Spring 1992 Luke is 26, turning 27 later in this chapter.

Rachel walked down into the diner with all her bags and equipment. When she got in front of Luke, she gave him the all-too-familiar smile and look. Luke could feel his insides twist. It's not that he was super surprised, this had happened many times before, but this time had just seemed different. They had been together for quite awhile this time, but so had they been last time. Luke sighed, and something in him snapped. He wasn't going to just be 'fine' this time. He was mad.

"Rachel, just go. Get out of here."

"Luke- please…."

"You have NO say in how I react. You can get up and leave ANY time you want, but you have no say in how I react to you leaving. Well this time I say, to hell with you. And this, relationship we've had for years is officially over this time." And with that, he left the diner before Rachel could. Luke was done; he vowed in his heart that Rachel would never hurt him again. They had been going out again for almost a year, and if she could leave after that, then he didn't want this relationship at all. He had had it. Luke was ranting and raving while he was pacing through the town. On-lookers were staring, and when Taylor saw that he walked out of the store and right up to Luke.

"Lucas! What are you doing? You are scaring the tourists." But Luke wasn't listening, he wasn't in the mood to listen to Taylor, or even yell back at Taylor. He wanted to rant, and get it all out of his system- Luke was hurt and this was how it was going to be dealt with. Then he suddenly realized who he needed to go see to feel better. Buddy always made him feel better, to help him get some perspective on life. Buddy was the closest he had to a father anymore, and he loved the man. He could help him through anything, and had on many occasions. Luke banged on the door until Maisey answered. The second that she saw Luke's face she called Buddy. She could tell that Luke was upset about something, and he needed to sit down and talk. When Buddy came into the room, he took Luke into the living room to talk.

"What's up Luke?" wanting to get to the point right away.

Looking at the ground, Luke decided to jump into everything right away, "Rachel left me again Bud. And this time- I'm just tired of it."

Buddy had been watching this girl come in and out of his life for years and didn't like it at all. Enough was wrong in Luke's life, this was something that he didn't need nor deserve. "Luke, she has left a lot…don't you think that it might be time to hold your own? Not let her back into your life? She hasn't exactly changed her behavior as much as she apologizes for every time that she comes back."

"No she hasn't. And I am done with her in and out."

"Luke, you need to let her go….if all she does is hurts you- and you haven't seen a change in her behavior- then let her go. For your own sake. You have been through so much, and Maisey and I just want to see you happy. The right girl will come along, and maybe it is Rachel- just not right now.

"I know." Luke said as he looked away with tears in his eyes. He really had cared about her, and tried every single time she came back to believe that maybe she would stick around. But he was tired of it. It really was time to move on. Luke had never really paid a huge amount of attention to girls. They loved him, but he never really had time for any of them. Maybe he should pay a little bit more attention. "Thanks Buddy." Luke said, and patted him on the back in a guy-type hug.

"You're welcome boy. Why don't you stay for dinner? We could spend some time together, haven't seen you much lately." Buddy answered thinking that maybe Luke needed to not be alone tonight.

"Thanks Buddy, I miss you guys. I think that I will stay." And they walked into the kitchen where Maisey was in deep conversation.

A couple of days later Luke was walking down the street, just thinking over things. He was in a nostalgic kind of mood, and enjoying it. Luke had written off Rachel. She was gone, and Luke felt a little relieved. She was gone; he wouldn't have to worry about her coming back, and not staying. Nope, it wasn't going to take up his time anymore. He was done. And as many times as he had said that before, this time, his heart believed it this time. Luke was ready to move on with his life now. Not that he had a huge life to get on to, but Luke never liked a big flashy life, that wasn't him. Quiet, down to earth, spending time good friends. That was all Luke really cared about. But Rachel was on his mind; not in a missing kind of way, but more in a looking back on where I was, kind of way. He tried to remember the day that he had met Rachel. He sure didn't know what trouble that relationship would be at that time. She left him so many times. Luke was amazed that he had let her back in his life so many times. But he had thought that they were in love, and that was probably what kept letting her back in. Luke was enjoying the sunshine, and being alone when he walked by a house that he always walked by, but noticed something different. The name on their mailbox hit something deep inside Luke, and surprised him. Greg and Louise Nardini's house. They had lived in town since Luke could remember and their daughter, her name slipping his mind at the moment, had been in Luke's class all of their elementary school days. Luke thought that he remembered that she had left to go to college and graduated, but apparently she was back in town. They were having a big coming home party for their daughter. He wanted to go inside, something in him wanted to see Anna. That was her name, Anna. But he felt stupid doing that, they didn't know each other anymore. He would just have to wait until he ran across her in town. Luke's step was slightly lighter after that, though maybe not enough for anyone to notice. But his heart was lighter also, and Rachel was not thought of again the rest of that day.

Luke hadn't needed to worry, in the tiny town of Stars Hollow, you ran into people. You had to work not to. And it wasn't long, until Luke needed ketchup and ran to Doosey's, and Anna happened to be there at the same time. Luke stopped for a minute to catch his breath. He had no idea what he was planning on saying to her.

"Anna!" Luke said, trying to sound surprised to see her after all these years. He hoped that she would remember him.

Anna turned around from the hotdog buns she was examining and look confused towards the person that had called out her name. She hadn't recognized the voice, but the face was the same as ever. "Luke!" she said, surprised at how glad she was to see him. "It has been a long time, what is going on with you?"

"Not much, just running the diner down the street."

"Yeah! My mom had told me that when your parents died. I knew that. So you're still in town huh?"

"Yup, still in town. I think I had heard that you went away to college?" Luke looked a little uncomfortable, not being good at keeping a dying conversation going.

"Yeah, I went away to college, at 18, after graduation, I just wanted out of this place, but now I just missed it. So I'm back, possibly for good."

"Wow, that's great, did you graduate from college?"

"Yeah, I did. Several years ago. I was in a relationship with a guy that lived in that area when I did. So I stayed there until……well now."

Luke got the idea. She was just out of a long-term relationship, and she was back. He would have to be careful with this. But, she wasn't in a relationship anymore. Somehow Luke knew that this would work out. She would be his next relationship. Luke was really excited that he was over Rachel enough to move on to someone new. You never know that you are over someone until you start liking someone else. They talked for awhile longer; a little uncomfortable, but both feeling like there was something worth getting to know each other for.