THREE !
★・・・・・・★

☆.｡.:* "WHAT'VE A GIRL AND HER BABY GOTTA DO to get a cup of tea in this town?"

Jess' head snapped around from where he was fiddling with the coffee machine as soon as he heard Jane's voice.

She propped her elbow up on the counter, gently rocking Emma's pram with her other hand as she raised her eyebrow at her best friend.

"I sure as hell hope you're not giving my infant daughter caffeine, Bolan," Jess smirked, placing a mug down and leaning over to source a green tea bag as he called out for Caesar to boil some water, "I didn't think you got in 'til this afternoon?"

Jane shrugged, "Not yet. But she's going to be a tea-fiend just like her mama. And we left early because Eddie wanted to get lunch somewhere so he didn't have to do a full grocery shop. I'm meeting him at the inn, just wanted to swing by first."

"Tell him to come here for lunch," Jess suggested, slinging a towel over his shoulder and leaning over the counter to reach his hand out to Emma, whose tiny fingers grabbed at him immediately, "It's alright in here."

Jane knew Jess well enough to know that 'alright' was high praise indeed from him.

"Hi— if I may," a voice interrupted, and Jane caught a glimpse of Jess rolling his eyes before she turned to find a woman and a teenage girl staring at her inquisitively, "I've just seen Jess Mariano smile, make a joke, and then compliment Luke's. You must be Jane?"

Jane nodded, tight lipped.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Lorelai Gilmore... I'm a friend of Luke's. This is my daughter Rory," Jane eyed Rory carefully, noticing how her eyes flickered between herself and Jess, "We've heard a lot about you. Well, that's a lie. We've heard your name and have been dying to meet you. Oh and the baby! She's so sweet."

Jane was already growing tired of this interaction, but she smiled at the mother and daughter before her and let out a small chuckle, "Guess I get the co-parent-slash-best-friend privilege of Jess' false niceties. Nice to meet you both, this is Emma."

The teenager didn't like to be judgemental — particularly as a 17 year old with a baby who'd faced enough judgement of her own —  but something in Rory's air told her they weren't going to be best friends any time soon.

Lorelai seemed distracted now, totally taken with Emma, "She's adorable. She looks just like you. No signature Jess Mariano scowl."

Jess had been in Stars Hollow for three weeks, why on Earth was she acting like she'd known him for years?

Well — he'd clearly made an impression.

"Actually, when she smiles she looks a lot like him," Jane bit, chuckling to cover up the unintended rudeness her irritation had ignited, "It's a little annoying. Thanks though. Sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed by the move and all, not trying to be combative."

Lorelai shook her head, "Hey, I was your age when I had Rory. You don't have to apologise for being guarded talking about stuff."

Jane would've guessed that Lorelai was a young mother, and it somewhat pleased her to know that she had someone who understood her position — though she hoped Lorelai wasn't going to try and interfere too much.

"Oh, wow," her smile was small, but didn't go unappreciated by Lorelai who nodded and then looked over at Jess.

"Can we get some more coffee over there?"

"Whatever. I'll be over in a second."

"Ah, there's the Jess we know. Customer service connoisseur," Lorelai smiled, "Anyway, I work at the Independence Inn so if you need anything while you're settling in..."

Jane nodded, "Thanks."

Rory looked like she was going to say something, but she stopped herself. She followed her mother back to their table in silence as Jane turned back to Jess with wide eyes.

"You get used to it, everyone here is like it," he sighed.

Jane took a sip of her tea, eyeing him carefully, "You've made quite the impression then Holden."

Jess scoffed at the comparison.

"Everyone here is annoying," he said, though his eyes flickered over to Rory Gilmore as he did so.

Before Jane could ask about how he'd clearly taken some interest in her, a man dressed alarmingly similarly to Eddie came down the stairs.

"Luke?"

"The one and only."

"Oh you must be Jane," Luke smiled awkwardly, "It's good to meet you. Luke Danes."

He held out his hand across the counter to shake hers, and she chuckled gently at the formal action.

"Nice to meet you, thanks for taking care of this dipshit for me," she nudged Jess' side and he grunted.

"Hey! No swearing around the baby," Jess chided jokingly, to which Jane laughed, "Sure, advice from Gordon Ramsay over here."

"Gordon who?"

"I—never mind," Jane rolled her eyes, citing Jess' tendency to mock her love of cooking shows and avoid watching them at all costs, "Why didn't you tell me that Luke is, like, an Eddie clone?"

Jess shrugged, and Jane stifled a laugh as she watched Luke's features crinkle in confusion.

"Eddie's my, well kinda, my uncle. My legal guardian, anyway," Jane shrugged, acutely aware that all eyes in the diner were still on her, "I'll give him a call to tell him to come here now."

Her eyes flickered over the no phones sign and she hopped down from her seat, taking a small sip of her scalding hot tea before she reached for Emma's pram.

Jess leaned over, placing a palm on his best friend's bicep, "No, I'll come round and watch her while you call."

"You've got coffee to deliver," Jane quirked her brow over at where the Gilmore girls sat, still eyeing them carefully.

"Right," he flashed them a toothy feigned smile, "Well then Ems can help me. C'mon, I've missed my best girl."

Jane's heart always swelled at how he cooed at their little girl, his soft tone always a welcome surprise as it was reserved for her.

"Fine, I'll be two minutes," and off she went to stand outside.

She reemerged quite literally two minutes later, closely followed by the one and only Eddie Bolan, who'd already been turning onto the street when she picked up her phone to call.

"Eddie Bolan, meet Luke Danes," Jane's eyes flitted between the pair, who shared the same expression, "Who I struggle to believe isn't your long lost brother or something."

