AN- In this chapter, it looks like the 'ships have been decided… but they haven't. There's still a lot more twists.

It was strange to wake up this way. To be in someone's arms, to feel protected. Callie sighed happily, turning slightly to look at Jess. He was still sleeping, and she couldn't bring herself to hate him for whatever he had done to Rory when he looked so innocent.

But Callie also knew that they couldn't lie here like this. It would look different to everyone else. If someone came downstairs and found Callie in Jess's arms…She shuddered at the thought. "Jess," she murmured.

Jess shifted slightly, but he didn't open his eyes. She ran a hand through his hair. "Jess."

"Mmm." Jess shifted again and Callie pulled her hand back. She watched as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked. "Morning."

"Morning, Jess." Callie smiled again. "We need to get up though. It won't look too good if someone comes downstairs."

Jess nodded, sitting up slowly. Callie missed the feeling of his body against hers. "Yeah, you're right."

Tristan's first thought when he woke up was that he had broken his pact of friendship with Rory. Regret filled him instantly as he looked down at the sleeping girl next to him. She stirred slightly, and Tristan saw that she was wearing her tank top.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he smiled. He had spent the night with Rory and hadn't done anything. That had to be a reason to celebrate. "Ror, get up."

Rory's eyes opened slowly and widened when she saw him. Sitting up quickly, she frowned. "What happened?"

Tristan shook his head, trying to keep a smile off his face. "No, nothing happened, dirty girl. We just fell asleep."

Rory nodded, calming down a little. "Oh." She blushed. "Now I feel a little stupid."

"Don't."

"Hey, kiddies, want coffee?" Lorelai's voice was too bright for this early. Jess groaned.

"Yeah, a really big cup."

Lorelai nodded. "That's what I figured. I'll give each of you a big cup. And Rory- you want two, right?"

Rory shook her head, glancing at Tristan. "No, I kind of like the relaxed tired feeling today." She smiled slightly, and Tristan smiled as well.

Jess narrowed his eyes. Rory and Tristan? He glanced at Callie, and she shrugged. Lane's eyes had narrowed, and she was frowning at Tristan. Jess cleared his throat. "Lorelai, why are you so chipper this morning?"

"Chipper? Did you say chipper? Yep, you did. And I'm just happy. I got coffee from Mr. Coffee first thing this morning."

"Where's Luke?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Back at the diner. He didn't want to open late. He didn't want the town talking."

Jess laughed. "Sounds like Luke."

"Mmm-hmm."

Halfway through the day, when Rory, Callie, Tristan, Jess, and Lane were sitting in the diner, Callie suggested an idea. "Hey, has anyone heard of that new club in Hartford?"

Tristan nodded. "Yeah. It's actually pretty close to Chilton, where Rory and I went to high school."

Callie nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, I was thinking that we could all go there tonight. You know, just dance, stop worrying."

Lane shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"Yeah, me too," Jess said.

Rory was quiet for a minute, then meeting Tristan's gaze, she smiled. "Yeah, why not?"

Callie had never seen a club like this, not even in LA. The room was packed and the music was pulsating, but it was live. "This is great," she shouted.

Tristan nodded, glancing at Rory. It was obvious this wasn't Rory's normal scene. She looked out of place, tense, worried. "What do you think, Rory?"

Rory plastered on a smile. "Oh, it's great."

"Why don't we dance?"

Rory shrugged. "Sure."

Callie watched as the two walked off, leaving her alone. Jess and Lane had opted to drive alone, so they weren't here yet. "That hurt?"

Callie jumped at Jess's voice. "What?"

"Tristan. And Rory. Your friends. Your crush. Hooking up."

"I'll admit it feels weird to have my best friends hooking up but my crush? Tristan? No."

"Okay, Callie. Whatever you say. You want to dance?"

Callie shrugged. "Yeah. Why not. Just don't step on my feet."

Callie hadn't expected Jess to be able to dance. She had thought Jess was your typical rebel without a cause, a guy in a permanent bad mood. She had been pleasantly surprised.

As a slow song came over the sound system, Callie found herself in Jess's arms. "I like this song," she murmured, leaning against him.

Jess smiled. "Coming from anyone else, that would be a line. Coming from you…" Jess trailed off.

Callie smirked, rolling her eyes. "In California, that's how a guy tells a girl he wants to jump into bed with her."

