Incoming
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. Not even the computer I wrote it on.
Summary: Jess shows up at Richard and Emily's vow renewal. Luke has something to say about it. Rory is less than happy. Lorelai has to deal with Christopher. And the day is definitely not everything Emily hoped it would be.
Feedback: Reviews are fun. Like a barrel of monkeys. Why anyone would put monkeys in a barrel…I don't know, but it's supposedly a lot of fun.
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Lane walked into the diner at seven o'clock, tying an apron around her waist. "Hey, Luke."
He nodded. "Lane."
"Hi Lane." Kirk watched her walk around the counter.
She smiled. "Hi Kirk." She looked at the glass that was sitting in front of him. "You want some more apple juice?"
He nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
"Hey, can you watch things for a minute?" Luke asked. "I gotta get Jess up."
"Sure." Kirk said.
"Not you."
"I got it, Luke." Lane shook her head and poured Kirk's juice.
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"Jess." Luke shook his nephew's shoulder. "Jess!" When he still got no response, Luke went into the kitchen and filled a cup with cold water. He walked back to Jess's bed. "Jess!" Still nothing. He shook his head and dumped the water on his nephew.
He sat up quickly. "Jesus." He glared at Luke. "What the hell is wrong with you!"
"I've been trying to wake you up since seven."
"And?"
"And now it's twenty after. Rory's picking you up in forty minutes. I promised her you'd be ready when she got here. Now get in the shower."
He groaned and rolled out of bed. "Fine."
"You'll be downstairs at eight?"
"I'll be downstairs at eight."
"Great."
"I'll see ya in forty…thirty-six minutes."
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Lorelai bounced into the diner and immediately sat at the counter. "Morning Lucas."
He leaned across the counter and kissed her. "Hey."
"Coffee."
"How many cups did you have today?"
"None." She lied.
"You don't come bouncing in here unless you had at least four cups."
"Alright, alright. I had five. But for good reason. Rory woke me up at like 6:30 'cause she's insane."
He grabbed a mug off the shelf and filled it with coffee. "Happy?"
"Hold on." She took a sip then frowned at Luke. "Hmm…something's missing."
"What is it? Did I forget the nutmeg?"
"No…that's not it." She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. "That was it. Now I'm happy."
He smiled at her and looked down at his hands. "Me too."
"That's adorable. You're blushing."
He was about to reply, but Jess walked over and leaned on the counter. "Thirty-five minutes."
"You're early." Luke told him.
"Where's Rory?" He asked Lorelai.
"She had to run an errand, but she said she'd be here by eight." As if on cue, Rory ran into the diner.
"Time?"
Lorelai looked at her watch. "7:59 and…forty-six seconds."
"Fourteen seconds early." She congratulated herself. "You ready?" She asked Jess.
"Yep." He walked out from behind the counter, but Rory put a hand up and stopped him from going any farther. "What?"
"Turn."
He turned around and she grabbed the book that was in his back pocket. "Hey." He spun around to face her. "That's my book."
"No books. It's just you and me today." She tossed it onto the counter. "Got it?"
He held his hands up in surrender. "No books."
"Then let's go." She pushed him towards the door. "Bye Mom, Bye Luke."
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Jess looked over at Rory from the passenger's seat of her car and smiled. "So, where are you taking me?"
A mischievous smile spread across her face as she as she glanced at him. "Wouldn't you like to know."
"You're taking me out to breakfast."
"How…"
"It's eight o'clock and you didn't eat at the diner, and I know you didn't eat at your house, so…"
"Right. But that's not the surprise."
"So, what is the surprise?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You do know what surprise means, right?"
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Babette ran into the diner as soon as she saw Rory and Jess leave together. "Lorelai. Baby."
She spun around on her stool. "What's up, Babette?"
"I just saw Rory and Jess drive off together."
"Yea, they're spending the day together."
"Oh, sugar. Are those kids back together?"
"They're just friends. She took him out to celebrate because he got his GED."
"Oh. Well I gotta go. Morey's waiting for me." She turned and left the diner.
Lane walked over and stood next to Lorelai. "She's running straight to Miss Patty's."
She went back to her coffee. "Oh, yea. No doubt."
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Rory pulled her car into the parking lot in front of the building Jess brought her to the first night he saved her from Paris and Doyle. "Here we are."
"This is where we're having breakfast?"
"Yep." She sat there for a minute staring at the building, before turning to Jess. "We should give it a name."
"Do I look like Lorelai to you?"
"Well, we come here all the time and we can't keep calling it 'that empty building' so a name would be good."
"Fine. Name it. But I'm not helping."
"You're no fun." She pouted.
"Nope. Now where's my breakfast?"
She smiled and got out of the car. "C'mon." She hopped onto the porch and waited for him to catch up. "Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"Remember the whole surprise thing?"
He rolled his eyes then did as she asked. "The last time I did this your mom made me wear a hat with ribbons."
