A/N: I know, I know, I just got back into my current fics and now I'm starting a new one. Seems crazy, doesn't it? Meh, what can you do? I gotta go where the muse takes me, folks, and I do hope you will approve ;)

(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters and/or dialogue from Gilmore Girls belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and other folks who aren't me.)

Chapter 1

Jess put up his hand in a wave and then pulled out of the driveway onto the street. He saw his girlfriend wave back via the rear-view and then watched for a second as she disappeared into her house. It had been cool to see her and catch up after a summer spent mostly apart, but honestly, he really hadn't missed her all that much.

It was weird because he did care about her. Sometimes, Jess actually thought he loved her, but lately it just wasn't so much fun anymore. She was getting more distant the last few weeks before school got out. Spending way more time with her friends or family, but Jess didn't really feel the need to complain. He had stuff going on too, plenty of studying to do, helping out at the diner, pitching in with town events, none of which interested Francie at all. They may attend Chilton together and have some of the same friends, but socially, they didn't have all that much in common when he thought about it too much.

Pulling up at the light, Jess wasn't really paying attention to the traffic behind him. He took the opportunity to lean forward and turn up the radio. Francie would've gone crazy if he had Joey Ramone blasting when she was in the car, but now she was gone, so Jess got to do what he wanted. He was tapping his hands on the wheel to the punk cover of 'What A Wonderful World.' Still, the car pulling up beside him with its own radio blasting the same tune certainly got his attention.

Maybe it shouldn't have been a shock to find a girl driving the next car over, though Jess had to admit he was at least a little surprised. Glancing at the girl in question, he watched her notice him too, pulling her sunglasses up and propping them on the top of her head.

"You have good taste," she said with a smirk.

"Thanks," replied Jess, just as the light changed.

With a roar of her engine and a terrific squeal of tyres, the mysterious girl tore off down the street without a care.

Jess didn't move. He knew he should, but bright blue eyes surrounded by dark make up were burned into his mind, distracting him from reality for too long. A moment later, the car behind honked it's horn, reminding Jess the light was once again green and that he should be moving already.

With a shake of his head, Jess put the car in gear and headed out of Hartford, home towards Stars Hollow, unable to keep from smiling as he did so.

"Lorelai? Lorelai!"

It took at least four or five attempts of calling her name and Luke physically shaking her shoulder before Lorelai paid attention. She had been staring, similarly unseeing, at the shelves in Doose's Market when he found her and no amount of yelling could stir her. Now she was back in the land of living, Luke still wasn't so sure she was really okay. In fact, she looked awful.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she said, a shake in her voice, eyes darting all over the place.

"Uh, shopping?" Luke suggested, glancing down at the wire basket in Lorelai's hand. "Possibly for a party?" he tried, noting the large variety of sugary snacks she had in there.

Lorelai looked so confused and a little like she might throw up or pass out maybe. Luke really wasn't sure what to do but whatever kind of ill Lorelai was about to be, it was probably better she didn't do it in public. It was already dark out and the idea of her taking herself home, either by foot or driving her car, didn't thrill Luke either.

"Okay, you're coming with me," he told her gently, taking the basket from her hand and placing it down in a corner out of harm's way. "Come on," he urged her, putting an arm around her back and leading her out of the door.

They went next door to the diner and Luke unlocked, ushering Lorelai inside. She was wandering around like a zombie or something, as if she was sleepwalking. Luke had never seen Lorelai like this, not once, and he didn't like seeing it now. He wanted to ask what was going on, but he knew they needed one thing before that. Coffee.

Pulling down a chair, he encouraged Lorelai to sit in it and then went and started up the machine to make a fresh batch of coffee. Returning to his friend, he pulled a second chair down off the table and sat opposite her, tentatively reaching for her hand to get her attention and then trying to meet her eyes.

