AN - Droolia - Thank you x.

Ok so fair warning this chapter is part 1 of the angsty ones, This deals with Rory's downfall at the end of Series 5, some parts are the same but this is where this story really starts to diverge from canon because that whole episode and how it was handled really bugged me. So same crime but different outcome. I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think.

Chapter 10 - Before the calm

Rory stared at the blockwork wall of the prison cell. A prison cell she was in a prison cell. She chewed her lip trying not to cry. How did it come to this? How did she end up here? She sniffed and wiped her hand across her face.

"Ace?"

She looked up at the sound of Logan's voice muffled by the block work wall that separated the two cells.

"Rory?" Logan called out again. "It's OK. Everything will get sorted out."

"Logan. We got arrested. We stole a boat. What were we doing?" Rory called through the wall. There was a long pause and Rory turned around to stare at the white painted wall. "Logan?"

"I'm here, Ace. It will all be OK. I promise. We just have to do as they say and Dad's lawyers will sort this mess out."

Rory took a shuddering breath and pulled her knees to her chest trying not to cry was so difficult right now she just didn't understand where it had all gone wrong. How did it end up like this?

"Lorelai Gilmore," A policeman appeared at the doorway. "You're free to go," he slid open the cell door and Rory stumbled out onto the concrete walkway. In her bare feet she was freezing. "Keep moving," the policeman told her forcing her to move down the corridor. "You have to sign for your things," he nodded to her shoes and a brown envelope that contained her things. "Details of the promise to appear are in the envelope. Details will be sent to your permanent place of residence. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Rory nodded though inwardly she was flailing, she didn't understand this at all. Quickly she slipped on her shoes and took the envelope and then followed the policeman to the door where he announced that she was coming out. Rory took a deep breath and nervously stepped out waiting to see what fate she faced with her Mom and everyone else.

xXx

Lorelai tried to smile as she walked into her parent's dining room but failed. She was exhausted and drained from last night of collecting Rory from the police station and then trying to get Rory to talk about what the hell had happened that had led to Rory stealing a boat of all things. The paper detailing her daughter's agreement to appear in court felt like it was burning through her purse. Never had she ever thought she would be back at her parents begging for help. Her conversation with her mother several weeks ago had been largely gone unmentioned, Rory spending the least amount of possible with her grandparents meaning Emily had nothing to report. "Hi Mom, Dad."

"Lorelai?" Richard looked up at her in surprise. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company so early in the morning?"

"Would you like some breakfast?" Emily asked nervously, surprised by her daughter's presence early on a Friday morning when she was due to attend dinner later tonight.

"No," Lorelai pulled out the seat nearest to her and sank into it. "I could kill for some coffee."

"Of course," Emily nodded. "Sumaira, would you bring a coffee cup for my daughter please," she called to the hidden maid. "Is everything alright?"

"No it's not," Lorelai shook her head, "I just need a few minutes of your time, I need some help with something."

"Help how?" Richard asked nervously as he studied Lorelai's despondent face.

"Help from us?" Emily spoke slowly as she assimilated what Lorelai had just said "Richard call the office."

"Mom, Dad doesn't need to call the office," Lorelai closed her eyes tiredly before looking across at her mother. "I just need help with a name for a lawyer."

Emily sat up straight in her chair. "Richard call the office."

"For the Inn?" Richard asked quickly.

Lorelai exhaled deeply and reached into her purse pulling out the piece of paper she had been given the night before and putting it on the table. "Rory got arrested last night."

"What!" Richard and Emily exclaimed simultaneously.

"She got arrested because she stole a yacht with Logan. I don't know the full picture. I tried to get it out of her but something happened with Mitchum Huntzberger at the paper and she went to find Logan and then together they stole a yacht. I had to pick her up from the police department in Bridgeport. She has an exam today so I've dropped her at Yale because her car is impounded. The only lawyer that I have a recommendation is from Luke but that lawyer is a family lawyer and doesn't cover criminal law," Lorelai dropped her head into her hands. "My daughter needs a criminal lawyer. How did this even happen? I tried to talk to her. How did she spiral so far away from herself?"

"How much trouble is she in?" Richard asked practically.

"I have no idea. The police just gave me this, Promise to appear, we'll get sent something from the courts and then I guess she has to go to court. But I have no idea what all this means," she picked up the paper and held it out to her father so he could look at it. "I just…what do I do?"

