"You said you were gonna grow up/Then you were gonna come find me" – Taylor Swift, "Peter"

Juliet stared out the window of Lorelai's old bedroom, feeling an overwhelming sense of deja vu as she listened to the sounds of rustling tree branches on the off chance that her sister might fall and need a doctor.

After a moment, the door opened, and Juliet's head whipped around at the sound of her father's voice. "Lorelai, Juliet, your mother wants to know if–" Richard paused, glancing around the room with a frown. "Where's your sister?"

"Uh, I think she's, um, still in the bathroom," Juliet stammered unconvincingly. Then, to make her story more plausible, she put a hand on her abdomen, raising her eyebrows meaningfully. "You know . . . girl problems."

Richard's brow furrowed in confusion before he inhaled sharply, then nodded uncomfortably in understanding. "Ah. Well then– I will, uh, I will pass that along to–"

He cut himself off when the faint sound of crunching gravel could be heard through the open window, and Juliet grimaced as the shine from Lorelai's headlights passed over the room. She gestured out the window with her thumb. "Uh, she didn't have a tampon, so she's just gonna go to the drugstore and . . ."

Richard tilted his head, arching an eyebrow at his youngest. "She's going home, isn't she?"

Juliet closed her eyes and nodded, knowing she was caught.

"Mm-hm," he hummed, releasing the doorknob with a sigh. "And how do you plan to explain this to your mother?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms protectively over her stomach. "I don't know."

"Hm. Well, I suppose you are out of practice at lying for Lorelai," Richard said, a touch of bitterness creeping into his solemn tone.

Juliet bit her lip, lowering her eyes to the carpet mutely.

After a long, heavy silence, Richard blew out a breath and stepped aside, holding the door open for her as he gestured into the hallway with his free hand. "After you."

She kept her arms folded as she hurried out of her sister's childhood room. He flicked the light off and closed the door behind her, saying nothing. The two of them walked through the long hallway in silence, until Chase Bradford could be heard from the living room, his voice sounding as though his teeth were stuck together with caramel.

Richard grimaced and gazed up at the ceiling, looking like he was about to cross himself despite his Presbyterian upbringing. He cleared his throat, looking at his folded glasses contemplatively. "So, this beau of yours . . ."

Juliet stiffened, bracing herself for combat. "Yeah?"

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "He's not in the actuarial business, is he?"

Her shoulders dropped and she huffed out a light laugh. "No, Dad."

"Thank the Lord," Richard muttered under his breath. He took a deep, steadying breath at the sound of Chase's toadying chuckle, then patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Well. Once more unto the breach."

After trying unsuccessfully to get Rory to talk about her breakup with Dean, Lorelai stuffed a box of her daughter's memories into the hall closet and closed the door, whose hinges had been fixed by Luke when he'd come over and noticed how squeaky they were. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head as she climbed the stairs, using the railing that Luke had fixed for balance. She pulled away from it as though she'd been burned, for one horrible moment envying her daughter for being able to shove everything that reminded her of the guy who'd broken her heart into a box. Lorelai didn't have that luxury. Even Luke's stupid toolbox was probably too big to fit into a cardboard box. She was living in a Luke box, and there was no way to escape it aside from leaving town.

With a sniff, Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed Juliet's cell phone number, wiping her nose with her sleeve as she waited for her sister to pick up.

"Hi, Lor."

"Hey, Jules. Are you on your way over, or are you still stuck at Mom and Dad's?"

"Um, I left a couple minutes ago."

"Okay, good. When you get here you can tell me all about what happened with John F. Kennedy's long-lost twin after I left."

Juliet let out a slightly bitter chuckle. "Um, I don't know. Mom was staring daggers at me so hard that I didn't pay much attention to him."

Lorelai bristled at the audible resentment in her sister's voice, pretty sure she'd never heard that tone from Juliet before, at least not directed at her. "Hey, I'm sorry I left like that. I just had to get out of there, and I didn't think–"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Juliet said quickly.

"No, it's not okay," Lorelai protested, tucking a curl behind her ear. "I'm a rat, I need cheese."

"You're not a rat. You were right, he pretty much left me alone."

"But Mom was mad, wasn't she?" Lorelai asked, half-dreading the answer as she tugged on the bottom of her t-shirt. The line was silent for a while, and she laughed nervously. "Jules?"

"Of course, she was mad, Lor," Juliet said, her voice carefully steady. "You snuck out the window when she had a guest over. You knew she'd be mad when you left."

Lorelai bit her lip, playing with the charm on her necklace. "Well, yeah, but was she mad at you?"

Juliet huffed out an exasperated laugh. "I don't know what you want me to say here, Lor. Yes, she was mad at me. She was already mad at me, and me lying for you made it worse. What did you think was gonna happen?"

"She had company over!" Lorelai argued, her eyebrows going up. "She never yells at us when she has company over!"

"Yeah, but she still does the little passive-aggressive comments and dirty looks and stuff," Juliet reminded her.

Lorelai sighed, pressing her lips together guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Juliet said softly.

"You're not mad?" Lorelai prodded, sitting down on her bed.

"No! I–" Juliet cut herself off, blowing out a breath. "Well, maybe a little. I don't know, I think I'm more hurt than anything."

Lorelai squeezed her eyes shut. That was so much worse. "Jules–"

"It's just . . ." Juliet trailed off, sniffling. "It's just that when you ran away, you told me that you were doing it for Rory, that if you didn't have her you would've stayed. And I understood that, and I reminded myself of that every time I felt even the tiniest bit angry at you. But now. . . I don't know."

"Hey, don't do that," Lorelai cut in, getting defensive. "You have no idea. You have no idea how much I agonized over that. And yeah, I picked my kid, and if I could go back and change it, I would still pick my kid, but it was not an easy decision! I'm talking Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, impossible, so don't act like it was some selfish impulse, because it killed me to leave you, okay? It killed me!"

