Disclaimer: C chappie #1.
Torn X:
"Wowy, Wowy, Wowy, Wowy, Wowy, Wowy . . ." Seth and Owen screeched as they hurtled into the house, scrambling inside her bedroom where she sat at her desk while Tristan was feeding Lily on the bed.
"What, what what what what what?" she replied swiveling around in her seat, and throwing a smile at the two boisterous ragamuffins.
"Guess what Grandpa taught us today? Guess, guess?" Owen hopped happily, a huge grin consuming his chubby features.
"He said-" Owen began when Seth interjected.
"I wanna' tell heh," Seth whined.
"But I wanna' tell heh." Owen spoke up.
"How about you tell heh da' fiwst pawt, and I'll tell heh da' second?" Seth compromised.
"But da' second pawts da' funniest, I wanna' tell heh da' second pawt."
"Ok, wock, papah, skissows." Seth turned his back to both Rory and Tristan and pumped their fists.
Rory raised a brow to Tristan who was obviously trying to hold back a laugh. The two boys were utterly adorable. They were definitely Gilmore- Danes.
"Ok," they both whirled around and Seth came bounding at her. "What's da' diffewence between bwoccoli an' boogews?"
He'd obviously lost the game.
"Kids don't eat-"
"Bwoccoli!" Seth belted, completely breaking the rules he'd set.
Suddenly Owen had pounced on his little brother, and soon they were rolling around her bedroom floor, Seth squealing in protest and Owen growling in rage. Soon there was a symphony of yells coming from the tiny bedroom, echoing in Rory's head.
Owen and Seth were both screaming to the top of their lungs as they wrestled on her bedroom floor. Lily had abandoned her meal of strained peas and was screeching from all the commotion her two brothers were causing. And Tristan wasn't helping at all. In fact, he was laughing to himself, quite audibly.
Getting up from her seat, she pulled Owen from Seth and dragged him into the hallway.
"Ya' know just because he makes you mad doesn't give you the right to beat him up." She chided the red faced boy with tears running down his cheeks.
"But I really wanted to tell you da' joke. He wuined it!"
"He didn't ruin anything. It was a cute joke, and just because he said a part of it didn't mean it wasn't any less funny. You're supposed to be the big brother. Every time that he makes you mad you just can't go and hurt him. You're supposed to show him that you're above that. That only babies fight when their mad."
"Yeah, he's a baby." Owen grinned, his tiny nose crinkling.
"He's not a baby, just not mature yet." She grinned, loving her little siblings. "Now where's Grandma and Grandpa? Weren't they supposed to drop you off?"
Owen shrugged and dashed back to her room where she heard Lily immediately squeal with delight.
Rubbing her head, she ventured out of the opened front door, tugging on her white tank top.
"Rory," Emily exclaimed, turning from her conversation with Dave. "Your friend here was just telling me about your escapades in Paris."
"There were no escapades," Rory shook her head, waving Dave, Emily and Richard into the house. "How's Lane?"
"Her mom finally let me see her today . . . she made me pack," he frowned. "She's throwing up still, and she's only consuming liquids. When we get back, I'm taking her to the hospital. It's been two weeks now, the flu should have already taken its course."
"I'm sure she's fine," she clapped his back as he walked past her into the Gilmore house.
Dave shook his head, his shoulders slumped forward. He hadn't seen Lane all vacation. Because of her sickness, she'd never left the house (of course, Ms. Kim had more to do with that). And the nightly phone calls just weren't enough. He was worried about her, and missed her . . . MISSED her at the same time.
"So Rory, where's your mother?" Richard asked, sitting down on the overstuffed couch.
"Still at the Dragonfly. How was your day with the boys?"
"They're beautiful." Emily laughed, "They remind me of Lorelei when she was their age. I don't think I was ever asked as many questions though by her. When she was younger, she always had to figure everything our by herself. If we even gave her a hint, she would give us the silent treatment for a week. But those two, they needed to know everything. And they've got all that energy. I won't be surprised if either one of them ends up curing cancer. And I bet your mother will jump in and exclaim that she was the actual prodigy."
"Gwandma, Gwandpa." Seth and Owen bolted into the sitting room with Tristan trailing behind them calmly.
"Tristan?" Emily asked, obviously surprised by his presence in the Gilmore house. Coupled with the fact that he held in his arms the most precious member of their family, she was amazed.
"Hello Emily. How has your holiday been?" he smiled pressing a kiss to her cheek and shaking Richard's hand.
She was at a loss for words as he shifted Lily in his arms and sent a look towards Rory. She said,
"There are wipes underneath the sink."
He nodded in return, flashed a smile at the astonished Emily and carried Lily upstairs.
"Where's he going?" Richard asked in alarm.
"Lily needs changing."
"I didn't know you guys were friends?" Emily said finally finding her voice. "By the way that you guys were acting at the Gala, I thought you guys were complete strangers."
Dave sent a smirk her way, just as Seth jumped on his stomach, thrusting the air from his lungs and placing a comical look on his face. His eyes had bugged out of his face and his lips had formed a perfect "O" as a gust of air escaped his lungs. Rory shot him a look and returned to her Grandmother's conversation.
