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Disclaimer: I do own some things, however, some of the characters of this fiction is not one of those things. Wow, that sounded strange!
Chapter 23: The Hollow
After leaving Logan's room, feeling rather upset and confused, Rory had gone home to her dorm, pleasantly surprised when she saw Paris wasn't home. She had spend many hours laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, while her thoughts kept going back to the blond-haired boy.
After a few hours, two, maybe three, Tristan had come home and the two of them had made up. Rory always hated it when they fought and she didn't want him to go, while things were still unsolved. Like always, he had become her saviour and she told him everything, crying into his shoulder as his hand ran up and down her back, soothing her. At least some things were as usual.
It was now several hours later. Tristan had left for Princeton, and she and Jason were home in Stars Hollow. Her mother was her usual crazy self, and that made Rory forget her problem for some time. Right now, the duo was sitting in Luke's diner, drinking coffee and chatting away, while Jason was visiting some old friends.
"I can't believe it almost Christmas."
"I can't believe it's not snowing." Lorelai looked out the window and pouted at the non-appearing snow. "I'm not even getting the vibe. I can't smell anything!"
"Well, at least it has."
"Duh," she said. "But that doesn't matter now. It's not snowing now."
"I know, I do have eyes." Rory rolled her eyes, taking a drink of her coffee and smiling happily for a minute, the harsh taste of coffee tasting much like sugar to her.
"Beautiful blue ones," Lorelai added.
"Suck-up."
"A mini version of mine."
"Bitch."
Lorelai looked away from the window and took a zip of her coffee, before sending her daughter a grin. "I love you, kid."
"I love you too mom," Rory answered as she quickly hugged her, smiling brightly.
"And now you can tell momma bear what's bothering you."
The younger brunette gave her mother an innocent look as she shrugged. "What are you talking about?"
"Please," Lorelai said and rolled her eyes. "That's not even semi-convincing, you're surely not meant to be an actress. Haven't I thought you anything?"
"Sure. That coffee is the elixir of life and that anything healthy is bad news. Oh, and that no one beats Schwarzenegger."
"I'll be back!" Lorelai said in her best Arnold-voice, grinning proudly afterwards.
"Atta girl!"
Just then Luke came by, frowning and looking closely at Lorelai. "Tell me you didn't just say that."
"Hi babe. I didn't just say that." She pulled him down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, pulling away quickly.
He lifted an eyebrow. "Really?"
"No," she said as she shook her head. "You try, Luke."
A look of fright appeared on the older man's face, and he shook his head, holding up one of his hands. "No, I don't think so," he answered firmly.
"Come on, you've got that Arnold voice. Just say it: 'I'll be back!' Come on!"
Luke looked even more afraid and he backed away slightly.
Rory leaned closer to him, her eyes drifting from her mother back to her stepfather. "I can make her stop," she stage-whispered.
"What do you want?" Luke asked.
"A muffin and a refill." She held out her cup and smiled brightly.
"Two muffins!"
"Blueberries and one chocolate," Rory added. "On the house."
Luke rolled his eyes, readjusting his cap and just nodded his head sadly. "You are going to die of this crap."
"But what a way to go," Rory replied with a smile.
Luke just walked away.
"Love you babe!" Grinning, Lorelai turned to her daughter and suddenly became somewhat serious. "Now, don't try and deny that something is going on, you've got that 'something is seriously bothering me'-look on your face, and its bigger than I've ever seen it." She paused before adding, "And wider!"
"You. Are. Crazy," Rory said, word for word.
"So is Michael Jackson, but his life turned out to be pretty cool at most times. I mean, he had his own land, ranch. That is pretty awesome. The fact that he chose to name it Neverland is a whole other topic, though," she rambled, not catching the look her daughter sent her. "Maybe one day I could have my own Coffeeland?"
Rory continued giving her a weird look. "I seriously doubt it."
"Luke could always change the name of the diner," she suggested.
Again Rory looked at her mother, her brows furrowed. "To…" she paused, lifting an eyebrow, "Coffeeland?"
