AN: Sorry it's been a smidge longer than I anticipated getting this chapter out. Christmas shopping and the like has gotten in the way a bit, but here I am, back again, with more of the gang for you. . .
Ella wandered into the kitchen, her attitude now safely back in check, though she wasn't making promises to keep it in should she be so blatantly provoked again. Jess had been right—Billy was just being nice. Polite. Well-mannered. He liked her, and she was his. . . girlfriend? Shaking the uncertainty from her being as well as the nagging feeling that Jess had called jealousy, she smiled and walked up to the pair of teens.
"Jane, good, you finding everything okay?"
Jane smiled, looking up at Ella as she continued to enjoy her food. "Billy and I were just talking about the trip."
"Oh, right. The trip," she said, moving to stand a little closer to Billy.
"We figured we should get going pretty early tomorrow. I can come by the Inn around five-thirty to get you guys, if that's okay," Billy informed her.
"Oh, yeah, no problem. So, Jane, which colleges are you most interested in?"
"Well, I'm dying to hear back from UC Berkeley. That's my top choice, though Mom keeps calling it a clown college. . . But out here I'm most interested in seeing Princeton and Yale."
"Great. So, I say we hit Yale, then down to Princeton and Sarah Lawrence?" Ella suggested, moving to the point where her shoulder was brushing up against Billy. He looked at her, glad for the show of affection, but wondering just what she was up to. There was a vibe, and not just an 'I'm happy to see you' kind of vibe. The way she was looking at Jane and inching towards him, it just seemed strange.
"Sounds like a plan," Jane agreed, putting her now empty plate down in the sink. "Is there a bathroom I can use?"
"Just behind you, in the hall before you hit the front room," Ella pointed.
"Thanks."
Jane disappeared into the hall, and Ella turned to face Billy. She gave him a smile and leaned in to kiss him properly, and for the first time in two weeks. She wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders, her hands coming to rest on the back of his neck. After a few moments, he pulled back and looked at her questioningly.
"What was that?"
"That was a kiss. Was it not a good kiss?"
"It was a very good kiss. I meant, before. With Jane. You were acting weird."
"I was just planning the trip."
"I thought you were going to climb on top of me."
"You're exaggerating."
"Are you jealous?" he asked, getting a little too much pleasure out of the thought.
"No, I'm just, confused," she sighed, leaning back away from him.
He wrapped his hands around her waist a little tighter, not wanting to give her a chance to pull away from him. He couldn't imagine this girl ever being jealous of another girl. And as much as she denied it, he still suspected it was what she was feeling.
"Confused about what?"
"What exactly this is."
"This?"
"Us."
"Oh, us."
"I mean, there's an us, right?"
"Well, I was hoping so, yeah."
Ella smiled, and snuggled back against his chest. "Good."
He moved to kiss her again, only to hear someone clearing their throat behind them, rather loudly. They bolted apart, and Billy blushed. Tristan was standing in the entry to the kitchen, looking disapprovingly at the scene.
"Hey, Daddy. Billy and I were just discussing our college tours."
"Discussing? Is that what you kids are calling it now?"
"Honestly, Mr. Dugrey, we were planning when to leave in the morning."
"I see. So, Billy, where exactly will you be sleeping on this trip?"
He looked to Ella, as if she held the answer to what must be a trick question. He had possibly never been this uncomfortable before in his life. She continued to look at her father, unabashedly, and evidently with no intention to bail him out.
"Uh, well, I guess," he stumbled, searching for an answer in his mind that would let him walk out of the kitchen in one whole piece. Ella stepped between them, and he almost passed out in relief.
"We'll stay in a hotel room, Daddy."
"A hotel room?"
"Well, we figure Jane and I can share a bed, and Billy can have the other."
Tristan eyed his daughter, remembering Lorelai's words of him having to trust Ella, and how she wasn't a little kid anymore. He groaned inwardly, thinking that her growing up had occurred rather suddenly, and with no regard to him. He kissed his daughter's cheek, and gave Billy one more cautionary look.
"I'll see you kids later," he said, moving back out of the kitchen after grabbing a beer from the refrigerator.
&&&&
Anna came down the stairs, and sat down next to Will on the bottom step. He looked over at her, still teary from laughter.
"You just missed it," he informed her, causing her to cock her head to one side in interest.
"Dad came through with the firewood, in hopes that starting the fire would wind the party down as per usual," he began, which made her smile and nod in agreement. "But Kirk, who I think had half the punchbowl before realizing how strongly it'd been spiked, got down on the floor next to Dad, arguing about how best to stack firewood for a proper burn. He was trying to say 'tee-pee', but kept saying 'pee-tee', and Mom was howling, along with the rest of the room, which irritated Dad more, because it was spurring Kirk on, right? So, finally, Kirk tried to take the matches from him when Dad wouldn't let him rub two sticks together, and Dad chased him out into the front yard with a big piece of firewood."
Anna smiled, shaking her head, the scene all too vivid in her head. It was fairly common for someone to get toasted, and even more common for Luke and Kirk to get into it. It was always more fun when Kirk was the one to get toasted.
"Hey, where've you been?" he asked, realizing she'd been MIA for quite some time.
"Oh, I got a call. From the campus PD."
Will sat up straighter, his attention fully rapt on her. "What'd they say?"
"They caught a guy, tonight, they want me to come ID him tomorrow."
"How'd they catch him? I thought you couldn't give much of a physical description?"
"I couldn't. I mean, it was so dark and everything. But they caught this guy on campus, during an attempted attack tonight. Someone saw him drag a girl away from the street, and called the cops. It was in the same area as where I had been. Anyway, so I guess I have to go."
