Gilmore girls: The Next Generation (On Hold, Sorry)

Moving Day

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   "Owwwwwww," Mom whined loudly. I sighed as she pretended to struggle with her box. Luke came over and plucked it out of her arms.
"Thank you, honey," she said sweetly.
"Rory's the one who should need help not you," Luke muttered.
"Yeah, but she's not carrying anything heavy," Mom protested. Luke muttered something else, but I couldn't make out what he said. Mom wandered over to the car, where I was loading a box of blankets into the back.
"I'm gonna miss you," she said softly. I turned to her in surprise.
"Mom. I'm only moving a few streets over," I said, my tone tinted with exasperation.
"I know," she pouted. "But I got used to having you live here again, and now..."
"I'll come visit all the time," I laughed gently. "And you can come see the baby anytime."
"Okaaaayyyyy." She smiled at me, but it wasn't one of her usual half-manic grins. This one was rarer; it was one of her, 'I'm-proud-of-you-but-still-sad-to-see-you-so-grown-up' smiles. She hugged me tightly, then spun around on her heel back towards the house. "Luke, what else needs to be loaded up?"
I took a deep breath. I was moving out. Into my own house, not just a dingy hotel room half a mile from the center of D.C. Back to the place I grew up. As hard as I'd tried, I really had not changed one bit. I was the same small town girl I'd always been, not to mention a soon-to-be single mother; now that was all I ever would be.
I shook the thought from my head. I didn't have time for those kinds of thoughts right now. Just push forward, worry about my life falling apart later.
"Rory?" My heart leapt to my throat. I told myself it was because Jess had scared me, not simply the fact that it was Jess standing behind me. I turned, sighing.
"You scared me," I breathed. He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry," he muttered. His hand dropped to his side. "How are you?"
"Fine," I replied, and turned back to the car. Even though nothing else needed arranging, I pretended it did.
"I just... Well, I wanted to ask you..." I continued to be enthralled with the embroidery on the quilt in front of me.
"Wanted to ask me what?" I said casually. Why was I acting so weird? And why was he? This was Jess. I could talk to him about anything. Right?
"Offer, actually," Jess said carefully. "Um. I know that being a single mother is going to be really hard for you, it would be for anyone, and your mom had a lot of support from people around the town, so I just wanted to say that I'm here if you ever need anything." My breath hitched. He wasn't saying...
"You know, financially," he added flatly. My heart deflated a bit, but I ignored it.
"Thank you," I said, enunciating each word carefully. "Thank you for the offer, that's very kind." He nodded awkwardly. We were silent for a moment.
"So, need any help moving?" He asked, breaking the tension. I breathed a grateful sigh of relief.
"Yes, in fact," I replied. "Especially since apparently my mother can't carry anything heavier than a pillow."
"Hey, I heard that!" Mom called as she walked out the front door. She was carrying, of course, a pillow. I gestured towards her.
"I rest my case," I said in a satisfied tone. Mom stuck her tongue out; Jess grinned.
"I'll go ask Luke if he needs help," he chuckled. Once he left, Mom set her single pillow in the trunk of the car.
"So," she said.
"Uh, oh," I laughed.
"What do you mean 'uh, oh'?" She glared at me.
"When you start a conversation with 'so', it's never good."
"So, I have a question," she said, deliberately changing her intro.
"It's no better," I called over my shoulder as I went to get more of my stuff.
"Kid, hang on," she said seriously. I stopped, and glanced back. Mom walked in front of me.
"Is there something going on between you and Jess?" She asked bluntly. I nearly choked on my reply.
"What? Why? Why would you ask that? I mean, no, why?" I said defensively. Mom raised her hands up.
"Whoa, kid, calm down," she said. "You two just seem to be around each other a lot lately."
"Mom. I've seen him three times in the past, what, like month and a half? That is not a lot."
"Okay, okay," she said, nodding. "Just curious." She started back to the house, and I began to follow her, but her next words made me freeze. "Just letting you know, there's a difference between denying something and over-denying something to the point where it's obvious that you're lying. Just saying."
She couldn't be right, could she? What was I thinking? She obviously was. I did still have feelings for Jess. I took a deep breath. The sooner I admitted that to myself, the better. But I couldn't admit that to Jess, not now. It wasn't the right time, not with the baby coming, and moving into a new house that, if I'm being honest with myself, I didn't really want to buy. I didn't want to live in Stars Hollow. I was still discovering just who I was, as cliche as that sounds, and going back to where I began really wasn't the best way to grow. Not to mention my fear of being a single mother. How could I dump all those issues on Jess?
As I saw him wobble through the front door holding one end of my bed, with Luke on the other, I decided that I couldn't. He was being too kind. And maybe I was just overthinking everything. I felt so lost. I had to get my act together before the baby was born, I couldn't be so conflicted like this and raise a child at the same time. Jess' eyes met mine, and he smiled at me. Even as I lifted a smile in return, my heart ached. Was I making the right choice? I hoped with all my heart that I was.
"Alright, that's the last of it!" Luke exclaimed happily. Mom cheered, and Jess teased something about her not having brought out anything but pillows anyway. I laughed absently with everyone else, but I still felt hollow. As we all got in our separate vehicles to meet at the new house, my new house, I wondered how could I be so close to the people I loved but still feel so alone.
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End of chapter! Only took me over a month, right? Hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for all the feedback! I love reading all your comments, so thank you!!!