Title: Reality Has No Place In Our World
Author: Samantha
Summary: After too, too, many horrible relationships, Rory can't handle the thought of ever seeing a boy. Ever again. Besides family members. So it's no surprise when she's thrilled to see one certain long-lost-almost family member, except to herself. And him.
Chapter One: Trip, Don't Fall
~*~
Rory groaned at the buzzing of her alarm clock and rolled directly from her bed to the floor. After the week that she'd had she wanted nothing more than to slip into a restful coma, but she'd made these plans weeks ago, and a promise is a promise, after all. Especially a big sister's promise.
After slipping into a lived-in sleeveless tee, her oldest and rattiest jeans, and sockless shoes so comfortable they were practically molds of her feet, she grabbed her keys and exited her dorm room, a simple one room with an adjoining bathroom, leaving her roommate of three and a half years to her sleep.
As Rory pulled up to the Stars Hollow house half an hour later at 7:30, she wasn't surprised to find her mother swinging on the porch swing, three-year-old Diane half asleep in her lap. During a particularly rambunctious slide down the stairs, older brother Sam had pushed too hard, resulting in a fractured left arm and a whimpering, restless toddler. Wishing to wallow in her own self pity, Rory settled herself on the opposite side of Lorelai, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Lorelai let out an amused little chuckle and lifted one hand to pat Rory's head.
"Tough week?"
"Stupid boys," Rory moaned softly.
"Aw, I know. I've been there many a time."
Abruptly, Rory stood, desperately hoping to curtail yet another 'Rory's taste in boys is really starting to suck, isn't it?' talk. "I'll go see if Sam's up, and get their stuff."
Lorelai shook her head as her oldest daughter practiced the patented Gilmore 'Ahh! Emotion! Run!' move.
"Hey, Sammy boy," Rory whispered, settling onto her brother's bed in his upstairs room. She rubbed his back. "Time to get up. We're gonna go for a trip."
The little boy, fifty-three seconds older than his almost identical twin, just mumbled and rolled over. Rory smiled, and decided to let him sleep. She pushed herself from the bed and wandered around the tiny room that had frantically been found in mid-October 4 years ago, when the e.p.t. was positive and the decision for Luke to permanently move in was made. The room had been an extremely cluttered storage space, somehow wedged between Lorelai's room and the bathroom, just barely big enough for a crib and a changing table. When the ultrasound betrayed the tell-tale double heartbeat, Lorelai practically fainted.
Everything had worked out for the best, however, and when, in the midst of what would have been her back-packing trip through Europe, Samuel Lucas Danes and Diane Gilmore Danes were born, Rory was thrilled. She even loved the names: Sam and Diane. Luke suggested them, one night in the middle of a Cheers marathon on Nick at Nite, and it was the only pair of names that Lorelai didn't immediately shoot down. Thus, they stuck.
"Wory?"
Rory glanced up from Sam and Diane's shared dresser, where she'd been packing a suitcase. Little Sam was sitting up in bed, rubbing his bright blue eyes and trying desperately to keep his curly brown hair from in front of them. Rory walked over to him and tucked the most unruly curl behind his ear. "Ready to go?"
Sam's eyes lit up, and he jumped from the bed. "Yay!"
"Okay. I'm gonna get Mommy to come in here and get you dressed--I have to go pick up the last member of the toddler trio." Rory smacked a quick kiss on the top of Sam's head. "Be right back."
"Bye, Wory," Sam waved, trying desperately to pull off his pajama shirt and getting hopelessly stuck. Rory let out a little laugh, and made her way back to the porch.
"Mom, I'm gonna pick up--"
"Yeah, I know," Lorelai said grudgingly, standing and sliding still-whimpering Diane into Rory's outstretched arms. "I'll get Sam ready and get them a bag."
"All right. Be right back," Rory repeated, walking down the porch steps to her car, already filled in the backseat with three booster seats. Gently, she settled Diane into the middle seat before sliding into the driver's seat. She drove the half a mile to the Dragonfly Inn, just barely up and running after three years, and sat idling in the parking lot. Glancing in the backseat at the now sleeping toddler, Rory pulled out her cell and dialed the number of the front desk.
