Thanks for your continued support! Just to say, I'm changing up the timeline a little bit! :) Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 5

"I can't believe I agreed to go to a spa with my mother!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"You'll be fine." Rory said.

"I'm sorry, did you hear me correctly? I am spending a weekend with my mother. At a spa!" She said.

"You'll survive, mom." Lily laughed.

"Yeah but he tricked me! And now I'm missing the first weekend of Luke moving in!" She exclaimed.

"You scared we'll scare him off?" Lily smirked.

"No. I just...it sucks!" Lorelai pouted.

"Are you going to stop whingeing and actually help me?" Luke said bringing some boxes up the porch steps, raising his eyebrows at them as they were sat on the porch swing.

"Nah, I think you have it covered." Lorelai grinned up at him.

"Figured." Luke rolled his eyes and headed inside.

Lorelai turned to her daughters. "So are you sure you will be ok with Luke being here this weekend without me?"

"You're not using that excuse to get out of the spa weekend." Rory quipped.

"No, I'm being serious. This is a big step to all of us. I just wanted to make sure you're ok with it." She said.

"We'll be fine, mom." Lily assured her. "We already have a plan to introduce him to our movie night." She grinned.

"What? Without me?" Lorelai exclaimed in mock horror.

"Well...you did agree to a weekend away with Grandma." Rory smirked.

"Hey, is it too late to find two other daughters?" She joked.

Lily grinned. "We're fine with it, mom. Honestly." She assured her. "And at least try to have fun with Grandma. She's never invited you to something like this before. She obviously wants to spend time with you."

"Yeah mom, promise us you'll try." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. "Fine." She said. "What's he doing here?" She asked suddenly as Jess appeared.

"Good, you're here. These three are no help at all. Grab those boxes and bring them in for me, will you?" Luke said appearing from inside the house and walking down the steps to greet Jess.

"This is what you dragged me here to do?" Jess said. "Bye." He said turning around.

"Hey, I'll help!" Lily said jumping up and heading towards them.

"Huh." Lorelai said.

"What?" Rory said.

"A second ago, she was totally on our side. And now, Jess appears, and she can't be more helpful..." Lorelai said.

"Mom..." Rory sighed.

"What?"

"They're friends. You're going to have to get over it. I mean, Jess isn't going anywhere." Rory pointed out.

"Unfortunately." She mumbled under her breath. "Is Jess coming round this weekend?" She asked suddenly.

"What? I don't know, why?"

"I thought it was just going to be you two and Luke."

"Well...Jess is Luke's nephew. Luke might invite him over for food. You know what Luke is like..." Rory said.

Lorelai sighed. She knew Luke still felt bad about leaving Jess in the apartment by himself. She could totally see him inviting him over to make sure he ate. "I guess..." She conceded. "I just..." She said watching Lily laugh with Jess and apparently manage to get him to stay and help when she saw Jess eventually picking up a box. "I just have a bad feeling about this..." She admitted.

The following evening, Rory was on the phone on the couch with Lily.

"No, that's four orders of garlic gnon, six simosas, and two chicken vindaloos. And two portions of rice, and the green sauce, and no salad." She was saying. "Hang on a minute..." She said. "Hey Luke, you sure you don't want anything?"

"No I'm good." Luke said.

"What about Jess?" Rory said.

"He said he'd bring some stuff round for me and him." Luke said.

"Ok!" She smiled. "No that's it, thanks." She said into the phone before hanging up. "It will be forty minutes." She told Lily.

"Yes!" Lily thrust her fist in the air. "Mom never lets us order Indian food when she's here." She grinned at Luke. "You rock!"

"Glad to be of service." He said dryly as the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Lily answered.

"Hey! Thank god!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Hey mom!" She grinned. "How's the spa?"

"Tranquil." She said.

"Really?"

"I wasn't done. Tranquilizers..uh..will be required if I have to spend one more minute with my mother." She said.

"Please tell me you're at least trying to get along with her?" Lily rolled her eyes at Rory who just shook her head.

"Oh, hey, I'm being a peach."

"Really?" Lily said unconvinced.

"Well, I smell like a peach. Was that the doorbell?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's probably Jess." She said.

"Oh." Lorelai said her tone changing.

"Look, mom, I know this isn't the weekend you were planning but Grandma obviously wanted to spend it with you. Why don't you actually try talking to her? Tell her about things...your life..." Lily said.

"You mean Luke." Lorelai said.

"Well why not?" Lily said.

"Lil, they're not exactly thrilled I'm dating him. If they find out he's moving in, they'll find a way to ruin it."

"Mom..."

