Since Luke had been staying at the Gilmore house for a little over a month now, he rarely found time for himself. Not that this was a bad thing, he loved hanging out with the two of them more than anything, but for someone that lived alone for so long it could get a little too crowded for him at times. He had tried to stick to his routine of waking up and going for a run, but with the girls keeping him up so late watching movies he had resorted to sleeping in till work most mornings. Today however, he didn't have to be into work till the afternoon so he decided it would be a good time to go for one of his morning runs. With most of the town still asleep, he ran through the silent streets as the sun rose further into the sky.

As he came up on a small path near a stretch of woods he noticed Rachel standing there, completely focused on the photo's she was snapping of the sun beams passing through the trees.

"Morning." Luke said, walking up behind her.

Rachel glanced away from her camera, smiling over at him. "Morning."

"Those ones are gonna turn out great." He said, admiring the view she had been shooting.

"It's always gorgeous this time of day. I've always loved morning shots."

"I remember, golden hour."

"Yeah." She said, noticing his sweatpants and sweatshirt attire and the reddish tint to his face. "Morning run?"

"Yeah." Luke said with a nod.

"So, Lorelai's not a runner?"

"Not unless she hears the beginning credits of a movie, or anything that involves food."

Rachel chuckled. "That is probably a good thing, you were never a fan of me running with you."

"Because you were the only person I knew who could outrun me, and you would tease me constantly for it. Do you not remember that part?"

"I remember, I just wanted you to admit I was faster." She said, making Luke smile. "Wanna race? For old time sake."

"I don't know about tha-"

"Go!" She yelled, cutting him off before she started running.

"Wait," Luke said, running after her to try and catch up. He chased shortly behind her and nearly caught up till they reached the end of the path, just shy of a small footbridge. He bent down, putting his hands on his knees as he took a few deep breaths. "How can you run that fast with a camera bag?"

"I got used to running with it." Rachel said, the both of them walking over the bridge and through another path.

"You running after cheetahs?"

"I've tried a couple times, they are a bit out of my league." She joked, stopping as they reached the end of the path and came out near an old abandoned inn.

Luke walked closer, looking at the building. "This is the old Dragonfly."

"Wow, I forgot this was back here." Rachel said, pulling her camera out from its bag.

Luke walked the property while she took pictures, checking the whole place over. After he saw the entire outside he went around front and stepped onto the front porch, peeking in through the windows. "This place has good bones." He said, walking back over to Rachel. "The porch needs to be completely redone, definitely new shutters, and some fresh paint would help."

"You thinking about buying the Dragonfly Inn?"

"No, not me. Lorelai and her best friend are always talking about opening their own inn someday. I think they would really love this place."

"You think Fran would sell it?" Rachel said, taking a seat on the front steps. "She always turned down offers in the past."

Luke looked at the building again before sitting down next to her. "I'm not even sure if they would want it. But I guess it wouldn't hurt if I talked to Fran about it, see if she would be interested in selling before I get them all excited."

Rachel glanced over at Luke and smiled. "You really care about her."

"Fran?" He asked, unsurely.

"Lorelai." She said with a chuckle. "You seem like you would do anything for her."

Luke nodded. "I would."

"Lucky girl." She said, getting quiet for a moment.

"Well, what about you? You got any guys chasing you around the world?"

Rachel smirked. "Not any that I want chasing me."

"All these years, you've had to have met someone you liked."

"I didn't look very hard. I just kind of assumed I'd end up with you someday."

Luke paused a second then looked over at her. "What?"

"I know, it was stupid of me to think I could just come and go all the time and then when I finally decided to settle down you'd be here waiting for me."

"Rachel," He started, uncomfortably.

"No, no." Rachel said, quickly. "I didn't want this to be weird, and I'm not trying to get you to leave Lorelai or anything like that. I am actually very happy you found someone you really care about. I just wanted to let you know that you meant something to me, and now I can move on."

"So, this visit, you showing up out of nowhere, that was you coming back for me?"

"Kind of." She said with a shrug. "I knew it was possible you had moved on. In the past I always had lucky timing, you were usually single or just gotten out of a relationship like with Anna."

"Anna." Luke said with a small laugh.

"Sorry, blast from the past?"

"No, not at all. I see Anna nearly every weekend."

"You do?" Rachel asked, getting an awkward nod from him. "You aren't, you know, with Anna?"

"No!" Luke replied, defensively. "You know me better than that."

"Well, you looked so guilty when I brought her up. Besides, what other reason would make sense to still be hanging out with your ex-girlfriend that often?"

