Story: Somewhere Only We Know

Rating: Teen

Chapter Title: So Tell Me When

Author's Note: Let's all celebrate that Luke and Lorelai are talking again! Yay!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, nor am I in any way affiliated with them. Chapter and story titles are taken from Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.

Rory squeezed Lorelai's hand as they walked down the streets of Stars Hollow.

"It will be okay, Mommy," she said in her little-girl voice, and Lorelai smiled faintly. "Are we going to see Daddy?" she asked, and she nodded.

"Yes. We're going to see Daddy."

"Yay! Daddy!" She clapped her mittened hands and bounced on the tips of her shoes. Lorelai pulled her coat closer around her and shivered. God. This was so weird. She was going to see the father of her daughter who didn't know his daughter, who still probably hated his daughter's mother, and who she hadn't spoken to for the past six years. Yet they were being civil, acting like adults. It was just so strange. It was like, all it had taken to get her to start acting twenty-two and not fifteen was to see the guy who had kept her in the past all these years.

They stopped outside the diner. Rory looked at her mother questioningly, and Lorelai stared inside the diner. Now what? Should they just waltz in? Should he come out? And what would they do?

Luke looked up and rolled his eyes when he saw them standing right outside the diner.

Is it okay to come in? she mouthed, and he gave her a confused expression.

What? He mouthed back. She pointed to her and Rory, and then to the diner, and then shrugged. He nodded and gestured for them to come in. She bit her lip and smiled a little at him, and then opened the door.

"You are just as absurd as you were when you were fourteen," he informed her as she and Rory sat at a small table. She tried to think of a snappy comeback, but all she could think of was, And you're just as sweet as you were when you were sixteen, but that seemed entirely inappropriate. So instead she shrugged off her coat and put Rory's on the back of her chair.

"And hello to you, too," she said, looking up at him as he passed them each a menu. "So, I have to ask, I'm sorry. Why exactly do you own a diner?" He sighed.

"It's a long story, don't feel like getting into it now." She frowned.

"Okay. Well..." she flipped through the menu. "Ooh."

"You wanna order?" he asked gruffly, adjusting his baseball cap. It was hilarious. He still wore his flannel shirts and baseball caps, as though he was still sixteen.

"Um…yeah. I'll have a…ooh! A cheeseburger with fries! And coffee." He stared at her for a moment and then rolled his eyes and wrote it down. "Rory, sweetie, what do you want?"

"I'll have the same thing," she said sweetly. Luke put his pad down on the table, hard.

"I'm not giving you coffee. I'm not giving her coffee."

"Oh, she doesn't want coffee. God. What kind of mother do you think I am?"

"The kind that lets her kid order a heart attack for lunch," he grumbled as he wrote down their orders and moved away. Lorelai exhaled.

"Daddy doesn't like cheeseburgers?" Rory asked, her eyes wide with dismay as if the world was coming to an end.

"It's okay," she said. "He likes tofu." Rory made a face. Lorelai's eyes drifted over to the counter, where Luke was passing plates, writing things down, putting money in the cash register. As if he did it every day. Which he did, but she never could have pictured him working in a diner. It was so…un-Luke. He looked up and caught her looking at him, and smiled just the tiniest bit. She blushed and looked away. "I'll be right back, Rory," she said, and stood, walking to the counter. "Hey."

"Hi…" he said warily, as if afraid of her. She could see why – after all, their blow out behind the diner had been just four days ago, and even though they had reached a sort of understanding, it was hard to tell where they lay now – what with him shooting her down when she tried to tell him what she felt, even if she had no plan to act on it – but he was right, she didn't really love him…God, you have got to stop dwelling on that, she told herself. She sat down on a bar stool and let out a slight squeal of surprise as, when she pushed against the counter, she went spinning around. He grabbed her arm to steady her, and she grinned sheepishly, and then sobered.

"So, how does this work?" she asked quietly so no one else would hear. He bent down to her level – a good five inches lower than him.

"How does what work?"

"I mean…are we supposed to be parents? Like, together?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you want to talk to Rory?"

"She seems busy." Lorelai looked over her shoulder to see Rory engaged in conversation with an awkward looking young man.

"Who is that?"

"That is Kirk."

"No!" she exclaimed. "You're kidding me. That's Kirk?"

"The one and only. So, uh…" he glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "How've you been?" She blinked, surprised.

"Well. Okay. That's how we're doing this."

"What?"

"Being…friends. God, how weird." If she had been an outsider, Lorelai would have found this amusing: she was speaking in utterly astounded yet comical tones, a smile playing in her eyes, and though she made the statement a bit of a joke, the words were true.

"What are you off about?"

