Anna knocks on the door of Gilmore Manor. She hoped her grandma wasn't too worried about her. She normally came early and got ready there. Emily loved helping her get ready. Today, she hit the road late. She arrived exactly on the dot. "Hello, Susanna. I didn't know you were invited tonight." The maid who lasted three weeks let her in.
"What?" She had more questions when stepping into the house to see a party. "What's going on?" The maid took her coat.
"Your grandparents are throwing a Yale alumni party. This one is geared for the generations of Yale alumni, all their friends and their kids are here." She put it in the full closet.
She looked around at the families. "So all their friends only have sons or…." As far as she could see there were only young men here.
"Oh, you catch on quick." She winks.
Richard approaches her with wide eyes. "Why are you here, Anna?" He whispered.
"I told Grandma that this would be the weekend I'm available to come. She didn't say anything about the alumni party. Are you going to make me leave when I drive so long?" She couldn't believe he wasn't happy to see her.
"I suppose you can stay. Your dress won't outshine Rory. This is her night." He points at her before going back to talk Rory up to his friends.
"I thought this was a good dress." She looked down at a long purple ruffle-trim split asymmetrical dress. It had sheer sleeves and a sheer train.
"You look lovely." The maid nods.
"Thank you." She stepped into the room, gloomy. That quickly vanished when she saw a familiar face. "Henry. Henry Cho." She rushed over to him.
"Susanna. Susanna Gilmore." He spins her around.
She slapped his chest when he put her down. "Does Harvard know you're at a Yale party?"
"I'm here because my mom wanted me to come. She hopes I'll transfer to Yale after making friends here but all these guys are either boring or sleazeballs." He whispers to her. "We know the biggest sleazeball."
"Who?" She wonders.
"Susanna." She was hugged tightly from behind.
She squealed when she recognized that voice and cologne. "It's my favorite sleazeball." She turned around to hug him.
"What?" Thomas squawked.
"I said you're my favorite." She pats his cheek. "I can't believe my grandma was planning on un-inviting me when she invited my two good friends."
"You weren't supposed to be invited." Thomas wonders.
"No, this is a coming date Rory party." She told them.
"What?" His eyebrows meet his hairline.
"Yeah, pretty obvious when you come in and see a sausage fest." Henry figured it was for her and Rory.
"I figure that was because they didn't want people sneaking upstairs." Thomas thought they didn't want people having sex.
"I love that you haven't changed." She squeezed his arm.
"Everyone, here's Rory," Emily announced at the top of the stairs. People gasp and wow like she was an art piece. She did look beautiful in a black and teal dress and a tiara. Thomas and Anna let out wolf whistles before Henry pushed down their hands. Emily walks down the stairs with Rory and Richard to do a double take when she sees Anna."Anna, why are you here?" She narrowed her eyes.
"I told you this was the weekend I could come. You didn't say no." She began to feel unwelcome.
"Oh, I forgot about this event. I guess I also forgot to tell you that you didn't need to come." She leaned into whispers. "Well, since you're here, talk your sister up." She walks off with Richard to introduce Rory to the eligible bachelors.
"Oh fatal blow," Thomas did his best Mortal Kombat announcer voice. She pretends to fall dead into Henry's arms.
"So, how long until we sneak into the pool house?" She pops back to life.
"Thomas and I are supposed to be here so I say we make the round. It'll be an hour and a half tops then we can dip." He thought of the plan.
"I think I can handle not getting drunk until then." Anna nods.
"I learned how to make sangria in Spain. Be ready to be impressed." Thomas got a worrisome look from his friends. "I can."
"The last time I took a drink you made I got blackout wasted and woke up in a bathtub of poodles," Anna remembers his graduation party.
"I can't believe we stole six of the neighbor poodles." Henry thought his parents were going to kill him. Thomas' neighbors breed show-winning poodles.
"Oodles of Poodles." She snickers.
Anna, Thomas, and Henry went to the backyard. "There she is. Rory." Anna ran over to her sister. She was standing with three guys. Henry had a platter of salmon puffs and Thomas had one of crab-stuffed mushrooms.
"I have been looking for you." Rory grabs her sister's sleeve. "Where have you been? I had to fend off some many guys."
"Grandma and Grandpa play great defense. But, I'm here now. Want me to scare them away." She looks over at the three. "Hey! I remember you guys from the tailgate."
"Yeah, you're a damn good cook." Logan shook her hand. "My name is Logan. This is Finn and Collin. We're friends with Rory from Yale."
"Hello, boys. I'm Susanna, Rory's sister. This is my friends Henry and Thomas." She put a hand on her chest and pointed at her friends.
"You are radiant under the moonlight. A beauty that I'm sure multiplies as clothes come off." A tall guy with an Australian accent grabs her hand to give it a hard kiss.
