Hey guys, I'm so many of you are liking the story! I will try and keep the updates coming as quickly as I can. The next two days for me are pretty hectic but I will do my best to update tomorrow! Keep the reviews coming and it will motivate me to update quicker ;)
An hour later, the cops had been called and had come by the house to talk to Lorelai. With Luke and Rory at her side, Lorelai was able to tell the officers exactly what had happened. Whenever she began to get chocked up again, the reassuring hand of either her daughter or the man beside her gave her the strength to keep going.
Once they finished talking, they explained to Lorelai that they would be putting out a warrant for Christopher's arrest. She seemed hesitant and unsure about what would happen next and how she would be able to keep him from coming back for her. She knew he had to show his face eventually…
After talking with Luke for awhile, they agreed that at least one officer would park outside the house for the night to see if he did come back. Luke explained that he too would be staying there in order to keep an eye on Lorelai and Rory. Once everything had been settled, at least for the night the officers walked out of the house. By now it was almost midnight and Lorelai looked like she was ready to pass out.
Rory walked her into the living room and rubbed her back gently, "We should get you upstairs and into bed…"
Lorelai winced at the idea, "No."
"Mom you really need some sleep. You've had a terrible night…staying up isn't going to make you feel any better." Rory said trying to reason with her.
Lorelai shook her head again and whispered sadly, "I can't go up there…"
Rory looked back at Luke who looked so broken once more witnessing the love of his life in so much pain. She nodded her head and began to steer her mother towards her old bedroom. "Well then you can sleep in here with me okay? I wasn't going to let you sleep alone anyway…"
Lorelai nodded slowly as her daughter led her to the small room. She didn't fight it as Rory pulled back the covers and let her mother crawl in. It felt strange that the roles were now reversed. How many times had Lorelai tucked Rory into bed at night? How many times had she soothed her to sleep after a terrible nightmare? It was ironic how things had changed…
Sighing, she rested her head on the pillow and let her eyes begin to close. "I am pretty tired…"
Rory smiled and curled up next to her Mother, she could feel Luke watching them from the kitchen but knew he wasn't about to intrude right now. "You get some rest Mom." She wrapped her arm behind Lorelai's head and began to stroke her hair gently, "Luke and I are not going anywhere, okay?"
Lorelai let her head nod gently against the soft pillow. "Okay…"
Rory leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I love you Mom…"
Lorelai managed a small smile back at her daughter as she began to drift off to sleep. "I love you too kid…"
Rory smiled and leaned down to rest her head against her mothers. She wanted to make sure she was fully asleep before getting up again. She could hear Luke quietly backing away from the room and at first she wondered where he would go. But she smiled against her mothers hair when she heard him rummaging around in the kitchen cleaning up the mess that had still been untouched.
It amazed her that after everything that had happened in the last year he was still here tonight. She knew she shouldn't be shocked…Luke had always been around when they needed him. He had been there to fix all the broken porch railings, replace the light bulbs, fix the oven and refrigerator. He had been there when she had the chicken pox and Lorelai had been worried out of her mind because she couldn't get her to eat anything.
He had been there when she had broken her arm after the car accident with Jess…she remembered how he snuck in one afternoon when he knew Lorelai was gone. She remembered how she had almost been asleep when she heard him walk quietly into her room. She had sat up and looked at her, nervous that she would be angry to see him. But when she smiled up at him he had knelt down beside the bed and sighed as he placed a bag of food on her nightstand. He had asked if she was okay and told her that if she needed anything to call him right away. And just as quickly as he had come he was gone again…but it didn't matter…he had still been there.
And he was here now despite the fact that things had blown up so badly between he and her Mother. She had thought about going to see him, going to talk to him about what really happened. It felt strange because she knew that she should feel happy that her parents were finally together. Every kid wanted their Mom and Dad to be married didn't they? She knew she had wanted that once…a long time ago but as she grew older she understood it was never meant to be and she had come to terms with it.
