Growing Up Gilmore
By Regina Halliwell
Chapter 2: "Goodnight, Not Goodbye"
Summary: The day after Lorelai and Luke express their feelings and Jess confesses to Rory that he loves her and that he wants to wait to have sex with her because he wants it to be special, and Lane and Dave decide to speak to Mama Kim. The prom is fast approaching…
Rating: PG-13 for mild profanity and adult themes and content
Pairings: This one's mainly Literati (Rory/Jess) but also has some Java Junkie (Luke/Lorelai) and some Lane/Dave, implied Sookie/Jackson and possibly later on some Paris/Tristan
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. Just don't take my own plot lines and characters.
The next morning, Rory Gilmore woke up in her twin bed at home, underneath her covers, but still in her clothes from the previous night. Trying to remember why she hadn't changed into her pajamas before bed, Rory thought of how she had gotten home from the party.
The party. Jess.
He must have brought her home and helped her into bed. Rory smiled as she thought of her boyfriend and how vulnerable he had been in telling her he loved her. He loves me, Rory thought wonderingly. And I love him. I'm in love with Jess Mariano.
Still reflecting on her renewed relationship, Rory gracefully got up out of her bed, stretched, and then left her room to wake up her mom. She traipsed up the stairs loudly, still half asleep, and approached her mother's bedroom. Rory became puzzled as she examined the room through the ajar door. Lorelai's bed was messily made as usual, with random blankets and pillows strewn across the tangled sheets. It was obvious that her mother hadn't slept here tonight.
Rory's manicured brows furrowed as she thought of where her mother could possibly be. To the best of her knowledge, which, considering Lorelai shared everything with her daughter, was immense, Rory knew of no reason for her mother to be out all night. There was no current boyfriend for Lorelai to stay with, and the Inn was intact, and Sookie was fine… so where could she be? And who with? And why?
Shaking her head, Rory headed back down the stairs so she could get dressed. Once she had done so, Rory strolled purposefully out the door and walked towards the town diner.
Lorelai smiled sleepily as she turned to her side, subconsciously facing the man next to her. The slight movement stirred Luke, and he slowly woke up, not moving. He opened his eyes, grinning at the woman lying next to him, still in the depths of slumber.
One brown lock of hair slipped down across her forehead, covering an eye. Luke could only imagine what she was dreaming about. Luke thought to himself, So, this is really happening now. I can't believe I kissed her. And I can't believe she kissed me back. I've been waiting years for this. Years.
Still thinking of the events that had transpired the previous night, Luke reminisced on how he had leant in slowly, tilting his head to accommodate hers, and kissed her sweetly. When the kiss had ended, she had looked into his eyes as if she was looking at him in a whole different light. Then she had smiled, and they had kissed again, which is how they had ended up laying on the bed.
Luke and Lorelai had held each other all night, though Lorelai had fallen asleep much earlier. Luke had simply laid there with her, stroking her hair and thinking of how lucky he was that she had finally discovered his feelings, and more importantly, she had reciprocated his feelings with strong ones of her own.
In all his musing, Luke had failed to realize that Lorelai had woken up. She wasn't yet fully awake, but she was awake enough to notice his mind wandering.
"Luke," she began softly, her voice scratchy from disuse, "What are you thinking about?"
He smiled and used his hand to move that hair out of her face. "I was thinking about last night," he stated. "About how lucky I am that you found me."
Lightening the mood, Lorelai teased, "Oh, you haven't even gotten close to getting lucky yet. At least not with me anyway."
Luke smiled again at her and asked, "Okay. So I'm not going to get lucky any time soon. Where does that leave us? What do we call this, I mean?"
Sighing, Lorelai told him, "I don't know. I just, now that we have it, I don't want to screw it up."
"I've been waiting years for this. You think I'm gonna do something to mess it up?" Luke asked her.
Pondering this for a moment, Lorelai answered his question with one of her own. "How long have you known you had feelings for me?"
