New story, it's AU, and the rest I think you can gather from the text. I hope you enjoy it! Please review, criticism is welcomed.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with Gilmore Girls, except for my original characters.
Chapter: 1
1992
Rory closed her eyes contentedly, a slow smile spreading across her face, exposing most of her teeth. Her tongue reaches up to feel the newest loss, softly probing the soft flesh of her gums.
She'd bounded out of bed like a madwoman, waving her arms triumphantly in the air, a quarter clutched in each fist.
"Mom, she came, she came! The tooth fairy left me two quarters!"
Lorelai let out a small 'oomph' as a mass barreled through the air, landing smack dab in the middle of her stomach. She laughed happily as her daughter's rumpled head popped up over the covers, toothlessly beaming. "She did huh?"
"Yes! Can we go to Doose's and get a gumball? Please?" The eight-year-old gave her best pout, holding her mother's face between her slightly chubby hands.
Lorelai grinned and pulled her daughter close to her, the little girl squealing with delight. "You keeping eating so many gumballs and you won't have any teeth left to give."
Rory blushed and looked at her mom sheepishly. "Please?" She pleaded excitedly.
"Okay. But only one. Your grandmother's been giving me a fit about your 'grotesque junk consumption' as she puts it." Lorelai rolled her eyes. She threw the covers back with a yawn, stretching slowly.
"Thank you Mommy!" Rory smiled and planted a sloppy kiss on Lorelai's cheek. She scurried out of bed and to the doorway. She paused as she waited patiently for Lorelai to crawl out of bed. "Do you think we can get one for Lane too?"
Lorelai let out an incredulous snort of laughter. "Ha, I don't think that's gonna fly kid. Remember what happened last time?"
Rory thought back to when she'd given Lane a gumball without Lorelai or Mrs. Kim's permission, resulting in a very sticky situation involving loss of hair, months of regrowth, and very angry moms. She sighed in resignation. "I guess not."
"Go get dressed." Lorelai kissed the top of her head before giving her a soft pat on the back. "I'll be down in a minute."
Rory chewed happily, pursing her lips to blow a bubble. It popped unexpectedly; cherry flavored gum stuck to her chin and nose. She giggled quietly, stretching her mouth widely to detach the sticky substance. She continued to chew, thinking over her pleasant morning. She swung her feet gently, kicking up pebbles every time the toe of her shoe caught the ground. She locked her arms firmer around the chains, ensuring her balance as she softly turned another page of 'The Indian in the Cupboard'.
Even though she was only in the second grade, her teacher had excitedly informed her mother she was already on a fourth grade reading level. Lorelai had thrown her a party the following weekend, inviting all her closest friends. She'd hung a banner that stated 'My Daughter's a Genius', refusing to take it down for another two whole weeks, until Rory's incessant begging had forced her to concede.
"Be proud kid! This is an amazing thing you did!" Lorelai hugged her close.
"Mom," Rory whined, scrunching her nose and leaning away from Lorelai's clutch, "I didn't do anything. I just 'read on a higher level'." She stated, recalling the words her teacher had used.
"That is something. You are the most amazing girl and I am so proud to call you mine. My little Einstein." She squealed with pride and pulled Rory close, ignoring her shouts of protest.
The sun was warm and refreshing on her porcelain skin. She sighed softly with a private smile. It would be summer vacation soon, which was a little disappointing and exciting all at the same time. She loved school, but she loved playing too.
She fingered a page in her book, ready to turn it, when a sudden strong breeze pulled it from her hands, sending it tumbling across the pebbles.
"Oh no." She frowned and quickly untangled herself from the swings, hopping off to chase after her book.
Just as she crouched to retrieve it, a dark shadow appeared over her. She looked up to see a boy, about the same age as herself, reach down and grab her book off the ground. Thinking he was being polite, she held out her hand appreciatively. "Thank you."
He looked at her outstretched hand before simply walking away with the book in hand.
"That's my book." She called after him shakily.
"So?" He looked back at her
"Can I have it back please?" She stuck her hand out again, rising to her feet.
"No." He answered simply before turning away again.
"But…it's mine!" She spluttered in disbelief.
"You want it? Come and get it." He stood still and stared at her.
