I really miss you.
Do you want to come in?
- Rory. - Yeah?
- I love you. - I...
So I guess my coming here was probably a bad idea.
Probably.
Please, don't be mad.
Why? Because I say I love you and you want to think about it?
Screw this!
So then he starts ripping my twenty dollar bill into like a million pieces.
And I'm thinking to myself, "There is a store full of people,
- "why am I the one on line with the crazy magician?" - [ Rory yawns ]
Okay, I'll cut to the end.
So he couldn't put it back together again and he had to pay me back in quarters.
- Very good story. - You look tired.
- I just haven't been sleeping very well lately. - How come?
- Just have a lot on my mind. - Anything I can do?
- Flag down the coffee. - Arm going up now.
Honey, you got to wake up.
Wanna play?
- One, two, three? - I'll go first.
And one.
- Pass. - Why?
Because I'm not Anna Nicole Smith. Next.
- Two. - Hmm, pass.
- Why? - Because I'm not Mary Kay LeTourneau.
Okay.
- What are you looking for? - My new husband.
She's already passed up two perfectly good prospects.
- But I'm feeling pretty good about number three. - Do I want to know what you're doing?
Hey, Luke came to the table, does that make him number three?
- No. - You don't even know what we're doing.
The safest answer in anything involving the two of you is no.
We're playing "One, two, three, he's yours."
- I didn't ask. - You can take the first guy that walks by,
or if you decide to pass, assuming there's somebody better out there, you can take the next guy that walks by,
or if you don't take him, you're automatically stuck with the third guy.
- Got it? - I'm not playing.
Well, of course not. It's still my turn.
Okay, guy number three is crossing the street right now.
- Why am I looking? - Because it's like a train wreck.
I wanna go back to the old guy.
- Congratulations, man. - Uh, thank you.
[ Rory and Lorelai giggling ]
- What? - Nothing.
- Okay, did someone put the "kick me" sign on my back again? - [ laughing ]
It wasn't funny last week and it's not funny now!
I have asthma.
- Mom, quick, he's leaving! - Oh, no, Kirk, come back, I love you! Drat!
All right, your turn.
I don't know, Mom. You already got Kirk, how's a girl to top that?
You're right, he's yours.
And one...
Okay, so, we should order.
Yeah, ordering's good.
- Independence Inn, Michel speaking. - Yes, is Ms. Gilmore there?
I'm sorry, she's busy, how may I assist you?
Actually, I need to talk to Ms. Gilmore.
- Is this business or personal? - Personal.
Is anybody there? Hello?
Yes, hello, hi.
- Lorelai? - Max!
- Is this a bad time? - No such thing. Where are you?
I am in the teachers' lounge.
- Hmm, what are you wearing? - Nothing.
- You must be very popular. - And chilly.
- I thought we had a chat date tonight. - We did, but I was thinking about something,
- and I wanted to run it by you. - Okay.
- So... - Ooh, hey, make a gorilla sound.
- Why? - I want to play "Wild Kingdom."
I am not making a gorilla sound.
I'll tell you what color underwear I'm wearing.
Had you considering the gorilla sound, didn't I?
- Yup. - I'm good.
Okay, I need you to be serious now.
Says the man with no pants.
We've been having these very successful phone calls
- for a couple of weeks now. - Yes, we have.
And I think that all the talking has done us a lot of good.
Yes, it has.
So I was thinking that maybe this weekend, instead of a phone call,
we should have a date. Let's have dinner.
- Hmm, at the same restaurant? - At the same table.
- Interesting idea. - I think it's time.
You know what? So do I.
- Saturday night? 8 o'clock? - Okay, wear some pants.
- I make no promises. - Bye.
- Salt and vinegar. - Thank you.
Here's your gum, your soda, your New Yorker, and your dental floss.
- Aw, they didn't have the minty kind? - They were out.
Well, this is good, too.
- He wasn't in there. - What?
- Dean. He wasn't in there. - Oh.
- In case you were wondering. - I wasn't.
Okay, well, I just thought you might be. So I mentioned it.
- Well, I'm not. - Okay. - Okay.
I just thought you'd might like to know for future reference
that Dean is not in the store on Wednesdays
so you can mark it on that little list you're hiding from me
that says where Dean is so that you can avoid him at any time.
- I was not avoiding the market. - Oh, my mistake.
- I wasn't. - Okay.
So, what are you doing tonight?
Well, homework, and then homework,
and if I get all that done in time, some homework. You?
I have to meet my science partner.
- Fun. - Yes, science is fun.
- Call you later? - Okay.
- Hey, Lane? - Yeah?
- You're sure he wasn't in there? - I asked.
- Hey. - Oh, hey.
- Doing a little shopping? - Yeah, I just had a couple of things to pick up.
- At the Cat Club? - Yeah.
- You had a couple of things to pick up at the Cat Club? - Yeah, I did, okay?
