A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, keep 'em coming! Dreaming Haven here is the dinner scene you were looking forward to... ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, characters, or any original dialogue from our lovely ASP — this is for fun!

Rated M for mild language & adult themes

…

Chapter 12: Where You Lead

Soundtrack: All Apologies - Nirvana 1993 | Across The Universe - Fiona Apple 1998

...

After Rory went to school Friday morning, everything passed in a prolonged blur. She wasn't acutely aware of anything that happened in her classes but was painfully aware that time was creeping along to spite her. She dashed out the door as soon as the bell rang and made it to Richard & Emily's house far too early. Jess was supposed to arrive at 6:30. Rory had enough time to change and study for her finals for a few hours. She had come downstairs to wait for Jess, and Emily had joined her in the sitting room. They had made small talk, but as it grew closer to 6:30 and Jess hadn't arrived, Rory's anxiety multiplied incrementally with every passing minute.

Emily's annoyance multiplied incrementally with every passing minute. Still, as any good host would do, she masked it well and tried to keep Rory distracted with conversation, "You know, you didn't have to change."

Rory knew that her grandparents wouldn't take issue with her uniform, and neither would Jess, but she did feel like it gave her an unwanted juvenile quality. So she went with a version that Emily wouldn't question, "Well, I feel kind of dumb being in my uniform when I'm not in school."

"But you look darling in it. I'm going to miss it when you go to college."

"Yeah, I am, too, in a way. I mean, I like not having to think about what I'm going to wear."

"And you'll have plenty of years to stress yourself out about that."

Rory looked down at her watch — it was already 6:55, and she knew that Emily always started dinner sharply at 7, "I'm sorry he's late."

"We're fine. Dinner will keep."

"I know how you like things to be punctual," Rory expounded on her apology. Emily was strangely understanding, but it only made Rory more nervous. She wanted tonight to go well so badly. Rory had already gone through one boyfriend introduction — Dean, the dopey trainwreck. They had all left that night after she yelled at her Grandfather, and he excused himself from dinner. Not a scene she would like to star in again.

"There was a big tie-up on the 84 earlier. He's probably smack dab in the middle of that. Why don't you try him on his cell phone? See what's going on."

Rory looked at her grandmother and pinched, "He doesn't have one. He doesn't believe in them."

Emily looked surprised, "Well, I find that refreshing. Technology is encroaching too fast on every aspect of life if you ask me. It's getting to the point where people will want robots to carry them from place to place." The doorbell rang, and both women stood, "There he is."

Rory opened the door excitedly but was taken aback at the sight of Jess with a fresh black eye, "What?"

Jess was flustered and guilt-ridden, "I'm sorry that I'm late."

Emily came around the door into Jess' view, "Oh, that's all right. Come in, come in."

Rory thought it best to maintain decorum, so she started with introductions instead of explanations, "Um, Grandma, this is Jess. Jess, my grandmother."

"Nice to meet you," Emily extended her hand, and Jess softly shook it.

"Same here."

Rory motioned to Jess that she would take his coat, and as he slipped out of it, she asked, "Uh, what happened to your eye?"

Jess diverted, "It's a long story. I don't wanna bore you."

"Oh, this is new?" Emily asked with her eyebrows raised.

Now on edge, Rory snipped, "Brand new." She began to see the Friday dinner they left in a huff making a reappearance.

Emily maintained her concern, "It looks bad. Does it hurt?"

"Really, I'm fine."

Rory interrogated, "Is it why you were late?"

Jess knew that he was making Rory worried & upset, but he had worked out on the drive that it would have been far worse to cancel his presence at dinner. Rory would have had to spend the night at the Gilmore's, and they would both be alone and upset, "No, 84 was jammed."

Emily nodded, "We knew that, too. There was something with a big rig. Oh, those things, they scare the life out of me. And apparently, all the men who drive them are hopped up on bennies and goofballs. Come, come, have a seat at the table. I'll go get Richard."

Emily walked through to the dining room. Jess looked to Rory, "Shouldn't we go with her?"

Rory touched Jess' cheek tenderly, "Jess, are you really okay? Were you in a fight?"

