(hey there! it's been a while. hope you enjoy! -mags)

✧✧✧

"SO, YOU DIDN'T think that it was a good idea to tell me that your girlfriend was Rory fucking Gilmore?"

Marley heard Logan groan from the other line but paid no mind to it. "You didn't even let me say hello."

"You don't deserve to say hello," Marley said, throwing her backpack beside her bed as she entered her room. She cradled her cell phone between her ear and shoulder when she moved back into her kitchen and opened her fridge door. "'Hello' shouldn't even be in your vocabulary right now. The only words you should be saying are 'I'm sorry that I'm such an asshole' or 'where's the nearest cliff I can jump off of? Maybe it'll actually do the job this time."

"Penn, it's four-thirty in the morning over here. I'm going to need a little more information as to why you're currently threatening my life."

"Because you're a dick!"

She heard Logan laugh through her speaker, only making her blood boil hotter. "Again," he said, "More information. We've already established the facts."

"You kept talking about your girlfriend last week like she was some manic pixie dream girl with the verbal takedown abilities of President Bartlet when in reality she's the girl I serve coffee to three times a day in our hometown," she huffed, finally deciding on the leftovers from Al's in her fridge as a suitable dinner.

"Was that a West Wing reference? It's too early for The West Wing."

"First of all, jackass, it's never too early for The West Wing—"

Logan was quick to interrupt her incoming ramble, cutting her off with a note of frustration in his voice. "You never said you were from Stars Hollow! How was I supposed to know that you knew my girlfriend?"

"I most definitely did."

(Marley was most definitely not sure if she had, but she hoped she sounded convincing enough to get through to him.)

"No, you didn't," Logan said, and she could hear him shake his head against the phone. "Because if you had, I would have told you about Rory." Logan chuckled to himself as he heard crickets from Marley's end of the line. He yawned into the speaker, sighing as he said, "Now can you tell me why this is such an issue? You woke me up, I think I deserve the reason."

"All you deserve is to be throat punched," she said through a mouth full of chicken lo mein.

"Marley, c'mon. Help me out."

Marley sighed heavily, dropping her fork on the table and leaning back against her countertop. She gripped the phone tightly in her hand and moved one of her arms to rest across her stomach. "Does the name Jess Mariano mean anything to you?"

Logan thought for a moment. His words were hesitant as he said, "No. Should it?"

"He's Rory's ex-boyfriend, Logan," she answered. Another sigh left her. "I'm pretty sure you met him, like, two years ago."

"Oh," he said, sounding as excited about recalling the name as he could for the hour it was. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember him. Not a great night for me." He paused. "Should I be afraid to ask why you know him?"

"He's my best friend."

Marley heard him swear under his breath. "So, I assume he told you all about what happened that night." Marley said nothing in response to that, effectively answering his question. She heard him shift from his position in bed, sheets rustling. There was a palpable sincerity in his voice when he said, "Jesus. I'm sorry."

She wasn't the one he needed to be apologizing to and both of them knew that. However, Marley knew that the prospects of getting Jess and Logan into the same room again were slim to none.

Marley could still hear the disappointment in Jess's voice when she'd finally talked to him today. The two of them hadn't been able to connect with the other all week, as Jess had been working on getting an unreasonably popular independent author to sign with Truncheon. So when they did, Marley and had to break the news to him that she'd recently befriended someone who'd been an entitled, privileged, prejudiced jerk to him, she'd never felt worse. Marley had a larger reaction than Jess had been anticipating when he told her this news, so much so that Luke had to come over to where Marley was taking her break and interrupt their conversation.

While Luke occasionally let the 'no cell phone' rule slide for Marley, she was being loud. When he found out that it was Jess on the other line, he took the phone from her and asked what the hell was going on. After Jess told him, he promptly gave it back and told her to continue outside.

It wasn't how Logan had acted to Jess that Marley had an enate issue with, it was what he'd said to him. She didn't know him that well, but Logan Huntzberger came off to Marley as someone who would try to intimidate and (for lack of a better word) peacock when threatened by someone he felt he shouldn't be. Jess, in his eyes, had been less than, but anyone could see that there'd always be something between Rory and Jess. She would have expected that of Logan. She wouldn't have expected him to degrade Jess in the way he had.

Marley and Jess hadn't been talking when this night had gone down, so Jess had had to rehash everything to Marley less than five hours ago. Jess had tried to play it off, but as he explained how Logan had backhandedly made fun of status, intelligence, and accomplishments (especially how he'd written a book) and heard a hint of hurt still in his voice, Marley knew he was telling the truth. And Marley couldn't let Logan slide knowing that.

"Are you still there?" Logan's voice brought Marley out of her head, almost reminding her how angry she was at him. God, she knew that he could be a jerk, but she figured he wouldn't have gone as far as he did with Jess.

Marley sighed for what felt like the hundredth time tonight. "I shouldn't be."

"No, you probably shouldn't. But I'm glad you are."

"What you did was a dick move, Logan," Marley said, pushing her food around in its box with her fork. "Like genuinely. It wasn't cool at all."

