𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 ʲᵉˢˢ ᵐᵃʳᶦᵃⁿᵒ

Cleo Ashford wasn't exactly Stars Hollow's sweetheart - and she never tried to be. You didn't need to be a mind reader or some psychic tarot-reading town weirdo to figure out why Mrs. Kim practically hissed like a vampire at the sight of her near Lane. Why Babette's muttering turned into full-on commentary the second Cleo's combat boots hit the pavement. Or why Luke Danes, king of grumpy coffee slinging, could suddenly remember a dozen "fire code violations" every time Cleo asked if he was hiring.

People didn't like her. Fine. Cool. Cute, even. Let them clutch their pearls while she smoked in the alley behind Doose's and rolled her eyes through yet another town meeting where Taylor tried to ban fun. Cleo wasn't interested in fitting in with the cookie-cutter charm of this postcard town. She wasn't interested in validation, approval, or any of the suffocating politeness the residents used like a weapon.

She had a plan - get out. Leave Stars Hollow choking on her exhaust. As soon as her mom stopped pretending she could "fix her" with therapy pamphlets and curfews, Cleo was gone. One-way ticket. New life. No strings.

But then he showed up.

Luke's nephew. Broody, smug, eyes like he knew things he had no business knowing. A boy who didn't look at her like she was trouble - he looked at her like he wanted to get in trouble with her. And that? That was a problem. A distraction. An anchor.

Now, it wasn't just her mother trying to chain her to this town.

It was him, too.

And Cleo Ashford didn't do chains.