"another girl in the neighborhood
wish she was mine, she looks so good
i wanna hold her wanna hold her tight"
•••
season two, episode sixteen
luke's apartment is under construction which has only caused chaos. as luke delivers food to some customers, a chunk of the ceiling falls onto the table.
"here you go. geez, uh, sorry folks. uh, here... there we go. free coffee all around. you might wanna put your hand over that. there we go." luke apologizes to his customers and then grumpily stomps over to tom. "tom, what the hell is going on up there?"
"we're redoing your apartment. what do you think is going on up there?" tom sasses.
"the ceiling's falling in. i've got customers eating drywall here." luke points out.
"oh, well, that can't be good." tom quips.
"you said minimal disruptions." luke tells the sassy contractor.
"hey, this is minimal disruptions. look, i need you to sign this change order." tom tells luke.
"what happened now?" luke asks, worried and frustrated.
"well, we broke through this wall, and we found some pipes that shouldn't be there. we gotta move them." tom informs the diner owner.
"move them where?" luke asks.
"not sure. we gotta find out what they do first." tom nonchalantly says.
"you're kidding?" luke asks in disbelief.
"oh yeah. there's nothing i like more than a good 'moving a pipe' joke." tom replies sarcastically.
"fine, one more week, that's it." luke warns tom.
"oh, sure, construction ultimatum. ha, that's even funnier than my moving pipe joke." tom says sarcastically again.
lorelai and rory walk in with a very tired emilia following behind. the poor girl had an awful nightmare the night before and got no sleep.
"hey." lorelai greets the diner owner.
"hey." luke greets back.
"geez, look at this place." lorelai winced as she looked at the state of the diner.
"it's a mess." luke agrees.
"how long..." lorelai begins to ask luke while attempting to sit down at a table but said diner owner quickly stops her.
"nope, can't sit here."
"why not?" lorelai asks.
"three people got nailed in the head here earlier."
"but their food was okay, right?" lorelai quips.
"will you just move?" luke begs as lorelai's cell phone rings "outside." luke points towards the door with a stern look on his face.
"you know, if i sit here one more second, i just might be outside. order me some coffee." lorelai walks away; jess walks over to the table and hands emilia an open umbrella.
"oh, you are really funny. you and tom should put an act together." luke points to the girl. "i'd leave it open."
•••
after a couple of minutes on the phone, lorelai comes back into the diner and goes to sit back down at the table with rory and emilia but luke calls her over to the counter.
"luke, what's up?" lorelai asks the grumpy diner owner
"is something wrong with emilia? the last time she looked this down was when...oh no. did her nightmares start up again?"
"yeah they did and i feel awful. the poor girl isn't getting any sleep at night even when rory or i go in there to sleep with her." lorelai frowns, wishing she could help the girl in any way.
"i would offer for her to sleep here but the apartment is a complete mess and construction guys are here every morning starting at 5:30. it's a miracle jess and i haven't killed each other yet."
luke explains to the gilmore girl.
"i know you would. i just wish i knew how to help her."
lorelai and luke both turn to look at the girl silently sitting at the table who looks as if she aged 10 years over night.
"me too."
•••
rory is out of the house for a while and lorelai won't be home until tomorrow so emilia decides to catch up on laundry while she has the house to herself. laundry sure beats having awful nightmares the entire night.
currently she is on the phone, sitting on the living room floor surrounded by piles of clothes.
"no, that's two orders of garlic naan, three simosas, and a chicken vindiloo. And rice, and the green sauce, and no salad, and...oh wait, sorry. can you hold on a sec?" she answers the call waiting. "hello?"
"hi, this is phil's liquor. i'm supposed to be delivering a keg there tonight."
"hold on." emilia switches back to the other call. "hi, sorry. yeah, that's it. forty minutes, great. bye." she witches back again. "hey, lor."
"who was that?"
"sandeep's."
"oh, you're ordering the indian food?" lorelai cringes over the phone.
"yup." emilia replies smugly.
"good, enjoy. can you burn the house down afterward, cause that's the only way we'll get the smell out." lorelai quips.
"absolutely. how's the spa? have you killed your mother yet?"
"tranquil." lorelai repsonds, ignoring the girl's question.
