Had a lot of fun with this one lol

Emma stared at her locker from across the hallway, with such an intensity one would think she was trying to set it on fire.

"Is there a force field around your locker or something?" Ben asked, looking down at her with amusement. Emma glanced up at him, cursing, once again, his tallness compared to her. She was about average height, but with Ben, she felt like Thumbelina.

"No." Emma answered even though she knew it wasn't a serious question.

"Oh-kay…" Ben finished collecting the books he needed, slamming his own locker shut, "So why are you glaring at it?"

"There's a note on it." Emma explained with a huff. She crossed her arms over her chest, going back to staring at her locker, or more specifically, the note that was taped onto it.

"Oh," Ben nodded. "From Tristan?"

"Why can't he leave me alone?" Emma grumbled, trying to ignore the thrill that went through her when Ben mentioned his name. Tristan had wanted space - she was just giving it to him. No matter that he had been trying to talk to her for weeks now, waiting for her after class, attending her soccer games, and now, leaving notes on her locker.

"Probably because he'll wear you down eventually." Ben shrugged, adjusting the straps on his backpack. "Girls can't resist his…charms."

Emma frowned at him. "How is he gonna wear me down?"

Ben raised his eyebrows at her, a slightly judgemental look on his face. "By doing exactly what he's doing now."

Emma placed a hand on her hip. "Excuse me?"

"You're dying to see what he wrote." Ben told her matter-of-factly. "The only reason you haven't gone yet is because of your stubbornness. You can't just let him know he's gotten to you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I liked you better when you were too shy to talk."

Ben shot her a lopsided grin. "What if I get the note for you? No one has to see your walk of shame."

Emma rolled her eyes but nodded after a moment. Ben crossed the hallway in two long strides, snatching the note off the locker, and quickly returning to Emma's side.

"Should I read it too?" he moved to open the note when Emma plucked it out of his hands.

"Don't make me go back to disliking you." Emma sniffed, noticing how Tristan had written her nickname 'Juliet' in a messy scrawl. She opened the note, quickly scanning its contents.

Juli Emma,

You've made your point. You're mad at me. Just let me make it up to you now. Madeline is having a party this week. Will you come?

Tristan.

"Well?" Ben said over her shoulder. "What did Romeo say?" Emma folded up the note again and stuffed it into her coat pocket.

"I need coffee." Emma announced.

Ben gave her a long look. "Okay. Do you wanna head out now?"

"Yes." Emma said, turning on her heel and heading down the long hallway with Ben trailing after her, neither of them aware that Tristan had been watching from the opposite end.

Emma was sprawled out on Rory's bed, flipping through one of her mom's magazines as Lorelai and Rory were preparing for her twin's three month anniversary dinner with Dean. She had helped pick out the dress and shoes but had lost interest somewhere around them choosing what to do with Rory's hair.

"'Oh, we got new coffee makers.'" Lorelai mocked herself. "Ugh! What was I thinking?"

Rory hurried to reassure her, whilst monitoring her mom's progress with her hair in the vanity's reflection. "Well, you spent a lot of time picking out those coffee makers."

"Oh, yeah, I'm Mrs. Coffee." Lorelai grumbled, briefly letting her frustration out by yanking on a section of her daughter's hair.

"Ow!" Rory shouted. "Okay, I'm still attached to the head."

"Okay, sorry." Lorelai relented. "I'm a little worked up."

"Mom, it's just Luke's ex-girlfriend." Rory told her.

Emma hummed from the bed. "Yeah, mom, I don't think you have to worry about competition or anything."

"Wh-what?" Lorelai blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, how pretty could this lady be?" Emma continued, finally setting the magazine down on her sister's bedside table. "I'm sure you could take her."

Rory exchanged a look with her twin through the mirror. Emma was grinning like the Cheshire Cat back at them.

"Competition for what?" Lorelai asked, loudly. When Emma didn't respond, "F-for Luke? Why would there be competition?"

"That's what I'm saying," Emma said, patiently. "There is none."

