Chapter Sixteen
Rory pulled into the driveway of her house. Paris chattering away madly as Lorelai and Luke came out to greet them.
'It's been too long!' Lorelai said wrapping Rory in a hug.
'I know. Hi Luke!' Rory said excitedly, giving him a hug which threw him off guard a little 'So you and my mum?'
'Yeah I guess so..' Luke said looking uncomfortable.
'Way to seem happy about it' Lorelai reprimanded him then turning to Paris she smiled. 'Hey Paris, I'm glad you could come for the week'
'Thanks for having me. Really I was so shocked when Rory invited me.' Paris said. Rory just rolled her eyes at Lorelai who gave her a smile led them all inside.
'Is Jess here yet?' Rory asked as they sat in the kitchen.
'Not yet but he shouldn't be long, he was just reading a letter then heading over' Luke replied taking Lorelai's hand. Rory saw this and smiled.
'So do we have to wait for Jess before we eat? Because this is going to get cold.' Lorelai said indicating the mountains of food on the table.
'We should wait.' Rory said pulling out her phone and dialling Jess's number. There was no answer as Jess had left had turned his phone off. Rory tried the diner's number. Still nothing.
'He must be on his way' Rory said placing the phone on the table.
***
'Well that's the food ruined' Lorelai complained over an hour later.
'Come on let's all relocate to the diner, we'll get some food there and see what's happened to Jess.' Luke suggested. They all agreed getting their coats on and making the short walk to the diner.
'I'll go see if he's upstairs.' Rory offered ducking behind the curtain and running up into Luke's apartment. Instantly she noticed the note, going over to it she read.
Uncle Luke,
Thanks for letting me stay. I'll see you sometime.
Jess.
Rory looked around the room. Walking over to Jess's side pulling open his cupboards and draws. There was nothing left, all his stuff was gone. Rory stood in shock. Pulled out her phone and again dialled Jess's number. It was still off. What was going on? Shaking her head in disbelief she stumbled downstairs clinging to the note.
'Honey what's wrong?' Lorelai asked noticing at once that all the colour had drained from her face, and her hands were shaking. Rory couldn't speak just held out the note. Lorelai took it and read it out.
'But I don't understand…' Luke said baffled 'I only just saw him a couple hours ago'
'Rory are you sure he's gone?' Lorelai asked.
'All his stuff is gone. Everything is gone and the note…I just…' Rory couldn't speak anymore, she dropped to the floor of the full diner and burst into tears. 'He's gone' She kept repeating between sobs. Lorelai and Luke rushed to her side, while Paris started clearing people out of the diner out of concern for her friend.
'He's gone' Rory repeated before giving way to great waves of tears.