Title: Too Late to Forget
Author: coffeechick87, a.k.a. Jayde.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Well, except Asia, who actually is my cat.
Pairing: Rory/Jess.
Rating: Pg-13 - to be safe.
Summary: AU. Raised in LA, 17 year old Rory Hayden runs away to Stars Hollow to find her mother. There, she meets the quirky townspeople, and finds herself drawn to one in particular.
A/N: Just so you all know, I'm extremely critical of my writing, and I thought that the 3d chapter was rushed, that's what I meant when I said that I didn't like it!
Thank you all for your reviews, I love them all, and please, keep them coming!!
Too Late to Forget
Chapter 4:
Reflections, Waylays, and Heart to Hearts.
Recap:
"I'm your daughter."
And she ran.
She ran hard and fast all the way to the diner, and up into her apartment. She fell onto the bed, and hugged a pillow to her chest as Jess came rushing through the door, following her after seeing the tortured look on her face as she rushed through the diner seconds before.
"Rory! What Happened?!" Jess rushed into the room, kneeled beside the bed, and took a sobbing Rory into his arms.
"I told her." She managed to whisper through the tears. After they subsided, Jess tried to get more out of her.
"So, you told her, and what happened?"
"I ran." She pulled away, and looked at him piteously. "I just ran. I told her, then, I freaked out. I mean, a Major Freak Out. I panicked, and ran. And I didn't stop until I got here."
"Come here." He opened his arms, and sat down, pulling her into his lap. Kissing her forehead tenderly, he spoke softly to her until she fell into a deep sleep. Looking down at her, he was amazed at how much she had already come to mean to him, even though they had only met a week ago.
Waking her up when she was on the verge of being late, listening to the amusing anecdotes about the Hollywood stars that she knew. He didn't know what he would do if for some reason or another she was no longer there. If he never saw her groggy eyes clear and sparkle when he brought her coffee in the morning to entice her out of bed and into the diner.
But now, there was a distinct possibility that she would go back to California soon. She's met her mother, and they would probably figure their relationship out soon, and either Rory would go back to LA, or she'd move into Lorelai's house. He didn't let himself hope that she would stay in the small apartment above the diner. He wouldn't allow himself be led into the disappointment, and yes, even heartache that he would feel if she left.. When she left.
Sighing softly, and gently maneuvering himself from under her, he stood up and looked down at her face, relaxed in sleep. After bending down and softly brushing her lips with his, he left the room, only to find a distressed Lorelai bounding up the stairs, a distressed expression on her face.
"Whoa, there, Lor, slow down." He put his hands on her shoulders, barely keeping himself upright when she ran right into him. "Lorelai." He grabbed her hand and finally succeeded in stopping her.
"I need to see her, Jess" Her haunted eyes shot to meet his.
"I know, She just fell asleep, she needs it, Lor. She needs to calm down, she's had an emotional day, too." He steered her into his and Luke's apartment, guiding her onto the couch. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Lorelai spoke-up.
"She's my kid. She's my daughter. Did you know that?" She looked at Jess across the couch.
"Yea, I did."
"How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?!"
"She told me the day that you met her. She asked me not to tell anybody, so, I didn't. She's scared Lorelai." He reached over to take one of her hands in his. "She's wanted to know you her whole life, and now. Now that she knows you, I think it's all a little bit more real to her. When she was young, all she knew about you was that she had your last name, and that you weren't dead. She's talked to me during the week, and she once said something about not knowing if you wanted her or not. If you told Chris to take her so you wouldn't have to deal with the problems of having a child-"
"She must know that that's not it at all! She knows now anyway. I told her that before she even told me who she was. My God. I had my daughter with me this whole week and not once did I even recognize her! I always told myself that when I saw her, I'd know it was her right away! And I didn't! I'm a horrible person." She put her head in her hands and cried.
"Lorelai, on some level you knew it was her, that she was special. You bonded with Rory immediately. Personally, I've never seen you befriend someone new that fast! She said herself that she loved the person that you were, and that the past was the past, and what really maters is what happens after the fact. Now, You and I are going down into the Diner, I'll give you al the free coffee and stuff that you want, talk for a few hours, and then later, we'll see Rory. You can have he whole mother/daughter thing that you've wanted to do forever, ok?" He nudged her with a shoulder, then stood-up, extending a hand for her.
