Thanks for the continued support! :) Sorry it's a shorter chapter but I wanted to get something up for you as I may not be able to update for a few days! :)
Chapter 8
"Hey boss guy!" Charlotte grinned as she walked into the diner to see Jess behind the counter the following Saturday.
"Hey!" Jess smirked. It had been a week since Luke had his scare and he was surprised when Luke sat him down and asked him what he thought about having some extra responsibility at the diner. He was shocked when Luke asked him what he thought about becoming assistant manager. This first week Luke had actually taken it all off and Jess found himself actually enjoying running the diner while Luke was resting at home.
"How's it going?" She asked.
"You mean apart from Kirk offering me his expert advice every day for the last week?" He said.
"Yeah apart from that!" Charlotte laughed.
"It's good." Jess smiled. "Caesar, we need that grilled cheese now!" He called through to the kitchen.
"It's coming!" Caesar called.
"Yeah you said that 10 minutes ago!" Jess called back.
"So Caesar's back huh?" Charlotte smirked.
"Yeah and I kind of think it would be quicker if he wasn't." Jess said dryly. "Oh thank god!" He said as Lane came rushing in.
"Sorry I'm late!" She apologised. "Hi Charlotte!" She smiled.
"Hey!" Charlotte smiled.
"You're good with Caesar. Get him to go a bit quicker now or else I may have to go in there." Jess said.
"I'll do what I can." Lane smirked.
Jess turned back to Charlotte. "Sorry. How's Luke doing? You went round there right?"
"Yeah. He's ok. Mom's making sure he's resting. Mia's loving him being home though." She smiled.
"That's good." Jess said. "And Rory and Sam got off ok?"
"Yeah. They got back ok." She nodded.
"Cool." He said. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"What? Nothing's wrong." Charlotte said confused.
"I know you. When I mentioned Rory and Sam, I saw your expression. Is something going on between them or what?" He said.
"No." She sighed. "I just...this whole thing about Rory not going to Afghanistan now.."
"What about it? I thought you would be pleased about that." He said confused.
"I am. I mean I would have been worried about her being there of course. But you don't know Rory like I do. This kind of work has been her dream since she was tiny. Just like I always wanted to be an illustrator." Charlotte said. She sighed. "I don't know. I guess I just don't get why she seems so ok turning it down suddenly. I know what happened to Luke was a shock but that was no one's fault."
"So you think she secretly still wants to go?" Jess asked.
"I think she might be turning it down because it seems like the easiest option, yeah." Charlotte said. "And because she knows Sam really doesn't want her to go."
"Huh." Jess said. "Look, just try not to worry about it ok? It's not really our business. And you don't exactly need the stress at the moment." He said gesturing to her stomach where she was now getting a clear bump.
"I guess not." She sighed.
"They'll work it out, I'm sure." He assured her. "So...fancy a burger and chips?" He asked.
Charlotte grinned. "You always know the way to my heart!"
"Coming right up." He smirked calling through to Caesar to make the order. "So where's Jack hanging out this morning?" He smirked.
"Oh I left him with Taylor in Doose's. He had a leak and I offered Jack's services." She smirked.
"Poor guy! His mom making him work at a weekend." He joked.
"I know!" She grinned.
"So where is he really?" Jess smirked.
"Hanging out with mom at the inn. He's test tasting Sookie's cooking apparently which I think involves chocolate pie, chocolate mousse and did I mention more chocolate?" Charlotte smirked.
"And someone's going to be ill this evening." Jess chuckled.
"But also very happy! And we could do with a happy kid. I know he's slowly coming round to the idea of the twins but it wouldn't hurt to butter him up a bit." She joked.
"True." He smirked.
"Excuse me, can I get some more coffee?" A customer asked.
"I should get back to it." Jess told her.
"Sure. I'll just sit here and observe." Charlotte said.
"You going to stare at my ass as I walk round?" He said.
"You bet!" She grinned.
"So I was thinking since your plans about going away has changed, why don't we start planning for the wedding?" Sam suggested as they collapsed on their couch after a long drive.
"Oh..uh..sure..." Rory said hesitantly.
"There's the excited reply I'm looking for from my fiancee." Sam joked.
"Sorry." She sighed. "I guess I'm just tired from the drive. Maybe we can do it later?"
"Oh ok. Sure." Sam said a bit disappointed.
"I might go and have a nap actually." She said getting up.
"Ok. Hey, can I use your phone for a bit? Mine's charging and I said I'd let Chloe know when we were back." He said.
"Sure go ahead." She nodded before disappearing off to their bedroom.
Sam reached for her cell and sent a quick message to Chloe before going on the internet to kill some time. It was then that he noticed Rory had a page open already. He was surprised to read what she had opened. Journalism jobs abroad. He scrolled down all the jobs that Rory had obviously been looking at. He hadn't realised that she was even thinking about applying for anything else. He knew it had been hard for her to turn down the Afghanistan job but he thought she enjoyed writing for The New York Times so he was surprised she was possibly looking elsewhere. He looked at the dates for these jobs which were in the next couple of months and some of them lasted for over a year. He couldn't believe she hadn't even talked to him about this. He put her phone back down on the table and leant back against the couch.
"So are you going to be here all the time now?" Mia asked, sat on Luke's lap.
"Not all the time. I'm still going to be working at the diner some days but I'm definitely going to be here more than I was before." Luke said, brushing out his daughter's hair. "Is that ok?" He asked.
"Yes! I miss playing with you." Mia said.
"I miss that too. Your cousin Jess is going to be working at the diner as well so while he's there, I can be here playing with you." Luke smiled softly.
"Yay!" She said excitedly. "Can we play now?" She asked.
"What do you want to play?" He chuckled.
"Barbies!" She exclaimed happily. "I'll get them!" She grinned rushing off.
"You had to ask..." Luke sighed but he had to smile when he saw saw the biggest smile on his daughter's face as she skipped back in. "So which one's mine then?" He smirked slightly.
"This one!" She said thrusting a blonde haired one into his hand.
"Nice nap?" Sam asked when Rory reappeared a couple of hours later.
"Yeah really nice." Rory smiled. "You eat yet? I can make us some sandwiches if you want." She said heading to their small kitchen area.
"Sure that sounds nice." Sam said. He watched as she started making their lunch. "So...when were you going to tell me that you were looking for journalist jobs abroad?" He said.
"What?" Rory froze.
"You left the page open on your phone. I didn't mean to snoop but it was just there." He said.
"Oh." She said quietly.
"Is this why you didn't want to talk about our wedding? Because you're planning on taking one of these jobs?" Sam said quietly. "Do you even want to marry me?"
"What? Of course I want to marry you!" Rory exclaimed.
"But these jobs last for a year, maybe longer! Are you seriously considering taking one?" Sam exclaimed. "I thought you enjoyed working at The New York Times?"
"I do! It's just, what with being offered an overseas job, it reminded me how much I've always wanted to do something like that. Afghanistan may not have been the right place for me but there's several more out there. And safe places as well." Rory said. She sighed. "I haven't decided anything yet. I was just browsing. I swear I was going to talk to you about it first." She said.
"But...if you do decide this, you'd be away for at least a year..." Sam said quietly.
"Well some are for a few months but I can stay longer if I want..." Rory said quietly. She glanced at Sam. "You could always come with me."
"And do what?" He said. "I love you but I also love my life here. I've got a job I love and I've got family here. I...I feel closer to my dad here." He admitted. "I'm sorry that might sound pathetic but...it's the truth. I like living in New York."
"No I get that." Rory sighed. "It's fine. I won't apply. I'll just continue working for the Times." She said.
Sam sighed. "No. Rory, if this is your dream, who am I to stand in your way?" He said.
"But...what about us?" Rory asked quietly.
"Hey what do these rings stand for?" Sam said taking her hand and looking down at their engagement rings.
"What do you mean?" She said.
"They stand for our love for each other. It shouldn't matter if you're halfway across the world. What matters is that nothing will stop us loving each other. It might be hard but we can make it work." Sam said softly.
"You seriously mean that?" Rory asked hopefully.
"How hard can long distance relationships be?" Sam said.
"Uh..." Rory chuckled nervously thinking back to her and Tristan.
"Ok, it might be hard. But I believe in us." Sam said. "Look, of course I'm going to miss you and I'm sad we won't be getting married just yet but I love you, Rory. And if this is your dream, you need to go for it."
"Really?" Rory said quietly.
"Really." Sam said.
"I love you so much. You do know that right?" She said softly, leaning forward to kiss him.
"I love you too." Sam said reciprocating the action but he couldn't help but think about how he was going to cope without Rory for such a long time.
"So...you're going to help me tell everyone about this right?" Rory said afterwards.
Sam smirked at that. "Sorry but you're on your own with that."
Hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you think! Your support really does mean so much to me so thank you! :)