A/N: Thank you dear reviewers for the wonderful feedback! :) Now, what does it take to fix the fragile Luke/Lorelai situation? Enter the nephew ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4 - Super Complicated Related People

Luke was tired. Beyond tired actually, and annoyed, and a whole rake of other emotions he could well do without. It was a shame when yesterday had turned out so well. He had been nervous about Lorelai meeting April, firstly because if they didn't get along it would cause more problems than it solved, but more so because had been pretty sure they would become the best of friends, leaving Luke himself out in the cold. It turned out these were not really the things he should've been concerned with. Lorelai and April got on like a house on fire, the birthday party/sleep-over had been a great success, and yet he was still the hero somehow. It made a father feel good, at least until Anna tore into him today. Luke sighed heavily and sank down further in the chair. Between work and family he was exhausted, and yet he had another commitment to keep. He reached out for the phone and speed dialled, feeling bad that he had left it this long.

"Hey, Jess. It's me," he smiled the moment his nephew answered. "I'm sorry about before, things were kinda crazy here."

"I remember what it can be like," replied Jess easily, not at all concerned that it had taken a mere twenty four hours for his uncle to call him back.

"Oh, yeah, well, it wasn't the diner exactly. Y'see, yesterday was April's birthday," Luke explained. "We had a little party and then the girls slept over. Apparently that makes me a terrible person, but who knew right?"

Jess frowned a little at that.

"You had a bunch of twelve year olds sleeping over the at the apartment? The apartment that barely fit two of us?"

"It was Lorelai's idea," his uncle explained. "Y'know she really came through for me, but Anna's not happy, so therein lies another minefield! I'm sorry, you don't wanna hear about this."

"Actually I do."

"Really?" Luke felt surprised by that and it showed in his tone of voice as he sat up straighter in his seat. "You called me to ask what's going on with me, my daughter, my ex, and my fiancée?"

"You gonna believe me if I say yes?"

"No."

"Even if it's the truth?"

"What's going on, Jess?"

This was going to be tougher than Jess had anticipated and he realised it too late. He had made a promise to Rory to try and help figure things out with Luke and Lorelai. Honestly, he wanted to do it anyway. He hated to think of his uncle, the one and only person who had been there for him when he really needed it, ending up miserable because he couldn't balance out his life right. Just when things were on the up and up for Jess, he could see Luke's life spiralling downward if something wasn't done to fix it. Trouble was, he really wasn't much of a fixer. His pep talk to Rory a few months back had worked but that was kind of a fluke. There was no way to know how Luke would react to a similar talking to.

"Look, I know this is technically none of my business, and God knows I could use not getting involved, but you helped me out, a lot, when nobody else wanted to. Let's just call this me returning a favour, okay?" he said eventually.

"Okay," Luke nodded to himself, "though I'm still not sure what favour it is you're doing for me."

"Get married."

"What?"

"Get married, to Lorelai," Jess clarified. "C'mon, Luke, you know you want to do it. You know she loves you and you love her. Birds suddenly appear every time she's near, so why don't you just marry her already?"

There was a brief pause before Luke answered him, rubbing a hand over his face as he did so.

"Jess, it's a lot more complicated than that," he told him.

Jess tried not to smirk as he recalled Rory saying a similar thing about her own situation weeks ago. He countered his uncle's words with the same ones he used to her.

"No, it's not. It's not complicated at all. Yeah, I know what you're gonna say, you have daughter now, but what difference does that really make?" he asked. "Does it make you love Lorelai any less?"

"Of course not," Luke rolled his eyes at the very suggestion.

"Has she not been cool about you having a surprise kid?"

"She has, she's been amazing," he smiled. "Y'know, yesterday I just... I went to pieces over the birthday party for April, and Lorelai, she saved the day, she really did, and I do not get Anna's attitude about that. I mean, sure, yeah, she doesn't know Lorelai, but she knows me," he insisted. "She should trust my judgment. Lorelai is my fiancée for God's sake!"

Jess liked to hear Luke getting mad at someone other than him; it was refreshing. Of course, it was also good to know that he wasn't taking Anna's attitude lightly, and that Lorelai really did still mean something to him.

"Does she knows that?" he checked.

"Of course, I told Anna that I was engaged."

"No, Luke," he rolled his eyes, switching the phone to his other hand. "Does Lorelai know she's still your fiancée? Because from what Rory said..."

"You talked to Rory?"

Jess winced at the question. This was off topic and not something he wanted to get into right now. Helping Luke redefine his relationship with Lorelai was one thing. Trying to do the same with himself and Rory was quite another.

"We've been in touch," he said as explanation, before pressing on. "Does Lorelai know she's still your fiancée? 'Cause from what I hear, she's not convinced the big day is ever gonna come."

Luke sat forward in his seat, feeling oddly shaken by that statement.

"Of course it's going to come," he said definitely. "We just... we postponed it."

"Why?"

