Presenting … Lucas Danes?
By GilmoreGirl1979 (the Reigning Quote Queen)
Provider of Quality FAN FICTION
R/R: yes please I love reviews, I wanna marry them (as previously stated, I have strange passions.)
Friendly disclaimer: I REJECT ASP's/DR's REALITIES AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN! NO HARM NO SUE!
Dialogue borrowed from: 2.19 ... Teach Me Tonight
written by Amy Sherman...Palladino
directed by Steven Robman
&
2.20 ... Help Wanted
written by Allan Heinberg
directed by Chris Long
A/N: in my defense… I call Counselor PyramidHead316 forward:
"Given all these nuances about the episode, I think Debbie has chosen an interesting way of portraying it in this story. She's put her own unique twist on it and now there's far more at stake than in the series. At that point in time, Luke and Lorelai were just friends in the show. Here they're a couple on the verge of a break-up. ...It'll be very interesting to see what they have to go through …. Because while it won't be pleasant to watch, it will make for some excellent storytelling."
And in my own defense:
Look, if I try to change it now… the following chapters won't make any sense and you will have to wait even longer to know what's going to happen because I will have to fix things just because I'm making some of you just a little uncomfortable…I love you all, your angst is noted, but trust me… if have yet to let you down (okay so stars 20 was a bit of a rush job… but from here on…I'm devoted to quality, interesting, thought provoking fan fiction…and with any luck L/L will get married and live happily ever after where applicable just like we always wanted…okay?)
…… I use the LOST defense, everything happens for a reason.
Friendly disclaimer: the C word is in this chapter you have been warned. :o)
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Chapter 42:
…I Lost a Friend?
Rory suddenly heard birds chirping outside and opened her eyes to see a sunshine day out of her windows. For a minute Rory thought last night had just been a horrible nightmare, until she saw Christopher enter her room with a bed tray. "Morning, kiddo."
Rory sat up quickly, she then felt the cast on her arm, the mild pain in her bones. It was real; all of it had been real!
"I made breakfast in bed for the beautiful princess," Chris placed the bed tray in Rory's lap.
This wasn't right. Luke was supposed to make here breakfast. Rory recalled the images of her hallucination last night, of Chris and Lorelai together? Luke was supposed to share a bed with her mom, not Chris. "Have you been here all night?" Rory asked cautiously.
"Yeah, bunked on the couch so I could be here when you woke up," Chris kissed his daughter's forehead.
Rory frowned at the plate, "What's this?"
"Eggs, toast, bacon…"
"I'm not hungry," Rory pouted.
"Come on, kiddo, you gotta keep your strength up. Drink some milk it does a body good? Help mend those bones."
She scowled, "How did you find out?"
"Your mom called me."
Rory began to suspect that her father had made the furry thing scamper in front of the car to cause the accident, setting the whole thing up to suddenly requiring his presence in Stars Hollow. Scamper?... Scampers! Their dog!! Rory knew that couldn't be the case, it must have been some left over painkillers in her system. "So you just ride in? Like you're saving the day?" Rory said pointedly, "I can't believe this!"
Lorelai came into her daughter's bedroom with a plate of eggs and toast herself, "I know, the man knows how to make eggs, I was impressed myself."
Rory glared at her mother, "Where's Luke?"
Lorelai was put off guard by the question and evenly said, "Taking care of Jess."
"How was your date?" Rory asked, to remind both adults that Lorelai had a serious relationship.
"It was fine," Lorelai maintained, "…until we got your call."
Rory felt the appropriate amount of guilt, "Is he still coming to the movie tonight? Luke?"
"I don't know…but hey your dad is here to bond and hang out all day…" Lorelai enticed.
The look on Rory's face clearly told Chris that she didn't want him there.
"Hey, I'm going to see if I can call the insurance people," Chris excused himself.
"Come on, girlie, eat up."
Rory shoved the eggs away, "Luke's are fluffier."
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After a day of rest and movies with her parents, Rory insisted she was up for the Movie-In-The-Square to get away from being trapped in the house with Christopher, so there would be other people for her mother to interact with. Lorelai, Rory and Chris met Sookie in the Square. Sookie was puzzled by Christopher's presence too. When Rory saw Lane, she rushed to her best friend to tell her everything she had missed. "Lane!"
