Welcome to Stonebrook

Sixteen

~Clay~

"You gotta go to bed baby." 

"But I'm not- I'm not tired." Libby yawned, laying her head down on my shoulder, very obviously exhausted from today. She was all partied out. Apparently all the kids had refused to leave once they'd actually gotten here and their parents had to physically drag them home at 6pm. It was now 8 and not only was Tessa and Wells helping to tidy up the back garden, Lorelai was cleaning my house, wandering around picking up plates and confetti, wrapping food in clingfilm. 

"Okay but how about we brush our teeth and get into pajamas and I'll get Auntie Tate to finish washing Koda and come read you a story." 

"Can't Miss Turner do it?" 

"No baby. She's busy and she's on vacation now. She probably wants to go home and rest after looking after you nightmares for 2 months." Libby shuffled in my arms as I carried her upstairs, sitting her on the bathroom counter. 

"I like Miss Turner. She looked pretty today." 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah. But she seemed sad." 

"Yeah. I thought that too." 

"How is she getting home?" 

"I dunno babe. Mr Rhodes is here with Tessa too. They'll help her home." 

"No daddy." Olivia held onto her toothbrush staring at me with a deadly serious face. "You have to take her home." 

"Lib-" 

"Daddy." 

"Brush your teeth." 

"I will when you promise you'll drive Miss Turner home and make sure she's okay. She's too nice to be sad. I don't like when people are sad." Okay. I've gotta be doing something right for my kid to be saying stuff like that. Right? 

"Brush your teeth Olivia." 

"Promise." 

"Libby." 

"Daddy." I raised my eyebrow at her but the little shit just copied me. "Please." 

"I'll ask her." She scowled. "I can't force her into my car if she doesn't want to go Lib. Now brush your teeth so I can can get you ready for bed before she leaves." 

"She's gonna leave?  But daddy-" She lowered her voice. "If she leaves you can't make it all better like you make me all better." 

"Better hurry up then." I watched as Libby speed brushed her teeth, quicker than I'd ever seen her, washing her face just as quick and practically running to her room to get changed into pajamas and into bed. 

"I'm in bed now. You can go fix Miss Turner." God I swear this kid is channeling her mother through every open cell. I kissed the top of her head and left her in her room, pulling the door shut and looking around for Tate. When I explained Libby's demands for me to take her home, Tate laughed, already turning to go read to her. I doubt they'd get far. Libby would likely need to ask a million questions about Lorelai as she tried to figure out how she could 'fix her'. 

I scoured the house, only to find it now empty. Dean said they'd finished tidying and he shipped them all off a few minutes ago. I grabbed my keys and ran out the front door, driving down the route I really hoped she'd taken. It as the longest possible way back to hers because in reality, we were neighbours. We both lived on this one long road. Her on one end, me on the other. It'd likely take me 3 minutes to walk from her place to mine but something in me told me she'd walk the long way around tonight. And boy was I right. 

I slowed right down, winding the windows down and pressing my horn once so she knew I was here. 

"What are you doing?" She narrowed her eyes at me, continuing to walk as I drove alongside her. 

"I am following the orders of a terrorist who refused to brush her teeth until I promised to drive you home." 

"Yeah, right." 

"I'm not joking. You should have seen the stare she was giving me. I'm worried she was going to hang me with the floss if I didn't agree when I did." She smiled quickly before she crossed her arms again. 

"You can tell her you did. I won't tell her you didn't." 

"Sorry. Can't break a promise to her so you'll just have to get in." 

"I don't need a ride home Clay." 

"Probably not but you're gonna get in anyway because you know Libby wants you to." I stopped the car and Lor turned to face me head on. "Please let me drive you home." 

"You're just gonna follow me if I don't aren't you?" 

"It's like you can read my mind." She rolls her eyes and climbs in the passenger side, fastening her seatbelt. "Thank you." 

"I'm doing it for Olivia. Not you." 

"You can call her Libby you know?" 

"Libby's too personal." 

"You said it yourself earlier. She's your kid." 

"I didn't mean it like that. It just slipped out in - my moment of madness." 

"No need to apologise. It was sweet. In fact, everything you did today was. I hope you know how much it means to us both. Libby and me." She shrugged. "I'm serious Lor. You saved the day." 

"Just another day as Super Woman. What can I say?" She was joking but that came across as a hell of a lotter sadder than I think she meant it to. 

"So." 

"So." 

"Wanna tell me what's going on?" 

"What's going on? Like now?" 

"Mhm." 

"Um. Well you're driving through a small town. We're passing-" 

"Lorelai." 

"Well that's all that's going on Clay. I don't know what else you're looking for." 

"I wanna now what's had you on the verge of tears all day so I can hunt it down and hurt it for hurting you." She blinks at me slowly. "And don't try the whole I'm fine bullshit. You got away with it this afternoon because I couldn't carry you away in front of that many people. I will drive this car to the middle of nowhere and park up until you tell me so it'd honestly just be better if you got it off your chest." 

"There's nothing to-" 

"Out of town it is." I shrugged, turning right when I should have turned left and Lorelai sat up straighter, no longer slumping in her spot. "I don't like seeing you upset Lor. I'm not standing for it so we're gonna go somewhere quiet so we can talk."