Chapter 4: The Inevitable Backstory Burger

Opening Author's Note: The present day story (Louise opening the restaurant) takes place 14 years in the future from the present Bob's Burgers timeline. In this timeline, Louise is 23, Gene is 25, and Tina is 28. This roughly puts Bob and Linda in their late 50s, early 60s (Bob is canonically 46 during Bob's Burgers from Season 8 onwards). This chapter is 6 years before that story, and 8 years away from the original series.

Six Years Ago…

Linda gently placed the phone underneath the counter, letting out a long, drawn out sigh, Bob looked out the window, concerned for her. "What's wrong Lin?" "We lost another one…" She groaned sadly, resting her forehead on her sleeve. "Another what, Linda? Who was that on the phone?" Bob tilted his head slightly, confused as to what was going on exactly. "Gene, Bob. He's going to be staying with some friends over the summer…"

Louise's head slammed against the booth table, letting out a loud and annoyed groan. "Seriously! He's not coming back?!" She gets out of the booth, storming from the dining area, back through the kitchen, and down to the basement.

Stupid Gene… Stupid Tina… Leaving me alone in this stupid resteraunt in this stupid town… She angrily thought, pacing back and forth. It's my last summer of high school, and Gene promised he was going to come back to spend it with me! But noooo, his stupid 'college friends' matter more than his own sister, I guess. Gene had left town the previous fall to attend school across the country. It took a lot of begging from him to get Bob and Linda to agree, and a couple of "Itty Bitty Ditty Committee Concerts for the Cure" concerts at the wharf, but he saved enough to move out on his own.

Tina had been slower to move out of the house, taking her first years of college virtually before going to a state school for her certifications. Bob and Linda were proud of Tina for trying to get herself a, quote, "real job", but were more so relieved that Tina wasn't going to turn out like Linda's sister.

Which left Louise. She was finishing out her Junior Year at Huxley High School, her last day at the end of the week. Before Gene had left, they started making plans about how to spend Louise's last "Summer of Freedom" before graduation. Two years earlier, Louise had helped Gene with a blowout for his own last summer, getting all the pranks and adventures that they wanted to have before Gene left…

But it was supposed to just be for the year! He said he was gonna come home! Louise kept storming, feeling herself get uncomfortably warm in the basement, and move to the walk-in freezer. Slowly, she started feeling heavy footsteps leave the basement and approach the freezer, the unmistakable steps of her father's heavy stride and rubber padded chef shoes.

"Louise. I know you're angry. I get it. I'm… I'm not the most thrilled seeing you kids grow up and move out, but Gene has to be allowed to do his own thing…" Bob spoke, trying to share his own worries about Gene leaving to her. "You remember what I used to say, about you kids finding 'Your People'? Well… Gene found his people at school. And we should be happy for him."

"But why am I not his people!?" Louise yelled from inside the freezer, sulking and sliding against the door. "You are, Louise… You kids are always going to matter to each other. And yeah, Gene might be crappy for not coming back when he promised… But that doesn't mean you can-" Bob stopped himself before making a challenge to Louise. "It doesn't mean you should stop enjoying your life. C'mon up to the restaurant and, when we close, I'll take you out for ice cream and we can talk about how crappy your brother is acting right now…" Bob smiled as he felt the door push open, the teenager slowly walking out and upstairs.

"Oh crap, I left buns downstairs. I'm gonna be right back." Bob groaned, making an about face as he finished climbing the stairs. As Louise passed the grill, she could hear a small egg timer going off. Bob had a pretty good internal timer for burgers, but in the last few years had put in an extra timer to make sure he wasn't flipping anything too early. With Linda still out front and Bob rooting through the basement, Louise noticed a set of patties sizzling on the grill, picking up her dad's spatula. She gently placed it under a burger, giving her wrist a quick flick, flipping the patty in midair, landing almost exactly where it had began, but on the other side.

Woah… That… Looked kinda cool. Louise thought to herself, cracking a small smile. She had never really worked behind the grill before. When she was little, her and Gene were often used as servers and busboys, since, to quote their dad, "People like seeing little kids delivering food as opposed to a balding, middle-age man with a mustache." She had learned how to cook, mostly from watching Bob and Linda at home and in the restaurant, but it was something she never really saw herself caring too much about. But that simple move, that quick flip, a controlled motion resulting in a controlled bit of chaos, the burger flying through the air… It made her feel something she had never felt towards cooking.

She quickly flipped another patty, and then another, grabbing a few more patties from the meat tub to put on the grill, getting herself into a flow state. As Bob slowly made his way back up the stairs, he noticed Louise working the grill, pausing to watch his child effortlessly work at something he had been doing most of his life. A sense of pride filled his mind as Louise broke concentration, looking for buns for the completed burgers. "Ummm… Dad. Could… Could you hand me those?" The words broke Bob's focus, bringing him back to reality as he rushed over to the grill. "Y-you can take that back if you want it…" Louise tried to hand over the spatula to Bob.

"No. I mean… If you want to work the grill, I'd be happy to dress, if that's what you want…" Bob smiled, pulling a couple of buns on a plate, getting them prepared for the burger. Louise looked up and smiled at her father, pulling a couple of burgers off the grill, and placing them on well prepared buns, before smacking the bell in the window.

"ORDER UP!"

Author's Note: Yeah, it only seems right to do a little chapter explaining why Louise takes over the family business other than "That one episode in Season 3 makes me cry and I want to see her do great things". Planning on getting back to the present timeline after that and also introducing the future versions of Tina and Gene. I wanted the first couple of chapters to mostly center on Louise and her first day, and then this one to explain how we get to that future from the original series. Don't worry, Tina and Gene are fine, and we are gonna see how they've been doing in the next chapter.