Chapter 11: Homecoming

Lorelai dropped her shopping bags and collapsed dramatically next to Luke on their king-sized hotel bed.

"I can't move."

"Food or shopping killing you?"

"Both. But death from Frozen Hot Chocolate will wear off in a bit. The bank account is forever changed. The feet may never recover."

Lorelai sighed dramatically and rolled over, snuggling into Luke's side. As she began to lightly doze, she heard her Rory's ringtone go off in her purse. Immediately forgetting her exhaustion, full stomach, and sore feet, Lorelai lunged off the bed, dove for her purse, and grabbed her phone.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

"Everywhere. I'm not even kidding. I'm in Bridgeport and I have had the most insane twenty-four hours of my entire life."

"Bridgeport?! How are you in Bridgeport?!" Lorelai exclaimed. Luke sat up, equally intrigued, listening to Lorelai. "And I assume you know you are PUBLISHED ON THE NEW YORK TIMES WEBSITE!?"

"Aaahhh! YES! And that means you know too! Oh my god, this is the first time I've gotten to freak out over it with anyone. I've only had time to look at it twice! Mom, this is crazy. SO crazy."

"I know. I was dancing on the side of the road as we drove into the city. Literally dancing on the side of the road. With Luke! Mom called me, too. I guess she's become the head of the DAR chapter of the Rory Gilmore Fan Club because her phone was ringing off the hook all morning."

"Oh, man. I'll try to email most of the people that left me voicemails later, and I'll call Grandma and Grandpa after you. I still can't believe this."

"I can. You're amazing. But how did you get to Bridgeport? Last time I talked to you, you were on the bus on your way to Wyoming."

"Our offices are in Bridgeport, remember? After I submitted my article last night, they stayed up all night pitching it to a bunch of different publications. Remember Hugo's contact at the New York Times? AJ Abrams? He must've been tired of hearing my name and finally decided to give me a break. It's going to go live on a few other websites over the next few days, too. I didn't know any of that that till today, though! I was freaking out! I practically rewrote the whole thing after we talked…"

Lorelai hit the speakerphone button and held the phone between her and Luke as they listened to Rory recount the past 24 hours.

"... so I'm not sure what your timeframe is tomorrow, but I'm gonna hang out at the office for awhile, then head to Stars Hollow for dinner and stay for a few days."

"We were-" Luke started, forgetting he'd been silent up till now.

"Luke!? Hi! Of course you're there!"

"Heh, uh, yeah, hey Rory. Your Mom put you on speakerphone. We're gonna pick up April in the morning, grab breakfast, and head out after that, so we should be home before lunch. You want anything specific for dinner?"

"Uh, Luke's?" Rory replied, stating the obvious.

"Seriously? Haven't you had enough of diner food?" Luke frowned.

"Not the same thing at all. There is your food and there is what the rest of the country refers to as diner food."

"Me making dinner at home is still my food."

"Oh god, we covered this topic a long time ago," Lorelai interjected, rolling her eyes. "Rory, don't mind him. April said the same thing earlier today. Luke is just grumpy about it."

"I'm not grumpy. But if I'm spending my dinner at my place of business, all three of you are having salads with your burgers or you're not getting dessert," Luke grumbled, "Rory, I'll see you tomorrow. Congratulations again, I'm proud of you." And with that, he mouthed "grabbing a shower", stood, and walked over to the bathroom.

"Aw, I miss Luke. He's so funny. Salad with burgers. Ha ha."

Lorelai grinned, "I can't believe I get to see you tomorrow. I can't believe I get to see my New York Times published daughter tomorrow!"

"Website. New York Times website. We'll save the praise for the paper until I can figure out how to get my words in there."

"Whatever."

"You don't think April's gonna be upset I'm crashing in on her week, do you?"

"She called Luke today because she saw the article and was proudly informing her friends that the author is 'practically her sister', so no, I don't think she's going to be upset."

"And how are you doing?"

"I'm proud of you too."

"Uh-huh, and how are you doing knowing tomorrow starts April week?"

"Not much has changed since the last time you asked, Miss Nosy. I'm still a little nervous just because of the whole new dynamic, but I think Luke's worried about the same thing, being the only male and all. He said Paul Anka doesn't count."

