His words shocked her, it was easy to see that. She seemed to stop breathing for a moment.

"What?" Rory asked with hopeful eyes, her gaze powerful and intense.

"It's negative," Lucas repeated.

She dropped her head into her hands. He watched as her shoulders shook, unsure of whether she was laughing or crying. He knelt down next to her and put a hand on each of her shoulders.

She looked back up at him with a watery smile, placing her hands on his forearms.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"I…I don't know," she spluttered. She gave a half-laugh, smiled at him, and said, "I…oh, thank god, I just…"

"It's okay if you're upset."

"I think I'm…everything…right now," she breathed, as if in awe at her own thoughts.

Lucas could only imagine what she was thinking, but he was happy for her. He kissed her forehead on impulse before he stood slowly, pulling her with him. He pried the box from her hands, threw both it and the test into the garbage, and gently tugged her toward the door.

"Where're we going?" she asked, tilting her head up to look at him.

"Let's just go home and lie down," he told her as they stepped out into the light of the day again. It was much softer, much kinder than the fluorescent lights in the store had been.

Her breathing was shallow, the way one's breathing got when something significant was happening. "That sounds better than you can possibly understand."

He smiled at her as he opened the door for her. "I think I get it."


Rory flopped onto Lucas' bed, utterly exhausted. He flopped next to her with a little less gusto. She automatically found herself cuddling into his strong arms, and sighed as she rested her head against the pillow, wearing a distant smile.

"What're you thinking, Gilmore?" he asked her.

"I'm happy," she said on an exhale. "I am. I wasn't ready for that."

"But?"

"Maybe it would have been okay," she sighed. "Maybe."

"Don't worry about it. One day, you'll have kids and it'll be the right timing. You'll still do as much crying, but they might be happier tears."

She giggled, letting her eyes close. She wasn't pregnant. She didn't have to worry anymore. She did feel a little upset, deep down. The thought of having a child, as much as it terrified her, didn't seem so hellish when she really thought about it. She'd come to believe Lucas' solemn words. She could be a good mom. But not now. Not yet.

Rory let her eyes close; amazed that she could feel sleepy yet again. It had been a draining day, that was for sure, but she'd spent so much time slumbering lately. Emotional exhaustion, Lorelai would say.

"Wanna hear something funny?" she murmured into the folds of Lucas' shirts.

"Funny ha-ha or funny strange?"

"The latter. Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't. What is it?"

"I always thought that if I had a baby, and it was a boy, I'd name him Lucas."

There was a pause before he asked, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. After Luke, my mom's fiancé. In my family, you get named after people, or for things, and I like that. I think it's a nice idea to pick a name for your kid that means something to you. And Luke, of all people, deserves that. He's been…he'd never admit it, but he's been my dad. He's always looked out for me and cared about how people treated me. He was proud of me when I needed someone to be, he gave me lots of coffee, and when I dropped out of Yale for a while, he reacted like a parent would. He cried at my high school graduation. He means a lot to me, but he's not…open. He's not the kind of person you say something like that to. But if I named my baby after him, then I could make sure that he knew." She smiled up at her new friend. Her hair fell in her face and Lucas brushed it away for her. Her smile grew. "Now I definitely have to name my baby boy Lucas."

"Why now?"

She felt the warmth of her blush in her cheeks but she didn't look away. "Because you've done a lot for me as well. You mean a lot to me, too."

She heard his sharp intake of breath. He obviously didn't know what she intended those words to mean. Honestly, she didn't know either. She'd just broken up with Logan, but she was so inexplicably attracted to Lucas. She wasn't carrying another man's child, so that certainly made things easier, but at the same time, Rory Gilmore didn't jump into things. She had once, with Logan. It had been scary and hard and she'd ended up hurt. But there had been moments when they'd been so in love that maybe, it was all worth it. She had definitely learned something. Sometimes you needed to make the leap and just find out. Rory eyed Lucas' lips. She ached to find out, but she was also scared. She hated to mess up friendships. When it came to relationships, her second high school boyfriend, Jess, had been her biggest loss in that way. Like Lucas, they'd had obvious attraction. Also like Lucas, they had been friends first, good enough friends to discuss nearly everything after their initial bonding over music and movies. She'd honestly been in love with Jess, and she'd been heartbroken when he left, but as the years went by, she realized that what she missed most was her friend.

