A/n: Content warnings are in the endnote.


Bang, bang, bang!

"Open up this door!" Lorelai yelled as she slammed her fist against the door again and again. She kept jiggling the knob but the door wouldn't budge.

"Go away," Jess shouted. His voice cracked. Lorelai didn't take a moment to reflect on that. She was too caught up with her own worries and frustrations.

"You don't do this! You don't stay out all night!" She banged her fist again, blinking back tears. How could Jess do this to her? How could he stay out all night and then refuse to even act like he was sorry? Had she done something to drive him here? Lately, Lorelai had been making all the wrong choices. She couldn't help but blame herself.

"Just break down the window," Emily said, her voice shrill. Lorelai almost jumped a foot. For a moment she had forgotten her mother was there.

Lorelai took a deep breath and tried to reassess. Jess was home. He was safe. That's what really mattered, right? She could deal with the rest after their heads cooled. "Mom," Lorelai said calmly. "I think you should go home."

"You're kicking me out?" she sneered. All the sweet gentleness from the previous night dissipated in a moment. Lorelai couldn't do this. She couldn't fight with both Jess and her mom. She needed to diffuse Emily if she had any hope of reaching Jess.

"Jess isn't going to respond well if we double team him. Go home. I'll handle him."

"The Hell with what he 'response well to'. He ran away." Emily turned back to Jess's door and banged on it, somehow even louder and more forceful than Lorelai's knocking. "Get the Hell out here, young man," Emily screamed.

Lorelai grabbed her mom's hands and stopped the banging. "Go home," she repeated, her words more stern this time. She looked at her mother straight in the eyes, pleading for her to listen for once. This was the only way she'd have a chance of getting Jess to talk with her and figure out what went wrong with him last night.

Emily pulled her hand free and went back to banging on the door.

"Say out of it!" Lorelai finally screamed. It was like the previous night, all the healing between mother and daughter never happened. In a moment Lorelai and Emily were back at each other's throats.

"I most certainly will not. My grandson missed my dinner and I want to know why."

"Jesus Christ." Lorelai paced the kitchen. "You're back to the dinner? I spent all of last night worried about where the Hell my kid could be and all you cared about was the dinner?"

"No—"

"Just leave. Get away from my son. Because he's my son. If he messes up I'll deal with it. And if he's in trouble I'll fix it."

"You've been doing a great job keeping him out of trouble so far," Emily sniped.

"Get out!" Lorelai screamed again.

Emily shut her mouth and walked away from the door. Her shoulders slumped in defeat and finally she walked toward the front door and opened it. Before she slammed it she said, loud enough for everyone in the house to hear, "No wonder he's out of control."

The words felt like a shot right to the gut. For years Lorelai always had the upper hands on her parents; Lorelai was an out of control teenager because her parents suffocated her, so she gave Jess the freedom she was never afforded. And now he's thrown that back in her face. She was just as terrible of a mother as her own.

Lorelai sat down and rested her head against the cool, wooden kitchen table. Her head throbbed with every heartbeat and as the seconds passed they just grew louder and more painful.

Jess's door opened. "Mom. I'm…I'm sorry…but thanks for…I couldn't deal with her. So thank—"

Lorelai jumped out of her chair, holding up a hand. "Don't even."

Jess shut the fuck up. His face was red, especially around the eyes. Could be crying, but it could be drugs too. Ordinarily, a thought like that never would have occurred to Lorelai, but after tonight anything was possible.

"Where the Hell were you?" Lorelai demanded.

"I…I…I was just out." Jess's voice was still cracking but it had returned to its regular pitch.

"Out?"

Jess nodded.

Lorelai bit back a laugh. How many times had she brushed off her own delinquencies with such simple statements?

"Mom?"

"Shut up!" Lorelai screamed. She stormed across the kitchen and reached Jess in the doorway, squeezed his chin and pulled it forward as she stared at those puffy eyes. "What are you on? Pot? Booze? Something worse?"

Jess squirmed away, tripping over a pile of clothes on the floor and landing on his butt. Unsteadiness was another sign of drug use.

They could dance around this all night, but Lorelai needed proof. If any existed it would be in this room. Leaving her son on the floor, Lorelai walked over to the dresser drawer and opened it with a hard tug. She searched through it, haphazardly, throwing Jess's t-shirts aside, spilling them over onto the floor. If there was any evidence to be found…well, she was probably going to destroy it in her scramble.

