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Thank you all so much for the reviews for the last chapter, I'm so happy to hear you guys liked it!
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, I've been pretty busy lately.
Enjoy! And please review!
Jess sat on the couch across from his uncle, a cup of tea in his hands. Luke had offered to make him some, the man trying to break the silence that came after the kid clung to him. Jess' body was still shaking, a blanket wrapped tightly around his arms. He had managed to keep himself from crying, but it was a hard feat. Tommy was the worst of all of Liz's boyfriends yet, that man had almost killed him. That was the past though, he wasn't with his mother anymore, he was with Luke. Luke would never hurt him, Jess just had to keep reminding himself that.
Jess looked up at his uncle, the man sitting on a chair across from the sofa, ready to hear his nephew out. Luke could tell the boy was a bit shaken by his dream still. Hell, he was too. He had never seen his nephew so scared before in his life, it vexed Luke that someone could scare his nephew that much. Whatever happened in that dream, Luke would make sure nothing like it ever happened again. He would protect Jess no matter what it took.
Jess took a sip of his tea and sighed, causing Luke to look the boy's way. "I'm really not good with these heart-to-hearts," he mumbled, looking over at his uncle. The boy looked so childish wrapped in that blanket, the cloth hanging off his shoulders, exposing the boy's skinny, sweaty frame.
"Neither am I," Luke gave the boy a weak smile, "But we've got to talk about this."
Jess sighed once again and adjusted himself on the couch. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it tight around him. "Well, I've been having nightmares lately," he started, "About things that happened when I was living with Liz. Her boyfriends, they...uh, they--"
"Hit you?" Luke questioned as he cut the boy off. His voice quivered as he spoke the two words. He didn't want it to be true, he didn't want his nephew to answer with a yes.
"Yeah," Jess muttered, Luke's heart almost skipping a beat as he looked at his nephew. The boy looked so small in that moment, his eyes staring at the tea in his mug.
Luke fought to keep his anger hidden, not wanting to scare Jess any more than he already was. He wanted to kill Liz for this. How could she let someone hurt her child, didn't she care at all for Jess' safety? Luke looked at his nephew, the boy sitting criss-cross on the couch, his blanket sliding off his left shoulder. Jess made no move to adjust it. He just sat there, silent and still. After a moment of silence, Luke spoke up. "When was the first time one of them hurt you?" It was painful for him to even ask, but he had to know.
"Six, maybe five, I don't remember the exact age, but I remember what happened," Jess avoided eye contact with his uncle, wishing he had never started the conversation in the first place. He didn't want Luke to know about this, he didn't want anyone to know about this. Why did his nightmares have to come back now?
He let out a sigh and started up again, "It was a few days before summer started," he kept his gaze focused on the floor. "I remember coming to visit you right after it, to go camping," he added, quickly looking up at Luke, waiting for some sort of reaction.
"Why didn't you tell me back then?" Luke asked pained, "Why didn't you ever tell me? When you were little, you came to visit me all the time, why didn't you ever speak up? I could have helped you, Jess, I could have protected you!" Luke couldn't believe he hadn't noticed any signs. He remembered seeing a few bruises on his nephew, but the child always shrugged them off, telling him he fell skateboarding or running around. Oh God, Luke thought, how could he have been so dumb? So obvious?
"I didn't want anyone to know, especially you," Jess spoke softly, in almost a whisper, "Believe it or not, when I was little I thought of you as my hero; I idolized you. That's why I always wanted to come down here. Why would I want the man I look up to to think I was some weak little kid? As I got older, I just became more ashamed of what they did, I still am, so this conversation is pretty hard for me to have with you. If I had it my way, you would have never found out about this, but the world is never in my favor."
"Jess, none of it was your fault," Luke assured his nephew. Jess shook his head, his gaze on the floor. He grabbed his nephew's chin and forced the kid to look up, "None of it was your fault, you did nothing wrong, you understand me?"
"Yeah," Jess spoke after a moment of silence, giving his uncle eye contact for the first time since they had began to talk. Luke released his nephew's chin and gave the boy a comforting smile. Jess stood up from his spot on the couch and grabbed his blanket, it had fallen off his shoulders and onto the couch.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep," Jess told the man shyly. The conversation had worn the boy out and Jess felt completely defenseless after confessing to his uncle. He knew he had to end the conversation, he wouldn't have been able to take anymore talk about it, at least not then.
