Disclaimer: A nice forewarning, there is quite a bit of stolenish stuff from Sadie, Sadie in this chapter. It's not mine, I paraphrased it mercilessly and stole it for my own fun times.
"Rory, do you know where my earrings are?" Lorelai called from her room upstairs. Rory was in her own room, changing out of her uniform and into something dinner-worthy.
"Which ones?" Rory returned, looking in her jewelry box for any earrings that might belong to her mother.
"Uh… gold dangly ones?" Lorelai responded as she stumbled down the stairs, attempting to get her shoes on at the same time.
"Yup, I got 'em," Rory confirmed, taking out the pair and placing on a pair of her own. Her eyes strayed over to her closet for a moment, picking out all the school girl clothes. They were all pretty… but she didn't want to be pretty tomorrow. She wanted to look good, for Jess. Shaking her head, she attempted to clear her mind of him, if only for dinner.
"So, seeing as how you have to be awake early tomorrow, do you think we could make them let us go early?" Lorelai suggested with a giddy smile.
"Maybe," Rory mumbled, giving her mother her earrings and slipping on her shoes.
"Woah, wait up," Lorelai said as Rory attempted to open the door to leave. "Where did you get that dress?"
Rory was clad in a red dress that sloped dangerously low in the front and had a slanted cut from her hip down to her knees. It was something that Lorelai would have only worn to a very hot date, not something to be worn in front of her grandparents.
"Your closet?" Rory admitted, looking uncomfortable and guilty.
"Yeah, I guessed that much… but why?" Lorelai pressed.
"I don't know… I just, wanted to look pretty tonight," Rory said, pulling down the high hemline.
"Go change," Lorelai told her, pointing into the house.
"What?" Rory asked her in shock.
"You're not wearing that to my parent's house. They'll skin us alive," Lorelai explained, frowning in confusion as to why Rory would even wear the clothes in the first place.
"We're going to be late!" Rory whined as she ran back into the house, slipped out of the dress and pulled on a red sweater and a black skirt. At least they would go with the red scheme.
"Much better," Lorelai said, kissing her daughter's forehead and then ushering her out to the car.
"Can I borrow some of your clothes tomorrow?" Rory asked her timidly as they started driving.
"Why would you possibly need 'my' clothes to go to a prayer rally?" Lorelai pressed, even more confused.
"I want to make an impression," Rory reasoned nervously.
"An impression," Lorelai attempted to accept.
"Yup… a good impression," Rory repeated again.
"So… what happened with Dean today?" Lorelai inquired, dropping the subject before she got even more suspicious of her perfect daughter.
"Well… he came to Chilton and we talked… and I couldn't say it, so he left," Rory explained, upset again with the topic.
"It?" Lorelai muttered, already knowing the answer.
"I don't love him, I couldn't lie to him," Rory told her, leaning against the car door and watching the scenery pass.
"What happened? I mean, just yesterday you were telling me how much you wanted him back and how much you cared about him," Lorelai stated, gently trying to pull more information out of her daughter.
"I don't know what happened. I just… I saw him standing there, and I could have said it, I could have said: 'I love you!', but… it wouldn't have been true. I need to figure out what I want before I hurt both of us by saying… it, and then just breaking up with him later," Rory reminisced, leaning back in her seat and clutching the door harder.
"Are you going to be alright for dinner? I mean I could always call them and tell them you're sick," Lorelai suggested, even as they were parking.
"No, it's okay. It's not like anything's changed," Rory grumped, quickly getting out of the car and walking over to the door, where she rang the doorbell before her mother could join her.
"Hey!" Lorelai objected, not wanting to appear hesitant in the face of her mother.
Half-hobbling-half-sprinting, Lorelai managed to make it to the door as it was being opened by Emily herself. She was beaming and joyfully brought them into the house.
"Come in!" Emily boomed and dragged them into the mansion.
"Uh…?" Lorelai started, but didn't get to finish before Emily started shouting to Richard.
"Richard, they're here!" she called, which caused many strange looks between the younger Gilmore women.
"What's… going on?" Lorelai asked, trying to figure out what they'd done to acquire such a joyful greeting.
"Nothing, nothing, Richard!" Emily carried on, pouring Lorelai a white wine and handing it to her half-heartedly.
"Don't tell them before I get there!" Richard shouted back.
"Tell us what?" Rory whispered, trying not to appear intrusive. The strange actions from her grandparents were almost forcing tomorrow from her mind.
"Richard, get off that damn phone and get in here!" Emily yelled instead of answering.
"Alright, alright," Richard barked, then appeared in the doorway to the study. "Rory, I wanted to be the first to tell you that you're in the top three percent of your class!"
"Oh… I know, I mean we know," Rory told him, motioning between her mother and her.
"How?" Emily sulked, wilting a little bit in her seat.
"Well, we didn't know for sure… but I had a pretty good idea," Rory told her, blushing a little bit and sitting up tall.
"Congratulations, Rory!" Richard beamed, not at all disappointed that she'd known before hand, just excited that he'd gotten to talk to her anyway.
"Thanks," Rory replied quietly, attempting not to look too pleased.
"Rory, I was thinking, seeing as how this is such a special occasion, that we would have a special dinner next week," Emily gushed.
"But Grandma, all of our dinners are special," Rory cooed, and received a look from her mother.
