I'd Rather Be There
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I own this. Really. Don't believe me? Smart choice. Don't sue me. Please…the only thing you would get was my laptop…some books…my school stuff and heck I'll give you that for free. Lol.
Pairing: This will eventually be a Lit.
Rating: PG – 13
Summary: This is the sequel to 'I'd Rather Be Anywhere But Here.' Jess was in California. Rory was at Yale. Jess came to Stars Hollow and left Rory with a heavy burden to carry. If you don't know what I'm talking about then go and read the above mentioned fic!
A/N: This is my last week of school! WooHoo! And then I'll have lots of time to write! Yay. As always, reviews are much appreciated. Really, seriously, it only takes one second to review….puh-lease do it! Oh and come and check out this site! It's lots of Gilmore Girls Center[/link]
And I would like to thank DarkAngl, Erni, and Ash! You guys rock!
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Rory got out of the shower feeling relaxed and clean. She had decided that she would call him tonight and she was anxious yet nervous at the same time. She was afraid that he would say that they couldn't even be friends and that thought scared her, so she forced herself to think happy thoughts.
We can be friends again. Everything can be like it was before. We can start over. Rory twisted her lips in thought. I can resist the urge to kiss him whenever I see him. She rolled her eyes at herself. "Yeah, and then I can win an award for best actress," She mumbled.
She heard the doorbell ring, announcing the arrival of lunch and quickly slipped on her clothes. She came into the living room just as her mom was setting the food up.
Rory sat down and grabbed a carton and fork. "Mmm…" She said as she took a bite.
Lorelai grabbed a carton and as she reached for a fork, her hand brushed the phone number and it fell off the table. "Whoops," Lorelai said as she reached down and picked it up. She studied it as though she had never seen it before. "Hmm…Is this yours?" Lorelai asked.
Rory's eyes widened when she saw what it was. Oh my gosh. I left it on the table! She nodded as she grabbed the number and shoved it into her pocket.
"Whose number is that?" Lorelai asked, looking at her daughter hardly.
"Oh, uh, just a friend," Rory answered and took another bite of her food.
"Huh," Lorelai said frowning. "I didn't realize that you and Jess were friends."
Rory gasped and nearly choked on a noodle. "Mom!" She exclaimed angrily, "You were snooping in my stuff and you called that number! How could you?!"
"How else could I find anything out?" Lorelai yelled. "You've been lying to me Rory!"
"You could have just asked me whose number it was! You didn't have to call it!"
"Okay. Fine. I'm asking you now. What's up with you and Jess?" Lorelai asked and tried to lower her voice to a normal tone.
"Nothing!" Rory shouted. "Nothing at all. We're just talking. We haven't even had a real conversation yet. I just want to call him and talk like we used to!"
Lorelai set her carton down in disgust and stayed silent, waiting for Rory to continue.
"I'm sorry for lying to you," Rory said quietly.
"Why couldn't you just tell me?"
"Because I know you don't like him!" Rory yelled as her face grew red.
"And I have good reason not to. He's a jerk Rory! You shouldn't like him either! I don't understand how you can just keep letting him back in after he's left you so many times!"
"You don't even know him!" Rory exclaimed.
"I know that he's a stupid boy who wanted nothing more than to sleep with you!" Lorelai yelled and immediately regretted saying.
Rory's eyes widened and she leaped from the couch and slammed her food down. "He's not like that!" She yelled. "He never pressured me to do ANYTHING!" She grabbed her shoes and stormed out the door.
She waited until she was sure that her mom wouldn't follow her before stopping to slip her shoes on. How can she say that?! It's not fair! She doesn't know him…he isn't like that. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she couldn't sit there and listen to her mother say those things.
She stomped towards town and decided to go sit in the gazebo. She calmed down slightly as she walked. She reached the gazebo and started to walk up the steps when someone called her name.
"Rory!"
Rory froze. You've gotta be kidding me. She groaned and turned around, finding the other person approaching her quickly.
"Dean," She said monotonously. She did not want to see him right now.
"How are you?" He asked smiling.
"Fine," She replied coldly.
"Do you have any free time? We could go get some coffee…"
"Dean," She said sighing. "This is not a good day to have 'coffee and talk.' I'm not in the mood."
Dean frowned and took a step forward. "Well, do you wanna…." He caught himself before saying 'talk.'
Rory took a step back and shook her head. "No. There's nothing you could do about it anyways. I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry," She said and quickly walked away towards Luke's leaving Dean with a disappointed look on his face.
Rory opened the door and walked in. "Hey," She greeted him as she sat down at the counter.
"Hi Rory," Luke said looking up from his pad. "Two coffees to-go?" He guessed.
Rory furrowed her eyebrows. I can't stay mad at her forever…and it's spring break. I'm supposed to be having fun with her. But what she said…it wasn't fair. She doesn't even know him…
"Rory?" Luke asked, breaking her train of thought.
"Uh…no," Rory decided shaking her head.
"No?" Luke asked, a look of confusion spreading across his face. "I'm not going to give you more than 2 cups…your mother already tried that one."
"I just need one cup."
Luke frowned. "You two are fighting?" He asked as he poured the coffee into a cup.
She nodded.
