Dandelion- Jess Mariano

♡Chapter 29: The New Routine♡

"So have you finalized a draft of your speech yet?" Lindsey asked as she poured flour into a bowl.

"Yeah last ni- wait wait no put the sugar in in small parts." Parker corrects Lindsey as she tries to make a meringue. Lindsey wanted to know how to make treats for Deans birthday coming up so Parker was teaching her.

"Oh thanks," Lindsey answered, and fixed it. "Y'know, I really wish you'd let Dean and I read it, instead of all of this suspense."

"Yeah yeah I know. But try not to burn the house down?" Parker laughs and hangs up her apron. "I go off to Harvard in a week, I hope you'll be able to figure this out before then."

"Yeah, hopefully." Lindsey laughs "Dean loves food, so if I wanna be with him long term, I want to learn how to make some of his favorite dishes."

"He will certainly be pleasantly surprised, I'm sure of it." Parker says encouragingly. "Well, I'm off to work, see you later?"

"Okay, see you tonight!" Lindsey calls after Parker.

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Parker had been working all day, and luckily had not seen Jess the whole day. Usually, she would just avoid him, but the days are always easier when she doesn't have to worry about it.

For a while, he had attempted to talk to her and explain, but she never let him get to far. It hurt to much, every time she saw him she was reminded of seeing Rory, in his bed.

She hated the image of it, the memory of picking up the shirt, and the feeling of betrayal she felt try about his missing the courthouse.

Parker is lost in thought until she hears a bit of panic and arguing from Luke on the phone. She turns towards him, confused.

"Ah shit." Luke says, before slamming the phone back onto the wall.

"Everything okay?" Parker asks, wiping down the counter.

"The inn is on fire, Lorelai needs me to let Sookie move her kitchen here, or something like that." He says, frantically cleaning and moving things around.

"Wait it's on fire?!" Parker turns to him. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, luckily they evacuated everyone, but now all of the guests have to be given beds around town." Luke turns as he hears the bell of the diner ring, with Lindsey's mom walking over.

"Hey Parker. I'm so sorry for this short notice, but I'm sure you heard about the inn?" She asks her. When Parker nods, she continues talking. "Well we were asked to house a family for the night, and I was hoping it would be okay with you to put them in your room?"

"Oh, uh yeah sure that's okay." Parker nods, and she looks at her with a grateful smile.

"Okay great! Thank you!" Lindsey's mom walks out, pulling out her phone, probably to let Lorelai know that some could stay with her.

Parker turns slowly to Luke, who looks up at her, questioningly.

"Yes?" He asks her, confused at the awkward smile on the girls face.

"I know it might be weird... But can I stay with you tonight?" Parker asks. "I won't bother you, just stay up at the apartment?"

"Of course kid." Luke responds. "I told you you could ask me for whatever you need."

She smiles at him and hugs him slightly before taking off her apron. "Okay cool. I'm going to pack an overnight bag, I'll be back soon." She then walks out, not noticing Jess standing by the wall next to the door.

He rushes to catch up with her, jogging until he is by her side. "Hey wait I thought your shift was another hour or two long?" He asks. Parker looks at him, not responding. She walks a bit faster, but Jess then moves to keep up.

"Look please, just talk to me." Jess begs, grabbing her arm gently.

"Fine. What?" She asks him, trying to keep her anger from bubbling up.

"It wasn't what it looked like." Jess starts to say, but Parker rolls her eyes.

"I don't see how that could have been misunderstood?!" She says, and her voice is slightly rising in volume. She realizes this, and takes a long deep breath to calm down. "Look. I don't want to talk about this right now."

"That's what you've said for the past few times I've tried to talk to you!" Jess said.

"Okay fine then. The independence inn is, or was, on fire. The Listers need my room for some of the guests, so I'll be staying in the apartment tonight. We can talk then." She says, and before Jess can answer, she turns on her heel and walks away, leaving him in the dust behind her.

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Jess walks up the stairs into the apartment above the diner. He paused for a moment before opening the door. He immediately smells wonderful scents of food, and sees Parker standing in the small kitchen, bustling around with ingredients.

"Oh good you're here." She says, and pulls out a chair from the table. "Here, sit." She opens the apartment door, and Jess winces as she yells. "LUKE! DINNER!"

"COMING!" Luke yells back, and they hear footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey so when can we talk?" Jess asks Parker as she places dishes onto the table.

"Later." Parker says, and sits at the table digging into the chicken parmesan she made.

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Jess picks up his plate to go stand next to Parker at the sink as she washes the dinner dishes.

"Can we talk now?" He asks her, a bit impatiently.

"Not right now, I'm doing dishes." She says, and starts to clatter the pits loudly, making it impossible to hold a conversation. Jess frowns, and walks away.

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Jess looks up from his book to look at Parker sitting on the other end of the couch, deep into the book she was reading at the moment.

"Hey can we talk now?" Jess asks her, scooting a bit closer.

"Later, I'm reading." She says, and gets up to move to her bed.

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Jess watches as Parker helps Luke set his bed up for Lorelai, who got shoved out from her own house. She walks over to her bed to pick up some extra blankets and Jess follows.

"Parker can we talk soon?" He asks her, a bit annoyed now.

She doesn't even meet his eyes as she answers. "Later, Lorelai is here now." Jess grumbles a bit, before grabbing some blankets too.

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Jess looks at Parker sitting on her bed, writing in a notebook.

"Look. I know you are avoiding it, but please? We need to talk about this." He says, walking over to her bed. He talks quietly, seeing as Lorelai and Luke were both asleep.

"You won't drop this, will you?" Parker whispers back.

"Not until you hear me out." Jess responds. "I'm not giving up on us. I have given up on so much before, but you're worth it, and I'm not willing to give that up."

Parker looks him in the eyes finally, and takes a deep breath in. "Fine. But let's go somewhere else, I don't want to wake them."

"That's fine with me." Jess says, and reaches out a hand towards the door. "After you." He says, and they walk out of the apartment quietly.