Title:
Shelter From The Storm.
Summary: "In
starting over we could get some place different." What if Lorelai had
found her way to Stars Hollow before Rory's birth?
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the
characters of Gilmore Girls. I am in no way connected to Gilmore Girls or the
WB. I also have no connections to Billie Letts or Twentieth Century Fox. This
story idea is mostly my own, although it is inspired by the movie/book Where
The Heart Is. (I always thought that there were several similarities between
Lorelai and Novalee)
Authors Note: Thank you to the people who have already read and reviewed this fic. I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it and I hope I don't disappoint with the upcoming chapters.
*~*~*~*
Put one foot in front of the other. That's
what she'd told herself when she was sure that standing was even an option.
One step. Two step. The rest would take care of itself.
And so she had started to walk an aimless path. The grounds of the Inn were
larger than she'd thought they would be. If she hadn't been so concerned
with walking, she might have stopped and admired the pond for a while. Any other
day it would have been beautiful to her. But today nothing was beautiful or in
any way pleasant. Nothing made sense and everything felt dark and cold and
heavy. Air pressed down on her and the grass felt sticky, holding her feet down
and making it hard to move.
But she had to keep moving. She was going… somewhere.
The flapping of wings and the honking of a swan as it took flight caught her
attention. She turned and observed it thoughtfully, wondering where it was going
and why she couldn't join it. Why she had no wings to spread and fly away.
She considered that maybe she should just go home. Maybe, if she left then, her
parents wouldn't even know she had run away. But as thoughts of why she had
run from them in the first place flooded into her mind, she knew that going back
was not an option. Although, what her options were, she wasn't entirely sure.
Curling up in a ball and waiting until the world went away seemed appealing.
She was numb. She was alone now. She was getting tired of walking to nowhere.
She was… hungry.
Her hand moved to her swollen belly, gliding over it and trying to silence it.
She didn't know how she could be hungry at a time like this. She didn't want
to eat for fear it wouldn't stay down. But she wasn't the only person she
had to think about. There was it. The baby. Her baby. Even if she
didn't want to eat for herself, she needed to eat for the life growing inside
her.
At least walking back into the town they'd passed on their way to the Inn gave
her a direction to go in, she just hadn't realized how far it actually was. It
probably only seemed like a long distance because she was carrying another
being. She was doing everything for two, including surviving. And it occurred to
her that she probably would be for the rest of her life.
As she wandered down what she assumed was the main street in the town, she tried
to take in things that might be useful later. She couldn't be sure how long
her stay there would be, but she imagined that knowing where different places
were couldn't hurt.
She paused in front of one store, gazing at the bright lettering on the window
for a moment. 'Stars Hollow Books'. So that was the name of this place?
Stars Hollow. It was certainly different from Hartford. Just like the rest of
the town, the store looked warm and inviting. She peered over the curtain rails
that occupied the bottom third of the windows and considered going inside and
looking around. But a rumble in her stomach reminded her not to get sidetracked.
Books weren't going to help her much in her current situation. Not unless
someone had had the foresight to write a book called 'The Idiots Guide to
Being Abandoned'.
How could he just leave her there like that? Her anger, sadness and confusion
propelled her forward at a slightly faster pace. She couldn't understand how
he could be so irresponsible! So thoughtless! So selfish!
So… Christopher.
She sighed deeply, the thought slowing her down again. Maybe she should have seen it coming. It could quite possibly be all her fault for expecting too much from him. After all, He was only sixteen.
But she was only sixteen too! She balled up her
fists and her brow furrowed. Passers by glanced at her oddly, wondering who or
what she was so angry at. What were they looking at? Hadn't they ever seen a
pregnant teenager with a petulant scowl before?
Looking around her she concluded that no, they probably hadn't.
She felt as if she was being followed, the bell above the market door jingled
when she pushed it open, and the sound rang out like a signal to anyone who
wanted to come and see this strange young creature. She wanted to shrink away
into a corner and hide until they were all gone. Deciding to try and keep a
lower profile she hurried over to the nearest aisle and busied herself looking
at the first thing she could lay her hands on. Just trying to be invisible or to
at least stop looking out of place.