"Trust me, Lily."

"Fine." Lily sighed. "I have to go. I'll call you later."

"No wait, I want to find out who's at the door." She said.

"I told you, it's probably..." Lily started saying but stopped when she saw who it was. "Oh..."

"What? "What's going on?"

"It's Paris." She said.

"What?" Lorelai laughed. "Why is Paris here?"

"I don't know." Lily said. "I'll call you later."

"Fine." Lorelai sighed. "I love you."

"Love you too. Bye mom." She said hanging up and watched amused as Rory was having a debate with Paris.

"I can't study with you, Paris. I've got plans." Rory sighed.

"I can see that." Paris narrowed her eyes. "Who's that?" She said looking at Luke who squirmed under her penetrating gaze.

"Luke." Rory said. "He's our mom's partner. He's just moved in."

"Yeah, we're introducing him to our traditional movie night. Our mom is out of town so..." Lily said.

"You mean you never get to go months on end without seeing your parents, just getting an occasional postcard that doesn't even have a courtesy "Wish you were here" written on it? That does suck. Don't let me stand in your way." Paris snapped, turning round.

"Paris, wait." Rory sighed.

"No, forget it, I don't want to get in the way of your big night." She said.

"Fine, I'll study with you." She relented.

"You will?" Paris' face lit up.

"You will?" Lily said surprised.

"For one hour, that's it. We can do a quick review and a pop quiz and then you are going home. Deal?" Rory said.

"Deal." Paris nodded.

"Ok, so, come on then. We can do it in my bedroom." She said and led Paris to her room.

Lily sighed and glanced at Luke. "So I guess our evening is delayed a little bit." She said.

"So that is Paris huh?" Luke said.

"Yep."

"Intense." He commented.

"Oh yeah." Lily laughed. "But...I think in a weird way, they're kind of friends. I know Paris challenges Rory and Rory definitely challenges Paris. I feel it could be good for both of them."

"You're probably right."

"Hey, so I actually wanted to talk to you about something..." Luke said.

"Yeah?"

"Ok, look, I wanted to ask you a favour." He admitted. "I was..uh..wondering if you could tutor Jess."

"What?" Lily said surprised.

"He's not doing too well in school. The principal said he's not going to let him move on unless something changes. I was wondering if you could help." Luke said.

"Luke, I tell him he needs to go to classes. I tell him daily. I don't know what else I can do." Lily said.

"I know and I appreciate that. I just...you and Rory are the only people he seems to listen to. He likes you two. Look, I don't expect you to work miracles and it doesn't have to be a full time everyday thing. If you could just get him through a couple of his next tests, maybe make the school see that he can do it, that would probably help out a lot." He said.

Lily sighed but looked at Luke's desperate face. "Sure." She found herself agreeing.

"Great." He said letting out a breath. "Seriously, thank you. How about tomorrow?"

"Sure." Lily said.

"I really appreciate this. Really." He said gratefully.

"It's no problem." Lily said as the doorbell rang. "That's probably him." She said getting up.

"Hey, can you not mention it to him tonight? I'll tell him tomorrow." Luke said.

"Ok." She said heading to the door and opening it. "Hey." She smiled at Jess who was holding a huge box.

"Delivery." He said.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Lily said.

"Luke told me to bring food." Jess said.

"Yeah, for him and you. Rory ordered me and her Sandeep's." She said.

"Really? Planning on burning down the house afterwards?" He joked.

"You and my mom are more alike than you think." Lily joked.

"What?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on in." She said. "You can bring it in here." She said leading him through to the kitchen. "God, seriously how much food is in there? This could feed twelve." She laughed.

"So? You're telling me you'd say no to leftover Luke's?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"You did this deliberately." Lily realised.

"What? No." He said.

"Yeah you did! You knew we love Luke's food so you brought more so we could have some." Lily grinned.

"Please." Jess scoffed. "Luke's going to be living here. He can cook you this food whenever." He said.

"So?" She said.

"I brought this for me and Luke." He said.

"Uh huh."

"I did." Jess insisted.

"Sure." Lily teased.

"Whatever." He said putting it down.

"I think it's sweet." Lily smiled.

"What?"

"You making sure we have food. You know mom's away until tomorrow evening and Luke will be working during the day so you figured we'd need food. I think it's sweet you're looking out for us." She said.

"I brought this for me and Luke."

"Yeah and since when do you two eat this much?" Lily said.

Jess floundered. "Well..."

"I knew it!" Lily grinned triumphantly. "Welcome to the family, Dodger."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Seriously though. Thanks." She smiled.

