Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author's Note:
I know, I know, please don't kill me. I know I'm a horrible person. I never thought that the first semester in college would keep me that busy and I wouldn't be able to update for months. I'm in the middle of exam preparation right now and really really wanted to update.
Right now this chapter is not proofread yet, but I will post it again as soon as I get the proofread version. I just didn't want to let you guys wait even longer.
I hope you're still with me. And I hope the waiting has been worth the while.
On with the story:
ENJOY
Previously on Family Matters And a New Twist in Life
Rory heard the faint sounds of Coldplay coming out of the room next to her. She stepped closer and took a deep breath when she saw Jess reading on his bed through the opening of the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 'Now or never,' she thought to herself.
"Come in," Jess said but didn't look up from his book.
"Hey, Jess." Rory said softly and stepped into the doorframe.
"Rory," Jess said surprised and put his book down.
"Can I come in?" She asked him and gestured towards his room.
"Oh yeah, sure." He said and got up from his bed. "Come on in."
"Thanks," she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
"So…" Jess said after a few awkward moments of complete silence.
"So…" Rory replied casting her eyes around the room avoiding his eyes.
Chapter 22"Do you, uh, do you want to sit down?" Jess asked her gesturing towards his bed.
"Uh, yeah sure." Rory replied and sat down on the bed while Jess sat down beside her.
After a few more uncomfortable moments of not speaking both of them started at the same time.
"Jess." Rory said, turning her body towards him.
"Rory." Jess said at the same time facing her as well.
"You go first." Rory said.
Jess nodded. "How have you been?"
"Pretty good, college is keeping me really busy. But I really like it. You?"
"I'm alright. I, uh, I'm taking some courses at NYU."
Rory nodded simply until Jess's words really sunk in. "Did you say you're going to NYU?"
"Yep."
"How, I mean…"
"I went back to High School in California and got my diploma. I guess Luke's constantly bugging sunk in at some point."
"Wow, that's great, Jess! I'm really happy for you! Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's alright."
"What are you majoring in?"
"Journalism." Jess told her in a quiet voice.
Rory looked at him surprised. "Wow, how come?"
"Well you know I can do what I like most. Read a lot of stuff, talk about it and write about it. I guess I wanna get a job at a paper or become a writer or something. I don't really know yet."
"That's really great, Jess. I think that really fits you."
"I guess." Jess nodded and took a deep breath. "Rory, I want to apologize about the way I behaved the last time I came to see you. I shouldn't have asked you to run away with me."
"Jess…"
"No. It was really stupid of me to just burst in and ask to leave everything behind and come with me. I'm really sorry."
"I know. I'm not mad at you. I was at first, but I'm not anymore."
"Really?" Jess said surprised.
"Yeah," Rory nodded.
"So," Jess broke the silence again. "What did you want to say?"
"Oh, uh, I wanted to ask you if we could start all over again. As friends, I mean." Rory quickly added to her statement. "My mom and Luke really seem to be getting serious and because of that we're probably gonna see each other more in the future, and…"
"Rory…" Jess tried to interrupt her babbling.
"It would be really awkward if we didn't speak to each other. I mean, maybe we're even gonna be related someday, and…"
"Rory," Jess said a little louder this time.
"Yeah?" Rory stopped and looked up at him.
"I'd love to be friends with you."
Rory let out deep sigh. "Good, I'm glad."
"Good, me too. Soo your mom and Luke, huh?"
"Yeah." Rory nodded, looking around the room.
"About time."
"What?" Rory looked up surprised.
"Oh, come on. It was totally obvious that they had a thing for each other the whole time. It's about time that they finally admitted it."
Rory had to laugh at that. "Yeah, you're right."
"Luke is really happy, you know?" Jess told her sincerely.
"I know, so is my mom. I've never seen either of them so happy before."
"Rory, dinner's ready." Luke yelled from downstairs.
Rory gestured towards the door. "I should…"
"Yeah, go. You gotta be hungry." Jess told her with a smirk.
"Kinda." Rory admitted. "Are you coming?"
"Nah, I'll stay here and read a little more."
"Ok," Rory nodded and walk outside and downstairs into the dining room.
"This smells great, Luke." Rory told him when she got into the kitchen.
"I hope it does, 'cause it's your favorite." He told her putting down the plate in front of her after she had sat down at the table in the kitchen.
Rory thanked him and started eating like she hadn't for days.
"Gee, slow down, Rory, there's plenty enough for you." Luke told her shaking his head.
"Sorry, it's just that I haven't eaten anything since this morning cause I had to finish some stuff for the paper. And when I was done with my work, there was nothing left in the cafeteria."
"Well, just slow down a little or you're gonna feel sick later."
"Hey, someone seems to be very hungry here." Lorelai commented as she walked into the kitchen.
"Geez, could you guys please concentrate on something other than my eating habits."
