AN: Ok, so, I kind of thought I'd be absent until after my birthday, what with all the cleaning and other crap we have to do to get ready for this party that we're haing in 2 days. Turns out, I still had time to wrte, so you get this. I'm not all that happy with the ending, but the stuff in the middle's not too bad, I think. Let me know, k? Thanks for reviwing too.

Luke climbed out of his truck and looked up at the big, intimidating building that his nephew went to everyday.

The same big, intimidating building he himself had gone to, everyday for two and a half years.

His time at Chilton had been dreadful; the only bright spots were the lifelong friendships he'd made, or thought he'd made. It seemed that Sookie was the only friend he would have for life, and she'd been around way before Chilton. The others just sort of, well, they didn't drift; they ran, and fast.

"I promise we won't keep you too long," Jess explained, as they made their way toward the entrance. "Paris just wanted to meet up somewhere a little quieter, to finalize things."

"It's fine…" Luke replied, distracted. He was looking around at the things he'd walked by hundreds of times before. Things that had meant very little back then, but now… that was where he and Sookie would get off the bus in the morning, and down that hallway that he and Jess were turning away from was where his locker had been junior year, next to Lorelai's, until she had to leave. The class room that Jess indicated they were supposed to go into… Yep, this is where I had Trig when I was a senior, God that was awful.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever been early before," Jess commented, looking around the room. Paris was the only one there so far.

"Don't get too excited. Louise called a minute ago; she has a flat tyre, and absolutely no clue about how to change it. Madeline's coming with her, and Tristan's probably around here somewhere, smoking in one of the bathrooms."

"What about Brad?"

"Brad transferred schools."

"Why?"

Paris shrugged. "How should I know? That kid is way too sensitive for his own good. He'll be eaten by bears one day, I'm sure of it."

"Ok, well, should we get started? Is there anything we can do without the others?"

"I could finish this project in my sleep, but since it's supposed to be a group assignment, I've allowed for you to each contribute the least amount that you can be bothered with." The girl explained, handing Jess a folder. "Luke, will you be joining us anytime soon?"

"Huh? Wha- I… Sorry. Yes, joining, right now." Luke replied, turning away from the window. From where he had been standing, he could see out into the courtyard where he had sat with his friends for lunch. A few months after he and Sookie had arrived at the school, Lorelai had grown bored with her old friends, saying they were all carbon-copies of their parents, and there was nothing she wanted less than to be like her parents. So she had put forward a motion, to the three friends who actually had their own thoughts. She proposed that they move away from the clique and be their own people. So they'd commandeered a table outside at which they would eat, instead of 'the cool table' in the cafeteria.

"Hey, look, the gang's all… not here. What gives? Half the gang is missing." Tristan announced, sauntering in and taking a seat beside Paris, giving her one of his charming smiles. She just rolled her eyes.

"The rest of 'the gang' is still on their way. But we here can still get some work done, if everyone would pay attention!" she added, raising her voice and Luke sat up straighter with a start.

"Well, really Gellar, what do you expect? Forcing us to come to school on a Sunday? It's just not right."

"I'm sorry, Paris. Sorry, guys, but I've got to go to the bathroom." Luke explained, standing up and heading for the door.

"Do you need me to show you-"

"I'll figure it out." Luke replied.

For some reason, he'd never told Jess that he had gone to this school, even when he was pulling strings to get him in, it hadn't come up; Jess had just assumed that, because he'd once gone to a private school, he had some sort of connections. He was yet to connect that 'some private school' was this exact one.

Walking down the hall, Luke remembered everything he hadn't been allowing in. As all the Chilton memories came back, he realized there really wasn't any reason to have repressed them.

Those had been happy times, with his friends, it was what had come after that he really didn't like to think of; the even happier times with Lorelai and Rory, but even that stuff was in his mind more and more now, so this was ok, much easier to deal with.

Rounding the corner he came to the spot where Lorelai had explained to him that she had something really important to tell him and Sookie, and could they come to her house that afternoon? Turning on his heel, he returned to the classroom where Jess, Tristan and Paris were still waiting for their other classmates to arrive.

"I'm really sorry to do this, but I have to get back to the diner." He explained as he came through the door. "Caesar just called, the place has gone insane and he's freaking out. I really have to go and help out, I'm sorry I wasn't any help today."

