Chapter 3: Memories:
That weekend, Lorelai and Christopher drove to Harvard separately so they could bring Rory's car with them. Rory was hanging out with Lane and Paris while they did a project when the phone rang. It was their first week at Harvard and the three girls already had projects and papers to write, not that they minded.
"Hello?" Lane asked, "Yes she is, Lorelai. Hang on. Ror, your mom."
"Hey, mom," Rory greeted.
"Ok. Sure. Where?" Rory asked, "I'll pick my car up there."
"Dinner at Maria's?" Rory asked to confirm, "5:30?"
"Yes. See you then, mom," Rory replied before hanging up.
"Your car is here?" Lane asked.
"Yeah, my dad drove it up," Rory replied as she hung up the phone.
"So are they bringing it here?" Paris asked.
"No, I'm meeting them for dinner at 5:30 at Maria's," Rory replied.
"So you have an hour and a half," Lane calculated.
'Yes, an hour and a half until I see the car. The car 'he' made me.' Rory thought.
"Hello, Earth to Rory… You okay?" Lane asked, waving a hand in front of Rory's face.
"Yeah, it's just the car," Rory said frowning.
"Ah, yes. I see," Lane remarked.
"What? What's the thing with the car?" Paris asked.
"Dean made the car. He rebuilt it up from the frame," Lane explained.
"Oh, ok," Paris said waving off the subject, "We should get back to working on our project."
"I'm going to go walk around, go to the library maybe," Rory muttered, grabbing some books even though she knew it were very unlikely that she'd get very much done.
"Ok. Hey, Ror, do you want me to come with you to get your car?" Lane asked. She was a little worried about the Rory and Dean separation.
"No, I'll be ok." Rory replied, "But thanks."
"You're welcome. Hey, Ror, don't dwell on it too much. Things will get Better," Lane reassured her.
'Yeah right, Lane,' Rory thought as she put her books and laptop in her book bag and walked out the door, 'He broke up with me and I'm forced to keep the car he built me. What fun this is going to be.'
Rory meandered around the grounds of Harvard until her bag became too heavy to carry and she flopped on the ground. She sat up against a tree and memories of her and Dean started to invade her mind. Their first kiss, the Chilton dance, the double date with Land and Todd, their three-month anniversary, everything good and bad that had ever happened to them.
Flashback
(Dean walked over to Rory, who was pretending to be interested in cornstarch.)
DEAN: You know, you can get two for three bucks.
RORY: Oh really? Excellent deal.
DEAN: You just had a desperate need for some cornstarch?
RORY: Yes. I have very important thickening needs, thank you. Nice apron.
DEAN: Nice uniform.
RORY: Well, you know, I sewed the buttons on with silver thread so that sets me apart from the crowd. (Pause) I guess I should get home.
DEAN: Wait a sec. You want a pop or something?
RORY: A pop?
DEAN: Give me a break, In Chicago they call it pop.
RORY: Well in Connecticut we call it free soda. And yes, thank you.
(They walked over to the soda. Dean hid two cans behind his back.)
DEAN: Alright, guess which is in each hand and you get the soda.
RORY: OK, the whole concept a free soda is that it's free; you don't have to work for it.
DEAN: Sorry you got to sing for your supper.
RORY: Or your soda.
DEAN: Guess.
RORY: OK, in this hand you have --
(As Rory reached for the soda behind Dean's back, Dean leaned down and kissed her. When he pulls back, Rory is stunned.)
RORY: Thank you.
(Rory ran out of the store, down the street, and into Mrs. Kim's antique store.)
Next Flashback
DEAN: Hey, if I kiss you is a nun going to come out here and boot me out of here?
RORY: It's not a Catholic school.
DEAN: So I can kiss you?
RORY: Yeah, you can kiss me.
Next Flashback
DEAN: What are you doing?
RORY: Nothing.
DEAN: They're fine.
RORY: I am not looking at them. I'm looking at the world around me.
DEAN: The world is fine too.
RORY: I just want to make sure they're having fun.
DEAN: They're having fun.
RORY: How do you know?
DEAN: They're not in prison or in some sort of medieval torture chamber.
RORY: Well when you measure it that way -
Next Flashback
RORY: That was really good.
DEAN: It was?
RORY: Yes it was.
DEAN: How was the salad?
RORY: Great.
DEAN: What about that cheese bread thing? Too heavy?
RORY: Just heavy enough.
DEAN: Really?
RORY: Everything was perfect. Even the soda was good. I don't know how they do it but the Coke here is definitely superior to the Coke anywhere else.
