Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls isn't mine.

This is just an idea that had been going around in my mind and I actually forgot it was on my computer from March.

1984

Lorelai sat up in her bed cradling a bundle of blankets. "What should we name her?" But she was talking to herself. She took a look at the hospital next to the bed where the father is supposed to sit, but it was empty. No one was in the room with her besides her new baby girl.

"There's so many options. Definitely not Emily that is a no-no. How about one of the Bangles, how do we feel about that?" The baby looked as if she was ready to cry. "Okay, no Bangles, got it. We cannot have a proper 'Hartford Society' name for you. That's not us." Just then the nurse walked in.

"Lorelai? Are you ready to try breastfeeding now?"

The baby squirmed at the name, holding her mother's index finger.

"Well, I think we've found a name for little Miss right here. Huh? How do you like that? Lorelai Leigh? Sound good?" The baby squirmed again. The nurse smiled in awe at how good this sixteen year old girl was with a little tiny baby. "Yep, we're ready. Let's get you fed Lorelai...I need to find a nickname for you, that'll get confusing when Emily is throwing a fit at Mommy." Lorelai looked at the nurse. "May I ask you a very serious question?"

"Absolutely."

"Can you make it clear to everyone that Emily and Richard Gilmore, along with Francine and Straub Hayden are not allowed to come near me or my baby? They're just going to make everything complicated."

"Absolutely." The nurse then began to help Lorelai with the first feeding.

"Hey, are you one of the nurses I was pegging with ice chips about an hour ago?" The nurse chuckled and nodded. "I'm sorry. But this whole giving birth thing hurts, and I was alone. And I was getting aggrevated with the doctor."

"It is understandable. So, you've come up with a name?"

"Yes, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore."

"That is a very pretty name."

"Thank you. I'm thinking I'm going to call her Rory for short. Then on each birthday when I tell her the story of the day she was born, I'll just tell her it was the Demeral, not because I was scared and I know that I'm in this alone. I mean I just asked you to make sure that her grandparents do not come in here. And her father is probably out getting drunk. You know when I told him I was pregnant he didn't believe me, so he made me take another test to show him. Oh and then when this one started to make me gain weight he commented, and I quote, 'whoa, Lore. Stop eating so much, you're getting fat.' He's shown no interest in his daughter."

"Sweetie, do not let him get you upset. You have to be strong for your daughter. Now, what was that you said about her birthdays?"

"Oh, well on her first few birthdays I'm just going to pick her up from bed and tell her of the day she was born. Then when she's a little older, I'll wake her up and relive this day with her. I'll tell her about the pain, which will be kept at PG until she's old enough for the whole version, I'll tell her about the ice chips, the love I felt for her the second I heard that cry, everything. Me and this little girl, we're going to be best friends first, mother and daughter second." Lorelai looked down at her daughter who was still eating and spoke to her softly. "I promise that our realationship will be nothing like my relationship with Emily. She's gonna force me to not be near you, make me let a stupid nanny take care of you. But the second I come up with a logical plan, me and you, we're out of that icky mansion. We won't have money for awhile when we do, but Mommy is going to find a place for us to live, I'll get a job and every penny will only go to important things; you, bills and food. Mean old Emily is not going to keep this mommy from her baby. I'll be here for you always. I love you, baby girl." Lorelai stroked her daughter's soft cheek and gave her a soft kiss. She felt a tear run down her own face and wiped it away.

The nurse was looking at this young teen who was sitting here, telling her daughter that she will make everything better, she just needed a plan. She knew she really shouldn't tell the new mom what information she had, but she did anyway.

"You know, there's this nice little town about thirty minutes from here, Stars Hollow. If you can find a way there, there is a nice little inn, the Independence Inn. You should talk to Mia if you go. She would probably help you."

"Stars Hollow...the town that I always read about with the festivals coming out of the whazoo?"

"That's the one. I know Mia personally; my mother is good friends with her. That woman would help you out in a heartbeat."

Lorelai looked at this woman in awe. An adult was actually helping her plan her runaway. This is something she never would have expected, especially after pegging the poor woman with ice chips. "Thank you. I totally would, but the only thing I have in my wallet is my bank card, which only has about one hundred fifty dollars in it. I wouldn't have enough money to buy her the clothes she would need, or the diapers and wipes. Man...that is a really great plan though." Looking down at her daughter again, Lorelai's mind was made up. "I think we just found a new town...Rory. There, that's your nickname. When we get back I'm going to scrounge up all the money I have and we're out of there."

The nurse stood there and watched the interaction still shocked at how well this sixteen year old girl is with her baby. "I'm going to alert the others about your request. I'll be back later to check in."

"Will you just let me take care of my daughter?!"

"That is not your job, Lorelai. That is what we hired a nanny for."

"I don't want a nanny looking after my kid!"

"Deal with it. That is life."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and stalked off toward her bedroom. She remembered the promise she made her daughter just days ago and she was about to fulfill that promise. Lorelai went around her room searching every place she could think of. Early in the day she had figured out she had two hundred dollars in her bank account all she had to do now was head down there and take it out then close the account. After searching her room, Lorelai came up with another three hundred. Now the question of why was there three hundred dollars scattered around her room definitely came to mind but she put it to the back of her mind. What she knew was that she had five hundred dollars to get away, Stars Hollow was only a bus ride away and that her parents were going out for the night.

Tonight, she thought. Tonight is when I get us out of here. By tomorrow we'll be in a new town starting our own lives. Just me and Rory.

It was around nine in the evening when Lorelai arrived in the small town of Stars Hollow. She had her daughter snuggled up in blankets along with their bags on both shoulders. By this point, Lorelai could only hope and pray that nurse wasn't lying. She had to stop and ask for directions a few times, but by nine thirty she arrived at the Independence Inn. Apprehensively, Lorelai walked through the door in search of some one, any one in the lobby.

There was only one person in the lobby and she was standing behind the reception desk. "Welcome to the Independence Inn. Checking in?"

"I'm uh...I'm actually looking for Mia?"

The woman looked at Lorelai. Was this the girl Katie had told her about? "I'm Mia."

"Well, hi Mia. About a week ago I was in Hartford Memorial and I had this nurse. She told me you could probably help me out a little."

"Yes. Katie told me about you. I was wondering if you were going to come or not. I've kept a job open for you. It doesn't pay much, though. And you can have the potting shed in the back if you want."

"I'll take whatever you can give me. As long as I have enough money to take care of my daughter I'll be fine."

Mia nodded her head taking note that Lorelai had left taking care of herself out of that equation. "You can eat whatever you would like from the kitchen. I'll talk to the chef about it. How about I show you to the shed?"

"I couldn't thank you enough."

PRESENT DAY:

"And that is how my life began in Stars Hollow, exactly nine months ago," Lorelai was explaining to this man infront of her, wearing flannel, giving her grief about being annoying for coffee. "Today has been a tough day, much like those first few weeks here, so I need coffee stat."

The man finally looked up from his order pad for the first time since making the mistake of asking the insane woman why she is desperate for coffee, and was in awe and speechless once he saw her bright blue eyes for the first time.

"Hello?" Lorelai asked waving a hand in front of his face. "Hi, dude, can I get my coffee now?"

"No."

Lorelai huffed, then saw a newspaper sitting next to her. Before this man walked away for coffee refills for the other customers she asked for a pen and his birthday.

"Why?"

"Just tell me!"

"November fourth. Here's your damn pen."

Lorelai unfolded the paper to the astrological section. She torn off the horoscope for scorpio. On it, over the original writing, she wrote, 'you will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she will go away'. As she finished, the flannel man came back. "Your pen, kind sir," she said sarcastically, "and here, take this."

He took the paper and read it. "And you'll go away?"

"I will go away." For today, she thought.

"Here. I don't know who the hell wants coffee in the middle of July, here's liquid death."

"You know, you'd be excellent in advertisment."

"Shut up, drink your coffee and leave."

"Well, you're mean. Mister McMeany!"

"And you're being annoying. Hurry up and leave."

"Ouch. Put it in a to-go cup if you want your customers gone so bad." She had to admit, at first she liked the bantering between that was going on, his last statement hurt her.

Luke could hear the hurt in her voice. He hadn't meant for it to come out that harsh, he was enjoying the back and forth bantering. Whatever, it's not like she's ever coming back, he thought to himself. After pouring the coffee in a Styrofoam cup, he slid it across the counter. "Have a nice day."

As she was getting up to leave, she had to say what her comeback was. "Maybe after you get the stick out of your ass you'll have a nice day too." Then she walked out, heading back to the inn, where she was kicked out for the day while Mia had Rory.

The next morning, Lorelai was changing a nine month old Rory.

"Dammit! We need more diapers and diaper rash cream, Sweets. Guess you're going into town with me today." The baby gave her mother a wide toothy smile. "You're going to like that, huh?" Lorelai collected her purse and put Rory in her stroller to head to Doose's.

Ten minutes later, Lorelai was in the market picking up a package of diapers and a small tube of diaper rash cream. She was continuing down the aisle when she realize that Rory needed more formula. Knowing that, she put the usual brand of diapers back and grabbed a store brand pack. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Sweets, it's only going to be until Mommy gets paid on Friday, then I can buy you the real stuff." Lorelai was feeling guilty for not being able to buy her daughter the brands she normally uses, but to make matters worse, she felt embarassed when she didn't have enough for the items she needed most. "Okay...well, um...I guess I can feed her mashed up fruits and vegetables. She just won't get her nighttime bottle." Tears were threating to fall from her eyes as she was talking and the clerk was feeling sympathy for the woman.

"Hey, Brian, I'll pay for her stuff," a gruff voice said from behind her. She turned and looked. The diner guy was going to buy her stuff for her, probably out of guilt for his words yesterday, she concluded. The cashier rang both Lorelai's and Luke's purchases up together, then the two customers were out of the door.

"Th-thanks, um...you didn't have to. She would have been fine," her voice cracked. "No, no she wouldn't have been fine. The doctor said it's important for her to have a bottle before bed. And because I'm a failure as a mom, she was going to lose it. Thank you, I get paid on Friday, I'll pay you back then."

"It's no problem. Really. Come on into the diner, I'll make you something to eat."

"Wait, what's your name?"

"Luke."

"Luke...as in Luke's Diner?" He nodded. "Wow. Um...while I would love to taste the food in the diner assuming it tastes such as good as your coffee, I couldn't even afford formula, the store brand of diapers and cream for my daughter. How could I afford to eat in a restaurant?"

"It's on the house. I didn't catch your name."

"Lorelai."

"Lorelai," he repeated.

Lorelai smiled at the way he spoke her name. No nicknames that she was gifted with in school like Lore. It was not said with anger, disappointment or irriation either. It was just a normal 'Lorelai' and she loved it. "I-um...okay."

Luke peeked into the stroller and was greeted with a smiling Rory. "She's cute. Has your eyes."

"Thank you."

Once inside the diner, Luke served Lorelai a cheeseburger with fries and sat down to eat his salad with her. "Hey, about yesterday...I was kind of an ass."

"This is totally lame but, can you please watch the language? She's around the age of learning to talk. I don't want her first word to be a word like that. Back to the topic; um, yeah, you were."

"I'm sorry."

"I thought we were just bantering and then your last statement came out in a really harsh voice. I probably took it too personally though."

"No, no. It was harsh, I was enjoying the bantering. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

"Yeah, well. Thanks for apologizing. I see you're in a better mood today...figured out how to get that stick out?"

Luke chuckled. "Yeah. Figured it out. Then I came back down here to finish working and I realized how rude I was being yesterday. I couldn't stop thinking about it. And I didn't want to seem like a stalker by showing up at the Inn...and you're crying...why are you crying? Did I do something or say something wrong?"

"Oh...oh, no...you didn't," Lorelai wiped her tears way that were running down her cheeks. "It's just that, well...I've known you for a day...less than a day and you were considering to come see me to apologize. I've been there for nine months, what visitors do I get? Mia and the intern chef, Sookie. That's all. My parents and her father know where I've been, do they ever come over or even call to check up on us, ask how Rory is? No. I'm playing mommy and daddy. I mean Mia is like a mom to me, and she helps. But it's not the same compared to if her father would pitch in. Right now he is probably just waking up from partying until dawn."

"On a school night?"

"Yeah. He doesn't care. He didn't even come to see her in the hospital when she was born. Sometimes I wonder if they think about us, if they wonder if I abandoned Rory. I bet my parents don't even know how old Rory is."

"Oh, I'm...sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, well. Maybe it's better off this way? Who knows."

"I wish I could give you the answer."

"Me too. Anway, I'm sorry. And thanks...for apologizing."

"No problem. Anything else?"

"Oh, um..."

"How about some pie? Pie and coffee?"

"Sure. Thanks." She was confused. Lorelai stared at Luke in bewilderment. Just yesterday he was acting like an ass but today he was sunshine and flowers? Men,she thought.