I'd Rather Be There
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill. It's not mine, so get off my back! :P
Pairing: Well…..I don't want to tell but….it's not R/T and it's not R/D….so what does that leave??? Hmm…figure it out.
Rating: PG-13. Just for cussing. Nothing else.
Summary: This is the sequel to 'I'd Rather Be Anywhere But Here.' So…Jess was in California. Rory was at Yale. Jess came to Stars Hollow and then left again, leaving Rory in the dust with a heavy burden to carry. If ya don't know what know what I'm talking about then go read the above mentioned fic!
A/N: Well…I must say. I've only gotten like 7 reviews so far and I'm a little disappointed. Does this really suck? Should I stop? Can you hardly stand reading this? I don't know. About 4 new people added themselves to my review alert list. But they didn't review…so if one of them is you…then please review. It really doesn't take much effort. :D Thanks!
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Rory and Lorelai were sitting at Luke's. Rory was eating waffles and Lorelai was eating pancakes.
"So is he nice?" Lorelai asked her daughter excitedly.
"Yes, very nice," Rory said nodding. She was telling her mom about Brian.
"Sense of humor?"
"Uh, huh," Rory answered.
"You think I'll like him?"
I hope not. "Yeah."
They finished their food and stood up. The two walked towards the door.
"So you'll be back at 4:00?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, maybe a little earlier," Lorelai answered.
"It sucks that you have to work this week," Rory informed her.
"I know…" Lorelai agreed. "I might be able to make it home by 12:00 tomorrow."
"Okay….well, I'm gonna go." Rory said and hugged her mom before walking out the door.
Lorelai was about to do the same when Luke grabbed her shoulder. "Lorelai."
She turned around. "Yes?"
He looked around the diner. "Can I talk to you upstairs for a minute?"
She frowned. "Yeah, sure." She followed him up the stairs and into the apartment. She sat down on the couch and he leaned against a chair.
"I talked to Jess yesterday…" Luke began, "And guess where he is."
"In Mexico shootin' up?" Lorelai joked.
Luke shook his head.
"In California shootin' up?"
Luke rolled his eyes in annoyance. "He is not 'shootin' up' Lorelai. He does not do that."
"Well…I don't know…graffiting something?"
"The only thing that he graffiti's is books." Luke responded.
"I give up."
"He's in New York, at Liz's apartment," Luke told her.
Lorelai frowned. "Why?"
"I don't know. Anyways…I uh, asked him if he, uh…." He cleared his throat, "did anything to Rory."
You could almost see the fire burning in Lorelai's eyes. She knew that he was the cause of this…and even if he wasn't, she would find a way to blame him anyway.
"And he said that he didn't," Luke continued.
"He is such a liar!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"Lorelai…" Luke started, "I'm not sure if he is…"
She cut him off. "Well of course he is!"
"He sounded really honest…" Luke stated. He was not going to let her talk about Jess that way. She didn't even know him. He knew that if Jess had hurt Rory (in a mental way) that he had done it unintentionally, because Luke could see the change in him when he was around her.
Lorelai sighed. "Well, I talked to Rory about it and she sounded really….dishonest!" She reprimanded.
"Well…then maybe they're both lying," Luke suggested, although he was unsure if it was true or not.
Lorelai considered this and decided that it was reasonable enough. "So that's what you wanted to tell me?"
Luke nodded, "Yeah."
"Okay, well…did he say what they talked about?"
"He said that they only talked for a few minutes…and that she was really mad."
Lorelai made a face. "Rory said that he asked her about running and that she couldn't remember anything else….which I'm thinking was the lying part."
"Hmm.."
"Well, she's got a date tonight, he's picking her up at the house and they'll probably eat here…" Lorelai told him.
Luke nodded. "I'll supervise."
Lorelai smiled slightly. "Thanks."
She got up and headed towards the door. "I'll keep you posted!" She shouted and with that, she was out the door, and on her way to work. I am sure that Rory is over Jess… but I won't tell her about him being in New York anyways.
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Rory was just finishing putting her make-up on when the doorbell rang.
"I've got it!" Lorelai yelled as she ran down the stairs. Rory came from her rrom and met her at the door.
Lorelai opened the door. "Whooo are you?" She asked him, in imitation of the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.
Brian smiled and held out his hand, "Hello. I'm Brian Moore."
Lorelai looked at his hand questionably before shaking it. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore, creator of Rory," She told him.
"Come inside Brian," Rory urged him. "I'll go grab my purse." Rory walked off leaving Lorelai and Brian alone.
"So, how old are you? Have you ever been arrested? And are you a safe driver?" Lorelai shooted off questions at him, and he noticed that she was joking.
"I'm 55. I've been arrested twice and I don't even have a driver's license." He answered, playing along.
Lorelai smiled. "This one's a real winner Rory," She told her daughter as she entered the room.
"Ready?" She asked him, trying to leave as quickly as possible.
