Chapter 4-One step forward,two steps backwards
Story:Certain Things About You
Chapter:One Step Forward,Two Steps Backwards
Author:JavaJunkieForever
Rating: T
Pairings: Luke/Lorelai,Rory/Jess,Emily/Richard.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore girls in any way,shape or form. No harm,no sue.
Chapter 4:One Step Forward,Two Steps Backwards.
"Hey Lor."
"Christopher." I blinked not believing the sight.
"Can I come in?" He asked nervously
"Sure why not?" I answered with fake nonchalance
As Chris walked into the room and sat down at the foot of the bed I,couldn't help but check how he had changed.
The last time I had seen him was when he was new dad at the hospital,perfectly delirious with happiness. His hair was all over the place,then,I noted. Now he was all..groomed. I didn't like it. That was a weird feeling. Before I used to love it when he looked groomed. But now..it felt weird..very weird.
"So..do you remember me?"
"Of course,Christopher." I said giving a small smile
"So any progress?" He asked tapping playfully on her head.
"Hey!" She swatted his hand "You do not touch the patient!"I said relieved we were slipping into our regular routine
Apparently he was too as he gave me his Christopher smile. I smiled at him. But it wasn't the same. 'Sure it is. It's Christopher!' I thought pushing away the bizarre thoughts floating in my mind. Just as I was going to say something the door swung open to showcase Rory coming in.
"So I had to beg,borrow AND steal to get some decent coffee. But this coffee is pretty pathetic. Practically decaf so should I try to sneak some coffee or the nurse's or.." Rory finally realised that someone else was there.
"Hey Ror."
"Dad. Can I talk to you? Outside." She said bluntly. Without waiting for him to answer,she pulled him up by the collar and out of the door.
Weird. Rory would usually squeal with happiness when she saw her dad. As she walked through the door Chris in tow I noticed a fat photo album sitting on the floor.
Cautiously I bent down,wincing at how heavy it was,and brought the album to my lap. I ran my fingers over it. It was soft and gave my fingers a frisson. I opened it up. On the front it said 'Lorelai Gilmore.2005-2007'
Thumbing through the pages a grin appeared at my lips. Did Rory do this? There were pictures of me at the dragonfly,at a wedding,at a Yale and just pictures of me looking silly.
I smiled at one which showed me sticking out my tongue at the camera. Then there was one of me with Rory. When I realised what we were doing at that moment I snorted with laughter. We both were doing 'duck faces'. Rory had sucked her cheeks and widened her lips. Her eyes looked criss crossed. I had furrowed my brows together and outed my lips out. We looked like the best of friends. On the top of the picture a small caption was written. It said 'I love you mom.' Smiling with tears welling up in my eyes I grabbed a pen and wrote above the words
"I love you,kid."
Meanwhile outside my little bubble World War Three,the father daughter version,was going on.
"I told you. Just stay from away from her! I asked you for one thing. Nothing else! I just asked you too leave her alone!" I yelled at my father furiously. As I yelled my father rubbed his bloodshot eyes looking conflicted.
Usually my friends describe me as calm and collected. But right now I felt like neither.
"Why Rory? This is perfect timing! Now we're both single! I'm here. I'm in." Christopher Hayden my father protested strongly.
"Dad." I said closing my eyes.
"I mean I thought you of all people would be happy. The mother and father getting together. The way it should be. The only way. We are meant for each other. I know it. You know it. And deep down you know it too!"
"Dad." My eyes opened fiercely and my words sharpened.
"Is because of that pathetic diner guy? Because if it is..."
"Dad!" I practically shouted. We locked eyes and my baby blue eyes turned darker. My dad started to shift his weight from one leg to another. That's what he always does when he's nervous.
My words cut through the uncomfortable silence. "Luke was a father to me. He took care of me and mom. When I was sick he was there. When mom didn't have enough money to pay for her food,he would give her food anyways. He blew up balloons and made a coffee cake for my sixteenth birthday. He was more a father than you. Actually the thing that I have always know is.." I lifted my head so that he could see me properly. "..you only came to see me because mom was included."
"Rory..no." He managed to say.
"Oh yes! It makes perfect sense! When you came to see me when I was sixteen you slept with mom. After that you came to my debutante ball of the sole purpose of making mom jealous. And after that you brought your girlfriend aka the mother to your child. Your only child. Well,the only one you care about." Tears started to well up in my eyes blurring my vision.
