Where We Left Off
"Try the ice hotel in Die Another Day. That place crashing down will be Dean's bones," Andy told her, parellel parking in front of Luke's.
"Not helping," Rory groaned.
"Not intending to."
They walked out and rushed inside. Andy opened the door for her and quickly followed. Luke looked at them oddly and raised his hands in surrender.
"I don't want to know," he said, taking in their pale faces. "Whatever crazy plan you Gilmores have schemed up, leave me out of it."
"Luke, do you know where Jess or my mom might be?" Rory asked him.
"Lor came here screaming at me to let her see him, and they were yelling at each other, before they left together. Finn came too, but he left before they did."
"Thanks Luke," Andy said before they went rushing out again. They stood outside Luke's for a moment. "Let's check Doosey's. He has to be working today, right?"
"I think he is. Come on," Rory answered him running. God this is going to be a disaster. Mom, Jess, Finn, and Andy alll together facing off Dean. Soooooo not good.
"He's taking the trash to the dumpster," Kirk told them as soon as they walked in. He pointed to the back way, and walked to the next aisle.
"Oh crap. Somebody call an Ambulance," Andy mumbled as he left Rory behind and dashed for the door.
When he got outside, he nearly laughed at the sight before him. Dean was in the alley, staying close to the dumpster, as if it would help him, surronded by Tristin DuGrey, Lorelai, Finn, and Jess, looking extremely weasley. Andy saw the bruises on his face and reminded himself to thank Jess later.
"Lorelai, it was an accident. You have to believe me. I'd never try to hurt Rory," Dean pleaded. Tristin and Jess scoffed, and Finn advanced, only to be held back by Lor.
"Don't you dare speak to me you little piece of slime. You hurt my kid, and even if you didn't to throw her into that wall, what was beating her boyfriend? Was that not going to hurt Rory?" she yelled. "The one and only reason Finn is being held back right now is because I want to kill you first. You are a piece of cow shit and you don't even deserve to be looked upon by my daughter. To think I trusted such a jackass!"
"Lor I-"
"She said not to speak to her," Finn spoke up. Just then the door slammed behind Andy, and Rory joined the party. They all turned to look at the two of them, and Dean relaxed.
"Rory, thank God. Will you tell them I didn't mean to hurt you? It was an accident. I really would never try to hurt you. I love you Rory, and I can't see you with him," he tried to reason with her.
"Really? I thought when you loved someone all you want is to see them happy? Must be my mistake. I honestly don't care what any of them do to you. But I also don't want them in trouble. Please will you guys lay off?" Rory asked them.
"No can do, Mare," was Tristin's answer.
"Sorry, love, I can't," was Finn's.
"Ror, I really want them to kill him," was her mother's.
"I've already had my shots in," was her boyfriend's.
Dean tried to take advantage of the distraction and make a run for it, but Tristin cought him and kneed him in the stomach. Dean keeled over, and Finn pushed him into a wall. As Dean straightend up, Finn punched him in his already bruised eye. Lorelai walked up and slapped him hard across where Jess had punched him the other day.
"STOP!" Rory yelled, sending a pleading look to Andy.
Andy stood there. He didn't want to stop the fight. He wanted Dean to get what was coming to him, but he thought of Rory's pleading, forgiving eyes. He also thought of what his grandfather would have thought of him. James Gilmore never condoned violence unless there was an outright need for it, and deep down Andy knew this wasn't nessicary. It nearly killed him, but he walked over to where Dean was, leaning on the wall. He grabbed him by his neck, pinning him to the wall and giving him trouble breathing.
"You won't even think about her. You won't make eye contact. You will not look at her. You won't make your presence known when she is around, or even go near her. You are going to go home, and remember this warning. This isn't a threat. It's a promise. And if you want to report this assault to the police, you'll have to explain why everyone was beating the shit out of you. Your parents most likely already know about what you did to Rory, because this entire town knows. And they won't forget. You won't be able to walk down the street. I am pretty sure that by December, your mother and father will want to move. I suggest you don't put up a fight," Andy growled into his ear and let him go. "Jess and Tristin, leave out of the alleyway enterance. Lor, you and Rory leave through the market. Finn and I will wait before we leave. Don't want to cause a scene."
They all nodded and separated.
LORELAI AND RORY
"Sweetie, why did you lie to me?" her mother whispered as she put an arm around her daughter and walked out of the market.
"I didn't want this to happen. I just wanted to forget about it and move on with my life. I'm sorry mom," Rory replied weakly, feeling very small.
"Kiddo, this isn't good. I don't like how things have been getting with us," Lorelai told her as they walked to the Crap Shack.
"Me either."
"We've been fighting, and we've been lying to each other. I mean, we were never like this before. I think we just need to start trusting each other again. I know this summer has been so screwed up, but that's no excuse," she continued, tears welling up at the thought of suffocating her kid. She didn't want to become her mother.
"Mom, why don't we have a Gilmore night? We'll get Andy and Finn to pick up ice cream cones, a scoop, chocolate. The works," Rory began as they walked inside their crazy house. "We'll pull out all the movies we have. We'll watch Tuck Everlasting? And maybe Casablanca? Pyscho to humor the boys?"
"Sure sweets. Let's invite Jess too," Lor added as she picked up the phone, watching her daughter give her a small smile.
FINN AND ANDY
"So you knew?" Finn accused Andy once Dean left the alleyway.
"I just found out a little while ago Finn. Everything was just so screwed up. I'm sorry man," Andy answered, sitting on an old crate. "I mean, I just found out that little Rory was hurt, and she handled it better than I wanted her too."
