One In The Same - Jess Mariano

A Plot of a Heist Movie

The weeks following Jess' quick exit from Stars Hollow were dark for Y/N. She had pretty much regressed back to her ways when she first moved here, reeking havoc, pulling pranks and getting into scraps and scrapes.

One particular day where Y/N went to school - an occasion that became a rarity as of late - Y/N found herself in a heated argument with a boy on the basketball team who she had heard spreading rumours about her hooking up with another teammate.

Fists went flying in the blink on an eye, after she tackled him to the hard ground. Y/N didn't even blink when the guy became less strong in his attempts to push her off, or at the sight of crimson painting her knuckles and the lower section of the guy's face.

It took a behemoth pair of arms to pull her away and stifle her thrashing and clawing. Her thrown back elbows and kicking legs do nothing to stop the man's grasp on her. When she hears his voice she stops fighting, but it isn't anything to comfort her temper.

"Stop, Y/N," Dean says, in not a particularly angry tone, in fact it was rather steady.

"Dean? Get off me, or have you grown to miss the look of being battered? Did it get you some action for once?" She snarls, pushing out of his arms, to which only was because he loosened his grip.

"Guys, can you leave?" Dean talks to his teammates, dismissing them. He seemed to have a sort of leadership over the group, as they obliged. Y/N doesn't know why she feels compelled to stick around, as it would be easy to just leave the man behind, and to not have to endure the expected 'scolding' or prying questions. "He won't tell anyone, he's too proud,"

Y/N laughs heartlessly, shaking her head "Aren't all men? That's typical toxic masculinity for you,"

"What happened there?" The lack of spite or hate in his voice kind of shocked the girl before him.

"Why do you care Dean? Last time I checked, I was to blame for you losing the cherished 'Rory Gilmore'. Shouldn't you be spitting in my face and calling all your wolves to jump and attack me with the click of your fingers?"

"My wolves?"

"That pack of sweaty ball-jugglers that this pathetic school calls a basketball team. Seems you've trained them to be quite the obedient little pups,"

Dean laughs, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm sorry for blowing up on you when I did. I was just looking for someone to blame, and I also was itching for a fight. It was stupid,"

Y/N didn't care about much these days - and that was putting it gently, so hearing this apology didn't make her happy at all, but it also didn't fill her with rage or make her put on a stubborn front to show that she was holding a grudge. Instead, all she did was shrug. "What's past is past. This doesn't make us friends, but I don't think I have the energy to hate you either, so... thanks or whatever," She shoved her hands into the pockets of her denim jacket and spoke again. "Anyway, I've got somewhere to be,"

"Alright. Thanks for letting me apologise instead of just running off like I'm sure you were desperate to do,"

"Running is for desperate people, I would've simply shoved you and walked off," He laughs again, waving a small goodbye.

-

After school was over, Y/N saw Lane by the school entrance, pulling on a pink t-shirt with some form of religious propaganda printed on it over the top of her grungy band tee. Lane notices that she is being watched, and meets Y/N's eyes briefly before walking off with just a simple, unfeeling nod.

Y/N had known her actions in the past month had stripped her of her only friendships - Lane and Rory. Her attitude towards them both was wrongful and unwarranted but she couldn't even bring herself to care. It was as though she had forgotten how to feel all together.

The only part of her that she kept was her artistic pursuits. She had neglected it for a while and she chose to believe it was because she allowed herself to be distracted by Jess - to put all her focus on him. It made her hate him more.

The truth of that matter was actually not much to do with Jess at all, and if she didn't already have a negative attitude towards him she would know that. It was just that she had liked spending her free time with the people she had made connections with in the past few months - that may have included Jess, but it no-one really deserved to be accused.

Her way of expressing herself through art now proved to be quite a stress to the townsfolk of Stars Hollow, as she would often tag the sides of buildings, or paint dark (or demonic in the words of Taylor) imagery around the town.

While nobody ever caught her (despite her recklessness and lack of hiding it), everyone knew she was the culprit. Some were more vocal about their opinions than others, and Luke had grown tired of having to be at the girl's defence, especially when she had grown flippant with her appearances to work or help around the apartment.

Luke couldn't help but still have worry for her. As the one responsible for her, as Y/N's guardian, his heart sunk upon hearing that she was barely showing up to class and having inexplicably awful grades he saw a mirror reflection of what had started happening with Jess. It felt like he was failing, just as he had before, but this hit him even closer. Even though Jess was of his blood, Y/N truly had become someone he would consider part of his family in a way. She'd been here nearly 3 years and it struck him to his core to see her drained of all energy and fun - even if he would've complained previously about the constant sarcasm and mischief. Now he would trade anything to get that back in his life.

He went over to see Lorelai for help. She greeted him at the door, and welcomed him into her home. They sat together at the table, and Lorelai sipped her coffee, letting the man speak first.

  "I just don't know what to do about Y/N, I'm so worried about her," He doesn't miss the subtle roll of Lorelai's eyes. "I know she's been more trouble than anything as of late, but from what I can tell I think she... I think she loved him - Jess,"

  "I think she did too. But it was clear all he did was pull her in, make her his partner in crime and then leave her to keep up this nonsense and ruin the good here. Maybe he's on to the next small town, with the next girl, ready to do just the same,"

  Luke guffawed in disbelief, "Do you realise how insane that sounds? What is that, a plot of a heist movie or something?" Though it was in hyperbole, Lorelai showed that she was not fully joking in her negative look on the situation. "You can't truly say you think Y/N is beyond help! You thought the same way about Jess. You were the one who convinced me to send Jess off, and now I'd bet you want me to do the same with her too. Unbelievable!" Luke slams his hands on the table in defiance.

  "She doesn't want to feel better! You would've been the only hope for it and it's been nearly 2 months of this, nothing's changed Luke! She's been horrible to Rory for no reason and never even apologised,"

  "She is hurt Lorelai. She's heartbroken and she blames us. I'm starting to believe she should! We sent him away, and it's clear now that she needed him! I think she was making him a better person,"

  "You cannot be serious! I said it before, they are one in the same. Two sides of the same stolen coin! Graffiti, fights, throwing away her education. She's as much a lost cause as Jess, and she's turning the town against you, how can you stand by her through that?" Luke gets up and storms away.

  "You know she means as much to me as a daughter would. She's my Rory, can't you see that?" He turns as he reaches the door, pointing his finger at her. "You would defend Rory to the ends of the Earth, even at your own ostracisation,"

  "Rory would never be like either of those two," She spits out. "She could never. She has morals and respect,"

  "Screw you Lorelai," He leaves, slamming the door behind him. It was as though the whole house shook at the aggressive action. Luke felt all too much, but what he kept in his mind most of all was that he refused to give up on Y/N. Giving up on Jess felt like it was the easy way out, and it made him see himself as a coward