"Never mind. You were asking?"

"How've you been?"

"Ah. I've been good. I work at the Independence Inn, the part-time day manager."

"Really? Never would have pegged you for that."

"Never would have pegged you for this."

"Fair enough."

"I'm sorry, I need to know – tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me why the hell you own a diner! I mean, it's great, it looks…great, but – you were going to go to college, weren't you? You were so excited about it." He sighed.

"Well. I got into Bennington and Northwestern - "

"Wow. Those were your top choices, right?" He grinned a little, and she figured he hadn't guessed that she'd remember that.

"Yeah. But…well, my dad died the January of my senior year." She stared at him, her mouth open.

"I – oh my god, Luke…I'm so sorry!" He shrugged.

"It's okay…I'm okay." She couldn't help but think, though, that if she had just waited until they were older, she would have known his dad was dead…and like he'd said – what fifteen and eighteen year olds could make it work? If she had only waited until she was eighteen, then – but, again, as Luke said, it was all in the past. "But so I turned his store into a diner, and…well, here we are."

"Well, you always did like to cook." He nodded.

"And…Rory? What's she like?" He was looking over her shoulder at the six-year old, whose cheeks were still red from the November chill, and was now looking around the diner with her big blue-grey eyes.

"She's perfect," she said honestly. "Smart as anything, happy, silly…" she looked up at him. "You know she has your eyes?" He nodded.

"I noticed. They're bigger than her face." She grinned, but then said, more seriously,

"I'm still confused, about what we do now. I mean…do you want this to be a weekly thing? Or do you want to work out some sort of custody arrangement, or do you want all of us to do stuff together, or what?"

"Weekly thing sounds good," he said. "I mean, it's not like we're divorced, and custody is for divorced people. And besides, I couldn't take her away from you." She was sure the relief in her eyes was apparent, even though she doubted he'd been serious. "Anyway."

"I should get back to the table," she said.

"Yeah. Okay." That went well. Surprisingly well, she thought as she sat down. In a few minutes two plates and a mug were set down in front of her and Rory.

"Enjoy your premature death," he told them, and they ignored him and dug in.

"This is good," Rory decided after eating half her cheeseburger. Lorelai took another sip of coffee.

"Yeah, I'll say. This is amazing coffee."

"Can I try?" Lorelai passed the cup to Rory, who took a long sip.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke demanded from across the room.

"Nothing!" she exclaimed innocently, taking the cup back. Rory rolled her eyes.

"He's silly," she declared.

"Yeah," Lorelai said softly, looking back over at him, and then quickly back to her food.

"That is good coffee, though."

"Seriously good."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Luke stood between them, staring at Rory's plate. "How the hell did she eat that entire thing? And all the fries! And the garnish!" He glared at Lorelai. "You helped her," he accused.

"I did no such thing. She takes after me. Massive appetite, no weight gained." He shook his head in disbelief and cleared away their plates. "More coffee, please?" He shot her a look of death.

"You give it to Rory, you die."

"I won't. But could I get it to go?" He looked at her suspiciously and then came back with a to-go cup. She looked at Rory.

"Sweetie, you wanna go ahead to the car? Mommy and Daddy have to talk about a few things."

"Okay." Rory happily pranced back to the car.

"Mommy…and…Daddy?" Luke asked in a pained voice.

"Oh, get over yourself, Luke you are so a Daddy." She walked to the counter and sat on a stool.

"So what exactly do Mommy and Daddy need to discuss?" She shrugged.

"I don't know. It's kinda fun…when Rory's here we're all adult, but now that she's gone we're like teenagers again. Don't you think?"

"Sure…"

"So, I told you how I've been. What about you? Other than your dad…"

"Well." He thought for a second. "The diner…and – oh, Liz had a kid. He's about Rory's age, I think."

"She was seventeen?"

"Must be something in the water."

"No, but…how've you been?" He shrugged.

"Fine. Better, lately." She blinked in surprise and smiled.

"Me, too." She sighed. "So, I've decided what we're going to do."

"And what's that?"

"Well, one's a you-and-Rory plan, and the other's a you-and-me plan. Don't freak out, it's nothing weird or anything. So, the you and Rory plan: what if I drop her off here a couple days a week after school? She could hang out. She really likes it here." He shrugged.

"Sounds good. But what's the you-and-me plan?" he asked warily. She rolled her eyes.

"See, I knew that's what you'd think. But it's a plan to keep us from killing each other, help us grow up, and to know each other as adults. Because don't, really. I don't know you as Luke, the twenty-four year old. I know you as Luke, the eighteen year old."

"Okay…"

"So, one night a week we have dinner."

