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02.06: presenting lorelai gilmore
07: ❝ suck it up, buttercup  ❞
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     "Did you know Caesar goes to Chilton?" Everleigh questions, jumping in the bed next to Blaze.

     "Isn't that the same school Rory goes to?" Blaze adds, glancing at her as she leans against the bed frame — copying her boyfriend's position.

    "Yeah," The girl nods as she plays with her fingers, " But I just never expected him to be a private school type of guy."

    "Well, maybe he got in because he's smart." Her boyfriend suggests.

     That made her head shot back up and stare at him with brows intertwined, "But I'm smart."

     He slowly starts leaning in with a smile lingering on his lips, kissing her cheek, "I know you are."

    Pouting, she continues complaining, "Then why can't I be a Chilton girl?"

    Blaze leans back and tilts his head, "Why is this such a big of a deal to you?"

    The girl hesitates for a second, "It's not, I am just surprised about Caesar." She looks down, " That's all."

    "Okay, good. " Not seeing the bothered look on his girlfriend's face, the boy leans closer to her once again. Wrapping his hand around her waist to pull her closer to him, "Can we just go back to kissing now?"

    Everleigh glances at him and rolls her eyes but gives her full divided attention to her boyfriend as she wraps her hands around his face, "Fine."

     But just as the girl starts pulling her boyfriend closer to her, a voice calls out her name from outside of her room. Making not only her eyes but also Blaze's eyes go wide in panic. The boy jumps at her dad's voice and the girl accidentally pushes the guy off the bed, making him fall on the ground with a loud thud.

     "Eve?" She hears her dad's voice getting closer to her room, "Are you home?"

    Panicking both teens jump up on their feet and throw their hands in air; both sharing the same expressions. Everleigh grabs Blaze by hand and drags him to her hiding spot. Just as the girl pushes him into the closet, she leans against the closet door to keep it shut and her dad walks in.

    Flustered, the girl greets, "Oh, hi."

    "Hi?" Her dad eyes her with a suspicious look and looks around her room, "You okay?"

    " Me? Yeah, fine." The girl pushes strand of hair away from her face as she exhales heavily, "Why — why would you ask?"

    Raising a brow, her dad states, " Heard a bang and you're out of breath."

    "Oh, that?" She gestures around her bed, "That was just a box. It fell, so I had to carry it."

    "Oh?" He stares back at her, his doubtfulness never changing.

    Knowing her dad will ask further questions she changes the subject, "Is there anything you need?"

    Opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, he thinks for a second and looks back at his daughter, "I was just wondering what you want for dinner."

     "I'm not hungry, I ate at Luke's."

    "When?"

    "An hour ago."

    "You did?"

    "Yeah. Once I was done with my shift, unless you don't trust your own sweet and innocent daughter." The girl places her hand on her chest.

    Her dad rolls his eyes at the daughter, "Well, I'm just checking."

    Nodding her head, the girl waits for her dad to leave. However, the man stays put and a corner of his lip was trying to tug upwards as he watches his daughter getting more agitated by his presence. The girl sighs, "Is there anything else you need?"

    "Nope," He shakes his head and she could see him trying not to smirk as he says, "I'll head downstairs."

    The girl nods again and this time her dad finally leaves her room. Hearing the doors shut close, her shoulders fall and steps back from the closet. Her boyfriend's head peaks out and he asks, "How long do we have to hide from your dad?"

     "If you got a death wish, we can go ahead and announce our reconciliation right now. I just hope you know what type of funeral you want and where you want to be buried." The girl mumbles on.

    The boy steps out of a closet and smiles, "Stop being so dramatic."

    "Oh, shut up."

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     The next morning the girl quietly makes her way down the stairs and into a kitchen, wanting to grab a fruit on the go before leaving the house. However, just as the girl steps a foot inside the kitchen, she notices her dad sitting by the table, reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. Everleigh turns around before he could see her but it was already too late for her to escape.

    "So when did you two get back together?" He asks and the girl sighs heavily before facing him.

    Stuttering the girl answers, "Uhm-wha — wh-who?"

    "You and Blaze." Her dad looks up at her, "You're back together, right?"

   Everleigh laughs, "Nope, not together, long over, me and Blaze ooooover."

    "So who stayed over last night?"

    " Peter Pan. "

    "Huh, almost looked like Blaze to me." Her dad mumbles back and she tries denying until he stops her "I know."

    "I have no idea what you're talking about."

    "You hiding him in the closet is nothing new to me. That used to be me back when I was a teenager running around with your mom."

    Everleigh fakes a yawn, bored of the overheard story. "Okay, Romeo. I've heard your sappy story plenty of times. I have to go now."

    The teen knowing her boyfriend was waiting outside, tries turning and walking again but her dad wasn't done interrogating her. And the next question really made her stop;

    "Are you sure you're making the right decision?"

