Just Another Lorelai Gilmore

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of the affiliated characters/references.

Chapter 11.

Jess had stayed at the diner to help Luke out, while I went to the Stars Hollow paper to get some work done. I was wrapping up the finishing touches, as he walked through the door. "Luke's got pretty slow, so I thought I'd just wait for you here." He sat across from me at my desk, wearing a plain olive green shirt under his jacket. He could make the most simple outfit look damned good.

I finished typing the last bit and saved my work. "I'm done. Let's head over to the house and get my car. I probably have to get gas, and of course some snacks and we'll be good to go."

We got to the house and I decided to grab an extra sweater, and a few other things inside. "Do you have any idea what you want to do? Is what I'm wearing ok?" I asked, turning around to show my clothes as if he hadn't seen me at all today. I was just wearing light blue skinny jeans, my bangles reunion tee and a sweater.

He smirked as he watched me twirl around. "No need to change. I have a few ideas of what we could do, and casual wear is completely fine for any of them."

—New York—

We found a place to park the car, which Jess threw a fit over the fact I was paying the ridiculous fee for all day parking. "I just don't want to keep moving the car everywhere we go." I said, pulling my hoodie down over my face, glad I had brought the extra clothing.

"All I'm saying is, I know plenty of places we could've parked for free as long as we move parking spots in the lot every couple hours." I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, lets get going." He pulled me one direction and we started walking. We walked for, what seemed like forever, and then I spoke up. "So where are we going exactly?" My eyes were scanning all the buildings trying to find a landmark I would recognize. But we just kept going, and then finally he stopped and turned to look at me.

"I figured you would remember this place. It was probably the one and only day Rory Gilmore ever skipped school without a doctors note." He smirked as I looked at the park in front of us.

My smile grew wide, as I relived that day in my head. "Please tell me we are going to find that hot dog stand too!" I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. "It's so incredibly sweet that you remember that day and took me here."

"How could I forget the day you took the time to track me down." He pulled back and looked around. "Alright, lets go find a hot dog and we'll come back here to eat."

Finding the hot dog stand was fairly easy, it wasn't the same guy as before, but it didn't matter to us. We were now sitting on a bench in the park, I was on my second hot dog, and Jess was going on about the last time he had lived here. "Which reminds me, I want to go back to that record store with you." I nodded in response and kept eating. "Slow down there Gilmore, I can get you another if you're that hungry."

Swallowing my last bite, I blushed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was starving. I guess little Lima bean in there really likes hot dogs, too." I motioned towards my stomach, and his glance lingered there for a while. His expression was hard to read as he stared at my non existent baby bump. "Let me just throw these wrappers away and we can head to that shop now." I stood up, breaking the awkwardness I was feeling.

We meandered through the small aisles, looking at the collection of music. Seven years had passed since we were last here together. It felt completely insane to me, that after all life had put us through, we've come back to each other. Our feelings the same, if not more intense, now. My eyes lit up as Jess tapped on my shoulder and showed off the record he held in his hands. "I'm not one to believe in fate, but this is just crazy."

I snatched the record from him and ran my hands over the cover, smiling. "An autographed Go-Go's record. I'm definitely saving this for Christmas. Which isn't really fair, since I have kinda owed it to her since her graduation, but whatever. It's absolutely amazing you found it! I wonder if it's the same one I left on the bus? Oh well, who cares, you just made Christmas so much better for my mom!" I hugged him and skipped up to the register to pay.

Jess had one last stop in mind, that he wasn't giving any hints to. We trudged around, the sky was darkening above us, as it was now becoming night. After much of my famous Gilmore whining, we stopped and bought me a warmer hoodie that had 'I (heart) NY' on it. Jess scowled and said I could never officially claim to not be an out-of-towner after that purchase.

"Seriously Jess, Gilmore's are not athletic people, energetic? Yes. But we use that energy towards our beauty and our words and our funny hand gestures, NOT for physical activity. So are we close to where we're going yet?" I groaned, as we turned another city block corner.

And my eyes widened at the sight of the huge Christmas tree. "I'd usually be tired of your complaining, but we did just round out about 3 miles today. Don't worry, we'll take a cab back to the car parking." He glanced over at me, squeezing my hand. "Do you like it?"