"Sure," Lorelai grinned and sat down in Luke's lap.
"Don't even think about it," Luke told her when she started to lean into him.
Lorelai pouted. "You guys are no fun," she said and got off of Luke's lap. "I'm gonna go upstairs." She bent down and pecked Luke on the lips. "See ya in a couple of minutes."
"I'm gonna clean up a little before I'll come upstairs." Luke told her.
"Night, babe." Lorelai kissed Rory on her head.
"Night, mom." Rory answered chewing on her burger.
"Very attractive."
"Shush," Rory said and focused back on her burger and fries.
"The amount of love in this house is unbelievable." Lorelai said and walked towards the stairs.
"So," Luke said, clearing his throat.
Rory looked up waiting for him to continue.
"Did you talk to Jess, yet?"
"Yeah," Rory nodded.
"Anything specific?" Luke asked carefully, not sure how to approach the topic.
Rory took a sip of her coke. "He told me about everything."
"He did?"
"Yep, he did."
"Good, I mean, not that it's any of my business…"
"It's ok, Luke, I get what you mean." Rory said squeezing his forearm.
"Good. I just …"
"I know thanks."
Rory knew how uncomfortable Luke was with talks like that, and she really appreciated that he still wanted to talk to her about stuff like that.
Luke got up and placed Rory's dishes in the sink. "Why don't you go and get some sleep, you gotta be pretty tired.
"Yeah, I am," she started yawning. "You should go to bed as well, Luke. It's pretty late already. Tell mom to be quiet." She said grinning at him.
Luke blushed slightly, "Uhuh."
When Luke went upstairs, Lorelai was lying in bed reading with her glasses on. Luke stood in the doorway and watched her for a couple of seconds.
Lorelai looked up from her book and smiled at him. "Like what you're seeing?"
Luke smiled and replied, "Very". He crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her on his stomach.
"I look old with my glasses."
Luke shook his head. "No, you don't. You look different with them, but in a good way."
"How come?"
"I don't know, you just do. You look cute with them."
"And otherwise I don't?" Lorelai said trying to act offended.
"No, I just meant…", he started, but Lorelai silenced him with a long kiss.
"I know what you meant, hon, I'm just teasing you. It was nice to tell me that I don't look old."
"You don't look old, you look more beautiful with each day." Lorelai leaned forward again and placed a few soft kisses on Luke's lips, while gently placing her hand on his cheek."
"I'll be right back", Luke told her when they separated, and got up to get ready for bed, while Lorelai went back to reading her book.
After a couple more minutes Luke came out of the bathroom and got under the covers next to Lorelai. Lorelai put her book on the nightstand along with her glasses and cuddled herself against Luke's body, who put his arm around her entwining their fingers with his other hand.
"We haven't done this in a long time," Lorelai said after a couple of minutes of silence.
"Done what?"
"This," Lorelai said, "just lying in bed together at night, cuddling."
"True."
"Hey, Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"I like being here."
"Me, too."
"I mean, not just here with you right now, but also here in Maine, spending Thanksgiving with you and Rory and your family."
"I know what you mean. I mean as much as I'd like to kill TJ about once a day, I kinda missed spending the holidays with the family. After my mom died, my dad never really wanted to celebrate any holidays, and after he had died, Liz was gone and I didn't really see the point in celebrating by myself."
"But now, you're here with your family."
"And you and Rory."
"And me and Rory."
"And that's all that matters to me."
Lorelai was silent for a couple of minutes. "Do you miss you're parents?" She asked Luke, looking up at him.
Luke looked down at her. "Yeah, sometimes." He said in a quiet voice.
Lorelai sensed that he didn't feel comfortable talking about his parents. "Sorry that I brought this up. I was just curious."
Luke kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to his body. "No, you don't have to apologize about it. I know that I don't talk about them much, but I want you to know about them."
"I'd like to know more about them."
"I miss them during the holidays, you know. Thanksgiving and Christmas always were my mom's favorite holidays. She would usually start decorating the house a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and she spent hours in the kitchen cooking. I loved watching her. She always had a smile on her face and she was always singing to herself. I mean, not that she wasn't a happy person throughout the rest of the year, but that's when she was really happy. The food always was amazing, and the house had this wonderful smell to it. I loved Thanksgiving and Christmas when I was a kid."
"So that's why you hate holidays." Lorelai said gently stroking his chest.
"I don't hate holidays, it's just not the same anymore, you know. I guess I kinda took on my dad's attitude after my mom died. He pretty ignored all the holidays when she wasn't with us anymore. It just hurt him too much, and it hurt me to see him like that. When my dad died, Liz had already moved out with Jess, and I never saw the point in celebrating the holidays without anyone else to celebrate with." Luke told her with glazy eyes.
"I'm so sorry, babe." She said leaning up to kiss him softly.
