MELLIFLUOUS | gilmore girls ¹

chapter fifteen!

"That's what she said," Madeline confirmed once more.

"But we have-"

"Oh my God, forget it!" Paris cut her off, and she and Thea walked over to Rory, "So, I suppose that you have big Friday night plans also?"

"Well, kind of,"

"So the fact that I'm seeing my entire Harvard career slip away apparently is of no internet to anyone?" Paris cried, Thea, offering her a sympathetic smile.

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked, dropping her goggles onto the desk.

"She got an A-minus, okay?" Thea answered, knowing how much the grade had upset her best friend.

"So?"

"What do you mean, so?" Paris snapped, panicking flooding the dirty blonde's features as she attempted to explain herself to Rory.
"I got an A-minus. I have never gotten an A-minus. I just can't focus lately. Things are so weird at my house. My dad finally figured out exactly how much it was gonna cost him to divorce my mom, so now he's back and it's bad enough that I wasted all that time crunching the numbers with him, but now that he's back, they're fighting and redecorating. The place is a mess. I need help."

"Look, I can't tonight, but if you're still freaked out after the quiz on Tuesday, I will spend every day next week helping you prepare for the final, okay?" Rory offered, continuing to prepare for the lab work that was to be completed this period.

"I guess,"

"Relax. It will be fine, I promise," Thea smiled, leading Paris back over to their desk, hoping that Paris could concentrate long enough to complete their assigned lab.

Paris sighed, letting Thea guide her back to their desk, "All I had to do was move a decimal point and none of this would've happened."

"You're just too good at maths, P."

• • • • • • •

"I tried to stay home and study myself but I can't," Paris raced out, 
She'd been in a state of panic the whole night and Thea's appearance at the Geller house hadn't helped the slightest,
"Thea came over and even that didn't help. I don't know what anything means anymore. I mean, I can't even read my own handwriting. What does this say?"

Paris pushed her way into the Gilmore house, Thea trailing behind her tightly clutching her textbooks that she'd taken to her theatre rehearsal with her.

"The person who wrote this should be dressed in a clown suit stuffing bodies under their porch. You're in your pyjamas," Paris noted, catching sight of Rory's sky-blue, comical pyjamas.

"I know," Rory nodded, looking around the Gilmore living room.

"This was the big night you had planned - a rendezvous with Mr Peanut?" Thea laughed, taking note of the stacks of laundry around the room.

"Well..." Rory trailed off.

"You're doing laundry," Paris confirmed, her eyes spotting the many piles of laundry, "You're doing laundry in your pyjamas."

"My mom is out of town and I never get the house all to myself," Rory revealed, with a small shrug.

"This was the big night you had planned?" Thea asked, furrowing her eyebrows, "I think you need to reevaluate some things, Rory."

"You mean you never get to go months on end without seeing your parents, just getting an occasional postcard that doesn't even have a courtesy, 'Wish you were here' written on it? That does suck. Don't let me stand in your way," Paris snapped, moving away from the older Gilmore and back towards the doorway.

"Paris, wait," Rory pleaded, following the blonde who had marched back towards the door.

"No, forget it, I don't want to get in the way of your big night. I hear there's gonna be some hot knitting going on later," Paris snapped, not understanding why Rory had blown her off for laundry. Paris had thought the two of them were starting to become friends.

"Fine, I'll study with you two," Rory sighed, smiling at Thea, who stood beside Paris still in leggings and a jumper from her theatre rehearsal.

"You will?" Paris asked, a hopeful look crossing her face.

"For one hour, that's it. We can do a quick review and a pop quiz and then you are going home," Rory reluctantly offered, "Deal?"

"Deal,"

"Just to be clear," Thea spoke up, dropping her textbooks onto the coffee table, "I don't need your help, Rory."

"Okay, so, go sit on the couch. I'll be out in a minute," Rory commanded, pointing at the sofa, which had massive piles of laundry pile surrounding it.

"Where are you going?" Paris asked as she and Thea moved over to the sofa.

"I'm going to go change," Rory answered, moving across the room towards her bedroom that sat just off the kitchen.

"Okay, but my hour doesn't start until you get back out here, right?" Paris asked, nervously sitting beside Thea, 
"Right?"