"I'm not gonna mess with your head."
--☆--☆--☆--
Ethan looked from Cassie to Jess, watching as the two of them had an entire conversation with just a few glances. He, admittedly, had no idea what was going on. Everything that happened tonight was downright weird, and it was only getting worse. He hadn't gone into today thinking Dean would break up Rory or that Jess might be the one to run after her.
Again, Ethan was realizing there was a lot going on that he didn't know about. He'd had a hunch about Rory's feelings for Jess, everyone in town had that hunch actually. Except Ethan had his own hunch that Rory might not be the Gilmore Girl that Jess wanted.
"Cassie," Ethan's voice broke the silence that had fallen in the gym. She turned to look at him almost like she'd forgotten he was there.
"Cassie," Jess spoke up this time and her gaze returned to him.
Ethan looked from her to Jess, trying to figure out what was going on. Cassie shook her head slowly, her gaze not leaving Jess as she said, "It's not me, you know that."
She was talking about Rory. Ethan figured that out easy enough. Except what he couldn't figure out was why this seemed to be causing tension between Jess and Cassie. Ethan was beginning to wonder if the hunch he'd had weeks ago was becoming more and more true.
Jess let out his breath as he broke eye contact with Cassie. He looked over at Ethan, the two guys holding contact for just a moment before Jess turned away. "You should talk to her man," Ethan said, causing Jess to look at him again.
Realistically Jess knew they were right. He did need to talk to Rory, just not about what they wanted them to talk about. Jess wasn't going to lie to Rory. He wasn't going to tell her something just because she wanted to hear it or Cassie wanted him to. Except Cassie didn't need to know that, not yet anyways.
"Yeah, yeah," Jess nodded his head as a shocked look appeared on Ethan's face. Jess pointed over to the blonde, "I'll do that."
"Good," Ethan nodded, looking a little too proud of himself.
Jess glanced over at Cassie, he couldn't read the look on her face but god he wished he could. He didn't say anything else before walking out of the gym. And in all honesty he was a little disappointed that Cassie hadn't run out to stop him. For all she knows he was about to go tell Rory he wanted her, and Cassie let him go. Hell she basically gave him permission.
It didn't take a genius to figure out where Rory had run to. She'd gone to the one place she knew Jess would easily be able to find her. When he got there she was sitting on the bridge, her feet were hanging just above the water.
He walked over to her. He knew what he wanted to say, but not how to say it. That was always a problem Jess had, not being able to get the right words out.
"Dean's a jerk. Yelling at you like that, breaking up in front of everybody- the... the guy's a total jerk," Jess ends up saying to her, hearing her soft sniffles.
"No, he's not," Rory sniffled quietly. "He was right. Everything he said... all those things about you and me. All those things about... me lying to him and messing with his head... he was right," she admitted before looking back at Jess. He didn't say anything, making her confused. "Well... wasn't he?" Jess didn't respond. "Fine, he was right about me, then. Now go away."
"I can't..." Jess let out a short breath as Rory turned back around to look at him. "The things you want me to say, I can't. I'm not gonna mess with your head."
"Oh," she said softly. Rory looked away from him for a moment, thinking over what he just said to her.
"I'm sorry," he said to her, truly meaning it.
Rory truly thought Jess might like her back. After the kiss at Sookie's wedding, she thought maybe he'd look at her differently. She hoped that his heart would race when he thought of her, the same way hers does when she thinks about him.
"I really am stupid," Rory shook her head at her own actions. Thinking about the relationship she threw away over a boy that didn't even want her back. It made her mad and confused. In all honesty Rory wasn't expecting to get turned down, that possibility hadn't even crossed her mind.
"Rory-"
"Can you just go? Please," She snapped at him, not giving him a chance to explain.
Jess nodded slowly, not wanting to make her more upset. "Sure."
Rory let him walk away, hating that she hadn't been chosen. Immediately growing more upset and hating the reason he wouldn't be with her, not yet realizing that reason was someone she loved too.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
Even though Cassie was desperate to hear about Rory's talk with Jess she forced herself to not ask. If Rory wanted to talk about it she would. So instead of waiting for her sister and mom to get home, Cassie pushed herself to go to her room and sleep.
