❝THE BRACEBRIDGE DINNER❞
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⋆𐙚₊˚⊹ chapter thirty-six,
Gilmore Girls — Season Two

December 11th, 2001

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[ LUCY'S POV ]

     SOMEHOW— I'M NOT SURPRISED— MY DAD FELL FOR LORELAI'S SWEET SMILE AND PUPPY-DOG EYES because now me, Jess and my dad have to attend an elaborate feast at the Independence Inn. The dinner is nineteenth century themed with servers dressed in old-timey costumes, and Squire Bracebridge is no other than Jackson Belleville.

     The whole dinner is elaborate, elegant, and extravagant. Lorelai sure knows how to plan an extraordinary event. I mean, she managed to get the majority of town into the dining room for this. Even Dad is here.

     My seat is conveniently in between Jess and Dad, but I really wish I was sat at the other end of the table, away from Jess.

     After the fight that he started in school— the fight me and Dean had to break up— I wasn't really in the mood to talk, especially to him. Sure, he was beating up Check Presby who, obviously, deserves whatever happens to him, but either way, Jess shouldn't be fighting. I would've excused the fighting Chuck thing if he hadn't tried to also start on Dean who was just an innocent bystander.

     I apologised to Dean repeatedly before I dragged Jess back to the diner, and now I have to sit through a million courses with him and Dad.

     I'm sitting across from Paris Geller who was invited by Rory. Lorelai's parents sit a little further down the table, and they seem happy. Richard Gilmore appears to be overly happy, and I question why. Mrs Kim and Lane sit across from Babette and Morey— bless them— and I look to Dean who sits with his little sister, Clara. I wave and smile politely, and then I lean back into my seat as I await for the luxurious food that Sookie cooked.

     Addy walks in— later than usual— with her mother and Addy takes a seat next to Jess, saying hello to him, and I'm surprised he speaks back. Nathan is sitting across the way with his parents, and he seems to be shooting daggers in our general direction— probably at Jess.

     Lorelai rushes into the room. "Before the, uh, button popping and the bloating can commence, say cheese." She holds a camera up, and we lean forward so she can snap a photo of the entire party who fit onto this awfully long table.

     She snaps the photo, and she smiles proudly before tucking it away. "Uh, now, ladies and gentlemen, damen and herren, um, the moment you've been waiting for, I give you the Bracebridge Dinner."

     I swear I'm about to cheer because I'm starving, but then Sookie rushes in, her face panicked. "Hold on a minute. We just need a quick minute, please."

     Well, she is the chef after all.

     Lorelai takes a seat next to Rory, and I glance next to me to see that Jess and Addy are in a conversation. They've become friends over the past few months, and while I'm completely fine with the fact, Nathan definitely isn't. He, like many other people in Stars Hollow High, don't like Jess, but I try hard to stay out of it.

     I've already warned him that if he hurts Addy, I'll hurt him.

     Dad nudges me, and I turn to face him. "So, Addy and Jess seem close, right?" I look back towards them, and I see Addy grin in amusement. Her mother is talking with whoever is on her side, and I wonder what she thinks about Jess and Addy being friends. In fact, I wonder if she knows Addy is friends with Jess.

     I nod. "Yeah. I don't think Nathan is pleased."

     Nathan has his fist closed around the tablecloth, and Dad snorts a laugh next to me. I roll my eyes, and nudge him, prompting him to shut up. He moves the subject along, and instead asks, "How did the tests go?"

     "Oh, fine," I reply causally, and Dad raises a brow because I've never described any kind of test as 'fine'. "Okay, they went really well. Amazing, actually." And I'm not exaggerating. Each test went smoothly, and after my English exam, I nearly cried in joy because the question was exactly what I anticipated.

     Dad smiles proudly. "I'm glad, kid. That's great."

     "I'm just relieved it's winter break." I'm completely exhausted, especially since this schedule has been keeping me up late, stressing about the littlest things. Now, I have the entire winter to catch up on sleep and spend time with those I really want to.

     I look over my shoulder at Jess again. "Is Jess not going home for Christmas?" I ask, my eyes turning back to Dad who shakes his head.

     "She didn't even call," he tells me.

     I frown, feeling annoyed for him because he should be at home in New York with his mother, but instead he's stuck in a town he hates with his uncle and cousin. Sure, living with him has started to become bearable, and we've worked out something of a system. Me and Jess get along to an extent, but we're not best friends, and we don't speak for longer than necessary. We're just friendly for convenience because arguing is far too exhausting.

