Well, today I went to the Red Sox game and then Harvard Square. It made me think of this story and I wanted to make sure this chapter was posted before the apocalypse. Sorry for the wait, but I think I'm back on track now. Phew.
Thanks for the reviews on chapter eleven: felineofoz, DiehardJavaJunkie14, Lynn, gilmorefanforever, lillitgirlx2, Curley-Q, krymsunkiss52, Jeremy Shane, ShaolinQueen, and Djux.
Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to somebody with a different name.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
"Tell me again why you invited Jess and his friend for Christmas," Lorelai requested as she finished her last French fry.
"Because Jess has straightened himself out and he's family," Luke explained again. "Why are you so affected by this?"
"He's going to be around," Lorelai tried to clarify haphazardly, flailing her arms.
Luke sighed and gripped his hat. "I don't know why I bother dealing with you," he huffed. "You need to learn to deal with Jess. He's different now. Get used to it."
"Fine," Lorelai snapped.
"You just don't like that he's dating Rory again," Luke bit back, grabbing her plate off the counter.
"No, I don't like it," Lorelai agreed sharply. "It's always the same thing with Jess. First he's nice, then he's a jerk, and then he just takes off."
"It's not the same thing this time." Luke shook his head. "I know him better than you. And if it bothers you that much, then you don't have to come to dinner or eat here until he's gone."
"Fine with me." Lorelai tossed her napkin on the counter and grabbed her purse.
"Fine!"
"Fine!" Lorelai turned on her heel and stormed out of the diner, giving the door a hearty slam behind her.
As soon as Lorelai arrived back home, her cell phone began to ring. "Hello?"
"Hi, Mom."
"Hi, Rory!" Lorelai plopped down on the couch and hurled her high heels aside. "What's going on?"
"Just wanted to say hi," Rory said.
"Okay. What time am I supposed to get you tomorrow?" Lorelai asked. She spread herself out on the couch and tossed her feet up on the opposite headrest.
"Any time before eight o'clock tomorrow night." Rory studied her hand and pulled at a stray hangnail. "So, about the holiday…"
"I'm not taking Jess tomorrow," Lorelai cut in quickly.
"I didn't ask you to," Rory said sharply. "His break isn't for a couple more days."
"I bet you're probably over there now, then."
"What if I am?" Rory challenged.
"Isn't he getting in the way of your studies?" Lorelai asked. "You're always over there and staying overnight."
"Mom, I don't get it. Why are you always questioning me about Jess?" Rory sighed and collapsed on the bed.
"I don't like him," Lorelai said.
"And you've made that abundantly clear," Rory said under her breath.
"Jess is Jess, okay? I don't see him any different and I don't want to see you fall prey to him again."
"Mom, I don't need you looking out for me. I'm nineteen. I'm going to be fine. Just…talk to Jess. You'll see. He's really flipped his priorities. He's going to school and he has other people to talk to."
"Okay," Lorelai relented. "But if he's the same, I'm still going to be concerned about you."
"Fair enough." Rory fingered the edge of the pillowcase and turned over on her side.
"Tomorrow I'll be at Harvard around seven so you can have some more time with Jess." Lorelai smiled and sat up on the couch.
"Thanks, Mom. I love you."
"Love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow."
Rory shut her cell phone and set it on the bed table. Jess poked his head into the doorway. "Hey. You off the phone?"
"Yeah, I'm all set." Rory slid of the bedspread and joined Jess by the door. "Sure you're okay with a trip to Stars Hollow?"
Nodding, "I get to see you, don't I?" Smirking, he slung his arm around her shoulder. "You know, that makes all the aggravation worth it."
"Such a sap," Rory teased, squeezing his side. "How's Sully doing with the idea?"
"Sully's excited, actually. I thought he'd be bummed, but he can't wait to get out of here and have a normal Christmas."
"Yeah." Rory studied the side wall. "I feel bad for him."
"It's okay. He's used to it and he isn't close to his father anyway."
"But still," Rory pleaded.
"His dad decided he didn't want anything to do with him." Shrugging, "He expected it."
"Okay," Rory said, thinking of her own father. She hadn't seen him in a long time either.
"Food?" Jess asked as they ventured into the kitchen.
"Food, definitely. I'm starving."
"As you should be." Laughing, Jess yanked open the oven door. He slid a pot mitt on his hand and took out the pan that was inside.
"What's that?" Rory asked, hovering over him.
"Chicken cutlet casserole." Jess fanned the steam from the casserole and reached up for two plates out of the cabinet. "Sound good?"
"Sounds great." Rory moved closer to Jess as he sliced into the casserole. "I've never had that before."
"Here you go." Jess loaded up Rory's plate and started filling up his own. "Let me know how it is." Rory grabbed both plates and while Jess busied himself with the sodas.
Setting the plates on the table, Rory took a seat. Jess grabbed the soda and silverware off the counter. "This is nice," Rory said as Jess handed her a fork.
"It's one of those nights where Sully is working and I'm not." Jess slid a bite of casserole in his mouth. "It's rare to have time alone with you."
"Wait until we get to Stars Hollow," Rory said. "Oh, wow." Sucking the gooey bite off her fork, she smiled in satisfaction. "You need to cook more often," she joked, shoving another chunk of casserole in her mouth.
"Glad you approve," Jess joked, popping open the top of his soda can.
"Where is Sully staying in Stars Hollow?" Rory asked between bites.
"Upstairs over the diner with me."
Choking, Rory swallowed quickly. "What? Where's Luke staying?"
"Upstairs."
"And where are you guys sleeping?" she asked.
"Well, I'm sleeping in my bed. Luke said it's still there. He'll sleep in his bed, because that should be a given. As for Sully, we were thinking about the couch. Although, the bathtub is pretty clean." Rory smacked his arm gently. "Hey."
