A/N: I apologise for any mistakes in this chapter. I'm going to rewrite a decent amount of this fic when it comes to the second part of the series, as this was not my intentional trail for this thread. I also need to fill in a few holes, such as Lorelai and Max's engagement etc. So, you can probably be expecting a huge amount of changes happening to the early chapters so that it's not so... empty and lacking in Lorelai/Lane/Dean interactions.
Today had been a very, very long day. College in the morning, classes started at six am, followed by a full eight hour work day, and then helping Luke at the diner. Despite working with Richard, Luke still demanded that he help occasionally, to 'earn his keep'. Glaring at the man talking to him, he started to tap the table with his fingertips. The person seemed to take this as a key to shut up, and Jess then took that moment to speak up.
"There's nothing I can do for you. Sure, you have insurance, but not that type. It's called fine print, get glasses," Jess told him irritably.
"But you can't do that," the man objected, and Jess leaned towards him at the desk.
"I can't do what?" Jess inquired, tilting his head to the side. He'd already managed to scare away three of the customers today. One of them had even gotten their money from him, but that didn't make them any less frightened.
"You can't put me and my family on the street," the man begged, and Jess considered it for a moment. He took out the files again and carefully examined each one. The fine print stated, quite obviously, that the man's claim was completely out of bounds.
"I can't help you," Jess finally re-affirmed, after a few minutes of looking through papers. "And if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to." As he stood up, the man first made a move to chase him, but Jess gave him another cold glance, which caused him to scuttle away.
This was a terrible job. He had to tell people every day that they weren't getting money, and that they could kiss their lives, as they knew them, goodbye. Despite it all, he was good at it. He had that 'look' that would make people run in terror, not ask too many questions. At first he'd been a simple run-around boy, which he'd hated, but then he'd been upgraded to personal assistant to one of the advisors, before getting the only 'Advisor in Training' position that they'd ever given out. He had a feel that Richard had something to do with it, but if it was him, he was grateful.
It was Richard that he was going to see at that moment. He had to go see him every day at the end of the shift, to make sure that there wasn't some dire thing that he needed to do before he went home, as well as to make sure that he wasn't being more of a bother than he was worth. When he arrived at "Mr. Gilmore's" office, he knocked clearly, and heard a secretary tell him to come in.
"You can go right in," she told him, waving to the door that lead to the inner office of the insurance business's international affairs leader.
"Thanks," Jess mumbled and slipped inside. Richard was working on some papers and looked up briefly when he walked in.
"Hello, Jess, are you ready to leave?" he asked, but motioned him to a chair anyway. Jess had been working here for almost two weeks now, but he'd never been asked to sit down previously.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, sitting down and watching his mentor carefully.
"No, nothing's wrong," Richard told him, but didn't offer any other explanation.
"Not to be offensive, sir, but I need to get back to Luke's Diner so that I have a place to live," Jess pressed. Luke wasn't too pleased about him taking off school in exchange for college courses and joining up with the insurance company.
"Yes, that's what I wish to speak to you about," Richard said, leaning back on his chair a little bit. Jess frowned, unsure of what he meant.
"Sir?" he asked.
"I want you to move into Hartford so that you will be nearer to your school and your place of work, as well as away from my granddaughter. That way you will not pose as a distraction to each other, as you are no longer together," he stated, although Jess could tell that it wasn't much of a request.
"I don't have the money to do that," Jess said honestly, shrugging his shoulders and attempting to distract from the idea of Rory. Despite telling Lorelai that he was going to go to their house that day after school and work, he ended up begging off and staying home instead.
"You can be set up in some apartments near both facilities," Richard told him, watching his face very carefully. Jess schooled his expression so that Richard couldn't see anything, but he didn't honestly know what he was feeling, so it didn't really matter.
"So… what? You're going to pay for that too? I thought that you were only doing this because of Rory, and I'm not with Rory, so why am I still here?" Jess asked. Any sort of respect was lost in the comment, replaced by confusion.
"You are a remarkable young man, and I want to be the one who helps you along. There is a lot of talent in your mind that is untapped, and I will be the one to tap it," Richard declared.
"So you want me to move to Hartford so you can keep an eye on me?" Jess asked, mildly insulted.