Luke looked pensive as he quietly told her, "I have loved you since you walked into my diner six years ago, begging for coffee."
She stared at him as he revealed this, and as he finished she touched his cheek and then pulled his face towards hers, kissing him sweetly. He moved the rest of his body closer to hers, grasping her around the waist and holding her to him. This went on for minutes, until Luke pulled away slowly.
"So how's my morning breath?" Lorelai asked him, smiling.
"Perfect," he told her, continuing to hold her face. "We should go. Rory's probably wondering where you are and Jess is… well I doubt Jess gives a damn where I am, but I do have a diner to run."
Lorelai nodded in agreement and pulled herself into a sitting position on the bed. She straightened her clothing as Luke did the same.
As Luke gathered up his things, he suddenly realized something and turned back towards Lorelai, asking, "Do we tell people? I mean, should we keep us a secret? What do you want to do?"
Lorelai thought for a second, then stated, "I have to tell Rory. She should know and I need her to talk to about it. You should tell Jess, too. I know you don't think he cares, but I think it would be good for you to tell him." Then she smiled flirtingly, and said, "Plus, I don't think I'm going to be able to stay away from you in public. So, I don't think we should hide it."
"Yeah, I know what know mean. In this town, people will find out soon enough anyway." Luke added.
"So, are we like, a couple now?" Lorelai asked bashfully.
"Yeah. We're a couple." Luke told her, smiling. He took the hand that wasn't holding her jacket and kissed it.
"Okay, well, should we, you know, get going now?"
Lorelai nodded, and they headed out the door.
At Luke's diner, Jess rushed around serving the myriad of people sitting and waiting. A woman caught his attention as he was walking past and said, "Excuse me, I'd like some ham."
Jess blew her off, obviously frustrated. "Be right back."
Protesting more forcefully, the woman said, "But I'd like some ham!"
Jess ignored her and instead handed a plate to a man at another table. Rather than being thankful, the man chose to question Jess, asking, "Is this what I ordered?"
Jess breathed shortly, "Yes," before waling over towards the table near the door. He spoke to the man sitting at the table, "Know what you want yet?"
Looking up at Jess, the brunette man stuttered, "Oh, uh, no, not yet."
Jess's voice dripped with vehemence as he sardonically asked, "You know what might help?"
"What?"
"Opening the menu." Jess told him.
Sarcastically, the man told him, "Yes, thank you for the tip." Jess shook his head before walking back over to the counter to speak to Caesar.
"I need ham," Jess stated blankly.
"No ham," Caesar commented.
Sighing in desperation, Jess told him, "We got a shipment of ham yesterday."
Caesar only repeated, "No ham," before shrugging.
Starting to become angry, Jess ranted at the man, "Caesar, there's a lady over there that has been saying she wants ham for the last twenty minutes and if I go back there empty handed, there's a fifty-fifty chance that she will eat me."
Shaking his head in slight apology, Caesar again informed Jess, "No ham."
"Then sew some bacon together 'cause that woman is getting ham." Jess was now almost shouting at Caesar.
Picking up a plate, Jess walked over to the man he had earlier given the wrong order to and paused. The man, not noticing the plate Jess held, began to tell him, "Excuse me, I don't think this is what I. . ." before Jess exchanged his plate with the one he carried, after which he amended, "Thank you."
Very impatiently, Jess held up the plate and addressed the entire diner, Who ordered this? Look in front of you. If there is nothing there and there should be, then this is yours."
"Oh, here." Jess heard the unmistakable sound of Kirk's voice, and headed over to him.
Jess gave Kirk the plate, then walked back over to the man at the table by the door. "Well?"
"What?" the man asked.
Crossing his arms, Jess requested, "You know what you want yet?"
The man muttered noncommittally, "I'll just have more coffee."
Nodding his head mockingly, Jess notified him, "More coffee coming up. Glad to make your dining dreams come true."
Taylor Doose walked in through the door, making Jess grimace and shake his head.
