AN: In this chapter, there will be implied child abuse, so if this could be a trigger for you, please be careful and do what is best for you.

Luke POV

"Rory's missing. I got up late this morning, and I thought she had left for school, but the school just called me, and she never showed. Have you seen her?"

"Not since I left this morning, she was just getting up as I was leaving to open the diner, but give me a moment," I said into the phone. I placed it down on the counter, not hanging up, and walked over to the table where Babette and Miss Patty where sat, "Have either of you seen Rory today?"

Miss Patty shook her head, but Babette thought for a moment, "I saw her when she left for school a little before 8. I thought it was a bit early, but it's not unusual. Why?"

"She never showed up at school," I said shortly, already going back to the phone, "Babette saw her before 8 but nothing since. Can you leave work? I'll ask anyone who comes in, but you might want to start looking for her."

She was quiet for a long moment, "She's never skipped school before. Luke, I'm scared."

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me, "I know. See you soon?"

She hung up without a word, and I stared at the phone for a minute before putting it down. She's never done that before; her mind has got to be going a mile a minute. And mine is blank.

I served a few regulars and asked them if they had seen Rory, with a consistent no. Babette and Miss Patty had disappeared, telling me they were going to get the word out and tell people to come here if they had any information, but I felt helpless. I had no idea where she would be, and I had no idea how to support Lorelai, either.

The door opened, and I briefly spotted Lorelai heading into the Kim's house as someone I didn't recognise came in, "Coffee to go, please."

"Sure," I said, not bothering to ask about Rory; I knew everybody living in this town (and their families), so I didn't see the point. I sorted the coffee and passed it over, almost forgetting to charge the guy. He immediately vanished, and Lorelai came in, her eyes darting all over the place, looking for Rory.

"She's not here. Now sit down; Babette and Miss Patty are going door-to-door and telling anybody with information to come here. Running yourself ragged isn't going to help."

"No, coffee to go, I need to go home to see... maybe she left a note, or maybe she's called the landline and left a message, or," She was talking so fast she was tripping over her words, her whole body shaking.

"Lorelai, you need to breathe," I told her sternly, "Slow down and just think for a minute. Why would she skip school? Is she being bullied? Or is something else bothering her?"

She put her head in her hands, taking slow, shaky breaths. I walked around the counter and rubbed her back, focusing on her for a moment.

"Lorelai!" Came a familiar voice. Kirk.

"Not now, Kirk," I told him, glaring at him. Can't he tell something's wrong?

He stepped back, gulped, and then said, "I saw Rory this morning. She was getting on a bus."

"What bus? What time?" She asked, standing up.

"The number 19 at 8:15."

She nodded, "That goes to Hartford Bus Station... Okay, Luke, I need to make a phone call."

I nodded to Lorelai and turned back to Kirk, "Was she with anyone?"

He shook his head and I shooed him out as Lorelai started speaking, "I need to speak to Emily or Richard Gilmore, please."

Her parents.

"Is Rory there?" She shook her head with frustration, "Yes Mom, it's Lorelai, now tell me if Rory is there. I need to know."

Her shoulders sank, a tear slipping down her face, "I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Mom. My daughter is missing, and I need to find her."

She hung up the phone, "They haven't seen her. Which means she could be anywhere. I don't know what to do."

I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close, "She's a smart kid, she'll be okay."

Lorelai huffed, "She's also my kid, so if something goes wrong, she might be too stubborn to call."

Miss Patty poked her head in the door, "Did Kirk make it to you? Because..."

I cut her off, "He saw Rory get on the 8:15 bus to Hartford, we know. Anything else?"

She shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry. I'll let you know if I see or hear anything."

"Thanks," I said, and Lorelai smiled sadly at her.

The phone rang, so I kissed Lorelai's forehead before going around and answering it, "Hello?"

"Luke, it's me. Don't tell Mom."

I fought the urge to turn around and tell Lorelai, and said "Okay..." into the phone. I grabbed my pad and quickly scrawled 'its rory be quiet' and passed it to Lorelai. She gasped and then clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stay quiet.

"I know you're both probably going to be mad at me because I skipped school and stole some money from Mom's purse and turned off her alarm so she would be late, but I need you to come and get me. Please," Her voice broke as she finished what she was saying, which worried me even more.

"Where are you?" I asked, preparing to start writing her whereabouts down on another pad.

