Summary: Set in Season 4, between episodes 4:9 and 4:10. Rory is coming home for the holiday break. Something happens to Lorelai and Rory turns to Luke for help.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, it's story, characters or episodes. They were created by Amy Sherman-Paladino and are owned by Dorothy Parker Drank Here and the WB/CW

Chapter 1:The Phone Call

It was 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon and Rory was making her last trip from Yale to Stars Hollow. It was the beginning of the holiday breaks. She had finished her last final that day and had made her first trip of things home the night before.

She smiled as she pulled off of the highway and into Stars Hollow. It was late afternoon and her stomach began to growl. She hadn't eaten a very good lunch between her last final and finishing loading up the car. Pulling up in front of Luke's she smiled. She was happy to be seeing him, and his coffee, again. It had been a hard semester for her and an even harder last few days and she was glad to be back home in Stars Hollow.

She walked into Luke's and saw him at the counter. He was wearing his usual "uniform" of a flannel shirt and a baseball cap. Rory, as she had grown accustomed to over the last two and half years, pushed thoughts of him out of her head. He glanced up and saw her and he smiled one of his rare smiles, a smile reserved only for the two Gilmore girls.

"Are you back for break?" Luke asked, placing a mug of coffee down in front of her.

"Yeah. Four and a half weeks of freedom and relaxation," she sighed, tiredly.

"Are you going to order or are you waiting for your mom?"

"I'll go ahead. I didn't really get lunch and she said she had something she had to do in Hartford or somewhere for the inn so she probably won't be here for another hour or so."

Luke brought her a cheeseburger and fries and went about his other work. He stopped in occasionally to check on her and chat.

It was good to see her again. It had been a little while. He was trying to keep his mind away from her, away from the thoughts that had been plaguing him for almost two years. It was easier when she was away at Yale the last few months, even though she visited often, but here she was, back for a month, sitting alone in his diner, with that smile on her face.

Lorelai was late. Rory had been in the diner for over three hours waiting for her. Rory was getting impatient, she had wanted to get her stuff unloaded and do a movie night tonight.

She whined to Luke, "Where is she? She told me she would meet me here, it's my first night home."

"I'm sure she just got caught up in whatever she was working on. Did you try her cell phone?"

"Yeah, there was no answer. I left a voice mail though."

Suddenly, as if her phone had heard her, it started ringing. Without glancing at the caller ID she flipped it open and said hello. Luke started making gestures to her about going outside.

"Yes, this is Rory Gilmore. What?" Luke heard Rory say, her expression changing drastically near the end.

"Where? How? What?" He heard her yell. She was nearing hysterics. Luke didn't know what was going on but he stepped around the counter and approached her.

Rory dropped the phone and started to crumple to the ground. Luke reached out and swooped her into his arms.

"Rory? What is it? Tell me who it was!"

"It's mom…"