Strawberry Fields -By Yo-yo

Disclaimer: C crappie #1.

Yesterday:

Thursday morning we rolled into Star's Hallow. It was one of those candy- sweet places; a brain-child of some WB writer. One of those, 7th Heaven towns where everyone gets along and something cute ALWAYS happens. A place where no one can act, and every teen has a problem that requires a whole hour at eight o'clock eastern to discuss and then solve by the end of the show, unless it's a particularly "major" dilemma, then you'd have to make it a two-parter. It was one of those towns where you'd pray someone would kidnap David Gallagher and either dye his eyebrows blond or his hair black.

There was one streetlight.

It was situated in front of a place with two totally different signs: William's Hardware and Luke's. From the curtains and the patrons entering and exiting the building, I'm guessing it's officially the latter.

Five minutes from Luke's, she pulled into a driveway and cut off the engine.

"That was your first official tour of Star's Hallow," she smiled turning to me.

"That was it?!"

"Hey, Small-town USA likes to stay trim and petite. It requires no embellishment."

"Well, someone should force-feed it a couple of cheeseburgers and maybe pretty it up with a music shop."

"But honey, that would be moving FORWARD in time. This is Hicksville, USA, technically, that's witchcraft!"

"Obviously," I groaned, flicking the classic mailbox with "Gilmore" affixed to either side.

"I'm hungry."

"When aren't you ever?"

"What did you say?"

"Lore, we haven't even unpacked the U-Haul. Hell, we haven't even called Emily."

"Well, we'll give Emily a call when we're done, and unpack later. But right now I need food- or are you prepared to take another rendition of 'Mandy.'"

"So, where to?" I asked. Her last rendition still gave me nightmares about a girl named Mandy and her lover, the Mullet.

"I don't know, it'll be like an adventure, like in 'The Hobbit!' You'll be Bilbo, you don't like adventures, but I'll be Gandalf, and I'll make you go. You think, hey, they forgot about me! But we didn't and then-"

"Where did you put that book? It is officially confiscated."

"You're mean! You always try to take away my simple pleasures!"

"Whatever," I groaned, grabbing her arm and dragging her down one of the many fruit named streets. In five minutes we ended up in the middle of town, where a sappy, gazebo stood. There was a Doosey's Market, Luke's Diner, Al's Pancake World, Pete's Pizza, Ms. Patty's Dance Studio, the Post Office, etc . . .

"Where to?" I repeated.

"I feel like a burger, how 'bout you?"

"I feel like a Chicago styled hotdog in Chicago!"

"Hardy har har, you're a regular Mo'Nique."

"That's it! I'm impounding the TV, no more 'Parkers' for you!"

"But Toni's gunna' get proposed to on 'Girlfriends' by the short white guy-"

"I think Luke's has burgers," I interjected.

". . . And on 'One on One', Brianna's gunna' fail the PSATs and will be deemed and idiot!"

"She probably learned it from you." I murmured.

"What?"

"I said, Man I'm hungry, how 'bout you?"

Entering Luke's diner, all eyes swiveled towards us.

"Small town, I guess we're the newest thing since the printing press?" she muttered in my ear.

"Or the compass." I answered back.

We both laughed as we took seats at the counter, where a young man was wiping it down.

"What can I get you?" he asked, looking up at us.

"Two of the largest coffees that you sell, double cheeseburgers and large fries."

"Coming up," he said turning around and speaking through the kitchen window to the cook.

He was actually pretty cute. He wasn't one of those corn fed white boys that everyone expects living in Small-town, USA. His dark brown eyes where chocolate kissed, with a few flecks of gold. He had dark brown hair that curled over his ears. He had one of those rebel-without-a- cause looks that girls usually feel for. But he had this nonchalance about him that wasn't an act. He was wearing a Metallica shirt and I could just imagine "Sleep with one eye open" playing in his wake.

"Hey, I'm Jess." He said, returning. "Are you the guys that moved into the Gilmore place?"

Everyone was craning their necks to hear.

"Yeah, I'm Lorelei and this is my daughter, Rory."

"Hi," I smiled politely, returning my eyes to the counter's smooth surface.

I'm anti-social. Really! Ok, the truth, I'm shy as hell!

A large Latin woman wearing fuchsia- which Lore and I mercilessly mocked later that night- accosted us.

"Hello, I'm Ms. Patty-"

"Of Ms. Patty's Dance Studio?" Lore implored animatedly.

"Yes," she purred, with a smile as wide as the Cheshire cat's. "And aren't you darling. Do you dance? You look like a dancer."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lore smiled politely. "God did not give me dancing hips. Instead, he burdened me with these damn, North American narrow, white women hips. I tried to teach Rory, here, the Salsa, and all I could accomplish was forming an angry bruise on my ass!"

"Lorelei!" I admonished, giving her a stern look.

"Sorry, MOTHER!" she retorted.

"Oh, I don't mind," Ms. Patty grinned disarmingly. "You two are just darling, where is your husband?"

I saw Lorelei's face falter. They'd never actually married, but He was more of a father to me that anyone that I'd ever known.

"Married to that damn Jennifer Aniston," she recovered quickly, a fake smile on her face. "So, I remember this place when I was younger, it used to be a hardware store."

"Yeah, well after Luke's father died, he decided to convert it into a diner. He was always talented in the kitchen, and this endeavor proved more lucrative in the end."

"Hmm," she said turning to me. "I remember a Luke. He was sort of a geek. He watched Star Trek."

"Really?" Jess interrupted; a greedy look in his eyes.