    Confused, she turns to glance to him with her hands crossed over her chest, "Blaze and I have a plan to follow through. Relationships have their ups and downs, so we needed to fix things."

    "You two got a plan?"

    She looks away and waves her hands as she speaks, "Yeah, the same old thing; get in college, graduate, move in together, get married and see what follows after."

    Stunned, her dad admits, "You do know, you don't have to marry your first boyfriend if you don't want to. Things happen and things change, that's okay."

    The girl was so not ready for a conversation like that, especially in the morning. She rubs her eyes, "Dad, it's too early for this, I'm going."

    This time she didn't let her dad stop her, no matter what he had to say. He did manage to shout back as the girl approaches the front door, "Tell Blaze, he can use the front doors next time!"

    Stepping outside, she finds Blaze leaning against the tree and raises a brow once he hears his girlfriend walking down the porch steps, "Did you run into your dad?"

    "Yup, " The girl carries on walking without stopping. Blaze trails after her, "He knows."

    That made the boy stop dead in his tracks, his face becoming pale as a ghost and fear written all over his eyes, "What?"

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     On their way to Luke's, Everleigh spent most of the time assuring her boyfriend her dad was not going to kill him or plan his murder. The comment she made last night was just her being her and wanting to spook her boyfriend a little bit more than she should. Especially knowing the millions of questions he would be shooting at her once her dad did find out. Now she had to make sure he knew her dad was fine with him.

    Their conversation fades as soon as they step inside the Luke's and find Caesar running around, doing refills, taking orders and grabbing dirty dishes. Eyeing the whole place, the two share a look with one another.

    Noticing Everleigh, Caesar's whole body practically relaxes at the sight of the girl. He approaches them, "Good, you're here."

    "That's a first," The Morgan girl mumbles, only to receive a jab from her boyfriend and a disapproving look from Caesar, "Sorry. Where's Luke?"

    "Warehouse." Caesar moves to do the refills as the couple continue standing by the entry, "The delivery guy's van broke down, so Luke had to get some things for us to last all day."

    Amazed at Caesar's multitasking, she asks, "And you've been doing this on your own?"

    Stressing, he states the obvious, "I didn't have a choice."

    Not being able to see the person she was looking for, she asks even further, "Where's Jess?"

    "Where do you think?"

    Blaze watches as his girlfriend slowly closes her eyes and exhales heavily. He knew exactly what she was going to do next. He was there when Luke asked for the favor, so not wanting to be in the way of it, he announces. "Guess that's my cue to leave. I'll be at Dean's if you need anything."

    "Yeah, that's fine," She nods, "I'll see you after."

    Blaze leans in and kisses her cheek, "I love you."

    Mumbling back, she replies, "I love you too."

    She walks away without sparing a glance back at her boyfriend but hearing the doorbell chime, she only assumes he left. Caesar watches as she walks past him and to the back. Baffled, the guy follows after her and stops her as she manages to walk up the three first steps. He throws his hands up in the air, "Where are you going?"

    She looks back at him, "Do you trust me?"

    "No."

    That leaves her quiet for a second, "... Okay, that's not the answer I was waiting for — " He glares at her, " Just trust me okay, I'll bring him down."

     Caesar points out as the girl carries walking up the stairs, "He's not going to help."

    "Nor is George Bush but here we are hoping anyways." The girl comments as she reaches the upstairs.

    She doesn't bother knocking the door, as she enters the apartment. Only to find Jess reading a book on an air bed. Scoffing, the girl approaches the guy and without saying a word she grabs the book from Jess's hands.

    "Woah, hey!" Jess stands up.

    She steps back and admires the book he was reading, "Oh cool, you're reading Salman Rushdie, maybe try Edgar Allen Poe while you're at it."

    "What are you doing here?" He asks.

    "Me?" She points at herself and sways back and forth, "Oh, you know just checking in, seeing if you're settled well here in Stars Hollow and doing well helping out Luke downstairs." She exaggerates the last part so the guy gets it.

    And he did, "I'm sure you'll be just fine without me."

    "I'm glad you got an opinion of yours but you see I am so mighty helpless, I need you downstairs." She responds sarcastically, waving her hand that was holding a book, "You know, to boost that testosterone level."

    Jess reaches for his book and Everleigh just steps back. The guy narrows his eyes at her and puffs, "Give me my book back."

    "Not until you agree to come downstairs." She retorts.

    "I'm good up here, so I'll pass," He reaches for the book again, only for the girl to pull the book away from him again, "Morgan, I want my book back."

    She gestures at him, "Cute tantrum you got there going on, Mariano. No, seriously puts Billy Madison to shame."

    He sighs, "There's no point of me going downstairs when you get everything done on your own." He extends his arm out, "Now, give me back my book."

