A/N- Do you know that there's almost nothing I like better after a long day of camp than coming home and finding reviews in my email box? Keep me happy, please :).
A/N 2- Questions! Rory is sixteen. So are all the rest of the kids. Rory's adoption already happened, but Jess' didn't. It will, soon, with some drama infused... Everybody who's so dead set against Marissa and/or Summer in the story? They wouldn't be main characters, if they came. It'd be a one or two chapter deal, like the first time Jimmy and co. showed up. I just feel like the main characters I have don't get enough air time as is. I'm still playing with the idea, though... At least one breakup probably will happen, but I love the idea of them being High school sweethearts. I'm a hopeless romantic... K that's all of them for now.
A/N3- Elizabethintheblue- I don't usually do this, so you know this is incredible. How did you read all of the chapters in one day! It's almost three hundred pages long! I tried it once and I soooo didn't have the attention span for that. I must say that I am impressed.
Dedicated to: Everyone who knew the last movie was Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Which is possibly my favorite movie of all time). That would be: Ally and Bee (My favorite bee in the whole wide world! I miss you so much!) b/c they both reviewed late, ok... actual people who knew Holy Grail... BassClarinetSweetie, FlipGurl219, Du Grey, SmartCookie816, harmmac82, Lonnie, SmartiePantz, Chelsea, and Queen of the Elven City. To be honest, I expected more... K good.
New challenge: Who knows what tv show Lorelai and Rory are watching/talking about in the den towards the beginning of the chapter? Same rules as always, dears.
Trust
"Hi, hi, I know, I'm late, I'm sorry. I was talking to my Spanish teacher about the test we're having next week." Ryan shook his head and joked,
"We'll forgive you. This time." Jess shook his head,
"Speak for yourself. I'm never taking out the garbage for you again. You made me late to stand at the bus stop while everyone else from our school drives by and laughs at us for not having our own cars to crash." Rory cocked her head to one side as they continued walking towards the corner,
"I'm sorry?"
"Here," Ryan said, handing her a sheet of paper, "They were handing these out by the front door." Rory glanced over it,
"What is this?"
"Newsletter."
"Oh, right. Anything interesting?" Seth shrugged,
"School dance coming up. Next week."
"Oh," Rory tiptoed around the subject, "What do you guys think?"
"I'm bringing Lane. Definitely," Seth announced proudly. Rory grinned patronizingly,
"She'll like that. Jess?"
"I'm not sure how much of a 'Chilton school dance' girl Ally is, but I'll ask her anyway. It's kinda stupid. We hate these people. Why do we want to spend extra time with them eating crappy food and listening to crappy music?" Ryan nodded,
"I agree with that. Who wants to go sit next to Madeline and Louise arguing over who gets to hook up with the new kid first and who gets sloppy seconds?" He paused for a second, "C'mon, I mean, Rory gets what I'm saying. Right, Ror?" Rory quickly hid the disappointed frown threatening to overcome her lips and nodded with a shaky smile,
"Right... right. I mean, no one wants to hear Paris complain about the quality of the steak she paid five dollars for." Ryan triumphantly threw his arm around her,
"See? Rory understands."
"Umm... yeah... yeah..." Rory couldn't find anything else to say, so instead, she nestled closer into the crook of Ryan's arm.
"I, personally, would love to watch Tristan and Paris argue over who's more likely to be the next dictator to overthrow a major country," Seth mentioned.
"My money's on Paris."
"People are scared of her."
"But Tristan has that weird manipulative ability." Rory stopped the boys,
"This conversation just got very weird, even for us."
"New topic?"
"Please."
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As Rory entered the house that afternoon, she mused on her afternoon. Ryan doesn't want to go. That's ok. I can go alone or... we could spend the night together... watching a movie... eating junk food... just like always. Nothing special. Nothing new. Nothing interesting... Not that that usually bothers me... I don't know...
She sighed and threw her bookbag onto the floor next to the sofa, dropping the newsletter carelessly onto the coffee table, and allowed herself to fall back on the couch.
What seemed like a moment later, she was startled by her mother's frantic footsteps shuffling through the den. She sat up, confused,
"Mom? What are you doing home?" Lorelai shot her a distracted glance,
"I'm looking for Josh's blue binky. The one he loves. He's asleep, so it's not dire, but he'll be up soon enough, and then, all hell will break loose." Rory scratched at her head,
"They let you go home from work to find his binky? Isn't it enough that they let you bring the twins to work half the week?" Lorelai shook her head,
"What are you talking about? It's 7:30."
"7:30?" Rory asked, turning to the clock on the TV's cable box, "I've been asleep all this time? Why didn't you wake me up?" Lorelai shook her head,
"I only got home an hour ago. You've just seemed so tired lately. I figured you could use the rest. Besides, you're no use to me if you aren't awake enough to find your brother's binky."
"That thing always gets lost," said Rory, flipping on the TV and switching the channel, "Hey," she said, pointing the remote at the television, "maybe you could call Grissom and Catherine and have them come help look for it. They'd be up for the job. Easier than investigating the cause of death of mutilated bodies." Lorelai shook her head,
"Nah. Warrick's hot and everything, but I'm sure they'd charge you an exorbitant amount of money for a pacifier. I'd be better off just going and buying one at the store."
