Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions, got me really excited about writing about Lorelai reading the book. I'm gonna try to use as many of your suggestions as possible, but I think I have to go back and watch a few episodes before writing so I don't get anything wrong.

The following morning, after seeing Rory off, Lorelai crawls up in the couch taking the book with her. She hadn't mentioned anything about the book to Rory, she wanted to read more before saying anything. Rory hadn't asked either, she had been too preoccupied with going over everything that could possibly go wrong with this trip and the talk to Jess.

"I'm leaving now, I have to make sure Cesar didn't burn the place down during the breakfast rush." Luke says as he passes by her and kisses her cheek on his way to the door.

"You never told me." Lorelai says and looks up at him, making him stop in the doorway. "You must have known, 'cause you talk to Jess occasionally. But you never told me. You just let me think he was still this little punk who broke my only daughter's heart."

"Never told you what?" Luke looks confused as he steps back into the living room.
"That he has changed. That he has grown up. That he's…different."
"Well." He looks even more confused. "I didn't think you cared."
"Hmph." She looks affronted.
"Oh, come on." He sighs. "You can't possibly be mad at me for not bringing up Jess in a conversation."

"But I didn't know." She whines and wrinkles her forehead. "Now go, I have to keep reading."
"Don't you have work as well? An Inn to run for example?"
"I called Sookie, told her I'm coming in a bit late today. I have some reading to do."

Luke smiles.
"So there was no evil queen?"
"No…not yet at least. Only a mother who loves her daughter and wants to protect her." She bites her lip. "I could never have imagined him describing me like that…so…understanding of where I was coming from. Looking back, I can hardly understand where I was coming from, still he doesn't blame me; he seems to understand me."

"Good." Luke nods, unsure of what to say. "I'm glad."
"You know it's okay for you to be proud of him, right?" Lorelai says, looking him in the eyes.
Luke mumbles something and Lorelai continues.
"I mean, he did make her cancel her wedding when he sent her that letter and the book, and we were all extremely worried about her, but this thing he did here; it's amazing, and it's okay for you to be proud of him. You should be. You don't have to be, but if you are, you don't have to hide it from me."
Luke smiles.
"I am. I am proud of him."
"Good. You should be."
"I should…" Luke says with a vague gesture towards the door and Lorelai nods in response.

"Luke…" She says before he reaches the door and he turns around and looks at her. "Do you think…I mean, if all goes well…for Rory today…if she and Jess end up together…do you think he and I…do you think we could ever…get along?"
Luke smiles.
"You and Jess are more alike than you think. You probably won't go shoe-shopping together, but I think you could get along just fine. Better than fine actually, if only both of you give it an honest try."

OoOoOo – Rory's point of view – OoOoOo

That's where she'd stopped on her way home that night. That's when her tears had clogged up her eyes so bad she couldn't see the road anymore. Would she be leaving Philadelphia crying this time as well? Was there really an allusion to Yeats or did she just see one because she so desperately needed to find a way around his rejecting words?

No, Paris had seen it first. Paris didn't desperately need to see it, and still she saw it. But then again; Paris was Paris. Paris overanalyzed things. Paris could easily get carried away.

But it didn't matter anymore – she was going. She was going to Philadelphia, she was going to tell him she called of the wedding. A thought crosses her mind: he must already know that the wedding was off. He must've have known it after Luke's phone call. Why hadn't he come then? Why hadn't he called her and told her he wanted to be with her?

The poem. Of course. He wants his lover to act upon the love he feels for her. Maybe he was sick of being the one that had to put himself out there, this time maybe he wanted her to come to him. And she was, she was on her way to him- to put herself out there, to act upon his love.

OoOoOoOoOo

She stops for a short moment on the street outside Truncheon and takes a deep breath. This is it. No matter whether he wanted her to come or not, she is here, and she's going to tell him how she feels. She's going to tell him that she loves him and that she wants to be with him.

She takes another deep breath to calm her nerves. A few more steps and then she'll know. She wonders if he has changed or if he looks the same as he did last time she came to see him. She wonders what his kisses felt like, if they still felt the same. She wonders if he will kiss her again today, or if he will ask her to leave.

"If you don't go, you'll never know and you'll spend your life wondering what could've been." With her mother's last words before she left ringing in her ears she starts walking towards the door with determined steps.

She opens the door, steps inside and looks around the place – no sight of Jess so far. There are two guys standing at the counter. She recognizes them as Jess' friends from the opening night. With a short nod in their direction she walks up to one of the shelves near the door and pretends to be looking at it while casting glances around her, trying to find Jess.

Where was he? This was his place of work. He should be here. Unless he was on a lunch break. She takes a quick look at her watch; he could be on a lunch break. Unless he quit. Maybe he quit and moved elsewhere. Why hadn't that thought crossed her mind? Maybe he moved so that she couldn't find him. She starts panicking and decides to leave. She has to leave and calm her nerves.

What was she thinking coming here? She couldn't do this. He had told her not to come and she came rushing because Paris thought she saw an allusion to Yeats in his letter. Jess didn't even like poetry. Jess preferred books over poetry. Or at least the old Jess did. Maybe he'd changed. Maybe he had started liking poetry. Maybe he had started liking poetry and stopped loving her.

She turns around to head for the door when she crashes into someone.
"May I help you?" It's one of the guys that was standing at the counter when she walked in.
"No, thanks. I'm only…" She hesitates, "…looking around."
"Anything special you're interested in?"

Something special? Yeah, something very special. The most special there are. But she couldn't tell him that. Or could she?
"Well, actually…" She hesitates again, afraid to get the answer that Jess is not here anymore, afraid that there was no hidden meaning, no allusion to Yeats telling her to come. She decides to ignore her fear, she has nothing to lose, she might as well just throw herself out there. "Is Jess around?"
"Jess? Yeah, he's here." The guy answers, looking very uninterested in helping her.

She looks around and still there's no sight of Jess, she looks at the guy in front of her again, waiting for him to continue. The guy on the other hand doesn't act like he has any intention to further extend his statement, he simply looks at her with an ice-cold gaze. She swallows deeply and asks with an excusing tone in her voice.
"Where?"
The guy sighs and nods his head towards a stair next to the counter.
"Up there."
She can still feel his gaze piercing her back as she walks towards the stairs and she feels her legs quiver as she starts climbing the steps.

She hears the guy walking up to the counter and start talking to his friend. Since they seem to be talking about her, she slows her steps down and listens.

"Was that…" An unfamiliar voice asks.
"Yes, it was." The guy she had been talking to answers.
"What did she want?" His emphasis on the word 'she' reveals that whatever he's feeling towards her it's not a warm and friendly feeling.
"To see Jess."
"So the crushing she did last time wasn't enough? She's back for more?" She closes her eyes and leans against the wall. They know what happened last time, they know she broke his heart.

"Looks like it." The guy she had been talking to answers.
"Bitch."
"I agree."
"Should we stop her?"
"Nah, I think he can handle it this time."
"Should I go pick up a bottle of tequila, just in case?" The unfamiliar voice, which must logically belong to the other guy she'd seen standing behind the counter, asks.
"Might as well do. Just in case."

She hears them moving around downstairs and walks up the last few steps and faces a closed door.

With a deep sigh she looks at the door. The roles had been reversed. Many years ago when Jess came to Stars Hollow, her mother and the entire town had looked at him as if he was not good enough, as if he was a bad guy. Now his friends didn't think she was good enough for him, as if she was the bad guy that would break his heart and leave without looking back.

She takes a deep breath, stretches her hand out and knocks on the door.