A/N
: This is my first Gilmore Girls fanfic. I think the show is hilarious, and hope the writers don't sue me for the lame attempt at the wonderful dialogue on the show. I am not a big fan of Dean, but I've tried to make him a sympathetic character in the hopes that I won't get roasted alive by the Dean/Rory people or even the Tristen/Rory people that settle for Dean. This is a Jess/Rory story. I believe they're better for each other than Dean and Rory.**********
The day started out normally enough.
"Mom!"
"Yeah?" her mother called back blearily, closing a cabinet that didn't contain coffee.
"Have you seen my—"
"No."
"It's not—"
"Nope."
"But I swear I left it on the kitchen table!"
"Well, it's not there now. Calm down. You didn't leave it in your locker?"
There was a pause, and Lorelai looked up to see her daughter standing in her doorway with a horrified expression. "I did. What am I going to do? That's my bus book!"
"You have three bus books."
"Yes, but what if I want to read that bus book?"
"You're just going to have to do without for one ride of your life."
"All right, fine," Rory said, and pouted for the rest of the day because she'd had to read the book of essays instead of the novel she'd wanted to.
She got off the bus that took her to and from Hartford and sighed with relief that it was a weekend. Surprised, she saw that Dean was waiting for her, sitting at the bus stop. Rory barely noticed that she no longer felt the little shock to her system when she saw him any more. She still felt happy when she saw him: he had the kind of "very tall puppy dog" type vibe. But it didn't, well, titillate her any more.
"Rory!" he said, jumping off the bench, looking nervous. He gave her a quivering half-smile as she walked over and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Hi!"
"Hi," she said hesitantly. "Why are we speaking in exclamation marks?"
"Um, 'cause we're excited?"
"Okay," she said.
"Hey, um, can we go somewhere. And…talk?"
"Ooh, lack of exclamation marks…Sure."
They walked to the gazebo in the middle of town, and Rory set down her bag. Dean sat down with a sigh, and immediately ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Rory," he said. "I know this is… Well, see it's like… There's no easy way to say this." He heaved a big sigh, and looked away. He couldn't bear to see the expression of hurt that would cover her face when he broke the news. "I, um, am breaking up with you."
Rory only blinked in response. After a few seconds she said, "What?"
"See, there's this girl at Star's Hollow High, and, uh, well…I kinda like her."
Rory nodded numbly. "I see. So you've gone out with her?"
He shook his head vehemently. "No! No, no, no," he added for emphasis. "I'm in a few classes with her, and we've got a lot in common. And, well, things haven't been as good lately. Between us."
"No," Rory said. "It really hasn't. So you wanted to make sure it was okay with me before you asked her out?"
Dean had the grace to look sheepish. "Um, yes?"
"I always knew you had integrity." Rory stood up, and shouldered her pack. Then she bent down and kissed his cheek, her hand on his shoulder. "I hope it works out for you. And we'll always be friends."
He looked so relieved she thought for a moment he might cry. "Rory, you're the best. I'm so glad you're not hurt."
Rory smiled, and turned to walk home. She felt…lighter, somehow. As if something had been weighing on her conscience for a while that she hadn't even noticed. She was nearly home before the thought struck her, "Why aren't I hurt? Why aren't I crying right now? My boyfriend of a year has just broken up with me to be with someone else." Because she was mulling it over, she looked worried when she entered the house.
"Don't tell me you're still moping about that book this morning," Lorelai said upon seeing her daughter's expression.
"Actually, I haven't thought about it since I left school."
Lorelai thought for a moment, then squinted at her offspring. "Then why the worry face?"
"Dean just broke up with me?"
"What?!" Lorelai grabbed her coat and opened the door. "I am going to hunt him down. I'm going to kill him, and have a great, big lynching. The whole town will help. It'll be a town holiday for years to come. The lynching of Dean who broke Rory's heart." She stopped when her daughter neither smiled nor frowned. "You…are heartbroken, aren't you?"
"I know I should be," Rory said, and flopped down onto the couch. "But I'm not. Why is that? Why aren't I devastated, brokenhearted, crying my eyes out, staying at the Heartbreak Hotel?"
Lorelai sat on the couch next to her, and hefted the backpack from behind Rory. "I don't know. But if you don't get rid of this you're going to be broken-backed. So, when did this happen?"
"Not ten minutes ago. He was there when I got off the bus. He said he had to talk to me and we went into the gazebo, and he was really nervous, then he just blurted out that he was breaking up with me because he wanted to ask this girl out who goes to Stars Hollow High, who he says he has a lot in common with, and that things weren't as good as they once were between us." Rory took a deep breath, then let it out. "What's wrong with me?"
"What's wrong with you? What's wrong with him? He tells you that he's going with someone else while he's breaking up with you?"
"But he hasn't gone with her. Not yet. He says he hasn't asked her out, wasn't going to until he could talk to me."
"Wasn't that decent of him."
"It was. There wasn't much left between us besides friendship, anyway. I'm glad he didn't, because I'm not sure I would have gotten the courage to."
Lorelai chewed her lip in thought. "You say there's nothing between you two but friendship now? When did that start happening?"
"I don't know," Rory said, throwing her hands up. "I just really started noticing it the past couple of months. I don't know how long it's been building up. Probably since after that first rush of 'ooh, I have a boyfriend!' We just…don't have enough in common."
"He's not really that smart." Lorelai was nothing if not brutally honest.
"I feel horrible for saying this, but yes. He's smart, but he doesn't like reading, and he doesn't like arguing about things. His music tastes are narrow, and he's uncomfortable with new things."
"So, basically, you started feeling like this when a certain Rebel Without A Cause came to town and started arguing with you about music, books, and challenging you to try new things."
Rory turned to her mother, wide-eyed. "What?"
Lorelai sighed, and patted her lap. Rory obediently turned and lay across her mother like she had for years when something was bother one or both of them. "What are you talking about, Mom?"
"This is about Jess."
"No," Rory said sharply. "It's not. He's just a friend. He's someone I like to argue with, that's all."
"And someone who's constantly keeping you on your toes, keeping your interest. I've seen the look on your face after you've just had a conversation with him. You look a little confused, a lot dazed, and happier. Even when he bought that picnic basket out from under Dean, you looked eager under that surprise and righteous indignation thing you had going on."
"Mom," Rory said, horrified. "You can't be serious. Do you know how much cajoling I had to do to get Dean to not go and kill Jess?"
"Probably about as much cajoling as I needed to convince Luke to buy my basket. They're a stubborn family, aren't they? But that's what's so fun about it. Cracking those shells they've got. Like when Luke finally did break down and bought the basket, he even brought actual food from the diner to eat, since the stuff in the basket was a total loss."
Rory nodded sympathetically. Then she laughed. "Did you know Jess actually ate some of what was in the basket before I could tell him it was a joke meal?"
"Wow," Lorelai said. "He must really like you." She nodded sagely. Rory sighed.
"Mom, why are you pushing this? You don't even like Jess. You think he's the worst thing to come to this town since decaffeinated coffee."
Lorelai gasped and clapped her hands over her ears. "Don't even say that word! Just the thought of…*that* kind of coffee makes me yawn. Yes, Jess and I got off on the wrong foot. But I didn't like Dean at first, either."
Rory nodded. Then she looked at her watch. "Oh, look at the time. We better get started to Grandma and Grandpa's house."
A surprisingly uneventful four hours later, Rory and Lorelai stumbled in through their front door, happy to be able to get some sleep. They said good night to each other and quickly went to bed.
