Title: Save Me
Author: Cathy aka kyleschick
Couple: Rory and Dean
Rating: PG-13
Summary: It's a new beginning for Rory as she and Paris open their own law firm. Rory begins to deal with this career change, Paris' nerve-wrecking antics and the complications when she gets her first case. Meanwhile, Dean finds himself coming to terms with a secret he's been ashamed of since we last saw him in Stars Hollow. How does he cope? Narcoleptics.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Gilmore Girls nor do I own John Grisham's The Rainmaker.
Author's Note: This fanfic was really influenced and is loosely based on the novel The Rainmaker by John Grisham and the song Amsterdam by Coldplay. Hope you guys like the fic, it's my first Narocleptics fic so please be kind.
Chapter 3: Studying, Rubber Mac&Cheese and Paris
[ Rory ]
I walked back to the office, deciding that the nice fresh air would do me some good. As I carried my bag over one shoulder I thought about the encounter with Dean and then the awkward arrival of Lindsey. I had known Lindsey briefly at Stars Hollow High and I remember how nice she had been, like the time she bought me a magnet of Mark Twain's head that I really wanted and then she wouldn't even let me pay her back. Even though she was a nice person, I still didn't know enough about her to say whether or not I considered her my friend. But, if she makes Dean happy, that's all that counts. I remember how happy they had been coming out of the church on their wedding day as I stood watching from afar. It had been wounding to know that Dean had moved on and had found love so quickly after we broke up, while my love life only continued to suffer but I was happy for him. Still, I had this feeling that Lindsey didn't like me very much, she just seemed a little too eager to take Dean back to his room. But then again, he was injured and I'm sure she just wanted him to get a lot of rest to recuperate.
I finally arrived at the office, so I dug out my key from my bag and went inside only to find Paris still scribbling frantically on some papers.
"Hey Paris," I said as I went over to my desk to put down my bag.
"Rory?" she mumbled, with her eyes still glued to the papers.
"Paris, come on. It's almost 9 o'clock, you need to stop working and go home to get some rest. If you keep this up you'll fail the bar exam," I teased.
At
the mention of failing the bar exam Paris' head jolted up as she dropped her
pen onto the table.
"Oh my gosh, I have to study for the bar," she cried, panic written on her face. I ran to her side.
"Paris, relax we have a few of weeks left until the bar, I was only kidding about you failing. Just calm down a little." I said, taking her folders and papers and shoved then into her desk drawer.
"Rory, I've been so busy with this new client today I haven't studied for the bar since last night. I can't fail the bar! If I fail the bar I'll have to wait until next year to take it again." She said, horror in her eyes.
"Paris, you're not going to fail!" I cried.
"And my first client, if I can't do his case he'll tell everyone how incompetent I am and then I'll never be able to show my face ever again because everyone will know to steer clear of Paris Gellar, loser lawyer who can't even pass the bar exam." Cried Paris distressed.
I felt like kicking myself for bringing up the bar.
"Paris, get a hold of yourself! Ok, you're going to go home and get a good night's sleep and I'm going to come over tomorrow morning, pick you up and then we'll go to the library and study for the bar together. All right? You are not going to fail, I won't let you." I reassured her, giving her a pat on the back. Paris looked skeptical, but gently nodded.
"But what if…" she blurted but I shot her a look and she quieted down.
[ Dean ]
When we got to my hospital room Lindsey helped me into my bed then she fluffed my pillows and tucked me in.
"So, how was work today?" I asked, smiling at her. She started rearranging the items on my bedside night table.
"Oh, just the usual. People came into the store and bought some cat oven mitts and whatnot," she said, refusing to look at me. I sighed. Suddenly, she came and sat on the edge of my bed, beside me. We sat there in complete silence until she finally looked at me.
"So, what were you and Rory doing?" she asked innocently, fiddling with the bed sheets. I knew that she'd been dying to ask me this the minute she saw Rory.
"Rory was studying and I was having my dinner. We hadn't even noticed each other's presence most of the time. All we did was talk, that's it." I explained. Lindsey looked at me carefully in the eyes as though she wanted to detect whether or not I was lying to her.
"I swear, that's all," I told her again. Still not smiling, she moved closer towards me and took my hand.