"Joshy's attached to that one, though."
"Yeah, well, you were attached to your pet guinea pig when you were two, but when he died, you forgot about it within a week. I bought you a new baby doll." Rory's mouth fell open,
"You and dad told me he ran away!" Lorelai laughed, lifting up the papers on the coffee table in her ongoing effort to find the pacifier. She was distracted by a picture of a spotted owl,
"What's this?"
"Chilton newsletter."
"Why didn't I get one?"
"It'll probably come in the mail tomorrow." Lorelai skimmed it,
"Hey, are you gonna go to this?" Rory was perplexed,
"To what? The owl?"
"The dance."
"Oh," Rory looked away, "That... no..."
"Why not?"
"Cuz I hate dances," she covered quickly.
"Good answer," Lorelai sat next to her daughter, "Except you've never actually been to a dance."
"So?"
"So, you really have nothing to compare it to."
"No, but I can imagine it." I've gotten good at lying. That's not healthy...
"That's true. However, not really, since you've never actually been to one you're basing all your dance opinions on one midnight viewing of Sixteen Candles."
"So?"
"So you should have a decent reason for hating something before you really decide you hate it."
"Trust me, I'll hate it," she began to remember what her friends had said earlier, "It'll be stuffy and boring, the music will suck and since none of the kids at school like me, I'll be stuck in the back listening to 98° watching Tristan and Paris argue over which one of them gets to make me miserable first."
"OK. Or it'll be all sparkly and exciting and you'll be standing on the dance floor listening to Tom Waits with Ryan staring at you so hard that you don't even realize that Paris and Tristan have just been eaten by bears."
"Sounds like a good experience," she laughed nervously.
"Why do you really not want to go?" Rory scrunched up her nose; her mother could always tell when she was lying,
"Ryan doesn't want to go..." she breathed in frustration.
"How do you know that?"
"He said that it'll suck. That he doesn't want to."
"Oh. That... What were his exact words?"
"I believe they were 'It will suck. I don't want to go.'"
"Could mean anything," Lorelai jokingly waved off the comment.
"Mom," Rory said warningly; Lorelai sighed,
"What did you tell him?"
"Ryan?"
"No, Nick Stokes."
"I told him that... I told him I didn't want to go either."
"But you do want to go?" She paused,
"Kinda... He was just so against it... I don't know."
"You know what I think?"
"Gilligan's Island was cancelled far too early?"
"Aside from that. I think you should tell Ryan that you want to go."
"What?"
"I think he'll understand. He loves you. If you want to go, I'm sure he'll brave it for a night."
"I don't know..."
"You do know, Rory. You know because you're you and you've never let anything stand in the way of something you want. Ryan would do anything for you. You know that. Tell him, ok?" Rory sighed, excitedly resigned,
"What will I wear?" Lorelai jumped up,
"I'll make you a dress. Something fabulous."
"Would I accept any less?"
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Lane, Coltrane playing softly through her half-on headphones, sat at her desk, finishing her biology homework. Her eyes darted to her bedroom door, where she had set up an ottoman to allow her time to put away the offending cds should her mother enter the room without warning. She was startled by a knock from behind her. Whipping her head around, she found a familiar sight; Seth, a shopping bag filled with candy in hand, beamed through her window. She scurried to let him in and helped him climb softly through into her bedroom, careful not to make a noise that would alarm her mother.
"Seth," she scolded, "What are you doing here? My mom is home!" Seth grinned, holding up the bag of candy,
"I come with goods." Lane pulled up a loose floorboard and took the bag of goodies from her boyfriend, replacing the wood quickly.
"Thank you," she kissed him lightly and aimlessly moved towards her closet, "What else?"
"What makes you think there was more?"
"Oh, I don't know. You come here carrying candy, braving coming into my house when my mother is here, not bothering to keep your voice down. You're excited about something. Spill." He began to bounce excitedly,
"Lanie, there's gonna be a dance at Chilton. I wanted to know if you'd come with me?" Lane smiled,
"Are they going to be playing outdated Milli Vanilli, serving us over-priced, under-cooked, tiny portions of food, all while everyone dances, wearing the same outfits?" Seth nodded,
"Of course." She squealed,
"I am so there!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, the two of them stumbling to the wall. They giggled together, but were immediately silenced upon hearing her mother's footsteps bounding down the hallway, "Quick! In the closet!" She threw him into the small room and ran to move the ottoman, then scurrying back to the window.
"Lane?"
"Yes, mama?" Her bedroom door swung open,
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, mama, I'm fine."
"I heard noises."
"What noises?"
"Giggling and falling. Are you sure nothing happened?"
"Yes, mama, I'm sure." Her mother began to walk towards her closed closet and her heart began to pound. Stay quiet, Seth. Stay quiet. Her heart may've stopped when she saw her mother rest her hand on the door handle- she wasn't sure. Her breath may've stopped when she heard a muffled hitch in someone's breathing. She didn't realize that it was her own, muffled by her hand aimlessly wandering over her own mouth.
She felt herself lose the numbness threatening to overtake her body as her mother moved away from the closet and walked towards her,
"What are you doing, Lane?"
"Me?" She covered quickly, "I'm doing biology homework."
"Why are you at the window?"
