A/N: I'm amazed but thrilled to have readers, and more so reviewers, for this fic. I am so incredibly late to the party on the whole Gilmore Girls fandom, so it genuinely makes me giddy that people are reading and leaving feedback, seriously, you're awesome people! Now, parts of this chapter may not be popular, but bare with me, folks, because it'll be worth it, I swear :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see prologue)
Chapter 3 - The Night Before, The Morning After
The week had passed in a blur for Rory Gilmore. Once the news came that she was accepted for Chilton, there was really no need for her to attend classes at Stars Hollow High anymore. She still had to drop in a few times - see the principal, clear out her locker. It seemed weird being there without actually being there. Jess and Lane were still attending class and she passed them in the hall a couple of times, as well as a few of her other friends. It hit Rory just yesterday that she was never coming back here as she piled her books and papers into her arms for the final time and stepped out through the doors. This wasn't her school anymore, she didn't belong here. She was a Chilton girl now, and Rory felt the strangest mixture of happy and sad about it. It was the end of something but also an awesome new beginning. That part made Rory practically giddy with joy, as did thoughts of this weekend.
Last night had been a little odd, seeing her grandparents in such unusual circumstances. Most of the time it had to be Thanksgiving, Christmas, or some other specific holiday or occasion before she saw them, barely even once a year. Now they were going to be headed over there every Friday, and Rory couldn't get her Mom to explain that one. There was something going on, and doubtless she would find out eventually. As it was, the dinner went okay, a little frosty in places maybe, but nothing too terrible.
Today, Rory had made time for Lane. There was no way she would be allowed to stay over at the Gilmore house on a Saturday night or even leave her home on Sunday unless it was for church, so today had been a girly Rory and Lane day. After her friend went home, Rory headed to the book store to pick up the last few things she needed for the Chilton reading list. She was later than she meant to be as she hurried home for a movie marathon and junk food binge with her Mom and Jess. Just a couple of streets from her house, Rory started flagging. She really had too many books in her bag and ought to have known it long before she tried to hoist said bag higher on her shoulder, only for the strap to snap in two.
"Oh! Stupid thing!" she exclaimed as the bag gave way and her books went tumbling all over the sidewalk.
Rory hadn't a clue how she was going to carry all the books without the bag that was now of no use. Still, she crouched down and tried to tidy them into a pile at least.
"Need some help?"
A voice behind her was startling, and Rory turned quickly to see a young man approaching that was vaguely familiar. He was almost ridiculously tall, and kind of hot actually.
"Oh, um... thanks," she muttered as he stooped to help pick up her fallen books for her. "The strap just completely gave way," she explained, showing him her bag as they made fast work of collecting up her fallen purchases.
"And you were trying to carry half the bookstore home?" he smiled, all pearly teeth and boyish charm.
Rory's heart skipped a beat.
"Something like that," she smiled on back at him. "Um, I'm sorry, I don't even know your name," she admitted then, sure she recognised him from somewhere but not really knowing why.
"Dean," he told her, looking like he might've put out a hand for her to shake if he wasn't already holding so many books. "My family just moved here from Chicago. I saw you around Stars Hollow High. You're Laurie, right?"
"Rory, but close," she corrected, looking at the books in her arms and then the ones Dean was holding.
Honestly, she really wasn't sure how she was going to take those from him and make it home. If they were just a little closer she would have left some on the sidewalk and made two trips, but as it was, she didn't really want to look that dumb, not in front of Dean.
"I can walk you home, if you want?" he offered, as if he had read her mind, or maybe he just saw her pained expression.
"Um, yeah. Sure, why not?" she replied awkwardly. "Thank you," she added like an after-thought.
'God, I am so bad at this!' Rory thought, wincing at her own inability to form a sentence in front of the guy just because he was so cute. Liking boys from afar, that was what she was good at. She and Lane would go googly eyed over some guy they were likely never to meet, pop stars and movie stars, even guys in school that would never give them the time of day because they were just older, cooler, whatever. Rory had never had a date, never kissed a boy. She just knew she was blushing purely through thinking about such things and only hoped Dean wouldn't notice in the dark.
