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02.03: red light on the wedding night
04: ❝ hello, connecticut! ❞
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     This was weird.

     No like, really, really weird.

    She was in Stars Hollow no longer as a visitor but as a residence member. Stars Hollow was going to be her home. Stars Hollow is her home.

    That sounds extremely odd. It didn't feel home-y. Not even the slightest. Maybe because they didn't have a place to live just yet or maybe because they were staying in a Inn for the next few days. Either way, the town didn't feel like a home to her and that did upset her.

    From the bright side: Dean was here.

    From the down side: Blaze was also here.

    And even from the downest side (yes, she knows that's not a word): Blaze and Dean were friends.

    She really did come to the conclusion, dating someone and being in the same friend group sucked because in situations like there, things got weird. Someone should've told her that three years ago when Blaze was just a little crush for her and not the love of her life.

    She blames Dean. He's an easy target.

    Walking inside the Independence Inn, she takes in the view around her. A smell of lavender and lemon hits her as she slowly spins around, taking in how pretty everything looked. She wasn't expecting the reception area to look so spacious and so decorative. (Bare in mind, the inns she's been to have always been tiny and complete opposite of what the Independence Inn was).

    "Dean's friend!" A familiar voice calls. Everleigh looks up as her grip around the suitcase handle tightens. Lorelai makes her way towards the teenager with a bright smile, "What are you doing here? Rory said you were in Chicago."

    "Well, I'm here now," She shifts her weight, "I actually have a booked room."

    "Oh," That surprises Lorelai, "Aren't you the same age as my daughter?"

     "Yup, seventeen for a couple of months," Everleigh adds, "It's under my dad's name. He called yesterday to let the Inn know."

      Now that rings a bell; Lorelai points a finger up, "Ah, yes. That was me on the phone. Now I do remember." Lorelai starts walking back to the reception table and Everleigh takes that as a signal to follow her. The woman glances at the girl, "You're not going to hide around the corner and pretend to be your dad for confirmation?"

     Everleigh smiles, "Only if i was twelve and lost in New York."

     "Good answer," Lorelai smirks as she points a finger at her. The teen watches as she walks around the table to stand next to another employee. His eyes never leave a file book, "Michel will take your bags."

     "No." The man next to her,Michel says. She picks up on the French accent.

      "Michel..." Lorelai chuckles nervously with gritted teeth, "She's our guest."

     "Oh, is she?" Michel's eyes still not moving from the pile of files on the table, "I wouldn't have guessed."

    Feeling thrown off by his unpleasantness, she shakes off Lorelai's offer, "It's fine. It's just a suitcase I have. I'll be fine from here."

    Now the guy looks up with a forced sarcastic smile, "Mhh, yeah, Lorelai. It's just a suitcase. She can do it herself."

     "Michel."

     "Fine." He sighs heavily, "You own me."

     Yeah, Stars Hollow was a weird place. She'll have to get used to being here.

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    The town was still the same as she remembers. — she says that, like years have gone by since she last stepped a foot in the town. In reality it's only been two weeks. The only difference this time: she wasn't running from her problems. She was facing them.

    No, seriously, she was looking at one of her problems.

    She abruptly halts her movements by Teriyaki Joe's as the girl comes face to face with the Gilmore Girl. Both sharing the same expression of annoyance.

    "Rory." Everleigh greets flatly.

     Rory matches the tone, "Everleigh."

     Seeing as both girls had nothing else to say to one another. The Morgan girl takes that as her cue to walk past the Gilmore. Only to be stopped again by Rory's curiosity, "What's your problem with me?"

    That surprises her but brushes off the question, "There's no problem."

    "Yes, there is."

    "No there's not."

    "Fine, you want me to ask," Rory waves her hands in frustration, "Why don't you like me?"

    Rory's question tickles her; she chuckles, "Ask again, once you're done messing with Dean's head."

    After her statement she thought that would make the other girl think but she most certainly was wrong. As Everleigh turns around to finally leave, Rory stops her again, "You don't like me, that's fine but Dean is my boyfriend and you're going to see me around whether you like it or not."

    Everleigh sighs, "That's fine by me. I respect his decision for going back to you. I know what it's like to want to forgive and forget."

    She has been thinking a lot about her and Blaze. She misses him, and it hurts that she misses him. Everleigh wants to forgive and forget.

    "Then why are you making me the bad guy here?"

    "Because you are one." Everleigh states like it wasn't obvious enough, "— Look, Rory. I can forgive you for being with him but I can't forgive you for breaking his heart and making the whole town go against him. You couldn't say the three words back, yet you allowed everyone to put the blame on him and not you. That's a sign of cowardice and I don't like cowards." Rory stays quiet; Everleigh points at her, "That's exactly my point."

