The Twists and Turns of Life
A/N: Thanks so much to all who reviewed. Who knew that people would actually enjoy my writing? Well, I hope that you guys will like this chapter, too, even though it is not as good as the last one.
Smile1: Thank you so much for your review! I liked that chapter, too, namely because of how Jess and Rory got together…just a little scene I had play in my head when I saw my crush one day… Actually, a lot of the romantic stuff I come up with is related to him somehow… Is that bad?
And thank you to the rest of you who have reviewed! And to the many who have commented on this fic's pairing, this will be a TRORY! You just have to wait a few more chapters for everything to work itself out. I promise!
NOTE: Since the Quick-Edit thing refused to let me use my asterisks, like usual, I had to write in different things to show there was a shift in time or in location, that kind of thing. Really pissed me off…I had to upload this chapter so many times to try to get the document to show some kind of break between each scene. Sorry if the notes bug you; I don't like that I had to do it, either.
Chapter 13: Moving On
Cut to Rory's room
Rory took a deep breathe as she looked around her almost bare room. Her bed was neatly made and her drawers and closet were almost empty. She smiled when she felt two arms wrap around her waist. "I did it," she stated almost proudly.
Jess kissed her neck. "Yes, you did."
Rory leaned back into his embrace and both stayed still in the serene silence.
Cut to a different time later that day in Rory's parents' study
Rory walked silently into her parents' study, almost afraid of what would happen if they noticed her presence before she was ready to face them. After a few moments, she cleared her throat, effectively causing both parents to look up. "Hey," she softly gave. Chris looked up with a sad look in his eyes and Lorelai refused to even look at her. Rory frowned before stepping further into the room and sitting on one of the chairs located across the table from her dad's desk; Lorelai was sitting on one of the leather chairs located to the right of him. She cleared her throat once more, hoping that this action would somehow give her the strength she needed to talk to them. "I want to start by saying that Jess had nothing to do with my decision to move." She looked down while saying this. She wasn't lying completely - Jess didn't have anything to do with her decision - he was just a…perk that came along with it.
"Bull." Lorelai's voice was full of anger and Rory almost flinched at the sound.
"He didn't," she whispered, not sure if she was trying to convince her mother or if she was just afraid that her mom would think she would pack up her entire life for a guy. She looked up again. "I just think that this is something I need to do, something that I'll regret not doing if I stay."
Lorelai looked up at her for the first time since she had found out about her moving. "So you regret living with us?"
Rory stared at her with disbelief. "No! I-I just… I just don't know how to live here anymore. I feel…like I'm drowning. I can't breathe here, mom."
A flash of understanding went through her eyes, but she quickly looked away; she was never one to give in right away, or even at all sometimes. She remained silent.
"When do you leave?" Rory looked up at her dad, almost surprised at his sudden entrance into the conversation.
"Well, I'm already done packing, so…"
"Can you stay one more day?" he asked sadly.
Rory looked at him with confusion in her eyes, but agreed anyway. "Sure."
Cut to a different time later that day in Jess' and Rory's motel room
"How did it go?" Jess looked up from the book he was reading when Rory had come in through the door of the motel they were staying at.
"It went fine, I guess. Mom is still quite…peeved…about the whole thing, but at least she didn't lock me up in one of the rooms." She took off her jacket and sat down on the bed next to him.
He chuckled at her response; funny that he could actually picture Lorelai doing that. "So does that mean we're leaving?" He pulled her closer to him and kissed her cheek.
"Actually…" she started, "my dad wants me to stay one more day to go to this social function thing tonight." At the look of apprehension on Jess' face, she quickly continued. "They only want me to go, so you're free to do whatever you would like to." She stayed silent, trying to decipher the look in his eyes.
"I'll go." He looked straight ahead of him at the wall.
She gave a small smile. "You'll hate it."
"Most likely, but if you want to go, then I'll go."
"Are you sure? 'Cause it's probably going to be the most boring thing you'll ever experience."
He smirked at her. "That's where making fun of the people there comes in. And who knows? Maybe we'll see if any of them just happen to trip over themselves.
Rory rose an eyebrow. "You're going to behave, right?"
"As much as I can." He continued to smirk.
"Okay…that doesn't provide me much comfort."
He softly chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss.
Cut to a different time later that day outside the Kindred residence
Rory grip on Jess' hand tightened as they waited for someone to answer the door.
