Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story.

Luke's diner

Luke's jaw clenched when he caught the site of a Limo pulling up in front of his diner. He knew that there was only one reason that it would be in Stars Hollow. The Gilmores.

"Rory, you need to go upstairs right now. Hurry" Luke said to the wide eyed girl in front of him

"Luke what's going on?" Rory asked worriedly. He was scaring her a little; she had never seen him look so livid.

"Your grandparents just pulled up" He said angrily "Go get upstairs and warn Jess and Lorelai." Motioning for her to move

"Go" he demanded loudly when she hesitated

Rory jumped off her stool and ran to the curtain separating the diner from upstairs. Just as she was about to go through something stopped her, looking out toward the street she could see her grandparents getting out of their car. Did she want to hide from them? She asked herself. Was if fair to leave Luke to deal with them? She glanced at Luke and could almost see the anger radiating off of him, he had already done so much for them. Her grandparents would only find a way to punish him for standing up for her. NO! She would not allow that. She needed to face her grandparents and let them know they couldn't control her life any longer. Taking a deep breath she marched back toward the counter.

"Let me handle this Luke."

"Rory, no just let me get rid of them." He said as he came around the counter.

"I have to do this Luke it's not fair to make you deal with them."

He could see she was determined and even admired her courage sighing he agreed. "I'm going up and letting Lorelai and Jess know what's going on. I won't be long."

"Tell them to stay hidden for now. I'm going to try to make them to leave" She said as she ran out the diner door, halting the Gilmores in the middle of the street.

"Ah Rory, just the person we were looking for." Emily says in her fake sugary voice

"Grandma, Grandpa" she says keeping her voice monotone "Why are you here?"

"We came to see you on your birthday" Richard chimes in trying to alleviate some of the tension

"I already have plans for today. I'm spending it with my friends." Rory says as she nods her head toward Luke's

"Surely you can find some time to spend with your family?" Emily asks as her eyes narrowed in annoyance

Rory just ignores her attempt at guilting her, she doesn't really think of her grandparents as family any longer. The naïve girl that once got upset, whenever she thought of disappointing them is gone. She now knows why her mother tried to shield her from them, and wishes that her efforts were more successful. The only family she needs is in the diner behind her. And she wants nothing more than to get back to them.

"I'm sorry you drove all this way for nothing. Maybe you can stop at Kim's antiques and it won't be a total loss. If you'll excuse me I need to get back to my friends." Rory turns around to head back into the diner effectively dismissing them.

"You get more like your mother everyday." Emily says as she glares at her. She turns to her husband. "I told you we should have fought Lorelai for custody of her, our daughter was too juvenile to raise an infant. We wouldn't have made that mistake again."

Rory is speechless. She stares at her grandmother in shock. How did she ever fool herself into believing this woman had a heart? She just cavalierly announced her intention to kidnap her child.

"How dare you!! You know nothing about me or my mom. Was that what you thought was going to happen if my daughter had survived? You thought you would use your influence with the courts to steal her from me and Jess?" Rory was yelling now drawing curious looks and shock from the people inside.

"Now Rory." Her grandfather began embarrassed by the scene she was creating "There is no need to shout, your grandmother didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"And how did she mean it then?" Rory asked refusing to lower her voice.

"We would have helped you. Don't you see? With you and your child living with us she would have been raised correctly. The way you should have been all along." Richard said pleading with her to understand

"Thankfully it didn't have to come to that. Unlike your mother, you were given another chance to start over and live your life properly without that stigma attached to it." Emily said with obvious disdain for her daughter. It seemed as if every patron in the diner was now standing at the windows straining to catch every word.

"How could you …..Jess and I …"Rory felt as if she'd been sucker punched, she wanted to scream at her grandmother, tell her how much she hated her, call her an evil bitch. But her mind was having trouble wrapping itself around what her grandmother just said. It was better that her baby died? Before she could try again, Emily's screeching interrupted her.