    Both continue staring at one another with squinted eyes but that gets interrupted by someone calling their names. Someone very familiar; Her best friend. And suddenly their countenance switches with the snap of fingers. Rory and Everleigh suddenly wear smiles on their faces but tension still lingering.

    "Well, well, well," Everleigh starts, changing the subject as she crosses arms over her chest, "Look what cat dragged out of the bag."

    "What are you two doing here?" He asks, his tone uneasy. Everleigh picks it up quickly.

    Rory, not allowing the girl to answer, says, "We were just planning to spend more time together, so we can get to know one another. Right, Everleigh?"

   She has the urge to glare at Rory. She really has the urge to glare but stops herself for her best friend's sake. Instead, she simply forced a smile to stay on her face. Far too forced to look genuine, "Right. Rory has some great plans for both of us."

   The tension grew more between both of them but Rory actually seems to enjoy the moment. Rory's smile was no longer forced, it was genuine, "Exactly."

    "We'd make Buffy and Faith proud," Everleigh comments but turns her head to Dean. He didn't seem to buy the act, "Where were you? I tried calling."

    Dean looks away and rubs the back of his neck, "I was with ... uh,"

    The hesitation made her realize and her shoulders fall in defeat."...Oh," The girl tries to wave it off, "No, it's fine. He is your friend. It's fine."

   "I know how weird this must be for you," Dean cringes.

    "Meh, I'll live." Everleigh waves a hand, "We all knew this was going to happen one way or another."

    Dean glances down to Rory whom seems to avoid the conversation between him and Everleigh as she keeps looking away. Dean looks back at his best friend, "Still doesn't make it less weird."

    Everleigh rolls her eyes as she walks past Rory and Dean, making her way to a place she spotted a second ago, "Well, sucks to be you."

    Rory creases her eyebrows, "Where are you going?"

    The Morgan girl turns around and slowly starts walking backwards. A wide smile spreads across her face, "To Luke's."

    Glancing between both girls, Dean nods, "We'll come with you."

    His best friend chuckles, "Yeah, no." She gestures a finger at the couple, "You two go and do your coupley thing while you can. I will annoy others, I'm bored."

    She spins back around, facing the direction of dinner and carries on walking without waiting for a reply. The teen was aware Rory's mom had her bachelorette party a few days ago, meaning the wedding was happening in the next couple of days and Dean wanted to spend more time with Rory.

   To be completely honest there was nothing she could talk about with Dean. Besides maybe deciding his suit for the big day — That or make fun of him for wearing one in the first place.

    But meantime, she wanted to get one other's nerves and she knew exactly who was her target. Allowing the small bell to chime as she enters the diner, her eyes wonder across the space. Finding him standing behind the counter;

    "You haven't changed it."

    "Changed what?" Luke glances at her in confusion

    Pointing outside, she replies, "William's hardware, it still exists. Not Luke's."

    "What —?" His eyebrows knit together for a second but all of the sudden his expression drops, "Oh, it's you."

    "So enthusiastic to see me, top notch performance," She exaggerates as she squints her eyes, "Did you go to Juilliard for a skill like that?"

    "I thought you went back to Chicago?"

    "I did —" She starts but stops realizing he is the second person to wonder about her whereabouts. That makes her lean on the counter with wide eyes, "Wait, people actually talk about me? That's so cool. What else people have been saying? Do they think I'm awesome?!—"

    "Why are you here?" He interrupts her rambling excitement.

    "Party pooper —" Teen's smile drops, "Are you looking for new people for your diner?"

    "No."

    "Why?"

    "Because I don't need any?"

    "But why?" Everleigh asks again.

    "Did you not hear what I just said?" Luke retorts.

    "I didn't like your answer, so I'm ignoring it." Everleigh's smile widens and Luke sighs heavily.

    "Still no."

    "I'd make an excellent coffee pourer."

    "No!"

    Just as Luke declines her offer once again, their back and forth conversation abruptly stops at the sound of a loud crash coming from the back. Everyone's attention in the diner makes them turn their heads in a direction of a sound. A man in mid-thirties walks out fully covered in flour. Teen girl covers her mouth as laughter escapes from her.

    "For Pete's Sake!" The man takes off the apron and drops it on the floor. He points a finger at Luke, "I told you, Luke. I'm done — I-I can't take this anymore. I quit."

    Luke tries calling out for him to stop but he tunes off his voice. Storming off he leaves the diner, everyone stunned by the man's actions. Everleigh arches a brow and Luke sighs with his eyes closed, "When can you start?"

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     "I got a job!"

     Everleigh announces as she walks into her dad's temporary room. Part of her still out of breath from running up the Inn stairs, too eager to tell her dad the good news.

    He has only been in town for a day and even then she has seen him for a few hours. If it wasn't for her new job in a diner she'd be spending her time at the Inn.

    Stunned, her dad asks, "What?"

