Who Needs Fear?

"Lorelai Gilmore this is the third time that you have been arrested for driving under the influence and although your grandparents have bribed the previous judges, I'm here to tell you that I cannot be bought. I hear by sentence you to 300 hours of community service. You will serve out your community service at Hartford's rehabilitation center for juveniles."

"That's absurd," Emily yelled outraged, standing up from her seat. "You cannot put her in the same room as those criminals."

"Mrs. Gilmore," The judge warned. "Please take your seat."

"Mom," Lorelai pleaded pulling her back down. "I think that this will be good for Rory."

"You cannot be serious?" Emily questioned her daughter angrily.

"She needs discipline," Lorelai explained. "Not you and Dad getting her out of any trouble that she gets into."

"Regardless of what your family says Miss Gilmore the sentence is not negotiable, case closed," The judge finalized and left the court room.

"Don't worry Rory we'll get all this straightened out," Emily reassured her.

"Mom," Lorelai interjected.

"What?" Emily replied.

"Are you even going to get Rory's opinion on any of this?" Lorelai asked standing up.

"She's just a kid," Emily argued. "She made a mistake."

"Mom," Lorelai said trying to knock some sense into her.

"Enough, both of you," Rory said coming in between the two. "I did the crime, so I'll do the time."

"Yes," Lorelai agreed. "It will get her away from those so called friends of hers."

"They're placing her with criminals," Emily retorted in disgust. "I believe that they will be more of a bad influence on her than her friends."

"They're kids, not criminals," Lorelai explained. "It's called a rehabilitation center for a reason."

"They still committed crimes," Emily argued.

"And so did Rory, remember," Lorelai said, once again trying to knock some sense into Emily. "She could have killed someone in that Porsche that you insisted on buying her, or worse herself."

"I didn't force her to drink and drive," Emily argued.

"You didn't?" Lorelai questioned in disbelief. "You force her to be the center of attention in all your little parties. You force her to participate in countless cotillions, debs and coming out parties… she needs time to be a kid."

"And you're saying that you had nothing to do with the way Rory's been brought up?" Emily asked.

"I'm not saying that," Lorelai replied, her patience wearing thin.

"You divorced Christopher only a year ago," Emily said trying to make Lorelai feel guilty. "Rory loved her father."

"We should have never gotten married in the first place," Lorelai replied regretfully.

"And why's that?" Emily asked.

"Because life sure as hell would have been better for everyone if we hadn't," Lorelai answered on the verge of tears.

"And how do you know that it would be better?" Emily baited her.

"Because anything would be better than this," Lorelai responded, letting her tears flow freely.

"Let's go home," Emily said unfazed. "You're making a scene… where's Rory?"

"Oh, your precious granddaughter?" Lorelai replied bitterly. "She left a good ten minutes ago."


"Rory?" Lorelai asked concerned out the front of the rehabilitation center.

"I'll be fine," Rory reassured her mother. "Like you said they're just like me."

"I didn't mean it like that," Lorelai quickly defended. "I was just trying to win against your grandmother."

"It's alright," Rory replied sadly. "It's the truth."

"You're a good kid Rory," Lorelai said pulling her into a hug.

"I think that remains to be seen," Rory replied pulling out of the hug.

"How about this," Lorelai suggested excitedly. "You do your community service and then we'll pack up and move… turn our backs on Hartford for good, how does that sound?"

"Sure, whatever," Rory responded in doubt, her mother had suggested leaving Hartford on several occasions, but never followed through. "But where would we move to?"

"Wherever we want," Lorelai said happily. "Now get in there and knock a few hours off your community service order. The sooner you complete your 300 hours, the sooner we can start a new life."

"Sure," Rory replied trying not to get caught up in her mother's happiness. "I'll call you when I need a ride home."

"Oh and Rory," Lorelai pleaded. "Please try and stay for a while at least… I need to get away for here and I cannot do it without you."

"Okay, sure," Rory relented. She never could resist her mother when she was desperate, and now was definitely one of those times.


"We have strict rules here Rory, and they are here for a reason," The rehabilitation employee explained as they walked down a white corridor with no windows. "They are there for your safety as well as the safety of our… residents."

"I understand," Rory replied following him along the seemingly endless hallway.

"Good," The employee said as he opened up the door at the end of the corridor. "Please take off any jewelry and remove your shoelaces… do you have anything on you that would be consider or could be used as a weapon?"

"Umm," Rory contemplated as she took off her jewelry and untied her shoelaces. "How about I empty my pockets?" Rory asked him, putting her cell, money, credit card and book in the tray.

"That will work too," The employee responded as he locked up Rory's possessions in a supplied locker with her name on it. "Here's the key, it will be given to the guard at the door."

"Because it could be used to slash someone's throat," Rory suggested sarcastically. "And we wouldn't want that would we?"

"No, we wouldn't," The guy sighed sadly as he directed her out another door and into another long, white corridor. "There will be no touching of the residents, unless it is completely necessary, example, someone's choking. You can touch the guards if that's what you fancy, there's no rule against that. On that note, there will be a guard stationed at the door, at all times. When you want to leave or if you are having a problem with one of our residents then… alert the guard!" The employee said laughing at his own joke.