Right away she realized sleep would not come easily. Cassie laid awake in her bed, wondering why the pit in her stomach hadn't gone away. She wants Rory to be happy and Jess makes her happy, in Cassie's mind that was the only thing that mattered.
She wasn't used to putting herself first. Cassie hadn't even been able to recognize her own feelings since she was so focused on how Rory felt. She was always so busy putting her sister first that she couldn't see how much this was hurting her.
When Cassie woke up she realized she didn't even remember falling asleep. All she knew was she was going to have to put up with a lot of complaints from her mom and sister, as the first words she heard when she woke up was, "ow, ow, jesus."
Cassie pulled herself out of bed, and towards her door. She opened it seeing her mom slowly making her way towards the stairs. "Mom?"
"Feet, ow," Lorelai complained.
"Okay," Cassie nodded before going back into her room to get ready.
By the time Cassie completely got ready, uniform on, hair done, bag packed, Lorelai made it down the stairs. Cassie rushed past her mom, her feet feeling completely fine.
"Rory," Cassie pushed open the door to her sister's bedroom, finding Rory struggling to put her shoes on. "You too huh?"
"I'm never dancing again," Rory shook her head, a hurt expression on her face. Except Cassie knew it probably wasn't just the dance that put her sister in a funk. Cassie glanced towards the door to Rory's room, seeing that Lorelai was still over by the stairs.
"Are you okay?" Cassie asked her and Rory knew right away what she was referring to.
Rory nodded her head, not wanting to talk about any of it yet. "Just hungry."
"But you and Dean... and-"
"Cass," Rory cut her off, and Cassie got the message. They weren't going to talk about it yet.
"So uh, Luke's for breakfast?" Cassie suggested trying to see the way her sister would react. "We have extra time."
"I, uh..."
"Yes, I need coffee and pancakes, maybe some eggs," Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen, having heard her daughters talking.
Cassie nodded her head, "Luke's then."
"Sure, Luke's," Rory agreed but Cassie could see the hesitation in her eyes. Cassie desperately wanted to know what happened between Rory and Jess last night but she wasn't going to ask now. Especially not in front of Lorelai who is the president and founder of the 'I hate Jess Mariano' fan club.
Cassie realized that walking with her mom and sister was torture. They were moving so incredibly slow Cassie could've lapped them ten times before they hit the mailbox.
"Can you move any faster? It's like walking with snails," Cassie complained, dragging her own feet just to try and keep the same pace as her mom and sister.
"Feet, ouch," Rory sighed.
"Moving too fast," Lorelai added.
"God, you can't even finish your sentences," Cassie shook her head at two of them. She glanced back at them, seeing how far back they were. "Okay. I can't do this, I'm walking ahead."
"Cass! Cassie!"
"I can't, I'm hungry," Cassie waved her hand as she continued walking at a normal pace, leaving her mom and sister behind.
Cassie continued walking at a normal pace however Lorelai and Rory quickly faded to the background. She could hear them complaining for a while but as soon as she rounded the corner they were gone. It only took her two minutes to get to Luke's.
"Coffee please," Cassie requested as she closed the door behind her.
"Well since you said please," Luke replied to her.
"Really?" Cassie asked him with wide and excited eyes. "No arguments?" She added as moved over to the counter and sat down.
"You want the coffee or not?"
"Yes please," Cassie picked up a clean mug and slid it over to Luke who was already reaching for the coffee pot. Luke poured the coffee into her mug and while he did Cassie looked around the diner, looking for one particular face. When she didn't see him she decided innocently asking Luke questions can't be too bad. "So, uh, is Jess around?"
"Upstairs," Luke shrugged his shoulders casually.
"Oh," Cassie nodded slowly, trying to act like she didn't care about what was going through Jess' mind at this very moment.
Luke walked away from her before she could say anything else. He didn't even take her order, Luke already knows what she wants.
