Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

welcome to the quirky little town of stars hollow, connecticut, where everybody knows everybody, and not much happens - but when it does, everybody knows about it.

lorelai gilmore made her way across the street with a mug of coffee from home, her blue scarf and beanie doing their jobs of keeping the single mother warm from the autumn chill that was in the air.

the bell dinged above the door as she entered luke's diner, quickly dropping her coat and scarf on an empty chair and bounced through the small amount of town folk who also decided an early morning fix of luke's was needed.

"please, luke. please, please, please" the tall brunet smiled cheekily, holding up her massive and chipped coffee mug.

the man behind the counter sighed, turning around to face her. the backwards snap-back pulled his longer hair behind his ears nicely. the dirty flannel and tight shirt was also a nice fit on the man. he shrugged around the towel over his right shoulder, producing a piping hot, and freshly made pot of coffee in front of lorelai.

"how many have you had today?" luke questioned.

lorelai shrugged, her eyes drifting from the man to the side. "none"

luke didnt move, "plus...."

with a heavily dramatic eyeroll, the woman gave in, "five! but yours is better!"

the man gave a small laugh, moving to fill her cup, "you have a problem"

"yes i do" lorelai smiled, watching the dark coffee rise in the mug.

"junkie" luke stated, returning the pot to the maker, wiping down the counter after. lorelai laughed, grinning around the rim as she took her first sip. before she turned to make her way back to the table she'd thrown her things at, luke spoke up again.

"rory and dean coming later?"

"yeah, we're meeting here right away. i'm at work all day so dean's all yours" she smiled. luke nodded his approval with a half smile that basically hurt his usually grumpy features and continued to take orders as the diner filled up.

when lorelai was 16, she'd given birth to twin girls - lorelai leigh, who everyone called rory, and diana donna, who everyone should be calling dean, but not everyone was as understanding as the gilmores had hoped for.

rory was everyone's sweetheart, a smart girl who focused on reading and her studies in the hopes of someday going to harvard. while quiet and reserved, she had friends and everyone loved her. the spitting image of lorelai herself, bright blue eyes, same smile with a hint of trouble given the chance, the same attitude, the same style and the same laugh. the only thing setting them apart was the hair colour. lorelai's was a dark, rich brown tone while rory's was a soft, light brown, with red undertones.

dean was the black sheep of the gilmore family, and the youngest. born nearly an hour after rory, she reminded him consistently that she was older. not that he cared much, nor did it matter, but she did it anyway. he'd been born with a bad stutter that no matter how hard he tried, never got better as he got older. he'd gone to school with his twin until they were seven, always fearing at getting called on by a teacher, which sometimes happened by substitutes that didnt know, or simply by teachers who tried too hard to break him out of his shell. lorelai began homeschooling him after he came out as transgender that same year, and had gone to school, only for some older kids to shove him in the bathroom and take off his clothes, filming every minute of it.

he was quiet like rory, but after that he'd gone fully mute. lorelai had been saddened by it, not wanting her son to give up trying to beat his stutter but she had understood, and helped him learn sign language, which he excelled in. he did speak, only softly when nobody was around and only ever to his mother. everyone knew him as rory's twin but knowing what had happened to him and learning how different he was, only few people took the time to 'speak' with him. luke probably had the biggest soft spot for the kid, giving him a small job at the diner when lorelai was working and unable to teach him. he'd gifted the kid an old guitar, which was another thing dean excelled in, and allowed him to speak without a stutter, for once in his life.

the bell dinged as the diner door opened once more, rory skipping over to the table lorelai had just sat down at. the third chair held her bag, coat and scarf. "hey, it's freezing." she complained, tossing her backpack to the floor.

"ooh, whatcha need - hot tea, coffee? where's your brother?"

"lip gloss, actually. and i dunno, he was following me"

"aha!" lorelai smiled, pulling a plastic tote bag from her purse, digging thru it and pulling out several small tubes of lip gloss. "i have vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and toasted marshmallow."

rory instantly cringed, twisting her face up "anything in there not resembling a breakfast cereal?"

the single mother hummed in thought, tossing the glosses back in the tote bag which went back into the black hole that was her purse. with another hum, another plastic bag came out, this one much smaller. "yes, it has no smell but it changes colour with your mood." she smirked.

the girl rolled her eyes "god, rupaul doesnt even need this much makeup"

"wow, you're crabby" lorelai stated, returning the bag to her purse, moving the chair out of the way to clear a path to the diner counter.

"sorry. just bothers me that dean was right behind me, and now isn't - and i need caffeine."

"well, he does enjoy a walk to good music, and i'll get you some coffee" the mother smiled at her daughter, getting up and walking over to the counter. luke turned around, probably expecting another person, the nearly annoyed sigh giving that away. lorelai gave a small laugh, reaching over and stealing a clean mug from the rack that luke had yet to put behind the counter.

"what? it's for rory, not me .. i swear!" she held up her free hand in surrender. luke rolled his eyes, moving around behind the counter for the pot when the bell sounded out quieter than usual. "there you are! what happened, you were right behind me" rory's voice followed the closing of the door.

luke huffed a laugh, filling the second mug for lorelai while glancing over her shoulder. dean, who was already much taller than his twin, and just a few inches taller than their mother had his back to the adults, his arms moving out with the fast movement of his hands. clearly he had a lot to say to his twin sister.

"alright - lets get this show on the road you two" lorelai laughed, returning to her seat.

"independence inn, michel speaking"

lorelai slid her hands down her firm fitting black skirt and jacket, dusting off her bright button up shirt as she placed the stack of mail in front of the grumpy french man on the phone.

"no, im sorry, we're completely booked ..... we have a wedding party here"

the mother smiled to herself, sometimes she wondered how the inn ever stayed opened with michel turning away guests just from hearing their voice over the phone. she moved to behind the front desk, grabbing a stack of heavy checking in books and patted the man's arm, who didnt move.

"no, there's nothing really i can do ... yes, im sure ... positive" the man rolled his eyes, in true michel fashion. lorelai shook her head, smirking at him. she pushed the book back into their cubby-holes, quickly checking if there was anything in the mail for her to check right away.

"no, i dont have to check ma'am" with a heavy sigh, michel rolled his eyes again, "yes, i'll check ma'am" he set the phone down, taking the mail from lorelai's hands, shooing her away from his work station and sorting the mail himself. he picked up the phone after a minute, "no, ma'am as i said earlier, we are completely booked"

lorelai checked her watch, spinning around and walking into the back. michel watched as drella made her presence known with her complaining about her harp. dean walked into the front lobby, pushing his ratty old headphones down around his neck. even with the colder weather the boy was wearing a tight black dawson's creek shirt over his binder, his ripped black skinny jeans showing off his knee caps with pen doodles all over them. his favourite beat-up sneakers, also covered in pen doodles and holes were wide open, the dirty laces trailing behind.

he smiled widely as he jumped down off the top step and walked right up to drella.

"just ignore the tiny woman pushing a 200 pound instrument around. nah, this is .. is good, i like this. after this i'll just bench press a piano, huh? oh, hey squirt" drella stopped her complaining as she stopped in front of the tall gilmore boy. "not so much of a squirt now, though, hey?"

dean grinned, his hands pointing to himself, then the harp that the woman was pushing. drella looked at the instrument between them, then up at the teen boy. "yeah sure, i could use the help, kid"

after a few shift movements and sassy spats to some people just watching them, the harp was finally put in place. drella was setting up her space as dean held onto the tip jar when lorelai came from the back, the door swinging behind her. "hey, you!" she smiled. dean looked up, waving to her.

"thanks again, squirt." drella nodded, handing him a 10 dollar bill from the tip jar. dean shook his head, waving his hands trying to back up, but drella was quick to the draw and slapped the bill into his hands. "take it, before i hurt you" she teased, making dean laugh. his fingers touched his chin, moving outwards, keeping his palm flat.

"you're welcome. now your mother is waitin" drella smiled, pulling the harp gently towards herself to start playing.

dean slid the ten into his pocket, moving his discman to his other hip and switching his headphones around as the wire twirled. he walked over to his mother, who gave him a hug and a cheek kiss. "off to luke's?" he gave a nod, squinting slightly before he shrugged and raised his hands.

"walking sis n lane to school first" he signed. lorelai smiled, snapping her fingers, "you have your phone on you?" she asked, watching as her son, patted his side pocket under his discman, giving an annoyed sigh, once again moving everything over, switching the headphones over and pulling out his cell. "alright, text me when they're there and when you're at work, okay?"

he gave a salute, michel calling lorelai over and handing her the phone. dean yawned, cracking his jaw as he so, rubbing his hands down his face after wiping his eyes he walked over to where michel and lorelai were behind the front desk. the french-men raked his eyes over the youngest but tallest gilmore and gave the boy a knowing smirk.

"the 90s ended awhile ago" he smirked. dean squinted, biting back another yawn as he looked down at his shirt and discman. he smirked back at michel, quickly signing "i like it" the man gave a laugh to him "so did people in the 90s, before the 90s ended"

"you couldda told me you left the house" rory grumbled, causing her twin to turn. before he did much else she rolled her eyes, throwing her heavy backpack at him and walking behind the front desk. michel raised an eyebrow as dean struggled to not drop the back and stay grounded. lorelai gently smacked her arm before kissing her cheek.

"be nice to your brother" she sassed, hanging up the phone.

"what is your offspring doing?" michel asked, picking up the mail again to continue sorting it. lorelai watched rory dig thru a book under the desk, then dean who shifted rory's backpack onto his shoulder. "which one?" she teased. michel gave her a look before looking down at rory.

"i need stamps, can i have these?" rory piped up, ignoring that they couldve been talking about dean. michel glared slightly "no". lorelai pushed rory out from behind the desk, moving around michel "take them, but what's up with the muumuu?"

dean looked over to where his twin was standing near him, laughing quietly. the much too big white sweater hung mid thigh on the girl. her hair was down, her black tights were pushed into her combat boots. dean, of course, had the same pair but the laces in his were dirty and nearly ruined, seeing how he never tied his shoes. ever.

"quit" rory sighed, holding onto the stamps. dean immediately stopped his laughing and stood up straighter. he didnt fear his twin, but she could be pretty mean if she wanted to be.

"again, be nice. and i'm just saying, you couldnt find one made of metal in case anyone had x-ray eyes?" lorelai teased, making dean smile. some-days their styles matched, other days, it really never did.

"and we're saying goodbye" rory grumbled, taking a hold of her twin's wrist and started to drag him away from the front desk. "ooh wait" lorelai ran out from behind the desk, meeting her twins before they got too far away. "have michel look at your french paper"

"excuse me?" the man asked, looking up from the mail. dean shrugged, getting spun around as rory moved to open her backpack. the boy sighed, getting pushed around wasnt really a sisters job - was it? "that'd be great" rory smiled, holding a neatly stapled stack of slight crinkled papers. "no" michel replied, shaking his head.

"oh c'mon michel, i'll tell all the ladies what a stud you are"

"i don't believe my husband would enjoy that memo"

dean burst out laughing, causing rory to punch him hard in the arm. he stopped, glaring down at his shorter twin. lorelai sighed, taking the papers from her daughter, zipping up the backpack and turning her twins towards the door.

"no punching, no teasing - have a good day at work and school. goodbye!"

the gilmore twins walked into town, waving at townfolk as they walked down the well known path to kim's antiques, that doubled as the family home. it was amazing how anything was ever actually found in that place, it was so full of 'antiques' that dean was simply amazed the house didnt break in half.

he tapped his twin's shoulder as they waited by the white picket fence. rory turned to look up at him. "punched kinda hard" he signed, frowning lightly. she rolled her eyes "big baby". dean frowned harder, about to sign a snotty comeback when lane came running out the front door and out of the gate.

"hey" she greeted them both, the two girls walked ahead of dean, who now was carrying both backpacks and was basically their slave. not really, but again, there were some days where he feared his twin. once far enough away from kim's antiques, the girls stopped in their tracks, causing dean to almost bump into them. he was tall, still growing and very clumsy apparently, sue him.

lane pulled out a bright t-shirt from her pocket, slipping it over the long sleeve she'd left the house in, pulling her hair out from under the neck and fixing her glasses. dean smiled down at the 'woodstock '99' printed on the front. lane was a secret rocker, something he respected her for. "can i borrow you for a second, big guy?" she asked dean, who in turn shrugged with a smile.

for some reason it really bothered rory, probably because lane was her best friend, not deans. but lane always asked dean for fashion advice, and he usually helped. it was something he'd picked up from their mother, who taught him to sew and whatnot. dean also loved to draw and would sometimes try his hand at designing clothes. today, however, all he did was push up lane's long sleeves above her elbow and cuff the woodstock shirt short sleeves before giving her a double thumbs up.

midway to the high-school, tired of hearing two teen girls talk about whatever rory and lane were actually talking about, dean slipped on his headphones and let his discman do the rest. it was well known lane's mother was very korean and wanted lane to be the best she could be, but sometimes hearing just how strict and demanding lane made her sound was rough. maybe she was, maybe she wasnt, dean didnt feel like listening anymore.

about a block away he looked over across the street, squinting as he noticed a tall boy, bound in a heavy looking black leather jacket look up from a piece of bundled paper. they made eye contact and stared at each-other for awhile. the boy, who probably stood maybe about a head taller than dean himself was very cute. he was too far away to make out too many features, but if the floppy dark brown hair and cute wide grin was anything to go by. dean was about to wave when rory suddenly grabbed his wrist forcefully and pulled him back behind the girls.

he sighed tiredly, following them until they walked to the white cement steps. he handed them their backpacks, hugging lane and giving a glare to rory. he sighed again, pulling out his phone, smiling as he found his mom's contact.

to: slutty mother

girls are at school. heading to lukes. saw a really cute boy. text if you need anything. xoxo

dean pocketed his phone, cracking his knuckles, crossing the street and walking to luke's diner. lorelai was busy at work, and he was proud of her with how hard she worked, she would reply when she could. but he always texted her where everyone was. luke gave him a small smile when he walked into the diner.

"soundtrack of the day?" he asked, handing dean his short apron and notepad.

"a boot and a shoe by sam phillips" dean signed, taking off the discman and headphones, putting them on the counter. "little sad for today, no?" luke questioned, raising his eyebrow. dean stopped, shrugging afterwards. luke patted his messy hair, before turning his arm.

"whats that from?"

the gilmore boy looked down at his arm, anger and tiredness swimming in his eyes. luke bent down to look at the boy's bright green eyes. "rory" dean signed when luke let go of his arm. they shared a look before dean just shook his head and started to work. another bruise from rory, nothing new going on there.

his phone binged as luke grabbed a plate of food, dean pulled it out of his pocket to check, smiling at the next message.

from: slutty mother

thank yoooou, sookies having another food crisis & oooooh must spill all the gossip about this cute boy @ home!

about half n hour before school let out for the day, luke let dean take his break, letting him walk rory home or wherever, get the mail at home, run to the inn, and come back. other days, if rory was really bothering him, dean would sit behind the counter and draw. today, lorelai said she had a feeling an important letter would be coming in and wanted dean to please, please run home and see.

"my life fell through ... a hole in my pocket, i lost my solitude ... i lost my balance, i lost my reverence and my voice" dean sung softly, swaying to the music playing from his headphones. the girls would just have to walk home by themselves today because dean didnt really feel like seeing rory until supper time tonight. he got to their mailbox outside the front porch at their house, ready to continue singing along when the letter the family had been waiting for was in his hands.

his breath caught in his throat and suddenly everything was pretty awesome. with a massive grin, he tucked the letter in his apron pocket, left the mailbox open and ran towards the inn.

"is something burning?" lorelai questioned, entering the kitchen with a cringe.

"my bangs, earlier" sookie replied, moving pots and pans around, being the general clumsy mess she was. lorelai laughed, ready to help her move a pan about to fall when the kitchen doors swung open and dean came running in.

"dean?" lorelai jogged over, helping her panting son stand up from where he was bent over. "what happened? is everything okay?"

the boy continued to pant, pulling out the letter and holding it up.

"oh, OH OH!" the mother cheered, taking the letter and holding dean. the boy gave a breathy laugh, nodding along. "and you ran from home, here, here, sit down" with some help dean jumped onto the counter beside the sink, pulling his binder from under his shirt to regain some air.

"it happened! she did it!" lorelai squealed, tearing open the letter. sookie came out from behind the stove looking up at dean, then her best friend "i need some more information"

"the chilton school! rory got in!"

"oh my god! oh my god!" sookie cheered, reaching over and shaking dean, who laughed with her as lorelai read the letter, reading it back to them. "there it is, she can finally go to harvard just like she's always wanted."

dean waved his hand, handing lorelai the bag he'd also taken from the mailbox. she gasped seeing the uniform in it, taking it out to show her son and friend. dean gave a bright smile. "you really dont mind? im excited but i do feel bad that its basically putting her ahead of you" lorelai suddenly frowned, watching as her son just smiled wider and gave a playful shrug. he took out the notepad and pencil from his apron scribbling down a note and handing it to his mom.

~ that school isnt me. be proud of rory, i know i am ~

"ooh, you're the best" she smiled warmly, giving him a hug, that he returned.

"mom?"

sookie turned, pulling the gilmore girl into the kitchen her twin and mother. she raised an eyebrow at everyone's much too wide and kinda creepy smiles. "alright - so you guys are happy"

"we are" lorelai stated, her and dean sharing a cheeky little twinkle in their eyes.

rory turned to dean "something slutty?"

"not that happy" he signed, laughing with a shake of his head.

"oh my god, please just give it already" sookie jumped, clapping her bandaged hands, nearly exploding with happiness for the family. dean laughed, joining in with the clapping.

lorelai handed her daughter the bag, clasping her hands together while everyone watched. rory pulled out the plaid shirt, frowning at it as she held it up. "so, im gunna be in an outdated britney spears video? thats deans thing"

"you're going to chilton! .... oh, crap - sorry!" sookie exclaimed, covering her face. dean snickered, patting the excitable chef on her shoulders. rory glanced at them, turning to lorelai, "mom?"

"you did it, babe! you got in!"

"w-what? how .. i mean .."

"they have an open spot, you're gunna start on monday" lorelai smiled proudly.

"oh my god, im going to chilton" rory finally smiled, jogging forward to hug lorelai. "i know!" the mother laughed.

"sookie, im going to chilton!" rory left the hug to hug sookie. dean gave them a soft smile before sliding off the counter. he was probably late getting back to luke's but luke would understand. "i'll make cookies!" sookie giggled, jumping up and down with the oldest gilmore twin.

"dean?"

the boy looked up from the floor, raising an eyebrow. rory broke away from the second hug she'd given and walked over to her twin. "i'm going to chilton" she smiled, and in an act that shocked everyone, she hugged dean. the boy looked up wide eyed at their mother and sookie, his mouth dropping open. lorelai gave a small, surprised laugh, urging him to enjoy it while he had the chance. not having to be told twice, dean wrapped his arms around his twin, holding her close and softly patted her back.

proud of you.

dean stood in his favourite baggy sweatshirt, that looked a lot like rory's white one. the one she wore to school the other day, but unlike her knitted one, dean's was cotton, fuzzy inside, with a photo of fran, from the nanny on it. his legs were bare, and his socks, two different ones and one pulled higher than the other, were all he was wearing. he leaned against the door frame of his and rory's bedroom, facing the kitchen.

lorelai was currently sat at the small dining table they had, on the phone with someone from the school rory was heading too. it was a big deal, a really, really, really big deal. dean was just sad it was stressing out their mom as much as it was. he was proud of his twin, she was smart, she deserved this. but it was tiring at the same time.

when she hung up the phone, she sighed tiredly, rubbing her face and closing the books and letters she had opened. dean frowned, walking into the room and standing by the table. lorelai took a handful of popcorn from the bowl, eating a few pieces before waving her son over. dean may be taller now, but he would always be a mama's boy.

without much trouble dean crawled onto lorelai's lap, hugging her as they quietly ate popcorn together.

the nights in stars hollow were beautiful. the east coast really showed off during the autumn months and this september was not about to let that go anytime soon. the crisp wind had calmed down, leaving a soft little breeze that drifted thru every few minutes. lorelai and sookie were sitting on the small patio couch that sat near the front door, drinking wine and talking. dean was sat nearby, on the porch railing and quietly strumming his guitar.

it's not that he wasnt interested in hearing them talk, he got along better with the adults than people his own age, anyhow. but hearing his mom stress about money saddened him a lot. she always put the twins ahead of her in everything, she did the best she could, always. so it bothered him listening to how much trouble she was going thru just to sent his twin to the new school. sookie was on yet another glass of wine when rory came bouncing out of the front door.

"whatcha think?" she asked everyone, doing a quick spin of the chilton skirt. dean set down his guitar, giving a quiet clap at his twin. the skirt was long, maybe a little too long on her, but either way, it was a private school uniform and it was everything rory wanted. it was a proud skirt.

sookie squealed happily "oooh it makes you look smart, wow!" she giggled. dean turned away to snicker at their family friend. sookie was usually a riot of chaos and laughs when she was around. "okay, no more wine for you. mom?" rory said, then pleaded at lorelai for a real answer.

"you look like you were swallowed by a kilt" she stated. rory looked up at dean, who made a face and had to agree. she huffed, "fine, you can hem it a little. but only a little"

"okay, okay" lorelai grinned "or i could hem it a lot"

"no, you'll hem it too short. i'll get dean to hem it"

the gilmore boy raised his eyebrows, but when lorelai nodded her head he shrugged. picking up his guitar he started to shoo his sister back into the house while everyone followed. dean disappeared into their bedroom with the guitar, returning with his own small box of sewing supplies lorelai had gotten him for christmas.

"i can't believe tomorrow is my last day at stars hollow high" rory said, standing up on the coffee table so that dean could sit on the couch to hem.

"i know!" lorelai smiled at the two of them, sitting down next to dean while sookie entered the kitchen with her empty glass.

"today, i was so excited, i dressed for gym class"

both lorelai and dean stopped, looking up at her. "you're kidding" lorelai replied for both of them. dean pulled a pin from his mouth, hemming up another section of skirt. "and i played volleyball"

"with other people?"

"and i learned that all this time i was avoiding group sports was very smart because i suck at them"

dean laughed, pulling the last pin from his mouth.

"you got that from me" lorelai said, patting her son on the back for a well done job on hemming. "there, he's finished! go see how you like it"

"i so love being a private school girl" rory smiled, jumping off the table to check the skirt in the mirror.

"kid, whats the problem?" luke muttered as he walked up to where dean was sitting on the floor behind the counter at the diner. he was supposed to be working, he knew that, but lorelai had a business class in hartfort and then was going to their grandparents house to ask for money. it was all so awkward. plus he'd had to leave soon to help rory clean out her locker.

he was stressed out. a lot. he really was his mother's son.

dean passed luke a note from the order pad he carried while working, stating just that, just without the money part. "it's september" the grumpy man stated, looking down at the tall boy. the gilmore boy just nodded sadly.

"half hour?"

he pulled his phone out, standing up and setting it on the counter. he nodded at luke, it wouldnt take long to empty his sister's locker and drop it all back home. a half hour should be good. checking the time and knowing lorelai would be heading over to the house soon, he sent a quick text.

to: slutty mother

good luck, love you xoxo

the stress was high. so very, very, very high. without taking his apron off he pulled his headphones out from under the counter, plugging them into his phone, just as his phone binged with a text.

from: twin wonder

heading out with lane, can you clean my locker out? thanks.

dean grumbled, sliding his phone over when luke raised a brow. he gave a half chuckle, patting the boy on the back before he sighed and left the diner. of course rory was leaving the heavy job to him, he always did the dirty work. now watch, her locker is probably full of junk. the headphones around his neck were doing a lousy job of helping him focus.

after an hour he had the locker packed. a full hour of packing crap into a box. all the posters, all the books, even some of his cds and cassette tapes rory had borrowed were shoved in the very back. with a roll of his eyes, he slammed the door shut. the movement had knocked the tall pile of books down, along with some papers. dean growled, dropping the box onto the ground heavily and leaning down to pick up his sisters crap.

another hand grabbed onto the same book as he had his hand on. dean froze in lifting it, letting his eyes travel up, and up and up, until they were suddenly staring right into a beautiful hazel pair. his breath stopped for a second or two, he was sure of it. and holy crap! it was the cute boy he'd seen the other day when he was walking with the girls!

"rosemary's baby" the boy said, and holy crap was his voice smooth. dean bit his lip, eyebrows raising as his eyes swam in the hazel of the other boys. he nodded awkwardly, shaking his head and looking at the book that was now in his hand. a dark blush covered his freckled face. he felt the tips of his ears burning hot.

"well, thats a great movie. you've got good taste" he smiled, and dean swallowed hard as a deep dimple showed itself in the boys cheek. holy crap, holy crap, holy crap - he was pretty. "are ya moving?" he asked, leaning down slightly to look at dean's face when he looked back down at the floor. he swallowed hard again, dropping the book into the box and digging out the notepad. with a shaky hand he scribbled out a note for the boy.

~ the book is my twins. she's just moving schools. im more a movie kinda guy, shes the book nerd ~

the taller boy took the pad from dean's shaking hand, laughing quietly and sweetly at it. without missing a beat, he handed the pad back to dean, adding in "my family just moved here from chicago"

~ windy ~

the boy gave another laugh, "yeah, thats the place. um ... i'm dean"

dean's eyes widened. was this some sorta joke suddenly. but nobody was around and 'dean' didnt move, or laugh. he just smiled warmly at him, waiting for a reply of some kind.

~ that's my name too ~

"really? thats cool, ive never met anyone with that name before. except for me." dean smiled, his blinding white teeth and dimple and shiny eyes breaking dean gilmore's young heart further and further. the mute boy gave a weak little smile. his hand moved fast, writing out a long note for his newfound crush, who just smiled and waited for him to finish writing.

~ well actually my twins name is lorelai gilmore, like our moms. because when mom had us she was thinking about how men name kids after themselves all the time, so why dont women? but everyone calls her rory. i was diana donna but now im dean ~

he thrust the note at his crush, nervously nibbling on the end of the pencil when he suddenly realized he'd just given himself away in a single note. however, dean just smiled at him, wider, as if that was possible, before nodding over to the pencil. dean handed it to him, ready to die on the spot if this went wrong. the note returned to him.

~ transgender? ~ was scribbled back, messier than dean's already messy writing. it was now or never, he guessed. he nodded at the taller boy, quickly looking down at the box beside him and waiting for his very cute boy to walk about from him. but instead he heard his voice,

"well dean gilmore, that doesnt change the fact i find you very cute"

his heart sped up and he felt like a puddle. this boy was really trying to kill him, wasnt he? it was all over too soon though, because the next thing out of the handsome boys mouth was that he had to go, and that he was looking for a job. when he turned to leave, dean grabbed a hold of his leather jacket covered arm, and sped out a note saying to check in with miss patty.

after a short laugh over how he didnt dance much, and dean speed writing notes, the taller leather bound boy was carrying rory's box of locker crap while dean blushed and walked him over to miss patty's dance stuido a few blocks away.

"so, how did you end up with the job of cleaning your sisters locker?"

dean looked up at the taller dean, the blush still blending into tan skin and freckles, he shrugged. he knew but it was too long of a story to explain. dean laughed, leaning down to the side slightly "you've lived here all your life?"

~ basically, rory and i were born in hartford ~

the boy looked at the note that was pushed on top of the box. "that's not that far away, right?"

~ thirty minutes, give or take ~

"ahh, alright. good to know. hey, i just gotta ask - how're you enjoying your sam phillips album and dawson's creek?"

it took a few minutes to write a reply, because he was trying to watch the sidewalk, not bump into people and not screw up the note itself, but soon enough the pad was put back on the box.

~ i love both, i sorta listen to a different album everyday and im currently rewatching dawson's creek again ~

"i kinda figured about the show, but its cool to know how much you love music" dean replied, fixing the box in his hands. shifting it higher on his chest, trying hard to not drop the stack of books that was higher than the sides of the box.

~ wait, how did you know? ~

this time, dean blushed. the mute boy blushed back, seeing how sheepish the taller boy got suddenly. "uh, cuz ... ive been watching you"

dean stopped walking, turning to the taller boy, who stood in front of him. "not like 'im watching you' kinda way" he lowered his shoulders, his face adopting a kinda goofy, loopy, carefree half smile "i just mean, ive noticed you around"

the mute boy raised an eyebrow, pushing his thumb against his chest. he was noticable to such a good looking stranger? since when ...

"you're nice to look at. like, last week - you walked, who i think now know is your sister and her friend? - to school. you walk them every morning, but you had your headphones on, and they were loud, and these guys were yelling, and the two girls stopped to look and you just stood off to the side, ignoring everything. and i thought to myself 'i gotta meet a boy who daydreams like that' so when i saw you today ..."

dean looked at him, squinting slightly. he was at a lose for words. nobody ever noticed him, everybody always noticed rory, but never him.

"and, besides being very cute, you're quiet. and i wanna know why, if you'll ever let me know"

that brought on a smile. a small, cheesy little smile that dean would never admit he let anyone ever see. ever. but he nodded at the tall, handsome boy.

they smiled at each-other, and continued their walk to miss patty's.

rory and lorelai were sat a table close to the front door of luke's diner, waiting on their food, while dean was behind the counter wiping it down. luke never said anything about dean being late back to work, and lorelai knew rory had somehow gotten dean to clean her locker, but she never asked either.

"you were late coming home tonight" she pointed out

"i was with lane, and dean packed my books all weirdly." she glared over at the counter. dean glared back, sticking his tongue out at her, making lorelai laugh. "forgive the boy, he has a new crush on the cute boy he met today"

"you just met him" rory said, eyes going wide.

dean shrugged, walking out with two full plates, setting them down on the table for his family. lorelai smiled, slipping a ten dollar bill in his apron. he shook his head with a smile, walking back to the counter.

"oh i forgot to tell you two, we're having dinner with your grandparents tomorrow night." lorelai stated, picking up her coffee cup. the twins stopped, both of them looking at her for more information, rather than the quick sentence that lorelai gilmore was famous for.

"we are? but ... it's september" rory said, almost saying the exact same thing luke had said to dean earlier. creepy.

"it's not a holiday thing, okay? just dinner" the single mother replied, shrugging at her twins. she sipped from her coffee. luke came from the back, handing dean the menus to wipe down before he was going to close up shop for the night.

"dean and i finished hemming your skirt" lorelai said to rory. when no reply came, she waved her hands, "hello? a grunt would be nice"

"i just dont understand why we're going to dinner tomorrow night. i mean, what if i had plans? you didnt even ask me"

dean sighed to himself, trading luke for the dirty plates and handing him the newly cleaned menus. yet another fight in the gilmore family, a common theme happening more and more. although it was mostly rory and dean, and usually lorelai breaking them apart. why rory was taking it out on their mom tonight was odd.

"if you had plans, i wouldve know. you tell me everything"

"i dont tell you everything. dean tells you everything, because dean has nothing else. i have my own things." the oldest twin spat, glaring at lorelai.

"dean has much more than me, rory. and excuse me, you have your own things."

"thats right. i have my own things"

lorelai scoffed "hey, i had dibs on being the bitch tonight."

"just tonight?"

dean stopped washing a dish, opening his mouth to say something if his voice would allow. it never happened, but rory was taking this too far.

"what the hell is wrong with you?" lorelai said, eyebrows crunched in confusion and concern.

"i'm not sure i want to go to chilton, anymore"

the plate dean was holding smashed to the floor, both the girls looked at him as he stared back at them. luke rushed over, checking the boys hands for cuts. lorelai shook her head, focusing back on rory for right now "what?" her voice pitched higher

"the timings bad, and the bus ride to and from is like thirty minutes each way."

"i cant believe what im hearing right now" lorelai gasped out, leaning back in the diner chair. dean tossed the wet rag on the counter, tossing his apron after it and stomped over to her, ready to fight rory.

"plus i dont think we should be spending all that money right now, i mean, chilton has to be costing you a lot. all your money should be going toward buying an inn with sookie, or, or going towards dean's surgeries and stuff."

the mention of dean was strange again for rory. she never mentioned or brought up dean being transgender unless it was to benefit her in anyway. using him right now was an out for her. nobody took the bait though.

