Thanks for reading and commenting. And I promise to make Luke and Lorelai fans happy… I have big plans for this story, so keep reading!

As Lorelai followed her daughter through an alley full of garbage, she almost laughed. Once, Rory had insisted they take this disgusting route to avoid Dean on their morning errands. Now, it was Rory who was the protector, keeping Lorelai far out of range of the diner. Rory was hell-bent on finishing a list of chores she'd made up, and Lorelai, hoping to evade prying questions for as long as possible, had followed all too eagerly. She explained to Rory only that she'd had a monstrous fight with Luke and she left out all specific details of the previous night (particularly the fact that Chris had been involved).

Rory drug her mother around town for three or four hours. It was a classic Stars Hollow day, sunny and warm outside. They ran into Miss Patty and Babette about halfway in, gossiping beside Booty's newspaper stand. When the two women dropped to more hushed tones the moment they saw Lorelai, she knew they'd been talking about her.

Lorelai decided to put her head up. "Hi, Patty, Babette," she said, as cheerfully as she could manage. She really had about as much cheer as a dirge, but she lacked the energy to care. After ten minutes of crying, then twenty of dressing and accessorizing, hungover, all without Luke's coffee, Lorelai was struggling just to stay conscious.

"Oh, hi, sugar," Babette answered, subdued.

"I heard you were having a fight with Luke," Miss Patty pried irreverently.

"Patty, who did you hear that from?" Lorelai demanded.

"No, I mean I heard it, honey. My studio's just across the square, you know, and you were shouting awfully loudly," Patty said.

"Plus, Andrew was at the diner drinkin' coffee, and saw you two arguin' right in front of the customers," Babette added.

"Oh," Lorelai said.

"Is everything all right between you two?" Babette pressed.

"Sure, everything's fine. We just had a small disagreement, that's all," Lorelai lied. She nudged Rory in the ribs, hard.

"Ow!" Rory cried. She glared at her mother, then said, "Oh. Mom, shouldn't we get going?"

"Sure, you girls get going!" Babette said. "Don't waste your day standing here talking to us old broads."

Lorelai smiled kindly at Babette and Miss Patty. "Have a nice day."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Miss Patty said in an overtly seductive manner as she sized up a very attractive businessman buying a paper.

"Mom, what happened last night?" Rory asked as they walked down the street.

"Nothing, okay? I don't want to talk about it," Lorelai replied. She wasn't ready to process it yet, and saying it out loud was just too horrible.

The rest of the morning continued relatively smoothly, everyone chatting with Lorelai and telling Rory they were glad to have her home. When they reached the end of the list, Rory sent Lorelai back to the house, claiming to have plans to meet Lane at Weston's for coffee.

When Lorelai got home, the first thing she noticed was a blinking red light on the answering machine. She pressed the button, and Luke's voice filled the room.

"Look, Lorelai, about last night." There was a pause. "Things… didn't go well. I wasn't thinking. Or maybe I was thinking too much. I don't know. But I… I'm sorry, Lorelai. I want more time, but like I said a long time ago, I'm all in. I don't know if you still want to marry me. But if you will, I'll do it. I… you just have to…" There was a long sigh, during which Lorelai squeezed her eyes shut, to hold back tears. "Lorelai, I'm so sorry. Just… call me back, alright?"

Luke had baked a coffeecake for Rory when she turned sixteen.

He had broken into Lorelai's house, on many occasions, just to fix things, because he couldn't wait until she came home.

He had once come over, late in the evening, to help Lorelai scour the house for a baby chick, just to have the chance to be with her a couple more hours.

He kept that horoscope in his pocket for eight years.

He had experienced every insane detail about Lorelai's life – her parents, her weird dog, her tendency to make conversation with inanimate objects. Luke was so amazing that not only did he stick around in spite of these things, but he loved her more for them (or so Lorelai suspected). And now, she had to shatter all that with one sentence? Impossible.

Lorelai sunk onto the couch. Yesterday's newspaper was strewn over the coffee table in front of her. She picked up the Lifestyles page and, on a whim, turned to the back, where the daily horoscopes were printed. She scanned the paper for her own.

You will come to a crossroads today. Take the path that feels right.

That hit all too close to home. If only she'd read the horoscope yesterday, maybe she would have been a little more alert. It was funny, wasn't it, that a little horoscope could carry so much weight. It could foretell a major life alteration. It could also carry years and years of infatuation. It could be a symbol! Lorelai realized, as she began to divulge into a theory on the significance of horoscopes, that she was losing her grip on reality. She had to call Luke, and now. She picked up the phone and stared at it for a moment, holding it close to her face and contemplating whether she had the energy to make the call she was dreading.

The phone rang.

Lorelai screamed and dropped the phone as if it was a rattlesnake. After another ring, she picked it up, and, one hand over her heart, said, "Hello?"

"Hi! It's Sookie," her best friend spoke, her voice unnaturally even.

"Is everything alright?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes! Oh, yes, everything's fine. Except that Julio thinks he can talk to Cecelia and cook at the same – Julio! It's about to boil over! Why aren't you paying attention? Turn the burner down!" Sookie paused for a breath. "Sorry, honey. What was I saying?"

"I have no idea," Lorelai answered, shaking her head.

"Oh, I remember. I was going to ask you if you're coming in today. There was a problem with some of the ordering, and they only got me half the ducks I needed. I was planning to serve duck for dinner, and now I have to come up with a new menu in four hours." Sookie's voice was rising, a sign that she was nervous. "I was hoping you could get the meat guys on the phone and lean on them for a while 'til they would help us out. You can get men to do anything," Sookie giggled. "So, are you coming in?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. "Sure, Sookie. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Yes, I understand that there's not much time, but as you know, we've been loyal customers for years, Shell," Lorelai said. "We wouldn't even think of looking at another chicken."

Sookie hovered apprehensively at the front desk, leaning towards the phone.

"We could try to get them elsewhere, but where would we be without our trusty poultry stud, who… uh… Yes, I understand. Yes. Okay." Lorelai hung up the phone and turned to Sookie. "He'll be here in two hours."

"Woo-hoo!" Sookie cheered, throwing her Band-aid-covered hands into the air.

"What is causing her to celebrate?" Michel asked, appearing at the desk. "Her half-witted husband finally learned how to speak proper English?"

"Yes, he did, and now he can teach you!" Lorelai responded sarcastically.

Sookie glared at Michel, then thanked Lorelai quickly and hustled back to her kitchen.

Michel opened the reservation book and rifled through some pages. Lorelai noticed that he was smiling, which could either mean that he was happy, or that he was up to something. "Who are you, the Grinch?" she joked.

"Excuse me?" Michel looked up, bewildered.

"You've got this huge evil smile on your face." Lorelai waved a sheet of paper around, gesturing towards Michel.

"This is not an evil smile. This is the smile of a man who is destined for victory."

"Victory? In what?"

Michel held up a flier with a couple of cartoonish animals on it, grinning proudly. "The Stars Hollow dog show! I am entering my chows, and with their excellent breeding and flawless care, I am sure they will be far superior to the flea-ridden half-breeds that I see so often around this town."

"Let me see that," Lorelai said, snatching the paper from his hands and inspecting it. "This is great! I can enter Paul Anka." She grinned at Michel. "My dog is going to beat your dogs."

"That dirty mutt of yours will never win over my beautiful chows," Michel scoffed.

Lorelai made a face at Michel, then stopped when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. "Luke," she gasped.