Chapter 29: "Paris Gellar on spring break, now that I'd like to see,"
The morning they arrived in Boston, Riley took Rory straight to his favorite bookstore. An independent bookstore called Trident Booksellers & Cafe.
"Wow," Rory said walking in and being instantly hit with two of her favorite scents, coffee and old books, "This place is amazing, Ry."
"It's my favorite place in Boston. So, I'll get us some coffee and a couple of muffins you start browsing."
"Here you go," Riley said handing her a cup.
"Mmm, this is delicious," Rory said, "What is it?"
"Chocolatino. It's espresso and steamed chocolate milk topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and cocoa. It's my favorite."
"It's incredible. We'll definitely have to bring Mom here sometime. She'll love the coffee."
"And the books?"
"Eh, not so much the books."
"Shall we look around?"
"Absolutely."
Several hours and bags of books later they made their way to Riley's house where Gigi immediately launched herself into Rory's arms when she walked in the door.
"Hey, Gigi!" Rory said, "I've missed you."
"I missed you, too, Rory."
"Are you excited to have Rory with us, Gige?" Riley asked.
"Yes, we can play with all my toys."
"I'm looking forward to it," Rory told her, setting her back down on the floor, "But first, I have a bit of an errand to run. Can I borrow your car, Ry?"
"Sure. You don't want me to go with you?" Riley asked.
"Nope!"
"Is this a Christmas thing?"
"Maybe."
"Okay, fine, just be back by dinner, alright?"
"Don't worry, I'm only going to be like an hour or so. See you all later," she said as she took Riley's keys and headed back out.
"You're okay with her leaving after just getting here?" Riley asked his dad and Sherry.
"Yeah, she's an adult, Riley," Chris told her, "She's free to go where ever she wants."
"And it helps that I know what she's doing," Sherry added.
"You do?" Riley questioned.
"Yep. She needed my help with a few things and called me earlier this week," Sherry told him.
"I don't know if I like my sister and step-mother conspiring together," Riley said.
"Trust me, you'll love what she is doing."
It took awhile, but Rory finally came up with a present for Riley. Tristan took a photo of the two them after they fell asleep on each other one night after studying and she had a copy of that framed along with a few of the baby pictures Lorelai gave them, but she also had another thing in mind. And for that she needed Sherry's help.
Being so happy with Tristan, Rory was beginning to wonder if Riley was feeling like a third wheel. She knew he was happy having her in his life and their mom and everyone else, but she felt he could use something more and that's what she was giving him for Christmas.
Riley had told her about his girlfriend Sarah the night they met. She was his first everything and then her dad had to transfer for his job and they moved. Riley hasn't seen her since, but Rory was going to change that for him for Christmas.
"Hey you must me be Rory," Sarah said as she walked up to the table Rory was at in the Starbucks they agreed to meet at.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you, Sarah."
"So, I was a little skeptical when you told me the story over the phone, but seeing you in person it makes sense. You and Riley have the same eyes."
"Yeah, we got them from Mom," Rory told her.
"So this whole things going okay? Everyone's getting along?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, it was rough at first and I'm sure we're going to have moments at some point where we get mad or angry at our parents for separating us, but right now, we're good. We're happy," Rory told her.
"That's good. So Riley has no idea I'm here, right?"
"Nope, you're going to be a surprise," Rory told her, "Actually you're my Christmas present."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's our first Christmas together and it needs to be perfect."
"Well, I don't know if it will be perfect. Who knows if Riley will be happy to see me," Sarah said a little on the quiet side.
"I'm sure he will be. It's not like you guys wanted to break up and I don't think he would have told me about you when we first met if he didn't still think about you and at least want to see you and maybe at least be friends," Rory said.
"Yeah, maybe," Sarah said hopefully. She wanted to see Riley, but wasn't so sure he would feel the same way after she caught him up on her laugh over the past few years.
"So, shall we go?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Ry, I'm back!" Rory called as she walked into the house.
"You got all your secret stuff done, Baby Girl?" he asked.
"Yep, in fact I have part of your Christmas present right outside."
"Outside?"
"Yeah, that's where I went. I had to pick it up and it's a little too big to wrap," she said, "So, you wait here and I'll bring it in."
"Okay," he said a little confused at what Rory could be giving him.
"Hey, Riley!" Sarah said as she walked in.
"Oh my God!" Riley said quickly walking towards her and swinging her around in his arms, "Sarah. It's so good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Riley. I've missed you," Sarah told him.
"I've missed you, too Sare Bear," Riley told her, "But, what are you doing here?"
