AN: Happy New Year's Eve! For a great Trory New Year's action, check out rosie4299's new fic, Kiss Me at Midnight. It was a great way to start out the new year. And made me realize I need to update my current stories, lol.
Ella drove the first leg of the trip, as it was her mother's car that had been offered up for the sake of higher education. Jane sat shotgun, Billy taking to watching Ella in the rearview mirror when he thought he wouldn't get caught staring. Luckily for him, her almost constant attention was caught up with the radio. She would scan through, intent on finding something play-worthy or a station not playing 45 minutes of commercials an hour. Once her quest became successful, she'd crank up the song ready to sing along—until Jane turned down the volume. The first time it happened, she gave a glare, unbeknownst to Jane, and turned it back up. Now, having not being able to enjoy two songs now due to the wordless fighting that had gone on, Ella couldn't take it anymore.
"What's your problem?"
"It's too loud."
"It's not too loud. Good songs can never be too loud."
"You aren't going to have any hearing left by the time you get to college."
"Are you always this much of a control freak, Grandma?"
"I'm not a control freak."
"Is there going to be some hair-pulling later on, or?" Billy interjected.
Ella glanced up in the rearview, glaring at him in such a way that he knew to shut up. It kind of excited him too, in a weird way, but he didn't feel that she'd welcome the mention of that fact at the current point in time. He just smiled to himself as the girls continued their conversation.
"Jane, look, I know you've had somewhat of a sheltered life," Ella sighed, trying to muster up some sympathy for the girl. She'd heard stories about this girl's mother, and just because of what Tristan had said, she felt badly for Jane. But this was simply about how much she was willing to take. And flirting with her boyfriend was one thing. But messing with her radio on a road trip—that was inexcusable. "But when you get to school, particularly out here, away from the free love, hippy-wanna-be, crystal loving freaks in California, you'll have to put up with some loud music. You'll never sleep in a dorm, you'll never be able to go to a party, and you'll never be able to do anything but go to class."
"College is about getting a good education. And the whole of California isn't hippies."
"I know your mother is deranged or whatever, but you can't punish your poor roommate for that."
"My mother isn't deranged!"
Ella raised an eyebrow and tossed an unbelieving look at her passenger.
"She just instilled me with realism. Life isn't about partying; it's about achieving goals. And I can't help it if I have loftier goals than most morons our age," she implied, the Paris in her shining through.
"I have goals!"
"What, to wear the perfect lip liner/nail polish combo to the prom?"
"Screw you! I'm going to be a writer," Ella informed her.
"Let me guess. Fashion column in Vogue?"
"Why do you assume I'm so shallow? I want to write about things that matter, not fashion. What's so 'lofty' about your goals?"
"I want to work with the CDC, find cures to diseases they say are incurable."
"So, you're aspiring to be your mother."
"My mother doesn't work for the CDC."
"No, but she's a doctor, working in cancer research."
"So? Your mother's a journalist."
"So? There's nothing wrong with wanting to be like my mother!"
Both girls were seething, ready to strangle the other. Ella's grip on the wheel looking as if she were trying to hold it on the car herself, and Jane looking out at the roadside. They were doing a good clip down the interstate, almost to their destination of Yale University. Her mother's top choice for her, and probably Paris's top choice for Jane. She took the exit to the school, eventually parking where Rory had instructed and got out of the car. Jane trounced off the Office of Administration, no doubt to try to get a head start on her educational experience.
"What a tool," Billy said, stretching his arms out as far as possible. He'd been cooped up in the car only about a half an hour, but it'd seemed like four entire hours, probably due to the knowledge that the whole next day was going to be spent with the squabbling girls.
"You said that right," Ella agreed.
He walked up to her and wrapped his jacket-covered arms around her. "So, a writer, huh?"
She smiled softly and nodded.
"You gonna write about me?"
"You gonna do something worthy of writing about?" her eyes glimmered with possibility.
"Maybe," he said gently, leaning down to kiss her for the first time all day. Tristan's warnings had flown out the window, and all he was aware of was the way her long hair tickled his cheek when she kissed him, and how warm the skin was on the nape of her neck as he brushed his fingers over it. She shivered slightly, causing him to pull her to his side and wrap his arm around her as they moved towards the door.
"That's not fair," she whispered.
"What?"
"Doing that," she said pointedly, "And then expecting me to be able to talk to someone official at Yale."
He smiled, obviously happy with himself as the continued to walk into the warmth of the large building.
