Chapter 1
Lorelai was officially over this whole pregnancy thing.
She was only seven months along and she had already lost sight of her feet, which she partially thought of as a blessing to hide her enormous ankles, and the constant pain in her back and ribs was restricting her sleep to a horrifying two hours a night, if she was lucky. And, to top it all off, she was restricted to a singular cup of coffee per day - after finding out about that particular rule she had proceeded to argue with the doctor for several moments before her mother's unbearable nagging began once again.
Of course she knew this was all for the good of her unborn little angel, who was currently enjoying spreading out as much as possible inside her stomach.
With a huff, she chucked the magazine she had been flipping through onto her mattress and soothingly ran her hand along her swollen stomach. In these moments Lorelai felt herself being crushed by the overwhelming silence of the house.
Her parents had never been overly affectionate towards her, but since revealing she was pregnant at sixteen, they could hardly string together a single sentence towards her or each other. Unless it was to lecture or order her around of course. She feared there would be nothing she could do to prevent that.
Just then a sharp knock rattled against her thick wooden door, "Lorelai"
The tone in her mother's voice struck like knife being rammed into her temple.
"Lorelai, I know your in there. If you don't answer in the next three seconds I'm coming in."
She made a move to shuffle towards the end of her bed, her belly making the task infinitely more difficult than it once had been. Her mother came barging in before she even made it to her feet.
"When someone knocks on your door you should answer them Lorelai. Honestly, I thought your father and I at least taught you better than that." Emily Gilmore's eyes briefly glared at Lorelai's stomach as the end of her criticism came out.
"Well mother, you see there's a bit of extra weight on my torso making that task a lot more difficult. Maybe I should just spend my days waiting by the my door for the singular time you knock on my door per day to inform me you're going out and I'm to, once again, remain shut up in my room like your captive."
"You are not a captive Lorelai. And I do not appreciate your ridiculous jokes. You know that this… situation is your doing, and it is definitely not something you should be joking about."
"What did you want, mother?" Lorelai stood up to face her mother, folding her arms across her chest as if in self-defence.
Her mother sighed loudly, "Your father and I are hosting a get-together for some of our old Yale friends this afternoon, followed by dinner-"
"And you want to make sure that none of them become aware of the 'situation'?"
"Do not interrupt me Lorelai." Emily scolded, "But yes. I suggest you go out for the afternoon and evening, probably best not to come back until around 10.30."
"Why can't I just stay in my room?"
"Because you'll need to eat, use the bathroom, and I can't risk anyone seeing you. It'll also be easier to explain why you're not at there by saying you're out."
"So you're banishing me from my own house." Lorelai almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her parents were actually so ashamed that she wasn't even allowed in the same building as their precious Yale friends.
"You're not being banished Lorelai; you just need to go out for a few hours."
"Am I allowed inside the house at all before 10.30?"
"No."
"Do I get a say in the matter?"
"No."
"What if I were sick?"
"But you're not sick."
"But if I were?"
"Then you'd go to the doctor and either go into hospital or be fine enough to stay out of the house until 10.30."
"So I am being banished from my house."
"Fine you're being banished. Goodbye Lorelai."
Lorelai's mother quickly walked away from her room, leaving the door wide open behind her for Lorelai to leave.
She spent several moment finding shoes she could squeeze her feet into, several of her old favourites having been abandoned several months ago, before grabbing her purse and rushing out through the front door without even a goodbye to her parents.
As soon as the door closed behind her, her heart sank deep into her chest. She had nowhere to go.
All of her friends had been forbidden to talk to her as soon as she had been unable to hide her condition any longer. And the one person she had thought she could count on had disappeared almost two months ago now.
Christopher, the so-called father of her baby, had sulked off to California to stay with relatives as soon as he didn't get his way. His way, and her parents, would have meant them getting married as soon as possible, pretending the baby was intentional.
Lorelai seemed to be the only one sensible enough to realise that two sixteen-year-olds getting married was a bad idea.
Christopher had continued to pester her about marriage until people started to find out about their out-of-wedlock baby. Then he grew more distant every day until that distance stretched all the way to California.
Her parents, as usual, had respected Chistopher's decision, saying that it was Lorelai's fault he had abandoned her whilst pregnant for not agreeing to marrying, as he had offered several times. In fact, her father called Christopher's actions the 'perfect actions for a gentleman' and her mother had gone on and on about how far he'd go in life.
