Lightning
A/N: I'm back. It's been a while but I'm ready to write more. In fact, I have the next thirty years of this story planned out. Thanks for waiting.
AN2: So far I've mostly been sticking to the rule that I only give you a glimpse into Rory and Tade's thoughts but I'm thinking of reverting to the omniscient narrator so that I can explore more plot lines. This chapter will have a little of Lorelai and Luke's thoughts so that you can get an idea of how the new style will sound. Does anyone have a problem with that?
Chapter Ten: The Fight
"Do you need to wear underwear with linen pants?" Tade asked into the phone after pressing the number two on his speed dial.
"What color?" Essien asked. He was used to phone calls like this.
"White, but they're not see-through." Tade answered.
"Are they loose or sort of clingy?" came the next question.
"Loose." He answered.
"Yeah, you need underwear with those." Was the verdict.
"Crap. Somewhere in my mind I knew it, but they were just so comfortable that I had to get them. Are you sure I can't wear them?" Tade asked with hope.
"No chance. They're not supportive enough. I mean one second you could be hanging around being all cutesy with your girlfriend, who I still haven't met, by the way, and the next thing you know you've got yourself an architectural masterpiece emerging from your pants." Essien answered in modest terms.
"So you're telling me that I can't wear the linen pants because if I get a boner I'm fucked?" Tade asked.
"You got it." Essien congratulated.
"Fair enough." Tade replied. "So, you want a pair of white linen pants?
"What I really want is for you to come home to see me this weekend and bring those pants and your girlfriend." Essien stated.
"Uh, I don't know if she's free, but I'll see what I can do. You know I'm going to be home in two weeks for our whacked out Thanksgiving right?" Tade asked. For some reason the idea of bringing Rory to meet his brother made his stomach feel like lead.
"Shombay, I haven't seen you in weeks and the longer you stay away from me the greater your chance is of getting a kick in the head." Essien responded in a voice of mock sweetness. "Also, on Thanksgiving the brothers will be here too and you know what that means." He said.
"Yeah. Yeah. I know we'll have to spend the whole time making sure Thembi and Dinari don't light anything on fire and keep Nyack from bothering Mark with his bad jokes." Tade sighed. Thanksgiving was the same every year.
"So you see, I'm going to see you before the monsters come so that we can really catch up, preferably with your girl." He added with a smirk.
"Like I said, I'll see what I can do." Tade said to appease his brother.
"Works for me kiddo. Bye." Essien clicked off his phone.
"That is so not good." Tade exhaled as he fell back onto his bed.
"What are you doing tonight?" Lorelai eagerly asked into the phone. She was trying to be calm but that wasn't really her forte.
"Probably just hanging around here. Why? What are you doing tonight?" Rory asked with a smirk at her mother's own mysterious giddiness.
"Uh, nothing much. Just working, you know. I just wanted to see about you, because, you know, I'm your, uh, mother." She rambled.
"I do know that you're my mother, but thanks for reminding me." Rory said. Something was going on with her mother. She could sense Lorelai's attempt at being secretive.
"Right. Ok. Yeah." Lorelai babbled into the phone. She sucked at secretive. She shouldn't have called.
"Mom," Rory broke into her mother's thoughts. "What are you really doing tonight?" she asked.
"I told you. Work. Nothing. Blah." Lorelai responded knowing that she had been caught. Damn Rory and her sleuth-like capabilities.
"Will you tell me after the blah what you actually did?" Rory asked sternly.
"I promise." Lorelai answered with a smile.
"Good. Is that all?" Rory asked.
"Yeah. I'll let you get back to the learning." Lorelai said returning to her normal pace of speech.
"Alright. Have fun on your secret night." Rory said with a smirk.
"Bye babe." Lorelai said shaking her head at her own inability to keep a full secret.
"Bye." Rory said as she clicked off her phone and turned back to the textbook from which she was reading. She scanned the pages of the advanced chemistry book. "Wow. Don't care." She exhaled aloud and reached for her cell phone again. She pressed speed dial two. "The more chemistry crap I read, the more I believe that electrons don't really exist." She said into the phone.
"Yeah. I kept telling my teacher all throughout high school that it was just magic, but he didn't really go for that. Oh well, his loss." Tade said with a smile.
