(hi friends! it's currently midnight my time which means that it's fuCKIN ELECTION DAY DEAR GOD PLEASE GO VOTE IF YOU ARE ABLE TO AND HAVE NOT YET. YOUR VOTE MATTERS SO MUCH. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE. that is all. thank you. hope you enjoy this one. it's a bit shorter than the others but it's fine. love u all tons! -mags)

✧✧✧

LUKE DANES STOOD at the counter of his diner glancing from the piece of paper in front of him to his employee who stood beside him. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.

Marley scrunched her brow. "What do you mean? It's an application. You told Courtney to fill it out," she said. "Didn't you do this song and dance for Lane? You brought her in for an interview and everything."

"You want me to bring Courtney in for an interview?"

"The hell are you asking me for? You run this place."

Luke nodded, flipping the application over to the other side. "Well, what did I do with you?"

"What? When you hired me when I was fourteen?" Marley asked. She took a moment to think, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Holy shit. Is it bad that I don't remember how I got this job?"

Luke matched her expression. "I feel like you've always worked here."

"I know," she said. "Dude, did my mom get me this job?"

"She might have. If you were fourteen, I was definitely breaking some sort of child labor laws."

"Were we running an illegal operation for a while?"

"We might have been," Luke said. He leaned down to mutter, "Don't tell Taylor."

Marley glanced up at him. "No promises," she chuckled, grinning as Luke nudged her with his elbow. She pointed at the application. "Seriously, though. Are you gonna hire her?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. What do you think? Can she remember stuff? She got decent handwriting?"

"Yes to both."

"She nice to people? Polite? Patient enough?"

Marley snorted at the idea of calling Courtney polite or patient. "Please."

The ends of Luke's lips twitched upward and he held out the application to Marley. "Yeah, I think she'll fit right in," he said. Marley gaped at him, smiling wide. "I'll call her today to tell her to come in on Wednesday for a test run. You can train her and we'll see how she does. Bring that upstairs and throw it on the kitchen table for me?"

Marley nodded excitedly, grabbing the paper from him and practically running upstairs with it. To say that she was excited to not only work with but to order around Courtney was an understatement.

Her first shift at the diner had a slow start, something of which she welcomed with open arms. She'd gotten back into town late last night and had spent the early hours of the morning talking with her mom about everything that had gone on in the last week or so. Her mother was less than impressed to hear about the five-minute voicemail from overseas, but everything else she was pretty receptive to. But she didn't tell her about her sudden revelation about Jess.

She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell anyone about that. After the events of Friday, when she'd woken up to Jess's snoring at four in the morning and an aching neck due to falling asleep on his shoulder, she'd begun to seriously reconsider those feelings. This lasted for less than a minute, as it became increasingly harder to reconsider as she saw he was still holding her hand. And it became even more difficult as he held it tighter when she shifted to get up.

However, there was no reconsidering when she saw the way he smiled at her when she woke him up and struggled to find the right way to persuade him to not only get up off the couch and go to his own bed, but to let go of her arm so she could do the same.

(Marley had locked herself in the bathroom after she'd received her arm back and attempted to talk herself out of that mindset to no avail. She took a cold shower. Nothing. It was in that moment that she knew she was fucked.)

She'd come to terms with it, at least a little, at this point. The weekend had been difficult. Jess had caught on to the idea that there was something a bit different about her, but couldn't pinpoint what. Marley had denied everything he'd said, telling him that she was completely fine despite the goddamn circus of thoughts that had parked itself in her brain for the time being. It was clear that Jess didn't completely believe her, but he didn't press her on the issue.

But, the drive home had given her some time to clear her head. And being home in her old bedroom allowed her to process things. And work was, well, work, but being in the diner and talking with Luke again helped her to achieve a sliver of normalcy that she needed. All of these things led Marley to one unfortunately terrifying conclusion.

She had a thing for Jess. And it was an issue.

It wouldn't be an issue if she could keep it together. If she could keep everything normal and the way that it was supposed to be, there wouldn't be any trouble. Nothing would be disturbed and nobody would be hurt. That was good enough for her.

