CClar832 – I'm trying to write Jersey Girls like the average teenie drama. Meaning that something crucial to the show will happen in the S3 finale. I'm glad you're liking it, though, because even though I'm writing bits of the script, I can't say it's something I myself would watch. At least someone thinks it's good…maybe I'll sell it to the WB.
Francesca Jones – My most enthusiastic reviewer ever. I don't think I've ever been almost-kinda-sorta proposed to.
JanelleRae – High compliment. Thank you much.
evangaline b – Driving the readers crazy is in the job description. Sorry. But I'll get around to that eventually.
whatever13245 – Really? 45 thumbs?
Sorry again guys, I couldn't go on the computer for a week (got grounded again…this happened during Pennames) so my updating was thrown off once more.
"This is so good, I want to take a bath in this sauce," Rory finished her food, quoting her mother.
"Thank you for refraining, because I don't think the manager would be too happy with us."
"Have I mentioned how I'm forever in your debt for bringing me here?"
"I believe you have."
"Well, I am. And I never thought I'd say this, but after the bread and the pasta and the sauce and the salad, I'm too full for desert."
"Me too. Check please," he flagged down their waitress. The curvy lady had been refraining from hitting on Jess all night. She'd wanted too, but nothing would have come from it. He was obviously enthralled by his date.
He paid, and then escorted Rory back to the car, his arms loosely around her waist. They'd grown so relaxed with each other after 'dating' the past several weeks, and she responded by moving even closer to him.
They entered the parking lot and were abruptly blinded by multiple flashes of light. Rory let out a shriek at the sudden onslaught of light and noise, and Jess pulled her closer to him. About fifty reporters, photographers, and fans were waiting for them, cameras flashing and microphones diving for them. Their names were screamed and people rushed forward to invade their personal space, as Rory's head began to ache from the activity. It had been okay up until now, but the lump was currently throbbing painfully.
Jess felt Rory stumble as they continued walking, so he wrapped his hand tightly around her wrist. He swore as he made his way through the throngs of people that appeared to be growing in size, and he pulled Rory behind him. They tripped out of the mob as Jess broke into a run, towing Rory. She looked scared, and he wasn't too stable himself. He'd been accosted by media before, but the paparazzi had never attacked him like that.
He reached his car, and practically threw her inside. All he cared about right then was getting her away from these people, and he sped out of the parking lot as she shook.
"I'm so sorry, Rory."
"Don't be, that wasn't your fault. Ow, my head." She reached into her purse and took out some Advil.
"That looks like a little more than the recommended daily dosage." She swallowed the pills regardless, using spit to wash them down.
"That was terrifying."
"Has it ever happened to you before?"
"Not to that extreme." She rested her head against the cool glass of the window. "Can you just take me home?"
"Of course." By now he knew the way to her apartment by heart. He'd been there enough times to pick her up, and he was even going in the building to get her now. If they weren't going to be 'breaking up' soon, he'd think they were getting closer. Well, they were growing closer. But as friends, not as a couple. There may have been some looks, some touches, here and there, but it was always in the back of Jess's mind that this was a temporary thing. They wanted the public to leave them alone, so nothing like THAT ever happened again. He looked over at her and saw how pale she'd become. When he found a parking spot in front of her building, he helped her out of the car, and held her hand all the way to her door.
"Thanks. For dinner, and for getting me out of there. I froze up when I saw all the people," she said in front of her apartment.
"No problem. Good night," he whispered as he moved towards her, and planted a small kiss on her feathery lips. He left as soon as she'd gone inside, scowling. The events of the night, the look on Rory's face when a camera man had grabbed her hair in attempt to prevent her flight, and the blood pounding in his head as he squealed out of the parking lot came back to him.
She was recovering still. They had no right to freak her out like that. If anyone frightened Rory like that again when he was around, there would be hell to pay.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
In a small apartment in Boston, Christopher Hayden surfed through the channels. On one of those 'Celebrities Gone Bad' shows, he watched as a horde of reporters surrounded a young couple.