Luke studied his teenage nephew. Dammit, he couldn't stand seeing Jess like this, so scared and ashamed. Luke would never let anything like that happen to his nephew again, he would never let the kid be as terrified as he had been during that nightmare. Luke stood up and walked over to his nephew, the boy awkwardly standing a few steps away from him. He wrapped his arms protectively around his nephew. Jess flinched slightly at the touch.
"Jess, I promise you that you will never be hit again, you're safe here, I won't let anything happen to you, alright?" Luke told his nephew. He had to make sure Jess knew that. Luke would protect the boy no matter what.
Jess had told himself that over and over after his nightmares, but the mantra never had any affect. For some reason, hearing his uncle speak it aloud, promising him he'd protect him, made the boy finally start to believe it. The man held him tight, one hand resting on the back of his head, the other on his back. He felt safe in his uncle's protective hold, his head resting on the man's chest. He nodded, and Luke released his grip, his hands now resting on the boy's shoulders.
"Try and get some rest, alright?" He asked the boy, running a hand through his nephew's unkempt hair, "If you have a nightmare, I'll be here."
Jess gave the man a small smile and nodded once again. He walked over to his bed and laid down, wrapping his blankets around him. He wasn't worrying about a nightmare though, he felt truly safe knowing his uncle would protect him. He turned on his stereo and shut his eyes, letting The Clash lull him to sleep.
Lorelai entered the diner the next morning, searching for Luke. She had decided the night before that she had to talk to Luke about what she had found out, if the man didn't know -- which she suspected he didn't -- he needed to know. She felt that maybe the way Jess had been acting lately was connected to it. She spotted the diner owner at the counter, filling up a customer's mug
"Are you going to take a seat or just stand there?" Lorelai turned her attention to the black haired boy standing next to her, two plates of food in his hands, "You're kind of blocking the way."
"Oh, Jess, hi," she greeted the boy, "See you have all your clothes on correctly today."
"Yeah, big accomplishment for me, got a medal and everything," he sardonically spoke, Lorelai moving out of his way so he could place the two orders down at a table behind her.
"I told him everything, he knows about it." Jess whispered casually to the Gilmore as he passed her, making his way behind the counter and into the back of the diner.
Lorelai stared at the spot where Jess had disappeared, a little taken back by his statement. Was he really telling her the truth, she thought, the teenager was definitely not known for his honesty. She just had to talk to Luke, she knew the only way she'd find out if Jess was lying or not was if she had a conversation with the diner owner.
Lorelai walked up to Luke, he stood behind the counter, looking down at an order pad. Luke looked up as he noticed the Gilmore heading his way. He smiled, "Hey Lorelai," he greeted the woman, placing the order pad in his hands onto the countertop, "What can I get you?"
"Coffee to-go, please," she told the man. Luke nodded as he walked off to get the pot and a cup. Jess suddenly emerged from the back of the diner, a plate of food in his hands. He walked past the two friends and made his way to the other side of the diner.
"Jess looks better," Lorelai commented, trying to make conversation, to maybe see if she could prove the boy was telling her the truth.
"Yeah," Luke nodded, "We talked last night." He placed a lid on the coffee cup and handed it over to the woman. Lorelai smiled at the statement, relief falling over her.
"You got James Dean to talk, in more than one syllable words?" she teased, "That's a feat."
"After we talked he was out cold, didn't even wake up," he smiled as Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. He was relieved that the nightmares didn't return after their talk, it gave the kid some well-deserved rest.
"So no late night reading binges in the diner?" she asked. She had to admit, finding Jess sleeping in the diner, a blanket wrapped around his skinny frame, was quite an interesting sight, but it wasn't the best thing for the kid to be doing.
"No," Luke chuckled. Jess walked up to the two, causing them both to stare in his direction. He grabbed the coffee pot near Luke and looked at the man.
"I need this," he mumbled. Luke nodded, giving the boy permission to take the coffee pot. Jess rushed off towards the tables, filling the cups of Babette and Miss Patty. The two sat at opposite tables, their backs facing each other.
"I heard you spilled coffee all over Patty yesterday," Babette spoke up as Jess finsihed pouring her coffee. Jess looked up at her, almost surprised; he had completely forgotten about the incident, the events from last night clouding his memory.
"Technically it was on the table," Jess told the woman. Miss Patty turned to join in on the conversation, a bright smile adorning her features.