"No, don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry about anymore. I already told you that this is pretty much all I could wish for right now. I have a beautiful girlfriend, who has a beautiful daughter, and I have my family to celebrate the holidays with. I couldn't wish for anything else." Luke leaned down again and kissed her softly, pulling her even closer to him, so she was almost lying on top of him.
"I love you." Lorelai told him when they parted.
"I love you." He replied gently caressing her back with his fingertips.
"I want this to be a happy time for you again. We should start our own tradition."
"And what would that be?" Luke asked her.
Lorelai furrowed her brows and thought for a couple of seconds. "Mhmm, I don't know yet. I can't think straight at such a late hour, but I'll think of something tomorrow, I promise."
"Alright, I guess that would be kinda nice."
"Really?" Lorelai asked beaming.
"Yeah, really, but we should really get to sleep now. It's pretty late already, and I have a lot of cooking to do tomorrow."
"I could help you," she grinned up at him.
"We'll see about that."
"Ok," Lorelai replied and kissed him once more. "Good night, honey."
"Good night, Lore."
Lorelai turned around in his arms and snuggled against his chest with her back. Luke pulled her close to his body and entwined her fingers with after covering them with the sheets.
The next morning Lorelai woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes. She looked at the alarm clock and groaned. It said "9:28", which was pretty early regarding the fact that they didn't go to bed until late at night. She put on her bathrobe and crawled out of bed. Everything around her was pretty quiet in the hallway since the others were probably still sleeping. She walked downstairs into the kitchen and, where Luke was standing in front of the stove. He was making pancakes and scrambled eggs with bacon. Lorelai walked up behind him and snaked her arms around his waist from behind. Luke jumped slightly, because he hadn't heard her coming in, and turned around to face her.
"Jeez, Lorelai, you scared me half to death."
"Well, who else do you think is gonna greet you like that in the morning?"
Luke didn't turn in order not to grin at her like an idiot. "Well, now that you ask…"
Lorelai took a step back and looked at him suspiciously.
Luke still hadn't turned around to her, and Lorelai didn't think his reaction to be funny at all.
"What did you just say? Is there something you wanna tell me, Luke?"
Luke finally turned around to her and already regretted his little joke. "No of course not, honey."
"Don't honey me. Are you hiding something from me Luke?" she asked him again, her voice become slightly louder.
"What? No of course not, Lorelai. I was just kidding." He said taking a step towards her, but Lorelai took a step back.
"Oh really? I don't think this is funny, Luke. That's nothing to joke about." She said her voice only above a whisper now. She looked at him with a sad expression and turned towards the window.
Luke walked up behind her and touched her shoulder. "Lorelai, please, you know I'm not serious."
Lorelai flinched under his touch and kept staring out the window. "Well, I don't like it when you joke about something like that." She turned around to him and looked into his eyes.
Luke saw tears glistening in her eyes. "Lorelai what's going on? Why are you so upset about this?" He asked taking a step towards her. "Come here. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to upset you. I was kidding, you know I would never hurt you on purpose." He pulled her into his arms, and this time she didn't pull away.
"I know. I'm sorry; I don't know why I freaked out like this. I guess I'm just in PMS mood." A single tear rolled down her cheek and Luke gently brushed it away with his thumb.
"I shouldn't have freaked out like this. It's just…"
"What?" Luke asked her, tilting her chin up so he could look into her eyes.
"Nothing. I don't even wanna think about what I would do if you found someone else. I don't…"
"Lorelai stop. Don't continue this thought. There's absolutely no reason for you to think anything like that. I could never hurt you. I could never leave you, do you hear me?" He asked her looking straight into her eyes.
Lorelai nodded while another tear made it's way down her cheek, which Luke brushed away again.
"I'm really sorry I started this. I'm not as good with jokes as you are."
"You're definitely not." Lorelai said smiling at him through her tears.
"Do you think I would have waited for you for almost ten years to finally see me if I wasn't dead serious about us. I love you more than anything, Lorelai."
Lorelai smiled at him. "No I guess not. I love you too." She told him and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down for a tender kiss. He kissed her back with as much love as he could put into a single kiss, hoping that it would underline his feelings for her.
After a couple of soft kisses, Luke rested his forehead against her and whispered to her, "we good?"
"Yes, we're good. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. If someone has to be sorry here, it's definitely me." Luke leaned back down again and captured her lips with his. They kept kissing for a while and where just about to deepen their kisses even further, when they heard someone clearing their throat in the kitchen entryway.
"Well, well, if it isn't our two lovebirds."
"Shut up, TJ." Luke grunted at him not taking his eyes away from Lorelai.
Lorelai giggled slightly to which Luke only rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, man. I mean I just came down here because I smelled the food, you know? I couldn't by any chance know that the two of you were getting at it in here. Which is my kitchen by the way, so technically, I have the right to come here any time I want."