"Suck up," Lorelai muttered under her breath.
"What was that, Lorelai?" Richard inquired, still excited with the situation.
"Nothing," she chirped, her back seeming to snap straight up.
"So, Rory, you can invite someone if you'd like," Emily suggested.
"S-someone?" Rory stammered, her mind instantly went to Jess.
"Yes, someone special, perhaps?" Emily pressed, her eyes seeming to suggest something.
"S-special?" Rory stuttered further, looking to her mother for saving.
"Mom, how's dinner coming?" Lorelai interrupted.
"Well, I don't know. Antonia!" Emily shouted into the kitchen.
"Dinner is ready, ma'am," Antonia replied, rushing out from the kitchen.
"You should have said so," Emily scolded, then stood up and ushered everyone into the kitchen.
A few hours later, Lorelai and Rory burst out of the manor, hugging and laughing.
"You said yes?" Rory reconfirmed for the millionth time.
Lorelai nodded in excitement as they stumbled into the car.
"When are you going to have the wedding?" Rory asked, and Lorelai seemed to deflate a little bit.
"I don't know! Oh my God, I don't have any idea. Rory, when am I getting married!?" Lorelai panicked.
"Mom, clam down. Do you want me to drive?" Rory asked, although she wasn't much better than her mother. The announcement of the engagement was only adding to the panic running through her bloodstream about her trip to New York to see Jess.
"No, I'm fine," Lorelai told her, taking a deep breath and starting the car. The conversation dwindled down to nothing as they started driving, Rory's words being stolen by her nervousness. Her hands were winding in her lap and her eyes were downcast.
"Mom… about tomorrow," Rory began, but she couldn't figure out how to continue.
"Yeah?" Lorelai asked, her pre-wedding bliss shattered for a few seconds at the possibility of her daughter's confession.
"I'm… not going to a prayer rally," Rory admitted, looking at her mother out of the corner of her eye.
"Uh huh," Lorelai allowed, waiting for her daughter to continue.
"I can't tell you where I'm going, but… I'm not going with Lane," Rory told her, begging her with her eyes not to ask any questions.
"So… what do you want me to do?" Lorelai flustered, not knowing how to react to being lied to, or having information knowingly held away from her, especially from her daughter. "We tell each other everything, Rory… why can't you tell me?"
"Because if I told you, you wouldn't let me go," Rory explained, upset that she was even saying this.
"And I'm supposed to what? Let you go to God-knows where to do God-knows what, just on faith?" Lorelai roared. Her disappointment and anger at being lied to finally arising.
"You trust me, don't you?" Rory asked, but her mother didn't answer. She felt tears stinging her eyes. "Don't you?"
"I don't know, you lied to me!" Lorelai objected, having troubles keeping her eyes on the road.
"I didn't want to. I was going to tell you, but Lane started, and I couldn't stop her without telling you, and I was panicking, because I know that you won't let me do this… but I really, really want to do this. I want to go tomorrow, and I want to go alone, but I knew that you wouldn't let me… and I know that you probably won't let me, but I'm going, mom. I'm going tomorrow," Rory finished, tears making it difficult to say some of the words.
Silence overtook the car ride for a good ten minutes, before Lorelai finally took a deep breath, settling her mind. "Where are you going, or can you not tell me that either?" Lorelai finally asked.
"New York… I'm going to New York," Rory told her, not wanting a huge gap between them.
"New York, you're going to New York, without me, or anyone else… to do what?" Lorelai begged, wringing her hands on the steering wheel and trying to push her tears away.
"I'm going to see the musical I was supposed to see today," Rory admitted, editing out the fact that Jess was going to be there.
"Supposed to see?" Lorelai clarified, the tears seeming to choke her vision more.
"Yeah, supposed to see," Rory confirmed, nodding and wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Why didn't you watch it?" Lorelai continued.
"Because I wasn't there," Rory followed, and figured that it was about as far as she could go.
"Why weren't you there?" Lorelai almost-snapped, feeling the pieces of the puzzles fitting together.
"I can't tell you," Rory stopped, and she could feel the chasm that this confession was going to cause.
"So… what's his name?" Lorelai asked, biting her lip in hesitation.
"What?" Rory squeaked.
"Well… you go to New York, you skip school, and now you're going to back to watch the same musical, and you're trying to tell me that there's not a boy involved?" Lorelai snapped, angry that her daughter would consider her that stupid.
"Yes… there's a boy," Rory finally agreed, humbling herself in her seat. She had had absolutely no intention to tell her mother about that part of today.
"So… you want me to let you go to New York to see a boy that you met today, who convinced you to skip school and… is this why you turned Dean down?" Lorelai realized, looking at Rory for a full ten seconds before realizing that she should probably be looking at the road.
"Mom!" Rory shouted, hurt that her mother would even suggest it.
"I can't believe this!" Lorelai exclaimed in frustration and turned into Stars Hollow. Silence took over the Jeep once more as they drove in. "Do you want to go to Luke's?"
"Coffee?" Rory whimpered.
"Coffee," Lorelai agreed, but the tension didn't drain.
Even as they walked into the diner, the tension crawled with them. When they sat down on opposite sides of the table and avoided each other's eyes, everyone in the diner watched them. Gilmore-watching was a hobby of the town, especially when there was the large possibility of gossip involved.
