AN: If you've already read this, there's no real need to do it again. i just added in a little bit in the exchange between Luke and Rory in the apartment. Don't know how I forgot to put it in, but there you go, it's in now. So, if you're reading for the first time, ignoore me, and enjoy, but otherwise, thanks for reading again.

Jess lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. In all the years he'd stayed in his uncle's apartment, he'd never had trouble getting to sleep; well except that time Dean told him the Boogie Man lived in the grease traps in the kitchen. But after that was cleared up, there hadn't been a problem.

But now there was a girl in his bed.

Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, Jess reached over to the coffee table where his MP3 player lay. Listening to the Clash, he didn't hear a door opening and so, was caught off-guard when Rory appeared beside him, a vision in a cream satin night gown.

"What are you doing up?" he asked, removing the earpieces.

"I couldn't sleep. Not when I knew you were out here." She replied, moving closer. Jess sat up, shrinking away.

"What?"

"There's just no way that I can turn my mind off when I know that you're here. You turn me on so much." Rory reached for his hand and Jess sat frozen.

"Huh?"

"I don't want to fight it anymore Jess. Come with me, we'll be so much more comfortable in our room."

"I don't-"

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked, and Jess bolted up right.

He was on the couch, alone. Rory stood at the bathroom door in sweats and a tank top.

It was just a dream.

"I wasn't… Was I talking?"

"Sounded like it. I heard something about The Clash and you couldn't sleep."

"Oh, well… I… sorry if I bothered you."

"Nah, it's cool. I actually wanted to ask you something. Before Luke comes up."

"Oh, ok."

"Well, I'm not really sure how much of this I can talk about, but it turns out Luke knows my family. Like really knows them. He and mom had something going on at some point. And I'm pretty sure I just really upset him."

"Why?"

"Just… stuff. It's not important. But I wanted to ask, what do you normally do when he's upset about something? How do you fix it?"

"I don't."

"You don't do anything?"

"He doesn't get upset," Jess clarified, as Rory sat down. "I mean, he gets angry all the time; mostly at Taylor, and I just stay out of the way. But I've never seen him upset over a girl. Do you know how serious it was between them?"

"Not really." Rory lied. She didn't doubt they were in love, but Jess didn't need to know that, at least not yet. "Do you need to know that? To assess the situation, I mean."

"Guess not. I know he's dated before. He's had two girlfriends that I know of. Anna and Rachael. But they weren't really epic. Maybe that's the problem, though. Maybe Lorelai is the Rose to his Jack."

"Oh good, he's going to die tragically while my mother will grow old and be alone." Rory commented, slumping back into the couch.

"You care," Jess observed, looking at her in a way that made Rory feel uncomfortable.

"What?"

"You care about Luke being happy. And your mom."

"I never said that," Rory denied, looking away from him.

"You don't have to. But I can tell that you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be asking me about this."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She continued, standing up and stalking off to her room.

The next night, Rory took the phone from the table and carried it into her room. Or, Jess' room that she was borrowing for the time being. Luke was watching a baseball game in the next room, relaxing from a long day. Sitting on the bed, Rory brought her legs up, moved back to lean against the wall and began to dial. She'd had a crappy day, she didn't know why, just, something in her head snapped, so she'd been in a foul mood for hours, and this seemed like a good idea.

"Hello?"

"I hate you."

"You... Who is- Rory?" Lorelai asked, hoping she was wrong. She had never heard that level of resentment in her daughter's voice, and coupled with those words… she was just praying this was the wrong number.

"He told me everything. All about high school, when I was born, I know all of it. We could have had a good life. We could have lived in Hartford, or here. Why did you have to ruin everything?" Rory demanded her voice cold and filled with rage.

"Who told you…? Y-you talked to Luke?"

"I talked to Luke."

"Honey, I don't understand. What did he say?"

