Gone Fishing
Title: Gone Fishing
Written for: fanfic100
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Character(s): Jess Mariano (Luke Danes)
Prompt: 051. Water.
Word Count: 1559
Rating: PG
Summary: “Stop complaining and come help me with the boat.”
Author's Notes: Post 6x22, with spoiler warning if you haven’t seen that far. For Sandi, who wanted a fic with Jess and Luke fishing. I hope this qualifies. *huggles for Leigh*
Disclaimer: I never have and (sadly) never will own anything related to Gilmore Girls or Jess Mariano.
“How the hell did you get me to agree to this?”
“Actually, I didn’t have to do anything,” Luke pointed out. “It was your idea.”
“I did not suggest this,” Jess argued, with a slightly disgusted look at their surroundings.
“You said, and I quote: We’ll go wherever, I don’t care, just as long as you stop sitting around in this apartment like a zombie.”
“That wasn’t even close to a quote,” Jess protested.
“Fine, I edited the language a little. That’s not the point.”
“And just for the record, I did not mean for you to drag me out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Stop complaining and come help me with the boat.”
Jess glared, but helped push the boat into the water. Then he grudgingly carried a backpack and one of the fishing rods down to it and climbed in.
Luke got in too and rowed them out while Jess looked almost sadly at the shore, and then sighed deeply.
Somewhere in the middle of the lake Luke stopped rowing, retracted the ores and let the boat drift by as it wished. Then, to Jess’ disgust, Luke picked up his fishing rod, uncorked the hook and fished up a worm from the jar, threading it on the hook.
Luke didn’t seem to notice though and threw the hook out over the water, settled down in the boat with a loose hold on the rod and watched the scenery.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked after a couple minutes of silence.
“There are too many flying…things around here, and apparently most of them enjoy biting me,” Jess answered, keeping his eyes from the still open jar of worms.
“You should feel honored.”
“That I’ve got itching bite marks all over me?”
“That they apparently think your blood smells good.”
“Oh great. At least if the world gets invaded by vampires, I’d be very popular.”
“And probably dead.”
“Thanks, that’s very helpful.”
“You’re welcome,” Luke said and almost smiled for the first time in two days.
Jess sighed and waved ineffectually after another flying intruder before opening one of the backpacks and taking out a sweatshirt. He sighed and pulled it over his head, already knowing how warm he’d be in just minutes.
Then he pulled out his book and sat down to read.
An hour or so later he had gotten enough of Luke hassling him about reading instead of fishing and reluctantly put the book away. He sat still for a while, watching Luke who sat at the other end of the boat and watched the little white floaty thing intently. Then he unhooked the line and put his rod over the edge of the boat and went back to reading.
“Aren’t you gonna watch it?” Luke asked a while later, once again interrupting him.
“Nope,” he said, continuing to read.
“What if something bites?”
“It won’t.”
“What?” Luke asked, clearly confused and he sighed, lowering the book once again.
“Well, there’s no hook on the line, and even if there were there’s no way I’d voluntarily put a worm on it.”
“So why did you put it out?”
“Because I couldn’t read with you nagging at me all the time.”
“You don’t want to catch a fish?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Why not?”
“Because fish is something you go and buy in the store, in neat little packages. That way you don’t have to do all this crazy stuff like sitting in a boat a whole day watching a little ball float on the water.”
“So you’re just gonna sit there and read the whole day?”
“Uh, yeah.”
He could feel Luke’s eyes on him as he turned his attention back to the book, but he didn’t say anything.
Jess only had a couple pages left when Luke made a jolt that shook the boat and startled him enough to almost drop his book.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, steadying himself by holding on to the railing of the boat.
“Fishing.”
“That usually the same as almost capsizing the boat?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Luke scoffed, continuing to roll the line in.
Jess glared at him, but he didn’t notice, too occupied with what he was doing.
“You could make yourself useful and help me catch this fish.”
“Uh, no way.”
“What?”
“Another perk with getting your fish at the store is that you can just dump it right into the pan without actually having to touch it.”
“When did you get so queasy?”
“I didn’t get anything.”
“Huh.”
“I just don’t like touching smelly and slimy things, ok.”