"So, I'm guessing you read a lot?" he asked suddenly, jolting her from her run away thoughts.
"A very lot," Rory agreed with a nod, "but some of these are for school. I'm transferring to Chilton, so new reading lists and all. Then when I got to the book store I just couldn't help myself," she laughed at herself, feeling so dumb still.
"Oh, you're leaving Stars Hollow High?" he checked, looking oddly sad about that as they reached Rory's house. "That's too bad, when we just met and everything," he smiled.
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around town sometimes," she said, as she balanced books on her knee and unlocked the front door. "Next time I'm damselling, I'll be sure to call for you."
When she glanced at Dean he was smiling at her in such a way as to make her knees buckle. Rory forced a breath through her body and concentrated on going into the house, a task made harder by the load she was carrying, and the fact her hands were shaking too.
"Hey, Mom! I'm home!" she called when at last she got inside.
"Hi, hon," Lorelai smiled as she met her daughter in the hallway, "and friend," she added on seeing the tall boy behind Rory.
"This is Dean," she made introductions, as the pile of books Dean had been carrying was duly parked on the side table. "He helped when I had a crisis," explained Rory, showing her Mom the broken bag strap.
"Oh, damn!" her mother cursed, assessing the damage with a very similar frown. "You loved that book bag."
"I did," Rory agreed. "But time for new things, I guess," she said with a sudden smile and a definite look towards Dean, that he clearly wasn't supposed to see.
Lorelai bit her lip and tried not to react, especially since Dean was stood by the door, shifting awkwardly and looking between her and Rory. Somebody had a crush, and she honestly wasn't sure if it was her daughter or the new guy that was falling fastest.
"Hey, Lorelai," said Jess as he came through from the kitchen. "I changed the... water bottle," he said, his sentence becoming disjointed when he came across the three people in the hall that ought to have been two.
Lorelai watched Dean and Jess eye each other suspiciously. It was a little too The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to be a good thing.
"This your brother?" asked the taller of the two.
"No, this is Jess," Rory giggled like the girlish waif she never was. "Jess, Dean," she introduced them.
Loreali never felt so awkward in her whole life, and that was really saying something. Jess folded his arms like he was readying for a rumble. Dean just made himself taller, in some feat of genius that Lorelai didn't understand at all, because it just shouldn't be possible.
There had never been a guy in Rory's life before, no-one but Jess, and whilst they were only ever friends and nothing more, it was clear he was feeling territorial here. Lorelai couldn't blame him for that, she just kind of wished that Rory would've noticed. She didn't.
"So, anyway," she said, looking to Dean. "We're kind of having a celebration, for the whole Chilton thing. If you're hungry and you like movies, you could stay, maybe?"
Lorelai winced at that. She didn't want this guy here, and the pained expression on Jess' face sure proved he didn't either. To be fair, Dean probably had lots of wonderful qualities, he sure was cute, even Lorelai could see that. The fact was, this was a night for Rory to spend with her Mom and her BFF. Sharing her with a third person was not an option, even if the whole concept was pretty selfish. Mostly, Lorelai just couldn't stand this atmosphere a moment longer!
"Oh, Rory. I'm sure Dean has a home to get to," she said diplomatically. "A family, homework, something like that, maybe all three?"
Dean opened his mouth to argue but that look on Rory's Mom's face was unmistakable. She wanted him out of the house, as did this Jess guy. Seemed Dean was leaving whether he liked it or not. He didn't like it.
"Er, yeah, I guess I should go," he said, turning to head out of the door.
"Good choice," Jess muttered, watching Dean go with a smirk he couldn't help.