Logan took a deep breath and huffed it out. "I know."

"Jess worked his ass off to write that book. It's one of the only things he's ever been passionate about and you shit all over it for the sake of your dick measuring contest." When she heard him go to cut her off, she stopped him. Marley knew exactly what he was about to say. "And I know that you had no idea of knowing that about him but... still. Not cool."

"I know," he said. "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to find out about Rory like that too." Marley sighed in response, biting the inside of her cheek. "What can I do to get you to forgive me?"

"I mean," she began, rolling her eyes and stabbing a piece of chicken with her fork. "I don't know. I don't want to. And you don't deserve it."

"You're probably right," he replied.

"And you're a jerk and I'm never going to forget about this and will most definitely give you shit for it for the rest of eternity."

She could hear Logan's grin as he said, "Eternity? I'm flattered."

Marley made a gagging noise. "Ew. Gross. Shut up. I'm mad at you."

"So I've heard."

"Anyway. If you ever meet Jess again the first words out of your mouth are going to be an apology."

"Of course."

"And you're going to ditch every single one of your responsibilities to hang out with me when you come back for the gala in August." Marley heard him chuckle from the other end. "I don't know why you're laughing. This is very serious."

"Understood. If Richard Stengel wants to talk to me about Time, I'll tell him to fuck off."

"As you should."

There was a groan beneath Logan's laugh. "Anything else?"

Marley bit the inside of her cheek. "Just please..." She sighed once more for the night, gripping her phone a little tighter in her hand. "...don't pull that shit again. Not just on Jess, but like, on anyone. I know that I don't know you that well but... I like you, Logan. I don't want to see you doing things that would make me dislike you."

The line was quiet for a moment before Logan said, "I think that's fair enough." After a beat, he continued, "And just for the record, I like you too. I don't answer calls at four in the morning for people I don't like."

"Well, I'm glad we're on the same page then," Marley said, smiling for the first time since she'd picked up her phone. She chuckled to herself. "Alright. You're forgiven, I guess. Go back to bed. Sorry I woke you up, by the way. I forgot time zones were a thing."

"It's scary to know that you forget about general knowledge when blinded by rage," he said. "Noted."

Marley scoffed. "Just go back to bed. Dream about the eloquent way you're going to dismiss Anna Wintour to come drink with me on the roof of a museum."

"Anybody ever tell you that you're exhausting?"

Marley's lips twitched into a smirk. "You'd be surprised."

"I don't think I would," he said through a laugh. "Goodnight, Penn."

"Night. Tell my father that I hate him if you get the chance."

"Will do. I'll talk to you later."

Marley bid him goodbye and hung up her phone. As the quiet began to settle around her, she stared down at her food and pushed her lips to the side. She could hear Jess's voice ringing in her head, her stomach churning as she remembered how hurt he sounded. Maybe she'd let Logan off too easy. Maybe she shouldn't have forgiven him as quickly as she had.

She shook her head and grabbed the Chinese food container to bring it over to the couch. Marley grabbed the TV remote and flicked through the channels, attempting to find something decent to watch. She found nothing particularly of interest, but settled on a rerun of Seinfeld and sunk back into her couch.

Marley nearly screamed as she heard Jacob come into the room asking, "Who were you yelling at?"

"I thought you were at Emily's!" she said, putting her hand over her chest as if that would stop her heart from beating a mile a minute. "Why didn't you say anything when I walked in?"

"I was asleep until you came in screaming about how you wished someone would jump off a cliff and finish the job," he told her, coming to sit on the chair in their living room across from the couch. "And Em's grandmother surprised her family today so all plans were called off. So now you get to entertain me."

"I don't want to entertain you."

"Yeah, you do. Let's play Boggle."

"I'm not playing Boggle with you."

"Do it or you're a bad sister."

Marley rolled her eyes. "Jacob, I'm ready to stick this fork in your eye."

"Do it. See if I care. Mom's a nurse."

"Go away," she groaned, attempting to hide the laugh beneath her words. "I just want to eat dinner and go to bed."

Jacob grinned at her, but there wasn't much behind it. When Marley noticed it, her brows pulled together and she tilted her head to the side. Jacob brushed her off. "It's nothing," he said, fully knowing that it wasn't nothing. He knew Marley wasn't buying it. "It's just..." He sighed. "...speaking of dinner, Dad invited us to come to dinner in about three weeks."

"What? He was serious about dinner?" Marley asked. "I thought he was offering just to be nice or whatever."

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he wants to."

"Is it worth going to when we've already got to go to the gala in August? That would be like, two weeks after dinner."

"I don't know," he repeated. Marley watched her brother run a hand through his hair. "You don't have to go. It's definitely not a set thing just yet. He just called me the other day to offer."

"Are you going to go?" she asked.

Jacob sighed, giving her a shy sort of nod. "Yeah. I think it's worth it to give him a chance, at least."