“And that should come from the guy who used half a jar of gel in his hair,” Luke said amused.
“I did not,” Jess protested indignantly.
“Oh, you did.” Luke smiled at him before turning back to winding the fish in.
“Shut up.” Jess glared and demonstratively turned away and opened his book back up.
Jess studiously ignored Luke’s chuckles and kept reading. By the time he finished Luke was once again watching the white ball floating on the water. He quickly scanned the boat for any sign of the fish, but didn’t find any.
“What happened to the fish?” he asked.
“I let it go.”
“Huh?”
“No need in keeping it. I packed food from the diner.”
Jess stared at Luke. “So why are we here then?”
“I like it here.”
“Huh.”
“Just read your book.”
“I finished it,” Jess shrugged.
“So start one of the others.”
“How did you know I packed more than one book?” Jess asked suspiciously.
“Please,” Luke scoffed. “The way you were staring at those books before we left? No way you were just gonna take one of them.”
“Huh.”
“Would you stop saying that and start reading already?”
“Aye, aye Captain,” Jess saluted him and pulled out another book from his backpack.
Luke just glared and shook his head and they continued sitting in silence.
“I screwed up,” Luke suddenly said and Jess froze.
“What?”
“Lorelai asked me to elope, and I said I needed to think about it.”
“That’s…”
“Stupid?” Luke asked, looking up briefly.
Jess looked at him for a second and then gave a small nod.
“I know,” Luke agreed with a sigh.
“Then why…?” Jess trailed off with a small gesture of his hand.
“She gave me an ultimatum; now or never.”
“Oh, geez.”
“I panicked.”
Jess nodded again, this time more to himself. “Yeah well, I know that feeling,” he mumbled.
“What?
“Uh, nothing.”
Luke stared at him for a second, but didn’t ask again and they both grew quiet.
“She went to Christopher,” Luke suddenly said, breaking the silence once again.
“She what?” Jess stared at his uncle in utter disbelief.
Luke just nodded, looking down at his hands.
“You want to…? Jess started, but didn’t finish.
Luke looked up briefly, but then shook his head, looking down again and Jess nodded to himself.
“She came to tell me the day after,” Luke said, almost inaudibly.
Jess looked up, eyeing him carefully, but didn’t say anything.
“She was crying and rambling and I just stood there, too stunned to react. I couldn’t get a single word out and then she left.”
Jess opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, realizing he had no idea what to say.
“I still don’t know what to think. Or feel.”
Luke took a deep breath and looked up. “I want to forgive her, but I don’t know if I can,” he finished, looking down again.
“You should talk to her,” Jess said carefully.
“I can’t…” Luke started protesting.
“You can, you just have to do it.”
“It’s not that easy…”
“It is if you want to.”
Luke sighed and shook his head a little.
“Look, if you don’t talk to her you’ll just walk around miserable and then you’re gonna regret it and that’ll be even worse.”
Luke glanced at him and looked to be about to say something.
“Trust me, I know, ok.”
Luke just nodded and they sat in silence, looking out over the water.
“You still haven’t talked to Rory?” Luke suddenly asked.
Jess snapped his head around, staring at him for a second and then he looked back out over the lake and shook his head.
“You never told me what happened after I left.”
“There’s nothing…” Jess began, but Luke cut him off.
“Don’t tell me nothing happened. I know very well something did.”
“Not much to tell.”
Luke looked at him expectantly and Jess looked down, shrugging.
“We talked, I kissed her, she kissed me back, she freaked out, told me the idiot she’s dating cheated on her, but she loved him none the less and then she left.”
“Jess…”
“I know. I’m an idiot, I should learn some day, right?”
“Well…”
Jess sighed and shook his head. “I don’t even know if it’s still her or just my memory of her.
“You should…”
“Figure it out?”
“Yeah.”
“I know. It’s just not that easy. And sometimes I’m not really sure if I want to find out.”
Luke nodded thoughtfully and looked out over the lake. “What do you say we get back to land, eat some dinner and go back to Stars Hollow?”
Jess stared for a second, but then nodded and moved to the middle of the boat. “Great. Let’s go,” he said and started rowing.
