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A Place to Call Home

Chapter 54: Stupid Deer

Luke opened his eyes the next morning. It only took him a second to remember that he was at his cabin lying next to Lorelai. He looked down at her and couldn't help but smile. She was nestled in his arms facing him. He couldn't remember getting in bed let alone her getting in bed with him. He must have fallen asleep after changing his clothes. He had been exhausted.

He focused all of his attention on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He couldn't believe it, but she looked even better when she was asleep. He was still amazed that she had chosen to be with him. She could have anyone in the world but she chose him.

Lorelai began to stir. Her eyes slowly opened and she yawned. She smiled as she saw Luke staring at her.

"You're watching me sleep." She said bashfully.

"You're beautiful." He kissed her forehead.

"You know," she scrunched her nose. "You don't have to compliment me. You are getting lucky on this trip." She was sure of that. She wanted to be with him more than anything. It was time.

"I would say it no matter what. I don't have to get lucky to know you are beautiful." Luke told her honestly. He was okay just lying next to her.

"In that case continue boosting my ego."

"Come here." Luke pulled her closer to him and began kissing her slowly, morning breath and all. They continued to kiss, each kiss becoming more and more passionate. Until they heard a loud crash coming from what Luke assumed was the kitchen.

"What the hell was that?" Lorelai pulled away from Luke. "Did you invite someone else on this trip?" Lorelai asked jokingly.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Hoping one of your kids stowed away." Luke got out of bed. "You stay here. I'll go check it out."

"Oh no way." Lorelai jumped out of bed. "You are not leaving me here alone."

"Okay. Come on."

Luke grabbed her hand and she followed him.

"Are you going to go out there unprotected?" Lorelai asked.

"We will be fine."

"I think there is a burglar in here."

Luke shook his head. "Come on. We have nothing to worry about. You are being over dramatic."

"I'm always dramatic. Are you just now figuring that out?" Lorelai laughed.

Luke pulled her out of the room. "Oh shit." Luke said as they rounded the corner and saw a deer standing in the kitchen eating all of their food.

"Oh wow." Lorelai had never seen a deer so up close and personal.

"No. No. No." Luke kept mumbling.

Lorelai tripped and the deer realized she was not alone. She looked at the couple and before they could do anything the deer ran out of the back of the house, knocking down a shelf on her way out.

"Damn it." Luke was in disbelief. In all the time they had the cabin, this had never happened.

"At least it wasn't a bear." Lorelai tried to be optimistic.

Luke gave her a look before walking further into the kitchen. "That thing ate all of our food." He still couldn't believe it. "Everything I brought."

"Is that the coffee?" Lorelai pointed sadly to the floor. Luke nodded. "No coffee. Stupid deer!" She exclaimed. "Has this ever happened before?"

"No. I don't know how it got in." Luke walked to the back. "We must have forgotten to lock the door."

"Oh that was my fault. You went to bed early. I should have known to lock the door. I always forget. Ryan fusses at me all the time for forgetting."

"This isn't your fault. I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

"You were exhausted and really wet." Lorelai rubbed his shoulders. "It's okay. We will find coffee."

"That's all your worried about?"

"Uh yeah. Duh." Lorelai hit his shoulder. "I cannot get through the day without coffee. You know this about me."

"Yes I do." Luke gave her a quick kiss. "There is a grocery store and a small coffee shop in town."

"Coffee. Coffee. Coffee." She jumped up and down. "I know it won't be as good as Luke's coffee though." She was sure of that. Luke Danes made the best cup of coffee she had ever tasted, and she would know. She was the queen of coffee.

"At least you have Luke." He smirked.

"Yeah. That's a close second to the coffee."

Luke shook his head and then leaned in and kissed her. He didn't think anything else could go wrong with this weekend.


At the Gilmore mansion, the kids had eaten breakfast with their grandparents. Ruby hadn't been very hungry and asked if she could go back upstairs. Emily immediately began to worry that something was wrong with her. Rory and Ryan figured that she just missed their mom, and she would be okay. Emily decided not to worry about it and would check on her later.

Rory's friends had come over after breakfast, and they were still upstairs hanging out.

