I was right in the middle of Gone With The Wind when I heard the front door burst open.

"You get the living room, I'll get the kitchen," Mom ordered.

"What about upstairs?" Rory cried.

"I'll block the fool who tries to go upstairs!" Mom declared.

"Company is stressful," Rory said.

"Uh guys," I said, leaning against my doorframe. "Company? Did Christopher show? Ooh, are we finally calling him company?"

"Your dad bought Sherry," Mom said as she frantically tidied the kitchen.

My eyes widened. "Shut up!"

I hadn't even expected him to actually make an appearance, let alone bring his new girlfriend.

"I know!" my mother nodded. "Oh, can you get your room tidied?"

"Wait, how'd I get dragged into this?" I protested.

"Sherry wants to see the books," she said.

"Don't forget Ava's artwork," Rory called.

"Why does Christopher's girlfriend want to see my artwork?" I asked skeptically. Our walls were covered in various sketches and paintings, but they weren't exactly something I wanted to share with this Sherry person.

"Just tidy," Mom ordered. I just rolled my eyes in response.

Mom and Rory had a quick debate about food, and all of a sudden the leftover Halloween candy was made available for our 'guests'.

"Oh come on," I complained as Christopher called 'hello'.

"Hi, Dad!" Rory said eagerly.

"Need some more time to clean up?" he asked knowingly.

"He knows us too well," Mom said.

"That's because he's met us," I said. Seriously, we Gilmores weren't exactly known to be like Martha Stewart.

"Come on in," Rory said brightly, Mom by her side as they greeted. "How'd you know we were cleaning?"

I lingered in the background, looking at Christopher's new girlfriend appraisingly. She was pretty and came with an overly perky smile. I folded my arms, wondering how long this was going to take.

"When you cut us off in the parking lot and sped off doing 60, I figured you were trying to beat us home for a reason," he quipped. He caught my eye and smiled brightly. "Hey Ava!"

"Wow," Sherry said, mouth open in surprise. "You two really are identical, huh?"

"Yep," I said shortly. It was always the greatest joy of my life to be constantly compared to Rory.

"I'm sorry, I'm Sherry," she said, holding her hand out. At Mom's warning look, I shook Sherry's hand.

"Ava," I said with false politeness.

"Well, come in, come in," Mom said, ushering everyone into the living room.

"Your house is great," Sherry said brightly.

"Thanks, we like it," Mom replied. "Have a seat."

"Rory, you were wonderful in the debate today," Sherry complimented.

"Thanks," Rory replied.

"That Paris was a little intense," Christopher said as everyone sat down.

"A little?" Mom scoffed. "The opposing team could bring her up on war crimes."

"Yeah, her approach will come in handy when she becomes a CEO or a dictator of a country or something."

"Well, you were very poised, very sure of yourself up there, just like your dad," Sherry said, and I snorted. Christopher's girlfriend shot me a look of surprise, but both Mom and Rory shot me a look of warning.

"And your mom," Christopher added, trying to quickly diffuse the situation.

"Aw, shucks, Pa," Mom said.

When Sherry started complimenting Rory's school uniform, I'd reached my fill of being polite.

"Anyone want a drink?" I asked. "What do we have? Water, soda…"

Sherry and Dad opted for water, and I went to make my escape.

"I'll help you!" Sherry said brightly, and I sent my mother a panicked look. How the hell was I supposed to sneak out of the back door now?

"Oh, you don't have to help her," Mom insisted, getting up. "That's the joy of child labor."

"I insist," Sherry said brightly. What was with this woman's smile?

"Did you want flat water or sparkling?" I asked as we walked into the kitchen. "I hope flat, because I doubt we have sparkling."

"It's a little awkward, isn't it?" she said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"What's awkward?" I challenged her.

"Me being here, being with your dad," she said.

"No, not really," I lied. Why were they leaving me alone with her?

"But kind of, right?" she pushed. "I know you and your dad aren't exactly close. Fathers and daughters, it's never simple, is it?"

"It's pretty simple," I said, not particularly wanting to discuss my daddy issues with this stranger.

"I just wanted you to know I'm crazy about your dad," she continued. "I really do want to get to know you, Ava, you and your sister."

"Oh, that's fine," I said dismissively, and her eager face fell slightly. "I'm just not sure we'll see a lot of each other."

"Oh?"

"I tend not to see a lot of Christopher," I said bluntly, getting a jug of water from the fridge. "So we may not get to know each other all that well."

She shook her head. "You and Rory are so important to him," she insisted. "He told me about how he really wasn't present in your lives for years and how he'd like to make up for all that time that he wasted."

"Look, Sherry, you seem like a nice person," I said.

"Thank you, Ava," she smiled.

"But sometimes it's too little too late," I said bluntly. "I'm sure you'll see a bit of Rory. But I don't intend on spending any more time with him than I already do."

"Don't you think you should give him a chance?" she pushed. "After all, he is your father. And I thought we could all do something tonight together, you, me, Rory."

"No," I blurted, completely horrified.

"Because you have Friday night dinner?" she said, and finally, I snapped. How much did this woman know about us and our lives?