Marley frowned at him, angrily twirling her lo mein around her fork. "Then I'm going to look like a bitch if I don't go." Jacob chuckled, but said nothing to dispute her claim. "Why are you so much nicer than I am? It's really annoying."

"You're nice, Marley," he told her. She looked at him skeptically. "You are. I'm too nice. You could set me on fire and I'd probably find a logical reason that you did it." Marley snorted at this, knowing her brother all too well. "I think I have this thing where I can only see the good. You're able to see everything. The good and bad. You're nice to the people who deserve it. I wish I was like that."

Marley looked at Jacob, honestly not used to this level of sincerity from him. He always found a way to cheer her up or get her out of her rut but it was never usually like this. It made her smile at him softly, ignoring the way she seemed to get choked up by his words.

She placed her Chinese food on the table and ran her hands over her face. "Fine," she muttered. "Fine. Grab Boggle."

She heard Jacob cheer from behind her hands and it made her laugh. Jacob ran to their closet and Marley grabbed her phone to check if she had any new messages. It revealed a blank screen, but she smiled at her wallpaper. It showed Matthew, Christopher, Lauren and Jess outside of their favorite bar, all pointing at the sign excitedly. Shortly after this, Lauren and Marley returned to their apartment where they took turns taking care of each other (they try not to speak of this part of the night if possible).

Jacob slammed the game down on their coffee table and sat down on the floor across from Marley. She let the smile fall off of her face as she thought about dinner with her father and his family.

Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she was anticipating.

✧

DINNER WAS IN fact, not as bad as she was anticipating.

Her father didn't talk about anything he had said that he was going to, which is maybe why dinner went so well. He didn't apologize, explain himself, or give reasons as to why he went MIA for two decades, but he did talk with Jacob extensively about football and was very interested in Marley's Harperch internship.

He also, after hearing about where Marley was going to be living this year, offered to pay for her housing. So, there was that too.

Marley wasn't sure what she was expecting when she told her father that she was going to be an RA for a freshman dorm that was notorious for having the worst kids, but it wasn't him offering to put her up in an off-campus apartment in an area of the city that was nicer than anything she was used to.

She was so thrown off by this proposal that she immediately declined it. "No," she'd said, shaking her head. "I can't accept that from you. That's a lot to ask."

"You didn't ask for it," he'd replied. "I'm offering. And it's something I want to do. Please, Mija. I'd truly love to do it."

He'd made the offer last night and Marley couldn't find a way to think of anything else besides that. She told him that she'd definitely think about it and thanked him for offering, but she'd have to talk it out with her mother and probably find a roommate. Lauren was moving in with Christopher and she didn't love the idea of living alone just yet.

This idea took over Marley's brain completely, so much so that she barely spoke to Jacob on the train ride home and had been in and out of her head throughout her shift. She knew that she'd have to snap out of it soon. Lane Kim had been on her case during the rush about being out of it, and Luke had been giving her weird looks all day. She knew she was one more episode of zoning out away from being pulled into the back room and forced to do therapy with Luke.

"Hey! Waiter! What's a girl gotta do to get some service around here?" A voice took her out of her thoughts once more and she scowled as she realized who'd been calling her name.

"Use your inside voice for starters," she muttered to Courtney who'd sat at the counter a couple of minutes ago. Courtney rolled her eyes at this. "Manners too. We like manners at Luke's."

"I just watched Luke tell Kirk to fuck off less than five minutes ago."

"You're supposed to have manners. It doesn't matter if we do."

"You small-town businesses and your double standards," Courtney said, putting down her menu. "Maybe that's why the mall in Woodbury is putting you out of business."

"Wait," Marley said, and Courtney could practically feel the sarcasm radiating off of her. "Are you a business major or something?"

Courtney made a face at her. "Shut up and put a club sandwich in for me, bitch. No tomato."

Marley grinned at her. "What did I say about manners?"

"End your life."

"I didn't hear a please," she sang, writing Courtney's order up on a sheet of paper. She ripped it out of her notebook as Courtney told her off and she handed it to Caesar.

Courtney had been home for a week longer than Marley had and she'd insisted on bugging Marley whenever she had the chance, as a way of making up the time she'd lost while the two were on opposites sides of the country. Pepperdine was a lot farther from Penn than the two of them realized and it was hard only seeing Courtney once during the school year at Christmas. The two of them still managed to speak at least twice a week on the phone and in doing so, Courtney and Lauren had established a sort of friendship themselves, starting one night when Marley had to run across the hall to tend to one of her residents who'd nearly set their apartment on fire.

Summer had proved to be the time where Courtney and Marley were able to truly pick up where they'd left off. And God, had Marley missed her best friend. Yes, best friend. Jess Mariano was not, and Courtney repeated, not taking over as Marley's best friend. She wouldn't allow it.

There were aspects of Courtney in Lauren (which is why she was so drawn to her in the first place), but there were so many things that Marley could talk about to Courtney that she couldn't seem to put on to Lauren. There was too much history to cover, too much to explain. Lauren knew what she needed to, but Courtney knew it all. She knew the good, the bad, and the worst and was able to handle Marley at times like now, when she was way too in her head about everything.