"Because things got crazy" he insisted. "Because of April..."

"April can be a bridesmaid or the kid with the flowers or whatever the heck else you have at a big flashy wedding," Jess told him, trying to keep his frustration in check because he just knew his uncle was not doing this on purpose. "Luke, you gotta listen to me on this, if you don't make this marriage happen, or at least make sure Lorelai knows you're still serious about her, you're gonna lose her," he said definitely. "Take it from the guy who knows how much it hurts to lose a Gilmore girl, you do not want that to happen."

Luke considered what he was being told and knew his nephew could well have a point. He really hadn't spent as much time with Lorelai as he should lately. April took over everything and that wasn't entirely fair. He still thought it was probably best that they postponed the wedding, but he hadn't thought about it too much from Lorelai's point of view. He needed to do that.

At the same time, Luke couldn't help but notice the distinctively soft tone that crept into Jess' voice when he talked about Rory and the breakdown of that relationship. A feint smile curved his lips then.

"You still love Rory, don't you?" he asked.

"Will you talk to Lorelai?" his evasive nephew threw back.

"Jess..."

"Luke!"

"I don't even know why you're doing this," he shook his head. "You and Lorelai never even got along."

"We did once, briefly," Jess recalled. "But still... She had her reasons to hate me, I get that, more now than I did at the time. Anyway, the point is not how well I get along with your girlfriend, it's how much you want to keep her," he said definitely. "I know you, Luke. I know both of you, and I always knew you were supposed to be together. Please, don't screw up like I did."

He sounded genuinely pained about it and Luke's heart ached to hear such hurt in a voice so young. Poor Jess. He really had screwed up with Rory, but with the examples he had been set when it came to relationships, Luke couldn't really blame the guy.

"I won't screw it up, I promise," he said softly, feeling bad that he couldn't help his nephew out this time.

"Good, then my work here is done."

"You're a good kid, Jess," said Luke with a smile he couldn't help.

"Hey, I was all grown up a minute ago," he countered with a smirk his uncle could practically hear.

"You know what I mean. Take care of yourself," he advised. "And for what it's worth, I'm still holding out hopes for you and Rory."

There was a pause before Jess replied;

"Yeah, well. I'll see ya, Luke."

Lorelai had been doing a lot of thinking. Luke had been so mad about the whole situation with the Nardinis and she had decided the best thing she could do was go see Anna herself, explain how neither she nor Luke meant any harm with the party and all. She was sure two single mothers coming from the same kind of life could have a reasonable conversation and figure things out.

It seemed almost like a case of perfect timing when the front door flew open and her fiancé strode into the house.

"Luke, hey, I'm glad you're here," she smiled, looking up at him from the couch. "I was thinking about what you said, about Anna, and..."

"Get your jacket," he said, cutting her off as he all but hauled her up off the couch by her hand.

"What?"

"Please, just get your jacket and come get in the truck."

Lorelai was bemused but she didn't like to a argue. If Luke needed to her to go with him he had to have a good reason. She grabbed her jacket as he asked and hurried after him right back out the door.

"Okay, but where are we going?" she asked, pulling on her jacket as they went.

"We're gonna get this figured out once and for all," he said definitely, climbing into the driver's side of the truck.

Lorelai hopped into the passenger seat and barely got her seat-belt fastened before they peeled out of the driveway at maximum speed. It wasn't like Luke to break a speed limit or drive in any way erratically. Lorelai wouldn't go so far as to say she was afraid right now, but he was making her worry at the very least.

"Luke? Luke!" she yelled for his attention, more so when he swerved in and out of traffic. "Seriously, where are we going? I thought you were mad at me, I didn't..."

The car swung to the side again and Lorelai stopped talking abruptly as they lurched down a side road and Luke pulled on the hand brake. He shut off the engine, and exhaled a long breath.

"Seriously, Luke. What is going on?" asked Lorelai, so bemused by this whole situation, it just made no sense.

"Lorelai, I'm sorry if... I just, lately things have been..." he tried to explain and yet couldn't find a way as he grew more frustrated with himself. "Screw it!" he said eventually, turning in his seat until he was facing her as much as possible within confines of the truck, and picked up her hand in his own. "Lorelai, will you marry me?"

"Uh, yeah" she replied, in a tone that suggested he was very dumb. "Already engaged, remember?" she said, waving her free hand at him on which her engagement rang sat.

"I do remember, I'm just... I guess I'm checking that you do," Luke explained badly. "Look, I know it was wrong of me to postpone the wedding, and I never even considered how that would make you feel, and I'm sorry. I just, I thought you knew how much you mean to me. I'm not that guy, the one that buys the flashy gifts and declares his love every thirty seconds, but I thought you knew."

Lorelai swallowed hard feeling tears prick her eyes.

"I do know, most of the time," she assured him. "You've been dealing with a lot, with April and everything. I... I guess sometimes I just feel like I'm in the way of things..."

