A/N: Thanks for all the nice feedback. Keep it coming.


Walking Away

Chapter 2: Lorelai in Six Months

Looking back, she has no clue how it happened. One minute she had it all: a great kid, a wonderful fiancé, the world's most bizarre dog and a great business. Then, she woke up in a strange bed.

At first, she had no idea where she was, but she knew she was naked. Then she heard familiar and unfamiliar voices behind her, but didn't dare look for fear of giving away the fact that she was now awake. She heard Chris and the high pitch squeal of Gigi, plus another female voice. The Nanny, maybe?

After the voices subsided, she heard some rustling, felt the weight of Chris on the bed, then his arm around her. At first she thought if she kept her eyes closed she could pretend it was Luke, but his arm was too thin and in the wrong place. Luke liked to lay his hand on her hip and gently tap or rub. When he started to move closer to her, her body had a physical reaction and curled into a ball.

Her mind played back the moments of the previous night. The fun she had messing with Chris' date, the talk in the back of Lynnie's car, the messy confession in the street, the escape from Stars Hollow back to Hartford, and the comfort of Christopher.

She didn't go there to sleep with him, she just wanted to be safe. She was tired of the hurt inside her heart from Luke's inattention, then his rejection.

On the ride to Hartford, the only words that floated through her head were, "Why didn't he just say yes?" She thought to call Rory, but it was her last night with Logan, and she didn't want to spoil it with additional heartbreak. She even considered going to her parents, but she never would have withstood the wrath of Emily's glare. Sookie was back in Stars Hollow, and she couldn't be around things that reminded her of Luke. Chris was always "safe." He didn't judge. He understood. He wouldn't pry. She could "be" around him.

Unfortunately, Christopher was anything but safe once she arrived. He kept asking questions about what had happened. He kept rubbing her legs and hands and stroking her hair. He let her cry on his shoulder and rubbed her back. Then she realized it became like that moment in When Harry Met Sally and he put his lips to hers to give her an "it's okay" kiss.

"Why are you kissing him back?" her brain was yelling to her body, but it didn't respond, instead following his lead until he was naked on top of her. Her brain, however, retreated to a "happy place" that it sometimes went to when she slept with a guy but wasn't really in the mood. Sometimes she thought about clothes or shoes, but she didn't have to think about it too long because he was finished and trying to spoon her in less than ten minutes.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he rubbed her back and kissed her on the shoulder.

He mistook her shudder for a shiver.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to sleep."

"Okay, goodnight, Lor. I love you."

He rolled over, and she laid there for another hour before she was finally overtaken by exhaustion.

The next morning, Lorelai only left Chris' bed if she had to. She continued this behavior the next day, allowing Chris to use her body at night. Although she couldn't help but think of Luke each time he touched her, it gave her a little satisfaction to know that someone wanted her.

On the third day, Christopher forced her to take a shower and dress with the items he had picked up at her house. He also forced her to feed Paul Anka, since the mutt wouldn't eat the food Chris had prepared.

"You have to go on living, Lor," he said. "You can stay here as long as you like, but you are going to work tomorrow."

"I can't go back to Stars Hollow," she said. "I just want to stay here."

"Then don't, but you are going to the inn. It's not like town members just drop in on you there. If you stay out of town, you'll be fine."

So that is what she did. She went to work, telling Sookie it was over and she wouldn't talk of it. She worked the inn, then drove back to Hartford and to Christopher.

After a week, she returned home to pick up some clothes and movies. That was when she found 'Luke' items and broke down crying. She quickly put them in a box and threw it the jeep, but couldn't bring herself to drive it into town. Instead, that night after Christopher had fallen asleep, she left again, driving back to Stars Hollow to leave it in front of the diner, then spent her last night alone in Stars Hollow. The next day, she locked the door and wouldn't step foot in her home for six months.

Summer

He had left 17 messages for her that first month, none of which she erased. Sometimes, at night after Christopher had fallen asleep after satisfying himself, but not her, she would play each one and cry.

The one that hurt the most was the one when she could hear in his voice he was giving up. April was in the background calling him away to give her more pie and he hung up without saying goodbye or 'please call me.' She had been replaced so easily by a teenager in his heart and she didn't understand why.

Rory begged her mother to go see Luke and discuss their problems, but she refused, saying she had to make a clean break, even if that meant staying away from Stars Hollow. Rory had gone back and stayed at the house, wanting to escape the loneliness of the New Haven apartment for a few weeks. She told her mother she went to the diner and Luke looked incredibly sad, but didn't ask about her. Lorelai took it as a sign. She had done the right thing in leaving him. Her life with Christopher and Gigi was easy. He was already practically walking on eggshells around her for fear she would leave him.