"Coffee?" Luke asked when he passed their table, already having two cups in his hand. Both women nodded, but neither looked up.
When the coffee was placed in front of them, neither moved to even touch it, instead they kept glancing at each other. When their eyes finally caught, they moved towards their coffee cups in unison and stopped, glaring at each other.
"You can't go," Lorelai finally said, breaking the silence.
"I'm going," Rory objected.
"No, I'm your mother, and I'm saying that you're not going," Lorelai snapped, putting her foot down.
"Do you really think you can stop me?" Rory growled, standing up and smashing her coffee back on the table, sloshing it everywhere.
"Yes, I think that I can! We're going home!" Lorelai shouted back, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the diner.
"No, I'm not," Rory screamed, jerking her arm out of her mother's grasp and stepping back into the diner.
"Rory, get back here!" Lorelai returned, slamming into the diner again.
"No, I want to go, and I'm going to go and there's nothing you can do to stop me, because I'm going!" she shouted, running behind the counter.
"Hey, get out of there!" Luke attempted to interrupt, although he was in as much shock as the rest of the rest of the diner.
"Stay out of this!" Lorelai shrieked at him, and then looked back at her daughter. "Let's go home, now!"
"No, I'm not leaving until you say that I can go!" Rory shouted.
The ringing of someone's cell phone shattered the screaming match. Both Gilmores blinked as they realized it was Rory's. Cringing, she looked at the call-display. It was an unknown number. She looked from the phone to her mother, pained, and then took off for Luke's apartment.
"Where are you going!?" Luke objected when she passed through the curtain.
They chased her into his room, where Rory had already firmly locked herself in the bathroom. She opened the phone and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?" she called desperately, her tears almost swallowing the words.
"Hey," Jess responded. His voice caused the tears that she'd been holding to topple out again.
"Hi," she cried, wrapping her arm around her waist and sitting down on the bathtub.
"What's the matter?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"You know that I don't do things like… well, today all the time, right?" she responded.
"Uh… alright?" he allowed, waiting for her to make her point.
"In fact, I don't even know why I did it. I mean, I don't know anything about you and you live in another state, and I don't even know if I'm going to be able to see you and my mother… and my grandparents. I didn't think this through, I don't know what I'm doing," she said, stammering and tripping over words as she went.
"Wait… what are you trying to say?" he asked, just as slamming started on the bathroom door.
"I can't come tomorrow," she told him, and there was silence for a few seconds.
"Why not?" he demanded, he sounded hurt and angry.
"Because my mom won't let me," she explained, feeling the tears run down her face even harder.
"Okay," he said after a few seconds and the slamming on the door started again.
"Okay?" Rory asked, almost offended that he'd give up so easily.
"What else do you want me to say?" he snarled, and she felt the butterflies turn into stones in her stomach.
"I don't know. That maybe you'd come out here and do something? Or maybe you could come meet my mother, to show her that you're not all bad?" she suggested.
"Meet your mother?" he sighed on the opposite end of the phone. "I'm not the 'meet the parents' kind of guy."
"Well… what kind of guy are you?" Rory asked.
"Look, I'm running out of change, I was just calling to make sure that you were still coming. You're not, so I guess that this is goodbye, then?" Jess asked, he sounded very disappointed.
"Yeah… I guess so," she confirmed, nodding silently to herself.
"Bye, Rory," he said. His voice was even and cold.
"Bye, Jess," she returned, then snapped the phone shut and looked at the door, unable to find a word for the way that she felt.
Outside, in the apartment, Luke and Lorelai were both pacing around.
"What's going on?" Luke finally asked, breaking the silence.
"It's… she went to New York yesterday, and she met some guy, and now she wants to go back to see him tomorrow," Lorelai spilled after a minute. If there was anyone in town that she could trust, it was Luke.
"Some guy?" he stammered, not being able to believe that Rory would actually do something like that.
"Yeah, and I think that's probably him calling her!" she shouted, mostly at her daughter and pointed at the bathroom.
"I'm breaking the door down," he barked firmly, slamming his body against the wood.
"What?" she asked, watching Luke attempting to break through the door.
"She's not going to New York, with some punk kid," he told her, throwing himself against the door every third word.
"Luke, stop, she has to come out sooner or later, there's no other way to get out," she stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder to stem the slamming.
"You're being awful calm about this," he growled.
"No, I'm just… trying to stop someone from doing something stupid and then we'll all regret it, like you breaking down your door just to get someone off the phone," Lorelai sighed, motioning to the door again.
"Yeah, well, she shouldn't be on the phone with him, especially not in my diner," he objected, slamming his fist against the door again.
"Technically she's not in your diner," she taunted, unable to help herself.
"That doesn't matter, she's in the building, around me, which means that she shouldn't be talking on her cell phone," he continued, slamming against the door again.
"Luke, stop, please. She's going to come out, and then I can take her home, and we can talk," Lorelai consoled, almost regretting having told him.
"She's been in there for over five minutes. What is she doing?" he snapped, apparently not having heard her former comment.
"She's talking on the phone to some boy from New York," she stated the obvious, then stopped as the door opened.
Rory walked out, hiding the cell phone behind her back and glancing between them. She looked like she was in a trance. Slowly, she turned to her mother and drifted over to her, before realizing that she was supposed to be angry. Despite this, she started crying again, standing in the middle of the room, alone.