I took a deep breath and continued. "You then proceeded to yell at mom and then you crawled back to your Aramani when things with Sherry slowed down and she stopped being a faithful server to the O great Christopher Frances Hayden,oh perish the though,you tried to weasel your way back into mom's life. Then at Sookie's wedding we took a stupid pill and actually believed you." I gave a pitiful laugh.
"Dumb. We were dumb. Then you impregnated sherry and went back to her. Should I go on? We have a few more left!" I yelled at him not caring about the looks I was getting.
"Rory!" He pleaded. But I pretended like I didn't hear him.
"Then you burst into my grandparents house and start yelling at her when she should be yelling at you. And that day. I meant every word. And after you drag me and mom to the hospital to see GiGi being born you don't contact us for two years. Two years! And as soon as sherry got off the Demerol and realised what a mistake she made you came running to us. And then you tried to break mom and Luke up. And basically you screwed up. Damn dad you really screwed up and..."
His eyes turned fierce and he grabbed my hand hard,leaving his fingerprints on my wrist.
"Never raise your voice to your father again." He said seething at me
"Do what you want with me." I continued calmly. "But leave mom alone. Also.."
I closed my eyes and opened them again slowly. "You are not my father. You have never been my father and you will never be my father."
Releasing myself from his grasp,I walked aimlessly into the hospital crowd.
I clasp the coffee flask in the palms of my hands and take a sip of the dark liquid. I breathed in the heavily substance.
"Oh my Sookie." I looked at my best friend excited beyond belief.
"It's great isn't it?" Sookie gave me a mega watt smile
"This is the best coffee ever. How do you make it?"
"Oh I didn't." She answers,non plussed
"Where did you get it from then?" I asked taking larger sips of the coffee. "God this is great."
"Oh there's a diner in town. It's called Luke's and he has the second best food in town."
"Oh of course. Don't worry sook. You are a food god."
I drained the last remains of the coffee that settled down in the cup. I frowned at the empty cup.
"Where is this Luke's?"
"Oh it's the building with the sign that says William's hardware." Sookie said neutrally
"Tell Mia I'm taking my fifteen."
Sookie's eyes glinted slightly for an odd moment. "Okay Lorelai. Remember Kirk. Fear biter." She said as I walked towards the door.
As I walked towards the the inn's exit and walked towards the town in my blue puffer coat with a small beanie on my head I took a moment to look around town.
Recently I was busy. What with Rory starting middle school and my promotion at work to event planning at the inn I hadn't had time to just walk around stars hollow. It was lunch time. Most people were off to work or having lunch. Kids were in school so the streets were unusually quiet and barren. It was unusual but..quiet.
I walked mindlessly for about twenty minutes until I came across a building with a sign saying William's Hardware and Luke's plastered all over the window.
I opened the door. Unlike the quiet streets of stars hollow the diner was buzzing with activity. The smell of burgers and coffee greeted the air.
I yelled over the loud diner noise. "I need coffee! Stat!"
A guy in a blue flannel and a grey cap turned but before my gaze could meet his face the unspeakable happened.
I woke up.
I woke up in a cold sweat. I rubbed my temples in an attempt to grasp what just happened.
I had a flashback.
But a flashback to what exactly? I remember the inn and Sookie of course. I was thinking about Rory's middle school. So she must have been eleven,twelve. So I had a flashback when I was twenty seven or so. But that doesn't make any sense. I remember a guy in flannel and a baseball cap and the word William but other than that blanko. Nada. Fin. As a reflex I turned on the light and checked the time. 10:58 PM. Good Rory will still be awake.
I reach for the landline they set up and I automatically dialled Rory's Yale number. The phone began ringing. On the second ring Rory picked up,bugged.
"Hello and if this is Logan go to hell!"
"Well top of the morning to you too."
Her voice softened. "Mom. What are you doing up? You should be in bed."
"I am in bed technically." I joked
"Mom." She said in warning tone.
"Okay. I might have had a...a flashback." I blurted out.
Rory's voice turned very pitchy. "What? When?"
"Right now!" I said hands flying
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"Okay." I took a deep,nasal breath
"Okay so I was talking to Sookie and she gave me some coffee from the town. First I assumed it was Weston's but then I took a sip of that elixir of life and of course I realised it wasn't Weston's and then I asked Sookie where she got it from. She said from a place called Mike's diner or something. I finish the coffee and decide I want some more and I take my break. I walk from the inn to the building with the Williams Hardware sign and then I vaguely remember a guy in flannel but then blanko." I rambled.
