There are so many things I wanted to accomplish with this chapter. So, so many! I worked on it for a long time, then I got discouraged, then I put it away for a while, then I decided to break it up into smaller chunks. It was getting so long! Anyway, I suspect this episode will be a three-parter (and it still won't cover all the nuances I originally wanted it to). But, ah well, I just want to get it out there and out of my hair! I hope you enjoy it more than I do.

2.22

As daytime's first rays streamed into her window,
Now Rory rolled over and groaned in her pillow.
This day she, herself, had started to hate,
Since bus had arrived, the day before, late.

The way that she'd acted had been such a joke.
She'd said something then 'bout blaming a stroke.
Now Rory's good rep was smeared with a stain.
Seemed, all that she loved, she'd poured down the drain.

Now Rory was mournful she'd missed the occasion
And wondrous good cheer of her mom's graduation.
The rite of that passage she should have been at
To see her best friend wear a black tassel hat.

Her mother was angry but quick to excuse
And too generous with clemency's truce.
But Rory'd laid out her painstaking plan
To punish herself and luxuries ban.

The Fates had observed the scene for a spell,
With hardly a hope that it would go well.
And, as they'd expected, young Rory kept mum
And, richer in strength, she did not become.

They'd, to a late dinner, decided to go.
And though, of the truth, her mother did know,
She wouldn't confirm her mom's speculation
That her love of Jess had been the causation.

So, this gruesome morning, did Rory wake early.
She'd slept not a wink and now she felt surly.
She wanted to cry over all she had done
But couldn't regret those parts that were fun.

Just seeing the boy did treatment procure
And sated the longing, so lacking a cure.
She hoped she'd get over his kindness and tricks
Before her veins called out for another fix.

Now Rory, in grieving, grumpily moaned.
And, as she tossed covers, she tiredly groaned.
She, from her warm bed, did slowly remove.
That she could greet day, she'd try now to prove.

At least there were things on which she could focus
(As, with shiny thread, the Fates did their hocus):
With Chilton's elections did Rory assist,
While Sookie and Jackson were topping her list.

The joyful assignments were now in full bloom
To dress Sookie's wedding to her ardent groom.
The task that good Rory would tackle today:
The bundling, in tulle, of almond dragée.

So now Rory trudged from bed to the shower
And past, from her skin, attempted to scour.
And when she was dressed and cleanly was scrubbed,
She went to the almonds. She bleary eyes rubbed.

She set to the task of apportioning
The almonds in bundles then tying a string
Of pink silken ribbon around each's tulle.
And Rory, for almonds, resisted her drool.

With so many tables and settings at each
The total of bundles would take time to reach.
The job, she suspected, would take her four hours.
And, when she was done, she'd start on the flowers.

With such mindless work her fantasy reigned,
Since Rory kept mind inefficiently reined.
So bleary she was, and so tired too.
To keep herself focussed was so hard to do.

The sugary almonds looked up like shrewd eyes
And like a young hoodlum for truth they were spies.
"Why did you come here?" was written in stare
'Til Rory lost focus and stared at thin air.

'Twas quite a bit later when she did awake
To sense her own staring and give head a shake.
I've made my decision! she thought to herself
And put all her daydreams once more on a shelf.

Some more little bundles did find a success
Before any thoughts broke through about Jess
To find their way past good Rory's defences,
Since, for the time-being, she focused her senses.

As tulle bundles, finished, grew to a good pile,
Then Rory relaxed and started to smile.
So, then, she sat back and stretched out her arm
And glimpsed fireplace, with mortared brick charm.

In rush of a daydream then back Rory was
Amidst subway platform's bustle and buzz,
As Jess placed his palm upon Rory's shoulder
And drew her aside with eyes all a-smolder.

"Tell me a secret," she heard in an echo
Much louder than any she'd heard in the metro.
That moment then Rory began to relive:
A secret she'd had, that she couldn't give.

Her eyes drifted shut. Head lolled to the side.
She thought of a kiss that she'd never tried,
As words he had spoken accosted her thoughts
And made her heart flutter and tied her in knots.

"No!" muttered Rory and pressed hands to ear
Though no other soul, those echoes, could hear.
'Twas Dean she was with and, with him, would stay.
Extraneous thoughts she sought out to slay.

She grabbed at the tulle and cut off some more
To fix, once again, her mind on her chore.
The next of the bundles were tied really tightly
As, at them, she glared with fortitude mighty.

The ribbons she curled at too slow a pace,
Since scissors she held with awkward embrace.
(Her wrist did remain a little bit slow
From where it was broken in car crash's blow.)

Then Rory did sigh and rubbed on her wrist,
As scene of that night did shroud her in mist.
Some words she recalled and sported a frown.
"You should be with me," was what he'd laid down.

Again did she sigh, and lip did she chew.
There wasn't much more that Rory could do
But try a bit harder to keep thoughts at bay
And focus her mind on wrapping dragée.

Despite the delays that plagued its accretion,
The pile of tulle bundles did reach its completion.
She looked at the time and counted hours' ticks.
What should have been four, had taken her six!

The rest of the week went much the same way.
She tried but oft failed to keep dreams at bay.
The more that her mind would conjure up scenes,
The more she bade focus her mind's eye on Dean's.

At Chilton, did Paris strive t'wards president.
And need of some help she found evident.
For running mate, Paris poor Rory had spied
And what Paris wanted would not be denied.

So Rory was wrapped up in tedious task
To fashion some buttons, since Paris did ask.
And, without the help of her generous mother,
For each hour worked she'd have wasted another.

And, just to add onto her life's complications,
Was something now happening 'tween her relations.
The morning of wedding, her mom sat her down
And stated her dad would, more, be around.

And now Rory thought of what she'd not had,
A family of three: a child, mom and dad!
This turn of events augmented her trance.
What week it had been for life and romance!

I wanted to go into Rory's state of mind a bit here, to show the hysteria that would lead to the kiss. Maybe I went a bit overboard. I don't know. Please drop me a line to let me know what you think. You don't have to say much. Anything is appreciated and indeed met with excitement!