A/N: Allright guys. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I had to deal with the loss of a family and in between I finished high school. I hope I can update again, soon. I'll try my best. Thanks for all the sweet reviews. It's always such a treat to open your mailbox and see that you got a new review. So keep the reviews coming and ENJOY reading…
Chapter 15 – Leaving for school… and a not so pleasant phone callThe next morning...
"Mom? What's taking you so long? We wanted to be at Luke's half an hour ago. You know I need to get back to Yale in a couple of hours!"
Lorelai came running down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, wearing only one of her sneakers, with the other one still in her hands. "I'm sorry hon. I couldn't decide on what to wear and then after I had finally decided on what I wanted to wear I couldn't find my other shoe. Now that I have my other shoe, I'm ready to roll."
Rory sighed and pulled her mom towards the door. "I told you I wanna get to Yale before Paris decides to change our rooms again."
"Relax, baby. You'll get there in time! Are you sure you don't want me to come with you and help you with your stuff?"
"Yes, Mom, I am. I don't have that much stuff anyways and I don't wanna look like a little baby, that needs to be escorted to her sophomore year in Yale by, her mom."
"You'll always be my baby, even when you're 80 years old, although that would make me… ugh, really old. Anyway, you sure you wanna drive to Yale from Luke's and not come back here before you leave?"
Rory nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure. I know you'll try to get me to stay a little longer when we get back here before I leave, and then it'll be like midnight when I finally get to Yale."
Lorelai pouted and walked towards her jeep. "Okay, but then you'll have to live with an embarrassing good-bye scene at Luke's, can you live with that?"
Rory laughed at her mother's attempts to keep her from leaving. "It's better than having an embarrassing scene at Yale."
Both of them got into their separate cars and drove off to Luke's for breakfast.
At the diner...
Luke turned around to see who was coming into the diner, when he heard the bells above the door jingle.
"Oh there's our favorite coffee supplier in the world." Lorelai said coming into the diner.
Luke just rolled his eyes at her. "Morning ladies."
"Hi Luke" Rory said waving to him.
Lorelai walked over to him and gave him a quick kiss. "Are you gonna join us for breakfast?"
"Yeah, That would be great, come and join us, Luke." Rory said giving him the famous Gilmore smile that he couldn't resist.
"Allright. Just sit down over there and I'll be right with you, with your food."
Lorelai looked at him a little confused. "But we haven't ordered yet."
"I know, you'll get a special breakfast, because Rory's going back to Yale today."
Rory did a little happy dance and sat down at a table near the window.
"Don't forget the coffee, hon!" Lorelai yelled after Luke and joined her daughter.
A few minutes later, Luke came out of the kitchen with his hands full of food, and Caesar walking right behind him with even more food. The girls shrieked in excitement.
"Oh my god, Luke! You outdid yourself, there's like everything you could ever think of having for breakfast." Rory said looking over their table that was now completely filled with food.
"Well I thought you could use some good food before having to eat the cafeteria food again. It's no big deal." Luke said.
"Thanks so much Luke, you're the best."
"It's no big deal." Luke said, turning a little red.
"Oh man, you even made croissants." Lorelai said excited.
About half an hour later the three of them were done eating and Rory was about to leave for Yale. Lorelai and Luke walked Rory out to her car to say goodbye to her.
"So you got everything you need honey?"
"Yes, I do."
"And you know you can call me anytime right? Call me if you need anything. And call me when you get there, so I know you get there safe, and…"
"Mom." Rory interrupted her. "I'm not going to other side of the world I'm just going back to Yale for my sophomore year."
Lorelai pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "I know hon. It's just that I'm gonna miss you so much." Lorelai said still holding her daughter.
"I know," Rory said into her mom's shoulder. "I'm gonna miss you, too. But I'm not that far away and I'll come home to visit."
"Promise?" Lorelai said rubbing her daughter's back.
"I promise."
"Good." Lorelai said kissing her daughter's cheek and reluctantly let go of her.
Rory turned to Luke and gave him a hug, too. Luke was a little surprised but then returned the hug and gently rubbed her back.
"Bye, Luke."
"Bye, Rory, drive safely."
"I will. And take good care of her for me." She whispered into his ear when letting go.
Luke nodded his head, "I will. Take care."
Lorelai walked Rory to the driver's side of Rory's car and pulled her into another tight embrace. "I love you, kid."
"I love you, too, mom."
Rory got into her car and rolled down her window. She started the engine and waved a last goodbye to her mom, who was fighting hard to keep back some tears.
"Bye, sweety." She said as she watched her daughter drive off to Yale.
Luke gently put his arm around her and the both of them waved another good-bye into the direction to where Rory's car was driving off.
Lorelai sighed deeply when Rory's car was out of sight.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. It's just hard to see her leave every year. I mean, she was so scared last year and now she's all grown up and doesn't care about her old mom anymore."
"You know that's not true, right?" Luke said pulling her a little closer to his side.