DEAN: Okay, at what point during that did you start making fun of me?
RORY: I would never make fun of you. Especially not after you ordered three different kinds of pasta for me just because I couldn't decide.
DEAN: Well you shouldn't have to decide. I mean, tonight, you should have everything that you want.
RORY: I just have to say that I'm now a very big fan of the three-month anniversary.
DEAN: Oh yeah?
RORY: Definitely. I think they should have T-shirts and newsletters.
DEAN: Well, I'm glad.
RORY: You did all this for me.
DEAN: It's not over yet.
RORY: This is just like that Christmas when I got a full set of illustrated encyclopedias. (Dean gives a confused look) I wanted them.
DEAN: Oh, uh, good.
WAITER: One tiramisu, two forks, and uh, one meatball to go.
RORY: Thank you.
DEAN: You want to explain the meatball?
RORY: It's a mother-daughter thing.
DEAN: Okay. Well, uh, ladies first.
RORY: Thank you. (Takes a bite) Okay, have I mentioned how much I'm loving the three month anniversary thing?
DEAN: Yeah, you did.
RORY: Because this tiramisu is so good that if the anniversary were completely sucking right now, this would save it. (Dean smiles at her) What?
DEAN: Nothing.
RORY: Stop it.
DEAN: No, you look cute.
RORY: I'm eating.
DEAN: Well, you eat cute.
RORY: I do not eat cute. No one eats cute. Bambi maybe, but he's a cartoon.
DEAN: So, uh, after we finish here we move onto phase two of the anniversary evening.
RORY: Phase 2. Sounds very official, are there space suits involved?
DEAN: With matching helmets.
RORY: Impressive.
Next Flashback
RORY: You're pathetic Tristan. Keep the books. I'm leaving. (Sees Dean in the parking lot) Dean? (Walks towards him) Dean. What are you doing here?
DEAN: I'm leaving.
RORY: Don't go.
DEAN: I shouldn't have come.
RORY: No wait.
DEAN: I feel like an idiot.
RORY: Why?
DEAN: 'Cause I come all the way out here and I see you with him. That's just great.
RORY: No, Tristan was just...
DEAN: I don't care.
RORY: No listen.
DEAN: He's got your books Rory.
RORY: But he took them and wouldn't give them back. Please just tell me why you're here.
DEAN: I don't even know.
RORY: Yes you do.
DEAN: 'Cause I thought you… Forget it.
RORY: No say it.
DEAN: I thought you were trying to talk to me.
RORY: Oh.
DEAN: I mean, you came to my house.
RORY: That wasn't me.
DEAN: It was you.
RORY: It must've been someone that looked like me.
DEAN: My sister recognized you from the pictures in my box.
RORY: In what box?
DEAN: The box of stuff I have of us. Pictures and letters and everything from you.
RORY: You have a 'Rory box'?
DEAN: And what was going on at the town meeting, all that stuff about writing a song?
RORY: I don't know what I was talking about.
DEAN: That had nothing to do with me? Well I must have imagined it all then. Your boyfriend's waiting.
RORY: He's not my boyfriend. I hate him.
DEAN: Whatever.
RORY: Dean.
DEAN: What.
RORY: Stop.
DEAN: Why.
RORY: Because I love you, you idiot.
Next Flashback
RORY: Hi.
DEAN: Am I late?
RORY: Nope, right on time.
DEAN: Good.
RORY: Are you coming in?
DEAN: In a sec. Ah, where's your mom?
RORY: In the kitchen on the phone.
DEAN: Beginning, middle, or end of a conversation?
RORY: Well, it concerns jewelry so there may not be an end to the conversation.
DEAN: Good. Hi.
RORY: Hi. (They kiss)
DEAN: I missed that.
RORY: Me too.
DEAN: So, uh, you know, this whole breaking up thing, we tried it. . .
RORY: Yeah we did. Didn't really work for me.
DEAN: Me either.
RORY: Okay good, so it's decided. Breaking up, not for us.
DEAN: I mean, hey, not that it's a bad thing. I'm sure some people like it.
(They walk into kitchen)
RORY: Oh sure, Cher, Greg Allman, bet they'd give it a big thumbs up.
End Flashbacks
Rory just sat there by the tree until she remembered a test in American History that she had next week. She headed to the library and more memories came into her mind.
Flashback
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: Hey.
DEAN: This is quite a party.
RORY: Elegant and understated, just like my mother.
DEAN: So, uh, how are you?
RORY: I'm fine, how are you?
DEAN: Me? Uh, I'm an idiot.