Jess glanced up at her for a moment, their eyes locking. "Sure." He said.

Lily smiled at him, their eyes still locked.

"Hey! Oh hey, Jess!" Rory said coming out of her room, bringing them both out of their daze.

"Hey." Jess said, avoiding Lily's gaze.

"Wow, you brought lots of food! We can have this tomorrow!" She grinned at Lily.

"Just what I was saying." Lily smirked. "You two finished?"

"Not yet. But soon." Rory said.

"You should invite Paris to stay."

"What?" Rory said surprised.

"Come on, Rory. She came over here on a Saturday evening. She obviously had nothing else to do. You should invite her to stay." She said.

Rory sighed. "Yeah alright."

"Great! Hurry up and then we can start this movie night." Lily said.

"We'll be out soon." She promised disappearing back into her room.

"Are you ready for the Gilmore movie night?" She grinned at Jess.

"Geez, I'm so going to regret coming over, aren't I?" He said dryly.

"Nope! You're going to love it!" She grinned.

"Uh huh. Sure." He said not convinced, following Lily back into the living room.

The following evening, Rory, Lily and Lorelai were sat in the diner. "I still can't believe you and Grandma stole bathrobes!" Lily laughed.

"I know! I was surprised too. But hey, you were right, the talking thing was actually nice." She shrugged.

"Well I am very wise." Lily nodded solemnly.

"Did you tell her about Luke?" Rory asked.

Lorelai avoided their gaze. "I didn't have time."

"Chicken." Lily said.

"I will. I just...want to enjoy it a bit first. Is that so bad?" She said.

Lily sighed. "No, I guess not." She said.

"So I hear you had kind of a slumber party last night..." Lorelai said casually.

"Oh yeah, it was getting late so I told Paris she could stay the night. That's ok right?" Rory said.

"What? Oh yeah, of course! I'm glad you two seem to be getting on now." She said. "So was there anyone else?" She asked.

"Anyone else? What do you mean?" Lily said.

"A little bird told me Jess stayed over..." She said casually.

"Oh yeah, well, he came for the movie night so..." Lily said.

"So...?"

"Luke said he could stay over. Why?" She frowned.

"Oh no reason. I'm just surprised Jess wanted to, that's all." Lorelai said.

"Yeah...well...it just made sense." Lily said.

"So you're both staying to help Jess tonight huh?"

"Yeah, I thought Rory might be of use." Lily said.

"Gee thanks." Rory said sarcastically.

Lily grinned. "You know what I mean. I mean, I'm flattered Luke asked me to tutor Jess but I'm just surprised. Rory's way smarter than me. I mean, she goes to Chilton." She said.

"You're both smart." Lorelai said loyally.

"Yeah but Rory's smarter." Lily said.

"We won't be long." Rory promised. "Probably two hours tops."

"Hmm ok." Lorelai said. "Let me know when you've finished."

"We will." Lily said.

Lorelai nodded, glanced over at Jess suspiciously who was hovering at the counter before turning round and walking out.

"I'm sick of studying." Jess said about an hour later.

"How can you be sick of studying? You haven't done any studying." Lily laughed.

"Yeah, you've done card tricks, you've made coffee, you've tried to explain to me how on earth Coldplay could be considered an alternative band, but as of yet, no studying." Rory nodded in agreement.

"Is that your car?" Jess asked gesturing outside.

"It's shared." Lily said.

"Ok, tell you what. Let's go get some ice cream and then when we get back, I'll study." He said.

"This is a diner, there's ice cream here." Rory pointed out.

"Yes, but we don't have any cones." Jess said.

"Cones?"

"I need cones." He nodded.

"Cones are the best." Lily agreed.

Rory sighed. "We're meant to be studying. Mom will go mad..." She told Lily.

Lily sighed. She glanced at Jess. "You promise you will study if we go get ice cream?" She said.

"Cross my heart." He nodded solemnly.

"Why do I not believe you?" Lily smirked slightly.

"Because you know me best." Jess smirked, causing Lily to blush slightly.

"You know, you could be the brightest student at the school if you actually did the work." Lily said.

"Yeah but what's the point if I don't want to go to college?" Jess shrugged.

"You don't want to go to college?" She said surprised.

"Nope." He said. "What, you going to tell me I should? That I could actually make something of my life?"

"Well, you could." Lily said. "But no, I'd never force you to go."

"You wouldn't?" He said surprised.

"Well, if it's not for you, then it's your choice. Only you know what would be good for you. I mean, I think you'd do great but...it's not my choice." She shrugged.

"Huh." Jess said.