"Rory! I'm so glad you're okay. My mom and I saw your car and we immediately started a vigil. Oh my God! Let me see," Lane gingerly examined Rory's cast, "Oh, that sucks, that so sucks. Does it hurt?"
"Only when I remember how I got it," Rory said honestly.
"Okay. Here … angry girl for an angry arm," Lane puts a sticker on Rory's cast."
"Oh, cool! Thank you."
"You're welcome So, tell me what happened."
"Oh, Lane, it was horrible. I have never been involved in anything so horrible in my life. An animal ran out into the road and we swerved and we hit a pole, and my car – my beautiful car. . ."
"Have you talked to Dean?"
"No, he gets home in a few days."
"What are you gonna say?"
"I don't know."
"He's gonna freak."
"I know. Any word on Jess?" Rory asked with concern.
"No one's seen him since last night. This has been the buzz of the burg all day."
"Yeah, everyone is so upset right now. Now my dad's in town and something happened between Mom and Luke and she won't tell me what. I don't know, I hope they just need some time to cool off and then everything will be fine. Everyone just needs time."
"No one has seen Luke either."
"What?"
"The diner's been closed all day. The last report from Patty was that Luke marched Jess to the diner at about 10:15, last night."
Rory knew that wasn't a good sign, Luke never closed. Even if he wasn't around, there would always be Ben or Caesar to cover. This was serious. Christopher came up to the gabbing friends, "Hey Kiddo, can I get you your dose of sugar for the evening? My treat."
"I don't want anything," she said quickly.
Chris knew she meant to say, anything from you, "Okay, well why don't we take our seats? Your mom says the pre film short is going to start."
"I'll be there in a minute," Rory grumbled harshly.
Chris backed off; went back to Lorelai and Sookie, two he knew would enjoy his company.
"Okay I'm sensing some tension," Lane observed.
"Can I talk to you alone…"
"Yeah sure, sure," Lane agreed as Rory dragged her off to vent her concerns over Christopher saving the day.
Lorelai watched as Lane and Rory went away from the crowd conspiratorially. Suddenly Christopher appeared at her side, "Popcorn, red vines, milk dud?" he offered from a cardboard tray he was carrying.
"All of the above!" Lorelai said eagerly. When he sat down beside her, Lorelai whispered to Chris, "It's so nice you decided to stay for the movie. I sense Rory may need this time with you to… you know trust you again."
Chris knew exactly why Rory was so cold toward him and wasn't sure if visiting her and Lorelai more would really help. "I wish I could stay longer, but, I could maybe… come around more often. Looks like you two need protection. "
Lorelai smiled at Chris, "Coming around more sounds good."
Chris smiled back. It was an open invitation; he only hoped Rory would warm up to the idea. "So what is this pre show treat?"
"Just watch and be amazed at the creative ambitions of Kirk Gleason," Lorelai explained as Kirk's Short film debuted and horrified the inhabitants of Stars Hollow.
Rory came back to sit with her parents, not wanting to leave them alone for too long. Then she winced at the screen, "Oh my Lord. Kirk is taking his shirt off."
Lorelai scolded Christopher, "You forgot nachos."
"Shame on me."
" I'll be right back"
"I'll get em," Chris offered.
"No spend time with Rory, besides I think she's sick of my overbearing motherhood."
"The editor of this is terrible," Chris observed of Kirk's flick.
When Lorelai left, Rory leaned over and whispered harshly to her dad, "Don't think I don't know what you are doing!"
"What?" Chris shrugged.
"You think you can just swoop in while mom and Luke aren't talking and steal her away. It's not going to happen."
Chris finally got confirmation there was a fight between Luke and Lorelai regarding the car accident. "Rory, I thought nothing of the sort. Can't I be concerned that my only child was in a car wreck?"
"What makes you all of a sudden care now? You saw this as an opportunity to get to mom!"
"Rory, I'm here for you," he insisted.
"Then for me, please leave!"
"Rory."
"You aren't going to mess them up dad!"
"Looks like Luke already did the messing up," Chris said under his breath while he turned back to the screen to watch Kirk continue to dance without his shirt on.
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Lorelai was waiting for her nachos to be extra cheesed when she overheard Patty and Babette talking a few feet away.
"No!" Patty exclaimed.
"I swear to God!" Babette guaranteed.
"When?"