    "Fine, whatever. Have your book back, "She gives him the book back as she rolls her eyes. As soon as the book was back in Jess's possession, the girl makes her way to the door until she stops to face Jess one more time, "I know you don't want to be here or in this town to begin with but it's not like you have a choice either. So suck it up, Buttercup. Quite frankly, I don't care what you decide to do but Luke wanted me to help you. I'm just doing what I was asked to do. "The boy simply raises a brow at the girl's rambling. Leading the girl to start getting agitated, "You know, even Edward Scissorhands has a wider vocabulary than you."

    With that, she leaves the guy be and walks back downstairs. As she reaches the diner, Caesar looks up at her with a glimpse of hope in his eyes but that soon disappears, seeing as it was only her.

    "Great, He's not coming." Caesar mumbles as Everleigh stands next to him behind the counter.

    The girl only raises a finger up, making Caesar arch a brow at the girl's action. Just as the girl points her finger up, the two faintly hear footsteps approaching from above them. Soon after the curtains swing open, revealing Jess. A wide smile spreads on her face at his presence, leaving the boy utterly confused as he pulls a face at her.

     She turns back to Caesar, her smile never leaving her face, " I told you I'll get him downstairs."

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     Maybe it was for the best if she did leave Jess alone upstairs.

     In fact, she should have not even considered dragging him downstairs. Caesar and her always have everything under control and can do things without help. They did it before she found out Jess existed in the first place.

    Throughout her shift, Jess was following her every move and asking every small thing there was possible to ask about. Even if he knew how to do things. She knew he was doing that just to get on her nerves and prove a point, she was just fine without him.

    She most definitely was not going to admit that. Not to him and see the smug look on his face.

    "You can stand here, doing nothing and it won't affect me," Everleigh notes, grabbing the empty coffee cups, "Luke told me to get you in a diner and that's what I did."

    "Have you noticed, you are the only one who is bothered by this whole thing?" He points out, resting back behind the counter.

    "I'm not bothered." The girl fires back, she stops by the till machine end and glares at Jess, "I am just fine."

    He stands up straight and slowly walks backwards, "So you'll be fine if I just quickly go upstairs and just...,"

    "Don't —" The girl warns, pointing but just as she did so he slips through the curtains and up the stairs. Everleigh chases after him, "Jess!"

    Running up the stairs she finds the guy leaning against Luke's apartment's door with a smirk on his face. He starts waving a finger around as he states, "I'm kinda getting weird signals from you. "The girl rolls her eyes as she walks around the guy, putting her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down the stairs. He didn't fight back either, he simply allowed her to guide him back to diner, "One minute you ignore me and the next you practically chase after me. — Feeling very flattered by the way."

    "You are so annoying." She mumbles, not letting go of him.

    "And there it is again." He points out melodramatically.

    As she pushes him through the curtains, her attention goes to the entrance where she found her boyfriend standing there. Her hands instantly drop from Jess's shoulders, "Blaze!"

    She lifts her watch to look at the time, knowing her shift has ended and the girl removes the apron before approaching Blaze. Completely forgetting about another boy watching the two interacting with one another as he stood by the end of the counter.

    Almost as if feeling his eyes on them, Blaze breaks his eye contact with Everleigh to find Jess glancing at them. Blaze decides to introduce himself as he approaches Jess. Everleigh is left muddled at the sudden move but follows after him.

    "You must be Jess." Blaze extends his arm out and the girl eyes her boyfriend, "My girlfriend told me a lot about you."

    Everleigh arches a brow at the sharp mention but chooses to ignore. Jess on the other hand glances at Blaze's hand but doesn't shake it. He also picked up on Blaze's tone of voice as he says, "Wish I could say the same, your girlfriend didn't mention anything about you."

    "Because opening a till requires talking about my love life." The teen girl chuckles, trying to ease the tension.

    "Whatever," Jess says, grabbing a cloth and walking passed the two, "I've got to go back to work."

    Everleigh's mouth continues opening and closing at the drastic change in atmosphere. All day the boy has done nothing but annoy Everleigh but now she actually saw him doing work.

    "Ready to go?" Blaze asks, making the girl focus back on her boyfriend.

    "Yeah," She nods, looking back at her boyfriend and the two make their way out of the diner, "Let's go."

    As they exit Luke's, Blaze adds, "So that's Jess."

    "Yup," He lazily hangs an arm around her shoulder and glances back to the diner. Everleigh doesn't notice, "He isn't all that bad."

    "Sure, he isn't."

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     There are plenty of things Everleigh has done for Dean. She has prepared him for dates, given ideas for birthdays, encouraged him to celebrate his birthdays and on some fancy occasions helped him choose an outfit.

    But never she had imagined Dean going to a very glamorous Debutante Ball. To be quite honest, she didn't even know a Coming Out party existed until now. Her best friend didn't like the idea of going but she found enjoyment in his grumpiness.

