A/N: This one is a combination of requests from meg121186 and Rachael S, which I hope both of them (as well as anybody else who reads it) will enjoy. One of my favourite things in this 'verse I created is the relationship between the Mariano children, and this is them when they're a little older than in Stars Hollow Next Gen :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

11. My Little Sister - 15th January 2025

"Seriously, man, there are a lot of possibilities here tonight."

Jack smiled as he watched his friend scan the party, picking out all the women he would like to get to know. He couldn't deny there were a lot of attractive females in the room, and he wouldn't exactly mind playing Cody's wingman tonight. If he got lucky himself, so much the better, but Cody was priority one, he really had been having a rough time lately. In fact, this was probably the first time Jack had seen him look really happy in at least a week, and it had taken three beers to get even this far.

"Dude, look at her!"

At first, Jack wasn't sure who Cody was pointing at. When he finally saw, he really wished he hadn't.

"Damn, that level of hot cannot be legal!" Cody declared loudly.

"It's not," confirmed Jack, storming over to the group of giggling girls in the corner. "Toria?"

"Hey, big brother!" she said with way too much joy and enthusiasm.

Jack was sure the red plastic cup in her hand was putting her in such a good mood. She was with a couple of friends he didn't recognise, but then she had made a few new ones since she got into senior year. They all seemed to be enjoying the free beer despite the fact that the other girls could not be older than eighteen and Toria was only seventeen yet.

"What are you doing here?" asked Jack crossly, moving to take the cup from her hand.

"Partying!" Tori told him easily, switching her drink from one hand to the other and downing the contents fast. "You do it all the time, you should recognise it."

"That's different."

"How?"

The fun was going out of her tone and her eyes now, replaced by frustration and anger. Jack knew he was embarrassing her in front of her friends but right now he didn't care. She was his little sister and she was drunk at a college party. Toria knew better, he was sure on that, so why she was behaving this way he couldn't imagine, but he planned to find out.

"Toria..." he began, giving her look that he learnt from his father.

When she laughed at him, he knew it didn't work as well coming from him.

"Relax, Jack," she told him, rolling her eyes. "It was just a soda," she promised, waving her cup around.

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at his sister's friends. They definitely had been drinking, as the redness in their cheeks and constant giggling proved. He would like to think his sister had a little more sense than that, and when she pushed her now empty cup under his nose, she proved him right.

"Does that smell like beer to you? No, it smells like soda, because that's what it was," she said smartly.

Jack opened his mouth, unsure whether the first words out would be an apology for accusing her or a reprimand for her bad attitude that came as quite unexpected. In fact, neither option made it out before they were interrupted.

"Hey, beautiful," said Cody with a huge grin. "You wanna dance?"

"No, Cody, she doesn't," Jack told his friend shortly.

"Yes, Cody, she does," Tori countered without pause. "Hi, I'm Tori Mariano."

"Mariano?" Cody echoed, looking at Jack.

"She's my sister," he confirmed.

Cody looked bemused and wobbled more than a little from the booze. "We can still dance, right?" he checked, unable to see a reason why not.

"Yes, we can," said Tori, grabbing onto his arm and leading him away.

She didn't look at Jack, not willing to argue, not even willing to spare him a glance. Of course, Tori knew her behaviour wasn't the best right now, but she wasn't about to admit it. She needed this, something to take her mind off before, something to make her feel better. Jack might be sympathetic if he knew what was up, but Tori didn't want a hug and a promise everything would be okay. She wanted to have some fun, and she wanted it now.

Unfortunately, it was plain as day that Cody was too drunk to dance. He needed to hold onto her in order to stay upright and used that as an excuse to get handsy. Tori got uncomfortable after about half a song and started making a point of trying to get away. Maybe if Cody was sober, he would've got the message, but in his current state, not so much.

"I'm leaving now," Tori told him, pushing his arms away.

"Aaw, c'mon! We're just getting to know each other."

"Cody, stop!" said Jack firmly, appearing behind his friend.

"What are you goin' to do, Mariano?" he asked, turning on wobbly legs to face him.

It was clear his friend was expecting a punch, and honestly, Jack would love to put his fist in the guy's face, friend or not. This was his little sister they were talking about, and yet, somehow, Jack kept his cool.

"Nothing," he said, watching Tori run from the room. "You're not the problem," he added, hurrying to catch up to his sister.

Something was not right here, and Jack meant what he said, Cody wasn't the issue. Toria's attitude tonight was all wrong. The very fact she was at a college party with friends she hadn't known long set off alarm bells. If she was going to be somewhere like this, it was more likely to be with Doula, or maybe Dax. An idea hit Jack right between the eyes as he ran outside and found his sister sitting on the bench right by the door, her face in her hands.

"C'mon, Toria," he said, sitting down beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. "This isn't you. What's going on?"

"It's nothing. It's so stupid!" she complained, showing her tear-stained face at last. "I don't even know why I'm so upset."

"Does this have to do with Dax?"

The way her face crumpled all over again, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, it was all the answer Jack needed. Pulling her closer, he held Toria tight and kissed the top of her head, waiting for the worst of her sobbing to pass.

"So, do I need to go tear off some knee caps? Or is there some other part of him we should be removing?"

Tori snorted out a laugh that was mostly a cough.

"He didn't cheat on me," she admitted, wiping her face with the backs of her hands. "He just... I don't know, he's different since he went to college, mostly since he started Sophomore year. I just feel like I don't know him anymore. When I told him, he said that maybe if I feel that way we should... we should break up."

She started crying all over again when she was done talking, and Jack could feel his heart breaking for her. He wished he knew what to say, he really did, but there were no words that were going to help right now. If Dax had cheated or been mean to her, he could offer to go tear the guy a new one. If Tori had done wrong, he might advise her on the best way to apologise, but nobody had really screwed up here. It seemed as if his sister and her boyfriend had just drifted apart, and there was no good answer to that.

"I'm sorry, Toria," he told her, hugging her some more. "I wish I could make you feel better, I really do."

"But you can't," she sniffled. "I know because I would've given anything to make you feel better about Mandy, or Becca, or Alison."

"You make me sound like a real Lothario." Jack smirked.

Tori giggled at that, even as she sniffled through further tears at the same time.

"It gets easier, right?"

"Sure, yeah" Jack told her, rubbing her back. "It gets easier, and hey, no matter what happens with the guys you date, you are always my sister, and I always love you, okay?"

"Right back at you," she told him, with a watery smile. "Thank you, Jack. I know this sounds awful, but with you gone... I don't know, since you went away to college, sometimes I feel like... like it's not the same. Like you're so busy I shouldn't bug you with stuff like this."

"Hey, I am never too busy for you. Never, okay?" he said firmly, making sure she completely understood.

"Okay." Tori nodded.

Jack smiled then, believing that she got it now. At the same time, he was feeling pretty bad, knowing that Toria ever thought she couldn't come to him with anything at all. He really had to try harder to be there when she needed him, no matter how busy college became. Family was priority one, always.

Settling down on the bench with his arm around Toria still, Jack had a feeling they might be here a while, but that was okay. Anything for his little sister.

A/N2: And before anyone panics (or cries 'plot inconsistencies!'), I can confirm that this was not a permanent break-up for Tori & Dax, as they did later get married and have a child, who they named Johnny (see #7 in this collection).