Lorelai didn't know where else to go, so at 3:00 am she stood on the doorstep of her manager's house. She rung the doorbell, and sighed waiting for the door to open. At first a light came on, then a couple seconds later the door slowly opened.

"Lorelai?" Dave asked.

"David, I'm so sorry to wake you up at this hour, but I don't know where else to go." Lorelai began to sob quietly.

"It's okay... Come on in... what happened?"

Lorelai walked back to the truck and picked up her sleeping daughter and carried her into the house. David shut the door behind them, as Lorelai laid Rory down on the couch.

"Now, what happened?" David asked again.

Lorelai turned around, and cleared her throat. "Chris... he's been drinking... and..." Lorelai stopped.

"And?... What, Lorelai?" Dave asked impatiently.

"He... grabbed me... and then he picked up Rory and threw her..." Lorelai couldn't finish... she allowed herself to fall to the floor, crying. Dave bent down beside her and tried to comfort her.

"He's not going to get away with this." Dave said with anger. "That jerk... He's used you for the past two years. Have you called the cops?"

"No." Lorelai replied. Dave reached for the phone. "No!" Lorelai sobbed. "I just want to get away, I don't want him in trouble."

"But Lorelai..."

"No, Dave... I'm okay now."

"Well, you can stay in the guest room tonight. I'll have Carol fix us all a nice breakfast tomorrow. You can take the day off work."

"Thank you." Lorelai spoke softly. "But I'd rather sleep here beside Rory."

"I understand." Dave smiled. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

A few months passed and Lorelai and Rory had moved into a cozy apartment on the other side of their neighborhood. Rory had been doing excellent in school, and Lorelai had moved up to assistant manager at the supermarket. Rory or Lorelai neither had seen or talked to Chris since that night. Lorelai was impressed at how much better things went without Chris around. She and Rory had worked out a great routine which allowed them to spend plenty of time together. Lorelai was saving up for a vehicle. She had been riding a bus to and from work every day which wasn't so bad, but she'd prefer the comfort privacy and convenience of her own car.

It was the first of the month, and Lorelai was having a horrible day. Everyone was shopping, and stock had just came in. If that wasn't enough to stress her out, one of the cashiers quit on the spot and that left her shorthanded for the day. Lorelai was ringing up an elderly couple who had bought nearly one of everything when she looked up from her register and laid eyes on none other than Chris.

"Christopher" she whispered as she watched him walk through the sliding glass doors and into the store.

He looked around until he found her, he stood there, motionless. She finished ringing up the elderly couple and then she closed down her register.

"Why are you here?" Lorelai asked when she walked over to him.

"I came to see you." Chris replied.

"Why?"

"Lore, can we go somewhere else, and talk?" Chris asked nicely.

Lorelai knew she should have said no. She knew she should have turned around and walked off, never looking back at Christopher Hayden, but Lorelai never was great at doing the right thing.

They walked outside, and across the street to a coffee shop. They sat down at a table and Chris took a deep breath.

"Lore, I know you think I'm scum." He began. Lorelia didn't say anything.

"And I was. But it's not like that anymore. I knew that night that you left me that I had really screwed up. So, the next day I went looking for a job. I found one. I'm working full time for the rail road. I work on the different train cars they bring in. I had to take a special class and everything. If something breaks down I fix it. If something gets old I replace it. If something needs painted or cleaned, I do it. I do anything they need. And they pay me good money Lore. 12 dollars an hour. It's going to raise soon too. After I take some more classes, they said I could go all the way up to 20 dollars an hour. I knew you wouldn't come back to me unless I could prove to you that I could provide for our family. So here I am." Chris sat looking at Lorelai waiting for a response.

Lorelai sighed. "It's not just about a job Chris..."

"I know..." Chris interrupted "Lore, I've quit drinking. I haven't had one sip of beer since that night. I feel so bad about that, I can't believe I hurt you, or Rory. Lorelai, I love you with all my heart. I never realized how much I took you for granted until you left me."

Lorelai was starting to buy in to Chris's story. Her wall began to come down more and more with every word.

"Baby, I need you. What more can I say? And I'm not calling you baby because I've been drinking, I haven't, I'm calling you baby, because I care about you. I need you more than air Lorelai... Please... Give me a chance to show you I've changed." Chris's eyes sagged with emotions.

"I need time to think." Lorelai spouted. She rose from the table and walked back to the supermarket.

"Lorelai..." Chris called after her. She turned around and gazed at him. "Tell Rory I said I am sorry, and that I miss her."

Lorelai shook her head, and then continued walking. So there it was, Chris wanted her back And even though she didn't want to admit it, she wanted him back as well. Nevertheless she had a lot of thinking to do. As the doors to the supermarket opened, she was bombarded with the sounds of cash registers beeping, shopping carts squeaking, and conveyor belts rolling. She sighed, and opened up her register to continue on through the herd of customers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

DURING THIS POINT OF THE STORY I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS I HAVE RECEIVED. I HAVE LOVED WRITING ON THIS STORY AND I PLAN TO CONTINUE WRITING TIL I FEEL IT'S REACHED ITS END. I JUST LANDED A JOB MYSELF, SO I DON'T HAVE AS MUCH TIME TO WRITE AS I USED TO. BUT I PROMISE, I WILL COMPLETE THIS STORY AND MANY MORE. I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED READING AS MUCH AS I HAVE ENJOYED WRITING.