Lorelai and Luke looked at each other, concerned, before Lorelai stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her shaking daughter. Rory instantly clung to her and cried into her shoulder. Luke stood awkwardly in the background for a few seconds, before he looked at the damage that he'd caused to his door and flinched. Perhaps Lorelai was correct with the whole 'thinking' thing.
"Do you want to go home, baby?" Lorelai suggested, kissing her daughter's forehead.
Rory just nodded silently, looking at Luke out of the corner of her eye apologetically. Luke caught the look and gave her a small, nervous smile. He had no idea what was going on, outside of the fact that Rory was upset and that he would have to replace the door to his bathroom.
"Thanks for the coffee," Lorelai told him as she led her daughter out of the former-office, and then out of the diner.
On their walk to the Jeep, it seemed like all of Stars Hollow was watching them. The news of their screaming match had brought people far and near to the diner. They had created a tunnel of people to walk through. Lorelai shielded her daughter from their prying eyes and gently placed her inside their car, where she instantly seemed to wilt. Concern marring her every expression, Lorelai drove them both home. When they got into the driveway, they just paused for a minute.
Babette was sitting on her porch, waiting for them. When they arrived she made for them, but Lorelai shook her head. She got the message and returned to her side of the yard. Carefully, as not to upset her further, Lorelai gently prodded Rory out of the Jeep and into the house.
"Are you okay?" Lorelai asked.
"I don't know why I'm so upset, I mean… I didn't even really know him… at all," Rory attempted to explain, but she felt so weighed down. She felt more upset over this than what she ever had when she and Dean had broken up.
"Do you want to wallow?" Lorelai suggested and led them to the couch, where they proceeded to collapse.
"Over what? I didn't even go on a date with him," Rory objected in defeat and laid her head against her mother's shoulder.
"What happened in New York?" Lorelai finally asked, unable to contain the question any longer.
"I don't even know what to call it. Can I tell you tomorrow? I need to go to sleep," Rory whimpered, walking into her room and sitting down on her bed.
"But it was something special, or could have been?" Lorelai continued to prod, following her daughter into her room.
Rory nodded mutely, slipping under the covers of her bed without changing first. Lorelai sighed. She was frustrated with this strange boy who'd managed to break Rory's heart without even having it. Stealthily, she crawled up the stairs and into her own room, where she proceeded to lie in bed for hours without being able to sleep.
Downstairs, Rory was in much the same condition. She'd tossed and turned, but she wasn't able to get Jess out of her mind. The continuing wonder of how the hell he'd managed to get so close to her sped through her mind millions of times, but she couldn't account for it. The looks that they'd given each other, the playful banter, the books, and he was supposed to have taken her to that musical, now she was going to have to get Paris's notes. It wouldn't be the same, but she could probably still do the test with them.
Morning in the Gilmore household was next to silent. They sat at the table in the morning, nursing their coffee and giving each other looks, before Rory finally sighed and decided to break the silence.
"I met him at the musical… there was another school there with us. Paris took the last group seat, so I was alone. I talked to him for a few minutes before the show started, and at intermission he suggested we leave, because neither of us was watching the show anyway. I don't know why, it was crazy and stupid and… pathetic, but I agreed, and we went to Washington Square Park, and then… we went to his apartment," Rory caught the look of outrage on her mother's face, but she held up her hand to stop her from talking. "Don't say anything, because I'm only telling you this once. We went to his apartment, up to the roof. It had an amazing view, we could see all of Manhattan… and I almost fainted, but he caught me, and he held me… and I kissed him, and he kissed me, and then we had to get back to the theatre, but I kissed him… three times. Me, I kissed him, not him kissing me. I don't know why I did it… it just felt… right."
"You kissed him…" Lorelai repeated, sighing. "It felt right? Like… more than Dean, right?"
"It felt like I was supposed to be there. I've never felt anything like it," Rory admitted, shrugging a little bit and holding her coffee cup tighter.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie… do you have any way of contacting him? Maybe I could come out to New York-," Lorelai was about to suggest, but Rory just shook her head and looked away.
"He says he's not the 'meet the parents' kind of guy," Rory whispered, and pushed away from the table. "I'm going to go find Lane."
"I thought she had that prayer rally today?" Lorelai frowned, following Rory to the door.
"Yeah, but it doesn't actually start until one," Rory shrugged, slipping on a jacket and opening the door. Outside there was already a group of gawkers, waiting for news.
"Are you going to be okay?" Lorelai asked, eyeing the onlookers.
"I'll be fine," Rory told her, smiling weakly and walking out into the yard.
Instantly, people began following her around, not saying anything, not touching at all, just following. When she got to Kim's Antiques, Lane was sitting on the front porch, obviously waiting for her.
"Rory!" she squealed when she saw her, and rushed down the steps.
The mob kept their distance, staying behind the white picket fence, although this probably had more to do with Mama Kim's glare than respect for the conversation. Lane gave the group an evil eye and dragged her best friend into the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She then proceeded to the closet and locked them inside.
"What happened? You were supposed to go to New York, to see Jess and kiss and do girly things and… what's wrong?" Lane started off at a rant, but ended up concerned when Rory's face fell.
