Chapter 9

"Hey Ror!" Lorelai greeted as Rory pulled into the driveway. She ran up to the car and pulled open Rory's door before she even got a chance to turn off the engine.

Rory laughed, getting out of the car. "Hey Mom."

"What's the occasion for the visit this time? Miss me already?"

"Of course. And Luke's coffee."

"Of course," Lorelai agreed. "To Luke's, then?"

"To Luke's!"

Not long later, they were standing outside Luke's diner. Rory went in first, and Luke glanced up. His face broke into a smile and he hurried over, giving Rory a hug.

"You act like I haven't been here in months," Rory exclaimed.

Luke stole a glance at Lorelai before responding. She shook her head. "I'm just glad to see that you really came."

"Why wouldn't I have?" Rory asked, confused.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"Alright...can we get some coffee, Luke?"

"Coming right up."

Luke went to make the coffee, and Lorelai turned to her daughter.

"Hey, Ror. For lunch, I was thinking we'd do something different today. I had an idea."

"Do tell."

"Okay. I was thinking we could have a picnic today!"

"A picnic? That sounds nice."

"I was hoping you'd say that, because I already set up everything. All that's missing is the food."

As Lorelai spoke, Luke reappeared with a picnic basket in hand. He set it on the counter, and Rory moved to peek into it.

"That eliminates the element of surprise," Lorelai exclaimed, placing her hand on the basket to prevent Rory from opening it.

"Where are we eating?"

"The bridge."

Rory grinned. "Great. Should we go now? I'm hungry."

"You go. Set it all up. I'll just be a minute."

"If you wanted to be alone with Luke today, you could've--"

"Oh, no!" Lorelai shook her head. "No, Ror, that's not it. You go, and I promise I'll be there in a minute. I'm right behind ya, hun."

Rory nodded, taking the picnic basket and starting out on her walk to the bridge.

Maybe she shouldn't have come. Just because she wanted a break from her life, didn't mean Lorelai should be forced to take a break from hers.

She started to turn back to go home, but something stopped her. She figured it was only the fact that Lorelai would get worried when she came to the bridge and found her daughter MIA.

So she kept walking. She reached the bridge and her eyes lit up. Her mother had really planned this out. There was a blanket, plates, silverware, coffee mugs, a radio...candles? The small breeze in the air had no doubt blown out the candles, but she guessed it was the thought that counts. So what exactly was her mother thinking?

Rory shrugged, setting down the picnic basket and sitting down so that she was facing the water. Sitting at the edge of the bridge, she felt as if she were floating on the water.

She heard footsteps behind her, and she started unloading the basket. She gasped. "Wow, look at all of this great food!" she cried. "Did Sookie make it?"

The footsteps stopped, and Rory turned her lead slightly. "Don't just stand there, sit down already."

She looked up, startled, as Jess plopped down beside her.

"What's for lunch?" he asked, peering into the basket.

"She looked so sad when I told her to go without me." Lorelai frowned. "Did she look sad?" Luke started to respond, but she continued, cutting him off. "I mean, it's like she felt that she was intruding or something. Oh, maybe we should have told her."

"Calm down, Lorelai. She'll get to the bridge, see Jess, and forget that you were ever even going to come in the first place. Trust me."

"I guess," Lorelai relented. "She's not going to be mad that we didn't tell her, is she?"

"Nah. She'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Besides, it's too late anyway--she's gone."

"If she gets mad at me, it's your fault," Lorelai accused, pointing at him.

"Why would she get mad? I thought you said it looked like she still loved him."

"I don't know, I just feel like arguing." Lorelai shrugged.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't you always," he mumbled, walking off to get more coffee.

"Jess," Rory breathed.

"Hey," he greeted, glancing up for a second, before going back to filling his plate with food. Rory's empty plate still sat beside her, as she was still gaping at him in wonderment, so he started filling her plate as well.

When he was finished, he handed it to her. "Here," he said.

Rory stared down at the plate he was holding out, and she slowly lifted her hand to grab it.

"Why are you here?" she asked softly.

He shrugged in response, so she asked again.

"I heard you were coming here, so--"

"You followed me," Rory finished for him. He shrugged again.

"Why'd you leave in the first place? You just saw Lorelai yesterday."

"Well you just saw me yesterday, why did you follow me here?"

Jess smirked. "You got me."

She smiled in satisfaction. "I guess I did."

"Shall we?"

Rory watched as he motioned to the food before them. "Uh...my mom is--"

"Having lunch with Luke right about now."

"Huh?" Her nose wrinkled in confusion. "Was this a set up?"

"Depends. Are you disappointed?"

Rory thought about it. "No," she admitted after a moment.

"I'm glad. So...want to eat?"

Rory gazed at him, a small smile on her face. Jess took a bite of his sandwich, raising his eyes to meet hers as he swallowed. He reached for his drink and took a sip, never breaking eye contact.

"What?" he asked finally.

"I don't know," she replied slowly. Her heart started beating faster, and her eyes dropped to the ground. A familiar feeling of déjà vu came over her, and she welcomed the memory that followed...

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"I don't know." Jess shrugged. "I guess it started as a joke, just to bug him. But then he just got so mad, ya know. And he's so tall. And I just was looking at him, and he's standing there all tall and mad, and I just--I dunno, it was...it was really funny." He smiled at her

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