𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 (JESS MARIANO)

09

teagan entered the gilmore residence and greeted rory, who was sitting on the couch, with a small smile.

the girls never had anything against each other, just a mutual dislike.

well, both rory and teagan knew that the latter was jealous of the life rory had - a loving family, a comfortable amount of money, the ability to go to a good school and the opportunity to do anything she wanted after senior year.

however, teagan hasn't recognised that rory was jealous of her natural talent for dancing, how easily her and lorelai got along, they always seemed to have so much more in common than rory did. aswell, as her father-daughter bond she had developed with luke.

and the year before, whilst teagan and rory were still close friends. rory had kissed tristan at a party, even though she knew teagan liked him.

teagan never really blamed her, emotions were high with dean and it was the heat of the moment. but it seemed to be the last straw in their relationship.

and from then on it's been painfully strained.

they could work it out, yet neither of them put in the effort to try.

for now, all interactions consisted of small talk or awkward conversation starters in attempt to ignore the tension between them.

"hey teagan, we're watching 'casablanca' again." lorelai grinned at the girl as she grabbed a bowl for the popcorn she had made.

"you can use some of my clothes for pajamas." rory called through from the couch.

this small gesture was the nicest thing either of them had done for one another in months.

lorelai always tried to get the two to pick up where they left off but it always ended up making it worse, although they'd always try to say a few words to each other to make lorelai feel better, like she had helped in some way.

"thanks, rory." teagan called back, a genuine smile on her lips.

lorelai walked back through to the living room, grinning like the cheshire cat from that interaction.

~

"so." lorelai turned to teagan as the credits rolled for the second movie they ended up watching that night.

teagan eyed her suspiciously. "so?"

rory held back a smile, knowing the topic her mother was dancing around.

"jess." lorelai stated, like it was obvious.

"i'm not sure i'm following." teagans voice was muffled as she stuffed more popcorn into her mouth.

"oh! come on! you're really going to hold back on us like this?"

"i really don't know what you're talking about."

"she thinks you two have chemistry." rory cleared up for the girl.

"oh."

"oh? she said 'oh'. what am i supposed to do with 'oh', rory?"

"i guess it's hopeless, mom."

"me and jess have no chemistry, we aren't friends, we aren't whatever you're suggesting. we just co-exist." teagan explained to the girls in front of her, waving her hands around to enforce the facts on their relationship.

"no."

"you can't just say 'no', lorelai. that's not how this works."

"no."

"is this conversation over?" rory asked.

"please, god! let it be over." teagan threw her head back, feeling her face heat up from embarrassment.

"for now, missy. you are not getting away from this conversation. i know there's something you're not telling me." lorelai told her. "and so help me god, i will get to the bottom of it."

"you're a very dramatic person, you know that?" teagan laughed.

"i need to know if my darling foster daughter is running off with the neighbourhood bad boy." she stated.

"i'm not running around with him and he's not that bad!" the teen defended.

"ah hah! only someone guilty would defend their lover." lorelai shouted proudly, as if she had cracked some secret code.

"oh my god! do you ever stop?"

"just walk away, there is no stopping her." rory suggested, making teagan chuckle.

~

lorelai, rory and teagan entered luke's together before school.

the one employee of the three headed behind the counter and started pouring coffee for the customers and taking a few orders and handing them through to caesar before making her way over to the already served gilmore girls.

she sat for a few minutes listening to them list the enemies they had acquired over the years as she twisted hair her and put it in a clip.

"luke, where's my toast?" rory called to the diner owner, changing the subject with her mother.

"ah it's going to take a while, my big toaster's broken, so i got stuck with just this dinky one." he gestured over to the two toasters sitting behind him.

this caught jess' attention and he pressed down on the toaster to show luke that it was working.

"how'd that happen?" luke asked while playing around with the buttons on it.

"you're gonna break that."

"it was broken before."

"well, it must've got better"

"inanimate objects don't usually get better. did you fix this?" luke pointed over to the healed toaster

"please." the boy scoffed.

"jess?"

"i have no idea what you're babbling about. i don't fix things." jess brushed off the accusation.

"but yesterday-"

"i got school." jess cut him off and walked off to the door.

he caught the gaze of the grinning brunette girl and watched as she jumped up from her seat and grabbed her stuff.

"don't follow me, you stalker." jess rolled his eyes at her as he grabbed his jacket.

"oh no, mr danes." the giddy teagan followed after him. "you fixed the toaster. you did it for your uncle, because you love him." she broke the last bit into a song.

"would you shut up?" jess complained as he opened the door for teagan to walk out before him. "i didn't do it for him."

"yes you did! you did it because he took the heat for you." teagan continued, her smile never faltering. "and now, you're going to school, without any incentive. look how far you've come!"

"i am never doing anything for you again." jess replied, holding back a smile at the elated girl

"for me? what do you me- ohh." realisation hit her like a truck. "you listened to my note. isn't that sweet? i think i'm swooning. my dream man." teagan laughed, watching as jess smiled at her jokes.

her giggles were cut short when she remembered what lorelai had said, maybe this was the supposed chemistry she was talking about.

teagan straightened herself out and held a stone cold expression on her face as she slightly pushed passed the boy she was walking with, towards lane.
a friend rory and teagan had both shared.

this confusing move left a slightly begrudged jess to wonder what caused the sudden change of mood.

_________________________

authors note
did i write another chapter because i really don't want to revise? yes i did. i'm gonna pass though. (manifesting it.)
anyways enjoy the third chapter of the day! :)