Disclaimer: I own nothing

This is my first oneshot have fun reading

"Now that was a show." Rory says as she and her mother exited the symphony hall.

"Yes, beautiful music. It broadens the mind and strengthens the soul." Lorelai said, speaking in her most dignified British accent. "The lead singer really knows how to pluck at those guitar strings too."

"You mean the strings attached to your heart?" Rory said

"Why Rory, what ever do you mean?"

"I saw you, getting all misty-eyed. Mother, you're falling in love."

"Eh, not my type. Besides we came up here avoiding the whole love and marriage thing, remember?" Lorelei reminded.

"Sorry, mom. I'm having a great time though. Sitting in the classroom at Harvard, the symphony..." She said in awe of it all.

"So where to next, kiddo?"

"I wanna visit another library. I've never been to Baltimore before. I've read their news outlets, I wonder if what they read is as good and interesting as what they write here."

"Well where's the nearest library?" Lorelai asked

"Theeee...Enoch Pratt Free Library." Rory looked at the map as they climbed in the jeep. " About a mile from here."

"Nearest coffee shop?"

"Let's see...about the the same distance." she looked "Really close to the library. I'm guessing you don't want to sit inside that boring quiet place and watch me look through and read books for fun?"

"It's fine, love. You take your time and I'll enjoy the coffee." *mwah*" she kissed the top of her head.

Lorelai dropped Rory off at the the Library then headed up the street and around the corner to the coffee shop. Rory admired the architecture of the building. It was large and the column like structure between the windows looked Roman. It was even more impressive on the inside, nice wide open space, beautiful plants, and the symbols on the wall. She just couldn't get over how great this place they almost overlooked was.

There was music playing in the background, the music filled Rory with an incredible sense of bewonderment that she hadn't felt in a very long time. She started to wander in the nonfiction section when she noticed a boy. He was looking through a book with a durag on his head tied by a sweatband and a big baggy white t-shirt with guns printed all over it. She was taken aback for a moment. When she realized why she was she decided to not be presumptuous.

She'd heard him mutter something a long the lines of Fuck this. In hushed tones. "Are you lost too?" she said warmly. His head snapped to see where the voice came from. A young girl about his age, she was dressed like a school girl. Hair pushed back by a headband. She was definitely one of those prepschool types. *ahem* he cleared his throat "Uh-yeah."

"Me too." She said with a smile "This library is so big, I'm from out of town. My name's Rory. You from out of town too?"

"Bodie" he said. "And nah, I'm just not used to being in the library like this."

"I figured as much" she teased.

"Oh, you tryna call me slow or somthin'?" he looked at her quizzically, but smiled. He was surprised she wasn't too afraid to insult him in such a manner.

"I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but you're..." she looked away trying to find the right way to put it. "...different from just about everyone in here."

"Oh yea." he said, looking at the way he was dressed as if he'd forgotten. "Well my uh, my..." he trailed off forgetting the word he was looking for to describe his relationship with Stringer. "... my mentor recommended I start thinking about school or a real job."

"Well what do you wanna do?"

"Hell if I know. This aint my thing. I aint done school since the 8th grade."

She frowned. "That's really sad."

Bodie looked confused. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"I'm mean why is it sad that I've been able to live and provide for myself since I was thirteen?"

Rory started to look for a place to sit down so they could talk more. "Come with me." she said grabbing him by the hand to sit down on a couch nearby.

"Damn, girl." he said

"Now I'm going to ask you a very personal question. If you're offended you don't have to answer, is that okay with you?"

"Go ahead." he said.

"Have you been to jail."

"Not exactly." he said.

Rory raised an eye-brow. Now she was more intrigued. "I did this lil stint at a place called 'boys-village' it was like a juvenile detention-center type place."

"What happened?"

"You ask alotta questions. You a cop?"

"No. Do I look like a cop?" She said sarcastically

"You act like it." he smirked.

"I'm planning being a Journalism major when I graduate. I wanna go to Harvard."

"You one of them Ivy League type students, huh?" he smirked at her again.

She blushed and moved her hair behind her ear. "Yes, I am." she said with a smile "So tell me. What happened."

"I hit some punkass cop."

She covered her hands with her mouth to keep from laughing. "That's terrible."

"Not really." he said. "The police don't respect our rights out here." he paused to look her over. she certainly did dress funny. "You said you not from around here, where you from?"

"I'm from Stars Hollow in Connecticut."

"Sounds gay as hell." he said.

"No...its beautiful. The people are friendly. There are always fun festivals and events. It's nice."

"Well it aint nothin nice about where I'm from."

"I thought you were from here?"

"I'm from west Baltimore. Houses all boarded up, blood in the streets, corrupt cops, dope fiends, that typa shit."

"Sounds...greasy, maybe I should write about you one day."

"Nah."

She laughed and punched his shoulder "Lighten up. Tell me what its like. Tell me something nice."

"Like I said it aint nothin nice. Not to you anyway."

"Well what about for you?" She started to feel sympathetic. Nothing nice? He seems about her age, maybe a little older. He's been arrested, beaten by cops, he's not in school. Surely any sane normal person wouldn't want to even have a conversation with this boy. Knowing this brought another beat of sadness to Rory's heart.

