A Stars Hollow Adventure

Rory was finishing up her homework when her mom burst through the front door. Undoubtedly her mom was going to tell her some spectacular news that just couldn’t wait until Rory finished her assignment for school, no she’d have to hear the news right then. Rory just wanted to curl up into a ball; she was genuinely scared at what was happening to her. She had no idea what she was going to do, she just hoped that it would pass and not last forever. She hadn’t even confided in Dean what had happened, which was something rare. She shared absolutely everything with her mother and just about as much with Dean. Lane was the same way with her; she was just blessed to have such loyal friends that didn’t blab her business everywhere. When her mom stopped in front of her, she looked up and smiled, which caused Lorelai to grin.

“So, we have tourists at the in town.” Rory gave her a confused look…this was the awesome news of the day? Lorelai ignored her expression and kept talking.

“This is exciting though! These visitors are from one of your favorite places, Rome! They’re staying at my Inn!” Rory nodded, trying to muster some enthusiasm.

“It’s a bit early for a tourist, that’s weird.” Lorelai sat down.

“Do you wanna go to Luke’s for dinner tonight?” Rory nodded.

“Yeah, but let me finish my homework first!”
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Dawn and Andrew wandered away from the group and were walking down Main Street. Dawn hadn’t told anyone, but the two of them had started dating each other. They were holding hands as they walked in silence. They were looking for somewhere to eat and they weren’t sure where to go. They had some of the oddest business names in this town; she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. They stopped in the park to see if they could agree on something and a boy about her age came up to them.

“Are you guys lost? I’d be happy to help you.” Dawn wasn’t used to people being nice…it was weird.

“We’re looking for a good place to eat, have any suggestions?” He grinned at her and nodded.

“Luke’s Diner is the best choice in this area. I’m headed over there right now actually, I’ll take you there. My name is Dean by the way.” Andrew gave him a look and Dawn playfully smacked him on the arm.

“Forgive him, please. I’m Dawn and this is Andrew.” Dean nodded again and led the way to Luke’s Diner. Dawn thought the diner was really cute and different. The boy left them to sit with a young girl and the lady who worked at the Inn. When she saw them, she stood up and waved them over. Dawn and Andrew walked over to their table with shy smiles. Lorelai motioned for them to sit down, which they did.

“Hey, so you guys decided to explore?” Andrew nodded.

“We had to get away from Buffy…little cranky.” This got the younger girl to giggle and Dean to smile.

“I guess you know Lorelai, this is her daughter, my girlfriend, Rory.” Lorelai laughed.

“I like the introductions, Dean; I’ll have to let Rory keep you around for awhile.” She turned her attention back to Dawn and Andrew.

“You’re welcome to eat with us, Luke is the best. Don’t tell Sookie I told you that though. Anyway, I’m fascinated to learn how you came to live in Rome, it sounds so exciting.” Andrew threw dawn a cautious look, who just shrugged and answered Lorelai.

“Honestly, we just sort of ended up there. We’re originally from Sunnydale California.” Lorelai’s happy face fell at her declaration.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I really didn’t mean to pry.”Dawn smiled politely at the lady.

“It’s okay, really. We’d been evacuated, so we weren’t there when it happened. There were seven of us that lived together, so when or house got swallowed, we just decided to start over.” Rory spoke up then.

“Wow, that must have been so hard, I’m sorry.” Dawn liked the girl, she seemed genuinely nice. Their food came then and Lorelai smiled.

“Luke, we made new friends! Please take their orders, you sexy man.” Luke glared at the grinning Lorelai and chuckled when he saw Rory and Dean grimace. He turned his attention to Dawn and Andrew then.

“What can I get you?” Dawn looked over at Lorelai and back at Luke.

“What she’s having looks really good, though I’d prefer soda instead of coffee.” Luke wrote their order down and sort of half smiled at her.

“Wow, someone who doesn’t’ drink coffee, I’m amazed. Maybe you could rub off on those guys, they drink way too much.” They were about halfway through their meal, when Dawn’s cell phone started to go off. She saw the sign behind the counter and started to get up, only to have Lorelai shake her head and wave her back down. She sat back down and answered the phone to a very irate Buffy.

“Dawn, where the hell are you? We’re in a brand new town and you just up and decided to wander off by yourself!” Dawn threw an uncomfortable glance at her audience.

“Buffy, Andrew and I are just at a diner down the way a bit. We wanted to look around.” She heard Buffy sigh.

“Sorry, Dawnie, it’s a reflex. Since when do you spend so much time with…oh no…are you dating Andrew?” Dawn cringed and Buffy sounded shocked.

“Dawn, what’s going on with you? Andrew…are you serious?!” Dawn looked up and turned red.

“It just sort of happened, Buffy. There’s nothing wrong with it.” She was afraid that Buffy had hung up on her when she heard Buffy laughing hysterically.

“Buffy, why are you laughing?” Buffy tried to stop laughing, but she was unable to.

“I’m sorry, Dawn, I’ll talk to you later. Don’t stay out too late with—“ She cut off with another fit of giggles. Dawn scowled and closed her phone. Lorelai looked worried.

“Is everything okay?” Dawn smiled.

“Yes, my sister…it’s fine.” Andrew leaned over to her.

“Are you lying?” Dawn glared at him.

“Buffy figured out that we’re dating.” Rory interrupted them.

“Is that a bad thing? I think you two make a cute couple.” Dawn smiled at her.

“He’s a little bit older than me, and she’s a little over protective of late.” They didn’t ask any more questions after that. When they finished their meal, Dean stopped them.

“Listen, being new in the area, you should hang out with us tomorrow. Rory and I are going to see our friend, Lane, play in her band.” Dawn looked over at Andrew, who looked cautious. She looked back at Dean shrugged.

“I’m not sure that we’ll be able to make it, but thanks for inviting us.” Rory tore off a piece of paper she’d been writing on and handed it to her.

“Well, here is my number if you decided that you do want to go. It starts at seven.” Dawn took the number and grinned. It had been a long time since she’d been able to make friends.

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for letting us join you, it was really fun.” Lorelai smiled and waved her off.

“Don’t worry about it, we don’t see new faces too often here. Do you need a ride back to the Inn?” Dawn shook her head.

“That’s okay; I think we’re going to walk.” Lorelai waved bye as they walked out of the diner and down the street. On the way back to the Inn, Andrew watched Dawn and commented when she was quiet.

“What’s the matter?” Dawn sighed.

“We got to act normal for a few hours, and it was nice.” Andrew put his arm around Dawn’s shoulders.

“Believe me, I know what you mean.”

***************************************

Lorelai and Rory drove home in silence. It was nice to make a new friend occasionally. Lorelai liked how Rory was attempting to make new friends; she used to be so extremely shy. She kind of felt sorry for Dawn. She didn’t want to ask her about her mother, but she was obviously out of the picture. When they walked back into the house, Lorelai grinned at Rory.

“Look at you, making new friends…it’s cute.” Rory shrugged.

“She seemed kind of sad, didn’t she?” Lorelai nodded.

“She did at that. I can’t believe you’re leaving me alone with the grandparents tomorrow! It’s so not fair, Rory, what did I do to you to make you punish me so?” Rory grinned evilly at her mother.

“Lane would absolutely kill me if I missed her concert. She’s a little disappointed that you’re not going.” Lorelai groaned.

“Maybe I could feign sickness and go with you.” Rory giggled.

“Grandma would just prop you up at the table.” Lorelai cackled.

“Oh, she would, wouldn’t she?” Rory walked into her room with a sigh. She hoped that Dawn took her up on her offer.