Ryan had gone to the club with his grandfather. He would do anything to get out of the house and avoid studying. They didn't stay at the club too long, but it hadn't been so bad. Ryan couldn't remember the last time he had gone to the club. It wasn't really filled with his kind of people. Rory had always fit in this lifestyle better than he had.

"Alright young man." Richard said as they walked into the house. "You should go study."

"Yes sir." Ryan nodded. He knew he could no longer avoid the inevitable.

"Thank you for joining me at the club."

"Anytime, grandpa."

"Oh great." Emily said as she met them in the foyer. "The two of you are back. I had the maid bake some cookies. Do you mind taking them up to Rory and her friends?"

"They are still here." Ryan said with a grunt.

"Yes and from what I can tell they are having a wonderful time." Emily smiled.

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Come on. Come into the kitchen with me."

Ryan followed his grandmother, and Richard smiled at the sight. It warmed his heart to have his grandchildren back in his home and in his life. He hoped they didn't do anything to ruin it. They mostly meaning Emily.


Upstairs, Rory was enjoying her time with Paris, Madeline, and Louise. They were nothing like Lane, but she did miss them. They had been her friends for a very long time. She couldn't remember a time when Paris wasn't trying to outdo her. She knew that rivalry would be revisited if she went to Chilton.

"I still can't believe your mom moved you to Mayberry." Paris said for what seemed like the thousandth time. "She always seemed so cool and intelligent. I don't know what happened to her."

"She is still cool. Stars Hollow is not Mayberry." Rory defended. She was always having to defend things to Paris. Rory was positive that Paris could argue with a brick wall and actually win.

"Don't listen to her." Louise spoke up.

"Yeah." Madeline agreed. "You know Paris. She always has to have something to complain about."

"And you have a boyfriend." Paris remembered Rory had mentioned it.

Rory nodded.

"I want pictures." Louise told her.

"I bet he is tall." Madeline added.

"I don't have a picture." Rory realized.

"It isn't official if you don't have a picture." Madeline explained.

"It's officially ruining your life." Paris said dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air. She didn't understand how Rory didn't see this. It was crystal clear to Paris.

"Dean is not ruining my life." Rory sighed. Sometimes Paris was the worst.

"Dean." Madeline smiled. "So dreamy."

"He sounds super hot."

"It is just a name. A name doesn't make a person hot." Paris explained. "You two really are a waste of space."

"Remind me why we are friends with her." Madeline looked at Louise.

"Because she is Paris Gellar."

"Oh right."

"You all know that I am right." Paris pointed. "A boy can ruin your focus. We have plans. Does this Dean have the same plans?"

"Dean isn't going to get in the way of my plans or your plans." Rory was becoming frustrated with her.

Ryan was outside of the door. He decided not to go in until after he ease dropped for a few minutes.

"At least you will be at Chilton next year."

Rory didn't say anything. She hadn't decided yet.

"You are going to Chilton?" Paris picked up on Rory's nonverbal cues. "We all got in. You got in, didn't you? I know if the Barbie twins got in then you did too."

"Thanks a lot." Madeline rolled her eyes.

"I got in."

On the outside of the door, Ryan looked confused. He hadn't heard her mention the acceptance letter. He knew they would have celebrated. Their mom would have hired a marching band and fireworks.

"Then why the radio silence?" Paris asked.

"Rory you have to go." Louise told her. "You were made for a place like Chilton."

"I…I…I haven't…Decided." Rory admitted.

"What?" Paris was outraged. "What is there to decide? You are going to Chilton."

Ryan couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"This has to do with Dean." Paris was sure of it.

"No it doesn't." Rory said quickly. "I realized there is more to life than Chilton."

"Yeah a life filled with would you like fries with that." Paris quipped.

"Stars Hollow is a nice school."

"For an underachiever like your brother."

Ryan rolled his eyes. She was always insulting him.

"This is my decision, Paris. No one else but me." Rory sighed.

"Your mom is okay with this?" Madeline asked.

Ryan mouthed no from outside the door. He knew she wouldn't be okay with this if she knew.

