Lorelai didn't get any sleep that night. She turned the TV on after a little while, but she didn't pay attention to what was on the screen. She thought about what she had gone through in the past few weeks. She felt exhausted, but also determined to get through this. She loved having the support of her love ones, but she also felt like she was a bit of a burden to them.

Luke also had trouble sleeping. He eventually fell asleep, but it took a couple of hours. He was used to having Lorelai next to him and the bed felt a little empty without her. When he opened his eyes in the morning, he automatically reached for her, forgetting for a second that she wasn't there. He sighed and looked at the clock; it was a little after nine A.M.

He moved slowly and got out of bed. He came downstairs twenty minutes later after showering, brushing his teeth and getting dressed. He tiptoed in the living room. He could see Lorelai lying on the couch but he wasn't sure if she was asleep or not. He didn't want to disturb her, so he left the house as quietly and as quickly as he could.

Lorelai heard Luke walking. She didn't say anything because she wasn't sure what to say. She bit her lip and held back a sigh. She waited until she heard the front door close to release her sigh. She continued to lie there; she had no energy or motivation to get up. The phone rang at that moment. Lorelai groaned. She knew Rory was probably still sleeping. She sat up slowly and got up and walked over to the phone, picked it up on the last ring before the answering machine would pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lor."

"Oh Chris, how are you?" Lorelai asked a little reluctantly.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Hmm… well I'm hanging on, doing the best I can. I don't know what else I can tell you"

"Okay, well I'm calling to tell you some good news… I don't know if you want to hear though since-"

Lorelai cut him off. "Just tell me." She said flatly.

"Oh, okay… um, well my grandfather died."

"Your grandfather died and that's good news?!" Lorelai almost shouted.

"No, no that's not the fun part. He lived a long life and he liked me, believe it or not… long story short, I'm rich." Christopher answered.

"You're rich? That's what you called to tell me?" Lorelai was furious.

"Well, yeah, I thought I'd offer to pay… for your treatment." Christopher said slowly.

"My parents are paying for my treatment. I thought I told you that." Lorelai replied.

"No, you didn't tell me."

"Oh well sorry. I don't need your money Chris so can we end this conversation now?"

"Wait! I want to take care of Rory too. I was thinking maybe I could pay for Yale." Christopher suggested.

Lorelai sighed. "Well that's Rory's decision, not mine. You can call her."

"All right, she still has the same cell number, right?"

"Yes." Lorelai answered simply.

"Okay… and Lorelai?"

"Yes?"

"Take care, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Christopher. "Lorelai hung up.

She walked into the kitchen and started to make herself a cup of coffee. Rory came out of her room a minute later.

"Morning," Rory greeted Lorelai.

"Morning hon." Lorelai tried not to sound upset.

"Who was on the phone?" Rory asked.

"Oh it was your dad." Lorelai mumbled as she carried her coffee mug to the table and sat down.

"Oh, what did he want?" Rory walked over to the coffee make and saw that there was enough for her to make a cup.

"Well, his grandfather died and I guess he inherited a lot of money from him… he offered to pay for my treatment."

"Oh… and you told him that Grandma and Grandpa are paying?" Rory sat next to Lorelai at the table, placed her coffee in front of her.

"Yep, and he also offered to pay for Yale." Lorelai said unenthusiastically.

Rory frowned. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. I told him that that was your decision." Lorelai looked at Rory.

Rory laughed half-heartedly. "What does he think paying for Yale will make up for missing out on important parts of my life?"

"Rory," Lorelai said gently. For as long as she could remember, Rory had always have given Christopher second chances.

Rory shook her head. "I'll go visit him. I want to talk about this with him." It was a Saturday, so Christopher would probably be at home.

Lorelai gave Rory a small smile. "Okay, if that's what you to do."

Rory nodded. She glanced at Lorelai and noticed that she was rubbing her temple and that she hadn't taken a sip of her coffee.

"Mom? Are you all right?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "No. I'm not." She admitted. "I didn't sleep last night and Luke and I had a little fight. I ended up coming down here because I couldn't sleep and he couldn't sleep… and the whole thing is just a mess. Everything is falling apart… my coffee doesn't even taste right!" Her voice broke.

"Oh, Mom," Rory whispered. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Lorelai's, gave it a little squeeze.

Lorelai sniffed. "I'm just so tired of everything, but I have to keep pushing through and it's just…so hard."

Rory started crying too. She pulled away from Lorelai and stood up. She gestured for Lorelai to stand too.

Lorelai stood up and went into Rory's embrace. Rory knew that a hug couldn't fix things, it couldn't make everything okay. She just wanted to try to comfort her mother.

They hugged for a long time, neither of them wanted to let go.

