Lorelai was pacing frantically up and down….up and down …her eyes darting nervously towards the phone and then away…before she practically lunged at it…accidentally disconnecting it and bumping her head on the coffee table in the process.

Lorelai's POV

I'm a big gawky lumbering mess!

Just do it! (annoying inner voice)

NO!

Come on, you know you want to… (really annoying inner voice continues)

I do NOT want to!

There's no use fighting it, you're gonna do it eventually (inner voice starts to get taunting)

I do NOT want to do this at all…NO WAY …

Lorelai was already dialing furiously away at Luke's phone number. She breathed in and out, come on man, I NEED you!

"Good evening…no wait a sec (pretends to look at watch) that'll be…good night." came Luke's clearly irritated voice.

"How could you let this happen!"

"Lorelai…is that you? Why are you calling me…what's wrong?"

"I've been so unbelievably stupid…I…I've driven my own daughter away just like Emily drove me away…is this to be some tragic genetic inherited thingy that repeats itself through generations of Gilmores?…are you listening? Me!"

"You!" Luke mocked.

"This is not a joke at all Luke…where are they?"

"Who?"

"Romeo and Juliet…Tristan and Isolde…Guinnevere and Lancelot…I mean who do you seriously think!"

"Um, none of them…"

Lorelai sighed, tired and almost defeated. "Luke, I don't know what to do."

"You're scaring me…what's happened?"

"Nothing really…just Rory and me had a fight and…"

"…the earth started shaking," Luke continued.

"…Well…me and Rory never fight and this time she ran away…SHE RAN AWAY!"

" What? Rory's not the running away type at all…I mean, kids that run away are all messed up and…"

"I assume he's coincidentally not around."

"Hey, Jess is not messed up he's just a bit of a jackass and Rory's a responsible girl…don't you trust her?"

"Yes I trust her but…"

"If you want my honest opinion I think you're being a bit…"

"Go on," Lorelai interrupted, "what?"

Luke in took his breath and then blurted out, "paranoid, stifling, obsessive, controlling…"

"All right all right! I get it."

"Do you? Jess gets it. Maybe you should have more faith in him."

Lorelai's POV

But I can't help the way I feel…and I don't feel right about Jess at all.

I don't trust him and I can't help feeling, no, knowing that in the end he will break Rory's heart and destroy her future …

"Ok fine…I will give Jess a chance…but if he screws up my daughter's life I'm sorry but I'll partly blame you."

Lorelai's POV

Oh no that was a bit harsh…

"Ok then."

"No," Lorelai interrupted, "Look, I didn't mean that…I mean that was totally unfair…"

"No. It wasn't unfair at all…If Jess screws up Rory's life then you can blame me, ok?"

"Ok."

"Good night."

"Night."

Luke gently and almost regretfully clicked the phone down. He jumped only slightly when Jess slipped in through the door with a dazed expression on his face.

When Luke caught Jess' eye, his countenance immediately returned to his usual James Dean scowl. Without a word he took out a book and became completely absorbed in it, lying calmly on his bed.

Luke continued to silently stare. What kind of sacrifice have I just made on this kid's behalf?

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Mom," Rory whispered.

Lorelai was on the couch in her pajamas engrossed in watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with the volume nearly all the way up.

"Mom," Rory spoke a little louder.

Lorelai still hadn't heard her.

"Mom!" Rory yelled.

Rory rolled her eyes and ended up tipping the bag of marsh mallows that she'd just bought from Doose's as a late night peace offering over her mom's head.

Lorelai screamed, knocking over her bowl of popcorn and then spun around.

"Evening all."

"Lovely night tonight." They both tittered similarly for a while in fake English accents (for some reason to pass the time and silence)

Rory sat down.

"So you were the late night Charlie and the chocolate factory renter that nearly squandered my dreams by beating me to the rental store by three minutes," she ventured.

Lorelai held her hands up. "Guilty! But you know, great minds think alike and all that…"

"True," Rory nodded, "are we ok?"

Lorelai paused but then smiled, "As long as your careful and you sorta keep me…ish…posted…then we are absolutely fine!"