Chapter Eight: Looked into your eyes…

"Jacky, you're the greatest!" Laylee cried, taking the three-layered ice cream cone (one pure chocolate, one chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-brownie, one birthday cake) offered by her uncle.

"That's what they say," Jack sighed good-naturedly, sitting down with Laylee on the stone picnic tables outside of the Woodbury ice cream shop. (No extra "pe", much to Taylor's disdain.)

Laylee grinned and attacked her treat. "Jacky, do you remember my dad?"

Jack wrinkled his brow. "Um, yeah. A little bit. I was really little."

"Tell me something about him."

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "Like what?"

"Something you did with him."

He leaned back, loosening his tie and searching for a memory to share with the girl.

"Let's see… I was about five, I guess."

"The Paul Anka years," Laylee giggled.

Jack grinned a little in memory of the old dog and the Gilmore-Danes way of marking time. "Yeah, the Paul Anka years."

Laylee affected Luke's gruff tone. "Weirdo."

Jack laughed a little. "Yeah, Dad did call him that a lot."

"Did Papa know Paul Anka?"

"Yeah, of course. Paul Anka and Sally were old buddies. When he and Rory were visiting, your dad would take Will, Paul Anka, and me to the playground so Mom and Dad and Rory could catch up. And he taught Dad and I how to make his mama's alfredo sauce."

"That's Papa's?" she asked excitedly, wiping the ice cream from her nose.

"Oh yeah," Jack smiled, "There was this one time where your parents flew in from Rome as a surprise for Mom's birthday. They snuck up right before she was going to blow out her candles. Only Dad knew. She was so surprised that she bumped into the table and knocked the cake over onto Will's lap. After she'd blown out the candles of course."

"Thank goodness! I want cousins."

"Laylee!"

She giggled and wrinkled her nose. "I know, I know… Dirty!"

"Wow, you are way too young for this… You're not allowed to hang out with Will and Mom anymore."

"Yeah, work on that."

Jack grinned and leaned back, watching her continue to ravish the poor ice cream cone. "How're your grades, Lay?"

"You talked to Mom," Laylee pouted, glancing away from him, taking a bite out of the cake cone.

"No, I talked to Will, who talked to Rory."

"Right. Of course."

"Laylee, you gotta do your homework. It's too easy to get that stuff done and get the good grades to just blow it off. It's a small amount of time to get your mom off your back and do what you want to do."

Laylee turned her face around meet Jack's matching blue eyes again.

"Whatta you care?"

"'Cause I felt the same way as a kid and wasn't allowed to do anything until I realized if I wanted to do what I wanted, I'd have to give a little." Jack had to smile a little at that, remembering his mom's theories on the Gilmore-Danes stubbornness. "Trust me, Lay, it's worth the time. Just jump through the hoop. You know the guys all want you at practice. You're our good luck charm. So if it makes you feel better, think of it as your duty to the team."

Laylee rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. I'll try a little bit harder, Jacky. I missed hanging out with you guys, you know."

"I know," Jack smiled, then glanced at his watch. "You ready to go back? I don't want to be late."

"Alright," Laylee shrugged, jumping up and popping the last of her cone into her mouth. She skipped over to the car and pulled open the door, tumbling into the front seat.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Riding shotgun," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Uh, no. You're too young."

"Jacky!"

"Read the warning," he said, leaning in to point to the visor.

She rolled her eyes and did so.

"I'm tall for my age," she justified, "As tall as most of the twelve-year-olds I know. And it's only half an hour on a deserted road, Jacky."

Jack sighed and shut the door in the face of her pout, acquiescing to her request.

"Buckle up," he said gruffly, though not harshly.

"Sir, yes, sir," she grinned, saluting haphazardly.

"Not to point out the obvious, but we've seen this movie a thousand times. Literally."

"Spoil sport," Lorelai teased her husband, cuddling up next to him on the couch. "It's romantic."

"It's depressing."

"Luke…" Rory admonished, starting Casablanca with the remote.

"I know, I know… A classic."

"We watched it on our first movie night together," Lorelai reminded him. "Before we were really together, together. Wow, that's way confusing."

Arm around his wife, Luke merely shook his head and withheld a sigh.

"So, Luke, Mom tells me you guys are thinking about getting another dog."

