Disclaimer: Alas, I own nothing. Not Lorelai. Not Rory. Not Luke (wipes away a tear). Nothing.

Chapter 7- Trouble on every end in paradise

Logan tried to stay as calm as he possibly could. He knew he shouldn't be impatient with Lorelai, but this was something very important. He wondered if she would even show up. It wasn't much of a secret that he and Rory were fighting anymore. Logan noticed the changes in the Gilmore-Danes family toward him immediately. Richard's conversations became more withdrawn and Luke sent a deadly glare Logan's way anytime he got the chance. Lorelai was the unpredictable one. No one, not even Luke, dared to try to figure out what was going on in her head. Even if they did, by the off chance, figure out what was going on in her head, she'd change it on you faster than you could imagine.

So Logan sat at a table in Weston's as he waited for his mother-in-law. It would be twenty minutes after their set meeting time before Logan saw Lorelai enter the tiny establishment. Logan stood as she approached the table.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," Logan joked as he pulled a chair out for Lorelai.

"Sorry I was late. There was a slight emergency at the inn," Lorelai sighed.

"Is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah. Everything's fine now."

"We could reschedule of you want."

"No. You said you have something very important you need to talk to me about, so here I am. What's up?"

Logan folded his hand and leaned forward. How was he supposed to go about this? He took a deep breath and began to talk. "It's Rory."

"Oh my God. Is she ok? Is she hurt? Is she sick?"

Logan regretted his words. Simple as they were, they meant more than he had implied. "Rory's fine. She's not hurt or sick. Lorelai, I'm not sure if you're aware of the current situation Rory and I are in."

"No, not really."

"Rory and I have been fighting a lot." Logan paused for a second. "She's going to quit her job."

Lorelai was shocked. "What?"

"She told me she didn't want to come back to work- ever. She doesn't want you to know, but I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Ok, let's rewind really quick. Rory's quitting her job?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. At first she didn't want to work because of…" Logan trailed off. He knew how emotional Lorelai got whenever Emily's name came up in a conversation.

"Because of what?"

"Because of E…Emily." Lorelai's expression softened and she slowly leaned back in her chair. "I gave her the common leave, but then she kept putting off going back to work. I'm beginning to think this is entirely about something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Logan said as he looked down at his coffee cup. "There's just something that's telling me it's not about her grandmother anymore. We're always fighting with each other, we hardly talk, she goes out for hours at a time, and we haven't been intimate in two weeks."

"Two weeks? Dear God. Luke would die if we went two weeks without being friendly." Logan glanced up at Lorelai, giving her a 'I really didn't want to hear/know that' look. "Ok, so you said you two fight. What are you fighting about?"

"Nothing. Something. Everything. Take your pick. Lately it's been about her going out for hours at night without even letting me know."

"Where does she go?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know."

"No. I don't. She leaves before I get home from work and comes home at like nine or ten. She doesn't tell me where she's going, how long she'll be gone, or who she's with. Maybe I'm over reacting. She's probably just out with Lane or Paris or something."

"Yeah, probably."

Lorelai looked down at her hands. She knew what she had said was a bold faced lie. Lane worked the night and dinner shifts at the diner and then helped Dave close up the music store. Paris was a doctor. She was usually at home passed out on the couch after a sixteen hour shift. Lorelai knew Logan was thinking Rory was out with another man and it could possibly be true. She praised God when her phone began to ring. She looked at the caller ID on her phone.

"I have to take this," Lorelai said.

"Go ahead."

"Hello? This is her. Yes. Yes. He did what? Oh my…Ok. I'll be right there. Ok. Thank you. Bye." She sighed as she gathered her stuff and stood up. "I'm sorry Logan, but I'm going to have to cut this meeting short."

He stood too. "That's alright, I understand."

"We'll talk later. I'll call." He nodded. She put a hand on his arm and gave him a light squeeze. "Everything's going to be fine Logan."

He smiled at his mother-in-law. "I appreciate the sentiment."

"And don't worry about Luke. I'll fill him in on everything and…"

"Actually, I was hoping to keep this between you and me. I don't even want Rory to know we met up today." Lorelai was about to protest when Logan continued. "I just don't want to upset her anymore than she already is. You know how she is about these kinds of things."

"That's why I want to tell her. She'll be furious with me if she found out. And I can't lie to Luke. He's my husband."

"Please Lorelai. I just…I just don't want to make things worse."

Lorelai sighed. "I'm not happy about this Logan. I don't like lying to my family."

"Thank you. I'll call you later."

Lorelai headed out to her car. "Rory, what have you done this time? I hope you're not doing something stupid," she sighed. She started her car and headed to her next destination.

Luke made his way around the counter and answered the phone. "Luke's," he answered.

"Hello. I'm looking for Mr. Lucas Danes Sr."

"This is he."

