Hello again, my dear readers :)
I like this chapter (for now anyways) so, let me know what you think? I would greatly appreciate it. Is it too much dialogue? I feel like I might be pushing away from describing surroundings and such... Is it okay? Let me know!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls. (insert sad face here)!
She hadn't spoken to him since the fight. Honestly, she was scared to death. But he didn't come looking for her either so, needless to say, she wasn't a happy camper. Refusing to go into Luke's every day; Lorelai had finally withheld the coffee from there. She was lenient enough the first couple weeks but she was tired of seeing Rory like this. So upset and off in another world. They'd only watched like 10 movies in the matter of 3 and a half weeks.
"Ouch." Rory said, flinching away from her mom.
"Sorry."
"Ouch!"
"Sorry, Sorry!"
"I thought this was all ready to go." Rory sighed, and crossed her arms.
"Okay, hon, when I made you try on the dress to make last adjustments two weeks ago, I left to get another cup of coffee, I came back in and you were moping on the couch."
"I was not moping."
"Okay, sorry. You were sitting on the couch with the same grouch face you've had for almost a month, hugging the pillow and watching City of Angels on some channel I didn't even know we had. But you weren't moping." Lorelai said, trying to push the needle through the layers of fabric.
"Don't patronize me. Ouch!"
"Hey, that one wasn't my fault. You get squirmy when you're mad."
"I do not get squirmy."
"Miss defensive today" Lorelai mumbled while finishing up fixing the stitch on the side of Rory's dress. "Okay, we're ready to go." She said, tightening the knot of the thread.
"Kay." Rory said, and stepped away from her mom, going to pick up her bouquet. Lorelai watched Rory fiddle with her shoes and then smooth her dress down and when she was walking out to go line up she grabbed her arm lightly,
"Rory?"
"Yeah?"
"It's a good day. We're happy for Sookie."
Rory's face softened, "I know." She said softly.
Lorelai gave her a smile, grabbed her own flowers and they walked down to the lawn with her daughter.
"You're back early." Jess said, dropping the rag on the counter.
"Ah, the reception started. Not really my thing." Luke said, shutting the diner door and loosening his tie.
Jess just nodded and finished topping off all the salt and pepper shakers. After he put them all away, he headed soundlessly up to the apartment where Luke was sitting at the table drinking a beer.
"You know, I bet they had some of those at the reception." Jess said, nodding to the bottle.
"Yeah but mines free." He brought the bottle up to his lips.
"They're free there too, are they not?" Jess asked, tossing his shoes next to his dresser.
Luke remained quiet but stood up to look out the window. "Hey, uh, could you do me a favor?" He asked Jess awkwardly.
Jess looked at him like he was an alien.
"Could you run down to the diner and make sure the doors locked?"
"You didn't lock it when you came in?"
"I, uh, don't remember."
"Age will do that to you." Jess answered.
"Just go."
"And there's a reason you can't?"
"Jess."
"Fine, I'm goin, I'm goin."
When he reached the bottom of the steps, the figure outside the door caught his attention. Now it all made sense. He walked over and unlocked the door, opening it silently. The ring of the bell echoed through the diner.
"Hey." Rory said, stepping up the first step.
"Hey" he said quietly.
"Closed?"
"That's what the sign says." He said, pointing to the sign on the door.
"Oh. Okay." She started to turn around.
"Did you need something?" he asked quickly.
"Just some coffee from Luke's." she smiled small.
"We have some of that." He smirked and opened the door wider, letting her in.
They sat quietly while he made a new half pot. And she toyed with the strings from her sweater. Never making eye contact. She finally looked up when a steamy blue cup of coffee was placed in front of her fidgeting hands.
"Thank you." She said, barely audible.
He just nodded, but didn't take his eyes off of her. She glanced up after taking a sip again and blushed when she saw him staring. He looked away and started doing unnecessary cleaning habits just to keep himself occupied.
Her voice broke through the silence screaming in his ears, "Yours tastes different."
