"Does that hurt?" she asked with a small smile.
Rory let a tear roll down her cheek as she nodded, trying to look as pathetic as possible. To Lorelai, Rory's face held much the same expression as when she used to scrape her knees when she was little. Her poor little baby.
"I don't think you should get to watch Rocky anymore," Rory finally spoke up.
Lorelai let out a small laugh, letting the tension fall away. If Rory could joke about it than she would be fine. "I agree," she said.
"And I'll be sure to announce myself next time I walk into a room," Rory continued.
"That would be helpful," Lorelai responded. "Here, hold this," she said and Rory reached up to hold the ice pack in place. Lorelai pulled up a chair and sat opposite her daughter. "I'm sorry, Rory," she said again.
"Oh don't worry about," Rory tried to wave it off as if it were just a minor inconvenience. "I know it was an accident."
The two were silent for a couple of minutes until Rory couldn't stand having the cold ice pack on her face any longer. She put it down on the table and blinked her eyes a few times. "How's it look?"
Rory's face was red from the cold, and Lorelai's fist, and it was already starting to swell around her eye. "It's starting to swell, but no bruising yet, though you're going to have a nice shiner I'm afraid."
Rory didn't doubt she'd have a black eye, she just didn't know how she was going to deal with it. "I can't have a black eye," she declared, hoping that by saying it maybe it would make it true. "What is Grandma going to say tonight? And I have to be at school in the morning for that stupid seminar. And the town, what will they think? I'm just going to have to stay inside until it's gone."
"Or we could try and hide it," Lorelai offered a more logical suggestion. She knew Rory wouldn't skip the seminar tomorrow. She'd starve if they didn't go to Luke's, and Jess would be over here looking for her. "I'll work some make-up magic and that should do the trick," Lorelai said, sounding convinced.
Rory looked at her skeptically. "I guess so."
"Good," Lorelai said, standing up. "I'll make us some coffee 'cause we're gonna need it before tonight. You," she thought for a second, "you just sit there. And put that ice back on your eye."
A few hours later the bruise was very clear on Rory's face and it was obvious she had been hit. The girls had changed for dinner and Lorelai came down the stairs holding some of her make-up. She found Rory sitting at the kitchen table looking in her handheld mirror. "I can't believe this. I've never been in a fist fight in my life. Who would have ever thought that I'd end up with a black eye? I feel like I've been in a bar room brawl."
"Now how do you know what being in a bar room brawl feels like?" Lorelai asked.
"Well I've seen enough of them in the movies to know," was Rory's logical answer. She glanced at the make-up in Lorelai's hand as her mother sat down at the table. As much as she wanted to be able to hide the black eye, it still hurt a lot. She wasn't too keen on the idea of anything being put on her eye right now, even the make-up. "Can we not do that tonight?"
Lorelai was surprised, "But I thought you-"
"I don't want anything near my eye. It really hurts still and maybe if we leave it alone now, it'll be less painful in the morning when I really need to hide it," Rory explained.
"Okay," Lorelai said, letting Rory make the decisions.
"You're just going to have to explain it to Grandma and Grandpa," Rory said with an impish smile as she got up and headed for the front door. Lorelai was not far behind telling Rory how unfair she thought that was.
"It's your black eye, you tell 'em."
Lorelai parked the Jeep in front of a large house but made no move to get out. "Have you thought of what you're going to tell them yet?" Rory asked. She assumed her mom would come up with a tall tale of some sort. The last time she was injured her mother had blamed it on bees.
Lorelai nodded her head, "Don't worry about, I've got it covered." Rory smiled expectantly waiting to hear what her mother's explanation would be. "I'll go in first," Lorelai started, "and create a diversion. Once I have them occupied, you slip in and take all the light bulbs from the lamps in the dining room. That way it will be dark while we eat and they won't be able to see you."
"At least you have a plan," Rory said.
Lorelai sighed as she and Rory got out of the Jeep and walked to the front door. Lorelai rang the bell and when they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the door, Rory self-consciously hung her head to try and hide her face. Emily opened the door and smiled at her daughter and granddaughter.
"Hello. Come in out of the cold," she held the door open to them. Lorelai returned her mother's smile, but it was Rory Emily was looking at. "Rory, are you all right?" she asked as a maid came up and took their coats.
"Yeah I'm fine, Grandma," Rory said.
Emily lowered her head so she could see Rory's face. Lorelai closed her eyes and waited for her mother's reaction. Three…two…one.
"Oh my God!" Emily lifted Rory's head by placing her hand on her granddaugther's chin. "Rory, what happened to you?" Rory opened her mouth to speak, but Emily wasn't finished talking. "You've been beaten. Who hit you? It was that boy wasn't it?" Rory tried to shake her head. "Richard, come in here! Richard!" she yelled again when she got no response.
Rory glanced over at her mother for some help. Lorelai started to speak, but her father came rushing into the room.
"What? What is it?" he asked, holding his newspaper in one hand and his glasses in the other.
"What do you mean 'what'? Look at her, Richard. That boy has hit her," Emily said, still holding onto the Rory's chin.
"It wasn't Jess-" Rory cut in, but her grandparents weren't listening to her.
Richard dropped his newspaper as he examined Rory's face. "We have to call the police. I'll go over and strangle that boy myself." Richard started to get himself worked up. He turned to leave the room to find a phone, but Lorelai's voice stopped him.
"I hit her," Lorelai said to stop the madness that was her parents. "It was me."
It was only after Lorelai's declaration that Emily released her hold on Rory's face. Rory quickly stepped back to stand next to her mother who in turn put a protective arm around her daughter.
"You what?" Richard asked, astonished.
"How could you, Lorelai?" Emily joined in.
"It was an accident, Mother. Do you think I would ever hit her on purpose?" Lorelai asked, hurt by the accusations. She stepped away and walked into the sitting room leaving her daughter and parents still standing by the door. Rory wanted to go after her mother, but decided to take the opportunity to explain to her confused grandparents what had happened. She assured them that it was all an accident and she also made sure to add that Jess would never hurt her either. Relieved, Richard picked up his newspaper and led Rory into the dining room where dinner was being placed on the table. Emily lingered a few moments lost in thought but soon joined her family for dinner.
Lorelai was quiet throughout the meal, avoiding the conversations Rory tried desperately to engage her in. Rory knew her mother was hurt and she was trying to relieve the tension in the room. Her attempts weren't too successful and she and her grandfather were the ones doing most of the talking.
"I'm going to take this to the kitchen," Lorelai said picking up her plate and leaving the table when she had finished. Rory hung her head again not knowing what to do. She wanted to go after her mother, but was stopped by her grandmother when she started to get up.
"I think I'll take my plate to the kitchen too," Emily said, excusing herself from the table. Rory looked to her grandfather who did his best to reassure her with a smile.
Emily entered the kitchen to find Lorelai sipping from her wine as she stood next to the counter. Lorelai started to leave but Emily stopped her.
"Lorelai. I apologize," Emily said sincerely. "I know you would never purposefully hurt Rory. I just never expected her to show up with a black eye and I jumped to conclusions and I know I don't listen. You are a very good mother, Lorelai. Please accept my apology."
Lorelai couldn't remember a time her mother had ever apologized for anything in her life, but one look at her face and Lorelai knew Emily meant it. "Thanks, Mom. Apology accepted." The two shared a tense moment before they both lightened up and smiled. "Come on, we better go back in there so Rory can stop worrying."
End of part two