Cassie laid her head down on the countertop, hoping to get some of these thoughts out of her mind. She should be thinking about school and her own boyfriend. Not wondering what's going on in the complexities of her twin sister's love life.
"Eat," Luke basically demanded as he set a plate of pancakes in front of her.
Cassie slowly lifted her head, seeing possibly the most beautiful breakfast in front of her. That or she remembered she didn't have dinner last night. Either way it looked like perfection on a plate.
"Thanks Luke," Cassie said as she eagerly picked up her fork.
Within a second Cassie forgot about the problems of the night before. She even forgot that her mom and sister were supposed to be behind her. All that mattered was the sweet syrup and delicious blueberries as she ate her breakfast.
Luke looked over at her occasionally making sure she was okay. He swore he'd never seen her more content than she was right now. Luke was blissfully unaware of everything that happened the night prior. Jess obviously didn't tell him anything and he wasn't paying enough attention to find out on his own. He didn't know about Rory and Dean's dramatic breakup or the possibility of a Rory and Jess. Except that would soon change as the remaining Gilmore women finally pushed through the door.
"Oh my god. Thank you," Lorelai let out a sigh of relief as she sat down in the closest seat.
"I never realized Luke's was a hundred miles away," Rory claimed, also taking a seat, not realizing they had taken up two different tables.
"Luckily it wasn't snowing. It would've been the Donner Party all over again, but with much better hair," Lorelai informed her as Cassie slowly spun around in her chair to see her mom and sister. Lorelai laughed softly when she saw where Rory sat down. "Why are you sitting over there?"
Rory looked down, realizing then they were at two different tables. "Huh. How'd I get over here?"
"You sat there."
"Well this chair is very close to that chair so you can understand my confusion," Rory replied.
Lorelai waved her to gesture for her daughter to get up, "Move over here with me."
"Why don't you move over here with me?"
"Because I'm not the one who sat at the wrong table," Lorelai replied and Cassie just laughed at them from the counter.
"You know you're wasting pancake time right?" She asked them as she put one of her last bites in her mouth. Rory and Lorelai looked down at their watches and gasped, realizing just how long it took them to make it to the diner.
"It took us thirty minutes to get here?" Lorelai gasped.
"Lots of limping," Rory reminded her.
"And whining," Cassie added, finishing off the last sip of coffee she had.
"Oh," Lorelai waved a hand at her youngest daughter before trying to stand up. "At least grab a donut before you go," she said to Rory as she struggled to push herself out of her seat. "Hey, Luke. We need a couple of donuts and some of those extra legs."
"Coming right up," He said as he grabbed Cassie's empty plate from the counter. Just as he turned around the curtain moved to the side letting Jess walk into the diner.
He paused eyes wide when he realized both twins were right in front of him. Cassie and Rory were equally shocked. Except Rory had a more embarrassed and hurt expression than the curious and questioning one that Cassie had.
"Hi," Jess said politely.
"Hi," Rory replied almost too eagerly.
"Hi," Cassie smiled at him and Jess mentally punched himself from liking that smile too much.
He then turned to Lorelai, the polite tone he used a moment ago remaining as he said, "Hi."
"Hi," Lorelai's expression was closer to Cassies, the confusion very much present.
"Hi," Jess said to Luke.
"Hi?" Luke responded as he put a donut in a bag for Rory to take with her on the bus.
"We have to get to school," Cassie said as she awkwardly stood up from the stool.
"Yeah, me too," Jess nodded, his eyes only focused on her.
Rory noticed this right away. The way Jess looked at her, that's when it all began to hit her. She looked from Jess to her sister, allowing the realization to sink in. "Bye," Rory said, her tone more snappy than it was a moment ago.
"Bye," Jess replied, his eyes glancing to Rory for less than a second before it was back on Cassie. "Bye."
"Bye?" She gave him a confused look. "Come on, we can't miss the bus," Cassie said to her sister who just nodded her head as they both turned away from the counter.