Lucas was her rock and her saviour right now. The one friend she couldn't afford to lose.

She stopped her lustful inspection of his lips, ashamed of herself. She needed him too much. With a tormented sigh, she allowed her body to relax as she slowly gave into sleep.


When Rory was sound asleep for what seemed like the infinite time in the past forty-eight hours, Lucas cautiously loosened his hold on her and moved away. It was evening, getting dark outside, and he felt particularly broody.

Her earlier words haunted him, chased after him until he settled in front of his laptop. Even then, they still lingered in his mind. You mean a lot to me, too. Because he'd been there for her when she needed someone to care, someone not to judge. You mean a lot to me, too. Because she had a thing for him. Maybe. Sometimes, the way she looked at him…

The little blinking black line in his Word document mocked him mercilessly. You suck, it said. He exited the screen with an aggressive click of his mouse. He knew he did.

He considered instant messaging like it was a foreign phenomenon. If there was anything he needed, it was his best friend's advice.

He could just sign on, he figured. And if she was there, maybe they could talk.

There was no maybe about it. The moment he was online, his computer began to make those irritating beeping noises that indicated the receipt of messages.

HaleyJScott: What the hell?

HaleyJScott: Where have you BEEN? Are you okay? I've been so worried about you! Is everything alright? Karen said she talked to you and you seemed okay, but I really didn't know what to think because I can't really know what's going on with you unless I can see you. That's probably why you went so goddamn far away. Luke, Nathan's going crazy. Why have you been avoiding our calls?

HaleyJScott: Lucas Eugene Scott, you reply to me right now or I swear to god I will come down there and kill you.

Lucas shook his head fondly. Haley, the most intelligent person he knew, never bothered herself with cutesy text or IM lingo. Her correctly spelled, grammatical messages always made him smile.

HaleyJScott: LUKE!

LukeS: Hi, Haley.

HaleyJScott: Pick up the phone and CALL ME, you jerk.

He chuckled in spite of himself, picking up his cell phone and dialling the long distance number.

"Luke, look," Haley answered the phone, "I know you go through stuff and you get all intense…and gloomy and…you get really withdrawn, I know, but you can't just block me out like that. I need you to talk to me. I really do."

He felt bad when he heard the anguish in her voice, but he couldn't resist a practical joke. "Uh, Ms. James-Scott?" he asked, deepening his voice. "This is Peter, uh…Peterson with Illuminate Records…"

"Oh, um…God, I'm so sorry," she replied quickly flustered. "I really shouldn't answer the phone like that, just assuming stuff. It's just that I have this best friend who tries to play really stupid, immature jokes on me. I hate you."

"Nah, you love me," he replied casually, not entirely surprised that she'd figured him out.

"Yeah, I do, you idiot, and I'm worried about you." Her voice was earnest, pleading with him to be honest.

"I'm sorry, Haley, about all of it."

"Oh, Lucas, I know… wait, why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?" He asked her in his most innocent voice.

"All hushed and careful…" Haley gasped. "Lucas Scott, is there a girl in your room?"

"Haley," he groaned.

"Luke…" her playfulness died away only to be replaced by her maternal tone. "What're doing?"

For such a simple question, it was a loaded one. He took a moment to think about it. "I don't know," he finally confessed.

Haley was quiet for a minute. "That's okay," she finally said. "Just tell me what I can do to help, please."

"I need your advice."

"Good! Tell me everything."

"Don't be judgmental, Haley, please." He had been that person for Rory for days now. That supportive listener, a constant presence. He didn't mind it, he enjoyed it, even; it was just that he now needed someone to be there for him, too.

"I promise to try my hardest," she swore, and that was all he could ask of her.