He nodded. "Do you want company?"
She looked up at him, gratefully. "You don't have to," she offered.
"What time do you want me to pick you up?"
She smiled and leaned against him a little. "Seven?"
"Sounds good."
He leaned his head slightly against hers, both now watching as Kirk came back into the house after Luke, profusely apologizing for having vomited in the flowerbeds.
&&&&
Rory lie back against Tristan, his chest acting as a warm, supportive chair for her. She had a blanket pulled up over both of them, and his arms were wrapped around her torso, keeping her more than warm, seeing as they were right next to the roaring fire in her mother's living room. Some of the partygoers had gone, but about half were smushed into the living room, curled up and coupled off under blankets by the fire. She looked over to her side, seeing her daughter standing in the doorway, obviously saying goodnight to Billy. The kids were heading off to the Inn, under Jess's supervision, to get some rest for the trip, and the rest for post-finals hibernation.
"We'd just moved into this house, I think Rory was about ten or so, and we were so excited, so we invited everyone over for a huge Christmas party. The first annual, I guess you could say," Lorelai giggled, and everyone in attendance old enough to remember being there smiled warmly, "Anyway, I plastered every imaginable place with mistletoe, at Ms. Patty's request. People were kissing all night, I swear, I was beginning to think I should have charged a cover fee or something. Everyone had been kissed, except me! I was beginning to think it was some sort of conspiracy. Well, at any rate, I was on my way into the kitchen to help out Sookie," she gave a sly glance at Luke before finishing, "When all of a sudden, there was this big, flannel roadblock. Luke was standing in the doorway, looking like a deer caught in headlights. I'm sure I made some witty comment about being under the mistletoe," she smiled.
"You made a lewd comment about being under the mistletoe," Luke interjected from his position curled up behind her.
Ignoring him, she continued as if he'd not spoken. "It was the longest moment of my life. Here was this man, who made the best coffee in the whole world, that hated me,"
"I didn't hate you."
"And we're just standing there for a million years, and finally, he kisses my cheek, blushes and we both quickly walked away from each other," Lorelai beamed.
A chorus of 'awws' came from the intimate group. "And of course, Rory is watching, and comes running after me asking if Luke is going to be her new daddy," Lorelai laughed.
"Hey! I'd never seen you kiss a man before, and he did make the good coffee," Rory defended herself.
"So, that was our first kiss, which we preceded to try to forget about for another eight years," Lorelai said, finishing her story.
"Who's next?" Sookie asked, already having recounted her and Jackson's story.
"Well, I would, but I don't think Rory would appreciate that much," Tristan offered.
"Oh, man," she said under her breath.
"What was so bad about it?" Will asked, interested. He was seated with his back against the couch, on the floor next to Anna, who was sharing a blanket with him.
"She cried."
"You cried?" Anna asked, in disbelief. She'd always thought Tristan was handsome, and couldn't believe someone would cry after kissing him.
"Hey, I was upset for other reasons," she justified.
"We were at a party, and we'd both been recently dumped," he began, pausing to see if she'd object to his choice of words, "And we ended up in this piano room at this ridiculous party. Everyone else was downstairs, dancing and having a good time. She was looking for somewhere quiet to read, and I was just looking for somewhere to hide out. She kept talking about tests and school," he said, smiling. "She kept on talking, but she sat down next to me on the piano bench. I don't even remember what she said; all I could focus on was her eyes. Finally, it just seemed like I had to kiss her. I leaned in, and kissed her. . . then she fled from the room, crying and left the party."
"Way to go, Rory," Will laughed.
"I behaved much better the second time you kissed me," she reminded Tristan, who nodded in agreement.
"Albeit four years later," Tristan complained.
"Okay, someone else's turn," Rory said, not wanting to dwell on past indiscretions.
"What about you, Dave? You kept things so hush-hush for a while there," Will offered.
Dave put his hand to his face, as if to hide. Mallory laughed and spoke up.
"I'll tell it," she offered, Dave putting his hand over her mouth in efforts to stop her. She struggled his hand from her mouth and began speaking despite his protests.
"It was our second date. He'd taken me to one of those Halloween Fright Nights at an amusement park, and some of the big rides were open, along with haunted houses and mazes," she began. "I had no idea he was afraid of heights, he didn't tell me. So, when I asked to go on the biggest one, the one that takes you up, hangs you in the air for a while with your feet hanging free, then takes you back the other way, turning you upside down and all that good stuff, he agreed. I thought he looked a little pale, but we got in line and got on the ride. He was okay during the first part, and then we were in the hanging in the air part. We were sort of handing with all our weight against the safety restraint. They must have held us there for a good minute, and he let out this scream—I could have sworn it was my little sister next to me! I let out a laugh, which I just couldn't hold in. I think he was embarrassed, after we got off the ride, he was pretty silent. I took him aside, and wanted to show him that I thought it was endearing, that I liked him," she paused, feeling slightly embarrassed to be telling this story in front of his family, "So, I just kissed him, on the exit ramp of the ride."
"Aww, Dave," Anna giggled, "Were you scared?" she asked in a bit of baby talk.
"Shut up," he said, as she leaned over to poke at him.
Everyone laughed at the siblings, before a content silence came over the group. Everyone enjoyed the moment of being amongst friends, curled up with loved ones while listening as the fire popped and cracked in the background. Bits of torn wrapping paper and ribbon were strewn about the room between camps of blankets, the only remnants of the loud party that had been in the same space only hours before.