"really?" emilia asks surprised.
"i wasn't done. tranquilizers, uh, will be required if i have to spend one more minute with my mother."
"that sounds more like it. are you at least trying to get along with her?"
"hey, i'm being a peach."
"really?" emilia doesn't believe that for a second.
"well, i smell like a peach. was that the doorbell?"
yeah, i'll tell rory to call you later. her and dean are on a date right now."
"well at least one of you is getting out of the house."
"mean. i'm hanging up now." emilia tells her mother figure.
"wait, i wanna find out who's at the door." lorelai begs.
"the sooner you get back to your weekend, the sooner it'll be over." emilia responds.
"okay, but before you go, can you get out my address book and count how many friends i have? i'll wait."
"bye."
"mean!"
"steal me soap!" emilia hangs up the phone, then opens the front door. "hey paris. what-"
"is rory home?" paris demands.
"no. she's out and will be for a couple hours."
"i tried to stay home and study myself but i can't. i don't know what anything means anymore. i mean, i can't even read my own handwriting. what does this say? the person who wrote this should be dressed in a clown suit stuffing bodies under their porch."
"listen, i'm no rory but i can try to help you study if you want? i ordered food that should be here in like 30 minutes. or if you want to leave, i can tell rory that you stopped by when she gets home?"
"that actually sounds really nice. you know, i like you a lot more than rory."
"thanks...i think?"
•••
emilia and paris have been studying for about 15 minutes when there's another knock at the door.
"i'll be back, i just need to check if that's the food." emilia tells the intense girl.
"no worries, i was just about to suggest a break anyways. thanks again for helping me." paris replies.
"no problem. i'm actually having a really good time."
emilia opens the door and sees the last thing she was expecting for tonight, jess holding a box of food.
"delivery." jess smirks at the kgirl.
"what are you doing here?" emilia demands.
"well, luke figured since you're alone tonight that maybe you wouldn't have any food in the house, so he sent over a care package." jess explains.
"i don't need a care package. i ordered food from sandeep's." emilia tells the boy.
"really? planning on burning down the house afterwards?" jess quips.
"jess." emilia says shortly.
"the only way to kill the smell. where should i put this?" jess pushes past emilia and walks into the house.
"caulfield." emilia says, trying to get the stubborn boy's attention.
"kitchen?" jess ignores her and keeps walking.
"fine i guess."
jess sets the food down and emilia follows quickly behind him.
"god, how much food is in there? this could feed twelve." emilia
"excuse me, i've seen you eat." jess scoffs at the girl.
"fine, six." emilia surrenders.
"yeah, well, he wanted you taken care of. he wasn't sure how long lorelai was gonna be gone." jess awkwardly clears his throat as he continues to take food out of the box.
"not that long. she's coming home tomorrow."
"oh, he didn't know that." jess looks away, not wanting emilia to see his slightly embarrassed face.
"well, now you can tell him."
"i will." jess agrees.
"so how come caesar didn't bring this over?" emilia asks, knowing full well that jess despises doing deliveries.
"i volunteered." he responds, avoiding eye contact.
"why?"
"just wanted to get out of the construction zone. there's nothing but banging and yelling. that place gives me a headache." jess says but really he just wanted to see emilia.
"oh."
"why did you think i wanted to come over here and see you?" jess teases the girl.
"no." emilia scoffs and turns towards the food again.
"just needed some quiet."
"fine."
"that is all."
"got it."
"clear my head."
"i understand."
"so, aren't you gonna eat?" jess asks suddenly.
"eventually."
"it gets cold fast." jess points out.
"i can heat it up."
"reheated french fries really suck."
"hm, they do suck." emilia agrees.
"yeah, so, eat." jess says pointing to the food.
"okay, i will. you're still standing there." emilia points out.
"i know. you didn't give me a tip." jess quips.
"you want money?" emilia asks the boy incredulously.
"no, i'll take a fry though." jess responds.
"okay, yeah, have as much as you want." emilia tells jess.
"okay, great." jess answers and starts to take off his jacket.
"what are you doing?" emilia asks.
"getting ready to eat."
"you're staying?"
"didn't you just invite me?"
