Disclaimer: I don't own any of this… and I credit AS-P… le tear and I don't own Spiderman or the Brawny Paper towel guy… cries WHY DO YOU KEEP REMINDING ME…

A/N: Okay, so I'm Aubree, and this is a fanfic written by me and my friend Brandie. It's our first Gilmore fic, and I'm writing all this here because I forgot to for the prologue. I want you guys to guess who Rory is gonna end up with because it might not be who you think.. :D Oh, yes. :D I love mysteries. So, read and review! 333 Aubree

Chapter One: Eyes of the Town and Gabriel's Request

Two Days Later

Rory Gilmore had the entire day to herself. Winter break from Yale wasn't nearly as interesting in Stars Hollow—other than everyone practicing for the Christmas pageant. Taylor had volunteered Rory for the role of Mary, but she had turned it down. Why couldn't somebody else get the opportunity—no, the prestigious honor of sitting at the edge of the manger for an hour and a half while Kirk delivered his speech as the angel Gabriel?

Apparently, Taylor had let the whole town in on Rory's rejection, and now she was the enemy. Loralai had warned her not to get on Taylor's bad side—especially during the Christmas season, but Rory stupidly forgot. Now she was receiving glares from random town folks, and people were even talking about taking her title as "Town Princess" away. Rory didn't mind—but could she help the fact that she didn't want to freeze her 'kahunas' off this Christmas?

The only person Rory was sure would not hate her was Lane. She adjusted her scarf around her neck and headed to Kim's Antiques. The bell on the door rang to signal her entrance, and she heard a familiar voice calling from a distance.

"Welcome to Kim's Antiques—everything half off."

Rory smiled. "Mrs. Kim? It's me, Rory Gilmore."

A shuffle of feet scuffed along the wood flooring and in a second, Mrs. Kim walked into the room. "Oh," she said a bit stiffly, "hello."

"Um, hi. Do you know where Lane is?"

An uncomfortable silence was forced between the two. Rory felt extremely idiotic—how could she have forgotten that Lane and Mrs. Kim were fighting? How could she have forgotten that Lane had moved out? Maybe I was just wishfully thinking that they'd made up or something, Rory thought to herself.

"Lane does not live here anymore," Mrs. Kim explained. "I thought you knew that. You helped hide her in your school."

"Mrs. Kim, Lane was scared—"

"She lives in an apartment with hairy, unsanitary girls. Give her these," she handed Rory a stack of Lane's mail. "Thank you and good bye."

"Um, okay then," Rory stared as Mrs. Kim left for the kitchen. She wasn't sure of what to make of the conversation, so she shrugged her shoulders and started the cold trek to Lane's new apartment. On the way Rory tried to ignore all of the glares of the town—until a pair of light brown eyes caught her attention. Dean's eyes. Talk about going from one awkward situation to another, Rory thought as she stopped about four feet away from him. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," Dean replied and shoved his hands into his front pockets. "You're back in Stars Hollow."

"Yeah, just for winter break. I wouldn't miss the debut of the new Mary in the Christmas pageant for the world."

Dean smiled thoughtfully. "I thought I heard Taylor fuming about you resigning from your post as "Town Princess" and the reigning Mary."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Leave it to Taylor to involuntarily volunteer you for something."

Silence loomed in the air like an infectious disease. Things were so uncomfortable between them—and Rory definitely didn't want it to stay that way. "So… how's Lindsey?" she asked in an effort to break the ice.

"Divorced."
"Dean, are you serious?"

Dean seemed completely unphased by Rory's reaction. "I told you," he responded quietly, "that it wasn't going to last."

Rory crossed her arms and looked at her fingernails. "I'm sorry," she finally stated.

"Really?"

"It's not fair to you. You should be happy. You deserve to be happy."

"Don't worry about me, Rory," Dean said and grinned. "I'll live."

"Let's hope so," kidded Rory. "I would hate to have to come back to Stars Hollow for a funeral and find out it was yours."

"It would be quite a surprise, though."