Jess grimaced, "I should fuckin' hope they're not. Wouldn't exactly bode well for us if the mother of my child was also my what, cousin a couple times removed?"

Jane rolled her eyes, shoving him gently before he picked Emma up from her pram and rested her on his hip, "Watch your language, man!"

While the pair bickered as they so often did, Luke and Eddie seemed to be deeply engaged in conversation — with Luke ogling at Eddie's truck situated just out front.

"Get back to work, kid," Luke shrugged, adjusting his cap as he began to lead Eddie outside, "You can argue with your girlfriend from the other side of the counter while Eddie shows me the truck. I'll be five minutes."

Jess scoffed, but obliged.

He handed Emma over to Jane and kissed her forehead as he headed back behind the counter, "She's not my girlfriend. How many god damn times!"

Nobody could ever quite grasp that they weren't together — not when they were best friends and co-parented so seamlessly.

But they liked the way things were.

They were easy, they were uncomplicated, and things had been largely unproblematic because neither of them had been in a relationship since Emma was born anyway.

Something in the way Rory Gilmore's eyes followed Jess' every move — not to mention how often Jess' eyes seemed to meet them — told Jane that that was all about to change, though.

★・・・・・・★

"So this is your room," Michel Gerard deadpanned, "Not sure why I had to show you all the way down the hallway when he has already checked you in, but enjoy."

He gestured to Eddie following them down the hall and heading into his own room next door, and Jane chuckled.

Jane had already taken a liking to Michel the very minute he seemed reluctant to provide any semblance of customer service.

Short and sweet and to the point — just how she liked any interaction.

"Thanks, Michel," she hummed, dropping her rucksack down in the room, "Sorry, the teen with a baby always inevitably gets treated like a baby herself. I'll be out of your hair now."

Michel just nodded, a small smile on his face as Jane shut the door behind herself and carried Emma over to the plush bed in the centre of the room.

"Welcome to our temporary home, Ems," she sing-songed, bouncing the infant on her knee as Emma gurgled and giggled at her, "We'll be in our new house before we know it, hm?"

Emma continued smiling amusedly at her mother as she fussed with her in an attempt to distract herself enough to quell the overwhelming anxiety she'd been awash with since arriving in Stars Hollow.

This whole new start could be good for them, she knew that.

But leaving behind her life as she knew it was still insanely daunting, and she feared that if Jess was settling in better than he cared to admit, she'd be swiftly left behind.

"We'll see, eh," she sighed, as though it was Emma communicating her inner monologue to her, and was interrupted by her cell phone ringing, "Oh, that'll be your dad I'm guessing. Won't leave us alone, huh?"

"What's up, Mariano?"

Jess sounded out of breath, quick to respond, "Just finished up at Luke's and wanted to see if your room is okay and you're settling in alright."

"I only just sat down, Jess," Jane could feel her eyelids growing heavy, "But the room's cute. No answer on settling in yet, I still feel anxious as hell but I probably just need a good night's sleep."

Jess hummed in agreement, "I get it, that's fair. What're your plans for
tomorrow?"

Jane groaned, recalling the conversation she had with Lorelai Gilmore when she arrived at the Independence Inn that evening.

"Rory will show you around, if you like?" she'd pried, and before Jane could decline, Eddie had nodded in agreement and told her Jane would love that.

He'd justified it after with an explanation that it was a chance for her to start making friends — but try as she might to stop being so prejudiced, she didn't exactly see Rory as a potential best friend.

"Lorelai Gilmore's daughter is giving me a grand tour, apparently," Jess could practically hear the rolling of her eyes as she spoke, "Would rather die, but Eddie insisted it's a good idea and he'll take care of Ems while I go."

Jess swallowed thickly, "Rory's giving you the tour?"

"Mhm," Jane could detect the weirdness in his reaction, "Is that an issue? The girl was staring at you the whole time I was at Luke's, so is there something I should know?"

"No, and I know what you're insinuating but she's got a boyfriend, for starters," okay, Jane would pretend not to have heard the disdain in his voice as he said the word boyfriend, "We had to go for dinner at the Gilmore's and it was fuckin' awful, but it means I've spoken to her a little."

"So she's not gonna be Emma's step mommy any time soon?" Jane teased, brow raised as she waited for his response.

"Get lost," Jess scoffed, "Abso-fuckin'-lutely not."

Jane remained sceptical, but didn't push it any further because she knew Jess would just be cagey if she did, "Alright, alright, I believe you."

She yawned, and she heard Jess yawn through the phone at the same time, "Bed time, huh?"

"I think so," Jane practically whispered, "You working tomorrow?"

"Nah," Jess matched her quietness as he replied, and in his moment of pause Jane could tell he was taking a drag of a cigarette, "Luke wants me to get a head start on homework. Fat chance of that."

"Can you show me around instead of Rory?" Jane knew she couldn't really get out of seeing Rory, but it was worth a try.

Jess chuckled, "I'll see what I can do. Now go get some sleep, Bolan. Say goodnight to Emma for me."

Emma was now cradled against her mother's chest, half asleep already.

"Night Jess," Jane yawned again, "See you tomorrow."

The line went dead, and Jane stared down at Emma for a moment in the silence of the room.

"C'mon sweetheart, let's get you ready for bed. It's been a long day."

★・・・・・・★★・・・・・・★★・・・・・・★

AUTHOR'S NOTE !
eeee i loved writing this chapter, this fic is so fun to write and i hope ur enjoying!
please let me know what you think <3

also lol i mentioned gordon ramsey and then remembered he was like ... just emerging when the show was on but i didn't want to take his mention out so there u go.

i hope you like the chapter — hopefully things will get going better soon! x