𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭

Eleanor had an Autumn Festival orchestral thing at Chilton to do so she didn't get involved with Rory's first date, which she was glad for because it sounded boring – watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Rory did have her first kiss with Dean and Rory barged into Weston's Bakery and told her about it before she went to tell Lane.

The weird part was that at the Autumn Festival orchestral, Eleanor had spotted Elliott in the audience, which was a little confusing because why did he show up?

Then she remembered that Fiona had said that Elliott had a crush on her...

No, he didn't have a crush on her. That was stupid.

He probably showed up to watch her embarrass herself. But that's what she told herself.

There was a town meeting, which was something that Eleanor never really was interested in, because it was always the same. Taylor would bitch about something, Mayor Porter would bring up the reenactment, Luke would get mad and object, and there would be a verbal fight between him and the mayor, which is what Lorelai and Rory were more interested in.

Eleanor chose to hang out with her friends at Madison's place to watch movies. They were watching Friday the 13th.

"I don't get the whole strip Monopoly thing," Brad said.

"It's more exploitive than strip poker," Eleanor told him. "It's like—" she took on a salacious tone, "'oh, you don't have enough money to pay rent, do you?'"

Leslie laughed at that, "Oh, god yeah. 'You went to jail? Give me your pants.'"

"That's the start to something very horrible," Eleanor pointed out.

"We all should get together and play a riveting game of strip Monopoly," Arielle told them with a grin.

"Yeah and when we all start fighting, the police will show up to see a bunch of naked teens arguing about property taxes," Brad stated with a snicker.

"Yes," Arielle said with a grin.

Eleanor asked, "So, where should we play strip Monopoly?"

"The Dragonfly Inn," Brad said. "We won't get walked in on over there."

Leslie nodded, "Yeah, good idea."

"I'm up for it," Eleanor said with a shrug.

The next morning, Eleanor had gotten a banana nut muffin from Luke's Diner before she headed on over to the bus stop, meeting up with Rory and Lane on the way. Rory was looking through a text book.

"I just can't believe it," Lane was saying. "I mean, I've known him since the sixth grade, but suddenly he's different. He's not gangly anymore. You remember how gangly he was?"

Eleanor asked, "Who are you talking about?"

"Rich Bloomenfield," Lane told her.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Rory.

"You're not listening to me," Lane told Rory, looking and sounding hurt.

"I am," Rory replied, "I'm sorry. I just couldn't find my bookmark." She looked at Lane, "Okay, go ahead."

"Okay, here are the problems facing the whole Bloomenfield-Kim situation," Lane started.

"Ditch the hyphenation, it'll be too long," Eleanor told her.

"And it would be a pain," Rory added.

"Two, he's my band partner," Lane continued. "Romance would be completely awkward. Three, he's never even looked at me like I'm a girl or something resembling one."

They sat on the bench as Lane continued, "Four, there's now way I could convince my parents he was Korean. But I can't help it, I'm obsessed. Did I tell you about his hair?"

Rory joked, "It's on his head, right?"

"Hi," Dean said, sticking his head right in between Eleanor and Rory.

Eleanor almost shrieked. She really hated it when Dean did that and he knew it.

"Hi," Rory greeted him.

"Lane, Eleanor," Dean greeted them.

"Hi," Eleanor greeted a little flatly as she moved down the bench away from Rory. She knew Dean was going to sit next to Rory.

"Dean," Lane replied.

"Nice hat," Dean told Lane, sitting next to Rory. He handed her a book, "Here."

Rory asked him, "Oh, how'd you like it?"

Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Dean told her.

Eleanor thought, the fuck? She looked at Lane, "So, Rich?"

Lane nodded, "Yeah."

Eleanor asked, "Have you tried to talk to him?"

"I want to, but I don't know what to talk to him about," Lane told her.

Eleanor asked, "Does he still like Star Trek?"

"Lane, Nell; Dean likes Jane Austen," Rory interrupted.

Lane said, "Wow, who would've thought?" She didn't sound happy about it.

"Yeah," Eleanor replied.

