1 – Honey, that's an apple
Lorelai walked across the town square with a determined look on her face. She had to talk to him, needed to talk to him. She had been lying awake all night, going over everything that had happened in her mind.She finally had at last convinced herself that he really wanted to try to make things better, and if they could just talk about it, that maybe it would work. She could only hope that he would believe her when she told him that nothing had happened with Chris.
Taking a deep breath, Lorelai crossed the street and put her foot on the bottom flight of stairs in front of the diner. Only to find the 'Gone fishing' sign on the door. For a moment she just stared at it, and then its meaning started to sink in, and she slumped down on the stairs, tears starting to run down her face.
He'd left. He couldn't even bare to be in the same town as her, that was how much he hated her. And, really, could she blame him? Ignoring the fact that whoever walked by would see her, Lorelai buried her face in her hands and cried.
xxxxx
She wasn't crying when Rory found her in the exact same place, almost an hour later, having been called up by a worried Patty who had seen Lorelai from her dance studio. Instead she sat, staring into space, obviously seeing something completely different than the town square in front of her.
"Hey you." Rory said softly, sitting down beside her mother. "What are you doing up so early?"
Lorelai looked at her daughter, only then realizing she was there. The company of a friendly face made the tears start to run again.
"He's gone." She said simply. Rory glanced behind her to read the sign on the door to the diner.
"He just went fishing." She said, putting an arm around her mother's shoulders and carefully standing up, pulling Lorelai with her. "He'll be back in a few days. How about we go home, and I'll make you some breakfast, OK?"
Lorelai nodded, and obediently let Rory lead her through the town and back home.
xxxxx
But Rory had been wrong. Luke didn't return from his 'fishing trip' a few days later. In fact, almost two weeks had passed, and he still wasn't back.
Lorelai knew this, because every day, she would take the long way to the inn just so she would walk past the diner. Which was as closed as it could be.
xxxxx
It was Wednesday, ten days after Luke had left Stars Hollow, and Lorelai was running late for work. But she still took the route past the diner, because she still hoped, somewhere deep down, that today would be the day he came back. When she was half way across the town square, she looked across the street, searching for the ever present 'Gone fishing' signonly to find the door open and the diner full of people.
He's back, she thought to herself as she quickened her steps and almost ran across the street, up the stairs and into the diner.
"Luke?" She practically yelled, earning strange looks from the people eating. She scanned the room, looking for him, but instead, she found a sympathetic looking Lane behind the counter.
"He's not here, Lorelai." She said, tilting her head to one side in a compassionate way. "I'm sorry."
"But... but the diner... it's open..." Lorelai stammered. "He has to be here."
"I'm sorry." Lane repeated. She walked around the counter and pulled Lorelai with her to an empty table. "Luke called me last night and asked if Ceasar and I could run this place for a little while." She explained.
"He's not here?" Lorelai asked as realization dawned on her.
"No, he's not." Lane said. "Do you want me to call Rory?"
"No, no, I'm fine." Lorelai said, standing up. "I just... I have to go."
"Do you want some coffee?" Lane asked, but Lorelai just shook her head, and practically ran out of the diner.
"She didn't want coffee?" An astounished Patty said to no one in particular. "I don't think she has ever turned down the offer of coffee before."
"Maybe she's sick?" Babette suggested, and they both looked after the fast disappearing form of Lorelai through the window.
"Maybe..." Patty said, not sounding completely convinced.
xxxxx
"You're late!" Michel said in an annoyed voice as Lorelai rushed into the inn ten minutes later.
"I know." She replied, not giving the French man a second glance before she continued into the kitchen. She needed her Sookie.
"Hey, sweetie, I was just about to call you." Sookie said as Lorelai entered the kitchen. "Hey, what's wrong?" She continued, seeing the look on her best friends face. Lorelai slumped down at the counter.
"He's not coming back." She said, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Who's not coming back?" Sookie asked, but Lorelai just shook her head. "Hey, it's OK, sweetie." Sookie tried to sooth, wrapping her arms around Lorelai and rubbing her back as she cried.
A few minutes later, Lorelai pulled away, wiping her eyes.
"Thanks, Sook." She said, smiling weakly at her friend.
"Anytime, you know that." Sookie said, pulling up another stool and sitting down. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"I don't think Luke's coming back." Lorelai revealed, a few more tears escaping her eyes.
"What? Why?" Sookie frowned.
"I went by the diner today, like everyday, and it was open." Lorelai said. "So I hurried inside, because I thought he'd be there, but he wasn't. And then Lane told me that he had asked her and Ceasar to run the diner for a while."
"So he must be coming back, if he only asked them to keep it running for a while." Sookie reasoned, but Lorelai only shook her head.
"But what if that 'while' just keeps going, and he never comes back?" She asked.
"Oh, honey, I'm sure he'll be back." Sookie tried to comfort. "Just give him a couple of weeks."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Lorelai nodded. "Sorry I cried all over you."
"That's what friends are for." Sookie said, hopping off the stool. "You want me to make you some coffee?"
At the thought of coffee, Lorelai felt her insides rumble alarmingly, and for a moment she thought she was going to be sick.
