Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and all it's characters and situations are property of Amy Sherman-Palladino and The WB/The CW. I do not own anything and will not make any profit from this story.
A/N: It seems my writer's block is over as I wrote this chapter in one afternoon. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Read and review, my pretties.
A/N: Let's pretend April's 16 for the sake of the story and not 19 like she should be.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter!
"How is the lamb, Rory?"
"It's great, grandma," Rory replied with a smile, glancing at Jess who was smirking at his own plate.
"We got a new cook yesterday, she's fabulous."
Rory glanced at Jess again and saw that he, much like herself, was unable to contain the smile creeping onto his face. They often joked about Emily's inability to keep a cook or maid for no extended period of time and now she had practically handed them more material on a silver platter.
"What's so funny?" She asked, looking from Rory to Jess, rinse, lather, repeat.
"Nothing, grandma," Rory said, trying to pull a straight face and chew down her beans.
"Jess?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
He quickly swallowed his food and looked at Emily, "Oh, euhm, nothing, Mrs. Gilmore."
"You never call me Mrs. Gilmore," she said, looking at him expectantly.
Rory frowned, "Grandma, he does it all the time."
"He used to do it. Now he just calls me Emily."
Jess glanced back down at his food. Richard just looked over the table, clearly amused by the situation.
"It's nothing, grandma. Honestly," Rory said, shooting Jess a death glare, for shoving Emily's attention back on her.
Emily sighed, "Well, alright then."
"Time for a new conversation topic," Richard said, focusing on his granddaughter. "How is work, Rory?"
She quickly chewed on her lamb, "It's good, a little hectic now, strangely enough, but it's good. I like it when it's kinda' chaotic. Makes it exciting," she smiled at her grandfather.
"Ah, yes. Predictability does get a tad boring after a while." He turned his gaze on the young man sitting where Lorelai usually sat, "What about you, Jess? Work alright?"
Jess nodded, "Work's good, just the usual stuff," he felt Rory give him a light nudge under the table, followed by a pointed look.
"Anything new?" Richard asked.
Jess put his fork down, "As a matter of fact, I have some news regarding my first book."
"The Subsect?"
Jess nodded. Rory gave him an encouraging glance, Jess cleared his throat.
"Bantam is interested in it. They want to publish it on a larger scale."
Rory rolled her eyes, trust Jess to downplay his success.
Richard and Emily, however, did not.
"That's great news, Jess," Emily said sincerely. Rory looked at him proudly, grinning at the way he just stared at his plate, pushing his food around.
"It is indeed. This is a great accomplishment, Jess, you should be very proud of yourself," Richard looked at Rory, "Did you tell him you're proud?"
Rory grinned, still focused on Jess, "I told him I'm very proud."
"It's not that big a deal, "Jess mumbled. He had gotten used to Rory, Lorelai and Luke jumping up and down over his accomplishments, figuratively speaking of course because Luke would never be caught dead jumping up and down, but it felt weird to relate them to the Gilmores. He'd never had people be proud of him before, definitely not this many.
"Well, this definitely calls for a celebration," Emily said. "Roberta! Bring some champagne, please!"
Jess' head snapped up, "Emily, honestly, that's not necessary-"
"Oh, nonsense, Jess. You need to celebrate properly, this is a big accomplishment."
Jess hung his head.
"Yeah, Jess, we need to celebrate," Rory repeated.
Jess glared at her and mouthed 'I hate you'.
Rory smiled sweetly at him, "I love you too," she replied while her grandparents looked at them both, fondly.
"Hey, so how was dinner last night? Sorry we couldn't make it," Luke asked as Rory and Jess walked into the Diner and both took a seat at the counter.
"It was great," Rory replied, cheerful. Jess motioned for her to come closer, "Come here, someone stuck something on your back."
Rory spun around to see what he was talking about, before catching his smirk. "My mistake," he said, turning back to the counter, "it just says 666."
Rory stuck out het tongue and glared at him," Ha ha. Sulk all you want, big baby."