And Courtney knew how to ask her about it. This was proven as Courtney leaned her chin on her palm, looking at Marley expectantly. "Are you going to tell me where you've been all day or am I going to have to force it out of you?"

Marley sighed heavily, eyes surveying the diner and the lack of people currently in it. There was currently a lull in the day, something of which Courtney always seemed to arrive during. Marley wasn't complaining; it was nice to have someone to talk to, as Lane always went on her breaks during these times and Luke was often nowhere to be found. There was Caesar, but it was rare to find him not either asleep or talking to someone on the phone in the kitchen. So yeah, Courtney made things better.

Marley knew Courtney's question had nothing to do with her physical being, but where she was in her head all day. And Marley honestly wasn't sure if she could explain it well enough for her to understand.

"Jacob and I went to dinner with my dad last night," she said, bracing for her reaction.

"You what?" she exclaimed. Her eyes were wide. "And you didn't think to tell me that this was happening?"

"I wasn't sure I was actually going to go until the last minute," she said. "It's whatever. I went."

Courtney looked at her expectantly. "And?"

"And it was fine. He didn't actually follow through with anything he said he was going to, which wasn't a surprise."

"So no apologies or explanations?"

"No. Because why would he want to, right?" Marley shook her head. "Anyway. My dad... he offered to put me up in an apartment for the next two years."

Courtney blinked slowly at her, as if it was taking a moment to process her words. "Like, pay for it and everything?"

"Yes. In a nice ass area too. It's not too far from my school either," Marley replied, shrugging. "Jacob told me he wanted to pay for my entire tuition, but he told him that that would be too much for me. But yeah, apparently he has some connection to a guy who runs all a whole bunch of apartment complexes in Philly. I don't know. Rich people know everyone everywhere, I guess."

"Did you say yes?"

Marley sighed once more. "I told him I'd think about it. He kind of sprung it on me out of nowhere and it really caught me off-guard. I just don't know if I can actually accept this from him. It feels... weird, you know?" When Marley looked back up at her friend, she found her staring at her incredulously. "...You think that I should take it."

"Are you kidding?" she asked, throwing her hands up. "Why wouldn't you? Your asshole of a father actually wants to do something for you for the first time in his life and it involves paying for something that I know you've been saving up for. I'd say it's a no brainer. Fuck everything about your dad. Take the money if he's offering it."

"It's just so much. And so soon too," Marley said. "I don't want to be indebted to him. I don't want to feel like I am." She shook her head again, as if to brush away the thoughts. "And I don't know if I'm ready to live by myself just yet. It'd feel weird."

"Have you talked to Jess about it?" Courtney asked.

Marley sucked her teeth. "No. I was going to call him tonight to get his thoughts on it. Why?"

"You ever thought about asking him to move in with you?"

The question hung there for a moment, awaiting an answer that both of them seemed to know. Of course, Marley had thought about it. He was the first person that came to mind when she thought of having someone live with her. But there was something about the idea of asking him to be her roommate that made her feel strange.

She didn't know what it was. Jess practically lived in her apartment all of her sophomore year, so she didn't really understand what her issue was. And it wasn't like it would be weird. She knew that she could live with Jess. But there was something holding her back and she couldn't figure out what it was.

"I don't know if he'd want to," Marley finally said. "He's got Truncheon and I think he'd feel weird about leaving Matthew alone with Christopher and Lauren in the upstairs apartment. I don't want to ask him unless I'm sure I'm gonna take my dad's offer."

Courtney was looking at Marley like she was stupid. "You're telling me that Jess Mariano, the boy that lived in a legit crack shack apartment in New York with a guy named Todd and currently lives in an apartment where they're still, like, breathing sawdust wouldn't want to move into a nice ass apartment with you, his best friend?" When Marley raised her brows at her, Courtney held up a finger. "I said his best friend. Not yours."

"I don't know," Marley groaned, putting her face into her hands. "It just feels weird."

"Why? Do you like him, or something?"

Marley felt her face go hot, but she looked at Courtney in annoyance. "Don't be annoying. You know I don't." Courtney didn't seem convinced but didn't press the issue as Marley quickly resumed speaking. "I just don't want to force him into anything involving my father. He's already pretty deep in it without even knowing the guy. I don't want him to feel trapped by him or feel like he owes him something."

"Just ask, Marley," Courtney said. "It can't hurt to ask." Marley suddenly heard Caesar call her name, sounding rather annoyed. Marley whipped her head to the window, furrowing her brow as she began to walk back to the kitchen. "And I saw you blushing, you dumb bitch. We're going to have a long talk about that when you get back here."

"Sorry! Can't hear you over the sound of me going through an internal crisis!" She heard Courtney scoff, followed by the sound of the bell ringing on the diner door. Marley didn't bother to look to see who'd entered, but she made sure to greet them. "I'll be right with you!"

