Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. It seems no one is happy about Christopher returning. I have to say I'm looking forward to it—the drama! Last time Luke came to Lorelai's house to find her. They talked and were about to head back to the inn when Christopher came out of the house. Luke wasn't exactly pleased. So as I continue I don't own Gilmore Girls. They are the property of ASP and the WB. Watch the Frog....
"Hi," Christopher said looking over Lorelai's shoulder at Luke.
"Hey," Luke said recovering from the surprise of watching Christopher emerge from Lorelai's house at 3:30 in the morning.
Luke scratched his head and walked back onto the porch. Lorelai had regained her balance and quickly shook off Christopher's help.
"Uh, Luke, you remember Christopher," Lorelai said awkwardly.
"Yeah," Luke said noncommittally. "Surprise visit?" Luke asked to no one in particular.
"No, Lorelai called me actually," Christopher decided to jump in and address Luke's question.
"Really?" Luke asked surprised. Lorelai had mentioned a fight with Rory, but he couldn't believe that she needed to call Christopher to come help her with the situation.
"Yeah," Lorelai said jumping into the conversation. "I told you I had a fight with Rory and I called Christopher."
"Don't you live in Boston?" Luke asked. "That's a pretty long drive."
"Well my girls needed me so here I am," Christopher smiled his typical Christopher smile. It was the kind of smile that was smug, but cute, but irritating at the same time. Although Lorelai figured Luke wouldn't see the cute part of the smile, just the smug and irritating portion of it. The smile wasn't at all malicious, but Lorelai could tell that Luke would take it that way.
"Right," Luke nodded.
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Luke decided to end it. "Well I'm gonna go back to the inn. I'll see you later," Luke said turning and walking off the porch. He had hoped to hear Lorelai's footsteps behind him, but he didn't.
Lorelai watched in horror as Luke walked into the night. She was torn between wanting to be there for Rory, her duty to the inn and her newfound feelings for Luke. She made a quick decision.
"Chris, I have to go back to the inn. I'm supposed to be there now. You'll be okay here tonight and you'll be here when Rory wakes up?" she said backing down the steps of the porch.
"Yeah, we'll be fine," Christopher replied. "But Lore, what am I supposed to say to her?"
"You're a smooth-talker," Lorelai said backing away more quickly. "You'll figure it out. I'm sorry, but I really have to get back to the inn. I'll see you both tomorrow as soon as I can get home."
With that Lorelai turned on her heels and jogged up the street to catch up with Luke. He was walking quickly, never a good sign. His shoulders were tight and his fists were clenched.
"Luke," Lorelai called softly. He continued to walk.
"Luke," she tried again rushing up to him and taking his arm.
"What?" he replied with a hint of irritation in voice.
"Well I thought we were walking back together, but apparently you'd rather have me kidnapped by some weird organ-harvesting gang or abducted by aliens since you're walking so far ahead of me," she replied.
Luke stopped walking and he turned to her. "I wasn't aware we were going anywhere together. I mean Christopher is at your house in the middle of night. He says you called him to come from Boston! Boston!" Luke said animatedly.
"I told you I had a problem with Rory," Lorelai said sincerely trying to explain.
"So instead of calling Sookie or Lane or me, the guy who was waiting for you at the inn, you called Christopher to come all the way from Boston?" Luke said confused.
"He's her father Luke," Lorelai tried to get him to understand.
"Yeah he is her father," Luke replied. "Her father who, as I recall, wasn't around all that much. Now all of sudden she needs him around?"
"That isn't fair," Lorelai said simply. "Maybe he wasn't around when we needed him before, but Rory's going to need him now because she hates me."
"Rory doesn't hate you," Luke replied dismissing her comment and turning to walk down the street again.
"She does," Lorelai said. "She told me as much. She said she hated me for ruining it for her."
Luke stopped walking and turned around again. "Ruining what?" Luke asked his resolve softening.