Jess hated that Rory assumed that fighting was a legitimate scenario, "Rory, seriously? I defended myself against Chuck Presby once. And then Dean jumped in the middle. So, no, I wasn't in a fight." He tried to redirect, "Dinner's waiting."

Jess was right. Rory felt slightly ashamed at her assumption, "I'm sorry for assuming. So… what did happen?"

"I told you, it's a long story. I don't wanna talk about it right now."

"Why?"

"Look, Ror, I'm already in a crappy mood because of my eye. I didn't want your grandparents to meet me like this.. Then I'm late on top of that because traffic sucked. And I'm thirsty. And I'm hungry. So please, let's eat".

Rory consented by kissing Jess sweetly and threading her arm into his to lead him to the dining room.

Emily took her place at the end of the table, "The roast looks perfect. Oh, Jess, you eat meat, I hope. I forgot to ask."

"I'm an omnivore."

"Good. I don't see how anybody can resist eating meat."

"I try not to overeat it, but I live & work at a diner, so it's inevitable."

"I will tell you, dinner parties used to be simpler. Now every time we give one, I have to run my menu down with every person on the list. It's tiring." Emily motioned to Rory, "This one eats just about anything."

Rory brushed Emily off, "Grandma."

"I'm sorry, but the way you and your mother eat, and those slim figures of yours, it's a medical marvel."

Jess joined Emily's awe, "I've seen it for half a year and still don't understand how they do it. They should be studied."

Rory shook her head, finally relaxing, "I don't think so."

Richard finally entered the room from his study, "I'm sorry I'm late, but I was on a call with one of the 'Swedes I bagged' at the office warming. He is in New York and wants to arrange a meeting with one of his Danish associates soon."

Emily gestured to Jess, "Richard, this is Jess… I'm sorry, Rory didn't tell me your last name."

Jess slid his chair away from the table, stood, and offered his hand to Richard, "Mariano. Jess Mariano. Nice to meet you, sir." Rory smiled proudly and held her breath.

Richard shook Jess' hand heartily but did not let go. Instead, Richard scrunched his brows in consternation, "Well, Jess, that is quite a shiner you're sporting. How might this have happened?"

The two Gilmore ladies watched them as they would a tennis match.

Jess wanted to deflect but knew there was a better route to take with Richard Gilmore — humour, "Would you believe me if I told you that I dug up Hemingway to show me some techniques?"

Richard's brows softened, and he let free a jovial laugh, "Not unless Circe has taught you a few things about necromancy."

"Just call me Odysseus." At Jess' comment, Richard bellowed again and smacked the back of Jess' hand with his other in a two-handed shake. Then, Richard released Jess and offered for him to resume his seat at the table.

Jess retook his place and locked eyes with Rory across the table. She was beaming. He took it as a good sign and loosened his shoulders.

Richard took his seat and resumed his inquiry, "Young man, I thoroughly applaud your ability to call forth Hemingway and Homer in one tale, but I would still like to know how your injuries were sustained if the rest of the table would entertain a second oration?"

Rory encouraged Richard's goading, "Oh, but there hasn't been a first oration, Grandpa, so you haven't missed anything… Jess?"

Jess knew he wouldn't get away from this table without barring the details of his trauma. He took a deep breath and leered at Rory, "Okay, but you've gotta promise not to mock me ever… I was lying on the bridge after school reading, as usual, when that swan… remember the one that honked and nearly made you drop your book?" She nodded, enthralled with Jess' story. "Well, it came out of nowhere alongside the bridge and honked at me again. So, naturally, I jumped and swatted at it with my book. But then, it flew out of the water and…" Jess braced himself, "...beaked me right in the eye."

Rory pursed her lips, but Jess could see the amusement in her eyes. Then, finally, Richard broke the silence with a raucous howl, and Emily quickly joined him. Jess knew this would happen. He wished for someone to take a punch from him to allow for a less emasculating story.

Richard spoke through his chuckles, "Son, I think you should stick with your Hemingway séance from here on out! Tell me, what book were you reading? Maybe it's a pertinent detail and possesses redeeming qualities." Richard waited for a response.

