Disclaimer: I own nothing. We all must learn to cope with such things.
A/N: Hello once again darlings. Now, here's a question for you all. Would you prefer shorter chapters if I could get them out faster, or when I do longer chapters that are admittedly very far apart? This is a shorter one. So read it and give me your opinion on length AND content. kthxbye.
P.S. Song recommendation of the update is Wave on Wave by Pat Green. It's country, but I adore it and therefore recommend it to all.
Once
Jess and Luke had switched locations, but not positions. The two men still sat in chairs, facing the opposite wall solemnly. Now though, they were on the fifth floor, waiting for Lorelai to emerge from her daughter's hospital room. Every now and then, a sound would float out of the room - a laugh, a sigh, a bit of crying, and both Jess and Luke would listen for a moment, then shift back into their silence.
"How's your dad?" Luke asked suddenly.
Jess shrugged. "Good. He and Sasha had a kid. A girl. Rose. Sasha digs flower names."
Luke nodded. "Have you seen Liz and TJ's new son?"
"My half-brother Gary Junior?" Jess asked, shaking his head in amusement. "He cries all the time, drives Liz crazy. And Bethany is five now. And TJ is their dad. I don't know if I feel worse for Liz or the kids."
"Ever find out how your stepfather got the nickname TJ?"
Jess smirked. "No, thank God. And please don't use the term stepfather. It's never going to get unweird."
"How's Paige?" Luke asked. "It is Paige, right?"
Jess's smirk tightened. "It was Paige." He said. "That's done."
"Sorry." Luke said, grimacing slightly. "Thought that was going pretty alright."
"It was." Jess agreed, "She had issues with…" He nodded to Rory's room.
"Ah." Luke nodded. He waited long enough to give the situation the appropriate gravity, then asked, "Was she wrong?"
"Yeah," Jess said simply. "There's nothing going on with me and Rory. She's my best friend."
"Huh." Luke said, nodding his approval. "Not a term I ever thought you'd use."
Jess shrugged. "It is what it is. How's the Twilight Zone doing?"
"Stars Hollow is good." Luke responded, allowing Jess to change the subject away from Rory. "Not much changes. Patty got married again."
"No!" Jess said, more amused than shocked.
"Yeah. Lasted a good two months though, before she changed her mind. I think she just wanted Husband #8 so she could land on an even number."
Jess smirked. "Highly possible. Man do I pity the suckers who are around when she decides she wants to hit double digits."
Luke smiled, "Makes me glad I'm married already."
Jess rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure it does."
"Lorelai's going to want Rory to come back to Stars Hollow with us." Luke said, finally stating the obvious.
Jess sighed. "I figured as much. Maybe it'll be better for her."
"Yeah?" Luke asked.
"Yeah." Jess affirmed. "I don't really seem to be helping her any. Maybe she needs her mom."
Luke's eyes turned thoughtful for a fraction of a second, but he didn't comment on his thoughts. He just settled further into his chair with a bit of a knowing smirk on his face.
Jess looked at his uncle out of the corner of his eye. "What?" He demanded, seeing the smirk and recognizing it immediately. It was a look he wore often. It was the look of someone who knew something, but had no intention of sharing it with anyone.
"Nothing." Luke said. Maybe Rory did need her mom, but Luke had no doubt in his mind that Jess needed Rory.
Jess rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Lorelai stepped out of Rory's room, causing both Jess and Luke to shoot up out of their chairs.
Lorelai took a few steps across the hallway and stood right in front of Jess. She'd been doing more crying, it was obvious. "Rory wants to talk to you." She said.
Jess went to step around Lorelai, but was met with the sharp sting of her palm striking his cheek. Jess winced for a moment, but did not let on any sign that the slap had hurt as much as it did.
Lorelai sidestepped over to Luke, and didn't look back at Jess as he went into Rory's room.
"Was that necessary?" Luke asked as Lorelai sat down. He took her hand in his own.
"I thought it might make me feel better." Lorelai responded.