Jess laughed. "Aren't you the voice of experience? Same thing in New York, actually."

"You never used that line, did you?"

Jess shook his head. "No. I was always honest to a fault. If I wanted to sleep with some girl, I'd walk up to her and be like, 'You're hot. Let's go have sex.'"

Callie grimaced. "How'd that go over?"

Jess shrugged. "Well, sadly. The girls in New York, well, most of them, anyway, weren't exactly hard."

"I know what you mean. I can't remember one person from my past who said no to sex."

"What about yourself?"

Callie smiled sadly, shaking her head. "I wasn't much different."

To say Jess was surprised that Rory's friend was tainted, so to speak, was an understatement. But he understood the look she had sent him. It said, 'Don't go there' louder than anything else. He held her closer, afraid to meet her eyes.

And in some way, holding Callie made him feel better about himself. It was as if all the mistakes he had made in the last six years had vanished.

"Lane Kim. Who woulda thought?"

Lane frowned at Tristan's greeting. "Who would have thought what?"

Tristan shrugged. "That you'd be clubbing. Anyone who knows your mother, well, I guess they'd never think you were a bad girl."

Lane raised an eyebrow. "A bad girl? Don't you think that that's going a step far?"

Tristan shrugged. "The way I see it, you're sitting at a bar, talking to a guy you hardly know, breaking Mommy Dearest's courting rules."

Lane rolled her eyes. "A guy I hardly know? I probably know more about you than your parents."

Tristan winced. "That doesn't take much."

"Oh…sorry."

"That's okay. So, rebel, wanna dance?"

Lane rolled her eyes, jumping up from her stool. "I thought you'd never ask."

Rory sat down, watching her friends dance. She was tired, and she didn't really like it here anyway. It was too loud. She frowned. It was weird to see and Callie with Jess and Tristan with Lane. Very weird. And she wasn't sure which hurt more.

"Wanna dance?"

Rory turned around to find a man, probably about her age, standing behind her. He was cute, with short dark hair and brown eyes. "Uh, yeah, sure." She took his proffered hand and followed him onto the dance floor.

"What's your name?"

"Rory. Rory Gilmore. You?"

The guy laughed. "Don't you know the rules of clubbing?" At Rory's strange look, he added, "You know, don't give your last name. Because if you don't like someone you meet, they'll be able to call you."

Rory laughed with him. "Good point. Thanks for filling me in. So what's your name?"

"Austin Hart."

Rory smiled, realizing he had just broken his own rule. "I see you don't enforce that rule."

"Only with women I might like to see again."

"Whoa. So you really go to Yale? What's a girl as smart as you doing at some stupid club?"

Rory smiled at the offhanded compliment. "It probably won't surprise you that it wasn't my idea. My friend suggested it and everyone else agreed so here I am."

"Oh. Where are your friends?"

"Dancing with each other."

"So you're a fifth wheel?"

Rory shook her head. "No. At least I don't think so. My roommate's dancing with a, uh, high school friend. And my best friend from high school is dancing with a Yale friend."

"Oh. That's gotta be awkward."

"Yeah. You could say that." Rory smiled. "But I don't want to talk about them. Lets just dance."

"Lane Kim. Why do I have the feeling you've danced before?"

Lane rolled her eyes. "Tristan, I've danced before. How's that hard to believe? Everyone I know knows how to dance."

Tristan shrugged. "I thought it would be against your mother's rules, you know, dancing with a non-Korean guy and all."

Lane laughed. "Well, there's not really a romance here. Plus you'd pass her test. Barely, but you'd pass. You're working towards an affluent career, you know?"

Tristan laughed. "Affluent? If that's all I wanted, I wouldn't have to work."

"So what do you want?"

"I want to not have to depend on my father. My father's always held money over my head. There's always strings attached with him."

"I take it you don't have a good relationship with him."

Tristan laughed harshly. "That's true."

"I would've thought you guys got along. Everything I've ever heard about the Hartford DuGreys portrays you as a loving family."

"'Tis an old saying, the Devil lurks behind the cross. All is not gold that glitters."

"Don Quixote."

"Yeah."

"Did you club a lot back in LA?"

Callie's eyes darkened and she took in a deep breath. "You could say that."

Jess and Callie had found seats at the bar and were talking. "What's that mean?"