"what about college? what about harvard?"

"we dont know that i cant get into harvard if i stay where i am"

"okay, enough. enough of this crazy talk, i have this covered, i appreciate your concern though."

dean sighed, hoping that would be the end of this. but of course not, not with rory. never ever with rory.

"i still dont want to go"

"why?" dean signed, suddenly wondering himself.

"i just dont"

"i have to get out of here" lorelai exclaimed, grabbing her coat and leaving the diner. the twins look at eachother, anger was beginning to swim in dean's eyes as he looked at his sister. how dare she cause this much pain on their hardworking mother, even letting her go and do the one thing she hated the most just to make this happen. dean looked over at luke, who nodded at them.

he left rory in the diner, and ran out into the night to follow their mom.

the day had been hell. in every sense of the word, pure hell. and currently standing where the gilmore family were standing, it really wasnt about to let up. dean had barely slept last night, he was sure he looked like death warmed over, but here he was.

he'd gotten up early to see lorelai off to work, taped the note she left for rory on the coffee pot and crashed for another hour of sleep. he knew the second his twin was up, the war would start. and man, was he right. rory got up and soon enough things were getting crashed and banged together in the kitchen. dean trudged out in his wrinkled pjs, hoping for just a little more sleep, but rory's blue eyes met his tired greens and went insane.

after nearly half n hour of hearing her whining and complaining she finally finished a half-assed breakfast, got dressed and left the house with a slam of the front door. at that point, dean was dead on his feet, but still, he cleaned up her mess and fell over the arm of the couch to sleep the day away.

sadly, not even 15 minutes later rory stormed into the house in even more of a bitchy mood. her twin stayed quiet, not moving an inch, and hoped she'd just hide out in their bedroom until they needed to get dressed for supper at seven that night. thankfully she loudly announced she was going to spend the rest of the day with lane, and that left dean to have the house to himself.

but now here the three of them were, standing on the front porch of richard and emily gilmore's mansion ... waiting for the bombshell to explode and tear them apart. for emily to nitpick, and misgender and dead-name dean the entire night, for rory to the queen of the night. dean had wanted to yell at her earlier, tell her how selfish and bratty she was acting over the entire private school thing, but he'd stopped himself. why bother? she never listened to him.

lorelai was in a frenzy, making sure rory behaved herself during diner, while double checking dean's binder, making sure his jeans weren't ripped and that his hair was styled well. before ringing the doorbell she checked everyone's feet before whispering to dean to tie his combat boots.

he pouted at her. when she gave him 'the mom look' he caved, backing up and pushing his long leg up onto the stone filled column that was beside him. he finished doing up his boots just as emily opened the door and the gilmores all plastered on their biggest fake smiles.

"hi grandma" rory smiled, while dean awkwardly stood behind lorelai. after a deep breath, he followed the girls into the house, not letting go of his mom's coat until she was moving to take it off. he cringed at himself, grandma emily wasnt exactly open and understanding about anything new, but maybe grandpa richard was here ... he was pretty cool.

"well, you three are right on time" emily said, closing the front door and walking into the massive entrance of the house. it was basically the size of the living-room back home in stars hollow. freaky.

"i can't tell you what a treat it is to have all you girls here" emily continued, smiling hard at dean. he swallowed down the lump forming in his throat, trying so hard to smile back. lorelai cleared her throat, guiding her tall son in front of her and walking behind the twins. "as you can tell, we're all very excited."

"if you're going to throw out that cup, please do so in the kitchen" grandma gilmore pointed out to lorelai, looping her arm with rory's and walking into the sitting room. dean felt so out of place but followed his twin and grandma, leaving lorelai behind him. "so rory, i want to hear everything about chilton"

"i havent even started yet, grandma" rory smiled, following emily into the room. dean chewed his lip, walking tall behind them. this house was huge and scary, and didnt feel at all like the home he was used to. no wonder lorelai left when she got the chance, with or without the twins.

richard was sitting on the couch, reading a large newspaper that blocked his view of the room. dean smiled when he saw the tall man upon entering. "richard, look who's here" emily called, presenting rory like the trophy everyone made her out to be. she smiled awkwardly at dean, presenting him next. richard lowered his paper, his glasses resting on the end of his nose.

"rory, dean. you're tall"

dean couldnt help the laugh that escaped him, that he quickly smothered when his sister and grandma glared at him. but if grandpa richard was already calling and gendering dean correctly, tonight wouldnt be so bad. the gilmore boy smiled at the bland looking carpet at the thought.

"how tall are you two?" richard asked, looking the twins up and down.

"5'7" rory answered, nudging dean harder than what was needed. "6'0" he signed to richard, frowning to himself when he heard emily sigh loudly thru her nose.

"that's tall. you two are tall"

"hi, dad" lorelai said as she entered the room, wrapping her arm around dean's thin waist in support. she knew it wasnt easy for him dealing with emily. just another reason why they didnt come over ever.

"lorelai, your daughter and son are tall" richard stated, lifting his paper back up to read. dean grinned at him. that was all grandpa richard, right there.

"i know lorelai is tall but i've never seen such a tall girl like you, diana" emily butted in, handing everyone a glass. richard lowered the paper, taking the glass and watching emily with a raised brow. "dean grew a lot over this last summer, mom" lorelai said, biting the inside of her cheek. she held dean closer to herself, rory continued to stand more towards the grandparents. show off.

"let's have a toast, to rory entering chilton and an exiting new phase in her life" emily smiled, raising the filled glass. lorelai and dean smiled with rory, raising their glasses as well. richard stood up beside dean, making the boy smile harder seeing at how he was almost as tall as his grandpa. "and to dean, who continues making the world more beautiful with his art"

lorelai sipped her glass with a hidden smirk.

emily frowned at richard's toast, sending a sharp glare to her husband and let the cook know everyone was heading to the dining-room now. richard simply stayed nearby dean, handing him another section of the newspaper.

dean could feel another one of his migraines seeping in, and hard. his eyes were starting to swim, little dots blurring his already unsteady vision. was it too hot in here? did emily conspire with the cook and poison his supper? he really was starting to hate everything about today.

dont get him wrong, he was proud of his twin. he wouldnt trade her going to a private school, and hopefully her dream school someday, but having to hear about it from emily, who kept pointingly making it obvious that dean wasnt going, was the icing on the cake, really. he knew he wasnt as book smart as his twin, but given different tools of the trade, he was pretty smart. just as smart as rory.

soon enough the topic switched from emily praising rory, to richard asking about the inn, which he did seen actually interested in, then to emily praising chistropher, which set lorelai off. rory stayed quiet, giving dean little looks over the table when their father was brought up. but the cherry on top was emily telling rory she mustve gotten her smarts from their father, when lorelai got up from the table.

"i need a coke, or a knife" she spat, quickly moving into the kitchen. dean frowned, pushing his chair back slightly to follow her but emily beat him to it. he sighed, rubbing his temples when their argument heated up.

rory ate a little more off her plate while richard began to read the newspaper again. dean pushed his plate away, swallowing and praying to whatever-god that he didnt hurl all over this lace white tablecloth, or so help him. a few minutes later richard had fallen asleep and lorelai and emily were full on yelling from the kitchen.

the topic changed to money and dean lowered his head. only he and lorelai had spoken about that, not rory. it was one thing for emily to shame lorelai about her job, that she worked hard getting to where she was, but this time with money .... dean cringed as his migraine grew.

something small hit his arm, making him put his arms down and look across the table at his twin. it had been something from her plate she'd thrown.

"you knew about the money?" rory asked, squinting at dean. he simply bit his lip and gave her a little shrug. he didnt know what to say, it was all so awkward. "you knew, and you didnt say anything to me?" she complained, leaning closer to the table to whisper-shout at him.

what good would that have done? as if rory would change her ways. dean never told her for just that reason. rory was sometimes a spoiled brat, and the way today went, maybe finding out about the money this way was a good swift kick in the ass.

lorelai left in the kitchen in near tears, rushing past dean with a quick pat of the shoulders. the twins shared a look, and left the table.

so much for supper at the grandparents.

the gilmore boy held luke's diner door open for the girls, holding the jeep keys in his hand. the drive back home seemed longer than ever. quiet, aside from the cd dean had slid in earlier. the taller twin told his notepad from the counter, entering in their order and stuck it to the order holder, taking his seat with the girls.

"nice dinner at the grandparents house" rory addressed everyone awkwardly.

"well, her dishes have never been cleaner" lorelai said, her eyes meeting dean's blurry ones "although if you had done them ...." he smiled at her. she took the keys off the table in front of him, whispering that she'd drive home after burgers and pie.

"how much did you hear?" lorelai asked her twins, looking between them.

"snippets" rory replied quickly, making dean shrink down on himself.

"basically everything?"

"basically"

lorelai groaned, covering her face with her hands. dean let a sad little smile onto his face, leaning over and side hugging her in their strange postion of a chair hug.

"i think it was brave of you to ask them for money" rory piped up again

"i so do not want to bring this up again tonight" lorelai complained, moving her hands and looking at rory tiredly.

"how many meals is it gunna take til we're off the hook?"

dean's ear perked, looking at her oddly. did he hear her right?

"the deli platter at my funeral should be the last ... but hey, does that mean?"

rory nodded over at her twin and mom, "cant let a perfectly good and newly hemmed plaid shirt go to waste"

lorelai smiled warmly, holding onto her daughter's hands "oh i promise you wont be sorry"

luke walked up to the table with full plates. the gilmores watched him set them down before all three of them gave him the same look. "what?" he asked.

"fancy" dean signed, pointing to his dress shirt and missing snapback. lorelai smirked.

"i had a meeting earlier at the bank, they like collars. you three look nice too"

everyone had a full burger and fries in front of them, luke left the table to grab the rest of their order when lorelai spoke up again "behold the healing powers of a bath" 

"soda and a piece of pie is a cure-all for a mirgraine" luke announced his return with a full glass and another smaller plate, placing them beside dean's burger and fry plate. dean smiled up at him, signing a thank you. luke nodded, ruffling the kids gelled hair and leaving again.

"so" rory said, looking at lorelai, then dean.

"oh yeah, tell us about this cute boy"

dean blushed into his french fries. lorelai giggled, pushing his arm and holding his chin up so they could look at eachother. "please? are you embarrassed to bring him home?"

"is he dreamy?" rory teased

dean blushed harder, pushing his seat back as if he was going to move tables.

"we'll just spy on you guys!" lorelai laughed.

welcome to the quirky little town of stars hollow, connecticut, where everybody knows everybody, and not much happens - but when it does, everybody knows about it.

Chapter Text

september was dying, and october was beginning to be born. late september were the very early stages of autumn, possibly even late august if it were early, but late september and early to mid october were the best. at least to dean gilmore.

oranges, reds, yellows. an artist's paradise was the east coast in autumn. it usually ended up snowing before halloween, but sometimes the autumn warmth would hold that back, and dean could only hope that would happen this year. not that the gilmore twins did trick-or-treating but halloween was wonderful. if only the snow knew the pure beauty of halloween night ....

a light breeze caused the tall boy to blink and brought him back from his daydream. he sighed, suddenly crushed by the thought of snow coming, before returning to his sketchbook that layed on his lap. the pen sketches he'd been scribbling out all day stared back at him. pen sketches in black ink contrasted the white page, filling the void of emptiness. maybe a colourful background was in order. bring something more. bring the warmth of autumn and keep it to himself on a piece of paper.

"you okay down there?" lorelai's soft voice rattled dean. he looked up, seeing his mother sat on the wicker couch, rory's bare feet in her lap. rory had her long jeans rolled up to her knees, also sitting on the couch. both girls were looking at him. he blushed but nodded at lorelai. the almost-wraparound porch of their house was were the gilmore crew found themselves this sunday evening.

rory was eating whipped cream straight from the can, lorelai painting her toenails, and dean sat on the porch itself, drawing. rory was starting private school tomorrow morning, and dean was already nervous. he had to go with the two girls tomorrow morning to meet the the higher up people. only super rich and snotty kids went to private school, and while he was proud that his twin was going, he held his fear of their family standing out. something was gunna go wrong, he just knew it.

"stop moving, please" lorelai said, gripping her daughters foot while holding the brush.

"why are you even painting my nails, im going to be wearing shoes"

dean shook his head. wasnt rory just the most wonderful bundle of joy there ever was?

"well because you start private school tomorrow, and everyone knows bad girls wear red nail polish. and your brother wears black nail polish because he's a little emo" lorelai smiled at them, the teasing tone playing off her lips.

the gilmore boy looked at his black finger nails, smirking and giving their mother a little shrug. she wasnt completely wrong. rory rolled her eyes, ready to say something when lane came running up the driveway. lorelai immediately capped the red nail polish, moving rory's feet and jogged over to where lane was hopping up the front steps.

"ooh, new cds!" lorelai grinned, giggling with lane.

"what about my nails?" rory asked, already frowning at her half finished painted toenails.

"who cares, you'll be wearing shoes" lorelai called over her shoulder, her and lane already rushing into the house. dean stood up, moving over to the seat where the mother had been and began the job she'd abandoned. rory watched him carefully, almost in awe at how gentle and soft he was at painting. everything dean did, was usually done in the name of art. this was one of those times.

the sun was beginning to set now, letting worries or excitement grow a little more. tomorrow would be a new start. and tomorrow would be a step to a dream.

guitar strums rattled the beat up headphones around dean's neck. the wind was blowing his soft little curls against his forehead, slightly dropping against his long eyelashes. he was thankful that he'd had insomnia last night, it got him up earlier than usual but seeing how today was just that important, things needed to happen.

he'd gotten dressed a little more formal, going as far as tying his shoes. it was a big step, he actually tied his shoes today. trading his ripped black skinny jeans in, he had on his skinny blue bell bottoms that weren't all that frayed at the bottom. he made sure the pair with the hand painted flowers were the ones he had on, and not the pair with the patches that lorelai had put on. the clean red flannel was hidden under his black bomber jacket, his headphones and discman clipped to his belt loops.

the blue shirt he had on was going to be traded for his white long sleeved dress shirt that was currently at the dry cleaners with his mother's suit. she had no clean clothes and had made sure at least one of her suits was clean for today. dean didnt have a reason to dress up much but his dress shirt was sent for cleaning just for today.

dean held the tray of coffee and his hot coco as he jogged across the street from luke's and down the block towards the dry cleaners. even with getting up early, he hoped his twin and mom were up and getting ready, hopefully there wouldnt be traffic and they could should up calm, cool and collected to a private school. like they belonged there. the sign in the window stopped the gilmore boy from pushing on the door.

closed for family emergency.

oh ... oh no ... no no no no no .... panic bubbled up in dean's throat. he swallowed, ran his free hand thru his shaggy hair, whipping around and speed walking back towards luke's. oh this was so not good. so very very very not good. midway across the street dean's phone buzzed in his jacket pocket, without thinking about being in the way for early morning traffic, he stopped and checked the next text.

from: twin wonder

moms alarm didnt go off. we're late. where are you?

dean growled under his breath, looking around himself. if he ran home, he'd be there in five minutes, tops. he gripped the tray a little tighter and started to run, another text showing up just as he ran past town square.

from: slutty mother

got our stuff?

if dean's voice worked, he was sure he'd swear right now. everything was not going their way today, and he knew rory must be fuming by now. turn left, two houses, turn right, daycare center, long road, long road, long road and there - hidden in the trees. the jeep was running and there was yelling coming from the house. oh boy. dean ran up the steps and threw open the door. rory walked around the corner wearing her uniform and glaring hard. hellfire was burning in those eyes, dean knew, he'd seen that look before.

"wheres the dry cleaning?" rory spat, causing dean to try and sign what had happened. she groaned, covering her face just as lorelai jumped down the stairs. the twins turned as lorelai grabbed her long purple coat. the bright pink tie-dye shirt with the super short jean shorts was a strong look, really. the cowboy boots and the low ponytail also made the look just a little more fitting to how royally screwed today was going.

the gilmore boy handed coffees out to the two girls and got into the driver side of the jeep, lorelai got in the passenger side and rory got in the back, glaring at both her twin and mother in the rear-view. oh joy.

"i remember it being smaller" rory stated.

"and a lot less ..." lorelai chimed in, leaning forward and staring at the massive grey tone building.

"off with their heads" dean signed, his green eyes wide as he mimicked his mother, leaning forward and gulping at the building in front of them.

"what are you looking at?" rory piped up from the back, moving closer to the front seats.

"wanted to see if there's a hunchback in the bell-tower" lorelai replied honestly. dean blew a little laugh from his nose, looking out his window and smiling.

"okay, well how do i look?"

lorelai turned, grinning proudly at her daughter, reaching out to straighten her collar "like a million bucks, kiddo. you earned this, you're amazing. you go in there and show off what a smart kid can do. i love you. just call if you need me. or text dean, either way."

"whoa, you're kidding right? you have to come in with me" the teen girl spat. dean paled a little, closing his eyes. lorelai put her hand on his shoulder, just above where the bruise rory had given him last week was.

"yeah, you have to meet the headmaster. you too, dean"

dean paled further, lorelai may have also lost a shade or two. "uh, i can't meet anybody who does anything in there. i look like daisy from dukes of hazzard right now"

"this is my first day, both of you arent getting out of going in there with me. period" rory grumbled, glaring at them before getting out of the jeep and slamming the door. lorelai sighed heavily, sharing a look with dean before they also got out. the mother was beginning to do up her coat as she walked around, meeting her daughter and tall son. dean held the keys tightly in his grip, licking his lips and tasting the warm hot coco that was still there. he suddenly missed stars hollow.

two ladies walking by stared at them, their eyes drifting to dean's bell-bottoms, then up to lorelai's outfit. "good morning" she smiled, giving them a little wave. they shared a look, then walked away. lorelai finished with her coat, wrapping her left arm in dean's right, walking behind rory, who help the school map. "oh i can tell we'll be friends, now - where do we go?" the sarcasm was heavy. so very heavy.

people stared at them. no matter who they passed, people stared at them. rory read off the paper, leading them to where they were needed, but more and more people stared. dean was sure a sweat to break out on him, his breathing picked up just a hitch, his throat was closing up and his mouth went dry. oh this was so very very very not good.

the white double doors faced them. lorelai let go of her sons arm to push her hand against one of them, taking a deep breath and looking at her twins. dean forced a little smile, gently pushing rory ahead. and suddenly the three gilmores were in a large office, the doors closing behind them. an older looking lady sat behind a desk, looking at a book with pen in hand. it was dead quiet in here, dean calmed a little, but his pulse was still dancing the disco.

the single mother cleared her throat, her fingertips touched the edge of the desk. "uh, excuse me" the pen was set down and suddenly a freakish looking person was looking back. both lorelai and dean jumped back a little, rory remained neutral but the slight jump went thru all three gilmores. "uh heh .. yeah" lorelai started.

"this is .. my son, dean" she said, gripping dean's arm. he gave a short little smile. "and uh, this is my daughter lorelai gilmore ... 'cause, i named her after me. heh. cuz i was in the hospital all whacked out on demerol, uh heh never mind. uh, we call her rory. it's short for lorelai, but she replies to both, depending. maybe even 'hey you' will -"

the babbling was cut short when dean nudged her elbow. the freaky lady continued to stare at them. "is .. the headmaster in?" she finally asked. the lady got up slowly "one moment" she replied and left the room stiffly. lorelai took a heavy breath, sagging down. rich people in a rich lifestyle was rough work to keep up with. rory shook her head, looking up at dean, who was raking his eyes around the big room.

a side door opened and the lady stood, staring. "headmaster charleston will see you now"

it was going well. nobody had yet to see lorelai's outfit, or dean's shirt. they were introduced, told what was going to happen. emily suddenly walked in, greeting the headmaster and dean had to turn around to stifle a gag in his fist. nobody was currently looking at them, letting lorelai turn, wrapping her arm around her son's binded chest. whispering against the shell of his ear "yeah, grandma makes me sick too - you okay?"

dean made the smallest of sounds, wiping his mouth, gritting his teeth and shaking his head. oh, that hot coco was seriously not sitting well at all. emily, the headmaster and then rory's voices droned on in the background. dean's breath was picking up again, a migraine seeping in, his vision beginning to swim. lorelai held him up against her, a panic attack was not something they needed right now but apparently one was starting to happen.

"miss gilmore, why dont you and your daughters take off your coats and take a seat?"

lorelai looked up from dean's pale face, looking bug eyed at the three people watching them. "huh? oh, uh no no we're good. and actually i just have one daughter"

emily rolled her eyes, shaking her head as the headmaster looked confused, looking down at a plain looking folder. "it says here you have two daughters. twins. one lorelai leigh gilmore and one diana donna gilmore"

lorelai grumbled, helping dean stand a little more, turning to look at the white haired man. rory was trying to look around their mother, trying to figure out why she was holding dean behind her as much as she was. but when dean's head poked out when behind lorelai's shoulder for two seconds, pale face, sweaty and slightly green, rory's expression softened quickly. she looked at the headmaster, "that's my brother dean. he's transgender. and he's not feeling all that good today, will we be much longer?"

"rory" emily warned.

"mom, please" lorelai pleaded, sitting dean down in one of the chairs and holding his shoulders up so he wouldn't fall forward. emily reached around them, taking off their coats before lorelai had time to tell her to stop. and suddenly the room got a look at lorelai's clothes and dean's bright blue shirt that read "orgasm donor" rory sighed, feeling embarrassed. only they could be this weird. only them.

"yes, well. lets move on" the man said, opening the folder once more.

lorelai sat dean on the bench that sat outside the office doors in the hallway, leaning down and trying to get him to breathe. his breath was hitching harshly, his face was paler than a sheet while his cheeks held a bright red tint. the fever was burning him up from the inside.

"how could you leave the house like that? i can't believe you, and on rory's first day of school, what kind of impression were you thinking about making? and bringing diana when she's clearly not that well"

the single mother sighed roughly, glaring up as emily continued to bitch at everything that wrong in the past ten minutes. thank god the headmaster had finished speaking to them and just wanted rory in the office. "it wasn't planned, believe us. and for the last time - it's dean, and he's having a panic attack, so please - step back."

emily didnt move back, instead stepping closer and getting louder at how she was paying for the school. dean's breath hitched harder and lorelai patted his back, moving her hands around to his chest, pushing on it lightly to bring some air in. he coughed, wheezed, brought up a little spit. his lips were turning blue.

rory stepped out from the office, the big doors closing behind her. emily stopped her streak of ruthlessness and smiled at her. "h-hey grandma, why dont you come deliver this paper with me?"

"oh, i'd love to. lorelai, this isn't over" emily replied, making her way over to the private school girl.

lorelai mouthed a silent 'thank you' to rory and turned back to dean. "okay, lets get this under control. then back home for you. burgers, fries and soda at luke's. my treat."

the gilmore boy gave her a little weak smile, sitting up straighter, closing his eyes and forcing in a breath.

the bell chimed over the quirk diner's door. it wasnt busy, which was odd for a monday morning. all the same, lorelai trudged in, slamming her open palms down on the blue counter and sighing heavily. luke raised an eyebrow, pausing in his cleaning.

"i've had the longest morning of my life, and oh look, it's only ten" lorelai stated, swinging her hands up towards the clock to add to the dramatic scene.

"there's no coffee" luke replied, leaning down on the counter across from the single mother.

"mm, that's not funny" lorelai leaned her face in, giving a sarcastic smile.

"i can give you herbal tea"

"this is not a herbal tea morning. this is a coffee morning"

"every morning is a coffee morning for you" luke rolled his eyes, pushing himself away from the counter.

"this is a jumbo coffee morning. i need coffee in an IV" lorelai whined, tossing her coat on the seat beside her and slapping her right arm a few times. just to get the point really across. its what all the gilmores did. the drama ran high in them.

"i can give you herbal tea and a balance bar" luke deadpanned. he was used to the drama, in fact he loved not playing into it, just to add some more humor to his life.

"please, please, please, please tell me you're kidding"

"i'm kidding"

"you're sick" lorelai sighed, rubbing at her temples while luke grabbed the full coffee pot.

"yup. for here, or to go?"

"to go, please. oh, and i need the usual for dean. also to go"

luke made a sound from the back of his throat, nodding as he filled a large to go coffee cup for the gilmore. writing down the usual order on a paper and sliding it into the back for the cook. he handed lorelai the cup and gave a shrug, "so what happened that made this morning so bad, and speaking of - where is dean?"

lorelai groaned, scooping up the filled to go cup. "rory started chilton"

"really?"

"yeah."

luke eyed her outfit, his lips twitching into a small smirk. he dropped it the second lorelai raised her neatly drawn brow at him, "what?"

"uh, well nothing. but that's how you dress to take rory to that fancy school?"

lorelai groaned again. apparently today was a good day to show off your skills for a possible day-time emmy nomination. "no. the dry cleaners was closed for something, my fuzzy alarm didnt purr, my mother was already there, dean had a panic attack ..."

luke's eyes squinted at her, "it didnt .... purr?"

"my alarm. its furry. it purrs" lorelai explained.

the order bell dinged loudly behind luke, who flinched. "uh huh." with an eye roll he turned to package up the order. lorelai's phone beeped with a message, while pulling it out of her coat pocket she spat out, "not to mention - i had a plan - dammit. i was ready."

from: cowboy

grandma keeps phoning here

"oh, oh, and now my mother keeps phoning the house. alright, okay, i have to go. i need to phone her" lorelai rushed out, already dialing the gilmore mansion's number on her cell. luke gave her a pity smile, handing the warm box of food and gave her a wave as she rushed out of the diner, her coat and hair flying out behind her.

"that family's crazy" luke muttered to himself.

the phone finally stopped ringing. finally. the wet cloth that lorelai had layed across dean's forehead was dripping down onto the pillow and down to his neckline, so he forced himself up and into the kitchen. this morning was rough and he was worn down to the bone.

dropping the wet rag in the sink after a quick ring-out he stumbled his way into the shared bedroom just across the table. rory's side was clean, tidy, in order. bed made, clothes put away, her books and computer all shiny and perfect. dean's side was a war zone. clothes everywhere, shoes tossed under his bed, the bed itself unmade and mighty inviting right about now. he sat on the end of it, sighing to himself as he looked around the room again.

it was weird. they lived in a shed behind the inn when they first moved. not that dean nor rory remembered that, but lorelai spoke openly about it. now she owned this house. the twins had grown up in this room. it'd changed a lot over the years, no doubt about it there, but today this room felt less like a bedroom. he should feel proud and happy. he was, but it didnt feel right.

rory gilmore, the perfect girl was a private school girl. and dean gilmore was currently sitting on his bed in his pajamas. god, he felt pathetic. rory deserved a private school. dean had a stutter, he couldnt even speak for god sakes. was this jealously? dean rubbed as his nose started to prickle, the red tint blending into his freckles. no, not jealous. just ... sad. lonely. lonely, because he was tired of just being rory's quiet twin. the freak show of a gilmore. he was dean gilmore, dammit!

his phone buzzed in his extra large sweatshirt pocket, making him jump. he forgot lorelai had stripped his binder and shirt off earlier, replacing it with his sweatshirt. the one he wore when his chest made him hate everything a little more than he already did. his jeans were tossed with his clothes from earlier, his fuzzy plaid pj pants swallowed his feet. how, he had no idea, he was tall. dean shook his head, wiped his teary eyes, sniffled just a little, dug thru a stack of cds on his bedside table and went back into the large living-room.

music probably would make his migraine worse, so he ditched his guitar for right now. sliding the cd into the stereo they owned on the table under the front window, he closed the case, skipped to the track he wanted and slid back into the nest lorelai made on the couch. dean pulled his phone out from the pocket, frowning at the device. maybe he was too old fashioned, he hated his phone most of the time. the text that lit up his screen after pushing the home button surprised him.

from: cute market boy

saw you running this morning. your butt is cute.

dean blushed, huffing a little laugh. so giving the tall cute boy who helped him move rory's crap on friday, his number was a good idea. he hadnt texted since haven gotten dean's number but if this was the opening text that started something new, dean could live with that, he figured.

another text showed up before he got to reply.

from: cute market boy

sorry that was a bit much. hey, it's dean. the guy who helped you move. :)

dean smiled harder, his blush moving up to his ears. this boy will kill him. and hey, if this is dean's first crush - he made out alright. he was cute, funny and now even more sweeter. he quickly replied.

to: cute market boy

as if i could forget you. glad you liked what you saw.

the next track on the cd started to play, and dean frowned a little. getting lost in starting a text conversation with a cute boy made you miss good music. that never happened to dean, he valued music above mostly everything. music and art, but now suddenly a cute boy was coming up first. another text arrived and he shrugged to himself. the next song was just as good.

from: cute market boy

like i was going to miss that cute butt running down the street. you looked like you were in a hurry, everything okay?

was he really about to spill the beans over how crappy the last few hours had been? an idea popped into his head, he backed up his text and replied

to: cute market boy

arent you in class?

man, he was smart. he smiled to himself, enjoying the opening chords to his favourite christian kane track. that man's voice was dean's anchor more often than not. he could sing and act, plus he was hella good looking. christian kane was dean's one true love, no doubt about that. he saw a new text bubble start to wiggle, indicating a new one would show up soon enough, but this song was his favourite. the cute boy would have to wait.

"faded dreams and blue jeans ...a ranger's cap with sweat rings, there's a hole in the sole of my favourite boots ..... we'll i've been at it a long time, working on that bottom line, every shirt i've worn - the collar's been blue." dean sang along, trying to match his softer and lighter voice to the country twag gorgeousness of christian kanes. he was happy he could sing, that the stutter didnt interfere with that part of his brain. he couldnt handle quick songs with fast lyrics and his voice gave out before a full 3 minute and 30 second song, but he sang along all the same.

a new text dinged, but the phone was on his lap. the next verse was coming soon. he whispered along to it, his voice breaking as he tried getting louder. so much for that, with a little sigh he looked at his phone.

from: cute market boy

yeah, but you're important.

this boy was trying to kill him, dean was very aware of this now. his eyes teared up a little. was he really important? really? he smiled as he felt his blush run across his cheeks, burn at his ears and down his neck. he was replying when the front door opened and lorelai walked in talking loudly into her phone.

it was good to be at home in stars hollow.

the inn was quiet, but also busy. people stopping by to listen to drella play her harp, people annoying michel more than usual, people coming and going. it was nearing the end of the month, which meant dean had to finish up his school work and get someone to grade the leftovers, so that lorelai could give it to the teachers at stars hollow high and get the next months work. wasnt as simply as life could be, but homeschooling was much easier on dean's nerves.

lorelai had come in from luke's, given dean his takeout order, changed her clothes to her work ones, kissed dean, finally hung up her damn cell and told him she'd be at work and that he should come by a little later if he wanted so that she could mark some of his finished papers.

so here he was. dean gilmore, almost 16 years old, strolling thru the small, sleepy town of stars hollow. his beat-up headphones rattling with christian kane's powerful vocals. his wispy hair wild in the wind. blowing bubblegum bubbles loudly with every second step. his heavy sweatshirt held his discman and cell in the front pocket. his pajama pants trailed a little behind his sneaker covered feet. the laces almost torn to little threads. he carried his opened backpack loosely, it dragging on the ground.

dean gilmore was a messy little shit, so what of it.

pushing open the doors to the inn and sliding his headphones around his neck, dean trudged his way into the lobby. he could hear sookie and jackson talking about watery peaches in the kitchen. he had to smile, those two together were crazy. it wouldnt surprise him if they started dating sooner or later. his mothers voice also came from the kitchen among the peaches topic. he hummed to himself, dropping his pin covered backpack on the floor and tossing himself in a chair nearby.

he rubbed his eyes, sinking deeper into the overstuffed chair. just after lorelai had left the house, dean had stopped texting the cute market boy, seeing how it was nearing lunch hour and the afternoon classes were shorter. maybe he'd see his new crush later on in the day. however, if the cute market boy was going to see him, itd have to be like this. dean wasnt changing until they went to pick up rory. he was tired. he'd had a panic attack earlier and if he was being honest, he still felt sick. dean suddenly regretted his burger and fries from luke's.