"But Rory wasn't even there tonight!" Juliet pointed out, her voice breaking. "She wasn't there, and you still left me!"

Lorelai sighed, her eyes growing watery. "I'm sorry. I didn't think, and I should've thought. I feel awful."

"Don't. It's okay."

"Okay," Lorelai whispered. She raised her eyebrows with a bright smile, trying to force cheeriness back into her tone. "Hey, as a thank you, you can have the last Diet Coke in the fridge, huh?"

Juliet said nothing for a long moment.

Lorelai's smile faded. "Jules?"

There was a crackle of static from Juliet's shaky inhale. "Um, I think I'm gonna stay in Hartford this weekend."

"Hey, no," Lorelai pleaded, her eyes filling again. "I really am sorry."

"No, no, it's okay. I'm not mad," Juliet promised, swallowing thickly. "I promise, I'm not, and I'm sorry if it feels like that. I just think that we have some codependent tendencies–"

"Codependent tendencies?" Lorelai repeated, narrowing her eyes at her sister's clinical tone.

" – and maybe some time apart will be good for us." Juliet paused for a moment, then whispered, "I'm really not mad."

"Okay. Whatever you think is best, Dr. Gilmore," Lorelai said bitterly, a few guilty tears escaping from her eyes and running down her cheeks.

Juliet sniffled. "I'll see you on Tuesday, okay?"

"Okay." Lorelai nodded, wiping her face. "I love you, Jules."

"I love you too, Lor," Juliet said, her voice thick with tears. "So much."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Lorelai tossed the phone aside carelessly, before pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes as guilty sobs wracked her body until she finally fell asleep.

Juliet flipped her cell phone shut and pulled over to the side of the road, tears blurring her vision. She turned her car off and pressed a shaking hand to her lips, trying fruitlessly to keep a sob from escaping as she replayed the entirety of her fight with Lorelai in her head. A fight with Lorelai. She'd fought with Lorelai. She'd yelled at Lorelai. She never yelled at Lorelai. She'd never even been mad at Lorelai before. With another sob, Juliet rested her head against the steering wheel and wrapped her arms around herself as her shoulders shook.

After what seemed like hours, her tears subsided, replaced by the sensation of her skin vibrating, combined with an overwhelming feeling of numbness. Wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, she turned the key in the ignition and flipped a U-turn, heading back to Hartford.

Juliet considered going home for half a second before immediately dismissing the idea, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep if she was by herself. With another sniffle, she made a right turn and parked her car, pulling her coat more tightly around her as she walked up to her boyfriend's door and knocked.

Max opened the door after a few seconds, his face lighting up at the sight of her. "But soft! What light through yonder window–" he cut himself off, his surprised smile quickly fading when he noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Um, can I stay here?" she asked in a whisper, ignoring his question. "I don't have to if you're busy or something, but–"

"Of course. You don't even need to ask," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as he ushered her inside and locked the door behind them. "Do you want some tea?"

Juliet shook her head, exhaling shakily. "Maybe in a minute. Thanks, though."

Max looked down at her with a worried frown, playing with the ends of her hair. "Not that I don't relish any time I get with you, but what are you doing here? Usually, you're at Lorelai's by now."

"Not this weekend." She pressed her lips together, wiping her nose. "We had a fight."

He kissed her hair, rubbing soothing circles into her back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"In a minute," she said again, feeling too raw to rehash everything. She blew out a long breath, then frowned in confusion when she saw the New England Journal of Medicine open on the coffee table. "Were you reading one of my medical journals?"

"Yes, and although I already knew you were brilliant, reading that has given me an entirely new appreciation of your intellect because those articles might as well be written in ancient Greek," Max said with a wry smile. His brow furrowed. "What is thromboembolism?"

"Um, it's, like, when a blood vessel's blocked by a blood clot from another place in the bloodstream," Juliet explained with a sniffle, running a finger over a vein in his arm to illustrate. She smiled up at him with a mix of confusion and fondness. "So, you just felt like reading the New England Journal of Medicine?"

He shrugged with a sheepish smile. "You left it here and I was bored of Tennyson. Excellent poet, but I was half-sick of shadows of Camelot."

She laughed weakly, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his middle. "You're cute."

Max chuckled, bringing his other arm up around her shoulders as he held her close, his brow creasing in concern when he heard her take a deep, shuddering breath, and felt a tear seep into his sweater. "How can I make this better?"

"This is helping," Juliet whispered, closing her eyes and focusing on the warm gentleness of his embrace. They were silent for a long moment before she lifted her head to make eye contact with him. "I told my mom about us."

"I take it she reacted well?" he asked dryly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.

She let out a watery laugh. "Um, she took me into the kitchen and yelled at me for not telling her sooner."

Max blew out a breath, his hand flexing on her waist protectively as he shook his head in disbelief. "I hate your mother."

"Sometimes I do too," Juliet confessed, biting the inside of her cheek. She lowered her eyes with a shrug. "I probably could've told her a little more tactfully, though."

"How did you do it?"

"Well, she invited this guy over to see if he'd hit it off with me or Lorelai–"

He smirked, rolling his eyes. "How very Mrs. Bennet of her."

"Yeah, Lor said he reminded her of Mr. Collins," she said with a small smile, which faded quickly as she remembered their fight. She sniffled. "Anyway, um, he introduced himself to her, and then he said hi to me, and I said 'I have a boyfriend'."

Max laughed out loud, hugging her to him more tightly. "What did I do to deserve such devotion?"

"Stop," Juliet chided, smiling despite herself. "I felt bad. He looked so embarrassed."

