DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Except for any extra names that you don't recognize from the show. . . those I 'created'. Read WHW and JOF to get back story.
AN: AHH! I was watching the last eppy (Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too—yes, it's been awhile since I've updated) and I saw that Jackson and Sookie's last name is Bellville? WHAT? Where did I get Melville? I thought I saw it that way on the show credits or something. I must be crazy, but I am NOT going back through this whole saga and changing it, so my creative license from here on out decrees their new name as Melville. With three L's, not four, lol.
While the rest of the group was recovering from their overindulgment, laying strewn about the house, Rory and Lorelai found themselves alone in the kitchen picking over the untouched remains of dinner. Each on their now uncountable number cup of coffee, Rory was attempting to make a turkey sandwich by placing turkey between two halves of a roll, and topping it with some stuffing and smearing cranberry sauce as a condiment. Lorelai looked at her daughter's concoction and nodded in awe.
"Nice," Lorelai commented.
"Thanks," Rory said before taking a bite.
"Pregnant again?"
"Funny," she said with a full mouth of food.
"Hey, you're the one eating that."
"It's not like I used the zucchini bread instead of a roll," Rory pointed out.
"True 'dat," Lorelai mocked her.
"How come we're the last ones eating every year?"
"It's a real learning curve, it'll take years longer for these people to keep up with us," she said, turning to look into the living room. Luke was sitting passed out with his head back against the back of the couch with Jules, Lia, and Ella all sprawled out over him while they watched television. The boys had mostly sprawled out on the floor, watching whatever the girls had landed on when their fingers got too tired from pushing the channel button. "Besides, it's one of the rare times you and I get to be alone," she added.
"Yeah," Rory said happily.
"Where'd Tristan skulk off to?"
"Oh, he and Jess headed out to town to get something," she said.
"What about Erin?"
"Erin is in Will's old room," Rory said, pointing to the door.
"So, if Erin is in Will's room, where is Will?"
"I saw him and Anna head out the back door a while ago," Rory shrugged.
"She didn't eat much," Lorelai commented.
"No, she didn't," Sookie came up behind the table, sounding worried.
"She hasn't said anything?" Rory said, putting her hand on Sookie's arm.
"No, she won't talk," Sookie said, moving to look out the kitchen window.
"She will, just give her time. She's been bombarded with the family and all that since she's been home."
"Lorelai, you know how she is. She keeps everything in, we're not like you and Rory," Sookie worried.
"Well, no one is," Lorelai smiled at her daughter.
"Sook, even Ella and I aren't as tight as mom and I," Rory reassured her.
"I just want her to be happy again," she said as she slumped into a chair and began to fork at a pie absently. Lorelai and Rory exchanged a look as they all continued to eat, now in silence.
Smoke billowed up in the air over the lake, hanging for a moment over the two men before moving away over the water. As their legs dangled over the edge, just inches from the top of the water, they sat in silence and enjoyed their annual post-gorge smoke.
"Think anyone realizes we do this every year?" Tristan asked, looking for a moment at the cigarette in his hand.
"Dunno," Jess mumbled, taking another drag from his own cigarette.
"More like, don't care," Tristan smirked.
"Yep."
"I think Rory knows," came the contemplative continuation.
Jess looked at him, and smirked before shaking his head at his friend.
"What?"
"She so has you," he laughed.
"Erin doesn't know we do this? We go out for 'something' every year in a town where everything is closed down on Thanksgiving Day, and come back empty handed," Tristan laughed.
"Hey, they were out of 'it'," Jess pointed to Tristan, reminding him of the story they muttered the first year when Lorelai had called them on the fact that their shopping venture was unsuccessful.
"Damn straight," Tristan agreed, "Seriously, Erin never called you on it?"
"Did Rory say something to you?"
"No, I just think she knows," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Just smoke your cigarette," Jess mumbled as he lit up another one.
The town streets were nearly deserted, as most everyone was at their holiday destinations by now, or out on the interstates to get there. Will and Anna strolled along silently, admittedly walking off dinner—though Will knew Anna had barely eaten a thing. He was just hoping she'd get whatever was bothering her off her chest soon. She slowed down and he tried to walk slowly, focusing on kicking leaves out of his path as he shuffled along beside her.
"Thanks for taking a walk," she said suddenly, almost scaring him it was so unexpected. They'd been in silence for almost fifteen minutes at this point.
"No problem. Your mom's food always makes me feel like I need to run about a million miles after I eat it," he joked with her.
"I think she's surprised that none of us have an interest in being a chef."
"You can all cook, though," he pointed out.
"Yeah, well, we just sort of picked it up, I guess."
They were reimmersed in silence for a moment, as they rounded the town square for the second time. Will began to think of more places to walk around to delay their going home and the possibility of her shutting whatever was bothering her inside even longer.
"Can we sit for a sec?" she said, moving towards the gazebo.
"Oh, uh, sure," he followed quickly, noting her pace was more determined now.
Looking at her now, she suddenly looked smaller somehow, he wasn't sure if she were frightened or sad. Perhaps a mixture of both, he thought as she looked like she would speak at any time now.
"Last weekend, I went to the library on Saturday night to get work on a paper done before I came home for break," she began. She didn't look at Will, but somewhere out past their old high school. They both had fond memories of high school, usually together with Davey and a few of their close friends. Most of their other friends had faded away as they moved on to college, but the nature of the familial ties that Will had with Davey and Anna made it almost impossible for that to happen. They'd all gone to separate universities, but they talked daily. Especially now that Will had moved in with Davey.
"I stayed later than I should have, but I'd prepped myself with about four triple espressos, and I was so happy to get the paper done—anyway, I headed back to my apartment pretty late. I'd done it several other times, and the funny thing is I'd never thought of calling the campus escort service to walk me home before, but it flitted through my mind as I left the library," she shook her head almost as if she were trying to get the thought out of her head altogether.
"Anna," Will started, but she held her hand up for him to stop.
"Just, let me get this out, Will, please?"
He nodded, allowing her to go on uninterrupted. He didn't like the sound of where this was going, not at all.
"I was about two blocks from home, and this guy just appeared out of nowhere. I thought he was going to mug me, he took my money and asked for my jewelry, but I wasn't wearing any," her voice cracked a little as she remembered the events too well as she retold them, "So he grabbed me and forced me off the sidewalk and into some bushes."
Her voice seemed to give out at this point as the tears came over her. Will didn't need to hear anymore, he had the sick feeling in his stomach as soon as she'd said her first word that something like this had happened. He gently put his arm around her, pulling her fleece-covered frame towards him. She buried her face in his dad's army jacket and let him hold her.
"Will, he--," she tried again.
"Did you go to the police?" he asked, trying not to sound too demanding.
She nodded into his shoulder, not ready to dry her tears, as she could just feel more about to flood her eyes. "They did an exam, something called a rape kit, and I gave a statement," she managed to tell him even though her face was completely embedded in his shoulder.
He kept his arms around her, willing her to feel safe here with him in their hometown. She went to school at Connecticut State, not exactly a metropolis, but it was larger than Stars Hollow. Everything was, it wasn't hard to do.
"They aren't going to find him, I couldn't even see his face. He was wearing one of those ski mask things," she sounded so defeated, and it killed him. He wanted to make this okay for her, but knew in reality he couldn't. All he could do was listen, and from the sounds of it she had done all she could do in the immediate time.
"I'm sure they'll find him, Ann," he soothed her. He knew the answer to the next question, but asked it anyhow.
"Have you told anyone else?"
She shook her head. "Not even my roommate. I know I should tell Mom, but I just can't do that to her. Oh God, she'd tell Dad, and Davey—no, I just can't Will," she teared up yet again at the thought of her family knowing what had happened to her.
"Anna, this isn't your fault, they'd want to be there for you," he tried.
"No, they'd all look at me differently," she shook her head adamantly, trying to stop the tears from falling.
"They know something is wrong."
"But they don't know what. They probably just think I failed an exam or something," she reasoned.
"You aren't walking around like you failed an exam. You're walking around like something serious is going on, and for good reason," he assured her.
"Look, maybe, some day, I'll tell them, but for now, please don't tell anyone Will," she looked into his eyes for the first time since they'd left the house. She had feared what she would see in them; pity, disgust, anger—but all she saw was concern and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. They were bluer than the sky if that were possible.
"I'll do whatever you want, Ann," he said, pulling her back into one more hug before they finally headed back towards the house. He knew it was going to be hard to keep from telling his mom—who would know that he knew something—but he had to as she would surely tell Sookie. If all else failed, he could sacrifice himself for Anna, giving up details to his mother about how Bree had been continuing to call and pursuing to get him back. Lorelai was definitely worried about him and how he was 'holding up' as she had put it. He was coping just fine, as his father would say. Taking it like a man. Drinking beer and throwing darts at her picture with Davey. Besides, his problems with Bree seemed inconsequential compared to what Anna was currently going through.
"What are you thinking about?" he was shaken out of his thoughts as she spoke.
"Oh, just what I'm going to tell Mom about Bree," he shrugged.
"Oh, Will, I'm sorry—God, you have all that going on, and here I am, dumping more stuff on you to worry about," she rambled a bit.
"Hey, hey," he stopped and nudged her arm for her to stop as well. "You aren't dumping anything on me. Bree has no bearing in my life, whereas you always have and always will. Got it?"
She nodded and gave a half smile.
"That's better," he smiled back, "its just Mom is obsessed with making sure I'm okay. I haven't told her about Bree's inability to lose my phone number," he sighed.
"Lorelai will go over to that girl's house," Anna warned him.
"Oh, the 'rent's have been there already," he laughed.
"NO!" she gasped.
"Oh, yeah, leave it to Luke and Lorelai," he shook his head.
"What did they do?"
"Well, Dad yelled, a lot apparently, and Mom kept calling her a hussy—her mom threatened to call the cops if they didn't leave, and Mom threatened to have Bree run out of town. Anyway, Dad must have gotten his brain back, because he dragged Mom out of there before police were involved."
"Nice," she smiled, knowing that the Danes' would do anything for family and friends. One thing the town knew was never to mess with anyone they loved. Neither Luke nor Lorelai had ever been ones to back down.
"Ready to go in?"
"And mention none of our personal woes?"
"Yep."
"Right behind 'ya."