April 25th, Friday.
"It's no small thing to be published in the Post, Rory," Richard said, waving his fork as her dismissive tone. "Sure, it might not be the Times, but it is still a major publication. Your talent is being recognized by some very important people."
"Plus, the more you're published, the more likely you'll be to get a serious job after this whole campaign is over," Emily added, wiping the corners of her mouth with her napkin.
The two had been gushing over the profile she'd done on new fiction trends ("Our Obsession with Dystopias; What It Means For Now") all night, showing off the pile of papers they'd acquired, one of which was framed and hung in a place of honor. She was worried that they'd have professional lighting the next time she stopped by. Not that Luke was much better.
"She'll have a bunch of jobs beating down the door when January rolls around," Luke nodded, beaming over at Rory. "Everyone that comes into the diner talks about how smart it is, too."
"I don't think they'd get service if they didn't," Lorelai teased, rubbing Luke's back encouragingly. She was immensely proud, but she'd already made all of her 'can I get your autograph' jokes before they'd gotten to dinner.
It wasn't as if Rory didn't feel proud of herself. She was just able to recognize that this was a lucky break that didn't necessarily mean anything for her future. Everyone on the campaign had had something published by now. It was hard not to see the arduous road ahead of her, even despite the pack of cheerleaders she had. If Babette and Morey were any gauge, the entirety of Stars Hollow was also rooting for her.
For now, she had to focus mostly on building her resume and finalizing her portfolio. She wanted to find a place where she was actually be able to write regularly, but should the right place offer her an internship she would have to take it. Now that she had real experience, it had to be easier than it had been last Spring. Lately, she'd been haunted by a dream where she was rejected from every single paper, even the Stars Hollow Gazette. Seeing this, Chilton rescinded her acceptance and her high school diploma, which lead to Yale doing the same thing because she wasn't even a high school graduate. Her life spiraled out of control after that...
"I'm just glad that I got approved for time off work to come home for mom's birthday. They almost asked me to stay and postpone the trip for a few days, but my roommate bit that bullet . Now I owe her a few orders of takeout, but I think it'll all end up working out," she shrugged.
"It is my birthday. Thought you guys plum forgot about me too, though that's understandable with such a celebrity in our midst," Lorelai winked, plucking the last bite of cake off of her plate and eating it quickly. With incredible stealth, Luke shot Rory a prompting look.
"Luke, don't you have that car thing to do?" Rory said, delivering her line flawlessly.
"Car thing?" Emily echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah," Luke nodded, setting his napkin on the table. "I've got to go meet up with Gypsy, she's the town's mechanic. My truck's been making this funny noise and- well, I guess that makes it a truck thing." Cue convincing laugh.
"Isn't it a little late to be bothering a mechanic?" asked Richard, looking down at the time on his watch. "Why don't I just look at it for you?"
"I uh- I already paid her? For the inconvenience, I paid her. She has a busy schedule and all that. Plus, we took Lorelai's Jeep, so I have to go home and get it anyway." He stood up and pushed his chair in, leaning on the back of it. "I wouldn't ask Lorelai and Rory to come with me if I didn't need a ride back."
Rory's eyes shifted over to her mother, wondering why she hadn't pointed out some hole in Luke's incredibly flawed excuse to leave, but Lorelai seemed to be going along with it wholeheartedly. She knew something was up, it was the only reason for that innocent a face.
"Well... alright then," Emily finally said, looking at Richard with slight confusion. "I don't see a reason to keep you any longer than we already have. Especially not with Lorelai feeling under the weather."
Luke looked relieved with the dismissal. "I'll go pull up the car. I don't want you to have to walk through the rain," he said to Lorelai, kissing the top of her head before making his way to the door.
"Rain? It's only drizzling," Richard commented, peering out the windows. The glass was barely speckled with water droplets.
"Well, you know Luke," Lorelai dismissed, standing and smoothing out her sweater. "Thanks again for the projector Mom, Dad."
The group slowly migrated to the front hall, standing near the door to wait for Luke.
"Oh, Richard, will you go get the books we bought for Rory? You don't want to forget," Emily reminded, pointing over to the study. Richard nodded and hurried off. Once they were alone, she turned on her daughter with the stern tell-me-what-I-want-to-know look.
Lorelai laughed. "Luke's got a surprise party planned back home," she revealed. Rory was only marginally surprised.
"Did Kirk tell you? Luke might kill him," Rory mumbled, slipping into her jacket while they waited.
"Kirk? No. That Gypsy story is probably the lamest attempt he's ever made to lie in his life. Can you see her waiting around after hours for anything less than a million dollars? Especially not when Andrew's sister is in town."
"Are they together yet? Gypsy and Hannah?" Rory wasn't exactly up to date on town gossip, but she'd hope that her mother kept her in the loop on major developments.
"No, not yet. Sookie thinks they'll get together soon, but Jackson says that he'll give it another few visits before either of them make a move," Lorelai shrugs, her eyes drawn to the door when Luke steps back in.
"All ready?" He asked, wrapping an arm around Lorelai's waist once he was by her side.
"Don't leave just yet!" Richard returned to the room, paper and twine package in hand. "Your grandmother and I thought you might appreciate these," he grinned, gingerly handing the present over.
"They're early editions of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, in English of course. We couldn't find any first editions, but we're keeping our eye out," Emily assured her. Rory traded a surprised look with her mother and Luke, both of whom looked impressed by the find.