Lorelai looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I just wish, that she's still that little girl that she was when she could barely walk. You know, where she couldn't do anything without me. And now she's that young magnificent woman who's going her own way in a different town and who's soon gonna go off into the big wide world. And I just have to stand back and watch it."
"Hey what's with all the sadness now?" Luke asked her gently rubbing her back. "You know she's become that magnificent young woman, because you raised her to be that way. You've raised an incredible kid there, Lorelai, you should be proud of yourself. And you know she can't live without you, she's gonna call and visit, you'll see her often enough don't worry. Ok?"
Lorelai gave him a much happier smile. "Yeah, thanks for being my backup guy, Luke, and thanks for saying all that nice stuff to make me feel better."
Luke leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss. "You're welcome, but I didn't just say all that to make you feel better. I said it because it's true."
Lorelai leaned up and kissed him again. They were just about to deepen their kiss, when Lorelai's cell phone rang.
"Nice timing," she said opening her cell phone. "Oh, hi mom. No sorry." Lorelai rolled her eyes at Luke, who was about to go back into the diner, but Lorelai stopped him by holding onto his shirt. "Yes, mom, I know tomorrow's Friday. Yes, I know it's the usual Friday night dinner…. I don't know she just drove back to Yale, you have to call her…. Allright I'll see you at seven… WHAT? No, mom, wait…" but Emily had already hung up.
"What's the matter?" Luke asked, seeing her shocked face.
"For some reason, my mom found out about our relationship and now…" she hesitated a little.
"What?"
"She wants you to come to dinner tomorrow."
Luke made a disapproving face. "Oh, no, Lorelai? I can't do this."
"You heard it, she hung up on me before I could say anything else."
"Ugh…" Luke grunted.
"Please? Just this one time? I'm sure it won't be that bad."
Luke looked at her in disbelieve. "Are you kidding me? Do you remember the last couple of times I met your parents. And you've never come back from that dinner in a good mood."
"I know, honey. But I'm gonna be there, too. I'm gonna make sure their not gonna attack you or something. Please? Just this one time?"
Luke sighed. "Allright, but just this one time."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"You better."
Lorelai leaned up and whispered into his ear. "I'm sure we'll find something."
Luke swallowed hard and turned a little red.
"So you wanna come back inside the diner with me?" he said in a slightly raspy voice.
"I'd love to but I'm already later for work. I'll come back tonight for dinner."
Luke pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly. "Allright, see you tonight."
"Bye," she said giving him another peck on the lips.
Luke watched her drive away and then walked back into the diner to finish the last bit of the morning rush.
Dragonfly Inn, a couple of minutes later…Lorelai walked into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee machine.
"Hey, good morning," Sookie said in her usual chipper voice.
"Hey."
"What's wrong? You okay." Sookie said a little concerned. "Did something happen with Luke?"
"No, it's not Luke." Lorelai said shaking her head.
"Well then what is it? Oh Rory left for Yale this morning, didn't she?"
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah but that's not the only thing. My mother called."
"Oh." Sookie said knowingly. "Well, you knew that call would come soon, right?"
Lorelai sighed. "Yeah, but now she doesn't only want me to come dinner. Somehow she found out about Luke and now he she wants him to come, too. And I couldn't even talk her out of it, because she hung up on me before I was able to say anything else. And, oh boy, can't I wait for the hard time she's gonna give me, because I didn't tell her about our relationship. And then she's gonna let it out on Luke, because she of course thinks that he's not good enough for me, and, well, you can see the pattern there. It's gonna be one fun night."
Sookie patter her best friend's back. "I'm sorry hon, I wish I could do something to make you feel better."
"I know, thanks. I just want to get it over with."
Lorelai emptied her cup and put it in the sink. "Well, I'm gonna get to work. I'll see ya later, Sook."
"Yeah, see ya later."
The following night, in front of the Gilmore Mansion…Rory had just arrived when Luke and Lorelai had pulled up in her Jeep. They got out of their cars and hugged each other.
"So tell me again, how did she manage to get Luke into this?" Rory asked her mom in disbelieve.
"She didn't manage, she just said I'll see you and Luke for dinner tomorrow and then she hung up on me before I could say anything."
"Oh, boy."
"Yeah, you can say that again. Come on let's face the dragon den." Lorelai hooked arms with Luke and they stepped towards the main entrance. "Ready?" she asked looking up at him.
Luke took a deep breath and sighed. "Ready as I'll ever be."
Lorelai rang the doorbell and a few moments later they were greeted by Emily, who had opened the door.
"Lorelai, Rory." She said smiling at the girls. "Luke," she said giving him a polite smile.
"Nice, to see you again Mrs. Gilmore."
"Yes, same here. Well, come on in it's getting cold out there."
Lorelai pushed Luke inside and whispered into his ear, "I got you're back."
TBC….
Okay, so what do you think? Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I promise I'm gonna update soon. I know I said that the last time. But I had to deal with some family issues and didn't have much time to write anything.