"We have a daughter together."

Rachel stared over at him, shocked. "You, Luke Danes, have a kid?"

"I do."

"You dated Anna again after I left?"

"No, April is seven. She didn't tell me about her, then I bumped into them at the store a few weeks back and figured it out."

"Does Lorelai know about this?"

"She is the first person I told, and she's been really helpful with everything. April already loves her, which wasn't at all surprising. And she and Anna seem to get along well. It's all really good."

"But why didn't Anna tell you about her?"

"She ah, she came to talk to me once after we broke up. That time you were staying with me."

"Ah, that explains why she got so upset."

"Yup." He said, nodding.

"So, how are you liking being a dad?"

"It was really strange at first. I was so worried I'd say or do the wrong thing and she would hate me. But she's a great kid and she likes spending time with me. She even calls me dad." Luke said, making Rachel laugh. "Why is that so funny?"

"It's just weird to think of you getting called dad. I knew you before you could pronounce your R's correctly."

Luke chuckled. "I always called you Wachel."

"And I thought you were teasing me, so I kicked you in the shin."

"Then you proudly told all the boys in preschool that you made me cry, totally messed up my rep."

Rachel laughed. "We've come a long way since then." She said, glancing over at him. "You're a dad now."

"I still don't believe it myself." He said, taking a breath. "I just hope I don't screw it up."

"You won't." She said, shaking her head. "I always knew you'd be a great dad."

"Thanks." Luke said, smiling. "Y'know, she gave me a picture of her plant she grew in school and she told me it reminded her of how our relationship grows with time and with love. It was really sweet and it made me even happier that I'm getting a chance to be a part of her life, but it also made me think about all the years I've missed. I wasn't there to tuck her in at night, or read her bedtime stories, or check her closet for monsters. I didn't get to see her first steps, or hear her first word. I wish I could have been there."

"Yeah, that must be really hard to think about." Rachel said, sympathetically. "Makes me kinda hate Anna for keeping her from you."

"I don't blame her for it."

"How could you not blame her?"

"Lorelai's daughter, Rory, she has a dad who hasn't been a big part of her life. He wouldn't call or show up when he was supposed to, and that killed her, and it killed Lorelai to see her go through that. So, if Anna truly believed I could have caused that same pain to April, then I'm glad she didn't tell me. Even if I knew that wasn't true, and no matter how much I wish I could have been there for her all these years, it made it easier knowing she had someone who cared about her enough to make sure she was happy."

"Sounds like she has two pretty incredible parents."

Luke smiled. "Well, at least till she hits her teen years. I don't know what I'm going to do once the subject of boys comes up."

"I'm sure you will scare some sense into them and they will treat her right."

"I hope I can scare them away completely."

"Oh, I'm sure you could. But when your little girl comes to you and tells you she really likes him, you will soften up and cave."

"Luckily I have years before I have to deal with that kind of stuff."

"I'll have to take a trip back here in a few years to make sure you haven't committed any felonies."

"So, you're leaving?"

"I have a nine o'clock flight tomorrow morning."

"Do you need a ride to the airport?"

"I'll take a cab."

"Alright, but I'm gonna make you breakfast at the diner before you leave and we can say a proper goodbye this time around."

"I'm looking forward to it." Rachel said, smiling at him.

Luke patted on her knee, standing up off the steps. "I should be getting home, the girls will be waking up soon."

"That's nice."

"What?"

"That you have someone to go home to."

"Yeah, it is." Luke said, standing there silent for a moment before looking back over at her. "I'm, ah, I'm sorry I couldn't be the guy that was always there for you."

"That's alright." Rachel said, smiling up at him. "You just be the guy who is always there for Lorelai. I'll be okay."

Luke smiled back at her, giving her a small wave of his hand before walking away.

Back at home, Lorelai started waking up again. She had been awake an hour before, but ended up going back to sleep after she saw Luke had already left. She was still having a bit of trouble getting a good night's rest, but it wasn't as bad as it had been the first few nights. Surprisingly, she was able to sleep great after the firelight festival. She and Luke had stayed a few hours, genuinely having a good time with each other. It had made all the worry she had been feeling about Rachel being there disappear. Though the last few days while she was in town, it had started to come back.

Luke was spending lots of time with her since she was helping him out at the diner while she was staying at his old place. She didn't peg Rachel as the type of girl to go for a soon to be married man, but then again she didn't know her that well. Besides, Luke could have caved and told her the truth by now. She told herself she was worried about him getting caught in a lie and losing April, which was a big part of it too, but deep down it felt strange thinking of Luke with another woman.

