A/N: Thank you a million times for all the reviews I've been getting on this story. It makes me terribly happy to see the amount of people following, marking the story as favorite and reviewing! I love it and I hope you'll continue to review!
I just wanted to let you know that, counting this chapter, there are three chapters left on this story before we leave it and move on to the sequel (if anyone has a suggestion for a title for the sequel I would love to hear it as I suck when it comes to coming up with titles…).
…Or at least that was the thought, but this chapter turned out to be really long and the end of it is coming kind of slowly, so I've decided to divide this chapter into two parts instead of making you wait even longer for an update…
"So this is Stars Hollow?" Matt asks and looks out the window.
"Yep" Jess answers shortly. "Blink and you might miss it"
Rory punches his shoulder playfully. "There's Luke's diner" She says and points out the window and smiles as Matt, Vanessa and even Chris looks in the direction of her finger. "And there's the gazebo" She points in the other direction and once again the backseat passengers follows her direction on where to look. "Oh! And there's Taylor!" She exclaims and points to the man, who's standing on the sidewalk outside of Doose's looking suspiciously at the car.
Matt raises his hand and waves to the man, thereby turning the suspicious look into a confused one as the man takes a step out onto the street to gaze at the disappearing car.
A short while and several head turns following the directions of Rory's pointing later, Jess pulls the car up on the Gilmore driveway.
They all step out of the car and look around them as Rory leads them towards the front porch. Half way across the lawn, the door is opened and an enthusiastic Lorelai steps out with a huge smile on her lips.
"Hey" She greets them as she descends the stairs. "We have to leave right away if we're going to get to Hartford in time" She talks in a fast pace as she pulls Rory in for a hug.
"Oh, ok" Rory says as her mother lets her out of the embrace.
"No need to prolong the night or increase the amount of hostility" Lorelai turns to Jess and with a smile on her face she pulls him as well into a greeting hug.
With a startled look on his face, Jess reluctantly pads her arm and Rory giggles at the picture.
"That was awkward" Lorelai states as she steps back and Jess nods in agreement. "We'll work on appropriate greetings at a later time" She promises with a trying smile on her lips.
"Mom" Rory says and catches her mother's attention. "This is Jess' friends: Matt, Vanessa and Chris" She points towards them and is relieved to see her mother shaking their hands instead of continuing with her hugging.
"Luke's inside and Michel's at the Dragonfly, ready to check you in whenever you feel like it. Sorry for leaving this abruptly, if you'd ever met my mother, you'd understand the rush" Lorelai smiles as she continues talking while dragging Rory with her towards her car.
"Intense woman" Chris states when both Gilmore girls have settled themselves in Lorelai's car.
"I like her" Vanessa clarifies and points towards the open front door. "Shall we?"
"I didn't say I didn't like her" Chris mutters to himself as the group makes their way through the door.
Walking into the living room they see Luke coming down the stairs, his hair wet and his hands occupied with buttoning the last buttons in his flannel shirt. "Oh, hi" He stops for a split second before continuing down the stairs.
Quickly and with a very formal handshake he introduces himself to Jess' friends. "I'm Jess' uncle" He explains, although he'd met both Matt and Chris at the open house.
When introductions are made silence falls over the room.
"Lorelai was worried you wouldn't make it in time" Luke blurts out, filling the silence.
"We met her" Jess informed and the silence ensues.
"So…" Luke starts and drifts off with that one word. They're all still standing awkwardly in the living room. The silence in the room is a sharp contrast to Lorelai's babbling greeting on the lawn.
Vanessa is the one to break the silence, turning to Jess. "Why don't you give us the tour of the town?"
"Yes" Luke interrupts before Jess has a chance to oppose, his voice filled with enthusiasm at the suggestion. "That's a great idea"
Jess rolls his eyes. "Sure"
"Good, great" Luke says while nodding fervently, obviously relieved at the outlook of getting out of the awkward standing they were all participating in. "Stop by the diner when you're done and I'll feed you"
Jess simply nods.
"Thank you" Vanessa says and elbows her boyfriend in the side.
Matt rips his eyes away from the monkey lamp he'd been studying on the side table and reaches his hand out towards Luke. "Yes, thank you…sir" Both Luke and Matt cringes at the word 'sir', but they still shake each other's hands.
"Thank you" Chris interrupts the awkwardness by patting his hand on Luke's shoulder, a gesture that seems to sit better with Luke than the forced handshake.
"What's with the hugging?" Rory asks, amused as they settle inside the car.
