Title: Always You
Chapter 3: Debates, Lurkers, and Something Big
Yay, I got reviews! Of course, I got one of them because I e-mailed and badgered the poor girl, and I'm sure the only reason she was so nice in her review is because I freaked her out, but anyway...I got reviews! (btw, Seehoo: Zoo-Zoo said you can borrow his glow-in-the-dark pencil. Now, I don't want to be mean to my best friend the invisible flying monkey, but I think it's your pencil! gasp!)
A road trip in a story by me? Weird! Well, not that weird, cause if I recall, I wrote three other stories with road trips, although one of the road trips was a teenaged Lorelai's first introduction to Stars Hollow, and another is a yet-to-be-written travel by recently unemployed Christopher, alcoholic Lorelai, and thirteen-year-old in 2003 Rory. Anyway, the road trip in this story is Lorelai and Christopher and very fun, cause no one knows what's gonna happen...least of all me.
And Rory: Her relationship with Dean and later Jess are going to continue exactly like the show, down to the break-up (if I make it that far). I've already been thinking it over in my mind and I can't wait till Christopher hears that Rory's going out with Jess, cause it's gonna be really funny! I think. But that's chapters from now!! Okay, you can read now.
Don't forget, this takes place in June of 2002.
~~~~
Returning home from work at about six, Lorelai thought over her day. All in all, it had been pretty crappy. Travelers over the summer were apparently very tense and ready to complain. Sookie was still on her honeymoon, so not only was the inn without their famous chef, they were also without Jackson's produce. A buyer had shown up at around four in the afternoon demanding to speak to Mia. Apparently he'd spoken to her on the phone about the place, and he hadn't realized that while the inn was only a short drive from his office in New York, the owner was a much longer drive away. And on top of all that, Lorelai hadn't spoken to Rory since the night before and she hadn't seen Christopher since he'd woken her at five that morning by getting out of bed, rushing for his way too early morning meeting.
Lorelai sighed upon entering the house, dropped her purse and keys and everything wherever they fell, and entered Rory's room. She walked over to Rory's bookcase and looked over the multitudes of paperbacks her daughter had accumulated over 17 years. She kneeled next to the bed and looked through those stacks.
"Aha!" Lorelai pulled a Nick Hornby book--one of Rory's few contemporaries--out and plopped it on the bed. Noticing the lack of the bed's good pillow, Lorelai ran to her room and carried Rory's pillow back downstairs. She placed it next to the book, and then headed for Rory's desk and CD collection. She turned on Rory's stereo and pushed the button that caused the CD tray to slide out. Then she opened a few of Rory's desk drawers and searched through the CDs--half of which belonged to Lane. Finally finding what she wanted, Lorelai pulled the plastic square out of its tight space, extracted the disk, and placed it in the CD tray. Then she pressed another button that caused the tray to slide back into the stereo. The first strains of Sam Phillip's "Tell Her What She Wants To Know" flooded the room and Lorelai picked the book off the bed, laid down in its place, and started reading.
Christopher walked into his new house. Lorelai's keys, shoes, purse, and suit jacket lay strewn across the floor leading from the front door to Rory's room. Sam Phillips was singing, loudly, at Christopher through the wall, so he set down his work and entered his absent daughter's room to find Lorelai in the spot she'd spent most of her time since Rory had left.
"Lor." Chris nodded from the doorway. Lorelai looked up and smiled.
"Hey, hon."
"Hey. What are ya doin?"
"Uh, just relaxing from a stressful day at work."
"Ah." Chris entered the room and crossed to the stereo. He turned Sam down a few notches.
"Hey!"
"Relax, she sounds just as good a little quieter."
"Working stiff," Lorelai muttered into the book in front of her face.
"Look who's talking." Chris laid on the bed next to Lorelai, settling on his stomach so he could face her.
"Bruce Willis as the voice of Kirstie Alley and George Segal's very young kid?"
"Only in the movies." Christopher smiled. "So, you're back in Rory's room, huh?"
"Yep."
"Listening to Sam Phillips and reading...what are you reading?"
"How To Be Good, by Nick Hornby."
"Ah, one of his few not made into a movie."
"Exactly."
Chris rolled over and leaned back into the bed next to Lorelai. She lifted her head and he placed his arm underneath it and pulled her towards him. She snuggled in close and he kissed her on the top of her head.
"I like you being here," Lorelai murmured.
"I like it too."
The couple lay there for a little while, just happy to be in each other's arms.
"I wanna do something. Something big." Lorelai said suddenly, placing the book across her stomach to keep her place.
"Okay. Like what?"
"I wanna go on a road trip. Today."
