19 - The Cautionary Tale of Daniel Harrison
I knew coming out tonight was a mistake, Rory sighed, watching her best friend and object of affection walk out the door. His disappointment was obvious, like Marty expected better from her. Better than Daniel, his screw up of an older brother anyway. Knowing that he felt that way made Rory queasy. It was either that, or the copious amount of alcohol she had ingested since arriving at the Comet Club several hours beforehand. Probably both, now that she thought about it.
"Now what, Birthday Girl?" Lexie asked, startling the journalist slightly. "And why the hell is that creep's arm around you?"
"Moment of temporary insanity on my part," Rory answered, trying to shrug Dan's arm off her shoulder.
"And a little experiment on mine," the older Harrison brother added with a grin, taking the not-so-subtle hint and dropping his arm down to his side. "Anyhow, who's up for an early breakfast? I'll buy."
"As tempting as that sounds, I think I'll just go home and sleep," Lexie replied dryly, her tone telling everybody in earshot that she was not at all tempted by the offer. "And you, Rory?"
"Actually, I could use a coffee right now," she admitted, then turned to the smug looking Daniel Harrison. "Don't get the wrong idea though. I'm just going along for the coffee. Nothing less, nothing more."
"Understood, Birthday Girl," he nodded, then swept his hand out in an exaggerated gentlmanly manner. "Shall we?"
"See you later, Lexie," Rory said, hugging the band manager whilst ignoring the smirking ass-hat that was to be her early breakfast companion.
"Be careful, I don't trust him," Lexie said in her ear.
"I'll be careful," she promised before leaving the Comet Club with Dan. The two were mostly silent as they walked along the street towards the nearest all night diner, which happened to be four or five blocks away. In fact, it was just down the street from the brunette's apartment building, so Rory decided that she'd simply go home after drinking her coffee.
"Ladies first," Dan offered, holding the door open for her before following her inside. The pair sat down in the nearest open booth, where the man across from Rory ordered himself an atypical breakfast consisting of eggs, toast and hashbrowns. The waitress poured them each a cup of sludge that barely passed as coffee before leaving them to their business.
"This is some of the worst coffee I've ever had," Rory stated, having already taken a sip from her cup, nose scrunching up in disgust. "And believe me when I say that this is saying something in itself."
"I've had worse, though not by much," the older Harrison brother agreed, sniffing loudly after following suit. He straightened in his seat, then regarded Rory with an unusually serious expression. "So...?"
Rory frowned, wondering what was up. "So?"
"Are you in love with my brother?" Dan finished.
"Excuse me?" Rory choked out, her eyes widening in panic at the question.
"I'll take that response as a yes," he nodded, taking another wincing sip from the disgusting coffee. "Damn, I've drinken whiskey that has less kick than that stuff. I wonder if it's flammable?"
"Am I really that transparent?" Rory asked, not bothering to try and deny his conclusion. Truth be told, she was tired of denying it. Most especially to herself.
"Not really, I just recognize the signs is all," Dan answered, gently pushing his cup of sludge away. "In fact, I was in your position once with this girl, let's call her Julia. Anyway, she and I were best friends. For the longest time I was madly in love with her, but didn't say anything out of fear of losing her friendship. Unfortunately for me, when I finally did confess my feelings to her, Julia said she didn't feel the same. Her feelings for me were more in the brother catagory. That was a crushing blow, and I ended up screwing up the most important non-family relationship I had. I waited too long, and lost her."
Rory frowned, "Why are you telling me all this? Especially if it turned out so badly for you?"
"Because, despite my reputation as a creepy womanizer, I'm really a romantic at heart," Dan stated, running a hand through his dark hair. "But if anybody asks, tell them I tried my hardest to get a BJ from you."
"You're disgusting," the journalist snorted, seeing through the act.
"Adorably so, I hope," he smirked.
"You hope," she chuckled, pleasantly surprised by the man sitting across from her. They spoke for sometime after that, where Rory learned that while Daniel was indeed a bit of a pig, he was also entertaining as hell to have a conversation with. After finishing her putrid cup of coffee, she rose to leave, thanking Dan for the late night (or early morning, depending on the point of view) coffee.
"So, you gonna tell him?" Dan asked, still sitting with his now half-empty plate of in front of him.
"I don't really know," Rory admitted, starting to finally feel tired from how strange this night had turned out. "I really don't know if I should."
"I get that, but if you do decide to tell him, don't wait too long," he advised, sipping from a glass of water that the waitress had deposited earlier.
"I want to tell him, believe me, if just to get it off my chest, but I also don't want to ruin what Marty has with Andy, you know? From what I've seen so far, they're a really great couple."
"Oh, they are a great couple, but as much as he'd deny it, the fact is that I know my little brother. Marty wants to settle down and start a family," he said, his usual levity gone as he continued to speak. "And while I have no doubt Andy wants to be the girl to fullful that desire, I don't think it's gonna happen once her inevitable superstardom comes a knocking."
"I hope you're wrong," the journalist said with sincerity, even if it meant that her own heart would get shattered into a million pieces in the process.
"Me, too," Dan agreed, nodding. "Because if anybody deserves the fairy tale ending, it's my little brother."
Not knowing what else to say or do, Rory simply nodded in agreement before turning to leave the older Harrison brother to his early breakfast. Just as she reached the door, she turned around and walked back to the table. He glanced up from his breakfast in surprise, having already assumed she'd left.
"Whatever happened to Julia?" Rory asked, curious.
"Happily married with two kids," he answered, smiling sadly. "So I wouldn't dally about if I were you, Miss Gilmore."
When Rory arrived at her empty apartment and got into bed, she attempted to fall asleep to no avail. The night was spent staring up at the ceiling, Dan's words swimming in her mind's eye to prevent slumber from taking hold, despite her ever growing fatigue. She rolled onto her side and watched the sun come up, then decided trying to rest was a lost cause now and rose from the rumpled bedsheets. Glancing at the Hello Kitty watch that Marty had given her, she noticed that it was just after nine o'clock, meaning Rory had spent the last four or five hours tossing and turning.
"Screw it, I'm telling him," Rory annouced to no one in particular, already knowing that she was bound to lose Marty one way or another if she continued to stay silent on how she felt about him. At least this way, I have a chance. A tiny, infinitesimal chance, but a chance none the less, right?
A half hour after showering and making herself halfway presentable, Rory stood on the doorstep of the boy she once considered too boring and too nice to get involved with back in Yale. She debated again on the wisdom of her current actions, then steeled her resolve once more before pressing the doorbell.
"I must still be a little drunk if I'm actually doing this," Rory muttered, then straightened out at the sound of the door being opened. And of all the rotten luck, it was Andy who was greeting her.
"Um, hi, Andy," Rory began, feeling like a first class bitch for what she was about to do, then stopped suddenly when the blonde lifted her left hand up to reveal a sparkling diamond ring.
"I'm getting married," Andy squealed, jumping forward to embrace the shell shocked brunette, seemingly unaware that the journalist was on the verge of completely breaking down at that instant.
Oh, my God, a heartbroken Rory thought, relunctantly returning the ecstatic blonde's celebratory hug. I'm too late!
Damn.