Jess got back on his feet. "What are you doing?" Jess tried to slam the dresser shut, but he couldn't. He had some upper body strength, but it was nothing compared to Lorelai's mama bear rage.

"If you have drugs in here I'm finding them."

"I don't do drugs, mom."

"Liar!" Lorelai screamed. "I was younger than you the first time I tried pot, and well, you're me, but a boy. I know you've got pot hidden in here somewhere." She slammed the drawer shut when her search came up empty then moved onto the drawer below that.

Again, Jess tried to struggle with his mom to close the drawer and again. "I'm not like you. I messed up one time."

"You've messed up a million times."

"I said I was sorry." The cracking in Jess's voice stopped as he raised it to match Lorelai's decibel level. The arrogance of this kid.

"Where are the Goddamn cigarettes?" Lorelai picked up the last bits of the drawer and threw them to the floor. Maybe he wasn't drinking or doing drugs but she knew there were cigarettes. Miss Patty's gossip could be outlandish, but she wouldn't make something like that up.

"I don't have any cigarettes," Jess said through his teeth.

"Miss Patty told me she saw you buying some. Mrs. Rygalski told me she smelled them on your breath." Lorelai picked Jess's jacket off the floor and rummaged through the pockets.

"Mom, stop! I don't have any. I tried to buy some but Taylor wouldn't sell me any, okay?"

At least he admitted it. That was something, right? Lorelai threw his coat onto the ground. She looked him straight in the eye. "Did you steal from my emergency fund?"

"What?"

"The missing money? It was you, wasn't it? I asked you and you lied to my face, didn't you?" Lorelai didn't even realize that's what she thought until the words came tumbling out of her mouth. It was so obvious. How had she missed it? How had she been so naive about Jess?

Jess looked down at his feet but didn't answer. That was the only answer she needed.

"I fired Rory over that. You're not just screwing me over, but you dragged that poor girl into this. She ran away because of you. I have no idea where that poor girl is because you lied to me."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have fired her!" Jess snapped back.

"I trusted you," Lorelai continued. "I have defended you so many times. Told people that you're just having a rough time but that you're a good kid. This is unacceptable, Jess. It stops now. Two weeks. Grounded. You will go to school, you will come home, you will do your homework. You will work extra hours at the inn to pay me back. You will not see your friends. You will stop smoking. Do you understand me?"

Jess sat down on his bed and mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I said fine. Now can you leave already? I want to go to bed."

How had Lorelai raised such an ungrateful jerk? She had been careful to not make any of the same mistakes her parents made, and yet he still turned out this way. Were the Gilmore genetics just faulty? Jess couldn't just be a bad apple if the whole tree was rotten.

Lorelai stepped over the pile of clothes by the dresser. "And clean up this mess!" she added before slamming his door shut.

Vertigo hit her like a train. She barely made it to the kitchen table before her legs gave out. The conversation with Jess reeked of some strong deja vu. Hadn't she had that exact same fight with her parents way back when? Oh, this was the perfect karma, but the buck stopped here. She wasn't going to let Jess continue to make the same mistakes as her. He wasn't going to get some girl pregnant and have this very same conversation with this own kid sixteen years from now. Their genes might be poisonous but she'd still find a way to fix him. Fixing him was the only thing that mattered any more. She wasn't going to lose Jess like Richard and Emily lost her.


When Miss Patty arrived at the Dance Studio at six AM she wasn't too surprised to see the door unlocked. It was rare that she actually remembered to lock it, anyway. In a safe town like Stars Hollow there wasn't much of a need to be cautious…like at all. She had really let her guard down since her days in New York City.

With a gaggle of senior citizens at her back, Miss Patty slid the old, wooden doors open. They creaked worse than Mrs. Cassini's joints.

The morning aerobics class followed Miss Patty into the dance house, but they stopped short when they were met with a pile of beanbags in the middle of the room. On top laid a sleeping teenager. Her messy hair hid her face.

Who was this and how did she get in here? Someone's parent was getting a phone call for sure. Miss Patty bent down and gently shook the girl awake.

The girl turned over and brushed her hair away from her eyes. They were so blue. The bluest Miss Patty had ever seen. And unmistakable. This was Lorelai's maid.

