A/N: Oh, reviewer peops, you're so great, but you are all so mad at Rory and just waiting for Paris to tear into her... which makes me feel a little bad, because honestly? I couldn't find a way to write that! Maybe one day I will and we'll have a deleted scenes for these 'Kids' fics (because I have a couple of other ideas too) but for now, my focus is more on Paris and Jess doing the sibling thing and freezing naughty Rory out! Plus a little Luke/Lorelai to break up the drama, of course ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 26
Jess wouldn't talk to Rory. She tried calling, texting, hanging around his dorm, his classes, the cafeteria, but he never seemed to be where she looked, and when he was, he just walked away, seemingly unable to deal with her. It hurt so much, but Rory couldn't blame him for freezing her out. As her mother had told her, if she turned the situation around, if Jess had gone kissing some other girl, she would be so broken, so angry. Sometimes, Rory wished Lorelai wouldn't take the logical route, but she couldn't deny she was wrong.
"It's been four days," she told her on the phone, "and it's not just Jess. Paris is almost never here and when she is she barely talks to me. She's just so mad about it."
"Well, honey, she sees herself as Jess' sister," Lorelai reminded her. "Family like that, they stand by each other. Imagine how mad you would be on my behalf if somebody cheated on me, or how mad I would be if this situation was the other way around."
Rory sighed. Of course, she knew she was right. She knew that Paris was right too when she gave Rory all her opinions on the situation. To be fair, she laid most of the blame on Logan, but she was still mad at Rory, more so for the fact she had been what Paris called 'easily led' and a 'catastrophic example to intelligent young women everywhere.' She wouldn't tell Rory if Jess was okay. She wouldn't fight Rory's corner with him at all, though she looked kind of sad about it when she said so yesterday. All of this, Rory told Lorelai, only to hear her mom sigh too.
"Sweets, I wish I could make it better, but you know I can't," she told her. "Hey, at least spring break is coming up. You can come home, spend some time with me and Luke, and with Lane and the guys. That should help, right?"
"I guess," said Rory, though she didn't sound any more convincing than she felt. "I don't know if Jess and Paris will stay here or if she'll take him to her house. I can't imagine that they'll want to be in Stars Hollow when they know I'll be there. God, I'm such a horrible person, I'm keeping Jess and Luke apart too."
"You're really not horrible, Rory," her mother assured her. "Besides, you're not keeping Jess away. He didn't plan to come in the first place."
"What? Mom, what do you know that I don't?"
"I don't know." Lorelai squirmed, though Rory couldn't see her she could hear it in her tone of voice. "I just... well, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say anything, but Jess told Luke and Luke told me and nobody actually told me that you weren't supposed to know, and damn it, you're my daughter, so I have every right to tell you, right?"
"Yes, you do," said Rory quickly. "What do I need to know?"
"Well, it seems as if Paris heard about some kids from Yale going to Florida to do the traditional spring break thing and pretty much invited herself. She's taking Jess along with."
"What?" Rory gasped. "Paris and Jess are doing spring break?"
"Apparently. I know, it seems almost as unlikely as you doing spring break, but that's what Jess told Luke. I can't think why he'd lie about something like that."
"That's why Paris was packing so much," said Rory, staring at nothing as the thought hit her. "She said she was getting stuff together to go stay over with Doyle again, but she packed way too much. It's her bag for Florida, isn't it?"
"I guess so." Lorelai sighed. "Sweets, I'm so sorry. I know this all sucks for you right now, but you know, maybe this is a good thing. You know, Paris and Jess going away for a while? Maybe when they've both had time to cool off, have a change of scenery, think about what's happened, well, when they get back, they might be in a more talky mood."
"Maybe," Rory agreed though she wasn't entirely convinced. "I really hope so. I love Jess so much, Mom, I can't... I can't stand the idea that this is it, that we'll never be together again."
"I'm sure it won't come to that, hon," Lorelai sympathised.
Unfortunately, she couldn't say for sure what would happen with the kids. Her own relationship was on much more stable ground these days, and thankfully even the great Rory and Jess break-up, be it temporary or permanent, didn't seem to have done it much harm. Luke and Lorelai were determined not to let it.
After ending the call with her baby girl, Lorelai threw the phone into the armchair, reached for a cushion to put over her face, and screamed into it for a few moments. It was all so frustrating. Things at the inn kept going one step forward, two steps back, she and Luke still hadn't found time to really make any firm plans about their wedding, and now Rory and Jess were falling apart with no hint of a reconciliation. It was awful and Lorelai only had one solution for that. Screw the money issues, just for today, because she was going shopping!
"She wasn't in there," said Paris, emerging from her dorm with a bag in each hand. "I told you, she has class."
