AN: Okay, so a lot of people have asked me about the equation I used in the last chapter.
It's an equation we used to use at high school to work out the "percentage likelihood" of you and the object of your affection being perfect for each other. Okay
Jill Smith
LOVES
Robert Gray
You count the number of L's in the two names, then the number of O's in both names, then the number of V's, E's and S's. In this example the answerr would be 2 L's, 1 O, 0 V's, 1 E and 1 S. You lay them out in a line and then add each number together like this:
2 1 0 1 1
(2+1)(1+0)(0+1)(1+1)
3 1 1 2
(3+1)(1+1)(1+2)
4 2 3
(4+2)(2+3)
6 5
You keep going until you come away with two digits, in this case, 65. It's just one of school-girl things but I still do it every time I meet a guy, my latest guy is 87!
So that's the first thing out of the way.
Finally, the italics in this chapter are flashbacks.
Disclaimer: I don't own GG.
...I see him staring though you...
Lorelai looked up when Rory walked into the Inn, her eyes lit up when she saw the rest trailing behind.
"Hey guys! What are you all doing here?"
"Don't be ridiculous Lorelai my love, we came to see you of course!" Finn exclaimed as he threw her arms around her.
Louise and Madeline laughed while Rory looked on, sober, standing in The Icon's firm embrace.
"Hey hon' what's up?" Lorelai asked her daughter once she'd disentangled herself from Finn who was now off in search of Sookie.
"Nothing much mom, I just came to ask if I could go out tonight?"
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Lorelai sighed as she watched her daughter leave on the back of Finn's bike. She had long since given up trying to predict Rory and her behaviour. It had frightened her, in the beginning, how like herself her daughter was. That was when it all began, the sneaking out, the midnight phone calls to come and get her, finding Renny in Rory's bed. That had perhaps been her least favourite occurrence of those times.No wait, no her least favourite occurrence had been the eery silence that had settled over her loungeroom all those months ago.
Lorelai giggled to herself as she bounced up the driveway, she and Sookie had just arrived home from nearly a week away together and they had had a wonderful time. It had been niceto get away from everything. Especially the stress she never dreamed Rory would cause her. Lorelai wavedonce more to Sookie before letting herself into the house.
"Ror?" She called, her voice echoing in the hollow house. She set her overnight bag down in the hall and started to the kitchen. "Have you got the coffee maker on for mommy?" Still no response. Lorelai flicked the coffee maker on herself. "Are you even home? Of course you're not, you're never home these days." Lorelai shook her head and started towards her bedroom but paused as she passed the livin room. Rory lay half-curled in th foetal position next to Angus. Finn was lying flat-backed on the floor with his arms behind his head and Louise and Madeline had taken up residence on the couch. It was the eeriest thing Lorelai had ever seen, the silence seeped out of the room, enveloping her as well. Their eyes were flazed as they stared blindly at the ceiling.
"Guys...Rory?" Lorelai asked, panic breaking throuh her voice. "Wht's happened?"
Nobody answered her, not at first and Lorelai had run to her daughter, pulled her into the fiercest embrace they'd ever shared, rocking her slightly like she'd done when she was a baby.
"Rory? Baby? What's wrong?"
Finally, finally after what felt like hours Rory's eyes had shifted to meet Lorelai's. Something snapped and Rory's big blue eyes filled with tears.
"Oh mom!" She sobbed before Angus had reached out for her, pulling her back down to him, away from Lorelai who let her go.
She shuddered just remembering it, that had been the turning point. She and Rory had been growing apart but that brought them back together, in a different way of course. She checked her watch, she'd never get out of that habit even though she knew her daughter wouldn't be home that night.
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Rory held Finn tightly as he sped through the streets of Hartford. They all knew where they were headed. They only ever really wound up at Madeline's house on night's like these. Her parent's were never home and they usually had the run of the place, it suited them perfectly. Finn followed the others to park behind the house. The Icon had a bike as well of course, with the girls in the car Louise's newest step-father had bought her for her last birthday.
They'd fashioned the huge room over Madeine's garage after their own style with furniture, a stereo all the regular things kids put in basements and garage's all over the world. The room was large and quite often, it was where they crashed after night's out together.
Madeline and Louise leaned on either side of Rory.
"We saw you talking to Tristan," Louise began with a sly grin.
"Yeah, whatever were you two discussing?" Madeline pressed,
"A certain party perhaps?" Louise finished and Rory laughed, holding up her hands in self-defense.
"Okay, okay, I asked him out to Blake's party"
"Asked him? You didn't ask him love!" Finn called from behind them on the stairs. "You bloody well told him."
"Well it pays him back for PJ Harvey," Rory muttered under her breath as she reached the landing.
She heard the guys on the stairs and then thudding footsteps until two strong arms lifted her into the air cavalier style. She shrieked as the girls laughed. The Icon threw her small form effortlessly over his shoulder as he spun in circles, finally collapsing on the couch with her a giggling mess on his lap. Rory struggled to sit up and pushed to bright red curls out of h face.
"Do you like my hair?" She asked him in a grave voice.
He reached out and tugged one vivid curl before breaking into a grin and smiling. Rory threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his hair.
"I've missed you while you haven't been at school, you have to start coming more often! What are we supposed to do without The Icon being there huh?" She admonished, pushing herself back and staring at him contemplatively.He rolled his eyes and she punched him.
"We'll always have you love! You're enough of an Icon for all of us!" Finn called from behind the bar he and The Icon had hand-crafted out of bricks and panes of glass. They all laughed.
Louise settled herself on a pile of cushions on the ground with her back to the couch as Rory slid off The Icon's lap and wandered over to Finn at the bar.
