The guy taking up space at one of the tables in the window was not a Stars Hollow regular. Probably he was just passing through, although strangely, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to move on. In fact, he'd been sitting there schmoozing for most of the afternoon.

Luke's mother would have called him a most charming young man. He'd gone out of his way to flirt with all of the women patronizing the diner on this dull January day. Miss Patty was clearly smitten and kept tossing her head his way coquettishly, her strident laugh echoing throughout the dining room every time he said something even slightly amusing. He'd joshed – there was really no other word for it – with Caesar, who'd returned to the kitchen beaming. He'd even tried to banter with Taylor Doose, and although Taylor refused to banter back, there was a trace of a smile on the old coot's face when he stepped up to the cash register to pay for his bowl of soup and cornbread muffin.

When one of the part-timers stopped at the table to refill his coffee, Luke caught the flash of his smile, the practiced twinkle in his eye. That was when it all clicked.

The next time the cup needed refilling, Luke made sure he was the one to take the pot around.

The guy gave him the same smile, but the twinkle was definitely muted. "Thanks," he said, continuing to ooze charm. "Great coffee!"

Luke sat the pot down on the table, a little heavier than what he meant to. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down his nose at the too-affable guy. "She's not here," he said bluntly.

At least he had the good grace to look embarrassed for a moment. "I know she's not here. She's in Barbados with Emily and Richard." He suddenly smiled at Luke as if the two of them shared a joke. "How do you think that trip's going, huh?"

"Since they added another week onto it, I'm guessing pretty well," Luke observed, refusing to be drawn in by the charm.

"But still, it's so bizarre! So abnormal!" He ran a finger around the cup's rim for a moment. "Lorelai's always made fun of the way her parents bolt for the Caribbean during the holidays instead of doing Christmas at home. And now she suddenly decides to join them?" Once again, he smiled at Luke, but quizzically this time. "Seriously, what's gotten into her?"

"She needed the break," Luke said with a shrug. "I'm glad they convinced her to take off for a while." Although truthfully, he didn't understand it either. Three weeks was a long time to be away from the Dragonfly, even though Tom and his crew weren't going to be doing much over the holidays. Three weeks was a long vacation from her job, plus it was an odd time to be away from friends. Previously he believed that twenty-one days was too long for her to go without his coffee, but apparently he was wrong about that, too.

Christopher glanced out of the window before turning back to Luke without the smile. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I'm not sure." He pulled out a chair and sat down, sensing that joining him at the table might make their conversation less of a spectacle. "Maybe something she said about you at one time or another made it sort of obvious who you were."

"But not nearly as obvious as having your name painted on the window." Chris pointed, good-naturedly, at the yellow letters on the outside of the glass.

Luke leaned back in the chair. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"

"Curiosity," Chris said flippantly, but then he sighed and lost some of the cheerful bluster he'd been employing up until then. "I'm worried about her," he admitted, dropping his voice.

Luke kept his face impassive. "Any special reason why?"

"Hmm, let me think." He drummed his fingers against the table. "She suddenly does an about-face regarding her career and life goals, sinks every bit of her money into a risky project, and abruptly moves to a small town where she knows no one." He stared at Luke, no longer smiling. "Oh, and she's obsessed with some guy running a diner. No red flags there at all, right?"

Irritation bubbled through him, but he managed to divert it temporarily by finding something they could agree on. "You're not the only one who was worried."

"Really?" Chris looked surprised. "Well, that's not reassuring at all," he muttered.

"I had the same concerns when she first dove into the Dragonfly. I was the one who pointed out that she didn't know anything about renovating or running an inn. I told her repeatedly that trying to start a business in a place where she knew no one and didn't even live was the height of stupidity. Plus, it's crazy to partner up with someone she just met, who already had one business failure on their watch."

"I bet she took that really well."

Luke grinned before he could stop it. "Yeah, not so much, but she's proving me wrong. Against all odds, she's doing it. The building contractor, who I thought hated people just on principle, would walk through fire for her, I think. Hell, the whole town loves her. Stars Hollow is now nothing more than one big pep rally for Lorelai Gilmore. I've had to turn in my skeptic card. She's convinced me that she's going to make this work."

