AN: Nothing new on my front other than Ibet you didn't see that Max lying to Rory twist. Thanks for all the reviews.

Disclaimer: I once owned Gilmore Girls but I sold it for the world's rarest truffle; not worth it

Chapter 5: Maybe It Was My Fault

Lorelai got in late that night and was surprised to see Max up waiting for her.

"What are you still doing up?" Lorelai asked yawning.

"I was waiting up for you" Max said looking up from the book he was reading.

"That's sweet, you didn't have to do this" Lorelai said as she began to change.

"So how was the Booster Club meeting?" Max asked.

"I volunteered to host the next event at the inn meaning that I have to do all the work" Lorelai said sighing.

"That's good this should make the Headmaster see that you do want to be involved" Max said smiling.

"Are you sure this is o.k. because we won't be able to see as much of each other for a while" Lorelai said nervously.

"Don't worry about it besides then Rory and I can bond some more" Max said.

"That's great, I love you" Lorelai said hugging him and not noticing the evil smile on his face.

On the other side of town Luke was trying to talk with Jess.

"You are going to return the money you stole from Taylor and you are going to return Babette's gnome" Luke said trying to keep his cool.

Jess didn't say anything he just continued to smoke.

"And here you are taking the patch, gum, or whatever else you need, as long as you live here you will not smoke" Luke said almost shouting.

Jess just sat there reading his book until Luke went up to him and threw out his cigarette.

"Hey" Jess said getting annoyed.

"Too bad because you won't smoke any more" Luke said firmly.

"I'm going out" Jess said and before Luke could stop him he was gone.

'How can I get through to that kid?' Luke asked himself as he sat down on the inflatable bed.

The next morning Rory woke up wondering why one side of her face hurt before she remembered what happened last night.

Rory started to cry. 'Why would my parents do this to me?' Rory thought as she got out of bed to examine herself.

Over all her face didn't looked that bad. Yes it had bruised but not as bad as it could have been. It was just a little black and blue. A little bit of make-up could hide it very easily.

Rory got dressed and started putting make-up on. After about ten minutes she looked in the mirror.

'It looks like you could only tell it's bruised if you're looking for it' Rory thought as she went out to get some breakfast.

She walked out to the table to find her mom sitting there. 'How do I even talk to her' Rory thought as she made her way to the table.

"Hey, how'd you sleep last night?" Lorelai asked as Rory grabbed some Pop-Tarts.

"I slept fine" Rory said trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Did Max take good care of you last night?" Lorelai asked.

Rory froze 'What's that mean?' Rory asked herself fear running through her.

"He did take good care of me" Rory said truthfully. 'If last night was mom's idea then I was well taken care of' Rory thought.

"Rory we have to leave now" Max said walking out of the bedroom.

"This early, are you sure?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, I need to get work done and Rory you were telling me last night that you had to go in to work on the paper" Max said looking right at Rory.

"Thanks I almost forgot" Rory said in the most cheerful voice she could muster.

"Well you two have fun" Lorelai said.

Once Rory was in the car she felt her heart beating a mile a minute. 'What's he going to do to me?' she thought as they left Stars Hollow.

"I want you to act as normal as you can around your mother" Max said plainly not taking his eyes off the road.

When Rory didn't answer he continued. "You will do this because she still wants to be your friend and doesn't want things to change just because of this new punishment policy" Max explained.

"I'll do my best" Rory said weakly.

"You'll do better then that because if you don't…" Max trailed off giving her that stare again.

"I make sure I stay the same" Rory said quickly. As soon as she said that Max's eyes went back to the road. The rest of the ride went in silence.

Back in Stars Hollow Lorelai had gone to Luke's to get something to eat.

"Morning Luke" Lorelai said.

"Order now or you get a fat-free muffin" Luke said clearly annoyed.

"Pancakes with a side of bacon and coffee" Lorelai said quickly.

"You got it" Luke said putting the order in.

"Bad day?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes I was supposed to have help but it's still upstairs" Luke said getting very angry.

Just then Jess came down wearing a Metallica shirt.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"A shirt" Jess responded blankly.

"I can see that, you are not wearing that shirt to work" Luke said.

"Why not?" Jess asked annoyed with him.

"Because that is not a work shirt so go up and change" Luke said.

Jess sighed but still went upstairs to change.

Luke sighed, "So where's Rory today?" he asked just realizing that she wasn't with Lorelai.

"She had to go in and work on the paper you know how Paris is" Lorelai said.

"So how was that Booster Club last night?" Luke asked.

"I somehow volunteered to host the whole event" Lorelai said.

"That sucks" Luke replied.

"Yeah, but I was wondering, since we are doing a fashion show and it involves a raised walk way I was wondering if you could please build one for me?" Lorelai asked her eyes begging him for help.

Luke thought for a moment before answering. "I'll build you one I'll be there after the lunch rush to build it" Luke said.

"Thank you so much, now where's my food?" Lorelai asked in a demanding tone.

"Coming right up" Luke said.

School was hell for Rory the entire day she was afraid of getting close to someone in case they would see her bruise.

"Gilmore" Paris said walking up to her.

"Yes, Paris what do you want" Rory asked turning away from her.

"I need you to interview Mr. Medina" Paris said.

Rory froze she didn't want to do this.

"Why?" Rory asked although she already knew the answer.

"Because he was voted Teacher of The Year by students and I figured since he and your mom are involved you could really get to him" Paris said smugly knowing she was hitting a sensitive spot.

When Rory didn't answer she continued. "Of course if you don't want this I could give this cover story to someone else" Paris said.

"I'll do it" Rory said with no enthusiasm.

Rory met Max after school like always and they started heading home.

"Dad" Rory said nervously.

"Yes" Max said fake sweetness in his voice.

"I need to do an interview with you for the paper" Rory said quickly.

"That will be fine we can do it tonight" Max said with what sounded like sincere sweetness in his voice.

'Maybe I really did deserve it, Max doesn't seem abusive' Rory thought as they continued to drive. All through the ride home Rory felt her fear slowly decrease as she accepted that what happened last night was her fault.

When they finally did get back to Stars Hollow, Rory felt like her old self again.

"So would you like to do the interview now?" Rory asked.

"Yes, that would be fine just remember to call me Mr. Medina" Max said.

The interview went well Rory had gotten all the information she needed for her article.

A little while later Lorelai walked in.

"So how are my two favorite people?" she asked.

"We're fine, Rory just finished interviewing me for the paper" Max said.

"That's great, so how's pizza sound tonight?" Lorelai asked.

"Sounds good to me" Rory said.

"Me too" Max added in.

"So what do you want on it?" Lorelai asked picking up the phone.

"Everything on it" Rory said happily.

"Sounds fine to me" Max said a hint of annoyance in his voice.

A couple of hours later the pizza was gone and Lorelai had gone to bed leaving just Max and Rory still up.

"Thanks for the great interview you'll come across great in the paper" Rory said.

"I'm glad I just hope you do a good job writing it" Max said.

"Well I'm going to bed" Rory said heading for her room.

"Wait a minute" Max said getting up and edging closer to her.

"Yes?" Rory asked fear growing inside of her again.

"Goodnight" Max said hugging her.

Rory went to bed relieved. 'It was just a one time thing because I almost lost Max his job' Rory thought as she went to sleep.

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