Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Gilmore Girls they belong to their respective creators.
A/N: So, thanks for all the reviews! My muse has been on speed or something because he just won't leave me alone.
"Why does Luke have to like you so much," Lorelai whined.
Rory frowned, "Clearly we haven't done enough to bias him against anybody even related to our gene pool. Maybe you should have given him a wet willy, Mom."
"Maybe I'm just likable. Do they know I'm coming?"
Lorelai shrugged, "No."
"Evil," Buffy hissed. "You planned this, this totally takes the heat off you!"
Lorelai attempted to avoid the subject, "Why did Luke call you Bonnie at lunch—and give you tea?"
"Inside joke," Buffy smiled sweetly.
Rory rolled her eyes as she stood between the pair.
Lorelai pouted, "I want to be on the inside, tell me! Rory, do you know, tell Mommy, Sweetie."
"What," Rory asked. "I go to school, you spend more time with Buffy than I do. She goes to work with you! And how has Michel not killed her or you?"
Lorelai frowned, "I don't know. I guess that's just another mystery of the universe."
There was silence on the porch.
"So, should we knock," Lorelai asked hesitantly.
No one spoke. So Lorelai reached forward and did the dirty deed.
"Lorelai, Rory, so nice to see you—Buffy?"
Emily stood in the doorway in a rare state of discomposure.
"I didn't know you were coming," Emily spoke slowly, like she was downright confused.
"Spur of the moment thing," Buffy tried for a smile.
Emily nodded, "Well come in you three, I'll have the maid set another place." She turned to leave but paused, "Oh, and Rory, I want to hear all about Chilton."
"Of course, Grandma," Rory smiled tightly.
Marching forward, the threesome stepped into the sitting room, Richard was studying his newspaper.
"Rory, Lorelai," he folded his paper down. "Buffy, Emily did not tell me you would be here."
"That, Richard, is because I didn't know," Emily spoke dryly.
Richard smiled broadly, "Well, sit, sit. You're grandmother wants to hear all about Chilton, Rory."
Lorelai and Emily sat across from Rory and Richard, Buffy settled herself in one of the chairs closest to Lorelai. Buffy focused on the champagne flute that Emily had forced into her hand, the group chattered amicably—well mostly—for a few moments before anything was said of her own presence.
Richard set his paper on the arm of the sofa and rose, "Buffy with me."
He moved with a quickness not usually seen from him. They walked in silence to the garden where Richard set to fiddling with the shrubbery.
"How did you come to be here," he asked.
Buffy stiffened her spine, it was a gamble, "Mom kicked me out."
"Why?"
"Someone close to me died, I thought of her as my sister. I was going to go be with my friends, to comfort them, mom told me I couldn't. She told me that if I left the house, I couldn't come back," Buffy kept her voice even.
Richard snapped a flower off a branch and brought it to his nose, "And you left?"
"I had to, it was what right. I needed to say goodbye to Kendra," Buffy sniffed as a tear escaped her control. "We were already drifting apart, she, I think she blamed me for the divorce."
It was a partial fib.
"And so you left home, how long ago?"
Buffy frowned for a moment, "It was mid-may."
Richard's brow wrinkled in concentration, "Nearly four months on your own. You're so much like Lorelai, you aren't pregnant, are you?"
His question made Buffy giggle wetly, "No, not pregnant. And I don't think it's so bad to be like Aunt Lorelai, she's a survivor."
"Yes," Richard replied in a subdued tone. "Still, it was foolish of you to leave home alone, you could have called."
"I wasn't in a good place, and I left home pretty fast, just a duffle bag and some cash. I couldn't remember he number, so I just headed east. Aunt Lorelai threatened to send me home, I can't go back. I'm not that girl anymore."
"Joyce was always more like your grandmother than Lorelai, I remember it always being her way or no way—made Lorelai look like an angel at times."
Buffy clenched her fists, "Yeah, she's still like that. She never believed anything I said."
Richard nodded, "What about your schooling?"
"I'm going to study independently and earn my GED," Buffy told her grandfather.
"Why not go back to school, Chilton could always use another Gilmore," Richard spoke slowly.
"I don't think it's the right place for me, I need to do it on my own. Besides, I'd need my transcripts, and then mom would find out where I am, which I don't want."
"Very well," Richard drew Buffy into a small hug. "If you need anything, you ask me. I don't care if it's a car or a library card—which will be the first thing we get you. For Stars Hollow I assume, and of course you'll be tricked into coming to these dinners just like I am."
Buffy snickered, "Yeah."
Dinner had been half disastrous. Rory had been happy enough to expound on anything and everything Chilton. Emily and Richard had been happy to listen. Lorelai had taken pleasure in spiting her mother, and Emily and frowned disapprovingly at Buffy for minutes on end. Of course all 'good' things must come to an end. And it came, with a screaming match in the kitchen and Rory finding out exactly what the cost of her education was.
Richard was snoring lightly. Rory near tears. Buffy shook her head and took the roll of Lorelai's plate only to launch it gently across the table at Rory. It smacked the center of her forehead and fell into her lap.
"Hey," Rory exclaimed softly.
"Hey yourself. Don't listen," Buffy told the younger girl, nothing good could come of it.
