Chapter 189
Once they'd finished their meals, they began to drive back to Stars Hollow. Once they were in the car, Lorelai had called Luke to let him know they'd be at the diner in about half an hour, and Jess had texted Rory the same. They agreed to still leave as soon as Jess got back, which Jess was fine with. He was more than ready to get back to Philadelphia. As much as he'd come to even somewhat enjoy visiting Stars Hollow, his mother was a factor that he preferred to forget for as long as he could. Now, he couldn't.
Jess got the sense from Rory's responses that Lorelai had said something to her, privately, about giving Jess space. And she was giving him space. When he'd texted, she hadn't asked any questions, hadn't pressed. On the other side of the coin, Lorelai hadn't passed the phone to him when she'd called Luke, and neither he nor Luke had texted. Jess wasn't particularly looking forward to the interaction they were likely to have.
As it turns out, Jess needn't have worried.
"Hey guys," Rory greeted them as they walked into the diner, "Jess, the car's all packed up and we can go whenever. Mom, Luke said he'd be back soon, but left Cesar in charge."
Lorelai nodded, unsurprised. Jess sighed.
"Thanks, Rory,"
"Yeah, thanks," Jess agreed, going behind the counter, "I'll get us coffee for the road and then we'll head out."
"It was good to see you," Lorelai said, walking over and giving Rory a hug. Jess came and handed her a coffee, setting his and Rory's down on the counter.
"I didn't…"
"You're welcome," he smirked. Lorelai met his eyes and smiled. He inhaled deeply. "And…thanks."
"Anytime," she nodded. After hesitating for a minute, she pulled him in for a hug. When she pulled away, Jess picked up a sip of his coffee. Lorelai noticed that his hands were finally steady.
"I'll let you know once we're home safe," Rory promised.
"Sounds good. See you soon enough," Lorelai smiled. Jess and Rory nodded, heading out the door to their car. They got in, not really talking, and Rory started driving.
"I can…"
"Let me. You've had a longer day."
"I don't…"
"We don't have to talk about it."
"Thanks, Rory."
"Of course. Mom…she helped though, right? She didn't make anything worse, did she?"
"…no. She helped. A lot," Jess admitted. Rory smiled.
"I'm glad."
Rory turned on the radio, leaving them to the silence and their thoughts.
Back in Stars Hollow, things were less peaceful. As promised, Luke walked through the diner doors half an hour later. Lorelai was at the counter, drinking coffee.
"They gone?" he asked, not looking up.
"Yep. They went home," Lorelai said. Luke sighed.
"…I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"I just…needed to cool off. He okay?"
"He'll be fine. Where were you?"
"Liz's," Luke answered, "She…also needed to be calmed down."
Lorelai nodded, not saying anything. Luke inhaled deeply.
"She's my sister. I know that I'm too soft on her sometimes, but she's…she's trying, Lorelai. For so long she didn't try at all. I want her to stay this way."
Lorelai nodded again, this time more empathetically. "I get that."
"…thanks for being there for him. You didn't have to do that."
"Of course I did," Lorelai said, meeting his eyes.
"You didn't owe me…"
"Jess is your family, Luke. For all intents and purposes, he's your kid. I'm marrying you. He's part of the package. I wanted to."
Luke nodded slowly, taking it all in.
"Was he upset?"
"That you left?"
"Yeah."
"…he didn't say much."
"I should call him."
"If you want. If you need to calm down for a bit, that's okay. He's just…trying to calm down himself, you know?"
Luke nodded. "Thanks, Lorelai."
"Stop thanking me for being your family," Lorelai smiled, "Only thank me when I do something truly impressive. Like resist the third doughnut."
"Did you?" Luke asked, his face reflecting total disbelief. Lorelai laughed.
"Of course not."
About an hour into their drive, Jess' phone started to ring. Jess was suddenly mired with tension.
"Rory, do you mind…"
She nodded, and picked up the phone, holding it up for him to see. "Luke."
"Would you mind…"
"Hey Luke, Jess is driving," Rory said, answering the phone cheerfully. She listened for a sec. After a moment, she nodded, and covered the speaker.
"…he said he only needs a minute."