"I guess that addresses all of the concerns except for the diner guy obsession," Chris said pointedly.

Strangely, Luke felt comfortable enough in his company to be upfront. "I'm pretty sure that's cooled off."

"Really?" Chris eyed him cynically. "Because that is not my impression at all."

Luke shrugged, trying not to let on how much thought he'd been devoting to that topic. "All I can tell you is that she now seems satisfied with us being friends."

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"No. And besides, fighting is what we do, in a friendly sort of way. No, this is more like she's stepped back. Reconsidered or something." Luke traced over a scratch on the tabletop with the tip of his finger. "I don't know what changed exactly, or why, but it definitely has."

Chris was still studying him. "You're OK with that?"

"Sure," he bluffed. He leaned back in the chair again and folded his arms across his chest. "My position from the get-go was that neither of us was in the right place to start anything new."

Christopher seemed amused. "So you're telling me that you're the only man on the planet who hasn't succumbed to Lorelai's charms?"

"I'm saying that there's a difference between acknowledging those charms and, um…succumbing."

"Where's the fun in that?" Christopher teased him.

"I think that being able to stay friends is better than having some 'fun,'" Luke said hotly, letting his irritation have free rein this time.

"Then you're a better man than I am," Chris said mildly. "Lor and I have managed to keep the friendship, no matter what else has happened between us, but truthfully, I can't resist her. If there's ever a chance with her, I'm going to take it."

"Is that why you're here?" Luke asked bluntly. He figured it was better to know the score and be prepared. "You're trying to get her back?"

"Not this time. Maybe the exception proves the rule." He sighed. "We finally took our shot. I thought that marrying her meant that I got all the Lorelai. You understand that, right? You know what a force of nature she is. I thought that being married to her meant that I'd have access to all of her spark. Instead, as soon as we made it legal, that spark disappeared. Instead of more Lorelai, there wasn't anything left for me at all. No reason to fight the divorce because it was so obvious the whole thing was a mistake."

Luke nodded, noting that Christopher's take on the marriage dovetailed with Lorelai's.

"As for why I'm here today…" He paused to reflect. "I'm here because I'm really concerned about her. I don't understand what's going on. For probably the first time in our lives, I feel completely shut out. I'm worried and I'm scared, and I can't get any answers out of her. This crazy trip with Emily and Richard was the last straw. I decided it was time to ignore her orders to stay away."

"She ordered you to stay away?"

"No, not exactly." He looked uncomfortable. "But I've been asking to come over here and see things for myself for months, and all she's done is shut the door in my face. She has a million reasons why I should wait and see the finished product. It's been pretty obvious that she doesn't want me here, which set off all sorts of alarms. I mean, what's going on here that she wants to hide?"

Luke shrugged at that. "Nothing that I know of. Business-wise, everything is on the up-and-up. Personally, she's made a lot of friends and the town has accepted her as one of their own. I can't think of anything she'd be ashamed about, or want to hide. She's even taken her parents out to see the Dragonfly, although she was nervous about their reaction. It all seems good to me."

Christopher glanced out the window. "I wondered if it had something to do with you. Maybe her concern was that I'd immediately challenge you to a duel out on the square or something."

"Is that going to happen?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah. Fencing was my least favorite class." He employed the charming smile again.

Looking him over, Luke figured his dislike of fencing was probably because the mask obscured his pretty face. And probably messed up his hair for the rest of the day.

"Anyway…" Chris folded his hands on the table. "Lorelai is one of the most important people in my life. She's got a special place in my heart, and I want her to stay there. I hate feeling that she's pushing me out of hers. I don't understand what's happened."

Luke hunched over, studying his own clasped hands. "She did mention once that you weren't on board with the whole inn thing. She said that all you did was laugh at her about it. It hurt her feelings, I think, knowing that you didn't believe in what she was trying to do."

Christopher's eyes widened. "Hey, we laugh at each other about a lot of things! Plus, you have to admit, Lorelai suddenly deciding to buy a tumbledown inn is pretty crazy. I really couldn't believe she was serious about it. I mean, come on! The whole thing is nuts!"