"He called me last night… after diner. I'd told my mother that I was going to New York, to see a guy, and she said no, so I told him that I couldn't go, and he didn't… well, he didn't even try," Rory sulked, leaning on her friend's shoulder.
"That jerk! What did you say his name was? I'm going to New York, and I'm going to kick his butt," Lane proclaimed, but both of them knew it was an empty threat.
"No, it's okay. I mean, it was only… a fling? My first fling, I guess. I'm never going to see him again, and I don't think he'll ever call me again. I only know his apartment number, and I'm not going to New York again any time soon," Rory sniffled, calming herself a bit with the realization.
"Are you sure, because I could always, y'know, hire someone?" Lane suggested weakly.
Rory smiled again and just leaned her head on her friend's shoulder again, effectively cutting the conversation off again. They sat in the closet, listening to music and thinking about their respective things; Lane about how much she wanted to murder the guy who did this, and Rory about how much she wished that things could have been different.
"I have to go," Rory said after almost an hour of non-talking.
"Where?" Lane asked, confused.
"To Doose's," Rory muttered, and Lane blinked at her.
"To do what?" she asked suspiciously, following her friend as she left the closet.
"To apologize to Dean," Rory said without thinking, and rushed down the stairs, outside, and through the crowd of people who were still milling about.
"Wait, you're not going to get back together, are you?" Lane asked, afraid that Rory was just going to use this as an excuse to be with someone else.
"I don't know… maybe, I just want him to know that I do still care about him," Rory muttered, pushing past the crowd and out towards Doose's.
Lane shouted a 'Be right back!' to her mother, and took off before she could be reprimanded. She caught Rory when they were just a few meters outside of the market, and attempted to hold her back.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lane demanded, watching Dean stocking shelves inside.
"I'm sure," Rory said after a few seconds, and pushed her way inside.
On the other side of town, at the Inn, Lorelai was attempting to field off millions of phone calls involving what was going on the previous night, as well as take reservations and ignore Michel's taunting. Finally, after another call about the 'situation', she hung up the phone and slammed into the kitchen. Sookie was so shocked that she dropped a spatula onto her foot.
"Sookie, I need to talk," Lorelai whined.
"What's the matter?" Sookie asked, walking through the chaos to the back of the kitchen.
"It's Rory," Lorelai admitted, and Sookie stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "She met someone in New York yesterday."
"New York? Is he cute?" Sookie gushed, but stopped when she noticed her friend's expression. "Sorry, continue."
"They had a… fling and now Rory's all hung up on him," Lorelai continued to whine, not wanting to have to bear the news all by her lonesome.
"A fling?" Sookie asked, eyes wide and shocked.
"Not 'that' type of fling, just a kissing fling," Lorelai corrected quickly.
"A kissing fling; just a kissing fling," Sookie repeated, placing a hand to her chest as though to calm her beating heart.
"And I said yes," Lorelai added as an afterthought, and Sookie froze.
"Yes? You said yes? You're getting married!" she half-screeched, and then they proceeded to do the girlie squealing dance, hugging and bouncing.
"Uh huh," Lorelai said with a nod, and more hugging ensued.
"Max is a great man," Sookie approved, and then her expression clouded over. "But Rory had a fling?"
"It's so weird. She's not… me, she's not supposed to have flings!" Lorelai objected, leaning against one of the counters absently.
"She's turning into a little lady!" Sookie cried happily.
"But I don't want her to!" Lorelai whined.
"Hey, Sookie, I brought some sprouts," Jackson announced as he entered into the kitchen, then saw Lorelai. "Oh, and Lorelai, the Rory-mob is trying to destroy Doose's."
"Doose's?" Lorelai asked, before registering Dean.
"Yeah… I saw them on the drive over," Jackson supplied.
"Sookie, I have to go make sure that my little lady isn't doing something stupid," Lorelai grumped, then hugged her friend and dashed from the kitchen. A shouted 'goodbye' at Michel, while he was on the phone, was all she supplied as she dashed out.
Lane was hovering outside Doose's market uneasily. Rory was just inside the doorway, watching Dean. He hadn't noticed her or the Rory-mob yet. Just as Patty was dashing over to the scene, Lane decided that it would be easier to act as conscience to Rory than to attempt to explain to Patty, and the mob, what the screaming match at Luke's the previous night had been about.
"Rory," she whispered, inching over to where her friend was standing.
"Mhm?" Rory replied absently. She was obviously distracted and nervous at the aspect of confronting Dean again.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Lane pried, her voice still a whisper.
"Nope," Rory said, moving towards Dean.
"Do you know what you're going to say?" Lane asked, her voice a shrill whisper.
"Nope," Rory stated again, and tapped Dean's shoulder. He turned around with a pleasant expression, but once he saw it was her, it faded into coldness.
"What do you want?" he grumbled, turning back to his work.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, and that I still care for you, a lot, and that I still want to be friends," she told him, not touching him again but lingering at the edge of his vision as he moved around the store in an attempt to get rid of her.
"I don't want to 'just be friends', Rory, I love you," he snapped at her, quietly, so that the pack outside wouldn't be able to hear it.
"I know, and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but… I don't know if I love you or not," she replied, chasing him as he walked around faster.
"How can you not know? You either love someone, or you don't!" he shouted, and the people outside bustled about.
"It's not that simple," Rory screamed back, startling everyone in the room.