"Rory, relax."
She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I don't know why I'm so nervous. It's not like I haven't been to one of these before."
"No…I didn't mean that. You kind of have a death grip on my hand here and I would like to not have it broken." She playfully slapped him as the door opened.
"Rory, hi!"
"Hi, Mrs. Kindred." Both Jess and Rory smiled kindly at the woman who was around Lorelai's age. "I would like you to meet Jess." She slightly waved in his direction.
He gave a small nod as she ushered them into the house. "Your parent's are here somewhere, Rory. Oh! I think Tristan is here, as well." "Rory almost cringed at the thought. She didn't think that she could deal with him anymore. "Well, I'll leave you two to your fun. I'll see you later, all right, dear?"
Before Rory could answer, the hostess had already taken off.
"Well…that was…interesting." Rory gave him a small smile and led him to the library, almost unconsciously. After they shut the door behind them, Rory walked over to the selection of books while Jess stayed near the door. "So…let me ask you something."
Rory looked up briefly from the titles to look at him then looked back down. "Sure."
"How come you introduced me as 'Jess'?"
She looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Because it's your name?"
He laughed. "Yes, thank you for clearing that up. I meant, why did you only introduce me as 'Jess'?"
She walked over to him until she was standing a few inched away. "I don't understand."
"Well…" he gently grabbed one of her hands with his, "you could have said, 'This is my friend, Jess' or something else."
"Oh." She paused for a little while, following the way his fingers trailed over hers. "I didn't know what to call you, title-wise."
He pretended to think it over. "I was thinking that you could cal me your…boyfriend."
She smiled. "Can I?"
He kissed her forehead ever-so-slightly. "Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."
She kissed his chin and both stood in each other's embrace. "Hey, boyfriend?"
"Yes?"
"Want to get me something to drink?"
He chuckled, a sound she thought would be impossible to live without. "I should have seen that coming." He moved out of her arms and headed for the door.
She stood staring at the place he occupied for a few seconds before moving to shut it. Just as it was about to close, the door swung open suddenly and knocked her to her knees. She cringed at the feel of her skin breaking.
The person who had knocked her down quickly went to her side. "I'm so sor-" The voice stopped suddenly, causing Rory to look up.
"Tristan."
Cut to the party during the same time on the same day
"Is she here?"
"Yes, Lorelai, our daughter is here." Chris sighed silently as he listened to his wife's constant questions and remarks.
"I don't get why she has to move. I mean, this is a good place to live, right? Of course! But no! She has to be a little brat and go to live in another place that isn't Connecticut and in a house that isn't ours and-" She stopped abruptly when she saw someone at the refreshments table. She mumbled something under her breath as she made her way over. Chris followed, not sure what she was going to do. "You!"
Jess jumped slightly at the voice. He turned around and saw Lorelai, someone he forgot to avoid when looking for the drinks. He sighed. "Me."
She ignored him. "You! You took away our daughter, my daughter! You have no right!"
He had to refrain from rolling his eyes. "Look, I did not convince her to leave. She wants to move because she wants to move."
"No! You brainwashed her! You made her think that she had to move out there!"
Jess had enough. "It's not my fault she doesn't want you in her life anymore."
Lorelai's eyes widened and she grew silent, suddenly noticing the attention they had gotten. Jess paused, waiting to see if she had anything else to say. Sure, he didn't mean to say that, and he was positive that was not the reason why Rory wanted to move, but it had just slipped out. No one talked to him like that. He grabbed a random can of soda off the table and turned to head back to the library.
Cut to the library, same time on the same day
Tristan quickly drew his hands away from her and took a few steps back. Rory struggled slightly to get to her feet. Once Tristan noticed the blood that had appeared, he rushed over to her again to inspect it. He was about to apologize fully when he remembered what had happened the previous day. He stood up and headed off to the bathroom, in search for some Band-Aids and a cloth to clean it up. When he came back, he saw that Rory had made it to a table where she sat on. He walked over to her and was about to start washing her knee up when her voice caught his attention. "What's wrong with you?"
He looked down again and began to wipe up the blood, not really caring at the moment if he inflicted more pain. "I saw you yesterday."
Realization hit her and she would have said something, but was too focused on the pain. "Ow!" He continued on treating her wound with the same hostility as before. "Ow-Tristan, what part of 'ow!' don't you understand?"
His cold eyes turned toward hers. "The part where I care."
