Lorelai woke up the next morning around 10:30. She yawned, stretched, and got out of bed. Making a pot of coffee, she got ready to start the day. She started with a shower, then did her hair and makeup, and then had three cups of coffee and cereal.
It felt good to have the day off, but she wouldn't be doing anything until six that night. There wasn't much to do, so she decided to go and take a walk. Putting on her jacket, she walked out of the potting shed, otherwise known as her new home. She decided she'd drop in at Weston's to pay Fran a visit. After all, without her help, she wouldn't have gotten her job.
Making her way down the streets of Stars Hollow, she shielded her face against the fierce, chilly, winter-approaching winds by looking down at the ground. It took her about ten minutes to reach her destination. She opened the door and and walked into the bakery and up to the counter.
"Lorelai, dear, how are you? Mia told me she gave you that job." Fran said, smiling at the girl when she saw her.
"Yes she did, and I have you to thank." she said, smiling back.
"Oh, now, I didn't do anything." Fran said, waving it off.
"You did. Hadn't you recommended it, I wouldn't have landed it."
"Well, I'm glad to have come to some use. How are you liking it here?" she asked.
"I love it! It's so different from where I came from. I'm really happy here."
"Yeah, this is a great place." she said. "Would you like anything?"
"Yes, I'll have a coffee to go, please." she said.
"Coming right up." Fran said and then turned her back to pour coffee into a to-go cup for her. "Here you go."
Lorelai took the cup, paid, said 'thank you', and left. She roamed the streets, enjoying the fresh air. It felt nice to just walk around and get lost in her thoughts. It was peaceful. She looked around her and observed the activity in the town square. A few kids were playing in a pile of leaves, a group of teenage boys stood in front of the school playing football, a few mothers pushed strollers around while chatting to one another.
It was typical small town. Not much excitement happened, but that's what Lorelai loved about it. It was a plain and simple, no worries kind of place. Stars Hollow was beautiful, much different than Hartford. It was laid back and low maintenance. Well, except for Taylor Doose. He was a middle-aged man that liked to do nothing but gripe. Everything had to be perfect with him.
It was odd how fast she was accepted in the town. The people seemed to like her and she got along well with them. Everyone was just so kind to her. Though, Taylor had been a little skepticle about her. He thought she was some hoodlem here to wreck havock on the town. But, other than that, she fit right in. Maybe it was because she was like them. Simple and plain. Although, no one in the town was normal. Kirk was weird, Babette and Miss Patty were two of the nosiest women in town who loved to gossip, Taylor was... well... Taylor, and so forth. But she loved it all the same.
"Hey." a voice beside her said and breaking her from her thoughts.
Lorelai turned her head and saw a flannel clad, blue backwards baseball cap wearing boy walking alongside her.
"Oh, hey Luke. Where'd you come from?" she asked.
"I'm taking my break. I work at my dads hardware store."
"William's Hardware?" she asked, remembering seeing the store when she first arrived.
"The one and only." he nodded and said.
"Cool. I got the day off."
"That's lucky. Wish I could have the day off." he said, laughing a little.
"Yeah, well, I was lucky. I was supposed to work today. Although, I'm glad I didn't have to."
"Yeah, I think school is enough for us all."
"Ugh, I know. I hate gym, and history, and French. I don't mind English and science, though."
"Yeah, I'm ok in English. I'm not so bad in any of my classes, actually. Except Spanish."
"I took Spanish at my old school and sucked. That's why I signed up for French."
"You seem to be in some pretty advanced classes." he noted.
"I came from a pretty advanced school."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah, glad to be out of there, though."
"Do you like it here?"
"I love it here. Everything about this place, I just, I love it. A lot different from my old world."
"Yeah, Stars Hollow is a nice place, but the residents are crazy."
Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, I'll agree with that. But, if the residents are crazy, then I guess that means we are as well, seeing as we are residents."
"Maybe. But, not nearly as insane as they are."
"Do you think you'll stay here?"
"In Stars Hollow?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah." Luke sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "No matter how much this town bugs me, it's where I grew up. Everything in my life happened here. I don't think I'll ever leave this place."
"What about college?"
"I dunno. It's a maybe. But, I don't think I'll go."
"You seem pretty smart. You should go."
"I might." he said, and then asked. "What about you?"
Lorelai sighed. "I don't know. It's my parents dream for me to graduate high school and go to Yale and become a successful business woman or exactly like my mother. I don't want that, though. College would be a smart thing to do, but I'm not sure if I'll be going."