Instead of his usual annoyance, Taylor chose this day to sing obnoxiously, "'Oh, who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew. Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two, the candy man. Oh, the candy man can!' Yes, that's right, the candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good, and I, ladies and gentlemen, am the candy man. Your candy man. I'm mixing it with love and making Stars Hollow taste good."
"Move." Jess ordered Taylor.
Taking control of the situation as if he owned the diner, Talyor said, "Uh, in a second Jess. Give him a taffy. I come to announce to one and all that the day we all thought would never get here has arrived."
"Arbor Day?" This came from Kirk, across the room.
"No," Taylor replied, turning his head toward Kirk, anticipating another suggestion.
"The Day of Reckoning?"
"No," answered Taylor.
"The day the music died?"
Taylor finally glared at the strange man, reprimanding him, "Kirk."
"Give me a taffy."
"What?" Taylor questioned, seemingly bewildered.
"I've got a million of 'em. Give me a taffy!" Kirk threatened, though no one seemed the least bit bothered by it.
"As I was saying, the big day has arrived. The opening of Taylor's Old Fashioned Soda Shoppe and Candy Store! Tomorrow from noon to six, there will be fun, balloons, ice cream, and old fashioned penny candy for just one dollar a piece. Come at noon, stay all day. . ." Taylor continued on until Luke burst through the diner door.
"Why, Luke, I was just spreading the word about my new—"
"Shut up, Taylor, and get the hell out of my diner!" Luke immediately ordered the man out. When Taylor attempted to protest, Luke glared at him threateningly, and this time it was no joke. Taylor left immediately; saying under his breath, "Well, if that's how you feel…"
Luke sighed, and then turned to Caesar, "Are you trying to lose your job, Casear?"
Caesar shook his head, and then hurried back to the kitchen. After he had gone, Luke's eyes roamed around the diner. Before they could settle on the man at the table by the door, Jess had approached him and demanded, "Where in the hell were you, Luke. It's been chaotic in here and no one has the right order and there's a guy that won't order or leave, and—"
"Jess, stop complaining. Caesar should work better now, and you can take a break while I get everything situated in here. Early morning rush should be over soon anyway." Luke told him.
"You're acting weird today. Whatever. I'm outta here." Then Jess headed upstairs, and Luke walked behind the counter to put on a new pot of coffee.
Rory had run down the porch steps quickly, and was now power walking to Luke's diner in hopes of finding Lorelai. As she rounded a corner, Rory glanced around to see Lorelai coming from the opposite direction. Rory increased her pace to catch up with her mother. When Lorelai spotted Rory, she too headed her direction.
"Mom," Rory gasped when she reached Lorelai. "Where were you? I was worried when I woke up this morning and you weren't at home. And why are you looking at me like that again? Did you do something dirty?"
Lorelai's grin widened, and Rory exclaimed, "You did you something dirty! With who?"
"You are not gonna believe this, kid. Luke! I spent the night with Luke. Nothing slutty happened but we're gonna start to date." Lorelai told her daughter.
"That's so great Mom." Rory congratulated, and then after a second, commented, "Thank God you two figured it out finally."
Lorelai slapped Rory's shoulder teasingly, and then the two continued to walk towards Luke's. "So, how did the party go last night?"
Rory's eyes opened wide, and she paused. "Oh, about that. Um, Jess told me he loves me. And I told him I love him, too. AndIthinkwemighthavesexsoon."
Stopping abruptly, Lorelai said, "Okay, I am going to completely ignore what I think you just said for a minute while we focus on the other thing. He told you he loves you?"
Rory nodded, and then, seeing her mother's skeptical look, continued, "He really means it, Mom. I can tell. And I love him. I just hadn't realized it before last night."
Lorelai sighed, and then asked softly, "Are you happy?"
Smiling sweetly, Rory replied, "Yeah. I am."
Lorelai say the innocence in her daughters eyes, then, and was reminded of Rory's last admission. "So what about the other thing?"