"It's fine, we'll manage without you." Paris snapped, not looking up from her notes.

"Ok, good, um, Jess will you be right to get home?"

"Uhh…"

"No problem, I can drop him off." Tristan replied.

"Great, thanks. I'll see you later then." Heading outside into the sunshine, he remembered what had been said at the Gilmore mansion.

That had been the day that everything changed. Lorelai was pregnant, and none of their lives were ever going to be the same again.

A few days later Rory poured herself a glass of juice and listened as Luke- locked away in his room with the phone- laughed at something the person on the other end said.

He'd been having secret conversations for, God, weeks now, she realized. Weeks, almost a month, since her birthday, he'd been in a relatively good mood, almost everyday, except that day he'd gone to Jess' school. Not even Kirk or Taylor could bug him all that much.

Rory had stuck to her word; she'd told Tristan school and work were her only priorities and she had avoided all else since doing so. Where previously, after work of a night she would sit with Jess and debate whatever books took their fancy, or quiz him on his notes from class, she was now going straight up to her room to do her own study.

Putting that distance between herself and Jess- the first friend she'd made in the freak-show town- was difficult at first. It proved even more so when Jess didn't protest like she'd been expecting, but instead followed her lead. She'd been prepared for a little resistance, but his compliance threw her for a loop. He appeared to struggle a little to start with, but by now he'd gotten the hang of it, whereas Rory had the opposite problem. Jess' pulling away made her want to pull him back in.

I'm not going to do that though, she decided.

Opening the fridge again, she looked at the near-empty shelves before thinking back over what was down in the diner. "Looks like we're turkey burger-ing it again tonight." She decided, picking up her juice and returning to the couch where her book lay.

Despite a lack of pestering from Jess, Rory was making herself give 'the painful Earnest Hemingway' another chance. So far, after an hour of working away at it, she was only at the beginning of the fifth chapter of The Sun Also Rises. Only one hundred and seventy-two pages to go, she thought.

In the morning I walked down the Boulevard to the Rue Souff-

"Hey, I forgot to tell you earlier, Liz invited us over for dinner tonight, if you wanna go," Luke said as he made his way out of his room and put the phone down, before heading over to the sink and filling the jug for tea.

"Oh thank God!" Rory muttered, throwing the book down, more than grateful for the distraction.

"What?"

"Just, I'm glad I won't be having a burger for dinner." Rory explained. "I know I make them really good, but still, it would be nice to have a home cooked meal for once."

"Ok, first off, every meal you've had here has been home-cooked-"

"At least half of them by me,"

"And second," Luke continued, ignoring her interruption. The only indication Rory had that he'd even heard was the tiny smile he gave her. "You do not want Liz' cooking, believe me."

"Ok, so tell me again why we're going?"

"Jess is cooking. Liz sold some jewelry to a store or something, so we're celebrating."

"Ok, sure. Sounds good."

"Great, so, I'll give her a quick call and we'll head over there in, what, half an hour?"

"Yeah, ok." Rory replied, picking up her book again and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She flipped through a few pages before returning to her place and reaching for a pen on the coffee table. If Jess really wanted her reading these books he was just going to have to put up with her thoughts on them too.

Tristan sat at Jess' desk, tapping his hands away to the beat of some song he'd never heard before as Jess read through his English assignment. Aside from the fact that his grades had improved enormously since the two of them had started hanging out, thanks to both Lane and Jess, Tristan was getting to hear a whole lot of music he wouldn't have known existed otherwise. They didn't go in for just what was hot right now; instead of being Top 40 addicts like most kids their age, the two of them enjoyed a broad range of styles and even some vintage stuff.

Spending time in Stars Hollow was not only educational in the schooling sense, but also, it was a lot of fun and enlightening when it came to a whole host of other aspects of the world.

"Jess, they'll be here any minute, and the stuff on the stove is bubbling. Can you fix that?"

"Sure, one sec." he replied, his head still bent towards the paper in his hands. After a moment he looked up to where Tristan was waiting.

"So?"

"This is actually good."

"You say that like you're surprised." Tristan replied, trying to sound hurt as he stood up and made his way to the kitchen.

"No, I mean, I know you're smart, but, I just didn't know if you knew it. But this clearly shows me you've finally tapped into your potential."

"Thanks man."

"No problem. So, what crisis am I needing to fix for you now Mom?" Jess asked, moving towards the stove.

