AN: Hi, dear readers! I want to thank all of you who reviewed, followed and faved this story. I'm flattered. Another big thank you as always to my brilliant beta Junienmomo, who yet again helped me a lot. After David Bowie had died, I felt the need to mention him in this chapter. Yes, the things Lorelai says are maybe a tiny bit autobiographical. With the fanfic writers being in a bit of a revival-induced hibernation, I hope we'll get to read some good stuff before we'll get new ASP-written canon. Read, enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen: Mastering the Labyrinth, Part I

Lorelai hurried up the stairs. Her heels were clicking faster than she thought she actually walked. She knew she was late, and she knew he hated that. She knocked on the frosted glass door, and didn't have to wait long before Luke opened it.

"I'm so sorry, Luke, I know I'm late. But if you knew the day I had, you'd be very forgiving. My mother came to the inn for the final flower and tablecloth meeting. Thank God for Sookie. She handled the food and the seating chart with her. So when I called Grayson's Emily changed her mind, so I had to hang up, we went back to discussing the colors she wants, Rory and I convinced her Grayson's was an awesome florist, that we didn't need to use her Hartford florist, and that white orchids went with everything anyway. After that I assured her we didn't need to paint the dining room. This woman is crazy, Luke. I'm talking Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted meets Big Edie in Grey Gardens", Lorelai rambled.

This entire time, she stood in front of Luke in the hallway, his angry face never disappearing once. Not even her exaggerations softened his furrowed brow. He stood there as if he was waiting for the secret password before he let her enter.

"What's the matter?", Lorelai asked carefully.

"Nothing, come on in", he said tight-lipped.

"Hmm, something smells real good in here. I thought we'd order from Al's?", she asked as she finally entered the apartment.

"Didn't feel like it. I made lasagna. You like lasagna, right?", Luke wanted to know, and went to the oven.

"Love. Luke, you didn't have to cook tonight. You cook all day every day. You deserve a break every now and then. And not cooking is probably the closest thing to a weekend at the spa in your world", Lorelai remarked when she sat down at the table, which was already set.

"I actually took the afternoon off, so I had to cook something tonight, or I would have forgotten how to do it at all", he said gruffly.

Lorelai didn't know he'd be so angry for her being late. It was only ten minutes, she had hurried and came straight from work. So she was silent, decided not to keep on blabbing, and give him space. If only her mouth had been in on that plan. As soon as the fork hit her tongue, her reflex was to moan because the lasagna was so damn good.

"Oh God, Luke. This is so good", she moaned.

"Eat your salad, too", he ordered as he chewed.

"I'll have it afterwards. The way my mother talked to me today, I feel very Vivian Ward. And she had a leaf of salad with her sorbet afterwards, you know", Lorelai tried to joke, but Luke ignored her.

Could he be really this mad at her for being late? Maybe he was very hungry. Lorelai was grumpy when she was hungry, so she thought it best if she let him eat in peace.

An hour later, she was done with the dishes while Luke started the video. They had eaten mostly in silence and afterwards Lorelai had insisted on doing the dishes, partly to appease him, partly because it was the one thing she liked to do.

"Where's Rory tonight?", he asked as he sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Out on a date."

"Really? So the Dean thing is over?", he asked curiously.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to take it slow, look around a bit. I guess that's what college is for. I wouldn't know, I had a four year old daughter when I was her age. So dating wasn't particularly high on my to-do list. What are we watching?"

"Labyrinth", he said blandly.

"Labyrinth, as in David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly dancing together at a Venetian masked ball?", Lorelai asked excitedly, almost jumping up and down on the couch.

Luke nodded.

"Oh Luke! You do know that you'll probably gonna hate the movie from beginning to end? I was so jealous of Jennifer Connelly when this movied first came out. She got to dance with David Bowie! This was the first time I left Rory alone after moving out of my parents' house. I was 18 and Mia insisted I went out on a date. First the lasagna, and now Labyrinth? Even though you could have picked Rocky, or Rambo, or whatever guy movie makes you happy?", she squealed.

Luke smiled a little to see her this happy.

"Has anyone ever told you you were like a lap dog on uppers sometimes?", Luke deadpanned.

"Believe me, my friend, if I weren't this happy about our little movie night, you'd go straight to the Bog of Eternal Stench for that comment. And FYI, I once was told I was like a sexy kitten", she shot back.

Luke felt his ears burn up, and he faced the TV.

An hour into the movie, she noticed how he kept slightly shaking his head. He rolled his eyes, and Lorelai knew he'd soon burst. When he exhaled audibly, yet again, she knew he'd start a rant any second. He had mocked David Bowie's lipstick, eye shadow, the bulge in his tights, his hair, and accent. She wondered what might come next.