She hesitantly approached, shuffling her feet, her knees awkwardly knocking together. She stopped to stand in front of him. She had to look up to see his face; he was half a foot taller than she was. She reached her hand out to grab the book but he easily dodged her attempt, slightly elevating it. She furrowed her brow in irritation before trying again. He began to smile wickedly at each attempt, finally holding the book so high that it was above his head.
Rory began hopping on both feet, stretching her arms as far as they would go. "Give it back!" She shouted. Tears of anger and humiliation began to prick her eyes.
He laughed at her and reached his other hand up, placing it on a random page. He delicately started to pull.
Rory's eyes widened. "Stop it! You're going to rip it!" She pounded a fist against his chest but he remained undeterred.
"That's the point." He pulled quickly and a tear rolled down her cheek as she watched the page flutter to the ground.
"Stop!" She screamed as loud as she could, pounding her fists against any place she could reach. He turned his body away from each attack, his hand continuously ripping out more and more pages.
When one of her blows connected with his nose his demeanor changed from annoyingly wicked to unbelievably angry. He flung the book behind him and pushed hard against her chest.
She flew back and hit the ground, letting out a yelp of pain as her elbows scraped against the dirty rocks. She sniffled as salty tears began to trickle down her cheeks, mixing with her saliva as she cried out in pain and degradation.
"What the hell are you doing Mitch?"
Through her tears Rory could make out another figure standing a few feet away. She sat up a little and wiped her eyes to get a better look. It was another boy; he looked older than the boy who'd stolen her book.
"She hit me!" The boy protested angrily. He reached up and rubbed his sore nose with the palm of his hand.
"Yeah, well she probably had good reason to." The older boy looked around at the scattered pages and ran both hands through his hair. It was then that his gaze traveled over to her. His look was sympathetic as he noticed her bloodied and bruised elbows and tear stained face. "Shit." He mumbled quietly. "What did you do?" His eyes turned accusingly to the younger boy.
"Nothing, I was just playing around!" The younger boy's eyes darted around nervously.
"Playing? Mitch, god, she's bleeding!" He looked angrily at the boy and pointed a hand towards Rory.
"I didn't do it!"
"Man, Mom's gonna kill me when she finds out I wasn't watching you. Why do you have to be such an ass?" The older boy shook his head.
"Mom told you not to call me that." The younger boy sneered at him.
"Well Mom's not here is she?" The older boy said menacingly before taking a step towards the younger one.
"If you hit me I'll tell her!" The younger boy fearfully took a step back.
"You're such a brat sometimes. If you don't say anything, I won't say anything. Deal?" He stopped approaching him and looked at his brother expectantly.
"Fine." The younger said with relief.
"Go home. Dinner should be ready soon anyway." He waved his hand in a general direction and the boy took off.
"Hey." The boy called to Rory. She sniffled and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Are you okay?"
She nodded wordlessly, though she was anything but. Her elbows were stinging like crazy and all she wanted to do was cry. The boy walked over and offered her a hand. "Here." He said, gesturing to her.
She reached out and took his hand, pulling herself up. "Thank you." She mumbled shyly, her voice hoarse.
"No problem." He looked at her cautiously for a moment.
She avoided his gaze and bent to grab the torn pages of her book.
"I got it." He bent and grabbed a few pages as well before retrieving the book itself. He stacked the pages together and placed them neatly on top of the cover. When he handed them to her he cringed slightly in embarrassment. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's kind of a jerk."
"It's okay." She mumbled with her head down.
"Ah, jeez." He cringed again when he got a closer look at her elbows. The blood was starting to coagulate but some had trickled down onto her forearms. "Are you sure you're okay? That looks pretty bad."
"It's not so bad." She mumbled halfheartedly, glancing at her injuries. "It just stings a little."
"Come on." He nodded his head toward the public bathrooms at the far end of the park.
"I shouldn't…" She trailed off, feeling hesitant to go anywhere with this stranger.
"Don't worry, I just want to clean those before they get infected." He gently took her hand and pulled her toward the bathrooms.
Rory blushed and looked down as the boy's hand wrapped around hers. She trailed behind him, her much shorter legs trying to keep up with his longer ones.
When they stopped by the bathrooms he quickly disappeared into the men's room. A moment later he came out holding a set of wet paper towels and a set of dry ones. He set the dry ones down and gently grasped her bicep. "This is gonna hurt." He said quietly.