Jess knew his book choice wouldn't sway the story to his advantage, "Leaves of Grass."

"Well then, admirable choice. Transcendentalist poetry. You were certainly becoming one with nature!" With that, the room erupted in another round of laughter. Jess shrugged his shoulders in defeat, but when he looked at Rory, she was nodding encouragingly with her face glowing.

The room calmed as the salads were served, and the conversation centred on the guest of honour with Richard leading the examination, "So, Leaves of Grass... one of your favourites?"

"Yes, I read it every year around my birthday." Jess was never willingly forthcoming with details about himself but he was temporarily lost in the comfort of the room so it tumbled out before he could stop himself, "I was born on the same day as Whitman."

Richard seemed intrigued, "You don't say?"

Rory had meant to circle back to his birthday before now but had been distracted by… other, more pressing things. Finally, she perked up, "Really? What day is that exactly?"

Jess cut his eyes at her but gave in immediately, "May 31st."

"Ooh, that's next Friday!"

Emily stopped eating, "Oh no, I see where this is going, young lady. Are about to ask to skip our dinner?"

Rory hadn't thought that far ahead, but Jess interrupted on her behalf, "Mrs. Gilmore, I don't think that will be necessary. Whatever Rory plans can wait until the weekend... or indefinitely." Jess said it as a directive, not as a suggestion. Rory stuck her tongue out at him and was admonished by her grandmother again.

"So Jess," Emily began, "I couldn't help but notice when we saw you at Lorelai's graduation that you had a cast on your arm. Any other ferocious waterfowl we should know about lurking in Stars Hollow?"

Rory jumped to field the question, "No, Grandma, Jess, and I were walking down the street, and a car sped past very close. When Jess pulled me out of the way, we landed on his arm and caused a hairline fracture."

Both Gilmores focused on each other across the table as if they were having a silent conversation. Then Emily spoke, "See, bennies and goofballs, I tell you. Jess, I think I speak for the both of us when I say thank you for your valiance."

Jess was already shaking his head before Emily finished, "No, I… It was…"

Richard stopped Jess and cautioned him, "Son, don't let your next words be 'nothing' because that is certainly not what our granddaughter is to us."

Jess met Richard's gaze firmly, "No sir, she's certainly not."

Richard took the opportunity while he hold Jess' attention and asked the infamous question, "So, Jess, where are you planning to go to college? A learned young man like you must have some good prospects."

Rory warned Richard with a low "Grandpa."

Richard knew that Rory was reliving the night of the last boyfriend debacle, but Richard would not allow the night to end similarly — lessons learned. This boy was already leaps and bounds ahead of the previous. He pacified her, "Rory, I am only asking the young man questions I am certain he has already asked himself. All is well."

Jess was truthful — it's all he had going for him in this situation, "I actually don't have plans to go to college. Whitman and Hemingway seemed to do just fine without it."

Richard tilted his head in what could have been mistaken for irritation but Rory knew to be slight admiration. However, Richard countered Jess, "And many others have done even more with a higher education." Jess nodded because Richard was right, but it didn't change his stance. "What kind of grades do you get?"

Jess began his deprecating explanation, "I will be honest that I do not have the best track record in school. It was always so boring for me. I learned more from books and life anyway. Unfortunately, my mother didn't think I would amount to anything, so I thought she might as well be right — it was ultimately less work for me." He looked to see Richard contemplating his words, so he continued, "However, after I was sent to live with my uncle because of..." Jess grimaced, "...idle hands, he took an interest and had Rory to tutor me. She helped me see that I was being a stubborn moron, and have since pulled my grades up. I plan on taking the GED this summer to get a jump on doing something with my life other than coasting."

Richard glanced at Emily. She remained stoic, and Richard turned back to Jess, "Rory tutored you?"

Rory smiled, "Yes, but he didn't need my help, Grandpa. Jess is one of the smartest people I know. He made up all his missed work for the year in the last few weeks. That's why the principal counted it all — he was impressed."

"I would have been too." Richard folded his hands thoughtfully, "Very well. But what is that you want to get a jump on doing if you don't plan on attending school?"