"So what are we doing then? Are we going for ice cream?" Rory said.

"How about you two go and I'll stay here and work on what we can do for the last bit of the tutoring session?" Lily suggested.

"Seriously?" Jess said raising his eyebrows.

"Hey, Luke trusted me with this. I'm not going to let him down." Lily said. She glanced at him. "You promise you'll study when you get back."

"I promise." He said.

"Good. Now go get us ice cream." She said smirking slightly.

"Your wish is my command." Jess smirked.

Lily shook her head and watched Jess and Rory leave but she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face when Jess glanced back and smirked before getting in the car.

"Rory! Thank god! Are you ok?" She exclaimed, rushing into a hospital room later that night.

"I'm fine." Rory assured her.

"Where's Jess?" Lily asked looking round.

"Seriously?" Lorelai turned on her daughter.

"What? He was with her! Was he hurt too?" She asked Rory.

"No. He was fine." Rory said.

"Great. So that punk injured you and got off scot free?" Lorelai said angrily.

"Mom, he waited until the ambulance came. It wasn't his fault." Rory said quietly.

"Was he driving the car?" She said.

"Well...yeah..."

"Then it's his fault!"

"It was an accident! Jess felt awful!"

"Well he'll feel worse when I get my hands on him!" Lorelai exclaimed angrily.

"Hey! I can hear you shouting from out there! What's going on?" Luke said rushing into the room in a panic.

"Oh let's see. Your nephew forced my daughters to let him go get them ice cream and look what happened!" She snapped gesturing to Rory's arm which was in a cast.

"It's only a fracture..." Rory said quietly.

"Are you ok?" Luke glanced at Rory. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts!" Lorelai exclaimed. "He broke her wrist!"

"It's fine." Rory told Luke. "It wasn't his fault."

"Rory!"

"Where is he?" Lily asked.

"I don't know." Rory said honestly. "He waited until the ambulance came and then disappeared." She said.

"I need to go find him." Lily said.

"You're going nowhere near him!" Lorelai exclaimed aghast.

"Mom, this was obviously an accident! I was the one who told them to get ice cream so if it's anyone's fault, it's mine!" Lily said. She glanced at Rory. "You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine." She assured her sister. "Go find Jess. Tell him I don't blame him ok?"

Lily nodded. "I'll see you later."

"Lily!" Lorelai shouted after her. She turned on Luke. "You did this! You brought him into the town and now look what he's done! I tried to warn you something like this would happen!"

"How has this become my fault?" Luke said confused.

"Because he's your nephew! You forced them to tutor him and now look!"

"Mom!" Rory tried.

"No! He hurt you, Rory! I get to hate him!" Lorelai exclaimed. "I can't believe you care more about him right now than my daughters!"

Luke took a deep breath. "You're ok?" He asked Rory.

"I'm ok." She nodded. "Honestly, Luke, it wasn't Jess' fault." She said.

Luke just nodded. "I need to go."

"Luke!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"I'll see you later." Luke said gruffly before leaving.

Later that night, Lily was walking round the town trying to find Jess. She suddenly saw her car being towed which was pretty badly smashed up. She then suddenly saw her mom and Luke screaming in the square at each other.

"Go to hell!" Lorelai screamed.

"Right back at you!" Luke shouted back angrily.

Lily watched as Lorelai turned round and saw her.

"Lil..." Lorelai said quietly.

Lily just shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, before rushing up. A while later, she was walking along the bridge and she suddenly spotted a familiar figure sat hunched over the side. She slowly walked over to him. "Mind if I sit?" She asked.

Jess glanced up and just shrugged.

Lily sat down next to him. "Rory's ok." She told him.

"I made sure she was. I waited until the ambulance came." He said gruffly.

Lily glanced at him, hearing the emotion in his voice. "I know." She said. "Rory told us."

Jess just nodded.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

Jess just shook his head.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"An animal ran out into the road. I tried to swerve and...well, you know the rest..." He said.

"It was an accident." Lily said softly. "Rory doesn't blame you. Neither do I."

Jess glanced at her. "The whole town will though. I can't imagine what your mom thinks about me right now." He said.

Lily sighed. "It wasn't your fault. I wanted the ice cream as well. It could have happened to anyone of us driving." She said.

"I'm going to have to go home, aren't I?" Jess mumbled.

"What?"

"Well I can't stay here now, can I? There would be a lynch mob after me." He said.

"Luke wouldn't just send you home..."

"He might not have a choice. I've been enough of a hassle on him. He can't keep me here now." Jess sighed.

Lily glanced at him and she could see this had shaken him. "They can't just banish you. That's not fair..."

