#luke x lorelai fic

[greenandsorrow]

Flowers in December, a mini series

Luke Danes x fem!reader ☕🧣🧤🌨️

Summary.

A gal in her early twenties moved to Stars Hollow three months ago and since then, Luke's Diner has practically become her second home. Twice a day, like clockwork, she's sat at a table, sipping her coffee... Not to mention all the to-go cups.

Warnings.

slow burn, jealousy, possessiveness, sexual content, age gap, size kink, touch-starved!Luke, dom!Luke, virgin!reader, sassy!reader, selfish!reader, grumpy x sunshine, hurt, comfort, angst, feelings of inadequacy, alcohol consumption

Author's note.

Not me entering ANOTHER fandom. I can't be stopped and I so declare myself a public threat. Yep, I'm new to the Gilmore Girls fandom, so nice to meet you all! <3 I haven't even read any Gilmore fics... YET. Luke is Dilf material and this fic is very self indulgent… I can't help myself. But hey, maybe that is good for you 👀

Ch.I soon

Ch.II soon

Ch.III soon

Ch.IV soon

Support a struggling uni student! Every penny means the world coming from you. Thank you so much! 💙 CLICK HERE (PayPal link)

My masterlist.

Fic title -> Flowers in December by Mazzy Star

Dividers by @strangergraphics and @saradika-graphics.

You can ask to be added to the taglist. 🩵

Please do not copy or repost my work anywhere.

Taglist: @mimiibear @gurlintheyellowhat @imdoingitareyou

[a-aexotic]

i can see you, 𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔.

✫ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 . . . y/n cromwell was nothing if not a sophisticated, pampered, and ambitious socialite. she had lived in manhattan for about five years with her workaholic mother since her divorce with from her father. in the five years she had lived in the upper-east side, she had conquered the elites and made them her minions. she was living her best life until she heard the worst news she could ever fathom...

tristan dugray was nothing like y/n, in any sense other than maybe the fact they were both rich, spoiled and rather confident - okay, maybe they had more in common than what meets the eye. they hadn't seen each other since she had moved away with her mother five years ago and they were happy that way.

until of course, her mother decided it would be best for y/n to spend the next few months with her father back in connecticut after y/n got in trouble with her friend group. what y/n didn't know until she eventually got to connecticut was that her father was engaged to none other than tristan dugray's mother. how could her year get any worse?

✫ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 ;; tristan dugray x fem!reader, platonic!paris geller x reader, platonic!rory gilmore x reader

✫ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ;; not canon gilmore girls timeline (for the most part), rom-com energy, adult humor, asshole!tristan, family issues, the rest is to be determined...

✫ 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ;; i am rewatching gilmore girls and of course, i've been inspired to write a fanfic because there are not enough tristan fanfics on tumblr. i hope y'all enjoy, this is very self-indulgent lmao. i love tristan sm and i think a rom-com esk fanfic would bring me (and everyone) so much joy. thank you so much for reading! let me know if i should make a taglist for this series.

dedicated to my beautiful best friend, @autumntales 🩷

main masterlist. gilmore girls masterlist. playlist.

0 of 15 chapters published. started: july 31, 2023 deadline: october 1, 2023

prologue

chapter one

chapter two

chapter three

chapter four

chapter five

. . .

[teddypickerry]

“you’re important to me, you asshole.”

matilda fitzgerald + jess mariano (fucking teenage society)

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Schniders in Stars Hollow Lenny arranging bouquets from flowers in his garden for his loved ones.

They eventually retire to Stars Hollow fully. Midge refuses to sell the brownstone in the city, but it's mostly for the kids and grandkids to use now.

This, of course, means that Lenny gets to tend to his garden all year round. Plants beets in the fall, and in the spring, by May, most everything is in bloom.

Probably a little too much this year, so Lenny clips and prunes and soon, the kitchen table is covered in Dahlia and tulips. Coneflower, lilies and marigolds, petunias and alium.

The roses won't pop for another month or so (in time for Midge's birthda), but there are plenty of beautiful flowers that aren't as well known to go around.