"How is it not that simple?" Dean finally asked, storming over to her and towering over her. In all her time of dating him, she'd never noticed precisely how tall he was. He'd never used that height to scare her before, but he was scaring her now. Nervously, she backed up, but tripped over a stand. Lane caught her before she hit the ground and helped her to her feet. Dean stumbled forward to try to help her, but she pushed him away, tears springing to her eyes.
She looked outside at the crowd, at her mother who was standing there, glaring at Dean, then to the faces of all the people that she knew. After a few more seconds of contemplation of how she could explain what she was feeling, she looked back up at him again.
"It just… isn't," she finally supplied, and was then led out by Lane, into the capable hands of her mother and the townspeople.
"What a jerk!" Lane cried as they left the market. "I mean, you were only trying to talk to him, but he couldn't even 'speak' to you without you proclaiming your undying love. That creep."
Rory smiled at her, attempting not to get too upset with the situation.
"I never liked that boy, Rory. You were smart to have stayed away from him," she heard from someone, as well as hundreds of other comments of the same nature. She brushed them off and allowed herself to be taken to Luke's.
"Why did you do that?" Lorelai asked sadly.
"I don't want him to be angry at me," Rory shrugged, sitting down at a table.
"I have to go," Lane said suddenly as her mother appeared in the group of gawkers. Lorelai and Rory watched as she attempted to wade through without attracting attention to herself, but her mother saw her anyway, and dragged her home.
"Poor Lane," Rory muttered, and sulked some more.
"Luke! Coffee!" Lorelai shouted, and Luke was there in seconds with two cups.
"What's going on out there?" he asked, nodding towards the crowd.
"Rory tried to talk to Dean," Lorelai told him, and he seemed to stiffen. Despite the truth about the breakup being revealed, Luke still didn't like the boy who'd broken Rory's heart.
"Yeah, and what did he do?" Luke growled, glaring over at Doose's as though his eyes could burn it to the ground.
"Nothing, he did nothing," Rory snapped, and took a sip of her coffee.
Luke and Lorelai shared a moment before he rushed off to help the other customers. This left the two Gilmore girls alone, once more.
"An apology isn't going to solve this, Sweetie. He still loves you, and he probably thinks that you're playing with him," Lorelai started.
"I know," Rory muttered miserably, taking another large gulp out of her cup. "But I don't want him to be angry at me, I don't want to have to avoid Doose's Market anymore… I just… want things to go back to the way they were before Dean."
"And they will, sooner or later. You'll meet someone else, and it'll be even more special. You're still young, there is life after Dean," Lorelai consoled, grabbing her daughter's hand and squeezing it lightly.
"Yeah, but when will it arrive?" Rory whined, and they shared a smile. The tension seemed to break, and she could feel her shoulders loosening. She'd been so worried about the whole Jess-situation, and then with Dean… but sharing it with her mother just… made it all better. She knew that she could tell her anything, but there was something about Jess that made her want to keep him all to herself, even if it was just his name.
"So, movie night?" Lorelai asked on the trek home. Rory nodded, and they stemmed off towards the stores.
"I'll pick the movie," Rory said brightly, noticing that Dean was still working.
"I'll take Doose's," Lorelai agreed with an understanding nod.
Rory wandered into the store and looked around. After a few minutes, she finally found Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Her mind felt like mush, and Oompa Loompas were just the thing for mush-brains. Buying the movie only took a few seconds, which then left her standing awkwardly outside of Doose's as her mother bought all the junk food.
Dean seemed to be on the opposite side of the store from Lorelai at all occasions. Sighing, Rory wished that she could just end this all. It occurred to her that she could leave for the rest of summer, it would most definitely take care of the whole 'avoiding Dean' thing. Before she could talk herself into doing anything rash, like calling some sort of camp and asking if she could help, or going inside to shout at Dean some more, her mother came out.
"What did you get?" Lorelai asked, juggling with the food to see the title of the movie. "Ooo! Oompa Loompas!"
Rory smiled and took some of the junk food. Their walk home was silent again, both of them left to their thoughts. When they got home, they each looked at each other for a moment, and the infamous Gilmore girl looks seemed to portray their thoughts to each other. They smiled and opened the door, getting ready for some serious vegetation.
"You put on the movie!" Lorelai shouted as they rushed in. She placed all the junk on the coffee table in the center of the room and they sat on the couch, eyes glued to the screen.
"So… when do you want to have the wedding?" Rory asked, wanting to take the spotlight off of her. This entire day seemed to be all about her, nothing about her mother, who was actually getting married.
"I don't really know yet," Lorelai mumbled through a mouth filled with assorted candies.
"Do you know what kind of dress you want?" Rory prodded further.
"I haven't decided that yet either. Who are you bringing to dinner next week?" Lorelai deflected.
"No one, I guess," Rory stated with a shrug, and they dissolved into silence, eating the junk food and giving each other looks out of the corner of their eyes.
"This is weird," Lorelai finally revealed after a few minutes.
"Yup," Rory agreed, and they sat back in the couch.
"I still need to work the details out with Max," Lorelai finally stated after a few seconds.
"Makes sense," Rory stated with a nod.
"Ooo! There they are!" Lorelai cried when the Oompa Loompas arrived, and they curled into each other, watching the movie with only the occasional interjection of mocking.