Lorelai had wanted to scream throughout that entire encounter but had instead sat in silence eating her elaborate meal like a lady before rushing to bed and crying herself to sleep.
Just because she had not wanted to marry Christopher it didn't mean that she had wanted to raise this baby completely alone, but that's where the situation had left her so that's what she'd have to do.
Her once ten-minute walk to the bus stop had now doubled since being pregnant, causing her to almost miss the bus towards the mall.
As she sat down on an empty seat, two older ladies a few rows forward turned and stared at her with the same judgemental eyes that every person seemed to have recently before turning back around and shaking their heads at each other.
Lorelai had become so accustomed to people acting like she was sub-human recently that she just expected it from every person now.
Once she was actually at the mall, the sheer number of people browsing through the numerous shops allowed her to blend in and saved her from the relentless judgment of others.
Sadly, the mall only got her until hour 6 of her banishment, she still had another two and a half hours to kill after that, but she wouldn't let herself think of that yet. Instead her eyes flew to the baby store in front of her.
Every time she passed one, she was unable to resist buying something.
This time was no different. Within two minutes she had already picked up an elephant covered onesie, a yellow and white hat and a stuffed tiger. And that was showing considerable restraint compared to her usual trips.
Turning down the next isle, she spotted possibly the most out of placed boy she could think of in a baby store.
He was tall and rugged, dressed in flannel and a backwards baseball hat. Dark stubble covered the lower half of his face, and he looked no older that twenty, yet there was a certain level of seriousness about him that was so unusual about people so young.
Lorelai dragged her stare away from the mysterious boy but before she had time to pick up another item he was stood beside her.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, its just… my sister sent me a list of gift options, she just found out she's expecting, and I have no idea what I'm even looking for."
His voice was slightly gruff in a way that Lorelai found enticing, but the pure nervousness in his voice made him seem adorable.
"Of course, can I see the list?"
The boy sheepishly handed her the list, and scanning it over it seemed a little like his sister was trying to make him get her the most boring yet expensive thing possible.
"Is she seriously asking you to buy her a crib?"
"Yeah, I already decided against that one though, seemed like it'd be a little difficult to ship out to New York for her."
"New York, that sounds wonderful."
"I would think so too if she hadn't taken off at seventeen, less than a month after our father died, then called be up a few weeks later informing me she's living with her new boyfriend, who's 25 by the way, and is pregnant. At seventeen may I remind you."
Lorelai's chest began to sink at this point before he added, "It's not the pregnancy thing I'm annoyed at her for, sorry, it's the whole running away at seventeen without letting me know she's alive for several weeks."
"Well I don't believe you, in fact I am deeply offended and now refuse to tell you what I think you should get her." As the words came falling from her mouth at a rapid pace many people were unable to follow, a wide, mischievous grin spread across her face.
"Ha-ha, very funny." Though the tone in his voice sounded like he didn't find her funny, the sparkle in his piercing blue eyes told her he was actually very amused, "Just tell me what you think I should get, would you?"
"One condition."
"What?"
His voice sounded a little worried for a second so Lorelai quickly jumped in with, "Tell me your name."
"Luke."
"Lorelai, pleasure to meet you Luke" She held out her hand in a way that almost mocked her parents for insisting on this ridiculous custom, but when his hand met hers, it was like tiny sparks rushed up through her hand all the way to her chest. His hand was rough but his handshake was gentle and respectful.
They both quickly pulled their hands away, Luke glancing towards the ground and Lorelai letting out and awkward laugh before blurting out "Mobile."
"What?"
"You should get her a mobile. One that attaches onto a crib, it's one of the less expensive items on the list, yet one of the most fun and is small enough to be easily shipped to New York. It's also just important enough to be useful, but not so important that it matters if you get the wrong one."
The vague look spread across Luke's face made her think that she had once again spoken too quickly and with too much excitement like her parents were constantly scolding her about, but then she heard him say "Thank you, that's great."
"No problem."
Before she had chance to get back to her own browsing, Luke said "Would you mind helping me pick one? Sorry, I really have no idea what I'm doing."
"Okay," She agreed, before adding, "but as thanks you need to tell be about yourself. Every dirty, wicked secret, I want every last detail to keep me entertained."
