"Hey, you're back late. How was your night?" Luke asked Lorelai as she stumbled into their room.

"Exhausting."

"More than usual?"

"Baby, do you see these bags under my eyes? I didn't leave the house with them tonight. They were a parting gift from the Gilmores...well, from Emily Gilmore."

"First dinner was rough huh?"

Lorelai paused and sighed. "Well it ended up fairy traditional. Mom went after Jim with an extra pep in her step."

"I don't doubt that."

Lorelai slipped her shoes off and sat on the bed, her head falling towards her chest.

Luke came and sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "So it was rough, huh?"

Lorelai nodded and began to cry, laying her head on Luke's shoulder. "For once, there are no words."

Luke bit his lip. "Sometimes there aren't. Trust me, I get it."

He took her hand in his.

"Listen, Lorelai, it's hell. But I'm here. I'll walk right beside you through it."

She continued to sob.

Luke's eyes welled up some too. He held her in silence, a tear falling down his cheek.

Lorelai sat up, looking him in the eye. "I never really got it until now. I sympathized, but you and your dad, both your parents. Let me say for the first time as a member of this horrible, sucky club...I am so sorry."

Luke grinned and nodded. "I'm sorry you're in it."

She squeezed his hand and got up. "I just can't cry anymore tonight. I'm going to go shower."

"Okay," he replied, sitting on the bed, taking in the moment.

Within moments the shower came on, followed by sobs.

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Rory sat impatiently in the kitchen, writing rough drafts of articles on her laptop. No one was awake yet, and she had already been through one pot of coffee. In her room lied her...boyfriend? It felt like this trip was establishing that for them.

Finally she heard creaks on the stars, and was relieved to see her mom coming towards the kitchen.

"Well look at my worker bee," she began as Rory shushed her, pointing to her room. "Aw, is little baby sleeping? Traumatized after last night?"

"Probably. Maybe he snuck out the window, and that's why it's been so quiet."

"Is that like him?" A joke turned into a motherly opportunity to seek information.

"No, of course he'd fall 15 stories to his death in New York, but you know..."

"Oh yes, I know all about sneaking out windows."

Lorelai got herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table. "How's the work going?"

"Good. It's nice to have something else to think about."

"Really honey, if you need to go back that is fine."

"I will, but for now, it's nice to be home."

"You're welcome as long as we can have you. Tell your editor your mommy said that."

"Just sent the e-mail."

Lorelai chuckled. "So, got any big plans today with Jim?"

Rory paused. "Um...I don't know."

"Well I'm on the edge of my seat."

Rory laughed a forced and frustrated laugh. "He just, showed up here. I guess I'll show him the town."

"That'll take all of 20 minutes."

"I know."

"Kid, can I interject something here?"

Rory sighed. "I guess."

"You don't seem all that happy."

"Well...I mean...it's not a happy time."

"Oh, of course, I know that. I mean about him showing up."

Rory thought to herself for a moment. "I think I'm just frazzled."

"Okay."

"Yeah. Things will get better...right?"

"No where to go but up."

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"So that's the bookstore, I spent a lot of time there of course. You want to get dinner someplace? There's Al's Pancake House, Luke's, pizza..."

"So many choices for such a small town," Jim responded as they walked the sidewalks.

"Well, the list about ends there. Unless you want cake! Or pie. Then there's Weston's." Rory flashed back to herself babbling about cake to Dean when they first met. She looked over and saw Jim's brow furrowed, looking around. Apparently it wasn't as cute when you aren't 15.

"I'm good."

"Right. Well, let's go this way," Rory said, taking Jim's hand as they walked towards the middle of the town square. "And this is the gazebo, our town landmark."

"That's a lot of twinkly lights for a small gazebo."

"True enough. We like our twinkly lights. We used to have an entire store dedicated to it before the owner retired."

Jim chuckled. "He probably sold the whole store and was forced into retirement."

"If you want a true taste of the town, let me lead you to a magical place."

"Magical place? Well that sounds exciting."

"Oh, it is," Rory said as they headed towards Miss Patty's.

As they entered the full meeting and took a seat next to Lorelai and Luke, stares prevailed without any subtlety. Half of them had stopped them in the last few hours as it was.

Taylor called the meeting to order, thankfully pulling some attention away.

"Now, the first issue we need to discuss is the problem of the pooper scoopers, or a lack there of."

"You step in crap again Taylor?" Babette chimed in.

Taylor sighed. "Many townspeople have been innocent victims of a Sunday stroll gone wrong."

"Were these people not using the God given gift of their eyes?" Luke questioned.

"Not everyone looks down while they walk," Taylor replied.

"It's true. My mother says it makes you loose your sense of direction." Lulu smiled proudly next to him, their two kids nodding in agreement.

"Well that's the statement of the century," Miss Patty said.