"no, i-"
"no, you told me to have all i wanted. that sounded invitation-like."
"you wanna stay here and eat?"
"beats being at luke's."
emilia snorts at that. "you got that right."
paris walks into the kitchen in a frenzy. "i can't find my flashcards."
"i didn't know you had company." jess turns to emilia.
"this is paris, she goes to chilton with rory. we were just studying."
"huh." jess answers, still only looking at emilia.
"i can leave...if you find my flashcards, call me, okay? or have rory call me." paris says looking between the two teens in the kitchen.
"stay for dinner. we have a ton of food, and we can go over the notes more later if you want."
"you're sure?"
"positive."
"is that mac and cheese?"
"you know it."
"i love mac and cheese."
"me too. it's one of my main food groups."
"i'm not allowed to have mac and cheese."
'this poor girl' emilia thinks to herself.
"splurge. come on paris, stay."
"do you have a twenty-four hour pharmacy just in case i have an allergic reaction to something?"
"believe it or not, we do. i also have an epipen with me because i'm deathly allergic to bees."
"okay, thanks. can i borrow your phone?" paris asks emilia.
"it's by the door." emilia points in the direction of the living room. paris walks away and jess turns to the girl.
"interesting."
"what is?"
"you think we need a chaperone?" jess asks incredulously.
"no, I don't. jess we've literally had a meal alone together before. unless you're forgetting the good 'ole basket bidding contest."
"you just invited one." jess counters.
"i'm just helping out a friend so stop being a jerk. paris is alone tonight and you yourself just said we have enough food for six. verbatim." emilia responds and jess rolls his eyes.
"with me around, it's down to four."
"with paris around, it's down to two."
"works out well." jess says quietly as he glances at emilia's lips and back up to her eyes, noticing that throughout the conversation, they've gotten closer together.
"agreed." emilia responds just as softly if not more and does the same. the feeling of desperately wanting to kiss jess coming out of nowhere but she was ready to welcome it with open arms.
the two start to lean closer and closer until paris starts enthusiastically speaking to her nanny on the phone, ultimately breaking the two out of their staring contest.
"hola, es paris. voy a comer la cena de cas de rory. hay mucho mac and cheese!"
•••
"a tragic waste of paper."
"i can't believe you just said that."
"well, it's true, the beat's writing was completely self-indulgent. i have one word for jack kerouac- edit."
"it was not self-indulgent. the beat believed in shocking people, stirring things up." jess argues.
"they believed in drugs, booze, and petty crime."
"well, then you can say that they exposed you to a world you wouldn't have otherwise known. isn't that what great writing's all about?" emilia counters.
"that was not great writing. that was the national enquirer of the fifties." paris argues back.
"you're cracked." jess scoffs.
"typical guy response. worship kerouac and bukowski, god forbid you'd pick up anything by jane austen." paris smirks, thinking she got jess.
"hey, i've read jane austen." jess informs the scary blonde and smirks at her surprised face.
"you have?" paris asks in surprise.
"yeah, and i think she would've liked bukowski."
jess responds as he starts making salt and pepper dip for the fries. emilia showed him how to do it a couple months ago and he hasn't gone back since.
"what are you doing?" paris asks, curious.
"salt and pepper dip. only way to eat a fry."
"really?" paris asks.
"it's fast food gospel." emilia confirms.
"mm. that's good. that's really, really good."
the phone starts to ring and emilia gets up to answer it, leaving jess and paris to continue on their french fry journey.
"you like hot sauce?" jess asks the girl.
"i don't know. should i?" paris asks somewhat hesitantly.
"i think it's wise." jess confirms.
emilia answers the phone. "hello?"
"hey." it ends up being rory on the other end.
"oh, hey my darling lorelai leigh gilmore. where are you this fine evening?"
"on my way home. how's your boring night been?"
"well, not so boring after all. paris is here." emilia leans closer to the phone and whispers. "and jess." the boy smirks to himself at that.
"what! why?"
"well paris was here looking for you because she freaked out about a grade and she wanted to go over some notes, and you know paris, she will not be denied."
"okay. so what about jess?" rory asks excitedly.
"calm down there skippy, he just brought some food over because lorelai is gone."
"but i thought you ordered sandeeps?"