"But she wants to do it," Luke said soberly. "It's not nuts to her. To her, it makes perfect sense. To her, it's the most important thing she's ever done."

Chris looked down at the tabletop, frowning as he considered what Luke had just said. "So maybe if I was more supportive, she'd be more willing to let me in?"

"Sure. Couldn't hurt, right?"

"Maybe." He looked idly around the diner. "I'm just so worried about her," he admitted, the ingratiating smile faltering a bit. "I don't want to see her get hurt, or for her spirit to be destroyed. She's always been so strong, and I've always admired her for that strength. I don't want her to fail at some crazy thing and have that failure ruin her forever."

"None of us want that." Luke took a deep breath. "And in any case, she's not going to fail." Because I won't let that happen, he thought.

Christopher's smile flashed at him. "You sound confident."

"I am."

He sighed again. "I just wish I could see the place. It would be reassuring, to see that it does exist. To know that it's a real building that's going to be capable of housing real guests someday."

Luke was suddenly aware of a bulky set of keys residing in a pocket of his jeans. "I guess I could take you on out there, if you wanted to see the place."

Christopher's head shot up. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Uh, yeah." Luke was rapidly calculating the pros and cons of doing such a thing. "Lorelai asked me to go out and check on the building progress while she was gone. If you want to tag along, I really don't see what it would hurt."

"Man, that would be awesome!" He quickly extended his hand for a shake. "Thank you, Luke. You have no idea how much that would ease my worries. And if I'm reassured, then I can do a better job supporting her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Luke had a moment's hesitation, wondering if this was going to somehow blow up on him, but one look at Christopher's jubilant, trusting face tipped him back into confidence. He was sure that Lorelai wouldn't mind. All he was doing was helping to heal a rift between two old friends. Sort of the same way she'd helped him and Liz mend their relationship. It was a good thing. Wasn't it?

"Could we go now?"

"Pretty soon. I need to finish up some diner chores first."

"Great, great." Chris watched as Luke stood up and pushed in his chair. "Hey, buddy, I guess I've got one more favor to ask. Could you maybe not tell Lorelai about this?"

Luke snorted as he reached for the coffee pot. "Do I look like an idiot to you? No way I'm lying to Lorelai for you."

"No, no, I'm not asking you to lie. Just…maybe not tell her about any of it? I don't want her to think that I was sneaking around behind her back, because then she'd think that I didn't trust her, and was trying to do an end run around her to find out the truth for myself."

Luke stared at him. "But that is exactly what you did."

"No it's not. I came over to make sure that Lorelai was OK. I needed to know she wasn't in over her head. How can she believe that I'm on her side if she thinks I'm spying on her?" he demanded self-righteously.

"Look, I make no promises. Bottom line is, I'm not lying to Lorelai. If it comes up, I'm telling her what I know. If it doesn't come up…" Luke shrugged. "Then there's no reason for me to bring it up either."

Chris beamed at him. "That's all I ask."

"Then I guess we've got an understanding." Luke took a step back towards the counter. "Anything else you want while you're waiting?"

That charming smile popped back out. "A fresh cup of hot coffee would be nice."

"Yeah, just a minute," Luke grumbled. He tried to ignore the second thoughts already buzzing about his head.

A week later, Luke walked quickly into Doose's Market. He grabbed up a shopping basket and immediately threw a couple of loaves of bread into it. He'd advertised a BLT special for lunch that was proving more popular than what he'd expected. He sprinted to the condiment aisle and snatched up the biggest jar of mayonnaise available. Next a dash to the vegetable display for a head of lettuce and a couple of the anemic tomatoes everyone made do with during the winter.

The sad, pale tomatoes made him think of Lorelai. She'd been washed-out and puny before leaving on the trip with her parents. He hoped that being on a beach for a couple of weeks had restored her fearlessness, as well as the color in her cheeks. Her lack of vitality had worried him during most of December. Not to mention that something had felt off between them ever since the trip to see his sister.

