A/N: It's funny how popular this version of Rory is. I didn't think you'd necessarily like her at all! lol I'm determined to have both her and Jess be their own people in this. They have to be Rory and Jess, even if they are kind of in each other's positions, if you see what I mean. Meh, clearly you do, because you're all still reading and reviewing! Thanks, peops :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4
"Seriously? That's the outfit you're wearing to dinner with Emily and Richard?"asked Lorelai, eyes wider than wide.
"That's what you're wearing?" Rory countered, looking her mother over.
"What? It's smart-casual."
"You look like you're headed to your own funeral."
"And apparently you're expecting Lollapalooza."
Rory folded her arms across her chest. Lorelai did the same.
"I'm not changing," said Rory definitely.
"Well, I'm not either," Lorelai countered. "And I think this means we're just about as pathetic as each other," she said, trying for a smile.
She really didn't want to fight with her daughter and it sure as hell was confusing and oddly endearing to see so much of herself in the way Rory behaved. Not that Lorelai ever dressed quite like that, with the punk-rock edge and the dark make-up, but she never could seem to look exactly as her mother wanted her to and eventually gave up trying on purpose.
"So, are we going?" she asked eventually.
"Apparently. Not that I really understand why," Rory grumbled.
"Because you want to see them, don't you?"
"Are you kidding?"
"Usually, yes, but in this case, no, I was being serious."
"I thought we were going because you wanted to see them. I mean, they're your parents, right?"
There was a sneer and tone that went with those words. Lorelai let that slide for now, she felt as if she had to, but eventually, that was all going to have to stop. She would only be pushed so far, it just so happened that at the moment, she hadn't reached that point yet.
"Hold on a second." Lorelai shook her head. "Emily and Richard told you that you had to come live here and go to Chilton whether you liked it or not."
"Yes," Rory agreed with a nod.
"And they told me you had to come live here and go to Chilton whether I liked it or not," Lorelai continued. "So, why are we doing them a favour by going to their house for dinner? I mean, what do either of us stand to gain except a headache?"
"Real food that a person actually cooked?" Rory shrugged.
"Pah, we can get that from any one of at least five places in town." Lorelai shrugged right back.
"Then why are we driving all the way to Hartford like idiots if we can just eat here?"
"I have no idea."
The Gilmore girls stared at each other for a beat both finding an odd smile after a while. They had their reasons for not being close like mother and daughter should, there were maybe a hundred reasons why, but one opinion they shared was that most of this mess was the fault of Emily and Richard, and neither of them especially wanted to spend an evening in their company if they didn't have to. Apparently, it had now occurred to both of them, simultaneously, that they really didn't have to, so they wouldn't.
"I'll run and get changed, you call Emily and tell her we made other plans."
"Why me? You're the 'responsible adult'," said Rory air-quoting.
"Because, in a rare motherly moment, 'I said so,'" Lorelai shot back as she ran up the stairs.
Rory was about to yell something mean back at her and then changed her mind. She didn't really want to see the grandparents that had at one time been her parents, in name at least, but she wouldn't hate talking to them. Maybe if she was lucky, she could get Richard instead of Emily. She always liked him better anyway.
Picking up the phone she quickly dialled and was unsurprised to hear some random female voice answer. That would be the next new maid in an awfully long line of them.
"Can I speak to Richard Gilmore please?" she said with a politeness hardly ever heard these days. "It's Rory."
There was some clattering and voices before he finally came to the phone.
"Rory, my dear, how are you?"
It was weird how his being nice to her still made a lump grow in her throat. She had such fond memories of the grandfather she had once called Daddy when she was a little girl. When he had his heart attack last year and she thought she might never see him again it almost broke her heart. He was doing better now, and she had reasons to be mad at him still, but she loved him, even if she never said it anymore.
"I'm fine," she said shortly, swallowing hard. "Er, me and Lorelai, we're not coming over. I'm sorry but we... we want to spend more time as just us. I mean, that was the plan, right? Coming over there... it's not going to help anybody."
"Oh," said Richard, clearly disappointed, though he rallied considerably well in the next moment. "Well, I think it's wonderful that you and... and Lorelai want to, um, connect is the correct terminology these days, I think."
"I guess so."
"Very well. I trust you'll both be visiting with us soon, but of course, I quite understand about today in particular, and I'm sure Emily will also."
