Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were stood inside Doose's looking at baskets on display. "This one?" Charlotte asked.

"Hmm..no." Lorelai said.

"Why?" Charlotte asked.

"It's too big, it raises expectations." Lorelai pointed out.

"Like there's actually a home-cooked lunch in there?" Rory nodded understanding.

"Instead of whatever is leftover in our refrigerator, exactly." Lorelai nodded.

"Ok, going back on the pile now." Charlotte said.

"Oh, it really is quaint, isn't it?" Lorelai grinned. "The women gets to make a nice lunch basket, the men get to bid on it, and the world rotates backwards on its axis."

"I think it's fun." Charlotte grinned.

"That's because you have a boyfriend to bid on your basket." Rory pointed out, jokingly, although Charlotte could see the sad smile on her sister's face.

"Did you tell him to eat lunch first?" Lorelai joked.

"Hi, I love him, of course! Hey, I'm gonna look in the back." Charlotte smirked.

"Alright, I'll hit the front." Lorelai nodded, heading towards the front of the store with Rory. They bumped into Miss Patty there. "Hey Patty. Shopping for baskets?" She smiled.

"Oh please, I bought my basket weeks ago." Miss Patty said.

"Always prepared." Lorelai joked.

"Well, I'm getting that itch again." She admitted.

"Oh no, Patty, you don't actually need another husband."

"Well, need...no...but want...well that's a different story. Listen darling, do you happen to have change for a dollar?" She asked.

"I think so." Lorelai said looking in her purse. "Here you go." She smiled.

"Oh, thank you so...urgh!" Miss Patty said dropping something out of her wallet.

"I got it." Lorelai smiled bending down to pick it up.

"Oh no, that's okay." She said quickly.

"This is a picture of me." Lorelai said, giving Rory a look as her daughter stifled a laugh.

"It is?" Miss Patty said innocently.

"Yeah. Why do you have a picture of me in your wallet?" Lorelai asked confused.

"Oh...well, it's a very nice picture..."

"Thank you. Why do you have a very nice picture of me in your wallet?"

"I'm a stalker?"

"Or?"

"Or when, in my daily travels, I run across a nice single guy..." She admitted.

"Oh god!" Lorelai exclaimed. "Shut up." She elbowed Rory who was laughing.

"I like to have a visual aid to help me with the wonderful build up I give you." Miss Patty said.

"Patty, I appreciate the gesture but I don't need you to try to set me up." Lorelai sighed.

"You're such a beautiful girl and you deserve a nice guy." Miss Patty said.

"I'll have a nice guy, but let me find him, okay?"

"But you're no good at finding him." She said sadly.

"Patty..." Lorelai sighed.

"Oh, alright." She sighed.

"Thank you. I'll keep this if you don't mind." Lorelai said taking the picture. She gave it to Rory. "Burn it." She said.

"Stubborn girl." Miss Patty said shaking her head.

Meanwhile, Charlotte was in the back looking at the baskets when Jess appeared behind her. "Not that one." He said.

Charlotte turned round and grinned. "You get no say in the basket."

"I have to bid on it." Jess said. "Which I still can't believe I actually agreed to."

"You agreed to it because you love me." Charlotte grinned but then she froze realising they hadn't actually said those words yet. She panicked that it would scare Jess away so she continued quickly. "And you have to eat what's inside it and you get no say in that either." She said quickly.

"Great." Jess smirked. "So are you free after this?" He asked.

"Uh I was but I want to go do something quickly." Charlotte said.

"Do what?"

"I want to go see Tristan." She said.

"You want to go see Tristan." Jess repeated slowly.

"Yeah...I need to ask him something." Charlotte said.

"You seem to be seeing Tristan a lot lately." Jess said.

Charlotte frowned. "He's my friend. I go to school with him. I'm allowed to go see my friends."

"Yeah seeing them every other day instead of spending it with your actual boyfriend. How do you think that makes me feel?" Jess said.

"Hang on, are you actually accusing me of liking Tristan? Of cheating on you with Tristan?" Charlotte exclaimed shocked.

"Well you seem to prefer spending time with him than with me." Jess snapped.

"I need to ask him something! It won't take very long and then I'll come find you!" She exclaimed.

"Don't bother." Jess said coldly. "Go enjoy your time with Tristan. Hey, maybe he will bid on your basket? Because your actual boyfriend has better stuff to do than get involved with this town's crazy traditions." He said before walking off.