"My Lady Loyal Heart," he teased, pulling back and smiling down at her lovingly. When she rolled her eyes, he touched her cheek, a glint of possessiveness in his eyes as he scanned her face. "He left you alone after that, though, right?"

"Yeah, he zeroed in on Lor. God, he was creepy," she said, cringing at the memory. "And then after a while, she finally had enough of him being gross, so she asked me to cover for her and climbed out the window."

"She left? When your mother was already angry at you, she left?"

Juliet nodded, biting her lip and avoiding his eyes.

Max scoffed. "Knowing everything you went through after she ran away–"

"She doesn't know, though," she reminded him softly. "You're the only person I've told."

"I may be the only person who knows the details, but she lived in that house for seventeen years, she's not an idiot, how could she not know that it wasn't an easy time for you?" he asked incredulously.

Juliet shrugged, feeling her eyes begin to prickle again.

Max cradled her head to his chest, resting his chin on her hair. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," she murmured, tightening her arms around his waist.

"I'm still sorry it happened. I'm sorry all of it happened," he said quietly, running his fingers through her hair. "I assume her leaving is what the two of you fought about?"

Juliet nodded against his chest. "I think it just brought back everything I felt when she left the first time."

"That's perfectly understandable." Max continued to stroke her hair soothingly. "I know how much her leaving hurt you."

"I had this fantasy when I was a kid that one day she'd show up and take me with her," she confessed, her voice breaking. "I, um, I used to sleep in her old room sometimes to feel close to her, and every time I'd hear something at the window I'd get up and go out onto the balcony, hoping it was her coming to get me."

"Oh, sweet Juliet," he whispered with a sympathetic frown.

She chuckled wetly, looking up at him with a sad smile. "It was stupid."

"Not stupid. You were so young," he said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"So was she," Juliet pointed out, her voice ragged. "And she had a baby to protect. I can't be mad at her for leaving."

"She still hurt you," Max reminded her gently. "You're allowed to be angry with her."

"I think I am. Angry with her," she admitted softly. She lowered her eyes. "I don't know why it's so hard for me to admit that. I mean, I have no problem being angry at my mom."

"That's because your mother is a–" he cut himself off, pressing his lips together. "Shrew."

Juliet laughed despite herself. "Shrew?"

"There are certain words that I don't like to use to describe people," Max replied loftily. "No matter how cantankerous they may be."

She cupped his cheek with a fond smile. "I love you."

He turned his face to press a kiss to her palm. "And I love you, my bright angel."

"I'm sorry I've been such a mess lately," she said softly, her fingers curling into his sweater.

"You haven't been," he promised, rubbing her back. "I think these past few weeks have just brought up some unpleasant memories for you, and if I can help you work through them, then that's a good thing."

Juliet shrugged, pressing her lips together. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like you deserve someone more stable. Someone less needy."

Max lifted her chin with his index finger, forcing her to make eye contact with him. "You are far more stable than you give yourself credit for. And you're affectionate, not needy."

She rolled her eyes with a light laugh. "You should go into advertising."

He shrugged, smiling. "I could, but for some reason, I prefer teaching the moneyed youth of America and upholding the Superstructure of the ruling class."

Juliet laughed again, raising herself slightly on her toes to kiss him gently.

After her one and only offspring dragged her out of bed kicking and screaming at the butt crack of dawn, the two dark-haired Gilmores walked through the town square while Lorelai tried not to notice the absence of the redhead who usually completed their trio on Saturday mornings.

"You're quiet," Rory observed, glancing at her mother sideways.

Lorelai smiled wryly. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you force me out of bed at six on a Saturday morning. I have to use all my talking brain parts just to put one foot in front of the other."

Rory raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Talking-brain parts?"

"Hello? Six in the morning?"

"Right." Rory nodded, kicking a pebble forward. "So, why is Auntie Jules in Hartford?"

"Uh, because she lives there?" Lorelai evaded, keeping her eyes forward.

"Really, I had no idea," Rory deadpanned with a smirk. "No, really, why?"

"Uh, she got called into work last minute," Lorelai said, feeling a stab of guilt at the lie.

Rory's brow creased. "On a Saturday?"

"You know, I heard a rumor that people still need doctors on Saturdays," Lorelai said with mock sageness, looping an arm through her daughter's.

"I know that, I just thought her schedule was slowing down with residency ending and everything," Rory said with a shrug. Then, a thought occurred to her, and she turned to her mother with a worried frown. "You guys didn't have a fight or anything, did you?"

Lorelai shook her head quickly, laying her free hand on her daughter's forearm. "Oh, honey, no. Your aunt and I don't fight."

Rory searched her face, then nodded, mollified. "Okay." She glanced at her shoes with a short laugh. "I guess it's just weird not having her here."

"Yeah, it is," Lorelai agreed softly. She nudged her daughter, raising her eyebrows meaningfully. "But if she were here, she'd tell you to–"

"Don't say wallow," Rory warned, cutting her off.

Lorelai scoffed defensively. "Well, if your aunt were here she'd probably use some esoteric Psychology term that means wallow, but the sentiment would be the same."

Rory rolled her eyes again. "I am not going to wallow, and you can't make me."

Lorelai sighed. "Sweets, pretending nothing happened is not going to help you get over Dean."

"Did you wallow when you broke up with what's his face?"

Lorelai frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"You know, that guy you dated like a year ago?" Rory clarified unhelpfully, gesturing vaguely in the air. "Did wallowing help you get over him?"

"Apparently, since neither of us can remember his name," Lorelai said with a snort.

"He was blond, he had an earring. . ." Rory listed, trying to jog her mother's memory.

"George Michael?"

"Yes," Rory deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "When you and the lead singer of Wham! broke up, did you wallow?"