"Ah jeez."

"Shh!" Lorelai scolded. "Movie time."

Later, around the time Sam was playing it again, the phone rang. No one made a move to answer it, observing movie night rules, figuring any of the kids would call their cells if it were an emergency.

As the movie ended and Rick and Louis's beautiful friendship began, Rory glanced over at Luke's watch.

"Whoa. It's 11:15. Jack and Laylee should've been home fifteen minutes ago."

"What?" Luke asked, looking to his own watch to confirm. Jack was never late, especially if he was in charge of getting someone else home. Natalie's father had always praised Jack's punctuality.

"Maybe Laylee talked him into a second helping," Lorelai supplied a possible excuse, also confused and a little worried by Jack's tardiness. "She's got a lot of control over these Danes boys."

"Yeah, I guess that's it," Rory said anxiously.

"I'll call his cell," Lorelai said, pulling her own out.

As she proceeded to dial, the front doorbell rang. Rory and Luke went to get it.

"Hey, Luke, Rory," Coop said heavily, "Can I come inside?"

At Coop's voice, Lorelai rounded the corner with a look of pure panic. No. No, no, no. "Oh, God."

"Look, don't panic."

"That's reassuring, Coop. What's wrong?" Luke was the only one who could speak, and his voice was rough with emotion.

"I tried calling earlier. There's been an accident."

Lorelai grabbed onto Luke, by now positive they were dead. She groped blindly for Rory's hand beside her and felt it was cold and clammy.

"Jack was driving down the highway between here and Woodbury. This time 'a night you gotta be real careful, lotsa drunks."

"Are they all right, Coop?"

"Settle down now, Lucas. There was a drunk driving on the wrong side of the road, apparently, and Jack did real good, apparently, trying to avoid him. Swerved off onto the shoulder, but lost control, slammed into a tree."

"Oh my God."

"Now, calm down, Lorelai. They're both alive, alright?"

Rory relaxed a little, though the memories of Italian polizia knocking at her Rome apartment six years previous were still replaying in her head and nausea threatened to overwhelm her.

"You probably should've started with that, Coop," Luke suggested, angry sarcasm in his voice masking his worry.

Coop shrugged and continued. "They're pretty banged up. The ambulance took 'em to the Hartford hospital."

"What's wrong?"

"Laylee's right arm looks broken. They're waiting on X-rays."

Everyone in the room was transported back twenty years to another accident and another broken arm.

"What about Jack?"

Coop bit his lip, and Lorelai gripped Luke tighter, fearing her baby boy was surely dying.

"Witnesses say he was conscious when it first happened, making sure little Laylee was alright. But, he was unconscious by the time I got there."

"What!" Lorelai cried, breaking into a cold sweat.

"The docs think he hit his head. I don't know if he's still out."

"How's Laylee holding up?" Rory asked, voice shaky.

"Shaken up, obviously. Worried about Jack. But holding it together pretty well. Making jokes for all the nurses. Now, I'll take you guys down there. One of my guys is towing the car back to Gypsy's."

"We have to call Grandma and Grandpa," Rory whispered.

"And Will," Lorelai managed.

"And Natalie," Luke added, hand on the small of Lorelai's back pushing her out of the door after extracting the cell phone she still clutched in her hand. "I'll make the calls."

The Forrester house was packed to capacity with Stars Hollow's teenaged population, the music blaring and the alcohol flowing.

With his hand on Julia's lower back, Will made his way through the house, ducking drunken peers and spastic dancers. He leaned down to whisper something in her ear as Natalie came up along them.

Shouting over the din, she asked if he had seen Jack. Both he and Julia shook their heads negatively, and, disappointedly, Natalie continued her search, cell phone out with Jack's number on redial.

"I hear you guys won last night," Julia said.

Will grinned. "That they did. I wasn't playing."

"Because of the fight."

Will nodded, still a little guilty.

"Standing up for your mom was really sweet, Will," Julia praised, kissing his cheek.

"Some could say that," he blushed a little, uncomfortable with the topic.

"I do," Julia smiled.

"Well, thanks," Will grinned, leaning down and kissing her briefly. When he pulled away, she smiled brightly and moved closer to him as they surveyed the party.

"So, am I the only one who thinks that's a little gross?" Julia asked of him, motioning towards Jamie Forrester and his freshman girlfriend.