"Jess!" Charlotte called after him. "Jess wait!" She exclaimed but he didn't look back as he exited the store.

"Everything ok?" Rory asked as Charlotte bumped into them.

Charlotte sighed. "Yeah..."

"Are you sure? Did Jess do something?" Lorelai asked concerned.

"No! Everything's fine." Charlotte snapped. "Here, I'm getting this one." She said giving her mom a basket. "Let's pay and get out of here."

"Ok." Lorelai said carefully, exchanging a look with Rory.

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

The day of the fundraiser arrived and Lorelai, Charlotte and Rory were walking down the street with their baskets. "You know what's wonderful about this festival?" Lorelai smiled.

"No, what?" Rory asked.

"That it always falls on the day after trash day. Therefore, all the stuff that you forgot to throw out that you would normally be stuck with for another whole week, you can instead put in a pretty basket and auction off for charity." Lorelai grinned.

"Yeah, that is wonderful." Charlotte said quietly.

Rory looked at her sister. She had been like this ever since yesterday when something had happened between her and Jess. "Are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Charlotte said.

"Charlie..."

"I'm fine!" She exclaimed.

Just then, Lane came running up to them so Charlotte was glad for the distraction."Ok, I've got it all worked out." Lane said.

"Tell please." Rory smiled.

"Well, I invited my cousin David to come and bid on my basket, you know, to keep my mother happy." She explained.

"Sure." Charlotte nodded.

"Then when he gets it, we tell my mom we're going to go eat over at the park where Henry's going to call on the pay phone at exactly two o'clock for the 'all is clear' sign. Then David, with the twenty bucks I give him, will disappear, Henry will arrive, and we'll finally have out first official date." She said excitedly.

"My head is spinning." Lorelai said.

"Sounds good though. You and Henry deserve a first date. You've waited so long already." Charlotte smiled at her friend.

"Thanks!" Lane grinned. "Stash this at Miss Patty's for me, ok?"

"Don't you need this for David to bid on?" Rory asked.

"Oh no, my mom packed that one. You know, homemade granola, wheat grass juice, soy chicken taco." She said.

"Hmm...suddenly our lunches are looking pretty good." Lorelai joked.

"This is the Henry basket. I went by Gianelli's and stopped in and picked up a couple of meatball heroes and some chips. I also packed a change of clothes, makeup, makeup remover, and three temporary tattoos." Lane said. "I've got to go. I have to sneak back into my house. Oh, I'm so excited!" She grinned running off.

"Ah man. I remember the days of lying to my mother about a boy. Once I had a boy hidden in the closet and of course Mom wouldn't leave, so I finally had to pretend to get sick to my stomach just to get her out of the room long enough for him to climb out the window and down the tree. He fell, broke his leg. Ah, to be young again." Lorelai smiled.

"Nice anecdote." Charlotte rolled her eyes.

A crowd was gathered in front of the gazebo filled with baskets. Taylor was stood at a podium in front as the auctioneer. "Now the next basket I have here is a lovely green wicker number that would be a charming addition to any room once the lunch is gone. Let's start the bidding at five dollars. Do I hear five?" Taylor asked.

"Five dollars." David said bidding on Lane's basket.

"Ok, I have five dollars. Do I hear ten?" Taylor asked.

"Ten dollars." Kirk said.

"Uh oh.." Rory smirked.

"Withdrawn." Kirk said as Mrs Kim glared at him.

"Ok, I'm still at five, do I hear ten?" He asked but go no answer. "Ok, five going once, five going twice, sold to the young man for five dollars. You know what's nice, you can put a couple of extra rolls of toilet paper in there and stick it someplace in the bathroom...decorative and convenient." Taylor advised. "Right now this next one may not look like much..." He said.

"Oooh it's mine!" Rory said.

"Nice." Lorelai nodded.

"...but remember people, good things come in small packages." Taylor continued.

"Geez, how badly does he want to be hosting a game show?" Charlotte said.

"Hmm, he can taste it." Rory said.

"Let's start the bidding at three dollars." Taylor said.

"Hey!" Rory called out indignantly.

"Five dollars." Dean called out.

"What?" Rory said in surprised turning to where Dean was stood. He gave her a friendly smile and shrugged. She smiled, knowing Dean was only trying to be friendly.

"Five dollars, do I hear ten dollars?" Taylor called.

"Ten dollars." Kirk called out.

"Oh great!" Rory groaned.

"Ok, I have ten dollars. Do I have fifteen?"

"Fifteen." Dean said.