"Why not? It's not like anyone would care." He said gruffly.

"I would." She said quietly, glancing across the water.

Jess glanced at her. "You know, when I first came here, I thought if I acted up, I wouldn't have to stay here anymore..." He admitted. "But...then I met you and I knew..."

"You knew what?" Lily said.

"That I didn't want to go home." Jess admitted. "But I guess I've screwed that up now. Like I screw everything up."

Lily felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't trust herself to speak so she just reached over and put her hand over his hand, which was resting on the bridge. She saw Jess glance over at her so she interlocked her fingers with his. "I don't want you to go." She finally admitted.

"I don't either." He admitted.

Lily finally looked over at him and suddenly she felt their faces start to lean towards each other when suddenly they heard footsteps coming up the bridge and they jumped apart. She looked up and saw Luke there. "Luke..."

"You should get home..." He said.

"It wasn't his fault." Lily said quietly.

Luke glanced at her and then his nephew, who was avoiding his gaze, and then back at her. "I know it wasn't." He said softly.

Lily gave him a small smile and nodded. She stood up and glanced at Jess. "I'll..uh...good luck yeah?" She said.

Jess looked up at her and nodded. "You too." He said gruffly. He sighed as he watched her walk away before finally glancing at his uncle. "I'm going home, aren't I?" He said.

Luke sighed. "This isn't how I wanted it to end. I hope you know that." He said.

Jess glanced at him and could see the anguish on his face. "I know." He said quietly. "But...you have to do it..."

"I'm sorry." Luke said.

"It's fine." Jess said. "I don't blame you."

Luke looked at him. "You always have me ok? You need anything, I'm here. This isn't the end of you and me. I just..."

"I know." Jess said understanding. "Hey..uh..can you give this back to Lily for me? She lent it to me a while ago." He said handing him a book.

"Oh..uh..sure." He said.

Jess glanced at him. "Are you and Lorelai ok?" He asked cautiously.

Luke sighed. "I don't know." He answered honestly.

"I'm sorry." Jess said quietly.

Luke looked at him in surprise. He had never heard his nephew apologise before. "You don't have to apologise..."

"I do. I've made your life hell..."

"Jess..."

"Thank you." He said suddenly. "For...uh...for trying."

Luke sighed and put his arm round his nephew and pulled him close. "I'm always going to be here for you, ok?"

"Ok." He said quietly.

Lorelai, Lily and Rory were sat on the couch when Luke came into the house a while later. "Luke!" Lorelai said getting up.

Luke just looked at her and shook his head. "Don't." He said.

"But..." Lorelai said.

"I can't do this right now." Luke said. He glanced at Lily. "He wanted me to give you this back." He said handing him the book.

"What?" Lily said looking at the book. She looked up at Luke. "He's...gone?"

Luke just nodded. "Yeah. He..uh..he's getting a bus now. He didn't want me waiting with him." He said glancing at Lorelai before heading upstairs without saying a word.

Lily looked down at the book, shocked. She opened it up and was surprised to see Jess' familiar scrawl in the front page. Thanks for believing in me. I won't forget it. J x She read. She felt tears in her eyes before rushing out of the house. She could hear her mom calling after her but she didn't care. She ran to the bus station and hoped he would still be there. She saw a bus coming round the corner and she saw a familiar figure stand up. "Jess!" She shouted.

Jess glanced over at her in surprise. "Lily? What are you...?" He started saying before Lily ran towards him, dropping the book on the bench and kissing him. He pulled her close as he reciprocated the action before slowly pulling away. "Lily..."

"You can't go. Please don't go." Lily said.

"I have to." He said.

"You don't! The town will forget about this in a week. Please?" Lily begged.

Jess wasn't one to show emotions but he felt his eyes become wet. "Lily, please..."

"What?"

"Please just go." Jess said.

"What?" She said shocked.

"If you stay here, I won't get on the bus. And...I can't be here. I can't screw up your and Luke's life anymore than I have." Jess said gruffly.

"But..." Lily said.

Jess sighed and pulled her close, kissing her again. "I'll call you ok?"

"Jess..." She said tearfully.

"I need to go." He said reluctantly. "I...I'm sorry." He said before boarding the bus.

Lily watched as Jess found a seat on the bus and sat by the window. She looked up at him and their eyes locked, before the bus drove off and disappeared from sight. Lily collapsed down on the bench and picked up the book that she had dropped. She felt tears fall down her cheeks but this time, she didn't bother wiping them away.

So quite an eventful chapter! I've had this planned for quite a while so I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. Thank you again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me! :)