A/N: Alright bit of a break for me once again. What can I say I'm a busy man and when the writing batteries aren't charged bad things tend to happen. Still I'm good now and things are actually planned out fairly well. Still debating the final ending but otherwise it's all good. Thanks for all the reviews and oh and to Elizabeth: Yeah but if she was doing all the little things there wouldn't be a story lol.

Height: 5'7''

Weight: 160 lbs

Chapter 21

Rory thought she was going to go insane. Between classes, not enough time to talk with her mom, and her 'dieting' she didn't feel like she had an outlet for anything. Still it was getting near the end of the semester and finals were coming up. The problem was Rory wasn't exactly sure how to deal with the stress now. Oh sure when she was at home she could talk to her mom but that wasn't exactly looking like an option right now. Paris…well she was Paris. Sure Rory could have talked to her but she just kept on getting this weird vibe from her. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on with her. All she knew was that Paris was going out more. But hey it meant she had the room to herself.

Thanksgiving had ended up being a non-issue. Her grandpa had to go on a business trip and her grandma went with him. So at least that meant that she didn't have to face them. She also ended up being very good over Thanksgiving. The fact that she had worn pants that nearly cut off her circulation helped matters and reminded her 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips'. Something she noticed while at home though was her mother. It was the last time they had really talked and she seemed more stressed out. Her face also seemed…plumper. She would not have noted it if she wasn't so focused on weight but something seemed off. She didn't bring it up though. She just wanted to have a good time with her mom.

Her relationship with Scott was still steady. Nothing too new had happened since the game. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to progress any further though. Oh well at least she was in a relationship. Otherwise she might still be pining for Jess or Dean. Those were roads she sure as hell wanted to avoid for the time being.

Still there was reason to celebrate. She had just weighed herself today and she wasn't any heavier than before. She was a pound lighter but that was probably water weight anyway. She was taking the time now to look over the health notes. She was all alone and didn't have to worry about anyone bothering her. Looking over them she found some fairly basic stuff that she just hadn't been able to put together. Drink water, not soda. Walk a lot. Watch your calories. Don't eat sugar. She sighed. All of them seemed pretty easy except the soda and sugar part.

Sure her coffee addiction was well documented by many many people. But it wasn't like she didn't eat copious amounts of sugar all the time. Especially when she was with her mom, she couldn't stop eating sugar. She looked down and pinched a roll of soft flab on her waist imagining the donuts that had contributed to it. She grimaced and let go of the flab like it was a hot potato. She looked at the time. It was getting to be the late evening. Not the best time for a college girl to be out alone but a walk around campus wouldn't hurt. She'd just keep her pepper spray on her. At least she'd be burning calories.

The hour walk that she had planned ended up being about half an hour. It was cold and her thighs rubbing together wasn't exactly a pleasant sensation. Hey it was still better than nothing. Once back she ended up looking at her calendar. Okay she only had to make it a few weeks until Winter Break. She could do that no problem.

Academics wise it ended up being no problem. Sure there was a lot of studying involved but it was worth it. Food-wise was a different story. It was so hard for her to not eat sugar. In fact she had been successful at avoiding sugar the first day or two. Then the withdrawal symptoms started and well she had to at least have a soda and candy bar every day. She couldn't deal with headaches right now. Still that ended up being the only unhealthy eating that she was able to do. She ended up studying a lot with Janet and Paris. Tana was off in her own little world but would join them on occasion.

Studying with Janet meant there were a lot of healthy snacks around. Fruit, veggies, and the like. Someone who seemed to really be benefitting from spending time around Janet was Paris. Now no one would say that Paris was anything other than thin before. But all the healthy eating really seemed to just add a bit of a glow around her. She seemed happier too. Rory thought it had to be the food although there could have been other reasons. Still she seemed less stressed and that was more than enough of an excuse for Rory to not grab candy every single time she reached for something to snack on.

The effects ended up being mixed. She didn't lose any weight but once again she hadn't lost any weight. A fact that was beginning to frustrate her, true Scott didn't seem to mind but she didn't want to keep on testing the waters to see if he'd stay around. Oh well she wouldn't worry about that now. She was on her way back home for Winter Break but he was going to come to Star's Hollow in a week or so. She smiled at that but it worried her at the same time. She knew how her mom could be.

