They went through the rest of coffee without pushing Lorelai on anything. Jess and Rory could see clearly that she wasn't in the mood for talking and, like with Luke, wanted to give her some space to cool down before doing any prying. But even throughout the time they were having coffee, Lorelai seemed extremely off. And it was obvious. Rory noticed that her mom had cleaned up her makeup before they left, and she'd put on some more casual clothes. But she also noticed that those clothes were clearly borrowed from Rory's closet (though of course, Rory didn't say a word). Jess had actually noticed that on his own as well. Lorelia's smile seemed forced and pained when she tried to laugh at their jokes or make quips, most of which she was barely doing. And when Rory suggested she call Luke to let him know she'd made it in okay, she stared blankly at Rory in such a way that the topic was immediately dropped.

Keeping his mouth shut came much more naturally to Jess than it did to Rory, particularly as it applied to Lorelai. Rory's natural instinct was to involve herself when the person in question was Lorelai, particularly if she seemed upset or hurt. At the moment, she seemed both. But this was a rare look for her mom, and even Rory knew that when Lorelai got quiet, she needed to give things a little time. Still, it was killing her not to ask, or say anything. They made it through an awkward, quiet coffee and went straight back to Trucheon, where it seemed to occur to all of them at the same time there wasn't any real privacy. Lorelai claimed she had some work things to get done, put on headphones and logged onto her laptop, which she'd brought with her (and which had been replaced after the fiasco at the Dragonfly). At that point, Rory and Jess looked at each other and sort of shrugged their shoulders, doing about their normal routine of work, dinner (Chinese, Lorelai ordered with them and asked if they minded if she kept working while she ate, which they didn't) and then some reading. The only difference in Rory and Jess' routine is that they were quieter than usual, only occassionally exchanging puzzled glances at Lorelai's silence. Lorelai went to sleep before either of them, with headphones in, listening to music. Once she was asleep, Jess and Rory got in bed (dressed far more completely than they usually did) and softly whispered their conversation.

"Is she…"

"Jess, she's asleep and has headphones in. She can't hear us."

"She's your mother, you're the expert."

"Clearly not, or I'd have some semblance of an idea of what's going on. And I have no clue," Rory sighed. "Has Luke said anything to you recently that seemed off?"

"Nope," Jess shoook his head, "If anything, he's seemed happier than ever. I mean, the wedding is like a month and a half away, but he's been downright chipper. You know, for Luke."

"Same with Mom," Rory said softly, furrowing her brow, "She's been kind of deliriously happy. I have no idea what all of this is about. Cold feet?"

"You think?"

"I mean, it wouldn't make any sense, but it's happened before," Rory sighed, "To both of them."

"True," Jess conceded, "But I don't know, it just…doesn't seem like it. Luke hasn't said anything to give even the smallest clue though. Our last three conversations have covered plans for the wedding, Cesar's incompetence, and Taylor's regrettable existence. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"And not even like he was avoiding the wedding topic," Rory said thoughtfully, "Same with Mom, except 80 random and sporadic topics, always, none of which make this make sense."

"So?"

"So, what do we do?"

"I think maybe we give them tomorrow, and if by Saturday neither of them has given us any more to go on, we start pressing," Jess admitted, "It's not my favorite thing, but this is completely out of character, and I'm a little worried."

"Little doesn't even begin to cover it for me," Rory said, her voice crackling a little, "I don't want her to mess this up again. Or him. Them. You know?"

"I know," Jess said reassuringly, softly holding her hand, "But let's not freak out just yet. Let's give it a day or so and go from there. Okay?"

"Okay," Rory agreed. They turned out the lights, resolved to giving the situation a little more time.

The next morning, Rory woke up before their usual alarm, roused by the smell of coffee.

"Jess, what are you…Mom?" Rory said groggily, rubbing her eyes. Lorelai grinned widely.