"It was weird, right?" Lorelai looks at her as she backs them out of the driveway, smoothly avoiding bumping into Jess' car. "It felt weird" She adds.
"Yeah" Rory admits.
"I don't know…after reading his book I kind of felt like I knew him. Like we've been up all night in a heart-to-heart conversation and now we're buddies"
"Buddies that hugs?" Rory raises her eye brows.
"Well…buddies that hugged once and then realized they should never do it again?" Lorelai offers and is rewarded with a laugh from her daughter.
They continue to drive for a while in silence. Not an uncomfortable silence though, but one of those silences that you can just relax into, knowing that the other person is there but that there's no pressure to fill the silence with words.
"So…" Lorelai says after a while, trying to look at her daughter and the road simultaneously. "…I'm dying to know how things are going. What have happened since you left, what are your plans for the future, how are his friends taking it – are they being nice?"
Rory stirs at the question regarding Jess' friends. She had decided on the drive to Stars Hollow not to bring up the subject of Chris to her mother, in honor of their truce. But with a question like that? No. Maybe later if the truce thing didn't work out.
She turns to her mother with a wide smile on her lips. "It's going great"
"I'm glad" She says and then turns serious. "What are you telling the grandparents? Are you going to tell them about Jess?"
Rory bites her lip. "I don't know. I keep thinking I should, but they really liked Logan, you know? Maybe I should wait, let them get used to the idea of me not being with Logan first"
Lorelai shrugs her shoulders. "It's your call honey"
Rory nods. "Yeah. I think it's better to wait. It might be easier for them to not hate Jess if they don't know he's the reason I left Logan"
"Maybe" Lorelai purses her lips together and after a few seconds of hesitating she continues. "Just know that my mother has a talent for finding out these kinds of things"
"I'm just thinking it should be me taking the blow for the wedding being cancelled – I don't want them to focus their anger and disappointment on Jess instead of me"
Lorelai nods. "I wish I could say that they'd be supportive and understanding that it is your life and that as long as you're happy it's all that matters, but…" She trails off.
Rory sighs. "Yeah, I know"
"So…" Lorelai starts, changing the subject. "You're getting your stuff from Logan's tomorrow?"
"M-hum" Rory nods. "Jess is going to ask Luke if we can borrow his truck and we're going there around noon"
"You're bringing Jess?" Lorelai sounds surprised.
"I don't know" Rory answers and bites her lower lip – a nervous trait her mother recognizes all too well.
"Come on" Her mother says upfront. "Spill"
"What?"
"Something's on your mind – spill"
"I-I just…I mean, Logan's still hurting and it's my fault…and he'll probably recognize Jess…" She trails off, intently staring down at her lap.
"…but you don't want to tell Jess he can't come, 'cause you think that might hurt his feelings or make him think you have a reason for wanting to go to Logan's on your own?" Lorelai fills in and Rory nods solemnly.
"Yeah…something like that" She mutters into her lap.
"Don't you think he'll understand?" Lorelai asks, carefully choosing her words.
"Maybe…but at the same time…" Rory looks up from her lap. "…I'm not sure I really want to go to Logan's alone." She bites her lip before she continues to explain. "Partly because I have all these heavy things there, like books and stuff, and I can't carry them alone and I'm not sure if Logan will be willing to help – not that I would blame him if he wasn't. And partly because he's so hurt and he has every right to be angry but I don't think I want to be alone with him, because I have no idea what to say to him or how to ease his pain"
"Breathe honey" Lorelai instructs and Rory takes a deep breath. "Why don't we engage Jess and Luke on making space for your stuff in the garage and the rest of us go to Logan's place?"
"You make it sound so simple"
"Hey, Jess?" Matt says and walks up beside him.
Jess turns his head and looks at his friend.
"Are you famous in this town or something?"
Jess furrows his eyebrows. "Not really. Why?"
Matt chuckles. "'Cause I kinda feel like I'm walking next to Brad Pitt or something"
Jess stops and smirks at him. "Brad Pitt, huh?"
"Yeah. People are pointing and staring and whispering behind our backs. What did you do? Starr in the high school play or something?"
Jess looks around and sees a whole bunch of people stopping dead in their tracks and trying just a little bit too hard to look casual. He lets out a short laugh. "That's just how this town looks at newcomers – better get used to it"
"Come on" Matt pushes. "You must have done something, it's been – what – 4 years since you lived here?"