"No, I wish you to come to Hartford so that it will be most convenient for you, and for me. If you don't wish to accept my offer, than you may decline, but there are no strings attached. I believe that it will truly help you," Richard finally finished, and waited for Jess's answer.
"Yeah… okay," Jess finally said, although he felt like he was tying a noose around his neck. If he was out of Stars Hollow, then at least he could avoid the death-glares of all the residents.
"Good man!" Richard cheered and stood up. He walked over to Jess and patted his shoulder heartily.
"So… when do I move?" Jess asked, feeling the numbness of being alone already seeping into his veins.
"Why don't we pick out a place, first? I have a selection of suites for you to take a look at when you have time," Richard told him, and placed a list of apartments, including addresses, in front of him.
"I'll check them out today," Jess told him, deciding that he didn't want to go home to see Luke just yet. He'd leave a message on the phone.
"Alright, then I will be hearing from you in the next few days?" Richard inquired as he moved back behind his desk again.
"Yeah… tomorrow, probably," Jess finished, regaining his composure and standing. "Thanks… for everything."
"Don't disappoint me," Richard warned again, and then with a mutual nod, they both left.
The apartments on the list were large and expensive. Every single one of them was almost three times the size of his apartment with his mother, most of them were more than one story, and the rest were penthouses. What the hell kind of genius did Richard think he was? After checking the last apartment on the list, he finally decided that he wanted one of the ones in the middle. It was not only a penthouse, but a dual story bachelor apartment. For some reason, it was just to his style.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone. Before working for Richard, he would have never been able to afford one. Richard had footed the bill for the phone itself, but he was supposed to keep it up. With all his calls from work, he had to keep it on constantly and had to get the most expensive plan that he could find, just so that he'd be able to keep up without huge fines. Sighing, he checked his contacts for Richard and dialed his private number.
"Richard Gilmore speaking," Richard barked into the phone, probably expecting some sort of business-natured call.
"I've found the place that I'd like," Jess said, giving up on the formalities. It was almost nine o'clock, he was piss tired, but he couldn't go home.
"Good! Give me the address and I'll have it put aside for you," Richard told him. There was the sound of pens scraping across paper as he mumbled out the address. "That was one of the better ones. I was hoping that you would select it."
"Thanks again for doing this… when can I move in?" Jess asked as a side thought.
"As soon as it's ready, which will be quite soon. Probably within the next week," Richard stated.
Jess mumbled his goodbyes and hung up. He stood by the bus stop and watched the looming creature curve the corner. Thoughts ran through his mind, miles a minute. Finally, when it stopped, he was ready. The bus driver was one he didn't know. Paying the fee, he skulked to the back of the bus and sat down.
Stars Hollow was before him before he could blink, or at least that's what he felt like. It was more of a prison now than an enjoyable place to live. He and Rory avoided each other like the plague and Lorelai took every spare moment to hunt him down and screech at him. What it his fault that he was terrified? According to everyone, including Luke, it was.
It was nine thirty when he finally got into Luke's, and his uncle was just starting to go through the motions of cleaning up.
"Get dressed for work and help me clean up," Luke demanded gruffly.
"I need to talk to you," Jess said, standing by the door. He wasn't going to spend another day there. He had a few dollars still kept hidden away for a rainy day.
"What is it this time?" Luke asked. He threw his hands up in defeat, sick of his nephew's constant excuses.
"I'm leaving Stars Hollow. Mr. Gilmore has offered me a place in Hartford, and I'm going to take it. That way you won't need to be bothered by me anymore," Jess snapped, angry at Luke's anger at him. He was doing his best. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't be everywhere at once.
"What do you mean? What about school, what about Rory?" Luke snarled, moving around the counter so that they were standing directly in front of each other, no barriers to get in the way if he lunged. Jess noted this and pondered leaving.
"My school is in Hartford, even the college," Jess answered, leaving the Rory bit out.
"What about Rory?" Luke pressed, taking another step towards him.
"I'm leaving tonight. I'll be staying at a motel in Hartford until I can move in," Jess provided, continuing to ignore the blatant comments about Rory.