"And how was that exactly?" his friend pried.
"I don't know. Just not so, calm, I guess."
"You wanted her to cry on your shoulder and ask you to make it better," Finn said wisely.
"How'd you know?"
"I felt the same way," he confessed. "It's odd, isn't it? Thinking of Rory as a big girl. I remember when she was asking people to a caterpillars funeral."
"Yeah," Andy smiled. "And when she grounded herself for returning that library book late, and Lor called my cell to get her to leave her room."
"How about her first time tasting coffee? That was funny!"
The two sat there, thinking about their little sister. As boys, the two became blood brothers, and had the matching scars to prove it. They had gone though everything together, and so it seemed fitting that they should go through this together. They were just finding out what it was like to let go of their overprotectiveness. And to let their honary little sister live her own life.
"I don't like it mate," Finn said after a little. "What if she gets hurt? The world is cruel. Even to girls as beautiful as Rory."
"Well," Andy sighed. "I guess she's going to have plenty of people to help pick her back up."
His cell phone rang and picked it up without looking at the ID.
"Hello?...Hey Lor...Sure, we'll pick up some junk food for a movie night. Want us to pick up any movies?...Just Saw? Alright. See you later...Invite who?...Jess? Alright," he ended their conversation.
"Gilmore Movie Night?" Finn concluded.
"Yup, and most of the movies will be their own."
"About bloody time. They spend a fortune in rentals."
JESS AND TRISTIN (don't you love me?)
"So, you're Rory's boyfriend?" Tristin asked as they walked out of the alley.
"Yeah, I am," Jess answered non-chalant.
"I hope you know how lucky you are man. She's a special one. Just, uh, take care of her. I'll settle for being her friend rather than out of her life anyday."
"Huh."
"Not a very chatty guy are you Jess?" Tristin chuckled.
"Not really," Jess replied shortly. They reached where Tristin had parked his car, not too far from Luke's Diner. Tristin was about to open the door to the drivers side, when he stopped.
"I want to be friends with you Jess. You seem like a good guy, and Rory talks about you a lot."
"All good things I hope."
"Yeah, and Jess?" Tristin stopped him once more, this time getting into his car.
"What?"
"Don't forget to write Santa a thank you note for your early Christmas gift," Tristin joked as he started his car and left.
Jess shook his head and laughed. He actually kind of liked Tristin DuGrey. The guy hated Dean, took care of Rory, and could crack a joke. As he walked back to Luke's, he even found himself hoping to see him soon.
He was about to walk into Luke's when Andy and Finn walked up to him.
"Gilmore Movie Night. You're invited," Andy informed him non-chalantly.
"We'll pick up the treats, and ol' Andy boy here will get the movie," Finn told him, putting an arm around his shoulder and walking him over to a candy store. "Now I was thinking, M&Ms, Red Vines, and all that is fine, but what about some damn Snickers? Why are they never on the treats list? They are chocolate, and they are flipping good! But is it nuggat, or is it caramel?"
"It's both," Jess rolled his eyes and removed Finn's arm from his shoulder, walking into the store.
"That's amazing!"
AFTER THE MOVIE
"I better go," Jess said as he grabbed his leather jacket from beside him.
"Alright. It was nice having you here Jess. Next Saturday good for you? We'll cut the romance," Lorelai comprimised. "Oh! James Bond since it's gonna be the boys last day here!"
Andy and Finn got up to clean the mess off take out and junk food with Lor as Rory moved to show Jess the door.
"That was...interesting," Jess told her as he opened the door.
"Yup. Horror and Romance combined into one," Rory joked.
"I don't like that Jesse kid. I mean, in the book the girl is ten. He's seventeen. Seems kind of pervy to me."
"I love Jesse! He's so care free and sweet, and he loves Winnie so much. If I were her, I would have drank the water," she defended.
"Are you afraid of dying?" he raised his eyebrows.
"If I had to die without having a real life with Jesse, and I was Winnie, then yes. I mean, I'd rather not die without really loving."
"She got married. How do you know she didn't really love?"
"Because, their is only one real love for someone, and hers was Jesse," she explained.
They reached the mailbox, and Rory kissed him. They kissed for about a minute, before breaking apart. Neither wanted to, but they knew they had to. Rory and Jess were both too happy to really understand what they were talking about. That was what Rory loved. She could talk to Jess about nothing, and anything. Whether it was something dumb, or something important, she knew he would listen. And she realized that she liked being IN love much better. That the difference between loving someone, and being IN love with them, was completely worth the wait, and the pain, and the fights with her mother. This feeling she had was well worth it. And she wasn't about to give it up.
Hey you guys. At first, I was holding out til someone wrote it, but then I decided to just write it myself, just before my glasses were taken to be fitted to new lenses. When doctors say two days, they really mean two weeks. And I couldn't go on the comp, and I had FCAT testing, so I was way too exasperated to write. But now I have its here, and I'm sad.
This is the end of the road guys. It's done. I could be convinced into an epilogue, but I'm not sure. I like ending it like this. Maybe when I am done with all my other projects, I'll write a oneshot sequel or something. I feel like a part of me is floating away now, writing my good bye. I don't like how Tuck Everlasting ends, so I rewrote it. Well, kind of. I love the book, but Natalie Babbit should never have let Winnie die. I mean, I love Winnie. And Jesse. And I know that she's supposed to die because of the cycle of life and all, but it's just not kool.
I leave you guys saying this, Review, or Fang will hurt you for making me so sad.