A/N: So, feisty rebel Rory is popular, huh? And we're all onboard for a little Trory (is that what you call it?) until the Lit gets figured out? Well, that's all good with me, folks :) Also, you may find that as much as this is a Rory/Jess fic first and foremost, I do plan to delve into this new Rory-Lorelai dynamic too, especially since I've had reviews that have asked for more of their relationship :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7

Lorelai was surprised by how weirdly gung ho Rory seemed to be about Chilton. She said her first day was 'fine' and wasn't really prepared to elaborate further, but she was up bright and early the next day practically chomping at the bit to get to school. She wondered if it had to do with the car provided by Richard and Emily, but Lorelai wasn't sure it could be just that. The same pattern of behaviour continued all through the first week, and every night, Rory holed up in her room to study like a perfect student should.

"I'm not complaining, not even a little," Lorelai told Luke in a low voice, mindful of eavesdropping neighbours, "but I did not expect that kind of commitment, not after the way she was at her other schools and how anti-education she seemed to be."

"Well, maybe being here really is doing her some good." Luke shrugged as he added more coffee to Lorelai's cup.

"Maybe," she agreed, nodding her head. "I think Jess is a good influence on her. I mean, he's such a good kid and he does so well at Chilton. I think maybe Rory is trying to be that way, you know, to fit in with him?"

"I don't know. When I asked how things were going, he said he hasn't seen much of Rory in school... or out of school, actually. He offered to help her with homework and catching up but she said she had it covered."

"Oh." Lorelai was surprised by that and it showed. "Well, she is a smart kid when she tries, so maybe she has a handle on it. It's weird they're not hanging out at Chilton though. I mean, he's the only person there she knows, except for a few kids she might remember from before, but I highly doubt there's any love lost there, you know?"

Jess chose that moment in the conversation to come in through the diner door.

"Hey," he called to Luke. "I'm done helping Miss Patty with the chairs, so I'm headed home to finish my English paper. Do I need to take food from here or is there still lasagne in the freezer?"

"There's lasagne, if you want it," Luke told him, "but Jess, hold on a second, come here," he said, gesturing for him to do just that. "You and Rory, you said you don't see much of each other in school, right?"

"Right," he said, barely looking at Lorelai at all, which immediately made her suspicious. "We have a couple of classes together but that's all."

"I guess you see each other at lunch though, right? And between classes, in the halls maybe?"

"Not much." Jess shook his head, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Can I go now?"

"Jess, please," Lorelai urged him. "If something is wrong, then I need to know," she told him, her hand on his arm, turning him until he looked at her.

"Lorelai, it's really not up to me to tell tales on Rory. Please, don't make me do that."

"Jess, nobody's asking you to tell tales," Luke told him definitely. "But if Rory is getting herself into trouble then I'd like to think that you cared enough about her, and about Lorelai, to tell us what is going on."

Jess rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He so did not want to get into this and for so many reasons. He meant what he said, tattling on Rory did not sit well with him, but it was more than that. Having to admit to the scenes he had been witnessing lately would make them so much more real and that gave him a sick feeling he had yet to reconcile with himself.

"None of the girls like her too much," he said eventually, "but she's not hanging out alone. She seems pretty buddy-buddy with Tristan DuGrey," he admitted, practically spitting out the name he disliked so much. "Can I go now?"

"You can go," Luke told him, patting him on the shoulder. "Thanks."

"No problem," he told his uncle, nodding once before he turned to go.

When Luke returned his attention to Lorelai, he really wasn't sure what to make of the expression on her face. He was about to ask her what was up when she told him anyway.

"DuGrey," she said, making it sound as if the name tasted as bitter on her tongue as it had when Jess said it. "I don't think I like that kid."

"You know that kid?" Luke checked. "I mean, lately?"

"No, not lately," Lorelai admitted, "but when he and Rory were little they knew each other. He always came across perfectly well-behaved, but he had that look in his eye."

"What look?"

