Chapter 10 Destroyed

Luke was staring out the window of the diner during the afternoon lull thinking about the father daughter dinner dance that was happening that weekend. The bells over the door chimed and a forty something man walked in the door. Luke sighed as he took in the stranger; New York executive trying to look casual in sports clothes that cost more than the suit Luke had cleaned for the dinner.

The man sat at one of the tables and Luke wandered over to take his order.

"What can I get you?" he asked.

"What's the specialty here?" the man smiled as Luke rolled his eyes.

"You want specialties head over to the Independence Inn. Sookie does specials, I do diner food. Burgers, patty melts, fries and coffee. Nothing special about it." Luke glared at the man who quickly found the menu very interesting.

"Uh, burger, rare; fries, coffee and cherry pie for desert," he ordered.

Luke wasn't sure why this guy was getting under his skin, but he couldn't help it. Something about him just was too irritating and he wasn't sure what was going on. "You want me to actually cook the thing or were you going for tartare?"

The man looked startled, "You can do tartare?"

Luke rolled his eyes again, "Did you not understand the word 'diner'? What you've already been served was sarcasm. Your burger'll be cooked and if you don't like it don't eat it."

Luke stalked into the kitchen still feeling that uneasy irritation towards this guy. He wasn't sure what set him off; he wasn't much older than Luke. Maybe it ticked him off because he looked so successful and reminded Luke that he wasn't going to do anything more with his life. Not that he wanted to, he liked his life and it'd recently gotten so amazing because he never thought a woman like Lorelai would want a guy like him.

In the middle of flipping the burger onto the bun it hit him. He'd seen this guy walking with Lorelai yesterday. She'd told him that Mia had a consultant from a large hotel group coming over to help her learn marketing strategies. What she failed to tell him was the guy was falling all over himself to get Lorelai to notice him. This Luke noticed on his own when he delivered her morning coffee.

As he plated the burger and fries his stomach clenched even more. What was he thinking? Lorelai needed a guy like mister New York out there, not some dinky diner owner, who couldn't ever imagine leaving the town in which he'd grown up.

The door opened again and he overheard another man talking to New York.

"Tom, Mia told me I'd find you here. Checking out the local flavor?" Luke heard the casual greeting and the smile in the other man's voice.

"Hey Mike! Donna told me you weren't coming down for this one. Is Mia considering selling after all?" Luke felt his heart clutch waiting for the answer.

"Nah, but after you gave me such glowing reports about her new manager I had to come down and see for myself." Luke dropped the plate he was holding realizing that they were talking about Lorelai. Oh God, what if they gave her a job in New York? Surely she'd go; big city, more money better schools for Rory.

He realized that he'd been in the kitchen far too long so he quickly put another burger on the grill and stepped out to take the new guy's order ignoring the noise he'd made as the plate dropped.

After he'd served the two he stood in the kitchen rehashing their conversation. They really were impressed with Lorelai, well who wouldn't be. The Mike fellow kept going on and on about how she'd be such an asset to their group. Mister New York was all set to offer her a job that day when Mike told him she needed to gain some experience. Luke leaned his forehead against the cool steel of the refrigerator and felt his heart clutch. He knew what he had to do.

Just then the bells rang out foretelling that Lorelai had entered. Pulling himself together he went out front.

"Hey Burger Boy! I have half an hour for lunch so let's make it snappy." She smiled up at him with such a look of love that it broke his heart to know he'd never see it again.

"Gotcha, death on a plate," he responded automatically as he turned back into the kitchen.

Lorelai watched his retreating back and wondered what was going on. He hadn't said anything to her and didn't even reach over for a kiss. She looked around to see who was there and there were a few tourists in the diner, so maybe he didn't want to do the PDA in front of them. She felt something was off but she couldn't quite place it. Caesar came out and brought her burger and fries. She was surprised but maybe Luke had something to do.

"Hey Caesar, is Luke doing ok?" she asked the cook.

He looked at her with surprise, "Yeah, Lorelai. As far as I know he's ok. Nothing happened today that I know of. Do you think he's not ok?"

Lorelai knew that to pursue this line of questioning would get the town talking so she shrugged, and nodded to the counter. "He didn't get me a cup of coffee."

Her smile didn't really reach her eyes but Caesar didn't know that as he smiled back at her. "Oh man, the boss is slippin!"

He reached under the counter and put her favorite mug in front of her filling it to the brim. Yeah, something was off and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He stayed in back all the time she had for lunch.

As she was getting ready to leave she called out, "Hey Luke I have to get back. I'll see you later tonight at the house."

Finally he popped out of the kitchen long enough to break her heart. "Oh, hey Lorelai. I forgot, I've got a guy comin' by with a real early delivery tomorrow. So I'll probably close up and just go up to bed. But tell Rory I'll pick her up at the house around seven Saturday."

Lorelai felt tears stinging her eyes. It was Wednesday afternoon. By Luke's statement she figured that he wasn't planning on seeing her Thursday or Friday evening and Saturday was the dance for Rory. "Uh, sure Luke I'll tell her. Well, I'll see you around sometime."

