STILL 11PM, GILMORE RESIDENCE
"Is Lorelai here?" Christopher asked as he entered the house and pushed his way past Luke.
"Yeah, she's in the kitchen," Luke replied, but Christopher was already in there.
Lorelai saw him and looked aghast. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Can I crash with you for a few days, Lor? Sherry kicked me out."
"Oh, God Chris, I'm so sorry," she said as she went to hug him. "What happened?"
"I really don't want to talk about it..." Christopher began, then suddenly remembered Luke, "Were you on a date?"
"Don't worry about it," Lorelai replied, "Just tell me what that prissy bitch did to you."
"No, I'll get out of your way, I'll go walk around the block, I'll go get a hotel room..." Christopher looked lost.
"No. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Stay," replied Lorelai. She led Christopher into the living room.
When Luke saw them, he stood up.
"I'm going to get going," he said.
"No, Luke, I'm sorry..." said Lorelai.
"No problem, I'll talk to you tomorrow," replied Luke as he headed for the door. Lorelai followed him outside to the porch.
"I'm really sorry," she said. "It's kind of a crisis. Can we finish this another time?"
"Sure, I'll call you tomorrow," said Luke as he headed down the stairs to his truck.
Lorelai watched him go, then went back in the house.
"Do you want to tell me what happened? I can make up the couch if you just want to go to sleep," said Lorelai.
"I told her," Chris informed her.
"You told her...what?" asked Lorelai.
"I told her about us. What happened between us before Sookie's wedding."
"You told her? You told her?? You TOLD her??? What in the entire universe of everything that exists would possibly motivate you to do something so incredibly stupid, ridiculous, foolish, daft, imprudent...WHY?"
"Well we've been having issues with each other for a while..." began Christopher.
"So you thought you'd bring up another one for good measure, Chris? You're married, you have a child, why would you want to screw it up?"
"Ah, you said it right there – want to screw it up."
"You wanted her to kick you out?" asked Lorelai.
Christopher sighed. "Maybe I did," he said. "It's been awful, Lor. You know I only stayed because of Gigi. Maybe I was just looking for an out."
"Well you found yourself a catapult," said Lorelai. "How does it feel?"
"It really hasn't sunk in yet," he replied, then yawned. "I think I need to sleep on it."
"OK, I'll get you some blankets," said Lorelai, getting up.
"Where's Rory?" he asked.
"Oh, she's here, asleep in her room. She's had a rough couple of days, so go easy on her when you see her."
"What's up?" he asked.
"She'll tell you if she wants to. I know it's easy to forget sometimes, but unfortunately she really is her mother's daughter." Lorelai went to get the blankets and brought them over to the couch. She leaned over and gave Christopher a kiss on the forehead. "Night." Lorelai headed for the stairs.
"Lorelai?" Christopher began.
"Hm?" Lorelai turned around to look at him.
Christopher looked as if he was going to say something, then paused. "Thanks," he finally said.
"Night Christopher," Lorelai said as she turned to go upstairs to her room.
MONDAY, 8AM, GILMORE RESIDENCE
Rory entered Lorelai's room and shook her awake. "Mom, wake up."
Lorelai stirred.
"Mom, why is Dad sleeping on the couch?"
Lorelai opened her eyes. "Huh?"
"Mom, Dad is downstairs. What's going on?"
Lorelai sat up. "Sherry kicked him out. He needed a place to crash."
Rory's eyes opened wide. "Wow, what happened?"
"Oh, it's complicated."
"He tell her about what happened with you guys?" Rory asked.
"Somebody die and make you John Edwards? Stop it, you're flipping me out," said Lorelai. "How was your evening?"
"Dean called."
"And?"
"He's not leaving her." Rory started to cry.
Lorelai drew her in and hugged her.
"And you knew it all the time," said Rory.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry, I really hoped I was wrong."
Just then they heard a crash from downstairs.
"You stay here as long as you need. I'll go see what the heck he's doing to our kitchen," said Lorelai as she got dressed.
