Chapter 24

"Crap,"Rory muttered, pushing herself off the counter.

He quickly grabbed her hand before she could walk any farther. "Wait, Rory."

She glanced back at him, feeling panicked.

"Do you want me to handle this?"

The metal doorknob in the back turned, the door swinging open.

"No," she breathed. "This was going to happen eventually."

She heard the door slam shut, and he entered The War Room. Rory rounded the corner, Tyler following closely behind, as she watched Jay pick up his stack of new Scoops shirts before checking the schedule for the week pinned to the corkboard.

"So this is the guy, huh?" he asked, not glancing at her once. "I should have known."

"Jay—"

"Does Calvin know the two of you are playing tonsil hockey during a shift?"

She glared at him, on the verge of reminding him how he loved the idea of making out with her during a shift. "We weren't kissing."

"Looked pretty damn close to it from where I was standing." Jay's mouth twisted into a smirk. An evil one, the kind you would expect from someone who was in the mood for chaos. He still didn't bother looking in Rory's direction, but instead, looked up at Tyler. "Still got a girlfriend?"

"That's none of your business," Tyler said coolly.

Jay chuckled, shaking his head. "So that's a yes."

She took a step toward him. "Jay—"

He reared back. His eyes finally locked on hers, and she could see it—the unadulterated rage. "So much for not deserving to come in ‘second place,'" he started, holding his hand up in mock quotations. "Tell me, does it get you off chasing guys who don't want you in return?"

Before she could respond to that blow, Tyler stepped around her and with one arm slammed Jay up against the wall, causing the corkboard to rattle as the stack of shirts in his hand tumbled to the floor. Jay didn't even seem fazed by the brute force of Tyler's hold on him, his forearm holding Jay's chest to the wall like a thumbtack.

"Do not speak that way to her again," Tyler said, his voice calm despite his aggressive hold.

Jay simply laughed. "Or what? You'll beat me up? Please do. I would love to show off a black eye from your royal fist."

Tyler shoved him slightly again, tightening his arm against Jay's chest. Jay's feet were barely touching the ground, his whole body practically dangling underneath Tyler's arm. Yet Jay kept on grinning as if this entire interaction was amusing to him.

"GUYS," she screamed. "Enough!"

Tyler loosened his hold. Jay slid back to the ground, still with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Damn, Rory, that's quite a tight leash you have on him," Jay sneered. "Too bad he's dating someone else."

Tyler's hands curled into fists as Jay chuckled, reaching down to grab his pile of shirts. He took three steps toward the back door before turning to face them again, his mouth still pressed into a forced grin. "See you at the party tomorrow, Rory," he said. Then, before he turned, he dipped into a deep bow. "Your Royal Highness."

They remained standing there as Jay left, the door slamming again from his departure.

Tyler turned to face her, his eyes softening. "Ry…"

Before she could respond, the back door swung open again. They both flinched, but this time it was just Blake stepping inside with Jess for the night shift. Rory didn't look in their direction, nor did she return Tyler's gaze as he whispered to her, pleading for her as she quickly signed out and walked out of the shop, not bothering to shield herself from the pelting rain.

* * *

The rain was unrelentingas she drove past Hillside Park and into the beach communities, turning her car onto the dirt road of Sandy Cove. She pulled into the seashell driveway of cottage five, parking next to Calvin's truck.

Something inside her snapped when she stepped out of Scoops. She was tired…tired of trying to fight it all. Tired of trying to be okay with everything changing so quickly around her. She wondered if life was meant to feel like this—always in motion, always walking through a revolving door, facing one challenge after the next. Was it impossible for things to ever feel solid under her feet? For things in her life to feel like a calm morning breeze instead of a constant raging storm?

She'd immediately thought of the person in her life who had become a constant in this mess of a year, and without even calling, simply drove to Melanie's house.

Rory stepped up the porch steps, sopping wet. She knew it was probably selfish to bombard Melanie right now. But before she could talk herself out of it, Melanie's words came back to her. Reminding her that having friends like her was the reason she was able to be strong through it all.

Rory needed a strong friend, too.

Melanie's parents greeted her with hugs and a warm towel, whispering to her that she was upstairs in her room. Nodding, she climbed the creaky stairs before knocking on the door and pushing it open slowly.

Calvin glanced up at her, his arm tightly around Melanie who was curled up sleeping, her head on his chest.

"If it's a bad time, I can come back," Rory whispered.

Calvin shook his head. "No, she'll be glad you're here." He rubbed Melanie's shoulders, whispering something to her that Rory couldn't hear. She woke up at the sound, her eyes blinking open. Lines from Calvin's shirt were indented on her face, her eyes sleepy, but she smiled when she saw Rory in the doorway.