"What?"
She smiled, "Your coffee, it always tastes a little bit different from Luke's. I can always tell."
"I'm surprised; you haven't been here in a while."
She gave a sad smile but stayed quiet.
He continued, "So where's your mom?"
"What time is it?"
He glanced down to his watch, "Almost ten."
"Either sitting on the piano, making another toast, or sitting on the steps talking to Sookie. Both situations entail her being in a happy fuzzy state of drunkenness."
He smirked, "More?" he gestured to her cup.
"Please." She slid it forward. His finger tips grazed her hand and shocks went up her arm. She jerked away. He noticed, but didn't say anything and topped off her cup. He turned back around,
"Where's your dad?"
"What?"
"Dad. Where is he?"
"Oh, he lives in Boston. With his girlfriend." She sipped.
"Ah."
"What about you, where's your dad?"
"Dunno."
"You don't know?" She set the cup down.
"Nope."
"Oh."
He sighed, "I never met him."
"Oh, I'm sor-
"Don't be." He leaned his elbows on the counter in front of her.
"Did you live in New York your whole life?"
"Yup."
"With just your mom?"
He paused. "Sure."
"Where did you go to school?"
"Central Park East."
"I see. So did you go to Central Park a lot?"
"Washington Square."
"Is it far?"
"Every where is far when walking in New York." He smiled and leaned forward more.
"I suppose that's true."
"So what inspired the 20 questions?"
"You." She smiled and finished her cup.
"Huh."
"Well, I should go."
"Beat it." He said. She stood up and wrapped her arms tight around herself, and he pulled her coffee cup into his hands.
"Night, Jess."
"Night, Rory."
"What smells so damn good?" Lorelai grunted walking into the kitchen, holding her head.
"Tacos, burritos, mac and cheese and coffee!" Rory said proudly, walking out of her room and next to the kitchen table.
"Heaven." She poured herself a cup of coffee. "Mmm, strong." She took a sip, and then turned to Rory. "Angel." She said, pointing at her.
"Why thank you!"
Rory opened up the first take out bag and emptied out the tacos, then got the box of mac and cheese and took it to the microwave.
"No, literally, you're an angel. They glow, right? You're glowing. Why are you glowing? Did you drink too?"
"Mom, please."
Lorelai sat down and started munching on the tacos when Rory placed a plate in front of her. Then gave her a fork. She took the fork gratefully and dove into the mac and cheese, then stopped after two bites and started chewing slowly. Rory sat down next to her.
"Wait a minute." Lorelai said through her food.
"What? Nauseous?"
"No. This mac to the cheese is from Luke's."
"What?"
"You went to Luke's?"
"How do you know it's from Luke's?"
Lorelai grinned, "You went to Luke's?" She asked, setting her fork down.
"Maybe."
"That explains the glow!" Lorelai shouted, and then brought her hand back to her head, "Ow." Then she frowned.
"No yelling. Hang over food. I'll get you some aspirin."
"Not 'til Mommy gets details!"
"Later." Rory stood up and grabbed the aspirin bottle from the cabinet. "Here"
Lorelai grabbed the bottle. Rory extracted a bottle of water from the fridge. "And here" Rory went and sat back down to watch her take the pills.
After she swallowed, "So?"
"So what?"
"Did you fix the Jess sitch?" Lorelai asked, starting to eat again.
"Did you just say sitch?" She smiled.
"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"I went there after you jumped in on vocals last night."
"Mean."
"What is?"
"You just implied my vocals are bad."
"I wouldn't dare." Rory said laughing, and grabbed a taco.
"So, what happened?"
"I went there, we talked, I had coffee, and I left."
"Talked or did some smoochie smoochie happen?"
"Talked."
"Well, that's no fun."
"Sorry to disappoint." The phone cut her off so she swallowed her bite, and got up again to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"We should have run for President and VP!"
"Paris?"