"A girl with a sense of adventure. I like it."
"Good." Lorelai leaned in and kissed Christopher quickly on the lips. "Okay, go pack." Lorelai patted Chris' leg. He got up and then looked at her.
"What are you going to do?"
"I," she stressed, sliding off the bed, "am going to call work and tell them I'm not going to be in till Tuesday."
"It's Wednesday."
"I know. And then I'm going to pack, and you'll call your work, and then we'll both call Rory."
"Great."
"Good." Lorelai walked over towards Rory's stereo to turn Sam off.
"Wait. Keep her playing. As a matter of fact, play her louder."
"Can do," Lorelai agreed happily, turning the large knob all the way to the right. She watched Christopher go up the stairs, and then she grabbed the phone and walked onto the front porch.
"Independence Inn, how may I help you?" a very peppy voice answered Lorelai's call.
"Hi! Is this Kaylee?"
"Why, yes it is! Who's this?"
"Lorelai Gilmore."
"Oh, Miss Gilmore, hi! Is this just a routine call to check up on your faithful employees?"
"Your first week, huh?"
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
"Just a hunch. No, actually, Kaylee, I'm calling to let everyone know I'm not going to be back until Wednesday."
"Oh, why?" Kaylee asked, sounding very sad.
"Oh, I'm taking a few personal days."
"Anything serious?"
"No."
"'No'?" Kaylee repeated, sounding a hell of a lot sadder than she had a few seconds before. "No pregnancy, body casts? Not even a death?"
"No. Sorry," Lorelai added, just because Kaylee sounded so forlorn.
"Yeah, whatever. Talk to you later, Miss Gilmore."
"Bye," Lorelai responded as the dial tone sounded in her ear. Lorelai hung up the phone, and turned to go back inside when something caught her eye. Or someone, actually. Lorelai leaned against the porch railing as she gazed intently in the direction of a boy who looked remarkably like Jess slowly walking down the other side of the road reading a book and every once in a while glancing at the Gilmore-Hayden house.
"Is he back?" Lorelai whispered to herself, still staring at the boy walking down the street. Then he looked up and caught her eye. "Yep, he is. Sonofabitch." Lorelai looked after the spot where Jess had run off, slightly incensed. Then Christopher walked out of the house and wrapped his arms around her waist, and she happily melted into his body, all thoughts of Jess forgotten.
~~~~
"Paris, chill."
"Chill? I can't chill! I don't know the meaning of the word! Whaddya mean, chill? How can I chill? We have a debate in less than twelve hours against a team of school-obsessed kids from Boston!"
"Which we're completely prepared for. We've been practicing since before we got elected."
"We didn't practice enough! We need to practice more! Do you know what's in Boston?"
"Cream pies and a harbor?"
"Don't try to joke, Rory. You know I can't handle jokes! Harvard is in Boston. Okay? Harvard! You know, that school I've been working towards for seventeen years?"
"Paris!" Rory grabbed Paris by the shoulders. "Breathe. Take a deep breath."
Paris shakily drew in some air.
"Let it out," Rory continued in a soothing voice.
Paris blew the air out through pursed lips very quickly.
"No, slowly."
Paris repeated the exercise just as quickly.
"Okay, whatever. Just keep doing that. And pace. Pacing will help you." Rory added as Paris started to walk quickly back and forth across their small room.
Paris just nodded. The phone rang and Paris jumped.
"Relax! It's probably just my mom."
"Your mom needs to get a life." Paris said as she walked past Rory.
"Look who's talking," Rory muttered as she walked towards the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey!"
"Hey," Rory said. It wasn't her mother's voice; it was a boy's voice. The line was kind of static-y, so she couldn't make out which boy. She knew which boy she wanted it to be, and she hoped, almost against her will, that it was him. "Where are you?" she asked, hoping that would answer who it was without coming right out and asking.
"I'm at my grandmother's house in Chicago."
Rory's heart sank. It was Dean. Then she forced a smile onto her face. It was Dean! Her boyfriend! "Already?"
"Yeah. I'm not gonna be home for over a month."
"Really? When do you get home?"
"Uh, September fourth."
"Oh, same as me! Great!"
"I know."
"Well...great!"
"Yeah. You already said that."
"Rory! I'm freaking out again!" Paris called from her pacing spot.
"Think about something else."
"Like what?" Paris called frantically.
"Is that Paris?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, we've got a debate tomorrow and she's kind of freaking out."
"That's not very surprising."
"Rory, I'm still freaking out here!" Paris yelled once again.
"Uh, sorry Dean, I gotta go. Talk to you later."
"Okay. I love you."
