Author: Rightside
A/N: To view disclaimer, summary, and other essential materials, refer to chapter one because I'm too lazy to post it twice.
A/N2: I never thought I'd get thirty reviews and counting just from one chapter. It's my first Gilmore Girls fic, so it might not be the most creative piece of literature. Rest assured, though... I'll try not to disappoint. Oh, and not to deter you, but if you want happy-go-lucky fic you're not going to find it here. Sad but true. Anywho... love to all! Review!
IMPORTANT: Jess is already in Star's Hollow in my story. Also, Dean and Rory's relationship never had the nice bounce back after the initial break-up. I just don't think that was realistic. They are still together, but in a rocky sort of way. Oh, and obviously Tristan didn't go to military school...
Chapter 2: We Three Kings
She had known it had been a mistake. Even when she was speaking the words they sounded bitter in her mouth, as if she knew what consequences would occur but not wanting to admit them. It had just been so hard to keep quiet, to not tell her mother that she had not, in fact, been caught up in the blizzard that had conveniently blown through Hartford. It was as if the Fates were laughing in their devious little way, making her confess on her own terms, without the helpful push of the adult persuasion. So she had found another source to spill her mind to.
After she had completed her sad little tale to Jess, he shook his head, tilting it in a quiet frustration. She wondered what it was that he wasn't telling her. Perhaps he was amazed by her mistake. Or disappointed? No, he was the one person she could trust never to feel disappointed by her. He loved her, that she knew, but the only love she felt for him was purely platonic.
"Stay here." was all he said, patting the bridge solemnly before leaving her to her own chaotic thoughts. When he came back minutes later he sat down, laid a hand on her shoulder, and began to rub her back in small circles. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she laid her head down in his lap, needing comfort.
"Shh, now." he said, "I'm gonna fix it, Ror. You know I'll fix it." And Rory wanted to believe him, but as she lay there she had no idea what he could do that would make the day that was to come in any way alright.
When morning did arrive, however, time seemed to speed foreword no matter how sluggish she attempted to be. The long drive to school flew by, and before she knew it, she was at her locker flipping through the combination. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted him, Tristan, surrounded by his usual group of lemmings.
"You look just like them."
"Huh?" Rory turned to find Paris, Madeline, and Louis.
"Don't play coy. The entire school knows what happened. And now you're just another piece of conquered territory. How pathetic." Rory slammed her locker shut and could feel the blush creep up her face. He had told the entire school about an event she couldn't even remember happening. Taking another glance in his direction, she saw what she'd missed before. Everyone in the group was patting him on the back in congratulations, peeking at her from time to time.
"I guess there's no point in calling you Mary anymore." one of the minions said as he passed her by. Madeline smirked evilly.
"I may not like you, Gilmore, but now I can't even respect you." Paris added before leaving Rory to her misery. The hall was a buzz. Some were brave enough to ask her if the rumors were true, but most watched from a distance. Rory told herself she wouldn't cry. She wouldn't let them have the satisfaction of knowing they got to her.
By third period she thought she was going to die as she overheard a group talking about Saturday night. Although she didn't catch all of it, the words 'slut', 'king, 'Magdeline', and 'it's always the quiet ones' were distinct enough for her to be sure they were said. While she shared the class with the 'King of Chilton', she was saved from any interaction by the seating arrangement. No groups were made where he could slip in, and for that she was grateful.
"Dean?" she spoke into the cell phone, careful to hide it as she walked by classrooms during the ten minute passing period.
"Rory?" he sounded worried.
"I know you're at school, but I was wondering if maybe you could come get me."
"Why? What's wrong?" he whispered. He must have been in class, and she tortured herself mentally. What was she doing?
"I just failed a test and Paris is making my day a living hell."
"I'm sorry. I have a huge exam in a half hour. The teacher doesn't allow make-ups."
"That's right." she had forgotten.
"No, you know what, it's fine. I'll talk my mom into writing a note. When do you want me to come get you?"
"Dean, it's fine. Stay. Take your test. I'll be okay. I promise. I'm just overreacting is all. It's my first bad grade. Not going to kill me, I swear."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely." she tried to sound upbeat.
"Really?"
"Yes, now get back to class. I'll see you later."
"Okay, I'll see you," there was a break for a moment, "Oh, and Rory?"
"Dean?"
"You know I love you."
"Dido." she hung up the phone and took her seat. Ten minutes into the period she was receiving glares from her pupils. She had refused to sit with her group and was working alone. She thought it was going to go unnoticed until someone decided to complain to the teacher.