"Fine, deal." Luke took a moment to think over what to say before bluntly listing, "My name is Luke Danes, I'm 18 years old, my birthday id in November, I live in Stars Hollow, I recently opened a diner-"
"Stars Hollow, ooh that sounds interesting, where is it? What's it like? And a diner, that's so cool, and at only 18, how on Earth did you do that? What sort of food do you serve?" Lorelai took a break to quickly gasp, "Do you serve coffee? Is it good coffee? I really love coffee-"
"Hold on, aren't I supposed to be the one talking, I can't answer every question if you don't give me chance to." Luke paused for a moment whilst Lorelai sighed in disappointment, "Stars Hollow is a small town about 30 minutes away and everyone knows everything about everyone, no secrets exist, and people are way to into toun events that are boring and ridiculous. My diner is kinda cool, I opened a diner at 18 cause my dad died and left me his store, which I converted. I serve diner food, and yes, that includes coffee, which I suppose is good if you enjoy consuming things that will eventually lead you into an early grave."
"What do you have against coffee?" Lorelai responded, aghast that someone could hate coffee, before adding, "Also, I'm sorry about your dad."
"Thanks. And coffee is extremely bad for you. Please don't tell me you drink coffee."
"I could not live without coffee." Lorelai stopped abruptly in front of a selection of mobiles and folded her arms over her chest.
"God, your baby's probably gonna come out with three heads."
"That's just rude, especially after helping you."
"Yeah, yeah I'm sorry." It was possibly the least genuine apology he had ever spoken, knowing she had feigned offense at his comment. "Anyway, which one of these things should I get?"
"I don't know, do you know whether she's having a boy or girl?"
"No, she's not far enough along yet apparently, what about you? Did you and your boyfriend find out?" If Lorelai weren't pregnant, she would think he was trying to subtly ask if she was single.
"No, I wanted a surprise. And he's not my boyfriend." At this Luke raised his eyebrows slightly causing Lorelai to add, "I mean, he was before, obviously. But he left a couple months ago."
"What do you mean by 'left'?" Luke was quickly beginning to care for this random pregnant girl called Lorelai and couldn't help hating this other guy as soon as those words left her mouth, and he glimpsed the sadness on her face.
"He went to California after I refused to marry him for, like, the fiftieth time." Lorelai tried to let out a little laugh to break the tension, but all that did was make the pity in Luke's eyes grow even more.
"Why would you get married when you're only-wait, how old are you?"
"Erm, I'm sixteen." Shame welled in Lorelai's mind, causing her to stare at the ground.
She was certain he would begin judging her now, sometimes people didn't realise how young she was until she actually said it, but he just continued on "Right, you're only sixteen, why would he expect you'd get married?"
"Because my parents were very insistent on it."
"Your parents were insisting you get married at sixteen?" Luke could hardly believe what he was hearing, he could never picture his parents trying to force him to get married at sixteen, no matter the reason.
"Oh yes, it was quite a heated discussion when I refused. They didn't speak to me for almost a month after. 'This is not the proper way to do things Lorelai, we did not raise you like this Lorelai, you cannot have a baby out of wedlock Lorelai."
"Well they all sound horrible, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I'm used to this by now. They're why I'm here today. They have friends coming over so I've been banished from the house, for my sins."
"They banished you from the house?" The more Luke learned about Lorelai, the worse for her he felt. Her family sounded horrible. The father of her baby sounded useless. And he got the feeling the reason her 'banishment' led her to the mall was because she had nowhere else to go.
"Until 10.30, just in case anybody stays late and sees me. Usually I'm just to stay put in my room, that was the case apart from school, until it became too obvious to hide."
"That's horrible."
"Yep. Anyway, I think you should get the zebra mobile. They're so cute and would work for a boy or girl so you're set there." She hastily changed the topic to avoid anymore awkward conversations about her home life.
"Thanks." Luke grabbed the box from the shelf and was about to walk away when he said, "Hey, what're your plans for after the mall closes 'till your banishment ends?"
"I don't know, probably just wander around for a bit. Why?"
"Well I was wondering if you'd want to come back to the diner with me? We could have dinner and you wouldn't have to just wander around."
Lorelai thought about the proposition for a moment. If she weren't pregnant, she would definitely think he was asking her out. But she was pregnant, so he must mean as friends. Why would he want to be friends with her though? Was it some kind of joke? Was he just trying to be polite?
But before she had chance to overthink his offer more, she heard herself answer, "Okay."
Author's notes: Got very into Gilmore Girls recently, though hated what they did to Luke and Lorelai's story in later seasons. Got a random idea about what would happen if they had met when Lorelai was pregnant with Rory and had to write it. Not sure if I'll continue this yet or continue it long term but really enjoyed writing this first chapter.