𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎. . . 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯'
❝ I was planning on sleeping in the park, but Taylor chased me from my bench. ❞

  CHARLIE WAS FEELING off in the morning. Her wrist was itching and the t-shirt she'd fallen asleep in was the only source of comfort she had.

  It felt bad, lying to her Mom, but Charlie refused to let anything worsen the relationship between Jess and Lorelai.

  "Charlotte."

  "Either you have a wicked morning voice, or I'm not turning around," Charlie mumbled into her coffee mug.

  "I was worried about you."

  "It's a fracture."

  "How exactly did that happen?"

  "Car accident."

  "Yes, but how did you fracture your wrist?"

  "Hit it against the dash."

  "Steering wheel would've been in the way, wouldn't it?"

  Charlie's face dropped as Christopher took a seat at the table across from her.

  "You weren't driving, were you?" Charlie opened her mouth to deny it, but Chris cut her off, "There's no point in lying."

  "Please don't tell Mom." The girl whispered, and for the first time in a long time, Christopher saw more than just a copy of Lorelai. He saw Charlie Gilmore, his oldest daughter, the girl with the heart too big for her body, and it hurt that it took him so long.

  "She won't be mad."

  "Maybe not at me. But she'll take it out on Jess and maybe even Luke, and it's my fault he swerved that hard in the first place, I yelled and scared him and—"

  "It's not your fault," Chris cut her off gently, "But Charlie, you have to tell your Mom."

  "I don't want to."

  "Charlotte. . . she deserves to know."

↬

  Stars Hollow's movie in the park was upon them, and Charlie was quite content sitting beside her Mother. Chris had gone to get popcorn while Kirk's mini film had played, and despite Rory's best attempts (and her reassurance that she was not mad about the car)  Charlie was still not speaking with her.

  Patty had informed them that she did the choreography for Kirk's film, which made Charlie love it that much more.

  But, her mood was killed instantly when she overheard Babette and Patty chatting about the infamous car accident.

  It was all unimportant chatter, the usual blabbering about how Jess Mariano would be the downfall of Stars Hollow-- that he was endangering even Charlie.

  So she silently stood, gathered her few items, and left without a word to her mother or sister.

  Charlie sent a text to Jess, who hadn't responded much since asking if she was okay. It was a hopeless effort, she knew, but she wasn't sure what else to do.

  Until she spotted Liam Montgomery on an isolated bench behind Doose's Market, with a cloud of smoke surrounding him.

  The girl took a silent seat beside him, shaking her head as he offered the joint.

  "How're you feeling?"

  Charlie showed her cast with a small smile.

  "Just adds a bit of character," Charlie noted, "I think Jess feels guiltier than I do."

  "That you wrecked Rory's car?" Liam questioned boredly.

  "That he was driving and I got hurt."

  Liam pursed his lips, nodding slowly. He rolled the joint between his thumb and forefinger, before gently putting it out on the iron arm of the bench.

  "Well, he cares about you, he's gonna beat himself up about it," Liam spoke honestly, "But the entire point was that it was an accident. Brooklyn seems like he's had a pretty tough time, you just need to remind him he's not the reason this happened to the first good thing he's got."

  Charlie narrowed her eyes.

  "When did you become a therapist?"

  Liam smirked, showcasing the joint.

  "Ahh."

  "Makes me more intuitive," Liam smiled, sighing, "He's a decent guy. You could do better--"

  "Hope you don't mean yourself."

  "No," He said without a hint of amusement, "No, Charls, I mean you deserve the kind of person who gives you the kind of love you give everyone else."

  Charlie's skin erupted in goosebumps, her light tone had taken a turn to a far too serious conversation.

  "And, hey, maybe Brooklyn is that guy, I don't know," He shrugged, "Still, talkin' to him is all you can do right now."

  And Charlie contemplated Liam's words silently, soaking up his company as the afternoon slowly turned to night. 

  Despite being a meathead, and sometimes a complete idiot, Liam Montgomery did have good advice from time to time.

↬

  Jess Mariano was packing. Furiously shoving books and clothes and cards and cigarettes into the giant duffel bag that had remained in the bottom of his closet, he wasn't thinking he was just doing.

  "Where do you think you're going?"

  "I don't know, I don't care, just anywhere that's far away from here."

  Luke raised an eyebrow, quickly snatching the bag from Jess's hands.

  "Hey!"

