A/N: So much love the Jess & Paris sibling thing. Y'all make me very happy with your lovely reviews - thank you! :) Extra thanks to Amelia Wolfson who pointed out a plothole in Chapters 9 and 10 - I have gone back to fix that as well as uploading this new chapter. Now, what was that fight about that Jess had with Bowman...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 19

Luke hefted another heavy box out of the Gilmore girls' garage and dumped it onto the driveway so Lorelai could take a look. They had been going through this process for almost an hour already, talking about normal everyday things without pause. There had been no mention of Nicole Leahy or any of the strange conversation that had taken place with her in the diner this afternoon. Luke wasn't sure he could keep pretending everything was normal though. He had at least one question he needed to raise.

"So, earlier, at the diner," he said, looking down at where Lorelai was frowning at various pieces of clothing she didn't seem to recall ever owning anyway, "what you said about me teaching you to fish, you weren't serious, were you?"

Lorelai looked up at him with a smile he didn't entirely buy.

"Sure," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why not? I mean, you like it, so there has to be some fun in there somewhere, right?"

"Well, I think so," Luke considered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But you're not really the outdoorsy type, and it's not even like the clothes are cute or there's anywhere to go shopping if you get bored..."

"Luke, do you not want to teach me to fish?" asked Lorelai then. "Do you just really not want us to share any interests? Because if that's how you want it to be-"

"I just want you to be honest with me, Lorelai," he told her, his hands at her shoulders stopping her when she tried to walk by him, turning her to face him. "Do you want to learn to fish because you really want to learn, so we have more in common, or are you just jealous of Nicole?"

He tried not to smile when he asked the question, after all, he would be kind of a jerk if he liked the idea of her jealousy too much. Still, it was kind of nice to know he could cause that emotion in her. It was proof, if proof were needed, of how much she cared about him and would hate to lose him. Luke couldn't hate that.

"I am not jealous!" said Lorelai, playing at shocked but not pulling it off all that well.

The look on Luke's face proved he wasn't buying and she gave just a little.

"Okay, so maybe I was a teensy bit jealous," she admitted, showing him how tiny the piece was with the inch of distance between her thumb and index finger. "We're talking microscopic jealousy, my friend!"

"Microscopic?" he checked, pulling her into his arms.

"Practically invisible even under a microscope." Lorelai nodded, right before he kissed her. "Not that it matters anyway," she noted then, arms locked around his neck by now, "because you were totally jealous of Alex before, and that wasn't even a thing."

Luke's eyes were wide as anything as Lorelai kissed his nose and then let go of him fast, running off into the garage.

"Who said I was jealous?" he called after her, giving chase.

"Jess," Lorelai told him easily from amongst the boxes.

"I'll kill him."

"Oh, Luke, no!"

Lorelai grabbed his arm when he looked ready to go on the war path. She really didn't want to cause a problem. She had just been teasing, and trying to make herself feel better about her own jealousy, of course.

"He has no business talking to you about our relationship!"

"Jess was trying to help," Lorelai insisted, making Luke look at her. "And I was never trying to make you jealous with Alex," she promised. "Though I have to admit, it was kind of nice to know that you were."

Luke sighed as they went easily back into each other's arms.

"Gotta admit, it didn't feel so bad when you were jealous either, but I wasn't getting my own back or anything."

"I know that," Lorelai assured him.

They were kissing again inside a minute, and that was how Rory and Jess found them. Neither of the teens were exactly thrilled by the sight as they came up the drive hand-in-hand to find his uncle lip-locked to her mom. There was stereo clearing of throats to get the adults attention, and some severe blushing (more so from Luke than from Lorelai) when the other couple finally broke for air.

"Hey, kids," said Lorelai brightly before she noticed Jess' face. "Geez, kid. What happened?"

Luke moved towards Jess and took his chin in his hand.

"Jess. Explain."

"It's a long story," his nephew told him, pulling away some.

The look he gave his uncle proved he really did not want to talk about in front of company, not even his girlfriend and Luke's own. Jess hoped rather than believed that his uncle would get the message and let it go for now.

"It's fine," said Rory, looking from Luke to Lorelai. "It looks bad, but everything got figured out,."

"You're not wrong about the 'looks bad' part," said Lorelai, wincing as she looked at Jess' eye and lip some more.

"I'll heal," he assured her, wishing all the attention was diverted anywhere else. "It's not the first black eye I've had. Probably won't be the last."

Rory squeezed his hand on hearing that, hating knowing that her boyfriend had ever suffered like this before, or that he might go through it again someday. If the look on his face was anything to go by, Luke felt much the same, but he did allow Jess to explain very briefly what had happened and then let it go.

They all got stuck into clearing out the garage, as pre-arranged. Lane's band were going to practice in there which meant a lot of old junk needed to be shifted, much of which would doubtless end up being thrown out since the Gilmore girls didn't even know they owned it anymore.

It would be hours later, when Luke and Jess got home, that the subject of his beaten up face, and potentially body too, was discussed again.