"ya look like hell, squirt"

dean's bright greens met drella's amused face. still playing her harp, she always managed to be a sarcastic joy to be around. dean gave her a little eye-roll and a half smirk. "feel it too" dean signed, giving a shrug. drella held a soft smile for the boy ready to reply when lorelai came grumbling out of the kitchen and began almost yelling into the phone. dean's shoulder sunk, his body welcoming the boneless state he loved being in, nearly becoming one with the chair.

having emily be more apart of their lives meant lorelai was becoming just a little more high-strung, because you never truly knew when emily gilmore was going to pop up. it happened a lot. and the yelling over the phone was really starting to get to dean. maybe instead of his mother, maybe he could have the nervous breakdown and have some peace and quiet from the planet of earth. unplugging his headphones from the discman, he plugged them into his phone, heading to the youtube app and continuing his rewatch of jacksepticeye's play of night in the woods, something he rewatched every fall.

twenty minutes later lorelai was nudging him awake, stealing his chair and setting him on her lap. through blurry eyes dean noticed how the inn had settled down, drella and her harp were gone and michel was on the phone with someone. sookie's cooking was starting to make the lobby smell like a warm soup. the gilmore boy closed his eyes and tucked his head under his mom's chin, sighing happily at her warmth.

lorelai had slipped dean's headphones completely off, holding onto his phone so it wouldnt fall. she would have to back up his video, seeing how the entire time she's been on the phone with emily - dean had slept.

"i think you have a fever, you're warmer than before" she whispered, gently tucking some stray hairs behind dean's ear, touching his rosy cheeks and forehead. the boy lazily blinked, sniffling and making himself smaller for her hold tighter. "alright, i'll mark your papers, you sleep" she smiled, kissing her son's warm temple.

dean smiled back, snuggling in for a good sleep.

the next time dean woke up, it was on the couch at home. making a small strangled sound from the back of his throat, he tried sitting up while rubbing his blurry eyes. his face was burning up and his mouth tasted disgusting.

wait, if he fell asleep at the inn how did he end up at home? crap, what time was it?

"whoa, whoa, slow down cowboy, slow down"

a heavy hand met dean's burning neck, steadying him against the couch and pillow he was crashed out on. dean's blurry eyes looked up, seeing luke and his dirty backwards snapback block the view of the ceiling as he settled the sick gilmore. suddenly dean felt the blankets on top of him, the towel under his upper body and the short white bucket on the floor beside the couch.

dean pulled his shaky and clammy hands from under the blanket, trying to sign something but was growing more and more frustrated. however, luke got the picture, patting dean's hands.

"she went to pick up rory from school, and i think to maybe kill your grandmother"

the gilmore boy gave a weak smile. folding his eyebrows in when a new thought occurred to him. luke also got this one. "she left from the inn and i came to get you, bring ya back here. they're almost back, give it 15 minutes."

"oh, and your damn phone's been going crazy" luke continued, handing the boy his phone before he settled himself in the arm chair that sat by the staircase. "you still feelin sick?"

dean looked up from his phone, shaking his head slowly as he thought about how he was feeling. not as good as usual but not as sick as before. luke accepted the short, slow head shake, grabbing the tv remote. "ya got sick a few times, but i honestly think you were so tired you werent even awake" 

the boy cringed, wiping his tongue along his dry lips, suddenly having a cold water bottle handed to him. luke was quick, dean loved him. he signed a little thank you, sipping at the water carefully. he set the open bottle on the table, turning himself onto his right side, snuggling into the blanket nest luke made for him, already drifting off to jack's loud voice coming from the tv.

luke gave him a smug little smile, watching the gaming video that he had put on almost an hour ago for the kid. he was actually enjoying the loud irishman more than he thought he would. apparently, he grows on you, who knew.

lorelai and rory sat on the table in front of the couch, eating pizza while dean sat on the couch, eating the tub of homemade soup that sookie had brought over for him. the cute market boy had come over, introducing himself to lorelai and rory, and was currently sitting on the arm of the couch, sharing pizza with the girls.

"it was amazing! paris is so cool, she's so put together and she showed me her project for one of the last classes and oh my god. and the cutest guy ever came up and just started talking to me. i guess he's like super popular and never talks to anyone so paris said it was amazing he noticed me" rory went on and on about today.

dean was happy she was happy and had a good day, but he was reminded how living in a house full of chicks numbed him just a little.

lorelai took in her son's weary mood and cut in when rory had finished going on about paris "so, dean"

both boys looked at her, causing her to point to the taller dean on the arm of couch "you there. hi. how are you guys liking stars hollow?"

the tall boy swallowed his bite of pizza, nodding happily "its a lot different from the city, my mom was a little worried since my sisters have different hobbies that they wouldnt get to do them here, but dad did he research and picked good, i'd say"

rory and lorelai laughed, rory chiming in "you have sisters?"

"oh yeah, four of them. i'm the oldest. they're all pretty awesome kids"

"wow!" lorelai gasped "five kids. ha, i had two and thats enough" she laughed

dean laughed back, wiping his hands when he finished his pizza slice "well actually we're all adopted. after me they adopted clara a few years later, and the other three girls came around the same time."

"really?" rory asked

"yeah, uh, my, uh my mom is transgender and couldnt have her own kids. so her and dad decided they would adopt. and i dunno, i guess the adoption agency just loved them so much they ended up with five kids" dean laughed, smiling as he talked about his family. his face gathered up a blush, making him rub the back of his neck. lorelai grinned at him, what a sweet kid.

the forester boy set his hand in the gilmore boys slightly greasy hair, smiling down at him. the two of them smiled at one another. lorelai wanted to hug them both. "that was pretty great of them"

rory sighed, "ugh today was the longest monday of my life"

the taller dean huffed a small laugh, getting up from the couch and disappearing to the kitchen. the sound of the garage can being opened explained it. lorelai moved from the table to the couch, wrapping her arms around her son, kissing his temple and putting the empty soup tub where she had been sitting.

"tell me about it. first grandma phoned to buy you new clothes, then she phoned to buy you a car, then before i came to pick you up she had made an order for today for guys to install faster internet here"

"yikes" dean replied, sitting back down on the arm of the couch.

"again, the longest monday of our lives and it's only 6:30" rory stated. if she kept that up, the daytime emmy would go to her, not their mother.

"crap, really?" dean asked, lifting his sleeve to check his watch "i gotta go. im on the babysitting and supper clock tonight" he smiled, pushing the hair from his eyes, gathering up his leather coat and sliding it on with ease

"sounds fancy" lorelai grinned

"i'll see you guys tomorrow" dean said, waving to the single mother and rory. leaning down to give dean a little kiss on the cheek he added in, "hope you feel better too"

"bye dean" rory called when the tall boy received a smile from the gilmore boy and was walking towards the front door. "bye!" dean laughed, shutting the door behind him.

"you were right" lorelai wiggled her son in his spot.

dean raised his eyebrows at his mother.

"he IS cute"

Chapter Text

another week had passed in a steady pace of rapid talking and busy, jam packed days, and once again all the gilmores were together for the weekly friday dinner. fall was really starting to swing in, the weather was starting to get colder and summer was so close to dying off.

dean was in his element. the time of year he looked forward too, every single year. the time of year with the most beautiful colours, the crisp air. not to mention the time of year he could wear all his favourite clothes and dance thru the street covered in dozens of fallen multicoloured soldiers who'd left their posts. it was magical to him.

but alas, here he was. sat in the large dining room, listening to emily and lorelai argue over maid's names and what rory had to pick for a team sport. ha, like rory was a team player. dean looked down at his supper, cringing a little as his stomach rebelled for a minute. he wasn't quite used to such rich food, and with his anxiety always on high alert nothing going down was good. this place stressed him the hell out.

"anyways," emily bit out, "how're things going at your charming little inn?"

dean rolled his eyes hard, lowering his head so his fingers could brush his aching forehead. not a migraine, but one was rolling in soon enough. richard took note almost immediately, looking over at him slightly.

"they're still charming and little" lorelai replied, fake smiling at grandma gilmore.

"your son informed me you're having a rather large wedding there this weekend, correct?" richard spoke up, nodding over to his daughter. dean looked up, looking at richard before his face heated. emily bulked at her husband, almost like richard had contacted the dead, rather than state something.

"yeah, actually we are! dean's been a great help with it too. people are coming from all over the country for it." lorelai smiled brightly. dean and richard smiled back.

"well isn't that nice"

"emily" richard warned, "yes, lorelai, has stars hollow ever had such a large event?"

in true horrible person fashion, emily glared at them before turning and speaking louder than them to rory. dean slid a little further down into his seat, listening to richard and lorelai talk about the upcoming wedding. he didnt think he was as big a help as lorelai was saying, but he could read people well, and making the seating charts wasnt hard. nor was making the signs and cards for the table.

"richard plays golf on the weekends, you could go with him"

everyone looked across at emily, who grinned wickedly.

"excuse me?" richard protested quickly

"rory needs to learn a sport for school, you can take her golfing this weekend." emily argued.

"perhaps i was thinking of asking someone else to come along this weekend"

"like who, richard?"

"i was about to ask dean" richard said. dean's eyebrows flew up. what?

"diana? what would diana benefit from golfing?"

"mom, his name is dean"

"lorelai is correct, emily.  his name is dean. and if you recall, dean makes art. there are some very lovely scenery around the course that i think he would like to connect with for his art. but only if lorelai doesn't need him for the wedding planning?"

"uh, no, he can, uh, make the cards later on, right?" the single gilmore tried, her brain working overtime currently, "right?"

dean nodded at her. "well then, if you'd like to go"

the gilmore boy nodded eagerly at his grandpa.

"you play tennis, don't you grandma?" rory focused the attention back to her and emily. apparently the two minutes it was focused on her twin was too much. when emily simply just nodded once, rory explained, "i think i'd like that more. can you teach me?"

"great, be here by 8 tomorrow morning. both of you. emily will take rory and i will take dean." richard smiled, stabbing a piece of his supper on his fork.

"who drives you?" emily questioned.

"dean, mostly. sometimes mom" rory filled in, looking at her plate with a smarmy look plastered on her young face. emily's hard eyes found rory's twin across the table, sitting next to lorelai.

"you drive?"

the boy nodded, signing 'yes' quickly.

"you drive?" emily repeated her question. everyone wondered what she was doing, eyeing her curiously. dean was confused, signing another quick 'yes'. when emily repeated her question for the third time, lorelai realized, "mom, dont"

"lorelai -"

"dont, mom"

"diana donna, do you or do you not, drive?"

"EMILY, QUIT" richard yelled, gripping his fork and knife with the force of the hulk. lorelai quickly slapped her napkin down on her chair, telling emily to leave the room with her. rory glared at dean, then followed both women out of the room. dean sunk lower in his seat, trying to calm himself down.

a cold glass of water was set in front of him, richard thanking the maid quietly, who in return smiled softly and left into the kitchen.

"it's alright son, just focus on breathing slowly."

 lorelai sighed heavily, sweeping her dark hair back as she entered the inn. the twins and their equally annoying and snooty mother were getting on her already shot nerves. however, with this big of a wedding, the inn needed it in a big, big way. so today was all about forced smiles and held in sighs of over-it-ness.

michel was standing behind the front desk, flipping thru a fashion magazine when lorelai walked behind the desk beside him, "any problems?"

"with the wedding or my life?" he replied, flipping the page.

"one guess," the mother smiled, "and its not your life"

"the guests and checked in and 200,000 tons of jordans almonds have been delivered."

"good. now, has rory or dean called?"

"your son calls you?"

"... good point. okay, again - has rory called or dean texted?"

"oh ... dear ..." michel gaped, his eyes staring at two tall, broad shouldered looking men who just walked into the inn. "are those ...?"

lorelai raised an eyebrow, "no, that would just be -"

the twin brides ran into the twin grooms, their laughter and squeals filling the large open space.

"weird." lorelai finished, shaking her head.

"you kept this from me on purpose" michel teased, knocking his elbow against lorelai's, who in turn laughed, "it looks like a really snooty doublemint commercial."

"let me know when the midgets and clowns arrive" michel remarked, closing his magazine and waiting for them to arrive at the front desk, smirk in place.

"are those the grooms?" sookie laughed, sneaking up behind lorelai.

"yes" both her and michel replied. "yikes! oh hey, where's your kid? does he have the menu finished so i can double check the rough draft?"

lorelai held up a finger, digging thru the under storage of the desk before handing her friend a folder filled with different papers, "he's out golfing with my dad today, and rory's out playing tennis with mom. but he said he'd stop by when they're back so you can fill him in"

sookie lowered the folder, "he's golfing?"

"well, my dad was always better than my mom. im glad they have one good grandparent"

"and rory?"

"that i'm more worried about"

"you had two, at least be proud of your son" michel pointed out, waving the two women out from behind the desk as the twins grew closer.

lorelai stopped, frowning lightly. what did that mean?

"is that what you're wearing?" emily sneered

"what's wrong with it?" richard asked, double checking his usual golfing attire. it looked alright, and hell, he was only going golfing, not flying off to a business meeting.

emily sighed deeply, "nothing. it's fine"

"is that what you're wearing?" richard sneered the same to his wife, taking note of her short blue skirt and tight shirt. tennis was always her game, but richard knew all she ever did was gossip with her friends on the court.

"i still dont see why you're taking diana, when rory wanted to go with you"

"emily," the eldest gilmore warned, "rory did not want to come along."

"but diana -"

richard cut her off, taking a hold of her arm and pulling her away from the front door. she spun around, glaring at him, but just as she went to speak, richard spoke first.

"when we first met, what did you have?"

emily looked down, quiet for a minute before she said, "nothing"

"but you went to private school"

"because i was smart"

"and if i were to leave, what would you have?"

"lorelai and the girls"

"wrong" richard said harshly

"excuse me? that's my daughter and granddaughters!" emily bashed out

"you have always treated lorelai like she was a burden to you. the nanny or the maid always took care of her, or i did when i was home, and let it be known i cancelled many business meetings to be home"

"you werent too happy when she was growing up, either now"

"i wasnt too proud when she got pregnant because she was young, but she's proved me wrong in all the right ways, emily. she's worked hard for what she's got. she's a gilmore, and my daughter. and as for rory and dean,"

"diana"

"dean. if you continue to treat my daughter like trash, if you continue to treat rory like a princess, if you continue to treat my grandson, dean, like the gum stuck to your designer shoe, so help me emily, i will divorce you"

the doorbell ringing throughout the house cut the tension thickly. richard left emily standing stunned in the hallway, happily greeting the twins standing on the front step. rory blamed them being a half hour late because of dean, who just sunk his shoulders and shrugged. richard, again took note of this.

rory was dressed like emily. the two smiled and left the house, taking the fancier car to the  tennis courts. dean, standing on the step still, holding the jeep keys, was wearing his dirty chucks, the laces nearly gone. his pants were rolled up, revealing his mismatched socks. his long sleeved button down stuck out from under his comfy looking black sweater with 'fran and maxwell' written across with a picture under it. his sleeves were half rolled towards his elbows. his hair messy but swept back into his snapback.

'i can drive us if you show me where to go' dean signed, his fingers moving with ease. richard smiled happily, "let's go then, my boy"

an hour and a half after arriving at the golf course, dean had to admit that yes, grandpa richard was right, this place was beautiful. the weather was perfect for a saturday outside. grandpa richard was midway thru his game, as dean drove the cart, drew and watched. he'd taught dean how to hit, and while he was pretty natural at the sport, dean opted to watch, hoping he hadn't disappointed the man. all richard said was that he was proud of him for trying and was happy to spend time with him.

while richard was trying to swing out from a sand pit, dean and lorelai exchanged a few dozen texts. going over the slight changes sookie wanted for the menus, how sookie and jackson were fighting over blueberries and how the twins were marrying twins and making michel's head hurt. things were always fun in back home. dean replied saying that he was sad that he'd missed jackson but hoped to see him soon.

at the end of richard's game the two of them sat at a table near the main building. both had a small bowl of ice-cream sitting next to them. in the late morning sun, everything seemed perfect today.

"may i ask what record you were playing in the car earlier?" richard asked, lifting his spoon full of ice-cream. dean nodded, lowering his spoon, now empty. it layed in the melting pool as he signed 'Solitudes (Epilogue)' by Matt Holubowski'

"it was quite beautiful" richard smiled at his grandson. dean smiled back, signing back, 'one of my favourites. i play my guitar to it a lot'

"dance as well?"

dean's face got red, he shook his head. 'not always. it's a more slow dance music'

"ah, i see."

'i dance to other music though. miss patty said says i could probably go professional if i ever wanted'

richard's eyes widened, "wow. have you thought about that?"

the boy blushed again, 'sometimes, i guess. but i like making art and playing my guitar too'

"it's nice to see you have so many passions, rather than just one. i was like that too, but i however, picked one. i wouldn't say it was the wrong choice in the end, but i often wonder what life would've been like had i chose another passion"

'luke changed his dad's hardware store into a diner because that was his passion, rather than what his dad did'

"luke ... that's your mother's boyfriend, correct? the man you work for?"

dean nodded, smiling. 'yeah, luke's pretty fun. he gave me his old guitar, but i'm saving for an electric too.'

"an electric guitar? oh my, you're a rebel" richard teased, causing dean to laugh. richard smiled at the boy with his blue ice-creamed dyed tongue and red cheeks. dean was his grandson who didnt speak much, but he was richard's grandson. dean gilmore would always make him proud.

while waiting for lunch in the building after an hour long walk around the course, richard sat looking thru dean's small sketchbook. the soft pencil sketches of trees and richard himself under them were amazing. dean had signed earlier that he'd add some colour to  to really finish them and that he could have them if he wanted. richard accepted.

on another page, there was a pen sketch of a boy sitting  with a burger, laughing. richard's eyebrow moved, "is this your crush?" he teased. dean blushed, but nodded. "is he nice?"

'very'

"treat you good?"

'very'

"dating?"

'not yet, but i think i really like him, grandpa'

"then dont let him go, dean"

the boy nodded, frowning when his phone buzzed. a text from lorelai talking about the rude swan guy and how sookie and drella were making fun of michel's fear of swans. dean didnt reply, just shook his head and put his phone away. richard handed dean his book back and they talked of poetry until their lunch came.

halfway thru two men arrived. richard introduced everyone. while the two men were semi curious over dean not speaking, but instead using sign language they joined for lunch and were polite. it was nice, having people be accepting over things. the best part was that they didnt really know. richard had introduced dean as his grandson dean, and the two men called him that. they spoke to dean like mostly everyone did. it didnt matter if he signed and richard had to translate, they spoke to dean like a person.

dean gilmore was over the moon that afternoon.

"so, why are you covered in grass stains?" luke questioned, eyeing the taller twin, who was wiping down the counter. dean snorted, dropping his rag 'i went golfing with grandpa'

after a long day at the club, followed by waiting in the massive gilmore mansion for another hour waiting for rory to get back, then driving the hour back home, dean was tired. but lorelai was at home getting redressed in comfy clothes and would meet her twins at the diner. currently, only dean was there. rory was outside talking on the phone.

"you went golfing"

'yeah'

"and you're covered in grass stains ... from golfing"

'yeah'

luke shook his head, "god you're strange"

'i am my mother's son'

"and you're lucky i love you both as much as i do" luke replied, shaking his head again. dean burst out laughing, slinging his dish rag over his shoulder and rounding the counter to be behind it. luke stepped out into the diner , putting up chairs onto tables but leaving one table open for them to eat at.

music started to play into the diner when dean turned on the speakers, humming along as he put together a take out order, the last for the night. luke swept the floor, humming to the music too. he knew the kids music more than anyone. and during times like this, just before closing, dean played music, and danced or sang. it was a relaxing time for everyone.

the bell dinged and soon lorelai entered, "hey, there's my favourite boys" she smiled, meeting luke first, kissing him freely.

"after two years, that's all i get? one lousy kiss?" luke teased.

lorelai kissed him again before meeting dean at the counter. she leaned over, gave him a quick hug and a kiss to the cheek, "how was golfing with grandpa?"

"he's covered in grass stains" luke said, sweeping under a table.

"so, fun?" lorelai asked, grinning. dean nodded, 'we talked, and had lunch. i met his friends'

"wow! i'm glad. but i hope he isnt as fun as me"

dean shook his head, to which lorelai gained her smile back. "grandpa has always been better than grandma. im more worried about rory having a good time"

"think she did?" luke asked, standing up straight but looking out one of the front windows, to where rory was laughing into her cell.

"yeah ... she's getting involved with boys and my mother. i'm nervous."

dean tapped her shoulder, signing 'should we be?'

"i was  16 when i had you guys. you two are almost that age. i .. i trust you, her ... i think i lost my little girl to the dark side"

"lorelai, it's not that bad"

the front door's bell rang out again. "oh hey, its the gilmores!" came the cheery voice. dean turned from his mother, face bright red as dean forester walked into the diner, waving at everyone. "what's goin on?"

"family meeting" luke said, frowning hard as rory spun on her toes outside. the forester boy walked up beside his friends,  looking out the window too, "about rory?" he tried. lorelai and her son shared a look before dean pulled the taller boy away from the scene, filling him in with notes.

when rory was finally done on the phone everyone scrambled to look normal, and not like they were spying. lorelai sat at the table while luke continued sweeping the floor. the deans got to the counter and fiddled around with the takeout bag. the oldest twin entered the diner.

"oh wow. i had such a good time with grandma at the court today. and that was tristan, the cute boy from school. he invited me and grandma back tomorrow. he is so cool, i cant wait."

lorelai's entire person changed, dean watched his mother completely deflate and give into her worst fears, "so, you had a good time then?"

"yeah, it was awesome. tennis isnt that hard, and talking with grandmas friends were cool. plus, finding out that tristans family owns the courts was just funny. now he said we could go at any time, and that he'd teach me some things.

"he'll teach you some things, alright" luke muttered under his breath.

"you start going to private school and became a rich wanna-be fuddyduddy" the forester boy teased, smiling softly. lorelai smiled under her hand, silently thanking him.

 "more than you'll ever amount to. trust me. ugh, i'm not hungry, i'm staying over at lane's tonight, see you" and with that rory left , slamming the door behind her.

"whoa" dean said, frowning at the door.

the mother couldnt help the few tears that fell, "we used to make fun of people like that. now she's becoming one of them." luke propped his broom up, leaning down to hug his lover tightly as she cried. dean frowned, turning to the gilmore boy. "sorry about your sister"

the boy shrugged, 'she's kinda always been a bitch' he signed. the forester cracked a smile, before his eyes widened slightly,

"what are you guys doing tonight?"

"all of us?" lorelai asked softly. dean nodded at her. she wiped her face, "uh, having supper and watching tv"

"would you, uh, might if my family joins?" dean asked, "my mother's been wanting to meet you for a long time, and maybe my sisters can cheer you up a little"

lorelai looked around the tall boy, looking at her son. who in turned, shrugged with a soft smile.

"bring the clan"

"awesome!"

the day before the wedding was crazy, and lorelai could only pray that tomorrow wouldnt be the same. everyone was rushing around the inn, including luke and dean forester, who had offered to help because rory was out of town for the day. annoying, actually.

drella was fighting with the brides mother over music, miss patty was teaching the grooms to dance, michel was setting the chairs out, sookie and jackson were fighting over food, luke and dean were fixing the tables and decorations, and finally lorelai was handing her son the table cards for him to write out.

"my god, im impressed with your handwriting"

'thanks' dean signed with a smile.

"you usually have messy handwriting" she joked

'i can clean up nicely' dean teased back, making his mother laugh.

"the messy handwriting and your fancy flair came from me"

'that it did'

michel walked up the hill towards the gilmores, holding out the phone. "your father is on the phone" the gilmores shared a look before dean shrugged and lorelai took the phone. michel took over for her, handing dean the plain cards.

nearly done, lorelai waved in front of her son, "your grandpa wants to know if you'd like to go mini golfing next door tomorrow"

dean raised an eyebrow, looking around at the wedding setup, then back to lorelai. she shrugged, nodding to him. he smiled and nodded back. he handed michel the last card, cracking his knuckles, moving out from behind the table. luke and dean walked up the hill, dusting their hands. luke patted the gilmore boy on the shoulder, "where's your crazy ass mom?"

once luke left, the two boys were left standing in the shade.

"can i ask a question?"

the shorter dean looked up at the taller one, shrugging with a relaxed face.

"do you ... have a date for the wedding tomorrow?"

dean shook his head.

"would you ... maybe say yes if i asked?"

dean blushed five shades of red. sure, he had a crush on dean forester, and his family was nice. but did he really want to go out with him? his eyes shifted as his brain tried to focus on a reply.

"y-y-ye-aah"

the taller boys eyes nearly popped out, his mouth dropping low, "w-what?"

as dean opened his mouth to try to speak again, the taller dean stopped him, "you talked"

the gilmore boy nodded. "you ... you talked ... to me" he said. dean nodded again. he stood shell-shocked for a full minute before he picked up the gilmore, hugging him tightly before spinning around in a circle.

"you talked to me!" dean grinned brightly.

the other rolled his eyes, 'big deal' he signed.

"no no no, BIG DEAL, BIG DEAL" dean laughed, kissing the shorter boy's forehead.

'i also yes to your offer for a date'

"yeah, you did" dean smiled harder, if even possible, hugging the other.

luke and lorelai smiled at them from afar.

"is my tie straight?" dean asked luke, who in turn nodded. the boy gave him a thumbs up, standing next to the older man, who'd he never seen without his dirty flannels and snapback. turns out, the guy who runs the diner can wear a suit nicely. rory was out of town again today, which bothered lorelai more than life itself, but with the huge wedding happening today, there was little to do about it.

lorelai and dean left the inn together. lorelai in a long silky soft purple dress, while dean was in a sharp black dress shirt and black jeans. his sneakers remained, but the laces were tied. luke held his arm out for his girlfriend to take. they shared a kiss and some small talk. dean walked up to his date, smiling at the taller boy.

"no tie look?" the forester teased. the gilmore shrugged, looking over how the other was dressed. the white dress shirt and blue tie with black jeans and dress shoes was a nice look on him.

'you look nice'

"well thank you" dean smiled.

after some small talk between the four, richard walked up to them, smiling. dressed smartly but more relaxed. hey, it was mini golfing day after-all. he met with luke and shared some more small talk, but soon he, and the two deans were off towards the mini golf down the road from the inn.

"and you must be the young man my grandson seems to have quite the crush on"

once again dean turned five shades of red. the taller dean laughed quietly, kissing his head.

"dean forester, sir, nice to meet you"

richard shook the boys hand, nodding as dean went to the building to pay for the clubs and tickets. richard turned to his grandson afterwards,

"let's kick his behind at this"

Chapter Text

the last week in september had dean gilmore feeling the perfect way. life was going pretty well today, and there was a soft smile tattooed on his face. the weather was chilly, but fall was in full swing, and october was just around the corner. while dean was never a fan of his birthday, the second week of october would bring it and a new change of age.

his headphones rattled with heavy music as he slipped them around his neck, following his mother and twin into the small office supply store that stars hollow had. he cupped his hands around his mouth to blow some warm air against them, hoping to heat up the icy chill they held. his chipped nail polished fingers making his long slender fingers look longer, the tips red. he was sure the tips of his slightly pointed ears were the same colour.

"ah, the school supply shopping party" lorelai announced. rory trailing beside her, rolled her eyes. "nobody demanded you come"

dean rolled his eyes next. he pulled the list out of his jacket pocket, handing it to their mother before pulling out a scribbled on sticky-note. hey, just because they were here for rory, didnt mean dean had to pass up the small chance of getting some new art supplies he was running low on.

lorelai held the list, scanning it before looking the store. rory again rolled her eyes, taking the list and leading the way. dean's eyes narrowed at her, but followed his family. leave it to the private school system to completely change his once sweet, soft spoken and gentle twin.

"i was thinking, while we're going crazy, we should buy a plunger next"

the gilmore boy softly laughed at lorelai, the two of them laughing together afterwards. rory just glared at them. "alright, alright i'm teasing. what's first?"

"i need legal pads" the oldest twin read from the list.

"got it" lorelai said, lifting the pack and setting them in a basket she was carrying.

"tons of pens"

that was dean's area, he walked them over to his favourite spot in the entire store - the pen section. rory grabbed up a 20 pack of boring ones, while dean hunted along the shelves. he was sure he'd end up getting his usual order, but it never hurt to look around. rory sighed from behind him, "some number 2 pencils, three highlighters, an eraser, a staple remover and a folder" she muttered.

"you need three highlighters?" their mother asked, quirking her eyebrow up.

"yes"

"three?"

dean turned around, holding a box of plain yellow ones. he looked between the two girls before setting the box in the basket and went back to searching the pens. "thats a very random number, sweetie" lorelai finished her earlier thought.

"three is not a random number"

"yes it is! i mean, how do you come to the number 3 in the first place?"

"one dries up, i lose one, i have one left" rory deadpanned

"wow, you've really thought about this"

the gilmore boy spun back around, handing their mother the two packs of pens he finally decided on. once his hands were free he looked over at rory, quickly signing "she's right though, three is a little random"

"see?" lorelai pleaded.

"why are you two so caught up on this?"

dean shrugged, walking around his twin and down the shelves towards the pencils. lorelai gasped, handing dean the basket full of stuff. he laughed quietly when he realized what she'd spotted. rory followed, watching her feet as she walked closer.

"oh my god, purple legal pads!" lorelai smiled wildly.

"those are purple" rory said plainly. dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes again.

"yes, yes they are. you should get them" lorelai held them out for rory to take, which she didnt.

"no, i can't have purple"

"yes you can! they're on sale ..." the mother tried, almost sounding like she was dealing with a toddler, instead of an almost 16 year old. she sorta was.

"i'm going to a serious school now, what's wrong with the plain ones we already have?"

"they're plain, and boring. these are purple, and fun"

"no"

lorelai huffed a little, frowning at the pack of legal pads before she spoke again, "fine. have your serious paper, i'm getting these for dean. are you okay with fun, purple paper?"

the boy nodded with a smile. lorelai smiled back. dean nudged rory, handing lorelai the basket again. "have fun with your serious paper, somber highlighters,  your maudlin pencils, and your manic-depressive pens" he signed. lorelai burst out laughing at him. he really did have her sense of humor after-all.

"wait, these erasers are on lithium so they may seem cheerful but we actually caught them trying to shove themselves in a pencil sharper earlier."

dean laughed at that, holding up bright sticky-notes, then signing "we're going to stage an intervention with the neon post-its and make them give up their wacky crazy way"

"i am never going shopping with you two again" rory growled, shaking her head. she turned on her heel and stomped her way out of the store. lorelai and dean shared a look, before sighing to themselves.

so much for the perfect day.

the teacher droned on and on as rory sat in english class. paris and her friends sat around her, while tristian sat behind her. she'd been so excited to tell her new friends about tennis with the cute boy. she was quickly becoming fast friends with the private school girls. sometimes she missed lane, but she figured to play in the big leagues like this, small town life wasnt something she could continue to fall into.

paris slipped her a note, smiling at her before he turned back around. the teacher didnt notice.

~ i hope we get A's today ~

rory read it quickly, flipping it over and writing a reply. she slid it along her desk, keeping eye contact on the teacher, touching the eraser end of her pencil to paris' elbow as the note fell into her hand. she wasnt too sure where she'd learned such sneaky moves, but she was proud of it. when the teacher turned around, his back to the room, a finger tapped rory's shoulder.

she turned, facing tristian.

"you busy tonight?" he whispered. rory blushed, shaking her head. he nodded, biting his lip a little. "how about i take you out on a date tonight?"

"really?" she asked, sinking lower in her seat, resting her chin on her hands. tristian gave her a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows. rory giggled, turning around in her seat. she made eye contact with madeline and louise, giggling with them. they'd fill paris in later.

out in the hallway after class the girls held their papers. rory had been late to writing it, but with some help with the girls she was able to hand it in on time. there was a lot more studying to do in private school, but rory was sure with her new friends they would make it. they squealed loudly at the A's that marked their pages.

"i told you, you would make it" paris smiled, giggling with the others. rory blushed, "well yeah, but i'm still new here."

"you're catching up fine, new girl" louise teased.