"But it's my fault, it I wasn't going to Chilton, mom wouldn't be so upset," Rory shook her head.
"No," Buffy rose from her spot and moved around the table to crouch beside Rory's chair. "This is how they've always been, you know that. So snap out of it, or else I'll put bugs in your bed tonight."
The car ride home was silent, Buffy had been forced into the passenger seat, and the tension was palpable. As Lorelai hit the edge of town, Buffy unbuckled her seat belt.
"Pull over and let me out, I'm going to walk home, it's a beautiful night," Buffy smiled softly, it really was a beautiful night.
Lorelai looked about to reject the idea entirely but Buffy glanced purposefully at the back seat.
Lorelai pulled to a stop and frowned, "Be careful, you have your cell, right?"
Buffy nodded, "Don't wait up."
The taillights vanished into the darkness after a moment and Buffy started walking home. It was cool outside, cool enough to make her skin prickle. Taking the first steps were awkward, it had been a more than a week since she'd walked for any length in high heels, let alone a mini dress that seriously inhibited her leg movement. Pulling her hair out of the haphazard bun, Buffy shook herself from her head down to her toes.
It felt good. She walked like that, carefree, head tilted back so she could see the stars. The town was quiet and dark, it was late, all the shops were closed, people tucked away in their beds, safe and sound. Buffy walked in the middle of the road, swaying back and forth, she was really beginning to like this town.
Her only warning was her vision going white before some grabbed her hand and yanked. Buffy stumbled into a strong chest, and she watched in fleeting horror as a large SUV sped down the street. She could have been hit, she would have survived, but the slayer in her should have reacted.
"…you okay, maybe I should take you to the hospital," a warm, softly accented voice spoke.
Buffy shook her head and pushed herself backwards, stepping away from the support.
"I'm fine, thank you, I, you saved my life," Buffy looked up and froze, her lips parting in shock.
The man smiled, and reclaimed Buffy's hand, "Must be fate."
Buffy melted a little on the inside, not because of that really cheesy line, okay well maybe a little, but mostly it was the devil-may-care smile.
"Use that line on all the girls," Buffy asked, a smile of her own curling the edges of her lips.
"Naw, just the gorgeous ones when it's true, Anne," he smirked and guided Buffy to the side of the road.
Buffy winced, "It's Buffy, actually."
He didn't miss a beat, "It fits, Buffy, I'm still Lindsey."
Buffy chuckled lightly, Lindsey's own soft, throaty laughter joined hers.
"So Buffy, can I interest you in a cup of coffee," Lindsey asked as he backed up to lean against an old truck, his, Buffy guessed.
Buffy shook her head, cheeks flushing, "It's late, and this is a small town."
"That's a no, then. Alright, how 'bout a recommendation on where to stay?"
Buffy paused before nodding, "Sure, I'll show you the way."
Lindsey opened the driver's side door and helped Buffy up into the cab. She slid across the seat and Lindsey slid in next to her. It only took three minutes to reach the inn parking lot. Buffy jumped down from the truck and tipped her head at the door.
"Goodnight," Buffy bit her lip before turning to start her walk home.
"Wait," Lindsey called, catching her hand once again. "Come in and talk with me for a bit, I don't want you to go yet."
Buffy pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders, "Just for a few minutes."
Lindsey nodded eagerly and took Buffy's hand as he walked into the Independence inn. The pair got a few curious looks from the night manager, Tobin, but they were quickly upstairs standing more or less awkwardly, alone. Lindsey dropped his overnight bag on the bed.
"So what brings you to Stars Hollow," Lindsey asked as he started to unpack his bag.
Buffy fiddled with her hair, "Family, freedom."
Lindsey looked up and quirked an eyebrow, "Two things not often associated."
"Well I'm strange, the proof, I'm in a hotel room with a strange man," Buffy told him dryly.
Lindsey smirked, "A not so strange man who saved your life."
"Alright, so why are you in Stars Hollow," Buffy returned.
"You," Lindsey said bluntly.
"Oh," was all Buffy could say.
"A while back, I decided to move my practice to Hartford, and imagine my surprise last weeks when I passed an exit sign for Stars Hollow, a place I'd heard of from this beautiful blonde."
"Before you met me, right," Buffy almost pleaded.
"Before I met you," Lindsey confirmed.
"Good, I mean not good, I mean—," Buffy stuttered.
Lindsey cut her off with a gentle hand over her mouth, "I get it. So, how about that cup of coffee tomorrow?"
Buffy sighed, "We'll see, I should go, now."
Lindsey and Buffy smiled at each other, it was one of those hesitant, we're-both-acting-like-dorks smiles.
Buffy waved once and opened the door. Before she could slip out, Lindsey planted a single kiss on her cheek.
"Goodnight, Buffy."
"'Night, Lindsey."
Slipping the spare key into the lock, Buffy resisted the urge to giggle childishly. Lindsey, Cowboy Lindsey, was in Stars Hollow. Stalking was one thing, Fate, was an entirely other. He had saved her from becoming squished Buffy.
Her cell phone buzzed once, before stopping. Un-strapping it from her thigh, the screen gave her cause to pause.
One New Message
Hey all, so another chapter down! Spike will come up in the next chapter, and oh dear a new complication…Cowboy! Please review, thanks.