"Oh, yeah." Lorelai nodded sagely. "At first, I couldn't listen to any of George's songs without bursting into tears. I mean, I broke down in a Macy's when "Last Christmas" came on while I was Christmas shopping. But because I wallowed, I don't even need to turn off "Careless Whisper" if it comes on the radio."

Rory turned to her with a smirk. "Didn't he write that one about you?"

"Well, duh, who else would it be about?" Lorelai asked, smiling when her question coaxed a genuine laugh out of her daughter.

As the two of them continued to walk, Lorelai briefly considered calling her sister for backup on the wallowing issue. Despite Juliet's obvious hurt from the night before, the sisters had made a pact a long time ago to always put Rory's needs first, no matter what was going on between the two of them. Maybe the breakup with Dean could function like the Christmas truce of 1914, and then things would stop being weird.

They neared the gazebo, and Lorelai took a deep breath, steeling herself to go into the diner for the first time post-Rachel. Rory, however, had her feet rooted to the ground.

Lorelai frowned at her daughter. "What?"

Rory shook her head. "We can't go that way."

Lorelai blinked in surprise, a jolt of anxiety running up her spine. "Why? We're going to Luke's."

Rory shook her head again. "No."

"What– why?" Lorelai sputtered. She'd been so good, or at least she thought she had, about giving legitimate, inn-related excuses for why she couldn't go to the diner that week. Had her daughter somehow picked up on the weirdness between her and Luke anyway?

"Because we'd have to go by Doose's market," Rory answered, giving her mother a significant look.

Lorelai breathed an inward sigh of relief. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Okay, that's okay," Lorelai said, rubbing her daughter's back. If Rory didn't want to go to Luke's, she'd happily take the out. "Let's just go to Weston's instead."

Rory nodded, her shoulders relaxing. "Okay."

"Okay." Lorelai propelled her in the opposite direction with a reassuring smile. Unable to resist, she glanced over her shoulder and accidentally made eye contact with Luke, who'd stepped outside to take the trash out. He raised his hand in an awkward wave, which she returned with a tight smile and a small wave of her own, before turning her attention back to her daughter as she swallowed the growing lump in her throat.

By the time Juliet's eyes opened, late winter sunlight was already filtering in through the blinds in Max's bedroom. She tilted her head back slightly to see if he was awake yet, only to find him watching her with a fond smile.

She smiled back sleepily. "Hi."

"Hi," he whispered, running his hand over the length of her braid.

Juliet rubbed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. "What time is it?"

"A little after 8:30."

"8:30?" she repeated, lifting her head from his chest to look at the clock for confirmation. She blinked in surprise, laying back down. "I don't think I've slept past seven since I was in college."

"You needed it," Max said softly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear with a concerned frown. "I was worried about you last night."

Juliet lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad you came to me, if for no other reason than I like seeing you." He kissed her forehead, then gently moved her off of him so he could get up. "Are you hungry?"

She wrinkled her nose with a small shrug. "Not really."

"You need to eat, Juliet," he said sternly, earning him an eye roll. "Come on, I'll make us something."

"Can I help?"

Max laughed out loud. "How would you help? You can't even make toast."

Juliet rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Yes I can, your toaster's just weird."

He nodded in mock understanding. "Oh yes, of course, it's a very mercurial appliance."

She gave him the finger as she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, making him laugh as he followed her.

A few minutes later, after teeth had been brushed, and hair had been brushed out, rebraided, and gelled, Max unsuccessfully attempted to hold back his laughter as he watched Juliet cut the tops off of a bunch of strawberries.

"Stop. This is how they taught us to do it in surgical rotations," she said defensively, glancing over her shoulder at him in exasperation.

"Yes, but you do realize you're not performing surgery on these particular berries, right?" he asked, leaning against the counter with a smirk.

Juliet reddened, ducking her head with an involuntary smile. "Shut up."

Max laughed again, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he came up and hugged her from behind. "I'll do this."

"Okay," she acquiesced, relinquishing the knife without protest and moving to rinse the rest of the berries.

"So, I was thinking more about Toronto," he began, glancing away from the cutting board briefly to meet her eyes.

"Yeah?" Juliet tried to say lightly, a shiver of anxiety running up her spine.

Max smiled, seeing right through her. He shook his head. "I'm not going."

"You're not?" she repeated in a whisper, unable to keep the relief from her voice. She searched his face, trying to keep her expression neutral. "Why? Why not?"

He shrugged. "Well, because I would–" he cut himself off with a hiss of pain, squeezing his eyes shut.

Juliet was at his side in an instant, placing her hand on his arm. "What is it? Did you cut yourself?"

"Yes. I don't know if I'm going to make it, doctor, I think I need mouth-to-mouth," Max tried to joke, giving her a strained smile.

"Here, let me see," she ordered softly, reaching for his hand and frowning in sympathy when she saw his bloody finger. "Oh, poor baby."

"'Tis not so deep as a well nor so wide as a church– oh, my God." The color drained from his face when he glanced at the blood running down his hand, and he buried his face in Juliet's shoulder.

"Shh, don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks," she soothed, reaching for a paper towel and pressing it to his finger to stop the bleeding. Sensing he needed a distraction, she smoothed her free hand over the back of his head and asked, "So, why aren't you gonna go to Toronto?"

"Because I need you to stitch up my wounds," Max said with a forced chuckle, keeping his face hidden.

Juliet laughed, massaging his scalp lightly. "No, seriously, don't stay just because of me, okay? I'll miss you, but I don't want you giving up an amazing opportunity just because of your girlfriend's abandonment issues."

"Juliet," he sighed, lifting his head, but keeping his eyes carefully trained on her face instead of on his hand. "Although I appreciate your consideration of my wants and needs, did it ever occur to you that I might miss you if we were apart for two months?"