"now what happened in class that i missed?" paris asked. tristian left the classroom, winking at rory, walking over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "i took your advice paris, i asked this beauty out tonight"

"ohmigosh" paris rushed out, "oh this is front page news. oh my god, you're lucky"

"yeah," rory giggled again, "guess i am"

a heated argument between michel and drella about her running over his expensive shoes with her harp was going on in the big lobby when dean walked in, mid-afternoon. he'd just gotten back from driving rory home from school and was searching for lorelai. rory had told him about the date, of course, but dean felt the need to tell lorelai. maybe she'd be proud, but the way rory was behaving lately and how she was changing, it seemed highly unlikely. was this tattling?

dean walked over to where the two adults were still in the middle of the harp vs loafers fight. he never really felt more out of place than the inn. it wasn't like it was super fancy, but his mom ran a tight ship here. meaning, drella was a professional harp player, and wore expensive dresses, and makeup and shoes, and looked beautiful. dean looked down at himself as he thought about it.

he stood at 6'0, wearing dirty combat boots with the laces torn and trailing around him. ripped skinny jeans with pins and patches along them. his knees showed thru the huge holes. a striped long sleeve shirt was half tucked in, a short sleeve shirt that read 'hawkeye pierce is my spirit animal' on top of the long sleeve. he was eating his favourite burger from luke's, and his usual order: a chicken, swiss and bacon with extra mayo and ranch. his hair a shaggy mess and covering his eyes slightly. yeah ... he never really fit in at the inn.

lorelai breaking up the argument was what made dean finish his bite and walk over. he smiled stiffly to michel as he walked away. once lorelai finished talking with drella and noticed dean, did he finally tug on her sleeve urgently. she gave him a confused look, walking over to the front desk.

he dropped his half eaten burger on the desk, wiping his hands on his jeans quickly. "i really need to talk to you" he signed, his breathing beginning to pick up as he did. lorelai's eyes widened, "okay, uh - lets go in the back" she said, reaching out to steady her son.

they made their way into the kitchen, moving around the kitchen helpers until they were by sookie's stove, the chief herself nowhere to be seen. "alright, what's up?" lorelai asked quietly. dean bit his lip, lifting his hands once he nodded to psych himself up. now or never, right? this needs to be said. his hands had just started to form the first part of his sentence when sookie ran into the kitchen with a letter, "OH MY GOD LORELAI" she yelled.

she ran in-between the two gilmores, shoving the letter in front of the mother. "the review is here, THE REVIEW ... IS HERE!"

lorelai lowered the letter, her eyes shifting from side to side as she read. she lowered the letter, opening her mouth to speak when the kitchen doors opened again and rory walked in, backpackless and still in her uniform. "hey everyone"

"hey rory, man you look beat" sookie commented. lorelai smiled at her daughter, her and sookie standing off to the side to talk about the letter. dean's anxiety peaked, his eyes laser focused on his mother, trying to will her to come back, or for time to rewind, whichever came first. sookie took her paper, mumbling to herself but leaving the kitchen. now was his chance, dean stepped forward but instead,

"i'm going to lanes tonight" rory spoke.

sookie rushed back in the room, now fully excited about the review. all three women started to talk over themselves and dean felt his breathing get too heavy. with a frustrated growl, he slammed open the kitchen's swinging doors and left.

"hey"

dean spun around to see rory walking up to him. her shorter height scared him just a tad. a small, angry rory gilmore was not a pretty sight on any given day. he swallowed heavy. "if you were about to tattle on me for my date, just know you wouldnt live to see tomorrow" she threatened. dean growled from deep within his throat, he opened his mouth to stutter thru an insult back to his sister.

"oh, did i push the wrong button Stitch-Mouth-Diana?"

the words nearly knocked dean over. he paled heavily, all fight and give left him in rapid motion. he swallowed again, feeling his burger rolling and pushing at his throat. the old nickname bullies called him still hit him like a ton of bricks. it still hurt. he stared at rory in pure shock and hurt, his breathing almost like a dying man's aching soul reaching out for help. however, his sister just smirked, happy with herself. he felt tears threatening to spill and leak down his freckled, pale face, but he just bit his lip hard. he'd get her back for this.

"i suggest you make yourself unavailable at the house tonight, i wouldnt want tristian getting the idea i have a tranny for a sister"

with that, dean shoved rory backwards hard enough to make her fall and land on her back. he breathed harder, glaring at her. michel looked up, eyes wide, phone still in hand. dean gilmore was a lot of things, violent and rude were not a thought. rory was quick to recover, sitting up and dusting her arms and hair off. she glared back at dean.

drella and michel were walking towards them, probably to see what was going on, but seeing them get closer set dean off. he let a few tears slip, rubbing his face and running out of the inn. once outside he ran down the hill to the small shed that sat near the small pond. he pulled open the door, panting for air, looking around and silently thanking the gods there was a trash can there. he crashed onto the chair by the desk, ducking under it to grab the trash can. a few painful and harsh retches later dean was heavily throwing up his late lunch.

it had to have been at least two hours since he moved, but he couldnt. lorelai hadnt texted him, rory was probably already out with tristian and dean was still sat in the shed. another short sob left his mouth, causing a half hearted gag to happen after. he wiped his face and nose, letting a small breath out. today was supposed to be a good day, and he knew he had no control over these things, but goddamnit, everything was changing so fast and he hated it. he hated it so fucking much it made his heart hurt.

he knew he shouldnt be so sad about it, after all, rory was going to her dream school, to hopefully get into her dream college. lorelai was working a great job that she'd worked so hard for, and taking night classes for her degree. luke was always around to talk too or to have a calming place to be at for however long. grandpa richard was available to call. the gilmores had friends all over the town to talk too. and now dean had a whole new family to get to know. but still, he ached for the simple days he was missing.

days where he'd wake up, get dressed and walk rory and lane to school. go to the inn and work with michel or do homework. or go home, nap, do homework, clean the house. go to luke's and work, play music. walk the girls back home.

where did that all go? it died earlier this month, is what it did. and it seemed like nobody cared enough to ask dean what he thought. it wasnt like he wasnt proud of rory, because damn, of course he was. but he also missed the little girl who rory used to be. with her pigtails and dresses, letting dean follow her and lane, carrying their books or colouring books. or sitting on one of lorelai's knees with rory on the other. the three of them sharing one chair at luke's. sitting together in the cart at the mall in hartford. falling asleep together in their carseats side by side.

but instead, rory gilmore was not the same rory gilmore dean remembered from childhood. she was becoming the kind of fake plastic girl they had once laughed about on those tv shows. and somehow, dean would just have to accept that, because people like that, you couldnt change. if rory wanted to be that kinda girl, dean would have to let her go sooner or later.

he stood up finally, wincing as his knees nearly gave out, holding onto the desk with a shaky arm. he licked his dry, cracked lips, cringing at the horrible taste on them. he stomach made a sickly gurgle, causing him to place his right hand on it. he could feel the dry tear tracks and snot marking up his face. the crusted and drying puke under his nose and lip, he was sure some of it had run down his neck and ruined either both or at least one of his shirts. he'd walk to luke's for a drive home.

it was nightfall when he walked outside. the sun was gone for another day, and dean felt at ease once more. for someone who loved warm weather, and autumn and sun, he happened to enjoy a good sunrise or sunset. but night time ... that was the golden time of day for dean. night time, where he could feel at peace, dreaming on the stars and connecting them with his fingertips. according to lorelai, he was born nearly an hour after rory, at 11:11 PM. the wishing hour. his mother always said she'd been a long labor all day, rory was the hard birth, and dean was the easy birth, aside from the wait between the two. dean stopped in his tracks, frowning at his inner monologue, because - didn't lorelai's old story suddenly just make a lot of sense?

if this were a game of the sims, or a tv show - rory was the devil twin and dean was the angel twin. good vs evil.

"dean, pum'kin, you alright?"

the gilmore looked up, seeing miss patty looking at him from the steps of her building. her purse hung from her shoulder, a concerned look on her pretty face. dean remembered the hand on his rebelling stomach which he let hang next to him. he nodded at the older woman.

"i was just about to lock up for the night, but would you like to come in?" she asked, still standing in the wide open door area. the old barn turned into the dance studio was like another home to the gilmore. loving music and art from a young age, made him love other ways to express himself. from the age of 3 miss patty taught him to dance, and even after coming out as transgender, miss patty continued to teach him ballet and freeform and anything else his heart desired. he soon became the only male in ballet, but it felt right. she'd often told him he had what it took to make it on broadway, like she had been.

dean nodded at her again. she smiled, and waved him in.

"i'm heading home for supper, sweet. but here are the keys, use anything you'd like, and remember, you're safe here" miss patty reminded him, as she always did when he needed this outlet. she handed the keys over, walked down the steps and was out of view within seconds. that woman was light on her feet, dean loved her. he looked around, finding the red electric guitar and speaker sitting on miss patty's desk. he smiled.

after some strolling thru his playlist, dean connected his phone to the speaker and strapped on the guitar. his legs and hands still shaky but after a deep breath, he knew by the end of the song he would feel better. because it didnt matter, it didnt matter if rory or tristian or any other person didnt accept him for who he was. dean gilmore was dean gilmore.

the loud music started up and dean started playing along, his head bobbing along with the rhythm. the first verse started and had dean beginning to dance with the guitar, humming to the powerful vocals and chords being placed. by the first chorus, the boy was fully mouthing the words in perfect time, dancing and strumming hard enough the strings bounced up against his nails. his back was facing the open doorway, but dean was lost in the music.

he turned the volume up a little on both the stereo and amp, running back out to the middle of the dance studio, shredding the guitar just before the second chorus started. this time, broken voice be damned - dean started to yell out the lyrics with laura singing her own heart and soul out.

Chapter Text

today was october first, and a friday night. everyone but richard were in the gilmore mansion for the much hated friday night dinners. it was really no way to spend your time, but thats maybe what life was about sometimes. spending time doing what you hate with people you heavily dislike for ... some reason. yeah right.

dean shifted in his seat, wincing as his aching stomach pulled at his tight shirt. of course his shitty period just had to show up on time. he wished he could kill it, because there was nothing more that made him feel so unlike himself. but at the same time, he had a slight issue with his body and always had. he had the pain of dealing with the wrong body and parts all the time - dysphoria was a spiteful bitch, but knowing he and his future partner could really have a family with the parts he already had was something that dean didnt entirely hate. he was a loner and had spent the time thinking to himself most of the time, so his thoughts drifting to the future and all that jazz wasnt that uncommon. however, thinking of babies and marriage at one week out of being 16 scared him a little. he wondered why, but rory excusing herself from the table and calmly walking out of the dining room made his thoughts drift again.

lorelai and emily got into another heated topic, which made the boy look under the table, where he very skillfully had his phone on silent and was texting his boyfriend. dean smiled at the text bubbles bouncing and wished he was back home in stars hollow, where the gilmore house had currently been taken over by the forester kids.

saturday, september 25th had rory at odds with lorelai for getting dean to drive with a concussion. she stayed at the mansion with emily, since thats when richard left for business in germany. lorelai, luke and the two boys had crashed out on the couch, eating junkfood and watching movies until the forester's phone had rung just after 10 PM and into the credits of the third movie. apparently the adoption agency had an emergency and called dean's folks to fly out and look after a foster kid. luke jumped up to help, driving them to hartford while lorelai turned the twin's room and beds into make shift beds for the four girls while the two boys slept on the couch.

rory entered the room, sat down, wiped her mouth and began eating again. dean eyed her with a slight glare, trying to figure out what was going on with his twin.

"oh, i'm afraid i have some bad news. claudia died" emily announced. rory gasped. lorelai and dean shared a confused look.

"who?" the young mother asked, raising an eyebrow at emily.

"your cousin, claudia"

lorelai stared at her, shaking her head slightly then blinking. "okay, so im hearing the name but it means nothing, mom"

 "she was your father's grandmother's sister's girl. so to you she would be-"

"nothing" lorelai cut her off.

"regardless. the funeral is this thursday, and we're going"

lorelai burst out laughing, shaking her head again. "few problems there. nearly impossible to get away from the inn on a thursday. we have guests over at the house. and lastly, next friday is my kids birthdays, we're not going to a funeral the day before"

"so you're not going?" emily spat

"maybe next time" lorelai argued back

dean sunk lower in his chair again. dear god, make this horrible night end.

monday morning was shining in thru the windows. it was chilly outside and by the end of the week, dean and rory would be another year older. it made the gilmore boys stomach tighten just a little more. the house was busy this morning, loud music was playing in the living-room - some type of rock. luke and lorelai were standing in the kitchen, her drinking her third cup of coffee. the forester girls were eating breakfast giggling with one another, still in their pjs. the forester boy in the bathroom brushing his teeth, while the gilmore boy was resting upstairs in lorelai's room just to catch some extra winks.

rory pounded on the bathroom door again, telling dean to hurry up. the tall boy opened the door, wet hair and a sticky mouth. he glared at her and walked in the kitchen.

"why arent yall dressed yet?" he asked his sisters, crossing his arms. the two adults smothered their smiles. the girls looked up at their older brother with wide eyes. dean stood still.

"just because mom and dad arent back yet doesnt mean you get to stop listening to me. its been a week, now go get ready for school" he stated clearly. when the girls ran into the twins room and shut the door, he lowered his arms and started to gather up the breakfast mess.

lorelai set down her cup and cut in, "hey, i got it. you need to go get ready yourself." she said. dean rubbed his forehead, "rory's in there right now and i need to be busy"

this time luke cut in, "she's right, nevermind rory, use the bathroom upstairs"

dean looked between the two, smiling gratefully quickly. "t-thanks. i mean it, for letting us stay here for the week and for .. i .. i dont know how to ever repay you"

"i dont accept repayment. it was awesome to have you guys here this week" lorelai smiled.

"well, now that they're coming back later tonight, there's gunna be another little girl" dean tiredly smiled.

both the adults smiled back. the forester gave lorelai a quick hug, opened the bedroom door to grab his clothes and jogged up the stairs. the foresters ended up deciding on adopting the foster girl they had taken care of for the past week in chicago, something everyone had sorta already guessed. dean knew how to look after his four younger sisters, but it was no easy task when the youngest, the 5 year old had school for a half-day, then worked two part time jobs and tried to look after himself. the gilmore were a big help.

rory growled, slamming open the bathroom door and stomping into the kitchen

"oh look - she can still walk" lorelai teased her daughter.

"shouldnt you be baking?" she growled.

luke scoffed, "she has it covered, kid"

rory side eyed him, "the chilton bake sale is today!" she screeched.

"i know. i have it covered" lorelai deadpanned.

"they expect high level, home cooked things."

"i have it covered. now get to school" lorelai said, with a hint of anger behind it. rory huffed, stomping out of the room. "and no calling your brother for a drive - take the bus!" lorelai called after her, smiling just a little at her daughters annoyed huff and the slamming of the front door.

"ah, kids" luke teased.

the forester boy jogged into the kitchen, then the bedroom. four girls all dressed and ready to go left, followed by dean, who checked everyone's backpacks and hair. luke handed them their lunch-bags, which dean thanked him for and zipped up the backpacks. the highschool started a half hour later than the elementary, so he had enough time to drop them off then come back for at least 15 minutes. the forester clan left, and the music stopped in the living-room.

"breakfast was awesome!" lane smiled, handing the clean plate to luke after she entered the kitchen. luke gave her a nod.

"where does your mother think you are?" lorelai asked

"sitting on a park bench thinking about korea"

the stairs creaked, followed by a small cough and feet shuffling towards the kitchen made everyone stop talking. dean's hair was completely wild, his eye was still horribly bruised up, his face a little more pale than usual, his freckles standing out. the bandage around his nose was a dark red, nearly black in some places and the tape was curling up again. everyones face adopted a sympathetic smile.

lane gave him a quick hug, holding his sweaty and tired body press against hers. "how ya feelin big fella?"

dean just shook his head tiredly, basically pouting. luke gave a soft chuckle. lane held onto his arm, her and lorelai sharing a small look, while luke just continued to clean the kitchen. "can i .. borrow ya for a sec?" lane muttered lowly, tugging dean's arm. he nodded and followed her towards the entry way of the house, frowning seriously.

"hey, sorry. i just ... wanna ask something"

dean blinked sluggishly, nodding. his arm was still in her grip, and he realized she looked scared, unsure, nervous. he held her hand and she smiled weakly up at him.

"first - im sorry i was more rory's friend than yours." lane started, she inhaled quickly, "i hope i can make that up to you now, and im not doing it out of pity, i promise. i think we always got along better, but with rory gone i hope i can be a better friend"

the gilmore smiled lopsidedly, giving her hand a small squeeze.

lane smiled back, her eyes flashing with something serious before she spoke again, "and secondly, my mom would die if she ever knew i liked what i like" she gestured to her t-shirt that was pulled down low. dean gave a short shrug of understanding, then rolled the sleeves for her, fixing the collar.

"i asked miss patty first, and we agreed that me maybe starting a band would be a good thing. ive been practicing the drums there for a while now and i can sing ...." lane trailed off. dean looked at her, eyebrows lifting in wait.

"you're the best guitarist ive ever seen ..."

"you want me to play in your band?" dean quickly signed, completely confused.

lane nodded, "please? we're friends, and i know you have a huge shot at being something more than i'll ever be because you could be on Broadway, but ... i want to try and get my shot. and if i can have you for just a little to try and have my chance, id be so grateful"

"you'll be something special someday because you already are something special today." dean signed back. lane blushed, ducking her head. the boy gave his friend a gentle nudge before signing, "whats the band name?"

"really? does that mean yes?" lane bounced, gripping the boys shoulders. dean didnt even finish his nod before the two were hugging, lane thanking him repeatedly. dean forester entered the house quickly, brushing his hands over his long sleeved covered arms.

"god damn i forgot my jacket, its not as windy as back home, but damn" he grumbled, walking towards the kitchen with the gilmore and lane following. lorelai set her coffee mug down, checking her watch, then looking towards the kids. she studied their tired selves, then knocked on the table to gather their attention.

"lets play hooky today"

luke busted out a laugh, "taking that from lorelai gilmore? bad advice now, cmon" he laughed. lorelai giggled quietly, making the three teens smile. "no, really. all of you look so tired. dean's not feeling well, but lane and you, oh-tall-one, you could stand a few hours of sleep, yeah?"

"i shouldnt. mama kim sees everything." lane frowned, "but if you wanna skip - i'll pick up your homework and give it to you at the store later on your shift"

the forester nodded, sinking into the kitchen chair that was pulled out, "wow, thank you. thatd be awesome."

"well now that thats settled, the big issue. rorys teacher" lorelai announced, tapping her fingers in a rhythm against the counter.

"want me to come with?" luke asked, folding the rag over the sink, and leaning against the counter, crossing his arms. come to think of it, dean noted, luke always stood like that. and he was sure he did too. he eyed his mother and his make-shift father.

"you have the diner to look after, and i have sookie"

"why not wear a ring and say you're married or engaged?" the forester boy tried, eyeing the adults in the room. lorelai gave a shrug, playing around with the idea. "it wouldnt be like you'd be lying, either. i mean, you and luke are practically married anyways!" lane giggled.

both the boys nodded at the statement.

lorelai turned to luke, "i do have a ring i could use"

luke gave her a serious look, "how about after the bake-sale i buy you a real one?"

the gilmore boy bounced in his spot, looking between his mother and make-shift father.

"why luke danes, are you proposing to me?"

"look at it like this lorelai, we've been through everything together. been friends since you moved to town, more or less been dating that long too. you were there when my dad passed, you've always helped with the diner. i've loved you for as long as i can remember."

the room was silent.

"i'm lucky enough to know you and your kids. i consider them my own, and if we ever did get married, it would be my pleasure to adopt them as my own."

"i do" lorelai whispered.

dean shivered hard, crossing his arms tighter across his chest. his taller boyfriend wrapped his arm across the shorter's shoulders and held him close. lane smiled warmly at the two as she turned around in front of the high-school steps.

"so now that i've put together a band, sorta, and witnessed a marriage proposal in its purest for, i now enter hell ..."

the forester boy chuckled deep, "you put together a band this morning?" he questioned.

"sorta. i play drums and dean plays guitar so i just need a bassist but i want dean with me for that" lane smiled, feeling quite proud of herself. the forester's faced flushed a harsher red than it already was, "uh - well i may know someone"

the gilmore nudged him, getting just as curious as lane was.

"i play" the taller dean laughed awkwardly, "think my bass needs a tune up but, uh, yeah" he trailed off with another laugh.

lane stared at her friends, then gave dean gilmore a gentle shove, "he's too perfect! how dare you claim him!" she giggled, making the boys smile, "so, does that mean you'll join?"

"i mean, if ya want me too"

"hell yeah!" lane high-fived him.

the first bell rang out loudly, alerting everyone that was hanging around the small courtyard that classes would start in the next five minutes. dean handed lane her backpack, and hugged her. "i hope you feel better, freckles" she pecked his cheek and gave the taller boy a fist-bump.

after reminding the two that she'd drop off the homework at the grocery store after school, the boys waved her off into the building and started to make their way back to the gilmore house. it was defiantly colder than it had been the last few days. the wind picked up once more, blown hard enough to make the gilmore boy's teeth chatter and for him to curl closer to his taller boyfriend.

just a block away from the house they ran into the gilmores next door neighbors - babette and morey. the forester had met them once formally, and had seen babette around plenty of times, but for the most part, they remained a mystery to him. however, his boyfriend adored them, or so he was learning. even feeling crappy he leaned over to hug the short lady with the tight blonde curls. dean was hardly a very huggable person, yet when morey opened his arms, dean stepped right in.

"oh, sugah - you're still new in town, right" babette's rather thick new york accent made the forester's eyebrows bounce. he smiled back at her, and nodded. "been a month and a half now, i think, but yeah i'm stilling learning!" he laughed.

he watched his boyfriend drop to his knees and peer into the stroller with the pop-top over it. he was about to ask when morey spoke "chicago?" he asked, nodding over to where dean was standing, but not directly at him.

"yes sir. been told i wasn't born there, though"

"morey plays in the orchestra in new york, he's performed in chicago lots of times, too" babette smiled, gushing over her husband, "he taught dean how to play piano when he was just a little tot"

the forester looked down at his boyfriend, who was softly petting an older looking tabby-cat. he smiled down at the two. so, dean gilmore was a cat boy ... nice to know.

"i'm afraid cinnamon's not feeling that great" morey said out of the blue, waving his hand just above dean's. the boy sat up a little and allowed the other man's hand to rest atop the wild bed-made mess. "she's feelin the weather" babette frowned a little, and dean reached out to hold her hand. they stayed like that for a minute or two before the wind gusted against them. after a few more hugs and a little kiss for cinnamon the boys waved them goodbye and walked back to the house.

warmth welcomed them as the door shut behind them. the forester helped the gilmore take off his shoes, then followed him into the living-room where their shared blankets still were from the night before. "morey was wearing sunglasses on a day like today?" the taller dean questioned aloud, moving the blankets over and sitting on the couch sideways, kicking his long legs under the heavy warm objects. the gilmore stood behind the couch, leaning against the table under the front window where the speakers, radio, cd player and record player was. he made eye contact with the other, eyes wide open before he brushed his fingers over them, then dropped his hands.

"can't see?" the forester whispered to himself, then his face showed his reaction, "oh. he's blind?"

dean nodded at him.

"well then" the forester make a gesture across his lips, pretending to throw away a key to the zipper. it made the shorter boy smile, shaking his head. he ducked under the table, pulling out a milkcrate of records.

"you continue to impress and surprise me, dean gilmore"

dean looked up at his floppy haired partner, giving him a teasing smile. he flipped thru the family record collection a little longer while the the other started to talk about his sisters. it was cold outside, and he intended to curl up with his boyfriend and some music before watching some tv and maybe getting a nap in somewhere during the day. he wasn't feeling well and that was his plan.

"have you ..." dean turned as his boyfriend's suddenly quiet voice mumbled warmly, "i dunno, sounds weird i guess. but .. have you, ever read a poem and it's just .. stayed with you? like nobody what, it's just stuck into your head and it's just there. every fall i read the same poetry book and go on long walks and i question that and i'm not sure why"

dean held up a black record with a box on the front. the picture was of a small cabin covered in snow with smoke coming out of the chimney. it wasnt all white, though. some purple and blue tones mixed with the black details of the artwork. he pointed to the well-loved poetry book in his boyfriends hands over the back of the couch after.

"what i just said, but music?"

the boy nodded with a smile, and set the record on the player, moving the needle to play the song he wanted.

"i suppose the same could be said for tv shows, or movies. i think we all find ourselves in some form. mine just happens to be on paper."

guitar strums filled the room. it was quiet. the singer's voice followed.

If they had to tell someone that something had happened
If they found me just lying there what could they do?

dean felt the weight of the smaller boy on his lap. he stared at the wall as the other got comfy and pulled the blankets around them.

In case of an accident who could they notify
Would it be alright if they notified you?

he held the boy close, setting his book to the side and slipped his hand under dean's baggy sweatshirt to rub his rounded aching middle, like he had been early this morning. the words made his heart hurt, but it was the poetry he had been talking about, just in another form. while he read books to express his feelings, his boyfriend had music.

I'm an unmarried orphan whose children have scattered
Estranged from his siblings close friends just a few
And of those few friends I consider you closest
They must contact someone
Could they contact you?

"hey dean" lane grinned, waving her hand at the boy.

he spun around halfly, moving the items around in the bag, he grinned back to his friend and boyfriend, "hey you guys"

"brought your homework, it's actually just another chapter for your book and the report" lane filled in, pulling the plastic bag out from her backpack. the gilmore zipped the bag up after, patting her shoulder.

the lady thanked the tall boy and left the till, allowing dean to move away from his job for a few minutes. "c'mon, i'll stick it in the back here. oh, reminds me, i set something away for you two"

for a monday afternoon, the store was just as relaxed as ever. it was usually thursday afternoons where it picked up and caused the forester to work a double shift. luckily that only ever happened on thursdays and it wasnt always every thursday. dean took the bag from lane and shoved it into his backpack in the backroom.

"that's a cool pin!" lane laughed, pointing to the row of aliens with their tongues sticking out. each alien was a different colour of the rainbow.

"thanks!" dean grinned wildly, his excitement grew as he began to talk about it, "my uncle bobby gave it to me before we moved. it was supposed to be a pride month gift but he held onto it until it was time to go"

"they look happy" lane smiled

"well from what i've heard, uncle bobby is pretty cool" dean gilmore signed, teasing smile on his lips. "you never say that about me!" dean forester laughed, giving his shorter partner a playful shove. the boys laughed at one another while lane made a quick grab for her notebook. "oh, damn - taylor's back. lemme get your stuff"

lane looked up as the forester took hold of a paper bag and pulled a cherry soda bottle out. "for one happy alien" he grinned, handing the bottle to her. her eyes widened, rushed a quick thank you to him and scribbled something down in her book.

"we just lost her" dean signed to his boyfriend, softly laughing as their friend went mad scientist. "looks like walter a little"

"walter ...? OH - the guy from the show we were watching! the one with joshua jackson" the forester teased, pinching dean's blushing cheeks. "i think it's adorable you have a crush"

the two laughed together once more, "here, everything else in here is for you"

dean peered down into the bag, finding a few bottles of root beer, two bars of milk chocolate and a tub of monster cookie ice-cream. there was something hidden under the ice-cream but it looked like there was something wrapped around it.

"if you need anything else just shoot me a text, okay? no need to feel embarrassed. remember, i also live in a house full of girls" the forester murmured low enough for only the two of them to hear. dean's ears adopted the heavy blush his cheeks held when he realized it was mostly lightly a box of pads under the ice-cream.

he signed a thank you to his boyfriend.

"HAPPY ALIEN" lane yelled, scaring the boys and breaking their almost kissing contact. "thats what we'll call the band" she said loudly, proudly holding up a crudely drawn picture of rainbow aliens with sloppy writing of 'happy alien' around it.

dean laughed, nodding along. the forester added in a "i dig it, lane" nodding along with the two friends. "can you design it better, please?" she quickly asked the gilmore boy, who in-return nodded without missing a beat.

"forester, back to work!" taylor called out, waving him over.

dean sighed, "yes, sir" he looked down at the other two, "see ya'll later, okay?"

with that he kissed the gilmore and hugged lane.

lorelai's jeep pulled into the driveway of the gilmore house, meeting her son standing by their front yard tree. he'd gotten dressed sometime during the day. she stepped out, shutting the door behind her and gave him a gentle smile, but it fell as she got closer to him.

his baggy jeans pooled around his dirty sneakers, and his baggy black sweatshirt was pulled a little further down than usual. it wasnt covering his mouth like it usually did. this time, his sad but stern face was clearly showing.

"me and sookie were just helping luke unpack at the diner, i got your text, what's going on? what's wrong?" the mother asked, reaching out to hold her sons arms. he looked at the ground before nodding over to where babette and morey's house was just down the small hill. lorelai gave him a soft confused look before dean tugged her hand and walked them over.

stars hollow animal hospital had a van parked in their driveway, the back doors open and facing the front door of the barn style home. dean's breath hitched as he and lorelai stepped into the house, crouching to fit under the low door frames.

"babette, honey?" lorelai called, looking around until they stopped in the livingroom. dean quickly jogged over and gave babette a tight hug.

"oh lorelai, sweetie. i called dean first. she's gone. cinnamon's gone."

dean left the hug, being replaced with lorelai and sat down next to morey on the piano bench, giving him just a tight a hug.

"is there anything we can do?"

"oh, oh, please just stay"

over the last few hours the small house was filled with nearly every person from stars hollow. michel was a surprise but it was probably because lorelai threatened to fire him if he didnt show up, would be dean's guess. he texted lane, who showed up within minutes with miss patty in tow. luke and sookie brought over the little amount of leftovers from the bake sale earlier today, as well as coming and going with a ton of fresh things over the course of the night. they really were amazing.

however, most of the night for dean was spent with morey by the piano, playing along with him. it was a sad night but it was keeping both his and morey's mind off of things. lorelai tapped her son's shoulder, whispered something to him and left. dean rolled his wrists, cracked his fingers and went over to where another knock sounded out from the front door.

"hey" dean forester murmured, basically on his knees as he tried to fit thru the comically small door for him. dean smiled sadly, helping his boyfriend through and trying not to drop the large amount of soda trays. "taylor called and said something happened, so i had to load all these and bring them here."

"cinnamon passed" dean signed, frowning deeply.

while cinnamon was a cat, that was one of dean's greatest friends. he spent countless hours over his almost 16 years here on earth with cinnamon. when babette and morey had to leave for new york for a play or a concert, they always tasked the gilmores with cinnamon, because dean was always happy to do whatever it took.

"i'm sorry" dean whispered, setting down the trays and hugging his saddened boyfriend. he wiped the tears that fell and his neck muted whatever small cries that tumbled from the others lips. dean gilmore was a very sentimental cat loving boy, it seemed. babette found them first, joining their hug and trying to provide comfort even though she was hurting just as much, if not more.

"sugah, you wanna play another tune with morey?"

dean wiped his eyes, gave the smallest of watery smiles and nodded. dean forester took hold of the soda trays and followed them into the crowd that was gathering.

You'll never change, neither will I, we'll stay the same till the days that we die.
I'll never win, neither will you, so what in this world are we gonna do,
People hate change, they make a fuss, they stay the same, people like us,
Folks wanna win, when they can choose, but more important than that, folks don't wanna lose

Chapter Text

the gilmore twins birthday was on friday, october 8th. the night they went over to the mansion and suffered thru a dinner with emily. okay, correction - dean and lorelai suffered thru a dinner, and got to enjoy some short lived company with richard. it was rory who was growing painfully close to emily and her rich ways.

tonight was thursday night. richard had gotten back from his business trip, lorelai and sookie were doing something at the inn with michel and been rather strict with telling dean to stay away from the inn for the night. it was weird. rory was out with emily, paris and tristian. and luke was at the diner, but he said he was heading over to the inn later on. it wasn't like dean was feeling left out by everyone being busy, he loved having time to himself, and he did have a boyfriend and a best friend, but right now he was enjoying some time to himself with his craft.

seeing how nobody truly knew what would happen tomorrow, except that emily was throwing some big party for the twins - but really, it was all for rory - at the mansion instead of friday night dinner. dean was feeling rather frustrated with that. he wasnt jealous, god no, that wasnt it, but he couldnt quite pinpoint what he was feeling about what was going to happen tomorrow night. maybe thats why he found himself where he was now.

the gilmore boy was wearing a soft, gentle and soft orange summer dress, with his brown tights and his ballet shoes. while he was transgender and always hated when people misgendered him strictly over what clothes he wore, he and lorelai had went shopping this past summer and dean went a little wild in some areas. he liked fashion, like lorelai did, and dressed in what made him happiest at all times. the smith's "this charming man" was playing over the speakers in miss patty's dance studio and had dean's talented feet and body dancing around the building.

he was in the middle of dragging his hands up his body, swaying his dress around, and doing a full 360 spin when he felt someone watching him. of course, he had the studio barn door slid open so anybody could see in. however, this time, dean was simply too tired to care. he kept his eyes closed and continued on doing his own well-being performance to music that meant a big deal to him.

finally, when the song ended and dean rested his feet, giving his aching toes a break, he heard clapping. he opened his eyes and looked over.

