Chapter 100

January 1st, 2022

Lorelai got to Rory's house almost the same time as they did, perhaps a minute or two later. Rory hugged her mother, sensing her shaking from the shock of it all. She wasn't hurt, not physically, not as far as she could tell. But little things like a broken nail or a bruise she'd gotten as she'd bumped against the wall as she'd been getting away from him, didn't quite show on the surface.

"You're okay!" Rory assured, thankful to have her mother there.

"He's never been like this… he's never raised his hand…," Lorelai fretted, almost sounding like she was defending Luke. But most of it was just shock. This wasn't some new boyfriend, this was her husband of five years, partner for nearly fifteen, a friend for much longer. Someone she knew almost as well as her own daughter, or so she'd thought.

"Hey, he had no right to do any of this, whatever his reasons," Rory tried to reassure.

"But this is so unlike him. Sure he's not great with explaining his emotions, sometimes gets tongue tied or just slams a door or something. He usually just drives or walks off somewhere…," Lorelai blurted, her words mixing into sobs on Rory's shoulder. Rory glanced at Logan with concern, who was feeling pretty useless at that moment.

"But what was this about - why did he get upset in the first place?" Rory asked after a couple of minutes of holding her mother, and suggested they take a seat instead of standing in the hallway.

"He was talking about all the regrets I must've had because of him, Christopher, Max… how we never had a kid, how I was just waiting for him to screw up to go back to him...stuff about Anna and Rachel," Lorelai explained, leaving several topics unmentioned because they concerned Rory, who in his opinion was repeating her mistakes. Lorelai accepted the glass of water Logan was now offering her, having felt he needed to do something.

"But that's insane…," Rory simply exclaimed. Even the fight that had caused Lorelai to flee to Nantucket for Christmas had been that, and she was indeed beginning to think that there was something more to it than just Luke's insecurities.

"He hurt himself too, his fist was bleeding when I got out of there," Lorelai added, clearly not feeling very safe towards her own house anymore. "God, the kitchen is in shreds - there was coffee and cereal everywhere…, drawers pulled out, he smashed the monkey lamp into the sink," she added, worriedly.

Rory could only really think what would've happened, had that anger and force been directed at her mother and she was definitely not eager to let her go back to that house while he was there.

"Maybe I should go check on him?" Logan suggested with a light shrug, not knowing what else to do.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Lorelai replied, not quite believing he meant it. While this outburst hadn't menitoned Logan, the past few days had involved several arguments concerning him, despite last night's apology to Rory.

"Maybe I should just call Jess?" Rory thought out loud. It wasn't that she believed that Jess was braver or more capable than Logan, but there was simply all that history between him and Luke. And for one Luke actually liked Jess.

"But Em is there, right?" Lorelai recalled, seeing a logic flaw in that plan.

"Fine, go. Maybe he needs medical help or something… or worse the police," Rory suggested, angrily, but realized this was not the scenario Lorelai was really ready to hear. Nobody wanted a big scandal and something like that would spread like wildfire in a small town. "But I'll text you Jess' number just in case," she added and rose, wanting a word alone with him and took him aside.

"I'll be fine, I'll have a look around," Logan assured, before Rory could say anything.

"There's a key in the turtle by the back porch, and seriously - if he's acting violently - call the police or Jess, even if he might not agree," Rory spoke, referring to her mother, putting her mother's safety as the priority. This was about Em's safety too - how could she trust her to spend time with Luke if he did things like this?

"He might also be at the diner… in that case just check if the lights are on just above the diner," Rory explained, and continued to explain where to find the diner's key, though as she talked more and more she was beginning to feel like perhaps calling Jess would've been the more sensible thing to do, or maybe Liz even. With a final assurance to have Logan call Jess if he felt he needed to, she kissed him goodbye and watched him drive off, before regaining her position on the couch, her arm draped over her mother's shoulder, comforting her. They were very far from going asleep, despite the lateness of the hour, the shock of it all still strong. Instead they watched the Office, needing a comfort show to numb their brains in this situation. The reality was just too much to fully take in, especially if they didn't really know what was going on.

Driving to Stars Hollow, Logan felt his adrenalin already pumping through his veins. It was strange - it was more about the fact that he was about to face Luke, not so much that he was about to face someone who had just acted violently. He hadn't had much reason to fight during his life before, just a couple of times like most teenage boys, usually settling his fights with money instead. But he wasn't going to fight Luke. That was not the plan. While Luke had acted out of character, according to Lorelai and Rory - he was still family. And it was in this context he felt a sense of family - one dealt even with the less pleasant or potentially sick people in one's family if one cared about the family as a whole. He could only wish he felt even remotely like that about his own family as a whole. But knowing Lorelai, Rory and Em loved Luke, was enough to make him concerned, 'care' being a bit too warm of a word right this minute.