"I'll call Charlie Davenport," Richard muttered as he scanned the paper. "Give me ten minutes I'll call him," he rose without another word disappearing into his office.

Lorelai looked across at her mother. "We were watching her, we were all trying. How did we get to this?"

"I don't know Lorelai," Emily rose to pour the coffee as the maid brought Lorelai her cup. She hovered by Lorelai's side for a moment after she had poured Lorelai a cup of coffee. Finding nothing to say that sounded remotely comforting she returned the pot to the side and moved to her own seat to sit and wait for Richard to come back and tell them just how much their beloved granddaughter was in.

xXx

As soon as the first hour was up Rory rose from her chair, she quickly gathered her things and walked her exam paper and her blank answer booklet up the front of the exam hall. Professor Bell smiled at her with an element of surprise. He took her exam paper and the blank booklet and smiled warmly at her "You need to fill the front in," he whispered to her, a note of concern crossing his face as he saw how watery her eyes were.

Rory shook her head. "No I don't," she turned away from the professor as she heard him opening the booklet. She marched down the aisles of furiously writing students and threw open the door, the early May sun hit her in the face and she squinted against the brightness. The tears that were threatening started to roll down her face. There was a clatter of feet and her professor came to the doorway, unable to leave the room unattended he waved his arm to one of the roving TA's who were the waiting in the hallways in case students needed to use the facilities. "Miss Gilmore, please wait."

Rory scowled in response and started to storm away from the building; she just needed to get out of the building, out of this school, there was no point in her being here anyway. She wasn't good enough, she would never be a journalist, because she didn't have it and now she was a criminal. She stole a boat…a boat she didn't even like the water. She glanced down at her hand it was still faintly stained with the black ink from the police fingerprinting pad. She was marked no matter how much she cleaned her hands she was marked for the worthless useless idiot that she was.

"Miss Gilmore," a young TA chased after her. "Please stop!"

"Why?" Rory called over her shoulder. "There's no point. I'm not good enough. There is no point!"

"Miss Gilmore, you are clearly upset." The TA caught up with her. "Let's go talk about what's going on," the young man used his stature to force her sideways towards a path that would lead to the admin building without touching her. "Come on now Miss Gilmore."

"I want to go!" Rory tried to sidestep him.

The taller man moved quicker then she expected and he blocked her path. "Miss Gilmore, We cannot allow a distressed student to just walk out of an exam. Come on now let's go and tale about this."

xXx

Lorelai grabbed her cell form her purse as it started to ring. There was so much going on and with Michel alone at the inn she was half expecting another crisis. She didn't need anything else to go wrong. There was too much already. The number was unfamiliar but she recognised it to be from the New Haven area and dread filled her. "Hello?"

"Hello, am I speaking with Lorelai Gilmore?" a polite voice sounded at the other end.

"This is she," Lorelai waved her mother away as Emily sat up with an inquiring look on her face.

"Hello Ms Gilmore. I'm Janice Albertson, your daughter's advisor at Yale." Lorelai held her breath terrified at what was about to come next. "I'm sorry to call unannounced but Rory has been brought to the support team in a bit of a state. She's fine physically but she is very emotional and I and the support team feel it would be good if someone could come to the campus. I see from Rory's file that you live fairly close, as do her grandparents, who are listed as the next contacts would one of you be able to come to campus shortly?"

"Is…what happened…I mean yes of course…but what happened? is she Ok?" Lorelai gasped fumbling with her purse as she pushed out of her seat.

"The support team are with her now. Rory walked out of her exam this morning."

Lorelai scrambled towards the door as the woman spoke carefully down the phone nearly colliding with her father as he came out of his study. "I'll get there as soon as I can." Lorelai told the woman down the phone. "Where is she? Wait I need a pen. Dad I need a pen." She grabbed the pen that Richard offered her and scribbled the building and room number onto the back of her hand. "Ok. Goodbye. Thank you," she closed her phone. "I have to…that was Yale….I have to get…um…I have to go to the building where she is…Rory needs…I…"

"Lorelai," Richard calmly put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll drive. I know the campus." He squeezed Lorelai's shoulder. "I'll get my keys."

