"Who the hell is Paul?" Tristan asks sitting at a table across from his son while his wife stands leaning against a wall.
"Rory's boyfriend, you've met him" Jamie tells him. "I don't think I have" Tristan disagrees.
"You have, we all went fishing together" Jamie insists. "Are you sure? I really don't remember that" Tristan asks him. "Me either, but Paul says it happened" Jamie says.
"And you believe him?" Tristan asks.
"Sure" Jamie shrugs. "Okay" Tristan sighs.
"So, Paul exists, what else is going on?" he asks his son. "We're going to grandma's after we leave here" Jamie mentions. "Ah, so that's why your mom's wearing a dress" Tristan says looking over at Victoria who's typing on her phone
"Hello?" Victoria answers when her phone rings.
"Hey, can you give me a ride to dinner tonight? Gypsy said there's pretty much no chance of my car being ready" Lorelai asks. "I can't, I'm actually already in Hartford. I can give you a ride home though if you need" Victoria tells her.
"What are you doing already in Hartford?" Lorelai asks confused. "Tristan" is all Victoria says. "Oh right, I totally forgot that was today. How's it going?" Lorelai asks her.
"Same as usual. He and Jamie are doing all the talking, I'm keeping my distance" Victoria replies.
"When's the last time you talked to him alone? You know about grown up stuff, without Jamie at the table" Lorelai asks. "You know the last time" Victoria sighs.
*Flashback to several months ago*
"He was my dad, Tori" Tristan says sitting across from his wife.
"Oh please, you hated him" she scoffs shaking her head. "So what? What was I supposed to do?" Tristan asks.
"Tell the truth! Speak up when you found out, not cover for him" Victoria yells. "And run his name through the mud?" Tristan asks her. "He's dead! He spent decades running a company off of shady deals, and left that company to you, knowing that you'd be the one left to tie up his loose ends" Victoria tells him.
"You owe him nothing. He's gone, we're here, I'm here, your son is sitting out there waiting for me, because I'm the only one us allowed to leave here with him" she keeps going.
"Don't bring Jamie into this" Tristan says. "Why not? It's affecting him" Victoria replies.
"I did this for him, to protect our family name" Tristan insists. "That name's tainted now anyway! Even with you trying to cover it up, people found out anyway" Victoria reminds him. "You got locked away, your family's company got sold, my own business is under investigation right now, we had to sell our house, move back to Stars Hollow, Jamie had to transfer schools, leave all his friends, thank god we have separate bank accounts because they completely drained yours, Logan had to pay for your lawyer-" she lets it all out.
"And what a good lawyer that was, made me plea guilty and I still got thrown in here for nine months" Tristan cuts her off.
"It would have been nine years if he let you plea not guilty like you wanted to" Victoria says stressing the word years. "What's your plan for when you get out? No one's gonna hire you" she asks.
"I'll figure it out" Tristan replies. "And there it is. Always just trusting that you'll be able to figure it out, you can never just be honest with me" Victoria says. "You know, if you had just come to me in the first place and told me what was going on, maybe we could've found a way out of this. But no, I had to find out online when a whistleblower went to the press" she adds.
"You would've talked me out of it" Tristan says.
"Damn right I would've" Victoria responds. "God Tristan, we're married, we have a kid. All these years and you still haven't realized that what you do affects all of us" she tells him.
*Back to present*
"You're kidding. Victoria, that was months ago" Lorelai says over the phone.
"Trust me, I'm aware" Victoria replies. "You just haven't talked?" Lorelai asks her.
"We've talked, just not alone. We talk with and about Jamie" Victoria says. "Only about Jamie?" Lorelai asks. "I'll give little updates about how you, and Luke, and Rory are doing, but we keep the small talk short. I mainly just give the time to Jamie" Victoria explains.
"Hon, he's gonna be getting eventually" Lorelai reminds her.
"I know" Victoria says. "Okay, so when he gets out he's moving into the apartment with you and Jamie right?" Lorelai asks her.
"I'd assume" Victoria replies. "How do you think that's gonna go if you can barely even talk to him? Are you gonna be able to share a bed? Is he going on the couch?" Lorelai asks. Victoria exhales and shakes her head looking up at the ceiling.
"I don't know" she answers.
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When Victoria and Jamie get to Emily's house, Lorelai and Rory are already sitting on the couch.
"You're late" Lorelai says. "Dinner didn't start yet" Victoria says walking over to take a seat.
"What's that?" Jamie asks seeing a gigantic painting of Richard leaning against the wall. "Do you trust me?" Rory asks him. "Yeah" Jamie nods.
"Then pretend you never noticed it" Rory tells him.
"Grandma freaked out?" Victoria asks. "Oh yeah" Lorelai confirms.
"Rightfully. Did you know what mom said at the funeral?" Rory asks her sister. "About the memory?" Victoria asks. "Yeah" Rory says.
"Then yeah" Victoria answers.
"Why am I the last to find out about this stuff?" Rory asks offended. "Wait, have you and grandma still not made up since then?" Victoria asks her mother.
"Nope" Lorelai replies. "It's been months" Victoria points out. "You're gonna talk to me about going months without talking to an important person in my life?" Lorelai gives her a look.
"Okay that's fair" Victoria sighs.
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"It seems meaty" Victoria says poking at her food.
No one's been able to figure out what language Emily's latest maid is speaking, which also means they have no idea what she's feeding them. "What kind of meat?" Jamie asks.
"There's cheese, and layers of..." Rory trails off unsure. "It's crunchy" Lorelai stabs it. "Huh" Victoria says.
"No, wait, it's smushy. It's crunchy and smushy" Lorelai tells them.
"What's crunchy and smushy?" Jamie asks. "Peanut butter? Or badly mixed cement?" Rory answers.
