A/N: Ooookay, here we go. No Emily in this one, I'm sorry to say. I hope she'll make an appearance in future chapters, though.

I didn't really want to jump ahead, but that week was a bad week for me, creatively, and I could see no light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. All is well now!

Anwa: Thanks for your long review. There will be more town-ness in following chapters as Lorelai and Rory start to develop lives outside of the inn, and I'm completely looking forward to writing it! There might be a possibility of more interaction with Luke, but I want to keep him as kind of a dark horse until they meet at the diner. One reason I've kept him so much in the background is that he is such a huge part of the girls' lives later on, but I have a feeling that before he and Lorelai met in the diner he wasn't that present. Also, I'm glad someone else loves working with Emily. She's one of my favorite characters on the show – not that, in general, I'd want to know her or be her friend, but she is so multi-faceted, and Lorelai is so much like her despite her best efforts, that I find her fascinating.

PixieStella: There'll be more Sookie in the next few chapters, I hope. Silly Sookie went off to culinary school, so that's why she's been absent so much. I tried to talk her out of it, but these characters have minds of their own!

"Tyler, I'm taking my fifteen, okay?" Lorelai said to the concierge breathlessly on her way to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about it, Lorelai," he answered with a smile. "Your staff runs like a well-oiled machine." She flashed him a grin before ducking through the doors.

"Oh, my God, I need coffee," groaned Lorelai as she wove her way through the kitchen staff toward the coffeepot. "Is it fresh, Jason?"

"Sure is, Lore," the head chef replied. "Help yourself."

"Seriously, what single person needs four pillows? And who complains about pillow mints? 'They're too flaky.' I'm tellin' ya, these people need to buy lives." Lorelai leaned against the counter and grinned at Jason. "How about you?"

"Well, apparently every single guest tonight loathes Italian food. So that's the dinner menu shot."

"Wow, you win."

"Thanks. Anything new and exciting?"

"Rory was invited to play at the Kims' after school today."

"You're kidding!" Jason nearly dropped the pot in his hand as he made his way over to the island. "Despite the fact that she's a love-child being raised by her single mother?"

"Yup, despite that. I just hope she doesn't come back hating me."

Jason glanced at her. "Not possible."

"Aw, you're just saying that to be nice. So, anything new for you?"

"Nope, not really." Jason dried his hands on a towel and gestured to a few of the other cooks. "That's dinner ready."

"And it looks incredible! Is that chicken da Vinci?"

"Uh huh." Jason glanced down at the floor and then met her eyes. "So…Rory's not gonna be around tonight?"

"Not till around eight; Mrs. Kim offered to feed her dinner. She probably thinks all she eats with me is junk, and I gotta say, sometimes that's the case." Lorelai stopped rambling and noticed that Jason looked nervous. "Uh, why?"

"Oh, well, I was just thinking that, y'know, you might get lonely without her and, after all, you just said yourself that you sometimes don't have food around, so I thought maybe I could take you out to get some dinner." Jason studied the floor. Lorelai stared at him, unsure of what to say.

"Jason, you're kind of…older than I am."

"Not by much."

"Your nephew Kyle is my age."

"Yeah, well, my sister's a lot older than I am."

"Like how much older?"

"Ten years. I was a bit of a surprise."

Lorelai thought, chewing her lip. "We work together."

"That we do."

"If it doesn't work, things could get ugly."

"I think we're both more professional than that."

She sighed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing fancy," he said eagerly. "I mean, I look at gourmet food all day. But there's this place in town called Al's Pancake World…"

"Pancakes for dinner?"

"He doesn't sell pancakes."

"I like it already."

"Tonight's his 'international food night.' A surprise in every box. Care to try it?" Lorelai closed her eyes, thinking. He was a little older, but guys her age kind of bugged her anyway. And he knew Rory, and liked her, so no awkwardness there. She opened her eyes.

"Sure."

"That was, quite possibly, the worst food I've ever eaten," Jason laughed as he and Lorelai ambled out of Al's and walked down the street.

"I don't know; I think the very well-fried rice was original."

"And who eats ice cream on spaghetti noodles?"

"I did."

"For about two seconds."

"You didn't establish a time specification. I ate it, so it counts."

They walked slowly around the square, Jason pointing out various buildings and describing their inhabitants.

"That's Miss Patty's dance studio. She was on Broadway for a few years and now satisfies her taste for the dramatic by being the gossip-queen of Stars Hollow. If there's anything to be known, she knows it."

"Oh, yeah, we've run into each other in Doose's."

"Her friend Babette Dell is her partner in crime. Between them, there's nothing they don't know or can't find out." They ambled past a building with shelves full of hardware supplies. The sign over the door read "William's Hardware." "That's Will Danes's place," Jason informed her. "Don't know how much longer it'll be here, though."

"Why, what's the matter?"

"William's not doing too well recently. When his wife Elizabeth died about ten years ago, he went a little strange. Just couldn't handle being without her. Then his daughter Liz ran off – she's your age, has a son a year or so older than Rory. And now he's started to get sick." Jason sighed. "Thank God he's got Luke."

