Chapter 4
A/N: yay! Lots more reviews! hehehe! I love reviews! Anyway, I've been getting into this fic a lot more recently, and I've written another part! Now, your reviews guys, are SO helpful – you shall not see the fruits of our hard working reviewing labour in this part (well, maybe your reviewing labour from parts a while ago), but you will in time, trust me! Seriously, your reviews make me a better writer, so thankyou!
ProFfeSseR: Thanks for loving the story! Two Christmas days, hey… intriguing! We don't have two, we just have Christmas day, then Boxing Day. It's all good! lol
Miss-Lionesse: why thankyou! I just can't decide of chapter names… so I put the time instead! lol! And, well, you never know how Lorelai will react… well, I do, coz it's my story… but anyway…!
ALIASobsessed: well, thanks for the review on this chapter!
MM Vermelha: hello new reviewer! Thanks for reading my story and taking the time to give me a little shout of encouragement, much appreciated! They should, yes. Just read to find out…
Natalia DeLuca: thankyou! I shall
Meredith44: You're right there Meredith, and your review has given me a lot of help, and an idea for a future part! So make sure you read chapter 5… I'm sure it will be nice and fulfilling for you! Lol
that70slover: once again, CC is helping me a whole heap! I hear what you're saying about not much Rory, so keep reading, she shall be popping up soon!
Emma-Lizzy-Black: keep reading! It will all fall into place soon.
controversy-queen: confusing makes it all the better when it all finally clicks together!
Emma: your wish is my command…
Now, on with the story my darlings!
4 weeks after the birthday
Dan just finished putting the last chair up in the diner for closing when he heard the door jangle. He looked up to see Beth standing in the doorway, smiling faintly.
"Hey," she said softly, frowning a little as she watched him.
"Hey," he replied, going to the counter and wiping it down, avoiding her gaze. She approached the counter and leaned against it, her mouth opening and shutting as she decided to say something then changed her mind.
"I… I'm sorry," she stumbled out, looking at Dan helplessly. He still refused to look at her. She sighed. "Dan, please, look at me." He refused to look up.
"Dan, please! I'm sorry for prying; I knew you didn't want to talk about it, but… I just kept persisting and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," she begged. Dan stopped wiping, but refused to look up. He let out a deep breath.
"Why should I believe you?" he questioned. He'd been hurt before, and the last thing he needed was a reminder of it.
"Because I love you," Beth replied, her voice a little quieter than before. Dan's head shot up.
"I love you, okay? And… I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but I do, and I'm sorry if… I dunno, if that doesn't work for you. I just wanted you to know how I feel. I'm sorry," she said, turning around and walking towards the door.
"Beth, wait!" Dan called out, racing out from behind the counter and stopping her just as she reached the door. He turned her by the arm and looked into her tear-filled eyes.
"You're not the one who should be sorry. I am. I was just being uptight and a prick and I should've trusted you enough to talk to you," he said, running his right hand through her hair gently. She smiled back at him through her tears.
"Oh yeah," he added, "and one more thing. I love you too." This brought a chuckle to Beth, and he leaned in and kissed her sweetly.
2 months before the birthday
Hew sat at a table in the diner by himself, slowly savouring the taste of his burger. His dad hated it when he had burgers, he said 'that was a Gilmore women thing, and he shouldn't involve himself in it'. He didn't care, he liked burgers, but more than that, he liked coffee. And he was dieing for some. But of course, as long as his dad was serving him, it would never happen. Hew had tried it on Dan, but Luke had told him not to give Hew coffee.
"You want another soda?" Dan asked Hew as he approached the table.
"Coffee?" Hew asked helplessly. Dan rolled his eyes.
"Dad's here you know. In the kitchen. You could at least wait until he's not within a 20 metre radius before you start asking for coffee," he replied, taking Hew's glass. "Coke?" Hew nodded.
Dan went off to refill Hew's soda, and just as he did so, she entered. That's right. Hew's mortal enemy. The tall, blonde, skinny, scrawny, Larissa Doose. She spotted Hew and walked over to him, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.
"Hello Matthew," she greeted, rather coldly. For an 11 year-old girl, she sure knew how to play the ice queen.
"Larissa," Hew scowled back. If there was one thing in the world he hated, it was Larissa Doose. It was then he noticed the posters in her hands.
"What's that?" Hew enquired, rather rudely.
"Posters for the Spring Festival," she replied, her nose moving higher into the air, if it was possible.
"What? You think my dad will put one of those stupid things up in his diner?" Hew spat.
"He may surprise you," Larissa replied coolly, strutting over to the counter. Geez, Hew hated her. Especially when she walked like that. She leaned against the counter and clicked her fingers at Dan, who had his back to her, refilling a pot of coffee.
"Excuse me?" she called, as if she had been waiting for hours. Dan turned around, and noticing who it was, scowled inwardly.