"God, no."

"There a problem, Will?" Jamie asked, making his way over, surprisingly without clingy blonde freshman in tow.

"Nope," Will responded, tipping back his cup. "Julia and I were just talking."

"About?" Jamie questioned again, pretending to keep his tone light as he towered over them.

Will had not had much to drink, but this was his first day of freedom and a night of celebration, so he had imbibed enough to let the words flow a little more freely.

"Your girlfriend."

"Oh, really? What about?"

"Just that she's, you know, Jamie, a little young." He whispered the last part, leaning in close.

"What?"

"C'mon, James, she's fourteen. You met her because she hangs out with your younger brother."

"You've dated your younger brother's friends," Jamie defended, motioning to Julia beside him.

Will scoffed and rolled his eyes,. "James, my friend, not quite sure you've noticed yet, but Jack and I are twins. He's thirty-seven minutes younger. Not quite the same."

"How?"

Will and Julia looked at Jamie like he was crazy.

"Umm, 'cause Ryan's four years younger than you?" Will offered.

Jamie began to lose his temper, but before anything could progress, Will's phone began to ring in his pocket.

"Look, as much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I need to take this," Will begged off, ducking out of the situation onto the front lawn alone.

"Hey, Dad," he greeted, "What's up? I've got like half an hour."

"Will, do you know where Natalie is?"

"Umm, yeah, she's inside, I think. A few of us are at the Forresters' house."

"Get her and get out here."

"Out where, Dad?"

"Hartford, the hospital."

"Shit, Dad! What's wrong?"

"There's been an accident. Jack and Laylee… Look, everyone's alive. Just get out here, now."

"We'll be there, Dad. Keep Mom sane."

They cut the connection, and Will turned to go back inside, running into Natalie on the steps.

"Hey. I'm just gonna head home. I can't get Jack on his cell, and the party's getting a little wild. By the way, saw you kissing Julia. Aren't you moving a little fast there, William? You haven't even taken the girl on a date yet…" She trailed off when she noticed the panicked look on Will's face. "Are you okay?"

"I just got a call from my dad."

"Yeah?"

"Jack and Laylee got in an accident on the way home."

"What! Oh my God! Are they alright?" She grabbed his arm as she demanded this information of him.

"As far as I've heard, yes. We just need to get to the hospital in Hartford, now."

"Alright," Natalie took in a shaky breath, "Let's go get your car."

"Slight problem," Will said sheepishly. "You only have a permit. And I… well…" He mimicked drinking briefly.

"Will!"

"Not that much, I swear. I just… I don't wanna risk it, okay?"

"Well, what are we going to do?" Natalie demanded, wringing her hands together.

"Your parents?"

She sent him a withering look, bringing her hand to her ear in the international sign for a phone. "Hey, Mom, Dad, come pick me and my boyfriend's drunk brother up."

"I'm not drunk!" he defended.

"Doesn't matter. They'll take it that way. And it'll get back to your parents."

Will sighed, growing more anxious by the moment.

"Aunt Lane," he finally breathed.

"What?"

"She'll drive us. No questions. She understands this kinda stuff."

"Fine, let's go."

Will nodded and grabbed Natalie's elbow to escort her to Kim's Antiques. They knocked on the door, careless of the hour as their minds drifted constantly to Hartford. After several knocks, someone shuffled up to the door and undid the old locks.

"Will? What are you doing here? It's almost midnight," Lane croaked, robe pulled tight around her. "You better be glad Mama is practically deaf now."

"Sorry, Aunt Lane. It's an emergency. We need you to drive us to the hospital in Hartford."

"What? Why?" Lane panicked.

"There's been an accident. Jack and Laylee… Mom, Dad, and Rory are already out there. Please, Aunt Lane."

"Of course," Lane agreed. "Just… let me throw some clothes on and leave a note for Mama Kim."

Will nodded, and Lane disappeared inside. When she reemerged, she carried with her a cup of coffee.

"It's instant," she apologized, "But it'll do the trick. Drink it before we get to the hospital. I don't think we have time for tacos."

Will thanked her sheepishly and began to nurse the coffee, Natalie merely shaking her head in disappointment.

"Alright," Lane started as soon as they got into her car. "Tell me what happened."