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Chapter 37

A couple more weeks had passed and the mood still wasn't great at the Crap Shack. Everyone was missing Jess. Lorelai was in the kitchen at the inn with Sookie.

"So things aren't any better then?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai sighed. "No. It's weird. I know Jess wasn't here for long but he really became part of the family. Luke was going to get custody of him. It just feels like we've got a empty space in our family. Rory isn't interested in doing anything. She just stays home and reads or goes to the diner and reads."

"It must be hard. Rory and Jess were getting pretty close." Sookie said sympathetically.

"Yeh.." Lorelai sighed. "Luke's talking to lawyers to see what he can do for Jess but I don't know what will happen. I mean Liz was adamant about taking Jess home. She's not going to voluntarily give him custody. He's tried calling but the phone's been disconnected." She said. "Luke feels like he's let Jess down. He thinks Jess hates him."

"Jess could never hate Luke! Noone could hate Luke." Sookie said.

"Yeh well trying to get Luke to believe that is another question." Lorelai said.

"And how are you?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "We were all so happy. We were starting to plan for the wedding. We felt like a family. Now's it's all fallen apart. I haven't even mentioned the wedding to Luke since Jess left because I know he desperately wants him to be his best man."

"Well maybe you should mention it?" Sookie suggested. "It might give you all something positive to focus on."

"I don't know. Luke's not been that chatty recently. I don't know if he'd be interested." Lorelai said doubtfully.

"Not interested in your wedding? Are you crazy?" Sookie said incredulously. "It's Luke! He wants to marry you. Talk to him."

"He misses Jess. Now's just not the right time." Lorelai said. "He finally thought he had part of his family back. It's fine Sook. I'm happy to wait."

"Ok." Sookie said unconvinced.

Luke was working at the diner with Rory who was reading in the corner at a table. He looked up when he heard the bells jingle above the door and saw Sookie come in.

"We need to talk." She said firmly.

"Later Sookie. I'm busy." Luke grunted.

"No, not later!" Sookie said. "Look I know you're going through a crappy time at the moment but Lorelai thinks you're not interested in your wedding anymore. You still want to marry her right?"

"What? Of course I do!" Luke exclaimed.

"Well then prove it! She misses Jess too, Luke, but she also wants her family back. She loves you Luke and she wants to marry her so get your mind together and prove to her that you're as into it as she is. She doesn't want to mention it because of Jess." Sookie said. "You need to go back to being her Luke. She's hurting as much as you, Luke. You'll sort things with Jess, I'm sure, but if you're too invested in that you'll lose Lorelai. Just think about it." Sookie said and then left the diner leaving Luke standing there in surprise.

He glanced over at Rory who was watching him. "I might need your help." He said.

Rory nodded. "You do still want to marry mom right?" She asked quietly.

"Of course I do. I love your mom, Rory." He reassured her. "I'll make this right."

Rory gave him a small smile and nodded.

Luke then went over to the phone and dialled a number. "Um yes hello, may I talk to Mr or Mrs Gilmore please?" He asked.

"Hello?" Emily said coming on the line.

"Oh hello Mrs Gilmore. It's..um..Luke." He said awkwardly. He still didn't know how to act around them. He hadn't seen them since the drama with Christopher.

"Oh. Hello Luke." Emily said politely.

"I was just wondering if..uh..if you'd be free this evening? Both of you." He said.

"I think we are. Any particular reason?" She asked.

"Well..uh..we've had a couple of bad weeks here but I wanted Lorelai to have something positive to think about. We've started a bit already but I want to finalise plans for our wedding. I thought..uh..maybe you'd like to be there?" He said awkwardly.

There was a long pause and Luke started to wonder if he'd done the right thing but then Emily spoke again. "We will be there." She said. "Thank you."

"Ok good. 7 ok?" He asked.

"7's fine. Goodbye Luke." Emily said.

"Bye." Luke said and hung up. He looked up to find Rory watching him from the counter.

"Mom won't want a wedding planned by Grandma." Rory said.

"I know. But she would want them feel involved. By 7, we'll hopefully have most of the things planned." He said.

"We?" Rory asked.

"How would you like to plan your mom's and mine wedding with me?" He asked.

Rory smiled a genuine smile for the first time in two weeks and nodded. "Yes please!"

"Good, well we better get to work then." He smiled.

Lorelai came home from the inn. "Hello?" She called.

"Kitchen!" Luke called.

Lorelai went through to the kitchen and was surprised to find her parents and Sookie sat with Luke and Rory at the table with a big folder. "What's going on?" She asked.

"What do you think about December 5th?" Luke asked.

"You mean the December 5th which is like a month from now?" She asked confused.

"Yeh." Luke said.

"Um well it's a good date I guess..." Lorelai said still confused.

"How would you like to get married then?" Luke asked.

"What?" Lorelai said surprised.

Luke stood up and walked over to her. "I know I've been preoccupied over the past couple of weeks but I still want us to get married. I'm really sorry if you ever doubted that. Rory and I had a little chat and we've got an outline for the wedding. We've run it past Sookie and your parents and they agree with it. If there's anything you don't like or want to change, we can." He said, handing her the folder.

Lorelai looked through it in a daze. "The inn..." She said softly.

"I thought because it means so much to you and Rory, it would be nice to have it there." Luke smiled.

Lorelai felt tears prick her eyes. She looked up at Luke. "You did all this for me?" She asked quietly.

"We can change it if you want. We can plan it together. I just wanted to surprise you." He said suddenly worried that she was upset with him.

Lorelai shook her head. "It's perfect. Everything. It's the perfect wedding. Thank you." She said softly and kissed him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He smiled.

Later that evening, Emily, Richard and Sookie had left and Rory had gone to bed. Luke and Lorelai were cuddled up on the couch. Lorelai looked over at Luke. "I don't want you to think I don't care about Jess because I do. I really do. I hate the image that he's not happy. He's a good kid and he deserves more." She said quietly. "I want to help you get him back here. I love him. Just like you."

Luke looked over at Lorelai. "I know. I guess I've been too preoccupied in my own thoughts that I didn't even think about how this was affecting you and Rory as well. I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you." He said sincerely.

Lorelai shook her head. "No you don't need to be sorry. Jess is your family. I get it. When Chris was going for custody for Rory, I did everything to keep her. You remember. You were there. I really do get it, Luke. We'll get him back, I promise."

Luke gave her a small smile. "He's still going to my best man. I'm determined about that."

"Good." Lorelai smiled. She sighed and leant her head on his shoulder. "It'll be ok. We'll be ok."

Luke put his arm around her. "We will." He said. "And thank you. For being there for me. For caring about Jess."

"Right back at you." Lorelai smiled.

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