The Inaugural Impromptu Blanket Festival
AN: We break from our (ir)regularly scheduled Castle fic to bring you a Gilmore Girls fic – nothing like a revival to remind you of how much you ship something… Castle fics will be back in the hopefully not too distant future…
Set late Season 4, but before anything significant.
The wind howled, transforming the usually welcoming town of Stars Hollow into its own special brand of hell. The tree Luke was scurrying past creaking ominously as it tossed backwards and forwards under the pressure of the elements. He allowed himself a quick glance up, confident nothing was snapping off, he continued on his trudge through the thick snow. The kerosene lamp clutched in his hand cast a flickering light through the too dark night. The blizzard had forced the powerlines down hours ago and the lack of street lights had doomed the town to harrowing blackness. He hoisted the laden bag of leftovers and tinned good higher up on his shoulder and shuffled a little further across the town square. He could hear the murmur of voices has he reached Miss Patty's. The town had – somehow, he had no goddamned idea why – come to the conclusion that hunkering down in the hall together was vastly more appealing than huddling in the cold in their own individual houses. The chairs had been pushed to the walls and what seemed like thousands of blankets had been spread over the floor. Soft light spilled from the doorway, the only source of it in the entire town.
Luke slid the door shut behind him. "Is that everyone?" he asked gruffly, pushing his cap back firmly in place on his head as the wind threatened to rip it away. The door rattled, shuddering in the wind. Patty glanced around the room with a dramatic shrug.
"Anyone not here sound off," she trilled laughingly. Behind her, Babette giggled, her laughing gaze darting from Patty to Morey. Luke bit back an eye-roll. He swept his eyes around the room and attempted to mentally compute each familiar face staring back at him. Confident in his rushed assessment, he secured the lock on the door. He nodded firmly to himself before spinning to face the throng of people and – hopefully not futilely – find himself a quiet spot to sit. Oddly enough, he was successful. The townsfolk settled into murmured chatter. It was surprisingly quiet. It was too quiet. Usually in a crowd like this he'd be harassed by now, there would be a constant stream of dialogue sounding off directly into his eardrums. He released a sharp, aching gasp. Oh. He swung his eyes urgently around the room, seeking – desperately seeking – but coming up short. His frantic gaze locked on Sookie's. She read the worry on his face and a flash of shock echoed in hers. Her jaw dropped and she gaped at him, gulping hysterically. Sookie tugged her eyes away from Luke's and combed the room.
"No! No, no no," a stream of fearful pleading spilled from her lips. Babette released a shriek, staring at Sookie with a wide-eyed expression.
"We're missin' someone," she squeaked, tugging on Morey's arm with abandon. He eyed her silently. She turned to her other side and shouted. "Lorelai, doll. Where's Rory? We're missing Rory!" The room descended into absolute silence. Somehow they knew… All eyes swung to Luke. The entire town stared at him, stunned.
"The inn," Sookie mouthed haplessly at Luke.
"Huh?" Babette focused her attention on the stricken Sookie, failing to register that her face was white with fear.
Sookie cleared her throat. "Rory's at her grandparents," she reassured Babette… "But, Lorelai…" she trailed off, shaking her head. She locked eyes with Luke once again. "She was right behind me. We sent the contractors home and she was just going to make sure all the windows were locked. She said it would take five minutes, tops. She was right behind me… I swear…" she pleaded with the ever angrier looking diner man. Her eyes pricking with tears as she spoke.
Luke sunk to his knees, head in his hands. His brow furrowed in frustration and his mind raced. This was anything but ideal. Lorelai was the last person he wanted missing from this damn impromptu blanket festival. She was the last person he wanted missing from anything if he was honest. He needed… dammit Lorelai…. he needed to go find her. He couldn't leave her in the damn inn with no power, no heat, probably no damn food either. He knew that Sookie had brought most of the inns supplies to help feed the town in this blizzard bunker. He growled, a plan formulated. He rose from his knees and fixed his gaze determinedly on Sookie. He tugged his jacket firmly around his chest and strode to the door, disappearing through it and back into the elements before anyone in the hall could react.