"Ok." She glumly took his hand and pulled herself up. "You did say free coffee, right?"
"You know, Lor', Rory is a lot like you, whether you knew each other or not."
*~**~*~**~*
"Hey Asia, " Rory leaned off her bed and scooped the cat up ff the floor, cuddling him to her chest. "I told her. I told Lorelai hat she was my mom. I didn't even stay around to get her reaction, I just ran away. As soon as I told her, I had a panic attack. Not the small ones that I get when My dad wants me to go to some function, but one of hose ones that I got when I was kidnapped. God, I hated that. I was only 8 years old, and I still remember it so clearly. Dad blamed me for that. He said it was my fault for making myself such an easy target. No, it wasn't is fault that the gardener that *he* hired tried to kill me. Ass.
"Anyway, I told her, and I ran. I ran right back here, and Jess helped me calm down. God, I don't know what I'd have done without him. So by now, Lorelai is probably having an apoplexy wondering what happened to me, although I'm a bit surprised that she isn't barging in to the apartment right now. Although, now that I think about it, Jess might have waylaid her. I need to talk to her."
Rory rolled over, much to the dismay of Asia, who had been sitting on her stomach, and reached for the phone. Dialing he diner's familiar number, she sighed deeply before Jess answered.
"Luke's"
"Hey Jess,"
"Hey Ror'. You ok?"
"Yea, I will be. I my mom at the diner?"
"Yea, she came in just after you fell asleep. I got her to come down here with the promise of endless free coffee."
"Well you certainly know our weakness."
"So, do you want me to let her come up?"
"Yea, in about 10 minutes, ok? I want to have a quick shower. You come up, too. I need some moral support."
"You won't really need it, ya' know. She's just beating herself up for not knowing you right away."
"Well, either way, I'll feel better with you with m-here, I'll feel better with you here." She hastily corrected herself.
Jess smiled softly at the slip, "Ok, so 10, 15 minutes, and Lor' and I will come up, ok?"
"Yea. Bye."
"Bye." He hung up, and turned to a hovering Lorelai. "Well go up there in 15 minutes, she's gonna' have a shower, and freshen up."
"Ok." Lorelai went back o the counter and stared into her coffee.
"What's wrong with Lorelai?" A still in the dark Luke asked Jess.
"It's long and complicated. And I don't think she wants anyone to hear it." Jess glanced pointedly at Miss Patty, who was the only other person in the diner other than Lorelai.
Luke looked at Lorelai, then at Patty, who was listening to every word avidly, while sipping the same lemonade she had had for an hour and a half. "Okay Patty, time to go. The diner's closing." He strode up to Patty, and practically pushed her out the door.
He walked over to Lorelai, sat in the stool beside her, while Jess lounged in front of her, on the other side of the counter. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jess and Lorelai exchanging glances.
"Ok, does *everyone* know something hat I don't!?" Luke finally broke the deafening silence.
After trading another look with Jess, Lorelai started to explain. "Well, It all started when I was 16.."
*~**~*~**~*
Rory sat on her bed, dressed -save the towel that was wrapped around her head, and lost in her thoughts. She wasn't aware that at that very moment the story of her conception, and the first few days of her life was being retold just below her. She was oblivious to the world around her, didn't know that at that moment just below her window, Taylor Doose was arguing with Babette about her extensive lawn gnomes, or that one of the Miller brood jumped off he roof to show his brothers hat he really could fly, yet again, only to fracture his ankle.
The one think that she did know - the only thing that she knew, was that her life would change, and already had, since the second that the words 'I'm your daughter' had passed her lips. She knew that in that moment, the whole structure of her life had shifted. Her mother knew who she was, She knew who her mother was. And her mother should have been there 12 minutes ago.
She grabbed the phone, hovered over the redial button, and then put it back down. Rory stood up went into the washroom, and quickly pulled her still-damp hair into a ponytail. Walking out of he apartment, and down the stairs into the diner, she stopped when she heard her mothers' teary voice.
