Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters.
Author's Note: Okay, take two uploading this because apparently the last time it was just coding. This is set somewhere between French Twist and Santa's Secret Stuff in Season 7. Despite the revival, I still look at Season 7 and wish things happened differently. For now this is a one shot but I may add to it later if people are interested. I hope you guy like this. Please read and review :).
Rory wandered around Stars Hollow with no real destination in mind. It had been a long time since she had spent much time in her home town, a thought that had made her a little sad. However, it seemed the longer that she was in college, the more detached from the place that she had grown up.
To her, everything seemed just a little bit off. Being there just wasn't the same anymore. Of course, logically she knew it wasn't the town that had changed. God knows that Stars Hollow was one thing in the world that always seemed to stay the same. No, what was really different was her and the people that she had been closest to in the town.
First there was Lane. Her best friend was now married and would be soon welcoming not one but two children. To Rory, it seemed like Lane was a lot more grown up that she felt. Logically, she knew that people grew up at different paces and in different ways but it was still hard to come to terms with her friend's new life.
Then there was her mother. Now that Lorelai was married, Rory felt out of place in her new life, even though it was her own father that she was now married to. After getting over the initial hurt that her parents got married without her, Rory had become mostly indifferent to their union.
The young girl still inside of her was thrilled that her parents were finally together but a much larger part of her realized that it was too late for it to really matter that much. After all, she was an adult and a soon to be college graduate. She didn't really need them to be together. However, if her mother was happy, she was happy.
Of course, she still wasn't fully sure that Lorelai was as happy as she could be.
As she crossed the town square, she glanced over to the diner in front of her and saw the other person from her childhood who had changed. Though the diner was likely long closed, the lights were still on and its owner still walked around inside working.
If this had been any other time before, Rory would have had no problem walking inside despite the closed sign. Now she hesitated. Would she be betraying her mother by going in? Maybe but there were some things that she wanted to say to the older man inside that she hadn't had the chance to yet. She felt conflicted, especially once she saw there was coffee still in the pot.
Before Rory could make her decision though, Luke noticed her. He studied her face for a second before catching her eye and nodding to let her know that she could come in. As she made her way towards the door, he began to pour her a cup of coffee.
Rory knew that once he saw her, she couldn't say no so taking a deep breath she walked in. This was the third time that she could think of that she felt uncomfortable walking in there. Once was years again the aftermath of her and Jess' car accident and the second was just a year before when she and her mother hadn't been speaking. It was hard to picture just how different life was now compared to that night.
Walking straight up to the counter, she sat on the stool that the coffee was in front of. "Hi Luke." She said with a soft but shy smile.
"Hi Rory." Luke replied, not making much eye contact and clearly as uncomfortable as she was.
Rory studied the older man's face as she took a sip of her coffee. She was a bit surprised to realize how fresh the coffee was, almost like he had known she was coming. He looked more tired than she ever remembered seeing him and the black hat on his head seemed completely out of place.
"So…how's school?" Luke asked when Rory stayed quiet. "You must be almost done now…"
Rory smiled and nodded. "School is good. I'm almost finished with my second to last semester."
Luke nodded and began to wipe the counter around her. "And Logan? How are you guys?"
"We're good. He's been gone a lot because of work but I'm going to spend Christmas with him in London." She told him.
Luke raised an eyebrow, surprised Rory would be going away for her first holiday with her newly reformed family. "You're not spending Christmas with…I mean you're not spending it here?"
She immediately shook her head. "Uh no, we've been planning this since this summer. But I'm sure we'll celebrate again once I get back."
Luke hummed in acknowledgement before letting silence fall over them again. There was plenty of things he could ask her but he knew that he probably didn't actually want to hear the answers so he stayed silent. Luckily Rory spoke again.
"How's April?"
"She's good." He said before looking down and sighing. "I think."
"You think?"
"I haven't been able to see or talk to her in awhile."
Rory frowned. "What? How come?" She asked quickly but when she saw him stiffen, she quickly tried to back track. "I'm sorry, that's probably none of my business…"
"No, no it's okay. I uh…haven't seen her because her mom won't let me. We haven't been seeing eye to eye on some things." he tried to explain.
"What?" Rory asked, feeling a bit outraged on Luke's behalf. "You guys are arguing so she's keeping your daughter from you? That's ridiculous!"
Luke sighed. "Rory…it's complicated."
Rory shook her head. "There's reason for her to do that, no matter what the problem is."
"She's moving them both to New Mexico and she wasn't going to let April come see me so I told her I was going to sue her for partial custody. That's why she's upset."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I cannot believe she's trying to do that to you after everything she's already done. You're doing the right thing though. I'm glad you're fighting it."
Luke looked up at her. "Yeah?"
Rory nodded. "Of course, you deserve to see her. Besides, I'm sure April will be glad you're doing it too."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well as much as I'm sure she loves her mom, there's a reason she came looking for you in the first place. I also think it'll mean the world to her that you're willing to do whatever it takes to be in her life." She explained to him.
"I didn't think of it that way."
Rory sighed. "Believe me, all any kid wants is to feel loved and wanted by their parents."
Luke studied her face, realizing that she wasn't just saying that. She was speaking from experience. "Rory…now you have…" but before he could reassure her, she cut him off.
"He wants her, not me. That's how it's always been. He comes back into our lives with the pretense of wanting to be there for me but it always turns into him going after her again." Rory replied, saying the thing she had known for years out loud for the first time.
There were many reasons that Luke did not like Christopher Hayden. But his consistency with disappointing his daughter was the first and still the biggest reason that he did. "You don't think it'll be different now?"
