The next morning Luke wakes early as usual, but instead of getting out of bed, he is content just to hold Lorelai in his arms again.

He wouldn't admit it, but the events of the past few days had scared him. This was the first time that he had actually been truly afraid for their relationship; afraid that Lorelai had had enough of his stubbornness and that she wouldn't be willing to give him another chance. But now that he has that chance, he is determined to prove himself worthy of her trust, to prove her that the way he had acted over the last few months was not really him. He is willing to share everything with her and include her in every aspect of his life.

As he feels Lorelai stir, all his thoughts stop. He leans over her to make sure she is awake.

"Morning," he says as he kisses her shoulder.

"Hey," she replies, shifting to her back so that she can face him.

He brushes her hair off her face and leans down to kiss her good morning. As he pulls back, he doesn't see the typical Lorelai smile he is expecting after spending a night together.

He frowns, immediately asking, "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" she replies defensively, though she makes no move to alter their position.

"That look," he says, gesturing to her eyes. "It tells me that something is wrong. What is it?"

She takes a deep breath, obviously contemplating whether or not to tell him the actual reason. "I'm just kind of surprised that you're actually here."

"Ouch!" he says, hanging his head and resting it on her shoulder.

"It's been a long time since you spent the night here and even longer since we actually woke up together in bed," she elaborates.

He moves away from Lorelai, lying on his back looking at the ceiling, obviously hurt by her admission.

"Luke, I didn't mean that you would leave after what happened last night…"

"I know what you meant," he cuts her off. "I was thinking the same thing before you woke up," he continues, "but I'd really, really like to put it behind us and move on. Not let it be something that will always come between us. I know where I've been wrong and I'll try not to make the same mistakes again," he finishes determinedly.



"I know, baby, but it's still pretty fresh in my mind, that's all." She turns to her side, supporting her head on her palm as she uses her other hand to caress his chest. "I'll try not to mention it again."

A bitter laugh escapes Luke's lips. "I think the only thing that we learned from these two months is that we SHOULD talk about what's bothering us, no matter how hard the topic is."

"Okay," she agrees, leaning down to seal the deal with a tender kiss.

Luke has other ideas, pulling her across so that she is lying on top of him. The kiss grows more and more passionate until Luke stops abruptly, placing her back against the bed. He is about to get up when Lorelai catches his arm.

"Hey, Mr. Tease, where do you think you're going?"

"I just remembered that I brought you a little something from the trip," he grinned.

Excited, Lorelai sits up, releasing his arm. "Oh, gimme!"

"So now I'm allowed to get up?" he asks teasingly.

"Yep, now go get!" she says, playfully smacking him on the butt.

"Hey! Play nice or no present for you" he laughs, grabbing his boxers from the floor to cover himself.

"Oh, there goes my eye candy" she complains.

He shakes his head acknowledging the comment but continuing his quest for his jeans. Once he spots them, he reaches into the back pocket, taking out a small square box.

"It's nothing much. One day I was strolling in town with April and this little thing caught my eye. I wasn't sure whether or not to buy it, but April gave me that little push I needed, assuring me you would like it."

He sits on the bed and hands her the box, anxiously awaiting her reaction.

Once she opens it, a gasp escapes her lips. "Luke…"

It is a silver bracelet with sapphire stones. The stone in the middle is heart-shaped, with their initials dangling from either side of it.

Seeing that Lorelai is stunned into silence, he continues. "When I saw the heart in the middle I immediately thought that it would be nice if it had our initials hanging on either side of it, so I asked the lady to add them, but if you don't like them, they are easily removed, so just say the word."

"Luke…" she repeats, dazed. "It's perfect the way it is, no need to change anything."

"So you like it?" he asks, just to be sure.

Lifting her eyes from the bracelet for the first time, Luke can now see her teary gaze.

"I love it," she replies as a tear slips from her eye.

Luke scoots closer to her. "Come on, no need to cry" he says as he takes her in his arms.



He hears her sniffle against his shoulder as if she is preparing to say something, but instead she takes a deep breath.

"What?" he asks.

"It's nothing."