Because the diner was closer, Logan drove Rory's car, which he'd been able to grab swiftly from Rory's driveway, through the town square first, seeing no signs of life by the diner, all of its windows being pitch dark. He made his way to Maple street, and found the familiar pick-up truck, which surprisingly still ran, standing by the garage.

The lights were still on downstairs, though Logan wasn't able to make out much from the car. He parked the car a little further down the street and went on foot, almost lurking. He knew all about making an entrance, much less about lurking. The occurrence had happened perhaps an hour ago, but as he came closer, he could notice the shape of a man walking back and forth on the first floor, nervously. Most rages, normally, as far as he'd witnessed similar things, once even at the HPG after his dad had fired someone, died out much sooner than this. As he got even closer, he could even hear Luke talking to himself, rambling on loudly as if he was talking to someone.

For a moment he considered whether calling an ambulance or the cops would've been the wise thing to do - clearly the man was not rational, and even though Logan was very fit, he was definitely not that much stronger than him if it came to it. But he hadn't really thougt this through - what was he going to say - hey, I'm standing outside of my fiance's stepfather's house and he's behaving out of character?

"Luke? You alright there? It's Logan, Rory sent me," he announced his presence after knocking on the door.

"Go away!" Luke yelled in a bear-like tone.

"Do you need me to call the medics? Lorelai said you hurt your hand," Logan tried to offer his assistance.

"I'm fine, god dammit!" he replied, angrily, and Logan could hear another loud crash. What it had been he had no idea.

"The medics might be able to help," Logan didn't let it go just yet. "Or maybe I could come in and take a look?" he offered. He remembered the turtle by the back door, but he didn't think Luke would take kindly to intruders.

"If you come in here, I'll kill you," came a next roar and Luke made a hasty dash towards the door as if to scare him. Logan didn't lack bravery, but hearing what he was hearing, he knew better than to try to argue with someone who wasn't in his right mind at the moment. Same went for drug addicts - and that was classic survivalship skills in any late night big city. Whatever this was - this needed some intervention. But he also realized that whatever was coming - was probably better served from a loved-one.

He retreated and picked up his phone.

"Uh?" replied a grumpy voice.

"Jess? It's Logan. Rory told me to call you. It's about Luke. He's at his house, he had some sort of an episode tonight, I don't know... anger attack or something. Lorelai is over in Hartford and all upset. Apparently he trashed their kitchen. I am just over here in the frown lawn. He's yelling at himself and acting all kinds of reckless," Logan described the situation, deciding to leave you that he'd just been threatened on top of everything.

"Um..," Jess replied, not quite following, still being a little sleep-hazed.

"I think we should call someone for him, an ambulance, possibly the cops. Lorelai said he hurt his hand while trashing the place. He's really not behaving like a sane person right now," Logan continued to describe.

"Okay, I guess I should come and see what's going on," Jess agreed, Logan already hearing him set into action mode, as he began to dress himself. It was only then it recalled to him - "Fu... I can't come, I have Em," Jess' haste came to a halt, it having slipped his mind in the pace of the moment.

"I can come watch her," Logan replied, adding, "if that's okay," feeling a little like he was retreating from the actual conflict by offering this. It almost felt cowardly, but in this moment this actually seemed like the practical, adult, thing to do. Luke was far more likely to welcome Jess than him - it was crystal clear, and he had technically tried. Even if he had been able to call him an ambulance, likely along with a cop car, it would only leave Luke hating him more than he already did.

"Uh.. okay…," Jess replied a little reluctantly.

Logan was back in the town center just a block from Luke's diner in front of the Apparatus Bay in less than five minutes, and saw Jess already standing out front in the street, probably being a little surprised by seeing Logan driving Rory's white Mazda.

"She's on the third floor, first door to the right. But I just checked her, she's sound asleep," Jess instructed, ready to leave, and handed Logan a set of keys.

Logan wondered whether Jess needed any more information. But Jess answered his unasked question already - "I called Rory, she already filled me in," and didn't wait for his response, and got in his car.


AN: I'll keep you guessing about what's going on a little while longer. Some of you have been pretty close with your guesses.