Rory in her PJ's in her bed. A leather jacket is on the bed next to her. She strokes it idly while she sighs into her cell phone. "I know you've only been in London for a couple of hours, but I can't help that I miss you. Don't you miss me?"

"Of course I miss you, Ace." Logan is leaning back in a flowery-upholstered arm chair with his feet up on a nearby table in what is obviously a fancy hotel room. He's on his cell. "But I don't want you to be miserable without me. That'd be an awful way to spend a year."

"Would you rather I didn't miss you, then?"

"Well, no. I'd rather-"

"Because you know, I am a rather fetching young lady. I could go out right now and find myself a reason not to miss you."

"No, you couldn't," Logan says very matter-of-factly.

"What! I'm insul-"

"You are still in your pajamas. And as much as I love you, you're not going to win any beauty contests that way."

A short pause from Rory. "And you don't think I could pick up someone in my pajamas? Is that it?"

"Well it depends. Silky and black – in a heartbeat. Cotton and Spongebob – I would have to seriously question your likelihood of success."

Rory humfs in mock anger and pulls the sheet up to hide the large SpongeBob on her chest.

"Well, which is it, Ace?"

"Since you know me so well, you tell me."

"Ah, a challenge. Well, in my head, you're definitely wearing the silky black with the red lace. But in reality I would have to go with-" Rory's phone beeps and interrupts Logan. Rory looks at the display quickly, pushes a button and goes back to her conversation.

"Who was that?" Logan asks.

"Just my mom."

"Well then, where were we?"

"You were telling me how beautiful I look first thing in the morning."

"Was I? That doesn't sound terribly like me. I think I was talking about you in black silk."

"A particularly uncouth conversation topic for a young gentleman."

"Now who ever said that I was a gentleman?"

"An excellent point. I guess that is why you were shipped off to London, after all. To whip you into shape." Rory's phone beeps again.

------------

Lorelai is perched on the edge of an armchair in a Starbucks. She is wearing the same turquoise dress as the night before. Her hair looks barely brushed, her face is tearstained. She is bouncing her legs up and down nervously as she listens to the ringing in her cell phone. Voicemail picks up and Rory's voice can be heard, "This is Rory's cell phone, and she didn't answer." Lorelai slams her phone shut, groans in aggravation and begins dialing again.

It rings. Lorelai whispers, "Come on, Rory." Her legs continue to twitch.

"Yes, mother?" Rory sounds annoyed through the phone.

Lorelai exhales deeply, "Oh, thank God."

"I was talking to Logan in London, Mom. If you leave a message, I would have called you right back. You didn't have to call 5 times in a row-"

"I need you." Lorelai interrupts her daughter.

"What do you mean, you need me?" The anger starts to leave Rory's voice.

"I'm in Middletown."

Rory sits up a little in bed. "What do you mean, you're in Middletown?"

"I'm in Middletown and I need you. Am I not speaking English?"

"Is everything OK? Are you OK? Why are you in Middletown?"

"I stopped here. On my way home."

"On your way home from what? From where?" Rory asks, suddenly deeply interested in the answers.

"Boston." Lorelai answers quiety.

"What? Boston? Why were you in Boston? And why stop in Middletown, you're only about-"

"Rory, please." Lorelai is practically begging. Rory finally hears the strain in her mothers voice.

"You saw Dad." Rory guesses. Lorelai closes her eyes and nods her head silently. "Mom? Mom? Is Dad OK?"

Lorelai swallows and with some difficulty manages to speak steadily. "He's fine."

"Gigi?"

"Gigi's fine. Everyone's fine. No one's hurt." Lorelai blurts out quickly.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Rory. I need you here." Lorelai sounds desperate.

"Ok, I'll be there in one hour. Where in Middletown are you?"

"Now," Lorelai whispers harshly into the phone.

"What? Mom, I'll be there soon."

"Not soon, Rory. Now. This is not a time for soon. This is the time for now. This is when you go into the secret lab at Yale, you know, the one with the teleporters, not the one with the talking rats, and you get here now. This is the time when you take whatever money Logan put in the freezer when he left and buy a plane and get here now. This is the time for "Beam me up, Scottie." Not soon. Now." She's beyond babbling at this point.

Rory finally looks worried, and hurriedly gets up out of bed. She trips on something as she does, and falls back down.

"Rory?" Her mother asks.

"I'm fine, I'm coming. I'm at the teleporter lab now. Where in Middletown are you?"

"Starbucks," Says Lorelai forlornly.

Rory freezes in the middle of brushing her hair. "What? Why are you in Starbucks? You hate Starbucks."

"Yes, but, but, a bad thing happened," she stammers. Shakes her head as if to clear it. "I did a bad thing, kid. I did a very bad thing."

"Mom, I'm sure it's not that bad. And I'll be there as soon as I can figure out how to work this damn machine." Rory is buttoning her jeans, squeezing her feet into the nearest shoes. "How many cups of coffee have you had, Mom?"

"None," she sniffles.

"Have one. That's what Starbucks is for, after all. Overpriced coffee."

"I don't deserve coffee. I don't deserve…" she breaks off into sniffles. Rory is grabbing things and shoving them into a purse. "I yelled and screamed and cried, and he yelled..."

"Who? Dad?" No answer. "Luke?"

"And I left and…and he just stood there. And I did a horrible, horrible thing. And I don't deserve coffee ever, ever again."

"You and Luke had a fight?"

Lorelai nods and grunts her agreement.

"And then you did a bad thing?" Another grunt. "In Middletown?" No response. "In Boston?" Grunt. Understanding starts to spread over Rory's face. "You did a bad thing in Boston?" Grunt. "And you're sure it was in Boston?"

"Oh, very sure…" she's trying to hold back tears.

"On my way." Rory says into the phone as she locks the apartment door and slams her phone shut. "Oh, crap!" She screams angrily to the empty hallway as she kicks the elevator door and then begins to run down the stairs, limping.

(Roll intro)