Luke doesn't pay any attention when the door to the diner opens. He's been in this business for almost ten years now, and he's used to the sounds that the door makes, the soft creaks the hinges make every time it opens and closes. He's used to Kirk coming in every couple of hours and asking for a glass of milk and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or some other really childish thing, and to Taylor coming in every once in awhile for no apparent reason, he's just wanting to annoy the hell out of him. There's the quiet lull takes place in the mid-afternoon, after the lunch crowd and before everyone gets out of school. Hell, he's practically memorized Lorelai's schedule- 8:15 (a cup of coffee and a muffin, usually to go, because she's almost always running late), 12:30 (a cheeseburger and fries, which she eats there, unless the inn is really busy), 5:00 when she gets off work (where she just orders a cup of coffee and stays to chat- she'll be back in an hour or so for dinner). So he's surprised (and a little confused) when she comes in at 2:30 in the afternoon. He doesn't look up, even. (Though he would never admit this to Lorelai, he starts watching for her about fifteen minutes before she usually comes in. That's also when he makes sure the doughnut plate is full, and that there's a fresh pot of coffee ready for her.) When he looks up, concerned, a few moments later, it's because she's plopped down on the stool in front of him (he can't hide the fact that he loves that she sits at the counter now) and sighs. It's not one of those big dramatic sighs that she does when she wants to get his attention, it's soft, barely perceptible, and she seems to want the opposite effect. When he looks at her, he sees that she's come in for comfort from him.

"Rough day at the inn?" he asks, even though he can tell that it's something bigger than that that's bothering her. He gives her a cup of coffee because he knows that it will help.

She sighs again. "My mother called six times today already," she says, shrugging it off like it's nothing. He can see, though. He can see what she really feels inside. She looks up at him again and their eyes meet and she's so glad that she finally has someone who will listen, finally there's someone that understands. She could never tell Rory all the gory details, it was always the PG-13 version, but now with Luke, she can just tell him everything. "She wants to come over and get some of Rory's books and things," Lorelai continues, her voice so quiet that Luke almost has to strain his ears to hear her. "And I told her, I said Rory can come and get her things herself,"

Luke sees the pain in her eyes, even though Rory's been living with Emily and Richard for a few months now, the wound is still so new, and every time Rory is mentioned, he can see Lorelai fighting off tears, he can practically feel her heart breaking. "I bet she wasn't happy to hear that," he says softly, to keep the conversation going, knowing that if she didn't get it all out now, it would haunt her for a while.

Lorelai laughs this bitter laugh that's almost painful for Luke to hear. "Yeah, she thinks I'm being immature and can't respect my daughter's wishes, but let's just think about that for a second, shall we? Hmm, who else do I know that doesn't respect her daughter's wishes? God, I swear," Lorelai shakes her head and Luke sees the tears glistening on her eyelashes as the sunlight hits them. "She doesn't even hear herself sometimes," she takes a sip of coffee to calm herself down and quickly continues. "I mean, I guess I should be looking at the bright side, that I only have to deal with her every once in awhile now because of this whole thing, instead of every freaking week, but now-," her voice breaks and she quickly clears her throat a coughs a couple of times before continuing. "Now she's got Rory,"

"We'll get Rory back," Luke assures her, taking her hand and squeezing it tight. Lorelai shakes her head, starts to say something, but he cuts her off. "Trust me. She's going to come back,"

He's almost afraid that she's going to ask him how he knows this, because he's not sure that he'd have an answer that was good enough for her. All he knows is that it's here, with Lorelai, where Rory belongs, and sooner or later, he's sure that Rory will realize this.

She smiles sadly though, and nods. "I gotta get back to the inn," she says, checking her watch and trying to speak in a normal tone. "Sookie and Michel don't know I left, I told Bernard, this new guy, that I was going to step out for a minute, but I'm not sure how reliable he is, so-,"

Luke cuts her off with a kiss. "Should I take you out tonight?"

She nods, and murmurs "Yeah, I'd like that," as she moves around the counter to kiss him goodbye. She hugs him afterward, whispering "I love you," in his ear when she finally pulls away. Those three words aren't enough to express what she feels for him right now, but when their eyes meet again, he smiles back at her, and she thinks that maybe he understands.

------

They arrive back at the diner at around 9:30 that night, all smiles, and the Rory scenario has almost been forgotten. They're planning on going back to Lorelai's house, but first Luke has to help Ceaser clean up. Usually Lane would have done it, but she was sick, and Luke feels bad about making Ceaser do it by himself, especially because he had already been forced to work a double shift today.

Lorelai heads for the counter, and Luke goes to pour her a cup of coffee after checking in with Ceaser, who was in the kitchen. Then he surveys the few customers remaining in the diner. There are only a few people left; but considering that it's a late Friday night, Luke is surprised at how many people there actually are. He sees the table in the back corner, the only one that's full, and he stops short.

Seated at the table are Rory, Emily, and Christopher. Luke immediately looks at Lorelai to see if she's noticed, because if she hasn't, maybe he could just take her upstairs now so she wouldn't have to deal with them. Though she's the strongest person he knows when it comes to most things, he doesn't think she'd be willing to deal with these three. At least not tonight.

It's too late, though. Emily had already seen them walk in, and now she's walking over to the counter where Lorelai is sitting. Christopher and Rory are soon following.

Luke's still frozen behind the counter, and Lorelai's just about to ask him what's wrong when Emily, who's standing behind her, clears her throat.

Lorelai knows immediately that it's her mother; there aren't many people with that harsh, annoying voice. She visibly cringes but tells herself that she's going to be brave, and then turns around to face her. It's obvious by the look on her face that she didn't know that either Christopher or Rory were standing there. She hardly notices Christopher for the first few moments (she'll get to him later) and focuses sorely on her daughter.

There's something different about her. Lorelai can't put her finger on it, but its there, trying to break through. She gets angry when she realizes that Emily is the one who arranged this not so friendly visit to Stars Hollow, not Rory. Rory didn't want to come back. Well, that was just fine. She wouldn't let Rory be Emily's puppet, though. No way was that going to happen.

Then her attention wanders to Christopher. What is he doing here? She thought she told him last time she talked to him to leave her alone.

She wonders why she didn't tell Luke about that.