AN:

STOPPPPP!!!

WAITTTTT!!!

Don't read this chapter (yet)!!!

I added a whole second half to Chapter 13 (Closure). So please jump back and read that at some point, especially if you found Rory's behavior out of place. Originally, my plan was to explain Rory's behavior with some passing comments in this chapter, but it wasn't really working. It ended up exploding into an entire half chapter instead :)

Moving along...

Hello there! Happy Chanukah (forgot to mention it in the last chapter), Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, in that order :) I know I was quite absent during the holiday season, but you got a chapter and a half out of me today. That should count for something, right?

Thank you to Jewels12 for cleaning me up and making me presentable :) Let's all wish her luck as she starts back up at a certain place I'm not allowed to actually talk about, but it rhymes with 'cool'. Don't let the older kids steal your lunch money or give you wedgies! Ah yes, and knock 'em dead :)

Marty was walking through campus, humming to himself, obviously looking forward to this semester. The first time around, he didn't know anyone. But this time, he and his friends had coordinated their schedules, signing up for the same sections of classes they shared or agreeing to take a certain class together this term instead of separately some other time. This semester would be better, he was sure of it.

As he walked through the food court of the student center, Marty saw Rory holding a paper bag as she waited in a line, and his eyebrows lifted in amused surprise. Ignoring the tingle underneath his scarf, he crept up behind her to ask, "So, does this make me one of the Lost Boys?"

Rory turned around and broke into a smile. "Hey, Marty," she greeted him, giving him a hug. "How are – wait, what was that?" she asked, pulling back and looking at him in confusion.

"I asked if this makes me one of the Lost Boys," he said, gesturing to her hat.

She reached up and touched the newspaper on her head. "Right, I forgot that was there. It's a Yale Daily News tradition."

"Ahh, is that why you're back early?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

As she ordered a strawberry ice cream, Marty let her know he was back so he could sign up to be on the event staff. "You know, have access to more bartending gigs for certain after-hours gatherings of alumni and faculty."

"More consistent work, better tips than student parties – I'm with you." She nodded in approval. "So, how was your break?"

"Pretty standard. We had a good Christmas with an extended family gathering the weekend before that. Hung out with Nick and Ben a little – they might actually come down some weekend."

"Oh yeah? That'll be nice."

"How about you?"

"Pretty standard, too, except for the part where my ex-boyfriend randomly showed up," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Whoa, the one who disappeared?" Marty was pretty sure she didn't mean the married one since he lived there, so his appearance couldn't really be called 'random.'

"Yup," Rory said tightly as she took her order and paid.

He cringed in empathy when he asked, "How awkward was that?" and followed as she headed back to the newsroom.

"Pretty awkward at first. But he apologized, and I did a pretty good job of calling him out on some things."

"Good."

"Yeah. I mean, we're not going to be pen pals or anything, but I don't think future run-ins will be painful."

Marty nodded his head in understanding. "Oh, hey, don't tell Julie, but guess what I bought last week."

"What?"

"Some binders and a few packs of loose leaf paper," he said, smiling proudly.

Rory laughed heartily. "Good! You won't regret it." They had reached the newsroom and she gestured with the ice cream. "I better take this to Doyle before it melts."

"Right. I was wondering why you weren't eating it. I'll see you later, Peter."

She flashed him a confused look over her shoulder, and right before the door closed, he saw realization dawn on her in the form of rolling eyes and a shaking head. Marty laughed to himself and continued humming his way to the event staff office.

Exasperated and free, Rory burst out of the newsroom and rushed to pull out her phone. Holding down the '6,' she hustled through the student center.

"Come on… come on…" she urged, telepathically willing him to pick up.

"Hey, Rory. Or are you still Peter?"

She remembered the hat and whisked it off her head, throwing it into the nearest trashcan. "I'm Rory. An angry, frazzled, at the end of her rope Rory, but still Rory. Please tell me you're free. Seven hours of degradation and belittling at the hands of tyrants is not as pleasant as it might sound. I mean, who asks for strawberry ice cream and then is confused by the fact that there are strawberries in it?!"

"My super sensitive ESP is suggesting you need a break."

"Do I ever."

"Meet me at the cafeteria."

"Oh, I already ate. They ordered in some…"

"I'm not talking about food. Just meet me there, okay?"

"Why?"

"By the exit, not the entrance," Marty said cryptically and then hung up.

She shook her head uselessly at her phone before putting it away and heading off to the cafeteria. Since Rory couldn't guess what he was up to, her mind wandered to their meeting earlier. It was good to see him, and she was pleased to see he was wearing her scarf, but Rory was careful not to disturb the feelings she had managed to settle over break.