"I am keeping myself open to all opportunities right now. But, as I said, I haven't spent much time considering beyond making enough money to make ends meet, so I'm behind on life planning."

"And you'll continue working at your uncle's diner?"

"Only out of necessity."

Rory was stunned when Richard complimented Luke, "Well, it does seem to be a successful business even if not commercialized properly."

"Yeah, Luke does well for himself, but I don't want to be buried there or anything."

"Very true, very true. You know Rory is attending an Ivy League school — Harvard, Princeton, Yale?"

"I do know, and I am going to support her in every way I can, even if it means moving her books in and out of her dorm every semester," Jess exhaleddramatically andgave Rory a loving smile.

Rory was fascinated watching two of her favourite men converse and uncharacteristically hadn't touched her food.

"So, you are just going where she goes? To move books and whatnot. How romantic," Emily sardonically interjected.

Jess knew Emily was being facetious but met it with resolve, "Yes, as long as she'll have me."

Emily cut her eyes, "And all of these opportunities you are open to will just be there waiting for you?"

Jess should have known that a vague proposal like his would not garner respect in the elder Gilmore household. Still, he hated talking about goals & intentions — they were chances for disappointment, chances for failure. While Rory didn't need her grandparents' approval of him, she wanted it, and damn it, if Jess was going to do anything within his power to gain it. With the next breath, Jess finally verbalized his unspoken aspirations, "I have only ever had one passion in life — reading. It has been the one constant for me. No matter if the block or the apartment, or the guy my mother was loafing off of that week was different, I could always come back to the same books. Reading has gotten me through every moment of my life, which has been, up until recently…." Jess gave Rory a warm smirk, "…a lot of crap. The only conclusion I can draw is that the written word is what I have to follow." Jess mused aloud as he moved the raisins off his salad, "So yes, I'm open to opportunities, but I will work to create them if I need to. Seems a more trustworthy leader than Kerouac's fictional Road. And wherever Rory goes, there will be bookstores and publishers. I can be a pretty hard worker when I have the right incentive. Also…" He offered the subsequent detail unbeknownst to Rory, "I've been doing some writing lately. I haven't shown it to anyone, even Ror. It's probably not even worth reading, but I thought if Danielle Steel can do it, I could take a crack at it."

Rory disregarded Jess' self-effacing remark and wanted to leap across the table, "You've been writing? Why didn't you tell me? When do I get to read it? Jess!?"

Richard interjected, "Young lady, you should know as well as anyone that a writer must first write for themselves unimpeded. If one writes for an audience, their message becomes lost in the marketing." Then, Richard turned back to Jess, "When you need objective feedback and constructive criticism, I will be happy to read your writing."

"Thank you, Mr. Gilmore. I will remember that."

"Well," Emily narrowed her eyes at Jess and, as a form of acceptance of his unorthodox 'plan,' paid him a backhanded compliment, "I guess if you have a singular passion in life, you should follow it."

Jess heard the insult in her endorsement and corrected while looking through his lashes at Rory, "It's not singular anymore..." As Jess held her gaze, Rory blushed, "...but I think I can follow both."

Emily rolled her eyes at the lovebirds and continued to eat. Richard watched the interaction between his granddaughter and this compelling young man — who Richard could see was wise beyond his years — and could see the intrigue they held for each other. Richard let Jess' declaration lie and backtracked to Jess' monologue, "Well, anything would make a better leader than Kerouac's Road or Kerouac himself, for that matter." Richard planted his fist on the table, "The Beats plagued us all by turning impressionable young people into self-indulgent, lazy writers no more concerned with the glorious machinations of prose and verse and the innumerable possibilities of designing and structuring the building blocks of language, than with where they were going to sleep at night!"

Jess felt a swell of advocation for his precious Beats and excitement for the chance at a literary rebuttal, "Have you been conspiring with Paris lately? Geez, would anyone give Picasso this much grief for shirking the rules of The Masters to push the boundaries of creativity? Kerouac knew Proust, Dostoevsky, and Hemingway inside out. Ginsberg emersed himself in the particulars of Blake's verse and lauded Thoreau and Whitman's anti-establishment rhetoric, society's discourse with nature, and the individual's lack of commitment in finding spirituality within themselves and their environment."