"You wanted to be famous, you deal with it," Chris muttered as he took a swig of beer. At the bottom of the screen, two names came on: Jess Mariano and Rory Gilmore. He spat out the beer. His daughter, whom he hadn't called in months, was being yanked along by some punk. Oh, he was wearing a dress shirt, but he was a hoodlum. You could see it in his towering mass of gel-thick hair. Chris watched as the boy tossed Rory into a car, and climbed in his own seat. He drove off as the program moved on to Courtney Cox Arquette, and Chris stared blankly at the screen. As the minutes passed, he became more and more upset by what he had just seen.
Jackass was gonna pay for treating Rory like that.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Go Fish," Rory ordered Jess, scanning her cards.
"Can't we just play poker?"
"I don't have any threes, please Go Fish."
"You're boring," Jess commented as he picked up a card from the pile. Smirking, he put both threes down, and shuffled through his remaining cards.
"You're SO cheating."
"That's what you said when I beat you at Life."
"I ended up a teacher with no children in a trailer park. You, the 'entertainer', had to get a second car for all your offspring and you had the big Victorian Mansion. There's no way that was all sheer luck."
"Maybe I'm just better at board games than you are. Ever think of that?"
"It doesn't explain why you're winning a card game."
"Well maybe you're just dumb. Can we play for money next time?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not letting you rob me blind."
"Fine, we'll play strip-Go Fish."
"How would you even play that? There are no minute wins and loses to result in the shedding of clothing."
"I don't know. I guess you could just get naked from the start, eliminate the need for losing."
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"As I've been cooped up in your trailer for the past two hours while we wait out the storm that's ruining our outside-the-school set, the hormones need to go somewhere."
"I envy the girl that ends up with you, Jess. You're such a romantic," Rory said as she rolled her eyes. Lorelai was helping Terri today, and it was indeed raining violently outside. She'd invited Jess to play some of the games she and Lorelai kept in her trailer, and they'd been busy for a while.
"Somehow they don't see it. Do you think it's ever going to stop raining?"
"No. Max is gonna have to give up soon. At least we'll get to go early today."
"What are you going to do with all this unexpected free time?"
"I was thinking of ordering Thai food and watching Almost Famous."
"I love that movie."
"Really?"
"It's a classic. Maybe I'll watch it tonight too, now that you've got the idea in my head."
"Why don't you come over then? Mom's out with Luke, and there's a bunch of reporters around the building because of all the semi-celebrities that live there. It would qualify as one of our dates, but people might think it was more."
"True. Okay, I'll be there."
"Bring Red Vines."
"As you wish." He looked down at his cards. "Do you have any sixes?"
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Too sparkly. Too plain. Too much skin. Not enough skin.
"Hey, you're ruining my system."
"I have my own system."
"Well this is Momma's closet. Go raid your own, or follow the system already in place." Rory sighed.
"Fine. What's your system?"
"This is the 'maybe' pile, this is the 'no way' stack, and this is the 'if there's no other option' heap." She moved away from the bed and towards her glide-rocker. "This is the 'I haven't tried it on yet but it might work' mass, and somewhere around here is the 'Probably looks like crap, but I haven't tried' mountain."
"Is this the mountain?" Rory asked, indicating the clothes on the floor.
"Ah, the lost mountain! You've found it!"
"So how do two people dress from the same system? I mean, your 'no way' stack might also be my 'maybe' pile."
"Well, I guess we could do this in shifts. Or, I know, you could wear your own clothes."
"I have many clothes, Mother, but not as much as you. I just have the main clothing categories covered, like working-out and vegging and date-wear. I don't have he's-coming-over-to-watch-Kate-Hudson-wear."
"You know, ever since you and Jess started pretend dating, you've been raiding my closet an awful lot. Ever think it might be time to invest in your own he's-coming-over-to-watch-Kate-Hudson-wear?"
"Why? I can just wear yours."
"Fine. But don't mess up my system." They dug through the closet, every so often unearthing a garment to be held up, examined, and tossed into one of the growing piles. It took another half hour, but they were eventually standing side-by-side in front of Lorelai's floor-length mirror, each holding an outfit up to her body. Lorelai's was a blue shirt with baggy black pants, the legs of which, in movement, resembled a skirt. Rory had a purple blouse and a black miniskirt. They smiled at their reflections, then frowned. Then traded.