When she turned a corner, she saw he was already outside one of the cafeteria exits, fidgeting nervously. "What are we doing?" Rory asked, eyeing him warily.

"Shhhh! Be cool, Gilmore."

"Excuse me, Mr. Squirrelly Jumpy Pants? You're telling me to –"

A student walked out the door, and Marty leaned in toward the trash receptacles by the door, swiping two trays off of one. As the door swung shut behind him, they could hear what must have been an employee's "Hey" fade away behind it.

"Marty!"

"Come on!" he whispered as he turned to hurry around the corner, trying to hide the trays in his coat.

Rory stood stock still by the door, disapproving his behavior. "But you just…"

She saw him disappear for a moment before he returned and pinched the arm of her coat, dragging her along.

"Look, it's a tradition, okay? Now, come on!" Marty said the magic word that would convince any dutiful Eli to comply with whatever craziness was going on. Rory gave in and fell into step with him.

"Fine, I'm coming, but how is tray theft a tradition?"

Marty let go of her coat since she wasn't resisting anymore and they were far enough away from the caf. "You'll see."

They cut through the fine arts building…

"Marty!" she hissed impatiently.

"You'll SEE," he whispered.

… and came out at the top of a spacious hill.

Rory raised her eyebrows at the dozen or so students, either gliding down the hill or trudging back up again carrying…

"Trays."

"Can't put much past you, can we? Are you in?"

"I'm in," Rory said, smiling at the scene. "But you're going first," she insisted, poking a finger at his arm.

Marty spun around on his descent and tumbled backwards off his tray halfway down. Rory laughed when he sprang up and gave a flourished bow. As she glided well past him, he plodded down the hill to fetch his tray. When she drifted to a stop, Rory stepped off her tray and turned to him, giving a quick, self-conscious curtsy.

Later on, they went tandem with Rory holding onto the back of his coat. They both shouted "Whoaaa!" as their trays drifted and sent them sideways. They hit some rough trodden snow which quickly slowed down the trays, dumping the passengers into the snow. Rory threw her arms out to try and stop herself and pulled her legs in to keep from kicking Marty in the head. When she landed in a back flop, she came to a stop and let her legs splay out on the ground. She felt one of the trays bump into her leg as she caught her breath.

"You okay?" Marty called to her.

"Oh yeah, just disoriented." Rory realized she was lying diagonally with her head pointed downhill. She followed his voice and tilted her head to see him a little uphill from her and off to the side.

In one quick sequence of events, Rory became aware of voices that were growing louder and watched Marty's face fall and his eyes bug out before he scrambled toward her. He threw himself next to her, his head landing near her shin right before the dull "Ooomph" of the crash occurred.

"Oh man, are you guys okay?"

"Marty?" Rory called out to him.

"Ow," Marty groaned.

"Do you need some help, dude?"

"Marty, are you okay?" Rory asked, untangling herself from the pile-up to kneel next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just… ow. I think I've had enough tradition for one day."

"I think we're okay, guys. Thanks," she said, and the two sledders walked back up the hill. Turning back to Marty, Rory asked, "Well, what about the tradition where I buy you a coffee?"

"Yeah, I think I can handle that one."

They picked up their trays and dusted themselves off. As they limped back toward the cafeteria, they leaned on each other for support, with Rory's arm around Marty's waist and his arm across her shoulders.

"Thank you, by the way, for being a human shield and all."

"Yeah, well, it was my idea to be out there, so I felt responsible."

"Oh, so if it had been my idea, you would have just sat back and watched them plow me over?"

"Of course! And laughed, too," Marty said over-seriously.

"Evil!"

When the spring semester started, and some of their classes were in buildings they weren't familiar with, Rory found an indoor 'branch' of their favorite coffee cart. It was by the entrance of a table-filled atrium in the Psychology Department – the Psych Ward as the students called it. It was too echo-y to be conducive to studying or reading, but it was a good place to hang out with friends between classes.

Over the next couple weeks, the crew settled into their new routines. The general idea of having meals together when possible was still in place, and now more of them shared some classes. Rory and Marty still found each other at the library on Thursday nights, and often the crew would end their Saturday study sessions with a movie night in her dorm. And on Sunday mornings, Rory would listen to Marty play in a vacant room in the fine arts center instead of the garden, while the weather was still cold.

Some new additions to their schedules were that Tana had a study group over on Wednesday nights, so Rory would join Marty and Carl up in their room to study, each boy at his desk and Rory taking over Marty's bed. And during a mid-morning break on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the two of them often met at the Psych Ward coffee cart to take a breather in their busy day, sometimes joined by another crew member or suitemate if they were passing through.