"Yeah, probably not for this. At least I can offer my award winning Rory-buffer services for a few days." They laughed at that. "Hey, Mom, I still need to call Grandma and Grandpa back, and I should probably give Dad a call, too… and then I need some real sleep otherwise you're not going to enjoy me much tomorrow."

"Of course. At least I got the first call - hah!" Lorelai gloated before they said goodnight.

Lorelai plugged her phone in and placed it on the nightstand, then stared out the window overlooking the city for a few minutes. Someone in an office not far from where she stood now had made a decision about her daughter's career. She bounced on her heels a few times, feeling re-energized by Rory's call. No matter what tomorrow held, she'd get to hug her daughter. Her successful, brilliant daughter.

And in the meantime, she had booked a very nice hotel, with a very nice shower, in which stood a very nice man.

"Kristin, Maya, can you come sit on this?"

So far, April hadn't been able to get her luggage shut tight enough to even begin to attempt zipping it shut.

"Everyday physics at science camp! It's like third grade all over again," Maya joked, taking a seat on April's luggage. April laughed with her new friends as they helped each other throw enough weight behind their bags to zip them shut. They double-checked that they had each other's contact info one last time, and began dragging their heavy bags down the hall to the checkout table.

The camp had been amazing, and she'd been thrilled to stay for the advanced seminars the extra week, but April wasn't sad to see it end. She was too excited to be going back to Connecticut for a week before heading back home, and hadn't been able to think about much else the last few days. So much had changed since she'd been there last, and she was glad to hear her dad and Lorelai had reconciled. She and her aunt Liz had worried over how lonely he looked the last time she was in town.

April said an awkward goodbye to two more new friends - James and Brianna. They were from the New England area as well, which they'd bonded over. She liked Brianna well enough, but James… she was really going to miss James... or Jamie, as she'd taken to calling him.

She was still annoyed at her dad for not letting her take the train home with them. She would've even had the first stop as Jamie and Brianna both lived farther away in Massachusetts, so it wasn't like she would've been alone at any point. Riding her bike all the time between Woodbridge and Stars Hollow when she was younger was far more dangerous. Her mom had let her take the bus alone back home in New Mexico, this wasn't much different, just longer. Of course, despite that, her mom had been no use in this circumstance, siding with her dad - the worst of all scenarios.

As Jamie walked toward the doors of their hostel's lobby, Kristin poked April in the side, batting her eyelashes. April returned the poke, rolling her eyes. "We're just friends."

Kristin laughed, "That's why I've been letting you two partner up all week? So you could be just friends?"

April was saved by the line advancing. As she checked out, she spotted her dad and Lorelai near the door and waved, then motioned for them to wait there. No need for them to try and weave through the growing crowd in the small area when they had to leave anyway. She hugged her friends goodbye one last time, and quickly rushed over to her dad, nearly tackling him in a hug.

"You've grown again!" Luke announced in surprise.

"Barely another inch since the last time you saw me. Hi, Lorelai!" she grinned excitedly, hugging Lorelai as well. "Did you talk to Rory yet?"

"I did! Last night. She's actually in Bridgeport and will be joining us for a few days before she hits the trail again."

"Perfect!" April squealed. "I still have to wrap up two more books on my summer reading list for my honors literature class, and I wanted to run some stuff by her."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll love that. I don't think she's getting to do much thinking about books lately."

"Yeah, but what she's doing is really cool." April bounced excitedly as they started walking. She watched her dad grimace as he pulled her heavy luggage and apologized.

"What'd they do, hand out rocks? Good thing this has wheels."

"Not that kind of science camp. I've got six weeks worth of clothes and stuff in there. And my notebooks from classes. Lucky for you, most of the books are back here." She stuck a thumb out toward her backpack. "I wish they would've told us we were taking home so much. I would've brought an empty suitcase. I might need to ship some of this stuff back home to Mom so I don't have to deal with it on the plane, if that's okay."

"Makes sense. We can get you another suitcase if you need it, too," Luke offered. He put his free hand on the small of Lorelai's back as the two continued walking.

April hung back a little as she watched the couple proceed ahead of her. The sight of them finally together pleased her immensely. Her dad definitely looked happier, and it was nice to see him and Lorelai acting normal around each other. Luke shot a protective glance backward and paused so she could catch up. She rolled her eyes at him, getting the same eye roll back in response, and giggled. She'd really missed him. She couldn't understand how it was possible to go thirteen years without a dad, not even two years with one, and not be able to imagine life without him.