"Perfect!" Rory dashed back to her own room to change as Lorelai moved a few discarded outfits out of the way. It became a mad dash back and forth between each other's bathrooms in pursuit of the perfect hairstyles and makeup accents. Luke and Jess were smart enough not to show up early.
:Ding dong: Mother and daughter froze mid-mascara sweep.
"You get it- you've answered the door to Luke before. And if it's not Luke, it's for you anyway."
"Yea, but you're prettier than me. I need another minute."
"I cannot answer the door to my daughter's gentleman caller! It's weird and uncomfortable, and what if he decides he likes me better? I don't want that to come between us, Bunny. Get the door."
"I'm not getting the door when you're closer to being done than I am!"
"Well I'm not accidentally stealing your fake boyfriend."
"Fine. If it's Luke, he'll think you bailed on him."
"And if it's Jess, he'll find another Mother/Daughter team. I'm thinking Goldie/Kate."
"Oh my God, we're watching Almost Famous tonight! I bet he is planning to leave our fake relationship for Kate!"
"Hold on there, isn't Kate married?"
"I don't know, I only met her once."
"Yea, she is! To the guy with the hair!"
"The guy with the hair? That's pretty much everyone except Vin Diesel, Mom." The doorbell rang again.
"One of us has to get it, Rory."
"Then we'll both get it."
"Okay then." Together, they marched haughtily towards the door.
"One, two, three," Lorelai counted as they pulled the door open, to reveal Jess standing on the other side with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey Lorelai," he said to her, not seeing Rory behind the door. She poked her head around at that moment. "And Rory. What is this, the Welcome Wagon?"
"We had a disagreement over who should get the door."
"And this was your solution?"
"You weren't there. Come in." Lorelai went back to Rory's bathroom as Jess followed Rory to the kitchen.
"How was it out there?"
"There's no less than ten media freaks surrounding the place. I was definitely spotted."
"We should mess up your hair or something before you leave, make it look real dirty and all."
"Good idea." The door rang again.
"Mom, its Luke!"
"I shouldn't have to go by myself."
"I'm not answering the door with you when we already know it's YOUR date."
"But that's not fair. I answered it with you when it was YOUR date."
"For God's sake!" Jess yelled, going to get the door himself. He opened it to his Uncle's surprised face.
"Luke."
"Jess." The two hadn't spoken since the hospital.
"Lorelai's almost ready. I think she's in Rory's room."
"And how would you know where Rory's room is?"
"Alright, I confess. We've been shagging like bunnies since you introduced us. Would you come inside?" Luke grumbled as he entered, and Jess left him to close the door by himself.
"Hey there, handsome," Lorelai purred as she walked out. Luke blushed as Jess pretended to shoot himself in the head. Rory laughed at him, pulling snacks out from the pantry.
"You like Bugles?" He nodded enthusiastically as he took the requested Red Vines from his coat. "Super. Here's my Thai menu, let me know if you want anything that's not on there." He skimmed it and handed it back to her.
"Good choices. Movie ready to go?"
"Of course not. Mom and I have spent the past hour-and-a-half getting ready, when did I have time to put a DVD in?"
"You know, you really didn't have to do that. I'd have been fine with you in your pajamas or whatever; I've seen you in them before."
"Well, I haven't done any real dating in a while, so I need an outlet for my girly, predate prepping."
"Really? There's no other guy?"
"I'd have told you if I was dating someone! We are friends, or at least I thought we were."
"But you haven't even gone out with anyone else in a while?"
"Nope."
"Huh."
"Why?"
"Just curious."
"Uh huh. And what about you, Mr. Cool?"
"Not for a few months."
"Why's that? Couldn't get a girl?" She teased him as he smirked and shrugged- two very common Jess-answers to her questions.
"I could get any girl. Just didn't feel like it." She nodded as a smile curved her lips upward, and a few feet away his smirk softened.
"Rory? Jess? We're going, be good, nothing dirty on the couch!"
"Aye aye, captain." Lorelai and Luke left as Rory picked up the phone, and Jess went to put the movie in.