Day 4- Thursday

Lorelai sat staring at her coffee as she attempted to motivate herself to get up from the kitchen table and start heading to work so she would have enough time to walk the long way. After making the bet with Rory last night, she had fully intended to come home and get some sort of exercise in, but had ended up falling asleep on the couch while trying to convince herself to get started. She still felt the lingering effects of her soreness and that, combined with the fact that the novelty of the competition had worn off, was not making a long walk sound very appealing.

Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, Lorelai looked up to see Valerie appear, dressed in running clothes, "Gaaah, it's the insane people like you who make me look bad," Lorelai moaned.

Valerie just smiled and shook her head, "Good morning to you too, Mom."

"If only I could be like you and think that torture was fun. Then, free coffee for a month would be in the bag," she said wistfully. Suddenly an idea began to take shape in her head, "Or… maybe I could be you," she added, a slightly devious tone entering her voice.

Catching onto what her mother was implying, Valerie responded sternly, "No, Mom, don't even think about it."

"Why not?" Lorelai whined.

"I already told you I'm not taking sides and I'm definitely not helping you cheat," Valerie replied, exasperated.

"But I'm your mother! I gave you your life's blood. I spent hours in excruciating pain to give you life," Lorelai responded dramatically.

"While I do appreciate that," Valerie placated, "Doesn't mean I'm cheating for you."

"It's not technically cheating…" Lorelai attempted to argue, "The competition is about how much exercise the watch records and so if it just happens to fall off of my wrist and onto yours right before you go for a run, I don't see an issue. It's a totally possible and legal scenario," she managed to reason.

Valerie did not look convinced, "I don't think that's quite how it works."

"Fine," Lorelai sighed as she decided she needed to employ her last resort, "I'll get you that USA team warmup jacket," she bribed.

At this Valerie perked up, "Really?" she asked interested.

"Yes," Lorelai confirmed unhappily.

Valerie looked contemplative as she considered the offer, "Your serious?" she confirmed.

"Ask one more time and the offer's gone," Lorelai threatened, still unhappy that she was having to stoop to this level.

"Ok, ok! I accept," Valerie replied cheerfully. She didn't want to get involved but didn't care enough to be above taking a bribe.

"I raised you too well," Lorelai grumbled as she slapped her watch around her daughter's wrist, "Now go run really far and if you can, drop by the inn when you're done so I can get my stand hours for the rest of day," she playfully commanded.

"Ok, remember you can't take it back now, but you do realize that Rory's not going to believe for a second that you went for a five-mile run, right?" Valerie pointed out the obvious.

Lorelai shrugged, "Like I said before, points are based off what the watch does, not what I do. And anyways, you can't erase them once you got 'em," she replied easily.

"You're shameless," Valerie responded as she shook her head.

"No, I'm the woman who's about to win free coffee for a month," she answered with a grin.

"After spending $50 bucks on a bribery jacket," Valerie pointed out the flaw in her mother's logic.

Lorelai let out a dramatic gasp, "How can my own daughter think so greatly underestimate me? I'll make that money back in a week," she replied positively.

"Sorry, I forgot you were insane," Valerie shot back sarcastically.

"Well, who's fault is that?" Lorelai quipped, "Now get out of here and earn me some points!"

Valerie held up her hands in surrender, "Jeez, I would have been out of here ten minutes ago if it wasn't for you. I'm going," she replied as she headed for the door and started an 'Outdoor run' on her own watch and her mother's.

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"What is this!?" Rory burst into the living room where Lorelai was sitting on the couch holding out her phone which was displaying the Apple Watch Activity app. She had just finished work, and decided she needed to make an immediate stop at her mom's house after receiving a notification that Lorelai had completed a five-mile run.

Lorelai looked up with a calm expression on her face, "Oh, I got your message earlier: 'I've got questions.'. What kinds of questions?" she asked casually.

"More than questions! That reply doesn't do it justice, they didn't give me any good options," Rory complained, "You cheated!" she accused, narrowing her eyes.

Lorelai gasped in mock hurt, "I did not," she responded assuredly.

"So, you're telling me you went for a five-mile run today?" Rory asked, not believing it for a second.

"Yes…well, maybe…gaaahh! Fine, no!" she cracked under Rory's intense stare, "But my watch did and that's what counts," she recovered.

"That's not how it works!" Rory replied, incredulous that her mom had stooped so low.

"Well, that's how I understood the rules. If you have an official document to prove otherwise, I'd be happy to take that into consideration, but otherwise I'd say we got ourselves a case of she said she said," Lorelai said seriously.

Before Rory could respond, the front door opened and Andy and Valerie walked in, drawing Rory's attention away, "Cheater!" she shouted as she pointed an accusatory finger at her sister.

"What?" Andy asked, confused as he looked between Valerie and Rory.

Rory crossed her arms, "Your sister wore mom's watch when she ran today. Don't even try to deny it," she said looking at Valerie.

Andy gave his sister an unimpressed look to which she just shrugged in response, "I got a new jacket out of it."

Andy's look turned to an approving smile, "Wait to play her. Dang, I thought staying out of this mess was the way to go but maybe not. Need any more help, Mom? Because there's this new video game…" he started to smirk.

Before Andy could finish, Rory jumped in, "Bribery!? Really, Mom?" she exclaimed. She then pulled out her phone, "You don't deserve 'Oscar'… that's better," she said with a smile as turned her phone around and flashed her mom's contact screen which now said 'Lori Loughlin'.

Lorelai's mouth dropped open as she glared at her daughter and pulled her own phone out. A few seconds later she flipped her own phone around to reveal Rory's new contact name: 'Shooter McGavin'.

Rory looked at her mother in disbelief, "You're calling me a sore loser? You cheated!" she exclaimed.

"No, I didn't! The rules were unclear," she held onto her previous defense.

"The rules were as clear as the five 'No Trespassing' signs Taylor has surrounding his house. Everyone knows that you can't have someone else wear your watch," Rory replied firmly.

"Sounds like something a sore loser would say," Lorelai singsonged.

Their debate was interrupted by Andy's laughter, "It really says you went for a five-mile run," he chuckled as he looked down at his watch, "Maybe I shouldn't have silenced these annoying notifications, that would have been pretty funny to see," he said teasingly.

"Go ahead and make fun all you want, but we'll see who's laughing when I have unlimited coffee for a month," Lorelai responded, uncaringly.

Rory still looked angry, "Fine, you want to play that way? Then, let's play that way, but you're going to regret it," she threatened as she made her way towards the door.

"Wait!" Lorelai called after her, "First, what are you going to do and second, are you still coming to Luke's tonight?" she asked with intensity still in her voice.

"None of your business," Rory responded with equal intensity, "And, yes," she added, some of the power leaving her voice.

"Ok, good. See you then," Lorelai replied, her voice still maintaining its austere tone.

"Yes, you will," Rory answered, her voice overly serious as she closed the door.

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Current Standings-

Lorelai: 2,172 (600 for day)

Rory: 2,158 (504 for day)