"If this is some new form of foreplay, I've gotta tell you, I'm not really seeing the results," Luke joked at them.
Jess groaned at dropped his head on the counter.
Luke focused on Rory, "What's his problem?" He asked, motioning to Jess with his spatula.
"You need to ask him," Rory replied, unsure of whether Jess had told Luke about the Bantam deal yet.
"Jess?"
"Bantam offered me a book deal, they want to re-publish The Subsect on a large scale."
"Jess, that's great!" Luke said, genuinely smiling at his nephew.
"There's even gonna be a book tour," Rory said excitedly.
Jess sighed, 'It was so great in fact that Emily and Richard wanted to celebrate."
"You know how he gets around company and happiness," Rory deadpanned, looking at Luke, a small smile playing on her lips.
Luke chuckled, "Wow, so a book tour, huh?"
Jess nodded, playing with the pepper shaker.
Rory rolled her eyes, "It's two months, and I'm joining him."
"Does your mother know?" He asked Rory.
Rory looked away guiltily, "Yes, but we made her promise not to tell you anything, because Jess wanted to be the one to tell you, so you can't really blame her."
"No, no," he said hastily, "This just explains her good mood."
Rory grinned at Jess, "See? Why can't you just accept that people are proud of you and want to celebrate what you've accomplished?"
"Because I'm not used to it. At having actual accomplishments and at having people celebrate them," he answered honestly.
Rory smiled at him sadly before grinning cheerfully. "Well, you better get used to it, 'cause it's gonna happen a lot more in the future," she said firmly.
"Ah, geez, do they have to do that in here?" Luke said, suddenly.
Rory and Jess turned to see what had caused Luke's outburst, to be met with the sight of April and Colin kissing.
"Can't they go make out somewhere else?" Luke grumbled.
Rory laughed lightly, "Luke, it's totally PG, Jess and I kissed here too when we were younger."
"Yeah, but at least you guys had the decency to go upstairs."
"Well, look on the bright side, at least now you don't have to go upstairs every ten minutes," Rory joked, while Luke had the decency to look a bit ashamed.
"Hey, big brother!" Liz yelled, carrying Doula in her arms, and thankfully, Jess noted, with no TJ trailing behind her.
"Hey, Liz," he greeted before storming off to reprimand April.
"Hey, Rory," Liz greeted brightly, turning to her daughter-in-law.
"Hey, Liz," she gave the woman a hug, "Hey, Doula!" She took Doula out of Liz's arms and started playing with her a little, making funny noises.
"Hey, handsome," Liz gave Jess a hug, which he reciprocated. "So, tell me all about this book tour," she said. Jess had called her after telling Rory. He had been trying hard, these past years, to include his mother in his life, and while their relationship couldn't hold a candle to that of the Lorelais, it was shaping up to be a good one.
"It's nothing fancy," he said, sitting back down on the stool, "Just going to bookstores for signings, interviews-"
"Interviews?" Liz asked, excitedly.
Jess nodded. "Just one more way to talk to some intellectually challenged people," he said.
Liz shot him a look, "Oh, hush, you. It's gonna be fun. You gotta have a little more faith in people, Jess. And sometimes understand that not everyone is as smart as you and Rory."
She looked at Rory who was still enjoying Doula's company, feeding her some of her pancakes. Jess couldn't help but smile at his wife and little sister.
"Hey, Liz, you like teenagers?" Luke suddenly asked, coming back to the counter.
Liz looked taken aback by his question, unsure if this was a silent attack on her parenting skills when Jess had been a teen, "Euh, well, they come with their challenges, but I mean-"
"Yeah, well, don't," he stomped off into the store room.
"Okaaay," Liz said, unsure of what she had just witnessed.
"April has a boyfriend," Jess filled her in, nodding his head to where his cousin was sitting.
A look of comprehension washed over Liz's face, "Right."
Jess looked at Doula for a full minute before turning back to his mother, "She's not dating 'till she's thirty."
Liz smiled, "You're a great big brother," she said. "And I have time," she added, "Doula's only 4."
