I don't own Gilmore girls, though if I did believe me when I say that this last Tuesday's episode would have come out MUCH differently.

Thanks for the reviews! I really really don't like Rachel, so it's hard to get excited about writing her. And now it's really hard to write a sweet Luke when he was such an IDIOT this Tuesday.

I still need help knowing when (like year-wise) Lorelai showed up at the diner….. Because I need to know when Rachel has to be gone for "good".

Chapter 7

A month later

After a couple of weeks of being constantly together, Luke felt like he was in love. This girl brought a new life to him, he didn't worry about his sister, and he didn't worry about anything! Rachel was special. Luke truly hoped that she was feeling the same way as him. The town was seeing a difference in their diner owner. He was 25 years old and normally very stuck in his routine, but they were seeing him break that- because of a new girl in town. She was making this change in him, and they were really happy for him. Luke was normally quite a loner, with a couple of friends he spent some time with sometimes, but Rachel was the first person that he had allowed himself to get attached to. The town had always worried about Luke, he was so grumpy, and unchangeable, and only 25! He should get out, and have more of a life then he had here. They all watched very closely to see if Rachel could break him out of his shell. And because it was Stars Hollow, they were not quiet about their 'watching' of Luke. They sat around in his diner more, and for longer periods of time, and they out right asked both of them what they were feeling for the other. Though Luke hated the town being in his business, the fact that he was happier then he had been in years, kept him for screaming too loudly at them. Or at least he did not yell quite as often.

Luke was happy. The old Luke was gone, and he was happy. He felt free and full of life. He slowly wanted to show her how deeply he was feeling for her. She might still be leaving, he tried to keep telling himself, but deep inside he knew that he was in too far to not be hurt by her leaving. If only he could make her stay. But, after a little time had passed, Luke's heart had him pretty convinced that she was staying. They were still spending all of their time together, and both seemed very happy.

One night when Luke was cooking for Rachel in his apartment, Luke's heart was so heavy with all of these thoughts that he wasn't concentrating on her.

"Luke, is something on your mind tonight?" Rachel finally asked, after another frustrating one-sided conversation.

"Geez, I'm sorry Rachel. My head- it's just…..I don't know." He stopped cutting up the carrots he was working on, and turned around to face her. "Rachel- what…what are we doing here?"

"Um, eating dinner Luke. We- don't have to…if you don't want to anymore…" honestly confused about what was wrong with Luke tonight.

"No, Rachel- I mean. I mean with us! We have been spending a lot of time together, and I guess I was just wondering if it meant anything to you." And then he felt really stupid, and somewhat embarrassed. And so he suddenly didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Never mind Rachel. I- don't know what is going on with me tonight…maybe we better end this…"

She got up, and walked towards Luke. "Luke, wait. Let's talk about this…" she started realizing that he must be pretty upset to bring it up. They didn't know each other very well- not well enough to talk about this. It just felt too intimate. But if this was where the conversation had gone, then she was going to go with it. "Um…we haven't known each other very long Luke. It's been a couple of weeks. What were you trying to say?"

But by then, Luke was too embarrassed by then. She didn't want to go there- he wasn't important enough to her yet to talk about this….and he felt stupid. "Rachel, no. It –it wasn't important, why don't we just leave it right here tonight. I'm tired, and have deliveries in the morning." At that he walked towards the bathroom, giving her no say in the matter. There was nothing that she could do except leave the house.

Rachel hadn't yet seen the grumpy side of Luke. She didn't know how she felt, but it was definitely something to think about. As she walked home, she couldn't help but think what could be up with Luke? What could have upset him so much to make him want to talk about our relationship?

The next day, Luke woke up feeling really heavy-hearted. He knew that he had made a mistake getting into dangerous ground last night. And then he had gotten all moody and ruined everything. Luke sighed, I have a lot to fix today, was all that he could think about as he got up out of his bed.

Pouring coffee for his customers, Luke looked up when he heard the bell above the door ring. When it was Rachel, Luke sighed with relief. She was giving them at least one chance to fix this. If she didn't want to fix it, then she would have just left, she had come here, to talk about last night. Luke was trying to convince himself of all of this, as she walked up to the counter. The whole diner was watching them- seeing that it was a very serious moment. Luke could visibly see the entire town lean in all at once to hear what was going to be said between the new lovebirds. Everyone wanted only happiness for their diner owner.

"Luke……" Rachel started. She had no idea what she was going to say, she just wanted to see if whatever came between them last night could be fixed.

"Rachel…..You know. I- I got worried last night." He said, looking down at the counter. "You are kind of important to me….and I wanted to know if I meant the same to you." He knew that he'd have to look up at her now. It wasn't fair not to, and he honestly wanted to know what she was thinking. His eyes were full of worry when they met hers. They stared at each other for a long moment, and then she spoke.

"Luke- I." she looked down and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. "I have never been good at relationships. I….I don't do commitment well. I wouldn't know where to begin!" she said, and she started tear up knowing how much she was hurting him. She really did care about him; she had just never been good at commitment. Didn't even really know what it looked like or how to get there in a relationship. "You know. I have done enough damage here." She said, teary-eyed. She looked at him, and then pointedly turned around and walked out of the diner. And out of his life. Before anyone could say anything, Luke turned and ran upstairs to the safety of his apartment.

For a couple of days, Luke watched for Rachel, in vain hopes that she wasn't really gone. She was the first on that he had given his heart to in a long time. The first girl he cared about. This hurt was deep.