"I don't know what's happening over there, but it doesn't look good."

"Don't worry bout it Lizzie." TJ said as he came in and removed a beer from the fridge. "Jess'll fix it, won't you kid?"

"Sure will TJ." Jess replied, keeping his attention focused on the food. He loved his mother, and he knew that overall she was usually a pretty good judge of character, but there was just something about this man that made him feel a little uneasy.

"Ok, well, you guys clearly have a lot happening right now, so I should probably get gone." Tristan announced, stepping towards the back door.

"Are you're parents home?" Liz asked.

"No. But that's not exactly a new development."

"Well, why don't you stay for dinner? We have a tone of food. We love having you here too."

"Are you sure it's ok?"

"Of course honey."

"Yeah, come on stay," TJ piped up on his way back out of the room. "I made chili."

"Ok, sure. That'd be great, thanks."

"Hello?" Luke called out, as he and Rory made their way inside.

"Kitchen!" Liz called back.

"Your front door's open." He continued. "Did you know it was open?"

"Hey."

"You don't always leave it unlocked, do you?"

"Oh, relax. This is Stars Hollow, nothing ever happens in Stars Hollow." Liz told him, moving across the room to hug him.

"Jess, at least tell me you lock the door on occasion."

"I did, before Mom confiscated my key. I haven't gotten around to having another one cut yet."

"You two are too serious! Come on, let's go sit and eat. Rory, did you want a drink?"

"Oh, I can-"

"How about I get that for you?" Tristan suggested, moving to the fridge. "We don't want a repeat of your first night in town now do we?"

"How do you even-"

"Jess is a total blabber-mouth." He explained, handing out sodas.

"Sorry," the dark-haired boy tossed over his shoulder as he lifted the dish full of Paella he'd cooked for dinner. Tristan smirked, as he grabbed TJ's chilli and Liz carried the garlic bread she had made, smiling, not giving any notice to what was going on.

The six of them sat on various surfaces, and ate their food, the adults doing most of the talking, as Rory looked around uncomfortably. She hadn't been back to the house since her birthday, and now everything was weird. Jess' new attitude made her feel strange and Tristan wasn't helping either.

The only thing that put her at ease was Luke, and surprisingly, TJ. She didn't know the latter very well, having only met him in October and then seeing him a couple of times around town, but he seemed oddly familiar; kind of like some of the nicer guys her mom had dated over the years.

"Excuse me everybody," he was saying now, "I'd like to propose a toast to our lovely hostess,"

Luke put his fork down, and looked at the man beside his sister, as the teens also stopped eating and Liz ducked her head. "Now, you may not all know that Lizzie had a big triumph today, so I'll tell you all about it." He added.

"TJ, don't. It's not-"

"Shh, Liz, come on, this is huge."

"Ok, fine. Tell them just don't... blow it up, ok?"

"You've all seen the jewellery she makes right?" Rory's hand went to her opposite wrist, where her birthday present from Liz sat. She'd been presented with a bracelet before the party when she'd run off from her mom under the guise of helping to set up. It was nothing major; one of Liz's simpler pieces, but it was still a really nice gesture. "Well, today, we found out that the Renascence fair that travels up the coast wants her to come on board and sell her stuff. Isn't that great?"

"Are you serious?" Luke asked, looking at his little sister, proudly.

"Mom, that's really great!"

"Yeah congratulations," Tristan added. Rory smiled as Liz nodded, accepting all of their praise.

"It's not for sure yet. I mean, I'd have to be gone for weeks at a time and I really don't want to leave you for that long, or take you out of school," she explained to Jess. "So, it may not even happen. But, you know, it was really nice just to be asked."

"We'll work something out, sis. Don't worry about it." Luke told her, moving to give her a hug.

When everyone was too stuffed to eat anymore, Rory grabbed a book off the mantle piece and headed out onto the front porch while the boys returned to Jess' room and the adults reconvened out the back.

"You know you're actually very good at this," Tristan remarked as he shut Jess' door.

"Good at what?"

"Pretending you have no interest in Rory whatsoever."

"I'm not... I mean, I don't, really. That was just... I'm over whatever it was." Jess finally choked out.

"You are? Ok, great, coz there's this girl at school who I think you'd really hit it off with. Her name's Tessa, she's great. I think she'd like you."

"Really?" Jess asked, only half listening.