"Gilmore!" he barked. She was shaking as she walked out the door he was holding open for her.
"I don't care what happened this weekend, Ms. Gilmore. For all I know, Mr. DuGrey could be your twin brother. I don't care. What I do care about is your work in my class, and that means working with your group. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir." she said, hanging her head as she walked back inside. The only seat left was next to Tristan, and she refused to make eye contact as she sat down.
"Mar, please." he pleaded, trying to get her attention.
"Don't." was all she could say, giving him a look that made him tremble. She began to scribble notes and tried to seem busy although all she could seem to think about were the seven hours missing in her life. To make matters worse, the other four members of the group were smirking the entire period at the pair. When the bell rang, Kyle, a classmate she'd lent her notes to a couple of times, pressed her against a locker.
"Since the cute and innocent label's been thrown out the window, what do you think? Meet you in my car after school?" she closed her eyes and tried to shove him off. When the pressure holding her was released she thought she'd succeeded. She was wrong.
"You leave her the hell alone!" Tristan yelled, tossing him against the lockers across from her. Kyle was on the ground.
"Why? You afraid I'll hurt her?" he got up smiling.
"Stay away from her."
"What damage could I do that you haven't already done? Does she even know what happened? Did you have to guts to tell her?" They had an audience of over fifty students. Nearly everyone who had fifth period lunch was gathered around the three of them. She stared hard at the two boys, trying to piece together what they were saying.
"There's nothing to say, Kyle." Tristan's voice grew dangerous. Kyle was on a slope he couldn't afford to plummet down.
"Nothing to say? When I saw Mike handing her the Champaign I thought it was just him playing a prank." Tristan tackled him to the ground, but Kyle was small and moved quicker.
"But then you took her upstairs. What? You get tired of playing fair?" he hit Tristan with a lucky shot before he was sent to the ground after a swing at his temple. Tristan jumped on him and began to hit whatever was within reach. When a couple of seniors finally gathered enough common sense to pull him off, Kyle was bleeding from his nose, mouth, and a couple of scrapes on his cheek where his head had hit the metal of the lockers. Tristan sported a broken nose.
"Admit it, oh King of Chilton. You had to drug her to get in bed with her." Everything stopped. The world paused and every human being had his/her eyes on Rory. She backed into the wall, expression changing from confused to mortified. When she took off running towards the parking lot, Tristan went after her.
"Rory!" he shouted. The observers from earlier followed them out into the lot.
"Oh, is it Rory now? I guess you really can't call me Mary. How does it feel? You finally have me pegged down with all of the other girls in this damned place. I trusted you Tristan! I came to your party as a peace offering and wake up at five in the morning not knowing where I am or how I got there. Do you know how that feels? It"
she paused a moment, and whispered, "it's rape Tristan." Tristan looked like he was on the brink of tears, but she refused to pity him.
"Rory!" a familiar voice called from the crowd. After several minutes of dead silence it came as a shock to see Jess push his way out of the mass of students.
"Jess?"
"You called Dean and I figured something was up. I've been looking for you everywhere in this place. Then I heard you shouting." the students were still there, some of them whispering amongst themselves as they tried to figure out who the newcomer was.
"How did you know I called?" was all she could ask.
"I have that class with him. He may be a lot of things, but secretive is not one of his major qualities," he took her by the hand, "Come on, I'll take you home."
"Rory, please. I didn't mean for this." Tristan uttered hopelessly, not knowing what to do but hating that she was going to leave with yet another man. Could she forgive him?
"Is this him?" Jess asked, and Rory nodded.
"Leave him be, Jess," she begged, trying to make him understand they were not alone, "Don't make a scene." He silently agreed.
"You touch her." Jess said in a hushed tone and pointed at Rory, "Or even look at her in a way that she finds unsuitable, nothing- not your money, friends, reputation, whatever- will be able to stop me from bashing your head into the cement repeatedly. Understand?" Tristan, not wanting to make Rory even more upset by saying no, nodded. Jess placed his arm around her neck as he led her to the car. When he opened the door for her she hugged him tightly, and Tristan wondered if she would ever trust him enough to show him the same sign of affection. As she turned her gaze back to him and eyed him in a completely emotionless way, he began to doubt his fantasy and moved back into the school.
The King of Chilton had but one weakness, and today the world had seen him cut in the worst way imaginable...
