𝐁𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 |» 𝘫.𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰

~hey, sleeping beauty~

Lying on the bed, Ellouise watched Rory type away at her desk. The two cousins shared a room when El's parents were away. There was a pull out bed to one side of Rory's, where Ellouise would sleep. But, at any opportunity she got, she would nap or lie on the top bed.

Battling sleep, she rolled over onto her face, which she buried in the pillows.

"Miladies?" Lorelai called as she knocked on the wooden frame of the door. When she glanced at her niece, face down on the bed, she adjusted her voice into a whisper. "Hey, are you joining the festivities?" she asked her daughter.

"In a sec," Rory replied without even turning away from her computer.

"You sound crabby," her mother pointed out.

Finally, glancing away from her computer, Rory replied, "I'm concentrating."

"Okay, don't concentrate too hard. Boy's like 'em dumb, right Jackson?" she asked the man cutting up slices of cheese in the kitchen.

"If you can navigate yourself around a tree, keep on walking," Jackson replied, making his way around the table.

A knock on the front door echoed through the house and Lorelai darted to the foyer. "Coming!" she yelled. Opening the front door, she revealed Luke and his very unenthusiastic nephew standing on the porch. "Hey, perfect timing. Sookie's about to break her own record for the most amount of food served outside the Roman Empire."

"Sounds great," Luke nodded with a smile.

"Sure does," the teen beside him muttered.

Leading them into the living room, Lorelai teased Luke about the inflatable bed while Jess looked around the room. A picture of Rory, Ellouise, and Lorelai caught the boy's eye, prompting him to pick it up.

"Rory, wake Ellie up, they're here!" Lorelai called into Rory's room as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Coming," the daughter replied. As she turned around, she saw an unfamiliar boy in her doorway. "Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," Jess replied, walking into the room.

"I'm Rory," she introduced herself.

"Yeah, I figured," the boy nodded, wandering around the room. "Hey, sleeping beauty," he tapped Ellouise on the shoulder until she jerked awake. "Where are my clothes?"

Groaning and turning over, she replied, "Up your but," while rubbing her eyes

"That's nice," he sighed, turning and looking at the shelves with piles and piles of books. "Wow, aren't we hooked on phonics," he nodded, picking up a book. He glanced at Ellouise curled up in a fetal position on the bed.

"Not me, that one," she yawned, pointing at her cousin leaning against her desk.

"Oh, I read a lot. Do you read?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"Not much," he pursed his lips, reading the blurb of the book.

Taking notice of the book he was looking at, Rory approached him, "I could loan you that if you want. It's great," she smiled.

"No thanks," he put down the book on the edge of Rory's shelf with a loud exhale.

Poking her head through the open door, Lorelai announced, "Okay, we really need to get Jackson away from the lemons, so we're moving the feast into the living room."

"Be right there," Rory nodded. Seeing her cousin curled up on her bed, she grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her off the bed.

"Rude!" Ellouise squealed. Pushing herself up off the ground, El stretched her arms in the air.