He couldn't say why the guy bothered him exactly. They hadn't really met until now, though he had seen the new kid around school. He had blown in from the windy city, so they said. All Jess knew was that he was a jock, a pretty boy, and he was too damn tall. Now he was trying to get friendly with Rory, and that was definitely something Jess didn't like. He wasn't going to explain why even if he was asked, but that was just the way it was.
"So, Dean, huh?" said Loreali, putting her arm round Rory's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. "He's new."
"He is," she grinned too wide, "and super-cute. Don't you think he's super-cute?"
"He's not my type," said Jess, at which Rory only rolled her eyes and playfully slapped him across the shoulder.
When Rory headed into the living room, saying she had movies to pick out, Lorelai hung back in the hallway with a moody Jess.
"Hey. You okay there, slugger?" she checked, even as he stared towards the front door still, despite the fact Dean was long gone.
"Just peachy," he replied with the fakest smile ever and they both knew it.
Lorelai wasn't about to delve too deep into why he had such a big problem with the new guy, not here and now anyway. If there were reasons not to like Dean, real or otherwise, she and Jess were going to have to have a talk about that later. For now, they were here with a purpose, and that came first.
"C'mon," she told Jess, putting her hand to his back and giving him a gentle shove towards the living room. "'Cause this junk isn't going to eat itself."
Lorelai Gilmore was getting too old for sleeping on the floor. This she realised when she came to on Sunday morning with a crick in her neck and muscles screaming just about everywhere they could scream, plus a few more places besides. The TV was all grey fuzz, the coffee table was strewn with candy wrappers, empty bowls, and the like. Over by the couch, propped up by cushions and each other were Rory and Jess. Honestly, Lorelai couldn't help but smile as she noted how adorable they looked. Jess had his arm around Rory's shoulders and her head was rested on his chest. They were perfectly still and happy. It would be oddly romantic if they were a couple, and just entirely sweet if they were siblings. As they were best friends, Lorelai had to wonder how they would feel about waking up that way. She thought it best not to be the one to actually cause them to stir. Going forward, she often wondered how their relationship might change. She was always doubtful that a romance would ever occur after all these years of being BFF, and yet it wouldn't be awful if it happened, she supposed. Jess sure didn't like the idea of Rory liking Dean, which had to mean something.
"Less thinking, more coffee," she said softly to herself, levering her backside up off the carpet.
Lorelai bit her lip so as not to make yelping sounds of pain as she attempted to put one foot in front of the other. So much sugar had them high 'til midnight, but after that, the excesses of food had caught up to them, and the crash led to them all sleeping on the floor. Lorelai really had to learn to stop before they went that far, for the sake of her own ass if nothing else. Damn, she had some pins and needles in some places!
Back in the living room, Jess began to stir. He wasn't sure what had woken him until he let his eyes flicker open and realised Rory's hair had been tickling his nose. He didn't remember falling asleep. He sure didn't remember being in this position when it happened, but he didn't mind so much. Rory was soft and warm against him and she smelt amazing, just like always. Not that he thought about her that way at all, he reminded himself, as he started disentangling his limbs from hers.
Rory gave a whimper at the movement and being woken up so abruptly. In her mind, her warm comfy pillow was moving and that just wasn't good enough. She gripped onto Jess' shirt a moment, until her eyes opened and she realised what was happening.
"Oh, hey," she said, feeling a little silly as she sat upright and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Um, what time is it?" she asked.
Jess stretched his arms above his head and looked up to see his watch.
"A little after nine," he told her, working the kinks out of his body as Rory did the same.
"Wow, we really laid waste last night," she noted as she cast her eyes over the mess of wrappers and packets on the table. "Mom?"
"Right here, baby," Lorelai replied as she walked through from the kitchen with a decidedly odd gait.
She didn't realise she was walking strangely until Rory and Jess gave her twin looks of confusion. Lorelai straightened up so her butt wasn't sticking out and removed her hands from it at the same time. Thankfully the muscles down there had woken up some now anyway.
"Coffee's on its way," she said with a smile as she moved to start clearing up the debris from the floor and coffee table.