     I hate that Liz didn't even call. I don't think she's called much since Jess came to Stars Hollow, and I hate that she doesn't seem to care about his wellbeing. He's her kid, she should care.

     I suddenly hear a trumpet blow, and I avert my attention to the sound. One of the servers stands at the end of the table, and he introduces the famous Squire Bracebridge— Jackson— who takes a seat at the head of the table.

     He surprisingly fits the part of Squire Bracebridge perfectly, and I question how he got the role. I imagine Sookie and Lorelai forced him into that outfit.

     The first dish of butternut squash is brought to the Squire, and we all watch as he takes the first mouthful. He and the server bicker back and forth in old English, and I find the entire concept of this to be entertaining. I love this idea, but I'm starving over here, and I need food.

     When Jackson says, "To the guests thou shall serve the soup!"

     I nearly cheer for the second time tonight, but then the bowl of soup is presented to me and I stare at it with confusion. Thankfully, I'm not the only one confused, because my family seems to be just as lost. Obviously, we don't eat fancy food often— at all.

     Jess leans in and whispers, "What's the white stuff?" to me and Dad.

     I frown, and I tilt my head as I look at the dish. "I think it's cheese," Dad says.

     "Or cream," I suggest. "Cream cheese..."

     "And the green stuff?" Jess asks, and I laugh at how fooled we are.

     "I think it's best picked off."

     Collectively, the three of us pick off "the green stuff" from our soup, and I smile, more satisfied with the dish. I catch the eyes of Paris across the table, and I smile politely as I reach for my spoon but she doesn't smile back. Okay...

     I place the spoon into the bowl, and I move it around for a quick second, and the cheese or cream disappears into the orange liquid. "We should've eaten before we came," Jess says to me, and I glance over at him to see his mimicking my actions.

     "Totally," I agree quietly.

     Don't get me wrong, Sookie's food is incredible, but you really have to be in the right mood to eat it.

     Despite our bickering, me, Jess and Dad eat the soup quietly and we eat the next dish after that, and the dish after that. With each dish, we have at least one thing to debate about.

     I speak with those around me as we go through each course. Me and Dad talk about school, about the upcoming plans for the holidays, and then I move my conversation over to Addy and Jess who haven't stopped talking since sitting down. I talk to Addy about the Christmas dance recital in Hartford this week, and Jess invites himself.

Addy's face lights up, so I can't punch Jess and tell him not to come. Addy wants him to come, and since Nathan isn't coming, I know she wants everybody there. Patty is going, my dad is going, I'm going, and now Jess is going. How fun, right?

Desert is served, and I eat it quickly so I can get upstairs and go to sleep. I'm exhausted— God knows why— and I just want to curl up into bed. Annoyingly, I'm sharing a room with Dad and Jess, just like always. The room only has two queen sized beds, meaning Jess and Dad have to share but they've planned to set up a pillow barrier in between. I rolled my eyes earlier at the dramatics of it all.

I'll be getting my own double sized bed. I've never slept in one, and the idea is exciting.

     I just feel like this feast has been going on for far too long, and I'm ready to crash.

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    I EXCUSE MYSELF AFTER DESSERT, and Addy follows me up to my room. She isn't ready to sleep in the same room as her mother, so she begs me to invite her to my room for an hour before she has to face the wrath of her mother. Dad is downstairs socialising and I have no idea where Jess went. I didn't ask questions when he rose from the table and walked off, I just let him walk off. I don't care where he goes.

     I'm stretched out on my giant queen sized bed while Addy sits crosslegged on the floor for some strange reason. Again, I don't ask questions.

     "You know, Jess is pretty cool," Addy says, and I stare down at her strangely. Out of all the words I'd used to describe Jess, "cool" is not one of them.

     "Yeah..." I reply hesitantly. "Nathan doesn't seem too happy that you're talking to him."

     "Nathan's been a bit..." She pauses, her eyes darting to the door to see if it'll open and Nathan will somehow walk in upon hearing her quiet tone. "I don't know, insufferable recently."

     I sit up, leaning back on my elbows. "Really?"

     "He just seems so annoyed at every little thing I do. I mean, I've had to prepare for this winter dance, and he's been calling me, like, twelve times a day and coming by the house when I'm not even in. My mom ain't happy about it." I've never pegged Nathan to be the jealous and overprotective type, but perhaps I had him all wrong. It doesn't sound like him, but I believe Addy over anyone in a heartbeat. "I'm just getting a little..."

She pauses, so I fill in the gap, "Annoyed?"

"Yeah," she sighs. "Is that bad?"