And then she had begun to look at Luke in a different way, he changed from their Diner friend who grudgingly served them coffee and burgers to something more. She had thought about what it would be like if her Mom and Luke finally got together someday but she never let herself get her hopes up. But then they finally did find their way to each other…and she had never seen her mother so happy. For the first time in her life Rory had felt like she could finally let go a little because she trusted Luke to take care of her now that she had her own adult life.
But then things went bad and she had had to watch her mother crumble in front of her. At first she had thought they could find a way to make it work, but when her Mom confided in her that she had slept with her Father Rory knew it was over. It had to be over…Luke could never forgive Lorelai for that.
And yet here he was, once again rummaging around in their kitchen fixing things just as he had done for so many years. It amazed her how selfless he could be, he was so different than her own father. She knew now that there had been more to the troubled relationship than her Mother cheating and she had her own anger towards Luke for his part in it.
But right now…it didn't seem to matter. All she needed to know was that he was here where he belonged, where he had always belonged. He was here and he was going to protect both of them through whatever else might happen. Taking a deep breath, Rory glanced down at her Mom to make sure that she was actually asleep. She smiled to herself when she saw and heard the steady breathing, she knew she had finally given in and let herself rest.
Quietly, Rory detached herself from her Mother before tip-toeing out to the kitchen to face Luke. He didn't hear her at first; he was to focused on cleaning and to caught up in his own thoughts. But after a moment he seemed to sense her standing behind him, he placed the now clean pot down on the sink to dry before he turned to stare at the young woman before him he would always picture as the little girl who begged him to bury a dead caterpillar for her.
It amazed him how grown up she looked, he wondered how much she had changed in the last few months. How much had he missed in her amazing life? He hated that he didn't know what was going on for her now. But he hated more that she was hurting and there wasn't really anything he could do to make it go away.
"She asleep?" Luke asked nodding his head towards the bedroom as he reached for a towel to dry his hands.
Rory nodded before turning back to shut the door softly so they wouldn't disturb her, "Yeah…she pretty much passed right out."
Luke leaned against the counter and pursed his lips, "She must be exhausted…"
"Yeah…she must be…" Rory whispered as she dragged herself over to the kitchen chair again.
Luke studied her for a moment and watched as her shoulders seemed to sag, "You must be tired too. Why don't you go back in there and get some sleep? I'm okay out here. I'll finish cleaning and then I'll go crash on the couch. The cops are outside so your Dad can't get past them…"
Rory lifted her head and shook it slowly, "I don't think I could sleep if I tried."
Luke sighed and pushed himself off of the counter, he threw the towel back near the sink before he walked over to her and knelt down in front of her. "Rory…"
"My Dad has done a lot of crappy things…" She felt the tears beginning to burn her eyes again; "I've had my fair share of moments when I wanted to kill him for hurting my Mom or me…" Lifting her hand she rubbed her right eye nervously, "But this…I never expected this…"
He lifted a gentle hand and placed it on her knee. "Sometimes people do crazy things when they are mad…"
"Like sleep with their ex?" Rory said lifting her face to study his.
Luke grimaced at her choice of words before he pushed himself off his knees to settle down in the chair beside her. "Yeah…I guess so."
Rory licked her lips and turned to look at him again, "I'm sorry that she did that…"
Luke shook his head in response, "I was pretty pissed for a long time." He shrugged, "But overtime I started to understand why she did it…besides it doesn't matter now."
"But it does…" Rory whispered, "It will always matter…"
Luke let the silence flow between them for a moment before he reached out to grasp her hand, "I'm not going to leave again if that's what you're afraid of."
Rory swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at their joined hands on the table. "As soon as Babette explained what happened…you were the only person I wanted to call."
"I'm glad you came to get me." Luke said giving her delicate hand a gentle squeeze. "You can always count on me."
