Author's Warning: WARNING. This is not a complete chapter, it is MUCH TOO SHORT. Please do not expect it to be. WARNING. There is a %95 chance that the substance in this psuedo-chapter is horrible, terrible, wretched or a combination of the three. WARNING. I will only continue this story on 2 conditions: 1) I get some sort of feedback. Feedback is running severly low on FF.net lately; I know, I'm guilty of "reading and running" myself. 2) That Trix and/or Calico email me immediately with their ideas for where this story should go. I need you guys' help seriously. Like, beyond seriously. You think I'm kidding? No way.
Whoa, that warning ended up kinda lengthy. But pay attention to it! I was serious! Anyway, with that said, read on!--Annest
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"Moooooooooom," Rory moaned, staring up at the sky. Next to her Lorelei imitated the drawn out groan.
"Rooooooory..." she said. "But that's not fair...your name isn't as much fun to say," Lorelei commented sleepily, laying her head back down onto the warm cement of the sidewalk.
"What are you going to do about it? Rename me?" Rory rolled her eyes beneath their closed lids.
"Nothing. If I weren't so damn tired. And hot. Then I'd..." she trailed off in a daze.
"You still wouldn't do anything. Admit it."
"I think, Ror, that we have ourselves a serious problem," Lorelei told her, not bothering to look at her daughter while she talked.
"We have more than a serious problem. We're too hot to annoy Kirk, too tired to annoy Taylor, too scared to annoy Mrs. Kim, heck, we're even too lazy to annoy Luke and Jess!"
"Is that why you two are lying on the sidewalk?!" the younger potential object of their annoyances yelled from the apartment above Luke's. Neither Rory nor Lorelei opened their eyes, but Rory did nod.
"Isn't this what it's here for?" Lorelei asked, her closed eyes not detering her from making her trademark innocent face.
"No! Walking! Sidewalk! No sleeping! Inside!" Luke shouted from behind the counter inside. Rory managed to open her eyes just enough to cast a glance at Jess.
"Six words? The heat's getting to him too, huh?" she asked sleepily. Jess grinned with a shrug.
"I'on't know," he said, jumping out of the window and onto the tree, carefully shimmying his way down to the street level and then Rory suddenly found his face right above hers. "So exactly why is it that you and Lorelei are lying on the sidewalk in front of the diner anyway?"
"Have you no sense of temperature, rebel without a cause? The sun is pointing her galactic hairdrier at us and laughing her shining little ass off," Lorelei pointed out even as Luke, groaning and annoyed, pushed open the door.
"Lorelei, what did I tell you? Get inside," he ordered, dragging both Lorelei and Rory off of the ground and through the door he propped open with his foot. The girls let out a collective sigh of relief at the air conditioned atmosphere inside the diner.
"Mom," Rory said after a second, "why the hell didn't we just go ahead and come in here?"
"Because we were too hot and too tired to think to do something that would stop us from being too hot and being too tired," Lorelei told Luke, winding her way around the counter toward the coffee. Luke didn't even have to look her direction to stop her from getting any closer to the much-coveted beverage.
"Luke, I think I left one of my purses upstairs. Can I go get it?" Lorelei asked him plaintively. With a questioning look Luke conceded. Rory, on the other hand, elbowed Jess. The last time Rory and Lorelei had been at the diner, Lorelei hadn't carried a purse at all.
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"Lorelei, what are you still doing up here?" Luke asked, looking into the apartment's kitchen, where she wasn't found. He looked through most of the apartment; the bathroom, even his bedroom (where he hated to think she even may have been) but she hadn't turned up. And Luke was fairly certain she hadn't outsmarted him again, he figured she'd already reached her quota of five times a week on Tuesday or so.
"Luke," he heard Lorelei's voice wafting through the apartment. Judging it to be from the den, his instincts were rewarded when he found her half asleep on the couch in front of one of the air-conditioning vents. "I'm bored," came the moan again from Lorelei, whose face was buried in one of the pillows.
"Ah...um..." After a long friendship, a short romance and still another friendship with Lorelei, Luke was still often at a loss for words around her.
"I'm bored. Find me something to do!" the brunette demanded.
"I don't know of anything for you to do, Lor, why don't you just find your purse and get back downstairs?"
"I don't want to. Come sit by me, Luke," Lorelei half-asked, half-whined. Damnit, Luke thought, something about Lorelei was so odd lately. She had been so difficult in the last week or so he didn't know what to do, other than deprive her of coffee until she returned to normal...or at least what was normal for Lorelei Gilmore, he said to himself derisively. But he obeyed anyway, and the two sat in companionable silence, the kind of silence that is perfect because it's not completely empty, it's not completely full, it's perfect.
"Lorelei," Luke asked after a moment, "what's wrong with you these days?"
Lorelei looked up at him with half closed eyes that still managed to look startled. "Why...ah, why do you ask?" Somehow Lorelei was starting to sound like Luke.
