The Other Gilmore

Breakups and Betrayal

It was the week of the Stars Hollow Founders Firelight Festival, and the whole town was preparing for the festivities. Frankie was excited; she loved this time of year. She was also starting to feel more like herself. The teenager had gone to Hartford for her appointment with a psychiatrist, and it had been very helpful. The doctor, Dr. Lawrence, had been very thorough with his questioning, not wanting to misdiagnose or prescribe medication if it wasn't necessary. Dr. Lawrence concluded that Frankie was suffering from depression, and prescribed an anti-depressant for her. She had been taking the medication for a couple weeks now, and it was helping her tremendously.

On Friday, Rory was getting ready for her anniversary date with Dean. Emily had agreed to let both girls out of dinner on Friday night, which shocked Frankie, so she called Tristin and asked if he wanted to come to Stars Hollow. He agreed, much to Frankie's delight, so the three Gilmore girls were in Rory's room talking about Lorelai's run in with Rachel, Luke's ex-girlfriend earlier in the day as the twins got ready for their dates.

"She was standing there, fresh off a plane. And she had no plane hair at all, might I add."

"And what exactly is plane hair?" Frankie asked, amused.

"You know. It's all big and all blah." Lorelai used Rory's hair for emphasis.

"Got it," Frankie said with a chuckle, laying down on her sister's bed.

Lorelai continued brushing Rory's hair while talking about Rachel, almost yanking all the teenager's hair out in the process.

"What's going on with you?" the older twin asked their mother, concerned.

"I don't know. It's just all this love in the air, you know?" Lorelai sighed and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Frankie. "I miss Max. There's been so much going on with your dad coming home and family stuff and your constant existence," she joked pointing at the twins.

"Thanks for the love," Rory said sarcastically as Frankie rolled her eyes.

"Anytime. So, I haven't had a lot of time to focus on it, and I miss Max."

Frankie put a hand on her mother's back soothingly, only to zone out quickly when the conversation went back to Rory's date. She was happy for her sister, but she really didn't care about what cardigan Rory was going to wear at the restaurant.

Once Dean had picked up Rory, and Lorelai had driven off to Hartford for dinner, Frankie sat on the porch, waiting for Tristin to arrive. She waited for about twenty minutes before she finally gave up, grabbing her skateboard and skating into town for the festival.

Frankie rode around, looking at the fairy lights that were strung up, and all the decorations that had been constructed. She loved this festival; it made her extremely happy.

Frankie met up with Kayla, and the two friends walked around together, enjoying the beauty of the night as well as the company. If Tristin was going to flake, at least Frankie always had Kayla. They stood and listened to the mayor give his speech about love, and laughed as everyone began looking for matches to light the bonfire.

"Happens every year," Frankie said through her fit of giggles.

"Every damn year," Kayla agreed, wiping a tear from her eye.

Once the bonfire was lit, they stood and gazed at it together for a while, enjoying each other's company. Eventually, the girls got tired and said their goodbyes, heading home in opposite directions. When Frankie entered the house, she saw Rory and Lorelai standing in the hallway, hugging each other tightly.