She's trapped inside her room
With reruns on the screen
Old books and movies
But she can't stop thinking.
She waits all day
She stands a stranger in her skin
She moves in science with her hands
Rory sat in the waiting room of the hospital, her head on Blake's shoulder. Their father was sitting across from her with his head in his hands, and Shane was next to him, staring at the wall without an expression. Emily and Richard were sitting one seat down from them, his arm around his wife. And Strobe and Francine were next to their son, his mother patting him on the back. The hanging clock was ticking the seconds away, and she pulled her head from her twin's shoulder and slid her right knee up to her chest, winding her arms around her shin. Blake glanced over at her, the inside of his cheeks pulled between his teeth. She was watching the clock, trying to figure out how long they'd all been there...two, three hours? Her perception of time seemed to have gone.
Richard stood up, "Rory, Blake, Shane, perhaps you should go. You have school tomorrow and it's getting late. There's no use in you staying here."
Shane just blinked up at him, and Rory's eyes never left the wall. Blake was silent for a moment before he stood, pulling his siblings up, "Come on." he wrapped his arm around Rory's shoulders and ruffled Shane's hair as the other two stood slowly. All three stood in front of their father, who never even looked up. Rory bit her lip, looking away, and Blake could see tears in her eyes. He just shook his head, moving over to kiss Emily on the cheek, "Call us if there's any change."
She pulled him to her chest tightly, "Of course." The other two hugged her in turn, and after saying goodbye to the rest of the family, walked out slowly, their feet dragging to Blake's car.
"Dad didn't even look at us." Shane said quietly, climbing into the back of the car.
Rory shook her head, "He won't. The only thing he ever cared about was mom-"
"Don't say shit like that, Rory." Blake cut her off. "She's not dead."
Rory was silent as they pulled out of the parking lot. She looked out the window, shaking her head as she said under her breath, "Close enough."
"Shut the fuck up Rory. You're not making this any easier!" he yelled, not taking his eyes off the road.
She rolled her eyes, biting the side of her tongue as they slid down the street in silence. There was tension and anger in the air as they pulled into the driveway. Shane swung the back door open and slid out, bidding goodnight to the other two before slamming the door. The twins sat in the car, neither speaking. Rory's arms were crossed heavily against her chest as she stared out the window, refusing to look at Blake. She pulled on the latch to open the door, but nothing happened. "Take the child safety locks off, Blake."
"No."
"Fucking take them off!" she yelled.
"No!" he yelled back, "We aren't going anywhere. I'm not unlocking the door. I'm trying to keep this family together. Shane is fucking losing hope and you're being a bitch isn't making it any easier. So we're just going to sit here until you talk to me!"
She shook her head, looking away from him as she folded her arms across her chest again. And they sat like that, Blake staring at her, and her staring at one of the trees in the driveway. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, "What do you want me to say?"
He shook his head, "I don't know what the hell's going on with you. I mean, I would have thought you would have been better about this, Rory. Shane and dad I would have expected to fall apart, but not you."
She looked over at him, "I don't know what to say, Blake." she looked away, "I mean, the last thing I said to her was that I didn't want to talk to her."
His head cocked back, "What were you guys talking about?"
She closed her eyes, shaking her head, "Nothing. We just got into a fight. I don't want to talk about it."
"So what? You think she was mad at you or something?"
"I just...Blake, what if dad is right to loose hope? What if she really doesn't wake up? What would we do? I mean, he hasn't spoken to us since the wreck. He's never home, and the only times he is, he stays locked in his room or office. What would we do?"
He shook his head in disbelief, "We'd do what we always do. We'd make it work. But right now we have to think everything will turn out alright. We have to for Shane."
She shook her head, "This isn't a movie, Blake. This is real."
"I know. But that doesn't matter. We have to believe that it'll be okay. Don't you see how important it is that we believe that? If we don't then who will?"
She was silent for a moment before looking over at him, "I don't know if I can." she whispered.
He looked out of his own window, "Then fake it."
ONE WEEK LATER
Rory was sitting on Adam's bed, leaning against the headboard and watching The Real World as he kissed down her neck. She tilted her head towards him and raised her right shoulder to make him stop, and he pulled back. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, "Nothing." Adam was an amazing kisser, she would give him that. Even if he hadn't had impeccable breeding, been gorgeous, and had perfect charm, he could have still made any girl swoon for his lips. But right now she didn't want to do anything or be touched.