"Last night, not long after the accident happened, Luke walked him straight to the bus station, stuck the kid on a bus, he sent him home to his mom."
Lorelai tried to appear that she hadn't heard, but she knew exactly who they were talking about and was surprised.
"I can't believe Luke would send him off like that; he had been doing so well."
"What I can't believe was Luke was in a suit when he did it."
"A suit?" Patty questioned.
Lorelai blew out a breath and pictured the scene, Luke had sent Jess away for her. Things would be better now that Jess was gone. Luke and her would talk, they could make up and…
"Yeah, musta had a date with Lorelai. Look she's over there."
Patty quickly swatted Babette's hand down, "Don't point, dear, it's rude. And she might see you then know we are talking about her." Both biddies slyly looked at Lorelai and she pretended not to notice.
"Do you think we should ask her?" Babbette leaned into Patty.
"I don't know what's going on," then Patty gasped, "What if they broke up because of the accident?"
"And Lorelai is here with Rory's father," Babbette's tone was worried.
"I don't like the look of this," Patty said uneasy, "I mean they go through this traumatic event emotions are all over the place and suddenly Lorelai is with Christopher."
"Maybe Christopher came down just for Rory?" Babette said hopefully.
"Do you really believe that? With Lorelai in such a confused state….something's bound to happen between her and Christopher. Where is Luke?"
"Aw he never comes to these things anyway. All I know is that Jess is gone, the diner is closed and no one has seen Luke. "
No one has seen Luke? The diner was closed? All day? Lorelai's nachos came up, she stared at the greasy cheese and the jalapeño peppers and felt sick. Behind the vendor she saw the dark diner. She wanted to go over there and start their reconciliation, but if he was closed all day he probably needed time to himself. he had to send his only family away. They would talk tomorrow, things would be better in the morning. Lorelai looked at the nacho basket again, that nervous sick feeling persisted, so she took the basket and threw it in the trash not wanting to aggravate the knots in her stomach.
If Jess was gone everything should be okay. Her and Luke could talk, kiss and make up and everything could be the way it was before Jess ever came.
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Rory was happy when Chris had to go back to work and to Boston, Just stay there! Still Rory eyed her mother as they walked down the street together on their way to breakfast. "When are you going to tell me what happened between you and Luke? Was it bad? I mean, I'm sure it was bad, but how bad is bad?"
"It was nothing," Lorelai shrugged.
"Mom!" Rory droned, "Don't coddle me. Tell me the truth, it looked like he put a lot of effort into that evening…"
"Look, I was upset, he was upset, It's over now, we're fine."
Rory stopped in her tracks, "Over?"
"What?"
"You and Luke are over!" Rory said aghast.
"No, no, not over," Lorelai put a comforting arm around Rory, "We just.. we…we had a thing," she shrugged.
"A thing? you mean a fight?"
"No," Lorelai dismissed, "A tiny thing."
"A tiny thing?"
"A thinglet, if you will."
"You and Luke don't have thinglets very often."
"Oh no, Rory, everybody has thinglets, it's part of being a grown up and in a relationship. Like you and Dean and the picnic, that was a thinglet…right?"
"Well, what did Luke say? What did you say?"
"Rory, please." Not wanting to relive the words they had said. Their wonderful evening had gone painfully wrong… if only Lorelai hadn't answered her cell phone.
"Well, okay, fine, just answer me this – we are on our way to Luke's, right?"
"Right. "
"And when we get there, will we get in?"
"Of course we'll get in."
"Will we get served?"
"Yes."
"Will we get coffee?"
"Maybe."
"Refills?"
"Eventually."
"Free refills?"
"In about a month."
"Okay, the thinglet has grown into a thing. "
"Rory, Luke and I have fought before, God knows we'll fight again, but it's over," then she quickly amended, "the fight is over, and its history, Luke and I however will go on. You and I will go in, he'll be crabby, I'll be adorable, he'll forget everything and that, as they say, will be that."
"Okay," however it was clear from her tone Rory didn't trust the situation they now found themselves in.
Lorelai thought it was curious for a crowd to be outside the diner when everyone should have been inside enjoying their breakfasts. "Hey, is there a line?"
"Closed," Kirk answered still trying the door.
"What?"
"It's closed again," Kirk repeated in his monotone.
"Luke's is closed?" Lorelai betrayed how surprised he was.
"Luke's is never closed," Rory looked sharply at her mother.