"Dean, I'm sorry. It's just that you know, I can't help but get jealous sometimes. I love you and the thought of someone else taking you away from me just kills me inside." She said, stroking my hand.
"Lindsey, don't worry. Rory and I are just friends." I assured her, but she still refused to believe it.
"I should get home," she said as she leaned in and kissed me.
"Bye," I said softly as she picked up her jacket and left the room, closing the door behind her. I sank back onto my pillows.
Things were so tense between us; it had been like this for a long time now. If only things could be the way they were when we had first gotten married. I shivered and wrapped the blanket tighter around my body as the horrifying images came back. I closed my eyes and the events of the past few days flooded back into my mind…
I had come home from work, bringing daisies for Lindsey, knowing how much she loved them. I was in a good mood but when I came into our bedroom she was on the floor, distraught. She was crying saying that she had seen me with her. I had no idea what she was talking about only until I recalled having lunch with a few co-workers at a restaurant near work. I had tried to explain but Lindsey, yet again, refused to listen. She had gone into the living room and started to knock over some of the furniture and objects that were at arms reach. Suddenly she grabbed the lamp. I had tried to take it away from her but she was too quick and she had swung it at my knee. Taking one of the shards of ceramic she aimed at my face, luckily I had swatted her hand in time before she could do much damage and I was left with only a gash on my forehead. I shuddered remembering the torture. The abuse continued when finally my arm had snapped, Lindsey had called the ambulance saying that I had fallen down the stairs.
When the ambulance and the paramedics came and took me away to the hospital, it was as though Lindsey had become another person, she was the Lindsey I had married and loved. She suddenly had tears running down her face, concern written over her face as she told me that she loved me and wanted me to be better again.
I rolled over in bed, biting my lip in pain as I took my hand to the bandaged knee, I had almost forgotten about it and didn't realize that it still hurt to move it. I held tightly onto one of the pillows and tried to sleep.
[ Rory ]
After going by the Gellar residence in my Jeep to pick up Paris, I drove us to the library. Paris looked much better this morning; her blonde hair brushed and pulled back in a neat ponytail and her face brighter. She wasn't as agitated as she was the night before.
"Feeling better?" I asked her as we neared the library.
"Much better." She replied as I parked the car into the library parking lot.
"Ok, so what do you want to cover first?" I asked as we got out of the car and walked into the library. Paris immediately pulled out a long checklist with all the categories of the exam written in neat rows, with every possible topic on it. I rolled my eyes. Paris was still Paris.
"Before going to bed I made this list of all the material that could be on the exam, all the topics we covered and everything relevant that would be even considered." She said sternly. "We have a total of 18 categories to study, if we divide our time efficiently we should be able to cover all the categories to leave us with a week before the exam to review everything again." Said Paris as we found a table in the corner area of the library away from most of the other people studying or reading there. I saw the determination in her face and knew that with the way things were already going, we were both going to ace this exam.
"Ok, so what's on the top of the list?" I asked as we sat down and started cracking open the books.
***
We'd been studying for 6 straight hours and we were due for a break. I was exhausted; I looked over at Paris who was still intently hovered over the Elton Bar Review. I checked my watch it was 1:00PM. I rubbed my eyes and quietly stood up to stretch and grabbed some money out of my bag.
"Psst, Paris." I whispered. Paris looked up.
"Where are you going? We should start on civil litigation now," said Paris, furrowing her brows.
"We've been studying for the last six hours, I think we could use a little break." I told her.
"Well, we still have a lot to do." She said as she continued flipping through the huge textbook.
"I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, do you want anything?" I asked. She shook her head and I left the library as she continued studying.
As I walked out of the library I let out a breath of air, it was so stuffy in there and it was nice to see the bright sun hitting against my face as I walked down the street. I hoped that Paris wasn't going to over study because that would only cause her even more stress and worse, she might panic and forget everything while writing the exam. I shrugged off the thought as I wandered and looked at the shops around me. Suddenly I noticed the Connecticut Memorial Hospital across the street and remembered the cafeteria. The coffee was pretty decent. I quickly crossed the street and entered the hospital.
