A/N: Thanks so much for the continued supportive reviews, folks. You're wonderful folks! :) I'm going to try to balance Jess dealing with the family situation and his romance with Rory, but please remember that as much as this is a Literati fic, it is first and foremost a Jess fic :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8

It took a couple of days for Jess to get his head around things. In trying to distract himself, he sat down again to write his paper for school, the essay on his earliest or favourite childhood memory. Thinking over his past with Jimmy didn't really help him know what to do about the future, only hardened his feelings when it came to Liz and made him want to run screaming from the possibility of Uncle Luke. He would've played the avoidance game and done it well, if it wasn't for Rory. There was no way in hell he could stay away from her, not now, maybe not ever, though their home locations might make it impossible for them to physically be together before too long. Still, in the past two days he hadn't exactly made an effort to be around her or even make any plans for some other time. It didn't matter too much. She had places to go and stuff to do with her parents, she didn't need to be in Jess' pocket all the time. She seemed a little pissed though, now that he thought about it. She was texting a lot at first, eager to talk, to meet up even, but as Jess fobbed her off, Rory's messages got shorter, less quick in coming, and he hated himself for probably making her feel bad.

"Hey," said Sasha as Jess emerged from his room. "How're you doing today?"

"I'm not sick," he reminded her with a look.

"Maybe not physically," she said, coming over and checking his head just be sure. "Hmm. I'd say you're heart sick."

She wasn't kidding. Sasha rarely joked about things like this. She was very in tune with people, emotions and auras and stuff. She wasn't exactly a hippy or whatever, she was as practical as she was artsy, but she felt things, understood things. As mother figures went, Jess couldn't ask for better. Sometimes, though he never said it out loud, he wished Sasha and Jimmy had got together from the start. Of course, that would make him and Lilly completely different people, if they existed at all, but Jess didn't like to think that far down into the detail. He just knew he would like it better if Sash was really his mom.

"I have to talk to Rory," he said, shaking his head. "I can't keep putting her off and I can't spend time with her and not tell her about all this, so... I have to talk to her," he repeated, looking less than eager to go forward and actually do it.

"I know the answer is probably going to be no," said Sasha, putting a hand to his face, "but if you need someone to be there, I can come along. Or we could call Jimmy if you'd rather he was there?"

"Thanks, Sash. I mean that." Jess smiled. "But this is something I have to do alone."

She nodded that she understood, pulling him closer until they were nose to nose.

"You're a good kid, Jess Mariano," she told him, planting a kiss on his forehead. "And you're growing up to be a real impressive young man too."

If Jess was the kind to blush then this would have been one of the moments when he did so. Sasha really was like the mom he never had, but that didn't change the fact he had a real biological mother out there, whose brother he could easily run across when he went to call on Rory at her hotel. It was time to bite the bullet and get this over with. Not dealing with it was making him crazier than actually dealing with it ever possibly could, so now was the time.

She wasn't at the hotel when he got there. Jess had thought about checking before he set out, but Rory wasn't exactly replying to his texts at any kind of speed, and quite honestly, he didn't want anything to put him off now he'd made the decision to just do this. He waited in the lobby for hours, not knowing if she and her family would be back very soon, or not until after dark. It didn't matter. Jess had come this far and he was seeing the situation through. He was going to go crazy if he didn't.

The people at the reception desk kept throwing him dirty looks, but Jess ignored them. He read a book, listened to some music from his Walkman, went back to the book, and tried his best not to watch the clock. Lunch time came and went. He thought about skipping out to grab some food but he didn't want to miss Rory and wouldn't risk it.

Just when Jess was thinking he couldn't hang around here any longer, the door opened, and Rory walked in.

"Jess?"

She looked startled by his presence as he stood up from the couch and got in her path.

"Hey, Rory. I, er... I need to talk to you."

For a moment, all Jess saw was her confused face and then he realised they weren't alone. What had to be Rory's mom and step-dad were just a couple of paces behind her, looking like the perfect couple in love. Jess supposed that was what they were, as well as being his uncle and aunt. He swallowed hard at that thought.

"Hey, Jess," said Lorelai, recognising him instantly. "Were we expecting you?"