"So we've got meat, cheese, peanut butter or badly mixed cement" Lorelai lists. "Oh for God's sake, just eat it" Emily tells them. "I'll tell you what, I'll dive in first. Mom always made me taste her food before she'd eat a bite" Kirk volunteers.
After driving Lorelai, his car broke down in the Gilmore driveway, leaving him stranded.
"Mmm. Delicious" Kirk takes a bite. "And it could be peanut butter" he says.
"Nice" Jamie smiles. "I really appreciate you inviting me to dinner. It was harrowing out there" Kirk thanks Emily. "Who is this?" she asks.
"Kirk, your car broke down at the end of the driveway" Lorelai says not seeing how it was too harrowing for him.
"It's lucky for me I'm a very loud crier. If your maid hadn't heard my sobs, I don't know what would've happened" Kirk says. "You probably would've run out of Kleenex" Lorelai comments.
"It's nice we can joke about it now" Kirk replies. "Thanks for letting me stash some boxes here, Grandma" Rory changes the topic. "Where are you going to live?" Emily asks her.
"I'll get my own place again...eventually" Rory answers.
"Yeah, but for now she's Jack Kerouac. She's On the Road-ing it, pass the peyote" Lorelai references. "But after you've passed the peyote, what bathroom will you use to throw up in?" Emily asks her granddaughter.
"Well, I have many options" Rory responds. "Paris let's me stay at her place when I'm in New York. Or I can stay with mom, or Vic, or Lane, or you" she listed. "So, you're homeless" Emily says.
"Thank you" Victoria blurts out causing everyone to turn to her.
"Sorry, I've just been the only one seeing it like that" she explains. "And just like I told you, I am not homeless" Rory insists.
"Right, you're just without a home" Victoria says. "Just for now" Rory replies. "And you're okay with this vagabond existence she's leading? Like...like a groupie?" Emily turns to her daughter.
"I wish she was a groupie. I'd get better tickets to stuff" Lorelai responds.
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Right in the front of her store Victoria's kneeled on the ground placing folded t-shirts on a shelf when the bell from the door chimes behind her.
"You know, you have employees for that" a man's voice says. Victoria smiles to herself, not even having to turn around to know who it is.
"I do" she nods. "But people tend to respect you more when they see you're willing to do what you expect of them" Victoria puts the last shirt down before standing up and turning around. "Hi" she smiles going in for a hug.
"You're shorter than I remember" Finn says hugging back.
"I'm tall for a girl" Victoria laughs. "Still tiny" Finn insists as he starts to walk around the boutique.
"Since when are you making jewelry?" he asks picking up a gold bracelet from a bowl on one of the counters. "I'm not. My mom's boyfriend's sister is, I'm just helping sell some of her stuff" Victoria replies. "You got yourself a little business partner?" Finn turns to her.
"I suppose I do" Victoria smiles.
"How many of these stores do you have now?" Finn asks her. "Three. Hartford, Boston, and Providence" Victoria answers.
"Providence! That's the one I forgot" Finn replies. "I knew Hartford was your first and Boston was most recent, I just forgot what came between. Very New England though" he explains. "That was the goal. I'm hoping to get one somewhere in Vermont next" Victoria says.
"I forgot how much I liked the energy of this place, very vibey" Finn takes a seat on one of the chairs Victoria has set up.
"Well, when you grow up with a mother like mine some stuff rubs off on you" she walks over to sit in the seat next to his. "Good genes too" Finn comments.
"Not gonna argue with you on that one" Victoria responds. "It's unarguable. You're gorgeous, a blind man can see that" Finn tells her. "Did you come all this way just to compliment me?" Victoria asks teasingly.
"I was in the area, figured I may as well pay a visit to my favorite girl" Finn explains.
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"Paris?" Victoria says shocked as she and her sister walk into Luke's.
"Hi" Paris says from the counter. "What are you doing here?" Rory asks her.
"Oh, I'm working" Paris answers. "Here?" Victoria asks. "Wherever there's an old or defective uterus" Paris shrugs.
"You eating?" she asks them.
"No, I'm actually just grabbing coffee. So jet-lagged" Rory walks around the counter to pour her own coffee. "Then I'm heading to your place. Oh, can I crash at your place?" she asks.
"Absolutely, you have the key. And what are you doing?" Paris turns to Victoria. "I'm following my slightly younger sister to Lane's before she takes off on me again, you wanna come with?" Victoria asks her. "Sure" Paris nods.
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"Frankly, it was over the minute he wanted to do something creative" Paris says on the way to Lane's.
"Wow, you and Doyle split" Victoria tries wrapping her mind around it. "Well, he's a screenwriter now. Suddenly he's in jeans and wearing faded $200 rock t-shirts with bands on them he's never seen" Paris says.
"He's flying out to the coast as if this is not a coast. He drinks vodka because it has less carbs" she keeps going. "And then he started selling things and I realized this is going to stick" Paris says. "I am so sorry" Rory tells her.
"It's fine. I'll kill him in court" Paris replies.
"Sure" Victoria agrees. "I'll be using that Def Leopard t-shirt to clean my windows" Paris comments.
"Don't you maybe wanna try to work it out nicely? I mean you guys have kids and you were a good team at one point" Rory asks her. At that Victoria looks down at her own rings on her hand. "That was before Brett Ratner gave him the keys to his pool house" Paris says as they reach Lane's house.
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And that brings us to the end of Winter
Now we get an unclear time jump because the AYITL time line deeply confuses me
It seems simple enough with every episode being titled the season it's in but like how much space are we leaving between Winter and Spring? Are we just hopping a week later when the snow melts or has it been a good month? Idk, I'll figure it out