Okay. I just never took you for a cat lover, or a 97-year-old woman, or...
- hey, what'd you buy? - Nothing.
- You've got a little bag there. - I know that.
It's got a cat paw stamped on it and a little catnip bow. Wise man.
- Wow, pot holders. - Yes.
Little kitty pot holders.
- They meow. - It's a present.
- For someone you hate? - It's Rachel's birthday, okay.
And don't say anything, she doesn't want anybody to know. She hates birthdays.
- Not as much as she's gonna hate these pot holders. - I don't know how to buy gifts, okay.
I don't like to buy gifts. I don't like getting gifts.
I mean, this whole gift giving and getting process is completely insane.
- The rant begins! - I mean, suddenly, on a certain date,
the level of my affection for a person,
- isn't measured by the way that I treat them or what we share. - No!
I mean, just because I didn't buy her furry slippers or a giant shoe tree,
- all of a sudden, I suck. - Luke, stop.
You know, you cannot give her these pot holders.
Yeah, I know.
- Why don't you go to the mall, and walk around a little? - No, no malls. - Luke. - I hate malls.
Ladies and gentlemen, rant number two.
They underpay employees and overprice merchandise,
they contribute to urban sprawl, they encourage materialism,
and the parking's a horror. You drive in, you pay a buck,
- and even if you're only there for five... - Okay, Emma Goldman, I'll tell you what.
- I'll go for you. - You're gonna shop for me?
I've got the day off tomorrow. I was gonna go anyway.
- You're serious? - I'll go get a bunch of stuff, all returnable.
I'll bring it to you. You can pick what you want and the rest I'll return.
- I'll do all the work; all you'll have to do is point. - Point.
- One finger, preferably, your index. - I don't know.
Luke, this is the first special occasion you and Rachel have shared since she's been back.
- Don't you want to give her something nice? - Well, I am taking her out to dinner. - Luke.
Yeah, I gotta get her something nice.
So then let me help.
- All right, thank you. - Oh, you're welcome.
Nothing too out there, okay? She's not into all that trendy stuff.
She likes simple, clean nature, okay. Elephants, candles, okay.
Oh, hey, if you can find a candle shaped like an elephant, that would...
Okay, you know what? I've got it all under control.
- Okay, thanks. - Okay. Get rid of these.
Hello? Lane? Are you here?
Geez!
- Who are you? Why you call Lane? - I, uh... - How you know Lane? - Well... - You date her?
- No. - You try to? - No.
- Then why are you here? - I... - Empty your pockets.
- Okay, I'm gonna go now. - Dean! Wait, wait.
- Who's Dean? - I'm Dean.
- How you know Dean? - We go to school together.
- You do? - Yeah, we're science partners.
- You don't talk! - Sorry.
You're science partners?
- Yes, Mama, I invited him over to work. - Work?
- On our science project. - Reproduction?
Spores, molds, and fungus.
- Science project? - Yes.
- For school? - Yes, Mama.
- You're not dating? - No, Mama.
Okay, follow me.
You, sit here! You, sit here!
I'm going over there,
when I come back over here, these chairs will be in same place.
- No moving, you understand? - Yes, Mama.
- Not you, him! - Uh, yes, I understand.
I see all.
- So that's your mom? - That's my mom.
- Has she seen Patton? - She just gets uptight about boys.
- I sensed something like that. - It's nothing personal.
I know, I'm sure once she gets to know me, she'll...
Oh, no, she'll hate you forever. It's just nothing personal.
Uh, we should probably get started.
- Chapter twelve? - Sounds good.
- Is this weird for you? - A little.
Me, too.
I didn't know if maybe Rory told you to hate me or something.
- That's not Rory. - Yeah, I know.
- How is she? - Good. - Good?
- Good-ish. - Oh. - Less good than ish.
Yeah? How much less?
- You know, we're breaking our agreement. - What agreement?
Our agreement not to talk about Rory.
We didn't have an agreement not to talk about Rory.
Well, it was an unspoken agreement.
Well, it was really unspoken 'cause nobody spoke it.
Well, I just think that if we have to study together, it would be better if we didn't discuss Rory.
- Fine. - Fine.
- You know, she can't go into the market. - Why not?
- Because you're there. - Not on Wednesdays.
- Already noted. - [ sigh ]
Can I ask you a really personal question?
You can ask. I might not answer.
Do you think you and Rory will ever get back together?
Hey, how about we go back to the no talking about Rory agreement?
Look, I'm just saying that I...
I should've called. I'm sorry.
Rory!
- I'm sorry I didn't tell you. - It doesn't matter.
- I didn't think you'd want to know. - I got it.
Rory, stop. Okay, that's the opposite of "stop."
Lane, forget it. You didn't tell me, now I know. Life goes on.
- Don't be mad. - I'm fine. I have to go.
Time to get up.
Hey, I have a huge dilemma that I need your opinion on.
What?