"To... to observe nature of course. For biology. Writing a report on the ecology of the tree outside my window."
"Oh... carry on, then. Tea will be ready in ten minutes. Finish your homework and come have some."
"Ok, mama. Thank you." Mrs. Kim couldn't leave fast enough for Lane (or Seth, whose asthma had been mildly offset in the small closet), and she ran to let her boyfriend loose, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, she wouldn't leave," she whispered.
"That's ok," Seth coughed quietly, "I should go, though. Just in case," he turned towards the window and cautiously climbed out, "The dance is next Saturday, by the way. Formal."
"I'll borrow something from Rory," she nodded, kissing him gently as he began down the tree. Just as Seth's bouncy brown curls disappeared below the windowsill, Lane's bedroom door creaked open once again.
"Lane," her mother said, causing her to jump three feet into the air, "What kind of herbal tea would you like?"
"Any kind, mama," she responded, a goofy grin overtaking her lips, "Whatever you want."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rory sat, her legs curled beneath her, on the swing on the front porch of her house, a copy of Moby Dick on her lap, a knit afghan covering her.
"Hey," Ryan shivered, walking up the steps greet her, "Reading in the cold again?"
"Keeps me awake," she smiled, leaning up to kiss him, "It feels good." He nodded,
"If you like it, it's ok by me." This could be easier than I thought. She grinned,
"Well, that's good. In that case, I have something to ask you." He pulled her closer to him, allowing her small body to warm his,
"What's up?" She paced herself,
"Ry, this school dance... we're... you... I..."
"Yeah, you and I make we... were you going somewhere with this?"
"Ryan... I know you think that its stupid, but... do you think... maybe... you could go to the dance... for me?"
"You want to go?" he asked incredulously.
"Kinda... I guess... Yeah. I do. Pretty badly, in fact. I mean, you don't have to go or anything. I could always go alone. Or with Jess. Maybe Ally won't want to come and my brother can be my date. Although, that's very Brady Bunch and slightly creepy if you ask me..." he cut off her ramblings by pressing his lips to hers.
When he pulled away, she expected him to rant and rave.
She expected him to tell her she was crazy.
She expected him to laugh in her face.
She didn't expect him to simply answer,
"Ok."
"Ok?"
"Ok."
"You mean you'll go?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you didn't want to go. I thought you said it'd be stupid and pointless and you'd never go?"
"Unless you wanted to. I'll go for you."
"You're sure? You don't want to stay home and watch Flying Circus reruns on BBC?"
"We can do that anytime. We usually do, in fact. This is something special. If you want to get dressed up and go, it's fine with me."
"Thank you."
"Any time... well, under one circumstance?"
"What?"
"Can we go inside? I'm freezing."
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"Do you want a sip?" asked Ally, offering Jess the milkshake he'd made her before the end of his shift at Kandy's. He shook his head,
"No thanks. I get enough ice cream during my shift. I think I'm starting to get sick of it." Ally stage-gasped,
"Not possible." He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist,
"Quite possible. I've sunk to eating nachos instead of cones on-shift."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"That's a travesty."
"Not really a travesty. Word choice is off there."
"This isn't Chilton," she joked, "You don't need to be on grammar and word-choice patrol at all times." Oh! Perfect segue!
"Speaking of Chilton," he started, "Look... there's a dance at Chilton next week. I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me." Ally looked to Jess, to her shake, to her shoes, and to Jess' hand resting comfortably on her hip. Jess was taken aback as she started to laugh hysterically. Doubled over, she managed to cough out,
"Good one, Jess. Very funny. You, me, Chilton dance?" He regarded her strangely,
"I'm not kidding." She laughed harder,
"Stop pulling the straight face, Jess. This is one of your stupid jokes." He shook his head,
"No, but at this point I wish it was." She slowly regained breath,
"You're not kidding?" He shook his head,
"No." She squinted at him and looked him deep in the eye,
"You want to go to this?" He shrugged,
"I don't know. I should get more involved in my school, I think. My parents keep telling me to join a club. I figured showing up to the school dance would make life easier."
"But I thought you hate those kids at your school?"
"I do."
"You called them all 'Preppy know-nothings who wouldn't be anywhere without daddy's money.'"
"I did."
"You told me that if you ever went to a Chilton school function you'd spend the entire time on the side, making fun of people."
"I will."
"So why do you want to go?"
"I don't know," he sighed, "It's just... this is my school now. We always used to go to all the Stars Hollow High things. I want to be a part of Chilton, I guess." She sighed,
"Ok... for you, I'll go."
"Thank you," he leaned in for a kiss.
"You owe me."
"You get to wear something pretty."
"I'd rather wear something ugly and go bowling with you."
"But you love me, so you'll be miserable for me?"
"But I love you, so I'll be miserable for you." He grinned,
"I think I'll have a sip of that milkshake now."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next week, Lorelai, complete with a back spasm she got from falling over while making Rory's dress, waited for her children to finish getting dressed,
"What is taking you two so long?"
"Sorry, we're not used to doing things without Hannah crying or Josh screaming in the background," Jess called back from downstairs. Luke, though he had wanted to stay home and take care of Lorelai, had to work that night, so he took the twins with him to make life easier for his wife.
"Well, hurry up!"
"I'm primping!" Rory called back.