"Me, too. Bye." Rory hung up the phone and it rang again almost immediately.
"Rory! If you answer that phone I'm going to murder you after the debate tomorrow!"
"Right, because if you murder me before I can't debate." Rory picked up the phone.
"Rory!"
"Relax, I'm just gonna talk to them very quickly, and then I'm going to place a call directly to the mental insitution."
Paris nodded.
"Good. Hello?"
"I must say that was a very interesting conversation." Lorelai sounded very amused.
"Things always are with Paris."
"Obviously. How are you putting up with her?"
"Missing you terribly."
"Ah, it's always easy to miss beautiful, smart, charming, witty women like me."
"I thought there was only one person like you."
"Well, I'm sure other people try to compare themselves to me."
"Ah, just being nice to all the poor schmoes who aren't you?"
"Exactly! You're the only person who understands me!"
Rory heard a giggle and her dad's voice.
"And Christopher. Chris understands me."
"Of course." Rory smiled as she listened to her mother and father laugh on the other end of the phone. She was very happy they were finally together...well, again.
"Hey, what are you doing for the next couple of days?" Lorelai's voice snapped Rory back to attention.
"Uh, not much."
"The debate! We have the debate!" Paris yelled.
"The debate," Rory said into the phone. "Why?"
"Well, your dad and I are going on a road trip, so if you call me you have to call on the cell phone."
"Okay. Do you know when you're going to be back?"
"Uh, no. Not really. See, unlike you, your father has a sense of adventure."
"Just packing up and leaving?"
"Exactly! We must be on the same wavelength or something."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Listen, I've got more stuff to pack, so talk to your dad."
"Hey!" Christopher was on the phone in less than two seconds.
"Hey, Dad. So I hear you're packing up and leaving?"
"Yep. It was your mother's idea."
"I know."
"We'll probably stop down there in a few days."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Oh, my God!" Paris suddenly yelled and sank into a chair.
"What is it, Paris?"
"What if they change the topic before tomorrow? We'll be screwed."
"They're not going to change the topic."
"Yes, they are! Oh, my God!"
"Okay, Dad, I have to go. Paris is freaking out again."
"Of course."
"Have fun."
"You, too. Love you."
"Love you, too. Tell Mom bye."
"Can do. Bye, sweetie."
"Bye, Dad." Rory hung up the phone.
Chapter 3: Debates, Lurkers, and Something Big
Yay, I got reviews! Of course, I got one of them because I e-mailed and badgered the poor girl, and I'm sure the only reason she was so nice in her review is because I freaked her out, but anyway...I got reviews! (btw, Seehoo: Zoo-Zoo said you can borrow his glow-in-the-dark pencil. Now, I don't want to be mean to my best friend the invisible flying monkey, but I think it's your pencil! gasp!)
A road trip in a story by me? Weird! Well, not that weird, cause if I recall, I wrote three other stories with road trips, although one of the road trips was a teenaged Lorelai's first introduction to Stars Hollow, and another is a yet-to-be-written travel by recently unemployed Christopher, alcoholic Lorelai, and thirteen-year-old in 2003 Rory. Anyway, the road trip in this story is Lorelai and Christopher and very fun, cause no one knows what's gonna happen...least of all me.
And Rory: Her relationship with Dean and later Jess are going to continue exactly like the show, down to the break-up (if I make it that far). I've already been thinking it over in my mind and I can't wait till Christopher hears that Rory's going out with Jess, cause it's gonna be really funny! I think. But that's chapters from now!! Okay, you can read now.
Don't forget, this takes place in June of 2002.
~~~~
Returning home from work at about six, Lorelai thought over her day. All in all, it had been pretty crappy. Travelers over the summer were apparently very tense and ready to complain. Sookie was still on her honeymoon, so not only was the inn without their famous chef, they were also without Jackson's produce. A buyer had shown up at around four in the afternoon demanding to speak to Mia. Apparently he'd spoken to her on the phone about the place, and he hadn't realized that while the inn was only a short drive from his office in New York, the owner was a much longer drive away. And on top of all that, Lorelai hadn't spoken to Rory since the night before and she hadn't seen Christopher since he'd woken her at five that morning by getting out of bed, rushing for his way too early morning meeting.
Lorelai sighed upon entering the house, dropped her purse and keys and everything wherever they fell, and entered Rory's room. She walked over to Rory's bookcase and looked over the multitudes of paperbacks her daughter had accumulated over 17 years. She kneeled next to the bed and looked through those stacks.