April spotted the green truck parked on the street and ran over to it, "Aw, good ol' Greenie. It's been awhile." She pulled her purse out of her backpack and flung the backpack into the bed of the truck before standing next to Lorelai in front of the passenger side door. She heard her dad grunt and mutter as he lifted her suitcase up. She grinned at Lorelai. "It's New York, what does he expect? A little duffle bag or something?"

Lorelai laughed, "I said the same thing to your dad yesterday." April looked at him, shaking her head, and saw a warm exchange between him and Lorelai. He didn't just look happier than he'd been the last time she'd seen him, he looked happier than she'd ever seen him.

The three settled into the truck, April in the middle. Luke stopped at their hotel to pick up their bags, then headed out of the city. April stole a glance to her right, noticing Lorelai's bare left ring finger. She frowned. She thought her dad said things were back on track. Everything seemed to be good. Figuring she'd have ample opportunity to sort this out, she put it in the back of her mind and began excitedly updating them on the last week of science camp.

"Staring out the window won't get her here any faster," Luke teased as he refilled Lorelai's coffee. She frowned up at him from their table in response.

"It should. She's taking too long."

Luke shook his head and turned to put the coffee pot back in its spot. Lorelai's eyes drifted around the diner as she attempted to distract herself. April was caught up explaining the brain's frontal lobe to Babette and Morey at their table. Lorelai still couldn't believe how much April had grown up even since the last time she'd seen her a few months prior. She was starting to remind her a lot of Rory at that age. Thinking of Rory again, she turned her head to resume staring out the window.

As she did, a black car pulled up, and Lorelai felt herself standing. She thought she heard Luke say something about her chair, but she was already running out the door. At the same time, Rory shot out of the backseat of the car like it was on fire, and both were suddenly hugging and yelling and giggling and jumping up and down in the street.

"You look so grown up!"

"Your hair is shorter!"

"You're pretty!"

"I got it from you!" Hearing a car door shut, Rory gasped, "Oh! John!" and pulled away for a moment as the driver unloaded Rory's bags from the trunk. "Just leave them by the curb for the moment. Thank you, SO much. Shoot, I still haven't gotten any cash out."

"That's okay, Rory, I told you, we're coworkers, you're not supposed to tip me," he said and winked.

"Oh, blah. Have a safe drive back, and apologize to your wife again for me for keeping you out so late to drive me all the way out here."

He laughed, "Really, it's my job, she's used to it. Have a good one, Rory. See you later!" He smiled at Lorelai before getting back into his car and driving off.

"You're fancy," Lorelai gestured to the departing car.

"I know!"

"I can't believe you're here."

"I can't believe I'm here!"

Lorelai grabbed Rory again, holding her tight, seemingly with no intention of letting go.

"Mom... you're not... crying, are you?"

"No," Lorelai sniffed.

The diner door dinged open, and Luke stood smiling at the two women.

"Hi, Luke!" Rory grinned, detaching from her mother to give Luke a hug. Rory immediately closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she stood in the doorway. "I MISSED that smell!"

"Well, sit down and I'll get you a cup." Luke chuckled, motioning to the table Lorelai had been sitting at. Rory only had a chance to put her purse down before realizing who else was in the diner.

"Morey! Babette! April!" Rory squealed, running over to exchange more hugs and hellos.

Luke looked back outside to see Lorelai smiling, watching the scene through the window, her eyes shining. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she turned to him, beaming, "She's home."

"She is. And you're still out here."

Lorelai tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and walked back over to the door, her arms pressed tightly around her body as if they were the only things preventing her from exploding into a million pieces. Luke rubbed her arm before moving past her out the door, "Go. Squeal more. I'm just gonna..." he motioned to Rory's bags by the curb and walked over to put them into the back of his truck.

Rory animatedly retold the story of being dashed back to the east coast and finding out she'd been published on the New York Times website, fielding questions from her small group about the experience.

Before she could launch into another tale from the road, Lorelai put her hand out, "Hold up. Food." She looked at Rory and April expectantly, "Food? Yes?"