Lorelai ran downstairs to find Christopher in the kitchen, searching the cabinets.
"Sorry about the noise, but Lor, how on Earth do you work in this kitchen? You've got crap everywhere. I was trying to reach the sugar for my coffee but I had to get past the 10 billion mugs and I think I saw Kate Jackson's face on a plate?"
"Umm, sorry, I do not comprehend. Work? Kitchen?" said Lorelai, as she spotted a broken plate on the floor. "Oh no! You broke my Jaclyn Smith!"
"Sorry," said Christopher. "Hey, what's up with your shirt?" he asked, indicating her wildly misshapen shirt. "Washer on the fritz?"
"Yeah, I'll ask Rory to call for repairs today."
"Hey, what do you have to eat around here?"
"Uh, I guess we need to go shopping."
"What were you planning on having for breakfast?"
"Well, we usually go to Luke's, but under the circumstances..." Lorelai began.
"So let's go to Luke's," said Christopher. "What do you mean, under the circumstances?"
Lorelai hesitated, uncomfortable. "Um, I just meant that maybe you didn't want to go out right now. Don't you need to wallow in your pajamas for a few days or something? Especially since any clothes you bring here will soon look like pajamas?"
"I'm not a wallower, and even if I were, this is not an occasion for wallowing."
"Feeling better, are we?" asked Lorelai.
"Honestly, Lor? I feel liberated."
"And what about Gigi?" asked Lorelai.
Christopher's face fell. "That's the only bad part of this, but I can still be a part of her life. We'll just have to do the divorced-shared-custody thing. It's downright fashionable these days anyway."
Rory wandered into the kitchen, also wearing misshapen clothes. "Mom, we need to get the washer fixed before our wardrobes have been reduced to rags."
"Can you call them Rory? I've got too much to do at the Dragonfly today."
"OK," Rory agreed. "Now I need food, I'm going to Luke's, are you guys coming?"
Lorelai looked uncomfortable again, hesitated, then said, "uh, yeah, sure. Let's go."
LUKE'S, 9AM
Lorelai, Rory, and Christopher entered the diner.
Luke motioned to them as they walked in. "You can sit anywhere."
They sat down, then Lorelai said, "just a sec," and got up. She went to talk to Luke, who was behind the counter.
"Hey, what happened to you?" he asked, indicating her clothes. "You look like you've been trampled by a pack of wolves."
"Such a sweet-talker," said Lorelai. "It's a wardrobe malfunction. Hey, I'm really sorry about last night," she apologized.
"Ah, forget about it," he replied.
"Can we try again?" she asked.
Luke smiled. "How about tonight?"
"OK," replied Lorelai, "but I'm picking the movie this time,"
"I'm not taking you to any more movies," said Luke. "You ruin them with your constant heckling. It's dinner this time."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows at this. "Well aren't we getting romantic."
"You'd better not come looking like that, though," he said. "Everyone will think I'm taking in a homeless person and I don't want to be getting a reputation as a do-gooder."
"Ah, now that's the Luke I remember. Don't worry, I'll make sure your reputation is safe."
Lorelai returned to her seat, just as Rory was hanging up her cell phone. "That was Lane," she said. "Gotta go, sorry." Rory stopped by the counter to grab a Danish as she ran out the door.
Luke watched her run out as he came to the table to take their order. "Hey, is she OK?" he asked.
"Well she's nineteen and she's got me for a mother so the picture doesn't look too good." Lorelai replied.
Luke looked concerned.
"She messed up, and she's paying for it now. She'll be OK, I'm glad she's going to see Lane."
"OK, so what'll it be?" Luke asked them.
"I'll just have the pancakes with a large coffee," Christopher said.
Luke looked at Lorelai. "Your usual?" he asked. Lorelai nodded. Luke opened his mouth to say something, but just then Taylor entered the diner.
"Luke, we need to talk about the 4th of July tickets."
"Luke! I didn't know you had a date with Taylor!" Lorelai interjected.