"I bet that Australian accent gets you a lot of American ass." She wipes her hand on Thomas who shoves her away. "Miss Holland is here so I got some dirt on these guys if you're interested." She turns to Rory.
"I don't care but you want to tell me so…" She waves for her to go on.
"Andrew is…" She was going to say when Rory interrupted her.
"Going to Yale Law this coming year." She finished.
"No, he just got outta rehab for cocaine." She huffed when Rory thought she would bring something so lame as gossip.
"This would be his third time." Thomas wiggles three fingers.
"Kip has been doing it horsey style with his stepmom. The maid caught them multiple times and even invited her to join." She was overjoyed with the juiciness.
"What's horsey style?" Collin asked.
"I don't know. I want to say work in horses somehow because he is captain of the polo team." She shrugged. "Donnan likes to get a thick package shipped into his slot. He was caught with the pool boy, his mother's chef, and in the parking lot of the country club with the valet. He was bent over the hood getting his back blown out. I want to be his friend, but he's not interested." She had tried to approach him but he kept staring at Thomas so she got nowhere.
"That the first three guys' grandma introduced me to." She gasps.
"I know that's why Holland told me." She nods.
"The warning." Henry reminds her.
"Ah, and she says whatever you do stay away from Jordan Chase. He's a total creep. Bring a new girl to the club every couple of weeks. The most recent girl was fifteen." She sneers.
"Twenty minutes too late," Logan told her.
"Oh sorry…. Anyways, we are going to have a little party in the pool house." She pointed her thumbs back to point out the platters the guys were holding.
"Great minds think alike." Collin nods.
"I'll go anywhere you want." Finn was at her heels.
\"Gilmore, your grandfather has an appalling taste in scotch." Collin held the bottle that would have to make due for tonight.
"I dare you to go in and say that to his face." Anna sips the shitty sangria that Thomas made.
"I triple dog dare you." Rory giggled, leaning against her sister.
"If he hasn't learned by now then I certainly can't teach him." He grabs a glass.
"Colin, make sure you refill that bottle with something. We don't want Ace to get busted." Logan reminds his friend. Anna raises an eyebrow at her sister for the nickname. Rory poked that eyebrow making her shake her head like a dog.
"I know. I know." He patted his back.
"Refill?" Henry came over with a sangria pitcher.
"Sure." She held up the glass.
"Why not?" Rory agreed.
"Because drinking is bad. We're very bad for doing it. Spank me." Finn whines out.
"Bend over." Anna winks.
A whiney whimper left his throat. "Are you sure that this boyfriend is the one?"
"Yeah. He is hot in leather, well-read, and also thinks I'm the best thing ever. I can't ask for more." She smiles.
"I can't compete with that." He deflates on the couch.
"He's a cartoon character. I can see why you keep him around." She giggles.
"He's more Logan's friend than mine." Rory corrected.
"Gilmore Women are cruel." He put a hand over his heart.
"Susanna, how do I look?" Thomas came out in the gold glitter vase.
"Oh my god." She ran over to grab a golden bow tie from the draw. "We have to complete the look."
"Maybe we shouldn't raid the closet," Henry advises.
"This is what they get for inviting a bunch of 20-something-year-olds over and letting them drink." She snickers.
"Yes, they need to learn their lesson." Thomas sang a Big Girl Don't Cry. Anna joined along while waving for Henry to join them.
"My-y girl said goodbye-yi-yi." Henry sang. Finn and Collin join in singing back up. When the song ended everyone clapped and hollered.
"So, who are you picking?" Logan got up to loudly ask Rory, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What?" She looked up at him confused.
"This is an obvious meat market. I got the feeling that your grandparents are expecting you to choose someone tonight, so…" Logan asked.
"Pick me." Finn dropped to one knee with a vase of flowers in his hands. The guys except Logan and Henry started to gather around chanting pick me.
"I'm a model." Thomas poses dramatically on the couch across from her.
"But, I'm exotic." Finn made his accent thicker.
"So is the Asian bird flu." Collin rolled his eyes.
"Wow, a room full of guys and still slim pickings." Logan laughed.
"Well, I don't know it's a pretty tough choice, maybe I should let my boyfriend decide." She played with the tiara.
"You have a boyfriend?" Logan was surprised she never mentioned it before.
"I'm crushed." Finn got off the floor.
"Ain't that the way." Collin sighs.
"Do Richard and Emily know?" Logan asks.
"Yeah, they do." She nods.
"Ew, Dean. You're back with him." Thomas's fake vomit.
Rory glares while Henry slaps the back of his head. "What? I thought we didn't like him?" He turns to Anna. Rory looked up at her.
"What?" She let out a nervous laugh. "We like him. We are not holding on to old grudges." When her sister looked down at her lap. Anna mouths that we hated him. Thomas snapped his fingers because he knew it.
