DISCLAIMER: I am in no way shape or form affiliated with Warner Bros., Amy Sherman-Palladino, or their hit series "Gilmore girls." I do not own any of the following characters, or the settings in which they take place, or the scenarios.
SUMMARY: This chapter is VERY loosely based on the song "Losing Grip" by Avril Lavinge. I do not own this song, nor do I have connections to A.L. This chapter is about Rory's first confrontation with Dean since she has returned home.
PAIRING: Eventually, R/J.
RATING: PG
In the Blue of the Morning
Losing Grip
Lorelai ushered Dean along, and waved to Rory in hopes of catching her attention before she continued walking. Rory looked up at her mother and obviously noticed them. Her jaw dropped a little, which struck Lorelai as funny.
It'd been awhile since Lorelai and Dean had been alone together. In fact, the last time had been that fateful night on her own front steps when he'd asked her a question that stabbed at her heart ... "She likes Jess ... doesn't she?"
And she'd had no answer for him, which is what really killed her. Her head wanted to say "No, no, of course not!" ... But her heart knew the truth. She recognized the signs. She'd known that Rory was falling for him, as early as the Bid-on-a-Basket auction. He intrigued Rory in a way no one ever had. So when Dean asked her ... she couldn't lie. But she couldn't tell the truth. All she could do was stare. Her heart broke for the kid, it really did.
Her suspicions and instincts had only been confirmed when she skipped school to go to New York and see him. Then the events of the afternoon had proven her more right.
So with Dean standing there, to her right, walking towards Rory, in the dead silence she searched for something to say. Something to break the silence and make light of the situation. "Well, uh, Watson, it looks like we've found her," Lorelai informed.
"Uh, yea ..." said Dean as he stopped in front of Rory, who put on her best fake smile, and welcomed him.
"Dean!" she pretended to be excited.
Dean wasn't sure how to react. He and Rory had left each other on shaky terms - he hadn't wanted her to go. He'd written her dozens of letters while he'd been in Chicago, and even before he left ... but she rarely answered any of them. He'd gotten four letters. He kept telling himself that it was just because she was busy ... but then when he'd seen Jess back in town, he wondered if something else was going on. He wondered if Rory knew he was back ... and he wondered if the fact that Lorelai had never answered his question was a bad omen. His only comfort was knowing that Jess had spent most of his summer seeing a new girl - Shane Mannex - who worked at the drugstore in her free time.
So he did what he could, and swept Rory into his arms, and picked her up. Despite the awkwardness he was feeling, he was happy to see her.
Rory felt increasingly awkward. As she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, she felt uncomfortable, and was almost longing to go back in time and have Jess catch her fall.
"I missed you!" Dean exclaimed, truthfully.
"I ... I missed you, too," Rory began hesitantly, "I ... I got your letters. I'm ... sorry that I didn't, you know, write more. We were just so busy. Back and forth between workshops, and tours, and I barely got any time to call mom, and sleep."
Rory looked to Lorelai for back up, "Oh, yea, Dean ... she barely had anytime to call me ... I mean, a half an hour a night tops, and her energy for bantering was completely lacking."
Rory smiled gratefully at Lorelai, who smiled back, but felt strange ... almost like she was taking part in a crime, but yet, she had no idea exactly what it was.
"Oh, it's ... uh, it's no problem," Dean covered the twinge of pain.
Suddenly, over Dean's shoulder, she could see Jess walking back towards the diner, looking frustrated. As hard as she tried, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, even as his back was turn.
"Oh, uh ... Jess, is ... back, unfortunately," Dean told her, "... But I figured you already knew." He was searching for an answer.
"Oh? What? Jess is back, oh, I didn't even notice that was him ... you know, back of his head looked a little familiar, but ... no, I didn't really know. No one told me, or anything. Just found out, actually ... completely news to me," Rory tried to cover.
Lorelai desperately wanted to get out of this situation now. She didn't want to be around if Rory and Dean started arguing ... and what was going on was only confusing her more.
"Well, uh ... I'm gonna leave you two lovebirds alone ... let you catch up-" Lorelai began.
"No!" Rory stopped her, breaking free from Dean's grasp suddenly and taking hold of her wrist. "Stay. With us. We'd love the company ... and besides, I've barely seen either of you, we can all ... walk to Luke's, for coffee, and talk. All three of us. Together." Rory emphasized her point as well as she could.
"Well, I just assumed you'd been out looking for him anyways, I mean ... you did go take that walk and-" Lorelai stopped once she saw Rory glaring at her, "Uh, fine. Sure," she complied.
The three of them walked in a row down the sidewalk towards Luke's, when Lorelai noticed the to-go cup of coffee Rory had left with was still dangling between her fingertips.
"Why are we going to Luke's for coffee? You still have coffee," Lorelai asked.
"Because. I want to go to Luke's. And besides ... this ... is, uh, finished," Rory declared, and tossed the cup in the trash can at the corner. Lorelai heard the weight of the cup fall and hit the bottom of the can. Lorelai stopped for a second and peered in the garbage, as Rory was being questioned thoroughly by Dean about the trip. Inside the can, at the bottom of the nearly empty bag, lay the cup of coffee, which had popped open and spilled upon hitting the metal surface. Lorelai grimaced a little, and caught back up with Rory and Dean, realizing even more that what ever small crush Rory had once had on Jess in the back of her mind had grown. It had become huge, obviously bigger than what Rory felt for Dean ... bigger than Rory herself, bigger than Stars Hollow. ... The only question was what had suddenly put Jess at the top of her list.