"Like he was just waiting to Saran-wrap your toilet or superglue your purse to the chair. I don't think I would've trusted him as far as I could throw him. Besides, his father was always a little too friendly with the ladies, if you know what I mean."

"Delightful family," Luke dead-panned. "Well, maybe the kid grew up into a better teen. It happens."

"Sure," Lorelai considered, though she didn't look convinced, "but, as much as I hate to say it, Rory isn't exactly drawn to better teens these days. If he's as much trouble now as he seemed to be back then?" Lorelai groaned and put her face in her hands a few moments. "He is not the kind of person I want Rory hanging out with, but if I tell her that, she's going to spend even more time with him, because hey, that's what I would've done at her age. Hell, it's what I did do, and then a year later, along came Rory."

Luke wished he knew what to say to make her feel better, but there wasn't much he could find that was genuinely comforting and not insulting to either Lorelai or Rory. All he could do was try to be supportive and offer the help of the only other person they knew at Chilton.

"Look, I'm sure it'll be fine, but if it'd make you feel better, I'll talk to Jess again," he said, leaning over the counter close to Lorelai so he didn't have to raise his voice and be heard by the whole place. "Maybe he can try a little harder to stick by Rory, or even convince this Tristan to leave her alone."

"I don't want to make Jess' life any more difficult than it has to be. Chilton is a tough enough school and I know he struggles with being the outsider even now. The last thing I want to do is screw things up for him."

"Hey, he'll survive," said Luke definitely. "You have done a lot for him and he can pay you back a little by helping you feel better about Rory and Chilton."

"You're a good man, Luke Danes." Lorelai smiled then. "You and that nephew of yours, you're kind of amazing."

"What are friends for?" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Lorelai had a feeling that if he were the type to blush he probably would right now, which was equal parts amusing and adorable, words not often applied to Luke Danes. He really was a lot nicer and sweeter than he would really want people to know, that was for sure.


"So, you want to get lunch together?" Jess asked Rory as they got up to leave history class. He wondered, at first, why she wasn't answering but then he looked over and caught sight of the expression on her face. "What?"

"You want to get lunch with me?" she checked. "Instead of your girlfriend?"

"You can't join me and Francie?"

"I doubt it, unless I want my eyes scratched out," said Rory, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Jess. I'm a big girl, I can eat lunch by myself... or with other people, if I want to," she said with a look before pushing past him and out of the door.

It would make Jess' life so much easier to just let her walk away but he couldn't. As if it wasn't bugging him enough to see Rory hanging around with Tristan DuGrey so much, now he had Luke's voice in his ear too, reminding him how much he owed Lorelai. She was worried about Rory, she didn't want her daughter getting close to DuGrey any more than Jess did, which meant he had to follow Rory and try again to convince her she was being a fool.

"Rory!" he called, giving chase down the hallway.

"Geez, what is wrong with you today?" she asked as soon as he reached her side. "You wanna start singing 'Me and My Shadow' already? We may as well, you're everywhere I look."

"And that's a problem for you? I thought we were friends," said Jess, shrugging like it was no big deal to him.

"I thought we were people who happen to live in the same town," she countered, stopping walking not far from the cafeteria doors. "What do you want, Jess?" she tried again, sure there had to be something more significant than his desperation to eat at the same table as her.

In fact, Rory had a feeling she knew exactly what his problem was. He didn't like her hanging out with Tristan. Those guys really didn't get along and Rory could tell why. Though he never came out and said it, it was clear to her that Tristan disliked Jess for being smarter than he was. That and the fact Jess was not the traditional blue blood legacy that inhabited the halls of Chilton. As for why Jess didn't like Tristan, well, Rory would like to think a large part of that had to do with her. Not that that meant she was prepared to let Jess tell her who she could and could not hang out with. That was just not happening.

"Look, Tristan DuGrey is an ass," said Jess then. "Everybody knows it. He changes girlfriends more often than he changes his socks, and if not for that overzealous charm of his, he'd have been kicked out of this place a long time ago for not keeping up with the work."