When she got to where Caesar was, she saw that he was standing next to Courtney's sandwich with the piece of paper she'd given him. When she asked what was wrong, she got a rambling answer about how shitty her handwriting was, and how he thought that her 'no tomato' note said to substitute chicken for the turkey. Marley looked at him incredulously, quickly asking how on earth he thought those two things looked even remotely similar on paper.

As Marley was writing down what the substitution for chicken would have looked like, she heard Courtney yelling at somebody in the diner. As Caesar continued to argue with her, she shut him up, attempting to figure out what was going on outside. She froze, then promptly rolled her eyes as she recognized the voice.

Marley sighed, pushing up onto her tiptoes to see out of the kitchen window, revealing the exact scene she expected. "Two things," she said, watching as both heads in the diner turned to face her. "Courtney, can you take chicken instead of turkey on your club?"

"Yeah," she said, sounding rather flustered. "That's fine."

"Wonderful," she said. "And two, Jess Mariano, can I ask why the hell you're here?"

Jess smiled, his brows raising at her. "You ever think that maybe the customer service in this place is the reason why your Yelp reviews are so bad?"

Marley rolled her eyes at him, letting a small smile appear on her face as she moved away from the window. She gave Caesar a look, holding her hand out for the chicken club sandwich he'd made with no tomato. Caesar scowled at her but said nothing, giving her the sandwich to bring to her friend. He told her that he was going to take a break, but to call him if anybody came in to order, to which Marley agreed.

Courtney and Jess had resumed bickering when Marley returned to the counter, only stopping when Marley put the plate on the counter in front of Courtney. She glanced between her two friends, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been in here for less than two minutes and you've already gotten her worked up," Marley said to Jess.

She watched Jess's lips curve into a smirk. "It's just so easy."

"Marley," Courtney said, grabbing half of her sandwich and bringing it to her mouth. "Tell him that I'm your best friend and he means nothing to you."

"Do I need to remind you who she wrote her college essay about?"

Courtney gasped as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. "Marley, tell him that that essay was a mistake."

Marley bit back a smile as she stared at Jess who was looking at her expectantly. "Courtney's my best friend and you mean nothing to me." She looked at Courtney and raised her brows. "But the essay wasn't a mistake."

The smile that had made a home on Courtney's face dropped immediately as Jess chuckled from beside her. "Whatever," Courtney muttered, turning to look at Jess. "She's said I'm her best friend. That's all that matters. You're a friendless jerk."

"You're going to let her talk to me like this?" Jess's voice was teasing and it made Marley smile.

"She has a point. You are a friendless jerk."

"I guess I am," he said. There was a certain sort of glint in his eye and he glanced from Courtney and then back to Marley. "But I'm a friendless jerk who just got Calloway to sign with us."

Marley threw her hands over her mouth as she looked at Jess, her eyes wider than they'd been all day. "You fucking didn't," she said, moving her hands away from her mouth to speak.

Jess grinned at her, something of which was so foreign to Courtney that she nearly fell out of her chair. "Three book series."

Marley laughed as she cheered, running around the counter to hug him. Jess laughed at her, returning the hug and lifting her slightly off the ground as he did so.

She leaned back from him as she was set back on her feet, raising a brow. "Was it Matthew who sold him or you?"

"I'm offended that you even had to ask. You told me I've been getting better at talking to people."

"Yeah, but even you know that that was kind of a lie."

Jess scoffed, turning Marley around to push her back behind the counter. "It was ninety percent me, ten percent Matthew." Jess folded underneath the look she was giving him. "Fine. It was eighty-twenty. But that's as far as I'll admit."

"Am I allowed to ask who Calloway is?" Courtney suddenly piped in through a mouthful of food.

"No."

"Calloway's an author they've been trying to sign to Truncheon for months," Marley said, narrowing her eyes at Jess for his response. "He's been an absolute dickhead about committing to a publisher and I guess he finally caved."

"He's got an underground following from online stuff, so we were pretty surprised when he sent us a manuscript," Jess explained. He reached over to steal a fry from Courtney's plate. He moved his hand away before Courtney could swat it. "But there was another house who wanted him and he strung us along for a while. But at the end of the day, all it took was a couple of beers and attempting to look interested in his pretentious bullshit and he was sold."

"Why are you here, then?" Courtney asked. Marley shot her a look and Courtney raised her hands innocently. "I'm serious. Shouldn't you and your Philly boys be, like, celebrating right now?"

Jess shook his head. "They've all got stuff to do. Christopher's going to visit Lauren down in Jersey and Matthew's actually got a girlfriend now, so."

Marley's face dropped completely and Jess couldn't help the smirk that came to his lips. "He didn't ask Jenna to be his girlfriend, did he? Please tell me he didn't."

"Acosta, I think it's just something that we're going to have accept."

Marley groaned, gripping the countertop as if it were the only thing keeping her standing. Knowing that Courtney was about to ask who the hell Jenna was, she began to explain. "Jenna's the worst person I've met in my entire life. She lived on the same floor as Lauren and I during our freshman year and was so rude to us for no reason. She's so mean to Matthew too."