Rory smiled and lifted her head to smile at him, "I know…that's why I came to you." She paused, "But I will admit that I was pretty mad at you for awhile too Luke. Mom told me everything that happened…"
He sighed and began to pull his hand back again, "I don't blame you for being angry Rory. I screwed up way before your Mom did…it just took me awhile to realize that. I was too wrapped up in how hurt and angry I was at her that I couldn't see I had pushed her to do that…"
Rory gave a gentle nod to show her understanding, "Sometimes its hard to see what's right in front of you…"
Luke chuckled, "Clearly I have a hard time with that…it only took me 8 years to ask your Mom out in the first place."
Rory smiled at him, "I'm glad you found the courage eventually…I always knew you would."
Luke shook his head, "You give me too much credit…"
Rory shrugged, "Maybe you don't give yourself enough credit…" She said in reply.
Luke smiled at her, feeling comfortable in the silence that surrounded them. He never thought he would be in this house with these two women again and it warmed his heart to know that not all hope was lost. He just wished it was under different circumstances…
Rory took a deep breath before standing up, she walked to the fridge and took out two bottles of water. She turned and reached up to the cabinet to get Tylenol and walked back towards her bedroom.
"I guess I should try and get some sleep. I'll have to get up early to head back to Yale to get some things. I wasn't expecting to stay very long…" She said.
Luke nodded and stood up, "Okay. Well I won't leave her alone after you leave. Don't worry."
Rory stopped at the door and turned to look at him, she smiled and shook her head, "I'm not worried."
Luke shoved his nervous hands in his pockets and just stared at her, waiting for her to enter the bedroom again. However she seemed to be thinking hard about something, she didn't look ready to leave just yet.
"Rory?" He called out to her softly.
She waited another moment before smiling at him, "Do you remember when I had the chicken pox?"
Luke felt confused by her question but he just nodded and smiled, "Sure. You'd only eat mashed potatoes for a week." He laughed remembering what had happened, "Your Mom came running into the Diner begging me to come over because she couldn't figure out how to actually peel the potato."
Rory smiled, "That's because we didn't actually have a peeler…"
Luke grunted, "I know. She was trying to do it with a spoon…"
Rory laughed and looked back at her door hoping her mother was still asleep, she turned back to Luke and smiled. "I remember when I finally started to feel better…Mom had to force you to go home."
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay…" He said shrugging as if it was no big deal.
Rory smiled, "I remember that first night you weren't here…Mom carried me to bed and she tucked me in. She sat with me, just playing with my hair to try and relax me. I knew she was tired and needed rest too…but I couldn't fall asleep." She licked her lips and looked down at her shoes feeling slightly shy about what she was going to say next, "She asked me what was bothering me…she knew that the only time I could never sleep was when I was thinking about something…"
Luke looked at her curiously, "What was it?"
She lifted her head slowly and smiled, "I told her I really wanted you to be my Dad…"
Luke felt as if someone had just squeezed his heart, for so many years he had wished he was her Father. He wanted to be the one to take care of her and Lorelai and even though he had in some ways it was never enough. At least not for him...
But to hear her say those words, it brought such happiness and warmth to his damaged heart. "Rory…"
She shrugged, "I just wanted you to know that you were always more than just the guy with the Coffee and Burgers…"
Luke smiled and shifted where he stood, "That's good to know…"
Rory smiled back and reached for the doorknob. "Good. See you tomorrow Luke."
He waited until she was hidden behind the door of her bedroom again before he let the tears that had been threatening to fall all night actually fall freely. He was so overwhelmed by all his feelings, not just from tonight but from the past few months, even the past few years. He would have been lying if he didn't think about running out the door and not looking back…
His heart was still aching over everything that had happened between he and Lorelai. But despite it all he knew he couldn't leave…not now and not ever. He loved both of the people behind that door and he was finally realizing nothing was ever going to change that.
Turning slowly, he went back to finish cleaning up the kitchen. When he was done, he walked slowly to the living room and kicked off his shoes. He plopped down on the couch and tried to calm himself enough to go to sleep. No matter what happened next he knew that he had to finally man up and stand by the two people he loved most…
The next morning, Lorelai woke slowly, at first she was incredibly confused about where she was. She tried to take in her surroundings and sighed when she realized why it was so hard to see. The side of her face was more swollen then it had been the night before…she finally realized it wasn't all just a terrible dream.
