Author's Note: Here's the actual start of my tale... lyrics this time are from Azure Ray. Feedback would be quite encouraging! And since I forgot on the prologue... I don't own anything, I swear!

And she's my friend of all friends
She's still here when everyone's gone
She doesn't have to say a thing
We'll just keep laughing all night long
All night long

Chapter One: Displaced

Lorelai's heart broke when she pushed open the door. She hadn't intended to be so hard, and her throat constricted, as it did every time she was forced to be harsh. She'd been doing this for over nineteen years, and could count on one hand the number of times she'd had to speak to Rory that way. Sighing, she paused only briefly on her way down the stairs, unable to take the sight of her little girl's tears.

Sitting beside her on the stairs, Lorelai resisted the urge to pull Rory into her arms. Coddling her wouldn't help either of them.

So, they sat there in silence, only the sound of Rory's sobs filling the night air. Slowly, they started to subside, losing intensity and frequency. Only then did Lorelai lift her arm, hovering a whisper above her daughter's shoulders.

Rory lifted her head to look at her then. Their eyes met, and Lorelai's heart broke a little more at the pain reflected in her little girl. She pulled her into her arms and held on tight, Rory's tears beginning anew as she clutched the front of her mother's shirt.

Lorelai wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, holding onto each other. She kissed and smoothed Rory's hair until the second wave of her weeping finally died down.

Another woman might've tried to talk about it again, or blindly reassure the girl. But Lorelai Gilmore knew her daughter, and knew what she needed.

"So, like I was saying, Kirk running naked through the square. Gotta tell you, Lulu's a lucky girl, he's an impressive man."

Rory snorted with laughter, her voice muffled from Lorelai's chest. "You checked out Kirk?"

"When the pillow fell down I didn't have much of a choice. Poor Luke was much closer to than I was."

Rory laughed again, pulling away, but resting her head against her mother's shoulder. "Why were you and Luke with Kirk while he was naked?"

Lorelai smirked. "He interrupted a moment. Nakedly interrupted a moment. Then dropped the pillow and tumbled over a thorn-filled bush."

"Naked?"

"Naked."

Rory winced. "Poor Kirk."

"Poor thorny bush."

"You're cruel. Where's Kirk now?"

"Luke managed to get him back to the inn, he's with Lulu now. I went for bandaids."

Rory's face fell then, remembering why the bandaids were sitting inside, forgotten. She opened her mouth, but wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't ready to apologize or to explain her reasons, not yet... she just wouldn't know where to start.

Recognizing the hesitancy, Lorelai squeezed her arm once, before standing. "I'd better get those bandaids to the Dragonfly. You ready to head back and get some sleep?"

Thankful her mother had, intentionally or not, given her an excuse to get away from the house, Rory nodded. "Yeah, we should probably get going."

Lorelai hugged her once more before standing "I'll go and get those bandaids, then." She commented, before disappearing inside.

She was only gone moments, but Rory looked up, and her heart sank. There were no stars visible, and somehow that reminded her of Jess...
One would need to know Luke Danes extremely well to realize he was in a good mood. His grumpy exterior remained constant as he went about his daily business. Indeed, there were very few people who would be able to tell that just hours ago had marked one of the happiest moments of his existence.

Kissing Lorelai had been everything and nothing like he had imagined. The way she felt, the way she tasted... it was more than he could process. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he'd pulled her to him. The desperate part of him had just wanted to taste her, if only once. When she'd responded, his whole world was changed.

And then Kirk had come screaming through.

Luke had never been so torn, in the split seconds before he went running after him. Part of him wanted to grab her again, feel her body against his... but the responsible part of him had won out, and he'd gone dashing after Kirk. Lorelai had followed, and by the time they'd caught him, Kirk was bleeding from multiple scratches and regaining coherency.

Lorelai had entrusted him with getting Kirk back to Lulu, and then dashed off for bandaids. He didn't see her again that night, and woke far too early, needing to get back to the diner.

Despite his slight disappointment at that, Luke was still in an exceptionally good mood. He had to push down the urge to grin outright when he saw her enter the diner, slightly earlier than usual.

