A/N-Thanks for reviewing. I know the last chapter was a filler, but I didn't want to go from angsty to angsty like that, because pretty quick here it's gonna want to get icky again.
Kat461-My most loyal and amazing reviewer! You make my head so large! But thank you, I love the encouragement.
Bittersweetbloodbaby-SOOO glad you like it! Thanks! Any advice is WELCOME, as you know. Hollywood Hearts looks promising, I love your writing.
Petitos grasshoppertje, spinaround, bunk 64, UnDiScOvErEdAuThOr, Kal's Gal, sanfrangiantsfan (anyone who I've forgotten, feel free to hit me over the head with a sponge)-Thank you all SOO much for reviewing!
Moon,gates,slaying-Yeah, I know, awkward line, knew it when I wrote it. Forgive me? Present day chapters are coming in a few, I want to get a little more of the background stuff with Liz first. It won't take that long, I promise. Cross my heart.
Someone5-Aww, thanks so much! My other best and most loyal reviewer! I'm glad you're still hanging in with me after that angsty patch!
This one may end up being long like that last one. Again, season 3 past, future is coming on, coming on…(sorry, Gorillaz crossover, LOL).
"You need help," Lorelai said to Rory as she ran around the house like a chicken with its head cut off, looking for her hairclip. Rory stormed past her yet again, mumbling something about last week and under the coffee maker.
Lorelai, meanwhile, was dressed and ready to go for her date, sporting a pair of khakis and clingy, dark red, boatneck shirt. She had her hair in a loose, curly French twist and Rory was still running around in a robe. The really hard part was that they were expecting both Jess and Luke at the same time.
"Yes, I do need help. Pick out an outfit while I do my hair and makeup," Rory yelled as she ran into the bathroom, punctuating her statement by slamming her door. Lorelai laughed diabolically and walked into her room, swinging open her closet with a flourish.
"Darling daughter of mine, this simply will not do," she said to herself, shaking her head and sneaking upstairs into her closet. She picked out a medium-blue button down that was a little large but allowed for shape to shine through and a pair of Lorelai's beloved pricey jeans.
Rory walked out of the bathroom in record time with her hair in loose waves that came without work and rushed but shockingly immaculate makeup.
"All right, hit me, I'm in a hurry. You could dress me like a total porn star and I'm have so little time I'd probably wear it," she said, walking into her mother's room.
"I wasn't aware that you were so willing tonight. But we're not a far cry from porn star. We dipped into my closet." Lorelai had laid out the outfit on the bed for inspection and Rory scooped it up after a quick appraisal and ran down the stairs towards her room.
"Pretty!" she said as she made the last stair, narrowly avoiding falling on her butt. Lorelai laughed and walked downstairs to find her purse.
Rory closed the door to her room behind her and threw on the outfit her mother had handed her. It was loose but fit well and she buttoned it all the way up to start with. She considered it in the mirror for a moment, turning, finding something slightly wrong with the picture. She undid the top collar button and understood that she was on the right track. She undid two more and felt much better, so she put on her shoes and walked out for a final evaluation from Lorelai.
"Perfect!" She squealed when Rory walked out, messing around with the collar still.
"Yeah?" Rory said, unsure.
"Uh, of course. I've been dressing you for nearly as long as I've been dressing myself. One would think that by now I'd sort of have you memorized."
"I'll remember that."
"Are we talking passage in your memoir about your insane, old school rocker mother, or are we talking, like, dedication and several chapters?"
"Somewhere around the second one you said."
"Better than I thought."
"Do I look okay, seriously?" Rory asked, adjusting the cuffs.
"Honey, he's going to fall so hard on his ass he won't know which way is up."
"Perfect then." The doorbell rang and they looked at one another.
"You should've had a little brother for me so I could make him get the door so we can figure out what to do before we leave."
"Sorry, I was kinda busy taking care of you."
"But making me only took what, ten minutes? You could've cut Charlie's Angels out of the picture and had us a butler."
"Words of wisdom for the next generation. But you still have to get the door."
Rory scowled and walked to the door, calling over her shoulder, "I am the next generation!"
"Well, take it to heart then," Lorelai called as Rory swung open the door. Jess and Luke were standing stiffly at the door, not usually getting along at all, particularly not in a situation where women were involved. Jess stood with a scowl affixed to his face and had his hands casually stuck in either of his pockets. Luke stood oddly stiff leaning away from Jess and sort of into the doorway in a very Luke particular way.
"Hi!" Rory said to both as they perked slightly at the sight of her. Jess walked in first, his hand landing on her waist as he kissed her cheek. Luke stepped in slightly and Rory moved back to allow them access.
"Hey. Your mom ready yet?" Luke asked as he stood off to the side, looking uncomfortable.
"The hat must be a security thing," Jess said out of the side of his mouth to Rory. Luke shot him a dirty look.
"She's in the kitchen, sit down, I'll be right back," Rory said as she started backwards to the kitchen. Lorelai stood against the counter, wringing her hands.
