A/N- Aaaaaand, drum roll, pleeeeease... The new chapter of Hello Sunshine has arrived! Hehe, sorry it took so long, but for some reason I could not decide what order to put everything in. I'm working on ideas for the new chapter and I'll try to have it out quicker, but right now I'm doing college apps and it takes up waaay too much time. I'm considering quitting school and becoming a tightrope walker. Whatcha think?
A/N 2- Questions!... Kinda don't have any... Comments... There's less gushiness in this chapter. In fact, this is an emotional kinda chapter. Yeah... Umm, addressing the ASP thing? I integrate dialogue from the show into the chapter a lot of the time, as I'm trying to keep the storylines similar, just seeing how they change with the added characters and changed relationships. It's easier with other chapters than others to change it, but most of the time, I'll add thoughts and such. Sorry if I offended you, but yeah, I thought people realize that I do that sometimes... I apologize if I didn't explain that...
Dedicated to: Those who knew that the TV show in the last chapter was Saturday Night Live. That would be: Colleen, Jen, Chelsea (My pal!), xbrokenxheartedx, potostfbeyeluvr, GilmoreGirlsFanatic08, charsrox13, Du Grey, auditeur, SmartiePantz, and Jess.
And to: Those who knew that the pages of America: The Book were filled with nakedSupremeCourt Justices! Yay!... That's: Fashiongurl3188 andGilmoreGirlsFanatic08. Far too few in my book. Read it, for your ownsanity. It's hysterical.
New challenge: What Broadway show is the quote from Seth's voicemail from?
Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just having a playdate with them til it's time for curfew.
Tears and Fears
"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Lorelai groaned, turning her pink baseball cap to the side.
"Because," Luke grunted, "We haven't done anything like this in a long time. It's been too hectic. Now that we have time to, we're going to." Kirsten sighed,
"Lorelai, make the most of it." Lorelai laughed,
"Look at Kirsten pretending that she wants to play baseball..."
"Softball," corrected Luke, losing patience.
"Whatever. Not two hours ago, you were the one telling me 'Do it. Do it and then we can go for makeovers and a spa day after and they can't say anything about it.'"
"Nice, mom," said Seth, stepping out the back door of his house, playing with the neck on his baseball t-shirt.
"Ok, where are the rest of the kids?" asked Sandy, quickly getting impatient. Jess suddenly emerged, "Smooth, but we're still missing two. Four if you count the twins."
"Patience, my father. If you build it, they will come."
"Oh, Seth, I'm impressed."
"Because I'm willingly playing baseball?"
"Softball," corrected Luke again, "And it's not even real softball. It's modified softball. We're playing with a beach ball and a plastic bat so that no one gets hurt!"
"Whatever!"
"Seth, I'm impressed because you made a baseball movie reference."
"Well, a movie's a movie."
"Oh, don't say that," breathed Jess.
"Oh, that's right. We can hardly call Glitter the same thing as Best in Show."
"Unless you want lightning to strike you," shrugged Lorelai. Sandy impatiently tapped at his Grease watch,
"That son of mine and that daughter of yours are going to be going on none of those dates of theirs if they don't get out here soon!" Ryan and Rory suddenly emerged through the back door,
"Now, that was unnecessary, Sandy," Rory scolded, hoisting Hannah higher in her arms; the baby reached out for Luke.
"Sorry, but you guys were taking forever."
"Well, we had to make our makeup perfect," joked Ryan, clutching the now-six-month-old Joshua, who played happily with a toy truck; though Seth seemed to have an avid fear of holding the twins, Ryan was generally more comfortable with the concept.
"Ryan, honey, we promised that we wouldn't tell about you playing with mommy's makeup if you didn't give us the opportunity."
"I was three!" he looked over at Rory, who was stifling a giggle as she passed her sister to her father, "I was three," he repeated, looking over at his brother, who was also giggling, "I was three. You were ten when you tried on mom's..."
"Okay!" Seth cut Ryan off, "Play ball!"
In the game, the Danes versus Cohens, Team Danes (or as Lorelai and Rory had renamed it, Team Pretty) was up to bat first, with Lorelai first batter.
She swung at the ball thrown by Sandy, missing the first and second times, but making contact the third. She ran to second base, jumping up and down,
"I hit the ball! Honey, did you see? I hit it! Luke!" Luke nodded,
"Yes, Lorelai. I saw." Lorelai shook her head,
"Hey! Hey! Time out!" She held her hands up in a "T" and ran to her husband, giving him a kiss, "I did it! I hit the ball!"
"Lorelai, go back to your base."
"Fine. Just one more kiss." Luke sighed and leaned in to kiss her before she ran back. Rory was up next. On the first swing, she hit the ball, and hit it hard.
Lorelai reached home and jumped on the base, and Rory reached third.
"Ryan! I hit a triple!"
"I saw!" Ryan, playing third baseman, leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend, letting himself linger.
"Hey!" Luke protested, "That's enough, thank you very much!" Rory pulled away and muttered to Ryan,
"We'll continue this later."
"I'll meet you in your room after the game gets called on account of Seth being hit in the head by the plastic bat."
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"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself..." Rory reread the crucial part of F. Scott Fitgerald's novel before the bell rang for her eighth period English class. She read peacefully, contemplating any possible unification of the two "Eggs," East and West, until she felt a warm breath rolling down her neck. Shuddering, she turned around,
"What, Tristan?"
"Just looking on," he said pseudo-innocently, shrugging his shoulders, a mischievous grin evident on his smug face.
"Well, get your own copy," she slammed the book closed.
"Well, well, aren't we testy today?" Rory sighed,
"No, Tristan. We are not anything. We will never be anything. We do not exist!" Both teenagers were oblivious to the bell ringing in the background and continued to argue.
"There's no need to scream, Rory," He lowered his voice, "We all know that you're madly in love with me."
"I am not! You need to get over this psychotic need to get me to like you! It will not work! Now shut up and leave me alone!" The teacher knocked lightly on the chalkboard,
"That's quite enough, Miss Danes, Mr. DuGray."
"My apologies," nodded Tristan, moving towards his desk, winking slyly at Rory as he walked. Rory, however, scowled at him before sinking deeper into her chair, her cheeks shining red,
"I'm sorry, Mr. Medina."
"That's quite alright, Miss Danes. In fact, you two have given me a terrific idea for a project." The class groaned,
"Thanks, Rory."
"Smooth, Tristan."
"Ok, now, I think that what we need here is to feel the characters' relationships in this novel, as relationships are one of the central themes of Gatsby. Now, I will be assigning you in pairs or groups, and you have one week to create a 5-minute presentation on the relationship between these people and how it affects the storyline," A couple of kids groaned, but Mr. Medina laughed, "Relax, guys, it was this or a six-page test with an essay," the kids nodded, and he continued, "Ok, right, so Tristan DuGray and Rory Danes, since you gave me the idea, you'll be working together as Gatsby and Daisy."