Rory pushed ahead of her sister, letting her own realization take on a life of its own. She felt hurt and embarrassed and unsure of what to do. In her limited experience with guys Rory hadn't faced much rejection. Prior to Dean she never put herself out there and therefore never faced being turned down like she was last night.
All this was new to her. Trying to get over Jess was going to be one thing, but knowing he wouldn't be with her because he might have feelings for her sister. Something entirely different. Unfortunately Cassie had no idea that any of this was going on, so she didn't know her next question would make Rory feel like she's being made fun of.
"So what was all that?" Cassie innocently asked her sister as they made their way towards the bus stop.
"What?" Rory asked her.
"You and Jess... did something happen?"
"No," Rory snapped at her, making Cassie confused. "Nothing happened Cassie."
"Jeez," Cassie's eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at her sister, "I get that you didn't exactly have a great night but that's not my fault-"
"Right," Rory scoffed.
Cassie's eyes widened in shock, "Are you seriously blaming me? Dean broke up with you, that has nothing to do with me. Hey," Cassie tried to keep up with her but Rory was doing her best to walk ahead of her sister. "Rory come on, why are you mad at me?"
Rory shook her head, not looking over at her sister. She looked over at the bus stop, noticing a blonde waiting for them. Rory scoffed, "Your boyfriend's here."
"What's with the tone?"
Cassie stopped and grabbed Rory's arm, forcing her to a stop as well. Rory gave her sister a once over before shaking her head. She plastered on the fakest smile in a hundred mile radius, "Nothing. Sorry. Everything's fine."
Rory pulled herself out of Cassie's grasp as just kept on walking. She didn't even pretend to say hello to Ethan as he walked past her. Ethan gave the older Gilmore a confused look but then continued over to Cassie.
"Morning."
"Apparently not a good one," Cassie replied, watching as her sister sat down at the bus stop.
"No explanation?" He asked her.
Cassie shook her head, "None." She turned away from Rory then looked at Ethan and smiled at him. He smiled right back at her before pulling her towards him, giving her a kiss.
What they did was completely normal. A boyfriend kissing his girlfriend. It was a sweet kiss, nothing a Disney movie would frown upon. However that didn't stop two jealous pairs of eyes from watching them. From the steps of the diner Jess was shaking his head at them, and from the bus stop Rory was watching Jess.
Ethan and Cassie had no clue any of this was going on. Their kiss was over and they were laughing about Kirk walking towards the diner with his trophy. They were blissfully unaware. Not for long, though.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
"A dance marathon?"
"For twenty four hours?"
"And you went on purpose?"
Louise, Madeline, and Sophie, were all giving Cassie the same confused look. Cassie stood there in front of them, eyes widened with fascination.
"Did you guys practice that?" She asked them.
Sophie laughed at her, "Thank god Julia didn't want to do that."
"Who's Julia?" Louise asked her. Sophie's eyes widened, remembering the secret she was still keeping from Louise and Madeline. Except now it wasn't just a secret, it was an entire person.
"Uh," Sophie blanked.
"This girl I went to middle school with," Cassie answered for her then quickly continued her story, hoping they'd all be able to move on from the previous question. "Anyways, Dean broke up with her."
"No," Madeline gasped.
"He was gorgeous," Louise sighed.
"It was a whole thing. He yelled at her in front of everyone," Cassie informed her best friends.
"Is Rory okay?" Sophie asked her.
Cassie shrugged her shoulders as they continued walking down the halls of Chilton. "Unclear. She was pissed at me though."
"You have a handsome boy, she just lost hers. I'd be pissed," Louise attempted to provide an explanation and she was close to the real reason Rory was mad. If they just pictured Jess instead of Ethan as the 'handsome boy', Louise would've been spot on.
"I guess," Cassie sighed. "I just don't want to-"
"Heads up," Sophie said quickly when she saw Rory heading right towards them. "Hey," Sophie smiled at the girl.
"Hi," Rory replied, her tone slightly politer towards Sophie than it had been towards Cassie. She looked over at her sister, "Bus?" was all she asked.
"Uh, yeah," Cassie nodded slowly, "I just need a book from my locker."
"I'll meet you at the stop," Rory began walking away and the four girls turned and watched her go.
"Oh yeah, she's pissed," Louise said quietly, causing Madeline and Sophie to nod their heads in agreement. "The second you figure out that mystery-"
"You guys will be the first to know," Cassie said, finishing Louise's thought.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
Throughout the week Rory had become an expert at avoiding her sister. All her extra energy was being spent trying to avoid Cassie's questions. Rory knew she was acting like a kid, she was well aware. She just didn't know how to tell her sister that she was jealous of her.
Rory didn't want to confess that she had sought out Jess but he turned her down. Because she knew Cassie. Rory knew that Cassie would go to him and try to smooth things over. Hell she might even try to convince him to be with her, Rory knew that. She didn't want that. But instead of being an adult and telling Cassie that, she avoided her.
Right now was the closest contact they'd had in days, being forced to sit beside each other at dinner.
"Do it again, please!" Emily called into the kitchen causing a whine to leave her daughter and granddaughters. Emily walked back towards her seat, shaking her head, "I'm not quite sure what other way there is to say no walnuts in the salad, except to say no walnuts in the salad."
"Mom, she just made a mistake," Lorelai reminded her.
"She doesn't listen. She doesn't care, she has no work ethic," Emily replied.
"She has some work ethic. You had her remake the salad four times."
"I like things done correctly."
Richard barely glanced up from his newspaper as he added, "Preferably the first time."
"Thank you Richard."
"You know, Mom, in Europe, they eat the salad last and the main course first."
Cassie nodded her head eagerly, "It's true. It's all the rage right now."
"We are not in Europe," Emily reminded her granddaughter.
"We could pretend," Lorelai suggested to her.
Emily shook her head at her daughter subtly. "Really, Lorelai, you can't wait ten minutes for another salad? The situation's that dire?"
"Four salads ago, no, not dire. Right now it's your money for nothing and your chicks for free."
"Rory?" Emily looked at the older twin, hoping she could shine some light on the situation.
"She didn't have lunch."
Being Lorleai mother, Emily already knew that an unfed Lorelai was an unhappy Lorelai. "Fine," She sighed, standing up from the table.
Richard looked over at his wife, "Where are you going?"
"Apparently, we're going to be European tonight."
"Oh, wonderful. I was getting so tired of being American day after day after day," He replied flipping to a new page in his newspaper. Cassie smiled over at him, always loving when his humor pops out.
"God, I'm starved," Lorelai groaned.
"Think about something else," Rory suggested to her.
"Like what?"
"Something so completely disgusting that it'll take your appetite away," Cassie replied as she looked across the table where her mom's eyes just lit up.
"Ari Fleischer?"
Now Richard's newspaper was down on the table. He shot his daughter a look before saying, "Ari Fleischer is our nation's mouthpiece, young lady."
"Officially not hungry now," Lorelai admitted as she sat lower in her seat.
"Lilianna will be right out with the sand dabs," Emily announced to the Gilmore Clan as she walked out of the kitchen. "I'm afraid we're going to have to let her go, Richard."
"Oh, if that's how you feel, Emily," Richard replied with his usual 'yes dear' tone.
"You're firing someone over putting walnuts in a salad?" Lorelai asked her mom.
"I'm firing someone over putting walnuts in the salad after she was told not to put walnuts in the salad," Emily answered like this was perfectly normal, and for her, it was.
"Four times," Cassie added.
"Precisely Cassidy," Emily agreed.
Lorelai looked over at her daughter who quickly mouthed "sorry" as she looked down at her lap. Rory perked up slightly saying, "I'm going to get myself a soda. Would anyone else like anything?"
"I'd like a big bag of walnuts and make sure you tell her they're for me," Lorelai replied and Rory shook her head, smiling as she picked up her glass and headed towards the kitchen.
"I believe I need a little more ice. Emily, are you fine?"