"That's it! That is just sick! How old was he in that movie? Like forty? That's a year younger than me. And that girl is like thirteen, fourteen? That's illegal, Lorelai! This is just gross!", he almost yelled.

"Luke, he's the goblin king. He's way older than that. Their day has 26 hours. Besides, we haven't even gotten to the part where he tells her he loves her!"

"Are you saying that this is OK for you? Imagine Rory at age fourteen and some sick forty year old who stuffed a pair of socks in his boxers and wants to love her!"

"Honey, it's a movie, it's fantasy. Besides, I liked your rants way better with your white-haired friend up there on your balcony when you burst out laughing from time to time!"

"Very funny! So this is all OK for you? An old guy going for a teenager?"

"The movie's so much more! What is with you tonight? You can't be this angry because I showed up late!"

"I know you long enough to tell you the time we'd meet minus twenty minutes", he said more calmly.

"Then what is it?", Lorelai asked, losing her patience.

"It's nothing!", he shrugged.

"Come on, Luke? Do you need a phone in your hand? Should I face the wall so that you can tell me what's going on?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that when we talked on the phone over the summer, you were open and told me stuff. Stuff I never thought we'd ever talk about. But we did. So, what does it take for you to open up now? I wasn't kidding about the turning away part", Lorelai offered and paused the movie.

Luke closed his eyes for a moment, and faced her.

"I got my divorce papers today. And, I, uh, guess that it's official. I'm a divorced loser. While Nicole probably will be remarried in less than a year", he said sadly.

Wordlessly, Lorelai hugged her best friend. "That sucks."

"Yeah. I don't even know where to go from here."

"Preferably to the bathroom to brush your teeth before you go to bed", she joked.

"But what does it say about me? I mean I guess I have to go on dates sooner or later. Won't that scare women off?"

"What? No! It means you're able to commit to a relationship, but it didn't work out with this one person. At least you did get married."

"At least you had a kid."

"Nothing like a kid to scare off a potential boyfriend..."

"But Rory's an angel."

"It's not so much her personality, but her mere existence that scared 'em off."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. There are two kinds of guys out there. The ones who think you're easy because you got knocked up at 16, and the ones who leave skidmarks because they're driving away so fast."

"Where would I fit in?", he asked her directly.

Lorelai thought for a moment.

"Maybe there's three kinds of guys", she smiled benignly.

Luke chuckled.

"That's better", nodded Lorelai, adding, "Don't you think it was for the better to get the divorce?"

"Of course it was for the better. I shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. I don't know why I ever agreed to postpone the divorce", he admitted soberly.

"I think I know the answer. Instead of getting closure and trying something new, you went back to the comfortable. You're not the first person to do that. It's what Rory did with Dean. She totally idealized their time together. But I recall that time. They started having problems almost immediately after getting back together. Then Jess showed up and Dean distrusted her. But it took them almost a year to break up. So I honestly don't know which particular time slot she was so fond of", Lorelai explained.

"But Rory at least had a time to look back on that way. I don't know what time I would have recalled with Nicole. There was no time I particularly liked. At least not one that was worth getting back together for."

"But you told me once that you felt comfortable with her and had a feeling in your gut", she objected.

"Well, I guess I wasn't honest with you then", he declared with raised eyebrows.

"Why?", Lorelai almost whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from his, her heart racing.

"Lorelai, there has only been one woman besides Rachel where I felt comfortable. And I couldn't admit it then that it's you. But I can now", Luke told her and smiled.

"That's nice", Lorelai said shyly.

"Yeah, it is. How about you? Are you comfortable around me?", he asked gently.

"If I was any more comfortable around you, I'd be clipping my toenails right now", she joked.

Both smiled, and started laughing.

"So, you're not a fan of rekindling a relationship?", Luke asked and took a swig of his beer.

"Can't say that I am. It has just never worked for me. The problems are still there, the reason to break up still valid. Unless you're my parents, but they were married for almost 40 years, so I guess more things are forgivable."

"How are things coming along for the big party next week?", Luke wanted to know.

"The big things are all done, so unless Sookie screws up, everything should be fine. But I can't wait for it to be over. Maybe we should celebrate. The party's on Friday, but we could do a special movie night in Saturday", she suggested.

"Special? What do you have in mind?", he asked her.

"Maybe we could watch Casablanca again? Or finish Hardbodies? Ooh, I got it, we'll watch Cool Hand Luke! And we'll order Chinese!", Lorelai said excitedly.