When the paper towel made contact with the gashes in her skin she winced and whimpered as he applied more pressure. "It hurts." She whined as a tear trickled down her cheek.
"I know." He stated simply. He looked at her softly before treating her other arm. When he'd cleaned off most of the blood and dirt he gently dabbed them with the dry paper towels. "They didn't have any Band-Aids so you'll need to get some from your house."
"Okay." She nodded miserably. "How come you know how to do this?" She asked quietly. They walked back towards the play area
"Sometimes I have to help my mom out with my brothers." He shrugged slightly as they continued walking.
"You have more?" She asked, glancing at him.
"Two. Mitch and David." He nodded. They made it back to the swing set and sat down simultaneously.
"Why doesn't your dad help?" She asked innocently.
"I don't have a dad." He replied quietly, looking out over the park.
"Oh." She said quietly, faintly registering his sadness. For some reason, it made her sad too. "Me either." Well, technically she did, but he wasn't around much.
"Do you live here?" He asked, glancing around, a silent gesture with his eyes.
"Yes, my whole life." She nodded and began to softly kick her feet, swaying back and forth. "Do you?" She looked at him with childishly wide-eyes.
"We just moved here from New York."
Rory vaguely remembered the location of New York. Last week Mrs. Williams had made them go over a map of the United States.
"Do you like it?" She asked politely, staring at her shoes.
"It's…different." He responded cryptically.
"I love it here." She looked out over her town and smiled with pride. Stars Hollow would always be her home.
The boy watched her closely for a moment. His eyes were soft with some emotion she didn't recognize. "What's your name?" He asked quietly.
"Rory Gilmore." She stated confidently. He laughed when she stuck her arm out to shake his hand. She'd seen her mother do it so many times at the inn, she figured it was what everyone did.
"Jess Mariano." He grinned at her.
Rory noticed that his mouth was lopsided. After looking at it for a moment she bluntly stated, "Your mouth is crooked."
He looked away from her and pursed his lips. "It's always been like that."
"How old are you?" She looked at him for a moment.
"Eleven." He glanced at her. He knew she was obviously younger than he was, he just wasn't sure how much. "You?"
"Eight."
He nodded and looked down at the tattered book in her hands. He shook his head at his brother's stupidity. Mitch had a knack for getting into trouble. Jess realized he probably wasn't setting the best example for him back in New York, but maybe things would be different now.
"I can buy you another copy." He waved his hand toward her book.
"Oh, that's okay. I didn't like it very much anyway." She lied unconvincingly.
"I want to." He leaned forward to look at her face.
"Okay." She grinned slightly.
1995
"You guys, hurry up! Me and Lane are dying out here!" Rory banged on the bedroom door impatiently. She dramatically wagged a hand in front of her face, looking at Lane with a pitiful expression. 'So hot' she mouthed wordlessly. Jess's air conditioning had broken the week before and they still hadn't called a repairman.
"Would you chill? We'll be out in a minute." Jess's aggravated voice responded. "David, I swear to God, if you take that thing off one more time…" Rory heard some scuffling as she listened to what she assumed was Jess attempting to wrangle David back into his bathing suit for the fourth time.
The little boy suddenly burst through the door in all his naked glory, screeching with delight as he rushed down the hallway. David had just turned four last month and was spending his new age as nude as possible.
"Dude, my fucking pants are still down! Shut the door!" Rory and Lane giggled uncontrollably when they heard Mitch's slightly strained and hysterical voice. Without looking, Rory fumbled for the doorknob. Finding it, she immediately slammed the door shut.
"Watch your mouth!" Jess scolded. They heard a yelp as he smacked Mitch on the back of the head.
"Oh, like you ever do?" Mitch rubbed the tender spot and glared daggers at Jess.
"Uh, in front of them?" He said in a 'duh' tone, gesturing with his thumb toward the door, indicating the girls. "Yeah, I do."
"Jeez, you should drop this gentlemanly bullshit. It's obviously an act."
"You say one more thing and I'm knocking you on your ass."
"Oh, so dramatic." Mitch lifted his hands and waved them around mockingly. When Jess glared at him murderously Mitch relented. "Alright, alright, I'm done."
"Shit, I have to go find David." Jess secured his swimming trunks loosely before heading towards the door.
"Don't open the-" Mitch started but was soon silenced by uproarious laughter.