RORY: No you're not.
DEAN: I'm so sorry Rory.
RORY: I'm sorry too.
DEAN: I don't even know what happened.
RORY: We had a fight, that's all.
DEAN: I mean, I've just missed you and...
RORY: I've missed you too.
DEAN: I got...I don't know, I got jealous of Harvard for a minute, which is crazy 'cause I love the fact that you're going to go to Harvard. And then you have to do something that's going to help you get there, and I...I don't even, I don't even really understand it myself.
RORY: Well, I didn't help. I was all wigged out when I got home.
DEAN: Well, you had all the right to be.
RORY: It's just that when it comes to Harvard, I sometimes get a little tunnel vision, and it's getting closer...
DEAN: Whoa.
RORY: ...and I have to think about it -
DEAN: You do not have to explain.
RORY: But I don't want you to feel unimportant, because believe me, you're not.
DEAN: I'm glad.
RORY: I mean it. The only way you could be more important to me is if you had a Kit Kat bar growing out of your head.
DEAN: Well, I can't make any promises, but I'll give it a try.
RORY: I'm sorry.
DEAN: Don't be. I mean, I'm not going to a fancy school. I don't have that kind of pressure. I can't even imagine what that must feel like.
RORY: You could go to a fancy school if you wanted to.
DEAN: I don't think so.
RORY: Why not? You're smart.
DEAN: No, you're smart.
RORY: You are too.
DEAN: Rory.
RORY: And I could help you organize all of your extracurricular activities because I'm now an expert at it.
DEAN: I don't -
RORY: How are your wilderness skills?
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: What?
DEAN: Do you accept my apology?
RORY: Yeah, I accept your apology.
End Flashback
Once she entered the library, the memory of the debutante ball came back.
Flashback
DEAN: Hey. I just wanted to see you before you became a proper lady of society.
RORY: So what do you think?
DEAN: I think you look like a cotton ball.
RORY: Why, thank you Jeeves.
DEAN: But a really cute cotton ball.
Next Flashback
RORY: You didn't have to get me anything.
DEAN: Sorry, that's the rules. You get older, you get a gift.
RORY: I'm sorry about this sort of sneaky thing. I just haven't told my mother yet about you. I mean, not that there's to tell. I just --
DEAN: That's ok. This is better.
(Rory unwraps the gift.)
RORY: Oh my God. It's beautiful.
DEAN: Well, I bought the medallion and I just cut some leather straps and drilled a hole, and well, you like it?
RORY: I -- it's amazing.
DEAN: Good.
RORY: Thank you.
DEAN: Here.
Next Flashback
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: Jeez, you scared me.
DEAN: Yeah, uh, look. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.
RORY: For what?
DEAN: Well I've been kind of bugging you lately. Uh, I thought -- I don't know -- I thought that maybe you liked me. But it's obvious that you're not interested so I just wanted to say that I get it and I'm not going to bother you anymore.
(Dean starts to leave. Rory gets up and follows him.)
RORY: Wait! I AM interested.
DEAN: You are?
RORY: Yes. I got to go.
End Flashback
'Could I have been any more moronic then?' Rory wondered, 'Who says "I am interested" and then "I got to go"? Only moronic people.'
Still, the memories kept coming. Everything that had ever happened with Dean rushed back into her head.
That night, as she as getting ready for dinner with her parent's at Maria's, the memory of the Basket Bid came back to mind. More of the actual buying of the basket for the basket bid.
Flashback
DEAN: Not that one.
RORY: You get no say in the basket.
DEAN: I have to bid on it.
RORY: And you have to eat what's inside it and you get no say in that either.
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: Yeah?
DEAN: Is Taylor behind me?
RORY: No. (they kiss and then a noise interrupts them)
Next Flashback
DEAN: Hey you.
RORY: Hey. You look nice.
DEAN: Thank you. You look beautiful.
RORY: Thank you.
DEAN: So, uh, how many cocktails caused RORY: Oh, they haven't had any cocktails yet.
DEAN: Really?
RORY: Oh yeah. When they start having cocktails, we're going to have to hide you.
DEAN: I'm looking forward to that.
Next Flashback
RORY: So, what are you doing Saturday?
DEAN: Just my usual chores.
RORY: Your usual chores, John-boy?
DEAN: Well, what else do you call house jobs?
RORY: I call them the stuff you avoid until the Environmental Protection Agency steps in.
DEAN: Why do you ask?
RORY: I thought we could see a movie or something.
DEAN: You're not free.
RORY: How do you know?