Marley glanced around Luke's apartment after she placed Courtney's application on the table. She squinted at a clearly new corkboard that hung on his wall, one that she could only assume that Lorelai convinced him to put up there. Marley walked over to it, smiling softly as she looked at the different things that Luke had hung up.

There was a photo of him and Lorelai at some restaurant that sat next to a clipping of something that Rory had written for her school's paper. There was a singular earring hanging from a thumbtack, one that looked a lot like the pair that Liz had given to her the first time they'd met. More toward the bottom was a piece of the magazine article that had been written about The Dragonfly. It wasn't until Marley saw the picture furthest right on the board that she gasped softly and broke out into a full grin.

It was a picture of her, Jess, and Luke that Liz and Lorelai had tag-teamed and forced them to take at the wedding before she and Jess took off. Luke and Jess were seated at one of the tables, leaving just enough room for Marley to poke her head between their shoulders and wrap an arm around them. Neither of them were showing teeth (which contrasted Marley's wide, full-toothed beam) but the smiles on their faces were evident. It was rare to see Jess smiling at all in this era, so she counted that as a win.

It was strange to see that a photo like this was one of the only pieces of evidence of the night where everything went to shit for Marley and Jess. Perhaps that was the way it was meant to be. Only remember the good, and all that.

Before she could examine the photo further, the door of the apartment opened, revealing Luke who stood in the doorway with his hands up. "Where the hell did you go?" he asked.

"Sorry, I got distracted by this," she said, motioning to the corkboard. "I leave you for a semester and you turn into Martha Stewart."

"Yeah, and I did a five-month stint in prison while you were gone too," he said. Marley snorted, glancing back at the board once more. "You've got a phone call downstairs."

"A phone call? For me?"

"Yeah. And I need you to answer it because I do, you know, run a business."

"God, you've been talking to Jess too much, you're starting to sound like him," she muttered, heading for the door. Before Luke could say anything to that, Marley interrupted him. "I want a copy of that picture, by the way. You can scrapbook it for me if you want."

"Make the call quick," he muttered.

"I'll tell anyone who tries to make a reservation for tonight to hold," she said as she walked out. "We're booked until next year!"

Marley didn't hear Luke's response to that as she shut the door and went down the stairs, huffing a laugh as she saw that there was almost nobody in the diner. There was an elderly couple sitting at the table closest to the window, but she knew that Mr. and Mrs. Miller weren't going to need anything for the next half an hour.

She found the phone sitting face down on the order counter and picked it up, placing it to her ear with a sigh. "Hello?"

"Acosta."

There was an unconscious smile that came to her lips as she heard Jess's voice. "Dude, I've been gone for a day. You can't possibly miss me already," she said.

"What can I say? You've made me codependent."

"And they said it couldn't be done."

She knew that Jess had rolled his eyes as soon as she heard his response. "That wasn't a compliment."

"It sure sounded like one."

"Not everything I say is praise for you."

"Well, it fucking should be. I'm great." Her profanity earned her a glare from Mr. and Mrs. Miller. "Okay, I'm getting death stares from the elderly for using no-no words, why are you calling me?" she whispered.

"I'm staring at a textbook that you left on the kitchen counter that has something to do with Global Marketing," he said.

Marley shut her eyes in annoyance, mentally kicking herself for forgetting the only thing she needed (besides a laptop) to take her online summer course. "Shit," she muttered, sending another apology smile to Mr. and Mrs. Miller as soon as the word left her mouth. "Seriously? I thought I packed it."

"Well, I dropped out of high school, so I know for a fact that it's not mine."

"Maybe you should crack it open while you've got it. Could be good for you. I know for a fact that you haven't touched a textbook since seventh grade."

"Eighth-grade Chemistry, actually. The periodic table really did it for me."

"Adds up. But I don't know if I'd trust you around a Bunson Burner."

Jess laughed softly. "When does your class start?" he asked.

"Not this Monday, but next," she said. Marley sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can pay you back if you, like, expedite it for me."

Jess took a moment to consider this, but after a moment, he offered, "How about I just drive it down to you?"

Marley gasped, a grin spreading across her face. "Oh my God, you do miss me."