"So what's up today hon? Is everything okay?" She asked The Icon, starting to file her nails but glancing up at him surreptitiously, she worried about him, she worried about all of them...almost as much as Rory did. The Icon sighed and ran his fingers through his messy loose curls.
"Everything's sweet...but Finn and I have somewhere to be tonight and I wanted you guys here before that,"
"What's going on?" Louise pressed.
"Nothing serious...do you want to come?" He knew this would reassure her, she knew he would never put her in a position of danger, ergo if he said the girls could come then it was nothing she needed to worry about. She smiled up at him,
"We're in."
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Rory, Louise and Madeline linked their arms as they walked towards the club with the boys walking protectively on either side of them. Rory had finally changed out of her Chilton uniform and was now clad far more comfortably in a pair of grey cigarette-leg jeans tucked into her black, heeled boots with a bright blue, long tank top and a black jumper that came only to her midriff and fell off her right shoulder. She loved her jeans, she'd bought them just the weekend before and hadn't worn them yet. They were headed to Loof, an underground club in the CBD of Hartford that the gang had been visiting for sin it opened. They knew the owners well and were never hassled there. Once they passed through the doors the girls bounced straight to the bar. Scott was working, he always was. He was College student all three had managed to have slight flings with. He was adorable with his short dark blonde hair, big, steel-grey eyes and penchant for wearing brigt pink neck scarfs...well, that wasn't as cute, but it added to the overall.The only problem with Scott, Madeline said, was that he was "looking for someone to hold while he talked about the moon", and none of them were that girl. His face lit up when he saw the girls.
"Well, well, well if it isn't my three-woman army!"
They all giggled and Rory reached over the bar to chuck him under the chin.
"Hey sweetness, are you going to get us drinks or are we going to die of thirst?"
Louise caught Madeline's eye.
"We've taught her well," She mouthed and Madelined nodded, smiling.
Set up with a couple of rounds of drinks the girls commandeered a table. The nightly crowd was filtering in. They were a motley crew. There were the curious onlookers who'd seen the bar when they'd passed it and finally decided to come on in. There was the young crowd, probably College students, dressed all in black and terribly disillusioned as they discussed Chaucer and tried not to get distracted by terribly childish things like who was sleeping with who and what not. There were the young professionals, lawyers, bankers, journalists, all letting go of the day with the help of alcohol, dancing and various chemicals. And finally, there were the regulars, their people, the locals. Rory nodded and smiled at some people she knew.
This was one of their places. The type of place where even if you'd never been there before, your eyes would rest on the girls, watched over by the rest of their group, and you'd know, you'd know they belonged here, that they were special. That they werethe ones who got a free drink and wink from the bar tender, the ones who never got carded, the ones who – at the end of the night – had knock off drinks with the staff.
Rory's eyes flicked to The Icon and Finn, they stood at the corner of the bar, deep in conversation with one of the managers, Eddy. He wasnodding gravely before he pointed to the concealed stairwell. The boys started up the stairs and Scott made his way over to the girls.
"Private party ladies, you wanna get upstairs?" He asked with a wink and a smirk.
Rory shrugged,
"Are you gonna be there?"
Scott laughed and checked his watch.
"I'll take a five minute break and I knock in an hour,"
"Okay then," Madeline concluded, getting to her feet and leading the way.
The stairwell led up a flight of stairs to an elevator only a few knew about. It was the joke from the name of the bar, Loof. The elevator led to a roof-top garden and bar. Eddy was Chinese and joked that when he said "Roof" it came out as "Loof", so he named the underground club that. Weird sense of humour was Louise's summation on first hearing the story. The girls burst laughing from the elevator with Scott between them, his arms around the girls and a bright pink cowboy hat perched on his head. There was already a little group gathered and they saw The Icon and Finn on the opposite side of the garden.Rory watched them like a hawk, she still wasn't entirely sure why they were here tonight, it was always a mission of some sort but tonight she didn't know and she didn't like not knowing. Louise and Madeline were pawing a deliriously happy Scott on a chaise lounge so she wandered over near the boys and stood behind them.
"So what are you doing guys? Dealing? Buying? Pimping?" She asked quietly, a hint of humour though her voice was serious. The Icon turned around with a smile,
"International Arms Trade babe, you want in?"
She rolled her eyes and made her way back to the seats with the girls.
The night passed quickly and by the time they left The Icon wasin bad form, they were used to it of course as he stormed ahead to the cab, his fists balled into the pockets of his long trench-coat, muttering vilely under his breath. Rory caught the ocassional curse or questioning lilt, she knew what he was thinking about, it was what they could all never stop thinking about.
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Back at Madeline's he poured shots, lots of shots, of a thick green licqour and set them down on the coffee table they were all sprawled around. He sat dwn on the floor, his knees bent to his chest and they mas he'd worn that night slipping for the first time. Rory looked into his sad, green eyes and felta stab in her chest. He looked up at them all waiting for what they knew was coming. He slowly raised his first shot glass.
"Lets promise," He began, his voice wavering and cracking slightly, the voice that only they heard. "We'll always be together, even when we're not,"
"Unity," Louise muttered as she downed hers.
"Solidarity," whispered Madeline.
"Loyalty," said Finn and he threw back the shot.
"And Love," Rory finished, taking the shot and feeling the mark on her arm burn.
It was their promise, the promise they'd made each other when they were whole and that they continued to make now because in some ways it was all they had.
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AN: There you go, another chapter. Sorry, no Tristan in this one, it was more of a filler to learn more about the group dynamics that are going to be important in the story. One thing I want to make clear as that although the boys -Finn an The Icon - love the girls, they actually let them live their own lives. I know it's popular to have Rory's male friends being way overprotective, and in some ways Finn is, but I'm making them a little more like the guys I'm friends with. R&R!