"I'm not competing for Luke." Lorelai said, firmly. "I just hate that I made myself look so stupid in front of-"

"Luke?" Rory supplied, unhelpfully.

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her daughters. "No, Rachel. She was standing there, fresh off a plane, and she had no plane hair at all, might I add."

"And what exactly is plane hair?" Rory asked.

"You know, it's all big and all bah." Lorelai made gestures in the air.

"Got it." Rory nodded.

"And he's staring at her like she's Miss September and she's looking at him like he's Johnny Depp, and I was just babbling like a moron, what is wrong with me?!" Lorelai ranted, her voice getting louder, and her brushing getting rougher.

"Ow! Ow!" Rory batted her mom away. "Okay, you are now officially off hair duty. Em, help, please?"

Emma slid off the bed and took the comb from her mother, taking up position behind her sister, who immediately was grateful for the gentleness.

"I'm sorry." Lorelai sighed. "I just-"

"No, it's okay. I just think it's a little early for Dean to see me completely bald." Rory explained, glancing at her mom through the mirror.

"Right, that's more a six-month thing." Lorelai joked.

"So, what's wrong with you if you're not jealous of Rachel?" Emma asked, rather bluntly.

Lorelai gave her daughter a look. "Nothing's wrong with me. I don't know. It's just all this love in the air, you know. I miss Max. There's just been so much going on with your Dad coming home and family stuff and your guys' constant existence-"

"Thanks for the love." Rory said sarcastically as Emma blew a kiss at her mom.

Lorelai pretended to catch the kiss and stuffed it into her pocket. "Anytime. So I haven't had a lot of time to focus on it and I miss Max."

Emma made a face at the mention of Max, suddenly very invested in combing her sister's hair. Max was an all right person, Emma supposed, if somewhat…neutral. She didn't feel any particular way toward him like her mom and even Rory did. Then again, Emma wasn't a very literature-oriented person and the only people who liked his class were people who had a crush on him or actually liked what he taught.

"So, where is Dean taking you?" Lorelai was asking as she sifted through Rory's sweaters.

"Why?" Rory asked.

"Well, you don't want to clash with the decor." Lorelai wisely told her. "A lady plans ahead."

"Well, if you must know, he's taking me to Andoloro's." Rory said. Her mother looked impressed to which Rory smiled.

"Oh, well isn't that romantic?" Lorelai said.

"I know!" Rory said, giddy.

"Shoot me." Emma muttered, finishing the last details on her masterpiece before stepping away from her sister. "Okay, you're done."

Rory inspected herself in the mirror, and when she was satisfied, she stood to join her mom.

"It's gonna be just like Lady and the Tramp," Lorelai said. "You'll share a plate of spaghetti, but it'll just be one long strand, but you won't realize it until you accidentally meet in the middle. And then, he'll push a meatball towards you with his nose, and you'll push it back with your nose, and then you'll bring the meatball home and you'll save it in the refrigerator for years and-"

"Mom?" Rory interrupted her mother's rambling.

"Uh, just wear your coat." Lorelai shook her head.

"Okay."

"Rory?" Lane's voice called out from what sounded like the entryway. Rory hurried to meet her friend with one last inspection from her mother who gave her the all clear.

Lorelai turned to Emma. "So, it's just gonna be us tonight."

"So at least we'll have each other to share in our misery?" Emma said sarcastically.

"You know, Grandma said I had to be at dinner but there was no mention of you…" Lorelai said mischievously.

"Are you saying I should skip Friday night dinner?" Emma's eyes went wide.

"I would be willing to take the bullet for you." Lorelai nodded seriously. "Come on, you could call your new friend, Ben right? Ask him to hang out. Maybe go to the festival and see the bonfire. Even if he says no, it'll still be pretty fun out there. And I can meet up with you later."

"Okay…" Emma said, getting more excited by the prospect of missing dinner. She loved her grandparents but it could be a bit boring sometimes. "Who told you about Ben?"

