Chapter 2
Disclaimer in Ch. 1
* * *
Later that week, Rory came home and wearily dropped her backpack next to the door. "I hate school," she informed Lorelai, who was sitting on the couch watching T.V.
"L.L. Bean just got a massive order for parkas to be shipped to hell," she responded. "How can you hate school?"
"Well, there's only three weeks left, so they're trying to ensure that we don't forget everything we learned throughout the year. Which means fun and exciting group projects that are due the week before finals."
"Let me guess? Paris is in your group again?"
Rory sat on the couch and nodded. "I am so lucky."
"Ooh, just think, soon you guys get to spend every day together for six weeks."
Rory groaned. "Thanks for reminding me. Dean probably forgot what I look like, and I'll be surprised if I can pick Lane out of a crowd at this point."
"Dean? Are you kidding? He probably made a Rory scrapbook to remember you by."
"Mom."
Lorelai was on one of her rolls. "Little pictures of you, with titles above them written in those gel sparkle pens like: 'Rory At the Bus Stop,' 'Rory and Me at the Diner,' 'That Day When Rory and I Went to The Movies and My Hair Looked Really Cool.'"
"Quit it!"
Lorelai caught the smile that Rory was trying to hide. "Aw, come on. You know it's funny."
"Maybe just a little," Rory admitted.
Lorelai shook her head in amazement. "Man, is that kid whipped. You know, for his birthday, I was thinking of getting him a whip, but then I figured he wouldn't really get the joke, and would probably think I wanted him to dress up like Indiana Jones." Lorelai cocked her head as she thought about that. "Actually, maybe I do want him to dress up like Indiana Jones."
Rory gave her a pitiful look. "Careful, I think you're turning into Miss Patty."
Lorelai shrugged. "There are worse people to be."
Rory nodded. "Yes. And one of those people would be me. If you'll excuse me, I have several tons of homework to do."
"Metric or standard?"
"Do you even know the difference between the two?" Rory knowingly asked over her shoulder.
"No," Lorelai feebly admitted. "That's right, honey, shine the light on your mother's stupidity."
"Oh, I don't think I even need the light. It sparkles all on its own." With that, she closed the door to her room.
Lorelai smirked to herself. "Indiana Jones." She got up and hunted through their video collection.
* * *
"Feed me," Lorelai begged on Sookie's first morning back at work.
"'Hey, Sookie, how was the honeymoon, hope you had fun.'"
Lorelai gave her a guilty look. "Sorry. Hey, Sookie, how was the honeymoon? I hope you had fun."
"Thanks for asking! Yes, we certainly did."
"Now can you feed me?"
"Sure." Sookie began cooking Lorelai's breakfast; she'd just assumed that in the two weeks she'd been gone, Luke and Lorelai would have made up. It made her a little sad to think that they were still fighting, but she was still on a honeymoon high.
Lorelai ate her breakfast and listened to Sookie animatedly tell all the details of her honeymoon.
"So then we went to see the world's largest blueberry, up in Maine, and wow. Just wow! I mean, it was the size of my head! If Michel ate it, he really would die!"
"Just please leave out any mention of seeing the world's largest cucumber on your honeymoon. That's a place I so don't want to go to."
Sookie grinned. "They don't call Jackson the Vegetable Man for nothing."
"Ack! Sookie! Mental picture!"
When Sookie finished up with the details of the trip, Lorelai said, "I'm glad you had such a great time, but I missed you completely."
"Did you miss me, or did you miss my food?"
"Ninety-nine percent you."
"I can't believe you and Luke are still fighting."
"We're not fighting. We're just not talking."
"You apologized, he accepted. What's his problem?" Sookie speculated.
"If I knew things would be a whole lot easier. Do you realize Rory's going to that Future Politicians and Other Evil Creatures summer thing in two weeks? It starts the Monday after Chilton gets out, so we don't even have time for anything fun. Then she's going to be away from me, and besides missing her more than an arm or a leg, I'll also have no one to go eat with. The only place I used to eat alone was Luke's, which is now out of the question."
"Okay, honey, calm down, we don't need you going Mariah on us."
"Sorry. It's just this whole month has sucked. The Jess thing, the Luke thing, the Christopher thing, it's all sucky and makes me wonder if life would be better without men, because all they do is make problems."
