Disclaimer: All I own is a loft bed from IKEA…
A/N: I have a few things to clear up before I move on with the story:
Lori and Jess will not be "romantically involved." According to the summary outside the story, this is a literati, or RoryJess pairing story.
I know some things in the previous chapter were weird, but I had to make Lorelei a little OOC because Rory had to find out, and in this story, Lorelei makes a few changes for the better. You will see why later along the way.
Lori and Jess might become friends, seeing as how Lori and Rory are so much alike, but they will DEFINATLY not be a couple.
To clueless: Emily, aka Lori, lives in California. Rory lives in Conneticut.
Thanks Professor for correcting my spelling. I'm to lazy to spell check, though.
"But we hate packing. Why do we have to pack," Lorelei whined.
"Because we are going to leave the country and any cross country travel requires bringing stuff. Stuff that we must pack. Now. We must pack now. And you can NOT bring that many," Rory points to Lorelei's large collection of shoes, "shoes."
"Oh come on! You're bringing like, 5 million books!"
"I'm bringing 12 books, not 5 million. Besides, reading is educational. Shoes are not."
"Yeah, but like you've read ALL those books before."
"And you've worn all those shoes before," Rory countered.
"Fine. I'll give up 5 pairs of shoes if you give up, hmm, let me think, your 3 biggest books."
"Deal," Rory sticks out her hand for Lorelei to shake.
"Deal," she shakes Rory's hand.
" Now let's keep packing."
"Uhgg."
"Do you have everything?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Positive?"
"I'm fine you guys. I will call you as soon as I get there. And if I forget something, you can send it to me. Right."
"Right. Were just going to miss you, Lori."
" I know mom. I'll miss you guys, too."
"So this is goodbye?"
"This is goodbye."
Sasha and Lori pulled each other into a tight hug.
"Bye mom."
"Bye."
"Bye Lori."
"Bye Dad."
She was about to board the plane, but Jess stopped her.
"Lori!"
He ran over to her.
"Yeah, Jess."
"Can you hand this to, can you hand this to Rory?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Just, make sure she opens it. Please."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
They stood there.
"Well, are you going to give me hug or say goodbye, or something."
"Nope."
"Okay, then. Bye Jess."
She boarded the plane, Sasha and Jimmy left, Jess just stood there.
"Good bye, Rory."
He silently turned around and walked away.
"Buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing," the intercom announced.
And so the plane landed.
"Welcome to Hartford," came the intercom yet again.
"Next stop, Star's Hallow," said Lori with a sigh.
"You're going to Star's Hallow," the person next to her asked.
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"Well, that's where I'm going, too."
"Do you think you could give me a ride there? I don't have a car yet."
"Sure. What's your name?"
"Lori Mariano."
"Mariano?!"
"Um, yeah. Is there something wrong."
"Do you know Jess Mariano?"
"Yeah, he's my brother, sort of."
"What does 'sort of' mean?"
"I was adopted. He and I aren't blood related."
By now they were off the plan. The whole time they were walking.
" Good," Dean gave a sigh.
"Why is that good?"
"He and I just have a sort of, bad history, to say the least."
"Oh. Well, now that you know my name, what is yours?"
"Dean Forrester."(A/N: sorry if I spelled Forrester wrong.)
(Dean was on a flight from Chicago. Lori had a flight transfer in Chicago, for those of you who were wondering.)
"Hey Dean."
"Yeah, Lori," he replied as they waited for their luggage.
"Do you know Rory Gilmore? She's my sister."
"We finished packing!"
"Halleluiah!"
"Do you want to have a movie night tonight in celebration?"
"Ooh. That'd be fun."
"Okay. It's settled. I'll get the movies and you'll get the various junk foods. Any suggestions, daughter dearest."
"Why yes, mommy dearest. How about Breakfast Club and Willy Wonka?"
"Yay, Willy Wonka!"
"Ooh, and Ferris Buelers Day Off!"
"Amen sista'."
"Did you just say you're Rory's sister?!"
"Um, yeah."
"Wow. This is awkward. Um, are you like twins or something."
"Yeah, we are, but not identical."