Luke nodded his head. Lorelai took a sip of her coffee, enjoying the warm sensation it made as it trickled down her throat as they walked along the chilly streets of Stars Hollow.
"That stuff will kill you, you know?" Luke told her.
"What? Coffee?"
"Yup."
"How could you say that? It's great! It's my life." she said, laughing.
"It's basically death in the form of liquid. It's liquid death."
"I think you're crazy." she told him.
"Well, I think we pretty much established that much about us all. But, you're even crazier if you drink that stuff."
"Uh huh. Are you seriously telling me you've never had coffee before?" she said, tilting her head and looking at him.
"Not once. I make it for my dad, though. He likes it." he said, looking back at her.
"Wow. You don't know what you're missing." she stated.
"Oh, I don't think I'm missing anything."
"You must be a health nut, right?"
"Let's just say I don't eat stuff that'll clog your arteries."
Lorelai laughed once more. She was enjoying talking to Luke. He was pretty funny, and entertaining. He wasn't a jerk like the ones she used to know. Luke was different. He had respect for people, he had morals. She liked that about him. Although, she'd only known him a week.
"Lorelai?" someone asked from a distance.
Lorelai looked around to see Sookie walking towards her.
"Hey Sook." she said.
"I thought you had work today?" Sookie asked.
"Well, I was supposed to. Mia told me last night I had the day off, so I decided to take a walk and then I was going to call you." she told her friend. She wasn't lying. She really had intended on calling Sookie once she got home. But, seeing as she was with Sookie now, she wouldn't have to do that.
"Oh, that's cool. We'll have more time to spend together!" the redhead said, starting to get excited. "Oh, hey Luke. What's up?" she asked, just realizing he was there.
"Nothing much. Just taking my break. I should get back, though." he told them.
"Ok, see you around." Sookie said.
"Bye, Luke. Nice talking to you." Lorelai said.
"You too. Bye." and with that, he headed the opposite direction.
"You and Luke were talking?"
"Yeah. Is that a bad thing?" Lorelai asked, confused.
"No, it's not. It's just, Luke isn't normally one to chat with people if he's not at school."
"Oh. Is he anti-social?"
"Not exactly. He's just Luke. Kind of grumpy, keeps to himself. He's not a complete social outcast, though."
"I get that."
"Yeah, so what would you like to do?"
"Anything's fine with me. We can swing by my place and get my stuff." she suggested.
"Ok, sounds good to me."
The two walked together to the Independence Inn, chatting along the way.
"You live in the Independence Inn?" Sookie asked once they came into view of it.
"No, I live in the potting shed behind the Inn." Lorelai corrected her and made her way to her home. She unlocked the door and walked inside.
"Wow." Sookie said.
"What?"
"You live on your own. Here, in this potting shed. You have complete and total privacy. You are very privileged."
"I am. But, you are, too."
"Yeah, I have two over protective parents. Very privileged."
"Yeah, but, they care enough for you to be protective. The only thing my parent protected me from was the middle and low class society. Very stuck up, if you ask me."
"Yeah, I guess I am lucky when you put it that way."
Lorelai gathered some stuff together in an overnight bag and walked out of her home.
"Ready?"
"Yeah. Let's take your stuff to my place and then we can hit Doose's and buy a whole bunch of junk food and then go rent movies."
"Sounds great." Lorelai said, smiling. "We'll have a movie night."
"Yes we shall." Sookie said, smiling back.
xox
The two girl spent most of the day eating junk food and watching movies. Both were currently sitting in Sookie's room in their pj's, each eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's.
"So, how much different is it here than in Hartford?" Sookie asked.
"It's very different." Lorelai said, scooping some ice cream into her mouth.
"How?"
"Well, for one, Hartford is about twice the size of Stars Hollow. Most of the people there have a lot of money. It's not as laid back as it is here."
"So you like it here better?"
"Much better."
Sookie nodded. They sat in silence for a few seconds, before "Do your parents know where you are?" she asked. "You don't have to answer. I was just wondering."
Sookie shut herself up by shoveling her spoon into her mouth.
"It's ok. I called them yesterday and told them where I was and all."
"Where they mad?"
Lorelai sighed. "Well, my mom was. She was furious. She tried to make me come back. But, my dad... well, he took it better than I thought."
"That's good. Are you going to go to the Fall Festival?" Sookie asked.
