Title: Mission: Find my Dad

Summary: Lorelai 'Rory' Leigh Gilmore-Danes is on a mission to look for her father. AU. java junkie, LukeRory father daughter scenes

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not ever. Sigh.

A/N: just incase any of you forget. The timeline in this story is different from the show so just go with it.

Chapter 7: Guilt Trips

"You should have warned us before you arrived Lorelai." Emily scolded her daughter at the dinner table as they ate.

"Well that defeats the purpose of a surprise, now doesn't it mother?" Lorelai smiled, giving a wink to her daughter and Paris who sat across from her.

"Still, it would have given us a chance to prepare for your arrival."

"That's ok mom, I can sleep in Paris and Rory's room."

"Nonsense, that's the girls' room. You may sleep in your old bedroom."

"Joy." Lorelai said dryly.

When Rory and Paris met up with Lorelai earlier, they had spent the entire evening in the mansion catching up. Although Rory was feeling a bit depressed about not being with her dad and friends. And you could just imagine Emily's reaction when she saw Lorleai. After dinner, the girls retired in Rory and Paris's room. While Paris sat in the desk reading a book, Lorelai was on Rory's bed with Rory talking to her.

"And, I got you this poncho, the one you wanted the last time we were in Madrid." Lorelai said, handing the poncho to Rory.

Rory put on a smile. "Thanks mom." she said halfheartedly.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked. "You don't like it?"

"I love it." she said, though her voice says the opposite.

"Honey are you ok? You've been acting weird lately since I came home."

"I'm fine." she assured. Then quickly asked, "So mom, when are you going back to work?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not going back to work."

"Why not? Don't you have to go back to New York for work?"

"I kept the two weeks as vacation." Lorelai explained. "Besides, now that I'm back, we can leave after father's day and spend the rest of my week off together. We can have a girls week."

Rory suddenly felt her heart drop. Paris looked at her with sympathy, also feeling sad that they may not be able to go back to Stars Hollow.

"Oh hey, I'm gonna go and get something from my bag I'll be back. I miss ya hun." she gave Rory a kiss on the forehead. Rory just gave her a halfhearted smile. Then Lorelai left the room.

"Well what now?" Paris asked, moving from the desk to Rory's bed.

"I don't know." Rory sighed.

"You know you could tell Lorelai."

"But what if she gets mad?"

"Do you think she will?"

"I don't know." she said honestly. "All I know is I don't want to stop seeing my dad. Or my cousin, or my aunt. I don't want to stop seeing Stars Hollow."

"Well maybe you don't have to." Paris said. "You could tell your mom."

Rory just shrugged. She was quiet for a moment, contemplating on what to do. Then she reached for her cell phone and dialed a number. Paris got off the bed and went back to the desk.

"Hello?" came the other line.

"Dad." Rory smiled.

"Rory hey!" the happiness in his voice evident. "How are you? Did you get home ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Sorry I didn't call you earlier. Mom wanted to spend time."

"That's ok I understand." Luke said. "So are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure."

Lorelai walked back to the room, remembering something to talk to her daughter about. She stopped just outside the half opened door, she peaked through the opened door, just discreet enough to not be seen. She saw her daughter on the bed, talking into the phone.

"I haven't talked to mom about this yet." Rory continued sadly. "I don't know if I should."

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"Well I'm afraid she wont let me see you again."

"You think she would do that?"

"I don't know." Rory said in a small voice. "She might get mad. But I just don't want to stop seeing you." Lorelai's curiosity increased. Who is her daughter talking to?

"I don't want to stop seeing you too." Luke said.

"I just want you to know," Rory started, "if ever we may not get to see each other again, I'm happy that I got to meet you. These few days were the happiest in my life. And I will never forget it." Lorelai now became worried. Did her daughter have a secret affair while in Hartford?

"Rory don't think like that."

"But still." Rory urged. "I'm happy that I got to meet you and spend time with you."

"Rory we will see each other again." Luke said. "If not tomorrow, then next week maybe, or the week after that. If you can't come to Stars Hollow, then I'll go to New York, I'll visit you, we can spend the day together."

"Really?" Rory smiled at the idea. Lorelai saw the smile and couldn't help but think that she's never seen her smile like that since she came home. "You'll come to New York for me?"

"Anything for you kid."

"Promise?"

"I promise. I'll even stay in a crappy hotel if I have to. Even in a five star hotel."