Emily nodded her head, "Yes, Richard, I'm fine, thank you." Richard followed Rory into the kitchen, leaving three Gilmore women in the dining room. "So Cassidy, how's school?"
Cassie smiled, not at all surprised by the line of questioning, "Good."
"Any thoughts as to where you might apply?"
"Jeez," Lorelai shook her head but both Emily and Cassie ignored her. Cassie didn't want to be the cause of an argument right now.
"Ivy's mostly. Columbia, Brown... Yale," She added on the last one and watched as the smile on her mother's face disappeared while Emily looked rather pleased. "I've only just started my applications. Nothing's set in stone," she made sure to say.
"Of course. Just applications," Emily smiled knowing very well why Cassie wasn't keen on admitting about applying to Yale. "Is Harvard an option?"
"Yes," Lorelai answered.
"An option, of course, but it's Rory's dream," Cassie answered honestly. "I'm still figuring out mine."
Before another word could be said Lilianna walked back into the dinning room with the salads. Unfortunately they all contained walnuts.
"What did I ask?" Emily said to her.
"Oh boy."
The dinner was over soon enough and the Stars Hollow Gilmore were walking out the door. Rory still barely spoke to her sister, only saying a word here or there. Enough to not draw suspicion to the tension between them.
"I have to tell you something," Rory announced as they all got into the Jeep.
Lorelai looked over at her as she started the car, "Okay."
"Grandpa talked to me tonight." Without needing to hear another word Lorelai turned off the engine, her eyes never leaving her daughter. "Why'd you turn the car off?"
"I'm just getting the sense that I shouldn't be driving a large vehicle when you tell me this."
"Or at least give me a chance to actually put my seatbelt on," Cassie added.
Rory shook her head at the both of them, "It's no big deal."
"Uh huh."
"It's not."
"Then tell me."
"Okay," Rory nodded, "Um, well, Grandpa was mentioning that he and Grandma are going on a trip next week, a driving trip somewhere. And he invited me and Cass to go with them. And you. He invited us and you to go on a trip with him and Grandma."
"Huh," Cassie sighed.
"Where?"
"What?" Rory asked her.
"Where's the driving trip to?"
Rory hesitated before finally saying, "Yale." Lorelai glanced back at her youngest daughter before getting out of the Jeep. Cassie and Rory quickly followed their mom. "Wait. Mom? Mom."
"No, it's okay, I got it," Lorelai tried to dismiss them.
"He's going for some nostalgia thing. For a reunion of, I don't know, the Whiffenhoofs," Rory guessed.
"The who?" Cassie asked.
"Poofs," Lorelai corrected. "Whiffenpoofs."
"Well, he got all sentimental and he really just wants to show me and Cassie the campus. It's no big deal," Rory told her.
Lorelai looked over at Cassie, her eyes focused on her as she said, "It's a huge deal."
Cassie knew this was because she hadn't told her mom she was applying to Yale. She just hadn't found the way to say it yet. Cassie had every intention of telling her, at some point, her deathbed probably. "Mom," Cassie tried to talk.
"There's a reason he wants to take you girls there. He's manipulating both of you. Trust me, I know, he's a master at it."
Rory shook her head, "Okay, fine, maybe he is. But he really wants us to go. And you don't have to come. I mean he invited you and I would really love it if you come, but really, you can stay home. Just please don't make a big thing out of this. This doesn't have to be a fight."
"Rory..."
"We go. We look. Hi Yale. Bye Yale. It's over. No harm, no foul."
"How many more two word sentences can you come up with?" Lorelai asked her.
Rory smiled at her mom as she put her hands on her shoulders and led her back towards the Jeep. "It doesn't have to be a total loss."
"Look, as she's leading me back to the car."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Rory sighed.
"Let's just get home and find something to replace the sand dabs," Cassie suggested to them.
Lorelai nodded her head in agreement, "Oh yeah. Let's leave an anonymous note for her to never make those again."
"Oh jeez," Rory laughed.
a/n: another chapter out and more problems to solve. I really hoped you all enjoyed this chapter and I promise I won't drag out this drama forever.