‘What? No!’ Riggs said, a defensive tone creeping into his voice.
‘Riggs…’ Lorelai gestured to the bag, which Riggs quickly tried to kick out of the way. His foot caught in one of the straps and he would have fallen over had Lorelai not caught him and kept him upright. With sympathy clear on her face, Riggs hung his head, defeated, and began to sob.
‘Sorry…’ he mumbled, keeping his face down, unable to look them in the eye.
Lorelai looked at Joanie over his head. Her expression had softened, but it was clear she was still suspicious, Riggs’s history of laziness playing on her mind. Lorelai on the other hand just felt awful and she looked at Joanie with tears in her eyes. Joanie pulled her to the side.
‘Stop that right now,’ Joanie said. ‘We don’t know what’s going on here.’
‘Heneedsus,’ Lorelai pleaded.
‘He needseveryone.’Joanie’s face was set, but Lorelai could see she also looked uncertain. It did look like Riggs was living in the cinema.
‘Thanks for whispering for my benefit.’ Riggs took a step back. ‘I don’tneedanyone. I can look after myself.’
‘Riggs, does your dad know you’ve been sleeping here?’ Lorelai asked. Riggs didn’t respond – his silence spoke volumes. ‘Where does he think you’ve been?’
Joanie’s shoulders relaxed, finally believing that this situation was more serious than she’d initially thought. She gestured to his mess scattered about the floor. ‘You’re not exactly being subtle about staying here.’
‘Dad kicked me out of the house a couple of months ago,’ Riggs said quietly. ‘Made a big speech about standing on my own two feet, start becoming responsible. He thought I’d found a flat share in Bow. And I had, except it didn’t work out for too long.’
‘How come?’ Lorelai asked.
‘I didn’t do anything!’ Riggs exclaimed.
‘Relax,’ Joanie said. Only Joanie could sound sympathetic and stern at the same time. ‘Lorelai never said you did anything. Just tell us what happened.’
‘The flat turned out to be right next door to a crack den so I didn’t want to stay. But then they wouldn’t give me my deposit back and so I couldn’t afford to look for anywhere else.’
‘How long have you been sleeping here?’ Joanie asked.
‘A few weeks,’ Riggs mumbled.
‘A few weeks? Why didn’t you say anything?’ Lorelai reached out and rubbed his arm but he tensed under her fingers so she awkwardly withdrew.
‘Why would I? What could you have done?’
‘Well—’
‘Lorelai!’ Joanie interrupted. She knew her friend well enough to know what was coming, but there was no stopping Lorelai. She couldn’t ignore Riggs’s misfortune.
‘We have a sofa…’ Lorelai smiled kindly at Riggs.
‘No.’ Joanie shook her head.
‘…that you could stay on.’ Lorelai took Riggs’ hand.
‘Nope.’ Joanie rubbed her temples.
‘Just until you get back on your feet.’
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Joanie exclaimed.
Lorelai nodded towards Riggs, who looked so bereft, even Joanie couldn’t deny him this kindness. Joanie sighed.
‘One week.’ Joanie held up her index finger and pointed at Riggs. ‘You can stay with us for one week, and that’s it.’
Lorelai leaned towards Riggs and whispered, ‘You can crash for as long as you need.’
