The Other Woman
Chapter 3
(Thanks for all the reviews, both positive and negative. Like the season finale, this story has either brought out the R/D fans, or the people who hate them. I'll keep it going since there has been so much interest in what happens next. Thanks again to everyone for reading.)
It had been one of the best days he'd ever had, but it had also been one of the worst. His parents had been calling his cell phone incessantly, trying to find out what was going on but Dean had run out of explanations to give them. Not that they did any good - no one seemed so much to hear him as they did to yell at him. Finally, at about four in the morning, he turned off his phone. He needed to get at least three hours of sleep before facing the countless face to face lectures that were sure to start that day.
He was about to get his first dose. A frantic knocking on the door woke him up and when he glanced over at the small alarm clock on the left-hand night table, he saw the time. It was six in the morning.
"Dean, I know you're in there. Open the damn door!"
It was Lindsay. He sat up in bed and wondered if it was possible for the ground to swallow him whole and transport him straight to hell. That would be preferable to dealing with he believed would be his wife's wrath.
He got up and opened the door. Hurriedly, Lindsay walked past him to perform an inspection of the room he was in. She obviously didn't expect him to be alone.
"What's the matter?" she teased sarcastically,"Little princess couldn't get her overnight bag packed in time?"
"Lindsay, what the hell are you talking about. You know I'm al-"
"Dean, please. We live in Stars Hollow. This town could give Peyton Place a run for the money. You must think I'm some sort of idiot. Do you honestly think I don't know what's been going on?"
"Enlighten me, Lindsay," he replied, walking towards the center of room.
"You're having an affair," she stated simply, "Is that 'enlightened' enough?"
"You really think it's that simple, don't you?"
"Tell me what I'm missing then, dammit!" she yelled.
"Did you happen to miss the small fact that I moved out of our bedroom a month ago? And that I told you several times that I couldn't do this anymore?"
"Oh, please," Lindsay replied, dismissing him with a wave of her hand,"That's just stuff that married people go through-"
"Less than three months after they get married?"
"I don't know what the time restrictions are, but these things happen. We fight, we disagree, we make up-"
"No, Lindsay. We fight, but there hasn't exactly been much making up, has there?"
"So this is all my fault, right? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"No, it's not. It's nobody's fault. We were ready for a wedding, Lindsay, but not for marriage. All we ever did was pretend and when we exhausted that, we fought. I just don't want to keep doing that. I don't want to wind up so angry and miserable that I forget-"
"Forget what? That we took vows together? That I'm your wife."
"I haven't forgotten that!"
"Well, that's not the impression I'm getting. It was fun for a while, but now that Gilmore bitch is available again and it's not fun anymore, so let's dump the wife."
"That's not what's going on and you know it. Things between us have always been difficult. You're never satisfied with what I can give you. I'm never happy at the goals you set up for me to achieve. Even though I gave up college, most of my friends and have been killing myself working overtime to support the two of us, you still want more. We agreed to move out of Stars Hollow, but you decide you want to stay. We save up money for college and you decide it should be used to buy a townhouse and that school can wait."
"Dean, come on. You just don't walk out of a marriage because things get hard."
"Do you think it's easy to just walk out?" he countered, "Or rather, to walk out and stay out. As I recall, you were the first to walk out."
"We had a fight and I needed to cool down," she replied, "and I only went to my parent's house for the night. It's not like it's the first time that's happened."
"Exactly. Just like you always have. Things get hard and you run to them."
"Things get hard for you and you run to Rory."
Both were silent for a minute.
"I don't want to do this anymore," Dean said quietly,"I don't want you to blame me because I don't blame you. We tried. We did everything we could to be a couple and make this marriage work, but the harder we tried the more we pulled away from each other."
Lindsay looked at him and shook her head sadly. "Dean, did you ever really love me? Was I ever the one you wanted to be with or was I an acceptable substitute."
"I did. You know I did. But somehow we were better as a couple than as a married couple. After we got married, we were just blindsided by the things we wanted and the things we were giving up. That blindness made us lose track of what we should have been focusing on."
"And what was that?"
"What we should be accomplishing together. Helping each other, learning from each other. Being a couple not the picture of one."
Lindsay shut her eyes and turned away from him.
"Can you honestly say," he asked,"that you love me like this? Reproaching you all the time, fighting all the time....never satisfied no matter how hard we try to compromise."
Lindsay walked towards the door and without facing him replied, "You were everything I thought I wanted, Dean. Everything. But now, I just don't know. I can't....no, I won't go on like this."
She turned the handle and opened the door, turning to face him, but not able to meet his eyes. "I'll file."
"I'm sorry, Lindsay."
"I know you are," she replied as she walked out, "so am I."
The door closed.
-------------------
Oh no, I see,
A spider web is tangled up with me
And I lost my head
The thought of all the stupid things I've said
I never meant to cause you trouble
I never meant to do you wrong
Ah, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh no, I never meant to do you harm
"Trouble" (Coldplay)
Chapter 3
(Thanks for all the reviews, both positive and negative. Like the season finale, this story has either brought out the R/D fans, or the people who hate them. I'll keep it going since there has been so much interest in what happens next. Thanks again to everyone for reading.)