Luke groused, "Not now, Taylor, I'm in the middle of the morning rush."
"I'm not going to let you shirk your civic duty one more year," insisted Taylor.
"Taylor," Luke replied, annoyed, "How many times do we have to go through this? I own a diner, I have no civic duty, and I will not waste my time and energy on selling tickets to a ridiculous event where people come to watch explosions in the air."
"You get more traffic through this diner every day than almost any other business on this street. Selling fireworks tickets here would generate more revenue for the town."
"Not my problem, Taylor." Luke waved Taylor aside as he strode into the kitchen.
Lorelai and Christopher sat chatting at their table. "So, how's that little girl of yours?" asked Lorelai.
"Oh, she's growing like a weed and she's talking up a storm lately. God I miss her. I can't believe I'm not going to...and after I missed this all with Rory..." Christopher trailed off.
"You won't miss it. You'll still see her," reassured Lorelai.
"I know, but it won't be the same. Oh hey, so the Inn is opening soon, right?"
"Next week, though judging from the test run we did last weekend, well let's just say that I'm seriously considering a career in steelwork instead."
"Pretty bad, huh?" asked Christopher.
"Not bad, just freaky. Right out of Rocky Horror. Oh, and did you know that Emily and Richard are separated?"
"Oh Lorelai, I'm so sorry! What happened?"
"They won't tell me, but I'm sure it had something to do with Dad's business and his partnership with Jason...that's a whole nother story there..."
Lorelai proceeded to catch Christopher up on the happenings around Stars Hollow. Finally they got up to leave. Christopher paused for a moment, took Lorelai's hand and pulled her in for an embrace.
"I've missed you" he whispered in her ear.
From across the diner, Luke watched silently.
LANE'S APARTMENT
Rory entered Lane's apartment just as Zack and Brian were leaving.
"Bye Rory," Brian waved on the way out.
Lane ran over and gave Rory a hug. "Are you OK? You look like crap. Do you want some coffee?"
"Oh, that's nothing, our washer broke," said Rory. "No coffee, thanks, I've got my coffee from Luke's" Rory held up the cup she was carrying.
"God, things have been crazy around here. We've got a gig in a club in Hartford next weekend, so we're going crazy rehearsing and figuring out what goes on the play list." Lane said as she pulled up some floorboards and brought some snacks out to share with Rory. "So what's up?" she asked as she sat down.
"I slept with Dean."
Lane's jaw dropped. "You slept with Dean?"
"I slept with Dean."
"You slept with Dean?"
"I slept with Dean."
"You slept with...I mean, how? Never mind how, I know how. Well I don't exactly know how, but... Why? Is he still..."
"Well remember when I told you about how Jess showed up at my dorm the other night? Well I didn't tell you everything. Dean was with me when he came, I called him to rescue me after the horrible date, remember? The James Spader guy? So then Dean takes me home, and then Jess shows up and we needed to talk, so I told Dean to go home, and I guess he thought I was getting back together with Jess...anyway I saw him at the test run of the Inn and he was really mad at me, but when I told him I wasn't back with Jess...well one thing led to another and then he showed up at the house that night and.....well you know the rest."
"But what about Lindsey?"
Rory's face fell. "He told me it was over with her."
"He's leaving her for you?"
"No. He told me it was over then, but then last night he called me and told me he's staying with her. She wants to work things through."
"Oh my God, Rory! Oh my God!"
"I can't believe this. I mean, it's Dean. Dean. The guy who would never hurt me, and now he's lying to me and it's just so screwed up. He even told me he loves me, despite the fact that he's staying with her."
"He told you he loves you?"
"Yeah, and then I asked him to come over and he said he couldn't, that if he did he might never leave."
"Oh Rory, I'm so sorry."
Rory started to cry again. "I thought we were going to try again. I thought it was going to be right this time. I was going to appreciate him and not screw it up again. What am I going to do?"
Lane hugged her as she cried. Finally she stopped and took a deep breath.
"I know what I'm going to do." She got her cell phone out of her bag.