"Ooh!" She suddenly yelled, grabbing Jess' arm, making him drop his fork, "You and Rory should come over for dinner one of these days, you haven't been around in ages."
"Will TJ be there?"
"Of course he'll be there, Jess. He's my husband."
"So I've heard."
Liz rolled her eyes, "Just show up, look nice, be nice and all will be fine."
She turned and took Doula over from Rory, quickly making her exit before Jess could protest anymore, "See you guys at dinner!"
Rory turned to Jess, "We're having dinner with them?"
"Yep," he took a bite of his pancakes, "Word to the wise, don't wear tights."
"Hey, all I'm saying is that she wasn't exactly the thinnest person, it's not my fault she heard me, I'm entitled to my own opinion," Lane said, as she and Rory entered Weston's after a day of shopping, Rory grinning at her friend's blunder.
"Over there," she pointed at a table and put down her bags with a sigh, "Whew, I think we bought out the entire mall."
"Yeah, well, … You were depressed, I was happy, both emotions involve the spending of large amounts of money to help establish our materialistic tendencies," Rory said.
"Yes, you are happy," Lane clapped her hands and smiled at her friends, "And you promised to tell me, as soon as we sat down somewhere, what was going on, so come on, spill. You pregnant?"
"What? Lane, no. Why does everyone think that?"
"Maybe 'cause each time you and Jess look at each other it looks like you wanna jump the other person," Lane replied casually, motioning for someone to come take their order.
Rory gasped, "Lane!" She chastised her friend, "We do not look like that."
"Yeah, tell that to a blind person," she scoffed.
"We seriously look like that?" Rory asked softly, a little embarrassed.
Lane finally caught onto it, "Oh, don't worry, everyone thinks it's extremely cute."
"Yeah, well…" Rory trailed off as the waitress came to take their orders.
"Okay, so, what's the good news?"
Rory smiled, "Jess' first book-"
"The Subsect."
"-Right, The Subsect, is being re-published by Bantam, on a large scale. There's gonna be a book tour and everything and I'm going with him."
Lane squealed, "Rory, that's so great. How's Jess dealing with all of this?"
"He shrugs it off, pretends it's no big deal that everyone's proud."
"So in his usual manner, then?" Lane joked.
Rory smiled, "Yeah. But I can tell he's proud of himself."
"And he should be. This is huge. It's great," she smiled sincerely at her best friend. "Can't believe I'm gonna have to miss you, though."
"I know… Anyways, enough about me, how's couple's therapy?" Rory shot her friend a sympathetic smile.
Lane shrugged, "I love him. It's why I go."
Rory nodded, "Yeah, but you hate it, right?"
"Oh, yeah, it's embarrassing needing someone to sort out your issues for you. Plus, I feel like we're getting nowhere. And that shrink, oh, let me tell you, she is just patronizing me all the time, stupid witch."
"Well, if it could help…"
"Yeah…"
"So," Rory said brightly, desperate to change the mood, "Tell me more about this girl who wasn't very thin."
Lane rolled her eyes, "Once again, I just said she was…"
"And they were just sitting there, at the window, faces plastered on each other, for the whole world to see!" Luke yelled, pacing around the bedroom while Lorelai looked on from her place on the bed, clearly amused and entertained.
"Luke, they're teenagers. Think back, to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth and you were a teenager, you remember what it's like, right?"
Luke glared at her, "Of course I remember."
"Well, then, there you go."
Luke sighed and sat down, "But she's growing up so fast."
Lorelai scooted next to him, "We've both raised teenagers before, this shouldn't be a surprise."
"Yeah, but Jess could take care of himself."
"True, but you were always like a dad to Rory, and you let her date Dean and Jess and Logan."
"Doesn't mean I liked any of the kids."
"You didn't like your own nephew? Lorelai asked, amused.
Luke rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean, plus I wasn't really Rory's dad…"
"Hey, you've always been there for Rory. The details don't matter," Lorelai said softly, frowning slightly at his words.
"I guess," he trailed off.
