The doorbell rang and Lorelai rushed down the stairs to get it, still getting dressed as she went. "You're annoyingly on time again," she called, struggling to put on her shoes. "Okay stairs, the shoes. Stairs, then shoes," she repeated to herself. She managed to get down the stairs, put both her shoes on and get to the door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see that it was Luke.

"Oh, hi," she said.

"Hey, you're all dressed up," Luke replied, stepping inside.

"Oh, I'm going out," she replied, looking down and fixing her dress.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot my toolbox so I thought I'd come by and pick it up."

"Oh yeah. It's right over here. Rory and I couldn't lift it or we would've brought it to you and then we got used to having it here, so we named it Bert and we'd say Goodnight Bert and it'd say Goodnight girls and we spend too much time home alone," Lorelai rambled, leading him to where the toolbox still lay.

"Well, thanks for taking care of it," Luke smiled, picking up the toolbox.

"Our pleasure."

They walked two steps closer to the door and Luke put "Bert" down on the hall table.

"So, Rachel left." He began.

"What!"

"Last night. She left. For good."

"oh no, Luke I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"Ah, it's hard to explain." Luke stammered, not knowing how to proceed.

"I can't believe it. I thought she was really in it for the long haul this time."

"Yeah well she had her reasons."

"Really? What?" Lorelai had to ask.

"Well, actually…" Luke began. "Oh, nevermind, you don't want to hear this."

"Sure I do, Luke. Why did she leave?"

Luke took a deep breath. "Well, to be honest, she left because of you."

"Because of me? What did I do?" Lorelai was stunned.

"She thought that, she thought I… She thought I was in love with you…" Luke managed to get out.

"Oh." Lorelai looked at the floor. How was she supposed to respond to that? People had been telling her for a while that Luke had feelings for her, but now it drove Rachel away. She and Luke were just friends, there was nothing more between them, was there? "Um, are you?" she asked hesitantly.

If there was ever a time to come forward about his feelings for Lorelai, this was it, Luke thought. She was asking him flat out if he loved her. Could he admit it to her? Could he finally tell her what he had felt for so long? Or perhaps more importantly, would he be able to look at her and lie about it? He took a breath to clear his head and decided to confess. "Yes."

Lorelai's head snapped up at that. "What did you say?" she asked tentatively.

"I said yes. Yes, I'm in love with you and I have been for a long time. I understand if you don't feel the same. I just think it's better if you know."

Lorelai didn't know what to say. Luke was in love with her. –Luke- was in –love- with her. She didn't even know how to process that. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the partially opened door.

A moment later, Max pushed the door open and came inside. "Hello? I tried to be late," he said, walking over to Lorelai.

"Oh, hi," Lorelai said, stepping back when Max tried to kiss her.

"I'm sorry am I interrupting something?"

"No, well yeah, sort of. Uh, why don't you wait out in the car? I'll be out in a few minutes, I just have to finish talking to Luke."

"Okay, I can do that," Max said, feeling very uneasy about the situation. Something was going on, but he didn't know what.

"I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay."

Lorelai and Luke watched in silence as Max left, closing the door behind him.

"So…" Lorelai began.

"So…" Luke replied.

"You love me."

"I know."

"You love me."

"Again, I know. How many times are you going to repeat that?"

"I'm not sure. How about you say it one more time?"

"I love you Lorelai."

"Wow. I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I don't know."

Luke began to shift uncomfortably. "Okay, talk to me. What's on your mind? I'm going crazy here."

"I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in. You love me."

"This again. I know."

Lorelai was silent for a moment.

"You know I thought I'd be happier when you were finally speechless. Now, I'm just concerned," Luke tried to joke.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking… Luke I think that I might be in love with you too, and that's a big thing for me. I mean, you're Luke, the diner guy. You have been a part of my life and a part of Rory's life for as long as I can remember. You know me so well, and you're like a father to Rory. I mean, I've never felt as close to anyone as I am to you and that scares me. Luke, I don't know what to do."

"I know." Luke said sympathetically. The truth was, he didn't know what to do anymore than she did. Then, taking a chance, he stepped forward, and pulling her into his arms kissed her. At first Lorelai was startled, but she soon found herself responding to his kiss. Kissing Luke was almost indescribable. It was something new but at the same time it felt like coming home. It felt natural to kiss him.

She pulled away, a moment later, but stayed close to him.

"I- wow," was all she could make out.

"I know."

"What now?"

"I don't know."

"This is big."

"I know."

"Okay, pick another phrase because you've said 'I know' like a dozen times already."

"Sorry. I just don't know what else to say."

"I know."

They both chuckled softly.

Luke leaned in to kiss her again, but suddenly Lorelai pulled back, remembering.

"Max!"

"What?" Luke asked.

"I forgot about Max. He's waiting in the car, we're supposed to be going on a date. Oh, what am I going to do?"

"Well, that's really up to you." Luke said, stepping back suddenly insecure. "I should probably go though."

"Luke? No, don't go. I mean, I don't know what's happening here, but I know that I can't go out with Max."

"Really?"

"Yeah really. Um, why don't you go and sit on the couch and I'll go talk to Max, and when I come back, we can talk."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

Luke went into the living room, as Lorelai tried to compose herself and figure out what she was going to say to Max.

End Part One

Part Two