"does it make me a bit of a perv if i just stand by and watch you dance?" his boyfriend, dean forester laughed, lowering his hands from clapping. the october weather was still on its way to cooling down dramatically, but dean was standing in a dark blue turtle neck, his cargo jeans, boots, his work apron and his leather coat. he huffed a short laugh, his face adopting an awkward blush, "uh, heh - i just got off work and was hopin to drop by and see ya."

dean gilmore waved shyly at his boyfriend. he held up a finger and rushed over to shut off the music as the next song on the album had begun to blare on thru. the forester walked into the dance studio, taking a look around. "i like the dress. it's ... cute" he smiled.

the gilmore blushed, signing a thank you. the boys smiled at one another, sitting on the stairs and looking out at the small town as night swept in. "it's also nice to see that you dont let clothes determine your gender. it's refreshing"

"e-e-exa-exact-t-t-llly" the other boy stuttered, a wide smile broke out across his freckled face. his broken nose nearly healed, and most of the bruising was gone. seeing his tooth gap made the forester smile back just as wide and hard. "so, you excited for tomorrow? huh, big sweet 16!" he joked, giving his shorter partner a gentle shove against his arm. dean giggled, nudging his head on the taller's shoulder. he shook his head after a beat of silence.

"really?" dean questioned, "well, i can understand that. sharing your birthday must be a little hard. i share mine with a holiday and i always feel like i'm taking it away from others who just want to celebrate, yaknow?"

he felt movement and noticed how bright greens were looking at him, the boys hand in a fist that was swirling in a small circle. he softly laughed and pulled his work notepad and pen out, handing it to his mute partner. he received a signed thank you and the sound of pen hitting paper.

~ you share your birthday too? ~

the forester laughed, "yeah. i'm a christmas kid" his smile slipped a little, "been told i wasnt born in chicago but then i was found on the doorstep on the 26th of december at the orphanage and i was my folks first emergency foster kid on the 1st of january"

"w-w-w-w-wwo-wow"

dean snorted a little laugh, "wow indeed"

some comfortable silence fell around the two. the sounds of townfolk talking around the building, some cars driving around the town square. mrs. kim's yelling was heard and both the boys flinched, already knowing lane was probably getting the worst of it inside. taylor and luke began arguing over something strange on the street corner in front of the diner down the block, and kirk rushed by, offering the teens a short nod.

"sorry if i just bummed you out more" the forester grumped, his face resting in his hands, elbows pushed against his drawn knees. the gilmore offered a small giggle from where he was curled against his boyfriend's warm side. "ssss'ss-ss'k-k-kaaay"

dean turned to look at the shorter, to which the shorter looked up at the taller. they looked at one another deeply. it was a cosmic feeling that they were one. they hadnt know each-other for very long, nor been dating that long, but it was almost like the gods above thru time had put them together in every time period. purely meant to be until the end of everything known to man. poems were being written, songs being sung, films being directed and acted upon. the stars kissed, the moon married the night sky. the world basked in the universe's bath of the milky way.

a firefly buzzed by, swirling around the gilmore boy before it made itself welcome among his messy hair. another joined a second later, causing the forester to quirk a short smile. his hazel beauties remet with shiny, perfect green orbs that glowed with passion and soul. "i .." he licked his lips, "i'm feeling really homesick lately, a-and" he inhaled deep, licking his lips again, "and i'm turning 18 in december and graduating high-school in may, and life is going by so fast right now. like ... like it's going too fast but it's going slow and god ... i feel like i'm rushing. like i'm drowning and running at the same time but, but every time" he stopped, suddenly standing up and walking down the two steps and down onto the cement sidewalk in front of the building. his hands flew into his hair as he breathed harder. his face was burning red but his eyes were wide with emotion.

"but every time i see you my heart overflows with too much going at once, and for the first time in my life everything sorta just makes so much sense. and nothing has ever jumped out that much. i feel like i know myself almost too well. i knew i wanted to be a car mechanic since i was five, and ... and i've known i was gay when i was like 10, and i feel like i've been down such a straightways path my entire life, where i know these things are important, like school and family and a job, and i know i want all these things, but ...."

the gilmore boy stood up and ready to rush over, as the forester was nearly in tears and clearly having a full break down in public right now.

"when we were sitting at that piano earlier this week, after luke proposed to lorelai, everything just made so much sense to me. you ... you told me your secret"

dean's hand slightly brushed over his stomach before it dropped and he looked away for a second, his eyebrow twitched before he looked over at his boyfriend, who walked back up the two steps and held his freckled face between his two big warm, worn hands. "and i told you i wanted to marry you someday and have a family, but .. but i was too chicken to really tell you what i wanted to say and being married and having a family wouldnt mean the same without saying it so i ... i j-just ... i wanna-"

"s-sss-saaay, say i-it, p-p-p-ppleease"

their eyes met, passion raging in hazel and green.

"dean gilmore, i love you. i'm deeply, madly, and so passionately in love with you."

the forester was breathing hard, his lips chapped and shaking. his hands were sweating against the gilmore's cheeks. the shorter smiled,

"i-i .. i-i l-l-l-lo-love y-y-y-" he huffed, biting his tongue, "i love y-you t-too, y-you idiot" he grinned proudly.

moonlight was dying slow when the 5 AM alarm went off on friday morning. luke sat up and quickly shut it off, wiping his eyes clear of sleep. lorelai stirred awake, grumbling a little.

"oh crap - what time is it?" she rushed, squinting in hard darkness that the bedroom was in. luke chuckled, folding up his side of the bed before leaning down to kiss her forehead, "calm down a little, it's only 5. i'm grabbing a quick shower then i'm at the diner for the breakfast rush"

"i have two hours still" lorelai grumbled, accepting the kiss from her fiancee.

the man chuckled again, giving a shake of his head. he exited the bedroom and left for the bathroom across the hall. lorelai heard the shower start up as she resettled into the warm bed she shared with luke. it's funny how life had changed so much just in the past month, everything was happening all at once it seemed, but if it weren't for 16 years ago today, she figured none of this wouldve happened. while she'd been nervous those years ago, she had never been more grateful.

lorelai smiled at her painted ceiling thinking back to the day she found out she was pregnant. she told richard first, too nervous and scared on what to do. he'd been disappointed because she was so young but richard was her father, he held her and loved her all the more. christopher was basically a ghost after that. lorelai dropped out of school and did some travels with richard while emily ruled the mansion and demanded lorelai around. but the day she went into labour was the best, not because of all the pain she went thru, not by any means, but because she'd always remember how it went, second by second.

emily was out of town, and that day started early at 7. richard sat on the edge of lorelai's bed, talking with her. she'd felt off and had a horrid sleep, but richard understood. he stayed in her room with her, he read to her and held her. around 3 he drove her to the hospital, and even as the pain took a hold, richard never left. emily wasnt there. christopher wasnt there.

rory crowned for what seemed like hours. maybe it was. rory was the hard birth, she was a stubborn baby, and lorelai nearly broke her fathers hand trying to push the first twin out. and finally at 10:17 rory was born, and everyone was standing by waiting for the second baby. but possibly more stubborn than their older sister, the second baby took longer than perhaps normal to be born. however, it was less painful. richard held lorelai up and talked her thru the second birth. at 11:11 that night, dean gilmore was born. nearly an hour after rory.

lorelai shook herself out of the inner memories. today was her twin's birthday. life was moving by so fast. she moved here with richard's blessing and his heartache of hoping to help after emily insisted lorelai not stick around with twins. so she left, and met luke and michel and sookie and life had been the same ever since. life seemed perfect in stars hollow, and it was.

she frowned a little, knowing that emily had phoned saying tonight at the party she was throwing for "the twins, but really rory and her school friends" she had said rory had big news for the family. that scared her more than she truly realized. her daughter had practicially moved to hartford and was close with emily, suddenly. it was like the twilight zone. and all the little hints or things that michel kept saying from time to time were starting to make good sense.

the shower shut off in the bathroom and the glass door slid open. it was too early for this right now. she would deal with ongoing drama when the sun was up. dear lord.

music was playing from dean's phone on the nightstand, chrismtas lights around the bedposts were twinkling lazily and dean himself was curled up awkwardly in the middle of the bed itself. lorelai smiled to herself, setting her coffee cup on the side table. dean always slept so weirdly. it looked so uncomfortable but he seemed so comfortable that she never dared moved him. she smiled harder when he grumbled, then flicked his hair from his face. dean was pretty much just like a cat.

the alarm began blaring and made the boy snort awake. lorelai reached out and tapped the screen to shut it off before she crouched down in front of her son's sleepy face. "hey" she whispered, brushing her long fingers thru his shaggy mop of soft hair. "happy birthday mister"

dean gave her a sleepy smile in return, pulling his arms out from under the covers. lorelai got the hint, pushing the covers back before she climbed in next her taller son, and held him close to her. the tip of his nose nuzzled in against her neck and the sound of him happily sighing followed. lorelai continued brushing his hair back with her fingers, giving the boy a kiss on his forehead.

"can't believe you're 16 already my baby boy" lorelai whispered, a grin forming upon her lips "wait til you see all the surprises coming your way today"

the boy's eyebrow lifted, then settled back down. he curled closer to his mother's warm body and started to breathe a little deeper. out of both twins it was almost a little funny but eerie how they had grown from when they were babies to how they were now. rory always slept in her crib and was a heavy crier. dean on the other hand would happily suck on his thumb, curl up on lorelai's chest and sleep the day away. when lorelai brushed her son's hair back once more he lifted his hand, the sweatshirt sleeve covering his hand was moved as he slipped his thumb between his lips.

she smiled and kissed his nose.

"somethings never change" she whispered.

"there she is, there's our birthday girl"

rory shut her locker, rolling her eyes playfully as tristan and paris walked down the school hallway. the checked flooring was playing havoc with her upset stomach but once she locked her eyes on both her partners she chose to ignore it.

paris dropped her school bag, walking around rory's shorter body and wrapped her arms around her waist, "mm, happy sweet 16 pretty" she murmured, nipping at rory's soft neck. rory let out a little giggle. tristan smiled wickedly at them, then wrapped his arms around both the girls, "yeah, baby, you're a big girl now" he winked.

"guuuuuys" rory basically purred, blushing as some of the passing students looked over at the scene unfolding and began whispering among one another. the new girl and the two popular kids were quite the scandal to behold. "if you wanna have some fun, we should go to our spot"

"i absolutely adore how you think, my dear" tristan commented.

"don't forget to dress up tonight, we're going to be the main attraction for the party. it's rory's birthday but we're going to be announcing our dirty little secret to everyone tonight too" paris grinned, her eyes clouded over with a dark look, "i cannot wait to see the other kids freak out when they finally know. we're going to be front page news"

"pays to have rich parents as well" tristan pointed out

"thank goodness for grandma emily signing for me, otherwise the plan wouldn't have worked out too well" rory added in, rolling her eyes, "my mother can be quite the bore"

"should we announce the other surprise too?" paris said, giving rory's waist a gentle squeeze.

rory's face fell a little, "i .. i dunno. i think the first one is already a shocker, yaknow?"

"if twins tend to run in your family, my princess, we may need to tell them sooner than later" tristan winked again

"oh" rory whispered, her hand gently rested over where paris' hand were on her middle, "yeah"

"so, i just picked up your dress shirt and pants from the cleaner, along with my dress for the fancy-fancy party tonight at the grandparents. your very lovely boyfriend informed me earlier that he'd be coming with us, and maybe after two hours of that us and grandpa richard are coming back home here for the real party"

dean watched as his mother laid the bagged clothes on rory's bed from where he was sitting at on his own bed. his jewelry box was opened and rings, bracelets and necklaces were spread out everywhere. lorelai's eyes quickly scanned them, "oooh, are we going all out today?"

"m-mm-may-aye-be" the teen blushed, looking down at everything laying around.

"for the first present of the day" lorelai smiled, pulling a small bag from her front jean pocket, "this is for a little bit after today"

the boy grinned shyly and opened the bag. a plastic card of nose studs and rings were on it.

"before you nose got broken i had planned for you to get your nose done today, but, life, happened. so, when it's fully healed we'll go. grandpa richard said he might get his ear pierced too" lorelai laughed, sitting beside her son on his bed. "i'll believe him when i see it!"

dean laughed along with her, shaking his head, then signed a quick thank you to her.

lorelai gave him a little hug, "so, what's the plan here? a theme? or just the best of?" her hand waved over all the jewelry, then her knuckle knocked on the box. dean did a short shrug. he took a hold of some bracelets then two rings, before making a face and setting them down again. lorelai hummed, holding dean's hand out and looking over his short black nails.

"is your outfit picked out?" she asked. dean shook his head. lorelai gasped, her hand flying to her chest, "may i?" she asked, her face was shining in pure happiness. her favourite thing to do when the twins were little was to dress them up and make them into the little rockers that only dean still was. he rolled his eyes with a smile, then nodded at her. she quickly jumped off his bed and was on her knees digging under it in two seconds flat.

"okay, so are we thinking 'sweet 16 - bubblegum, puppies, rainbows' or are we thinkin 'sweet 16 - oh my god, life is literally just this but a little harder' for the day?" lorelai asked seriously, her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were boring holes in dean's hunched body.

"i'm feeling the smiths again today, so .. the latter" he signed, offering a shrug.

"you are so my son." lorelai laughed, sticking her arm and head back under the bed, "crank some tunes kid, this is gunna take a while"

it had taken about an hour and a half, and now the mid-morning sun was shining in dean's face as lorelai held his chin, as she carefully applied his eyeliner. he wondered why she was being so careful with it when it was always messy. dean wore it like kurt cobain, and that's how today's look was headed. lorelai's makeup was flawless today, however. she was humming along with "you just haven't earned it yet, baby" as it played over the speakers in the room. it was along the list of favourites dean had for the smiths too. most of his music taste had come from his mother, and it showed.

lorelai clapped on his shoulder and stood him in front of the full length mirror, bopping around his tall self as she cheered on the outfit she'd put together for him. dean quietly laughed, smiling at her. lorelai had gotten dressed in low cut jeans with her old sneakers, her t-shirt was also a little low cut but her necklace covered any wondering eyes.

but dean, dean was a sight. stood in his thick black platform sneakers, with his socks hidden atop his fishnet tights and under his baggy, ripped black combat pants. his belt was loose but tight enough to hold the baggy pants up, the belt buckle was bright and the suspenders were hanging down to his knees in large loops. the fishnets rested around under the bottom of his binder, exposing his middle a little. a black band crop-top that had the smiths on it was another gift from lorelai and oddly fitting for the soundtrack of the day, was over the binder. two chokers, with stars and the moon, followed by a few dozen colourful bracelets, and some of his favourite rings. the final touch was the thick eyeliner and a slouchy beanie with short cat ears. dean was lorelai's little punk child, and he was perfectly content with that.

town-folk waved at the two gilmores as they walked to luke's diner. he would never say it aloud, partly because of the stutter anyhow, but mostly because it was rude, but dean was actually enjoying most of the attention he'd been getting so far today without rory around. it was probably typical in twins that one got more attention and the other was jealous, or maybe both twins got equal, but in the last few months everything had been centered around rory - rather than the both of them. this, however, was nice, and enjoyable.

the diner lights were on but nobody was in. lorelai brushed dean in ahead of herself, and as soon as the bell dinged over the door,

"SURPRIIIISSSEE!!!"

dean jumped about a foot in the air, falling slightly backwards into lorelai. his hand flew up to hold down his pounding chest, while lorelai and now luke's laughing rang in his ears. he gave a laugh of his own, shoving luke a little while shaking his head. lane and dean forester came bouncing out from behind the counter, ready to hug lorelai and the birthday boy.

"my son, afraid of surprises" luke teased, hugging dean warmly before getting another playful shove. "you should blame your boyfriend over there, he was the one who suggested we hide"

"hey now" dean called out, "thats always how its works!"

"16 and now aged a few hundred years" lorelai laughed, kissing luke and hugging the other teens in the diner. dean nudged his best friend, quirking his eyebrow at lane, who in return grinned wildly, "oh yeah, well, mama thinks i'm at school, but i skipped - today's your birthday!"

"you guys are awesome" the boy signed, smiling at his friends and family. "thank you"

luke did a small clap to get everyone's attention "there's fresh pancakes, i blew up about a dozen stupid goddamn balloons and if we dont sing happy birthday right now, dean will hit us if we do it in public later on"

the gilmore boy broke out in a laugh, making everyone else in the diner smile at him.

an hour and a half later found luke clearing the plates and putting them in the kitchen for the other staff to clean up later. lorelai had left to grab their party clothes and bring them back here, since apparently they'd all be leaving from the diner and heading to hartford. she was also grabbing one rory's dresses for lane, so that lane could also join them, which would be fun.

"what were you saying about your family, earlier?" lane asked, licking her thumb clean of syrup. dean softly chuckled, handing her a napkin. the forester boy handed luke the last plate, looking over at the other two teens, "oh, that's right" he started. "my cousin, gabriel - uncle bobby's son, he called me last night saying the carnival would be in hartford around early december that i should take yall"

"your uncle bobby has a son?" lorelai question, dropping the clothes on the counter as she entered the diner. "and why does he know about the carnival?" luke questioned next, leaning in with lorelai towards the tall teen.

dean looked between the two, setting down his coffee cup and pulling out his wallet. the gilmore and lane rushed over to crowd in as dean pulled out a photo and put it on the counter. "so that's my uncle bobby, and that -" he pointed to a lanky, short boy with gold hair who was wearing clown clothes and a bright red nose "that's gabriel. he's a few years older than me"

"he's a clown" lorelai stated the obvious, looking up at the forester.

"yes he is. he went to clown college for it too. and funny enough, my dad was horrified when he found out because uncle bobby is a mechanic, right? gabriel's the oldest kid out of all of us, but no, uncle bobby is super proud, he loves that his son joined the circus" dean laughed, waving his hands around.

lane couldnt help but laugh with her new found friend, "he's a clown" she laughed harder

"he's actually really good!" dean exclaimed, his hands flying up towards his face, "he's won awards for his act, like, he's one of the highest rated clowns in recent times"

"oh my god" luke muttered, shaking his head with a sly grin.

lorelai looked closer at the picture before she pointed to where uncle bobby's left hand was showing, ringless, "i thought you said uncle bobby wasn't married ..." she trailed off, hoping that the point got across. so, her nosy nature was showing again, but the forester boy had always tried to reply as honest as he could.

"he's not, my uncle bobby's a few years older than my dad, and like i said - my dad and mom got married the first week they knew each-other and dad finished high-school and he moved to chicago and uncle bobby was finishing up college" he licked his lips, his hands rolling. the gilmore boy had quickly taken note on how his boyfriend always had to move his hands as he spoke, it was a cute habit, and he loved it. "so, i dunno, about ten years later he met with his college girlfriend again randomly, they got engaged and she got pregnant, she had the baby, then she gave up her parental rights, gave him back his ring, and left"

"then about five years later my folks adopted me, then my four - now five - younger sisters" he finished with a shrug.

"every time i see this boy, i learn something new" lorelai gasped, making her son and dean forester laugh. lane smiled, "i like it"

"dear lord, it's like lord of the flies out there" richard complained, shutting the heavy door to his study where the stars hollow crew was currently hiding out from emily's fancy party. in the near two hours they'd been there everyone was beginning to have a headache from the smell of champagne, too much perfume and the sound of everyone fake laughing.

"let's see - mom's insulted me, twice, followed by my so-called-friend, from high-school, then rory's friends parents, again"

"you've run into mitzi, then, oh dear" richard replied, sitting in his office chair. "well i'm terribly sorry that it's gone that far, i think we should make our way out just after rory's announcement in about -" richard checked his watch "15 minutes"

dean forester shuffled around behind his boyfriend, sitting down on the arm of the couch that luke and lorelai were sitting on, the gilmore followed, sitting on his boyfriends lap. lane stood beside them, dean wrapped his arms around his friend. "nobody was kidding when they said it was like the twilight zone here, i dont think i've ever felt more out of place" the forester chuckled, trying to gather a bit of a laugh from the others. his boyfriend gave him a smile.

richard took off his glasses, setting them on the stack of papers that sat in the middle of the desk. his face was serious and stern, and he was now looking at lorelai and luke. lorelai looked at her father, they stared at one another, and luke made a move to get up from the couch, but lorelai took a hold of his arm and held him close. richard began to speak a second later,

"i'm just going to cut to the main topic, i'm divorcing your mother"

the room fell in a thick silence, someone screaming outside the room made everyone jump a little, before the screaming turned into laughter. like the news had finally dropped, the bomb had exploded and now the aftermath was forming. an all out war would be breaking out, but this was just the beginning. richard was probably just telling everyone before emily even knew, because if emily knew, this party wouldnt have happened. come to think of it, maybe this would be the last big party here for a while.

"now, i do also want to add that as my lawyer gets this under way, i'm hoping to sell this large unhappy house and move to somewhere i've heard a great deal about"

"are you moving to stars hollow?" dean signed, moving off his boyfriends lap and standing in the middle of the study. richard gave a short nod, "i'm thinking so. i'm just terribly sorry it's taken me more than 30 years to truly realize how emily had effected everything. but i will not stand by and let her continue her insensitive ways to all of you any longer. i've tried to tune her in, but i've also come to realize that she will not change now. the divorce should be final by the new year, and i'll be moving by spring."

"wow, dad, that ... that's uh" lorelai grounded out, her face in a framed state of shock, but a relaxed look was washing in. "just ... wow. but, i mean, if you're ... happy" the relaxed look sorta took over, even if she'd hoped it hadnt. richard gave her a warm smile.

a knock on the door broke the happy flow of the room that had become a secret hideaway. emily's voice telling only richard that the announcement would be happening in about five minutes came thru the thick door, then her short, rapid footsteps leaving. the energy had changed drastically but hopefully the party at home would pick everything back up again. or one could hope.

dean forester took a hold of his shorter boyfriend's hand as he went to step through the door. the gilmore turned on his heel, stepping back into the study and giving him a strange look. suddenly feeling a little on the spot, dean shut the door and held the other's hand.

"um, okay, before anymore weird life changing things go on - and because i highly feel like this is the only time i'll have a sorta quiet moment with you, i wanna give you your birthday present"

the taller teen reached into his pocket, his hair was standing on edge as his slender fingers tumbled with the small object. he took a deep breath, then held out the silver ring between his index and thumb. his hand was shaking and his nerves were leaving his body. dean gilmore's eyes widened, mouth dropping open.

"i had to buy the silver from luke, which, heh, funnily enough, i bought while you were there, once. b-but, uh, that night, earlier this week ... it's not a proposal - this ... i ... well"

"p-p-pp-pro-prom-m-m-m-mi-misse"

the forester smiled so wide the state of texas couldve been renamed. "a promise ring, yeah" his hand shook a little, the ring danced under the warm light. dean gave his boyfriend his left hand, the taller of the two gently took his hand, and slipped the ring on his ring finger. he touched it afterwards, so slightly "lookit that, fits like a glove"

"is p-p-per-f-perfe-fect"

"yeah ... guess so, huh?"

dean wrapped his arms around the taller, resting his head under the forester's chin. he closed his eyes and inhaled that comforting smell of books, leather and the fresh cologne. they'd have to leave the room soon, and have to listen to whatever huge thing rory wanted to make a big deal of, but, it was dean's birthday too. and he wanted to have a quiet moment with his boyfriend. he let go of him and made a mad grab of his phone.

after a few taps to different changing screens he set his phone on the couch arm and got into a slow dance postion. the older boy crinkled his eyebrows, but held his boyfriend's hand and wrapped his arm around his waist. "i, um, i cant dance ... well ... or ... at all"

"oh well" dean mouthed just as the song began, and the two slowly swayed. the lyrics rid the forester right in the chest -

Chapter Text

november was depressing. there was no snow yet, but it would be coming in soon enough, and the temperature had dropped making stars hollow a frosty-like snow globe with no snow. something lorelai was itching for. dean wasnt attached to snow like his mother was, he loved every season other than winter, but he knew how much snow met to lorelai and her growing up. she was sick quite often as a kid, and once she had prayed for a gift. it snowed over night, and thus began lorelai gilmores love for snow. 

the past month since the twin's birthday everything seemed to happen in a complete blur. rory had more or less moved out, leaving dean with a large room to himself that left a sort of emptiness he had never really known before. but that emptiness had been covered with trying to finish his homework and run off to miss patty's to practice for his big Broadway entrance show that would be happening next month. he could already feel his palms sweat with nerves over the fact he was going to be on Broadway in mid-december, which was quite literally about a month away.

however, to make it less nerve racking, dean had begun teaching clara how to dance, and start her ballet lessons. miss patty could obviously be the one doing so, but she had said that it would mean a lot more to the young girl if it was dean who taught her, so all miss patty would do was make a small lesson plan to help out. which it did. greatly. life had changed once more in the past month, and dancing and teaching and nerves were all bundled into one. rory moved out, which lorelai had begged her not too, but rory had gotten married and was pregnant. at 16. there'd been a lot more late night tears than anyone had ever cared to admit too. but, at the same time, luke had fully moved into the gilmore house, and was in the process of adopting dean as his own. they'd have to get rory to also sign the papers, seeing how dean was her twin, but besides the point. it was legal to adopt only one twin, and not both of them, and that's probably what would end up happening. however, dean would fight for rory to sign his papers, because even if she didn't want luke, dean did. luke and lorelai had agreed on a small summer wedding, since summer would be sunny, warm and bright. lane's mother had gotten rather sick, so much so lane had nearly dropped out of school to become a full time nurse, but in many ways, she'd never been happier. and dean had only gotten closer to his boyfriend and his family, although, he could tell the oldest forester kid was feeling incredibly homesick as of late. 

betsy was sitting on the plastic chair by the barn door, the newest addition to the forester clan, logan, was bundled up and sleeping away in a warm basket by her mothers feet. clara and dean were in the middle of the barn, music playing, while dean taught clara a few small movements. he backed away to watch her repeat the steps he showed her when the mother spoke up. 

"so, de" 

nobody could say 'dean', because you either got the forester or the gilmore. so the gilmore became 'de' to the forester clan, and that was perfectly alright with him. he liked it.

"how long have you been a dancer for?" betsy asked in her sweet, motherly and soft voice. dean watched clara for a second longer before he turned to look at betsy. his eyes rolled to the ceiling as he thought about it, then shrugged. "most of my life, i'd say" he signed. the woman hummed in a slight surprise, "well it's no wonder you're going to Broadway, then. it's been fun watching you"

"yeah," clara piped up from behind him. he looked over at her. "you're amazing!"

dean blushed, shaking his head. a knock to the barn door on the outside had everyone looking at it before it was pulled open and a gust of cold wind entered the warm building. lane shut the door behind her, blowing a huff of breath, "sorry!" she replied, "its getting colder out there" she complained, but smiled when dean rolled his eyes. 

"so, hows dean as a teacher?" lane teased, tickling her taller friends waist as she smiled at clara. betsy hid her smile at the two teens shes come to admire and love greatly. "is he a pest, moody, bossy?"

dean slapped her hands, snorting lazily. "am not!" he signed fast. lane rolled her eyes, "oh yeah? you callin me a liar?"

"what? no!"

lane's phone ringing made the two teens stop their play fight. she deeply sighed when it was her sick mother on the other end, and dean knew it was because lane had just stepped out to enjoy herself for a minute or two. she accepted the call and stepped to the back of the big open space, where the instruments and speakers were set up. betsy was checking her watch when dean walked back over and gave clara a high-five.

"i hate to cut this short, kids, but we do have company coming over later today. i should  get everyone home and clean up the place" betsy announced, standing up already. clara pouted gently, "but mom ..."

betsy frowned, "i'll make a deal. if you come with me now, we can go shopping, just us, all day saturday. how does that sound?"

clara thought this over, then beamed, "alright". she sat down, dean following her, and began to help untie her ballet shoes. dean's were much more beat up than the bright silky pink of clara's, and the girl couldnt wait for hers to match deans, which would take years. the gilmore boys toes were badly damaged from being a ballet dancer, and part of the reason he left his shoes untied was from being in too tight ballet shoes, nearly tied to his knees. he wouldnt change that fact of course, because he loved to dance, and his wonky toes, but besides the point. 

he gave a hug to betsy, gently booped logan on her little button nose, hugged and high-fived clara, and then was suddenly left in the dance studio with lane. she hung up the phone when dean had finished packing his dance duffle-bag. he lifted an eyebrow at her, she frowned in return. "i need to go back home" she mumbled, looking sadder. dean hugged her close, squeezing her just a little tighter than usual. the past month had been hard on lane, and it didnt seem to be getting any better. they'd been to hartford, to the hospital multiple times, but mrs. kim was simply too stubborn to stay. she'd refused every-time, and dean felt a fire raise in him on the ache and pain that was putting on lane. he could understand mrs. kim, sick as she was, wanting to be at home, but ... c'mon. she should she not be thinking of her only daughter, who was doing everything at this point in time? the gilmores and luke had been a help, but they could only do so much.

"you need anything?" the boy signed, looking at his tired and worn out best friend. she frowned a little more, "um ... yeah" she mumbled. her shoes were more interesting than dean, but dean could understand that, he did the same.

"can i have another hug, please?" she whispered. dean smiled softly, leaning down to give her a bigger hug. lane, in reply, sunk in, sighing deeply, letting her best friends warmth and comfort hold her. deans taller self was the best for hugs, and lane gripped the back of his t-shirt. he was just short of picking her up and holding her a little longer when she pulled away to wipe her eyes. "'kay, i should go"

"text me, later. stay the night at our place"

lane dropped some more tears, but gave a watery smile, "thank you"

dean gave her forehead a kiss.

it wasnt too much colder than it had been earlier this morning, it now being mid afternoon, but still, it was cold enough that dean had a feeling the second he stepped out of the dance studio in his tights and jean shorts, he wished he wouldve been smart enough to bring jeans. he tugged his loose jacket over himself, and pushed his ballet shoes into his duffle. he really should put his sneakers on, but his ankles were sore, and he felt like he might actually burst into tears if he put shoes on right now. working his ass off for the past month had been hard, worth it in the end, but hard none-the-less. he was only going to check in on his boyfriend at work, then go home, he was sure walking in his bare-feet would be fine. he needed to get a band-aid box from the grocery store anyways, his toes felt mushy. he hated that.

the warm vocals of nathaniel rateliff flooded dean's headphones as he slung his duffle over his shoulder, his phone in his jacket pocket. he locked up the dance studio, sighed, smiled softly at the sun hiding behind the clouds and set off for the market. when "kissing our friends" came on, dean lifted his left hand to study the ring that his boyfriend had gifted him on his birthday. so what if rory got secretly married and was now suddenly pregnant, right? dean promised himself to someone he was falling more in love with everyday. that was something special. the gilmore thought back to the night of cinnamon's funeral, to when he and the forester were sat at the piano. the forester promised right then and there. get married after high-school and have a family after college. actually, it was a little funny how both of those things would add up around the same time. dean forester was almost 18 and would graduate this spring. by the time he finished his two year college course, the gilmore boy would finish high-school. he smiled to himself at the thought. he'd like to travel, but also stay in stars hollow. would his boyfriend want that too? if he was this serious, and if this was to really happen, he'd have to ask.

he entered the market to find taylor and dean forester by a large stack of multi-coloured cans. the whole place was decorated for thanksgiving, and fall time. dean would have liked the halloween pumpkins and decorations to stay longer, suddenly thinking back to last week. halloween this year had been a blast, and the party was more than amazing. dean danced with his boyfriend, and the forester girls went trick or treating, with the boys watching over them.