She narrowed her eyes. "You can't stay mad at me forever."
He threw the cloth onto the table and put the bandage on her. "Yeah, well, I can try." He walked out of the room.
Rory shut her eyes and brought a hand up to her face, trying to stop the tears before they came.
Cut to the hallway, same time on the same day
Jess walked slowly down the hall, mumbling useless words. As he came upon the door, someone rushed out, someone who looked very familiar, and pushed passed him. "Hey, watch it!" Jess called out to his retreating back. Jess sighed at his pathetic attempt and entered the room, only to find Rory hunched over on a table, her body somewhat shaking from the silent sobs he knew were escaping his body. He dropped the can of soda and hurried over to her. "What's wrong?" He brought his hands to the sides of her face and tried to make her look up him.
She let him straighten out her posture, but she kept her eyes on anything besides him. "Can we go?"
He looked at her with worry in his eyes. "Sure." He grabbed her hand and gently guided her through the mass of people, making sure to cover her face so no one could see her tears. They got into the car and Jess drove back to the motel.
Cut to outside the motel, different time on the same day
A few minutes later, they arrived at their temporary home. Jess walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, careful not to wake a now sleeping Rory. He carefully picked her up, shutting the door behind him as he carried her to the room. Once inside, he placed her on the bed and went into the bathroom to change.
Cut to inside the motel, different time on the same day
Rory wiped the tears from her face as she got up from the bed, in search of clothes that would actually bring her some comfort. She quickly changed into a tank top and sweat pants then returned to the bed, waiting for Jess to finish in the bathroom. She shut her eyes momentarily, trying to get rid of the pain Tristan had caused her with those few but effective words.
"Hey." She opened her eyes and saw Jess leaning against the doorframe, wearing boxers and a t-shirt. She gave him a weak smile and motioned for him to join her. They both moved under the covers and Jess wrapped his arms around her. "What happened?" His voice almost seemed reluctant to ask, almost afraid to find out what her answer would be for he remembered who the person was who ran into him and left the same room his girlfriend had been in.
She looked up at him and gave a smile. "Can we talk about this later?" He didn't answer right away, not liking the idea that she didn't want to tell him, but gave in anyway. "Of course."
She smiled again and gave him a soft kiss on the lips before settling into his arms. Jess sighed and eventually let tiredness overcome his body as well.
Cut to downtown Hartford, different time on the next day
He came downtown a lot, to hang out with his friends. There was this part of the town that closed off behind all of the shops, giving people the sense of nature that was rarely seen in Hartford. She knew she would find him here.
She looked around, needing to talk to him, needing to tell him that at one point, she did love him, that she still might, that maybe things worked out for the better.
She soon enough saw him sitting down near a fountain with a few of his guy friends. His back was to her and she was going to walk up to him when she had heard one of his friends say, "Looks like someone is here to see you," pointing behind him at her.
He had a solemn look on his face, much different from the solid demeanor he had whenever he was near her, but as soon as he saw that it was her, his face turned cold and unreadable. This was not going to be easy. He seemed reluctant to get up, but he didn't want to talk to her in front of his friends. He got up and pulled her a few feet away from the audience. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you." She told herself that she would at least try to be civil, try not to yell at him, grow angry.
"I thought that it was pretty clear last night that I don't want to talk to you." He turned away and began to walk back to his friends.
She was growing frustrated. "You're not even going to listen to what I have to say?" she called out to him.
He turned and glared at her. "You don't deserve it."
She gave a disbelieving laugh. "Well, I guess that's all the closure we need. Bye, Tristan." She turned on her heel and walked back to her car.
Tristan shook his head and walked back to his friends, desperately trying to forget the girl that consumed his every thought.
Tristan's thoughts, Hartford, a week later
He hadn't seen her for a week now. Her room was practically empty, he noticed when he would occasionally peer over into her window. That painful twitch in his heart grew as the days went by… She was really gone…
Cut to Massachusetts, same time, Rory's POV
It was a week now. A week since she had left. She doubted that anyone noticed; she really wasn't a noticeable person, anyway. She didn't care. At least she was somewhere where people actually talked to her without any hidden motives behind their niceness other than just being nice. That was something she needed in her life, something that she had never found at Chilton. She liked it here…no regrets…
A/N: That's it for this chapter. What do you think? Might not be as emotion filled and good as the previous chapter, but at least I wrote something, right? Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks!