The group of four all gathered in Luke's car after they picked up some food from Doose's market. Luke had gotten into a brief argument after Taylor had asked him very personal questions about where he had been all these years. Once that ended, Luke drove them into the woods not far from town, to his favorite fishing hole. They all sat down on the grass and began handing out sandwiches and chips. As they began to eat, Luke caught Rory staring at him and sighed.

"Alright, we met when she was 16." Rory smiled and scooted closer to him. "She was living at the back of the inn in the shed. Mia was my Mom's best friend, so I would come over sometimes to help her fix things. I was fixing a leaking faucet in one of the rooms and your Mom was a maid, so she came in and started straightening up. She teased me because of my hat, I thought she was too hyperactive. But we started to talk. She's easy to talk to, always was. And we hit it off." He paused and looked at all parties who were listening intently.

"So what you've gotta understand at this point is that I was engaged, to this girl named Anna. Before my Dad died, he told me that he wanted to see me settled down with a girl, have all my ducks in order you could say. Anna went to high school with me and we'd dated a bit. I took it seriously at the time and proposed so my Dad would see that I would be ok when he passed. But when I met Lorelai, everything kind of fell out of place. She was smart, and funny, and made me open up more. We began our… affair, I guess, but I couldn't stop thinking about Anna and how crappy it was that I was doing this to her. So I decided I had to break it off with one or the other. I told Lorelai that I was engaged, left for Boston to tell Anna that I couldn't be with her anymore, and when I got back, Mia told me that your Mom was gone, had gone home to be with someone else. End of story."

"You came back?" Rory asked, somewhat shocked. She had read so many stories where the guy never came back. This was getting very The Notebook.

"Yep. But I went back to Anna afterwards and she married me. I guess to trap me. Anyway I finally went into baseball like my Dad always wanted and I've got a daughter named April. Split with Anna not long after she was born and quit baseball for good."

"Real end of story." Rory finished. Luke nodded, then gestured at the two other men with his hand.

"Alright, so which one of you did she move on with? My bet is with the bad boy, they always rebound with the bad boy." Chris shrugged.

"I'm not gonna speak for Max, but I think I was next. She mentioned a guy with a baseball cap to me at some point."

"You're probably right." Max nodded. "She was back at the inn when I met her." Chris turned to Rory and stretched his legs in preparation for his story.

"Lor and I grew up together. Two rebellious rich kids, hating our parents. I think we found solace in knowing that we weren't alone. We dated for a bit when we were 15, but she broke it off and left home. I guess she went to Stars Hollow." He said thoughtfully. "Anyway, your grandparents were out of their minds and I thought that I was never going to see her again. I was sad about it, but she was even less made for the WASP life than I was. A few months later, she came back home unexpectedly, must have been after she broke up with Luke. There was a whole big party for her coming back, we had too much to drink, and we hooked up. That was the last time I saw her until now. She left again the next day." He shrugged again.

"So it was just a hook-up?" Rory felt a bit disappointed. Even though she knew from the journal that it was not chronologically possible for her mother to have seriously dated all three of them, she had secretly hoped that there was something real and meaningful there. Not just a hook-up.

"Not just a hook-up." Chris defended. "Like I said, we'd known each other for years. When Lorelai left, it gave me the courage to tell my parents what I wanted. I left home too, got a job at an auto-body shop, and saved up money to go to college. I sold out and became a business man eventually." He admitted. "But now my life's on my own terms. I don't answer to anyone but Christopher Hayden." Rory gave a small smile. So it had meant something. She turned to Max.

"What about your story?" Max laughed.

"It's not quite so romantic, I assure you. We met at the Hartford train station. I was going to New York to take up a teaching position, your mother was going back to Stars Hollow. She looked upset, sitting all alone, so I offered her my coat and I bought her a cup of coffee. I had come from a long line of military men, so becoming a teacher was a bold move for me. I think we sensed each other's unease, so we got on well. I admired the fact that she was taking control of her life and going somewhere without the promise of anything. She told me to be more spontaneous in my life, and I responded by jumping on her train and following her home." He smiled fondly at the thought.

"We spent the week together in that damn shed, but I had to go eventually, get back to my real life. I never forgot her though." Rory glanced at Luke.

"And you?" He looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"She changed Chris and she changed Max. Did she change you?" Luke stood. How was he supposed to respond to that? How could he convey that he stood out in every first snow because of her? That he followed his dream of being a baseball star because of her? That he could never truly be happy with Anna, or anyone, because of her?

"Oh yeah." He said softly. "Lorelai changed everything." He began packing up the food.

"We should go."