She tried to shift on the bed and whimpered when she felt the pain searing in her lower back. She had forgotten all about those bruises too…She tried to pull herself up to a sitting position to look around her daughters room. When she didn't see Rory beside her, panic began to flood her heart. Ignoring the pain all over her body, she flew off the bed and stumbled towards the door as she flung it open.
"Rory!" She screamed as the tears started to fall freely again, "Rory!" She screamed even louder.
Luke who had been down the hall finishing up a phone call quickly threw the phone down and ran to her side. "Lorelai, what's wrong?"
Her eyes turned to Luke and she instinctively grabbed his arms, "Where's Rory?"
He searched her eyes trying to understand why she was so upset, "She left a little while ago…she said she had to go back to school to get a few things. Then she was going to talk to your parents before she came back here."
Lorelai whimpered and stepped back, she put a hand on her forehead and tried to calm herself. "I thought…I thought he-"
Luke finally understood as he walked over to her again, he placed a hand on her arm and led her over the kitchen table to sit again. "She's okay. He didn't get to her…he won't get to her."
Lorelai swallowed hard and looked back up at him, "I thought you were gone too. I thought I was alone…"
He knelt down in front of her and shook his head as he rubbed her arms gently, "I was just on the phone…I had to call Lane and tell her I wouldn't be coming in."
She bit her lip and tried to wipe her tears away as he looked up at her. "I'm-I'm sorry I-I just thought-"
"Shhh…" He continued to rub her arms soothingly, "It's okay…you're okay."
She nodded her head in agreement and took a deep breath, "Okay…"
Luke waited until her breathing returned to normal and the tears had begun to subside, then he stood up and walked towards the counter. "Do you want me to make you some coffee?"
Lorelai watched him walk around her kitchen with ease; she stood up and walked back towards Rory's room. "Yeah…I just need to get something in Rory's room."
He looked back at her and smiled, "Sure. I'll be right here."
Lorelai smiled and then forced herself to enter Rorys room once again. She didn't really need anything but she needed a moment to compose herself away from him. She looked around the room and stared at the awards, the books, pictures and memories that cluttered the room. She smiled as she looked over the bookshelves that Luke had built once Rory's book collection began to take over the house. She smiled at the Yale pin on the wall and thought about how he had moved her in and out of school. She even thought of the night he had plotted to kidnap her to make sure that she didn't drop out of school.
But that night was too painful to think about…that night she had thought her whole life was going to change for the better. She thought they were going to spend the rest of their lives together and instead it had somehow gone terribly, terribly wrong somewhere along the line. She knew last night Luke had told her that he loved her, they had apologized and discussed most of what had happened. She wanted to believe that they could fix it all…but at this moment she wasn't sure they could.
She felt to scared and confused about everything that was going on, she didn't understand how it could have gotten to this point. How had she gone from happier than she ever had been to wanting to crawl into a hole and hide from everyone forever? She still couldn't believe that Christopher had actually hurt her; she couldn't believe he had hit her. They had been through so much but that was one thing she never expected…
She knew that Christopher would be angry about the letter if he ever found it. She knew there was jealousy there and she also knew he had reason to be jealous. It wasn't fair of her to agree to marry him when she knew she wasn't in love with him. But at the time she had felt so alone she didn't see any other viable options because she couldn't stand the idea of sitting in her home alone after she and Luke broke up. She was sorry that she had hurt him in the process but she also knew that no matter what she did…it didn't give him the right to put a hand on her.
Taking a deep breath, Lorelai walked over to Rory's mirror and went to lift her shirt up. She knew what the bruise on her face looked like, but she wasn't sure what she was going to see on her hips and back. She felt the sob rise in her throat when she saw the hand marks gripping both hips. Just staring at them made her feel like his hands were still there, digging in as hard as he could.