"Is Lorelai here?" Christopher asked as he entered the house and pushed his way past Luke.
"Yeah, she's in the kitchen," Luke replied, but Christopher was already in there.
Lorelai saw him and looked aghast. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Can I crash with you for a few days, Lor? Sherry kicked me out."
"Oh, God Chris, I'm so sorry," she said as she went to hug him. "What happened?"
"I really don't want to talk about it..." Christopher began, then suddenly remembered Luke, "Were you on a date?"
"Don't worry about it," Lorelai replied, "Just tell me what that prissy bitch did to you."
"No, I'll get out of your way, I'll go walk around the block, I'll go get a hotel room..." Christopher looked lost.
"No. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Stay," replied Lorelai. She led Christopher into the living room.
When Luke saw them, he stood up.
"I'm going to get going," he said.
"No, Luke, I'm sorry..." said Lorelai.
"No problem, I'll talk to you tomorrow," replied Luke as he headed for the door. Lorelai followed him outside to the porch.
"I'm really sorry," she said. "It's kind of a crisis. Can we finish this another time?"
"Sure, I'll call you tomorrow," said Luke as he headed down the stairs to his truck.
Lorelai watched him go, then went back in the house.
"Do you want to tell me what happened? I can make up the couch if you just want to go to sleep," said Lorelai.
"I told her," Chris informed her.
"You told her...what?" asked Lorelai.
"I told her about us. What happened between us before Sookie's wedding."
"You told her? You told her?? You TOLD her??? What in the entire universe of everything that exists would possibly motivate you to do something so incredibly stupid, ridiculous, foolish, daft, imprudent...WHY?"
"Well we've been having issues with each other for a while..." began Christopher.
"So you thought you'd bring up another one for good measure, Chris? You're married, you have a child, why would you want to screw it up?"
"Ah, you said it right there – want to screw it up."
"You wanted her to kick you out?" asked Lorelai.
Christopher sighed. "Maybe I did," he said. "It's been awful, Lor. You know I only stayed because of Gigi. Maybe I was just looking for an out."
"Well you found yourself a catapult," said Lorelai. "How does it feel?"
"It really hasn't sunk in yet," he replied, then yawned. "I think I need to sleep on it."
"OK, I'll get you some blankets," said Lorelai, getting up.
"Where's Rory?" he asked.
"Oh, she's here, asleep in her room. She's had a rough couple of days, so go easy on her when you see her."
"What's up?" he asked.
"She'll tell you if she wants to. I know it's easy to forget sometimes, but unfortunately she really is her mother's daughter." Lorelai went to get the blankets and brought them over to the couch. She leaned over and gave Christopher a kiss on the forehead. "Night." Lorelai headed for the stairs.
"Lorelai?" Christopher began.
"Hm?" Lorelai turned around to look at him.
Christopher looked as if he was going to say something, then paused. "Thanks," he finally said.
"Night Christopher," Lorelai said as she turned to go upstairs to her room.
MONDAY, 8AM, GILMORE RESIDENCE
Rory entered Lorelai's room and shook her awake. "Mom, wake up."
Lorelai stirred.
"Mom, why is Dad sleeping on the couch?"
Lorelai opened her eyes. "Huh?"
"Mom, Dad is downstairs. What's going on?"
Lorelai sat up. "Sherry kicked him out. He needed a place to crash."
Rory's eyes opened wide. "Wow, what happened?"
"Oh, it's complicated."
"He tell her about what happened with you guys?" Rory asked.
"Somebody die and make you John Edwards? Stop it, you're flipping me out," said Lorelai. "How was your evening?"
"Dean called."
"And?"
"He's not leaving her." Rory started to cry.
Lorelai drew her in and hugged her.
"And you knew it all the time," said Rory.
"Oh honey, I'm so sorry, I really hoped I was wrong."
Just then they heard a crash from downstairs.
"You stay here as long as you need. I'll go see what the heck he's doing to our kitchen," said Lorelai as she got dressed.
