Please don't hate me for starting another story but this has been in my mind for ages now! I will continue with my other two stories as well so thank you for all your support for those! Your comments are lovely! :)

This one will be start from the beginning of Season 1 but Luke and Lorelai got together a lot earlier and are married when the show starts. Luke has also moved into the Crap Shack with Lorelai and Rory. :)

The Pilot

Lorelai walked through the square and into the all too familiar diner, making the bells ring above the door as she entered. She smiled as she saw Luke behind the counter filling up the coffee jugs. She walked up to the counter as Luke turned round.

"Please Luke. Please, please, please!" She pleaded with her husband.

"What, so the big jug of coffee I made for you this morning wasn't enough then?" He said sarcastically.

"Rory drank half of it!" Lorelai protested. "I need my caffeine if I'm going to work with Michel!"

"You know, that's not any better. Rory shouldn't be drinking coffee either. If you hadn't drunk coffee when you were pregnant, she probably wouldn't be a coffee addict like you." He said.

"Please!" Lorelai pleaded, pouting.

Luke sighed and got out her special mug and poured coffee into it. "Just one." He warned, handing it over to her.

"Oh my god, you are the best husband ever!" She grinned.

"Then how long does the best husband ever have to wait for a kiss?" He smirked slightly.

Lorelai grinned and leaned over to give him a kiss. She smirked at him and then went and sat down at a table, waiting for Rory.

As she was waiting a young guy came up to her. "You make that look really good." He said smoothly.

Lorelai stifled a laugh. He obviously hadn't seen her kissing Luke. "Oh it is." She nodded. "You should get a cup."

"I might do. So can I sit?" He asked gesturing to the chair next to her.

"Oh well, I'm actually waiting for someone so..." She said.

Not letting that hold him back, he sat down anyway. "I'm Joey."

"It's nice to meet you Joey." She smiled politely, glancing over at the counter where she finally caught Luke's eyes and sent him the 'help me' look.

"So you don't have a name?" Joey asked.

"I do, I'm just really waiting for someone." She said.

"Is there a problem here?" Luke asked gruffly, standing behind him.

Joey looked round and stood up, intimidated by his height and build. "Um no, no problem. We were just chatting." He said.

"You were just chatting?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Well I would appreciate it if you didn't 'just chat' with my wife." He said gruffly.

Joey's eyes widened. "Um wow...I'm sorry. I didn't know." He stammered.

"Well now you do." Luke said.

"Yeh. Um..well...bye!" He said, rushing out of the diner.

Lorelai grinned. "My hero!" She gushed.

Luke rolled his eyes and went back to the counter just as Rory came in.

"Hi hon!" Lorelai smiled at her daughter.

"Hey mom!" Rory smiled. She looked around and saw Luke behind the counter. "I'm just going to get some coffee." She said walking over to the counter. "Hey Luke!" She smiled.

"Hey Rory." Luke smiled at his step-daughter.

"Coffee please!" Rory grinned.

"Not a chance in hell." He said. "I've heard about you having half of the jug I made this morning."

"What?" Rory said confused. She then realised. She turned round. "Mom!" She exclaimed.

"Yes?" Lorelai asked innocently.

"I can't believe you used me to get some more coffee!" She exclaimed.

Lorelai smirked. "Sorry but it had to be done."

Rory pouted and turned round to face Luke. "Please Luke! I only had one cup this morning!"

"I should have guessed." Luke shook his head. He got a small mug and poured some coffee into it. "Just one." He said giving it to her.

Rory grinned. "Thanks Luke!" She said going back to the table.

"Did you use the pout too?" Lorelai grinned.

"I'm not talking to you." Rory grumbled taking a sip of her coffee.

"Aw come on hon! You know I need coffee to cope with Michel." Lorelai said.

"Yeh yeh, well next time don't use me as your scapegoat!" She said.

Lorelai grinned. "Ok!"

Rory shook her head but smiled. "If only that was convincing!"

Luke then came over with some muffins. "Here. You should get going. Make sure to eat on your way to school." He said.

"Aw mom, you have the best husband!" Rory gushed, taking the bag of muffins.

"Yeh I know! What can I do? Buy him a crown?" Lorelai joked.

"Or a tiara!" Rory grinned.

"Two seconds and those muffins are going in the bin!" Luke warned.

Rory grinned and got up. She gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "Bye mom!" She smiled. "Bye Luke! Thanks for the muffins!" She grinned and then went off to school.

"You're crazy. The both of you." Luke muttered.

"Yeh but you still married me." Lorelai joked.

"Yeh, so maybe I'm the crazy one." He smirked heading back to the kitchen.

Rory headed back to the diner after school to start her shift. She had been officially been working at the diner some evenings and weekends for a year now. She had helped out before then but she was too young for Luke to officially take her on. "Hey Luke!" She smiled, dumping her bag behind the curtain to Luke's old apartment and grabbing her apron to put it on.

"How was school?" He asked.

"Good. These girls in my class thought I was writing in my diary during our lesson today. Or a slam book. Or a love poem." She smirked.

"And what were you doing?" He asked.

"The assignment." Rory grinned.

Luke chuckled. "Good for you."

"They lost interest when they realised." Rory grinned.

Just then, Lorelai came rushing in excitedly. "Rory! Hon, you did it! You got in!" She exclaimed.

"Got in?" Rory asked confused.

"Chilton! The letter came. A place has opened up. You can start Monday!" Lorelai grinned.

"Oh my god!" Rory exclaimed excitedly. "Are you serious?"

"It's all in writing." Lorelai said holding up the letter.

"Oh my god! I got into Chilton!" Rory beamed. "Luke, I got into Chilton!" She exclaimed.

"I heard." Luke chuckled. "Congratulations. I knew you could do it."

