A/N: Now, before ya'll pull out the torches and pitchforks:
Thanks for all the reviews! I so love em. I dig 'em. Ha ha. SO SO SOOOOOOOO sorry I took so long to update. I have a tendency to do that.
I know I used a lot of actual dialogue from the story here, but I need to setup the plot for the next chapter, and for that, I need a lot of stuff from the actual episode. I hope you all like the twist ;D
Review and it will get better!!!!!!
Lovesick
Chapter 3- Run-ins
Lorelai glanced out the window, where a swarm of people were digging through Babette's garden. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she gave a laugh. She heard footsteps and turned.
"Hey mom," Rory greeted wearily.
"Hey sweets. Feeling any better yet?" Lorelai asked, moving forward with a glass of water. Rory took it and shrugged.
"Sort of. I don't know." She said, glancing to the living room. "Where's Jess?"
"Oh-er, Luke took him back to his apartment." Lorelai awkardly said. Rory swished her head back to her mom, a look of sadness flashing through her eyes. It faded quickly though, replaced by weariness. She coughed.
"Oh." Rory brushed back a strand of hair. "Right."
"Hon, are you ok-"
"I'm fine. Really." Rory insisted. "I'm-kind of tired...I think I'm gonna go to sleep or something..." she softly said, turning to go to her room.
"Ok." Lorelai gently replied, nodding.
"Where are you going?" Luke asked.
"I need to get my car fixed," Jess mumbled, motioning to the apartment door.
"I'll take it."
"It's fine."
"Jess, you're sick. What you need now is rest." Luke told him.
"I have to get out of here," Jess emphasized, a helpless look in his eyes. The incident with Rory the previous night had him shaken up.
"Look, I'll take your car to Gypsy's, you take some medicine and go to sleep or something." Luke said.
The door opened and Liz entered. "My men!" She exclaimed, rushing to hug Jess. "Here together! Oh, this is great! TJ is right downstairs, he'll be up in a minute!"
"TJ?" Luke asked.
"I'm leaving," Jess muttered quickly and left.
Luke let out a frustrated sigh. "Jess-". But he was gone.
"Well?" Jess asked.
"Still looking." Gyspy replied.
"What's the matter with it?"
"Still looking." She repeated.
"You've been circling around the thing for fifteen minutes. You waiting for it to tell you where it hurts?" Jess snapped.
"I've seen dumber things talk."
"Just tell me what's wrong with the car." Jess asked.
"You need a carburetor." She told him.
"So how long until it's fixed?" He questioned.
"Not sure."
Jess let out an exasperated sight. "It has to be today. I have to walk out of this half-mile, four-block, freakhole of a medical experiment."
Gypsy rolled her eyes. "You are delightful. I'll have you out of here tonight. Go away and come back at closing."
"Fine."
"And bring a lot of money because I'm going to overcharge you like you've never been overcharged before."
"I'll bet you say that to all the guys." Jess sarcastically said.
"On second thought, maybe I'm closing early tonight." Gyspy started.
"I'm going."
Lorelai taped another Barbie bandaid over the plastic wrap Lane held in place. "Okay, now. Hold it. Oh, okay, how does it look?"
"Festive and femme." Lane replied.
"Yes, and completely ineffective." Lorelai put her hands on her hips.
"Maybe it just needs another layer." Lane stepped away, looking at it thoughtfully.
"Yes, of glass." Lorelai tilted her head to look at it.
"Where's the orange juice?" Rory called out.
"What orange juice?" Lorelai called back.
"Um, the one that was in the refrigerator two days ago?"
"Again, I repeat, what orange juice?" Lorelai headed into the kitchen.
"It's still freezing in here," Rory continued, crossing her arms.
"Stay in your room honey," Lorelai said.
"Did you call someone to fix the window?"
"I left Luke a message."
"Why don't you call professional window fixing guys?" Rory sniffled.
"Because then, Luke will be very mad if someone else fixes the window before he gets here." Lorelai replied.
"Ugh." Rory groaned. "I'm going back to bed."
Lorelai headed back to the living room. "So, listen, I have some errands to run today. Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm fine." Lane shook her head.
"Okay. I'll probably be heading down Elm."
"Well, that's a good street." Lane avoided looking at her.
"Yes, it is. If there is anything you'd want me to do on Elm, or anyone you wanted me to see, I could..."
"That's okay. Has she said anything to you?"
"No, but she's wanted to."
"How can you tell?"
"Let's just say it's a mom thing." Lorelai told her.
"Yeah, well..."
The phone rang.
"Okay, well maybe tomorrow then."
Lane nodded. Lorelai picked up the phone."Hello?"
"It's a complete disaster!" Emily's shrill voice said.
"My existence?" Lorelai dryly said.