"That's so good to hear again, Riles. I missed that and when Rory called me and asked about me coming out here to surprise you for Christmas, I couldn't say no."
"You asked her to come out here?" Riley asked Rory.
"Yeah, I had a feeling you missed her and I'm so happy with Tristan I wanted you to be happy, too," Rory told him, "Merry Christmas, Big Brother!"
"Oh, Baby Girl, you have no idea," Riley said grabbing her in a big hug and kissing the top of her head, "Thank you!"
"So, Yale?" Sarah questioned looking around Riley's room at all the Princeton things he's had since he was young.
"Yeah, I know. Princeton was always the plan, but I don't know," Riley said, "the day my Yale acceptance came it was like I had to go."
"Weird, but think of the alternative if you hadn't?"
"Yeah, I might never have met my sister. In a weird way I think I subconsciously knew I had to go to Yale so that I could find Rory."
"It's one of those weird twin things, I guess."
"Yeah. So where are you at?" Riley asked.
"Stanford."
"Not bad for a non ivy league. Probably the best on the west coast."
"I'd have to agree," Sarah said.
"So everything's good. You like California?" Riley asked.
"Yeah, it took sometime to get used to not having snow. I'm actually glad to be around it again. I'm looking forward to having a white Christmas again," Sarah told him.
"So you're staying through Christmas?"
"Yeah, I'd like to spend some time with you and see some other old friends again and the family I still have here. I haven't seen my grandparents much since we moved. They've come out a few times to visit, but this is my first time back here since the move," she said, "I thought about visiting sooner, but it was just easier, you know?"
"I get it. While I missed you, it would have been harder to see each other at random times and have to say goodbye again. That was hard enough the first time," Riley said.
"Yeah, I know," Sarah said, "So how are things going with you besides the obvious new additions to your family. That still baffles me, by the way, but I'm happy for you. And you seem really happy and I know Rory adores you."
"Everything's good. I really like Yale, Lorelai's pretty cool for a mom, and Rory, yeah, she's amazing. Even though we've only known each other a few months and known we were family even less it's like we've known each other our whole lives," Riley said.
"Well, technically you have known each other since birth."
"True, but not quite the same since we didn't spend the past nineteen years together."
"I know," she said, "So I hear your roommate and Rory's boyfriend was a guy you met in military school. What's up with that?"
"Eh, well, I wasn't too happy after you left with Sherry and Gigi. You were there for my sixteenth birthday after she was born. I was so angry at all the attention she got and just lost it a few times. I snuck out, I drank, pulled pranks at school. I needed to get out of here and Oak Ridge is where I ended up."
"Wow! I just, I can't even picture it, Riley Hayden juvenile delinquent," she said with a laugh.
"I wasn't quite that bad, Sare," he told her.
"Have you dated anyone since we…" she began.
"A little. Nothing serious. Not a lot of access to girl in military school and well the first girl I met at Yale was Rory so no one right now, you?"
"I've dated some, nothing too serious either. I wasn't sure at first if I wanted another relationship right away or not, but…"
"But what, Sarah," he said, "You know you can tell me anything."
"I know, it's just hard because I'm not sure how you're going to react. I don't want you to hate me."
"I could never hate you Sare Bear."
"Thank you."
"So, what is it? Are you seeing someone at Stanford? If you are it's not a big deal. I'll always care about you, but I got over my feelings for you a long time ago."
"I care about you, too, Riley and that's what makes this so hard," she began, "I am seeing someone. We met at orientation and we're actually already living together."
"You met this guy three months ago and you're already living together? That's crazy."
"Not exactly. We live together because it's what the school assigned. I'm dating my roommate. Her name is Alex."
"Wow, okay. I was not expecting that. And yo-you're sure? This isn't like 'Hey I'm in college, let's try experimenting' is it?"
"No, this is who I am, Riles. It's not something people openly accept in private school so I sort of pretended I didn't feel that way, but I did sincerely love you, maybe not in the way you loved me and I'm sorry if telling you this ruins any memories we had, but I wanted you to know."
"Wow! Sorry, I said that already, but this really is just, wow. It's hard to wrap my head around it."
"Are you mad?"
"No, I'm not mad and I don't hate you either. I just want to clarify that. And you're right, I did love you and in a way part of me still does; just not like I did before," Riley said, "I'm not going to pretend this isn't a little weird for me because it is. It's new and it's going to take some time to get used to, but I will."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I care about you Sarah. You weren't just my girlfriend, you know. You were the best friend I ever had. At least until I met Tristan and Rory. That's not going to change. You're still you. The same crazy, Spice Girls loving, coffee hating girl I grew up with and that's not going to change."