"Jess, you are not leaving that girl this way! So help me, I will force you to stay if I have to," Luke threatened, throwing down his pen and paper. Jess knew that Luke used to be a wrestler, and that the man had at least one hundred pounds and a good half a foot on him. The odds were not in his favor.
"I'm not fighting you… and I'm not staying," Jess said, and then walked towards the stairs casually. The normal crowd had gathered outside the diner, waiting to see what was going to happen. He saw them out of the corner of the eye and noted that Rory was there as well. She was giving him a look that was halfway between anger and complete depression. He hated that look, knowing that he'd put it on her face.
"Jess, this is your last warning," Luke said, but Jess took the final step into the stairwell anyway. Instantly he felt a shift in the pressure around him, Luke was lunging.
Jess dove behind the counter, which sent Luke flying into the stairwell. He could hear cheering from outside the store. People were probably hoping that he'd get his ass kicked. Instead of appeasing them, he grabbed onto his uncle's foot and pulled him out of the stairwell. Luke stumbled to his feet and turned to face Jess, who'd taken off his expensive coat. He was ready for this if he had to do it.
Luke didn't attempt another move, however, and he was left wondering what was going to happen.
"Take your stuff, get out of my diner and don't come back," Luke finally muttered, grabbing his pen and his order pad again.
Jess took a deep, mental breath and grabbed his coat. He moved to the stairwell and up the stairs, where he shoved his things into a bag and ran down the stairs again. The crowd was still there, probably waiting for him. Rory was no where to be seen. Before any of them saw him standing there, he ducked into the back door and out into the alley. There, barely an inch from his face, was Rory.
"What are you doing here?" he asked after the initial shock. He tried to sound angry, but there was just no energy left in his body.
"Where are you going?" she asked, frowning at the bag.
"I'm leaving, moving to Hartford," he told her, shuffling awkwardly and moving past her.
She grabbed onto his hand and refused to let go, even when he attempted to pull it away. She turned him around and pressed him against the alley's wall with her body. An instant mixture of lust and longing hit him. It took all his effort not to just apologize and promise never to leave her again.
"Why? That's so… not you," she told him, backing off so that they weren't pressed together.
"What is 'me', Rory? This is so unlike you, why the hell are you chasing me? Leave me alone," he told her, but he couldn't find it in himself to push her away. He couldn't touch her. He knew that he'd give in.
"I love you, and even if you won't admit it anymore, I know you love me too. You're running away like a coward, and Jess isn't a coward. The Jess 'I' love, isn't a coward," she told him, pressing a hand to his chest when she saw the thoughts pass though his eyes. He was going to run again.
"Then I guess that I'm not the Jess you love, am I?" he asked, glaring at her. Gritting his teeth, he shoved her hand off and moved past her. He was running, again. It seemed to be the only thing that he could do lately.
Rory watched him leave and felt her world shattering. She'd been so close, but he'd pushed himself away. She wasn't going to give up on him so easily, she loved him. Looking down at her finger, she noted how the diamond on her ring continued to catch the light and shine like a star, despite the fact that its promised two were no longer speaking. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she numbly walked out of the alley and through town, back to her house.
Once home, she entered her room, which was filled with books. Since she'd been told she couldn't return to school until summer, she'd taken two different jobs. One of them was at the diner, opening it with Luke in the morning and helping him with the afternoon lunch rush. Jess was always there during the evenings, so she'd never offered to help with those. Her second position was at the bookstore. She'd go between shifts at Luke's and help out, as well as pick out books to cart home.
"Rory, I'm home," Lorelai called from the main hall.
"I'm in my room!" Rory answered back and pulled out another book. In the past week, since she saw Jess fleeing at the hospital, she'd read over fifteen books, just attempting to absorb something, but they all seemed to bounce off.
"Want some dinner? I got Indian food!" she asked, and Rory felt her stomach growl.
"Why? You hate Indian food," Rory shouted and moved into the kitchen, following her nose.
"I heard about what happened today at Luke's," Lorelai told her, "and I thought that it would be good to have a girl's night. I brought Willy Wonka!"
"A girl's night sounds great," Rory said with a nod. It's all they'd been doing lately, 'girl's nights'.
"Great, well let's eat and get on it, I wan to see those Oompa Loompas!" Lorelai cheered.