"What are you doing now?" Rory asked with a growing grin.
"Eating Elmer's Glue." He responded as he closed the book he had been reading.
"And how's that going?" Rory asked with a smirk.
"It's just not the same after the first grade." He said with mock nostalgia.
"That's what I've heard." She grinned into the phone. "So, are you up for a Mike Meyers marathon this weekend?" She asked.
"Oh, uh, actually I told my brother that I'd go home and visit him this weekend." Tade said as the smile sank away from his face.
"Oh." Rory responded, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
"I would invite you, but I'm just going down there to help clean up for our weird-ass Thanksgiving." He quickly half-lied.
"Oh yeah. Sure. Mike Meyers will still be around for another weekend." She hoped her fake smile would be reflected in her voice.
"Yeah." He said. He could hear her disappointment. He felt like crap, but he really didn't want to bring her home, but how the hell would he be able to explain that? He had met her family. This was different.
"Ok. I should probably get back to the exciting world of electrons." She said.
"Hey why don't you come over tonight and we can watch Shrek 2. You know, a little preview for our weekend." He suggested in an attempt to rid her of her disappointment.
"Sounds good. Eight?" she asked with a smile.
"Perfect." He said with relief as he heard the smile in her voice.
"See you then. Bye." She ended.
"Bye." He clicked off his phone. He took a deep breath. I suck, he thought to himself as he pressed the number two speed dial on his phone. "I'll be there this weekend but Rory can't come." He said into the phone.
"Oh. That's a shame. I desperately wanted to meet this girl who keeps you away from home for so long." Essien replied somewhat let down.
"I know, but she's got other stuff to do this weekend so maybe another time." Tade lied. I'm a shit bag, he thought. What is my problem? "Ok. I gotta go. I'll see you on Friday." He said into the phone as he rubbed his eyebrows to keep the impending headache away.
"Bye." Essien clicked off the phone.
"Donkey!" Rory called as she came into Tade's room that night.
"Puss! I'm in here." Tade called from the bathroom.
"Whatchya doing?" Rory asked in a childish voice as she looked in his fridge for a soda.
"Giving my alligator a bath." He called back as he put shaving cream on his face.
"Ooh. Dirty!" Rory giggled. Suddenly, Tade's cell phone began playing the Ghost Busters theme song.
"Can you get that Ror?" he asked with puckered lips as he guided the razor across his cheek.
"No problem." Rory flipped open his phone. "You've reached Tade's cell phone. He's busy can he call you back?" she recited into the phone.
"Hi. This is Essien, Tade's brother. You must be Rory." Essien greeted.
"Yeah. Hello." Rory said somewhat caught off guard. Tade's ears pricked up when he heard the conversation continue.
"I was sorry to hear that you couldn't make it this weekend. I was really looking forward to meeting you." Essien said very politely.
"Yeah," Rory's eyes wandered to the bathroom door as here brow furrowed and she made up some response. She would get to the bottom of this later. "I'm sorry too." She said for lack of anything else to say.
"Oh well. Maybe some other time." Essien suggested.
"Definitely." She said with a fake smile.
"Anyway, nice speaking to you. I'll try and get in touch with Shombay later." He closed.
"Nice speaking to you too. Have a good night." She closed the phone. Why couldn't she make it this weekend? Did Tade lie? Who's Shomaby? So many questions ran through her mind.
"Who was that?" Tade asked as he dried off his face.
"Essien." Rory said calmly. She would approach one issue at a time.
"Oh." His shoulders slumped visibly under his white t-shirt.
"Yeah." She said with a meaningless shrug. "So, who's Shombay?" she asked first.
"Oh, uh, that's me." He answered somewhat relieved. Maybe Essien hadn't mentioned the weekend.
"Wait, what?" she looked confused.
"It's just a stupid nickname that he and my mother have for me. It means he who walks like a lion. They said that after my run in with the lion I began to walk like one. I don't see it, but you know nicknames, they rarely make any sense." He babbled in the hopes that his would keep her from asking any more questions.
"Don't I know. I mean, how the hell does Rory come from Lorelai?" she joked. Still not completely satisfied.
