Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that previously appeared on the Gilmore Girls.

The rest of them are mine (Terence Russell, Alma Fine), any resemblance to actual people or already existing fictional characters are purely accidental.

Story: What if ... A story about an upside down world where Luke and Lorelai haven't met. Yet.

5. Territorial Grounds

So. House-hunting. Something that had never been a hobby of Lorelai's. It had taken her months when she and Christopher had first gotten together, and all the other times, she had subtly pushed the task towards her husband. He hadn't minded, she remembered, with a soft pang in her stomach. Lorelai choked back some tears and cleared her throat. No need to get emotional just now, it would only make the process harder.

She had left the constructionworkers for the inn in the chaotic but safe hands of her new chef, Sookie St. James. It looked like the remodeling was going to take forever, but her boss, Terence Russell, had assured her there was no rush.

"You're going through a rough time already, my dear, and I am certain that if you take some more time for this project than we normally do, both the inn and you will benefit," he'd said in a soothing voice.

Lorelai often marveled at the ease with which he had taken over the role of a father in her life. If only she could convince her mother to go out to dinner with him sometime, she thought with a smile. Even Emily would have to agree it was a handsome and impressive man, most ladies were taken with him instantly. A good thing in their business, which depended, next to the usual businessmen, solely on elderly women.

After a deep breath and a quick brush through her hair, Lorelai got out of her car and pushed open the door of Stars Hollow's real estate agent. A fragile looking girl of about 18 years old got up from her seat and smiled in a shy manner.

"Good morning, miss, I'm Alma Fine. Can I help you?"

"Good morning, Alma. I'm Lorelai Hayden ... Gilmore and I would like to know what kind of property you have available in town?" Lorelai flushed when she gave her married name. She wasn't totally used to using her maiden name yet, but she was determined to do so soon.

A door was thrown open in the back of the room and a large man burst through it. A furious look upon his face, he roughly pushed Alma aside.

"What do you think you're doing, missy?" he snarled and ushered her out. Alma's eyes fluttered nervously to Lorelai and then back to the man, before - what seemed to be - running for dear life. Lorelai was baffled and stared at the man, open mouthed.

"Please except my apologies, ma'am, for this little scene."

Lorelai breathed out, relieved he thought it was a scene as well.

"The little brat thinks that she can do everything around here," he said and quickly got on with his story. "Anyway, I haven't even introduced myself! It's a true scandal! My name is Bernard Fine, pleased to meet you. How can I be of service?"

The pompous man shook her hand and Lorelai stared at it with dismay. She'd thought he'd just had some row with his daughter, and had apologized for that to her. But apologizing for a perfectly polite young girl? This wasn't someone she wanted to buy a house from.

"I'm afraid you can't," she said and left him in amazement.

---

The little bells of the diner sounded familiar already as Lorelai pushed open the door. She heaved herself on one of the barstools and let her head rest on her folded arms on the counter.

"Bad day?" Luke's voice woke her out of her thoughts.

"Kind of. Not for me though," she said. "I went over to Fine's real estate just now and I'm ... well ... appalled. Truly. Do you know the owner?"

Luke nodded and his eyes turned cold. "Did you happen to see where Alma ran to?" he asked, obviously familiar with the 'scenes' at the Fine household.

Lorelai shook her head. She wished she had, though. Luke poured her some coffee and threw in a complimentary donut. He called it a customer-luring thing, but she wasn't fooled. She had become a regular the minute she first walked into the diner.

The little bells rang again and Rory dashed in, her eyes flaming and her hands balled up to fists. Alma quietly followed. Rory ushered the girl to a seat in the corner and walked over to the counter, where she let out a deep sigh of despair.

"Will there ever be someone who will kick the sorry ass of that guy?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Not that I know of yet, but you're doing a pretty good impression of someone who will try." Luke couldn't help but snigger, picturing the tall, but thin girl trying to tackle Bernard Fine.

"Is she your friend?" Lorelai asked Rory, nodding at Alma.

"Yup. Since third grade. If it wasn't for that father of hers, Lane and I would be able to see a lot more of her. She called me on my cell, half an hour ago, and since I was already on my way here, I figured I'd pick her up. Can she stay for dinner, dad?" Rory looked up at look with big, pleading eyes.

"Ofcourse. You know that I've got a weak spot for that girl. And even if I didn't, that big, puppy-dog-eyes act you're pulling would have done the trick," he admitted.

---

Lorelai walked to her car, her mind wandering off. What was she supposed to do about a place to live now? There was no way that she was going back to Fine's, not after she'd seen the way he treated Alma. She did feel slightly better, though, when she found out that Alma had Rory for a friend.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't even hear light, running steps behind her. When someone behind her cleared his throat, she spun around.

"Alma! You scared me," Lorelai said, breathing in deeply.

The girl turned bright red and started to stammer an apology. Lorelai smiled at the girl, waving away her apologies.

"It's okay, really, I should pay more attention to my surroundings. When I'm in thought, a car could crash inches from where I stand and I probably wouldn't notice. My parents used to go crazy over it."

"Ehm, I just ... I figured you still needed a place to live? I mean, I know you walked out on my dad. Which is actually kind of sweet, but then again, I already knew that. Rory told me about the inn and that you hired Sookie and that ..." Alma paused abruptly and stocked up on some oxygen again.

"Yes?" Lorelai urged her to talk further.

"You see, I can help you with a place. I talked to mrs. Brown the other day about selling her house and my dad pulled the same trick on her. She left, but still wants the place sold. I can bring you to her place, if you like? You can be honest about the house though, just say no when it's not your kind of place, but ... it's really cute. And she'd had it all done up nicely last year so there's no work needed."

Lorelai stared at the girl with an open mouth. This was perfect. Could it be this perfect?