(A/N: Dean is a little OOC right now, sorry. I am trying, but I have to have some OOC to explain what's going on. Dean is really cheesy anyway, so it doesn't matter. LOL)
"Are you sure, because Rory never said anything to me about having a sister, and she never lies."
"Maybe she doesn't now. I was adopted at birth."
" That might be it. But Lorelei and Rory are like sisters themselves. Lorelei would've told Rory."
" Whatever. All I know is that we're sisters and the world is still moving."
They walked for a while in comfortable silence.
"This is my car," he said when they reached the said car.
" Okay. I guess I'll just throw my stuff in the back."
"That'll work," replied Dean.
He added, "So, Lori, are you moving to Star's Hallow?"
"Kind of. I'm going to college at Yale, so I guess I'll stay in Star's Hallow for the summer."
"Really. Rory is going there, too."
"No way!"
"Yep."
"This is going to be so cool!"
They, yet again, sat in comfortable silence the rest of the way.
As they passed the 'Welcome to Star's Hallow' sign, Lori squirmed in nervous excitement. She was scared to find out if Rory and Lorelei liked her. What if they didn't? She would have to face Rory in college no matter what. Oh, God was she nervous.
As they drove through the town, Dean pointed out people they passed. They pulled up to Doose's Market.
"This is where I work. I have to get my paycheck, so you can come in and see the market, if you want."
"Sure."
They made there way into the store. Dean went to grab his paycheck and Lori wandered to the junk food isle. One other person occupied the isle. She had beautiful brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and delicate looking skin. She was almost the same as Lori herself…
'Oh my God. This is her. HER. My sister! MY SISTER!'
She stayed silent. She figured she could wait a LITTLE while longer.
Then Dean came back.
"Oh, hi Dean. Can we go now?"
"Uh, sure, Lori."
"Dean. When did you get back from Chicago," Rory questioned at the sound of his voice.
"Who are you," she directed at Lori.
"Me? Oh, I, um, I'm Lori."
"I thought you were dating Lindsay, Dean."
"Oh, I still am."
"I'm just visiting Star's Hallow. I met him at the airport. I don't have a car yet."
"Oh, well, it was nice meeting you, Lori."
Rory turned and walked to the counter to pay.
"Phew. That was a close one," Lori sighed.
Lindsay was listening to the whole conversation from the next isle over.
"Hey mom, I'm home."
No answer.
"Well, I guess I'll just wait."
She walked over to the answering machine and saw the red light blinking, so she pressed it.
Beep.
'Um, hey. It's Luke. I checked out the door. It needs some new hinges. I'll see if I have any spares lying around my apartment.'
Beep.
'Hey Rory. It's mom. Michel is really sick so I have to fill in for him tonight. I'll be home in time to start movie night. We don't have any food so Luke's is you best bet. Love ya sweets.'
Rory let out a sigh.
She was really looking forward to some time to chill out with her mom.
She thought of grabbing her coat, but after realizing it was summer, she just headed out the door.
Lori walked around the town, aimlessly. She was hungry, and after considering all her options, decided upon a small diner under the title of Luke's.
She chose a seat at the counter because it was the only seat available in the crowded diner. Her scanned the diner and soon fell upon the picture of someone familiar.
She stood and made her way to the picture-covered bulletin board. There was a picture of a burly man in a flannel shirt wearing a backwards baseball cap, a picture of who she knew to be Ms. Patty, Kirk, and a large blond woman, one of Dean hugging a tall and thin blond girl, and one of Jess with Rory. They made a cute couple, and they looked happy, even though he wasn't smiling. Why was there a picture of him in here?
"Looking for something," came a monotone voice from behind her.
"Um, actually yeah. I'm looking for Lorelei Gilmore."
Luke pointed to a picture of a beautiful brunette wearing an I LOVE COFFEE shirt and holding a mug of the said beverage.
"She's beautiful," Lori said in awe at the sight of her MOTHER.
"Yea, she is."
"Oh, are you her boyfriend or something?"
Realizing what he said, he blushed and answered, "Who? Me? No, not Lorelei. No not us."
"Uh huh."
Ignoring her remark, Luke questioned, "So, why do you need to see her so badly?"
"She's um, she's my mother."
By now, everyone in the whole diner was listening.
"Lorelei is your mother!?"
"Um, yeah."
And with that Miss Patty left the building.