"Yes, I'd like to be connected to room 212, please. Thank you." Rory took the opportunity of being put on hold to glance at her left hand. It was bare, which was strange to her. It had been graced by many different things over the last year--from everything to elaborate temporary tattoos to a tiny, tiny promise ring--and now the shocking white contrast startled her. She promised herself to paint her nails as quickly as possible, banishing at least part of the whiteness.
"Hello?" A crackly voice sounded in her ear, shocking her from her thoughts.
"Oh, hi. Uh, I'm here. I don't wanna get out of the car, so...send her down."
"Sure," the curt female voice replied, before being replaced by the dial tone. Rory glanced at Diane in the backseat, hoping the seemingly loud hang-up hadn't woken her. It hadn't. Rory took the chance to lean over and turn on the stereo, albeit softly. Automatically disliking the song on the first station, she rummaged through the glove box and pulled out the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack. She slid the CD into the player and leaned back in her seat as the first guitar chords of the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" started playing.
"Knock, knock," a distinctly male voice smiled during the first chorus, performing the obligatory action along with the words.
"Hey, Dad," Rory smiled at Chris, rolling down her window.
"Hey, Rory. I think it's so great you're doing this."
"I'm happy to. They're all three great kids."
"Yeah." Chris paused to smile at his new daughter, nestled in his arms with her face buried in his shoulder. "Well, I'll go ahead and stick Gigi in her seat."
"Okay." Rory smiled a tight smile as her father settled Gigi in her booster seat, directly behind Rory. Chris kissed the almost-four-year-old toddler after buckling her, a gesture he'd never gotten to share with the almost-four-year-old Rory, being in California.
Trying to curb her jealous-jilted-older-sister feelings, Rory grinned as her father walked back into her normal eyeline. "I'll bring them back sometime tomorrow."
"Before her ballet lessons at four, don't forget."
"I won't. Bye." Rory waved her hand half-heartedly and pulled out of the Dragonfly's parking lot. She seethed the entire two minutes back home, and was still in a bad mood as Lorelai rushed from the house, pulling Sam behind her, with a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Have fun with 'em, sweets," Lorelai said at the end of her ramble of small talk, after buckling Sam in on the other side of Diane. "Bring 'em back before seven, 'cause we all five have a date with the grandparents."
Rory nodded, waved half-heartedly again, and pulled out into the street. Sam was the only toddler awake, and he was buried in his own thoughts, scribbling into his handy-dandy notebook.
Finally letting go of all of her troubles from the past hour, week, year, she sang along at the top of her lungs to the English Beat's "Mirror in the Bathroom", before having even more fun with David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure". Diane and Gigi, used to this kind of behaviour on trips with Rory, continued sleeping, while Sam continued what would be his lifelong job: ignoring his sisters.
The self-proclaimed "kids-only" trips had started when Gigi was eleven months and the twins were six months old. Rory decided that she wanted her little sisters and brother to see New York during the Christmas season. She brought along Lane to help with the infants, and used the time to bond with her siblings in a rather nice hotel room in the middle of Manhattan.
The second trip had taken place the weekend of the twins' first birthday, early July 2004. Rory had neglected to bring along Lane that time, choosing instead to bring Paris, in a futile last-ditch effort at getting enough Paris that the gods of housing would refuse to let them room together their second year. The plan had backfired, and Paris had been Rory's roommate for the past three and a half years, going for a winning all-of-college streak.
The third trip was another Christmas trip, this time with just the four family members. Gigi had been two, the twins had been one and a half, and all in all, it was not a bad trip.
On this, the seventh biannual trip, Rory had even left the strollers at home, relying instead on a leash-like contraption to bond all four together, a hotel room in the middle of everything they had planned, and a trusty MetroCard.
By the time Rory was singing along to Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door", all three toddlers were awake, and they were well on their way to their destination.
