AN: This chapter is coming a day early since tomorrow is my birthday and I probably won't be around. Hope you enjoy.

Luke POV

I let Rory in from her dance after letting her say goodbye to Tristan on the porch, and she froze in confusion when she spotted Jess.

"Mom didn't want to deal with me so I'm staying for a while," He explained before disappearing up the stairs. She turned to look at me, even more confused.

"It's been one of those nights," I told her and she nodded, "How was the dance?"

She smiled up at me, "I'm really glad I went."

She practically floated to her bedroom, in a better mood than she had been in for weeks. I had a feeling that she was now dating Tristan since I saw them kiss before he left, but I didn't push for details; that was Lorelai's thing. I watched as Lorelai followed Rory into her room, meaning I'd have the whole story in an hour anyway.

The next morning, we starting shifting some of the boxes. We had agreed that some could go to the apartment above the diner, but it depended on the contents. The box of letters was left where it was, knowing it could come in handy one day.

Jess and Rory didn't bicker so much this time, and they spoke more. They kept the topic light as they worked, especially after he asked about the box of letters and her whole demeanour changed. After the third trip to the diner, we stayed there for a bit. Jess and Lorelai had some pie, but Rory just pushed the food around her plate.

As they were getting ready to go, I spotted Christopher stood across the street. He looked angry and like he was up to no good, so I convinced them to sit back down, with Rory's back to the window, while I went out there.

"Please leave, Christopher," I said, "You're only making things worse for yourself at this point."

"She looked beautiful last night," He told me, "A perfect mix of me and Lor, don't you think?"

I felt sick, knowing he had been watching her last night. I had no idea how he knew, but I almost didn't want to know. He continued, "I have a right to see her."

"You have no rights when it comes to Rory. You could legally try and get parental rights but I doubt you'll succeed."

The comment proved to be too far and he came at me, his fists raised. I worked to protect myself over attacking him back, because even though I knew it would be self-defence, I didn't need to cause any problems for Rory. I blocked his punches easily, especially since I had recently taken a refresher in my self-defence classes with Rory, wanting her to have everything she needed to keep herself safe. I landed a single punch to his stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

I walked back towards the diner but I remained outside until he got on his bike and drove away, not wanting to take any chances.

I pulled Lorelai aside when I got in and told her what happened out there. The colour drained from her face when I told her about the fact Christopher had been watching her at some point last night, and when I told her about the fight, she just sighed.

"He wasn't like this when we were kids," She said, "He hit me once, but he was never a violent person."

"Prison changes a person," I reminded her, "And he seems to hold grudges like your mother does."

She laughed, and then swore, "I forgot to give Rory this letter from Mom. Dad showed up at work yesterday to pass the letter on, but I don't know what it says."

"I'm going to come home with you," I decided, "Between Rory and Jess, you might need the extra pair of hands to keep Jess busy, especially since he barely brought anything with him."

When we got in, I ended up dealing with Rory and her letter while Lorelai tried to find something for Jess to do.

"Hey kid," I said, "You've got a letter."

She took the letter and looked at the writing on the front, "It's from Grandma."

I nodded, "Do you want me to stay?"

"Sit with me."

I joined her on her bed as she opened the letter, and she read aloud, "'Rory, I am deeply sorry for what I did. I made a terrible mistake and there isn't a way for me to fix it. I can't take it back, I can't wipe the information from his mind, I can't do anything. When I told your father about Chilton, I couldn't even imagine that he would do something nefarious with that information. He said he had changed ways and I believed him.'"

Rory scowled when Emily referred to Christopher as her father, but continued reading without hesitation.

"'Your grandfather and I will continue paying for your education because you shouldn't suffer for my mistake. And if you would like, I will look into private schools that are just as good or better than Chilton so you can stay safe without sacrificing your education.'"

She paused at that point and swallowed before continuing, "'I will not stop trying to earn your trust and forgiveness, and I hope that you will one day forgive me for my mistakes, but I won't expect anything from you until that day comes. I love you so much Rory, and I would have never done this if I thought you were in danger. I hope you know that. From, Grandma.'"

Rory looked up at me with tearful eyes, "I'm not ready to forgive her, but I feel like I should."

I shook my head, "You don't have to forgive her unless that's what you want to do. And no matter what you decide, we will support you while keeping you safe."

"Do you think I should change schools?" She then asked, and I sighed.

"That's not for me to decide. If you want to stay at Chilton, you can. We wouldn't stop protecting you either way so it doesn't really matter to us," That was a lie. While me and Lorelai had decided that it would ultimately be her choice, we would rather she left so her location was a question to him. However, we were also aware that there would always be the risk of him finding her, so keeping her in one place did make more sense.

She nodded, "I'm going to write to her. Not to forgive her, but just so she knows how I feel."

I left her in peace and returned to the living room. Jess had his nose in a book (do we have a male Rory on our hands?) but seemed to just be staring at it, and Lorelai was watching a film. The two were sitting in a tense silence, which made me wonder what had happened now.

AN: I already know what Jess did but I wonder what you think happened. Let me know.