She couldn't stop the tears from falling down as she turned just slightly to look at her back. She immediately saw the dark black and blue marks caused by the continuous slamming into the counter. She began to feel nauseous as she forced herself to take a better look at her face and saw that the whole left side of her face was black and blue just like her hips and back. She couldn't stand the thought of anyone seeing her like this, but especially not Rory or Luke.
She was so caught up in her own thoughts and fears she didn't hear Luke knock on the door, he walked in when he didn't hear a response because he was afraid. "Lorelai?"
Her head snapped up to look at his reflection in the mirror, immediately she tried to lower her shirt but the damage had already been done. Luke was at her side before she could stop him; he had placed the coffee down on top of the dresser.
He tentatively reached for her shirt again but she shook her head, "Don't…"
Luke looked up into her eyes trying to get her to trust him, "Just let me look…"
She whimpered and turned her face away from him as he slowly lifted up her shirt. She tried to pretend that she didn't hear the sharp intake of breath he made when he saw the bruises. Turning her head just slightly, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction.
"Jesus Lorelai…" Luke whispered in a raw, pained voice.
He stared down at the bruised flesh and felt his blood begin to boil in anger and frustration. In the last few months since their breakup, he had thought about what it would be like to look at her body again. He remembered the way her smooth skin felt under his large tough hands. He remembered the way she always sucked in her breath when he touched her stomach because she was ticklish. Never in all of his wildest dreams did he think if he ever had the privilege of looking at and touching Lorelai Gilmore again this would be how it happened…
"It's not that bad…" She tried to reason with him when she realized he couldn't take his eyes off of the black and blue marks, "I'm fine."
Luke shook his head and lifted his face to look at her, "Lorelai it is bad…it's very bad."
She shook her head, "Luke I-"
"This is all my fault…" He whispered as he let her shirt fall from his hands.
"Luke…" She said shaking her head, "God no…please don't say that. That's not true at all!"
Luke looked at her desperately, "Well first of all if I hadn't of been such an asshole to you last year you wouldn't have gone to him. Then you never would have married him…we would be married and he never would have been able to do this to you."
Lorelai sighed and stepped back, "Luke please-"
"And then you write that letter for me and he found it and that's what pushed him to this point." He said trying to reason with her.
Lorelai licked her chapped lips and stuck out her hand to reach him, "Luke I am a big girl. I made my own decisions. I chose to go to Christopher that night. I chose to marry him. I chose to write that letter. You didn't make those decisions for me."
"But I pushed you to him." Luke said feeling frustrated as he tried to sort through his own feelings. "You know that's true…"
She sighed and shook her head again, "Luke…I never expected Christopher to do something like this. Never in a million years would I have thought this could happen but it did. I made my choices. You made yours and Chris made his own. Its just the way that it is."
"Lorelai…when Rory told me what happened I wanted to find Christopher and wrap my hands around his fucking neck." He said through clenched teeth.
"And what would that accomplish?" Lorelai asked squinting her tired eyes at him, "Hitting him the first two times didn't change anything did it?"
Luke shook his head, "It doesn't matter if it will change anything. It will make me feel better."
Lorelai smiled sadly at him as she walked all the way up to him, she reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "Luke you know you can't do that…"
"Of course I can." Luke said angrily, she watched his nostrils flare in frustration. "I'm gonna fucking kill him when I see him."
Lorelai shook her head and pulled his hand closer to her, "No you aren't. You can't."
He stared at her for a moment, "Why not?"
"Because that's not who you are." Lorelai whispered trying to reason with him, "And because if you do that…you'll lose any chance you might have of being in April's life. Then that letter I wrote would be for nothing…"
Luke listened to her words and let them sink in, he knew what she was saying was right but it didn't change how he felt. He hated Christopher. He had always hated Christopher and he had hated him even more when Lorelai married him. The few punches he had been able to get in weren't enough to take the edge off. But now that he had done this, Luke didn't care if he would get in trouble, he wanted revenge. He wanted Christopher to feel the pain he had inflicted on Lorelai and then some…
But Lorelai was right…any issues that would involve the law would negatively effect his custody battle with April. He couldn't bare to think that the court would rule in favor of Anna and allow her to take his daughter away once again. He sighed and stepped away from Lorelai and started to look around the room.