He settles a bunch into one of Midge's vases with some water and carries it into her office, settling it on the little coffee table in front of the couch she's sitting on as she takes a phone call. She beams up at him and tugs him down for a light peck, pulling away quickly. "Susie, I was not making out with Lenny."

"She was a little," he says into the phone.

"Stop trying to get me in trouble!"

He chuckles as he heads back to the kitchen. "Gonna drop off more flowers."

And he does.

*****

The Dragonfly is busy this weekend, and Lorelai grins at him from behind the front desk after handing a couple from Milwaukee the key to their room.

"Hi, Stranger, Midge kick you out?" She teases.

"Not yet," Lenny chuckles. "I wonder when she'll get around to it. No, I come with a gift." He holds out a bunch of flowers, held together with a little hemp rope.

"Oh, wow," Lorelai marvels as she takes them. "These are amazing. Let me grab a vase out of storage, these are going right here at the desk."

He chuckles as she hops off and comes right back with the promised vase, a little water in the bottom. "Rory home? She can have one, too."

"No, Rory is still in New York," she tells him. "She'll be home next weekend."

"There are always more flowers," Lenny promises. "See you later, kid."

"Bye, Lenny, thank you!"

He waves her off and heads out.

*****

He finds Liz at thr diner and hands her a batch, and she gasps, hugging them.

"I swear you're a whiz in that garden, Lenny. I don't know how you do it. I wind up killing all my flowers."

"Patience," he says. "Attention. It's like raising kids, but instead of being mouthy, flowers just wilt if they're pissy."

Liz laughs at that. "Don't get me started. Dula is four going on twenty-four, I swear."

"She's a little firecracker," Lenny agrees. "Speaking of mouthy, how is Jess?"

"Good, I think," Liz smiles. "He's been busy on that book tour, though. He's supposed to be back in another week or so."

"Yeah, he texted Midge before he left, but we haven't heard from him since," Lenny nods.

"He's fine," Luke tells them, bringing over a coffee cup and filling it for Lenny. "I annoyed him into calling me yesterday. He's in Raleigh. He'll be here next weekend after the tour wraps."

"My baby's coming home!" Liz crows. "I should cook him something special."

"You should not," Lenny tells her.

"Hey!"

He sips his coffee. "Buy him a nice sweater. For the love of God, do not cook."

"What he said," Luke agrees. "Don't I get flowers?"

"You don't own a vase," Lenny reminds him. "Until you buy one, you don't get flowers."

*****

Babbette and Mory get a bunch. Miss Patty, too, against his better judgement. Taylor gets a few. Kirk is allergic to everything so he gets none. He drops a batch off with Jackson for him and Sookie.

He's tired when he gets home. Winded in the way that comes with old age. He blows out a breath and wanders around, finding Midge in the kitchen.

"How'd it go?" She asks.

"Fine. Rory and Jess will both be home next weekend," he informs her.

"I'll have to do up a nice dinner for them," Midgr grins.

"I know that grin, Mrs. Bruce."

Midge smirks. "Do you, Mr. Weissman?"

"Oh yes," Lenny nods. "That is a look much like your mother used to give when she thought she was being terribly clever about her matchmaking."

"I have no idea what you mean."

Lenny chuckles. "Of course you don't."

[lanawinterscigarettes]

Gilmore Girls masterlist

Requests are currently open!

Key:

Fluff: ♡ Angst: ♤ Smut: ♧ Headcanons: ◇ May contain triggering content: ☆ Omegaverse: αβΩ

~

Lorelai Gilmore

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Luke Danes

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Rory Gilmore

New Face ♡

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

Gentle Touch ♡

~

Lane Kim

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Dean Forester

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Paris Geller

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Jess Mariano

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

Logan Huntzberger

Gilmore Girls characters and whether or not they give off scary dog privilege ◇

Gilmore Girls characters reacting to you asking to "try on" their lipgloss/chapstick as a way to kiss them ◇

~

[newhumantype]

In honor of the luke and lorelai w*lmart ad, you should all read the luke/lorelai fics i wrote this year with zero corporation involvement :)

Past, Present, Future: 10k. Rated M. Exploring the events of wedding bell blues if Luke had gotten injured just badly enough that he wasn't able to attend the vow renewal. Extreme Sports: 8k. Rated T. Awkwardness, giddiness, and misunderstandings abound when Luke and Lorelai go on their original movie date post LWF, TWT. Refuge: 5k. Rated G. Pre-series AU where Luke and Lorelai meet on the day of Luke's dad's memorial service.

