AN: So, this one is shorter than usual, but I wanted to give you guys something, rather thn, me sitting around trying to think up a few more pages and making you wait,. There you go. I'm happy with how this one urned out anyway. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjpy.

Rory came down from the apartment, ready to start her shift, only to find the diner practically empty and Tristan once again settled at one of the tables. He'd been there almost daily, which usually wasn't all that strange, but seeing as it was Jess' day off, it would have made more sense for him to be elsewhere.

"So, I've decided you're either stalking me, or you're stalking Jess, and you've misplaced the object of your obsession." She announced, coming over to stand beside his table. "What's up? You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"You caught me. I can't eat, I can't sleep. He inspires me to write really sappy, awful love poems, and I've inscribed just about every one of my notebooks with his name. Do you think that'll be a problem for him?"

"Depends," Rory replied, looking around the room. Sure, she hadn't actually served any customers yet, but they all looked as if they were being taken care of, so she pulled out a chair and sat down. "If you're hoping for reciprocation, you may be waiting a while, because he doesn't really strike me as the type of guy to get flirty with another guy. Especially not with Taylor Doose's disapproving eye seeing all. But, if you're content to just love him from afar, and all he has to do is smile at you occasionally, then I'd say you're probably in with a pretty good chance."

"That's reassuring, thank you."

"But seriously, what is this? Jess, as you can see, is not here. So why are you?"

"You mean this isn't the place to get food or really good coffee? Funny, I could've swear there was a sign on the window that said-"

"Can it wise ass."

"Jeez, I can see what he likes about you. You're a real treat."

"Tristan!" Rory glared at him across the table. "Don't think I've forgotten whose fault it is that I now have to have dinner with my grand parents each week from now until the twelfth of never! Why the hell are you here?"

"My friend likes you. For the life of me, I can't see why, but he does. So I'm here to ask you a favor."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't ask me what you're going to ask. Because, I'm sorry, but I can't help you." Rory clarified, standing up.

"You wouldn't be helping me; I know how painful that would be for you." Tristan rushed to explain. "Instead, I'm asking you to do something for Jess," he added, following her into the kitchen. "Ever since your birthday, he's been-"

"Different? Changed somehow?" Rory finished, and he nodded. "Yeah, well, like I said, I can't do anything about that. It may not look like it at this very second, but I am trying to reroute my train wreck of a life. School and work are about all I can handle. Maybe a few days with my mom in the city for Christmas. Maybe. But that would definitely be it. No more; not boy drama, or cheerleading, not even anxiety over friend issues. I'm sure that what ever is wrong with Jess will pass soon enough. It probably doesn't even have that much to do with me, so anyone you can find to help you will be able to handle things a lot better than I could. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." She grabbed a coffee pot on her way passed him and headed out into the restaurant. "Who needs coffee?" she asked, gliding easily through the room.

Jess and Tristan were walking along the street outside the diner, when they saw Rory acouple of days later. She was carrying trash bags out to the cans, but as soon as she saw them, she dropped the bags, turned and ran back inside.

"Ok, she's been doing that a lot lately. Are you aware of anything overly stupid that I've done that would cause her to avoid me at all costs?" the dark haired boy asked. Tristan didn't say anything for a moment, and Jess turned to look at him. "What?"

"I talked to her," he confessed. "Asked her if, maybe, she would consider… I dunno, going out with you or something."

"You did what?"

"I thought it would help! I know that it's what you want, and I'm pretty sure she wants it to, but-"

"I can't believe you would do something like that! What the hell were you thinking?"

"That it would be nice for the two of you to be happy together. Why? Was that wrong?"

"You went and asked a girl to ask me out? That is… just so incredibly embarrassing."

"Technically, I didn't actually get around to asking. She cut me off with some speech about how she had too many personal issues to deal with to even consider anything else, so I didn't really have the chance."

"Thank God!"

"But, Jess, come on. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't want that. It is so obvious man. You guys totally have a thing, why can't you just admit it?"

"Because… I mean, I know that I… but, it's weird, alright?"

"I'm gonna need a few more words here."

"When you first met her, you thought she was my cousin, correct?"

"But we cleared that up. You met her mom and you know probably just as much about her dad as she does." Tristan reminded him.

"I also know that her mom and Luke dated, which means that we were sort of cousins."

"When you were two! And besides, they broke up when she ran off to New York. So, I'll ask again. What's the problem?"

"Aside from the fact that Rory goes through the occasional period where she barely acknowledges my existence, well, I don't know, maybe that, if Lorelai hadn't run off, then we probably would be actual cousins-in-law by now."

"Dude, they were seventeen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How many couples do you know that have been together since they were seventeen?"

"None."

"Exactly. It probably wouldn't have lasted till now. I'm sure-"

"And that means that, had they both continued to live here, then the idea of us dating would totally freak them out."

"Ok, just stop for a second. Do you like her or not?" Tristan asked. Direct, straightforward.

"I've gotta get home. Mom said she wanted to rearrange the living room, so I've got to help her lift things."

"Jess!" Tristan called after him, but he just kept walking.