As she browsed the aisle in search of a food item that looked appealing, her
eyes were drawn to a figure examining her from the end of the aisle. It was a
middle-aged man in an ugly cardigan, and she suppressed the urge to shout
'pervert' at him. It was clear from his expression that he wasn't ogling
her, not in that way, and that he was more curious than anything. Besides,
shouting at strangers probably wouldn't help her efforts to seem as thought
she belonged there.
Trying to ignore him, she turned her attention back to the food in front of her.
But she could feel him looking at her. She shuddered involuntarily, her body
making an attempt to shake the feeling of being watched.
His gaze was soon joined by another. The whispering and hushed bickering that
followed were too much for her to ignore. There was a woman there now. Heavy and
dressed in brightly colored clothes that cried out for attention. She and the
man in the ugly cardigan were talking about her, she could tell. And whatever
their opinions of her, they seemed to differ.
She wanted to be out of there, so she quickly took some tea cakes from the shelf
and walked over to the checkout. Her mother would never have let her have tea
cakes. Not ones that came wrapped in plastic anyway. But her mother wasn't
around and, for the first time, she would have no say in anything her daughter
said or did.
The young man at the cash register looked only a few years older than she was,
and as he rang up her purchase he barely even looked at her. He mostly stared
straight ahead and conveyed an expression of pure boredom.
If it hadn't been for the large woman blocking her exit, she would have left
the store without a second glance. But there the woman stood, beaming.
"Hello. I'm Patricia LaCosta." She stated in a voice that made it clear
she was trying hard to impress. "But you can call me Miss Patty if you
like."
"Hello."
"Are you new in town?"
"Just um… just passing through."
"Oh." Disappointment laced Miss Patty's tone. "That's a shame. We're
always happy to welcome newcomers around here."
The girl glanced over her shoulder at the cardigan man, who was trying to hide
in the bug spray aisle and still get a good view of her. He didn't seem all
that welcoming to her.
"What's your name sweetheart?"
"I shouldn't say."
"Oh, come on. We're all friends in these parts." Miss Patty pressed. "I
should think it's something pretty. A pretty name for a pretty girl?"
The girl shrugged and looked away.
"Just a first name, dear. In case I see you again, so I'll know what to call
you."
She couldn't give out her name. Not even her first name. If her parents came
looking for her and everyone in the town knew her name then they would have no
trouble finding her.
"I have to go."
As she stepped past Miss Patty and opened the door, her backpack knocked over a
stack of tin cans and sent them cascading to the floor. She froze in the
doorway, one foot in and one foot out. The part of her desperate to get away
from the stares and the questions wanted to run. But the part of her that
occasionally listened to her mother's lectures about being polite and well
mannered brought her back into the store.
"Look at this mess!"
"Oh now, Taylor, don't get yourself all worked up. Accidents happen." Miss
Patty exclaimed as if she were talking to a child.
"This one is dented!" The man held up a can for inspection. "I'll have
to mark the price down now."
"Sorry." The young girl mumbled, eyes downcast.
"Taylor!"
Taylor rolled his eyes at Miss Patty's reprimanding glance.
"Fine, fine." He conceded reluctantly. "I'm sorry."
His apology was less than sincere, almost mocking in fact. And now both sets of
eyes were back on her again. She dropped her backpack on the ground beside her
and struggled to squat down and help pick up the cans.
"Oh, honey. Don't you worry about that."
Miss Patty took her by the arm and pulled her back up into a standing position
before reaching down and picking up her backpack for her. Printed on the top rim
of the bag, in her mother's clear and controlled penmanship, were the words
'Property Of Lorelai Victoria Gilmore'.
Well, that did it.
"Lorelai?" Miss Patty looked from the bag to the girl. "Is that your
name?"
"I have to go." Was the only response Miss Patty received before the girl
snatched her bag and hurried out of the store.
"Well!" Taylor puffed his chest out like a rooster before it crows. "In
all my life, I have never…"
"Oh be quiet, Taylor." Miss Patty shook her head and made her way to the
door.
"What about my tomatoes?" He called after her in agitation, pointing at the
tins on the floor.
"Do what you want with your tomatoes. Just keep them away from me." She
smiled at her own innuendo and exited the store.