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2.11: richard in stars hollow
16: ❝ everleigh in new york ❞
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✨☕️✨

what do you say? are you down for it?

( please say yes )

     Everleigh kept reading the letter over and over again. Her mind was torn. She really wanted to see her sister. In fact she didn't expect the see her so soon or be invited to see her in the first place. In her mind she was thinking she'd be in her late twenties at least when that time would come around.

     Not now.

     Hence why she found herself situated at Luke's for a gathering. And by gathering she meant, herself, Lydia and Blaze.

    The letter being passed by each of them reading it through. Hopefully their opinions will help the girl to make the decision.

     "This is so exciting," Was Lydia's first response to reading the letter but Everleigh groans and hides her face in her hands, "... or not."

     Blaze picks up the letter, sitting next to his girlfriend, "I thought you said, your mom reads through these letters before it's being delivered."

     Everleigh shrugs, "That's what I've been told but I guess she managed to sneak around it and deliver the letter without our mom knowing."

     "Ballsy," Lydia comments.

    "I don't know," Blaze sighs, " I don't think she thought it through."

     "Why?" Everleigh questions.

     "You both will get in trouble." Blaze defends himself.

      "Not if we're playing it safe." The girl admits, "She's my sister and it's not like I suggested the idea. She did. She's usually the one that sticks by mom's orders and plays it nice. This is my only shot."

    Blaze intertwines his fingers with Everleigh's as he says, "You deserve to meet your sister. I still think your mom had no right to put a wall between you and your sister even when she signed her paternal rights away. But doing it behind everyone's backs is wrong and you know it."

    "Yeah, I suppose so," The girl presses her lips together, sadly and looks down. Lydia observed both of them, wanting to speak up but with Blaze being present, she didn't feel like she could. Even if she couldn't, she did notice Jess lingering around, most likely eavesdropping on their conversation. The couple not really noticing his presence and she liked to keep it that way.

    Noticing the change in his girlfriend's mood, he kisses the back of her hand, making the girl look up at him, "You will meet up eventually, I'll help you when the time is right but not now. I just think it's a bad idea. I'm just trying to look out for you as much as I can. If you go, it will backfire and you will only have yourself to blame."

    This time Lydia speaks up, not being fond of his wording, "Blaze, that's harsh as hell."

    The other girl shakes her head, "No, he's right. I will blame myself if it backfires."

     "See, I told you. — And as much as I'd like to talk you out of it, I did promise Dean I will meet up with him, so I gotta go." He kisses his girlfriend's cheek and stands up, "I love you."

    "I love you too." The girl smiles and watches him walk out of the Luke's.

    "He was mean about it." Lydia comments, watching him walk out of their fame.

     "But right." Everleigh adds.

     "No, he wasn't." Another voice chimes in, taking the seat next to Everleigh, the one that once was occupied by Blaze.

    "You were eavesdropping?!" Everleigh scoffs in disbelief.

    "Yup." Lydia and Jess admit in unison.

     The other girl darts her eyes back and forth between the two of her friends but then her gaze lands on Lydia, "You knew he was listening into our conversation?"

    "Hey, don't blame me." Lydia raises her arms up in the air, "I was observing."

     Everleigh rolls her eyes but gives the letter to Jess to read. Probably knowing what their conversation was about in the first place. Without another word, Jess gladly accepts it and starts reading through.

    Anxiously, the girl waits for his opinion, and minutes later, he folds the letter and passes it back to her:

    "You should go." Was Jess's response, shocking the girl sitting next to him.

    "Really?"

    "Yeah, screw what everyone else thinks," Jess leans back in the chair, "She's your sister. No one has the right to tell you what you can or can't do."

    "What if it backfires?" Everleigh doubts.

    "It wont."

    "But what if it does?"

    "It won't," Jess confirms, reassuring the girl as he leans in closer. "She gave you an opportunity that probably won't come again. If you're careful and don't say anything to your dad or anyone else, and if your sister does the same, you'll be fine."

    "You sure?"

    "Yeah," Jess shrugs, "At least, that's what I would do."

    Everleigh grabs his hand under the table and squeezes it. Jess glances down, then back at her, and she whispers, 'Thank you.'"

    From the opposite side of the table, Lydia noticed the small interaction between them and couldn't help but smile. She coughs, drawing the attention back to herself, and Everleigh instantly releases his hand and sits up. "See, this is what I was waiting for, and I didn't even need words for it. Jess did his magic."

    Everleigh and Jess roll their eyes at her but slowly Jess slides off the chair, standing up, "I better get back to work before Luke gives me another lecture."