Rory's heart swelled. "I love you." Lorelai's eyes went wide at the revelation. What about Tristan? Was the thought that flashed in her mind.

"I love you too kid." reluctantly the two hung up.

Lorelai still stood there outside the door. Thoughts reeling in her mind. How could Rory cheat on Tristan? She must admit when the two started dating she was a little bit scared, even though she knew Tristan would treat Rory like a princess, the maternal side in her was still there, wanting to protect her baby from boys. She was also in the same position of dating your best friend since pre-school. She was afraid Tristan would be just like Christopher.

But unlike Christopher, Tristan treated Rory much better. And he wasn't about partying and getting drunk. All he cares about is Rory. He would never do anything to hurt her. And even though he's part of society, whenever he's around them, it's just as if he's a normal guy. Lorelai wouldn't even mind if the two got married, after college of course. But after hearing her daughter talk to somebody else, saying that she loves him, Lorelai got scared. She must get to the bottom of this.

"So what did he say?" Lorelai heard Paris ask from the desk.

"He said that if we wont be able to go to Stars Hollow, then he'll come to New York and visit me." Rory smiled.

"See, you'll still see him."

"Yeah but it wont be the same."

"Maybe you should tell your mom. you know, she has a right to know, specially when this life changing event that happened in your life, this affects her too."

"I know." Rory sighed. "And I will tell her."

"Good. Soon."

"I will."

Lorelai waited a few minutes until announcing herself. "Hey." she said, putting on a smile upon entering the room.

"Hey mom." Rory said, putting on a smile again, although this time it was genuine, after having a conversation with her dad.

"So Rory," Lorelai plopped onto her daughter's bed, sitting down, facing her. "You never told me anything about your adventure in Hartford."

"Oh." Rory suddenly became quiet.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Paris suddenly announced, standing up. She mouthed to Rory, 'tell her', then walked out of the room.

"I told you, we just cruised the city." Rory said, trying to sound casual.

"Ok." Lorelai felt hurt that her daughter was keeping secrets from her. "So hey, how's Tristan?"

"He's good." Rory smiled a bit.

"Yeah? You talk to him?"

"Yeah. I just talked to him last night."

"Oh? And what did you guys talk about?"

"Do you really want to know what your daughter is talking about with her boyfriend?"

"Well…" she said casually, "You know I'm living my love life vicariously through you. I'm having a dry spell here since you wont introduce me to that diner owner you said who makes the best coffee in the world and I should marry." she joked, but it worked for an excuse. Although this only made Rory even more guiltier. She looked at her mom, then thought of her dad, her family in Stars Hollow. She thought of what Paris said and thought it was best to just come right out.

"Mom, I have to tell you something." Rory started.

Lorelai pretended to be surprised. "Oh?"

"Yes. And before I say anything, you have to promise not to be mad."

"Why?"

"Just promise."

Lorelai sighed. "Ok."

Rory nodded and composed herself. "So, ok." she inhaled deeply and got off the bed then started pacing. "When I suggested on coming here, there was a motive behind it."

"What motive?"

"I wanted to look for my dad." she admitted. Lorelai's heart suddenly stopped. "I wanted to meet him. To know who he was and how he was doing."

"What?" Lorelai said barely audible.

"I figured, with you in Spain and grandma and grandpa too busy to entertain us, Paris and I could drive up to Stars Hollow and see if he's still there."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Lorelai stood up as well, stopping her daughter from pacing. "You went to Stars Hollow?" Rory looked up at her mother and nodded slowly and guiltily. Lorelai inhaled deeply. "Ok. So um…did you…did you find him?" her voice turned into a whisper, trying not to get too emotional talking about Luke.

Rory hesitated for a moment, then a smile curved into her lips and nodded. "Yes. I found him." Lorelai inhaled deeply again, not knowing how to feel. "He was there mom, same spot, same look. He still had his flannel and backwards baseball cap."

Lorelai chuckled slightly, trying to keep her tears at bay. "You're kidding."

"Nope." Rory chuckled too. "But he was there. And he owns a diner. The most popular eating establishments in Stars Hollow. And the coffee, amazing. The best coffee you will ever have."

"Whoa, whoa, wait." Lorelai stopped her daughter's enthusiasm. "Was Luke the one who you were talking about earlier? The owner of the diner, best coffee in the world, the one I should marry?"

