Samantha took a deep breath as she approached the familiar steps leading up to Luke's Diner. Normally, she would've gone to her grandparent's house first but they had Friday night dinner this evening so she was going to spend some time with her dad and then take the bus up to Hartford. It would've made more sense for her to ride with the Lorelai's but quite honestly Samantha would rather get run over by the bus than have to spend any more time with them than necessary. Little did she know the twin terrors were sitting inside the diner she was about to enter. The 12-year-old grinned when she saw a familiar flannel and baseball cap go by the door before barreling into the diner.
"Luke!" Samantha yelled, unintentionally attracting several customers' attention, including her mother and sister, as she ran toward the man.
Luke couldn't help but smile as he put his coffee pot down and opened his arms for his daughter whom he hadn't seen for more than a month. Although he talked to her on the phone daily, he had missed the girl something awful. He immediately scooped up his little girl, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "I missed you so much, kiddo." He held a long kiss on her cheek, touching a hand to the back of her blond hair. And then his eyes popped out of his head.
"What did you do to your hair?!"
"Well, you see...oof!" Samantha started to explain, only to get cut off by two bodies crashing into her with a hug. Luke watched, his expression falling slightly, as he saw the look his daughter gave Lorelai and Rory when she saw who was hugging her. It was a mix of fear and disgust. Samantha told him about what happened before she went on her trip and to be honest, he couldn't blame her. What was Lorelai thinking?
The blond immediately wriggled out of the Lorelai's grip and hid behind her dad, glaring at the girls as she clutched the sleeve of his flannel tightly. The mother-daughter duo gave each other a confused look before advancing toward the girl again, only for her to run up the stairs into her dad's apartment.
"What was that all about?" Lorelai asked, making Luke give her an incredulous look. The woman furrowed her eyebrows when he simply shook his head and walked away to serve another customer. She shrugged and sat back down at her table.
~:~
"I'll be fine Lucas," Samantha reassured her overprotective father as she stepped onto the bus. "Rory takes this bus every day."
"But she's 17 and you're 12," Luke shot back before trying to pull her out of the bus again. He huffed when she took another step into the bus. "Are you sure you don't want to just ride with Lorelai and Rory?"
"Over my dead body," Samantha gave him a sickly sweet smile before waving as the bus doors closed behind her. The Gilmore girl gripped the leather seats as she made her way to the middle of the bus to sit down. She gave the bus driver a glare when he started the bus before she was seated, making her fall into some old man's lap.
"Sorry," Samantha apologized before continuing on. The girl's eyes widened in horror when she stumbled upon a seat that was completely wet.
"Oh you don't want to sit there, sweetie" a random woman from the back of the bus spoke up, making Samantha raise her eyebrows. "A toddler just urinated there."
Samantha squeezed her eyes shut, wishing to be anywhere but here, before nodding at the woman. She went back toward the front of the bus for a seat. The 12-year-old smiled when she saw a seat open next to a sleeping old man in the front. She checked to make sure there was no pee on the seats before sitting down. Suddenly, the older man woke up with a snort, making the girl giggle slightly. However, her amusement turned to horror when the man lifted up his butt slightly and let out a long fart. Samantha's mouth fell open as she turned to the man only to see that he fell asleep again. She sighed as he let out a loud snore. This was going to be a long bus ride.
Around thirty minutes into the ride, Samantha looked out the window as they came to a stop at a traffic light. When she saw who was parked next to them she immediately turned her head back to the seat in front of her. It was the twin terrors, Lorelai and Rory. Of course, this happens to her, because getting farted on isn't enough for Samantha Gilmore. The 12-year-old cautiously turned her head to look at the Lorelai's again. She cringed when she saw that they were both gawking at her and pointing wildly. The girl tried to shield her face as they rolled down their window and started yelling for her.
"Samantha!" Lorelai shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Samantha, we can see you!" The youngest Gilmore continued to look the other way, pretending to talk to the old man that was still snoring beside her.
"You do realize your bus buddy is asleep right?" Rory called from the car. Samantha simply turned to them and stuck her tongue out before putting her hood over her head and sinking into the bus seat.
~:~
Samantha sighed in relief as she practically sprinted out of the bus and collapsed onto the pavement in front of her grandparent's estate. She didn't even notice that the Lorelai's were waiting for her in front of the fountain.
"Thank god that's over," the dramatic 12-year-old groaned as she flopped onto her back and sprawled out like a starfish in the middle of the driveway.
"You could've just ridden with us you know," the Lorelai's made themselves known as they stepped toward the girl. Samantha visibly tensed up and immediately stood to her feet.
"Where are you going?" Rory asked her sister as the blond went over to the bushes and pulled something out.