Am I more beautiful today than I was yesterday?
Oh, boy.
I'm just not sure. I mean, at first I looked in the mirror and I thought,
"Well, yes, definitely, huge improvement."
Can I have my pillow back?
But then I thought maybe it's not that I'm more beautiful today.
Maybe I was just as beautiful yesterday, only, I lacked the self-esteem to recognize it.
I'm gonna go take a shower.
- Well, hurry up and I'll drive you to school. - No, thanks.
Why so charming this morning?
I had an annoying visit from the Stars Hollow wake-up fairy.
- Where's my tie? - In your drawer.
- I'm looking in the drawer. - Hmm. Check the living room.
Why would my tie be in the living room?
Because it's been seeing the doily on the coffee table.
I'm sorry, I did not want you to find out this way.
Don't take this personally, but get out.
Okay, you're crabby.
Do you know what the perfect cure for crabbiness is?
A fabulous trip to the mall. Huh?
What do you say? You can blow off school and come with me.
We can shop, go to the movies, maybe talk a little.
- No, thanks. - Come on, just this once. It might make you feel better.
I feel fine and I don't want to shop.
Honey, I know you've been in a funk over Dean, but you have to try not to dwell on it all the time.
I'm gonna be late for school.
Okay, then just meet me in town around four,
and we'll get some Indian food and spoil our dinner. What do you say to that?
- Whatever. - Hey, love the enthusiasm.
Hey, does "Up With People" know about you?
Luke's. Yeah, hang on.
Okay, yeah, cheeseburger, fries, well.
Vanilla shake, Coke. Yes, we have salad.
One salad with cheese, one with Ranch. Got it, 20 minutes.
What the hell is this?
The results of my shopping trip, all accomplished in two hours.
- Impossible. - I'm a savant.
- And everything's returnable? - Yes, yes, now sit down and relax.
- Let me show you what I got. - Can I have my credit card back?
Fine.
- Looks tired. - Where's Rachel?
- She's out running some errands. - Good.
Okay, last week, we were talking about Meryl Streep and the whole accent thing
and Rachel said she loved "Out of Africa," but she'd never read the book, remember?
- Nope. - Okay, so I was like,
"Are you crazy? Isak Dinesen is amazing, I love her."
Which is kind of crap because I'd never read the book either,
but Rory told me it was amazing, so I felt pretty confident in my recommendation of,
- "Out of Africa." - You bought her a book?
No, you bought her a book, to be put in her brand-new...
- camera bag. - She's got a camera bag.
- It's nylon. - So?
This one's leather. Beautiful leather. Feel it, smell it.
I'm not gonna smell that bag.
Fine, don't smell it, but trust me, she's gonna love it.
Her old bag is falling apart, so she was gonna get a new one eventually,
and now you'll have beaten her to it.
- So it's practical. - And pretty!
- Well, that seems right. - You like?
- Yeah, thanks. - Good.
- What's all this? - Well, Luke,
- timing is a beautiful thing. - It is?
It is. So I'm at the mall, and I've already found Rachel's gifts,
and I've had two sugar-cinnamon pretzels,
and I'm buzzed on the sugar and jazzed with the purchases
and I decide to take a victory lap through Bloomingdale's,
and it just so happens that there was an amazing sale in the men's department.
I mean, gorgeous stuff. Look at this.
Huh! Forty percent off! I got three different colors!
- For who? - For you.
- For me? - Yeah.
And then, of course, beautiful pants. So soft.
I don't know what this fabric is, but I think I wanna have its baby.
- Okay, hold on a minute here. - Also, I got this fabulous belt
to go with the sweater and the pants. Simple. Black.
- But look at the buckle. - I don't need a belt.
- Great buckle! Sixty percent off, can you believe it? - No, I can't. Look...
Oh, and I also picked up a couple of shirty shirts
in case you didn't have a nice one to go with your suit.
What suit?
- This one! - Did no one at the mall notice
that you were going through some sort of psychotic episode?
This suit, 175 percent off.
You were not supposed to be shopping for me.
Well, I thought you might like a little something new to wear when you take Rachel out tonight.
Well, thank you, but take it back.
- Aw, just try them on. - No way.
- You might like how you look. - I'm fine with the clothes I have.
Okay, see this blazer? It was 175 thousand percent off.
- Why the sudden need to dress me? - I just thought you might look nice in some of these things
- and since they were 600 thousand percent off... - No!
Come on, Luke! Just try something on.
- How about this sweater? - No!
- Okay, how about the pants? Pretty pants! - I'm not trying anything on.
Hey, it's not like the lumberjack look will never go out; it won't. But just once wouldn't it be nice not to be dressed
like an extra from "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"?
- Take it back. - Come on. Just the jacket.
Just once, be too sexy for your shirt and do a little dance on the catwalk.
Get away from me, you mental patient!
If we read his works in order, we can see his progression
from a narrative of clear simplicity to one of rich complexity.
