Kiss with Open Eyes

Chapter 18: They Found You on the Bathroom Floor

Disclaimer: You know it's not mine.

Summary: They just keep dancing around each other. He feels guilty, and she knows it's wrong, but the music is playing, and they can't help but dance.

A/N: So yeah, I'm grounded… I probably will be for a while. It's a pretty long story, but anyway, it's good for you since I have nothing else to do and will be writing a lot more. Meaning, you guys will be getting many updates on this story, and my other one.

Also, after this story is over, I'll probably start posting my story, Poker Faces. I'm still not sure yet, though… I might post a different story… Not sure yet… But I will post something, just not sure which story it will be.

Anyway… Chapter 18:

She's not sure how much time has past. She's been staring at the door since he slammed it shut. She's not exactly sure what she's thinking. She's not really thinking anything, she's just staring at the door.

And then she hears a car pull up, and she knows it's hers. She can't help but start bawling. She knows what's going to happen. She knows she's going to have to explain. She knows that there is no going back. She knows that this is it… This is really it. And she just prays to God that Rory won't leave, too. That would just be too much.

"Mom?" She hears, and she looks up to see the scared look on her daughter's face. She wipes away some of the tears and tries to put on a smile, but she can't. She just can't. This is just too real.

"Mom?" Rory asks again, dropping the pizza on the table and running towards her mother. "Mom, what's wrong?" She asks, stroking her hair.

Lorelai bites her lip. She doesn't want to say anything. She just needs one more moment, one last moment where he daughter doesn't hate her. She grabs Rory into a hug, and squeezes her hard. She just wants to hold on forever. She wants her to stay here forever. She can't leave. She just can't.

"Mom, what happened? Please say something." Rory begs her mother.

"He left." Lorelai says, so quiet that Rory barely hears her.

"What?" She asks her, not sure she heard her right.

"He left, Rory." Lorelai says again, still holding on to Rory as tightly as she could,

"Dad?" Rory asks, her face starting to get hot. "Dad left?" She asks.

Lorelai doesn't speak, she just tightens her grip.

"Mom… What- what happened?" Rory asks.

"I'm sorry, Rory… I'm so, so sorry." Lorelai cries.

"Mom…" Rory begins, but she's not sure what to say. She can't say she didn't see this coming.

"I never wanted this to happen." Lorelai tells her.

"It's not your fault." Rory tells her, even though she's not sure that's the truth.

"It's all my fault." Lorelai manages to say.

Rory is silent, waiting for more, but Lorelai can't say much.

Rory likes words. They're safe and dangerous at the same time. They're powerful and mean nothing. They give her the answers, and tell her nothing. They hurt and they heal.

Rory likes words, but there are no words for this.

"Please don't hate me." Lorelai begged, and Rory just sat there in shock, still in Lorelai's arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Lorelai pleaded. "I just… I'm sorry." She told her.

"Mom…" Rory began, waiting more of an explanation. "Mom, tell me what happened." Rory begged her.

"I cheated." Lorelai said, crying harder and harder. "Don't hate me." She told her.

"You… you…" Rory stuttered. As much as she'd like to say she was surprised, she wasn't. She was just surprised Lorelai said it.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Lorelai told her.

"What'd he say?" Rory asked.

"He's leaving." Lorelai said, in between her sobs.

"Forever?" Rory asked, because she didn't know what else she was supposed to do. This didn't seem real. One minute she was going to get pizza, and now she may never see her Dad again.

"Rory… please, please don't hate me." Lorelai begged her.

"Mom, you had an affair." Rory pointed.

"I know…" Lorelai said, sadly. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

"It was Luke, right?" Rory asked, even though she already knew. Of course she knew. Who else would it be?

Lorelai didn't answer. She tried to stop crying, but she couldn't. She wiped her face on her sleeve, and tried to look at her daughter.

"Rory…"

"I just… Please… I just… I can't." Rory said, standing up. This was all so weird to her. It's not like she thought her parents would be together forever. She hadn't really thought much about it, but in the back of her mind, she knew that they wouldn't stay together. She knew that once she left for college, they would probably separate. She knew they slept in separate bedrooms when she wasn't around. She could hear the whispered fights through the walls. She knew, she just didn't… expect this all to happen at once, and definitely not like this.

