Chapter Text
“Well, it was very nice of you to drop by, Chris,” said Lorelai, practically toasting him with her coffee cup. “Kind of a surprise though.”
“I have always been full of surprises,” he shrugged easily, hugging his daughter to him. “I’m sorry I never came sooner, kid.”
“It’s fine,” Rory assured him. “You’re here now, and you’re staying a while, right? I mean, after all this time, you can’t just stay a few hours and then go...”
“Oh, honey,” Lorelai shook her head. “You know your Dad is...”
“I can stay a while,” Chris cut in. “I mean, if there’s somewhere I can get a room?”
“You’re staying here!” Rory enthused. “That’s cool, right, Mom? Dad can sleep on the couch, we have blankets.”
“Er, yeah, sure,” Lorelai agreed, feeling a little stunned.
It must’ve showed on her face because just as soon as Rory took herself off to fetch the bedding, Christopher called her on the expression she was wearing.
“I’m starting to feel a little less than welcome,” he said with a look of his own. “I’m sorry, Lor, I should’ve called, given you some warning...”
“No, it’s fine,” she literally waved away his concern. “Chris, Rory is your daughter, and yeah, it’s a surprise that you just suddenly showed up, but honestly, I love that you want to spend time with this amazing kid of ours. At the same time, you should know that things aren’t how they were before.”
“With Rory?” he asked with a frown. “Well, I know that, Lor. She’s grown a lot for one thing,” he grinned.
“You’re hilarious,” she deadpanned, rolling her eyes for good measure.
Rory soon returned with blankets and pillows, talking of all the places in town she wanted to show her dad, all the things she had already planned for them to do in the time he was here. She was just explaining how sucky it was that he hadn’t come sooner when she was still on Winter break from school, when Lorelai got a thought in her head that just wouldn’t quit. She had promised herself she wouldn’t talk to Rory about Jess, or Luke for that matter, until they were alone. Now, hearing her say how much better Christmas would have been with Chris there, as if it had absolutely sucked without him, she couldn’t take it.
“Well, I don’t know, hon,” she cut in. “The holidays were pretty awesome. The four of us had a great time.”
“Four?” echoed Christopher. “Please tell me you guys didn’t have an ‘awesome’ time with Emily and Richard? That can’t be possible,” he said with laughter in his voice and the appropriate air quotes too.
“Not even funny,” Lorelai told him definitely. “No, me and Rory, Luke and Jess,” she explained.
“Ah, Jess is the best friend,” he recalled meeting him in the square.
Lorelai’s eyes shifted to look at Rory, waiting for her to make a correction, willing her with some kind of mind power to just say the words ‘no, actually, he’s my boyfriend’, but she didn’t. She glanced away, looking awkward, and then produced a smile and said something completely different to what Lorelai was expecting.
“Yeah, and Luke is Jess’ uncle. He runs the diner where we get coffee... and breakfast... and sometimes dinner,” she explained. “He feeds us,” she summarised, at which Christopher laughed.
“Then I’m guessing he’s pretty popular with you two,” he said, looking from Rory to Lorelai.
“More than a little popular with me,” she told him easily. “We’re kind of together now.”
That seemed to wipe the smile off Christopher’s face in a second, though Lorelai couldn’t imagine why it would. It wasn’t as if she shouldn’t date at all, and she would like to think Chris still thought of her as attractive enough to get a man easily enough. If she didn’t know better she would almost think he was jealous, but that would be crazy after all of this time.
“Really?” he said after too long a pause. “When did this happen?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said too thoughtfully, since Rory was sure she knew the exact date and time when she and Luke ‘took it to the next level’. “We’ve been good friends since we moved here. Rory ended up in school with Jess, and I met Luke. We all kind of bonded, and lately, well, things have changed. Me and Luke got together, Rory and Jess got together...”
“I’m sorry, what?” Christopher closed his eyes and literally shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I thought Jess was your best friend?” he checked with Rory.
She shifted awkwardly in her corner of the couch then shot daggers from her eyes at Lorelai. Her mother held firm. It wasn’t fair to keep secrets from Chris and it certainly wasn’t okay to make Jess feel as bad as she had. Rory wasn’t vicious, that wasn’t her way, but she could be thoughtless sometimes, just the same as any other person in the world. Lorelai was here to let her know when she had done that and help her fix it. That was part of her job as both a mother and a friend.