When Rory arrived at her house, Dean was on her front porch. Thankfully Jess hadn't been able to stick around long enough to be seen. Luke had called begging him to come help with the 'mad house' the diner had been turned into after Taylor tried to pry the hardware sign off of the front of the building. Although Jess had been reluctant to leave her, but she promised she'd meet him later so they could talk.
"What are you doing here?" Rory asked.
"Waiting for you. I didn't think you'd be here yet."
"How'd you do on your test?" he looked at her, confused, before it dawned on him what she was talking about.
"That doesn't matter. What really happened, Rory? I know it wasn't some test. You wouldn't be that upset over a test." he ran a hand absent mindedly through his hair. Rory was at a loss for what to say other than the lie from earlier.
"It was Paris. She... she just got under my skin in a huge way." she adjusted the backpack on her shoulder.
"How? What'd she say?"
"Does it matter? It was just the bitter rantings of a girl who can't think of anything better to do than ruin my life," she bit her lip, "Hold on, I'm going to shove my backpack inside."
"Here, I'll help." he moved to grab the bag.
"No! I mean, no. Just stay out here. I'll only be a moment." she kissed him on the cheek, barely touching him. Once inside she began to breathe rapidly. Tristan had slept with her. She'd told Jess and not Dean. Now Dean was on her front porch asking for answers. Her entire life was going to crumble, she was sure of it.
"See. I'm like Speedy Gonzalez minus the tail." she joked as she stepped back outside. Dean was sitting on the swing next to the house. Rory sat down beside him, then thought of a better idea and laid down, her head in his lap. Playing with her hair, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Minutes passed, and she pretended nothing had happened. It was just her and Dean floating on a cloud watching the world pass them by. He didn't need to know the details of her life as long as they were happy. And she would make it so they were happy, no matter the cost.
"I miss this." she whispered, closing her eyes.
"So do I." he laced his fingers through hers. She squeezed his hand tightly, letting a sigh escape her lips. With his free hand, Dean traced her face with his index finger. Before she knew it, she was sleeping in Dean's arms.
He watched over her unconscious form for an hour, two hours, and then Lorelai came home. She merely smiled and snuck inside. Dean thought about taking her inside, but figured she would most likely wake if he picked her up. When Jess showed up, Dean couldn't bring himself to scowl.
"What are you doing here?" his words echoed Rory's.
"Just wanted to make sure she was okay." Jess said softly, eyes letting their guard down slightly at the sight of Rory's content face before hardening quickly again as he looked back at Dean.
"What's in it for you?" Dean asked sincerely. Jess cocked his head to the side.
"Am I supposed to automatically know what you're talking about?" For a moment Dean thought he would have to wake Rory up to avoid a fight, but decided against it.
"You think she'll leave me and run to you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice low.
"Tried that. Didn't work. Maybe if I grow ten feet and wear an apron she'll finally notice me."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Jess."
"I'm sorry. What kind of response were you hoping for?" he leaned against the railing, folding his arms. For once he was taller than his opponent.
"Giving her a ride from Chilton when she didn't ask you to. Ditching school to go get her. What was all of that?"
"Hey, she needed someone today." Jess sighed and took in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment, "And if I can't be first, I'll settle for second best." Dean took in this statement, not knowing how to respond. Jess turned to leave.
"As long as we're being honest here, I'll let you in on something. It's funny, you know," Dean laughed wistfully, "I'm the one who has her and she doesn't even love me." He brushed a stray hair from her face and she rolled over a little as she slept.
"At least she lets you love her." Jess's lips turned up slightly in something that would have grown into a smile if he'd let it. Leaving Rory with Dean, he knew she was in good hands.
"Yeah, at least I have that." Dean whispered to himself, kissing her hand which was wrapped in his. He woke her up gently and she grumbled. At first she attempted to walk, but her footsteps were heavy. In true Disney fashion, he swept her off her feet and carried her to her room. Obviously Rory saw some sort of humor in this because she began to giggle.
"My prince."
"A prince? Why can't I be a king?" he asked playfully, kneeling on the ground beside her.
"Because that's too much like Tristan," she made a face and yawned, "I don't want you to be like him." Dean smiled, not understanding her completely.
"Your prince then." he said, kissing her forehead. She fell back into her dream world.
A/N: I had this whole other version written and ready last weak, but it was too much like a Jess/Rory. The Gilmore Girls episodes running at the moment are of Jess and not of Tristan, so I keep having to stop myself from changing the pairing. Review, please. Opinions, options... even critiques. I'm open for anything!