The Other Gilmore

The Rummage Sale and the First Time

As the weeks went by, Frankie was starting to feel a little bit better. It was tough, but she was pushing through with the help of her family and friends.

One early spring week, the Gilmore house was full of clothes and items for the Stars Hollow rummage sale. Lorelai had volunteered to run it, but she was having difficulty letting go of her clothes, which was not a problem that her daughters were having. While the mother of two was forced to get rid of her wardrobe, Rory and Frankie were sorting through everything that had been dropped off with Kayla and Lane. Suddenly, Sookie came into the house, very excited. She told the girls that she had managed to score tickets to The Bangles. Kayla and Frankie stood back as Lorelai, Rory, Lane and Sookie all jumped for joy, excitement filling the air around the group.

"Why aren't you two jumping?" Lane asked, noticing that Frankie and Kayla were looking at them with amused expressions.

Kayla shrugged. "We're not the biggest Bangles fans."

"But we're happy for you guys. It'll be fun!" Frankie assured.

"Okay, good, because I only have four tickets," Sookie said sheepishly.

Kayla and Frankie giggled. "That's okay, Sookie. We don't want to go. You guys will have fun without us," Frankie said, putting a hand on the chef's shoulder soothingly.

A couple days later, Frankie skated over to Luke's to meet up with her mother. As she was about to open the door, Frankie noticed a sign posted in the window advertising the rummage sale, which made her chuckle.

Frankie made her way over the counter and sat down on a stool.

"If you want coffee, you'll have to wait," Luke said, not bothering to look up from whatever he was doing.

"Someone put a sign for the rummage sale up in your window," Frankie teased.

"You can have decaf right now if you're in a hurry." Luke ignored Frankie's statement, not wanting to hear about it.

"You should call the cops about this. I mean we all know how you feel about public displays of town affection."

"Your mom asked me to put it there, okay?"

"And you said yes?" Frankie asked, confused.

"She's not real good with 'no'."

"No, she's not," the teenager chuckled.

"For every second you laugh at me, that's one second longer you're waiting for coffee," Luke threatened.

"Sorry. No laughing."

Luke eyed her suspiciously before turning his back on the girl. She chuckled as she watched him walk away.

"Margaret Atworthy just dropped off three boxes of City Council potholders and begged me to take her grandson. People are getting crazy, man," Lorelai stated as she sat down next to Frankie.

The girl stared at her mother with a judgmental face.

"What?" Lorelai asked, feigning innocence.

"What are you wearing?"

"Hey, we have already argued about the sweatshirt."

"Yes, but we have not argued about the hat," Frankie said, turning towards her mother.

"What hat?"

"The one on your head, Annie Oakley."

"It's great, isn't it?" Lorelai asked, a massive grin on her face, as she proudly wore a leopard print cowboy hat.

"As nice as it is that you're singlehandedly trying to rebuild the bridge, you have got to stop buying up other people's junk."

"Money goes to charity. I look cute. Case closed," Lorelai argued with her daughter. "Ah, finally, the coffee cavalry arrives."

"What the hell do you think you're you wearing?" Luke asked angrily, standing in front of the pair with a coffee pot in his hand.

"A hat," Lorelai responded.

"Take that off," he demanded.

"What?"

"No, that is not yours. Take it off."

"But I'll have hat hair."

"I'm talking about the sweatshirt!"

"Luke, calm down," Lorelai tried to reason.

"That is not yours."

"No, I found it in the bags of stuff for the sale."

"So you just find something and you take it, is that it?"

"No, I paid for it."

"So that makes it alright?"

"It makes it legal. What is the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Nothing's the matter."

"Luke..." Lorelai said, concerned.

"Pour your own coffee," the man said, slamming the pot down in front of Frankie and Lorelai. They looked at each other, confused and worried, as he walked away from them.

The day of the concert, Rory had to study with Paris, Louise, and Madeline, so Frankie helped with the organization of the rummage sale for the following day. She folded clothes, placed trinkets and knick-knacks out on tables, and brought up anything that needed to be mended to Lorelai.

While she was up in her mother's room, trying to avoid the Chilton girls, Sookie told Frankie and Lorelai about Rachel, Luke's ex-girlfriend, and the original owner of Lorelai's new sweatshirt. According to Sookie, Rachel wasn't happy in Stars Hollow, but Luke could never leave, so they broke up. It broke Frankie's heart to know that Luke had his heart torn to pieces. She really cared for the grumpy man.

That night, once Rory and her mother were in New York for the concert, Frankie called Tristin.

"You want to come over?" she asked, hopeful. "My mom and sister are in New York for a concert."

"You didn't want to go?"

"Meh, they're bigger fans than I am."

"Okay, yeah. I'll be over soon."

Frankie smiled as they hung up and began trying to organize the house a bit more. Once Tristin had arrived, she took him straight to her room.

"I'm sorry about the mess, there's a rummage sale tomorrow and my mom offered to run it."

The boy chuckled as he took off his jacket. "It's cool. I think it's nice that your town does stuff like this. It's very 'know thy neighbor'."

Frankie smiled and fell back on her bed, turning onto her side and watching as Tristin walked around her room. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just trying to figure out who you are," Tristin said as he wiggled his eyebrows, causing Frankie to giggle.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," he said, sitting down next to Frankie.

"Well, you know my family. And you know that I dance. I don't know what else there is to tell."

"I think there's more to you than that, Francesca Fay Gilmore," Tristin whispered as he leaned in and kissed his girlfriend.

The kiss became more passionate, more needy, and then it happened. Frankie didn't think she'd be ready so quickly in her life, but she trusted Tristin, and she knew he would take care of her.

The couple lay wrapped in blankets on Frankie's bed, not saying anything, cuddled up to each other. Before they knew it, it was almost midnight and Tristin had to return home. As she watched him drive away, Frankie felt content and secure in her decision to have sex with Tristin. She was happy and felt loved by him, and she hoped her mother would see it that way, too.