It had been one of the best days he'd ever had, but it had also been one of the worst. His parents had been calling his cell phone incessantly, trying to find out what was going on but Dean had run out of explanations to give them. Not that they did any good - no one seemed so much to hear him as they did to yell at him. Finally, at about four in the morning, he turned off his phone. He needed to get at least three hours of sleep before facing the countless face to face lectures that were sure to start that day.
He was about to get his first dose. A frantic knocking on the door woke him up and when he glanced over at the small alarm clock on the left-hand night table, he saw the time. It was six in the morning.
"Dean, I know you're in there. Open the damn door!"
It was Lindsay. He sat up in bed and wondered if it was possible for the ground to swallow him whole and transport him straight to hell. That would be preferable to dealing with he believed would be his wife's wrath.
He got up and opened the door. Hurriedly, Lindsay walked past him to perform an inspection of the room he was in. She obviously didn't expect him to be alone.
"What's the matter?" she teased sarcastically,"Little princess couldn't get her overnight bag packed in time?"
"Lindsay, what the hell are you talking about. You know I'm al-"
"Dean, please. We live in Stars Hollow. This town could give Peyton Place a run for the money. You must think I'm some sort of idiot. Do you honestly think I don't know what's been going on?"
"Enlighten me, Lindsay," he replied, walking towards the center of room.
"You're having an affair," she stated simply, "Is that 'enlightened' enough?"
"You really think it's that simple, don't you?"
"Tell me what I'm missing then, dammit!" she yelled.
"Did you happen to miss the small fact that I moved out of our bedroom a month ago? And that I told you several times that I couldn't do this anymore?"
"Oh, please," Lindsay replied, dismissing him with a wave of her hand,"That's just stuff that married people go through-"
"Less than three months after they get married?"
"I don't know what the time restrictions are, but these things happen. We fight, we disagree, we make up-"
"No, Lindsay. We fight, but there hasn't exactly been much making up, has there?"
"So this is all my fault, right? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"No, it's not. It's nobody's fault. We were ready for a wedding, Lindsay, but not for marriage. All we ever did was pretend and when we exhausted that, we fought. I just don't want to keep doing that. I don't want to wind up so angry and miserable that I forget-"
"Forget what? That we took vows together? That I'm your wife."
"I haven't forgotten that!"
"Well, that's not the impression I'm getting. It was fun for a while, but now that Gilmore bitch is available again and it's not fun anymore, so let's dump the wife."
"That's not what's going on and you know it. Things between us have always been difficult. You're never satisfied with what I can give you. I'm never happy at the goals you set up for me to achieve. Even though I gave up college, most of my friends and have been killing myself working overtime to support the two of us, you still want more. We agreed to move out of Stars Hollow, but you decide you want to stay. We save up money for college and you decide it should be used to buy a townhouse and that school can wait."
"Dean, come on. You just don't walk out of a marriage because things get hard."
"Do you think it's easy to just walk out?" he countered, "Or rather, to walk out and stay out. As I recall, you were the first to walk out."
"We had a fight and I needed to cool down," she replied, "and I only went to my parent's house for the night. It's not like it's the first time that's happened."
"Exactly. Just like you always have. Things get hard and you run to them."
"Things get hard for you and you run to Rory."
Both were silent for a minute.
"I don't want to do this anymore," Dean said quietly,"I don't want you to blame me because I don't blame you. We tried. We did everything we could to be a couple and make this marriage work, but the harder we tried the more we pulled away from each other."
Lindsay looked at him and shook her head sadly. "Dean, did you ever really love me? Was I ever the one you wanted to be with or was I an acceptable substitute."
"I did. You know I did. But somehow we were better as a couple than as a married couple. After we got married, we were just blindsided by the things we wanted and the things we were giving up. That blindness made us lose track of what we should have been focusing on."
"And what was that?"
"What we should be accomplishing together. Helping each other, learning from each other. Being a couple not the picture of one."
Lindsay shut her eyes and turned away from him.
"Can you honestly say," he asked,"that you love me like this? Reproaching you all the time, fighting all the time....never satisfied no matter how hard we try to compromise."
Lindsay walked towards the door and without facing him replied, "You were everything I thought I wanted, Dean. Everything. But now, I just don't know. I can't....no, I won't go on like this."
She turned the handle and opened the door, turning to face him, but not able to meet his eyes. "I'll file."
"I'm sorry, Lindsay."
"I know you are," she replied as she walked out, "so am I."
The door closed.
-------------------
Oh no, I see,
A spider web is tangled up with me
And I lost my head
The thought of all the stupid things I've said
I never meant to cause you trouble
I never meant to do you wrong
Ah, well if I ever caused you trouble
Oh no, I never meant to do you harm
"Trouble" (Coldplay)