A/N- I'm going through the chapters, adding journal entries to all of them, as opposed to starting them in chapter thirteen...
A/N- This is the story which broke my writers block this summer. And the story which forced me to create Tarred and Feathered because I needed something light to write while working on this one. The chapters in this story vary in length, but most are fairly short. Sorry. And like Tarred and Feathered, I'm having a hard time picking the main characters. It's whole town, and like all my stories L/L, R/J
And if you haven't read my other stories, stop reading! Go to How Did I Get Here. If I could turn them into one long story without losing the few reviews I have, I would…
Disclaimer- Gilmore Girls and the characters associated with the show are not mine.
Chapter One: Thursday Night –Luke
Bart's too good for me, I know that. He's the protector type, and I'm the damsel in distress. The fair maiden trapped by the dragon. Except that's bullshit. I am the dragon.
The new ringtone startled Luke into an uncontrolled roll off the bed as he rushed to grab the offending piece of equipment. Lorelai slumbered on, and Luke took in her peaceful expression, feeling love and exasperation as he answered, cutting the second round of Na-na na-na na-na na-na Batman off mid na. Listening, he confirmed he'd heard, pressed the button to end the call, and sank down into the chair next to the bed. He stared at Lorelai.
He contemplated. He digested the information he'd been given at eleven-thirty pm.
Two hours before, while he and his wife were engaged in incredible sex, his only sister had been dying. By herself. Without her family there to say goodbye.
While he'd been tracing patterns on Lorelai's perfect, soft, smooth skin with his mouth, his sister had been dying from the patterns traced on her skin by the flames of the fire she'd been caught in.
While Lorelai screamed out her pleasure, his sister had been screaming in pain.
Dropping his head into his hands, Luke listened to the roar build inside, a freight train, racing across his brain, trying to escape out his mouth. Clamping his lips shut, he squeezed, his fingertips clenching his scalp, knuckles turning white. The bile rose in his throat, surprising him, as he vomited on the floor at his feet. Lurching, he stood, grasping the chair for support, as he dropped the phone.
"Luke? What is it? What's happened?" Lorelai spoke in a whisper. Raising his head, he met her blue eyes, wide with fear.
"I dropped the phone. In my vomit," he replied, guttural. A look of disgust flew across Lorelai's face before being replaced with concern. Luke used his toe to slide his phone out of the muck, to a drier patch of carpet. It didn't look too bad, might not even be ruined, he thought.
"Why?" Lorelai startled him with her question. He quit toeing the phone around to answer her.
"It's Liz. She's in Colorado. Dead. While we were…my sister was," Luke stopped, frozen, before running into the bathroom. The sounds of retching pulled Lorelai out of the bed. Throwing on Luke's dirty flannel, she followed him into the bathroom and crouched behind him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing herself against his shuddering back, she waited.
"She burned to death, Lorelai. She was living with some guy in Colorado, and their trailer caught fire. The policeman said she tried get out a window, but she was too badly burnt. She didn't make it," tears ran down his face as he spoke. Lorelai held him tighter.
"Where, where is Doula?" she said, feeling sick herself.
"I don't know. The police said they called T.J., and he told them to call me. That, he didn't have the money to pay for the funeral of a woman who'd leave her child and husband. So I think Doula's safe, or she's with T.J. at least. I need to call T.J. to make sure, and Jess. We have to tell Jess," Luke said, worried. Jess had been moody of late. His fictionalization of his own past wasn't easy on him, and he hadn't been able to write anything new. Rory said he was blocked, and editing wasn't helping.
"Okay, you call T.J., make sure Doula is okay. I'll clean up in the bedroom, and call Rory. I'll have her and Jess come here," Lorelai replied. "I don't want to leave Garret in the middle of the night." Luke nodded, and stood to go see if his phone was salvageable.