Title: Murphy's Law
Summary: A dead dog, a car crash with no clue as to where she is and her ex-fiancée looking for her... what else could go wrong in one day? Set after episode 7x15. JavaJunkie!
Season: 7. This story is set somewhere between episodes: 'I'm A Kayak Hear Me Roar' and 'Gilmore Girls Only', basically before Luke and Lorelai started talking again.
Rating: T for (safety) and some mild language.
Pairings: Luke/Lorelai.
Disclaimer: I do not own this show, unfortunately, but if someone wants to give it to me, I'd be more then happy to accept! I promise it would go to a good home and there would be an eighth season, even if I had to kidnap Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel and force them to do it! … Just kidding.
A/N: This is my first Gilmore Girl's story, so I'm still trying to capture everyone's unique personality, and hopefully I've done okay. I wasn't sure exactly how Lorelai would react if her dog died so I talked to a few Gilmore Girl fans and they all agreed it'd probably be something like this... so, well, enjoy!
Chapter 1: The Nightmare Begins
With a start, Lorelai Gilmore sat up, feeling breathless. She glanced at her clock and was surprised to see it was barely after six a.m - her alarm hadn't even gone off yet. Crossing her arms protectively across her chest like she had done so many times when she was a little girl. She sat there, trying to recall her dream from the night before. She rarely bothered trying to remember her dreams, but this one was different. Something horrible had happened in it, but she couldn't remember what - only that it made her uneasy. Convincing herself that it was just a dream and it didn't mean anything, she pushed aside the covers and got out of bed. She headed straight for the bathroom, hoping a shower would help her.
Twenty minutes later, Lorelai exited the bathroom, feeling clean and fresh and slightly more prepared for her busy day. Slipping on a floral print top, she was searching for something to wear with it when the phone rang. It was Michel letting her know that the soap that The Dragonfly Inn had ordered had arrived last night- but instead of the non-fragrant soap they (and the guests) preferred, the entire order had been block after block of cappuccino soap. Lorelai loved coffee, but even she preferred the plain soap. Promising Michel she'd be there shortly, she hung up and sighed.
Great. Another problem to deal with.
Slipping on her most comfortable dress pants, and grabbing the first pair of shoes she saw, she hurried downstairs, pulling her wet, messy curls back into a sloppy ponytail that she would have to fix when she got to work. "Paul Anka!" She called as she entered the kitchen, blinking as the bright morning rays of sun blinded her for a moment. After starting a pot of coffee and placing a few pop tarts in the toaster, she called again, "Paul Anka!"
To her surprise, he didn't appear. He was nearly always in the kitchen, awaiting his breakfast when she appeared downstairs.
Abandoning the pop tarts, she poked her head into Rory's room, half expecting to find the dog lying on the bed. He wasn't; in fact, there was no sign of him being in the room at all that morning. Slightly confused, she headed into the living room. "Paul Anka? Where are you, honey?" Lorelai tried again, heading upstairs to make sure she hadn't missed him when she had woken up. She checked her room thoroughly before going downstairs to check the rest of the house with no success.
She was starting to panic; while Paul Anka was an unusual dog with unusual quirks, his quirky routine rarely altered. And he nearly always came when called.
She started to check outside when she realized that there was one room she hadn't checked - the downstairs bathroom. Paul Anka had been scared of that bathroom from the minute she had brought him home to the 'Crap Shack'. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she figured it had something to do with the toilet flushing. Paul Anka wouldn't have wandered in there… would he? Closing the front door, she found herself in front of the bathroom door a moment later; it was closed. Has Paul Anka, for some unknown reason, wandered in there, accidentally pushed the door closed and was then unable to get out?
"Paul Anka, honey, are you in there?" Pushing the door open, she froze at the sight in front of her. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn't this.
He was lying motionless on the floor next to the toilet. He looked almost as though he was sleeping, but she could tell he wasn't breathing.
Tears filled her eyes. Covering her mouth with her hands to keep herself from throwing up, she lowered herself next to the lifeless body. A moment later she managed to work up the courage to touch him; he was stiff. Pulling her hand back, she wrapped her arms around her legs and leaned against the wall. There was no doubt about it; Paul Anka was dead.
Dead.
Lorelai sat there for several long minutes, just staring at her dead pet. Tears continued to roll down and off her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.
Paul Anka was dead.
Right then, the only thought on her mind was that everyone was right - she did kill every pet she'd ever owned. She thought she was doing okay with Paul Anka though. What had she done wrong? She'd fed him daily and she even turned off the light and let him eat alone, just how he liked it. She made sure that Paul Anka always had water. Before she gave him a walk, she would always cover the steps the dog wouldn't be afraid, and she always stayed away from the places Paul Anka didn't like to be around.
What happened? Had she fed him too much? Was that even possible? Did he eat something poisonous on a walk? Had she neglected him in some way?
