Jess Mariano: What if?

8

Rory settled into work at the diner smoothly.  If there was one thing she was really talented at, it was making and pouring coffee.  Granted, she probably drank more coffee than she served, but that was a minor detail.

Her favorite part of working at the diner, though, was working with Jess. 

It was a busy day and by her eighth cup of coffee, Rory was more high-strung than usual.

"Caesar, I need those burgers! They've been here for like, five days already.  They're going to die of starvation soon!" She shouted into the kitchen.

She took another order and then ran behind the counter.

"Rory," said Jess.

She poured someone at the counter some coffee and spilled some on her hand.

"Damn it!" She mumbled under her breath. "Rory," Jess tried again.

"I'll get that cleaned up, I'm sorry," she told the customer.

"Rory!" He said louder.

"What!?" She turned on him and when she did, he pulled her close by the shoulders and kissed her. It was brief, but it cleared her head.

He pulled away but kept a hand on her shoulder. "Hey... Relax. You being stressed isn't helping anyone, and it certainly isn't making the food come faster. In fact, I think it's making Caesar slower out of spite."

"He's right!" Came Caesar's voice from the back. "The little Gilmore is mean."

Rory put her face in her hands. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I must look so crazy right now."

"You're always crazy." He smirked. "But that's okay. Your butt makes up for it," he teases, causing her to blush. "Now look. We're closing in fifteen minutes. Clock out early. Go upstairs and wait for me. Luke will understand."

"Jess-"

"Rory. Go."

She sighed but made her way upstairs.

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About twenty minutes later, she made her way downstairs because Jess hadn't come up yet.

When she made it to the bottom of the steps, she saw him scrubbing tables and filling salt shakers.

"You could have called me down to help clean up... I don't think I'll have a panic attack refilling ketchup bottles." She said from the doorway.

He shrugged.  "There isn't much to do..."

"Still, let me help.  Please."  She stood beside him.

"Alright... You could marry the ketchup bottles, if you want."

"Aww how romantic.  Don't I have to be ordained?" She teased.

He rolled his eyes.  "Funny.  Seriously, you just dump the mostly empty bottles into the ones that are still pretty full.  Gives it the appearance that the bottles are new."

"Gross." She scrunched up her nose.

"Pretty much." He smirked.

She went to work, marrying the ketchup bottles and watching him scrub counters.  She finished up before him and just sat on top of the counter, observing.

Eventually he looked up at her and smiled.  "Enjoying the show?"

"Very much.  In fact, I might get some popcorn to enhance the experience."

"Ooh... That sounds like a good idea. Except for the fact that I just finished up." He came up and stood between her legs as she sat on the counter.

"That's a bummer. I thought I had at least two more acts." She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Well, if you just want me to clean more-" he acted like he was going to pull away but she pulled him back and kissed him slowly.

He dropped his rag and ran his hands up her legs until they rested firmly on her waist.

"You know..." He whispered through the kiss. "Luke is spending the night with your mom." He slid his hands to meet at the button of her pants. "We could go upstairs." He began in fastening it in such a slow way that Rory couldn't take it anymore.

She hopped off the counter and into his arms. "Lead the way, mister."

He carried her up the stairs, pausing to kiss different parts of her on the way up. He quickly made his way to his old bed and laid her down with him on top.

Even in the heat of the moment, Rory simply paused and smiled up at him as if he were the greatest human on Earth.

"I love you so much," he said softly.

"I love you too.... So, so much." She kissed him again, ravenous this time.

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Early the next morning, Rory jumped in the shower before her shift. It was weird being in Luke's apartment... Creepy, even. She tried to ignore it.

She soon climbed out of the shower and wrapped the towel around herself, as there was a knock at the bathroom door.

She opened it without hesitation, expecting to see a sleepy Jess in the doorway. Instead, it was a surprised Luke.

"Oh geez," he turned around quickly.

Rory gasped. "Luke?! I thought you were Jess!"

"I thought you were Jess! I... Ugh." He groaned.

Rory shut the bathroom door and dressed quickly. "We have got to work out a better system," she said, opening the door again.

"No," He said.

"No?"

"No system. No anything. You two are moving too quickly, and it's not right." Luke was actually getting angry.

"Not right?!" She scoffed. "We're adults, Luke. We can do whatever we want."

"You're kids!!! You're not old enough for any of this, Rory!"

"You're ridiculous." She pushed past him to get to her purse.

"I'm ridiculous? You're the one who is trying to say she's an adult while living at home with her boyfriend, working at a job I gave you! That's ridiculous."

Rory turned on him and got really quiet. "Fine. You're right. We'll move out today, and you can take this as my official resignation."

She grabbed her things and went to open the door.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me, Rory!"

"You're not my father! Stop pretending that just because you're dating my mom you mean anything to me. You don't." She left and slammed the door.