→ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰; 𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀
ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.
Stars Hollow was that picture-perfect kind of town and Ivy never realized it until she was finally driving through it again after being gone for so long. She smiled as she looked out her window, recognizing almost half of the people who were out and about walking along the sidewalks and coming out of the little shops.
"Everyone looks like they just walked out of a Hallmark movie," Angelica commented, her eyes focused on everything outside of the window.
Ivy sighed, her nerves climbing as they drove down her street. "You have no idea."
As soon as the car parked, she saw her front door swing open and her mom come bursting out of the house and down the porch. Ivy smiled and exited the car, heading straight for her mom's open arms.
"Remind me to never leave you again for longer than three months." Ivy breathed as she sunk into her mom's arms. She knew it wasn't possible seeing as she was leaving for college in a year, but a girl could dream.
Lorelai ran a hand down her long dark hair. "Noted."
She had helped Ivy retrieve her belongings and thanked Yazmin's dad for making the drive to get all of the girls before they retreated into the house. Ivy took a deep breath, content with the usual homey smell of her house before she dropped her things off in her bedroom.
"So, I was thinking of a little walk around town so that we could finally catch up on everything," Lorelai said, leaning against the door frame as Ivy put all of her bags onto her bed. "Taylor started setting up for the End of Summer Festival so we can check that out, too."
Ivy nodded and began unraveling her braid. "Sounds good. I'll just go change before we head out."
"What you have on is fine, Ivy," Lorelai told her as she was sorting through the mail on the kitchen table. "It's not like we're gonna see anyone."
"Yea ... I know. I've just been wearing this the whole car ride." Ivy told her before popping back into her room and grabbing a pair of jeans and a flowy tank top where the straps came up and tied around her shoulders like thick bows.
She left her hair down in waves since it dried in a braid and shoved her cell in her back pocket.
"Ready?" Lorelai asked as she grabbed her shoulder bag and put her white bucket hat back on. Ivy smiled and nodded and Lorelai linked her arm with hers and they began their journey into town.
Ivy felt sick the entire time there. The conversation with her mom helped a little but she couldn't stop thinking about the people she would be seeing on her walk through town. She hadn't been back since she up and left unexpectedly right after Sookie's wedding with only a goodbye to her mom and sister.
Now she was back with her hair a little lighter and skin tanner from the sun, more muscle build from the nonstop soccer training, and a secret tattoo. Ivy just wanted her sister to forget everything that happened before Sookie's wedding.
Lorelai had stopped on the corner by Luke's but didn't dare go in. That was a sore spot for her, but Ivy couldn't help but look inside at Luke taking an order right by the window in his usual plaid with a blue backward hat. Her eyes wandered past him only to see Jess behind the counter and a girl with a bleach-blond bob across from him. Jess looked over her shoulder directly at Ivy and his eyes rounded a little at the sight of her. She leaned over the counter to kiss him and Ivy looked away just as Lorelai began walking before she could see it happen.
Ivy didn't care. It wasn't like she and Jess had something. Rory and he did. Sure she didn't know that he ever came back after everything happened and she didn't expect anyone to break the news, especially to her. She had been working at Luke's for a while before Jess came to town, and when he did he became her coworker. They coexisted for a while together, butting heads constantly.
Jess wasn't just a new guy in town. He came in and wreaked havoc all over her small town and screwed with her sister's head just because Ivy refused to let him get close enough to even get into hers. She didn't want him back, she wanted him out of her life and her sister's because when Jess was around he didn't bring anything good with him.
Lorelai and Ivy had run into Jackson and Sookie, but Ivy struggled to be present in the conversation. Her eyes kept wandering to the music shop.
"I'll be back," She told her mom.
Lorelai nodded. "Okay honey just be back at the house in time for dinner I'm ordering in Al's and we can talk more."
Ivy sent a small smile before heading to the music shop. It was one of the new ones in this prehistoric town, but an enjoyable one. Guitars were hung on the wall, a full drum set in the back, rows of records lined up in alphabetical order, and there was even a box of pins at checkout for a couple of cents.
She always wanted to be good at something musical. The guitar mostly but she never got around to it and her mom never had the money for lessons. Soccer was free -- at first. It was a community thing, something fun for the kids to do. It stuck with Ivy, but not so much with anyone else she grew up doing it with.
Ivy rounded the corner to the next aisle when she saw two tall boys overlooking the guitars and the picks. She recognized the one with khakis and a baggier burgundy shirt as Dean but couldn't quite tell who the other was.
Her steps became lighter as she tried to revert to her previous aisle without being seen but froze when she heard her name being called by Dean.
