Thank you so much for all your reviews. I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Just to say there is going to be a lot of drama in this chapter so beware! ;)

Chapter 20

"Urghh, I'm sick of this studying! Why is it that my last exam literally has to be on the last day?" Lorelai complained as she let her head fall into her arms on the counter.

"It's just one more day." Luke chuckled as he came up to her.

"It's alright for you! You haven't had to cram for the last week!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"No but I've had to watch you complain every minute of the day of that week." Luke smirked.

"You're enjoying my pain. You have loved ordering me to revise." Lorelai narrowed her eyes.

"No. I just want you to do well, to do yourself justice. You deserve this." Luke said sincerely.

Lorelai sighed but gave him a small smile knowing his intent was sincere. "I know." She said. "I just want this to be over."

"Well at least you have your ceremony after it." Luke said.

"Yeah..." Lorelai said. She looked up at him. "You're still coming right? Because if you have to work, it's not a big deal."

"I'm coming. Nothing would keep me away." Luke said firmly.

Lorelai smiled. "Ok."

Just then Rory, Jess and Tristan arrived back from school.

"Hey mom! How's the revision going?" Rory asked.

"Urghhhh..." Lorelai groaned.

"That good huh?" Rory grinned.

"Hey, you three are still coming tomorrow right?" She asked.

"Of course." Rory nodded. "Paris might come too as we need to do some school work beforehand so we figured Jess would drive us there. We could even bring Katie and LJ as well as it would save you coming back here before the ceremony."

"Sounds good. Means you could leave early and meet me there before it starts." Lorelai said glancing at Luke.

Luke nodded. "Sure."

"Great. Just make sure you leave early enough as there will be traffic." Lorelai said.

"We will." Rory smiled. "Mom, I can't wait to see you graduate! You deserve this so much!"

"Thanks hon." Lorelai smiled adoringly at her daughter.

"Where are Katie and LJ now?" Rory asked.

"With Sookie at the inn. I have to run back there to grab some papers before going hom so I'll pick them up then." She said.

"Were they distracting you?" Rory smirked.

"No. Michel was." Lorelai said.

Rory laughed. "Yeah well he's good at that."

The following evening Rory, Tristan, Jess and Paris were all getting ready to leave the Crap Shack after having done a couple hours of schoolwork.

"Katie, LJ, come on!" Rory shouted up the stairs. "Mom will kill us if we get there late!"

"Coming!" Katie called coming down the stairs with LJ. "Sorry, LJ couldn't find his shoe." She said.

They all piled out and got into Liz's car which Jess had borrowed because it was a 7 seater.

"Make sure you put your safety belts on." Rory told Katie and LJ.

They were soon all buckled up, Tristan and Jess in the front, Paris, Katie and LJ in the middle and then Rory in the back. They were soon on their way to the venue. They were happily chatting and bantering when something ran across the road infront of the car.

"Geez!" Jess suddenly said trying to swerve it but he lost control of the vehicle and veered off road.

"Jess watch out!" Rory screamed from the back as the car went through the barrier at the side, causing the car to flip onto its side and skid along the patch of grass which was alongside the road causing everyone in the car to scream in fear.

Tristan slowly opened his eyes after a moment and looked across at the driving seat. He was relieved to see Jess awake. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"I..I think so.." Jess said in shock. "My head's pounding but I think I'm ok. You?"

"Think so." Tristan said. "We need to get everyone out of here. Can you move?" He asked.

Jess nodded. He glanced over at Tristan. "I don't want to look back there." He said nervously.

Tristan took a deep breath. "Me neither. But we can't stay here." He said just as nervously. He slowly pulled himself up and out of his door with difficulty before reaching his hand down to help Jess up.

They apprehensively opened the door of the middle row and looked in. They let out a sigh of relief when they saw Katie and LJ conscious and awake. What worried them was that both Paris and Rory had their eyes closed.

"Paris..." Jess said touching her arm.

"Rory..." Tristan said at the same time trying to wake his girlfriend.

They both let out a huge breath when the two girls groaned and started opening their eyes.

"Are you all ok?" Tristan asked shakily.

"My head's bleeding." Paris said in a trembly voice, touching her hand to her forehead.

"We're all going to be ok." Jess said firmly. "We just need to get out of here. Here, use this to stop the bleeding." He said, taking off his jacket and giving it to Paris to hold against her forehead. He then glanced back at Rory. "Ror, can you move?" He asked.

"I..I don't know. My leg hurts." Rory said shakily.

"There's smoke!" Katie suddenly exclaimed, terrified.

Jess and Tristan whipped their heads round and saw smoke starting to come from the bonnet of the car.

"Crap, we need to get out." Jess said. "Paris, you can move right?"

"I think so." Paris said quietly.

"Good. Tristan, help me get her out." Jess said trying to stay calm. He knew it was only a matter of time until the car was filled with smoke and then none of them stood a chance.

Tristan helped Jess grab one of Paris' hands and helped pull her up out of the door of the car and down to the ground. They helped her get a safe distance away from the car before turning to go back.

"Jess..." Paris said quietly.

Jess looked back and saw her terrified face. "We'll be fine. I promise." He tried to reassure her.

Paris nodded and watched as Jess ran back to the car to help Tristan get the others out.

They jumped up on the side of the car as it was still on its side. Tristan glanced back at Rory who was looking in pain and was looking really pale. "Rory..." He said.

She shook her head. "Get Katie and LJ out first." She said.

"We're getting you all out." Tristan said.

"Get them out first." Rory said and then started coughing. It was only then that Jess and Tristan realised the car was already filling with smoke. "Please..." She pleaded.

Tristan and Jess glanced at each other and then lowered themselves into the car to help Katie and LJ out. Tristan glanced back at Rory before carrying Katie out. "I'll be right back." He promised.