"I thought that he was my father. It seemed to make sense; you never told me much of anything, and he didn't really like me being around Jess. I didn't think you would ship me off to someone with no connection to our family, so I told him. I told him that he was my dad and then he said, no, he wasn't. But then he explained it all. So now I know that not only did you screw up both our lives, but you hurt so many other people in the process and you did it horribly. Don't you realize that our lives completely suck?" Rory spoke in a rush, her voice rising slightly the further she got into her speech.

"He shouldn't have said those things to you." Lorelai answered, not really paying much attention to what Rory had to say.

"No, he shouldn't have. You should have been the one to tell me about your adolescence in some late night girly chat. But since we don't have those and you gave up trying to take care of me, Luke was the one who had to fill in the blanks."

"I'm sorry that it came to that, sweetie, and I know that our life here wasn't what you deserved, but that's why I asked Luke to-"

"But you didn't ask Luke. Sookie did. You don't talk to Luke except for the first day I was here for, what, one minute? You can't talk to Luke because you know how badly he's still hurting after what you did!"

"Rory-"

"I met my grand parents last night; saw the house you grew up in. Thanks for taking me away from that too, by the way." Rory continued, talking over her mom.

"Ok, it's my turn to speak now, alright?" Lorelai interrupted. Maybe she should have just let Rory yell at her, get out all her frustrations, but she couldn't take it. She needed to have her say. "So, maybe I screwed up, a lot. Maybe I shouldn't have just left and cut my ties, but I will tell you one thing. Deciding to leave my parents house was the best decision I ever made. That place was so stifling for me, and I spent my whole life wishing I could get out of there. I took the first chance that came my way, and I'm sorry if you don't like the way that turned out, but if I had stayed, if we had kept living there then I can guarantee you would probably feel just as much hatred for me that you feel right now. You would be screaming at me in a huge echoey mansion about how I should have done something to get you out of there and how terrible your life was instead of doing it over the phone long distance. I know that I've made mistakes, I screwed up, and I'm sorry, but I did what I thought was best at the time and you just need to accept that."

Lorelai pressed the end button, so hard she put a dent in her finger. She was so mad at Rory and Luke and everything she could barely breathe. Sure, they'd had other fights and there had been some doozies, but this one felt different, worse.

Because Rory wasn't with her, and she couldn't use the mom card to put an end to the fight when things got out of hand.

But then she realized she wasn't just angry at Rory or Luke. She wasn't mad at Luke at all; it was good that he told Rory those things, maybe it wasn't his place, but she was sure he would have done it better than most, probably in a way that painted her in a better light than she deserved.

For weeks, she'd been getting angrier with herself, for letting things get so out of control, and now she'd reached boiling point. As pissed off at her kid as she was, the bitterness she felt towards herself was double.

"I'm trying to fix it," she yelled at the wall. "I thought I was fixing it!"

--

Rory sat on the bed, still holding the phone to her ear as she listened to the dial tone.

She hung up.

"She never hung up on me before…" Rory muttered, slowly putting the phone down. "She's never…" she was upset now, because, although their relationship had never been all that great, neither of them had ever really intentionally hung up on the other. But now… And she was mad as hell. That hadn't gone anywhere. Luke's stories were swirling in her mind accompanied by pictures of her grandparent's house and the image of her mother hanging up the phone.

Without thinking, Rory picked up a book from the bedside table and threw it at the wall. The thud it made was so satisfying she reached for the small stack of CD's she'd been sorting through the day before and repeated the action. The smashing of plastic, the clattering sound it made when it fell to the ground were both gratifying.

"Rory?" Luke called from the other side of the door. "Are you ok?" She didn't answer, just swiped at the coffee cup that was the only thing left, and watched the black bitter liquid stain the carpet. "Rory, what's going on? Are you alright?" he asked again.

The mess gave her such a good feeling; it was calming somehow, even though she knew he would be mad when he saw it. She didn't care about that though, because now she could breathe again, and she could sleep.

"I'm fine. Sorry, I… I'll keep the noise down." 'Property destruction,' she thought. 'Another excellent way to get off to sleep.'Pushing her pillow around until it was comfortable, Rory lay down and closed her eyes. She was asleep within minutes, the first time in over a year she hadn't needed music to put herself to sleep.

