DISCO NIGHTS !
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
DRUGS, BOOZE, AND PETTY CRIME
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MAEVE HAD WALKED straight through Rory's door as soon as the girl opened it approximately half an hour ago, Rory's minor exasperation with the fact that her 'alone night' was now way past ruined swiftly fading when the group—Maeve, Jess, and Paris—ended up sitting around her kitchen table, eating the food that Jess brought Rory.
"A tragic waste of paper." Paris confidently contended while she placed a fry in her mouth as Maeve nodded in affirmation while she took a sip of her coffee from the portable bottle that Jess brought her—Maeve specifically requested a bottle.
"I can't believe you just said that." Jess' eyebrows creased inwards as he glared at Paris with full disagreement, Rory sitting in the seat to one side of Jess, the other taken by Maeve.
"Well, it's true, the Beats' writing was completely self-indulgent," Paris argued, Maeve nodding approvingly again. "I have one word for Jack Kerouac—edit."
"Of course you'd disagree, Mariano." Maeve scoffed out a sarcastic quip as she took another sip of coffee, eyes flickering between Paris and Jess eating their food and debating.
She finally met Rory's eyes, and the girls both widened their eyes as they shared an exasperated look at the sheer, excruciating length of Jess and Paris' squabble. It had been going on for way too long, and the duo had seemed to oppose on everything.
"It was not self-indulgent," Jess defensively huffed, Rory smiling at him as she watched his passion for literature grow with every word. "And you don't get a say in this, Davis, you disagree with everything I say. The Beats believed in shocking people, stirring things up."
"Just like someone else we know." Maeve slightly tilted her head towards Jess as she earned herself an entertained smirk from Paris.
"They believed in drugs, booze, and petty crime." Paris disagreed with Jess' previous claim as she fuelled their dispute even further.
"You could say that they exposed you to a world that you wouldn't have otherwise known," Rory chimed in, in defence of Jess as she dipped a fry in sauce and popped it in her mouth. "Isn't that what great writing is all about?"
"Yeah, sure, if we weren't talking about Jack Kerouac, that is what great writing is all about." Maeve shrugged nonchalantly.
Paris nodded along to Maeve's words in attestation, and she seemed to be relieved that someone was openly agreeing with her. "Not great writing. That was the National Enquirer of the '50s."
"You're cracked." Jess stubbornly murmured while he pointed a fry at her before lifting it to his mouth and chewing it right after.
"Typical guy response," Paris combatted. "Worship Kerouac and Bukowski, god forbid you pick up anything by Jane Austen."
"Oh, no, no, no, you're mistaken, Paris." Maeve interjected before Jess could defend himself, a taunting smirk gradually lifting the corners of her lips up as she slowly turned to face Jess—the sudden spike in suspense was practically horror movie-like.
Jess immediately knew where she was going to go with her statement, and his eyes slightly widened as he shot her a warning glare. "Don't."
Maeve's smirk grew as she kept her eyes, which were twinkling with mischief, trained on him. "Mariano loves feminist literature."
"Maeve, seriously," Jess solidified his glare on her, shifting his attention back to Paris and speaking up before Maeve could reveal the full extent of his 'feminist literature' past. "I've read Jane Austen."
"You read Jane Austen." Maeve cleared her throat as she rephrased the tone of the word, Jess sending her a minor, irritated look and earning himself an amused smile from Maeve as the girl knew his mind flashed back to their whole 'read vs read' debate the other week.
"You have?" Paris raised her eyebrows surprisingly, the girl not expecting the words about Jess at all.
"Yeah, and I think she would've liked Bukowski." Jess contended, earning himself an offhanded stare from Maeve.
Jess stood up, the boy leaning down to lowly speak near Maeve's ear as he swiped her coffee bottle from her hands and began to make his way to the coffee pot that he brought specifically for her, but not without quietly uttering a serious warning before he did so. "I'm so getting you back for that."
Maeve threw her hands to the sides in annoyance as she watched him refill the bottle and return to the table, the boy reluctantly placing the bottle back in front of her.
Maeve's, previously irritated, expression swiftly faded at the, surprisingly kind, action, and she opened her mouth to thank him—in her own insulting way, of course—but was suddenly cut off by another sardonic warning from Jess. "It's coming when you least expect it, Davis. Watch your back."