"Before you protest, we thought you deserved them, considering how hard you've been working," Emily insisted, reading the look on Rory's face before she could express any hesitance.
"Well... thank you," Rory murmured, dragging her fingers over the paper packaging to feel what was probably the display case underneath. She couldn't wait to feel the paper underneath her fingertips. "Thank you so much."
Rory took the time to hug her grandparents individually, giving her mother the books first so that she might not damage the packaging. The books in hand again, she tucked them into her jacket to protect from the rain outside, stepping out the door and jogging to hop into the back seat of the Jeep. Followed quickly by her mother and Luke, who opened the passenger door for Lorelai before getting in himself, Rory settled back into her seat. She was in awe of these books, though she hadn't seen them yet.
They were once read in Paris, she imagined. They were read by someone sitting on the edge of the Seine on a sunny day, the smell of summer running along the pages with the breeze that touched the paper. Rory could barely manage to participate in the conversation on the way home, focusing on suppressing the urge to tear off the paper then and there.
Before she knew it, they were parked in front of the house, everything looking just as calm and empty as they'd left it. She'd almost forgotten about the party.
In Stars Hollow the rain had long since stopped, so the books remained in her hands while she, Luke, and Lorelai all headed for the front door. Luke said that he'd left Babette in charge of getting everyone hidden; judging by the misplaced hide-a-key turtle, she'd succeeded.
Luke entered the house first, helping Lorelai take off her jacket in the darkened hallway. "Why don't you go put a movie on? I'll go get you something to drink."
No sooner than when Lorelai's foot had passed the threshold of the living room, the lights flipped on to a shout of "Surprise!"
Rory had made her appearance at the party, said hello to Miss Patty and had the life squeezed out of her by Babette. They'd even managed to get through the cake and quite a few of the presents- one of which was a massive weighted blanket and a long letter from Paris- before Rory retreated back to her room.
With reverence, she pulled the paper package off of the shelf it sat on and laid it on her bed. Rory cut the twine wrapper and pulled it off before starting to deal with unfolding the paper wrapping. Inside was a cloth clamshell box, the words 'Les Miserables' in embossed gold lettering.
She'd barely had time to start admiring the first book of the group before there was a knock at the door. Reluctantly, she replaced the book and shut the case before inviting whoever it was inside.
"You okay?" Lorelai asked, slipping in and shutting the door.
"Yeah, I'm just looking at the books that grandpa gave me," Rory nodded, lifting up the case to give Lorelai a place to sit.
"Alright then," Lorelai nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking around the room. "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you."
"Talk away," Rory said, standing and replacing the cloth box onto the shelf for the time being. It didn't look right there... She instead rested it on the dresser beneath before sitting back down to face her mother.
"I'm gonna need you to get all of your stuff out of the room," Lorelai said casually.
"What do you mean 'all of my stuff'?" Rory asked, her brow furrowed.
"All of it," Lorelai repeated, gesturing to the books on the shelf and the wardrobe across the room. "It all has to go."
"I've got nowhere to put it," Rory frowned, leaning back against her bed frame. "Why does it have to go anyway?"
"We need the space," Lorelai shrugged. "Me and Luke are thinking of redecorating."
"And you're starting with my room?" Rory's tone was obviously irritated. How exactly was she supposed to move all of her stuff out when she was barely home in the first place?
"No," Lorelai shook her head, "We're only doing your room."
"What am I supposed to do with all of my stuff?" Rory asked incredulously. "And what are you even doing with the room? You have an office at the Dragonfly and Luke has a whole apartment above the diner."
"Well, I was thinking that most of it could go to your grandparents' house, at least for a little while. Though we might want to keep the rocking chair in the corner. Luke figures that it'll be good for rocking the baby to sleep."
A stun gun might have been less surprising than that last sentence. She wasn't upset, wasn't shocked, but... surprised was an accurate representation of how she felt.
"You..." She breathed, her eyes stuck to her mother's face.
"Me," Lorelai confirmed, her lips splitting into a grin. Rory, glad that she'd put the books out of harm's way, threw her arms around Lorelai's shoulders with a cry of excitement. They both couldn't help but burst out in a fit of happy giggles.
"That's why he's been doing everything for you!" Rory exclaimed, connecting the now obvious dots.
Lorelai groaned happily. "He's less of a husband and more of a butler nowadays, but God he's cute."
"You're really having a baby? You took a test?" Rory asked, looking at her mother's lack of a bump. Sure, it wasn't immediate, but it was still... Wow.
"I peed on the stick and everything. Went to the doctor's last week to make totally sure, and it looks like the bun's in there," Lorelai nodded, running her fingers over her abdomen. "And just so you know, we aren't taking your room from you. I just wanted to tell you now and I figured that that would be one way to do it, you know?"
Rory waved her off and hugged her again. "If you need the room, I can get my stuff to grandma's-"
"Oh, please," Lorelai cut her off. "The moment Luke found out, he was on the phone with Tom. He didn't even think of touching your room. There's plans to add a room upstairs for the kid before I get too big to want to walk up and down the stairs to the diner every day."
"Wow, Mom," Rory murmured, smiling. "I didn't even know you two were thinking about having kids. You never said anything."
"Well, the kid-making part typically happens when you aren't thinking too hard," Lorelai winked, nudging Rory's shoulder. "It happened on the Honeymoon. We weren't really planning on having kids this early- we hadn't even talked about it- but we're both happy. Really happy. Even if he is a little neurotic about the whole thing."
