Title: Life As I Know It
Chapter 23: Being Too Outdoorsy Is Bad
Hey, I'm back, the story's almost over--it's all good.
~~~~
"So where's Lane?" Lorelai asked Rory as they were walking to Luke's.
"Grounded."
"Oh, what now?"
"Mrs. Kim grounded her last week, apparently, but forgot to tell her--"
"She forgot to tell her?" Lorelai interrupted Rory.
"Yeah, I know, it's weird, but still--it is Mrs. Kim."
"Right, yeah, continue."
"Okay, so Lane came over to our house a couple days ago, unknowingly breaking about ten of her mom's rules."
"And Mrs. Kim yelled and now Lane knows she's grounded for sure. Right?"
"Exactly."
"So when was the last time you saw her?"
"It'll be a week on Thursday."
"In other words, three days."
"Yeah."
"You are so weird."
"Learned from the best." Rory smiled at her mom, and Lorelai smiled back.
"Mmm, coffee awaits!" Lorelai threw her arm around Rory's shoulders and they happily headed into the diner.
~~~~
"Honey, I'm home!" Lorelai called as she walked into the house a few days later.
"Living room," Rory answered. Lorelai walked into the living room to find Rory stretched out on the couch under a blanket.
"Oh, sweetie, you feeling okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned, as she sat on the couch next to the bundled-up fifteen-year-old.
"Yeah. Just a little...out of sorts."
"Miss your best friend?"
"Yeah. It's weird, not seeing or talking to her."
"Well, you see her at school, right?"
Rory shook her head. "Her mom's home-schooling her for a while. She told the school Lane was contagious."
"Ooh, she's even more evil than we originally thought."
"Yeah."
"Hey, speaking of evil--my mom called."
"Grandma's not evil."
"That's what you think. Anyway, she said we should start getting our Easter dresses fitted now."
"Easter's not for two months!"
"What'd I tell you, evil. Anyway, she got me thinking. I'm gonna make our dresses this year."
"Cool!"
"Yeah. So we're going shopping for fabric Saturday, so keep it open."
"Sure. This is gonna be so fun!"
"Yeah, but you don't have to make them."
"I'll help."
"Oh, I'm never letting you near a needle again. Not after the infamous bloody-shirt incident."
"I didn't mean to do that."
"I know, but still--you bled all over my shirt, and all you were doing was sewing on a button!"
"Hey, at least we got some good rags out of it."
"That's true, but we still don't use 'em."
"Oh, yeah."
~~~~
Rory was walking around aimlessly the next day after school, and somehow she found herself in front of Kim's Antiques. After a slight weighing of the pros and cons in her head, she walked through the gate. After another minute, an idea hit her, and instead of heading through the front door, she walked around the corner of the house. There was a tall tree standing there, and one of the branches led directly to Lane's room. Rory got a look of determination on her face and started climbing. She made it up without any problem, but she paused a little as she noticed that the branch leading to Lane's window was really really thin. She shook her head and chalked it up to nervousness. Taking a deep breath, she held onto the thin branch as tightly as she could and started inching her way to the window.
When she was about six feet away, she hissed, "Lane!"
There wasn't an answer, so Rory looked around to see if there was anything she could throw at the window to get her friend's attention. She noticed a small acorn growing not far above her head, and she slowly lifted one arm up and reached for it.
Suddenly Lane's window flew open. "Rory? Is that you?"
"Ahh!" Rory, distracted, let go of the branch with her other arm and fell to the ground.
~~~~
"Oh, come on, Luke, I just want two coffees to go." Lorelai complained to Luke inside his diner.
"No. You can't have two cups."
"One of 'em's for Rory, I swear."
"And how many times have you used that excuse?"
Lorelai sighed and turned away from Luke. She had used that excuse an awful lot. She looked out the window and something caught her eye.
"Oh, my God!"
"What now?" Luke asked, exasperated.
"I think Rory just fell from that tree!" Lorelai ran out of the diner, leaving her purse and coat lying on the counter. Luke threw his order pad and pen down and followed her.
~~~~
"Oh, my God, Rory, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"It's okay," Rory whispered.
"Hold on, I'll be right down." Lane's face disappeared from the window. Rory groaned and held her right arm. She'd landed on it, and now it hurt a helluva lot.
"Rory!"
Rory looked above her head to see her mother running across the street.
