I think this is my longest chapter yet, and sadly, it comes bearing bad news. My computer contracted a virus last night, so until my beloved laptop received treatment (A.K.A. my step-dad fixes it), I do not know how often I will be able to update. I currently writing on safe mode with Internet, but it's killing my eyes since I'm using a word document 50 of the normal size. Oy vay!

This news is particularly sad, as this chapter contains my first "cliffie" as the lingo says. Anyway, in order to rectify the situation as much as I could, I added a few more sequences that were going to occur in the next chapter to tide you over. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15 – Unwelcome Visitors

When Lorelai woke up the next morning, she was surprised to see that Rory was not in her bed. Trying her best not to panic, she scoured the room for any sort of note. Once she found nothing, she abandoned her quest to remain calm and instead searched the house, yelling Rory's name as she rushed from room to room. After several hysterical phone calls to Rory's off cell phone, she decided that she needed a cup of coffee to collect herself. Reaching for the pot, an attached bright pink Hello Kitty note caught her eye and she sighed in relief.

Mom,

I went to Jess. I'll fill you in on the details later. Go to work, you'll feel better!

Love,

Rory

Mentally reminding herself to leave Rory a message telling her not to listen to the several frantic messages she had left before, Lorelai sat at the kitchen table and quietly sipped her coffee. It tasted bitter compared to Luke's, but she knew that she couldn't have his coffee right now. He was gone and had been for five whole days. Lorelai knew it was dramatic, but these five days had felt like forever. She knew the time apart was necessary to start over again, but she missed him desperately.

Rory had done her best to entertain her in order to keep her mind off Luke's departure and her impending visit to Christopher. However, it hadn't been enough. Every second she was alone, Luke's hurt face filled her mind and she thought of the terrible things that had happened in the last six months. And the thought of her visit to Christopher caused knots in her stomach. She knew that his reaction, no matter what it was, would not be good.

Luke's face filled her thoughts again, and she reminded herself of why the time spent apart between her and Luke was so important. Both of them needed time to think so that they wouldn't make the same mistakes again. That's if he takes you back, she worriedly told herself for the billionth time since she'd slept with Christopher. She knew some mistakes in a relationship were impossible to repair. She just hoped that this wasn't one of them.

Sighing, Lorelai pushed herself up from the table, ignoring the protests of her tired body. She had to get ready for work. Rory was right. She'd feel better once she actually forced herself to go. Furthermore, she hadn't showed up at the Dragonfly several days, which was unlike her. She had told Sookie and Michel that it was Rory's return to town, but mostly she just didn't want to face anyone when she was feeling so alone and miserable.

But today she would have to go back. Sadly, the world didn't stop just because she and Luke Danes were struggling to make things work. Mine certainly does, she thought dryly, but the rest of the world didn't follow suit. It was time to face the music, or in this case, Sookie and Michel.

Arriving at the inn an hour later, Lorelai was greeted by an extremely fretful Sookie. "You're here! How are you? Are you okay? What's going on? Where have you been?" she fired the barrage of questions one after another, engulfing Lorelai in a close hug.

"I'm… surviving. Maybe not Gloria Gaynor surviving, but I'm okay," she replied weakly. For some reason, concerned questions and warm hugs made her want to sob, so she quickly pulled away. "How has everything been he—"

"Oh look, someone has finally decided to grace us with her presence. Gee, I feel so lucky. It's like seeing the Queen," a snooty French voice interrupted.

Smiling, Lorelai turned to face Michel, who was wearing a rather distinct scowl on his face. However, he didn't fool her for a second. He had missed her, even if it was only because no one else's retorts were as good as hers.

"Yes, well even the Queen has to face her subjects eventually. Of course, that part is in the fine print, but what can you do?" she returned with a shrug, feeling a little like her old self again.

He shot her a faint but real smile, and the two traded insults as Sookie ushered them into the kitchen. Upon entering Sookie's domain, Lorelai noticed that something felt and looked different.

"What's going on in here? I feel like I've walked into vegan heaven, which, let me tell you, is my personal version of hell."

Sookie's face turned red, and Michel sighed elaborately. "Oh please. Don't get her started. We'll miss Rory's graduation at her pace."

Ignoring Michel's jab, Sookie loudly launched into her story. "Do you remember that group of vegetarians that ate here a while back? The ones I had to prepare the special menu for? Well, I guess they did recommend my food to their friends, just like I said they—"

"And there she goes again. I'm going to go make myself useful since this is a job. Perhaps you two should do the same!" He clapped his hands together with sarcastic glee and quickly exited the kitchen.