"What?" asked Rory incredulously, "Mr. Medina, please..."
"I'm sorry, Miss Danes, but my decision is final." First Madeline, Louise, and Paris, and now this?
"Fine," she said, dejected. Mr. Medina continued,
"Ok, Dylan Singer and Robert Lucas as Nick and Gatsby. Allison Fischer, Elizabeth Liu, and Gordon Matthews as Daisy..." His voice trailed off as Rory heard Tristan's whisper,
"The Daisy to my Gatsby. This should be fun."
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Ring. Rrrring. Rrrrrrrrrring.
"Yes I am! I'm Gary Coleman from TV's Diff'rent Strokes. I made a lotta money that got stolen by my folks! Now I'm broke and I'm the butt of everyone's jokes, but I'm here - The Superintendent!" Lane rolled her eyes; only her boyfriend would use that quote from that song on his voicemail, "Hi, you've reached the master of all things media, Seth Cohen. I'm not here right now, so leave the thing with the thing and the... thing..." Lane sighed,
"Hi, Seth, it's me. You know, your song quote might confuse a few people. Not me, granted we went to see the show last week, so I could sing the song along with you, but other people might... Anyway, I, um... I feel like I haven't seen you or talked to you in a while... Just... call me back soon, ok?"
Click.
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"Oh-ho, Ror, Tristan? Tristan? Holy crap, does that suck."
"Thanks, Seth. I hadn't noticed," Rory rolled her eyes and sank deeper into the crook of Ryan's arm as they walked through the hallway of Chilton, Jess deeply immersed in his history book
"No, seriously, Rory, suck-fest."
"I know, Seth."
"Suuuuuuck, suck suck suck suck. Suck suck suck. Suck. Su..."
"Seth, she knows!" Seth, Rory, and Jess all jumped back at the sound of Ryan's outburst.
"Ok, Ry, she knows. Got it..." Seth said, looking for any escape from the conversation, "Hey, Jess, look, a bathroom! Let's go see if we can find George Michael." Jess, nervous, nodded and ran ahead with Seth, ducking into the bathroom.
"Hey, what was that all about?" Ryan shook his head,
"Nothing."
"That's a lie. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Rory."
"It's not nothing, Ryan. You wouldn't blow up at your brother over nothing."
"I have in the past."
"This is different. Are you upset that I'm gonna be busy for another weekend?"
"No. I told you, Rory, it's nothing. Seth was being annoying and it was bothering you, I could tell, so I stopped him."
"It wasn't bothering me that much, Ryan... Is that it? You're mad that I can't hang out?"
"N..."
"Cuz last week, you seemed a little upset when I told you that I couldn't watch American Wedding with you."
"That's not it, Rory."
"Then what is it?"
"Nothing," he insisted. Rory suddenly sighed,
"Oh, I know! I know why you're upset. How could I be so blind? You're upset because I'm working with Tristan, aren't you!"
"No, Rory."
"Yes! That's why you're so short-tempered! You're upset about me working with Tristan!"
"Rory!"
"Look, nothing's gonna happen, Ry."
"Rory, drop it! I yelled at Seth because he was being annoying. That's it! Now leave it be!" Rory sighed in resignation, and allowed the conversation to fall in an uncomfortable silence. After a moment, Rory piped up,
"Let's go find our brothers. They went looking for George Michael and they've been in there for a few minutes. Could be trouble."
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"Hi, you've reached Lane Kim's cell phone, courtesy of the prepaid angels of Connecticut's Virgin Mobile. If you're calling in regards to anything musical, leave a clip of the song you'd like to discuss and a 5-word summary of the discussion. If you're Seth, I'll call you back, my Emo Princess. If you're any other member of the Kelly Road Posse, I'll see you Sunday at the Film Festival. And if you're my mama, I'm sorry you had to find out about me having a cell phone this way."
"Hey, Lanie. It's Seth. Umm... listen, I thought we talked about that whole 'Emo Princess' thing. I told you, it was just a game of 'Musical Pretty Pretty Princess' that got way out of control... Ok, so, I was just trying to get in touch; it feels like it's been a while... Ok, when you pick your phone up from the Danes' house, I guess you'll get the message. Love you. Bye."
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"So, I think that the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy adds to the theme of fantasy between the characters." Tristan nodded,
"Ok."
"Did you even read the book?" Rory sighed.
"No. Did you?"
"When I was ten."
"My, my, we've got a bookworm on our hands, don't we."
"I prefer 'Literary Caterpillar,' but yes."
"So if you read The Great Gatsby at ten, you were probably, what, eleven when you read Catcher in the Rye?"
"Nine, actually," Rory corrected, "I went through a Salinger phase. I read Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters, Franny and Zooey, Seymour: An Introduction, Catcher, and that one short story A Perfect Day for Bananafish in the course of a month."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"So, you like Salinger?" Rory nodded,
"He's probably one of my favorites. Though Ryan and I think that Salinger needs some new characters."
"How so?"
"Seymour Glass and Holden Caulfield. They're really similar if you look at it carefully. Existential and see everything that's wrong in the world."
"Wow."
"You never read any of them, did you?"
"No. I read Catcher. Only school book I ever read. I really liked it."
"It's my favorite book." Tristan closed his copy of Gatsby and placed it on the table,
"So, in between all this book reading and studying, what else do you do with your time? You watch TV?"
"Are you kidding? My mom and I watch TV constantly. Every night we watch The Daily Show together."
"Ah, a fake news junkie."
"Of course. Jon Stewart is brilliant. The man notices things that no one should ever be able to notice, but it's always hysterical."
"True. What do you think of Lewis Black?"
"I love him. There's this one old comedy special of his. 'At Ihop, they give you this thing called a hovel of coffee. It's this gigantic jug of coffee. And it makes me feel good, because it makes me think that somebody's coming and I don't know who.' The man's a genius." Tristan laughed,
"Yeah, I've seen that one. 'My health club is the International House of Pancakes, because there's always someone there who weighs two-hundred pounds more than you'll ever weigh.'"
Wow. Tristan seems almost... human...
"What about movies? You into movies?" Tristan shrugged,
"I enjoy the occasional classic."
"Such as?"
"Casablanca, believe it or not."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And Citizen Kane. But don't tell anyone. It'll ruin my rep."
"Ok."
They heard the back door open, the thud of the groceries on the table, and the click of the baby carrier on the floor.
Rory turned her head at her father's heavy footsteps.
"Hi, daddy," she greeted.
