The Secret Lies in Charlotte

Chapter 1:

By: Stargazer-Lillies

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is so cool I should have thought of it first…but unfortunately I didn't…ooh I know! How about a show about a girl who slays vampires?

A/N: This fic has nothing to do with National Treasure, but i was just reading it over, and my title is what the first clue is for the treasure in National Treasure...hehehe...it's a total accident...but funny.

Setting: Rory is married to…ugh Dean… and lives with him and their daughter, Charlotte. The 17 year old is the spitting image of her mother, but except for the quick wit and love of coffee…is nothing like her. She has a bit of a bad streak, which puzzles Dean and Stars hollow to no end… however Rory knows the truth and things may stir up when a certain hoodlum comes to town… meanwhile a single mother and her strapping young teenage son (who I'm gonna say looks like Jonathan Rhys-Meyers…excuse me while I drool) move to Stars Hollow as well, striking the interest of Ms. Charlie Forester herself. WARNING: Dean does not come off as a good guy in this fic.

The sun set on an eventful day in Stars Hollow. The Gilmore Girls, Lorelei, Rory and Charlotte had just gotten back from dinner with Emily and Richard and were tired to no end. Dean and Luke trailed hopelessly behind as all three girls jumped out of the vehicle and into Luke's to get to the coffee. Luke simply shook his head as he watched them inhale it and let out simultaneous sighs of relief.

"Jeez…" Luke muttered, deciding at the last minute to let them keep the coffee pot, with respect for his life. "To think I used to think there was hope for that one" he said, motioning towards Charlie who was busy complaining about the dinner with her mother and grandmother.

"Ha." Dean said, shaking his head. "Only wishful thinking, my friend." He sat down at the girl's table and listened in.

"To think, Emily actually thought you would agree to one of those high society coming out balls." Lorelei said, snorting through her mug.

"Hey." Rory protested, clutching her mug. "I had one."

"Yes." Dean commented "I remember the gloves they made me wear." Rory laughed at the memory.

"Yeah, sure, Rory, but you've always been so polite. You could never say no to them." Lorelei told her. "Charlie has more spirit… Reminds me of me." Charlie smirked at that then poured herself some more coffee.

It was at that moment that Taylor came bursting into the diner, hands covered in red paint.

"Luke!" He yelled, and then spotted him wiping off the counter.

"What is it, now, Taylor?" Luke grunted, tiredly.

"Someone "he said, putting emphasis on that word. "Spilled paint on the sidewalk in front of the Soda Shoppe, and when I say right in front, I mean right in front of my door, and a lot of it." Taylor held up his hands, showing the paint. Lorelei looked puzzled, but it was quickly explained when Charlie motioned, putting her hands out as if she was falling.

"Was there a wet paint sign, you missed, Taylor?" Luke asked, gruffly.

'No." Taylor sounded annoyed. "Someone did this on purpose."

"Well, I don't know who it is so, why are you bothering me?" Luke complained, rolling his eyes when Taylor began again.

"We have been seeing many pranks around town lately, Mr. Danes, and most of them have been carried out by a certain juvenile delinquent." Charlie's smirk faded and she smiled nervously and looked away.

"Who are you accusing?" Luke sounded offended, glancing in his granddaughter's direction.

"I think you know." Taylor snarled, walking towards Charlie. "You young lady, will clean up every bit of that paint, or so help me god, you will be volunteering at every town event for the next five years." Charlie's short-lived amusement now turned to horror as the prospect of hanging out with Kirk and Taylor loomed over her head. Taylor quickly left the building, smug and triumphant. Soon after they heard another smack as Taylor hit the ground again, and"FUDGE!" as he picked himself up again. Charlie snickered discreetly as her mother looked disappointed and her father glared.

"Charlie…" Rory trailed off. "Why do you keep doing this?" Dean looked angry. Rory stood up and escorted Dean to the door.

"We're talking about this, later, young lady." She exclaimed, exiting the diner. Charlie sat in silence for a couple minutes until Lorelei spoke up.

"So why the paint on the hands?" Lorelei inquired curiously.

"Well…" Charlie explained. "I've never forgiven him for my Guinea Pig."

"Oh…" Lorelei remembered. "Poor, poor Julio" She sipped her coffee. Charlie smiled bitter sweetly with a traumatized face.