[femmefatale-tales]

Are my Bucky and reader like this? Because this is what I was going for, because I think Bucky will be like Luke.

[strideofpride]

i’m rewatching gilmore girls rn and want to know what your fav lorelai/luke fics are. i forgot how long it takes them to do anything and i'm getting so impatient but i don’t want to skip ahead. fic is the only answer.

Tbh I don't have too many, ao3 seems to belong to the Rory/Jess shippers and fanfic dot net scares me now lol but here's what I got:

The Shower Curtains Have (Hippo) Eyes, Or: Why Interior Designing To Torment Your Spouse Is Never A Good Idea In The Long Run -maybe the single most in character fic of anything I've ever read lol

Kingdom

If You Want More, Then Jump -I read this years ago when it was on dot net so I'm not 100% confident it holds up but I remember LOVING it

Sticks and Stones

I know we only get better

you got that certain something

hope this is a good start lol!

blow up my inbox

[jojoblessed365]

Buckle up folks, Episode 2/Chapter 01 is here!!!

Banter, family meals, NSFW discussions, and some rude awakenings are in store!!!

Special thanks to @ernestonlysayslovelythings for cowriting with me and @thefirst3chapters for discoursing JD in this fic with regards to her wonderful post on the Danes and how they value items.

Tagging @stellaluna33 @sarabethsilver @disasterbiwriter @anxiouspotatorants @sagesfandomspot for reasons revealed in link only....

Enjoy!!!!

P.S. Picture Christopher Briney as JD!!!

[nothoughtsjusthoffstrahm]

GUYS I JUST READ SUCH AN ADORABLE HOFFSTRAHM FANFIC WHICH IS LIKE A SAW CROSSOVER WITH GILMORE GIRLS AND I'M SOOO DJDHDH ?!?!?!

It's basically Peter and Luke being twin brothers and Hoffstrahm meeting with Luke and Lorelai!! It was so lovely and so well-written!!! And it deserves more attention!!! Guys, read it, READ ITTT!!! HERE'S THE LINK!!!

[greenandsorrow]

Welcome to Stars Hollow!

Drabbles

Luke with a goth costumer

Headcanons

Luke with a Greek fem!customer/ sfw

Multi chap

Flowers in December - Luke Danes x fem!reader/ nsfw

general masterlist

to support your gal; click here

[a-aexotic]

new gilmore girl fanfic series just in time to stream august by tay? ofc ;)

*hint: it's gonna be tristan x reader 😌*

[teddypickerry]

happy to say my AO3 is now live!!! i wrote the introduction to this fic about two years ago now (which is why it SUCKS). here you’ll find this fic and my upcoming jess fic that’s coming soon. i will also be republishing some of my one-shots on this account, as well as some older fics of mine. <3

[zoya-withthepoodlesalready]

A fun cut scene from my java junkie fic on AO3, accidentally (how'd we go from friends to this?)

Lorelai's eyes well with tears, and her dream from months ago flies into her head with a surprising amount of force. She and Luke, in a kitchen together, with Rory and another kid on the way. It actually almost scares her now, how beautiful that dream feels. She can't feel that way about Luke, he's her best friend, the person who's saved her life in a million little ways. She'd ruin things if she tried to be with him like that.

"Are you alright?" Luke asks worriedly, kneeling beside the bed. "Do you need one of the nurses? I can get you more ice chips if you want to throw them again. Or-"

She shakes her head, afraid to speak.