Luke watched both girls suddenly realize they were starving at the same time and grabbed his order pad, "Lay it on me." Three cheeseburgers, a mix of plain and curly fries for the Gilmore women, curly fries for April, and an order of chili fries for the table.

Eventually, Morey and Babette headed home for the evening, Babette wasting no time in sharing her excitement over the blending of the Gilmore-Danes-Nardini group, and how lovely it was to see them all together. Luke made a slight effort to express his gratitude, but found that he longed for the past few months when people ignored his personal life to the point of outright avoidance.

Shortly after their departure, he left the kitchen to find Lorelai and the girls back at their table, laughing over the latest Stars Hollow news as told by Lorelai. He placed salads in front of each of them, and Rory looked at him in horror.

"Oh my god. You weren't kidding. Luke!"

"Rory, you've had a soup or salad course at your grandparents' every Friday night for how many years now? I've spent the last few weeks watching your mother eat it there without much complaint. I assume you did the same. And April, don't give me that look, this isn't unusual for you, especially."

"Uh, I complain. And I usually pick my way around the weird stuff," Lorelai objected.

"And, guess what? No weird stuff in this to pick your way around. And Rory needs the nutrients before she heads back out on the road."

"Rory needs more ranch dressing if she's going to eat this," Rory said, pouting.

Luke rolled his eyes, but relented. After leaving the entire bottle of ranch on their table, he returned to the kitchen to start on their dinner. Cesar offered to take over so he could sit down, but it was important to him to make sure Rory got her Luke's burger made by its namesake, at least tonight. He was also enjoying the idea of feeding what was very quickly feeling like his and Lorelai's family.

He didn't want to dwell too much on how much he was enjoying them all being together - they had so little time. But the glimpses into the future that he and Lorelai had talked about were on his mind - he could see the four of them, and maybe a fifth or sixth - sitting around a dinner table as they reunited throughout the year.

"Hey, don't burn 'em, daydreamer!" Cesar elbowed Luke, drawing his focus back to the three ground beef patties and one turkey patty in front of him. He quickly flipped them and reached for the cheese as Cesar turned around to send one of his newer waiters to the table with the plate of chili fries. Cesar had been under strict instructions not to prepare it until the salad plates came back empty. He wasn't sure which of the girls had sent back the plate with a sad face made of leftover ranch dressing, but he suspected Lorelai.

A few minutes later, Luke joined the table along with the burgers, and all four dove in hungrily. He almost choked on his turkey burger as he started laughing at the dreamy expressions on April and Rory's faces. He knew his food was decent, but that was a little dramatic. As they ate, he and Lorelai carried most of the conversation, as the girls were deeply enamored with their long-awaited burgers and fries.

After everyone had finished, he noticed Rory looking exhausted and suggested they head home. Naturally, Lorelai made sure that the pie he'd told Cesar to set aside earlier was not forgotten. Lacking space in the truck for all four of them, it was decided that the quickly fading Rory would drive home with Luke in the truck, while the other two walked.

Much as she'd tried to hide it, he knew Lorelai had been nervous about how things would be with April. The two found their stride early on, however, and just as he'd expected, they immediately bonded on the ride home from New York over trying to convince Luke that a Snickers bar was a relatively nutritious snack. He'd won that argument after getting April to admit that the excessive sugar content overrode any amount of protein the peanuts might provide.

Luke shut Rory's door and walked around to the driver's side. As he settled in, Rory looked over at him, giving him a serious expression. He'd seen that look less than a handful of times, and it always caused his heart to stop in his chest for a few seconds in fear of what she was going to say. He took his hand off the keys, waiting to start up the truck, and gave her his full attention.

"She's happy," was all Rory said, looking at him with familiar big blue eyes that never failed to hit him right in the heart.

"I made a promise to you a few months ago," he reminded her, "That promise never expires, Rory." He had asked Lorelai to bring Rory by for one final Luke's breakfast before her big journey to the campaign trail. As they were getting ready to head to the car, Rory had stopped and sent her mother ahead, pausing to talk to Luke alone.

She'd thanked him for the party, then hesitated as she glanced briefly at her mom, then looked back at Luke, concern written all over her face. "She'll be okay. More than okay," he'd told her, "I promise I'll make sure of that." She'd nodded, giving him a tight hug before quickly moving to the jeep.