Although Gigi had been a handful when she first moved in, Lorelai slowly won her over and found the girl to be quite agreeable once she had the proper discipline. She found herself growing attached to the little girl who looked too much like her mother. Being with Gigi made the time pass quicker.

Unfortunately, however, nothing made the nights go by faster as Christopher used their shared bed as an opportunity to try and win her heart by winning over her body. She went through the motions of enjoying what he did to her body, but even he noticed the disinterest in her eyes.

At the Inn, the occasional townsperson would come in for lunch or dinner, but when one broached the subject of Luke, she shut down immediately and made an excuse to leave. At night before she headed to Hartford, she would often drive to the town square to see if his truck was outside. One night, she spied him outside the diner in the town square with April, him holding up a light as she searched the ground for something.

She drove to Hartford with tears in her eyes.

Fall

After almost six months of cohabitation with Christopher, Lorelai's depression had not waned. She was sleepwalking through life, through work, and was only offset by Rory's sadness over Logan. Lorelai's depression deepened when Rory told her she intended to use Thanksgiving vacation to visit Logan in London, leaving Lorelai with Christopher, Gigi, and Paul Anka.

"Come on, it will be fine," Christopher said. "We'll go to your parents or we can go to my mom's house or we can go eat Chinese food."

"Yeah, let's go to my parents' house so we can receive the third degree, or your mother's so I can receive the cold shoulder, and Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without turkey."

"Okay, so what do you want to do then?"

"Why don't we cook it ourselves?"

"Lor, are you high? I can't cook and neither can you. I don't want Gigi to suffer from food poisoning just because you want turkey."

"Alright, fine, we'll go see your mom," she said heading to the bedroom. "I'd rather be ignored than harassed, and my mother can't stand small children."

"What is your problem, Lor? You have been in a mood for months, and I thought you would be out of it by now, but it keeps getting worse. It's been six months, it's time to fish or cut bait."

"Excuse me?"

"If you are so damn unhappy here, then leave and go back to him. I'm sure he'll take you back."

"No, he wouldn't."

"Well, then you need to figure out if you want to be in mine and Gigi's life because I am tired of waiting for you to either wake up or leave me. Gigi gets more attached to you every day, and if you aren't in this for the long haul, I think it might be best if we end this charade now."

"Chris, I don't want to end this. I need to be here."

"No, you need someone to look after you so you don't have to. I think it might be best if we take a break from each other for a little while. Why don't you go back to Stars Hollow and decide what you want. I'll see you again at Thanksgiving and you can give me an answer then."

"Chris, no…"

"Lor, I can't live with your ghost anymore. I deserve more."

Lorelai let out a laugh. He wanted more. He had been taking from her since the day they first met, and he wanted more.

"What do you want, Chris? My soul? Well you can't have it. It's gone."

"I know. You left it in Stars Hollow with Luke. Why don't you go get it? I'll see you on Thursday. I'll have your stuff sent back to your house tomorrow."

"You're just kicking me out?"

"Yes. I have to."

"Fine. Whatever. I'll see you Thursday," she said as she left the bedroom, leashed Paul Anka and headed for the door.

She didn't sleep that night, mainly because she couldn't bring herself to sleep in her own bed, the bed she bought with Luke, and opted to sleep in Rory's room with Paul Anka. The bed, however, was too small, and Paul Anka would dream and kick her.

Lorelai left home an hour early to go to the Dragonfly to avoid the questioning of Babette or any other townsperson. Sookie had stopped asking Lorelai any personal questions after the second month, and now only discussed business with her or talked to her about Jackson and the kids. Michel didn't give a damn.

She tried to call Chris, but only received his answering machine. That night, she drove past the diner and saw Luke's truck outside, but didn't have the courage to get out of her jeep and go inside. She made it up to her bed on Tuesday, but still didn't sleep very much.

On Wednesday, Lorelai still didn't know what to do. She needed Rory, but she was in London. She needed Sookie, but she had alienated her. All she had was Paul Anka, who she couldn't find when she came home.

"Paul Anka, where are you?" she called through the house.

When he didn't respond, she figured he was in one of his hiding places and would appear eventually. When he was still a no-show at his dinner time, she was perplexed. When he didn't appear as night fell, she started to worry.

As the clock struck 11, Lorelai started to panic and searched the house from top to bottom, but he wasn't to be found. The only thing she could figure is he had gotten out in the morning and had ran away.

As she started to cry, she realized she had to find Paul Anka before it was too late, and knew of only one person who could help her.

She quickly hit number 7 on her speed dial, and he picked up on the phone on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Luke, I need your help."

She hadn't heard his voice in six months, three weeks and four days.

Next time, the search for Paul Anka brings two lost souls back together. But will either have the courage to make a move?