"I told him he would, but he was all 'Forget Jane Austen, you have to read Hunter Thompson,'" Rory said.

"You do have to read Hunter Thompson," Dean insisted.

Eleanor looked at Lane again, "Ask Rich about Star Trek."

Lane said, "That's the one with Darth Vader, right?"

"No, that's Star Wars," Eleanor replied. "That'll be a good start. Maybe he'll tell you all about Star Trek and ask if you'll want to watch it with him."

"Maybe," Lane said.

"Ask him about the books too," Eleanor said. She cringed hearing her sister and Dean kissing.

"That's good, too," Rory told him.

"Okay, I gotta go," Lane said, getting up. "I am gonna be late for homeroom and I have that perfect attendance certificate in my sights."

"Good luck with your perfect attendance," Eleanor told her.

"Se you later," Rory told her.

"Yeah, see ya," Lane said. She seemed upset, probably because Rory was ignoring her.

Eleanor put her headphones on and turned on her Korn album to drown her sister and Dean out. She had also been getting into Slipknot, which was Brad's new favorite band at the moment, so she had to buy her own casette because they were growing on her.

At school, Eleanor tried to mock Elliot's grade, like they usually do, but he gave her a look and somehow she knew that it meant that he wasn't in the mood for it. It was kind of annoying that she knew how to read him and it was based off of what? Some bickering and a pretty decent conversation?

So, she didn't bother him and he didn't bother. It was going to be fine, Eleanor assumed at first. Of course, it took a turn when the snow started falling pretty hard and then Rory slipped twice, the second time Rory slipped; she took Eleanor down with her.

Then in psychology, the teacher, Ms. Roscoe, had given them a project and partnered them up.

What luck! She was partnered up with Elliot.

So, after school, Eleanor stood outside with Rory.

"I think I see the driver that Grandma sent us," Rory said, looking at the car.

"I'm going to Elliot and Fiona's house," Eleanor said. "We have a project for psychology, so I think we could try to get through it quickly and I could go to Grandma's.

"I'm not entirely sure you could make it in this weather," Rory pointed out.

Eleanor groaned because she didn't want to go to Ellliot's house. She spotted Fiona and Elliot, who were looking at her, waiting.

"Wish me luck," Eleanor muttered.

"Good luck," Rory said. "Try not to murder him."

"You're hilarious," Eleanor told her.

"You know I am," Rory replied with a smile.

Eleanor went to the car and Rory went to another.

Fiona let Eleanor borrow some clothes. Eleanor took a gray long-sleeved shirt and jeans. She also called her mother to let her know where she was, then called Emily to let her know where she was, then Emily called Fiona's and Elliot's parents, who were at work, about Eleanor being there.

It was pretty embarrassing being in this situation, but Eleanor had the feeling that Richard and Emily didn't mind that Eleanor wasn't with them.

Fiona had given Eleanor something to drink while Elliot changed. He finally came into the kitchen, wearing a red shirt with black thermal sleeves and regular jeans.

He seemed to sigh, "Are you ready?"

Eleanor nodded and followed him to his room.

Elliot closed the bedroom door behind them and stopped, "Do you want the door open?"

"It doesn't matter," Eleanor told him.

Elliot motioned to his desk and Eleanor glanced at the mirror that was probably the door to his closet. Talk about Def Leppard's Love Bites song lyric: 'when you make love, do you look in the mirror?'

She set her bag on the desk and sat down, while Elliot sat at the end of his bed, opening his backpack while Eleanor got her stuff out.

Her Korn cassette fell onto the ground and Elliot reached over and grabbed it. He looked at it and shrugged, "Do you want to listen to it?"

"Sure," Eleanor replied.

Elliot put it in a cassette player and played it.

They worked in mostly silence, before Elliot broke it by asking, "How long have you played the cello for?"

"I was about...twelve when I started playing the cello," Eleanor said. "Arielle, Madison, and Leslie joined me around then too. Brad started last year."

"Oh," Elliot said, "Any particular reason why you picked the cello?"

Eleanor shrugged, "I'm not sure. I guess I like the attention it gives me."

