Tolerate It- Gilmore Girls

Chapter 1- The Dinner

Chapter One Playlist-

Tolerate It- Taylor Swift

The Grudge- Olivia Rodrigo

Cardigan- Taylor Swift

The Other Woman- Lana Del Rey

Chapter One

The air in Star Hollows was crisp; there was no other place in the world you wanted to be than in Stars Hollow on October first. Lindsey knew just this. She had always loved fall, the way the leaves turned from green to orange and everything just seemed a little sweeter.

Lindsey had always been adamant about the thing she loved. She was a simple girl; she loved love. She loved fall, but hated Halloween because she thought it was A. tacky, and B. didn't see the point in scaring others. She loved caramel apples, but only when they were cut. She loved The Cranberries, but not the song Zombie. And most of all, she loved her husband, Dean.

But not when he cheated on her with Rory Gilmore.

But that was the past. And like the self help CDs she listened to, it was better to focus on the future. It was the morning of October 1st, so all Lindsay let herself worry about was what would happen on the afternoon of October 1st. She was making Dean a special fall feast.

Lindsay knew she wasn't the best at cooking, or cleaning, or anything for that matter. At least, it didn't feel like she was good at anything. Ever since she was little, Lindsay had dreamt of what it would be like to be a wife. Now she was with a husband who was rarely home, and when he was he would barely talk to her. Her mother had been straight out with her: it was Lindsay's fault. A harsh truth, one she didn't take well, but one she had to accept. Dean cheated because she hadn't been enough for him, so she would have to be enough. He was a good man. She just had to keep him.

This dinner would change all of that. She would cook Dean all his favorite foods, a proper meal, complete with desert and cider, and he would see once and for all that she was enough. That they had potential to be enough for each other. It wasn't just dinner. It was Lindsay making a promise to him that he didn't need to want more. He didn't need to want Rory Gilmore.

The day before Lindsay had taken it upon herself to go to the DragonFly Inn. She hated Lorelai Gilmore; but she loved Sookie. Lindsay had begun to ask Sookie for cooking advice about two weeks prior, and after she hadn't stopped. Sookie was quick to give warm advice on how to properly cook, going so far as to give Lindsay some recipes to try out. The day before Sookie had given her recipes for apple crumble pie, a perfect marinade for roast beef, and homemade apple cider. It would be perfect.

Lindsay spent the remainder of the day cooking for Dean. Lindsay had returned home from the grocery store, put on her white apron embroidered with pink roses, tied her hair back with a pink bandana, turned on a Madonna album, and got to work. She had bought two roasts from Doose's just in case, which had been perfect as she totally ended up burning the first one. The apple crumble pie came out a little too crumble, but it was nothing that Dean would notice with the help of some ice cream on top. The mashed potatoes were lumpy, but Dean drowned them in gravy so much he wouldn't even notice.

Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was hers, and she hoped that would be enough to make Dean proud.

Lindsay had finished dinner at five exactly, giving her thirty minutes to get ready for Dean. She quickly took a shower and blow dried her hair, putting on a dress she had picked out just for this dinner. It was a light pink dress that went down to her knees with a babydoll neckline, paired with white mary janes and her silver Tiffany's necklace. In the mirror, with her blonde hair and light blue eyes, she couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful. But it didn't matter what she thought, but what Dean thought, and she prayed he would think she looked beautiful too.