Author: Samantha
Summary: After too, too, many horrible relationships, Rory can't handle the thought of ever seeing a boy. Ever again. Besides family members. So it's no surprise when she's thrilled to see one certain long-lost-almost family member, except to herself. And him.
Chapter One: Trip, Don't Fall
~*~
Rory groaned at the buzzing of her alarm clock and rolled directly from her bed to the floor. After the week that she'd had she wanted nothing more than to slip into a restful coma, but she'd made these plans weeks ago, and a promise is a promise, after all. Especially a big sister's promise.
After slipping into a lived-in sleeveless tee, her oldest and rattiest jeans, and sockless shoes so comfortable they were practically molds of her feet, she grabbed her keys and exited her dorm room, a simple one room with an adjoining bathroom, leaving her roommate of three and a half years to her sleep.
As Rory pulled up to the Stars Hollow house half an hour later at 7:30, she wasn't surprised to find her mother swinging on the porch swing, three-year-old Diane half asleep in her lap. During a particularly rambunctious slide down the stairs, older brother Sam had pushed too hard, resulting in a fractured left arm and a whimpering, restless toddler. Wishing to wallow in her own self pity, Rory settled herself on the opposite side of Lorelai, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Lorelai let out an amused little chuckle and lifted one hand to pat Rory's head.
"Tough week?"
"Stupid boys," Rory moaned softly.
"Aw, I know. I've been there many a time."
Abruptly, Rory stood, desperately hoping to curtail yet another 'Rory's taste in boys is really starting to suck, isn't it?' talk. "I'll go see if Sam's up, and get their stuff."
Lorelai shook her head as her oldest daughter practiced the patented Gilmore 'Ahh! Emotion! Run!' move.
"Hey, Sammy boy," Rory whispered, settling onto her brother's bed in his upstairs room. She rubbed his back. "Time to get up. We're gonna go for a trip."
The little boy, fifty-three seconds older than his almost identical twin, just mumbled and rolled over. Rory smiled, and decided to let him sleep. She pushed herself from the bed and wandered around the tiny room that had frantically been found in mid-October 4 years ago, when the e.p.t. was positive and the decision for Luke to permanently move in was made. The room had been an extremely cluttered storage space, somehow wedged between Lorelai's room and the bathroom, just barely big enough for a crib and a changing table. When the ultrasound betrayed the tell-tale double heartbeat, Lorelai practically fainted.
Everything had worked out for the best, however, and when, in the midst of what would have been her back-packing trip through Europe, Samuel Lucas Danes and Diane Gilmore Danes were born, Rory was thrilled. She even loved the names: Sam and Diane. Luke suggested them, one night in the middle of a Cheers marathon on Nick at Nite, and it was the only pair of names that Lorelai didn't immediately shoot down. Thus, they stuck.
"Wory?"
Rory glanced up from Sam and Diane's shared dresser, where she'd been packing a suitcase. Little Sam was sitting up in bed, rubbing his bright blue eyes and trying desperately to keep his curly brown hair from in front of them. Rory walked over to him and tucked the most unruly curl behind his ear. "Ready to go?"
Sam's eyes lit up, and he jumped from the bed. "Yay!"
"Okay. I'm gonna get Mommy to come in here and get you dressed--I have to go pick up the last member of the toddler trio." Rory smacked a quick kiss on the top of Sam's head. "Be right back."
"Bye, Wory," Sam waved, trying desperately to pull off his pajama shirt and getting hopelessly stuck. Rory let out a little laugh, and made her way back to the porch.
"Mom, I'm gonna pick up--"
"Yeah, I know," Lorelai said grudgingly, standing and sliding still-whimpering Diane into Rory's outstretched arms. "I'll get Sam ready and get them a bag."
"All right. Be right back," Rory repeated, walking down the porch steps to her car, already filled in the backseat with three booster seats. Gently, she settled Diane into the middle seat before sliding into the driver's seat. She drove the half a mile to the Dragonfly Inn, just barely up and running after three years, and sat idling in the parking lot. Glancing in the backseat at the now sleeping toddler, Rory pulled out her cell and dialed the number of the front desk.