"And I can attest to it," Kirk continued. "Last week I was avoiding stepping on an ant hill, those damn things terrorize me, plus I'm allergic. And when I looked up I fell off the curb into the street. Thank God for the 5 mile per hour speed limit. And the fact there were no cars in the street"

Rory looked over at Jim, smiling. He looked astonished.

"Is there a point here Taylor?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, Sookie and I were going to go do dinner after this, and I'm losing my appetite," Jackson said.

"For God's sake people, this is a serious problem! Especially when there's snow you all like to assume the...matter just disappears"

"When really it becomes a surprise Easter egg in the spring," Lorelai said.

"Exactly. Although I don't know if you're my biggest ally Lorelai, I've never seen you use a pooper scooper."

"I bag it baby."

"Maybe we need to discuss and rate which methods of poop removal are most efficient," said Rory.

"Good idea," Sookie chimed in sarcastically.

"I'll take it under consideration with the committee," Taylor replied, "But for now I hereby propose a mandatory use of pooper scoopers."

"And I propose a mandatory use of your eyes," Luke replied.

"All in favor of the pooper scooper?" Miss Patty asked to a hand raise from Kirk.

"All in favor of using your eyes?" The room erupted with "I's" as they all got up to leave and Taylor sighed in defeat.

"Rory honey, come here," Babette called from across the room. Her and Jim made their way over. "So this is the piece of meat you've been showing off around town."

He looked embarrassed, as he should be.

"Yeah, well, this is Jim."

"Oh I know sweets. Patty gave me the dish earlier. My poor cat Spice has been sick, so I haven't been out all day."

"Poor thing, that's too bad."

"Don't worry, I got photos to curve her appetite," Miss Patty said as she joined them.

Gypsy rolled her eyes as she walked by. "Hey kid, if you need some fresh oil before you get the hell out of this town, my shop is around the corner."

"Oh you're bad," Miss Patty said, shooing her away.

"You liking it here doll?" Babette asked.

"It's uh, interesting," Jim replied. Rory was disappointed she'd spent the whole day selling the town for that.

"That's for sure. Especially with you around," Miss Patty said.

He smiled politely.

"I just couldn't pass up the chance to meet one of Rory's boyfriends. She never brings them around anymore!" Babette exclaimed. "But poor Morey here isn't feeling good either. It's the sweetest thing, whenever the cats aren't feeling themselves, it's like he feels their pain."

Morey grinned shyly. "Babe..."

"We best be going," Babette said, taking his arm.

"Enjoy your night, you two, and you two..." Miss Patty said, releasing them from this awkward exchange.

As they walked out, they were both exhausted.

"So, have I met everyone in town?" Jim asked.

Rory thought through it in her head. "Pretty much, except for my best friend Lane. Her kids are at music lessons with Mrs. Kim tonight, so it's date night for her and Zach. Oh, maybe if it's not too late we could join them! We've always wanted to double date, and live in in a house of cheese. But the first one should've been more doable."

Jim ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't think so. I've had about all I can take for today."

"Okay. Let's just go then."

They were walking home in silence, before Rory broke it to ask, "Do you hate it here?"

He paused. Not a good sign. "I wouldn't say hate."

"It grows on you with time. These are really good people, just protective."

"No kidding," he said before looking over at her. "But who can blame them right?"

Rory bit her lip as they reached the front yard and paused for a moment.

"I think I'm just gonna go," he said, not looking her in the eye.

"Oh. Is it something I did?"

"No. It's just something I'm not...something we're not."

Rory nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It was fun while it lasted."

He smiled. "That it was."

Past tense. This turned sour fast. Rory gave him a quick hug. "I don't have to change my coffee place do I? You know how picky I am about that."

"Of course not. Now that would be a pairing that would be plain wrong to separate."

Rory grinned as he walked away to his car. He gave her a wave before getting in, and she waved back.

Watching him drive away, she released a big breath. She didn't feel much of anything. Emotions were becoming a numbing thing these days, but there wasn't much to be found here. She walked up to the house knowing she'd be okay.

Lorelai was in the kitchen with a pot of coffee. She could hear Luke giving the boys baths upstairs. Perfect.

"You waiting up for little old me?" Rory asked as she took a seat.

"I may be," Lorelai said, looking behind her towards the hall. "Although I thought I was waiting up for two people. Did Miss Patty hold him hostage?"

"No, he just decided to go back."

"Oh no, did we scare him away?"

"Well, I'm sure he was scared. But, it just wasn't working."

"Hun, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I mean it's not, but it is. The town did me a favor."

"Hey...you want to wallow?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Not quite worth wallowing. But I'd take some ice cream if you have any."

"Smart woman," Lorelai said, grabbing the tub and four plastic spoons. "Always bargain with some ice cream."