AN: Sorry his one took so long. I've had most of it written outfor a few days, I just had to type it up in the correct order and make sure it all made sense, because there were bits and pieces written out of order and it was all over the place. Hopefully this makse sense now. Thanks for the reviews, enjoy.

Rory paused at the apartment door as she glanced over her shoulder to assess her surroundings. I didn't come through the diner. There is no William's Hardware sign on the door in front of me, she thought to herself. So why can I hear Luke's voice in there? She wondered. Did they have a date or something that she neglected to mention?

"Only one way to find out," she told herself, reaching for the doorknob again and letting herself in.

"Ah! It worked! I can't believe it." Lorelai screeched and Rory stopped, staring at the two in the kitchen.

"It worked," Luke agreed, smiling broadly.

"I cooked! I actually- Rory, you'll never believe what happened." She announced, turning to grin at her daughter.

"You cooked?" she guessed, coming further inside and moving to inspect the lasagne on the bench.

"No, I- yeah, I cooked. You ruined my surprise." Lorelai grumbled.

"No, you ruined your surprise, I however just used a couple of my senses to deduce that food had been cooked, and your level of excitement led me to believe you were responsible." Picking up a fork, she poked at the food trying to get a taste.

"Hey! Stop that." Luke instructed, swatting her hand away.

"I just want to try a little bit."

"You're not supposed to eat it till you're sitting at the table."

"Clearly you need to be caught up on the rules around here," Rory told him. "Or, lack thereof."

"Ok, well," Luke wiped his hands on a dishcloth, "it looks like you're all set here, so I think I'll take off."

"You aren't going to stay?" Lorelai looked a little disappointed.

"I just thought-"

"You should stay." Rory agreed. "You helped create this masterpiece it only seems fair you be here to help destroy it."

"Come on Luke, please?"

"If you're sure you've got room for me."

"Of course we have room." Rory replied. "I'll- I'll clear off the table, make room. One sec." she quickly moved to complete her task as Lorelai found plates, cutlery and glasses and placed everything out on the counter before Rory took them to the table and then they all sat down to eat. "Are you sure you made this?" Rory asked her mother a few minutes later after having taken a few bites. "Because this is quite a few notches above your specialty of ordering take-out,"

"She made it, I supervised." Luke explained. "You know you're not as bad at this as you think you are." He added to Lorelai.

"And it's fun too. How come no one ever told me cooking was fun? I doubt I would have put it off for this long if I'd known this was what I was missing out on."

"You probably just weren't listening." Rory replied, reaching for another piece of garlic bread.

"Eat what's on your plate first." Luke told her and Rory looked from the small salad to him and back again.

"Ok, I don't know if you noticed, but we're not in your house, so you can't-"

"Eat the leafy stuff honey, it's good for you." Lorelai ordered.

"Are you serious?" Rory groaned as her mom sat back in her chair, laughing and reaching for her glass. "Um, is that a good idea?" she asked, indicating the dark red liquid. She'd gotten a few details about the disastrous Valentine's dinner.

"It's just juice, relax. I don't think any of us would be that stupid, would we?" the other two nodded in agreement and Lorelai took another sip. "So, I remember hearing something somewhere that the person who cooked doesn't have to clean up," she added a while later. "And since Luke brought all of this stuff over and assisted me the only person left is the girl who's been using up all the gas in my Jeep, circling the town."

"I haven't used it all." Rory objected, "It's not on empty yet. And besides, that's pretty much all I can do since road trips are strictly forbidden."

"Doesn't change the fact that you, my child, are on clean up duty,"

"Fine, but can we at least discuss this whole-"

"No!" both adults boomed and Rory glared at them, collecting the plates.

"I can't believe this," she grumbled, dumping things into the sink. "She learns to cook one thing and suddenly she's the model parent? Stupid…" she continued muttering to herself as Lorelai and Luke got up and moved to the couch to continue talking as they'd done while Rory was out.

"This does not sound at all feasible," Jess pointed out the next day after Rory finished telling him about the previous night's dinner. "Are you sure it wasn't an elaborate dream sequence?"

"At first, I thought that was a possibility." Rory replied, handing him sheets of paper to put into welcome booklets they were making up for the inn. "But it just kept going and they kept talking and laughing and acting very parental by the way, I swear I felt like I was trapped in an episode of the Waltons. I actually ended up going to bed early thinking that might somehow wake me up, but nothing happened, nada!"

"Did she say anything about it this morning?"

"Just that they talked but she didn't mention any of the specifics. What does this mean?"

"For them?"

"And for me, and you and everything. I thought they were both adamant that nothing was going to happen. But it felt like I was intruding on a date last night."

"Well, having not actually witnessed the scene I'm not so sure I can offer an opinion on-"

"Try! Because I need answers and they are not giving me any, so I need you to find some."

"Well, what happened? I mean, do you know what they talked about? What went on while you weren't there?"

"They turned on cheesy make-out music and got busy on a bearskin rug. How should I know? They talked, that's it. All that Mom said was something about old girlfriends. And there was a bit that sounded like they'd been discussing when your grandfather was sick."

"You can stop freaking out now," Jess replied after a moment and Rory looked at him confused. "Luke never really talks about his ex-girlfriends, and on top of that, he is fiercely protective of his father." He explained. "I haven't known him to talk about the man with just anybody. But if he was telling Lorelai something about him, I'm sure we can consider that as a positive."

"Ok, but still, they were…"

"I thought this was what you were aiming for with your little schemes. Getting them together, wasn't that the idea since December?"

"Yeah, kind of,"

"So now they're doing something for themselves, isn't this a good thing?"

"Yes." Rory decided, finishing up with the booklets. "I know it is. I should just shut up and be happy about it,"

"But?"

