𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑. . . 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘱 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵
❝ But don't worry, we'll remind him you're the angel compared to us. ❞

  THE CRAP SHACK had never been so quiet. Charlie arrived home late, sharing nothing more than a brief 'goodnight' with her mother before slipping into bed and falling deeply asleep. The tension remained the following morning, as Charlie poured over her books on the kitchen table and her mother wandered in groggily.

  "Morning," Charlie mumbled, zipping up her backpack, "I'm working at Luke's after school today, so I'll be home late."

  Lorelai let out a huff, frowning as her daughter turned.

  "What?"

  "Can you sit?" Lorelai asked, "I don't want this weird thing anymore."

  "The weird thing is your opinion of my boyfriend who has done nothing wrong."

  "Charlie, I understand that the Jess you know is different than the one I do," Lorelai started calmly, "I want to try, I have been trying, but at the end of the day what matters to me is your safety, okay?"

  "It was an accident!"

  "You still lied about it," Lorelai noted with a raised eyebrow, "Yes, I have my own opinions about Jess, but if you are going to be. . . so determined to keep him in your life, I'm going to try, okay?"

  Charlie's eyes lit up.

  "Really?"

  "But no more lies, okay?" Lorelai questioned, "I don't want that to be us, Charlie, I want you to be able to be honest with me. I try if you do."

  Charlie nodded quickly, a small smile growing on her face.

  "On another note, Hon, I do really thing you need to try to talk to Rory," Lorelai sighed, "I know it was an invasion of privacy, but it's almost been a month, there has to be a better situation than this avoidance thing."

  "I know, but if it doesn't go well. . ."

  "Then I'll drop it," Lorelai said, raising her hands, "Scouts honor."

  Charlie smiled again, pulling her mom into a tight hug.

"Oh!" Lorelai jolted, "Hey, there's a graduation ceremony for my school, wanna come?"

"Is that even a question?"

⌁

  Charlie Gilmore didn't mind closing Luke's as long as Jess Mariano was working with her. She realized that on this particular night, as Liam and Emma lingered as the last customers of the night, splitting a large order of chili-cheese fries, chatting animatedly with Charlie about Liam's latest game-winning score.

  "Close up after they're done," Luke announced, wiping off his hands as he emerged from the kitchen, "Kitchen's already closed."

  "But, wait, I wanted to get another order--" 

  "It's already an hour past close, kid," Luke spoke bluntly at a frowning Liam, "Come back tomorrow."

  "Aye aye, Captain," Liam saluted, earning a heavy glare from Luke before the man trudged up to his apartment. "So, Charls, any big plans for the weekend?"

  "My mom's graduation ceremony," Charlie smiled wide, "I'm so excited for her."

  "That's awesome," Emma quickly agreed, "We should all get her a present, or throw her a party!"

  "Oh, a party, that's a great idea!" Liam smiled, "Alright, we can set it up while you guys are at the ceremony-- Brooklyn, you gonna help?"

  Jess raised an unimpressed brow, turning to Liam. His answer was on the tip of his tongue, not wishing to spend his weekend planning a PG-rated party with a high-school quarterback and the devil's spawn-- until, of course, he saw Charlie Gilmore's sparkling eyes staring at him expectantly.

  And he sighed out his pride, nodding slowly, only for a lazy smirk to tug up as Charlie let out a whoop of excitement.

  "This is gonna be awesome," Charlie grinned.

  "That it will," Liam smiled back, standing from the stool, "We'll get out of your hair so you can close up-- text me a list of supplies and I'll hit up Doose's tomorrow."

  "If Taylor lets you in."

  "Ah, you're the only one banned right now, Gilmore," Liam wagged a finger with a smile, "But don't worry, we'll remind him you're the angel compared to us."

  Charlie laughed and walked the two out before locking the door behind them, grabbing a limp washcloth lazily thrown on an empty table.

  "So, you got this?"

  Charlie glared at the Mariano boy.

  "I'm kidding!" He defended, hitting a button on his CD player, "C'mon, I'll refill the salt and pepper."

  This was why Charlie Gilmore didn't hate closing anymore. Truly, she had never hated it-- Luke was good at kicking people out so they closed at a reasonable time, and he did his fair share, but it always seemed to drag on, the repetitive mind-numbing routine of cleaning and restocking and preparing.

  But with Jess, their race was soundtracked by David Bowie, the duo laughing to see who could refill the ketchup bottles quicker, and more accurately, or chasing one another around with a wet washcloth caked in whatever grime clung to the faded tabletops.

  In her opinion, it went by all too fast now. Even as they lingered longer, listening to the final song, before Jess sent her off with a kiss goodnight, it felt like they never had enough time.

  But Charlie smiled on her walk home because she knew she'd be able to do it all again tomorrow.

⌁

  The three Gilmores were gathered in the living room that night, Lorelai was already drunk off her homemade margaritas in celebration of her graduation, and the twins were getting along. Or, at least, they weren't fighting.

  Charlie was finding the pamphlet the community college had given all their graduates wildly amusing.

  "Alright, Mom, here's one especially for you. Have you given any thought to how children will work into your future plans?"

"Well, they're not gonna stand in my way, that's for sure," Lorelai poured herself another drink, taking a seat on the coffee table, "I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but I'm just gonna knock 'em out and have nanny catch 'em and care for 'em. Make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near them, and then return them to me when they're 21."

"Well, what about us?"

"You two are my favorite eldest children," Lorelai smiled, "You two get to stay by my side."

"Since I'm the older one do I get superiority?"

"Only by 15 minutes," Rory whined.

"Best 15 minutes of my life."

Charlie flashed a smile at the girl, before scooting closer to her mother.

  "Wanna share?"

  "Hey, you're not the one graduating, kid!"

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
I really didn't like how unhealthy
ALL of Charlie's relationships were 
within the Gilmore fam in the first 
draft, so I'm trying to balance it
more like, Charlie's way too hard-headed,
Lorelai struggles to be a mom instead of
a friend to her kids, and Rory is just kind
of spoiled, y'know