Lorelai tried to take a calming breath as Richard hurried off. She didn't understand what had all gone wrong; her bright, moral, happy, brilliant, beautiful daughter was falling apart and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. Her hands were trembling and she tried to calm herself down but she just couldn't, she was aware of just how close her mother was stood next to her and looked up. Emily staring at her with an appalled expression on her face. "She walked out of her exam," she whispered.

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Emily told her softly. "I'll get my purse."

"You're coming?" Lorelai stared at her in surprise.

"Of course I am," Emily told her softly, rushing off to get her purse from the cupboard.

Lorelai took another calming breath and then opened her phone once more, she hit speed dial 2 and waited for the phone to connect.

"Luke's"

"I need you to come to my parents in a couple of hours." Lorelai whispered down the phone. "I don't know when. But Rory walked out of her exam and Yale called for us to come to campus. We're going to go get her."

"I…What…"Luke burbled for a second. "I'll be there, call me when you are leaving the campus and I will be at your parents' house."

Lorelai chewed her lip to try and stop herself from crying. "Luke."

"I know. It will be Ok."

xXx

Emily ushered Rory and Lorelai into the house and over to the living room. The three adults had spent the best part of three hours at the campus, speaking with various professionals within the support team. Richard had gone to collect a prescription they had written up for Rory. The college were insistent that Rory could resit her exam during the summer session and that despite everything that Rory should come back the following year as she had fulfilled her obligations bar this one exam.

Rory was having none of it. Emily had never seen her granddaughter so upset and so thoroughly misguided in her own self-belief. Somehow Rory had constructed that she was weak and useless and stupid and no one, not Lorelai or the school support team had managed to get out of her where this idea had come from. Instead Rory had got angrier and angrier, talking a mile a minute and going off at tangents. Emily felt like weeping; it was as if she was watching her granddaughter unravel.

When Rory had finally calmed down the support team had let them leave with pages of information that they thought might help Rory and the family navigate her legal problems and the emotional distress that none of them could quite fathom.

Emily stared at Lorelai and Rory as they sat on the couch together, Lorelai was trying to hug Rory but Rory was stiff as a board. Feeling the need to do something Emily quietly left her girls for a couple of minutes of together time in the hope that Lorelai might finally be able to get through to Rory and moved into the kitchen. It was lunchtime but it felt as if it could be the end of the day and Emily felt ridiculously hungry. Knowing that her girls with their bottomless pits of stomachs would probably be feeling as equally as hungry Emily set about getting together a tray of cold meats, cheeses and breads. She carefully cut up some fruit and set it on the tray before finally selecting the jug of orange juice that Sumaira had made this morning for breakfast and added it to her impromptu lunch tray.

Carefully she walked the tray out of the kitchen and after a moment's hesitation walked past the dining room table and into the living room. She never allowed eating in the living room normally, occasionally dessert if she was in a generous mood but she disliked the crumbs. Today had been all about things she didn't like, crumbs seemed the least of her concern. "Here we are," she sounded overly brightly as she set the tray on the table. "I'm sure after a little spot of lunch, we will all feel a bit better."

"You're going to let us eat in here," Lorelai stared at her in shock.

"Just this once," Emily nodded bending down and taking a plate to pass to her. "Rory would you like something to eat, some prosciutto perhaps?" She made eye contact with her granddaughter, Rory looked red eyed and dazed but the question seemed to promote some response in her as Rory nodded softly and sat forward. "Why don't you help yourself?" She coaxed gently as she sat on the couch opposite the girls. She looked up at the sound of the doorbell. After a moment Sumaira appeared down the staircase and she returned her attention to her granddaughter watching her slowly eat a small piece of bread. She looked up as a tall figure slowly walked into the living room and hovered in the entranceway as he assessed the situation. "Luke," she nodded to him in greeting.

"Emily," Luke nodded to her in return and slowly moved over to the couch, his gait was stiff and awkward, his shoulders tense and his expression firm. His eyes travelled over Lorelai and she gave him a miserable shrug to indicate she didn't know what was going on. "Hey Rory." He greeted the young woman in front of him as he sat beside Emily. Rory stared at him blankly and he leant forward and placed his forearms on his knees as he maintained eye contact with her. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Rory held his gaze for a moment and then looked at her food; taking a small bite as she considered what she wanted to say. "Why are you here?"