"It just makes more sense," Jess said matter-of-factly. "I owe Luke a visit anyway. Killing two birds with one stone."

"Right. Or you miss me."

"You wish."

"I don't have to wish. You miss me."

Marley could hear the chuckle in his words when he said, "You're infuriating."

"I'm only infuriating because I'm right," she said, eyes flicking toward the stairs as Luke made his way down them. Luke's expression turned fond at the wide smile on her face. She moved the phone away from her ear, fully knowing that Jess could still hear her. "You're nephew's coming to visit next week because he apparently can't be away from me for more than two weeks."

Jess immediately began to protest on the other line. "I'm bringing her a textbook—"

"He can't hear you, whatever bullshit you're trying to say is pointless—"

There was a loud 'ahem' from behind her as she swore once more, and this time she glared at the Millers. Before she could say anything to them, Luke took the phone out of her hand. He gave her a warning glance as he brought the phone up to his ear.

"You're coming to stay?" Luke paused, rolling his eyes as Jess began to explain himself. Marley couldn't hear anything he was saying, she only heard muffled yelling. "Yeah, whatever you say. Let me know what day so I can get the apartment ready for you."

Marley bit her lip to contain her smile. "Say 'thank you, Uncle Luke,'" she sang, moving to clear the Miller's plates from their table. She was certain to avoid eye contact with both of them.

"What she said," Luke replied, smirking. There was a very long pause before Luke said, "You're welcome. I'll talk to you later."

Luke hung the phone up and turned to Marley as she brought the plates to the back of the diner. "Nobody called to make a reservation," she said, voice echoing from the sink. She popped her head out by the order window. "Just in case you were concerned."

Marley was taken back by the way Luke was looking at her. It was like he knew something she didn't. She drew her brows together in question. "He's coming up to bring you a textbook?" he asked, sounding wildly unconvinced.

"Why are you saying it like that?" she questioned, walking toward the doorframe that separated the kitchen from the counter. She crossed her arms as she leaned on it. "Like there's an ulterior motive?"

Luke's expression didn't change. "Is there?"

Marley blinked at him. "What?"

"I just wasn't sure where you two were at," Luke said innocently. The smile on his face spoke the complete opposite. "Wasn't sure if there's something to hide."

"Oh my God," Marley muttered. She put her face in her hands, cursing to herself as she realized her face was heating up. "There's no 'ulterior motive' or whatever the hell you just said. If I wanted him to visit, I would have just asked."

"Mmhmm. Right."

"I'm gonna go sit in the back room if you're gonna be weird."

"Not on my dime."

"Fine. Then don't be weird."

"Okay," he said, putting his hands up.

Marley didn't look at him. "Okay."

The two of them went silent, Luke's eyes following Marley as she made her way to the back one more to get some clean dishes and finish drying them at the counter. His eyes were still on her as she wiped down a mug.

Marley tried to ignore it for as long as she could. She really did. But the more she felt Luke staring at her, the more uncomfortable she got. She slowly turned her head to look at him and dropped the rag in her hand as soon as she saw that weird little smile he was doing.

"Alright," she said quickly. "I'm going to the back."

"Marley!"

"No! You're being weird. I'm taking my break!"

"You're off your shift in two hours!"

"I'm taking my break! And it's your fault!"

Luke could only laugh at her as she fled, shaking his head. Those two, he thought. Oh, boy.

Oh, boy indeed. Because, even with his own predictions and opinions about this whole matter, not even Luke could prepare for what was about to come within this next year.

✧

"I THINK I like Jess."

It was something Marley said suddenly to Courtney Burke at nearly midnight as they laid in Marley's bed. The two of them were nearly asleep, having come back to the Acosta's directly from work. Courtney had started two days after she and Luke had their terribly awkward interaction, and had fit in almost seamlessly, though she did have a tendency to crack under pressure and lose her cool at customers. But, she did work at Luke's, so that trait was basically a part of the uniform.

Those five words felt strange coming off her tongue, but once they were out in the air, they were out for good. While she'd been mulling over the idea for a while, she'd still never said it out loud. She didn't know what it was that made her say them now. She thought that part of it was because she was ninety-five percent sure that Courtney was asleep, but honestly, she was too tired to be sure.