"What do you mean, why do I ask?" Luke questioned, suddenly angry with her. "Because you lie on the sidewalk outside the diner, you randomly glare at Jess...more often than usual...and you never talk to me. Hell, you don't even come in for coffee on your regular schedule!" he explained to her.
Lorelei couldn't help it. "You keep a schedule of when I come in for coffee?!" she cracked up, but was silenced with a glare from Luke.
"Well? What's going on?"
"I'm...well Luke, I just can't tell you!" Lorelei answered, burying her face in the pillow. Luke gave her a look that spoke volumes. Mainly volumes that said things like "I swear to God, this woman is insane."
After a few minutes of silence, Lorelei spoke again. "Wai men hwuuv."
"What?"
"Mom!!" Rory called from the stairs. "Sookie's down here, she wants to talk to you!" Lorelei got up from the sofa--Luke was still staring at her oddly.
"What did you say, Lorelei?" he asked again, coming close to her as she opened the door to the stairs.
"I'm in love..." Lorelei told Luke, biting her bottom lip at the reaction in his eyes. Something in them frightened her, something she couldn't understand, something that even coming from her best friend was troubling and unsuspected, and somehow it hurt her to look into his eyes any longer, so she glanced at the bottom of the stairs, where Jess and Rory were waiting. She couldn't bear to see what Luke thought of her. Or, worse, what he didn't.
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I'm so afraid of falling in love again.
I don't want to fall in love with you.
I never meant to, can't you understand?
I know one day we'll belong together
Perhaps I can't wait to find out
I never meant to make myself cry
Make you sad, end up hurt
Hurting myself is what seems to be so easy
Fixing my pain is what you tend to do best
Rory was crying, wiping the tears from her eyes, sitting on the bed surrounded by clothes and shoes and all types of stuff, but ignoring all of it. She was lost in the words she read, words that somehow made her so inexplicably sad.
Jess, from outside the window, let the cooling summer rain soak through his clothes as he watched the tears from Rory's eyes fall onto a wrinkled sheet of paper. He wasn't sure what made her cry, but he wished he knew, wished he could take away her pain, something, anything. And then a noise behind him made Rory cast a glance toward the window, and he was still there, dark brown eyes looking through the blackness into her own blue ones. And somehow that made Rory cry even harder.
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Okay, that's it for right now. So, what did you think? Is it up to par? Review, please, if you like this, because I'm having such a hard time writing this, honestly. And I'll try and be back before this weekend, because on Sunday I leave for 3 whole friking weeks (darn me for being such an overachiever. I mean, who but over achievers ends up going to MSA anyway?!). Thanks!--Annest
Whoa, that warning ended up kinda lengthy. But pay attention to it! I was serious! Anyway, with that said, read on!--Annest
___________________________________
"Moooooooooom," Rory moaned, staring up at the sky. Next to her Lorelei imitated the drawn out groan.
"Rooooooory..." she said. "But that's not fair...your name isn't as much fun to say," Lorelei commented sleepily, laying her head back down onto the warm cement of the sidewalk.
"What are you going to do about it? Rename me?" Rory rolled her eyes beneath their closed lids.
"Nothing. If I weren't so damn tired. And hot. Then I'd..." she trailed off in a daze.
"You still wouldn't do anything. Admit it."
"I think, Ror, that we have ourselves a serious problem," Lorelei told her, not bothering to look at her daughter while she talked.
"We have more than a serious problem. We're too hot to annoy Kirk, too tired to annoy Taylor, too scared to annoy Mrs. Kim, heck, we're even too lazy to annoy Luke and Jess!"
"Is that why you two are lying on the sidewalk?!" the younger potential object of their annoyances yelled from the apartment above Luke's. Neither Rory nor Lorelei opened their eyes, but Rory did nod.
"Isn't this what it's here for?" Lorelei asked, her closed eyes not detering her from making her trademark innocent face.
"No! Walking! Sidewalk! No sleeping! Inside!" Luke shouted from behind the counter inside. Rory managed to open her eyes just enough to cast a glance at Jess.
"Six words? The heat's getting to him too, huh?" she asked sleepily. Jess grinned with a shrug.
"I'on't know," he said, jumping out of the window and onto the tree, carefully shimmying his way down to the street level and then Rory suddenly found his face right above hers. "So exactly why is it that you and Lorelei are lying on the sidewalk in front of the diner anyway?"
"Have you no sense of temperature, rebel without a cause? The sun is pointing her galactic hairdrier at us and laughing her shining little ass off," Lorelei pointed out even as Luke, groaning and annoyed, pushed open the door.
"Lorelei, what did I tell you? Get inside," he ordered, dragging both Lorelei and Rory off of the ground and through the door he propped open with his foot. The girls let out a collective sigh of relief at the air conditioned atmosphere inside the diner.