"Lorelai, what is going on?" he asked her then, hoping it was nothing too awful but preparing for the worst given the circumstances. "I've known you, what? Six years now? You come in here practically every day, and I have never, ever seen you like this. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything," she admitted, with a hint of laughter that sounded more than a little hysterical. "I, er... I really don't know where to start," she admitted, free hand pushing her hair back off her forehead and holding it there for a second. "Luke, I have a daughter."

"You have... Okay," he said, blinking hard.

It was kind of a lot to process. Six years they had known each other, Luke had just said it. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Lorelai. She was never shy about sharing and they had gotten so close over all that time. Not dating close or anything, but best friends kind of close. Now he was finding out she had a daughter and he never knew.

"I'm so sorry," she said suddenly. "I feel awful that nobody knows, like I'm ashamed or something, but I'm not. Well, not ashamed of her anyway, she's great, she's just... she had to be a secret. That was how it had to be, that was the deal, and I stuck to it. It wasn't my fault other people couldn't. Even after that, we kept the secret. It was supposed to be for the best, but now... Luke, I feel like my head is going to explode."

Luke understood that feeling because he was experiencing something similar right now. He had no idea how to process any of this. He sure as hell didn't know what to say to make Lorelai feel better, not least because so much of what she just said made no sense to him. The one thing he did know how to do was make coffee, so he did that instead.

Five minutes later, he returned to the table with a large mug of java for his friend who was more than a little obsessed with the stuff, and a smaller cup of the same for himself. He wasn't much for coffee, but he needed something if he was going to get through this conversation.

"So, you have a daughter," he said slowly. "How old?"

"Sixteen."

Luke had taken one single sip of coffee and immediately spat it back into the cup when he heard her answer.

"Sixteen?"

"Seventeen in a few weeks." Lorelai nodded. "October 8th."

"But you only turned thirty..." he said, frowning hard, trying to recall the exact date of the event and do the math at the same time.

"I'm thirty-three, so yeah, I was sixteen when I had Rory," Lorelai told him quickly. "I had no idea what I was going to do. My parents and Christopher's parents got together and made all the big decisions for me. Mom and Dad would raise my baby as their kid and I'd be 'Aunt Lorelai,' who was almost never talked about and seen even less."

There were tears in her eyes as she explained it and Luke could understand why. Giving up a kid, that was a big deal. Of course, his sister had done something similar, knowing she could never cope in raising her child alone. The situations were shockingly similar actually, except for the fact that Jess had known from the beginning he was being raised by his uncle, whereas Rory clearly hadn't known the truth, at least not at the start.

"So, now she knows you're her mother?" he asked carefully.

"She's known for a while." Lorelai nodded, setting tears free to roll down her cheeks which she hastily wiped away. "Chris' parents took him away before Rory was even born. I finished high school, went away to college, then got a job that allowed me to travel and be away from home as much as possible. I wanted to be there for my baby girl, Luke, I really did, but having her not know... it was too hard. It was easier to pretend that what we told her was real, that I was just an aunt," she cried, breaking down completely for a few moments.

Luke hated to see women cry and Lorelai most especially. He put his arm around her and gently rubbed her back until she found some composure.

"Anyway, Rory's tenth birthday rolled around. I came home for the celebrations, I couldn't help myself, and apparently, I wasn't the only one. Chris showed up, he was in a bad way, I think the latest woman in his life had left him or something, I don't know. Anyway, he was drunk and he burst in on the party and told Rory the truth. Ten years old and she finds out her whole life is a lie. God, I hated him for that, but it was my fault too, and my parents. We were all to blame."

"You did what you thought was right at the time," said Luke kindly.

Lorelai shook her head. "Well, turns out we were wrong. After that, Rory was just... different. This sweet, smart, amazing kid just lost it. My parents sent her to boarding school, to try and straighten her out. She wanted to go, to get away from all of us liars, I guess, but she just... she got so angry at the world, at everything. I can't blame her but I just feel so horrible that I didn't fix it sooner. If I just told the truth from the start, if I'd just have been a little older when I got pregnant. I'm so stupid!"