Rory looked guilty again, but this time she was grinning. "Yes. But I only said that so I could see how many shades of red I can get from dad. By the way, 15."

Lorelai chuckled. "Wow." she breathed. "You called him dad."

Rory nodded again. "And oh my god, the town, it's so beautiful. It's exactly the same. From the pictures you showed me, exactly the same."

"Exactly the same?" Lorelai whispered.

"Yes. Except for the Hardware store. It's now dad's diner. And the inn, it's so beautiful. And Mia still owns it, and Sookie, she's the chef there. Oh, and Aunt Liz lives in Stars Hollow also, and she has a son. I have a cousin. His name is Jess and he's really cool. He loves music and books just as much as I do. We have the same collection. Except he loves Hemingway and I love Rand." she babbled.

"Whoa honey." Lorelai had to chuckle at her daughter's excitement. "Take a breather ok." Rory giggled. The two sat down on the bed calmly.

"I'm sorry for lying to you." she apologized. "I never wanted to. But I was scared you wouldn't let me see dad again."

"Honey I would never do that to you." Lorelai cleared. "Look, I'm sorry I kept your father from you for so long. It's my fault, but you should never think that way. I want you to have a relationship with your dad but I was scared, I guess. And I'm sorry for keeping you from him."

"It's ok mom." Rory said. "You had your reasons. And even though I don't understand any of them, I wont ask until you're ready to talk about it."

"And you shouldn't worry about me forbidding you from going to Stars Hollow again."

"I know." Rory said. "But you know, dad said that he would visit New York if he has to, just to see me. And he hates New York. Trust me, I've heard the rants."

Lorelai chuckled, remembering Luke's infamous rants. "Wait, was Luke the one you talked to earlier on the phone?"

"Yeah. How did you about that?"

"Eh, I heard you." she shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought you were cheating with Tristan."

"What?" Rory had to chuckle at the absurd idea.

"Well, can you blame me? You barely told me about your stay here and you're just telling a guy you love him."

"Yeah, I was telling my dad I love him."

"Well I didn't hear the dad part." Lorelai defended. "So, tell me more about Stars Hollow."

"Well, everyone you know is still there. Miss Patty, Babette, Andrew, Jackson, Taylor. Dad still lives in the house. And Kirk is the weirdest guy in town by far. He has a job in every store in Stars Hollow, I swear, there are hundreds of him in Stars Hollow. There wasn't a store, well except for dad's diner and the inn, that he doesn't work in. he is going to be so rich one of these days with all the money he's making."

Lorelai chuckled. "So, do they all know about you? And me? And Luke?"

"I don't think so. They have an idea, but never never confirmed. We never announced it. As far as I know, they all think it's a rumor." Rory said. "The only one's who know for sure is dad, aunt Liz, Jess, Mia, Sookie and Lane, mine and Paris's new best friend. She's friends with Jess too, but her parents are very hardcore. Religiously strict."

"Wow. And what about William, what did he say?" she anxiously wanted to know what her adoptive father thought about his granddaughter. She hoped he was happy at least. She knew he would. And she knew William would love Rory, just like she knew that Luke would love her as well.

Rory suddenly turned quiet. "Mom." she said in a quiet voice. "Grandpa Will died." her voice cracked slightly.

Lorelai suddenly couldn't breath. "No."

"He died around the time dad was in college, or supposed to be. It was cancer."

Lorelai shook her head. "No."

Rory suddenly felt like crying. "After he died, dad turned the hardware store into a diner."

"But why." Lorelai sounded as if she was going to sob.

"I don't know." Rory shrugged. "They still live in the house, well, mostly dad and Jess. Aunt Liz sleeps there from time to time but she has a boyfriend who's kind of living in with her in her apartment with her."

Lorelai sighed. "I miss him. Will was like a father to me."

"I know mom."

The next morning, after breakfast, the girls went straight to their room. Paris was on the desk writing, whereas Rory was on the bed reading. Lorelai walked in and saw the girls, who looked deflated.

"It this what you girls did when you stayed here?" Lorelai and incredulous.

"No." they mumbled back simultaneously, not looking up from what they're doing.

Lorelai frowned. She figured if she wasn't here now, they would have headed straight to Stars Hollow. She figured, from the way Rory and Paris talked about Stars Hollow, that they had spent their entire time there. She felt a pang of jealousy that the girls got the adventure of going back to the place she called home whereas she went to another country, another continent. Sure people may say she landed a dream vacation, but to Lorelai, a dream vacation for her is in Stars Hollow, with Luke.

