The Gilmore Residence

January 9th, 1984

6.38 PM

Straub was irritated. In fact, he was very irritated. With his son, for being a fool and because of that, grounded, and with his wife, for insisting they attend this party and therefore had to bring the said son to the gathering. The Hayden family had been traveling in silence the entire ride to the Gilmore House.
"Well, at least being grounded in the Hayden household includes chauffeur service to see my girlfriend," Chris said when the car pulled up on the driveway. Straub caught Christopher's gaze in the rearview mirror. He was not amused.

"Let me make myself very clear—you are not attending this gathering for pleasure, Christopher. We're bringing you along tonight because leaving you unsupervised is out of the question. Who knows what you might decide is a good idea next?" Straub said sternly.
"Listen to your father, Christopher, and do as he says," Francine filled in. Straub parked the car and turned to face Chris.
"You have done many reckless things in your life, one more disappointing than the other, but this time you have to understand the seriousness of your actions," Straub said.
"Come on, dad, it's not like I planned to crash the car. It was just an accident."
"That 'accident' could have cost you and Lorelai your lives," Straub retorted. "You might not care about your own, but I will have no son of mine risking the life of a fine couple's daughter. You will apologize, and you will mean it." Straub opened his car door and stomped out.

Christopher took a deep, steadying breath before opening his door and following his parents up the walkway to the Gilmore's front door. As they rang the doorbell, Emily Gilmore greeted them.
"Francine, Straub, we're so glad you could make it," Emily began, "this gathering seemed like a good opportunity for us all to catch up."
"Emily, Richard, the pleasure is ours. Though I believe that we, to get the most out of this evening, need to at least briefly discuss the more pressing matters at hand." Richard, matching Straub's directness, replied,
"Indeed, we do, Straub. Our children's recent incident has given us all much to think about." Christopher, who had kind of hoped to blend into the background, felt the weight of the conversation settle on him. Beside him, Lorelai stood equally subdued. She grinned at him.
"Richard, Straub, I will remind you that this is a party," Emily said. "Believe me, we will eventually address the matter, but this is not the time and place." Francine nodded.
"Of course, Emily, we agree with you, this is not the right time. I just want to say that Straub and I are deeply regretful for the trouble our son has caused. Christopher is well aware of the severity of his actions." Chris cleared his throat a few times before starting to speak.
"I truly am sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore. I realize how much worse things could have been." Richard turned to Chris.
"I know you are sorry, Christopher, but it hardly amends the recklessness of your actions. Both our families have been put in a very uncomfortable position because of this folly., and you and Lorelai could have been seriously hurt," Richard said, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Come on, dad, you know it wasn't just Chris. I was there too. We're both to blame." Richard, with a sigh, addressed them both.
"You're absolutely right, Lorelai, but this isn't just about assigning blame. It's about understanding the potential consequences of your actions."

-

An hour later, Christopher was in full swing, captivating a group of the Gilmore guests with a well-practiced tale. "And there I was, face-to-face with the most fearsome creature in all of Connecticut," he declared with a dramatic flourish, the guests hanging on his every word. Lorelai gave him thumbs up and slipped away with the grace of a cat burglar, her eyes scanning the bar for the perfect bottle. Her hand settled on a vintage that promised to taste like victory. "This will do nicely," she murmured to herself. Just as she was about to signal Christopher, the unmistakable tone of her mother's voice sliced through the din. "Lorelai, there you are! I must introduce you to the Donahues. Their son is just back from Yale—" In a split second, Lorelai's eyes widened in alarm, and she caught Christopher's gaze, her expression screaming 'abort mission'. Without missing a beat, Christopher ramped up his charm, his story reaching a crescendo that conveniently required a demonstration, drawing the crowd's—and more importantly, Emily's—attention away from Lorelai's position. Taking advantage of the diversion, Lorelai ducked behind a nearby sofa, her heart pounding. Christopher, wrapping up his tale with a flourish, excused himself from the group and nonchalantly made his way to the sofa, flopping down behind it next to Lorelai in a barely contained fit of laughter.
"Face-to-face with a fearsome creature, huh? Was it as terrifying as facing my mom on a mission?" Christopher peeked over the sofa to ensure they were still unnoticed.
"Your mom's got nothing on the wild squirrels of Connecticut. But close second, for sure." Lorelai nudged him.
"Come on, our great escape awaits. Let's get out of here before she realizes I'm not schmoozing the Yale prodigy." She grinned, and they waited for the perfect moment and rose from their hiding spot, blending seamlessly into the flow of guests once more.
"Come on Chris, we have to bring coats."
"Why?"
"You'll see. It's Emily Gilmore's latest move."

