A/N: I own nothing.
Chapter Seven- The Gambler Is Seized
Rory sank down onto one of the cardboard boxes in her dorm room, put her head in her hands and began to cry loudly. What kind of mess was this? She was practically on a date with her married ex-boyfriend, and then the one who'd abandoned her for California had begged for her to run away with him. This sort of thing didn't happen to most people, so why did it happen to her?
Rory took deep, quivering breaths but it couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face. She heard a rustling sound from the door and looked up just in time to see a piece of paper slide underneath the door into her room.
She stood and wiped her eyes with her sleeves as she walked over to the door. The moment she saw the index card, a surge of anger flowed through her and she flung open the door, ready to confront Jess even though she had no idea what she was going to say. She looked around the hallway, but there was no one there. Rory's anger dissipated as quickly as it had risen in her chest. She closed the door and picked up the index card. She couldn't read it in the dark and flipped on the light. It was a Clash lyric, and she found herself actually being surprised that this was the first time one of the cards had contained a Clash lyric. It said,
THE GAMBLER IS SEIZED, FORCED TO HIS KNEES, AND SHOT… DEAD.
It was appropriate, she supposed, that he'd pick that lyric. He'd taken a chance by coming to see her and she had completely shot him down. She didn't feel bad about turning him down. His demand had been ridiculous and out of the blue and so…Jess.
Rory sighed as she looked at the card. She felt a strange pang of melancholy. She hated missing Jess, and it didn't happen very often. But in this moment, having just sent him away for what would probably be the last time, she felt reminiscent. She almost wished he'd said something else besides "Come with me." She almost wished they'd gotten to talk. But they hadn't. He had been ridiculous and she had sent him away. Maybe she'd been too harsh, but hadn't he deserved that and so much more?
Rory felt tears stinging her eyes again. She took the index card and started to rip it in half, but couldn't bring herself to do so. Instead, opened one of the cardboard boxes and dropped the note inside. She was fine with putting it somewhere where she wouldn't think about it, but it didn't feel right to destroy it for some reason.