"Hey, sweetheart," he smiled at her; Hannah laughed at Rory from Luke's right arm and attempted to clap her hands together once.
"Umm, Tristan, this is my dad Luke and my sister Hannah," Rory said, standing up to properly introduce the two.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Danes," Tristan extended his right hand, but Luke grunted,
"Mm-hmm..." Rory eyed him warily; usually he told her friends to call him Luke, "Rory, can you help me with the groceries, please?"
"Sure, dad. Excuse me a minute, Tristan." She ducked out of the den and into the kitchen.
"So," Luke asked, putting Hannah into her playpen in the corner, "That's your partner for English class?" Rory looked up at him, narrowing her eyes,
"Yes. Why?"
"I just... you didn't specify that it would be a umm... a boy... a guy... a blonde guy with spiky hair." Rory shrugged,
"I didn't think it was necessary." Luke sighed,
"It's just... I don't want to... I wouldn't have..."
"What? You wouldn't have what, dad?" Rory asked, her hands now on her hips.
"I don't know, Rory, I wouldn't have left you alone, ok? I wouldn't have let Jess go out, and your mother go out , and me go out all at the same time."
"Are you saying you don't trust me?" Rory asked incredulously.
"No, honey, no," he stammered, "It's not you I don't trust. It's... guys I don't trust around you."
"You let Ryan and me hang out alone."
"That's different. I know Ryan. I know he's not gonna hurt you. I don't trust this guy, Rory."
"You don't know him!" Did I just defend Tristan? To my father? Am I getting into a fight with Daddy over Tristan? Well, call Dr. Seuss, it's topsy-turvy day.
"I know his type. And I don't want him alone with you, that's all."
"I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself." Luke suddenly stood up taller, an angry tone overtaking his voice,
"Hey, this is my house and you're my kid and whether you like it or not, I don't trust this guy. So I'm not going out of the house until he leaves. And you're not to go into your room and close the door. Is that clear, young lady?" Rory sighed and realized that he had been right all along; besides, she hated fighting with him and Tristan was not worth it,
"Yes."
"Good." He put away the eggs and Rory came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist from a spot on his side,
"I'm sorry, daddy," she said quietly, "You're right."
"I'm right about what?" Luke panicked, "Did he try something with you! Cuz I swear to G-d, I'll kill him!"
"What? No, no, nothing like that... You were right not to trust him. Not that he's done anything or even would do anything, but we don't know enough about him to assume he won't do something sneaky."
"Oh, ok..." She cuddled up into his side again,
"I'm sorry, daddy," she repeated. He wrapped his arms around her,
"It's ok." He kissed the crown of her head and squeezed her tightly.
"I love you."
"Back at ya," He gave her one last squeeze and then told her, "Go finish your project."
"Ok."
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"Message, I'll call you back, You called, Beep, reached Seth Cohen's cell phone. Put it in your own order." Beeeeep.
"Seth, it's Lane. Calling you back for calling me back for calling you back for calling me back. It's been a while, as we've both said. Thought maybe I'd catch you or you'd catch me or we'd catch a movie... That sounded stupid. Just call me back, ok?"
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If x+y+z4, x-2y-z1, and 2x-y-2z-1, then what does the... what!
Jess dropped his pencil haphazardly onto his notebook and stared incredulously at the math problem. He quickly grabbed his TI-83 and punched the numbers in to see what would happen. Syntax Error. Terrific. Does anybody even know what that means?
"Uggggh," he groaned, sitting himself up higher against the back of his bed; despite the mahogany desk that Luke and Lorelai had bought him standing in the corner, Jess preferred to do homework on his bed.
He soon decided he couldn't figure the question out on his own.
"RORY!" He called up the stairs.
"She's out, Jess!" Lorelai's voice wafted down to him, "She went to Lane's!" He groaned again,
"Ok, thanks!"
"Anything I could help you with?" Jess heard Lorelai moving busily through the kitchen above. Jess shook his head,
"Math homework!"
"Oh... Sorry..."
"It's ok..." She appeared at the top of the stairs to Jess' room,
"Why don't you call Seth?"
"He and Ryan are working at the store."
"So there goes my second option..." She said, moving next to Jess' bed.
"Yeah."
"I'd tell you to call the girls, but I've been told of the umm... topic of their discussion, and it's one that you really shouldn't interrupt..."
"That's alright." There was a slight pause as Lorelai thought,
"What about your new friends?"
"Who?"
"Early and all them. Are they any good at math?" Jess grinned,
"Emory is. Good idea. Thanks, mom." Lorelai kissed his forehead affectionately,
"Anytime, kid." She hurried back up the stairs and he quickly dialed the familiar number. Almost immediately, the other line picked up,
"Hello, International House of Waffles Extravaganza, where our slogan is 'Ihowe? No, youhoe!' How can I help you?" Jess heard Charlie's muffled grumble from the background and Emory's cough in mock annoyance, "It's Jess, Charlie. Get a sense of humor." Jess grinned at Charlie's muted grunt, "Charlie says hi in boy language, Jess."
"Well, tell him I say 'unh' back." Emory's voice turned away from the phone,
"Jess grunts in your general direction," She turned her mouth back to the phone, "So, what's up?"
"I need your help."
"Oooh, on what? Girl problems? Boy problems?"
"Math problems."
"Uggh, fine... What is it?"
"If x+y+z my brain and 2z+4y-3zmy head, then why does x-7y+2zenormous explosions from between my ears?"
"Oh, systems of equations... Yeah, um, they're..." he heard her hesitate, "You know what, Jess, they're not my cup of tea."
"They're not?"
"Nope."
"I thought everything in math was."
"Well, um, you, uh, thought wrong, there, buddy." Jess narrowed his eyes,
"Seriously, Em, if you're playing games with me, I need you to stop, cuz I have work in an hour. And the boss is my dad, so that can have some all-around repercussions."
"No, uh, Jess, sorry, can't help you there. But you know who is good at systems? Ella."
"Ella?" He repeated.
"Yeah. She gets, um, A's on all of the systems of equations tests." Jess sighed,
"Ok. I'll call Ella. Thanks."
"No problem."
"Bye, Em."
"Bye, Jess." Jess hung up and called Ella quickly. That was weird.
On the other end, Emory grinned devilishly as she flipped her phone closed.
"What did Jess want?" Charlie asked, looking up from the copy of The Crucible on his lap.
"Math help." He narrowed his eyes,
"It didn't sound like you helped him."
"Oh, no, I redirected him."
"You... Em, no."
"What?" she asked innocently, her eyes glinting.
"You didn't..."
"So what if I did? They're friends."
"Emory, he has a girlfriend."
"I'm not doing anything," she grinned, her tone indicating exactly the opposite or her words.