"I get it," Elliot told her. "I think. People ignore you, so when they're paying attention to you, it feels nice."

Eleanor shrugged, "Yeah. You just feel ignored for long enough and it's just nice to feel special sometimes."

They worked in silence for a few minutes when that song started playing. That song being Daddy.

"Oh, no, that song," Eleanor said.

Elliot asked, "What's wrong with it?"

"It's awful," Eleanor told him.

"How bad is the song? It sounds fine to me," Elliot told her.

"No, it's just the story behind it," Eleanor said. "I listened to it once and that was enough for me."

"Now you got me curious," Elliot told her.

Eleanor gave him a look and watched as Elliot seemed to grow confused, until the the chorus hit and he looked horrified.

Eleanor reached for the casette player, saying, "I don't want to listen—"

"I do," Elliot told her a little harshly.

"Okay," Eleanor said, taking her hand back and looking at her work. She hated the idea that a parent refuses to believe their own child. It was wrong.

She tried to block out the song and only tuned it when she heard sniffling. She looked over at Elliot, who had tears running down his cheeks. She went over to sit next to him and grabbed his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"My parents didn't believe me either," Elliot told her, wiping his face.

Eleanor had no clue what to say to that and looked around awkwardly. "That's awful." What does one say to something like that?

"Fiona and I were eight, and our parents made us attend a six-year-old girl's birthday party. I went to go to the bathroom, but the older sister, a sixteen-year-old girl, showed me where it was. I left the bathroom and expected her to lead me back to the party, but she – uh – she uh shoved me back in and she..." He trailed, looking like he was having trouble saying something.

"You don't have to tell me anything," Eleanor told him. 

"I told our parents and they told me to stop lying about serious things that only happed to girls," Elliot told her. "So, they just think that I'm some kind of lying monster and wrote me off."

"I believe you," Eleanor told him, because it's true. She believed him. "Thank you for trusting me with this." Elliot nodded, though he seemed like he was on the verge of crying, "Do you want me to leave you alone?" He nodded and she left the room.

She wasn't sure what or where to go while Elliot had a breakdown. She felt like she didn't belong in this house. She didn't know what to do with herself, so she was just standing there like an absolute moron.

Thankfully Fiona came out of her room and seemed confused, "What's up?"

Eleanor had no clue what to say. Should she tell Fiona about her brother having a breakdown? Did Fiona even know what happened to him? Should she tell Fiona? Eleanor wasn't entirely sure what do in this situation.

Fiona led Eleanor into the kitchen and the blonde looked around in some cupboards.

Eleanor asked, "Would you believe your kid if they told you that they were sexually assaulted?"

Fiona asked, "Elliot told you about what happened at that stupid party?"

"He told you about that?" asked Eleanor. Of course he would, they were twins. Sure, they weren't close, but they had to have been close once upon a time.

"Of course he told me," Fiona said. "He was never the same after he came out of that house. I told our parents that he's telling the truth, but they didn't want to hear it." She went to the fridge and opened it. "Do you want stew? I can make us some stew."

Eleanor asked, "Where are your parents?"

"They're staying at a friend's house since they were going to be late," Fiona said.

Eleanor nodded, "Oh. Here I'll help you."

They worked in silence on chopping up carrots, celery, onion, and stew meat.

"I can make bread rolls," Eleanor told her.

Fiona shrugged, "If you want." She got out a pot and added the broth and meat.

Eleanor was making the bread roll dough, and asked, "Does this happen often? Your parents always being gone?"

"Not often. Once every few months," Fiona said. "It's worse during tax season." She waved a wooden spoon around. "I'm surprised he told you. He never told any of his former crushes about what happened to him."

Eleanor wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. 

The three of them ate stew and bread rolls in the dining room. Elliot had seemed to have pulled himself together and seemed less tense since his parents weren't around. It was strange having silence over dinner. She, Rory, and Lorelai would talk about anything during dinner. Sometimes Lorelai would argue over Emily during the Friday Night Dinners. This was just too quiet. Maybe it was her presence.