"Are we trying to break the Guinness World Record for the longest hug?" Lorelai asked with a small laugh.

Rory smiled. "Maybe," She teased.

Lorelai pulled away a few seconds later. She held onto Rory's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Go ahead, go see your dad."

Rory frowned. "Are you sure? I want to talk to him but I also want to stay here with you."

Lorelai nodded and gave Rory a weak smile. "I'm sure. I'll be fine, I promise. I'm going to try to sleep, and if I can't, I'm going to go to the Inn and see everyone… maybe see if there's any work that I can do." She said slowly.

Rory gave Lorelai a small smile of her own. "Okay, if you're sure. I also have to see Paris and the apartment landlord, pay my half of first month's rent for the fall." She had called Paris back last night.

Rory walked over to the counter and picked up a muffin. "I'm glad Luke always makes sure we have food in the house." She said softly.

Lorelai smiled. "Yep, he takes care of us."

Rory went into her room to grab her purse. "Okay, I'll be home as soon as I can."

Lorelai gave her a little nod. "Drive safe sweets." She leaned in and kissed Rory's cheek. Rory kissed Lorelai's cheek.

Rory quickly put on her shoes (she was already dressed) and was out the door with a quick, "Bye"

Christopher was relaxing reading the newspaper while Gigi watched TV when he heard knocking at the door. He got up and opened the door.

"Rory! This is a nice surprise. I was going to call you once I put Gigi down for her nap."

"Hi Dad… we need to talk." Rory said as Christopher pulled her into a hug. She didn't hug him back.

Christopher frowned. "Oh, okay. I'll just go put Gigi down; it's almost her nap time anyway."

Rory just nodded and took a seat on the couch. When Christopher picked Gigi up, she screamed. He tried to soothe her, but she didn't stop crying. He carried her to her bedroom.

Rory sat on the couch for fifteen minutes, waiting for Christopher to return.

"Sorry about that, I had to calm her down a little." Christopher took a seat on the other end of the couch. "What did you want to talk about?"

Rory let out an exasperated sigh. "Mom told me you called this morning… you offered to pay for her treatment?"

Christopher nodded. "Yeah, I didn't know that your grandparents are paying. I also offered to pay for Yale; did your mom mention that?"

"Yes…. Did you think that offering to pay for Yale would somehow make up for all the years you weren't there for me?" Rory scolded. She crossed her arms.

"What? Rory, no. I just wanted to help you out. I thought you might not want to owe your grandparents." Christopher said slowly.

Rory thought for a few seconds before she answered. "I… well I guess it would be nice not to owe them, but this isn't the way I want to pay them back. I want to earn my own money. I don't want your handouts… sorry. The way I see it, you're just trying to make it up to me…" She trailed off, not knowing how to word what she wanted to say.

"Make what up to you? I thought we were okay… okay maybe I didn't because you never called me after I told your mother to tell you that you could talk to me if you needed to. I know you're upset Rory, but you could have called me, I would have listened." Christopher stated.

Rory shook her head. "I don't know where we stand Dad. Sometimes we're okay and other times we're not. When I think about our relationship, I realize that you missed out on a lot of important moments of my life. You never even visited Stars Hollow until I was sixteen, you never visited me on my birthday, you didn't attend my high school graduation, and you didn't help me move into Yale."
She took a deep breath.

"You weren't there a lot of the time and that hurts, Dad. We've kept in touch over the phone and we've seen each other, but I feel like our relationship isn't exactly healthy." She stopped and glared at Christopher. She finally got it all out, and it felt good.

Christopher blinked. He put a hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I… don't know what to say."

Rory stared at him in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry, Rory, I truly am. I know I haven't been the best father to you and there's really no excuse for that. I feel terrible." He looked down.

Rory's heart sank. She was still angry, but she felt a bit empathetic. She wanted to tell him that she thought Luke had been a better father figure than he was, but she decided not to.

Christopher lifted his head and looked at Rory with a brooding expression.

Rory pressed her lips together and avoided eye contact. "I just needed to get that out… I do love you it's just… I've kept that inside of me for years."

"I love you too." Christopher said softly.

"And now with all that's going on… I realized that I needed to tell you how I felt." Rory continued. "If I need you, I'll call you. I don't want you to pay for Yale, I hope that's okay."

Christopher nodded. His gaze met Rory's. "It's all right. I understand, really. I appreciate you coming here and telling me all this… it was a wakeup call." He admitted.

Rory gave him a small smile. She could see that he understood. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. They hugged for a minute.

When Rory pulled away, she whispered: "Thank you." She was thanking him for letting her vent.

Christopher smiled and nodded. "Thank you for telling me what I needed to hear. And… I know that it works both ways, I'll call you more often."

"Okay." Rory whispered. She turned around and walked out the door.