Sookie indulged her friend. "Can we at least keep a handful? Like Jackson, and that Ty guy from Trading Spaces? Just to open stubborn jar lids and change the oil in our cars."
Lorelai smiled. "I guess we could keep a few."
"Does Luke know about you and Christopher?"
"I don't think so; it's not like I would tell him."
"He still could have heard something."
"I hope not. He's so unpleasant already."
"Aha! That statement indicates that you know he'd be jealous!"
"I'm gonna have to go with a 'Whachoo talkin' bout, Willis?'"
Sookie gave a frustrated sigh. "It means that you now acknowledge the possibility that Luke has feelings for you. You used to totally blow it off before."
Lorelai didn't feel like having this discussion anymore. "So, did you see the one where Ty climbed a tree?"
* * *
Rory was eating breakfast at Luke's alone on her last day of school. Someone tapped her on the shoulder just as she was taking a sip of her coffee; besides startling her, it made her choke on the coffee.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry!" Lorelai apologized.
Rory managed to catch her breath once the coffee was out of her lungs. "Don't ever do that again or I'll call Child Protective Services."
Lorelai sat down. "So, what're you eating? Pancakes. Ooh, they smell good. Order some to go."
"If you want pancakes, get your own."
Lorelai grabbed the last pancake off Rory's plate.
"Leggo my eggo!" Rory demanded.
"It's a pancake," Lorelai countered, and took a huge bite.
"Un-take my pancake!"
Lorelai shoved the rest of it into her mouth. "Can't, all gone," she mumbled, her cheeks stuffed with pancake.
"Order your own," Rory told her.
"Why? I'm not hungry anymore." Lorelai stood up when she saw Luke leaving the kitchen. "Gotta go to work. Have fun on your last day of school- and remember, if you're gonna skip, go some place cool. Not the library."
She went out the door. Luke came over with a coffee to go. "Was your mom just here?" he asked Rory, wondering if the blur he saw out of the corner of his eye was Lorelai.
"Nope," Rory lied. "They say imagination is the culmination and realization of sub-conscious desires. Maybe you wanted to see her."
"You want this coffee or not?" he threatened.
Rory took the cup. "She stole a pancake and ran out when she saw you coming," she admitted. She gathered her stuff up, said goodbye to Luke, and went to catch the bus.
Dean was sitting on the bench when she got there. "Hey," he greeted.
"Uh, hi." The way he kept popping up had progressed from sweet to annoying, and after the Jess Incident, as she liked to call it, it made her feel paranoid and guilty. Like he was showing up to point his finger and say 'I know what you did.'
"I thought I'd keep you company while you waited for the bus."
"Thanks. I usually read a book."
"Or three."
"Yeah. So I'm covered in the entertainment category." She looked at her watch. "You have school to go to." Stars Hollow High started half an hour earlier than Chilton.
"I can be late." He tugged on her hand, and she sat down. "I was thinking, since this is the last day of school, we could do something to celebrate tonight."
"Oh," Rory said, trying to sound more regretful than she actually felt, "I had plans with Mom."
"All night?"
"Well, you never know with her."
"C'mon, you can make time for me."
Dean had an amazing way of whining without actually sounding like he was whining. "I can't say yes right now."
"Fine," Dean said dejectedly.
"Don't take it like that," Rory implored, "I just don't want to say yes and then not make it because I'm still with Mom."
"Whatever. I've got school to go to. I hope you and Lorelai have fun." He got off the bench and stalked away.
Rory knew she should go after him; the 'be a good girlfriend' voice inside her told her placating him was the right thing to do. But another voice inside her told her to let it be. She hadn't intended anything personal by declining to hang out with him; she truly did have plans with her mom. If he wanted to take it that way, that was his problem. And why the hell did he stress Lorelai like that? Did he think she was lying to him? What, like she had plans with Jess? She didn't.
That stupid voice pointed out he had every right to be suspicious.
Shut up, she told it. She pulled out a book and waited for the bus.
* * *
"Rory?" Lorelai called out when she got home.
"Kitchen," Rory answered.
"Is there the remotest possibility you're baking a cake or other bakery product?"
"Did you see any pigs with wings in the sky?"
"No." Lorelai pouted. "I really had a craving for cake."
Rory opened the freezer and pulled out the tub of Cool Whip, then tossed it at Lorelai. "Put it on top of bread and you'll never know the difference."
