The Other Gilmore

Fires and Decisions

The twins and Lorelai were sitting in Luke's diner, creating pro and con lists for Rory's college choices. Frankie had mostly made up her mind already. She knew she wanted to stay on the east coast, so it was between NYU and Juilliard. Both colleges were also giving her scholarships, which she was beyond grateful for, so she just had to figure out which school she wanted to go to more.

Luke came over to the table, shooing Kirk away as he tried to sell t-shirts to the family, and then looked at the papers scattered in front of the group. "What's with the lists?"

"You ready? My Rory, our Rory, Stars Hollow's Rory, got into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale," Lorelai stated proudly.

"Wow!" Luke exclaimed. "I can't believe it! I feel like I..." He bent down and awkwardly hugged the older twin, cradling her head, then looked over at Frankie. "How about you? Did you hear?"

"I did," Frankie replied with a grin.

"She got into Cal Arts, NYU, and Juilliard." Lorelai beamed at her daughter, then turned her attention back to Luke.

"Congratulations!" the diner owner cheered, walking around the table as Frankie stood up from her seat. They hugged for a moment before pulling apart.

Luke turned back to Rory and Lorelai, asking about the pro/con lists again as Frankie zoned out, fiddling with her hair. She tuned back into the conversation when Luke mentioned that Jess had been chosen 'Employee of the Month' at Wal-Mart.

"Wait, really?" she asked, stunned.

"I know, it's tiny compared to what you girls accomplished," he stated.

"No, Luke, that's not tiny. That's really good," Lorelai said, trying to reassure him that Jess' accomplishments matter, too.

Frankie nodded in agreement. "You should be proud. That's huge."

"Did you tell him you're proud?"

"He didn't even tell me about it. I got a letter addressed to 'the family of Jess Mariano' inviting me down to some little ceremony they're having," Luke said with a shrug.

"Are you going?" Lorelai teased.

"Oh, he'd hate it if I was there. You know, seeing him participate in some corporate ceremony like that, being called upstanding and responsible. It would kill him. Yeah, I'm going."

Frankie laughed, shaking her head. "I gotta get to school. Bye, mom," she said, standing up and kissing her mother's cheek. "Bye, Luke. Oh, and if you see Jess, would you mind telling him I left for school?"

"Sure thing."

Frankie grinned and waved as she left the diner, making her way across the street to the high school.

That night, while the Gilmore girls were sound asleep, the phone rang. Rory answered it, then brought it up to Lorelai.

"Get dressed," Lorelai stated urgently, barging into Frankie's room and turning on the lights.

"Huh?" the teenager asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"We need to get to the inn."

The Gilmore girls arrived at the Independence Inn and saw fire trucks outside. The inn had caught fire, and the guests were all standing in the driveway along with Sookie and Michel.

Lorelai talked to the fire chief to get the details as Frankie's eyes wandered over the building. It was charred, and the fire wasn't quite put out, so she could still see flames coming from the roof. She felt her eyes well up with tears at the sight. The inn had been their home, and to see it burnt broke her heart.