"Mom, I'm home!" Rory shouted into the house, and her mother's face popped out from the kitchen.

"Offspring!" Lorelai greeted her, and then grabbed her hand and pulled her into the kitchen. She peeked through the curtains conspiratorially and beckoned for Rory to join her.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Hiding. Shh."

"From what?" Rory's interest was piqued.

"Hey, daughter, when someone tells you that they're hiding and shh, that does not mean to ask questions. What if Elmer Fudd had said, 'be vewy vewy quiet, I'm a-huntin' wabbits' and you were there? Travesty! Plague!"

"Mom Elmer never caught Bugs."

"Quiet offspring, don't tell me things I don't want to hear. Now shh." Rory went over to the window but couldn't see anything. She tapped her mom on the shoulder and mouthed, 'what?'

"Luke came over to help clean the gutters, well, more like Luke came over to clean the gutters, and you know if you climb out of my window you can stand on the first floor roof?" Rory nodded. "He was there, and I was holding the window, and then the phone rang. Naturally I went to go get it."

Rory gasped. "Mom, the stuck window?"

"I'm surprised he got it open in the first place. It took a hammer and this strange bendy tool which I named Ling, and now I can't get the window open and he started yelling, and he called me flighty!" Lorelai huffed.

"Mom, you are flighty."

"Ah, but damned if I'm going to let anyone get me down about it. Anyways I left him up there, and now I'm hiding."

"How long has he been up there?" Rory asked.

"Half an hour, I figure once the sun goes down he'll figure something out." Lorelai grinned with unsuppressed glee at Luke's misfortune. Rory put her bag on her chair.

"You'd better find a new place to hide." she suggested.

"Why? Every now and then he thinks about jumping off and I see his feet dangle over the edge. It's only one floor, I bet he jumps within the hour."

"I'm going to get a ladder." Rory moved toward the door."

"Traitor!" Lorelai called as Rory went in search of a ladder.

--

Morning. Missed alarm, skipped breakfast, woke up Lorelai, quick shower, ran out the door. Rory was surprised she'd beaten the bus, and now she sat alone on the stiff bench, awaiting it's arrival.

"Hey," she looked over and Dean sat down behind her, holding a paper cup which steamed in the cold. Rory tried to ignore the yearning she felt for the cup--there had been no time for coffee that morning.

"I've been thinking all night," he said, and she cringed inwardly. This was bound to be unpleasant.

"Look I was wondering if you'd changed your mind from yesterday," he said, "now that we're alone and away from HIM and all..."

"Dean I'm sorry. This has nothing to do with Tristan."

"Like hell it doesn't!" he exclaimed, anger filling his eyes. Relief coursed through Rory's veins; the knowledge that she had made the right choice gave her the strength to speak.

"Dean you're the one who didn't trust me when we WERE dating, so what do you want? To go back to that?"

"I want you to stay away from that guy." He acted as if it were that simple, Rory thought. Chilton ans Stars Hollow were two different worlds for her, and somehow one intruding on the other seemed unnatural.

"Dean," she said reproachfully, and he looked away.

"Here." he said finally in disgust, handing her the cup of coffee and storming off. She held the cup for a moment, letting it warm her numb fingers. Then she threw it in the trash can next to the bench. She looked off in the direction he'd gone, and sighed. Somehow she'd always known their friendship wouldn't survive a breakup.