"Ruining...what I ruined," Lorelai sighed. "Luke I want to tell you, really I do, but I can't."
"But you can tell Christopher?" Luke inquired.
"Yes, he's her Dad," Lorelai replied.
"Good," Luke said giving a tiny nod and turning to walk down the street again.
"Luke," Lorelai said rushing after him. "What is wrong with you? I'm sorry I can't tell you what happened and I'm sorry I can't explain why we need Chris around, but I just had an awful night and now you want to fight with me about it at 4 in the morning?"
Luke stopped once again, but this time he sighed. Lorelai could see the tension drop from his shoulders.
"No, I don't want to fight with you," Luke finally said. "I'm sorry, but you have to understand where I'm coming from. First I have to contend with Jason, who by the way, saw us earlier and finally left, then Kirk runs through town naked, then you disappear and I come to find you're with Christopher. I'm just a little..." Luke struggled to find the right words.
"Let down, frustrated, confused, tired," Lorelai offered.
"I'll take all the above," Luke sighed. They started to slowly walk down the street again. "I am sorry," Luke told her. "Obviously you've had a rough night and I'm not helping."
"True," Lorelai agreed with a small grin. "But I'm sorry too. I should have called you but I was kind of out of it after what happened with Rory."
"It'll be okay," Luke said trying to reassure her.
"Thanks," Lorelai replied. She took Luke's hand and gently placed her fingers in between his. They finally made it back to the inn and they both retired to their respective rooms to catch a few precious hours of sleep.
The following afternoon Lorelai had finally checked every guest out and she left the Dragonfly in the hands of Michel and Sookie. She told Sookie she had a fight with Rory and she needed to take care of things at home. Lorelai yawned as she trudged the steps to the front door.
"Hello," she called opening the door. "I'm home."
Lorelai threw her bag on the floor by the door and walked into the kitchen. "Hello?" she called again.
The back door opened and Christopher came into the kitchen.
"Hey," Christopher said. "How was the run-through?"
"It was fine," Lorelai replied. "Is Rory outside?"
"Yeah," Christopher told her. She made a motion to get to the back door, but Christopher placed his body between the door and Lorelai.
"Chris, I have to go talk to her," Lorelai said.
"No, you don't," Christopher said taking her by the arms, turning her around and sitting her in the chair at the table.
"Excuse me? I don't?" Lorelai replied sarcastically. "She's my daughter I think I know what she needs," Lorelai said attempting to stand again.
"Like you knew she needed Dean?" Christopher hit below the belt.
"What the hell does that mean?" Lorelai said tired and irritated.
"It means that she had this growing attraction to Dean and you didn't know about it so maybe you should listen to me when I say you shouldn't go out there," Christopher said pouring her a cup of coffee.
"She doesn't want to see me?" Lorelai asked hurt.
"Not right now," Christopher regretfully replied.
This revelation shook Lorelai to the core. In her lifetime she never thought she'd see life through her mother's eyes, but suddenly she felt the pain of walking in Emily Gilmore's shoes and she didn't like it one bit. She sunk, defeated into the chair again.
"She doesn't want to see me," Lorelai stated, as if she was trying to convince herself of this fact.
"She's embarrassed Lore," Christopher said sitting next to her and patting her arm. "She was really embarrassed that I was here when she woke up. I think she was upset that you told me, but more than that, I think what you said might have sunk in and she's ashamed."
"So ashamed she can't see me?" Lorelai asked. "I'm the Queen of Shame Christopher. I am the only daughter of a very blue-blood family and I got knocked up at 16! I think I know shame. I understand the shame spiral."
"She doesn't know what to say," Christopher tried to make Lorelai feel better. The truth was that Rory hadn't been too keen on Christopher's presence either. It took him an hour of staring at her before she had remotely opened up about the previous night's events. In fact, he didn't think that he had gotten very out of her.