"Funny," Rory replied rolling her eyes.

"You are free to come and go as you like during the hours of eight and six… that's eight am and six pm," The employee clarified. "There will be no night visits.

"Damn," Rory replied sarcastically. "There goes that plan."

"You will sign in on this sheet," The employee said stopping in front of a clipboard. "We count hours and half hours only, not minutes, so it's wise to stay for say an hour and a half compared to an hour and twenty minutes because they will only put you down for an hour that way… it's corrupt I know, but I don't make the rules."

"Makes sense," Rory replied signing her name and start time on the sheet quickly, the employee was starting to get on her nerves.

"Now here are the… kids," The employee said motioning through a window next to the sign in sheet. "This is the rec room, so there's games and books, all that sort of stuff. Feel free to use what you want. Now some of the kids are… socially challenged, so be aware of that. You can sit where you want. You don't have to interact with anyone if you don't want to… hell you can sit and watch the clock for all I care. You can enter now, oh and don't forget to sign out when you're finished."

"Sure," Rory replied as she pushed open the door, eager to get away from the guy. She showed the guard her visitors pass and he let her through.

She scanned the room slowly, taking everything in. It was like any rec room, games, books everywhere, even a pool table and an air hockey table… this place was probably heaven to some of these kids, but then again the walls were white and the windows had bars on them. It definitely screamed prison, but the kids didn't seem to care. It was like play group for a bunch of challenged social misfits.

Once she convinced herself that none of the kids were going to attack her, she made her way over to the book shelves. She scanned the titles and was pleased that they were mainly classics. She eyed Oliver Twist and pulled it out. She jumped slightly and her heart rate picked up as she read the warning on the front 'Property of Jess Mariano, you touch you die'. She put the book back before anyone could notice and pulled out another… and another, they all held the same threat.

'The hell with it, I'll read what I want' Rory convinced herself and she pulled Oliver Twist from the shelf. She scanned the room again, looking for a place to sit, but all the tables seemed to be occupied. She quickly weighed up her options. It was like high school all over again. If she sat in the wrong place she could be doomed for the rest of her 300 hours. It seemed to have every social class… well the guys who could be considered nerds did look a little mean.

She walked forward slowly thinking that maybe she could get a feel of the room… see who looked at her wrongly. She didn't get far before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes," She asked innocently as she turned around. She was met with a guy that could be considered sweet, he definitely didn't look like he belonged here.

"Can I just say that you're the prettiest in this room darlin'," The guy said with a southern drawl.

"Maybe that's because I'm the only female here," Rory replied. He was nice and all, but not her type, although that accent nearly made her rethink her previous stances.

"Maybe so," He answered holding out his hand for her to shake. "Name's Tex."

"Really?" Rory questioned in disbelief taking his hand. "Are you from Texas?"

"Now that would be ironic," Tex replied amused. "I'm from Kentucky, originally."

"So the name?" Rory asked confused.

"My mom had a thing for S.E. Hinton," Tex replied embarrassed.

"Do you have an older brother called Mason?" Rory asked him.

"You've read the book?" Tex asked surprised.

"Yeah," Rory replied holding up Oliver Twist. "I love to read."

"Oh," Tex said his face immediately dropping. "I wouldn't read that if I was you darlin'."

"And why's that?" Rory asked confused.

"Cause' that threat's legit," Tex explained. "You don't want to mess with Jess Mariano."

"I'll be fine," Rory reassured him.

"A kid tried to read Oliver Twist just last week," Tex told her. "And let's just say he was lucky… he only lost a finger."

"Interesting," Rory replied searching the room. "So which one here is Jess Mariano?"

"There in the corner," Tex motioned towards the dark haired boy in the corner. "You should stay away from him darlin'… he's dangerous."

"So what's he in for?" Rory asked curiously, she felt drawn to the boy… she couldn't take her eyes off him.

"No one knows," Tex answered. "But we're betting its bad… they shipped him down all the way from New York."

"They have high hopes for his rehabilitation then?" Rory asked Tex distractedly.

"They did," Tex replied. "But he's made no improvement, he's already been here for six months."

"Is that long?" Rory asked taking her eyes off the guy and returning them to Tex.

"Long for this center," Tex answered. "Most only stay here for a few months, four at the most… the only thing that I can figure out is that his home life must suck because he's made no attempt to get out of this place."

Rory immediately felt sorry for Jess. She could definitely relate to a crappy home life.

"Well thanks Tex, but I think that I'll take my chances," Rory said as she brushed past him and walked over to Jess.

She sat down across from him, placed her feet on the table and leaned back in her chair. She opened up Oliver Twist making sure that the front cover was in Jess' line of vision. Everyone in the room turned their attention to the pair in the corner.

"Didn't you warn her Tex?" One of the kids asked nervously.

"Sure did," Tex answered. "But she didn't want to listen."

"Well it's her funeral," The kid stated.