A/N- Last chapter posted before my voyage begins! Hopefully you all enjoy this one. Thanks again for the wonderful overwhelming reviews. I'll get more specific and gushy with my lauding soon but right now I'm cramming to pack everything. Good news is it turns out I should be able to continue posting every day myself, so I should get to see your reviews, and I believe (?!) that I have a backup plan in place just in case it turns out I need it. Please keep reading and reviewing and recommending (hi again new readers, or newly vocal readers!) and I look forward to keeping up with all of your lovely feedback. As always I don't own Gilmore Girls, its concepts or its characters, though studying them and falling for each and every one seems to be something that I'll never grow tired of.
Chapter 31
Later that night, Jess was just closing up the diner when Luke arrived, cautiously knocking on the door. Jess laughed before walking over and letting him in.
"Really? You still haven't figured out where he hides the spare key?" Jess mocked, opening the door for his uncle.
"Some of us have this thing called common courtesy," Luke grumbled, walking in, "Would you mind putting on some tea?"
"Already did," Jess nodded, "Let me grab it. And some coffee. This could take a few."
Luke sat down at a table and watched his nephew grab the mugs. It was funny how much people thought he'd changed. And of course, they were right, he had. But on some level Luke had always seen the man in front of him even in that smartass teenager Liz shoved on a bus to their little Fellini town. He'd seen it from the beginning, the fact that he had a sense of honor, caring, depth…things that most people either didn't see or shoved aside. He couldn't imagine how hard it must be for Jess to watch Rory, one of the only two people who had ever really acknowledged those things about him to be true from the beginning, who really knew him, in such a state.
From the time Jess and Rory had met, Luke had seen something change. The way he got up in the morning, the way he walked around, every little movement had a purpose. The books he read with more fervor, the smiles Luke would see when Jess thought no one was around, being around every morning at work. And Rory had changed too. Luke might have been oblivious to some things, but he caught the way she'd look at Jess when he was reading behind the counter, the way that she talked to him with no airs. With Dean, she sometimes seemed to have this floating-on-air quality to her voice that was almost saccharine, fake. A lilt, maybe, it was called. With Jess, it was the most clear he'd ever heard her voice. Her on Thanksgiving, her even when they first starting dating and did the awkward "Hello" dance, she just sounded like Rory. Maybe it was all in his head.
He'd thought about telling Jess about Rory sleeping with the married guy. In fact, he'd thought about having Jess come with him to kick said married guy's ass, as soon as he found out about it. But he couldn't watch that happen to him. He'd watched Jess leave Rory once, and that was more than he could ever stand to see the kid hurt. At least by his decree. Though now it seemed he really should've told Jess. Whether or not he should have to handle it, he seemed like the only one who could really ever figure out what was going on with her.
"She listed you first, by the way," Jess said, handing Luke a mug of chamomile tea.
"What?" Luke asked, distracted. He turned to Jess.
"She originally had you listed as her emergency contact at work. She only switched it to me about a month ago. It was you before," Jess explained, taking a long gulp of his coffee. Luke furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why would she…"
"She trusts you." Jess said simply, "She knows you would never overreact and you'd handle things better than just about anyone else. She sees you as a father. Are you really surprised?"
"I guess I just never heard anyone say it," Luke admitted, his eyes down.
"Luke, you've been there since she was a kid, through everything, no matter what was going on," Jess explained quietly, "She sees you as her rock. Someone she can count on. Plus, you're nearly married to her mother. Speaking of which…"
"Really, Jess?"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you guys engaged? Haven't you been for, what is it now, years? Am I missing something? It's not at all obvious that you love the woman to death or anything."
"It's not that simple."
"Luke."
"It's not."
"It might not have been before, but it is now. What are you waiting for?"
"We'll talk about that more some other time," Luke replied firmly, "Right now, we need to focus on Rory. Tell me what happened when you saw her. From the beginning."
"Fine. But we are talking about it. Soon," Jess answered. Luke nodded in agreement. Jess sighed and continued, "She called me, the night I came here, back when I was still in Philadelphia. She wanted me to come to New York. I did. I went to her apartment. We talked. We fought. She's not okay right now."
"What's wrong with her?"
"I have theories," Jess responded, "But I need to figure it out. She doesn't need to be crowded with people, she needs space. And more than anything, it needs to be her choice. Right now, whatever is going on with her, she doesn't want our help. Any of us, you, me, Lorelai. When she does, she'll ask for it, and any or all of us would be there at the drop of a hat. But just to clear up your initial set of worries, I think we can rule out anything health-related or really tragic."
"Meaning?"
"I don't think she's pregnant or on drugs or that anyone died," Jess summed up. Luke frowned.
"Well that's reassuring," Luke sighed, "How did you…"
"Wine bottle in her recycling bin, plus, she's single, and I know Rory well enough to know that's it's unlikely she's having casual unprotected sex." At this, Luke shook his head, mumbling inaudibly. Jess smirked.
"But anyway…since we all know that Rory's not an addled druggie, let's get to the point. Whatever's going on is something that she's having a hard time figuring out in her mind, something upsetting her...I can't give you more than that yet," Jess said, "And I'm sorry that's not a lot to go on, but I'm not going to share my mental guessing games. Once I have concrete information, you'll know what I do, if it's okay with her. That sound fair?"
"Fair enough," Luke nodded, "You know, you don't have to do this."
Jess looked Luke squarely in the eye. "You know I do."
"Yeah, I know."
