She Always Takes Me Back
Chapter 4: Hide and Seek
Lorelai was tired. She was depressed, worn out and still had costumes to make before she could even think of going to sleep.
Not that I'd actually get any sleep, she thought. I'll just toss and turn and miss Luke some more.
She parked the jeep in her favorite spot, and headed toward the house, but then, she remembered the boat. Luke came and got his boat. He didn't even bother to call or knock on the door and say, "Hey, I'm taking my boat back."
He'd just skulked in and stole it. Now her garage was depressing. It was completely empty again.
"Get it together, Gilmore," she said to herself. "You can't start weeping over every little thing. You've been through breakups before and you survived. You'll survive this one, too. I just have to be a little proactive."
What can I do to take back part of my life, she thought, as she looked around the garage. The garage. She'd start there. Her garage had always been awful. For the first eight years they had lived there, Lorelai only went in to get rid of something, find something she thought she had gotten rid of, or to hide something from Rory. It could use a sprucing, and she knew Sookie would be happy to help her out.
She left the garage, heading toward the house, stopping only to pick up her costume supplies and to pull out her cell phone. She dialed Sookie to discuss her plan, as she opened the front door.
Christopher dropped Lorelai's blouse and froze.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit," he said. "She's gonna kill me."
Lorelai was at her front door and on the phone. He thought she was alone, but couldn't see her. He heard her say the word "paint," and "tomorrow morning."
If he was caught sniffing Lorelai's blouse in her bedroom, he knew she'd call the cops or kick the shit out of him. Then Rory wouldn't speak to him, and it would be all over for him and fast.
He looked around the room, trying to find a place to hide. Since her closet door was open, he ran into the hallway, trying not to make any noise. The attic. During his first visit, Rory mentioned it could be reached from the hall closet. He was afraid to find out what she kept up there.
The closet was surprising orderly, filled mostly with sewing supplies. It also contained a small ladder which led to a trap door. Since the door was still ajar, he could hear Lorelai moving around downstairs, still on the phone. Next, he heard feet climbing the stairs, words still pouring out of her mouth.
"I think it's in the closet," Lorelai said to the mystery caller. "If you bring the glitter and the glue, I'll take care of everything else. I just want it to be something pretty. Oh, and mention it to Michel to see if we can get him to do some of the work. Thanks again, Sookie. I couldn't do it without you."
He climbed the ladder as silently as he could, praying he wouldn't make a sound. Christopher heard Lorelai reach the top of the stairs. He lifted the trap door, and went inside, leaving it open a crack. He was not prepared for what he found.
Lorelai's attic, which he figured would hold a myriad of artifacts from her life, was a sewing room. Light streamed in from the attic windows, giving Christopher a layout of the land. There were two sewing machines, several costumes for small children, bolts of ugly fabric and a partially finished dress on a dress form. The rest of the attic was Christmas decorations, some boxes and fiberglass insulation.
Lorelai's footsteps could be heard on the hardwood floors on the landing. He heard a door shut below him. He let out a sigh of relief, as Lorelai had shut the closet door as she passed. He took a seat at her sewing table. He figured he'd be there awhile.
"Where did I put that stupid thing," Lorelai said to herself as she sat on her bed, staring at her closet, trying to remember where that mirror ball was. The last time it had been out was for the Lane's secret birthday party were nothing soy was served.
"Maybe I put it in the attic?"
She had turned the attic into a sewing room during Rory's European exile and Luke's trip to Maine. She was surprised by how now nice it had turned out. She just wished Luke had gotten around to covering up all the insulation. She was still afraid she'd trip and fall into it.
Lorelai dragged herself back down the stairs to get her purchases for the rest of Tevye's daughters' costumes. She may as well get a few costumes finished while she looked for the mirror ball.
Christopher had taken to playing with scraps of lace. He was so bored. There was nothing to do up here. As he pondered what his next video game purchase would be, he heard the door below him open as the light in the attic came on. Lorelai was below him, but was she coming up?
