Thank you for all your continued support! Here's the next chapter. :)

Chapter 14

June and July went by quicker than they thought. It was now near the end of July and the wedding plans were well and truly under way. Most things had been planned such as the venue, the flowers, the colour scheme and the bridesmaids dresses. The only thing left really to do was to shop for the wedding dress and tuxedos.

Lorelai was just leaving to meet up with her mom and Sookie for her wedding dress shopping. Rory was meeting them there as well. Her and Jess had managed to get about a couple of weeks off work for the wedding. Lorelai was just about to leave the house when the phone rang. She went to answer it. "Hello?"

"Lorelai?" A familiar voice said.

"April?" She said surprised.

"Yeah, hi!" April said hesitantly.

"Hey..." Lorelai said. "Uh..your dad's not here at the moment."

"I know, I wanted to talk to you." She admitted.

"Oh! Ok. What's up?" She said.

"Nothing! I just...I didn't want things to be awkward when I came at the weekend." April said quietly. "I..uh..I know I was kind of the reason you and my dad didn't get married the first time."

"Oh April, no..." Lorelai said softly. She sighed. "Look, I know we haven't exactly interacted much since your dad and I have got back together and I know it was weird last time but that was nothing to do with you. All you did was find out who your dad was and I know Luke is so grateful that you did. He loves you so much, April."

"I love him too. And...he was so miserable before and now, well, now he's happy all of the time. It's kind of weird." April said.

Lorelai laughed slightly. "Yeah, I get that." She said. "I assure you, April, this is going to work out this time. And we can't wait to see you at the weekend and I can't wait to have you standing up there as one of my bridesmaids." She smiled.

"I can't wait either. I was so excited when dad told me you wanted me to be one." April said excitedly. "I can't wait to see you both!"

"Us either, sweetie." Lorelai smiled. "I'm really sorry but I do need to head out now. Should I let your dad know you rang?"

"No, it's ok. I'll give him a ring at the diner."

"Ok kid. We'll see you on Saturday then."

"Bye Lorelai." April smiled.

"Bye April." Lorelai smiled before hanging up. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had to admit that she was nervous about the first April interaction but that conversation did relax her a bit. April seemed genuinely excited about the wedding. She smiled before heading out to meet her mom, Sookie and Rory.

"So I hear a rumour that my uncle's getting married in 10 days." A voice said as Luke stood in a tailor's, looking in the mirror at the tuxedo he had on.

Luke turned round and smiled at Jess. "Hey!" He said giving him a hug.

"Hey." Jess said. "Wow, so where's Right Said Fred when you need him?" He joked.

"Guy who's selling me this suit put this thing in the box. I don't know what the hell to do with it." He said holding out a square of material.

"It's a pocket square. Do the math." Jess said.

"Oh." Luke said putting it in his pocket. "Oh, it looks kind of nice." He said looking in the mirror. "So this is the big outfit for the wedding. Get it all out now."

"Turn around." Jess said.

"Jess..."

"Turn."

Luke sighed but turned around. "Well?"

"You are a very handsome man." He smirked.

"Alright." Luke rolled his eyes.

"I mean, very hot."

"I got it."

"Rande Gerber hot."

"Enough, Jess." Luke sighed.

"Hey. You look good." Jess smiled.

"Yeah?"

"I only do sincere once, man." He said patting him on the arm.

"Right, thanks." Luke rolled his eyes again but smiled slightly. "So you ready for yours?"

"Sure, I could hardly contain my excitement on my way here." Jess said dryly.

Luke smirked. "Here, try it on. Make sure it fits." He said handing him another tuxedo.

"I want you to know, this is the only day I will ever wear a tuxedo ok? If it wasn't you, I wouldn't be seen dead in one." Jess said gruffly.

"Yeah, yeah.." He smirked.

A little while later, Jess came out of the changing room. "Well?"

"You look very handsome." Luke teased.

"Yeah alright." Jess rolled his eyes.

"Honestly though, you look good. Rory will be impressed."

Jess blushed slightly. "You think?"

"Oh yeah, she will love it, trust me." Luke teased.

"Alright..." Jess said.

"You two doing ok?" He asked casually as they both got changed to pay for the tuxedos.

"We're doing fine." He nodded.

"Yeah?"

"I mean, it's mostly been phone calls. I've not seen her since the day of the funeral because we've both been so busy so..." He shrugged. "But we're excited to have these two weeks together."

"That's good." Luke said. "I'm glad you two are going well." He chuckled as Jess raised his eyebrows. "Seriously! I'm happy you two made it work. You've both been through a lot."

"Yeah..." Jess sighed. "We're happy."

"Good." Luke smiled.

"Oh my god, mom!" Rory gasped with tears in her eyes. "That's beautiful!"

"You think?" Lorelai smiled as she appeared from the changing room in a white lace wedding dress.

"Really, Lorelai, that is the one." Sookie nodded, smiling tremulously.

"Well...I have mom to thank for it. What do you think, mom?" She asked Emily.

"Oh Lorelai..." Emily said softly. "It's perfect."

"I love it." Lorelai admitted.

"So it's the one?" Sookie asked.

"It's definitely the one." Lorelai nodded.

"Luke's going to love it!" Rory grinned.

"Just like Jess is going to love you in your bridesmaid dress!" Lorelai teased. "Go on, go try it on!" She said excitedly. Obviously Rory hadn't been there for the bridesmaids dress shopping so they saved it for Rory to try on now.

"Ok!" Rory grinned and raced off to the changing room. A while later, she reappeared in a lilac dress. "What do you think?"

"Beautiful!" Sookie smiled.

"Really pretty." Emily nodded.

"Jess is going to love it." Lorelai grinned.