"What's he wearing?" She anxiously asked upon Rory's arrival.
"Grey dress pants and white dress shirt. You're in the clear."
Lorelai let out a sigh and visibly relaxed. She observed Rory again as she peered out the door to the men sitting in the living room, on opposite sides of the couch.
"You ready?"
"Yup." They both drew in a breath and walked into the living room.
xxx
Rory and Jess sat together on a couch at the bookstore they had discovered in Hartford, each absorbed in their own book, but occasionally pointing something out to the other. Rory looked up again and bit her lip. Jess caught her.
"They're fine. Isn't she the one that's supposed to worry about you?"
"It's just, she's waited for this for so long, along with everyone else in town. Now it's happening, and if it doesn't work, it'll crush her and everyone who cares. My mom doesn't do well with pressure or real emotions," Rory said, putting down her book and turning to face Jess fully.
"Huh," Jess said, not really knowing how to digest this. She looked at him curiously and he knew he wasn't off the hook that easily. "I don't think I know enough about Luke to worry."
"He was so nervous," Rory said, grinning slowly.
"You didn't have to get ready in the same space as him. He took forever."
"Well pot, it's not nice to call the kettle black."
"I don't take that long!" Jess defended, a little bit jokingly. Rory laughed.
"I've known you to spend at least twenty minutes on this hair," Rory said, fingering a stray curl that had caught her eye. They smiled slowly at one another and Jess closed the space that they had allowed one another and kissed her softly. Rory entwined her fingers more into his hair, feeling painfully soft and cared for.
Jess pulled her close with the small of her back as his leverage and he felt the desire to sigh peacefully.
"You don't know where they went?" Rory said a few moments after they broke the kiss.
"No clue."
xxx
"So Michel says to me, in his usual condescending French sneer, "I should hardly think that the papers would be where they should be, I was gone all week." So I say to him, "Well, want to bet?" just because I'm, well me. And I lost the bet and now I think I owe Michel a pig or something weird," Lorelai rambled in the truck on the way. Luke smiled ironically from the driver's seat and downshifted at a light.
"A pig? Usually people sacrifice their firstborn child or a pet or their house or finances. You bet Michel livestock."
"Well, I figure that since my firstborn is also my only-born and almost eighteen, it would be in my best interest to bet something I wouldn't miss or didn't need."
"But you don't have a pig."
"I could have a pig," Lorelai said, pouting slightly.
"But you don't."
"That's not the point. In fact, I forgot the point a few minutes ago."
"A sign of a great storyteller," Luke joked, now actually laughing. The light changed and they pulled into a parking structure in Hartford. He took the tag from the machine and pulled into a nearby spot, opening Lorelai's door for her.
"Ooh, fancy," Lorelai said as she stepped out of the car. Luke rolled his eyes and they walked out of the structure and onto the sidewalk.
"Where're we going?" Lorelai asked.
"A restaurant."
"Which restaurant?" Lorelai wondered again.
"Just follow me," Luke said as he walked off down the street.
"Do you know where Jess was taking Rory?"
"I didn't even know Jess's middle name until a month ago when his grades came home in the mail and it was printed on the report card," Luke pointed out.
"Ah." Lorelai said. "What is it?" she asked, curiosity grabbing a hold of her.
"Would you believe it? It's Joseph. It's the most random name. I mean, sometimes the name has some significance to the parents, but I swear Liz probably named him after some guy on a soap opera."
"I almost named Rory after a TV show. She's really lucky that she put me through so much pain that I named her after myself or there could've been some serious problems in her future," Lorelai said as they walked comfortably together down the street.
"What'd you almost name her?"
"I promised her and myself that I wouldn't bring it up for a very, very long time after she gets married so that the person she's with is stuck with her. That's how weird this name is," Lorelai said as Luke slowed in front of a cozy looking Italian restaurant. Lorelai stopped walking and stared at it, a slow smile growing on her face.
"What?" Luke asked, fidgeting in front of her.
"It's adorable," Lorelai said, in cheerful awe.
"Something I heard about once. I figure it wouldn't hurt to try it." Luke shifted. "I assume you like Italian food?"
"Do I drink coffee?"
Luke smiled and took her hand as he led her into the restaurant. "Excellent."
xxx
"I really don't want to go home already," Rory complained as Jess drove them back into Star's Hollow.
"You have no choice," he said jokingly.
"Well…," she said as she took the wheel from him and steadily started sending them veering in the direction of Luke's.
"Hey! This is almost as bad as backseat driving. Hands to yourself," he said, playfully slapping her hands away as he parked in front of the diner. She looked at him, disbelieving.
"I guess I'll keep that in mind when you try to lasso me into the apartment again," she said, her arms crossed over her chest and a playful smirk affixed to her face as she watched him pull the keys out of the ignition out of the corner of her eye.
"Oh, I see how it is," Jess said, leaning across the seat lightly to brush his lips across her ear as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "I give you what you want and you still being like that. Fine, I'll keep that in mind." He started to pull away from her and Rory jumped like a lion and pulled him into a frighteningly sudden and passionate kiss.