Luke exhaled slowly. "Your Mom called me because she had to go down to the college," he held his hands up palms facing Rory as the young woman's eyes narrowed. "You know your Mom is pretty worried about you. We all are. So you wanna tell me what's going on?"

Rory stared at him for a short while, her blue eyes widening until finally just at the point the adults were preparing to sit back and watch her eat she spoke. "I'm quitting Yale."

"Alright," Luke nodded. "Which college are you transferring to?"

Rory tensed. "I'm not going to school."

"You have a full time job with on the job training? You're joining the armed forces? Going to trade school?" Luke asked holding his gaze steadily on Rory's face, resolutely ignoring Lorelai and Emily who were shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Rory shook her head. "Then you're not quitting school" Luke told her firmly

Rory scowled. "You can't tell me what to do. I'm not a child."

"Only a child makes a dumb choice like that." Luke countered, ignoring the signals from Lorelai as he began a rapid exchange with Rory. "You don't want to go to Yale that's fine, you can go to any other school, but you are getting a degree or some other kind of qualification."

"There's no point I'm not going to be a journalist," Rory hissed at him.

"Doesn't matter what job you end up doing," Luke shrugged. "It's a level of education that puts you in good stead. I have a BA in Business Admin that focuses on small business, I got it to help my Dad out and then I used it to help set up the diner. You can do anything. You don't want to do a degree, you go to trade school and learn to be a plumber or something."

"But I'm supposed to be a journalist," Rory stared at him incredulously. "I'm not going to do be a journalist so I'm not going to school."

"You are going to school," Luke told her slowly. "I don't care where and I don't care to do what but you are going to some kind of school, to get some kind of qualification."

"You can't tell me what to do," Rory sat forward her face tensing.

"Yes I can," Luke told her softly.

"No you can't," Rory hissed as her eyes filled with tears. "I am not a kid and I'm not your kid."

"You're as good as," Luke told her his voice rising, "only one kid in this world I love more then you and that's April and there ain't really much in it to be honest. And you know what? With her I have no choice. You I have a choice and I choose to love you as pretty damn much as I love her."

Rory inhaled sharply staring at the man in front of her without blinking.

The front door opened and Richard announced his return as he entered the house. The distraction seemed to act like a catalyst and suddenly Rory was moving, jumping off the couch and grabbing Lorelai's purse, running towards the doorway.

"Rory," the three adults on the couches yelled at once, all moving to follow her as Rory sprinted away from them dodging around her grandfather and out of the house where she leapt into her mom's car and pulled out of the driveway.

Lorelai stared in horror as the Jeep sped away, "Luke."

"Get in," Luke yelled at her running towards his truck so he could follow after the jeep.

xXx

"We won't have room for all that Zach," Lane pointed out practically as she studied the list of things that Zach wanted to bring on their newly planned tour. "It's a minivan not a huge tour bus."

"We need to take the good amp," Zach told her. "How do we know that these church places have a decent PA system. A crappy PA system means that the band can sound totally crappy even if we are totally smashing the sound."

"But there just isn't space," Lane pointed out. "The two of you have to sit in the back and we need to have merchandise, that's where we make the money and creates loyalty to the band. How many times have you seen someone wearing a band shirt and spoken to them about it. I mean that is how I found my love of music. Lorelai was wearing a Clash T-shirt when I was 6 and I asked her what it meant. She played me the opening of London Calling and I fell in love. I just had to devour anything music."

"I know but we should take at least one good amp," Zach protested. "Come on Lane."

"Come on Zach." Lane countered. "Are you sitting on the roof or something?" she looked around at a knock on the door, "expecting anyone?"

"No," Brian shook his head getting up to open the door. "Oh hey Rory."

"Is Lane…?"

Lane picked up the hitch in her friend's voice and rushed to the doorway. "Rory?" her eyes widened at her friends appearance. Rory's bright blue irises standing out against bloodshot sclera. "Oh my god are you Ok?" She pulled Rory into the apartment.

"I need to…I need," Rory started trying to say before bursting into tears.

Lane immediately wrapped her arms around her friend. "What happened?" she nodded goodbye as Zach and Brian inched their way around the pair and scurried out of the apartment. "Come on sit," she dragged Rory to the beaten up seats in the space the three roommates used as a living area and together they squished onto one of the armchairs. "Rory tell me what's wrong."