She needed to think about this. She needed to cry about it. She needed to know it would all be OK. But she didn't know. She didn't know. She didn't know where her Dad was or if he'd ever be back. She didn't know how they would get through this. She didn't know how she'd be able to look her mother in the eye again. She didn't know if they'd ever be able to joke or watch movies again. She didn't know if things would ever be normal again.

This was all happening way too fast. New thoughts were coming to her at a mile a minute. She wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't sure how to deal with this.

She looked over to her mother, who was now sitting on the couch alone, crying. How could she do this? How could she cheat on her Dad? She knew Lorelai was lonely. She knew she was sad. She knew her parents had fallen out of love many years ago. She knew that Chris worked too much. She knew that she was always at school or with friends. She knew that Lorelai had been home alone too much. She knew that Luke was a good guy, maybe a better guy than Christopher ever was. She knew that Lorelai felt something for him, maybe more than she ever felt for Christopher. She knew that Luke paid attention to her, more than Chris ever did. She knew that Luke listened to her, more than anyone else ever did.

But, she cheated. She cheated. She had an affair. She lied. She had been lying for months. How could she do that? How could she do this?

"Rory…" Lorelai whispered.

"I just… I have to… think." Rory said, feeling her face getting hot again.

"Rory… please…" Lorelai begged.

"Mom… I… can't." Rory said, feeling her own tears fall down her face.

"Please… please… talk to me." Lorelai begged.

"I can't… I can't talk to you anymore." Rory said.

"No… Rory… please." Lorelai said, crying harder.

"I need… I need to be… alone." Rory told her, dragging herself towards her room. She felt like she was floating, like this was all a dream… a nightmare. But, it wasn't. It was real. It was real.

"Don't leave." Lorelai said, reaching for her.

"I'm sorry." Rory told her, before stepping into her room and closing her door.

The second she heard the door shut, she began bawling even harder.

It was all too real.

It was around 9:30, and Luke was closing up the diner. Kirk had just left, and now he was wiping down the tables and putting the chairs on top of them.

He was pretty out of it. He hadn't been able to concentrate since Sookie came to the diner. All he could think about was her, what she was doing, what he should do, what was right, what he wanted, what she wanted. He couldn't think of much else.

He wondered if this was the right thing to do. He wondered if maybe he should go to her house tomorrow and tell her not to say anything, to stay with her family, with Rory. He wondered if maybe all of this was selfish. He wondered if they could even be able to work things out. He wondered if the way they started this relationship would prevent it from going anywhere. He wondered what she was thinking. He wondered if she'd actually go through with it. He wondered what he should say if she came by the diner sometime this week. He wondered what he should do.

He was so out of it that he didn't even notice the door open.

"Luke…" She said, in the strangest voice he had ever heard. He could tell she had been crying before even turning around and looking at her.

"Lorelai? What's wrong?" He asked her, and before he knew it, she was in his arms, holding him tightly.

"I'm so sorry." She told him, as she cried on his shoulder.

"Lorelai- what, what happened?" He asked, stroking her hair.

"Rory." She told him, and without any other explanation, he knew. He just knew.

"Shh…" He told her. "It'll be OK." He said.

"It won't." She told him, into his shirt.

"I'm here. It'll be OK." He told her again.

"No, no… Rory." She said.

"It's OK… Rory loves you…" He told her.

"Not anymore."

"She will always love you." Luke told her.

"No…" She sobbed.

"It's going to be OK. I'm here…" He told her.

"I'm sorry, Luke." She cried.

"Don't be sorry." He told her. He should be the one whose sorry. He did this to her. He made her chose. He felt guilty.

"I am. This is all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She told him.

"Lorelai…"

"I'm sorry I put you through all of this."

"It's OK."

"It will never be OK."

"It will be." Luke reassured her.

"Please don't let me go, Luke." She begged him.

"I won't… I won't let you go."

I know it was on the short side, but yeah… That's just how it happened.

Yeah, so like I said, I'm grounded, meaning the next chapter will probably be up soon. So, lucky you, I guess.

Hope you liked it. Please review. Only 2 more chapters left, so you got to get 'em all in. I'm shooting for at least 500 reviews, so yeah, it'd be nice if you could make that happen. Plus, I'm grounded & don't have much else to do besides read your reviews soo I would really, really, really appreciate them.

Next Chapter:

A Lie, A Kiss with Open Eyes: Lorelai & Luke talk about forever. Lorelai goes home to find Rory wrapped up in a blanket & Rory finally says what she's known all along, but never wanted to admit.