"Mom, calm down. First you get the coffee and the munchies, then I'll tell
you a story that is bound to make your head spin." Lorelei was gone in a
flash and Rory sighed in relief. She dropped her jacket on the back of the
couch and crashed down on the comforting piece of furniture.
"Okay, spawn of mine spill it." Lorelei dropped down beside her with coffee and popcorn.
"Hope you've got time cause it's a long story."
"It's either this or clean the house."
"Story time it is then." Rory proceeded to rehash her entire afternoon with Tristan, stopping several times to assure her mother that the famed midnight cafe did in fact truly exist.
"Ooh, Rory's got a boyfriend."
"Mom, he's not my boyfriend. I couldn't even stand him until this morning."
"Aah, but you like him." Lorelei smiled knowingly and drank her coffee.
"Doesn't matter. I probably won't even hear from him again. He just got back yesterday. I'm sure the conquests will be flocking in." Lorelei stared smugly at her daughter when the phone began to ring.
"It's your dime."
"Actually, it's more like fifty cents."
"Cell phone huh?"
"Yeah, is Rory there?"
"That depends, who are you?"
"The bane of her existence."
"I don't know Bible Boy. She might be in the shower, all dripping wet and naked and stuff." She heard a stifled groan on the other end. "But she's not."
"Mom. Give me the phone." Rory rolled her eyes.
"No points for you Mr. Manners."
"Mother give me the phone or I'll tell Luke to stop serving you coffee."
"Evil child. Why did I let you out of the womb again?" "So someone could talk Luke into giving you coffee." She snatched the phone out of her mother's hand and walked to the front door. "Now I'm going to go sit on the porch and you are going to spy on me through the window like a good mother, understood?"
"Yes devil child."
"Thank you." Rory walked out and sat on the porch swing, chuckling slightly when Lorelei's head appeared in the window making faces at her. "Hello."
"That was interesting."
"That is life with Lorelei Gilmore the second." She chuckled. "Calling already, really Tristan, I'm supposed to be falling desperately in love with you not the other way around." She laughed again.
"Too late."
"What?" She missed his comment through the laughter.
"Nothing, I just wanted to say I had fun today."
"Surprisingly enough so did I."
"What are your plans for tomorrow."
"Lay in bed all day."
"Can I join you." She could almost see the smirk.
"If you become a eunuch."
"Ouch."
"Exactly. What did you have in mind?"
"Paris."
"We hate each other remember."
"Not Gellar, the city in France."
"Nope, no frequent flyer miles to speak of, besides you are supposed to be staying close to your grandfather."
"You were paying attention, and I am. He's flying to Paris tomorrow and I'm going with him." A molecule of anxiety crept into her mind. He was leaving again. "How long are you going for?" He noticed the slightest hitch in her voice.
"A couple weeks. Come with us. I'll be on my best behavior."
"Somehow that's not all that reassuring."
He was losing her to reason. A sudden desperation claimed him. He wasn't sure he could make this trip without her. "Please Rory. He's not doing well. He wants to go one last time before he...I don't think I can do this by myself and you are the only one I trust enough to admit that to."
She felt her heart clench at his admission. His voice was rough and strained. She sighed trying not to surrender to her misty eyes. "I'll see what I can do." She tried to even out her voice. "I'll call you in an hour."
"Bye Rory." When she was about to hang up the phone she paused.
"Tristan?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, I know how much he means to you."
"Thanks, the means more than you know."
"I'll see if I can go convince the crazy woman known as my mother to let me go gallivanting around Europe with the Evil Tristan." She heard him laugh and was relived.
"Right, remind her that the knight guarding the grail was French for me."
"That won't help the cause."
"I just want to hear about her reaction."
"That would be funny. Bye, Tris," she sighed.
"Bye."
Clicking the phone off, Rory squared her shoulders and headed back into the house, mentally preparing herself for the tantrum her mother would throw at the prospect of being left alone for a week. Staring at the phone in her hand as she opened the door, she failed to see the other woman opening it from the other side and the two collided. Two hands instantly flew to two sore heads as they backed away from each other.
"Oww. Geez, Mom, I thought we decided there were some Mother/Daughter bonding tricks we could skip," she moaned, heading into the kitchen. "Yes, Devil Child, we did, but then you went outside where it was harder for me to hear and forced me to take drastic action," she glared as she took one of the ice packs her daughter held. "What exactly did the juvenile delinquent want?"
"To steal me away and go to Europe for a couple of weeks."