Now, this is not homework, but I strongly urge you,
if you have not already read "The Art of Fiction", read it.
It's a remarkable manifesto that contains basic truths
that still apply to fiction in any form.
All right, so, Henry James, the man of the moment.
Pick your book. Read it carefully.
A full report on my desk one week from today. Any questions?
Ms. Gilmore, any questions?
Oops.
- Ms. Gilmore? - Yes?
- Did you hear the assignment? - Um, no, I'm sorry.
Henry James. Pick your novel.
A report on my desk in one week. You got it?
- Yes, I got it. - [ bell rings ] - See you tomorrow.
You didn't take one note.
You resorting to the osmosis theory of learning?
- Why do you care? - I don't, just making an observation.
Great, we'll build a dome over you and jam a telescope in your head.
- Ms. Gilmore, can I talk to you for a minute? - Oh, okay.
- Toodles. - Ta.
I'll get working on that dome.
- So, how are you? - Fine.
Seemed a little distracted today.
Oh, I didn't sleep well last night.
You've seemed to be a little distracted for quite a while now.
- My grades are fine. - I'm not concerned about your grades.
I'm concerned about you.
Look, Rory, I know you've been going through kind of a tough time lately
and I just want you to know, if you want to talk, I'm here.
- Tough time? - Breakups are really hard.
We've all been there.
- How do you know about that? - Your mom told me.
- She what? - Please, don't be upset at her.
It came out in one of our conversations. She was very concerned about you, very frustrated because...
- You've been talking to my mom? - Well, yes.
- Since when? - It's been a couple, three weeks now, I guess.
- Are you dating? - No, not really.
I mean, we were talking about possibly this weekend, having dinner.
You didn't know anything about this, did you?
Well, then the look on your face makes perfect sense now.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spring this on you like this.
It's fine, don't worry about it.
- I'm sure your mom was gonna tell you soon. - I'm sure, too.
Okay, so...
- Bus. - Excuse me?
- If I don't go, I'm gonna miss it. - Right, go ahead.
- Thanks for the talk. - Any time.
- Come on! - I hate you, very much.
Save the sweet talk for Rachel. Get out here!
Excuse me, sir, do you know where Luke is?
- Very funny. - Oh, my God, Luke, is that you?
I feel ridiculous.
That's because you don't have the belt on. Here.
- What are you doing? - It's called accessorizing.
- I can put a belt on by myself, thank you. - Okay, sorry. Hmm.
- What? - I just... - What?
I just have exceptional taste, is all.
- Turn around. - What?
I just want to make sure it all fits. Turn around. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Hey, Fabio, I need the ketchup.
- Can you get that guy some ketchup? - Why me?
Because if I spill any stuff on this, I won't be able to return it.
- You're not returning those clothes. - Oh, yes, I am.
Here, try on the suit again.
- I already tried it on twice. - I know, but I want to see it with the black shirt.
I'm not wearing a black suit with a black shirt.
- Regis does. - Okay, you've won me over now.
At least try on the jacket again.
This is how you like your guys, all GQ'ed up, huh?
It's not GQ'ed up, it's just a little less casual.
- And you don't like casual. - I like casual fine.
- Just not on me. - No, it just adds variety.
- It's not "Let's make a new Luke." It's "Let's see another side of the old one." - Uh-huh.
You missed a loop. Come here.
What did you do?
- Oh, hi. - Oh, hi.
- Uh, this is not what it looks like. - It looks like you're dressing him.
- Then this is exactly what it looks like. - There was a sale at Bloomingdale's and she...
- Six trillion percent off. - How can you walk away from that, huh?
I'm gonna change now.
Good, uh, I'm gonna get Rory, and just enjoy the clothes.
- I will. - Okay, good. See you later, Rachel.
- Bye. - Bye.
- I'm gonna change. - Okay.
- Hi. - Hi.
I thought you might like some coffee, since you always do.
Thanks.
So this feels very awkward.
You know, I'm a big girl, Lane. I don't need you to protect me from things.
I just didn't want to make you any sadder than you already are.
How is you telling me that Dean is your study partner gonna make me sadder?
I don't even want to bring up his name around you.
- That's crazy. - Have you seen your face
- when you mention Dean? - My face is fine.
Your face is not fine. Your face is far from fine.
- I'll get over it. - Well, you're not over it yet.
Maybe I'd get over it a little quicker if everyone weren't so busy running around
trying to protect me from all the bad, scary things in the world.
- Fine, I won't protect you anymore. - Great, glad to hear it.
Next time we're walking down the street and you're about to walk head long into incoming traffic,
- I'll just give you a little push. - Exactly what I'm talking about.
And in the spirit of not protecting you anymore,
I was gonna tell you that I couldn't study tonight because I had Bible class,
but that's not true. I have to meet Dean again.
- Great. Thanks for the honesty. - And I'll probably have to see him again this weekend
- because the project's due on Monday. - Whatever. I don't care.