"I'll give you some advice, having been the parent of a teenage girl myself, you remember when I wasn't comfortable with her dating Jess, right?"
"Yes."
"In the end, all you can do is tell them how you feel, tell them to be careful, that you'll be there for them no matter what happens and hope for the best. Because, let's face it Luke, April's heart is going to be broken at some point or the other, Colin probably won't be her boyfriend forever. I mean, it took Jess and Rory years before they got their act together. Just… don't make this into a huge thing, trust me, it'll only lead to fighting. Talk to her, voice your concerns. And don't give Colin the third degree, like you probably did with Jess. He's not your nephew, you don't have that right."
"But I'm April's dad."
"Questions are okay."
Luke turned to kiss Lorelai. She deepened it.
"Questions, huh?" He asked as they pulled back.
"Without cutting off his fingers, dear."
"Hey, man, how is everything?" Chris greeted, walking around Truncheon, arranging some books, the phone wedged between his shoulders and the side of his face.
"Good, good. How's Truncheon and Matt?"
"Nice to know Matt comes second," Chris joked.
Jess rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, yeah. So… any reason you called?" He dropped a book to the floor, "You're not pulling back are you?"
"What?" Jess asked, completely caught off guard, "No, of course not."
"Oh, good."
"Why? Did you think I would?"
"Well, you know how these author types can be," Chris joked, "Very whimsy."
Jess chuckled, "Yeah, no, actually I just wanted to ask if it was alright if Rory came along on the book tour?"
"Awww," Chris said, "That is soo cute," he teased.
"Calm down," Jess replied, "She just thought it would be fun."
"And you can't stand to be without her, right? Am I right?" He continued his teasing.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes, then."
Chris' laughter died down, "Yeah, man, that's cool."
"Great, thanks."
Chris was silent.
"Stop it," Jess said.
"I didn't say anything," Chris defended.
"It's what you're thinking."
Chris smiled to himself as he hung up the phone and returned to his books.
"Okay, so you and Luke said you had an announcement, what is it?" Rory said as she sat in her childhood home kitchen, her husband, stepdad and mom seated with her at the table. Lorelai glanced at Luke who just nodded for het to continue. Lorelai rolled her eyes, she'd been hoping he'd take the wheel on this one. "Big baby," she muttered before she faced Rory and Jess, both of whom were smiling.
"Well, as you know Rory, I love you very much-"
"And I appreciate it," she said, mocking her mother a little bit.
"But as much as I love you, I wouldn't exactly mind having another kid…"
Rory's eyes widened," You're pregnant?"
Jess looked at his uncle for confirmation but found none.
Lorelai smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm, "Unfortunately, no. Luke and I will always have that option, but we were kind of thinking about foster care."
"Foster care?" Jess asked, slightly confused.
"Well, yeah, we figured there's so many kids out there, troubled kids, that need a good home, and while we'll gladly welcome our child, should the time come, we wouldn't mind helping a kid, who's not as fortunate as others."
"Plus, Luke did a great job taking care of you, a troubled kid," Lorelai added, looking at Jess, smiling.
Jess rolled his eyes, "Funny."
"I thought so," Lorelai said.
"I thought you said she liked me now," he joked, turning to Rory.
"Oh, hoodlum, I do like you," Lorelai said, "And to prove it, you get extra ice cream for desert."
"I'm not five, Lorelai."
She shook her head, "You try to do something nice and what do you get?" She deadpanned.
Rory smiled at the pair of them, "Well, I think that's a great idea. I think you guys could definitely help those kids. You two are like super mom and super dad, you'll be great."
"Thanks, "Luke said gruffly.
Lorelai smiled, "Alright, so how about now we celebrate Jess' career, huh? Roberta! Champagne!"
Jess dropped his head on the table while the rest of the group just laughed.
"It's going to be fine," Rory said as she rang the doorbell.
"Rory, have you met TJ?" Jess asked, sounding slightly panicked.
Rory laughed, "Jess, calm down."
"Hey," Liz greeted jovially, as she flung open the door.