Rory shrugged. "I don't know if it matters now. I'm twenty-two and I don't live at home anymore. Now isn't when I need a dad. Besides when I am there, I don't really fit. Gigi has my room and they're doing their own thing." She sighed. "Sorry, you're probably the last person I should be talking to about this."
"It's fine." Luke said gruffly. He wasn't going to get upset with Rory for talking to him about Lorelai's life with her new husband. It didn't mean it wasn't hard to hear though.
"No it's not." Rory said, still feeling bad. "I should just go." She said, standing up to leave.
"Rory really, it's fine." Luke said quickly. "Look, I know things ended badly between me and your mom but that doesn't mean that I'm not here for you no matter what."
Rory bit her lip and slowly sat back down. Maybe this was the opening she needed to tell him how she really felt about all of that. "I hate how messed up everything is. Things have changed so much that I barely recognize the life I have now. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with my life but sometimes I wish that things could go back to how they were when I was in high school. Before Yale, before me and mom drifted apart, before you and mom…"
"Rory…" Luke sighed, attempting to stop her.
She kept going anyways. "You know I told her back then that I didn't want her to date you. I was sure if she did, she would ruin it and we'd lose you. And then when you guys did start dating, I was still so worried. How sucky of a daughter am I that in my head, she was the one I had to worry about. Never once did I think it would be you."
Luke didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't realized how much faith Rory had in him. He hadn't even realized that she was so invested in it. A feeling of guilt settled in his stomach as she continued.
"You were the one person we could always depend on Luke. You were supposed to always be there for us, not push us away. Of course, I probably sound incredibly selfish right now. You were going through a lot with the April stuff but the thing is, we both would have been there for you through it all if you had let us."
In the last few months, Luke had gone over and over in his head how he had let down Lorelai. Now he realized that she hadn't been the only one he disappointed. Lorelai and Rory had always been a package deal. It was something that he was more than okay with in the good times. He should have remembered that in the bad ones too. "Rory, I'm sorry. I know it probably means nothing now but I am."
Rory nodded. "I know you are. I know that you never would actively want to hurt us but I just needed you to know that we were. But believe me, if you were anyone else I wouldn't be here right now. I don't exactly make it a habit of going to talk to my mother's ex-boyfriends. Except for Dad obviously. And I guess Max too but that was only because he was my teacher and I had to."
Luke nodded in understanding, glad that Rory didn't seem to hate him. But at the mention of Lorelai's other fiancé, he frowned and thought back to something she had said earlier. "You said earlier that you didn't want your mom to date me when you were in high school but…"
"But I was okay with her dating my teacher?" She cut him off, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "It may seem illogical to anyone else but to me, I had way more to lose if she dated you and broke up than I would have with Max."
Luke didn't know how to react to that. He had always cared for Rory and he always knew that on some level, she cared for him as well but it had never really been verbalized. "It's the coffee, right?" He asked, a bit uncomfortable with the deepness of their conversation.
However, Rory wasn't going to let him get out of the moment that easily. "Maybe that has a little to do with it but it isn't the only thing by a long shot. Before my dad was back a lot and before we saw my grandparents more than twice a year, you were the only stable male figure in my life. That means something."
Luke took a deep breath and tried to resist the urge to tell her that he hadn't really done much of anything but he knew she'd never accept that. "Well you made it pretty easy to want to be there. Especially when I first met you guys, you were a lot easier to get along with than your mother." "Ah yes, the Duke days." Rory said with a grin. "That feels like a lifetime ago."
"You can say that again." Luke said, thinking back on how much things really had changed since that time over a decade ago. When he had been so enamored with her when he was so sure he hated kids. A pang of guilt hit him hard when he remembered at the same time he was so sure of that, his own daughter was out in the world without a father. He had to stop dwelling on that though.
Rory took a deep breath and began to dig into her pocket for money to pay for the coffee once she was finished with it. Of course, when she tried to put it down on the counter, Luke fixed her with a glare that told her in no uncertain terms that her money was no good there. Rory put her hands up in surrender before putting the money back in her pocket. "Thank you."
Luke nodded and grabbed the used cup to wash it. "I'm glad you came by tonight. I know you said things are different and I know you're an adult now and more than capable of making your way in the world, but I meant all the stuff I said earlier. No matter what's happened between me and your mom, I'm always going to be here if you need me. Whether it's now or ten years from now."
Rory bit her lip hard before walking behind the counter to hug Luke. "You're getting a whole lot better at this communication stuff." she teased him gently.
Luke hugged her back tightly. "Yeah well…better late than never I guess." He sighed. Maybe it was too late to fix his relationship with Lorelai but a part of him felt better knowing that he could fix things with one of the Gilmore girls.
Rory pulled away a second later and smiled up at him. "Good luck with the custody stuff. Any judge would be crazy not to see you're a great dad. And you have been for a long time. I'll see you around." She said before disappearing back out the door.
Luke stood there and watched her until he couldn't see her anymore. He walked back around and finished cleaning up before locking the door and heading upstairs for the night. With having to deal with seeing Lorelai married to someone else and not being able to see April, things had just been going from bad to worse. But the weight that he had been carrying around with him felt a bit lighter now.
Sure, he still missed Lorelai and he was pretty sure that he was always going to but it felt better to know that he was on better terms with the girl that he had always secretly thought of as his oldest daughter. That better feeling just made him more resolved in his next step. It would fuel him as he headed into this custody battle with Anna. There was no way he was going to miss seeing April achieve the things that he had gotten to see Rory achieve.
Last year, he had let self doubt control him and as a result he lost his fiancé. He refused to let it keep a hold of him anymore. There was no way he was going to just stand back and lose anyone else. Smiling as he walked into his apartment, he made a mental note to remember to thank Rory for snapping him out of the fog he had been living in.