Callie shrugged. "I guess I was a clubber, even back then. What about you? Did you club often?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. Only…" He trailed off, looking down at his hands. "Well, my purpose wasn't dancing, if you know what I mean."

Callie frowned. "Sex?"

That was what he liked about Callie. She didn't skirt around issues like Rory would. "No."

"Drugs?"

"Uh-huh." Jess sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You could say I made a lot of mistakes in that department."

"You deal?"

"A little. Nothing hard. Well, once. I dealt ecstasy once. I didn't like what it did though. So I didn't deal it after that."

Callie nodded. "I never dealt, but I know what you mean."

"You? Are you saying…" At Callie's look of confirmation, Jess swore under his breath. "Not to be rude, but if you did drugs, how'd you get into Yale?"

"Well, my grades never suffered. Daddy wouldn't allow that. The summer of my senior year, Daddy put me in a rigorous rehab program. I've been clean since."

"Clean enough to get into Yale?"

Callie sighed, meeting Jess's eyes. "Ever noticed how many secrets disappear when there's money on the table?"

Jess shook his head. "So not even Yale enforces morals?"

"They were offered a new library wing. They would have been fools to pass it up."

"Hey, do you want to meet my friends?" Rory asked Austin hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't think it sounded forward.

Austin just smiled. "Yeah, sure."

Rory took him by the elbow and led him over to Callie and Jess. "Callie, you having fun?"

Callie nodded, taking in Austin. "Who is this gorgeous specimen?" she asked.

Rory laughed. "Trust you to be blunt. Callie, this is Austin. Austin, that's Callie. And that's Jess."

Austin shook Callie's hand, but just nodded at Jess. Jess took him in critically, his eyes narrowed. "Nice to meet you."

Rory smiled at Austin. "C'mon, come meet my other friends."

Tristan felt as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs as Rory approached him and Lane with a guy in tow. "Hey, Tris, Lane, this is Austin."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah. Uh, I know him."

Austin smiled at him, holding out his hand. "Tristan DuGrey, what a pleasant surprise."

Tristan nodded, not taking his hand. "Yeah, you too. How was your summer, Austin?" The question was offhanded and sounded innocent enough, but Austin glared at Tristan.

"Well, it's over. That's a negative, I guess. But the seasons change, don't they?"

"So…this would be your winter?"

"Yeah. Three months is definitely long enough. Anyway, DuGrey, I'd have never made the assumption that you and Rory were friends."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"So you can be friends with a girl?" Austin teased.

"Yeah, I can. Although I do know some people who have trouble with that particular idea."

Rory glanced at Lane, confused by the dialogue. First the two had talked about seasons, now friendship? What was going on? Rory cleared her throat, uncomfortable. "Uh, Austin, I love this song. Lets go dance."

"Okay, Rory." Austin held Tristan's gaze for a few more seconds before taking Rory's hand.

As the two walked back onto the dance floor, Tristan called out, "Don't do anything I would've."

Rory frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

Lane stared at Tristan as he downed another beer. "Uh, Tristan, what just happened? How do you know Austin?"

Tristan glanced at her, looked out at the dance floor where Rory and Austin were dancing and swore under his breath.

"Uh, Tristan. Earth to Tristan. I asked you a question."

Tristan jumped a bit. "Oh, uh…lets leave it at Austin and I share a close, personal friend."

"A friend?" Lane arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah. A girl. Summer."

"Hence the seasons. What happened?"

Tristan sighed. "That night Rory and I kissed…at the end of sophomore year…at Madeline's party."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You and Rory kissed? And she didn't tell me this? I'm going to have to have a serious talk with that girl. To think she didn't tell me-"

"Lane."

"Oh, sorry."

"Anyway, that night, Summer and I had gone to the party, and we had been having problems with our relationship."

"Okay. So Summer was your girlfriend. How serious?"

"My most serious relationship."

"What's that mean?"

"A few months."

"Oh. Wow."

"Anyway, we had gone to the party, only because she wanted to. My grandfather had had a heart attack the day before so…well, I didn't want to go. But we went. I guess I wasn't the life of the party like Summer expected. Anyway, Summer had disappeared. I went to find her, and she was making out with Austin in the bathroom."

"Ouch. What a slime."

"Yeah."

"So what happened after that? This kiss you mentioned with Rory?"