A week later, they were standing on the Gilmore Mansion's steps again, cringing at the idea of going into the large house. Sure, today was supposed to be the 'party', but Rory hadn't brought a friend, and Lorelai now had a wedding band on her finger.
"You have to tell them tonight," Rory told her mother stubbornly. They'd been having this conversation all week, but now was the moment of truth.
"I'll tell them when I want to," Lorelai snapped back, angry that Rory was pushing so hard on this.
"If you don't tell them tonight, I will," Rory pointed out, then rang the bell. The door was opened seconds later by Emily herself.
"The maid busy?" Lorelai asked.
"No, I just wanted to meet you myself," Emily gushed, and brought them into the house. "So, how are you doing Rory?"
"I'm alright, good, actually," Rory stated, and then glared at Lorelai, who shushed her behind her mother's back.
"That's good," Emily said with a nod and led them into the study. "Richard, the girls are here!"
"I'll be there in a minute," Richard called back.
"Are you on the phone again?" Emily demanded angrily.
"No, I'm just getting Rory her book," Richard told her as he stepped into the room and handed Rory a book that they had been discussing in the previous weeks. "Congratulations."
"Thanks, Grandpa!" Rory exclaimed, looking the book over. "This is so amazing!"
"Would you like soda or water, Rory?" Emily interjected.
"I'll take soda, please," Rory responded politely.
"And I'll take a martini, shaken, not stirred," Lorelai cracked, and Rory coughed into her hand, holding back the laughter. Emily and Richard didn't appear to have gotten the joke.
"One soda," Emily said cheerfully, handing Roy her drink, and then brought over Lorelai's martini. "And one martini."
"Was it shaken?" Lorelai asked childishly, drinking the martini.
"No, it wasn't," Emily grumbled then ushered them all into the dining room.
"So, Rory, we have another little gift for you," Richard stated as they moved into the dining room.
"Yes, it's right here," Emily continued, picking up a little box and handing it to Rory.
"Thanks," Rory said, opening the box and giving her mother a 'look'.
"Pens!" Lorelai exclaimed upon the opening of the box. "All yours!"
"Actually, grandma, grandpa, mom and I have something that we need to tell you," Rory began, and Lorelai placed her cup down on the table, hard.
"Oh?" Emily inquired, looking between the younger Gilmores, who were glaring daggers at each other.
"Well, what is it?" Richard asked, not noticing the tension.
"Mom's-," Rory began, but was abruptly cut off.
"I'm getting married," Lorelai finally grumbled out.
"What?" Emily deadpanned, also slamming her drink on the table.
"Married?" Richard asked, aghast at the very idea.
"Good girl," Rory muttered into her drink and started on her salad. Lorelai sighed and glared at her daughter before looking at her mother with a blinding smile.
"Yup, married," she confirmed.
"How long have you known about this?" Emily snapped, figuring that she was probably the last person to know, as always.
"I just said yes last week. Are you angry at me?" Lorelai returned, glaring at her mother.
"No, not at all," Richard stated quickly, attempting to break the growing tension, that he was noticing for once.
"Who are you marrying?" Emily continued, ignoring Richard.
"Emily, please. Allow her to tell us without an interrogation," Richard pleaded, and this time Emily seemed to hear him.
"Fine," she grumbled, and stared at Lorelai for said information.
"His name is Max Medina," Lorelai told them, nervous for the first time in a long time. "He's a teacher at Rory's school."
"You're marrying a teacher at Chilton?" Emily exclaimed.
"Are you sure that's wise, Lorelai?" Richard commented.
"I'm fine with it," Rory interjected peacefully.
"When is the wedding?" Emily said, getting the conversation back on topic again.
"I don't know yet, I just said yes last week," Lorelai reminded them.
"Well, who's arranging it?" Emily prodded further.
"Uh… me, us?" Lorelai stated, pointing to her and Rory.
"Great, then I'll have my wedding planners on it in the morning!" Emily gushed, suddenly happy about the situation.
"Woah, wait, wedding planners?" Lorelai asked in shock.
An hour later, Lorelai stumbled out of her mother's house with information for ten different wedding planners, none of which she wanted.
"See! Now you have information," Rory taunted.
"Remind me of that when she takes over the world," Lorelai grumbled, shoving the papers into the back of the Jeep and running around to start the car before her mother could give her any more information.
"Whiner," Rory scolded, and sulked happily in her seat.
The car ride back to their house was filled with playful banter, but halfway through, Rory's cell phone rang. She hesitated and picked it up. For the past few days, someone had been calling, but not leaving messages. Checking the caller ID, she was pretty sure that she knew who it was.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Lorelai asked, after Rory had been staring at it for a few seconds.
"Oh, right," Rory chirped, then opened it and placed it to her ear. "Hello?" Almost instantly, the sounds of the city behind the phone call died and a dial tone replaced it. Hesitating, she closed the phone and looked back at her mother with a tight smile. "Wrong number."
"That's been happening a lot lately," Lorelai speculated innocently.
"Yup," Rory agreed, curling into her seat.
"What?" Lorelai asked, noticing the strange influence that this phone call was having.
"Huh?" Rory replied, attempting to force herself into the here-and-now.
"Are you okay?" Lorelai pressed.
"I'm fine. It's just been a weird week, with… New York, and Dean…" Rory explained.
