A.N.: Hey everyone! I had the idea for this fic a long time ago - ever since I watched the episode "One's Got Class and The Other One Dyes" where Luke and Jess have the talk about girls and that is where my story starts. This is just the prologue to contextualize the rest of the story; I hope you guys like it.
A special thank you to luvtheheaven who's been taking her time to help me by beta-ing my fics.
His level of irritation rises a little more as soon as he realizes that his uncle is about to go on about birds and bees, and all that talk concerning how babies are made and the physical demonstration of affection. The guy should know that he had passed that phase a long time already and all by himself, so this whole speech was pretty much useless. He just gives his uncle a sarcastic look and pretends to hear what he's saying until the last words caught his attention.
"…I mean, if you care about a girl the way you do with this Shane…" Luke tries to articulate, clearly feeling awkward about the conversation.
"I don't care about her." he corrects him quickly. It's even comical that the other man would even consider that Jess had some kind of feeling for that girl.
She means less than nothing to him; she's simply what he hopes to be the mean that will justify the end in his own personal plans. And even if his plans don't succeed the way he intends, at least he's had some fun instead of just mourning for a relationship that never existed. His uncle, though, seems surprised by his response.
"I don't even know her last name", he explains to make a point. The other man is still confused, even when he tells him that the two of them are just hanging around and it isn't anything important.
"Well, you have got to be doing something more than hanging with her. I mean, you got to at least be doing something with her to make her jump in a closet when people come into the room," the older one replies Incredulously.
"Relax, will you? All's good," the younger one says, trying to stay cool but unable to hide his annoyance.
"Jess, this isn't right," his uncle raises his voice. "You can't treat a girl like this, like dirt!"
Oh, Luke. Poor innocent, naïve Luke. He thinks every girl is just like the ones in children's storybooks and that all the evil in the world is caused by wicked guys like his nephew who just don't put women on a pedestal like they should. Didn't Luke know that women weren't as delicate, flawless and sweet as people said they were? Hadn't he ever been hurt by a woman before? If he had, he should know a woman is capable of hurting a guy more than men can hurt each other in a street fight. Jess had experienced both situations too many times, and knew it was a fact.
"If it's any consolation to you, she treats me like dirt, too. It's a pretty symbiotic relationship," he says honestly. She never treated him as someone who meant anything to her, so why should he treat her like she meant something to him, especially when he simply didn't feel that way about her? Aren't there sayings about how truth must always be told, no matter how ugly they are or something of that effect? Doesn't him being honest count for anything?
"And that's fine with you?" The uncle asks, and it's evident for Jess that in fact no, the truth doesn't count for anything in Luke's universe.
"Yes, it is." Jess thinks there's no point arguing there.
"To just go along in a relationship, and you treat somebody bad and they treat you bad back," Luke continues ranting and Jess gets what he's doing: he's trying to make Jess think this sounds wrong and insane.
"That's right," he replies knowing he's probably testing his uncle's limits at this point, but what else is new?
"Oh, that makes you happy?" Luke insists and the other guy sees there the perfect opportunity to use one of his greatest trademarks.
"I'd do backflips, but I am way too cool," he says sarcastically as he puts his watch on.
"That makes absolutely no sense," his uncle shouts angrier and Jess starts to wish they had dropped the subject already.
"It doesn't have to make sense to you," he says without looking up.
"There are plenty of other girls out there in the world, Jess," Luke continues his never ending speech.
"Don't you have to get back to the diner?" he wishes his uncle realized how much he doesn't want to continue that conversation. She's not worth that much saliva, at least not that much for this use.
"I mean, you can go out and at least find one that you actually care about," Luke seems completely focused on trying to make his point and ignores his nephew's attempts to end the discussion.
"Oh, like it's that easy," Jess mocks.
"Yeah, it's that easy if you try," Luke replies stubbornly.
That's where Jess had to draw the line. He was fine with Luke criticizing his so-called relationship with Shane, he was fine with Luke thinking the world was full of rainbows and unicorns; he was even fine with his uncle thinking he was the awful person his mother and most people around him liked to portray him, but he was not fine with the accusation that he wasn't trying to have something real with someone.
"Hey, the girls that I like don't give a damn about me! And unlike some other people I know, I'm not going to sit around hoping that they change their minds and suddenly notice me."
He regrets his first words as soon as they come off his mouth, not because they're untruthful but because from this moment on he knows that he gave away too much information about himself and let Luke get to know him a little more.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke defies.
They're equals, Jess and Luke, and Jess knows it. He's noticed that he's not the only one wishing things could have been different with someone else.
"You fixed any neighbor's porches lately? Or you go on a picnic or you get rooked into giving a ridiculous speech at a high school?" he enumerates.
"Shut up," Luke says blankly. Deep down he finally understands the two of them are on the same ground, but he won't admit it.
"At least I've got a little self-esteem," Jess continues.
"Shut up." The other man repeats.
"I'm not playing Golden Retriever, hoping one day she'll turn around and fall in my arms. If she doesn't want to be with me, then fine." He finishes, without realizing that his speech about girls had suddenly turned about only one girl.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." Luke says stubbornly.
"Whatever. I gotta go, Shane's waiting," Jess starts to walk out.
"Oh, you mean what's-her-name?" his uncle mocks.
"Yeah, I'll bring you a new leash when I get back." He mocks back.
"Get out of here," Luke finishes.
Jess sighs as he shuts the door behind him. He knows he had said too much, he had been caught in the moment even though he knew he couldn't allow someone to know so much about him. His five words kept playing in his mind over and over again. "The girls that I like…" yes, he had said that in the plural form.
Rory Gilmore was certainly not the first one and probably wouldn't be the last. But he doesn't want to think about it, to think about her, to think about them. He's okay with Shane because even if she doesn't make him happy, at least she doesn't make him feel miserable neither.
He walks down the stairs and sees Shane sitting at the balcony. She looks bored at him and he is safe to say the feeling is mutual. He kisses her because at least this always feels good no matter with whom and they start to walk out the diner.
He knows that even though this thing – hanging, relationship or whatever - isn't going anywhere, someday she will mean the whole world for some guy who happens to cross her path, and she'll either crush all his hopes and dreams or she'll make him feel like the luckiest bastard to ever walk on earth. But as of right now, he can't help but think that, for him, she's not even worth a song.
A.N.: Just a small note about that last line. The next chapters and therefore the next girls were all based on songs with women's names in the title. Please note that this will not be a song fic, I only used the story of the songs to write about those girls - Jessie's girls if you will. :P
Finally, reviews are always appreciated. :)