Lorelei moved the ice pack away long enough to give Rory a long look. She was sitting at the table, elbows propped on it, holding her ice pack to her forehead and keeping her eyes closed. Usually alert, she didn't seem to be paying much attention to the conversation at the moment.
"And make passionate love to you in every city?"
"Sure."
Moving the pack from her daughter's head, she ignored the grunted protest and sat opposite her. "Now, paying attention, tell me what he wanted."
"I was paying attention," she protested.
"Ror, you just said he was taking you to make passionate love to you in every city."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"His very ill grandfather is taking him to Paris for a week. He doesn't want to go alone and needs some emotional support. Considering that Chiltonites don't exactly fit that bill, he asked me to go."
"And you told him?"
"That I'd ask you." Satisfied that she had given a sufficient explanation, she reached over and took her ice pack, promptly reapplying it to the knot on her forehead.
Her mother, on the other hand, leaned back in her chair and gave her a disbelieving look. "You didn't say no?"
Rory immediately noticed the tone and looked at her. "He needs someone, Mom. I don't think he has anyone he can turn to."
"You being overdramatic about your head," Lorelei said, trying to think of an answer.
"There's a knot on my head."
"I don't have one," her mom shrugged.
"You've got a thick skull," Rory smirked. "Hey, Child o' Mine, if you want me to let you fly off with a walking Abercrombie add, you better be nice to me!"
"You're letting me go?"
Lorelei sighed and was silent for a moment. "Yes, I am. But ONLY if you promise not to go to Fez and call every day."
Rory leaned forward and hugged her mom close to her. "Thanks. I don't think his grandfather has much time and it's going to be really hard on him."
"Don't worry about it. I'll have Sookie come stay over and we can paint toe nails, watch Love Story and eat all kinds of unhealthy things."
"Hey, isn't that our normal routine?" Rory's asked as she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Yes," Lorelei answered brightly. "She's your replacement for while you're gone."
"Ok, well...I guess I'd better go call Tristan, see when we're leaving, what I need to get to take with me-"
"Whether he likes pink or red teddies," Lorelei interrupted.
"Shush, Evil Mother, I have no intention of letting anything happen between us! We're friends and that's all we'll ever be!"
With that firm declaration, Rory stood and walked out of the room, leaving her mom to stare after her with a smirk growing on her face. "Sure. Just friends....and I'm leading the protest against coffee," she snorted, standing to go take stock of Rory's wardrobe.
After a quick call to work out the details Rory joined her mother in her room. "What are you doing?"
"Packing for you."
"And how do you know what I want to take?" Rory peeked over her mother's shoulder.
"Because I am much better at this outfit thing than you are, oh jedi in training."
"Then please, teach away oh wise one."
"What time are you leaving?" Lorelei continued to stuff clothes into a duffle bag and cringed when Rory pulled them back out to fold them.
"He's picking me up around ten."
"So one more night of harassing you before you leave me twisting in the wind huh?"
"Yep."
"Ben and Jerry's it is then." They finished packing her bags and made sure she had everything before flopping unceremoniously down in front of the TV with their ice cream. "So, nothing is going to happen between you two during an entire week in the city of love, huh?" Lorelei smirked at her daughter's scowl.
"No, nothing." Rory nodded her head to emphasize the point.
"We'll see." She turned back to her ice cream and ignored the pillow Rory flung at her.
In Rory's opinion, the doorbell rang insanely early in the morning. She was dressed and ready but her head was buried in her arms as she draped herself across the kitchen table. "Come in." She didn't have the energy to raise her head.
"What happened to you?" Tristan chuckled slightly.
"Lorelei Gilmore happened to me. We were up until six am."
"I guess you really will be needing this." He waffed the coffee aroma toward her until she perked up.
"Rick's coffee?" There was an excited spark in her eyes.
"Yep. He said he would miss his jedi but would forgive you if you brought him some gourmet blend back from Paris. He mumbled something about market research."
She accepted the coffee gratefully and swallowed half of it before lowering the cup. "Ahh, brain once again functioning."
"Do I smell coffee?"
"Morning Lorelei." Tristan produced a second cup and handed it to Rory's eager mother. "Thank you for letting Rory come with me."
Guzzling the coffee she fought desperately to remember what she was going to lecture him about. "God this is good coffee."
"I told you." Rory shot her mother an I-told-you-so look.
"Is this from the Midnight Cafe'?"
"Yep. The man is a coffee god."
"You keep bringing me this coffee and you have my permission to do whatever you want with my daughter."
Rory almost spit her drink across the table.
"I'll keep that in mind." Tristan leered at Rory bending to whisper in her ear. "I'm sure there's a thing or two I would like to do to you."
