Rory and Jess arrived back at Truncheon about ten minutes later. They walked into the building, Rory's brow furrowing with worry.

"Do you think she's still mad?"

"Rory," Jess looked at her plaintively, "It literally just happened. So yeah, probably. But just talk to her. It'll be fine."

Rory nodded, sighing. They walked up the stairs and Rory pushed open the apartment door. They walked in to find Lorelai packing up her purse.

"Thank you both for having me," Lorelai said stiffly, "But I'm going to go stay with Sookie. Jess, I promise I'll tell Luke you did everything in your power to stop me but I literally pushed you out of the way and sped off like a maniac. Okay?"

"No, not okay," Jess said, rolling his eyes, "Rory has something she'd like to say to you."

"I'm pretty sure Rory already said plenty of things to me at dinner. I think I'm good on the Rory saying things part for now," Lorelai snapped. Jess looked at her warningly.

"Aren't you supposed to be the mature one? At least hear her out."

"Are you on her side now? Seriously, what is wi…"

"What is with you and her and sides?" Jess exclaimed, exasperated, "No, I'm not on her side. And neither is she, in fact. So just hear her out, okay? If you don't like it, I'll personally ensure you get safely to a second location."

"Famous last words," Lorelai said darkly, but she sighed and sat down. "Well?"

"Mom, I'm sorry," Rory said, a lump in her throat, "I love you. I shouldn't have tried to tell you what to do, and I shouldn't have been judgmental."

"No, you shouldn't have," Lorelai said, her voice still hurt, but softening from its previous anger.

"I shouldn't have. I love you, and it just comes from a place of wanting the best for you and you to be happy and never be hurt. But from that place I ended up hurting you anyway. I'm so sorry. Mom, whether or not I agree with you doesn't matter. I'm always on your side, and I always have your back, and I want you to feel like you can tell me stuff without me…reacting that way. I'm going to try from now on to do better about that. Okay?"

"Thanks, Rory," Lorelai sighed deeply. She pulled her daughter in for a hug and held her tightly. After a few moments, Lorelai released her, sighed again, and looked deep into Rory's eyes. "You still think I'm making the wrong choice here, don't you?"

"It's not my place," Rory shrugged.

"That's not true, Rory. You always get a vote with me," Lorelai said, "You know that."

"Maybe. But my job is to be there for you, no matter what, and regardless of whether or not I get a vote, this is your decision. Yours, not mine, not Jess'. This is between you and Luke, and how you feel and what you do is your choice. Our thing is that I'm gonna be here for you, regardless of whether or not I would have made it myself, and I'm going to love you as you live your life- not try to live it for you."

"Where'd you learn that?"

"You, apparently," Rory admitted, giving Jess a look, "I never really thought about how much it must have taken for you to trust me and give me the space I needed in figuring stuff out this last year. And a lot of those choices would probably have looked strange from your perspective. But they were right for me, and they were mine to make, and you were there for me, always, and let me live my life. I think we're at a point where that has to be how we do things. You know?"

"God, when did you become wise?" Lorelai said, shaking her head, "If it had anything to do with this hoodlum I'm gonna have to start questioning my own judgment. Even more than I do now!" Rory cracked a smile.

"No comment then," she smirked, "But yeah, you were probably smart to talk to him. Though I still want you to talk to me first!"

"I know," Lorelai said, kindly, "I'll work on that from my end. It'll be easier now that we're trying this."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too, kid. And Jess…" Lorelai hesitated, then pulled him in for a hug, "Thank you. You…thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jess said, quickly turning away and busying himself making some coffee, "Now, I'm gonna get you both caffeinated."

"And tell us what my husband said when he called you at dinner?"

"…to the extent that doing so won't break any of his confidences."

"Fair enough," Rory nodded, accepting the coffee cups Jess handed her and passing one to her mom, "Honestly, I can't believe he's not already here trying to get you to come back."

"I can," Lorelai said matter-of-factly, "This is a big thing for him. Maybe the biggest."

"He did seem…stubborn," Jess admitted, trying to be delicate. Lorelai sighed.

"He was a stone wall when I left."

"Then he hasn't changed much in the interim. Pretty characteristic of stone walls."

"Did he sound mad?" Rory asked. Jess sighed.

"It's Luke. You know how he is," Jess said, "He wanted to make sure you were here safely, gave me the high level basics that you did, from his perspective, and said that you should stay here until you figure it out. He also asked me to make sure if you went to stay anywhere else, I told him, and made sure you got there okay."

"That sounds about right," Lorelai sighed.

"Look, he didn't sound angry, really. Just kind of…sure" Jess said apologetically, "You were right earlier. He's wanted this for a long time, and he never got it."

"Well, maybe not fully, but kind of," Rory countered. Jess looked down. Comprehension dawned on Lorelai, who immediately reflected on her earlier mistake. She met Rory's eyes apologetically, who nodded softly.