"This is Ms. Daniels, the head secretary at Chilton Prep. Mr. Danes, I'm calling in regard to your son, Lucas William Danes Jr."

"What'd he do this time?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Danes, but I can't tell you. You're going to have to come down to the school and speak with the headmaster."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Headmaster Medina would like to inform you sir. We've already called your wife and she's on her way here now."

"Can you at least tell me if he's hurt or something?"

"You're going to have to take it up with Headmaster Medina."

"Fine," Luke sighed. "I'm on my way." He put the receiver down. "Caesar, I'll be back."

"Sure thing boss," Caesar said as he appeared at the kitchen door.

Luke grabbed his keys and rushed out the door. He hit traffic heading to Hartford. When he finally arrived at Chilton, he sprinted down the halls toward the headmaster's office. He was twenty minutes late and hauling ass.

"Hi, I'm Luke Danes," Luke said as he reached the secretary's desk. "I got a call about my son."

"They're waiting for you in the headmaster's office sir," Ms. Daniels said.

Luke nodded and made his way into the office. "Sorry I'm late," Luke apologized. "The diner was busy and then there was traffic…"

"Mr. Danes, it's alright," Max said. "If you could, please take a seat." Luke nodded as sat beside Lorelai. Max took a deep breath and pressed down on the intercom button on his desk. "Ms. Daniels, you can send them in now."

"Them? Who's them?"

"You'll find out in a second," Lorelai replied unenthusiastically.

The office doors swung open and another couple entered the room. Luke turned around to see who it was and was shocked by the outcome. "Mr. Danes, I'd like you to meet Jason and Nicole Stiles," Max said.

"You didn't ask us to take time out of our schedules to introduce us to other Chilton parents did you?" Jason asked sarcastically.

"I asked you to take time out of your schedules to discuss this situation that has arisen between your sons," Max snapped. "And if that's a problem, then I suggest you send your son to a different school."

"Wait, did you say situation?" Lorelai asked. "What kind of situation?"

"Mrs. Danes, your son Lucas and Mr. and Mrs. Stiles's son Anthony have been having confrontations- on and off campus. I've heard reports that young Mr. Stiles and a few of his buddies went to Stars Hollow to harass young Mr. Danes."

"Well why are we here? Why aren't the parents of the other kids here?" Nicole asked.

"Because the problem is between young Mr. Danes and young Mr. Stiles. The others are pawns on a chess board if you will. I'm going to call the boys in now and then I'll inform you of today's incident." Max pressed down on the intercom button on his desk. "Ms. Daniels, please send in Mr. Danes and Mr. Stiles now."

A few seconds later, Will and Anthony walked into the room. They sat in the empty seats between their parents, luckily the chairs were arm swinging length between each other.

"Mr. and Mrs. Danes, Mr. and Mrs. Stiles, your sons have become nuisance in my school. They're disruptive, destructive, and violent. With each fight, the damage done increases. Last time Mr. Stiles was in my office, he cost the school a fourth of it's chem lab. Mr. Danes, on the other hand, cost Edison Callen a trip to the emergency room because of a broken jaw."

Luke turned to Will. "You broke a kid's jaw?" Luke asked angrily.

"Why weren't we informed of this?" Lorelai asked.

"We hadn't realized Mr. Callen's jaw was broken until the day after the incident. His parents didn't press charges, so William served his time and it was done with. Unfortunately, this time the problem is not going to go away so easily. Your sons got into a fight that took them from one end of the quad to the other, taking out four other students and two faculty members."

"They hit teachers?" Jason asked in shock.

"Unintentionally, but that's not going to matter."

"So what happens now?" Nicole asked.

Max sighed. "According to the school bylaws, this incident is means for expulsion. "

"What?" Will and Anthony yelled as they jumped out of their seats.

"Is there anything else that can be done? I mean, do you have to expel them?" Lorelai asked.

"Suspension with community service and anger management may be an option. You'll be doing a lot of hard work and you'll be restricted to certain areas of campus, and there'll be an evaluation done to see if you'll be allowed to continue attending this school."

"You mean there's a chance that they'll still be kicked out?" Jason asked.

"What use would this program be if they don't change or improve?"

"You hear that Anthony? You're going to get kicked out of school because you can't control your damn temper!"

"Gee, I wonder where I get it from," Anthony spat.

Luke started to pace. "What the hell were you thinking?" he yelled at Will. "Why are you picking fights?"

"I didn't pick a fight," Will defended himself.

"So he just attacked you? Or did you attack him?"

"No."

"No what? No you attacked him or no he attacked you?"

"No…I…he…"

"Forget it. I don't wanna hear your excuses. I'm transferring you to Stars Hollow High."

"What?" Will yelled as he jumped out of his seat. "Dad! You can't do that!"

"Luke," Lorelai said as she rose from her seat. "Calm down. You're being rash."