I shake my head. "No, of course not," I assure her, because it's okay to have these feelings. I mean, she and Nathan have been together for quite some time, and I guess it's understandable to have doubts. Every relationship inevitably has them, right?

"I mean, you have the picture-perfect relationship. What do you know?" she laughs weakly, and I offer her a sympathetic smile. "Sorry. I just wish we could be like what we were before, you know?"

"I know," I whisper back. "Do you still want to be with him?"

Addy shrugs, her fingers toying with the end of her dress nervously. "I don't know."

"Well, you know I'm here for you, whatever you decide to do," I tell her, but she already knows that I won't be going anywhere. I've got her back for life, she knows this. "You're going to be okay, Ad, and I think it's nice to see you bonding with Jess." I mean that. Since Jess has come to town, he's not really spoke with anybody other than Rory Gilmore, so I think it's nice to see him reaching out to Addy. She is a great person after all.

"He's a nice guy." Again, "nice" is not a word I would personally use to describe Jess, but whatever. "It's been nice making a new friend, but nobody will ever be as good as my first." She glances up at me, and I smile proudly.

Nobody will ever compare to Addy even if I make a million friends in my lifetime. She's my platonic soulmate— my ride or die for life.

I lay back down, and I stare up at the ceiling, realising there's something I need to tell Addy to move this conversation away from the sadness and disappointment. "Oh, Tristan invited me to his family Christmas dinner."

Addy chuckles. "What? The whole family?"

I wince, placing my hands over my face. "Cousins and all," I admit, groaning into my palms, and I head Addy laugh. She's laughing at my misery and agony.

Tristan called me last week to invite me to the Dugray Christmas dinner which is taking place next week. Stupidly, I agreed without considering the fact that I'll be meeting not just his mom and dad but his entire freaking family. I mean, his cousins are going to be there along with his aunt and uncle. I'm slightly terrified, especially since Tristan's parents haven't made any attempt to know me over the past year. Like, I've been dating their son for a year, and they're going to only be meeting me next week for the first time.

What's worse is that my freaking father has also been invited. My father, Luke Danes has been invited to a fancy Christmas dinner in the land of cotillions and luncheons. Tristan thought it would be best for our parents to finally meet, but I'm shaking at the idea.

I had to ask my dad if he would want to go a few days ago, and he instantly agreed which was shocking enough. I expected him to do anything to get out of this thing, but he agreed without hesitating for a second. He actually wants to go an event that requires him to wear a tie and take off the cap.

When Tristan asked if Jess wanted to come, I nearly threw my cellphone across the room. Thankfully, Jess immediately said no, but wanted me to bring back food. He knows the correct answer, unlike my dad.

"What's worse is that Dad is coming," I add on, and Addy's laughter only increases in volume. "Addy, stop laughing."

"I'm—" She snorts. "I'm sorry. Luke is going. Oh, can we say I'm your sister so I can go to this thing. Please."

I shake my head, amused but frustrated. "No, if you were there, I wouldn't make it through the night without crying."

"It's not going to be as bad as you're thinking," Addy tells me, but she doesn't know just how bad I'm imagining this night to be. His family don't know me in the way Tristan does, so I can't even imagine what they'll say to me.

"What if they hate me?" I voice my insecurities to the Addy— one of the only person who really understands me. "I mean, they've made no attempt to meet me and it's been a year, Addy. Now they want to meet me and my dad. I'm freaking terrified, and I think I should be."

"I'm sorry, how can anyone hate you, Luce? Seriously, have you met yourself? You're literally the most perfect person. If I had a son, I'd want him dating somebody just like you. Tristan is extremely lucky to have you, and his parents better realise that or I'll..." She pauses, shrugging her shoulders. "I'll deal with them."

I glare over at her. "I dread to think what that could mean."

"I'm just saying, they'll get what's coming to them if they hate on you, honey."

I laugh. "God, I hope you never change, Ad. You're pretty incredible, you know that?"

"I do know that, but it's nice to be reminded."

I look over at her, and I see that she's dropped her hand to stare at her fingers that continue to pull at the ends of her dress. "Hey," I whisper, prompting her to lift her head. "Everything is going to be okay, I promise. Whatever is happening with you and Nate will... pass, and if it doesn't, I'm here for you, okay?"

"Thank you," she whispers back, offering me her usual smile. "I love you a lot, Luciana Danes."

"Right back at ya, Adelaide Sloane."

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authors note:

jess and addy anyone...?

ALSO, on that note... would anyone like Adelaide's book? Considering— Okay, already kind started writing one :)