Chapter 18- Meds, toys and interruptions

Later that evening, at Luke's:

They entered the diner that had been taken over by the usual dinner rush and sat at the counter, not saying a word about the earlier events. The whole car ride had been unusually quiet and now the silence was still there. After they sat down, Luke came and gave Lorelai a quick peck on the lips over the counter, before placing two cups in front of them.

"You're here early. How was dinner?"

"Dinner didn't happen. Drinks where, how ever, quite eventful and loud."

"Why?"

"Uh…I'll explain later. Can you bring us some coffee and something to eat?"

"Sure…what will you have?"

"Can you make pancakes?"

"At this time? You realize it's almost 8 o'clock, right?"

"Well, pancakes are very appropriate food to eat at 8."

"8 in the morning, not at night."

"It's 8 in the morning somewhere on this planet. Just imagine we're in that time zone. Now, scoot-scoot…pancakes wait for no man!"

Luke looked at Rory and filled her coffee cup.

"Is she off her meds?"

"She's not taking anything."

"Maybe she should."

"She's your girlfriend, you try and talk her into it."

"What do you want to eat? And please don't say omelet, or any other breakfast food."

"Nope…just some fries and a cheeseburger."

"Coming right up!"

He turned to enter the kitchen but Lorelai leaned over the counter and grabbed his sleeve, stopping him.

"You didn't give me any coffee!"

"You don't need any coffee…you're already worse then the energizer bunny!"

"But, Luuukee…My mother yelled at me…I deserve coffee. And what would pancakes be without it?"

"Who said I'm making you pancakes?"

"The fact that I'm a customer means that you get me what I ask for, or I go find another establishment that provides better service." She lifted an eyebrow and smiled. "Dirty!"

"Mom, you realize you just dirty-ed yourself?"

"Well, you're way too out of it to do it and Luke never pays any attention to what I say so I had to resort to desperate measures."

"I think you should seriously start to consider those meds."

"Never!" She looked at Luke who was standing, watching them and smiled when he started to pour her coffee. "Thank you."

"One cup…that's it." He said and left for the kitchen. Five minutes later he came out, carrying two plates and set them in front of the girls. Rory looked up from her coffee cup at which she had been starring since he left.

"Hey, Luke…have you seen Jess?"

"Sure…he's upstairs."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Thanks." She got up and bolted behind the curtain, leaving her plate and cup on the counter.

"Rory, what about…" Luke started saying but before he could get to the end of the sentence she was already gone. "Your food…"

"Forget it…Just put it in a bag to go."

He picked the plate and put the burger and the fries in a plastic container, placing it in one of the brown paper bags, then putting the bag next to the cash register "Now what exactly happened at dinner?"

Upstairs…

Rory opened the door and looked around, seeing Jess lying on his old bed, reading. She walked there and lied down next to him.

"Hey."

He put the book on the nightstand and kissed her temple gently, wrapping his arm around her.

"I'm guessing dinner went bad if you're here so early."

"Very bad…"

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"Can we wait 'til tomorrow? I don't feel like reliving the experience right now."

"Sure…"

"What are you doing here?"

"I talked to Luke earlier, about me moving here for a while and he agreed so I decided to just stay here…TJ was driving me crazy."

"What did he do?"

"He was being TJ…he lost his Mr. Potato Head doll, he tied his slinky around his neck again…the usual."

"Because every grown man owns a slinky."

"He does. You should have seen how excited he was when he first saw the insides of his Etch-A-Sketch."

"Like a kid on Christmas morning, I assume."

"Worse…he ran thru the house yelling and screaming and showing me that thing like it had turned to gold. He's lucky I didn't club him to death with it."

She laughed and moved closer to him, cuddling against his body.

"Thank you for making me feel better."

He kissed her forehead, tucking away a strand of her hair.

"Anytime."

Meanwhile, downstairs:

"So, Rory yelled at her grandmother?"

"Yup."

"Wow…that's just…wow. She yelled at Emily because of Jess."

"You're slow today."

"I'm still processing…I didn't think she had it in her."

"She is my daughter after all."

"Yeah but still…Wow."

"And very repetitive."

"Keep that up and you won't get any more coffee."

"How dare you blackmail me? You are so not getting any tonight, buster!" She replied, pointing a finger at him, a playful smile on her lips.

"She sounds serious, uncle Luke."

They both turned around and saw Jess and Rory standing behind them, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Lorelai was the first one to react.

"So, feeling better, kid?"

Rory smiled and looked at the man next to her. "Much."

"Where are you headed?"

"Going to see a movie and then home."

"Ok, don't stay up too late. Busy day tomorrow."

"Another shopping trip planned out?"

"You know me too well. I guess I'll see you at home then. Don't forget your food." She handed them the paper bag.

"Thanks. Bye, mom."

"Bye."

Jess nodded a quick goodbye and they walked out of the crowded diner, ignoring the stares and the whispers that accompanied them. Once they got out, they headed towards the movie theater, walking slowly.

"Do you think they'll ever get used to us?"

"Who?"

"The townspeople, my grandma…everybody."

"Give them time and they will."

"You sure about that?"

"Nope…but in the worst case scenario we can always run away to Canada."

"Sounds like a plan." She rested her head on his shoulder, sneaking her arm around him.

Two hours, a ton of junk food and a movie later they walked out of the 'Black, white and read' and headed towards her house.

"I can't believe we made it thru two hours of Kirk commenting on every line of 'Night of the living dead'."

"Oh, come on…you have to admit that seeing him hide behind the couch every time the zombies appeared on screen was fun."

"Ok, that was fun. But his comments were annoying."

"I think poor Kirk will have nightmares all night. I hope his screams don't wake up his mother."

He stopped walking and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her.

"Have you talked to your mother about coming with me to Philadelphia?"

"Yep."

"And what did she say?"

"That I can go as long as I find out embarrassing stories about you from your friends."

"And if you don't?"

"I'll probably have to make up some." She laughed and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. They stood like that for a few minutes until a voice interrupted them.

"So, you're back with this jerk now?"

A/N: First off, I have to say how sorry I am for making you wait this long but in between doctors and tests I couldn't focus on writing. Everything is better now so I hope I'll have the chapter up pretty soon. Second…sorry for the little cliffy. Third: I didn't run this past Cat for BETA-ing so I'm sorry for any mistakes. I just wanted to post it as soon as I was done with the editing. Fourth: Thank you for the reviews and I really hope you're not too mad at me for the long wait.