But, now that they were out she wasn't tired anymore. And Courtney certainly wasn't either.

Courtney's eyes snapped open and she slowly rose up from her pillow like she was in The Exorcist. She turned to Marley who was still laying down. Marley was still trying to see how it felt saying those words out loud. "What the fuck did you just say?" Courtney asked. Her voice was deadly quiet and even more serious.

Marley's eyes gradually widened as the silence between them drew out as Courtney continued to stare at her. She met her gaze. Courtney looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"I..." Marley's voice died in her throat. She sat up and matched Courtney's position. "...I think I like Jess."

The two girls didn't say anything for a long while. They just stared at each other, attempting to figure out if this situation was something that was really happening or if this was a fever dream that they were both having. Everything was quiet.

Until it wasn't.

"OH, MY GOD," Courtney screamed, nearly falling out of Marley's bed as she ran to the other side of the room. "OH, MY FUCKING GOD."

Marley moved as if she were trying to calm down a wild animal. "Dude, shut up! You're gonna wake up my family," she hissed.

Courtney showed no signs that she even registered what Marley had said. "OH, MY GOD," she repeated, pointing at her. "YOU... YOU! YOU ACTUALLY SAID IT— HOLY FUCK, WHERE THE HELL IS MY PHONE?"

Marley scrambled to get out of bed. "No—what? Who are you— you're not calling anyone!" she said, stumbling as she moved to Courtney's phone out of her hands.

Courtney was too quick, as she ran away from Marley and climbed back on her bed. She stood on the mattress, pointing at her wildly. "NO, I NEED TO—" Her words were cut off by a loud laugh that bubbled up out of nowhere. "OH, MY GOD, I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT'D BE BEFORE THE SUMMER WAS OVER, FUCK! THANK YOU, GOD."

There was no hiding the confusion that took over Marley's face. She moved closer to Courtney who was already on her toes and countered her steps quickly. "What the hell are you talking about?" she asked. Courtney's phone was already pressed to her ear. Marley's eyes widened and she frantically jumped onto the bed. "Courtney, who are you calling?"

Courtney ducked away from her, flopping onto the mattress and out of Marley's grip. "LAUREN?" she said, not even waiting for the girl on the other line to say 'hello.' "IT'S ME. SHE SAID IT."

"Laur— you're calling Lauren?" Marley asked.

"YES, JUST NOW," Courtney said, completely ignoring Marley. "I'M NOT BULLSHITTING YOU. SHE SAID IT. GOD, YOU ALL OWE ME SO BIG. SO MANY DRINKS. THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. BRING YOUR FUCKING WALLETS NEXT SEMESTER BITCH, I'M BUYING YOU OUT."

Courtney hung up before Lauren could even respond, and she threw her phone across the room in the general direction of her work clothes. Marley's face was blank as she started to piece everything together. "Did you guys seriously—" She was abruptly cut off as Courtney threw her arms around her, tackling her to her back in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you—"

"I can't believe you guys bet on me," Marley pouted into Courtney's hair, which was basically in her mouth because of the position that they were currently in. "That's so fucked up."

Marley's bedroom door opened before Courtney could defend herself. Jacob stood in the doorway, rubbing his fist to his eyes. He looked less than pleased. "You guys sound like you're getting murdered in here," he said sleepily. "Not that I'd mind right now."

"Sorry," Courtney said, popping her head up to look at Jacob. "Your sister just made my night by having the world's most obvious revelation."

Jacob blinked at them. "Which was?"

"She just realized she likes Jess." Courtney's words were punctuated with an excited giggle, as she hugged her best friend tighter.

Jacob remained less than impressed by this. Marley was almost insulted by the way that he shrugged. "Okay, yeah? And?" he asked. "I really thought we all knew this."

Marley gaped at him. "We certainly didn't know this."

Her brother glanced at Courtney. "Did you know this?"

"Of course I knew," Courtney said.

Jacob held out his hand and looked at Marley once more. "See?"

"Well, I didn't know!" Marley shouted, shaking her head. "And I still don't know. I said I think I do. Not I know I do."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going back to bed. Congrats on the revelation, Einstein."

