A/N: I finally got the bug to finish this story over a decade after I started in, and it ended up going in a very different direction than I originally intended, probably because I have a different perspective on these characters as I get older. Thank you to everyone who ready, reviewed and faved over the years. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Jess was leaning against the passenger window in Luke's pickup truck, eyes closed, holding his leather jacket tightly around himself. Luke couldn't help but notice how much younger his nephew looked without his hair all greased up and that smirk on his face. It struck him suddenly that Jess really was still a kid. Luke remembered Jess sleeping in the same pose in the same spot on their way back from fishing when Jess was seven, maybe eight. Not so long ago, really, when you think about it.

He wondered if things would be different now had he been around more when Jess was younger. He had tried, but Liz was so flaky and hard to deal with. She was always borrowing money and disappearing for months at a time. He had taken Jess when he could, but the visits got fewer and further between as Jess got older and Liz got more hostile and less interested in her older brother telling her to get her life together. He was always there when she got into trouble, but she only wanted his help in a crisis and all his attempts to get her to go to rehab or go back to school had been ignored. Luke wasn't sure exactly what his sister was up to, but he sometimes suspected that things had been worse for Jess growing up than either Liz or Jess would let on. He had seriously considered trying to get custody of Jess a few times when Jess was younger, but he didn't know anything about raising a kid and he didn't want to take Jess away from Liz. But still...maybe things would have turned out differently.

Luke gently shook Jess' shoulder. "Hey, I'm going to run into the pharmacy and get your prescriptions. I'll be right back."

Jess grunted in response, but didn't open his eyes. He was 100% done with being up and out of bed, even if it was only 10:30 in the morning. The next thing he knew, Luke was shaking him again and when he opened his eyes they were parked outside the diner.

"Come on Jess, wake up, we're home." Luke came around and opened the passenger side door. He offered Jess a hand, but Jess scowled and waved him off.

"Fine, have it your way." Luke headed into the diner to check on Cesar while Jess dragged himself upstairs. Business was slow, now that the breakfast rush was over only a couple of tables were occupied and Kirk was at the counter. Luke refilled coffees, made a quick run to the bank to drop off the previous day's deposit and get change, cleaned the tables, and made sure the dishes were done for the lunch crowd. When he finally came upstairs he found Jess curled up in bed with his face buried in the pillows, his shoes and jacket in a pile on the floor. Luke picked up the jacket and put it on a chair and slid the shoes under Jess's bed.

Luke stood at the foot of the bed, waiting for Jess to say something. He cleared his throat, and Jess didn't respond. He waited a few more seconds and cleared his throat again. "Hey Jess, are you asleep?"

"No, I was playing dead in case you were a bear," Jess retorted in a tired, raspy voice.

Luke snorted, "Okay, well you need to eat something so you can take your pills. What do you want?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Jess, you have to eat something. You can't take these on an empty stomach. Plus you haven't eaten since Wednesday, you'll probably feel better if you eat something."

"I'm not hungry"

"Well, that's too bad. Either pick something or I'm going to force feed you. What do you want? I could make you scrambled eggs? Or toast? Or chicken noodle soup?"

"Ice cream."

"You can't have ice cream. You need to eat something with some substance. I'll make you some soup."

"I don't want soup. You said to pick something and I picked ice cream."

"Jess, you can't just have ice cream when you haven't eaten in two days."

Jess pulled the blankets up over his head, coughing.

"Fine," Luke sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'll bring you some ice cream."

He went down the stairs to the diner and fixed a small bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and brought it back upstairs with Jess' prescriptions. Jess had come out from under the covers and was sitting halfway propped up on his pillows. He looked almost excited about the ice cream, which made Luke almost forget how annoyed he was. While Jess ate his ice cream Luke carefully read all the prescription directions and brought him a glass of water and his pills.

"Do you want some tylenol too?" Luke asked.

"No way," Jess said between bites, "I'm gonna sweat it out, get it over with sooner."

"Okay, suit yourself."

Jess finished the ice cream and took the pills while Luke cleaned up in the kitchen.

"Hey, Uncle Luke?"

Luke turned around, "Yeah, what?"

"Could I still get those scrambled eggs too?" Jess looked nervous, like he was expecting Luke to say no.

"Of course," Luke smiled. "You want cheese?"

Jess shook his head, "Just eggs."

"Coming right up." Luke took the ice cream bowl and went back downstairs to the diner. "Hey, Cesar, could you whip up some scrambled eggs for Jess?"

"Coming right up, boss!" Cesar threw two eggs on the griddle. "He likes 'em runny, right?"

"Uh, I think so?" Luke wasn't really sure. A few lunch customers were starting to trickle in, so he took their orders and filled coffees before running upstairs with the scrambled eggs.

He handed the plate to Jess. "Here you go, need anything else? The diner's starting to get busy, so it might be awhile before I'm back up here."

Jess shook his head, shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Alright, well, take it easy. I'm downstairs if you need anything." Luke headed back downstairs.

Jess finished his eggs and slid back down under the blankets. He wasn't used to this kind of attention. It made him uncomfortable. He knew he was being a pain in the ass, but he didn't know how else to deal with Luke trying to take care of him.