"You were about to say something, so tell me."

She is hesitant to confess her thoughts, but in the end, she decides to be honest.

"The way I was seeing things, this trip seemed as another opportunity for you to get away from me. To spend some time with your daughter without having to think or care about me. Focus only on April without having to find a way to squeeze me in your schedule."

Luke says nothing, but is stunned by her admission.

"But now you brought me this and you showed me that not only I wasn't the last thing on your mind when you were away, but you were thinking about me, trying to find a gift to bring home to me. When I was thinking that you didn't care, you proved to me that you do still care, Luke, even if you didn't have the best way of showing me."

He clears his throat, trying to mask his hurt, but failing miserably.

"Since I heard your speech the other night, I thought I knew how deeply I've hurt you. But every day that passes and every time we talk I realize just how much more hurt there is. It's like every time we speak I discover a new level of pain I've caused. And to top that, I never realized that you had doubts about my feelings for you. For ten years, everyone told me how obvious my feelings were, and now in two months I managed to make you doubt them."

Lorelai is the one to hug him now, cradling his head between her hands and placing small kisses below his ear.

After a minute or two, he withdraws from her, standing up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Lorelai questions him.

"Downstairs to make us some breakfast. What would you like?"

"Luke?" she asks worriedly, but he brushes her off.

"I'm okay. Really. Pancakes, sausages and eggs sound okay?"

"They sound great, but you forgot something," she teases, trying to banter with him.

"Orange juice? Yeah, I think I have a bottle in the fridge," he winks at her as he moves to the door.

"Coffee!" she reminds him.

"Your death cup will be waiting for you," he assures her as he leaves the room.



XX

Lorelai watches him disappear, falling back on the pillows with a heavy sigh.

They eat breakfast without discussing their situation further. The food is great, but while they banter back and forth as usual while they eat, Luke could see the sadness in Lorelai's eyes as she steals glances at the bracelet that had already found a place on her wrist. He knows that what happened last night wouldn't magically fix all their problems, nor would Lorelai start to trust him so soon after everything that had happened.

He knows that he needs to do something, something to show her that he still trusts her with everything and that he wants to get married, but he is at a loss as to exactly what he should do. He should talk to Sookie or Rory. Thinking about it further, he decides that Rory is probably more likely to be able to keep a secret from Lorelai and give him good advice on the subject.

A hand squeezing his pulls him out of his reverie.

"What were you thinking just now?" Lorelai inquires.

Luke tries to come up with something that would make her drop the subject. "How much I don't want to go to the diner and have to deal with Kirk and his antics," he grumbles.

"You're a big boy, you can handle Kirk," she teases him.

"Can I send him over to the Dragonfly just for one meal?" he responds with a straight face.

"You wouldn't dare!" she replies, horrified.

He is about to continue his teasing, but the horror on her face makes him smile instead. "Not so fond of Kirk when he's at your place of business, huh?"

"You love me and you wouldn't be so cruel to me!"

He gets up from the table and goes to kneel by the side of her chair. Brushing her hair off her face and shoulder, he gives her a sweet kiss.

"Not intentionally," he whispers meaningfully, pecking her lips one more time before getting off the floor and going upstairs to change for work.

Once he reaches the landing and is out of Lorelai's sight, he leans against the wall, closing his eyes. It is very easy to fall back into their usual banter, to pretend that everything is alright again, but he knows they still have a long way to go.

XX

He should be happy right? He's not supposed to be angry when his diner is full of hungry people. He knows that. That's the road he decided to follow to earn his living. More tourists, who come to visit Stars Hollow for whatever reason, are always welcome - but not today.



Luke has a plan: call Rory and ask for her help. She should be able to help, she knows Lorelai better than anyone. But the damn tourists keep getting in his way. He can't find a minute to head upstairs to make the phone call. He has barely had anything to eat or drink since breakfast, but that's the last thing on his mind. He desperately wants to call Rory and set in motion whatever plan they come up with. He can't deal with the awkwardness anymore. Although last night was a step to the right direction, he knows that Lorelai needs to see proof to make her trust him again. Most of all, he wants things to go back to normal so that they are able to move forward and have the wedding they both deserve.