"…fine," Jess sighed, taking the phone from her. "Hello?"
"Jess…I'm sorry."
"No worries."
"Do you know wha…"
"No worries. It's what it is. Can we just put it behind us? I'm driving here."
Luke sighed deeply. "Okay, Jess. We'll see you next weekend?"
"With bells on," Jess said, before hanging up the phone and handing it back to Rory. Jess inhaled deeply, before turning to Rory. "Sorry."
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Rory said.
"I was curt. At best."
"You have every right to be annoyed," Rory said. Jess looked at her.
"…you don't have to just agree because…"
"I don't just agree because anything. I wasn't there for everything, but I got the gist, and it wasn't okay. I understand where Luke was coming from, but what she did wasn't okay. And you shouldn't be expected to pretend it was."
"…can we go back to not talking about it?"
"Sure," Rory nodded. She continued driving and turned back up the radio. After a few songs, Jess turned to Rory.
"Thanks."
"For…"
"Being great. Getting Doula out of there. Stopping a bad thing from being much worse. Being here for me, even when what I want is to just not talk about it."
Rory smiled at him. "Anytime, Jess."
"Did she…"
"Doula was oblivious to the whole thing. I plyed her with multiple types of candy and a milkshake."
Jess nodded appreciatively. "Putting that intelligence of yours to good use, I see."
"And the indelible Gilmore persuasiveness," Rory said cheekily. He smirked.
"Well…I'm glad it worked. And now we're done talking about it, and we can just get back on with our lives. What do we have going on this week before we leave again?"
"I think you potentially have Paris."
"Fuck, that's right," he said, mentally chastising himself for forgetting, "Isn't she kind of late in pregnancy to be traveling?"
"For other people, probably. As previously estabished, Paris is a force. Plus, she's traveling soon for Mom's wedding anyway."
Jess nodded. "Anything we have to do for that?"
"Show up next weekend. Figure out what to do for them as a gift."
"Isn't the eventual possibility of grandchildren enough?"
"Not unless we plan to produce them in the next three weeks."
"Damn. That's cutting it a little close, even if we expedite," Jess joked. Rory laughed.
"We'll figure it out. I'm not worried. I think we each have enough going on individually to keep us pretty damn busy until we have to turn around and go back to Stars Hollow again." Jess nodded.
"Yeah, in addition to potential Paris stuff, I've got two authors to deal with, a first-time author to have a first call with, and artists to interview. We haven't shown any new art in months. I really need to get Matt back on top of that."
"It was Matt's job?"
"Not officially, but he slept around so much, we always seemed to find new artists."
"Charming."
"Mhm. But now that he's with Jane, it's just a dry spell artistically for us."
"A noble sacrifice," Rory laughed, "That's great for him, though."
"It really is," Jess agreed, "I always found it kind of hard to imagine him…settling, I guess. But they've been together a couple months now, right? I think that's a record for him."
"…well, I'm glad he found her then. Jane seems nice," Rory offered.
"She does," Jess agreed, "It seems like you and Hannah maybe have a little more in common, but you guys still like her."
Rory nodded. "Yeah, Jane's nice. We still didn't get to know her a ton on the trip, but I think maybe she's just…nice. You know what I mean?"
Jess nodded. "Nothing wrong with that, if she and Matt are happy."
"Nothing at all. Speaking of happy couples…"
"Oh?"
"Lane and I barely talked about what was going on with her and Zack during the trip. But I think she and Paris did."
"Really? I thought Paris hated her. Paris has, historically, been just a little bit possessive when it comes to your friendship," Jess smirked. Rory nodded.
"I thought so too. But the ice seems to have thawed. I mean, I dont[ know how or when, but it seems like they bonded or something. By the end of the trip, they were downright chummy."
"That's a good thing, right?" Jess asked, looking at Rory. After a beat, Rory nodded.
"It is. Unexpected, but…yes, good," Rory agreed, "I wish I knew more about what Lane was going through though."
"Sometimes the easiest way to deal with a hard thing is just going through it, and not having to explain it or deal with it and having places outside of it that are…escapes."
Rory nodded, understanding his meaning. "That makes sense. I'm glad I can be that for her."
"I'm sure she is too."