Rory just nodded, coughing again.

Tristan and Jess managed to get the kids out and quickly carried them over to Paris who had sat down on the ground to steady herself.

"You two ok?" Jess asked Katie and LJ softly.

They both nodded but Jess could see the fear in their eyes.

"Oh my god..." Paris suddenly said.

"What?" Jess said.

Paris pointed over to the car and Tristan and Jess looked back and their eyes widened when they saw that there were now flames spreading from the front of the car.

"Rory!" Tristan shouted and without a moment's hesitation sprinted back to the car with Jess hot on his heels.

Tristan leapt up and into the car. "No, no, please no..." He muttered when he found Rory not moving with her eyes closed. "Rory!" He tried to wake her but was suddenly hit by the amount of smoke in the car and had a coughing fit. He covered his mouth and nose with his jumper and looked up just as Jess appeared. "She's not moving." He said scared.

"We need to get her out now." Jess said, trying to hide his fear.

Tristan nodded and very difficultly manoeuvred himself to the back of the car where Rory was. There was no back row door so she was in a much harder position. He managed to get her safety belt off and with Jess' help got her through to the middle row and out of the car. Tristan then carried her, with Jess' support over to where Paris and the kids were.

Suddenly they heard a huge bang and were hit by the impact of the car exploding from the flames, knocking Tristan, Jess and Rory to the ground. Breathing heavily, trying to catch their breath, Tristan and Jess slowly pulled themselves up.

"Rory..." Tristan said rushing over to his girlfriend. "Rory, please wake up." He begged.

Suddenly sirens were heard and several ambulances appeared on the scene.

Lorelai and Luke rushed into the hospital and after finding out what floor everyone was on, rushed up to that floor and desperately started searching for their kids. They suddenly spotted Jess and Tristan sat on seats in a corridor not looking in the best of shape.

"Jess! Tristan!" Lorelai exclaimed running down to them, Luke following right behind her.

The boys looked up at them and Lorelai could see how shaken they were and her heart sank.

"Where is everyone? What happened? Are you ok?" She asked in quick succession.

"Paris is with Katie and LJ. They're just getting checked out." Jess answered quietly. "They're fine. Just cuts and bruises."

"And Rory?" Luke asked but his heart sank when he saw Tristan's face pale.

"She...She insisted we get Katie and LJ out first." Tristan said shakily. "When...When we looked round the car had flames spreading through it..."

"No..." Lorelai said tremulously.

"We...We ran back but...but she wasn't moving. She must have passed out because of the smoke. We...We managed to get her out but we couldn't get her round." Tristan said quietly.

"The ambulances then arrived and brought us here." Jess helped Tristan by finishing for him. "They wheeled her off and told us they'd get us when there was any news."

"It's all my fault." Tristan said choked. "It's all my damn fault and I can't do anything about it."

"It wasn't anyone's fault." Jess said quietly. "It was an accident..."

"We should have got Rory out sooner. She was in the back. We should have known that would be the most difficult position." Tristan said.

Suddenly they were interrupted by some voices.

"Mom!"

"Daddy!"

Lorelai and Luke whipped their heads round and saw Katie and LJ running towards them with Paris walking behind them. Katie and LJ jumped into their arms glad to see their parents.

"Are they ok?" Lorelai asked Paris.

"Yeah...uh...just cuts and bruises. We were lucky." She said quietly. She then glanced at Jess and Tristan. "Any news on Rory?" She asked.

They both shook their heads.

Paris went and sat down in between them. "She'll be ok." She said quietly. "Right?" She asked but she was met with a lengthy silence.

Tristan then stood up quickly. "I can't take this!" He exclaimed emotionally. "I need some air." He said said before rushing off.

Jess stood up to go after him but Luke stopped him. "Let me." He said.

Jess nodded and sat back down next to Paris. He felt her take hold of one of his hands. He turned to her and saw her try and give him a reassuring smile. "She'll be ok." She said quietly. "It's Rory. She's tough."

Jess let out a big shaky breath. "Yeah..."

"It wasn't your fault either." Paris said quietly. "It could have happened to anyone. You swerved to dodge that cat."

Jess just sighed and put his head in his hands. "I know. I just...Rory has to be ok. I can't lose her."

Paris squeezed his hand. "We won't." She said.

Meanwhile, Luke had gone outside and found Tristan pacing around. "Hey.." He said.

Tristan glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"It wasn't anyone's fault." Luke said gruffly.

Tristan blinked away some tears. "Why don't you hate me? You said if I ever hurt Rory, you'd kill me." He said quietly.

"Because I know you now. I know that you would have done everything you could to get Rory out of that car." He said. "I'm worried sick too."

Tristan looked at him and embarrassingly wiped some tears that had fallen from his cheeks. "I tried...I can't lose her. She's everything to me." He said choked.

"I know kid. Trust me, I know." Luke said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so damn sorry!" Tristan exclaimed releasing a batch of new tears down his face. He didn't even try to wipe them away this time but he was surprised why he felt arms go round him and he realised Luke had pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry." Tristan said muffled.

"I know." Luke said, choked up himself. "Rory will be fine. She will." He said firmly although he knew he was trying to reassure himself as well as Tristan.

After a moment, they slowly made their way back inside just in time for a doctor to appear.

"Family of Rory Gilmore?" He asked.

"How is she?" Lorelai asked immediately.

"I'm afraid your daughter has inhaled a lot of smoke which has gotten into her lungs. She also has a broken leg which she got from the impact of the car flipping over." The doctor said.

"But she's ok?" Luke asked. "We can see her."

The doctor looked at them sympathetically. "I'm really sorry but your daughter hasn't woken up yet."

So a very dramatic twist! I hope you liked it! I was really nervous writing this so please let me know what you think! Thanks! :)