"Mom," she said, as loud as she could through the pain, which really wasn't very loud.
"Oh, are you okay?" Lorelai ground to a halt next to Rory's almost-still form on the ground. Rory shook her head. "What's hurt? Your arm?"
Rory nodded.
"Luke, call an ambulance. Oh, sweetie, it's gonna be okay." Lorelai sat Rory up and hugged her as gently as she could, but Rory still winced. "Luke, call a damn ambulance!"
Luke turned and ran back to the diner just as Lane came running out of her house.
"I just called an ambulance. They'll be right here."
"Oh, thank God. Oh, my poor baby!" Lorelai lovingly smoothed Rory's hair from her face. "What were you doing in the tree?"
"I wanted to talk to Lane," Rory groaned.
"I think I startled her." Lane said to Lorelai. "I'm really sorry, Rory. Really, really sorry."
"Oh, it wasn't your fault, sweetie," Lorelai reassured the teenager.
"Lane!" Mrs. Kim yelled from the doorway of Kim's Antiques.
"Oh," Lane looked between her mother and her best friend.
"Go," Rory groaned.
Lorelai nodded. "We'll talk to you later, I promise."
"Get better, Rory." Lane stood up and ran back into her house.
"Okay, I called the hospital," Luke ran up to the girls and then stood doubled over, his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath. "And they said someone's already on the way."
"We know, Lane called."
"Thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome. Hey, Luke. You know how I was trying to get you to give me coffee earlier?"
"Yeah?"
"You think maybe now you should get some for Rory?"
Luke paused, indesicion all over his face. Finally he stood up. "Dammit, Lorelai. You're evil."
"I learned from the best!" Lorelai called as Luke walked back to the diner.
~~~~
"See, this is what you get for being outdoors-y and, you know, touching nature." Lorelai shuddered, pointing to the cast on her daughter's hand.
"At least I didn't get it falling from a headstand." Rory retaliated from her spot on the couch in their living room.
"Oh, see now, that was just stupid. See, cause now I'm going to have to take this cup of coffee," Lorelai held up a plastic cup from Luke's, "and hold it away from you like this, and take a sip, like this."
"No!" Rory screamed as Lorelai tilted the cup back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want some?" Lorelai smiled sweetly and held the coffee out to her injured daughter. Rory scowled and took it.
"You're so mean."
"I am not! After all, you've got the prime spot on the couch, we rented all the movies you wanted to see, I got all of your favorite foods, and I'm even going to let you hold the remote." Lorelai smiled and held the remote out to Rory. Rory gladly took it and pressed play.
"Thank you, Mom."
"You're welcome." Lorelai kissed Rory on the forehead and then sat down on the floor, right next to Rory's head.
"You know, I'm not going to be able to write for a month."
"You'll survive."
"I've got a test on Monday!"
"Relax. Lay back down and relax. I'm sure by now your teacher has heard the story, and Monday you will quite possibly be excused from the test, or maybe even allowed to take it orally."
"You think so?"
"Hello? The town sweetheart gets injured? It'll probably be declared a holiday, and you won't even have to go."
"I don't think that's gonna happen."
"Oh, can we pretend it does and stay home anyway? Oh, come on! It'll be fun! We can annoy Michel by calling him up all day and using different voices."
"Well, that does sound fun," Rory wavered.
"It'll be great!" Lorelai turned back to the TV, the conversation over in her eyes.
After about twenty minutes, Rory was drifting off, the pain medication they'd given her at the hospital kicking in already. Lorelai looked up and saw her sleeping daughter. She smiled. Rory looked so angelic when she was unconscious--well, more angelic than when she was awake. Lorelai slowly pulled the remote from Rory's hands and turned the TV off. Then she slipped her arms underneath Rory's neck and Rory's knees and tried to pick her up.
"Whoa," she said softly, staggering under the sudden weight. Looking down at the floor, she kicked off her shoes and suddenly lost three inches in height. She shifted Rory in her arms and then started toward the younger Gilmore's bedroom. After what seemed like days, Lorelai was able to deposit Rory in bed and cover her up. She kissed Rory on the forehead and started out of the room, turning off the lights. She was about to close the door when Rory mumbled something.
"What?"
"I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, baby." Lorelai smiled, threw another kiss to her sleeping daughter, and closed the door fully behind her.