But fear loosens her throat, makes her words spill out before she can even try to stop them. "I'm sorry for making you do all this stuff for me and making you think you had to drop everything to be here for me. Please tell me you were dating or something while I wasn't there, because I can't stand the thought of ruining your life and-"

"Lorelai." Luke puts his hand on top of hers, so that little Rory's leg is now covered. His voice is firm and when his other hand brushes back hair from her damp forehead, she almost sobs again. "Before I met you, I was living like a hermit above my diner. I mean, how many twenty year old hermits do you know?"

Sniffing, Lorelai answers with the ghost of a smile, "Just you."

He shrugs as if he's grown accustomed to this. "Exactly. I was lonely, you know? And don't get me wrong, for the most part I was okay with that because I think most people are stupid. But…" his gaze drops to Rory, snug against Lorelai's chest, like he can't look at her for this. "But then I met you. And sure, you talk more than everyone I know combined and your obsession with coffee is just ridiculous. But… you reminded me that… not all people are bad, I guess."

From Luke Danes, this is practically a declaration of love. Lorelai glances down at Rory too, watches her tiny chest move up and down as she breathes. This is Luke, she mentally tells her daughter. This is the most important person in the world to me and I know you're gonna love him.

Luke is still looking at Rory, awe in his eyes. Lorelai presses her lips against his cheek, soft as a butterfly. She watches his gaze flicker back to her, a grin appearing for a beautiful moment. "I think you're a great guy, Luke Danes," she says softly.

He lifts a shoulder again. Shrugging, combined with a hesitant flush of his cheeks, seems to be his way of combating emotion. "You're not too bad yourself," he teases.

[frazzledsoul]

Allowed?

A long, long time ago, I put out some asks for fanfics I was half-heartedly writing. I randomly decided today that I was going to work on them some more, so I'm digging out this old ask.

From an unfinished chapter of my Luke-and-Lorelai-rebuild-their-relationship-in-the-wake-of-the-series-finale-and-are-fine-with-not-getting-married-or having-kids story, Boundaries, wherein Luke, Lorelai, and April visit Jess at Truncheon Books in late summer of 2007:

Lorelai was reminded of herself when she started running the front desk at the Independence. Rory had been in the third grade at that point. Sure, she had kept Rory fed and clothed and amused and loved for six years all by herself but becoming a professional woman had been a struggle she had to overcome bit by bit until it eventually felt like it was hers. She wasn’t the outcast teenage mom or the maid all of the other kids hated because she was allowed to live on the property or the person who was barely learning how to work in in an office. She was an independent, accomplished individual who finally had succeeded at being something other than Rory’s mother. It had felt good to know she could do it and prove to everyone else that they had been wrong about her.

Her parents had never really accepted it.

Lorelai could fully understand why Luke had been so proud of him, even as he adamantly refused to consider that any of his influence had worn off of Jess.

However, there was one place that Jess refused to let any of them go near.

April retreated to a bookshelf to read as Lorelai pointed in the direction of the loft upstairs.

Luke scoffed. “Trust me, you don’t want to go up there.”

Lorelai glanced over at April who chuckled and shook her head.

“Didn’t Liz and T.J and your baby sister stay with you earlier this summer?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah, and that’s why the entire place still stinks of lavender and patchouli six weeks later,” Chris remarked from his desk.

“Lightly scented Lorelai squalor is worse than regular squalor?” April asked from behind them.

“The smell of baby vomit on top of everything else didn’t help,” Matt said as he strolled by and retreated into the back office.

“It’s not – “ Jess defended himself. “I never should have let you guys up there back in November,” he remarked.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not half as bad as what our apartment looked like before we knocked that wall down,” Luke said, putting an end to that strain of conversation. He picked up a photo on Jess’s desk. “Is this new?���

“Yup,” Jess confirmed as Luke turned the photo around so that April and Lorelai could see. Jess sat in an armchair, an infant Doula on his lap wearing an oversized War on Drugs T-shirt as he read to her from a copy of Allen Ginsburg’s Kaddish and Other Poems.

“Oh, that’s adorable,” Lorelai said. “That’s going to totally sully your reputation around here.”

“Liz run out of baby clothes?” Luke asked.

