A/N: I was going to try to update this earlier, but I got really sick and it didn't happen. So, here it is now, and you will all make me immensely happy if you review (good or bad, as long as it's helpful) Think you can do that?

Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, I do not own Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 5

Tears and Lonely Days

By the time Rory awoke the next morning, Michael was already gone. There was no coffee in the pot, no note on the fridge. He was mad, she could tell.

Trying not to think about it, Rory got ready for work, putting on her favorite pair of slacks and a comfy blue sweater. She decided to leave her hair down, and, as usual, put on very little makeup. Normally she would have made something to eat, but she wasn't hungry.

Andrea had tried to talk to her when she got to work, but Rory wasn't in the mood, so she pushed her away, and successfully managed to hide in her office for the first half of the day.

At lunch, however, luck wasn't on her side. Andrea forced her way through the door, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her out to the diner.

"You can't stay in that tiny little office all day, you need fresh air, " Her friend insisted, dragging her along, "Now are you going to tell me what happened, or do I need to just assume the worst and kill Michael for you?"

"Nothing happened, I'm just tired, that's all," Rory insisted as she begrudgingly followed behind Andrea..

"Yeah," Andrea rolled her eyes. She always blamed Michael for everything, "Right."

"I'm serious, I got home late last night from that meeting, and Michael was already asleep," Rory filled her in, "He was gone when I left this morning. Therefore, I have not seen him. How can I be fighting with some I have not seen? That would be crazy."

"So he is mad at you," Andrea concluded, "And you think you did something wrong."

"I have no idea if he's mad or not, he had a busy day today, so he hasn't called me yet," Rory told her, trying to convince herself at the same time, "I just didn't get home until nearly midnight because of that meeting and the accident on the freeway, I didn't sleep well, and I had to get up at five. I'm cranky, sue me."

"Fine, whatever," Her friend sighed, really wishing it had been Michael. "Just promise me to get some sleep tonight. I don't like this mean, grumpy Rory. Lively, happy Rory is much more fun to be around."

"Fine," Rory smiled a little as the waitress placed their food on the table. Andrea had ordered for her, so Rory reluctantly took a few bites. Realizing how truly hungry she was, she ended up clearing her plate in just a few minutes while Andrea rambled on and told really bad jokes that finally had Rory in a somewhat good mood.

...

Rory tried calling Michael again after lunch. He didn't pick up. Again. In fact, it went straight to his voicemail.

She knew he couldn't just drop everything and answer the phone, he had a job, a job that required he spend a lot of attention caring for patients, and very little time on person issues, but usually he would have found time to call her back by now. Or at least turn his phone on.

How mad at me is he? She wondered. I didn't do anything wrong, Rory reminded herself again as she pushed the thoughts farther back in her mind and went back to her own job, looking for something to distract her.

...

"Well, I'm out for the day, you want to go grab something to eat?" Andrea asked as she made her way into Rory's office once again. After lunch Rory had gone back into her funk, and it was driving Andrea crazy. She had tried to stay away, knowing that all her friend wanted was some time alone, but she couldn't help it anymore, she had to see if there was anything she could do. As much as Rory kept saying she was fine, Andrea could tell she wasn't. After all, it was part of her job as one of her best friends to recognize these things.

"I think I'm just going to go home," Rory sighed as she shut down her computer for the day, "I haven't spent any time in the kitchen in a while, it might be good for me."

"You? Cooking?" Andrea asked, quizzically raising her left eyebrow at her friend. Everyone knew that Rory hated to cook.

"You know I like cooking a little from time to time," Rory protested, "I'm not completely like my mom."

"I always want to believe that, but then I go and spend a few days in Stars Hollow with you and can't help but believe it's all just a lie," The blonde smiled as she relaxed a little and leaned up against the white door frame. After mentioning her mom, Rory realized it had been days since she'd talked to her. Maybe that's what I need to do, she though, I just need to have a chat with my mom. That always fixes everything.

"Still, I think I'll just go home tonight," Rory insisted as she stood up, grabbed her purse, and pulled her arms through the sleeves of her favorite jacket, "Maybe some other time, though."

"Fine, I'll just see you tomorrow then," Andrea agreed as she gave Rory a quick hug goodbye before leaving to gather her own things and go home.

...

"Michael, are you home?" Rory asked as she walked through he front door. Silence. I guess he's not home yet, she thought.

Trying to shake off the feeling that Michael was giving her the cold shoulder her, Rory changed into some more comfortable clothes, and walked into the kitchen to start preparing dinner. She started with a salad, followed by bread, pasta, green beans, and everything else she could thing of. She wasn't particularly fond of half of the things she was cooking, in fact she wasn't particularly fond of cooking in general, but on days like this, it helped relieve some of her stress and gave her something to do with her hands while she waited for Michael to come home.

By the time she was done, he still hadn't returned. Not wanting to eat alone, she wrapped up the meal, and put it in the fridge, planning on heating it up later. All that work for nothing, she momentarily thought to herself.

Suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion go through her, she laid down on the couch, telling herself she would only rest for a moment. Within seconds, she was out.

It wasn't until hours later that Rory woke up. There was a loud ringing in her ears that she quickly figured out was nothing other than the phone interrupting what was a perfectly good dream.

"Hello?" She answered groggily as she sat up on the couch and pulled the phone to her ear.

"Try not to sound too enthusiastic, dear, it's only me," Lorelai answered from the other end, her voice sounding particularly chipper.

"Sorry, I just woke up," Rory responded, a little more awake this time.

"It's only 8 o'clock," Her mother responded, "Someone must have had a long day."

"Yeah, the longest," She shrugged even though she knew her mother could not see her from the other end of the phone, "I came home, made dinner, and crashed on the couch."

"You're young," Lorelai told her, "Aren't you supposed to have energy?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rory sighed, "So, what's up? Why'd you call?"

"Does a mother need an excuse to call her only daughter?" She questioned, "What has the world come to?"

"Spill it, mom," Rory urged, "I can tell somethings up."

"Nothing is up," Her mother assured her, "I just felt like calling wonderful daughter, seeing as how we haven't spoken in 6 1/2 days. 6 1/2, I tell you. It's madness."

"I think we've set a new record," Rory smiled as she sat up straighter on the couch, "What do you want to talk about."

"Well, we could talk about how Kirk almost set Luke's on fire," Lorelai smiled, "Or you could simply update me on your life, there must be something interesting going on."

"No, nothing too interesting," Rory told her, "Who would ever let Kirk near something flammable?"

"Okay fine, I did it," Lorelai announced, "I didn't think he would take it that far!"

"You let Kirk near fire?" She asked "Why in the world would you do that?"

"It's all a big misunderstanding, really," Lorelai explained.

"Sure it is," Rory rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't supposed to blow up!"

"There was an explosion too?" Rory shouted, "How did I miss all of this?"

"I told you, it was one really big misunderstanding," Lorelai continued to explain. "And you're the one who hasn't called me in nearly a week."

"That's besides the point." Rory told her, "I need more details, lady."

"And I plead the fifth," Lorelai decided. Rory rolled her eyes. "Change of subject. How's Michael?"

"Oh, he's just, you know, Michael," Rory said, trying to hide how upset she was. She failed.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Who said anything was wrong?" Rory asked as she turned and laid down on the couch and propped her head up with a few pillows.

"A mother knows when something is wrong," Lorelai told her, "It's a gift. Now tell me what's going on, or I will get in my car and drive down their and force it out of you. Or maybe I'll just punch him for you."

"Funny, Andrea offered to do the same thing," She told her mother.

"That bad, huh?"

"No, it's not," Rory told her, "It's not that big of a deal. I just promised I would try to be home for dinner because he was cooking, but then I got caught up in a meeting and traffic and stuff and by the time I got home, he was already asleep. Then this morning, I wake up and he's already gone and he hasn't been answering any of my calls. But it's probably no big deal, he's probably just busy at work, right?"

"I'm sure he is, honey," Lorelai sympathized, "You know how crazy it is at the hospital. I'd give it a little more time, he'll come around. Michael's a great guy, he wouldn't just flat out ignore you for something as little as that. You know he's better than that. Give him time, wait for him to come home, it'll all work out."

"I hope you're right," Rory sighed, "Thanks mom, I really needed to hear that."

"Any time baby, any time," Lorelai told her daughter. "When's he supposed to be home tonight, anyway?"

"The last I heard he was covering for a friend today, so he should be done at about 8:30," Rory told her as she checked her watch again.

"If he's not home by 10, give me a call and I'll kick his ass for you, okay?"

"Got it, mom," Rory said, smiling a little. "I'm sure you're right, anyway. I'm going to go heat up dinner for us, okay? I'll talk to you later, and I expect full disclosure on the Kirk incident."

"Not a chance, you have to work for that kind of in formation," Lorelai told her. "Bye, sweetie."

...

Two hours, three phone calls, and 5 reheated dishes later, Michael still wasn't home.

Disappointed, Rory plopped back down on the couch and turned on the TV. She was hoping the news would say something about heavy traffic that would cause him to get home late, or maybe a big accident that would require him to stay late at the E.R. Sadly, the news said nothing of the sort. Still trying to rationalize, Rory wondered if maybe she had his schedule wrong, maybe he didn't get off until later than she though.

Turning off the TV, Rory stood bak up and walked back into the kitchen. She wasn't hungry anymore, and since Michael still wasn't home, she decided to put all the food back into the refrigerator for the 3rd time that night.

Giving up any hope at all, Rory solemnly made her way into the bedroom and got ready for bed. She put on a comfy t-shirt and checked the clock again: 10:45.

The tears starting to swell in her eyes, Rory picked up the phone and settled herself in bed. Thinking for a moment, she first decided to try Michael again. As she expected, he didn't answer. The tears were coming faster now, and she dialed the phone again, this time she was calling Lorelai.

"Mom," Rory muttered, her voice sounding choppy and almost incoherent as she choked back the tears that refused to stop coming, "He's not coming home."

"Nobody is worth your tears, but the one who is won't make you cry."