"Are you done?" asked Rory, folding her arms across her chest, watching as Jess nodded a confirmation. "Okay, first, I don't care what Tristan does with other girls. Not that it's any of your business, but we're not dating. Second, I hang out with him around school sometimes. Whether he does is homework or not? Not of interest. So, now can I go get some lunch?"

She turned towards the cafeteria before Jess had a chance to answer. Her hand was on the door when he finally spoke again.

"You know your mom's worried about you."

Rory winced at the sound of those words and for more than one reason. So much for thinking she might be making Jess jealous. This was all about Lorelai, and apparently, there had been talk behind Rory's back that she really wasn't thrilled to hear about.

"Go sit with your girlfriend, Jess," said Rory shortly. "I'm not her."


"Hey, sweets," Lorelai greeted Rory the moment she came in the door. "How was school today?"

The smirk that came over her daughter's face was almost a little scary. Lorelai wasn't sure what to make of it until finally Rory spoke.

"Thanks for the tail, by the way," she said sharply. "You know if you want to know what's going on with me, you could try asking, instead of sending Jess in with his binoculars and decoder ring. God, it was so embarrassing having him corner me in the halls and grill me on who I'm hanging out with, because you know, my mother wouldn't like it," she said, in a voice that was really nothing like Jess' at all.

"Oh, Rory, I didn't-"

"Yes, you did," she interrupted, throwing her bag into the armchair. "What is it you think I'm getting into at school? Bad company? News flash, Lorelai, I am bad company. It's why I was sent here in the first place, right?"

"Rory!" she called after her, giving chase as she went towards her bedroom. "Come on, please. Do not be this way," she urged her, grabbing the door when Rory tried to slam it between them. "You are here because you're my daughter and because I want you here and... and I didn't mean to have Jess spy on you exactly. I was just worried."

"Why?" asked Rory immediately, yelling from her side of the threshold. "What has made you worry so much about me? I've never even told you who I'm hanging out with at Chilton and yet somehow you seem to know all about it. Information from that spy that you don't have?" she asked with a look.

Lorelai's mouth worked with no sound coming out for a while, and then she sighed.

"Okay, fine," she said, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "I asked Jess how things were going with you, because as much as you tell me to ask you directly, kid, I gotta tell you, you're not exactly forthcoming with the details."

"Why do you want to know? Why are you suddenly so interested in my life?" Rory countered. "God, you spent the first ten years pretending you weren't even my mother, and then the seven after that hardly seeing me at all, and now suddenly you expect me to share every tiny detail?"

"Rory, please," Lorelai urged her, but it seemed her daughter wasn't done.

"I don't need you to be my mommy," she continued angrily. "I didn't ask for it and I don't want it, so please, just leave me alone. All of you, leave me alone!"

Lorelai winced as Rory finally got the door in her grasp and slammed it shut hard. She wanted to just barge in there and counter everything her daughter just said, but she couldn't. There was no way for her to tell Rory she was wrong, because she was absolutely right, on every point, and as angry as the poor kid was, Lorelai had noticed the tears building in Rory's eyes too. She was hurt more than anything, and like it or not, a lot of that was Lorelai's fault.

"You're right," she called through the door. "You know, I really haven't been a good mom to you yet, or a mom at all, actually," she agreed sadly, "but I'm here now, and I'm trying, Rory. I mean, I'm really trying. Now, you can hate me and fight against me and... and I can't stop you. I even get why you feel this way, I really do, but please, honey, could you please just try to understand that, no matter what, I love you. I really, really love you, and I only want what's best for you. It's all I ever wanted, and you don't have to believe that, but it's true. I care, and so does Jess and Luke. We want you to be okay, that's all we're trying to do here. So, that's all I can say right now," she admitted, knowing the tears were going to take over and her voice would fail any second. "Just holler if you need anything, okay?"

She turned and walked away then, leaving her daughter alone as she requested.

Beyond the door, Rory was sitting on the floor with her face in her hands, trying not to make any sound, as she cried like her heart would break.

To Be Continued...