A/N Ok this will be my first multi chapter story. I plan to make it pretty long, so I hope my updating skills will arrive soon. The time line for this will be around season two, but Rory and Dean are over. I might throw in some Java Junkie later on but for now this is Lit. I hope you enjoy, and please remember to review after!
Rory ran a hand threw her long, auburn hair. She was currently sitting at the counter on her favorite swivel chair as she waited for her mother to meet her for lunch. She was told to meet at half past two, and it was know three. She let out a sigh and peeked on the kitchen to catch Luke's attention.
"Hey, Luke!" She gestured with her left hand, and he made his way back to the front of the diner.
"Hey, you gonna order without your mother?" he asked, pen already poised over the pad of paper. Rory shifted in her chair.
"Yea, I'll take a cheeseburger with fries, and lots of coffee." He rolled his eyes, but got her a large mug and filled it with the sweet elixir of life. She smiled, and watched as he went back into the kitchen.
Finally, she heard the diner bells ring, and she turned to see her mother walk towards her with an excited expression.
"Darling child! I am so sorry I'm late but I've got the best news!" Lorelai took a seat, and immediately yelled out to Luke that she needed coffee. Not in the mood to argue, he simply filled her mug, and then placed Rory's order in front of her.
"Thanks Luke!"
"No problem. When you realize that you've shaved twenty years off your life, don't complain to me." He then turned to Lorelai who batted her eye lashes.
"Lukey, could you please get me what you gave Rory, but with apple pie? And no bitter remarks?" He huffed causing Lorelai to grin. "So, I see you've ordered without me."
"Well, sorry but it took you n extra half an hour to get here. I needed food. And plus I'll share my fries with you?" Rory offered as a peace offering.
"Ah, you know me too well!" she exclaimed, wasting no time in grabbing a few fries off Rory's plate. Suddenly, Rory remember her outburst.
"Hey, what were you yelling about when you came in…some sort of news?" Lorelai's eyes went wide as she remembered.
"Oh yes! Well, you know that house next to us?" Rory gave her a quizzical look.
"Um, you mean babette's house?"
"No, Rory the other side of our house, the empty one!" Now that she thinks of it, she doesn't really remember ever seeing people there.
"Ok, so what's going on in the mystery house?" Rory asked with genuine curiosity. The thought of anyone living in that house was weird; it had been empty since they'd moved there.
"Well when I got in the car this morning I noticed a sign out front that said 'sold', did you see it?" Rory shook her head no, eager to her the end of this story. "Anyway, so on my way here, I saw babette and Ms. Patty being quite loquacious in front of her studio-" Rory cut her off.
"Wait. Do you even know what loquacious means?"
"Oh my darling daughter don't be mean or I won't finish my story."
"Alright, I'm sorry that I underestimated your intelligence," Rory said sarcastically.
"Ok so I went over to talk to them, and I casually asked what was going on. Apparently a woman bought that house, and she's got a seventeen year old son! They're from New York and they're supposed to start moving in this afternoon! Ok, go ahead let the praising begin." Lorelai said excitedly. Rory laughed.
"Why should I praise you mommy dearest?"
"Don't joke. Anyway, why don't we have a movie night tonight…I'm thinking Monty Python Meets Johnny Dangerously?" Rory laughed to herself at how quickly the conversation changed.
"That sounds good, you hit Doose's and I'll get the videos?" Already out of her seat, Lorelai agreed. They paid, and went their separate ways.
As Rory strolled along the sidewalk, she couldn't help but think about her new neighbors. A seventeen year old boy sounded pretty good to her. After her first boyfriend Dean broke up with her for not saying she loved him, she decided against dating for a while. And besides, most boys at Chilton weren't very tempting since all reminded her of Tristan. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd like her; would he like books? Would he be friendly? She remembered her mom mention New York; did this mean he was a bit rough around the edges? All these thoughts were going on in her head, and she almost walked right passed the video store. As soon as she entered, she immediately went to get The Meaning of Life, and And Now For Something Completely Different. She knew that Johnny Dangerously was at the house so she walked up to the register where she saw Kirk. He seemed to be in a heated battle with someone unfamiliar to her. No doubt in her mind it was Kirk's fault. She timidly approached the counter and cleared her throat to let them know that a line was now forming.