Lorelai shrugged. "It's nice," she simply answered. "Beats the crap out of Neverland, at least. Now, is it school? Big bad Yale suddenly not so great anymore?"
Rory sighed. Knowing her mother wasn't giving up, she let out a small, "No. School is good."
"Friends?" Lorelai tried. "I know with friends like crazy Aussie and the sweater-loving dude, there's bound to be trouble."
"You know they do have names. Might not be the greatest, but Finn and Colin work just fine."
"The greatest? Finn and Colin?" The dark-haired beauty snorted very unlady-like. "I could call them ass-crack and skinny-balls and that would still be greater."
"But please tell me you won't!" Rory pleaded.
"Booooring! So, I repeat, friends?"
She shook her head, biting her lip. "Not really."
"And now you're just being vague," Lorelai said as she pouted. "But I'll take it as a no. Aha! Your coffeemaker broke and you are dehydrated?"
"I do drink water," Rory reminded her. "The occasionally fanta or coke, too. Even milk at times."
"So no." Lorelai looked very thoughtful, her finger on her chin and her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Well, then there is only one thing left." She paused for dramatic effect. "It's the curse of every woman and the thing that Paris Hilton loves so much! Boys!"
When Rory didn't say anything, Lorelai smiled happily and clapped her hands.
"I'm right! So who is the guy and what did he touch?"
"Logan," Rory said hesitatingly. "And I can't really tell you, many things, places, I guess."
Lorelai gasped, her hand went to her mouth and her eyes widened in mock shock. "You had sex with him, you dirty beast! You did the horizontal tango! The dirty deed. The big yippee-"
"-Mom!" Rory hissed, looking around the diner before settling her eyes on her mother.
"Is that a yes?"
Rory looked away. "Maybe."
"You had sex and you didn't tell me! Now, who did you say it was?"
"Logan."
"Logan?" Lorelai said and 'tasted' the name. "Loooogan. Logan! Why does that sound familiar?"
Rory bit her lip and gave her mom a somewhat shy and ashamed smile. "Because it's one of Jason's best friends?"
"No!" If possible, her eyes widened even more. "Tell me you didn't have wild monkey-sex with one of Jason's troops!" she whispered to her daughter, grinning madly before her face suddenly turned numb. "Wait! Did Jason know before me?"
Rory shook her head. "Jason does not know. In fact, no one does."
"He's your dirty little secret? Cute."
"Not cute at all."
"Why? Will he be another regret?" she asked seriously. "Maybe you should move along just to make it through."
"Stop quoting The All-American Rejects, mom."
"They are a good band, some seriously great lyrics," the older brunette defended herself. "So what happened?"
With a sigh, Rory looked up at her mother. "You want the long or the short version?"
"Give me the short one and then the long, I need details now."
"All right. Logan and I became friends, then we became friends with benefits-"
"-How?"
"What?"
"How did you become friends with benefits?" she asked curiously. "Where you walking toward each other one day and then your slipped in a banana and your skirt suddenly fell off, while Logan's pants mysteriously went down and you landed right on him, your legs wrapped themselves around his waist and bam!"
"Not quite," Rory said while she shook her head. "But you sure have a creative mind."
"That could happen, you know. A pair of bad jeans with a seriously wacko zipper, and one of those elastic skirts... And besides, people are not very clean these days, throwing shit all around-"
"Mom!" she said laughing. "He kissed me, and then I went to his apartment later on, and it just happened."
Lorelai nodded her head slowly, listening intensely. When Rory was done, she let out a sigh. "Wow," she said and paused. "What a boring version. If you ever tell anyone this, be sure to use my version, much more exciting."
"Yes, I do plan on telling people about me sex-life," Rory said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Want to!"
"All right. We became friends with benefits. Then I got jealous when I saw him with this girl and we had a fight. Then we were back to simply friends slash acquaintances. Then there was this party and, while not being completely sober, I kind of ended up making out with Finn, and Logan saw." She immediately covered her ears when she wad done telling the story.