"Um, Luke, this is Jess," Rory introduced, looking five shades of awkward. "Jess, this is Luke, my step-dad."

"Hi," Jess greeted them with a vague version of a wave.

Honestly, he didn't know what else to say or do. His eyes were on Luke now, more than anybody else. Jess couldn't help it. He was searching the older guy's face for anything familiar, any features that might be a trait from that side of his DNA. All he achieved was earning himself a very odd look from Luke and a similar one from Lorelai.

"You okay there, Jess?" she asked, before looking to Rory. "He doesn't normally look like that, right?" she asked out the side of her mouth.

Rory looked mortified by the question. All Jess could do was laugh, which probably made him seem even more strange to the adult who never met him before. This was the most bizarre situation, he barely knew where to start, but he was going to have to find a way, and fast.

"Maybe we should leave them alone, Lorelai," Luke suggested, trying to guide his wife away.

"No, it's cool," Jess insisted. "I actually need to talk to all of you."

"I don't understand," said Rory, looking really worried now. "Are you okay?"

"Yes and no," he tried to explain. "I'm... I'm just gonna say this," he decided at last, shifting his gaze to Luke. "I'm your nephew."

"You're my what?"

The poor guy looked like somebody just socked him the mouth. Jess wasn't altogether surprised by that. After all, Jimmy said that beyond knowing Liz had a baby, Luke knew nothing about Jess, not his name or where he ended up or anything. Naturally he would be shocked to have some stranger announce that they were related. Jess had been just as shocked when Jimmy told him who Luke was, but there really was no good way to break this news other than ripping off the band aid and hoping for the best.

"Okay, pause now and then rewind, " said Lorelai, making wild motions with her hands. "You and Luke are related?"

"Huh," said Rory, shaking her head. "This is... You're kidding, right?" she checked with Jess.

"Nope. No joke," he promised her. "Hey, I'm sorry to spring this on you. I only found out a couple of days ago, but Jimmy's pretty sure-"

"Jimmy?" Luke cut in, practically exploding when he spoke Jess' father's name. "Jimmy is... Oh God. You really are. You're... You're Liz's son?"

The two men stared at each other a long moment, Jess not knowing how to answer a question that wasn't really a question, Luke not having a clue how to process this information. Eventually, it was Lorelai who took charge.

"Okay, here is really not a good place for this," she said, looking around at staring eyes and gossiping fellow patrons of the hotel. "Everybody into the elevator, here we go," she said, ushering Luke, Jess, and Rory in the right direction.

Nobody spoke until they reached the fourth floor, and then it was just Lorelai again, herding them all to what was undoubtedly her and Luke's room. Jess tried to catch Rory's eye but she wasn't playing ball. She looked so overwhelmed. Jess knew how that felt and regretted just blurting out his news in some ways. Unfortunately, he wasn't so sure there was a delicate way of explaining this situation. No way to do it that wouldn't be shocking.

"Everybody take a seat," Lorelai advised.

Luke sank down onto the end of the bed whilst Rory perched on the couch. Lorelai joined her there and encouraged Jess to take the nearby chair.

"Now, let's start over," said Lorelai sensibly, an arm round Rory as she spoke to her. "Honey, did you know that Jess was related to Luke?"

"No," she admitted. "I had no clue."

"She had no clue, because I had no clue," Jess confirmed. "Seriously, I found out two days ago after our date at the park," he told Rory honestly. "Jimmy was waiting up for me. He told me when you were hanging out with him and Sash you talked about your hometown and your family. Stars Hollow is a small town, he figured there wasn't going to be more than one Luke running a diner there."

"He's right," said Luke flatly, staring at nothing for a moment, and then very intently at Jess. "He's... This is where you've been? The whole time?"

Jess shook his head.

"Six years. We moved to Venice the Summer before I was twelve. Before that, we lived all over. Minneapolis, Chicago, Biloxi, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire-"

"But you never went back to New York," Luke cut in. "Never came to Connecticut, didn't want to meet your mom."

"She never looked for us either, did she?"

Jess meant to make a snippy comment, to fight back against what sounded like an accusation from Luke. The way the words came out was much softer than he intended. He needed to know for sure. Did his mother come looking for him? Did she clean up her act? Did she do it for him? The way Luke looked away proved that no, she didn't.

