"Kill it." Aunt Lorelai screamed at me from her place on top of the couch.
"No." I said crawling up the couch myself.
"Kill it, kill it right now!"
"I just said no!"
"Kill it or I will kill you." She screamed back at me.
"Call Luke!" I said.
"You think he will drive all the way over here to kill a spider?"
"That guy would do anything for you; he's in love with you."
Lorelai stared at me through confused eyes. "What!"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Haven't you seen the way he looks at you?"
Lorelai looked down at the ground for a moment and then cleared her head, shaking it. "Whatever. Just kill the spider, Rory!"
I sighed, realizing there was no way out of this. I looked around me for something to throw at the spider. I saw a stack of magazines near by. I grabbed them and took a deep breath. I spotted the spider and dropped the magazine stack on top of it. We both screamed.
"Did you get it?" Lorelai whispered, as if the spider would hear her.
"I think so." We stepped off the couch and were faced with our next problem, the magazines.
"I say we leave them there. Good decor, you know." Lorelai said, stepping away from them quickly.
I nodded my head. "Good plan. I don't want to see a dead spider body. It's worse than an alive one. I'm afraid it will come back to life and attack me even harder for killing it the first time around."
Lorelai seemed to agree. We hurried out of the living room and into the kitchen. Just then, the phone rang. Lorelai picked it up and answered. Then, a moment later, she handed it over to me.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Rory, it's your mother." Her voice was proper, like always. But It had been a few weeks since she had called and it was comforting to here that voice.
"Hi, mom." I said.
"How is it going?"
"It's going good. Really good. I just killed a spider."
"What?"
"Never mind. How is Paris?"
"Oh, just exquisite. I wish you could see it! Truly breathtaking."
"I bet." I said, finding myself smiling. I kind of missed her.
"I've been gone for exactly a month today. Time sure does fly. Although, I do miss you, Rory." Her voice was suddenly sweet and soothing.
"I miss you too." And I meant it.
"I've gotta run, business calls. Just wanted to check up on you. But I will talk to you in a few days. Bye, Rory."
"Bye, mom."
I hung up the phone and cradled it in my hand. For some reason, I was suddenly homesick. I missed my mom. And I missed California and Dean and all my friends. I had missed it before, but it was really hitting me in that moment. Like a tidal wave, it crashed over me, nearly drowning me.
A knock on the front door brought me back to reality. I walked over and opened it, and there stood Jess, looking pretty handsome in a fitted green tee and jeans. He gave me his famous lopsided smirk.
I tried to return the smile but I was just wasn't in the mood. He cocked his head at me in confusion.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just… missing home."
"Well, maybe this will cheer you up." He threw something at me and I caught it in my hands. It was a book.
"Howl. Jess, I've read this."
"Not with the pleasurable addition of my notes in the margins."
I flipped through the book, finding it filled with little notes and phrases all along the margins. I smiled to myself.
"Thank you." Was all I could say, looking him in the eyes.
He shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't hard. Plus, that may or may not be your copy of Howl, anyways."
"You stole my book." I stated, glaring at him.
"Borrowed is a better term, actually."
I went to object, but Lorelai appeared behind me in the doorway. "Ah, my favorite little James Dean wanna be."
"And goodbye." Jess said, turning to go.
"I'm kidding. Stay, stay. We have some new magazine décor that we are dying to show you."
Jess turned back around and sighed. "I just came by to drop off a book. It's fine if I go."
"Too bad. You're staying. Rory, make him stay."
I looked over at Jess and gave him a stern look. "Jess. Stay."
He smiled softly and rolled his eyes. "Yes, master."
He stepped inside and I tried to take his coat but he just laughed at me. "Never try to take my coat again. It's too polite, too weird."
I blushed. "You have to understand, I have the most polite and proper mother on the planet. I came out of the womb saying, 'Thank you.'"
We walked into my room and I collapsed on my bed, laying flat on my back. Jess looked at the rows and rows of books I now had on the bookshelf.
"You've only been here for a month and it looks like you've been living in this room your entire life."
I shrugged, running my hand across my comforter. "I like books."
He pulled a book off the shelf and flipped through it.
"You going to borrow that one and vandalize it too?"
"What's your mother like?" Jess asked suddenly.
I sat up slowly, leaning against my hands. "She's the exact opposite of me."
"Very descriptive, thank you." Jess muttered.
I sighed. "I don't know, Jess. She's…. she's obsessed with her work, she's driven by power and money and she doesn't talk about her emotions. She's a perfectionist, but I guess that is something we share. She is frustrating and hard to read. God, I miss her."
"And your dad?"
I smiled. "He's just like me."
Jess went back to thumbing through books. It was silent for a long time. Then, I spoke up.
"Do you miss her? I mean, I know you never met her but still… do you ever think about her?"
"Who?" Jess asked, but I could tell he knew who I was talking about.
"Your mom."
Jess shrugged. "Not really."
"Why not? Aren't you curious?"
"Thinking about her won't bring her back to life."
"So, you just never think about it? Ever?" I asked, not convinced.
Jess threw his hands up in the air in defeat. " What do you want from me, Rory? I already told you the truth. I don't think about her. No. It's just… easier not to."
I bit my lip, studying Jess. There was just… something about him. Something I didn't understand but wanted to oh so badly. He was so cute, yes. But behind the looks and the brooding personality, there was something trying to scratch its way up to the surface. And I was going to figure out what it was.
I stood up and walked over to him, putting my books back on the shelf, just the way I had them before. He rolled his eyes at me but didn't say anything. After I finished, I turned to him, nothing but a foot of floor space between us.
"Not thinking about her doesn't change anything either, you know. It doesn't make her any less dead."
His eyes found mine and I held his gaze, searching them for something, anything to cling to. We stayed like that, 12 inches apart, eyes glued together, for a long time. I'm not sure how long. But he spoke up first, still refusing to leave my gaze.
"Why is it so important to you that I think about her?" He practically whispered.
"I don't want to see you in pain." I answered, my voice shaking.
"Why do you even care?" He replied.
I took another step closer to him. We were now just six inches apart and I could feel his breath on my forehead. It tickled and left a tingling feeling on my skin. It was odd. Being this close to a boy I had just met a month ago. Four weeks ago. Thirty days ago. But in those four weeks, in those thirty days, I had grown rather close to the misunderstood son of Luke Danes. And he was my only friend. And that counted for more than he knew.
"Because I care about you." I said suddenly. And then he was leaning towards my lips. And I wasn't stopping it. And I should've been trying to stop him but I just didn't want to. And just as our lips almost touched, the sound of my ringing phone broke us apart. We jumped back, startled at the noise.
I raced over to my phone, flushing and bright pink. I flipped open my cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Rory! It's Dean!"
I closed my eyes. Less than five seconds ago, I was almost kissing some strange boy in my bedroom. And now I was on the phone with my boyfriend, my boyfriend who loved me. If there was an award for the worst girlfriend in the world, I would definitely receive the grand trophy.
"Hey, Dean." I said quietly, turning away from Jess and trying to cover up my voice. But Jess heard me. I know he heard me. Because when I turned back around, he was gone. And I could feel the vibrations of the front door slamming shut as he walked away.
A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! I hope you keep reading, things are going to heat up soon for all of our characters. I appreciate the reviews and I am happy you guys are enjoying this story! Happy Reading!