"Rory," Miss Patty said. "What on Earth are you doing here? You didn't sleep here, did you?"

Rory's face turned bright red as she leapt to her feet and ran past Miss Patty and the class. Miss Patty tried to run after her, but Rory was just too fast. She did see the girl run across the Town Square and then dart down an alleyway.

Well, Stars Hollow might be one of the safest small towns in America, but it certainly couldn't be described as boring.


After staying up until two AM there were only a few hours left for a fitful night's rest. Aches ravaged Lorelai's muscles, most of them from tension. With the way things were between her and Jess right now breakfast at Luke's would be a no-go, so she grabbed a pop-tart, told her son she was off to work and then left.

Her first stop upon arriving at the Independence Inn was the kitchen. Sookie's caffeinated nectar was the only cure for her headache and the only thing that could bring her comfort, little as that might be, during these turbulent times. As she sipped from her cup she stared out the back windows.

"She hasn't been back," Sookie said.

Lorelai jumped, spilling some coffee, though luckily missing her skirt. "Jesus, Sookie, don't sneak up on me."

Sookie held a large chef knife in her hand while she stood next to Lorelai. She waved it as she talked. "Hey, this is my kitchen. If you don't expect to see me here, that's on you." When she stopped waving Salvador came by and plucked the knife out of Sookie's hands.

Lorelai took a large gulp of coffee. "I guess I'm just jumpy today."

"Who can blame you, that girl had us all fooled." Dammit, she should have never told her suspicions to Sookie. Who knows who Sookie told. The poor girl's reputation would be ruined all because Lorelai was an idiot who trusted Jess. It was just one more way Lorelai screwed up.

"How come everyone I try to help ends up worse off?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, sweetie!" Sookie pulled Lorelai into a hug. A mishmash of spices wafted off the chef. "This isn't on you. You have no idea what kind of problems that girl had. You tried to help; that makes you better than most."

Lorelai let Sookie squeeze her a couple of seconds longer. It was nice to be comforted. It was nice to have someone believe in her, even if that trust was sorely mistaken. Would Sookie still think she was a good person after Lorelai told her the truth about Jess and Rory?

"Sookie, can you sit down?" Lorelai asked. They moved over to some stools and lowered their voices to hushed tones. "Rory didn't steal that money."

A wrinkle appeared on Sookie's forehead. "You know who did?"

Jess would kill her if he ever found out she ratted him out, but she needed a confidant. "It was Jess."

Sookie gasped. Must have been as much of a shock to her as it was to Lorelai. She'd known Jess since he was a child and watched him grow up. How could such a sweet boy do something so deceitful? At least, that's what Lorelai was still wondering.

"I don't know what he used it for either. He wouldn't tell me. He…he's out of control Sookie, way worse than last year. He stayed out all night yesterday too. And of course, that means he missed dinner with Mom and Dad, which means they know about how badly I'm screwing up parenting him."

"Oh Lorelai, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want me to talk to him or something?"

Lorelai shook her head. Sookie was the closest thing she had to a sister, and the closest thing Jess had to an aunt, but she doubted Jess would see it that way if Sookie intervened. Instead of seeing Sookie has the cool and understanding aunt he'd just get mad that Lorelai had her friends getting involved in his business. He was even keeping Luke at an arm's length nowadays.

"Don't say anything to him, okay? Don't even let him know you know. If you try to get involved it might just set him off again. Just keep acting like everything is normal…can you do that?"

"Oh yeah, I'll be it real cool. Just call me a cucumber." Sookie snapped her fingers then did finger guns.

"I'm doomed."

Sookie patted Lorelai's shoulder. "Sorry. I guess I'm just flustered with all the news. I'll adjust. I'll be good when I see him, I promise."

Lorelai looked back out the window, longingly at her old potting shed, but instead of it bringing her comfort and old memories it just made her heart-sink further. Jess's childhood home was now just another reminder of how she kept screwing up everyone's lives. Poor Rory. Why'd she have to mess that up too?

Lorelai finished up her coffee and started the workday. A few hours later she found her way outside, walking to the potting shed. Her heels sank into the grass with every step she took. She paused at the entrance, hoping to discover that Rory had returned, but when she opened the creaky, wooden door she was only met with emptiness.