"Yeah." He laughed nervously.
"Essien was sorry to hear that I couldn't make it this weekend." She began in a rather Emily Gilmore-esque style. "Although I am flattered that he expressed such a desire to meet me, I have to say that I was a little confused as to where he received the false notion that I would not be able to meet him." She said getting somewhat icier with every word.
"Look, I just panicked. It was me. I lied." He confessed.
"Why?" she asked, her voice getting small.
"I just, I just don't want him to meet you ok?!" his voice got a little louder than he wanted.
"Oh. Ok!" she shouted. "I take you to meet my parents, my grandparents, my friends, just about everyone in my life, but you don't want me to meet one of your brothers! That makes perfect sense!" she was getting rather worked up. She didn't know what she should be feeling. Should she be angry? Upset? Embarrassed? She was just feeling everything at this point.
"He's not just "one of my brothers"!" he unintentionally mimicked. "He's Essien!" he yelled.
"What does that mean?!" she was getting hysterical.
"He's more important than the rest of my family members! What he thinks is very very important to me!" he didn't mean to get this out of control.
"And what are you so afraid he's going to think about me?!" she asked with wild gesticulations. This was the longest she'd ever gone in a fight of this volume without breaking into tears. As she thought this the tears started to surge towards her fiery eyes.
"I-, you wouldn't understand!" he yelled getting defensive. What was he afraid of? He hadn't figured it out yet so he decided to yell instead.
"You won't let me understand! I have no idea what I'm supposed to think! Am I an embarrassment?! Is it because I'm white?! Or am I just too low-class to meet your royal family?!" she blurted the first questions that came to mind not giving a moment's thought as to whether these would be hurtful. She didn't care what he was feeling right now. She was hurt and she was trying to hide it behind sheer volume and insensitive comments.
"You know that's not true! I've never made you feel less than my equal!" he was hurt but he wouldn't let her know that.
"You just did!" she screamed as she ran from the room with tears streaming down her face. She got into her car and drove away.
"Shit!" Tade shouted into the hallway where he was met with perplexed stares from the passing students.
Rory drove down the dark streets with tears soaking her cheeks as she fished in her pockets for her cell phone. I have to call my mom, she thought. I don't know why I have to call her, but I do. How could she help? What could she say? It doesn't matter. I know she'll make me feel better. She gave up searching for her phone. I'll just drive home, she thought as she turned her car in the direction of home.
Tade got into his car. I am a horrible person, he thought. No, she took things too far, another part of him said.
"What the hell should I do?" he asked the dark sky. "Essien. Got to go to Essien." He said as he turned the car in the direction of home.
Inside the Gilmore home, Luke and Lorelai were in more than PG-13 situation when they heard a car careening into the driveway.
"What was that?" Luke asked breathlessly with fear evident in his eyes.
"Sounded like a car." Lorelai answered with the same fear playing in her eyes. She felt like a high schooler again. They listened to the sound of footsteps nearing the porch. "Shit." She exhaled as she quickly got off the couch and put her clothing back on as quickly as she could. She couldn't figure out which would be worse, getting caught having sex by your parents or your kid. She really didn't want to find out.
"Oh my God." Luke was getting more flustered by the second.
"Run upstairs!" she hissed at him as she heard the doorknob turn. "Oh man, if I ever had any magical powers at all I would really love it if something kept her from walking in that door right now." She mumbled to herself as she attempted to hide Luke's clothing under the couch cushions and he ran up the stairs with a blanket covering his nakedness.
"Mom! Are you home? I forgot my key and the door's locked and the turtle key is missing!" Rory yelled through the door.
"I knew I had magical powers." Lorelai congratulated herself as she ran to open the door for her daughter. She was met with the sight of a sad little girl with tear stained cheeks and more than disheveled hair. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"We had I fight." Was all she said before rushing into her mother's arms.
"And you drove all the way here?" Lorelai was still somewhat flustered about her close call.
"He was supposed to be perfect." Rory whimpered as she made her way to the couch. She didn't notice Lorelai cringe.
"Oh honey, nobody's perfect. You know that." She tried to comfort.