Maeve rolled her eyes as any pleasantry of the moment was now rapidly faded, and as she shifted her attention back to the table, she only now realised that Rory was effectively staring at the pair, her, once hardened, eyes now hurriedly flickering to the table when Maeve met them.
"What are you doing?" Paris curiously inquired, stealing Maeve and Rory's collective attention and redirecting it towards her and Jess.
"Salt and peppered it," Jess succinctly answered. "Only way to eat a fry."
"Really?" Paris' eyebrows lifted surprisingly.
"It's fast-food gospel." Rory chimed in enthusiastically.
Paris picked up a salty fry from Jess' plate and threw it in her mouth, the girl raising her eyebrows and humming in pleased proclamation. "Mmm, that's good. That's really, really good."
"Do you like hot sauce?" Jess inquired right as Rory's home telephone rang.
"I don't know. Should I?" Paris questioned suspiciously, eyes slightly squinting in peculiarity.
"I think it's wise." Jess lowly drew-out as he unscrewed the hot sauce bottle cap and poured a small portion on her fries.
"Hello?" Rory started passively as she answered the phone while the trio fell back into an entertaining discussion.
Jess turned his head to watch Rory leave the room, still talking on the phone, and once she fully entered another room in a hushed discussion, Jess finally redirected his attention back to Maeve and Paris.
"How do you drink that much coffee and keep your teeth so white? It's, like, 7 o'clock and you're on your third bottle," Paris furrowed her eyebrows. "And I thought I was a caffeine addict. It helps me study."
Maeve shrugged casually. "I don't know, coffee sustains me."
"That's why she's practically bouncing off the walls at 9am every morning." Jess stated in a half-mocking, half-joking tone.
"If Luke's coffee is that powerful, I should try it during exam week." Paris raised her eyebrows, earning herself an enthusiastic nod from Maeve.
"But, you know what, no matter how much coffee I drink, I still can't get into poetry." Maeve reverted the subject back to literature as she took another sip of her coffee.
"Hot take, but me neither," Jess added. "It's kinda like 'jeez, just say it already. We're dying here'."
"Wow, really?" Paris' eyebrows lifted in surprise at Maeve. "I didn't expect you to not be interested in poetry."
"Why, because I'm the stereotypical 'girly girl' who should love poetry because it's so romantic or so tortured?" Maeve purposely drew-out, hand theatrically clutching her chest where her heart was for added effect, Jess huffing out an amused breath as he watched the action, shaking his head in entertainment. "Jeez, my life isn't that sad."
"Your words, princess." Jess held his hands up in a faux-surrender motion when he received an unamused glare from his opponent.
As if on cue, Rory reinterred the room, the girl practically frazzled from her phone call as she steadfastly cut their discussion short. "Wow, you know, I just noticed the time, and it's getting really late."
Jess checked his watch as the lighthearted tone of the entire conversation steadfastly fell short as a result of Rory's sudden interruption. "It's 7 o'clock."
"I know, but Paris and I still have a lot more studying to do," Rory voiced as she retrieved Jess' jacket from the back of another chair and approached him again. "Jess, please thank Luke for me, that was very nice of him. Maeve, thanks for keeping us company."
"Who was that on the phone?" Jess knowingly asked, looking up at her offering him his own jacket.
"No one." Rory nervously shifted her weight between her heels.
The previously inquisitive and lighthearted look behind Jess' eyes had now solidified into a knowing, confrontational one. "'No one' wouldn't happen to be heading over here right now, would he?"
"Jess." Rory sighed irritatedly.
"What's going on?" Paris interjected with a furrow of her eyebrows, Maeve's eyes intently flickering between Rory and Jess as she awaited their answer.
"Nothing." Rory faux-smiled at them.
"Dean's on his way over and Rory doesn't want him to find me here." Jess concisely answered, glare hardening as he glanced at Paris and Maeve directly before shifting his eyes back up to Rory.
"Why?" Paris innocently asked as she ate a forkful of some mac and cheese.
"Yeah, why?" Jess condescendingly repeated as he looked up at Rory with an underlying confidence, the boy already knowing exactly why Rory wouldn't want him there when Dean arrived.
