One In The Same - Jess Mariano

There's Two Of Them

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Jess Mariano arrived at the diner, following along as Luke showed him around. The pair head up the stairs and Luke tells his nephew to just throw his bag down wherever there is space.

"If you're hungry there is some Frosted Flakes,"

"Wow, that's grrreat!" Sarcasm drips from the seventeen year old's tongue. Luke just sighs and decides it is probably for the best to leave him to his own accord, and leaves him by saying,

"I've gotta head back down to the diner, I'm closing up at 10 tonight, so I thought-"

"See you at ten," Jess is already fishing a book out of his rucksack.

"Right... Okay, see you at ten," Due to getting all in his own head about having to deal with this kid for an indeterminate amount of time, Luke hadn't even thought to bring up Y/N.

As a consequence of this, Jess falls back onto the nearest bed with quite a force - one assumes was made up for him, not giving a second to consider the secondary mattress in the living area. A yelp rips out, shattering the silence of the apartment, making Jess' heart stop, and he frantically falls off the side of the makeshift bed. Turning his head, his eyes meet another's. A girl, around his age, who he has never seen before, nor has he any clue as to who the hell would be sleeping in his uncle's apartment, as it is common knowledge Luke Danes does not have a child.
"What the hell dude!" Her shrill tone echoes into his ears, and he realises he hasn't said anything after just full-on sitting on this stranger. Before he can muster any kind of response, she speaks again, choosing a lower volume this time, "Jess?" Okay, now he was even more confused. This one word makes it clear to him that this isn't just a random girl, one who had broken in without Luke's knowledge. Instead, she knew him, and she was clearly living here. Jess made a mental note to yell at Luke for not telling him anything.

"Uh... Yeah? I'm sorry- who the hell are you?" The first thing that crossed Y/N's mind was a hint of familiarity. This kid was a New Yorker, his accent sold him out on that. Secondarily, she wanted to remember that Luke had it coming for not letting his own nephew know that it wouldn't be just the two of them as soon as he arrived in the building - the town even.

"Y/N. Y/N Hayden, I... I live here with Luke. He took me in after my Dad kicked me out for being quote 'too much trouble'," Her air quotes interrupted her grasp on the sore spot of her legs, where this boy had just nearly snapped her bones at the speed he sat on her. Jess stands up finally, brushing dust off of his clothes.

"What is he, some sort of martyr? He's two for two on the whole 'taking in troubled kids thing'. This place is like that Elan School for kids in need of therapy," Y/N remembers hearing about that place, and quips back,

"Well, Luke hasn't used any abusive methods to 'fix me', so I guess this is a step above that at least. Unless you count flushing my fucking stash down the toilet," Jess allows himself to smile, only for a second, before donning that scowl that has been plastered on his face since he got here. Y/N wouldn't be surprised if that was the default for him. Without saying anything more, Jess starts to head out of the apartment. "Hey wait, you need keys,"

"No I don't," And then the door slams.

Jess starts to head for the diner exit before pausing and turning to Luke.

"You know, if you had remembered to tell me that vital piece of information, that would have just been swell," Luke stammers, trying to recollect what the young man could possibly be complaining about now, but before he can, the kid was already gone, out into the bitter Stars Hollow air. Realisation flashes in Luke's eyes and he moves to rush up the stairs, before colliding with Y/N, who is now dressed in a more business casual outfit, with her apron tied around her waist.

"Gee, Luke. One would think telling the kid you've just brought home which bed is his before leaving him unattended in your apartment, right?" She huffs, shoulder checking him as she walks to a spot behind the bar. Lorelai, who had watched both of the run-ins Luke had right before her eyes, snorts out a laugh at the man's expression.

"Look! There's two of them," She jokes, earning a half frustrated, half confused look from the waitress. "Thing one and thing two,"

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Jess re-enters the diner, a waft of cigarette smell follows him like an aura.

"Hey Jess. There's someone I'd like you to meet," The diner owner calls out, slowing Jess in his tracks.

"What, her?" Pointing his index finger at Y/N, "I believe we already have. And thanks to you it was a wonderful encounter," The satirical drawl was not lost on Luke, nor the other two present.

"Hey. Hi, I'm Lorelai. I just wanted to meet you before Luke had a chance to fill your head with all kinds of little lies about me," Her cheery tone brought some light into the eatery.

"Hi," He clearly was antsy to get the hell out of there and go chill upstairs.

"You know, you should meet my daughter, Rory. She's the same age as you and Y/N. She can show you where all the good wilding goes on... Okay, well, it's nice to meet you. I hope you like it here... So, class dismissed!" As soon as the quirky brunette finished her sentence, Jess headed upstairs. "Wow, so that's Jess, huh?"

"Yup, aren't I just the luckiest girl in town. He's got manners and charm out the wazoo," It was Y/N's turn to dish out the sarcastic remarks.

"Very chatty,"

"He's adjusting. He just got here. He probably just went out and realised there are twelve stores in this town devoted entirely to peddling porcelain unicorns. I've lived in this town my entire life, I still can't believe it. He'll be fine in a few days," Luke tries to defend the young boy to the two girls.

"Hey, listen, I have a fabulous idea. What are you guys doing tomorrow night? I thought maybe you could come to dinner at my place?" Receiving one annoyed look, and a cautious one she continued on, "Sookie will cook, Rory will be there. It'll be a little 'Hey, welcome to Stars Hollow and see, everyone here's not straight out of a Fellini film' kind of an evening,"

Y/N wanted to interject - to say she has plenty of other stuff she would rather do than deal with what sounded like hell for her, but Luke speaks up first, "Okay, that would be very nice. Thank you. And yes Y/N you have to come, even if you are the one person he can make nice with, that's the most important thing. I am not having two bickering children smashing up the apartment okay. That's final," Her eyes roll dramatically and she leans over the counter to whisper to Lorelai.

"I thought it was only the rich families that had familial obligations,"

"Hey, if I can survive like a million previous dinners at the Gilmore residence, and the million more that are imminent, I think you can make it through one night hun,"

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