"Yeah."

"Well, because Luke's my Uncle-"

"Luke's your Uncle?" Lorelei thought. "Then you must be Liz's boy?"

"You know my mother?"

"We used to hang when I was younger."

"What's your name again?" he asked suspiciously.

"Gilmore."

"Luke!" Jess's voice rang throughout the diner.

"What?" a large, burly man dressed in flannel asked, entering from behind a curtain.

I couldn't really see the resemblance in the two guys, except for the brown hair. Luke had this whole "I'm a football player" look to him, without the dim look in his eyes and the slurring of a couple million lost brain cells. He wore a backwards baseball cap on his head, and a heavy five o'clock shadow was blooming on his face. He looked gruff and firm, but his blue eyes contradicted him, showing the big softy underneath the thick hide.

"Do you know a Lorelei Gilmore?"

He looked heavenly-ward in contemplation. After a few moments he looked down, wiping his hands with a dishtowel and said,

"Yeah. She used to come here during the summer with her family. She stopped coming a while ago. I think, the year your mother left."

"Liz would leave," Lorelei snorted, grabbing the attention of everyone, including Luke.

"You knew Liz?" he asked, scrutinizing her.

"Yeah, I knew you too."

"Lorelei?"

"Yeah." She grinned.

I liked the way she grinned. She hadn't grinned like that in a long time. It was one of those smiles that started in her lips and enlivened her whole face, eventually settling in her eyes. It was one of those smiles that made her seem years younger, bringing forth a childlike innocence and pure energy that used to consume her. It was one of those smiles that made you forget about everything bad that had ever happened to you because you knew, nothing would ever be as beautiful as that smile. Nothing would ever make the hurt go away like that smile.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those yesterdays when she could smile like that all the time.

"God," he reciprocated the grin, turning round the counter to envelop her in a hug. "I haven't seen you since you were like . . ."

"Fifteen!" she smiled, pulling away.

Everyone else watched the exchange. Some had knowing smiles on their faces, others seemed totally enraptured, and others were pensive.

"What happened? We were expecting you that summer!"

"She happened." She said turning to pull me towards him. "I got pregnant. Luke Danes, I'd like you to meet my illegitimate daughter, no offense kid-"

"None taken-"

"I'd like you to meet my daughter, Lorelei Leigh Gilmore, known more affectionately as Rory."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Danes." I smiled offering my hand.

I had noticed the way his eyes opened wide, totally shocked with the new developments. But that didn't stop him from taking my hand and pulling me into a warm bear hug.

"Any kid of Lorelei Gilmore is a friend of mine. Call me Luke."

"Thanks," I smiled, sitting back on the stool.

"So . . . who . . .?" he asked, looking at Lore.

"Chris. You remember, Christopher Hayden? He used to hang around a lot?"

"Yeah, I remember," he said, lifting his cap and running his hand through his hair.

"Now, tell me how big of a nerd he was!" Jess insisted.

"Jess!"

"He's Liz's?"

"Yeah, she had him at nineteen."

"Well then he's the same age as Rory here," she grinned, doing the math in her head.

"Tell me." He groaned, "Or I won't give you your food!"

Her eyes opened wide, almost assaulting everyone with their intensity.

"Blasphemy!" she screeched. Then she turned to Luke. "Luke, you can't let him do that! You can't let him- ok. He was sort of a nerdy meathead-"

"Lorelei!"

"He threatened to not give me coffee, I must comply with the terrorist's wishes!" she argued, then turned back to Jess. "And he had this totally 'Fatal Attraction' crush on my friend Rachel. He was all, 'hey Rachel, your pink sweater was so pretty yesterday.' And 'hey Rachel, I'll spit shine your leather boots and scuff them with my butt if you'll only breathe my way.'"

"Really?" he asked turning to Luke. "You were really that into Rachel then?"

"He was such a dork."

"That's it, you're not getting anything to eat!" Luke intruded.

"Mom," I groaned, "My tummy hurts! How could you offend the man with the coffee and the burgers?"

"Don't worry Rory, I won't deny you food. You aren't responsible for her self-destructive behavior."

"Thank you." I grinned just as Luke put a plate of burgers and fries in front of me.

"But Luke," Lorelei whined. "How could you deny me of life sustaining coffee?"

"You still have that addiction? Well, coffee will eventually kill you and so will that junk, so you should be thanking me."

"For what, living a little and not getting some pesky thing like pre-mature death or obescity get in the way of the lifestyle to which I'm accustomed? You let Rory have some," she pouted. "C'mon Luke, you've known me longer than Rory, for all you know she could be a drug dealer waiting to start pushing in your establishment. She'll corrupt your nephew and turn Star's Hallow into the murder capital of the country."

"Rory, do you sell drugs?" Luke cast me a glance.

I shrugged. "Only on the side, I make most of my money from prostitution."

"Well then it's settled, Lorelei, your daughter needs that stuff for energy. She works all day, it's nourishment for her. For you, coffee is just a-"

"C'mon Luke, I'll give you a dollar?"

"Lorelei, you have to pay for the meal anyways."

"But Luke, Rory's the devil!"

"Who cares, she's young, she can fix the damage done by this crap, but you're old-"

"RUN FOR COVER!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed, grabbing my plate and running towards another table in the back of the diner.

TBC . . .

A/N: well, hoped you liked that chapter. I know, it seemed totally different than the other chapters, but I guess Rory's a little more cynical than usual, especially when you read the next chapter. She's spunky, but later you'll learn why.