Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were walking toward Luke's for breakfast while Lorelai nursed her bandaged hand. "It still hurts!" She whined.

"Do you need stitches?" Rory asked concerned.

"Probably." Lorelai pouted.

"Well, then we should go to a doctor." Rory said.

"No way! You go into a hospital, you don't come out again!" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically.

"Drama queen." Charlotte said.

"I'm starving. I need pancakes." Lorelai changed the subject.

"Can I just ask you..." Charlotte started but Lorelai interrupted her.

"No."

"What on earth did you think you were doing?" Charlotte smirked.

"I thought I was being a self-sufficient woman." She pouted.

"But you hate ladders and you hate heights." Rory pointed out.

"We needed our rain gutters cleaned!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah but we could just hire someone. Someone who won't fall and kill themselves." Charlotte quipped.

"Oh, I'm fine! I'm just being dramatic. It's what I do." Lorelai said.

"No more ladders." Rory said sternly.

"I promise." She sighed.

"Good!" Rory said.

"I think I have gangrene." Lorelai said after a moment.

"Gross!" Charlotte screwed up her face.

"And vertigo."

"Oh boy." Rory said.

"And one leg suddenly feels shorter than the other."

"Let's go eat." Charlotte rolled her eyes and the three of them headed inside Luke's and sat down at a free table.

"God, I'm starving. Must be from the loss of blood." Lorelai said.

"Sure, that must be why." Charlotte smirked.

"I'm getting pancakes with a side of pancakes. Where's Luke?" Lorelai frowned looking round.

"I don't know. Storage room?" Rory said.

"Oh no!" Charlotte groaned.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"Caesar's cooking."

"Why is Caesar cooking?" Lorelai whined.

"How should I know?" Charlotte said.

"Urgh that's bad!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"His pancakes stink." Rory agreed.

"They do stink." Lorelai nodded. She looked around. "Wait here." She told them before running up the stairs to Luke's apartment. She knocked on his apartment door. "Luke, are you there?" She called.

"Ow!" Luke exclaimed from inside.

"Luke, are you okay?" Lorelai frowned.

"Stupid box! Stupid lamp!" He grumbled.

"Hey Luke, are you being attacked by your possessions again?" She joked.

Just then Luke opened the door looking stressed, with a sock on his shoulder.

"Hi." Lorelai grinned.

"Hi." He said.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm looking for my supply ledger."

"Is it going well?" She asked.

"It's going fine."

"You have a sock on your shoulder. Is it helping you look?" She joked.

Luke rolled his eyes and took the sock off. "What are you doing up here?" He asked.

"Charlotte, Rory and I are starving and we need you to cook us breakfast." She said walking into the apartment before stopping. "Whoa!" She said.

"Caesar can make you breakfast." Luke said.

"What happened to this place?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"This is what I always pictured the inside of my head to look like." She joked. "I've never see so much stuff!"

"See if you can find a brown leather ledger." He said.

"Why is it so messy and...full?" Lorelai asked.

"On second thoughts, I'll find it myself." Luke said dryly.

"Where did all this come from?" She asked.

"Jess." Luke sighed. "Liz shipped the rest of his stuff last week. He finally unpacked."

"Well, he did a very nice job." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"I know it's crazy now, but I just have to get it all organized, figure out where to put everything, buy another dresser, a portable wardrobe, some storage bins." He said. "It'll be fine."

"Do you also need a can of gasoline and a box of matches?" She joked.

"Did I mention that Caesar can cook you breakfast?" Luke said gruffly.

"But he doesn't make the good fluffy pancakes like you do!" Lorelai pouted.

"Then order eggs." He shrugged.

"No!" Lorelai exclaimed. She took a deep dramatic breath. "You see, I had a near death experience today." She said.

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I almost fell off the roof of my house trying to clean the rain gutters, so I have to have pancakes. Please? I'll help you shower when I become a superhero." She exclaimed melodramatically.

Just then, Jess appeared from the bathroom.

"You've been in there for two hours!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah, well my hair just ain't bouncing and behaving today." Jess said sarcastically.

"There are other people living here too, you know." Luke grumbled.

"Huh really? You learn something new everyday." He said before leaving.

"Well, his people skills are really improving." Lorelai said dryly.