It felt significant that this happened so quickly. Of course having a kid together was significant, but just a year ago they'd been so irrevocably separated that this type of a turn toward commitment was almost unthinkable.
Last year, for the first time in her life, Rory had gotten to see her wildest Parent Trap dreams realized, her mom and dad under the same roof. She had even heard them mention marriage once or twice.
The difference that Rory saw in her mother between now and then? It was the difference between who you were meant to be with and who you wanted to be meant to be with. For Rory, it was the last thing she needed to convince herself to climb completely on board. Neither of her parents deserved to be in a relationship with someone who didn't make them as happy as they could possibly be. It might take Christopher a little longer to get to where he could be, but just the... delight that she saw in Lorelai's eyes was evidence enough that no one could make her happier than Luke Danes.
"Who else knows?" Rory finally asked, moving back so that she and her mother could sit facing each other on the bed.
"No one but Luke. Well, and Sookie. But you're the first person that I told besides Luke, Sookie just figured it out on her own," Lorelai nodded, obviously trying to keep her voice down despite her bursting excitement.
"How'd she do that?" Rory said, a bit disappointed in herself that she hadn't noticed all night.
"You know how Sookie is when she gets excited about a new recipe? Yeah, well, she got this idea for a new caramelized-apple-pork-chop dish— delicious, by the way— and she wanted me to try a few different kinds of wine to make sure that they paired well," Lorelai trailed off, holding her hands up and shrugging. "I could have taken a sip, I guess, but this is Luke's first time involved in a pregnancy like this and I didn't want to freak him out. It was her first guess and I'd only found out for sure a few days before that, so I didn't have a good reason for not drinking."
"I'm so happy for you," Rory breathed, taking Lorelai's hand in hers and squeezing gently. "I mean, I got you to myself for almost twenty-four years, but I think I can share my best friend. If I have to."
Lorelai's eyes were welling with tears and Rory pulled her into another tight hug.
"You are such a good kid, Rory," she whispered, petting Rory's hair while they embraced. "Such a good kid. I got so lucky with you and I couldn't ever imagine getting so lucky again," she pulled back to wipe her eyes and stare at her older baby. Rory felt her eyes stinging too. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. You made me grow up, you made me responsible, and you definitely made me a better person. Without you, I wouldn't have this life. I wouldn't have Luke. I wouldn't have this baby. I don't want you to ever feel like you're not a part of this," she gestured to herself and out toward the party where Luke was.
"I love you, Mom," Rory said, wiping her eyes and sliding off the bed. "We've gotta get back to the party before we start really crying or someone comes looking for us. No one out there knows Lorelai Gilmore to miss out on people celebrating her, right?"
"Right," Lorelai smiled, standing and hugging Rory one last time before checking her face in the mirror and grabbing the door handle. "Ready?"
"Ready."
June 17, Tuesday
"Is there a reason that you don't have a smartphone?" Anya asked, her perfect eyebrows raised at Rory's little flip, plucking it off of the desk and twirling it around her fingers.
Rory rolled her eyes, turning her chair to look at her roommate. "We were all issued Blackberries when we started."
"Yeah, we were," she shrugged, dropping the phone back on the desk and walking to her own laptop. "But those are work phones. Your personal phone should be younger than your haircut, in my opinion."
"Well, that opinion might be valid when you have the kind of money that would support that kind of turnover," she replied, focusing back in on her work. She'd done an on-the-street piece about first time voters, something that she had high hopes for getting published. Since her first published piece, she'd managed to have two more and hoped that this would be number four.
Anya snorted and grabbed her purse, heading for the door. "I'm getting food. If you don't text me what you want, I'm bringing back pasta."
The door closed behind her, leaving Rory alone with the whirr of the air conditioner and the laptop she was focused in on. She didn't much want pasta but once she had finished her first round of editing, she'd already forgotten that it was even Anya's night to buy. Reveling in the silence, she stood and stretched her stiff legs, pacing back and forth while analyzing her to-do list.
There was a whole process to this writing thing, at least Rory found that developing a process made it easier to commit herself to a schedule. If she took breaks between each of her edits, she'd have a fresh mind to catch all of her phrasing mistakes, formatting errors, and the odd typo. The only issue was that she didn't have anyone to talk to until Anya came back and despite the fact that she adored her phone she wasn't good about answering text messages, meaning Rory had no chance of finding her. She laid back on her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking. She had to do something else to distract her, to clear her mind. She could always just play music. As long as it's not too loud she shouldn't get any complaints from the neighboring rooms. Especially not since Riley wasn't on the same floor. She could take a long shower and play something with enough bass to wipe out thoughts of the youth vote.
She picked up her CD book, flipping through the various mixes that Lane had been mailing her for the past few months. Rory knew exactly what she was looking for; her fingers plucked out a CD that featured a lot of songs from Metallica and she made her way to the bathroom, her stereo in her other hand. 'Master of Puppets' started playing and she stepped into the warm spray of water. If Anya still wasn't back when she got out, maybe she could call Lane. If she missed the window between when the wins went to sleep and when Lane herself passed out, Paris might be an option. Rory might get scolded for interrupting her studying time, but they hadn't really had a chance to talk since Doyle had managed to convince her to go on a vacation cruise. Being trapped at sea without any of her medical books had equal probability of being very good for Paris or very bad for Doyle. Rory chuckled at the idea of a stressed out Paris frightening the staff of a cruise ship.