Luke felt his stomach roll over, but he had to be strong, it was for her own good after all. If she didn't have ties to Stars Hollow she was free to leave and follow her dream, right?

Lorelai fought back the tears all the way back to the inn. Mia was out for the afternoon and she really didn't want to talk about the situation. She thought back to the previous night when Luke was over and couldn't figure out what went wrong. She knew he was fine, better than fine actually. They'd stayed up watching old movies making out like teenagers.

Maybe that was it? He'd realized that her having a kid meant that they couldn't just follow through. But if that was the case why did he still want to take Rory to the dance?

All night she tossed and turned to try and figure out what she'd done to upset him. The next day Rory chatted as they went to the diner for breakfast. Once again the cook was out taking orders and the owner was not to be seen. Rory didn't seem to notice and Lorelai played it off as if nothing was amiss.

By Saturday Mia had noticed Lorelai's lack of verve and sat her manager down.

"What's going on child?" she gently chided. It was all that Lorelai could bear and the tears began to fall. She sobbed out her story and Mia clucked her tongue. It was too early in the year for William's death and she knew that Luke loved Lorelai and Rory. She was beside herself with worry. Why would the boy behave like such an idiot?

"Well, this is an important conversation that you need to have with Luke. Something's up and you need to get to the bottom of it," Mia said with conviction.

Lorelai swallowed and gave voice to the terror that had kept her up nights. "Mia, what if he doesn't want to be with me anymore?"

"Well, that's just silly. The boy is besotted with you and loves Rory. There has to be a reason, although knowing men it will make sense to only him." Mia smiled fondly at Lorelai who sighed deeply.

She'd get Rory off to the dance so as not to ruin her night, but after that all bets were off. Since it seemed that Luke was breaking up with her anyway, what did she have to lose?

That night Rory was chatty as she let Lorelai do her hair and take pictures. Luke barely walked in the door so Lorelai got only one picture of Rory and him. Lorelai sighed as they left realizing that this may be the last picture of Luke as part of her life.

As she waited for them to return she tried to figure out what she'd done to upset the relationship. Shaking her head she pulled out the outfits that had lost buttons, dropped hems and had small tears. For the next two hours she mended the articles hoping that she'd be able to fix their relationship as well.

Luke wasn't having any better of a time of it. For the past three days he'd work himself into the ground and sat up half the night unable to sleep. He missed her so much and it wasn't even official yet. Dancing with Rory as she chatted on oblivious to the pain he was going to cause her small family caused him to rethink his decision but only for a second. She needed to have a mother who was happy and fulfilled. He knew Lorelai couldn't be happy for long in Stars Hollow. Not when New York was just a shot away.

He smiled as he danced with Rory; she'd managed to actually learn a few steps and was really getting good. What would happen without him there to see that boys didn't take advantage of her?

Walking home in the dark he let his mind wander to what it would be like to have his own family. A thought he'd never let himself entertain before. He was so afraid that it would end in heartache and he'd been so close to letting Lorelai become the one he'd risk it for.

They walked up the darkened porch steps and he almost fell back when a voice came at them from the dark.

"Hey. How was the dance?" Lorelai's voice floated through the dark and Rory ran up to hug her.

"Oh, Mom it was the best! I actually danced and didn't step on Luke's toes once!" Lorelai hugged her daughter and smoothed the bangs from her face.

"That's great sweets why don't you get ready for bed? Luke and I need to discuss some things and then I'll talk to you in the morning, ok?" She kept her voice light and friendly hoping not to tip Rory off that there was anything amiss.

"OK." The preteen giggled and hugged her mom. Turning to Luke she hesitated for an instant and then gave him a quick hug as well. "Thanks Luke! I had so much fun and it was all because of you!"

Luke just nodded his heart was in his throat ever since he heard Lorelai's voice. As Rory shut the door Lorelai turned to face him.

"I haven't done anything Luke!" she started off and Luke took a step back.

"What?" he tried to regain his balance but Lorelai advanced.

"I've spent the better part of the past two days going over everything that happened between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon and I haven't done anything to deserve living in this ice castle!"

He could hear the tears in her voice even if he couldn't see them in her eyes and it broke his heart. "No, Lorelai! You haven't done anything I know. I've just been thinking and well, those guys that are here, they know how terrific you are and they want you to go there and I just want you to have that you know?" He felt the rant forming but Lorelai cut him short.

"What the Hell are you talking about? What guys?" she was ready to throttle him but she wasn't sure why yet.

Luke took a deep breath. ""Look Lorelai, you came to Stars Hollow when you were just 17. In six years or so Rory will be off to college and you'll be able to do whatever you want. You've dedicated your life to her and you haven't had a chance to see the world, to explore what's out there. Those guys that're here for Mia really think you're special and they want you to work for them. They'll give you opportunities that I'll never be able to offer you. They'll give you a great job in New York, and lots of money to send Rory to any school she'd want to go to. I don't want to hold you back and I know you'll resent me if you stay here. So I think that it's better that you and I put this on hold."