Slowly pushing herself up, she stepped out of the bathroom; not sure if she was going to throw up, she stayed just outside for a moment until the nausea went away. She watched her hands shake as she reached for the phone; she couldn't help but feel that somehow she had murdered someone, someone very dear to her. Paul Anka was more then just a pet, he was her friend and someone who had filled in the cracks after Rory went away at college and even more after her breakup with Luke. She liked the feeling of taking care of someone. In a way, she felt like she had lost a giant piece of her that could never be replaced.
Dialing a number she knew by heart, she turned back to the bathroom; she could only see Paul Anka's tail from the position she was in, but that was enough to make her back into the kitchen. Lorelai wasn't too surprised when Rory didn't answer the phone; she was probably still in class. After a moment, she decided to leave a voicemail.
"Hey, Rory," she began, her voice cracking as she spoke. She tried to make herself sound as though she hadn't been crying, though she knew there was no use - Rory was always able to tell. Swallowing, she continued, "It's me… your mom- Lorelai… you probably already know that. Um… I uh- I really, really need you to call me back as soon as you get this message… Um, something's happened… and I just uh… reallyneed to speak to you… Please, please just call me back when you get this… bye."
After a few minutes of staring at the piece of plastic, she dialed her daughter again. "Hey, Rory, it's me, again." She sniffled as she wiped away the tears that continued to roll down her cheeks. "Um, I'm just… calling- again- to make sure you aren't out of class yet… but uh- you didn't answer so I think it's safe to say you're not. Please call me. I really… well, just call, okay?"
Hanging up the phone again, Lorelai let out a long sigh.
What was she going to do? Should she simply leave another message on Rory's phone and let her know their dog was dead? That seemed cold. As she stood there, trying to figure out what she was going to do, she realized by the time Rory listened to her messages, she could have driven to Yale and told her in person. She needed to see her daughter - she needed someone to comfort her. Her mind made up, she quickly grabbed her keys and made her way to her car.
---
Rory excited her last class of the day with her hands full of books and in a desperate need for caffeine. She stopped by her favorite coffee cart for something to keep her awake the rest of the day; to her relief she found John was working - he always gave her a discount. Handing over the remainder of her money from her pocket, she took the coffee and hurried towards her car, balancing the cup on top of her books.
Once safely in her car, she let out a long sigh as she buckled her seatbelt. She had received a lower grade than usual on her philosophy paper due to Paris's schedule of events, and it made her slightly depressed.
Starting her engine, she pulled out her cell phone and checked her voicemail. The first one was from Logan, confirming their plans for dinner on Saturday night. She smiled, but as she began to listen to the first message left by her mother, the smile quickly faded into worry. Her mom had definitely been crying when she left the message – she said something happened, but didn't say what, and that worried Rory even more. As the message ended, Rory prepared to dial home when another message from her mother began to play.
Her mom had left two messages begging her to call back? Something definitely was not right. Rory mentally castigated herself for not checking her messages earlier. Her mom had called hours ago. As she dialed their home phone number, she thought of all the possibilities why her mom could have called. Maybe it was something to do with the Inn; maybe the Dragonfly had burned down, or maybe something was wrong with Lane's twins, or her grandparents – the possibilities were endless and all rather frightening. After getting the answering machine, she tried her mom's cell phone but Lorelai didn't pick up.
As the young Gilmore began to worry even more after talking to Michel who told her that her mom hadn't even come in yet. That wasn't like her mother. She tried Sookie, Lane, everyone she could think of that might have seen her that morning but everyone answered to the negative.
No one had seen Lorelai Gilmore that morning.
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Lorelai had started towards Yale, but had broken down and ended up missing the exit. She couldn't think clearly; she felt like she was suffocating. Realizing that it probably wasn't wise to drive on a busy highway when unable to focus at all, she took the nearest exit off.
Her cell phone rang, but her thoughts were so loud she didn't even register the noise. Not a minute later, it began to rain; she absentmindedly turned on the windshield wipers.
She had killed Paul Anka. No matter how nicely she tried to phrase it, it always came back to the simple truth; she had killed her dog.
Wiping away some more fallen tears, she found herself leaving the main road and turning onto a smaller road, which was surrounded by large trees. She knew she shouldn't drive in unfamiliar territory but she needed to be doing something, anything
Lorelai jumped slightly when her cell phone rang again, interrupting her thoughts. Picking it up, she glanced at the caller ID; she stared at the small screen for a good minute. It was Rory. How was she going to tell her daughter that she had killed their first and very beloved dog? Suddenly a surge of anger overcame her and she threw the phone against the windshield, knocking the battery pack out of it; the ringing instantly stopped and silence took over the car once again.
Why had she taken the dog in the first place? She should have listened to everyone's advice and let Paul Anka go to a good owner- to someone who wouldn't have killed him.
Sniffing, she looked out her window as she drove; raindrops splattered against it, blurring the vision of the trees outside and Lorelai began to get lost in thought.
Suddenly her car began to jerk forward; Lorelai quickly turned her attention back on the street, or rather, the dirt. The car had drifted off the road and down into a ditch. Before she even had a chance to react, the car had collided with a tree…
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