"I know." Jess nodded. "But ever since Luke told me that she knows we're headed out for spring break, I keep expecting her to try and stop us."
"She doesn't know we're leaving a day early, doofus," Paris reminded her brother, rolling her eyes into the bargain. "Besides, even if she asked you not to go, you're a big boy. Just say no."
Jess shook his head and followed Paris outside to where the car was waiting, the rest of their peers already inside waiting to go. He wasn't really looking forward to spring break in Florida. In fact, it was kind of his idea of hell. Still, not seeing Rory or hearing about her at all for at least a week sounded like a really great idea. There was nothing to stop him hiding in a hotel room with a stack of books on one side and a stack of CDs on the other. Well, except for Paris, but Jess was pretty sure his sister was never going to be the Girls Gone Wild type, no matter what else happened. She was hell bent on making sure he had a good time though and that he didn't think about Rory too much. Fat chance of that, as far as Jess was concerned, no matter how much he wished he could banish her from his mind.
"I thought for sure if you were coming along, Paris, you'd be bringing that boyfriend that we hear so much about," said Janet as they piled into the car.
"My love life is none of your business, Fitness Barbie!" she snapped back at her.
Jess didn't wonder at it. There was no love lost between Paris and Janet, though that was only half the reason for her attitude today. Jess heard raised voices coming from Doyle's room late last night and one of them was definitely Paris' own dulcet tone. Next thing he knew, she was banging on his door, asking to sleep on the couch. There were no tears, no recriminations, and no explanation. Jess just checked she was okay and was abruptly told she was fine and couldn't wait to go away to Florida already. Apparently, that was all the explanation he was getting for now.
Settling down in the back seat with a book, Jess decided not worry about Paris' relationship or his own for a while. He was headed towards sun, sea, sand, and hopefully no trouble. Whether he was actually going to enjoy himself at all, Jess couldn't say, but he supposed he ought to try. After all, this was the only year he planned on spending at Yale and therefore his only chance to really do spring break. Maybe he ought to embrace it. Maybe he would, and yet, more likely, he probably wouldn't.
Lorelai practically leapt out of her skin when she heard Luke arrive at the house. When she picked up the phone to call him earlier, she had found the light blinking to say she had a message, only to find it was Luke himself, telling her he would be over around seven as he had something to tell her. Since she had been calling to suggest something similar, Lorelai never made her call, just waited around on tenterhooks until her fiancé finally arrived.
"Hey," they said at the same time, both laughing like loons when they realised it, only to do the very same thing again a second later. "I have something to tell you."
"Ladies first," said Luke, forever the gentleman.
"Er, in what universe was I ever misconstrued to be a lady?" Lorelai scoffed. "You go."
Luke rolled his eyes but none the less took the lead.
"Okay. So, this is all very flexible and optional, there is no pressure whatsoever, it's just a suggestion, a possibility," he rambled, in a style not unlike the Gilmore girls themselves. "The thing is, Reverend Skinner came into the diner today and he asked if we'd gotten any further with our wedding plans. I said no, he asked if there were any problems, I said no again, we've just been busy with your inn and my diner and the kids and all.
"Anyway, he's talking about bookings and how busy he is, except for this one Saturday in May. Sad story about some guy who landed up in the hospital and just when they thought he was fine, the fiancée came down with the same disease or whatever. Anyway, their wedding is on hold, so there's this gap in the schedule for this one Saturday in May and Reverend Skinner was asking if maybe we wanted it."
Lorelai's eyes went wide and a gasp escaped her lips as Luke stared at her. He hadn't actually told Reverend Skinner that he and Lorelai did want the space, knowing he had to talk to her first, but he may have asked him not to tell anyone about it for the next twenty-four hours just in case.
Lorelai had said she didn't want to wait too long to marry Luke and he certainly had no hesitation in marrying her. It seemed kind of perfect actually, but at the same time, May was very close, and it would probably coincide with the inn opening. That could create a lot of stress for both of them, especially Lorelai, hence Luke's nervous disposition as he waited for her to say something.
On this one occasion, Lorelai appeared to be dumbstruck, and then, just when Luke was really starting to get concerned by her lack of response, she ran.
"Lorelai?" he called behind her as she pelted up the stairs.
"Hold that thought!" she yelled back to him, just before she disappeared from sight.
Luke really had no idea what to think but barely had time to try before Lorelai came running back down the stairs again with a garment bag in her hands.
"This," she said, running a gentle hand over the bag, "is the perfect dress."
"The perfect dress?" Luke echoed, shaking his head.