The first week of Winter Break ended up being very lazy for Rory. Lorelai couldn't afford to rest because of the Dragonfly but Rory felt she deserved a break. Her week was spent catching p on some reading that she had been wanting to do while watching TV and hanging out around the town. She'd leave every once in a while to see Lane. At least her band seemed to be going well and that new job at Luke's wasn't exactly hurting her either.

Although oddly they hadn't gone to Luke's as much as they normally would in the past. Rory found that a bit odd but just assumed that her mom was actually respecting her diet. Something that Rory felt Lorelai needed to do. She knew she wasn't one to judge but her mother did look downright plump. Still being her mother she just seemed to carry it well. It wasn't slowing her down at all and she seemed just as perky. So she wasn't going to bring it up. Still she wished that she could be more like that. Instead she felt the need to hide away.

That ended up finally affecting her body. She ended up gaining three pounds during her week of laziness bringing her totally up to 163 pounds. Not too noticeable but the fact was she needed to move around a bit more. Two movie nights didn't help during the week either but she chose to ignore those moments.

Still she was happy though Scott was coming to visit her today and he was staying for the weekend. She thanked the lord that her grandparents ended up going away on vacation. She didn't have to see them until after New Year's and hopefully she'd be slimmer by then. She ended up dressing up in a nice pair of jeans that actually fit her, thus making her weight gain less noticeable. Along with a nice black sweater. She felt a warmth inside her body as she imagined Scott touching it again. It flustered her a little bit.

"Mom he's going to be here any second" Rory cried out as she checked her hair and made sure that everything looked good.

"Just a minute…" Lorelai said. She was locked in a battle right now. A nightmare for some women, her pants wouldn't button. She was sucking in her stomach as much as she could but the damn pants wouldn't budge. Eventually she let out a breath and stood up. Time to try another pair of pants, she thought. But looking in the mirror she knew that she needed a bigger pair.

Lorelai was not as dense as her daughter. She had realized about a month ago that she was gaining weight. You don't wear as many tight clothes as she does and not realize that fact. The difference was that she didn't have the time to diet. Nor did she have the patience. Not with the Dragonfly. She was doing this mostly by herself and it was just getting to her. Plus money was running out and she needed to figure her way around that little problem. No, her weight would be the last thing she'd worry about until after the opening.

Standing there in her black pair of bra and panties she had to admit that she looked pretty damn good. She was 36 and other than a few extra pounds she was holding up pretty nicely. She wasn't obese yet and while she could pinch and inch here and there it wasn't like any one would consider her fat. She'd end up being labeled plump. Not even average American. Just someone who had gained a few pounds and might be bloated for some reason.

Her face looked pleasant, one tiny advantage. She waved her arms in the air a bit. No real grandma arms yet but there was a bit more too them. She played with her boobs in her bra and found them to be about the same. Her waist had softened slightly but that was the extents. Her thighs though had some blubber and if you looked at her butt there was no doubt that she was not a gym rat. In fact that was what her body looked like. A mom who never went to the gym, her body wasn't bad it was just soft and lacking muscle.

She sighed as she put on a pair of jeans she had bought a size up just in case. To her chagrin they fit her perfectly and might even be a bit too tight. Oh well she wasn't going to worry about that at all. She'd just cut back and everything would be back to normal for her. After all she was Lorelai Gilmore. Taking away relationships things tended to work out for her. She made her way downstairs showing off her chubby cheeks as she smiled.

"So boyfriend is coming here, I think we should let him meet Patty first" she said joking around with Rory.

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother. "Please…no. I think we just show him around town. Lunch at Luke's and then bring him back here" Rory stated firmly.

"So you two can be all lovey dovey?" Lorelai asked making goo-goo eyes at Rory.

"You keep this up I'm not going to bring any boyfriend here ever again" Rory countered.

"Please you'd keep yourself and the boys away from your darling mother?" she said pretending like she was short of breath.

"You keep having ideas like that and yes" Rory said her hands on her thickened hips.

"Fine but you know you love me" Lorelai said making a face that really showed off her double chin. Rory heard a car pull up.

"He's here, now be good" she said looking at her mother one last time as she stepped outside to say hi to Scott. She smiled as she walked to his car to greet him.

"Have any trouble finding the place?" she asked as she kissed him not really caring too much about her mom or Babette who she knew was watching. She needed to feel him next to her.

"No problem I can't wait to see this place. You've talked so much about it" he said looking at his girlfriends face. That somehow seemed cuter with the extra weight. Yes this was going to be a great weekend. He just had a feeling.

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