She pushed the door open then grabbed his hands and pulled him inside. "Do I look like Lorelai to you?"
"Well, there is a strong resemblance."
"No funny hats." She let go of his hands and tried to ignore the way his face fell at the loss of contact. "Alright. Open."
He opened his eyes and looked around. There was a big banner with the words 'Congratulations Jess!' hanging in the wall, a table covered in food, and a pile of presents. "Wow. Rory. You didn't have to-"
"Thank you would suffice."
He looked at her, meaningfully. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She smiled. "Now, food or presents?"
"And, uh, how much longer do you think you can you go without food?"
"Probably a good minute and a half."
"Food it is." He walked over to the table and looked at what she had laid out. "This is from Luke's."
"Yes it is. I had Caesar drop it off before we got here. I would have cooked but…food poisoning, death…not good."
"Well thanks for not wanting to kill me." He looked around the table, then at Rory. "There's no plates."
She walked over and stood next to him. "Huh. We'll just have to eat out of the containers." She handed him a fork. "Dig in."
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"Hey, Sook." Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen at the Dragonfly. "Is there coffee?"
"Lorelai?" Sookie asked desperately.
She walked around the corner and saw Sookie and Paris covered in flour. "Paris? What are you doing here?"
"I needed to get my mind off Doyle and I didn't know where else to go."
"So you thought you'd come to the inn and blow up the kitchen?"
Sookie looked at Paris sympathetically then turned back to Lorelai. "She wanted to help."
"Alright." She put her arm around Paris's shoulder and started to guide her out of the kitchen. "How 'bout we go get you cleaned up and let Sookie do the cooking." She looked over her shoulder and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to Sookie.
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"Michel." Lorelai leaned on his desk and smiled sweetly.
"No." He said, not looking away from the paperwork he was doing.
"Michel. I need you to do me a favor."
He looked up at her. "What do you want?"
She gestured to Paris, who was looking through the bookshelf. "I need you to find something for her to do."
"Why can't you just tell her to leave?"
"Michel. Please."
He sighed. "What do you want me to give her to do?"
"Paperwork. Anything. Just keep her busy."
"Fine. I'll keep her busy."
Lorelai grinned. "Dirty."
He glared. "Get away from me."
"Thank you Michel." She said as she skipped over to Paris.
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"Luke's"
"I miss my sanity." Lorelai whined at Luke.
"It certainly took a long time for that to catch up with you."
"Can you please come over tonight?"
"I have an early delivery tomorrow."
"I know. Please."
"What's wrong?"
"Paris is here. She's driving me insane."
"Can't you find something for her to do?"
"I did. Actually Michel did, but she feels the need to discuss everything with me. I had her go to the rooms after people check out and make a list of what needs to be restocked in the bathrooms and she found fault in the brand of toilet paper we use. And she pulled me into my office to tell me why our toilet paper was bad and which toilet paper has the best softness to price ratio and she-"
"I'll pick you up at eight."
"Thank you. You are an amazing man."
He smiled. "I'll see you at eight."
"Wait. Don't hang up."
"Why?"
"Cause then I'll have to deal with Paris."
"She can't be that bad."
"There were charts."
"You love charts."
"Not when Paris makes them."
"Bye Lorelai."
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"Okay." Rory put a present on Jess's lap and sat on the floor in front of him. "If you don't like I have the receipt so…"
He put the present on the floor between them. "Do you know why I'm here?"
She pretended she didn't know what he was talking about. "I dragged you here."
"Rory…"
She looked at the floor then back up at him. "Jess. Not right now. Okay?"
He nodded and she handed him the present.
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"Come on." Rory pulled Jess towards the front door of her grandparents' house.
He shook his head. "I am not going in there."
"Jess. Relax. My grandfather will be here for an hour and then it'll just be you and me."
"Why are we even here?"
"You'll see when we get in there." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the front door. "You're worse than Mom." She rang the bell and the maid opened the door. "Hi. We're here to see Mr. Gilmore."
She moved out of the way so they could go inside then took their coats. "Mr. Gilmore is in his study."
"Thank you." She smiled and nodded.
"Do we really have to do this?" Jess asked.
"Quit complaining." She walked to Richard's study and knocked on the door.
The door opened and Richard smiled. "Rory. You're right on time." He hugged his granddaughter then turned to Jess. "Ah, and you must be Jess. It's nice to meet you." He held his hand out.
Rory shot Jess a 'be nice' look so he grasped Richard's hand and shook it. "You too, Mr. Gilmore"
"Please, call me Richard."
He nodded. "Richard."
"Now, my granddaughter tells me that you're here to look at my books."
"Then I guess that's why we're here."
"Why don't you come into my study, so I can show you my collection."
"Okay."
Rory watched Richard walk back into his study then smiled at Jess. "He likes you."
"Well don't sound so shocked. I'm a very likable person."
"I know. But he usually doesn't like any of the guys me and Mom bring over."
"That's just because you never brought me over."