"Hey, Liz," Rory greeted, giving the woman a hug.
Liz reciprocated before motioning them to come in, "Come on, come on."
"Hey, Rory," TJ came out of the kitchen and greeted Rory, "Hello TJ," she said politely. Even though she thought he was kinda' weird, she still liked the guy. He was obviously a good person. She went over to give Doula a hug before sitting down on the couch.
Jess walked in with Liz. "Would you guys like something to drink? Maybe some wine?"
"Wine's fine," Jess said. Rory nodded.
"Alright, then, let me just go get the bottle and the glasses, make yourselves comfortable," she hurried off into the kitchen, joining TJ as he checked on the food.
"I'm gonna go see if I can help your mom," Rory said, quickly kissing Jess before she followed his mother.
Jess headed over to his little sister, picking her up and looking into her face. "Jess," she said, giggling. He smiled at her and couldn't believe that in a mere ten years she would be a teenager, with all its troubles and headaches. "Hello, pretty girl," he said, smiling while she played with his hair. "You like that, huh? Uncle Luke hates my hair, but I don't want you to hold that against him, okay? And don't tell Rory I allow you to play with it too, she still thinks she's the only one who gets that privilege."
"Yeah, 'cause she'd hate to hear that," Rory said, a smile on her face as she watched Jess interact with Doula. She set down the wine glasses and wandered over to them, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Although, I have to admit, she's got good taste."
Jess smirked at her, as she left to help Liz with the wine.
"So, Jess, Liz tells me you and Rory are going on tour or something," TJ said when they had all sat down for dinner and started eating.
Jess nodded, "Well, she would be right about that."
Rory rolled her eyes and gently nudged his foot under the table, shooting him a glance, telling him to make more of an effort. Jess sighed.
"So that should be exciting, huh? Like a rock star."
Rory grinned.
"Honey, it's a book tour, not a concert tour," Liz interjected, also grinning at her husband.
"Oh, my bad," TJ said, stuffing a potato in his mouth. "Although books can be very rock'n'roll too, you know."
"I'm sure they can," Jess said, turning to TJ and trying his best to pass off an appreciative face at TJ's input. It must've worked because TJ turned his attention to Rory. "How's the newspaper?"
"It's really good. Quite busy and hectic, but I like it this way."
"I agree, no drama at all would be very boring," Liz said.
"That's my mother's motto in life," Rory joked.
"That's probably why she drinks all that coffee," Jess replied.
"That and I think she secretly hoped I'd grow an extra head."
"Extra head?"
"More to love," Rory said casually.
"Right," Jess chuckled.
"How is your mom, by the way?" Liz asked, "I haven't seen her in a while."
"Oh, she's busy you know, the inn and all. She's usually at Luke's though. If you ever need her or anything."
Rory suddenly got a devilish grin on her face and looked at Jess. He looked worriedly, that grin couldn't mean anything good.
"Hey, TJ," Rory started, "You'll never guess what I saw in the newspaper today."
"What?"
"A sale on tights."
Jess groaned and dropped his head into his chest, causing Rory and Liz to laugh.
Rory surveyed the room. Her grandmother had definitely pulled out all the stops for their party. It had waiters, high society people, hors d'oeuvres and champagne, it was the complete opposite of Rory and Jess, but Emily had seemed happy to plan it and seemed genuinely happy for Jess' book deal and had desperately wanted to throw them a party, so they let her. It's not like they couldn't go one evening talking to businessmen and their trophy wives. Emily was genuinely making an effort with Jess, and so they would return the favour.
"Wow, I don't know a single person here," Lorelai said as she, Rory, Luke and Jess stood in one corner of the room, like fish out of water.
"Neither do I. These are all DAR and insurance people-" Rory replied, before she was cut off.
"Mayday, mayday," Luke whispered harshly as Emily walked over to them.
"Hello, are we enjoying ourselves?" She asked, a big smile adorning her features.
They all plastered on fake smiles.
"Oh, immensely!"
Yes, very much Emily."
"It's wonderful, mom."
"It's great, grandma."