It had been a pretty slow day in the diner, and the night was even slower; after one family finished up with their dinner, and Kirk had to leave in order to not break curfew, no one else had come near the place. Luke had suggested that Rory and Jess both take the night off, invite Lane over and study. Rory had been thrilled about the taking the night off, it was just the studying she'd had a few qualms with.

But since Luke was in the back doing inventory she had no one to tell her to behave.

Sitting back in her chair Rory watched as the two other teens hunched over the practice exams that Jess had brought home from Chilton. It seemed that his crazy over-achieving school wanted everyone they could get their hands on to be as crazy and over-achieving as they could possibly be.

"So, you really don't have a girlfriend, huh?" Rory asked and Jess looked up at her puzzled. Lane bit back a laugh. This girl could be so random, but she was definitely entertaining to have around.

"Were we having a conversation in your head I should be aware of?" Jess asked, narrowing his eyes. She really didn't make sense sometimes. Had he been talking in his sleep the other night? Did she know something?

"No, it's just… I've been observing-"

"Me?"

"People, things. The town. And since you're a person in the town…"

"You've been observing me," Jess finished as Lane put her pen down, getting more comfortable so she could enjoy the bizarre conversation.

"So, anyway, I've noticed that while you have a lot of friends here – some of them girls," Rory added, pointing to the other girl at the table. "There doesn't seem to be a whole lot happening in your life."

"That's not true."

"No? Let's review, shall we? There's school, studying with Lane or Tristan, working here, school helping out with creepy town festivals, and a little more school. Not a very broad spectrum."

"Do you have a point?"

"I'm curious why you don't have a girlfriend is all. Surely you could find a little time to spend with a nice, pretty, respectable perfect princess that the town elders would approve of. And, I mean, you're not totally without looks, so, why-"

"Stop asking me why I don't have a girlfriend!" Jess interrupted as Lane got up to fetch another piece of pie.

"Oh, coffee please," Rory called out holding up her cup.

"When did I start working here?" Lane asked, returning to the table, with a full pot.

"When you violated Luke's space and went behind the counter." Rory replied. "Continue Jess,"

"Maybe I'm not looking for a princess. If I were to actually go out with a girl, I'd want someone real. Not perfect, I don't like perfect."

"Really? Stars Hollows Golden Boy doesn't like perfect? It must be such a strain for you to get out of bed in the morning."

"I'm not perfect." Jess objected.

"Please, you have this fairytale life, in your happy little hamlet. You've got the supportive mom that loves everything you do, and an almost cool uncle/surrogate father. If you don't have it made, I don't know who does."

"I really hate to say this," Lane interjected. "But she sort of has a point there."

"Are you kidding? You're supposed to side with me when people say stuff like that."

"You mean when people simply point out how nice your life is I should tell them to shut up, because they're dead wrong?"

"Y-yes…" Jess faltered. "Ok, look. My life is not ideal alright. Sure, there are bits that sound pretty great and might look really nice to someone whose-"

"Been raised in a crap pile, by a completely incompetent moron?"

"I wouldn't put it that way, but you would know more than me, so sure. But my point is it's not all sunshine and lollypops. My dad moves all over the country, each time he calls it's from a different city than the last. Mom has never been very good at managing money, so even though Luke saves heaps each year, and attempts to share it with us we've pretty much been struggling financially my whole life. And the only reason I'm 'the Golden Boy' as you so eloquently put it, is because when I was born, the town felt sorry for my mom and unanimously decided they would do everything they could to help us. Somehow that means I in turn help out with everything that has ever been done here, from playing baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant, to being a leprechaun in the St Patrick's Day parade, and manning ticket booths and food drives. I never really wanted this stuff; it was just thrust upon me."

"But you like it, right?"

"Yeah, I guess, most of the time."