"But he was until our huge blow-up today. Why doesn't he want me to meet his brother?" She asked although her mother would have no way of knowing the answer to this question.
"I don't know kid. I'm sure there was just some misunderstanding. Family can be confusing." Lorelai said anything she could think of.
"You're right. I know you're right. We just both got so angry at each other. I had never seen him angry like that. He made me feel like crap." She said regaining her composure.
"Well then I'll have to kill him." Lorelai tried to joke.
"I was really mean too though." Rory said mostly to herself.
"Oh, just give yourselves some time to cool off." She said drawing her daughter into a hug.
"Yeah. I'm sure you're right." Rory rested her head on her mother's shoulder. As she wiped away a stray tear she caught a glimpse of plaid peaking out from underneath the couch cushion. She reach down and pulled it out until an entire sleeve was revealed. "Uh, Mom?" she asked as she stood up and pulled the rest of the large shirt out of its hiding place.
"Uh, that's, uh, mine." Lorelai lied with burning cheeks. Crap, she thought.
"Uh-huh." Rory said skeptically as she dug further under the cushion until she found a pair of large jeans. "Do you have something to tell me?" She asked.
"Luke melted?" Lorelai shrugged as she not-so-discreetly shoved Luke's stray pair of boxers under the couch.
"Mom! On the couch?" Rory whined with a disturbed look.
"I know. I know." Lorelai had her head in her hands by this point.
"Somewhere in this house there is a naked Luke. So I suggest you bring him his clothing and bring him down here for a family discussion." Rory said handing her mother the clothing.
"Ok." Lorelai took the clothing and trudged up the stairs. She went into her bedroom and found Luke sitting on the bed looking shame-facedly at his feet. "She got us." Lorelai mumbled as she tossed him his clothes.
"Oh God." Luke's hands flew to his face where he pressed his palms into his eyes as though this would make the events of the night disappear. Well, not all the events.
"Put on your clothes. She wants us to have a "discussion" downstairs." Lorelai was sounding more and more like a teenager.
"I'm waiting!" Rory called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh God." Luke cried again as he buttoned his shirt.
The two plodded down the stairs, sat on the couch, and starred at their shoes.
"So," Rory began. "Last I heard you two were having platonic dinners. Fill in the gaps." She ordered in a somewhat amused tone. She was less disturbed now that she knew everyone was fully clothed.
"It became romantic the week after your birthday. We were having a fight when Luke blurted, "Lorelai smiled, "in his gruff Luke way that he loved me. And I told him that I shared his feelings. "She looked up at her daughter so that they could share a smile.
"Finally." Rory sighed. "Who else knows?" she asked hoping she wasn't the last to find out.
"Only you." Luke assured as he glanced up from his feet for the first time. "Oh God, you've been crying. Is it our fault? I mean I know I might be brought to tears if I found my mother, uh-" Luke trailed off not knowing how to finish that sentence.
"No. I wasn't crying about that." Rory said as the smile faded from her face with the memory of the fight. "I was crying about a fight I had with Tade." She mumbled.
"I'll kill him." Luke grumbled.
"Don't worry. He seemed rather upset himself." Rory excused. Yeah, he did.
A little while later, Tade turned off of FDR drive at 14th street and made his way through the winding streets of lower Manhattan until he reached his brother's building on Prince street. He was pleasantly surprised to find a parking spot right in front of the building. He jumped out and let himself into the house with his key.
"Essien!" he called from the entryway.
"You're a few days early." His brother greeted. "Whoa, you look like shit." He added upon further inspection.
"Thanks. I'm upset. I had a fight with Rory and it's partially your fault." Tade groused.
"How is it my fault? I've never even met the girl." Essien argued.
"That's the problem! You wanted to meet her but I freaked out and lied about her not being able to come. I didn't even invite her. And when you called and didn't keep your big mouth shut she got upset." Tade explained.
"Why did you lie? Why didn't you invite her?" Essien was entirely confused.
"Because you're so ridiculously judgmental that I was afraid of what you would think." He was embarrassed to admit.
"I know I'm judgmental, but only with strangers. Although I've never met her, Rory is not a stranger. If you like her, I'll like her." Essien stated.
"It's not about liking. I know you'll like her. Everyone likes her." Tade argued.