"Rory can be quite the gossip sometimes," Lorelai shrugged, leading them out of the room to meet with Rory and Lane who were discussing Lane's newest prospect.

"We're going with his parents, his grandparents, two sisters, three brothers and at least one maiden aunt." Lane was explaining to Rory.

"And a partridge in a pear tree?" Emma quipped as a car honked outside.

"That's Dean." Rory said.

"Remember, you have to tell me everything." Lane told her friend.

"Okay, you too." Rory nodded.

"Oh yeah. After the walking, the silence, the sitting and the 'buh bye', that's when the fun will begin." Lane said sarcastically.

"I wanna know anyhow," Rory said. "Bye Mom. Bye Em."

"Bye honey, have fun." Lorelai hugged her daughter.

"But not too much fun." Emma added, giving her sister a brief hug.

"Don't forget the meatball." Lorelai said. "And a ditto on what your sister said."

"So, think I can hang out with you for a while?" Lane asked the remaining Gilmore girls.

"Well, Mom has a big night in Hartford but I can walk with you to the festival," Emma offered. "I just have to make a quick call."

"Cool." Lane nodded, then turned to Lorelai when Emma went to look for the house phone. "Are you sure you can't run me over on your way out? Maybe my mother wouldn't make me go if I was in the hospital."

"I wouldn't count on it." Lorelai gave her a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, you're right."

Ben had been surprisingly open to Emma's suggestion of meeting her out in the small town of Stars Hollow and agreed to meet up in a half hour. And after Lane begged Emma to break one of her legs to no success, the girls made their way to the festival.

"I'm telling you, these arranged dates are the worst." Lane was ranting. Emma wasn't sure if Lane actually wanted her input or if she just needed someone to vent to. By the way Lane continued despite Emma's silence, Emma figured she was good just listening and mhmm-ing here and there. "I don't even think I want to get married…no, that's not true, I do want to get married." Lane admitted. "I just can't marry a podiatrist who wants to open a 401k and live across the street from my mother."

"I would marry a podiatrist with a 401k." Emma caught Lane staring at her, gobsmacked, and then shrugged. "What? Doctors make good money."

Lane shook her head. "I need someone passionate, you know?"

"How do you know the podiatrist isn't passionate?" Emma countered.

"Huh?"

"Look, Lane," Emma said, "All I'm really trying to say is that it seems like your mom's matchmaking schemes aren't gonna let up anytime soon. So, lean into it. Find someone you can get along with and maybe your mom won't breathe down your neck about finding someone for you."

Lane went quiet, thinking,

"You don't have to marry them," Emma continued. "But then again, I don't listen to everything my mom tells me to do, so what do I know? You can eat a corndog in front of him and then pretend you got food poisoning and leave early."

"Now that sounds more like a plan I can get on board with." Lane nodded, more satisfied. "I'm sorry about Jenna. She mentioned you guys don't talk anymore"

Emma shrugged. "It's okay." They reached the town square, and she spotted Ben at the edge, watching people eat with fascination on his face. "I have new friends."

"Maybe I'll see you later?" Lane said, also spotting her date for the evening, a frown growing on her face.

"Sure," Emma said. "Remember, nobody likes a girl who chews with her mouth open."

Lane seemed to internalize her words, giving her a determined nod before wading into the crowd. Meanwhile, Emma crossed diagonally to meet Ben who spotted her easily, considering he was taller than a lot of people there.

"You made it." Emma said, greeting him.

"You made it sound like this was a social experiment." Ben said, his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"This whole town is a social experiment." Emma muttered, then glanced at the food carts. "Can I get you something?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ben said. There was a defensiveness in his tone that Emma didn't register until she noticed that his shoulders were tense.

Emma blinked, unaware of what she said until it dawned on her as to how it must've sounded to her friend. "Oh. I just meant I invited you out here. It's my treat."

Ben's shoulders lowered. "Sorry. I just-"

"It's okay." Emma waved it off. "So, uh, how about a hot chocolate? It's not as great as Luke's," She nodded across the street where the diner was already closed, 'But Charlie always puts extra marshmallows in mine because I tutored his kid in math."