"She wasn't there. My mother told me that she'd arranged an adoption, and that she was already gone. Actually she gave Rory to Christopher. The goddamn asshole. He knew! He had to have known! And he kept Rory from me! He kept her from me. I never knew her, I didn't get to see her grow up, I didn't get to do her hair for school pictures. And I never got to help her when she had bad dreams.."
"Neither did he." Rory walked out from the stairs, and towards her mother, tears in her eyes. "That was the nanny's job. When she bothered to do it. Now Chris! My esteemed father hardly knew I existed. Until I was a teenager, that is. Then he'd parade me around, showing me off, spewing a shit-filled story about how my mother tragically died in childbirth before the engagement was announced." Rory laughed. "Hell, to him, you had died. This town is probably the equivalent to hell in his mind."
She went around he counter and dug out the Sparkly Blue Flying Pigs Bowl, her personal favorite, and filled it with coffee before she sat at the table that Lorelai, Luke, and Jess had moved to before she came down.
They sat there in silence, just drinking coffee - water, in Luke's case - until Lorelai spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Rory. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I swore to myself when I had you that I'd make sure that you never grew up like that. I grew up like that for years and I hated it. I'm so sorry that you went through all of that." Lorelai's eyes misted with tears, looking at her daughter in sorrow.
"It's not your fault Lorelai. You know that. It's my father's fault, and your parents fault, but not yours." Rory reached beside her and clasped Lorelai's hand. "I'm so thankful to know that you wanted me, just to know that you didn't hate me is an amazing feeling. But now hearing what you went through as well, it just makes me love you more. You're my mother, and you wanted to be my mother."
Lorelai engulfed her daughter in a hug that was 17 years in the making, both crying openly. "I love you so much, Rory. I love you so, so much."
"I love you, too. Mom. I love you too."
*~**~*~**~*
So?
Please tell me what you think.
Review, or email me at coffeechick87@hotmail.com,
I need to know what you think.
~Jayde
Author: coffeechick87, a.k.a. Jayde.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Well, except Asia, who actually is my cat.
Pairing: Rory/Jess.
Rating: Pg-13 - to be safe.
Summary: AU. Raised in LA, 17 year old Rory Hayden runs away to Stars Hollow to find her mother. There, she meets the quirky townspeople, and finds herself drawn to one in particular.
A/N: Just so you all know, I'm extremely critical of my writing, and I thought that the 3d chapter was rushed, that's what I meant when I said that I didn't like it!
Thank you all for your reviews, I love them all, and please, keep them coming!!
Too Late to Forget
Chapter 4:
Reflections, Waylays, and Heart to Hearts.
Recap:
"I'm your daughter."
And she ran.
She ran hard and fast all the way to the diner, and up into her apartment. She fell onto the bed, and hugged a pillow to her chest as Jess came rushing through the door, following her after seeing the tortured look on her face as she rushed through the diner seconds before.
"Rory! What Happened?!" Jess rushed into the room, kneeled beside the bed, and took a sobbing Rory into his arms.
"I told her." She managed to whisper through the tears. After they subsided, Jess tried to get more out of her.
"So, you told her, and what happened?"
"I ran." She pulled away, and looked at him piteously. "I just ran. I told her, then, I freaked out. I mean, a Major Freak Out. I panicked, and ran. And I didn't stop until I got here."
"Come here." He opened his arms, and sat down, pulling her into his lap. Kissing her forehead tenderly, he spoke softly to her until she fell into a deep sleep. Looking down at her, he was amazed at how much she had already come to mean to him, even though they had only met a week ago.
Waking her up when she was on the verge of being late, listening to the amusing anecdotes about the Hollywood stars that she knew. He didn't know what he would do if for some reason or another she was no longer there. If he never saw her groggy eyes clear and sparkle when he brought her coffee in the morning to entice her out of bed and into the diner.