-

The went upstairs to Lorelai's room but upon reaching it, Chris came to a halt.
"Uh, Lorelai? The door is gone?"
"Yup. Told you, mom's reached new heights."
"She took your door?"
"She took my door." They entered her doorless room, and Lorelai went to open the windows to climb out onto the balcony.
"Ah, I see." Chris put on his coat.
"Looks like it's gonna be an open air party." He climbed out after her. The night was pitch-black and cloudy, with a freezing wind blowing. Lorelai took a deep breath.
"I smell snow."
Chris smiled at her and uncorked the bottle with a flourish, pouring a liberal amount into two glasses.
"To our very own balcony party, the best kind of party because no one else is allowed," he toasted. Lorelai raised her glass.
"To being grounded! May our sentences be short!"
"... and our parents' memories shorter," Chris added. They clinked glasses. Christopher leaned against the balcony railing, looking out into the night.
"So, have your parents drafted up a release date for you yet, or are we looking at a life sentence here?" Lorelai sighed, taking a sip of her wine.
"Oh, you know, the usual 'until we can trust you again' spiel. So, in other words, see you in the next decade." Chris huffed.
"Yeah, my folks are planning to turn me into a model citizen by the end of this. I'll be so well-behaved, I'll start ironing my socks."
"Maybe you can iron mine while you're at it. I'll be too busy not attending any social events for the foreseeable future," Lorelai replied gloomily.
"We're gonna miss out on Mike's birthday next week. Heard it was going to be really cool," Christopher said, swirling the wine in his glass. Lorelai sighed.
"Yep. I guess we'll just have to throw another two people party on this balcony."
"It's kind of ironic, isn't it?" Chris said. "Feels like we've spent half our relationship on this balcony. Either one of us is grounded, or both, or we're sneaking around, trying not to get caught." Lorelai turned to look at him.
"You're totally right! This balcony has seen more of our relationship than any movie theater or diner in town. It's like our own little refuge, but also our prison." Christopher reached for Lorelai's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Maybe when this is all over, when we're finally ungrounded, we should make a point of avoiding balconies for a while. You know, go on a balcony detox." Lorelai grinned.
"A balcony detox sounds perfect. But you know, despite everything, I'm glad we had this place. It's ours, in a way no other place is. It's where we've had some of our best talks."
"Yeah," Christopher agreed. "And some other best things, if I'm not mistaken." Lorelai laughed. Chris tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, watching her. He really had the sweetest smile.
"Lorelai? Christopher? Are you out here?" The unmistakable sound of Emily Gilmore's voice cut through the chilly air, edging closer to the balcony.
"Quick, duck!" Lorelai yanked Christopher down beside her behind an inadequately sized planter. Crouched awkwardly, their proximity in the tight space reignited a different kind of tension, one that sent a ripple of laughter through them despite the risk of being discovered.
"Last Easter déjà vu," Chris whispered, his breath warm against Lorelai's ear. She could have sworn he did that on purpose.
"Higher stakes and fewer chocolate bunnies," Lorelai whispered back, trying to have a look to make sure her mother was not coming their way. As Lorelai saw Emily getting dangerously close to the window, Chris pulled her closer and tugged gently at her earlobe with his teeth. Lorelai shivered. They could hear Emily moving about the room.
"I could have sworn I heard voices. Must be the wind," she said to herself before the sound of her steps faded away. Once sure they were alone again, Chris and Lorelai dared to peek over the rim of their makeshift barricade, the coast clear at last.
"Well, that was a close call," Chris breathed in her ear. He stood first, offering Lorelai a hand to help her up, but instead, he scooped her in his arms.
"Hello there," he said,
"Good evening, Master Hayden," she said, and rose to kiss his nose. "How are we feeling this very night?" She continued giving him little kisses, slowly trailing over his cheek, lips and down to his neck. He shivered as her lips left a wet, cold trail. When she reached his earlobe and pulled it into her mouth, she caused him to involuntarily buck his hips at her. She grinned a little, unbuttoned his thick wool coat and snuck her hands inside, around his waist, untucking his shirt from his pants, and let her cold hands run over his back. He shivered. She started to pull at his bowtie with her teeth, slowly untying it. He grinned back at her, took a big gulp from his wine.
"Well this is pleasant," he said, "a personal dresser, or, shall I say, undresser?" Lorelai just smiled back at him. God, he was beautiful.
When Lorelai had pulled his bowtie off of him, he couldn't resist her any longer. He gripped her wrists and pinned her up against the wall with one arm, kissing her, opening her coat and letting his free hand find her breasts, nipples hard under his fingers. She moaned and kissed him back and grind against his leg, untangling her hands and started to pull at his pants, unbuckling them with one hand, the other buried in his hair. He held her even tighter, kissing her, thrusting hard against her hand, wanting to feel her hand around him.

When she pulled him out of his underwear, he moaned into her mouth. He yanked her skirt up around her waist, ripped off her stockings and panties and she lifted a knee to rest on his hip. His fingers trailed over her folds. God, she was wet. She pulled at him, urging him closer, pushed away his hand, wanting him inside. She positioned him between her legs. He hesitated a little.
"You sure?"
"Never been more sure, come on, get inside," she said, pulling at his ears. "Come on Chris, dying here!"
"Yeah, jeez, give me a second to figure this out," he said, trying to grip her hips. "There's ice everywhere, I have to…"
He finally managed to get a good grip and lifted her up, held her against the wall, and she straddled him, hooking her legs around his hips.
"Wow, this is something, huh?" His lips were millimeters from hers and she felt his breath linger over her mouth. "Hot, I'd say." She nodded and pulled at him, eagering him on. He slowly pushed inside. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Oh my god, this was new, you're, you're hitting something unexpected there," she panted.
"Unexpectedly good?"
"Definitely." She closed her eyes and felt snowflakes land on her face while he slowly moved in and out of her. All of a sudden, he hit an especially good spot and she moaned and cramped, squeezing him harder. That, and her face, her voice, her legs around his waist, the wine, the snowfall, became too much for him. He came, hard. And let out a gritted groan, thrust a few more times, nuzzled his nose into her neck.
"Sorry," he murmured sheepishly, "I was surprised. You were too good!"
"Well, right back at ya," she replied. "Lifting me up like that hit uncharted territories."
He buffed at her nose with his.
"I love you," he said.
She kissed him.
"I love you, too."
They remained in their embrace for a while, then he pulled out and they started to put their clothes together again.
"We should get back in," he said, "before anyone gets a serious frostbite."
"Let me just fix my lipstick."