Sunlight streamed through the window, lighting the dark and dank room. The shed had electricity, but it was a low voltage. A florescent ceiling light ran across the top of the shed, with a string dangling from it in the center of the room. Lorelai pulled the string, flooding the room with harsh, white light that forced Lorelai to blink several times before her vision cleared. By the far wall was an unmade bed—well an unmade mattress on the floor. They were going to move an actual bed frame from storage into the shed but hadn't gotten around to it yet. There would be no reason to do that now.

Next to the bed, Rory's meager pile of clothes were folded. She didn't even come back for the hand-me-downs. A stack of library books was also left behind.

Lorelai sat on the bed. So few possessions in the world and she abandoned them all. What had she left behind the first time she ran away?

Lorelai picked up the pile of books. Such a voracious reader. She might even give Jess a run for his money. At the bottom of the stack was a notebook Lorelai hadn't notice before, but it looked old. Bounded with a hardcover, but weathered. Lorelai opened it.

Property of Rory Mariano, it read.

Was this Rory's only possession from home? And she left it too?

The contact list in the front of the journal had a number to call if lost and found. It wasn't the inn. Before she even thought about what she was doing Lorelai dialed the number. What she was expecting she didn't know. She didn't know who this number belonged to. Could it be Rory's family? And should they even be contacted?

The phone kept ringing. Maybe they wouldn't pick up.

Just as Lorelai was about to hang up—the person apparently didn't have an answering machine—the owner picked up.

"Hello?" The woman had a crackly voice.

"Um...hello?" Lorelai said.

There was a pause before the woman spoke again. "Who is this?"

"Um...do you know a Rory?"

Another pause. "That's my daughter."

So, this was it. Rory's mother. Contact made. Well, it was now or never to reconnect the family. Did Lorelai dare interfere? Perhaps if she knew where Rory was right now she would have stopped herself, but, as it was, a teenage girl was missing. Again. Before Rory had been lucky enough to run into someone like Lorelai who gave her shelter and food, but would the next person be so kind. She had to take the chance if it meant Rory could be found. If there were issues with this mother then they'd deal with that then, as long as Rory was off the street first.

"I think I know where she is. Or the vicinity of where she is. Do you know of a town called Stars Hollow? It's in Connecticut."

There was another pause. "Thank you." The woman hung up.

Lorelai took the phone away from her ear and stared at it. That was weird, she realized. Did she do the right thing, calling Rory's mom? Or did she make things worse? Only time would tell.


It was the lunch rush and like usual Luke's Diner was slammed. The phone was ringing off the hook with deliveries while Luke ran back and forth between customers and the grill.

Kirk sat at the counter with his hands neatly folded atop. He wore an ill-fitting suit. The jacket was too short to reach his wrists. "Kirk Gleeson," Kirks said, and offered his hand to Luke.

Luke walked past him with a stack of dirty plates piled up to his neck. He handed them to Cesar in the kitchen then returned to the counter. Kirk was still offering his hand. "Yeah, Kirk, I know who you are."

"Ah, so my business practices precede me."

"You eat in here every day, Kirk." Luke took his order pad and pencil out. "What'll you have."

"I'm glad you asked that." Kirk pulled up a small easel from below the counter, opened it up and placed it on the surface. Then he pulled out a chart, also from below, and put it on the easel, facing Luke. The chart had two bars on it, one short, one long.

"Jeeze," Luke said. He slammed the pad on the counter and crossed his arms.

"Have you ever made a sandwich, bit into it and wondered, hmm, oh boy, I sure do love meat but I hate how I have to eat animal to do it?"

"No."

"Well, today I bring you a wonderful opportunity." Kirk raised his hands and spread them like he was tracing an imaginary rainbow with his palms. "Meatless ham."

"Go pitch somewhere else—wait, meatless ham? How can ham be meatless."

"I've been working with this genius produce provider, Jackson Bellevue—"

"I know Jackson," Luke said. "I know everyone in this damn town."

"—he's created this amazing vegetable substance. With the proper treatment, he is able to get the substance to taste virtually identical to ham." Kirk pointed to the chart. "As you can see nearly twenty percent of people can barely taste a difference between the substance and real ham—texture notwithstanding."

Luke stared blankly at Kirk. "Order or get out."