"Lorelai, I'm not about to waste thousands of dollars for him to fuck up!" Luke yelled. He turned to Will. "I work my ass off for sixteen hours a day and this is how you're going act?"

"Damn straight," Jason agreed. He turned to Anthony. "I'm not wasting my hard earned money for you to screw up."

"Jason, stop it," Nicole said.

"I'm sorry ok? It won't happen again. Just…don't take me out of the school," Will begged. "Dad! Please! Come on! I need this school! What about Harvard? Yale? Princeton? Without this school I can't get into those colleges!"

"Well, you should have thought about that earlier," Luke said.

"Ok, that's enough!" Lorelai stated. "You, she said poking Luke in the chest, "you calm down. Sit down and chill. We're not transferring Will to Stars Hollow High. He's right. He won't be able to get into the colleges we want him to if we take him out." Lorelai turned around and faced her son. "And you! You are in so much trouble! You don't even know how mad I am right now, but obviously I'm going to be the sane one. But just wait until we get home."

"I agree. Stop it Jason, before you make a fool of yourself," Nicole said.

"Mr. Stiles, Mr. Danes, I'm going to have to agree with Mrs. Danes and Mrs. Stiles's requests for civility," Max said. The two men slowly sat down. "Anthony, William, would you two boys please step outside? I'd like to have a word with your parents."

Will and Anthony both stood and walked out of the room.

"Now here's what I think," Max said as he stood up and walked around the desk. "This situation between William and Anthony is because they're coming from different worlds. They don't understand each other and they're not trying to. They come from different worlds and it's a disaster when their worlds collide. Although William's grandfather comes from the same society as the Stiles, he's used to the Stars Hollow world. Now, I think maybe if they spent a little time getting to know each other they just might get along."

"Ok, where are you going with this?" Nicole asked.

"I suggest these two families spend one evening together. It's just a suggestion. You don't have to do this, but before you make your decision I ask that you weigh your options. You can ignore this problem and hope it goes away. Or you can face it head on. After all, what's one dinner?"

Will and Anthony were startled when the headmaster's door opened and Luke came storming out. Lorelai was right on his heels. "Let's go," she said to Will.

"Dad, I'm really sorry," Will said as he tried to keep up with his parents. Luke didn't stop his quick pace. "Dad. Dad. Did you hear me? I said I was sorry. Dad, come on. Talk to me."

Luke stopped and turned around. "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now Will," he snapped. "What you did back there…I'm tired of it. I'm tired of you screwing up. I'm not pulling you out of Chilton, but if this happens again you won't be so lucky. I swear to God Will, I'll ship your ass off to military school. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir," Will replied. He looked to Lorelai for reassurance.

"Oh by the way, thanks to your stunt, the Stiles family is joining us for dinner on Friday night," Lorelai said in a sarcastic happy tone. Her fake smile faded and she caught up with Luke.

"Great," Will sighed as his parents walked ahead of him. "This is gonna suck major ass."

"I have lunch with your mom once every other week," Jess said as he and Rory walked down the path. "She swings by the office and we grab something to eat at the inn."

"What do you talk about?" Rory asked.

"We catch up. After ten minutes and three cups of coffee, she runs off to chase the boys around the inn. She'll ask why I haven't spoken to Luke and then I'll say I have to go because I need to drop the boys off before I head back to work." Jess looked down at his feet. "How is he?"

"He's doing fine. Although, he's been acting a little funny lately and get this- he was sick."

"Luke? You're kidding me. What was wrong?"

"He was running a slight fever, that's all. Nothing serious but you know my mom."

"I'm surprised I didn't hear about that. How long ago was that?"

"About a week and a half ago."

"Ah, so I'll be hearing about it in a few days?"

"Pretend to act surprised."

"Done." They walked in silence for a while longer. "So, Logan called me into his office today."

"And?"

"If you're going to change your mind about your decision not to return to work, then you won't have a job to come back to."

"He promoted you?"

Jess smiled. "He needs a head journalist and the job would have been mine in the first place if you weren't sleeping with him."

"Jess, I'm so happy for you," Rory said as she hugged him. "You deserve to move up."

"Thank you."

"Can I make a suggestion though?"

"Who am I to turn down a Gilmore?"

"Tell Luke. As proud as I am, he'll be a thousand times prouder. He wants to hear from you Jess. He misses you. Just talk to him. Please."

Jess took a deep breath. "You hear about that new crazy town event Taylor came up with?"

Next time on "Breakaway": Richard invites Will, who is now on suspension, to lunch. Luke goes to see Paris about his condition. Lorelai confides in Sookie about her concerns about Luke. Tyler asks Emma out.

A/N: I'm sooo sorry it's been like forever since I updated. Like, work, and college just got in the way. I should have an update of The Broken Road up soon. I just wanted to make a few final alterations and it should be good to go. Please accept my appology in the form of this ridiculously long chapter.