A/N: So, apparently when I have law school finals, all I want to do is write literati fanfic. Such is my muse. Anyway, the format of this story is a little tricky. All the chapters will be short but the first nine or ten chapters will be SUPER short. This is really intended to be a post-finale fic, but to understand what happens post-finale, you have to understand the history I've invented. So I hope y'all will stick through me and enjoy this story!

Chapter One- I Want You To Want Me

"Hey." Rory said, walking through the diner door and up to Lane. Lane looked up at Rory with at least ten fries shoved in her mouth at once, causing Rory to laugh loudly at her best friend.

Lane swallowed some of the fries, letting the rest fall back onto the plate. "Sorry. Only ten minutes to bible study. I need all the grease I can get.

"That's fine. I don't think you're anywhere near your record. You could fit a good five more fries in there." Rory slipped into the chair across from Lane and slipped her backpack off her shoulders.

"Ten on a day when my mom makes tofurky." Lane said with a wince.

Rory smiled sympathetically at her friend as she dug through her bag. Finding the index card she was looking for, Rory slid it across the table to Lane. "Did you want this on vinyl? I didn't want to get it if that's not what you meant, and it was kinda vague."

Lane looked down at the index card. In the middle, in block print, were the words "I WANT YOU TO WANT ME."

"Good song." Lane said approvingly, attacking another handful of fries. With her mouth full, she continued, "I didn't write that though."

"You didn't?" Rory asked, confused. "I found it in the cover of my history book. I figured it was next on your list of vintage vinyl.

"Fair deduction." Lane conceded, "but nope. Though if you can find it on vinyl, I wouldn't say no to it."

Rory shook her head in confusion. "If you didn't write it, who did?"

"Hmm, maybe it was Dean being sweet?"

The look Rory sent to Lane caused her to say, "Fair enough. Not his style. Your mom? Could be her weird humor."

"I guess. I mean, it's not like it's the weirdest thing she's ever done." Rory conceded.

Lane nodded. "She did write that whole series of letters pretending she was a ghost stuck in the attic and hid them under the floorboards in your house."

"Yeah, too bad she didn't realize Kirk would find them while chasing a mouse for her. He cried for three days."

"Maybe she's pretending to be the ghost of good music past." Lane suggested.

Jess walked up to the table with a coffee cup and a steaming pot of coffee. "Hey."

"Hey." Rory said smiling and blushing. It was the first time she'd seen him since he denied fixing Luke's toaster. Lane waved in greeting as she ate more fries. "How's it going?"

"It's going." Jess responded, pouring her a cup of coffee. He looked down at the index card and nodded at it. "Good song. You heard the ska version?"

"No, is it good?" Rory asked, feeling her face get a little warm. She took the cup of coffee with both hands and looked down at the steam emitting from it.

Jess shrugged. "It's ok."

Lane swallowed her fries and nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad."

"You want something besides coffee?" Jess asked, indicating the conversation was boring him now.

"Onion rings?" Rory asked, finally looking back up at Jess and feeling the warmth on her face again. She had no idea why she was reacting to Jess's presence this way.

Jess nodded and walked away with a smirk on his face.