"So that girl? Rory. She is in my room right now, asleep; everything's totally innocent, I swear. She just…needed a friend, and someone to take care of her."

"You two barely know each other," Haley inputted softly.

"We know enough."

She let his words sink in. "Go on."

"Well, we met, we flirted, I found out she had a boyfriend, she apologized for flirting…I thought that would be the end of the story. Then she shows up here, at my dorm room, a total mess because her boyfriend cheated on her, so I just took care of her."

"Always the good guy in the end."

"And then she thought she was pregnant, so I helped her through that, too. She's not pregnant, but of course she's still kind of in shock…so she's asleep right now. But before she fell asleep she said something to me and I just…don't know what to do with it."

"What was it?" Haley's voice was oh-so-gentle.

"She was rambling about how if she ever had a baby boy she always wanted to name him Lucas. It's her mother's fiancé's name, and he's been a dad to her, and he means a lot to her. She said he wasn't the type of person you could just say something like that to, so if she named her baby for him, he'd understand how important he was to her."

"Good reasoning," Haley commented when he paused, knowing that there was more.

"And then she said that now, after all of this, she'll definitely name her kid Lucas. I said why, and she said…You mean a lot to me, too."

"Oh," Haley said faintly.

He sighed. "This is where I need you to do the girl thing, Hales, and understand what she's thinking, and then tell me."

"As much as I would love to be able to, I can't read minds," she reminded him kindly. "It sounds like…you've been great to her, and she's thankful for that, and…like maybe she likes you."

"It's too soon."

"Oh, Luke. Sometimes there's no such thing as too soon. Remember me, your best friend? Fell in love with the bad boy super-quickly? Got married in high school?"

He laughed but said nothing.

"You really like her, huh?"

He hated that those words, while light and joyful, had a sense of mourning and pain hidden behind them. "I wish you could say that more cheerfully."

"Oh, Luke, I love you, but I love the girl whose heart you broke just as much."

"She broke my heart, too," he countered calmly, determined not to lose his cool. "Hales, don't I deserve this?"

"Lucas. Of course you do. I want you to be happy. I really do."

"Thanks, Haley."

"Listen. I know you think it's too soon, but maybe it's not. And I wish, with all my heart, that the boy I love and the girl I love could be together like they deserve. I've…been disappointed in both of you, Luke, in the past. I can admit that. But I always believed you would find your way back. That maybe you two could have forever, like Nathan and I. But," she sighed, "you've told me that that's not going to happen. And if it's not going to happen, then I want you to be happy. Does she…does Rory make you happy?"

Lucas stood and walked over to Rory, covering her with a blanket and studying her angelic face. "Yeah. She does."

"I can tell that she means something to you, too. I want it to work out for you, Luke. I do."

"Thank you." He shut of all the lights in the room, save more the lamp above his desk. He returned to his laptop. "Is Nathan really pissed?"

"I'll calm him down. Don't worry about that."

"Have you…talked to her? Have you seen her?"

"I can't, Luke," Haley said quietly, letting him know that she couldn't have that discussion with him. It was only fair, he knew.

"Okay," he said heavily. "So. How's that baby of yours?"

"Good," Haley laughed fondly. "Kicking like crazy."

"Jamie did, too, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. Hey, did he tell you about his big game?"

"No," Lucas laughed. "What's the deal there?"


When Rory woke up she felt disoriented and afraid. She recognized her surroundings fairly quickly. She was in Lucas' bed, as per usual. It was the middle of the night. Lucas was seated at his desk, staring at his laptop like it was his arch-nemesis.

She'd had one of the most realistic dreams of her life, and her eyes filled with tears as a sudden longing hit her. She wanted what she'd had in that imaginary world.

"Rory! We're home, babe!"

Rory's heart leapt and her eyes lit up. She stepped into the foyer just as her husband disappeared into his office just off of it, yelling something vague about one last work call.

"Yeah, yeah," she called after him playfully, and then scooped her child out of the stroller that sat there.