Halfway through the movie, Rory felt the unyielding need to call her grandfather. She needed to yell at someone about Jess, and if she couldn't yell at Jess himself, then she may as well yell at her grandfather for taking him from her. Slouching over to the phone, not disturbing her mother who'd fallen asleep, she took it into her room and sat down on her bed. She dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello, Richard Gilmore speaking," he answered formally, and she realized that this was probably an ill-thought out plan.
"Grandpa? This is Rory," she told him, trying to keep her voice light, even though she was screaming inside.
"Rory! How nice to speak to you, how are things there?" he asked her, making polite conversation.
"Actually, Jess just left for Hartford today… he told me that he has an apartment there," she said, hinting to the obvious connecting.
"Yes, I've set him up for one to allow him access to his schooling and position within our company easier. That way he won't need to result to public transportation," Richard told her jovially, not understanding that she was upset with him.
"Why?" she asked coldly.
"What do you mean? He's a fine young man who needs to be equipped with everything that he needs to succeed," Richard explained.
"I need him, grandpa, me, here in Stars Hollow, and he needs me. He doesn't need some apartment!" she objected, rather loudly.
"I'm sorry, Rory. I offered and he accepted, I had no idea that you two were back together," he stated.
"We're not… back together," she mumbled.
"I believe that this will allow you to concentrate without each other's presence. I know that you were very close, but perhaps with some time and space, you will be again," Richard offered, but she could tell that he didn't believe that.
"Sure," Rory whispered and hung up the phone. Tears pooled to her eyes again and she fell back into her bed. A few minutes later, she was asleep.
Sometime during the night, Lorelai woke up, realizing that she had half-fallen off the couch and that the TV was hissing its objecting to being on so late. Grumbling about awkward positions and televisions that don't automatically turn off, she got to her feet and stumbled to turn it off, falling on her face twice during the trip.
During the perilous journey, she also took note that Rory was no where to be seen. With that in mind, she instantly started behaving herself and tip-toed to the kitchen, where she peaked into Rory's room. One looked was enough to tell her that her daughter was asleep. It was a rare thing. Mostly Rory would just work, then come home and work some more. Lorelai knew that it wasn't healthy, but there was nothing that could be done for it.
The morning came around and Rory was out of bed at the crack of dawn, she'd overslept, or at least she had according to her. Every day Rory woke up at five in the morning, before anyone else was awake, except Luke. She'd head over to the diner and help open, and then she would go to the bookstore and work there for a few hours before returning to Luke's for the afternoon shift. She'd been doing it ever since Jess left for Hartford. He hadn't called, hadn't answered his cell phone. It was like attempting to talk to a wall.
Tonight was the first dinner that they were going to since the last blowout. Rory was doing her best to waste as much time as possible. When it was just drawing on five thirty, she knew that she would have to go home or they would be late.
"Hey, Rory, could I talk to you a minute?" Lorelai asked, walking into Rory's room with coffee.
"Don't we have to go soon?" Rory responded, finishing the last few words on her latest article for the Franklin. Despite being out of the school, she was still involved in the newspaper.
"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you how you're taking all this, with Jess being so close to grandpa?" Lorelai inquired.
"He's scared, he'll see what he's doing soon," Rory said confidently, although Lorelai could hear the crumbling on the outer edges of her voice.
"But what if he doesn't? I don't want to tell you not to hope, but what if Jess really isn't the," she paused, looking for a word, "…boy you think he is? You only knew him for a few months, maybe he's different," Lorelai reasoned.
Rory looked away, back at her computer screen. It wasn't as though the thought hadn't occurred to her before. She and Jess had screwed up. She never, ever, should have asked him to keep their relationship a secret on her part. Jess shouldn't have reacted the way that he did to her family. The Rory Gilmore package included her family. There was no way out of it. She had accepted that already quite some time ago, it was time for him to do so too.
"He will. I don't know how I know, but he will," Rory told her, shrugging her shoulders and standing up. "We'd better get ready."
"Okay, you can shower first," Lorelai told her, taking her coffee into the kitchen and pouring it down the sink.
Two showers, some clothes and half a bottle of hair-mouse later, the girls were ready to go. They met on the front porch, both of them ready but neither of them wanting to go. They hesitated, looked at each other, hesitated again and then stopped trying.
