Chapter 2:
2:00 AM
::RING::
"What the hell?" Luke reached out from under his covered and slammed on his sleep button.
::RING::
Luke sat up and realized that it wasn't the alarm clock, but his phone that had woken him up. "Who's calling me at 2:00 in the morning?" He groaned.
::RING::
"I'm coming." He growled as he shuffled over to the phone and cleared his throat. "What?" His voice was raspy.
"Go downstairs."
"Jess? Is that you?" Luke questioned, rubbing his eyes.
"No it's Santa Clause." Jess replied sarcastically.
"Jess. It's 2 in the morning. I don't have to wake up for 4 more hours and I'm grumpy. So forgive me if I'm not in the mood for you witty comebacks. What do you want?"
"Just go downstairs. I need you to do something." Jess told him. "It's very important. Life or death."
"Why? What's wrong?" Luke questioned as he opened the apartment door and rushed down the stairs. Coming out from behind the curtain, he stopped dead in his tracks. Jess was standing at the payphone across the street, duffle bag in hand. "Jess?"
"That's my name."
"What are you doing here? " He asked, still talking on the phone and standing by the counter. "You weren't supposed to come until tomorrow."
"Are you gonna let me in?"
"Oh yeah." He sighed, rushing to the door and opening it. As Jess made his way over to the diner. "Sorry."
"No biggy." He shrugged and continued up the stairs.
Luke locked the door and followed after him. "At the risk of sounding redundant...Why are you here already?"
"Didn't feel like staying." He replied dumping his cloths out on his bed. "I suppose you have some rules for me or something."
"Yeah. But I haven't thought of them yet. You're early." Luke replied. "We'll talk tomorrow OK? I'm gonna get my last 4 hours of sleep." He sighed, scratching his head as he went back to bed.
"Nighty night"
The next morning
"Wake up my little graduat." Lorelai shook Rory's sleeping body with excitement. Then noticed an empty box of tissues on the ground. "Hey. You aren't dead are you?" She asked, poking her.
"What's your definition of dead?" Rory asked from under the covers.
"Ummm Not breathing." Lorelai replied, taking a seat on the bed.
"Then no." She threw the covers off of her face and sat up. "I'm not dead."
"OH good. Cause I need someone to get coffee with." Lorelai replied, sounding relieved.
"I'll be out in a second." Rory sighed, getting up and walking to her closet.
"How are you doing?" Lorelai asked, with no sign of leaving.
"I thought you want coffee."
"I do."
"Then will you let me get dressed?" Rory questioned with a smirk.
"Hey. You're my daughter. I bathed you, clothed you and changed your disgustingly dirty diapers. Plus, I let you live inside me for nine whole months." Lorelai pointed out. "Without paying rent I might add." Rory gave her mother a disgusted look. "Fine. I'm going." Five minutes later, Rory came out of her room dressed and ready. She found her mom waiting by the door. "Finally. I was starting to think you go lost."
"In my room?"
"It's been known to happen." Lorelai nodded.
"To who?" Rory question.
"To....ummm...people with a really bad sense of direction." She lied, making up an answer. "Come on. Let's go." She ordered. "I can't function without coffee."
"That's obvious." Rory laughed, following her mother out of the house.
They walked quietly for the next few minutes until Lorelai couldn't take it anymore. "So is there something you want to tell me?" Lorelai questioned as they approached Luke's.
"No. I don't think so." She replied looking away, not wanting to talk about the call that she had gotten from Jess after her graduation.
"Nothing at all?" She pressed, raising an eyebrow. Rory knew that she wouldn't give up. It was obvious that she knew something was going on.
"Ummm...did I tell you that Jess called?" Rory asked, knowing full well that she didn't.
"What? When?"
"Yesterday. At graduation and actually several times before that. Remember the phone calls I kept getting?"
"That was him? Of course, why didn't I think of that?" Lorelai asked herself, then got a look of sympathy on her face. "So...what did he say?"
"Nothing."
"Come on. Tell me."
"I just did." Rory sighed, as Lorelai looked at her with confusion.
"Nothin as in he said the word nothing or nothing as in he didn't speak?" Lorelai asked, trying to make sense of what Rory had told her.
"The second one."
"How did you know it was him if he didn't talk?"
"I just...know." She shrugged. "I could feel it."
"Well, that must have been one hell of a conversation." Lorelai laughed then realized that Rory wasn't really in a joking mood. "Sorry." She sighed. "So what happened?"
"I just told him how I felt." She replied. "I told him that he could have talked to me and he didn't handle things right. And I told him. I'm moving on and that I refuse to pine over him. So I'm not going to." She explained purposely leave out the part where she told Jess that she had loved him.
