This is a very short piece, another Rory-as-seven story. (I am working on the Luke one, as some of you suggested. :) It's taking me a while, because I just can't write Lorelai well yet. That's why sometimes you'll see she doesn't say a whole lot in my stories. :( I've really gotta learn to write her. I'm just not as witty.

Anyway. Blame this one on the flood of Tristan-support requests I keep getting. ;/

"Once Bitten, Twice Shy"
by malka

Rory stared in intense concentration at the book in her hands. Little Women was a tough read, full of dictionary words, but it was worth it. It was so easy to immerse herself in the world of the March sisters. Sometimes her mom would roleplay the parts with her. Lorelai would be smart, sassy Jo and she would be sweet, loyal Beth.

Rory's eyes drifted up at the thought of her mother. She glanced almost instinctively to the bench where Lorelai sat, chatting with another woman while she sewed another badge on Rory's girl scout uniform. As usual, her mom was the epitany of beautiful. Epitany--a Little Women word. There was nothing she liked more about a book than its ability to teach her something new.

She closed her book briefly and allowed herself to watch her mom for a moment. Something she'd never confess to anyone, not even Lorelai, was that she sometimes feared her mother would go away, like her father had before she could even know him. Though in her heart of hearts she knew it would never happen, she couldn't help the trickle of doubt that sometimes invaded her thoughts.

Satisfied that her mother was going to stick around for their weekly outing in the park, she re-opened her book and was soon once again lost in its magick. That is, until she felt a sharp tug on her pigtail.

"Ouch!" she complained, turning a wounded look to her unknown assailant. But there was no one there. Rory wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. Then, a sharp pain in the left side of her head. "Hey!" she cried, turning as quickly as she could to her right.

A small blonde boy glared challengingly at her.

"What is your problem?" she asked him, looking him squarely in the eye.

"Your hair is stupid," he snotted back, leaning towards her.

Rory inched back, a slight tremor of nervousness coursing through her. "Leave me alone," she said, but even to her own ears it sounded unsure, fearful.

Instead of obeying, the boy twisted his mouth up in a smirk, reached forward, and tugged her hair again.

"Don't!" she protested, grabbing her hair protectively.

"My father says this whole town is nothing. And everyone who lives here is a nobody," he smarted, tilting his nose haughtily.

"I don't care what you think," Rory said immediately.

Ignoring her, the boy leaned forward and grabbed her book right out of her arms. Rory felt tears well up in her eyes. "Give it back!" she cried.

"All right, Oompa Loompa, that's enough," a firm voice said, snatching the book out of the boy's hands. Rory looked up with gratitude at her mother.

"I didn't do it!" the boy said immediately, backing away from them both.

"Famous last words," Lorelai answered, keeping her voice even. "Did you want something?" She smiled brightly, but her eyes remained serious. Rory gratefully scooted over next to her mother, who wrapped an arm around her.

The boy glanced from Lorelai to Rory, his confidence replaced by a thinly veiled fear. "You are both stupid," he sputtered out.

"Aw, and you're a poopyhead," Lorelai replied in baby talk.

"Tristan!" a voice bellowed from somewhere in the distance. "Where on earth are you?"

With a final glance, the boy stuck his tongue out at the Gilmore girls and then took off in the opposite direction towards a waiting limo.

Rory and Lorelai glanced at each other. "You okay?" Lorelai asked gently, tilting her head to the side. Rory nodded. "You'd think with all that money his parents spend on private schools, he could at least think of better insults," Lorelai continued in a dissappointed tone. They headed companionably to the park's exit. "When I was his age I had the alphabet of 'em--twice. Good ones, too."

Rory bobbed her head in agreement. "You'd think he'd try harder."

"Ah, he's young. He'll learn," Lorelai rationed. Rory giggled. They continued the walk home, chattering easily. By the time they reached the front door of their house, Rory had forgotten all about what's-his-name.