"Leave them alone TJ." Liz said walking into the kitchen as well. "Sorry guys. Hey bro', why don't you just hand us two plates and we will have our breakfast out in the dining room.
"Gladly." Luke said to his sister. He put a little bit of everything on two plates and handed them to Liz, who dragged TJ into the dining room.
As soon as they had left the kitchen Luke turned towards Lorelai again. "Do you want some coffee."
"You know I'm not able to function properly with out my daily fix of your coffee."
"It's gonna kill you someday, that's the only thing it's gonna do to you."
"I know, I know, but at least I'll die happy."
"You could also do that without this liquid death." Luke said handing her a cup of coffee.
"Yeah, but what's the fun in that." She said grinning at him. "Hey how about some pancakes and bacon to go with my liquid death?" she asked him still grinning.
Luke just sighed and put some pancakes and bacon on two plates and put them down on the kitchen table, where they sat down and enjoyed their breakfast together, before Luke would start preparing everything for the Thanksgiving dinner.
About an hour later, Rory and Jess had come down and eaten some breakfast as well. Luke started to get out the things he would need for making dinner.
Lorelai walked up beside him, "Can I help you?"
Luke looked at her surprised. "You want to help me cook dinner for Thanksgiving?"
"Well I don't wanna just sit around and do nothing."
"Why don't you go out for a walk in the snow? You were so happy that we had so much snow here."
"I know, and I still am, but it's really cold out there."
"You're crazy."
"I know, so you don't want me helping me?"
"It's not that I don't want you to help me, you just never cook, and this is supposed to be eatable in the end."
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'm just gonna sit here and watch you do your thing."
Luke walked over to where she was sitting and pecked her gently on the lips. "Good, I actually like it when you're watching me cooking. And don't say 'dirty', I just like having you around me."
"I know, sweetie. Can I at least have another cup of coffee?" She asked with a smirk.
Luke rolled his eyes at her, but handed her a full cup without saying anything.
At that moment Liz walked in and joined Lorelai at the kitchen table.
"He doesn't want you to help him?" Liz asked Lorelai with a grin on her face.
"No." Lorelai pretended to pout.
"Yeah, well, don't worry it. I was never allowed to help on Thanksgiving, or any other meal for that matter. Holiday meals have always been his specialty."
"I know, I just don't want to sit around and do nothing." Lorelai told her taking another sip of her coffee."
"Well why don't we let him cook, and we girls go into the living room and chat a little."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Leave the men to the kitchen." Lorelai walked over to Luke and kissed him on the cheek. "Will you be ok in here all by yourself, my big strong man?"
"Lorelai…" Luke said in a warning tone. "Actually, could you send Jess in here? He can help me a little. That way he won't do anything stupid."
"I'll send him in." Liz told him.
"Thanks, sis."
Lorelai and Liz walked into the living room, each holding a cup of coffee, and sat down on the couch in front of the fire place.
"Jess, Luke wants you to help him in the kitchen." Liz told her son.
"Great." Jess said under his breath, put the book away he was reading, and walked into the kitchen to help his uncle.
"You know I think they kinda enjoy spending time together, even if neither of them wants to admit it." Liz said watching Jess walk away.
"I think you're right. I think Luke missed having Jess around after he had left. He doesn't really like to admit it, but I think he was glad that he didn't have to be all by himself in that apartment upstairs."
"Yeah, Jess enjoyed being with his uncle, too, although he would never admit it. They have a lot in common when it comes to showing feelings."
"I think they invented monosyllable man." Lorelai said laughing slightly and Liz joined her.
"Yeah, you're right. I really wish Jess would talk more to me."
"He will come around to it. Don't worry, just give it some time."
"I know," Liz sighed. "I think it was good that he spend some time with Luke in Stars Hollow. Luke's a really good guy. I don't know what I would have done without my brother at that time."
"You know he would do anything for his little sister. Even though he doesn't like to admit it, he would do anything for his family." Lorelai told her glancing towards the kitchen where Luke and Jess were now preparing dinner together.
"Well I know someone else he would do anything for…" Liz replied grinning.
"What do you mean?" Lorelai asked her.
"Are you kidding, Lorelai? I've never seen me brother like that. He's a totally different man ever since he had the guts to ask you out."
"You think?" Lorelai asked her, blushing a little.
"I know for sure. I've never seen him that happy before. He really loves you more than anyone else in the world. It seems to be going really well between the two of you, doesn't it?"
TBC...
AN2: So what do you think? I know that cliffhanger is a little mean, but I'm already writing on the next chapter which will not take a couple of months, but probably two or three weeks, depending on how studying works out.
So press that little button and tell me what you think, I know I am on the alert list of many many people, and I'd be more than happy to get many many reviews ;)