Kirk put the chart away. "A grilled cheese." Luke walked toward the kitchen. "Can you cut the crust off?" Kirk shouted.

Luke put the order in to Cesar. As he left the kitchen again the phone rang, and Luke picked it up. "Luke's."

"Hey, big brother." Liz, Luke's ne'er-do-well sister. It was quite a surprise to hear from her. When was the last time they even spoke?

"I'm busy," he said, hoping she wasn't calling for bail money. It'd been years since she was last arrested but memories like that don't fade easily. Liz's tone was glum, telling Luke this was bad news. Actually, the simple fact that she was bothering to call at all told him it was bad news. She wasn't the type to just call to say hi.

"I've been having a rough time of it lately, you know? I need some help."

"Can this wait?" Luke asked. "I'm working. I've got this crazy guy yammering at me about ham-"

"Meatless ham!" Kirk shouted

"Did someone just say meatless ham?" Liz asked. "How can ham be meatless?"

"Don't ask," Luke rubbed his temples and returned once more to the kitchen. He really didn't have time for any of this nonsense. "Is there a point to this call, Liz?"

Liz whimpered. She was always so squeamish. "Okay, okay. Don't yell at me. I just need a little help. I'm having trouble with my baby girl."

It took Luke a second to figure out who Liz was referring to. She called everyone by little pet names and titles. Her daughter was always "baby" or "baby girl". Luke was always "big brother".

Luke tried to remember Liz's daughter. Her actual name was Aurora. It had been years since he'd seen her. Roughly eight if he had to guess. How old would she be now? Fifteen? Sixteen? That's around the age Liz was when she started getting into trouble. If she was anything like her mother than God help them all.

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"She left home. About two weeks ago."

"What?" Luke couldn't help yelling and it echoed off the metal walls of the kitchen. What kind of mother lets her child run away for two weeks without telling anyone? How was this the first he was hearing of it? Liz always ran straight to him at the drop of a hat when there was a problem. And this problem was a major one.

"She's fine," Liz said. Nothing in her voice indicated that she was worried. "Some woman found her. She's in Stars Hollow."

Luke let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Out of all the places Aurora could have run there was no better place than this town. Everyone acted like they were straight out of the Andy Griffin show and at least this meant she had family nearby. Luke would be able to take care of this problem right away. "Who? Give me the woman's name and I'll go get her."

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Then how do you know this? Who told you she was in Stars Hollow?"

"She called me."

"And you didn't think to ask for a name?" Luke was screaming now.

Liz whimpered again.

Luke forced himself to calm down through controlled breaths. This was just what Liz was like, irresponsible and flighty, and he should have been used to it by now. Getting her more frazzle would get him nowhere. He needed to find out everything Liz knew about Aurora and this mysterious woman if he was ever going to find his niece.

"Okay, did this woman tell you where in Stars Hollow Aurora is? What part of town she lives in, or maybe a street name?"

"No."

"Can you call her back?"

"I don't have Caller ID."

Luke could feel the blood vessels in his hand pumping as his grip on the phone tightened.

"What do you know?"

"That she's there."

Dammit, that was barely anything to work with. The town was small, but Luke still didn't literally know everyone in town. There were 10,000 people who Aurora could be with. "Fine," Luke said. "Thanks for being completely useless. Stay by your phone. Let me know if she calls you. I'll call you back when I find her."

"Luke," Liz whined.

"I've got to go."

"Please, find her. You know I love her, right?"

Luke took a deep breath. She was finally sounding upset, maybe even a touch worried. For all he knew she was crying on the other side of the line. "Yeah Liz, I know. I'll call you when I know more." He hung up. Liz might love her daughter but she wasn't very good at being a mom.

Luke walked out of the kitchen and brought the phone back to the receiver, slamming it down. He knew his commotion was loud enough for the whole diner to hear. The diner became quiet and everyone looked his way. Luke glared at the customers until they looked away and at their meals.

"Caesar!" Luke yelled. "I'm going out."

Luke crossed the diner and slammed the front door. The ringing from the bell that rested above the door could even be heard echoing outside.

This town was so small and everyone was always up in everyone else's business. There was no privacy during a family crisis. Instead of working through this incident alone it had to be showcased to the whole town. Soon enough the argument with Liz that his patrons surely overheard would work its way through the town gossip mill. Goddamn this town.

