PAIRING: R/J

SUMMARY: The story starts with the episode 'Help wanted'. The fight between Rory and Lorelai doesn't end well, Rory realises that she loves Jess and things develop from there.

SPOILERS: None that I know of

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own anything

RATING: R (probably PG for the first few chapters, but as soon as I get to the interaction between Rory and Jess it's gonna be R)

A/N: This is my first Gilmore Girls fanfic, and especially my first story in English (which is not my first language). Therefore, if you notice some grammatical errors or the language is just terrible, please inform me but be gentle about it, please. All feedback and criticism is welcome, especially constructive criticism. I guess some might say that Rory is out of character, but this is how I'd like to see her and the R/J situation

And some lines of this first chapter are from the original show, I'm just borrowing them. The chapters after this one, will be all mine…

The Day After Tomorrow

Chapter 1

Richard's new office had it's opening party, and the natural guests were Emily, Lorelai and Rory. Lorelai and Rory had just arrived, Emily and Lorelai were drinking some champagne while Rory was getting water for herself.

"Dad's really in his element, isn't he?" Lorelai said to her mother.

"And happier than he's been in years. Oh, there's Rory. I was wondering where she's – what's that on her arm?"

"Oh, I was gonna tell you about that." Lorelai said as they went to see Rory.

"Hi Grandma." Rory said and then listened when her mother tried to explain Emily that bees had attacked Rory and forced her to wear a cast.

"It's a just a hairline fracture" Rory finally managed to say. "I got in a car accident."

"What?" Emily said in shock and stared at her granddaughter.

Lorelai didn't seem too happy about her daughter revelation but Rory was persistent. 

"I got in a car accident."

Emily proceeded to blame Dean's car for the accident, when Lorelai quickly announced that Dean actually had nothing to do with the accident.

"Rory was with Jess."

Emily was quiet for a minute, then she looked at Lorelai and said

"I thought you were going to keep that boy away from her."

"Do we have to talk about this now?" was all that Lorelai could come up.

"Yes, we have to talk about this now. The child has a cast on her arm. I don't understand how you could've been so irresponsible."

Rory had been listening to the two women and felt that she had finally reached her limit.

"I gave him the keys" she said calmly. "I told him to drive. He wanted to drive back to Luke's and I said no. I wanted to keep on driving and that's when we got into the car accident. This is just as much my fault as it is his, maybe more"

"Rory" Emily said in shock but was cut off by Lorelai.

"I've got this, Mom. Can I see you in the hall for a second, Rory?"

They walked into the hallway and Lorelai grabbed her daughter's arm.

"Hey, what the hell was that?"

"I'm sick of this. I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm some kind of mindless idiot being led around by a guy."

"No one is treating you like that" Lorelai insisted.

"Everyone is, the whole town is. . . Taylor, Babette, Dean. Everyone in my life, including you, is refusing to believe that I was just as responsible for what happened that night as Jess was." Rory said and tried her best to remain calm.

"Really? Were you driving the car?" Lorelai practically screamed at her.

"No"

"Then you weren't as responsible"

"What if it'd been Dean, huh?" Rory couldn't control herself anymore. "What if Dean had been driving? Would everyone be assuming that it was his fault?"

"No, because if Dean had been driving there wouldn't have been an accident because Dean is a much more responsible kid who loves you and would've been driving more responsibly."

"How do you know that Jess wasn't?" Rory cried out.

"Hi. . .it's Jess." Her mother said with a clear trace of loathe in her voice.

"Oh, right, Jess is the antichrist, I forgot. He wanted to get into an accident. He was looking for something to hit because he's a murderer with a death wish and he wanted to kill us both, right?"

"I know you think that Jess is your friend, but he's not. He is a completely out of control, really angry kid who has no respect for Luke, who has no respect for me..."

"It was an accident!" Rory shouted at her mother.

"And he was driving!"

"So, what, no matter what I say, you're just gonna choose to blame Jess?"

"Yes, I choose to blame Jess."

"Just because you hate him?"

"That's right!, Lorelai yelled at her daughter. "I'm sorry, but when my daughter comes home broken I get to hate the guy who broke her. That's how it works. He's gone, I win. You are wearing a cast and I get to hate him forever!"

"No mum, you don't win. You just ended up making me wonder why I ever thought you were my best friend, why I ever thought you cared about my happiness and why I ever respected you. You don't know Jess and I can see that you don't know me. And I really don't have any idea about who you are!

Rory left her mother standing in the hallway and ran outside. She was just in time to catch the bus to Stars Hollow and once she got in and sat on an empty seat, she closed her eyes. She didn't know what had just happened. She replayed in her mind everything her mother had said to her and everything she had said back. And she didn't regret any of it, in fact she had never felt so free in her life. She was her own person and it was about time for her to make decisions for herself. Her mother didn't seem to be able to accept that, but that would have to change now. She couldn't go back to the way things were before, she didn't want to.

*Star's Hollow*

It was nine o'clock when Rory walked down the street and saw Luke getting out of his car.

"Hey" she said after walking up to him.

"Rory"

"You're back?"

"I'm back"

They looked at each other for a minute, finally Luke asked her if her hand hurt. Rory shook her head and asked if Luke had had a good time off work.

"It was okay. So, you want some coffee?"

"Sure, sounds good."

They walked in the diner and Rory sat down by the counter. Luke asked Rory where Lorelai was and she told him about her grandfathers new office, leaving out the fight with her mum.

"That sounds nice" Luke said as he fixed the coffee. "Grab yourself a donut."

"So, have you heard from him?" Rory said after picking one from under the cover.

"Oh, no. I talked to his mom, though. He got home okay."

"Good, that's good."

"Yeah, good."

"What about his stuff?"

"Oh, I'm gonna send it."

"Right, makes sense. Luke?" Rory said almost inaudibly 

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't his fault."

"I know it wasn't."