"Are you sure it's closed?" Lorelai pushed her way to the front to try the door for herself.
"Well, first I read the sign and then I tried the door in case it was some sort of elaborate ruse."
"Designed to keep only you out?"
"There's precedent," Kirk explained.
Lorelai started at the hand written cardboard sign, "gone fishing," in Luke's angry penmanship, "Well, Luke's gone fishing." She said nonchalantly as she returned to her daughter's side, "I think that's great."
"It is?"
"Yeah. He works hard, he needed a break, and he took it. I think it's good, healthy."
Kirk complained, "For who? I have blood sugar issues. "
"You seem surprised Lorelai," Patty tested, "you as his girlfriend didn't know he was leaving town?"
"Patty, we are dating. We don't tell each other everything… we're not married."
"Mom ..."
"Don't."
"It's because..."
"No, it isn't."
Patty eyed the girls, "because of what."
"Nothing," Lorelai dismissed because of the crowd.
Rory pointed at the gone fishing sign again, "But he never ..."
"Well, now he did."
"But ..."
"Rory, he took a trip. Don't read anything into it. "
"It's because of the other night." Rory sulked. It's my fault.
Patty filled in, "because of the car accident?"
"No, it isn't," Lorelai defused, "And even if it is, it'll go away. Everything will be fine. "
Rory glared at her mother queen of denial.
Kirk turned back to them, "Speak for yourself. I left my wallet in there yesterday."
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"We should be eating, I'm hungry, this is crazy. Don't they want us eating? Isn't that what the point of The Hungry Diner is – to feed the hungry diner? Or is the point of The Hungry Diner to keep the hungry diner hungry, in which case they should call it The Eternally Hungry Diner 'cause you're not going to get any food here, loser." Lorelai and Rory had to find and alternate source of Breakfast. like a mirage in the desert, the Hungry Diner miraculously appeared and Lorelai and Rory felt as though they were in some sort of twilight episode.
The waitress came up for their order, "Can I bring you some coffee to start?"
"To start and finish."
"Need a little pick me up?" the waitress tried to joke.
Lorelai, however, wasn't in the mood, "Do I!" I haven't had sex since... I can't remember... it wasn't that long ago was it? ... I know it was with…Luke.
"Back in a jif!" the waitress sang.
"Ugh," Lorelai was nauseated just over the sugary tone, "Okay, when she comes back, we're going to grab her and hold her down and you tell her really ugly things about the world."
"Why don't you get your daughter to help you out with your evil plan?"
The waitress brought their coffee, and again something was terribly wrong, "Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry."
"Yes, Sweetie?"
"What are the tiny cups for?"
"They're coffee cups, they're for coffee."
"What, are you running out or something?" Lorelai laughed.
"I'm sorry?"
"Never mind. Listen, we are very sleepy this morning, so would you happen to have something in a larger size, say a mug, a tureen, a small bowl of some kind?""A coffee bowl?"
"Yes, a coffee bowl."
"Bring two, please."
"We don't have coffee bowls, I'm sorry."
"Okay, well, then could you could you leave the pot?"
"Mam I have other customers."
"There are like fifty open tables, serve them decaf they'll never know, you'll be doing them a favor…" Lorelai took the pot out of her hands, "do you know what this stuff does to your central nervous system?"
The waitress just walked away dumbfounded over what just happened.
"Jeez," Lorelai grumbled, "I'm the one who's going to be getting carpal tunnel syndrome from refilling these tiny things over and over again." Lorelai and Rory picked up their respective cups, "Well, looks like coffee, smells like coffee. . ."
Rory took a sip and made a face, "The comparison stops there!"
Lorelai still tried it and her nausea doubled, "UGH, This sucks." Lorelai was in no mood for this. The perky, overly sweet waitresses' sense of humor, the fifty open tables and now the teeny tiny cups of z grade coffee.
"Just put a lot of stuff in there so you can't taste it."
"How am I gonna fit my three sugars into Barbie's Malibu dream cup here? It'll be all sugar and no coffee."
"You may prefer it that way."
Lorelai sulked. She missed Luke. She missed his dry humor, his sarcastic comments, his huge coffee filled to the brim with his special brew. She missed his eyes gazing over her ensemble for the day; she missed his rough stubble from their hello kiss. She wanted his Lorelai breakfast special with extra bacon.