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     Few minutes pass by and Jess still could feel eyes on him, in fact, it's been like that since he had a conversation with Everleigh. Luke's eyes trailing after him whenever he had the chance. A look that he was becoming all too familiar with. The one that he knew he wore when he wanted to say something.

    Jess sighs and turns to Luke, "What?"

     "What do you think you're doing?" Luke retorts back.

     "Was planning to carry on with work until I noticed you auditioning for tommy devito, —" The boy comments.

   "She got a boyfriend, Jess."

     "Ah, it was a rhetorical question."

     "I'm serious."

     Jess sighs heavily, "We're just friends, relax. — last time I checked you wanted me to make friends in this stupid town. She's the only one who gave me a chance and made time for me, so sorry uncle luke if I'm having such hard time making more friends."

     Jess moves past him but Luke's words stop him, "I'm just trying to warn you before you get yourself hurt."

     Irritated, Jess turns to face Luke and slowly walks backwards, "You now, — maybe you should listen to your own advice before giving it to someone else."

━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━

    "Wakey, wakey," Everleigh jumps in Jess's bed only to have Jess turn to side, ignoring her. She rolls her eyes and pushes his shoulder, "Wake up, Jess."

    "Go away," Jess grumbles, still trying to sleep.

    "Well that's not nice," So she starts poking his face. Trying to get him wide awake.

    He groans and turns to her. Looking more confused than ever, "Robin? What are you doing here?"

    She grins as she notes, "Why? Were you dreaming about me?"

    "You wish."

    "Come on, Jess," She pokes him even more. "I got plans for us today."

    He sways her arms away, sitting up in his bed, "You're so annoying."

    "I know. So chop chop chop, get ready," She stands up, facing him.

    "Why?"

    "We going New York." She says with too much excitement for someone that early in the morning.

    "I didn't know we were going anywhere." He admits, still sitting in his bed. "Especially New York."

    "Well, we are," She looks around for some of his clothes, she grabs whatever looked like he would wear and throws it at him, "So, get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs."

    "Do I even have a choice?" He mumbles.

    Everleigh hears and yells, "Nope."

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    Blaze couldn't quite wrap his mind around how he found himself in a situation that he was now. If someone had told him a day ago that he'd be standing in front of Rory Gilmore's house because she asked him to, he would have said they were lying.

    Rory and Blaze were friends but their friendship was in a strange place—both are in relationships, relationships that are slowly crumbling before their eyes. Every move they made together, drew everyone's attention.

    He liked Rory: she was a good person with a big heart, so he could never understand as of why someone disliked her. Blaze has made some really bad decisions in the past, — some that even his girlfriend couldn't let go but Rory never judged him for it. She was always there when his own girlfriend wasn't. Yet it seemed like he and Rory couldn't spend time together for a long period of time without people concocting their own stories about them.

     But today was strange. His own girlfriend — Everleigh Mae Morgan — had suggested he should spend time with Rory, and not long after, Rory herself had asked if they can hang out. The timing was odd, but he wasn't about to question it.

   So here he was, standing on the front porch, waiting nervouslyafter knocking on the door. A minute passed, and he could hear footsteps approaching.

    But when the door swung open, it wasn't the girl he came to hang out with. Instead, it was the older Gilmore, and Blaze's small, hopeful smile slowly faded.

    "Blaze?" Lorelai questions, looking around to see if anyone else was with him, only to get confused even more, "What are you doing here?"

    "I — Rory asked to hang out," Blaze blurs out.

    "Rory? My daughter Rory?"

    "Uh, yeah—" he begins, but Rory suddenly appears next to her mom, cutting him off. She looks more nervous than ever.

    "Blaze!" She says, glancing at her mom, who still looks dumbfounded by the situation, "I'm glad you're here."

    "You are?" Lorelai asks, glancing at her daughter. Rory nudges her, and suddenly Lorelai smiles widely, " So am I."

    Lorelai finally steps aside to let Blaze come in and exchange glances with her daughter.

   "I'm sorry if this is bad timing. I was told you were at the Inn with Everleigh,"

    Lorelai's brows crease as her mouth keeps opening and closing like a fish out of water. Rory quickly adds, "Oh, yeah, she was. I needed her at home for an emergency, but she's leaving soon to help out Everleigh."

    "I am?" Lorelai asks again, turning to Rory, who is giving her a pleading look. She turns back to Blaze. "I so am." Lorelai grabs Rory's arm and starts to drag her toward the kitchen. "Could you give us a moment? I need to discuss something with Rory before I leave for work. Make yourself comfortable in the living room, but no sudden movements. Be like Lurch."