Emily, clearly oblivious to the little white lies, smiled back at them and took Lorelai and Luke by the hand, "Lorelai, your old classmate from high school, Elizabeth Powers, is here…" Lorelai shot Rory a plea of help as she was led away by her mother.
"Yikes," Jess replied.
"I know," Rory replied, "I'd run for the door if I saw someone from high school or this society world that I actually knew."
"You serious?" Jess replied, his gaze fixed on the hallway leading to the foyer.
"Definitely," Rory replied, looking outside at the other guests.
"Well, then you better hurry 'cause he's heading this way."
Rory turned her gaze toward where Jess was staring. "Who is?"
"The blonde dick at Yale," he replied, smirking slightly.
Rory paled and groaned. She moved a little so she was standing completely behind Jess.
"Hide me, quickly!" she whispered.
Jess smirked, "no way."
Rory's eyed widened and she glared at her husband, "What do you mean 'no way'? I don't wanna talk to him."
"Why not?" Jess asked.
"Because he's here to cause trouble, Jess. He knows this party is for you, it was on the invite, he hates you, why else would he be here?"
"Rory, it'll be fine. Just be polite. Hello, goodbye, and he's gone."
"How is it you're now the sensible one? Hi, Logan," she greeted brightly with the same fake smile she'd given Emily plastered on her face.
"Hey, Ace," he replied.
Rory's smile instantly fell, "it's Rory, not Ace."
Logan smirked, Jess clenched his jaw. Maybe he wasn't so sensible after all.
"How are you?" He asked.
"I'm fine, great actually," Rory replied, taking note of the fact that Jess still hadn't said a word, not that she blamed him. The last time Logan had appeared in their lives he'd managed to screw everything up, and there was no way she'd let him do it again. "You?"
"I'm good, good," he replied, taking a sip of his champagne.
"You remember, Jess, right?"
"Oh, right, your friend," Logan said, smirk still firm in place. Rory wanted to wipe it right off his face. It wasn't the cute smirk Jess would give her, this was a full-on smug, jackass smirk.
She could feel Jess ball his fists and gently placed her hand on his to calm him down.
"Well, yes, he is my friend, but he's my husband too. We got married a month ago." Despite the fact that she was having an extremely uncomfortable conversation with one of her hateful exes, she couldn't help but smile every time she relayed that little fact.
That wiped the smirk right off of Logan's face. And that caused Jess to smirk.
He held out his hand, "nice to meet you again," he said. Logan took his hand numbly and shook it.
"Married, huh?"
"Yep, married," Rory replied casually.
"I thought you felt you were too young to get married."
"Things change."
"You mean people change," he said, looking Jess over.
"Look, man, that was a long time ago, just back off," Jess said quietly.
Logan held up his hands in mock surrender, "Alright, alright. I can take a hint."
"Good," Jess replied.
"I'll see you around, congratulations and enjoy the rest of your evening," he replied, leaving the couple alone.
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Rory replied, only so that Jess and Logan could hear it.
Jess chuckled, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out?"
"Well," she replied, sighing. "God, I hate him."
"Not as much as I hate him," Jess replied, taking a glass of champagne and downing it in one take.
"Whoa there Kirsten Cohen, slow down on the booze," Rory joked.
"I'm gonna need something stronger than this if I'm gonna spend another three hours in the same room as him."
Rory sipped her champagne and looked at her glass pensively, "Yeah, me too."
Jess raised an eyebrow at her. She grinned, "Come on, I know a place."
--
Rory stood in her grandfather's study, looking for the bottle of Jack Daniels she knew he kept in his liquor cabinet.
"A-ha!" She yelled triumphantly, looking over its black and white label. "Hello, sad, pathetic, little bottle," she said softly.
"Nice to know you still talk to inanimate objects."
Rory spun around and looked annoyed at Logan's intrusion. "Where's the husband?" He asked, entering Richard's study.
"He's off finding the coke and some junk food, not that it's any of your business," Rory replied coolly.