"How is that different from all the other movie nights you're having?", he asked with raised eyebrows, delighted by her spirit.

"I'll spit the peanuts from the Kung Pao chicken into a napkin this time, and not back into the container?"

The day has finally come. Almost four weeks of planning, late night phone calls to decide which goes better with off-white table cloths, grilled green asparagus with lemon butter or turbot saltimbocca, and consultations on hair and the dresses lay behind Lorelai and the other Gilmore girls. With blissful exhaustion she stood next to her parents and smiled at Rory as Emily and Richard renewed their vows in the Dragonfly Inn library. Michel actually showed her why she rehired him, and made sure everything was done perfectly to please her mother. As the old newlyweds and the rest of the wedding party were being photographed, more tables were brought into the library and quickly set to match the other ones in the dining and living rooms.

Just as Lorelai followed Rory back into reception area, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Christopher standing by the fireplace with his mother.

"Did you know your dad's here?", Lorelai whispered into Rory's ear.

"No, where?", she asked and Lorelai pointed a finger in his general direction.

"What is Francine doing here? Straub died what, like six weeks ago?", Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, around that time. It's so strange to celebrate my grandfather today, when I haven't really known my other grandfather at all", Rory said sadly.

"I know sweets, but look at how much my dad loves you and how well you two get along. I think it makes up for a lot, don't you?", she asked and gently put both of her hands on Rory's shoulders.

"I guess. It's almost like that with Luke making up for dad."

"Maybe you should tell Luke that some time. He's pretty down from the divorce."

"You're right. Shall we go say hi to dad?", Rory asked her mother.

Lorelai nodded and they walked over to the living room.

"Lor, great party, great hotel!", Christopher said and hugged her.

Rory eyed him suspiciously. Again, he had picked her mother over her. Lorelai quickly slipped out of his embrace to give Francine her condolences while Rory greeted her father.

"Yeah, I talked to mom to convince her to come here today. I even offered to accompany her", he smiled broadly.

"You don't say!", Lorelai said in mock-astonishment.

"Where's the bar?", Christopher asked.

"It's right in there, off the dining room. Well, I need to find my mother for a second, excuse me, please", she said and went to the restrooms where she last saw Emily refresh her make-up.

With a sigh she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, mom. Did you invite Christopher?", she straight our asked Emily.

"Not directly. I invited Francine, out of respect, and thought she wouldn't come. But it would have been rude not to invite her. She called me on Tuesday to ask if it was too late to RSVP. Since Tweenie Halpern cancelled last minute, I told Francine there were two free spots. Then she asked if you or Rory were bringing anyone, and I said neither of you were in a relationship at the moment, but that I had offered to let you bring Lane and Luke. Why, is Christopher here? With Francine?", Emily asked with raised eyebrows.

Lorelai nodded. "You should have seen Rory's face. He hugged me like he didn't come here sober, and asked me where the bar was. I knew losing his father would be hard on him, but why would be come here if he didn't feel up for it?"

"Maybe Francine pushed him", Emily speculated.

"I don't think so, mom. I think it was the other way round..."

"Let me get done here, then I'll be right out to see for myself", she said.

As if having Christopher follow her all night hasn't been enough, Lorelai was again surprised, when Jason showed up after their seven course dinner. She grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and dragged him to the reception desk.

"Jason, what are you doing here?", she asked him visibly annoyed.

"My parents are invited and my mother told me about it. So I thought I'd come here to ask if you were really sure you don't want us to be together again. I've missed you, Lorelai. I've been thinking about you, and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't try this", Jason told her hopefully.

"I really don't think so. We broke up almost six months ago. What makes you think I'd say yes to that?", she asked him.

"My mother knew from Emily you were still not dating anyone. And I've been staring at a dead plant that you gave me, and I don't know. I just miss you", he said softly.

"Jason, this is never gonna work. Just because I'm single this time doesn't mean I'm not over you. You need to get over me. This isn't healthy", Lorelai replied honestly.

He looked at her, then his eyes drifted to his shoes.

"I'm sorry", he then said looking up, adding, "One dance? Just one dance, and then I'll leave. Promise."

Lorelai thought for a second. "OK, one dance."

She took his hand, and they began to dance slowly while keeping their distance as much as possible.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "So, um, how are things?"

"Good. You were right. It took a while, but business is picking up actually."

"That's nice. How is Cyrus doing? Is he able to go 'a little to the right'?", she smiled.

"We're working on it. I even got him to eat ham the other day. It's not bacon yet, but we're getting there."

