book and placed it in her bag. She briskly walked over to the crowd of people.

Random rabbling was coming from all directions. Miss Patty came storming out of the crowd of people.

"Miss Patty." Rory called, trying to stop her.

She was pale, and had been crying. Rory immediately became worried. "Rory, sweetie, you should go home." Miss Patty replied gently.

"What happened?" Rory asked.

"Go home dear. Find your mother." Miss Patty tore herself from Rory's side and ran straight into her house, slamming the door behind her.

Rory was confused, she had never saw Miss Patty with hold information. She turned back to the crowd of people, Kirk was standing with his hand on his head.

"Kirk!" Rory called.

He looked up to see Rory. She came walking towards him. He walked to her first and stopped her from entering the crowd.

"What's going on?" Rory asked.

"You don't need to be here, Rory." Kirk replied seriously.

Rory became frustrated. "Why won't somebody tell me what this is all about?"

"Come on, I'll walk you home." Kirk was acting strange. Well, strange for Kirk. He was actually acting normal. He wasn't being his usual dumb self. Rory could tell the intensity of the situation was major.

"Kirk, I want to know." Rory demanded.

Dean suddenly came up behind Rory. "Hey... What's going on?" he dazed off into the crowd.

"I don't know." Rory threw up her hands. "No one is explaining anything."

"Stay here, I'll find out." Kirk put up his hand, but quickly lowered it when Dean stared him in the eye. He walked over and pushed his way through the crowd.

Dean spoke with one of the townspeople. Rory watched carefully, hoping she could decipher something. Dean's face looked shocked and scared. This only made Rory more distressed. Finally Dean came slowly walking back. He came up beside Rory and took her by the arm.

"Let's head to your house." Dean spoke. "We shouldn't be here."

"What is it?" Rory asked, this time with fear overwhelming her body.

Dean sighed heavily. "Someone murdered Taylor."

Rory gasped.