"Aha!" Lorelai pulled a Nick Hornby book--one of Rory's few contemporaries--out and plopped it on the bed. Noticing the lack of the bed's good pillow, Lorelai ran to her room and carried Rory's pillow back downstairs. She placed it next to the book, and then headed for Rory's desk and CD collection. She turned on Rory's stereo and pushed the button that caused the CD tray to slide out. Then she opened a few of Rory's desk drawers and searched through the CDs--half of which belonged to Lane. Finally finding what she wanted, Lorelai pulled the plastic square out of its tight space, extracted the disk, and placed it in the CD tray. Then she pressed another button that caused the tray to slide back into the stereo. The first strains of Sam Phillip's "Tell Her What She Wants To Know" flooded the room and Lorelai picked the book off the bed, laid down in its place, and started reading.
Christopher walked into his new house. Lorelai's keys, shoes, purse, and suit jacket lay strewn across the floor leading from the front door to Rory's room. Sam Phillips was singing, loudly, at Christopher through the wall, so he set down his work and entered his absent daughter's room to find Lorelai in the spot she'd spent most of her time since Rory had left.
"Lor." Chris nodded from the doorway. Lorelai looked up and smiled.
"Hey, hon."
"Hey. What are ya doin?"
"Uh, just relaxing from a stressful day at work."
"Ah." Chris entered the room and crossed to the stereo. He turned Sam down a few notches.
"Hey!"
"Relax, she sounds just as good a little quieter."
"Working stiff," Lorelai muttered into the book in front of her face.
"Look who's talking." Chris laid on the bed next to Lorelai, settling on his stomach so he could face her.
"Bruce Willis as the voice of Kirstie Alley and George Segal's very young kid?"
"Only in the movies." Christopher smiled. "So, you're back in Rory's room, huh?"
"Yep."
"Listening to Sam Phillips and reading...what are you reading?"
"How To Be Good, by Nick Hornby."
"Ah, one of his few not made into a movie."
"Exactly."
Chris rolled over and leaned back into the bed next to Lorelai. She lifted her head and he placed his arm underneath it and pulled her towards him. She snuggled in close and he kissed her on the top of her head.
"I like you being here," Lorelai murmured.
"I like it too."
The couple lay there for a little while, just happy to be in each other's arms.
"I wanna do something. Something big." Lorelai said suddenly, placing the book across her stomach to keep her place.
"Okay. Like what?"
"I wanna go on a road trip. Today."
"A girl with a sense of adventure. I like it."
"Good." Lorelai leaned in and kissed Christopher quickly on the lips. "Okay, go pack." Lorelai patted Chris' leg. He got up and then looked at her.
"What are you going to do?"
"I," she stressed, sliding off the bed, "am going to call work and tell them I'm not going to be in till Tuesday."
"It's Wednesday."
"I know. And then I'm going to pack, and you'll call your work, and then we'll both call Rory."
"Great."
"Good." Lorelai walked over towards Rory's stereo to turn Sam off.
"Wait. Keep her playing. As a matter of fact, play her louder."
"Can do," Lorelai agreed happily, turning the large knob all the way to the right. She watched Christopher go up the stairs, and then she grabbed the phone and walked onto the front porch.
"Independence Inn, how may I help you?" a very peppy voice answered Lorelai's call.
"Hi! Is this Kaylee?"
"Why, yes it is! Who's this?"
"Lorelai Gilmore."
"Oh, Miss Gilmore, hi! Is this just a routine call to check up on your faithful employees?"
"Your first week, huh?"
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
"Just a hunch. No, actually, Kaylee, I'm calling to let everyone know I'm not going to be back until Wednesday."
"Oh, why?" Kaylee asked, sounding very sad.
"Oh, I'm taking a few personal days."
"Anything serious?"
"No."
"'No'?" Kaylee repeated, sounding a hell of a lot sadder than she had a few seconds before. "No pregnancy, body casts? Not even a death?"
"No. Sorry," Lorelai added, just because Kaylee sounded so forlorn.
"Yeah, whatever. Talk to you later, Miss Gilmore."
"Bye," Lorelai responded as the dial tone sounded in her ear. Lorelai hung up the phone, and turned to go back inside when something caught her eye. Or someone, actually. Lorelai leaned against the porch railing as she gazed intently in the direction of a boy who looked remarkably like Jess slowly walking down the other side of the road reading a book and every once in a while glancing at the Gilmore-Hayden house.
"Is he back?" Lorelai whispered to herself, still staring at the boy walking down the street. Then he looked up and caught her eye. "Yep, he is. Sonofabitch." Lorelai looked after the spot where Jess had run off, slightly incensed. Then Christopher walked out of the house and wrapped his arms around her waist, and she happily melted into his body, all thoughts of Jess forgotten.
