Chapter 5

Jess went downstairs into the diner, attaching his watch. Luke was busy with Kirk; holding a bill in front of his face with a glaring anger towards the weird and annoying man. Jess looked around the swamped place; people everywhere and no help. Jess picked up a coffee pot and started hitting every table, all the towns people glaring at him... Everything was the same. It was like he had never left and it wasn't hard for Jess to get back into the rhythm of things.

"I just think that shouldn't have to pay for the entire coffee if I didn't drink all of it."

"Shut up, Kirk," Luke said, turning to look at his nephew. Jess noticed.

"What?" He sighed, stopping in his tracks.

"You're working here now?"

Jess sneered. "I thought that was clear."

"From what indication?" Luke raised a brow.

Jess rolled his eyes, turning back to the customers empty cups. "Whatever."

Luke sighed heavily. "Some thing never change," he muttered to himself, then turned back to Kirk.

"How can we even be having this discussion?" Rory asked.

"I'm just sayin'," Lorelai said. The Gilmore girls were walking down the street, past the market and the Chat Club, towards Luke's.

"Just saying would imply that you haven't ruined an entire lifetime of perfection."

"Chinese Democracy was, yes, awful, to go so far as to say that it's as bad as Bjork?!" Lorelai protested. Ah, the idiotic debate of two completely different music genres as to which is worse...

"Bjork is stupendous!"

Lorelai scowled at her daughter. "No. You cannot bring big words like 'stupendous' into an argument."

"Yes you can!"

"No, you can't!"

"Can."

"Can't."

A beat. Rory stopped in her tracks, unnoticed to Lorelai. She turned around, looking at her pale-faced daughter. "What?" She pointed through the window of their destination. Luke's. Lorelai followed her finger; Jess was there, serving the people of Stars Hallow. Suddenly it felt like she went back a year. It was like nothing had changed.

Lorelai's focus on Jess was lost at the visual of the coffee machine behind him; opera music playing in her head and everyone and everything else just became blurry shapes to her.

A long silent pause— "Ok, let's go in," Lorelai said.

"I can't."

"Because of Jess?" Lorelai shook her head, mentally glaring at him. "He's even taken coffee away from us."

Rory stomped her foot, a pleading look plastered on her face. "No! He's not taking coffee away from me!" She protested, then stormed up to the door.

That's my girl, Lorelai thought proudly. Rory grabbed ahold of the handle, then let go, storming back down the path, then stopped again. Lorelai raised her brow. "Hun?"

Rory ignored her, hugging herself from the cold. "No..." She said to herself. "Coffee is needed..." Rory turned back and went as far as the door.

Then came back.

Lorelai's head dropped and groaned. "Okay, hun," Lorelai started, gripping onto Rory's shoulders getting her attention. "You need to do this. For the sake of the coffee. Without it; we die."

Rory rolled her eyes. "That's a little dramatic..."

Lorelai shook her a bit, staring her intensely in the eye. "No. We. Need. Coffee. I believe you can do this."

"You're right," Rory pouted, "Thanks, mom!" She said, removing herself from Lorelai's grasp and marched up the few step, and whipped open the door, standing proud – in the moment. Almost everyone turned her way to see Rory standing with hands curled into fists her legs apart in a dramatic way and a smug look on her face, and when that happened; when everyone stared at the deranged girl, she realised how ridiculous she must've looked. Rory let go of the door, clinging onto one arm with the other and bringing her feet together in an awkward way. She was blushing like crazy. "Um..." she muttered, then slumped into the table closest to her. She felt Jess staring at her, probably smirking, trying to hide a laugh. She glanced behind her, trying to see him. But her mother was there instead.

"Well I liked that little entrance," Lorelai said sympathetically, rubbing her shoulder, but was still hiding a snort. Rory sunk further into her chair and hid her face with her hand as much as possible.