Rory grinned and gave him a hug which he returned. She then launched herself at her mom. "I can't believe this! I have to go tell Lane!" She exclaimed. She turned to Luke. "Can I...?"

"Go, forget about your shift today. Go celebrate." He smiled.

"Thanks!" She grinned. She got her back and rushed towards the door. She quickly turned back though and hugged her mom again. "I love you mom."

"Love you too kid." She smiled.

Rory waved at Luke again and then rushed out.

Lorelai turned to Luke and smiled. "She did it." She said.

"I knew she would. She'll be great." Luke smiled proudly.

"I need to go tell Sookie but be home for dinner ok?" She smiled giving him a kiss. "I want a proper celebratory dinner."

Luke smirked. "Which I will be cooking, I assume."

"Yeh well unless you want burnt grilled cheese, it might be safer." She grinned. "See ya burger boy!"

"See you crazy lady." He smirked and watched her leave, shaking his head.

Luke got home to find Lorelai pacing around on the telephone in the living room. She threw the phone on the sofa shortly after. "Urghhh!" She groaned.

"What's wrong?" He asked concerned.

"Chilton want a deposit on the fees before Rory starts. It's pretty hefty." Lorelai said handing him the letter.

"Whoa!" Luke said seeing the zeros.

Lorelai sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands. "They said if we don't pay it, Rory will lose her place. We can't afford this, Luke." She said.

Luke sighed and sat next to her. "Well there has to be something we can do. I've got some savings." He said.

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't let you do that. It's too much." She said.

"I want Rory to get the best education. She's so excited about this. I won't let her lose her place." Luke said.

Lorelai smiled lovingly at him. "It's so sweet of you, Luke, but it's too much." She then sighed. "There is one option." She said quietly.

Luke looked at her and then realised what she meant. "No." He shook his head. "You know they will hold this over your head."

"I know but it's Rory. I need to do this." She sighed.

The following day, Lorelai found herself outside her childhood home. She took a deep breath before she rang the doorbell. Emily answered it and was visibly surprised when she saw Lorelai standing there. "Why, is it Easter already?" She said sarcastically.

"Hi mom!" Lorelai said with a forced smile. "I thought I'd pop in on my way to my business class to see how you were."

"Well how nice." She said sweetly.

Lorelai sighed but went inside, following her mom into the living. "Is dad around? I sort of need to talk to both of you." She said.

"He should be out of his study shortly. He's just on a call." Emily said.

"Ok..." Lorelai said sitting down on the sofa opposite her mother, not really knowing what to say.

Eventually Richard appeared and Lorelai started to explain about Chilton.

"So you need money." Richard said condescendingly.

"Yes." She sighed. "But it's not for me. It's for Rory." She said.

"I'll get the chequebook." Richard said.

"Thank you." Lorelai let out a breath, relieved.

"Hang on a minute." Emily stopped him.

"So close..." Lorelai said under her breath.

"Seeing as we will be financially involved in your life, I want to be actively involved in your life." She said. "I want a weekly dinner on Friday with you and Rory."

"What? Mom, we might not be free every week." Lorelai said.

"This is the deal, Lorelai. No weekly dinners, no money." She smiled sweetly.

"Well what about Luke?" Lorelai asked.

"You're still with him?" Emily said with distain.

"We're married, mom. Of course we're still together." Lorelai said gritting his teeth.

"Well he doesn't need to come. I'm sure he's way too busy with that diner of his." Emily said condescendingly.

"Oh no!" Lorelai said angrily. "Luke is part of our family. If you want to be actively involved in our family, that includes him."

Emily huffed. "Fine." She said stiffly.

"Good." Lorelai said. "See you Friday." She said before making her swift exit.

Lorelai headed home after working at the inn all day. She smiled when she heard laughter from the kitchen. She walked down the hallway and found them cooking. "Something smells good!" She smiled.

"Hey mom!" Rory smiled.

"Hi! How was school?" She asked.

"So good! I was so excited about Chilton I actually changed for gym!" She grinned.

"Really?" Lorelai gasped dramatically.

"And I played volleyball." Rory grinned.

"With other people?" Lorelai joked.

"Yep and now I know I well and truly suck at sports! Maybe that's why I kept avoiding them." She laughed.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid you got that trait from me." Lorelai joked.

Rory laughed. "I'm going to go study for a bit before dinner." She said heading for her room.

"Oh, by the way, don't plan anything for tomorrow after school. We're having dinner with your grandparents." She said casually.

Rory frowned confused. "It's September. What holiday is in September?" She asked.

"There's no holiday, I just thought it would be nice. So please don't plan anything." Lorelai said.

"Um ok..." Rory said still confused but disappeared into her room.

Luke glanced at Lorelai. "You talked to them then?" He said quietly so that Rory couldn't hear.

"Yep. We've got the money." She said.

"But..." Luke prompted.

"We have to have a weekly dinner with them." She sighed.

"I knew they would do something like this." Luke said angrily. "This money is for Rory's education for god's sake! Why can't they just do something nice with no strings attached for once?"

"Because they're Emily and Richard Gilmore." Lorelai said quietly. "It's what they do."

Luke sighed. "I'm sorry." He said softly. "I just hate that they make you feel like this."

"It's fine. I guess Rory should get to know her grandparents better." She shrugged.

"You're an amazing woman." He said pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head.

"I don't think you're going to think that when I tell you what I'm about to tell you." She said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"Um...you're coming with us." She said quickly. "Got to go get changed! Bye!" She said rushing down the corridor and up the stairs.

"What?" Luke exclaimed. "Lorelai!" He called but got no answer. He sighed and went back to the food. "Weekly dinners with the in-laws. Great!" He muttered under his breath.

So what do you think? Worth continuing? Review and let me know what you think! :)