Luke POV

"Rory!"

The shout was loud and made us both jump in surprise. We looked up to see Lorelai practically running towards us, and she gathered Rory into her arms, hugging her tightly in a way that I hadn't seen in years. Lorelai was pale and shaky, and I knew that something was wrong.

When she let Rory go, she stood back and started speaking in a very stern voice, which was very unusual for Lorelai, "Rory, you are to go into my office, you are to close the door, and you are to stay there until I come and get you. You will not be working today."

"Am I in trouble?" Rory questioned, looking worried.

Lorelai forced a smile, "No, and I'll explain what's going on once I've spoken to your dad. Please go to my office."

Rory looked even more worried but followed her mother's directions. Once the door was shut, Lorelai almost fell apart, tears streaming down her face, her breathing becoming more unstable, "I can't... She can't..."

I directed her to the nearest chair and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands into mine, "Just breathe for me."

She was no longer able to talk, but the tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were panicked in a way I hadn't seen since Rory went missing. Her hands were holding tightly onto mine, like they were a lifeline. I ignored the fact that I could feel Michel watching us, and the fact that Sookie was walking towards us, just as concerned as I was, and focused on her.

"Breathe," I told her again, breathing deeply myself, hoping it would help her to focus. It did for Rory, who had frequent panic attacks, so I was hoping that her mother was the same, "You're okay."

She shook her head, trying to tell me something, "Rory..."

I turned around, half expecting Rory to have come out, but the door was still shut. Sookie was hovering behind me, so I decided, "Sookie, Rory is in Lorelai's office. Go and sit with her, do not let her leave the room and keep the door shut. She doesn't need to see this."

Lorelai nodded, agreeing with the idea. Sookie disappeared into the office, and I hoped Sookie had enough sense to not mention what was happening right now. I squeezed her hands and noticed that her breathing was slowing down, but she was still crying.

She mouthed the word 'drink' so I called to Michel, who was almost frozen in place, "Can you get her some water?"

I half-expected a comment about him not being a dog or a slave, but he did it without complaint, the concern written on his face. While he would never outwardly admit that he liked Lorelai, he did care for her in some capacity.

As she drank, I thanked him. He looked at me funny and then the phone rang, setting him back to normal.

"I don't think you should be here today," I told Lorelai, and she sighed.

"You left your phone at home accidentally and I couldn't get through to Rory so I came here because that was the plan. But no; I'm not going to be working today, I'm too much of a mess."

I chuckled, "That's one way of putting it. What happened?"

She pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. I pulled out the letter and started reading it. I felt sicker as I read on. Lines like 'I wouldn't trust him' and 'She should aim to be with someone at all times and never alone, even in public, just in case' almost glared at me, and I could physically feel the colour draining from my face.

"The 11th is..." I stopped to think for a minute, "16 days from now. How on earth can we plan to keep her safe in 2 weeks. That's not long enough."

Lorelai nodded, "I think she needs to quit her job here because she can't be watched at all times if she's here. She will be at the diner at all times if she isn't in school and we're working, whether she's working or not. We will drive her everywhere; she will not be getting a bus to school or to her college classes. We need to talk to the school and ensure they will not give out any information unless they have our names and faces, same with the college. She will never be home alone, there will always be an adult there, and I've got to be missing something..."

"I think you need to slow down," I told her, "And I think we need to include Rory in these decisions since they affect her the most. Come on, let's go home."

When we got in, we all sat around the table in the kitchen, Rory knew something was going on, but she wasn't quite sure of what.

Lorelai handed her the letter, letting her read it with her own eyes. She got paler and paler, and at some point, she reached up and traced her scar with her fingers, almost reminding herself of why this was a big deal. When she finished, she slowly put the letter down on the table, looked between me and her mother, and then darted to the bathroom, the sounds of vomiting following closely.

"Like mother, like daughter," Lorelai muttered, getting up to follow her. I looked at her surprised, and she blushed, "I did the same thing."

We both joined Rory in the bathroom, who had started crying and panicking at some point, "When grandpa told me, it was scary, but it didn't feel real... but there's now a date and it's now big and real and scary. What if he comes for me? What if he follows through on those threats? He wouldn't really kill me, would he?"

I had done a good job of pretending that particular letter didn't exist, but now I couldn't pretend. So, I flushed the toilet, put the lid down and helped her sit on it, and handed her a toothbrush and toothpaste so she could clean her mouth, "Get yourself cleaned up and then come back out here. We have a small plan but we need your input."

She nodded and we left her to it. I closed the door behind us and I kissed Lorelai, pulling her close. I wanted more than a kiss, the urge to protect her manifesting in other ways, but I settled for a quick kiss.

She smiled up at me when I let her go, "I love it when you kiss me like that."

"I know," I said, sitting down in the chair.

I suddenly felt overwhelmed, the fear taking hold of me. My mind was sorting through every letter and every threat Christopher had ever sent to her. He had sent threats to Lorelai, but he focused on Rory and the fact that she was a 'snitch' in his eyes. His threats varied, from kidnapping to assault, to murder, with a lot of the in-between. He even considered selling her on the black market at one point, which made this scarier; it's awful, but I would rather he killed her than selling her to someone. The suffering would end sooner, and she might get to come home.

When Rory re-joined us, Lorelai put forward the plan, running through what she told me at the inn. As she went through it, Rory started losing the colour she had regained, becoming more scared by the minute. When Lorelai finished, Rory was quiet for a long while, trying to process what she had just been told.

"So, I'm going to lose all of my independence? I can't even go to the shop alone?" Her voice was steady but broken all at once.

"Basically," Lorelai admitted, just as upset as Rory, "But your independence isn't as important as your life, and if that's what we need to do to keep you safe, that's what we'll do."

"I hate this!" She almost shouted, standing up and covering her mouth. She was clearly overwhelmed and I didn't blame her. Tears streamed down her face as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to comfort her. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her, my heart breaking as she fell apart.

"You really think he's going to hurt me, don't you?" She asked between sobs and the true answer got caught in my throat. So, I lied to her, something I hated doing because it felt like a betrayal.

"I hope not, but he made a lot of threats and I know we'd never forgive ourselves if we didn't protect you as best as we can."

AN: I know, it's dramatic, but it's necessary to set up this whole story. Please let me know what you thought, thank you for reading and reviewing.