"The perfect wedding dress," Lorelai clarified. "Obviously, I'm not going to show you because, hello, worst luck ever, but I was at the mall today, not looking for a dress, not really looking for anything in particular. Honestly, I just wanted to feel better with all the Rory and Jess drama and everything, so I went to the mall, and there in a window, the most amazing wedding dress, 50% off, and it's perfect. I mean, literally perfect. This is fate, Luke. It's supposed to be. I got the dress the very same day Reverend Skinner talks to you about a cancellation. If it was any more kismet we'd be Nelson and Hardy, baby!"
Luke wasn't sure whether to frown or laugh at that particular reference, but he supposed it didn't really matter. If he wasn't used to Lorelai's wacky ways by now, he never would be, and no matter what, he really did want to marry her as soon as possible.
"So, we're taking the date?" he checked.
"We're so taking the date!" Lorelai enthused, throwing herself into his arms, bagged dress and all.
Luke couldn't have been happier and was so glad that Lorelai seemed to be much the same. With all the Rory and Jess drama, at least they had come through okay this time. Maybe some happy news like this was what everybody needed right now.
"This is wrong, isn't it?" said Paris, throwing herself down to sit on the bed next to Jess' own.
"Brothers and sisters share rooms, Paris. It's not weird, it's just cheaper," said Jess, not even looking up.
He was laid out on the other bed, one arm behind his head and his nose firmly in a paperback, the same place he had been since about ten minutes after they arrived. He seemed oblivious to the fact that this was what Paris thought was so wrong, and not the sleeping arrangements.
"I'm talking about us staying in with books while on spring break in Florida," she told him crossly. "We could've stayed home and done this."
"We came for the weather and the escape," Jess told her, turning the page, still not looking at her. "Well, I did anyway."
The truth was he had hardly read a word the whole time he had been lying there, and it had been a while. Jess thought coming away from Connecticut would help put Rory out of his head, but it didn't. He couldn't be around her right now, even after several days. He knew they would end up fighting more and he really didn't want that, but to forgive her and move on was just impossible right now. Running away, even temporarily and with Paris tagging along, it seemed like such a great plan, but now they were here and nothing had really changed.
"Don't pretend it's making a damn difference, brother dear," said Paris then, as if she had read his mind or something. "Little Miss Gilmore is as much on your mind here as she was back at Yale."
Jess didn't reply. He couldn't. He told Paris the bare minimum about what happened with him and Rory, then he deliberately clammed up. He wasn't much for sharing at the best of times and on this topic, he seriously did not have the words.
"Fine," said Paris coolly. "You don't want to talk? Then how about you just listen. Doyle and I... I'm pretty sure we're over too."
That actually got Jess' attention. He still didn't say anything, mostly because he had no idea what he should say, but he put down the book and sat up on the edge of the bed facing Paris now.
"It was so stupid really. I mean, we were just... well, it wasn't all sex, we had some pretty great conversations too, but we never really went out on a date or talked about being serious. It was all just meant to be fun, at least, I thought so and then do you know what the stupid idiot goes and says to me? 'I love you.' That's what he said, 'I love you.'
"I'm almost certain it was some misguided attempt to comfort me after I told him about you and Rory and feeling kind of torn. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely loyal to you, not only as my brother but as the injured party in the case, but it's not easy for me. Gilmore has been a good friend to me, the best where fellow women are concerned.
"Anyway, that's not the point. Doyle actually said he loved me and I... I just sat there. I stared, I... I freaked out, I guess, and then I just left."
Jess' eyes went wide and then he shook his head.
"Wait a second, Doyle said he loved you and you... ran?"
"I panicked, okay? I wasn't ready for that!" Paris complained too loudly. "I don't know what to tell you, except I feel horrible about it, but I just... I couldn't say it back and I don't know why," she admitted, tears welling in her eyes. "What's wrong with me, Jess?"
"There's nothing wrong with you," he promised, moving to sit beside her and putting his arm around her shoulders. "Seriously, you're fine," he said definitely, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.
"I don't feel fine. I feel like a freak," Paris complained.
"Yeah, well. I feel like my heart got stomped on by Rory Gilmore, so we're both in a bad place right now," he admitted with a sigh.
They sat together in silence a moment or two and then Paris almost physically jumped when Jess spoke very suddenly.
"Get up. We're going out."
"We're what?" asked Paris, looking bemused by his sudden leap into action.
"Shoes, jacket, be ready, we're leaving," said Jess, standing over her and snapping his fingers very close to her nose. "I need a drink, you need a drink, in fact I'm pretty sure we need a lot of drinks, and what better time and place than spring break in Florida? C'mon, Geller, let's go all out cliché for once, what do you say?"
"You're serious," she realised aloud. "Geez, next thing is you'll be suggesting the beach for tomorrow," she said, though she did get up and make moves to find some shoes already.
"Maybe I will," Jess shrugged, reaching for his watch and strapping it to his wrist. "When in Rome, right?"
To Be Continued...