Lorelai and Sookie smiled at each other as they watched Michel's departing figure. "It's good to be back," Lorelai announced more cheerfully than she was really feeling.

"It's good to have you back. How are things?" she asked delicately, glancing around to see who was listening. However, the kitchen was surprisingly empty.

"Things are complicated. Really complicated."

"Yeah, that's what you said on the phone when you called earlier. What happened?"

"Well, about a week ago, I asked Luke to elope with me."

"Oh, how romantic," Sookie cried gleefully. "Have you been on your honeymoon then?"

"No, I haven't been. And I'm glad you think so, but Saint Valentine didn't agree. I demanded that it was now or never. He felt like I was rushing. So I walked away, thinking that it was over."

"Oh my god! What happened next? Are you and Luke broken up then?"

"I'm not sure. That night I made a really big mistake." The tone of Lorelai's voice must have warned Sookie, because she suddenly wore a look of foreboding and intense disappointment.

"Lorelai, you didn't!" she cried.

Surprised, Lorelai responded, "Well, that depends on what you think I did."

"Did you go to Christopher?"

Lorelai suddenly felt very transparent, which made her feel sick to her stomach. Was it so obvious that she ran to Christopher whenever anything with someone else went wrong? Would everyone know the instant she admitted that she made a mistake that she had slept with Rory's father?

A lie rested at the tip of her tongue; it would be so easy to indignantly cry "of course not" and then berate Sookie for even imaging such a scenario. She could even see herself doing it while Sookie's apologetic face hovered in the background. But she couldn't do that. Sookie was her best friend and she deserved to know the truth. And what type of person she'd befriended, she noted unhappily.

"Yes," she whispered, hating herself. She stared impassively at the ground, unable to look at Sookie's face, knowing the negative emotions it would wear: sadness, disappointment, and frustration. Sookie had always ardently supported her and Luke's union; she'd known how long Luke had been waiting for it to happen. And now she's gone and messed it up, just like she'd done with Max.

"Oh Lorelai." Sookie's voice sounded extremely neutral given the circumstances, but Lorelai could detect the underlying sorrow and it ate away at her. Miserably, she wondered if all her choices in life would result in the disappointment or pain of someone important to her. Would she ever make a choice that made both herself and the people who mattered to her happy?

Raising her eyes, Lorelai watched as her best friend began pacing in front of the stove. Finally, she halted and stirred something that Lorelai assumed was a soup or sauce. She could tell that Sookie was examining the situation, rolling it over in her mind before she made any other response. After a moment, Sookie asked carefully, "Is that why Luke is gone?"

"Yes, he's gone fishing. He needed time to think."

"So you told him," Sookie said, her eyes shifting to Lorelai.

"Yes."

Sookie paused and Lorelai, knowing what question would follow, braced herself.

"How could you do this to Luke?"

The question was not foreign to her; she'd spent every single second since she'd awoken naked in Christopher's bed with it reverberating through her head. But hearing it issued from her best friend's mouth was a painful experience on another plane entirely.

No matter how hard Sookie tried to hide her emotions, this question fully demonstrated the disappointment and anger that she was feeling. And it made all the pain Lorelai had felt up until now seem like child's play. Suddenly, she was painfully aware of how her choices impacted other people. Before, she was only able to see their bearing on herself and her life, but Sookie's sad eyes made her quickly rethink that assumption.

Answering honestly, Lorelai said, "I don't know. But I feel horrible. I really do, Sookie. I hurt Luke beyond all reason. You should have seen his reaction. I'd never seen him so miserable in my life. And it kills me to know that I did that to him! But I can't take it back now! I want to, I do, but I can't! I'm not Michael J. Fox! And I don't know Christopher Lloyd!"

Sookie looked surprised at her outburst, but only comfortingly nodded. "He'll forgive you," she said soothingly. Lorelai knew that Sookie was trying to play the role of supportive best friend, even if it was killing her.

Lorelai sighed. "But what if he doesn't? What if he comes back and realizes he can't be with me after this?"

"Then you move on." Sookie's voice had become slightly colder, but Lorelai chose to ignore it.

"But I don't want to move on. Luke's the one, I know he is."

