Anna woke up to the smell of bacon and maple. "You know I get why people have maids and cooks." Jess pulls on a shirt.

She sat up and saw that he was ready for the day. "Oh yeah?"

"I thought rich assholes hired them because they wanted someone to look down on, which maybe they do. But for busy people like us, it is convenient." He stood by the foot of the bed.

"Lane is not your maid." She got up to grab a brush to tame her hair. She got kicked out by Rory's roommate because their place was too cramped. She came to stay with them.

"She is, she cooks all the meals, takes care of the pets, and cleans the apartment. She was useful at the bookstore too. She painted and helped pick out the decor and furniture, thank god she did because Matt's taste is revolting." He listed the things she did in the few weeks she was with them.

"Should I be worried?" She teased.

"I'm just agreeing with you. Mrs. Kim is crazy. Who would kick someone out that is helpful?" He threw his hands in the air.

"Then Luke was right to kick you out." She stuck her tongue out as she walked past him.

"You're a mean morning person." He put a hand on his gut like he was wounded.

"Morning Lane. It smells delicious." She waves to her while going to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Morning, Anna." She waves the spatula. "Morning Jess, how many pancakes?"

"Two please." He sat at the breakfast bar.

"Here, you go." She hands him a plate of pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. After making a plate for Anna, she made one for herself and sat down.

Anna came out and took the empty seat. "Thank you, Lane. But, I keep telling you, you don't have to do this. You are a guest here."

"But, I want to. I have to do something to keep myself busy." She insisted. "So, what time are we driving down to Stars Hollow on Friday?"

"Right after my class, around 10:30 am." She informs her.

"Okay, I'll call Brian so he can know what time to set band practices." She nods.

"About that…" Jess was going to come up with an excuse.

"No, you are going to my grandma's charity ball. She needs to fill that table. She will not be the next Loretta Bobbins." She gave him a pointed look to say stop it.

"I know I said I would go but I found out I'm needed here." He went on with the lie. He knew he screwed up when Lane whined.

"I heard you're waiting on furniture and books to get delivered. So, you have nothing to do over there." She narrowed her eyes.

"Sorry," Lane didn't know that he was going to go with that.

"A weekend in Stars Hollow is hell." He groans.

"Maybe when you're there you can make amends with a certain someone and invite that certain someone to an event you're having." She shrugged.

He got up to put his dish in the sink. "I'm not going to invite a certain someone. Would it be nice to shove it in that certain someone's face that I'm doing well? Yes. But, I don't want that certain someone to put a damper on it which they would because it is not up to their standards because nothing is despite them owning a mediocre diner themselves. It's enough that you tell that certain someone updates on me." He bops her nose before leaving for his day job.

"Still mad at Luke?" Lane grimaces.

"No, a certain someone." She sips her coffee. "He was mad at him for kicking him out."

"It's hard to face someone after that." Lane looks down at her plate.

"Did you talk to her at all?" She asks.

"No, I want to have my place before I do. I need to have some kind of higher ground." She couldn't talk to her mom while she was couch surfing. "I should probably try to find a job here."

"In Philadelphia?" She pointed down.

"Yeah, where else?" She picked up the newspaper.

"I thought maybe Star Hollow or close by it. So, you can have band practice more often. How are they feeling about band practice once a week?" She didn't know she was thinking about settling down here.

"It wasn't too bad until we got the gig for the open house and now Zack is stressed about it." She got a phone call about it every day.

"Maybe we can do apartment shopping for you this weekend." She had never done that before, so she wouldn't mind experiencing it.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to afford an apartment by myself." She wasn't sure how she was going to make it.

"Where do Zack and Brian live?" She asks.

"With their parents." They all just graduated high school.

"Do you think they'd be willing to get an apartment with you?" She thought of two people that Lane could trust.

"I don't want to live with two boys?" She grimaces.

"You plan to tour with them, so sooner or later you will be living with them. So, think of it as getting used to their horrible habits so you don't kill them when you're in a small space on wheels with them." She thought it would be a good idea.

"I'll bring it up at the next band practice." She nods. "You think Luke will give me my job back?"

"Yeah, you were the best waitress he's ever had since me." She winks.


"Holy crap, did we step into the North Pole?" She stepped into her childhood home. Jess followed her in with Naruto and Sasuke. Lane went to the garage to meet the band.

"Mom, broke the window trying to close it." Rory was curled up on the couch in a blanket.

"How long has it been like this?" She took a jacket out of the coat closet to put over the jacket she was already wearing.

"For a few days." Lorelai was drinking steaming hot coffee.