"Is Mr Danes about?" she asked, her lips pursed tightly. Dan jutted his jaw out in aggravation.
"Dad, Larissa Doose wants to see you," he called in the direction of the kitchen. A few seconds later Luke came out.
"What's he sent you to do this time, Larissa?" Luke asked, his arms crossed across his chest.
"Who? Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about Mr Danes," she said coyly.
"Don't get smart with me, what did Taylor send you for?" Luke asked again.
"Grandpa didn't send me to do anything," she replied, still trying to maintain her act. Luke simply gave an angry stare and she caved.
"He wants you to put a poster up in your diner for the Spring Festival," Larissa replied submissively, putting her small stack of posters up on the counter. Luke let out an aggravated grunt and rolled his eyes.
"I've said it every year, and I'll say it again now. It's not happening," Luke replied.
"But -"
"No buts! Take your posters," Luke picked them up from the counter and handed them to her, "and go tell your grandpa where he can put them!"
"Dad!" Dan protested, shocked at what Luke had said to the girl.
"Sorry," Luke apologised, "tell him it's the same answer as it is every year." Larissa nodded and smiled weakly before quickly running out of the diner. Hew saw this and smirked, Luke walked back into the kitchen muttering something about 'Taylor and his stupid posters', and Dan went back to the coffee pot. The afternoon lull had hit, but he decided to keep a fresh pot on, just in case his mother turned up. He heard the bell jingle as someone opened the door, and he smiled and looked up, expecting it to be her. Instead, it was a girl who looked around his age, pretty, with straight medium brown hair that fell below her shoulders, and as she walked closer to the counter he could see her deep brown eyes. She smiled at him and leaned up against the counter.
"Hi," she said, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear.
"Hi," he replied, smiling a little too giddily for his own liking.
"I'll just have a coffee to go thanks," she said, playing with her fingers slightly. Dan smiled and grabbed a to-go cup, filling it up with the fresh, hot coffee.
"I'm Beth," she said, accepting the cup from Dan.
"Dan," he replied with a smile. "Are you new around here? I haven't seen you before."
"Ah, yeah. I just moved here with my parents from New Jersey. They wanted to be closer to my mom's family. And, I'm just starting at Yale this semester, I transferred from Princeton," she said, suddenly getting the odd feeling that she was sharing a little too much with this stranger.
"Yale? That's cool, I go to Yale," Dan said, a silly smile starting on his face.
"Sophmore?" she asked.
"No, Freshman," he replied. She nodded and smiled.
"Me too. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around a lot then," she said, getting her wallet out of her purse.
"Oh, don't worry about it, first time customers are on the house," Dan said. Beth smiled in gratitude.
"Thanks. See you later," she replied.
"Yeah, nice meeting you."
7 weeks after the birthday
She stared out the car window, at the houses and trees as they flicked by. She wasn't staring at them; she was staring past them, daydreaming. She wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, just zoning out in general. Her mom was blabbing on about one thing or another, but she wasn't really paying attention.
"Jay. Jay!" her mom said, finally catching her attention. She snapped her gaze away from the window and turned her attention to Lorelai. "Did you hear anything I just said?"
"What? No, sorry, I was in another world," Jay replied.
"Obviously," Lorelai muttered. They were quiet for a minute, Jay no longer staring out the window, but just casually looking out the front of the car.
"You can start jogging again now. Not that I ever understood why you did in the first place," Lorelai pointed out, not turning to look at her daughter, just staring at the road.
"Yeah I spose," Jay replied. But in reality, jogging was the last thing she wanted to do right now. It reminded her of him.
"So what's the first thing you're gonna do with your cast off?" Lorelai asked with a smile.
"I promised dad I'd work a shift at the diner," she replied, sitting her elbow on the car door and resting her chin on her palm.
"Oh come on, you can't start off by working! We should go do something girly together that involves using your legs! Like… rollerblading… hang on, that isn't very girly… or… I dunno, I'm pretty stuck for ideas. You got any?" Lorelai said. Jay just shrugged in reply. They reached town and stopped at the only traffic light in town.
"Oh for goodness sake," Lorelai said, "there's one traffic light in town, and it has to go red now! I wanna get home, Seinfeld repeats are on in 5 minutes!" They sat there at the lights for a while, and Jay turned her head to look out her window. Then she saw him. Walking down towards Doose's, his hands in his pockets. Her gaze fixated on him. She couldn't look away. They hadn't spoken in seven weeks, and she missed him. She watched him as he walked along, walking with direction, his messy brown hair moving around as he did so. He looked up for a minute and looked around. It only took a second for his gaze to find Jay's. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her, their eyes locking. It was at that exact moment that the light turned green and Lorelai surged forward with power. However, their eyes remained transfixed on each other until neither could see the other.
A/N: hope you liked it! I think this could quite possibly be the first Gilmore Girls fan fic update for 2005… so go me! Review please!
