Oh, boy, this is another long chapter, but I just couldn't split it up anymore than this. Most future chapters should be shorter than this one, I swear. Unless you guys like the longer chapters.

Nancy, I've been loving your comments. And I apologize in advance. You'll see why. But I want you to know that this story is canon compliant, and Chris will not actually come to Stars Hollow in this story. No townies in this chapter, but that's only because I had the first draft of this and the next chapter already written. I've just started working on the chapter after next though, so we might see a few other Stars Hollow residents pop in.

Like I said before, I am open to suggestions. What characters do you want to see more of? Any questions that still haven't been answered to your satisfaction? Let me know!

About a week before Thanksgiving, Rory came into the diner. She sat at a table and pulled out a book, just like everyday. But something made Luke look twice at the girl. Rory looked like she'd just been crying, or was about to cry. Luke was unsure of what to do. He'd never had to deal with a sad kid before, let alone a sad Rory. Just the idea unnerved him.

He debated with himself about what he should do. Should he ask what was wrong? Should he act like everything was normal? Should he wait for Lorelai to show up and ask her? She'd probably know what was wrong. He briefly considered calling Lorelai at work, until he remembered he didn't know what the number for the inn was.

After some time, Luke realized that Rory had yet to turn a single page of her book, and decided that it was time to check up on her. Still unsure of what to say, he approached her table.

"Hey, Rory." He smiled warmly at her.

Rory didn't say anything, just gave him a polite smile and went back to her book.

Luke tried again. "Is your mom meeting you here?"

She nodded, not even looking up this time, her face resolutely staring at the same page. She still hadn't said a single word to him, and it worried him.

"You want order something?" He asked. "Burger, fries, pie?"

She shook her head.

Luke tried one final option to get her to talk. "Not even coffee?"

Finally, she looked up at him, eyes wide in surprise. "You never let me have coffee."

He smiled at her in relief. "Well, don't tell your mom. She'd never let me hear the end of it. But you looked pretty down about something, and coffee always seems to cheer your mom up, so…"

Rory nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I'd like some coffee."

"I'll be right back." He got her coffee (decaf, of course), and went back to the table. "On the house."

"Thanks." She picked up the cup and took a sip.

"Don't mention it. Let me know if you need anything else."

He started to head back to the counter, when Rory spoke up again. "My dad called."

Luke turned back, slightly surprised that Rory was wanting to talk. "Yeah?"

"He left a message on the machine." Rory cradled the oversized coffee cup in both hands, staring into it. "He said that he couldn't make it for Thanksgiving and that he'd already made plans. Skiing somewhere with a bunch of his friends. And some woman named Denise, I guess that's his new girlfriend."

Luke shook his head in disgust, but kept silent as Rory continued to talk.

"He won't cancel a stupid skiing trip to spend time with his kid on Thanksgiving. He can ski anytime, but he can't set aside some time to come and visit us?" She started tearing up again, but blinked them back angrily.

Luke's heart began to break for her. "I'm sorry, Rory. I know you were looking for to seeing your dad."

"I really was. I haven't seen him in forever."

"Yeah, you're mom was saying that he travels a lot, for work." Luke said.

"Yeah, he does." Rory sighed. "It's just... I don't know."

"What?"

Rory looked up at him with tear reddened eyes. "Do you think it's stupid to be angry at him?"

"Well-"

"I mean, he's my dad, and I love him, but he keeps doing stuff like this. And I know that it happens even more often than I'm supposed to know, because Mom just gets this really sad look on her face, and I can tell when she's been crying. She tries so hard to hide it from me, but I can tell. And I wish that could fix it. I wish I could find a way to make him stick around. And then I get so mad at him for... I don't know, leaving I guess. And i just don't know what to do. I just hate seeing mom get so hurt."

Luke's heart was split between endearment and anger. Endearment in the fact that both Lorelai and Rory cared more for the fact that her dad's leaving hurt the other more than themselves. And anger toward the guy for making them feel that way.

Luke put aside his thoughts and focused on Rory, sitting down at the table across from her. "You know, Rory, it's not your job to fix things. Especially stuff like this. Sometimes, people just..." Luke tried to find the right words. "Some people are just not made to stay in one place. And it's not anybody's fault, it just how they are. But that doesn't mean you don't get to feel angry."

"I don't like being mad at people."

"Rory, look. Dads aren't perfect. Even if you guys had the greatest relationship in the world, he'd probably still do stuff that makes you angry. I mean, you get mad at your mom sometimes, right?"

"I guess." Rory looked up at him. "Did you get mad at your dad?"

"Oh yeah. And I know I did plenty of things to make him mad. But in the end, none of that matters. He's still your dad."

"Yeah." Rory agreed. Then she looked up with an inquiring look. "What happened to your dad?"

Luke wasn't prepared for this. He sat silent for a bit before Rory spoke up again.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Rory said quickly. "I was just wondering"

"No, no, it's fine." Luke assured her. "I just wasn't expecting it, that's all. What do you want to know?"

"You said before that this used to be his hardware store. Did you inherit it from him?"

"Yeah, I did." Luke said.

"What happened to him?"

"My junior year in high school, he... he got sick. He was sick for a long time, and after a while, he... He's been gone seven years this month."

After a moment, Rory asked quietly, "Do you miss him?"

"Yeah." Luke said.

"Were you close?"

Luke had to think about it for a second. "Yeah, we were. Not like you and your mom. We hardly ever really talked, but we understood each other. We were a lot alike and we got along. Mostly."

Rory laughed a little, and Luke smiled at her. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, I guess." Rory said. "Thanks for the talk."

"Anytime." Luke rose from the table.

"And, for, you know, talking about your dad." Rory added quietly. "I know you don't like to."

