Author's Note: Yeah I haven't done one of these in awhile because school is keeping me quite busy. I do hope you'll forgive me for that. I just wanted to let you all know that things are actually winding down in this fic. After all this time, When Hearts Collide will be complete after this chapter and two more after that. Yes, I guess I understand from your reviews that you've been wanting more drama again, but I have to say I'm a little surprised. I thought that after months of drama, you'd appareciate a little bit of fluff before the end, and I planned a happy ending all along. What other way to do it, right? Anyways, I'll do all my thanking in the next chapter and then the final chapter.
Friday Night Dinner
Lorelai pulls up in front of the house in the jeep. With the whole family coming to dinner, Luke's truck was deemed too small. Luke gets out of the jeep and opens the back to get Liam. April climbs out of the car carrying Olivia in her arms. But Lorelai still sits in the driver's seat, staring at the house. Luke opens the door. "Lorelai, come on," Luke says. Lorelai shakes her frowning. "Lorelai!"
"I can't. I don't want my last memory as a single daughter to be this, tonight. I can't imagine this going well," Lorelai complains. April gives Luke a worried look.
"Lorelai, get out. You're scaring April," Luke tells her. Lorelai gives Luke a pleading look. "Lorelai, I swear, you get out or I'm never ordering caffeinated coffee for the diner again!" Lorelai's eyes go wide. She instantly opens the car door and gets out, slamming it behind her.
"Here, I'll take her," Lorelai says, holding out her arms to April, who hands Olivia over. April gives the house a once over, slowly drawing in a deep breath. "You scared?" Lorelai whispers. April nods, wide-eyed. Lorelai puts her free arm around April comfortingly as they walk up to the door. "Still scared?" April nods again. "Aw, Hun…" Lorelai and Luke share a look, as Luke shakes his head in disappointment. "You know, when Rory was little and she was afraid to go inside my parents's house, I used to tell her fairytales to get her to agree to go inside."
"Fairytales?" April repeats. Lorelai nods, her eyes glittering. "And that worked?"
"She ate it up!" Lorelai responds.
"Oh." April swallows hard. "But aren't I a little old for fairytales?" she asks, looking up at Lorelai.
"Oh no, you're never too old for my fairytales!" Lorelai tells her.
"Lorelai, please make it G-rated," Luke warns. Lorelai laughs.
"Well of course!" Lorelai winks. She looks down at April. "You ready?" April nods. "Okay. Once upon a time there was this little girl with long dark hair and blue eyes."
"This wouldn't be you would it?" Luke wonders.
"Can it!" Lorelai snaps giving him a dirty look. She smiles back down at April. "She lived in this giant house with her parents. But she never saw them. They were too proper and the little girl – let's call her Belinda – she was not what you would call proper."
"Belinda?" Luke repeats.
"Belinda Carlisle," Lorelai responds.
"Ah."
"Who's…" April trails off as Luke shakes his head at her. Lorelai clears her throat turning the focus back on her.
"Anyways Belinda crept down the large staircase and snuck across the big front hall to find a door she had never really seen before. Belinda opened the door to find a huge winding staircase," Lorelai relays animatedly. "She slowly climbed the staircase, tiptoeing so that her Mary Janes didn't click on the floor. At the top of the stairs was this long narrow dusky hallway with two doors, one on either side. And Belinda paused, what door should she choose? Feeling the door to her left, she found it cold. Feeling the door to her right she found it warm. Knowing that cold always means bad, Belinda turned to her right and opened the door and instantly screamed and ran back down the hall, back down the stairs, back across the front hall, back up the large staircase and back into her room."
"What did she see in the room?" April asks.
"Her parents," Lorelai replies wickedly. "But they weren't human. You see she discovered that her parents were really snakes in human costumes."
"Snakes?" Luke repeats in disbelief.
"Yes, Burger Boy, snakes," Lorelai responds. "And Belinda decided never to go back up the winding staircase. She never went back to discover that in the other room was actually cases and cases of ice cream!" Lorelai smiles.
"Is this really a true story?" April asks Luke, who gives Lorelai a dirty look.
"You think that was a story that's not going to scare her from meeting your parents?" Luke asks Lorelai, who bites her lower lip and looks down, ashamed.
"What story did she tell?" Rory asks, walking up behind them.
"Hey Kid!" Lorelai exclaims, hugging Rory with her free arm. "It was the story with the snakes."
"And the room of ice cream?" Rory asks in disgust. Lorelai nods slowly.
"Bad choice?" Lorelai asks. Rory nods. "I could have told her the one about the singing star." Rory rolls her eyes.
"Let's just go in," Rory responds. Lorelai rings the doorbell. Emily opens the door.
"Lorelai and… come in," Emily stammers in response to realizing that there are more than two people on the other side of the door. She steps aside to allow Lorelai, Luke, April and Rory to enter. Emily stares at April for a moment. Luke and Lorelai share a look.
