CHAPTER 6: Missed Chances & Hard Goodbye's

Later back at the Gilmore residence...

"Jeez ... there are books in Europe too ya know? Lorelai said as she looked at all the books that Rory had put in her suitcase. It was late but they were almost finished packing. Chris was in the living room watching TV, he had helped with the packing for a while but he stopped when they got on to all the girly stuff.

"What you thinking' hon?" Lorelai asked as she watched Rory who was sitting on her bed staring into outer space.

"Nothing, it's gonna be weird it just being me and grandma y'know?"

"Yes well you have my sympathies"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad"

"Yea she likes you so it probably won't be, whereas if I had been me, I would probably be trying to throw myself off the Eiffel Tower within a few days... actually more like within a few hours – but then again I would never be crazy enough to put myself through the torture anyway" Lorelai said and shivered at the thought of having to spend a month with her mother.

"So what are you going to do when I'm away?" Rory said

"Well firstly pray for your sanity, because hell that woman would drive the Pope crazy, maybe you should introduce them when you're in Italy actually, just to see how long he lasts before he runs out screaming, I bet it wouldn't be long" Lorelai said and grinned.

"We'll see, so you have anything else planned besides the praying? Rory asked

"I think the Inn will keep me busy mostly", maybe this would be a good time to tell Rory about her and Luke she thought, "um Rory" she said as she fiddled with the lace on one of Rory's t-shirts she was packing.

"Yea?" Rory said as she moved things about in her case.

"You know the way I wasn't sure if I was dating Luke"

"Uh huh" Rory said glancing up.

"...well we are definitely dating now." Lorelai said as she looked up and grinned at Rory.

"Really? Why what happened?" Rory said as she suddenly looked up.

"Well we kinda kissed at the Inn ... and we are going to go out for dinner" Lorelai said still smiling.

"Wow!"

"Are you okay with it? Rory if it is too weird for you then I won't date Luke" Lorelai said quickly as she suddenly turned serious, a rare occurrence.

"No mom I'm totally fine with it, I mean you two have been flirting for years, it's not like it's a total shock" Rory said laughing.

"What?! We so haven't!" Lorelai said as if shocked by the accusation.

"Mom c'mon, you so have!"

"Fine maybe a tiny bit" Lorelai said as she grinned wickedly.

"Ok well you better keep my informed, I don't wanna come back from Europe to find out that you two ran off to Vegas and got married" Rory said smiling at her mom.

"Hon, chill, you are only gone for a month ... it'll probably be two months before we run to Vegas anyway" Lorelai said smiling.

"I'm gonna miss you sweets" Lorelai said as she moved to sit on the bed beside Rory.

"Yea me too mom" Rory said as she moved to hug her mom.

About half an hour later they both emerged from Rory's bedroom, it was just after 1am as they walked into the living room to see Chris lying sleeping on the couch.

"Maybe we should head to bed now too, you'll probably need all your strength with Emily tomorrow" Lorelai whispered.

"Yea goodnight mom, thanks for helping me pack, Love you"

"Love you too hon" Lorelai said as she walked Rory to her room and hugged her goodnight.

The next morning Lorelai woke up early, she hadn't got a lot of sleep the night before she had so many thoughts running through her head. She lay in bed for a few minutes before she got up, as she walked downstairs she saw that Chris and Rory were still asleep, no wonder she thought, it was only 7am! She made some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, she was on her third cup by the time Christopher woke up and came into the kitchen.

"Morning" she said brightly as she handed him a cup of coffee. He had a sip and then pulled a face at her.

"Yuck, how strong is that?!"

"Approximatley half a bag of coffee to a cup of water, it would have been stronger but I ran out of coffee, I usually have a spare batch but I haven't been to the market in a few days".

"Oook then" he said laughing.

"So what time are you heading back?

"Well when are you gonna throw me out?" he said laughing.

"I tried last night but I couldn't move you, ease up on those pies" she said.

They heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen as Rory entered looking exhausted.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, you not get much sleep either?" Lorelai said to Rory.

"Nope not really, I'll get some sleep on the plane hopefully"

"Yes if you tie Emily to a seat and stuff a sock in her mouth I'm sure you will get plenty of sleep... if you do that though send me a Polaroid, I can stick it on the fridge!" Lorelai said in an excited voice as she jumped about in the chair.

"You're terrible" Rory said with a frown.

"I love you too hon" Lorelai said.

At 10.47am Rory had all the belongings sitting by the front door and she was all set and ready to go. The three of them were sitting in the living room talking about the trip when the doorbell rang.

"I have another 13minutes! – I swear that woman does that on purpose" Lorelai said loudly as she went to answer the door. She opened it and smiled out at her mother, "Hi mom" she said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"Is that any way to talk about your mother Lorelai? I am here early so that we would be ready to leave at 11" Emily said in a disgruntled tone.

"Hi grandma" Rory said, she knew that her mom was in a bad enough mood because of her leaving already, she didn't think it was such a good idea that her and grandma fight as well. So as usual Rory acted like the buffer.

"Hello Rory, so are you excited? I am, we have so many things that we must do! I have been looking to introduce you to my friends in Paris for a long time and now I'll get my chance".

"O god help you poor girl" Lorelai mumbled.

"Did you say something Lorelai" she said frowning as she turned to look at her. Just before Lorelai could say something back Christopher came over.

"Hello Emily" Chris said politely.

"Why Christopher, I didn't know you were here?"

"Yes well it wasn't planned, I just stopped in for a few days" he said smiling at Emily.

"Well that's very nice of you. Emily gave Lorelai a copy of their itinerary and the three of them spoke for about fifteen minutes about the trip. "Anyway Rory I think we should get going if we are going to get to the airport on time. James will bring your bags to the car" Emily said as she walked over to the front door to usher James in, then she walked back over to Rory, Christopher and Lorelai who were standing in the middle of the living room.

"Oh ok" Rory said as she turned to mom, she could feel the tears building up in her eyes, she didn't want to cry in front of her mom though, she knew she hated to see her cry. She turned to her dad and gave him a hug and kiss, "I'll send you a postcard dad, I'll miss you, say hello to Georgina from me". Rory then turned to Lorelai and could see the tears in her eyes.

"I love you mom, I'll miss you and I'll call as often as I can. Good Luck with Luke, he's great" she whispered into her mom's ear so noone else could hear.

"Love you sweets and you better call or I'm gonna hijack a plane and fly around Europe to find you" she said smiling at her as her eyes welled up with tears.

"I'll look forward to it" Rory said as she picked up her small backpack off the sofa. Lorelai had her arm round her shoulder as they walked outside to the car where Emily and Chris were waiting by the car. Rory turned to hug her mom again before walking over to the car to give her dad a last hug, Lorelai felt her eyes welling up with tears as she watched Rory get in the car and drive off. Christopher came over and put his arm round her as they stood for a few minutes just looking down the street to where the car had gone. She turned to Chris and burst into tears as she hugged him tightly.

"I can't believe she's gone" Lorelai said crying.

"She'll be back before you know it Lor, and she said she's gonna call you as often as she can" he said trying to comfort her, he hated seeing her cry, she was usually so bright and cheery so it was hard to see her so down.

"I know but it's still hard" she said as she slowly stopped crying and turned and walked back into the house. It was going to be so weird not to be able to see Rory or talk to her whenever she wanted, even when she had went to Yale Lorelai had always known that she could visit anytime she wanted....it wasn't like that now.

A few hours later Lorelai and Chris sat on the porch outside the Gilmore house. She had come back from the Inn for a little while just so she could say goodbye to Chris before he left.

"So suppose you have to go now then?" Lorelai said, disappointed in a way because she would have no company around the house, it had been good to have him around the house the last few days, she knew that Rory had enjoyed it as well.

"You know Lor, I don't have to go?" Chris said, he wanted to stay here with her for a bit longer, he had missed her.

"Well you have to go home sometime" Lorelai said confused.

"Yea I know but I could stay a few extra days if you want" he said hoping she would know what he was talking about.

Suddenly the phone rang and Lorelai ran to answer it. 'Damn that phone' Chris thought to himself as he watched her go to answer it. She returned a few minutes later, she was wearing her jacket now which obviously meant that she had to run off somewhere.

"I gotta go Chris, they really need me at the Inn. There's a problem with the linen delivery"

"Oh ok, well I'm gonna head now too then"

"Right okay, but call me later and let me know you got home okay" she said giving him a hug and quick kiss before she got in her car and he waited for her to leave before he got in his own. 'I missed my chance... again' he thought as he sat there for a minute, then he started the car and started on his journey home. 'Can I walk away from this...Can I walk away from her again?' he thought...

Hey I hope you're liking the story so far, it's my first ever one so it's a whole new experience! Don't say goodbye to Chris quite yet! I'll have the next few chapters up by next week hopefully. Please review :)