"See," she said, her breathing slightly labored, "no hands." Jess smiled and opened the car door, dragging her out with him.
"You, Rory Gilmore, are impossible," he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and steering her toward the front door.
"I do pride myself on it." Jess reached on top of the ledge above the door and took down the rusty spare key, slid it into the lock, and entered the diner with Rory's hand in his following his putting the key back into its place.
"You don't have a key to your own apartment?" Rory asked as she sat at the counter.
"Luke says the spare key is there for a reason, and that I should just use it," Jess said. He put on a new cup of coffee and deposited his coat on the other end of the counter.
"What if the spare goes missing?"
"That's the beauty of Star's Hollow. No one's ever far enough away from this place to worry about it." Luke and Lorelai walked in, hand in hand as well, looking a little guilty.
"Hey!" Rory said, turning to see what Jess had been looking at, to her mother.
"Hi," she said, sitting next to her. Luke moved behind the counter with Jess and went to the coffee pot.
"I just put another pot on, I figured you weren't far behind."
"Or you're dating the Princess of Caffeine."
"And you the queen," Jess said.
"Amen," Luke said, smiling discreetly.
"So wait," Lorelai said to Rory, meanwhile. "You guys went to a Hartford just so you could go to a bookstore? Your kids are going to be so weird."
"Hey now! We like books, that doesn't make us weird. Besides, kids are a long way off," Rory said, gesturing lightly as she talked, tossing a look surreptitiously at Jess in the process.
"Uh, yeah, it does make you weird. No two people your age should like books so much that you're willing to waste a perfectly good date night reading at a bookstore in a different town."
"We didn't waste anything, you just don't want to hear about the rest of the night," Rory said, her diabolic tendencies igniting.
Lorelai looked at her fearfully for a moment before she narrowed her eyes and leveled the playing field. "Right back at you."
"Ahh! Scarred!" Rory said, holding her head at her temples and shutting her eyes. "Mean!"
Lorelai laughed for a moment. Rory finally got over her hysterical emotional scarring and was back to normal.
"What did you waste a perfectly good date night doing?"
"Smoking crack and burning down houses."
"Ah."
"We went to this little Italian restaurant in Hartford that was incredible and walked around for a little while."
"Small world."
"Smaller town. We're dating from the same gene pool, and going on dates in the same city."
"Weird. Paris the other day pointed that out to me and then tried to tell me how Jess and I would be related were you and Luke to get married. I really don't think I'll ever come to terms with how bizarre that is."
"And now I'm suddenly married. You and I are ahead of ourselves tonight," Lorelai said, shaking her head as a cup of coffee was placed before each of them.
"That we are."
"What are they doing?" Jess asked, somewhat frightened, out of the corner of his mouth to Luke.
"Planning our weddings, houses, naming our children, probably picking out a china pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if they start sketching wedding dress ideas on a napkin," Luke said casually. The phone rang and they looked at one another, holding their ground for a moment.
"Rock paper scissors?" Jess suggested.
"Dream on," Luke said, walking away. Jess scowled at his uncle's back and picked up the phone.
"Luke's," he said, leaning with his back to the diner.
"Is Jess Mariano or Luke Danes there?"
"You've got the first one."
"Is your mother Elizabeth Mariano?"
"Yeah. Where exactly are we going with this little "Six Degrees of Jess Mariano" thing?"
"Jess, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother has been involved in a car accident. We're at (I'm making this up, tell me if it's real so I can be more creative) Reddington Grace Hospital in Brooklyn, we need you to come down."
"What are you talking about, car accident? What happened? What's wrong with Liz?" He asked, his voice rising in panic. He could literally feel the adrenaline trip into his system, flooding his veins with terrified heat, his pulse quickening, his heart near breaking.
"We really just need you to come down to the hospital as soon as you can, bring your uncle if you can."
"Just tell me what happened to her!"
"Please, just come down to the hospital." Jess found his eyes watering and his vision blurring with tears. He put the phone to his chest and turned to find Luke, finding instead, everyone staring at him, somewhat apprehensive.
"Luke, some hospital in Brooklyn is calling. Something happened to Liz," he said while handing the receiver to Luke.
Rory looked at Jess, trying to read his emotions, but finding little readable. He had a vacant stare that sent chills through Rory. He had paled quite intensely and his eyes were watering.
"Jess?" she asked.
"What are you talking about? We live in Connecticut, it's not as simple as driving. Just tell me what happened to her," Luke said, all the while.
"Jess?" Lorelai said, seeing the look in Jess's eyes deepen as he slumped against the back counter.
"Let's go," Luke said, pulling Jess along, the color fully drained from his face. He hung up the phone without a word only moments before and walked around the counter, kissing Lorelai briefly on the cheek before grabbing his coat. "Get in the car," he said to Jess as he sent him out the door.
"Luke, what's going on?" Rory said, actually scared now.
"Liz died."