Although he hoped that she'd been laying out on the beach, relaxing and regaining her spirit…that image also gave him plenty to stew about. He pictured her wearing the tiniest yellow bikini ever produced, laughing her pretty head off, a bottomless Long Island Iced Tea in her hand, and surrounded by a legion of perfectly coiffed pretty boys, like Christopher. He could even imagine Digger showing up, on the pretense of needing to do business with her father, and condescendingly dismissing the flock of Christophers. He could almost predict the way it would end, with Lorelai returning to Stars Hollow, the pink back in her cheeks, the happy back in her smile, giggling as she showed off a huge diamond on her ring finger to Patty and Babette and the rest of her fan club. How could I say no? He could practically hear her saying it.

To make matters worse, she still wasn't home, even though her return flight was supposedly yesterday. Depressed and gloomy, he reached into the refrigerated meat bin for several packages of bacon.

From out of nowhere, long fingers covered his eyes. Cinnamon and citrus scented the air. "Guess who!" she challenged him.

"Santa Claus," he said, his relief rendering him too scattered to come up with a better response.

She straightened up in a huff. "Santa Claus! Look, I know I may have added a few pounds on vacation, but there's no call to get nasty about it."

He turned to see her, already smiling. She looked healthy and relaxed. He could see the sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Shiny curls bounced from underneath her knitted hat. He reached out to pull her into a relieved hug of welcome.

She pivoted away, just far enough to be out of his range. She grabbed up a package of sausage patties, as if that's what she had meant to do all along, and threw them into her own shopping basket.

It hurt, knowing she didn't want him to touch her. But all the same, he kept the smile on his face and continued on. "You look great. Looks like you got some sun."

"Yeah, I definitely did. All these years, I made fun of my parents heading south at Christmas time, and it turns out they knew what they were doing after all."

"I was a little worried when I didn't see you yesterday," he admitted. "Weren't you supposed to be home yesterday?"

She tilted her head, studying him. "Keeping tabs on me?"

"Always better to know which way the tornado's coming," he responded, sounding cranky. "Besides, you're the one who kept sending me revised itineraries. Wasn't I supposed to be keeping tabs?"

She smiled then, but in a slightly patronizing way. "You didn't watch any news yesterday, did you?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"There was a huge snowstorm, Luke. Thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed. If my mother wasn't so good at bribing her travel agent, we'd probably still be bunking down in Atlanta."

"Oh. Yeah, you're right, I didn't…But you're all OK now?" He scowled, flustered.

She laughed at his discomfort, then made a show of pointing at herself. "Fine and dandy!"

The ingredients in his basket gave him a decent segue. "Want to come over to the diner for lunch? I'm making BLTs."

"Aww, too bad, I can't." She indicated her own basket. "I'm grabbing some supplies for home, then I need to make some calls and get reacclimated at work. See you at dinner?"

"Sure, see you then," he agreed, careful not to put too much of any emotion into his words.

Lorelai took a step away, but abruptly turned and came back to him. "I'm really glad I'm home," she announced breathlessly. For one brief moment, she wrapped her fingers around his hand holding the basket, squeezing tightly.

"I'm glad too," he told her in total sincerity.

She smiled, nodded, and stepped away again. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later," was what he said, but what he was wondering was how much longer he was going to have to walk this tightrope with her.

She did come to the diner for dinner, but it was a late one.

"Lorelai!" a couple of people shouted as she walked in.

"Hi," she said, giggling at the unexpected reception. She spent several minutes chatting about beaches and catching up on Stars Hollow news as she made her way to the counter.

"Obviously you've been missed," Luke said dryly, pouring her a cup of coffee without being asked.

"Yeah, that's nice, huh?" Her smile sparkled at him before she took a sip of her favorite beverage. "Oh," she moaned. "Have I missed you." She petted the coffee cup. "So, tell me some more news. What's the hot gossip?"

"If you're after gossip, you'd better go talk with your fan club." He motioned out at the other diners. "You know I don't keep track of that stuff."

Her eyes danced at him from over the coffee cup. "But yet it always ends up that you hear everything in here."

"Maybe I hear it, but my rule is don't repeat it."

"Where's the fun in that?" she demanded playfully, sounding just like Christopher. He looked at her sharply. "What?" she wondered, catching his pointed look.

"Nothing. What do you want to eat?"