"Liz was... She was in a bad place. Your father taking off with you did not help."

"I'm not here to talk about what my father did or what my mother was like," said Jess, getting up from his seat then, feeling the need to be on his feet even if he didn't plan to leave yet. "I just... After Jimmy told me, I couldn't keep that kind of thing to myself. I had to tell Rory, and that meant I had to tell the two of you. You had a right to know."

Jess looked to Rory then, hoping for some kind of reaction, though he wasn't sure which one he was expecting. She looked shell-shocked still. Confused and maybe a little sad. Lorelai had her arm around her daughter, rubbing her arm, though her eyes were on Luke. She was worried for her husband too, and Jess could appreciate that. None of this was their fault, no more than it was his either.

"This is crazy," said Rory at last. "How...? I mean, of all the people I could meet here, of all the places we could've picked for our vacation."

"I know." Jess nodded. "Trust me, I know."

"I can't believe it," said Luke, running a hand over his face. "I mean, I believe it. Honestly, looking at you, it's so obvious," he said, looking at Jess and shaking his head. "But Rory's right. What are the odds of this? Of us meeting like this?"

"I'd say pretty steep," Jess considered. "But it happened. We met, and I know it's crazy and doesn't make sense, but... it is what it is. There's no changing it."

"I wish I knew what to say right now," said Lorelai then. "I mean, you don't know me, kid, but trust me, rendering me speechless ought to earn you a prize."

"I heard that about you," he replied with a smirk, Jess just couldn't help it. "If you're offering that prize, I'd take a few minutes alone with your daughter."

He looked from Lorelai to Rory but she didn't respond right away.

"Sweets?" her mother prompted. "You want to go talk with Jess for a little bit?"

Rory looked at Jess and then shook her head, almost breaking his heart until she actually spoke.

"Yeah," she said, in spite of the negative movement just a moment before. "Yes, I do."

She got up to go with Jess, as Lorelai switched positions to sit by Luke and ask if he was okay. Jess didn't hear what answer his uncle gave, he just followed Rory to the room next door. Then they stood there facing each other, with a hundred things to say and none coming to mind for the moment.

"So," she tried eventually, pushing her hair back behind her ears with both hands. "My step-father is your uncle. That's... weird."

"You're not wrong," Jess agreed. "Mostly, right now, I'm just grateful he's your step-father and not your actual father."

"Huh," said Rory, thinking that one over for a few seconds. "Yeah, that'd be... Wow, I've never been more glad that Luke is not my real dad," she said then, sinking down to sit on the edge of the bed.

She looked about as green as Jess had felt the other night when Jimmy first gave him the news. Jess hoped that his pointing out how not actually related they were, Rory would get over this faster than he did. Right now, it didn't so much look like it.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked, looking up at him very suddenly.

"I don't know." Jess shrugged. "For making things complicated? I never meant for any of this to happen, Rory. I never meant to say what I did on the Ferris wheel the other night..."

"You didn't?" she checked, looking pained.

"I didn't," he confirmed. "But I meant it."

"Me too," she agreed. "Do you think that makes us crazy?"

"Probably." Jess nodded. "That bother you?"

Rory smiled then slowly shook her head. That made Jess smile too as he walked forward and sat down beside her, reaching for her hand. His fingers entwined with hers, and her head dropped onto his shoulder. They sat there in silence for a moment, and then Rory turned her head, kissing Jess' cheek. He moved to kiss her lips, and then suddenly they had their arms around each other and all the complications of the world went away for a while. Unfortunately, it couldn't last forever. When they parted to breathe, Rory pulled back some, mindful of where they were, how far this could go if she let it.

"Jess," she said softly. "I... I don't know how to deal with this. I can't believe I met you and everything is going so well, but then we'll be going home soon... And now you're Luke's nephew?"

"I know, it's a lot." Jess sighed. "Kind of a big deal."

"You got that right, mister," Rory agreed. "But y'know, if we have such a short time together, regardless of all the family stuff, shouldn't we just make the most of it, while we can?"

Jess didn't have a verbal answer to that. Mostly he was just relieved that Rory still wanted him around as much as possible for as long as she was here, and he proved that when he kissed her one more time.

To Be Continued...