"What's that smell?" Lorelai questioned as she sniffed a foul odor coming from her daughter's dress. Samantha simply glared at her before walking toward the door, holding her set of extra clothes close to her.
"Are you mad at us or something?" Lorelai continued to follow the girl, Rory trailing behind. The only response they got was the front door slamming in their faces.
"Yeah, she's definitely mad at us."
~:~
"Samantha, you're finally back," Emily opened her arms for her granddaughter as she came into the living room where Rory, Lorelai, and Richard were sitting.
"Grandmary," Samantha smiled as she hugged her grandmother, "I missed you."
"I missed you more, dear."
"I'm next," Richard grinned as he hopped up from his seat to embrace his granddaughter, the girl letting out a giggle as she was pulled into a bear hug.
"Archibald!" Samantha called out to the butler who was trying to sneak away to the kitchen. "Come give me a hug!"
The middle-aged man huffed before trudging over to the blond and letting her wrap her little arms around his neck. Archibald hesitated a moment before enveloping the girl in a warm hug. He froze when he felt the tiny blond lean on his chest but soon relaxed as a smile formed under his mustache. It's possible he missed the little scamp just a tad.
~:~
"You know, this new hair is growing on me, Samantha," Emily pointed her fork at her youngest granddaughter with an approving expression. "It's very Saoirse Ronan."
"How do you even know who that is, mom?" Lorelai questioned, not expecting her mom to know the names of any actresses.
"We watched Little Women with Samantha before she went on her trip," Richard nodded. "Very fine film."
"Speaking of the trip," Emily clapped her hands together. "I want to know everything! How were the hotels? Did you sleep well? Did the Browns take good enough care of you? Did you wear sunscreen? Did--"
"Grandmary," Samantha laughed as she held a hand up. "One question at a time, please."
"Right," Emily nodded. "Did you take any pictures?"
"Oh!" Lorelai butted in excitedly, her daughter completely ignoring her. "I want to see pictures!"
Samantha didn't even spare her a glance as she answered her grandmother. "Yes, Grandmary. Archie, Lucy, and I made a slideshow. I'll go set it up."
Lorelai pouted as the girl walked away before turning to her parents, "What's up with her?"
Emily and Richard exchanged incredulous glances before the former said, "Surely you aren't that stupid, Lorelai."
"What are you talking about?" Lorelai threw her hands up. "And why does everyone keep looking at me like I'm an idiot, today?"
"Not just today," Archibald coughed as he took her plate, making the brunette glare at him.
Lorelai turned back to her mother. "I thought Samantha and I were making progress. Now it seems like it's just gotten worse. She won't even look at me."
"Lorelai," Emily started as she clasped her hands together and looked at her daughter. "You made a very big mistake not once but twice, hurting the same person, and that person is Samantha."
"What did I do though? I don't understand," Lorelai exclaimed as she exchanged a glance with her oldest daughter.
"She won't talk to me either, grandma," Rory started. "We don't know what we did wrong."
"Do you remember when you asked Samantha to be your bridesmaid, Lorelai? And you, Rory, encouraged her to do it?" Emily questioned, making the mother-daughter duo furrow their eyebrows.
"Yes?"
"And when the wedding was off who was the one person that you didn't tell yourselves?" Emily inquired, making Lorelai and Rory's eyes widen in horror.
"Oh my gosh," Lorelai muttered as she put her head in her hands.
"We are terrible people," Rory stressed as she ran a hand through her hair.
"You not only left her once, Lorelai but twice. And once again you took Rory with you and left Samantha behind. How do you think that made her feel? How do you think it made me feel to have to tell my 11-year-old granddaughter that her mother and sister abandoned her again?"
"I feel awful. I have to make it up to her," Lorelai stated, making Emily shake her head.
"Do you really think she'll let you make it up to her? I wouldn't. We call her stubborn Samantha for a reason, you know," Emily remarked before continuing. "She gave you a second chance, both of you, and you blew it. I'm afraid your selfishness, this time Lorelai, has done irreparable damage."
"It's been just me and Rory for so long," Lorelai tried to justify her actions as she looked down at the table. "I didn't even think about her."
"That was obvious to both Samantha and me."
~:~
"Grandmary, Papa, Archibald!" Samantha called as she put her DVD in the disk player. "I've got my slideshow set up."
"I brought popcorn," the butler announced as he came in and sat beside the 12-year-old, slapping her hand away when she tried to take a handful. "For me, not for you."
The youngest Gilmore grinned as her grandparents came in and sat down, however, that smile turned into a scowl when Lorelai and Rory followed them. Ugh. She simply turned her head, not seeing the guilty glances the Lorelai's were giving each other before starting her presentation. Samantha stood up and held the wireless mouse up as she switched slides.
