Summary: Well now that everyone's seen Lorelai's pain, what will the residents of Stars Hallow do about it? And what will Luke do when he finds out? Post – I Get A Sidekick Out Of You, of course. No spoilers. (There can't be because I'm spoiler free.) LL, I hope. Jeez….

Disclaimer: As much as I wish a single one of these stories would actually come true, they won't because I don't own these characters or anything related to the Gilmore Girls.

Notes: This is a two-parter. It was going to be a oneshot but I haven't been able to work out the second chapter in my head yet and I wanted to get the whole thing posted before the next episode, so that I can dream this will come true for just a few moments. I really hope to get the second chapter out soon, but everything's so convoluted at this point it's hard to get Luke and Lorelai to act like Luke and Lorelai and have it the ending be at least a little satisfying. Ug….

Oh and I know Babette wasn't at the wedding, but in my version she was because I love Babette and I love Sally Struthers.

Truth and Consequences

It had been a long 10 days, some of the longest that he could remember. He thought about the trip as he pulled up in front of the diner. April had called him Dad. That was a moment he would remember forever. But his twelve year old daughter had also revealed her feelings for a boy and he wasn't sure how he felt about that yet. Lorelai told him on the phone that it was normal but Lorelai had also gotten pregnant at 16, so really how much faith could he put in that response? There had also been endless hours of annoying bus songs and stupid kiddie fights. Both things he would be glad to forget he ever had to deal with. Most of all he was just glad to get home so he could see Lorelai. It had been a long 10 days without her. In fact, he couldn't remember them being apart for more than one day since they got back together. It had been hard to not be with her, not hold her at night and instead know that the only connection to her was their phone calls and even those times she sounded distant. So as he pulled up, Luke was very anxious to quickly unpack, shower and head over to Lorelai's house.

The moment Luke pulled up, he knew that would have to be delayed. Getting out of his truck and slamming the door, Luke glared at the small crowd in front of his diner. "I didn't realize my fan club was coming over to welcome me back," Luke grumbles, glaring at Patty, Babette, Kirk and Lulu, who are staring at him, wide-eyed.

"Lucas, I wouldn't call us your fans," Patty tells him as he grabs his bags from the back of the truck. Luke shrugs.

"Fine. I'm still not opening until tomorrow, so you're gonna have to come back then," he responds taking his keys out of his pocket to unlock the door to the diner.

"No, Sugar, we're not leaving, we have to talk to you," Babette says. Luke shakes his head, wishing just for this moment he could live in any other town.

"Talk to me tomorrow. I have plans."

"With Lorelai?" Kirk asks. Luke glances at Kirk over his shoulder as he opens the door.

"Yeah, with Lorelai. I'm gonna shower and head over there," Luke responds.

"That's what we need to talk to you about, Sugar," Babette says. Luke gives the group a hard look. "Trust us, you need to listen to us." Luke considers for a moment that maybe he can still get over to Lorelai's soon if he lets them talk and forgoes the shower. He figures that Lorelai's got a nice, newly restored shower at her place, he can just use that if he needs.

"Fine," Luke grunts, motioning the group inside the diner. He folds his arms over his chest waiting as Babette and Patty share a look. "You wanted to talk to me about Lorelai?" he reminds them.

"Yeah, that's right," Babette responds. Luke snorts.

"Okay, well, since I'm the one marrying her, I'm interested to know why you think you have to tell me about her."

"Are you marrying her?" Patty asks. Luke looks over at her, surprised.

"Yes, I put the ring on her finger. I mean, sure, we postponed it…"

"From June third," Kirk adds. Luke looks at him, confused.

"Yeah, it's not going to be June 3rd, but we're still going to get married," Luke insists. The four share a look again. Luke rolls his eyes. "Can you please just tell me what you have to say so that I can go see my fiancé?"

"So you know Lane Kim's wedding was a couple days ago?" Patty asks. Luke nods.

"Yeah, she's not a Kim anymore. And before you say it, yes I know Lorelai took Christopher. I was out of town, she needed a date and Christopher was free. I think it's fine. I think it's great. I mean Rory must have appreciated having her dad there for her best friend's wedding, it's more than he's done in a long time," Luke responds.

"Yes, Christopher came," Patty repeats, smiling to herself. Babette hits her on the arm.

"Patty, stay with the program!" Babette warns her friend.

"What Patty means to say is that isn't the reason we wanted to talk to you," Kirk explains. "You see, after the wedding, during the reception, Lorelai got really drunk." Luke raises an eyebrow.