Lorelai worked up the energy to climb out of bed, grabbing a couple towels and her robe before heading towards the bathroom. She got into the hallway and almost ran into Luke, who was about to go into the bathroom. "Hey." She said, surprised to see him there.

"Hey." Luke said, stopping shy of the bathroom door.

"I didn't realize you were coming back, you were gone so long I figured you were at work already."

"No, I don't work till later. I went for a run."

"Well, you run way too long."

"I wasn't running the whole time, I was with Rachel for a while."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows, looking over at him suspiciously. "Oh, with Rachel?"

"Yeah."

"What were you two up to this early in the morning?" Lorelai asked, trying her best to sound casual about it.

"We were just talking, catching up, stuff like that." Luke said, glancing over toward the bathroom. "Are you about to take a shower?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Okay, I'll just shower at my place then." Luke said, getting ready to walk away.

"I won't be that long."

"I know, but I want to wash the sweat off, and I have some stuff to do."

"You said you don't work till later."

Luke glanced around awkwardly, avoiding making eye contact with her. "It's not work related, I just have something to do."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you later then."

"I'll be home at eight, so if you and Rory want some dinner just stop by the diner."

"We're doing movie night, so we'll probably just order pizza."

"Okay, I'll ah, see you later." Luke said, walking past her quickly and disappearing downstairs.

Lorelai, getting the feeling something was up, snuck down the staircase quietly. She stopped in the middle of the staircase, hearing him digging through his closet. She peeked around the corner, moving back quickly when she saw him closing the closet door. She looked back as he started walking toward the front door, noticing him carrying a black pair of slacks, a button up shirt, and a pair of dress shoes. Once he was out the door she just stood there a minute, then she sat down on the stair she had been standing on. She took a deep breath, covering her mouth with her hand. She was pretty sure she knew what was going on now.

Over at Weston's, a freshly showered and dressed up Luke sat patiently waiting for Fran, who was handling the last of her breakfast rush before she came to join him. When he saw her walking his way he stood up quickly, pulling out a chair and giving her his hand to help her down onto it.

"Thanks for meeting with me, Fran." He said, smiling over at her as he returned to his seat.

"I've always got time for an old friend, Lucas." Fran said, smiling back at him. "You sounded really eager on the phone, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You still own The Dragonfly Inn, right?"

"Oh, yes, of course. My family has a long history with that inn, yours too. Your mother and I used to have sleepovers there all the time as kids. And it's where we met your father."

Luke smiled. "Yeah, they told me about that."

"Why do you ask about it?"

"I'd really like to buy it from you, if you'd be up for that."

"You want to buy The Dragonfly? I never remember you mentioning wanting to own an Inn."

"Well, I would be buying it along with Lorelai and Sookie. It has been their dream for as long as they've known each other to own an Inn together one day and I think yours would be perfect for them. And I know that they would honor your family's legacy there in any way they could."

"If it were just up to me, I'd be happy to sell it to you, Lucas. It has always been my wish to keep the property in the family, and with everything I've been through with your parents and you, we are basically family. I'll only have to discuss it with my sister. She's on dialysis right now and not doing so well."

"Oh, I hadn't heard about Barbara, I'm really sorry about that. I hope she gets better soon."

"I told her about you and Lorelai, she said to tell you congratulations."

"Tell her thank you." Luke said with a smile. "And no pressure on selling. If either of you don't want to, it's completely okay."

"If she says she is okay with it, I don't see any reason we couldn't sell it to you."

"Thank you, Fran."

"Now let me get you some pie." She said, standing up.

"Fran," Luke said, trying to stop her.

"I'm getting you strawberry rhubarb, it was always your favorite as a kid." She said, ignoring him as she walked behind the counter to grab him a slice.

Later that evening, Lorelai and Rory were all settled back at the house for the night. They were already halfway through their first movie and so far Rory had pretty much kept the commentary going by herself, Lorelai just sitting quietly on the couch swinging around the Twizzler in her hand.

Rory glanced over at her mother, noticing her out of the usual behavior. She leaned forward and grabbed the remote off the coffee table, clicking pause on their movie.

Lorelai heard the sudden loss of sound, looking up at the television. "Hey, why'd you stop it?" She asked, glancing over at Rory.

"You don't seem as into this as you usually are. Is something wrong?"

"Just thinking about some stuff." She said, shrugging.