"You're sixteen! You have skin like a baby's ass; there's nothing to primp!"
"Doesn't matter. Still primping." Jess came bounding up the stairs, dressed in a suit, his hair slicked back, a corsage for Ally in his hand.
"Lemme see," Lorelai ordered. Jess stood still and did as he was told, "Debonair."
"I thought so."
"You look very handsome tonight."
"Thank you. I clean up nicely."
"I'm proud to tell people you're my son. For tonight, anyway."
"Gee, thanks, mom."
"No problem, kid."
"Ok, well, I'm gonna go pick up Ally."
"You're taking the truck?"
"Does dad have the van?"
"Yeah."
"Then yes."
"Ok, have fun," he leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Be home by twelve."
"Ok."
"Bye."
"Bye." As Jess closed the front door, Rory's voice echoed through the house,
"OK, OK, here I come." Rory entered the den, fully dressed in the blue gown created by her mother.
"Wow. Someone hit you with a pretty stick." She looked herself over,
"This dress is amazing. You outdid yourself."
"It's beautiful, babe, you look beautiful... Though I still think I should've made Jess a matching one...Come here."
"What?"
"Stray hair." Lorelai leaned forward and fixed the hair just as the back door burst open. Lane bounded towards the bathroom,
"Hey! I'm here! I'm dropping my stuff and getting changed!" She slammed the door without another word.
"She may be nervous."
"It's possible." Lorelai craned her neck and looked at Rory's feet,
"I think my favorite part is the shoes."
"The heels hurt."
"Well, beauty is pain"
"I'll just throw them on on my way out"
"No, you should put them on now and let your feet get really numb."
"That's sick." Lane's voice rang through the house,
"Hey, Rory? This dress you loaned me? Which way is front and which way is back?"
"Go help her." Rory obliged and ran to her friend, hearing a car drive up in front of the house,
"Who's that?"
"Oh," Lorelai answered, "That's either Sookie or mom."
"Grandma?"
"She browbeat me into letting her come take pictures of you."
"Really?"
"Ye..." Lane interrupted her,
"Rory? I think I'm stuck!" Rory, mild panic in her eyes, ran to assist her best friend as the doorbell rang.
"It's open!"
"It's me! I got tacos!"
"Yay! Luke's not gonna be home 'til late, so I'm not gonna have anything to eat. You rock."
"I got extra hot sauce and a couple of extra burritos to put in the fridge in case you get hungry later."
"You take such good care of me. I'm dumping the husband for you." Rory, fresh from untangling Lane, reentered the den,
"Hey, Sookie. Look." Sookie gasped,
"Oh my God! You're a movie star! I'm serious. Oh my -- At some point tonight, walk down a flight of stairs. Movie stars always walk down staircases."
"While you try to figure out what she just said, tell me, is Lane ok?"
"Yeah," Rory handed her mother a bottle of hairspray to hold the stray hair from earlier in place. Sookie grabbed it before Lorelai could,
"You stay put. I'll do it," she said before clumsily holding the bottle in the wrong direction, effectively spraying herself in the eyes, "Ow!"
"Sookie."
"Wrong way! I got it."
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, sweetie, hand that to your mother, and my eyelashes are all stuck together."
"Honey, are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine." Lorelai turned to Rory, motioning to the bag of Tacos on the floor,
"Shield the tacos. OK, ready?"
"G-d!" Rory coughed out.
"OK, that will be good for six slow dances, four medium ones, one lambada, but if you plan on doing any moshing I suggest another coat."
"I think I'm good." They heard a crash and Sookie's voice,
"Rory, sweetie, is this soap by the sink in the silver bottle?"
"No!" Lorelai, panicked, told Rory to,
"Go in there, quick." The doorbell rang as Rory ran to help Sookie,
"We're in here!" Emily appeared around the corner, tsking disapprovingly,
"We're in here? That's how you answer the door?"
"Well I was all out of Saran Wrap."
"I don't even want to figure that one out. I just want to see my granddaughter." She heard the rustling in the bathroom and scurried to the door, knocking quickly,
"C'mon out! I want to see how beautiful you look." The door slowly opened and Lane, perplexed, stepped out,
"Hi?"
"You're not Rory," Emily stated simply, just as confused.
"No. I'm not."
"Mom, that's Rory's friend Lane. You remember her, right?"
"Oh, that's right. Nice to see you again, Jane. I like that dress."
"Lane, mom."
"And it's Rory's. She loaned it to me for tonight." Lorelai motioned her over and fixed her hair into a half-ponytail wrapped with a flower and looked her over,
"You look great, kid."
"Thanks, Lorelai."
"I don't mean to interrupt, but where is Rory?"
"Kitchen."
"Oh, perfect. I want to be all ready for the big entrance. How's the light in here? Never mind. I'll just take one with the flash and one without to make sure we got it right."
"Wow, Mom, look at you. You'd think Anne Taylor was having a sale or something."
"Ok, Rory, come in here please." Rory entered the den, a burger in her hand, a napkin tucked into her dress,
"Hey, Grandma."
"What have you and your husband done?" Lorelai, stifling a laugh, asked,
"Where did you get a burger?"
"Daddy left it for me. I just heated it up."
"Honey, lose the bib and the taco, put your shoes on, come back out, and let Grandma take the pretty picture."