"How about if she says anything? Anything that can make me understand what happened last night and why," Lorelai said bitterly to the door hoping Rory could hear her. "How about she made a mistake and doesn't hate me for telling her so. It's my job, I'm her mother."
"I know," Christopher said. "She'll come around. I don't think she fully understands what happened yet Lore. I mean, how long was it before you realized you were pregnant, two months? You always said you knew you were pregnant, but you tried to pretend it wasn't happening. That's what Rory's doing now."
"Yeah, I guess," Lorelai said sitting back down overwhelmed. "I just can't believe this is happening," Lorelai said absently swirling the coffee around the rim of the cup.
"Yeah, I know," Christopher agreed. "I can honestly say I never expected a call like the one you gave me last night. And I sure as hell didn't expect to hear what you told me once I got here," Christopher sighed leaning back in his chair.
"What's she doing out there anyway?" Lorelai asked.
"She was reading," Christopher said simply. "She's okay for now."
"Good," Lorelai nodded sullenly.
"So, new topic?" Christopher ventured.
"Please," Lorelai replied gratefully.
"What's going on with you and Luke?" Christopher asked point-blank.
"What?" Lorelai tried to play it casual. For some reason talking to Christopher about her relationship with Luke and vice versa just seemed weird. It was like two worlds colliding and she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with the fallout.
"You and Luke," Christopher ventured again. "I picked up a definite thing between you last night."
"There was no thing," Lorelai shrugged, avoiding eye contact.
"Lore?" Christopher prodded.
"Well there might be a thing," she admitted. Christopher gave her a look. "Okay, there is a definite thing. But with everything going on with Rory right now whatever that thing is, it's definitely on hold."
"Really?" Christopher replied. "So you and Luke were dating?"
Lorelai felt uncomfortable. She stood up and walked to the sink to wash out her coffee cup. "No, we weren't dating," she said as she scrubbed. "Last night we realized that we might be more friendly than we were before and," Lorelai struggled to articulate her feelings on the matter. "And why do you care anyway? How are Sherry and the baby?"
Lorelai was satisfied with her sudden change of subject to Christopher and his love life. She wasn't sure he would answer, but at least it came her a moment to figure out what she would tell him about Luke.
"Georgia is great," Christopher said smiling. Lorelai thought she detected a hint of sadness in the smile, but it disappeared as soon as it materialized. "She's so big now. I can't believe how fast they grow up. I missed that with Rory."
"Yeah, you did," Lorelai said sadly. They stayed for a moment in companionable silence, each dwelling on Rory. Christopher thinking about what he missed. Lorelai thinking about what happened last night.
"Sherry and I are getting divorced," Christopher finally shared with Lorelai.
"What?" Lorelai said taken aback.
All of a sudden Christopher looked miserable. Lorelai put the cup she was diligently washing in the dish rack and she sat next to Christopher.
"When did this happen?" Lorelai asked.
"We separated about two months ago. We started divorce proceedings last week," Christopher told her. "We shouldn't have gotten married, you know that."
"No," Lorelai replied. "I didn't know that."
"Come on Lorelai, you were there," Christopher explained. "I went back to her because of Georgia. You know better than anyone that two people shouldn't get married because of a baby. In fact you were the one who told me that when we were 16."
"But you've changed Christopher. You loved Sherry," she said.
"Did I? The last time I was here I was willing to trade it all, the Boston apartment, Sherry, everything, just to be with Rory. Just to be with you."
"But I was there when Sherry gave birth," Lorelai stuttered. "You were happy. You loved her. I saw it."
Lorelai was getting the distinct feeling that Christopher had been fishing for information on Luke to figure out where he stood with Lorelai. She was flatter, but also uncomfortable. She silently hoped she was wrong about the signals she thought she had picked up on.
"I was happy for a while," Christopher admitted. "But Sherry is a workaholic. She had very definite ideas about marriage and work and child rearing. She didn't just laugh because it felt good. She didn't have wild and crazy ideas about life. She's not fun like—"
"Christopher please do not finish that sentence," Lorelai cut him off fearing that he would have ended it with 'like you.'