By the time she'd left the shower, Rory felt refreshed. She let the end of 'Back in Black' by AC/DC finish while she got dressed, only cutting the music when she thought she heard her phone ringing in the other room. Emerging from the humid bathroom with a cloud of damp air following her, she crossed the room to pick up her flip phone.
"Rory Gilmore," she answered, turning back to pick up her towel and laundry from the bathroom floor.
"Wow, Ace. I've got to give it to you, that sounds damn professional."
A smile spread across Rory's face. "Well, I am a professional reporter," she responded, sandwiching the phone between her ear and her shoulder while she cleaned up, stuffing her clothes into the dirty laundry bag and wrapping her hair up into a towel.
"Oh, I know you're a reporter. I've got your new Boston Globe piece right here," Logan responded, rustling what sounded like a newspaper near the receiver.
"None of it went over your head?" she teased, dropping into her desk chair and swiveling it back and forth.
"No one can make the redrawing of congressional district lines as accessible as you can," he responded. She'd missed his encouragingly cheerful tone. Hearing his voice made her feel more sure of herself.
"If only the Times felt the same way," Rory sighed dramatically, aware that she was making good headway in creating a name for herself.
Logan laughed. "If the Times doesn't know who you are by now, they don't deserve you."
"Well, what about you?" Rory countered, having heard a few murmurs about the continuing Huntzberger empire back in California. "How's the whole challenging-your-father's-legacy thing going?"
"Surprisingly well. I contradicted him a few days ago in a meeting, told a few investors that 'while I respect my father's views on the things that have worked in the past, we need to be looking toward expansion in the future'. I've been called a real visionary," he chuckled.
"You're intensely smart. I'm not surprised," Rory complimented.
"Intensely smart? Me? That's high praise coming from the biggest brain I've ever met."
Rory's eyes rolled, though she felt that it was a good natured gesture of exasperation. "What'd you call to talk about?"
"Oh, yeah," Logan said, seemingly having forgotten that he was the one to call in the first place. "I heard that you're sending your resume out."
"How'd you hear that?" Rory asked.
"You know how the older generations talk," Logan said evasively.
"I can't see Mitchum and Shira bothering to talk about me," Rory challenged.
"Well, no. But your grandmother happens to be in one of the same clubs as Colin's great aunt something-or-other. Either way, she mentioned it to him for some reason and then he relayed the information," Logan admitted.
"Oh," Rory sighed, already having been sure that her grandmother was bragging to her friends. She just didn't think that the information would reach California. "Yeah. I haven't sent anything out yet, but I am working on boiling everything down. I want to have a job in place before January."
There was a pause of hesitance on Logan's end. "I could always help you out with that," he finally offered.
Ahh. There it was, the offer of the road more traveled. It wouldn't exactly be nepotism or sleeping her way to the top, but the offer couldn't be entirely based on merit. Even if she and Logan were apart for years, she would know that his affection hadn't completely faded. After all, she knew that hers hadn't.
"I know that you think you can't take any offers that I give you, but this really is just another open door to you. I showed your pieces to one of the editors I'm in contact with and he said that he could really use some newer talent in San Francisco. It's not exactly overseas, but it's a stepping stone. And I can guarantee that he doesn't give a rats' ass about kissing up to me, so you'd be totally on your own-"
"Logan," Rory interjected, her smile having seeped into her voice.
"Yeah?" he responded, cautious.
"I appreciate the help. But I've really got it handled. I think I'm gonna want to stay on the East Coast for a while, be near home for a bit." She hoped that it didn't feel as dismissive as it felt. It was tempting to go to California, to actually visit him. She hadn't actually seen him in person in far too long. The longer it got, the harder it was going to be to come back from.
"Yeah, I figured," he sighed, not sounding nearly as depressed as she had been dreading. "If you feel like escaping the cold this winter though, I have a pretty nice guest room. The beach is pretty nice compared to freezing back in Connecticut," he said, his tone finally conveying how he really felt. He missed her too.
Rory wanted accept and say that she'd spend the time there in California, that they would have time to catch up. She sometimes tried to what his life was like now: she pieced together the conversations that they'd had over the past few months and imagined the rest. The guy that she stole a boat with now spent his time sitting in an endless array of boring meetings. If Logan could manage to live like that, she wondered how someone like Finn would be doing. Then it hit her that accepting the offer wasn't even an option.
"I can't," she said, a grin spreading over her face.
"Why not?"
"I haven't told you yet, have I? Mom's pregnant. She's due in November and the first time I'm gonna really have time to be home is the Christmas holiday," Rory explained, glad to have such a good excuse. It was easier than having to imagine the repercussions for spending a holiday alone with Logan instead of being at home with her family.
"Congratulations, Rory. And tell your mom I said the same thing, alright?" He sounded genuinely happy. "Did she like the gift I sent to the wedding?"
"The flat screen?" Rory laughed. "Yeah, she loved it. I can assure you that's gotten a lot of use."
"Good. I'm glad."
That hung in the air over them. She wanted to offer to come some other time, maybe on her next break from work. She wanted to admit that she had the urge to go to him and reconnect. She just knew that without a plan for what comes next, a visit would be a bad idea. At least for now.
"I've gotta go, actually," Logan said, clearing his throat. "I just wanted to check in with you. If you feel like taking the San Francisco offer, send me a text. I'll set up an interview."
"Thanks, Logan," Rory said simply. There was no reason to reject the offer again, he knew where she stood.
