Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls! There is also a scene that is similar to a scene in A Cinderella Story, but I don't own that either! I don't own either of the songs that I used in this chapter (Be Be Your Love and Guess I'm Falling For You)! Too bad :(
Note: THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! Ya'll are so great! I love each and every review I get, good or bad. So don't be shy! I get so many more reviews for this story than my other, so thanks! Smile1, I just love your reviews! It really means a lot to me that you take your time to write out those reviews! So this chapter is dedicated to you! Okay! Dance Chapter finally! Hopefully the person who had to go on vacation (sorry I don't have my reviews right here with me) will see this in time to read it!You will notice that you won't get a full description of Rory until Tristan sees her:) Suspense! Well kinda...anyway, Enjoy!
Rory collapsed into the chair across from her mom who already had a steaming cup of coffee for her. Rory's cheeks were bright pink from running all the way from their house and she was breathing heavily.
"Now I know why I don't exercise!" Rory breathed out before taking a large gulp of the dark liquid she held in her hands.
Lorelai smiled, "So..."
Rory snapped out of her daze. "Oh my gosh, mom, the dress is amazing. Fantastic. Rose from Titanic would be jealous! Seriously, how did you do it!"
The smile Lorelai had formed earlier was now spread wider across her face.
"Well, really, it was the Oompaloompas! Those guys are just so talented!" Throwing her hands up in the air, her face mocked shock.
"Well, tell them that I am forever in their debt!" Rory reached across the table and hugged her mom.
"Any thing else for you girls?" Lorelai pulled out of the hug and eyed Luke mischievously.
"Well, that depends, are you feeling frisky?" Luke scrunched his face in either a feeling of embarrassment or disgust causing Rory to burst out laughing. She loved watching the way Luke responded to her mother. Those two really were a pair.
"I'll take some pancakes since I never got my breakfast in bed this morning!" Rory slapped Luke playfully on the arm.
"Where is that boyfriend of mine anyway?"
Walking behind the counter Luke sighed.
"Honestly, I never know where that boy is. He was gone when I woke up." Rory's pulse quickened at Luke's words. Where was Jess? As Luke slid a plate in front of her Rory wanted to hit him. How could he not know where Jess was?
"So have you tried it on?" Rory turned back to her mother who was on her third cup of coffee.
"I was waiting for you!" Rory said between a bite of syrupy pancakes.
"That's so sweet! I love being there for coming out of the closet parties!" She laughed at her own joke and forked up some of Rory's pancakes.
"Excuse me! What is it with people stealing my food? Boundaries! There are boundaries people! I am getting too soft." Lorelai's eyes widened.
"You let someone steal your food! Who? Are there some hospital bills I need to pay?" Rory smacked her mother's hand away as she reached for some more pancakes.
"Tristan took some of my fries yesterday but it's okay, I handled it." Lorelai eyed her daughter. The way Rory said Tristan worried her. There was feeling behind his name, this boy wasn't just another Chiltonite to Rory.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Rory said while standing up and grabbing her coat. Lorelai's response was a simple shrug.
"Whatever Rain Man, let's go try on my dress!"
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As Rory slid on the dress her breath caught in her throat. The inside of the dress was lined with silk and it slid across her skin with no resistance. Slowly zipping up the dress she felt how the fabric clung to each of her curves. Slowly she turned and looked into the mirror and gasped.
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"Rory telephone! I think it's the President! He said something about National Security?" Lorelai was sitting on the couch reading a magazine with her hand in the air holding the phone. Her feet were propped up on the coffee table so her toenails could dry. The whole day she and Rory had pampered themselves, painting their nails, getting massages, getting facials, and any other girlie things you can think of.
Rory, who was in her duck pajamas, snatched the phone out of her mother's hand, careful not the smear her freshly painted nails.
"Hello? Hey! I missed you today...I guess in about two hours, I don't want to be there too early...Okay...Wait, where were you today?...Okay sure...okay...bye."
Rory clicked the phone off and clunked it down on the table.
"Rory, where was he?" Lorelai had now looked up from her magazine and had turned herself around on the couch.
"He said he would tell me later..." Rory plunked down on the couch and picked up the magazine her mother had been reading, signaling an end of discussion.
"I was thinking I could do your hair like this..." Lorelai pointed at the glossy page, "and do your make-up like this..." she pointed to another picture. Rory nodded and ran into the bathroom.
"Mom! Come on! We only have two hours!" Lorelai smiled at her daughter. Three years ago she had barley gotten Rory to the dance, but now Rory was much more confident. She partly thanked Jess for that even though she still didn't totally trust him. But since Rory trusted him she gave him the benefit of the doubt. She just hoped that Rory knew what she was doing, with Dean, Jess, and even that boy Tristan.