"Leave them alone. He has a girlfriend."
"They're perfect for each other!" she blurted out.
"Emory Lynn Sanders, you stay out of other peoples' business."
"I'm not doing anything any good friend would do, Charlie."
"Yeah, well, we'll see what happens."
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Jess rushed around the diner, balancing plates on his hand.
"BLT no mayo, Diet Coke. Cheeseburger with extra pickles and french fries, Sprite." The people at table four looked up at him,
"Thank you." He quickly moved to table three,
"Can I get you anything else, sir?" He asked the man sitting alone, sipping quietly at his coffee.
"Just a refill, please."
"You're sure?"
"Yes." Jess sighed,
"Coming right up." He took the look of the man in; he was new to the diner, messy dark hair protruding every which way, his dark eyes downcast. The man seemed familiar, though Jess couldn't place it. In fact, Jess thought, he looks like someone I've never met. He paused in his own mind. Note to self: No more quoting Mary-Kate and Ashley movies. Other note to self: Stop watching movies with Rory and Ally.
Jess walked away behind the counter and heard the bell over the door jingle. Rory briskly stepped up next to him and poured herself a cup of coffee, gulping quickly.
"How'd your project go with Tristan?" She sighed,
"Pretty well. We're almost done, but he's coming back tomorrow so we can put the finishing touches on it."
"Ok."
"I need to ask you a favor, though." Jess rolled his eyes and turned to his sister,
"Shoot."
"Tomorrow. I need you to be home during the day."
"Because?" She put her cup down and narrowed her eyes at him,
"Why do you think?"
"Dad?"
"Yes. Dad won't go out unless either him, mom, or you are home tomorrow."
"And you want me to be home because..."
"Because with Mom or Dad being there, it'd be awkward. I'm still getting acclimated to Chilton, and so are you. Could you imagine being forced to work with Charlie, if he wasn't your friend, having him come over, and having our parents staring over your shoulder the whole time? You, Seth, and Ryan are all talking to other people in school already. Hell, you have friends at school. I have no one, and having Mom and Dad staring at me, or, well, him is equivalent to walking around school wearing a shirt that says 'My daddy says that I can talk to boys when I grow up.'... Please, Jess?" Jess sighed,
"You're lucky that I have Ella coming over tomorrow night to work on math homework." Rory squealed,
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
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"Lane Kim's cell phone you have reached. I am not out at the beach. Leave a message at the tone so I won't feel so alone."
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
"Lane. Message- cheesy. Me- lonely. Phone- waiting to be dialed. Do it, Lanie. Your turn. Love you."
Click
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"Ok, so, Gatsby views the relationship between Daisy and himself as stable and passionate, but he sees the one of her and her husband as shaky and boring."
"Mm-hmm," said Tristan, wandering around, looking at each picture on the mantle individually.
"Can you focus, please?" He picked up a picture,
"Who's this?"
"My dad with me when I was two. Homework?"
"And this?"
"My grandparents. Sit." Ignoring her, he picked up another picture, glared at it, and pasted on a sickeningly fake smile,
"I know who this is," he turned it around to reveal the picture of her, Ryan, Seth, and Jess standing with their hands in their pockets, one of her mother's favorite pictures.
"Yes, you do," she nodded shyly.
"So, you guys are really close?"
"We grew up together. Ryan and Seth live next door. Their dad nicknamed it 'tag-team parenting'."
"Did he now?"
"You thought we all just happened to start the same day and Ryan and I just happened to be boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"Frankly? I didn't think about it... You guys really are just too cute," he said sarcastically. Rory rolled her eyes and gave up; when he wanted to help, he would. She kept her eyes glued to the paper as he shuffled to the bookshelf, picking up the heaviest photo-album there- the one labeled "The Kids."
Rory knew that album well, but didn't let on as Tristan flipped through the pages.
Rory holding Hannah, Jess holding Josh when the twins first learned to smile.
Seth and Rory in the town's swimming pool at age seven.
Little Rory and Ryan asleep in the backseat of Sandy's old car.
Rory and Lane hugging each other at their Junior High graduation.
Rory changing Josh's diaper as Hannah, in Ryan's arms, watched on.
And then, some of Rory's favorite candid shots:
Hannah, asleep on her daddy's chest in his bed, Rory laying next to them, her head on his stomach.
The kids playing Pogs in the street on the first warm day of spring.
Ryan, Seth, and Rory whizzing by in a self-organized bike race.
Ryan, Seth, and Rory, age ten, asleep on the floor of the den, with popcorn and candy bowls scattered across the room.
Then there was one picture that made Tristan's jaw drop.
Ryan and Rory, age fifteen-and-a-half, asleep on what he assumed was her bed, his arm draped around her.
He quickly threw the offending 8-pound book on the hardwood floor, where it landed with a deafening thud. As she put her hand over her chest, Rory heard her baby siblings' anguished cries over the baby monitor.
"Terrific, Tristan. You woke them up."
"Sorry. Accident... It slipped."
"Across the room?"
"I'm strong." Rory rolled her eyes and ran to Jess' bedroom door,
"Jess, help me with them, please?" Jess came running upstairs,
"What happened?"
"A book... fell... and it woke up Hannah and Josh." Jess raised his eyebrow,
"Fell?" Tristan stood up,
"My fault, actually, I dropped a heavy book. Sorry." Jess glared at him.
If there's another thud and it isn't a book, you're in trouble. Or in other words, touch her and die.
"Well, don't next time," Jess bit as he ran up the stairs, Rory trailing him. Tristan continued to sit, picking up the homework to distract him from his thoughts. Two minutes later, Rory and Jess came back downstairs, each holding a twin. Jess, holding Hannah, shot Jess another dirty look before turning to Rory.
"I'm gonna go make them their bottles." He moved to go put the little girl into her swing, but Tristan spoke up,
"I can hold her if you want." Jess scoffed and Rory shot him a look that he quickly understood.
Behave yourself.
"No. She's fine," Jess said quickly as he scurried to the kitchen. As Rory put Joshua into his blue swing, Tristan stood up,
"Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that your brother doesn't like me." Rory kissed Joshua's forehead and turned on the swing, turning to Tristan,
"Honestly?"
"No, lie to me."
"Honestly, no, he doesn't like you. And neither does my dad."
"Neither does your dad?"
"Nope."
"Is there a reason?" Rory nodded,
"Of course... It took a lot for us to become a family, and because of that, we're all very protective of each other, but, naturally, being the eldest girl, everyone keeps the closest watch on me. To spend years working to get your family together? It takes a while to get you to lay off."
Jess returned with bottles for Hannah and Josh, but quickly looked up at Rory,
"I have to run out for a minute."
"Why?"
"I need to pick up more formula for the twins." Rory rolled her eyes,
"And you need to do that right now?" Jess handed her a piece of paper,
"I just found this note from mom. I'll be back in a little while... Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he added, shooting Tristan a threatening glare. Tristan stared back at him, narrowing his eyes,
"Oh, don't worry." Rory turned to her brother, giving him a small push towards the door, breaking up the Alpha-male fight about to take place.
As Jess stepped out the door, he turned to Rory and lowered his voice,
"As much as I'd hate to quote Tad Hamilton, guard your carnal treasure."
"Goodbye, dad!" she said exasperatedly. Rory shut the door and turned back to Tristan.
"So, is there a reason that your brother doesn't trust me?"
"I told you." Tristan shook his head,
"That's not it." Rory sighed,
"My dad's very protective of me. Jess plays off of that. If they see me in trouble, they pounce." Rory said, sinking into the couch.
"And they see you in trouble now?" Rory sighed,
"They think they do." Tristan raised his eyebrows, obviously intrigued,
"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Rory rolled her eyes; she did not want to admit this to anyone, much less Tristan,
"Because."
"Because why?"
"C'mon, Tristan, don't make me say it."
"I don't know what you mean."
"They know... you're gonna make me say this?"
"Say what?"
"Ugggh... they know that I find you attractive."
"You do?" Rory rolled her eyes,
"Of course I do. It doesn't mean I like you. I'm in love with my boyfriend. But it's obvious that you're a good-looking guy. You've got girls falling all ov..." She was cut off by his lips on hers. She closed her eyes for a brief second and took in what was happening.
There's a guy kissing me... and it's not Ryan...
In the middle of her thought process, as she was about to pull away in vile disgust (as soon as it had hit her what was going on), she heard an angry gasp and quick heavy running from the freshly-slammed front door. She turned around to look through the window to see Ryan stomping down the stairs. Rory quickly pushed Tristan away, screaming,
"You asshole!" and ran out the door, "Ryan! Ry!"
"Save it, Rory."
"No, Ryan, stop," She ran down the stairs and caught his arm in her hand, "Ry, stop! It's not what it looks like!" Ryan scoffed,
"I haven't heard that one before."
"It's true!"
"What, Rory, you each had half of a magnetic earring in your lips and you couldn't help being pulled together? Or he tripped over Hannah's pacifier and you broke his fall with your face?"
"Ryan, please," Rory pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes.
"No, forget it, Rory. I can't do it. I can't take this anymore. Every time I turn around lately, you're with Tristan. It's too much. I can't do this anymore, Rory... I just... I just can't." He said, obviously holding back his anger and sadness. Pulling his arm away, he trotted in the opposite direction towards the town.
Rory allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks as she watched the retreating figure of the boy she'd loved for ten years. She was startled (but didn't move) at the sound of Tristan's voice,
"What just happened?"
"Get out." Tristan narrowed his eyes,
"What?"
"You heard me. Get out. Go home. Get the hell away from me."
"But the project..."
"I'll finish the G-ddamn project on my own. Just get the hell away from my house."
"Rory..."
"Look, not only do I want you the hell away from me, but my dad and brother will be home soon and they'll kick your ass. Get out. Now," She said, never having made eye contact with him until the last 'now'.
Turning away, she jogged back up the rest of the way before closing the door and collapsing against it, sinking to the floor.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Lorelai?"
"Luke?" Lorelai moved through the supermarket, pulling things from the shelves and dropping them into the cart as she held her cell phone between her chin and shoulder.
"Honey, I think you should come home."
"What? Why?" she asked into the phone, examining a package of Hamburger Helper.
"Because..." Luke lowered his voice, "Because I just came home and I found our daughter on the couch, wrapped in an afghan, crying her eyes out as she watched her fifteenth birthday party on tape."
"Was it happy crying?"
"No. And she was watching this part with her and Ryan dancing together and she kept saying, 'I thought it'd last forever... I can't believe this...'." Lorelai put the package down hastily,
"You don't think..."
"I don't know... all she said to me was 'It's done, Daddy, it's all over'... I don't know..." Lorelai panicked,
"Well, where's Jess?" She heard the rustling of paper in her husband's fist,
"He's out. Rory said something about baby formula and then went back to 'I can't believe this.'" Lorelai gasped,
"Oh, no..." Leaving her cart behind, she ran to the baby formula aisle, "Jess!" He looked up guiltily,
"Hey, mom... don't tell dad I left... you needed the baby formula... why are you here?"
"Oh no, oh no, oh no..."
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Luke, I'll be right home."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I am Seth Cohen's cell phone, hear me beep."
Beeeeeeeeep.
"Seth, it's Lane. Something's wrong with Rory and she won't tell me what. Luke and Lorelai called me over to see if I could get her to talk. All I know is that something happened with her, Tristan, and Ryan, which I know cannot be good. Call me back, please."
Click.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jess moved through the diner on Monday afternoon, already in a foul mood due to his father's reaction to him when he got home.
"One thing, Jess. I asked you to do this one thing for me."
"I know, dad. I'm sorry. I had to go out and get formula for the twins!"
"That couldn't wait!"
"It probably could've..."
"Exactly. It probably could've waited, but now your sister's miserable and I have to say, I'm really disappointed in you. You do know that if you had been there, that asshole wouldn't have tried whatever he did to Rory?"
"Yeah... I know... I'm sorry, dad..."
"Don't tell me. Tell Rory."
He grunted as he picked up the plates off the table; he had taken extra shifts covering for people to get back on Luke's good side. He walked back up to the dark man who'd only ordered coffee the day before. The man glanced up and mumbled,
"Just coffee, please." Jess sighed in frustration,
"Just coffee?"
"Yes. Thank y..."
"Are you sure? Cuz I can get you something... anything," he said, holding his temper to the best of his ability.
"No. Just coffee." Unbeknownst to Jess, Lorelai had just entered the diner, pushing the twins in their stroller.
"Look, I don't know wh..." Lorelai startled him by grabbing his shoulder; this man looked familiar and her mother's intuition told her that it was best to get Jess away from there,
"Hi, sweetie," Jess restrained himself and turned to face Lorelai, who pulled at his arm, yanking him from the situation.
"Hey! Mom!" He protested, "I'm working! I was helping that guy!"
"Yeah, he really looked 'helped'. Happy with the service."
"You don't understand, mom. He's been sitting there for two hours, today and yesterday, ordering nothing but..." She stopped him,
"Do I look angry?"
"No..."
"Good... Look, why don't you take Josh and Hannah out for a little walk?"
"Won't dad get... mad?"
"Nah. You forget, I'm in good with the boss."
"I'm not right now," he muttered under his breath. She took his chin in her hand and lifted it up to look at her,
"Hey. He'll get over it. It's hard for him to see any of his kids in pain, much less Rory. He's not mad at you. He feels like he's failed her. He'll get over it. Ok?" He nodded and shot her a half-smile,
"Ok."
"Good. Go."
"Ok. Bye, mom." Thirty seconds after Jess had disappeared out the door, Luke descended the stairs.
"Hey, Burger Boy."
"Hey," he said quietly. Lorelai noticed his frazzled state,
"Are you ok?"
"Well," he looked around anxiously, "Where's Jess?"
"Took Josh and Hannah out for a walk."
"Good."
"You're not mad?" Lorelai ignored her question and tugged at her wrist, pulling her upstairs. She made it up, confused, "Wh... Luke! Luke, what are you doing!" He pulled her into the office and shut the door, "Well, now that you've successfully made me fall up the stairs, would you please tell me what this is about?"
"Jimmy," he breathed.
"What?"
"Jimmy. The guy downstairs in Jimmy."
"Jimmy..." She said, realization dawning on her.
"Jimmy, Jess' Jimmy."
"But why..."
"I don't know. I saw him, he looked familiar, I dug out an old picture and it's him." Lorelai's eyes went wide,
"The Independence."
"What?"
"The Independence. He's staying at the inn."
"He's what?"
"The name. He registered under James Marian. He just left off the O. How could I not see it?"
"Hey, it's not your fault." She buried her head into his chest and fell silent for a few seconds before looking up at her husband,
"Well, what does he... what does he want?"
"I don't know... to talk to Jess? To take him back? He hasn't said anything."
"But he's..."
"Our son..."
"Are you gonna..."
"I'm gonna talk to him."
"Talk to who?" asked Jess, pushing the door open, a twin in each arm. Lorelai stammered,
"Umm... you..."
"Me? About what?" he asked, avoiding Luke's eye.
"About work tomorrow. Your, uh, mom wanted to know if you wanted to work tomorrow and pick up some extra cash." Jess kept his eyes downcast,
"Um... sure. I guess... what time?"
"7 to closing."
"Ok." He looked up at Lorelai, who moved forward and pulled Hannah out of his arms. Luke did the same with Josh and Jess ducked out the door, successfully keeping his eyes glued to the floor or to his mother's.
"When are you gonna go talk to him?" Luke sighed,
"Tonight. I'll have Caesar close up."
"Should I..."
"No. Stay home. Rory needs you."
"Ok..."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"C'mon, bro, cheer up." Ryan lay still in his bed, ignoring Seth's attempts to brighten his room.
"Go away, Seth."
"No, c'mon. Get out of bed. You went into your room at ten last night, and no one's heard from you since, except to go to school. You drove alone today, ignored Rory all day. What's going on with you two? Did you have a fight?" Ryan rolled his eyes,
"What do you think?"
"I think yes... C'mon. How bad could it be? She won the 'who's prettier fight?'"
"No, Seth."
"She beat you at DDR?"
"No, Seth."
"She watched Holy Grail witho..."
"She kissed another guy, Seth!" he blurted out before he realized what he'd said, "Crap." Seth's eyes went wide,
"She... he... who?"
"Tristan... There, you happy? My girlfriend kissed Tristan."
"Are you sure?" Seth stammered.
"Am I sure? I was there, Seth! I walked in and their lips were together!" Seth was silent for a minute before asking,
"You're sure you didn't misinterpret it?" Ryan groaned,
"What are you, her? How could I have misinterpreted it!"
"I don't know... did you talk to her about it?"
"She tried to talk to me about it. I wouldn't do it. She kisses another guy, I don't wanna hear it."
"Ry... what did she say to you?"
"She said it wasn't what it looked like..."
"And did you listen to her?"
"No, Seth! I saw what I saw!" Seth paused, choosing his words carefully,
"But... how many times... have you been wrong in what you... how many... how often have your eyes lied to you, and how often has Rory?"
Ryan laid back in bed.
Annoying as his brother could be, he had a point.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jess sat cross-legged on his bed, finishing up his history homework. However, his thoughts were not on the trials and tribulations of Vietnam-era soldiers. They were not even on the muffled sound of Rory's sniffling as she watched Steel Magnolias upstairs. Rather, they were on an earlier conversation he'd had with Ally.
When he'd gone out for the walk with Hannah and Josh, he'd run into his girlfriend at the gazebo, and decided to act as though nothing was wrong with his personal life.
They'd quickly begun talking about school, and Jess brought up his Spanish class.
"So Emory goes 'Señora Spevack, I swear 'Fievre' is a word.' Señora Spevack starts to laugh and starts arguing with her and Ella pulls out her Spanish-English dictionary and writes in it 'Fievre- a word created by Early Jacobs and Emory Sanders to describe their amazing Spanish skills; a term used by Paris Hilton. In English: 'That's hot.'"
"Mmhmm."
"It was hysterical. Luckily, Señora Spevack has a sense of humor."
"Yeah..." Ally said, diverting her eyes, "So, are these little guys crawling at all yet?" Jess smiled,
"No, but last time Ella was over, Hannah actually pulled on her pants leg and made her pick her up. Hannah loves El..."
"Jess!" Jess blinked slowly at her,
"What?"
"Can we go two seconds without you talking about Ella or Emory!" Jess had paused then, unsure of what had caused the sudden outburst,
"Umm... yeah... sure... I didn't... I didn't realize I was talking about them that much..." Ally sighed,
"Yes, Jess. Them. Ella and Emory. Always lately."
"I... I didn't know you disliked them."
"I don't," she quickly covered, "I'd just like a different topic, please."
"Umm... sure..." He'd changed the subject, but kept it in mind.
Since when did Ally dislike his friends? Ally rarely disliked anyone...
Jess shrugged it off, reminding himself to call her later that night, after he'd studied online with Ella for math.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke stood at the door to room fourteen at the Independence Inn. He knocked quickly and waited until he heard footsteps. The door opened slowly and Luke stepped in uninvited.
"What are you doing here, Jimmy?"
"Nice to see you, too, Luke."
"What are you doing here, Jimmy?"
"Just passing through."
"Passing through from where?"
"California."
"California?"
"Yeah, I've been there for a few years now, seems to be working out."
"Well, glad to hear it," he said sarcastically.
"Yeah."
"What are you really doing here, Jimmy?"
"Nothing, really."
"That's bull and you know it." Jimmy sighed and ran a hand through his uncombed hair,
"I heard about the adoption."
"You what?"
"I heard about the adoption. Liz looked me up and called me and told me that I deserved to know. That you were adopting Jess and you were gonna be his father and that I wasn't. Not that I ever was."
