Jess Mariano: What if?

4

Rory and Jess pulled up outside of Luke's diner at 7:45, Rory's boxes filling her backseat.

Jess suddenly looked a little nervous.

"Hey," Rory put a hand on his knee. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... Being back here like this. I feel bad about what I did to Luke, and I didn't exactly have a sparkling personality in the eyes of anyone here."

"Relax. I'm Stars Hollow's sweetheart," she teased. "Stick with me and you'll be just fine."

Jess rolled his eyes. "I'm sure." They climbed out of the car and walked into Luke's hand-in-hand.

Luke seemed to be in a great mood. He was greeting customers warmly, humming a little tune. It was freaky.

He was so distracted by his good mood, that he didn't notice the two of them until Rory ordered a coffee.

"Wh- hey! Rory, what are you doing here?"

"Nothin'. Sippin' coffee, livin' life." She smirked.

"Good to know nothing's changed." Suddenly his eyes fell on Jess. "Hi."

"Hi," replied Jess tensely.

Rory instinctively ran a gentle hand over his back to comfort him, an act that did not go unnoticed by Luke.

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you two...?" Before they could respond, Lorelai came in demanding coffee until she noticed her daughter.

"Roxie!" Squealed Lorelai.

"Velma!" Replied Rory. Her mom engulfed her in a bone crushing hug. "Help... Jess... Bones crushing, lungs collapsing."

Jess just smiled at the two of them.

Lorelai pulled away from her daughter suddenly. "Wait, Jess?"

"Hi Lorelai."

"Hi. No offense, but what are you doing here?"

Rory stepped in. "I guess now is as good a time as any to tell both of you..." She looked between her mom and Luke. "Jess and I are back together."

A million different things raced through Lorelai's mind, but she finally took a deep breath and smiled. "Good. I'm happy for you guys..."

"Are you kidding me?" Chimes in Luke. "They can't be together again! They were a disaster! Look at how crushed Rory was when he left."

Lorelai gave him a sharp look. "I think they've both grown up a lot."

"There's actually one more thing...."

Lorelai covers her mouth. "Oh my god, you're pregnant."

Jess ran a hand through his hair. "Why do people keep saying that? NO Lorelai, she's not pregnant."

"Oh... Oh thank god..."

"She's not pregnant. We're moving in together."

Everyone grew eerily quiet.  After a minute, Lorelai spoke up.

"You're... Oh wow.  So... Are you getting a place in stars hollow?"

"We were actually thinking New Haven... I don't want to commute to school," said Rory.

"How... Practical of you."

"We thought so."  Rory bit her lip.

Lorelai cleared her throat.  "Do you have an apartment yet?"

Jess put a hand on Rory's lower back.  "No... We're working on it."

"So you're just going to be homeless until then?!" Exclaimed Luke.

"No, they aren't..." Lorelai said slowly.  "They can live here.  In either your apartment or my house."

"And we'll get local jobs for the summer," added Jess. "Maybe I can work here again."

"I can see if Andrew is hiring at the bookstore." Rory bit her lip. She looked at her mom and then at Luke.

Luke sighed. "Fine. If it's okay with Lorelai, it's okay with me. But there isn't enough room in my apartment for all three of us."

"They can stay at my place. It's fine. Take your things and head that way... You can both stay in Rory's room. I'll meet you there in a bit."

Rory and Jess looked at each other and smiled softly.

"Thanks, Mom." Rory kissed her cheek. "Thanks Luke."

Before anyone could change their mind, Rory and Jess were off to her childhood home.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Wow, it's been a long time since I was in your room.  Your mom didn't let me anywhere near this place when we were dating."

"At least she was smart."

"Hey!"

"What? You're telling me that, if we were left unsupervised in my bedroom, you would have been a perfect gentleman.  You would've sat on one side of the room and kept your hands to yourself."

Jess rolled his eyes.  "Maybe.  But probably not..." He smirked and pulled her to him by the waist.

"I rest my case."  She wrapped her arms around his neck.

He stared into her eyes.  "I can't believe I got you to get back together with me.  All my evil plans worked."

"I am very susceptible to evil plans.  Especially when the maker of said plans has such a cute smile."

"Rory."

"What? It is cute... You're cute."

"Come on, kid.  You're damaging my street cred," he teased.

"Sorry, if you're dating me your street cred is going to drop a lot.  I'm kind of a goody-goody."

He pretended to look surprised.  "You don't say? And here I was, thinking that I was dating the bad girl with questionable morals."

A/N:  Hey guys! Sorry if this chapter is kind of weird.  I could use inspiration for future scenes! Comment if you have suggestions for situations or characters that should make an appearance!