Title: When She Cries
Book: II
Chapter: Twelve
Chapter Title: Let Her Stumble (Sometimes)
Rating: R.
Coupling: Ultimately: Dallie/Lola, Aggie/Fin, Devon/Ashley,
Thalia/Ethan, Paris/Jess, Meggie/Zander, Aurora/Tolly. Now aren’t you glad
you’ve spoiled yourself in that way?
Disclaimer: Aye, captain. I hold no
deeds to Gilmore Girls. And I don’t own matchbox twenty’s Loss, Strain, and
Butterflies.
Author’s Note: To Kait, because I extra-extra-love her.
*
Is this just the total for the wages of our
sins?/
Have you made yourself a victim in a game that you can't win?/And are we caving
in?/
Does it all begin with loss and strain and butterflies?/
Does it come right down to me, anymore?
As fatuous as it may have sounded, it was the
sound of silence that woke her up. It was the major indicator that she was not
where she was supposed to be. At her house there was always some sort of sound.
The hum of the air conditioner in the summer, the rattling of the heater in the
winter. The sound of a clarinet coming from the neighbor’s house, where it
seemed like they practiced every hour of every day. Here, there was just
silence, except for the rustling of the silk sheets as she shifted in bed…and
the sound of the person next to her breathing. Oh, shit. Rory Gilmore wasn’t
prone to use strong language, but this situation warranted it.
4:07 AM, the clock read after she had opened one
eye. Damn. That meant she wouldn’t get to Stars Hollow until about 5:00 AM, and
then she had promised to bring Eadon to the office of Whitty, Inc. at
7:00AM. Add to that she was in her ex-husband’s bed with their daughter in
residence in that same house, and well she had quite a dilemma- didn’t she?
Maybe it would have been easier to stay married to Tristan.
Now, now, that wasn’t really fair. And what kind
of life was she leading that she found staying married as a reasonable excuse
for being caught in bed with her ex-husband. Once they had divorced they should
have kept it to a strictly platonic relationship, only dealing with each other
when it came to Lola. Yeah, like that’d work wonders.
She needed to get out of there before she
started promising herself for the fifty-thousandth time that she was going to
stop this screwed up relationship with Tristan. Because if there was anything
that Lorelai Leigh Gilmore had learned in her forty-plus years was that she
didn’t mean it. She never meant it.
“What time is it?” Tristan asked from the bed.
Damn. She had hoped to make a rather clean
getaway. Especially considering, if the house was still run on the same
schedule that it did when she had lived there, the servants woke at 5AM to
start their workday. “A little after four.”
The bed sheets rustled as Tristan sat up. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Rory agreed. “So I really have to get
going.” She tugged on her socks. “Like two hours ago.”
He sighed, but didn’t argue. This was one he
couldn’t win no matter how hard he tried. She always had the winning defense-
Lola could find out. Rory didn’t want to make her daughter go to more sessions
with Doctor Lucas, she was quite sure being a child of divorce was quite
enough.
“Back entrance should be cleared,” Tristan
finally replied.
She knew that, and knew why he told her. After
all, there wasn’t much more to say, was there. Same time, next week? No. They
didn’t plan it. Everything and nothing in their relationship had been planned.
So was it any wonder that it was the mess that it was?
*
French fries were so disgusting;
Lola couldn’t believe that the maternal half of her family lived off of them.
Seriously. She’d take salad and a sandwich over burger and fries any day. There
were health restaurants in Hartford, why she didn’t go to one of them instead
because the smell of greasy food made her rather queasy was beyond her. Oh
right, the patronage consisted mostly of unwashed freaks from the lower
classes. That’s why.
Thalia paused midstep and turned
around. “Well, you look too snobbish to resist.”
“Funny how I could say the
same about you.”
She resisted the urge to fold her
arms across her chest. “And where is the admiring crowd today?”
“I gave them the hour off,” Lola
returned dryly before taking a sip of her milkshake. Low fat, of course.
“How generous of you.”