"I been told to leave somn alone that's all I know. I know it aint sweet, I know its dangerous, but its my life. I really don't know nothin' else. Shit is real."

"Define real."

"Shit...I done been in turf wars, I done seen guys get capped for no reason. Just cause a man wanted to test his new burner. This shit aint a life you wanna live, but its like a... a decency to the shit most cats aint got. Regular people look at me and they see a savage, a criminal. I look in the mirror I see a man, a soldier. My...mentor taught me that it aint all gotta be bad. Be different...be fair and decent and shit."

"Honorable." She offered an addition to his vocabulary. "You talk funny." she laughed.

"I talk slick."

"Why don't you become an actual soldier then? Like in the Military? Army, Navy, or Airforce?"

"Oh you mean like for the Government? Like going to another country to kill Al Quedas and all that? Do somebody I don't know dirty for somebody else that treat me like shit basically? They got me stuck in hell. Government get paid either way. At least doin it the way I did it, I stay loyal to my people more so than thinking I'm better when I'm not...y'know?"

"Why don't you like the Government?"

"White or black or whatever else who really trusts them?" She looked him in his golden brown eyes intently. "Do you?" he asked her.

"I guess I never thought about it." She said honestly. "I spent my whole life dreaming about my future at Harvard and traveling the world and seeing places like this library. Learn things I didn't know about the world. Meeting interesting people" she bumped his shoulder with hers.

He looked away from her for a minute. Thinking on what she said and how true it was. It was...nice, meeting somebody like her and gettin off the corner to do more than just party and bullshit.

"That's something a brotha like me can't afford. It's a real priviledge. I ain't never even cared to leave Baltimore before. I've only ever been out the city twice. Once for work, once cause I got arrested doin' 'work'"

She frowned again. She never knew how serious a person's life as a whole could be. She realized something and then smiled. "You're really good at dodging questions."

*ahem* he cleared his throat on purpose this time. She realized why and laughed at their unspoken understanding of his former life. "I don't do those things anymore, but it taught me a lot. You wanna survive in West Baltimore have a exit strategy. Some people think it cowardly, I used to be one of em. I..." he was reminded of Wallace. "I done been stabbed in the back by somebody I thought of like a brother. You waste so much time bein' mad at somebody before you realize you can't be friends again...cause they gone. Then my big homie died...hung himself in his prison cell. If the government was more concernered about the people than they were the money they make from meeting quotas by filling prison cells, maybe I'd give more of a fuck about fightin' for this country. " He said

"Only family I got is my Grandma and my people. Now my grandma was the one that taught me suicide was the weak route to go. I was mad at my man at first, learnin shit in these books. It was just a...um...a

coping mechanism."

She offered him eyes of sympathy again. He'd never been looked at that way, it made him a little uncomfortable. "People get shot everyday. Bossman sat me down and made me think, that aint how I wanna go out. I used to think it'd be better to go down swinging. Die on my feet than live on my knees. It is, but I at least want a chance at something real first. A life that is."

"So whatever you did before-"

"Grind"

"You used to 'grind' ." she corrected herself "What do you do now?"

"Everything is like a hustle." he thought out loud. "I just hustle legitimate now that's all. Stay on my grind."

"Well what do you think a legit hustle could be for you that's similar to the illegitimate way you did things before?"

"Real estate, Cars, I play alotta pool and I stole alotta rides when I was a kid. I've been drivin damn near as long as I could walk. I could start car lot. Shit, who knows?"

Rory couldn't help but feel for him, he'd really been through a lot. Life hadn't been at all fair to him and yet he seemed so sturdy, not at all shaken by it. He didn't even cry about it, maybe he was just numb to all the pain. She couldn't tell...he was a hard read. She put her hand on top of his then looked him in the eye. "I go to a prep school." she said plainly

"Yea, and?"

"..and you do realize these are the same interview style questions my principal asked me?"

"and..."

"and it means he saw something in me...potential. I'm a great student. I've always made good grades and I hope I can be valedictorian in the near future."

"I bet you would." he nodded.

"The point is, if you went to a school like mine..., you would too and I have no doubt that you're just as smart as me, If you apply yourself to whatever. You can do it. I've known you for like 20 minutes and I've already learned so much about our government and world that I didn't know."

"I don't know much."

"That's called modesty. You're much more than that. I can tell."

"Nah."

"Yeaa" she teased nodding her head wide eyed.

"So what you sayin?"

"I'm saying work with me. Like with your boss or mentor or whatever you want to call him. You must have amazing resilience to have gone through so much and not be suicidal or to have been willing to die fighting. So fight to live."

"Yea?"

"Yea. Give me your number. Maybe you can come to Stars Hollow sometime. See something beautiful outside of Baltimore."

"I think I already have." She blushed. Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. "I have to go now, but I wanna see you again. So don't be a stranger."

He walked with her out to the front of the building. As Rory climbed in the car she looked back at Bodie, baggy pants, du-rag on his head. Looks certainly can be deceiving. "Rory you're blushing, who's the guy." Lorelai said poking her daughter in her side.

"Nobody mom, just a kind stranger that's all."

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were falling love."

Rory looked appalled but smiled and gasped "Why mother, what ever do you mean?"