So, she asked, "Have any of you played strip Monopoly?" She almost face-palmed at that.

"Strip Monopoly?" asked Fiona.

"I never heard of strip Monopoly," Elliot said. "I heard of strip Solitaire."

Fiona asked him, "How do you play strip Solitaire? That's a single person game."

Eleanor laughed, "Do you strip if you lose a game? Just sit there naked and looking at your cards?"

Elliot asked, "Why did you bring this up?"

"My friends and I were going to play strip Monopoly some day," Eleanor said.

Fiona seemed confused, "Why?"

"We saw it in Friday the 13th," Eleanor explained.

"Well, I'm not playing any stripping game," Elliot told them.

"That's because no one wants to see your goblin body," Fiona told Elliot, flicking a piece of bread roll at him.

Eleanor wasn't sure what to say to that because she didn't think Elliot was 'goblin-ish'.

Fiona drove Eleanor to Emily's house (Eleanor had changed back into her school uniform) and she and Rory took a ride back to their home in Stars Hollow. It was pretty weird, but the good thing was that she and Elliot finished their project and only have to see each other in school. He also took her Korn cassette since probably he found something to relate to.

"How was staying the night with your 'mortal enemy'?" Rory asked, using air quotes.

"He told me something," Eleanor said.

Rory asked, "Do I have to yell at him, like I did to that one guy at the movie theater?"

"No," Eleanor said. "He was eight and his parents didn't believe him."

It took Rory a little while to figure out what she meant, "Oh. That's awful." She took out a photo booth strip and looked at it. It looked to be from when Lorelai and Christopher were younger – at least, pre-Rory and Eleanor.

Rory asked her, "Do you think Mom will ever be as happy as she was with Dad?"

It was that question. Rory was always hopeful that Lorelai and Christopher would get back together, but Eleanor on the other hand, wasn't sure. Sure it would be great to pretend to be some big happy family, but she can't lie to Rory.

"She'll find someone that'll make her that happy eventually," Eleanor told her.

Rory asked, "Do you think it's Mr. Medina?"

"Maybe," Eleanor told her.

They eventually pulled up to the house and Lance let Rory out, so Eleanor scooted across the seat to get out. She thanked Lance and walked up the steps to the door.

Lorelai pulled open the door and said, "Hi."

Eleanor jerked back a little, "Hello."

"Hi," Rory said. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Lorelai said. "What's up with you two?"

"Whatever you have to tell us, just spit it out already," Eleanor said.

"Boy, you're so smart," Lorelai told her. "Right, okay, here we go. I've got a boy in the house."

Rory, confused, said, "You what?"

Lorelai spoke quickly, "Nothing happened, I swear. He slept the whole night on the couch. And you two know him."

Rory said, "We do?"

"And you two like him. I don't know if that's relevant, I just thought that I would throw that in there," Lorelai said. She led them inside the house and to the living room, where Mr. Medina was sleeping.

"It's Mr. Medina," Rory pointed out.

"I know," Lorelai said.

Rory said, "Our English teacher is on our couch."

"It was the snow," Lorelai explained. "You know how I get. It's like catnip. I was walking, he was there, his car was broken, we had fiesta burgers. It was the snow...Rory, Nell, say something."

"If he makes you happy," Eleanor said and went into the kitchen to get some coffee.

"Rory, talk to me," Lorelai needled the silent girl. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know," Rory said.

"Take a guess," Lorelai pleaded. "Angry, frustrated, nauseous?"

"Weird," Rory said. "I feel weird. Has he been here all night?"

"Pretty much," Lorelai told her.

"Oh my god," Rory said. "Did he go into the bathroom? Nell and I have stuff hanging in there!"

Eleanor snickered at the mental image of Mr. Medina walking into the bathroom and looking at an overly large bra dangling on the shower rod in horror, complete with the Psycho strings playing in the background.

"Honey, you knew I was gonna date him, right?" asked Lorelai. "This isn't a total surprise."

Eleanor went upstairs to ger room to change instead, because this was a Lorelai and Rory talk.