Chapter 23: Being Too Outdoorsy Is Bad
Hey, I'm back, the story's almost over--it's all good.
~~~~
"So where's Lane?" Lorelai asked Rory as they were walking to Luke's.
"Grounded."
"Oh, what now?"
"Mrs. Kim grounded her last week, apparently, but forgot to tell her--"
"She forgot to tell her?" Lorelai interrupted Rory.
"Yeah, I know, it's weird, but still--it is Mrs. Kim."
"Right, yeah, continue."
"Okay, so Lane came over to our house a couple days ago, unknowingly breaking about ten of her mom's rules."
"And Mrs. Kim yelled and now Lane knows she's grounded for sure. Right?"
"Exactly."
"So when was the last time you saw her?"
"It'll be a week on Thursday."
"In other words, three days."
"Yeah."
"You are so weird."
"Learned from the best." Rory smiled at her mom, and Lorelai smiled back.
"Mmm, coffee awaits!" Lorelai threw her arm around Rory's shoulders and they happily headed into the diner.
~~~~
"Honey, I'm home!" Lorelai called as she walked into the house a few days later.
"Living room," Rory answered. Lorelai walked into the living room to find Rory stretched out on the couch under a blanket.
"Oh, sweetie, you feeling okay?" Lorelai asked, concerned, as she sat on the couch next to the bundled-up fifteen-year-old.
"Yeah. Just a little...out of sorts."
"Miss your best friend?"
"Yeah. It's weird, not seeing or talking to her."
"Well, you see her at school, right?"
Rory shook her head. "Her mom's home-schooling her for a while. She told the school Lane was contagious."
"Ooh, she's even more evil than we originally thought."
"Yeah."
"Hey, speaking of evil--my mom called."
"Grandma's not evil."
"That's what you think. Anyway, she said we should start getting our Easter dresses fitted now."
"Easter's not for two months!"
"What'd I tell you, evil. Anyway, she got me thinking. I'm gonna make our dresses this year."
"Cool!"
"Yeah. So we're going shopping for fabric Saturday, so keep it open."
"Sure. This is gonna be so fun!"
"Yeah, but you don't have to make them."
"I'll help."
"Oh, I'm never letting you near a needle again. Not after the infamous bloody-shirt incident."
"I didn't mean to do that."
"I know, but still--you bled all over my shirt, and all you were doing was sewing on a button!"
"Hey, at least we got some good rags out of it."
"That's true, but we still don't use 'em."
"Oh, yeah."
~~~~
Rory was walking around aimlessly the next day after school, and somehow she found herself in front of Kim's Antiques. After a slight weighing of the pros and cons in her head, she walked through the gate. After another minute, an idea hit her, and instead of heading through the front door, she walked around the corner of the house. There was a tall tree standing there, and one of the branches led directly to Lane's room. Rory got a look of determination on her face and started climbing. She made it up without any problem, but she paused a little as she noticed that the branch leading to Lane's window was really really thin. She shook her head and chalked it up to nervousness. Taking a deep breath, she held onto the thin branch as tightly as she could and started inching her way to the window.
When she was about six feet away, she hissed, "Lane!"
There wasn't an answer, so Rory looked around to see if there was anything she could throw at the window to get her friend's attention. She noticed a small acorn growing not far above her head, and she slowly lifted one arm up and reached for it.
Suddenly Lane's window flew open. "Rory? Is that you?"
"Ahh!" Rory, distracted, let go of the branch with her other arm and fell to the ground.
~~~~
"Oh, come on, Luke, I just want two coffees to go." Lorelai complained to Luke inside his diner.
"No. You can't have two cups."
"One of 'em's for Rory, I swear."
"And how many times have you used that excuse?"
Lorelai sighed and turned away from Luke. She had used that excuse an awful lot. She looked out the window and something caught her eye.
"Oh, my God!"
"What now?" Luke asked, exasperated.
"I think Rory just fell from that tree!" Lorelai ran out of the diner, leaving her purse and coat lying on the counter. Luke threw his order pad and pen down and followed her.
~~~~
"Oh, my God, Rory, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"It's okay," Rory whispered.
"Hold on, I'll be right down." Lane's face disappeared from the window. Rory groaned and held her right arm. She'd landed on it, and now it hurt a helluva lot.
"Rory!"
Rory looked above her head to see her mother running across the street.
