A/N: All the love for this fic never fails to amaze me - thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback, I read and appreciate it all :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11

Jess sat at his desk, trying for the hundredth time to finish his paper for school. He had started over so many times on this dumb essay topic. His earliest memory or a particular favourite from his childhood. There were plenty to choose from and yet none he wanted to share, nothing he seemed able to get onto paper anyway.

Not that he wasn't focused enough on the past, but it was more the parts that might've been than what actually had been that held his attention. He couldn't help letting his mind wander, trying to figure out what his life could have been like if his parents stayed together, if he grew up in New York or maybe Stars Hollow. Having an uncle and a grandfather who cared, maybe meeting Rory a whole lot sooner.

As much as he thought about the possible past he might have had, Jess also considered what the future held. He had a life here, a family that the four of them had built out of the remnants of two broken ones. It worked, and Jess was happy enough. Still, he couldn't help the fact that he would kind of like to know the other side of his family, Luke and even Liz. He felt guilty about it, and yet this was maybe the one topic he was not prepared to talk to Jimmy about. It just felt wrong.

A knock on the door startled Jess from his silent reverie, causing him to look down and realise that his paper was still far from done.

"Jess?" Jimmy called as he opened the door and peered inside. "Hey, man. Can we talk?"

"Sure," he agreed easily, turning the chair around to face his father.

Jimmy perched on the end of the bed, running a hand over his hair. If Jess didn't know any better, he would say that dear old Dad was nervous about something, though he couldn't imagine what it was that had him so rattled. Sure, he looked pretty shaken up when he had to tell Jess about Luke and all, but he highly doubted there could be another bombshell to come. There was no more news to shock him with, Jess was sure.

"What's up, Jimmy?" he asked when is father proved less than forthcoming.

"Well, nothing, really," he admitted eventually. "I mean, nothing is up. Things are good. I, er... I went to go see your Uncle Luke today."

If he didn't have Jess' full attention before, he certainly had it now.

"What happened?" he asked, sure his concern was evident.

He couldn't see any cuts or bruises on Jimmy so apparently nothing too horrific had occurred, but for the life of him Jess couldn't understand why his father would go poking the bear again. Three days since the derailed family dinner and there had been scant mention of the maternal side of Jess' parentage until now. He almost dreaded hearing what came next.

"Well, I wanted to go and clear the air, or whatever. I figured if you did want to get to know Luke, you should have that chance, and you couldn't until we figured things out between us," Jimmy explained. "Believe me, I've had better conversations, but it was cool."

"It was cool," Jess echoed. "So, you guys are friends now?"

"Friends is pushing it" said Jimmy, rolling his eyes. "But we can do the whole civil thing. We didn't exactly love each other like brothers when we were brothers-in-law, but nobody is going to punch anybody out or anything."

"Huh."

Jess didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He hadn't firmly established in his own mind whether he wanted to get to know Luke or even go as far as meeting Liz, but it was cool to know he had more of a choice on it now. Before, it had been so awkward, so strained. Jess didn't want to say anything to upset Jimmy, but was also mindful of offending Rory by proxy if he rebuffed Luke. It was all such a mess, but at least his father had tried to make it better.

"Thanks," said Jess eventually. "I know that had to be tough, dealing with him."

"Hey, it is what it is." Jimmy shrugged. "Luke's cool, he just... It's tough for him to understand why I did what I did. And I get it, man, I do. I took away his nephew, his sister's kid. People aren't always rational about family."

Jess nodded in understanding, but couldn't really focus much. He had choices now, real options, more so than he had a few days ago. In some ways, it made things easier; in others, it was almost worse. He was already wondering how to deal when Rory went away, and now he had this really small window in which to get to know Luke before he left too. Then he had to decide whether he wanted to go meet Liz. A visit to the east coast would mean seeing Luke again and on an even bigger upside, seeing Rory, but what kind of relationship could they really have going forward, with them living on opposite sides of the country?

"You know we're not going to make you do this, right?" said Jimmy then. "I mean, you can know Luke, or even Liz, if you want to, but it's your call, Jess. Nobody's forcing you one way or the other."

"I know, and thanks," he said, trying to smile and finding it tough. "Seriously, I appreciate this, it's just... it's a lot."

"I know, son," Jimmy agreed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "And for any part of this that's my fault-"

"It's not," Jess insisted. "Seriously, Dad, none of this is your fault."

Jimmy smiled at that and his son knew why. He didn't call him 'Dad' very much. Honestly, he never really had, and Jess couldn't say why. It would be easy to think it was because Lilly called him Jimmy and Jess called her mom Sasha, but it had been the same since he was a little kid. That was why the way he addressed his father now mattered so much.

"So, you think you want to get to know Uncle Luke?" asked Jimmy then.

There was a pause when Jess considered his options. He was already pretty sure he did want to get to know Luke, it was more about being sure Jimmy was genuinely okay about it. Sometimes it was hard to tell, even after seventeen years in constant company.

"I'll talk to him," he said eventually, fairly certain that at least was going to be okay. "Rory seems to think he's this great guy so, I guess a conversation would be cool."

"Okay then." Jimmy nodded. "We'll give him a call."

Awkward. That was just about the only word that Jess could find to sum up this meeting. It wasn't the fearful awkward of the family dinner a few days ago, or the apprehension and nerves that he felt knowing this was Rory's father figure. This was a whole other level of awkward, as two people not known for being especially wordy in company were trying to get to know each other.