"Hey." Lorelai said in a hyper voice, though the girls didn't look up still. "Do you guys want to go to Stars Hollow?"

This time, their heads snapped up at her.

"Are you serious?" Rory asked.

"Yeah!" she said in a duh tone. "I have a jeep, and even though the directions to there is a bit blurry to me, something tells me you guys can get there in your sleep."

"Really?!" the girls jumped up and hugged her.

"But wait," Rory pulled back. "You do know you're gonna have to see dad."

Lorelai sighed, but put on a smile. "I know. But I'm ready to talk to him. What I did was wrong and I want to apologize to him in person. And I don't want you guys to not see your friends again because of me, I've already done enough damage."

"Thank you mom." she hugged her mom tighter.

"I'm gonna go get my money stash." Paris said. "The bookstore's having a sale, and I already had Andrew save up books for us."

"Score! Jess is gonna hate us." Rory said. "Ooh! That reminds me, we're going into his room and pull a prank."

"Whoa prank?" Lorelai asked. "You two? Little Miss Angels?"

"Yeah, well, he shouldn't of had pushed us in the lake." Paris pointed.

"The lake?" Lorelai chuckled. "What are you guys gonna do?"

Rory gave out a mischievous smile. "We are gonna take all of his Hemingway-"

"If we can find them in that black hole of a room of his." Paris muttered, interrupting Rory.

"-and we are going to replace them with Ayn Rand. An author he's not fond of, though I don't see how."

"Ooh, evil."

Rory and Paris chuckled. "Come on Paris, let's go make a game plan." Rory pulled Paris over to the side and started to pull out all of their books that they'll be taking in order to prank Jess.

Lorelai just stood back and chuckled, watching the girls prepare for their trip to Stars Hollow. As she watched them get ready, it made Lorelai want to get ready herself, specially if she was going to face Luke, after almost 17 years of no contact with him. Even though she was scared as hell for this, she couldn't help but be excited to see Stars Hollow again, to see him again.

"All systems a go?" Lorelai joked as they strapped their seatbelts in Lorelai's jeep.

"Ready." Rory and Paris said.

"Head count."

The girls rolled their eyes. Lorelai always did this joke every time they went out together. Although it was amusing, today, they were just anxious to get to Stars Hollow.

"Paris."

"Rory."

With a grin, "And Squeegy Beckinheim.." Lorelai giggled. "Alright, and we're off." she backed out of the driveway and drove out of Hartford.

Rory was mostly the one who gave out directions to her mother, although she was just very excited to go back and wanted to get there fast. A few minutes later, Lorelai exited into Stars Hollow. Rory could barely contain her excitement. She directed Lorelai on how to get to the diner, although, as she drove, Lorelai could easily remember the place now. And she was so surprise to see everything still the same.

She parked across from the diner, her car facing towards the square. She was at awe at how beautiful the town still is. The gazebo was still there, the school, Doose's, the hardware store, now turned into a diner. She stared at the diner. The building still looks the same, except now, asides from the William Hardware sign, there was a Luke's sign on the side. And on the window, it was painted food.

"You ready?" Rory asked softly. She knew her mother would be a bit hesitant to go in the diner, specially since she would come face to face with her dad. Although, as much as she wanted to go inside, she wanted to give her mother this time to compose herself.

A few moments later, Lorelai nodded her head. The girls quickly unbuckled their seatbelts. Rory got out first, followed by Paris. When the door closed, that was when Lorelai unbuckled her seatbelt and got out. Rory stood by her mother's side, holding her hand in comfort. Paris stood next to Rory, then they started walking towards the diner.

When they entered the diner, fortunately, it was empty. It was already the midmorning lull. The girls scanned the diner but the only person they saw was Jess behind the counter, sitting down, reading a book. When Jess heard the bell ring, he looked up, wondering who would come in during a lull. He gave them a half smile when he saw Rory and Paris.

"Uncle Luke." he called, walking around the counter. "Hey cus." he smiled.

"Hey cus." Rory let go of her mother and gave her cousin a hug.

"The hair." he said pulling back carefully.

"Whatever Jessie." she smirked.

"I told you to never call me that!" Rory just giggled at him.