"Excuse me Rory, but I'm in the middle of a disagreement with this hoodlum here." Kirk stated matter-of-factly.
"Are you serious man? All I wanted to do was rent a video and you won't let me because I apparently don't look trustworthy!" Kirk rolled his eyes.
"You sir are currently exhibiting three of the five traits on Taylor's list of Hoodlum qualities." Rory quickly intervened.
"But, Kirk that doesn't even make any sense."
"Rory, he has a leather jacket, a mysterious look, and he's renting a hoodlum movie!" The stranger gave a bitter chuckle.
"You have got to be kidding me!"
"Kirk I'm sure it's not a hoodlum movie." She then turned to the stranger. She took notice that he wasn't much older than her, and he was very good looking. She shook the thoughts from her head. "What movie?" He said nothing, simply showed her the title. "Almost Famous? Really?" She gave a slight frown.
"What, you not a fan either?" She didn't like his tone.
"Hey I could leave you here to argue for another three hours, or you could be nice and let me handle this." He put his hands up and let her do the talking. "Ok Kirk how about this: Let him rent the movie but instead of giving him the regular five day rental, make him bring it in on the third day." Kirk thought it over before accepting. Rory paid for her movies as well and saw him waiting for her outside. She was still a little ticked at his tone.
"Can I help you?" she made sure her words had a bite to them.
"Yeah, you can tell me what the deal is with this loony bin." She glared at him.
"This is not a loony bin, it's my home. Kirk isn't exactly the best welcoming committee, but based on what I've seen neither are you." He raised his eyebrow at her.
"Wow, someone had a bad day. I'm Jess by the way."
"No the rest of my day was fine; it was the last five minutes that sucked." She snapped, ignoring the fact that he introduced himself.
"Okay, you know what? I don't think you should be on the welcoming committee either." He was starting to get really annoyed with this girl.
"As much as I would love to continue this little heart to heart, I've got to get home."
"Yeah, wouldn't want mommy to get worried about you," he mumbled. Her fists clenched and she huffed before walking away.
"By the way, Almost Famous is a Hoodlum movie, jerk!" She yelled back.
Gilmore House
"So what took you so long in the movie store?" Lorelai questioned as they ate a spread of junk food, one of the movies playing in the background.
"Oh well Kirk was fighting with some guy so I decided to help out."
"Ooh, a guy? Was he cute?" Rory blushed, but quickly regained her composure.
"He was cute, but incredibly annoying and kind of a jerk. I mean, first of all he rents Almost Famous, but then gets mad when I point out that it sucks." Lorelai laughed.
"Are you telling me that you insulted a cute guy while he was fighting with Kirk? Maybe that's why he was a jerk." Rory threw a pillow at her mother.
"Mom, we practically got into a fight in the street. Finally I just called him a jerk, and here we are."
"Wow a lovers spat…"
"Mom! Stop I didn't even give him my name."
"Did you get his?" Rory hit her with the pillow again.
"Yes, his name is Jess." Lorelai pretended to ponder the thought of it for a moment.
"So that's it?"
"Yeah, pretty much. So, any word on the new neighbors?" Rory questioned.
"Well, not really. But I'm going to ask Sookie to bake a cake for me so we could bring it over tomorrow night, maybe have a small welcoming thing." Rory froze. She instantly thought of how they both mentioned a welcoming committee. Did this mean he was new? Could he be the new boy next door? She didn't even want to think about it.
"Um yea that sounds like a great idea." Lorelai smiled and got out of her seat to thorw away some wrappers. After a few grunts of annoyance, Lorelai called out.
"Rory? Will you be a good kid and take out the trash?" With a sigh, Rory went into the kitchen and took the bulging bag from the can as a new one was placed inside. "Oh, and I already took the cans out so you have to go out front."
Rory trudged through the grass and threw the bag in one of the overflowing cans. She brushed her hands off, and looked towards the newly occupied house. A moving van was out front, and a shadowy figure was sitting on the front porch. She walked over to get a better look when she stepped on a stick. The figure's head flew up, and she instantly recognized the warm chocolate eyes of the boy she had insulted.
"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered before pulling himself up and slipping back into his house. Rory sighed, and turned around. Maybe a welcoming cake was a bad idea.
TBC
