Author's Note:
I must really be losing it! omg... I could've sworn I heard something about Rory and Logan being enaged on the show (not as a spoiler, but from dialogue actually on the show), but I must be totally wrong. Sorry guys! Don't throw any tomatoes, please! Wow, I need to get my hearing checked, huh?
While I remember, thanks to the following for adding this story to their favorites list:
Ashley1497, Asta-gilmore, In Love With Narcolepsy Boy, sapphirestar820, SkitteryIdol
It really boosts my confidence since this is my first fanfic. So thanks!
Chapter 7
-- A Week Later --
Spring was finally starting to bloom in Stars Hollow. It was a clear and bright day, the sunshine felt like warm little kisses on Rory's arms as she made her way out of Luke's Diner and across the square to Doose's Market. Against Lorelai's wishes, she said she needed some apples and grapes, and she'd stock up the fruit bowl she'd bought last week for their house. Lorelai complained for all of about five minutes till she realized her daughter craved the same strange things she'd craved when she was pregnant with her. Well, strange for the Gilmore Girls, not for normal people.
There was a light breeze today, but otherwise it was warm outside. There were a lot of people around, Rory noted. They waved and greeted her with unusually bright smiles. She wasn't sure whether they were happy she was back in town, or just as freakishly friendly and eccentric as they'd always been.
Doose's Market was packed with the unusal Saturday crowd of housewives looking for the same old stuff to cook the same old thing for their families this week. Rory was reminded briefly of her stint as a Donna Reed dress-a-like, when she'd had her first fight with Dean and they'd broken up. She'd dressed up in a 1950's get-up and cooked him dinner as a way of making up for the stupid argument.
Rory let out a laugh. It was then that she noticed several pairs of eyes on her. She ducked her head and made her way over to the fruits section. Miss Patty was there doing her usual sampling of all the fruits and vegetables. Once her eyes landed on Rory, they widened and she dropped the orange she'd been holding.
"Rory, dear," she exclaimed excitedly, "I'm so happy to see you."
Rory nodded with a small, uneasy grin. She went on gathering some apples and grapes in her basket.
"So," Miss Patty continued with an over exaggerated sigh, "how's life treating you? Is there anyone special in your life?"
Rory paused for a moment to consider this. Miss Patty was acting stranger than usual, but then again, the whole town was stranger than usual. Perhaps there was something in the water supply. Rory made a mental note to buy several bottles of water before she put her thoughts back on Miss Patty and shook her head.
"No, not really."
"Are you sure?" Miss Patty asked, alarmed. "What about that blonde fellow?"
"Logan? Oh, we're just friends."
"Really?" Miss Patty seemed a little disappointed.
Rory looked up then. "Wait a minute, how do you know about Logan?"
"Oh, Lorelai was telling me about him," Miss Patty lied.
"Why would she be telling you about Logan? She doesn't even like him," Rory said with a frown.
"I saw him around town?" Miss Patty tried.
Realization dawned on Rory. Her eyes grew wide and she pointed her finger directly at Miss Patty. "Who else knows?" she demanded.
"Knows what?"
"That Logan proposed to me," Rory yelled, gaining the attention of several nosy housewives. Apparently, Stars Hollow hadn't been so abandoned the night Logan had cornered Rory and proposed to her. Rory could only wonder how long the rumor of her engagement had been going around.
Miss Patty looked like a child scolded. "Rory, dear, I swear I didn't tell anyone. I saw it with my own two eyes, but so did Kirk, Taylor, Ben, and Laura. Babette might've been out with Morry, but I'm not sure if they saw you or not."
Rory sighed frustratedly and walked off to the cashier to pay. She noticed the blonde-haired, brown-eyed young woman in front of her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Clara," she greeted as the teen turned around.
"Oh," Clara replied, "hi Rory." She turned back around to finish paying, obviously trying to avoid conversing with Rory.
Rory frowned. Clara and her had always gotten along, even when she and Dean weren't dating anymore. So why now, was Clara giving her the cold shoulder? Had she heard the rumor that Rory was getting engaged to Logan? She had been awfully excited at the prospect of Rory and Dean getting back together, and possibly gaining Rory as a sister-in-law.
"Clara, is something wrong?" Rory asked.
Clara turned back around and shook her head. "No, everything's fine." She grabbed the bag of groceries she'd fetched for Mrs. Forrester and headed out of the store.
Rory hurried and paid for the apples and grapes. She grabbed the plastic bag and hurried after Clara. The blonde teen was half way across the square when Rory caught sight of her. She rushed across the street and through the gazebo before she decided to reach out and tap Clara's shoulder again.
Clara whipped around, surprised. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of irritation, "What now, Rory?"
"Those rumors aren't true," Rory spit out. She was a little out of breath from jogging to catch up with Clara.
Clara sent her a confused look.
"The rumors about me and Logan, they aren't true."
"Who's Logan?" Clara asked.
"The guy that I was talking to here last week. He's Logan," Rory explained. "The rumors about me getting engaged to him aren't true."
"Okay," Clara said slowly, unsure of why Rory was explaining this to her.
"Wait, isn't that why you're mad at me?" Rory asked.
Clara shook her head. "No, I'm not mad at all."
"Then why won't you talk to me?"
Clara glanced behind her, seeing the tall figure of her brother standing on the street corner at the other end of the square. Obviously, Dean was back in town, and he'd thought his younger sister had gotten lost on her way home from the market. He'd come to look for her, and Clara kicked herself mentally. She knew she shouldn't have stopped to talk to that cute boy from English class.
Rory followed Clara's gaze and her heart lept to her throat.
"I'm not allowed to talk to you anymore, Rory," Clara said, turning back around to face her.
"Because Dean said so?" Rory asked, a bit incredulous. She had half a mind to ask Clara if she knew exactly what Dean had done to her. How he pulled at her heartstrings and teased her with something he knew he wouldn't be able to give her - love. 'Like you did to him,' a voice taunted from the inside. And it was right, she'd used him in the same way he'd used her. Is that why it hurt so much? Because she felt guilty?
"No," Clara replied with a hint of benevolence. "Mom doesn't think it's a good idea for me to talk to you anymore. At least not while Dean's staying in town."
"He's staying?"
"Just until he can save some money up for a place of his own." Clara glanced back at Dean. If it was possible, his face was redder than the first time she'd looked back.
"I thought he had his own place in Hartford?"
"He shared it with that girl he was seeing," Clara explained. She felt a bit guilty having set Rory up like that. Then again, Rory had said that her and Dean had made amends, and she had something important to tell him. She added, "He came back home last week after dumping her."
Rory's jaw fell open in a moment of shock. Last week. Dean had come after her. Tears began to pool in her eyes, and she chanced a glance at the tall figure across the square. His jaw seemed set in anger, and a look of pain was mirrored in his eyes. 'He must have seen or heard about Logan and me,' Rory thought sadly.
"I better go, Rory," Clara said. She turned and headed in the direction Dean was waiting.
"Thanks, Clara," Rory called after her after a moment.
AN: Again, sorry about the Rory/Logan thing! Some of you left me reviews about it, and I must've heard wrong. Sorry. On another note, I hope you liked this chapter. I was half-asleep when I wrote it. As always, Read&Review!