"Yes, Paris! We should have run for class elections!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Instead, you and I are spending our summers sitting around doing nothing while Ren and Stimpy are off in Washington probably smacking their gum while our nation's leaders speak!"
"Oh geez Paris, calm down."
"Reese McGinly and Ellen Moore."
"Oh, Ellen Moore was her VP?"
"Yes! I can't believe it! I don't know how she even managed to get into Chilton in the first place. Her mother probably bribed Headmaster Charleston."
"I don't think Ellen Moore's mom bribed Headmaster Charleston" Rory said.
"Probably just paid him off." Paris spat, lowering her voice.
"I don't think that's how it works." Rory said, shaking her head.
"Harvard looks for this kind of stuff."
"Then why didn't you run?"
"Madeline and Louise said I shouldn't."
"And since when do you listen to them?" Rory asked, sitting back down, resuming her taco.
"Since I found out my parents were going to Europe this summer."
"Awe, they're going together? Are you going?"
Paris snorted, "Please. They're not even going on the same plane. Different countries. I'm surprised they're willing to be on the same continent."
"Oh." Rory said, looking up to her mom.
"Paris?" Lorelai mouthed.
Rory nodded.
"Yeah. So anyways, that leaves me the whole house to do this project with the drug and rehab center in Hartford. I can hold meetings in my house."
"You're holding the meetings?"
"Yes."
"You're talking to the… patients?" She asked.
"Well they're looking for role model teens to communicate with the teen patients, so yeah. There's going to be counselors and that here, but if they think they're taking over my house, they have another thing coming. I'm not going to coddle them. Slam the obvious in their head's. They'll get it eventually."
"Well, see, you found something to put on your resume. You don't need to be President." Rory assured her.
"I guess you're right."
"I am."
"Okay."
"Okay… is that all?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Paris?" Rory asked.
"Madeline and Louise went to California for the summer!"
"Oh!" Rory said, startled at the yelling that came through the phone. "I'm… sorry."
She hesitated, "Yeah me too, I guess I'll just see you when school's back in session."
Then Rory caught on, "Well, you know Paris, me and my mom are due for a movie night really soon… would you want to come?"
Lorelai's eyes got huge and she started shaking her head.
"Really?" Paris asked.
"Yes, really."
Lorelai grabbed her head, "Ow."
"Okay" Paris smiled.
"I'll call you one day this week, let you know."
"Alright, bye."
"Bye."
Rory hung up and looked to her mom who had her head in her hands.
"You just invited Paris. For a movie night."
"Well, just make sure you're not hung over then, and her shouting will just add some festiveness." Rory giggled.
"Evil Child."
"Fine, I'll just be taking these then," she said, gathering up the tacos.
"No! Angel child. Go, glow, be gone. I love tacos." Lorelai said, reaching out for them.
Rory handed them back, then headed to her room.
'It should be illegal to be this hot at 5:30' Rory thought to herself when she stepped outside. When she reached Larson's dock she sat down on the grass, and took off her shoes and peeled off her socks.
She laid down and started to read her book but the sun was hitting the pages the wrong way and made it too bright. She discarded her book next to her shoes and walked down to the water, walking in until the water reached about halfway up her calves. The cold water rippled around her legs and raised tiny goose bumps up to her knees. She smiled.
After a few minutes of walking along the shallow, she went back to her belongings and laid in the sun, soaking it up. Lifting up her shirt to bare her mid-drift she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
She woke up when the wind kicked up in the trees and her tummy felt cold. Opening her eyes,
"Oh!" She jumped up and pulled down her shirt. "Jess."
Jess smirked, looking away from her book. "Hey."
"W- What are you doing here?"
"Reading."
"I can see that."
"Well we know you're observing skills are not a lost cause."
"Y- yeah I guess so." She said and sat back down slowly. "You're reading my book?"
"Well I brought my own, but you can't resist a classic."
"Anna Karenina is something I read at the beginning of every summer."
"It's been a while since I read it."
"Yeah?"