"What?" asked Jess, looking up at his uncle.

Luke had his arms folded across his chest and that stern look on his face that Jess assumed only fathers were supposed to use, not that he had any experience of that.

"The truth now," he said firmly. "In front of Rory and Lorelai, I let it slide a little, but now I want the whole truth of what happened with you today."

Jess sighed, moved to run a hand over his face and promptly changed his mind when he recalled that would hurt. His fingers dragged through his hair and made it stick up at even weirder angles. He so didn't want to have this conversation.

"I told you already," he said eventually, looking anywhere but at Luke, "the guy was being an ass, so I hit him. He hit me back, it all got kind of out of hand, but it's fine. Paris got Charleston to go easy on me. You'll get a call, I'll attend a couple of after school detentions and give them five hundred words on what a bad boy I was. Case closed."

He got up when he was done and tried to make an escape, but Luke was wise to that manoeuvre. He got between Jess and the door, holding his ground.

"No, this case is not closed," he said definitely. "I think you and me have got to know each other pretty well this past year, enough that I don't believe you hit a guy twice your size just because he said something about your hair or your shoes or your taste in music. What did he say, Jess? What buttons did he push?"

Jess felt his hands clench into fists and fought to stay calm. He really did not want to be mad at Luke. His uncle had really been there for him lately. He took him in and paid his way through Chilton so he could stay here, be with Rory, be near Paris. He bought him a car, let him work the shifts in the diner that suited him so he could also work at Wal-Mart and maintain a social life. Luke was kind of saintly in so many ways. Jess figured he owed him the truth, but saying it out loud might just make him throw up.

"He didn't say anything about me," he admitted eventually, "not directly. It was about Rory and Paris."

A light dawned in Luke's eyes and his body visibly relaxed. He got it. Jess wasn't sure whether he expected him to understand or not, but now he was seeing that maybe he really did.

"He insulted the people you love."

"The asshole thought it was hilarious to suggest some pretty disgusting things were happening between me, my girlfriend, and the girl I look at like a sister. So yeah, after almost five minutes in which he was warned three times to shut his hole or else, I took a swing at him, and if you think that was wrong-"

"I don't."

"Huh."

"Look, Jess, I can't condone you getting into fights, and I don't like that this happened," he said, gesturing towards his nephew's injured face, "but if someone was implying those kind of things about people I loved, about Lorelai or Liz... I'd probably react just exactly the same way," he admitted.

Jess nodded, out of understanding and gratitude both. It was kind of a relief to know Luke got it and wasn't going to bust his ass too badly for what happened. It was a surprise to see his uncle smiling when he dared glance his way again.

"So, you really handed him his ass, huh?"

"Pretty much." Jess smirked. "He thought because he's bigger than me he'd win. Big mistake. Huge."

Luke laughed at that, he couldn't help it. As much as Jess was at times a painful reminder of Liz or Jimmy, in moments like this, Luke saw only himself reflected back in his nephew's eyes. That was kind of nice.

"So, explain to me again how Paris managed to save you from expulsion?" he asked curiously.

"She's Paris." Jess shrugged. "You need more explanation than that?"

Luke considered a moment and then shook his head.

"I guess not."

When the guys came over to see the space they would soon have for band practice, Rory grabbed a hold of Lane and dragged her aside to tell her everything that happened in school that day with Jess and Bowman, plus how Paris saved the day. Neither of them even noticed Lorelai practically begging for their help to escape Zach's advances. Lane had her own exciting news to impart about Prom, and that was taking all of Rory's attention for sure.

"It's progress that Mama has even said I can go to Prom," said Lane definitely. "I mean, she's picking my date, and that could end badly, but the plan is to make Dave look so good that it just wouldn't occur to her to choose anyone else," she explained. "She already likes him. I mean, what's not to love?" she asked with a sigh, staring across at the boy in question.

Rory followed her gaze and smiled. Dave really was a stand up guy, and it was great to know that Lane might yet get to have him for her boyfriend. They were sort of dating now, in a way, but the band barely knew they were closer than friends, and Mrs Kim had no idea at all.

"I'm so happy for you, Lane."

"Me too," she said with a grin, "but hey, enough of my Prom plans, what about yours?" she checked. "I guess you can't come to the Stars Hollow High Prom like we always talked about, so are you doing the fancy Chilton Prom instead?"

Rory opened her mouth to answer and then closed it again fast. She really hadn't given Prom a whole lot of thought recently. Years ago, when she attended SHS, she and Lane had always wanted to go together, along with dates, of course. When she was dating Dean, Rory had thought he would be the guy to take her to Prom, but then Jess had come along and swept her off her feet. Now Rory was a Chilton girl with a Chilton boyfriend. She really wouldn't fit in to the Stars Hollow High event, even if they would let her buy tickets purely because she had attended Freshman year. Chilton Prom was probably her only choice, but she wasn't so sure Jess would be up for that. Until she talked to him, she had no idea. After the day he'd had, she probably wouldn't bring it up anytime soon.

To Be Continued...