"Look, I have tried to be polite," I snapped. "But my relationship with Christopher is none of your business. You think I haven't given him chances? He had a whole lifetime of chances that he didn't take, so pardon me if I don't take the opinion of his latest girlfriend to heart."

With that I stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind me.

"Hey, Ava," Luke greeted as I entered the diner. It was fairly quiet, one of those weird lulls that tended to prompt my mother to try and entice Luke into allowing us to play bagel hockey. "Coffee?"

"Thanks," I said. "Jess around?"

"Upstairs," he said, pouring me a mug. "Feel free to go on up. He's supposed to be doing his homework, so you could always help him out."

"Are you sure he hasn't climbed out the window already?" I asked wryly, and Luke raised an eyebrow. "Relax, I'm sure he's up there."

"Yes, because that's what Jess is known to do, obey all the rules laid out for him," Luke said sarcastically.

"I'll go check on him, don't worry," I teased, accepting my coffee with thanks.

"Hey, if you actually get him to do his homework, that's free coffee for a week," Luke said as I went to go behind the curtain.

"If I manage to get Jess to do his homework, that's worth at least a month's worth of coffee," I grinned.

Luke considered this. "Deal," he nodded and I laughed as I went upstairs. I knocked on the door, taking a sip of coffee.

"Come in," he called. As I entered, he said, "Are you checking on me again… oh, it's you."

"Hello to you, too," I grinned. Jess was reading a book, but not one remotely related to school.

"What brings you by?"

"I may have pissed off my new step-mommy," I shrugged. "But to be fair, she pissed me off first."

"Wait, new step-mommy?" Jess asked, putting his book down.

"Christopher has a new girlfriend," I grumped, plopping on the bed beside Jess. "They went to Rory's debate, and then back to the house, where I was innocently reading."

Jess raised an eyebrow at me being innocent.

"Shut up," I said, nudging his shoulder with mine. "So the girlfriend follows me to get drinks…"

"Wait, were you pissed because you were going to sneak out?" he said knowingly.

"What, no!" I scoffed. He just raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. "Fine, yes, maybe I was going to sneak out. Anyway, she started going on about how we should all spend time together and how I should give Christopher a second chance."

"Oh, I bet you loved that," Jess laughed.

"Yeah, that's when I told her to mind her own business and stormed out," I said. "So I figure I have very little time left of freedom before my mother grounds me."

"And you came to me?" he asked. "I'm flattered."

"As you should be," I nodded. "God, that woman. I think she believes Rory and I are going to become part of her and Christopher's happy little family."

"You want to get out of here?" Jess asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe," I said, and he grinned. "We may have to sneak you out past Luke, though. He thinks I'm up here to help you with your homework."

"You mean, you're not?" he asked with mock disappointment. "You smart girls are mean."

"Smart ass," I said with affection.

Before we could make an escape, Luke came barreling up the stairs.

"Hey, Ava," he said, walking in. "Lorelai just called."

"I bet she did," I sighed heavily. The woman was fast at tracking me down, I'd give her that. She was some kind of bloodhound or something. "All right, I'm going."

"Actually, she told me to tell you to stay put," she said. "Apparently she and your dad are on their way here."

I looked at Jess. "Remind me why we didn't sneak out of the window while we had the chance?"

At that comment, Luke herded us both downstairs. He refilled my cup without any caffeine lectures, and I started to worry about how mad my mother was.

"So, I get to meet the infamous Christopher," Jess said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you won't have to again," I said, examining the menu like I didn't already know it by heart.

"I'm kind of curious to meet him," he commented. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone get under your skin the way he does."

"Yes, well, our relationship really is something special," I said sarcastically. I paused. "You don't have to wait with me, you know."

"Yeah, well it's this or homework," he said flippantly, but I was a little relieved to have a friend by my side when my parents entered the diner. To my surprise, it was Christopher with the anger, not Mom.

"Ava," he greeted coldly. He glanced at Jess. "Do you mind if we speak to our daughter alone?"

"Nice manners," I scoffed, as Jess gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze as he left us to it.

"Maybe we should go for a walk," Mom suggested, and I reluctantly followed them onto the street.

"I understand you have a problem with me," Christopher said angrily as soon as we were out of the diner. "But do you really need to take it out on Sherry?"

"I don't know," I mused. "Do you need to get your girlfriend to do your dirty work for you?"

"Ava," Mom said with concern. "What happened in there?"

"Sherry thinks I should give Christopher a second chance because after all, he's my father," I snapped. "I just told her it was none of her business."

"Ava!" Christopher scolded.

"What?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"She just wants to get to know you and Rory," he said in exasperation. "Is that really so wrong?"

"Why would she even want to get to know me?" I said dismissively. "You barely know me."

"Because you won't let me in, Ava!" he shouted. "Not because I won't try."

"Are you actually kidding me?" I shrieked. "Have you ever heard the phrase too little, too late, Christopher?"

"Okay," Mom interceded. "Everyone, back in their corners."

"No, I'm so sick of this," I said. "Just because he feels like trying to make an appearance every now and then as a father doesn't make him one. And I hate that I'm being made out to be the bad guy because I don't want to spend time with him and his new girlfriend and act like we're some kind of family when we're not. My family is Mom and Rory. Hell, I'll even throw Grandma and Grandpa in. But that's it, end of story."