"Bye, Ace."
"Bye."
Rory held the phone to her ear until the call ended, an apology stuck in her throat. She didn't know what she needed to say sorry for, but she knew that the uneasiness in her gut could be called guilt. She set the phone on her desk and turned to her computer.
She should finish editing.
Instead, Rory closed the laptop, stood up, and grabbed her portable CD player. She'd do it after she took a walk.
August 7, Thursday.
The acoustic version of a good song was playing when Jess got into Stars Hollow. He figured that he didn't really need to pass through the center of town to get to Lorelai's house, but with the new car he doubted that anyone would recognize that it was him driving. It would at least delay the pitchfork wielding mob by a bit. Plus, he wanted to check if Luke was around the diner.
Turns out, he wasn't. Jess still might have stopped in, said hello to Caesar and grabbed a bite, but Taylor was standing right out front in his bright red pinstripes. It wasn't worth it.
Jess turned the radio up when the next song came on, seemingly bothering a few people walking on the sidewalks when he did. He resisted the urge to crank up the volume even louder, keeping his hands wrapped around the steering wheel until he parked in front of the Gilmore house. Luke's truck wasn't here either.
If anyone asked why he stayed in his parked car for a few minutes, he'd blame it on the radio suddenly starting to play some decent music, but that wasn't it. The house still intimidating, even knowing Rory wasn't inside. Lorelai didn't scare him, but even with their unspoken peace treaty he didn't feel as though she thought of him as some part of her extended family. Not that that bothered him, really... He just had to get over it.
Jess turned off the engine of his little black Honda, climbing out and adjusting his jacket before walking up to the front door and knocking. He was glad to say that his heart wasn't racing.
The door was opened by a very obviously pregnant Lorelai. Even exhausted, she looked some level of pleased to see him. "Oh, thank god."
Maybe she was even happy to see him, though happy might be strong considering the tensed atmosphere that rested between them in their few one-on-one encounters.
"Yeah?" He responded, stepping inside and shutting the door behind himself.
"Yeah. I need some help," she nodded, waving him to follow her into the kitchen. He followed dutifully, looking at the clutter that had accumulated. It looked like a lot of boxes. He came to stop next to the kitchen sink with Lorelai, not clear on what exactly he was supposed to help with.
"God knows I love the Luke, but I might strangle him before this kid is even born," she started, gesturing to one of the cupboards next to the fridge. "I can not figure out how to open this drawer and it has all of my snacks in it." To demonstrate, she tugs a few times. There's a child lock barely visible just inside.
"He's been baby proofing?" Jess asked, bending over to examine the lock. It looked familiar.
"Yeah, you can call it that. I mean, they aren't gonna be able to walk for months and I keep telling him that. I almost killed him yesterday for putting a lock on the toilet," she sighed, lowering herself to sit in a chair at the kitchen table. Jess laughed quietly and took a moment to focus on the lock. No matter how they felt about each other on a day to day basis, they both knew that Luke was more important to both of them than bad history was. Dwelling on his personal issues with Lorelai would do nothing to pay his uncle back for what he did. It took Jess about ten seconds and the drawer slid open with a 'pop'.
Lorelai let out a gasp of what sounded like astonishment. "How did you do that?'
"I just spent the week with my mom up in New York," he shrugged, handing her a packet of Oreos and shutting the drawer again. "Doula's getting close to walking, so they had Luke do all this stuff when he came up last time."
"Oh..." She nodded, offering him an Oreo in the meantime. "That makes sense, actually. It's about the same time he started to do all this stuff. Our coffee table has rubber corners right now."
"Where is Luke? I drove by the diner and I didn't see the truck," he said, twisting his Oreo open.
"Oh, well, he went to get some things from Doose's. Rory got some kind of bug so she's gonna fly in tomorrow morning and stay for a few days. I don't know if she's going to be up for the whole Birthday celebration thing, but Luke's already got your cake baked and iced back at the diner. He's excited that he's got you for your birthday," she said.
The words hung in the air between them. Sure, he might not have known Luke all that well before moving into the diner, but he always got a birthday card. Usually it had $20 dollars. Sometimes he'd come have dinner with Jess and Liz and whatever boyfriend was the current boyfriend, bringing the card personally. The one time that they celebrated his birthday in Stars Hollow he was too wrapped up in his disappointment over the aftermath of his first kiss with Rory that he didn't have the energy to participate in anything Luke tried to suggest.
"That sucks," he replied, looking around the kitchen. He didn't know what else to say about Rory coming back home. "You guys moved back into the house?"
"Oh, yeah," Lorelai nodded, gesturing upstairs. "That's almost done. Luke's gonna finish the flooring and the painting himself but the lights turn on and everything. The baby's room is almost as big as Rory's, really. Tom did a good job."
"Alright, well I'm gonna head over to the apartment. I need to take a shower and unpack my stuff. TJ 'fixed' mom's washer, so I didn't get to do any laundry while I was there," Jess nodded, feeling awkward. He hadn't planned on going back there so quickly, but there wasn't much for him and Lorelai to talk about by themselves.
"Luke might be sleeping over there with you tonight, actually. I'm gonna go to my parent's place in Hartford for the night so I can pick Rory up when the plane comes in."
"Okay," Jess nodded. "D'you need help with anything before I go?"
"Can you just leave the drawer open? Other than that, I've got Paul Anka to keep me company," She said, offering him a smile. The dog, probably hearing his name, trotted into the room and sat by Lorelai's chair. He nodded and opened the drawer again, pulling it all the way out before heading toward the door.