Rory and Lane were doubled over as they looked at Mitch. He was trying to keep his trunks from falling down by knocking his knees together and clutching at them with both hands. They were an old pair of Jess's and were slightly too big.
Mitch's face burned a deep crimson as he scrambled to cover himself. "Close the door!"
The girls quieted down to giggling as they shut the door and walked towards the stairs. "He's such an idiot." Rory rolled her eyes.
"I know. I love him though." Lane sighed dreamily.
Rory made a disgusted noise like she was gagging.
"What? He's so cute." Lane gushed, clasping her hands in front of her excitedly.
"Hardly." Rory replied with the same disgusted tone.
"Hey, just because you have a crush on Jess-"
"I do not have a crush on Jess." Rory whispered harshly, glancing around to see if anyone had heard them.
"-doesn't mean you can deny that Mitch is undeniably, unbelievably, completely, adorably, cute."
"Ugh, he is not cute. He's a complete jerk." Rory grumbled as she crossed her arms.
"You cannot still be holding a grudge about that book, can you? That was three years ago." Lane stretched 'three years' for emphasis.
"Yes, I am still holding a grudge, and I will continue to hold a grudge for the rest of my life." Rory stated petulantly with a huff.
"You're shameless." Lane gave her a look.
"And you're insane." Rory grinned. "So where do you think they're at?"
"Well, I'd have to guess-" Lane started but was cut off by a loud crash.
Both girls smiled widely before stating, "Bathroom."
They opened the door cautiously to find David scampering back in forth in the bathtub, narrowly eluding Jess's grasp.
"Davie!" Jess shouted in aggravation, trying yet again to catch his youngest brother.
"No!" The little boy shouted loudly, ducking out of Jess's arm.
"You have to put this on! I'm not taking you if you're naked!"
"I don't want it!" David yelled, thrusting the suit away from him.
"Fine, then you're staying here! Alone!" Jess stood up suddenly and stalked toward the door. "Come on." He took both girls by their arms and pulled them through the doorway. He slammed the bathroom door closed and leaned against the outer wall, waiting.
Rory and Lane both stood patiently beside him.
About a minute went by before the bathroom door began to hesitantly creep open. Jess molded himself against the wall, holding his breath as the little boy cautiously stepped out to survey his surroundings.
When he was about a foot out Jess suddenly lunged and scooped him up. David went into a frenzy, kicking and screaming as hard and loud as he could.
"Davie, knock it off!" The boy struggled for a few minutes longer as Jess held him the best he could. After a while he finally ceased struggling and limply lay against Jess's shoulder. "Finally." Jess blew out a long breath. He set David on the floor and pulled his trunks on, the little boy being too tired to protest.
"Come on, we gotta get your floaties." He took David by the hand and cautiously led him down the stairs. "Mitch, you ready?" He yelled over his shoulder.
"Give me a sec." Mitch yelled back.
"Jesus Christ." Jess mumbled with a roll of his eyes. He was convinced his brother was the slowest being on the planet.
"No cussing." David shouted up at him, giving him his sternest look.
"Sorry little man." Jess mumbled apologetically. "Rory, can you grab his floaties from the closet?" He turned to look at her questioningly.
"Sure."
Jess released David's hand to grab a pad of paper and a pen.
'Liz, out swimming, be back for dinner' – Jess
He turned around to find Lane and Rory struggling to hold David still as they each attempted to apply a floatie to his arms. He chuckled as he watched their irritation grow. "Don't worry, I got it." He grabbed David under his arms and lifted him onto his hip. "He won't let you put them on until we get there anyway." He smirked as they groaned.
"Now you tell us." Rory mumbled as she threw her hands up.
Jess grinned at her for a moment before turning toward the stairs. "Mitch we're heading out!"
"Would you calm down? Jeez, you'd think there was a fire or something." Mitch replied sarcastically as he barreled down the stairs, whipping around the corner as he clutched the banister. "Lets go."
Jess rolled his eyes again as Mitch bombarded his way to the front door. "You're such a prick."
"Don't say that Jessie!" David pointed a finger at him and pouted angrily.
Jess scowled at his little brother's pet name.
"Aw, come on Jessie, I thought you were ready to go?" Mitch mocked him, sending Jess his own familiar smirk, an annoying habit Mitch had picked up within the last year.
Jess glared before walking past him, making sure to check him with his shoulder as he passed. Hard.