"Mama," he gurgled happily, beaming up at her.

"Hey, my beautiful baby boy," she cooed back, leaning in to brush her nose against his. "My baby boy…" she murmured, hit by a wave of love so forceful it practically hurt. She kissed his little forehead, his chubby cheeks, his tiny hands.

"Mommy!" another voice said from the doorway, demanding her attention. A little girl with coffee-coloured locks and distinctly blue eyes dropped her backpack unceremoniously.

Rory's eyes lit up once again as she opened her free arm to her daughter. "Hey, chickadee, how was school today?"

The little girl sank into her hug, clinging onto her. "Charlie Mattson stole my Oreos," she reported gravely.

"Aw, honey," Rory said sympathetically, aware of how much she sounded like her own mother in that moment. "I'm sorry."

"I hate him."

"Don't say that, sweetie. You know what I think?" She'd been making a special effort to form strong connections with her firstborn lately. Her daughter had adjusted fluidly to the birth of her now one-year-old brother, but when Rory sat her down to inform her of the impending birth of another sibling, she'd begun pouting.

"What do you think?"

"I think Charlie Mattson might like you."

"Ew, Mom, I hate Charlie Mattson."

Rory's husband rejoined them just as the baby started to whine, so she turned her attention to him. "Sorry, I know you hate it when I bring my work home - that's it for today, I promise," her husband said quickly, brushing his hand over her shoulder before he leaned down to swoop up his daughter. "Oh, my princess. That's what I like to hear!" he cried jovially as the little girl giggled delightedly. "Boys are stupid, right? You think like that for the next thirty years, okay?"

"Daddy, don't be silly."

"Yeah, don't be silly," Rory added teasingly without looking up, kissing her little boy's forehead. "How was Lucas today?" she asked, nodding toward the child she held without taking her eyes off of him.

"Oh, he was perfect. What about you? And you," he added, setting their daughter down and bending to drop a kiss on his wife's stomach.

Rory smiled, running her hand quickly through her husband's blonde hair. He straightened up, but just before she saw his face, everything went white.

And then she was back in Lucas' dorm room.

"Rory?" he was asking. "Rory, what is it?" He crossed the room to sit next to her.

"I…I had this dream." He reached out to wipe her tears away. She didn't even know she'd been crying. "And I had…kids. This little girl, she was so cute, and a baby boy – named Lucas – and God, he just…he was so perfect, he took my breath away. And, I was pregnant, and my husband…he was there, but I don't know who…" She trailed off as she looked into Lucas' eyes. It might have been you, she thought, and for a moment she couldn't breathe. She needed Lorelai to interpret this dream for her, very badly.

"It's okay if you're upset that you're not pregnant," he said soothingly. "I mean, you were so sure you were. It's okay if you got used to the idea. Or warmed up to it. It's okay if you're sad now."

She shrugged sadly. "I didn't think I was."

He shrugged, too. "Dreams are funny things."

"Yeah…they are. Do you think dreams mean something?"

"I don't know. At least on a shallow level. That makes sense, doesn't it? You're still upset about your breakup with Logan, and you miss the idea of having a family with him?"

Rory knew she was being childish, but she couldn't help making a face. "No, I don't like it. New analysis, please."

Lucas chuckled. "Sorry, not possible. Take it or leave it."

"Leave it," Rory replied firmly. "That's not how I want to feel." She rephrased: "That's not how I feel." She blew out her breath and looked around the room, searching for a clock. Lucas wordlessly pointed to the one next to her and she turned to see the time. "Four a.m. Why are you still awake?"

"Writer's block. Gives me insomnia."

"That sucks," she said sympathetically.

"Eh, it's alright. You get used to it, that's for sure. You should go back to sleep. What time's your first class tomorrow?"

"Class?" she asked blankly.

"Yeah," he said with a small smile. "I know it seems like it's been almost a year, but it's only been a weekend. Tomorrow's Monday."

"Oh." It definitely had felt like much longer. She'd fallen apart and gotten herself back together at least three times in one weekend. "Um…Monday. Eight. My first class is at eight."