"I don't see why he had to use his mower that day; I mean the lawn was perfectly fine the way it was…"

Charlie approached her house, a couple hours later, and peered in the window. Her parents were fighting. They were always fighting. She cringed at her father's movements. His hands were flailing and her mother was cowering beneath them. She could make out their voices and she never liked what she heard.

"Rory!" Dean yelled. "Why won't you do something about her?" Charlie cringed. They were fighting about her.

"Dean… I am." Rory said calmly. 'I just don't see how sending her off to some…boarding school is gonna change her."

"She needs to learn some discipline!" Dean yelled. "God! This never would have happened if you hadn't spoiled her!"

"Excuse me?" Rory raised her voice.

"You heard me!" Dean screamed. "She gets everything she wants, when she wants. She wanted a computer…you got her a computer, she wanted a TV, and you got her a TV. She's got to learn that things don't just come to you. She's got to learn some respect!" Rory shot him a heated glare.

"Look, Dean." Rory started. "Growing up, my mother didn't have much. She started from nothing. I mean sure she came from money, but that made it even harder… she couldn't ask them for anything. We struggled. I mean sure when we met, I wasn't that poor or starving… but that doesn't mean were rich!" Rory paused, yelling at this point. "I have a good job…a great job, in fact, I have money, and if I want to give my daughter a computer and a TV, then I should be able to!"

"Oh, Sure!" Dean countered, sarcastically. "Poor, struggling Lorelai. Got knocked up at sixteen, ran away from her rich parents, and had to make it on her own. Must have been tough, not having everything served to her." His comment ended when Rory slapped him across the face. Dean became angrier and grabbed Rory by the arms.

"Don't ever do that again." He said fiercely, as she struggled to get out of his grip.

Charlie grimaced. She hated when they did this. They fought constantly, and she wondered why the hell nobody in Stars Hollow had caught on. Her father was thinking about sending her to boarding school. Goody. Charlie walked away from her door and back to the town square. It was there that she noticed a car parked in front of Luke's. The light was on, and there was somebody inside. It wasn't Luke. She approached the diner, tentatively, and reached the door. She peered inside to see a man around her parents' age, standing at the counter, making coffee. He had scruffy black hair and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple days. However, the look was kind of flattering on him. He pulled a book out of his back pocket and began reading. Charlie opened the door and the bell at the door jittered him from his book.

"Hi." Charlie said, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Hi." The man said, obviously wondering who she was.

"Where's Luke?" Charlie asked, then threateningly "Who are you and why are you here, when he's not?"

"I'm his nephew." The man said, uninterested and tried to get back to his book, which Charlie now recognized as Wuthering Heights.

"Huh." She replied, surprised. "I didn't know he had a nephew." The man sighed, aggravated.

"Well…he does." He lifted the coffee pot and poured himself some coffee.

"Does he know you're here?" Charlie interrogated.

"Nope." The man answered, never tearing his eyes off the page.

"Do you have a name?" She continued.

"Do you have a problem?" He countered, looking up at her. He suddenly stopped as his eyes scanned her face.

"What?" She asked, bewildered at his sudden interest.

"You look like your mother." He commented, suddenly, still distracted from his book, and took a sip of his coffee.

"My mother?" Charlie squinted at him. "You know her?"

"Yep." He sighed. "Blue eyes, brown hair. Incredibly annoying. You're Rory Gilmore's daughter."

He referred to her mother as Rory Gilmore. It sounded so strange to Charlie. I mean, technically her grandmother, her mother, and her all referred to themselves as Gilmores, but none of their names were Gilmore anymore. His voice trailed on.

"How is she?" He asked, with a strange curiosity.

"Fine." Charlie said, absentmindedly, still pondering his interest. She noticed the time and hoped her parents had stopped fighting.

"I need to go." She announced, and made her way to the door before abruptly stopping. "How did you get in here?"

"Good Ol' Luke." He explained as he held up a key. "Never changed his hiding place."

"Oh." She said. "I'm Charlie, by the way."

"Jess" He delivered. "Jess Mariano." Charlie opened the door and began to walk outside.

"You know…" She called behind her. "Catherine and Heathcliff were so brother and sister…" An amused smirk came from the man at the counter as he reminisced about the girl, unknown to Charlotte, that he once knew, and loved.