the town and the city (j. mariano)

CHAPTER 1

"More coffee! Please!"

Mandy chuckled as she held the pot out of Lorelai Gilmore's reach. "Sorry, Lor, you know I'd give it to you if I could."

"Why can't you?" Rory Gilmore whined, watching the scene unfold with her chin on her hands. 

"Because I told her I'd fire her if she gave you more than three cups," Luke replied, stepping out of the kitchen. "Mandy, good work."

"Raise?" the girl asked hopefully. 

"Nope." 

Mandy let out an overly dramatic sigh before handing the pot of coffee to Lorelai so she could pretend to faint onto the barstools. The elder Gilmore took this as an invitation to more coffee and Luke sighed as he realized his plan had been foiled. This was a daily occurrence in Stars Hollow, with the Gilmore Girls constantly fighting for more coffee as Luke sent out Mandy Forester as his chosen soldier. She never won. 

Winking at Luke, Mandy grabbed the pancakes he placed onto the counter before setting them before Rory and Lorelai. "How's everything with Dean?"

"You'd know, he's your cousin," Rory joked. "You two talk all the time!"

"Just because I'm living with his family for the time being and he's my cousin doesn't mean that I ask him about your relationship!" At the girl's response, Rory raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, I know his side but I always want to hear it from you too!"

Rory smiled, wondering where Mandy had been all her life. The Forester girl had always been abnormally quiet growing up, but once Dean and his family moved into town, she came out of her shell bit by bit. By the time Rory was two months into Chilton, Mandy was one of the most popular and talkative girls at Stars Hollow High. What neither girl noticed until Dean introduced them was how much they had in common. Both were straight-A students, both loved books and the same types of music and movies, and they both had a similar sense of humor. 

Rory loved Mandy because she felt like she had someone who would always get her, no matter what. Mandy loved Rory because she brought her out of her shell. And Lane, their other friend, loved them both because they were practically the same person. It was like having two of her best friend. It also helped that Mandy was practically the town's sweetheart.

Everyone loved Mandy, and there wasn't a soul in town that wouldn't sell their soul to see a smile on the girl's face. When she finally started speaking up and growing into herself, it was as if a ray of sunshine descended upon the town and blessed it with eternal spring. 

Everyone knew why Mandy was quiet. Stars Hollow was a small town and news traveled quickly. Especially because "the accident," as Mandy referred to it, had been so public. And yet everyone knew that it was no accident. That's why a town fund was created without the Forester girl's knowledge to help raise money for her mother's rehab and her college tuition. 

"No girl that smart and that kind deserves to be tied down by something like financials," Miss Patty would cry, wiping a tear from her eye as she thought of the girl. 

Things got even better for the girl when she moved in with her aunt and uncle, who had moved to Stars Hollow to take care of their niece and keep an eye on her mother. She started to speak out and laugh with her entire being rather than stifling it with her hand. She cried freely and yelled loudly, and the townspeople yelled and cried right along with her. 

Mandy may not have been loved by those who were expected to love her unconditionally, but she was loved by everyone else that she met. 

"It's been really great," Rory blushed, thinking of her boyfriend. "We're watching a movie at my place tonight."

"You can come over and third wheel with me," Lorelai offered enthusiastically before getting a withering glare from Rory. "...Or not."

"Thanks, Lor, but I'd rather not be subjected to Rory's death glare."

"You're always welcome," Rory tried, halfheartedly, as her mother and friend laughed at her attempts. 

"Forester! Get to work!" Luke shouted, noticing that the girl had sat down at the Gilmore table. 

"I am working! It's called customer service, Luke!"

"Well you aren't getting paid for it!"

Mandy sighed, getting up from the table and bidding her goodbyes to her favorite mother-daughter duo. Heading into the kitchen to grab the next order, she nudged Luke's shoulder playfully as he grunted, trying to cook the pancakes. She left with a giggle, knowing that a smile had grown onto the grumpy man's face. 

Luke had "hired" Mandy when she was seven years old. Of course, at the time, she wasn't doing any real work. He had her count the tips in the jar after school so that she would get better at math. The little girl had walked into his diner one day, completely alone, and asked if he had anything to eat. Her mother was God knows where, and out Luke scared her the least out of everyone else in town. She had no way to pay, so he told her to count the tips and in return he would give her a meal. From that day on, Luke always sent Mandy home with two meals- one for her and one for her mother- and most of the tips in the jar. She needed them more than anyone, he figured, so why not pay her for her counting in actual money and not just meals? 

As the years went on, Luke became a constant paternal figure to Mandy, and the only person she truly trusted to never leave her. He was the only one she told when her mother started throwing empty bottles at her, blaming her for her father leaving them all those years ago. He was the one she told first when she got her period and was scared out of her mind at eleven years old. He was the one she told when she had her first crush, and he automatically scared the poor boy away, knowing that no boy in the world could ever deserve his darling Mandy. 

Nine years later, it was still Luke and Mandy against the world, just with a few more allies to help them. The entire town was on Mandy's team, caring for her as their own daughter. The daughter of Stars Hollow. 

And she was.

AN: i know this is terrible, but i just wanted to give a bit of background to mandy's character! i promise she's not at all a mary sue, but the role of the town in her life is super super important to her storyline so i felt like i needed to lay the groundwork for the rest of the story with this chapter

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