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Ding-Dong. The door bell interrupted the caious in the Gilmore house.
"Mom! Jess is here!" Rory's frantic call came from the bathroom as her mom ran to her rescue with a bottle of hairspray.
"Hold still!" Both girls were engulfed in a cloud of hairspray. Ding Dong.
"Coming!" Rory ran through the living room grabbing her small, beaded purse and stopped right before the door. Sliding on her shoes, she took one last look in the mirror, gave her mom a hug, pulled on a coat, and stepped out into the cool night.
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Jess straightened his posture as Rory stepped out onto the porch. As Rory slowly raised her head to look at him, Jess felt as if he was going to faint. She was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. Everyone of her features was chiseled perfectly. Her pale skin glowed like porcelain.
"Hey," was all he could manage to say. His heart pounded in his chest as she smiled and slid her hand into his.
"Hey." As she studied him she noticed that he was looking at her differently. The way that Tristan looked at her everyday. Rory shook her head, "Stop right now. You are so close to falling in love with Jess, this wonderful boy you are holding hands with." Reassuring Jess with a smile she climbed into the front seat. Hanging there in front of her was a single red rose. She squeezed Jess's hand and fastened the rose in her hair.
Maybe she had already fallen in love with Jess and she just hadn't realized it. Rory smiled at the thought. There was this crazy feeling building up in her, and she wanted to find out what it was.
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Tristan entered the dance with Summer clinging to his arm. He hated how she clung to him, how she claimed him. She was dressed in a tight, black dress and her hair was board straight. Dark liner circled her eyes like a raccoon and wine lipstick covered her lips. She smelt like sun tan oil and Tristan wanted to puke. He had only asked her because he didn't want to go alone. He knew that he was the envy of most of the guys there but he didn't care. He was already looking for someone else. After scanning the room and finding no sign of her, he turned back to Summer as she pulled him to the dance floor.
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Rory and Jess entered the dance a little overwhelmed. The dance was being held in a huge hotel ballroom, larger than the ballroom that Rory and Dean had seen. Candles lined the stair case and white lilies hung from the ceiling.
"Wow, Chilton really busts the budget for these things don't they?" Jess was gawking at the crystal champagne glasses (which were filled with ginger ale) that lined the long, rectangular tables.
Rory nodded her head and scanned the room. She just wanted to know if he was here. But she was interrupted. "You want something to drink?" Jess was now tugging at her hand.
"Um, sure. I'm just going to go hang up my coat." Rory motioned to the small coat closet and Jess nodded and headed down the stairs.
After turning in her coat, Rory turned around and bumped straight into Paris.
"Ah, Gilmore. Saw the boy you were with, I was surprised it wasn't Tristan." Rory rolled her eyes. Surprise surprise. Paris was still the same old Pairs. She was dressed in a plain, green dress, similar to one Rory had seen her in before but a little darker.
"Well, you know, I like to mix it up. Where is your cousin? I mean date?" Rory said it sarcastically but to Paris it came out as a lash. She turned and stormed off, throwing her coat at the attendee as she left.
Rory turned to the shocked little man, "Um, you can put that under Gellar." The man nodded, comforted by the normal, civil young lady.
Rory smiled and walked towards the stair case. Standing at the top she suddenly felt nervous. She didn't know why but all these butterflies in her stomach. As she began the decent down the stairs she felt as if everyone was starring at her. As she looked up, she realized it was because they were.
As the new song began Tristan slowly pulled away from Summer. Some one else had caught his eye. Rory.
"When I look into your eyes I see sunshine" He watched as she slowly made her way down the candle lit staircase. The flickers from the flame cast shadows on her skin which playfully danced across her body.
"The clouds are blown away, I hope you're here to stay" Her hair was once again curled, but half of it was loosely tied back in a ruby ribbon. A single strand close to her face had come loose and was resting gracefully on her cheek.
"'Cause I've got me needing more of you" Tristan couldn't tear his eyes away from her. As Rory continued her descent down the stairs, Tristan took in each and every part of her. When had she become so much more to him?
"Guess I'm falling for you." He watched as she stood at the end of the staircase, waiting for someone. Him maybe? Without realizing what he was doing he began walking towards her. But he was quickly stopped in his tracks.
A boy, about his height, with coal black hair was handing Rory a drink. Jess. Tristan stood still watching. Jess slowly slid his arm across Rory's waist as she pulled him towards the dance floor.
"You walk away, my eyes caress you" Tristan watched Jess spin Rory around softly and then pull her close, causing her to break out a smile.
"Then you turn and smile, you've caught me thinkin' of love with you" Tristan could feel his heart breaking slowly, painfully. She looked so happy with this guy. Why couldn't he make her happy like that?
Tristan suddenly caught his breath, Rory had seen him.