"Not in the jack-in-the-box sense." Rory inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching the vapors float in the air. "I should—"

"Yeah, I've got—"

"And Lane's expecting me—"

"The Dragonfly calls—"

"So I'll see you?" Rory asked in a hopeful manner. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you." He walked off down the sidewalk, leaving Rory with a very confused train of thought.

"You went and saw Mrs. Kim?"

Lane Kim sat on the floor of her apartment with Rory, listening to her tale as to why she was late for the gossip and friend-get-together time. "I'd forgotten you'd moved," Rory said honestly. "Mrs. Kim told me that you live with hairy, unsanitary girls and that I should give you these." She pulled out the small stack of mail from her coat pocket and set it in front of Lane. "She seemed alright."

"Oh, Mrs. Kim is NOT alright, Rory," Lane started. "You, of all people, should know this. She's evil, and the worst part about it is that she hides it from everyone else."

"She misses you," Rory told her best friend.

"Yeah, and replacing me with a foreign exchange student from Seoul is a great example of how much." Lane stood up and went to the carpet in the middle of the kitchen. She lifted it up and moved the loose floorboard to reveal assorted chips, candy bars, and a couple of doughnuts. "Want something?"

Rory shook her head. "I'm fine," she told her and rearranged herself so she was sitting Indian-style. "I ran into Dean earlier, too."

"And?" Lane prompted.

"And why didn't you tell me that he and Lindsey got divorced?"

Lane frowned. "I must've forgotten. I'm sorry—there's been a lot going on as far as the band, and I really swear I told you."

"Well, you didn't. I felt so moronic, Lane. He looked so sad about it."

"Dean DID get divorced. He didn't exactly go to Mardi Gras, you know."

"Lindsey wasn't good for him, anyways. She never did anything but whine and complain about how little money they had, but she never once thought of applying for a job herself. No, she left it all up to Dean."

"I'm not saying she wasn't a jerk."

"So me sleeping with him wasn't a bad move, right?" Rory scowled to herself and thought back on that night. It had been a complete accident—but she and Dean had gone too far. "I mean, he DID get the divorce from her, right?"

"Right," Lane agreed.

"But I shouldn't even care because I'm with Logan—but…" Rory's voice trailed off and she bit her bottom lip.

"What?"

"I'm not with him anymore."

Lane dropped her bag of chips. "You and Logan split up?"

Rory nodded. "Things have been so hectic these past two days that I haven't even thought about it."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened, Lane? We broke up. Logan didn't want to be in a serious relationship anymore, and we had a fight, and I threw a picture frame at his head, and I left."

Lane stared at Rory in disbelief. "Logan did that? Rory, he's not worth it if he said he didn't want to be in a serious relationship. That's stupid. And besides, you're worth five billion of him and I'm sure that he's going through a crisis. Didn't you say his dad was a bit of a nut case?"

Rory nodded, her face growing hot. "It has nothing to do with him, Lane," she said matter-of-factly. "Logan and I aren't a couple anymore because we grew apart."

"Have you told Loralai?"

"No."
"Why not? You know Loralai would want to know if you and Logan weren't a couple anymore."

"I just haven't gotten around to telling her. Don't worry, Lane. I'll get to it, I promise."

Feeling her stomach grumble angrily, Rory decided that lunch at Luke's was exactly what she needed. Lane didn't have anything else to do, so she offered to come with and Rory (of course) said yes. The two made their way down the familiar path to the diner, chatting about anything and everything having to do with Lane's band.

Rory spotted her mother inside the diner at the table near the door and pushed open the entrance. "How'd I know you'd be here?" she asked and sat down next to her, Lane following.

Loralai grinned and set down what was probably her sixth cup of coffee that day. "Rory, you are my off spring. You HAVE to know these things." She looked at Lane and took another sip of coffee. "Hey there," she said.

"Hi," Lane responded.

"Will you all stop conversing and order?"

Luke had walked over and scratched his head. "I have other customers, you know."

"But we're your favorites," Loralai said and batted her eyelashes in a Scarlet O'Hara manner. "Admit it, Lumberjack."

Luke scowled and blushed ever so slightly—but only to where Loralai could tell. "Order. You've had too much coffee already."

