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"Luke. Luke. Help me. Help me."

Rory flew off of the couch, the terrified screams from the bedroom upstairs shocking her out of her sleep.

Luke, who had been sleeping in the chair beside the couch, was already halfway up the stairs, and rory followed, afraid of what she might find.

"Luke. He has her. He has.."

Luke ran into the bedroom, and Rory followed him, but found her mother already clinging to him. And Rory would have ran to her mother, but she heard her name, and that stopped her in her tracks.

"Luke, he has Rory. Chris."

Luke just rocked Lorelai in his arms, "Shhh… It was just a dream. Rory's here."

The room was still dark, but Rory could see that her mother's eyes were still closed, like she was still asleep, almost in a live nightmare. She was shaking, and shaking her head, "No, he said he would hurt her." Her voice was a terrified whisper, like she was afraid someone was about to hurt her. Rory just stood there in the dark, afraid of what was happening to her mother, but afraid of what might be said. "If I left him, he said he would kill her." Luke just rocked her, and she just held on tight to him.

Rory shivered, and reality began to set in. This was for me. She went through this because of me. She was afraid he would hurt me. All of those cuts on her, all of the bruises, the baby – all because she was afraid I would get hurt. Luke's eyes met Rory's, and she knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Luke just whispered, "It was just a dream. Shhh…"

Her mother's eyes opened, and she began to take in her surroundings. But instead of the nightmare ending, Rory watched as reality began to be worse than what she had been dreaming.

Lorelai's breathing began to speed up, and she pushed away from Luke, a fear so real that it sent shivers up Rory's spine. And her mother started to scream as she drew away from Luke, falling away from him onto her bed. "Get away from me." She now stood on the other side of the room, Luke having jumped off of the bed, from both fear and trying to give her space.

"Please, I can't do it anymore. I just can't." She cried, her body physically shaking as she had backed up into the corner.

Luke didn't know what to do, Rory could see. He just stammered, "It's ok. No one's trying to hurt you, Lor."

And with that, Rory watched as the woman standing in front of her stopped being her mother. Something Luke said changed her.

All she could say was, "Chris stop. Please don't. No no no…" Her mother's hands started clawing at her neck. "I can't do it anymore. You left me tied to that bed for two days. Don't make me sleep there. Chris, please." Her hands moved from clawing herself in fear to her arms, where she started to scratch against the bandage on her arm.

And just as fast as she had gone into this spell, her mother came out, still breathing hard but being more aware of the fact that she was in her own bedroom, and that it was Luke standing in front of her, and not Chris.

Luke went to move towards her, but she still jumped, and said, "Luke, please don't." Her mother's eyes fell to the ground, like she was ashamed and humiliated. Luke looked so hurt, but he just backed up, holding his hands up so she knew he was surrendering to whatever had just happened.

And Rory knew that this was when her mother needed her. She stepped to her, and her mother's eyes met hers, and immediately Lorelai ran to her, and Rory wrapped her mother in a hug. She could feel her mother's body shaking as they held each other. She was covered in sweat, like she had been running a marathon. Her breathing was rapid, and Rory could feel her mother's heart racing.

And her mother whispered in her ear, "You're ok. You're ok. Rory's fine." The words came out like she was reciting them to herself to tell herself that everything was alright, that Rory was safe, not trying to comfort her daughter.

Rory tried to clear her throat from the lump that had crept there, and there were tears in her eyes as she tried to be strong for the woman who had always been there for her. "Mom, it's ok. You're safe."

Luke met her eyes for the second time that night, his eyes also filled with tears. And she knew they were thinking the same thing. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe she survived this.

They stood there for quite a while, Rory just wanting to hold her mother to ensure her that whatever nightmare world kept creeping into their lives stayed away. Luke just stood there, afraid to come closer but Rory could tell he wouldn't leave them alone.

Her mother, having calmed down, pulled away from the embrace, and wiped the tears from her face, and said, "Rory, Im so sorry you had to see that."

"Mom, that's…"

Lorelai started to take her role back as mother and interrupted, "I don't know what happened. I just was having a bad dream. It's ok. I'll be fine." Rory felt her mother's hand on her cheek. "You should go back to bed."

"Im not going to bed, Mom." Rory said, wanting to laugh at the idea that her mother wanted to send her to bed after what had just happened. "Let's try to get you back to sleep."

Her mother shook her head, fear rising from her eyes. "No, I'm not that tired…"

"What about if I stay with you until you fall asleep?" Rory asked, hoping that having someone close would help. But her mother just looked over at the bed, then back at Rory, and shook her head again.

"I… I.. can't get back in the bed…" She admitted, her hands starting to shake again.

Rory just slid her fingers into her mother's hands, holding them tightly. And she said, "I have an idea."

Grabbing blankets off of the bed, a pillow for each of them, she laid one blanket down on the ground of the bedroom, and then she motioned for her mother to sit down, and then gave her a pillow – and made her lay down, like she was tucking her mother into her little sleeping bag. She wrapped her mother tightly in a blanket, and snuggled right next to her. And there they lay, Rory just watching her mother stare off into space until sleep again overtook her. Rory watched as Luke nestled up against the wall opposite where they were laying, acting as a watchdog over the two of them. Rory waited for the morning to come, unable to let her mother wake again in the middle of the night without Rory being right there and awake.

And as the sun started to peek through the blinds in the windows, Rory started to sleep, glad that she had watched over her mother until the daylight came again. As her eyes succumbed to sleep, she whispered to her mother, "I love you, Mom."