Can't Bet With Love
Part Four:
Rory sat in the common room that she and Paris shared with four other girls, Mallory and Steph included. The large screen television that her grandmother had donated was turned to the news, but at that moment, Rory's mind was elsewhere.
"Hey, whatcha watchin'?" Mallory bounced onto the couch next to Rory.
Rory turned to her friend. The brunette wore an oversized t-shirt that she assumed was her boyfriend's and a pair of dark blue shorts that barely showed with the long t-shirt.
"News," Rory told her.
Mallory sat down next to her. "How boring," she commented. She reached her hand out for the remote. "You mind?" she asked.
Rory shook her head, handing Mallory the remote. Mallory started to flip through the channels before landing on MTV.
"Everything alright?" Mallory asked, looking at her friend with concern.
Rory nodded. "I'm just a bit nervous. Dean called and he'll be here at five. We're meeting for coffee."
"How'd he sound? Excited, nervous…?"
Rory tilted her head to the side. "What does it matter?" she asked.
"Well…if he's excited, it could mean that he just has some good news to tell you…now if he's nervous…" Mallory trailed off. Tilting her head like Rory had, she asked, "Do you get what I'm saying?"
Rory nodded. Thinking back to her conversation with Dean, she decided, "He most definitely sounded nervous."
Mallory examined Rory's face, trying to decipher what her friend may be feeling. She didn't want Rory to get her hopes up. She'd never met Dean, but he had loyally called Rory at least twice a day. There was no doubt that he was smitten with Rory, but Mallory still wasn't quite sure if a proposal would be happening today.
Giving up on guessing, Mallory asked, "If he asked you, what would you say?"
"I think I'd say yes."
"So, Dean's it?"
"Yes, I think he is."
"Are you sure?"
"What's with all these questions, Mal?" Rory asked, now irritated. "Yes I'm sure; I love Dean—why wouldn't I say yes?"
"I just want you to be sure that you're making the right decision, that's all," Mallory responded.
There was silence as Mallory continued to watch MTV and Rory grabbed her notebook sitting on the coffee table and begun to complete her journalism assignment. Around 4:15, Mallory shut off the television and turned to Rory.
"Look, Rory—I'm sorry for questioning you. I know you love Dean, and I know he loves you. You're nineteen; I just don't want you to rush into anything."
Rory raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever known me, of all people, to rush?"
Mallory shook her head. Standing up, she motioned for Rory to follow her into her bedroom. "Come on. You need an outfit tonight so hot that he won't be able to resist you."
Rory smiled and let Mallory lead her into her room.
About half an hour later, Rory appeared again, dressed casual with a glamorous touch, thanks to Mal, who pieced together an outfit using items of Rory, Mal, and even Steph, who was wasn't there to have a say, but Mallory reassured Rory that it was alright.
"Gorgeous, dah-ling," Mallory purred.
Rory smiled. "Thanks." Then, she checked her watch. It was 4:45. "In these heels, if I want to get there in time, I better leave now."
"Bye now," Mallory said with a wave.
Just as Rory left, the phone rang.
Mallory picked it up in her usual fashion. "Hello, gorgeous Mallory here. What can I do for you?"
"Hey babe," Erik said. "Let's get together and we can discuss what you can do for me."
"No thanks," Mallory teased. "I was expecting someone else to call."
"What, you got another boyfriend hidden away?"
"Hidden, no," Mallory shook her head, though Erik wasn't able to see her. "You're the one who's hidden. I just think you look good."
"Sure," Erik said. "I know I'm cuter than any other boy you could find."
"Please, Erik," Mallory rolled her eyes, although Erik couldn't see her, but her tone conveyed her actions. "Who ever said I wanted a just a 'cute' guy?"
"I'm hurt," Erik feigned. Then, changing the subject, he said, "Let's go get some coffee."
"No, not good," Mallory said. "Rory's going there with her boyfriend—possible proposal here—she might think I'm spying on her."
Erik was silent for a minute. "So it's that serious, huh?"
"Could be," Mallory said. "I've never met the guy, although he does call up here at least twice a day."
"I'd like to see this guy," Erik said. "I'll swing by there and pick you up in five?"
"Erik," Mallory tried to reason. When he wouldn't back down, finally, she relented. "Fine, but make it ten."
As Mallory ran into her bedroom to get ready, she wondered how Rory was doing.
----
"So does this place compete with Luke's?" Dean asked as the two stood in line.
Rory shook her head. "Nothing comes close to Luke's."
They ordered their coffee and sat down to wait for them. Dean seemed to fidget nervously. Rory just wanted to tell him to "spill it out, already."
"Well?" she prompted.
"I"—Dean stopped when he saw the coffee coming. He looked relieved; Rory just sighed.
She took a sip before looking up at Dean expectantly.
"How's school been going?" he asked.
"Schools been well," Rory answered.
"Liking all your professors?"
Rory nodded. On any normal afternoon, this would have worked distracting Rory. She could have talked about her courses or really good professors that she lucked in getting. But not this afternoon, not now.
"Paris doing alright? Still as crazy as ever?"
Rory contemplated this for a moment. "Paris is still…Paris."
"How about you're other roommates? What were their names again?"