"Hey! ... Dean," Ivy turned to face him and his friend -- who she now recognized as Axel -- with a fake smile. "How are you?"
Dean tilted his head slightly at her with suspicion but played along. "I'm doing good," He answered with a smile. "I heard from Lorelai that you went to Yale for the summer."
"Yale?" Axel's eyes widened. "Did you graduate early, Gilmore?" He teased and that got a real smile out of Ivy.
She sighed. "I wish, but no, I was there for a soccer program that they do with seniors."
"Ah, scouting." He tutted.
Dean cut in with a guitar pick spinning in between his fingers. "Rory comes back tomorrow, right?" Ivy nodded, her arms crossing. "Why don't we all hang out and catch up."
Ivy didn't miss the way Axel's eye twitched slightly. They weren't strangers but they weren't each other's favorite person at the moment. She never had a good reputation with any of the boys that went to Stars Hollow High.
"I'll think about it," She told him truthfully. "Depends on if Rory's up to it after her flight and all."
Dean agreed and Ivy parted ways with them. She didn't realize she was holding her breath the entire time on her walk out until she finally reached fresh air. Her fingers threaded through the belt loops on her jeans for some sort of stability as she trod down the slightly crowded sidewalks.
Being away from home made her forget how friendly people were. If she bumped into someone in New Haven they'd give her a dirty look, but they'd probably apologize for being in your way here. Everything was just so fresh in Stars Hollow.
The heat beamed down on her and the humidity was beginning to become something unbearable. Ivy needed to get somewhere with AC immediately before she melted into a puddle.
The Beauty Store was the nearest thing and she was never opposed to adding a new gloss to her collection. As soon as she entered she spotted the same blond girl from Luke's earlier, except this time Jess was leaning across the counter across from her.
Ivy soon realized the heat wasn't entirely unbearable and that she'd rather suffer third-degree burns than put herself through another encounter with Jess. Unfortunately, the bell ringing whenever the door opened or closed gave away her presence and for some reason, Jess felt the need to follow.
"Ivy," She heard his voice call out. It made her nauseous hearing him even speak never mind saying her name.
Ivy turned around with her arms crossed, keeping their 5 feet distance. "What, Jess? This better be important or else you'll have wasted two minutes of my life once again." His eyebrows lifted at her statement.
"I see Yale didn't change the dramatic thing you've always got going on," He retorted with a scoff, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"And I see your time off from the town didn't change your dick personality."
"Surprised you even realized I was gone," His tone lowered and it shifted the mood of the conversation from anger to frustration.
Ivy dropped her hands to her side. "Surprised you even knew that I went to Yale for the summer."
"Luke mentioned it," He was lying and she knew it. Jess always did that thing where his pinky tapped against his leg and his eyebrow quirked slightly whenever he wasn't telling the truth -- almost like a nervous tick.
Their conversations were blunt and frustrating with nothing ever coming from it. All Ivy ever got from her conversations with Jess were blurred emotions and more reasons to dislike him.
Ivy looked through the glass of the Beauty Store and saw Jess' bimbo glaring at her. "Rory comes back tomorrow." She stated.
"And?"
"Stay away from her -- and me while we're on that topic. The last thing she needs is someone messing up her life right before she graduates." Ivy rambled and Jess didn't look fazed by her blunt threat.
Jess nodded, rocking on his heels. "What's your reason?"
"You already hurt me once, why feel the need to do it a second time?" Ivy shrugged before pointing at the transparent glass. "Girlfriends getting a little territorial in there. I better go."
Ivy spins around and walks off as fast as possible because she's scared. Mostly because if she didn't get the hell out of that conversation she was worried Jess might tell her to wait and that simple word would stop her.
She wasn't always indifferent towards him. Her first encounter with him was her throwing her heavy loafer at him because he scared the shit out of her when she was changing into clothes after school in Luke's bathroom. After that when she learned about him and all of his baggage from Luke and gossip around town, she wanted them to have a clean slate.
Ivy was one of the first people besides Luke to not judge him or categorize him as a 'rebel' like Taylor. She gave him a chance and at first he got on her nerves but there was no changing that because Jess didn't know how to normally interact with people unless he pissed them off.
The two truly got along, until they didn't. Then he left and didn't tell her and that hurt. Shortly after that, he came back and in all of his twenty minutes of showing his presence, he crashed a wedding, went to her sister, and kissed Rory after announcing his reappearance.
Never mind the fact that Rory has a boyfriend or that her sister didn't even tell her. She had to see it with her own eyes three minutes before Sookie was about to walk down the aisle and Lorelai had sent Ivy to track down her sister.
The classic teenage girl falling for the bad boy.
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