“They were only supposed to stay six days,” Jess replied. “They hung around for ten. If my buddy Kurt hadn’t given me some extra shirts, I was going to have to wrap her up in some old work uniforms.”

“And the early education on the Beats?” Lorelai asked. “There’s nothing wrong with broadening her horizons early,” Jess retorted.

If anyone else wants to read the rest of the story, it's told from Lorelai's POV and is mostly Luke and Lorelai hashing out their baggage. I told the story I wanted to tell, but it was divisive, to put it mildly, because I didn't go easy on Lorelai at all.

I'm not sure if or when I'll finish the rest of it, but it's there.

[mystic-writings]

sneak out | jess mariano

PAIRING — jess mariano x fem!gilmore!reader SUMMARY — minutes into your mother’s dinner party, jess suggests you sneak out through your bedroom window - and you can’t help but agree WARNINGS — fluff, jess and reader being ‘troubled’ teens, a bit of angst, reader venting WORD COUNT — 2,322 NOTES — the idea of lorelai having a teen that was just like her is so appealing to me idk why - also would you believe me if i told you i listened to yung gravy while writing the majority of this fic

masterlist | navigation

You weren’t sure which was worse - the dinner your mother was hosting, or the idea that you now had to put up with a whole night of Luke’s strange nephew, whom you’d never met before.

Of course, you loved your family to pieces, and you loved Sookie and Jackson; hell, sometimes you looked at Luke as more of a father than you did your actual dad, but having everyone together for what you knew would be at least a three course meal, under one roof, with Luke’s mysterious nephew from New York, just felt draining.

So, to preserve what little social battery you had left for the day, you decided to spend the time between school and dinner in your room upstairs with a good book and a cd playing from the player that sat on your dresser at a low volume. You had to change the cd twice, first from one of your mothers Bangles cds to a Smiths one, but just as you were enjoying the beginning of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album (and nearly finishing up your book), did you hear the clanging of pots and pans from downstairs, as well as Sookie and Jackson’s lighthearted bickering.

You managed to bury yourself back into your book, one leg crossed loosely over the other outstretched one as you half-sat, half-laid on your bed, being mindful of your shoes so as to not get any dirt on your covers.

From downstairs, Jess was wandering around the Gilmore home as everyone else did whatever they were doing in the kitchen, internally monologuing and half-mocking their decor. He’d met Rory already, and she seemed like a nice enough girl. Enjoyed books. But he had yet to meet the third and final Gilmore girl, who so far had only been mentioned. However, as Jess scanned the various photographs on the mantle, he could hear the faint guitar of Suffragette City emanating from somewhere upstairs.

After peeking down the hallway to make sure no one was watching, Jess smirked and snuck up the stairs, into what was surely off-limits territory for someone like him. Still, he took the stairs two at a time and stealthily, managing to avoid all the places that would creak in a house like this one, despite never stepping foot inside beforehand. He followed the music down the hall, past some more paintings and pictures, to another bedroom. The door was open, and he was able to take a look inside. Posters covered most of the wall, leaving little space to show off the paint beneath them. Bookshelves occupied the wall right beside the door, and similarly to Rory’s room, they looked stuffed to the brim with books.

On the bed, facing him, was the person he assumed to be the final Gilmore girl - Rory’s twin sister. He watched intently, scanning every feature of your focused face as you scanned the final pages of the book you were reading. How your brow furrowed, eyes locked on the ink before you. The way the foot that hung off the edge of the bed was moving to the beat of the song.

Once Jess had decided that he’d been watching you long enough to constitute stalking, and how that was probably extremely creepy, he nudged the door open with a creak and stepped inside, clearing his throat and pulling his lips into a slight smirk. “Hey there, Ziggy.”

At first, you thought that your mother was finally calling you down to dinner, until you heard the unusually male - and entirely unfamiliar - voice come from the body in your doorway. Tucking a receipt into your book to mark your place, you glared over at the boy standing in your room with his hands behind his back, smugness rolling off of him in waves as he admired your room.

“You’re Jess, aren’t you.” Your flat tone seemed to amuse him.

“How nice, you already know my name. I’m flattered.”