"At least you have that. My life? It sucks, I never asked for any of it either, and if I'd had any say in things when I was two we never would have left-" Rory stopped. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to talk about the things Luke had told her. Sookie and Liz both spoke to her about Lorelai and high school, but that was always in private. She'd told Jess that there had been something between her mom and his uncle, but she had no idea if she was supposed to do that, or if she was allowed to talk more about it with him while Lane was around.

"Left where?"

"Oh, um Hartford. We would have stayed with my grandparents." She finished.

"But you don't like your grandparents, do you?" Lane wondered.

"No. Not really. But if I'd grown up around them, I'm sure that the way that they live their lives would make more sense to me. They probably wouldn't seem as crazy as they do."

"How's the study going?" Luke asked, coming out of the back room and picking up the used plates that littered the table.

"We took a little break from that to determine who has a suckier life." Lane replied. "These two are duking out right now, but I haven't had the chance to put in my portion. I think I have a shot at winning; I was raised by Mrs. Kim after all."

"Right. Well how about you leave that for another time and get back to… what are you studying anyway?"

"History," Jess replied.

"Ancient history." Rory corrected, looking up at Luke.

"And are you learning anything?"

"Oh, yeah. Tones." She told him. History was becoming a lot more interesting nowadays, especially the history of the people she was stuck with in this town.

"Good. Keep it up. I'll get back in there, just wanted to make sure you were staying on task." Luke took the plates and moved to the kitchen before continuing on with his inventory.

Rory seemed to be back to her surly demeanor. She had called Lorelai on the Saturday after meeting the Gilmore's and it was pretty clear, that the call didn't go well. She had trashed her room right after. But for a few days following that, it looked as if the only reason she was doing what was asked of her, was because she felt sorry for Luke. That had passed now though and she was back to ignoring pretty much everything he said to her.

Not really sure which I prefer, Luke thought to himself, picking up his clipboard, and moving back to continue his work.

Later that week, Rory woke up to very strange sounds, almost… yeah, that's definitely singing. She thought, pulling on a jacket and walking out of the apartment, down the stairs. Singing… Happy birthday, she realized. As she came out into the diner, everyone stopped and looked at her.

Jess sat at a table, blue and white balloons tied to his chair and a cake in front of him, while Luke, Liz, Sookie, Jackson, Lane, Miss Patty and Babette all stood around him. All eyes were on her now and she didn't really understand why. Nothing ever made sense unless there was caffeine in her body.

"Mornin' Sugah!" Babette called out as Rory blinked at everyone.

"Did we wake you?" Luke asked, "Sorry. I didn't know if you'd feel like celebrating with us."

"Um, no. I mean, yes you did, but that's alright, I needed to get up anyway. And I don't feel like… Um, is there coffee?"

"Rory, where are we right now?" Luke asked, sounding as if he were speaking to a four year old.

"In the diner?" she asked, thinking it was pretty weird he needed to know where they were, when they were in his diner.

"Right, and how many days since you've been here has there not been coffee?"

"None."

"Ok then, glad we cleared that up. Over there," he pointed to the fresh pot and Rory nodded, walking over and pouring herself a cup.

"Presents, presents!" Liz cried out, bringing everyone's attention back to the birthday boy.

"Ohh! Yes, let's open presents," Sookie agreed. Rory stood behind the counter, slowly sipping her coffee and leaned back against the bench behind her, watching the happiness emanating off the small group. There were other customers in the diner, watching with interest as Jess took the package that Lane handed him.

"Now, you have to bear in mind that I work at my mother's antique store and she pretty much pays me in flaxseed, because she believes that raising me, feeding and clothing me is all I need and I should be grateful for the pittance she tosses my way. Also, you're going to get way better presents at your party tonight, so you can probably just forget about this. In fact, why don't I just take-"

"Lane, it's great, thank you." Jess told her, leaning over to hug her before he returned to inspecting the book she'd bought him.

"Howl? Don't you already have this sweetie?"

"Yeah, but it's falling apart. I've read it so many times that the covers are only just hanging on. Thank you Lane, I love it."

