Rory looked small. Her hands hugged the coffee cup, staring into its liquid depths.

Racking his brain, Luke tried to think of what to say. The only thing that came to mind was the fact of his engagement with her mother, but something held his tongue before he blurted it out.

Lorelai would want to tell Rory herself. He'd give her a little more time, time to fix the breach between her and Rory so she could tell Rory.

He could wait. Luke had gotten used to being patient when it came to Gilmores.

Instead, he asked, "You hungry?"

Rory shrugged, replying, "I'm fine. You've already closed down the kitchen."

"Rory, are you hungry?" he repeated the question, leaning forwards and resting his forearms on the counter.

Tentatively, she glanced up. She mumbled, "Sort of, yes."

"Then the kitchen is still open," he informed her. "Any preference?"

"No, whatever is good," she said.

"Okay. Drink your coffee." He straightened and walked into the kitchen. "Food'll be ready in a minute."

He restarted a fryer and poured in just enough oil for a batch of fries. While the oil heated, he prepped the ingredients for a grilled cheese with bacon and tomatoes.

Stacking the ingredients, he called, "So you heard about Kirk's latest stunt?"

"No," called back Rory.

"He volunteered to help with the Boy Scout's retreat. Camping."

"Really? But Kirk gets lost in the park," Rory said.

Luke turned on the flattop. "I know. You think Charlie Donahue would know better, but George Stevenson got sick at the last minute and he wanted the extra adult - although counting Kirk as an adult is a more than a little ridiculous if you ask me - so he accepted Kirk's offer."

Dropping a single fry in to test, Luke nodded to himself when the oil frothed nicely. He filled the basket and submerged the fries. A square of butter sizzled onto the cooktop. With the tip of the spatula, he spread the butter around before he transferred the sandwich to the heat.

"Bad, bad idea. Hospital?" asked Rory.

"Almost. First, he lead his group in circles for about an hour when they were five minutes from camp. Then, he somehow managed to overturn his canoe - the kids had to rescue him. Finally, he'd read somewhere about collecting honey and went after what he thought were honeybees but were actually wasps."

"Wow."

"Yep. Last I saw him, he was walking around slathered in calamine lotion."

"Poor Kirk. He tries so hard." He heard her shoes hit the floor and poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she waved with her cup at the pot.

"Sure, go ahead."

A fleeting smile lit her face. "Cool, I get to go behind the counter."

He returned to his cooking. A minute later, he plated the sandwich and fries.

"Thanks," said Rory as he slid the plate in front of her. She finished stirring sugar into her coffee then reached for a fry.

"You're welcome." As she ate, he resumed his usual closing procedures: wiping down tables, refilling napkin dispensers, and documenting the receipts. Intermittently, she would ask him about Gypsy or Miss Patty or what Taylor's latest scheme was. He answered with what he knew, but it felt strange. Lorelai should have been the one Rory asked, not him.

Rory swiped the last fry through a smear of ketchup. She nibbled on it slowly until it was gone.

"I should probably get going," she remarked quietly. "My grandparents will wonder where I've been." Despite her words, Rory didn't budge. Her fingers fretted at a napkin. "They worry."

"They're your grandparents. Of course, they worry." Luke stopped working to focus on Rory. "I've still got a couple of things to do though, if you want another cup of coffee."

Shaking her head, Rory slid from the stool. "No, I need to go."

"Drive carefully okay? All sorts of nuts out on the roads."

Rory's lips twitched in an attempt at a smile. "I will. Goodnight."

"Night."

She strode across the diner, and stopped with a hand on the door. Turning back, she said, "Thank you. For not asking what's wrong. For not trying to fix my problems - or me."

"You don't need fixing, Rory. You're not broken," Luke said firmly. "Don't think that."

"I'll try not to."

She left, and Luke watched until she made it safely to her car.


He honestly meant to tell Lorelai the following day. And the next day, and the day after that.

However, whenever he brought up Rory, Lorelai either launched into a rant or shut down claiming she didn't want to discuss it. After three days, Luke couldn't wait any longer. He waited until she'd stopped by for an afternoon coffee, and had drunk two-thirds of it. Aside from a pair of soccer moms in one corner, the diner was empty.

Squaring his shoulders, he stood across the counter from Lorelai and said bluntly, "Lorelai, there's something I need to tell you. It's about Rory."

Her eyes narrowed instantly, lips solidifying into a line. "What about Rory?"

The coffee cup rapped as she set it down hard.

"It's just - she - you and her, this silence thing…" Luke swiped at imaginary dust. "I don't like it. I think it's wrong."

"What?" Lorelai exclaimed, "Of course, it's wrong. And as soon as she gets her head on straight and moves out of my parents' house and goes back to Yale, everything will go back to normal. Until then, I can't - I won't - pretend everything's just dandy."

"I know but -"

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to kidnap her and drag her back to Yale," Lorelai reminded him, pointing at him.