"Okay I won't," Christopher replied appeasing her.
After a moment of silence Christopher couldn't take it anymore. His relationship with Sherry was talked out, as was Rory's situation so he simply said, "So you and Luke?"
The next morning Lorelai grumpily plodded down the stairs and passed Christopher still sleeping on the couch. In spite of herself she grinned. She couldn't explain it, but something about Christopher being around made her feel content. The circumstances surrounding his presence certainly weren't ideal, but it was nice to know that he was there to help her through things with Rory.
Rory had managed to successfully avoid Lorelai all day yesterday. Lorelai took a shower and Rory came inside and barricaded herself in her room. Lorelai got a phone call from Michel and Rory used that time to throw together a sandwich and go back into hiding.
For her part, Lorelai didn't push her. Christopher had made it fairly clear that Rory wanted nothing to do with Lorelai at the present moment, but all of that was about to change.
Lorelai entered the kitchen and found Rory sitting at the kitchen table, her feet curled up under her, two cups of coffee on the table. Rory looked up when Lorelai entered the kitchen and she leaned forward and lighted pushed the second cup of coffee toward her mother.
"Peace offering?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded in response.
"It's good to see you've climbed out of your spider hole. I'm glad you don't look quite as crusty as Saddam," Lorelai said taking a sip of the coffee.
"Why did you call Dad?" Rory asked ignoring her mother's feeble attempt at humor.
"We needed him here," Lorelai said simply.
"I can't believe you told him what happened," Rory said.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? You told me you hated me. I didn't know what to do. I had to call for reinforcements," Lorelai replied.
"I'm sorry I said that," Rory said quietly. "I didn't mean it. I was just so confused and I didn't know what..." Rory started to break down. Lorelai had a horrible flashback to when she found her daughter in a crying heap on their front lawn. Reality had definitely started to set in.
"Rory," Lorelai said rubbing her daughter's back. "It'll be okay."
"I messed up," Rory choked. "I'm so sorry Mom."
"You did mess up sweetie, but I promise it'll be okay," Lorelai said.
"How? How will it be okay? Dean is married!" Rory said trying to stop the tears from flowing.
"I don't know how, but it will be. I'm not going to lie to you," Lorelai continued. "What you did with Dean was colossally stupid and it can never, ever happen again, but it will get better."
"No, it's never going to happen again," Rory agreed. "I don't know why I thought it was okay. I just kept thinking that he was mine. I can't believe I could do something like that. I was lonely and confused and things just happened."
"Well, we all make mistakes kid," Lorelai said. "Maybe you've been too sheltered. I mean you haven't made any big mistakes. Although after this one please wait a minimum of five years before another one."
"I will," Rory nodded whipping her eyes.
"So was your Dad helpful?" Lorelai asked.
"It was weird that he knew what happened," Rory said, "I can't believe you told him."
"Sorry, but I had too," Lorelai replied. "He needed to know so he could be there for you."
"How long is he staying?" Rory asked finally regaining her composure.
"As long as you want," Christopher said sleepily as he entered the kitchen.
Lorelai turned in her chair and Rory looked up. They both smiled at Christopher as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"So, no chance you girls decided to make breakfast this morning, huh?" Christopher asked.
"Not a chance," Lorelai smiled brightly.
"So how about if we get something to eat then?" Christopher asked.
"How about Luke's?" Rory asked. "I feel like I need a special helping of his chocolate chip pancakes this morning."
"Sounds good to me," Christopher smiled at his daughter.
Lorelai suddenly got that familiar upset stomach that she had started to grow accustomed to when Luke and Christopher being in the same room came up.
"Mom?" Rory asked, as if she was waiting for her affirmative response to Luke's for breakfast.
"If you feel up to it," Lorelai said.
"I need to get out of the house," Rory replied.
"Luke's it is," Lorelai forced a smile.
TBC