Do You See Her Face? (A Jess Mariano Fanfiction)

King's a Hack

"What?" she asked, exasperated. "My family's at a reunion, I have pretty much no homework. I'm fine! I can work!"

"Wow. How convincing," Jess deadpanned from his spot on the stool by the kitchen door, observing the exchange.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked, searching Ella for something amiss.

"Green tea. Need I say more?" Luke said.

Lorelai looked over at Ella sympathetically, reaching to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Your head again?"

"It's not that bad! What about your gutters?" Ella reasoned. Without work to fill her time, she imagined she might spend the night in her lonely house clutching her forehead. Not an ideal evening. Even with a headache, work at Luke's was better than a second in her house, filled with the ghost of her mother.

"Don't worry. Jess'll do it," Luke said off-handedly, tossing a glance over his shoulder to his nephew.

Jess's eyes widened and he got up from his seat. "Jess will do what?"

"Clean the gutters. Right, Lorelai?" Luke raised his eyebrows expectantly at Lorelai, who faltered under his look and then nodded after a hesitant moment.

"Sure. Jess will clean our gutters." Lorelai swallowed dryly.

"Instead of scraping the plates you'll be scraping the gutters," Luke said to Jess, making a fresh batch of coffee as he spoke. "Height is the only difference. You'll get paid either way. Just go this afternoon before the dinner shift."

"Yeah, we'd love for you to do your Breakfast Club routine from our roof," Lorelai said. Of all the people in Stars Hollow, she may have been the person who hated Jess the most. Rory had spoken volumes to Ella about the disappearing act Jess had pulled the first time he was invited over for dinner at the Gilmore house. "C'mon, Bender, give us a fist bump!"

Jess scoffed and rolled his eyes. He looked to Ella pointedly as she finished off her tea. "You just had to go and get sick, didn't you?"

"I'm not sick, jackass!" she exclaimed, the sound of her own voice echoing painfully in her ears. She looked around at the group, each person watching her doubtfully. "And all of this is unnecessary. Because I'm fine! Like I said!"

Jess shook his head and took a peek down at his watch. "Don't wear yourself out. We gotta get to school. You comin' or takin' a sick day?"

"Shut up," she hissed. Gathering up her stuff, Ella saw Jess slip on his own jacket and carry nothing but a novel in his back pocket as school supplies. She led the way with irritated footsteps, dodging the powdered ceiling which fell all around.

Taking off his hard hat and light on his feet as he tried to catch up with Ella, Jess shot Luke one last smirk. "She's a joy, isn't she?"

. . .

With the lights dimmed, Ella watched as Carrie White's powers grew with every passing minute. The house was quiet, almost peaceful, as the night fell. Clouds obscured the view of the full moon, but a few stars could still be made out against the indigo canvas of the sky. She laid with a thin afghan splayed over her, a cool washcloth against her forehead. Three horror movies in, and she was starting to feel a bit of cabin fever already. It occurred to her how little time she spent in the living room anymore. Apart from her bedroom at night, the house was practically foreign. She knew her way around the cabinets at the diner than she did in her own kitchen. Besides, Fiona had rearranged everything when she moved in. The little blue house was no longer the one she grew up in. Just as she was dozing off, a soft knock sounded at the door. Sighing through her nose, she threw the blanket and the washcloth aside, making her way over to the front.