"Well." Rory stuttered.

"You haven't told her." Paris pointed again. She knew Lorelai well enough to know that she would not be okay with Rory's decision.

"I need some time to think about it. Can we just drop this already?" Rory raised her voice. She was getting tired of going back and forth. She didn't have to explain herself to anyone. This was her decision.

"I thought you and your mom told each other everything." Louise remembered that they had a freaky relationship unlike most mothers and daughters.

Before Rory could answer, Paris interrupted. "She hasn't told her because she knows that her mom won't be okay with it. She won't allow it."

"Paris."

"You have to go to Chilton. This whole year has sucked without you. I have no competition."

Louise and Madeline shared looks.

"Paris." Rory sighed. She was never going to win this argument. That she was sure of.

"I need some air." Paris stood up and walked out of the room. Ryan hid behind one of the pillars so that Paris wouldn't know he had been ease dropping. He wasn't ready to talk to his sister about this. He was mad because he knew it had to do with Dean. There was no other explanation. He sat the cookies down outside the door and walked away.

Back inside the room, Rory sat down on the bed. She felt bad about Paris.

"Don't worry, Rory." Madeline tried to comfort her.

"She will get over it." Louise added.

"If you don't want to go to Chilton then that's your decision." Madeline hoped to make her feel better.

"No one else."

"I know. I'm not sure what I want." Rory wished she did. Part of her wanted to go and the other part wanted to stay at Stars Hollow High. She didn't know what to do, and it sucked.

"Well let's stop talking about Chilton. I'm getting a headache." Madeline told her.

"Let's talk about Dean." Louise sat on the bed with Rory.

"Ooh perfect idea Louise."

Rory smiled. She would happily welcome the distraction, and she really liked talking about Dean. He was a good subject.


Ryan made his way into his little sister's room. He expected to find her playing with her toys, but instead she was lying on her bed asleep. Ryan shook his head and walked further into the room. He knelt down by her bed. Her face looked a little pale. He felt her forehead. She was clammy and hot. "Ruby." He said softly as he shook his sister gently.

She opened her eyes and stared at her brother.

"I don't feel good." She said sadly.

"What hurts?"

"Everything."

Ryan stood up. "I'm going to go get grandma. It's going to be okay." Ryan was worried about her. He had never seen her so sick.


Lorelai and Luke walked into the cabin carrying a few bags of groceries. They had eaten at the coffee shop. Lorelai was happy to have a belly full of coffee.

"That was fun."

Luke set the groceries on the counter.

"Definitely not how I thought this weekend was going to go." Luke admitted.

"How did you think it was going to go?" Lorelai joked with him.

"You and me in bed all weekend." He said with a smile.

"That sounds romantic."

"We could still make that happen." Luke walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around Lorelai. He placed small kisses on her neck causing her to moan.

"That feels nice."

He continued to kiss her until she pulled away to lead him to the bedroom. They were finally going to have their moment.

"Luke. Luke." They heard a voice shouting.

"Are you expecting someone?" Lorelai looked at him.

"No." Luke shook his head.

"Luke. Luke."

Luke walked back into the main room to see a man staring at them through the screen door. "Ernie is that you?"

"Luke." Ernie walked into the house. "Thank God you are here. I thought I saw your truck." He paused when he saw Lorelai. "Oh hey. You are beautiful. Luke never brings lady friends here. You must be the real deal."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Ernie what's wrong?"

"The storm ruined my cabin. There is water everywhere. I need some help." He thought about it. "Oh God. I didn't mean to interrupt. You two were probably busy with something pretty important. Unless you are me. And you and your wife haven't been busy in five years."

Lorelai gave Luke a look.

"Okay. Ernie. I can help you." Luke wanted him to stop talking. He looked at Lorelai. "I'll be right back."

"I can help."

"No that's okay. You relax." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back."

Lorelai smiled. It was the universe. The universe was against them.


Emily had taken Ruby's temperature. It was a little over a hundred. She decided to run her a cold bath in hopes of breaking the fever. If that didn't work they may have to take her to the doctor and call Lorelai.

That darn universe! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought!