Thank you so much for your support! I really do appreciate you all taking the time to review and read my story. :) Here's the next chapter! :)

Chapter 5

Olivia pushed her food around her plate as she vaguely listened to her mom and Rory's conversation with their Grandma.

"So where did you say dad was?" Lorelai asked.

"Away on business." Emily said.

"Location's top secret?"

"Oh, Germany." She said.

"Germany? Is dad's firm insuring Nazis now?" Lorelai joked.

"Your father doesn't know any Nazis." Emily said.

"I know, mom. I was just..." Lorelai said.

"What?"

"Joking. She was joking." Olivia spoke for the first time.

"Oh. Hard to tell." Emily said.

"Yeah, well..." Lorelai said.

"Oh, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Claudia died." Emily told her.

"Who?" Lorelai frowned.

"Claudia. Your cousin Claudia." She said but saw Lorelai just staring at her. "Claudia!"

"I'm hearing the name, mom. I have no idea who that is."

"Claudia's your cousin, for all intents and purposes." Emily said.

"Oh, now we're getting to it." Lorelai said.

"She was your father's grandmother's sister's girl. So to you, that would make her..."

"Nothing?"

"Regardless the funeral's on Thursday. I thought we'd all go together." She said.

Lorelai glanced at her daughters and then back at her mother. "Ooh, whoa! Two problems. Impossible to get away from the inn Thursday. Two, I've never met this woman." She said.

"You most certainly have."

"When?"

"Several times."

"I'll take one."

"We went to her house in Groton to see the first moon landing. She'd just gotten a new Philco." She said.

"I have no memory of this whatsoever."

"Rory, Olivia, correct me if I'm wrong, but men have walked on the moon regardless of whether your mother remembers it or not." Emily said.

"That's the rumour." Rory said.

"I know men have walked on the moon. I just don't know Claudia."

"So you're not going?"

"Not this time."

"I don't think Claudia's planning to die a second time." Emily said dryly, causing Olivia to smile slightly.

"Mom, I couldn't go if I wanted to." Lorelai said.

"Fine." Emily said. "Oh wait, Rudolph Gottfried." She said after a moment.

"Another cousin?"

"No, a Nazi that we knew. I'd forgotten. We stayed with him once in Munich. Nice old man. Interesting stories." She said.

"Mom you socialized with a Nazi? That's despicable! That's heinous!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"No, dear, that was a joke." Emily smiled slightly.

Olivia and Rory laughed softly. "She got you, mom." Olivia said.

Olivia was walking down the hallway at Chilton the following week to meet Rory, their mom and Sookie outside for the bake sale.

"Hey Olivia!" A familiar voice said.

Olivia cringed and turned round. She had deliberately avoided him all day. "Tristan..." She said.

"Hey." He said.

"I..uh..I need to head out there. My mom and Rory are waiting for me." Olivia said.

"Sure." He nodded. "I was just wondering if we could talk?"

"About what?" She said.

"You know what about." Tristan said.

Olivia glanced at the floor. "No. I don't. I'm sorry. I need to go." She said before rushing off, leaving a confused Tristan behind.

After school, Olivia and Rory were sat at Luke's eating some food. Olivia saw Jess standing at the counter. "I'll be back." She told Rory before going up to the counter. "Hey.." She said hesitantly.

"Hey." Jess said glancing at her.

"I..uh..I haven't really seen you since..uh..well, you know..." Olivia said awkwardly.

"Yeah.." He said.

"It didn't mean anything." She said.

"Ok." Jess frowned.

"I mean, it might have looked like it did, but it didn't. I was just caught in the moment..." She rambled.

"Liv, I don't care." He said. "You can kiss who you like."

"I know...I just..uh..I thought you were owed an explanation." She said.

"Why?" He said confused.

"Because...you're...you're my...friend." Olivia said.

"It's fine." Jess said.

"Oh...well, ok." She said quietly. She suddenly saw him frowning. "What?" She said.

"I hadn't seen her with him for a while. I didn't realise they were still talking..." He said gesturing to where Dean had come in and was now chatting with Rory.

Olivia glanced over and then back at Jess. "Right..." She said quietly. "Uh..I'll see you around then."

"Yeah...see you." He said not taking his eyes off Rory and Dean.

Olivia sighed and headed back to the table. "Hey Ror, I forgot I was going to pick up this cd from Lane's! I'll meet you back at home?" She said.

"Ok!" Rory smiled at her, before Olivia headed out.

"Are you ok?" Lane asked.

"What?" Olivia said looking up from where she was sat on Lane's bed.

"You seem distracted..." Lane said. "Something on your mind?"

"You could say that." She sighed.

Lane glanced at her and saw Olivia's sad expression. "Anything I could help with?" She asked. "I'm a good listener." She smiled softly.

Olivia gave her a small smile. "You'll think I'm crazy..."

"Me? The girl who hides her whole life from her mom under her floorboards. I don't think so." Lane joked.

Olivia smiled slightly. "It's just...complicated." She said. She glanced at her friend. "Have you ever know someone basically your whole life and realise you're looking at them in a different way?" She said hesitantly.

"Uh...not really..." Lane said. She glanced at Olivia. "But I feel like you're going through that?"

"I don't know. All my feelings are so messed up at the moment, I don't even know what to think." She admitted. She sighed. "Jess told me something a few weeks ago, just as we were starting at Chilton..."

"Yeah?"

"You have to promise you won't say anything to anyone..." Olivia said.

"I promise." She nodded.

"He...he likes Rory." She said quietly.

"Well duh! You've all been inseparable since you met." Lane said.

"No I mean he..uh..he likes her. As in really likes her." Olivia said.

"Oh. Oh!" Lane said suddenly understanding. "Does she know?"

"No." Olivia shook her head. "I...I kind of freaked out and told him he couldn't tell her. What if things went wrong? I'd have to side with Rory and then we'd never speak again!" She said.

"Well that makes sense...You've been friends for so long." Lane said.

"But now I'm thinking about whether there was another reason I may have freaked out." Olivia admitted.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I just...when Jess caught me and Tristan kissing the another day, the first thing in my head was that I wanted him to know that it didn't mean anything. I don't even know why!" Olivia said.

"Wait, what? You kissed Tristan?" Lane exclaimed.

"Yeah..." She said quietly. "That night when Rory and I were studying for that test. He came over and he was being really sweet...and I don't know, maybe I was trying to push my other feelings to one side..."

"And you ended up kissing?"

"Kind of..." She said.

"I don't know what to do. Jess likes Rory but Rory seems to like Dean and then Tristan keeps wanting to talk about that kiss but I just want to...urgh, I don't even know what I want!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Do you...do you think you might have feelings for Jess?" Lane asked cautiously.

Olivia glanced at her and blushed slightly. "I don't know." She said honestly. "But I know I don't like the idea of him being with Rory or anyone in fact." She said before sighing. "I'm a terrible person."

"No you're not." Lane said softly.

"I am! I can see how much it kills Jess to see Rory with Dean but he's only not doing anything because he promised me he wouldn't. When I freaked out before, when he told me about his feelings, we had a fight and he called me selfish. And I'm starting to feel like I am. I'm an awful friend and a horrible sister." She said quietly.

"Liv...you can't help how you feel..."

"I don't know what to do." She admitted.

"Ok, so let's get this straight..." Lane said. "So you're saying Jess likes Rory..."

"Yeah..."

"But Rory seems to be into Dean?"

"It seems like it."

"But you think you might have feelings for Jess?"

"I don't know...maybe..."

"But you kissed Tristan?"

"Yes." Olivia cringed.

"Complicated." Lane said.

"Tell me about it." She sighed.

Lane glanced at her. "Do you think...do you think Rory might feel differently if she knew about Jess' feelings? I mean, do you think she might...uh...well...?"

"Like him like he likes her?" Olivia said quietly.

"Well...yeah..."

"I don't know." She said honestly. "I never thought she would but then...on Thursday, when Jess came over to help us study, I saw them in the living room and...well, I don't know." She said. She glanced at Lane. "Am I totally insane?" She said.

"No, I think you're a normal teenager." Lane smiled softly. "But...I think you should talk to Jess."

"And say what?"

"Tell him how you feel." She said.

"How would that help anything though? He likes Rory." Olivia said.

"It's going to kill you otherwise if you don't. You'll have all these what ifs in your head." She said.

"It wouldn't be selfish?" Olivia said quietly.

"I don't think so." Lane said just as Rory rushed in. "Rory!" She said surprised.

"Liv, you need to come!" Rory said out of breath.

"Why, what's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"It's Cinnamon." Rory said.

Olivia had to smile as she watched Luke and Sookie both put their food down and exchange some snipes. They would always compete. She did smile though as she saw them eventually come to an understanding. They would always compete but it always ended with a grudging respect and understanding afterwards. She glanced over at Jess who was leaning against the wall with a drink. She then saw Dean enter the house and bump into Rory. She suddenly felt someone brush past her and she saw Jess walk past Rory and Dean and exit the house. She took a deep breath before following him. She found him sat on a bench outside so she slowly went and sat down next to him. "Hey..." She said quietly.

"Hey." He said.

"So..uh..sad occasion." She said.

"Yeah, they really loved that cat." Jess said.

"Yeah, they did." Olivia smiled sadly.

Jess glanced at her. "I still think it's weird to have a wake for a cat though." He said.

Olivia smiled slightly. "That's because you've never had a pet before."

"True." Jess smirked slightly.

Olivia smiled. "It was nice that you came though. I'm sure Babette and Morey appreciate it."

"They've always been good to me." Jess shrugged.

"Yeah.." She said. She glanced at him. "Jess?" She said nervously.

"Yeah?" He said.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"About what?"