"One night a week. Dinner. You. Me."

"And Rory. God, you must think I am insane."

"Okay."

"And." He looked up.

"And…?" she sighed.

"I want to go back to the woods." He exhaled, blowing the air out of his mouth like through a straw.

"Ah."

"You don't have to, I'm just saying…I miss it, you know? It was our…place. Besides, when was the last time you went?" He thought.

"When my dad died, I think."

"See? The last time I went was…January 1st, after…everything." He nodded. "So, I'm going to go. Not a lot, maybe not immediately…but I will, because I love it, and…yeah. Just telling you."

"Okay. So…should you go? You seem to have a tendency to leave Rory in the car." She smiled.

"Okay, I have a confession. You're going to hate me." He tensed a little.

"What…?"

"I have to work today and I usually don't have to on Saturdays but the other part-time day manager called in sick and I don't have a babysitter because the one I usually use decided to go cross country to stalk the Ramones on tour, and I really wanted to go with her but I couldn't leave the inn…well, I could, because technically I'm supposed to get a week off, but how much stalking can you do in a week, and what was I supposed to do with Rory without a nanny? Ironic, right?"

"I sense that you are getting off topic?"

"Yeah. But…so I don't have a nanny and I kind of relied on Rory's cuteness to get you to agree to watch her for a few hours…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" she pretended to cower.

"Sure," he said. She blinked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure, I'd like to. She can just…color or something, right?"

"Sure. Color. Thank you so much, Luke." She stood up to go get Rory, and then decided to go for it. "Hey. Luke." He looked up. "Happy 28th." She grinned at him and he grinned back – a small grin, but still, it wasn't a shun, wasn't shock that she mentioned it, wasn't anger. They were going to be okay, she was sure of it, she thought as she went to the Jeep. They hadn't come all this way for nothing. And they really were getting back on the friends-track, albeit a tad awkward occasionally.

"Come on, Rory," she said once she got in the car. "You're going to stay with Daddy for a little while, okay? So go back inside. Oh, here." She handed Rory the cup of coffee. "Just a few sips, I'm not getting you addicted just yet." Rory smiled and sipped it.

"I see you!" Luke shouted from the doorway.

"Man. That guy has eyes in the back of his baseball cap. Okay, well, run on inside. Bye, baby."

"Bye." Rory hopped happily out of the car and pranced into the diner, and Lorelai laughed at Luke's semi-terrified face. She had a feeling that even though he was older, he was really the same guy. He had the same sweet little shy smile that he tried to conceal, the same way that he looked at her…a mix of exasperation, amusement and…love? But now she couldn't tell if that love was love of friendship, or love of…love. And which did she want it to be? If it was the love of friendship…well, it'd be simpler. Stop all the complications that seemed to be arising, and they could go back to what they knew how to do – to be friends. They didn't know how to be more than friends, but…they did know how to love each other – to be in love with each other. But were they still?

The funny thing was, now that she thought about it, from the very start of their friendship, what she had with Luke had been so different from what she had with any other friends. True, he was a real friend, he really knew her, but…well, she was sure now that they had always loved each other, a mix of friendly love and romantic love, and they just hadn't been able to distinguish it. So when they had finally admitted it, it had felt so familiar.

The diner was fairly empty when she got back. Rory was sitting at the counter with her little legs swinging back and forth from the stool. She seemed to be in animated conversation with Luke.

"Sometimes," she was saying, "I can read like a book in two days. But if it's a really long one it takes three. Sometimes. And everyone in my class is jealous because I'm the only one who can read, but Mommy calls me a smartie, and she says that it's a good thing. I think it is too," she added.

"You…can read," Luke said incredulously. Lorelai laughed as she walked to the counter.

"Yes, Luke, your daughter reads."

"She's six!"

"And she reads."

"Wh – how – okay, then."

"Did you tell Luke what you're reading, sweetie?" she asked Rory.

"I'm reading Anne of Green Gables!" Rory announced. "It's really long and hard and I've been reading it for two weeks and I'm only on page 40 but it's really good!"

"I read Anne of Green Gables in fourth grade," Lorelai confided in Luke. She then helped Rory off the stool. "How'd it go?" she asked him, pulling Rory onto her lap on the stool.

"Good. She's very chatty."

"Well, she likes you." He smiled, pleased, she could tell.

"So…she'll come here after school this week?"

"Yeah. Definitely. Would you like that, Ror?" Rory nodded her head emphatically. "Then that's settled. C'mon, kiddo, let's go." Before she left, she looked back at Luke. "Pshh. We can so totally do this. We rock as parents." He grinned, and she waved goodbye before Rory pulled her out the door.