Rory and Lane exchanged smiles and they both ordered a large plate of chili cheese fries to share.

"You're killing your intestines, I hope you know that," Luke warned and headed to the back. Lane rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure he's never NOT said that to us when we've ordered that," she said.

Rory nodded. "By the way, when do you work next?"

"Tomorrow," responded Lane. "I told Luke I wanted today off so I could spend time with you and Loralai—well, and I need to talk to Zack and Brian."

"Sounds serious," Loralai said, coming into the conversation. "What kind of talk are we talking about?"

Lane laughed. "Not THAT talk. We just need to figure out what our new set is going to consist of. Nothing serious."

"If you're sure, just… oh… wow…"

Loralai's mouth opened as she stared at the now open door to the diner. Kirk had just walked in, wearing a blonde wig, a white bed sheet tied up like a robe, and angel wings. It was certainly a site that the three girls never expected to see. "Nice… outfit, Kirk," Loralai sputtered.

Kirk smirked and puffed out his chest. "Why, I send you my kindest regards, Loralai," he started loudly. "As the Angel of the Lord, I come bearing good news."

"You're leaving, then?" Luke asked in an aggravated tone, coming over and glaring at Kirk. "That sounds like good news to me."

Kirk held his arms up majestically, making his wings go up. "Lucas, it is alright. You do not have to put up such fronts. Do not be afraid, for I come to you bearing tidings of great joy."

Rory quirked an eyebrow. "So I take it you're gonna be Gabriel again this year in the pageant?"

Kirk nodded as if it were the most important job in the world. "Taylor trusts me with the pivotal role—and UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE, I took it as a sign of deep respect."

"Rory doesn't have to be Mary in the pageant," Loralai defended. "I think this town is insane for thinking she has nothing better to do but be the mother of Jesus."

Kirk gasped, taking a step back. "I feel as though I do not even know you, Loralai. How can you say that?"

"She said it," Luke interjected, "now leave."

"Lucas, as Gabriel, I—"

"We've heard the speech before. I have no time to serve God's messengers."

"That is no way to treat—"

"Look, if you don't fly out the door right now, I'll rip your lousy wings off."

Lane let out a giggle. It was always entertaining to watch Luke threaten Kirk. "Fair enough," the wannabe angel said and quickly exited. Loralai chuckled and applauded.

"That was classic theatre," she said and sent a glance at Luke.

"I'll get your fries," he immediately said and headed into the kitchen again, yelling at Caesar to hurry up.

"That was fairly entertaining," Rory admitted and sat back in her chair. "I don't think I've been called Mary so many times in one day except when I was at Chilton."

Lane sighed, remembering Rory's hard time adjusting to her new high school, when Tristen DuGrey and Paris would constantly call her 'Mary'.

"Taylor's certainly done a thorough job of alienating the town against you."

"Fries," Luke said and set down the plat in the middle of their table. Loralai looked up and held her mug out.

"More coffee?" she pleaded.

"No."

Rory laughed.

"Luke, please, PLEASE give me more coffee."

"You've had your dosage for today."

"Luke, don't make me sing the Spiderman theme song." Loralai started whistling and grinned from ear to ear. Luke frowned.

"You owe me," he grumbled and snatched the cup.

"Gracias," Loralai thanked and turned back to her daughter and Lane. "I still haven't lost my touch."

"So I see," Rory complimented, staring at Loralai. Something was different about her mother, and she couldn't pinpoint what. "But why was Luke scared of you singing the Spiderman theme song?"

"No reason," Loralai said shortly.

"Okay then…" Rory cast a look at Lane, who shrugged. Talk about awkward. She reached for a chili cheese fry and smiled.

The silence between the three lasted about five seconds before Rory's phone went off.

"Out," Luke said and pointed to the door as he came and handed Loralai her coffee.

"Sorry, Luke," Rory apologized. Loralai took a swig of her drink, sensing something wrong as her kid just stared at the ringing phone.

"Who is it?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Please tell me it's not Emily, because I cannot deal with her nagging right now."

"It's nobody," replied Rory, but the name that flashed on the screen of her cell phone said it all.

Logan.