But now, there was a distinct possibility that she would go back to California soon. She's met her mother, and they would probably figure their relationship out soon, and either Rory would go back to LA, or she'd move into Lorelai's house. He didn't let himself hope that she would stay in the small apartment above the diner. He wouldn't allow himself be led into the disappointment, and yes, even heartache that he would feel if she left.. When she left.
Sighing softly, and gently maneuvering himself from under her, he stood up and looked down at her face, relaxed in sleep. After bending down and softly brushing her lips with his, he left the room, only to find a distressed Lorelai bounding up the stairs, a distressed expression on her face.
"Whoa, there, Lor, slow down." He put his hands on her shoulders, barely keeping himself upright when she ran right into him. "Lorelai." He grabbed her hand and finally succeeded in stopping her.
"I need to see her, Jess" Her haunted eyes shot to meet his.
"I know, She just fell asleep, she needs it, Lor. She needs to calm down, she's had an emotional day, too." He steered her into his and Luke's apartment, guiding her onto the couch. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Lorelai spoke-up.
"She's my kid. She's my daughter. Did you know that?" She looked at Jess across the couch.
"Yea, I did."
"How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me?!"
"She told me the day that you met her. She asked me not to tell anybody, so, I didn't. She's scared Lorelai." He reached over to take one of her hands in his. "She's wanted to know you her whole life, and now. Now that she knows you, I think it's all a little bit more real to her. When she was young, all she knew about you was that she had your last name, and that you weren't dead. She's talked to me during the week, and she once said something about not knowing if you wanted her or not. If you told Chris to take her so you wouldn't have to deal with the problems of having a child-"
"She must know that that's not it at all! She knows now anyway. I told her that before she even told me who she was. My God. I had my daughter with me this whole week and not once did I even recognize her! I always told myself that when I saw her, I'd know it was her right away! And I didn't! I'm a horrible person." She put her head in her hands and cried.
"Lorelai, on some level you knew it was her, that she was special. You bonded with Rory immediately. Personally, I've never seen you befriend someone new that fast! She said herself that she loved the person that you were, and that the past was the past, and what really maters is what happens after the fact. Now, You and I are going down into the Diner, I'll give you al the free coffee and stuff that you want, talk for a few hours, and then later, we'll see Rory. You can have he whole mother/daughter thing that you've wanted to do forever, ok?" He nudged her with a shoulder, then stood-up, extending a hand for her.
"Ok." She glumly took his hand and pulled herself up. "You did say free coffee, right?"
"You know, Lor', Rory is a lot like you, whether you knew each other or not."
*~**~*~**~*
"Hey Asia, " Rory leaned off her bed and scooped the cat up ff the floor, cuddling him to her chest. "I told her. I told Lorelai hat she was my mom. I didn't even stay around to get her reaction, I just ran away. As soon as I told her, I had a panic attack. Not the small ones that I get when My dad wants me to go to some function, but one of hose ones that I got when I was kidnapped. God, I hated that. I was only 8 years old, and I still remember it so clearly. Dad blamed me for that. He said it was my fault for making myself such an easy target. No, it wasn't is fault that the gardener that *he* hired tried to kill me. Ass.
"Anyway, I told her, and I ran. I ran right back here, and Jess helped me calm down. God, I don't know what I'd have done without him. So by now, Lorelai is probably having an apoplexy wondering what happened to me, although I'm a bit surprised that she isn't barging in to the apartment right now. Although, now that I think about it, Jess might have waylaid her. I need to talk to her."
Rory rolled over, much to the dismay of Asia, who had been sitting on her stomach, and reached for the phone. Dialing he diner's familiar number, she sighed deeply before Jess answered.
"Luke's"
"Hey Jess,"
"Hey Ror'. You ok?"
"Yea, I will be. I my mom at the diner?"
"Yea, she came in just after you fell asleep. I got her to come down here with the promise of endless free coffee."
"Well you certainly know our weakness."
"So, do you want me to let her come up?"
"Yea, in about 10 minutes, ok? I want to have a quick shower. You come up, too. I need some moral support."
"You won't really need it, ya' know. She's just beating herself up for not knowing you right away."
"Well, either way, I'll feel better with you with m-here, I'll feel better with you here." She hastily corrected herself.