"Okay, gross. Hand me a spoon." Rory complied. "So, what should we do to celebrate my little girl finishing tenth grade?" she asked, licking the spoon clean of Cool Whip.
"I think I have to break up with Dean," Rory blurted.
"See, that's more of a you activity, and I was thinking of something along the lines of a we thing." Lorelai put the spoon down and got serious. "Why?"
"He's just…he's…"
"Oh, clearly a valid reason to break up with him."
"He's possessive. And he doesn't respect my privacy."
"Did he read your diary or put a camera in your shower?"
"No. But he was waiting for me when I got to the bus stop this morning."
"The nerve!"
"Mom, you're not taking this seriously."
"Rory, he just sounds like an attentive, caring boyfriend. There are so many girls who would love to have that."
"Then they can have him after I break up with him." Rory slumped down at the table and picked up the spoon, taking a large bite of Cool Whip.
"You've told me a thousand times that Jess is just a friend, but be honest with me. Are you breaking up so you can be with him?"
"No. I don't want Jess as my boyfriend," Rory said, and it was the complete truth. Jess was complicated, Jess had problems; being Jess's girlfriend would require more than Rory was willing to give. She just wanted to do things to Jess that would land them a role in a Pink video. Things she and Dean hadn't even come close to doing after dating a year.
"It's your decision, sweetie."
"You want me to stay with Dean." Rory accused. Lorelai didn't answer. "Mom, I know you like him because he's safe and reliable and you think if I stick with him, it'll keep me on the straight and narrow path, but you don't need to worry. Okay, I did do some things that weren't like me, but I'm not going to do them again and I'm not going to put in jeopardy all the hard work I've done all my life." Rory's voice had escalated until she was practically shouting at the end. After realizing just how loud she'd gotten, she looked sheepish.
They sat in silence for a while. Finally, Lorelai broke it. "Pass the spoon, or my fingers are going in the tub."
Rory passed her the spoon.
* * *
"The Hartford Planetarium has Laser Pink Floyd," Rory suggested.
"But I'm fresh out of pot, so we wouldn't enjoy it to its full potential." They were trying to decide what to do. "We could try to sneak into the locker room at the Connecticut State baseball stadium."
"You hate baseball."
"Yes, but I don't hate naked baseball players."
Rory stuck her tongue out, rejecting the idea. "We could rent videos."
"Good call. We can overdose on junk food while watching videos."
"I like the plan."
"It is a good plan. Thy mother doth come up with wonderful-eth things."
Rory shook her head. "Kenneth Brannagh will definitely be avoiding this house."
"Come on. He cast Keanu Reeves; I've got a chance." Lorelai found her purse and headed to the door. "Move it," she told Rory.
"I'm coming," Rory grumbled, getting off the couch and following her mother out the door.
"Speaking of Keanu, how does Bill and Ted sound to you?"
"Excellent Adventure or Bogus Journey?" Rory asked.
"Both!"
"Dude!" Rory said, agreeing. Then she remembered about Dean. "Dude," she muttered to herself. They got in the jeep and she pulled the phone out of Lorelai's purse.
"Dean?" Lorelai asked.
Rory nodded, listening to the ringing on the other end. Dean answered. "Hi, Dean," Rory started.
"Hey, Rory. Jamie Collins is having an end of school party at his house and it's supposed to be really good. I was thinking we could go there for a little while, then see what we want to do from there."
Rory could tell this wasn't going to be easy. "Dean, my mom and I always do something to celebrate the last day of school. It's tradition. If you ask me to break it, it's like asking Ned Flanders not to go to church." She'd had a more literary analogy in her mind, but she knew going with a Simpsons reference wouldn't confuse him.
"But I haven't spent time with you in a while. I let you study for your finals; I think the last time we hung out for more than fifteen minutes was two weeks ago."
"Dean, we can hang out tomorrow. And the day after that. And then, the one after that." Rory stopped there; she had a sudden, powerful feeling that hanging out with Dean that much might not be a good idea.
"But you're leaving on Monday. That's four days, Rory."
"I know it's soon; but you know my mom, Dean. I've only been away from her two nights in my entire life. She's already acting like I'm joining Shackleton."
"Who's Shackleton?"
