The next morning, Lorelai awoke to a crisp Connecticut autumn. It was a bit too chilly to put on her Halloween costume yet, but she hoped that the day would warm a little. She spent too much time making her costume to let it go to waste. Plus she felt damn sexy in it.
She jumped into the shower and took her time shaving her legs. With her costume, she needed her legs to look perfect. A nick from the razor would not do. As she finally stepped from the shower, she began to feel a palpable excitement in the air. She wasn't quite sure what it could be but just wrote it off as excitement to see Rory.
Lorelai lay on the couch reading Watership Down while she waited for Rory and Marty to arrive. I just love these little bunnies. They better listen to Fiver if they know what's good for 'em. Just as the rabbits were under threat, Rory and Marty walked in.
"Please tell me none of these bunnies die. I don't want the rest of the story to be about how lucky some guy is since he found a bloody rabbit's foot," Lorelai yelled to Rory as soon as the door opened.
"Ew. What are you talking about?" Rory said as she gave a look to Marty that said, See what I mean about her?
"The bunnies on Watership Down. Duh."
"How was I supposed to know that? I know you're nuts, but you need to try to behave because we have a guest for the weekend."
"You wanted Marty to see the real Stars Hollow. That includes the real, crazy Lorelai Gilmore." After Lorelai stuck her tongue out at Rory, she turned to Marty. "It's good to see you again, Marty. Make yourself comfortable here. And feel free to let your crazy run free too, whatever my daughter tells you."
"Thanks, Lorelai. But I don't really have that much crazy in me."
"You will when the weekend's over. Trust me. So first stop on the Stars Hollow tour is lunch at Luke's."
"Absolutely," Rory agreed. And with that, the three of them headed over to Luke's without remembering a particular male they might run into there.
As they walked down the street toward Luke's, Lorelai could see through the window that the diner was very crowded. Only one table near the door was free and an old couple in front of them was shuffling toward the diner. Lorelai knew what was about to happen if they didn't make a quick move. She yelled to Rory and Marty, "Run!"
The three of them took off down the street, though Marty was slightly confused. They got to the door just before the old, slightly stunned couple and grabbed the last free table. When the elderly couple finally made it through the door, Lorelai just offered them her sweetest smile.
"That was quite the despicable display," Luke said as he arrived at their table.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. There was a giant cloud of bees chasing us. And behind them was a pack of wolves," Lorelai lied.
"And Taylor was chasing us," Rory added.
"Anything else?" Luke asked, looking at Marty.
"No. Anything else would make the story unbelievable," Marty smoothly said.
As the Gilmore girls started to giggle, Luke walked away without pouring them any coffee. This prompted Lorelai to go after him.
"Hey. Come back here. You didn't give us any coffee."
"I know. I needed to get you away from Rory for a second."
"Why? Something dirty?" Lorelai teased.
Ignoring her last comment, Luke said, "Jess is upstairs getting ready before he comes down to help me out in the diner. I just thought you might want to warn Rory and the guy who I assume is her boyfriend."
"Yeah, that's Marty," Lorelai said as she pondered what to do. "Okay, can we just get three burgers, three fries, and three cups of coffee to go?"
"Coming right up."
Back at the table, Lorelai said to Rory and Marty, "I thought we could get our food to go. I would hate for those old people to die before they got a table." As Lorelai said this, her eyes were gesturing up toward Luke's apartment and back and forth between Rory and Marty. Marty just thought this was Lorelai letting out her crazy while Rory grasped what she was insinuating.
The three of them grabbed the food from Luke when it was ready and left just as Jess entered the diner from upstairs. They didn't see him, but he saw them. A brief look of pain flashed across his face right before it was replaced by his usual nondescript expression.
Later that night, Rory and Marty set off for the Halloween Carnival. Lorelai stayed behind a little while longer to get ready. She hoped she wouldn't feel too ridiculous in her costume. The silver sequined minidress was shorter than she remembered. I better not bend over, she thought as she looked in the mirror. She had already done her hair, with Rory standing on a chair to make it extra tall, so she was just about ready to go. Strapping on the silver stilettos, she slowly made her way down the stairs and out the door.
When Loralei arrived at the carnival, everyone she walked by stared at her. She even got a whistle from some guy she didn't know. Well I guess the outfit is a success, she thought.
Seeing Luke, she smiled and made her way over to him.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Luke asked after he picked his jaw up off the ground.
"A Halloween costume. I'm Tina Turner. What are you, the Brawny man?" Just then, Lorelai saw Jess exit the diner and start to walk toward the square. Dammit. Why in the world would he come to the carnival? I have to get out of here.
Lorelai excused herself from Luke and made her way to the opposite end of the square where she bumped into Sookie and Jackson. Sookie was dressed as an apple and Jackson was a banana.
As Lorelai listened to Sookie blather on about the absolutely cutest thing Davey did today, she couldn't stop her gaze from wandering over to where Jess was talking to Luke. I think he got taller since the last time I saw him. He looks older too, but I guess that's 'cause he is. And I guess Luke doesn't allow razors in his apartment because Jess has the same scruffy look as Luke.
As Lorelai continued to ponder Jess's appearance and nod along to Sookie's story, she realized she had seen Jess look like that before. Oh my god! He looks just like he did that night. With that thought, a wave of heat spread over her body. Can they tell what I'm thinking? She felt the sudden need to get away from Sookie and Jackson before either mentioned her flushed appearance.
Lorelai told them she needed a drink and went over to stand in line at the concession stand. Ok, Gilmore. Get it together. You're just going to ignore him, have fun, and leave as soon as no one will notice.