"One of us should probably tell the other to get going," Rory muttered, frowning at her lack of conviction in her comment.
"Yup," Lorelai agreed, but neither moved.
"We're going to be late," Rory stated.
"Yes we are," Lorelai agreed once more. They both looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes.
"I don't want to go," Rory whined, pouting a little bit.
"Neither do I," Lorelai whined back, and did a little 'nervous dance'.
"We should probably go," Rory reasoned, but the pout didn't go away.
"Come on," Lorelai scowled, grabbing her daughter's arm and hauling them both towards the car. Once she got to the door, they both stopped moving again.
"I don't want to go," Lorelai whined again, doing an encore of her 'nervous dance'.
"Let's go," Rory sighed, opening her mother's door and running around to the passenger's side. They both crawled in and hesitated.
"Do we have to go?" Lorelai asked.
The rest of the ride to grandma's house was done with the two girls singing, off key, about hunting lions. It was a cheerful fifteen minute drive, considering what they were getting themselves into. Once they reached the house, both of them hesitated again.
"Let's go," Rory said, not bothering to wait for her mother's objection and hopped out of the car.
"Fine," Lorelai griped as she hopped out of the car and limped after her daughter. Once they reached the front door, both of them stopped again.
"Into the lion's den," Lorelai muttered under her breath.
"To face the lion…" Rory finished, but left the sentence trailing off, as it was apparent that neither of them knew how this night would end.
When the door opened, there was already talking in the study. The new maid was shivering in her shoes, as though she was already too terrified for words. The second that they were inside, she closed the door and ran back into the kitchen.
"Who's here?" Lorelai whispered, before she saw her daughter's face. It looked like Rory had been hit by a train. This caused her ears to perk up. She heard the monosyllabic answers that were trademarked to Jess. "Oh boy."
"Can we go?" Rory asked, just as Emily stepped around the corner from the study.
"I thought I heard you two, come in! Richard has invited Jess for dinner, isn't that lovely?" Emily greeted. Her voice was chipper and forced.
Lorelai grabbed Rory and dragged her into the study. There was an instant pause in the 'conversation', one sided as it was, when Rory and Lorelai walked into the room. Everyone paused, looking between the two teenagers.
"Rory! Look who's here," Richard further prodded, shocking everyone out of their staring contests.
"I'm not ready for this yet," Jess grumbled and stood up. "Thanks for inviting me, but… I can't stay."
"Jess, wait," Rory said, catching his arm as he pushed past them all.
"What?" he snapped and they stared at each other from a few inches away.
"Stay," she told him, averting her eyes and looking anywhere but him. "You were invited too, you don't have to leave because… well, you don't have to leave."
"Fine," Jess muttered and shuffled in place.
One look at him and you could tell that he wasn't comfortable in his own skin. He was wearing an expensive suit, no doubt provided by Richard, and his hair was slicked back against his head again. He reminded her of some sort of rich jerk that they used to taunt in New York when they went to some of the more expensive districts. It hurt to see him looking like someone he hated so much.
"Would you like something to drink, Lorelai, Rory?" Richard asked, acting like the outburst between Jess and Rory had never happened.
"I'll take a soda," Rory said quietly and drifted over to the loveseat.
"Water?" Lorelai asked, and everyone but Jess stared at her like there was something wrong.
"Water?" Richard attempted to confirm.
"Yes, water," Lorelai responded with a nod and sat firmly beside Rory, to make sure that her parents didn't attempt to get Jess to sit beside her. If there was any chance of the two of them talking, it wouldn't be because they were forced to sit beside each other.
Silence blanketed the room for a few seconds as everyone looked between the teenagers again. Rory was sitting with her hands in her lap, eyes drawn to said hands. Jess was slouched in his chair, looking anywhere but at her.
"So… should we move into the dining room?" Richard suggested.
"Yes, dinner will be served in a few minutes," Emily chirped in, standing up jerkily and motioning to the next room.
Lorelai stood up, carrying Rory with her. Richard followed them into the dining room, boxing any hope of exit. Jess tailed behind Richard. There was a moment when he looked towards the exit, thinking about ditching, but turned to follow them instead.
