I know, I know! I'm so sorry for the delay! I've been crazy busy this week with moving out of my student house and then my cousin came from Canada with her 6 month old daughter so we had a family gathering so I've literally had no time to write! But I'm back now and here's the next chapter! :)

Chapter 13

It had been a hard week for the Danes family with preparations for Katherine's funeral but the day had finally come. Lorelai found Luke in their bedroom struggling with his tie. "Here, let me." She said going up to him and helping him.

"Thanks." Luke said gruffly.

Lorelai gave him a sympathetic smile. "Are you ready?" She asked.

"No." Luke said honestly.

"I don't think any of us are but like you said to the kids. We're in this together right?" Lorelai said. "I'm here for you. Whenever you need me today, just tell me." She said softly.

"Thanks." Luke said. He sighed and pulled Lorelai into a hug. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"It has been mentioned." Lorelai joked lightening the mood.

Luke chuckled. "I mean it though. I don't think I could have got through this week without you. You've been amazing. So thank you." He said softly.

"You don't need to thank me." Lorelai said. "But you're welcome."

Luke gave her a small smile. "Did I tell you that your mother rang yesterday?"

"She did?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"Yeah she wanted to make sure we were all ok. And that if we needed anything to let her or you father know." He said. "She was quite sweet really."

Lorelai smiled, touched by her mother's gesture. "That was nice of her."

Luke nodded. "She said they'd meet us at the church." He glanced at his watch. "We better get going. Are the kids ready?"

"Yeah they're all waiting downstairs with Liz." Lorelai nodded.

"Do you think it's right to take Katie and LJ? You don't think they're too young?" Luke said.

"Well Katie wanted to come. And wasn't Rory about Katie's age or even younger with your dad? Do you think it helped her going?" Lorelai asked.

"I guess it did." Luke agreed.

"She'll be fine. Rory and Jess have been explaining to her what will happen. We gave her the choice and she wanted to come." She said.

"Yeah.." Luke sighed.

"Don't worry about the kids. This might help LJ understand more and Katie will be ok." Lorelai gave him a small smile. "If it gets too much for them, we can bring them back here."

Luke nodded. "Ok."

"Ready?" Lorelai asked.

"Ready." He said and he followed Lorelai downstairs.

The church was packed with pretty much the whole town who had wanted to say goodbye to a very well liked member of Stars Hollow. Luke, Lorelai, Liz, Jess, Tristan and Rory were sat on the first row while Katie and LJ were sat behind them with Emily, Richard and Mia, who had flown back for the funeral.

Soon it was time for Luke's eulogy. Lorelai gave his hand a supportive squeeze as he stood up and went to the front. He glanced out at everyone and took a deep breath. "My mom was one of the kindest and sweetest women ever. She was an amazing mother, mother-in law, Grandma and friend. She always put everyone first as her family and friends meant the world to her. When my dad died, she stayed strong for me and for Rory..." He said, glancing up to find Rory in the first row who gave him a small smile. "His death devastated her but even then she was thinking of others. At least now, we can know for sure that they will be together again. Mom's probably already giving my dad a hard time." He said getting a chuckle from everyone. He took a deep breath and looked up to find Lorelai giving him an encouraging smile. He turned to the coffin. "Mom, I love you so much and I hope you now have some peace. Give dad my love. I will never forget either of you. You were the best parents I could ever have asked for so thank you." He went over to the coffin and placed his hand on it. "Bye mom." He choked out and then went back to sit down next to Lorelai who immediately took hold of his hand.

"Well done." She whispered, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Do you think they'll be ok?" Luke asked nodding to Rory and Jess who were making their way to the front.

"No but they need to do this. They wanted to do it." Lorelai said softly.

"Uh hi..." Rory started shakily. "Jess and I wanted to say something as well. We..uh..weren't there at the end but we wanted her to know how much she meant to us and we wanted to give her the send-off she deserved." Rory glanced up and sought out Tristan in the first row for confidence, blinking tears out of her eyes. "She was an amazing Grandma to both of us and to Katie and LJ. She was always there for us when we needed her and she always made sure we knew that and knew how much she loved us." Rory glanced over at the coffin. "When I was younger, Grandma used to take me to Grandpa's cabin and it made me feel closer to him. Now you're both together, Grandma, I promise I will keep going there. I'm going to miss you so much but I know you're happy now with Grandpa. I...I love you." She choked out, reaching out to take hold of Jess' hand for support.

Jess took the piece of paper from her. "As most of you know, Grandma took me in when I needed somewhere to live. She gave me a home full of love and fun and it made me feel wanted." He glanced up at his mother who was wiping tears from his face. "I know how happy she was when my mom got clean and came and got a house close to her. I was always so worried about what would happen after Grandma went but I know I'm not going to be alone." He said quietly, giving his mom and then Luke and Lorelai a small smile. "Like Rory said, she was an amazing Grandma and we just want her to know that we were so lucky to have her."

Everyone clapped as they made their way back to their seats, many wiping tears away from their cheeks.

