'Well. We're done,' she thought, her heart breaking into yet more pieces as she recalled the time she'd told Luke that their wedding plans were all set.
And yes, she had done it. She had managed to not only break her engagement to Luke, but break up with him entirely. And all within a day. It looked like Luke would only lose one day's visitation with April.
The question for Lorelai was: what to do now that it was over?
She tried to focus on that question, tried to work through what she was going to do now that the focus of her life, besides Rory, was gone. She no longer had her fiancé, the man she loved. She still had her inn, though. And Rory. And her parents, she snorted to herself. And Paul Anka. Was that enough?
Unintentionally, she once again ran her tongue over her lips. Luke had kissed her. Luke had kissed her one last time.
Oh. Yeah. She still had Christopher.
-----
At Anna's Boutique, Anna Nardini hung up the phone. 'So far, so good,' she said to herself. Sharing April with Luke, while bad enough, at least had the advantage of providing her with some spare time. But she was damned if she was going to let another woman be a better mother than she was.
-----
Lorelai Gilmore was drunk. In fact, had she been even remotely lucid, she would know that she had now been drunk for nearly four days. She had consumed all the liquor in her home, and after that, had driven, even though inebriated, to the package store in Woodbridge. There, she stocked up on all her favorites, including a copious supply of good ole' Jose Cuervo.
Returning home, she called in sick "indefinitely" to the Dragonfly, placing a more than willing Michel in charge. She changed into comfortable clothes, and then settled in for the long winter her life was about to become.
And then Lorelai proceeded to drink herself into oblivion.
The phone rang; she didn't answer. People knocked on the door, she didn't answer. She just drank. And cried. And soon, the crying was all done and it was only about the drinking.
Lorelai blacked out at least twice, and as soon as she returned to consciousness, started drinking again. Once, she woke up in Luke's boat in the garage. Another time, in her bed. She had no recollection of moving from the kitchen, no recollection of how she managed to open bottle after bottle, get drink after drink down her throat.
On the fourth day, had Lorelai been lucid, she would have heard the knocking on the door. She would have heard the male and female voices calling her name. She would have heard the sound of a key being inserted in the lock, the door slowly opening.
But she did hear when the door to the house slammed open, and heard Rory's worried voice, along with…Christopher.
"Mom? Mom!" was intermingled with "Lor?"
The sight that met Rory and Christopher's eyes was horrendous. It looked like Howard Hughes had taken up residence in Lorelai's kitchen and living room. The smell that greeted them though, was even worse. Clad in just a t-shirt and panties, Lorelai obviously hadn't changed or washed in days. Her eyes were red and glazed over, her hair stringy, and her breath reeked. Indeed, the entire house reeked of alcohol and stale sweat.
"Mom, what happened?" A concerned Rory tried to get her to sit down on the couch.
Christopher helped Rory ease her down, gently stroking her hair out of her face.
"We broke up," Lorelai's raspy voice eked out, as she waved her now-bare left hand over at Rory.
"Yes, Luke told me," Rory replied.
"April," Lorelai sighed. "Why did she have to happen?" She burst into tears.
"I'm sorry," Christopher said, trying to be supportive.
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Lorelai continued.
Rory didn't have to think about the question for even a second, immediately reassuring her: "It's not your fault."
"Whose fault could it be but mine?" Lorelai choked out, almost incoherent.
Rory spent several minutes reassuring her mother, until finally, Christopher said, "Lor, just let him go."
Rory glared at Christopher, then quietly asked Lorelai, "Mom, where's Paul Anka?"
----
By evening, the house was neat and cleaned up; Christopher had called in a maid service from Woodbridge. Lorelai was upstairs in the freshly-made bed, Rory tending to her mom. Christopher had fed the dog, who'd managed to avoid dehydration by taking advantage of the back door that Lorelai had left open during her drunken wanderings.
Christopher went upstairs to check on Lorelai.
"What are you two doing here?" Lorelai asked.
Rory and Christopher exchanged glances. This was not good.
"We came by a few hours ago to check on you. Rory called me and said that no one had heard from you in almost a week," Christopher explained.
"And Luke said you'd broken up with him," Rory added. "And Sookie told me that you hadn't been at work for four days, and that you called in sick 'indefinitely'."
Lorelai began to cry, and Rory gently held her.
"He kissed me….one last time," she sobbed. "And I pushed him away."
-----
The next morning, Rory was gone but Christopher remained. Lorelai was still distraught, dazed and upset.
"Lorelai, I need to get back to G.G.," he explained.
Lorelai passed out.
----
The next morning, Lorelai awoke in unfamiliar surroundings. Voices floated towards her subconscious, and gradually, she woke to consciousness. She heard a man, a woman, a giggling little girl. She drifted back to semi-sleep.
A few minutes later, she woke again as she heard the door to the room close. A man--not Luke, she thought with disappointment, but Christopher--loomed over her at bedside. She saw him slip off his robe, and then he climbed into bed with her, and placed his arm over her.
Just like Luke. Just like Luke used to.
Lorelai realized what she had done.
-----
One week later, Lorelai closed the box in her bedroom, labeled it, and then collapsed on her bed in relief. Her bedroom was still relatively bare; her living room, however, was a different story. Poor Paul Anka probably thought that the room looked like a forest of boxes.
Lorelai had managed to convince Christopher to drive her back to Stars Hollow in the middle of the night. She simply could not risk having Luke see her. Christopher was only too pleased to oblige her.
Residing in her home was out of the question. Residing in Stars Hollow was no longer an option. Not only was Luke there, but it was also just too close to her parents. Even in good times, their relationship was tenuous.
And there was her business. Fortunately, Christopher was able to hire a lawyer who would arrange things so that Lorelai would not have to be there for a while. Sadly, she thought, all her dreams were evaporating.
With a sigh, Lorelai tried to force those thoughts away, particularly thoughts of the Dragonfly, Luke, Stars Hollow, Luke. But she found that the thoughts that followed them were far worse. Over and over, the scene in Luke's storeroom as she broke up with him replayed through her memory. His eyes, the expression on his face when she told him that they were over, the stricken look when she tried to hand him the ring. And worst of all, the feeling of his arms around her as he pulled her close for that desperate farewell kiss. The taste of his lips on hers. The wave of arousal that his mere touch brought to her mind and body, that just thinking about him brought.
The look on his face as she pushed him away. The sound of the diner bell chiming for her for the last time.
But he had his daughter. And he had his reputation. And Lorelai had the tears now flowing, an endless supply. Lorelai curled up on the bed and let her pain take over.
TBC...mood permitting