"Not everything is about you, Lorelai." Enily snapped.
"Oh, sorry."
"The rare manuscripts acquisition fundraiser is tonight and we still haven't filled our table. I'm four people short." Emily tersely said.
"The Burles are going to visit their daughter in New Hampshire." Richard's voice came over.
"Well then they can just go straight to hell, then, can't they?" The elder Gilmore snapped.
Lorelai sighed. "Mom, I already said I'd go."
"But we still have a half empty table."
"Well, fewer people to fight over the centerpiece."
"Stop it. This is not funny. The last person who didn't fill her table was Loretta Bobbins. Do you remember Loretta Bobbins?"
"No."
"Exactly! Once you do not fill your table, you do not get another table to fill. You are off the list." Emily shouted.
"Mom, that's not gonna happen to you."
"You said you would come." She said, frustrated.
Lorelai sighed. "I am coming."
"And you're bringing someone," Emily added.
She gasped. "I never said I was bringing someone!"
"Well, I'm telling you to now."
"Mom, it's tonight."
"I need you to bring someone, Lorelai." The elder Gilmore said, her voice annoyed.
"But I…"
"Loretta Bobbins, Lorelai!" She shouted into the phone.
Richard walked in the room of the Gilmore house.
"All right, the Dartmores are trying to change Bitty's viewing. They'll call back in a minute." He said.
"They owe us, Richard. Remind them that they owe us." Emily snapped.
"All right. I'll see you tonight at six o'clock sharp and don't wear those pantyhose with the seams up the back. You look like ten cents a dance." She spoke to Lorelai. Lorelai put the phone down and pursed her lips, letting out an exasperated sigh.
Rory sniffled and turned the pages of her book. She leaned back into her pillows with a groan. She hated being sick; it stranded her on the bed for who knows how long. On one hand, it gave her time to catch up on reading. On the other, today that was the last thing she wanted. Her eyes were unable to focus on the words in front of her, as her mind kept wandering to a certain dark-haired, dark-eyed boy. What was he doing here, back? More importantly, she kept wondering about her feelings for him. After last summer, she had pushed away any thought of him possible.
Her cell phone rang, and she jumped, startled. "Hello?" She picked it up. "Hello?" No one responded. She knew who it was. "Jess?"
The caller hung up. She listened to the dialtone for a few seconds, then sighed, putting the phone back on her table.
Jess sighed and hung up the payphone. He wanted to talk to her about the night before. But talking was never his thing.
The door opened, and Jess was greeted by an overly-eager voice.
"Oh my God, this is freaky. It's like fate. Jess didn't know we were here. I had no idea that Jess would come by and now look at us together. All the men in my life are drawn here to me. This is positive. This means something. Do you feel it?" Liz said excitedly, rushing to Jess and pulling him into the room.
"I sure do." TJ agreed.
"Baby, this is my kid. This is Jess. Jess, this is T.J." Liz smiled, giving Jess a sidehug.
"Guess what it stands for." T.J. asked with a smile.
"No."
"Oh, you'll stay for dinner." Liz grinned widely.
"I've gotta go check on my car." Jess lied, as if that's not where he just came from.
"Come on, we're making a ton of food. There's beer." T.J. encouraged.
"My beer." Luke couldn't help but add.
"I'm not hungry." Jess replied dryly.
"Oh please, stay for a little while. I think you guys are really gonna get along great." Liz asked.
Jess reluctantly sat down at a chair, mentally berating himself for being so stupid.
"Oh, T.J. is really enjoying Stars Hollow. Aren't you, baby?" Liz said.
"Oh yeah, this place is great. It reminds me of New York."
"How?" Jess asked stoicly.
"You know." T.J. didn't explain.
"Neither one is in space." Luke deadpanned.
"No, that's not it."
"Of course not." Luke said, his tone exasperated.
"There's an energy, right?"
"There is. I feel it. A very similar energy." Liz addded.
"Liz showed me your old house and your school. Like the picture of you in the shorts." T.J. continued.
"My brother was very big in athletics in his day. And the ladies loved him. Ask Carrie. They went out." Liz said, flashing a smile.
"Crazy Carrie and I did not go out." Luke groaned.
"They just made out." Liz said with a light laugh.
"We did not make out. We did not go out. We did nothing that involved the word out." Luke said with a frown.
"I think he's still hung up on her." T.J. joked.
"A lightening bolt, please." Luke muttered.
"I gotta go." Jess stood.
"Oh, okay, but come back after you've checked your car. We'll save you some food. You look good. Handsome." Liz went to him.
"If I was some girl, I wouldn't kick him out of bed." T.J. said, earning an annoyed look from Luke.
"Come back, okay?" His mother checked.
