Chapter 7

"Hey, Jess," Rory said, opening her door.

"What?"

Rory's eyes widened. "Mom!" she exclaimed. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Did you just say--"

"Oh, look, Luke's here, too," Rory went on, swallowing. "Hey Luke."

"Hi Rory," Luke responded, following Lorelai into the apartment as Rory stepped aside.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked again.

Lorelai glanced around, sitting on the couch beside Luke. "We just felt like a visit, hun. Is this a bad time?"

"Actually--"

Rory was cut off by a knock on her door.

"Uh, hold on," she told them, hurrying over to the door. She opened it, peeking out. Jess stood there, waiting to be let in. He stepped forward as she opened the door.

"Hi."

"Hey...you," Rory replied. She made no move to let him in. She didn't want her mother to see Jess, because then there would be all these questions, and...well, she didn't want to deal with it yet. She had planned to tell her mother about meeting up with Jess the next time she visited. In Stars Hollow, where Jess would be far away...

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She and Dean had just had a fight. A huge fight--over Jess. Then again, that part needn't be said, as all she and Dean ever fought about anymore was Rory's growing friendship with Jess.

Rory stopped short as she noticed that she wasn't alone on the bridge. Jess.

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"What's wrong?" Jess asked, frowning. He lowered his voice, trying to look over her shoulder. "Is Shea here?"

"Uh, no," Rory answered, shaking her head from her reverie. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that Luke and her mother were still watching her.

Jess took the opportunity, when Rory turned her back, to push his way past her. His eyes flew to a shocked Luke and Lorelai, and he cursed under his breath.

"Damn."

He tried to make a run for it out the door, but Rory grabbed his arm. She dragged him over to the two sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Jess," Lorelai said, confusion on her face.

He nodded at her. "Lorelai...Luke."

"This is a surprise," Lorelai commented, glancing at Rory.

"Jess, what the hell are you doing here?"

Jess looked at Rory, and she stared back for a moment, before shifting her eyes back over to Lorelai.

"Remember that double date I went on...?" Rory asked, trailing off.

"Wow," Luke said, once Rory and Jess had explained how they had met up with each other. "That's just...wow."

"Yeah. We didn't even know we lived in the same city!" Rory laughed.

Luke looked down at his shoes in sudden fascination, and Lorelai glanced up at the ceiling, both of them avoiding Rory's gaze.

"Mom..."

"You two knew all along," Jess realized. "Huh."

"Luke told me not to tell!" Lorelai cried, jumping up and pointing at Luke.

"What? I did not!" he protested.

"Sure you did. Don't you remember? I was there, uh, in the diner. And you wouldn't give me coffee, and--"

"That's every day, Lorelai."

"Details, details..."

"Oh just kiss and make up already," Jess told them, falling onto the couch beside Luke.

"Hey Mom...When you called earlier, you were..."

"In the car, on our way here. I called on my cell. Luke flipped out, and I was half expecting him to hang up a sign in the car, you know--like the one at Luke's?, and point to it and sat 'No cell phones'."

"Am I that bad?"

"Yes, but it's alright," Lorelai replied with a grin, patting him on the leg.

"So this is just a spur of the moment trip? Nothing special?"

"All of my trips are special," Lorelai stated. She nodded at Jess. "So what's the deal with this girl you've been seeing?"

He shrugged, leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling. "We broke up."

"You did?" Rory asked, raising an eyebrow. "When?"

"A few days ago," he answered, without looking at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be--it was mutual."

"I need coffee," Lorelai cut in suddenly. "Ror?"

"I don't think I--"

She was interrupted by another knock on the door. Without thinking, she went over and threw it open.

"Shea!"

"And this just keeps getting better and better," Jess mumbled under his breath as Shea looked at them questioningly.

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

"Taylor, hey. Uh..." Jess glanced at Rory.

She bit her lip. "It's like this," she started. "Jess and I used to live in the same town, before we moved off to college. This," she gestured to Lorelai, "is my mom. Mom, this is Shea. And this," Rory pointed at Luke, not even giving Shea time to process the information, "is Luke Danes, Jess's uncle."

She watched Shea's face carefully, trying to detect signs of anger, or surprise, or...well, anything. But his face was expressionless.

He just turned to Jess and asked, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Jess thought about it. "I don't know, it just happened this way."

"So what are you doing here?"

"Here?" Jess repeated.

"In her apartment."

Lorelai and Luke looked back and forth from Shea to Jess.

"Oh." Jess gazed at Rory. She looked nervous. He turned his attention back to Shea and shrugged. "She mentioned to me the other day that her mom and Luke were coming, so I decided to pay them a visit."

'Nice save,' Rory thought, sighing in relief.

"I still don't see why it had to be one big secret," Shea said.

"Me either," Lorelai agreed, frowning slightly.

"I was going to tell you, Mom," Rory told her with a smile. "Honest."

"Well, since this is like a family reunion, I guess I'll just talk to you later, Rory."

"Oh. You don't have to go..." she trailed off.

He leaned over and gave her a kiss. Luke and Lorelai watched for Jess's reaction. His gaze fell to his shoes, and he looked almost upset. The almost-expression quickly vanished, thought, and was replaced by a blank stare.

"No, I should get going, anyway. I left Sarah to watch over the bookstore. By the way, Mariano, later you're going to have to tell me what the hell happened with you guys."

Jess nodded, and Shea looked at Lorelai and Luke. "It was nice meeting you." He shook their hands.

"You too," Lorelai called as he made his way to the door. Rory followed him, kissing him one last time before he left.

"He's cute, Ror," Lorelai commented. "Nice back, too."

"Oh geez," Jess groaned.

Rory laughed. "I know, Mom."

"Please change the subject," Luke pleaded.

"Aw, don't get jealous now," Lorelai teased, placing a hand on his leg.

He smiled. "Like you, right?"

"Like me? What like me?"

"Like you didn't get jealous when Patty--"

"That's different," Lorelai declared.

"Patty was after Luke?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, and Lorelai here got jealous."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Can I help it if I told her about your incurable disease, and she didn't like you anymore?" She threw up her hands.

"And what incurable disease would that be?" Rory asked with a smile.

"Or do we even wanna know?" Jess added.

"Right," Rory said. "We should ask that first."

"I'll shield you from that one, guys."

"It's dirty," Rory laughed.

"No, we've just got impressionable minds here," Lorelai said, motioning to Jess.

"So I have an impressionable mind now?" he asked.

"Do you?"

"Huh?"

"What?" Lorelai countered.

"I hate when you do that," Luke sighed.

"Oh, you do not," Lorelai argued.

"Remind me why you're here again?" Jess questioned.

"Remind us why you're here again?" Lorelai shot back. She grinned when he didn't respond right away. "Ha! I win."

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"I did not cheat," Lorelai declared, pretending to be hurt. "To accuse me, your own mother, of cheating--that's just wrong. What is this world coming to?"

"More and more like your uncle every day!" Lorelai called after him.

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