“Jess is... well, he is my best friend,” she confirmed, barely looking at her father. “He always was, but lately... well, yeah, things are different. We’re kind of dating.”
“And you didn’t want to tell me this because..?” her father prompted.
Rory put a deep breath through her lungs and then forced herself to meet Christopher’s eyes.
“I didn’t want you to think of me differently,” she sighed. “I’m... I know it’s pathetic, but I was always your little girl, and I wasn’t sure how you would take hearing that I’m dating now, and maybe you wouldn’t like Jess, and then things would be awkward. The last thing I wanted was to have your visit be awkward when it’s the first one in forever, and maybe the only one for a long time,” she rambled the way only a Gilmore girl could.
Lorelai almost felt bad for forcing her into such a confession, but only almost. She loved her daughter more than anyone else in the whole world, and that was half the reason she actually did make this moment occur. Rory had to learn, she had to be a better person than she was acting right now. Lorelai wouldn’t allow her to become anything less than what she was, and that was a pretty awesome kid.
“Rory, sweetheart,” Chris pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “You will always be my girl, the same as you’ll always be your mother’s baby girl. That doesn’t change because you grow up. You have to be allowed to do that. Do you see us trying to fit you into onesies and bounce you on our knees? Of course you don’t.”
“That would be pretty inappropriate,” she considered, making both her parents laugh. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
“I actually think the person who needs that apology is Jess,” said Lorelai with a knowing look. “He looked pretty bummed about the whole demotion earlier.”
Rory looked shame-faced all over again when she heard that. She was pretty sure she had hurt Jess by saying he was just her friend. Sure, she said best friend and that was partially true, but it was unfair to not confess the truth of how much he really meant to her when she made introductions to her father. Two such important figures in her life, she ought to be honest about them and to them, it was only right.
“First thing in the morning,” she nodded her head. “Pretty sure that kind of apology should be done with grovelling.”
“Might need to use both knees when you crawl in there,” Lorelai agreed, getting up. “But right now it’s getting pretty late, and some of us need our beauty sleep, don’tcha Chris?” she teased him.
Lorelai got a pillow to the butt for her trouble, but that only induced her to stick out her tongue as she left Chris alone on the couch. Rory kissed her dad goodnight and helped her mom take the left overs and wrappers from the snacks to the kitchen.
“I’m glad he’s here,” she smiled.
“Me too,” Lorelai admitted. “I mean, you know better than anyone what a flake your father can be, but Christopher isn’t all bad, and I do love when he makes an effort for you, even if it doesn’t always last as long as it should.”
The Gilmore girls hugged each other then, and Rory sighed.
“I never meant to hurt Jess,” she lamented. “Was he really sad?”
“Can’t lie, hon, it wasn’t pretty,” her mother told her, smoothing her baby girls’ hair back off her face. “But I know you’ll tell him you’re sorry, and you’ll mean it, and Jess will understand. You just have to think a little more before you do these things. It’s not the same as when you guys were just friends. This is a relationship, it’s way more complicated.”
Rory nodded her understanding and then finally said goodnight and went off to her room. Lorelai tossed the garbage into a bag and generally tidied up around the kitchen. She looked around the room and decided her work here was done, so she flipped out the light and headed for the stairs. She was only mildly surprised to find Chris was already all tucked in under his covers on the couch, eyes closed as if asleep already. It was strange having him here after all this time. Looking at him now, she could still see the guy she fell for in high school underneath the vague signs of sixteen years or so of aging. Still, as much as they might still look kind of like they used to, an awful lot had changed in their lives.
“You watching me sleep is still creepy,” he said suddenly, one eye popping open to look at her.
“And you catching me watching you sleep is still embarrassing,” she noted, turning away towards the stairs.
“Hey, Lor?” he called after her, making her turn back a moment. “I’m glad you’re happy here, you and Rory. Makes me happy just to see it.”
She nodded her thanks for his kindness and then bid him goodnight one more time, before climbing the stairs to her room. Christopher watched her go, his smile wavering just a little. It was a shame Lorelai was dating again. He could make his peace with the fact Rory was growing up and had a boyfriend now, even if the time did seem to have gone ridiculously fast, but Lorelai, her he wished to still be single. It was all he could think about as he fell asleep at last.
Breakfast at Luke’s was a Gilmore tradition, but it felt kind of strange taking Christopher into the diner with them. Rory loved having her dad around, and honestly, Lorelai was serious when she said she liked that Chris was here for a visit. The weird part was definitely when they were outside of the house. It was like two worlds colliding, especially for Lorelai. Chris was part of the past she left behind so many years ago, whilst Stars Hollow was her present and future. It almost seemed wrong to blur the lines, and yet here they were.