"Regardless, we all knew he wanted that, at some point," Rory finished. "So you don't think he's gonna move at all?"

"Nope," Lorelai shook her head firmly, "He loves me, but this is…huge for him. And it's not even like it's a no to me, it's just a…not sure."

"So…you're staying here for a while then?" Rory asked cautiously.

"If that's okay?"

"Of course it is," Rory answered, "You can keep stealing my clothes and toothpaste as long as you want."

"Thanks, hon," Lorelai smiled, "But Jess? I don't want to impose."

"You're family, it's not an imposition," Jess said immediately, without really thinking. Immediately his face colored and he turned around to the coffepot. "Refills?"

"Sure," Lorelai replied, amused, "Thanks, son."

"I will never, ever give you coffee again, will kick you out into the dark Philadelphia night, and call Luke himself to tell him I delivered you there," Jess said darkly, as Lorelai and Rory cackled.

"Alright, alright. Sport?"

"Rory, would you like the rest of the coffee?"

"Hey, no fair! I've been traumatized!"

"A convenient excuse for acting like a lunatic. What's your excuse the rest of the time?"

"Coffee."

"I feel like this is becoming circular."

"That sticks me with the mattress."

"Huh?"

"Alright, Abbott and Costello," Rory said, laughing as she picked up on her mom's reference, "Mom, tomorrow we'll go get you some basics to get you through. What about the Inn?"

"Sookie and Michel will be fine," Lorelai said, "At least for a few days. If this goes on much longer, I'll go stay with Sookie, which would work."

"You do know you two have separate places available to you still, right?"

"I know, Rory," Lorelai sighed, "I just…needed to get out."

Rory nodded. "Well, speaking of getting out, I need to call Grandma, so you may want to hide."

"Why do you need to call my mother?"

"It's Friday, and there's no dinner. I always call her when it's Friday and there's no dinner."

"Bad daughter! Why would you ever set up those expectations?"

"Because I'm crazy and short-sighted."

"Aww, you take after me."

"And on that note," Rory rolled her eyes, smiling as she picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Hi Grandma!"

"Rory!" Emily exclaimed from the other side, "So good to hear from you! It's getting late, I was wondering if you'd forgotten."

"Nope! Just had some company, so a little behind."

"Who?"

"…nobody," Rory answered, watching her mom make threatening gestures behind the phone. Emily sighed.

"Your mother's there, isn't she?"

"Um…"

"Hi, Mom," Lorelai sighed, taking the phone from Rory, "Yes, I'm visiting Rory and Jess for the weekend."

"Where's Luke?"

"At home. Or the diner. One of the Stars Hollow places."

"He didn't accompany you?"

"I can't go spend some time with my daughter alone?"

"Lorelai, her…significant other is there."

"That took you a while."

"Lorelai, what's going on?"

"Nothing! Ugh. This has been great, I'm gonna pass you back to Rory, Mom. See you next Friday." Lorelai handed the phone back to Rory and rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go get some air. Be back in a few minutes." Rory nodded sympathetically as Lorelai walked out of the apartment. Rory sighed.

"Sorry, Grandma."

"That was incredibly rude of your mother."

"She's had a long couple days."

"What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's…fine."

"Rory, you always were a terrible liar. That's probably the only reason I got the chance to talk to my daughter in the first place," Emily said. Rory could hear her eye roll through the phone. "Now tell me what's going on, or I will drive to Stars Hollow first thing tomorrow morning and track Luke down and find out myself."

"Grandma…"

"Rory."

"Fine. They had a small disagreement, and Mom came here to cool off," Rory admitted, turning to Jess and grimacing. He rolled his eyes. What could she do?

"About?"

"Grandma, I don't really…"

"Rory, it's a month before her wedding, and we both know your mother and what she does. What was the disagreement about?"

"…I really can't say. But look, she'll figure it out."

"…Damn straight she will."

"Grandma?"

"I've got to go. Love you, Rory. Thanks for calling!" With that, Emily hung up. Rory turned to Jess.

"That's not good," she mumbled.

"What?"

"…I don't know. But Grandma's up to something."

"No way to…"

"I think all we can do is warn Mom?"

"Warn Mom what?"

"Grandma pried out of me that you and Luke were arguing, and then got angry and cagey. I don't know what she's up to, but I couldn't get her to drop it. I'm sorry, Mom."

"Oh, sweetie," Lorelai said, pulling in Rory for a hug, "This isn't your fault. This is blood in the water to her inner shark. She would've known even if you hadn't totally caved."

"Hey!"

"She can do what she wants, the situation is what it is," Lorelai shrugged, "And I think we've mindfucked it enough tonight, so I'm gonna head to bed."

"Pancakes tomorrow?"

"You outed me to my mother. You're buying."