He put the lid onto the cup and handed it to her. "It's on the house," He told her.
"Oh, no. Luke. You don't have to-"
"No, it's fine," He assured her.
"Thanks, She said as she stood up and walked out the door. Where should I go? I'm not going home yet…I'm not ready to talk to her…I'm not going to the bridge again…I'm DEFINITELY not going to the gazebo.
Rory sighed. Well, I guess that only leaves me the option of going home. I could walk the long way though…that'll take at least 20 minutes.
She turned around and walked towards Doose's, taking a large gulp of coffee as she took a step forward.
==============================Start Flashback=======================
Jess walks up behind Rory, she's standing in front of the flower stand. "Hey there," He says.
"Hey," She replies. He kisses her but she pulls away. "Wait, stop," She tells him.
"What?" He asks confused.
"Stop," She repeats.
"What are you doing?" He asks her.
"Come on," She says as she pulls him down the street a little ways.
She kisses him.
"What was that?" He asks frowning.
"That was a kiss," She answers.
"What's with the relocation before the kiss?"
"It's too early," She says simply.
"Too early?" He repeats, raising an eyebrow. "Too early for what?"
"For kissing like that."
"What's the rule, no kissing before noon?" He says sarcastically.
"No," She says shaking her head. "It's too early to do this here."
"Where, in the street?" He asks, still confused.
"In the street, with people watching…"
He looks around. "What people?"
"In front of Doose's"
"Ah, Doose's," He says finally understanding.
"We shouldn't flaunt it."
"But I want to flaunt it," He says.
"It doesn't feel right."
"He's a big boy Rory," He says slightly irritated.
"I know," She says.
"It's not the first time a couple's broken up," He points out.
"It is for us."
"This is insane," He tells her.
"Please, let's not flaunt it, please?"
He sighs. "For how long?"
"Until it's comfortable."
"Before we're on social security?" He asks smirking.
She grins. "I promise, we can kiss secretly."
"Yeah, or we can wear Three Stooges masks all the time, that way no one will know who we are."
"I can be Curly."
"I'll be Moe," Jess says.
"Probably to silly."
He nods. "Yeah, probably."
"This will get better over time, I promise. But until then, let's just play it cool."
"Hey, I'm Frank at the Sands."
She smirks. "That's cool."
==========================End Flashback============================
Rory furrowed her eyebrows together and threw her empty cup into a trash can. How could I have been so stupid? I should have flaunted it! I should have flaunted it while I had it. If only I would have known. If I would have known that he was leaving that day on the bus, if I would have known that he was ditching school, if I would have know that we wouldn't be together very long…I would have flaunted it to no end.
She continued walking and thought about that. She approached Babette's house and sighed, knowing that her house would be next. Rory walked up the porch, and took a deep breath before opening the door. She walked into the living room and found her mom sitting right where she had left her.
Rory sat down next to her hoping that she would talk.
"I'm sorry for saying those things," Lorelai said quietly. "You were right. I don't know him. I shouldn't judge him. I'm just upset that you didn't tell me."
"I'm sorry mom…I just didn't want to make you mad."
Lorelai nodded.
"I want to be friends with him again," She said softly.
Lorelai looked at her. "Will you tell me what happens and not hide it from me?" She asked.
Rory nodded. "I will tell you everything."
"Okay," Lorelai said smiling. "You're food's getting cold."
Rory smiled and picked up her carton. "I'm surprised that you didn't eat it," She teased.
"I might have spit in it," Lorelai said.
Rory made a face. "Well, I might have spit in your hair."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows and struggled to see her hair. It wasn't long enough and she craned her neck back to try and look.
Rory took a bite of her food and watched her mom with an amused look on her face.
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"And how much does it cost?" Jess asked as he followed the way-too-perky landlord around an apartment.
"$500 a month," She responded smiling brightly.
Jess groaned. Shit. I'd have to work more….wait. I'd have to find a job first. Maybe Wal-mart would want me back.
"Is there a problem sir?" She asked him.
"Uh, well that's quite a bit of money. Does it come with this stuff," He said motioning around him.
She nodded and smiled. "Yes, it includes the bed, the table, the chairs, the refrigerator…."
"Huh. And what about a down payment?" Jess asked trying to figure out how much money he currently had.
"That would be $400. And if you filled out the papers today and gave me the down payment, then you would be guaranteed the apartment."
Jess sighed. "So 400 bucks and then I wouldn't have to pay the 500 for another month?"
"Well…I suppose we could work it out that way," She said nodding.
"You got the papers?"
She handed them to him. "And I can get out whenever I want?"
"Yes."
"Well…I guess I'll sign then," Jess said and started to fill the papers out.
After a few minutes, he handed them to her.
"Thank you…" She scanned the page, "Mr. Mariano."
"Uh-huh."
"So, I'll be needing that money within the next week," She told him.
"You'll get it," He said as he walked towards the door.
"Have a nice day!" She yelled after him.
"Go steal someone else's money," He muttered under his breath. Well…Now I need to go to Walmart and see if they'll hire me at the one down the street. Never thought I'd have to work there again. He smirked. Well at least I kept the vest.
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A/N: What do you think? I wrote basically all of this today. How am I doing? Please review and make me happy! :D