You watched him as he walked around your room, over to the window where your desk was, trying to figure him out as he peeled back your curtains. “It’s impossible to not know someone’s name in this town, even someone who’s only been here for 28 hours.”

He chuckled. “Nice one, Ziggy. Now tell me, why aren’t you downstairs with the rest of the freakshow? I mean, they are your family, after all, aren’t they?”

You pretended to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. “Sorry to break it to you, Mariano, but I’ve been banned from the freakshow. Apparently having apathy toward any sort of Gilmore humour is forbidden, and they’ve locked me away forever.”

“Aw, so sorry to hear that.” Jess mocked, placing a hand over his heart with an exaggerated pout. “I can’t believe they shunned such a ray of sunshine.” He smirked at your rolled eyes. “No, really, you must be a real treat at parties.”

“Quit it, Mariano. Is there a reason you came up here or did you just want to cause enough trouble to get kicked out of our beloved Stars Hollow? Because if so, you came to the right girl.”

Jess’ brow quirked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” you heaved a dramatic sigh, slipping off your bed to walk over to Jess. “But it’s like… 9pm on a Wednesday. In Stars Hollow. Even if I wanted to cause trouble, and I don’t, because I did enough of that at school today, there’s nothing to do. Everyone’s asleep, and I’m pretty sure our 24-hour mini-mart closed like, half an hour ago.”

Now it was Jess’ turn to roll his eyes. “Your sister said that already. Is there seriously nothing to do here?”

“Nope.” You shrugged, just as a thought came to mind. “Well… there is one thing…” Jess’ eyebrows raised at the prospect of having something fun to do, and you couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s not anything revolutionary, you know.”

“Still, give me something, anything, to get us out of here, Ziggy. I’m begging you. I’m being suffocated by the stale air of suburban life.”

You nodded, tapping your fingers on your thigh. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But you gotta do one thing for me.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything, I swear.”

“Stop calling me Ziggy.” You said. “It’s a stupid nickname, and although I admire the fact that you listen to David Bowie enough to come up with a nickname like that one, I hate it. Call me by my actual name.”

“Well I would, if I knew it.”

“My mother never told you my name?” You asked with a raised brow. “She never shuts up about me and Rory, I’m surprised you never caught it.”

“Apparently, I didn’t. It seems she likes talking about Rory more.” Jess shrugged. “At least, around me she does.” He barely caught the slight sag of your shoulders, the drop in your demeanour, before you picked it back up and smiled.

“Well, Jess. I’m Y/n. Y/n Gilmore.” After a pause, you looked around and snagged a sweater from the chair in the corner of your room. “Now, if you’ll follow me, let’s go have as much fun as we’re able to in Stars Hollow at night.”

Jess waited impatiently behind you as you unlatched the window by your desk and pushed it up, slipping through and holding it open for him. As he clamoured out, you grabbed the rock underneath the window and placed it on the windowsill, lowering the window so you’d still be able to get back in later.

You could still hear the tail end of the album playing as Jess looked around.

“How are we supposed to get down?”

“The trellis, obviously.” You said, carefully making your way across the porch’s roof to the trellis right next to the kitchen window. “Just don’t make much noise, this thing is right next to the kitchen’s window and if we get caught we’re screwed. Follow my lead, and run when you hit the ground, got it?”

“Got it.”

Scaling down the trellis was basically second nature to you, but you made sure to look up every once in a while to make sure Jess was doing okay. He seemed to be, which comforted you somehow. You waited at the bottom for him, making sure to stay out of view of the window to the kitchen and the edge of the porch, which were on either side of the trellis, and could possibly get both you and Jess grounded.

When he landed, he looked at you, and a dish clattered in the kitchen. You both snapped to the window, then back to each other. On instinct, you took his hand and ran toward the woods.

“Where the hell are we going?!” Jess whisper-shouted.

“Relax!” You whisper-shouted back, slowing to a stop as soon as you were hidden in the tree line. “We’re not going into the woods, dumbass. What do you think would’ve happened if we waltzed out in the open in front of the living room window?”

