Gilmore Girls: Wish Upon a Snow

Chapter 12

Jess startled awake. All he could hear was buzzing. Groaning, he searched through the sheets for his phone, shuddering to think what publishing emergency was about to disturb his nap. Finding his phone, his fingers grasped around the cool metal of the phone and the textured rubber of its case. Rubbing his eyes, he glanced at it. Nothing. Not one notification. 

Puzzled, he sat up in bed. The buzzing began again. Looking at his phone again, no one was calling him. The buzzing sounded so close. Walking towards the kitchen, the buzzing grew fainter. He made his way back to the bed, listening intently. It was louder where he stood. Pulling at the sheets and pillows, he searched for the source. Nothing. Getting down on his knees, he looked under the bed. There was a phone skipping slightly across the floor from the vibration. He reached under the bed and pulled it out. Glancing at the screen, it was alight with notifications. Most notably, LORELEI MISSED CALL (17).

It was one in the morning. This was Luke's phone. Jess felt his heart pounding in his throat and a chill spread quickly throughout his body. He ran downstairs to look for Luke.

--

Rory felt nauseous. Sitting up in bed, the moon casts a bright slant through her window. She sighed, feeling inexplicably anxious. Absentmindedly, she ran her palm across her stomach, wondering when it would not be so easy to hide her secret. Rory got up from the bed, wrapping her bathrobe around herself. She tied it with a half-hearted yank. Opening the door to her childhood bedroom, she padded out into the kitchen. The oven clock glowed. It was 5:07 AM. Glancing to her left, Rory noticed the shape of her mother sitting on the couch. The moon from the window illuminated the back of her head in an ominous way. "Mom?" Rory called, walking quickly towards her.

Lorelei turned her head to the noise, her face suddenly visible in the light. It was swollen from crying. Rory reached her, her brow furrowing with concern. "What's wrong?"

Lorelei sighed, "Luke is gone."

Rory crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean he's gone? Like you guys had a fight and he left or what?"

Lorelei shook her head.

"Mom. What the hell are you talking about? Now is not the time to be all wallflower."

Lorelei ran her hands through her hair. "Like we can't find him."

"Mom! Then why aren't you looking?! He could be..."

Lorelei interjected. "I did look. I have been looking for the past few hours with Jess. He found Luke's phone and called me back on it. I had been calling him for hours. After he called me, I went to the diner and we looked together...we can't find him."

Rory felt a painful pang in her abdomen. She sat down on the couch and did not say anything. Lorelei looked over her shoulder. "Are you okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I just had a weird cramp."

Lorelei sighed. "Pregnancy is full of them." She picked at the fibers on the couch. "I hope Luke has a good explanation for this."

Rory looked over at her, studying her mother's face. "Me too."

"Let's go to bed," Lorelei said. She stood, brushing herself off.

Rory was puzzled by her mother's actions. She did not seem as worried as Rory felt. "Ok," she said.

They both headed off to their rooms and got into bed, but both Loreleis found it difficult to fall asleep.