"You seem tense." she just gave him an annoyed look. He hadn't said anything about her mother other than to ask her how she was doing the day after the accident. Maybe he didn't want to make her think about it, or maybe he really was a jerk. She still couldn't decide.
"I'm just tired." He nodded and grabbed her hand, shifting her so that he was behind her and she was resting against his chest. They hadn't slept together, and Rory wasn't sure she wanted to. She knew he did...but that wouldn't do anything for her decision. He began to rub slow circles in her hip. She jumped and shifted quickly away, as if he'd burned her.
He pulled his hand back, surprised as his eyes widened, "What?"
She shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat, "Don't do that."
"What-"
She cut him off, "Just...don't'." she gripped the sheet with a shaking hand, and Adam's eyes slowly returned to their normal size.
"...okay." he said slowly, taking her hand in his own and pulling her back. She closed her eyes cautiously, biting her lip. Tristan had used to trace circles into her hip...whenever he knew she wasn't okay...but she knew that Adam couldn't read her like that. "Are you okay?"
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Rory laid her arms gingerly over his, trying to feel something from his touch that she knew was there, but couldn't put her finger on. She moved her head...it slid across his chest, but she didn't look up at him, "I'm fine."
THREE DAYS LATER
Rory leaned against the wall next to Jess's mattress, watching the rain through his window. He tossed a book to her in order to get her attention, and she caught it instinctively. Her gaze rose up to his face, and she saw that he was leaning against the wall, watching her intently. "You alright?"
She bit her lip, inhaling deeply, "Fine. Why do you ask?"
He made his way slowly over to the mattress and sat down next to her, "Because I know you're not."
She shrugged, looking down and messing with the cover of the book in her hands, "I don't know what you're talking about." Jess looked down, chuckling softly. Rory's head whipped up to look at him, "What?"
He shook his head, "Nothing. It's just...lying was never one of your strong points, especially to me."
She shrugged, "I'm fine." Jess shrugged, not pushing it. He just looked at her, nodding slowly. Her eyes were glued to the window, determined not to look at him. They sat like that for five minutes, neither speaking. Neither changing the objects they were observing. Finally, she broke and turned to face him, "What?"
"Have you talked about it at all?" he asked.
"Talked about what?"
"Your mom's accident?"
She shrugged uncertainly, "Yeah..."
"Or not?" he challenged.
"I don't know. Me and Blake talked about it for a little while. But I don't want to dwell on it."
"You know, Rory, you can talk to me about anything."
She nodded, glancing over at him, "I know."
"So then why don't you?"
"Jess..." she said quietly, almost as a groan.
Rory..."
She looked down, shaking her head, "I don't have anything to say about it."
"That's not true."
She laughed lightly, humorlessly, "You can read my mind, now?"
He grinned, flicking her hair lightly, "I've always been able to read your mind."
Rory laid down, staring up at the ceiling, "I guess...I feel like she was mad at me when she wrecked." she said slowly, thoughtfully.
Jess laid beside her, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." she raised her arms straight up, staring at them by the soft glow of the lamp light. "I mean, I know she was mad at me, but I'm just not sure of how mad."
"I'm sure she wasn't. Lorelai can never stay mad at you." She was silent, watching her fingers move above her head. "What were you fighting about anyway?"
Rory shrugged, "Stupid teenage stuff." she was quiet, and then, "The last thing I said to her was that I didn't want to talk to her. And then I went to Baker's because I didn't want to be in my house. That was when Blake called me." she fell silent, and Jess didn't speak for several minutes. She could feel tears sting the corners of her eyes before they slid vertically to the bed. Jess moved his left hand to her right and slid his fingers between hers, clasping their hands together above them. They gazed at her smaller hand that was encircled by his larger one. Neither spoke, and they sat in a comfortable silence until Jess heard her sniff quietly. He pulled her closer and she rested her head slowly on his shoulder, closing her eyes as the tears started to fall faster.
He unclasped their hands and wrapped his arm around her, playing with her hair comfortingly. She clutched onto the front of his shirt with her left hand, burying her face deeper into his shoulder. And Jess, her best friend in the whole world...the boy that knew her better than almost anyone...one of the people she loved most in the world. Jess, her best friend, the one person she could talk to...he just held her as she cried.
She lines her walls
With every paper she can see
These words consume her
But they never set her free
And then she looked at me to scream,
'My castles are falling'
But I can't look into the street
Without everything changing
A/N: I know, I know, a filler chapter. The next will be much more eventful, trust me.