Her face flushed scarlet but she pushed back her embarrassment and shot back at him. "I suggest you become accustomed to cold showers or this is going to be a really long trip."
"Okay, spawn of mine spill it." Lorelei dropped down beside her with coffee and popcorn.
"Hope you've got time cause it's a long story."
"It's either this or clean the house."
"Story time it is then." Rory proceeded to rehash her entire afternoon with Tristan, stopping several times to assure her mother that the famed midnight cafe did in fact truly exist.
"Ooh, Rory's got a boyfriend."
"Mom, he's not my boyfriend. I couldn't even stand him until this morning."
"Aah, but you like him." Lorelei smiled knowingly and drank her coffee.
"Doesn't matter. I probably won't even hear from him again. He just got back yesterday. I'm sure the conquests will be flocking in." Lorelei stared smugly at her daughter when the phone began to ring.
"It's your dime."
"Actually, it's more like fifty cents."
"Cell phone huh?"
"Yeah, is Rory there?"
"That depends, who are you?"
"The bane of her existence."
"I don't know Bible Boy. She might be in the shower, all dripping wet and naked and stuff." She heard a stifled groan on the other end. "But she's not."
"Mom. Give me the phone." Rory rolled her eyes.
"No points for you Mr. Manners."
"Mother give me the phone or I'll tell Luke to stop serving you coffee."
"Evil child. Why did I let you out of the womb again?" "So someone could talk Luke into giving you coffee." She snatched the phone out of her mother's hand and walked to the front door. "Now I'm going to go sit on the porch and you are going to spy on me through the window like a good mother, understood?"
"Yes devil child."
"Thank you." Rory walked out and sat on the porch swing, chuckling slightly when Lorelei's head appeared in the window making faces at her. "Hello."
"That was interesting."
"That is life with Lorelei Gilmore the second." She chuckled. "Calling already, really Tristan, I'm supposed to be falling desperately in love with you not the other way around." She laughed again.
"Too late."
"What?" She missed his comment through the laughter.
"Nothing, I just wanted to say I had fun today."
"Surprisingly enough so did I."
"What are your plans for tomorrow."
"Lay in bed all day."
"Can I join you." She could almost see the smirk.
"If you become a eunuch."
"Ouch."
"Exactly. What did you have in mind?"
"Paris."
"We hate each other remember."
"Not Gellar, the city in France."
"Nope, no frequent flyer miles to speak of, besides you are supposed to be staying close to your grandfather."
"You were paying attention, and I am. He's flying to Paris tomorrow and I'm going with him." A molecule of anxiety crept into her mind. He was leaving again. "How long are you going for?" He noticed the slightest hitch in her voice.
"A couple weeks. Come with us. I'll be on my best behavior."
"Somehow that's not all that reassuring."
He was losing her to reason. A sudden desperation claimed him. He wasn't sure he could make this trip without her. "Please Rory. He's not doing well. He wants to go one last time before he...I don't think I can do this by myself and you are the only one I trust enough to admit that to."
She felt her heart clench at his admission. His voice was rough and strained. She sighed trying not to surrender to her misty eyes. "I'll see what I can do." She tried to even out her voice. "I'll call you in an hour."
"Bye Rory." When she was about to hang up the phone she paused.
"Tristan?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, I know how much he means to you."
"Thanks, the means more than you know."
"I'll see if I can go convince the crazy woman known as my mother to let me go gallivanting around Europe with the Evil Tristan." She heard him laugh and was relived.
"Right, remind her that the knight guarding the grail was French for me."
"That won't help the cause."
"I just want to hear about her reaction."
"That would be funny. Bye, Tris," she sighed.
"Bye."
Clicking the phone off, Rory squared her shoulders and headed back into the house, mentally preparing herself for the tantrum her mother would throw at the prospect of being left alone for a week. Staring at the phone in her hand as she opened the door, she failed to see the other woman opening it from the other side and the two collided. Two hands instantly flew to two sore heads as they backed away from each other.
"Oww. Geez, Mom, I thought we decided there were some Mother/Daughter bonding tricks we could skip," she moaned, heading into the kitchen. "Yes, Devil Child, we did, but then you went outside where it was harder for me to hear and forced me to take drastic action," she glared as she took one of the ice packs her daughter held. "What exactly did the juvenile delinquent want?"
"To steal me away and go to Europe for a couple of weeks."
Lorelei moved the ice pack away long enough to give Rory a long look. She was sitting at the table, elbows propped on it, holding her ice pack to her forehead and keeping her eyes closed. Usually alert, she didn't seem to be paying much attention to the conversation at the moment.
