Chapter two coming right at you! In this chapter there will be more GG stuff I promise!

Chapter 2:

The night went by fast. It was now Ashlynn's last day in Burlington, she had woken up at noon and started to pack up her car with the help of Jenna, Sharon, and Charles Sr. The plan was for her to leave by 3pm so that they could still have lunch together before she left.

By 2:50 the car was packed up, the lunch had been eaten and Ashlynn was walking out of the front door followed by the Kowalski family.

"So, I guess this is it…" Ashlynn began her voice breaking.

"Yeah, I guess this is." Jenna replied.

"I'll call and text as much as I can." She said giving a hug to Jenna.

"I know. I'll miss you sis-in-law."

"I'll miss you too." She replied. She then moved on to Charles Sr. "Thanks for everything Mr. K."

"No problem Ashlynn. You better call us when that grandchild of ours is about to make an appearance."

"I will." Finally she went and hugged Sharon. "I'll miss you."

"I know, I'll miss you too." Sharon replied.

After the goodbyes were said Ashlynn got into her car and started the engine. As she backed up out of the drive way she couldn't help but start crying. The Kowalski's were her second family, leaving them hurt just as much as leaving her Mom and Dad.

Before she completely left town she made sure to drop a letter in the mailbox. This letter was to be sent to her parents explain that she wouldn't be home and why. She cried as she wrote it the weeks before knowing how much it would hurt her parents, but it had to be done.


After driving for four hours she was exhausted. She couldn't stand being cooped up in her car for so long. She finally reached a small town and decided it was best to stay for the night since it was already dark. She drove around until she found a quaint little diner. She sighed in relief; she was desperately in need of food.

When she entered through the door she heard a jingle of bells and headed straight to the counter.

"Hi, what can I get for you?" A tall scruffy man in flannel asked.

"Umm, can I look at the menu please?"

"Of course." He said handing her the menu.

He handed the young girl the menu and observed her as she looked through. She definitely wasn't from around here, or else he would have seen her before.

"I'll have a grilled cheese and water." She said ordering the cheapest thing on the menu.

"Coming right up." Luke replied.

She checked her watch and saw that it was 7:30pm and thanks to the winter it was already pitch black outside. There was no way she could continue driving for the night. She heard the door bells jingle once more and heard a loud voice.

"Luuuukkkkeee! Can I get some coffee?"

"Hold on a minute will ya!" The flannel man now known as Luke answered.

The loud woman sat next to Ashlynn and began drumming her fingers on the counter.

"Grilled cheese and Water." Luke said placing her meal in front of her.

"Thanks. Ummm, do you think you can tell me where the closest hotel/motel is?" She asked.

"There's the Dragonfly Inn." Luke replied shamelessly promoting his girlfriend.

"How much is a room there?"

"$150 per night." The loud woman replied.

"Oh, wow." Ashlynn sighed. Though she had money for the room she didn't want to spend that much on one night in a room, she had a child to think about. "Thanks for the info, but I can't exactly afford that at the moment."

"I'm sorry." The loud woman replied.

"It's okay; I've got my car and some blankets."


"It's okay; I've got my car and some blankets." The girl replied.

Lorelai was heartbroken upon hearing the young girl who sat next to her say that. She couldn't just let her sleep in her car, especially not in the middle of January.

She saw Luke giver a nod signaling her to the back room.

"I can't let her sleep in her car, it's freezing out!" Luke started.

"I know, she looks young too. Have you seen her parents?"

Luke shook his head. "You think she's a runaway?"

"Yeah, she's young, traveling alone, she has blankets in her car." Lorelai listed off. "I can't let her sleep in the cold; she needs a place to stay."

"I know."

"I think I have a plan…" Lorelai said walking out from the back room.


Ashlynn saw the woman's face fall when she mentioned her car. She noticed that Luke motioned over to the back room.

She shook her head and went back to eating her grilled cheese. She hated the idea of having to sleep in her cramped and cold car, but it would have to do for one night.

After about five minutes Luke and the woman walked back out.

"Hi, I'm Lorelai." She greeted extending her hand.

"Ashlynn, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice meeting you too." Lorelai replied. "Ashlynn, do you need a place to stay?"

"I have my car, or I can always drive out to the next car and find a cheap motel."

"Why don't you save your money…" Lorelai began. "I have some room at my house, why don't you spend the night there."

"I couldn't intrude. Besides, you just met me. I could be a deranged psycho killer."

"I trust that you're not."

"Are you sure?"

"It's not a five star hotel, but it sure beat the hell out of sleeping in a car."

"Wow, thank you!" Ashlynn replied shocked by the generosity. "It's only for one night, I'll be out of your hair by morning, I promise."

"Of course, we wouldn't want you parents to worry. Speaking of, where are they?"

Ashlynns face fell. She hoped that she wouldn't have to explain her situation but she knew she had to now.

"They're not here, I kind of ran away from home…"

"Kind of?"

"It's a long story."

Lorelai looked at the young girl in front of her. She could see herself in this girl; young, scared, runaway. All that was missing was a baby in her arms.