She chewed on her bottom lip as she lowered her eyes with a shrug, not ever having thought of herself as particularly missable.

"Heaven is here, where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog and little mouse, every unworthy thing, live here in heaven and may look on her," Max whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "They may seize on the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand and steal immortal blessing from her lips, who even in pure and vestal modesty, still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin. And sayst thou yet that exile is not death?"

"It's not like I couldn't visit you," Juliet pointed out with a self-conscious smile at his theatrics. "Like, maybe in July, so we're only apart for a few weeks at a time? Or Syracuse is about halfway between here and Toronto, so we could meet there sometimes." She lowered her eyes, her cheeks pinking. "If, um, if you wanted."

"You've thought a lot about this," Max said, sounding surprised.

"I told you. If it's what you want, we'll make it work." She removed her hand from his head to grab another paper towel and dampened it under the sink, then met his eyes with a tiny smile. "I'm gonna switch paper towels."

"Thank you for the warning," he chuckled, hiding his face in her shoulder again. He blew out a breath. "But it's not just because of you. I do enjoy teaching college students, and I certainly have more academically stimulating discussions with them than I do with high schoolers, but I teach kids, not English. I want to teach my kids this summer."

"Your kids?" she repeated with a fond smile, breathing an internal sigh of relief as she gently wiped the dried blood from his finger.

"Considering that at least half of them have accidentally called me 'Dad' at one point or another, I feel I've earned the right to refer to them as such," Max said with a shrug, inhaling sharply when the damp paper towel made contact with the cut.

Juliet paused, glancing at him apologetically. "Sorry, baby, I just need to clean it."

"I was hurt under your arm," he teased, smiling. He raised his eyebrows at her pointedly. "You're supposed to say, 'I thought all for the best'."

She rolled her eyes affectionately, focusing on grabbing a band-aid and wrapping it around his finger, before pressing a soft kiss to the bandage. "There. All better."

"I was serious about needing mouth-to-mouth," he told her, sliding an arm around her waist.

"If you needed mouth-to-mouth, you wouldn't be able to talk," Juliet reminded him with another eye roll, but gave him a quick kiss anyway, her cheeks pinking as she pulled away.

Despite Rory's insistence that she did not need to wallow, Lorelai went to the market to pick up some ice cream and candy, hoping to give Rory and Lane some space to talk while they got ready for the Chilton party they were going to that night. Maybe her daughter would be more willing to open up to her best friend instead of her mother.

And it's not like the women in my family feel comfortable telling me things anyway, she thought sadly, reaching for a log of chocolate chip cookie dough.

She moved to the freezer section and reached for a second pint of Ben & Jerry's, then startled at the sound of a throat clearing awkwardly behind her.

She jumped a foot in the air, dropping the ice cream and pressing a hand to her racing heart as she met Luke's eyes. "God, you scared me!"

"Sorry," he apologized with an awkward chuckle. "I just, uh, wanted to say hi."

"Oh. Hi," Lorelai said with a small smile, bending forward to pick up the container she'd dropped.

"Here, I can–" Luke reached for it at the same time, jerking back as though he'd been burned when their hands accidentally brushed. "Oh– sorry."

"Oh no, you're, uh– you're good," she stammered, forcing another smile.

A painful silence stretched out for a few minutes with both of them looking everywhere but at each other, reminding Lorelai of why she'd been so hesitant to cross the line between friendship and romance in the first place.

Finally, he cleared his throat again. "Oh, hey, tell Rory I'm sorry. I, uh, I heard what happened."

"Miss Patty?" she asked, a genuine laugh escaping.

He snorted. "Who else?"

"God, Harriet the Spy's got nothing on her," Lorelai quipped with another laugh. She smiled at him, dropping the ice cream into her basket. "But I'll tell her. Rory, I mean. Not Patty. I don't know why I'd be telling Patty you're sorry, or what you'd even have to be sorry about with her, except I forgot that you used to dance for her, so maybe you messed up one of your dances and you need me to apologize for that–" she cut herself off, grimacing at her babbling. "I'll tell her."

"Okay." Luke nodded, pressing his lips together. "I would've told her myself, but you guys didn't come in today."

"Oh. Yeah," Lorelai chuckled uncomfortably. "Well, we were going to, but you have to pass by Doose's to get to your place, and she didn't want to run into You-Know-Who."

"Well, you could've gone the long way," he pointed out.

"Oh no." She shook her head with mock severity. "Because then we'd have to go by the school, and Dean sometimes plays football there on his days off from work."

"What if you went down Peach?"

Lorelai raised her eyebrows with a smirk. "Dean lives on Peach."

Luke snorted, ducking his head. "Geez, you guys were completely cut off."

"Oh yeah, today's been one big game of 'let's hide from Dean'," she said with a short laugh.

"Like mother, like daughter," Luke muttered under his breath, clenching his jaw.

Lorelai's smile faded, and she huffed out a bitter laugh, pursing her lips tightly. "So, how's your girlfriend?"

"Lorelai–"

"She is your girlfriend now, right?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Or is she still just your ex who happens to be staying in your tiny apartment with you?"

"It's complicated."

"Complicated how?" Lorelai asked with an insincere smile. "You still have feelings for her, she came back for you, so I assume she feels the same, why not just be with her, right? I mean, who cares that you slept with someone else a week ago?"

Luke barked out a laugh, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I slept with someone who ran out of my apartment like she'd committed a crime as soon as it was over, and then hid from me for a week!" He pointed a finger at her face angrily. "And don't say you were busy because there's no way you were that fucking busy."