As I entered the cafeteria I looked around and saw that it was pretty much empty as it had been the day before.
[ Dean ]
I sat at my usual spot in the cafeteria again, finishing up my lunch. I looked in disgust at the pasty macaroni and cheese and the stale cookie on my plate. Lindsey had come in this morning and took me to breakfast before going to work then I spent most of the morning watching TV from my hospital bed. It had been extremely boring; luckily I was going to leave tomorrow morning. I looked around for the hospital aid that said he'd come by to wheel me back to my room but he still hadn't arrived.
"Hey Dean," said a voice, I looked up and smiled to see Rory's bright face.
"Hey, what do I owe the honour of seeing you two days in a row?" I asked, motioning her to sit down.
"I can't stay for too long, Paris and I are studying for the bar at the library." She said, sitting down beside me.
"Ah, and you had to fuel up?" I teased, pointing to her large coffee. She laughed.
"Yeah, we've been studying for six hours straight and Paris still doesn't want to take a break yet," she said, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Paris has always been very… driven," I said, running my hand through my hair.
"Oh yes, very." She replied, smiling. "I keep telling her to relax more but she's still straining herself."
"Well, just try your best. I don't think Paris is easily persuaded when she has her mind set on something." I chuckled as I remembered Paris and her blazing eyes as she dictated the group when Rory had brought her group to Stars Hollow to rehearse for Romeo & Juliet.
"So, have you decided what kind of lawyer you want to be?" I asked, casually.
"Umm, I'm not really sure yet but I think that I wouldn't mind spending time in the trial and do court work." She said, playing with the napkin on the table.
"Really? Like defending big corporations and companies?" I asked, curiously.
"I'm not too sure, I think that's something Paris would like to do," said Rory, thinking intently as though she never thought about this before.
"How about representing criminals?" I continued.
"Well, they are entitled to a good defense but most aren't capable to pay for a private lawyer," she said, resting her chin in her hand as she propped her elbow on the table.
"Then how about rapists and child molesters?"
"No," she said, frowning and a look of disgust traveled to her face.
"Domestic abuse, men or women who beat their spouses?" I asked softly.
"Never, that's just wrong." She said, looking a little uncomfortable. She looked me straight in the eyes, questioningly.
"So, you don't really want to do criminal work," I said, puling away from her gaze.
"I think I'll concentrate on non-criminal litigation, you know, lawsuits, divorces and that type of work," she said. I nodded.
[ Rory ]
I looked at Dean and wondered where all this interest in law came from. It was down right odd and I felt a little uncomfortable as he mentioned the different criminals. There was something about the way he asked the questions, which made me even more curious as to why he brought up this whole topic. He usually isn't the type to bring up something so dark and depressing.
"So, when are you going to be released to go home?" I asked, trying to change the subject,
"Tomorrow morning," he replied.
"I bet you're excited," I said, trying to cheer him up.
"Anything to get away from the food." He said with a laugh as he poked the supposed macaroni and cheese. Actually it was looking a lot like pale yellow rubber.
"That's disgusting," I said, as he pushed the plate towards me. "Dean, get that away from me!" I cried, laughing,
"Come on, Rory, its good." He joked, picking up a piece with his fork and waving it at me.
"Don't you dare," I cried, giggling. Dean put the yellow rubber back on the plate and calmed down. "Hey, if you want I can go get you some nice take out and sneak it to your room." I suggested.
"Ah, Rory my underhanded felon, smuggling in the goods," he said in a deep voice. I looked at him, shaking my head as I laughed.
"Seeing how you're suffering, I think it's my duty to serve you," I said, giving him a salute.
"Well, just as long as you don't cook it yourself, because I'd rather withstand their meatloaf than eat your crazy concoctions." He said, shuddering.
"Dean, I'm not that bad," I moaned, crossing my arms over my chest, pretending to be upset.
"Ok, ok, you're not that bad." He said, putting his hands up, surrendering.
"Well, I'm going to go and get back to studying with Paris, I'll see you later," I said, picking up my empty cup and throwing it in my trash. As if on cue, a hospital aid approached us.
"Yeah, I'll see you later, umm… here, ok?" he said.
"Sure," I said as I watched the hospital aid wheel him away.
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