If Richard had thought that being at the dinner table would allow for better conversation, he was painfully wrong. What little there was to say was probably best not said at the table, and the sharp glanced between Rory and Jess were scalding the others in the room.
"I'm… going to the washroom," Jess finally stated, standing up and marching tensely out of the room.
"I'm going to go check on dinner," Rory instantly perked up, and chased after Jess, in the opposite direction of the kitchen.
"Finally, I thought they'd never leave," Richard sighed, relieved as the tension drained.
"You're evil," Lorelai told them, glaring.
"Hey," Rory said as she entered into the room that she found Jess in.
"Hey," he said back, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
"You look ridiculous," she told him honestly, trailing slowly into the room and up to him. She reached up and messed up his hair.
"Yeah, I hate it," Jess said honestly, allowing her to mess up his carefully-crafted hair.
"So… that was awkward," Rory said, moving away from him again.
"And continues to be," he muttered.
"This is stupid, Jess. Why are we even doing this?" she asked him, crossing her arms across her waist and looking at him earnestly.
"Doing what?" Jess demanded. His voice and body were instantly jerked into anger.
Before either of them could say anything stupid, Rory rushed towards him and kissed him. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Jess to respond. They were almost instantly completely enthralled with each other, hands wandering.
"What are we doing?" Jess asked her between kisses, his mind slowly catching up with his body.
"I don't know," Rory responded half-heartedly, hoping that he'd just shut up and run with it.
"Rory, stop," Jess told her, grabbing her hands and pushing her away.
"Jess, don't do this," she told him, grabbing the sleeve of his suit and trying to keep a link with him.
"No," he rasped, jerking his sleeve away and running out of the room. He ran right past the adults at the table, who were by now on the main course.
Emily, Richard and Lorelai all shared looks of knowing. They had a very, very good idea about what happened in that room. Their suspicions were only confirmed when Rory came down the stairs, very slowly, into the room. She looked as though someone had ripped her heart out, again.
"I think we're going to go," Lorelai told them, and for once, Emily and Richard didn't object to them leaving early.
"So… what happened?" Lorelai asked when they left the house.
"He doesn't love me," Rory whispered, freezing in place and feeling the tears she'd been holding back releasing slowly.
"He loves you," Lorelai objected, pulling her daughter to her and hugging her closely.
"Then… why does he keep doing this?" Rory asked.
"Because he's confused," Lorelai told her.
"Why? I love him… and if he loves me, what's wrong?" Rory pressed, terribly confused by hey ex's emotions.
"I don't know," Lorelai admitted. Although she sounded comforting, all she wanted to do at that moment was rip Jess's head off.
"Let's go home," Rory murmured, pulling herself into the car and curling up on the seat.
The ride home was silent as they both pondered the boy of Rory's dreams. While Rory was pondering why he was being such a jerk, Lorelai was pondering how to murder said jerk and get away with it.
When they arrived home, Rory slipped out of the jeep and hesitated. It appeared to be a theme for the night.
"It's going to rain, we should probably get inside," Lorelai suggested.
"Yeah… I'm going to go for a walk, okay?" Rory responded, obviously having not heard a word her mother had said to her. Without waiting for a response, she drifted down their driveway and into town. Lorelai watched her go and felt even more of a homicidal urge than she'd ever felt previously.
Rory swayed into town as the rain started. She ignored it for the most part, but it still snapped her out of her dream world, so to speak. It brought her out enough for her to realize that she was completely drenched. Shivering, she saw that Luke's light was still on. Her body took her to the diner of its own will, but her mind didn't appear to care where it went, just so long as it could mourn in peace.
"Hey," Luke said when she entered into the diner. He was a bit surprised to see her without Lorelai, especially on a Friday. "What's up?"
"I saw Jess," Rory answered bluntly.
"Oh," Luke said. His voice and body seemed to fall with the word.
"I don't know what to do…" Rory admitted, looking very small in the middle of the diner, water dripping from her hair and clothes.
"It's a Danes… and Mariano thing," Luke told her, grabbing the fire blanket he kept beneath the counter and moving around the counter to wrap it around her.
"Thanks," Rory whimpered, holding the blanket around her and sitting down on the nearest chair. Luke sat down across the table from her.