"I should have let you tell Rory how you feel..." Olivia said quietly.

"What?" He said surprised, glancing at her.

"I know I freaked out because I don't want our friendship to be ruined..." She said.

"And I get that." Jess said.

"I know you do. I just...recently...I don't know, I feel like there may have been another reason why I didn't want you to tell her..." Olivia admitted. "I didn't realise it at the time but...maybe I was a bit jealous and just didn't realise it at the time..."

"What do you mean?" He frowned.

Olivia swallowed nervously. "I think...I think I might have been jealous that you liked Rory and..uh..not me..." She admitted.

"Are you being serious?" Jess said.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I don't even know how to feel at the moment but I think there might be something there and...well, I thought you should know..." She said nervously.

"Geez, seriously? Are you trying to mess with my head?" He exclaimed.

"No!" She exclaimed. "I just thought..."

"Yeah well you thought wrong! Why would I possibly want to know that? Do you want me to feel bad, is that it? Do you want me to feel guilty about how I feel?" He said angrily.

"No, Jess, I just..." Olivia said blinking back some tears.

"You're being selfish, that's what! I can't believe this! I thought you were genuinely afraid of losing me as a friend. But really you just didn't want me to be happy with someone else! That's selfish!" He exclaimed.

"Jess..."

"I can't deal with this right now." He said before storming back into the house.

Olivia blinked back tears and sat by herself for a moment. She heard her cell ring. She took it out of her pocket and saw it was Tristan. She sighed before declining his call. He took a deep breath before heading back inside. She stopped for a moment though as she saw her mom outside their house but she wasn't alone. She was surprised when she realised the person she was talking to was Mr Medina. What was he doing here? She shook her head. She couldn't deal with that right now. She headed back inside Babette and Morey's house.

Later that evening, Morey was playing piano as all the guests gathered in the living room. She glanced over at Jess who was avoiding her gaze. She sighed and headed towards the kitchen where she found her mom, who had obviously returned, with Babette. She stood at the doorway listening to their conversation.

"You know, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now. You live to take care of your kids." Babette was saying.

"I know, sweetie, but you gave her everything that you had." Lorelai said.

"I know. She was so tiny when I got her. She could sleep in my shoe."

"The other day I came across these hats that I made for Rory and Olivia. They were like doll hats." She smiled softly.

"Oh, they grow up so fast." Babette said.

"And then they take your clothes." Lorelai joked.

"I guess eventually you have to move on. Figure out what your life is going to be when you're not busy taking care of somebody else. Geez, look at this place. Not a clean glass in sight!" Babette said grabbing some glasses and cleaning them in the sink.

"Let me help you with that." Lorelai said. "How does Morey get around in here?" She joked gesturing to the low ceiling.

"Oh, just fine. He had a couple of concussions his first year here but he never complains. He's just the best thing. I don't know what I'd do without him." She said her voice breaking.

"Oh Babette. What do you mean without him?" Lorelai said.

"I saw on Oprah a few weeks ago. She had on couples who lost a child. Most of the marriages went belly-up for the pain of it all. Even though they loved each other." She sniffed slightly.

"Babette, that is not going to happen to you." She said softly.

"I never thought a man would ever even want me." Babette admitted. "But then I met Morey. I saw him and I just...knew. It was love at first sight. When you know, you know right?" Babette said.

"Right." Lorelai smiled softly.

"I guess when you feel like that about someone, you shouldn't let anything stand in your way. Because it could make you so happy." Babette said. "I'm so glad I plucked up the courage to talk to Morey that day. I would never look back." She smiled.

"And you never will. You and Morey are solid. He adores you. Nothing will break that bond." Lorelai smiled.

Olivia wiped away some tears and walked back towards the living room. She glanced over at Jess again and she saw him watching Rory across the room. She then saw his expression when Rory went over and stood with Dean. She took a deep breath before heading over to her sister. "I need to talk to you." She said.

"Oh, sure, what's up?" Rory said.

"Not here." Olivia said. "Come on." She said glancing at Lane as she headed for the door.

"Liv, what are you doing?" Lane said concerned.

"I'm doing the right thing. Something I should have let happen from the beginning. I'm putting things right." Olivia said quietly.

"But..." Lane said.

"It's ok..." Olivia said. She glanced at Rory. "Go outside. I'll be right there." She said.

"Ok." Rory said confused but headed outside.

"Liv, are you sure about this?" Lane said.

"Me and Jess...it's never going to happen." Olivia said quietly. "But him and Rory...well, it could. But Rory deserves to know how he feels. Everyone deserves the chance of happiness."

"But..."

"It's fine. I'm ok." She gave her friend a small smile. "I need to do this. I need to do the right thing."

"Ok." Lane said softly.

Olivia took a deep breath and nodded before heading outside, finding Rory waiting there.

"What's going on? You're scaring me..." Rory said.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About...Jess..." Olivia said.

So I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you think! :) Thanks again for your continued support. It really does mean so much to me. :)