"Yes, I'd like to be connected to room 212, please. Thank you." Rory took the opportunity of being put on hold to glance at her left hand. It was bare, which was strange to her. It had been graced by many different things over the last year--from everything to elaborate temporary tattoos to a tiny, tiny promise ring--and now the shocking white contrast startled her. She promised herself to paint her nails as quickly as possible, banishing at least part of the whiteness.
"Hello?" A crackly voice sounded in her ear, shocking her from her thoughts.
"Oh, hi. Uh, I'm here. I don't wanna get out of the car, so...send her down."
"Sure," the curt female voice replied, before being replaced by the dial tone. Rory glanced at Diane in the backseat, hoping the seemingly loud hang-up hadn't woken her. It hadn't. Rory took the chance to lean over and turn on the stereo, albeit softly. Automatically disliking the song on the first station, she rummaged through the glove box and pulled out the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack. She slid the CD into the player and leaned back in her seat as the first guitar chords of the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" started playing.
"Knock, knock," a distinctly male voice smiled during the first chorus, performing the obligatory action along with the words.
"Hey, Dad," Rory smiled at Chris, rolling down her window.
"Hey, Rory. I think it's so great you're doing this."
"I'm happy to. They're all three great kids."
"Yeah." Chris paused to smile at his new daughter, nestled in his arms with her face buried in his shoulder. "Well, I'll go ahead and stick Gigi in her seat."
"Okay." Rory smiled a tight smile as her father settled Gigi in her booster seat, directly behind Rory. Chris kissed the almost-four-year-old toddler after buckling her, a gesture he'd never gotten to share with the almost-four-year-old Rory, being in California.
Trying to curb her jealous-jilted-older-sister feelings, Rory grinned as her father walked back into her normal eyeline. "I'll bring them back sometime tomorrow."
"Before her ballet lessons at four, don't forget."
"I won't. Bye." Rory waved her hand half-heartedly and pulled out of the Dragonfly's parking lot. She seethed the entire two minutes back home, and was still in a bad mood as Lorelai rushed from the house, pulling Sam behind her, with a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Have fun with 'em, sweets," Lorelai said at the end of her ramble of small talk, after buckling Sam in on the other side of Diane. "Bring 'em back before seven, 'cause we all five have a date with the grandparents."
Rory nodded, waved half-heartedly again, and pulled out into the street. Sam was the only toddler awake, and he was buried in his own thoughts, scribbling into his handy-dandy notebook.
Finally letting go of all of her troubles from the past hour, week, year, she sang along at the top of her lungs to the English Beat's "Mirror in the Bathroom", before having even more fun with David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure". Diane and Gigi, used to this kind of behaviour on trips with Rory, continued sleeping, while Sam continued what would be his lifelong job: ignoring his sisters.
The self-proclaimed "kids-only" trips had started when Gigi was eleven months and the twins were six months old. Rory decided that she wanted her little sisters and brother to see New York during the Christmas season. She brought along Lane to help with the infants, and used the time to bond with her siblings in a rather nice hotel room in the middle of Manhattan.
The second trip had taken place the weekend of the twins' first birthday, early July 2004. Rory had neglected to bring along Lane that time, choosing instead to bring Paris, in a futile last-ditch effort at getting enough Paris that the gods of housing would refuse to let them room together their second year. The plan had backfired, and Paris had been Rory's roommate for the past three and a half years, going for a winning all-of-college streak.
The third trip was another Christmas trip, this time with just the four family members. Gigi had been two, the twins had been one and a half, and all in all, it was not a bad trip.
On this, the seventh biannual trip, Rory had even left the strollers at home, relying instead on a leash-like contraption to bond all four together, a hotel room in the middle of everything they had planned, and a trusty MetroCard.
By the time Rory was singing along to Pete Townshend's "Let My Love Open the Door", all three toddlers were awake, and they were well on their way to their destination.