"Welcome to Samantha's summer slideshow."
"I like the alliteration," Richard pointed out, making the girl shake her head in amusement before going to the next slide.
"This is Archie, Lucy, and I in a canoe at the Gold Coast in New York," Samantha stated, gesturing to a picture of the three kids smiling brightly with bulky lifejackets on and white sunscreen popping out against their noses.
"Oh, you three look so adorable!" Emily gushed before Archibald piped up.
"That sunscreen makes you look like you have a Biore strip on," he laughed as he munched on his popcorn, sinking down in his chair when Emily and Richard glared at him.
"Moving on," Samantha went to the next slide, furrowing her eyebrows slightly when she realized the Lorelai's hadn't said a word. She glanced over at them, her frown deepening when she saw them exchange an ashamed glance. She simply shook her head before continuing.
"This is Archie falling out of the canoe," Samantha pointed to a picture of the Brown boy flailing his arms out as his body was about to hit the water. She smiled slightly when she heard Archibald laugh loudly in the background before going to the next slide.
"Here we have Archie, Lucy, and I parasailing in Cape Cod," the Gilmore girl showed a picture of the three 12-year-olds grinning happily at the camera. Their arms were raised over their heads as they floated above the water in a harness with a bright red and yellow parachute behind them.
"And here we have a bird pooping on Archie's head," the blond gestured to the next slide. Archie had a disgusted look on his face as he held a handful of bird droppings in his hand, a big glob of the same yuck in his messy brown curls, while Lucy and Samantha pointed at him laughing. A grey pigeon flew away from them, looking quite happy with itself.
"Oh!" Archibald giggled as he pointed at the picture. "Please send me that! I'm going to print it out and hang it in my room to wake up to every morning."
"That is a pretty good one," Richard chuckled, Emily, whacking his arm before gesturing for her granddaughter to continue.
"This was taken when Lucy, Archie, and I did the Wright Experience in the Outer Banks," Samantha showed them a picture where the excited-looking trio was seated criss-cross on a reproduction of the Wright Brothers' 1902 Glider, getting ready to take off.
"Oh, wow, that's so cool," Rory commented.
"Are you sure that thing was safe?" Emily questioned, her overprotectiveness kicking in.
"It only has a 30% death rate," Samantha shrugged, everyone gaping at her. "What? Is that bad or something?"
"Yes, it's bad!" Lorelai exclaimed, Samantha, ignoring her before going to the next slide.
"This is when Archie and Lucy realized that we were actually going to be flying in the plane," the Gilmore girl gestured to a picture where the Brown siblings were clinging to a content-looking Samantha with terrified looks on their faces as the wooden plane took off. She went to the next slide.
"And here we have," Samantha started, her face scrunching up in confusion when a video came on. "Huh, I don't remember putting this in there."
"Miss Gilmore you have a message from Mr. Brown next door," a maid came in and handed the blond a note. Samantha's face turned to one of anger when she unfolded the slip of paper.
Revenge has been enacted. -Archie
"Oh no," the 12-year-old put a hand to her forehead as she recognized the video.
Samantha grinned, her long brown locks blowing behind her as she flipped the video camera to face her.
"Hey Lucy," the brunette called her friend over, the Brown girl immediately skipping over to her. Samantha turned the camera back to the pool and pointed her finger at a boy with brown curly hair sitting at the edge of the pool. "I dare you to push Archfiend in the water."
"Yes," the 12-year-old agreed immediately. "I've been waiting to do this since I was born!"
"Go! Go!" the Gilmore girl shooed her away, laughing. Samantha let out a string of giggles as her friend snuck over to the curly-haired brunette before looking at her and giving a thumbs up. The brunette cackled as Lucy pushed the clueless boy into the pool. However, that mischievousness soon turned to horror when the boy's head popped out of the pool and she realized it wasn't Archie.
"Uh oh," Samantha cringed, turning the camera around to face her again as Lucy rushed over to her.
"That's not Archie!" the Brown girl whisper-yelled as she pointed to the boy who was now glaring at them as he got out of the pool.
"You think I don't know that?!" Samantha shot back before looking at the boy again. "Why is he going over to the lifeguard?"
"Why are they pointing at us?" Lucy questioned, alarmed, as she looked between the boy, the lifeguard, and Samantha.
"Better question. Why is the lifeguard getting out of his chair?"
"What did you two do?" Archie questioned, his hands on his hips, as he snuck up behind the pair both of them letting out a yelp.
"No time to explain," Samantha shoved the video camera into his arms. "See ya!"
Samantha laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, as she looked at her unamused grandparents. "Crazy technology, am I right?"