"I could have just not said anything," he muttered to himself. "Even kept things between me and Lane, but no…"

He'd gone to her after seeing Rory on the bus, filled her in on everything she didn't know and then asked desperately, "What do I do?"

Surprisingly, despite her lack of past personal relationship dilemma's, she'd had quite a bit to say on the subject. What Jess had mostly taken away from their conversation though was that, (it seemed to Lane) Rory was still in the process of adjusting to the changes in her life and he should let her do that in peace.

"I know you like her, but this really doesn't seem to be the best time to develop an aggressive personality. Let her come to you when she's ready. But try to subtly let her know you're interested."

So that was the plan, giving her space, while still, in an understated way being around until she decided she was ready.

Stupid, stupid plan.

My friend likes you. Tristan had said. I can't see why, but he does.

She had known that already though, Tristan need not say anything. She knew, and she understood why too.

To Jess, Rory represented this new world– she was mysterious, a little dangerous and they'd finally found with each other the intellectual equal they'd been searching for. So it made sense in a way, what he liked about her, and she had to admit, if only to herself, that she was not completely immune to him. His innocence, his desire to help and please everyone, he possessed a lot of qualities that complimented one another and made it that much harder to stick to what she had told Tristan.

Rory knew she had presented a flimsy argument; it was true that she was attempting to sort out her issues but that didn't really mean that she couldn't deal with anything else, or even that she didn't want to. It might be nice to have- No! she stopped herself. Using jess as a distraction from my crappy, crappy life is not an option

For days she had been having the same conversation with herself, going back and forth like a game of ping pong. But now she was deciding once and for all, well, maybe just for now. Staying away from Jess, at least for the time being was the best course of action.

Lorelai sat on the couch Indian-style and dialed the phone in her hand. She waited as it rang once again wondering if this was a stupid idea. It was almost exactly half an hour before the usual time for her call with Rory, yet she was calling the diner apartment, hoping for an answer.

"Hello?" and there it is.

"Hi Luke, it's Lorelai." She spoke in a rush, nervous.

"Oh, hey. Rory's not here right now, she volunteered to go on a little supply run. I don't think she was expecting your call for about twenty minutes or so."

"No, I… I know, I'm early. I just thought, well, I kind of hoped that maybe you and I could talk for a bit. Maybe, if you're not busy." What the hell is this? She wondered. I used to have amazing talking skills, any situation, I could yammer away about nothing, but now I can barely verbalize a thought.

"Sure, I guess, what did you want to talk about? Oh! Sookie mentioned you said something about money the other day."

"Yeah, that was, um, I don't want you paying for all Rory's stuff. I can't really afford to part with a whole lot, but when-"

"No, it's fine. What I meant was, Sookie mentioned it, but I wanted to tell you not to worry. I really don't mind helping out, we can sort it all later on, when you're more stable in your finances. I'm not in any rush."

"Uh huh." Lorelai nodded. He's doing it again, he's being too kind. It's not right. "Well, thanks for that, but I'm still going to work something out, ok? Just for my own peace of mind."

"Alright. That's fine, whatever you want."

They were both silent for a moment, Lorelai counting the holes in the wall where pictures had once been hung. Five, six…

"So, um, business is doing well?" she asked now desperately grasping at straws. Whose genius idea was this whole calling early thing anyway?

"Oh, yeah, pretty good. We've had a little downtime, but it always picks back up again. No matter what the economic climate, people gotta eat."

"True, that's true."

"You're working in a café?" he asked. She couldn't help noticing that was the first personal question he'd asked. But he had asked.

"Yeah, this little place, Jitters."

"Oh no," Luke laughed a little. "How many name changes have you suggested since you started there?"

"None." Lorelai replied, trying to suppress a grin.

"Plus?"

"Five. But, I mean, aside from the name, it's really great. The people are nice, and well, there's coffee, so…"

"Welll, that's good. You'd be a natural in that field I suppose." Luke sat back on the couch, allowing himself to relax slightly.

"I am an expert at consuming the coffee, turns out, not that big of a stretch to make it for others."

"You were-"

"Hey Luke. I got the coffee filters, they're downstairs. Also, I know you're going to protest," Rory announced, coming into the apartment. "But I picked up some cookie dough too. You've probably turned your nose up at it a million times at Liz's, but- Oh! Sorry." Rory put away her purchase quickly and began moving towards her room.

"No, it's ok. Um, she's back now, so I'll just pass you over to her." Luke explained into the phone as he stood, heading for Rory.

"Oh, alright. Well… Thanks for not hanging up on me."

"No problem. I… bye." He added, handing the phone to Rory before returning to his own room to afford her some privacy.

They'd had a real conversation. No yelling whatsoever, and only a few awkward silences.

Luke sat on his bed, thinking of how much progress they'd made in such a short time. Years of no contact, a few months with the occasional, quick hello and the incredibly uncomfortable weekend that was Rory's birthday, all aside, this conversation had to be counted as something positive.

Leading towards what, Luke had no idea. All he knew was that it was a good sign.

There we are, I liked that did you like it? Let me know.