    "This is ridiculous." Dean scoffs.

    "You're ridiculous." Everleigh fires back.

    "I don't want to go to that Rory's coming out party wearing all this." He looks at his reflection in the mirror as he puts the tailcoat on.

    "She's your girlfriend. "The girl suggests, standing up from the bed, "She's asking a tiny favor from you and that's it."

    He turns to her, unimpressed, " I got to wear gloves."

    "Stop whining, " The girl sighs as he gives her a white bow tie, "Think about something else."

    "Fine." Dean sits down on his bed so Everleigh can tie his bow without struggling, 'Have you met Jess yet?"

    "Jeez, Mr. Wilson, you are a real ray of sunshine." He gives her a look, "Yes, I have."

    "You met him at that Lorelai's dinner party, right?"

    "Kinda," She shrugs, "I barely spoke to him that night but I see him at Luke's a lot and we sometimes talk."

    "Oh."

   Everleigh notices his hesitation as she finishes tying the bow and steps back, "Why?"

    "It's just...," Dean tries and shifts his weight, "Blaze said there's something about the guy he doesn't like."

    "Like what?" She wonders.

    "I don't know, he didn't specify, " He raises his shoulders up, "Have you seen him hangout with Rory?"

    "Who? Blaze?"

    "No, Jess."

    She crosses her arms over her chest, "You do realize, she's allowed to have guy friends, right? We're friends."

    "I've known you most of my life." Her best friend replies.

    "Yeah but it doesn't change things." The comments, "You're fine with Blaze and Rory being friends, aren't you?"

    "Yeah but you are together with Blaze."

    "And if I wasn't?"

    He shrugs as she sits down next to him, "You two are together and Rory and I are together, so nothing could happen."

    "You have to trust her." Everleigh tells him, "You two are past the liking stage. There's love and trust in the relationship now."

    "I thought you didn't like Rory?" He glances at Everleigh.

    "Oh, shut up." She bumps her shoulder against his and chuckles.

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NOTE: 

          i got tested positive for covid, so i managed to finally update the story while being ill. i'm just happy jess and everleigh are starting to interact more with one another. even though i wish this chapter didn't exist.

         also, i would like to say i know that not all parents would be cool with their child's boyfriend or girlfriend staying over at such a young age but when i was seventeen i would stay at that time boyfriend's place all the time. especially on the weekends. so i'm basing that from my experience. 

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REFERENCES:

          ☕️ everleigh: "okay, romeo."

play — romeo and juliet by shakespeare ( 1597 )

[ i think it's self explanatory with this one. when everleigh's mom and dad were their age they sneaked around without their parents knowing. ]

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          ☕️ everleigh: "peter pan."

animated movie — peter pan ( 1953 )

[ she only referenced peter pan because he whisked wendy, john and michael away during the night time and it was obviously late at night when blaze stayed over ]

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          ☕️everleigh: " nor is george bush but here we are hoping anyways. "

politician — george w. bush ( 1946 - present )

[ at the time of this season when it was written i assume,  george bush was just a president elect, so her comment states that she doesn't think he will do any good for the country but hopes anyways ]

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          ☕️ everleigh: "oh cool, you're reading salman rushdie, maybe try edgar allen poe while you're at it."

book — midnight's children by salman rushdie ( 1981 )

[ in the gilmore girls series, this book was never mentioned or referenced but you can see it in some of the jess scenes at luke's apartment. i got the exact same book so that's the only reason why i know what it's called. ]

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         ☕️everleigh:  "oh cool, you're reading salman rushdie, maybe try edgar allen poe while you're at it."

author — edgar allen poe ( 1809 – 1849 )

[ i only mentioned edgar allen poe because of his short stories and that's what everleigh was referring to ]

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          ☕️everleigh: "no, seriously puts billy madison to shame."

movie — billy madison ( 1995 )

[ if you have not seen billy madison, it's literally about an adult guy still acting like a child. so that's where the reference comes from ]

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          ☕️everleigh: "you know, even edward scissorhands has a wider vocabulary than you."

movie — edward scissorhands ( 1990 )

[ edward scissorhands barely would say anything in the movie, so everleigh was just making a comment about jess not being talkative when she was waiting for a reply from him ]

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          ☕️everleigh: "so suck it up, buttercup."

tv show — the powerpuff girls (1998 - 2005 )

[ originally i was going for buttercup boy version of butch but it didn't feel right so i changed it to buttercup. i don't think i have to explain the powerpuff girls everyone knows this show. ]

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           ☕️ everyleigh: "jeez, mr. wilson, you are a real ray of sunshine"

movie — dennis the menace ( 1993 )

[ mr. wilson was a really grumpy character and dennis made his life a living hell because of his mischiefs. iconic movie. ]

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