𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 (JESS MARIANO)

25

"anna-" teagan tried to cut in over the phone as her foster mother continued her lecture.

as anna's voice boomed through teagan pulled the receiver away from her ear continuing to groan and roll her eyes quietly to the two gilmore girls that were watching as though it was a captivating movie scene, instead of a teenager being shouted at by her mother.

"anna!" teagan called again, finally stopping the woman from her ramble. "i'm okay, and i'm with lorelai. so, you know, i'll see you tomorrow but i really got to go. sorry."

she slammed the phone down before her foster mother could get another word in and half ran back to the couch so she could listen to lorelai explaining the argument she had with luke.

"it was a bad one." lorelai sighed, staring into space, she was thinking of the next thing she could offer the injured girl. she'd already tried various sorts of soft drinks, pie, coffee and if she could go shout at jess.

all of these had been rejected by teagan, especially the last one.

"i can't believe he crashed. i mean he-"

"lorelai. it wasn't his fault and i'm fine, everyone is fine." teagan brushed her off, it was no ones fault and she was sick of hearing him get the blame.

lorelai slightly pouted but dropped the subject, deciding to move on before she starts an argument with the drugged up girl. "what did anna and cal say?"

the teen groaned. "ugh, just a lot about how they trusted me and they couldn't believe what had happened."

"they didn't ask if you were okay?" rory chimed in from beside her mother, her face scrunched into confusion and disbelief.

"no. i think they cared about the car more." teagan sighed, staring down at her cast. "it wouldn't matter either way, i couldn't get a word in even if i tried."

lorelai took a deep breath in, her stomach sinking at her words. she knew her foster parents weren't the best but this was heartbreaking to her. "do you want some hot cocoa?"

"no, i'm good." teagan lifted her head and sent her a reassuring smile. "i should probably sleep, i'm quite dopey from whatever they gave me at the hospital."

"okay, sweetie." lorelai kissed the brunettes forehead and headed for the kitchen with rory, her eyebrows still furrowed together in worry. "we'll just be in the other room."

teagan could tell lorelai was anxious about leaving the girl alone in the living room, as if something could happen to her fifteen feet away from her so she didn't mind when she heard the floor boards creak every few minutes when lorelai would peak around the corner to check on her.

~

"you picked 'the yearling'?" teagan's face scrunched into disgust. "again? i thought you'd pick a new movie."

teagan, lorelai, rory and sookie were walking through the twinkling lights as the headed for the movie festival to watch, once again, 'the yearling'.

"picking a movie that a large group of people will enjoy is hard."

"you had-"

"teagan!" lane called, cutting off  the brunettes words as she came bounding over to her and rory. "can i see?"

teagan held up her cast, that was currently pristine with no signatures. "oh, that sucks! does it hurt?"

"only when i remember how i got it." teagan shrugged as lorelai and sookie left to find seats for the group.

"okay. here, an angry girl for an angry arm." lane held up a sticker for her cast and stuck it down before teagan could protest it.

"so what happened?"

"we saw an animal and it ran into the road so jess swerved to avoid it and we ran into a pole and then my arm." teagan rushed to tell lane entire story.

"wow. have you spoken to him?"

"who?"

"jess, obviously."

"oh, no i haven't. i'll probably see him the next time i'm working or something." teagan shrugged, brushing off any doubt she had that she wouldn't see him.

"what about luke and lorelai?"

"she won't tell us the details, but they just need time to cool off." rory chimed in. "everyone just needs time. and jess should stay away from driving, maybe."

teagan frowned at her comment but decided to keep quiet, it was not a good idea to start an argument here.

the three joined the adults in their seats as kirks 'pre-movie' began. teagan spent the time stifling her laughter with the other teens, captivated by kirks masterpiece.

"he's taking his shirt off." teagan squeaked out as she tried to keep her laughter to a minimum, not wanting to hurt kirks feelings.

"hey, how you feeling?" lorelai reached over to the teen as the credits rolled in.

"haunted by whatever that was." teagan shivered.

"...i swear to god" babettes voice could be heard by, probably the entire town and teagan turned her head to listen into their gossip.

"last night, not long after the accident, luke walked him straight to the bus station, stuck the kid on a bus, sent him home to his mom's"

"teagan, don't eavesdrop." lorelai called to her, pulling at her jumper to turn around.

"wait." teagan pushed the woman away from her.

"i heard the kid wanted to go, but i don't know- all i know is that jess is gone." babette finished the explanation to miss patty, not caring if the town had overheard what was said.

teagan turned back to face the screen as the lights dimmed and the movie started. she sighed and kept her head down, trying to ignore the feeling that was swarming in her stomach.

she could feel lorelai's eyes burning into the side of her head and looked towards her to send her a small smile, hoping to reassure her that she was okay.

her smile was half-hearted and didn't quite reach her eyes but she didn't care, she gulped down any emotion that was bubbling over and shifted in her seat to set her attention on the film.

_________________________

authors note
this chapter is kinda short but idk
hope you enjoy! :)