Lorelai nodded and smiled. They danced in silence, and when the song was over, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bye, Jason. It was good seeing you", she said.

"You too. The inn looks very nice", Jason told her.

"What the hell is going on, here?", Christopher suddenly asked.

"Chris, lower your voice!"

"Nothing", Jason said at the same time.

"Didn't look like nothing! Lor, what are you doing with him? I thought you were broken up!"

"We just danced, Christopher. Something you wouldn't be able to with that many drinks you had!"

"This is unbelievable! I've been wanting you since we were fourteen, and when you pick someone from our class it's him?", Christopher yelled.

"Hey!", Jason said.

"Please switch to coffee, Christopher. I just danced with Jason to say goodbye. Now please be quiet", she begged him.

"When will you finally give me a chance, Lor?"

"I've given you chance after chance, for 20 years. I don't want to be with you. Accept that!"

The volume of the discussion has made most guests walk to the reception area, among them Rory.

"Dad!", she said, "It's always the same. You come for mom, never for me. All I'm good enough for is when your babysitter has cancelled. I've had enough. She told you she didn't want you, now stop harassing her and stop ruining the party!"

With that Rory ran out. The last line Lorelai heard was "I should have dunked your head into the toilet every single day, asshole" by Christopher, before she went after her daughter.

She caught up with her on the parking lot.

"Oh hon, come here", Lorelai said as she tightly hugged her daughter and felt her sob.

"Why can't he love me like a father loves his daughter? Why is he only interested in you?", Rory said, crying.

"I don't know, sweets. It's his loss. He doesn't even know what he's been missing. You're such a great kid. You don't deserve this", she assured her and stroked her daughter's hair.

"I can't believe he's done that. Did he even think about grandma and grandpa?"

"I don't think he was thinking at all."

"I wanna go home, crawl into my bed, and just sleep", Rory said, her sobbing slowly ebbing away.

"Come on, I'll drive", Lorelai suggested.

It took Rory almost an hour to fall asleep, and Lorelai had stayed by her side. Then she went to her jeep to drive back to the inn. On the way there, she drove by K.C.'s. She parked her car, because she decided she needed a drink. She sat on a bar stool.

"Hey Frank, I'll take a beer and a shot of tequila", she told the bartender.

What a night it had been. She could not have anticipated both Christopher and Jason showing up, or the public fight it triggered. She downed the tequila and took a big gulp of beer.

"Tough night?", the burly bartender asked.

"Tough, brutal, and very Dynasty."

"Some nights just are. That's a third of our income", he said and walked to the other end of the bar.

"Hey Lorelai", a voice behind her said.

She turned around. "Hi Ed. How's it going?"

"Good. I'm off. Don't wanna let Carol wait. Night!"

A short moment later, Luke sat next to her.

"Hi, party over already?", he asked gruffly.

"For me it is. I'd say someone just watched a lot of daytime television and then decided the material would be wasted if it wasn't used in real life."

"Huh?"

"The party's still in full swing, I assume. Christopher showed up. Then Jason showed up. Then Chris saw me dance with Jason, thought we were back together, made a scene, implied I had to be with him, and broke Rory's heart, again."

"What?", Luke asked, baffled.

Lorelai replayed the evening for him over another shot of tequila.

"So, I took her home, she cried some more, but finally fell asleep."

"Bastard."

"Yup, but what about you? You don't look too happy. Did Ed beat you at pool?", she asked him.

"No, that's not it. But I feel very stupid today."

"Did you do the chicken dance on your lunch break and Kirk caught you?"

"No, I went to the home improvement store to get a new doorknob, and I met someone", he told her.

"Who?"

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, we talked a little, I gave her advice about duct tape, and she seemed nice."

"OK? Still doesn't explain your pout. Continue", she asked him.

"Then she was right behind me on the cash register, so I walked her to her car, and she asked me if I was busy tomorrow. I told her I was having a movie night with my best friend, and she suggested next Saturday. When I told her that I would probably be having another movie night with my best friend, she asked me if my best friend just lost his wife, because there was no other reason to be spending time with a guy on the prime date night of the week. So I told her my best friend's a woman, and she gave me that look, that knowing look. I know the look. I've seen that look. On Patty, on Babette, on Sookie, even on Taylor at times. So I quickly explained that we're just friends. And then, do you know what she said then?", Luke ranted.

"No", Lorelai said sheepishly.

Rarely had Lorelai seen Luke rant because of something a stranger had said to him. He usually ranted about Taylor, Kirk, the town in general, and of course about the quality and quantity of Lorelai's food intake. Why was it so important what the woman had said to him?