"Mom," Rory said after a second, "why the hell didn't we just go ahead and come in here?"
"Because we were too hot and too tired to think to do something that would stop us from being too hot and being too tired," Lorelei told Luke, winding her way around the counter toward the coffee. Luke didn't even have to look her direction to stop her from getting any closer to the much-coveted beverage.
"Luke, I think I left one of my purses upstairs. Can I go get it?" Lorelei asked him plaintively. With a questioning look Luke conceded. Rory, on the other hand, elbowed Jess. The last time Rory and Lorelei had been at the diner, Lorelei hadn't carried a purse at all.
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"Lorelei, what are you still doing up here?" Luke asked, looking into the apartment's kitchen, where she wasn't found. He looked through most of the apartment; the bathroom, even his bedroom (where he hated to think she even may have been) but she hadn't turned up. And Luke was fairly certain she hadn't outsmarted him again, he figured she'd already reached her quota of five times a week on Tuesday or so.
"Luke," he heard Lorelei's voice wafting through the apartment. Judging it to be from the den, his instincts were rewarded when he found her half asleep on the couch in front of one of the air-conditioning vents. "I'm bored," came the moan again from Lorelei, whose face was buried in one of the pillows.
"Ah...um..." After a long friendship, a short romance and still another friendship with Lorelei, Luke was still often at a loss for words around her.
"I'm bored. Find me something to do!" the brunette demanded.
"I don't know of anything for you to do, Lor, why don't you just find your purse and get back downstairs?"
"I don't want to. Come sit by me, Luke," Lorelei half-asked, half-whined. Damnit, Luke thought, something about Lorelei was so odd lately. She had been so difficult in the last week or so he didn't know what to do, other than deprive her of coffee until she returned to normal...or at least what was normal for Lorelei Gilmore, he said to himself derisively. But he obeyed anyway, and the two sat in companionable silence, the kind of silence that is perfect because it's not completely empty, it's not completely full, it's perfect.
"Lorelei," Luke asked after a moment, "what's wrong with you these days?"
Lorelei looked up at him with half closed eyes that still managed to look startled. "Why...ah, why do you ask?" Somehow Lorelei was starting to sound like Luke.
"What do you mean, why do I ask?" Luke questioned, suddenly angry with her. "Because you lie on the sidewalk outside the diner, you randomly glare at Jess...more often than usual...and you never talk to me. Hell, you don't even come in for coffee on your regular schedule!" he explained to her.
Lorelei couldn't help it. "You keep a schedule of when I come in for coffee?!" she cracked up, but was silenced with a glare from Luke.
"Well? What's going on?"
"I'm...well Luke, I just can't tell you!" Lorelei answered, burying her face in the pillow. Luke gave her a look that spoke volumes. Mainly volumes that said things like "I swear to God, this woman is insane."
After a few minutes of silence, Lorelei spoke again. "Wai men hwuuv."
"What?"
"Mom!!" Rory called from the stairs. "Sookie's down here, she wants to talk to you!" Lorelei got up from the sofa--Luke was still staring at her oddly.
"What did you say, Lorelei?" he asked again, coming close to her as she opened the door to the stairs.
"I'm in love..." Lorelei told Luke, biting her bottom lip at the reaction in his eyes. Something in them frightened her, something she couldn't understand, something that even coming from her best friend was troubling and unsuspected, and somehow it hurt her to look into his eyes any longer, so she glanced at the bottom of the stairs, where Jess and Rory were waiting. She couldn't bear to see what Luke thought of her. Or, worse, what he didn't.
_________________________________
I'm so afraid of falling in love again.
I don't want to fall in love with you.
I never meant to, can't you understand?
I know one day we'll belong together
Perhaps I can't wait to find out
I never meant to make myself cry
Make you sad, end up hurt
Hurting myself is what seems to be so easy
Fixing my pain is what you tend to do best
Rory was crying, wiping the tears from her eyes, sitting on the bed surrounded by clothes and shoes and all types of stuff, but ignoring all of it. She was lost in the words she read, words that somehow made her so inexplicably sad.
Jess, from outside the window, let the cooling summer rain soak through his clothes as he watched the tears from Rory's eyes fall onto a wrinkled sheet of paper. He wasn't sure what made her cry, but he wished he knew, wished he could take away her pain, something, anything. And then a noise behind him made Rory cast a glance toward the window, and he was still there, dark brown eyes looking through the blackness into her own blue ones. And somehow that made Rory cry even harder.
________________________________
Okay, that's it for right now. So, what did you think? Is it up to par? Review, please, if you like this, because I'm having such a hard time writing this, honestly. And I'll try and be back before this weekend, because on Sunday I leave for 3 whole friking weeks (darn me for being such an overachiever. I mean, who but over achievers ends up going to MSA anyway?!). Thanks!--Annest