I'll see you when I see you.
- Fine. - Fine.
Bye.
- Hey, where's Lane going? - Away.
Okay, you've been in this mood for a week now
and while I love the unexpected ups and downs of motherhood,
I've got to say, I'm tired of Goofus, and I'd like my Gallant back.
You can't just say a normal sentence, right? Just "Hey, let's talk" is too dull for you.
- Hey, let's talk. - About what?
Oh, wait, I know. How about you and Mr. Medina?
- What? - I've heard you've gotten back together again.
Did you talk to Max?
He had me stay after class today to talk about my difficult breakup situation.
We are not dating. We had been talking, and we just now decided to start dating.
Why didn't you tell me you'd been talking?
Because it was too much like the whole Todd and Nevina Cutler thing.
- The what? - When I was in junior high,
I had a boyfriend, Todd something or other. Not a soul mate,
but I was crazy about him, and he dumped me.
I was completely crushed and I could do nothing except lie around and cry
and listen to Air Supply, very low point in my life.
Two days after my breakup, my best friend, Nevina Cutler
got back together with her boyfriend, Randy something or other,
who had dumped her days before Todd dumped me.
And she was so happy and gloaty
and couldn't stop talking about how great it was that she had her boyfriend back
- that it made me feel horrible. - The end. Let's go.
Look, I didn't want to be Nevina Cutler, okay?
You were so miserable about Dean. What was I supposed to do?
Walk in and say, "Sorry about you and Dean. But I got Max back and aren't we happy."
- Would that have been good? - That would've be great.
I was going to tell you, okay?
I just wanted to give you some space and a chance to come up for air.
I was trying to protect you, that's all. Hey.
You know, actually, it doesn't matter whether you tell me about Max or not because you're gonna break up again anyway.
- Excuse me? - Well, that's what you do best.
Hey, stop right there.
You'll break up, cry, get back together, break up.
It doesn't really matter. I'd rather not have to keep track,
so tell me when you're down to the final inning.
You know what, that is way too snotty a thing even for alternate universe Rory to say.
- I'd like an apology. - Fine, I apologize. Let's go home.
Yeah, let's go home and try that apology again.
- What are you doing? - We need light bulbs.
- We're fine. - We're in the dark. It'll take a minute.
- I assume you won't come in. - Is it Wednesday?
- No. - Well, then I can't, can I?
What does Wednesday have to do with anything?
Nothing. I'll meet you at home.
Rory, I'm back for round two.
I got some silly string in case things get really ugly.
Rory?
Where are you?
Rory?
Answer, please.
Rory?
This is the fourth ridiculous gathering you've dragged me to this week.
I'm the president of the board, Richard, I have to be there.
Saving the Berringiny pansy. Who ever heard of such a thing?
It's a very rare flower that is rapidly disappearing from the face of this earth.
Well, who cares?
As President of the Horticultural Society, I have to care.
The last thing I need is to spend four hours being bored out of my skull
by the same people I'll be bored out of my skull by tomorrow night at the Symphony Fundraiser.
Which reminds me, we need to get your other tux back from the cleaners tomorrow.
I'll be dead tomorrow.
I plan on flinging myself off the roof tonight
right in the middle of Pitty Salinger's opening speech.
Pitty is a dear friend and you will be nice to her.
Pitty Salinger is a dipsomaniac. I'm going to bring my newspaper.
You will do no such thing, Richard, do you hear me?
[ doorbell rings ]
- Rory! - Hi, Grandma.
- Rory, is everything okay? - Everything's fine.
- Richard! Richard, pay the cab. - Cab? Who took a cab?
- Rory did. - What's Rory doing here?
- Hello, Rory. - Hi.
I don't know what she's doing here. Just pay the man, and I'll find out.
For Pete's sake.
Come inside.
So, tell me, what is going on?
I had a fight with Mom.
- You had a fight with your mother? - I just couldn't take it anymore.
- I had to get out of there. - Out of your house?
Out of that house, that town. Everything. I just had to go.
He tacked on an extra five dollars just for waiting.
I feel like I'm back in Prague.
- Do you want a cocktail? - No, thanks.
- Richard! - Oh, sorry, sorry.
- I'm just a little confused here. - You're all dressed up.
You were going out. I'm so sorry!
- Oh, please, don't be. - It doesn't matter, Rory.
I'm sorry. Please go out. I didn't mean to ruin your evening.
- Oh, I didn't think! I should've called. - Now, you calm down right now.
You do not need to call before you come over here. You are welcome any time.
Tonight especially.
- Do you want to talk about what happened? - Emily, don't pry.
- I'm not prying, Richard. - The girl obviously needs some peace.
- How do you know that? - I can tell.
Oh, you're a mind reader now, how nice.
We'll get you a turban and a little booth by the train station.
Would it be okay if I stay here tonight?