"Hmm, no big deal." She smiled and sat back, proud of herself.

"Ok, open ours. Open ours!" Sookie was bouncing as Jackson handed over a box. Rory finished her cup and headed back towards the stairs as the group cried out in excitement over the amazing present Jess had just opened.

She slammed the door behind her and stomped over to the bathroom, slamming that door as well before undressing and getting into the shower.

Fourteen days. There were just fourteen short days until it would be her turn to sit in the chair adorned with balloons as her friends and family stood around her, clapping and laughing, singing.

But that wasn't going to happen, because she didn't have friends or family. Well, she had family, but they wouldn't care. They never did before, why would they start now?

Fourteen days until her sixteenth birthday.

She'd heard whispers about Jess' birthday, but had no idea that it was so close, no one ever said, and she hadn't felt like enquiring. But now she knew, not only had she been born in Stars Hollow, Luke by the bed, helping her mother through the labor, but it had been just two weeks after Jess was born, probably in the same hospital, with Luke by the bed, helping Liz through the labor.

"Small world." She muttered as the water cascaded down her body. "It's just a stupid birthday; doesn't mean anything." She told herself.

Luke moved around the diner as Jess and Liz sat at the counter. Liz was poking at her eggs, while she spoke to her son. Luke wasn't paying all that much attention, but he heard bits about Jess' party, and Liz was saying something about inviting a friend that Jess didn't know.

"Well, I look forward to meeting TJ then." Jess answered, looking at his mom. "Won't that be great, Luke? Meeting mom's friend-" Jess stopped when he noticed the faraway look on his uncle's face. He'd been seeing it a quite a bit lately, since Rory arrived. "Luke? Are you-"

"Oh no… How did I…?" he muttered under his breathe. "Damn it! Sorry, I've gotta go upstairs for a minute, can you guys keep an eye on things down here?" Luke asked, before turning without waiting for they're answer. He burst through the apartment door, to find Rory, sprawled out on the couch, flipping through a magazine. "What do you want for your birthday?" he asked, a little out of breathe, having taken the steps two at a time.

"Excuse me?"

"Your birthday, it's on the eighth, is there anything in particular that you want presents-wise? Or do you want a party, or…"

"You want to celebrate my birthday?"

"Well, yeah. Of course. It's your sixteenth, that's important."

"I'm surprised you remember how long it's been. Mom didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to her last night; she didn't say a word about it."

"Maybe she was waiting for you to bring it up."

"I doubt it. Last year, all we did was…" Rory paused, thinking it over. "She said happy birthday when she handed me a coffee around lunch time."

"She has not forgotten that your birthday is coming up." Luke insisted. "Lorelai Gilmore does not forget birthdays."

"Maybe not the Lorelai Gilmore you knew over a decade ago, but the woman that I was living with up until recently certainly never made a point of remembering them." Rory didn't answer; she just lifted the magazine and resumed reading.

"She remembers. It's got to be hard to forget the swollen ankles and the sensation of doing the splits over a crate of dynamite."

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked, squinting at Luke. "Dynamite?"

"It was… um, never mind. I've got to get back to work. But I'm serious about this; you think it over, if there's anything you want, and I can make it happen, I will. Think about it ok?" Rory didn't answer; she just lifted the magazine and resumed reading. Luke waited for a moment, to see if she would respond, when it became clear she wouldn't, he turned and headed for the door.

In the silence of the apartment, Rory dropped the magazine to the floor and rolled onto her side, looking up at a photo of Liz and Jess, smiling at what appeared to be his fifth birthday. They both looked so happy.

"I want Jess' life," Rory whispered. "I want the life I was supposed to have."

"Hey Katie, I was wondering if you had a minute to talk?" Lorelai requested, standing in front of her boss.

"Sure, what's up Lorelai?"

"Well, I was hoping I could ask you for a favor. I know I haven't been here all that long and probably don't have the right to ask this just yet, but it's a milestone, you know? And she might hate me right now, but I still-"

"I think you may have skipped a small section of your speech there. Wanna give it another shot?"