"Everyone in our family is weird… his mother's insane, his father's… he's a jerk. Jess was bound to turn out… strange," Luke explained, in his bed Luke-way.
"Jess told me about his dad, and I met Liz," Rory told him with a shrug.
"Piece of work, isn't she?" Luke grumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
"I only ever saw her drunk… is she always drunk?" Rory asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen her since Jess was born. She calls every once in awhile to tell me that she's getting married, but I never actually see her," Luke told her, shrugging and clasping his hands in front of him.
"She's pretty…" Rory offered, echoing his shrug.
"So… I take it that the 'seeing Jess' bit didn't work out that well," he muttered, trying to take the subject off of his sister.
"He ran away," Rory responded, curling into herself again.
"Typical. His dad runs away, his mom runs away, of course Jess is going to run away," Luke grumbled.
"His mom ran away?" Rory inquired. Jess had told her a bit about his family, but mostly he's said that there wasn't much to say.
"The second that the will was read," Luke stated bitterly.
"Oh… I'm sorry," Rory said, even more confused by her ex-boyfriend.
"Eh, it's just the way she is," Luke brushed it off, shuffling in his seat awkwardly again.
"So… it's the way Jess is too?" Rory asked.
"I don't know, we didn't exactly, 'hold hands and skip together'," Luke told her, using a reference that Jess mentioned on more than one occasion.
"'Hold hands and skip together'?" she said with a raised eyebrow.
"It's nothing," Luke explained.
"Right," Rory laughed, realizing that she felt a little bit better. "What do you think I should do?"
"Me? You're asking me for advice?" he asked, shocked.
"You're the only person who knows Jess… at all," she urged.
"I've only seen Jess twice before he moved in… and even then, he was usually with you, or at work," Luke protested. When Rory's face fell, however, he seemed to want to redeem himself. "Alright… I don't know that much about him, but I did know his father. Jimmy Mariano was a jerk whose only skill in life was running. If Jess is anything like Jimmy, then he's already managed two things that Jimmy never did."
"What?" Rory prodded, excited at the idea of hearing about Jess's dad. Jess told her that he didn't even know his father's first name.
"He's committed to one girl and he didn't run halfway across the world after breaking up," Luke explained. Liz and Jimmy had been together twice before Jess was born. The first time he'd run away to Canada and had to come back when he'd run out of money and drugs, the second time was when Jess was born. No one knew where he was at the moment, but then of course, no one had ever really looked either.
"That sounds promising," Rory said, thinking about the situation happily.
"I don't know what to suggest other than being careful," Luke told her, sighing nervously. He didn't want to give her the wrong advice.
"Thanks… I'm going to go home, but can I use your phone?" Rory asked, a plan formulating in her mind.
"Yeah, sure," Luke told her, rising to his feet quickly and pointing to the phone. There was obvious relief that he was out of the conversation. "Good luck."
Rory smiled at him, which had been rare lately, and picked up the phone. She had to pull out her cell phone to get the number. She didn't know it by heart. Her phone had died a few hours ago. It was only on long enough for her to get the number before it died again.
"Hey, grandpa?" she said into the phone after the elder Gilmore greeted her.
"Rory, I wasn't expecting to hear you today, especially so late," he told her.
"Can you do me a favor?" Rory asked, hugging her arm around her for comfort and tugging the blanket tighter around her shoulder.
"What would you like?" Richard replied, feeling that he owed her something after the Jess-confrontation that night.
"Can you ask Jess to meet me at that little coffee place by his building?" Rory asked, and there was brief moment of silence on the other end before Richard finally responded.
An hour later, at almost ten at night, Rory stumbled into the café. The bus ran a little bit late, but Jess was still there. She smiled when she saw that he was in one of his band t-shirts, jeans, and had his hair gelled straight up. He looked like the old Jess, the one that she'd first met. He was brooding at the table, nursing some sort of drink in front of him.
"You're not exactly dressed for a business meeting," Rory said as she arrived at the table.
Jess, who was most definitely not expecting Rory, snapped to attention. He looked around to see where the hidden camera was, or perhaps were Richard was waiting, but it didn't look like there was anyone else there.
