Someone to lean on

001

Rory sighed shakily as she made her way home. Tears pricked at her eyes as she walked down the street toward her house. Today had been horrible... absolutely terrible. First of all, she had slept through her alarm, a great way to start her day. She had gotten up in a rush, throwing on her clothes and rushing her makeup. Then, after getting to school she got a test back, one that she had actually truly tried to study for... and she had gotten a C+. Immediately following that, she had a test in her next class, one that she hadn't studied for. By lunch, she was exhausted, feeling as if her day couldn't possibly get any worse, but it did. Directly following the last bell of the day, she was about to exit the classroom when her teacher called her back, requesting to speak to her. This meant that she'd missed her regular afterschool bus and had to wait half an hour for the next one, and she couldn't even wait it out at her grandparents' because they were away on a trip. The bus had finally come and she was combatting her inner voice the whole time. It was going to be okay, she was almost home. But, as if the universe wanted one last 'fuck you', she somehow managed to trip over her own feet on the way home, landing in a huge puddle.

She brushed herself off, now shivering. She rubbed furiously at her eyes, begging the tears not to fall. She walked up the stairs of her house, begging the universe to let her mom be home. She unlocked the door and stumbled in, shaking off her shoes.

"Mom?" she called out, her voice breaking. "God, no-please, Mom?" she yelled again, tears now streaming freely down her cheeks. She dropped her bag, making it halfway to the living room before collapsing on the floor next to the couch, overwhelmed by her own emotions. She began to sob, her chest heaving as she tried to regulate her breathing.

Everything suddenly felt a lot harder than it had a few minutes ago, and it was becoming really hard to breathe, and-was the room spinning? Her eyes blurred with tears as her thoughts became clouded and she felt herself losing control of her breathing. Somehow, something she had been doing on her own since the minute she was born seemed impossible at this moment. She was pretty sure she was dying when all of a sudden she felt a hand on her back, causing her to flinch violently.

"Rory, sweetie, talk to me, what's going on?" came her mother's voice. She continued to gasp. She wanted to tell her mom everything, she wanted to scream, but she felt like she was underwater and losing the ability to function. "Alright, babe, let's just breathe, okay?" her mom spoke again, gently grabbing her daughter's hand and placing it on her own chest. "Feel me breathing, up and down, just like that," she said, beginning to take deeper breaths.

"I-it's-I can't," Rory managed to get out, feeling her chest constricting.

"Yes, you can. You can do this, hon," her mom said, giving her a soft smile as she continued to demonstrate. Rory tried to follow, feeling her breaths become more controlled, although still shaky. "That's it, babe, just like that," her mom reassured.

A few moments later, her breath started to slow down, and it felt like she was coming up after being underwater for far too long. She looked up at her mom, tears threatening to fall once again as she kneeled in front of her, a concerned look on her face. All at once, the rest of it hit her like a truck, and she was collapsing into her mother's arms on the floor, once again sobbing.

"Oh, Rory, it's gonna be okay, honey," she sighed, running her fingers through her daughter's hair. She rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. "That's it, let it out, you're okay," she shushed.

They sat like that for close to ten minutes, Rory sobbing in her mother's arms. After a while, her tears began to stop as she looked up at her mom.

"Do you wanna talk about it now or later?" Lorelai asked softly, wiping a stray tear from her daughter's face with her thumb.

Rory sniffled undecidedly. "Um-" she stuttered.

"How about later?" Lorelai asked, smiling down at her daughter. "First of all, let's get you cleaned up, because look at you, you're a mess," she teased. "Then, I'll get us some food and coffee, and we can talk about it over a movie. How does that sound?" she asked.

Rory nodded, feeling herself smile for what felt like the first time in forever.

"Okay, you go hop in the shower, I'm gonna pick out some super comfy clothes for you," Lorelai smiled, placing one last kiss on her daughter's head before letting her go. She gathered some clothes for Rory, placing them on the bathroom floor before getting coffee and snacks. She gathered everything up and changed into some equally comfy clothes before waiting for Rory to be done in the shower.

Ten minutes later, they found themselves on the couch, Rory's head resting on Lorelai's shoulder.

"So-what's up, honey?" Lorelai asked softly, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I just-" Rory paused, trying to think about how she was gonna explain this. "I just lost it, I guess," she sighed. "It's been a really, really bad day, like astronomically bad," Rory said, looking at her mom.

"Astronomically bad, huh?" Lorelai teased, poking her daughter.

"Yeah-I got a test back and I didn't do well-and then I immediately had another test, then I missed my bus, and then I fell in a puddle, and-" she stopped, taking in a deep breath that she had forgotten she needed to take. "I'm rambling..."

"Well-you did learn from the best," Lorelai joked, hugging her from the side. "But seriously, I'm so sorry that your day was so bad," she said. "Next time you're having a bad day, call me, alright? I'll leave work for you anytime," she said with a smile.

"Mom...you run an inn, it's quite literally yours," Rory countered.

"Yeah-which means I leave when I want," Lorelai smirked.

"If you say so..." Rory replied. She was pretty sure that it was actually the opposite, but she wasn't going to try to counter that right now. "I'll call you-I promise," Rory smiled.

"Good-I mean it, babe, you're my first priority," she said, placing a kiss on Rory's head.

Rory smiled, looking up at her mom once again before resting her head on her shoulder again.

"So-let's watch Casablanca, huh?" Lorelai said, looking at Rory for confirmation.

"Oh my god, Mom-again?" Rory teased.

Lorelai chuckled. "Hey, it's a classic!"

As they watched the movie, occasionally exchanging comments and laughter, Rory couldn't help but feel really really grateful for her mom.

"Thanks, Mom," she whispered, snuggling closer.

Lorelai wrapped her arm around Rory, squeezing her gently. "Anytime, kiddo. Anytime."

And in that simple exchange of words, Rory knew that no matter what life threw her way, she would always have her mom to lean on.

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Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! I really appreciate any feedback/comments so feel free! Also- go check out my ao3 Ilovelorelai. thanks again!