"Dean, I swear I didn't know…"

"Rory… come on, how can you not know you're a millionaire?" Dean bitterly replied as he continued to walk down the street."

"I'm not a millionaire… at least not yet anyway. Not until I turn 21." Rory stepped in front of him. "Please, you have to believe me… Jess was just talking crap."

"Really? Where's your necklace?" Dean asked.

"Oh! I can explain that." Rory replied quickly. "I had taken off the night before… I can't stand to sleep with a necklace on, it feels like I'm chocking. I'd just forgot to put it back on the next morning…"

"That's it? You forgot?"

Rory sensed Dean wasn't going to be very forgiving. "I'm really sorry. I'm not used to wearing a lot of jewelry. I didn't do it on purpose. I love the necklace. I'd be wearing right now if … well…" She gazed down at the ground.

"So, let me get this straight… Jess is lying, but he knew you had an entire fortune coming to you before you did… you just found out today… from your mom…"

"Right. I know it sounds so crazy…"

"Yeah, it does." Dean stepped around Rory and headed back down the sidewalk.

"Dean…" Rory called.

He glanced back. "I don't need anymore pointless drama in my life. Just leave me alone. I've got to get to work."

(Gilmore House)

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Jesus, would you lay off…" Jess snapped back.

"No. I will not lay off." Luke replied.

"I didn't lie." Jess pointed out.

"You didn't tell the whole truth either. But that's not the point… What you did was wrong… It was selfish and conniving. Not to mention, you shouldn't even be thinking of Rory that way!"

"Why?" Jess asked calmly. "Cause she's my cousin?"

"That's a good place to start. Not to mention you're living in the same house as she is…"

"You know what this is? This is Brady Bunch bull shit. I'm not her cousin… I'm not anything to her…. And that can go more than one way."

"Thank God for the fact that she has enough sense to realize how stupid this whole thing is."

"Stupid?" Jess questioned. "How can you blame me for falling for her? She's just like Lorelai." Luke was quiet for several seconds. He had never considered this thought. "If you and Lorelai had never gotten married, I'd still be into Rory. I'm not doing it to cause problems or to be "stupid". I really care about her."

"If you really cared about her, Jess… you wouldn't have told those things to Dean. Rory didn't even know about Trix's estate." Luke sighed. "You need to apologize to her."

"Why bother? She already hates my guts."

"She doesn't hate your guts… she should… but she doesn't."

"Luke, I never meant for things to get so screwed up around here. I …. I just. I've never wanted anything more in my life. It drives me crazy that I'm right here everyday, this close to her, and I can't have her." Jess hung his head.

"You really care that much about her?" Luke asked his voice sounding genuinely sincere.

"Yeah." Jess answered shortly. "I do. What's the use, though? Everyone would rather see her have a relationship with Charles Manson than me."

"It just looks bad, Jess. I mean I know you aren't really family. You've only known each other a few months… but it still looks bad."

Jess nodded his head. "Yeah, I get it."

"You're grounded for a month. During that month, you're going to do all the extra work around here, and you can spend your weekends helping out at the diner."

"Why not? It's not like I have a social life anyway."

Luke ignored the comment. "When Rory gets home… apologize." He turned and walked upstairs.

Jess sighed heavily and fell back onto his bed. It could have been worse. At least Luke seemed to kind of understand. Jess barely understood himself. Why would he cause pain to the one person who he thought the world of?

Upstairs, Lorelai and Luke were sitting at the kitchen table.

"Maybe, I should have came down harder on him."

"I wish I understood how all of this happened." Lorelai replied as she took a sip of coffee.

"He just ended up falling for her." Luke answered. "He didn't mean to."

"You think he'd be over it by now."

"Well, he really cares… it's not something easy to get over. Besides, it is hard to blame him."

Lorelai sat down her cup. "Hard to blame him?"

"Rory's beautiful… she's smart and funny. If I was 15, I'd be in love too." Luke smirked. "She's so much like you… It's easy to see why Jess fell for her."

"Are you saying you approve of this?" Lorelai asked, un-amused by his comparison.

Luke's smirk quickly vanished. "No… No, of course not. I'm just saying I could see how it happened. I mean, they're not really family…"

"That's not the point." Lorelai replied.

Suddenly, the kitchen door swung open. Luke and Lorelai both stopped their conversation and glanced up to see Rory storming into the kitchen.

"I want to change schools." Rory demanded.

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"I hate Stars Hollow High. I want to leave."

"Rory, I'm not fond of these busting through the door moments where you yell out demands and expect us all to follow…"

"I need to start over." Rory replied in a calmer voice. "I want to be in a different school than Jess. I want to be in a school where they won't ridicule me for having an fortune left in my name. I want to go to a school where being smart is more important than being pretty and popular."

"And where did you have in mind?" Lorelai asked.

"Prep school." Rory answered as she threw a pamphlet onto the table. "I found the pamphlet at a book fair a couple of weeks ago. It's perfect for me."

"Chilton Academy." Luke read. "It's in Hartford…"

"I'm guessing Dean wasn't too understanding." Lorelai picked up the pamphlet. "I went to a school like this… I hated it."

"Well, I'm not like you." Rory remarked.

Lorelai glanced up at Rory. "Yes, you are… you're exactly like me. I wanted to start over and get a new life so many times that I forgot who I really was. I hated prep school, I wanted to go to a public school, I figured I'd fit in there."

"And you did." Rory reminded.

Lorelai sighed. "Alright, it's fine with me. It's probably for the best right now anyway."

"Don't you have to apply to go to these schools?" Luke asked. "And tuition…"

"Rory can get in." Lorelai assured. "She's exactly the kind of student they'd want. And tuition wont be a problem."

Luke suddenly felt as if his opinion didn't matter. Obviously, Lorelai controlled all the rules and decisions for Rory.

"Okay, well… Great." Luke replied. "I think I'll head down to the diner and unload some of the stock. It'll save me some time in the morning." Luke stood from the table. "I'll be home in a couple of hours." He gently kissed Lorelai on the cheek.

"Did he kill Jess?" Rory asked as she sat down beside her mother.

"No more than usual." Lorelai replied. "I figured he was a sitting duck this time, but I think Luke is becoming a softy in his old age."

Rory grabbed the pamphlet again. "This is my ticket out…" she said as she opened the first page. "Plus, it'll up my chances of going to law school. We should've though of this sooner."