Lorelai ran downstairs to find Christopher in the kitchen, searching the cabinets.
"Sorry about the noise, but Lor, how on Earth do you work in this kitchen? You've got crap everywhere. I was trying to reach the sugar for my coffee but I had to get past the 10 billion mugs and I think I saw Kate Jackson's face on a plate?"
"Umm, sorry, I do not comprehend. Work? Kitchen?" said Lorelai, as she spotted a broken plate on the floor. "Oh no! You broke my Jaclyn Smith!"
"Sorry," said Christopher. "Hey, what's up with your shirt?" he asked, indicating her wildly misshapen shirt. "Washer on the fritz?"
"Yeah, I'll ask Rory to call for repairs today."
"Hey, what do you have to eat around here?"
"Uh, I guess we need to go shopping."
"What were you planning on having for breakfast?"
"Well, we usually go to Luke's, but under the circumstances..." Lorelai began.
"So let's go to Luke's," said Christopher. "What do you mean, under the circumstances?"
Lorelai hesitated, uncomfortable. "Um, I just meant that maybe you didn't want to go out right now. Don't you need to wallow in your pajamas for a few days or something? Especially since any clothes you bring here will soon look like pajamas?"
"I'm not a wallower, and even if I were, this is not an occasion for wallowing."
"Feeling better, are we?" asked Lorelai.
"Honestly, Lor? I feel liberated."
"And what about Gigi?" asked Lorelai.
Christopher's face fell. "That's the only bad part of this, but I can still be a part of her life. We'll just have to do the divorced-shared-custody thing. It's downright fashionable these days anyway."
Rory wandered into the kitchen, also wearing misshapen clothes. "Mom, we need to get the washer fixed before our wardrobes have been reduced to rags."
"Can you call them Rory? I've got too much to do at the Dragonfly today."
"OK," Rory agreed. "Now I need food, I'm going to Luke's, are you guys coming?"
Lorelai looked uncomfortable again, hesitated, then said, "uh, yeah, sure. Let's go."
LUKE'S, 9AM
Lorelai, Rory, and Christopher entered the diner.
Luke motioned to them as they walked in. "You can sit anywhere."
They sat down, then Lorelai said, "just a sec," and got up. She went to talk to Luke, who was behind the counter.
"Hey, what happened to you?" he asked, indicating her clothes. "You look like you've been trampled by a pack of wolves."
"Such a sweet-talker," said Lorelai. "It's a wardrobe malfunction. Hey, I'm really sorry about last night," she apologized.
"Ah, forget about it," he replied.
"Can we try again?" she asked.
Luke smiled. "How about tonight?"
"OK," replied Lorelai, "but I'm picking the movie this time,"
"I'm not taking you to any more movies," said Luke. "You ruin them with your constant heckling. It's dinner this time."
Lorelai raised her eyebrows at this. "Well aren't we getting romantic."
"You'd better not come looking like that, though," he said. "Everyone will think I'm taking in a homeless person and I don't want to be getting a reputation as a do-gooder."
"Ah, now that's the Luke I remember. Don't worry, I'll make sure your reputation is safe."
Lorelai returned to her seat, just as Rory was hanging up her cell phone. "That was Lane," she said. "Gotta go, sorry." Rory stopped by the counter to grab a Danish as she ran out the door.
Luke watched her run out as he came to the table to take their order. "Hey, is she OK?" he asked.
"Well she's nineteen and she's got me for a mother so the picture doesn't look too good." Lorelai replied.
Luke looked concerned.
"She messed up, and she's paying for it now. She'll be OK, I'm glad she's going to see Lane."
"OK, so what'll it be?" Luke asked them.
"I'll just have the pancakes with a large coffee," Christopher said.
Luke looked at Lorelai. "Your usual?" he asked. Lorelai nodded. Luke opened his mouth to say something, but just then Taylor entered the diner.
"Luke, we need to talk about the 4th of July tickets."
"Luke! I didn't know you had a date with Taylor!" Lorelai interjected.