"But what if something goes wrong? What if one or both of them ends up hurt and it's so bad that we have to leave and I never see you again?"

"Wow. They have a conversation and already they're breaking up and we're over? Imagine how you'll be acting if they go on an actual date."

"Jess…"

"Anyone ever tell you that you have an overactive imagination?"

"I'm asking a serious question here!"

"Ok, say something does go wrong. Say your mom decides she can't spend another minute here, that doesn't automatically mean that you have to leave too. You spent months living here without her, I kind of think that if that were to happen, it would be up to you where you went and what you did. She can't make you-"

"She made me come here when I didn't want to."

"That's true, but there was no one fighting for you then." Jess pointed out, pushing a piece of hair out of Rory's eyes. "If it comes down to it, I bet I can take her."

"What, you and my mother in a ninja fight?"

"If that's how it goes, sure."

"That's something I'd like to see."

"Yeah? A little bit of this?" he shifted into a fighting stance, punching the air in front of him. "And this," Rory shook her head, at his attempt at a karate chop.

"Dork,"

"Hunky dork, whom you can't imagine leaving." Jess corrected and Rory shook her head again.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," she whispered, before leaning in and kissing him.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Jess asked as they began to move towards the kitchen. "Am I doomed to journey to and from Hartford alone each day, or will you be joining me in my travels, in a very fetching plaid skirt?"

"Ah, well, I was still considering my options, but when you put it in those terms…" she replied, grabbing a cookie off the plate that Sookie had left on the bench before moving towards the coffeemaker. "I have been thinking it over and I just don't know. Chilton is the school you go to when you know what you want out of your life. When you have future plans, career ambitions, that school can be instrumental in making you great. And for you, it will, but what about me? The only way I'd ever make it into Harvard is if I stowed away in one of your suitcases."

"That works for me," Jess grinned and Rory shook her head.

"It just doesn't seem right that my grandparents spend all that money when I still have no idea-"

"So you'll work it out. Stars Hollow High, Chilton, what's the difference?"

"Only everything, I can't do that. I'll just take a few more days and if I haven't made a decision by Friday, I'll flip a coin."

"Ah, yes, the way all great decisions are made; heads ore tales?"

"Face it, sometimes your girlfriend is overcome with bouts of indecision and self consciousness and she needs a little help from the fates. It happens from time to time."

"It's happened a few times today though."

"Yeah, well, I'm allowed."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"Right, ok, well you carry on with that then. But if you wouldn't mind, I'd like the slightly more together you back at some point. Think you can find her for me?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure she's in here somewhere."

"Good." Jess grabbed another cookie and they headed back out of the kitchen.

"I can't wait any longer!" Emily announced as the four of them sat at the dinner table, having just had dessert placed in front of them that Friday. "Have you decided anything yet? About Chilton,"

"Mom, she-"

"I need to go to the restroom," Rory stood up abruptly, "Excuse me for a moment." She left the room quickly before heading for the stairs.

She had for the mot part mad up her mind in regards to her grandparents offer, but having them ask again now, she was almost ready to reconsider.

At the top of the stairs, Rory turned in the direction of her mother's old room she let herself in and looked around. This wasn't the first time she'd been up there though. There had been a few occasions on which she'd managed to slip away and inspect the room in which her mother had grown up.

And it looked, she imagined, almost exactly the same as it had sixteen years ago when it was being lived in.

Rory knew that the dresser drawers were still mostly filled with clothes, and the bottom drawer contained the yearbooks chronicling Lorelai's time at Chilton as well as an old uniform. She'd never taken either of these things out, just glanced at them quickly. Now, however, Rory moved with purpose and found what she was looking for.

Working quickly she slipped off her cardigan, stepped out of her heels and removed her dress, which was the same as the one she'd worn the first time she'd been in the house. Moments later she stood before the mirror, staring at herself in an old Chilton uniform.

"No, see, now this just isn't going to work for me." Rory muttered as she looked herself up and down.

"Rory, are you in here?" Lorelai called out, making her way along the hall.

"Yeah, just a second."

"What are you- Oh, my," she froze in the doorway, taking in the sight of her daughter trying to make up her mind between taking off the old uniform, or covering it up. "Let's do the time warp again." She said quietly, coming inside and shutting the door once more. "Now all we need is a boy in the closet trying to get his pants back on in a hurry and we've really managed a- there isn't a boy in the closet is there?"

"No! God that's… Oh my God, you mean Luke, don't you? He was your boy in the closet, that is just so… Eww! Thanks for that, really."

"Oh, honey, relax. What are you doing? You've never really been one for dress-ups and besides that, I think you're a little old for it."

"I wanted to see how I'd look, but this is awful. And haven't you ever heard of hemming?"

"I couldn't sew to save my life back then, and Mom wouldn't let any of the maid's do it for me, plus there was this whole hemline issue. It was all a big thing."

"Ok, that explains the length, but-"

"You realize this uniform is about fifteen years old, don't you? I'm sure they've made a few adjustments since I last graced the halls."

"Here's hoping, because I'm sorry, but this is sort of a deal breaker for me. If the uniform sucks, I'll be staying put," Rory explained, moving to sit on the bed.

"Do you not want to go?" Lorelai asked, coming to join her. "Is that what this is about, you've changed your mind? Because that's ok, I'll explain it to my parents. I'll male them understand."

"No, I haven't… I think I've just got cold feet or something. But I still want to do it. Well, you know, as long as I actually can get in and they don't stick me in something this hideous."

"Of course," Lorelai agreed as Rory stood up and started to remove the tie. "I'll go share the happy news with the grandparents. Then we should be released. I was thinking we could stop for ice cream. What do you think?"

"Grandma just served us some fancy chocolate cake, so... why not?"

"Excellent."

"I'll just be a minute." Rory replied, and Lorelai nodded before letting herself out.

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