"Sure." Ben said, motioning for her to lead the way.

She quickly bought them hot chocolates before leading them to the bonfire that was beginning to burn as the Mayor and Taylor had finally found something to light the bonfire with. Emma spotted Sookie and Jackson walking around and waved when Sookie happened to turn around. Sookie beamed at her, pointing to Jackson, whose back was turned. Emma gave her a thumbs up and then turned to Ben.

"That's Sookie," Emma explained. "She's Mom's best friend. She's sorta the best chef in the tri-state area."

Ben nodded. "Sookie cannot be a real name."

Emma gave him a light-hearted smack on the arm. "Okay, and over there is Taylor. He's kinda the man behind the curtain, so to speak. I'm pretty sure he was Napoleon in a past life."

"The one arguing with those two ladies?" Ben pointed to where Taylor was being yelled at by Babette and Miss Patty, presumably for shutting down the cart with the hard cider. She wasn't sure why they were complaining when they had set up the party punch nearby.

"Yup." Emma said, popping the 'p', "Who else is here?"

They continued walking around the town square, going to marvel at the bonfire, and then quickly backtracking when they started sweating from the heat. She pointed out the closed stores she frequented during the day and even pointed out her old high school. They traded horror stories about school, laughing about strict teachers and past assignments. Later on, Emma scanned the town square, only to spot Luke sitting on a nearby bench. He seemed uncomfortable, but when he spotted the pair, his eyes narrowed. Emma lit up and she walked faster, leaving Ben to hurry after her.

"Luke!" Emma said, surprised. The man was usually hard to convince to attend these kinds of events and Emma briefly wondered if it had something to do with the woman her mother had spent a good ten minutes ranting about. "What are you doing here?"

"What, I can't attend the Stars Hollow Firelight Festival?" Luke grumbled, still eyeing her friend with distrust.

"No, I think the universe would just implode." Emma shook her head, grinning.

"Hurray for me." Luke said.

Ben shifted uncomfortably, no longer able to pretend he couldn't see the man glaring at him.

"Oh, this is Ben." Emma urged her friend forward. "Ben, this is Luke. He's the one who makes the best coffee."

"Is this the boyfriend?" Luke asked, bluntly, still staring the boy down.

"What?" Emma's eyebrows drew together. "No. He's my friend."

Luke's expression cleared somewhat. "Oh." He nodded at Ben, adopting a more neutral expression. Ben gave him a nervous smile. And then, "Where's your mom?"

"Hartford." Emma said, "It's Friday night dinner but Mom let me off the hook for the evening. So, where's Rachel?" She said it with such innocence that Luke was surprised, first that Emma knew who that was, and that she was bold in her nosiness.

"How do you know about Rachel?" Luke asked.

Emma shrugged. "Mom was worried about her."

Before Luke could question what Emma meant by that, the woman in question approached with a camera in her hands. Emma noted that she was pretty after all. Maybe that was why her mom was worried.

"Hey." Rachel called out, smiling.

Luke nodded at her. "You getting some good stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah the firelight really changes people." Rachel said, then glanced over to the two teenagers. "Who is this?"

"I'm-"

"This is Lorelai's daughter." Luke interrupted. "One of them. You remember the woman you met earlier in the diner?"

"Oh, yeah." Rachel nodded. "Wow, you really look like your mom. I mean the resemblance is sort of uncanny. Her genes must be really strong."

"So I've been told." Emma rocked on her heels.

"And this is Bart." Luke said, gesturing to Ben.

"Ben." Ben corrected. Luke turned to look at him and this time, Ben met his stare head on, unflinching.

Luke harrumphed. "My bad. Ben." He looked at Emma. "Well, you guys should get back to the festival." It was a clear dismissal.

"Well, see ya around Luke." Emma waved at Rachel. "Nice to meet you, Rachel."

"Sure." Luke nodded at them.