He nodded and closed the book, laying it back where she originally put it. He patted his pockets and pulled out his smokes.
"You snore." He said, lighting his cigarette.
"What?" She blushed brightly.
"You snore. Not loudly or anything, but it's there. Subtle."
"Oh." She said, looking down to her toes. The description reminded her of Jess when entering a crowded room. She grinned and looked back to him. "How long have you been here?"
"Half hour or so." He exhaled smoke.
"What time is it?"
"It is…" he glanced to his watch. "7:17 pm."
"Hmm." She curled her toes. Her stomach rumbled.
"Hungry?"
"Starved."
"Okay. Let's go."
"Where?"
"Pizza?"
"No, I just had that the other night."
"Chinese?"
"From?"
"Al's." He said, taking a hit.
"I'll pass on that."
"You're being difficult."
"And your observing skills aren't lost either." She paused; hesitantly she spoke, "Wanna get out of Stars Hollow?"
"And go where?"
"Hartford?"
"For Chinese?"
"I know a place." She smiled and put her socks and shoes back on.
"I came here once. Mom and I stopped after Friday night dinner."
"After dinner?"
"Yeah, well, we had lamb."
"Gotcha." He said, as they walked to find a booth.
"Oh, you have money right?" She asked as they slid in, opposite each other.
"Oh, no did you expect me to pay?" he asked seriously.
"Oh boy, we should go before they spot us." She started to get up.
"Rory," he reached out to touch her arm, "I was kidding."
Her breath caught in her throat and she sat down slowly, keeping her arm in his grasp. "O-okay." She whispered.
He licked his lips and pressed them together, then slowly let go of her arm.
She brought it down to her lap and touched the skin that felt numb. "Well, it's uh, a buffet so we can um-
"Okay." He stood up and she followed. When they reached the food, he grabbed a plate from the stack and handed it to her. She looked at him like he was an idiot. "Right," he mumbled and handed her a second plate. She smiled and walked off.
He grabbed his own plate and got going.
"What's your middle name?" she asked after she gulped down her food.
"Pass."
"What?"
He took a sip of his drink and when the straw fell from his lips, he answered, "If we're gonna play this question game, then I think I deserve the right to pass on a question."
"Okay, but not this one."
"Rory." He said warningly.
"Fine." She stabbed her shrimp, "Did you ever play sports? When you were younger?"
"No." He took a bite of his egg roll.
"Oh. Why not?"
"Just… didn't." He wanted to leave the heavier issues for later.
"Okay."
"What about you?"
"I did baton. And gymnastics. And ballet. When I was much, much younger."
"You think you'd have more grace." He said.
"Excuse me?" she smiled and blushed.
"I've seen you run."
"Right." She swallowed, "Who was your best friend back in New York?"
"Pass."
"What, why?"
"Pass." He repeated.
"Oookay, um. Do you have your license?"
"Yes."
"Do you have one for here?"
"Yes."
"Huh. I probably should have asked that a while ago." She said, wiping her mouth.
"Well, I was very persuasive in my means to get ice cream."
She giggled, "Yes, you were."
"The night I came over with the care package from Luke's. What'd you tell Dean?"
"Pass."
"You can't pass that question. It's too easy." He said.
"I asked you what your middle name was." She pointed out.
"Granted."
"Did you steal my bracelet?" She asked, making direct eye contact.
"No."
"Fine, did you have it?"
"Yes."
"Okay." She took a bite of her rice.
"What's your favorite food?"
"You're kidding." She said.
"What?"
"You're using a question on asking me what my favorite food is?"
"Huh. Looks that way."
"Spaghetti and meatballs."
"Really?" He asked, shoving the food to the side of his mouth.
"Yes sir."
"Not what I would have guessed. You always eat burgers."
"Mom and I fight when we eat spaghetti and meatballs."
"You fight?"
"Well, we bicker more… vivaciously." She smiled.
"You're weird." He said, pointing his fork to her.
"Thank you for noticing."