Rory was brought out of her reverie, and struggled to think about what Lorelai had mentioned. "Oh, that thing," she finally realized, now blushing, "I just, think it might happen—soon, with Jess. Not like tomorrow or anything, but soon… I know you hate him, mom, but I love him and--"
"Oh, Rory. I don't hate him. I mean the idea of you two doing the dirty isn't exactly the thing I want to hear, but I just want you to be happy. And if you require Jess to be happy, then that's what you get. I love you, kid. Just don't go making the same mistakes I did," Lorelai finished.
Moving to hug Lorelai, Rory told her, "I won't. I love you too, Mom."
Lorelai pulled away and smiled, saying, "Okay. Let's go have some breakfast."
Then, they both headed to the diner.
Luke smiled as he saw Lorelai enter his diner, Rory in tow. The two approached the counter as Luke pulled out two mugs and poured some fresh coffee. The girls paused, and Lorelai bent over the counter to kiss Luke delicately. The entire diner was shocked into silence.
Smiling, Luke cleared his throat. After a few more seconds, the diner was once again bustling, though the chatter was louder that usual, and it was obvious they were talking about Luke and Lorelai. Once Luke had seen to the people sitting at the counter, he led Rory and Lorelai over to one of the last two empty tables in the diner.
All three sat down, and Rory teased Luke, saying, "Luke, what are your intentions with my mother?"
Luke's face reddened significantly, and Rory told him, "Relax, Luke. I'm just kidding."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Luke spoke quietly to Rory. "Rory, if you wouldn't mind giving your mom and me a few minutes, Jess is upstairs."
"Sure, Luke. Oh— you don't mind if I tell him, do you?" Rory asked, understanding that Lorelai and Luke would want to spend time together without her.
He waved her off, signaling approval. As she walked upstairs, he glanced over at the only other empty table in the diner—the one next to the door that the mystery man had recently vacated.
Redirecting his gaze towards Lorelai, he smiled. "Hi."
"Hi."
"It's been a while," Luke stated sarcastically.
"Yep. About 20 minutes."
"Miss me already, do you?" Luke asked her, teasing.
"Not so much you as your coffee. Honestly, Luke. You should know by now that I need coffee immediately in the morning." She too, was sardonic, and as Lorelai finished saying this, her mouth tweaked into a smile.
"I know. You and your coffee addiction. It's going to kill you one day."
"So you keep saying, and yet here I am, vivacious as ever." Lorelai smirked.
"Yeah, well, you do look good for someone who got out of bed 20 minutes ago and hasn't had her morning pot of coffee yet." Slightly looking down at his lap, Luke blushed a bit as he said this.
"Luke Danes, you are flirting with me in a public place! I never thought this day would come. And by the way, I have already had a few cups of coffee. I took some from the Inn's kitchen before I left."
"Yeah, well. Don't expect me to give you a strip tease right here or anything, because I draw the line at clothing removal." Luke shook his head, speaking gruffly.
"Okay, Luke, now I know you didn't bring me over here just to flatter me and flirt, though I can't say I'm not enjoying it. What's going on?"
His smile went away just then. "I don't know what to do," he told her seriously. "Jess's dad is here."
Lorelai's brow furrowed, "You mean like here, in the United States?"
"More like here, in the diner."
"What! Where?" Lorelai demanded quickly.
"He's not here anymore, he left just after I got here this morning. Jess opened up 'cause I wasn't here and Jimmy sat over at that table all morning." Luke pointed to the still vacant table.
"Wait, does Jess know?"
"No, apparently Jimmy said nothing to him, just kept ordering coffee."
"Hmm. I like this guy already. Wait, do I like this guy?" Lorelai asked, puzzled.
"No. He's a deadbeat. He left Liz and Jess the day Jess was born, hasn't spoken to his son since."
"Ooh, that is bad. No wonder Jess has so many issues."
"Yeah. Anyway, I don't know what to do. Do I tell Jess, not tell Jess, ignore Jimmy, kick Jimmy's ass, what?" Luke broke off, frustrated.