"Yeah, yeah, she's five feet tall, two hundred pounds, and she's got this shock of red hair, as well as freckles all over her entire body."

"Sounds great,"

"I'm gonna go, I think," Tristan decided, standing up and reaching for his jacket which he had tossed on the bed when he first came in.

"Ok, well, I guess I'll see you at school."

"Yeah. See you then." He replied, releasing the fabric in his hand and leaving it where he'd first put it. "I'm going to head home now guys, thanks for dinner," Tristan addressed the three adults sitting out the back, each with a beer.

"No problem sweetie, it was good to have you here."

"Thanks, and congratulations again." Moving through the house Tristan stepped out onto the front porch where Rory was curled up on the porch swing, a book in her hands. "See you later, Rory."

"Oh, you're going? Does that mean that the fun's over?"

"Well, the grups seem to be otherwise engaged, so I guess now would be as good a time as any to sneak a little booze and make your own fun." He replied, coming to sit beside her.

"Tempting as that may be, I think I'd like to avoid another one of Luke's lectures on the importance of avoiding activities that Nancy Regan would find unacceptable."

"Really? That sounds fun. I've never gotten a lecture like that do you think he'd give me one?"

"Sure, you go on inside, steal one of Liz's beers and then you'll get to see some fire works. I mean, he went crazy over my smoking when I first got here, and when she busted me with a beer, she was so pissed. It's a really good show. I've never seen them double team anyone, but I bet it's even better than the single rounds."

Tristan turned his head slightly, as if listening to something and then, without warning, shot forward and pressed his lips against Rory's. She had no idea what was happening until Tristan moved away, or was pulled away. Oh my God!

Before she knew it, the blonde was on the ground, a hand covering his nose, his jacket lying in a heap beside him, and Jess standing over him, glaring.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jess demanded.

"Look, Jess, I was just-" Tristan scrambled to his feet and wiped a smear of blood from under his nose.

"You know that I-"

"No, I don't know. You never actually said, even when I asked you point blank. So I'm trying to get you to show me. Because the two of you are just driving me crazy! It's so damn obvious, everyone can see it, so why can't the both of you just admit it?"

Rory chewed on her lip as she looked over at Jess. He looked extremely pissed off, and she had a feeling that it wasn't all because of Tristan. "I've gotta go." She announced, starting for the stairs. "Tell Luke I went home." She added before walking off into the dark.

"What were you thinking?" Jess asked, looking at his former friend.

"I was thinking that you were never going to make a move without a little push, so, here I am ready to shove you off the edge of a cliff whenever necessary."

"What's going on out here?" Liz demanded, flying through the door, followed closely by Luke, TJ was a little slower. "Oh God! What happened?"

"Just a little misunderstanding," Tristan replied, easily. Jess got the feeling he was used to deflecting those sorts of situations.

"Jess, did you do that?" Luke asked, looking his nephew over warily.

"You don't understand-"

"Where is Rory?" Liz asked.

"She went home. But it's not-"

"This is her fault! I knew I couldn't trust her around you."

"Mom, don't. This wasn't her fault. Tristan and I just need to talk for a minute, ok? I promise I'll explain later, but for now, can we just have some privacy?"

"Luke I want you to go and tell that girl to behave herself from now on. I do not want a repeat of this."

"I'll talk to her," Luke replied, before leaving the house. Liz reached out and took hold of Tristan's chin, turning his face from side to side to inspect his injury.

"I'll get you some ice." She announced, before taking TJ's hand and walking back inside.

"You're a dick!" Jess shot at Tristan when they were alone again.

"Sure, I'm the one bleeding, but what the heck, thanks."

"I mean it Tristan. That was a really crappy move, why can't you just leave it alone?"

"Because I can't. Because you're my friend and you're the first genuine person I've met and I just feel like you should have this, that. You should get the girl."

"And if she doesn't want me?"

"Well, see that's the thing; you never know unless you go for it. But I can pretty much guarantee you that she does."

"How?"

"That kiss was completely one-sided, and purely scientific, so please do not hit me again! But my point is that every girl I've ever kissed has been in to it, whether surprised or not, they always respond. Rory, on the other hand was one hundred per cent not feeling that kiss."

"I just can't believe you did that." Jess shook his head, bewildered.