Luke walked down the sidewalk, trying to figure out where to start his search. Where was the most likely place for Aurora to be? He had a whole town to look and no idea where to start? Heck, he didn't even know what she looked like. It had been too many years since he last saw her. When he pictured her in his mind he saw her as a kid, not a teenager. How had she grown into her features? Was her hair still long, straight and light brown? Was she short like her deadbeat dad or tall like Luke? Skinny like her mom or plump like her grandma? He had no idea about any of these questions.

Maybe there was still a little information to gather from Liz. He could call her back and ask her to send her a picture of Rory. You could send stuff through computers now, right? Someone would have to walk him and Liz through that, though. Who did he know who was good with computers? Maybe Jess? Jess might have been acting like an ass lately, but he would still do the right thing and help if he knew how important it was to Luke.

Before he headed to the Gilmore's, though, he came up with one more idea. The whole town was going to know his gossip soon enough, so there was no point in trying to avoid it. Maybe, he could even use that town gossip as a source.

Miss Patty's Dance Studio was only a block from the diner. Its doors were open as she instructed a child's dance class from the door frame. She held a cigarette holder and took puffs of smokes that she blew into the outside.

Luke approached her and she smiled. "Girls take a break. Get some water but keep those muscles warm."

The little dancers ran off to the corner of the room where the water jug was.

"You seem like you want something, Darling," Miss Patty said. "Is it me? Am I ever to be so lucky?"

Luke couldn't help but blush. Patty was just so overt. "I was actually hoping for some information."

"My, my, Luke Danes participating in town gossip. I never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm looking for a girl."

"Aren't all men?"

Luke glared at her. "She's my niece."

Patty frowned and flicked the ashes of her cigarette onto the ground. "Sorry, Darling. I'll try to be serious. Liz's kid?"

Luke nodded.

"Didn't know Liz was in town."

"She's not," Luke said. He put his hands in his pocket and watched ashes from the cigarette fall. "I guess the kid ran away."

"Shouldn't be surprised. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree." It was unclear if Miss Patty was referring to Liz or Aurora's father.

"Got a description?" Miss Patty asked.

Luke grimaced. This was the hard part. Why couldn't Patty had just known of some runaway he could check out. "Haven't seen her since she was eight," he admitted. "Brown hair. Blue eyes."

"You're describing half the town, darling."

"She's about sixteen. Name's Aurora"

Patty chewed on her cigarette holder. "You know who she kind of sounds like? Lorelai's new maid, Rory. Could be a nickname for Aurora." Patty looked back at her class. They were sitting down in a circle talking.

"What are we doing sitting, my little chickens?" Patty said. "Up, up, up before you muscles freeze." Patty looked back at Luke. "She was here earlier. Don't know why. I think she slept here." Patty shrugged. "Sounds like runaway behavior to me."

Luke thought about the maid Rory. She'd come by the diner with Lorelai a couple of times and always seemed so skittish. Yesterday he caught her creeping around the back of the diner. Could she be his missing niece? Shouldn't Luke have recognized her if that was really Aurora? Rory couldn't be her, could she? Rory was a few years older, certainly an adult. She was a maid. She had to be out of high school.

He tried to remember what Rory looked like. It was certainly possible. Her features were similar enough to Aurora's to make him question it. And then there were the eyes. Luke had noticed how blue her eyes were the first time they met but hadn't really thought anything of it. They were beautiful eyes, that's for sure, but it was only now that he remembered that Aurora had bright blue eyes too. The same bright blue eyes. There wasn't any question in his mind anymore: Rory was Aurora.


The phone rang. It had been ringing on and off all day. With Rory missing and another maid out sick, the inn was understaffed. Complaints were up the wazoo. Lorelai didn't want to pick up the phone again. She didn't want to hear another complaint. She looked at Michel. He wasn't reaching for it either.

"Your turn," she said.

"I took the last one," he said.

"Nuh-uh. One came in while you were on that call."

The ringing stopped. They both looked at each other.

"Well that's bad customer service," Lorelai said.

Michel put his elbows on the desk and rested his head in his hands. "It'll just be another complaint for them to put on the comment cards."

The phone rang again. The two looked at each other. Lorelai brought her finger to her nose. "Not it!"