"Jess…That boy was no good for you. He is just another example of your mother's bad influence and parenting. She should have never allowed that miscreant within a mile of you. Thankfully he has been dealt with. Now you will come back with us, and we can discuss how to keep him from coming back. We can't have that boy ruining all the work you've done this past year." Emily sounded if she was speaking to a willful child.

Rory was shaking now. Tears she refused to shed were ready to spill. She could feel the rage building inside her. Never in her life had she wanted to hit someone. But in that moment, she could feel her fist tightening at her side, and the urge to see her grandmother sprawled on the sidewalk was almost overwhelming. She straightened her spine, and looked at Emily making sure to stare directly into her eyes.

"LEAVE NOW! I'm not going anywhere with you. If I want to run off and become a porn star, you will have no say in it. This is my life and I decide who and what I want to be apart of it. And that no longer includes you."

"Now Rory you're obviously hysterical. You don't know what you're saying." Richard tried

Just then the door to the diner opened and someone stepped out. "I believe you heard what she said. I suggest you listen." Rory turned to see Lorelai with Luke not far behind her. She looked beyond the two expecting to see Jess and turned questioningly to them when she didn't see him. A slight tilt of Luke's head let her know he was still inside.

"Hey sweets, why don't you head in? Lane is waiting for you, with your breakfast." Lorelai said smiling at her reassuringly

Rory just nodded her head and scooted past Luke inside, never looking back. Lorelai turned back to face her parents as soon as the door had closed again.

"I believe it's time for you to go." She said evenly

"Don't tell me Lorelai. Once again you've decided being your child's friend is more important than what's best for her." Emily asked condescendingly

"No mother, I've decided that my grown daughter's happiness is more important than my own stupid pride. You should try it.

She's eighteen mom, if we don't want to lose her we have to let her live her own life."

Emily pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest in disgust. "Lorelai, stop being so overly dramatic. This has nothing to do with pride. This is about Rory, she may be eighteen but she's still a child. She doesn't know what's best. We have to do whatever we can to make sure she stays on the right path, even if it means forcing her to make a choice."

"What kind of choice?" Luke growled

"Not that this concerns you but, if Rory would like to continue with her education at the level she is at now, than she will need to avoid things that are unhealthy for her." Richard explained

"I'm assuming you mean my nephew and anyone else you don't deem worthy. Rory doesn't need your money I'll help pay for Yale if that is what you're threatening."" Luke said hotly

Richard shook his head exasperated. "Why are you here? You know nothing about this; in fact it was your attempts at parenting that allowed my granddaughter to end up pregnant in the first place. You should have never allowed that boy to come live with you. You obviously had no idea what you were doing."

"It amazes me how superior you think you are, when your own daughter, decided living in a shed at the age of sixteen with a one year old, was better than being in the same town as the two of you." Luke yelled back

Emily just glared at him refusing to acknowledge that he even spoke, instead she turned to Lorelai

"This is not just about the money. Your Father as you know is on the board of advisors at Yale, and has many influential friends at most of the elite colleges in the country. He has already explained the situation to a few members of the board, and they agree that she might need some time off to deal with her emotional problems. If she tries to transfer elsewhere it wouldn't take more than a few phone calls to ensure her undesirability."

Lorelai gasped shocked at the lengths they would go, to control Rory.

"Talk to her Lorelai, I'm sure you can make her see reason. We don't want to have to do this." Richard said as he grasped Emily's arm and propelled her forward. "Come along Dear. I don't believe there is anything more to say."

"She is going to hate you and I don't blame her. I won't help you." Lorelai screamed after them.

Inside the diner

Rory had rushed into the diner ignoring all the questioning stares from the patrons, she found Jess standing behind the counter, A look of pure rage across his handsome face. When he saw her he opened his arms and she ran into them.

"I hate them" She whispered

"I know" Jess whispered back "I wanted to go out there, but your mom insisted I stay back. She thinks it's better if they don't know I'm here yet. Luke agreed."

"Their never going to let us be happy." She cried

"Your mom swears she is going to make this right, I think she means it."

"I want to believe her." She said as she pulled back to look at him tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"I do too." He said kissing her before pulling her tightly to him once again.