"Nothing. I was playing the piano in the sitting room. Rory came in. We talked, we soothed, we kissed."

"Wow. And you aren't vague at all."

The new band was starting up. Callie frowned. Those guys looked familiar. As the lead singer started speaking, her face turned ashen as she recognized them. "Anyway, this song we donate to a friend from LA. Without her, we wouldn't have had any motivation."

The way she moves,

The way she speaks,

The way she flirts,

It drives me crazy.

Her body, her beauty,

It drives me crazy.

Her nonexistent innocence…

It drives me crazy.

Her ruby lips,

Her sultry eyes,

The way she smiles.

It drives me crazy.

That thick blonde hair,

Her perfect ass.

She tilts her head,

Shaking loose her hair.

The shirt's gone.

Her hands work on the leather pants.

That look in her eyes.

It drives me crazy.

As the song ended, Callie's hand slipped over her mouth in horror and she broke into a run. She had to get out of there. This couldn't be happening. Jess watched her run off, bewildered.

"Good song," Austin murmured, wrapping his arms around a slightly buzzed Rory.

She nodded, looking up at him. "It was kind of freaky though…I mean the song was obviously about a sexual encounter."

"That scare you, Rory?"

Rory shook her head. "No."

"Could I kiss you?"

Rory nodded. "Mm-hmm." It felt good to be wanted. Bringing her hands from Austin's shoulders to around his neck, she pulled his head down to hers. As their lips touched, she sighed. As they broke apart, she smiled up at him. "Lets go for a walk. We can't talk unless we can hear each other."

It took Jess eight minutes to find Callie. She was doubled over by a dumpster, as if she didn't want to be found. "What was that?" Jess asked quietly, walking up to her.

Callie wiped away the tears on her cheeks and she shook her head. "Sorry. I just needed a breath of fresh air."

Jess shook his head, crouching down next to her. "Only if you were oxygen deprived and about to faint, but even then you wouldn't have been able to run like that. What happened, Callie?"

Callie shook her head again. "Nothing, Jess. I'm fine. Just a…panic attack."

"A panic attack?" Jess's voice was cynical. "I've seen panic attacks before, Callie, and that's not what they look like."

Callie sighed. "Jess, just go. Leave me alone." A tear slipped down her cheek.

Jess pulled her into his arms, attempting to comfort her. "Callie, just tell me. I promise I won't judge you."

Callie took a shaky breath. "The…the song." She paused, trying to collect herself. "It was about me."

Jess's eyes widened. "What? How is that possible? That song was about a-"

"Stripper, Jess. Yes, I was a stripper. Yes, those guys were from LA. Yes, if you asked them who that song was dedicated to, they'd answer 'Callista.''

Jess never would have thought this. "Callie…" he started, but he realized he didn't know what to say. So this was why she was so adamant about being called Callie.

"I'm a slut, Jess. I thought it was over. But it never really will be. It will never-"

Jess shook his head, gently wiping away a tear on her cheek. "No, Callie, you aren't. That is behind you. You are a sober Yale student with good friends, good grades, and a promising future."

Callie shook her head. "No, Jess. I am. I was a stripper. It wasn't like I needed the money. I just thought it was fun."

"No you didn't. Drugged-out-of-her-mind sixteen year old Callista did. You, Callie, knew enough to quit."

Callie smiled despite herself. "You're talking like I have multiple personalities."

Jess laughed, looking into her watery eyes. "Callie, you're smart, beautiful, and nice. You aren't the girl in that song. At least not anymore."

Callie smiled, and pulling him closer, kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Those two should get a room," Austin said, pointing to a couple by the dumpster. "Kissing by trash. It brings a new meaning to trailer trash."

Rory started to laugh, but as a car went by, she saw the girl's golden hair. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"It's Callie. And Jess." She stood across the street from them, stunned, as the two kissed, completely unaware of her.

"I thought Jess was just your friend."

Rory turned to Austin and nodded. "Yeah, he is. Jess is just my friend. I don't care if he ends up marrying Callie."

Austin smiled, looking her up and down. "Do you want to go somewhere more private? I know of a few great ways to relieve stress."

Rory wasn't the naïve girl she had been in high school. She knew he wasn't talking about playing Scrabble or watching TV. But as she watched Callie and Jess, it didn't sound half bad. "Yeah. I have a few ways of my own," she said, taking Austin's hand.