She looked up at the specials board behind the counter. "Spaghetti and meatballs is fine with me."

"You got it," he replied, and went to fix her a plate…with an overly-generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, two extra meatballs, and an additional slice of garlic bread instead of a salad.

"You are pathetic," he grumbled to himself, beholding the plate of bribery in his hands.

By the time Lorelai finished her meal, all of the other diners were gone. She looked around as she wiped her mouth, confirming that fact.

She reached into a big canvas shopping bag by her side. "Now that we're alone, here's a little something for you. Part Christmas gift, part tacky vacation souvenir." She pushed a present his way.

The wrapping paper featured a sunbathing Santa at the beach. "Very appropriate," Luke commented, grinning.

She beamed back at him. "I thought so!"

He unwrapped the gift carefully.

"Good thing this isn't a timed event," she complained.

When he opened the box, he found a picture frame, made out of those translucent shells that reflected the light. Capiz, he thought they were called? They always made him think of angel wings. "Nice," he said. "Not tacky at all."

"Look at it closer," she urged him, with a gentle smile. "I don't think you've seen the real gift yet."

He didn't understand what she meant, but he did as she instructed anyway. That was when he realized the photo in the frame wasn't some generic print inserted by the manufacturer.

"How did you get this?" he wondered, staring at the picture.

"Liz emailed it to me."

He tore his gaze from the photo and looked at her instead. "She was really disappointed you weren't there at Christmas."

"I know, I hated missing it too, but…"

"You needed to get away."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I did," she said simply.

He looked back at the picture. "You missed a good day."

Lorelai turned the frame, so that she could see the picture, too. "This is such a fantastic shot, Luke. Did Liz take it?"

"Yeah."

Her smile turned mischievous. "I thought maybe it was T.J. It has all of the earmarks of a celebrated Etch-a-Sketch artist, you know."

"Or of a mother who really loves her little girl."

"And her brother," Lorelai added. "That's part of what makes it so special. Neither of you are aware of the picture being taken. You're just basking in the moment."

Luke tapped his finger against Doula. "Did you notice that everything you bought for her fits perfectly?"

"I did. I also noticed how she's mesmerized by her uncle. Look how fixated she is on you. She's definitely under your spell." A wistful sigh escaped her. "Liz was brilliant, taking this shot from over your shoulder. It's focused on Doula, but yet you're such a presence. The way you're holding her so lovingly. Your chiseled profile." She sighed again, purposefully this time. "Those to-die-for eyelashes."

Luke pulled a face. "Normally I'm not in the habit of decorating my place with my own picture, but thank you for this one. It's pretty special, and I'm going to enjoy seeing it every day."

She made a fist and lightly bumped her knuckles against his hand. "You're welcome."

He put his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor. "I'm really sorry I didn't get anything for you," he said, embarrassed.

"Not a problem," she insisted. "I'm the one who skipped out on Christmas this year."

"Well, I still feel like a jerk." He shook his head at his forgetfulness. "Are you going out to the Dragonfly tonight?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I'm planning on it."

"Want some company?"

"Love some company." Her bright smile confirmed it.

"Then you'll need these." He reached into his pocket and dropped the heavy ring of keys into her hand.

She spotted the difference immediately. "Luke!" She held up the ornate dragonfly on the new key ring. "This is gorgeous!"

Luke leaned his elbows on the counter. "It reminded me of the dragonflies on those old postcards of yours. Art nouveau, or deco, or whatever you said."

"Yes, exactly!" She was drinking in the details, running her finger over the turquoise and pearls set into the wings, the emerald stones that served as the insect's eyes. "Wherever did you find this?"

"Mrs. Kim's."

"You're kidding!" She laughed in disbelief.

"I spotted it that day you made me go over there with you. I went back later and bought it."

"You went to Mrs. Kim's on your own? You're braver than I am. That's why I made you go with me in the first place."

"I think she likes me, maybe? She knows I take good care of Lane. In any case, I didn't dawdle. I grabbed it, paid for it, and got out fast." Luke paused, briefly debating whether or not to say anything else. "I think she sort of gave me a warning about you, though, before I ran out."

"Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "Let's hear it."

