Disclaimer: I don't own anything taken directly from the show. Also, I didn't see the point of writing out a whole episode when it didn't really divert until the voicemail Max Medina leaves on the answering machine, so very little of the writing is stolen. Anyway, on with the story.

Lorelai POV

"That's flirting," Luke said in greeting as we walked in the door. Rory walked straight into her bedroom to change and I walked up to Luke, a bit confused.

"If you say so, babe," I told him, kissing him lightly, "She's okay but a bit shook up. I've got to call work to find out whether I need to go back, but she's going with you to the diner whether I need to go back or not."

"Listen to this," He said, pressing the play button on the machine.

"Hi, this is a message for Rory. It's Max Medina calling. I just wanted to say that I talked to Headmaster Charleston or 'il duce' as he's more affectionately known at the Gilmore-Danes household, and he's agreed to let you do some extra credit work to help make up for the missed test today. Now, I'm not sure what the extra credit work is yet, but it probably will be time-consuming and extremely painful. It will, however, get you back up to where you rightfully belong Rory, don't lose heart. Make this work. And if your mother is listening, Lorelai, it was a pleasure encountering you. I hope it happens again. Anyways, see you in class. Bye."

"That's flirting," I said, echoing Luke's earlier words, "Doesn't he know I'm married?"

We looked at each other and started giggling. At the beginning of our marriage, we used to get jealous of things like this, but we learnt to laugh about it over the years, knowing neither of us would ever stray. Rory came out of her bedroom in curiosity and gave us a funny look, so Luke hit the play button again letting it run through.

"Doesn't he know she's married?"

We started laughing again, with Rory looking at us like we were insane, but she smiled in a way she hadn't since she had read that letter. When we finished, she went to finish getting changed, and I called work to see if they needed me.

"Hey, that's mine!" I heard Luke say, and I looked up. Rory was wearing black jeans, and, surprisingly, Luke's dark blue flannel shirt over a black t-shirt, "When did you take that?"

"Last Saturday," She said, not looking up from the folder she was flicking through, looking for something specific. She knew he wouldn't be angry about it, but much like me, he did like to be told first.

I put down the phone after confirming that I needed to go back to work, and walked into the kitchen, "Mommy needs to go back to work so see you tonight. Love you."

I walked into the inn and stepped straight into manager mode, signing paperwork and overseeing things. A few hours easily passed before Michel came and found me, telling me there was someone asking for me. I wasn't expecting anybody, and when I stepped out of my office, it felt like my heart stopped.

"You can't be here," I said sternly, keeping my voice steady.

"Actually, I can," Christopher said, "See, I'm not allowed to see or contact Rory, but I can see you without breaking the law. And in 10 days, I can see Rory whenever I'd like to. You can't stop me."

"Please leave her alone. It's taken years to get her recovered from what you did to her, and I have no intention of letting you do it all over again."

"She's my daughter," He said, "Please give me a second chance."

"You're kidding, right?" I scoffed, "You put her in the hospital! It took 4 months for her to go back to school, 2 years for her physical abilities to get almost back to the way they were, but she never got completely better. And mentally? She still screams at night and she sees a shrink once a month, but it used to be twice a week. And after all of those threatening letters... you don't get a second chance to break her again. Not when you talked about killing her, selling her on the black market and beating her. I'm pretty sure you mentioned putting her on a leash at some point, too!"

"You need to leave."

I turned my head and saw Jackson walking towards us. He looked angry, and given that I knew he was strong, I stepped back and let him deal with it. Christopher was convinced to leave, with a final threat from Jackson that if he showed again, the police would be called.

I ignored the fact that a bunch of random people had just learnt about my daughter's situation, and let Michel lead me over to his chair. I sat down, the fear gripping me in a horrible way. The phone was suddenly shoved to my ear by Michel, but it was just Luke on the other end.

"Michel called and let me listen to what happened. Remind me to thank Jackson next time I see him."

I chuckled, "Yeah, I will. Don't tell Rory about this."

"I won't; she doesn't need anymore to worry about," He said, "How are you feeling?"

I licked my lips, "I feel like there's something big on the way and I can't do enough to shield Rory from the impact."

He laughed humourlessly, "You're not the only one. I want to wrap her in cotton wool and bubble wrap, lock her in a room and throw away the key... I spoke to our lawyer; she said the only way to get a restraining order is for him to harass or stalk her, or for him to do worse, and we would have to go back to court. She also said that the worse the offence, the more likely it is for us to get a permanent one, which is what we're after."

"So, what, do we let him put her in the hospital again? No chance, I can't do this again. She can't do this again."

"The lawyer said that we can't protect her forever, and while it might be helpful for her to get a refresher on her self-defence classes, it also might be worth letting him get to her a little, just enough to be classed as stalking or harassment but never close enough for him to put his hands on her."

"I feel sick."

"Me too. I can't believe that's the advice I was given."

"I can't believe I'm thinking of taking it, just so it's over with quicker," I admitted.

"We're awful people... and we're terrible parents," His voice cracked a little, "I'm so glad I sent her upstairs so she could read in peace."

"I need to go and work, but I'll be there as soon as possible. Give her my love, won't you?"

When I got to the diner that evening, I found it mostly empty. Luke looked completely exhausted and Rory was reading a book in the corner. I kissed Luke, and asked, "I thought she was upstairs?"

"She came down for coffee and never left. Not that I really mind, I just wanted to give her the illusion of being alone," He said, "It's all she's going to get for a while."

I nodded, "How do we tell her about what the lawyer said? She's going to ask at some point since she knew we were reaching out to get some information."

"We don't."

AN: I know nothing about the legal system in America, but from my own experience with horrible people, you have more of a case for a restraining order if they actually follow you around in person and you have several run-ins. One isn't good enough, and nor are threats if you can't prove it happened. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and thank you for reading and reviewing.