Author's Note: Okay, so I'm not going to lie to you. This chapter is all filler. But I might (and I stress that might) update later tonight if I get an inspiration or something... as of right now in the story, Jess is still "with" Alicia, but his feelings for Rory are developing. Jaime isn't in this chapter, but he will be in the next one. LL make a special appearance in the middle of this chapter, and will also appear sporadically through the rest of the story. I have a plan for the Paris/Jaime relationship. That will come into play in the next chapter.

Enjoy!


The Day after the Hug

Jess looked at his pastrami on rye. He wasn't hungry. He had no plans to eat this sandwich. It was on his tray only out of habit. The sandwich was a routine, as was the iced tea accompanying it. He was now engaged in a staring contest with this sandwich, the olive impaled on a toothpick stuck in the sandwich acting as a rather gruesome eye (the pimento was dangling, slowly falling out of the olive's pitless center).

That was how Rory found him: sitting, hands clasped in front of him, eyes locked on his food.

"Jess," she said jokingly, "you don't have to stare it down. It's already been caught. You are free to eat it. No intimidating necessary." Rory put her tray down and sat in the seat in front of Jess. She picked up her hamburger and began to eat. Jess decided that he just wasn't going to get the olive to blink, shifted his eyes to Rory. She was already halfway done with her burger.

"This burger is good," Rory said, pausing to wipe a dribble of catsup off her chin, "but my mom's friend Luke makes 'em so much better."

Jess said nothing, as she began to talk about her hometown of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. She spoke of her mother and Luke Danes (the name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where he had heard it). She spoke of how the two were soul mates, but hadn't realized it yet. She talked about her musically obsessed friend Lane. She mentioned the town busy-bodies Miss Patty and Babette.

Jess didn't want to interrupt her ramblings. Rory's voice was so musical, so passionate as she recounted to him tales from her town. He was mesmerized by the changes in pitch of voice, captivated by the way her lips moved as she sounded the words. He had to force himself to keep his eyes from drifting to her mouth every five seconds.

"Jess?" Rory waved her hand in front of his face. "You still there, buddy?"
Jess shook his head to clear his thoughts, "You were saying?"

"I asked you how things were going with Alicia."

His mood immediately soured. "It's…" his voice trailed off. "It's not going well."

"What do you mean?" Rory sounded concerned. "I thought you were head over heels for her."

Jess stared at the area of space just to the right of Rory's ear. "Yeah," he said, pensively. "I did, too."


A Week Later: Parents' Day

"Luuuuuuuuke!" Lorelai called, entering the Luke's Diner.

A man in plaid appeared from behind a curtain behind the diner's counter. Luke, as was usual, hadn't shaved. He walked up to Lorelai who had plopped herself down on the diner's stool. "What do you want?" he asked her, knowing the answer.

"Coffee!" Lorelai cheered.

Luke shook his head. "That stuff will kill you. Tell you what, I'll go back in the kitchen and get you some fresh orange juice."

Lorelai laid her head down on the linoleum counter. "Luke, if I don't have coffee, I'll die." She started to pick up the pace of her breathing. "I'm going, Luke. I can see the light… You have the power to end my suffering. If only… if only."

Luke rolled his eyes, but reached underneath the counter and grabbed a mug. He placed it in front of her, and filled it with coffee.

Lorelai's condition was immediately remedied. "You," she said, picking up the mug, "are a saint." Luke ignored her and handed Kirk a plate of toast, crusts off. "Seriously, though," Lorelai continued, adding more passion to her voice, "Get me a phone. I need to call the Pope. He needs to know that there's a miracle worker in our midst."

"Lorelai, I'm busy."

"I mean the way you pulled me back from the brink like that. Amazing."

Luke was filling the coffee filter. "I only gave you coffee."

Lorelai picked up her mug and stared at it.

"What?" Luke asked, annoyed.

Lorelai looked at him with wonder. "I've never seen miracle coffee before."


Meanwhile, at Princeton

Rory's step had a bit of extra bounce to it as she entered the Princetonian's newsroom. She hummed a song as she finished typing her piece for the next issue, and she practically skipped to Jess' desk with her final copy.

"You're chipper," Jess noted.

Rory beamed at him, ignoring his sarcasm. "It's Parents' Day, Jess! My mom is coming up."

"Oh right," Jess said, picking up his red pen to edit Rory's story (even though he knew he wouldn't need it). "I forgot that was today."

"Aren't your parents coming?"

He shook his head, making his untidy black hair even messier that it had been. "My folks aren't really the 'Parents' Day' kind of people."

"Jess," she said; her voice was gentle, "I'm sorry."

He smirked, somewhat thinly, up at her. "Don't be. I wouldn't be that into it, even if they did come up."

"You should hand out with me and my mom," Rory suggested.

"I don't think-"

She interrupted him. "That's what you'll do." She grinned broadly at him. "I'm meeting my mom at the coffee cart, you know the one—where I met you. You can come with me. We'll grab some coffee and then we'll go."

Jess looked at her, and seeing how excited she was, gave in. "Fine. What time are we meeting her?"

"Two o'clock." Rory did a little dance. "Jess, this is going to be so much fun. You are just going to love my mother. And she's wanted to meet my new college friends." She pranced back to her desk, humming again.

Jess checked the time on his computer. It was noon. Two hours to meet Lorelai Sr. Why was he so nervous? It wasn't like he was dating her daughter, or anything.

Author's Note: Reviews are my best inspiration. *hinthintwinkwinknudgenudge*