"Ok," she disappeared into her room, Lane trailing after her, passing Sookie on her way out,
"I'm gonna get going."
"You are not driving." Sookie shook her head,
"I walked," she turned to the staircase, "It was nice to see you again, Mrs. Gilmore, or at least make out your shape."
"Call in fifteen minutes or I'm sending out a search party," Lorelai instructed. Sookie, facing the wall, answered,
"And you call me if I can come over and help you up the stairs or something." Lorelai quickly shook her head,
"No, I'll be fine. Kirsten and Sandy will be around later, anyway."
"Bye." Emily turned to Lorelai, intrigued,
"Why would you need help up the stairs?"
"No reason. Rory, Lane, let's go, your public awaits!" Emily stepped closer to her daughter,
"Why aren't you moving?"
"I'm comfortable, that's all."
"Are you hurt?"
"I have a little back spasm, that's it. It's no big deal."
"What sort of back spasm?"
"I don't know, Mom, just a normal one."
"There is nothing normal about a back spasm. The very fact that it has the word spasm in it means it's not normal." Lorelai, desperate for distraction, was grateful when the girls entered the room,
"Alright, here they are, Mom, get your camera moving." Lane stepped off to the side as Emily took picture after picture of Rory; they had taken their group pictures earlier,
"Oh, my, you're gorgeous. Oh! Smile!" After twenty or so pictures, Rory glanced at the clock,
"Oh, we have to go."
"Go where?" asked Emily, looking around.
"Go meet Seth and Ryan," Lane explained, "They're driving, so we're heading over there and going out." Emily eyed Lane as though she had three heads,
"That's improper."
"What?"
"That's improper. They should come pick you up."
"Oh, but Grandma, we already told the boys we'd meet them at their house."
"They'll figure it out. You wait here."
"Grandma..." Rory whined.
"You wait here." Lane and Rory stared at each other, communicating frustrations through their eyes. Five minutes after they were supposed to show up at the boys' house, Rory's cellphone rang. She ran and picked it up, knowing before answering that it was Ryan,
"Hey... yeah... no, I know we were supposed to meet at six... No... look, my grandma's here... yeah... yeah, I know... Could you guys?... thank you so much... I love you, too... ok, bye..." She hung up the phone and turned triumphantly to Lane, mouthing They're coming. Lane nodded and exhaled in relief.
After a minute, there was a frantic knock at the door; the girls ran to open it.
"Don't run. Ladies never run," Emily instructed, though the girls ignored her. Rory pulled the door open to find Ryan, barely flushed, and Seth, red in the cheeks.
"We ran," Seth whined quietly. Lane comforted him,
"Aww, baby."
"What happened?" Rory raised her eyebrows and Ryan nodded in sudden understanding.
"Come in," Rory instructed quietly, taking Ryan's hand.
"Hello, boys," Emily greeted coldly as they let go of each other and entered the den.
"Mrs. Gilmore," both boys nodded politely.
"Ok, we should get going," announced Rory, grabbing her purse from the coffee table.
"Be home by eleven," Emily instructed, no hint of a teasing smile on her face. Rory, Lane (who was sleeping over that night), and the boys looked pleadingly to Lorelai, who mouthed Twelve behind her back.
"Bye, mom. Bye, Grandma," Rory leaned over and kissed them each on the cheek. Her mother instructed,
"Stop by the diner. Daddy wants to see you before you go."
"Ok, mom."
"Have a good time." Feel better mouthed Rory and Lane, but Seth said loudly,
"Hey, Lorelai, mom says that if you need her, she's on call."
"Thanks, Seth," she said through gritted teeth.
"C'mon," said Lane as she pulled on her boyfriend's arm, "Bye, Lorelai. Bye, Mrs. Gilmore." Emily watched them go and turned to her daughter,
"What do you know about these boys?"
"Nothing. They were sitting on the corner playing Poker when we went to New York City last week and we thought, 'Hey, they're cute. You should go together.'"
"Be serious, Lorelai."
"They're brothers. I've known them since they were seven, mom. I'm best friends with their parents. They're like extra kids to me. They're good kids." Emily let the subject drop,
"Where's your husband tonight?"
"Working."
"He left you?"
"No, mom. John and Caesar both called in sick, so Luke had to work tonight."
"He left you alone with a back spasm and two newborns to take care of?"
"Do you see Josh and Hannah anywhere?" Emily looked around,
"I don't believe I do."
"He took them with him."
"When will he be home?"
"Later. He'll be around if I need him. He's only five minutes away."
"Well you certainly can't be left alone."
"Yes I can."
"You can barely move. You've been sitting on that couch since I got here."
"That's because this is a right comfy couch," she patted the couch to exaggerate her point.
"Maybe I should stay."
"No, no, Mom, you really don't have to do that. Luke will be home soon. Kirsten and Sandy and Sookie are all around. They can all be here within minutes. I'm fine."
"I'm not leaving my daughter stranded on the couch. What if you need to get to the bathroom?"
"I don't go anymore, Mom. I gave it up cold turkey."
"I'm staying."
"No, Mom...Look -- I can stand, OK?" Lorelai stood up, pain evident on her face, "See? I'm up. OK, see? I'm fine."
