Lorelai POV

Her birthday party the next night was epic. And even though I saw her meet with that new kid outside, which reminded Luke to tell me about the fact that they had flirted a little the day before without saying a word, I didn't have it in me to be angry or upset that she hadn't told me. It was one of the last times she could do that, and while I was going to tell her that, I wasn't going to force her to give me the details.

"Rory," I started, "I saw you outside tonight."

She blushed, "Mom..."

I smiled at her, "While I would like the details, I'm not going to force it. However, tomorrow is the last night you can sneak around like that. After that, I don't know when it'll be safe, so you might want to introduce us soon so you can see him at all."

"I didn't even know how or what to tell you... I'm pretty sure Dad knows something, though," She admitted and I nodded, "I wanted to tell you, but I wanted to be sure, first. We haven't even kissed, just flirted a little. And he gave me this."

She held out her wrist, showing me the bracelet. The straps were leather and the medallion suited Rory, "It's really pretty."

She nodded, "I know... I really like him."

"I'm really happy for you, Rory," I told her truthfully; she needed a little light right now.

The next day went by in a blur, with Rory spending her last day of freedom wandering around Stars Hollow with Lane and I spent it in the diner, watching Luke work. And annoying the crap out of him, of course.

When Rory burst in just before closing, she looked a little panicked. She walked up to my table in the corner, and said, "Dean kissed me."

"I thought you were with Lane," I said and she nodded her head.

"I was, but she had to go home and I decided to go and see him while he worked and he kissed me," She said, dropping into a chair.

"Tell me everything!" I said, excited for her; this was her first kiss.

"It happened so fast. I was just standing there in Doose's Market –"

I cut her off, "What aisle?"

"On aisle three, by the pest spray," She told me

I smiled, "Oh, that's a good aisle."

"What makes an aisle a good aisle?" She asked, confused.

I thought, "Any aisle where you get kissed is a good aisle."

She laughed, "I go into the store and he offers me a soda. And then he puts two behind his back and he asks me to pick one and then he kissed me... Oh my god, I said thank you! Who thanks someone after a kiss?"

"Who kissed you?" Luke demanded to know, suddenly overhearing, "Was it that new kid? I'll kill him!"

"That's an overreaction," I said, rolling my eyes, "She was going to have her first kiss at some point, at least she told us. Now shoo so I can hear the rest."

He walked away but somehow remained in earshot, only giving an illusion of privacy. Rory rolled her eyes at his protectiveness, "He's going to take this thing with Christopher out on Dean, isn't he?"

"I don't know, Hon, but I'll try to talk him down. He's usually pretty reasonable," I said shooting a glare at him.

Rory laughed, "Yeah, he's reasonable with other things, but when it comes to me or you, he's very unreasonable, and you know it. But he gave me a really good example of what I should want in a man, and he has nothing to worry about."

"He's your dad," I pointed out, "He's always going to worry about you because that's what a parent does. You get a better handle on it as you get older, but it doesn't go away. Now, tell me; was the kiss good?"

"It was perfect."

After Rory went to bed that night, me and Luke cried together. The moment it turned midnight, it would be completely legal for him to show up and we couldn't protect her.

That wasn't the only reason I was crying. I loved that Rory was getting older and having a lot of different firsts again, but I hated it. She had more of an understanding of the world, and I knew without a doubt that she knew. She knew that we were lying when we said the extra steps were just in case, and she knew that it was a real risk, and I really hated that.

Her first kiss had reminded me of that. It reminded me that she was almost a whole adult and I couldn't protect her forever. I couldn't protect her from the boys at school and I couldn't keep her safe from Christopher, no matter what we did. I also felt like a failure. I knew what happened 6 years ago wasn't anyone's fault (apart from Christopher's), but it didn't stop me from feeling like I had failed as a parent; I failed to keep her safe then and I couldn't keep her safe now. I knew that Luke felt similarly. He had said so on a few occasions and since he was crying with me (and he wasn't much of a crier), I knew he felt it now.

We started calming down as the clock hit midnight, and I had the sudden need to check on Rory. I knew it was just my nerves, but I went anyway, sneaking down the stairs and looking in on her. She had fallen asleep with Luke's flannel shirt on, the lower part of her face buried in it, and what I could see of her face was glistening from where she had been crying, herself.

"Rory?" I asked, unsure if she was awake. She shifted a little but didn't open her eyes, which meant she had probably cried herself to sleep.

I walked in and crouched down to her level, "You are so loved, and we will keep you as safe as possible. I promise."

I kissed her cheek and tucked her in before going back upstairs. I crawled back into bed, letting Luke wrap his arm around me.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

"She cried herself to sleep by the looks of it," I told him.

He pressed a gentle kiss to my shoulder, "I don't know how to help her."

"Neither do I," I agreed with a sigh.

AN: The sad stuff is fun to write but I had to give Rory a bit of happiness. I know the kiss technically doesn't happen for a few more episodes, but I couldn't make it work with the whole Christopher thing, so I adjusted. This is also roughly where we truly divert from the series. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!