"Mom, I need to ask you a favor."
Lorelai was still distracted, "Hmm?"
"I need you to get me out of Friday night dinner.
"Oh, Rory. Why not ask me to part the red sea, because believe me that would be easier."
"Well, we haven't told Grandma about the accident and I think she'll start asking questions when she seems this big blue thing," rory held up her cast. "I know it will be hard and uncomfortable but… at least you have more time. I have to find a way to tell Dean everything and if I'm not there the second he gets home then someone else is going tell him about the accident and the car and then that would be…"
" Horrible."
"Yes. And well maybe we could have time to you know spend together and heal or talk or whenever needs to be done."
"Sure, I hear ya, some intensive alone time. Are you sure you should be telling your mom this?"
"Eww, MOM!"
"Make things right with Dean," at least one of us can, "I think of some way to hide the cast factor from Grandma."
"I really appreciate this."
"Hmm, what would be a good 'why Rory's wearing a cast' story. Oh I know…Bees; Really big bees."
"Huh. Well, it's good you've got the extra time.
"Yeah, it is."
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Rory felt sick. She was sitting on the porch of the Forrester home, waiting for Dean to return. She had written out everything she wanted to say, mildly thankful that it was her left hand that got injured. She was nervous and anxious over the fate of Luke and Lorelai, of her father's lurking about, and of Dean's reaction to the events while he was out of town.
The family SUV pulled up and the family started to pile out. Dean's dad gathered some of the bags while Claire and Dean's mom went inside. "Hi Rory," Claire smiled.
"Hey."
Dean came up to kiss Rory, "Hey," but when he took her hand he noticed her cast, "What happened? What'd you do to your arm?"
Rory gave Dean an envelope with her uninjured arm, "Here."
"What is this?"
"Just read it. Please," she begged.
"What – Rory, what's going on? Tell me how you hurt your arm."
"It's all in the letter. Please Dean."
Dean started to read, Dean, I love you more than anything, and smiled, "Well, I love you, too."
"Good – now just hold onto that feeling for a minute."
"Why?"
"Just keep reading."
"All right, I'm reading." Dean went on to read, …which is why it's hard for me to tell you that I was in a car accident….for a few more lines and then exclaimed, "What?"
"Keep going," Rory winced.
So he did, … the beautiful car you built for me was completely totaled…"What?"
"Turn it over."
…Jess was driving my car ….Then he let out the biggest, "What!" of all.
"Believe it or not, it gets better at the end. I'll just stand here until you get there."
Dean read and finished the letter, he shifted his weight from foot to foot for a minute, absorbing the information, "Is he really gone?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Dean swallowed, he almost didn't want to ask why she was out with Jess to begin with, but he was afraid of the answer, "You want to come in? You can stay for dinner; my mom's reheating a roast. You like roast, right?"
"Um, yeah, I like roast."
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When Rory got home, Lorelai had been waiting up for detail, although Rory suspected that Lorelai was wallowing over Luke. it was clear that Lorelai hated not knowing exactly where he was or what he was thinking. "So what happened give me the details!!" Lorelai smiled anxiously, putting the ice cream back in the freezer.
"Can you help me wrap my cast; I want to take a shower."
"That bad?"
"Actually no," Rory went to her room, undressed, and got into her robe while she hollered to her mother in the kitchen, " he saw me and immediately asked what happened to my arm, he read the letter, was upset for a little bit but after hearing Jess had left, he felt better and I stayed for dinner…" Rory came out in to the kitchen and her mother was ready with a plastic bag to wrap Rory's arm and protect it from the shower.
"And then what?" Lorelai asked as she taped the loose end of the plastic bag down.
"And then we just watched TV."
"Oh, you mean you 'watched TV.'" She used the air quotes, "Sweetie."
"His little sister was there," Rory scoffed.
"Oh, so you watched TV . . . go on."
"And then he walked me home."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Did he kiss you goodnight?"
"Yup."
"But he didn't ask about the other night at all?"
"Nope."
"Didn't ask about the car?"
"Not once."
"And Jess?"
"He just asked if he was really gone and that was it."
"Wow."
"I thought he would yell and scream. I thought he would want to break up – instead, he gave me his corn."
"He did? When?"
"At dinner."
"Oh, so you were already eating. It wasn't just an out of the blue, 'And I give you my corn.' Okay, got it."
"Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet, maybe he'll be mad tomorrow."
"Maybe Dean is even more terrific than we thought he was."
"It's not covering the whole cast."
"Relax, I'm not done," she pulled out a box of Saran wrap.
"Do you really think he's okay with it?"
"Sounds like it."
"If the situation were reversed, I don't think I'd be okay with it."
"If the situation was reversed, I don't think Dean would've let Jess drive his car."
"I guess I should just be grateful then?"
"Grateful, absolutely. Okay, I'm finished – what do you think of that?"
"If we were gazelles, we'd be the first ones eaten at the watering hole."
"Well, be thankful we're not gazelles. Now go take your shower. You're starting to look like you're starring in an independent film."
Rory started to leave the kitchen, but Lorelai called to her, "Hey?"
"Yeah?"
"Dean knows ya, hon. He knows you wouldn't do anything to hurt him, he gets it. So, you're lucky, just focus on that. Jess is gone, now you guys can start over."
"Okay."
"And, uh, hey, even though the box says it's safe, I want you to keep your arm out of the microwave for at least a week."
Rory chuckled off to her shower while Lorelai continued to sulk at the table, mulling over her little speech. "Dean knows ya, hon. He knows you wouldn't do anything to hurt him, he gets it. So, you're lucky, just focus on that. Jess is gone, now you guys can start over." Lorelai went back to the fridge and pulled the ice cream back out. She only hoped that Luke knew her just as well; that he would know she didn't mean all those things that flew out of her mouth. That Luke would come back and they could start over too. Where was he? Where would he have gone? She yelled for him to "go to hell" she didn't actually mean it; it was just a figure of speech. Lorelai huffed as she drove her spoon into the Chunky Monkey again. If Luke didn't return soon she would be a chunky monkey without a boyfriend.
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It had been four days since the accident, four days since Jess was shipped off, and four days since anyone heard anything from Luke. Lorelai hated not talking to Luke, not knowing what he was up to, not know what they as a couple were up to. She wouldn't even drink coffee during this time because it made her think of him, and any other coffee was inferior anyway, so why bother. Even now with a town meeting about to start it wouldn't be the same without Luke beside her to stand up and start objecting to something Taylor wanted to do to shanghai the town into another ridiculous festival to promote tourism.
If she could just reach Luke, talk to him. Somehow, she knew she could make things right again.
Taylor came into the meeting with a bang of his gavel, "I call this meeting to order. First order of business, Luke's still missing if anyone's interested," It was clear that Taylor was agitated.
Everything stopped in Lorelai's mind at the mere mention of Luke's name. Rory nudged her mother, anxiously, it was as obvious the teen was still very worried about Luke too. Lorelai sighed, tried to hide behind reading her fashion article, but found herself intently listening to any information in Taylor's rant and not absorbing appropriate skirt length for the summer season.
"Isn't that just always the way. With our tourism season starting, and he's been there opening and closing that diner like clockwork for years and now when he all of a sudden just decides to leave town, for an undetermined amount of time. His business is right in the center of town, now how will that look when Joe and Suzy tourist come through here and …"
Lorelai couldn't keep quiet, she had questions just like everyone else, "Undetermined!" she said indignantly, "He didn't say anything to anyone?"
"Why no, Lorelai," Taylor countered as if she was child, "We assumed you would be able to answer the questions since you are the presumed girlfriend."
"He didn't say anything about leaving to me, Taylor."
"Uh huh, and what about Rory's dreadful car accident the other night?" Taylor led on, leaning on his podium, resting his chin on his hand, waiting for the juicy details Lorelai was about to share, "That didn't spur Luke's departure? Maybe some words you two had out?"
It was clear this meeting was call to have Lorelai recount every detail of their fight for the entertainment and curiosity of the townsfolk. Lorelai saw how everyone was eagerly waiting for the story. Lorelai on the spot lied, "Luke and I, which is we agreed that we would take the time to… to tend to our respective teens."
Babette chimed in, "We saw how he took care of Jess, threw him on a bus then high-tailed it out of town himself!"The whispers and murmurs started up again.
"Now now, pipe down people," Taylor wanted clarified, "You mean you two are still together?"
"Yes," Lorelai said, "of course."
"You sound unsure," Taylor scrutinized.
"I am sure," Lorelai insisted.
