Chapter 13: My "Happy" Ending
[Rory]
The next day Rory went into the closet and dug out the Dean Box. She was taking a personal day and she had just eaten lunch. She dumped the contents out of the Dean box and put some items next to it which were going in there. The first thing she came across was a crumpled up piece of paper.
FLASHBACK
(Rory drops a book and bends over to pick it up. As she picks up the book and several pieces of paper, she turns and sees a guy standing right beside her.)
RORY: God! You're like Ruth Gordon just standing there with a tannis root. Make a noise.
DEAN: Rosemary's Baby
RORY: Yeah.
DEAN: Well that's a great movie. You've got good taste. (silence) Are you moving?
RORY: No, just my books are.
DEAN: My family just moved here from Chicago.
RORY: Chicago. Windy. Oprah.
DEAN: Yeah. Yeah, that's the place. I'm Dean.
RORY: Hi. (silence) Oh, Rory. Me. That's -- that's me.
DEAN: Rory.
RORY: Well, Lorelai technically.
DEAN: Lorelai. I like that.
RORY: It's my mother's name too. She named me after herself. She was lying in the hospital thinking about how men name boys after themselves all the time, you know, so why couldn't women. She says her feminism just kind of took over. Though personally I think a lot of Demerol also went into that decision. I never talk this much.
DEAN: Well I'd better go.
RORY: Oh, sure.
DEAN: I have to go look for a job.
RORY: OK, good. (Dean starts to leave.)
RORY: You should check with Miss Patty.
DEAN: What?
RORY: About the job. You should check with Miss Patty. She teaches dance. She was actually on Broadway once.
DEAN: I -- I don't really dance much.
RORY: No, no, she just kind of knows everything that's going on in town. She'll know if someone's looking.
DEAN: Oh, great, uh, thanks. Hey, what are you doing now?
RORY: Nothing.....much. I should throw this away at some point. DEAN: Well maybe you could show me where this Miss Patty's place is.
RORY: Yeah, I guess so. I really don't have anything important to -- Let's go. (They walk out of the school and down the street. Dean carries Rory's box of books for her.)
END FLASHBACK
[Dean]
Dean took a yellow crumpled up piece of paper and threw it in a cardboard board box. He knew it was sick and twisted to take it, but that day he didn't. He wasn't sure that he would see her again, so he wanted something to remember her by. Dean had taken a sick day from work. He sat in his bedroom going through his closet when he came across a box he kept of mementos of his relationship with Rory. Every item was now dumped all over his bed. The yellow paper was one. Now he came across a piece of silver wrapping paper.=========FLASHBACK========
RORY: You didn't have to get me anything.
DEAN: Sorry, that's the rules. You get older, you get a gift.
RORY: I'm sorry about this sort of sneaky thing. I just haven't told my mother yet about you. I mean, not that there's to tell. I just --
DEAN: That's OK. This is better.
(Rory unwraps the gift.)
RORY: Oh my God. It's beautiful.
DEAN: Well, I bought the medallion and I just cut some leather straps and drilled a hole, and well, you like it?
RORY: I -- it's amazing.
DEAN: Good.
RORY: Thank you.
DEAN: Here.
(Dean ties it around Rory's wrist. They smile at each other)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!END FLASHBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[Rory]
Rory put the leather bracelet in with the crumpled up piece of paper. This isn't so bad, Rory thought. She thought it would be painful, but it wasn't so far. Her gaze landed on the yellow box of cornstarch.====FLASHBACK====
(Dean walks over to Rory, who is pretending to be interested in cornstarch.)
DEAN: You know, you can get two for three bucks.
RORY: Oh really? Excellent deal.
DEAN: You just had a desperate need for some cornstarch?
RORY: Yes. I have very important thickening needs, thank you. Nice apron.
DEAN: Nice uniform. RORY: Well, you know, I sewed the buttons on with silver thread so that sets me apart from the crowd. (pause) I guess I should get home.
DEAN: Wait a sec. You want a pop or something?
RORY: A pop?
DEAN: Give me a break. In Chicago they call it pop.
RORY: Well in Connecticut we call it free soda. And yes, thank you. (They walk over to the soda. Dean hides two cans behind his back.)
DEAN: Alright, guess which is in each hand and you get the soda.
RORY: OK, the whole concept a free soda is that it's free, you don't have to work for it.
DEAN: Sorry you gotta sing for your supper.
RORY: Or your soda.
DEAN: Guess.
RORY: OK, in this hand you have --
(As Rory reaches for the soda behind Dean's back, Dean leans down and kisses her. When he pulls back, Rory is stunned.)
RORY: Thank you.
(Rory runs out of the store)
-----END FLASHBACK----
[Dean]
Dean looked down at the two soda cans he had in the box that he kept since that day. I should drink those, Dean thought. But, he changed his mind when he saw the expiration date. I've been keeping expired soda in a box in my closet, Dean thought. That's sick and twisted.He took the sodas to the sink and washed out the cans. Then he placed them in the box. Among other things, Dean's eyes wandered over to a picture of him and Rory that they had taken at the winter formal.
FLASHBACK
DEAN: (reading) 'There's little in taking or giving. There's little in water or wine. This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.' Cheery.
(They settle into a comfortable chair together.)
RORY: Funny though. (pause) Hey --
DEAN: What?
RORY: Thank you for tonight. It was perfect.
DEAN: You're welcome.
(They kiss then continue to look at the book.