"The what?" Lorelai asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.
"The Fall Festival. We have a town event for every season and holiday." Sookie explained.
"Oh, well, when is it?"
"Halloween night."
"Cool, sounds fun."
"Good. So, you'll go?"
"Sure."
"I can't wait!" Sookie said.
xox
The next day, Lorelai was coming out of the supply store, having bought poster and other necessities for a project she had in World History. She was walking home, eager to get the project over and done with.
This is what I get for procrastinating. she thought to herself.
"Hey." a not so friendly voice called.
Lorelai looked up and saw Rachel standing before her.
"Oh, uh, Rachel, hi." she said.
"What's that for." Rachel said, nodding to the poster.
"Project for history." she answered.
"Oh." Rachel said. "So, um, what's going on with you and Luke?"
"What? What are you talking about." she asked, genuinely confused and taken aback by this bit of randomness.
"I saw the two of you talking yesterday."
"Oh, well, we were talking is all. Why?"
"You do know that Luke and I are together, right?" Rachel asked.
"I thought the two of you broke up?" Lorelai asked.
She thought it was weird that Rachel was talking to her about this. She didn't really understand where it was that she was getting at.
"It was all a misunderstanding. We're back together now."
"O...k?" Lorelai asked, a bit confused on the subject they were speaking of.
"Just thought I should tell you before you tried anything else."
"Anything else? Rachel, what are you-?"
"Don't play dumb." Rachel said, shaking her head. "It's pretty obvious you're trying to get with Luke. I figured I'd warn you, so you could stop fooling yourself. "
Lorelai laughed, appalled. "Uh, excuse me? You call talking to him trying to 'get with' him? Sorry to say, honey, but the only one fooling themself is you."
Lorelai was really beginning to hate this girl. She seemed to think a lot of herself. Sure, Lorelai thought Luke was a sweet guy and cute, but she wasn't trying to 'get with' him. She barely knew him.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rachel asked defensively.
"To be honest, I could care less what you think of me. I'm not the one going around and sleeping with my boyfriends best friend. That, my dear, is you. The only one hurting themself is Luke. Why he would give some backstabbing bitch another chance is beyond me. But, hey, whatever. I barely know him, and yet, you walk up to me thinking you're all high and mighty telling me to back off of him when I'm not even near him."
"You listen you little bitch, this is my town. You stay away from me and you stay away from Luke." Rachel said, pointing a finger threateningly at Lorelai.
"Oh, I have no problem staying away from you. And, I'm here now, so accept that, because I'm not going anywhere." Lorelai stated in complete confidence.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Rachel said, starting to advance on her.
"Rachel!" a voice behind them called. "What the hell are you doing?"
Both girls turned to see Luke.
"Oh, hey hun. Nothing. I'm just having a little chat here with Lorelai." she said innocently.
"Uh huh. What are you telling her? To stay away from me? That we are back together?" Luke asked knowingly. "Why do you do this Rachel? Every time we break up you do this. You tell people to back off and then spread lies. I told you, we're over. For good this time. Just accept it."
Lorelai had stood their quietly, letting the two talk.
"Please," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "you'll change your mind."
"No, not this time. I'm serious. I'm done."
Rachel looked at Luke and then at Lorelai, turned on her heel, and stormed off. Lorelai looked away and Luke looked at the ground, shifting from foot to foot.
"I'm, uh, sorry about that. Rachel tends to get a little jealous." Luke said, breaking the silence.
"It's no problem. I can fend for myself. Sorry if we caused a scene."
"No, it wasn't you. She's the one who caused a scene. I just happened to witness it."
"Oh.. how much did you hear?"
"Um, somewhere around 'Why he would give some backstabbing bitch another chance is beyond me.'." he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just-" she began.
"It's fine." he cut her off. "You're right. I shouldn't keep going back to her. Although, I haven't since this last and final breakup."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's fine." he said.
Lorelai nodded. "Well, I better go. I have to get started on this project."
"Ok. See you at school tomorrow."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye."
Lorelai walked home, thinking about all that had just happened. Rachel could threaten her and confront her, but that wouldn't be enough to make Lorelai leave. If she wanted to play games, then fine be it by her.
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A/N: Ok, I know I made Rachel seem more evil than she actually is, but I hate her. All of this stuff is just something to get you through the beginning and onto the real part of the story. Hope you enjoyed this piece of nothinigness! lol
Next on A new home, a new life- tune in to find out!
