IDLE TOWN, jess mariano

¹⁷knight in a shining helmet

「 chapter seventeen 」
❝ you were in on the baseball heist? „

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

"CAN I ASK YOU AN HONEST QUESTION?" Rory asked, setting the pizza down on the coffee table and sitting down on the couch.

Aries nodded and grabbed a plate, putting a slice of pizza on it. "Shoot."

"What do you think about Dean and me?" she asked.

Aries furrowed her eyebrows as she took a bite of pizza. She covered her mouth and swallowed before looking back at Rory. "What do you mean 'What do I think about Dean and you?'"

Rory shrugged and got her own slice of pizza. "Like ... I just—I don't know, I need a second opinion."

"On your relationship?"

"Yes," she said reluctantly. "Is that stupid?"

Aries shook her head, setting her plate down on the coffee table. "What about your mom? Don't you guys talk about this kind of stuff?"

"Yeah, but she's my mom, I need another perspective," Rory said, and Aries nodded in understanding.

"So what's wrong with your relationship?"

Rory scoffed playfully. "Nothing's wrong, it's just not the way it used to be. I mean, he's calling and paging me all the time and it's not that I don't appreciate the attention—I know he cares about me, but it just feels like ... too much."

"That makes sense," Aries said. "Is it just a him thing? Or are you noticing this more because you're out of "the honeymoon phase"?"

"I don't know," said Rory. "I think that's what I need to figure out. There was that whole thing with you-know-who and I think Dean thinks he's losing me to you-know-who."

"Well, is he?"

"What? No. I don't like you-know-who."

Aries raised her eyebrows. "You don't like you-know-who as in you're just saying that to deny it because you feel guilty that you like someone else while dating Dean, or you genuinely don't like him?"

Rory's breath hitched and she hesitated. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Aries nodded and made a motion signifying that her lips were sealed. "This stays between us."

"Okay," Rory started hesitantly, "I don't know if I actually liked him, but there was a time when I entertained the thought and convinced myself that I might've liked you-know-who to try and make myself feel less guilty about not liking Dean as much as I did before."

"Emotional cheating is more acceptable than naturally falling out of love?" Aries asked incredulously, tightening her ponytail.

"No! You know what I mean. And we're not—we're not falling out of love."

"Yeah," Aries breathed. "Maybe his whole reaction to the J—sorry, you-know-who—situation changed your opinion on him. You want honesty, right?"

Rory nodded.

"Well," said Aries, "I know Dean's reaction to the you-know-who situation changed my opinion on him—not that my opinion means much to your relationship, but you know. He became sort of more possessive and, like, he should trust you more."