Chapter 12- Explaining
"I am sorry…""What for? Did something happen while you were gone?"
"No. For before. For all the stuff I put you thru the last time. For all the stunts I pulled and the way I treated you. For leaving. For everything."
"It's ok, baby…" She mimicked his earlier term of endearment, not knowing what else to say. It had been a long time since she had seen him so vulnerable. No walls, no masks, nothing to hide behind. Just…him. She kissed him softly before continuing "As long as it doesn't happen again." She smiled and watched him smile as well. "Never."
They stood there, in each other's arms for a few minutes until Rory broke the silence.
"Jess, you know that the whole town is watching us right now and I think that Kirk is taking pictures."
"Then let's give them something to gossip about for the whole week." He smirked and kissed her again, more passionately then before.
"Now let's go before someone comes after me with a pitchfork."
They started walking slowly, holding hands.
"So where are we going?"
"I'm taking you home."
"What? Why?"
"You have to talk to your mom."
"But we'll just fight again."
"I have a feeling you won't."
"I'm confused…"
"She'll explain."
"Okay…" she trailed off a bit. They continued to walk in silence, until they got close to her house. Rory stood and looked at the door, hesitant.
"I don't want to go inside."
"I know you don't but the sooner you talk to her, the sooner you'll make up."
"But…"
"No buts. Go in there, talk to her, eat junk, watch movies, paint each other's fingernails or whatever else you do. It will be ok."
"I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Sure. I have to go to New Haven again in the morning but after that I'm free."
"Lunch at Luke's?"
"Sounds good. Now go inside."
"Ok. Bye."
"Bye."
She kissed him and walked to the porch, standing for a few moments watching him leave before opening the door. She looked around the living room for her mother but didn't find her so she went in the kitchen, where Lorelai was sitting at the table, drinking coffee. Rory poured a cup for herself and sat on the chair in front of her.
"Hi, mom."
"Hey, kid."
They looked at each other until Lorelai decided to break the silence.
"I'm sorry about how I reacted, Rory. I just...heard his name and something snapped inside my head and alarms started ringing and I went into mom-mode. I don't want you to get hurt again, that's all."
"I know. I'm sorry I yelled, too."
"Call it even. Now how about we start again and you tell mommy all about this and mommy promises not to let her head explode again, ok?"
Rory smiled. "Ok. What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
"Well, that's very specific."
"Ok, I'll try to narrow it down a little. First of all tell me why did you call him?"
"I don't know. It made sense at the time. But he helped…a lot. If he hadn't been there I would have done something really stupid."
"Wow! You mean Jess actually helped someone?"
"Mom!" Rory warned her.
"Sorry, the sarcasm has left the building. It might sneak in one in a while, you know, because the windows are open but it's not my fault. I'll be waiting with the broom to kick it out."
"Do we own a broom?"
"Not the point. Carry on."
"So he came, we talked, we fell asleep, he punched Logan, we kissed …"
"Slow down there, kid! He punched Logan?"
"Logan was being a jerk and he tried to call me the b-word."
"A bottle? A box? I know, I know, a broom!"
"A bitch. Actually I believe his exact words were 'stupid bitch'."
"That bastard! I knew there had to be something wrong with him if my parents liked him!"
"It's not entirely his fault. The situation wasn't exactly peachy-rose but he should have listened."
"Yes, he should have. But Rory, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lorelai got up and walked to the fridge and opened it.
"I was afraid of your reaction."
"But I was so calm, understanding and mature about it! Want a cookie or something that smells funny but isn't expired yet? Oh, wait…it's June so it expired a month ago…Cookie?"
"Yes, very calm, mature and understanding. Do you need me to remind you of your earlier Emily-moment?"
"I did sound like my mother, didn't I?" She sat back down at the table, with the box of cokies in on hand and the coffee pot in the other and filled both cups. "I just want you to be happy, kid. And I don't think that Jess I is the guy that can make that happen but I guess that's not for me to decide."
"He makes me happy. He really does. Ok, my turn to ask a question?"
"As long as it's not 'were do babies come from'! You should know that by now."
"Nope, I already know they grow in trees. What's with the sudden change of heart? I was expecting another reenactment of a scene from "The Young and the Restless"."
"Well while you were out your not-so-charming Prince-Charming came by to save you from the wrath of the big bad witch. I'm sorry for all the story-like references but 'Sleeping beauty' was on earlier so I'm stuck in the magic kingdom right now."
"So that explains why you're babbling about brooms! And what did he say?"
"He talked, which I suppose was a completely new experience for him, I threatened to kill him, which wasn't at all unusual. He apologized and I'm trying to believe him or at least to hide my homicidal-tendencies because I don't want to fight with you about this. We're not going to be best friends or get matching tattoos anytime soon but I can't stop your relationship so I'm not going to try. But if he was lying and he dares to hurt you again I'm sure he'll get an Oscar for his heart-warming performance and several broken bones, deep cuts, missing body-parts and a few strange pointy metal objects stuck in his skull."
"No 'I love Rory' tattoos? I'm sad now and I want that cookie."
"Here you go." She handed her the box. "But if it will make you feel better I'm sure I can carve that into his forehead with one of my big fancy knives that I never use. A perfect bonding moment. They should make Hallmark cards: 'Want to show your love? Carve her name into your forehead!'. I'll be rich."
"That's a nice offer but I'll pass. I'd rather not visit you in jail."
"But I look so pretty in orange!"
"I'm sure Big-Momma Aileen will think so too."
"Yes, but my mother will go crazy when I introduce her to my new wife!"
"Do I have to call her mommy too?"
"I think she prefers Love-Machine."
"But won't Luke be jealous?"
"He'll just have to understand that nothing can come between me and my one true love."
"Ok….So I guess tonight's movie is 'Monster'?"
"It should have been but I already rented 'Thelma and Louise', 'Fight Club' and 'Legends of the fall'?"
"What's with the Brad Pitt theme? Not that I mind."
"I finally have my chance now that he's broken up with Jennifer so I thought that I should catch up on all the different hair-styles, you know, in case he needs my help. No one wants another big hair-long beard phase."
The girls started giggling and went to watch the movies.
A/N: Again I am sorry for the long wait but my brother came to town and all Hell generally broke loose this week. Adding that to my severe case of writer's block and my long break in updating should be understanble (at least I hope it will be).Thank you for all your reviews and all the nice things you said.