The lunch rush has passed, and while several tables are still occupied, they have already been served, so Luke decides to leave Caesar in charge and head upstairs to make the call.

When he is up in his apartment, alone, ready to dial Rory's number he starts feeling nervous. Sure, he saw Rory only a couple days ago in Philadelphia, and she met April, but he doesn't know how she'll react after her mother's drunken speech. Will she be angry and not want to talk to him because of the pain he caused, will she give him a piece of her mind concerning the situation? Suddenly he dreads making the call, but decides to take his chances concerning Rory's reaction anyway and proceeds to dial her number.

"Luke?"

"Yeah… uh hi ,Rory."

"Is something wrong? Is mom okay?" Her anxiety is evident in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah everything is fine, sorry if I made you worry," he is quick to reassure her.

"It's just that you've never called me before, and considering how I left mom the other night…," she trails off.

Remembering why exactly Rory had to leave he asks, "How is Logan?"

"He is doing better. Still in the hospital, but he's recovering well."

"Good, that's good."

Neither speaks until Rory decides to cut to the chase.

"So, why are you calling me, Luke? I'm sure you didn't call to check on Logan."

Luke sighs, trying to find the words. "Like I told you the other night, I now realize how much I've screwed up and how badly I handled the April situation. Me and your mom, we are working towards making things better, but I can tell that she still doubts me, and I want to make that go away."

"So, just because you kissed and made up she should forget the last few months and how badly you've hurt her?"

"Rory…" he tries to interject.



"No, Luke! It's my turn to talk now!"

He can tell that she's angry, so he lets her speak. "Okay"

"I've never seen mom that sad before. I can't believe that you didn't notice all this time. Yes, when she was around people she pretended that everything was alright in Lorelai-land, but her smile was fake and sad. YOU of all people should have been the first to know that something was wrong with her!"

"I should have known," he agrees sadly. "I know that I was wrong, Rory, and I want to do something to prove your mother that I still want to marry her, that she is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with." He is getting emotional but he doesn't care. He wants both girls to be able to trust him again; to show them that just because he mishandled a life-altering situation doesn't mean that they can't count on him.

Understanding the tone of his voice she decides to cut him some slack. She hears him take a deep breath, so she knows that there is more he has to say.

"Last night your mom and I made up, but this morning I could still see in her eyes the doubt, and the fear that something will go wrong again."

"I don't know how I can help you with that, Luke."

"I want to do something for her and I thought that maybe you might have some ideas about what that something should be."

Rory is silent for a minute, trying to decide if she should be forward with him or let him come to the conclusion himself.

"You know what would make mom feel better," she finally says, hoping that he does know.

"Yes," he says. "A wedding. But I don't know the first thing about organizing one. I would definitely need her help with that, and no matter how much I hate to admit it, the help of her b.f.o.t.b. too," Luke chuckles.

"Huh?"

"Oh you should have been there the first time. Tons of magazines on the diner tables and any time I tried to give my opinion, Sookie was all over me claiming she was the b.f.o.t.b., meaning best friend of the bride," he explains.

He can hear Rory laughing from the other side of the phone before she says, "Okay then, the wedding is out of the question, but what about setting a date and surprising her with it?"

He considers it for a second before adding, "And maybe I can plan a wedding shower where I announce it to her."

Rory smiles "Good thinking. She likes parties and she would definitely like her own wedding shower. But first, you'll have to check the reservation book of the Dragonfly to find a date that is available. "



"Oh right, yeah, good thinking on that one. Umm can you deal with Michel because I don't think he would cooperate with me?"

"Yeah, I can do that." She agrees.

"And Rory? I could really need your help with planning this. I don't know if you can, what with Logan being in the hospital and finals coming up, but I would appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it, I'll help. I want to see mom happy again and you two finally getting married."

"Thanks, Rory. I'll check on some stuff and call you back to finalize the date and the specifics."

"Bye, Luke."

He hangs up the phone with a small smile tugging at his face. He finally feels in control of the situation again and he is confident that this time everything will go as planned.

tbc