A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. They're what keeps me writing!
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The kitchen at the Dragonfly is hopping today. We're almost filled for lunch, which is something that's been new for few months. I guess word is getting around about the fabulous chef. Oh, I am truly funny. As I rush to throw vegetables for the stir fry in the pan, I almost crash into Michel.
"Sookie!" he exclaims. I giggle as he brushes himself off, annoyed.
"Michel, you're the one who loves veggies." He rolls his eyes. Michel can never take a joke.
"Sookie, there's a phone call for you." Is that all it is? What does he think I'm doing?
"I'm busy, Michel. Or did getting veggies thrown at you not tip you off?" I say as I continue moving the veggies from cutting board to pan.
"Yes, I do believe that I am not blind."
"So?"
"It's Rory on the phone. She insisted I get you immediately."
I stop on a dime. "Rory?"
"At least that's who I think it was."
"Michel!"
"I'm kidding, do you and Lorelai think you're the only ones who can tell jokes around here? Of course I know who Rory is and when it's her that's on the phone." Michel can be such a pain sometimes.
"Manuel! Take over!" I yell as I walk out of the kitchen. I hate leaving anyone else in charge, but if Rory insists, then it must be important. Rory's only known me for 17 years or so.
Picking up the phone at the desk, I realize it's Friday night. It must be Friday Night Dinner. It's always Friday Night Dinner. I'm not sure why Lorelai still goes. She doesn't owe them for Rory's education anymore and she's saving to have enough for Katie's and Will's education. I think deep down Lorelai thinks if she keeps going she can convince them to forgive her for leaving. I don't know why.
I remember when Lorelai first explained to me what happened with her parents. At my graduation from culinary school, Mia showed up searching for a new chef for her inn, the Independence Inn. Now I wasn't top of my class, but close, and one of the few who didn't already have a job lined up, pretty much due to my procrastination. Anyways, I arrived in Stars Hallow, young and fresh and completely thrilled about starting a new life in a small town. Arriving at the inn, the first person I met was Lorelai. She was quick witted and funny so very open and kind. She was the most fascinating person I ever met. I was completely in awe of her, so much that I was speechless when she was around. But Lorelai wouldn't let that happen.
My second week there, I was staying late trying to redo the dinner menu with the staff when Lorelai came to drag me out. Mrs. Kim had let Rory join the family for a relative's wedding in the Kim house, so Lorelai had the night free. She insisted that she needed to spend some time with someone who wasn't learning long division and reading Anne of Green Gables. Not surprisingly. We went out to a bar and cemented out friendship over Long Islands and peanuts.
We proceeded to get really drunk and reveal all sorts of things. That night Lorelai told me about the night she left her parents. She had come home from a pediatrician's appointment with Rory, her parents had found a pediatrician outside of Hartford and convinced Lorelai to use a fake name. The house was empty, only a note reminding Lorelai about some function that night at which many fine, rich bachelors would be there and she should leave Rory with the maid. Lorelai could picture herself being forced into an unhappy marriage just to please her parents and picture Rory being raised in a cold environment. She knew if she stayed this would happen because deep down she had a hidden desire to please her parents and so she left. She never said it was because she loved them so much she couldn't bear denying her parents the daughter they always wanted. She couldn't bear watching her parents go through that. And all she ever wanted was their acceptance.
"Sookie?" I hear Rory's small voice over the phone and my heart clenches.
"What did they do now?" I ask.
"Who? What?"
"Rory, what happened?"
"I – it's, can you come?" Rory asks, choking down a sob.
"I'll be there." I hang up the phone.
Running through the kitchen, I yell at Manuel to continue the work, not bothering to check if he heard. Because nothing else matters. When a friend calls, especially a best friend like Lorelai or Rory, you run, no questions asked.
I run across town, through the center of town, passing Luke's Diner and Mandel's Bakery and Stars Hallow High. It's about dinner time and there are people milling around town looking for places to eat, but I don't even notice the crowd at Luke's Diner. I don't stop to see the ruckus in Doose's Market. I can't even pause to talk to Babette, Lorelai's next door neighbor, when she runs out of her house to talk. The only things on my mind are Rory and Lorelai.
Throwing open the door to Lorelai's house, I slightly surprised to find the place strangely quiet. Normally after a fight with her parents, Lorelai is roaming around the house raving and waving her arms like a mad man. It's definitely a sight to see. There are no children underfoot, which is also unusual in a house with two five-year-olds. All I see is Rory, standing in the front hallway, tears on her face, red-eyed and emotionally exhausted.
Pulling Rory into my arms, I wonder if it was Rory they went after. But why? Rory's the Gilmore angel. She went to Chilton and Yale. She got a good job and I heard she's been offered a job in D.C. She married well, although not a Huntzberger, and she's pregnant. Oh my, she's pregnant. This stress can't be good for her. "Rory, why don't you go lay down?" I suggest.
She pulls away from me. Taking my hand, Rory leads me into the living room, where I finally see Lorelai. "Oh…" I manage. In a moment, I'm in front of Lorelai, on the floor in front of the couch. She's trembling and, though Rory looks bad, Lorelai looks so much worse. I reach out and stroke her hair, but she doesn't move. She doesn't respond.
"Was dinner that bad?" I ask, looking up at Rory. Rory has wrapped her arms around herself, almost like she's holding herself together.
"We didn't go," she responds, almost whispering. They didn't go to dinner. I glance around for signs of Emily. She hasn't been here, I can tell. The place wouldn't be a mess. I know Emily that much. Could Rory and Lorelai have fought? No, Luke would be here mediating.
Where is Luke? Oh Lord.
"He left again?" I ask. The one and only time that Luke left, almost killed Lorelai, he can't have done it again. It almost killed him too. How? What could she have done? And where are Katie and Will?
"No…" Rory manages. She shakes her head, pressing her lips together to keep from sobbing. I can see she doesn't want to say it in front of Lorelai. Glancing back at Lorelai, I know that leaving her alone for a bit can't hurt her anymore than she's already hurting. So I rub her shoulder softly, hoping she'll just fall asleep, and I walk over to Rory.
"Where's Luke?" I ask. They didn't fight. He didn't leave. That didn't go together. I'm a smart girl, I should be able to put this together. Rory tries again, but can't get the words out. I glance back at Lorelai and then it comes to me. Oh. God. "Is he?" Rory nods, and immediately starts to cry.
Just then the door slams open. I hear footsteps and Marty appears, immediately taking Rory in his arms. She wraps her arms around him and begins to sob.
Luke. He's gone. I'm in shock for a moment, not even noticing that Emily is also in the room. How is this possible? It's like something I can't even comprehend. As long as I've been in Stars Hallow, there's been Luke. Suddenly I feel so sad, so very sad. More than for the loss of Luke and what he was to me. But for Lorelai and Rory and April and Katie and Will. Lorelai, the light of so many people's lives. She could walk into a room and you could just see the light around her. She had that kind of enthusiasm. She had that kind of smile. That kind of spark. The person that so many people, including myself, wanted to be, if only for a moment. Will she ever be the same again? Can I do for her what she would do for me? Will there ever be that bright shining life in Stars Hallow again? That beautiful, wonderful light?