Everyone gathered in the diner for Katherine's wake. Sookie had organised the food so that Luke didn't have to worry about it and for this once, he didn't protest. Rory was sat with Tristan and Lane at one table. She looked around and saw her mom and dad with Katie and LJ at another table, talking with various townspeople. She looked round the room to try and see where Jess had gone and she was surprised when she saw him hovering outside the curtain by the stairs to the apartment.

"How are you doing?" Tristan asked taking her out of her daze.

Rory gave her boyfriend a small smile. "I'm doing ok." She said.

"Good." Tristan said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Rory watched as Jess had apparently plucked up courage and had quickly disappeared behind the curtain.

"What is it?" Tristan asked following her gaze.

"Jess has gone upstairs." Rory said quietly.

"Oh." Tristan said understanding. "Has he been up since...?"

Rory shook her head. "None of us have." She said. She started getting up. "I should go make sure he's ok." She said.

"No. Let me." Tristan said. "I'll be right back."

Rory watched as Tristan quickly disappeared behind the curtain as well. She sat their for a few moments before having to get up and followed their lead. She paused outside the apartment door though as she heard Tristan and Jess talking.

Tristan found Jess stood in the middle of the apartment just staring around it. "Hey.." He said.

Jess looked round at him. "Hey.."

"You haven't been up since, have you? Rory said." Tristan said.

Jess shook his head. "It's silly isn't it? I've just not been able to."

"It's not silly." Tristan said. "You know, when my grandfather died, I found out he left me his collection of cars."

"Collection of cars?" Jess asked confused.

"He liked working on old cars and getting them to peak condition again. I used to help him quite a bit as well. We got so many cars working again." Tristan said. "He died last year and I still haven't been able to go back there to work on any of them." He admitted.

Jess sighed. "Does it get any better? How did you deal with it?"

"I didn't. After his funeral, I got so down. My parents were abroad a lot so I was left to do my own thing which usually ended with me going out and getting so drunk I couldn't even remember what had happened when I woke up the following morning." He admitted. He glanced at Jess. "Trust me, it just made me feel worse."

"Sorry." Jess said. He looked at Tristan for a moment. "So what made you change that? How did you start dealing with it?" She asked interested.

"I met Rory." He said honestly.

Rory froze outside the door and her heart skipped a beat as she listened to Tristan baring his soul to Jess. She knew he had found it hard but she didn't know how bad.

"That first day, when I saw her in my class, I knew she was different. I know I had a reputation with girls at that school but Rory intrigued me. She was different from all the other girls I had been with. She didn't even glance at me." Tristan said.

"She thought you were the most annoying person she'd ever met." Jess smirked.

Tristan chuckled. "Yeah I kind of noticed she wasn't my biggest fan at the beginning but that's what made me like her more. She made me feel like living again. Like there was something to live for." He admitted.

"Wow.." Jess said not having realised how much Rory had changed Tristan's life.

"When she told me about your Grandma, I knew I had to be there to support her. I had no one after my Grandpa died so I knew how that felt. I didn't want her to have to go through that." He said.

Jess nodded. "I'm glad it worked out for both of you. Rory thinks the world of you." He said.

Tristan smiled a little at that. "I love her. I owe her so much." He said.

Rory wiped some tears from her eyes and carefully moved away from the door and went back down to the diner. She knew Tristan would be embarrassed if he knew she had heard him. She knew he would tell her about his grandfather when he was ready. She headed across the diner to Lane and waited their from them to reappear.

Jess looked around the apartment and slowly went over to Katherine's bed. He picked up a framed photo on her bedside table and smiled. "This was at Christmas." He told Tristan. "I think she knew this would be her last one. We all sort of knew. She wanted it to be so special and it was. We had so much fun and I think for a moment, we kind of forgot about everything." He admitted.

"Looks like it was a fun day." Tristan smiled at the group photo and at all the happy faces.

"I know I have to start dealing with it but I don't know how." Jess admitted. "I know I can talk to Rory or my mom or Luke and Lorelai but I'm rubbish at that sort of thing."

"Yeah I'm the same." Tristan admitted.

Jess looked up at him. "How about we make a pact? You make sure I start dealing with this and don't do anything stupid and I'll help you start work on one of your Grandpa's cars. We can go together." He said.

Tristan was quiet for a moment before he nodded. "You've got a deal."

Jess nodded. "Good." He said quietly. He glanced up at him. "Thanks."

"We should get back downstairs." Tristan said.

Jess nodded. He looked at the photo again before putting it back down and following Tristan back downstairs.

Rory, Tristan, Jess and Lane were all chatting at a table when Luke stood up and Lorelai started clinking her glass to get everyone's attention. "I..uh..I just wanted to thank you all for coming. Mom would have been so touched. So...uh..." He said raising his glass. "To mom!"

"To Katherine!" Everyone toasted.

I hope you liked it! I was really nervous about this chapter but I hope I did it justice! Let me know what you think by leaving a review. I love hearing from you all. Thanks! :)