"You know why." Rory hesitantly answered, only causing Maeve to lift her eyebrows curiously at the pair.
"I'm just eating dinner." Jess answered with an overwhelming faux-naïveté.
"Jess, I'm asking you as a friend. Just please leave now." Rory hardened her tone out of pure impatience.
"You really want me to go?" Jess purposefully drew out the interaction.
"I really...want to avoid a fight with Dean." Rory avoided the question as she seemed to completely forget about Maeve and Paris still sitting at the table, watching them.
Jess sent her a final, smug look before he wiped his hands and stood up, taking his jacket from her hands. "Okay, I'm going."
"Thank you." Rory quietly mumbled, and as Jess began to walk towards the door, he over-dramatically stumbled over his own feet.
"Ow." Jess exaggerated as he gripped his knee.
"What?" Rory furrowed her eyebrows at him.
"I just twisted my ankle, I better go lie down." Jess theatrically stated, gesturing to Rory's room, only earning himself an aggravated glare from the girl in question.
"Jess!" Rory snapped, the girl now entirely furious at him as she walked towards him and pushed him back to the door, Jess huffing out a humoured breath as he smirked deviously.
Maeve just shared a raised-eyebrows, utterly entertained look with Paris as they continued their previous tasks of eating fries and drinking coffee while overhearing the rest of Jess and Rory's fading back-and-forth.
"You're no fun when you're tense. You sure you want me to go? 'Cause maybe this thing can be solved between me and Dean if we just sat down, had a little heart-to-heart," Jess taunted. "He could tell me his issues, I'll tell him mine."
"Jess!"
"I promise I'll speak slowly." Jess drew out with a slight rasp.
"Bye!"
Maeve just blew out a long breath as she faced Paris again. "Welcome to Stars Hollow."
"Wow," Paris raised her eyebrows. "This is what you do everyday?"
Maeve's eyes darted to the sides before she just shrugged. "Something like that. I'll probably get going soon, though, I'd rather not overstay my welcome."
"You should stay and study with us," Paris offered. "You seem like a nice person."
Maeve smiled at the words. "Thanks, you seem nice too."
A small smile overtook Paris' features, and before they could actually form a friendship, Dean and Rory had now burst through Rory's front door, Dean aggressively yelling at her and Rory trying to remain calm amongst the chaos.
"What the hell is going on?!" Dean started as he stomped towards the kitchen with a paper bag in his hand, the boy only slightly faltering at the sight of Maeve and Paris sitting at the table.
"Hi." Paris murmured behind her hand as she chewed a fry.
"Dean." Maeve blew out a slightly provoked breath as she twisted the lid of the coffee bottle shut and stood up, preparing to leave.
"Dean, you remember Paris, right? And you know Maeve?" Rory tried to settle the situation.
"Yeah, hi," Dean curtly stated as he uncaringly faced Rory again, and Maeve was entirely bewildered at how he was so comfortable causing such an embarrassing scene for, not only himself, but for Rory too, let alone in front of others. "So, Jess just dropped this off, huh?"
"I know." Rory sighed helplessly as the two advanced further into the kitchen.
"Now, I know you eat fast, but this is a lot of food to put away that quickly, even on your best day." Dean scoffed as he furiously faced Rory.
"So, he didn't just drop it off." Rory desperately tried to calm him down, though her attempt wasn't working.
"You told me you were doing laundry tonight." Dean gritted out through his teeth with utter contempt.
"I was." Rory corrected.
"And now you're here with Jess." Dean spat, not removing the hotheaded daggers he was shooting at her with his eyes.
"And Paris and Maeve." Rory gestured to the two girls, who were still wordlessly watching the show.
"Jess, Rory!" Dean shouted out of utter infuriation, eyes burning fiery holes into Rory's as he didn't care about Maeve or Paris' presence.
"Well- I swear, I didn't-"
"You didn't what?! You didn't know he was coming over?!" Dean cut her off abruptly, voice raising even louder in a mixture of hostile uncertainty and indignation.
"I didn't!" Rory persisted in her defence.
"And you also didn't know that he was going to stay, right?!" Dean shifted his attention, only briefly, towards Maeve as he yelled out a statement fuelled entirely by temporary rage. "What would Flynn think if he saw all this, huh?!"
