Chapter 1 – The Unexpected Road Trip

-oOo-

Lorelai: (sighs) Sorry.

Luke: Oh. Don't worry about me. I'm fine.

Lorelai: Are you fine, really? Because, I mean, you don't have to be fine. Because this is really weird and really hard and... I'm not exactly fine.

Luke: You're not?

Lorelai: Of course not.

Luke: Well, that's too bad because I am. I'm fine.

Lorelai: Well...okay.

Luke: You know maybe you should punch Christopher's lights out. That seemed to do it for me.

Lorelai: What?

Luke: Oh, so your boyfriend didn't tell you. Huh.

Lorelai: You punched Christopher?

Luke: You two need to work on your communication skills.

Lorelai: Oh, stop it.

Luke: What.

Lorelai: Christopher is not my boyfriend.

Luke: I don't care if he is. I mean, you know you can date whoever or whatever you want. I couldn't care less. I'm fine.

Lorelai: Okay, fine. Well, if you're so fine, the next time you get a hankering to punch someone, don't, okay? If you need to take your anger out on someone take it out on me. I'm the one you're mad at. I'm the one who deserves it.

Luke: Look, you're the one who's still hung up here. I'm telling you, I'm over it. I guess it's just not as big a deal to me as it is to you.

Lorelai: Oh, it's not as big a deal?

Luke: Yeah, so we're not getting married. It's okay by me. I mean you're the one who proposed in the first place.

-oOo-

Lorelai stalked off, incensed and hurt beyond words at what Luke just said. She can't believe he would rub her face on the fact that she was the one who proposed to him! And to imply that she was the one who was dead set about getting married and not him… What an ass.

She started shaking as his words sunk in more. Maybe he really didn't want to get married at all, she thought. Maybe he just said yes when I proposed because he didn't want to embarrass me. All her insecurities from the past few months resurfaced. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and she hurried home before anyone could see her breaking down in the streets.

As soon as she got home, she collapsed on the sofa and started sobbing hysterically. Thankfully, Rory wasn't there to see her breakdown. After several minutes, she tried to calm down and think of what she should do now. Her living room was strewn with Luke's things, and everything she owned that reminded her of him. An idea popped in her head. She needed to get out of her house – out of Stars Hollow – for a while. Time for another road trip, she thought. The last road trip she took was when she ended her engagement with Max. Perhaps road trips are how she handled broken engagements. My second broken engagement. Always the fiancée, never the bride, she grumbled to herself.

She briefly considered taking Rory with her, since she was back at Stars Hollow wallowing after Logan left for London. But ultimately, she decided against it. Rory should not see her at her very, very lowest. Rory was her best friend, true, but Rory was still her daughter. Rory shouldn't see her own mother lose it over a guy.

Another reason why she didn't want to take Rory was because they would have to talk. She knew Rory would get upset when she finds out that her mother slept with her father hours after breaking up with her fiancé. And even if Rory forgives her for that huge mistake, she couldn't bear the thought of Rory hating Luke – even just a little bit – if she finds out how much Luke hurt her in the past months.

She quickly packed a bag, then started putting Luke's things into cardboard boxes. She was slightly surprised that everything he owned fit into just two small boxes – until she remembered that he barely stayed over at her place since he found out about April. She got her engagement ring from her purse, where she put it two nights ago after she walked away from him. She found the box it came in and put it on the kitchen table where Rory wouldn't miss it.

She hurriedly got on her Jeep, her hands shaking as she put the key on the ignition. She left a voicemail at their home phone for Rory, and drove away from Stars Hollow with tears in her eyes, not knowing if and when she'd have the strength to come back.

-oOo-

When Rory got home, she was surprised to see shopping bags filled with various Asian decorations strewn all over the floor, cardboard boxes on the living room, and her mother gone. She checked for messages on their answering machine and listened to them one by one. The first was from her mom:

"Hey Sweets, sorry I… uh, have to go away for a bit. You know, me and broken engagements, and uh, road trips… Umm listen, I'm so sorry I can't take you this time, I just, uh… I just need to be alone for now. There are things that happened that I'm not yet ready to tell you about. Please don't hate me Rory. I'll tell you soon, I promise, I just… I just need some time to process, you know? And please don't hate, uh, anyone else… Anyway, I'm not sure yet where I'm going, and when I'll be back, but once I decide, I'll let you know, okay? Bye.

The next message was surprisingly from her mom again:

Oh, by the way, I need a favor… Do you mind, um, returning the ring and boxes to Luke? I, uh, wanted to do it myself, but I'm not ready to face him. I hope you understand… Anyway, uh, I need to go. I'll see you soon, okay? Sorry I can't be there to cheer you up with Logan away and all… Okay bye."

Rory sat back, surprised. She's known her mother to do impulsive things after break-ups, but this seemed extreme. And what could she mean about things that happened? She listened to the next message, growing more surprised when she realized this one was from her dad:

"Lor, hey, it's me. Just still trying to reach you. Sorry I missed your call before. I wasn't calling about that whole "Luke hitting me" thing. I don't care about that. I just want to talk to you. I want to talk to you about the other night. You said it was just a one-night thing, but I want to talk about it, and about you and me, so... call me so we can talk. Okay. Bye."

If Rory was shocked at her mom's message, she was alarmed by the one from her father. What the hell happened? she thought, panicking. She tried calling her mom, but as expected, calls were automatically routed to her voicemail. She paced back and forth, getting more and more confused and agitated. When she couldn't take it any longer, she called the one person who might be able to help her understand. She grabbed her phone and dialed Sookie's number.

"Rory! This is a surprise!" a cheerful Sookie chirped when she answered her call after one ring.

"Hi Sookie," Rory replied carefully. "Are you busy? I need to talk to you, umm about mom and Luke's break-up?"

"Oh honey, you should really talk to your mom about that, not me…"

"Well, she left," Rory said, her voice catching. "She went on a solo road trip and just left me a message that didn't make much sense to me. That's why I'm calling you. Do you mind dropping by the house to listen to the messages on our answering machine? I'm… I'm a bit worried about mom, I don't know why."

There was a moment of silence as Sookie tried to decide what to do. "I'll be there in 10 minutes, honey. I'll bring brownies. We'll talk."

"Thanks Sookie."