"Okay." Jess gave a slight nod.
"Yeah, if you do, I'll draw your portrait on my Etch-A-Sketch," T.J. grinned.
"Hey, can't miss that." Luke dryly said.
"We'll see." Jess said. He started to leave.
"Hey, Jess wait a sec." Luke jumped up and went after him. Liz smiled and waved goodbye.
"So, wow." Luke said, referring to T.J.
"Yep."
"Well, if I had to pick anyone in the world for my sister to be with, that guy would definitely be his cab driver." Luke grimaced.
"I don't know. He had a certain something." Jess sarcastically said.
"Yeah, lack of chromosomes."
"That sounds right." Jess agreed.
"So, what do we do?" Luke asked.
"About what?" Jess was looking exasperated at being held back.
"About that, them, him."
"Nothing." He shrugged. He started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Luke interrupted him. Jess stopped, looking annoyed.
"To check on my car." He frowned, frustrated.
"But Jess, don't you think that we should discuss this?"
"Discuss what?"
"T.J."
"I thought we just did." Jess said.
"But we didn't come up with a solution." Luke told him.
"A solution to what?"
"Are we having the same conversation? A solution to him." Luke gesticulated his hands wildly.
"A solution would have been birth control. Too late, move on." Jess rolled his eyes.
"Jess, we have to do something about this." Luke insisted.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. We have to say something."
"Like what?"
"He's a grown man with an Etch-A-Sketch!" Luke threw his hands up.
"So shake him real hard. Maybe he'll disappear." Jess set his jaw.
"Oh come on. What, do you like this guy?"
"Of course I don't like this guy. I don't like any of the guys, but she's gonna do what she's gonna do."
"No, I do not accept that. We can go to Liz together. We can tell her--"
"She does not care what we think. She really doesn't care what I think. I've got nineteen years of proof to back me up."
"Yes, she does. You just have to find the right angle with Liz." Luke continued.
"Can I go please?" Jess looked toward the door.
"No, you can't go. We have to fix this. I cannot watch her throw her life away again with a loser again."
"You see, this is your problem. You're going to help people whether they want it or not. You have to fix everything. You have to fix everyone. You think it makes you a good guy, but really, it just makes you a pain in the ass. You make it so that when people fail you, you get to feel like the martyr and they get to feel like not only did they screw up, but they also disappointed you. You interfere and you make everything worse. No one is asking for your help. No one wants your help. Focus on your own life and leave everyone else alone." Jess viciously said, his temper rising. He headed down the stairs, leaving a stunned Luke.
"Ow! Damnit!" A voice cried out from the living room as Lorelai entered. Her brows furrowed in confusion.
"Hello?" She called out. She walked into the room and sighed in relief at the sight of Luke. "Oh, Luke. Hey."
"Oh. Hey," he said, standing at the broken window.
"How did you get in here?" She asked, confused.
"You left your bedroom window open." He responded.
"Where's Rory?" She asked. "Wait, my bedroom's on the second floor," she realized.
"She left a little while ago." He shrugged.
"Oh my god, you cut yourself." She approached him and caught scent of his breath. "Oh god. Are you drunk?" She asked, eyes wide as came looked down at his hand, enveloped safely in his shirt.
"I am not drunk. I do not get drunk." He slurred slightly.
"Huh."
"I had some beer-beers. More than one. A few. And then I came here and I climbed your tree." Luke grimaced.
"Well, good thinking."
"And then I fell out of your tree." He continued.
"Hm, sit down." Lorelai commanded.
"I landed flat on my back. I felt like Kirk." Luke babbled.
"Hold your hand up in the air." She told him.
He glanced at her. "And then I climbed back up the tree. This time I made it. I got in. Sorry about the lamp."
"You know, Luke, you could have broken your neck." Lorelai said with concern.
"You know, it would have been all right if I had. I would have fixed it because that's what I do: I fix things. Even when they don't want to be fixed." He ranted.
"Let me see your hand." Lorelai glanced at the hand that was safely enveloped in Luke's flannel shirt.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because it is bleeding and I need to look at it." Luke pulled his hand out and held it up to her. She flinched away from it. "Ew! Gross!"
Luke grinned goofily. "It's fine, leave it."
"I can't leave it, it's cut." She looked away as she dabbed at it.
"That's my wrist." He chuckled.
"Ah, sorry."
"You're very good at this." Luke teased.
"I don't like blood okay?" She told him.
"So leave it alone."
"No, I can't leave it." She placed a Barbie band-aid on the cut."Do you want to tell me what happened?"
"Nothing." Luke got up from the couch. Lorelai turned around and followed him with her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to fix the window." He told her.
"Forget the window." She told him.
"I can't forget the window. I made a promise and I'm the reliable guy who helps everybody out whether they like it or not." Luke said in an annoyed voice.