"You left him seventeen years ago."
"I know."
"And now what? You wanna come back and screw up my family?"
"Hey, I didn't intrude on anyone's life."
"No? You don't think that coming and staying at my wife's inn and disrupting my kid's life isn't intruding!" Jimmy looked at the floor,
"I didn't even know you were married."
"No? Did you know that I have kids?"
"Yeah. I know. Jess is your kid." Luke shook his head,
"Other kids. Rory's sixteen. Hannah and Josh are six months. You come here, you not only screw up my life and Jess' life, but you also screw up the lives of three innocent children." Jimmy paused before answering,
"There's no evil plan here. I have a job, a life. I just thought I'd come and..."
"What? Say hello, see if he looks like you? Then what?"
"Well..."
"What?"
"I don't know!"
"Okay, well, while you're figuring it out, let me plant this little thought in your head- you do or say anything to upset my family, I will make sure your life is a living hell. I don't know if I'll kick your ass; I've changed since I adopted my daughter, but there will be some way in which your life will become a living hell."
"Wait... you adopted your daughter?"
"Yeah. It took a lot of work to get our family the way it is. You reverse all the work my wife and kids and I have done? You'll regret ever having come back." Jimmy was quiet and pensive, before offering quietly,
"I just wanted to see him."
"Well, you saw him. Now get outta here."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Hi. It's Lane's voicemail. If you're Rory, leave a message telling me when and where and I'll be there."
Beeeeeeeeeep.
"Lane, it's Seth. Listen, I found out what happened. Tristan kissed Rory or Rory kissed Tristan or they kissed each other... I don't know. All I know is that Ryan's really upset about it and I'm pretty sure they're broken up... Call me... or call her... call someone. Bye."
Click.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday night, Jess wiped down the tables in anger; the more he'd thought about his conversation with Ally, the more upset he'd gotten.
The more he'd thought about the conversation with Luke, the more upset he'd gotten.
The more he'd thought about Rory crying on the couch wrapped in a bathrobe, the more upset he'd gotten.
It was closing time and the man with the messy hair was sitting at the table, nursing a cup of coffee again.
"Closing time," Jess announced forcefully. The man ignored him, "I said it's closing time," still no reaction, "Look, I don't know who you are or what the hell you've been doing here the past couple of days, but I have no more patience for it. I'm not gonna tell you to get the hell out or to take the coffee cup and stick it in a few choice places, because the boss is pretty much in charge of everything regarding me and I'm already in trouble. But I will tell you this- I've had a really rough week, and you sitting here and staring at the table while I try to clean up so I can get home and get some sleep and figure out what the hell I'm gonna do is not helping! So either get up or tell me what the hell you want." The man looked up at Jess,
"I'm Jimmy, Jess. I'm your father." Jess paused for a second before glancing at the door,
"What?"
"I'm your father."
"Are you... are you sure?"
"Am I... yes, I'm sure. I didn't mean to spring this on you. I thought Luke would've told you that I..."
"Luke would've told me?"
"Well, yeah, he came to see me last night. He didn't tell you. That's obvious because you're still doing the staring with the frown and. . .you look different."
"Seventeen years will do that to you..." Jess mused quietly, downcast. After a few seconds, he blurted out, "I've gotta go." He ran out the door, not bothering to lock up behind him.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke and Lorelai sat on the couch together, discussing the situation at hand. Rory had gone to Lane's for a bit of relief, but Luke and Lorelai needed to figure out how to tell Jess the news.
"Should we tell him together?"
"Maybe I should just tell him..."
"Maybe Liz should tell him?" They were startled by the front door opening and slamming.
"Jess!" Lorelai scolded, "Don't slam the door like that!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jess asked Luke, ignoring Lorelai.
"What? Jess, what are you talking about? Don't ignore your mother!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Jess repeated, pointing his finger angrily at Luke.
"Jess, what?"
"You didn't tell me. He came and you just happened to forget to tell me!" Luke realized what Jess meant,
"Oh... look, Jess..."
"No, don't 'look, Jess' me, Luke."
"Luke?" Lorelai repeated, whispering, "Honey, what's going on?"
"Him," Luke said under his breath.
"Oh... him... look, Jess, sweetie, we were gonna..."
"You knew too!"
"Yeah, honey, I did..."
"And you just were gonna keep it from me!"
"No, sweetie... we were gonna tell you..."
"When, m... Lorelai! When were you gonna tell me!"
"Soon. We were trying to figure out how to tell you without upsetting you."
"Well, you did a terrific job of that," he said sarcastically.
"Hey! Watch yourself, Jess. She's still your mother!" Jess shook his head,
"Save it." Jess grabbed his coat and threw it on, throwing the door open.
"Where do you think you're going!" Luke asked, raising his voice.
"Out. Don't wait up, Uncle Luke."
As Jess ran down the stairs, Rory came back up,
"Hey... Jess, what's wrong?" Jess pushed past her, walking away briskly. Rory looked up to find her father staring after Jess' retreating figure, her mother welling up with tears, "Daddy?"
"Get inside, Rory."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Jess walked, but he didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that he had to go somewhere, and his usual hiding spot was out.
In a normal situation, he'd go to the Cohen's house and hide out in their basement, but in this case, he knew he couldn't. Kirsten would dote on him and Sandy would call Luke and he and Lorelai would come over and his "four parents" would make him sit down and talk about it.
Talk about what? They'd lied to him. They'd kept something from him that he'd deserved to know. They'd done wrong by him.
Without realizing it, he'd landed at the spot where he'd been his very first night in Stars Hollow: the playground.
He sat down on the swing and looked up at the approaching footsteps behind him. Ally sat down behind him,
"Hey. I was just coming from the market and I saw you. What's up?" Jess shook his head,
"It's all screwed up." She sat down next to him,
"What is?"
"Everything. I just..."
"You just what?"
"I screwed everything up... They screwed everything up... He screwed everything up."
"Who did?"
"All of us... I just... I have to..."
"You have to what?"
"I have to... call Emory..." Ally stood up in anger,
"Are you kidding, Jess?"
"What! What the hell, Ally, what are you so mad over!"
"Emory this and Ella that. You can't talk to me about your problems?" Jess stood up next to her,
"You wouldn't understand this."
"I understand you."
"This isn't something you'd get."
"You know what? I don't get it, Jess. I don't get why, all of a sudden, I don't fit into your life. Every time I ask you to do something lately, you're watching a movie with Ella, or studying with Emory and Charlie. You don't have time for me, Jess!"
"That's not true!"
"Yes it is. Don't kid yourself... You know what, Jess? You just freed up more time for them."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means it's over, Jess," she said, tears falling down her face, "I can't take this anymore."