"Go downstairs. I'll be there as soon as I can." Luke said.

"How long is that?"

"I don't know."

"An estimate?"

"I don't know!" He exclaimed.

"Ballpark figure?"

"Seriously?"

"Come on!" She whined.

"Will you just...?" Luke exclaimed.

"Did I mention that I almost fell off my roof today?" Lorelai exclaimed dramatically. "Come on, Luke! I need pancakes!" She then saw the brown ledger and picked it up. "Oh, is this what you're looking for?" She asked.

"Yes, great, thank you." He said trying to take it but Lorelai held it out of reach. "Lorelai!"

"Not unless you make me the pancakes!"

"Give me the book!"

"Give me the pancakes!"

Luke took an exasperated breath. "Fine! Come on." He said following her to the door.

"Thank you!" She grinned.

"Are you sure you weren't almost pushed off the roof of your house today?" He grumbled.

*******************************

That night, Lorelai was walking down the street with her two daughters. "Well, I think I'm finally ready to get a tattoo." She announced.

"Oh please." Rory scoffed.

"I am!" She protested.

"You've been saying that for the last five years." Charlotte pointed out.

"I know, but I mean it this time." She said.

"Ok, well what are you getting?" Rory asked not believing her.

"Mel Brooks." She grinned.

"Why?" Rory frowned.

"What do you mean, why? All the movies he's been in and you don't think Mel has earned the right to have his face on my butt?" Lorelai said.

"Ew gross!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"Oh, he'll love it, trust me." Lorelai grinned. "So, rocky road hot fudge sundaes and two cans of whipped cream to go with the movies?" She asked.

"Sounds good." Rory nodded.

As they passed the diner, Lorelai glanced through the window and noticed Luke sat at a table.

"Hey, look!" She said.

"What?" Charlotte asked.

"Luke." Lorelai said.

"What's he doing?" Charlotte asked intrigued.

"I'm not sure. Hey, will you go get the ice cream and make sure they give us a ton of maraschino cherries?" She asked handing them money.

"Ok." Rory said walking off with Charlotte.

Lorelai then walked inside Luke's and found Luke sitting at a table watching a very small television set. "Hey." She said.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Oh, well Charlotte, Rory and I just hit the video store and now we're on our way home to eat a large amount of something you would not approve of." She joked.

"Sounds good." He rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Watching tv." He said as if it was obvious.

"Ah. Wow, that's cute." She said. "Is this the first time it's been away from its mother?" She quipped.

"It's a good tv." Luke defended it.

"Well sure! Black and white, coat hanger antenna, really bad reception, what's not to like?" She joked.

"It's fine." He grumbled.

"Don't you have a fully grown TV upstairs?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, but Jess is upstairs."

"So?"

"So when Jess is upstairs, that means the stereo's blaring and the place is a mess. I just needed a little privacy." He said.

"So you came downstairs." Lorelai nodded.

"Yep."

"To sit on an uncomfortable chair in an empty diner that smells like onion rings." She joked.

"Yep." He repeated.

"Well sounds like a great evening!" She said.

"It was very peaceful until two minutes ago." Luke said dryly.

"Hey Luke, do you ever think that maybe you should get a bigger apartment?" She said.

"What? No, I don't need a bigger apartment." He protested.

"That place upstairs was your father's office. You turned it into an apartment. It was never meant to be lived in." Lorelai pointed out.

"It's fine." He grumbled.

"It's too small for two people. It's too small for one person if they have any kind of life."

"We'll make do. We just need to organize." He said.

"No, you don't need to organize. You need to move."

"I like my apartment!" Luke defended it.

"It's not just your apartment. Jess lives there also now." She said.

"Jess is fine."

"Are you sure? Because he could be pinned down under a box for a year in that place and you wouldn't know it until the neighbours started to complain about the smell and..." Lorelai was saying as Rory and Charlotte came in.

"Hey Luke." Charlotte smiled.

"Charlotte, Rory, perfect! Get her out of here." He said.

"What? But...urgh fine. I'm leaving." She said. "Think about what I said!"

"Oh, hey, did you ever hire anybody to do that work for you?" He asked as they were leaving.

"What?" Lorelai said confused.

"The rain gutters." He clarified.