"What?"
"Oh, yeah. Nothing I can do about it, just the way I am. It is my big problem. Didn't know it was my big problem until today, but now I know. It is my big problem." Luke glanced at his hand. "Got a handful of Barbie."
"Luke, what happened today?" Lorelai asked.
Luke sighed. "Today I found out what a big, dumb, idiot guy I am. Just an imposing, judgmental know-it-all who blows around yelling and complaining and screwing up everybody else's life."
"I hardly think you're--"
"I'm dumb." He laughed darkly. "Yeah, not like Jess. Jess is smart. You know, he doesn't care about anybody else's life. He just takes care of himself."
"Did you and Jess have a thing?"
"He informed me that I am nothing but an unwelcome burden to everyone around me." Luke said.
"Luke, that's not true." Lorelai exclaimed.
"Yes, it is." He sighed in frustration.
"Luke, stop it. Liz was just saying today how grateful she is to have you as her brother and how much she looks up to you." Lorelai told him.
"You talked to Liz?" Luke asked in confusion.
She shrugged. "I thought she was you."
"I'm a man." Luke blinked.
"Well, she was in your truck."
"When I'm in my truck, I'm still a man."
"I couldn't see who was driving, okay? I went over the truck and we met and we started talking."
"You shouldn't have talked to Liz." Luke said, glancing at the broken window.
"She worships you. She said she even wants to move to Stars Hollow so she can be closer to you." Lorelai smiled widely at him.
"She didn't say that." Luke said in disbelief.
"She did say that. Jess is an unhappy kid, Luke. He's angry. He doesn't mean the things he says." She explained.
"He did me a favor."
"Listen, why don't you hang out here and rest for little while, okay? We'll get you a real bandage."
"I like the Barbie ones." He smiled cynically.
"Yes, honey, but the other kids will beat you up if they see you with one of those. I'll be right back."
"Hm."
Rory entered the bookstore and sniffled, brushing her messy hair back.
"Hey Andrew." She greeted weakly.
"Hey Rory." He replied, than looked up. "You feeling okay?" He asked her, worried about her sick form.
She nodded. She wanted to get out the house so bad. Half of her wanted to talk to him...
She shook it off. Her other half definitely didn't want to run into him. But she couldn't get him off her mind. Rory started heading deep into the shelves, and spotted the classic section. She headed towards a book she liked, and caught view of someone out of the corner of her eye. Rory swiveled around quickly. Jess glanced up, and his eyes widened.
"I'll go." He said, dropping the book and standing up quickly. Before she could speak, he was out the door.
Rory glanced back to the bookcase, taking a deep breath.
"You sure I can't help you? Can I hand you something? You know, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to run." Jess started in frustration.
"Just curious--have you noticed since you started standing there, there's been a lot less of the clinking sounds? And the clinking sounds are the sounds tools make when they fix things." Gypsy quipped.
"You've been fixing this car for hours." Jess said, annoyed. He was starting to feel really hot again, and his head was throbbing.
"And I'm not done, so, back off." Gypsy snapped.
"JESS!" Lorelai's voice called from across the street. She marched over as Jess and Gyspy turned.
"She sounds mad," Gyspy smugly said.
"You've been here less than 24 hours and I already want to kill you." Lorelai growled.
"What did I do to you?"
"All the crap you said to Luke-"
"What crap?"
"A man who has done nothing to you but try to support you-" she stared at him with deadly flames in her eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied with a stone face. His jaw was set tightly.
"You do know what I'm talking about. Don't act stupid. Why would you do that? What an incredibly insensitive, mean-spirited--" she angrily spouted.
"Oh, drop it. This has nothing to do with Luke. This is about Rory."
"This is not about Rory. This is about Luke. Don't you have an ounce of sensitivity in that thick head of yours or are you so mad at the entire world that you don't care who you hurt?"
"And I suppose we're still not talking about Rory?" He asked sarcastically.
"Wow, second "Rory" in ten seconds. You sure have Rory on the brain. I wonder why that is." Lorelai glared back.
"You started this!" Jess took in a deep breath.
"Is that why you came back here? Are you still hung up on her Jess ? Is that why you came back?" Lorelai asked.
"No." He snapped.
"Good. Because she is over you. She has moved on and she is very happy." Lorelai told him, her face fiery.
"Oh yeah, if she's so over me, than why did she come over to my car in the middle of the night to help me? Is that why she brought me back to your house in the middle of the night? I can really see where these assumptions of your are coming from." He growled. Lorelai glared at him as Gyspy and several others gaped at the fight between Lorelai and Jess. Both were staring at each other, fists clenched, when Jess suddenly groaned and collapsed onto the ground.