CHAPTER 6

The bedside table glared an evil red 8:00 sign. For someone who was willing to commit to sleeping in until noon, Tristin got up from the lazyboy and stretched. He was frustrated that his body did not feel rested. He twisted around to look at the girl slumbering peacefully on his bed. Silently, he tiptoed to the side of the bed she favored. He gazed at her longingly. He marveled at how mature she looked with the shorter haircut. And yet, he knew she was an innocent. Her baby doll lashes rested on top of her soft cheeks. Her rosebud lips parted slightly, like inviting someone to kiss it. He rubbed his lips like it was just moments ago that he shared a kiss with her knowing that the last time they were that intimate, they were not even fit to be called friends.

He hesitantly tried to brush a strand of hair that fell on her face. He recoiled quickly the moment she let out a moan and rolled her back against him.

Tristin decided that morning that his best friend would be a hot cup of coffee and a very cold shower.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Luke asked Lorelai as they drove to the Gilmore house.

"What I'm thinking of is worth more than a pirate's booty," Lorelai said.

"Can't be all that bad," Luke replied. "I've already loaned you thirty grand."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Hmmm, I'm just tired. I am glad that there's still a week before the inn really opens for business. Is it okay to take a vacation even if I haven't worked yet?"

"I guess. It's your business. But I don't think you'd make money by keeping your bread and butter locked up," Luke pointed out.

They were not that far from the house when Lorelai gasped. Luke thought he hit a squirrel and stopped abruptly. Lorelai jumped out of the truck's cab and bolted toward her home.

"Rory?" she started yelling. Lorelai took her heels off as she got to the front of her house.

Confused, Luke drove and parked the truck next to the Gilmore cottage and promptly followed Lorelai into the house. By the time he got to the porch, Lorelai emerged through the front door in tears.

"She's gone," Lorelai said in panic.

She knew something was wrong when they drove up to the house. It was eerily quiet. Lorelai knew her daughter's sleeping habits well enough that her disappearance was a definite red flag. Lorelai went to Rory's room and knew that the unmade bed was not from her daughter sleeping on it. Frustrated, she ran though the house calling her daughter's name only to be answered back with silence.

"Rory's not here," Lorelai informed Luke as she met up with him at the porch.

"What do you mean she's not here? She's probably out getting coffee or gone out jogging," Luke was making up excuses to calm Lorelai down.

"Uhm, I don't think it would be called "jogging" if you consider taking your car with you. That would be considered trying out for the "Strongest Man Competition". And if she was getting coffee, she knows that it's faster to walk to your diner than driving there. Plus, she knows you're at the inn so if she got coffee, she wouldn't get the Luke special," Lorelai said.

"Calm down. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing," Luke chided her. His heart started racing. It was unusual for Rory to pull a stunt like this! "Did she leave a note?"

"No. Not that I've seen," she said.

"Did she go to your parents?" he questioned.

"I doubt it. She wasn't around when they decided they were going home. She still thinks they stayed the night at the inn. No one would be able to let her in," Lorelai deduced.

"Well she just can't pull a Houdini!" Luke argued.

"Luke, I'm standing in front of you. You don't have to yell," she spat out.

Lorelai looked away from Luke long enough to see a green Land Rover pull up behind Luke's truck. She marched out of the house to confront the stranger that parked on her driveway.

"Bud, if you're here to make my day, you better do it quick and fast because I am in no mood to give you directions to civilization," Lorelai said abruptly.

"Huh?" Tristin said in response. From the way Ms. Gilmore greeted him, he deduced that Rory ran away from home.

"Ms. Gilmore, it's me, Tristin DuGrey. Rory's former classmate from Chilton?" he identified himself.

"Well, Tristin, if you're here to pull An Officer and a Gentleman scene, you have to wait in line. I get first dibs on Paulina Pokrifki," Lorelai said.

"Who's this guy?" Luke asked as he emerged from the house.

"One of Rory's classmates from Chilton," Lorelai clarified.

Luke stared at the kid and grunted.

Confused, Tristin shook his said and said, "Ms. Gilmore, I came over to tell you that Rory's okay."

"Wait. You've seen Rory? When? Where?" Lorelai drilled him.

"Well, unintentionally, I ran into her. Actually, almost hit her but she's fine. I think she was headed to Boston but she was on the side of the road," Tristin started telling Lorelai.

"Oh my God! Did her car break down? Why didn't she call me?" she said, touching Tristin's arm. "Is she okay? Man, how dumb can I be? How could I have forgotten Christopher?" Lorelai asked in rapid succession.

"The car's okay. She looks like she's been crying all night. I took her to my dad's place," Tristin tried to calm her down.

"Well, you better take me to your dad's place. I've got to see Rory," Lorelai told Tristin as she tried to feel her pockets for car keys.

"No offense, Ms. Gilmore but I think Rory wants to be alone for now. I promise you she'll be alright," Tristin said as he got back to the driver's seat of his SUV. Dropping the transmission to Reverse, Tristin rolled away. He hoped he did the right thing.