"Why didn't you get someone to fix it?" She looks at the broken window that was letting the winter air in.

"Because Luke found out and said he would do it. If he finds out that I got someone else to do it he'll scold me for wasting money." She tugs on some mittens.

"I can fix it." Jess offers.

"You can?" Lorelai gasps.

"Yeah, it gives me something to do." He walks out after taking the leashes off. He got in the car to drive to the hardware store. After getting the supplies he needed he walked out and was surprised to see his mom. "Hey, I didn't know you would be here."

"I could say the same to you. I told you I was going to visit Luke." She was holding a bag from the craft store.

"I don't know when. I'm here because we're going to Anna's grandma's charity thing." He informs her. "So, how is it going with Luke?"

"Not so great. He has his suspicions about why I'm here. I don't blame him because of my history. He needs to get his resentment out before he relaxes. He was telling me about the trouble you gave him." She was used to the cycles she had to go through with Luke.

"Of course, he did." He scoffs.

"You drove him up a wall. He was going on about how he stole your car thinking you would have to go to school." She laughed.

"What? Luke stole my car." Jess's jaw dropped. Luke knew how hard he worked for that car, for him to take it from him was a betrayal.

"Yeah, he got it in his shed. He wants the best for us." She knew there was bad blood between them.

"Sure, I'll see you later. I got to fix Lorelai's window." He went to the car. He started it up and sat for a minute. He took off in the opposite direction of the Gilmore house. He parks on the side of the road and walks to the garage that Luke rents. He opened it to let out a mocking laugh. "Mr. Self-Righteous stole my car."


Lane, Brian, Zack, and Anna went apartment hunting after band practice. "If you take this place, then you'll have to deep clean that tub. That ring is next-level disgusting." Anna came out of the bathroom with Brian.

"If this living room is going to be our room then we need a bigger one. It's the same size as my room at home." Zack didn't like the shoe box apartment.

"We still got a few more to look at." Lane reminds them that they didn't have to make this place work.

"Every place we can afford is crap." He sighs. "Three mini-wage jobs should get us more than this."

Anna's phone rang. "Hello, Rory."

"It's been hours and Jess isn't back yet. I'm freezing. Mom said to stay until he does because he doesn't have a key." Her teeth were chattering.

"Okay, I'll call him." She hangs up to call Jess. "Jess, where are you?"

"I'm at Gypsy who is taking forever to look at my car." He shouted at the woman.

"What's wrong with the car? Take it to Toyota. I have insurance there." She couldn't tell her grandpa that something happened to that car.

"No, not the Prius. I'm talking about the car that Luke stole from me when he was trying to force me to go to school." He explains.

"Oh, that car…." It took a beat to remember she wasn't supposed to know that. "Wait… stole your car then kept it. Never bother to at least give it back to you when you were leaving?" She did think that was wrong of Luke.

"Yes!" He yelled.

"How did you find out?" She asks.

"He told my mom, who is in town?" He knew Stars Hollow would be trouble.

"We're moving onto the next apartment," Lane told her. She follows the band to Brian's mom's van.

"Are you going to keep it? Because we only have one parking space. I'm not sure that thing will last the drive." She knew street parking in Philadelphia could be annoying with all the meters.

"I'm either going to fix it and sell it or sell the pa…." He pauses to talk to someone else. "Luke reported the car stolen. I'm going to deal with the cops, then I'll go fix the window. Gypsy's going to be a while anyway."

"Okay," She hung up the phone.

"So, Luke stole Jess's car?" Lane asked.

"Yup, so no hope of fixing that on this trip." She sighs.


Anna pulled the Prius into her mom's driveway. Brian dropped her off where Jess left it so she could take it home. She was happy with their results. They picked a perfect apartment for them and were signing a lease tomorrow. "Honey," Babette called from her window.

"Hey." She walks into her neighbor's house. Rory was there with Sasuke. "We're having a cat play date." She pointed to them laying by each other.

"So, cute. Did Jess come back?" She sat by them.

"Yeah, but fair warning. He is in a bad mood." Rory told her.

"He ran into his mom, who told him that Luke stole his car. So, he took it back and was getting it fixed when police showed up because it was reported stolen." She explains.

"Why would Luke do that?" Rory was horrified.

"To try and stop him from going to work so he could go to school." She didn't know how he thought that plan would work. Jess knew how to take the bus. "Well, I'm going to go see how he's doing." She walks over to the house to see him fixing the window. "Hey, babe."

"I hate this town." He grunts.

"How much did she overcharge you?" She knew that Gypsy hated him.