"Here, take the baby, babies make people smile," Lorelai says, trying to break the tension. She unloads Olivia into Emily's arms. Lorelai watches Emily hold Olivia uncomfortably, still seeming dazed by the amount of people in her foyer. "Obviously you are the exception to that rule as well," Lorelai notes. She glances down at April, who seems to have gone pale. She puts a comforting arm around April. "Mom, I'd like you to meet Luke's daughter, April. April, this is my mother, Nancy Reagan." She grins at Emily, who snaps out of her daze to glare at Lorelai. April looks up at Lorelai and gives her a small smile.
"Emily Gilmore, you may call me Emily," Emily says to April.
"It's nice to meet you Emily," April responds.
"Oh, would you like a tour?" Emily asks her.
"No she wouldn't," Lorelai answers quickly for April. Emily glares at Lorelai.
"Let the girl answer for herself. You are how old?" Emily questions April.
"Eleven?" April responds, nervously wondering how her age affects what comes next.
"You don't know?" Emily inquires snidely. Lorelai rolls her eyes.
"She's eleven." Lorelai looks down at April. "April, would you like to go a tour or would you like to go into the living room and sit next to your Dad and drink a glass of Coke?"
"Um, I'll go for the second choice," April responds. Lorelai nods and then nods at Emily.
"Fine," Emily says as if she couldn't care. "Follow me." Still carrying Olivia, Emily leads the group into the living room, where Richard stands by the minibar.
"Hi Dad," Lorelai greets him. "I'd like you to meet Luke's daughter, April. April this is my father, Richard." Emily rolls her eyes, settling herself into a chair.
"It's nice to meet you," April says politely. Luke winks at April.
"Soda?" Richard offers. April nods. "Rory, soda?"
"Yes, please," Rory accepts.
"So many people and you all arrived at the same time?" Richard asks in surprised.
"Well most of us came together. Everyone except Rory, but I think she's finally learned my timeliness," Lorelai explains.
"Or lateness," Rory mutters. Richard hands Rory and April sodas and Lorelai a martini and all the Gilmores and Danes's head over to the couches to sit. Richard sits on the opposite side of the room from Emily, neither looking in the other's direction. "Sorry I was late, I had to rush to finish an article before the deadline."
"You've had a lot of articles published in that paper of yours lately," Richard notes with pride.
"Oh only a few," Rory insists, blushing. "There was such a good response to my article on the Life and Death Brigade that I've been given such good spots ever since." Lorelai pats Rory's knee, proud of her eldest daughter. "Did you read that one?"
"Oh I did," Richard responds excitedly. "I remember hearing rumors of that club back when I was at Yale but I never really found any evidence that they exist. Truly amazing writing."
"You'll have to get me a copy," Emily snaps. Rory looks up sharply.
"Oh, uh, well Grampa can give you his," Rory suggests. She and Lorelai share a tense look.
"Don't worry, we'll get you one," Lorelai says, flinging her hand like it's no problem, her engagement ring sending light beams around the room.
"So, only one more week," Emily notes. Lorelai looks alarmed.
"For…?" Emily looks pointedly at Lorelai's ring. Lorelai follows her gaze. "Oh, right, yeah, only one more week!" Lorelai shakes her head, not understanding her own confusion. She looks over at Luke and smiles.
"You say that so lightly Lorelai, I'm amazed," Emily notes. Lorelai breaks her gaze with Luke to look over at Emily.
"Well I never cease to amaze," Lorelai quips.
"I'm just surprised is all. After so many attempts to get to this point, I'm just shocked that you're not worried that this time you may actually have to go through with it," Emily says. Lorelai arches an eyebrow.
"I'm not worried. I want to go through with it," Lorelai responds evenly. Emily snorts. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it's supposed to mean Lorelai? You've really worked hard at keeping a straight face this time, you've really become quite the little actress, you could give Greta Garbo a run for her money," Emily retorts.
"Don't you mean Elizabeth Taylor?" Lorelai responds snidely.
"No, Elizabeth Taylor actually got married all those times. Of course, like you, she never loved all those men," Emily comments. Lorelai takes a deep breath.
"Rory, please take April and the twins out of the room," Lorelai says somberly, not taking her eyes from Emily. Rory shares a look with Luke and walks over to take Olivia from Emily. She motions for April to follow her and Luke squeezes April's shoulder, handing Liam over before she leaves. "I know you find it hard to believe that after all this time, I can grow up. That I can mature and I didn't need your help to do it. But I did. I'm an adult now. I raised a daughter almost completely on my own. I got us a nice home. I opened a highly rated inn. And I fell in love with a wonderful man."
"That shows maturity?" Emily asks. Lorelai just stares back. "It proves nothing."
"What does it take to prove it to you!" Lorelai shouts, jumping to her feet. "I mean it, what does it take? Does it take me walking down the aisle? Does it take me paying for the twins to go to college on my own? Or does it take me paying for my own funeral when I die? What does it take? Tell me Mom, what does it take?"
"Don't raise your voice to me young lady," Emily snaps.
"I'm not a young lady Mother! I'm 36, that's what I'm trying to get through to you!" Lorelai cries.
"Lorelai, just…" Luke begins, reaching for her hand but she throws him off.