"Rory, what's going on?" he asked, rising to his feet when she didn't sit down.
"Jess, I love you, I know you love me, and I think what we're doing right now is stupid," she told him, putting a hand on his arm lightly.
"So… what would you rather we be doing?" he sighed, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to avoid looking at her.
"Come back to Stars Hollow," she told him, trailing her hand down his arm and grabbing his hand. Jess's eyes were draw to her hand and then to their hands, even as his fingers grasped hers of their own violation.
"I can't. I have to stay here," Jess told her, then realized that he was actually considering her response. "Besides, there's nothing for me in Stars Hollow."
"What?" Rory gasped and recoiled from him.
"Look… Rory, I love you, I won't lie to you. But until I know that I have you, all of you, and only you, and I know that you want me, all of me, and only me, I can't be with you. I have changed, but there's only so much a person can do," Jess told her, not bothering to regain contact, even though his body wanted him to.
"I know… I love you, just as you are, right now. You didn't need to do the suit thing. You didn't have to take the job with my grandpa. Just, be with me, and only me, okay?" she asked him, still wanting to work things out.
"I'll think about it," he told her, but brushed past her and out of the café again.
Rory watched him go, feeling herself slip again. How many times had she attempted to make things right now? How many times were too many? Feeling an abrupt feeling of depression close in on her chest, she knew that she didn't have another time in her. If Jess refused her, she would have to let him go. Tears stung her eyes again, but she wouldn't let them fall.
Before she knew what she was doing, she was tearing out into the streets. It was late enough that the streets weren't that busy. The rain was pouring hard now, drenching what little of her body had gotten dry since her brief stints in Luke's and the café. She tore into Jess's building at top speed. She slipped on the tiled floors a little bit but regained her balance quickly. She looked at the stairs, but decided that they weren't worth it. Instead, she pressed the button on the elevator. It opened right away and she stepped in, nervous about the situation now that she was actually there.
When the doors opened at the penthouse, she walked down the hallway that led to Jess's apartment very slowly. Her hand rose up to knock on the door, but it was opened before she could.
"Jess-," she started, but he pressed a finger to her lips.
"Shh," he whispered and pulled her into the apartment, kissing her as they went.
At first the kisses were just remembering each other, but soon they got heated again. Rory gently tugged on his shirt, which was still wet. She pulled it over his head and it fell to the floor. She soon found her shirt was on the floor as well.
"Come on," he told her, pulling her to his bedroom.
Rory felt a thrill of excitement at the very idea of doing what they might be doing. When they got into his bedroom, which was completely Jess, including ten billion posters on the walls and clothes everywhere on the floor, Jess pulled her over to the bed. They resumed kissing after a few seconds, falling onto the mattress.
When the morning rolled around, Rory looked around, confused. She was still in her underclothes, but she was also wearing one of Jess's over-shirts. There was no memory in her mind of putting it on. Despite this, she felt comfortable wearing it. As she was lying there, basking in the mid-afternoon glow, she remembered the night previous. They hadn't actually had sex, as neither of them thought it was entirely appropriate after just getting back together. They'd fallen asleep in each other's arms, both agreeing that they were back together again.
Jess had told her that he would be gone in the morning, he had work. Despite this, there was a note on the bed beside her. She picked it up and read it carefully. It simply said to meet him at the apartment again that night.
Rory bounced off the bed and put on a pair of Jess's pants. They were huge on her, but they were infinitely better than attempting to wear her wet skirt. Snatching the belt from her skirt, she fastened it tightly around her waist so that it wouldn't fall off. After that struggle, she grabbed her clothes, shoved them into a bag and ran out the door to catch the next bus, so that she wouldn't have to wait an hour.
The bus ride was like floating, she barely noticed it. After weeks of Jess pining, they were back together again. There was no reason for the awkwardness that seemed to echo whenever she was around Luke, or around her grandfather.
When she hopped off the bus, she ran into Luke's, where her mother was lingering, and the two of them shared a 'squealing' moment, where they hopped up and down and hugged. When they were finished and they sat down, Rory looked over at Luke, who was watching them with a smile. She grinned back and waved. Luke waved back before going off to tend to an order and Lorelai stole Rory's attention back.