Disclaimer: I don't even know who to not claim this from anymore…screw you WB/UPN/CW.
The quiet sound of a choked sob made its way to Jess, who was telling the police who exactly they thought it was. His attention was pulled and the source of the sound was highly visible: tears ran down Rory's face as she turned away from Tony. The police had either gotten all the information they needed or sensed the now tangible pain in the room and let Jess go to her. She collapsed into his chest and he held on to her for dear life, wondering what exactly Tony had said. Jess looked over at him and he gave a small nod.
"Maybe you should come with me," their landlord said, motioning to the hallway. "I'm sorry about the apartment but I might be able to pull something together."
"What do you mean?" Jess asked, his arms still wrapped around Rory who was now quietly crying. Her gasps for air were still audible but he could tell she was trying to even them out. Jess put two and two together, his voice grim, "I take it this is no longer our place."
Tony's demeanor answered the question at hand and Jess felt about as heartbroken as he imagined Rory did. "But like I said, I might be able to put something together," Tony reminded him. "This wasn't even your apartment yet, really. You didn't have any keys, so we know it wasn't you guys that did this. You've already paid the deposit and January's rent, so I'm going to look at what I have open, okay?"
Jess nodded, not hopeful about the situation. It was around a month before school was going to start, there was no way another apartment would be free in time. He knew it, the first time they had seen the perfect apartment; it was too good to be true. Jess knew he didn't deserve such good fortune. Rory does though, he thought. "We appreciate it. You know how to contact us, but is there anything else you need?"
"No, you guys can get going. I'll let you know if anything comes up."
Jess thanked Tony and whispered to Rory, "Let's go home." She nodded, the first real movement since he snatched her up in his arms.
The diner smells funny when it's not open, Lorelai thought. She was sitting at one of the tables stifling a yawn and watching the traffic outside. Luke was in the kitchen, making something remotely edible. Around an hour before, they had gotten a call from Rory and Jess. Apparently something happened to their apartment and it was somehow related to Logan. They didn't say much more but Lorelai had heard crying in the background. Jess remained composed on the phone but she could sense that the stronger half of that relationship was on the verge of tears as well.
Now both parental figures were playing the waiting game. Lorelai continued to focus on the outdoors while she tried to figure out the situation. It didn't take long for Luke to produce dinner, and then they waited for them to return from New Haven.
Lorelai was the first to catch sight of the slowing down headlights and bodies exiting the car. She had the door to the diner opened before they could even make it to the steps. Luke was dishing out the sandwiches and potato salad – the fastest meal he felt capable of making. Neither Luke nor Lorelai had gotten much sleep in between the marathon and the phone call. The lack of information and concern for what they considered to be their children were the only things keeping them awake and functioning.
The table remained silent as they ate, both couples too exhausted to bring the subject up first. Pleasantries of "pass the salt" were made, the younger couple apparently avoiding the other two.
"Rory, please," Lorelai said with concern, partially annoyed with her daughter for avoiding her eyes yet again. "Tell us what really happened. The silence is killing me!"
"Mom," Rory started, wiping the already formed tears away from her eyes. "We lost the apartment."
"But the landlord is trying to help…find us another place," Jess added, taking Rory's hand in his own.
"We can help too," Luke said, his quiet observation seemingly over. "You guys are fine living here for now, right? You have until the second week of January to find a new place. It'll be okay."
"It's not that simple," Rory snapped back. "Everywhere is taken! This is – was – the apartment for us."
Lorelai stood up and pushed her chair back. "Then we'll just have to get you that apartment."
"Houston, we have a problem," Finn's voice erupted over the phone, his accent ruining the reference. "A slightly big problem."
Logan groaned audibly and nodded, waiting for more information to come. He knew something was going to happen the moment he realized that they wanted to use her apartment again. It was wrong in the first place but in the heat of the moment he didn't care. In hindsight, Logan still didn't care that much…he just had to cover his own ass.
"It seems to be that our venue is currently occupied by somebody else,"
Probably the actual people that are paying for it. "Yeah?"
"Certain people that have nice cars with big fancy lights on them?"
"Oh, shit," Logan muttered. "Where are you guys?" Please don't be right outside…
"We're around the corner, mate," Finn assured him. "The sirens weren't on but I can spot those twinkling lights a mile away. Should we wait it out?"
"No, Finn. Come back to the apartment and we can figure out where to move the party to,"
"But this isn't just about the party,"
Logan scowled, "Yes. It. Is."
The mood in the diner went from tense and edgy to almost calmly subdued. There was electricity in the air as Lorelai assumed the head of the table. Her fiancé, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend were her minions, hanging on her every word. She kind of felt like a prettier, classier Hitler – the evil plan was a-brewing.
"He won't have any way to stop you," Lorelai reminded Rory for the umpteenth time. "Logan doesn't have anything against you, as you are 'Rory, the perfect, all-knowing, innocent virgin'."
"Mom," Rory giggled. "I think we all know that's slightly stretching the truth. Not the all-knowing part but the-"
"Okay, but are we sure it's Logan?" Luke interrupted, face reddening at the potential end to Rory's sentence and the inappropriate answers that he could get to his own question. "I mean, is there any chance that somebody else could've broken into your apartment?"
Rory shook her head as Jess looked on. "I mean, the letters LDB were on the wall. LDB! The stupid Life and stupid Death Brigade. It has to be him because the other members in the LDB aren't exactly the brightest crayon in the box."
Jess laughed, "Hence the leaving of their initials."
"Exactly,"
Luke and Lorelai nodded. "So we have a plan, right?" Lorelai asked, looking for confirmation.
Rory shrugged as Jess nodded furiously. "I think it's a great plan Lorelai," Jess said with a smile. "But one problem…"
"Yeah?"
"How is it supposed to get us the apartment back? I mean, it's trashed. The windows are broken and everything's in shambles."
"Honey, you should've seen my house when we moved in," Lorelai said proudly.
The smile on Jess's face faded, "We're screwed!"
How do you like the tiny little scenes? I'm trying to speed things up here ppls. I know, I totally lied when I said I'd post during June… I must say though, my life has been crazy hectic. I still have two jobs, but now I also have the burden of MOVING sitting on my shoulders. I have around two weeks or so to get all of my stuff packed (and I mean all of it) and I have a day to move it into the new apartment. There's definitely not going to be an update around that time.
But, my life hasn't been all work and no play. This Monday I went to Cedar Point with three good friends! It was slightly impromptu, we decided on Saturday that we'd all play hooky and make the four-something hour drive. Spent the entire day there and had a kickass time. My life doesn't always suck!
I love love LOVED the reviews I got on the last chapter (except for the bitchy person asking when I was going to freakin' update. Gimme a break). I greatly appreciate more reviews, but no askin' when I'm gonna update. It's going to happen at some point in the future, how about leaving it at that?