"I screwed up and now everyone is telling me I'm wrong and useless."

"What people?" Lane scowled. "Who would think you are useless, you are the smartest person I know?"

"Mitchum Huntzberger said I wasn't good enough to be a journalist and then Logan agreed and as I'm not going to be a journalist there is no point in going to school so I told everyone I wanted to quit school and I stole a yacht and now everyone is mad at me," Rory burbled in one breath before reducing into sobs.

Lane hugged her friend tightly as she tried to pick apart what her friend had just garbled at her. "I don't understand? Mitchum is Logan's Dad right? Why does his opinion matter?"

"Because he's a newspaper magnate," Rory bleated. "He's like the king of the industry and he says I'm not good enough."

"Well if he's the king then he's the Man," Lane pointed out. "Music tells us you have to stick it to the Man."

Rory stared at her incredulously. "Don't you get it. I'm not good enough. The one thing that I have been working for my whole life. The thing that everyone wants me to be. I'm not good enough to be." She hiccupped.

"So why does that mean you have to quit school?" Lane stared at her in confusion.

"Because I'm a failure and a waste of space and a criminal!"

"Ok we will get to the boat stealing part in a moment," Lane frowned "but I don't understand how one guys opinion means you're a failure."

"It's not just one guys opinion it's everything," Rory clambered out of the seat and started to pace. "Everyone wants me to be a journalist and I've let them down. My other grandfather hated me, didn't even want to know me so now after 20 years I have this woman trying to be friends with me. I can't turn off my brain ever since that night I just can't turn it off. I suck at all my classes. I can't concentrate. I peaked at high school. I was supposed to be Christiane Amanpour and I'm nothing!"

"Rory that's stupid. You're an English major you can do anything with that. You are great writer you could write books. You can do anything. One guy's opinion from an industry that's dying anyway does not mean that you are useless." Lane got up and followed her friend as Rory paced back and forth. "You don't want to be someone else, you should be you. Screw your other grandfather, if that idiot didn't want to know you then that is his loss and if you don't want to have a relationship with your other grandmother you don't have to have one. It's the summer so you can just chill. We're going on tour you could be our roadie or our groupie. You just need to chill and relax and then you can go back to school and wow them again."

"I am not going to school. It's pointless!"

"It's not pointless Rory. You love to learn," Lane tried to grab Rory's hand. "Come on, sit down. You just need to relax. Ignore the jerk, you rock. You'll go back to school in the Fall and you will kick butt."

"I don't want to sit down," Rory yanked her hand away she rounded on her friend. "You are supposed to be my friend."

"I am your friend," Lane retorted, "You can't quit school Rory, that's just stupid. You've worked too hard to get there."

"I'm not good enough!"

"Said one jackass! Everyone else who matters thinks you are amazing!"

"I'm not good enough!" Rory yelled at her. "There is no point!"

"Are you serious?" Lane scowled. "Do you seriously not get how smart you are? Do you seriously not get how lucky you are?"

Rory froze and stared at her friend. "How am I lucky? I can't do what I'm supposed to do. I'm letting everyone down."

"Do you even hear yourself? You are at this amazing school where you can learn whatever you want to learn; where all the knowledge in the world is at your fingertips. And best of all you have a mother and grandparents who will let you be whatever you want to be and who will support you in whatever career you choose. I would kill for that. I would love to be at school studying music, really getting into the core of it. Today was the first time in my life that my mother acknowledged my passion. I've had to hide my passion under the floorboards and sneak around and live like this for a year, surviving on leftovers from the diner that I know Luke cooks extra for us and lies about because my parents wouldn't let me be me. Wouldn't accept me for me," Lane took a deep breath. "You are throwing everything away because some jackass told you something based on him spending what? Ten minutes with you? Why does his opinion mean more to you then the people who love you?"

Rory took a shuddering breath. "You're supposed to be my friend," she whispered.

"I am your friend Rory" Lane told her softly "and as your friend, it's my job to call you out when your being an idiot."

"No!" Rory shook her head and darted to the door.

"Rory," Lane chased after her. "Rory come on!"

"No"" Rory climbed into the jeep.

"Stop being an idiot and come inside. I'll call Lorelai and she can come and talk with you. Everything's just blown out of proportion right now," Lane held the door stopping Rory from closing it. "Rory come inside."