"Right. Sorry, ok. My daughter's sixteenth birthday is in two weeks. While I realize this is pretty short notice, I'm sort of pinning all my hopes on the fact that whenever you've needed a shift filled, I've been there, sometimes with no notice at all."

"That's true. So, you're asking for the day off?"

"More like three. See, she's living in Connecticut at the moment, and I haven't seen the people she's with for years or her for weeks, so I thought-

"Sure."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. Go to Connecticut, eat cake, party, and catch up with your friends. Hell, it's her sweet sixteen, you have to be there, right?"

"And it's ok? Really? I'll still have a job when I get back?"

"Only if you wish her a happy birthday from us," Katie replied, grinning and Lorelai threw her arms around her.

"That is amazing. You are amazing, I mean it; we should erect a statue of you out the front."

"Thanks, that sounds great. And you're welcome. I just hope this will help you reverse the damage."

"You and me both." Lorelai replied, before walking away and getting back to work.

"Have you got plans for next Saturday?" Jess asked Tristan three days later. Rory had relented to Luke's questioning and told him that a small party would be great, if he really insisted on doing something.

"Not yet. Why? What are you proposing?"

"Birthday party."

"Another one? Jeez you really are loved in that town aren't you?" the blonde joked as he put his books away.

"It's not for me. It's Rory's birthday, Luke wants to throw her a party. So, what do you say? You in?"

"So the non-cousin is having a party. Interesting. Let's see, will there be studying at this soiree?" They had been getting together to study at least two days a week ever since they first made the agreement. As much as he complained, Tristan did enjoy himself though, any excuse to observe the bizarro natives in their habitat.

"Unfortunately not. But there will be cake; a Sookie St James cake."

"Well, if there's a Sookie cake, how can I say no?"

"Good. So far that means there will be four people our age. We're still severely outnumbered by the adults though. Do you think that will matter?"

"Well, does Rory actually want this party?"

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she just agreed to get Luke off her back."

"Well, it probably won't matter to her all that much whose there then."

"Good point."

"Whose where when?" Louise Grant asked, falling in to step beside Tristan, her two friends Madeline Lynn and Paris beside her.

"At a birthday party Jess' uncle is throwing for someone who is not his kid." Tristan replied easily. To Jess, the situation still sounded a little odd, but when he put it that way, it seemed to make sense.

"Oh, cool." To everyone apparently.

"I like parties," Madeline piped up.

"Madeline you can't just announce that," Paris told her. "It sounds as if you're trying to secure your self an invite."

"Well, that's because I was," the brunette replied.

Tristan looked at Jess, his brow raised. They were both thinking the same thing, three more teenaged bodies, could possibly offset the amount of adults. But what would Rory think of these girls showing up at her party?

"Well, um, the party's on next Saturday at my house." Jess replied. She was going to hate it no matter what.

"Great. We'll see you there." Louise responded happily, as Madeline smiled and Paris scowled.

"So, let me ask you, will she kill me when I show up? For that," Tristan added, pointing to the girls walking down the hall, "And for my being there?"

"I don't think so. She managed to contain herself the last time she saw you. Maybe she's over the whole grandparent thing."

"She left two minutes after I walked through the door. Somehow I doubt you."

"Yeah, well. I'm sure she will soon." Jess added, feeling anything but sure. He hadn't mentioned his dream to anyone. Not even Lane and he pretty much told her everything. He'd been avoiding thinking of it, and wanted to keep it that way. It made being around Rory a lot easier.

So that's it. the first scene was written the day before I posted the original chapter. Also, I'll tell you right now, property destruction really does make you feel better. I kicked a door, and have a really gross bruise on my toe, but it helped impove my mood a little. I probably should have included Jess' birthday, teasing you with TJ and all, but anyways, I'm sure he'll be around a little later. I'm going to cntinue taking my frustrations out through Rory. At the moment, that means having everyone forget her birthday, while no one forgets mine. Rant over, please review.