) )))))END FLASHBACK(((((
[Rory]
We all know how that ended, Rory thought. The blue dress she wore that night was spread across her lap. Just looking at it, she got a mental replay of the entire night. She sighed and folded the dress and put it in the box. Next to the box was a picture of Rory and Dean standing in front of a plant in a nice building. Rory was wearing a long white gown with gloves and was holding a white fan. Dean was wearing a tux with tails and gloves. Her hand was tucked around his arm.;;;;;FLASHBACK;;;;;
(Dean comes up behind Rory and taps her on the shoulder)
DEAN: Hey. I just wanted to see you before you become a proper lady of society.
RORY: So, what do you think?
DEAN: I think......you look like a cotton ball.
RORY: Why, thank you, Jeeves.
DEAN: But, a really cute cotton ball.
(A girl named Libby joins them)
LIBBY: Oh my God, is this your escort?
RORY: Yeah, it is.
LIBBY (giggling): You are totally getting married.
DEAN: What did she say?
RORY: Oh, Well......(Christopher walks in) Dad, great. Let's go.
DEAN: I'll meet you downstairs. Good luck..
RORY: Okay.
(Time lapses)
PRESENTER: Lorelai Gilmore, daughter of Christopher Hayden and Lorelai Gilmore.
(Christopher escorts Rory downstairs and Dean comes over and tucks Rory's hand under his arm and then escorts her to the fan dance and walks off)
END FLASHBACK
[Dean]
Dean took one last look at the same picture that he had and put it in the box. That was one of the weirdest nights of his life, but it was nice. After many pictures that were thrown in the box. Some of him and Rory and some of Rory by herself. He came across another thing that really made him disgusted. It was a pink string or ribbon that tied around a dress of Rory's. It was sticking to his jeans when he left her house one night....!!!!!!FLASHBACK!!!!!!
(There's a knock on the kitchen door. Rory goes to answer it. It's Dean)
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: How'd you know I was here?
DEAN: Your mom said she sent you on an errand.
RORY: Ah, you went right to the source.
(Dean chuckles) DEAN: Can I—
RORY: Sure.
DEAN: Thanks.
(They walk through the kitchen)
RORY: I'm just trying to find some CDs for the Dragonfly.
DEAN: I hear, uh, Taylor's a big hip-hop fan.
RORY: Oh, he hops with the hippest of them.
(Dean chuckles. They walk into Rory's room)
DEAN: Your room looks the same.
RORY: Yeah, I tried that whole French revival thing, but it didn't really work for me.
DEAN: So, um, is it weird being back at home after being away for a while?
RORY: No, it feels completely normal.
DEAN: So, um........(chuckles)........Today.
RORY: Yes, today.
DEAN: An interesting day.
RORY: I'd authorize a case study if I could.
DEAN: You know, I could be wrong, but somehow I have a feeling that maybe if Tom hadn't have come in when he did—
RORY: Dean.
DEAN: Yeah.
RORY: Lindsay.
DEAN: It's not working with Lindsay. I can't make it work. I've tried.
RORY: Are you sure? Because I've heard that the first two years of marriage are the hardest.
DEAN: We're not happy. She's not happy and I can't make her happy.
RORY: I can't imagine that. DEAN: It was a mistake. And I know that now. From the very beginning it wasn't—
RORY: Wasn't what?
DEAN: It wasn't........
RORY: Maybe you could, um, go see a counselor or go away together.
DEAN: No it's just.......It's over. We both feel it. I know we both feel it.
RORY: You and Lindsay?
DEAN: Yeah, me and Lindsay.
RORY: You both feel it's over?
DEAN: I tried. We tried.
RORY: Well, if it's over, I'm sorry.
DEAN: You are?
RORY: I'm sorry you're not happy.
DEAN: I'll be happy again. (grabs her hands) Things happen for a reason, right?
RORY: Right
(They inch closer together with their foreheads touching)
RORY: I can't believe this is......That we're—
DEAN: I can.
(They kiss and then start making out on the bed)
#####END FLASHBACK#####
[Rory]
Rory put the CD that was playing the whole time they....you know........in the Dean box. A lump rose in her throat as she folded up the ruined purple dress that she wore to Paris's wedding and put it in the box.Rory put the box in the fireplace and got a box of matches out. She struck it against the side of the matchbox and lit it. Tears fell from her eyes, but she didn't cry. She had to burn the box. She had to cut Dean and anything that reminded her of him out of her life and this was the only way to do it.But, she couldn't bring herself to light the box or the wood underneath it. What was she thinking? She couldn't burn it. Dean was a big part of her life. He was her first everything. Sure, she was never going to see or speak to him again, but she couldn't just forget him. She couldn't burn the box.She blew out the match and put it back of the closet with the Noah box and the Jess box. Then she got a pint of ice cream and sat in front of the TV to watch a movie. She just needed a wallowing hour. Yeah, she was too old, but it would make her feel better. But, she couldn't help wondering what Dean was doing at that moment.[Dean]
Dean took the box downstairs. He couldn't keep this. He had to disentangle himself from Rory for good, plus this stuff was full of items that a stalker would keep. He put his box in the fireplace. He grabbed a lighter and held it a centimeter away from the box.But, something inside him made him stop. He couldn't do it. Rory was too much a part of his life. He couldn't just burn the box. He could cut her out, but he had to keep the box. He took the box and shoved it in the back of the closet. He went upstairs and turned on the TV to a baseball game. But, he couldn't pay attention to the game for the first time in his life. He wondered what Rory was doing."You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending" – Avril Lavigne
A/N: Okay, I hope my next chapters will be interesting. Chapter 14 is coming soon.