Christopher looked at me, with the wounded puppy eyes out for full effect.

"So that's it, then?" Mom asked. "You're just done with your father?"

"Yes," I said, and it was almost a relief to finally say it. I didn't want to fight about it anymore, I didn't even want to think about it anymore.

"And you think that's an option?"

"Why?" I shot back at her. "It was an option for you."

"Hey!" Mom said sharply.

"We barely saw Grandma and Grandpa for years, until you needed money and I was forced to go to their house every Friday night for dinner for Rory's education," I said. "How I got roped into it I have no idea."

"What, so now you're just done with Friday Night Dinner?"

"Also yes," I snapped. "I'm just… I'm done with both of you."

I walked away, leaving my stunned parents behind.

When I found Jess waiting for me on our bridge, my lips slowly curved into a small smile.

"Hey," he said, as I sat beside him. "How'd it go with the parents?"

"Really, you couldn't hear the yelling from here?"

"So that's what freaked out the swans," he mused. He nudged his shoulder with mine. "You okay?"

"Not really," I admitted. "I told Christopher I was done with him. And Mom that I'm done with Friday Night Dinners."

"Wow," he said with raised eyebrows. "It all came out then, huh?"

"Pretty much," I nodded. "Ugh, they just drive me crazy. Both of them. I just wish I was eighteen and it was time for college and I could finally get out of this place."

"You and me both," he agreed.

"You think you'll still be here next year?" I asked hopefully.

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"You'll have to show me New York one day," I said. "My only experience is when my mom drove me and Rory into the city to shop, right? Except she got stuck in traffic, got screamed at in every language known to man so we just came home."

"That's basically the New York experience," he teased. "But one day, sure. I'll show you around."

"I think I'm going to hold you to that," I said and a soft smile appeared on his face.

The thought of one day being in New York with Jess got me through the rest of the awful day. I knew I had to eventually to head home, but I made sure it was after Friday night dinner had started. I didn't particularly care what excuses my mother made for me; all I knew was that I wasn't going.

Jess and I headed back to the diner and had dinner together, another evening of discussing books and he cheered me up by discussing potential pranks he could play around the town. We were discussing the finer points of not letting the whole town know it was him, lest they drive him out with pitchforks when Luke started to close up and I was finally forced to head home.

"Mom," I said cautiously when I walked in the door to find her sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for me. "You're not at dinner?"

"I came, I went, and it was as catastrophic a dinner as any," she said. "It started off stepping in quicksand and ended with a sixteen ton anvil on my head."

"So a typical Friday night dinner then," I quipped. She indicated for me to sit on the couch beside her, and I reluctantly did so.

"I thought we were getting past this," she said.

"So did I," I admitted. "Look, my anger is mainly focused on Christopher. But…"

"But?"

"But I don't think it's fair about Friday night dinners," I said. "And I think it's really unfair that Christopher's girlfriend was poking her nose into our relationship, or lack thereof."

"Did you really mean it?" she asked. "You don't want any kind of relationship with him?"

"What's the point?" I asked.

"The point is, like it or not, and believe me, I understand not liking it," she said. "He is your dad."

"I wish he wasn't," I said bitterly.

"Oh, Ava," she sighed.

"What?" I challenged her. Why did both she and Rory keep trying to force me to see the good in him? I knew Christopher wasn't a bad person. But he was a bad father.

"Look, I can't force you to have a relationship with him," she said, much to my surprise. "But I do think you should really think this through."

Rory had been the good, obedient daughter and gone to dinner with Sherry. She filled Mom and I in on the details as we waited for our breakfasts at Luke's. I mourned the lack of a book as I was quickly bored hearing about my father's new relationship. Instead, I went to the bathroom in an attempt to avoid the conversation entirely. I couldn't help but grin when I found my mother alone at the table.

"Where's Rory?" I asked, plopping back down in my chair and picking up my coffee.

"Helping Lane," she said, and I raised an eyebrow. There was something off about Mom, and there had been since the previous night.

"Out with it," I said, waving a hand.

She sighed.

"When you've been thinking about me and your dad, what have you been thinking all of these years?"

"What do you mean?" I asked warily.

"I mean, did you ever picture us potentially together, like 'we are family' together?"

"Well, yeah, as a kid," I said. "Back when I still saw him as my dad, you know?"

"So, should it have been me?"

"What, helping Dad become an actual adult?" I snorted, and was taken aback when I realised that was exactly the question my mother was asking. "No," I said bluntly. "It shouldn't have been you, Mom. It should have been him, getting his own life together. You were already responsible for raising two kids – how were you supposed to juggle a third?"

She smiled softly at that. "Thanks kid," she said genuinely.

Jess appeared at our table, with a concerned expression on his face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Christopher sighting," he said, nodding towards the door where Christopher and Sherry were approaching.

"Didn't you want to check out a CD of Jess'?" Mom asked innocently, and I grinned, grabbing Jess and rushing upstairs.

Sometimes she really did have my back.