"You came to tell me that my girlfriend got drunk?" Luke asks in disbelief.

"Oh Luke, Kirk doesn't mean she just had a few drinks, he means she drank a whole septic tank," Patty informs him. Luke chuckles.

"Well, Lorelai does like to drink sometimes," Luke notes.

"Yes, but that much? I mean, I like my fun and all, but I haven't gotten that drunk since I was 27 and preformed on stage with Barry Manilow," Patty tells him.

"Yeah and Lorelai's not 27, she's…" Babette pauses and glances at Patty, who looks at Kirk, who looks at Lulu, who shrugs.

"38, she's 38," Luke tells them. He sighs. "So she got really drunk. Anything else you want to tell me?"

"Luke, a girl doesn't get really drunk like that unless she's really upset about something and trying to hide from it in alcohol," Patty informs Luke.

"Patty's right, Luke. Lorelai was upset," Lulu adds.

"Well I'm not entirely sure what she had to be upset about, she knew I couldn't go to the wedding with her. She probably just started drinking and kept going, Lorelai's like that sometimes," Luke says.

"No, Luke, she was upset, she told us, that's why we're here," Patty says.

"She told you?" Luke repeats.

"Not just Patty, us, everyone, the whole town, everyone at the wedding. She got up and gave a toast in front of everyone," Babette says.

"Well Lane's been like another daughter to her, I'm not surprised she gave a toast," Luke comments.

"Yeah but it wasn't so much that she gave a toast, but what she said in her toast," Kirk tells him.

"Yeah, when Lorelai gives a toast, she gives a toast, let me tell ya!" Babette exclaims. Luke raises an eyebrow.

"What did she say exactly?" Luke asks, slowly and carefully, momentarily wondering if he really wants to know. The four look at each other. Babette shakes her head vigorously. Kirk looks down at the ground. Lulu smiles nervously at Luke.

"Guess I'm telling you," Lulu figures.

"Okay," Luke agrees.

"Well it started off all nice and everything, congratulating Lane and Zach. Saying how she's known Lane for ever and she's so happy for her. But Lorelai went on to say that she was most happy Lane actually got married because she's never going to get married."

"What?" Luke gasps.

"Lorelai said that marriage isn't in the cards for her. She said that she'll see Rory and Rory's children get married but she's never going to get married. She said that she's especially not getting married on June 3rd, which I'm guessing is the date you two originally scheduled for your wedding."

"Yeah…"

"Lorelai said we should all schedule stuff on June 3rd because she's never getting married. She went on and on and it was just horrible Luke, just horrible. She was just so distraught and upset." Luke rubs a hand over his mouth trying to let this information sink in.

"She was really hurting Luke," Patty says.

"And I can't stand it Luke. I mean I've known ya since you were a kiddo, but Lorelai's been a good neighbor and a good friend. She doesn't deserve to be hurting like that," Babette adds.

"She doesn't think we're getting married?" Luke wonders, still in a daze.

"Well I've heard that people only speak the truth when they're drunk," Kirk comments. "Although I don't know for sure, I've never actually been drunk."

"And I wouldn't want to see you drunk," Babette responds. They all stare at Luke. "Lucas, you have to fix this." Luke doesn't respond, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Luke, are you going to marry Lorelai?" Lulu asks, gently touching his arm. Luke slowly turns his gaze to Lulu, not really seeming with it. "Luke, do you want to marry her?"

"Of course I do," Luke responds softly. Patty smiles to herself. "I've loved Lorelai since… I've loved her so long… I always wanted…" Luke swallows, still seeming to have trouble with the idea of Lorelai standing in front of the town, drunk out of her mind, slurring that she's never getting married, seeming joyful but tearing apart inside. He takes a deep breath and then glances at Kirk's blank expression, Babette's hard gaze, Patty's friendly face, and Lulu's hopeful look. "I do want to marry Lorelai." He rubs his mouth trying to decide what to do.

"We thought we should tell you. I mean I'm not even sure Lorelai remembers. But we thought you should know," Lulu says. Luke nods.

"We also thought you should know that if you hurt her, the whole town is going to go pink this time," Babette warns him. "You got it?"

"Yeah," Luke responds simply. He grimaces. "I'm glad you told me," he admits, dropping his bags on the ground. He takes out his keys and hands them to Kirk. "Take whatever you want and close up when you leave," Luke tells Kirk and walks out. Babette and Patty share a smile, all four knowing exactly where Luke is headed.