There was a hand on Jacob's arm that stopped him in the middle of the hall. Marley's mother made her way to the doorframe, looking at the two girls in question. "Is everything okay in here?" she asked. She wore the same sleepy look that Jacob had.

"We're great," Courtney replied, still smiling bigger than Marley had ever seen.

Jacob turned to his mother. "Marley just realized she likes Jess," he explained.

"I might!" Marley corrected.

Her mother's expression contorted into confusion. "That's it? That's what we're yelling about?" she asked, throwing her hands up. "I didn't think this was new information."

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she laughed. "Honestly, I thought you already told me."

"Yeah, well, I didn't," Marley muttered. Her voice was nearly childlike at this point and Courtney was half-expecting her to stomp her foot. "I'm so glad everyone seemed to know this but me. It really would have been wonderful to know my own feelings."

Jacob exchanged a glance with his mother before the two of them broke out into smiles. "Courtney, she's getting grouchy, get her to bed," her mom teased.

"We can talk about this in the morning when you're done being dramatic," Jacob said, chuckling to himself as Marley glared at him. "Goodnight for real."

Marley's mom looked at her as Jacob left for his room. "Goodnight girls," she said. "Please try to keep it down unless something big actually happens."

"I live in a family of bullies!" Marley said as her mother shut her door and walked down the hall. She turned to Courtney who hadn't stopped smiling since all of this had begun. The look on Marley's face contrasted hers in every possible way. "This was fun. I'm going to bed."

As she laid down, she noticed that Courtney didn't move from her position. She stayed in that same spot, grin uncomfortably wide. "Marley..."

"You look like Jigsaw. I'm going to bed."

Courtney got down on her level, placing her arms on Marley's stomach, and resting her chin on them. Marley rolled her eyes at the way her feet kicked back and forth in the air. "Marley," she repeated. "You like him."

Marley didn't look at her for a moment. She simply stared at the ceiling, truly unable to believe that she was in this situation. She really thought this was going to go away. She thought it was some one-off thing that had made her feel weird, but would be over as soon as she saw him do something gross or say something that she didn't like.

But it didn't. And she still couldn't fucking believe it. She wasn't sure if she'd ever believe it.

When Marley finally met Courtney's eyes, she couldn't help but break out into a smile. "Yeah," she said softly, putting her face into her hands. "I think I do."

Courtney squealed once more, a bit quieter this time, as not to disturb either of her friend's family members again. She grabbed Marley's hands and began to cheer, rattling off the millions of questions she had, almost all of which had already been covered by Logan when they'd talked about it in the museum. Despite this, it did give her another perspective, one she valued just as much, if not more than Logan's.

All 'differences' that Courtney and Jess may have had were put to the side in Courtney's head, and as they spoke, it was strange to actually hear her talk kindly about Jess. It was strange to hear this spoken about, period.

But it was out. It was out in the world and though it couldn't be taken back, it could be kept from Jess for the time being. This was something that Courtney thought was ridiculous for obvious reasons, but it was also something that Marley was insistent on. And as she explained a little bit more, Courtney understood where she was coming from. She thought that Marley was a blind bitch, but she understood where she was coming from.

But that wouldn't stop Courtney from trying. And it certainly wouldn't stop her from meddling.

✧

JESS ARRIVED IN Stars Hollow two days later. He was less than pleased to find out that he was arriving with a crowd of botanists who were all staying at The Dragonfly for a convention in Woodbury.

He walked into Luke's at approximately six-thirty at night to find the diner in a state that could only be described as chaos. He deftly maneuvered his way through the clumps of people, making sure that the duffel bag on his shoulder didn't hit anyone. Jess barely had time to register anything that was happening before he was hit in the face by something white.

Marley had seen him coming in. There was absolutely no time for pleasantries right now. She watched as Jess caught the apron she'd thrown at him and shook her head as he looked at her in confusion. "Welcome back to work, Mariano," she said, picking a donut out of one of the containers and placing it on a small plate. "Hope you're ready to serve."

"Good to see you too," he replied, holding the apron in one hand.

