Welcome to Stonebrook

Twenty Nine

~Lor~

It was 10pm when the sun finally started to set and I sat on my front porch barefooted, with mascara stains down my face feeling completely exhausted. 

"LORELAI!" I didn't move. Just continued letting the sun burn black spots onto my retinas. "Lor?" I sniffed when Wells knelt down in my view. "Jeez babe. I - Are you okay? What happened? Lor speak to me babe. We were at Morgan's and Frankie mentioned how nice it was for your parents to come down to see you? Are they still here?" I shook my head. "They left?" I nod. "Okay. Okay. Come on, let's get you-" 

"No." 

"Lor, you're freez-" 

"Ethan told Clay he's my fiancé." The words broke me again. Clay's anger and hurt flashing to my mind like a nightmare I couldn't shift. Wells sighed and sat down beside me as fresh tears slid down the premade paths on my skin. I was trying to pull myself together but it felt hopeless right now. Clay was the one good thing I've held in my hands that made me feel like me. A version of me I didn't know existed and that version was the happiest I've ever been. 

"That guys such a fucking knob." I laughed through my tears, taking a long deep breath when Wells pulled me onto his shoulder. "Have you spoken to-" 

"No. He- uh- I drove past his house and the truck we were taking with us is gone so I'm guessing he's just gone camping without me." Wells holds me tighter.

"Well. When he gets back-" My head is shaking before it's even completely left his mouth. "Lor-" 

"He didn't even question it Wells. Ethan said it and he looked at me but what was I supposed to do? My mother- she- she was dragging me out of there. Phys-" I held up my wrists, the bruises already a dark blue, a very evident hand print marking my skin as evidence I hadn't made up the past 7 hours. "Physically dragged me out of there Wells. He was stood 3 feet away and he couldn't even see how I didn't want them there, or how I was almost crying. He just heard him say fiancé and assumed the worst and took Olivia and my mother took me and that was it." 

I was hurt. Physically and emotionally. 

If the shoe was on the other foot, as mad as I would be, I'd have wanted an explanation. I'd have taken sometime, sure, but I wouldn't have left town to go camping. I'd have taken a few hours and come back around. Waited at his house until I saw him and we'd have talked it out like adults trying to make a relationship work. 

"Did you not tell him why you left Ethan?" I shook my head no, just once. "Lor-" 

"I know. I know I should have done but Wells, it didn't matter. I was out and I was here and I trusted him not to hurt me. I shouldn't have had to trauma dump on him about how abusive Ethan was for him to believe I wasn't engaged. I shouldn't have had to tell him something I wasn't ready to tell him. He just took Ethan's word for it." Wells sighed again. "He knew about my parents Wells. I hadn't told him outright but I'd mentioned how my mom blames me for my dad. He knows she's never loved me like she loves my brother and sisters. And he didn't even think it was weird that she just showed up after 4 months of not being mentioned." 

A silence falls between us. 

I love Clay. More than I've ever loved anyone in my life. But he didn't spare it a second thought. He didn't stop for a second to look at me and how close my mother was stood. Didn't think it was weird they showed up unannounced. Didn't think it was unlike me to have had a whole secret life when it was so blatantly obvious just how happy I was here. We were making plans for a future. We were planning kids and a wedding and a life together. We were going to raise Libby and whoever else might come along together and it was going to be me and him against the world. 

But he took one look at me and I could see the hatred instantly. Popping like a balloon. Like I'm the one who has spent 3 months lying to his face. 

"I punched my mom." 

"I'm sorry. I've been sat here with you for 30 minutes and you just drop that on me like it's normal information?" 

"In the school hallway. She started telling me I was a disgrace and this town was full of disgusting hillbillies who don't know how to brush their teeth and I told her to shut up and then she told me I gave up everything they worked for to come look after some degenerates and that was the final straw." 

"So you punched her?" 

"Mhm. To be fair she slapped me first. But yeah, right on her cheek bone. And then Ethan started complaining about how he'd spent the past 4 months planning the wedding and apparently the date was in 2 weeks and now we were both going to have bruises that would need covering and I laughed. I actually laughed at the prospect of marrying him because how fucking stupid is that?" 

"Pretty stupid." 

"So I broke his nose too." Wells burst into laughter and I smiled quickly. "If Simon hadn't dragged them off screaming and shouting about how they were filing for assault then I'd have probably kicked him the balls for what he said."

"So we should probably find a lawyer then?" 

"Nah. She won't do it. Suing your daughter doesn't look good for her image. I'm out of the will though. That's for sure." 

"Eh well, good job you weren't getting anything then." 

"I mean. A million dollars was definitely something." I sighed. "But I'd rather not have contact." 

"Is that what you're doing then?" 

"Yeah." 

"Staying here?" Another sigh left my mouth as we stared out at the horizon. 

"I don't know Wells. I love it here." 

"But you don't know if you can do it with him being here?" 

"We had so many plans here. I'll see Libby all the time at work, he'll no doubt pick her up every now and then. It's his town, you know. I don't want to leave-" 

"Then don't." Wells straightens his back. "I've watched you do break ups Lor and I know you were happy with him but babe, if he could leave you that easily, without it effecting him at all, maybe it's for the better. You've got the summer. 2 months for you to just relax and unwind and maybe before we go back at the end of August, you'll have found someone else and who knows, maybe he's the one you get to make all those plans with and maybe he's the one who makes them come true. If Clay could walk away from you without questioning why you never mentioned a fiancé, if he wasn't willing to fight for the relationship, then it was going to end eventually anyway." 

"It hurts Wells." 

"I know Lor. But hey, listen, we're old enough to get black out drunk now and it may not be a healthy coping mechanism but it's a coping mechanism."