    He sits up in the bed and pauses the television, his focus on his daughter. Everleigh nods her head as she moves to sit on the side of the bed. A smile never leaving her face.

    "Yeah, I got a job," She waves her hands around, "The guy I have to work for — Luke — is so cool. I can easily annoy him and he lets me."

    "He lets you?" He doubts and the girl nods along, "Wait, you're serious."

    Teen pulls a face, "Yes, I'm serious. I've got a job."

    "How?"

    "What do you mean 'How'?" She repeats his question, "You go in, ask and hope for the best."

    "I know that, but —,"Her dad rolls his eyes, "—but it won't affect your school schedule, right?"

    "It shouldn't." She shrugs, "I mean, I started the same day as I asked."

    "So how was it?" He wonders about her first shift.

    "I loved it!", She starts, "The chef, Caesar? Cooks me food — whatever and whenever I want just to shut me up. I think I found my soulmate. And Luke? At one point I started speaking Latvian with him just to get a free donut ."

    He smiles at his daughter for a second before hesitating to ask, "Do you think you'll like it here then?"

   Teen's smile falters. She hasn't thought about that all day and sure the town was a little bit different from Chicago — way different from Chicago but she didn't have one bad thing to say.

    "I mean," She shrugs and shifts her weight on the bed, "It's one unusual town with unusual people."

    "Well," He purses his lips together before saying, "On that note, I found us a house."

    Her eyes light up, "You did?!"

    "Yeah," He nods his head, "May and Randy have been really helpful with finding us a place."

    She tilts her head, "What about the rooms in the house?"

    "What about them?"

    Her back straightens at the question, ''Uh, are we allowed to paint the walls ourselves?"

   ''Yeah?" Her dad's brows knit together, "Why? You want them different?"

   "I want them purple," She says without hesitating, "For my room, I mean."

    "Why?"

    She shrugs looking down, "No reason. Just want it purple, it looks pretty."

    She did have a reason.

    Her dad nods, "Okay, we will figure something out then."

    She looks back up and smiles before excusing herself to the bathroom. Her dad was still sitting on the bed confused by the question. Even if her dad had millions of questions for her, it was put on hold as a knock disturbs him.

    Standing up and making his way to the doors he swings it open, only to come face to face with the boy holding his daughter's heart.

    "Blaze?" He asks, popping his head in the hallway and looking both ways before turning his attention back at the boy, "What are you doing here?"

    "Rory told me where you were." Blaze points with a thumb back, "Before you ask how I found you."

    His eyebrows intertwine together, confused by who he just mentioned, "Still doesn't answer my question, what are you doing here?"

    "I-I..." Blaze looks away from him, "I was wondering if I could speak to Everleigh."

    His shoulders fall as he exhales heavily, "I don't think it's a good idea."

    "Mr. Morgan, I know you know what happened —" Blaze starts.

    "—And that's exactly why it's not a good idea." He interjects before the boy could finish. However, after seeing defeat in the teen; he adds. "Look, once Eve is ready to talk, she'll talk. You know she will, just... give her time."

    "But—," Blaze tries again.

    "You have to deal with the consequences of your own actions. Eve doesn't want to speak with you right now, so it's best if you leave."

    Blaze looks down at his shoes, "What if she doesn't?"

    "She will."

    "Okay," Taking a long pause he finally adds, "I guess I have to go then."

    Slowly agreeing with the boy, he watches Blaze making his way out to the point he no longer was in Mark's eyesight. Closing the doors being him, he sighs.

    "Who was that?" The teen girl suddenly says coming out of the bathroom.

    "Uh, no one." He claps his hands together as he faces his daughter, "Just someone got the wrong room."

    "Oh, okay." She replies, plopping down on the bed and grabs the remote, " I don't know about you but I'm starving, so I'm ordering food."

    Everleigh's dad chuckles, easing up. He was just glad she didn't ask more questions.

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REFERENCES:

              ☕️ chapter title: hello, connecticut!

tv show — that '70s show ( 1998 – 2006 )

[ basically the line, "hello, wisconsin!" they use by the end of their theme song ]

—

             ☕️ lorelai: "you're not going to hide around the corner and pretend to be your dad for confirmation?"

             ☕️ everleigh: "only if i was twelve and lost in new york."

movie — home alone 2: lost in new york ( 1992 )

—

            ☕️ everleigh: "we'd make buffy and faith proud."

tv show — buffy the vampire slayer ( 1997 - 2003 )

[ i had my reasons as of why i made that reference :') ]

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     rory and everleigh not liking each other is what im going to enjoy writing the most. there are reasons why they dont like one another. they'll address it in future chapters, but some will not be said verbally just by certain actions...

    also please don't ask me for updates, i have two jobs and only have one day off out of seven. so i will be updating the story whenever i can. plus i really need the money right now as i am in fact meeting jensen ackles and jared padalecki next september, so i need to save up as much as possible :')