Luke smiled a little at her. "Yeah, well, sometimes it's good. Let me know if you need anything else."

A bit later, Lorelai arrived. Luke glanced up from the receipts at the counter. "I'll be with you in a minute."

Lorelai nodded, and joined her daughter at the table. They were soon caught up in lively discussion of some kind, and Luke focused on the receipts in front of him, and failed to notice that Lorelai had approached the counter.

"Hey, you!" She said.

"I said I'd be with you in a minute."

"I cannot believe you." Lorelai said in mock anger. "You served my daughter coffee. What happened to "no one under sixteen gets coffee", huh?"

Luke put down his pen. "There is no way you can prove that I served it."

Lorelai kept on. "Decaf, no less. I can't believe that you served my daughter coffee, and I wasn't even the real stuff."

He crossed his arms defiantly. "There's no way that you can prove it's decaf."

Lorelai crossed her arms, mirroring him. "I can smell the difference." She said smugly.

"You cannot smell the difference." He scoffed. "And, even if there was there's no way you can prove that I-"

"Rory already told."

Luke shot a glance at Rory, who just shrugged at him helplessly. He looked back at Lorelai with an equal measure of defeat. "Alright, fine, I did."

"Why?" Lorelai asked, dropping the fake anger. "We've known you for months. We see you everyday, and every day, Rory asks for coffee, and you say no. Why today?"

Luke glanced over at Rory again to make sure she couldn't hear, then leaned toward Lorelai, so that he could talk quieter. "She said her dad called."

Just for an instant, Luke saw a flood of emotions cross her face. He automatically turned around, grabbed the coffee pot and started pouring a cup for her. She sighed and sat the counter, hanging her head. "Crap. I was hoping that she'd come straight here after school."

"Rory told me what he said." Luke shook his head in disgust. "That guy's a piece of work."

"Yeah, I know." Lorelai massaged her temples with one hand. "Can I get some coffee?"

Luke pushed the already poured cup toward her and she took a drink, cradling the cup in both hands, staring at the liquid. Luke smiled briefly, thinking about the fact that Rory had done the exact same thing earlier.

Luke felt bad for her, and for Rory. It was holidays, your spend time with your family in the holidays. That's just the way things worked. Or the way they should work. His family used to have traditions, the most important of which was being together. And he hadn't even been able to do that the last few years, and now neither could Lorelai and Rory. The more he thought about both his and Lorelai's situations, the more upset he became.

"I just- I cannot believe this guy." Luke said, now fuming.

"It's fine, Luke." Lorelai said. "I told you, that's just how it is with him."

"No, it's not fine!" He tried to keep his voice level, but anger still crept in.

"Luke, calm down."

He continued, not really hearing her. "He's her father. He should be there, on a regular basis, not sometimes on holidays."

Lorelai placed a hand on his arm, tethering him back to reality. "Luke, I know this. Rory knows this. But Christopher doesn't, or at least he doesn't seem to. And there's nothing I can do about that right now."

Luke took a deep breath, calming himself as she talked. "Yeah, I know. It's not any of my business. Forget I said anything. Do you want something to eat?"

"No, I'm not really hungry." She looked at him, concern written on her features. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Luke muttered. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, you just seem bugged."

Luke tried to shake off her questions. "Ah, nothing. It's just, you know, Taylor's been bugging me."

"I know, but you seem even more bugged than usual. Even considering Taylor."

He looked at her, and briefly considered telling her. Surely, she'd notice when he disappeared. Most people did, not that they'd directly say anything about it. But he couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"It's just... the holidays." Luke gestured to the decorated storefronts across the street. "Families should spend the holidays together. I mean, you know I don't really celebrate, but that's what they're for, right?"

She nodded. "Right."

"Right." Luke echoed.

"So, you don't celebrate at all?" She asked. "You don't have any extended family visiting?"

"No. I mean, I've got family, but they're not coming. They've all got their own plans. Besides, I have the diner, so..."

"You're going to spend Thanksgiving working?" Lorelai looked shocked. "That's sad."

"It's fine." Luke waved dismissively. "I make dinner here. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing. All the traditional fixings."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I've been doing it for a while now."

"I guess that's something. Still sad though." She smiled at him, a sad but genuine smile.

Luke found himself staring at her eyes for what felt like several seconds too long, and quickly started to wipe down the counter, just to give his hands and eyes something else to do. "So, do you have any other Thanksgiving plans in the works?"

Lorelai made a face. "We've been invited to the Kims. We'll probably go, but they always serve tofurky."

"Toe-what?" Luke laughed.

"Turkey, made with tofu."

"How do you make turkey with tofu?"

She smiled at him. "You can't."

They laughed. Then Luke had an idea. "Hey, why don't you come by the diner for Thanksgiving."

Lorelai sat up a little. "Really?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, you're always in the diner anyway, and it sounds like your plans for Thanksgiving are kinda light. I mean, you don't have to." Luke added quickly.

"No, we'll go." Lorelai assured him. "We were planning on having a festive burger and fries after we hit the Kim's, but, what the hell, let's have turkey."

"You know, I think that's what the pilgrims said." He joked.

"Really, I thought it was something more like, "hey, let's steal this land and name it after ourselves. Uh, pass the gravy"."

They both laughed.

"So, see you for Thanksgiving?" Lorelai said.

Luke nodded. "See ya." He watched Lorelai go back over to the table and fill Rory in on their Thanksgiving plans.

He felt good. Happier than he had all week. For the first time in a while, he was actually looking forward to Thanksgiving.

This was a hard chapter for me, it took forever. I was so worried that Luke might be out of character (still am), but I had trouble writing this chapter any other way. Anyway, I hope I did it justice.