"Fifteen dollars, do I hear twenty?" Taylor asked.

"Twenty." Dean said.

"Great! The only people I can get to bid on my basket is my ex-boyfriend and Kirk." Rory sighed.

"Twenty five dollars!" Another voice called.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Charlotte smiled.

Rory looked back and was surprised to see Tristan stood there. She turned to Charlotte. "Did you do this?" She asked.

"You seemed upset earlier when we were talking about this. Thought I'd help." Charlotte shrugged.

"Thirty dollars." Dean called out.

"Ok why is he still bidding?" Charlotte said turning to Dean.

"Thirty five dollars." Tristan said.

"Forty." Dean called out.

"Dean..." Rory said, glancing back at Tristan. Dean looked over at her and saw her smile when Tristan had started bidding. He looked back at him and nodded at him.

"Forty five dollars." Tristan said.

Rory was relieved when Dean seemed to have let Tristan win.

"Ok, we've got forty five going once, forty five dollars going twice...sold to the boy at the back for forty five dollars." Taylor said.

"I can't believe you got Tristan to come." Rory told Charlotte.

"You're glad he's here though, right?" Charlotte asked. Rory caught Tristan's eye when he walked down to retrieve the basket and couldn't help but blush when he gave him his trademark grin.

"Yeah...I guess so." She admitted.

Charlotte smiled. "I guess that's my sisterly job done then." She said.

Rory smiled at her. "Thanks." She said sincerely.

"Don't mention it." Charlotte said. "Ooh here's my basket!" She said.

Rory watched as Charlotte glanced around, obviously hoping to see Jess but he was nowhere in sight. She saw her face drop as Kirk proceeded to bid on her basket.

"Ok what happened with you and Jess? You were so happy and now...well you've been looking so upset." Rory said.

"It's nothing." Charlotte said quietly.

"It's not nothing." Rory said softly.

"Come on, tell me."

Charlotte sighed. "He got jealous that I was going to see Tristan. He said I was seeing him more than I was spending time with him. He thinks I prefer spending time with Tristan than him."

"What? That's crazy!" Rory exclaimed. Charlotte just shrugged. "Right, that's it." Rory said walking off.

"Rory! What are you doing?" Charlotte called.

"Helping my sister out." Rory said. She passed Dean on the way. "Hey, I've heard from Lane that Lindsey from your school likes you. She's got a basket coming up. Maybe you should bid on that?" She smiled.

Dean smiled. "I might just do that." He said.

"I'll be right back." Rory told Tristan as she headed to the diner. She burst through the doors and saw Jess stood behind the counter reading a book. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She exclaimed angrily.

"Excuse me?" Jess said looking out.

"Your girlfriend's out there devastated because her boyfriend can't be bothered to come and bid on her basket and now she will probably have to share a picnic with Kirk because he seems intent on bidding on everyone's basket." Rory said.

"It's none of your business." He said gruffly.

"It is my business, especially when my sister's all upset because you've been accusing her of cheating!" Rory exclaimed angrily.

Jess looked up. "She told you that?"

"Yes! And do you know why she went to see Tristan yesterday?" Rory said.

"Not really." He grumbled.

"Because she'd seen how sad I was because I had no one to bid on my basket. So she thought she'd cheer me up and ask Tristan to come and bid on it!" Rory continued, glaring at him. "She's not interested in Tristan. He's a friend to her, nothing more! She told me yesterday that she loved you. I guess she must have been wrong, huh? Well good riddance! She doesn't deserve you." She said angrily before storming out of the diner and heading back to the gazebo.

"Twenty dollars." Kirk said.

"Oh geez..." Charlotte groaned as Rory joined her. "Kirk keeps outbidding himself."

"What?" Rory asked amused.

"No one else is even bidding and he keeps upping his bid!" Charlotte exclaimed. "This is the guy I'm going to have to spend my afternoon with."

"Fifty dollars." A familiar voice said from the back.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Rory smiled.

Charlotte whipped her head round and was surprised to see Jess standing there. She turned to Rory. "What did you say to him?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Just what had to be said." Rory shrugged. "Have fun." She smiled before heading over to Tristan.

"Fifty five dollars." Kirk said.

"Seventy dollars." Jess called out.

Charlotte couldn't help but feel relief as Kirk seemed to stop.

"Seventy dollars going once, going twice...sold to the nice young hoodlum at the back." Taylor said.

Charlotte watched Jess go and retrieve the basket. She took a deep breath before walking slowly towards him. "Thought you said this was a crazy tradition?" She said.