"I fucking hate him." He managed to spit out.
Lorelai couldn't help but laugh, he sounded like a young boy who was angry at his parents about something. "He's not my favorite person at the moment either…"
Luke took a few deep, cleansing breaths before he turned back to her, "I just wish I could go back and change it all…I wish I could make it so that none of this ever happened."
She smiled gently at him, "I know Luke. I know…"
Sighing, he turned to Rory's dresser again and picked up the cup of coffee and held it out to her. "Here…"
Reaching out she took the mug from him and slowly lifted it to her lips; she inhaled the smell at first and sighed happily. "Hello old friend."
Luke rolled his eyes, "Clearly you missed the coffee more than you missed me."
"What can I say…I really am a Junkie. You know this." Lorelai said trying to joke with him and she smiled when she saw him chuckle softly.
"Geez…you didn't even try to deny it. I feel cheap." He teased back.
Lorelai smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, she held it down again and smiled sincerely at him. "You were always more than just the guy with the coffee and burgers Luke…"
He smirked at her; "Rory said the same thing last night…"
"Did she?" Lorelai said with a smile as she took another sip.
"I always hoped you came for more than just the coffee and burgers…" He whispered as the corner of his lips turned up into a small smile.
"Well now you know…" She whispered softly.
Luke smiled, "Yeah…now I know."
Lorelai smiled and shook her head before she walked back over to Rory's bed. She placed the cup down on the table beside it and sat down.
"So you said Rory was going to talk to my parents…" She whispered nervously.
Luke nodded as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "She is…"
Lorelai groaned and laid back on the bed, grimacing as she felt the bruises rub against her shirt. "As if my day couldn't get any better…I now have to endure the wrath of Emily Gilmore."
Luke shook his head, "I don't think she will be that bad about this. How could she be?"
Lorelai sat up and shrugged, "Who knows, she always thought so highly of Christopher."
Luke snorted, "Trust me…I know."
Lorelai frowned sadly, "If you want to leave when they get here…I'll understand."
Luke shook his head, "I told you I wasn't going anywhere Lorelai and I'm going to keep that promise."
"But what about the Diner?" She asked softly.
"Lane and Ceaser can handle it for as long as they need to. I trust them." Luke said shrugging, "Besides this is more important."
"But you don't have any clothes or anything here…" She whispered.
Luke walked closer to her and sat down at the edge of the bed, far enough away to make sure he was giving her space but close enough to know he was still there for her. "Jackson said he would go by my place and get me some clothes and other stuff…"
"But Luke…" She whispered wearily.
Luke leaned in just a little, "Unless…you don't want me here…"
Her eyes shot up to look at him as she shook her head, "Oh no. No! That's not what this is about. I just…I don't want to intrude in your life and I know you have things to do…" She shrugged, "I don't want to take up any of your time with April…"
Luke understood now what she was worried about, "Lorelai…I'm not leaving you. Not this time…"
"When are you supposed to have April next?" She asked curiously.
"Not until next weekend…" Luke said softly, "She has a lot of packing to do with Anna plus its usually easier for her with school to just come on the weekends."
Lorelai looked down and nodded nervously, "Okay…"
Luke sighed again and reached for her hand, "Lorelai, I know what you are afraid of. But I'm going to figure out a way to be there for you both."
She licked her lips sadly, "Well what are you going to tell her?"
Luke sighed, "I haven't figured that out yet. I'm just trying to take one day at a time right now…this has been a lot to cope with in such a short period of time."
Lorelai smiled nervously at him, "I still can't believe you're here…"
He squeezed her hand to reassure her he wasn't going anywhere, "No where else I should be right now."
Lorelai looked down at their joined hands and felt a sense of peace begin to wash over her. Years before when she had met Luke, she didn't understand what it was about him but he had instantly made her feel safe. That was one of the reasons she had stayed in Stars Hollow and why she had always gone to the Diner. She needed to feel safe and Luke always made her feel safe…
She smiled and squeezed his hand back and let herself relax for the first time since last night. She knew that no matter what happened next, no matter if her and Luke were ever able to repair the damage that had been caused he would always protect her.