Silence met the air.
"Rory?"
"Im just trying to make sense of it." She said in a strained voice.
I heard her taking a deep breath. "Okay." She said. "We used to go to a place where we got the best coffee and burgers. It was called..Luke's Diner." My daughter slips out reluctantly.
"Luke's! That's it!"
"Mom,maybe you should tell your doctor. I mean it's a flashback of some sorts. This is big. Huge." I could see her blue eyes widening at the concept of me retrieving my memory.
"In the is calling."
"Mom. It's eleven o clock."
"So?"
Rory gave a small chuckle. "Bye mom. Love you."
"Love you too kid."
As I hung up the phone and put the landline away I felt a jolt of excitement.
Tomorrow was thirtieth September and I was getting discharged from the hospital and going back to the hollow.
I really couldn't wait to see everyone and everything again. I give myself a small grin at the memory of miss Patty,Babette and the inn. Oh the inn. It's still open so I assume it's a success.
A success. The small grin turned to a huge one as I plopped down on the pillow.
I closed my eyes and tried to drift of to a peaceful,hopefully,dreamless sleep.
Sookie was never noted down as one of most calm people. Regularly she would freak out about the most basic things. Most people would describe as 'crazy' but she just told herself she had the soul of a little kid. But at this particular moment she didn't feel like a little kid. She felt like the nurse who gave people the bad news.
She shut her eyes remembering the feeling when the nurse told her "Sorry miss. Your mother has passed away."
She shook her head. She couldn't think about that right now. Right now she neede to talk to a certain flannel-wearing-blue-cap-wearing diner owner.
I crossed the road and took a deep breath. For Lorelai. I opened the diner's door to hear Luke's grumbling voice bellow. "We are closed!"
"Shut up Luke and listen." I said strongly. He looked taken aback by my bluntness.
"You know Lorelai is coming back tomorrow."
He seethed slightly "I am aware."
"I don't what exactly happened but what I do know is that you..the guy who protected Lorelai from guys like that became a guy like that!"
Luke looked absolutely inraged. He looked like he wanted to rip someone's head off. Namely mine. "What?!"
"You hurt her Luke." As soon as I said that a look of pain crossed Luke's face. "Why do you think she stayed at my house everyday? She couldn't bear to see her house because it would remind her of you. You stopped being in the relationship. And you didn't talk to her. You just stopped talking. And you didn't care who you hurt in the process. I never told anybody not even Jackson but when she stayed at our place I would hear her cries. And in my opinion that's a Christopher move."
Luke looked like I had slapped him. "I am not Christopher." He managed
"No but you're pretty damn close."
"Sookie."
"No Luke. Don't go on talking to her. We didn't tell her about you. A few days after the accident she asked Rory if she loved anyone. Rory told her everything about you except your name. And we plan on keeping it that way until Lorelai is actually okay. I know your breakup is the reason she had the accident. At least a fraction of it is. So just stay away from her. Far away Luke."
I quickly turned on my heel and rushed out of the diner leaving a dumbfounded Luke in the diner.
"Mom?" My frail voice came down from the stairs to the couch where my mom,Anna Nardini was seated while biting her lip furiously.
"Yeah kid?" My mom answered turned her head. "What's up?"
"When can I see Luke again? I kinda miss him and I missed our visit last week because of the swim meet."
My mom was never a good lier. "Oh soon." She said vaguely as her eyes started flickering.
"Mom." I said in a warning tone.
My mom heaved a huge sigh. "Look April. Luke and his fiancée Lorelai. Do you remember her?" I nodded. "They broke up and he needs some time. He's gone to New York with his sister and brother in law. A little vacation."
"Wait. He and Lorelai broke up?"
My mom nodded trying to look solemn but under the mask of that lay someone who was delirious with happiness. I ignored her,I was too shell shocked right now.
"Was it because of me?" I asked quietly. "I only met Lorelai the one time on my birthday but other than that nada. Did she hate me?"
"Look honey. I don't know Lorelai at all but she can't hate you. She's a bitch thought." My mom added the last sentence under her breath and my fists clenched at her slightly.
"I'm going to find out. One way or another." I said to my mother eyes like bullets.
Before my mother should respond I went up the stairs and to my room already formulating a plan.