- Oh, well, of course. - You can stay here as long as you want.
- Thanks. - Would you like some dinner?
I can get Rosa to make you something.
- No, I'd just like to go to bed if that's okay. - Of course. Whatever you like.
Your room's all ready. There are pajamas in the dresser, and a new toothbrush in the bathroom.
It's pink with sparkles.
- I thought you'd like it. - Thanks.
- Good night, Grandpa. - Good night, Rory.
Everything's going to be fine. Richard, say something encouraging.
Uh, Rory, I'm sorry you're upset,
but I applaud your timing.
See you tomorrow.
Emily, what is all this about?
She had a fight with Lorelai...
and she came here.
Mrs. Kim? It's Lorelai. Is Lane there?
Well, do you know where she is?
That's unbelievable, you always know where she is.
Um, the one time I need you to be crazy prison guard lady,
you're all, "Hey, man, whatever."
Um, you know what, I will never be able to explain that to your satisfaction.
So, um, could you just ask Lane to call me please when she gets back? I'm looking for Rory.
No, I don't know where she is. I, uh...don't "ha" me,
you don't know where Lane is, either.
Anything?
Patty hasn't seen her but she's been working all day.
She's not at the library, and she's not at Luke's.
Where is she? Why didn't she leave a note?
- Damn it! - Honey, calm down.
But Rory doesn't take off. She knows it would make me crazy.
She knows it would make me worry. I'm crossing over into panic now.
No, don't cross. Come back.
- [ knock on door ] - Hey. - Hey.
- You find her? - No, nothing. No one's seen her.
Okay, um,
- what about that old boyfriend of hers? - Dean! Dean!
On my way.
Good suggestion. You get crisis points.
- Max, I'm freaking out. - It's gonna be okay.
Sookie's here, I'm here. We will find her.
[ phone rings ]
Rory?
I just thought I should let you know that Rory is here with us.
- What? - She arrived a few minutes ago.
- She's there? Is she okay? - She's fine.
She asked to spend the night.
Okay, um, she's there with you. So how did she get there?
- She took a cab. - Well, let me talk to her.
She seems quite upset. She said you'd had a fight.
- We had a disagreement. - She said fight.
Will you just put her on the phone, please, Mom?
I think we should give her a little time to collect herself.
Thank you for your input. Can I please talk to my daughter?
- She went to her room, Lorelai. - Her room is here.
Mom, I'm standing here looking at her room, and she's not in it.
Lorelai, I did not come to your house and kidnap this child.
She ran from you, and she came here. She's tired, and she's upset.
Now, I think we should just let her sleep
and in the morning, we can argue about how to best handle the situation.
Maybe a little time away from each other will do both of you some good.
I'll pick her up in the morning.
She has school tomorrow, and her school is ten minutes from here.
I'll pick her up after school.
Why don't you call tomorrow when she gets back from school?
Make sure she wants to go. You don't want to haul her back home
- just to have her jump in a cab again, do you? - I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Good night, Lorelai.
So?
- She's with my parents in Hartford. - Good.
- Good? - Bad?
- Bad, very bad. - She's safe.
She's with my mother. No one is safe with my mother.
- She needed some space. - No, that house is not safe.
It's like The Amityville Horror without all the good times.
- If it's that bad, maybe you should go get her. - No, she wanted to get away from me.
She wants to be alone.
Let's give her her space.
Are you okay?
I can't believe she left me to go there.
We used to always be able to work this stuff out.
What did you two fight about?
- Oh, you. - Me?
Well, it started with you and the fact that I hadn't told her we were talking again,
but I know that was only part of it because she's been in such a bad place lately
with this whole Dean thing, and so, I don't know, I guess it was coming.
I just wish she hadn't run away.
Hey, she will be back, and you two will work everything out.
- You're good at the comforting thing, you know? - Thank you.
- Do you want some coffee? - Sure.
- Can I ask you a question? - I think you've earned it.
Why didn't you tell Rory about us?
Oh, she was just so upset about Dean,
I didn't think it was the best time to give her my happy news.
Okay. But you've told other people?
- Like what other people? - I don't know. Friends. Sookie?
Um, no, actually, I haven't.
Any reason?
Just hasn't come up.
- It hasn't? - No.
You're not, by any chance, avoiding talking to people about it, are you?
No, Max, come on.
- It just seems a little strange to me. - Why is it strange?
Well, we've been talking for at least two weeks.
I would've thought at some point in there it would've come up.
You just don't say to people out of the blue, "Hey, Max and I are talking again."
I mean, I was just waiting for it to come up naturally.
Well, yes, but somehow, for me, it managed to come up naturally within two days at three different times.
Well, you're obviously a much better people person than I am.
I just want to know if there's a reason why you don't want people to know...
- Max! - ...then we should talk about that. - There's no reason.
- Are you sure? - Yes, I'm sure.
- Okay. - Do you believe me?