    As Blaze walks into the living room, Lorelai drags Rory to the kitchen and Rory begins, "Mom, there is a perfect explanation for this."

    " A perfect explanation? Why is Blaze in our house?" Lorelai asks.

    "I need to keep him occupied. I'm doing a favour for Everleigh," Rory explains, whispering.

    "Everleigh knows? Wh— Is Everleigh even at the Inn," Lorelai asks further.

    "No."

    "Then where is she?" Lorelai questions and pauses, "Actually why does Blaze think I'm at the Inn with her?"

    Rory tucks a hair behind her hair, "I don't know much but Everleigh asked if I can keep Blaze company, she told him you needed her help at the Inn. — You wasn't supposed to be here when he showed up."

   "Where was I supposed to be?" Lorelai asks puzzled, "This is my house."

    "At the Inn but it's a lie so please can you play along?" Rory begs, "Please."

    "Where am I supposed to go?"

    "Luke's? Mark's? Anywhere but here." The girl suggests.

    After contemplating, the woman sighs, "Fine. You better have a better explanation when I come back."

    "Will do." Rory hugs her mom. "Thank you. Thank you."

     "I can't believe I'm getting kicked out of my own house by my own daughter." Lorelai comments, walking out of the house as she was told.

━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━

 
    "So no one knows?" Jess asks as the two stroll through New York.

    "Nope," Everleigh shakes her head. "I planned a whole day out for Blaze so he wouldn't get suspicious."

    "Like what?"

     "Well, first I stayed over at his place, woke up super early, and told him I had to be at the inn to help Lorelai. Then, once I was done, I said I'd be helping Lydia and her family with some stuff—her idea, not mine."

    "How is that planning a day out for your boyfriend?" Jess interrupts.

     "Be patient, my friend." She holds up a finger for dramatic effect. "As I was saying... This is where Blaze comes in. Yesterday, I asked Rory to invite Blaze to hang out, which is happening right now. Later, Dean joins in, and hopefully, that buys us more time."

    "You're a psychopath."

    She nudges him playfully, laughing. "Shut up. This way, Blaze won't ask any questions, and it won't turn into another argument." Jess glances at her, a look of concern clouding his features, and Everleigh notices. "What?"

    "You know, you deserve to be able to tell him things without fearing it'll lead to a fight. If it's really that bad, why don't you just end it?" Jess asks, making Everleigh stop dead in her tracks—right where she was supposed to meet her sister.

    She stares at him, biting her bottom lip, torn between honesty and evasion. "I wi—"

     A soft voice behind them cuts her off. "Everleigh?"

    As she turns around to face the voice, she is met with Emberly—her sister. It was no surprise to anyone but the years had shaped them both, yet Emberly remained the embodiment of soft innocence, with an undeniable fierceness in her eyes. — a fierceness her sister might deny, but their dad always reminded her of.

    In that moment, the city's noise faded, and all that existed was the quiet storm of joy and relief that washed over Everleigh. She waited too long for this moment and it was finally here.

   "Em!" She wraps her arms around her sister, both of them rocking back and forth. "I've missed you so much."

    "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment," Emberly mumbles, giggling softly. "I feel like such a rebel."

    "Cause you are," Everleigh agrees. "Going behind Mom's back like that must make you feel pretty cool."

    "It really does," Emberly nods. "But I don't think I'll be doing anything like that again anytime soon. She'll go gray."

    "Well, at least now you know how Dad feels whenever he has to deal with me," Everleigh adds, smiling as she observes her sister, trying to memorise every detail to cherish later.

    "Oh, please," Emberly brushes off the comment. "You got the fun parent."

     Everleigh scrunches her nose, "Yeah, sorry, I got lucky."

    Emberly laughs, her gaze shifting to Jess, who awkwardly stands back, allowing the sisters to reunite. She had noticed how close the two were walking before her approach and now clears her throat, straightening her posture. "And you must be Blaze." Jess looks up, confused, while Everleigh's eyes widen. "I've heard so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you under these unusual circumstances."

   Before Jess can introduce himself properly, Everleigh quickly links her arm with his. "Yup, this is Blaze. The one and only."

   Jess grimaces at her, but before he can say a word, Emberly adds, "Whenever Everleigh mentioned you, I never imagined you'd look like this. For some reason, I thought you had blonde hair."

    Everleigh glances at Jess's hair and leans her head against his shoulder. "Oh, you know, he went through a manic phase and went all dark." She lifts her head back up and smiles sarcastically at him.

    Jess is not amused at all.

