Chapter 6

A/N: hey! Thanks for all reviews guys, you know I love ya! Sorry it's taken so long… 2 weeks actually… but I still wasn't sure on the angle I was starting to take… so hopefully its not so bad now!

ProFfeSseR: well, it's all about the questions!

ALIASobsessed: don't you hate how the site CONSTANTLY goes screwy? Really irritates me…

Meredith44: really? What a coincidence! I love Luke too! Hehehe

MM Vermelha: pre-NC-17? How bizarre… I never actually thought of it like that… I hate that rating anyway, 'NC-17' what is that?! In Australia we have G, PG, M15, MA15 and R18! I would probably make in an M15 with sexual references. lol!

Kimmers: well, Luke IS a sweet guy… lol

Natalia DeLuca: trust me to name a character Jayne… that's my middle name! lol!

Lnkz: hello new reviewer! Thanks for taking the time to read my story and review it! Come again!

controversy-queen: absolutely! I was just thinking about adding more of them to the story!

Anyway… on we go! Don't forget to review on your way out!

1:54am 21 days after the birthday

Amie snuck in through the front door as quietly as she could. She knew it was way past her curfew; she was meant to be home by midnight, but now, it was breaching on 2am. She hoped against hope that her mom had gone to bed, and that she could just quietly sneak into her room. She never intended to stay out this late; but she was with Michael Haywood, and she could never keep track of time with him.

She quietly sneaked into the kitchen, but stopped dead in her tracks when she found her mother, sitting at the table staring down into a cup of coffee. As soon as Lorelai noticed she was there, he head shot right up. Amie just wanted to spiel off and explain, but she couldn't find the right words.

"Where the HELL have you been?" Lorelai demanded.

"I… I was…" Amie stuttered.

"I told you to be home by midnight. Do you know what time it is?" she said, anger in her voice, although she did not move from her chair.

"Um…"

"It's almost 2am! That's 2 hours Amie! You had me scared to death!" Lorelai said.

"I… I'm sorry," she managed to slip out. Lorelai let out a sigh and wrapped her hands around her coffee.

"Sit down," she said calmly. Amie immediately sat down, without question. She knew she was in trouble.

"So what's going on with you?" Lorelai asked. Amie just stared at her blankly.

"You're always going out to parties and stuff, and you've missed your curfew by a long shot twice in the past three weeks. Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" Lorelai prompted.

"No," Amie replied coolly.

"Or anyone?" Lorelai added.

"Mom!"

"What? It's a fair question! You're out most of the night… Amie, I need to know what's happening or I can't let you stay out so late like this anymore," Lorelai said. Amie let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why do you have to know exactly where I am all the time? I'm not two!" she spat out.

"Amie! I'm your mother! It's my responsibility to know where you are and what you're doing until you're 18! I mean, for all I know you could be trying to skip town!" Lorelai said dramatically. Amie looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

"Amelia, are you sure that nothing's going on?" Lorelai asked, concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure," Amie lied. As close as she was to her mom, she knew that she would have a heartattack if she found out what was going on.

"Then you're grounded," Lorelai answered.

"WHAT?!"

"Amie, if you're not gonna talk to me, then you're not gonna go out. End of story."

"But mom -"

"No buts! Either you tell me why you're so late, or you're grounded," Lorelai replied coolly.

"I just lost track of time, that's all," Amie said. There was truth in that.

"So you just didn't realise that two hours had passed," Lorelai said sarcastically.

"I didn't! Okay?! I'm sorry!" Amie replied, starting to raise her voice.

"That's it, you're going on the pill," Lorelai said, getting up out of her chair angrily and taking her coffee mug over to the sink to rinse out.

"What?! Where'd that come from?!" Amie replied.

"You're not gonna get pregnant like I did," Lorelai said angrily, rinsing out her cup viciously.

"Mom, I'm not -"

"And don't say you're not having sex Amelia Danes, because I know you are," she replied, still facing the wall and not turning around to look at her daughter. Amie was speechless. She couldn't form words.

"And I know you've been drinking, and smoking too. God, you're just like I was," Lorelai said, shaking her head.

"Mom, it's not like that!" Amie interjected, trying her best to get a word in.

"Then what is it like?" Lorelai said, finally spinning around, hand on her hip. She just stood there, staring at Amie. And once again, Amie was speechless. Lorelai let out another sigh.

"How many?" she asked. Amie looked at her confused.

"What?"

"How many guys, Amelia?" Lorelai asked. Amie's jaw dropped open.

"It's none of your business!" she retorted.

"You're a minor. It is my business!"

"Don't call me that!"

"What, a minor? Because that's what you are Amelia, you're 16 and you're still a minor!" Lorelai said, now her voice raising.

"But I'm not a child!"

"Well you're acting like one! You think drinking, and smoking, and sleeping with guys makes you an adult. But it doesn't! I know! That's what I used to think!" Lorelai said. Amie got up out of her chair.

"I'm not you! No matter what you think, I'm not you mom! I make my own choices I have my own opinions! You've got to stop assuming that I'm making the same mistakes you did!" Amie yelled.

"But can't you see, you are! That's exactly what you're doing. I don't want you winding up pregnant," Lorelai said.

"I'm not going to!"

"What makes you so sure?! I was sure I wasn't going to get pregnant!" Lorelai retorted.

"Well we used protection!"

"So did I! That didn't stop me from getting pregnant with Rory!" Lorelai yelled. Then there was silence. No one said anything for at least 30 seconds. They both stared at the ground, trying to compose their thoughts.

"Two," Amie said, almost so silently that it couldn't be heard.

"What?"

"Two guys," Amie replied, still staring at the ground. Lorelai looked up.

"Oh," she replied quietly, not knowing whether this was the answer she was looking for or not. Either way, she was glad Amie was opening up.

"Was one of them Jay's boyfriend?" Lorelai asked softly.

"What? Jay doesn't have a boyfriend," Amie replied.

"Well was it the guy she likes, then?" Lorelai asked. Amie shuffled her feet and exhaled. Things were so screwed up.

"It's hard to explain," she replied quietly.

"It's a yes or no question. Black or white."

Amie looked up and her eyes met her mother's. Everything was grey.

8:32pm 20 days after the birthday

"Bye Luke, see you at home," Lorelai called as she walked out of the diner. She'd had dinner by herself there, a very rare occurrence. Dan was still at college, Hew was at a friend's place for dinner, Jay was at home studying, Amie was at a party, and Rory and Marty had gone to visit Richard and Emily. Lorelai rounded the corner and started her walk home. She had decided against taking the jeep because it was making a funny clunky noise, and she didn't want to drive it until Gypsy, or at least Jay had taken a look at it. As she walked down the street, two teenage girls, about the age of Jay and Amie crossed the street and were walking a few metres ahead of her. It was a quiet night, and Lorelai didn't have to strain her ears to hear what they were talking about.

"I am so psyched about Mark's party tonight – Andrew Miller is gonna be there," the first girl said giddily.

"Oh, it's so obvious you two are gonna hook up," the second girl said, and the first one put a little skip in her step.

"I know! I have a feeling this party is gonna top Stacey Goodman's," the first girl smiled.

"It'll be pretty hard. You know Amie is gonna be there tonight," the second girl said dryly. Lorelai's ears immediately pricked up at a name that was likely to be her daughter's.

"Yeah, but it doesn't really count, because you know her and Michael are gonna be upstairs all night," the first girl replied. They both laughed and the second one slapped the first on the shoulder.

"Ugh, I'm so sick of Amie Danes," the second girl spat, "she's such a slut." Lorelai's ears burned, and her teeth ground at this suggestion. She just wanted to slap the girl that said that about her daughter. She most definitely was not a slut.

"I know," the first girl emphasised, "her and Michael Haywood are at it like frickin' rabbits!" The second girl roared with laughter at this.

"Oh, and that thing with Tom Ritter? Not cool," the girl added once her laughter had died down.

"I am sick to death with hearing about that! It's all anyone has been talking about for the last three weeks. I mean, you gotta feel sorry for Jay, don't you," the first girl added, this time a little more sympathetically.

"She must hate her sister so much. I mean, I would," the second girl added.

"Ahuh, oh yeah. I mean, Jay is so… I dunno… like, quiet and all and I don't think she's even so much as kissed a guy or touched a drop of beer, and her sister is like a smoking drunk. It's such a bad look," the first girl said.

"Oh my gosh, I know! Can't she see what she looks like?"

"Obviously not," the first girl replied, before turning the corner with her friend and walked out of ear shot. Lorelai just stopped dead in her tracks. It couldn't all be true. Her daughter was not like that. But what if she was? Didn't she know her daughter at all? She thought they talked about stuff, and she thought she knew what was going on. It seemed, by what she had just heard, that she, infact, didn't know her daughter at all.

At all.

A/N: Well… yes. Venturing into the unknown… please review and let me know what you think!