"Hey, you are never in the way," he assured her, putting a careful hand to her face when she tried to turn away. "Or if you are, that's where I want you to be. I want you in my way, in my path, always where I can see that you're there, because I can't have a life without you in it, Lorelai, I just can't," he told her sincerely. "You understand?"

"Yeah," she nodded, a huge smile coming onto her face, even as she sniffled back tears.

For a guy that wasn't good with feelings or the expressing of them, Luke could be an absolute prince sometimes, and so much sweeter than he would ever be comfortable with her saying.

"Okay. So, now we're going to go see Anna, and get this straightened out," he said, leaning in to kiss her lips briefly before he focused on getting the truck started again.

"Luke, I don't want to make things difficult..." said Lorelai quickly, but he wouldn't hear her.

"You're not," he shook his head as he got them back onto the road. "You helped out so much yesterday, you're great with April, she absolutely loves you," he promised her. "Now, I know Anna is her mother and she has a right to her opinions and all, but April is my daughter too, you are my fiancée, and it is not right that you two can't have a relationship."

Lorelai couldn't answer that. She just smiled and felt so giddy inside. Her fiancé did still love her, still wanted to marry her, and was ready to do battle with the mother of his kid just so he could have the best of both worlds, both Lorelai and April in his life at the same time. She never loved him more than in this moment.

By the time they arrived at Anna Nardini's store, Lorelai had got a hold of her emotions. Her eyes were dry, her smile was less delirious. She grabbed onto Luke's hand the moment they were out of the truck, offering as much support as she could with her presence as they went inside.

"Anna, we need to talk," he told the pretty blonde behind the counter.

"Well, I'm a little busy right now..." she tried to argue, eyeing Lorelai with obvious suspicion, but the other woman wouldn't flinch.

"It won't take long," Luke insisted. "This is Lorelai Gilmore; she is my fiancée," he introduced. "Not my girlfriend or some woman I'm casually dating, my fiancée. I am going to marry her, not right this minute, but it is going to happen, and soon. That means she is a huge part of my life, and since April is also a huge part of my life, they are going to have to see each other and form some kind of relationship."

April's face hardened at the sound of Luke's apparent demands. Lorelai understood both sides of this but right now was not a good time for her to speak and for once she knew it.

"You don't get to come into my life, or my daughter's life, and make demands, Luke," said Anna snippily. "That said, if you and Lorelai are serious about each other, I do understand why she needs to get to know April," she considered, then switching her focus to Lorelai. "Honestly, she already pretty much loves you."

"That's a great kid you have there," she smiled in response to that. "Reminds me a little bit of my own actually. My Rory. I think they'll make great step-sisters," she considered. "Listen, Anna, I'm sorry. I know this must be rough for you. Believe me, I know what it is to want to protect your baby with everything you have," she explained honestly. "I didn't let a guy into Rory's life that I wasn't so sure would be sticking around. I'm so certain about Luke, I mean, really, really certain. I promise you, I would not do anything I thought would lead to April getting hurt," she promised, gripping onto her fiancé's hand still.

If Anna couldn't tell that they were in love then she had to be blind.

"I believe you," she nodded then. "I don't know why since I never even met you before, but Luke trusts you. Besides, us single Moms have to stick together, I guess."

Lorelai tried not to grin too much, but it didn't come easy.

"I'd love to get to know you too," she told Anna seriously. "I mean, once Luke and me are married, you and I will be connected. Not related exactly, but still, I think it might be nice, to be friends?"

"Yeah, maybe," Anna considered it. "We'll see."

It was like everybody let out a collective sigh of relief in that moment. The air was cleared, everything was figured out. Honestly, with every passing moment, Luke felt as if another pound of weight was being removed from his shoulders, and that felt good.

"So, Lorelai and April, they can see each other sometimes?" he doubled-checked with Anna. "Not all the time, obviously, I know it's important that April gets some one-on-one time with me too, but..."

"Yes, okay," she confirmed. "If April is okay with it, I guess I can be too."

"I'm glad we got that figured out," he smiled, glad to see his ex smile back.

Lorelai held out her free hand then.

"Thank you, Anna. It was a pleasure meeting you, despite the circumstances."

"You too," she agreed as they shook hands before Lorelai and Luke turned to leave.

When they got outside, Luke attempted to go straight to the truck, but Lorelai's grip on his hand pulled him back around to face her. He looked at her with a question in his eyes, wondering what she wanted. Her answer couldn't have been more perfect as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a good long kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked when they parted, foreheads still touching.

"Because I love you, Luke Danes," she told him with a grin, "and I am going to marry you some day, hopefully soon."

"That's good," he smiled right back at her, "because I love you too, and you are going to be the most beautiful bride."

"Oh, you betcha ass I am," she told him, as they both laughed, and then fell into another kiss.

From here on out, it was all going to be okay, they just knew it.

To Be Continued...