"Bye, guys!" Rachel said, as friendly as ever. As Emma led Ben away, Ben glanced behind them and leaned in closer to Emma.

"So, what was that about?" He asked.

"What?" Emma said.

"Is that like a love triangle with your mom or something?" Ben seemed genuinely curious.

"Sort of." Emma tilted her head. "I mean, he likes my mom, and sometimes I think Mom likes him back. But they've never said or done anything about it."

Ben looked at her. "Maybe it's not that easy."

Emma snorted. "People think it's not that easy, that they have to hide their feelings." Emma crossed her arms. "But you can't expect people to put up with it."

"So since we're both being blunt, what's the deal with Lorelai?" Rachel asked Luke plainly, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Luke huffed, glancing away. He noticed Emma and her friend (apparently not the punk she broke up with) carrying s'more materials toward the bonfire. That couldn't end well, Luke mused to himself.

"I'm talking about Lorelai, the lady who runs the inn, the one you've told me absolutely nothing about, and been very careful to leave out of every story, anecdote, or gossip about the town." Rachel described. "The one whose daughter you chased out of here as soon as I got here."

Luke scoffed. "There is no deal with Lorelai. We're friends. And I did not chase off Emma. She's with her friend, I wasn't about to keep her here so we could all catch up."

"Okay, for now you're friends," Rachel acquiesced, "And in the future?"

"Well, Lorelai is, she's just uh…" Luke remembered how Emma had mentioned that her mom had been talking about Rachel. That Lorelai had been worried about her. What did that mean? Was Lorelai jealous? Luke shook his head. That couldn't be possible. "I don't know. I mean, at times it seems like…I don't know. But I am happy to see you." Rachel had appeared back in his life, back in Stars Hollow because she wanted to. Lorelai had her time to say something. Emma had probably said what she said to mess with him. It was the kind of thing she did.

"Good." Rachel nodded, smiling gently. "I'm gonna get some of that party punch. You want some?"

"That stuff will kill you." Luke informed her.

"Oh Luke, some things never change." Rachel said, disappearing to find a cup. As she disappeared from view, Lorelai arrived, taking Rachel's spot, seemingly unaware of who had just left.

"Hey." Lorelai greeted him. "Where the hell's the fire department when you need them?"

Luke nodded. "Especially because I just saw your kid take a bunch of marshmallows and chocolate toward the bonfire."

Lorelai's eyes lit up with interest. "Really?" She seemed about to go find her daughter but then sagged back into her seat. "The worst she could do is singe Taylor's eyebrows off again."

Luke chuckled. "That was one of your crazier birthday parties for the girls."

Lorelai laughed too. "I think Taylor still hasn't forgiven them."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in Hartford?" Luke asked.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"Climbed out the window."

Emma waved goodbye as the last bus for Hartford turned the corner, hoping Ben had seen it when she felt a sense of unease and general discontentment.

"Oh, god, am I dying?" Emma pondered out loud, quickly settling on the bus bench, wondering what she possibly could have eaten that had had an effect on her. Okay, so there was the crazy amounts of chocolate, or the party punch that she had managed to sneak back to Ben who waited near the gazebo. But no, she had eaten worse. Then what else could it be?

Then, Emma remembered the connection she had with her twin. It didn't always come up and it didn't always make sense but it worked for the both of them. No longer fearful of dying, Emma hopped up and rushed back to the festival. She spotted her mom talking to Luke and ran up to them. Her Mom and Luke stared at her in concern.

"Mom, we have to get back to the house." Emma said hurriedly, pulling at her mom's hand. Lorelai immediately stood, sensing how serious her daughter was.

"Bye Luke."

"Yeah, bye." Luke nodded at them, still staring after them with concern in his eyes as they disappeared from his view.

When they arrived at the house, Rory was just arriving and they met in the front yard.

"Rory?" Lorelai called, jumping out of the car.

Rory turned around at her mom's voice, spotting Emma getting out of the car as well. "We just broke up." Lorelai and Emma walked up to Rory, silently enveloping her in a hug.

Until next time!