Inbetween Days (Jess Mariano x Reader)

Chapter 1

Down, down in my bones

Somewhere I'd never known

Right at the back of my head

It hit me like a beam of light

Hit me like a hook of the right

And I could have fell to the floor

I tapped my pencil on the cover of my notebook as I watched the clock tick my life away. I had finished the assignment ten minutes ago, and the bell had yet to ring. I couldn't help but think that the rest of the hour was to torture those of us who actually did our work. Anyone who was going to label a diagram of the human vascular system had visibly done it by now. Even the cheerleaders were just waiting for their nails to dry at this point, their diagrams half-full, covered in question marks and, in one case, holographic smiley face stickers. One of them, I smirked when I noticed, had filled hers out entirely in orange glitter gel pen. I checked to ensure that the teacher wasn't looking at me before reaching under my collar to pull out the earbud I had hidden under my tank top strap. Nodding along to the music helped me relax a bit until the end of class. When the bell rang, I got up slowly, letting everyone else scramble for the door. I smiled wryly to Mr. Mitchell before slipping out, kicking the doorstop back into place since the others had knocked it loose. I shoved my books into my locker before immediately heading for the double doors. A couple members of the chess club had met up to chat on their way to the empty classroom they convened in. Sometimes it felt like everyone was part of a club but me, but that didn't make me want to join one. I bolted straight across the square to Luke's for my afternoon fix.

Ah, Luke Danes. . the only man in Stars Hollow who used a decent ratio of water to coffee. My head cleared when I heard the bell on the door ring, like Pavlov's dog upon a promise of sustenance. Luke was nowhere in sight, so I settled myself on a stool, tying my cardigan around my waist in case my skirt did the inevitable. I was tempted to put my ear bud back in again, maybe even both this time, but before I could the bell rang again, followed by the shuffle of feet and fabric as Luke held the door for a dark haired boy in a camouflage shirt and blue vest, bearing a very large canvas duffle bag. He looked patently unhappy, and as he looked around his expression changed very little.

"So, this is my diner," said Luke hopefully.

The boy gave a noncommittal, "Huh."

"Belonged to your grandpa," he continued, to the same effect. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before heading upstairs.

At the sound of his boss's voice, the familiar cook popped his head out of the kitchen. "Oh, hey y/n. I'll be with you in a minute, just gotta get this tuna melt off the grill."

"No rush, Caesar." My voice carried just enough, but I was in a daze over what I'd just witnessed. Did Luke have a son? No way in hell had that recluse spent enough time with a woman to do - that, right? Unless it was Lorelai Gilmore, but I didn't think they'd known each other for as long as the boy had been alive, he seemed to be around my age. Also contributing to my confusion was the fact that I found Luke's clearly not-son to be uncommonly pretty, which was a new feeling for me. None of the boys at Stars Hollow High - or anyone outside of a TV screen or a book for that matter - had ever particularly caught my attention. Dean Forester looked okay enough, but he wasn't the brightest and seemed like a pain to put up with, based on all the drama circulating about his tumultuous relationship with Rory Gilmore. Dave Rygalski was alright, too, but getting his attention away from music was quite the trick, and we were too good of friends for that anyway. This boy seemed different, somehow. I was kicking myself for thinking about him this hard before I even knew his name, but I couldn't seem to distract myself.

He came back down almost immediately, and I looked straight ahead of me in an attempt not to stare. He left in a hurry, staring around him before picking a direction and half-scurrying from the diner. Luke was close on his heels, albeit moving slower, shaking his head in some kind of disbelief as he moved behind the counter, absently wiping it down with a rag before finally noticing me.

"Y/n, hey."

I smiled in return, "Hey, Luke."

"Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks."

He grabbed a mug and filled it quickly. "How long have you been sitting here? Caesar! How long has she been sitting here?"

"Not long! Promise." I sipped my coffee. Pure heaven, as always, well worth the wait.

"Okay. Sorry about that, I was. . ." he waved the coffee pot around to indicate the diner around us.

"Who's the kid?"

"Aw, that's - that's just my nephew. ." he shook his head and put the coffee pot away.

"Does your nephew have a name or is your sibling really, really mean?"

"Jess. His name's Jess."

"He staying with you?"

"Yeah, for a while. His mom's - his mom, so I'm taking care of him."

"Oh, he's living here." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of shock. Luke was going to raise a kid, an already raised kid, sure, but it was still hard to picture. I imagined for a minute what it would be like to live with Luke, and once I thought about it it seemed like a dream. He didn't butt in, he never hovered, he was the furthest thing from a helicopter mom in the world. Maybe this Jess guy would cheer up a bit. "Cool." I finally said, and returned to my coffee. He seemed pleased with that answer, or he looked a little less beleaguered, anyway.

"You want a doughnut?" Luke asked at length.

"Oh. . . why not?" I answered with yet another smile. He grabbed the tongs and a napkin and refilled my coffee afterward. Part of me wanted to stay put and wait for Jess to come back, but it didn't look like he was going to so once I finished my doughnut I picked up my bag, said goodbye to Luke and Caesar, and went home.

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Song at the beginning was, "I Always Knew" by The Vaccines

Are we all cool with the y/n approach to perspective or should I name this character?

Also, drop some characters you want to see soon/over the course of this fic, because I have a lifetime's knowledge of Gilmore Girls and way too much time on my hands.