"Move," Emily instructed coldly, never taking her eyes off of Lorelai.
"What?"
"Move. If you're fine, then move." Lorelai stood still,
"I can move. This is me moving... Any second now the moving will begin... Rats," she flopped back onto the couch in resignation.
"I'll go start some tea. Please tell me you have something besides Lipton."
"Oh, G-d, kill me now," Lorelai muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh, uh, Luke drinks tea. There should be some in the cabinet," Lorelai called out, wincing from internal and external pain. It was going to be a long night.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Nice room," Lane whispered in awe, clinging to Seth's side.
"Big," Ally commented.
"Huge," breathed Seth. Ryan and Rory only looked at each other and inhaled nervously, him hugging her tightly to his side.
"Do you guys want to dance?" Everyone shook their heads,
"Not yet. Let's get settled first."
"Good idea." They sat at an empty table, not noticing Madeline and Louise, already bored with the party, watching them from across the room.
"Oh, wow, is that Jess Mariano?"
"He cleans up good."
"Not to mention Cohen #1 and #2, but Mariano usually doesn't give off the feeling that he'd ever look like that."
"Who's that he's with?"
"Probably some small-town girl from his old school."
"Apple pie, anyone?"
"Let's go." They got up and meandered to Jess, alone since the girls and the Cohen boys had wandered off to examine the room.
"Hey, do I know you?"
"Very funny, Louise."
"You look great, Jess."
"Thanks. You look nice, too."
"Didn't peg you to have that fashion sense."
"I don't. My mom does." Suddenly, Rory reappeared,
"Jess, I just talked to mom on the phone. My grandma's staying with her 'til dad gets home." Jess winced,
"War path when we get home?" Rory shrugged,
"She can't move, so my guess would be no."
"Rory, I love the dress."
"Who made it?" Rory looked down,
"Oh. Lorelai Danes."
"You made your own dress?"
"No. My mom did."
"Wow. Your mom really does have fashion sense," Louise said, sidling up to Jess.
Ally watched from the sidelines- How do I fit into this picture?
Nonetheless, she bounded towards her boyfriend, greeting him with a gentle kiss. He narrowed his eyes at her and introduced her,
"Madeline, Louise, this is my girlfriend. Ally, these are some of my classmates."
"Girlfriend?" Ally nodded, confidently answering,
"Two years."
"I'm bored," announced Louise, "Let's go." They wandered away and Seth, Lane, and Ryan returned,
"What was that all about?"
"Beats us."
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An hour (and three slow dances each) later, Tristan spotted Rory in the corner, chatting animatedly with Ryan.
He made his way over to the almost-empty table when he saw Ryan get up.
"Hey, where's the boyfriend?"
"Getting our coats. We're gonna head out," Rory answered, decidedly avoiding his eye.
"So soon? We didn't get to dance."
"I did."
"Not with me."
"There's a reason."
"Oh, yeah? And what would that be?"
"I don't like you," she said simply, not noticing that Ryan, Seth, Jess, Lane, and Ally were fast-approaching.
"You know you do."
"No. I don't." He reached out and grabbed somewhat gently for her arm,
"You're a terrible liar." Rory pulled her arm out of his way,
"Yeah. I am, actually. That's how you'd know if I was lying. Since I'm not, it should be obvious that I don't like you."
"C'mon, just one dance." As he leaned forward for Rory, Ryan stepped between her and Tristan,
"Leave her alone."
"Jealous, farm boy?"
"No. I know she'd never cheat on me with you. I also know she'd never hit you. I, on the other hand? I'm not as mature as she is. So I suggest you get away from her before I have to make you," Ryan said, his voice unwavering. Tristan ignored him and leaned forward for Rory,
"You know you don't believe what he's saying." This time, Jess stepped forward,
"Touch my sister and you'll be hearing through your ass."
"Why not?" commented Seth, "He already thinks with it." Lane and Ally stifled a laugh as Tristan commented,
"Funny, Cohen. But you know she likes me. It's only a matter of time before she leaves this loser for me." Ryan pulled back his fist wordlessly to hit the blonde boy, but felt a gentle hand hold him back,
"Ry, please. You're better than this. Don't," she pleaded with him; she knew he could never refuse her. He calmly took her hand,
"Let's go," The group began to walk away before Ryan turned around and added, "Just remember- I'm always around." Seth stared at his brother,
"Ohh, creepy."
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Seth parked out front of Doose's Market and he, Lane, Rory, and Ryan piled out of the car; it was still early and though Jess and Ally had decided to call it a night at ten-thirty, the Cohens and the girls had decided that they would hang out for a bit. They wandered down the street in a comfortable silence, each wrapped up in their respective boyfriend or girlfriend. They all looked up in curiosity as they passed Miss Patty's.
"I guess Miss Patty forgot to lock up."
"Or she's afraid someone's stuck in there overnight," Lane sniggered.
"Stuck... having a sleepover with junk food and Kirk..." Seth shrugged.
"Potato, po-tah-to," Ryan finished.
"I still can't believe you guys did that," Rory laughed as they walked up the stairs to the dance studio. They all sat down.
"This is boring," Seth quickly commented, "We need music."
"Ok, ADD boy." Lane fished through her purse, producing an Al Green CD. She got up and quickly placed the CD into Miss Patty's high-tech stereo, turning the sound down low.