"Luke stuff?"

"What gave it away?" Lorelai asked, surprised she had guessed it.

"I've seen you act this exact way anytime you are in an argument with him. So, what are you two fighting about this time?"

"We aren't fighting." She said, picking at the side of her candy with her fingernail. "I'm overthinking something that happened earlier."

"What happened earlier?"

"Luke came home from a run this morning and he was acting all strange. I mentioned that he had been running a long time and he said he was also talking to Rachel."

"About what?"

"I didn't ask. He just said they were 'catching up'." She said, using air quotes. "And then he wanted to shower, but I was about to use it so he said he would go back to his place and take one. I told him I wouldn't even be long so he could just wait, but he said no, that he wanted to go wash the sweat off and that he had something to do. I got him to tell me it wasn't work related, but that's it."

"I mean, it makes sense that he would want to shower right away if he had just been running. And he probably had shopping or something to do afterwards."

"Why wouldn't he just say that then?"

"I don't know, maybe because anytime he tells you he is going to the store you give him a long list of junk to buy."

"It wasn't just the crypticness. He was acting different, like he was up to something."

"And you think that something was Rachel related?"

"It would add up. He runs into her, they catch up, old sparks start to fly so one of them makes a move, then bam, secret rondevu."

"Yes, or he just went shopping, or to pick up some stamps, or any of the other million reasonable things." Rory said, logically.

"He wore fancy clothes."

"How do you know that?"

"I watched him leaving the house after we talked, he was carrying nice clothing with him."

"You were spying on Luke?"

"You can't spy in your own house."

"Where were you when you were watching him leave?"

"Hiding behind that wall." Lorelai said, pointing to the wall at the middle of the staircase.

"Spying."

"You're making it seem a lot worse than it was."

"You should have just talked to Luke about it like I suggested, then you wouldn't have to be worrying about it."

"Are you saying I should have told Luke not to date her because you think he is dating her again?"

"That's not what I said."

"It's what you are making it sound like."

Rory exhaled. "Can we just watch the movie and not obsess about this till you talk to him?"

"Okay, play the movie." Lorelai said, looking back at the television as she started the movie back up.

Over at the diner Luke was closing up for the night when he received a phone call from Fran. He was glad to hear that she had already talked to her sister and they had both agreed that selling the Inn to him and the girls would be something they were happy to do. After he thanked her tremendously, the two talked numbers and came to a price that was great for the both of them. Once they had agreed to the deal, Luke asked her if it would be okay for him to show it to Lorelai before they went any further, which she also thought was a good idea and told him to stop by Weston's to pick up a key before she left.

The impromptu stop put him home a bit later than usual, between the two talking further about his plans to show it to the girls tomorrow and him stopping her from force feeding him more pie. The clock had just hit nine-thirty as he walked through the front door and he hoped his late arrival would go unnoticed, not wanting to have to lie about where he had been again.

"Hey." Luke said as he walked into the living room, seeing both the girls on the couch watching a movie.

Rory looked over at him as she paused the movie, glancing at her watch like she had just noticed the time. "Kirk wouldn't leave?" She asked.

"What?"

"Mom said you would be off work at eight."

"Oh, no, I had to run a few errands after I cleaned up."

"Dry cleaning?" Lorelai asked, pointedly.

Luke glanced at her oddly. "No, I have a washer."

"Dry cleaning is for fancy clothes."

Rory elbowed her mother then looked back at Luke. "You want to watch the movie with us? We could catch you up, we just started this one."

"No thanks." He told Rory before looking over at Lorelai. "I'm actually really tired, so is it okay if I sleep upstairs till you are ready for bed?"

"Go for it." Lorelai said.

"Thanks, night." Luke said, walking up the stairs.

Rory looked over at Lorelai, surprised. "Okay, he was acting really strange."

"I told you!" Lorelai said, pointing her index finger at her. "And when does Luke ever say words like 'errands'?"

"You think he was with Rachel?"

"Yes, of course he was with her!" She said, clearly worked up. "This is exactly what I thought would happen. And I didn't say anything to stop it, now he is in love with her again."

"Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. Things could work out for them this time, she might be ready to stay."

"That is even worse."

"Why is that worse?"

"Because, it is."

"But I thought you didn't want her to break his heart again? If she stays, that won't happen. They could be happy together."

"Yeah, and then what will Anna think if he does this again? He did the same when they dated. Rachel came back, then suddenly Anna and him were over."

"He said they were already broken up."