"i don't know, it doesn't really look like the mayflower" taylor doose commented, making the gilmore boy roll his eyes. yes, of course, only taylor would make canned goods look that bizarre. dean forester shrugged, "we could put a sign on it or something,"

the taller boy's hair was tidy today, reminding the gilmore of how messy it had been when, after his birthday, he'd gotten sick from being out in the rain, and how the forester had stayed at the gilmore house to look after him. his messy mop was curled and crooked, ruffled up like a birds nest. he smiled harder, knowing that he could be waking up to that every morning, soon. he lowered his headphones, knowing he'd paused his music, and waited for taylor to finish his idiotic thanksgiving ideas.

"i dont know" he repeated, sighing.

"well we could always go back to the plymouth rock idea" the forester replied. dean clamped a hand over his mouth. only taylor doose ... only taylor doose. taylor gave a short reply to the forester, then sent him off into the back. when he turned, he raised a highly opinionated brow at dean gilmore, "excuse me," he began.

dean raised his own eyebrow at the older man.

"you know the rules. no shoes - no shirt, no service"

the teen opened his duffle, dug around then produced his ballet shoes to the older man. taylor eyed them, looking down after, and seeing how the toe area of dean's tights had been ripped, with his bloody toes poking out. "right" taylor quipped, "make it quick, gilmore. i dont want others getting the wrong idea"

it was then when dean forester walked back from wherever he'd been, making the shorter teen smile wide enough his tooth-gap showed. the dark burgundy pull-over and black jeans looked good on the taller. however, the market apron ruined the vibe a little, it had taylor's name on it of course, but besides the point. taylor ruined a lot of things, come to think of it. hopefully dean was finished work soon enough. 

"oh," taylor muttered, spinning back around to face the gilmore. he threw out his hand, more or less pointing right in dean's face, "and you tell luke danes that if he can't hide forever. it's the autumn festival, he needs to decorate. he know he's smack dab in the middle of the entire town, and being across from the horn of plenty is a big deal"

dean backed up, getting away from taylor's pointing finger. he gave a short salute to the crazed man, who in return gave a nod and finally left the teen alone. earlier this morning, before heading to miss patty's, dean was working the morning shift with luke, and taylor had come in to demand decorations around the place. lorelai successfully turned the conversation around by talking loudly to her fiancee and son that she needed to do laundry later, and that she wasnt wearing any underwear at that moment in time. luke loudly announced for her to not sit on cold benches, and when taylor finally left, luke and lorelai shared a thank you kiss.

"hey," the forester boy said when he finally saw his shorter boyfriend in the store. his smile was so heartwarming, and cute, and made dean gilmore's tooth-gap reappear for the second time today. "how was dance today?" he asked, always eager to know.

"it was very good - clara's a fast learner"

the older boy's face lit up even more, his dimples popped and his eyes got an even shiner gloss, "yeah," he admired, "she's pretty great, but hey, she's got a great teacher too". dean rolled his eyes, but his face adopted a short blush. the older of the two chuckled gently. taylor eyed them, seemingly glaring at them to move or get out. the forester squinted lazily before looking down at his shorter boyfriend, "what can i get ya?"

"i need some band-aids, please" he signed, smiling brightly.  dean watched his hands, then hummed. "band-aids?" he questioned. the gilmore pointed to his feet that were less bloody, but still messy and aching. dean huffed a laugh, "oh, right, of course. we can't have those bleeding out. come with me" he smiled harder, waving his boyfriend to follow him. they walked near the back of the market store, along heavily stocked shelves and passing a few other town folk who smiled at them. stars hollow had always been home, and it reminded dean to ask his boyfriend what he'd been thinking of earlier.

"um, we have plain, star wars, and ... oh, yeah, hello kitty" the forester laughed when he stood in front of the tall shelf. three small boxes of forty-or-so band-aids were there, and the gilmore pointed to the plain box. dean took it down for his shorter partner.

"i better get plain, i don't want to bleed all over hello kitty"

the taller snorted a laugh, "i get it, but the hello kitty ones are a huge hit in our house." he laughed some more, handing the box to the gilmore boy before he lifted his left sleeve. he'd accidentally cut open an old scar he had from playing hockey on a car hood two weeks ago and just as a caution, had replaced a new band-aid every few days, just in case. the cut wasnt big, but big enough that he wanted to keep it covered, so the little girls wouldnt be afraid of seeing him bleeding. the mute boy touched the bright pink hello kitty band-aid that rested atop tanned skin.

"can i get ya something else?" the forester asked in a low voice, enjoying the feel of the gilmores hand on his arm. they were always holding hands, or standing close to one another. they were attached to each-other's hips at this point in time, and probably would stay that way until the end of time now. "you want a pop?"

"a pop?" dean teased, the band-aid box made signing harder. the forester burst out in bubbly laughter. "oh c'mon, give me a break! in Chicago we call it 'pop', alright?" he laughed, teasing right back. "plus, i'm feeling kinda homesick again"

"i know"

"but i found out stars hollow high has a hockey team," the forester cracked another grin, "i might join"

"you should!" was signed back, proudly. dean hummed again, nodding. they moved through the store again, this time leaving the slightly secluded back and more towards the front, where some of the coolers were. the forester slid open the cooler, his eyes scanning what was in there and smiling deeper despite his face already looking like it could break from wide he smiled in general. he faced the gilmore, hiding two cans of soda behind his back, a cheeky grin marked his tanned face.

"alright, guess which is in each hand and you get the pop"

dean rolled his eyes playfully, knowing they did this every-time, and he had the 50-50 chance to be right. sometimes he was, sometimes he wasnt, but the game never quite got old, because sometimes the forester tricked him. he patted the taller's right arm, then pointed to his chest.

"oh, my favourite, huh?" the forester laughed, making dean giggle softly. he stepped forwards to touch his boyfriends bare left arm when lips suddenly crashed into his. he squeaked in happy surprise, happily leaning further up and more into the kiss. dean forester was quite the romantic, if not a little cheesy, but that was not at all a problem to dean gilmore. he found the whole thing a happy sweep off his feet, because in many ways it was like every tacky rom-com he'd ever seen, and dean forester knew how to pull on his heartstrings. did he ever ask for life to be like an 80s movie? well, no, but sometimes it just happened and he was forever in awe when it did.

they pulled away with matching blushes and a little laugh. "good thing i made you sing for your supper" dean replied, taking the soda from his left hand and passing it to the other. root-beer, the gilmore boys favourite.

"thank you" he signed happily.

lorelai was laying on the floor in the kitchen, food spread out everywhere. literally, everywhere. boxes and cans on the counter, some wrapped plates on the table, and some bottles on the floor. the fridge door was wide open, the light flickering every once in a while, and lorelai was on her back, her tool-kit laying on the floor beside her lower half. "yeah, can you hear that?" her voiced asked. dean turned from where he was about to enter his room to change. he dropped his duffle and walked closer, avoiding the mess that made up the kitchen.

"no, no, it's higher, it's like a high-pitched kind of an "EEEEEE!" sound. it started last week but it was lower and it only happened when we opened the door and now it's higher and it's on all the time so i think it's really, uh, growing in confidence."

the boy laughed to himself when he finally noticed his mother was on the phone and wasnt just asking weird questions to herself while laying half-way into their broken fridge.

"okay, look, i've already told this to three other people so could you just please tell me what is wrong with this fridge?"

dean frowned. maybe if he got changed quickly, without bandaging his feet, he could make it to the diner to tell luke about the fridge, and he would take over the diner for the rest of the day? he shook his head to himself, stepping over the junk in the kitchen as quietly as he could before lorelai had noticed him. he entered his room, blocking out the noises his mother was making and her stressed out talking. his room seemed much more empty without rory's stuff, but her bed was still there, along with the bedding. they'd been out on a double date - lorelai and luke, and the two boys, and had gotten back to the house for a movie night. dean had walked into the shared room and had honestly thought they'd been robbed. his side of the room remained the same, dirty clothes and stuff on the floor, with only rory's stuff missing, but it hit him very straight on when he sat down to think on it.

he'd only pulled off his shorts when his phone binged with a text. he took the device from the duffle.

from: cute market boy

i miss you already xo

dean smiled warmly, hugging his phone a little. he loved his boyfriend a lot, for so many reasons. but his kind soul and welcoming personality was among the top of what you couldnt not love about the forester. dean's mind drifted for a minute, and he set his phone on the bed, now on the hunt for clothes to change into.

within the next five minutes he went from black tights, shorts and a plain black shirt, to blue skinny jeans, another black shirt, however, this one had joey from friends on it, and his jacket. he needed to bandage his feet before he threw on his sneakers. he set his dance duffle on the other side of his bed, scooped up his phone and send two texts that were on his mind.

to: diner dad

hey, dad. mom's having trouble with the fridge guys on the phone. think we can fix it later tonight?

he sighed with relief when it turned blue, letting him know luke saw it almost immediately. he opened another contact for the second text.

to: cute market boy

i miss you too.

awkward follow up, but, yaknow how you said you wanted to marry and have a family after college? where would we live?

lorelai's angry huff, followed by the phone being hung up on the wall had dean grabbing his band-aid box and moving his way through the fridge junk around the place. lorelai looked at him with a heavy look of guilt. "oh my god, i'm sorry sweetheart, this place is a sty. i'm crabby and useless right now"

"it's not that bad" dean signed to his mother, offering a hug that lorelai was fast to accept. dean's phone binging had him looking over his mothers shoulder to read. he beamed with happiness, then handed his phone to the older woman.

from: diner dad

dean just came in to get a coffee, we'll be over to fix the fridge in five minutes. tell lorelai. see you soon.

"how's lane doing?" dean forester asked the gilmore boy.

it was currently early evening and the two boys were walking through town. the foresters company would be showing up early tomorrow, and dean would be manning the canned food drive at the horn of plenty with lane. he would be dressed like a pilgrim woman, like he was every year, since taylor had refused over the past few years to update the costume. usually it was rory and dean manning that table, but yaknow. this year it would be dean and lane, since he'd asked her around halloween when taylor gave the job to dean again.

the boy shrugged to his taller boyfriend, "i dunno. she texted that they went to hartford"

"mrs. kim actually went?"

dean cracked a little smile, "it's not going that bothers her, it's staying"

the forest hummed. their hands were swinging in-between them and they really had no idea where they were going, but they enjoyed one-another's company, so walking through town was just nice. "i can understand that. i was in the hospital twice, back home in Chicago and it wasnt a lot of fun" dean added, frowning a little before shaking his head with a slight smile. the silence that followed made him look at the gilmore, who in return was looking at confusedly.

"oh!" he laughed, "well i had my tonsils out first, then i had my appendix taken out. my tonsils were when i was around ten, and my appendix was only about two years ago. it sucked too, it was pretty much ruptured  by the time it was taken out, so i was in the hospital for nearly a month too"

"yuck" was signed, making dean cackle out a laugh. "yeah, yuck"

they walked further into town, waving at the town folk, and at miss patty who was standing in the doorway to the dance studio. night was rolling in, and when the wind picked up dean bundled the gilmore in his leather jacket. he held him close to his own body as they walked and talked about weird subjects, or whatever they had done during their time apart. a small family pasted them, waving. dean stopped in his tracks, causing the gilmore to trip over his untied shoes and barrel into the taller. they were standing by the independence inn.

"that reminds me of two things," the forester began, "i didnt get to reply to your text from earlier. i dont care where we live, i just ... want you with me, okay?"

gosh, this boy was too perfect for words.

"and the other was that, no matter what, i'm always going to be here"

dean blushed deep, leaning up the two missing inches of height for a kiss. the taller boys toned arms wrapped around thick leather and finally a slender waist, pulling his boyfriend closer. moonlight would soon be spilling against the town, and right now the sunset was getting painted across the sky, it was perfect. their kissing got a little more heated before the smaller boy tugged the foresters hand and began pulling him through the neatly trimmed grass of the inn.

"where're we going?" the tall boy questioned, confused. he looked around them, trying to figure out what was past the inn's yard, having never been this far out before. still being new in town after a few months meant not knowing all the best little areas, and apparently dean gilmore was headed towards one with his boyfriend in tow.

across the grass and down into the woods there was a clearing where the highway crossed. there were only two highways that lead into town, and this wasnt the one that lead to hartfort. the boys crossed the road and jumped down into more woods. once several layers of trees a dirt road covered in potholes and twigs bent around bigger trees. they walked the dirt path for a little while before a run down, ugly, and abandoned house sat before them. the forester's eyes widened at the landscape, only now noticing how they had walked up a steep hill and were more or less looking over the town in the far distance. the house was old, but the yard and surrounding area was so secluded, it seemed to be lost to time and nature. it was nice.

"wow," dean mumbled, letting go of his boyfriends hand to have a better look around, "what is this place?"

dean gilmore softly laughed, then patted the other so he could sign to him. "not really sure, nobody really knows. rory and i used to play here before it got too bad. now it's just this and it makes me sad"

"its beautiful" the forester mumbled again as he turned around and began walking around the house on the outside. dean followed him, softly humming. "it's small, but the space around is big enough to grow. not to mention you could lower or taller"

right. dean forester was very magic. he could fix cars and build anything he ever wanted because uncle bobby and his father taught him how. "i mean, look at this place, de! the road needs some help ... well, actually the whole place needs help, but ..." he paused to smile. "does taylor own this place?"

the gilmore rolled his eyes, "taylor owns pretty much everything, so sure"

"great" dean smiled wider, "i'll see if i can buy this place"

wait, what? dean's eyes widened at the words. his eyebrows bounced along before his face finally settled as he looked confused at the forester boy. was the smell of the others cologne on the leather jacket getting to him? buy the run down house ... and for what? grandpa richard was moving to stars hollow in the spring, but he'd already bought a house by lorelai and dean. all these thoughts were running wild in his brain as he stared at the other boy.

jazzy notes which made up the beginning of "love me til i'm gone" by nathaniel rateliff popped the gilmore from his inner fears. dean's larger hand was in front of the gilmore's and his phone was slid into his leather jacket pocket that the shorter was still wearing. they held hands as the song began to play further and the gilmore couldnt contain the blush that had broke out deeply.

"just .. hear me out" the forester whispered, "we promised each-other to, well, each-other" he chuckled, wetting his lips after, "but, if you give me some time, i'd like to change your promise ring into an engagement ring"

dean stopped his weird swaying/slow dance to stare in shock at his boyfriend. his mouth opened, then closed and opened again. his lip bobbed.

"i mean, i know we made a plan, but, de ... i love you, and i honestly don't think i can wait that long. i'm ... i'm really trying not to rush this, and i never want to make you uncomfortable! thats not what this is at all, i just mean that .. i wanna marry you, someday, dean gilmore, and i want this little place to be our home until we decide we want to move or go someplace else"

"really?" dean gilmore mouthed. the forester blushed softly, nodding. the swaying picked up again, "yeah, course"

as the song ended, the next one of the album "baby i got you're number" started, and that's when the gilmore boy relaxed against the forester boys chest, their arms wrapped around one another. the sun was dipping lower and lower, colours dancing around them like the painting it was always meant to be. it began to get chillier as the wind picked up, and the broken shutters smacked the hard walls of the house beside them. "we should probably be getting back," dean pointed out, frowning a little.

"i l-l-l-lo-love yo-you" dean whispered, the words flowing like the lyrics around them.

"i love you too, so much"

town center was completely covered in tacky thanksgiving décor, from the streetlamps to even the street, everything in sight, aside from luke's diner, because luke had refused and had stuck to his guns. after all this time, taylor should just give up, but probably never would for as long as he lived. it was almost tiresome to keep up with.

speaking of tiresome, dean had been up mostly all night. after getting back to town with his boyfriend they'd found luke and lorelai at the diner and then formally announced their plan that had been made last month, but now with the foresters plan of an engagement they had decided to announce it to the people they needed to tell. lorelai had been worried over it, of course, like she should be. rory had taken off and now her son was almost engaged at 16 to his boyfriend of, what, two months? that wasnt the case at all though, and if dean forester bought the run down house to fix up, he'd decided he would move in first, so that his many sisters could have more room in the family house, and the gilmore boy would stay at home until they got married, or until they had their kid together. after that, lorelai was pleased with the news, and luke gave a stern warning to the forester that if he ever heard his son, he'd know about it.

supper was good, as always, then the forester went home and the gilmores, along with luke shut the diner for the night and went home. midway in a second episode of 'friends' that night, lorelai's phone rang. the lyrics to "i've been failing" hit harder as the family drove to hartfort that night to see lane at the hospital. it was around 1 in the morning when mrs. kim passed away, lane cried in dean's arms for an hour after, while the teens held on to one-another and let the adults handle what they could. richard drove dean back to stars hollow in the morning, luke and lorelai stayed back with lane and would be there for most of the day to sort out out everything that came up now that the sun was up.

so, currently dean gilmore was dressed in his itchy white pilgrim lady costume, but at least the headpiece was shading his eyes from the bright sun, and the costume was warm enough so that the november air wasnt biting his skin. his boyfriend offered his services of help at the table after learning about lane. no costume was available so taylor had to suffer with only the gilmore dressed up and the forester in his army pants, boots, his sweater and leather jacket, ringing the bell in front of the table set by the horn of plenty. at least the town folk were generous.

"luke's gunna put the house in his name until lane's 18?" the forester asked. the conversation the boys were having was brought back after the latest person dropped off their donation and the gilmore boy was sitting back in his chair. he nodded at his boyfriend, making sure the taller was still ringing the bell but looking at him when he signed, "the store stuff is going to be sold but the main furniture is going to stay, i think? and they have a meeting with child services, since lane is only 15. luke is in the process of adopting me, he's going to adopt lane with mom today too if they can"

"that's pretty amazing yaknow, your family is special" the forester laughed quietly. all the forester kids themselves were adopted, there was no doubt in dean gilmores mind that betsy and her husband probably wouldve adopted lane in a heartbeat, given the chance. his mother and luke were already on the case though, and dean was a little excited about having lane join the family. nevermind rory, lane and he had a band together, and their new shared room was going to be epic, and the excitement dean held for lane to finally be herself was off the charts.

as the boys continued to take donations and have a slightly private conversation on lane's matters and how the others family took the news of their soon-to-be engagement and new house was when a deep rumbling noise started up. dean paused his music over the speaker system they had, and hoped taylor could hear, knowing he hadnt been too pleased with dean playing his bluesy rock instead of 'thanksgiving music' ... whatever that was. the noise got louder until it was identified as close to what could be described as a roaring engine. it was a little off, but it had the forester smiling like a weirdo before he said, "man, that takes me back. sounds like a good ol' motorcycle"

sure enough, a black, sleek looking motorcycle rolled into town, followed by a rusty and old chevy. dean whistled low as the motorcycle took a spin around town center once more while the truck stayed behind and parked across from the boys and their table. the driver side door of the truck swung open and an older looking man stepped out. he was tall, with a truckers cap pulled down low and it seemed to cover his eyes, but his longer hair that curled around where his ears rested on the outside of the cap was noticeable. his beard was white, and short, but looked thick and held tints of its previous darker tone. he wore a red flannel that was open and left room for his dark shirt that carried a large beer gut, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and showed off tattoos covering his lower arms. his pants were worn low too, probably because of the beer gut, but the belt buckle was shiny and very present, as were his dirty cowboy boots that his pant legs were tucked into. he touched the brim of his hat, and walked around to the other side of the truck as the motorcycle pulled up to the curb in front of the truck.

the driver was shorter, and more slender by how the jacket was zipped around them. they lifted the visor of their helmet, giving the boys a cheeky wink. soon enough the helmet was taken off and reveled the driver to be a male, young but older than the two teens. his hair was longer than the older man's, appearing to be around his shoulders, and was a silky golden tone. he was less tan than the other man, from what could be seen, but the leather jacket with the sideways zipper was hiding anything else. his pants had holes in the knees and his sneakers were clean, like they were new, or hardly worn. he jumped off the bike, and slid on some sunglasses, but stayed close to the bike as he unwrapped a piece of something that was in a colourful wrapper and leaned against the motorcycle.

"gabriel?" dean forester asked. the gilmore looked past his large headpiece to his boyfriend, who looked confused but also held a weird little look on his face. he looked back to the new people in town.

"well howdy there Juicebox, took ya long enough!" the young man, now named gabriel grinned. dean noticed fairly quickly he had the same deep dimples as dean forester had, giving way to the same smile and the same eye crinkles when the big smile was there. the forester laughed hard and loud, setting the bell on the table before he took off in a jog across the street. dean grumbled to himself, finally in a place to meet more of the forester family but was dressed like a damn pilgrim lady and had a job to do. he rolled his eyes, hearing taylor complain that his boyfriend had left his station. instead of caring too much, dean just picked up his long dress costume and walked across the street.

"my-oh-my, who's this adorable looking old fashion person?" gabriel chuckled, patting his taller cousins shoulder from their hug. dean took notice gabe said 'person' and not 'her' or 'him'. he smiled at that. the tall forester boy left the hug, turning to see how the gilmore had followed, "oh" he chuckled, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend, "gabe, this is my boyfriend, dean gilmore. de, this is my cousin, gabriel singer"

"the circus clown" dean signed, dropping his heavy dress to the painted thanksgiving street.

"nice to meet you, i've heard a lot about you" gabriel signed back, making dean's eyes widen in a happy surprise. he smiled, showing off his tooth-gap. gabriel gasped, smacking his cousin on his wide chest, "how dare you not tell me your cute boyfriend had a tooth-gap! he's adorable!"

with quick movements gabe was now squeezing the gilmore against him, almost protectively holding him. dean's face was squished against gabe's neck when he softly laughed at his boyfriend's weird cousin, "oh my god i may need to steal him from you"

"what? no way, gabe! you have jessica!"

"they arent dating, or so i've been told. and she wouldve come along but she had to fly to los angeles to be in another episode of general hospital" a much deeper and growly type of voice said from behind them. gabe let go of dean, who quickly stood up and adjusted his pilgrim headpiece, "yeah, dad's right. we aren't dating. we're 'on a break' or something" he chuckled.

"da-" dean's voice stopped. "UNCLE BOBBY!" he shouted, startling some other town folk across the street. in no word of a lie, dean forester who stood at 6'5, ran a few steps and took a five foot jump in the air at the older man. the man, or uncle bobby, must have been completely used to this, because in a total act of ease he caught his taller nephew and hugged him tight. dean's arms and legs were tight around the man's neck and waist, and even with being so tall, dean gilmore was reminded of a koala, or a baby. his boyfriend was cute, and it was showing.

the man walked closer to his own son, carrying his nephew. he lifted his ball-cap, his gentle clue eyes met dean's green ones and large, deep eye crinkles appeared, along with a large smile behind the beard. "you must be dean gilmore, nice to meet ya son. i'm bobby singer" a hand left his nephew's back and was now extended towards the gilmore boy. dean happily shook it was a happy nod.

"i thought you weren't supposed to be here until christmas" a much quieter voice mumbled. bobby looked down to where his nephew's relaxed face was resting on his left shoulder. he chuckled warmly, "we werent, but your mama phoned 'n' said you were feeling homesick"

"c'mon Juicebox, you havent even noticed the entire surprise either. considering you used to win every game of I Spy we ever played, i want a rematch because this is seriously sad" gabriel teased, a bubblegum bubble was popped loudly afterwards. he shared a cheeky smile with the gilmore boy, then winked and pointed to the bike. dean smiled harder. the forester had mentioned a long time ago that he owned a bike that he and his uncle bobby fixed up, but he sold it to his uncle when they moved from Chicago. the forester boy got back onto his feet, and studied everything from uncle bobby, to his truck, to gabe and finally - the bike.

"my motorcycle, YOU BROUGHT MY MOTORCYCLE?!"

bobby laughed his throaty and deep belly laugh that dean gilmore found himself loving, "i promised i'd pay ya back with it, now didnt i?"

"w-well yeah" dean breathed, "but this is ..." his face held a shell-shocked but completely happy expression, like his entire world had come together. it was a surprise to him, that his favourite people had come to visit, he wasnt expecting any of it. he wiped his eyes as tears started to show themselves, "this is amazing you guys"

"happy to help," gabe laughed.

"wow, all you guys are so tall, all your kisses must be total back-bending ones!" lorelai laughed. after spending the day with uncle bobby and gabriel, the two had booked a room at the inn, and currently they, along with the two boys and lorelai were sitting in the gilmore's living-room, sharing pizza and junk food. luke stayed in hartfort with lane for the night, in the morning they had more papers to sign, and lorelai would drive back to sign them too, with dean. everything would be final after that.

"m-mm-mo-mom!" dean stuttered, face flushed with a shy and embarrassed tint.

"what?" lorelai laughed. gabe and bobby were laughing along.

"you promised no kissing noises, no stories from my childhood, no weird jokes about south dakota or chicago, no james dean jokes, no father with gun stares and no nancy walker jokes" dean signed in a huff. he gently glared at his mother. she glared back, a touch of their matching playfulness was obvious when used to being around the two of them. "you're no fun" she giggled, then planted a kiss on her sons forehead, making dean forester laugh out loud.

nathaniel's "it's still alright" album playing in the background was a relaxing soundtrack for the night, too.

"no childhood stories?" gabriel piped up suddenly "where's the fun in that? i got plenty on juicebox over here that'll knock your socks off"

"shut up!" dean laughed, causing bobby to chuckle and wrap his arm around his son and nephew, ruffling their hair. lorelai calmed down a touch, smiling wider as her brain caught, "juicebox?" she asked.

gabriel pinched his cousin's cheek, smirking as he spoke "ya see, i'm about seven years older than this dork here, and when he used to visit us in south dakota, he used to drink all the juiceboxes and run after dad in the garage"

"oh my god, please shut up," dean muttered embarrassedly. bobby boomed a laugh, holding his nephew tighter against his big body. "gabe here wasnt interested in cars, which i didn't mind, knew he was gunna make somethin outta himself in somethin that did make him happy. i had no issues letting this lil' shit here help out"

lorelai's face was beaming with happiness, with her eyes shining. she looked at her son, who rolled his eyes with a little huff of laughter. "i used to have to run after rory all the time when they were little, with dean i just had to make sure music was playing and he had a crayon to use" she laughed, hugging her son like bobby was with the other two boys. "that was until he learnt to dance, then i was sewing dresses and costumes and making sure rory had something to read"

gabe hummed, "hey thats right, juicebox here said you're going someplace for that?" he pondered. lorelai beamed harder and brighter with pride as she held her son. dean blushed deeper, his hands signing out "swan lake at broadway".

bobby and gabriel whistled, "impressive" both men said at the same time. dean and clara often did the same thing. it was creepily obvious by now it was in the genes for the family. maybe they were aliens or something? the forester moved from his uncles hold with his hand moving to smooth down his moppy hair that was in dire need of a haircut again, "he's been teaching clara to ballet too, it's pretty awesome to watch."

"avril was wrong. he plays hockey and you do ballet" gabriel laughed, squeaking when his cousin pushed him into the couch cushions and was suddenly on top of him. the boys were trying to shove their hands under each-others shirts to tickle one-another. dean looked bigger sitting on gabriel's lap, and had the gilmore blushing at the awkward thought. "alright, alright - zip up boys. we're not at home" bobby grumbled loosely, tapping the boys chest when their hands were out of the way. the forester huffed, standing up before his face went blank when he met lorelai and his boyfriends eyes on him, "u-uh, sorry" he apologized. lorelai shrugged, "i dont mind" she laughed.

"i forgot to say earlier," she cut in when dean moved back to his seat. "i love your tattoos" she pointed to bobby's exposed arms, where highly detailed work was shown. his darker arm hair probably covered more details. he chuckled once more, "thank ya. i got another on my chest, but it'll probably be best if i keep that one covered" he grinned, patting his large middle that rested on his lap now that he was sitting. lorelai laughed softly, then pulled down her right sleeve of her shirt, moving to sit on the table across the men. on her arm was black writing and a blue drawing. "i have dean's artwork of him and rory together, with their names and birthday"

her and bobby got into a conversation over it, and of bobby's chest tattoo that was gabriel's baby handprint and birthday too, and dean forester had joined in over how betsy had her kids names and birthdays on her arm. gabriel shifted over to the end of the couch, catching the gilmore boys attention.

"diana donna?" gabriel signed the question, his eyebrow quirked.

dean nodded, "that was my birth name, around christmas last year i got it changed to dean pacey"

"pacey?" the older boy grinned, "like from dawson's creek - pacey?"

the gilmore boy's blush went darker, "that character is important to me, as is the actor"

"understood" gabriel signed, "the big dork's middle name is sue"

dean laughed quietly, "like the johnny cash song?"

gabe's eyes got a little twinkle in them, "actually it's johnny sue, because nobody ever said my aunt and uncle were 'cool' people."

"dean johnny sue forester"

"i'm gabriel robert singer, robert is dad's name"

"i like it" dean signed with a tooth-gap filled smile. gabe smiled back, his eyebrow raising for a half second, "hey, wait. your pronouns?"

"he/him, but sometimes i use they/them. never she/her though."

gabriel nodded his understanding, "same with me, i mostly use they/them when i perform"

"a non-binary clown?" dean asked, "i love it"

"exactly, i like being different. i'm mostly he/him, but i dress up in 'girl' clothes sometimes as a clown, so i use they/them, it's easier, and the kids love it too"

dean laughed quietly again, "i use they/them when i wear dresses too, not all the time though. i just like to dress the way i dress"

the two boys smiled at each-other, neither noticing how the three other people had stopped talking to watch them sign. the forester family were learning to sign because of dean, but nobody had ever just known ASL to talk with him. gabriel knowing how in grave detail like dean himself was a very pleasant surprise that he was heavily enjoying.

"have you thought about getting tattoos?" lorelai whispered to the forester boy. he was turning 18 on christmas day, and had thought about it before. he shrugged, replying, "i might follow mom's idea. get like a family tree on an arm or something like that with everyone's name and birthdays on it"

"before my daddy died i used to travel around" bobby mumbled, "that's why my left arm is done in a mix, just has different places i've seen and been to. felt right when i first started, might have to add this strange little place to it now"

dean laughed quietly, "i think it matches the cars on your right arm too, unc'"

bobby looked down at his arms, "was thinkin 'bout adding a motorcycle someplace"

"if you're gunna throw your life away, make sure he has a motorcycle" lorelai laughed, making bobby laugh too. "if that fiancée of yours doesnt get back tomorrow with your soon-to-be-daughter, i might have to steal you away" bobby winked. dean snorted, "great. gabe was gunna steal my boyfriend, and now my uncle wants lorelai"

"hey now" lorelai snickered, "i might have to accept the offer" she teased.

it was nearly midnight when gabriel and bobby left for the inn, lorelai walking them there herself. dean forester had fallen asleep on the couch, cuddled against his uncle, and gabe had been petting his longer hair. lorelai texted betsy to say he'd be staying the night, to which betsy had already figured that, and was always thankful for the heads up. stars hollow was nothing like chicago in the sense that you were pretty much safe to walk the streets at any time. there were no murders, no thefts, no robbery at gun point. the rules in the forester family had stayed though, and dean was very careful and protective while out in town with his sisters.

over their time together the boys had learned a lot about one another. such as, dean forester had about the same type of music taste, with maybe a little more country than dean gilmore's. how dean forester had a heavy walnut allergy and how pollen bothered the gilmore. how their families were as a whole, how they thought on different subjects, dean forester's love for dogs, dean gilmore's love for cats and basically every other animal. and it seemed like any topic they picked, they almost matched, and when they didnt, it was interesting to learn how the other thought. luke once joked over the past month how sickening they were about the entire thing. it was funny. but there was this strange underlying topic that the forester had avoided talking about, something that when they walked in town with his sisters and he told clara to remember the rules. how sometimes when the wind picked up and near-by shrubs moved, he flinched. how he patted his pocket, then relaxed. how he held dean's hand when they crossed the street, or touched one of his sister's backpack straps to keep them close. something had happened to him, or someone close, that much was telling, but dean wouldnt ever pry. when the forester would talk about it with him, he'd sit and listen, like he always did. because it was important to listen, and dean did the same when the gilmore had to talk, or text. they listened together, like the team they were.

dean had finished cleaning up the place when the front door shut. he was drying his hands when he heard his boyfriend's sleepy voice talk to lorelai, then both of them walked into the kitchen. the forester looked tired as he sounded, but slightly more awake than he had been when he stirred as bobby and gabe were leaving. lorelai had her hair tied back, and looked equally tired, if not even more so.