She started all-out crying again, her face held in her hands. Luke wished he knew what to say to make it better, but there really was nothing. Eventually, he thought of one small positive he could mention.

"Well, she can't still be mad at you if she's coming to stay, right?"

Lorelai scoffed at that. "She has no choice but to come here. She's blown through all the decent schools that would take her. The only choice left is Chilton and she's only getting in there on a favour because my parents are so close with the Principal and his wife. It would mean her moving back home, but you know my dad's been having heart problems lately. Mom's afraid having a moody teen in the house full-time, throwing tantrums or whatever, could do more damage. So, now they've decided I get to be a mother."

She smiled when she said it but it wasn't a happy expression. Luke couldn't imagine what Lorelai was feeling right now. She seemed to have waited her whole life to be able to raise her daughter and now she was finally getting the chance it was probably at the worst possible time, when Rory's bad attitude was so deeply embedded, it was unlikely to be reversible.

"I'm too late," said Lorelai, almost as if she were having the exact same thoughts as Luke.

Regardless of that, he shook his head.

"It's never too late," he promised her. "Come on, Lorelai, she's your daughter. Maybe all that she really needs is to be with her real mom for a while. If she could just understand things from your point of view, you know, really get to know you. It could be great."

"It could be a disaster." Lorelai sniffed, reaching into her purse for tissues to clean up her face. "God, I can't believe I just dropped all this on you."

"Hey, what are friends for?" asked Luke, jostling her shoulder and giving her a smile. "You know, if you need help, I'm here, and hey, if Rory's going to Chilton, I'm sure Jess would be fine with showing her around and stuff. He's a good kid."

"He is, and thanks, Luke," said Lorelai gratefully. "I just feel really out of my depth right now. I mean, raising a kid... I never knew how to handle it before, so I didn't."

"Well, at practically seventeen, I don't think Rory needs a whole lot of raising exactly," Luke considered. "But whatever you need, either of you, I'm here. I'll do whatever I can. I mean, you were always there when I needed someone. You've been great at helping out with Jess these past few years."

"He's easy to deal with," said Lorelai, smiling genuinely as soon as she was done blowing her nose. "You raised a good kid, Luke Danes. I wish I'd been brave enough."

"Hey, there's no point beating yourself up about that now," he reminded her. "I'm not judging you. My sister did more or less the same thing when she gave Jess to me and my dad to raise."

"But at least Jess always knew what was going on. He's a Danes but he knows the truth about his father and about how things are with his mom. You raised him like a father but he knows you're Uncle Luke. Rory called me Aunt Lorelai for ten years before she found out I was her mother, and even now she would never call me mom."

"Does she... Er, does she still call your parents-"

"Richard and Emily" Lorelai confirmed. "We're all first names to her now. No real family ties, that's our Rory. God, I just... I do not know how we're going to live together and make it work, but she's my daughter. I have to try and do what I can."

"And you will. We all will. You, me, Jess, the crazies in this town." Luke smiled. "Nutty as they all are here in Stars Hollow, they're not bad people. They'll welcome your daughter, they will not judge you, and everything will work out," he promised, arm around Lorelai's back still.

"You really are the best friend a girl could ask for," she told him, letting her head drop onto his shoulder.

Luke didn't have an answer to that, he never did whenever she referred to him that way. He loved being Lorelai's friend, he couldn't really ask for a better one than her either, but sometimes when they got close like this, he hated knowing they would probably never be more than friends. Any hopes he might've had sure were being crushed now by the news that Lorelai's troubled teenage daughter was coming into the picture. This really was going to be an adventure.

To Be Continued...

A/N2: So, what do you think of the concept so far? If you've ever read the never-completed fic 'New in Town' by darkheadlights, the initial concept of this story is partly inspired by that, though it will be vastly different!