Fragile
Chapter 2: Drift Away
Rory's POV
I slumped further into my seat as Dean pulled into Stars Hollow. The sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away. I stumbled out of the car as Dean lead me inside my mother's house. My mother greeted me with open arms.
"Hello, sweetheart" She said as she clung to me.
"Hi" I said in barely a whisper, as we pulled away. I bit my lip. "When does it start?" I asked.
"In about an hour. Why don't you get ready?" She said sweetly. I nodded and grabbed my bag.
"Hello, Dean." Lorelai said quietly.
I dressed in my old room. Most of my things were no longer in there. There was a dresser and a bare bed, and a couple of boxes in the closet. I walked slowly towards them. I ran my finger nail along the tape to open the box. Huh. There were stuffed animals in this box and at the top was a teddy bear. It was red and a heart on its chest. Jess had given it to her, she remembered. He had been embarrassed at the sappiness factor, but nonetheless she had loved it. Somehow she had forgotten about it, because of the other present he had gotten her.
Flashback
Jess and Rory were sitting on Rory's bed reading. It was Valentines' Day.
"Good book?" He asked. He was smirking at her.
"Um, Yes. You should know, I mean it's The Great Gatsby." She looked at him inquisitively. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a teddy bear. It was so adorable.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" He said shyly as he handed her the bear. She lit up.
"Awww...thanks Jess." She exclaimed. "That's so sweet." He blushed.
"Oh, and I also got you this." He said. He pulled out of his jacket a book signed by one of her favourite authors.
"Oh my god..." She said. "Now my present looks crappy!" She laughed. She gave him a package she pulled from under the bed. He opened it curiously. Inside was a stuffed swan.
"Ahhhhh..." he said, laughing. "Why would you do this?" She smiled him.
"I'm trying to help you with your phobia of swans." He looked at her nervously.
"It's not a phobia."
"Every time you see one you hide behind me." She smirked.
"Well if you got attacked by one you'd be scared too." He remarked, staring at the stuffed swan suspiciously.
"Look, this one won't hurt you. See?" she held the swan in front of him. "I named him Gunther."
"Wait, you named my swan?" He said accusingly. She pouted.
"I couldn't resist." She showed him her puppy dog eyes. "Just look at Gunther, he won't hurt you." He took the swan from her hands and pretended it was attacking him.
"Oh god, ahhh someone call 911." He screamed. "Killer Swan on the loose." She started hitting him playfully and they both rolled of the bed in giggles. She landed on top of him, and he pulled her into a kiss.
End of Flashback
I smiled sadly at the memory. I wonder where Gunther was now. I finished dressing and placed the teddy inside my coat. I walked out. Dean and my mother were already dressed.
"Let's go to Luke's, and get some coffee first." She suggested, and I nodded, agreeing. We climbed into the car. That's when I saw it. In the window. A face. Maybe I was just hallucinating. We reached the diner. It was closed, but Luke let us in anyway. He was sitting at a table in silence. He looked like he had been crying. Lorelai, and I helped ourselves to some coffee.
"Hey." Luke smiled sadly, at both of us. "I got some pie left if you want some." He suggested.
"No thanks" I said.
"Thanks anyway." My mom said.
"So, how's work Dean?" He asked.
"Oh, it's good." He paused. "I might get a promotion."
Small talk. This was good. This is what they did. They went around the issue. Nobody wanted to talk about it. The thing is though, Jess hated small talk. She could just hear him.
"Cut the crap, and stop avoiding the issue at hand"
Yep, Jess' voice of reasoning. Okay, so it wasn't reasonable all the time. Sometimes though, you need to be blunt. I tuned out the voices around me and drifted back to a time when everything was wonderful. I could smell the food, hear the cheery voices, and hear Jess' footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Luke, I'm taking a break!" He would say.
"But you already had one" Luke would reply, but he'd already be gone. He'd be off to the bridge. We would meet there, and talk. Just talk. Enjoy each other's presence. That was heaven. But suddenly, my heaven was interrupted.
"Rory! Rory, honey, are you okay?" It was my mother's coaxing voice.
"I'm fine" I mumbled.
"She does that sometimes." Dean commented. "Just stares into space." Lorelai sighed, and for awhile there was silence. I knew what everyone was thinking about. The day I first tried to do it. The day I slit my wrists.