Lorelai sighed heavily as they both stopped outside of Luke's and she looked down at Rory. It was obvious that she was still upset. "Sweetie. You know it's OK to pine for a little while." She told her, rubbing her arm. "I mean. He was important to you. SO It's understandable that you would..."
"No mom. I need to move on with my life. Jess is gone. He's never coming back. It's over." Rory confirmed trying to sound strong. "Now come on. I'm getting hungry." She pulled the diner door open and walked in, Lorelai followed behind quickly. "Morning Luke."
"Rory! Lorelai! You're here. HI." Luke called nervously as he rubbed his hands together.
"Luke. Hi!" Lorelai copied his tone and give him a weird look.
"You feeling OK?" Rory questioned as she and Lorelai sat down at the counter.
"I'm good...fine...great." He stuttered.
"Pick a verb. Any verb." Lorelai joked, as she watched Luke glance at the curtain nervously before pouring two cups of coffee.
"How'd you know we wanted coffee?" Lorelai asked.
"Lucky guess." He replied sarcastically. "Umm..so are you gonna leave soon?"
"That's the kind of hospitality we like to see." Lorelai smirked a little confused. "Are sure you're OK?"
"I'm..."
"Good. Fine. Great. We know." Rory laughed taking a sip of her coffee.
"Uh huh. Listen Lorelai. Can I talk to you?" Luke asked leaning on the counter with his hands.
"I don't know. Have you taken your medication today?" She asked with a laugh, but could tell he was serious by the look on his face. "Sure. OK." She nodded, getting concerned as she follow him into the storage room. "Luke. What is going on with you?"
"You have to get her out of here now." He blurted out quickly.
"What? Who?"
"Rory. Get her out of the diner now." He repeated, clarifying slightly.
"Luke. You've lost me."
"He's here. He's here." He stuttered nervously.
"He's here? Who's he? Luke..." Lorelai stopped as the realization set. "Jess? Is Jess here Luke?"
He nodded quickly. "Yeah he's upstairs. He's not awake yet, but he could come down any minute."
"Oh my god. Why didn't you tell me this sooner? I have to get her out of here." Lorelai yelled in a panic slapping his arm.
"I just told you."
"Yeah. But you should have told me as soon as I came in. What if he had come down while we were ordering. Right there in mid pour."
"Why are you still standing here talking to me?" Luke questioned, pushing her towards the door. "Get her out."
"Right. Right." She turned to face him, stopping short. "What should I say?"
"I don't know. Just go. I'll run up stairs and make sure he's not coming."
"Good idea. OK." Lorelai sighed. "Let's regroup for a second." She sighed.
"No time." Luke pointed out, as Lorelai nodded and they both walked out the door trying to look calm. Rory gave them a weird look as Luke strolled over to the curtain and ran behind it as soon as he got there. Lorelai laughed nervously as she returned to Rory's side.
"Is he OK?" Roy asking taking a sip of her coffee.
"Who Luke? Yeah. Good...fine...great." she grinned.
"What was that about?" Rory questioned.
"What? What was what about?" She asked, not sitting down.
"That Luke thing."
"Oh just something with Nicole. He needed a women's POV." She lied, waving his hand as if it was nothing important. "Hey...you wanna leave?" She asked nonchalantly.
"What? Why?"
"Ummm...I got a call...from Sookie." She replied looked up at the ceiling trying to think of an excuse. "She wants me to help her pick out the colors for the inn and I thought you might want to help me, cause you know how I am with the decorating stuff."
"Oh..Sure I guess so." Rory shrugged.
"Good. Let's go." Lorelai grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door.
"What about the coffee?" Rory asked standing up.
"Oh umm...I'll get some to go. Wait for me outside." Lorelai smiled. "Actually, could you run over to Doose and pick some stuff up for me. I have a list."
"Sure. Where's the list?" She questioned, getting suspicious.
"It's...in my head?" She searched for answer.
"Is that a question or statement?"
"Statement?" Lorelai joked but Rory didn't crack a smile "Just humor mommy, sweetie. Umm...we need chocolate and rice and uh, bread."
"Chocolate, Rice and Bread." Rory repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah. That's what I said. Good memory you got there. Now go." Lorelai tapped her back as Rory looked back confused, before walking out the door. As soon as she was out of sight, Lorelai pulled out her cell phone. "Sookie? You have to do me a huge favor. Meet me at the inn in 5 minutes. I'll explain later, but if Rory asks we're discussing colors for the inn. See ya in 5." She flipped her phone off, as she poured two coffees into to go cups. "BYE LUKE." She called before walking out, letting him knew they were gone.