"We met up in Paris. I was upset with him during the party, I wasn't talking to him. We're fine now. We're fine . . ."
"It's nice to know that you're dating such a respectable young man," Richard began. "In fact, Janlen and I were talking about you during the Gala. He's very interested in you. Now I know why. He wants to make sure that Tristan isn't-"
"Grandpa, Tristan isn't anything." She gave him a weary smile. "We aren't dating. Janlen knows that."
"Oh Rory," Emily's eyes grew round and a slight frowned drooped her features. "Why don't you date? It's been so long since I've seen you excited about a boy. You're so beautiful . . ."
"Why don't you ask out Tristan?" Dave piped up, sending her a malicious grin.
At that moment, Rory wanted to tear his head from his body. She wanted to fillet his scalp with a needle. She wanted to perform acupuncture on his eyeballs, after cutting off his eyelids, making sure he saw everything. She wanted to test out every torture she'd ever seen on "Alias," and make sure he felt every slice, every prick, every drop of blood escape his body. In fact, she wanted to take a few leaves from Idi Amin's torture book and ask Dave what if felt like to have a live rat in his belly, to feel it crawling up his insides, scratching against his organs, until it took a bite of his still beating heart, until . . . nothing . . .
It didn't matter to her that he was in love with her best friend. It didn't matter to her that he was wearing her favorite of his "Strokes" t-shirt- she'd just remove it first, blood stains were are a bitch to remove. It didn't matter that he was one of her best friends and that he'd made the move to live in France with her and Lane without hesitation. It didn't matter that he was always there for her. It didn't matter to her that her entire social life depended on his band and their venues. Any way it went, she wanted him dead, and she needed him dead right now before the discussion progressed.
"Yes," Emily agreed, stroking Owen's coffee brown curls, siding with a soon to be dead Dave. "Why don't you ask out Tristan? From the way that he was staring at you all night at the Gala, I don't think he'd be able to turn you down. Plus, you guys look so good together. And the sight of him carrying Lily into the room and the look that past between you two, no one could help but assume you guys were together. You guys would be perfect together."
"I'm going to murder you," she mouthed to Dave, her brow raised smoothly.
"I agree," Richard nodded. "He's a smart young man, really making something of himself. Jan even expressed his desire to see you two together. You guys are-"
"Friends, just friends," she rolled her eyes. "So are you guys staying the night?" she changed the subject just as she heard the heavy pounding of feet descending the staircase.
"Yes," Emily nodded, taking the change in subject with stride. "So, what's on the agenda?"
"There's going to be a public goodbye in the Town Square, where we will all assemble and watch 'The Yearling' and Kirk's independent film. And then later, the Gilmore-Danes-DuGrey-Mariano-Kim- and whatever Dave's last name is-"
"Hey!" Dave called.
"-clan will congregate back to this very chamber and watch 'Pretty Woman,' 'Notting Hill,' and whatever other mystery movie Madame Lorelei picks out to torture men everywhere. And then we will awaken tomorrow at two in the morning to fight for the bathroom in order to throw-up the mammoth sized sugar-ball in our stomachs and get ready for the flight back to Paris." Tristan concluded, pressing a kiss to Lily's cheek.
"Sounds like fun," Emily smiled, showing her admiration for the young man.
Rory rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'm going to get something to eat at Luke's I'm starved. If anyone wants to come, you're invited." She called from her bedroom as she searched for her shoes.
Over the course of two movies, she'd someone found herself sitting in the v of his legs with his arms wrapped around her.
She didn't protest. No one in their right mind would protest to his warm embrace, sweet breath and his head lightly on their shoulder. His chest cradled her back and his fingers drew tiny circles on the palm of her hand.
It was intimate. She knew.
She saw the knowing glances her mother shot Luke throughout the movie. She felt the rapid beating of his heart as she shifted, bringing herself closer to him. She heard the tiny whispers that Dave said to Lane, with their names and a few giggles followed by Lane's raspy voice. She knew about the way Emily and Richard rested against one another, staring at them the entire time. She even felt his arousal, gently pressing against her backside, but ignored it.
It was too much pressure.
Everyone wanting her to be with him, but her own mind told her it was a mistake. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't let herself fall for someone who wouldn't be there to catch her.
Sure he'd told her he cared about her, but when they were tried, would it really last?
She was thrust back into high school.
His scathing retorts and her withering glares. She was a game to him. A sport in which he was determined to succeed. She was more of a challenge to him every time that she said no. And he was more enraptured by her at every rejection. She was soon an obsession. She was his obsession. She would soon be his . . .
Or at least what he had thought.
And now she was a grown up, and so was he.
Maybe the game had changed for him. He was more mature, and he genuinely cared for her . . . but she wasn't ready to risk the chance that maybe he hadn't changed so much.
TBC. . .
A/N: HEY, I updated. So, R&R, and I finally chose a college. So, you can mail my check to . . . whatever. Not a lot to say so have fun and chill out.
W/ luv, Yo-yo