"See you around, Lorelai."
"Happy Birthday, Jess."
August 8, Friday.
Jess and Luke spent the night watching a stack of movies that Lorelai sent with Luke to the diner apartment, or at least that's what they planned on telling Lorelai. In reality, without either of the Gilmore Girls to keep them in check, they fell asleep halfway through a 'classic' from the 60s that made next to no sense.
The door to the apartment swinging open was enough to wake Jess up, his hand quickly coming up so that he could wipe the bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Well aren't you two just rays of sunshine," Lorelai teased, holding two plates of pancakes.
Luke opened his eyes at the sound of her voice, grunting quietly in protest. If Jess's neck was stiff from sleeping on the couch all night, he couldn't imagine how Luke felt. The groan that came out when his uncle forced himself to his feet was enough of an answer. Lazily, Luke padded over to wrap his arms around his wife, kissing her forehead. He murmured something like 'thanks for the food.'
There was nothing really private about the way that they greeted each other, but it still felt far too intimate to watch. He averted his eyes when they kissed, standing and stretching his stiff limbs out. Another glance at Luke and Lorelai made him roll his eyes; Luke had a hand over Lorelai's baby bump, his thumb stroking back and forth while they talked in hushed voices. While he assumed that they were just innocently talking about something to do with their plans for later that day, he still wasn't ready to take that chance based on a glint in Lorelai's eye.
"I'm gonna take a shower," he declared, walking toward the bed he'd left his towel on. It surprised him that Luke had kept his area so untouched; it even still had the same yellow and brown blanket folded at the end. The only real changes were the plastic light socket covers and the rubber corners on the beside table.
"Alright, I'll put your pancakes in the fridge," Lorelai replied. Jess had assumed that the pancakes were for her and Luke.
"Thanks," he paused for a moment before continuing to gather clothes for the day, wondering if he should say anything else. Probably not. It was too hot outside for more than a t-shirt and jeans, so once he had gathered that he headed for the bathroom.
"Oh! Hey, Jess?" Luke called.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Come over to the house for lunch, okay? I took the day off at the diner."
Jess offered a smile and a nod before disappearing into the bathroom.
The Gilmore house was near chaos when Jess came around for lunch. He'd spent most of the morning just walking around the town, going to a few of the quiet places that he used to disappear to when the rest of the world was too much of a bother. Once he got to the house, he had to let himself in as the actual members of the household were distracted. Luke was digging through a closet and shouting about shoes. A muffled response came from Lorelai upstairs.
"What's going on?" Jess asked, obviously surprising Luke.
"When'd you get here?" He asked, turning back to the closet and kneeling down.
"Just now. I knocked," Jess shrugged.
"Lorelai's gotta run to the inn. Something's going on with the plumbing and Michel is being too French on the phone to explain whatever's going on," he muttered, reaching his hand into the far back of the closet. He pulled out a little black shoe, obviously very happy to see it. Luke got onto his feet and jogged to the bottom of the stairs. "I found the shoe!"
"The left shoe?" Lorelai asked, rushing to the top of the stairs.
"The left shoe with the little strappy thing," Luke nodded, holding up the shoe to show her.
"You have no idea how much I love you right now," Lorelai grinned, descending the stairs with the other shoe already on her right foot. Luke looked like he might say something, but he spared Jess a look and thought better of it. Thankfully. Instead, he knelt down again and strapped the flat onto his wife's foot before standing and grabbing the car keys from the table with the house phone.
"Alright, so, Jess. I'm sorry about lunch, but I did make you a sandwich," Luke explained, walking toward the door. "We'll be back soon- maybe an hour or two- we just need to make sure that nothing exploded. I'll make it up to you tomorrow, alright?"
"Yeah. Sure," Jess nodded, waving them off. He could use the time to be productive anyway, seeing as he had a manuscript out in the car that he was meant to be reviewing. "It's really no problem. I'll be around all weekend. I'll just get some work done while you're gone."
"Alright, alright. Just call me if you need anything," Luke said, opening the door for Lorelai, "See you later, Jess."
"See ya, Luke. Lorelai."
The door shut and left Jess in the quiet of the house, little black shoes littering the entry hall. He chuckled to himself and gathered them all into a small pile so that no one would trip, going to grab the manuscript from the car once he was done. He set himself up at the kitchen table, sandwich on one side and work on the other. He was about fifty pages deep before he realized that he'd been humming to himself for almost the entire time. No tune in particular, just something to fill the empty air. It was probably better that he hadn't been paying attention seeing as he was relatively tone deaf. He'd had that realization forced on him the one time he had been convinced to take the stage at a karaoke bar with a few friends. Yes, he was intoxicated at the time. He was internally cringing at the memory when the door opened behind him. His head whipped around, landing on the most disheveled version of Rory Gilmore that he had ever been privy too.
Rory's nose was pink and the rest of her face was a sickly pale color. Her long hair was an unbrushed tangle that was mostly covered by the duvet that she was dragging behind her like a cloak. She paused when she saw him sitting there, confusion taking her expression for a moment.
"Hey," Jess greeted, watching her shuffle across the floor toward the fridge.
"Hey," Rory croaked in return, cracking open the fridge and frowning at the contents. She shut the door and turned back around to Jess, the hood of her makeshift cloak falling down. "Where did everybody go?"