"And make passionate love to you in every city?"
"Sure."
Moving the pack from her daughter's head, she ignored the grunted protest and sat opposite her. "Now, paying attention, tell me what he wanted."
"I was paying attention," she protested.
"Ror, you just said he was taking you to make passionate love to you in every city."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"His very ill grandfather is taking him to Paris for a week. He doesn't want to go alone and needs some emotional support. Considering that Chiltonites don't exactly fit that bill, he asked me to go."
"And you told him?"
"That I'd ask you." Satisfied that she had given a sufficient explanation, she reached over and took her ice pack, promptly reapplying it to the knot on her forehead.
Her mother, on the other hand, leaned back in her chair and gave her a disbelieving look. "You didn't say no?"
Rory immediately noticed the tone and looked at her. "He needs someone, Mom. I don't think he has anyone he can turn to."
"You being overdramatic about your head," Lorelei said, trying to think of an answer.
"There's a knot on my head."
"I don't have one," her mom shrugged.
"You've got a thick skull," Rory smirked. "Hey, Child o' Mine, if you want me to let you fly off with a walking Abercrombie add, you better be nice to me!"
"You're letting me go?"
Lorelei sighed and was silent for a moment. "Yes, I am. But ONLY if you promise not to go to Fez and call every day."
Rory leaned forward and hugged her mom close to her. "Thanks. I don't think his grandfather has much time and it's going to be really hard on him."
"Don't worry about it. I'll have Sookie come stay over and we can paint toe nails, watch Love Story and eat all kinds of unhealthy things."
"Hey, isn't that our normal routine?" Rory's asked as she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Yes," Lorelei answered brightly. "She's your replacement for while you're gone."
"Ok, well...I guess I'd better go call Tristan, see when we're leaving, what I need to get to take with me-"
"Whether he likes pink or red teddies," Lorelei interrupted.
"Shush, Evil Mother, I have no intention of letting anything happen between us! We're friends and that's all we'll ever be!"
With that firm declaration, Rory stood and walked out of the room, leaving her mom to stare after her with a smirk growing on her face. "Sure. Just friends....and I'm leading the protest against coffee," she snorted, standing to go take stock of Rory's wardrobe.
After a quick call to work out the details Rory joined her mother in her room. "What are you doing?"
"Packing for you."
"And how do you know what I want to take?" Rory peeked over her mother's shoulder.
"Because I am much better at this outfit thing than you are, oh jedi in training."
"Then please, teach away oh wise one."
"What time are you leaving?" Lorelei continued to stuff clothes into a duffle bag and cringed when Rory pulled them back out to fold them.
"He's picking me up around ten."
"So one more night of harassing you before you leave me twisting in the wind huh?"
"Yep."
"Ben and Jerry's it is then." They finished packing her bags and made sure she had everything before flopping unceremoniously down in front of the TV with their ice cream. "So, nothing is going to happen between you two during an entire week in the city of love, huh?" Lorelei smirked at her daughter's scowl.
"No, nothing." Rory nodded her head to emphasize the point.
"We'll see." She turned back to her ice cream and ignored the pillow Rory flung at her.
In Rory's opinion, the doorbell rang insanely early in the morning. She was dressed and ready but her head was buried in her arms as she draped herself across the kitchen table. "Come in." She didn't have the energy to raise her head.
"What happened to you?" Tristan chuckled slightly.
"Lorelei Gilmore happened to me. We were up until six am."
"I guess you really will be needing this." He waffed the coffee aroma toward her until she perked up.
"Rick's coffee?" There was an excited spark in her eyes.
"Yep. He said he would miss his jedi but would forgive you if you brought him some gourmet blend back from Paris. He mumbled something about market research."
She accepted the coffee gratefully and swallowed half of it before lowering the cup. "Ahh, brain once again functioning."
"Do I smell coffee?"
"Morning Lorelei." Tristan produced a second cup and handed it to Rory's eager mother. "Thank you for letting Rory come with me."
Guzzling the coffee she fought desperately to remember what she was going to lecture him about. "God this is good coffee."
"I told you." Rory shot her mother an I-told-you-so look.
"Is this from the Midnight Cafe'?"
"Yep. The man is a coffee god."
"You keep bringing me this coffee and you have my permission to do whatever you want with my daughter."
Rory almost spit her drink across the table.
"I'll keep that in mind." Tristan leered at Rory bending to whisper in her ear. "I'm sure there's a thing or two I would like to do to you."
Her face flushed scarlet but she pushed back her embarrassment and shot back at him. "I suggest you become accustomed to cold showers or this is going to be a really long trip."