Sookie's eyes looked up at Lorelai doubtfully, as if asking 'how could you sleep with Christopher then?'. It broke her heart to see her best friend staring at her like that, but she knew that she had earned that disbelieving look. She'd ripped out the heart of the man she loved, stomped on it, and then flung it in his face for good measure. She deserved any anger that came her way as a result of her actions.

The two stood in an uncomfortable silence, Lorelai staring at the ground morosely while Sookie continued to shuffle around the kitchen, cooking. Lorelai could tell that Sookie was thinking very hard, and she wanted to know very badly what exactly what running through her head. She wondered if Sookie was rethinking their friendship, now that she'd seen just how horrible Lorelai could treat a person. She could only hope not. She needed to Sookie to be her rock.

"Lorelai, there is a man here to see you," Michel announced as he strode into the kitchen, unwittingly breaking the strange silence that had fallen between the two friends.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know. I am not your secretary, nor do I ever intend to be." He left as quickly as he had come, but Lorelai was glad for the distraction.

"Well, I better find out who is here to see me," she said awkwardly, waiting for some indication from Sookie that they would talk and fix things later. But her hopes were in vain, for she continued to move around the room in thought, vaguely nodding in Lorelai's direction.

Fleeing the kitchen, Lorelai inwardly thanked whomever it was that had shown up. That was, until she saw Christopher standing in reception area, his back facing her.

Clenching her fists, she briskly walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Christopher," she hissed. "What are you doing here?"

He turned in surprise, clearly not expecting her to approach him in anger. "Why haven't you answered my calls? I had to come here just to get a hold of you. You come to my house, you sleep with me, and you sneak out the minute my back is turned. Did you really think I wouldn't want to talk about it?"

A few startled guests began staring at the pair, eagerly listening. Lorelai grabbed Christopher's arm and dragged him into an empty pantry.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, unable to mask the anger in her voice. Seeing him was like a slap in the face, for each time she looked at him she recalled Luke's devastation at her confession. She had potentially ruined things with Luke forever, and this was her accomplice.

"I told you! I haven't been able to get a hold of you since that night. You haven't answered your cell or home phone. What's going on between us?"

"Nothing! Nothing is going on between us. I'm with Luke," she replied resolutely.

He stared at her, his face rapidly turning white. "But you slept with me, Lorelai. Doesn't that mean anything? How can you be with Luke if you had sex with me?"

"I was hurt and lonely. Frankly, I think you took advantage of that fact that I was so heartbroken!"

"Hey! You kissed ME! Not the other way around!"

"Oh please," she scoffed, anger rapidly rising in her chest. "How many drinks did I have, Christopher? How many shots were you eagerly pouring me?"

"I only wanted to help you feel better!" he shouted, his white face swiftly changing to bright shade of red.

"Well, congratulations! You only helped me make the biggest mistake of my life! I hope you're proud!" she spat.

"Is that the only role I'm ever going to get in your life, Lorelai? Your big mistake?" he screamed back.

Lorelai was sure her coworkers and the guests could hear them clearly, but she couldn't muster the concern to care anymore. She was too focused on letting Christopher know just how much damage he had done.

"Yes! The only thing you and I ever did right was create Rory! That's it! All of the other stuff was just a mistake! A mistake that I keep making over and over again because apparently I don't learn. But trust me buddy, I've learned my lesson this time. It's over!"

"What's over? There's nothing to be over because you and I have never even gotten it together! I should have known, the minute you uttered his name while we were making love. I should have just stopped everything right there. I was a damned fool to think that you and I could ever make this work." He stormed past her, and Lorelai felt tears rapidly pool in her eyes.

A few minutes later, a voice quietly murmured her name and enveloped her in a gentle hug. Crumbling in Sookie's arms, Lorelai cried her heart out, wondering how a relationship that had once seemed so rewarding had been reduced to nothing in only a week.

---

When Rory had woken up that morning, she had been surprised to find herself lying in Luke's bed. But as she recalled the events of the night before, she smiled softly to herself. She and Jess were really going to do this.

As she remembered her desire to resolve any lingering issues regarding her and Logan before anything between her and Jess occurred, Rory searched the apartment for her jacket. Digging her cell phone out of the jacket pocket, she pressed the number three button on the phone, reminding herself to replace Logan's number with Jess's when she had the chance.

The phone rang once, and then the answering machine picked up. She had to admit she was a little surprised. After his frantic and obsessive calling, she'd assumed that he'd answer her call on the first ring. Waiting for the familiar message, she recalled the time he'd made it but quickly shoved the memory from her mind.