"I'm calling from a payphone outside of the South Station Bus Terminal in Boston," She admitted, and I furrowed my brow. Boston? Why would she go there? She dryly chuckled, "I came to see Dad. I wanted him to care about the fact I'm no longer in contact with him since he's no longer trying. All he's doing is calling Mom to ask for money – he doesn't even ask about me anymore."

She was now crying because of him, yet again. I sighed, "Is there somewhere you can wait for me inside?"

"Yeah, there's a waiting area in front of where you buy the tickets, just inside the centre."

"Okay, wait for me there. Do you want me to bring your mom?"

She sighed, "No, I'm not ready for the lecture. Do you mind coming alone?"

I smiled, "Of course not. I'll be as fast as I can, but I might be as much as 2 hours. But I promise that I'm coming, okay? Just go and sit down, I'll be there shortly."

I hung up and turned around to Lorelai, who still had her hand over her mouth, "She's in Boston."

A look of realisation came over her, "Christopher."

I nodded, "She's asked that you don't come. And you might want to check your purse, you should be missing some money."

I ran upstairs to find a map and grab a jacket, before heading downstairs. I looked at Lorelai who was pacing and getting antsy already, so I said, "Lorelai, you're going to spend the next few hours waitressing. It'll keep you busy and help me out."

She nodded, unsure of herself, "Okay... Thank you for doing this."

"I'd never refuse to help you or Rory, you know this," I told her, kissing her.

"It's one thing for you to say it, but it's another thing for you to actually follow through. Chris never followed through, so thank you for doing for her what Christopher should have been doing," I could hear in her voice how grateful she was. The tears in her eyes were no longer ones of fear, anger or sadness, "Call me when you're with her. Please."

"I will. I love you. See you in a few hours," I said, squeezing Lorelai's hand before leaving.

I broke multiple traffic laws during the 90-minute drive. I had to follow the map closely having never actually gone as far as Boston before. Still, I managed to get there sooner than anticipated. I parked across the street from the centre and walked straight in, looking around for Rory.

"Luke!"

I turned around in time for her to throw her arms around me, "I was so worried that you wouldn't come."

I stepped back and looked down at her; her eyes were puffy, her face was covered in red blotches and tears, there was blood leaking from her bottom lip and there was a large graze on her cheek. I knelt down since I could then be face to face with her, and said, "If you call me, I will be there. No matter what, okay. That's a promise."

She nodded, looking younger than her age, "Can we go home?"

"What happened to your face?" I asked, taking out a pack of tissues from my pocket and using one to dab at the wound.

She looked nervous and away from me for a moment before answering, "I tripped."

I knew she was clumsy and I would usually believe her, but I had a bad feeling about this, "You can tell me what happened, you know. I won't be angry with you."

"I tripped, honestly," She said, even though she couldn't look me in the eye as she said it, "Can we go now? Please."

"I need to call your mom," I told her, and she frowned.

"How mad is she?"

I laughed, "I don't know. She's spent most of today terrified, so she's probably going to yell at you a bit, but she'll also be happy that you're home and safe. Can I call her?"

She nodded, so I pulled out my cell and dialled hers, "I've got her. She has a bloody lip and she's quite upset, but she's safe."

"Can I talk to her?" She pleaded, sounding desperate to hear Rory's voice.

"Rory, do you want to speak to your mom?"

She hesitated, but nodded, so I handed over the phone and let them talk. Rory almost immediately burst into tears and explained some of what happened hearing her mom's voice. She explained how she had overheard Christopher on the answering machine yesterday asking for money, but not even asking about Rory. It had made her want to see him, just to see if he cared at all. She wanted to know for sure. Apparently, the first thing he said when he saw her was 'did your mother send the money with you' and lacked interest after that and told her to leave. He didn't even care about the fact she was a 10-year-old in an unfamiliar city.

I had a feeling that there was more to the story than she was letting on, but I wanted to talk to Lorelai face to face about it, rather than doing it over the phone. She eventually hung up and thanked me for letting her speak to her mom like it was a big deal.

"It's okay," I said, "Let's get you home."

AN: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I actually wrote it after writing chapter 3. I had decided to bank it for later as it would be a great twist and I finally got to use it. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Also, I'm not sorry for making you wait a week; I like routine so there's that and also if I posted it all in one hit, I'd get fewer reviews. It also means there's less pressure to write chapters quicker; at this point, I have all the way to 15 written giving me a little break and I can stay ahead of the schedule. Anyway, it didn't harm you to wait. Now, please review because this is my best chapter yet.