Written for: fanfic100
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Character(s): Jess Mariano (Luke Danes)
Prompt: 051. Water.
Word Count: 1559
Rating: PG
Summary: “Stop complaining and come help me with the boat.”
Author's Notes: Post 6x22, with spoiler warning if you haven’t seen that far. For Sandi, who wanted a fic with Jess and Luke fishing. I hope this qualifies. *huggles for Leigh*
Disclaimer: I never have and (sadly) never will own anything related to Gilmore Girls or Jess Mariano.
“How the hell did you get me to agree to this?”
“Actually, I didn’t have to do anything,” Luke pointed out. “It was your idea.”
“I did not suggest this,” Jess argued, with a slightly disgusted look at their surroundings.
“You said, and I quote: We’ll go wherever, I don’t care, just as long as you stop sitting around in this apartment like a zombie.”
“That wasn’t even close to a quote,” Jess protested.
“Fine, I edited the language a little. That’s not the point.”
“And just for the record, I did not mean for you to drag me out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Stop complaining and come help me with the boat.”
Jess glared, but helped push the boat into the water. Then he grudgingly carried a backpack and one of the fishing rods down to it and climbed in.
Luke got in too and rowed them out while Jess looked almost sadly at the shore, and then sighed deeply.
Somewhere in the middle of the lake Luke stopped rowing, retracted the ores and let the boat drift by as it wished. Then, to Jess’ disgust, Luke picked up his fishing rod, uncorked the hook and fished up a worm from the jar, threading it on the hook.
Luke didn’t seem to notice though and threw the hook out over the water, settled down in the boat with a loose hold on the rod and watched the scenery.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked after a couple minutes of silence.
“There are too many flying…things around here, and apparently most of them enjoy biting me,” Jess answered, keeping his eyes from the still open jar of worms.
“You should feel honored.”
“That I’ve got itching bite marks all over me?”
“That they apparently think your blood smells good.”
“Oh great. At least if the world gets invaded by vampires, I’d be very popular.”
“And probably dead.”
“Thanks, that’s very helpful.”
“You’re welcome,” Luke said and almost smiled for the first time in two days.
Jess sighed and waved ineffectually after another flying intruder before opening one of the backpacks and taking out a sweatshirt. He sighed and pulled it over his head, already knowing how warm he’d be in just minutes.
Then he pulled out his book and sat down to read.
An hour or so later he had gotten enough of Luke hassling him about reading instead of fishing and reluctantly put the book away. He sat still for a while, watching Luke who sat at the other end of the boat and watched the little white floaty thing intently. Then he unhooked the line and put his rod over the edge of the boat and went back to reading.
“Aren’t you gonna watch it?” Luke asked a while later, once again interrupting him.
“Nope,” he said, continuing to read.
“What if something bites?”
“It won’t.”
“What?” Luke asked, clearly confused and he sighed, lowering the book once again.
“Well, there’s no hook on the line, and even if there were there’s no way I’d voluntarily put a worm on it.”
“So why did you put it out?”
“Because I couldn’t read with you nagging at me all the time.”
“You don’t want to catch a fish?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“Why not?”
“Because fish is something you go and buy in the store, in neat little packages. That way you don’t have to do all this crazy stuff like sitting in a boat a whole day watching a little ball float on the water.”
“So you’re just gonna sit there and read the whole day?”
“Uh, yeah.”
He could feel Luke’s eyes on him as he turned his attention back to the book, but he didn’t say anything.
Jess only had a couple pages left when Luke made a jolt that shook the boat and startled him enough to almost drop his book.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, steadying himself by holding on to the railing of the boat.
“Fishing.”
“That usually the same as almost capsizing the boat?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Luke scoffed, continuing to roll the line in.
Jess glared at him, but he didn’t notice, too occupied with what he was doing.
“You could make yourself useful and help me catch this fish.”
“Uh, no way.”
“What?”
“Another perk with getting your fish at the store is that you can just dump it right into the pan without actually having to touch it.”
“When did you get so queasy?”
“I didn’t get anything.”
“Huh.”
“I just don’t like touching smelly and slimy things, ok.”