2:00 AM
::RING::
"What the hell?" Luke reached out from under his covered and slammed on his sleep button.
::RING::
Luke sat up and realized that it wasn't the alarm clock, but his phone that had woken him up. "Who's calling me at 2:00 in the morning?" He groaned.
::RING::
"I'm coming." He growled as he shuffled over to the phone and cleared his throat. "What?" His voice was raspy.
"Go downstairs."
"Jess? Is that you?" Luke questioned, rubbing his eyes.
"No it's Santa Clause." Jess replied sarcastically.
"Jess. It's 2 in the morning. I don't have to wake up for 4 more hours and I'm grumpy. So forgive me if I'm not in the mood for you witty comebacks. What do you want?"
"Just go downstairs. I need you to do something." Jess told him. "It's very important. Life or death."
"Why? What's wrong?" Luke questioned as he opened the apartment door and rushed down the stairs. Coming out from behind the curtain, he stopped dead in his tracks. Jess was standing at the payphone across the street, duffle bag in hand. "Jess?"
"That's my name."
"What are you doing here? " He asked, still talking on the phone and standing by the counter. "You weren't supposed to come until tomorrow."
"Are you gonna let me in?"
"Oh yeah." He sighed, rushing to the door and opening it. As Jess made his way over to the diner. "Sorry."
"No biggy." He shrugged and continued up the stairs.
Luke locked the door and followed after him. "At the risk of sounding redundant...Why are you here already?"
"Didn't feel like staying." He replied dumping his cloths out on his bed. "I suppose you have some rules for me or something."
"Yeah. But I haven't thought of them yet. You're early." Luke replied. "We'll talk tomorrow OK? I'm gonna get my last 4 hours of sleep." He sighed, scratching his head as he went back to bed.
"Nighty night"
The next morning
"Wake up my little graduat." Lorelai shook Rory's sleeping body with excitement. Then noticed an empty box of tissues on the ground. "Hey. You aren't dead are you?" She asked, poking her.
"What's your definition of dead?" Rory asked from under the covers.
"Ummm Not breathing." Lorelai replied, taking a seat on the bed.
"Then no." She threw the covers off of her face and sat up. "I'm not dead."
"OH good. Cause I need someone to get coffee with." Lorelai replied, sounding relieved.
"I'll be out in a second." Rory sighed, getting up and walking to her closet.
"How are you doing?" Lorelai asked, with no sign of leaving.
"I thought you want coffee."
"I do."
"Then will you let me get dressed?" Rory questioned with a smirk.
"Hey. You're my daughter. I bathed you, clothed you and changed your disgustingly dirty diapers. Plus, I let you live inside me for nine whole months." Lorelai pointed out. "Without paying rent I might add." Rory gave her mother a disgusted look. "Fine. I'm going." Five minutes later, Rory came out of her room dressed and ready. She found her mom waiting by the door. "Finally. I was starting to think you go lost."
"In my room?"
"It's been known to happen." Lorelai nodded.
"To who?" Rory question.
"To....ummm...people with a really bad sense of direction." She lied, making up an answer. "Come on. Let's go." She ordered. "I can't function without coffee."
"That's obvious." Rory laughed, following her mother out of the house.
They walked quietly for the next few minutes until Lorelai couldn't take it anymore. "So is there something you want to tell me?" Lorelai questioned as they approached Luke's.
"No. I don't think so." She replied looking away, not wanting to talk about the call that she had gotten from Jess after her graduation.
"Nothing at all?" She pressed, raising an eyebrow. Rory knew that she wouldn't give up. It was obvious that she knew something was going on.
"Ummm...did I tell you that Jess called?" Rory asked, knowing full well that she didn't.
"What? When?"
"Yesterday. At graduation and actually several times before that. Remember the phone calls I kept getting?"
"That was him? Of course, why didn't I think of that?" Lorelai asked herself, then got a look of sympathy on her face. "So...what did he say?"
"Nothing."
"Come on. Tell me."
"I just did." Rory sighed, as Lorelai looked at her with confusion.
"Nothin as in he said the word nothing or nothing as in he didn't speak?" Lorelai asked, trying to make sense of what Rory had told her.
"The second one."
"How did you know it was him if he didn't talk?"
"I just...know." She shrugged. "I could feel it."
"Well, that must have been one hell of a conversation." Lorelai laughed then realized that Rory wasn't really in a joking mood. "Sorry." She sighed. "So what happened?"
"I just told him how I felt." She replied. "I told him that he could have talked to me and he didn't handle things right. And I told him. I'm moving on and that I refuse to pine over him. So I'm not going to." She explained purposely leave out the part where she told Jess that she had loved him.