"Something was happening at the inn. Plumbing emergency. They said they'd be home in about an hour." Rory grumbled quietly and dropped herself down into the seat opposite Jess, staring off into space. She looked miserable, really. "Do you need something? I can run to Doose's if you want?"
Rory turned to Jess and blinked, as though she hadn't imagined he'd offer something so simple. "It's fine," she shook her head, slouching back into her chair. "Luke said he was going to make soup earlier, but I can just order something."
With that, she seemed to fade back into whatever half-coma she'd been in before. Jess stifled a chuckle.
"How about I order for you and you go back to bed?" Jess suggested, gesturing back to her room.
"I've been sleeping all day. I have to get my work done at some point," Rory insists, shaking her head and pulling the blanket tighter around her body. "I just have to eat something first."
"Fine then. You go lay on the couch with the dog. I'll order some food and you watch something," he nodded, sliding a bookmark into the manuscript and sliding it toward the center of the table. "You still keep the takeout menus in the same place, right?"
As he stood, it seemed like Rory might protest again. She was probably used to being independent by now, or maybe she felt off about letting Jess help her. His nerves started to buzz at the thought of her being aware of his inconveniently lingering feelings. Might she pity him? It'd been two years since their last kiss and they hadn't seen each other more than a handful of times in between then and now. She didn't speak, her mouth falling shut again to protect her raspy voice. She gathered her blanket and started to move toward the living room.
"Thank you," she mumbled, retreating into the living room.
It wasn't as though Jess didn't realize that his feelings were long past their shelf life. His friends told him as much whenever he'd make some excuse as to why he didn't really feel the need to date, that whatever he was waiting for wasn't going to happen unless he took a step to make it happen. Trying to appease them, he'd even asked out Olive a few weeks ago, resulting in a date that most likely ended any and all affection she had for him. He grimaced at the memory, instead focusing on flipping through the stack of takeout menus. The sticker coding system should help.
All in all he wasn't able to find anything from the Chinese food menus nor was he willing to take a chance on Al's take on an Ethiopian stew, not even on Rory's behalf. He ended up calling the diner and asking Caesar to send over some of the chicken noodle he knew Luke had put on the menu a few months ago. Sure, the diner didn't technically deliver. But if he promised to do the after-closing clean up before going to bed, it'd end up being a time saver for Caesar to run over some food.
Jess sat back at the table, staring down at his work and pursing his lips. It had suddenly gotten much harder to concentrate on what he was meant to be doing. He considered for a moment that he could leave and tell Rory the food was on the way. She was a grown woman and she could most definitely manage to take care of herself without Jess's help. Leaning the chair back to peek down the hall revealed a blanket lump that was in the middle of a coughing fit. In the background, President Merkin Muffley was asking Dmitri about the hydrogen bomb. Internally Jess groaned and shook his head. No, it wouldn't make sense to leave.
Or maybe it did make sense. He was sure that if Rory had any idea that his non-platonic feelings for her lingered, she might even be uncomfortable with him around. Sure she was single, but that didn't mean that she automatically would be ready or willing to be with him. She'd rejected him enough times to make that clear.
'Don't say "no" just to make me stop talking or make me go away. Only say "no" if you really don't want to be with me.'
'No!'
The echo of a memory made his skin crawl with embarrassment. Why did he think for a moment that going to Rory in such a frantic way would remind her of any feelings she might have had? Well, the easy answer to that was that he wasn't thinking about her or what she needed in that moment. His mind was consumed by her, by the way that she looked and spoke and thought and her warmth... but it was a desperation for the safety, the calm that she brought to his self-destructive mind. He needed her in that moment and she was right not to reach out her hand. He hadn't had anything to offer her, not even his full self.
Even when he had found the stability that came between them their first time around, when he was willing to offer everything to her...
"I thought everything was fixed."
"Everything but him."
He clenched his jaw and ran his hands through his hair, an attempt to clear his mind of the troublesome thoughts. The frustration he was feeling wasn't directed toward Rory as she didn't owe him anything. It was directed at the unmotivated romance he felt in his quickened heartbeat. When they'd first met, his motivation was unbeatable. He spent ninety dollars to spend the afternoon with her, managing to have both one of the best and worst lunches he had ever had. He moved back to Stars Hollow for her. But now, after how much they had been through, Jess managed to get one thing through his thick head: It's over.
Without expecting anything in return for what he felt, the feelings he had were pointless and frustrating. They got in the way of having an easy friendship that he genuinely believed would be one of the best he'd ever have. Whether or not Rory and he ever ended up together, and it was decided that they wouldn't, the electricity he felt with her was addicting. She saw him honestly when no one else did.
With the help of a cup of coffee, Jess managed to focus himself back on his work. He'd gotten another few pages marked up before the doorbell rang with Rory's soup. He shut the manuscript once again and walked away from the table, answering the door and finding Caesar there.
"Hey, Jess," he nodded, handing over the bag. "Where's Luke?"
"He went to the Dragonfly. Something about pipes," Jess shrugged, holding out the cash that he owed. Caesar waved it away, saying that Luke wouldn't charge him if he knew. "It's a tip then," he said, knowing he should thank Caesar for bothering to come over himself.
"Alright, thanks," Caesar said, pocketing the cash and turning to walk back to his car. "Happy birthday, Jess," he called over his shoulder. The door was shut and he walked back to the kitchen to unpack the soup. It looks like Caesar included rolls, probably ones that would go stale otherwise. It was still a nice gesture. He poured the soup into a bowl and walked back to the living room to serve Rory her food, only to find her propped up against the back of the couch and snoring gently. He set down the bowl carefully, sitting on the edge of the couch for a moment. The title screen of 'Dr. Strangelove" was playing the same audio in an endless loop, and so he turned off the television.