"Got absolutely no time for that," she said. "Put that on and bring the order on the window to the table by the door before Courtney loses it on you."

"Can I put my stuff down first?"

Marley shook her head as she filled the coffee mug of a customer at the counter. "Your funeral. Courtney's a lot scarier than I am and I won't save you."

Jess pouted at her when she looked back at him. "Sad."

"Stuff down. Apron on. I literally have no time for this."

"I've never worn one of these in my life," Jess shouted from the stairwell as he dropped his bag at the bottom of it. He hung the apron up on the hook on the wall. "Don't know why I'd start now."

"Wasn't sure if you remembered how to do the job," Marley said. "Thought the apron might help keep your shit together."

"I'm sure I can get back into it pretty easily."

Marley raised her brows. "Yeah?"

Jess nodded, eyes lighting up slightly as he saw that Marley was finally smiling at him. "Yeah." His lips twitched upward. "Am I allowed to say hi to you now?"

Marley wanted to roll her eyes but she couldn't seem to bring herself to do so. "Hi."

"Hi," he said. He held Marley's gaze for a moment longer before he looked around the diner. "Wanna explain to me what the hell's going on?"

Marley sighed, tilting her head in the direction of the food window. "Grab these plates for table seven and follow me," she said, grabbing the plate she'd put the donut on. Jess did as he was told and Marley glanced back at him as they walked. "Everyone in here is a botanist. There's a convention in Woodbury—"

"Botanists have conventions?" Jess asked.

"Yes. They do. And they draw a crowd, apparently," Marley said. "They're staying at The Dragonfly and Lorelai told them to come here. Apparently all of them listened."

"How long has it been like this?" he asked, placing down the plates in front of the respective customers.

Marley smiled politely at the man who had ordered the donut. That smile dropped completely from her face as Jess met up with her. "Half-an-hour? I don't know. All I know is that botanists are kind of fuckin' bitchy and I want to die."

Jess didn't have any time to respond to this as Courtney's suddenly (and loudly) began to make her way through the diner, balancing three plates on her arm. "Oh!" she yelled. "Nice of you to finally you show up. What happened to getting here at five?"

Jess chuckled at this, grabbing Marley's hip to move her out of the way of her friend. Marley looked from his hand to his eyes, but he was looking at Courtney. "I got caught in traffic," he said. "Didn't realize I was late for a shift."

"Whatever," Courtney said from the table across the room. "Get your hands off my best friend and get to work, Mariano."

Jess glanced down at Marley for a moment, his hand slowly leaving her hip as he looked back at Courtney. "You don't get to call me that," he said.

Courtney laughed as she walked toward him. "I can call you whatever I want. This is my turf now, bitch," she said, turning around before she could back into Luke who was emerging from the back with a rag in his hands.

Jess raised his brows as he saw his uncle and pointed to Courtney. "You let her walk around talking like this?" he asked.

Luke put a hand up. "I let her do what she wants," he said. "She's good at her job and she scares me. There's a bit of leeway there." Luke grinned as Jess rolled his eyes, turning his focus to Marley. "You put him to work yet?"

"He's back into it, boss. It's just like high school," she beamed. "We can start fighting and bring back the greatest hits if you're feeling nostalgic."

Luke's response was quick. "I think I'll pass on that one."

"You know what, I'll start," Marley began, ignoring what Luke had said. "I still don't think that Stephen King's a hack. I still think it's insane that you think that."

"Oh my God, here we go again—" Jess cut himself off as Marley grinned at him, nearly running away to the window where Caesar called out another order. "No, you don't get to start shit and walk away."

"I'm not running away, I'm doing my job, there's a difference," she said as he followed her. "Just like there's a difference between being a hack and just writing a lot of popular books."

"You ever read On Writing, Acosta? Some of the worst writing advice I've read in my life. He's full of it."

"I have read it, actually. I think he had some decent points in it."

"Huh."

Marley turned to face him as he stared at her from over the counter. "What?"

There was a smirk on his face that once would have made Marley want to strangle him. Now, it made her heartbeat stutter in the worst way. "Given your writing, that makes sense."

Nevermind. She was going to strangle him.