"NO!" Rory yanked the door making Lane stumble.

"Rory!" Lane yelped and jumped out of the way of the car. She grimaced as Rory drove off with a screech of tyres. She ran back into the house and grabbed her cell phone quickly dialling Lorelai's cellphone number. She hissed with frustration as it went to voicemail. Quickly she dialled the Inn. "Hi it's Lane Kim I need to speak with Lorelai?"

"Lorelai is not here," Michel's annoyed voice drawled down the phone. "She called this morning saying she would be an hour because she needed to see her parents and she has not come back. Her time keeping is getting worse."

"Her parents," Lane scowled. "Thanks Michel".

"Dude! What was that about?" Zach asked as he slunk back into the house.

"Rory is in trouble. Did you see if Luke was back?" Lane asked spinning to look at him. When Brian shook his head, she scowled. "Did you see if Miss Patty's was open?"

"Yeah some middle-aged striptease thing," Zach grimaced. "Dude you find that sexy?" he hit Brian in the stomach.

"A woman is in her prime in her 40's."

"Those women were like seventy," Zach cringed. "Hey where are you going?" he yelled after Lane as she ran for the door.

"I need to get hold of Lorelai. I thinks she's at her parents. Miss Patty will probably have the number," Lane yelled over her shoulder.

xXx

Lorelai stared out of her parent's window in desperation. After they had lost Rory in her random erratic drive around Hartford Luke had bought her back to the mansion so they and her parents could come up with a plan. Richard had headed back to Yale to wait at Rory's dorm in case she went to get her things and Luke had headed to Stars Hollow to wait at her house. Lorelai had surprised herself by saying she wanted to stay at the mansion. There was something about it being the last place that she and Rory had been together that made her want to be here. It for the first time in her life felt right to be here.

They had received 2 phone calls in the last twenty minutes, one from an anxious Lane saying Rory had just been at hers but had taken off and one from Luke to say Rory had passed him near Stars Hollow and he was now following her. The gist she had got from Luke was that Rory seemed to be heading back to Hartford and she was desperate for that to be true. She turned away from the window; staring at the empty driveway was making her go insane. She focused on her mother instead. Emily was sat in the living room looking as if she was reading her book but Lorelai knew her mother had not turned the page and it was all just an act. The pair had barely spoken since the men had left neither of them knowing what to say. Lorelai couldn't believe how much this situation hurt and it occurred to her through her panic that this was the second time that Emily had had to deal with a loved one vanishing in a haze of distress. For the first time in her life she actually felt remorse for what had happened all those years ago because she never wanted to feel like she was feeling right now again and she could only imagine what it had been like for her mother back then. Suddenly her father's statement of Emily not getting out of bed for a month was hitting so much harder than it ever did before, it was more than just the pervading feeling of guilt she always felt it was genuine sorrow for causing her mother pain. The analysis of her mother helped with her panic about Rory. There was still so much she couldn't grasp about what had gone wrong this last year. Rory's angry rants at the college had been random and jumpy, but there was one thing that had stood out. Since that night I can't turn my brain off. Rory had said it three times and Lorelai had no idea what it meant. All the other stuff sort of maybe made sense, she at least had some notion of what they were about but that statement meant nothing to her and it filled her with dread. What night and what happened and why the hell did Rory not talk to her about it?

The faint sound of brakes filtered through the window and Lorelai turned back to the window. Her heart raised into her mouth as she saw the jeep and she stumbled to the front door. She threw open the door as Rory stumbled out of the jeep; Her twenty year old daughter staggering towards her in floods of tears.

"Oh Rory!" Lorelai ran to her, throwing her arms around her daughter.

"I'm sorry," Rory cried into her shoulder clinging to her so tightly it hurt. "Mom, I'm so sorry!"

Lorelai looked up as Luke pulled into the driveway, her partner keeping his eyes on them the entire time as he climbed out of his truck. Lorelai gasped as Rory seemed to collapse in her arms, sinking to the ground as she sobbed her heart out. Lorelai went with her, trying to keep Rory in her arms, trying to keep her baby safe. Luke was beside them in a second and without a word he lifted Rory into his arms, carrying her towards the door where Emily was watching with silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It's OK Rory we've got you," Luke whispered as he carried her into the Gilmore mansion. "We've got you."