He quickly realized the answer as he heard her start to climb the ladder.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, he thought as he scrambled for a place to hide. Why the hell was the place so clean? His only option was to dive into the fiberglass or get caught. He was willing to suffer for love. He jumped in and covered himself with the insulation.
Lorelai pushed the trap door open and tossed the bag ahead of her. There was a strange smell in the attic, like really bad men's aftershave. She opened the window to clear out the stench. She heard a sound near the insulation, but wasn't going to check it out.
Great, she thought. I have mice. I'll just get Luke -- no you won't get Luke to do anything. I'm going to cut out the patterns for the three dresses and find that mirror ball.
It took her about 30 minutes to cut out the patterns, which was made easier by the latest mix CD Lane had given her. The music was drowning out the squeaking sound that was starting to get on her nerves.
After looking in a few boxes, she remembered the mirror ball in the downstairs closet next to the rain boots. Exhaustion was starting to creep over her, and she was ready for bed. The rest of the dresses could wait until tomorrow since they didn't have to be finished until the following evening.
When Lorelai finally closed the trapdoor, Chris jumped out of the insulation as fast as he could. He was in the most pain he had ever been in his entire life. Every part of his body itched, and scratching it only made it worse. He noticed red blotches were appearing on his skin as he pulled off his clothes as fast as he could.
Once he was naked, the cold air seemed to react to the miniscule fibers covering his body and reignited them. His whole body was on fire and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't leave the attic until she was asleep.
I need a doctor, he thought, but I can't leave.
After about 45 minutes, the itching had just started to subside when the light came on again, and the sound of climbing resumed again. Christopher grabbed his clothes and did the only thing he could. He jumped back into the insulation. This time, it was even worse, as every sensitive part of his body was directly exposed.
Tears were already streaming down his face as Lorelai opened the trap door, walked over to the window, and went back downstairs. Chris crawled out of his hiding place, a lump on the floor. He only hoped his death would be faster than this torture.
It was two hours before Christopher made his attempt to escape the closet. He was practically unrecognizable the swelling and redness over his entire body. He slowly opened the door to the closet, and heard nothing.
His clothes were chafing his special places, and he just wanted to go home, take a shower and get to an emergency room. Before he left, he crept into Lorelai's room. She was fast asleep with her back to him. He wanted to touch and kiss her, but he was afraid the fiberglass on him would get on her.
There was still plenty of time for that, he thought.
The back door was now locked, but he relocked it as he snuck out the door. He made the trip back to his apartment in 5 minutes, running most of the way.
The ER doctor was smirking as he examined him, and gave him some lotion for his skin reaction.
Babette couldn't sleep. She was convinced the burglar was going to be back. She heard a rustling outside when she saw the figure running from behind Lorelai's house. She couldn't make out a face, but she saw the dirty blonde hair. She made a note in her new crime notebook.
Christopher got home from the hospital at 5 a.m. He just wanted to sleep, and had convinced the doctor to give him some sleeping pills since he was sure his skin condition was going to prevent that on his own. After rubbing the lotion over his entire body, he popped two pills and settled onto his unmade sofabed.
Sleep came immediately but so did the dream. He dreamed of Gigi, but there was something different about her. Her eyes were completely black, and her voice was about three octaves lower.
"Hello, Christopher," demonic Gigi said. "I'm sorry you had such a bad time today."
"Gigi, honey, what is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, Christopher. This is what I look like."
"Why are you calling me Christopher? My name is Daddy."
"But you're not really my father, Christopher. You know that. You know who he really is."
"Come on, that's crazy, Junebug. I'm your Dad. I miss you. I want to come get you and go home."
"I miss you, too, Christopher, but you can't come back until Lorelai is yours again."
"But how am I supposed to do that? She doesn't want me."
"If you stay around long enough, she will be yours. I promise, Christopher. Persistence is the key."
Gigi walked over to him to place a kiss on his cheek, as he woke up.
The clock read 2:17. He knew he couldn't give up his quest. Gigi had told him so.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the Christopher pain. That is just the beginning. This story is all in good fun. Pleas forgive the Satanic Gigi references, but come on, that girl is pure evil.