"She's not that bad," Jess said. "She's got a lot of things going for her. Like—"

"What? Like the fact that she's the hottest person any of you have ever seen?"

Courtney looked at Marley, surprised. "Hotter than Lauren? Because Lauren's pretty hot."

"Lauren's hot in a different way," Marley said. "Jenna looks like Jessica Alba if she never got famous." Marley looked at Jess. "Is that fair?"

"I'd say so," he said. "I mean, I don't know what someone like her sees in Matthew—"

"She sees someone who she can manipulate and fuck around with—"

"Anyway," Jess interrupted, shaking his head, "I had made a plan with Luke to come down and visit a couple of weeks ago and in light of recent events I didn't think it'd be nice to cancel."

Marley gave Jess a small smile as he glanced over at her, nodding in approval. Luke hadn't been himself since he and Lorelai had broken it off and she honestly thought that having someone like Jess around for a little while might cheer him up a bit. The black baseball cap didn't suit him as well as the blue one did and everyone seemed to notice it.

"You tell Luke about the deal yet?" Marley asked.

"I figured that I'd tell him when I got here," he replied. "Speaking of, is he upstairs?"

Marley nodded. "Unless he jumped out the window."

Jess huffed a laugh, grabbing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "I'll be back down in a second," he told them. He looked over his shoulder to Courtney. "If you leave before I come back down, I just want you to remember who Marley wrote her essay about."

"And I've got fifteen years on you, dickshit, try catching up to me," Courtney said.

Jess hid a smile. "Always a pleasure, Court."

"You're the worst, Jess."

Marley laughed to herself as her friends parted ways, hearing Jess making his way up the stairs. She looked at Courtney again who was staring at her, unimpressed. "What?"

"I hate him."

"No, you don't."

"Okay, I don't, but he's annoying and mean."

"You can be too."

Courtney gasped. "If I were annoying and mean I would have dropped the apartment stuff into the conversation, told him to move in with you, and then left."

"God, I'm in the presence of Mother Teresa."

"You are," Courtney said, pointing a french fry at her. "And if you don't ask him to move in with you, I'll do it for you."

Marley sighed, half-listening to Courtney as she went off on a completely separate tangent, talking about her sister and whatever outrageous thing she'd done now. Why did she think it was so strange to ask Jess if he'd be interested in moving in with her? She could do it. She definitely could.

She could. Right?

✧

LUKE'S APARTMENT WAS the same as both Marley and Jess had remembered it. Neither of them had hung out in there since Liz and TJ's wedding, as when Jess came into town, he usually stayed with Marley. But, they figured because of Luke's situation, he probably could use the company and it'd probably be good for him to interact with people outside of a work environment.

The work environment had been quite intense today, as the dinner rush brought one of the craziest nights that Marley had ever worked. Luke had enlisted Jess to "make himself useful" and help out with waiting, as Lane had the evening shift off. Jess had slipped into his old position easily, and everything, including bickering with Marley, came back to him quickly. It was like riding a bike.

After closing, Marley and Jess grabbed food from the back room and wandered upstairs, where Luke found them sitting at the kitchen table playing one of the board games Luke kept in his closet. Luke rolled his eyes when they looked up at him and asked him to play, but walked over and joined in nonetheless.

Almost an hour later, they'd all moved over to the TV, where Luke chose the movie that they were to watch as he didn't feel like hearing them fight about it, and if they were going to invade his privacy, he should at least be able to choose what they got to watch. Marley and Jess agreed, and Luke fell asleep within fifteen minutes of sitting down in his chair.

Marley and Jess had gotten bored of whatever movie Luke had picked, and had resorted to throwing popcorn for the other to catch while Marley complained about Matthew's girlfriend. This game proved to be harder than either of them had expected, as they sat on the couch, with Marley's feet in Jess' lap.

"You're going to let her in your apartment?" Marley asked, moving her head to catch the piece of popcorn Jess had thrown at her. "Truncheon is sacred. Sinners aren't allowed in there."

Jess snorted. "Then you should have burned up as soon as you walked through the door."

Marley chucked a kernel at Jess's head. "Mariano, seriously. You can't be okay with this."

"She's really not that bad," Jess said for what felt like the millionth time.

"She basically harassed me because I became friends with our neighbor Brooks who she had a massive crush on. She tried to get the whole floor to turn against me. You can't tell me she's not that bad. You guys can't possibly like her." When Marley saw that Jess had an annoyed sort of look on his face, she furrowed her brow. "What?"

Jess shook his head. "Nothing. I just think it's ironic that you're telling me who I can and can't like because they were an asshole to you when you're friends with Rory's boyfriend."

Marley gaped at him. "That's completely different and you know it."

"How is it different?" he asked, finally turning to look at her. "Because from where I'm sitting, you're just being a hypocrite."

"It's different because you have no intention of actually becoming friends with Jenna because you know that she and Matthew aren't going to last," Marley stated firmly. She sat up from her slouching position. "I'm trying to get along with Logan because I've now been roped into my father's bullshit and he's going to be everywhere I turn."