Jess shrugged. "It's not so crazy." He said.

Charlotte crossed her arms across her chest stubbornly. "Not what you said yesterday. Along with a lot of other things..." She said.

"I shouldn't have said those things either." Jess said.

"Is that an apology?" Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "Because it's a pretty crappy one if it is."

"I'm sorry." He said.

"That's better." Charlotte said.

Jess sighed. "Rory explained why you went to see Tristan. I feel like a jerk." He said rubbing his hand through his hair.

"Good. You should." Charlotte said.

"I'm sorry ok?" Jess said.

Charlotte sighed and relented a bit. "I wouldn't cheat on you, Jess. And especially not with Tristan. Tristan's into Rory and Rory's into him. I would never cheat on you."

"I know." Jess said.

"You do?" She asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I was stupid and jealous and I took it out on you."

"Ok..." Charlotte said.

"So shall we?" He asked gesturing to the basket.

"Sure." She shrugged.

"Hey Charlie?" He said as they walked off together.

"Yeah?"

"I...I love you too." Jess said gruffly.

Charlotte turned to him in surprise. "What?"

"I love you and I'm sorry ok?" He shrugged. "Forgive me?"

Charlotte smiled slightly. "You buy me a pizza after this and some new paints and you have a deal." She joked.

Jess smirked. "Deal."

Charlotte grinned. "Come on, I've got the best idea as to where to sit." She said. She saw Jess wasn't moving. "What?" She asked.

"Look." Jess said gesturing over to the gazebo.

Charlotte looked over and grinned as she saw her mom dragging Luke out of the diner and over to where the baskets were being bid on. "Well that, I could see coming. Patty's been trying to set her up."

"Huh." Jess said amused.

"Come on." Charlotte smirked and they walked off together.

Meanwhile, Rory and Tristan were sat on the grass. "So...uh...thanks." Rory said.

"For what?" Tristan asked.

"For stopping me from having to share a picnic with Kirk." Rory smirked.

"You're welcome." He chuckled.

"So Charlotte told you about this?" Rory asked.

"She told me about how you would do this every year but you were a bit sad this year because...well I guess because you wouldn't have Dean to bid on it. She thought it might cheer you up." He shrugged.

"Look, I know we're just friends so I did this because you're a friend ok?"

"Ok." Rory said hiding a smile.

"Here." He said pulling something out of a bag that he was carrying. It was a take out bag from Luke's.

"Why did you get food from Luke's?" Rory asked.

"Because Charlotte also told me that if I wanted to live, I would bring my own food. I've heard you talking about Luke's before so I thought I'd buy stuff from there." He said.

"I'm offended!" Rory said indignantly. "I spent hours making this food!" She pouted.

"Really?" He smirked.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Ok maybe not! But I'm still offended."

"Will a cheeseburger from Luke's get you to forgive me?" Tristan smirked.

"Maybe." She smirked taking it. "Ok you're forgiven." She said as she started devouring it.

"I'm glad." He chuckled.

Rory looked across at Tristan. "So you came just because we're friends?" She asked cautiously.

"Well...yeah..." He said.

"No other reason at all?" She asked.

"Why?" He asked confused.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was sort of hoping you had an ulterior motive, that maybe you wanted to spend time with me..." She said.

"Wait a minute...you said..." Tristan started.

"I know." Rory said. "Guess I actually like hanging out with you. Don't tell anyone." She said with a slight smirk.

"Wow. Praise indeed." Tristan raised his eyebrows, feeling some hope.

Rory smiled at him. "Thanks for coming. This has been nice." She said sincerely.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." He shrugged.

Rory watched him and could see the sincerity in his face. "Hey Tristan?" She said quietly.

"Yeah?" He asked looking across at her.

Rory was quiet for a moment before leaning in and kissing him. She pulled back after a moment and blushed. "Sorry..."

"No. Don't apologise." Tristan said, surprised by the sudden change of events. "You have no idea how long I've wanted that to happen." He said.

Rory blushed. "I guess I've kind of been in denial." She admitted. "Sorry."

"It's ok." He said.

"You want a tour of the town?" She asked.

"Sure." He smiled.

"Well you've got yourself your personal tour guide. Come on, I'll show you the sights." Rory smiled.

"Lead the way." He smiled getting up and following her.

Meanwhile, over at the gazebo, Luke and Lorelai were sat next to each other on the bench. "I hope Sookie and Jackson will be ok." Lorelai said.