"New York, huh? You never did tell me his name," Lorelai pointed out, looking sideways at her daughter.
"I know," Rory shrugged off, and Lorelai decided to let it go. After all, it wasn't as though Rory knew all of her love life's details.
"Do you want to stop off at Luke's for coffee?" Lorelai suggested bouncily.
"Sure, why don't we go home, drop of the car, we'll change, and then we can walk?" Rory suggested. The sudden need to walk urging her on.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You're not pod-Rory, are you?" Lorelai asked, stunned that her daughter would actually 'suggest' physical activity.
"Nope, I'm Rory-Rory, I just need some air, and I think it'll do us good. We can talk… and… talk," Rory defended.
"We're talking now," Lorelai declared.
"Yeah… but the car motor is loud and I have a headache… and can we just walk?" Rory pouted.
"Fine… mean," Lorelai whined.
By the time they had gotten home, they were already onto arguing about what the next movie for movie-night was going to be. The mad dash through the house to get into more casual clothes lasted a grand total of three minutes, before they started down to Luke's. When they arrived, it was nine fifteen, and the diner was closed. Luke, however, was still sitting behind the counter.
"Lukey! Oh Lukey!" Lorelai taunted, tapping on the class and pouting. "We want coffee!"
"We're closed," Luke objected, even as he walked over to the door and opened it. "Bad night?"
"Nah, my mom just piled some wedding planning stuff on me," Lorelai told him, and then stopped in her tracks.
"Wedding stuff, huh?" Luke asked, going behind the counter and getting coffee ready.
"Uh, yeah… I'm engaged, isn't that neat?" Lorelai told him weakly.
"You didn't tell him yet?" Rory hissed, kicking her mother.
"Ow!" Lorelai objected as they sat at the counter.
"To Max?" Luke asked, still not looking at her. He was now working on refilling salt containers.
"Yup," Lorelai squeaked, even as she was kicked again.
"I figured," Luke brushed off, then turned around and gave them some doughnuts that were left over.
"You did?" Lorelai deadpanned, not expecting that reaction.
"Yeah," he said, continuing to act as though it was nothing. Rory kicked her mother harder beneath the counter.
"Ow!" Lorelai objected again.
"Could we get our coffee to go?" Rory asked, munching on her doughnut.
"Sure," Luke agreed as he poured it into two to-go cups.
"Thanks!" Rory chirped, then grabbed her mother's arm and dragged her out of the diner. "How could you not have told him!?"
"I don't know, I just… didn't get around to it," Lorelai mumbled guiltily, drinking her scalding hot coffee quickly.
"You're evil! You know that he has a thing for you," Rory declared on their trip home, just as her phone rang again.
"Another wrong number?" Lorelai suggested, trying to see the caller ID.
"One minute," she said to her mother, and stepped back towards Luke and into an alley, where she would get some privacy. When there, she flipped the phone open and pressed it to her ear.
"Look, if you're going to call me, then say something. Apologize, curse me, but do something!" Rory harped, but was surprised when someone gasped on the other end. She pulled the phone away from her eat and looked at the caller ID, then cringed. "Oh… Hi Paris."
"Who are you yelling at?" the abrasive teen asked, obviously put out about being yelled at.
"I thought that you were… someone else," Rory admitted.
"Oh, well, I'm not. I thought that you and I could start some work on the Franklin this summer. I'm going to come over to your house tomorrow and bring you some of the ideas I have," Paris told her.
"Wait, it's the beginning of summer. Don't we have to actually wait until school starts to be working on school stuff?" Rory sighed, knowing the answer she would get.
"Why wait? Don't tell me that you're slacking on me already," Paris taunted.
"No, no, I'm not slacking. When are you coming?" Rory grumped.
"Is around one okay?" Paris asked, and Rory was taken aback at the fact that she wasn't just ordered to be there.
"Yup, one's fine. Meet me at my house and we can go to lunch, and could you bring the theatre stuff too?" Rory invited, not quite sure where it was coming from.
"Oh… okay," Paris agreed hesitantly, not used to being asked to many things.
"Bye Paris," Rory finished, flipping the phone shut and going back out to join her mother.
"Who was that?" Lorelai asked as they began walking again.
"Paris," Rory answered, still stunned that the girl she'd had such a hateful relationship over the past year was talking to her again. Maybe it was a good thing, hopefully.
"Paris?" Lorelai repeated, just as stunned.
"Uh huh," Rory agreed as they started walking again.
"What did she want?" Lorelai almost cringed to ask.
"She's coming out tomorrow for lunch and we're going to be going over some ideas for the Franklin," Rory told her.
"Wow… Did you see any pigs with wings today?" Lorelai responded.
"What do you mean?" Rory asked.
"I mean that she hates you, or did hate, you. And now all of a sudden you two are pals?" Lorelai explained.
"I don't know. Don't ask me to explain Paris," Rory said with a cheerful shrug. They then continued to walk home, debating whether or not Paris was, in fact, Satan in disguise.
A/N: Yes... the dinners were a bit messed up. In my version, Lorelai doesn't talk to Luke before she says yes. Also, she tells her parents before Sookie can invite them to the Wedding Shower. I do have my motives in this, btw... the next chapter will be skipping to the end of summer/beginning of school. I'm sorry for the lack of Jess, but... he didn't quite fit in yet.