"Thanks," said Rory, too softly. "So, I'm gonna go."
"Alright. Well, enjoy your evening, my dear."
"You too. Bye."
Rory hung up fast, staring at the phone for too long after. She really hated this whole situation. There were times when she wished she had never found out the truth about her life, that she could've gone on believing Emily and Richard were her parents and Lorelai was her aunt. She had been so happy then, or so it seemed in her memory.
Of course, another option would've been if everyone hadn't lied their asses off to her from Day One, then maybe she would've grown up here with Lorelai, calling her Mom, being the doting daughter. Rory laughed at the very idea which seemed crazy to her mind. Maybe that was what Lorelai thought would happen now, that they'd become the perfect mother-daughter team out of nowhere, as if it had always been that way. Fat chance.
"So, I'm thinking," Lorelai called as she came back down the stairs, setting her hair free of the clips, "Luke's would be fine for dinner if you want, but actually-" She stopped talking abruptly when she realised there was no-one there to answer her. "Rory?"
The front door slamming let her know that her daughter was on the way out and apparently not looking for company. Lorelai sighed and sat down heavily on the couch.
"So much for a nice evening of mother-daughter bonding."
Maybe it had been too much to hope for so soon.
Jess was starting to wonder why he had ever agreed to go to dinner at Francie's house. They really had seen next to nothing of each other this summer and he genuinely hadn't missed her all that much, which seemed wrong. Of course, they had been dating quite a while now and they ran out of things to talk about after the first couple of months. He would break up with her, but it seemed wrong to do it. After all, she hadn't done anything wrong and they did get along most of the time, when they saw each other.
It helped to have a girlfriend anyway, with all the events at Chilton and everything, it just made it easier always knowing who his date would be. Plus there were certain other advantages for a teenage guy to having a long-term girlfriend, not that Francie had let him get past second yet. Anyway, Jess had a feeling these were probably all the wrong reasons to date a person, and yet he never seriously thought about changing his situation, not even when he had to spend an evening in the company of Francie's bickering parents.
It was late and he should technically head straight home, but curfew was extended on Friday and Saturday nights, and even further tonight since Luke was aware Jess had no control over how late dinner ran at his girlfriend's house. That meant there was at least an hour to go before he had to worry about getting home, and Jess happened to know there was some pie left over in the diner, plus he had left his book there. He planned to get in some quiet reading time and eat his fill of leftovers while the going was good. What he didn't expect was company, but Jess didn't object to having some when he spotted Rory sitting in the gazebo in the square.
"Hey, neighbour," he said with a smirk as he climbed the steps towards her.
"Hey," she greeted him, smiling back, even going so far as to laugh as she looked him over. "Wow. Who died?"
"Ha ha," he deadpanned. "Y'know you'd feel really bad if somebody actually had died."
"Maybe." She shrugged, moving over on the bench so he could sit down. "So, if it's not a funeral, I can't imagine court is open this late."
"I was out to dinner," he explained, shifting awkwardly beside her. "In Hartford."
"With Luke?" asked Rory, frowning some.
"With my girlfriend and her parents," he said, looking everywhere but at her.
"Uh-huh."
Jess glanced at Rory when he was sure she had looked away. He couldn't figure out her reaction from that one sound and he didn't know why that bothered him. He also didn't know why he hadn't mentioned Francie before now. It wasn't as if he had anything to hide.
"I thought Luke said you were headed to Hartford tonight too," he said then as the thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Change of plans," Rory muttered, still looking the other way.
Something had happened, probably a fight between her and Lorelai, or so Jess assumed. He couldn't imagine why else they wouldn't have gone to dinner at the Gilmore house in Hartford, or why Rory would be sat out in the gazebo so late at night without so much as a jacket on.
"So, I was gonna go get some pie at the diner. You want?" he asked, watching her until she finally turned to look.
"Cherry?"
"Probably. Might be peach."
"Peach is good too," Rory admitted, finding him a half a smile.
Jess smiled back. "Come on," he urged her, tiling his head towards the diner as he got up to go.