"Shut up!" Rory rolled her eyes. "Hey, take a pic for me." She said handing her phone to her mom.

Lorelai smiled and took a picture before handing it back to her. "You going to send it to Jess?"

"Shut up." Rory said but smirked slightly.

"Here, give me your dress, Lorelai, and I will go pay for it." Emily said.

"Thanks!" Lorelai smiled. She undressed and handed it to her mother to go pay for it. "So you and Jess are going well?" She asked Rory.

"Yeah..."

"That sounds convincing." Lorelai laughed.

"No we are. I just..well, it's only really been phone calls as we've both been busy so we've had to take it slow. Which is good because we both agreed that was for the best." Rory said.

"But?"

"But...I do miss him. I know we've been through a lot in the past but these past couple of months have been crazy but I always find myself smiling when I see that it's Jess calling."

"I'll try not to take offence to that." Lorelai teased.

Rory smirked. "You know what I mean."

"I do." She smiled.

"I'm happy." She told her.

"That's all I want." Lorelai smiled.

"I still find it weird that you're ok with Jess now..."

She smirked. "Well, I'll admit that he's definitely grown up and matured. And I appreciated how he's been there for you lately. I just want you to be happy."

"I am." Rory smiled.

"Good." She said.

"And how about you? In ten days, you're going to be Mrs Lorelai Danes. How does that feel?" Rory said.

"Amazing!" Lorelai grinned.

"Yeah?" Rory grinned.

"Yeah." Lorelai grinned. "Don't get me wrong, I am nervous but I guess every bride is nervous before their wedding. But it's an exciting nervousness, not a second doubts nervousness if you get what I mean."

"Yeah I do." She smiled softly. "It's been a long time coming."

"It really has." Lorelai sighed.

"And April's coming at the weekend right?" Rory asked.

"Yep, Saturday." She nodded.

"How are you feeling about that?"

"You know, I'm feeling good about it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Lorelai nodded. "She rang this morning actually and we had a good chat. She's really excited about coming which is sweet. And Luke has been so open with discussing her now and he's made it clear he wants me to get to know her so I think we're past all the weirdness."

"That's good." Rory smiled.

"Come on, I said we'd meet Luke and Jess back at the diner after I drop your Grandma home."

"I still can't believe she's moved already. It was so quick." Rory said.

"I know. But I think that was good in a way. She wanted a new start and now, well, she's closer to Stars Hollow now."

"That'll be nice." Rory smiled.

"Yeah, it will be." Lorelai said sincerely.

"I think it's nice that you two have gotten closer. It's like...well, it's like Grandpa really played a part in that. He would have liked this." Rory said softly.

Lorelai smiled tremulously. "Yeah, he would have." She said. She then put her arm round her daughter. "Come on, let's go see our guys."

"Let's." Rory nodded.

"I can't believe you didn't take a photo of you in your tuxedo!" Rory exclaimed as she sat at one of the spare tables in the diner with Jess.

"Sorry." Jess smirked.

"I sent you a photo of me. It's not fair." She pouted.

"And it was a great photo." He smirked.

"You tricked me! You said we would both take one so we could send them to each other."

"Guess I forgot." Jess said.

"Uh huh." Rory said not believing him.

"I'll wear it later for you if you want ok?" Jess chuckled.

Rory smirked. "Nah, it's ok. I'll wait until the wedding. It better be worth the wait though!"

"I can't guarantee that but you definitely looked hot in your dress." He said.

Rory blushed slightly. "Stop..."

"It's true. I know on the day, people will be watching Luke and Lorelai but I won't be able to keep my eyes off of you." He said.

"You're such a smooth talker." She rolled her eyes.

"Is it working?" He smirked.

Rory laughed. "Maybe." She said. She glanced across to the counter and smiled as she saw her mom laugh at something Luke had said. "They look so happy. I can't believe they're actually going to be married in 10 days."

"I know." Jess said. "Should have happened a while ago but better late than never."

"Yeah." Rory smiled. "Hey, we're going to have a family meal tonight. Luke was going to make lasagne. You'll come over right?"

"Sure." He nodded.

"And then we were going to have a movie night."

"Well how can I say no to snuggling up to my girlfriend for the evening huh?" Jess smirked.

Rory just shook her head but she could feel her cheeks redden again.

"I mean, I would prefer doing it without your mom and my uncle on the other couch but hey, beggars can't be choosers." He shrugged.

Rory laughed. "You love it really."

"What, seeing your mom and Luke canoodling? I could do without it." He said.

"You know what I mean!" She smirked.

Jess chuckled. "I'll be there." He said.

"Good." She smiled. "And I promise, we'll get time together as well. Alone." She said.

"Now that I will look forward to." He smiled.

"I just promised mom I'd help her with all the setting up before the wedding and spend time with her before her and Luke go off on their honeymoon." She said. "But that's why I booked the time off work for after the wedding as well so we will have some time together."

"Rory, relax. I'm only teasing you. You spend time with your mom this week. I'm just happy to be here for the ride as well." Jess assured her.

"I'm happy you're here." She smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've missed you." She said.

"Good to know." Jess smiled.

Rory smiled and leant over to kiss him. "I've definitely missed that!" She joked.

Jess chuckled. "Me too."

Rory glanced out of the diner and saw Lane. "Oh, it's Lane! Do you mind?"

"No. Go, catch up." He smiled. "I'll be here when you're finished."

"You better be." She grinned, giving him a kiss again before racing out of the diner.

Jess couldn't help but smile as he watched her and Lane jump up and down, squealing outside excited to see each other. He glanced around the diner and smiled. For once, he was actually excited to be back in Star Hollow and he never thought he would say that.

So I hope you liked it! I love reading all your reviews so please keep them coming. Your support means so much to me so thank you! :)