"She told me that I'm an idiot, got into her car and drove off", he said and paused for dramatic effect.

"Hey, at least I'm not the only one who made someone leave skidmarks just to get away from me that fast. I had a child, what's your excuse?", Lorelai tried to joke. She knew he wouldn't appreciate it this time.

"She was right though. I am an idiot."

"It took her seconds to see what took me years to figure out", she smiled.

"Lorelai...", he groaned.

"What, Luke? Why does it bother you so much? Were you so infatuated with that woman that it broke your heart to see her leave so quickly?", she challenged him.

"What? No, of course not. It was just something about the way she said it. Like I'm some dumb, ignorant douchebag", Luke explained.

Lorelai looked at him, but couldn't quite figure out what to say.

"You know what?", Luke asked her.

"What?"

Luke stood up, fished a ten dollar bill from his jeans pocket and put it on the counter.

"I'm going home", Luke declared.

He was 41 years old, divorced, and living in a crazy town. This town was so crazy that Kirk actually had been in a relationship longer than Luke's marriage lasted. If Kirk could make it work, why couldn't Luke? Kirk had just gone for the girl he had liked. Granted, he went a little overboard with the preparations, but he actually did it. Kirk had been surprised that Lulu never left during their first date, he had given her plently of opportunities. Luke sympathized with that fear. Weren't all people scared that something might drive others away, give them reason to just leave? But no matter what he had done, or how bad a fight might have been, Lorelai had always been there. He had no idea why he couldn't tell her that night what he really wanted to say. They were best friends, shouldn't they be able to say what they had on their minds? Luke felt like there was a threshold he couldn't cross that night at K.C.'s.

Lorelai watched him go, and sighed. She knew what it felt like when someone else judged one's choices. She pondered what he had told her about the mystery woman from the home improvement store. Was she implying that he was in denial about his relationship to Lorelai? Was Lorelai in denial about their relationship? She knew that to an outsider it would seem odd to have a standing appointment between a man and a woman, who were not romantically involved, to spend an evening together. The past day had brought so much trouble and excitement, that Lorelai's body was slowly but steadily shutting down. She yawaned loudly, paid for her drinks, and went home.

She was surprised to find Rory in the kitchen, helping herself to a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Hey sweets, you OK?", she asked, and gently patted her daughter's back.

"Yeah, just hydrating. Were you out?", Rory asked sleepily.

"I was driving back to the inn, but made a stop at K.C.'s for a nightcap. Hey, you're friends with Marty, right?", Lorelai asked as she sat down.

"Yeah, why?", Rory replied and sat next to her mother.

"It's just something I was wondering. You guys have movie nights, right?"

"Well, there used to be movie nights. He's made himself scarce lately", said Rory.

"Did you spend a lot of time together?"

"Not too regularly. There were times when we did a lot together, but other times when we were busy with school stuff. What's with the late night interrogation?", she wanted to know.

"I ran into Luke at the bar, and he seemed upset about someone's assumption about our friendship. I have no idea why he would get so mad", Lorelai said, slightly shaking her head.

"Maybe it wasn't the assumption, but the fact that he's not too happy with the friendship itself?", Rory speculated.

"But I've been trying so hard to be a good friend for him. I know it's a little unbalanced with what he did for me and for us, but I've been trying to catch up. I threw him his first and probably last surprise birthday party, I painted his bedroom nook. And all the things he shared with me over the summer. Intimate things. Doesn't that mean our friendship has evolved?"

"I think it means exactly that. It has evolved into something new. Something closer to a relationship, I would assume", Rory said, got up from her chair and walked into her room.

"What? Where are you going? You can't leave me with a cliffhanger!", Lorelai begged.

"Can't lay it all out for you. You'll figure it out, Einstein", came the voice from the other room.

When Lorelai was upstairs doing her bathroom routine, she thought about the things Rory had said. She was right, her and Luke's friendship had evolved. Lorelai was sure she had started feeling more for him since they had started talking on the phone during summer. But he was a married man. And now his divorce was still so fresh. On the other hand he had assured a week ago that he hadn't really been in love with Nicole. What did they say on Sex and the City about the time one needed to get over a relationship? Half the duration of the relationship? In Luke's case that would mean at least six months. As she walked into her bedroom, Lorelai decided that this rule certainly only applied to women. She also decided that tomorrow night would indeed have to be special.

Sorry for the kinda cliffie. I hope I'll be able to publish the last chapter within the next three weeks or so. Please let me know what you thought of the penultimate chapter. Reviewers are my favorite readers!