Meanwhile, Rory raced back to her apartment and packed everything she thought she might need. She explained to Paris what had happened and she in turn had agreed to talk to Rory's Professors to explain why she would be missing from class for the time being. Paris had promised to catch her up on everything she missed and told her to send her love to her Mother for her.
Once she was done at school, she jumped back in her car and drove straight to her Grandparents house. When she pulled up outside and parked the car, she had to give herself a few moments to gather her thoughts. She didn't know how they were going to react to the news…
They had both spent so many years trying to get her parents together and now that they had succeeded she worried they wouldn't believe what had actually happened. Despite all their problems, Rory knew that her grandparents truly did love her Mother even though they rarely showed it. She chose to believe that they would support their daughter no matter how difficult it was to hear this news.
Taking a deep breath, Rory exited the car and walked up to the front door. She raised her hand to ring the doorbell and waited for the maid to answer. When she did, she greeted her kindly before pulling off her coat and going to look for her Grandparents.
She found Emily first sitting in the Parlor reading, "Well hello Rory! What a lovely surprise this is!"
Rory smiled as her Grandmother stood up and walked towards her to give her a tight hug. "Hi Grandma. Sorry to just drop in like this…"
Emily pulled a way and waved a hand at her granddaughter, "Oh nonsense. You know we always love to see you."
Rory tried to smile through her growing nerves, "Is Grandpa here? I need to talk to you both about something. I would have called but this is a conversation I felt that we needed to have face to face."
Emily's own smile fell and she placed a hand on her Granddaughters arm, "Is everything alright Rory?"
"Can we get Grandpa first? I don't think I can handle having to tell this story twice." She said feeling the tears already starting to burn in her eyes.
Emily nodded slowly before she turned and walked towards her husbands study. Rory walked over to the couch and sat down, trying to steady herself as she waited. When her Grandparents walked back out to greet her, she tried to smile as Richard walked over to greet her.
"Hello Rory." He said pulling her up for a hug.
Rory let the hug linger longer than usual, she feeling of his large arms around her seemed to give her the strength she needed. "Hi Grandpa."
Emily gestured for them all to sit, "Should I get us something to drink?"
Rory shook her head and sat down and waited for them to both be seated across from her. "No. No I'm alright…"
Emily nodded slowly and crossed her legs, "Well…what did you need to talk to us about?"
Rory took a shaky breath and looked back and forth between them, "Last night I got a call from my Moms neighbor Babette. Do you remember her?"
Emily nodded, "Sure. She's the one crazy voice right? And her husband plays the piano and wears that ridiculous hat?"
Rory couldn't help but smile. "Right…that's her."
"What did she want?" Richard asked as he stared at his granddaughter trying to understand where she was going with this.
"She said I needed to come home because Mom wasn't feeling well…" Rory whispered, "But…when I got there Sookie and Jackson were there too and some other of my Mom's friends."
"But why?" Emily asked, "Was your Mother having some sort of party?"
Rory shook her head, "Babette and her husband Morey had gone over to my Mom's house earlier because they heard fighting. They wanted to check and see if everything was okay…"
"Well where was your father?" Richard asked, "If all those people were there and your Mother wasn't feeling well where was he?"
Rory felt the lump rising in her throat again, "My Mom and Dad got into an argument because Mom wrote a letter to the court to help Luke get joint custody of his daughter April."
"Is she talking to Luke again?" Emily asked trying to keep up with Rory.
Rory nodded, "I guess so. I mean I don't really know what they were doing before yesterday, I just know that my Mom wanted to help him so that he didn't lose April." She shook her head, "But that's not important…"
"So they got into an argument over this letter?" Richard asked as he fidgeted in his seat, "Did your Father get upset and leave again? Is that the problem?"
Rory sighed, "That's part of it…"
"Part of it?" Richard asked suddenly feeling nervous, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Rory, what is it that you aren't telling us?"