"i'm going for a shower", the mother announced, "but first - before i forget one more time tonight, i want to tell both of you something"

the boys shared a look, but sat themselves down. the forester in a kitchen chair, the gilmore on the kitchen counter next to the sink. lorelai stood in the middle of them, nodding firmly. "okay, so. as a mother, i hate to say this, but - i'm ... i failed rory. i'm not sure how, or where, but i did. i know you're meant to live your own life and you'll find that out when you do, and i believe in that a lot, but let's face it - i failed rory somewhere"

dean gilmore softly frowned. rory sneaking off to get married and have a kid wasn't lorelai's fault, and it hurt him to think that lorelai was blaming herself for it.

"i love you, sweetheart, more than you even know. and i'm happy for you, and that you found someone who loves you like that too. i can plainly see it when he looks at you," she smiled at the forester, who returned the smile with a sleepy glaze over his features. "now that i know about this plan, and i'm not trying to be controlling over anything, it's your plan - but, may i ask one thing?"

the teens looked at each-other, then nodded. "of course, lor'." the forester replied.

she sighed hard, her hands shaking, "i'm not pleased with rory having kids this early, my god, i was that age when i had the twins and i didnt know what i was doing at all. i .. i trust you, and i know you -" she pointed to the forester, "i know you're good with kids, b-but"

"whoa," dean said, holding his hands up, "lorelai, whoa. we havent even ..." he blushed, giving a short shrug, "yaknow ... done ... anything. i would never without de's permission anyways. we havent .." he rolled his hands awkwardly.

the gilmore tapped his mothers arm to gain her attention, then signed, "we wont be giving you a grandkid for a while, mom. i dont like myself that much, yet"

lorelai blew a long breath, "thank you. i felt worried, and very much like my own mother for asking that, i'm so sorry"

"dont be, my mom kinda said the same thing, and its understandable" dean forester smiled, "besides, we have logan in the house now. im kinda worn out from hearing a baby cry for most of the night still." he laughed low.

"and you," lorelai turned to her son, "dont talk down about yourself. i got some good news. i talked with our family doctor in hartford when i was there today. i told him about swan lake, too, because, um hello - my very talented son is going to be the first man to ever perform the main position of swan lake!"

dean rolled his eyes playfully.

"but when we go to sign papers tomorrow, you're going to talk with the doctor for a few minutes, because in about two weeks time he has an opening ... and for that opening i'm going to drive you to hartford ... super early in the morning."

dean leaned in closer to his mother, squinting lightly.

"if everything goes okay with your talk tomorrow, the doctor is going to use that opening for you to get top surgery. you should be healed up enough to do swan lake. if you're too nervous to have it before, he can book you in for the new year"

the forester boy's hard gasp was background noise to the gilmore boy, who was staring at his mother in shock. lorelai simply stood in front of him with her teasing little wicked smile, like she had the best surprise planned. she did too, the crazy lady. "oh, but thats not all. after you get top surgery, we need to get some bloodwork done, but after that you can start testosterone shots, or gel. and when the time comes for you two to start your family, you can still be on it, but as soon as you know you're pregnant you need to stop until the baby is born"

happy tears were staining lorelai's shirt, and the hug she had been tackled into didnt cover the amount of happiness that was radiating through her sons body at the moment. it was finally dean gilmore's time to shine, in every way. it had been a long journey, and now that long journey was going to go his way. this wasnt about rory, or trying to be better. this was about being shoved around by bullies for being in the wrong body, and for being called names for being mute, and liking to dance, and trying to be himself.

now - dean gilmore was going to be on broadway. and he was going to show everyone just what a strong badass he could be.

"crap," the forester boy mumbled suddenly, "i should text mom"

lorelai had gone upstairs, the sound of the shower and loud music were present, allowing both boys to know where she was. the gilmore house had music on 24/7 when somebody was home, and music played all night. lorelai's small speaker played at night until luke slept over, then moved in, now it was just dean's room that was loud. to mask his loneliness, but it also helped him sleep. music was his escape, forever and always.

dean was walking around his half empty room in his basketball shorts and binder, making sure the speaker was on, his nightlight was on and was taking off his rings when his shirtless boyfriend laying in bed mumbled.

"dont need too, mom texted" he signed, continuing taking off his many rings and bracelets. all that remained was his promise ring when he sat on the edge of the bed. the forester hummed gratefully, gently pulling his boyfriends arm. the covers were pooled around the forester's waist and dean leaned down over his chest. a long scar from his collar bone to mid-chest was softly caressed, as it always was. the taller boy slept shirtless, and dean's binder would be taken off once a shirt was put on. he didnt know what the scar was from, but he never dare to ask.

he sat up, his hands moving for his mouth, "it was awesome meeting your cousin and uncle, finally"

dean forester smiled brightly, "im glad you like them. made me happy to see them here, missed em a lot"

"your mom knows how to surprise you"

"so does yours" dean laughed softly, his hand falling to rest on the gilmores covered thigh. the other hummed quietly, shifting his body around the bed. he placed his left hand on the others wider chest, leaning down to properly kiss his boyfriends lips. dean grumbled, wrapping one arm around the gilmores thin waist while the other hand met his messy hair. the gilmore made a quiet noise and soon the blankets moved and the weight of the shorter boy was on dean's lap. he broke the kiss with a small gasp,

"de"

the gilmores hand covered the others mouth. they looked at the other with intense emotion rolling around them. he leaned over his boyfriend, grabbing his phone and his fingers moved as he typed away. "dean?" the taller and older teen tried, his hands resting on small hips and his boyfriends lower back. it felt so weird to call your boyfriend your own name, but it was sorta funny at the same time. the gilmore rocked his hips lower against dean's hips, making him gasp again. they looked at each-other again.

"over" the gilmore mouthed.

"over?" dean questioned, trying to move out from under his boyfriend, not entirely sure what he was trying to do.

"ride, over" was mouthed, before the shorter boy bounced and dean bit his bottom lip to stop from moaning out. "you .." he breathed harder, "you wanna ride me, l-like this?" the other boy nodded, and dean felt himself losing his will to stop this. "you wanna? r-really?"

instead of signing or mouthing a word, the gilmore clicked something on his phone then set it back on the nightstand. "hella good" by no doubt started up over the speaker and the boys' mouths met together in a rougher kiss than they ever shared before. the song, the forester was quick to note was to mask any strangled moaning sound, not that lorelai was the type of person who would rush in and break it up, but the music was a nice touch. his hands slid up his smaller boyfriend's back, his finger tips touching the bottom of the binder, not that he would ever take it off.

their mouths danced in rhythm of the song. dean let out a hard, breathy moan as the gilmore started up a steady rocking motion, their hips rolling together and friction began to build.

"fuck," he growled, tugging the gilmore lower to kiss him harder. the boy squirmed under the touch, letting out a small yet beautiful little moan when the taller boy gripped his lower bare back. he pushed his hips up, making the shorter boy moan louder. dean smirked at that, his left hand dragging through the other's hair, then moving down to cup his jaw. he kissed him harder, deeper and moved their hips faster. the gilmore was making soft moaning noises that were more beautiful than dean had ever expected and right then and there considered himself the most lucky man on earth to be able to hear them.

the gilmore grounded down harder, the presence of the foresters hard-on was showing, which made the gilmore blush, but rock down harder, faster and smirk as dean tossed his head back, moaning in pure pleasure at the feel.

"fuck" dean swore again, louder this time, "fuck, fuck" he growled, gripping the gilmores hips just a little tighter, his thighs bounced, knocking the gilmore down harder than he had meant too, but he was rewarded with a louder breathy moan, followed by another growl. "fuck, babyboy, have some mercy, fuck"

when the gilmore lifted himself again, dean couldnt help himself but push his hand down into his boxers, moaning with desire when his hand was pressed against himself and his boyfriends thighs. he could feel the wet spot that was growing from above and felt his eyes cross with how much pleasure, and want was building inside of him. he was leaking over his hand, that much he knew and if the younger boy was probably to move about once more he was going to lose it so fast. a smaller hand wrapped around his wrist that made him open his eyes, white dots and spots danced across his vision.

"out" the gilmore mouthed, tugging dean's wrist again. dean obeyed, pulling his empty hand out. the gilmore shook his head, patting his wrist again. the older nodded, returning his hand to inside his wet boxers, this time pulling himself out. the head was an angry red and leaking heavily. the gilmore made a soft surprised noise but smiled down at him. dean lazily smiled back. his hard dick was standing at perfect attention and the gilmore wasted no time in rocking himself against it, his hand curling around the thick shaft and bobbing his talented hands along it. dean forester growled deep from his throat and had to hold onto his boyfriend to avoid jumping up. never had he ever been so hard in his entire life.

"h-holy .. shit, oh my god. fuck"

dean gilmore giggled at the swears coming from his boyfriend, knowing he was making the other say them. being blinded from trying to hold on for longer, the forester's left hand slid to the inside of the gilmores thigh, which made him suck in a breath but move away just a little. dean stopped him from his rapid fire movements. he tried to breathe steadier as he spoke, "w-wont touch" he whispered his promise, "but wanna make you feel good" he admitted. the gilmore blushed, biting his lip. his mouth moved with the bite and his eyes shifted to the side of the bed, looking down at the floor before he looked back to the older boy under himself. dean forester's eyes lit up a little more, "not so shy, are we?" he teased.

the other giggled again, before gently shrugging. the forester whispered at him to get whatever it was that was hiding, catching his breath and holding his boyfriend close when he leaned down. he refused to look at whatever it was, trying to make the other more comfortable. this was the most they had ever done, and knowing that the gilmore was this comfortable was nice. he was sure others would probably be pissed over the binder, or not being able to touch but in all honestly, dean gilmore had never quite been so handsome like this. the sound of something being plugged in was heard then the gilmore sat straight up again. a white, long and hefty looking vibrator was in his left hand, making the forester hum pleased.

"i hold, you hold?" the forester whispered, pointing to it then his own hard dick that was bent over his stomach. the gilmore blushed, but nodded, and moved himself to put the long vibrator down into his shorts. dean's left hand held his boyfriend on his lap and his right hand held onto the end of the vibrator, whereas the gilmore's left hand held his body up and his right took hold of the heavy cock. the vibrator's buzz was muffled by the shorts but when it started up the boy tossed his head back and made the cutest moan. dean smirked again, "fuck, i love you babyboy" he whispered, planting a kiss on the others throat.

the song began to replay as the two boys rocked against one-another, their moans mixing in with gwen's panting that was apart of the song, which seemed to only fuel their neediness for the other. 

with life that never seemed to stop it's speed, sometimes the most simple thing was what was remembered until the end of time. tonight, nothing else mattered but the feel of their bodies touching, and in the daylight of tomorrow, they would look even more perfect to one-another.

that much was always going to be true.

You got me feelin' hella good

So let's just keep on dancin'

You hold me like you should
So I'm gonna keep on dancin' (keep on dancin')

Chapter Text

winter seemed to be the same, no matter where you were. it was cold, it snowed, it was freezing, it made you depressed, it inspired you, it made love feel bigger than ever, it made the hole in your heart more obvious. whatever it was - winter in new york was like a cure to it all.

the crowd had gone wild, sold out every night for the past week. every newspaper in the world was currently donning dean gilmore's name somewhere in the folded black and white bundle. swan lake had never done so good before. new york was bitterly cold, snowing down in fat, thick little flakes that clung to jackets, and boots, and hair, and eyelashes. neon lights shined in the pitch black of the night sky, overhead was more snow, around them was winter wind that had became a breeze from the endless skyscrapers around.

reporters lined the streets, cameras flashing from every direction. people shouted. the reviews were all good, and the few that had complaints - well, so much had happened that it didnt seem to matter.

currently, dean stood on stage, smiling his face off, taking his last bow. his white tutu and ballet shoes were like angel kisses. soft, gentle, light and elegant. his moppy hair was gelled back tight, thin body trying to heave for breath under his chest tape. the stage director had been kind enough to buy several rolls, knowing the gilmore boy couldnt wear his binder. the place was so loud, people cheering and crying, the lights had the brightest blinding glow. dean swept his arm towards himself once more, taking his final bow, hopefully. he'd done so many the past week. each time he'd taken what he thought was the last, everyone kept clapping, watching as the boy had to take another.

he was stood in the middle of the stage, wondering what his life had become. he had miss patty to thank for this, she'd done everything to make it happened, and it had. maybe people would forget about him, what he did for the last week, forget he was only 16 and had changed the beautiful swan lake opera into a male role, just for him. transgender, and 16, and the first male to do it. he shivered in delight as his brain overpowered his thoughts, tilting his head down and smiling shyly. dont cry - dont cry.

and there. there was a hand on his arm. the cheering melted in the background, as did the lights and flashing of cameras. because dean forester was there with him, his boyfriend. his sweet, tall and handsome boyfriend. a bundle of roses was handed to him, and the two inches of missing height was replaced when their lips touched. the picture of them would be the cover of small newspaper companies for months, following. the internet would go wild over it. the foresters large hands were touching the gilmores face so gently, smile so wide that eye crinkles popped, those big deep dimples caved in, teeth shiny in the low-light. hazels and greens swam together.

"i love you," dean whispered. the gilmore laughed softly, their noses pressed the tip of the others, "i-i l-love you t-too" he stuttered.

one more kiss wouldnt hurt.

and it didnt.

the fancy hotel had a floor dedicated to the stars hollow crew, as most of the town had come out during the week to see dean on broadway. lorelai and luke shared a room. the two boys shared a room. bobby and gabe shared another. lane couldnt help herself, new to the gilmore family now, and bounced between each room, having long talks and late night giggles with nearly everyone. she'd been so excited about the band, too. the forester boy had been thankful he'd been allowed to skip school for the week, to be there for his boyfriend, and to escape the newborn cries he thought he'd gotten over.

snow piled on the window sill, wind knocking against the brick building. the gilmore was on the bed in one of the foresters baggy sweaters, his feet up on dean's thighs. bloody, sore, but no broken toes or nails. but the week had been hard on his feet, no lie there. "you ready to go home tomorrow?" dean whispered, hazels looking up as the other boy met his gaze.

he nodded, then signed, "i'm tired"

the taller boy laughed, kissing dean's lips as he set the boys foot on the ground. "i bet you are, danced a lot, yaknow" he teased, kissing his boyfriend repeatably, slow and gentle. dean giggled quietly, tugging the taller boy closer, their minty breath mixed, the smell of shower gel and light sweat, the overhead light was off, with the side lamp providing the orange glow of the room around them. forester was older and taller, using his upper body strength to shift the smaller gilmore boy onto his back, kissing his neck warmly, hands trailing his arms, down to his hands.

their fingers clasped together, gilmores naked legs and body toes met around foresters waist. their kissing got stronger, making them breath heavier. in the past two weeks of practice and then being in new york, they'd been close but nothing had ever gone further than what they had done in dean's room back in stars hollow. but it was passionate, the way they became one, their bond had seemed to tip the scales, it overflowed, growing steadily. lorelai had even joked that an entire marriage had happened to them in the course of those two weeks. maybe it had.

back in stars hollow was the house across the highway and up the hill that dean forester bought and was fixing up. their future home. someday. back home was rory too, pregnant and married at 16, and not a word had been said about her broadway famous brother, nor the future for the baby.

dean's fingers slipped in the foresters shirt, sliding up and tickling at his adams apple. hazel met green, noses touching, lips just inches apart. they looked at one another, how forester was laying on top of gilmore, how the covers were rumpled around their bodies, how the light was shining from one side, the city going wild to the other.

"i," dean's mouth moved with no sound. he wet his lips, closing his eyes to try and will words out. god please, just work. just talk. "i - i .." please, just once.

"hey," that smooth warm voice overhead whispered, strong tip of a nose tracing the shell of an ear, "it's okay" - whatever it was, it was okay. they'd always be okay. the forester boy was no virgin, not like the gilmore was, but the gilmore was also different. special and unique. heaven on earth in its purest form. an angel whose wings werent quite there yet. yeah, they'd always be okay. they'd fight for this, already were in ways. they were made for the other.

his shirt was pulled, their eyes met again. the gilmore wet his lips once more, parting around the words "i want you"

the foresters eyes widened, sitting up slightly. his cheeks were burning, as were his ears. "what?" he whispered, "baby boy, i ... are you sure? i dont wanna hurt you, n-not after this week, i," his hand flew through his shaggy hair, "really, are you sure, i really dont wanna make you uncomfortable or hurt you"

dean was giggling again, hands cupping the taller boys neck. his smile was wide and soft and happy and his freckles were so present. "i trust you" his mouth said. he only ached that his voice worked, to be able to give his boyfriend that, but he'd reached the point he was at the total bliss of being there with his boyfriend, to be with him. the forester kissed him deep and slow, murmuring, "are you .." he sighed, but his eyes spoke for him before his words followed, "im serious, are you sure?"

he nodded. the other boy nodded back. "okay..." was whispered. "you ... i ... fuck" dean swore, "god, please tell me if i hurt you? i really dont want to do that"

"i trust you" dean's mouth repeated. thats all it took, because the forester was off the gilmore, stripping his jeans and digging in his leather jacket's pocket, muttering to himself. his jeans were kicked off, his phone falling out onto the floor with music playing from it. he paused for a second, face heating up violently red when it turned out to be a dirty song. of course. the gilmore giggled for the third time that night, shaking his head and waving his boyfriend back to the bed.

he returned with a condom and lube in hand, kissing the gilmores neck gently. his boxers were pulled off, deans hips lifted with his boxers getting slowly pulled down. his sweater, along the tallers shirt stayed though. the gilmores eyebrow twitched with thought, making the forester laugh quietly, "hey, we're not looking anywhere else. and if your shirt stays, so does mine"

and damn, dean loved his boyfriend so much. dearly. deeply. truly. sickly so far gone for him.

Chapter Text

luke's diner had a different type of atmosphere during the month of december, with two weeks until christmas and the chilton dance rapidly approaching, the diner was in trade of the gilmore mansion this friday night. luke, the two boys, lane and gabriel were sitting around, lorelai was heading over after checking out from work and bobby had flown back to sioux falls for the week to gather up christmas presents. besides, there was a rumour that dean forester swore over his heart twice he didnt start - that bobby was talking about moving to town after christmas, even gabriel had made himself happily at home in the inn for now.

this christmas was bound to be different - what, with emily and richard's divorce being final in january, dean gilmore and dean forester were dating, near engaged but most definitely promised to the other, rory being married and pregnant and living with her husband and wife and emily in hartfort, luke and lorelai being married, finally, and of course lane being apart of the gilmore-danes family now too. both dean and lane were now 'gilmore-danes', because even as lorelai went by 'danes' now, 'gilmore' was important to the kids.

"so, what's up with the dance junk again?" gabriel asked, frowning as he lowered his coffee mug, it was steaming high in the christmas lights and overhead lights of the diner, snow falling outside in heavy droplets. outside was a white blanket of snow that kept growing with each passing day, meaning, lorelai was in heaven.

"rory came around," the forester replied to his cousin, sitting on the bar-stool beside gabriel, lane was sitting on his lap, playing cards with her brother. "apparently all anyone talks about in chilton anymore is how de made history being on broadway"

a slap of a handful cards hit the counter, "and of course because rory knows dean, she comes around and basically demands he go because he was formally invited and i just know that's eating her alive" lane finished the topic, a strong bite in her tone of voice. the forester chuckled behind her, nodding his agreement with it.

gabe watched the gilmore boy lay two cards down, how lane scoffed, threw her handful in, how his cousin barked a laugh, how the gilmore laughed silently - like he always did. the news of rory demanding him going to the dance was easily not bothering him. "so - i'm just curious, are you going?"

the mute boy scooped up the cards, slipping them into his apron pocket allowing his father to set the plates with the kids' orders down, "i think you should," luke commented, sliding the napkin holder over, grabbing the tray of sodas and turning back around to the teens and young adult, "what's the worst that could happen, other than seeing rory and her put-upon fanciness?"

"juicebox here has a suit," gabe jerked his thumb to his cousin, dean in reply grunted, eyebrows drawn, "yeah, a funeral suit. it's all black, and i hate wearing a tie ..." he trailed off, growling low, "you know why"

"fine, no tie. nobody has to know you wore the suit to a funeral, it's just a nice suit." gabriel retorted, growing more serious as seconds ticked by, "i too, have a suit, but it's a clown suit" the joke dropped. dean scowled heavily, "gee thanks, you're such a big help"

there was something bothering the gilmore about the forester lately. maybe it wasnt serious, and maybe he was a little more on edge after getting over his newest tiny burst of chronic illness but there was just something else. remembering how a while back, dean told his sister to "remember the rules", with her comment of "we're not in chicago anymore". not to mention his strange scar, from his collar-bone to his mid-chest, and now as he turned away from his cousin, scowl in place, fingers pushing and rubbing at his adam's apple, eyes fogging over.

"alright kids, no fighting" luke chuckled, knocking his knuckles on the counter, dishrag slapped over his shoulder, "i still say you two should go to the dance, or if not, you and lane should go" he looked between his son and daughter.

after dinner at the diner, the family and company had moved to the gilmore house, more or less ground zero and the safe camp for everyone. the forester boy had wished everyone a good night and left rather quickly after, even making gabriel suspicious over him and his recent actions. lorelai had brought it up during the walk home, with gabriel replying that he was about 90% sure he knew what was bothering his cousin but you could never be too sure either way.

the living-room was where everyone was currently. luke, lorelai and gabriel were on the couch, lane was beside her brother, who was digging thru the record box under the table behind the couch.

"im just curious," lorelai finally announced, "why dont you wanna go to the dance, other than rory demanding your beautiful and outstanding presence?"

dean sighed to himself. maybe there wasnt a lot of reasons, but to him there was a lot felt. he had always had his twin and his mother as a part of his life, with a dozen of family friends around town as a part of found family, and while he knew found family was much more than blood - he felt that loss of rory. she had moved on and he was here, not that he didnt like life - deep down dean held a burning fear of death, how life would continue on without him, not that he was too special. his mind was what he always had and the thought of not having that to make his body keep moving. he didnt want to die, but he didnt want to grow old either.

there was a part of him lost with rory, and it was stupid for him to feel that, he thought, because dean was his own person and rory was her own. yet together they made two different people as one, because the twins were just always together. part of him wanted her back - the other part of him wanted to forget and move on, like rory had seemed to do. his family had been broken, and glued back together with so many new people.

it felt weird and just a tad unnatural, because he was feeling so much over rory coming over here with the invites to the dance.

lane took the album dean handed her, slipping it from the cover and onto the player. dean sighed again, turning to look at his mother, father and friend. "i'm having mixed feelings about it," he signed, shoulders dropping as he almost gave up mid-finger-movement. overall, the emotion and feelings were simple. 'go big or go home', really, but he had his moment on broadway, did he really want to go to the dance to have another moment in the spotlight at rory's school? or did he just skip, not risk upstaging and have a quiet night at the house?

the thought of showing up with his handsome boyfriend on his arm, with dozens of eyes on them - and the distant annoyed look on his twin sisters face was burning shame and guilt in him .... but he wasnt completely turned off by the idea either. THAT is what was bothering him most.

as if dean's thoughts couldnt get more blocked up, lost in the wind of whatever was rolling in - lane chose to play "ironic" which was .. well ... ironic. dean cracked a lazy smile though, if nothing else, "jagged little pill" was his favourite "fuck you" album.

"ya do realize that everything in 'ironic' isnt actually ironic, which then makes it ironic" gabriel cut in. lane rounded the couch, laughing, "yeah but its still a good song", gabe nodded, "no doubt. jess liked 'hand in my pocket' but deano and i used to say rude things about the words so we arent allowed to play it anymore"

"cheeky" luke muttered. lorelai waved her hands around, basically her dramatic ways of making everyone shut up. her blue eyes locked on dean's soft greens, "i don't care if you go, or not. i don't want you to miss out on something that could be a once in a life kinda thing"

"it's just a dance" dean signed. "i know," lorelai said, "and you did broadway, everything pales in comparison, but it's a school dance. we dont even have those here in stars hollow"

right. there werent dances in town, or at the high-school, even with dean being home-schooled. lorelai grabbed onto her sons wrist, eyes sparkling with this dark magic swirling high, "i can re-design my old prom dress and make you something". dean sucked in a hard breath ... his mothers prom dress was one of his favourites. she was tall and thin, like he was, and the dress was purple, long, fluffy ... only the neck needed some changing.

it was tempting.

"i bet your combat boots would look badass," lane chimed in. suddenly four people were leaning in the gilmore boy's personal space, wide eyed and just waiting.

"FINE" dean spat, backing up with a nervous heart. he nodded to his family, it was settled. dean gilmore was going to the chilton dance, with or without his boyfriend, and he was going to wear his mother's old prom dress and he was going to look amazing. given how lorelai was now up and rushing towards the attic for the storage boxes, and with the chilton dance tomorrow night ... the gilmore boy wondered what he had gotten himself into.

now - to ask dean forester to be his plus one ....

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out
Helping you out

night-time was always weird, and depressing. where dark thoughts would crop up, bubble up and swim right on thru like nothing was stopping it. nothing usually did. another snow storm was drifting wildly outside, the big oak tree out front was crashing into the porch, the window to the gilmore twins room, and part of the garage roof. nights in the summer were so warm, the window was stay open, the fan on full blast, covers tossed to the floor. winter nights were cold, white, blank, motionless even with thousands of small soft flakes flying in their own little patterns. it was all such a blur.

winter nights were always harder on dean, who would sit up in bed in the middle of the cold dead night, like he was now, in boxers and a baggy sweatshirt. his laptop was opened providing a light for him to draw in his sketchbook by, his ratty headphones were blaring 'you learn' probably louder than what was good but at least alanis' voice was soothing the nerves of fire, clogging dean's brain enough to not think. draw, only drawing, no thinking.

it was strange, knowing he liked to play cds on his walkman but it had been left in his boyfriend's truck by accident so dean was left with his phone. it wasnt that he hated listening to music there, it was easier, actually, and shuffle was an awesome button, but that feeling wasnt there for him. that feeling - being that it didnt feel real. while the phone was something he could hold in his hand and the music would play, sometimes just feeling the cd spinning in the beat-up old walkman would draw him onto earth. he was alive. he was a person. he existed for this one space in time, and he would most likely wake up tomorrow and feel that same thing.

dean shivered, why was he thinking of death so much lately. he was scaring even himself, he often thought of death, having been around it a lot, oddly enough. he had thought that was what his crave for the future or having just at least one kid would do for him. all those people that used to be alive, all these people that created people that created people that created people all the way to create lorelai who created him. didnt they deserve to keep that going - dean could do that. if he had a baby, that only meant one more notch in that long line of people, when he died, there would be another person on that family tree for years to come, because the earth was never going to stop spinning. with time, much time, dean's time on earth would be as far as roman times were for him now, to someone else.

when that cold sweat broke out under his sweater that had brenda from 'the closer' on it, eating a cookie - the song had changed. alanis singing about all the things she didnt want to be because 'not the doctor' was a statement piece. equality, to be your own person, freedom. having a kid was something dean felt he wanted, maybe out of his few reasons - maybe having a kid to carry on that weird burden of the family in time was wrong. it felt wrong. but nobody needed to know that reason. dean wanted to have a kid, maybe with someone or just on his own, to love them, to care and show compassion, to show those joys of what a life could be, not that dean even knew about those himself.

but life had been handing out good things to him lately, a few stray cards of the good hand along with the bad. it was evened out, now wasnt it?

I don't want to be your babysitter
You're a very big boy now
I don't want to be your mother
I didn't carry you in my womb for nine months

the gilmore boy pulled off his headphones, his chest heaving with a panic attack on the rise. that's where rory was now. rory was having a baby. rory would be a mother. rory was married. dean was born into the wrong body and still wanted his wrong body parts to carry a child. dean was promised to someone who he loved, who loved him back, for who he was, who was even supportive of that weird brain-worm that he often couldnt get rid of. from birth to death, dean's head was swimming too much to not be nauseous. it felt disgusting and made his skin crawl. he wanted to birth something, but he didnt want to die. how fucked up was he?

across the room lane had been awake, listening to how her new brother was breathing, the scratch of his pencil on paper, how the keyboard keys would click and clack as dean typed or moved something around. it had been both hard and a relief when her mother had passed, she could finally be herself but at what cost? the old house had been getting cleaned out and fixed up, put in luke's name until lane turned 18 in three years. she'd been putting on a brave face, or so she'd hoped, never letting her feelings get in the way of a new family life and friends, or her band, or school work. hearing dean's headphones hit the bed, the singer yelling out words, the sound of dean's big feet hitting hardwood and rushing out of the room made lane sit up and wonder towards the now empty shared room.

fixing the bed-sheets, adjusting the laptop, pausing the music and ignoring the unread texts from rory, moving the sketchbook with a half finished drawing, tucking the pencil and pencil crayons away - lane twiddled with her thumbs, waiting for her older brother to come back into their room. as the storm was brewing louder outside, the sound of the big oak hitting the window was rising her heart rate, the need to get out of the room grew and the idea of getting dean a glass of water was best.

seemingly the outside world was matching both the teens in the house - their innards were raising hell over family issues, almost like the snowflakes were leaving the nest of their home life to be independent. the bathroom door opened just as lane held onto the plastic blue cup and was standing in the door-frame. dean's shoulders were slumped, body folded over in such a way.

lane handed over the cup, dean thanked her. the bedroom door shut behind both of them.

"you okay?" she whispered, climbing onto dean's bed with him. the gilmore boy leaned against the wall and headboard, gripping the plastic cup, wearing a frown on his full lips, freckles popping out everywhere along pale skin. he shrugged at her, waving his right hand side to side, palm facing his thigh. "are you worried about the dance?"

dean shook his head. he pointed to his phone. the girl nodded her own head. it wasnt the dance he was nervous about - it was rory. the weight of upstaging, or confronting her. whatever it was, but in all fairness, they had all talked the gilmore boy into going, rory did invite him, he was basically being painted as a hero to this story, and rory did in fact choose to ruin their shared birthday at the mansion to announce the marriage ... so ... well ...

"dad's gunna take me out to the movies tomorrow" lane whispered with a smile, letting the happiness override the sadness. dean nudged her arm to gain her attention, lane's glasses were reflecting light from the clock radio on the side of her bed, bouncing off the ceiling with a long red stripe. "yaknow you can talk to me about anything"

"i dunno what you're talking abo-"

a glare cut her off. that was something dean got from lorelai, their bitch faces and zero tolerance for lies ran high. they could smell a lie from even the best of the best. the gilmore boy opened his arms, cup on his side table, lane crawled over and held onto her brother tightly. it was overwhelming, knowing she could be her own person, herself, possibly for the first time in her life, but then again, her birth mother had died.

"i feel like a bad person"

her dark hair was moved so gently as dean's fingers carded thru it, a sweet perk to the boy being much taller, lane fit so perfect tucked up against him. making her feel safe, a bigger plus when the other dean joined in on a hug. "does it make me a bad person if im glad she's gone?"

"no" was written against her sleeve covered arm with a fingertip. lane sniffled, hiding her face more. "i feel like a bad person" she repeated.