- If you said there's no reason, there's no reason. - There's no reason.
- So you've said. - So I mean.
- Okay. - All right.
That's fine.
Uh, I should page Sookie and tell her that Rory's okay.
That's a good idea.
- Good morning. - Rory, good morning.
Hey, Grandma, any thoughts on where my skirt might be?
I gave it to Rosa to press. Here, sit down, have some breakfast.
- Your skirt will be done by the time you're finished. - Okay.
Now, we have eggs, fruit, toast,
- pancakes, blintzes. - Anything would be fine.
- Well, what do you usually eat? - Mostly I just grab a Pop-Tart.
That sounds delicious. I'll have Rosa whip one up for you.
- No, eggs would be great. - I'll go tell her.
So, Grandpa, what's new in the world today?
As usual, it's going to hell in a handbasket.
It's nice to have something you can always count on.
It is, at that.
- Would you like part of the paper? - Please.
- Your eggs will be right out. - Thanks.
- So, did you sleep well? - The bed was very comfortable.
But you didn't sleep well?
- No, I did. I just... - I talked to your mother last night.
I told her you were going to stay here. She said she'd call this afternoon.
Was she mad?
She was concerned.
So, do you get your lunch at school, or do you bring it with you?
Because Rosa made a fabulous leg of lamb yesterday.
- I bet it'd make a wonderful sandwich. - Take her up on that. It is good.
- And demand a slice of strudel. - Okay.
- I demand some strudel. - Good.
So, what's going on at school today?
- Uh, I have a test in Spanish. - Hmm. Are you prepared?
Oh, yeah. I like Spanish.
Biology, on the other hand...
Oh, I'm still waiting for the day
when my knowledge of the inner workings of a frog's intestinal system
can be applied to my work in the insurance industry.
- Perhaps if you were insuring the frog. - Ah.
Thank you.
- This looks great. - Well, good.
- Thanks again for letting me stay. - It's nice having you here.
You got your grandfather to put down his newspaper at breakfast. That's a first.
- Aw, now, Emily. - Well, it is.
Geez, what happened to you?
- A happy "how do you do" to you, too. - Sorry, you just look bad.
- Well, I didn't get much sleep last night. - Why not?
- Rory and I had a fight, and she ran away. - What! Where! Did you...
She's fine. She's at my mother's.
Geesh, throw that information in with the first part. You'll scare a person to death.
Sorry. You know, I got in my car three times to go get her.
I drove halfway there and drove back, drove halfway there and drove back.
I actually ran out of gas driving halfway there and back.
- She'll cool off and come home. - I know.
- Just breaking up with Dean has been so hard on her. - Yeah.
I just hate that she's going through this. I mean, she's such a good kid.
She's so nice to everyone, she cares about everyone.
And she's walking around in this unbelievable pain,
and there's nothing I can do about it.
She still won't talk to me. She won't tell me what happened.
I'll tell you what happened. That Dean kid is a jerk
- and he finally let her know it. - I wish I could just pinch his head right off.
- I'll help. - I warned him, I warned him when I first met him,
if he hurt her...ah. Maybe I could key his car.
Or better yet, you can key Taylor's car and tell him Dean did it.
- Yeah. That'd be good. - You can key Taylor's car, tell him Dean did it,
and also tell him that Dean littered and walks his dog without a leash.
- He'll run him out of town. - Good.
All right. I should go. Rory's probably out of school by now
and I want to be home in case she decides to call.
- Coffee's on the house. - Oh, thanks.
- Hey, is that the belt I bought you? - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The old one broke.
Oh, lucky you happened to have a spare.
Yeah. Hey.
She'll be home soon.
- Got a minute? - Actually I'm, uh...
I just want to tell you that I think you are scum.
Gee, thanks.
You are gonna be hard pressed to find another girl as fantastic as Rory, you know that?
She is beautiful and she is smart and she did not deserve to be treated that way by you.
- Treated what way? - I thought you were a good guy.
I thought you were going to make her happy.
I'm such an idiot that I actually thought you were a good pick.
But I was wrong, and I hate to be wrong.
You know, I am sick and tired of everyone blaming this thing on me.
I mean, you and the whole stupid town looking at me like I'm a criminal.
I say, "I love you," and she just sits there, and I'm the jerk? I'm the bad guy?
- What? - You know what? Fine, think what you want,
I don't care. Just leave me alone.
[ doorbell rings ]
- Where is she? - I thought you were gonna call.
Where is she, Mom?
I haven't had any time to prepare her for this.
- Mom, where is she? - Upstairs in her room. - Thank you.
She got home from school, but she just went right upstairs.
Now she didn't want a snack, but I had Rosa make her one anyway.
I haven't checked to see if she's eaten it.
She had a decent breakfast this morning, but she did seem a little tired,
and when I went to her bathroom, the aspirin bottle was out,
so I assume she had a headache. Now I don't know if it was last night or...