"Hi, this is Logan Huntzburger's cell phone. If you are my father, someone else from my family, or any one who expects me to be responsible, I am currently working very hard right now and cannot come to the phone. If you are Rory, Colin, Finn, or any of my friends, I'm probably hung over so come over with some aspirin. Leave a message at the beep."

Bracing herself, Rory quickly said, "Hi Logan. It's Rory. Um, we need to talk. But I'm sure you knew that… well, call me. You know, so we can talk. Bye." Hanging up the phone, she thought of how stupid she'd sounded but decided to forget about it. It didn't matter anymore anyway.

She glanced at the kitchen table, where a note, a relatively warm cup of coffee, and a few donuts lay. Smiling, she picked up the note.

R,

Hey, I had to run the diner and thought you might be more comfortable in here. Come down when you're ready.

-J

P.S. You might want to brush your hair before you do though. You look terrible.

She stifled a laugh and moved toward the bathroom in order to see how bad the damage was. Looking into the mirror, she groaned loudly. Jess was right. She did look terrible. Rummaging through the drawer for a brush, Rory's fingers grasped a smooth square piece of paper. Curiously, she pulled the paper out of the drawer, revealing a picture.

She was surprised to see it was a picture of her, being held up by her mother and Luke. It was pretty old, she surmised, as she herself was sporting a tutu, long pigtails, and crooked teeth. Luke appeared as he always did, wearing the blue hat Lorelai had give him and a blue flannel, though he looked more clean shaven and had less lines under his eyes. Her mother was dressed slightly less stylish than she did now, but she still looked pretty good. All of three of them wore bright smiles.

Gently caressing the picture, Rory didn't hear the apartment door creak as someone opened it.

"Hey, what you got there?" Jess asked curiously as he pushed the bathroom door open, interrupting Rory's fond childhood memories involving Luke. Shyly, she handed Jess the picture.

Jess quickly held his surprise as he looked at the picture. It featured an adorable child Rory, and a younger looking version of both Luke and Lorelai. Suppressing his jealousy, he inquired as to where she had found it.

"It was hidden in the back of this drawer," she said triumphantly, pointing to the drawer in question.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "And why were you going through Luke's bathroom drawers?"

She blushed and swatted at him. "I needed a brush for my terrible hair," she retorted as she followed him into the kitchen.

"And how!" he joked. He hadn't slept yet and felt incredibly tired, but he'd needed to wait until Lane showed up for her shift in order to leave. After his encounter with Liz and then Rory, he'd felt a stroke of inspiration and had spent the entire morning until the diner opened scribbling several pages for his new book. But now, all he wanted was to crash.

"Hey!" she cried as she picked up a donut and promptly demolished it. He watched her with morbid fascination; her ability to consume mass amounts of food continued to amaze and horrify him. "So what do you want to do today?" she asked. He was surprised she could even talk; donut crumbles were falling out of her mouth.

"Uh, I am going to sleep. I don't know what you are going to do," he replied with a smirk.

She glanced at him in surprise. "You didn't sleep last night?"

"No, but you sure did. You snored too," he joked with frustration, wishing he were asleep already.

"Wow, you sure are friendly in the morning," she muttered.

"I just need to sleep," he said, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the bed longingly.

"Oh, okay…" she suddenly felt as though she was an unwelcome visitor. Last night had seemed so perfect, but now she was unsure of where they stood. Were they going out? She'd felt his light kiss the night before but he didn't know she knew. Shaking her head, she approached the door.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jess said, rushing over to her. "This isn't something you should worry about. I'm just tired," he reassured her.

With a smile on her face, Rory moved forward to hug him but he surprised her with a tender kiss on the lips. Melting into his arms, the kiss quickly evolved into a passionate embrace that caused them to stumble over chairs and into walls as they moved across the room. Falling back on the bed, Rory felt Jess's weight press against her as he fervently placed delicious kisses along her neck. It felt incredible, and she laid still, drinking in all of the sensations he was causing in her body. He shifted his lips toward her face and pressed them against her own, and Rory avidly kissed him back, fighting to control her overwhelming feelings. It never felt this good with Logan, even in the beginning, she thought, and suddenly her passion came crashing down.

The thought of Logan brought forth his face, causing guilt to form in the pit of her stomach. She tried to focus on Jess's kisses but the image of his face only grew stronger and the guilt more intense. Silently sighing, she forced herself to say, "Jess, stop. Please."