"Mom," she said, as loud as she could through the pain, which really wasn't very loud.
"Oh, are you okay?" Lorelai ground to a halt next to Rory's almost-still form on the ground. Rory shook her head. "What's hurt? Your arm?"
Rory nodded.
"Luke, call an ambulance. Oh, sweetie, it's gonna be okay." Lorelai sat Rory up and hugged her as gently as she could, but Rory still winced. "Luke, call a damn ambulance!"
Luke turned and ran back to the diner just as Lane came running out of her house.
"I just called an ambulance. They'll be right here."
"Oh, thank God. Oh, my poor baby!" Lorelai lovingly smoothed Rory's hair from her face. "What were you doing in the tree?"
"I wanted to talk to Lane," Rory groaned.
"I think I startled her." Lane said to Lorelai. "I'm really sorry, Rory. Really, really sorry."
"Oh, it wasn't your fault, sweetie," Lorelai reassured the teenager.
"Lane!" Mrs. Kim yelled from the doorway of Kim's Antiques.
"Oh," Lane looked between her mother and her best friend.
"Go," Rory groaned.
Lorelai nodded. "We'll talk to you later, I promise."
"Get better, Rory." Lane stood up and ran back into her house.
"Okay, I called the hospital," Luke ran up to the girls and then stood doubled over, his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath. "And they said someone's already on the way."
"We know, Lane called."
"Thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome. Hey, Luke. You know how I was trying to get you to give me coffee earlier?"
"Yeah?"
"You think maybe now you should get some for Rory?"
Luke paused, indesicion all over his face. Finally he stood up. "Dammit, Lorelai. You're evil."
"I learned from the best!" Lorelai called as Luke walked back to the diner.
~~~~
"See, this is what you get for being outdoors-y and, you know, touching nature." Lorelai shuddered, pointing to the cast on her daughter's hand.
"At least I didn't get it falling from a headstand." Rory retaliated from her spot on the couch in their living room.
"Oh, see now, that was just stupid. See, cause now I'm going to have to take this cup of coffee," Lorelai held up a plastic cup from Luke's, "and hold it away from you like this, and take a sip, like this."
"No!" Rory screamed as Lorelai tilted the cup back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want some?" Lorelai smiled sweetly and held the coffee out to her injured daughter. Rory scowled and took it.
"You're so mean."
"I am not! After all, you've got the prime spot on the couch, we rented all the movies you wanted to see, I got all of your favorite foods, and I'm even going to let you hold the remote." Lorelai smiled and held the remote out to Rory. Rory gladly took it and pressed play.
"Thank you, Mom."
"You're welcome." Lorelai kissed Rory on the forehead and then sat down on the floor, right next to Rory's head.
"You know, I'm not going to be able to write for a month."
"You'll survive."
"I've got a test on Monday!"
"Relax. Lay back down and relax. I'm sure by now your teacher has heard the story, and Monday you will quite possibly be excused from the test, or maybe even allowed to take it orally."
"You think so?"
"Hello? The town sweetheart gets injured? It'll probably be declared a holiday, and you won't even have to go."
"I don't think that's gonna happen."
"Oh, can we pretend it does and stay home anyway? Oh, come on! It'll be fun! We can annoy Michel by calling him up all day and using different voices."
"Well, that does sound fun," Rory wavered.
"It'll be great!" Lorelai turned back to the TV, the conversation over in her eyes.
After about twenty minutes, Rory was drifting off, the pain medication they'd given her at the hospital kicking in already. Lorelai looked up and saw her sleeping daughter. She smiled. Rory looked so angelic when she was unconscious--well, more angelic than when she was awake. Lorelai slowly pulled the remote from Rory's hands and turned the TV off. Then she slipped her arms underneath Rory's neck and Rory's knees and tried to pick her up.
"Whoa," she said softly, staggering under the sudden weight. Looking down at the floor, she kicked off her shoes and suddenly lost three inches in height. She shifted Rory in her arms and then started toward the younger Gilmore's bedroom. After what seemed like days, Lorelai was able to deposit Rory in bed and cover her up. She kissed Rory on the forehead and started out of the room, turning off the lights. She was about to close the door when Rory mumbled something.
"What?"
"I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, baby." Lorelai smiled, threw another kiss to her sleeping daughter, and closed the door fully behind her.