"Something about dragonflies being flighty, and the possibility that women who like such flighty bugs might act the same way."

They were both quiet as they contemplated those words.

"Well, maybe I'll prove her wrong on that," Lorelai said, unperturbed. Her attention returned to the key ring. "I do love this, though. Thank you so much for being a liar and buying me a present anyway."

He made his hand into a fist and lightly bumped it against hers. "You're welcome."

"How much do you still have to do before we head over?"

"Let's go now. I'll clean up the kitchen when I get back."

"You're sure? That's not your usual operating method."

Luke shrugged, already reaching for his jacket. "I like to mix it up sometimes."

Lorelai laughed, and the knowledge that he could still make her laugh gave him some reassurance. "Yes, that's so you, Mr. Unpredictable. Let's go!"

Once they got there, Lorelai ran around like a five-year-old hopped up on sugar, getting more excited with every new item of construction she encountered. Luke stood back out of her way, smiling as he pictured a dragonfly dipping and swooping over a lake in some crazy pattern. The similarities were not lost on him.

"Oh, my God! They got the stained glass in!"

Emily Gilmore had found the small hexagonal window on one of her antiquing excursions. When she presented it to Lorelai and Sookie, she acted as if it made no difference to her if the girls wanted to use it or not, but when they flipped out over her find, Luke could see how pleased Lorelai's mother was to have her contribution appreciated.

Lorelai and Sookie decided to install the dragonfly window in the wall separating the entry from the dining room. Tom had trusted no one but himself to set it in place.

Seeing it framed so beautifully in the wall, Lorelai was almost beside herself in joy. "Pretty, pretty, pretty! Oh, I'm so glad we decided to put it here!" She was bouncing up and down on her toes.

"It does look nice," Luke agreed. "Tom knows his stuff."

"He does! Luke, look how amazing it looks! Doesn't it just change the feel of the whole place?"

"Yeah, it's great." The artsy glass was attractive, but he was ready to move on to something else.

Lorelai was still clasping her hands together and practically swooning over the placement of the stained glass. "So what did Chris think when he saw it?"

"Nah, this wasn't in yet when he was –" Caught, Luke stopped talking. "How'd you know?" he grumbled.

"He told me." She didn't sound especially mad. In fact, her voice had a deliberate, neutral quality to it.

"He told you?" He thrust his hands into his pockets and stomped around for a few steps. "But he said…" He cut off what was going to be a petulant, and ultimately self-serving complaint.

"Said what?" she wanted to know, sounding as if she already knew.

He rubbed a hand over his scowling face. "Never mind," he growled, but his irritation wouldn't let him keep silent. "Why did he tell you after making such an issue over it?"

"Because he tells me everything." She took one more look at the stained glass before turning his way. "I think the more relevant question is, were you going to tell me?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "I'm not sure."

"Well, at least that's honest." She looked around the area before she continued. "Why did you decide to bring him over here?"

"I don't know," he said, still angry at himself. "I guess because – he wasn't what I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought he'd be belligerent. Arrogant. But instead he was –" He floundered a bit, not knowing how to describe him.

"Charming, pleasant?"

"Yeah."

"Affable? Thoughtful?"

"That too."

"And he seemed so sincere, didn't he? You trusted him. He seemed so earnest. Sympathetic, even."

"Yes," he agreed, but more cautiously. "That's exactly the way it was."

She started to giggle. "Oh, Luke." She laughed harder. "Congrats! You met the real Christopher. He sucked you right in, didn't he?"

"I don't see what's so funny," he complained.

She tried to stop laughing, but couldn't. "No, it's not funny," she gasped out. "But it's just – so, so Christopher!" The uncontrollable laughter made her weak and she eventually dropped down to sit on the floor, hanging her head between her knees as she fought the hysterical giggles escaping from her. "Oh, Luke," she said again, wiping her eyes.

"Not funny," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, it kinda is." She drew in a breath and swallowed down the last of her chortles. "'In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.'" She looked at him as solemnly as she could. "That's Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey."

"Harvey? You mean the old movie with the imaginary rabbit?"

