Disclaimer: I only own Lucas... and if he wasn't such a cutie, I would seriously disown him...

Chapter 3

Lucas was still watched by Clara during the weekdays, even though Rory offered to watch him. He spent the mornings at Sookie and Jackson's house, playing with Davey and Martha, and spent the afternoons with Jacob, Brittany, Logan, Sky, and Mitchie - the kids Clara baby-sat. Rory was a little hurt, admittedly, that she was being denied the chance to watch her baby brother for her mom and Luke, but found it easier to concentrate on her novel. Besides, she still went in the afternoons to pick Lucas up, and she hung out with Clara a few extra minutes to talk.

She found out that Clara was majoring in Journalism, too, and was minoring in music. She and Rory had discussed getting her an internship or opening slot at The Big Apple News once she was finished with school. Now, Rory had colleagues and acquaintances, but the only true friends she'd had in the last five years was Paris Gellar, whom she last heard from four months ago, and Lane Kim, whom she last saw at her Yale Graduation Ceremony and last talked to several weeks ago when Hep Alien booked their fourth American tour. So, having Clara around was like a breath of fresh air for Rory.

Before Rory knew it, a week had passed by. It was Friday again. She had managed to busy herself with her book all week, and was looking forward to that night - Lorelai had decided to resurrect the traditional Gilmore Girl Movie Night. Lucas was excited, too, though everything that involved being around Rory excited that kid. He was a regular jumping jack and ping-pong ball rolled into one.

It was about 1:45 in the afternoon when there was a knock at the door. Rory frowned, not knowing who it could be. She'd already taken Sunday and Monday to greet everyone in the town, making sure to avoid that one person who seemed to be Lucas' best friend in all of Stars Hollow. She didn't know why, but it hurt to see him again.

"Yes?" she asked, pulling open the door and freezing to the spot.

There stood the person she'd been avoiding all week.

"Um, hi," Dean replied, shifting a shaking form in his arms. Closer inspection brought Rory to realize that Dean was clutching a crying Lucas against his chest, the 3-year-old's face hidden in the shoulder of his shirt.

"What happened?" Rory asked, ignoring any sign of discomfort she had felt and stepping aside to let Dean carry Lucas inside.

Out of habit, Dean took Lucas into the kitchen and sat the boy on the counter. He grabbed the wash cloth beside the sink and dabbed it in cold water from the tap.

"I have no idea how it happened, but he scraped up his knee," Dean explained, gently rolling the fabric of Lucas' pants up. He rubbed his one hand in Lucas' hair, offering the boy a sympathetic smile, before dabbing extra sensitively at the tattered skin around the little boy's knee. "He cried that he wanted to go home, and after Clara called Lorelai to confirm it, she asked if I could because she still has all those kids."

Rory, who had disappeared into the bathroom to retrieve a bandage and anti-septic spray, came back into the kitchen and handed Dean the stuff. "Oh, well, thanks for bringing him home," she said.

Dean was reading the back of the anti-septic spray, giving a small nod of his head. "Do you have any Neosporin or something? That might be better and less sting-ful."

Rory disappeared into the bathroom for a second time. She returned with a small tube of neosporin and handed it over to Dean. Dean, making sure his hands were clean, squeezed some onto his index finger and gently rubbed it over the scrape marks on Lucas' knee. The little boy whimpered and jerked away at the cold feeling.

"Shh, it's okay, buddy," Dean reassured him. "This'll make it feel better."

Lucas scrunched up his nose and shook his head, burying his tear-streaked face into the nearest shirt he could find… which happened to be the one Rory was wearing.

"I'm sorry," Dean apologized, though Rory wasn't sure whether it was to her or Lucas.

"It's okay," she offered anyway. She gently pulled Lucas away from her stomach where he clung to her shirt for dear life. She offered him a big smile and said, "Hey Lucas, guess what? If you let Dean put the bandage on you, I bet he'll take you to get ice cream."

Lucas' sobs quieted, and his eyes brightened a little. "Really?" he asked, looking towards Dean.

Dean nodded, not sure what else to do. "Sure," he replied.

Lucas considered it for a moment, then stuck out his leg and let Dean apply the plain white bandage. He stared at it for a minute, tilting his head to the side and frowning. "The ones Mommy uses have Spiderman on them," he said.

Rory abandoned them for a third trip into the bathroom, returning with two Spiderman band-aids her mother used for Lucas' cuts. She peeled the paper off the back of them and stuck them both across the top of white bandage.

"How's that?" she asked.

"Much better! Thank you, Rory," Lucas leaned over and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck in a hug. He pulled away and looked up at Dean. "Now do I get ice cream?" he asked.

Dean nodded.

"Can Rory come, too? She helped," Lucas said innocently, not aware of the incident in the diner last week when he'd introduced the two of them.

"Uh," Dean looked over to Rory, unable to make up some excuse for why not, and she offered him no help. He forced an unsure smile and nodded, "Sure, I guess. If you want."

Lucas' face lit up and he nodded swiftly, sticking his arms out for Dean to pick him up. Dean obliged and balanced the small boy on one hip.

Rory noticed how uncomfortable Dean had been both last week at the diner and just now. It seemed that after so long, Dean didn't really want to be friends with her, though who could blame him. She and he hadn't exactly ended their relationship six years prior on sweet notes. It was a sad, dawning realization that they were both heading in separate directions in their lives. Dean was a small-town carpenter, his life revolving around Stars Hollow; Rory was a Yale graduate reporting news in the Big Apple. As life so obviously like to point out when it came to the two of them, different worlds shouldn't collide.

"Dean, I don't have to," Rory said with a shake of her head.

Dean looked up. It was the first time in six years that she said his name, and it still sounded sweet when she said it, like honey-suckle buds in the mid-summer sun. He watched her wave her hand dismissively and walk away, leaving a confused Lucas to stare at him. He sighed and followed her into the living room.

"No, it's alright. You can come," he said, pushing aside all inclinations he might have had of this invisible rift between the two of them. Why was it so hard from him to just accept her friendship? Why did it always have to come down to being about loving or hating each other? Couldn't they settle for that inbetween place?

Rory eyed him warily from the couch. "Are you sure?"

"Yep," Dean said with a nod, smirking, "Besides, I promised, remember?"

Dislcaimer #2: Eeep! I don't own Neosporin either... in fact I don't even think I spelled the product name right...

Author's Note: No idea why I wrote this. Honestly, I haven't update because I was originally going to go a whole other route with this, but I figured I can still go that route later in the story if I still want to. And I KNOW this is just filler, but I felt like you guys deserved something... right?

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