"A lot, but that's not why I'm mad. I have done a lot of work on myself. I'm holding down a good job while starting a business. I'm in a healthy relationship. Then, I come back here for half a day and I feel like an angst-raging teen all over again." He huffs.

"Jess, even a mature adult would be mad if they found out their uncle stole their car." She didn't want him to be hard on himself.

"I had to go with the police to the diner, so he could clear it with Luke. Even though the car is in my name. I went upstairs to get the box he had of my stuff. My mom and TJ were there. On my way out, Luke pulled me to the side to try and talk me into breaking them up." He finished fixing the window and was now cleaning up the area.

"What? I like TJ." He was odd but how much he loved Liz was enduring.

"I exploded on him. He goes around trying to fix people. He doesn't realize that he telling them that they're fucked up. It makes him an asshole, not a good guy." He wasn't proud of himself today. He didn't have it in him to apologize.

"Jess, who the hell do you think you are?" Lorelai storms into the house.

"The guy who fixed your window for free." He sneers.

"How dare you talk to Luke like that? After everything he did for you!" She screamed.

"Mom!" Anna stood between them. "Stop! Luke stealing his car and not giving it back to him after he kicked him out is wrong. Wanting to break up his sister's relationship is also wrong. Should Jess lose his temper with him? No, but losing your temper isn't any better."

"You love Luke." Lorelai thought she should be on his side.

"I can love someone and acknowledge when they're wrong." She put her hands on her hips.

"Is he going to at least apologize to him?" She sighs.

"I'm right here. Is he going to apologize for stealing my car?" Jess got up to go outside.

"Mom, with many underhand tactics grandma, did to you, you think this would be a bonding moment for you two." She didn't want to have to go back to refereeing their fights.

"Luke has good intentions." She crosses her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure Grandma thinks she does too." She walked to her room.


"Wow, I wonder where Demi and Ashton are sitting." They walked into the ballroom that had a chandelier hanging above every table. It had beautiful multi-color rose centerpieces with long candles.

"Don't lean forward, there will be flames in your eyeballs." Anna thought they were too long.

"I think we're late." Rory looks at all the people that were already there.

"We're not late." Lorelai denies.

"We are, this started at six." Jess reminds her. "But, some people don't think being on time is important." He looks at his girlfriend.

"Not for a party. No one is waiting on you. I tried to be on time but half of my makeup was gone." She looks at her mother.

"I didn't want the makeup to go bad. We're not late, when people say six they mean seven." She corrects.

"In what universe?" Rory asks.

"They invite you at six knowing you won't be here until seven so dinner won't start until eight. So, we are early…. Oh, there they are." She spotted her mother and gave her a wave. "Hi, Mom…. Oh, bad face."

"I told you we're late." Rory watches Emily walk over to them.

"What is Rory doing here?" She crosses her arms.

"Hi, Grandma." She nods.

"You weren't supposed to bring Rory." Emily glares at her daughter.

"You're really helping the kid's self-esteem here, Mom." She laughs.

"You don't know one man who'd be willing to spend the evening with you?" Emily sneers.

"Damn," Jess whispered at that vicious burn.

"I thought you liked Rory?" She thought her mom would be thrilled to see her granddaughter.

"We do like Rory, but we're short on men." This event was supposed to be for couples, not families.

"Well, so am I." She couldn't bring her boyfriend because her mom didn't know she was going out with Jason.

"Honestly, Lorelai. It's not your looks that keep them away, think about that." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, should I stay or…" Rory wouldn't mind going home to read.

"Of course, you should stay. We can't do anything about that now. Come on." She led them to the table.

"So on a wigged-out level from one to ten, mom is on a…." Lorelai waited for someone to finish the sentence.

"Frances Farmer." Rory did so.

"I know, she didn't even greet me." Anna pouts.

"That's because you did as told and brought a man." She nods to Jess.

"Rory, what are you doing here?" Richard got out of his seat with a smile. He hugged his granddaughters before shaking Jess's hand.

"Lorelai can't find a man." Emily was standing behind her chair.

"You weren't specific, Mom. You didn't say bring a man." She sighs. Richard pulled out Emily's chair for her to sit in before doing the same for Lorelai and Rory. Jess did the same for Anna.

"If I had, you would have been able to find one?" She rolled her eyes. "Shawna, this is my daughter Lorelai, her daughters, Rory and Anna, and Anna's boyfriend Jess." She introduced them.

"Hi, Shawna, how do you know my grandparents?" Anna asks.

"I'm Jason's secretary." She whispers. "Emily says no one can know though because it would look like she couldn't fill a table."

