"I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY. I told you to leave mom alone! She was happy! She was getting married! Why couldn't you just let things be?"
Chris listened to Rory yell and his heart broke. This was his daughter. His daughter was yelling at him for hooking up with her mother. Wasn't your kid supposed to dream of her parents getting together? Wasn't she supposed to be cheering for Chris? Not some Luke character. "Rory, she came here. She came here and was upset. And I love her."
Rory fumed with anger in her whole body. Her father knew nothing of love. He just didn't know what it was. He claimed to love her and her mother all the time. And yet, he was never there. You were there for the ones you love, that's just standard procedure. That's why Rory loved Luke, he never left. He was solid. "If you had even an ounce of love for either of us, you wouldn't have taken advantage of her while she was so emotional. Look, I don't want to hear your excuses. I just came by to tell you to expect a check from me. I don't need you to pay for Yale anymore."
That cut deep for Chris. Rory had known it would. Afterall, your parents were suppose to pay for your school. By not accecpting Chris' money, she was not accepting him as a father. And that's what she meant. Rory was sick of having him hurt them. She went back to her car. She had one more stop to make tonight.
He had literally walked into his apartment only five minutes before he heard the knock on his door. He half-heartly went to the door to let in whoever it was that decided to pay him a visit so late. Or early really. He should be accustomed to the lack of sleep by now, but his new-found responsibility had come at the expense of his sleep. He caught drifts here and there when he could. And that's what he had been coming home to do before someone had made his attempts futile by knocking on the door. He eventually opened the door to find the one person he couldn't handle seeing right now, Rory Gilmore. He slammed the door almost immediately upon having opened it. He didn't mean to slam it. That just seemed cold and unfriendly. So vindicative. And he didn't want to be vindicative, despite how their last meeting had gone. He didn't deserve to feel vindicative after all he had done to her. Afterall, she had changed his life. But still, he couldn't help but feel anger. The irony sickened him; the one person he loved and felt the most connected to in the world was the same person he hated most. Rory just wasn't the same person she once was. She was weaker, less determined. She was content with just existing. He wasn't sure that any of these judgements were exactly fair, but then again, when was life? Rory had fallen in love with the things that she had once despised and he hated her for it. So, he slammed the door in her face.
Rory wasn't surprized when the door slammed in her face. She wasn't sure she deserved it, but she wasn't surprized. "Jess Mariano, open that door!" Still nothing. Well that is just fine, Rory thought. She knew Jess well enough that if she pushed hard enough, he would eventually open the door. "Jess this isn't for me! IF you care about Luke at all you'll open the door! Open up you stubborn son-of-a..."
"RELAX!" Jess yelled as opening the door. Luke's name had sent a certain fear into Jess' nerve. He knew then that he had to open the door. Rory quickly shuffled in past him, almost like she was afraid he'd change his mind. For a split second Jess figured he'd made a mistake-that Rory had just thrown Luke's name out there as bait. She was the only person who knew how to strike a nerve with Jess consistantly. Luke every once in a while could hit soemthing home to Jess, but everytime Rory was up to bat it was a homerun. and he hated her for it-her ability to play him.
Now that Rory was in the apartment she didn't quite no what to say. Even now Jess had a way of making her feel nervous. She sat down on his couch. She heard Jess spit out, "You mentioned LUke." That surprized Rory. She knew Jess cared about Luke. She knew he still did. But she didn't know he was so open about it. "Him and my mom split up."
Jess had a pretty good idea of where Rory was going with this now. And he felt bad for Luke, he really did. Sometimes you just had your heart broken by the person you were meant to be with. "Oh, I guess sometimes people turnout to be different than they once were."
Rory knew Jess well enough to know that the jab was directed towards her. Jess had always been a bit passive agressive. Still, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "LUke and my mom are meant to be together. You know that. Just remind Luke. Just talk to him."
"Then why aren't they together anymore?" Jess spat out. He anger towards Rory was quickly rising. He just wanted her out of his life and here she was waltzing back in making rediculous demands. He heard her croak out, "Sometimes other things just get in the way. Please, talk to Luke." Jess could hear the tears behind her voice. Jess knew she had stopped talking about Luke and Lorelai and started talking about them. He had always hated it when she cried. Still he wanted his dealings in Stars Hollow to end more than he wanted her to be happy. "You chose Logan, Rory! THAT WAS YOUR CHOICE! You don't get to come in here and make demands to me! I'm done with Stars Hollow, Rory. Done. I'm not playing some cute parent-trap game. I live here now where shit happens just because. And you let it, because you don't have any other choice."
"YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE, JESS MARIANO! You can be stubborn and pretend to be indifferent or you could care. And after all Luke has done for you, you darn well should care! Care, Jess, Care."
There it was again-that nerve thing. She could play him like a dice. "Fine! But this is not for you. This is for Luke. Because I do owe him. I'm not doing this for you, Rory. As far as I'm concerned you still don't deserve my time. You can't play with people. You're not a teenager like I was. You should know that. You're not the girl I once loved, Rory Gilmore. I don't owe you anything." Jess heard her mutter a quick thank you and watched her walk out the door. He felt a single tear escape his eye. What he had said was only half truth. He did owe her something, she had changed his life. Inspired him to be something more, but that had been the old Rory. And he had seen a glimmer of that old Rory Gilmore today. The one who would do anything for those she loved. The stubborn, determined Rory that would do anything for those she loved. And it hurt him to know that she would go back to Logan and become spoiled brat Rory. What he said had only been half-truth. The whole truth was that he missed the real her and didn't want to owe her anything.
Everyone cries differently and for different reasons. For Chris, it was over a daughter who now seemingly hated him, and had disowned him. For Jess, it was simply a singe tear over the desire to allowing himself to let go of the old Rory. For Lorelai, it was a loud steady stream of tears over regret and lost love. For Luke, it was silent bursts over finding an engagement ring outside his door with a posted note saying, "I slept with Chris. I'm sorry." But for Rory it was the most surprizing of all. For her it was silent sobbing on the corner of the elevator floor for reasons she didn't even completely udnerstand. Afterall, everyone cries if pushed hard enough.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and reading. This didn't exactly go according to plan between Rory and Jess, but well, I like it.