"y-y-y ... you're n-n- n-not-t-t"

one of the best things about winter, if there was debate, would be the winter attire. a connecticut winter was around average for where the state was, donning some thick boots to avoid ice build up and slipping. a nice jacket, scarf, beanie - lane being apart of the family now made this the first winter she got to wear a homemade pair of mitts with a matching beanie, thanks to lorelai.

saturday morning found lane and dean walking down the streets, headed towards doose's market where dean forester had texted the gilmores from, stating he was working and wanted to talk to the gilmore boy. perfect, really, because needed to ask him about being his plus one to the dance tonight. he'd even been shunned from the house since lorelai had pulled her prom dress out and refused to let him see what she was doing with it. then again - lorelai was always just this side of nutty and crazed, so that was probably for the best.

after last night's little cry fest, dean texted gabriel who, while dean was busy in the market - gabe would take lane out to the skate-rink in town square that had popped up. girl deserved some fun, dean had yet to tell lane this, but he had the promise to join them later, and lane had just a tiny tiny tiny crush on the golden haired young man. planning was everything.

lane was donning her black jacket with blue jeans, white boots and her matching pink and orange scarf and mitts, while dean was wearing his old yellow winter boots, black skinny jeans, free of rips for once, his winter jacket was wide open, revealing his "flynn and provenza" shirt and green flannel, his shaggy hair was flying out around his hastily pulled on bobble-beanie.

"there's absolutely no point in having a boyfriend if you cant get him to go to a dance with you"

silent laughter followed, dean's shoulders shaking under the open jacket. lane raised her eyebrow, meaning she was serious. "i'm not even concerned about the dance, just wanna know what's been botherin him" he signed back to his sister, more playful than her seriousness.

"hey guys!" gabriel called from across the street, taking a second to check both ways before rushing over, smiling wide. "here, i got you a hot chocolate with some whipped cream", the warm cup was being held out for lane, who stood stunned around dean snorted in amusement, taking the cup from gabriel and placing it in lane's hands.

"oh .. oh, u-um, thanks" she blushed. gabe chuckled, "since swan lake over here is gunna be with johnny-sue for a while, i was hoping i could take you to the skate-rink?"

"me?" lane whispered. her dark eyes were sparkly under her glasses, frosting over from the cold and light snow falling. gabriel's long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, donning an old band shirt with dark jeans and his leather jacket with the long sideways zipper, "yeah" the young man chuckled again, "ya up for some fun today?"

"YES!"

dean held onto his sister and her hot chocolate before both went everywhere. gabriel was laughing like dean was, enjoying how much lane was having her own moment right there in front of the market. the gilmore patted the girls shoulders, "go" he roughly mumbled, wetting his lips as his throat burned from the one word sentence. but it was enough to get lane to nod, still staring at gabe like he would disappear from her sight. he wasn't about to, a whole day had been planned even, but yet with how curveballs and random things seemed to come flying around - better safe than sorry. even for a guy who was kinda-but-kinda-wasn't dating a famous actress, who was a circus clown and played pranks that even the pros would be impressed by, watching gabriel have this sort of ease as he held his one empty hand out for lane to take, the way he smiled and winked at dean, helping the smaller girl off the curb, falling into easy conversation. it was stuff like that, that gave dean gilmore-danes that sense of happiness where he knew that both his life and lane's were becoming something special for a long time. something to hold onto. not just for a few seconds and leaving a broken heart behind, but something that would develop into that sort of blossom that gave the most prettiest rose of all ...

with a slight cocky grin dean entered the market, inhaling that wonderful smell of fresh veggies, oddly enough. it never mattered what season it was, fresh produce always kept the smell of the market alive. for a saturday, it was rather dull. the forester boy had said that on some saturday's when his folks were off work and the girls were content with their parents, dean would head into work for a few hours for some extra cash, but he also worked longer every thursday. recently however, the forester had been busy with another project that the gilmore had no idea about and two weeks ago when dean said he had a surprise for the gilmore, that had been left as is. it was simply still a surprise. across the market was dean forester himself, hair a little longer, even with his last haircut, a white long-sleeve with a popped collar with his dark burgundy sweater on top. dark jeans, boots, and his apron.

okay, so ... just start easy. he wanted to talk, so let him talk. find out what's bothering him, if he'll say ... dear lord, that sounds harder than it should be ... and oh yeah, the dance. a plus one would be nice. for two reasons. one - cuz, well, that's less nerve wracking. and two - because upstaging rory has now become a full blown red carpet event, or so luke joked around this morning while on the phone with grandpa richard. deep breath, it's not hard to speak with him, so .. deep breath, inhale steadily, and oh look he's got a box in his hands, he's restocking the shelves on a saturday morning in a small town market far from home and ...

dean crossed the market finally, ignoring his inner voice, stashing his sweaty palms in his jeans low cut pockets, trying to casually stroll up to his two inch taller boyfriend who had his back turned, cardboard box balanced on his knee cap while his hands were busy stacking cans. this is where dean hated having anxiety because it was stopping him from tapping his boyfriends shoulder to alert him to his standing behind him, but if he didn't, he knew that the forester would jump upon turning around and finding the gilmore standing there, staring, and watching him so, dean cleared his throat, or tried to at least. after this early morning meeting with the toilet this morning his throat was still ablaze from that. but it worked, because the forester glanced over, soft smile growing almost sheepishly, "hey"

"im glad you're here," he offered, after this greeting, "i wanted to talk to you, i, uh" his hand slipped from holding two cans, prompting the gilmore to catch it. the forester blew a breath, "fuck. shit. okay, sorry" he muttered, dropping the empty box to the floor. his face was red and sweating lightly, "i'm having a shitty day and i need to talk to you"

"okay" dean signed, on edge with how the taller, older boy was on edge, he was different. almost worse than how he'd been quiet the other past few days. "could you .. help finish this with me and we can maybe .. go to the house?"

"house?"

the forester's shy smile came back, "our house"

snow had covered the large hill and covered the gravel that made up the long drive way but tire tracks in the snow were an easy path to follow, plus with the view over looking the town from the forest across the highway was beautiful, both day and night. it was too nice to drive up here for whatever needed to be said but with both boys noses turning a bright red and their clasped hands together warming them up, next time a vehicle would be required, surely.

"this is sorta your surprise, actually"

the gilmore blinked some snow from his lashes, smiling at his boyfriend. the forester shrugged with a sort of unease but pulled out a set of keys from his leather jacket pocket, "since i bought this place, obviously the land needs help but i'm waiting until spring, or early summer at least ..." he sighed off into the cold air surrounding them, taking two steps onto the wooden board and stuck the keys into the lock. with a few shoulder knocks, the door was opened and dean stepped thru, turning around to help the shorter boy into the house.

much unlike the broken down outside, the inside was becoming a beautiful home. or, well, it would be, it was still pretty bare bones but the large floor to ceiling windows that had been installed to the far right were making up a dining room, the kitchen was mapped out and tiles were half in, missing the grout between them. the living-room would go to the left, right by the front door, where a half wall was getting put in. a hall way with the stairs were getting fixed because an upstairs was getting put in and fixed up, where bedrooms would go.

"the bathroom and laundry room are going by the stairs, but we gotta shovel out the snow to map the floor out, for the walls. this house wasnt really ever finished i dont think, for whatever this place was, or just so old they had no indoor pluming and no indoor bathroom"

"it's amazing"

dean forester beamed suddenly, "and i sorta asked your mom what you liked, so, theres gunna be more surprises in the house but i need to finish it." he pointed towards the tiles in the kitchen area and the windows to the side, "i got some of it done but i dont want to ruin the whole surprise"

"you're perfect" the gilmore signed, unable to hide how his face had lit up in a blush that ran over his freckles, crooked nose and the tips of his ears, his mouth was so wide and his tooth-gap showed, "you're perfect and i love you"

"i love you too," the forester murmured, "i know i'm moving kinda fast, it's only december and we met in .. what .. september? but .. i .. i know what i feel and i-"

a fingertip was pressed against his lips, shutting him up. the boys noses were touching, hazels and greens swimming across from the other. whatever was going on, it was bigger than homesickness for chicago, more than tiredness over a new baby in the house, more than illness. deans eyebrows raised, hoping his inner voice and conversation was understood. the forester sighed against his boyfriends finger, frowning under the touch, "sorry, rambling"

"todays a bad day for me" was whispered once dean's thin finger left. their noses touched a little more, their lips meeting once or twice. "i dont wanna hide the truth of it anymore but it .. i hate .. talking about it." the taller boy swallowed hard, the sound echoing with the wind and snow in the half broken roof above. that dark, deep feeling dread hung over the boys as they stood in the rubble of a house becoming a home, the gilmore boy wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, nestling their noses tight together, "you're safe" his mouth with no sound, like always. the forester shivered, tilting his head down, "so're you"

even after a few kisses, a few more never hurt. kissing the other felt like the world coming together - nothing would stop them. it was lightning and magic meeting and never letting go. beyond perfect.

"yaknow," dean whispered, eyes clamped shut so hard he was feeling dizzy. he kissed the gilmore again, "how the girls and i are all adopted?" he kissed the shorter boy again, and again, and again, their breathing was picking up between them, the gilmore nodded. and suddenly as the forester's mind caught up, he felt sick to his stomach. he swallowed a gag, moving away and beating himself up inside for wanting to cling onto romance when he was about to confess a demon that plagued his mind for the last few years.

"sorry,"

a smaller, warmer hand slid under his long leather jacket, grabbing onto the wooly sweater around his body. when hazel met green all over again, it was so easy to see, just like watching those hazels dart from side to side like they had been just a while ago from chronic illness, however this time, watching hazel was watching them shine with held back tears, fear swimming and uncertainty, horror and the pure want of being loved. dean gilmore held his lover, one arm around his waist, other hand cupping his jaw, nosing at the line from his neck to chin, letting him pull him in close. he would love him until the end of time, in a way that those eyes were shining with self hate.

feeling himself being held, even being taller was that comfort that released that horror, "i dont know my birth parents," dean muttered, "never want too, i guess, either .... but i know clara's birth father ..." he shivered with a violent remembrance, maybe even grabbing the gilmore harder than he had meant to when the feeling of falling down got stronger. in a heap the gilmore pulled the forester down to the cold cement floor, cradling the taller against him, his hand pushing in a steady rhythm to let him breathe. a panic attack was coming soon, that was sure.

"a few years ago, i .. i was walking with clara from the library, and .. and my mom always told us to be careful. and, and i was, i was walking behind her so close, my stupid truck was in the shop, if .. if i hadnt wanted those stupid winter tires" dean hiccuped, emotions were strong, his voice was getting chopped up, hot tears were falling like a summer storm, his hands were in fists, grabbing onto the gilmore like he'd pull away and leave him on his own.

"we," he pulled in a heavy breath, wiping the snot and tears away for a second, "we were about to cross the street when this big guy grabbed me, god i can remember the way clara screamed, i told her to run, run as fast as she could and i knew she did, but ... but he got me"

dean raised his soft eyebrow, lifting the forester's chin so they looked at each-other eye to eye. he hoped his widened eyes and look of scared shock got more of the words out because 'he got me' could mean anything and just the thought alone of a large man taking dean forester out from behind was enough to make your skin crawl. dean forester was a tall and strong kinda guy, just from the way he punched tristan out with one swing was proof enough, wasnt it?

"took everyone two weeks before they found me, b-but .. but by then, i'd been choked, and tortured a-and .. and"

the finger to his lips returned, being pulled away when lips crashed onto his. dean gilmore's hand was gripping the others sweater in front of his heart, like how he was being held onto. their kisses got deeper and harder, the way the forester towered over him suddenly, their hands and tongues fought for dominance, that pure rush of becoming one. "is-ss-s 'kay" the gilmore stuttered, "s-s-s-sa-safe, p-p-p-pr-prom-m-mis-s-se"

"promise" dean forester whispered, sniffling, nodding with a shy smile again, "promise"

back in town, the snow falling had gotten a little thicker, the streets were covered in the heavy white fluff. the trees were filled and were getting pushed down from the weight, the park benches and newspaper boxes had layers of snow that had been pushed away but more snow had fallen since the last shove. simple tiny little things like that were what made the town so special. even more special was grandpa richard living across from the gilmore-danes, and with uncle bobby and cousin gabriel moving in the new year - so much was coming to this town that made it so much more.

the boys were walking past the town square, hand in hand when the forester squeezed the gilmores hand gently, "i completely forgot," he paused, voice still a little small and raw from heavy crying. dean gilmore kissed his cheek, "what did you wanna ask me earlier?"

earlier ..? oh right, the dance. dean had completely forgotten and now the idea of asking his boyfriend to be his plus one was tipping into the land of 'stupid'. his eyebrow twitched as he got lost in thought because he did still kinda wanna go, if maybe only because he'd been listening to so much alanis lately and sticking it to rory while in a beautiful dress would make her breathe fire.... dean sighed, pulled his hand away to sign,

"i agreed to the dance at chilton ..."

the forester's eyes bugged out, smile breaking his face enough for those deep dimples to pop, "oh yeah? really, like .. really, really?"

dean nodded, "would you like to go with me?"

"what would i need to wear?" his boyfriend responded quietly, "i've never, well, i dunno, havent been to a dance before, other than your dance premiere"

"you could probably get away with a coat and no tie"

"hmm," the boy teased, squinting and pushing his bottom lip out, finger thumping against it, "oh well, how could i resist my adorable little boyfriend for anything"

the gilmore rolled his eyes, making the forester laugh. in two seconds, it was easy to push him down into the snow bank, laughing to himself when the forester burst out laughing from his little nest of snow. with an easy pull, the gilmores scarf was how he ended up beside the forester in the bank, both of them laughing towards the sky, under the tree and twinkly lights in the late morning of saturday.

it was purple, a deep dark purple. the dress, which was lorelai's old prom dress was on her fabric dummy, pins sticking out of the waistline and some between her teeth. the dress was longer than long, perhaps the only 'super rich' thing lorelai kept from her old life, but because it was a gift from richard and both of them had it picked out and designed just for her.

dark purple with a soft pink-ish toned lace overlaying, with sequins, glass bubble beads, and pieces of glitter everywhere. the train of the dress was at least five feet long, only enhanced by the wide circumference of the bottom of the dress, it filled at least half of the living-room, where it stood, with the train curling into the kitchen. with no sleeves, the dress only had two arm cuffs for your inner bicep and flowing fairy sleeves that hung into extra long cone shapes down to the ground.

"oh" richard chuckled, lowering his newspaper from where he sat on the couch, watching his daughter pin the waist in, "i haven't seen that in years,"

"yeah," lorelai smiled, putting the last pin to step away, hands on her hips, "it should fit him, just need to add a little to the bottom since he's taller, and of course the waist because i was already pregnant when i wore this". her long hair was down for once, but tied back with a bandana. currently she was working on everything else waiting for dean to return home, while also waiting for sookie to drop off some thread for her. richard had come over to keep her company, but he wasnt going to miss his grandson go to a school dance either, much like he hadnt missed the broadway production either.

there was a photo in richards new smaller house, that hung above the fireplace, of lorelai in this exact dress, standing with richard in the doorway of the old house, smiling. luke had suggested they do the same pose with dean this time around. those words made tears slip from lorelai's eyes, her pride and happiness were running high today, and dean was making that happen. the unspoken sadness of rory being gone still ran in the rivers of the family, but they were twins - and dean was still happy to try things to make lorelai proud, and happy, just to see her smile.

when the doorbell rang, it was richard who got up from his seat, chucking further at lorelai inspecting every inch of the dress. "extra thread!" sookie greeted, making richard grin. "ah, a life saver arriving on scene," he joked. sookie passed the large front door, as the eldest gilmore stepped aside for her.

"i passed by luke's and he said that the boys are in town with lane and that other boy, the one with the blonde long hair"

"i've seen him around too, him and that older fellow" richard chimed. it dawned on lorelai as she took the thread from her friend, "oh bobby and gabriel. yeah i guess you only met them for a few minutes in new york" she frowned, "gabriel is dean's older cousin, and bobby is his father, dean's uncle"

"is that the gabriel that lane has the crush on?" sookie squealed, clapping her hands with a broad smile, "i think i saw them holding hands at the skate-rink! they're a cute couple!"

"sookie," lorelai laughed, "yes it is, but if lane wants to talk about it, she will. give her time," she laughed. richard nodded, "things have certainly changed enough in the last half year that these things will need time, but if the cousin is anything like the boy i know, he's a good catch"

"dad" stressed the other gilmore in the room. richard barked a short laugh, sitting back down on the couch with his paper, "so if the kids are going out tonight, what're you guys doing?" questioned sookie, riftling thru her purse for something only she knew, "jackson is coming into town and we're going out!"

jackson was sookie's main squeeze and something that everyone was waiting to happen. the bet was for either sookie and jackson to finally get serious, or for luke and lorelai to get married. who knew lorelai was gunna win that one, though. "thats great," the gilmore smiled, hugging her friend, "luke's working tonight and i think gabriel told me that he and lane were going to the movies?"

"you?"

"i have crafts!" lorelai clapped, "crafts and projects and books to read!"

"you live a crazy life," sighed sookie with a teasing grin, "oh!" she spun around, pointing her finger right at her taller friends nose, "promise to take photos of the handsome princes going to the dance for me?"

"of course,"

"i've got a few surprises up my sleeve as well, miss st. james'" richard glanced over the paper, "nobody is going to miss a thing"

hartford was a half hour away, and certain gilmores (dean and richard) liked being ahead of the scheduled time, giving some wiggle room for random acts of 'life' to happen if it did. lorelai was always a slacker, who hated the rules and timed timing, but be damned if she wasnt rushing around the house getting everything just this shade of perfect. the second dean opened the front door after his time away from the house, was the second lorelai was instantly pulling off his beanie and scarf to toss him into a warm bath.

alanis was singing the blues in the background from the record player again, the tv had an episode paused because lorelai was helping dean into the damn dress that made the night. lane and richard were chatting away on the couch, richard's video camera was on his lap, with lorelai's phone for pictures. the door opened with a gust of wind, luke and gabriel stepped into the house.

"lore?" luke called, waving at the two people in the living-room, then turned to the kitchen, finding it empty. richard pointed up the stairs, luke gave a salute and jogged upstairs. gabriel knocked snow off his biker boots, sitting on the arm of the large chair to the side, "dean-o's on his way, i left him at the house"

"you could have ruined the surprise!" lorelai was heard scolding luke, walking with him down the stairs with both his and her hands over his eyes, "look i didnt mean too, i just wanted to find you to tell ya that i was here", but lorelai rolled her eyes, "lane, can you check in on dean, please, sweetheart? he's putting on his rings"

the girl snickered at her parents, jogging up the stairs past them for her older brother, lorelai lowered her hands, putting them firmly on her wider hips, "now why are you really here, mister?"

"lore, our son is going to a big fancy dance, you really think i'd miss that?" luke said seriously. the gilmore girl straightened her stance, "really?" she mumbled with a touch of shock, "what about the diner?"

"who cares, taylor can get his own damned coffee. i married you because i love you and i adopted our kids because i love them too, i aint missing this." luke stopped to really stare down his wife, "im not missing anything", knowing those words had such a strong impact on how lorelai took each day was like an angel kiss to her. those were golden words only her father had ever said to her, and having someone like luke, who she loved whole-heartedly, saying them to her made everything come together. like a band playing a great song. like a great episode of a great show. it was perfect and something that no one could take away.

both gabriel and richard rolled their eyes towards the ceiling with their versions of lorelai gilmore-dane dramatics when she kissed luke for those words. they pulled away, still staring, and it was gabriel who broke the moment, "excuse me, yeah hi there, hate to break this up - but i think my uncle and aunt wanted to enjoy a night out too, so -"

lorelai patted luke's chest, grinning at the blonde young man, "bring the girls over. you're taking lane out as promised, i dont mind babysitting"

"PRESENTTTIINGGGGG," lane shouted from upstairs. everyone suddenly got into a row at the stairs, richard was filming and gabriel held lorelai's phone. "DEAN" lane jumped down two steps, two more and two more until she hit the side landing, "PACEY" she threw her hands up to the side, "GILMORE-DANNNEEESSSSS"

black combat boots, cleaned and shined, with the laces done up for once was what met waiting eyes first. black seer tights, the bottom trim, the lower dress, and finally all of dean as he held the large sides up to walk down the stairs without tripping. the train was following as elegant as ever. the work lorelai had put into not only the dress but dean ready for tonight showed at every angle. with a pulled in waist and a smaller chest size, the dress fit perfect, whereas dean had his hair combed, styled with a massive row of soft white and purple flowers in. light eye-shadow, dark eyeliner and a soft pink tint to his lips and cheeks, along with a tiny flower sticker under his eyes, highlighting his freckles and delicate features. his nails were painted white, showing off his longer fingers and all his rings. right down to his two small bracelets and his gifted ring from dean forester.

dean pressed a kiss to his sister's head, making lane give him a hug and hold on for a second or two. dean looked amazing, which was making lorelai give goo-goo sad and proud eyes, luke was in awe as was richard, and even gabriel was wide eyed and grinning.

"babe," lorelai whispered, "you look amazing"

"you outdid yourself with the dress" dean signed, accepting the help from lane down the last few steps and into the living-room, hugging everyone, smiling his face away. tonight was so much, his first school dance, and a weird nudge to rory and her change of personality. whatever tonight ended up being, it was going to be something to remember, even if just walking down the stairs was the highlight of it all. all these emotions, all the fuzziness of the music in the background and that feeling of being so very loved by family.

the doorbell ringing letting it echo in the big house gave the vibration of a pleasant buzz. "that, i believe, should be the boyfriend" richard grinned, still holding the video camera in hand. all the photos with the family had been taken, now it was just an anxious wait game for the door open and for dean forester to come. gabriel laughing with his cousin when the door opened gave the gilmore boy a soft smile to hum over, breathing steadily a few times under his chest tape and adjust the dress on his skin. it all came together though, when the boys were finally facing each other in the hallway and living-room.

"oh, wow" dean breathed, dressed in a turtle neck with black dress pants, clean dress shoes and a suit jacket, dean's hair was freshly washed and half-way dried, a sign of him stressing, armed with a bundle of flowers and a shy smile that popped his dimples. "you look incredible"

a blush dyed dean gilmore's cheeks and ears at an instant. he bowed his head, resisting the urge to actually giggle at this, biting at his lip and inhaling deep again. "these, these were for you and the rose is for lorelai"

"awe, thanks cutie-pie!" lorelai got close enough to hug the boy, kiss his cheek and disappear into the kitchen. gabe elbowed lane gently, the two of them gathered up their coats, wished everyone a goodnight and left the house. "my truck's just parked outside," the forester murmured, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, admiring his freckles and soft pink lips. god, he wanted to kiss him so badly but even just holding him close like this felt so strange with richard and luke watching every move.

"well then let's get a move on, kids. i'm expecting the girls at any time now, and just remember that the train comes off if you wanna go for a walk!" lorelai announced, walking back from the kitchen, giving her son a hug from behind, wiggling him in her hold like she always had. "no funny business" luke said, serious, "but that wont happen, so, just be careful, yeah? no surprises"

"no surprises" dean forester repeated, nodding.

"one surprise" richard added. the door was opened, letting the boys walk thru, but rather than seeing dean forester's green truck sitting as close to the hill and walk way, a long white limo was parked. everyone looked at richard with big eyes. "i hired a driver for the night, my treat. now just enjoy yourselves," he said, walking hand in hand with his grandson, "dont worry about wasting anyones time, i told him the dance ends at eleven and to drive you back home unless you two want to go elsewhere but just remember to text us"

the driver opened the door, richard helped dean inside, laying his larger hands over his grandson's "you look like a movie star, my boy. you have a good night with your boyfriend now, okay? give 'em hell"

"thank you" dean mouthed. richard gave a nod with a sly little smile that was all richard gilmore. the door closed, and dean forester got in from the other side. everyone stood outside the gilmore-danes house waving and smiling, the driver got in and the limo left stars hollow in a slow relaxing pace.

what a night indeed.

outside in the snow, outside the rather imitating large school building where dozen of fancy high-end cars and their snotty teens getting out, or where another limo would pull in and some girl in some million dollar store bought dress would step out and demand photos before heading in. outside was really nothing compared to inside.

large doors opened where dozens of kids were standing around, not one at all were looking at the boys, that was of course until they walked down the hallway and dean's long train was following. a little fear was growing inside his chest that some jerk would step on the end and rip it off completely, like dean's life was some version of Cinderella, but all those fears dampened when they entered the main ballroom. all brown and a light cream wall tone, big vases of fake flowers and small pots of real flowers on each table.

"are you ready, ariel?"

dean cocked an eyebrow at his boyfriend on his arm. the forester shrugged innocently, "what? i watched the little mermaid with my sisters before leaving. it fits. you're a mermaid having your human moment", a eye-roll and cheeky smirk was a good response. walking into the ballroom and having people's heads turn was a bit of nerve-wracking excitement, however hearing whispers as they walked past went unheard because they needed to find rory first, if dean was the guest of honour it was weird that not even the headmaster could be found.

"why dont we just sit down, first? i got the tickets in my pocket, and we can search around later?" dean suggested, kissing the gilmore and making some people gasp behind them. his hazels were growing darker, his hold just a little tighter as he glared at the two girls who had been following them since entering the ballroom.

a short blonde and a short raven-haired rounded the table when they sat. the blonde girl leaned down, showing the dark line between her small chest. dean gilmore was curious, so while the girl was eyeing his boyfriend, he risked a quick glance to his side, and sure enough, the girl was wearing tall heels and the shortest dress ever. he rolled his eyes at the forester. "and who are you, dish?"

"dean" the forester spat with a tight smile. "dean, like the guest of honour?" the other girl piped up. the blonde rolled her eyes, her mouth moved in a sick twist, "oh shut up madeline, he looks all man, the guest of honour is some half and half", her eyes dropped to the gilmore boy, "like you"

"either talk nice about him or fuck off" dean said, smiling wide when the blonde backed up, glaring at him. "thank you"

"you're here" a smaller voice spoke from behind the two girls, making the boys pivot around. rory was in a long black dress, with long elbow length gloves, her long hair had been cut short into a cute little bob style and slicked back. she looked much older, but when she turned to wave someone over, her face looked fuller, rounder, as did her baby bump that stuck out further than the last time her twin had seen her. "louise, madeline, may i speak to my brother in private for a minute, please?"

she spoke so unlike she'd ever spoken, the boys looked at each-other, and for the forester, it was easy to see how the gilmore dropped his green eyes in a way of sadness. everyone was going to follow their own paths in life but this wasnt like rory, or at least, the rory that dean had grown up with, and it still hurt, even after all this time. the blonde, louise, apparently, grabbed madeline and sashayed away from the table, mumbling to themselves about 'the weirdo and the dish'.

"you're here," rory repeated, small and soft, her smile was on her face, eyes sparkling like they did just this past summer. like the old rory was really standing there instead. "you invited me, and its your fancy school" dean signed back. rory nodded, smile drifting to one side, "yeah but you didnt have to come. dances arent really something i thought you'd enjoy". she paused long enough for dean to sign, "same to you"

rory waved over to the side once more, turning back to scan over her younger brother, then turned her head to the right, "dean, nice to see you too" she offered her hand, which the other boy took in a light hold, giving it a firm shake. "both of you, i'm happy to see you"

"where's your husband and wife?"

"oh," suddenly that happiness slipped off her face, it came back as she spoke, "paris wasnt feeling well and tristan stayed back at home with her"

"so you're here by yourself," dean forester replied lowly, "that's kinda ...", rory just smiled though, cutting his line of speech off, "i dont mind. gives me a chance to show off my amazing brother who made history and was on broadway"

suddenly the boys were looking at the other across the table. whatever was going on with rory, was now completely thrown out into the wild. something was definitely up with her, because never had the other twin said anything nice, but her smile was borderline creepy and the way she kept rubbing at the inside of her gloves at her elbows was every five seconds at least. "there's the headmaster," rory said happily, "do you remember him? let me re-introduce you, and introduce you, dean, this is your night after-all"

"what the hell?" the gilmore mouthed. the forester shrugged, mouthing back, "i dunno"

being pulled along hallways that he had only seen once in the early morning while in the middle of fighting a panic attack was a whole new experience for dean, only because the ballroom had been decorated. the rest of the school was fancy, old and very plain looking. at least the school in stars hollow always had big colourful posters and every locker had something to each person, so that personalities showed ... however, the boy shook his head, one hand holding on his sister as she dragged him along behind her. dean forester followed carefully, eyeing rory with suspicion, all justified too, of course. just past the long hallway was where the short older man was talking with a younger man with slicked back hair and wearing a dark suit. he smiled, gave the headmaster a thumbs up and left which left rory the opening to walk faster in her weird tall heels, pulling dean along like a rag doll.

"sir, my brother is here" rory rushed, suddenly stopping in her tracks, but before dean crashed into her back, she pulled him off to the side then in front of her. the gilmore boy used enough force to snatch his arm out of her hold, glaring. "right" the older man grumbled, "well thank you mrs. dugray, that the news presenter, everything should be set up in the ballroom for us later on"

"the news presenter?" dean forester pipped up, arms crossed, face serious and a little angry. the headmaster held his head up, sticking his chin out, glaring down his nose much like he had when he met lorelai and dean that first day with rory. "why yes, did mrs. dugray not mention what tonight is about?"

"clearly not"

dean stared at his sister, all side-eye and getting annoyed. not only was rory now "mrs. dugray" to this old bastard but knowing rory's slimy tricks as of late, why would dean try to tell himself this would've been any different? "headmaster charleston, this is my brother's boyfriend, dean" rory said, trying to tug the taller boy to shake the man's hand, yet dean stood his ground, rather wrapping his arms around the gilmore boys waist. the man was stiff as ever, hands in his pockets, back arched, "yes, yes, pleasure to meet you"

"what's up with the news guy?" dean signed to his sister, frowning, now growing with a hint of panic, because really, what the fuck was going on? the man watched the boy sign, mouth dropping open, "mrs. dugray, why is he using american sign language with you?"

"excuse me, don't speak down to him while he's right in front of you" the forester boy growled, gripping deans waist tighter. the man bulked, "you listen here young man, this was mrs. dugray's idea for extra credit as she's falling behind in most areas. she came to me with the suggestion that we could use this as good press as her brother is now a big deal"

hearing those words did it for dean. it was all a set-up after-all and he was having no part of it. not only was headmaster charleston being nice to his face after being a complete prick, misgendering and dead-naming him upon meeting him months ago, while still speaking about him like he wasn't there - rory was using his new-found success as a boost for her failing grades. it was all bullshit. dean turned, anger flaring, he pointed his finger in his twins face, "no" he snarled, vocal chords aching, "no"

"but-"

"he said 'no' rory" the forester replied, gathering up the long five foot train so they could leave. rory shoved him, "stay out of this, jerk.", the gilmore boy held his arm over his boyfriend, holding his other arm up to block his sister from doing much else, "no" he repeated, "i'm not doing it" his mouth said to her. the headmaster got between them, back turned to the boys as he started demanding rory to get dean to do the interview and press for the dance, but that was the last straw for the gilmore boy. with a look to the forester, the boys rolled their eyes, leaving the hallway and leaving rory muttering away to the headmaster.

back in the ballroom, where people were ignoring them again, dean turned to his smaller boyfriend, "must be a new record, no? a half hour at a school dance and we're ready to leave"

he wasn't wrong ..... "could we maybe do one dance?" the boy signed, making the other beam in a shy way, "course, yaknow i'd do anything for you"

the five foot train was put back on the floor, the lights even went down a little as the boys held hands, the foresters arm snuggled the gilmore as close as possible, hand resting on his lower back firm. the gilmore hooked his hand on the back of the others neck, fingers curling in the little hairs there, their noses pressed together like they so often did. they eskimo-kissed more than actual kissing, it seemed, but it just felt so right and safe for them. as more couples got onto the dance floor before the song began, they were already swaying, moving in a spot that when the gilmore looked over his boyfriends shoulder, his stomach dropped. rory was standing there, staring, glaring, hands in fists, but tristan was beside her, arms around her waist too.

"i saw them too" dean whispered, "and just so you know, rory hates that you look a million times better than her tonight"

the gilmore smirked into the others shoulder, dropping his vision from his twin sister across the room. he gave his boyfriends hand a gentle squeeze, closing his eyes as his head rested, the slow sway was becoming more of a relaxing slow dance, and after just this one song - they would leave. even if his much bigger 'wish' didn't come into play, he still came to the damn-for-saken dance, he said what rory needed to hear and now he was dancing with his amazing lover in an amazing dress that his mother poured her heart into. and after this song, they would step into a limo and go back home, or something of the such. tonight may not have been perfect, but this song, swaying with people watching, holding onto the person he loved so much, dean gilmore-danes was happy. so very happy.