  "Listen, you cannot just get into an accident and leave like this, Charlie will--"

  "She's better off without me, you know that better than anyone," Jess argued, "Just call my mom, I'm--"

  Luke grabbed the boy by his shoulders holding him tightly.

  "You can't just up and move every time something bad happens," Luke lectured, "And you don't know what she was like before you were here, so you can't make that decision--"

  "Just let me go!"

  "You really want to do that, you really want to do that to her?"

  Jess let out a noise of aggravation, wrenching out of Luke's hold and plopping onto the couch.

  "C'mon, Jess," Luke sighed, "Why don't you just give Stars Hollow a chance?"

  "I already did, and I screwed it up, I crashed Rory's car and I hurt Charlie."

  Luke let out a breath, shaking his head.

  "It was an accident, Jess. You can't punish yourself for an accident."

  Jess rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

  "What, no comeback this time?" Luke questioned, raising an eyebrow, "You know what, go ahead, pack your bag."

  Jess's heart dropped for a millisecond.

  "We're going fishing."

↬

  "You weren't driving."

  "I thought he'd at least keep it for a day," The teen mumbled, eyes slowly drifting to her disappointed Mother, "I've always given him way too much credit."

  "You lied."

  "Yup."

  "Charlotte, you lied to me."

  "Yes, cool, I'm glad we've established that!" Charlie shouted, "But if you weren't mad at me, why aren't you mad at him?!"

  Lorelai narrowed her eyes.

  "It was still my fault, I'm the one who yelled and scared him," Charlie continued, "So, if you want to be mad, be mad at me, mom."

  And, honestly, Lorelai was mulling it over. Not her words, but the emotion Charlie shoved into them. 

  But to the teen, her mother looked disinterested, so Charlie simply scoffed, pushing herself up from the couch, grabbing her keys and jacket, departing before she ever even really got settled.

↬

  Charlie had no idea where Luke or Jess had gone. The 'Gone Fishing' sign on the front door of Luke's gave her a hint, but no response from either propelled her worries; so she had planted herself on the front steps with her guitar on her lap.

  "Is it closed?"

  "That's what the sign says."

  "You can't open it?"

  "It's not called Charlie's."

  "So why are you sitting there?"

  "Because I can."

  "Sitting there won't change anything."

  "Kirk, you have five seconds before I hit you."

  "But—"

  "Four."

  And then Charlie was alone. It felt like she'd lost both Luke and Jess in one quick snap, all because of an accident that left her with a damn purple cast.

  A purple cast and her dad in town and absolutely no one to trust.

  Instead of the town taking Charlie's side on things, it seemed they were only reminded of the rebellious tendencies the Gilmore used to have. In no time at all, she knew what it was like to be Jess.

  It wasn't enough to ignore her, people went out of the way to throw dirty glares and Taylor went the extra mile to flip the closed sign on the market when she walked by.

  Needless to say, Charlie Gilmore was fed up with Stars Hollow.

↬

  "You're home."

  "I was planning on sleeping in the park, but Taylor chased me from my bench."

  Lorelai frowned, sitting beside her daughter on their couch. Charlie's expression hadn't changed much in the past three days, then again Lorelai had hardly seen her since the movie night fiasco.

  "How are ya feeling?"

  "Like a million bucks."

  "I'm sorry Jess left."

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  "Yes, you do," Lorelai said gently as Charlie picked at the hole in her jeans, "Not to me, maybe. But I know you want to talk about it."

  "I don't know what to do." The teen focused all her energy in keeping her voice steady and eyes dry, "I don't know how long they'll be gone, I don't know if Jess will come back. . ."

  "You think he wouldn't come back?"

  Charlie shrugged, focusing her eyes on her lap for a long moment.

  "He promised me, one of the first days we were ever actually friends before he really knew me, he promised me if he ever left he'd bring me."

  "What?"

  "Not in the way you're thinking," Charlie breathed out a half-hearted laugh, "Just that. . . I wouldn't be stuck here alone. And we had a plan, too. After high-school, New York City." The two stayed in silence for a moment, "I was going to find a college there. It was going to be perfect."

  "Perfect things don't always work out," Lorelai frowned.

  "I know," Charlie whispered, "But I always wish they will."

  Rory found her Mother and sister curled up on the couch asleep. She felt her heart sink rapidly because above all else Charlie had been hurt by someone who meant everything to her.

  And that wasn't fair.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
this one was weird to write

I hope it wasn't weird to read :/