Michel grumbled and said, "I hate you," before answering the phone. "Independence Inn, Michel speaking. How can I help you?"

Lorelai smiled, knowing she won. She only hoped her victory would hold out longer than his phone conversation.

"I need to speak to you," someone said. So long victory, Lorelai thought. She looked up, but instead of a disgruntled customer it was Luke.

"Luke?" She asked blinking. She hadn't seen him enter the inn, never mind approach the desk.

"It's urgent."

"Oh...okay." Lorelai walked from behind the desk and led him to her office. He followed her inside and she closed the door behind him. Luke didn't sit down. He paced, at least as much as he could in an office that tiny.

"What's wrong, Honey?"

Luke stopped pacing. There was a chair in front of Lorelai's desk and he rested his hands on the back of it. "Where's that Aurora girl that's been working here?"

"Who?" Lorelai didn't know anyone by that name.

"Rory."

Forgetting for a moment that Luke was now calling her by a different name Lorelai's mind began to conjure up terrible things. Did Rory do something to the diner last night? There were rumors this morning of Taylor Doose's car getting egged. Did something happen to Luke too? "Why'd you call her Aurora?" Lorelai asked, her mind circling back to the least important part of this conversation.

"Because that's her real name. Where is she?" He was nearly yelling now.

"She's not here," Lorelai said. Why were they suddenly fighting? Did he blame her for whatever Rory had done?

"I need to find her."

Lorelai took a deep breath. Whatever it was she would fix it. She took in this girl which meant she was responsible for whatever she had done. "What'd she do."

"She's my niece and she ran away from home two weeks ago."

Her heart skipped a beat. What did Luke say? She must have heard him wrong. "What?" Her words sounded lifeless. Flat. She just couldn't believe this. It felt too coincidental. What were the chances Rory was Luke's niece? How hadn't Luke realized this before? He'd seen her countless times in the last two weeks.

"What the Hell was she doing here?" Luke ranted. "Working as a maid? She's sixteen. She should be in school."

No, no, no. None of this made any sense. Rory said she was eighteen. Lorelai suspected she could be lying, but she cared more about giving the girl a safe space to stay then looking into that. She thought the girl was running from something, maybe an abusive home or some sort of trouble she got caught up in. But if she was Luke's niece then…well, she shouldn't have even been on the streets. Even if things were bad Rory should have known she could turn to Luke. Luke was a saint. He pretended to be a grump but he would have done anything for anyone in Stars Hollow (at least other than Taylor). She could only imagine he'd do the same for family.

Why would Luke's niece be on the streets instead of going to him? It made no sense.

"I didn't know," Lorelai said.

"You don't check out your employees? Make them fill out I-9s and W-4s? I'm a business owner, Lorelai. I know what kinds of background checks you're supposed to run."

"I thought I was helping her."

"Load of help you did. Now she's missing." Luke walked toward the door. He opened it but paused. "If you see her bring her to me. Then stay the Hell away from her." He walked out and slammed the door.

Lorelai sat back in her chair, her head still spinning. She tried to regulate her breathing. Rory was Luke's niece. Luke was Rory's uncle. It still sounded ridiculous.

But then Lorelai recalled when they first met. Rory was asking about Luke's Diner. She was looking for Luke. She was on her way to see him until Lorelai got in the way. This didn't seem so coincidental after all. Rory must've come to Star Hollows just to see Luke. And Lorelai got in the way. This was all Lorelai's fault. It was her fault Rory ended up anywhere else but under Luke's safe protection and it was her fault Rory was missing now too.

She put her head down on her desk and cried. She really messed up this time. And she wasn't sure if she could ever fix it.


CW: This chapter mentions underage drug use.

A/n: So my life has been in shambles again. Due to Covid-19 I lost my job. I was a substitute teacher and they shut down all the schools, and since they don't need substitutes for virtual learning I'm out of a job. It's been 3 weeks to the day and I'm just a wreck. Slipped into a deep depression of despair. Stopped writing again, and also stopped reading. Then my friend reminded me about Camp NaNoWriMo and it's literally been the only thing to get me out of the slump. Don't get me wrong, I'm still depressed AF, but at least I have a goal again. At least I have some motivation.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Send your love if you are so inclined because I need lots of that right now, lol.