"Luke?"

"Yeah, he's a couple years older than you. Ray of hope for the Danes family, that one. I think he's been going to college near here, but he must have graduated by now. He's always helped Will out in the store. You might have seen him at the inn; sometimes Mia has him do odd jobs for some extra cash."

Handy-Man? Lorelai had a sudden flashback: well-toned biceps in a white shirt and a particularly nice rear view. She hadn't seen him since. Shaking her head and focusing on her date, she smiled. "Hey, not that I'm not having a terrific time, but Mrs. Kim should be dropping Rory off soon."

"Oh, right," he replied. "Let's get going."

He walked her to her door, and they stood there uncertainly, both looking off into the trees.

"I had a good time," Lorelai started.
"Oh, yeah, me too."

She looked up at him, her forehead wrinkling in thought. "Do you think we should…"

Before she could finish the thought, he leaned in and kissed her. It was nice. Pleasant. Friendly.

Boring.

When he pulled back, their eyes met and they simultaneously burst into laughter.

"That was weird," he said.

"Really weird," Lorelai giggled, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"So…never again?"

"Oh, no, never again. But hey," she shrugged, smiling up at him. "We tried, right?"

"At least we did that much."

"I'll see you tomorrow." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Night."

"Goodnight."

At five past eight, Rory burst through the door, ran up to Lorelai, and threw her arms around her neck. Mrs. Kim followed close behind.

"Mommy!" Rory exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"Hiya, sweets. Did you have a good time?"

"Uh-huh! Lane's my best friend!"

"That's great, hon! Why don't you go put your coat and backpack away?" Lorelai turned to Mrs. Kim. "Hello, Mrs. Kim."

"Hello, Lorelai."

"I hope Rory wasn't any trouble."

"No trouble. She is a very polite child."

"Well, good. Maybe next week Lane can come play with Rory after school."

Mrs. Kim paused. "I don't think that is a good idea."

Lorelai resisted the urge to fold her arms defiantly. "Why not?"

"Lane is very impressionable."

"Huh." Lorelai looked at the ground, then met Mrs. Kim's eyes. "Mrs. Kim, if you think I'm going to sit around and tell the girls all the great ways to get pregnant at sixteen…"

"I don't think such a thing. But Lane will ask questions. I want to be the one to answer them."

Lorelai nodded slowly. "Okay. Fair enough. Thank you for having Rory."

"Thank you for allowing her to come. Good night."

When the other woman had gone, Lorelai shook her head and sighed before joining Rory on her bed.

"Mrs. Kim's food is weird," Rory said, wrinkling her nose. "It tastes funny."

"Does it?"

"What's tofu?"

Lorelai grimaced. "Disgusting."

"Did you miss me?" Rory asked, pulling the covers up around her. "What did you do?"

"Uh…" Lorelai bit her lip. "Jason and I went on a…date."

"Cook Jason?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Well, because he asked me to."

"Why?"

"Because he thought it would be fun."

Rory crossed her arms. "What about Daddy?"

"Oh, Rory, sweetie, Daddy's in California. It's far away."

"So?"

"Daddy and I aren't together. You know that."

"You should be."

Lorelai was taken aback. "Says who?"

"He's my daddy!"

"Rory…"

"I love him!"

"Yes, honey, I know you love him, and I love him, and he loves both of us, but this whole family thing takes more than that. It's just not enough."

"Why not?"

"Because…because Daddy has things that he has to do, and I have things that I have to do, and we couldn't do them if we were married. You wouldn't be here in Stars Hollow, and Lane wouldn't be your best friend. See? Things are good this way."

"Was I bad?"

"What?"

"Was I bad? Is that why Daddy left?"

"Oh, no. Your dad loves you so much, Rory; he is absolutely crazy about you. But he just can't be here right now. It has nothing to do with you. I promise. Okay?"

Rory shrugged. "Okay."

Lorelai studied her. "Uh-oh."

"What?"

"You look really serious."

"Uh-uh."

"Know what I think? I think…" Lorelai crept towards her daughter, who shrank underneath the covers, her eyes suddenly sparkling. "…you need a visit from…the Tickle Monster!" Lorelai dove at Rory, tickling her until she was hoarse with laughter. When she sat up, Rory leapt at her mother, tickling her feet. Lorelai managed, through great effort, not to react.

"You're not ticklish?" Rory asked, pouting.

"Sorry, kid."

"No fair."

"Heeeyy, that is one great pout you have going there." Lorelai chucked her under the chin.

Rory smiled. "When I pouted in school, Brad Shannon gave me his cookies."

"Oh, my God," Lorelai laughed. "You are truly my daughter."

As she tucked the covers more closely around Rory, Rory said sleepily, "Lane and I are going to live together when we grow up."

"You are?"

"In a cheese house."

"Cheese?"

"We like cheese."

"Okay."

"Or a Brillo pad house."

"Uh, why Brillo pads?"

Rory giggled softly. "They're funny."

"You're funny," Lorelai informed her, kissing her on the cheek.

"Will you be with us?" Rory's eyes were closing, and her voice was getting fainter.

"Always, sweets."