&&&&
In another car, going a quite different direction, Will had no words. His thoughts were flying around his mind, thinking about what Dave had said this morning, as well as wondering what Anna was actually going through in her own mind. What he wanted didn't really factor into his thoughts of what to do about all of this. She was going through enough, and she'd given him no real sign that she was interested in him romantically. He didn't need to put her through unnecessary emotional stress.
"Will?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. How are you? You doin' okay?"
"I just hope I can ID him, you know? That it's him and maybe all this can be over."
"I'm sure you'll do fine."
She nodded and continued to look at him. He'd been acting weird since he picked her up at her mother's house. He'd tripped on the way out of the house, almost falling into the frost-covered flowerbeds. He fumbled with the car door lock, unable to open her door for a good minute. And ever since they hit the road, he'd been looking anywhere but at her, and evidently was deep in thought.
His strange behavior was perplexing, though she was almost glad as it took her mind off of what they were going to do on this early morning. She did hope the police caught the same guy, and that it might bring her a little closure. Just to know the slime bag was off the street. The guy that made her feel unsafe to be alone while outside. The one that made her check all the door locks several times before being able to sleep at night. The one that took from her things she'd never be able to get back.
He wanted to crawl under his car, knowing how stupid he must appear to be acting around her today. It wasn't like he could help it; it's like his muscles were trying to sabotage him since she walked out into the living room to greet him. He couldn't just act like a normal person, let alone a support structure for her. The one day, the day of all days, that she just needed him to be this pillar of strength, and he couldn't even walk down a single step. To make matters worse, she was blatantly aware of his inability to behave normally.
He began to wonder if she knew why he was acting so bizarrely. That he should just come out with it, and they could talk about this maturely. And probably have a good laugh about it somewhere down the line. Albeit years later. Many years later. Right now, it wasn't so funny to him. He opened his mouth, unsure of what would come out if he allowed the words to flow. The inability to know what exactly his mind would conjure up for his mouth to spit out made him think better of it, however, and his mouth closed again.
She frowned, knowing he was going to say something, possibly an explanation for his behavior, but said nothing. He obviously wasn't ready to talk about it. Sookie had been so happy last night, hugging her daughter tightly in excitement over the fact that Will had sat with her around the fire at Lorelai's Christmas party. She told her what a handsome couple they made, and how it was obviously such a long time coming. Anna had to smile as she let herself think for a moment what it would be like to be with Will.
Of course reality set in, in the blink of an eye, and she shrugged it off, telling her mom that Will was just making sure she felt safe and that he probably just didn't want her to feel alone at this time of year. Especially after all the trauma that she'd been through in the last month, he was just looking out for her feelings—that had to be all that was going on.
Both now lost in thought, and thinking of the prior night's events, they continued to be silent for the remainder of the car ride.
&&&&
Meanwhile in Stars Hollow, Lorelai was quite displeased. Here she was, happily snuggled down in bed under the covers on her day off, reveling in the fact that there were hours ahead of her that could be spent not moving. She could literally lounge under these sheets as long as she wanted to. Granted, she'd probably want to get up and shower before Luke got home, but he worked until late afternoon on Saturday and so, barring the house catching on fire, nothing was to move her from her current location for quite some time.
Except, of course, the fact that someone was pounding on her front door. Someone, obviously, with a death wish. She grunted and rolled over to check the time on the alarm clock. 7:45am. This person obviously wanted a slow, painful death. Thoughts of who was dumb enough to come knocking so persistently on her day off began to roll through her mind. Kirk. Girl Scouts from Woodbury. With cookies.
Her love of Thin Mints getting the better of her, she threw back the covers, cursed the cold hardwood floor and slipped on her robe as she scurried down the stairs to hopefully be met with boxes of chocolaty mint goodness.
To her dismay, Sookie was her visitor. Sookie, looking very pleased, was almost on the edge of bursting. She'd gotten the same near-dancing glee each time she'd discovered she was pregnant in the past. Lorelai was pretty sure that was no longer an option, and so she stood perplexed in her doorway, letting cold air in as Sookie waited to be invited into the house.
"Sookie, it's seven forty-five!"
"I know!"
"In the morning."
"Isn't it great?"
"No, it's early! Early is never good. For anything. Early is always bad."
"No, about the kids!" Sookie said, as if Lorelai should have automatically known what she was talking about as she moved past her into the still party-wrecked house.
"What kids?" she moaned, shutting the door and following her bouncy friend into the living room. "Shouldn't you be at the Inn?"