He sounded slightly jealous, but Rory was probably imagining it. "He went to Antarctica." She went back to the matter at hand. "Please, Dean, just let me do this without making me feel guilty."
Dean sighed. "Fine. I work the morning shift tomorrow; I'll come over around three. Is that okay?"
"That sounds great." She said goodbye to Dean and put the phone back in Lorelai's purse.
"Honey, I would have let you hang out with him," Lorelai told her.
"It's okay, really. I like our traditions. And he wanted to go to some end of school party so it's not a big deal."
"Well, it's true that you didn't inherit my party animal genes. Bummer."
"Some party animal you are. We're going to the video store, remember?"
Lorelai frowned. That was pretty lame for her. "We can still do something else," she said.
Rory felt guilty. Even with her dad's latest disappointment and Luke's continued hostility, her mom had been holding up well, but her spark seemed somewhat diminished. "It's okay; the important thing is we're together."
"Aw. It's a Thelma and Louise moment." Lorelai smiled. "Let's go blow up an 18-wheeler."
* * *
Rory spent the next afternoon with Dean, then joined up with Lorelai for the Friday dinner. She begged out with Dean again for that night in order to spend it with her mom. On Saturday, she and Lane went to a movie while Dean was at work, then spent the rest of the evening with Dean once his shift was over.
By Sunday, she had the feeling that something was going to happen. Since she'd told her mom she was thinking about breaking up with Dean, she'd been debating it with herself. It was hard; it wasn't like he'd done anything wrong. And he really did love her. But his constant jealousy and possessiveness were wearing her thin. She was tired of having to explain herself if she didn't or couldn't spend every waking moment with him. He had even asked her to stay for the summer instead of going to Washington.
She went in to Luke's in the early afternoon to get coffee in an effort to calm her nerves; Jess was working.
"Hi," she said to him. The town was small, but she'd only seen him a handful of times since the wedding, and always in public. At first she had purposely avoided him, but after a week or so she'd just been too busy with school and packing.
"Long time no see," he said back.
"Group projects, end of the year newspaper issue, finals, and packing," she explained.
"Nice excuses."
"Call them what you want," she retorted. God, he was annoying sometimes. He smirked. No, no, you will not find him cute, she scolded herself.
"It's okay; I knew you'd give in sooner or later."
Arrogant bastard. "Whatever. Can I get coffee?"
Jess got her a cup. "So how's the Jolly Green Giant?"
"I assume you're referring to Dean?" Jess nodded. "He's not green."
"Yeah, but he's tall."
"He's fine."
"Is he crying because you're leaving him all by his lonesome?"
"So you remembered."
"Been known to do that, from time to time."
"Rory!"
Jess smirked again. "Speak of the giant."
Rory turned to see Dean coming into the diner. "Hi," she said.
"I got one of the guys to come in a couple hours early so I could spend more time with you," Dean explained. He gave Jess a look before leaning down to kiss Rory.
Rory felt slightly uncomfortable kissing him back five minutes after debating whether or not to break up with him. "Oh, good," she said about the extra time.
"Yeah, that's just great," Jess added. Rory glared at him. So did Dean. Rory noticed, and decided the best thing to do would be to put distance between them. She paid for the coffee.
"Bye Jess."
"See you later," Jess said. As he'd intended, Dean frowned at that. Rory grabbed his hand and headed out the door.
"What did he mean by that?" Dean asked when they were outside.
"Nothing. It's a phrase."
"So you guys don't have something planned?"
Rory closed her eyes and counted to ten, trying very hard not to throw the coffee at her boyfriend.
* * *
-end ch 2-
A/N: The world's largest blueberry is actually in Canada…Nova Scotia I think. Sadly, I actually looked this kind of info up. I like accuracy. However, since I think that it's actually a FAKE blueberry, and is one of those large statue-type deals, I said 'to hell with it' and decided to put the world's largest REAL blueberry in Maine. Yes, I know no one cares. However, I ended up spending a few hours reading world record websites. And there are some seriously sad people out there who need better things to do with their time. One person has the world's largest collection of gum foil wrappers.
A/N 2: This is first and foremost a L/L. I would have preferred to gloss over the Dean/Jess/Rory deal because it's not my area, but I thought, realistically, that wouldn't happen and it would need to be addressed. So I know it's coming off as more of a Rory-based thing at the moment, but the following chapters are much more L/L.