YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN, KID » GILMORE GIRLS

SEVEN ➵ I DIDN'T CHOOSE THIS TOWN

Avonlea looked back with wide eyes of her own, unsure if she should be concerned with the expression he was giving her. Tentatively, she made her way to the barstool anyways, taking a seat.

"Hi," he said rather breathily, the words barely passing his tongue. "Welcome to Luke's Diner."

"Thanks," she said, not meaning for her voice to sound so monotonous.

He just continued to look at her with widened eyes, a slight smile on his dazed face. She turned her head to the side in confusion, her lips downturned and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Can I have a menu?" she questioned.

He blinked his daze away, straightening his posture even more. "Uh... y-ye..aah, here," he muttered, grabbing one frantically from behind the register and sliding it across the countertop to her.

"Thanks," she said again as she eyed him suspiciously for a second. She sent him a tightlipped smile anyways. She picked up the menu in order to cover her face from him, looking over what they had.

"I'll take a cheeseburger and some onion rings, please," she said after a few moments looking at it.

"Okay, cool," the boy said, before yelling over his shoulder, "Luke! Cheeseburger and onion rings."

Avonlea was surprised he merely yelled the order out, but an amused chuckle escaped her lips.

Someone came out of the kitchen, probably Luke, and it was the guy from earlier with the backwards cap. He looked almost guilty as he glared at the teenager, a classic "what the hell is wrong with you?" expression on his face as he raised his arms in confusion.

"You couldn't just walk the order back here instead of yelling off the ears of every customer in here?"

The boy just gave him an apologetic smile, and the guy let out a huff as he waved off the smile dismissively.

"So, coffee?" he asked her, holding up a pot of brewed, drip coffee.

"Do you guys have any creamers?"

He nodded, and so she nodded. He poured coffee into a green mug for her, placing it in front of her. He turned around for a moment and came back with a small bowl of french vanilla creamer cups.

"Thanks," she said, and he watched a she poured practically the entire pile in the bowl into her cup until the almost-black liquid turned a light brown.

"Huh," he nodded, as if he just found out some interesting information, his tongue poking the side of his cheek.

"What?" she asked, stirring her drink with a spoon. "Did I do something wrong?"

He just shook his head, and she side-eyed him as she took a sip.

When she brought her cup down, she asked, "What, do all of you guys drink your coffee black in this town?" making the connection to what must have been so interesting about her.

"Most of us, yes," he nodded, a smile forming on his face.

She nodded, too, staring down at her drink with her hands on the sides of it, keeping her palms warm.

"So, you like archery?"

Her forehead was starting to hurt from all of the furrowing her eyebrows were doing. She didn't say anything as she gave him a creeped out expression, but he pointed to her sternum.

Her hand flew up to touch it instinctively, her fingertips coming in contact with the golden circle with an engraved bow and arrow necklace around her neck. She wore it almost every day, ever since Paris got her it after her first archery competition, and was another thing to add to the list of reasons why she knows her mother pays no attention to her.

"Yeah, I'm on the archery team at my school."

"What school?" he asked, not even skipping a beat, one hand on the counter and the other on his hip as he leaned against it slightly.

Another chuckle escaped her lips and she looked away from him again.

"Your nosy," was all she was able to say to him before someone else called for his attention.

"Atlas! Can I get a refill over here?" one of the customers by the window asked.

"Duty calls," he said to her.

A smile stayed on her face when he left, and she tried to process what had just happened. Atlas, don't hear a name like that everyday.

He didn't make his way back to where she sat for a while, making rounds with the coffee pot, and then coming back behind the counter for a second to put it away and then walk out orders. By the time hers was done, it was Luke who came out from the kitchen to bring it to her.

She smiled at him while he placed the plate in front of him, thanking him softly. She looked down to her burger, but could see him pause from her peripherals, so she looked back up. His eyes widened, realizing he was caught staring.

"Sorry, you, uh," he stumbled over his words, using his pointer to motion in circles as if to symbolize the gears in his head turning. Then, he pointed at her like he knew the answer to a question she never asked. "You're Lorelai's niece!"

By that time, Atlas had arrived back to the counter. His mouth opened like he was atonished, and Avonlea herself was confused how he even knew that. Sure, she thought this was Lorelai's Luke, but that was all based off of shop names, not looks.

She turned her head to the side, blinking rapidly as she computed. "H-how do you know that?"

"I've seen pictures," he shrugged as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He then grabbed a clean towel from behind the counter and cleaned the space next to her. "Meeting your aunt here or something?" He glanced to the door, a look in his eyes as if he was half-expecting her to bulldoze in and half-wishing she wouldn't.

She shook her head, biting into an onion ring. "She doesn't even know I'm here."

"Oh," he nodded, and suddenly the atmosphere felt awkward. He looked at her one more time, before saying a short, "Yeah," and heading back into the kitchen quickly.

Atlas, who seemed to still be standing in his spot in shock, finally snapped out of it and closed his jaw.

"So," he said slowly, leaning against the back counter and facing her while she ate her burger.

She took a bite out of it, keeping that uncomfortable eye contact with him.

"You're Rory's cousin."

With a full mouth, she just nodded. She wiped her mouth with the fingers of her left hand while holding the burger with her right.

"I'm Atlas, I'm her best friend, well, one of her best friends. We have another friend, Lane, we're like, a trio, yanno?" he told her, rambling on. "Yanno, know that you say it, I do, I do, uh, see the family... family resemblance... between you and Rory."

She rose an eyebrow in disbelief. Even she couldn't see the family resemblance. She swallowed her bite and said, "No you don't."

"Yeah," he winced, shaking his head. "You two look nothing alike."

"Yeah, kinda how the whole mixed kid and cousin thing works," she said, a sarcastic tone of voice. "You're more like Rory than I am."

"Ew, what?" he was immediately repulsed.

"Not your looks," she laughed. "You ramble awkwardly the way she does."

"You think I'm awkward?" he asked in a soft voice, his eyes like a kicked puppy.

She laughed at him again. Honestly? She thought his entire personality was kind of adorable, in those goofy ways. "I think you're funny," she replied, and his smile came back, as if he accomplished something.