"You don't sound it; People do you realize the how this high profile relationship could affect our economy? The summer season is upon us, tourist coming through town, the townsfolk divided over whose side to be on in this little lover's quarrel."
Lorelai nervously laughed, "Taylor you are really blowing this out of proportion… there's no need to pick sides."
Taylor continued as if he hadn't heard Lorelai, "…And what of Rory…" Taylor grandly gestured to the obvious victim in this little love tragedy. "Just look at that arm! Does it hurt, Rory?"
"No, not much," she shook her head.
"Well, I hope you're not getting addicted to painkillers like those Hollywood people do."
"Um, I'm not, don't worry," Rory shifted uncomfortably.
"Good, because pain is your body's way of saying 'I'm not okay now, but I will be soon.'"
"I will remember that."
"You don't want to shut your body up too soon. That's called death," and there was another murmur from the crowd agreeing with Taylor's death assessment, even though he wasn't a doctor.
"Right. Well um I'm sorry I made everyone worry," Rory apologized to the crowd.
"Well, it wasn't your fault. That Jess was driving her car. Now I never thought I'd say this, but I support and agree with Luke's decision to banish him."
Patty droned, "That's a strong word?"
Rory tried to defend Jess, "…But Jess called the ambulance…and the…" however she was drowned out.
"That boy is a walking natural disaster; they should name a tornado after him."
"Taylor, be fair," Patty defended, "The pranks had stopped for months now."
Babette piped in, "He cleaned out my rain gutters, did a wonderful job."
"He what?" Lorelai was surprised.
"Aw yeah, I saw him working on yours and it got me thinking about mine. He did a great job."
Andrew chimed in, "He help me clean up the book store, especially when I had to do inventory, he was a big help."
Others too shared some of Jess' lesser known good deeds around town, and both Gilmore girls were surprised.
"He really became one of us," the town troubadour agreed, who himself became part of the Hollow family a mere year ago.
"Well, obviously it's in his nature, remember what a wild child Liz Danes was," Taylor reminded, "Believe me. Chachi, and Chachi alone, will be held responsible for that incident, okay?"
Lorelai thought about Luke, about Jess, about the positive influence Luke was on Jess. Luke would always help Mrs. Cassini or Mrs. Thompson if they needed a handy man, much like he did for Lorelai before they were dating. Lorelai desperately wanted to talk to Luke. To make sure they were okay and could start again, she shouted, the urgency evident in her voice, "If Luke is fishing… where would he go?"
"His father's old cabin, I suppose…" Miss Patty mused.
"Okay," Lorelai started to hope, looking at her neighbors frantically, "Where is that? Does anyone know where that is?"
There was a murmur through the crowd but it was obvious no one knew. Luke still kept some of his cards close to the vest; Lorelai had never even heard him mention the cabin before.
"Oh, we don't know hon…" Patty voiced the consensus, "that man of yours is so mysterious."
"Huh, he is like the Unabomber," Lorelai casually commented, while wracking her brain if Luke had ever mentioned it before in their time together.
"Alright, well I would still like the business owner's association members to gather our complaints so we can present our grievances to Luke upon his return."
Lorelai sank in her chair, she began to wonder if he would ever return. If the words they said drove them apart… for good.
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"That was all God given talent"
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TBC….
A/N: part of my wallowing CD; the hits just keep on coming!
The loneliness within me
Takes a heavy toll
'Cause it burns as slow as whiskey through an empty aching soul
And the night is like a dagger
Long and cold and sharp
As I sit here on the front steps
Blowing smoke rings in the dark
I- --- know I must be going
'Cause loves already gone
And all I'm taking with me are the pieces of my heart
And all I'll leave are smoke rings in the dark
The rain falls where it wants to
The wind blows where it will
Everything on earth goes somewhere
But I swear we're standin' still
So I'm not going to wake you
I'll go easy on your heart
I'll just touch your face and drift away
Like smoke rings in the dark
R/R: PLEASE, I like to better myself. To quote The Princess Bride,
"...Remember this is for posterity ... so be honest."
Please be specific with R/R; name one (or as many as you can think of or want to mention…) At least one specific thing you liked
Please! It makes me feel good...inside (Dirty!)
Hence the Rant option below.
Insert Rant here V
A/N: if not completely satisfied with this chapter, please return unused portion for a full refund...