"You should tell him, then Jess should decide whether or not you should kick Jimmy's ass." Lorelai advised.
Luke nodded, thinking. Then he went over back behind the counter, and, seeing as Lorelai's coffee cup was now empty, refilled it for her.
"Lorelai," Luke began. "I hate to ask this but can you watch the diner for a few minutes while I go tell Jess? I won't take long."
"Can I go behind the counter?" Lorelai asked, and Luke rolled his eyes, heading upstairs.
After Luke asked for Rory to leave, she had walked up the stairs and approached the door. It was quiet upstairs, and Jess had no music on. Knocking, she heard no answer and so opened the door and walking inside, closing it behind her.
Rory looked over towards Jess's bedroom. He wasn't there. Then, Rory heard a door opening and looked over toward the bathroom, where Jess was turning off the light and exiting.
"Hey." Rory said.
"Hey." Jess replied. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I came up here to see you, and to tell you that your uncle and my mother are the talk of the town. They're a couple now," she told him.
"Finally," Jess said and laughed.
"I know what you mean. So, Luke wanted some alone time with Lorelai and asked me to come up here. Of course, I was more than happy to do so."
"That's what I like to hear," Jess said, smiling.
"How's your makeup work going?" Rory asked him, suspicious.
"It's good. I'm taking a break right now." Upon seeing Rory's glare, he amended, "Okay, so maybe I haven't started yet…"
"Jess…" Rory whined.
"Oh, come on Rory, It's the weekend. It's a weekend morning, actually. Really, no work should be done until after lunch, I think." Jess pleaded.
"Do you want to graduate, Jess?"
"Well, I wouldn't really mind—" Jess began, smirking.
"Jess! You want to graduate. You will graduate. You will do everything you can to graduate. Starting with your History final. What's it on?"
Sighing at Rory's determined face, Jess told her, "The Constitution, with focus on the Bill of Rights. I need to be able to recognize each part of the Constitution, explain the checks and balances each government branch has, and define and explain the first 10 amendments."
"Hmm. Well, have you studied any of it yet? What do you know?"
"I know the Constitution, I just am having trouble with the Amendments. Maybe if I could find an easy way to remember them…" Jess stated innocuously.
"Nice try, Dodger. No, you have to learn all this the hard way." Rory told him.
Upon seeing his disinterested face, Rory asked, "If we take a short break and, you know, will you concentrate and do your work?"
"Guess we'll find out, won't we," Jess asked rhetorically.
"Jess…"
"Fine, Fine. Twist my arm, why don't you. Sure, I'll be a nerd." Jess smiled.
Then Jess took Rory into his arms, back her up to the couch. She bumped the couch and immediately sat down, pulling Jess with her. She smiled at him sweetly, and leaned in to kiss him. He deepened the kiss immediately, greatly intensifying it as their tongues meshed. Rory leaned back, gently pulling Jess on top of her. She liked the feel of his weight on her. It made her feel safe.
Suddenly, Jess pulled back. "What?" Rory asked, lips swollen and eyes starry.
"Rory, I just. I don't want you to think… what I said last night… I do want to make love to you. More than anything. Every time you smile at me, every time we kiss, it makes me want you even more. But just because we're not having sex… yet… doesn't mean we can't do—this."
Rory nodded. "I know. This is all we need for now. I love you."
"I love you too," Jess said. Just as he was leaning in to kiss Rory again, the apartment door opened, and Luke entered. He looked around quickly, and, spotting Jess and Rory in their compromising position, blushed deeply. Rory did the same, and looked down shyly as she lightly pushed Jess off of her.
"Well, gee, Uncle Luke. This sure is embarrassing." Jess stated mockingly.
Composing himself, Luke asked, "What the hell happened to the couch—chair rule?"
"Uncle Luke, surely I can't make out with Rory when we're on different pieces of furniture. On second thought, I'm sure it's possible, but I'm really not that flexible."
"Jess Mariano, I thought I made it perfectly clear that—" Luke began, but Rory broke him off.