"Ally..."
"Have fun with your new Chilton pals, Jess. Keep in touch."
She ran off without another word.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It was entirely too quiet in her house. All she could hear were Josh's occasional hiccups over the baby monitor and her mother's sporadic sniffles from the den, coupled with her own shallow breathing.
She couldn't take it anymore. Taking her Beauty and the Beast pen and Hello Kitty notepad from her desk, she wrote her parents a note.
Mom and Dad-
Had to get out of the house. Went for a walk. I have my phone, but I need to get out to think. I'll be back later.
Rory
She pulled a Harvard sweatshirt over her long-sleeved blue t-shirt and, grabbing her wallet, as her father had always taught her, she rushed quietly out the door, her sister's deep breathing following through the baby monitor.
Stepping into the brisk spring air, Rory headed straight for the place she'd been thinking of since she'd come home to her mother crying, Jess storming out, and her father in a stunned silence.
Picking up the pace, she hugged her sweatshirt to herself, willing herself not to cry.
Arriving at her destination, Rory collapsed onto the swings, not hearing the scurrying footsteps disappearing behind the bushes. The playground. Everything's always better at the playground... Right? She let out a bitter laugh, It's just a playground. It can't fix the fact that my family's falling apart and I have no one left.
She was so immersed in thought that she failed to notice Lane looking out her bedroom window.
She let herself succumb to her urges and allowed tears to silently fall. She dangled he legs, leaving the salty droplets to roll without wiping them away.
She was soon startled by the sound of footsteps running down the sidewalk. She quickly used her palm to wipe at her cheeks and was shocked as she realized who was approaching.
"Ryan?"
"Hey."
"What are you, um... what are you doing here?"
"Lane called me. She said you were out here and as we all know, that means something's wrong. Is anything wrong?" Rory shook her head, but soon stopped,
"Yes. It's falling apart, it's all falling apart." Ryan strode to the swings and sat down in the one next to her, pulling her into him,
"What happened?"
"It's just... I don't even know. I just came home and I could hear Jess screaming at mom and dad and the door slammed and he ran out past me and I went inside- mom was crying and daddy told me to take Josh and Hannah to put them to sleep. And I'm up there and I want to know what's going on, so I remember that we never took the walkie talkie upstairs the time we wanted to find out what we got for Chrismukkah last year. I run downstairs saying Josh needs his blanket and without anyone noticing I turned it on and ran upstairs.
"And so I hear mom and daddy talking. Jimmy came back- Jess' biological dad, and they hadn't told him yet and he got really mad and basically told mom and dad that he hates them and... I don't think he wants the adoption anymore, and I've already lost you, and to think I was losing my big brother? I just..."
"Hey," Ryan interrupted, lifting her chin, "You have not lost me."
"But I thought..." He shook his head,
"No. You haven't lost me. I believe you."
"I didn't even tell you what happened."
"You told me I was wrong. I trust you. You've never given me any reason not to. You have not lost me... unless you want to..." Rory shook her head,
"No. Of course not. I love you, Ry."
"You too."
"Does this mean..."
"If you want to..."
"I think it would be the best thing I have going for me right now." He leaned in and kissed her for what seemed like the first time in years,
"I missed that."
"Not as much as I did."
"So... you wanna go back and face your fears... I mean family." Rory laughed lightly,
"I guess... I think I... I think I have to talk to Jess..."
"Ok. C'mon. Let's go home."
Ryan got up and pulled Rory with him, allowing her to bury herself in his chest. They walked quietly until Rory heard a rustle and a thump in the bushes.
"Ahh, crap!" said a voice from behind the brush.
"Jess?" Rory breathed. Jess emerged slowly from the bushes,
"Hey, Rory."
"Jess..." she was at a loss for words.
"I'll leave you two to talk," said Ryan, kissing her forehead before walking off.
"Things are good with you and Ryan now?" Jess asked, a twinge of jealousy in his voice. Rory inhaled,
"You hurt them, Jess." Jess looked down,
"They hurt me."
"They didn't want to. They were going to tell you about it tonight." He shook his head,
"No they weren't. They told you that?"
"No. They wouldn't tell me anything. I turned on the walkie talkie and listened from the twins' room."
"Seth's rubbing off on you."
"Jess," she said warningly.
"I don't know, Rory. You've never been in this situation!"
"What situation? Choosing between a biological father and the father who loves me? No, I know nothing about that, Jess!" Jess diverted his eyes,
"I didn't mean to..."
"You hurt dad, Jess. You hurt the man who raised you. And you don't care."
"I do! I do care!" he looked her in the eye, "I do care that I made Lorelai cry, and I do care that I made Luke upset! But you don't understand."
"I do, Jess. I do understand! And why can't you call them mom and dad? Do you not want to go through with the adoption now!"
"No. I do... I do... I just... I need some time to think... I think I'm just... Could you tell m... mom and dad something for me?"
"Why can't you?"
"It's just too difficult right now..."
"Fine. But you'll have to talk to them sooner or later."
"I know... tell them that I want to go through with the adoption, but I need to spend the summer with Jimmy. I just... I need to get to know him before anything happens. Ok?" Rory nodded,
"Ok... Hey, Jess?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, big brother."
"It's mutual."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rory got home to find her father sitting on the front porch swing. She kissed Ryan goodbye and stepped up to him,
"Daddy?"
"Hi, princess."
"Daddy, are you ok?" Luke scoffed,
"Honestly? No... but I will be..."
"Is this about Jess?" Luke nodded and put his arm around her as she sat down next to him.
"Yeah." She paused before offering,
"I talked to Jess."
"So did I. Although I don't know if screaming counts as talking."
"No, daddy. I talked to him talked to him."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he told me... he told me he still wants the adoption, but he wants to spend the summer with Jimmy."
"The summer?"
"Yeah..." Luke sat up,
"It's better than nothing."
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it gonna go back to normal?" Luke nodded,
"Eventually."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday afternoon, Rory, Ryan, Seth, and Lane sat on the swings at the playground, watching as a group of four children, two boys and two girls, played in the sandbox.
"It's not the same without Jess, is it?" Lane asked, pushing her glasses up. Rory shook her head,
"It hasn't been the same since he came for the first time." Ryan nodded,
"I can't believe about him and Ally..."
"He's... he's having a rough time..."
"Then we have to show him that we're still here," suggested Lane.
"How?"
"Cranking Beatles music for 24 hours consecutively?" shrugged Seth, "I get by with a little help from my friends. Hmm, get high with a little help from my friends."
"Let's not get high. Helped or otherwise."
"We can do it... we've done it before... I guess we'll just have to use our powers for good instead of evil."
"I guess so." Seth sighed,
"What a shame."