"John's watching the kitchen. What do you mean, what kids? Our kids," she said, pointing between the two of them.
"Our kids?"
"Will and Anna! Oh, come on, you saw it with your own eyes last night, silly. What colors should we use on the cake? Ooh, I know, pink. Unless they do a fall theme, then we could use yellows and--," Sookie rambled until Lorelai held her hand up to quiet her friend.
"Sook! Slow down! What are you talking about?"
"Will and Anna, around the fire? Oh, come on, Lorelai! Your fireplace is the best predictor of the marriageability of couples in this town!"
"My fireplace has no such powers! The flue sticks, and it has no internet capabilities."
"Internet capabilities?"
"You know, how you can get ordained on the internet, and marry people?"
"OH, right. I've always wanted to do that, it'd be so much fun to join two young people, in love and--,"
"Sookie!"
"Sorry! But you did see Will and Anna last night, didn't you? Around the fire, with all the other couples. Under the blanket," Sookie hinted not so subtly.
"Unless they were naked under the blanket, I think they were just sitting there."
"But they've been inseparable, for the last month. And all last night, they never left the other's side."
"Yeah, because they've been helping each other through stuff, and it's not like you're thinking it is. There is no need to plan a wedding. There is a need for you to go back to the Inn and me to go back to bed."
"Lorelai, are you saying there's no way that they have feelings for each other?" Sookie asked, more than disappointed at Lorelai's unenthusiastic response.
She let out a long sigh, seeing how much it meant to Sookie and really taking her son's recent behavior into consideration. Will wasn't the type to react out of pity to people, or do things he wasn't passionate about. So if he was spending all this time with Anna, it wasn't for nothing.
"I suppose, it isn't completely unlikely," she gave in.
"Really?"
"Really. But Sook, if there is something going on, we can't butt in. We have to let whatever's going to happen, happen naturally. Agree?"
"Fine. But admit it, it would be great."
"Yes, great. As long as you never come over here on my day off this early again, it will be blissful," she smiled, hugging her friend before basically pushing her out the front door. She paused behind the closed door, a pensive look crossing her face. A small smile spread quickly into a large grin before she bounded back up the stairs.
&&&&
"Why'd you let Ella go, if you were going to be so insufferable about it?" Jake asked his father, as they took a break from playing basketball.
"Your sister is off looking at colleges, and I'm not being insufferable."
"Dad, come on."
"I just want to make sure Billy treats your sister with the respect she deserves."
"Dad, they're on a road trip, with no supervision."
"What's your point here?"
"They're so doing it," Jake rolled his eyes.
Tristan's hands went up over his ears, his eyes closing shut. Jake rolled his eyes, and threw the ball at his father's stomach.
"Ugh, hey, be nice to your old man," Tristan instructed. "First, trying to scar me emotionally, then physically. . . But then again, you are related to Lorelai."
"Dad, think about it. Would expect me to be having sex on a weekend alone with my girlfriend?"
"You have a girlfriend?"
"Well, no, not right now, but hypothetically."
"Hypothetically, as long as you're smart and safe, I could care less."
"Right. So, the same goes for Ella, right?"
"Oh, no. No, no, no."
"Dad," Jake rolled his eyes again.
"Is Ella a virgin?"
"Dad, ew."
"Is she?"
"I don't know! This is something I never think about. And if she's not, I never want to hear about it."
"Who would know?"
"I don't care."
"You're of no use to me."
"Thanks, Dad. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside now."
"Hey, did your mom talk to you about tutoring Jules?" Tristan asked, changing the subject for both of their sanities.
"Nope. Why would she?"
"Well, Jess was sort of hoping you could do it."
"Jules doesn't need a tutor," Jake looked at his father as if he were actively sprouting a second head.
"Well, tell that to her teachers."
"That's crazy. Jules is really smart. She reads more than Ambrose."
"Look, Jake, I know she's smart. Jess knows she's smart. But since all this with Jess and Erin started, she's just been preoccupied and needs some help catching up."
Jake brushed his forearm across his forehead, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Yeah, sure. Why not just have Ambrose do it?"
"You're someone she likes, and Jess thought maybe she'd take it more seriously if it was you and not her own brother. Would you take Ella seriously?"
"Point taken. Yeah, just have Jess let me know when."
"Thanks, kid, Jess'll be really relieved. We should head back," Tristan grabbed the basketball and turned to head off the court.
Jake nodded and pulled his sweatshirt on over his head. "I still say they're doing it," he added, running just out of his father's wrathful reach.