Private Finished I can tell you about Leif Erikson

Rory didn't have to worry about having the reaction time necessary for dodging a bowl. Luckily she didn't have to. He wasn't throwing it at her. That didn't quell the violence in the message.

Rory didn't know how to further explain this than she had, but she figured she better damn well try before Broen threw something else. Or worse, lunged at her.

"I promised you I wasn't going to ask any questions you didn't want to answer, taking a deal to ask you anything strays too in the territory of doing that.

"And I am not jerking you around. I've been nothing but open about my intentions and I've answered any question you've thrown my way with that same honesty. Just because you don't understand the reasons I'm giving doesn't mean I'm lying."

And then Rory made a bit of a show looking at the broken bowl. "You're not the only one who can't relax, you know? It's like navigating a minefield with you."

Rory was surprised it had worked. She didn't know what she'd expected. Maybe that he'd be angrier with her. It felt an odd distinction to Rory, but who was she to question it? Lorelai was going to have to accept that there were certain things about Broen she wasn't going to understand. This was one of them.

"Okay." She stepped up to help him with the cleaning. It was good. Took her mind off things. Made it so she didn't have to say anything right away.

Two times. Two times Broen had just stopped talking and not told her to fuck off. Two times he cut himself off. That felt bad. Like it wasn't supposed to happen. Whenever Rory went left, he was going right. When she backed off, he was pushing forward. They were entirely out of sync and it was incredibly frustrating.

Rory knew why she stuck around, but why the fuck was he? Why hadn't he told her to get the fuck out? In fact, why hadn't he told her to fuck off last time?

Lorelai searched for something to say once they were done cleaning, but came up empty.

Rory sat beside Broen. It took a moment for her to find her voice again, constantly worried she'd say the wrong then and have him huffing away again.

"Heroes and villains." Rory huffed a humorless laugh. "Everyone was always throwing those words around like they met something, and sometimes, we tried to pretend that they did... because it made things simpler." She shook her head.

"We're not going to fuck you over, Broen. You're... kind of one of us now. Hell, you were kind of one of us ever since we broke into Abernathy. Didn't matter if we didn't ask and didn't matter if you'd have accepted it.

"And you're not the only one wondering 'what if' or 'when is it going to happen?' We all are." She rubbed the back of her head, didn't bother hiding the discomfort on her face. "That's just going to take time and exposure."

One of those rare open and good moments that came from the storm. And the entire thing felt surreal when Broen had his head between his knees.

Although he wasn't looking at her, Rory held up her hands in surrender when he warned her off of feeling pity for him. He was very firm about that pity shit. "'Course. 'Course. Don't want my ass kicked."

She had to squint at the scars there. Processed what those meant. Rory sighed and gently tapped his arm to get him to sit up so she could meet his eyes. "I misspoke. We're going to fuck you over. Sorry, but no two ways about it. You're right. Everyone fucks everyone over. But you know what happens after someone fucks you over and they give a shit?"

A pause and Rory threw an arm around his shoulders in a halfway goofy fashion, trying hard to continue looking serious while a shit-eating grin threatened the corners of her mouth. "They come back, they apologize, and they better themselves. They're still there for you after you fuck them over. And they're going to be there when things are bad and you need them.

"I can't make promises on what other people will do, but I can promise I at least will not maliciously fuck you over and when you need me, I'll do my damndest to be there. Cheesy done. You may make fun of me now."

"I can't, it's a curse," she said with a woe-is-me gesture over her heart. She lied back on the couch and watched him scamper off to the kitchen.

"That's what I'm doin' here. Dealing. To be fair, you have to deal with my cheesy bullshit. You're the one with the raw end of things." Rory winked at him.