Jess only sighed and nodded, letting go of your hand. He let you lead him through the trees, keeping the light of the house close to you, walking around the garage and past all the cars, waiting until Babette’s house was out of sight until you stepped back onto the road.

The walk was calm and quiet, crickets and the breeze occupying you instead of chatter. After a while, when you were beginning to reach the town centre, Jess spoke up. “So, what now?”

You shrugged. “Not sure. Usually I head to the lake, bring a book, or a cd player and some headphones. I don’t normally bring people with me, you know?”

Jess nodded, lips slightly pursed. The walk continued through the town, passing by shop after shop, all of them closed for the night. You had to admit, you weren’t used to taking walks like these, out in the open. Normally you’d find whichever path kept you out of the possible sight of the townspeople, a habit you developed after Taylor snitched on you to your mother after he caught you walking to the lake by the Inn when you were 12. Still, it was nice, and even if you were caught, you somehow didn’t seem to mind it.

As the buildings were fading again and you knew you were approaching the lake, you checked your watch. 9:27pm. You sighed, and Jess looked at you. Dropping your arm, you shook your head. “Almost 9:30. They definitely have to know something’s up at home. Probably sending out a search party by now.” You told him, before shrugging. “Or, you know, miraculously, they forgot we existed and are eating Sookie’s delicious no-allergen, fourteen course meal as we speak.”

Jess scoffed. “Yeah, right. Luke might not care that much, but Lorelai? She seems like the world’s most protective parent.”

“She is.” You confirmed, sitting on your usual bench, eyes following Jess as he sat next to you. “Trust me, I love her to death, but it gets annoying sometimes.”

“Yeah, well, at least you have a protective mom.” Jess’ hands gripped the edge of the bench, his body hunched forward, making him look small, ready to run at a moment’s notice. “Mine decided I wasn’t worth the effort. Shipped me off to this… circus show without so much as a ‘sayonara, kid.’ You’re lucky.”

You frowned. Everyone knew within the hour of him arriving in Stars Hollow that Jess was a troubled kid, but even troubled kids deserved parents that cared. He was right, though, you were lucky. It just didn’t feel like it.

“I know I’m lucky, Jess, but it’s not all rainbows for me, you know.”

“Oh yeah? How?” He scoffed. “You have the perfect life, Y/n. A mom that cares, a great twin sister - hell, even Luke sings your praises.”

“Luke sings?”

Jess rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“It’s not like that all the time, Jess.” You sighed. “My ‘great’ twin sister is, apparently, so great that she has all eyes on her at all times. My grandparents are always so proud of her for being so smart and planning this amazing, expensive, studious future - they’re planning on funding it, too, from the sounds of things. I just want to live, you know?” You kicked a rock with your shoe, avoiding Jess’ concerned gaze.

“And my mother seems more concerned about her wellbeing than mine, closer to her than to me. But somehow she wonders why I’m the troubled one. I mean, I act out, I barely go to that stupid prep school because it’s so suffocating, and I got an eyebrow piercing without permission instead of taking a calculus test last month, which I’m just getting out of that punishment. Everyone’s so focused on Rory and how seemingly great she is, I don’t even remember the last time I was appreciated for anything. And don’t even get me started on my dad.”

“Sounds like these freaks don’t know a good person when they see one.” Jess told you. “You seem chill. Adventurous, too. But just because you aren’t appreciated doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “You too, Jess.” The world quieted around you for a moment, stars shining off the rippling waters of the lake. “But we don’t need to be good enough for them. Just good enough for us.”

He smiled, nodding once at you. Again, you appreciated the silence with him, watching the water or the sky. It wouldn’t be long until Luke and your mother found you both, you with your head on his shoulder and one knee bent to your chest, laughing quietly at a joke he told as you continued to get to know one another. But that was later. For now, you simply sat and watched the water, wishing the moment could last for the rest of your lives.

permanent taglist: @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @mazerunnerrose @theboldandthebootyful @miraclesoflove @queen-asteria04 @heliads

jess mariano taglist: open!

taglist form is in my navigation!