DEAN: 'Cause you'll be working on your application all weekend.
RORY: No, I'm not.
DEAN: Really?
RORY: It's not due for weeks, and I already have my essay topic picked out.
DEAN: Which is?
RORY: Hillary Clinton.
DEAN: Sounds RORY: I know. She's so smart and tough and nobody thought she could win New York but she did and she's doing amazing, and have you heard her speak?
DEAN: Only when you've played me the thousands of hours of C-SPAN footage you taped.
RORY: She's a great speaker, strong and persuasive with a wonderful presence, and even those suits of hers are getting better.
DEAN: I'd include that in the essay.
RORY: Anyhow, now that I have Hillary, all I need is a date for Saturday. Suggestions?
DEAN: You're on.
RORY: Great. Oh, there's my bus. Sip. (Sips coffee) Kiss. (They kiss) and bye.
DEAN: Bye.
Next Flashback
DEAN: That's great. Can I ask you something?
RORY: Of course you can.
DEAN: What happens when you leave?
RORY: When I leave when?
DEAN: When you leave for Harvard… do we break up?
RORY: Whoa, that was blunt and out of nowhere.
DEAN: Well, it seems like we should be blunt right now.
RORY: No, we don't break up. Do you want that?
DEAN: No, but how will we see each other?
RORY: Easy, weekends - that's what they were invented for.
DEAN: So you'll come home, do homework all weekend, then leave.
RORY: No, I can do my homework during the week or on the train coming home to see you, who I will spend my weekends with not doing homework. Plus, we can talk during the week on the phone constantly. Trust me, it'll feel like I never left.
DEAN: Oh yeah?
RORY: Christiane Amanpour spends half of her life standing in foxholes in third world countries and she has a husband and a kid. And she was on C-SPAN last week getting some award, so if she and her husband can make it work, we can.
DEAN: So we'll have access to the CNN jet?
RORY: No. Or hey, you can go to college in Boston.
DEAN: I'm going to junior college.
RORY: Boston has junior colleges.
DEAN: But not dorm rooms.
RORY: Well, you can rent an apartment. (Slight pause) Why are you being like this? So…
DEAN: Realistic?
RORY: Come on, be serious.
DEAN: I am. I am.
RORY: That's too serious.
DEAN: Yeah, uh, you know, just forget it. Come on, we were gonna go to Luke's, right?
RORY: Yeah.
DEAN: Let's go to Luke's.
End Flashback
After dinner with her parents, only two memories came back to her. The time Dean gave her the car the first time, and when she told him Jess had crashed it. They came to her as she was driving back towards Harvard.
Flashback
RORY: Whatcha doin'?
DEAN: Just standing here.
RORY: Next to?
DEAN: A car. Your car.
RORY: No!
DEAN: Finished it yesterday.
RORY: No you didn't!
DEAN: Do you want 'em? (holds up the keys)
RORY: Ah! (Rory runs off the porch and hugs him)
DEAN: Now if you don't like it, I bet I can sell it to someone else.
RORY: Don't you dare!
LORELAI: Dean, that's amazing!
RORY: Let's drive, can we drive, does it drive?
DEAN: Does it drive?
RORY: Well, no, I know it drives but… oh my God! I can't believe you finished it! You built me a car!
Next Flashback
DEAN: Hey.
RORY: Hey.
DEAN'S DAD: Hi Rory. (Goes into the house)
DEAN: What happened? What'd you do to your arm?
RORY: (hands him an envelope) Here.
DEAN: What is this?
RORY: Just read it.
DEAN: What—Rory, what's going on? Tell me how you hurt your arm.
RORY: It's all in the letter.
DEAN: But—
RORY: Read.
DEAN: Uh… (starts reading) Well, I love you, too.
RORY: Good—now just hold onto that feeling for a minute.
DEAN: Why?
RORY: Just—
DEAN: Read, all right, I'm reading. (reads more) What!
RORY: Keep going.
DEAN: (reads even more) What!
RORY: Turn it over.
DEAN: (reads more yet) What!
RORY: Go on, you have like three more "what's" ahead of you.
(Dean kicks his duffel bag and reads some more)
RORY: It gets better at the end. I'll just stand here until you get there.
DEAN: (reads the rest) Is he really gone?
RORY: Yes.
DEAN: Okay. You wanna come in?
RORY: What?
DEAN: You can stay for dinner, my mom's making a roast. You like roast, right?
RORY: Um, yeah, I like roast.
DEAN: Okay, come on.
End Flashback
Another beta chatper. Probably a million times better than the original chapter.