"Okay, yes, I freaked out and avoided you, and I'm sorry. That was crappy," she admitted, getting frustrated. "But it's not like you made a huge effort to reach out either! I mean, did you call me? Did you come by the inn? Did you stand outside my house holding a boombox playing 'In Your Eyes' over your head?"

His brow furrowed as his anger momentarily gave way to confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"'Say Anything'? John Cusack holds a boombox over his head to get Ione Skye to take him back?" Lorelai prodded, trying to jog his memory.

Luke shook his head. "Never seen it."

"Who cares if you've never seen it? Everyone knows about the boombox over the head, it's one of the most mockable images in the history of the rom-com! What rock do you–" She stopped herself, blowing out a breath as she tried to get back on topic. "That's not important. My point is that you didn't even try to talk to me. You just sat on your hands and waited for me to come to you."

"I was trying to give you space," he said defensively.

"How do you know I wasn't doing the same thing?"

Luke scoffed, crossing his arms. "Please, I've seen you in relationships before, I know you bolt as soon as things get complicated."

Lorelai's mouth fell open, her eyes beginning to sting. "That is so not fair."

He snorted derisively. "I don't know why I was dumb enough to think I'd be different," he continued with another eye roll. "I mean, you can't even stick around for your own sister."

She reeled back and stared at him in shock for a moment, too angry to speak. "Go to hell," she finally spat, turning on her heel to leave.

"Lorelai, wait," Luke said, reaching out and grabbing her arm to stop her.

Lorelai scowled at him, still shaking with anger. "If you don't let go right now, I'm gonna hit you over the head with this basket."

He shook his head apologetically. "Look, I'm sorry. That was–"

She raised an eyebrow. "Mean? Unfair? Completely uncalled for?"

Luke nodded, closing his eyes briefly as he blew out a breath. "Yeah. All that. I'm sorry."

"Me, too," Lorelai said, softening. She heaved a sigh, pressing her lips together. "You know, maybe your whole 'let's pretend nothing ever happened' idea was a good one. It might be the only way we can stay friends."

"Yeah," Luke agreed with a sigh, removing his hand from her arm. Another awkward silence settled over them before he seemed to remember something, and handed her the paper bag in his other hand. "Oh, uh, those are for Rory."

She opened the bag and saw two powdered sugar donuts nestled together and bit her lip, wishing he would do her the kindness of making it easy to hate him. "Thank you."

"Uh, we were out of chocolate with sprinkles, or I would've brought one of those too," he explained, gesturing awkwardly to the bag.

Lorelai shook her head with a smile that was weak but genuine. "These are perfect. Thank you."

"No big deal. Let me know if you want me to kick that punk's ass."

"He's sixteen, so you definitely shouldn't." She laughed despite herself. With both of her hands full, she gestured to the door with her chin. "I should go. I've got a kid to cheer up."

Luke nodded in understanding. "Sure. See you around."

"See you."

She paid for her junk food, blinking back tears and wondering how she'd managed to screw up with two of the most important people in her life within the span of a week.

Luke, well, she could've predicted that. She didn't need to hear Ricky Martin covers from her best friend or lectures from her shrink sister to know that she was a train wreck at romantic relationships. Their friendship had been past the point of repair as soon as their lips had met for the first time last Friday night.

But Jules. Jules wasn't a lost cause yet. Lorelai grabbed her bags and left the market, already mentally preparing to ask Sookie to let her borrow her car for the night.

Lorelai half-jogged up the stairs to her sister's apartment, pausing halfway and leaning against the railing, panting heavily. "My God, I hate running," she muttered, slowing to a walk as she climbed the rest of the way up.

When she reached Juliet's door, she reached for her key out of habit, before immediately deciding against using it. She was already ignoring her sister's request for space without literally barging into her apartment. She knocked a few times, frowning when there was no answer.

Lorelai knocked again, louder this time. "Jules? It's me, are you home?"

When there was still no answer, she stepped back from the door slightly, before remembering that Juliet hated sleeping alone, especially when she was upset, and had probably stayed with her boyfriend last night.

"Well, shit," Lorelai said under her breath, digging in her pockets for her cell phone. Just as she found it and flipped it open, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, accompanied by the familiar sound of her little sister laughing.

Lorelai turned at the sound and saw Max and Juliet walking down the hallway hand-in-hand, with Juliet clinging to her boyfriend's arm with her free hand, as though he'd run away if she relinquished her hold even slightly.

Max noticed her first, and his laughter faded as he tightened his hold on his girlfriend's hand. "Lorelai."

Juliet turned away from him in confusion, her face going slack with surprise when she saw her sister. "Lor. Hi."

"Hey," Lorelai greeted with a nervous smile. She gestured at the door. "Uh, you weren't in there."

"Oh. Yeah." Juliet nodded awkwardly. "We, um, stayed at Max's place last night. We just came here to get something."

"Oh. Gotcha." An awkward silence settled over them—when have we ever had awkward silences before?

Juliet shifted uncomfortably for a moment, then met her sister's eyes. "So, um–"

"Dean and Rory broke up," Lorelai blurted at the same moment.

Juliet's expression instantly melted into one of concern, and she tilted her head in sympathy. "Poor baby, is she okay?"

Lorelai laughed bitterly. "She claims she's fine, and she's completely refusing to wallow. And I told her that she should wallow, you know because that's supposed to help you get through the pain and then you can accept it and then you can get over somebody and you can move on with your life. But she doesn't want to! She wants to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn and rearrange the furniture and hide the entirety of the last five months in the closet like they never happened. And she won't talk to me. You, Rory, Luke, none of you will talk to me anymore!"

"Lor–"

"And you're right, I screwed up last night. I broke rank, I threw you to the wolves, you should put me in front of a firing squad for desertion." Juliet let out an involuntary chuckle at that, and Lorelai smiled internally at the small victory. She met her sister's eyes pleadingly. "But I miss you, and Rory misses you, so can you please come with me so we can help our girl get through her first breakup in one piece?"