"stop smiling! i can hear it over the phone."
"i'm bringing dean with me by the way. we were gonna eat ice cream and watch a movie. so you might wanna get jess out of the house."
"rory! that's like no warning."
"whatever mrs. mariano, i'll be home in a second."
emilia collects herself for a moment and turns to the two arguing teens behind her.
"i can't get into poetry. it's kind of like, geez, just say it already, we're dying here."
"wow, you know, i just noticed the time, and it's getting really late."
"it's seven o'clock."
"i know, but paris and i still have a lot more studying to do. jess, please thank luke for me. it was really nice of him."
"who was on the phone?" jess asks rhetorically.
"no one."
"no one wouldn't happen to be heading over here now, would he?"
"jess."
"what's going on?" paris asks.
"nothing."
"dean's on his way over with rory and emilia doesn't want him to find me here."
"why?" paris asks.
"yeah, why?" jess mockingly asks emilia.
"you know why." emilia glares at him.
"we're just eating dinner."
"jess, i'm asking you as a friend, just please leave now." emilia begs.
"you really want me to go?"
"i really wanna avoid rory having a fight with dean." emilia tells the boy.
"okay, i'm going." jess concedes.
"thank you."
"ow!" jess calls out.
"what?" emilia asks irritated
"ooh! i just twisted my ankle. i better go lie down." jess turns to the girl while fake limping.
"jess!"
"god, you're no fun when you're tense. are you sure you want me to go? cause maybe this whole thing can be solved between me and dean if we just sat down and had a little heart to heart. he can tell me his issues, i'll tell him mine."
"jess!" emilia groans.
"i promise i'll speak slowly." jess jokes.
"bye!" emilia pushes him out the front door.
"okay, well, give him my best, would ya?" the two teens turn to see dean and rory in the front yard. "actually, i guess i could do that myself."
"jess just came by to bring me some food and now he's leaving." emilia tells the couple.
"from luke's." jess adds.
"he wanted to make sure i ate."
"luke did." jess corrects her.
"right, luke did." emilia confirms.
"i see you brought a little something, too. is that ice cream? that's so nice. a tiny little ice cream package just big enough for two. hey, are you guys gonna feed each other cause that's just so darn cute. oops. you're doing that towering over me thing. huh. i tell you, you've really got that down. it helps that you're twelve feet tall, but this frankenstein scowl really adds to the whole."
"jess." emilia warns.
"okay, i'm going. look, man, i really was just dropping off some food, so don't get all west side story on me, okay?" jess leaves and winks at emilia before walking back to the diner.
"so...french fries anyone?"
•••
emilia's off of work today but she still came in with rory to get breakfast. she walks up to the counter to thank luke for making her food. "hey luke."
"what, you find a nail in your food? i swear to god, tom, you are dead! you hear me? dead!"
"there's nothing wrong with the food, luke." emilia affirms the man after a short laugh.
"oh, sorry tom." luke winces and calls out to the contractor.
"i just wanted to thank you." emilia says.
"yeah, for what?" luke asks confused.
"for the care package. it was really sweet of you."
"what care package?" luke asks even more confused. jess notices the confusion and hurries over to the pair to distract luke.
"hey luke, i think they hit the water line again."
"oh, what?" luke hurries towards the stairs. "tom, you are dead! you hear me? dead!"
"huh, interesting." emilia mocks jess from last night.
"hey, you wanna pay?" jess says while looking away from the girl.
"i don't think luke knew anything about the food last night." emilia says mockingly.
"that'll be twelve-fifty." jess informs her.
"which means you lied about why you came over." emilia continues.
"i don't have any quarters. i'm gonna have to give you nickels." jess says once again trying to avoid the conversation.
"now why would you lie about something like that?" emilia asks rhetorically.
"here's your change. come again soon." jess says with false enthusiasm.
"you wanted to come over." emilia announces loudly.
"i have to get back to work." jess tells her.
"you're squirming. i've never seen you squirm. it's cute."
"oh yeah?" jess asks finally looking up at emilia.
"yeah." emilia confirms and flicks her gaze down to his lips before walking back to the table. she will never confirm nor deny that she swung her hips a little extra that time.