Jess smiled softly at the slip, "Ok, so 10, 15 minutes, and Lor' and I will come up, ok?"
"Yea. Bye."
"Bye." He hung up, and turned to a hovering Lorelai. "Well go up there in 15 minutes, she's gonna' have a shower, and freshen up."
"Ok." Lorelai went back o the counter and stared into her coffee.
"What's wrong with Lorelai?" A still in the dark Luke asked Jess.
"It's long and complicated. And I don't think she wants anyone to hear it." Jess glanced pointedly at Miss Patty, who was the only other person in the diner other than Lorelai.
Luke looked at Lorelai, then at Patty, who was listening to every word avidly, while sipping the same lemonade she had had for an hour and a half. "Okay Patty, time to go. The diner's closing." He strode up to Patty, and practically pushed her out the door.
He walked over to Lorelai, sat in the stool beside her, while Jess lounged in front of her, on the other side of the counter. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jess and Lorelai exchanging glances.
"Ok, does *everyone* know something hat I don't!?" Luke finally broke the deafening silence.
After trading another look with Jess, Lorelai started to explain. "Well, It all started when I was 16.."
*~**~*~**~*
Rory sat on her bed, dressed -save the towel that was wrapped around her head, and lost in her thoughts. She wasn't aware that at that very moment the story of her conception, and the first few days of her life was being retold just below her. She was oblivious to the world around her, didn't know that at that moment just below her window, Taylor Doose was arguing with Babette about her extensive lawn gnomes, or that one of the Miller brood jumped off he roof to show his brothers hat he really could fly, yet again, only to fracture his ankle.
The one think that she did know - the only thing that she knew, was that her life would change, and already had, since the second that the words 'I'm your daughter' had passed her lips. She knew that in that moment, the whole structure of her life had shifted. Her mother knew who she was, She knew who her mother was. And her mother should have been there 12 minutes ago.
She grabbed the phone, hovered over the redial button, and then put it back down. Rory stood up went into the washroom, and quickly pulled her still-damp hair into a ponytail. Walking out of he apartment, and down the stairs into the diner, she stopped when she heard her mothers' teary voice.
"She wasn't there. My mother told me that she'd arranged an adoption, and that she was already gone. Actually she gave Rory to Christopher. The goddamn asshole. He knew! He had to have known! And he kept Rory from me! He kept her from me. I never knew her, I didn't get to see her grow up, I didn't get to do her hair for school pictures. And I never got to help her when she had bad dreams.."
"Neither did he." Rory walked out from the stairs, and towards her mother, tears in her eyes. "That was the nanny's job. When she bothered to do it. Now Chris! My esteemed father hardly knew I existed. Until I was a teenager, that is. Then he'd parade me around, showing me off, spewing a shit-filled story about how my mother tragically died in childbirth before the engagement was announced." Rory laughed. "Hell, to him, you had died. This town is probably the equivalent to hell in his mind."
She went around he counter and dug out the Sparkly Blue Flying Pigs Bowl, her personal favorite, and filled it with coffee before she sat at the table that Lorelai, Luke, and Jess had moved to before she came down.
They sat there in silence, just drinking coffee - water, in Luke's case - until Lorelai spoke up.
"I'm sorry, Rory. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I swore to myself when I had you that I'd make sure that you never grew up like that. I grew up like that for years and I hated it. I'm so sorry that you went through all of that." Lorelai's eyes misted with tears, looking at her daughter in sorrow.
"It's not your fault Lorelai. You know that. It's my father's fault, and your parents fault, but not yours." Rory reached beside her and clasped Lorelai's hand. "I'm so thankful to know that you wanted me, just to know that you didn't hate me is an amazing feeling. But now hearing what you went through as well, it just makes me love you more. You're my mother, and you wanted to be my mother."
Lorelai engulfed her daughter in a hug that was 17 years in the making, both crying openly. "I love you so much, Rory. I love you so, so much."
"I love you, too. Mom. I love you too."
*~**~*~**~*
So?
Please tell me what you think.
Review, or email me at coffeechick87@hotmail.com,
I need to know what you think.
~Jayde