"I appreciate that," she smiled genuinely at him, "Being away is amazing, but it's hard. I miss my best friend. So often, I think of what Mom would say if she were there. I miss having the option of driving for thirty minutes to reach her if one of us was having a bad day. I worried a lot at first, since she was holding a lot back until you guys started really working things out. But now… I… well, thank you. I know it's early, but I'm glad she's not alone."

Luke paused before replying, considering her last sentence carefully. It wasn't early. It was late. As they had been learning over and over, being together now brought the long history of their friendship and relationship along with it. Not just the bad, but the good, too. "Early? Do you think we're rushing into this too fast?"

Rory shook her head, "No. Absolutely not. There are times it's hard to believe that you spent any time apart at all. But I just don't want to be presumptuous."

"She was always there. Even when we weren't together."

"You were too. We could all see it."

The two were quiet for a moment and Luke reached for the keys to start the engine. Rory's hand stopped him, "Hey. One last question." He looked at her expectantly. "May I ask what your intentions are toward my mother?"

She was smiling, but Luke could see in her eyes that the question wasn't entirely in jest, and he was suddenly nervous again.

"Uh… we… I… um…" he faltered. He already knew the answer, but communicating it - to Rory especially - made him nervous.

"I mean, I know you have the ring."

Luke sat back and stared at her, completely giving up on any attempt to form a reply. His jaw felt like it was sitting somewhere on the floorboards of the car.

"She doesn't know, she just knows it's missing." Rory continued, "But I know that no one touched those boxes but me, and I know she didn't forget to put it in there. The only other person that's been with the boxes besides my mom and me... is you. So I have to assume you had a reason for grabbing it."

"Rory…" he hesitated again, deciding to stick to the story he told himself at the time, "I took the ring because I knew it would be weird for her to see it again and I didn't want her getting upset. I haven't decided yet… but, um,… we're still sorting through a lot. Your mom calls them ghosts-"

"Yeah, it's a regular old Halloween party back at the Crap Shack lately, I hear."

"Right. Well. We're doing good - with the ghosts and all - and I think we still need a little more time. This week is kind of a big deal to see how we handle stuff."

"Don't you think getting engaged again is going to come with its own ghosts anyway?"

"Oh, I'm sure of it. That's why I want to make sure we're ready to deal with that before we throw ourselves into it again. We're on the same page, and I want it to stay that way."

Rory nodded, "Okay, then. I know you're talking about it, which is good, surprise proposals seem to have a high failure rate among us." She paused. "I just needed to hear it from you."

Luke put his hand on her shoulder, "Rory. It'll happen when we're ready. And I think that will be sooner than later, but I don't have an exact timeframe yet. So to answer your question… I have very, very good intentions toward your mother. Of the permanent variety. And I refuse to let us get sidetracked this time."

"Well... good." Rory smiled and patted the hand on her shoulder, "Let's go home, then, before Mom and April beat us there."

Luke started the truck, marveling at how utterly odd it sounded to hear Rory referring to the same house he lived in as "home".

"I'm sorry Rory's not going to be very good company tonight," Lorelai apologized as she walked back downstairs with April after giving her a quick tour of the house. Rory, still trying to desperately catch up on sleep, had headed straight to bed while the rest of them stayed up a little longer to enjoy dessert. April had insisted Rory take the bed since she wouldn't be staying long, and had suffered through far worse sleeping situations than April had at camp.

"Oh, I'm tired, too. I was up early and it's been a pretty long day. I might stay up a little later and read, though. I have a little book lamp I brought with me to camp so I won't wake up Rory."

"She sleeps like the dead once she's out, so don't even worry about that," Lorelai smiled.

"Night Lorelai, night Dad." April waved to the man hovering a little awkwardly near the couch.

"Night, kiddo," he smiled.

April entered Rory's room and shut the door behind her. Paul Anka whined at her departure.

"What, you like her better? Traitor." Lorelai joked before turning to look at Luke, "Uh, you okay there?" Lorelai had seen him and Rory talking as she and April walked toward the house, and wasn't sure if his current state was due to whatever they'd discussed, or the newness of their daughters being at the house.

"Yep," he answered, apparently not inclined to share what was going through his mind.

