Chapter 3

Friday night soon came and Luke, Lorelai, Jess and Rory were all stood outside the Gilmore Mansion. Rory was excited to have Jess meet her grandparents while Lorelai was dreading the night.

"Is noone going to ring the doorbell?" Luke said.

"No, the more time we spend out here, the less time we have in there." Lorelai said.

Rory rolled her eyes and rang the doorbell.

"Traitor!" Lorelai said.

A maid answered the door and told them that Emily and Richard were in the living room so they went through.

"Grandma, Grandpa!" Rory smiled and went to hug them.

They smiled at their grandparents and said hello back.

"Grandma, Grandpa, this is Jess." She smiled.

Richard shook his hand while Emily looked on disapprovingly. "It's nice to meet you Jess. Although I am surprised you're not a girl." She said.

"Should I be offended?" Jess said looking bemused at Rory.

Rory just laughed. "Jess and I have been friends ever since he's moved in with Luke which is pretty much how long we've known Luke." She told them.

"Jess lives with Luke?" Emily asked.

"Yeh he's Luke's nephew." Rory smiled.

"I see." She said.

"Um earth to parents, two other people stood here." Lorelai said.

"Of course we saw you Lorelai. Stop being dramatic." Emily said. She then looked at Luke. "Nice to see you again Luke." She said obviously not meaning it.

"You too Mrs Gilmore. Mr Gilmore." He said.

"Oh please call me Emily."

"And call me Richard." Richard said holding out his hand again.

They all sat down.

"So Luke, Lorelai says you own a diner?" Richard asked.

"Yeh it used to be my dad's hardware shop." Luke said.

"I've heard horrible stories about diner food. Like them selling roadkill." Emily said.

"Um well there's no roadkill at my diner." Luke said uncomfortably.

"And Jess, do you work at the diner too?" Emily asked sweetly.

"Yep." Jess said, not liking her insults.

"I'm assuming you go to school too, where do you go?" She asked.

"Mom..." Lorelai tried to interrupt.

"I'm only asking Lorelai. You know, Rory goes to Chilton." She said condescendingly.

"I know." Jess said, not making it easy for her.

"So where do you go?" Emily asked getting annoyed.

"A school." He said.

"Jess..." Luke warned.

"He goes to Chilton, Grandma. Like me." Rory said.

Emily was shocked. "Really? But that school is expensive and a highly respected school."

Jess snorted. "Yeh I guess they let me in because they felt sorry for me." He said sarcastically.

Lorelai hid a smirk. She was angry at her mom's insults but she knew Jess could stand his own.

"So where's you mother, Jess?" Emily asked.

"Emily..." Richard interrupted. "Stop hounding the boy."

"I'm only asking. Isn't it a bit odd that he lives with his uncle? Surely Luke can't provide everything you need in a diner apartment?" She said.

Jess frowned. Even Rory was getting annoyed now. "Luke's all I need." Jess said, looking at Luke.

"Yes I can assure you that Jess has everything he needs." Luke said.

Before the conversation could go any further, the maid came in to say dinner was ready so they went and sat down at the table, Luke and Lorelai on one side and Jess and Rory on the other.

"So Jess what are your plans for after school? You know Rory is bound for Harvard." Emily continued her interrogation.

"I know and she'll get in no problem." Jess said sending Rory a smile.

"So what are your plans?"

"I don't want to go to college. I want to become a writer." He said.

"Do you read a lot?" Richard asked.

"Oh yeh dad, Rory and Jess have a contest on who can read the most books." Lorelai joked.

"Really? What do you like to read?" Richard asked genuinely interested, causing Emily to frown.

"Hemmingway, sir." Jess replied, liking Richard.

"Well he's a great author." Richard said.

Jess smirked. "Try and tell Rory that."

"Don't get met started on Hemmingway!" Rory said.

"But Rory, he's a brilliant writer." Richard insisted.

Jess gave Rory a triumphant look.

"So Luke..." Emily started.

"Round two..." Lorelai said quietly.

"How come Jess is living with you?" She asked.

"Mom, that's personal." Lorelai said.

"It's a simple question. Surely a diner isn't the best place to raise a child?"

"It was hard but we've managed all right." Luke said.

Lorelai squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile.

"But why is Jess living with you?"

"Because my mom's a waste of space!" Jess said.

"Jess..." Luke said.

"No, I'm sorry but she is! My mom couldn't be bothered to look after me so she sent me to Luke's." Jess said.

"I see." Emily said.

"Mom can I talk to you please in the other room?" Lorelai said.

"We're in the middle of dinner."

"It'll only take a minute." Lorelai said getting up and leaving the room.

Emily sighed and followed her daughter.

"Mom what the hell was that? You can't ask questions like that. They're personal!" Lorelai said angrily.

"They were simple questions Lorelai. I don't like that kid. He shouldn't be round Rory." Emily said.

"Why mom? Jess is a great kid. Him and Rory have been best friends for years!" Lorelai snapped.

"He's brought up in a diner with..." She stopped what she was saying.

"With who mom? Luke?" Lorelai said angrily. "You know Luke found it tough but he didn't give up. He gave that kid everything he needed and turned him into the great kid he is today. Why can't you let me be happy?"

"Because you're constantly not making good choices. You could do much better!"

"What, like Christopher? Chris left mom! He chose not to be much of a part of Rory's life! I love Luke! And whatever you say isn't going to stop me seeing him." She said.

"Fine." Emily said stiffly.

"Good." Lorelai said and walked back to the dining room. She was amused by the sight she saw. Her dad and Jess were having a big debate about books with Rory adding her own opinions. She went and sat down next to Luke and reached for his hand. "You ok?" She asked.

"Yeh you?" He asked.

"Yeh I will be." Lorelai forced a smile.

"So Rory, how's school going for you?" Emily asked brightly coming back into the room.

"Fine." Rory said. She didn't like how her grandma had treated Jess or Luke.

"It must be more than fine." Emily said.

"No it's fine." Rory said turning back to the other conversation.

Emily was shocked. Why was Rory mad at her?

Soon dinner was over and everyone said their goodbyes.

"Oh my god..." Lorelai groaned as they got to the car. She turned to Jess. "I'm sorry about my mom. She shouldn't have asked those questions." She said.

"It's fine. It's not your fault."

"It was personal and she was out of order. I told her that." Lorelai said.

"Honestly it's fine. I haven't needed my mom. I have Luke and..well you." He said.

Lorelai smiled a bit at that. "Thanks kid. Let's go back and have a movie night." She said.

Everyone laughed and went back to the Crap Shack.

Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! :)