"You came to get me?" Juliet asked, almost inaudibly.

Lorelai shrugged sheepishly. "Well, yeah. I may be the Wonder Woman of motherhood, but right now Wonder Woman needs, uh . . . her little sister, or Hawkgirl or whatever."

"Drusilla," Max supplied.

Lorelai glanced over at him, having almost forgotten he was there. "What?"

"Wonder Woman's younger sister, Drusilla Prince," he explained, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lorelai looked at him in exasperation, narrowing her eyes a touch. "Can you give us a minute?"

Max looked at his girlfriend questioningly. "Juliet?"

Juliet nodded, squeezing his hand with a small, reassuring smile.

He pressed a quick kiss to Juliet's temple, taking the keys from her other hand. "I'll be inside if you need me, okay?"

"Okay," Juliet whispered, letting her fingers slip from his as he left. When the door closed behind him, she turned to Lorelai, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, how's she doing?"

Lorelai pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands and pursed her lips. "I'm worried about her. I mean, she's at a party tonight, for God's sake. Like, a party, party. I'm pretty sure the last time Rory went to a party for someone her own age there were balloon animals involved."

Juliet shrugged. "Maybe she just needs time to process. I mean, it happened pretty suddenly, right?"

"Yeah. I just wish she wasn't completely refusing to deal with it." Lorelai smiled self-deprecatingly. "Wonder where she gets that from."

"Probably not just you," Juliet admitted with a soft chuckle. "I mean, I have a Psychology degree and I still haven't figured out how to talk about my feelings."

"It's not the Gilmore way, is it?" Lorelai asked with a rueful smile.

Juliet shook her head with a little smile. "No, it's not."

The two of them were silent for a moment before Lorelai finally took a deep breath, meeting her sister's eyes seriously. "I really am sorry about last night."

"It's okay. I know you weren't trying to hurt me."

"But I did hurt you, didn't I?" Lorelai pressed, searching her face.

Juliet hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Then I'm sorry," Lorelai said sincerely. "I just– sometimes I just don't think, you know? I just do. And that's good for when the inn's kitchen is full of smoke during the lunch rush, and Sookie's eyebrows are on fire, and I need to figure out how to get her to the hospital without freaking out any of the guests, but it also means I don't think about long-term consequences as much as I should. And, I mean, that's why you and I are so good together, right? You can't make a decision to save your life, and I . . . climb out of windows without thinking about the people I'm leaving behind." She paused, blowing out a breath. "I'm sorry."

Juliet nodded mutely again, before taking two steps and hugging her sister tightly, hooking her chin on Lorelai's shoulder.

Lorelai breathed an internal sigh of relief as she wrapped her arms around her little sister, leaning her head against hers. "Oh, my God, I missed you. Like way more than I should miss someone I saw last night."

Juliet chuckled wetly. "Yeah, that's what I meant by codependent tendencies."

"Ah, the buzzwords," Lorelai teased, squeezing her tighter. "I missed the buzzwords."

"Shut up," Juliet said with another watery laugh. After a moment, she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "Um, let me get a change of clothes and stuff, and then I'll meet you at your house."

Lorelai's face lit up. "Really?"

Juliet nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. My car's still at Max's apartment, so I have to get that, but I'll be there in like forty-five minutes or so."

"Okay," Lorelai agreed, her smile widening.

Juliet opened the door to her apartment and the sisters stepped inside. Max's head jerked up from the book he was reading at the sound of the door shutting and he stood up, crossing to Juliet and taking both of her hands in his.

For a few moments, Lorelai watched their whispered conference and was struck, once again, by how easily her sister seemed to navigate romantic relationships. Here Juliet was, diving headfirst into a serious relationship, letting a guy she'd met less than six months ago hold her heart in his hands and trusting him not to break it, while Lorelai couldn't extend that same trust to a man she'd known nearly five years, a man who she considered one of her best friends. After a moment, Juliet glanced in her direction, and Lorelai quickly averted her gaze, feeling caught.

Juliet smiled at her, then squeezed Max's hand. "I'm gonna get my stuff."

He watched her step into the bedroom and close the door behind her, before turning to Lorelai with a smile. "I'm glad the two of you were able to talk."

"Yeah, today was like one long Twilight Zone episode," Lorelai agreed with a short laugh. "I kept expecting Rod Serling to pop out from behind a building or something."

Max nodded in understanding. "I'm sure. Juliet mentioned that you two don't fight often."

"Ever," she corrected, frowning slightly.

He looked as though he wanted to debate that, but was stopped from responding as Juliet came back from the bedroom with a small overnight bag and slipped her free arm around his waist.

Max wrapped an arm around Juliet's shoulders, then turned back to Lorelai. "Tell Rory that if she needs any extensions or anything in the next few weeks, I'd be happy to work with her."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open in pretended shock. "Wait, special treatment? Are we finally reaping the benefits of you two dating?"

Juliet shook her head with a small laugh. "No, he gives extensions to everyone."

"Yes, but I only started giving out penalty-free extensions after a certain psychiatrist–" Max smiled teasingly at Juliet as he hugged her closer "–regaled me with countless stories of teenagers who end up in the psych ward because they're so stressed about school. So I suppose everyone is reaping the benefits of our relationship."

"Scaring him into benevolence, I'm so proud," Lorelai quipped, smiling. "Of course, Rory has a moral opposition to turning in assignments late, so she probably won't take any extensions, but I'll tell her you offered." She paused, turning to Juliet with a bright smile. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Juliet said with a soft smile of her own. She stood on her toes to kiss Max's cheek. "See you tomorrow."

"Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Juliet rolled her eyes with an indulgent smile, hugging him tightly in farewell. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Max said softly, brushing her hair behind her shoulder as he pulled away. "I'll lock up after I get everything."

Juliet nodded, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing his bandaged index finger before walking up to Lorelai and looping an arm through hers.

"Bye, Max," Lorelai called over her shoulder with a wave.

He smiled warmly at her. "Nice to see you, Lorelai."

Juliet pulled the door shut behind her with one last smile at her boyfriend, and the sisters walked down the stairs together arm-in-arm.

As they reached the parking lot, Lorelai glanced over her shoulder with a frown, suddenly remembering something. "Didn't you need to get your car from his apartment?"

Juliet shook her head with a little smile. "No, he thought you and I needed some extra time together, so he's gonna pick me up at your house tomorrow night."

"Oh, he loooves you," Lorelai cooed teasingly, pulling her sister closer.

"He does," Juliet agreed, ducking her head with a pleased smile. "I still haven't figured out why, though."

"Please, how's a lit teacher gonna resist a pretty girl named after a Shakespeare heroine?" Lorelai quipped, unlocking the car. "Besides, you're like, the sweetest person in the world. I mean, you've even got Rory beat, since she inherited my mean streak."

Juliet laughed self-consciously, rolling her eyes as she climbed into the passenger seat. "You don't have a mean streak."

"See? Sweet," Lorelai declared with a smirk, buckling her seatbelt.

Juliet laughed again, staring at her hands. Once her sister had backed out of her parking space, she turned in the passenger seat, facing her profile. "So, what's going on with Luke? Is his ex still in town?"

Lorelai chuckled ruefully, her eyes smarting. "Uh, I don't think she's his ex anymore."

"Oh, Lor," Juliet said softly, laying a gentle hand on her sister's knee. "I'm sorry."

Lorelai shrugged, keeping her eyes focused intently on the road. "It's my own fault, right? I mean, I'm the one who spent all last week giving Linda Radlett a run for her money."

Juliet was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Well, if he still has feelings for . . . Rachel, right?" She glanced at Lorelai for confirmation. When Lorelai nodded, Juliet shrugged sadly. "If he still has feelings for her, then I don't know how much a brand-new relationship would've changed things."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Lorelai agreed with a sniffle. She swallowed thickly, glancing over at her sister briefly when they reached a red light. "I just wish it had never happened, you know? This would be so much easier if I had no idea what it was like to . . ."

When Lorelai trailed off, Juliet rubbed her knee comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe I'm the one who needs to wallow," Lorelai said with an ironic smile.

"We can," Juliet offered, shrugging.

"That's okay." Lorelai huffed out a laugh, glancing over at her sister with a leading smile as they reached Stars Hollow. "Distract me. Tell me all about your perfect relationship."

"Well, it's not a perfect relationship . . ." Juliet began, pressing her lips together to keep from smiling.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "Uh-huh. What's not perfect about it? Other than the constant Shakespeare quotations."

Juliet laughed, lowering her eyes to her lap. "He's great. I'm . . . still working on my clinginess."

"So, uh, what were you getting from your apartment?" Lorelai asked, changing the subject.

"What?"

"When I got there?" Lorelai reminded her. "You said you went there to get something. What was it?"

"Oh. Um, my lab coat and stethoscope," Juliet answered, avoiding her sister's eyes.

"What do you need those for? You're not working tomorrow," Lorelai said, her mouth dropping open when her baby sister ducked her head with an embarrassed smile. "Oh my God, you little slut!"

Juliet rolled her eyes, blushing. "Shut up."

"I thought lab coats were supposed to be sterile," Lorelai teased, smirking.

Juliet shook her head, her blush deepening. "I don't wanna talk about this."

"So, what do you use the stethoscope for, huh?" Lorelai asked, putting the car in park as they pulled up to the house.

"Oh my God," Juliet muttered, getting out of the passenger seat and practically running across the yard.

Lorelai trotted after her, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. "I'm gonna weasel it out of you one way or another, you might as well give in now!"

Juliet turned to her with a long-suffering sigh. "Do you enjoy tormenting me?"

"Hey, it is my God-given right as your older sister to torment you," Lorelai said with false haughtiness. "You're just lucky I never put itching powder on your sheets as a kid."

"I slept in your bed almost every night, I wouldn't have noticed if you had," Juliet pointed out with a laugh.

"Oh yeah," Lorelai said, unlocking the front door and pushing it open with a bright smile, looping her arm through Juliet's. "Rory, hon, are you home? I brought you a present!"

"In here," came Rory's watery-sounding voice from the living room.

The sisters exchanged a concerned look as they walked into the living room, and Lorelai's shoulders dropped when she saw her daughter sitting on the couch in tears. "Oh, honey."

Rory sniffled. "I'm ready to wallow now."

Wordlessly, Lorelai dropped her sister's arm and moved to sit by her daughter, guiding Rory's head to her shoulder and kissing her forehead. Juliet hovered awkwardly near the couch, aching to comfort her niece but unsure if her touch would be an intrusion.

Rory reached out a hand without lifting her head from her mother's shoulder. "Hi, Auntie Jules."

Juliet's brow creased in sympathy, and she took her niece's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Hi, sweet girl. Sorry, I wasn't here sooner."

"That's okay," Rory said with a sob, burying her face further into Lorelai's shoulder.

Juliet slowly lowered herself onto the couch, squeezing her niece's hand again, while Lorelai met her eyes over Rory's head with a sad smile.

Notes:

I wanted to post this chapter sooner, but I was distracted by anxiety and existential dread following the presidential election results (I was unfortunately not surprised, though). For anyone feeling the same, I hope this story can provide at least a little escapism for you :)

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!