"How the hell did you get roped into that anyway?" Jess asked. "I thought it was a one-time thing and then you'd tell him to fuck off."

"It was supposed to be. God, Jess, I explained this to you weeks ago." Marley took her legs off of his lap and pulled them to her chest, looking at the TV screen. "You said you understood all of this when I told you. If you had a problem with me and him being friends then you should have just come out and said it."

"I didn't think I had to say it."

"And I didn't think I had to explain why I didn't like you guys giving Jenna the benefit of the doubt either, but at least I'm upfront about it."

Jess was quiet for a moment and Marley watched him from the corner of her eye as he sighed. Marley bit the inside of her cheek. There was some validity to Jess's words. She was being kind of hypocritical. Logan had hurt him like Jenna had hurt her. But the idea of someone like Jenna hurting Matthew or anyone else in their friend group in the way she'd hurt her made her stomach churn.

Jess had to know that Logan wouldn't do something like that to her, right?

She turned to face him as he looked like he was going to start speaking. "I don't have a problem with you and him being friends, okay?" Jess swept a hand over his face. "And I know that you probably ripped him a new one after we got off the phone the other day."

"I did," Marley said, taking her chin off her knees. "It was at four AM, his time too."

A ghost of a smile reached his lips and Jess reached over to squeeze her ankle lightly. "I just don't like the idea of your dad pressuring you and Jacob to go to these things and then having that douchebag be apart of it. It all feels really out of nowhere and calculated."

It was Marley's turn to sigh now. "It all feels shady to me too, but honestly? Logan feels like the only part of it that's somewhat real." Marley shrugged. "And I've actually gotta give my dad credit. He's really trying. He's not doing a great job, but he's trying."

"Seriously?" Jess asked. "What else has he done except for invite you to parties?"

Marley paused, mouth opening as she did so. She blinked at Jess and quickly averted her eyes, picking at a loose string on the sweatshirt she was wearing. "He, uh... He offered to pay for my apartment next year. So I wouldn't have to RA."

Jess's surprise was evident on his face. "What?"

"I know. I was going to call you to get your opinion on it after work, but... here you are."

"Huh."

Marley raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing," Jess said. "I just wasn't expecting that."

"Courtney thinks I should take it. So does Jacob. He hasn't actually said anything about it yet, but I basically know what he's thinking all the time."

"What does your mom think?"

"She says it's up to me," Marley replied, chuckling through her words. "That's all she said. I think she'd be fine with it either way."

Jess nodded slowly. "And you? What are you thinking?"

Marley glanced over at Luke, who was still fast asleep in his chair before shutting her eyes and putting her face in her hands. She made a quiet noise of annoyance before looking back at Jess who was watching her amusedly. "I don't know," she said. "I'm thinking that I'd feel indebted to him forever. And I really don't want to give him control or power over any part of my life or involve him in any way."

"But you want to take it."

"J, the pictures look so nice," Marley said, collapsing into her knees. She heard Jess laugh from beside her. "And it's in a good area too. I'm not going to get, like, shot up when I walk home from classes or the paper."

"That's always important," he said.

"And it's not far from Truncheon, which means I don't have to kill myself to visit all the time."

"A perk."

Marley bit her lip, her next sentence sitting on her tongue. Jess was looking at her strangely. She took a deep breath and avoided direct eye contact with him.

"It also means that it wouldn't be too far for you either if you say yes to my next question."

Jess's expression only became more confused. "Which is?"

"Would you want to move in with me?" she blurted out, watching as Jess's face dropped in surprise. Her stomach lurched as she began to get nervous. This was a bad idea, this was such a weird, stupid, dumb idea. "Lauren's moving into Truncheon with Chris, which means that I basically have no one to live with and I'm not sure I'm comfortable living alone. I don't know how much Jenna is going to be over which means you're more than likely not going to want to be the only single guy there and would probably just end up at my apartment anyway. And it's not like you didn't practically live with me last year, so I was just thinking that it'd make sense. And I'm sure my dad wouldn't make you pay rent or anything because he's covering it, so it'd basically be free—"

"Acosta, shut up for a second, okay?" Jess said, laughing softly at her.

He was laughing. A good sign. Marley nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

After a moment of silence, Jess glanced at her. "I probably wouldn't be able to afford wherever it is you're living."

"Were you not listening? My dad's already paying. He definitely wouldn't expect you to pay or anything. You'd really just be doing me a favor by not letting me live alone."

Jess shook his head. "I can't just live there for free."

"Why not?" Marley asked. "I'd be doing it."

"Yeah, but he's your dad."

"Dad is a loose term."

"I know," he said through a laugh. "But you know I can't do that. I'm not going to squat in your apartment. I'd need to pay for it somehow. I don't want to like, owe your dad anything."

Marley sighed, brain running a mile a minute, trying to find a way that would make this work. She frowned at Jess, cursing him for being so stubborn.

Her eyes widened as she had an idea. "How about..." she began, trying to do the math in her head. "How about I call my dad tomorrow and tell him I'll let him pay, but that I want my friend to move in with me too and he's a dumbass who wants to pay his share. I'll find out the cost of it and you can just pay for whatever your bedroom would cost."