"You carry a CD with you?" asked Ryan incredulously.
"Have you not met me? It's one of my quirks. Just like I know Rory has books in her purse right now." Rory blushed,
"Only one." Lane sat back down without another word and nestled closer to Seth. They sat in silence, comfortably wrapped in each others' arms, and didn't notice as all four of them drifted off to sleep.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
At three in the morning, Lorelai was woken by Hannah's cries over the baby monitor. She glanced sleepily over at Luke, who was squinting back at her, and grinned at him,
"I can move again." Her mother had left around eleven, when Luke had returned home with Hannah and Josh. He had placed them in their cribs, had a short, blunt conversation with Emily, and carried Lorelai up to bed, falling asleep shortly before twelve, having seen Jess come home (though he only waved hello and sleep-walked towards his bedroom).
"I'm glad." She leaned over and kissed him before going to retrieve her youngest daughter.
"Hi, baby. Mommy's here. Mommy's here. No more crying, baby. Come." She walked downstairs and decided to check on her two older children.
Silently as possible, she opened the door to Jess' bedroom, listening to his peaceful snoring before moving to Rory's room. I hope they had fun... I'll ask them tomorrow.
She opened the door to Rory's room and listened carefully for the slow, rhythmic movements of Rory and Lane's breaths. Slowly, it dawned on her that there were none.
"Rory?" she said tentatively, pushing the door open a bit wider, though she got no answer, "Lane?" Nothing. She flung the door open, "Girls?" She gasped as she saw her daughter's empty bed, "LUKE! LUKE!" He ran down the stairs,
"What? What's wrong?"
"Rory! Lane! They're not... She's not... Still out!"
"What?"
"The girls! They're not home!" Luke's eyes went wide,
"THEY'RE WHAT!"
"They're still not home, Luke! It's three in the morning and the girls aren't home!" Luke, more panicked than ever before in his life, grabbed the phone and dialed Sandy and Kirsten's number.
"Hullo?" came Sandy's groggy voice from the other end.
"Sandy, are the kids at your house?"
"What? Luke? What are you talking about?"
"Rory and Lane. They aren't here. Are the boys home?" Sandy's voice instantly went from tired to concerned. Luke heard him shake Kirsten awake,
"Kirsten... Kirsten... it's Luke. The girls never came home." Kirsten's muffled voice said something frantically about,
"The boys' bedrooms," and her shuffling footsteps quickly faded. They heard her run back into the room as Sandy announced that he was getting dressed,
"The boys aren't home either!"
"We'll meet you outside."
"What do we do with Hannah and Josh?"
"Take them. See you in a second." Lorelai took Hannah upstairs and quickly bundled her and Joshua, leaving a note for Jess, meeting Sandy and Kirsten in the street within five minutes.
"Where could they be?"
"No splitting up. Search town first." They walked briskly through the quiet streets of Stars Hollow,
"RORY!"
"LANE!"
"SETH!"
"RYAN!"
They ran from building to building, knocking on doors, asking for help, peering into windows, and looking around behind the storefronts and homes. As they walked past Miss Patty's, Sandy noticed a light on,
"Patty never leaves without shutting the lights." Together, the adults ran up the stairs and threw the door open, finding the teenagers asleep on the floor. They were startled awake by the noise,
"What's going on?"
"Where are we?"
"What time is it?" Lorelai and Kirsten began to cry tears of relief and, without bothering to wipe them away, threw their arms around the teens, sobbing,
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Why would you scare us like that?" Rory looked at her friends,
"What's going on?" Luke glared at her,
"Home. Now."
"What?" asked Ryan, "Dad, what's happening? What time is it?"
"Three in the morning. And you're lucky it's not the last three in the morning you'll ever see. Up. Home. Now." He said it with such force that all four sixteen-year-olds stood up without another word and began marching home.
"We must've fallen asleep."
"You think so?" asked Seth sarcastically.
"We're in for it now."
"Bigger than ever."
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The next day, Rory woke up bright and early, determined to make it up to her parents. She didn't allow herself to sleep past 5:15, when she got out of bed, sleepily rubbing at her eyes, to cook breakfast for her family. As she entered the kitchen, she found her father walking through, grabbing things from various locations, muttering to himself,
"I need a different job. I have too many teenagers to be getting up this early in the morning."
"Good morning, daddy," Rory said quietly, clutching her robe tightly around her small frame. He only looked at her coldly,
"I'm going to the diner. Wake mom by seven." Without another word, he left. Rory sank into a kitchen chair and began to sob.
She had messed up this time. She knew that for sure.
Never once had her father not greeted her with a "Good morning, Princess. Did you sleep ok?"
Never once had she gotten up at 5:30 am to be looked at with disdain rather than concern.
Never once had she been left in the morning with such a cold goodbye from her daddy.
This time was different.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
At six-thirty, Rory, covered in pancake batter, heard her cell phone ring from her bedroom. She ran to pick it up.
"He-hello?" she badly masked the fact that she had been crying.
"Ror? Are you ok?"
"Yeah... umm... I-I think I may've-ve caught a c-cold from being in the st-studio all night."