“And that should come from the guy who used half a jar of gel in his hair,” Luke said amused.
“I did not,” Jess protested indignantly.
“Oh, you did.” Luke smiled at him before turning back to winding the fish in.
“Shut up.” Jess glared and demonstratively turned away and opened his book back up.
Jess studiously ignored Luke’s chuckles and kept reading. By the time he finished Luke was once again watching the white ball floating on the water. He quickly scanned the boat for any sign of the fish, but didn’t find any.
“What happened to the fish?” he asked.
“I let it go.”
“Huh?”
“No need in keeping it. I packed food from the diner.”
Jess stared at Luke. “So why are we here then?”
“I like it here.”
“Huh.”
“Just read your book.”
“I finished it,” Jess shrugged.
“So start one of the others.”
“How did you know I packed more than one book?” Jess asked suspiciously.
“Please,” Luke scoffed. “The way you were staring at those books before we left? No way you were just gonna take one of them.”
“Huh.”
“Would you stop saying that and start reading already?”
“Aye, aye Captain,” Jess saluted him and pulled out another book from his backpack.
Luke just glared and shook his head and they continued sitting in silence.
“I screwed up,” Luke suddenly said and Jess froze.
“What?”
“Lorelai asked me to elope, and I said I needed to think about it.”
“That’s…”
“Stupid?” Luke asked, looking up briefly.
Jess looked at him for a second and then gave a small nod.
“I know,” Luke agreed with a sigh.
“Then why…?” Jess trailed off with a small gesture of his hand.
“She gave me an ultimatum; now or never.”
“Oh, geez.”
“I panicked.”
Jess nodded again, this time more to himself. “Yeah well, I know that feeling,” he mumbled.
“What?
“Uh, nothing.”
Luke stared at him for a second, but didn’t ask again and they both grew quiet.
“She went to Christopher,” Luke suddenly said, breaking the silence once again.
“She what?” Jess stared at his uncle in utter disbelief.
Luke just nodded, looking down at his hands.
“You want to…? Jess started, but didn’t finish.
Luke looked up briefly, but then shook his head, looking down again and Jess nodded to himself.
“She came to tell me the day after,” Luke said, almost inaudibly.
Jess looked up, eyeing him carefully, but didn’t say anything.
“She was crying and rambling and I just stood there, too stunned to react. I couldn’t get a single word out and then she left.”
Jess opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, realizing he had no idea what to say.
“I still don’t know what to think. Or feel.”
Luke took a deep breath and looked up. “I want to forgive her, but I don’t know if I can,” he finished, looking down again.
“You should talk to her,” Jess said carefully.
“I can’t…” Luke started protesting.
“You can, you just have to do it.”
“It’s not that easy…”
“It is if you want to.”
Luke sighed and shook his head a little.
“Look, if you don’t talk to her you’ll just walk around miserable and then you’re gonna regret it and that’ll be even worse.”
Luke glanced at him and looked to be about to say something.
“Trust me, I know, ok.”
Luke just nodded and they sat in silence, looking out over the water.
“You still haven’t talked to Rory?” Luke suddenly asked.
Jess snapped his head around, staring at him for a second and then he looked back out over the lake and shook his head.
“You never told me what happened after I left.”
“There’s nothing…” Jess began, but Luke cut him off.
“Don’t tell me nothing happened. I know very well something did.”
“Not much to tell.”
Luke looked at him expectantly and Jess looked down, shrugging.
“We talked, I kissed her, she kissed me back, she freaked out, told me the idiot she’s dating cheated on her, but she loved him none the less and then she left.”
“Jess…”
“I know. I’m an idiot, I should learn some day, right?”
“Well…”
Jess sighed and shook his head. “I don’t even know if it’s still her or just my memory of her.
“You should…”
“Figure it out?”
“Yeah.”
“I know. It’s just not that easy. And sometimes I’m not really sure if I want to find out.”
Luke nodded thoughtfully and looked out over the lake. “What do you say we get back to land, eat some dinner and go back to Stars Hollow?”
Jess stared for a second, but then nodded and moved to the middle of the boat. “Great. Let’s go,” he said and started rowing.