Luke groused, "Not now, Taylor, I'm in the middle of the morning rush."
"I'm not going to let you shirk your civic duty one more year," insisted Taylor.
"Taylor," Luke replied, annoyed, "How many times do we have to go through this? I own a diner, I have no civic duty, and I will not waste my time and energy on selling tickets to a ridiculous event where people come to watch explosions in the air."
"You get more traffic through this diner every day than almost any other business on this street. Selling fireworks tickets here would generate more revenue for the town."
"Not my problem, Taylor." Luke waved Taylor aside as he strode into the kitchen.
Lorelai and Christopher sat chatting at their table. "So, how's that little girl of yours?" asked Lorelai.
"Oh, she's growing like a weed and she's talking up a storm lately. God I miss her. I can't believe I'm not going to...and after I missed this all with Rory..." Christopher trailed off.
"You won't miss it. You'll still see her," reassured Lorelai.
"I know, but it won't be the same. Oh hey, so the Inn is opening soon, right?"
"Next week, though judging from the test run we did last weekend, well let's just say that I'm seriously considering a career in steelwork instead."
"Pretty bad, huh?" asked Christopher.
"Not bad, just freaky. Right out of Rocky Horror. Oh, and did you know that Emily and Richard are separated?"
"Oh Lorelai, I'm so sorry! What happened?"
"They won't tell me, but I'm sure it had something to do with Dad's business and his partnership with Jason...that's a whole nother story there..."
Lorelai proceeded to catch Christopher up on the happenings around Stars Hollow. Finally they got up to leave. Christopher paused for a moment, took Lorelai's hand and pulled her in for an embrace.
"I've missed you" he whispered in her ear.
From across the diner, Luke watched silently.
LANE'S APARTMENT
Rory entered Lane's apartment just as Zack and Brian were leaving.
"Bye Rory," Brian waved on the way out.
Lane ran over and gave Rory a hug. "Are you OK? You look like crap. Do you want some coffee?"
"Oh, that's nothing, our washer broke," said Rory. "No coffee, thanks, I've got my coffee from Luke's" Rory held up the cup she was carrying.
"God, things have been crazy around here. We've got a gig in a club in Hartford next weekend, so we're going crazy rehearsing and figuring out what goes on the play list." Lane said as she pulled up some floorboards and brought some snacks out to share with Rory. "So what's up?" she asked as she sat down.
"I slept with Dean."
Lane's jaw dropped. "You slept with Dean?"
"I slept with Dean."
"You slept with Dean?"
"I slept with Dean."
"You slept with...I mean, how? Never mind how, I know how. Well I don't exactly know how, but... Why? Is he still..."
"Well remember when I told you about how Jess showed up at my dorm the other night? Well I didn't tell you everything. Dean was with me when he came, I called him to rescue me after the horrible date, remember? The James Spader guy? So then Dean takes me home, and then Jess shows up and we needed to talk, so I told Dean to go home, and I guess he thought I was getting back together with Jess...anyway I saw him at the test run of the Inn and he was really mad at me, but when I told him I wasn't back with Jess...well one thing led to another and then he showed up at the house that night and.....well you know the rest."
"But what about Lindsey?"
Rory's face fell. "He told me it was over with her."
"He's leaving her for you?"
"No. He told me it was over then, but then last night he called me and told me he's staying with her. She wants to work things through."
"Oh my God, Rory! Oh my God!"
"I can't believe this. I mean, it's Dean. Dean. The guy who would never hurt me, and now he's lying to me and it's just so screwed up. He even told me he loves me, despite the fact that he's staying with her."
"He told you he loves you?"
"Yeah, and then I asked him to come over and he said he couldn't, that if he did he might never leave."
"Oh Rory, I'm so sorry."
Rory started to cry again. "I thought we were going to try again. I thought it was going to be right this time. I was going to appreciate him and not screw it up again. What am I going to do?"
Lane hugged her as she cried. Finally she stopped and took a deep breath.
"I know what I'm going to do." She got her cell phone out of her bag.