He nodded. "It was nice meeting you Ms. Gilmore." He told her as he walked out the door. Rory hugged her mom good-bye before following Brian.
"Get her home by 12:00 or I'll send out the flying monkeys!" Lorelai yelled after them, smirking to herself at her reference to the Wizard of Oz.
Brian allowed Rory to pick where they ate since he hadn't ever been to Stars Hollow. She, of course, picked the diner because it obviously served the best food in town, and it was a place that she felt comfortable at.
Rory groaned when they walked into the diner and saw Ms. Patty and Babette sitting in a corner. Oh great, now the whole town will know about him. Wonderful.
Ms. Patty and Babette gasped when they saw Brian and started to whisper to each other.
"Who is that?"
"He's quite a catch."
"He's got a nice butt."
"Lets go over there."
Luke could hear this from where he was standing and quickly walked over to block their way.
"Luke," they whined.
"Rory's on a date," He told them sternly.
"We just want to go over and say hi."
"No," He said shaking his head.
"But…" They protested.
"You are not going over there."
They both sighed and said, "Oh fine," and walked out the door, gawking at Brian along the way.
Luke rolled his eyes and walked over to Rory and Brian, who were situated by now.
"You're gonna be the talk of the town within minutes," Luke told Rory.
Rory chuckled. "Yeah," She agreed. "Oh! This is Brian….Brian this is Luke."
They said hello and shook hands.
Luke pulled out his notepad and pencil. "Are you ready to order?"
They nodded. He started with Brian.
"I'll have a chicken salad with ranch dressing…on the side." He ordered. Rory looked at him oddly before ordering her usual, hamburger and fries. A salad? That is…un-human. Who goes to a diner to order a salad? Jess would never do that. Her heart sank at the thought of Jess. I'm not supposed to be thinking about him. I'm on a date…this was a bad choice. We should not have come here. I should have known better.
She snapped her attention back to Brian, who was talking about something. She wasn't quite sure what it was, so she nodded whenever she thought that it was called for and gave an occasional 'uh-huh.'
She looked down and realized that they were sitting at the same table that her and Jess had sat at on the night of the car accident.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Start Flashback*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jess writes something on a notepad and hands it to Rory. "Done."
She looks at it. "This is not Shakespeare."
Jess raises an eyebrow. "It's not?"
"It's the words to a Clash song."
Jess nods. "Ah, now, which Clash song?"
Rory frowns. "Hey, I'm not the one being tested right now."
"Ten seconds," He tells her.
"Jess."
"Nine, eight, seven."
"Stop it!" She exclaims.
"Six, five, four," He continues.
"You know you're starting to…"
He looks at his watch. "Three."
Rory looks at the paper. "Ooh, ooh, Guns of Brixton!"
He smirks. "A plus."
"Why would you even agree to this studying thing in the first place?" She asks him.
"Because Luke said I had to."
"You've never done anything because someone said you had to," She says.
"I moved here because someone said I had to."
"Very different." She tells him.
He shrugs. "Yeah, well…hey, do you wanna get out of here?"
She looks confused. "What?"
"I'm sick of studying."
Rory laughs. "How can you be sick of studying? You haven't done any studying. You've done card tricks, you've made coffee, you've tried to explain to me how on earth Coldplay could be considered an alternative band, but as of yet, no studying."
Jess stands up and looks out the window. "That's your car?"
"Yes it is," She answers.
He sits back down. "Okay, I'll tell you what. Let's go get some ice cream, and then when we get back, I'll study.
"This is a diner. There's ice cream here."
"Yes, but we don't have any cones," He explains.
"Cones?"
"I need cones," He says.
"Well, so, if we go get ice cream…"
"In cones," He adds.
"Then you'll be a perfect student for the rest of the night?"
"That's right he says nodding.
"I could not believe you less. Here," She says as she hands him the keys, "You drive. I'll read you Othello. Won't that be fun?"
"You have no idea how much." He says as he grabs his jacket and they walk out the door.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End Flashback*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rory smiled and then quickly frowned when she noticed that she had been smiling. I should not be smiling. I should not be thinking about him. She furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched up her nose. But I can't stop thinking about him.
Brian noticed the look on her face and became worried. "Rory?"
She didn't answer.
"Rory?" He asked again, waving his hand at her.
She finally heard him and looked at him, startled.
"Is something wrong? You seem kinda out of it."
She coughed. Yes, actually. My boyfriend…whoops…ex-boyfriend, although we really never broke up at all, came back to town, told me that he loved me, and left again. How do you feel about that Brian? She had to bite her lip to keep from shouting that at him. "Uh…my stomach hurts," She told him as she clutched it. Well it's not quite a lie. It does hurt, but not because I'm sick.
He looked at her concerned. "Do you want me to drive you home?"
She nodded. "I'm really sorry Brian."
Luke was just coming out with their orders as they were standing up.