"Guess I'm just that memorable"
"So you haven't done anything to draw this kind of attention simply by walking around town? Come on, tell me. Where you the quarterback that scored the winning goal in that really important game?"
Jess shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't do anything"
"Oh, he did plenty" Vanessa interrupts, a huge smile on her face, rewarding her with an ice-cold glare from Jess.
"Tell me!" Matt pleads, leaving Jess' side and walking up to Vanessa's.
"Well…" She starts with a teasing smile on her lips. "…for starters, there was the missing money out of the bridge-donation-cup"
Jess rolls his eyes. "Which I replaced"
"You stole charity money?" Matt asks, his eyes widening at the thought.
"Borrowed" Jess corrects him. "I put them back the next day. No big deal"
"And he kidnapped Pierpon" Vanessa continues, taking no notice of Jess' interjections.
"Pierpon?" Chris asks amused.
"A lawn-gnome" Vanessa explains, trying really hard to hold back her laugh.
"I see" Chris counters with a smirk on his lips.
"As if you guys never did bad things when you were young" Jess mutters as they cross a street corner.
"Of course we did…" Matt says as he puts his arm around Vanessa's shoulders. "…but we didn't write a book where we confessed all of them"
"Shut up" Jess snaps, but there's an amused spark in his eyes, taking the edge off his words.
"I want to see the bridge where Luke pushed you in" Vanessa insists and knowing there was no getting of his tour-guide duties, Jess steered them in the direction of the bridge.
Rory takes a deep breath and blows the air out slowly and audible.
Lorelai turns to look at her and sees the anxious and nervous expressions on her face. "Maybe it won't be that bad" She reaches her hand out and rubs Rory's shoulder, shooting her a strained smile.
"Yeah" She sighs. "What's the worst that could happen, right?"
"Oh" Lorelai starts. ""Don't go there, honey" Rory gives her a confused look and Lorelai explains. "Gilmore's see that – to other people rhetoric question – as a challenge"
"Mom" Rory sighs again, her voice tired.
"I'm serious" Lorelai lowers her voice into a whisper. "Every time someone stood here on these very porch steps and uttered the words 'what's the worst that could happen' things have gone above and beyond the realms of 'the worst that could happen'"
"Gee, thanks for the comfort" Rory sneers.
"I'm just keeping it real" Lorelai smiles, but when met with Rory's miserable-looking face she immediately turns serious. "It'll be okay honey. Now, the sooner we ring the doorbell and enter the house – the sooner we'll be on our way home"
With a deep breath and a determined face Rory leans forward and rings the doorbell, an uneasy feeling spreading through her entire body as the sound of the doorbell echoes through the house.
He would never admit it to anyone, but Jess had enjoyed showing his friends around Stars Hollow. He smiles when thinking about how Vanessa had filled in every here and there with small stories from the book. His book.
Walking through town hearing her tell bits and pieces about the time he spent there as a teenager had felt like walking through history. It was this place that had made him want to change. This place and the two people in it that had believed he could do better.
"If we're done touring, the diner's over there" Jess points across the street.
"I could go for a burger" Matt responds and looks around him at the rest of the group. When met with nothing but agreeing nods he takes the lead as they cross the street.
"You could always go for a burger" Jess grins and for a split second he hesitates his steps as his gaze catches a familiar form standing at the street corner outside Luke's.
Vanessa notices the hesitation and follows his gaze to a lanky, brown-haired guy staring at them with nothing but hate and contempt in his eyes.
Looking back at Jess, with a question on her tongue she sees him staring back with pretty much the same look in his eyes.
"Wow" Chris says, having picked up on the tension growing around them, as Dean makes a move and disappears down the street in the opposite direction. "So much for small town friendliness"
Jess doesn't say anything, instead he shrugs his shoulders and keeps walking as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Vanessa gasps and stops. "It was him, right?"
"Who?" Matt and Chris asks in unison, stopping as well and looking down the street where the guy had disappeared.
"Maybe" Jess answers impatiently, stopping as well to wait for his friends.
"Who?" Matt asks again, louder this time.
"The guy Rory dated when she met Jess"
"Ah" Matt nods in understanding. "By the looks I take it that he didn't step down willingly?"
"Not quite" Vanessa answers.
Jess sighs. "I thought you were hungry?" He gestures towards the diner and they all start moving towards it again.
Before entering the diner, Chris stops on the base of the stairs and looks over his shoulder as Dean steps out of a store down the street. Their eyes meet for a short moment before Dean turns away and continues in the other direction.
Chris nods to himself before he walks up the stairs and enters the diner.