"Ow! God, you're gonna dislocate it one of these days." Mitch rolled his shoulder uncomfortably.
"That's what I'm hoping." Jess stated with a smirk as he continued to walk to the lake.
1997
"Mitch, if you're not ready in ten minutes, I'm leaving you here." Jess stood by the door, scowling menacingly.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Mitch leisurely walked down the stairs with his backpack slung over one shoulder.
"What the fuck did you do to your head?" Jess stared at him with his mouth slightly agape.
"Shaved it."
"You look like a damn skinhead." Jess barely suppressed a laugh.
"What the hell is a skinhead?" Mitch asked in confused irritation.
"Never mind." Jess rolled his eyes. "Just get in the car."
"Why are you in such a rush? We live fifteen minutes from school and it doesn't start for another thirty." Jess shot him a look as they got into their respective sides of the car. "Oh, I get it." Mitch said with a slow grin. "Picking up your girl right?"
"You're calling Rory my girl? She's thirteen for Christ's sake." Jess turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the driveway.
"Stranger things have happened." Mitch shrugged.
"Yeah, like that third eye you're sporting." Jess chuckled as he watched Mitch's face crumble as he opened the passenger side mirror.
"Shit, dude." He grumbled as he stared at the large blemish in the middle of his forehead.
"Should we stop and buy you some concealer?" Jess smirked as his brother shot him a disgruntled look.
"Fuck you."
"You're not my type." Jess flipped on the radio, tuning to a tolerable station.
"So what's up with you guys anyway?" Mitch asked conversationally. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He tapped them lightly on his thigh before extracting one. He cracked the window slightly and lit it, blowing the smoke out of the side of his mouth.
"Would you cut that shit out? Liz is gonna have my ass if she finds out I let you smoke in here." Jess reached over and plucked the cigarette out of Mitch's hand. He lifted it to his own lips and took a long drag before rolling down his window and tossing it out.
"'Cause you're clearly such a good role model." Mitch rolled his eyes and put the pack back in his pocket.
"Hey smart ass, you wanna ride the bus? Keep talking shit, you'll be there tomorrow morning."
Mitch scoffed but otherwise kept his mouth shut. A moment later he picked up his forgotten train of thought. "You never answered my question."
"About what?" Jess asked apathetically as he turned the car to the right.
"What's up with you two? Something going on?"
"No way. I mean hell; she's still in middle school. Just keeping it friendly."
"Uh huh." Mitch said, unconvinced.
"You honestly think I would try something with someone that young?" Jess gave him an incredulous look, lifting his eyebrows.
"Three years isn't that big a difference." Mitch pointed out.
"It is when one person's still in the eighth grade."
"She's only a year younger than I am."
"Hell, then you date her." Jess said irritably.
"I'm not dating that bitch." Jess looked at him murderously. "Whatever, I'm not dating that girl. We hate each other."
"Ah, you're just mad 'cause you couldn't get her all hot and bothered."
"I'm fourteen, I can't get anybody hot and bothered." Mitch mumbled dejectedly.
"You could if you bothered to try." Jess smirked thinking about Mitch's bad luck when it came to girls.
"Aren't you supposed to be discouraging me from this? Preserve my innocence and all that bullshit…" Mitch waved his hand in a vague gesture.
"I could care less about your innocence." Jess turned the wheel to the left and parked the car, finally having reached Rory's driveway. He honked the horn once and settled back in his seat. "Get in the back."
Mitch stared at his brother, flabbergasted. "Oh, come on man!"
Jess just stared at him wordlessly. Mitch sighed and opened the door, slamming it with as much force as he could muster. When he climbed into the back seat he mumbled, "You're a shitty brother."
"Yeah, yeah." Jess replied uninterestedly.
A moment later Rory bounded off her front porch, waving back at her mom who stood in the doorway. She ran up to the passenger window and smiled brightly. "Hey Jess." She said happily before opening the door and settling in. "Mitch." She greeted with less enthusiasm.
"Ror." He said, just to purposefully piss her off. She glared at him for a moment before turning back to Jess.
"I brought you some poptarts." She held up a plastic ziplock bag with two poptarts inside. "The original wrapper broke." She stated sheepishly. "They're apple."
"Thanks." Jess said with a small grin. He took notice of how she blushed slightly before lowering her eyes to her lap.