When Luke came into the apartment, all the lights were off, just as when he'd left. "Rory?" She wasn't in the darkened living room or kitchen, but her bedroom door was open, so he headed over there to see if she was hiding out in that room. "Rory, are you in here?" he asked, tentatively, moving inside.

"Polo,"

"What?"

"Well, you didn't say Marco, but I figured that Polo was still an appropriate response."

"What happened back there?" he asked, coming to stand by the window. She was sitting on the sill, her legs dangling outside.

"I dunno. Just... Tristan was trying to... I don't know."

"Well, he's bleeding now, probably got a broken nose too, courtesy of my usually level-headed, mild-mannered nephew. Know anything about that?"

"If I say no, will you believe me?"

"Telling me the truth would be another viable option." Rory hadn't moved since Luke came in, she hadn't even turned around, and now was no different. She kept her gaze focused on the light in the apartment across the street, her hands holding tightly onto the wood beneath her.

"I like him, ok?"

"Tristan?"

"No, not Tristan. I like Jess, but I know that that's a bad idea. That... we would be a bad idea. Because I'm so screwed up, and everyone in this town loves him so much, they'd be desperate to protect him from my bad influence. So I've been trying to stop it, I thought if I stayed away from him for a while that would help, but then, tonight, and the dinner... I don't know. Tristan thought he might be helping, I guess."

"How? How did Tristan think he would help by getting himself punched?"

"It's what he did before the punch that was supposed to be helpful."

"And that was?" Rory finally turned, fixing Luke with a look and he understood. "Oh, right. Well, are you ok?"

"I'm fine! It was nothing. He's just an idiot."

"Well, I'm not... I don't really have a whole lot of experience with... Did you want to call your mom?"

"What for?"

"To talk to her."

"I don't need to talk to her, it doesn't matter. Can we just forget about this please? Just wipe the whole conversation, the whole night?"

"I don't think that's going to work, but, if you want, you can try. I'll see you in the morning." Luke added, squeezing her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're not my father?" Rory asked before he was out of the room.

"Why?" Luke turned around and looked at her as she moved over to sit on her bed.

"Because... that just seemed a little like a father-daughter moment. And plus, if you were, that would clear everything up once and for all. Are you sure?" She asked again, not entirely sure how she wanted him to answer.

"Sorry Kiddo, looks like you'll just have to come up with your own way to sort out this situation." Luke replied, giving her a small smile. "I can assure you I'm definitely not him." Nodding her head, Rory turned off the light as Luke closed the door.

"So, have we reached the part of the evening where you tell me why you went all Stallone on one of your best friends?" Liz asked as she came and sat on Jess' bed.

"I don't think so. Actually, yeah, I think we might have missed it. Oh well, better luck next time."

"Jess, come on. This is me; I know some people might find the level of info we share a little weird, but you and I have always been able to talk about everything. I'd like to think that will continue even when girls come into the picture."

"Mom!" he groaned.

"No, I'm serious. You have never hit anyone before. Ever, except that time in kindergarten when you pushed Scotty Phillips on the playground."

"That was an accident."

"My point exactly. So, please explain to me what happened out there tonight."

"Tristan kissed Rory." He reluctantly explained.

"And that upset you, because you like Rory,"

"Yeah. Well, no. I mean, it did, because I..." Jess turned away, not sure how to continue. He shared everything with his mom, she was his best friend, but he just didn't know how to explain this. "I should have said something before now; I know that. But I couldn't, I didn't know how. So, Tristan decided to force me out."

"Well, he did a really good job at that."

"No kidding. Now you know, and she knows. Everyone knows. Can I just be alone for a while?"

"Honey-"

"I'm fine. I just have a lot of homework, so if it's ok..."

"Alright, well, I'll be around if you change your mind." Liz added, before kissing him on top of his head and leaving the room.

Jess didn't move from his spot on the bed. Instead of getting up to do the homework that was piled on his desk, he just reached over, turned off the light beside his bed, and lay in the dark.

AN2: So what do we think? Any good? We're slowly making progress, although they're still being a little silly, I'm confident that will end in the not too distant future. As I said earlier, it's my... well, my birthday party on Saturday, and my birhday, the following Sunday. Which probably means I'll find some time to squeeze in a little writing once the effects of the alcohol wears off and everyone goes home. I hope, but if not, then I'll get stuck in right after all of the celebrations are done. I hope the wait won't be too long for you.