Rory sighed. "Mallory and Stephanie; they're fine. And before you ask, yes, my mom is fine, so are my grandparents, my car, and even my television is in fine working order."
Dean looked mildly amused. Looking up at the door, he nodded his head towards it. "That group seems to know you."
Rory turned around, spotting Mallory who sheepishly waved in Rory's direction after she saw that Rory had spotted her. With Mallory was her boyfriend, Erik, and two of Erik's friends; Michael and Charlie. The fourth one, Tristan Dugray, who Rory hadn't taken a liking to, was a no show. She couldn't help but be thankful for that one.
"Want to invite them to join us?" Dean asked. Before Rory could protest, he motioned them to come over.
Mallory tried to protest, but Erik was already dragging her towards Rory and Dean.
Erik held out his hand to Dean. "I'm Erik."
"Friend of yours, Rory?" Dean asked, not recognizing the game.
"You could say that," Erik said.
"Dean, this is Mallory, one of my other roommates. Erik's her boyfriend and these are his two friends, Michael and Charlie. Michael's also in my journalism class."
Dean raised an eyebrow. "The one that persistently asked you out?"
"Glad to make a name for myself," Michael offered him a smile. "If it's any constellation, I didn't know she had a boyfriend until last night, at the party."
The amusement from Dean's face faded. "Party?"
"It's not like I went out with him or anything, Dean. Plus, I was at the party for what, five minutes, Mal?"
Jealous much, Mallory thought, but nodded. "I drove them there, but they left before I got a chance to see them again and took a cab back to the dorms."
Dean just nodded.
"Look, its Tristan," Charlie said, an amused smile on his face, one that mirrored in both Erik's and Michael's.
Mallory recognized it, grimaced, and said, "Oh no."
Author's note
----
Eek—I'm so sorry about how long this took. I wrote this chapter out on paper and actually liked it, but lost it, and I just was frustrated and started this. It's different than before and not too sure I like it, but if I held on anymore it would be October before I updated. I have a good idea of what's to happen in the next couple of chapters so updates should be more frequent. I'd say the next chapter will be up no sooner than two weeks from now. I'm going out of town, but maybe I'll squeeze one in before then. Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate them!
Thanks to:
Callista Wolfwood– Thanks for the suggestion. That's what I want to happen, but I have a little problem writing from the point of view of characters that I didn't create. I'm trying to work on that… so hopefully something actually interesting will appear soon. Thanks for reviewing!
MegLiz716– Hmm… it's not over yet so you'll see what happens in the next chapter :) I'm glad you like it! Thanks for the review.
Indieemo-gurl21– I'm glad you didn't like it. You'll find out whether Dean proposed or not in the next chapter. It was meant to be done in this one, but there was a scene I wanted written in between, but I didn't know how to go about doing it so it's being pushed back. Thanks for reviewing!
TRORY– Thanks for the review. I'm continuing…just a little slow at it.
Paige– Thanks for the review. Sorry the update was so long. ;)
Liz3386– I'm glad you like the little details like that. There aren't that many of them in there. Thanks for reviewing!
Smile1– I shouldn't tear my story down, yes, but… I think its lacking a lot of things that it could use. Originality is one of them. I started this story over two years ago and when I went to reread it, I didn't like it at all, but I decided to give it a try because it would be a challenge. I'm glad you like the way I write them… because I know I'm not getting them right at all. I understand what you mean about Tristan and Rory… I'm glad you could see that. I know I was vague and it was really hard to submit because normally I'm a description whore. The past two chapters have really irritated me because they've been lacking in what I'm normally writing a lot about. The dialogue could use a lot of work. I think I just worry too much about making them out of character that I freak out and it just turns out not good. So maybe I should try and relax about it a little more. Thanks for the review and all your comments. They've helped me out so thank you.
Amanda– Thanks! I will keep writing… thanks for the review! And I have to finish this story first before I consider a sequel. ;)
Four51– Thanks… Thanks for the piece of advice… I'll try and work better on that. I have a pretty large screen so when I write it's not very big… so I'm sorry if it comes up that way on yours. I'll try and work on that better. Thanks again for reviewing and the advice!
Beauty unfolds– Thanks for saying it's a great story. I know the plot's overused. I started this a couple years ago… I think it had a mix to do with watching She's All That, but I came up with the idea and I know it's horribly unoriginal and I almost deleted it, but I'm trying to better my writing talent and writing this is a real challenge for me. Coming up with ideas are easy, but writing someone else's character is a lot harder. I tried to get Rory's actual personality because I know that wasn't how Rory acts, but… my fingers typed out a new one. Thanks for the idea… I think I might use it.
--------– Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I wrote one out on paper and then lost it, but I was too lazy to rewrite one, but here I am now. Next update should be quicker because I found my notebook for ideas of this.
Mar0506– Ugh… let's not even get me started on Dean. I've had it in for that boy since Day One. Okay not quite…I actually liked him when I re-watched season 1 still nothing beats Tristan.
JALNA– No, Rory probably never will understand him. I don't understand him and here I am, deciding to WRITE him. This is why you'll see very few from Tristan's point of view. Thanks for your review; your spiel spurted of some ideas.
Thanks for reading and please review! Feel free to plug your own stories and other good Gilmore Girls stories too. I've been out of the scene so I only keep up with what's in my profile, which isn't much.