"And did it?" Luke asked.
Lorelai shrugged. "Not really." She smirked for a second. "OK, a little. He should've told us."
"He was protecting Rory." Luke said, defending his nephew's choices.
"From me!" Lorelai said. "He was protecting her from me."
Luke sighed and wrapped his arm around Lorelai. "You're taking this too personally."
"It is personal, Luke. It is personal. She got stood up at the altar, found out she was pregnant, and miscarried the baby. She didn't tell me any of it. Jess called me to tell me. Jess."
Luke was silent after Lorelai said this, having no desire to say what he was thinking.
Lorelai looked up at Luke, seeing his hesitance. "What? What are you thinking?"
"I think Rory needed someone who wouldn't judge her. Being judgmental is what you're best at. What did you say when she called you after running away from the wedding?"
Lorelai was silent for a long time. She remembered fully what she had said to Rory. I told you so.
"And Jess? He's so non-judgmental?" Lorelai demanded, trying not to focus on her role in this.
"Think about that question." Luke said. "Think about it hard. And then answer this one: is he in any position to judge anyone? Whatever you're thinking of to twist the situation around, you know the answer is no."
Lorelai sighed, annoyed. "You always defend him. I hate it just as much now as I used to."
"You've always been afraid to like him because you were always afraid he was going to hurt Rory."
"And he always did!" Lorelai exclaimed triumphantly.
"And because you were even more afraid that he wasn't going to hurt Rory, and that he was going to around forever." Luke finished.
"That's ridiculous." Lorelai started.
"He cares about her. He's always cared about her. You saw that right from the beginning, and despite everything he still cares about her. Do you know what he just called her?"
Lorelai immediately stiffened. Words like whore and pathetic immediately sprung to mind.
"His best friend." Luke answered his own question. "Rory is his best friend."
Lorelai released a breath. "Now that's scary."
"Is that a smile, Ms. Gilmore?" Jess asked as he walked into the hospital room.
Rory shrugged, still smiling a little. "It might be." She looked at Jess closely and asked, "Is that a red mark in the shape of a hand on your face?"
Jess rubbed his face. "Your mom slapped me."
Rory did all she could, but couldn't hold in the small giggle that escaped her. "Oh, Jess. I'm sorry."
Jess shrugged and walked over to Rory's bed. He sat down in the chair next to it. "Maybe I deserved it."
"You don't believe that." Rory said, reaching out for Jess's hand.
"Nah, not really." Jess said, taking her hand and squeezing it comfortingly. "But I don't blame your mom for thinking I deserve it."
Rory closed her eyes. "It was all for me, though. I know that."
"Nothing else matters." Jess said.
"Mom wants me to go back to Stars Hollow." Rory said, not opening her eyes.
Jess wondered if Rory was aware of the way her language gave away her emotion. Stars Hollow. She'd said Stars Hollow. She didn't call it home.
"Maybe I should." Rory continued.
"Do you want to?" Jess asked simply.
"Do you want me to?" Rory retaliated.
Jess shook his head, slightly amused. "This has nothing to do with me."
"That's not true." Rory said forcefully.
Jess sighed. "Rory..." he started.
"Hey, if we go down we go down together. Both of us are in this now. Don't pretend we're not." Rory insisted.
Jess smirked at her affectionately. Rory stared at him, trying to understand how he managed to make a smirk affectionate. He'd certainly mastered a smirk for every occasion.
"Do you want to go back to Stars Hollow, Rory?" Jess asked.
Rory shrugged. "I don't know. Not really. No. It's not home like it used to be."
"So where is home?" Jess asked.
Rory shrugged, a trait that got more common to her as she spent more time with Jess. "I don't know. But I know where I want to stay while I figure it out."
"And if I don't want you there?" Jess asked, letting go of Rory's hand.
Rory drew in a deep breath. That hadn't occurred to her. "Then just let me know." She said nervously.
Jess sat silently for a minute, before saying, "You're telling your mother. She won't slap you."