"She's not feeling well. I'm going to take her home," Brian explained to him.
Luke sat down the food and walked over to her. That fatherly feeling that he had towards her was kicking in. "What's wrong?"
"My stomach and my head hurt," She told him.
"Do you want me to call your mom?"
She shook her head. "No, that's okay. I'm sorry about the food," She told him sincerely.
"That's alright. Well, I'll probably see you tomorrow." He told her.
Brian and Rory walked out the door and headed towards the car.
Luke watched them and wondered if she could still possibly have feelings for Jess. He decided not to say anything about it to Lorelai….It would just piss her off some more.
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Lorelai heard the front door open and she jumped up, grabbing a pillow off the couch. If worst came to worst, she was prepared to attack.
She ran towards the door yelling, "Robber! Robber!" At the top of her lungs. She stopped when she saw Rory. "Rory!" She exclaimed.
"You were going to beat me with a pillow?"
"Well, I thought that you were a-" Rory cut her off.
"Robber?"
"Yes. You only left 30 minutes ago. Why are you back?" Lorelai asked.
"Oh, uh, I've got a headache," She told her. Her stomach had stopped hurting once she had left the diner.
"Oh."
"I'm gonna go to bed…" Rory started to walk to her room but changed her mind and turned around. "I think maybe some fresh air would help…I'm gonna go for a walk," She told her.
"Do you want me to come?" Lorelai asked.
"No. I'd rather be alone, if you don't mind."
Lorelai nodded. "Be back in an hour."
"Okay."
"Oh, by the way, I liked him!" Lorelai yelled after her.
Rory closed the door behind her. I knew she would.
She walked over to Lane's. She wanted to talk to someone about her situation before she went crazy, and she figured that Lane was her best bet.
She knocked on the door. Mama Kim opened it. "Hello Rory."
"Hi, Mrs. Kim," Rory greeted.
"Lane is in her room. You can talk for half an hour and then we have bible-study class."
"Thanks," She said as she walked up the stairs. Lanes door was open but she knocked anyways.
"Rory!" She exclaimed, "Hi, come in."
Rory entered the room and sat on her bed.
"So, how are you?" Lane asked, "Glad Jess is gone?"
Rory sighed.
"What?" Lane gasped. "Did he talk to you? I haven't seen you since then…"
Should I tell her? Should I tell her? I think that I'll flip my lid if I don't tell someone…and I can't tell my mom. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She tried again. "I…I…"
Lane waited patiently.
"He…he…he…told me that he loved…" She couldn't say it. "…cheese." Oh god. Why did I say that? Cheese.
Lane raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"No," Rory said shaking her head.
"Well?" Lane persisted.
Rory looked down at her feet. "He told me that he loved me," She whispered, barely loud enough to hear.
Lane shrieked. "Oh my god! This is huge!"
Rory nodded slightly.
Lane noticed the look on her face and said quieter, "Or not…?"
Rory didn't say anything.
Lane tried to backtrack. "No. This is nothing. Nothing at all."
Rory finally spoke, "It's something."
Lane nodded. "I thought so."
"But, he…left…again," Rory said weakly.
Lane sat down next to her and put her arm around her. "So you still have feelings for him?"
Rory exhaled. "I don't want to…but I just…do."
"I understand."
"Lane, what am I going to do?" Rory asked, sounding exhausted.
"I don't know…call him maybe? Ask if you can be friends?" Lane suggested.
"I want to, but I don't know…"
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Rory and Lane were both thinking. Lane thinking of what Rory could do, and Rory thinking of what she could do.
"Lane Kim!" The shout interrupted the silence.
"Yes Mama?" She asked.
"It's time for Rory to go home! Bible study starts in 10 minutes!"
"Okay Mama," She shouted back. She looked at Rory. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to walk you home?"
"No, it's okay," Rory said standing up.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know…" Rory said, "I'll sleep on it."
"Okay," Lane paused. "But the point of sleeping is that you actually SLEEP." Lane told her.
Rory nodded. "I'll try."
"Alright, well…I'll come by and see how you are tomorrow. Maybe you'll think of something by then."
"Okay," She hugged her friend. "Thanks."
They walked down the stairs together.
"Lane, let's go now." Mama Kim persisted.
"Bye Lane," Rory said and walked out the door.
She walked home in a daze-like manner. She said good-night to her mom and went to her room.
She climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. What should I do? I could call him…? Maybe. But…I don't know if I can handle that. Being friends. She sighed. Well, we were friends before. Maybe we could do it again.
Rory spent hours considering this. She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. 2:45. My goodness. I need to sleep. I'm going to look like a zombie tomorrow. She laughed at herself. At least no one will see me…Jess in particular.
She finally fell asleep and spent the whole night tossing and turning and dreaming.
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A/N: Please review. I don't know if this sucks or not. But I need to know. Please give me your opinion. :D Thanks!