"Oh! No, not yet." She said. "Why, are you offering?" She grinned.

"No. Actually, I was thinking about Jess." Luke said.

"Oh...uh...Jess?" Lorelai said surprised and suddenly not feeling as excited.

"Yeah, he's always looking for a little extra cash. He doesn't make that much here, and well I hate to think of where else he might try to get it, so..." Luke shrugged.

Charlotte looked at her mom hopefully. "Uh..." Lorelai tried to stall.

"You obviously don't have to pay him the same as you would someone else so you save a little and it will keep him busy." Luke said.

"Yeah, well...maybe." Lorelai cringed. "I will have to check with a couple of people I'm supposed to hear from, but if they can't do it, then sure." She lied.

"Great, just let me know." He shrugged going back to his tv.

"I will. Bye." She said quickly before leaving with Charlotte and Rory.

"So who are all these people you asked to clean out our gutters?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, well, you know..." She said.

"No I don't." Charlotte said.

"Yeah you do!"

"Remind me." She said.

"Ok, well, there's Sid." Lorelai said.

"Sure...Sid." Charlotte said.

"And then there's Lou." She continued.

"Of course." Charlotte said.

"Oh, and also Moose. That is, if Doris will let him out of the house again, you know, after that incident at Chicky's bachelor party." She joked.

"I thought you said you were going to give Jess a chance." Charlotte accused.

"I am!" Lorelai tried to protest.

"Then why won't you hire him?" Charlotte frowned.

"I'm just not very comfortable with him, Charlotte, I'm sorry!" She exclaimed.

"Well, try and get comfortable! Because he is my boyfriend. You're going to have to trust him at some point!"

"Well, I don't know if I can!" Lorelai said.

"But you said...God I can't believe you!" Charlotte exclaimed angrily.

"I know what I said, but I can't help it." Lorelai tried to defend herself.

"You don't know the real Jess. And you don't know the real Jess because you won't give him a chance!"

"Fine, I don't know him but I'm not too fond of his stand in." Lorelai said.

"People are different once you get to know them." Rory said deciding to step in as she could see Charlotte getting frustrated. "If you'll remember, you weren't too fond of Luke when you first met him."

"That's not true." Lorelai frowned.

"You called him Duke for two years just to make him mad." Rory pointed out.

"And let me tell you, it worked." Lorelai quipped.

"But then you guys talked and eventually, time went by, and now you love him. He's one of your best friends." Rory said.

"Well...I guess..." She admitted.

"Mom please! I'm just asking you to give Jess that same chance you gave Luke." Charlotte pleaded. "If you don't do it for him, do it for me. Please?"

"Charlotte, you're dating him. That doesn't mean I have to like him." Lorelai sighed.

"Urghh please! You're never like this with Rory's boyfriends! You thought Dean was amazing and you don't even know Tristan that well but you already think he's better than Jess!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"I never said that." Lorelai frowned.

"No but I know you. Anyone's better than Jess in your eyes. All I'm asking is that you give Jess the same chance you give Rory's boyfriends." Charlotte said. "Please mom! Just give him a second chance. Please?" She pleaded.

Lorelai sighed. "Can I at least call him Tess for a little while?" She relented.

"You'll give him the job?" Charlotte said perking up.

"I'll give him the job." She sighed.

"Thank you." Charlotte smiled. "You know, if you give him a chance, he might just surprise you."

"Hmm...yeah, maybe..." Lorelai said unconvinced.

*******************************

The following day, Luke and Jess were walking out of an apartment building after having viewed an apartment. "Forget it." Jess said.

"Why, what was wrong with that one?" Luke asked.

"It was pink."

"Well we could paint it." Luke said.

"You mean I can paint it." Jess said.

"No, we could paint it together."

"Great, then we can hold hands and skip afterwards." Jess said sarcastically.

"Fine, which one do you like?" Luke sighed.

"The one before." Jess said.

"The one with the two fridges?"

"No."

"Well, the one before was the one with two fridges."

"No, the one we saw before was the one with the cat." Jess said.

"I hate cats." Luke grumbled.

"Well, I don't think the cat came with the place." Jess said shaking his head.

"Yeah, but it had carpeting which means it's always going to smell like a cat." Luke pointed out.