    Emberly tugs at her shoulder bag, observing him. "It suits you."

    Aware of their surroundings, Everleigh points at the coffee shop next door, "Should we go grab a coffee?"

    "Oh, I'm not allowed to drink coffee. Mom says it will give me heart palpitations," Emberly says, as Everleigh raises a brow. "But I love hot chocolate."

━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━

   "Is he always this quiet?" Emberly whispers, leaning over the table, nodding towards Jess.

    Everleigh takes a note of Jess, sitting next to her, reading a book. Following her sister's lead, she leans over her side of the table and whispers back, " He's just really shy. Reading calms him down."

    "I heard that," Jess announces, making both sisters turn to him. He glances up and shrugs, "As Everleigh's boyfriend." Everleigh rolls her eyes, "I'm just fine on the sidelines. You two deserve a catch up time... in peace."

    Everleigh is surprised to hear those kinds of words come out of Jess, especially since she knows he is not the most talkative person. Not around people he doesn't know. Most importantly, he is being nice. He is making an effort for her without her even asking him to.

    Everleigh pouts, "It's best if he reads. His commentary can become harsh ."

    "Oh, noted." Emberly whispers and leans back, scrunching up her nose, "I'm sorry if this feels weird. I wish I could've come to Stars Hollow rather for you both to travel all the way to New York. It's not exactly a tiny town. — But if dad found out. We both be in trouble."

    Everleigh smiles, placing her hand on top of hers, "I'm just glad we met."

    "Yeah, me too."

━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━

    Back in Stars Hollow later that night, Everleigh reflects on her brief visit to New York. She spent only a few hours with her sister, — trying to get to know her better.

    Those few hours to her felt like mere minutes. It wasn't enough, and she found herself angry at the world for it. She could've had a life where her sister was part of her life every single day. The moment she woke up, to the moment she went to sleep. She would've known so much more about Emberly and all her flaws. But she knew none.

    (Well besides one flaw: Their mother.)

    Seeing Emberly in person was both a blessing and a curse. Alongside the happiness, there was a deep heartache that she couldn't shake.

    It was almost as if Jess could sense her wave of emotions as they arrived at the girl's house, "You okay?"

    Everleigh nods. Jess picks up the speed and stands in front of her, making them both stop. He waited until she met his eyes, refusing to let her brush off the question. Finally she gives in, "It just sucks. We said a lot of nothings. There was so much to talk about but we only covered the topics we would've guessed ourselves."

    "So?"

    "So what?"

    "So who cares," Jess shrugs, slipping his hands into his pockets, "I saw the way you two talked, you both wanted to take in what you two saw in person. There was no letters standing in front of you. You really think your sister will go home and judge how nervous you were?"

   "She could." The teen murmurs, hugging herself.

    Jess sighs, "I'm sure your sister was more nervous than you. For breaking her ground rules and for finally meeting you. Next time will get better."

    "I hope so," She sighs, running fingers through her hair, "And thank you for this and for today. I don't know what I would've done if you wasn't there with me."

    She notices a tiny smile creeping up to his lips and he looks away, "So we not going to address the whole 'me pretending to be your boyfriend' thing?"

    She releases a light chuckle, "I am pretending that never happened." Both sharing a smile as he waits on her to get safely inside the house. But before she opens the door, she turns back, "Good night, Jess."

    "Good night, Robin."

     Even though the trip has her left feeling nostalgic and maybe a bit heartbroken, she was grateful for Jess being there for her. Trusting her enough to make a long journey together.

    "Everleigh!" The first thing she hears as soon as the doors close and was greeted by none other than Lorelai Gilmore herself. She tilts her head as the teen closes her eyes. "How was the Inn?"

"I can explain."

✁- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

REFERENCES:

         ☕️ jess : "Was planning to carry on with work until I noticed you auditioning for tommy devito, —"

movie ━ Goodfellas ( 1990 )

[ jess was calling luke a very grumpy guy ]

—

          ☕️ lorelai : "Make yourself comfortable in the living room, but no sudden movements. Be like Lurch."

movie ━ The Addams Family ( 1991 )

[ lorelai didn't want blaze to move an inch and stay as still as possible but if he does make any movements, they are slow ]

—

a day later and ive written another chapter? woah. im as surprised as you guys, believe me.

i know i didnt write a massive scene between the sisters but like everyleigh said, i would be writing a lot of nothings. cause that's what happened, everleigh and emberly didn't meet their expectations and how they expected to meet and talk like a day hasn't gone by since the two got separated.

but dont worry, it's not the last time you will see emberly :')

but i am excited to break up blaze and everleigh hehehe