Jess didn't allow himself time to admire Rory's peaceful face, instead shaking her arm gently. Her eyes parted and she yawned, not dissimilar to the way a cat would.
"The food came. I can put it in the fridge if you want to keep sleeping," Jess offered, raising an eyebrow and directing her to look at the bowl of soup.
"No, I don't," Rory mumbled, yawning again. She forced herself up, the blanket pooling at her waist. She was wearing a large t-shirt with a picture of a large piece of cheese shouting 'go Packers'. Jess held in his snort of amusement, imagining Rory spending any time at all in a Wisconsin sports bar. "Thanks for the food," she nodded, sliding to sit on the edge of the couch and lean over the coffee table. Thankfully the soup seemed at least good enough.
"What kind of work do you have to do anyway?" Jess asks, leaning back and regarding her while she ate. He was impressed by her dedication to her work, considering how ill she looked. He could see himself doing the same in her position.
"I've got to edit a piece of work. Apparently my take on the necessity of community outreach programs isn't inventive enough," she replied, shaking her head as though she didn't agree. Having read her work, he couldn't see her writing anything particularly contrived.
"Well, if you want any new eyes, editing is kind of my job," he offered, picking up the remote to turn on the television. "D'you wanna watch anything?" he asked, standing so that he could pick another DVD from the collection.
"No, just press play," Rory shrugged, sliding down to sit on the floor. Her pajama pants had Dr. Seuss rhymes on them.
"You just watched this," Jess reminded her.
"Yes, but I fell asleep halfway through and you weren't watching. Just restart it," she ordered. Jess nodded and sat back down to press play. It wasn't a bad movie.
Once Rory had finished her food, she joined Jess on the couch again, albeit on the other side. The watched the movie in silence.
"I lent your book to my roommate," Rory said, turning to look at Jess. He raised his brow.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," she confirmed. "She's not that big of a reader, but she says that she likes it. She has my second copy right now, the one I bought on my own."
"I didn't know you bought a copy," Jess said.
They lapsed into quiet again.
"I showed the piece you did for the Boston Globe to my friend, Chris. He said he showed it to his cousin, actually. The editor for the culture section for the Inquirer." While all of that was technically true, it could be argued that Jess was telling a lie of omission. Not only had it taken longer than a single conversation to convince Chris to show his cousin the piece, Jess had to use a few of the favors he had done for Chris in the past. He'd lost one of the most powerful cards he held by just mentioning the time that Chris ruined his couch. Rory deserved the promotion, regardless of whatever lingering feelings he had for her.
"Yeah?" Rory asked, passive surprise evident on her face. "What'd he think of it? The Democratic Party's plan to recover from the recession isn't very culture-focused."
Jess couldn't stop his crooked smile from seeping into his tone. "You managed to connect the two pretty well. There were a handful of literary references in there and I think that they may have impressed him."
"He said that it impressed him?" Rory demanded in her raspy voice. Her eyes were far more alight than they had been moments before.
"It's what Chris told me," Jess doesn't add on that it took a minute or so to interrogate for the information. Rory's smile was definitely reward enough, making his heart race a little faster while he phrased what he said next carefully. "I was actually planning on calling you about it when I got home."
"Just to boost my ego?" She teased, nudging his leg with her elbow.
"No, actually," Jess admitted, his tone much smoother than he felt internally. He turned his eyes back to the movie, not wanting to seem all that "They're apparently going to have an opening for a few months, sometime after January. One of their regular columnists is pregnant. I was told to ask if you would be interested in interviewing for a guest writing position."
The pregnant pause was nearly suffocating, eventually forcing Jess to turn his head back to Rory. He wasn't sure what exactly to expect, she'd said so many times that she didn't want to have a job that she hadn't earned herself. He knew that if her writing could simply get into the right hands, any smart person would want to snatch up her talent for themselves. It was her talent that had impressed Chris's cousin, not anything Jess had said. The look on Rory's face didn't say that she was angry or pleased, it just read as 'shocked'.
"We haven't talked more than a handful of times. I've only met him once or twice- this really did come from your work, Rory." Jess needed her to know that.
"I didn't even think of Philadelphia," she breathed, her eyes snapping to meet his. "I've tailored my resumes, my portfolios, everything. I've prepared them to send to every paper in the North East and I missed Philadelphia. How did I miss Philadelphia?"
"I don't know, but Philadelphia hasn't missed you." Rory blinked at Jess's words, the gears in her head turning so fast that he might see smoke coming out of her ears. He couldn't imagine that illness was helping her processing speed. "Should I tell him you're interested?"
"Let me," she quickly stood, wavering for a moment before she strode toward her bedroom, the duvet left on the ground beside the couch. Jess's face split into a crooked grin and he stood to follow her, gathering her blanket from the floor. Before he could move toward the hall, she was back in the living room in all of her mis-matched and unkempt glory. "Do you have his contact information?"
"I think I've got his card in my wallet, actually. It's out in the car."
Rory nodded, turning on her heel and walking to her bedroom again. Jess quietly laughed to himself and draped her blanket over the couch before fishing his keys out of his pocket.
He sincerely doubted that there was anyone that could be unimpressed by her work ethic.