𝑳𝑶𝒀𝑨𝑳𝑻𝒀 - 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨 { ✓ }

• 56

『 LOYALTY 』
{ irl }

"okay, we have the pumpkins, now what?" cora asks lai and matt.

"where did chris and mae go?" matt asks, looking around at the vast pumpkin patch around them. "also kent and nick disappeared."

"they probably ran off to do gross couple-y things." cora responds and lai nods, agreeing with her.

"you two can't say anything when you're always being couple-y together, too." matt points out.

lai and cora look at each other. they haven't yet talked about their almost-kiss. they've been avoiding the topic as a whole ever since it happened.

but cora wants to talk about it. she wants to ask lorelai if she felt a connection too. she wants to know if they'd ever become as close as they were all those years ago. if she could redeem herself after her mistake.

"can we tell you something?" cora asks matt. she looks at lai and she nods.

"uh, yeah." matt says. he notices the uncertain expression on their faces and instantly knows that this confession is important. "you can tell me anything."

"well," cora starts, "lai and i aren't actually dating."

matt laughs, "you're joking."

"no. we're not." cora says. "it all started with a conversation with chris. we were talking about how much he likes mae — this was before they confessed to each other so chris wanted me to keep the conversation a secret. but mae got curious and thought we were talking about her behind her back. in the heat of the moment, i said that i was talking about my secret crush."

matt processes the information and looks at the two girls with a grin. "just because your relationship is fake doesn't mean your feelings for each other are too."

"what are you talking about?"

"i've seen the way you look at each other. there's nothing fake about that."

"i'm gonna carve mine to look like an ugly gremlin." kent says, adjusting the angle of his pumpkin before driving a knife into the fruit.

"so you're carving nick?" matt asks, causing nick to gasp dramatically and slap him in the back of the head.

lai laughs at their bickering and cora watches her. she admires the way her eyes light up and how her skin curves. literally everything about her is absolutely stunning.

cora thinks back to what matt said — that their feelings are real, even when their relationship isn't.

maybe she really does like lorelai. maybe she has romantic feelings for her. maybe she wishes this relationship weren't fake.

but thats weird right? they're barely even friends. yeah. yeah, that's weird.

"how's this?" chris asks mae, holding his pumpkin in front of his face.

she laughs, "uh, what is it supposed to be?"

"you."

"me?" mae asks, examining the carving closer. "yeah, i don't think that's me. it looks like. a bunch of random lines."

"it's a stick person." chris tells her, still hiding his face behind the pumpkin.

"is that how you think i look?" mae asks, pretending to be offended. "wow. i'm hurt."

chris lowers the pumpkin and reveals his face. he laughs, leaning forward and placing a kiss on her mouth.

she smiles against his lips before he says, "trust me, you look much more beautiful than i could ever carve into a pumpkin."

meanwhile, kent and nick are sharing a pumpkin because they picked out the largest one in the entire patch. it's bigger than both of their heads put together.

"let's carve a cat." nick suggests.

"hm," kent hums, thinking about it for a moment. "i still like my gremlin idea."

"but matt said it would look like me."

"if the gremlin looks like you, it must be an extremely handsome gremlin." kent says with a grin, reaching up and kissing nick on the cheek.

lai crosses her arms over her chest, watching the couples interact.

she's happy for them. truly, she is. but there a small voice in the back of her head wishing she could relate to their romantic encounters.

cora comes up from behind her and grabs her by the hips. instinctively, lai jumps in fear. she elbows cora in the ribs and cora stumble backward a few steps.

"jeez." cora groans, holding her rib in pain.

lai rushes over to her and apologizes over and over and over. she explains that it was an accident and she didn't mean to hurt her.

suddenly, cora lifts her head and laughs. "don't worry, i was just kidding. you didn't hurt me that bad. but i could definitely tell you have some pent up rage you took out on me."

lai let's put a sigh of relief that cora is okay. then she slaps her for scaring her.

"anyway," cora says, straightening her posture. "can i talk to you in private?"

lai hesitates but agrees. "sure."

cora took lai to the kitchen where nobody was. they were carving in the dining area. cora hops up onto the countertop, looking down at lorelai.

"i just need to get something off my chest." cora says, perking lai's interest.

"what is it? is everything okay?"

"yeah. everything's fine." cora says, "it's just that- well, i was thinking about what matt had said to us earlier and i wanted to know what you feel for me. like genuinely. no fake relationship. just your raw feelings."

"oh. umm," lorelai thinks for a moment.

should she lie to protect her own heart? or should she tell the truth to avoid breaking cora's?

"i like you." lai says, making cora's eyes widen. "i've liked you for years. but back then, i never had the balls to admit it to you. or to myself... but i don't want to make the same mistake again."

cora doesn't know what to say. she called lai in here, fully expecting her to say that she hates her and that she wishes she never agreed to this fake dating thing going on.

but here she is. admitting to her feelings. cora decides to do the same.

"i like you too." cora tells her.

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧.˚ₓ
a/n : now that all of the couples are together, the next chapter will likely be the last :(
but on a happier note i adopted two baby kittens AND THEYRE LITERALLY THE SIZE OF MY PALM 🥲