"So maybe, we should make a cover story." She thought that question might come up again.

"Hello, Emily and Richard." Jason came over to the table.

"You're late Jason." She looks him up and down unimpressed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I got hung up talking to Ferimen in the lobby." He pointed to the man.

"Fermen is here?" His tone said he didn't care for the man.

"Yes, and he's three drinks ahead of everyone else." He pulled out a chair.

"Marvelous." He scoffs.

"Who doesn't love to pre-game." Anna sips the glass in front of her and was delighted to find out it was champagne.

"No, don't sit there." Emily stopped Jason. "Sit next to Lorelai. Rory moved over."

"Why?" Lorelai asks.

"You two, pretend to be together," Emily instructed.

"Emily, good idea." Richard nods.

"I don't know, Mom is not that good of an actor." Anna snickers.

"She's not the only one, Shawna, for god's sake pretends to belong here." She was paying the woman to attend the event. She put on a painfully forced smile. "Oh, so much better." She rolled her eyes.

"You should smile too." Anna looks over at Jess.

"I swear to god if you put her attention on me." He hisses. It was enough that he was here, he didn't want to be under Emily's magnifying glass while she was upset.

"Jason, move close to Lorelai. For God's sake you two at least act like you like each other." She didn't need people talking about her table.

Jason grabbed Lorelai's stiff hand. "Hey, your mom said." He caught Lorelai's unamused gaze.

"So, Jason, you can't find a date to fill the chair?" Anna's smile was sweet, but her eyes were cutting.

"I thought they were filled, then I found out they weren't. It was too late to find one." He explains.

"I didn't want to have to sit with another bimbo." Emily huffs.


"The importance cannot be overstated, language is humanity's lifeline. That is why I thank each and every one of you for your loyal support of the Ephram Wordus Rare Manuscript acquisition foundation. Because without it we would be stuck rooting around Nag Hammadi." Everyone laughed at the joke the man leading the event made.

"I don't get it." Lorelai leans over to ask Rory.

"Me neither," Rory told her.

"But, you go to Yale." She thought she should.

"I skipped obscure manuscript humor 101." She rolled her eyes. Ever since she started Yale, her mom expected her to know everything.

"Hey, why was that funny?" Lorelai asked Jason.

"I have no idea." He shrugged.

"But, you were laughing." She points out.

"Take a poll, no one in this room knows what that crazy old man is talking about." He drank his wine.

"Nag Hammadi is where they found the gnostic gospels. It was the first big discovery of ancient texts in 1945. So, he's saying without the funding they would still be looking for that." Anna informs the table.

"That's not funny." Lorelai tilts her head.

"Of course not, if you have to explain a joke it's not funny." She agrees.

"Why do you know that?" Richard wonders.

"The remote broke one day and the tv was stuck on the history channel." She explains.

"Don't be too impressed, the battery needs to be changed." Jess drank his wine.

"You need a screwdriver to change it and I didn't know where the toolbox was." She defends herself.

"Hundred of literary artifacts which might otherwise be lost. So once again thank you and hope you have a lovely evening." He ends his speech.

"I'm going to make the rounds." Richard got up.

"Me too. Anna, how much do you know about ancient text?" Emily got up to look at her.

"I watched about four documentaries on it before Jess came home to fix the remote." She told her.

"Enough to convince people that you're a fan?" She nods. "You should make a lap around the room too. Make sure to introduce yourself as Susanna Gilmore."

"That is my name." She got up. Jess followed her around the room, looking like her bodyguard.


"I killed it." Anna and Jess were walking through the Firelight Festival.

"The old scholars were ready to marry you." Jess knew the old men weren't listening to her. They mutter interesting once in a while to keep her there so they could look at her.

"Look, it's your mom and new daddy." She pulled him by the wrist over to them. They were putting their suitcases in the car.

"Stop saying that." He hissed.

"I'm so happy, we made it back in time." She hugged Liz. Jess helped TJ pack the car.

"I'm happy I got to come here. It was such a blast." She smiles.

"If they have these things all the time. I would like to live here." TJ looks at the event.

"You guys are thinking about living here?" She smiled.

"It's a thought we've been having. There is no jewelry store here." She could set up shop somewhere.

"I think that's great. We could visit you guys more often." She hugged TJ goodbye.

"It's still just an idea. We'll see you guys later." They got in the car and waved while driving off.

"I got a good feeling about them." She grabs Jess's hand.

"You got a good feeling about everyone." He rolled his eyes.

"That's not true." She gasps.

"Come on, let's get some punch." He led her back to the festival.