He pulled his lips away from hers, and Rory sighed regretfully. Staring at her with intense brown eyes, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… I just, I want to tie up some lose ends before—" she paused awkwardly, feeling like a ten year old afraid say the word sex. Finally, she settled on gesturing toward the two of them and saying, "this. And you didn't think it was going to happen here, did you? This is Luke's apartment."

He nodded thoughtfully, but she could tell he was still concerned. She watched him silently until a crease in his forehead caused her to question, "What?"

Smirking, he answered, "Déjà vu."

"Oh god," Rory mumbled as she recalled the night of Kyle's party.

"Did I ever apologize to you about that?" Jess asked quietly.

"I don't know, but you don't have to. That was so long ago. Really Jess, don't bother."

"I'm sorry."

Placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, she smiled. "I told you, don't bother. Anyway, I'm going to go the bookstore today. Andrew said he'd hire me for the summer again."

"You're the regular?" Jess asked, throwing an incredulous glance her way.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked Andrew if he needed help running the store for the summer, and he said only if his 'regular' didn't come through."

"Ha!" Rory stuck her tongue out and Jess groaned loudly. "Well, you should get some sleep. Once I handle some things, I think you might want all of your energy…" she let her words linger in the air and winked suggestively.

Instead of replying, Jess closed his eyes and sunk into the bed. She walked toward the door, and as she was exiting, she heard him call, "I'd recommend a nap this afternoon, Gilmore."

Laughing, Rory made her way to the bookstore, dreaming about Jess.

---

Pulling up to the house, Lorelai sighed in relief. She'd spent almost an hour and a half sobbing in the pantry, while Sookie soothingly whispered words of comfort. Michel had said nothing when he's caught the two of them in the pantry, which had been a surprise. However, the bigger surprise was when he'd returned a few minutes later with some coffee and a large chocolate bar, both of which Lorelai had consumed at Sookie's command.

After she'd finally finished crying, she'd collected her emotions and run the inn as though nothing had happened. Neither Sookie or Michel acted differently, but almost all of the guests and other workers had come up and asked if she was okay. She'd simply plastered a fake smile on her face and said that everything was fine and she was sorry if she had disturbed anyone.

Lost in her thoughts, Lorelai didn't notice the solitary figure sitting on the porch steps until she'd removed all of her things from her car.

Staring in surprise, she finally asked, "What are you doing here?"

Logan stood up to greet her. "I'm here to see Rory, of course."

Staring at him, Lorelai felt very angry, almost angrier than she'd felt when she'd seen Christopher at the inn. He had the audacity to stand on her porch, wanting to speak to Rory, after he'd unceremoniously dumped her like that? Rory had spent days after the break-up miserable, despite her budding relationship with Jess, and Lorelai had been the one to comfort her.

"God, what is it with today? Was there a memo that I missed? Monday is unwelcome visitors day in Stars Hollow! All ex-boyfriends or other unwanted members of society, please come visit. Are you hiding President Bush under your jacket? How about Gary Ridgeway? And I thought I was just seeing things when I saw Paris Hilton at the post office," she ranted.

Logan didn't respond to her sarcasm and instead watched her warily.

"Well, if Rory's not at the house, I don't know where she is."

"She's probably with Jess, isn't he?"

"Even if she is, that's none of your business. At least, not anymore." She crossed the lawn and brushed past him, jabbing her key angrily into the door.

"Look, I just need to talk to her. What I did was a huge mistake and I need to tell her."

"Yeah, you seem to make a lot of those. You and I should start a club," she said as she stepped through the front door.

Ignoring her comments, Logan simply said, "Can you tell me where to find her?"

"Try the diner. But don't be surprised if Rory isn't sobbing her heart out over you." She slammed the door in his face.

A/N: For any Bush supporters, I'm sorry if I offended you with the Bush comment. However, I feel that I am perfectly in line, as Lorelai has made a jab at the President on the show. Plus, I don't like him and it's my story. :) So ha. (Maturity is my strong point, as I'm sure you can tell.) The same goes for any Paris Hilton supporters.

Anyway, I hope you all like what I've done here. I didn't want to ignore the Christopher situation completely because that's not in character for him. He'll be coming back, though never as a romantic prospective for Lorelai. And I didn't want to take Logan out of the picture immediately because that just didn't seem realistic to me.

And I know I had a lot of sappy moments, but what can I say? I'm a sappy person!