Lorelai sighed heavily as they both stopped outside of Luke's and she looked down at Rory. It was obvious that she was still upset. "Sweetie. You know it's OK to pine for a little while." She told her, rubbing her arm. "I mean. He was important to you. SO It's understandable that you would..."
"No mom. I need to move on with my life. Jess is gone. He's never coming back. It's over." Rory confirmed trying to sound strong. "Now come on. I'm getting hungry." She pulled the diner door open and walked in, Lorelai followed behind quickly. "Morning Luke."
"Rory! Lorelai! You're here. HI." Luke called nervously as he rubbed his hands together.
"Luke. Hi!" Lorelai copied his tone and give him a weird look.
"You feeling OK?" Rory questioned as she and Lorelai sat down at the counter.
"I'm good...fine...great." He stuttered.
"Pick a verb. Any verb." Lorelai joked, as she watched Luke glance at the curtain nervously before pouring two cups of coffee.
"How'd you know we wanted coffee?" Lorelai asked.
"Lucky guess." He replied sarcastically. "Umm..so are you gonna leave soon?"
"That's the kind of hospitality we like to see." Lorelai smirked a little confused. "Are sure you're OK?"
"I'm..."
"Good. Fine. Great. We know." Rory laughed taking a sip of her coffee.
"Uh huh. Listen Lorelai. Can I talk to you?" Luke asked leaning on the counter with his hands.
"I don't know. Have you taken your medication today?" She asked with a laugh, but could tell he was serious by the look on his face. "Sure. OK." She nodded, getting concerned as she follow him into the storage room. "Luke. What is going on with you?"
"You have to get her out of here now." He blurted out quickly.
"What? Who?"
"Rory. Get her out of the diner now." He repeated, clarifying slightly.
"Luke. You've lost me."
"He's here. He's here." He stuttered nervously.
"He's here? Who's he? Luke..." Lorelai stopped as the realization set. "Jess? Is Jess here Luke?"
He nodded quickly. "Yeah he's upstairs. He's not awake yet, but he could come down any minute."
"Oh my god. Why didn't you tell me this sooner? I have to get her out of here." Lorelai yelled in a panic slapping his arm.
"I just told you."
"Yeah. But you should have told me as soon as I came in. What if he had come down while we were ordering. Right there in mid pour."
"Why are you still standing here talking to me?" Luke questioned, pushing her towards the door. "Get her out."
"Right. Right." She turned to face him, stopping short. "What should I say?"
"I don't know. Just go. I'll run up stairs and make sure he's not coming."
"Good idea. OK." Lorelai sighed. "Let's regroup for a second." She sighed.
"No time." Luke pointed out, as Lorelai nodded and they both walked out the door trying to look calm. Rory gave them a weird look as Luke strolled over to the curtain and ran behind it as soon as he got there. Lorelai laughed nervously as she returned to Rory's side.
"Is he OK?" Roy asking taking a sip of her coffee.
"Who Luke? Yeah. Good...fine...great." she grinned.
"What was that about?" Rory questioned.
"What? What was what about?" She asked, not sitting down.
"That Luke thing."
"Oh just something with Nicole. He needed a women's POV." She lied, waving his hand as if it was nothing important. "Hey...you wanna leave?" She asked nonchalantly.
"What? Why?"
"Ummm...I got a call...from Sookie." She replied looked up at the ceiling trying to think of an excuse. "She wants me to help her pick out the colors for the inn and I thought you might want to help me, cause you know how I am with the decorating stuff."
"Oh..Sure I guess so." Rory shrugged.
"Good. Let's go." Lorelai grabbed her purse and started to walk out the door.
"What about the coffee?" Rory asked standing up.
"Oh umm...I'll get some to go. Wait for me outside." Lorelai smiled. "Actually, could you run over to Doose and pick some stuff up for me. I have a list."
"Sure. Where's the list?" She questioned, getting suspicious.
"It's...in my head?" She searched for answer.
"Is that a question or statement?"
"Statement?" Lorelai joked but Rory didn't crack a smile "Just humor mommy, sweetie. Umm...we need chocolate and rice and uh, bread."
"Chocolate, Rice and Bread." Rory repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah. That's what I said. Good memory you got there. Now go." Lorelai tapped her back as Rory looked back confused, before walking out the door. As soon as she was out of sight, Lorelai pulled out her cell phone. "Sookie? You have to do me a huge favor. Meet me at the inn in 5 minutes. I'll explain later, but if Rory asks we're discussing colors for the inn. See ya in 5." She flipped her phone off, as she poured two coffees into to go cups. "BYE LUKE." She called before walking out, letting him knew they were gone.