"Um, Mitch, I brought you some too." She dropped the poptarts over the seat and into his lap.
Jess smirked. She couldn't even be mean to people she hated. When Mitch simply nodded his head Jess cleared his throat slightly and glanced back at him. Mitch rolled his eyes but mumbled, "Oh, uh, thanks."
"Oh my god." She started giggling uncontrollably.
"What?" Mitch asked, looking confused.
"Your head looks like a giant peach." She covered her mouth with the back of her hand to suppress her laughter.
"Shut up." He grumbled, slouching in his seat.
"Is it fuzzy?" She smirked arrogantly.
"Hey, why don't you get your dog a stronger muzzle?" He snapped, looking at Jess, before turning to look out the window.
Rory turned back in her seat and rolled her eyes while Jess shook his head amusedly.
As Jess backed out of the driveway and started down the road, the car filled with an awkward silence. Rory fidgeted with her hands. She continually glanced at Jess as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind at the last minute.
He smirked as he watched her indecisive behavior. "What?"
"Hmm?" She replied, like she'd completely forgotten he was even in the car.
"Something you wanted to say?" He glanced at her sideways, trying to concentrate on the road.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you…you know…for doing this. You didn't have to…" She stared down at her lap, picking at her jeans.
"I don't mind." He replied quietly.
"I mean, I'm not even paying for gas or anything." She rambled uncomfortably.
"I've got it covered." He grinned at her concern.
"You're sure?" She looked at him hesitantly.
"I'm sure." He said with conviction.
"Okay, good." She said quietly, smiling a little.
"So, you nervous?" He asked casually.
"No…well maybe a little." She conceded. "But mostly excited. I mean, it's my last first day of middle school. So that's pretty cool."
"Very cool." He agreed with a slow nod.
"What about you? Excited to be a junior?" She grinned at him.
"Overwhelmingly. This is my year, I can feel it." He said sarcastically with mock enthusiasm.
"I'm serious." Rory said while chuckling.
"It has its perks." He smirked.
"Like?" She drew out the word.
"Well, the whole 'driving' thing isn't too bad."
"I'm a big supporter of it." She giggled quietly.
"You just like having a chauffeur."
"I now have bragging rights." She nodded her head smugly.
"Oh yeah?" He glanced at her with a grin.
"All the sixth graders think you're 'super cute'." She grinned as she used air quotes.
"Hear that Mitch? I'm 'super cute'." Jess smirked at he looked at his brother through the rear view mirror.
"La-de-fricken-da, what else is new?" Mitch grumbled sourly, as he ripped open his poptart wrapper.
"Jealous?" Rory asked tauntingly, turning around to give him a wicked smile.
"Bite me." He snapped.
Jess quickly reached behind him, without looking, and swiftly swung his arm to smack Mitch in the chest.
"Watch it." Jess gave him a stern look through the mirror.
"Asshole." Mitch grumbled as he rubbed his sore chest.
Rory hung her head as she tried to contain her smile. Jess looked at her softly as they both shared a private smile.
As they pulled up to the school Jess parked along the sidewalk, grabbing Rory's bag from the backseat and handing it to her as she stepped out of the car.
"You need a ride home?" Jess ducked his head to see out the passenger window.
"No, Lane and I are going to the library after school." Rory hugged her books close to her chest.
"Gotta get a head start on that book list, huh?" He smirked knowingly.
Rory attempted not to blush as she glanced at her feet. "Not necessarily." She mumbled.
"Right." He grinned at her unease.
"Maybe I was going to pick something up for you, but now you've ruined the surprise." She feigned indifference.
"Rory, I've read everything in that library three times over." He looked at her incredulously.
"Well, that's only because you have the advantage of being three years older than me." She narrowed her eyes at him.
He was about to reply when he spotted a group of girls out of the corner of his eye, giggling quietly with their hands to their mouths. They shyly glanced at him and noticed his gaze, turning away and talking excitedly.
Rory noticed his diverted attention and dropped her eyes, fidgeting slightly. "I should get going." She said quietly.
His eyes snapped back to her face. "I think we have an audience." He tilted his head to the left, gesturing to the group.
"'Super cute' remember?" She shrugged slightly.
Suddenly one of the girls was pushed slightly out of the group, the girls behind her mouthing 'go' repeatedly, ushering her with their hands and giggling excitedly. She shook her head but they just pushed her farther, waving their hands at her in a shooing motion.