Without having to say anything, Melanie could somehow read Rory's expression. She slipped out of Calvin's grasp, turning to him. "I love you, but leave."

Calvin smiled in response, kissing the top of Melanie's head before standing up. He walked up to Rory, and she was stupefied when he placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "I'm glad you're here, too."

He slinked past her and tiptoed down the stairs, the sound of him talking to Melanie's parents muffled as she closed the door.

Melanie held out her arms to Rory, and instantly, Rory was crying. Still in her wet uniform, she curled up, her chest heaving as Melanie held her, brushing her hair away from her face and holding her close. They remained there in their embrace for a while, until Rory's sobs finally slowed.

"Is it Tyler?" Melanie asked.

Rory just nodded. "He's going to move, Mel. Really, really far away."

"Football?"

"Yeah," she answered, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve.

"Did something new happen with him?"

She sighed. "Y-yes."

"Tell me everything. Leave nothing out."

So, Rory did. From cuddling under the blanket on Christmas to their confessions in the rain a few weeks ago. Then tonight at Scoops when he almost kissed her, held her, looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world. Then how Jay barged in, and the way Tyler protected her from him, the pain she saw in his eyes.

When she was finished, she looked up at Melanie, who, annoyingly enough, was trying to hold back a smile curling up her lips.

Rory glared. "Stop that right now."

"I…what? I'm not doing anything."

She flicked Melanie off, which made her friend chuckle.

"Do you think he has a thing for rain?" Melanie teased, pointing to the wrathful thunderstorm out the window. "Or maybe precipitation in general? Because snow got him going, too."

"Oh my god," she said, rolling her eyes. Melanie was belting out a laugh now.

Rory poked her friend in the side before lying back down and hugging Melanie's waist. "None of it matters, though. Everyone is going to leave."

"Not me," she whispered.

She perked up, looking up at her friend. "No Yale?"

Melanie nodded. "No Yale. After our conversation the other day, I knew right away that I wasn't meant to follow this dream anymore. It's time to follow a different one."

Rory grasped her hands. "And what's your new dream?"

Her friend smiled. "I want to help other kids like me. Like Duncan. Families struggling with addiction. I want others to know they are loved and seen, and that they are never alone."

She rubbed at her arm. "That just gave me chills, Mel. I can feel it. It's what you're meant to do."

Melanie squeezed Rory's hands.

"So…what's next?" Rory asked. "Are you going to college?"

"I'm enrolling as a commuter student at UCONN," Melanie explained. "I'll be living at home."

She exhaled, closing her eyes and leaning her head back in relief. "Oh thank god."

"You're stuck with me, Gilmore."

"I hate you."

Melanie chuckled. "Anything from Baybrook yet?"

She shook her head.

"You'll get in," Melanie reassured her. "They would be fools not to accept you."

She stared at her friend in awe. "Mel…you want to know why you're going to be incredible at helping others?"

Melanie rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"Because you're so fucking nice," she said. "I mean you're literally in the middle of grieving and your selfish friend comes over to cry about her boy problems and you…just…listened to me."

"Is that why you didn't tell me about Tyler? Or when you broke things off with Jay?"

Rory sucked in a breath.

"Why do you keep pushing me away?"

She sat up, brushing the snot dribbling down her nose with the back of her hand. "Because I felt like my crap was meaningless compared to all the stuff you were going through. It seemed silly compared to…um—"

"Losing a brother?"

She cast her eyes down and nodded.

Melanie paused, her arms still tight around Rory. "Isn't that what friendship is about, though? I spent so much of my life trying to hide the pain, not letting anyone in. And then I came here and met people like you and Calvin and…I realized that friendship is so much more than going to football games or eating gross ice cream cakes on the beach. True friends are the kind who sit in the hard places with you, carry grief with you, hold you when you cry, make you feel welcome and seen and loved. You've been that for me, Rory…since the day I met you. And I know you want to sit here and think that your problems are silly or not as important as mine, but that's just not true. They matter to me because you matter to me. And I want to sit in the hard places with you and remind you that I choose to be here with you and be your friend."

She was crying again, but Melanie simply reached for the tissues and pulled her in, the sounds of her soft weeping covered by the rolling thunder coming from outside the bay window.

"Promise me you'll stop shutting me out," Melanie said.

"I promise."

"Promise, promise?"

"Triple-scoop promise."

Rory didn't at all feel deserving of the kind of friendship she had with Melanie. But maybe her friend was right—maybe that's what being a friend was all about. Friendship didn't have to be earned, but something that was given unconditionally.