"It's so beautiful! Oh look! That guy's selling hot cocoa at his cart. Can we get some?" I pleaded with my eyes and he nodded. We got our hot chocolate and sat at a bench facing the Rockefeller tree. "This is amazing, thank you for bringing me here." I took a sip of my drink and laid my head on his shoulder. My feet were definitely sore from the walking today. I stared at the tree, happy to be sharing this view with Jess. "Hey, so what are your plans for Christmas this year? I know I don't usually see you around Stars Hollow on the holidays but, I was wondering if you'd come spend it with us?"

"I'm sure I can swing a couple days around Christmas to come around. Typically I stop by and say hey to Luke and Liz, but never stay around very long." He kissed the top of my head gently. "Guess that's gonna be changing, huh."

"Well I wouldn't want to force the Christmas cheer on you, BUT I would love to have you here. Holidays are huge at the Gilmore house. So they kind of come with the package of dating Rory Gilmore."

He snorted and laughed. "Jeez, this whole dating you sure comes with a lot of packages lately." I didn't mean to let it get to me the way it did. But something about those words made me think of the baby. I had no right to ask him to be ecstatic that I was pregnant, but I had a feeling his statement did include my pregnancy. "Look I'm sorry, that probably came out wrong and kinda ass-like."

"It's fine." I sat up, and drank some more cocoa, but immediately spit it out as I spotted a very familiar blonde across the Rockefeller center. "Maybe we should go." I scrambled to get my belongings together and nearly yanked Jess off the bench.

"Hey I said I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." I was pulling on his hand, but to no avail. "Rory, seriously what's up?" He noticed me looking frantic, and his eyes started scanning our surroundings. I could tell the moment Jess spotted Logan. He tensed up, and his face was filled with anger. "We are not stopping out time together to avoid that prick. If anything, he should avoid us or he's going to be getting something he really deserves."

"Jess, I just… I don't want to see him. Please can we-"

"Well, of all the places in the world." Mitchum surprisingly greeted us first. "How have you been Rory?" I was taken back by his presence and words. "The family decided to fly over, show Logan's fiancé around New York. Have you met Odette? You should meet her, absolutely fantastic woman." Mitchum glanced over his shoulder and waved over Logan, who I now noticed was standing next to the woman that is his fiancé. "Logan, come here."

"Uh, nice to see ya Rory." Logan stood awkwardly as Odette cleared her throat next to him. "This is my fiancé Odette. Odette, this is an old friend from college, Rory Gilmore." Logan's eyes fixed on Jess and I could see him trying to control his facial expressions.

Warily, I extended my hand to the woman. "It's nice to meet you. We were actually just about to be going though…"

"It's Jack right? Nice to see ya again, man. How's that writing career coming along, or did anything even come of it?" The tension was suddenly very thick, and I held onto Jess' arm.

"Fantastic, actually. How about you? Have you done anything particularly fascinating and amazing lately?" If jess ever thought my withering stare was scary, he should've had a mirror at that moment. His eyes were throwing daggers at Logan, leaving Mitchum and Odette fairly confused.

I broke the silence. "And we are leaving, its cold and we have a long drive home. Enjoy your evening everyone." I gave a smile and nod to the trio, and briskly pulled Jess away before prolonging the goodbye.

"You should've let me have my words with that guy. He doesn't deserve to be living the life he wants, when he's left you, like this." We walked up to a curb, waiting for a cab.

"Like what? I just didn't want to see him, but don't get me wrong Jess, he doesn't upset me. I'm happy. I have you. He left, and now I have you and this baby, which is scary but I'm not burned by it." I pulled his arm so he would face me. "I get the anger you have towards him goes past this ordeal I'm in now, but its ok. Everything turned out ok."

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. His lips were a welcome warmth, and I savored the moment. No way could I be upset at Logan walking away from me, and leading me to the best thing that could ever happen. "Let's get you home, Ror." A cab pulled up and we hurried inside. The cab ride was mostly silent, as we held hands in the back seat. And then Jess spoke up again. "As much as the guy irked me in the past, my anger now is purely because he's abandoned his kid. And while, in the long run, im benefiting from his loss by gaining you. A kid shouldn't be left like that." He was staring out the window, but I knew his face would express his sadness, as his words spoke from his childhood memories. My heart ached for Jess, and for the future moments I would have with my child. I hadn't given much thought to what I would say in the case of my kid asking where his or her dad was. And seeing Jess this way, it was definitely a worry on my mind, now.

—Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you are enjoying the story! And I hope you have enjoyed this chapter as well!!—