Snatched

Part 23 - Stars Hollow

Lorelai rolled over in bed and slammed the alarm clock that was next to her. 5.45am. Luke must have set it. She leaned back towards her husband and slapped him playfully on the arm.
'Oww!' Luke responded, 'what time is it?'
'5.45am Luke!' Lorelai replied. Luke immediately jumped out of bed and begun throwing on clothes. 'You did it again!' Lorelai continued, 'you set the alarm and it woke me up!'
'I'm sorry, but I gotta get out and open up the diner' Luke replied, 'surely you're used to this by now!'
'Yeah I am,' Lorelai said, 'but it still hurts!' She placed a pillow over her head and pushed her face into the mattress.
'How many times am I gonna have to apologise to ya though?' came Lukes response.
'You're not. Just go.' Lorelai said, as she put out an arm to usher Luke away, as if swatting a fly. Luke walked towards the bedroom door. But before he could leave Lorelai called 'wait!'
'What?' Luke barked back.
'Kiss?' she asked. Luke walked back over to the bed and planted a kiss on his wifes cheek.
'See ya later honey' she said, as he finally left the room, 'and bring back coffee!'
'When do I ever not!' Luke shouted, running down the stairs.

Lorelai snuggled back into the duvet and tried to fall back to sleep. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. She opened her eyes and rolled over to look at the clock next to her. It was today. She best call Rory. Lorelai picked up her cell phone from the side of the bed and noticed the photo of her grandson that she had on her lock screen. She held her phone tight to her chest. How she missed that sweet, sweet boy.

Lorelai propped herself up in bed and dialed Rorys number.
'Hey sweetie' she said when Rory picked up the phone.
'Hey Mom,' Rory said back. Rory sounded quite chipper, but Lorelai could tell that she was just trying to put on a brave face.
'How you doing?' Lorelai asked her daughter.
'Not too bad' Rory replied, 'how are you?'
'Oh I'm good!' Lorelai replied, 'but I have the day off from the Inn and Lukes working, so I'm just looking for something to do today'. Lorelai had purposely booked the day off work today to support Rory, but was waiting for her to ask for help first.
'Oh sweet,' Rory said, 'Logans just brought me breakfast in bed'.
'Mmm... What is it?' Lorelai replied.
'Blueberry muffins' said Rory.
'Mmm...blueberry muffins!' Lorelai said back. In the background, Lorelai could hear Logans voice.
'Ok, I gotta take mine for the road' she heard Logan say, 'but I'll see you later tonight'. Once Lorelai had heard the sound of a door closing in the background, Rory spoke back to her.
'Mom' Rory began.
'Yes sweetie' Lorelai replied.
'Actually, I don't think I'm doing that well today. Can I come over?' Rory asked.
'Oh honey!' Lorelais heart broke for her daughter every time she heard her speaking like this, 'of course you can come over'.
'Thanks Mom' Rory said, before hanging up the phone.

***

When Rory opened the back door to the kitchen about 45 minutes later, her mom was already sat at the table with two cups of coffee in front of her. Lorelai got up and embraced her daughter in a hug as soon as she walked through the door. At feeling her mums warm touch, Rory burst into tears.
'Oh sweetie!' Lorelai said and started rubbing her daughters back.
'I'm sorry mom' Rory said, still sobbing into her mums shoulder.
'What do you have to be sorry for?' Lorelai asked.
'I'm sorry for just inviting myself over like this and ruining your day' Rory replied. Lorelai lifted her daughters head off of her chest and held her in front of her, so that she could hear what she was saying.
'Listen honey,' she began, 'you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for and you did not invite yourself over. You know this always has and always will be your home'. She passed Rory a tissue from her pocket.
'I know' Rory sniffled into her tissue 'it's just Logan went off to work early this morning and with today being what it is, I really didn't want to be alone'.
'Oh honey, you're not alone' Lorelai said and guided her daughter to the seat opposite her. Immediately Rory grabbed the coffee cup that was in front of her.
'So Lukes at the diner?' Rory asked.
'Yeah he's says it's super busy over there at the moment' Lorelai replied.
'So not avoiding me then?' Rory asked her. Rory and Lukes relationship hadn't been the same since Dylan had gone missing. Rory knew that Luke felt guilty for what had happened that night. Lorelai sighed.
'He's not ignoring you, he just...' she began.
'Feels guilty for what happened?' Rory asked, 'he should know by now that I totally don't blame him for what happened. If Odette hadn't taken Dylan that night, she would have just come back another time.'
'I know, I know' said Lorelai 'I get that. I'm just not sure Luke does.' Rory let out a deep exhale and Lorelai could tell that something was still on her mind.
'What is it honey?' Lorelai asked her daughter.
'Do you think he still remembers me?' Rory asked.
'I'm sure he does, every single day' Lorelai replied, but she knew Rory could sense the uncertainty in her voice.