Luke slammed the diner door open. Flashlight, check. He rummaged through the kitchen, tossing anything food-like haphazardly into a backpack. He yanked the zipper shut and marched up the stairs. His dad had kept those darn things somewhere, he rummaged through cupboards urgently. His eyes locked on worn black plastic – victory. He shoved one of the worn radios into his pocket and hustled back out the door.
Sookie was still gaping hopelessly at the door, thick sobs of worry falling in earnest now. Jackson gripped her hand, rubbing a soft soothing movement over her skin. Sweet as it was, it wasn't working. She was becoming increasingly hysterical with each moment that passed.
"It's my fault," she hiccupped. "Shouldn't have left before her…" another sob wracked her frame. "Now… Luke…" she bellowed. "Luke's going to freeze…"
Miss Patty's door ground open once again and Sookie gasped, her hands jumping to her mouth in anticipation or fear, she wasn't sure which. Maybe Lorelai had been just outside the door? She ran late sometimes, that was plausible right? She pulled stupid-ish pranks that only she found funny every now and then too, right? Right? It was a bit…
Luke, covered in a dusting of fresh show, stepped back into the room. A collective gasped followed. All eyes swung to him once again. He held up the second radio, before handing it to Patty.
"I'll let you know when I find her," he husked. "Tell me if she shows up."
"Be careful doll," Babette warbled, anxiety coating her tone. He nodded briskly and was gone once again.
A fierce shiver coursed through Luke as he darted away from Miss Patty's. His confidence was waning. He was terrified. Although, the fear wasn't grounded his treacherous hike through this damn blizzard. It was something else. It was that little voice whispering in the back of his mind. That dark, dark pocket of his mind that whispered, what if you're too late? He fought it down, honestly he was petrified about that in more ways than one, his immediate concern was that she was hurt or stuck. The other was that pounding in his heart and the rush of heat to his head that screamed at him to make a move. What if you're too late? What if you're too late? What if you're too late? It chanted over and over again through his mind. He pressed on, tightening his jacket against the wind. He shook his head fiercely to dull the chattering of his teeth. Flakes of snow stuck to his lashes, clouding his vision. He tucked his chin into his chest and continued fighting forward against the howling storm.
The unfortunate thing about a steady, but determined trudge through the thick snow was it allowed amble opportunity for thinking. There was only one thing he could think about. Nothing but her, it was the same in most moments anyway, but certainly at a time like this with so much potential for disaster. He desperately hoped she was hunkered down in the warmth of the inn. He couldn't help but picture the worst case scenario… His thoughts spiralled, playing an image of the Jeep plastered into a snowdrift, no longer running and bitterly cold. He could picture racing to the door and finding her blue and still. It would all be wrong, the blue would be wrong. Instead of that twinkling blue that sparkled her eyes, they would be dull, the shine gone. It would be her skin that had taken on the blue hue. He would touch her, hesitantly at first, then frantically, seeking to transfer that inkling of heat still coursing through his veins into her cold skin…
He needed to stop.
He was driving himself insane.
He found his eyes darting around, searching over every inch of road, seeing the shadow of her car in every perilously large clump of snow. He was getting more and more pissed off with every painstaking step. She was really bloody selfish sometimes. She could have left the inn when Sookie had and been in the hall with everyone else. She would have flopped down next to him and rambled loudly about how much she loved the snow for bringing everyone together. She would have coined the term, 'Inaugural Impromptu Blanket Festival,' and he would have groaned predictably. She would have given him special grin, the one he liked to believe she saved for him. That little extra twinkle in her eyes, beaming with delight at his over the top reaction. That's what should've been happening right now. Them both in Miss Patty's with her making the most noise in the place and him pretending to get irritated yet never dreaming of moving further away from her for the peace and quiet. But no, she'd gone and got herself isolated on the outskirts of town with who knows what kind of resources and protection. Dammit.
AN: A bit of a deviation for me, but what did you think? Forewarning, my updating will be atrocious… If I were unemployed I would spend all my days writing fic, but alas I am not.