"Well then, what's the problem?" Essien asked.
Realization quickly dawned on him. He grabbed his head. "I'm a fool." He muttered. "I have to go." Tade walked back out the door and left.
"What was that about?" Mark asked as he came up behind Essien.
"No idea." He shrugged.
"Ok." Mark said
Tade leapt back into his car and drove towards Stars Hollow. He knew that she had gone there. He just hoped he could get there quickly. He cranked up the stereo and headed back towards FDR drive. Shortest stay in New York he'd ever had.
"When I wake up, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.
When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you.
If I get drunk, yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you.
And if I haver, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you.
But I would walk 500 hundred miles
And I would walk 500 hundred more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at you,r door.
When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you.
And when the money comes in for the work I'll do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you.
When I come home, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you.
And if I grow old, well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 hundred more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door.
When I'm lonely, yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you.
When I'm dreaming, yes I know I'm gonna dream
Dream about the time when I'm with you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door.
When I'm lonely, yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you.
When I'm dreaming, yes I know I'm gonna dream
Dream about the time when I'm with you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door.
He hadn't heard that Proclaimers song in a while. It was surprisingly applicable to his feelings about Rory. Music had a certain way of unraveling the confusion in life. There was only one problem with that song: what the hell is havering? He shrugged. He'd google it later. First he had to apologize to Rory.
After what seemed like forever on the dark and empty roads he reached Stars Hollow. He turned the music down and drove to Rory's house. Her car was in the driveway when he got there. Thank God. He pulled up at the curb and climbed out of his car. The windows were dark. Shit. It didn't matter. He went up to her window and tapped his knuckles against the glass. No response. He knocked louder. He heard footsteps. Score! He saw hands that didn't belong to Rory pull the window open. Lorelai.
"Hi Lorelai." He said. He knew that she knew about the fight.
"Hey Tade. Rory's in the kitchen. Come in." She said. She knew that he would fix things. He climbed through the window. "You know we have a door right?" Lorelai joked before walking out of the room and up the stairs.
"Yes. Yes I do." Tade said dusting off his pants. He walked into the kitchen to find Rory sitting at the kitchen table with her knees pulled up to her chest , clad in pajamas that appeared to have a breakfast food theme.
"Hi." She looked up from her cookie with a small, hopeful look on her face.
"Sorry." He said.
"Sorry." She said. "I just got a little upset. I don't understand why you don't want me to meet your brother!" she accidentally got herself worked up again.
"It's because-" He trailed off. This was difficult.
"Because why?1" she shouted. So much for calm.
"Because you're a girl!" he yelled back.
"What?" she wasn't expecting that.
"You're a girl." He said at a lower volume.
"Yeah, I got that. Why is that embarrassing?" her eyebrows were knotted on her forehead.
"Because my brother is a big, turbo faggot whom I adore and it has always been a source of shame to me that I like girls. I always make myself believe that he will judge me for bringing home a girl, but really, I'll just judge myself." He was quiet now. He had never explained this complex to anyone.
"Are you upset that you like girls?" Rory asked carefully.
"No. Because I may find it embarrassing at times that I like girls, but I swear, I never find it embarrassing that I love you." He said as he walked towards her and took her hands in his. Rory pulled him into a hug.
"That's the strangest and sweetest thing I've ever heard." She said into his neck. "Thanks for coming all the way out here to explain things to me." She pulled back to look at him.
"Sorry it took so long. I drove all the way to New York and then drove all the way back here." He apologized.
"Why the hell did you do that?" she asked with wonder playing on her face.
"It took me a while to figure out what my problem was, but I wanted you to be the first to know that I am a genuine freakazoid." He joked.
"Thank you." She said before giving him a kiss. "It's been a long, strange night. Let's go to bed." She said leading him into her room.
"What about your mother?" he asked a little uneasy.
"She owes me." Rory replied.
A little while later they were lying cuddled in Rory's small bed. All was good in the world of Rory and Tade.
"Hey Rory?" he began.
"Hm?
"Do you know what havering is?" he asked.
"Nope." She hugged him tighter. "We can google it tomorrow.
"Sounds good." He kissed the top of her head.
It had been a long night.