Jess laughed out loud as he watched her face drop. Marley marched up to one of the botanists that was sitting at the counter and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi," she greeted, smiling in a way that only Jess knew was fake. "So sorry to bother you, but I've got a question."

The botanist swallowed his food and nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"Let's just say, you know, hypothetically, I wanted to poison someone. Is there a plant that you'd recommend? A flower?"

Somehow, Luke heard the beginning of this conversation as he made his way into the kitchen. He stopped to look at Marley, as if he couldn't believe that he had to deal with this. "Stop harassing the customers," he told her.

"It's a legitimate question," she told her boss innocently, glaring at Jess who was watching the exchange in amusement. "I just want to know what to avoid. You can never be too careful."

"Because you're out in the wilderness so much," Jess deadpanned.

"Mariano, I am Bear Grylls compared to your shut-in ass," Marley said. "You go out about as much as that kid from Powder."

The botanist next to Marley raised his hand. "Do you still need to know about poisonous plants? Because I'd love to—"

"No, she doesn't," Luke said, pointing a finger at Marley and Jess. "The two of you. Back to work. Now. One of you clear the table in the corner."

The two of them stared at each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. The longer they stood there, the harder it was for them to resist laughing. Surprisingly, Jess was the one to break first.

Marley gave a loud 'ha!' as he bowed his head and sighed, silently resigning to the fight and making his way over to the table to clear it. She watched him go with a smile until she felt a tap on her arm.

The botanist leaned near her, his voice low. "I'd look into Belladonna if you're looking for a poison," he said.

Marley's eyes lit up at this, and she turned to face him fully. "And how would one acquire this?" she asked.

Marley, unfortunately, did not get an answer. Before the very nice botanist could speak, Jess was pulling her away from him by the back of her shirt. He ignored her protests, but didn't notice when she pointed to the man she was being dragged away from, mouthing to him that they'd "talk later."

And that's how most of the night went. Marley was in one of the few places in the world that felt like home to her, working amongst the chaos with three of the people she held closest to her. All of it felt familiar and warm, yet it still felt new and a little bit exciting.

Working with Jess and Luke? Familiar and warm. Working with Courtney? Always new and exciting.

Bickering with Jess throughout the shift and watching as Courtney and Jess began to do the same, perhaps even more intensely than they ever had? Familiar and warm. The fact that Marley had some sort of reaction to everything Jess did? Ridiculously new and... she didn't know if that was exciting.

Of course, all of this wasn't helped by the looks Courtney was giving her throughout the shift. And it wasn't helped by the way that Luke was acting around them. And it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that Jess found a way to touch her every fucking time he passed her, whether it be a hand to her hip to move her out of the way, or guiding her by the small of her back to grab something in her direction. It was always something. Even if there was enough room for Luke and Courtney to get through standing shoulder to shoulder.

It made it incredibly hard to think straight. Dear God, she had to snap out of it.

Snapping out of it would not be a luxury she had. That became clearer throughout the course of the night. Marley only had a chance to breathe when their shift finally ended and the four of them had finished closing. Courtney had clocked out and Luke had gone upstairs, taking Jess's duffel up with him.

"You have my textbook, right?" Marley said as she turned off the remaining lights in the diner. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder and looked stuffed because of the sweatshirt it held inside of it.

There was one light left on in the stairway and because of it, Marley could see that Jess had rolled his eyes. "It's the only reason I came down here."

"Right," Marley agreed. "Not because you missed me."

"Nope."

"Gotcha." Marley nodded as they continued to stare at each other. "So, where is it?"

Jess looked around but didn't see his bag. "Luke probably took it upstairs. I can bring it over to you tomorrow so you don't have to walk it home," he offered.

Marley pursed her lips. "I won't think that you actually brought it until I see it, you know."

"Does my word mean anything to you anymore?"

"Not a thing."

"Sad. It's all I have."

"Then that's even sadder."

Jess bit back a smile, pushing Marley away from him lightly. She laughed as he did so, watching as he began to walk up the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"I'm working in the morning, but I'm free after lunch, so you can come over whenever," Marley told him, putting the other strap of her backpack over her shoulder. "My mom and Jacob would love to see you."