"I want this to be good. My mom is having a hard time accepting your change in demeanor. Please prove her wrong?" Pleading with her eyes, Rory peered up at him from the table.
"I'll try," Jess promised, "but if Kirk or Taylor come too close, or Miss Patty tries to make a move, all bets are off!"
"I think if I threw a rock, it would hit the edge of town and bounce back before losing momentum." Staring dumbstruck into the distance, Sully dropped his bag on the ground.
Laughing, Jess shrugged his duffel bag higher on his shoulder and started walking. "Diner's this way," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction he was heading.
Still stunned, Sully looked up at the darkening sky and back at Jess. "You seriously lived here?" he asked.
"I did." He nodded. "Come on. It's cold."
They stepped up to the diner and the bell rang over head as they entered. Luke was ringing up a customer at the register. "You're here," he said simply, unsure of what to do next. Glancing from Jess to the redhead, he shut the register drawer. "I'm Luke," he said, extending his hand.
"Corey," he said as he shook. "Call me Sully."
"Sully?"
"Short for Sullivan. Last name." Sully adjusted his bag on his shoulder as Luke and Jess stood nervously off to the side.
"Jess," he said plainly, straightening his hat.
"Luke," he responded, shifting his weight nervously. He dropped his duffel bag and Luke hugged him briefly, adding a manly pat on the back.
"Do you want to put your things upstairs?" Luke asked. "I can make you something to eat."
Jess nodded. "I know my way." Sully followed him up the stairs with his bag.
"Man, this place is tiny," he said, glancing around. "We're staying here?"
Dropping his bag on the floor, Jess examined the room. Not much had changed in the apartment. A few of his things still littered the bookcases and his bedspread was still intact. "Couch is all yours."
Sully tossed his bag on the floor by the television. "Comfy."
"It's supposed to be snowing. Rory's happy." Jess sat next to Sully and tossed his feet up on the coffee table.
"She likes the snow?" Sully asked.
"Yeah. It gets too dirty in Boston to play with. Remember the first snow last week?"
"Really dirty," he agreed.
During their meal of cheeseburger and fries, the snow started to blanket over Stars Hollow. "Jeez." Luke cleared the plates off the adjacent table and glanced out the window. "It's really coming down." The ground coated with a thick layer of snow while they continued to pick at their fries. "Where's Rory tonight?" he asked.
"Friday night dinner, remember?" Jess reminded Luke.
"Oh, that's right." Luke nodded and leaned against the counter. "They shouldn't be driving in this weather."
"They'll be back soon," Jess said, dragging a fry through his puddle of ketchup.
"The snow is going to be knee-deep by then," Sully joked. "Dude," he said, smacking Jess's shoulder, "we need to build a snowman!"
Groaning, Jess dropped the remainder of the burger on his plate. "A snowman?"
"Hey, I've never had a yard and I've always lived in a city. Come on; let's play in the snow in the square." Sully tugged on Jess's sweatshirt sleeve.
As if on cue, Rory bounded through the diner door, sending the bell swinging. "Jess!" she squeaked. Just as he picked up the last bite, he had to drop the remainder of the burger once again.
"Hey. You're back." He stood to hug her and she giggled before smudging the ketchup off his lip with her thumb.
"It's snowing," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Come on. Let's go outside." She tugged on his sleeve.
"Finally someone that sees eye to eye with me!" Sully stood quickly and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair.
"Come on, Jess, you're no fun." Rory pouted as she and Sully stood by the door waiting for him.
"Yeah, Jess. You're no fun," Sully whined.
Rolling his eyes, Jess finally ate the last bite of his burger. He shrugged on his leather jacket and joined them by the door. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."
The three trekked over to the center of town. Rory looked up at the snow-covered gazebo. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"Pretty cool," Sully said. "Now, come on." He worked his way up the stairs and threw himself off the ledge into the snow. "Geronimo!" he yelled as he hit the snow.
Rory scrunched a fistful of snow into a ball. Shivering, Jess stood off to the side. He tucked his chin into his leather jacket just as Rory's snowball thwacked against the side of his head. Rory giggled as Jess ran a hand through his cold hair. "Hey," he complained. He bent down and gathered a ball of snow in his hands.
Rory didn't duck in time and the snowball bounced off her shoulder. Squealing, she was hit by two more snowballs; one snowball thrown by Jess and the other by Sully. "Two against one isn't fair!" she squeaked, gathering more snow in her hands.
Jess and Rory pelted Sully with their snowballs as he gripped his chest in false agony. "I'm wounded!" he howled before collapsing into the snow. Giggling, Rory started covering Sully's limbs with snow. Jess bent down and followed Rory's lead. They both laughed as Sully shook off the snow and stood back up. "Okay! Snowman time!" he exclaimed enthusiastically as he popped off the ground.
"Do my eyes deceive me or is that Jess Mariano building a snowman?" Lorelai asked as she slid onto a stool.
"It would seem so," he responded blankly after glancing out the window. "I'm surprised you're here."
"Well, the whole argument was stupid," Lorelai started.
"Rory talked to you, didn't she?" Luke asked as he poured her a cup of coffee.
Nodding pitifully, Lorelai grabbed her coffee mug. "She told me to talk to him."
"Oh, right. He's actually taken to full sentences lately."
"Impressive." Lorelai looked out the window at Rory, Jess, and the redhead she could only assume was Sully. Three little snowmen were lined up and lopsided by the gazebo. Rory had just pushed Jess and he had toppled over into Sully, knocking both of them into the snow. "They look like they're having fun. I never would have connected that with Jess."
"Yeah, he's really lightened up."
Lorelai continued to watch out the window as Jess gave Rory a piggyback ride. Maybe she had been wrong about him.