~~~~
"Paris, chill."
"Chill? I can't chill! I don't know the meaning of the word! Whaddya mean, chill? How can I chill? We have a debate in less than twelve hours against a team of school-obsessed kids from Boston!"
"Which we're completely prepared for. We've been practicing since before we got elected."
"We didn't practice enough! We need to practice more! Do you know what's in Boston?"
"Cream pies and a harbor?"
"Don't try to joke, Rory. You know I can't handle jokes! Harvard is in Boston. Okay? Harvard! You know, that school I've been working towards for seventeen years?"
"Paris!" Rory grabbed Paris by the shoulders. "Breathe. Take a deep breath."
Paris shakily drew in some air.
"Let it out," Rory continued in a soothing voice.
Paris blew the air out through pursed lips very quickly.
"No, slowly."
Paris repeated the exercise just as quickly.
"Okay, whatever. Just keep doing that. And pace. Pacing will help you." Rory added as Paris started to walk quickly back and forth across their small room.
Paris just nodded. The phone rang and Paris jumped.
"Relax! It's probably just my mom."
"Your mom needs to get a life." Paris said as she walked past Rory.
"Look who's talking," Rory muttered as she walked towards the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey!"
"Hey," Rory said. It wasn't her mother's voice; it was a boy's voice. The line was kind of static-y, so she couldn't make out which boy. She knew which boy she wanted it to be, and she hoped, almost against her will, that it was him. "Where are you?" she asked, hoping that would answer who it was without coming right out and asking.
"I'm at my grandmother's house in Chicago."
Rory's heart sank. It was Dean. Then she forced a smile onto her face. It was Dean! Her boyfriend! "Already?"
"Yeah. I'm not gonna be home for over a month."
"Really? When do you get home?"
"Uh, September fourth."
"Oh, same as me! Great!"
"I know."
"Well...great!"
"Yeah. You already said that."
"Rory! I'm freaking out again!" Paris called from her pacing spot.
"Think about something else."
"Like what?" Paris called frantically.
"Is that Paris?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, we've got a debate tomorrow and she's kind of freaking out."
"That's not very surprising."
"Rory, I'm still freaking out here!" Paris yelled once again.
"Uh, sorry Dean, I gotta go. Talk to you later."
"Okay. I love you."
"Me, too. Bye." Rory hung up the phone and it rang again almost immediately.
"Rory! If you answer that phone I'm going to murder you after the debate tomorrow!"
"Right, because if you murder me before I can't debate." Rory picked up the phone.
"Rory!"
"Relax, I'm just gonna talk to them very quickly, and then I'm going to place a call directly to the mental insitution."
Paris nodded.
"Good. Hello?"
"I must say that was a very interesting conversation." Lorelai sounded very amused.
"Things always are with Paris."
"Obviously. How are you putting up with her?"
"Missing you terribly."
"Ah, it's always easy to miss beautiful, smart, charming, witty women like me."
"I thought there was only one person like you."
"Well, I'm sure other people try to compare themselves to me."
"Ah, just being nice to all the poor schmoes who aren't you?"
"Exactly! You're the only person who understands me!"
Rory heard a giggle and her dad's voice.
"And Christopher. Chris understands me."
"Of course." Rory smiled as she listened to her mother and father laugh on the other end of the phone. She was very happy they were finally together...well, again.
"Hey, what are you doing for the next couple of days?" Lorelai's voice snapped Rory back to attention.
"Uh, not much."
"The debate! We have the debate!" Paris yelled.
"The debate," Rory said into the phone. "Why?"
"Well, your dad and I are going on a road trip, so if you call me you have to call on the cell phone."
"Okay. Do you know when you're going to be back?"
"Uh, no. Not really. See, unlike you, your father has a sense of adventure."
"Just packing up and leaving?"
"Exactly! We must be on the same wavelength or something."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Listen, I've got more stuff to pack, so talk to your dad."
"Hey!" Christopher was on the phone in less than two seconds.
"Hey, Dad. So I hear you're packing up and leaving?"
"Yep. It was your mother's idea."
"I know."
"We'll probably stop down there in a few days."
"Yeah, I figured."
"Oh, my God!" Paris suddenly yelled and sank into a chair.
"What is it, Paris?"
"What if they change the topic before tomorrow? We'll be screwed."
"They're not going to change the topic."
"Yes, they are! Oh, my God!"
"Okay, Dad, I have to go. Paris is freaking out again."
"Of course."
"Have fun."
"You, too. Love you."
"Love you, too. Tell Mom bye."
"Can do. Bye, sweetie."
"Bye, Dad." Rory hung up the phone.