"I don't hate coffee, I just don't need it to survive like you do."
"I can't help it. It's a family trait. Rory and Lorelai are the same way."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"That's insane," she said, "So, we're good?"
"Yeah, we're good," Riley told her giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you."
"Anytime. Does anyone else know?" Riley asked.
"A few people. I told my parents a year after we moved and I told the friends I made out there upfront. And of course I told Alex. I figured since we were going to be living together she deserved to know."
"And she surprised you by coming out, too."
"Yeah, I didn't expect it, but it's nice. She's great."
"I'd like to meet her someday," he told her, "assuming it becomes more long term."
"Yeah, we can do that. Maybe spring break. We're already talking about going down to Miami. You could come, too and maybe Rory and Tristan, as well."
"Great so I'll get to be the fifth wheel instead for a change," he said with a laugh, "So who else knows? Anyone around here?"
"I'm working on that with this visit. I haven't told my grandparents yet and I've left it out of the conversations I've had with the few friends I've kept in contact with. I'm going to tell them this week as well."
"If you want company just let me know. We're only here for a few days and then we're supposed to spend the rest of break in Stars Hollow, but I can come back here for a bit if you want. I'm sure Rory's going to be busy with Tristan anyway."
"Yeah, maybe," Sarah said, "I didn't tell her when she called me, you know. I hope she's okay with us not getting back together. I don't know if that was her plan or if she just wanted you to have an old friend around. I like her, I don't want her to be mad at me for keep this from her."
"She won't be mad. She'll be surprised, but she won't be mad. She may have secretly hoped we would get back together because she thought I would want that, but she'll be happy to know we're friends and are going to keep in contact. At least, I hope we will."
"Absolutely, I don't want to lose contact again."
"So, are you going to tell Rory or if you want I can."
"I'll do it. We're going shopping tomorrow so I'll do it then. You can tell your dad and Sherry then if you want."
"Okay. So, we should get back downstairs. Dinner's probably ready."
"Alright, let's go."
"Hey, Baby Girl," Riley said coming into the guest room the following evening, "You get some new clothes?"
"I mostly did some more Christmas shopping. I got a few things for Gigi, Sookie, and Lane, but I did get a few new outfits," Rory told him.
"So, did uh, Sarah talk to you?" he asked.
"Yeah. I can't say I expected that when she agreed to come here. I'm sorry if seeing her got your hopes up," she told him.
"No, it didn't. I've never seen us getting back together or ever being anything more than friends. I care about her. I always have, but even if things were different we would still just be friends because I'm not in love with her anymore."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. It took some time, but I stopped being in love with her a long time ago and seeing her again...It made me remember how much I did love her, but that's it. Those feelings for her are all in the past."
"So, you're not disappointed in my choice for your Christmas present?" she asked.
"No, it's been great seeing Sarah again and we're going to keep talking. Our breakup may have been amicable, but it still hurt so I guess we needed that closure we got by seeing each other again," Riley told her, "We even talked about maybe doing spring break together with us, Tristan, her and Sarah."
"That'd be fun for us, but it would make you the fifth wheel."
"Well, maybe we'll ask Paris to tag along. She could use some fun in her life and then at least the numbers will be even," Riley said.
"Paris Gellar on spring break, now that I'd like to see," Rory said laughing, "It could be fun to all take a trip together and it would be a nice way to get to know Sarah better and meet Alex. She sounds great. Sarah couldn't stop talking about her."
"Yeah, she's really happy. Happier then I've ever seen her. I like it," Riley said.
"So are you excited for the Christmas party?" Riley asked Rory while they got in the car to head back to Connecticut.
"Yeah, the food is always amazing and I'm really excited to give them their present," Rory said, "And I'm looking forward to giving you the rest of yours."
"You brought Sarah out here. That's more than enough, Ror."
"It's nothing major, Ry, just something I wanted you to have."
"So are you curious about what I got you?" he asked.
"Very!" she said, "Any hints?
"Absolutely not," he told her, "You have to wait until we get back, Baby Girl."
"Fine!"
AN: Almost to Rory and Riley's Christmas surprise! Any guesses as to what it might be? And the thing with Sarah. I hope it was okay. I was hesitant to write it and at first when I decided to bring her into the story I considered getting her and Riley back together, but as I was writing this chapter the words just sort of came out. Anyway, thanks for reading. I love your reviews so keep them coming.