She turned to face the car and started hesitantly walking to the driver's side window.
Jess watched her approach and slowly rolled his window down.
When she reached the door she glanced at him and blushed. "Hi Jess."
"Hey." He replied coolly, resting his arm on the door frame.
"I was just wondering, um," she glanced behind her at the group of girls nervously, "if you're not too busy, maybe you'd want to hang out sometime?" She glanced behind her again and swallowed.
Jess mentally rolled his eyes but kept his expression impassive. He glanced at Rory and noticed her looking at the ground dejectedly. "Huh, I don't know. What do you think Rory?"
"What?" Rory's head snapped up to look at him with wide eyes.
"Am I too busy?" The corner of his mouth turned up, almost imperceptibly.
"Oh." She looked from him to the other girl, before looking back at him. "I think he is. You know, with the diner, and school just starting back up. Reading, that can take up time too, I mean, if you read a lot. Which he does. I don't know if you do, but he does, and it can be pretty time consuming." She rambled uncomfortably, wringing her hands. "So…he's busy." She finished lamely, snapping her mouth closed.
"Oh…okay." The girl looked like a mix between frightened and disappointed.
"Sorry." Jess mumbled halfheartedly.
"It's fine. Maybe some other time?" She left the question open ended with a blush, backing away from the window.
"I wouldn't count on it." He mumbled through his teeth but she was already back on the sidewalk.
"Mean!" Rory whispered harshly, sending him a glare.
"What are you talking about? Nice save, by the way." He grinned.
"You put me on the spot!"
"I especially liked the part about reading, very convincing."
"I sounded like an idiot." She huffed.
"I mean, you kinda dropped the ball when you mentioned school, but the reading thing was spot on. Totally sold me." He nodded his head mockingly.
"Bye." She grumbled and turned on her heel.
"Oh, come on. I was just kidding." He chuckled.
"Jerk." She turned back and attempted not to smile.
"And you love it."
"As if."
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were from the Valley." He scoffed.
"Ugh, you're right. I feel like my IQ just dropped." She made a disgusted face.
"Ah, wouldn't be such a bad thing." He shrugged.
"Uh, no, I think it would." She said mockingly.
"Someone else could answer a question for once."
"Oh, and I suppose I should just sit in the back and paint my nails?" She narrowed her eyes.
"I hear black is very 'in' right now." He deadpanned.
"You're impossible." She rolled her eyes, backing away from the car.
He smirked. "I'll see you later."
"Later." She waved slightly and turned to walk to the entrance of the school.
His eyes followed her for a moment before he started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot, tires squealing as he rounded the corner.
She looked back over her shoulder and smiled.
"I'm sorry."
Rory whipped around to find the girl who had approached the car standing behind her. "For what?" She asked confusedly.
"My friends made me do it, I didn't realize you and him were…" She trailed off awkwardly.
"Who? Me and Jess?" The girl nodded wordlessly. "Oh, no, no, no. Jess and I aren't…we're not…we're just friends." She stumbled over her words, blushing as she pulled on the straps of her book bag.
"Are you sure? Because it seemed like-"
"I'm positive. There's no way that he would even…" She chuckled nervously.
"But you like him right?" The girl asked shyly.
"What?" Rory's eyes widened.
"Well, he is unbelievably cute, and it seems like he's really nice to you." She grinned sweetly.
"Yes, he is cute, but he's more like a brother. I mean, I've known him for years."
"Oh, okay. I just wanted to say sorry, either way…"
"It's fine." Rory grinned and waved her hand dismissively.
"See ya around." The girl waved before walking back to her friends.
"See ya." Rory's smile disappeared as she walked through the front doors. "Yeah, more like a brother…"
Well, this is most definitely the longest chapter I've ever written for anything haha. Since this is an AU, feel free to message me if you have any questions regarding background info. or any confusion over the story. I'd really like to hear feedback on the different relationships I've created. I tried to keep the dialogue appropriate for the circumstances, so please let me know what you think of that. Jess has to behave somewhat differently due to his different living environment, but he still has most of the same traits. More info. regarding his personal life will come in later chapters. Anyway, the more reviews I get, the better I can gauge everyone's reactions, and I'll update even faster. Thank you so much for reading and please review!