"Oh... how'd they take it?" She shrugged,
"I-I don't know... Th-they sent me r-right to bed. H-haven't talked to them since," she neglected to tell him about the incident that morning, "Y-you?"
"Terrible. They kept us up, yelling at us for an hour. We're grounded for three weeks each."
"I-I'm sure mine'll be w-worse."
"Maybe. What are you doing up so early?"
"You called me."
"But you were awake. I could tell. No cranky morning voice."
"I was c-cooking breakfast to comp-comp-compensate."
"You sound like Porky Pig."
"Not in the mood to joke. Why were you up?"
"Same, of course... Oh, I have to go. Mom's getting up."
"Good luck."
"You too."
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At seven o'clock, Rory woke Lorelai, as promised. Lorelai regarded his distantly, though she offered more affection than Luke had. Rory served her as she sat at the breakfast table. After fifteen minutes, Lorelai spoke up,
"Rory, sit down."
"No. N-no... I need to serve you."
"Rory, sit down."
"No. I don't deserve to sit. I deserve to be your slave."
"Rory, as good as that sounds, we need to have one of our famous Lorelai-to-Lorelai talks. Now, sit." Rory finally obliged and her mother started simply,
"What happened last night?" Rory shook her head,
"Nothing. I promise you, nothing."
"I know none of that happened. You were still in tact clothing and hair-wise and Lane and Seth were in the room. I know that's not plausible. But you need to tell me... what happened?"
"We fell asleep, mom. We turned on Al Green and we all fell asleep."
"Could you pick a less mellow CD next time?"
"I'll try..."
"Good... I need you to know that I'm not mad at you. I'm a little disappointed, but you have no priors and I trust you, so it should blow over with me shortly."
"Thanks, mom... Mom?"
"Yeah, sweets?"
"Daddy's..." Lorelai cut her off,
"Your father's gonna need a little more convincing."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The rest of the day was spent with chilly interactions between a nervous Rory and an angry Luke. Very few words were exchanged, and those that were were unpleasant. That night, Sandy joined Luke in the empty diner for a beer.
"They're grounded for three weeks," Sandy told Luke bluntly, "They tried to defend themselves... I kinda believe them."
"That's good," said Luke, obviously unwilling to discuss the topic.
"How'd Rory deal with it?"
"She didn't."
"She didn't?"
"No. You didn't see how it was with us today?"
"I did. I thought she defended herself and you were mad about that." Luke shook his head,
"No. I refuse to discuss this with her."
"Luke..."
"No, Sandy. No 'Luke...'. This isn't like the time she dropped a plate onto Taylor's niece when she tried to help even though I told her not to. This is bigger than that." Sandy inhaled and decidedly forged forward,
"Luke... I don't have any daughters."
"I know. If you did, this would be less worrisome to me than it is right now."
"I don't have any daughters. But did you know that I once realized that, if I had a daughter, I'd probably be just like you are with Rory. I'd be protective and her hero and her daddy for her entire life. Not her dad. Not her father. Her daddy. I always emulated you, man. By emulating you, I realized stuff about you. You hate when Rory wears anything too big or too small. You love when she gets excited over tiny things. You hate when she's upset. And you really hate if there's any possibility that you caused it. And I also know that you never, ever wanted to be in a situation where you weren't speaking to her. And I know that this, right now, is absolutely killing you. Think about it."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke sat on the couch, watching a rerun of a baseball game on tv when Rory strolled quietly, her guard up, into the room.
"Daddy?" she said quietly.
"I'm watching a game, Rory."
"It's an old one. I've seen it with you before." Luke sighed,
"What, Rory?"
"I need to talk to you, daddy." Luke grunted his acknowledgement; he knew he needed to deal with this sooner or later.
She quickly took a seat on the opposite end of the couch,
"Daddy," she started immediately, "I need to tell you this. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or scare you. It was an accident," with every word, her voice grew weaker, breaking towards sobbing, "I never meant to make you... to make you so mad at me that you won't talk to me. Nothing happened. I promise you. I swear to you with every fiber of my being that nothing happened... I'm sorry, daddy..." Luke was silent for a full thirty seconds after the end of Rory's poignant rant before she blurted out, "Say something. Please." He sighed and looked at her,
"I believe you. I do. I know you're sorry and I know nothing happened and I know it was an accident. That doesn't change the fact that it happened... You scared the crap out of me, Rory. I actually saw your life flash before my eyes. I was terrified that you were hurt or scared or alone somewhere. And then, when I found out you were out until three in the morning with a boy? It was a complete different terror... Your mom was exactly your age when..." Rory cut him off,
"I'm not gonna get pregnant."
"Doesn't change the fact that I'm too young to be a grandfather. I can't deal with you, all of a sudden, spending the night with Ryan."
"We didn't! We fell asleep!"
"I need you to be more careful, Rory. I need you to not let this happen again. I'm not gonna ground you, because you're obviously sorry enough as is... Let it drop." They were quiet for a minute before Rory squeaked out,
"Daddy, are we ok?"
"We're ok." She burst into tears and coughed out,
"I love you, daddy."
"I love you, too," He held her in his arms and sat there with her in silence for a little while before turning on the TV to the old baseball game and allowing her to fall asleep in his arms. As he saw her breathing even out, he muttered, "See, this you could've done last night. Save us all the hassle."