"No." She looks over at Luke. "No, we're getting this over with and we're doing this now. I'm not letting her ruin my wedding day." Luke nods. "Go check on the kids." Luke stands.
"You sure?" Luke makes sure, touching her elbow. Lorelai nods. "Okay." He glances at Richard, who eagerly follows him out of the room. Lorelai turns back to face Emily, her hands on her hips.
"Okay Mom, this is it, final showdown at the OK corral," Lorelai states.
"Lorelai, I don't want to argue with you. I'm tired. I'm old. I haven't the desire to take this verbal abuse from you tonight," Emily says tiredly. Lorelai huffs.
"Well you're going to have to because otherwise it's going to happen on October 17th and I want to have the perfect wedding day," Lorelai insists. Emily stands.
"In order to have the perfect wedding day, you would actually have to attend," Emily notes.
"You really think I'm going to do that? After all of this? The twins? The depression? The huge fight? You think after going though all of that I'm just going to walk away from him?"
"I really don't know Lorelai. You had no problem easily walking away from Max Medina when you were engaged and he was Rory's teacher. He could have provided for you," Emily notes.
"I didn't need him to provide for me. I needed to marry someone I loved and I didn't love him."
"But you agreed to marry him?" Emily asks. Lorelai sighs.
"One of my worse mistakes," Lorelai mutters.
"And then you break it off with Christopher, Rory's father, who could have given you a family."
"Mom!" Lorelai screams in shock. "I thought you were on my side about that!"
"You forced him. You cheated on him!" Emily exclaims.
"I cannot believe this!" Lorelai exclaims. "What happened to the whole, I'm sorry Lorelai, I should have protected you Lorelai?"
"I should have, but doesn't mean what happened wasn't mostly your fault!" Emily cries, enraged.
"He hit me! Christopher lifted his hands and hit me! He could have killed me!"
"If you were that upset by it, if you really felt it wasn't your fault, he would be out of your life. You would have cut him off like you once cut us off," Emily responds coldly.
"He's still Rory's father. I did it for her."
"I thought Luke had replaced him in that respect. I thought Luke was the perfect gentleman, everyone's savior, who came in on his big white horse saved you," Emily says snidely.
"Luke is. He's wonderful. And he's Rory's dad but we're both willing to let Rory have a relationship with Chris if that's what she wants. It's all up to her and I wanted to give her the freedom to make that decision."
"So now you think that everything's perfect because she's happy and Chris is happy and you've got your wonderful white knight dinerman."
"What happened to I just want to be your mother? Please open up to me Lorelai? What happened to I just want you to be happy? Or is that something else I can add to this list of sentences I can never believe came out of your mouth?" Lorelai spits out.
"I do want you to be happy. I just don't want you thinking that he's more than he is. He's just a simple man who runs a diner. Which means that he has time to take care of the kids and help you whenever you get into one of your crazy situations. Which means that he has nothing to offer you except life's simplicities which may seem wonderful but that's all there is." Lorelai scoffs.
"I can't believe…" Lorelai shakes her head in amazement. She looks up at Emily forlornly. "Luke can offer me the only thing I need from him, his love. He's the only man who's ever loved me in every way, for all of me, because of and in spite of my faults."
"Sounds lovely," Emily responds sarcastically.
"Well I don't really care what you think of Luke. Because I love him and he makes me happy. I'm going to be the one spending the rest of my life with him, not you."
"Thank God for that," Emily mutters.
"I just…" Lorelai sighs. "I just want you to be happy for me. I just want you to say you're proud of my life and mean it. I just want you to be my mother but you've never been, and it hurts. All I want is to come here and know that I'm not going to leave hurting from the comments thrown at me about how my life is a disaster. I just want you to love me for me and not wish that I could be Miss Perfect Socialite DAR Daughter."
"I'll never stop wishing you could have been that. You could have had more than you have, but you walked away from that. And I'll never stop wishing that hadn't happened," Emily responds. Lorelai takes a deep breath, both trying to breathe through the tension in the room. They stare at each other, the room standing still for a minute. Luke walks in.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Gilmore is complaining that the food is getting cold and I need to get April back to Anna's by 10," Luke interrupts. Emily and Lorelai share one last look before Lorelai turns around and smiles softly at Luke.
"Okay," Lorelai responds, relieved to be done with this.
"Fine," Emily says simply, brushing by Luke as she walks out.
"Mom," Lorelai calls, stopping Emily in her tracks. Emily slowly turns to look at Lorelai. "You should come to the party. My bachelorette party. I mean, you can come, if you want." She smiles softly. "Just call Sookie, she's making all the plans." Emily nods slowly.
"That sounds fine," Emily says, nicer than anything she's said in a little while. She nods to Luke and walks out. Luke walks over and takes Lorelai's hands in his. She takes a deep breath, slowly looking up into his eyes.
"Thank you," she says softly. Luke cocks his head, not understanding. "Thank you for being my white knight." Luke smiles softly.
"That's why you keep me around," he jokes. Lorelai throws her arms around his neck, laying her head against his chest. Luke wraps his arms around her waist.
"No, this is why I keep you around," she whispers holding tight to him.