A/N: Logan will make a guest appearance in this chapter, promise!
Disclaimer: Still not mine…
"Rory! Rory, get up! It's almost nine! I've tried to wake you three times, are you okay?"
Slowly the world around her started to materialise from a big ball of fuzz into Paris pounding her pillow. Ahh…the lights. She briefly thought of Finn's light intolerance and almost felt compassion for him before she jumped, or rather dropped, herself out of bed and scrambled to the bathroom to be sick.
"Gilmore, are you okay in there?"
"Does it sound like I'm okay Paris? Go away, please! I'm not coming out of my room today."
"Told you the wet-wipes wouldn't work. I'm going, you're unbearable when you're sick. Call me if you feel like you're going to die."
There was no answer from the bathroom, just a growl, a hurl, and some more primal sounds which made it all the more obvious to Paris that the safest place to be right now was away from Gilmore.
"I'll be at the paper! Bye Rory!"
After what felt like an eternity spent on the floor in front of, next to, and on the toilet, Rory stopped feeling nauseous, and the spinning in her head made room for incessant drilling of concrete hammers into her head.
"Must get painkillers… Must stand up…"
Mustering all her force, Rory clambered to the washing basin. What she saw in the mirror made her spirits drop even more. Great. She looked as crappy as she felt. Even if she were to keep some fluids or food inside, she wouldn't go out the door looking so dishevelled, which meant missing important classes, deadlines at the paper and….ghaaaa her head pounded a little harder with the thinking. Okay, so no thinking… just sleep. And painkillers. Lot's of them… Why, oh, why did she have to get sick now!
Lorelai frowned when she heard the line disconnect and go dead. She had called her daughter for the third time in five minutes. Knowing she didn't have classes between 12 and two she had expected her to pick up quickly. She had some exciting news to share, and Lorelai was not one to give up quickly. She had to speak to her daughter. Instead, she got two no-pick-ups and finally a groan and a crashing sound, after which, nothing more but static.
"Uh-oh. This is not good. No, no, no, this is bad, very, very bad…"
"What's so bad?" Luke asked, looking concerned.
"Oh, I think Rory's sick."
"I thought she didn't pick up her phone?"
"Well, she did the thing I do with my phone when I'm sick and it's ringing and I don't want to pick it up, because hello! The sickness! So, I guess she threw it at the wall, cause, you know, that's what a sane, I mean, sick person does with the ringing and it's incessancy and the head ache and…." Lorelai was ranting, but her mother instinct and experience with the Gilmore way of dealing with feeling crappy made her pretty sure of her case that Rory was sick, and she felt bad for her baby, being away from home… all alone…
"Lorelai, calm down!" Luke saw how upset Lorelai was. And he didn't feel too good about it himself either. He hated seeing one of his girls sick or sad, and now he had both at the same time.
"Do you want to drive out there and look after her?" he cautiously suggested.
"No, no, ugh, she'll have to grow up one time, and I guess being sick without your mommy there is part of that." Lorelai hated herself for thinking it, but there was something comforting about not having to be the one to clean up the mess of a sick kid for the first time in her life. Wow, bad mother vibes…
"I feel like Emily!" she exclaimed
Luckily, Luke had gotten used to Lorelai's strange patterns of thought and decided to ignore the comment for the moment. "Doesn't she have any roommates you can call? That kid with the weird name… Brooklyn… Sydney…?"
"Yes, I should call Paris just to check up on Rory. I'm not a bad mom, am I Luke? For letting a roommate look after my sick baby?"
"Come here you. You know you're a great mom! Now go make that call. You'll feel much better."
Paris hung up the phone with a long sigh. She knew how bad Gilmore was when she got sick. Luckily, the first time Lorelai had come and Paris had stayed at Asher's for the week. Now she'd actually have to deal with sick Rory alone. She wouldn't readily admit it, but she was a little worried for her roommate. She did care about her, even though she showed it in the less conventional ways of shouting at her (less then at others) and trying to make her live life a little less naïve. Rory would benefit greatly from her own Terence, but she knew she wasn't ready to take that step yet. Poor kid.
"Right, Doyle, Gilmore is sick so I'm not having sex with you this week. I need to keep an eye on her so I can't stay with you, and I don't want to get you and your frail health too close to the bomb of germs that currently resides at our dorm." Paris shouted through the newsroom at Doyle, who got redder and more embarrassed by the second.
"Oh come off it, Doyle! Everyone here knows we're doing it so why hide it? Anyway, I need to skive off for now. You'll get your article in time, don't worry. "
Doyle didn't have the wits to respond with anything other than a weak "Where are you going?"
"Where do you think, numbskull? To the pharmacy of course! I am under official instruction from the mother hen to look after her chick. And Lorelai Gilmore senior is no bird to mess with. So, I'm off. Oh, and don't expect Rory back before Christmas. Gilmore doesn't take being sick very well… doesn't want anyone to come near her until she's completely fit. And with the flu that's currently going round, I wouldn't expect a feature article before the New Year."
As Paris stalked out of the newsroom, Logan flicked open his cell phone and speed-dialed Finn's number. A bemused grin spread across his face. He had a great idea to get his sheltered little Ace to deal with being sick in the way a real woman does.
"Hey Finn, it's Logan… Yeah, I know it's before 4 pm, but listen, I need a favour. Do you still have that guitar hidden in your closet?"
A/N: I said a guest appearance, and that's what you got, so sue me! I promise, lots of Logan/Rory interaction in the next chapters. I needed this build up. Reviews are greatly appreciated.