Lorelai did end up going to the Inn. She was greeted with a hug from Sookie. Michel gave her a hug too. She was surprised but happy to see Michel be affectionate. She managed to get a little work done, but she spent most of her time there catching up with everyone.

Sookie drove her home. When Lorelai stepped on the porch, she decided to call Luke. Rory had already called to tell her a little bit about her talk with Christopher and to say that she would be spending some time with Paris in New Haven. Lorelai stepped inside and dialed Luke's number on her cell phone. It took a few rings for Luke to answer.

"Hey." He said gently.

"Hey." She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "I haven't seen you all day, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm all right…" She paused. "I'm sorry… about last night."

"No. Lorelai its fine, I'm sorry too."

"Okay." She said softly.

"So um I should be home later tonight, okay?" He said.

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

"Okay."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Love you." She felt herself getting choked up.

"Love you too." Luke said gently.

"Bye." She whispered.

"Bye."

Luke hung up the phone.

"Was that Lorelai, sugar?" Babette asked. She was sitting at the counter next to Miss Patty.

"Yeah." Luke answered simply.

"How's she doing?" Miss Patty asked.

Luke sighed softly. "I really don't know… she seems okay but I think she just might be trying to stay strong for everyone." He frowned.

"Oh. Well I know you'll stay by her side no matter what. Tell her that we're here for her too if she needs to talk." Babette said.

"'Yeah, will do." Luke said quietly. He was lost in his thoughts.

Rory opened up to Paris. She told her about Lorelai's cancer. Paris was very supportive and thoughtful. Rory was a little surprised but thankful. They had lunch together. When Rory returned home that night, she and Lorelai had a long talk about everything. Then, they curled up on the couch and watched a movie. Rory noticed that Lorelai was starting to fall asleep.

"Mom, you should go to bed." She said gently.

Lorelai sat up and shook her head. "No, Luke should be getting home soon and I want to see him."

Rory shrugged, "Okay."

The phone rang a couple minutes later.

"I'll get it." Rory stopped the movie and got up and walked over to the phone.

A minute later, she called to Lorelai, "Its Luke."

Lorelai slowly got up and walked over to the phone. Rory handed the phone to her and left the room to give her privacy.

"Hi."

"Hey… listen I can't come home tonight." Luke told her.

"Why not?" Lorelai asked immediately.

Luke sighed. "Well, Caesar's mother broke her ankle and he's going to spend a few days with her, helping her around the house and such. He's going to need time off, so I'm gonna have to run the diner by myself. The delivery guy is coming tomorrow, so I'm going to stay in the apartment tonight, I'm sorry."

"Oh…" Lorelai felt disappointed. "That's okay hon."

"I'm so sorry I can't be there." Luke said his voice a little hoarse.

"It's okay, really." Lorelai said calmly.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow for sure. I'll close early."

Lorelai nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Okay." She whispered.

"Bye." Luke said gently.

"Bye."

Lorelai stood there for a minute. She wanted to see Luke, but at the same time she was thinking it might be good for them to spend some time apart. He had been the perfect boyfriend these past few weeks and she thought it might be good for him to take a break away from her.

Rory came out of room. "Mom? Are you okay?" She walked over to Lorelai and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Lorelai turned to face Rory. Rory took one look at Lorelai's face and knew how she was feeling. "Luke isn't coming home, is he?" She asked gently.

Lorelai shook her head.

"And you really wanted him to… I'm sorry."

"He needs to stay at the diner; Caesar has to stay with his mother. It might be better this way anyway." Lorelai told her.

"Better? How?" Rory was a little confused.

"Because… he's been amazing these past few weeks, taking care of me and everything. I think he deserves a break." Lorelai explained.

"Oh." Rory whispered. She understood. She put a smile on her face. "How about we finish the movie?"

Lorelai smiled softly and nodded.

They walked back over to the couch. Rory pressed 'play' on the remote and the movie started from where they left off. After a few minutes of watching in silence, Lorelai moved over and rested her head on Rory's shoulder.

Rory felt tears welling up in her eyes. She wrapped an arm around Lorelai. She knew Lorelai needed her to be strong right now. They would get through everything together.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading. I'm sorry if the whole Christopher part of this chapter seemed random. I used the season 6 plot line of him receiving his grandfather's money. With the Christopher/Rory confrontation, I always hated how passive Rory was him on the show. I know she accepted the money for Yale on the show because she wanted to get out from Richard and Emily's thumb…
I just wanted to show that I think Christopher is a bad dad and I wanted Rory to see that, I wanted her to call him out for his actions. And since he is her father, I didn't want their relationship to be completely ruined, hence the hug. This might be an unnecessary explanation, but I kind of felt like it was needed. Please feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter.