For National Kissing Day, I’m going to declare it right here, right now –  In the great Gilmore Girls Rory boyfriend debate, I’m Team Dean, always have been, always will be.

Now, I’m not saying there was anything wrong with Rory’s other boyfriends Jess and Logan. But first love is always extra special. It’s fresh as it is a new experience which makes it magical.

Rory Gilmore was a studious book warm.  She never had time for a boyfriend.  To be honest, I don’t think she even thought about having one.  Then, she meets the new boy in town, Dean Forester.  He was cute and sweet and suddenly Rory Gilmore was feeling things that were foreign to her.  When Dean kisses her for the first time in Doozy’s Market, Rory is so happy that she bolts out of there still holding the box of baking power that was in her hand.  However, she shares the news with best friend Lane first instead of her best friend, mom Lorelai.

Dean and Rory embark on a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.  But Rory’s uneasiness to say ‘I love you’ back to Dean caused them to break up, the first of many breakups. Their relationship would continue to be plagued by misunderstandings. And also romances (and in Dean’s case marriage) to other people.

Rory lost her virginity to Dean and started an affair with him while he was married to Lindsey. The romance of Rory and Dean officially came to an end when Rory was in Yale while Dean still worked at Doozy’s.  Like a lot of young couples, they grew apart. Rory was destined for great things while Dean would remain a small town boy.

But Rory and Dean live in the hearts of Team Dean fans forever.

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