"Yeah, well -"

"So you get it. You get what a massive mistake this is, and maybe she has to make it or whatever, but I'm not going to indulge this. She wants to do her thing, fine, but I'm not going to support it." Lorelai gulped her coffee in a noisy, angry slurp. "When she's ready to admit she's wrong, I'll be there to listen. Until then, it's tough love, baby."

"You don't think you're maybe being a little too tough?" he asked hesitantly, not making eye contact.

"Says the guy who pushed Jess into a lake," Lorelai retorted. "She's my daughter. This is the right thing to do."

She wasn't listening to him. She didn't want to listen to him, absolute in her righteous indignation and maternal certainty.

"Okay." He conceded, fighting the sudden tightness in his chest, and turned to collect a to-go cup. "Coffee for the road?"

"Yes, please." Once he'd filled it, she leaned over and kissed him lightly. "Tomorrow night? 8?"

"I'll be there."

He didn't attempt to tell her about Rory's visit again.


About a week later, the bell announced Rory's entrance into an otherwise patronless diner. The lunch rush had finished but the high schoolers had an hour yet before they would be stopping by for a snack of french fries and soda.

"Hey," he said when she hesitated in the doorway.

"Mom's doing inventory at the Dragonfly today right?" she asked in tremulous voice.

"Yeah, she is," Luke confirmed. Understanding the question Rory hadn't asked, he added, "It always takes her the entire afternoon."

"And she can't stop because if she stops she'll never come back to it because she hates inventory." Rory took the seat nearest the register. "Which is why she does it on Tuesday. Monday is Monday so no, Wednesday is halfway through the week, Thursday is almost Friday, and Friday is Friday."

Luke punched the equal sign on his calculator and copied the value into his book. "Yep. You want something to eat?"

"Cheeseburger? With fries?"

"Coming up."

Luke had the burger on the griddle when Rory said, "I had another community service thing today. That's where I came from."

"Oh, okay."

"I didn't let Grandma drop me off this time. The other kids - me showing up in a BMW - not a good idea."

Frowning, Luke emerged from the kitchen. "The other kids, are they giving you a hard time?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Rory said. When he still looked worried, she elaborated, "Mostly just saying what a spoiled little rich girl I was. It wasn't that bad, really."

"Well...tell someone if it gets worse, okay? There's someone you can tell right? A supervisor?"

"Yeah, there's a supervisor."

Luke returned to the kitchen and finished her entree. She ate while Luke continued working on the books.

"Kirk!"

The pair turned. Kirk barrelled past the diner, Andrew in pursuit. Purple paint splattered the bookstore owner's hair, face, and shirt.

"Get back here!"

Rory gave Luke a questioning look. He shrugged and replied, "I don't know and I don't want to know."

"But where's the fun in that? It wouldn't be Stars Hollow without Kirk doing something silly," Rory declared. The smile Kirk's flight had provoked faded, and she poked at the remaining fries morosely.

"Miss Patty has started offering Mambo lessons."

"Really?" Rory perked up a bit.

"Francis Boyer sprained his ankle during the first one."

"Aww, wait, is he still pining after Miss Stanton?"

"No, she asked him out two weeks ago. That was before the sprained ankle, but they've been in here a couple of times since and it looks like it's going well."

"Good for her. They're both nice people; they deserve to be happy." Rory's smile reappeared, thinking of the tweed-clad librarian and his crush on the 8th grade science teacher.

"Joe Wallace ran over his mailbox."

"Again? This is like the fortieth time."

"Again."

"You would think he would learn."

"Apparently not."

For the next fifteen minutes, Luke dredged up every scrap of gossip he'd heard or been witness to over the past month. Rory listened intently, her smile staying put.

When the bell jangled, and a half dozen high-school kids entered, Rory gulped the dregs of her coffee and stood.

"I should go." She bit her lip, then asked, "Would it be okay if I keep coming in on Tuesdays? It - helps."

"Sure." Glancing over to the table of chattering teenagers, Luke called, "Be over in a minute." He turned back to Rory.

"Thanks. And maybe, I know I shouldn't but, could you maybe not mention it to my mother? That's bad, I know, asking you but, I just - I just can't - she would show up -" Rory flapped her hands about. "I can't, not yet, I'm still trying to figure things out and she would push and I just need a little space."

Luke considered her request before he answered. Finally, he said, "I won't lie. I won't volunteer the information, but I won't lie."

"Okay, that's fair, more than fair, and I'm sorry. I know you can't like this being in the middle stuff."

"I don't, and for the record, I think this whole not-talking thing is a bad idea. But it's your choice and Lorelai's choice, and this -" Luke gestured at himself and Rory, " - this is my choice."

"Thank you." Impulsively, she stepped around the counter's end and hugged him. Startled, Luke froze for an instant before he wrapped one arm around her.

"You're gonna be okay, kid," he told her.

"I hope so." She released him. "Same time next week?"

"I'll be here."

"Bye, Luke."

"Bye, Rory."