Where You Lead - Gilmore Girls Twin Fanfic

Chapter Thirteen

Forcing his legs to move, CJ walked shakily to the front door, nerves jostling through his body. He swung the door open and smiled as he met Marnie's eyes.

She was in blue today, a light sweater and jeans, CJ noted with heat running up the back of his neck. Her silky hair was pulled into a ponytail high on her head. Marnie frowned, letting out a small hiss in sympathy as she took in his appearance.

"Gosh, CJ, your nose looks awful."

"Thanks."

She chuckled lightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean -"

"It's okay," he said with a smile. "That's what everyone says when they see me."

"It does look really bad. . ." she trailed off, looking down at her shoes for a moment. "Could I talk with you for a moment?" she asked, searching his gaze. "Uh, alone?" she added with a glance over CJ's shoulder. CJ whipped around to see a blur disappear into the living room. Or two blurs, to be specific.

He rolled his eyes, offering Marnie an apologetic smile as he stepped aside to let her in. "Sorry. My mom and sister are notorious eavesdroppers."

"We are not!" came his mother's faint protest from the living room. CJ and Marnie let out light chuckles.

He led Marnie through the entryway and to the stairs, allowing her to go first so he could glare harshly at his mom and sister behind her back. Lorelai sat innocently on the couch beside Rory, their collection of snacks laid out in front of them: a bowl of marshmallows, Twizzlers, M&M's, Cheetos, Hohos, two lone KitKats, ice cream, and several flavors of chips.

Rory and Lorelai exchanged amused smirks before his mom started making kissy faces at him.

Stop, CJ mouthed to them with furrowed brows.

They giggled quietly at him.

"He doesn't like it when he's the one getting teased," said Rory lowly to more giggles.

CJ rolled his eyes before running up the stairs after Marnie. She had stopped at the top, looking at their wall of family pictures with a fond smile.

"Aw, you were so cute," she said, pointing to a picture of CJ from when he was six. He'd been clad in his Spider-Man costume for Halloween, the mask lifted so he could flash a big cheesy grin at the camera, though there was a gaping hole where one of his front teeth should be.

"I was just excited because the tooth fairy had given me a 50 dollar bill," he said dryly with a soft shake of his head. "My mom cannot read in the dark."

Marnie let out a laugh, and CJ could feel heat flooding to his cheeks. "Uh, my room's right down the hall."

He remembered suddenly, with a chill of panic running down his spine, that Mr. Teddy was sitting out on his bed. "Just, uh, give me a second," he said before he practically ran.

Flying into his room, he quickly scooped Mr. Teddy up and tossed him beneath the bed, kicking him deeper for good measure. Letting out a deep sigh, he grabbed his Chilton uniform and threw it in the hamper before scanning his room, eyes out for anything else potentially embarrassing.

Deeming everything else Marnie-friendly, he turned to see Marnie leaning against the doorway with an amused smile. "All your dirty underwear put away?" she asked with a small laugh.

"What? I wasn't - I didn't -" CJ sputtered, shaking his head.

"I'm kidding," she teased him. "Your room looks nice," she complimented, looking around curiously. Her eyes trailed over his desk, his Harvard poster, his hockey gear, before she noticed his shelves stuffed with CDs. "Wow, your CD collection is awesome," she said with a bright grin, crossing the room and beginning to sift through the dozens of CDs lining his wall.