"They might have gotten back together if Rachel wasn't there when Anna showed up at the diner, or at least she might have told Luke about April then."

"She said that Rachel being there wasn't the reason she didn't tell him, she just didn't think he was ready to be a father."

"It doesn't matter. This is still going to end badly, I know it."

"Will you just go talk to Luke before you have a coronary."

"That isn't Luke upstairs, it's some robot who says things like 'errands'."

"Go upstairs, talk," Rory said, shoving her off the couch. "See what he has to say."

"Fine." Lorelai said, standing up all the way. She walked upstairs and peeked into the bedroom where Luke was lying in bed, already fast asleep. She decided to leave him be and go back downstairs, sitting on the couch next to Rory again. "He's asleep."

"That was quick."

"He's probably worn out after the day he had."

"I know what you are hinting at, and gross."

"Play the movie." Lorelai said, not wanting to talk about him anymore.

Once they were finished with their third movie in tonight's movie marathon, Rory went off to bed and Lorelai went upstairs. She changed into her pajamas in the bathroom before going into her bedroom and sitting down on her bed next to Luke. She leaned her elbow onto the bed and glanced over at him, his face mere inches from hers. She reached over and placed her hand onto his arm, rubbing it lightly.

"Luke, hey Luke." She said, her voice low so as not to startle him. "Luke, wake up."

"Not now, babe. I'm too tired." He mumbled, eyes still shut.

Lorelai quickly pulled her hand away from him. "Luke?"

"Okay, fine, but you're doing all the work."

Her jaw dropped as she looked over at him, surprised. Was he talking about what she thought he was talking about? She wondered. "Do you know who you are talking to, Luke?"

"Lorelai." He said, causing her eyebrows to shoot to the top of her forehead.

"You want to-"

Luke cut her off. "I'm messing with you, Lorelai." He said, opening his eyes and looking over at her.

"You're hilarious." She said with a grin.

"You probably want your bed back."

"I don't mind if you stay, you look cozy there."

He smiled lightly at her then closed his eyes again. "Okay." He said, softly.

Lorelai stared down at him as he started to doze back off, thinking to herself a moment before she spoke again. "Are you sleeping with Rachel?" She blurted out.

Luke's eyes shot open at the accusation. "What?" He asked as he sat up on the bed, suddenly more awake.

"Today you were acting different, like you were hiding something from me. And then you said you were 'catching up with her', if that's the term the kids are using these days." She said, using air quotes.

Luke reached up and wiped his tired eyes. "I'm not sleeping with Rachel."

"You're not?"

"No, she thinks we are engaged."

Lorelai glanced over at him, curiously. "But if she knew the truth, would you be?"

"I really hate talking about this." He said, squinting over at her.

"Would you be?"

Luke exhaled loudly. "No, Lorelai, I wouldn't be sleeping with her."

"You wouldn't?"

"No." Luke said, simply. He noticed she was searching for more of an explanation, so he continued. "When Chritstopher was here you told me that you would never go back to him because you realized you deserved better. That got me thinking about my relationship with Rachel, how she would come running to me every time she was missing the simple life, then we'd fall right back into the same old pattern where she'd get restless and I'd spend every moment wondering which time I'd go upstairs and see her stuff had been packed. I think I deserve better than that too."

"You do." Lorelai said, smiling over at him.

"Y'know, she actually told me she thought we would end up together someday. And if she had said that to me any of the other times she was here I dont think I would have ever tried to move on."

"She said that to you now, while she thinks you are engaged to me?"

"She didn't mean it the way you are thinking. She said she is really happy that I found someone, she just wanted me to know that she loved me, and now she is going to move on."

"She is moving on?"

"She's leaving tomorrow."

Lorelai smiled to herself then glanced over at him. "I'm sorry things never worked out for you two."

"Yeah, well, it was for the best." Luke said, looking over at her with a small grin when he thought back to her reaction. "Were you worried I was with her again?"

"No, I wasn't worried." Lorelai said, unconvincingly. "I just didn't want to see her hurt you again, or for anything to mess things up with April."

Luke looked over at her, staring into her eyes. "I wouldn't jeopardize everything I got going."

"With April?" She asked, unsurely.

"Yeah." Luke said, nodding as he turned his head away from her. "With April." He added.

"Ah, sorry for freaking out on you. You can go back to sleep."

"Alright." Luke said, rolling over and laying back down. "Night, Lorelai."

"Night, Luke." Lorelai said as she laid down and closed her eyes, finally being able to drift off to sleep peacefully again.