"Now I look into your eyes, I'm lost in knowing that you are all I want. My need for you is growing, guess I'm falling, I think I'm falling for you. Think about falling for me too..."
The song slowly ended and Rory found her eyes locked on Tristan. He was just standing there, looking at her. Rory couldn't make herself look away.
"Rory? Is that Bible Boy?" Jess was carefully studying his competition. Rory slowly nodded as Tristan began walking towards her.
"Hey, I'm Tristan DuGrey." Tristan firmly stuck out his hand in Jess direction." Jess resultantly shook it. This made Tristan remember when he first met Dean. He had acted so child like. Now he wanted to show Rory that he could handle this.
"Jess. Just Jess." He dropped Tristan's hand and grabbed Rory's.
Rory hated to be treated like a possession but at the moment, her body wasn't functioning.
"I was just coming over to ask Rory for a dance?" Tristan bit his tongue after his question came out. Why had he done that. Rory was only going to laugh. But then, to his surprise Rory formed a tiny smile on her lips.
" Yeah, okay, just one." She pulled away from Jess's grip, avoiding his look, and followed Tristan to the dance floor. She just needed reassurance that she was ready to fall in love with Jess. She needed a safety net. She needed to know that she had absolutely no feeling towards Tristan. She knew that this had to look odd to everyone around her, but she felt like she needed to do this.
They waited until the current song, "Yeah" by Usher finished and then found a spot on the dance floor.
Rory softly placed her hands around Tristan's neck as he placed his around her waist, each one sending shock waves through the other's body. Slowly moving to the music, feeling each other's warmth, each of them let their thoughts drift away.
"If I could take you away
Pretend I was Queen
What would you say
Would you think I'm unreal
Cause everybody's got their way I should feel"
Tristan studied Rory's delicate features. A soft, black line traced the outside of her eyes while a light, gold powder rested on her eyelids like snow. Her cheeks were a soft, rosy pink. They contrasted with her burgundy lips perfectly. Her pale skin reminded him of silk and he had to stop himself from running his hand along her cheek. He had to remind himself that she would never be his.
"Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want wanna be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Want to be your everything"
Rory finally took the time to actually look at Tristan. His blond hair was tousled and his blue eyes sparkled, even in the darkness. As he cautiously pulled her a little closer, Rory could feel his heart pounding against her. Or was that her heart?
"Every thing's falling, and I am included in that
Oh, how I try to be just okay
Yeah, but all I ever really wanted
was a little piece of you"
Rory rested her head softly on his shoulder, surprising him. She just wanted whatever she was feeling to last, but she knew it couldn't.
"Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everything will be all right
if you just stay the night"
"Um Rory?" Rory slowly titled her head up towards Tristan, readying herself for his gaze. But he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the stair case. Jess. Jess was collecting his coat from the little old man. Rory quickly pulled away from Tristan and began pushing her way through the crowd.
"Please sir... don't you walk away
Don't you walk away, don't you walk away
Please sir... don't you walk away
Don't you walk away, don't you walk away"
"Jess! Wait! Where are you going?" Jess kept walking even as Rory neared. "Jess!" Rory finally managed to grab his arm and pull him to a stop. He forcefully pulled his arm away from her and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"What Rory? What?" His eyes tore through Rory like a knife.
"What's the matter? Where are you going?" Her voice was shaky.
"Rory. I stayed here for you! Now seeing the way you act around this guy," Jess pointed to a silent Tristan who had just walked up, "I think that I've made a mistake." Rory's mind began spinning a million different directions.
"Jess, what are you talking about? What do you mean you stayed here?" Rory tried to reach out to him again but he stepped back.
"You know Rory, it doesn't matter anymore. Love isn't real anyway." With that Jess stalked out the door, into the cold, leaving each teen with their own set of thoughts.
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"No one had ever truly loved me, why did I think that could change?" Jess said to himself as he pulled out onto the lonely highway.
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"How do you know when you are in love? Can you ever know?" Rory held back tears as she sat quietly on the couch in the girl's bathroom.
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"Is love worth it? Does all this pain achieve anything?" Tristan rested his head against a pillar and watched as care free couples danced the night away.
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"Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Everybody's talking how I can't can't be your love
But I want want want to be your love
Want to be your love, for real
Want to be your love love love
Want to be your love, your love love love"
a/n: Okay! There ya'll go! I really hope ya'll liked it! It took me FOREVER to find the right songs for this! I'm still a little unsatisfied with the first song. Anyway, let me know what ya'll think please! I am doing this for ya'll! Oh and don't worry, you will all find out what Jess was talking about soon! Also, the new Harry Potter Book is out today and I am going to be busy reading that so I don't know when my next update will be. I want to finish that first. But don't worry, it only took me 3 days to finish the 5th one, so I'm sure the next update will be early next week! But please please review!