“And you’re still talking to me,” Lola finished off her milkshake, stood up and tossed it into the trash that was placed by Thalia. “Where are your minions today? Finally let Langford off his leash?”
This time Thalia did
give into the urge to fold her arms. “He’s working at the magazine today.” She
paused and wondered if the next sentence would bring her any pleasure. “And
Dallas,” calling him Dallie to Lola just seemed too friendly, “is on a date.”
Another pause, maybe this could be fun. “With Bit.”
Lola shrugged. “Good for him. I’ve
told him that getting laid could possibly dislodge that stick from his ass.”
When they were younger Thalia had
nearly been in awe over how emotionless Lola DuGrey could be. At eighteen, it
just sickened her. “There’s more to dating then ‘getting laid’.”
“Yes, but where’s the fun in that?”
Lola asked, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Enjoy your time
off before Ethan comes panting back.” Lola started to walk away, but then
stopped abruptly. “Oh, but when he does, tell him thanks for the favor.” With
that she continued on her way.
It was probably a good idea that
Thalia was nowhere near truly understanding Lola DuGrey. The prospect just
seemed terrifying- and wait- what favor was she talking about?
*
Driving. There really wasn’t Aurora
Katherine Thomas loathed more. Which was probably why she was so horrible at
it. She avoided driving as much as possible. This was not a difficult task
seeing as her car spent 75% of the year at the mechanic’s. If her father
weren’t who he was, her insurance company probably would have dropped her
within the first two weeks that she had her license. Well, if you really wanted
to be honest, if Jamison Thomas wasn’t who he was, Aurora would have never even
been given her license. Or permit.
Aurora felt a sudden jolt, oh damn;
make that 80% of the year. And just two days out of the shop, that had to be a
new record for her. The shortest amount of time before has been a whopping four
days. Damn guardrail. Unfortunately this time had been another car. That
someone had been driving. Aurora wondered if her father would care enough to
even have the urge to kill her. Most likely not. He’d care enough to write the
check, and that was pretty much it.
She sighed resignedly and grabbed
her purse. Time to face victim number thirteen. Aurora got out of her car- and
that’s when she got a look at the other driver. Hell’s bells, thirteen really was
an unlucky number.
“I can now see why my father will
not allow my sister to drive,” were the first words out of Bartholomew
Lennox’s, to whatever power that name was held, mouth.
A mouth that held a smirk that she
had half a mind to smack off his face. “Like I did that on purpose.”
Tolly shrugged. “You introduced
yourself as Elly Higginbottom the first time we met. I wasn’t sure whether or
not you truly had suicidal tendencies.”
“My therapist tells me I am very
mentally sane.”
“I now know that you are not
suicidal, but rather are just a horrible driver,” Tolly pointed out. “And how
did you miss that huge red sign over there? You know the one screaming at you
to stop?”
Aurora shrugged, “Very easily.”
“Do it a lot?”
She shrugged again. “Every two weeks
or so.”
“That’s something Mr. Thomas must be
proud of,” Tolly commented.
“You would know,” Aurora mumbled.
“Look, do you want my insurance information or not?”
Tolly shook his head. “No, there’s not
a lot of damage done there. However, I do want a favor from you.”
“Yeah, good luck with that.”
“You know hate at first sight really
isn’t any more substational than love at first sight,” he commented.
“Especially when it’s groundless.”
“My father likes you, I think that’s
reason enough for me at this point in my life.”
“Yes but you’re missing out on a
wonderful opportunity.”
“Wow, aren’t we arrogant?”
“Look at it this way, Aura- that is
what they call you right?”
“Only those I allow to,” was her
curt response.
“Any way, what does your parents
want you to do more than anything?”
“Be a male?”
He sighed, “Other than that?”
“Marry and have male children.”
Tolly nodded, finally they were
getting somewhere. “Exactly. Whom do they want you to marry?”
Aurora looked at him, assessing his
intent. “You.”
Ooooh. She got what he meant now,
and it was so deliciously deceptive that she loved it at once.