"No, I'm fine." She replied, not noticing the shocked look Sookie was giving her. "Is there anything to eat, though, I didn't have any breakfast?"
"Check the fridge, I think there's some left over chocolate cake and brownies in there." Sookie said, getting back to what she had been doing beforeLorelai arrived, which was making breakfast for the guests.
Lorelai walked over to the large fridge and opened it, searching its contents for a moment. Finding something that looked appealing, she grabbed it and closed the door to the fridge again.
"So, how are we doing with the dinner menu for tonight?" She asked, turning to Sookie.
"Well, I've narrowed it down to three choices, but I'm still not..." Sookie cut herself off when she saw what Lorelai was eating. "Lorelai, honey, are you feeling OK?" She asked in a worried voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Lorelai asked, taking another bite.
"Because you just turned down coffee, which I don't think you've ever done in the sixteen years I've know you, and now you're eating an apple." Sookie said.
"What?" Lorelai said, looking down at what she was holding in her hand. It was indeed, as Sookie had just pointed out, an apple. And it tasted heavenly. Trying to sort through the thoughts that were currently racing through her brain, Lorelai sat back down at the counter A though hit her, and she froze, the apple half way to her mouth for another bite. "Oh no!" She said, reaching for her purse.
"What? What's 'Oh no'?" Sookie asked, not understanding what Lorelai was doing.
"Oh no! No, no, no." Lorelai repeated over and over again, flipping backwards through her calender, getting more and more desparate the further back she got. Then, finally, there it was, a tiny, black X on May eleventh. "Sookie, what day is it today?" She asked, dreading the answer.
"Wednesday, why?" Sookie asked, peeking over Lorelai's shoulder. "What was on May eleventh?"
"I mean what date is it?" Lorelai clearified.
"Oh. Well, since you apparently missed the fireworks all over town last night, it's July fifth." Sookie tried to joke, but Lorelai didn't notice.
"Oh God." She just said, dropping the calender on the counter and burying her face in her hands.
"Lorelai, what's wrong?" Sookie asked, sounding worried. "Honey, tell me
what's going on, you're freaking me out here."
"How could I let this happen again?" Lorelai asked no one in particular, looking up at Sookie.
"Let what happen again?" Sookie asked, looking from Lorelai to the dayplanner and then back again. Lorelai could almost see the wheels turning in her best friends mind, and then she got it. "Oh my God, you're..." She didn't finish the sentence, she didn't need to.
"It appears so." Lorelai said quietly.
"Well, it doesn't have to mean..." Sookie started. "I mean, stress can... and maybe you're just..."
"Sookie, I'm eating an apple." Lorelai cut her off. "Do you know when I last ate an apple?" Sookie shook her head. "The last time I ate an apple was... well, actually it was when Martha was born, but that's beside the point, which is that the last time I ate an apple was when I was pregnant with Rory."
"Oh." Was all Sookie said.
"Yeah, oh." Lorelai agreed. They sat in silence for a while, not noticing the people coming and going in the kitchen. Finally, Sookie spoke.
"What are you going to do?" She asked, and Lorelai shrugged.
"I guess I'll have to take a test, just to make sure." She said, knowing full well that it wasn't what Sookie had meant. "And I'll have to see a doctor, make sure everything's OK."
"I didn't mean that, honey, I meant... what are you going to do?" Sookie said, emphasizing the word do.
"I know what you meant, Sookie." Lorelai said in a tired voice. "I just... I don't know. I mean, what can I do, really, if he's not here?"
"Aren't you going to at least try to get a hold of him?" Sookie asked.
"Of course I will, when I find out for sure." Lorelai said, noticing that she'd used the word when and not if.
"Well, let's go find out. Right now." Sookie said, grabbing Lorelai's arm and pulling her down from the stool.
"What? Sookie, if you haven't noticed, we have an inn to run." Lorelai tried to argue, but Sookie just waved her hand in the air.
"Michel can manage without us for an hour or two." She said, dragging Lorelai out of the kitchen and through the foyer. "Michel, we're going out for a while, can you handle everything?" She called to Michel as they passed him.
"Why I put up with the two of you is beyond me." Michel complained.
"It's way beyond us to, sweetie." Sookie agreed with him. "So, you'll manage?"
"Fine. Go."
xxxxx
"OK, which one looks best?" Sookie asked half an hour later, as she and Lorelai stood in the Hartford CVS.
"I don't know... the pink one?" Lorelai suggested.
"You just like the color." Sookie said.
"You have to admit it's the prettiest." Lorelai argued, getting a raised eyebrow from her friend.
"Let's just take one of each." Sookie said, taking one of every pregnancy test on the shelf and putting it in the metal basket she was carrying.
"Sookie, there's, like ten, we don't need all of them." Lorelai tried, but Sookie just gave her a determined look.
"These things are only, what, 99 percent positive?" Sookie said. "Wouldn't taking more than one mean you can be more sure you get the correct result?"
"I'm not sure that actually made any sense, but fine, we'll take all of them." Lorelai agreed,too tired to argue with Sookie's somewhat confusing logic.