Luke wasn't sure why he was still talking. His mouth just kept spewing all these words out when his brain was screaming, 'No! Shut up, don't let her go!'

He almost missed her first words but he's pretty sure they rhymed with 'Few trucking midget!' But he was already trying to catch up with her so he didn't ask for clarification.

"By the time I was fifteen I'd been to every European country at least twice! I'd been to Hong Kong, Japan, Bombay, Korea and South Africa! I had voice lessons, dance lessons, music lessons, elocution lessons and riding lessons."

Trying to inject a bit of levity Luke muttered, "No cooking lessons."

"Shut up Burger Boy! I went to New York at least once a month; we attended symphonies, chamber music, plays, fashion shows and art shows. I can recite all the place settings for six different menus and how to use each one. I'm smart damn it!"

Luke felt her moving into his space and he tried to get a thought in. "I know you're smart Lorel…"

"No you apparently don't if you think I'm here because of ANY other reason than I want to be here! Somehow you've got it into your pea brain that I'm here because I can't be anywhere else. Damn it Luke I'm here because I chose Stars Hollow and I chose you! I love Stars Hollow and I love you. Up until three days ago I thought you loved me too." He heard her voice break on that last note and he reached for her.

"Lorelai I do love you! I want the best for you I just wanted to see you happy! Please! I'm so sorry! Tell me what I can do to fix this?" He tried to pull her to him but she struggled free. He heard the defeat in her voice.

"No, I really don't think you do Luke. If you really loved me you'd have seen that I was happy. I was happy here, I was happy with Rory and I was happy with you. But I think you were looking for a way out. I think you're the one not happy. So I'll give you the out you want and it's ok." He heard the defeat in her voice and he stepped up his game.

"God Lorelai no! I don't want to lose you! I thought that those other guys were better and more successful! Please, let me make it up to you. Don't hold it against me because I'm an idiot!" (oh, idiot, not midget got it.) Luke wished he could see her in the light but it was so damn dark he could only hear her breathing.

"I don't know Luke. I know you're saying all the right things now but let me have a few days to mull this over. I'm really concerned that you want an out. Let's both take some time to think this through and see where we are on oh, say Tuesday. OK?"

Luke felt his throat constricting. She was so calm and cool, she was going to break up with him. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He should have known that she wanted to be here, otherwise she'd have been gone. She was a smart talented gorgeous woman, why else would she be here? He had to let her know that he did want her.

"Lorelai, you can take all the time you want, but my feelings won't change. I love you! I only wanted what was best for you and what would make you happy. I'm so sorry I should have known that you were here because you wanted to be. Please forgive me!" He considered getting on his knees but she couldn't see him anyway. He heard the doorknob turning.

"I'll see you on Tuesday Luke. Make sure that you think about this relationship and if you really want it. Good-night Luke." He saw her silhouette move into the door and heard it gently click shut.

Man he was screwed! How stupid could he be? He had to figure out how to make her believe that he was not going to go away and that he still really loved her and wanted her. He stepped down the porch stairs trying to formulate what his next move would be.

On the other side of the door Lorelai listened to him descend the stairs and felt Rory come over to her. "Mom?"

"Yes sweets?" Lorelai looked at her with a small smile on her face. Rory looked confused.

"Did you break up with Luke tonight?"

Lorelai smiled softly, "No sweets, Luke was just being a stupid boy the past few days so he needs to realize what's important to him and that I'm not Rachel."

Lorelai looked at her daughter and realized that Luke wasn't going to get an out on this one. Rory loved him too much and she wasn't going to let her daughter's heart be broken.

"So he thinks you're Rachel?" Rory had the best time that night and now she wasn't sure what was going on.

"Rory, Mia said it best today, Luke did a really stupid thing, but he thought it made sense. Now he needs to realize that even if his reasoning makes sense to him, he needs to talk with me before he actually puts it into play." She ran her hands over her daughter's silky hair as Rory tried to process it. Finally she shook her head and sighed.

"Ok, so let me get this straight, we still like Luke?" Lorelai nodded her head.

"We still love Luke. Luke is the guy in our lives."

"Ok, so we still love Luke, but we're punishing Luke?" Rory was sorting it out when Lorelai laughed.

"No sweets, Luke is punishing Luke. We're making a point that he needs to talk to me just like he wants me to talk to him before jumping to conclusions. Everything will be well on its way to normal on Tuesday. OK?" she gathered Rory in her arms and led her back to her room. Rory sighed and nodded.

"Night Mom, I really had the best time." Lorelai smiled and nodded.

"Sweet dreams Rory. Everything is going to be wonderful." Lorelai went upstairs for the best night sleep that she'd had for three days.

Across town, the local diner owner wasn't fairing as well.

A/N I apologize for the absence. As I said before there was a family issue. My mom died this summer and I haven't been able to write. I'm getting a bit of my focus back, but I apologize for not being here. Let me know what you think, it's really a blessing when you do. Thanks for those who are still reading.