"You slept with whitey-face and then kissed ass-crack? Damn, my daughter is such a slut."
"Mom!"
"Just kidding, babe. But seriously, someone has been kind of busy, huh? How the hell does school fit in with you schedule? Eat. Drink coffee. Have sex. Eat. Have sex. Drink Coffee. Check guys out. Have sex. Drink Coffee. Sleep. Have sex. Drink coffee."
Rory rolled her eyes.
"No, there's just no time for school. But who the hell needs education when you've got a petite little body to work with?"
"Now you're telling your only daughter to become a prostitute."
Lorelai shrugged. "Or a stripper."
"We prefer exotic dancers," Rory joked back and they shared a little laugh.
"Seriously, all jokes aside… Was he any good?"
"Ew!"
"What?" she asked. "I'll tell you about Luke!"
"I don't want to hear about you and Luke doing… stuff!" Rory immediately said and made a grimace at the thought. "That is gross."
"You're sure? We've got some pretty steamy details."
"You are crossing a thin line, my friend. I call it the 'being freakier then Paris'-line, and boy, did you just cross it." The younger Gilmore shook her head. "Actually, you didn't just cross it, you ran over it faster than anyone before. And trust me, that is not a good thing with all these weirdoes I hang out with."
"Fine fine. Now, tell me how you really are. Was he special? Did he mean anything?" she asked, hating the way her daughter suddenly looked after her question.
Rory sighed, nodded her head slowly. "He was, he did."
"They always do," Lorelai agreed in a soft voice.
"I just… He was such a great friend and I really cared about him. I mean, I've only known him for a month and yet I feel like I've known him my whole life." She stopped for a minute. "And then I had to ruin everything, just because I found him attractive."
"You are a female, who wouldn't? Some men even do, I'm sure," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Unfortunately it didn't help. "That doesn't make it right. He saw us. Me and Finn, going at it on Finn's couch. And he just looked so hurt." She looked away, her voice dropping to a whisper. "And Finn, what about Finn? He had no idea what's going on, and he was already hurt because he had a fight with Rose- Oh my God, Rosemary!"
"Rory…"
"I can't believe how many I hurt with one kiss," she said.
"Everything will turn our all right in the end, sweets. I know, trust me," she said firmly. "And maybe you do care about him, Logan. I know you do. But maybe he isn't the one."
"But mom," Rory started, before pausing and shaking her head. "The first time… It snowed. You said it yourself…"
She nodded knowingly, somehow looking defeated. "Wonderful things happen when it snows."
- - - - -
"I say we pull a Johnny Depp marathon. We'll lone 'Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2' and 'Charlie and the chocolate factory'. And just to be on the safe side, 'Secret Window'."
"I could use some Jack Sparrow right now," Rory nodded her head.
"Captain."
"You two are such girls," Jason whined. "I need some thriller, some major ass-kicking, some killing and screaming. Not pirates and ghosts. How about I for once decide, and we'll have a 'Saw'-marathon?"
Rory and Lorelai looked at each other.
"No."
"But if you really think that's too girly, then we could always have a Chucky-marathon."
Jason's eyes immediately widened.
Lorelai grinned wickedly. "Oh, yes. I could use some badass red-haired doll killing innocent people… Heck, why don't we go crazy and rent 'Toy Story'?"
"Actually," Jason began. "Johnny Depp sounds cool."
Lorelai shook her head while grinning as she flung her arms over her to children. "So kids, tell momma what's been going on. I want to hear about my babies and their college life."
"College is good."
"You sure are talkative," Lorelai teased.
"What?" Jason said. "College is good!"
"Sure sure. Now, do you have a girl? Have you found the one, the only? The perfect chick? The Jane to your Tarzan?"
"I'm… seeing someone."
Rory looked at her brother, surprise evident in her eyes. "What? How come you haven't told me? I see you almost every day!"
Jason shrugged. "You are my baby sister."
"Oh," Lorelai laughed. "There is nothing baby about Rory."
Rory immediately elbowed her in the side, making the older brunette wince in pain. Jason looked on, a little surprised and confused.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing," Rory quickly said.