"Will do."

Marley smiled at him. It was so soft, and so sweet, that he physically had to stable himself on the railing of the stairs.  "Night, J," she said.

"Night," he barely got out. He shocked himself when he was able say something before she left the diner. "You were right, by the way."

The bell above the door rang as Marley opened it. She stopped to look at him. "About what?"

"I didn't just come down here to give you your book."

Marley was surprised by the admission. "No?" she asked.

Jess's smile turned into a smirk. "You took Bowie. I was having separation anxiety."

Marley's hand tightened on the doorknob and she fought off a groan. "Goodnight, asshole," she said, laughter lacing her words before she slammed the door and walked out.

Jess watched her walk to the other side of the street before he made his way up the stairs to his uncle's apartment. He wasn't sure why he wasn't expecting Luke to be in there when he walked in, but he was. And it spooked Jess enough to make him jump.

"Jesus, man," he muttered. "I thought you went to Lorelai's."

Luke hummed. "I'm heading over there right now. Had to grab a couple of things before I left. The sink in the bathroom isn't working," he explained. "You staying here tonight?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

"Yeah. Just wasn't sure if you were staying at Marley's tonight."

Jess shook his head and threw his bag on the kitchen table. "Not tonight. I think she gets enough of me in Philly," he said.

"Space can be good in any relationship," Luke stated, a smile creeping up his lips as he watched his nephew freeze and his expression go blank.

"Oh, geez."

"You're still following the book."

"You see what just happened there?" Jess asked. "That's PTSD. I don't know if you should be proud of introducing me to that."

Luke laugh jovially, enjoying this a little too much for Jess's liking. "I still can't believe it," he said. "I always thought it was gonna be Rory. Never Marley. God—"

"Can we not talk about this? Ever?"

"What? Marley's great. The best, actually. It's one of the better choices you've made in your life."

Jess rubbed at his brow as if to ward off an oncoming headache. "Yup. Thank you. I know— I know she's great. I just—"

Luke raised his brows and crossed his arms over his chest, awaiting an answer. "You what?"

Jess didn't answer. He only sighed. It was long and heavy, and it told Luke everything that he needed to know.

He stared at his nephew. He stood at the table with his head bowed and hands gripping the edge of table, refusing to make eye contact with him. A soft smile that crept up on Luke as he moved closer to Jess, any sort of mocking or teasing energy leaving the room slowly. Oh, boy.

"You love her," Luke finished, hardly able to believe that the words were coming out of his mouth.

Jess didn't look at him. He only sighed again, shoulders slumping with him. Softly, he admitted, "Yeah. I do."

Luke watched at Jess finally turned his head to look at him, seeming a bit more comfortable now that it was out there. Luke's smile grew slightly and he put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I know you do."

Jess stood up fully now, shaking his head as he continued to go through his bag. "It's fine," he said, pulling Marley's textbook out and placing it on the table. "I'll get over it."

"Don't," Luke said. Jess met his gaze. Luke was smiling now, like there was something he didn't know, much like the way he had with Marley. "Not yet."

Jess watched his uncle walk away from him and head toward the door in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked.

Luke didn't say much. He simply shrugged, grabbed his tool box that rested on the bench by the door, and grinned. "Trust me. Give it time."

And with that, Luke left Jess in the apartment with an open duffel bag, a million unresolved questions, and a small, dangerous inkling that something might be shifting. It was a spark of hope that was ignited inside of Jess that finally, finally, finally, it all could change.

Hope was dangerous because there was always a chance that it could turn into something wonderful. And dear God, Jess was ready to take that chance. And that hope made him think that Marley just might be too.

He supposed he'd just have to do what Luke said and give it time. And he was plenty okay with that.

✧✧✧

author's note: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOY THIS WAS TRASH BABY

this is far too late and kind of a filler so i apologize on both ends, but i cannot explain to you how crazy busy i've been this semester and the motivation to write this has just not been there. but yay! i got to it! i'm back!

hope you guys enjoyed this one despite it's flaws. i'm falling asleep writing this so i'm gonna peace and go to bed alright zzzzzzzzzz

love u all tons!
-mags