realist ━━ jess mariano

8| the age of innocence

NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED over the course of the week, though Rosie could notice a shift in energy between Rory and Dean, an unmistakable tension between the two. Though she has managed to keep her distance from Rory's boyfriend, he would take up every opportunity to ask Rosie of his girlfriend's whereabouts, to which she would shrug in a dumbfounded manner– because although she has yet to discuss this Rory, she had a sneaking suspicion that she was getting cold-feet on the relationship, and merely needed time alone.

The only remarkable event of the week was Rosie's dreadful trip to the hospital after falling off the ladder the night before.  "Can I just ask, what on earth did you think you were doing?" Rory persisted. "You hate ladders, you hate heights. And you did it in the middle of the night, you didn't even wait 'till morning."

     In truth, Rosemary had been tipsy when she attempted to clean the rain gutters. She had just returned from a party where she consumed a fair amount of alcohol, and her drunken self had a way of getting into trouble. Lorelai and Rory were oblivious to her tipsiness, thanks to Rosie's experience on perfecting the perfect mixture of gum, fragrance and mint that made an aromatic scent, hiding her alcohol reek. "I needed a distraction."

    "And your solution was to clean the rain gutters?" Lorelai asked. "And I told you i'd get someone to clean it."

     "You never did." Rosie added. She strolled past the town folks, her eyes peering over the bookstore's display as they walked past it. She turned back to them, optimism overcoming her. "Besides, when I hit my head and wounded my hand, I had an epiphany."

     "And what was it?"

    "That life is too short to be wasting my time giving valuable advice to people that don't deserve it." She exhaled sharply as they entered Luke's diner for breakfast. "Did you know I spent the entirety of today advising Kayla not to pull the fire alarm just because someone dared her to, because she'll inevitably get detention? And guess what she did!"

     "She did it and got detention?" 

     "Exactly!" She exclaimed as they seated at their table. "See, logical advice wasted on irrational people."

     "It took a near death experience for you to come to the revelation that maybe you're better off if you don't coerce people into decisions?" Rory joked. "And besides, it's not like you didn't get detention before."

     "Hey, did I miss something?" Lorelai peered at the two. "Last I checked, Rosie has never gotten in trouble in her life."

      She leaned back as she remembered the detention; about a month ago, when she took the fall for Jess Mariano to return a favour. The advantage was that she got to spend the entire week receiving free coffees and pancakes from Luke's Diner. The downside was that she later found out that if she got one more detention, it'll be written down on her record. "It was just one detention I got last month." She shrugged off. "It was nothing."

     Luke approached their table, flipping his notepad. "So, what do you girls want?" He pressed on the tip of his pen, already having an idea of their order— pancakes, as usual.

     "Pancakes." Lorelai exclaimed. "With a side of pancakes."

     "Alright," Before he could write it down, his gaze caught sight of Rosie's bandaged hands, and in curiosity, he asked; "What happened to your hand?" With his pen, he pointed to the bandage on her left hand.

     "Rosie decided to clean the rain gutters last night." Rory informed him. "Did not end well."

      He turned to Lorelai, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. He had previously mentioned the rain gutters to her, having known months had passed without her cleaning it. She promised him she would take care of it, and he'd forgotten about it since. "You never hired anyone to do that work?"