Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Gilmore Girls or the song I use.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: One shot. Lit-future. A fight gone slightly wrong. There aren't many specific details that you need to know, but Rory is nineteen, her and Jess are together, and the California thing isn't an issue. The lyrics I use are in italics at the beginning, and Rory's thoughts are in italics (you won't get the two confused, I don't think). Hope you all like, let me know what you think. (Lyrics are from the song 'Hey Jealousy').
Title: Thirteen Messages and Twenty Dirty Dishes
Tell me do you think it'd be all right
If I could just crash here tonight
You can see I'm in no shape for driving
And anyway I've got no place to go
And you know it might not be that bad
The phone is mocking Rory Gilmore, and she's about to scream. Mock away, she whispers silently. I am not picking up that phone. Nope. Let it ring. He can leave another insane message which I will be able to laugh over in the near future. Ring. See if I care. I dare you to.
It rings again. If a phone ring can sound more persistent, this one did. Every time a new ring sounded, it seemed to be speaking to Rory. Pick up. Come on. You know who it is. Answer.
Pushing her head into her lap, Rory groans irritably out of the back of her throat. She grips the sides of her plaid green pajama pants with her hands, and buries her head deeper into her legs. Do not answer the phone, she inwardly yells at herself. What did Mom say about self discipline? She sighs, and coaches herself. You knew that he was going to try to call. You just won't answer. For some reason, she feels like she should yell out something very immature (something along the lines of 'I win!') at the phone, but decides against it.
The answering machine clicked and began to come to life.
"Rory? I know you're there. Just pick up the phone."
Nope. Nuh uh. No thank you.
"Whatever advice your mom gave you, ignore it. Avoiding me won't exactly fix the situation."
That's what you think. It seems to be working out quite fine for me.
"Look, the apartment is still half mine. So technically, you can't just bar me from ever stepping foot in there again."
If I change the locks I can. Maybe. I wonder if Luke changes locks.
"And as much as you say you hate me right now... look, can you just pick up the damn phone?"
Rory groans loudly, but stays where she is on the floor of the bedroom. She shakes her head, as if he can see her.
"Fine." He hangs up, and Rory lets out a breath of relieved air. She quickly stands up, and walks over to the answering machine, deleting the message. There. Now stop calling and go away, she wishes, and walks out of the bedroom. Dirty dishes are still in the sink, unwashed, and she wrinkles her nose at the sight of them. Jess is supposed to wash the dishes- not Rory.
But Jess is just a deleted message on the answering machine now. Rory frowns at the thought of this, but quickly pushes it out of her mind, walking over to the dirty dishes in front of her.
Gingerly, she picks one up, staring at it intently. She can still see the remnants of macaroni and cheese on the dish, and sighs loudly, putting the dish back into the sink. Maybe she would just do the dishes tomorrow.
The phone rings again, and Rory stares at it sadly. Taking a small step forward, she reaches her hand out, brushing her fingertips against the cordless phone. Taking a deep breath, she picks it up, and puts it to her ear.
"Hello?" she asks quietly, nervously.
"Rory? Where are you? You were meant to be here an hour ago." Her mother. Rory feels a wave of disappointment wash over her, but brushes it away. She should be happy. Happy happy joy joy- it wasn't her boyfriend on the phone, leaving yet another pointless message.
"Are you serious- I must've lost track of the time or… something," Rory answers absentmindedly. "I'm sorry. Do you still want me to come out?"
"No, the town meeting's over anyway. You can just drive out here tomorrow morning. What were you doing that caused you to lose the track that time runs on, though, I must know."
"I was studying." The lie slides easily out of Rory's mouth, and she looks down at the floor as she says it.
"Huh. Right. Well… I guess I'll just let you get back to studying."
"That would probably be for the best."
"I'll see you tomorrow sweets."
"OK. Night," Rory says, and hangs up, placing the phone back down on the table. After a moment, she picks it back up, and dials a few numbers quickly. She closes her eyes tightly as he picks up.
"Hello?"
"You've left thirteen messages since last night, and I've deleted every single one. There's at least twenty dirty dishes in the sink, and I forgot that I was supposed to drive out to Stars Hollow tonight, and your friends are leaving these really stupid messages for you that I can't even begin to understand. I don't know where you are, and I don't know if I want to know, but I do know that I want you to come home." She pauses for a moment, but then quickly adds on, "Now." Please.
He begins to speak again after a moment.
"OK."
"OK?"
"OK. I'll be home soon."