But when his eyes met hers across the counter, he couldn't help but wince. Something was wrong. He knew her well enough to recognize that much. Hell, he knew her well enough that sometimes he could gauge her exact temperament from a glance. She looked tired, that much was blatant. There was a heaviness about her that he didn't often see. For a small moment his entire world stopped as thoughts filled with self-doubt screamed through his mind: Was this because of him? Did she regret what had happened? As quickly as the thoughts had entered his mind, he laid them to rest. All it took was one more look in her eyes.

She slid onto a stool, offering him what anyone else would call a blinding smile, but what Luke recognized as a weak offering. In all the years he'd known her, he'd never seen this mix of emotion. Along with appearing exhausted, disappointment lingered in her eyes. A strange emotion for someone currently engaged in a highly successful test run of her business.

He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, and he could tell she knew that was what he intended to say. Her eyes spoke volumes, though, begging him not to ask, to let it be. In that second, he understood many things. First, whatever it was, she couldn't talk about it right now. She had a test run to finish, after all. Second, Luke could tell that what she needed most of all was normalcy. She'd come to him when she was ready, but right now she just needed to pretend that last night hadn't happened. Pretend there had been no kisses, no declarations...

He'd been waiting ten years; he could wait a little longer.

So, when Luke did speak, it wasn't with lips that had been kissing hers twelve hours prior.

"What can I get you?"

Relief washed over her beautiful features, and Luke was positive that that alone was worth putting his feelings on the backburner once more.

"Coffee to go."
When Rory awoke, it was to a strange pillow. She vaguely remembered her mother getting up and smoothing back her hair, telling her to just sleep. Hugging the pillow, she squeezed her eyes shut, pretending she hadn't seen the worry and disappointment in her mother's eyes. It hadn't been there last night, when she'd joked and talked about Kirk, and Luke, and everything that had happened at the Inn.

But, to use a cliché, in the harsh light of day, it had returned.

Rory swallowed, and for the first time since her tears on the porch, allowed herself to think about what had happened.

She was sore, that was apparent almost immediately. An unfamiliar ache between her legs greeted her when she climbed from the bed. Had she really been so distracted last night that she hadn't noticed it? Or had it just started this morning... Rory was lost in thought when she stepped into the shower, eager to remove all traces of last night.

Cleaned, and fresh, she pulled on jeans and searched her mother's bag for a sweater, wanting the comfort that came from wearing another's clothing. The knock on the door came before she had a chance to do anything with her hair. She opened it, expecting Sookie, or Miss Patty... She froze when she realized who it was.

"Dean."

He swallowed, hands shoved into his pockets. "Rory... can we talk?"

She nodded, almost numbly and he stepped into the room, closing the door. Her breath caught and the room suddenly seemed much smaller than it had been.

Dean was looking everywhere but at her. "I... we made a mistake." He said, finally.

Rory just nodded again.

"I'm married, and Lindsay... I never gave her a fair chance. There was always you." He glanced at her briefly, but returned his attention to the wallpaper. "I think I need to give her a chance, Rory."

"You do." Her voice sounded foreign somehow, like it wasn't really her that spoke.

"So we don't talk about this?"

"We don't."

He gave her a relieved smile and reached over to squeeze her arm, not noticing when she stiffened in response. With that, he left, closing the door behind him.

Rory just stood there, staring at where he had stood.

After a while, she realized she wasn't crying. She didn't even feel hurt, like she thought she probably should. All she felt was relief. His words danced through her brain. He never gave Lindsay a fair chance... there'd always been her...

It all sounded very familiar to her.

"I need to trust you as much as I trusted-"

"Him."

Only then did Rory start to cry, realizing she hadn't given someone a fair chance either...

Am I making something worthwhile out of this place
Am I making something worthwhile out of this chase
I am displaced, I am displaced

AN2: Well, wasn't that cheery? Stay tuned next time though, because someone's about to make his reappearance into Rory's life! (And I ain't talking about Tristan here.)