"You're awake! Mommy made coffee," Lorelai said, chipper and wide eyed. She was fully dressed (in another one of Rory's outfits, and the same jeans she'd borrowed last night) and made up, and looked to have been up for quite a while. She brought a cup of coffee over to Rory in bed. "It's your favorite- as strong as the Hulk."

"Um…thanks," Rory said, pulling herself up in the bed, "You're up early."

"It's a beautiful day! Life to live and whatnot! What time do you and the hooligan usually wake up?"

"Like an hour after now," Jess answered, having awoken and rubbing his eyes, "Lorelai, what's going on?"

"Good, you're up! Want some coffee?"

"Only if you want to be invited back ever."

"You're grouchy in the mornings," Lorelai pouted, teasing, but handing Jess a full cup of coffee as well. Jess gulped some down.

"Only when the early bird beats my alarm clock," he retored, still lighthearted, "Since when are you an early riser?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's the fresh Philadelphia air."

"You mean smog?"

"Sure, that," Lorelai retored to her daughter cheekily. "Do you guys want breakfast? I could…"

"No. No cooking for you," Rory said, jumping out of bed and steering her mother out of the kitchen area, "Thanks but no thanks. Why don't you go and grab us a table at the diner up the street? It's no Luke's, but they do a pretty decent omelette. Jess and I will get dressed and meet you there in 20."

"Sounds perfect!" Lorelai grinned. The grins hadn't stopped, and looked overplayed and forced, but forcing them she was. "I'll see you slowpokes soon."

"Yup," Jess nodded, as Lorelai grabbed her bag. Once she shut the door, he turned to Rory. "How long has she been up?"

"No clue, but a while I think. Smell of coffee woke me up shortly before you."

"Alien. No, addict."

"Amateur," she shot back, earning a grin from Jess. "But yeah, it seemed like she'd been up a while."

"And she's normally…"

"Dead to the world until 10 unless she needs to be at the Inn."

"Have you asked her what's happening with that?"

"No, but I will at breakfast. I can't believe she offered to cook."

"Clearly the sign of a serious problem in a Gilmore woman,"Jess smirked. "But…yeah. Not great."

"So?"

"I think we still stick to our plan. But maybe we can ask a couple questions. Nothing crazy, okay?"

"Fine," Rory conceded, "I'll be subtle."

"You have that ability? Are you sure?"

"Only with people I like," she smirked. "Now let's get dressed and go see what's going on."

They both quickly got ready and headed out the door to go meet Lorelai.

"Loinfruit!" Lorelai called loudly to Rory as she and Jess entered the diner, "Over here!"

"As if we wouldn't find her," Rory said, embarassed and rolling her eyes as several of the patrons turned to look at her, "There's like eight tables in here."

They walked over to join Lorelai at the booth she'd taken. She had a pot of coffee in front of her that was half empty.

"Lorelai," Jess said, looking at the pot, "How many cups of coffee have you had so far this morning?"

"Um," Lorelai said, looking nervously at Rory, "Not that many."

"Lorelai."

"Does he monitor your intake or something?"

"Come on, it can't be anything crazy."

"It's not!"

"Then why won't you answer?"

"Less than ten, and that's all I'm saying," Lorelai said, crossing her arms across her chest. Jess let out a long-suffering sigh and gave Lorelai a chastising look, pulling the pot towards him.

"Rory and I are refilling from this, and then we're getting decaf."

"You can't…"

"My town, my rules. Plus, you're literally shaking."

"With excitement! With the excitement of the morning! And Philadelphia."

"Again, the smog?" Rory interjected, disbelieving and snarky.

"This is your town," Lorelai responded, sounding a little hurt, "I'm just trying to muster up some enthusiasm."

Rory sighed heavily at her mom's deflated expression.

"It's fine, Mom," she said softly, "I was only kidding. But let's switch to decaf for now at least, okay? If he tries to deprive you in the afternoon we can put him in a headlock together."

"Good daughter!"

"Can you?" Jess teased, earning a playful glare from both Rory and Lorelai. Rory squeezed Jess' hand under the table. Clearly whatever was off was manifesting differently, though no less disturbingly, today.