Jess was wary of saying too much about Jimmy and the life they'd had together so far, already sure that Luke was not going to care for any of the details, any more than he cared for his ex-brother-in-law in general. He supposed Luke was just as wary of mentioning Liz too much, or making it sound as if life was just dandy without Jess in it. There was a fine balance to be struck between the two of them, but that was never going to happen for as long as silence reigned.

"Rory said you like to read almost as much as she does," said Luke after another long space in conversation.

"Probably more." Jess nodded.

"You get that from your father."

"I know."

Silence came over them again, and Jess let out a long sigh. This was ridiculous. They had been sat opposite each other in the hotel restaurant for almost an hour, and though some of the quiet could be blamed on their eating lunch, much of it was just that neither knew what to say for the best. Jess had learnt little more about Luke and his life than what Rory had already told him, and had told his uncle very little of his life either. It was all very stupid.

"So, I had a grandpa, right?" Jess tried next. "William?"

"Yes, you did," said Luke, smiling as he recalled his father fondly. "He would've loved you. He did better with boys than girls. He and Liz had a rocky relationship, but a grandson? He would've doted on you, Jess, I know it."

"It would've been cool to know him."

Jess was mindful of the fact Luke was probably about to get abusive about Jimmy taking Jess away and denying grandfather and grandson the chance to meet, beyond a few moments in the hospital on the day of his birth. Surprisingly, no explosion or rant came.

"Unfortunately, even if you had been around, you probably wouldn't remember him," said Luke, shaking his head sadly. "You wouldn't've been more than four when he died."

"I'm sorry," said Jess, not knowing what else to say. "So, your diner was his place before?"

"It was. He had a hardware store there, and after he passed, I remodelled, opened the diner. I do okay."

"Rory says you make the best pancakes in the state. And the best coffee in the world," he said, smirking the last part because he knew how crazy it sounded to Luke as well as to him.

"I've been trying to stop her and Lorelai from drinking so much coffee and eating so much junk for years," Luke explained. "At this point, I've almost given up. They will not change. Not that I want them to change, just maybe their eating habits a little bit so they don't die too soon," he confirmed.

Jess tried not to smile at his uncle's evident nerves. He was just as concerned about offending Jess in some way as Jess was about offending him.

"We're going to have to get over this whole apologetic thing if we're going to be friends or whatever," said Jess thoughtfully. "Let's just go with, you say what you want and I'll say what I want, and if we find anything offensive, we can make it known without yelling."

"Sounds good." Luke nodded. "Y'know, you're really not what I expected."

"Huh."

"Not in a bad way. Not that I expected you to be... Aaw, geez!" Luke exclaimed, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "I'm sorry. I'm a little out of my depth here."

"Makes two of us."

Another bout of silence seemed set to follow, but just when Jess decided he wasn't going to let that happen, Luke beat him to the punch.

"Y'know if you wanted to come visit, to Stars Hollow, I mean, we could do that."

Jess was tempted to say he wasn't sure, but honestly, the larger part of him wanted to bite Luke's arm off, for all the wrong reasons. Here was his uncle, giving him the chance to get to know his family better, and all Jess could think about was how he was being handed the opportunity to see Rory again.

"I mean, it'd be like a two for one deal," Luke continued, almost as if he read Jess' thoughts. "You could come see where I grew up, maybe even meet your mom, if you wanted to, but also, you could see Rory too."

"Maybe." Jess nodded, determined not to commit to anything yet. "Do you...? I don't even know what Liz looks like, not really," he admitted then. "Jimmy has a picture but it's from way back, so..."

"Here," said Luke, reaching for his wallet. "I have something, right here."

Pulling out a small photograph, he handed it to Jess. She looked a lot like the picture he saw before, though obviously older. She seemed healthier now, clearer eyes, brighter smile. Maybe she had figured her life out at last. It hurt just a little for Jess to realise that if she had, she never cared to come find him and tell him so. Maybe it was easier for her to move on and forget him, in which case, would she even want to meet him at this point?

"She doesn't know yet that we found you," said Luke, even as Jess continued to stare at the picture. "At first, I didn't know what to do, and then I figured it wouldn't be fair on either of you to break that news if you didn't want to know her."

"I don't know," said Jess honestly, "but thanks."

Even Jess wasn't sure whether he meant for Luke's lack of action on telling Liz about him or for the picture. Mostly the first one, probably, he decided, as he handed the photo back.

"You can keep it if you want."

Jess shook his head. "Thanks, but no"

He couldn't take it and he wasn't sure why. He opened his mouth to say he wouldn't need it because he'd see the real Liz soon enough, but the words never made it out. Mostly he supposed it was the shock of realising that he did fully intend to meet his mom sometime soon, even if he didn't have a clue what he would say or how he would handle it.

"For the record, I'm not sorry that we met," he told Luke then. "I get why Rory talks about you like she does. You've really been there for her."

Luke smiled, both of them knowing he was flattered, and also that he was itching to say he would've been there for Jess to, given half the chance. It had to be time to let bygones be bygones, to accept the past was as it was, and concentrate on moving forward instead. If only they knew the future, they might not be so worried about how it would go, but that wasn't possible for anyone.

To Be Continued...