Sorry there's been a little delay. I kind of got back into Oh Brother but I can assure you that I will be continuing with this. :)

Chapter 27

"You see it too, don't you?"

Lane glanced up to see Tristan come and stand next to her by the window of Jess' room. "See what?" She said.

"Lane..." Tristan said.

"I can't believe you would even think that." Lane said as she glanced into Jess' room where Rory was sat next to him, holding his hand.

"Lane.."

"No!" Lane shook her head. "She wouldn't do that. Not to me. Not to us." She said firmly.

"Not intentionally, maybe." Tristan said. "But seeing someone you really care about in a condition like this makes a person reevaluate their feelings..."

"She cares about him because he's family." She said. "Of course she cares about him!"

Tristan sighed. "Look, I trust her. I do. But these sort of situations...they do change things. I saw her...I saw Rory when she saw Jess for the first time."

Lane just shook her head. "You're being delusional." She said stubbornly.

"Maybe I am. I hope I am. But you can't deny the fact that you see it too. And what with Luke being in here as well. I've heard he's been like a dad to her. It must be like a double whammy for her." Tristan said softly.

Lane glanced at him and then back in at Jess and Rory and sighed. "I guess..." She conceded. She glanced at him. "I still think you're wrong though..."

"I hope I am." He said honestly.

Lane glanced at him before opening the door to Jess' room and walking in. "Hey..." She said to Rory.

"Hey..." Rory said.

"No change?" Lane asked.

"No." She said quietly. "I can leave you alone for a bit if you want..." She said going to get up.

"No, it's fine. Stay." She said giving her a small smile.

Rory nodded and sat back down, looking back at Jess. "I just can't believe this has happened..." She said quietly.

Lane glanced at her. "Yeah..." She said. "It must be hitting you hard right?" She said cautiously.

"What?" Rory said confused.

"I mean, seeing Jess like this. It's killing me but...you and Jess have so much history. It must be...killing you too..." Lane said casually.

"Jess is family. Of course, it's killing me seeing him like this." She frowned.

"Right...family..." Lane said quietly.

Rory glanced at her and frowned. "What's that meant to mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it." She sighed.

"It's obviously not nothing." Rory said.

"It was stupid. Just forget it." Lane said.

"No, tell me." She said. "What did you mean?"

Lane sighed. "I know Jess is family. I know that. But...you weren't always just family."

"What are you saying?"

"Well...seeing someone you really care about in this condition, someone you once had strong feelings for...it must...well...it must make some feelings resurface a bit..." Lane said hesitantly.

"What?" Rory exclaimed, getting up. "Are you seriously implying I want to get into Jess' pants just because he could die?"

"Rory!" Lane exclaimed shocked.

"What?" She snapped. "I can't believe you would even think that. You think I would just swoop in and steal him from you?"

"No, I don't think..."

"Although that would be a bit rich from you seeing as you stole him from me in the first place!" Rory snapped angrily before storming out of the room.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Lane frowned following her out. "That's not fair!"

"Isn't it? Who was it who was sneaking around dating their best friend's ex for a whole year before she finally came clean?" Rory snapped.

"I apologised for that! You said you were fine with us!" Lane exclaimed.

"Yeah, well it hurt, Lane! Jess was my boyfriend. I loved him! And you stole him from me!"

"Rory, he hadn't been your boyfriend for years! You hadn't even spoken to him for ages!" Lane said.

"Yeah, well..." Rory said.

"Look, I'm sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick..." Lane said.

"You're sorry? Oh well, that makes everything better!" She scoffed. "I can't believe you would even think I would do that to you! I'm with Tristan for god's sake!"

"Yeah? And how's that going? Because all this came from him!" Lane snapped.

"What?" Rory said shocked.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lorelai exclaimed. "I can hear you all the way from Luke's room!"

"Nothing." Rory mumbled.

"Well whatever it is, sort it out because this isn't the time or the place. Look around you! You're in a hospital!" Lorelai said.

Both girls looked round and looked sheepish as they realised people were staring at them.

"Sorry mom..." Rory said quietly.

"Yeah, sorry Lorelai." Lane said quietly. "How...how's Luke doing?" She asked.

"No change yet." Lorelai sighed. "Now I'm going to head back to him. Am I ok to go or are you two going to end up killing each other?"

"I'm going to get some air anyway." Rory mumbled.

"I'm going back to sit with my boyfriend." Lane said.

Lorelai headed back to Luke's room while Rory headed outside. Tristan walked hesitantly up to Lane. "What was all that about?"

"You just had to put that thought into my head, didn't you?" Lane snapped. "Now Rory hates me!"

"Lane..."

"Just go away, Tristan!" Lane snapped, wiping away some tears, before heading back to Jess' room leaving Tristan stood there stunned.

Rory sat outside the hospital on a bench, wiping away some tears. She heard some footsteps head towards her and sit down. She glanced up and saw Tristan there.

"Before you say anything, I know you probably hate me right now." Tristan said quickly. "Lane's so mad at me right now but I did manage to find out that she told you that this was basically all my fault..." He said. He glanced at her and continued when he saw Rory wasn't replying. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I know that probably won't help anything here but I saw you, Ror. I saw you when you first saw Jess." He said quietly. "It...tore you apart."

Rory sniffed and wiped away some more tears. "Jess is family..." She sniffed.

"I know." He said.

"I'm allowed to care about him. It doesn't mean that suddenly my feelings have come back..." She said.

Tristan sighed. "Have I totally messed things up with us?" He asked.

Rory glanced at him and then sighed. "I don't know." She said honestly.

"I do trust you. I never didn't trust you. I just...I know from personal experience that some feelings don't just go away." He said softly.

"Jess is my family. I'm upset because I care about him. As family." She repeated.

"Ok." Tristan said. "I'm sorry."

Rory glanced at him and just nodded.

"I..uh..I'm going to go see your mom and tell her I'm heading home for a bit. I'd feel rude just leaving without telling her. But I think...maybe we need some space..." He said.

Rory looked at him and sighed but nodded. "Ok." She said quietly.

"Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Maybe." Rory said.

Tristan nodded before getting up and heading back into the hospital. Rory watched him go before sighing. She slowly got up and headed back inside as well. She walked slowly towards Jess' room and watched for a moment as Lane sat next to him gripping his hand, crying next to him. She blinked back her own tears and raised her hand to knock on the door before thinking twice about it and lowering it. She glanced once more into the room, wiping away some more tears before slowly walking away, just as Tristan came rushing round the corner bumping into her. "Tristan?" She said surprised by his state.

"Rory, thank god! You need to come! It's Luke! He's woken up!" He exclaimed.

So I hope you liked it! Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal but I wanted to get something up for you. Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading them. :) Thanks for your continued support. It really does mean so much to me. :)