Jess seemed to consider this, but still looked hesitant. "Marley, I don't know."

"Can you just think about it, please? I think my idea makes plenty of sense. I'm relatively smart. I do go to an Ivy."

"Do you? Haven't heard you talk about it before."

"You haven't? It's the University of Pennsylvania, and it's like, right in Philly. You heard of it?"

"Can you just get me the number tomorrow?" Jess asked, making Marley break out into a grin. "I need to know how much money I'm going to spend to listen to you every day."

Marley cheered, leaning across the couch to shake Jess as she did so. She heard him laugh from beneath her and then heard Luke's chair squeak as he woke up from his sleep.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Luke asked through a yawn.

Marley turned to face her boss with a massive smile on her face. "Jess's moving in with me in September."

"I might be," he corrected.

Luke's brows rose despite how tired he looked. He smiled at them, something Marley hadn't seen in a while. "Look at that," he said. "Now you can kill each other in the comfort of your home."

"We'll be fine," she said. "He basically lived with Lauren and I last year. It didn't get too bad."

"Yeah. Lauren wanted me dead more than you ever did."

"It's only because you'd crash on our couch and snore like an eighty-five-year-old man. When you move in with me—"

"If I move in with you—"

"—we'll have our own rooms. So it'll be fine."

"I think it's a good idea," Luke said. Jess looked at him suspiciously. "You'll be getting out of that bookstore and actually living in breathable air."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Truncheon's liveable. It's not contaminated or anything."

"Not until Jenna starts coming over," Marley muttered, earning an elbow in the stomach for her comment. "Sorry. Hypocritical. I'll stop."

"No, you won't."

Marley said nothing in return to that and chose to check the time on the clock hanging on the wall instead. She swore under her breath, seeing how late it was. "I've gotta go," she said. "I told my mom and Jacob that I'd be awake for family breakfast on time tomorrow."

"Knowing you, I don't see that happening," Luke replied.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, boss. It feels great to always have someone like you in my corner."

"Tell your mom I said hi," Luke said as Marley grabbed her things and headed for the door.

She nodded, waving at both him and Jess. "See you both tomorrow." She stopped and gave Jess a wide smile. "Bye, roomie."

Marley left as soon as she heard Jess start to argue the name, running down the stairs and laughing to herself.

Luke's apartment was quiet after she left. Jess knew that it wouldn't last for long and he braced for impact as his uncle began smiling to himself.

"So," he began, "you're moving in together."

Jess wanted to die. "Not one word."

"What? It's adorable. I'm glad you two are that good of friends."

"Shut up."

Luke began laughing as Jess blew past him and made his way over to his bed. "My two favorite kids are going to live together. Oh, how time flies." The words that we coming out of his mouth were so jovial and unlike him that it made Jess wanted to leave the apartment and go sleep in the gazebo.

"Are you going to be done soon? Because I'd like to go to bed," Jess said.

"It's just a beautiful thing," Luke said. "You're so grown up. I'm so proud of you two for becoming such good friends."

"Can you stop saying friends like that? It's what we are."

"Mmhmm. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Jess scoffed. "You talking isn't going to help me."

"Right, right, I'm sorry." Luke's voice was anything but. However, it did get more serious after a moment. "Jess?"

The way Luke's tone had changed caught his attention. "What?"

"Don't throw this away just because of her dad." When Jess said nothing, Luke sighed. "She was talking to me about it earlier. I know you, kid. I know that you want nothing to do with her father and you don't want her having anything to do with him either. But don't ruin it because of that."

Luke knew he wasn't going to get a response from his nephew. The apartment was quiet as Jess heard Luke turn the TV off and get ready for bed. His mind was spinning, hearing both Luke and Marley's voices in his head. He knew what he was going to end up doing. He knew that eventually, it'd be fine for him and he'd get over himself, but Jess really didn't like the idea of doing any sort of business with Marley's dad. He really wasn't sure about this.

Jess wouldn't be sure until the next day when Marley approached him when she arrived for her afternoon shift at the diner. She gave him a number (one that seemed far too low for any apartment in Philly, in his opinion) and showed him the pictures her father had sent. He was only sure of himself when he agreed and saw the smile that took up Marley's face.

She was happy, and he figured that he could let himself be too.

✧✧✧

author's note: wowza. this was long and took forever to write, so apologies on my behalf for how late it was and how shitty the result is. it's been a wild couple of weeks for me.

i hope everyone is doing okay with all of this corona shit going on. me and my family are completely fine, as are my friends, but i was sent home from school and my state has started transitioning into a semi-quarantine of sorts. it's a fuckin scary time and i hope everyone has been taking the necessary precautions to be safe. we're gonna be fine, but it pays to be safe.

i'm hoping to get another chapter up soon, as i'm probably going to have nothing to do for the next x-amount of days. we'll see. hope this one was somewhat enjoyable!

love u all tons! please stay safe!
-mags