"Well, he's a pooka, but yes, that's the one." She arranged her legs Indian style, trying to get comfortable. "I always thought that quote matched Chris to a 'T.' At some point in his early years, Chris looked in a mirror and realized he was never going to be the smartest guy in the room. However, he was smart enough to recognize his strengths. He was born to be pleasant. He can be the most charming, the most amusing person you've ever met. The charisma, the affability, the big smile – he understands that employing those assets gets everyone on his side. He does pleasant like nobody else, and that means everyone in the universe gladly does his bidding. It's his secret weapon."

Luke shook his head at his own gullibility. "So you're saying he used me."

"Honey, he uses everybody, but that doesn't mean he didn't genuinely like you."

"Well, doesn't that make me feel better," he scoffed. He plunked down on the stairs. "It helps so much to know I'm not the only one he's conned."

Lorelai regarded him, tilting her head. "So what was the con?"

"What?" He was stewing so much over his misguided good deed that he couldn't follow her question.

"How did he con you? What was his angle?"

That got him out of his own head and made him reconsider the interaction with Christopher. "The truth is…I guess he didn't actually deceive me. He cares about you a lot, Lorelai, and he was worried that you were in over your head, or that something sinister was going on with this Dragonfly deal, and you weren't able to get out of it –"

"Sinister?" she interrupted, grinning. "Here? In Stars Hollow?"

Luke refused to laugh along. "That was part of the problem. He doesn't know Stars Hollow, and he felt shut out by you. Excluded. He didn't know what was going on, and you weren't keen to fill him in. He was hurt, I think, that you didn't want to share this with him. And above all, I think he was just…missing you." He caught her eye. "And on that point…I could relate."

He could see her absorbing what he'd said. Eventually she nodded her head. "Well, as long as you promise not to lie to me ever again, I think we're good."

"Hey, I did not lie to you!" he stated emphatically. "That was the first thing I told him when he asked me to keep his visit quiet. I told him I wasn't ever going to lie to you."

"Are you sure this wasn't basically lying by omission?" she challenged him.

Luke thought back to what Christopher had asked of him, that day in the diner. "He didn't want it to look like he didn't trust you. He was worried you'd conclude he was sneaking around behind your back, and that would just make matters worse."

"But that's exactly what he was doing!"

Luke nodded vigorously. "I told him that, too!"

Lorelai bit her lips together, trying not to start laughing again. "How about this? You agree not to keep anything from me, ever. If something happens that you know I should know about, you tell me. Pretty simple rule, right? Easy to follow?"

"It won't happen again," he promised. He rubbed his hands on his knees. "It shouldn't have happened this time, either, no matter how pleasantly and charmingly it was presented."

"Sounds good." Lorelai got to her feet and dusted off the seat of her jeans. "I want to go upstairs now and see what progress they made up there. You've got the super jumbo flashlight?"

Luke stood up on the stairs, blocking her path. "There's something you should probably know, first."

"Yeah?"

"There are no doors."

"What do you mean, there are no doors? Why are there no doors?" she demanded, her voice getting sharper.

"Look, let's go on up, and I promise you, I will tell you every single thing I know about the doors." Steeling himself for rejection, he held his hand out to her.

For a blink of an eye, she hesitated, but then took his hand firmly. "You leave out nothing," she warned him.

"I wouldn't dare," he assured her. He turned and flicked on the flashlight. "Now, watch your step."

Author's Chat: When I first sent the broad outline of this story to Eledgy, I added on something like 'Hmm, I guess Chris will have to show up at some point' and her response was basically 'Ugh! Please no Chris! I'm so sick of him!' I think I sort of promised I'd block him, but then the idea for this chapter nestled into my brain and I let Chris come for a visit after all. Oh well, at least in this universe he doesn't seem to be as annoying, right? Plus I loved the idea of Lorelai stating the "One Simple Rule" that would have had so much impact in that other world. More on this in an upcoming chapter...

Thanks to all of you who rallied around me when my confidence faltered. Sometimes it feels like I shoot all of these words out into the ether and they just disappear. It's beyond lovely to know that you're out there reading, and that some of the words resonate with you. I owe you all big time! How does three more chapters and an epilogue sound?