"Well, okay. Good. I'm heading up. That last bit of pie put me in a food coma. See you in a bit?"

Luke nodded. He was still hovering uncomfortably; Lorelai decided to give him some time to sort out whatever he was thinking, and ascended the stairs to their bedroom.

She was just getting comfortable in bed when Luke finally walked in. She laid there watching him get ready, baffled at how slowly he was moving. When he ran out of things to do, he paused near the foot of the bed. Lorelai looked up at him, waiting for him to either crawl in bed or talk.

"Hey, uh. Isn't this a little weird?" Luke asked.

"This… going to bed? No. I'm tired. And I have to be at the inn in time for early checkouts and event prep, so-"

"No, I mean, they're down there and they know we're up here."

Lorelai sighed a little, "Luke. Both girls know we both live here. They kinda get that means we share a bed. I promise not to touch you, if it makes you feel any better."

"No, that's not… I... " he stopped and ran a hand through his hair.

"No one down there is thinking about what isn't happening in here right now, either," she sighed again, watching Luke still standing there awkwardly, making no move in any direction. "Look, if you're waiting for my permission to sleep on the couch, you have it."

"I don't want to sleep on the couch."

"You want me to sleep on the couch?"

"No." Luke moved closer to his side of the bed, but still made no effort toward crawling in. "What if they come up here?"

"Then they'll probably knock. Or they'll see you. Lying dead right there. Because I didn't get enough sleep. Because I was up all night telling my boyfriend that he's allowed to sleep in his bed. And then they'll interview April and she'll tell them all about how lack of sleep keeps your frontal lobe from working properly or something, and no one will be able to blame me. And then Rory-"

"I get it. You think I'm being ridiculous."

"Oh, no, not at all."

"Lorelai..."

"You realize that we've shared a bed in the same house as Rory before. And that she's even managed to sleep here with her own boyfriend without any issues."

"She what?! Which boyfriend?!"

"And the other one has mentioned, multiple times today, and barely twenty minutes ago, that she's glad we're together. No one thinks you go back to the diner to go to sleep at night." She paused, smirking over an old memory, "You know, the first time Max stayed here, I slept in Rory's room. So, to an extent, I get it."

"But this is different. We're nothing like you and Max. And I've slept here a million times before." Luke finally stopped long enough to think; Lorelai waited, letting his mind catch up to his words. "I am being ridiculous. But, maybe, just, at least…" he walked over and locked the bedroom door before finally crawling in bed.

"Oh my god. He made it in. Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause."

"Stop."

"G'night, roommate." She kissed him and rolled over, letting her thoughts drift. Remembering that she'd still wanted to talk to him before he'd gone awkward on her, she rolled back over, "What were you and Rory talking about so intensely on the way over here?"

Luke chuckled, "She asked what my intentions toward her mother were."

Lorelai was a little stunned, "No way. I told her a million times-"

"Yeah, but… she hasn't heard it from me. She's just looking out for you." Luke yawned as Lorelai flashed back to the time Rory warned Christopher to stay away. The kid could be extremely overprotective at times. Luke continued, in a hushed voice, "She's scary, though, when she's that serious. Like, Emily Gilmore scary."

"Guess we better watch ourselves then," Lorelai rolled back over and wondered whether or not to ask Rory about it. She felt Luke snuggle up behind her, relaxing his arm over her waist.

"Stop thinking about it," he whispered.

"This from the man who, not five minutes ago, was afraid to get in the same bed as me? Telling me not to overthink something?"

"Shhh. I'm tired. I have to get up and make breakfast before you leave for the Inn. And if I don't get enough sleep, you know, I can't be held responsible for my frontal lobe..."

Lorelai snorted. Too tired to fire back with a witty response, she listened to Paul Anka's soft snoring as she nodded off to sleep, herself.

Author's Notes: Hopefully this chapter paid off after all the setup in the last two chapters! I'm trying to find a balance between not overloading you with too many chapters at once, while also posting certain story arcs closer together so I don't leave ya hangin'. I'll try to sort out some semblance of a regular posting schedule now that we're starting to get into the thick of things. ;) (if any other fic authors have advice on posting frequency, please drop me a line and share your wisdom!). Thanks for reading, and for the flow of feedback! *mwah!*