Richard's face shone, and Rory watched as a light flickered in his eyes, "My boy! Ginsberg's fascination with Whitman's beard and strange fantasies of meeting him in a supermarket does not excuse him from butchering the English language!"

Emily watched Richard get worked up and thought it inappropriate dinner-table decorum, "Richard, for heavens-sake calm down."

Richard did not, in fact, calm down even as the main course was served. The conversation stayed spirited between the two. Rory gaped at them, positively bewitched, and Emily observed the two simply annoyed. When Richard refused to stop abusing her dinnerware as he violently carved his prime rib, Emily erupted, "That's it! Out! You're going mare my fine china and cut right through my table if you don't leave this room at once!" Richard studied her unruffled, threw his napkin on his plate, and stood. Emily turned her attention to Jess, "The both of you." Jess was unsettled and unsure whether he had made an irreversible error.

Richard saved him from Emily's leering and assured that Emily was being needlessly vexatious by extending an invitation, "Come, Mr. Mariano, to the study!"

Jess looked to Rory for confirmation as he stood, but she had been overcome with a temporary case of muteness. Finding no answer, he looked back to Emily apologetically. He didn't excuse the lively discussion — he certainly wasn't sorry for it. instead, he offered his gratitude for the food, "Thank you, Mrs. Gilmore, dinner was delicious." Emily dismissed him with her hand.

Richard patted Jess' back and led him out of the dining room. Rory followed their retreating forms and snapped back to her grandmother's exasperated countenance. Rory could have been mistaken for the last puppy left to be adopted at a pet store, pleading with her eyes for someone to pick her up and take her home. Emily huffed as she looked to the ceiling, "Good grief! Just go."

Rory wasted no time, and the cacophony that preceded her departure caused Emily to rub her temples in pain. Rory dropped her fork against the plate, snatched the tablecloth as it was entangled with her napkin, and nearly knocked her chair backward, stumbling to Richard's study. However, a few steps out of the door, Rory reversed direction and surprised Emily with a kiss on her cheek and a squeeze to her shoulders, "Thank you, Grandma!"

Emily softened immediately, "Go, go." Then, demurely, Emily resumed eating in a quiet dining room. She mused over her husband and granddaughter's sudden happiness — forged by an unambitious New York hoodlum with a black eye and more passion for the uncertainty of life than she could understand. Because of that, she didn't resist the smile that crept onto her face.

...

The rest of the night progressed delightfully, with Richard, Rory, and Jess pulling all manner of books from the shelves in the study and boisterously admiring and debating literature. Richard's tastes overlapped with Jess' Transcendentalists and coincided with Rory's Russians. However, Richard kept the historical, biographical, and economic tomes to himself — he knew the young people had no interest.

Emily entered the study to tell Richard she would turn in for the evening, and all three looked at the clock — nine-thirty. They were stunned to have spent far more time talking than they all realized.

They apologized to Emily for monopolizing Richard as they walked to the door. Emily shushed Rory again and turned to hold her by her arms, "Young lady, one should never apologize for enjoying the intellectual company of their grandparent and… I will always be happy if you are happy, understood?" Rory glanced at Jess and back to her grandmother before she nodded.

Emily angled her attention to Jess and composed a steely expression while extending her hand, "Jess."

Jess extended his hand in turn, "Mrs. Gilmore."

Emily contemplated her stance on Jess, "Please, call me Emily."

If Jess didn't immediately know that this was a monumental occurrence, he quickly realized after watching Rory's eyes become saucers, "Next time I come to dinner, I'll try not to have a black eye or any other injuries."

"I will look forward to it."

Richard spoke up and extended his hand to Jess, "As will I. I will pick up a few new volumes for the library, as we nearly decimated my collection in one evening. And Jess," Richard leaned in conspiratorially, "…let Hemingway rest and stay away from swans." Richard let out another bellow as he let go of Jess' hand.

"Thank you for the advice, Mr. Gilmore, and the conversation."

"Richard, my boy, just Richard. You kids drive carefully."

Rory hugged her grandparents and walked hand-in-hand out of the Gilmore House with Jess.