"He was thinking about a girl," Miss Patty emphasized the word as if it was some sort of sexual phrase. Jess rolled his eyes at the way she spoke it.
Babette nodded in realization and gave Jess a smirk.
"Who's the lucky lady?" She asked, winking. Jess held back a snort and crossed his arms.
"Rory Gilmore," he dryly replied. The boy walked off, leaving the two confused woman to chat. He handed Luke the pot as he arrived at the counter and leaned his elbows against the solid surface.
"Could I possibly take my break now?" Jess asked the man, leaning forward with his elbows. He'd worked since opening that morning, that was more than enough work out of him for a while. He needed a cigarette to recuperate from the crazy townsfolk he had had to serve during the breakfast rush.
"Yeah, sure," Luke told the boy, nodding, "Just be back before three, I'll need help with the early dinner rush, it is Saturday."
"Yeah, I'll be back," he nodded, walking off towards the door, "Oh," he turned around to face the two, a smirk on his face, "And Lorelai? I see myself more as Holden Caulfield. James Dean is just so cliché."
Lorelai stared at the boy, Jess' hand now gripping the handle of the door, the proud smirk still shinning on his face.
"Bye, Jess," Luke told the boy, motioning for him to leave.
"See you later, Uncle Luke," he nodded, twisting the knob and walking out the door, leaving the two lovers-in-denial to chat amongst themselves.
"Oh, that kid seems a lot better," Lorelai commented. Luke chuckled at the statement. It was true, Jess seemed to be back to his normal jeering self once again. Luke was glad the two had had that talk, even though it was hard for Jess to talk about, it was good he finally told someone. Luke vowed to himself that he would protect his nephew, he'd never let anyone ever hurt that kid again. He was going to have to call Liz later, talk to his incompetent sister about what Jess had confessed. He couldn't believe his sister would let this happen to her son.
"I should get back to work," He told the Gilmore, Jess' departure leaving the few customers in the diner in need of a server. Lorelai nodded and took her coffee from off the table.
"Yeah, I'll see you later," Lorelai handed Luke the money for her coffee and exited the diner. She began looking eagerly around, trying to spot that familiar black gelled hair. After minutes of searching the town square she finally spotted Jess sitting on a bench near the gazebo, a cigarette gracing his lips. He held a book open with his right hand while two fingers on his left grabbed the cancer stick out from in between his lips. The boy exhaled smoke.
She walked up to the kid, causing him to gaze up at her. He stared at her for a few seconds before looking back down at his book.
"I won't tell anyone about it," she spoke, causing Jess to look up at her once again, "I'm happy you told him though, he needed to know."
"Yeah," Jess nodded, shutting his book slightly, his thumb keeping the page he was on marked, "He did."
Lorelai nodded. After sharing a few brief awkward glances with the teenager, Lorelai watched as Jess opened his book, resuming where he had left off. Lorelai took that as her cue to leave and began to walk off.
"You didn't tell her, did you?" he asked, his eyes still glued to the page, acting as if the question wasn't anything. Lorelai stopped and turned to face the boy, knowing exactly who 'her' was.
"No, I didn't tell her," she assured the boy. She knew Jess wouldn't want anyone to know about this, especially Rory. "It wasn't her business, nor was it really mine. I just kind of happened to find out."
"Thanks for not telling," Jess said, glancing up at the woman shyly. Lorelai smiled down at him.
"It wasn't your fault, I'm guessing Luke's told you that a million times already, but no one deserves to be beaten." Lorelai told the boy. Jess turned his gaze back to the book.
"I know," he nodded. He was starting to get antsy; it felt even more uncomfortable to be talking about this with Lorelai. His uncle was hard enough, but Lorelai made things just feel so much more awkward. Hopefully after a few days things would cool off and the weird vibes he felt from both Lorelai and Luke would disappear.
"Well, I've got to get to work," she told the kid. Jess simply nodded and turned the page, his mind caught back up in his book. She watched as he placed the cigarette between his lips, almost naturally, and inhaled. He released the smoke through his nose, his mind still fully focused on the words typed on the page.
Lorelai smiled as she began to walk off. Smoking was as natural as breathing was to the boy, he could do it without even thinking about it. He reminded her almost of her when she was younger, in her teenage years she was quite the chain smoker. That kid was growing on her, she realized, he wasn't as bad as she had originally made him out to be.
Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you all liked it!
I'll try and update as soon as possible. Next chapter should be the last chapter.
Thank you again for reading and please, please, please review!
:)