"Oh my god, what time is it?" She searches her purse for her cell phone.
"It's crying time." Finn put his face in his hands.
"8:45," Collins looks at his watch.
"Dean is meeting me at 8:30." She jumped to her feet.
"Where?" Logan wonders if he could see him.
"Here, out front." She put her shoes back on.
"It's fine, Rory. You're only 15 minutes late and he didn't even call so maybe he's running late too." Anna tried to calm her sister.
"Well, let's go see him, guys." Logan looked at his friends.
Rory looked at Anna in a panic. "I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Oh come on, we want to make sure he's good enough." Logan insisted.
"I can be a bitch and make them all stay here if you like," Anna whispers.
"No, it's fine. I can have friends." She got up to lead them out.
Anna walked with her sister to the front door where Dean was waiting for her. She stood next to Logan on the doorstep while Rory walked to her boyfriend. "Dean, Hi. I'm sorry. Have you been waiting long?" She noticed him looking past her. "These are some friends. They go to Yale with me and know my grandparents. Anna's here." She pointed at her sister.
"Hi, Dean." She waved at his glaring face. When he doesn't wave back, she mutters, "I hate him." She watches them whisper to each other. "How come she's not getting in the car?" She tilts her head.
"I think he's breaking up with her." Henry watches Dean get into his truck and drive off without her.
"Oh my god." She ran over to hug her sister while she cried.
"I hate that guy. This is his third time breaking up with her. Like he can do better than the adorable Rory. She's like a puppy. How can you hurt her?" Thomas sighs.
"She's too sweet for him." Henry agreed that Rory could do better.
"Boys, we're going back to the pool house. We got some cheering up to do." Logan told the guys.
"I got some good scotch." Collin pulled a bottle from his coat.
"I can do my reenactment of The Passion of the Christ." Finn volunteers.
"It's okay. You're going to be okay." Anna rubs her back.
"No, I'm not." She shook her head.
Logan came over to put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Nothing makes you feel better about yourself than watching Finn's reenactment. It's really bad." Rory laughed and looked up at Logan with a twinkle in her eyes.
Anna moved back to her boys. "She's in good hands. What do you guys want to do?"
"I don't have to be back at Harvard until Monday." Henry shrugs.
"I don't have any weekend plans either." Thomas shrugged. "How about we head to Philadelphia?"
"What?" She was surprised.
"I'm craving a cheese steak." Henry smiled.
Thomas had hired a driver to drive Anna's car to Philadelphia. They had a fun night road trip. They took cheesesteak sandwiches and Collin's scotch up to the apartment. Jess wakes up to see a surprising sight. Anna was cuddling with Naruto on top of the dog bed. Sasuke was sleeping on Henry's forehead, who was sleeping with his upper half on the couch and his bottom half hanging off. Thomas was laid out on the kitchen island, snoring loudly. "I do sleep like the dead." Jess looks at the bottle of scotch on the coffee table. He started the coffee maker before grabbing the leash to take the animals out.
"Um… coffee." Anna groans as the wonderful smell wakes her up. She gets up to grab four mugs. She made everyone coffee the way that they liked it. She took out a mixing bowl to make pancakes.
"Hey." Henry woke up when the second pancake was frying. "Need help with anything."
"Bacon." She pointed at the package. He got to work.
Thomas wakes up at the smell of the meat. "God, this headache ain't worth it when you haven't at least got sex out of it."
"Get off my island and wipe it down." She hands him the wipes.
"Way to treat your guests." He got off to wipe it.
They heard the door open. "Hi, Jess." The three yelled.
"Hey." He came into the kitchen after letting the animals go. "So, I feel like there's some type of story."
"Well, this week Thomas and I got invited to a party at the Gilmores so we went to find out it was a meet and greet for Rory," Henry explained.
"I was supposed to be uninvited but it didn't happen. So I showed up and was told to fade into the background." She huffs.
"That's impossible." Jess wonders if her grandparents knew her.
"We moved it to the pool house. We met some of Rory's friends from Yale. We had a good time." Thomas enjoys partying with Finn.
"I think Rory got something going on with Logan." She smiled as she remembered her sister's new love interest.
"Logan? What happened to Dean?" He knew the double date went bad but he thought they were going to try to push through.
"Get this. The asshole showed up and broke up with her in front of all her Yale friends." Anna didn't know why he needed to humiliate her.
"Fucking asshole." Jess hissed.
"Do you want to come with us today? Thomas wants to go to the Rocky steps and make an ass of himself." Anna told him.
"Yeah, we're going to do all the tourist things." Henry put the cooked bacon on a plate.
"You'll need a cameraman." He knew what his role would be. Thomas and Anna cheered that he was coming while Henry smiled at him in appreciation. He would need help wrangling them in.