"Better close your eyes then. If I wake you up at seven will that be enough time?"

She settled back down under the blankets. She was wary of drifting off again, worried that she might dream about her ideal far-off life again. "Yeah, that'll be fine. Lucas…I know this is getting redundant, but thank you."

"Go to sleep, Rory. That gives me three hours to figure out another way to say don't mention it."


Lucas didn't have a class until eleven fifteen, so he hovered outside of Rory's class to wait for her when it was over. Her face lit up when she saw him, and he inwardly chided himself when he realized he was getting all mushy at the thought.

"Hey, you," she greeted him with her pretty smile in place. "God, that was the most relaxing discussion class of my life." She gasped, "Aw, you brought coffee? You're too good to me."

He smiled back nervously. He wasn't exactly the bearer of bad news, but he wasn't sure how she was going to react to what he was going to say to her. "Yeah, well, I'm a little scared of the idea of you without your caffeine fix."

She took a long drink. "Mm. You should be."

"You have another class today?"

"No, Monday's my slow day. I get class over with in the morning and have the rest of the day to work or relax."

"You already have working or relaxing planned for today?"

She shook her head. "No. Why, you wanna do something?"

Yeah, make out, he thought, and then wanted to hit his head on a very hard wall. She looked happy, but he could tell that she was still feeling a little unsettled. Understandably. There'd been a few hours when she'd been certain she was going to be mom. Now she knew that wasn't true.

"Lucas?" she asked, quirking her eyebrows. "Do I even want to know what you were thinking about?"

He hit her arm lightly. "Just got lost for a minute. I have a class at eleven fifteen. Let's sit, okay? We need to talk."

Rory shot him a confused look as they sat down together on a stone bench. She took another big drink of coffee. "Are you breaking up with me?" she teased.

For a moment, he was filled with so much pride that he completely forgot that he'd intended to talk to her about something serious. He was proud of her, and how much strength she had, even if she didn't know it. He had a lot of respect for the fact that she could sit there, her hair elegantly styled, in a skirt and sweater, looking absolutely carefree. He was very proud that she could make a joke about breakups despite the one she'd just suffered through.

"Rory," he said seriously.

"Lucas."

He sighed. "You have to talk to Logan."

Her demeanour changed instantly. "No," she said stubbornly, her lower lip slipping into a pout. "Why?" she demanded harshly.

"He deserves to know."

Her hair whipped back and forth as she shook her head. "He cheated on me. What could I possibly owe him?"

"Rory." She knew the answers already. He wasn't going to get into all of it.

She huffed angrily. "If I was pregnant, then fine, he would deserve to know. But I'm not. So what exactly does he deserve?"

"I get that, Rory. I know it makes sense to you. But you need to let him know."

"Why?" she whined, looking at him with big, sad eyes.

"Don't give me that face," he groaned. "I know it doesn't seem like it to you, but I swear, Ror, you need to let him know. I've been the guy here before, and I know that you need to tell him. But if you keep looking at me like…that…then I'll give up and let you do what you want."

"I know that," she said softly.

"That your puppy face works wonders, or that you should tell your ex-boyfriend that you thought you were pregnant."

With the briefest flash of a devilish smile, she replied, "I meant the former. But really, I guess…both."

"I know it's hard. But I promise you, this is right."

He had her best interests at heart. This would only come back to hurt her more later on. And he understood – sort of – what it was like to be Logan. He had Logan's interests at heart, too, his awareness of the fact that his ex-girlfriend thought she was pregnant. And maybe, he had his own selfish interests at heart, too. If he ever got the girl, Rory's past with Logan would inevitably affect their relationship, but the secrecy of her pregnancy scare was not something they'd need hanging over their heads.

A/N: Fair is fair, people. I give you the resolution to a cliffhanger, you give me a review. I promise Rory/Logan interaction next chapter for those of you who've been longing for it...and the more reviews I get the more tempted I am to hand over the next chapter.