She smiled. "Come on. These are the only books you're gonna get to look at all day so make the most of it."
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Richard, Rory and Jess were sitting around the desk, looking at the books they had taken off the shelf. "When Rory told me that you read more than her, I thought she was exaggerating."
"Nope" Rory said. "He's constantly taking my books even if he's read them fifty and writing notes in the margins."
"He writes in your books?"
"Just his thoughts and interpretations." She picked up her purse and pulled Howl out of it. "Here."
He opened the book and read what Jess had written. "Wow." He closed the book and handed it back to Rory. "That's an impressive thought." He told Jess, before looking at his watch. "Oh, it's already quarter to five. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes." He stood up and shook Jess's hand. "Jess, it was nice to meet you." He took a book out of his desk and handed it to him. "That's a first edition. Think of it as a gift for whatever it is you two are celebrating." He turned to Rory. "I'll see you on Friday."
"Bye Grandpa." She gave him a quick hug then he picked up his briefcase and ran out the door.
Jess flipped through the book Richard gave him. "Huh"
"What?" Rory asked.
He turned the book around so she could see the inside front cover.
She leaned forward so she could see what was written there. "Wow. Is that a signature?"
"Yep."
"I didn't know he had that." She smiled. "He seems to really like you."
"I told you, I'm very likable."
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Lorelai's jaw dropped when a huge motor home stopped in front of the inn. "What the hell is that?"
"That is my 'over one hundred thousand dollars in cash and prizes' and it wasn't supposed to arrive for two more days."
A man stepped out of the motor home and looked around. "Is Michel Gerard here?"
"Yes." Michel said.
He handed Michel the keys to the motor home. "Well, Michel Gerard, I am pleased to present you with your motor home. Step on inside and I'll show you how everything works."
Lorelai turned to Michel. "This can not be here. Get rid of it."
"I don't even want it. I was going to sell it. I had two more days."
"Okay, sir." She said to the guy that delivered it. "Could I, uh, pay you to just take this away for an hour? You know, drive it around, show it the sights?"
"Sorry it's out of my hands."
"Alright, uh, Sookie go get Paris."
"Paris?"
"Yes. Go." She turned to Hal. "If we get this thing out of here can you still get the shots?"
"I don't know. We're losing light. You have to get rid of it immediately."
"Okay, no problem." She looked at the door and saw Paris come outside. "Paris!"
"What do you want? I was on the phone with your suppliers."
"Sorry, but I need this thing gone." She pointed to the motor home.
"I don't know how to drive that thing."
"No but that guy does." She gestured to the guy who dropped it off. "And he won't move it."
She nodded and took the keys from Michel. "Hey, you!" She yelled as she walked towards him. "Move this piece of crap."
"Hey, I delivered the keys. That means it's not my problem anymore."
Lorelai watched Paris for another minute before sighing in relief as the guy climbed into the motor home and drove away. "Okay, the light's still good?"
Hal looked around. "It'll take a couple minutes for the dust to settle, but we should be okay."
"Thank God."
Paris walked over and stopped in front of Michel. "They're gonna send you the full cash value plus another thousand for the trouble in two days."
He threw his arms around her. "I love you."
Lorelai laughed at the glare Paris shot her. "Okay." She put her arms around their shoulders and led them towards the porch. "Let's go inside so Hal here can take his pictures. And Michel, if you ever, ever pull something like that again, I will kill you."
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Rory and Jess sat in the car outside the elder Gilmore's house. "I didn't actually make any plans after this." Rory told him. "We did the breakfast and the presents and we saw The Graduate and we looked through my grandpa's books and that was the extent of my plans."
"Why don't we just go back to Stars Hollow? We could go to Luke's or watch another movie or something."
"But it's your day. We're supposed to be celebrating."
"Rory it's after five. We've been celebrating all day."
She sighed dramatically. "Fine. But let the record show that I wanted to celebrate some more."
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Rory stopped the car in front of her house and turned to Jess. "I'm ready to talk…or listen now."
He opened the door and got out of the car. "C'mon." He walked onto the porch and leaned against the railing.
She stood next to him and waited for him to speak.
"I'm sorry. I know it's too late for that, but you deserve to hear it. And you were right. Everything you said to me the day you graduated. You were right. I should have talked to you. I should've let you help me. I should've let you in. But I couldn't. Because I didn't want to get hurt." He ran a hand through his hair. "God damn it, Rory. I wasn't supposed to be this person. I wasn't supposed to need you like this. I wasn't supposed to fall in love."
She really had no idea what to say to that so she just took a step towards him and pressed her lips against his.
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A/N: You guys are really slacking with the reviews. I'm gonna cry. I update as soon as I finish my chapters and I get nothing. I feel so slighted. But on a slightly nicer note, I'd love some suggestions on what to name that building. Thanks. Oh and I noticed that no one commented on it, so the first person to tell me what the all chapter names have in common will be congratulated.