"Just that Rory isn't a baby anymore. A baby is not what Rory is. Rory and baby? Hell no."
"I think I got it, mom," Jason said as he rolled his eyes.
"All right, just wanted to make sure." She briefly looked at Rory, who was glaring at her with narrowed eyes. "Well, isn't this fun? Just the three of us, hanging out?"
"Peachy."
"Green peas."
"Actually, I kind of wish that Luke was here," Jason added. "Then I would have someone siding with me."
"Yes, because Luke would have been keen on watching Saw?"
Finally they reached the building with the big blue and yellow sign that read "Blockbuster". All three went inside, smiles on their faces as they looked around in the big room. Millions of film, millions of choices.
"Oh, this is heaven sent," Lorelai smirked before running off.
- - - - -
"Alas, my children. This is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost – Captain Jack Sparrow."
"I want to marry him."
"You fit perfectly together, however I don't think Luke would approve," Rory said, her voice seriously, but the glint in her eyes betraying her.
Lorelai pouted childish. "But I want to!"
"I wouldn't mind having Keira Knightley, either," Jason said and joined the conversation.
"But you can't, 'cause you're seeing someone," Lorelai teased.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "And you are married."
"So?"
"So? So you can't have the Captain either."
"Of course I can," Lorelai said seriously.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"I'm a Gilmore girl, I get want I want."
Rory and Jason both shook their heads, amused smiles on their faces.
"What?"
"Nothing, mom. Let's just watch the movie."
"She's locked up in a prison, bound to hang for helping you."
"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes."
"I need that compass of yours, Jack."
"You know Ror," Lorelai began as she turned to her daughter. "You can have Turner, if you want. He's not bad, he's got a little something something."
"Thanks mom," Rory said amused.
- - - - -
She didn't know exactly what time it was. It felt like she had slept for hours, her eyelids heavy and her throat dry, but the darkness that surrounded her and her family told her, that it wasn't even morning yet.
For a few minutes, she laid still, enjoying the peace and quietness. The non-existing drama. A silence filled the room, the only thing that could be heard was the faint sound of her mother and brother breathing as they slept peacefully. But even as she tried not to think about him, her mind seemed to wonder back to the last few weeks.
Everything wasn't all right, far from. And a few days away, a little time spend with her family, wouldn't make everything better. If anything, it would only make it worse. She was "stuck" here, while Logan was back at Yale, doing his thing. Maybe he thought she had been scared and had bailed. Maybe he thought that the words he had spoken Friday night hadn't mattered, when that certainly wasn't the truth.
Maybe maybe maybe..
A single lonely tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, hating herself for being weak.
She removed the blanket her mother had wrapped tightly around her body and stood up. The cold night-wind met her bare skin immediately and she shivered as she made her way to the bathroom, grapping her cell on the way. Only when she was safely locked inside the room and no one was able to see her, should they wake up, she held her phone to her ear. She let out a quiet shaky laugh as his voice filled her ears.
"Rory. Where are you? Britney said you left with some guy…"
Her eyes began to water at his shaky concerned voice.
"Just.. Don't do anything stupid, all right? You should just come back, Jason will get worried. And I will too. Just come back and we'll talk, work this out. Please. Just…"
She could hear him sight, and could almost see him run his hand through his bright locks, and his chocolate-brown eyes heavy with worry.
"I'll see you later, right? And um Ace, I really do care about you."
She closed her eyes, ignoring the tears that spilled over them, as she snapped her phone shut. His voice sounded concerned and worried, but most of all truth. His words were spoken with sincerity. Just the way he said her name, the name he had made for her, gave her a bit of hope back. He really cared.
Maybe, just maybe, things really would work out in the end.
Maybe all she needed to do what talk to him.
- - - - -
A/N: So, there was a little Lorelai/Rory/Jason moment for you, sadly no Rogan (but there will be plenty in the next chapter) Please be nice and review, tell me what you think. And remember, the more reviews I get, the faster updates you get :)