"Good." Sookie said, leading the way up to the cash register, where the girl behind the counter gave them a weird look.
"It's more accurate this way." Lorelai said, and the girl shrugged. "Why I let myself be seen with you in public is a mystery to me." Lorelai whispered in Sookie's ear, but Sookie just laughed.
xxxxx
"Are they done yet?" Lorelai asked, looking at her watch.
"I don't know, check the boxes." Sookie replied, picking up one of them. "This one's supposed to take fifteen minutes." She said, putting the test back down on the table in Lorelai's kitchen.
"This one is only two minutes." Lorelai said, looking at a plain, white box. "How long has it been?"
"Three minutes." Sookie replied, checking her watch. "Is it...?"
"I can't look." Lorelai said, putting the test back down. "Let's just wait til they're all done and look at them at once, OK?" She walked into the living room and Sookie followed, sitting down on the couch.
"OK." Sookie agreed, leaning back against the couch. "Where's Rory today? I thought school was over?"
"It is." Lorelai said, following Sookie's example and making herself comfortable on the couch. "She got an internship at a paper in Hartford, she started last week, so she's not home much during the day."
"She got an internship? Why didn't you tell me?" Sookie asked in a slightly hurt voice.
"I didn't?" Lorelai could have sworn that she had, but then again, it had been a while since she and Sookie really talked. "I'm sorry, I've just been... somewhere else for the past couple of weeks, you know." Sookie gave her a sympathetic look.
"I know." She simply said, knowing that her friend had been through a lot.
"I don't want us to not talk like this, ever again." Lorelai said, giving words to Sookie's exact thoughts.
"Me neither." She agreed. "So let's decide that no matter what, we'll always talk to each other, OK?"
"OK." Lorelai said, and they sat in silence for a while.
They both jumped slightly as the timer went off in the kitchen, signalling that the last of the tests were done.
"Ready?" Sookie stood up.
"Never." Lorelai replied, but she followed Sookie into the kitchen.
"Do you want to look or should I?" Sookie asked, and Lorelai hesitated for a moment.
"I think I need to do it." She then said, and Sookie nodded.
Lorelai picked up the first test and read on the box. Pink for pregnant, blue for not pregnant. She looked at the test in her hand, where a tiny window had definitely turned pink. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked at the test again. Yup, still pink. One after the other, she picked up the other tests, only to get the same results. They were all positive. Not that she had expected anything else.
"Lorelai?" She heard Sookie say, but her voice seemed to be coming from somewhere far away. Tears starting to form in her eyes, she looked up at her friend. "Come on, why don't you sit down?" Sookie led Lorelai to a chair and she obediently sat down. She could hear Sookie picking up the tests that she had dropped on the table.
"All positive." Lorelai said in a whisper.
"Yeah." Sookie replied. "Are you going to be OK with this?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Lorelai nodded, wiping tears off her cheeks. "I don't even know why I'm crying, it's not like I'm not happy about it, I just..."
"Pregnancy hormones." Sookie offered, and Lorelai gratefully smiled at her. "You can blame them for a lot, just ask Jackson." This made Lorelai laugh a little, something Sookie didn't think she had seen her friend do in a long time.
"Thanks, Sook." Lorelai said, getting up and throwing the tests in the trash.
"Hey, do you want me to call my doctor?" Sookie asked. "She was great when I had Martha."
"Yeah, sure." Lorelai agreed, not able to make any decisions at the moment.
"OK, I'm gonna go back to the inn and call her from there." Sookie said. "You take the day off and get some sleep, you look exhausted."
"Jeez, thanks a lot." Lorelai rolled her eyes. But she had to admit that she was tired. She hadn't slept well since that night. How was it possible to get so used to having someone next to you, that it was almost impossible to sleep without him?
"OK, I'm gonna go." Sookie announced. "I'll give you a call later about the doctor, kay?"
"OK." Lorelai replied, and listened as Sookie closed the door behind her when she left. Then she walked across the kitchen and into Rory's room. She really
needed to sleep, and she knew she wouldn't be able to in her own room. It just held too many memories.
xxxxx
"Mom? Mom! Wake up!" Lorelai felt someone shake her awake and reluctantly opened her eyes to find Rory standing over her.
"Hey, kid." She mumbled, still half asleep.
"Why are you asleep in my bed?" Rory asked, and Lorelai looked around. Right, she had decided to get some sleep and Rory's room had seemed like the best idea, seeing as how her room still felt too much like their room.
"Sorry, just got tired and your room was closer." She told Rory, and got up. She swayed for a few seconds, still groggy after her nap.
"No biggie. I was just surprised is all." Rory said, eyeing her mother suspiciously. "What are you doing home anyway? It's four thirty in the afternoon."
"Oh." Lorelai said, looking at her watch. "Well, I wasn't feeling too well and Sookie sent me home." She could hear how unconvincing she sounded, but she didn't care.
"OK." Rory replied, not wanting to call her mother on what was really going on. She would tell her eventually.
"I'm just gonna go up to bed, you'll be OK?" Lorelai asked, and Rory nodded.
"Yeah, you get some sleep." She said, and watched as her mother left the room. Yup, there was definitely something going on there.