"Clean the carpet."

"Paint the pink." Luke retorted.

"Fine, the one next to the bank." Jess gave an exasperated sigh.

"Too many windows." Luke shook his head.

"What?" Jess said confused.

"Six windows all on one side, three o'clock in the afternoon and we would be sitting in an oven." Luke explained.

"So we get curtains." Jess said as if it was obvious.

"Well, you'll have to help me put them up." Luke said.

"Great, then we can hold hands and skip afterwards!" Jess repeated.

"Stop saying that." Luke grumbled.

"You know what, I don't care. Pick whichever one you want." Jess said getting frustrated.

"I'm not picking by myself!"

"You're the one who wants to move!" Jess exclaimed.

"Oh, so you like living the way we do?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"Fine by me." Jess said.

"No space, no privacy." Luke pointed out.

"I've got plenty of privacy." He said.

"Yeah, because I'm sitting downstairs in the dark watching a two-inch tv!" Luke exclaimed.

"Hey, you're the one with the problem. You make the choice." Jess grumbled.

"Jess, come on!"

"I have to go." Jess said.

"We've got three more places to look at!"

"I'm supposed to be at Lorelai's in twenty minutes, remember?" Jess said.

"Oh. Yeah." Luke sighed.

"I mean, if you want me to bail on her, fine."

"No, you go. I'll look at the places alone." Luke said.

"Great idea." Jess said dryly.

"I'll take some Polaroids and you can take a look at them later."

"Take a Polaroid, paint a still picture, whatever you want."

"Jess, come on." Luke sighed.

"Hey, nobody asked me if I wanted to move to Stars Hollow, but I'm here!" He exclaimed. "Pick whatever place you want and I'll be there too." He said before walking off.

*******************************

Charlotte was shaking her head at the antics of her mom and sister as they got excited over their new digital clock which was spouting animal noises when there was a knock at their door. "I'll get it." She said. "Hey!" She smiled at Jess when she opened it.

"Here." He said tossing her a cd.

"That's the hello I get?" Charlotte said.

"Hi." He smirked.

"That's better." Charlotte grinned. She looked down at the cd. "The Shaggs?" She asked.

"Trust me." He said.

"Ok." She smiled. "So you're very punctual."

"Yeah, well it was either this or continuing apartment hunting with Luke." Jess said.

"You're moving?" Charlotte asked surprised.

"I don't know." Jess shook his head. "Luke flipped out last night and next thing I know, he's dragging me all over town banging on pipes and measuring square footage. It's crazy!"

"Well a new place might be nice. More space, maybe you'll get your own room." Charlotte smiled.

"Hmm yeah." He shrugged. "Did you change your hair?" He asked.

"What?" She asked.

"Your hair looks different." He commented.

"Ok, you need to learn how to segue." Charlotte joked.

"Is it?" He asked.

"Not really, I wear it like this a lot. Why?"

"Just looks different." He shrugged.

"Bad different?" Charlotte frowned.

"No. Nice different. Pretty." He said.

Charlotte smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh hey, ducks!" Lorelai exclaimed from the living room.

"Aw that's so cute!" Rory exclaimed.

"We got a new alarm clock." Charlotte told Jess.

"Huh. Bet I know what the lead story in the Stars Hollow Gazette is going to be tomorrow." Jess joked.

Lorelai and Rory then appeared from the living room. "Hey, did you hear the duck because they're so cute?" Lorelai grinned.

"Hey Jess!" Rory smiled.

"Hey." He said.

"Oh. Jess. You're here. Terrific." Lorelai said forcing a smile on her face.

"So, would you like to come in?" Charlotte asked Jess giving her mom a look.

"Oh, yeah, come on in!" Lorelai said leading him into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked trying to be civil. "You have good timing because we shopped yesterday, and in addition to a case of Maybelline Fresh Lash Mascara, I also bought some of that new freaky Coke with the lemon in it. It's very addictive." She rambled.

"You can sit, you know." Rory smiled at him.

"No thanks." He said.

"So, Jess, what's new?" Lorelai asked attempting to make conversation.

"Not much." He answered.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Jess and Luke are looking for an apartment." She told her mom.

"Oh, you guys see anything good yet?" She asked genuinely interested.

"Nope." He said.