A/N (1) I wasn't going to continue this fic, but I'm stuck writing a case study for my advertising class and this is SOOO much more fun.

A/N (2) Thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter, it means a lot to me to realize that people actually do read my crazy ideas. This chapter is dedicated to netherfield and gilmoregirl1979 (there's a special small scene in there just for you, guess which!), two of my favorite fic writers. Keep 'em coming girls!

A/N (3) This picks up right after Luke left the wedding reception after Christopher (bastard!) opens his big mouth and ruins everything.

What the hell was that? Luke wondered as he stormed out of the reception hall. Who does that moron think he is? Luke paused to catch his breath and realized that he couldn't leave as he had planned to do. He had driven up with Lorelai and Rory in the Jeep. He had the keys in this pocket, and he was tempted for just a moment to take off but, mad as he was at her right now, there was no way he was leaving her stranded here. It would probably obliterate all leverage he had right now. He was the wounded party, and he planned to keep it that way.

What now? He couldn't go back in there. There was no way he could face either Christopher or Emily at this point. The latter he was afraid he'd rant into oblivion, the former he wanted to punch in the gut, neither of which behaviors would be welcome at the reception, of that he was sure.

And there was no way he could even look at Lorelai right now. He didn't think he'd ever been this mad at anyone in his life. For her to lie to him about seeing Christopher, then to own up to it only when faced with the possibility of being uncovered (What the hell was with that? Like he wouldn't have understood? Was he that unreasonable?), and then to just stand there while Christopher spouted his lunacy about Lorelai and him being meant to be together and saying that Emily agreed with it…to be honest, he had been so consumed with rage at the words coming out of Christopher's mouth that he couldn't exactly recall what Lorelai was doing, but he was sure he'd have noticed if she'd come out and said "I'm with Luke and I want to be with him, not YOU!"

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. This was getting him nowhere. His most pressing concern was finding a way out of Hartford and back to Star's Hollow. He didn't want to find Lorelai to give her the keys back, 'cause she'd probably beg him to stay or promise to leave with him, and he didn't want to deal with either possibility feeling the way he did now.

He heard footsteps approaching and a familiar voice saying, "Just take me back to Yale."

Rory! Of course! She'd give the keys back to Lorelai with a minimum of questions. Luke turned and waited for her to walk by him before reaching out to grab her arm.

She jumped at that, gave a little scream and let out her breath in relief when she saw that it was him. "Hey Luke, what're you doing out here?"

"Listen Rory, I don't want to get into it now. Could you just take these keys back to your mom?" Luke handed her the keys to the Jeep, stuffed his hands in his coat pockets and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Damn, so close. He turned around at the concerned tone in her voice and noticed for the first time whom Rory was with; it was that blond kid that had inadvertedly started the fight with Christopher which had led to his current situation. I really don't want to deal with this now.

"Everything's ok Rory, just take them back to Lorelai and tell her I'll call her later," he said, giving her a small smile to show her that everything was indeed fine.

But Rory wasn't buying it. "What happened? Was it Dad? What did he do? I can't believe it, I told him to stay away from Mom, he always ruins everything for her! I'll go find him – "

"Rory, it's nothing, I swear. I'll see you next weekend." Luke turned on his heels and walked away as quickly as his uncomfortable shoes would allow. He liked Rory, he really did, but when he looked at her right now, all he could see was Lorelai's blue eyes staring back at him and he needed to get away from it all.

He spotted a bus stop across the street and made his way over to it, hoping it was for the bus that would take him back to Star's Hollow, his diner and his life, or whatever was left of it.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Never had a bus ride seemed so interminable to him. He had nothing to read, so he had been stuck there with nothing to do but avoid his own thoughts and watch the scenery roll by.

He quickly toed off his dress shoes and threw his coat on the rack by the door. He all but ripped off his jacket, wound up and launched it in the general direction of the bed. He wanted all reminders of the day gone. His tie was next, followed quickly by his shirt. His gaze landed on his blue shirt, her blue shirt, and the anger welled up fresh within him again. He attacked his belt and ripped off his dress pants, wanting nothing more than to slip into a clean pair of jeans and an old flannel shirt. Comfort clothes, familiarity, home; that's all he wanted right now. Never mind that home had become dangerously entwined with Lorelai in the last couple of months, he wanted his stuff and his routine, back before she turned his life upside down by telling him to stand still.

He stalked to his closet but only made it as far as the bed, upon which he sank down and placed his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands; a grown man sitting on his unmade bed in nothing but his boxers in the late afternoon light, finally ready to contemplate the mess that a beautiful woman had made of his life.