Sugar and Spice: Everything Changes
By Misha
Disclaimer in Chapter One.
A.N- If you've read Sugar and Spice: The More Things Change, you know how this year will end for Christopher and Christa. But I didn't want it to be about one moment, even though that will be the dramatic tipping point, instead we're going to build up to it and show exactly why Christa made the choices she did.
Chapter Fifty-One: Inner Conflict
"I feel like a bad person because I'm not looking forward to my dad coming home." Christa confided in Logan over lunch. She had driven up to New Haven for the day to see the boys. Colin was in class, but would be joining them shortly. "Well, I'm looking forward to seeing him, just not…"
"Going back to Boston?" Logan guessed. "You seem pretty happy right now. Apparently being back in Connecticut agrees with you."
"It's been fun." Christa told him. "And it is easier."
"Yes, I heard that your grandparents aren't enforcing any rules." Logan said with a grin.
"It's more than that," Christa said with a laugh, "though that is nice. It's just different… Less pressure. It's been weird with my dad lately."
"Things aren't getting any better?" Logan asked sympathetically.
"They aren't bad." Christa told him. "I mean, he hasn't added any new rules in a while and I think we're both adjusting. But it's not the way it used to be. And, I don't know, it's so much easier with my mom. I feel like I can tell her anything, I don't feel that way about my dad anymore."
"I don't feel that way about either of my parents," Logan said dryly, "so I think you're ahead of the game. It may also be easier because you don't live with her."
"Probably." Christa agreed. "But it used to be easy with Dad." She was still resentful of all the changes and she knew it had changed her relationship with Christopher. Last year, she would have been able to confide in him as easily as Lorelai, now she purposely kept stuff from him.
"Have you considered staying in Connecticut?" Logan asked her. "I'm sure your grandparents would be thrilled and you just seem so happy and relaxed right now."
"No." Christa told him. "I couldn't do that to Dad. We're a team."
The thought had crossed her mind a few times this week and not because of the lack of rules. But because she could drive up to have lunch with Logan if she wanted and she could hang out with her sister and antagonize Paris and be with Lorelai when she wanted. Because the last week and a bit had been really good.
But at the same time… It had always been her and her father against the world. They were a team. He had been the one to raise her and she couldn't just abandon him now.
Logan nodded and let it go. "So, we're going to organize a group dinner tonight before you go. There's a Chinese place we've been wanting to try."
"Sounds like fun." Christa told him. She didn't have to be home by any particular time, though she knew it shouldn't be too late since she had to drive. Still, she could do dinner, though she ignored the little voice that told her she could do this all the time if she moved back to Hartford.
That wasn't an option. She belonged with her dad.
"You can't still be hungry!" Jessica, one of Marissa's roommates, exclaimed in a scandalized voice as she watched Christa fill her plate for the third time.
"Christa makes eating an Olympic sport." Robert teased.
She shrugged. "I like food."
"But you look like that!" Jessica pointed out. "How?"
"Good genes." Christa told her. She knew her eating habits were unusual and she was used to the comments. "My mother and sister are the same way."
"I hate you." Jessica told her with a sigh. "This meal is already going to be mean an extra half hour of working out tomorrow."
"I just won't eat tomorrow," Marissa joked. "I'd rather be hungry than work out."
This lead to laughter and some eye-rolls. Christa was about to respond, but her phone rang. She frowned seeing it was her grandmother. "Hello?"
"Hello, darling, I was just looking at the weather and then checking the time," Francine told her, "and I know time must have slipped away from you, but I'm really not comfortable with you driving home tonight. Is it possible for you to stay with a friend tonight? I'll explain to your father that I asked you to, if it comes up."
"Uh, yeah, that can be arranged." Christa commented, though she glanced at her watch and saw it was only 8. Not that late and as far as she knew, the weather was fine.
"That makes me feel better." Francine told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"That's weird." Christa said, hanging up her phone.
"What is it?" Colin asked, draping his arm around the back of her chair. "Is something wrong?"
"No, my grandmother just said she's worried about me driving so late and asked if I could find a place to stay for the night." Christa explained. "So someone want to let me crash with them?"
She was immediately greeted with several offers, just like she had known she would. Colin just shot her a sexy smile that made it clear where she would be sleeping that night.
"This just got better." Logan said with a grin. "So now we need evening entertainment! Where next?"
Christa grinned and let them plan. She was thrilled for the unexpected overnight trip, but why had her grandmother suggested it? It was definitely odd, though she wasn't going to complain. This was turning into the best vacation ever.
"I have no idea why Grandma told me to stay here tonight." Christa mentioned to Colin later that night when they were alone in his dorm.
"Whatever the reason, I approve." Colin told her with a grin, pulling her closer to him. "These last two weeks have been a pleasant change, less hurdles to work around to see each other."
"My dad let me come up and visit." Christa pointed out. "And I can go to Hartford pretty much whenever I want."
Colin shot her a look. "Come on, though, hasn't the last two weeks been easier? You haven't had to beg or plead to visit, you can just do what you want. Your grandparents are going out of there way to make life good for you."
"I know." Christa said with a sigh. "It's weird. Last year was good, but it wasn't this good."
"They're trying to bribe you." Colin told her with a shrug. "They want you to live with them."
Christa paused, realizing that he was right. Of course, he was right. Her grandparents were aware of Christopher's new rules and had probably picked up on the tension between her and her father.
"I'm an idiot." She said, pulling away from Colin. "Of course, that's what they're doing."
"Is it working?" Colin asked, putting his arms behind his head.
"No!" Christa told him, a little too quickly. "I belong with Dad."
"You've been unhappy since you moved to Boston." Colin pointed out. "All you talk about how it how much your dad has changed or how much you hate his girlfriend."
"It's an adjustment." Christa said defensively. "It doesn't mean I can just leave. Besides, he's my dad. I can't just move out because I don't like having a curfew. I don't even know that would work."
"Your grandfather was a lawyer, right?" Colin pointed out. "I'm sure he could make it happen if it was what you wanted. After all, you are seventeen and it's not like you'd be going to live in the streets."
"I know." Christa said with a sigh. "It's just… I can't do that to my dad. He's always been there for me and I can't just abandon him because I hate his girlfriend. We'll work it out."
"Ok." Colin told her with a shrug. "You know what's best for you." He grinned. "But I think it's great your grandmother let you stay tonight. What time do you have be back tomorrow?"
Christa shrugged. "Probably by dinner time. She didn't specify."
"I have a couple classes, but one's a lecture and you can tag along," Colin suggested. "See what a business class is like and I'm sure Logan could entertain you for a while and we can do lunch before you head back."
"Sound like fun." Christa agreed. She wasn't sure what her eventual major would be, but she'd told Colin that she was leaning towards business, like him. She'd helped Lorelai study a few times and found it interesting.
For a moment, Christa let herself imagine what life would be like if she came back to Connecticut. Hanging out with Logan and Colin on a more regular basis, seeing her mom and Rory every day, no curfew… It sounded magical. But it meant leaving her dad and she couldn't do that to him. She wouldn't do that to him.