"You know what? I'm just going to go downstairs with my mom."
"Actually Rory, I need to talk to Jess about something. It might be better if you stayed up here." Luke told her.
Rory shrugged and went to sit back down next to Jess on the couch. "So what is it?" Jess asked impatiently.
"Well, it's just. Hmm. Jimmy's here."
"Jimmy, as in my father Jimmy?" Jess queried.
"So, why is that bad," Rory asked naively.
"It's bad because Ji—" Luke began, before Jess cut in.
"Because the son of a bitch walked out on me and Liz the day I was born."
"Oh." Rory sobered, understanding. "Oh, Jess, that's… that's awful."
"Don't feel bad for me. I don't care. I don't need him. I went 17 years without him, and I turned out okay." Jess stated defensively.
"Well, there's some dispute about that," Luke added lightly.
Shaking his head, Jess stood up. "So, what does the bastard want this time? To apologize? To spend some quality bonding time with his little boy? The hell with that."
"Jess, there's no need to be—" Luke started.
"Luke, why would he come here? And now? I mean, I have so much stuff going on right now. I don't want to have to deal with him on top on everything else."
"I don't know, Jess. What do you want to do?" Luke asked.
"It's okay to want to see him, you know." Rory assured him. "He is your father."
"Hardly. Those sons of bitches that Liz brought home were more like fathers to me than Jimmy is. And that's saying something." Jess stated angrily, turning away.
"I'm so sorry Jess. Just know that whatever you decide to do, I'll support you in it. Now, I'll leave you manly men to talk things out. I'm gonna go see Lane." Rory told him sweetly.
Luke looked away as Rory approached Jess and kissed him tenderly, grasping the back of his head with her hand and running her fingers through his unruly dark hair. As the kiss ended, Rory looked into his eyes and smiled slightly, though her sad eyes betrayed her sympathy for him. "I love you," she added, after giving him a final peck and moving away.
"I love you too," Jess half-whispered while she was close enough to hear him. Luke turned slightly, hearing Jess's admission, and then nonchalantly turned back as if he hadn't heard. Rory cleared her throat and said, "Bye Luke. I'll see you later."
"See ya Rory. Tell Lorelai I'll be down there in a few minutes, alright?" Luke asked as Rory was leaving.
With a nod of assent, Rory went down the stairs. She got to the diner to find Lorelai standing giddily behind the counter, pouring a cup of coffee for Kirk. Rory picked up the cup of coffee she had left on their table before going upstairs and drank it all down, wincing. "Bleh," Rory interjected as she approached the counter.
"What's wrong, babe?" Lorelai inquired, smiling.
"Cold coffee. Ick."
"Want some more? I just made a new pot." Lorelai offered, but Rory glanced at her and she amended, "Okay so Luke made it before he went up. Whatever… Do you want some anyway?"
"No thanks, mom. I was actually gonna go see Lane now, if that's okay?"
"Sure hun. See you later."
"K. By the way, your boyfriend said to tell you that he'll be down in a few minutes." Rory commented.
Walking towards the door carelessly, Rory failed to notice Dean coming up to the door from the street ahead. Had she seen him, she wouldn't have continued walking innocently towards the door. But she didn't see him, so Rory managed to get all the way to putting her hand on the doorknob before it opened in front of her.
Dean stood, in his usual towering way, looking almost remorseful, and stared at Rory. "Can we talk, Rory?"
"Um. Sure, I guess, Dean."
"Somewhere private, I mean. If that's… if that's okay. Is that okay?" Dean stuttered uncertainly.
"Actually, I think it might be better if we stay around people." Rory stated, a little colder than she meant.
"Rory, I really think that what I have to say to you should be said in private, for everyone's sake."
"Fine. Where?"
Sighing, Dean responded, "How about your house?"
"Sure, let's go." Rory said, becoming more frustrated with every word.
As Rory walked briskly out the door, Lorelai looked after her with a worried expression on her face.