Rory licked her lips and lifted her hand to brush away the hair that had fallen into her face. "Dad uh…he…" She sighed again and looked straight at her Grandfather, "He attacked Mom…"
Rory heard the sharp intake of her Grandmothers breath but she only had eyes for her Grandfather. At first she didn't know what she was seeing on his face, she couldn't tell if it was disbelief or pure anger like she had seen on Luke's the night before.
"What do you mean he attacked her?" Richard asked in a strained voice.
Rory fidgeted for a moment, "Mom said they were arguing and he kept pushing her against the counter in the kitchen. She asked him to stop but he wouldn't…and then he got so mad he…" She paused and let her eyes flicker over to her Grandmother who seemed to be immobile in her spot; "He struck her across the face."
Emily stood up quickly and walked behind her chair making sure to keep her back to the other two in the room. Rory looked back over at her Grandfather and finally understood what she saw written on his face; regret and pain.
"He hit her?" Richard asked as his eyes bore into Rory's, "He put his hands on her?"
Rory sighed, "I know. I couldn't believe it either…but its true. I saw Mom…it's bad. Her face is all bruised and when we were with the police last night I was there when she showed them her back and hips. She has a lot of hand marks on her…all black and blue." She mumbled as the tears fell from her eyes.
"Oh God…" Emily squeaked out as she walked to Richard's side. "Oh God Richard…"
Richard took a deep breath before standing up, "Where is your Father now? Where is your Mom?"
Rory looked up at him as he stood so tall before her, "Mom's at home with Luke. I don't know where Dad is…he hasn't come back to the house yet. But there is a warrant out for his arrest…there is a police officer guarding the house so he may have been spooked if he saw it trying to come back."
Richard stood up straighter and pulled his suit down, "Come on Rory. We will go with you back to your house."
Emily looked at Rory for a moment before whispering, "Luke is there?"
Rory stared at her Grandmother for a moment; she desperately wished that she could change the woman's stubborn opinions sometimes. "Yes. I went to him last night because I was scared and I knew that he would protect us both. He hasn't left her side since he got there…"
Emily regarded her granddaughter for a second before opening her mouth to speak again, "Rory I'm so sor-"
Rory stood up and walked closer to them, "Don't. It will only drive you crazy." She sighed and reached for her Grandmothers hand. "The only thing I'm going to ask of you both if you want to be around Mom…is that you finally accept Luke for who he is." She looked up at her Grandfather again, "He loves my Mom and he loves me too…he'd do anything for either of us. I think he proved that last night by putting all the crap that happened between them aside and being there to protect us. You can't ask him to leave and you can't be rude…if you want to help and if you want to be a part of our lives you need to accept that he is going to be there. He's not leaving…not this time."
Richard looked down at his wife and waited for her to reply first, Emily smiled weakly. "He's a better man than I gave him credit for…" She said.
Rory nodded slowly, "Yes. He is."
Richard put a gentle but firm hand on Rory's arm before walking past her to get his keys and wallet. Rory watched him as he walked with determination to the door, he didn't turn to look at either of them again and she wondered just what he was feeling. It was often hard to gage just how Richard and Emily felt about their daughter. She knew they loved her but she never knew how they would react to certain situations and this was one situation she never pictured them all in.
Emily quickly snapped out of her own daze and began to yell orders to the maids letting them know they would be gone for awhile. She followed her husband out to the car and Rory took a moment to compose herself before following them. Her Grandparents were already pulling out of the driveway when Rory slipped into her own car. As she turned the key she said a silent prayer hoping that they kept to their promise and were kind to Luke. The last thing Lorelai needed was to be caught up in that drama again…for now she needed support and nothing more.
So what did you think? I hope you liked it. I especially liked writing the scene between Rory and Luke because I have always loved their relationship and wanted to explore it some more. Anyway, up next will be the Gilmore's going to Lorelai's house to see her, will they keep their promise to Lorelai about being kind to Luke? Read and find out!