"You all finished?" Luke asked.

Ashlynn nodded. "How much do I owe you?" She asked reaching in to her bag.

"Don't worry about it, the first one is on the house."

"I'm pretty sure I have to pay you."

"I'm serious, keep your money." Luke insisted.

"Alright, thank you so much."

"Bye Luke." Lorelai said leaning over the counter and giving him a kiss.

"Bye." He replied.

"Okay, I drive that Jeep™ Wrangler. Why don't you follow me home in your car?" Lorelai said to Ashlynn.

Ashlynn nodded and gathered her things up and followed Lorelai out of the diner.


The town was pretty small so the drive to Lorelai's house was quick.

"Home, sweet home!" Lorelai said as she walked through the door. "Do you need me to take your coat?"

Ashlynn unbuttoned her jacket and gave it to Lorelai.

"Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's no problem."

"Mom, is that you?" She heard a voice shout.

"Yep, I'm home." Lorelai replied. "Come here, there's someone I want you to meet."

A girl of at least twenty walked out.

"Hey, mom." She said giving Lorelai a hug.

"Hey sweetie. Rory, this is Ashlynn, she'll be staying with us for the night. Ashlynn, this is my daughter Rory."

"Nice to meet you Ashlynn."

"It's nice to meet you too." Ashlynn replied.

"Why don't we all get some ice cream…?" Lorelai offered.

"Great idea." Rory answered leading Ashlynn to the kitchen.

They all sat around the table eating ice cream.

"So Ashlynn, tell us about yourself." Lorelai asked trying to make small talk.

"Well, I'm 17. I'm from Burlington, Vermont and I just graduated high school."

"Early graduation, nice!" Rory complimented. "So what brings you to Stars Hollow?"

"It's a long story; I wouldn't want to bore you."

"You wouldn't, trust me." Rory assured.

"Okay, well as much as I loved Vermont I ran away because I couldn't stay with my parents anymore."

"That sounds familiar…" Lorelai commented.

"What happened?" Rory asked.

"I'm pregnant…."

"Wow, really familiar." Lorelai choked out.

"Mom!" Rory scolded. "What made you run away?"

"When I finally told my parents about the baby, I was thirteen weeks along. They were furious and wanted me to get an abortion but I was too far along. So they made plans behind my back to forcefully make me put my baby up for adoption." She explained. "I was so angry, they knew I wanted to keep my baby, but they blindsided me. So that day I began planning my escape."

"That's awful!" Rory exclaimed. "Thank goodness you got away."

"Yeah, it's great that you left when you did." Lorelai agreed. "How about the father, does he know?"

"About the baby? yes. About all the other stuff? Depends on your belief system….I can't exactly tell him."

"Why not?"

"A week after I found out about my pregnancy my boyfriend Charles was killed in a car accident. A drunk driver t-boned him, flipping his car over. The impact killed him instantly." Ashlynn explained through tears.

"I'm so sorry." Lorelai apologized. "I didn't mean to make you relive something so tragic."

"It's alright, I think about it all the time. When I heard about my parents plan I knew I had to get away. I was carrying his baby, a part of him. I needed to keep this last part of him."

Lorelai outstretched her hand and put it on top of Ashlynns. Her heart broke listening to her situation, she knew she needed to help this girl out.


It was now 10pm; Ashlynn was ready for bed and in her pajamas. Rory offered her bed to Ashlynn so that she wouldn't have to sleep on the couch.

"You okay in here?" Lorelai asked from the doorway.

"I'm good. Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It's not a problem; I brought you an extra blanket in case you get cold."

"Thanks." Ashlynn replied. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, shoot."

"What did you mean earlier…?" She asked. "I remember you saying 'really familiar'."

"Ahhh, you caught that." Lorelai chuckled. "I got pregnant at a young age too. I had Rory when I was 16 years old. My parents urged me to marry her father but I couldn't, I was way too young to be married. After a couple of months of living with them I ran away with Rory and found Stars Hollow. A very nice woman took me in and gave me a place to live and a job and helped me raise my little girl."

"Wow that is pretty similar to my story."

"Don't I know it." Lorelai quipped. "Listen, I know that I barely know you and vice versa but I want to help you out the way Mia did with me. "

Ashlynn cocked her head.

"Mia's the woman who took me in." Lorelai explained. "Why don't you stay in Stars Hollow?"

"I don't know…?"

"We have a spare room upstairs that we can clear out for you, and I'm pretty sure Luke is in need of a waitress." Lorelai offered. "I'm more than willing to help you out."

"Are you sure it's not going to be any trouble?"

"I'm sure. If no one helped me out when I was your age I don't know where I'd be. Please let me help you."

"I would really appreciate that. Thank you so much Lorelai." Ashlynn said giving her a hug.

"It's not a problem." She replied returning the hug. "Okay, tomorrow I'll call Luke to help clear out the room and then we can get everything set up."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Lorelai smiled. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight."

Chapter 2 is done! I hope you enjoyed it. This story is really big for me, it's the first time I've ever added a new character before. Please review and enjoy your day!