SUMMARY: This chapter is VERY loosely based on the song "Losing Grip" by Avril Lavinge. I do not own this song, nor do I have connections to A.L. This chapter is about Rory's first confrontation with Dean since she has returned home.
PAIRING: Eventually, R/J.
RATING: PG
In the Blue of the Morning
Losing Grip
Lorelai ushered Dean along, and waved to Rory in hopes of catching her attention before she continued walking. Rory looked up at her mother and obviously noticed them. Her jaw dropped a little, which struck Lorelai as funny.
It'd been awhile since Lorelai and Dean had been alone together. In fact, the last time had been that fateful night on her own front steps when he'd asked her a question that stabbed at her heart ... "She likes Jess ... doesn't she?"
And she'd had no answer for him, which is what really killed her. Her head wanted to say "No, no, of course not!" ... But her heart knew the truth. She recognized the signs. She'd known that Rory was falling for him, as early as the Bid-on-a-Basket auction. He intrigued Rory in a way no one ever had. So when Dean asked her ... she couldn't lie. But she couldn't tell the truth. All she could do was stare. Her heart broke for the kid, it really did.
Her suspicions and instincts had only been confirmed when she skipped school to go to New York and see him. Then the events of the afternoon had proven her more right.
So with Dean standing there, to her right, walking towards Rory, in the dead silence she searched for something to say. Something to break the silence and make light of the situation. "Well, uh, Watson, it looks like we've found her," Lorelai informed.
"Uh, yea ..." said Dean as he stopped in front of Rory, who put on her best fake smile, and welcomed him.
"Dean!" she pretended to be excited.
Dean wasn't sure how to react. He and Rory had left each other on shaky terms - he hadn't wanted her to go. He'd written her dozens of letters while he'd been in Chicago, and even before he left ... but she rarely answered any of them. He'd gotten four letters. He kept telling himself that it was just because she was busy ... but then when he'd seen Jess back in town, he wondered if something else was going on. He wondered if Rory knew he was back ... and he wondered if the fact that Lorelai had never answered his question was a bad omen. His only comfort was knowing that Jess had spent most of his summer seeing a new girl - Shane Mannex - who worked at the drugstore in her free time.
So he did what he could, and swept Rory into his arms, and picked her up. Despite the awkwardness he was feeling, he was happy to see her.
Rory felt increasingly awkward. As she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, she felt uncomfortable, and was almost longing to go back in time and have Jess catch her fall.
"I missed you!" Dean exclaimed, truthfully.
"I ... I missed you, too," Rory began hesitantly, "I ... I got your letters. I'm ... sorry that I didn't, you know, write more. We were just so busy. Back and forth between workshops, and tours, and I barely got any time to call mom, and sleep."
Rory looked to Lorelai for back up, "Oh, yea, Dean ... she barely had anytime to call me ... I mean, a half an hour a night tops, and her energy for bantering was completely lacking."
Rory smiled gratefully at Lorelai, who smiled back, but felt strange ... almost like she was taking part in a crime, but yet, she had no idea exactly what it was.
"Oh, it's ... uh, it's no problem," Dean covered the twinge of pain.
Suddenly, over Dean's shoulder, she could see Jess walking back towards the diner, looking frustrated. As hard as she tried, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, even as his back was turn.
"Oh, uh ... Jess, is ... back, unfortunately," Dean told her, "... But I figured you already knew." He was searching for an answer.
"Oh? What? Jess is back, oh, I didn't even notice that was him ... you know, back of his head looked a little familiar, but ... no, I didn't really know. No one told me, or anything. Just found out, actually ... completely news to me," Rory tried to cover.
Lorelai desperately wanted to get out of this situation now. She didn't want to be around if Rory and Dean started arguing ... and what was going on was only confusing her more.
"Well, uh ... I'm gonna leave you two lovebirds alone ... let you catch up-" Lorelai began.
"No!" Rory stopped her, breaking free from Dean's grasp suddenly and taking hold of her wrist. "Stay. With us. We'd love the company ... and besides, I've barely seen either of you, we can all ... walk to Luke's, for coffee, and talk. All three of us. Together." Rory emphasized her point as well as she could.
"Well, I just assumed you'd been out looking for him anyways, I mean ... you did go take that walk and-" Lorelai stopped once she saw Rory glaring at her, "Uh, fine. Sure," she complied.
The three of them walked in a row down the sidewalk towards Luke's, when Lorelai noticed the to-go cup of coffee Rory had left with was still dangling between her fingertips.
"Why are we going to Luke's for coffee? You still have coffee," Lorelai asked.
"Because. I want to go to Luke's. And besides ... this ... is, uh, finished," Rory declared, and tossed the cup in the trash can at the corner. Lorelai heard the weight of the cup fall and hit the bottom of the can. Lorelai stopped for a second and peered in the garbage, as Rory was being questioned thoroughly by Dean about the trip. Inside the can, at the bottom of the nearly empty bag, lay the cup of coffee, which had popped open and spilled upon hitting the metal surface. Lorelai grimaced a little, and caught back up with Rory and Dean, realizing even more that what ever small crush Rory had once had on Jess in the back of her mind had grown. It had become huge, obviously bigger than what Rory felt for Dean ... bigger than Rory herself, bigger than Stars Hollow. ... The only question was what had suddenly put Jess at the top of her list.