Excuse me, Mr. Cosell. I appreciate the play by play
but I just want to talk to my daughter now.
- Do you want me to go in there with you? - More than anything.
- Well, try and be nice. - Thanks for the tip.
- Hey. - Mom!
Okay, so, I thought when you said, "I'll see you at home,"
- you meant our home. My mistake. - I'm so sorry.
It's okay.
- All those things... - I know.
- And then the... - It's no big deal.
- I'm just so... - I know, I know, I know.
So last time I saw you, you were headed home, you wanna fill in the blanks?
I don't know. I just snapped,
and I got sick of everything. I wanted to go anywhere.
So you picked hell?
- It was the first place that came to mind. - I respect that.
Listen, the need to run is a feeling I am very well acquainted with.
But we have to be able to talk, always.
No matter how mad or upset we get with each other,
our particular special thing only works if we agree to that, get it?
- I get it. - Good.
Rory, tell me what happened with you and Dean.
- I don't want to talk about it. - Well, I do.
- Why? - Because I had a little chat with him today.
What? Why?
Well, because I was upset and I was in the mood to do a little yelling.
- You didn't. - Did.
- No. - There he was, stacking cookies,
and I'm railing on him about what a great kid you are,
and how it sucked that he dumped you, and then he said he told you he loved you,
- and I started feeling a little stupid. - He did tell me.
- And you didn't say anything? - No.
- Well, that must have been rough on him. - He looked so hurt.
- I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt him. - I know.
- I just got scared and I sat there. - I understand.
You know, I'm still learning this stuff, too, and since I'm still learning,
I think I haven't thought enough about what I'm supposed to be teaching you.
What are you talking about?
I'm talking about my own personal lack of commitment skills.
I mean, look, I love that you have my eyes and my coffee addiction,
and my taste in music and movies,
but when it comes to love and relationships,
I don't necessarily want you to be like me.
I would hate to think that I raised a kid who couldn't say "I love you."
- Mom. - I'm not even talking specifically about Dean.
I mean, just generally in life. For example, say you're dating Taylor Hanson.
- Why am I dating Taylor Hanson? - It's a hypothetical scenario, go with it.
So, uh, you and Taylor are seeing each other pretty regularly...
- How did I meet Taylor Hanson? - You went to his concert,
you got backstage, your eyes met across the crowd and you've been seeing each other ever since.
- Hanson's still together? - They're the new Bee Gees. So...
And why would you not stop me from going to a Hanson concert?
- Hey, someone's trying to make a point here. - Sorry. Go ahead.
So you and Taylor have been dating for a while, and things are great,
and, um, you're happy,
and you feel all those crazy mushy things that people feel when they're in love.
I want you to be able to say to him, "Taylor, I love you."
Okay, can we pick a new hypothetical, 'cause this one's wigging me out.
My point is that it's scary to be in love, that much I know.
But it's also wonderful and special, and if you can't say it or fully express it,
then you're never gonna be able to experience it,
and I want you to experience everything that's great because you're so great.
- Are you hearing me? - Yeah, I'm hearing you.
I'm not saying you say "I love you" at the drop of a hat.
It has to be right and real,
and it has to take a lot of thought.
But someday, with someone, it will be right.
I want you to be ready for that moment when it happens.
Are you ready for that moment when it happens?
I'm working on it.
I do, however, know what dress I'll be wearing.
- Thank you guys so much. - It was our pleasure.
- What do I owe you for the cab? - Oh, don't worry about that.
- Thanks for sharing your paper. - Anytime.
- And thank you, Mom. - Of course. She's our granddaughter.
- All right, we'll see you tomorrow night. - Seven o'clock.
- Oh, really, is it seven, 'cause I wasn't sure if... - Goodbye, Lorelai. - Bye.
Well, it looks like it's just the two of us again.
I guess so.
I was almost tempted to see if she could make a Pop Tart.
Wow, home-cooked breakfast, homemade lunch,
I'm trying to remember why I left there. Oh, yeah, my parents.
Funny, funny girl.
- Hey, let me out here. - Oh, okay.
- I'll meet you back at the house. - Excuse me?
- I'll show up this time. - I'll have the pizza waiting.
[ knock on door ]
[ Max ]: Hello?
Now, I'm starting with the"A"s. So first up is Richie Andrews.
He's either a second cousin on my mother's side,
or the guy who regrouted the bathroom.
- Either way, I think he's going to be thrilled to hear about us. - Lorelai...
After I've called everyone in here,
- I'm going to make sure to spread the word at the Inn. - Uh-huh.
I thought I'd put little notices in everyone's rooms,
"Welcome to the Independence Inn. Max and Lorelai are back together."
Can I see you after your dinner tomorrow night?
Oh, I don't know. I have a lot of phone calls to make. Ooh! The Internet! Let's go global!
- Good night, Lorelai. - Good night.
Hey! Richie? It's Lorelai...