Taking their seats at a table by the window, Lorelai looked over to the counter to see where Luke was and if maybe he was coming over. He looked busy but the second he spotted her she made a big deal of waving and encouraging him to come over, which he did.
“Hey,” he greeted her and Rory both. “Wasn’t so sure you’d be in today,” he said pointedly, eyes drifting to the visitor.
“Luke Danes, diner owner extraordinaire, and my current suitor,” said Lorelai dramatically. “This is Christopher Hayden, fellow creator of our darling Rory.”
“Good to meet you,” said Luke, holding out hand to shake, even if he didn’t entirely mean it. “I’ve heard a lot on the topic of Rory’s father.”
“All good I hope,” said Chris with a hopeful smile.
Luke chose to let that one go unanswered and asked the girls what they wanted to eat.
“Ooh, pancakes! And bacon! And pancakes!” said Lorelai, bouncing like a kid on a sugar high.
“And for her responsible adult?” asked Luke, looking to Rory, who was decidedly not paying attention.
She was craning her neck to see behind the counter, and Luke could guess why. He hated having to tell her she wouldn’t find Jess back there, but it was the truth.
“He already left this morning,” he said, looking apologetic. “He said for a school project but... well, he left anyway.”
“Oh,” was all Rory said to that. “Um, I’ll just have a muffin, thanks,” she muttered knowing Luke was still waiting for her order.
Christopher made a big deal of looking at the menu and making everybody wait for his order until finally he settled on nothing more than coffee. Luke forced himself to turn away before he let himself roll his eyes at the doofus that was Rory’s father. He didn’t like the guy, long before he ever mosied into town. Though some might think it was a jealousy thing and the fact that Chris had been in Lorelai’s life before him, that wasn’t really it. Luke thought only of Rory and how she had not been properly treated by her dad. He should have been around more, instead of being an absentee father, another fool just like Jimmy Mariano. Of all the things that should’ve brought Jess and Rory together, and had done before, it was the absence of their real fathers. Now it was tearing them apart.
Jess hadn’t really confided in Luke as such. He wasn’t the type to just come out and say what was wrong. Lorelai seemed to get the confession when she asked, but those two just had a different relationship. In the absence of Liz, Jess had been wary of being mothered by anyone else at first, but he’d grown to love Lorelai like a substitute mom and Luke had no problem with that. So long as he was talking to somebody about his problems and felt he had somewhere to go when their own place felt less like home, Luke could deal.
All he knew for sure was that Jess and Rory had a ‘misunderstanding’ and it seemed to coincide with Christopher’s arrival in town. Therefore, he had to be a part of it and that just give Luke one more reason to dislike the guy. This was maybe the first time Luke ever had a real urge to spit in somebody’s order, but still he wouldn’t do it.
Across the diner, Lorelai realised she was the only one paying attention to Chris as Rory stared out of the window. She was looking for Jess, her mother was sure on that, and lo and behold he could be seen sat on the steps to Stars Hollow High. It was way too early for him to be there, but Lorelai realised avoidance tactics were in play. She felt sorry for both kids right now.
“Honey, if you want to go talk to him...” she prompted, interrupting Christopher.
He looked from her to Rory and then followed both gazes out of the window. As much as it irked him to have breakfast spoiled, when his little girl turned those big blues on him and asked if he minded, he couldn’t say that he did. He let her go and Rory raced off at a speed he had never seen her go at in his life before.
Jess saw her coming. Truth be told, he had an eye on the diner this whole time, even though he appeared to be reading intently as ever. He saw Rory go in with Lorelai and Christopher, and then he saw Rory come out of there alone. Though he knew he should stay put and let her come over and apologise, which she no doubt wanted to do, Jess just couldn’t do it. If he screwed up with her, there would’ve been hell to pay, he knew that. Luke, Lorelai, the town in general, they took Rory’s side in everything. That side was usually not against Jess, but he had no doubt if it came down to it that was how the chips would fall. With her in the wrong, he was actually determined not to let this be easy on her. Maybe that made Jess a bad person, but he didn’t care right now. Just a soon as Rory got within a decent distance of him, he picked himself up and went inside, letting the door slam behind him. He never saw the sad and disappointed look on Rory’s face. Now she knew how he felt.