Logan merely nodded. Silence reigned for a minute before he broke it, "Why him?"
Rory shook her head and sighed, "Logan, don't do this. Move on. Get over it," she said, "Live and let live," she added.
He sighed, "I just want to know why you could say yes to him and not to me, it's not like three years is that big a difference, you're still young."
"25 is quite different from 22."
He looked at her pleadingly.
Rory relented, opened her mouth to say something and changed her mind, "Fine," she said.
"With him it's just different."
"Different how?"
"Different like… different. He didn't propose to me in front of a whole crowd of people I don't know, in front of DAR people and businessmen. He asked me spontaneously."
"You mean he didn't put thought into it?" Logan replied bitterly.
Rory glared at him, "He put thought into it, a lot of thought actually, he asked permission from my mom and dad and Luke and the entire town at a town meeting- and with him I didn't hesitate. With you… I hesitated."
"Yeah… I remember," he took another sip from his champagne.
"Look, Logan, couples break up, that's just how it goes, and you and I weren't meant to last, Jess and I were. And one day you're gonna find someone you love and who loves you and when you ask her to marry you she's not gonna hesitate, and it's gonna be wonderful, but I… I'm not that girl."
"You're Jess' girl," he said coolly.
Rory smiled slightly, "I am. And I love him and he loves me and I'm not gonna go feeling guilty about every ex-boyfriend, because… that's life. And I'm happy, and that's all that matters."
Logan nodded resignedly and just walked out of the room.
Rory took the whisky and sighed, exiting the room in search of Jess.
--
"Or-or, remember the time at the dance marathon, with the sandwiches, where you totally made fun of Dean?" Rory giggled, leaning on Jess' shoulder.
She had found Jess waiting for her in the kitchen and they had snuck up to Lorelai's old room. Now they were sitting outside in the cool air on her balcony.
Jess chuckled, "Remember the time he caught me at your house for dinner, with Paris there?"
Rory smiled, "Oh yeah..."
"How did you get out of that one?" Jess asked, playing with Rory's hair.
"I told him I invited you over 'cause Paris had a crush on you."
"And he believed that?"
Rory shrugged, "I think he wanted to believe that. It's like he said at the marathon, everyone knew, we were just kidding ourselves."
"We were so stupid back then," Jess said absentmindedly.
Rory nodded and held up the bottle of whisky, "Still are," she said, giggling again.
Jess grinned, "In all the time I've known you I've never seen you down whisky like tonight."
"Yeah, well…" Rory motioned to downstairs. "Him."
"I know…"
"He screwed up everything for us."
"I remember…"
"With him it always felt like a… a…. relationship."
Jess cocked an eyebrow, "Whereas this feels like a harem?"
Rory rolled her eyes and hit his knee, "No. This feels like best friends who are in love. I mean, you know everything about me. And don't tell mom and Lane that they've been demoted, but… you're not just my husband to me, Jess, and you weren't just my boyfriend, you're my best friend too."
Jess smiled and kissed the top of her head long and hard, "You've always been my best friend too, Ror."
Suddenly they heard someone knock sharply on the window.
"What are you guys doing up here? Your grandparents and Lorelai and Luke are looking for you guys. And now I got roped into it too. Thanks a lot, by the way Gilmore."
"Paris!" Rory exclaimed as she saw her friend. She pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're here."
"What's her damage, Kerouac?" Paris glared at Jess as she tried to pry Rory's arms off of her neck.
He held up the bottle of Jack.
Paris sighed, "Put her in bed, I'll tell Emily she wasn't feeling well and you stayed with her to make sure she was fine. I'll get you some water too and her some aspirin, trust me, she's gonna need it. Oh, and if she needs to use the bathroom, she does need to use the bathroom and isn't trying to take you down because she's secretly a member of a doo-wop group, got it?" During her rant she had put Rory down on the bed and then left Jess standing there, completely dumbfounded, bottle still in his hand.
"Rory's been drunk before?"
Please review. I love reading what you guys think and they totally help feed my creative muse, who strangely enough resembles Milo strikingly. :D