"Is it weird that I'm still hungry?" asked Rory as Jess got to his feet and offered her a hand up.
"For you? No, not weird," he confirmed. "I never met a person... two people," he amended looking to Lorelai next, "that could eat like you do and not weigh three hundred pounds a piece."
"Well, we are special," said Lorelai cheerfully.
"We are that," Rory agreed with a nod. "So, what are we doing about lunch today? Luke's?" she checked.
"That's the plan," Jess told her, getting her attention back. "I'm supposed to take you over there around noon. Uncle Luke has this whole celebration, 'congratulations on Chilton' jamboree planned," he rolled her eyes. "It's not exactly going to be the biggest thing since Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but he wanted to do something."
"Aaaw, that's so sweet!" Rory enthused. "Mom, isn't that so sweet of Luke?" she called to her.
"Has oft been said, Luke Danes is a real sweetheart," she dead-panned as she returned to the room, the contents of her hands no longer bowls and packets, but something decidedly plaid in colouring, Jess noticed. "Rory, I got done hemming your Chilton skirt yesterday. You should go try it on, see if it needs anymore adjusting."
"Ooh, thanks, Mom," she smiled, kissing Lorelai's cheek as she rushed off to her room to change.
Jess watched her go a moment then forced his attention to the tidying up. Lorelai shouldn't be expected to do it all on her own. Last night had been fun, just as it always was when he spent an evening with the Gilmore girls. The only part that hadn't been good was seeing Rory bring that idiot Dean home. Jess wasn't sure when he had quite decided that the other guy was so stupid or awful, though he suspected it was in the split second when he first realised he might be trying to get into Rory's life.
"You're going to miss her being around, aren't you?" asked Lorelai as she and Jess tidied up together.
"What? Rory?" he checked, as if he didn't know.
"No, Queen Amidala of Naboo," Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Don't pull that James Dean crap with me, Mariano, I've known you way too long," she reminded him.
Immediately, Jess knew he should've known better than to ever even try it with Lorelai. She was way too smart, and she was right, she had known him too long.
"She's always been there," he shrugged, looking at the carpet. "And now, she'll be there less."
"But it won't change anything for you two, not really," she assured him, putting her hand to his shoulder until he looked up and met her eyes. "You mean the world to her, Jess, just like I know Rory means the world to you. You're just about the only person that gives me competition in the BFF stakes, so stop worrying," she told him. "Besides, if you just applied yourself a little, you're smart enough, you could be going to Chilton too."
Jess rolled his eyes at that.
"Not my deal, Lorelai, you know that," he said definitely, stacking up glasses and heading for the kitchen. "Rory's the academia nut. I'm just... That's not me," he shook his head. "I don't want it like she does, but I know she'll do great, just like always," he smiled fondly as his eyes drifted to Rory's bedroom door.
That look was not lost on Lorelai and it gave her a good feeling of warmth as well as a terrible moment of cold dread as she realised what it could mean in the future.
Right on cue, the door opened then and Rory stepped out in her full Chilton attire. She was a picture in her pressed shirt, dark blazer, and newly hemmed skirt that didn't quite make her knees.
"Wow, you look great!" said Lorelai happily.
It was only when Jess didn't say something similar that she cast her eyes sideways and saw the way he was staring. Oh damn, this was not good, Lorelai realised too late, and once again, Rory didn't notice at all.
"What do you think, Jess?" she asked, all innocence and wide eyes.
"You... You look great," he told her, clearing his throat twice just to get that many words out and running a hand back through his hair. "I gotta go help Uncle Luke," he muttered next, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and practically running for the back door.
Rory frowned as she walked over to her Mom, the pair of them watching Jess' hasty exit.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked Lorelai, who only sighed.
"One thing you gotta learn, Rory," she shrugged. "Sometimes, there's just no explaining boys."
To Be Continued...
A/N2: If you're reading this and you have any opinions at all, a review would be awesome - thank you! :)