Lorelai smiled at them. So this was Jess. It amazed her how much he reminded her of William. Must be those Danes genes. Then they heard someone come out from the back.

"Jess what is it? Did you burn something?" Luke stopped upon seeing their customers. "Rory!" was the first thing he said, who also was the first person he saw.

"Dad!" Rory immediately ran towards him and gave him a hug. Luke hugged her back, so much that he lifted her from the ground. "I missed you!" she said, her voice muffled through his shoulder.

Luke chuckled. "You saw me yesterday."

Rory got on her feet again and pulled back slightly. "I know, but I didn't know if I was going to see you again!" she cried, then hugged him again tightly.

Luke couldn't help but smile. Then he looked up and noticed that Rory and Paris weren't alone. There stood next to Paris and Jess was the woman whom he's been in love with ever since he laid eyes on her. Lorelai stood there with tears in her eyes after seeing their interaction. They locked eyes for a moment, recognizing each other, familiarizing each other, thinking about their past and the wonderful thing they had. Then Rory pulled back, which broke the two adults contact.

"Hey, I'm hungry." Rory smiled.

"Hey, this is a diner."

Rory chuckled, giddy, seeing her dad again. Then she walked over to the counter and took a seat at a stool. Paris sat next to her. Lorelai slowly walked over and sat down on the other side of Rory. Jess and Luke walked back behind the counter.

"Coffee?" Jess asked.

"Jeez, how long was I gone that you forgot the answer?" Rory teased.

Jess rolled his eyes. He placed a cup in front each of them then poured them coffee.

"What do you want to eat?" Luke asked.

"My regular please." Rory smiled.

"Me too." Paris said.

Luke nodded and jotted down the order. then he looked over at Lorelai and quietly asked, "And you?"

"Um…" she cleared her throat. "Uh…" she looked over at the menu.

"Mom will have the same thing as me." Rory said. Lorelai glanced her a grateful smile.

"Ok." Luke jotted it down. "I'll be back with your food." then he placed a hand over Rory's. "Good to see you again kid."

Rory smiled brightly. "Love you daddy."

"Love you too kid." he leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then went into the kitchen. Lorelai almost burst out crying over at the interaction, but maintained herself due to the fact that there were people.

"So, what do you think?" Rory asked her mom after her dad was gone.

"Well…" Lorelai glanced around the diner. Even though so much has changed in the place, she could still feel the presence of William, and the hardware store, specially since all of the hardware stuff was still hanging on the wall. "I like it. Warm, cozy."

"I know, it's the best." Rory said. "Taste the coffee."

Rory anxiously watched her mother take a sip of her father's heavenly blended coffee. "Oh my god!" Lorelai mumbled. "This is like every good thing in the world all mixed into coffee."

"I told you!" Rory grinned. "Oh, Jess, this is my mom, Lorelai. Mom, this is Jessie, the hair queen of Connecticut, also known as my cousin."

"Hey!" Jess yelped.

"Well it's true!"

Lorelai chuckled. "Hi Jess. Nice to meet you."

"You too." he mumbled, still glaring at Rory. She just giggled back.

"I gotta tell ya, I cannot get enough of this coffee." Lorelai said, already drowning down her cup. Jess took the hint and refilled it.

They spent their entire morning in the diner. There were some tension going on between Lorelai and Luke, they never spoke a word to each other unless it was forced. It wasn't direct though. Although they took turns glancing at each other, just seeing the other again after all these years. If it wasn't for Rory trying to keep things light, the tension would just grow between the two adults. Instead of having a big blowout in front of the kids, they just watched them as they bantered.

"I got Cheap Trick." Jess went. "I listened to it last night. I was on the phone with Lane, I practically had to put the volume on high for her to hear, Babette's gnomes almost broke."

"You're kidding!" Rory squealed. "I want to listen to it."

"Rory, the bookstore." Paris reminded.

"Oh right. Let's go there first and then to Jess's." Rory turned to Lorelai. "Mom, can Paris and I go with Jess to the bookstore?"

"Sure honey." Lorelai said quietly.

"Ok, I'll see you later." she gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "See you later dad." she leaned over the counter and gave her dad a kiss on the cheek as well.

"Bye Lorelai, bye Luke." Paris waved.

"Later." Jess said. Then the three teens walked out of the diner.

It was then that Lorelai realized she was alone, with Luke

Yes, lame chapter. But go with it. Review Please.