Rory followed behind him, wondering what the hell she was really doing. Sure, Jess seemed like a nice guy, but that didn't really mean anything. She had known plenty of guys over the years, both nice and not so nice, and she knew how to handle them all. Still, Jess was different. He intrigued her. He was nice but not too nice, like some of the freaks and geeks she had met who couldn't even smile at a girl without having a seizure. There was no way he was the bad boy type either but somehow, he wasn't dull. He had good taste in books and music, and pie apparently. Rory couldn't help but smile as she followed him over to the diner, watching him unlock and then taking a seat at the counter while he put on coffee and served up pie.
"Thanks," she said, digging into her food with gusto.
"You're welcome," Jess told her, taking the next stool over.
He hadn't meant to stare at her so much but he was finding it difficult now they were somewhere with enough light to clearly see. For all that people should not be judged on their looks, and Jess knew they shouldn't, it was hard not to notice when someone was as attractive as Rory and dressed to show it.
"So, are you avoiding home too?" she asked, snapping Jess out of his staring.
"Not really," he told her, focusing on his pie. "I was just hungry and I knew this would be here, plus I left my book under the counter and I wanted to finish," he admitted, moving to grab said book and show her.
"You really like your Hemingway," she said, shaking her head. "I could never get into his stuff."
"You're kidding?" said Jess, eyes wide. "You can't get into Hemingway but you're reading The Fountainhead?"
"It's a classic."
"Maybe, but Ayn Rand was a political nut."
"But no-one can write a forty-page monologue like she can."
It was still strange to Jess that the same girl who dressed and acted like she had such an attitude problem could then start smiling and waxing lyrical about her favourite books this way. Rory Gilmore was an enigma, even more than most other women, Jess thought. It made her more than a little interesting and made Jess more than a little glad to know her.
"What?" she asked, catching him staring, and not for the first time tonight.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "Er, if you ever want to give good old Ernest another try, I can lend you a book. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom The Bell Tolls?"
"What's your favourite?" she asked, watching him closely with kohl-rimmed eyes then.
"Probably The Old Man and the Sea," Jess considered.
"Okay." Rory nodded, closing up her own book that she had open on the counter and holding it out to him. "Let's make a trade. You try The Fountainhead and I will give the painful Ernest Hemingway another try by reading your favourite."
Jess stared at her a moment, then took the book from her hands.
"You know, Ernest only has lovely things to say about you," he told her with a smirk.
Rory smirked right back and then rolled her eyes.
"You're weird," she told him, smiling nonetheless as she dug into her pie again.
"Maybe," Jess agreed, doing the same. "So, you looking forward to school on Monday?"
"Are you trying to find the dumbest question you could ask me? Because I think you got it. I'm not a huge fan of the whole school thing, but I guess Chilton can't be any worse than the other places I've been too. At least I don't have to live at this one."
"It's not so bad," Jess assured her. "The people are the same as everywhere else, some nice, some not, the usual mix."
"I'm not really looking to make a whole lot of friends," Rory admitted, pushing her pie around in the dish. "I just want to get these last two years over with and be done. Eighteen seems like way too far away right now," she said with a sigh, taking another large bite off her spoon.
"You got big plans for the future?" asked Jess curiously.
"One word - escape," Rory told him. "Once I'm eighteen, I can more or less do what I want. Some of my money will actually be mine and I won't be a minor anymore, so all those people who think they want to be my parents can back off and let me live my life," she explained, getting a little angry as she did so.
Rory belatedly remembered who she was talking to and sighed.
"Yeah, you're the wrong person to say that too, sorry," she told Jess. "Lorelai told me about your parents."
"No big deal." Jess shrugged. "I've always had Luke and lately Lorelai too. I don't feel like I missed out on anything."
"You probably didn't," Rory agreed, sighing once more. "Anyway, I should go. I kind of left the house without saying where I was going, so Lorelai's head is probably due to explode any time."
She was up off the stool before Jess could protest and since she had more or less finished eating her pie and drinking her coffee, he couldn't really think of an excuse to keep her there. Besides, it really was getting late now and he should be heading home himself before long, unless he wanted Luke to ask a lot of questions.
"Thanks for the pie," said Rory as she got to the door.
"Thanks for the book," said Jess. "I can drop Ernest off tomorrow, if you want?"
"Sure. I'll be around," she said, sparing him a smile before letting herself out of the diner and walking quickly away across the square.
Jess watched her go until he lost sight of her dark figure against the blackness of the night. She really was like nobody else he ever met, and whether it made sense or not, he really liked that.
To Be Continued...
