I’m so sorry for the absence, guys! First, my birthday and the holidays got in the way and now my uncle and his family are in the States from Japan and I just haven’t had a whole lot of time to grab screenshots or write new chapters. In fact I had the whole Christmas chapter written out and ready to be published on the 23rd – coincidentally, my birthday – and I just didn’t play the Sims for so long that it would have felt weird to publish a holiday chapter. So, that got scrapped and turned into this mini-chapter. It’s not as long as usual, but I wanted to put something out and have some of the important scenes in the original chapter. I’m going to spend the next few days writing and screenshotting, so that I can queue up the next few weeks’ chapters so that I don’t fall behind again when school starts up next week. Lastly! There is some strong language in this chapter! Nothing excessive (in my opinion) but be aware if it’s something that makes you uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, J,” Lorelai said for the hundredth time over the phone, “my boss thinks this trip is a really good idea. I’m the only person in the office who’s never been camping before.”

“First you blow me off on Christmas-“

She cut him off, “I went to Forgotten Hollow to spend the holiday with Devlin, how many times do I have to tell you!” They had been having this argument for the last two weeks. Apparently while she was gone, J had shown up to take her on some Christmas getaway, but she had already left. “You only wanted to go out because you thought I was going to spend Christmas alone and I didn’t, so what’s your problem?”

“Jesus Christ, Lorelai I’m not talking about this again! I’m not even upset!”

If you’re not upset, then why are we yelling at each other right now? she thought.

“We can hang out when I get back, okay?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, glad that they were talking over the phone so he couldn’t see her frustration. “This sponsorship is really important to my bosses and if I do a good job with this vlog assignment, I’ll be up for a big promotion.”

“Right, because all that matters is your fucking job. How about you call me when you start to give a shit about us?”

The click of the call ending in her ear made her stomach twist. She and J didn’t fight that often, and never like this. Her eyes stung with tears she was determined not to shed.

Fish walked up to where she was sitting and jumped up next to her, and pushed her to the other end of the couch. Fish climbed onto her and started licking her face. Lorelai had a feeling that her dog understood what was going on with her most of the time and she wanted to comfort her.

“It’s okay, baby,” she reassured the dog. “It’s just a little argument. We’ll be okay.” She couldn’t tell if she was still talking to the dog.

Lorelai couldn’t help but think back to the conversation she’d had with Devlin at Christmas after J called asking where she was.

“So, you finally made a friend after all.” Devlin laughed. “I was worried that you were going to be a workaholic hermit forever.”

“I have friends! I hang out with Bella Goth all the time.” She stared at the worn couch under her, pretending like her boyfriend hadn’t just yelled at her for five minutes.

“Mmhm, so you said, but that wasn’t Bella on the phone, was it?”

Lorelai considered lying, but she couldn’t hide J forever. “Um, no, that’s actually a guy I’ve been seeing.” She blushed and looked up at him.

Devlin was quiet for a second, clearly not expecting that answer. “How long have you been… seeing… him?”

“A few months,” she answered. “It was Bella’s idea. It’s just some fun fling type thing, you know, nothing serious.” She could feel herself babbling.

Dev’s stare darkened, “Since when are you one to have ‘flings’, I thought you wanted something that’s going to last.”

“This could last! J is a great guy, and he cares about me. Maybe it started as a fling, but I think we have something special! I think we could even end up married.” She wanted to jump in a hole. She didn’t know why she felt like she had to defend her relationship to him.

“Married? Fuck, Lorelai, a second ago you told me he was nothing serious. Marriage is the definition of serious.”

She could feel herself starting to spiral, this wasn’t supposed to be an argument. “You think I don’t know that? You’re not my dad, Devlin, so why don’t you just butt out!”

Lorelai jumped off the couch and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

She had made up with Devlin that night. She knew she was bing ridiculous, but the truth was that she and J had never discussed what they were and she didn’t want Devlin to think that she was wasting her time sleeping around with guys who she didn’t have a future with.

Not that Lorelai had ever slept with J, because she hadn’t. They’d kissed and fooled around a little bit, but Lorelai was nervous about going all the way with someone who used to be a “player”. When they’d started going out more, she had looked him up and found a long trail of broken hearts behind him. Lorelai still trusted him, though, he never pushed her to do anything she didn’t want to do and was really sweet when they went out together.

Bella had suggested that she break up with him before he tried anything on her. Lorelai had compromised by saying she was going to ask him about it and make sure they were both on the same page, but she hasn’t gotten the chance yet.

And now it seemed like she might not need to bother.