"Wh- what?" Maeve stuttered out an entirely off-guarded reply, the girl not expecting Dean to even mention Flynn, or address her at all. "He'd be fine with it, he doesn't care about Jess like you clearly do, and your girlfriend and Paris are here too, it's really not a big deal."
"Maeve," Rory snapped as she knew that Maeve's impulsive words would only irritate Dean further. "Dean, it just happened."
"How does that just happen?!" Dean furiously shouted.
"He was- and the diner- the diner was- and I-" Rory tried stuttering out an accurate and believable answer, though she couldn't seem to make sense of her own mismatched thoughts, Dean just condescendingly staring at her, open-mouthed and waiting for her response, which he wasn't sure would be completed.
"And you, what?! Say something!" Dean's voice was now entirely filled with venom as he was practically on the verge of popping a pulsing vein in his forehead.
"Stop yelling!" Rory called out, the girl nonsensically stressed at this whole argument.
"You totally lied to me." Dean harshly snapped, Maeve scoffing at him as she crossed her arms over her chest and tried her hardest not to tell Dean to relax and take a hike.
She couldn't stand horrible men, especially entitled boys who thought they were superior to their girlfriends, or who felt as though they had any authority or control over who their girlfriends could spend time with.
"I didn't." Rory tried.
"Turn the situation around, Rory, how's it looking?!" Dean yelled in response.
"It's looking complicated, and I'm trying to explain it to you!" Rory nervously shouted as she tried to, again, string a cohesive explanation together.
"Oh, that's crap-"
"It's my fault." Paris steadfastly interjected before the two could escalate the argument further.
"What?" Maeve's blurted-out statement was filled with surprise as all eyes were now on Paris.
"It's my fault that Jess was here," Paris stood up beside Maeve, lying through her teeth for Rory's benefit. "I saw him in the diner the day I came to Stars Hollow, and I thought he was cute, and since I'm not great at the whole 'batting the eyelashes, look at my belly shirt' kinda thing, I asked Rory and Maeve to help me. I thought if Rory could get him over here, and Maeve could tell me about things that he liked, we'd have a chance to talk, and, I don't know, it seems totally stupid now, and it obviously didn't work, shock, but that's why he was here. Thanks for trying to cover for me, Rory."
Maeve was entirely impressed at the impulsive lie, that was super convincing, and she slowly nodded as she looked at her.
"That's okay." Rory uttered out an equally as surprised statement.
Maeve took this brief pause as an opportunity to leave before she could get sucked into the controversy, and she just cleared her throat as she grabbed the diner's coffee bottle and began to make her way to Rory's front door. "I have to go...bye!"
Before waiting for a response from any of the three behind her, Maeve just widened her eyes and hurried out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her as she just wanted to leave the chaos as soon as she possibly could.
•
"Are you sure you're okay with the whole Rory, Paris, and Jess thing last night?" Maeve's eyebrows quirked upwards as she kept her regretful eyes on Flynn, her jaw resting on the palm of her hand as the pair were sitting on one of the diner's free tables.
Flynn just huffed out a nonchalant breath, the boy smirking as he genuinely didn't care about the debacle. "I'm sure, Maeve. I really don't understand why Dean's so angry about it, you and that blonde chick were there too, so it's not like they were on a date or anything. I told him to chill out when he called me about it last night."
Maeve grinned at him, and she leaned in to plant a sweet kiss on his lips before pulling away shortly after. "See? I knew you'd be fine with it."
"I trust you." Flynn smiled as he squeezed her wrist gently.
"I trust you too," Maeve's own smile grew at the comforting words. "I don't know why Dean was so quick to call you, though. Like I'd get caught or something."
Flynn just released a small chuckle. "Yeah, he's just that kind of dude, but he probably didn't mean for it to come out like that. He's a good guy, so he might've just slipped up or something this one time."
Maeve just shrugged at the words as she decided to keep her thoughts about Dean to herself. Flynn and Dean were friends, and Maeve didn't want to ruin their friendship with a silly theory that was only based off a select few interactions she had with the boy, and she was fully sure that she wouldn't appreciate Flynn trying to ruin her friendship with Delaney.
So, the girl just nodded and plastered on a small, tight-lipped smile for his benefit. "Yeah, probably."
•
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