As Rory got up and left Lorelai stood and went to Luke, guiding him towards a chair to sit down. "Luke, what is going on? You look as though you've seen a ghost."
Luke forced a laugh. "Practically. I didn't know whether she was dead or alive."
"Look Luke," Lorelai said, sitting down beside him. "I know you don't like sharing much, but I think maybe now you should."
Luke shrugged. "There isn't much to share. I knew her once, and we lost touch. That's all."
"You nearly hit the floor when you saw her, that can't be all there is," Lorelai said. "How did you know her? Were you a friend of her parents?"
Luke shook his head. "No, I never met them. I just helped her out a couple times."
"Helped her out how? How long ago did you know her?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Luke said, standing up.
"But Luke."
"No," Luke said. "It's my biggest regret in life, and if I could go back and stop it now I would, but I can't, so just drop it."
"Stop what?" Lorelai asked.
Luke shook his head. "Honestly, you don't want to know," he said as he went back upstairs.

"Sara wait," Rory shouted as she ran after her friend. Sara stopped and turned. "What was that?" Rory asked when she'd caught up.
Sara sat down on the bench she'd stopped in front, and looked up at Rory. Tears were streaming down her face. "He used to be a friend of mine."
"Luke?" Rory said. "He mentioned he knew you long ago, before I came after you. Knew you how?"
Wiping the tears off her cheek Sara laughed. "Yeah, he knew me. He saved my life."
Rory looked at her friend confused, and sat down on the bench beside her. "What do you mean he saved your life?"
"Saved my life. You know, kept me on the living side of things," Sara snapped.
"Oh," Rory said, looking down. Sara sighed.
"Look, I don't mean to be rude. It's just, it hurts to think about that time," Sara said.
"I understand," Rory told her. "Why don't you come back to my house?"
Sara shook her head. "I don't want to be a burden."
"You won't be," Rory told her. "There's never enough people at the Gilmore house."
"Well, I do need to be at the Soda Shop at seven," Sara said.
"There you go," Rory said. "It makes sense to stay with us here in town then."
Sara looked up and nodded. "And we won't ask you any questions about Luke," Rory assured her. "You can tell us if and when you're ready."
Sara smiled. "I knew I liked you."
Luke was sitting on the steps of his apartment building when he saw her. She couldn't be more than six years old. Her hair was blonde, and she was wearing a dirty lace dress that seemed too small for her. Running up the sidewalk she glanced over her shoulder and lost her footing and fell. Pulling her knees up to her chin she put her head down and began to cry.
Luke walked over. "Hey little one," he said, squatting down to be closer to her height. He noticed a cut on her knee. "Looks like a pretty bad scrape you've got there. I live right here," he pointed towards the apartment. "Why don't you come upstairs and I'll clean that for you."
"Grandma told me to never go with strangers," the young girl said, not looking up. "She said that's how little girls get taken."
"Well, my name's Luke, what's yours?"
"Sara," she told him.
"Well Sara, we're no longer strangers now," Luke said. "Why don't you just come inside the lobby here? I'll go upstairs and get a cloth to wash that cut on your knee."
Sara nodded so Luke put his hand under her arm to help her up. When she stood her noticed a bruise on her face that certainly didn't come from any fall. "Sara, did someone hit you?" he asked.
"I was a bad girl," Sara whispered.
Luke stopped and knelt down in front of her. "What do you mean you were a bad girl?"
"Daddy said I shouldn't have changed the channel because he was watching the football game," she told him.
Luke nodded as though he understood and stood back up. He lead her to the lobby and asked the doorman to watch her as he ran upstairs. He quickly returned with a wet cloth and some bandaids.
Kneeling down in front of where Sara was sitting he smiled at her and he gently brushed the hair off her cheek. "My, aren't you a pretty girl," he told her as he placed the cloth on her knee. Sara squirmed.
"I know it hurts," Luke said. "But when I'm done I promise your knee will feel better. Do you trust me?"
Sara looked up, he brown eyes wide. She nodded so Luke began rubbing the dirt and blood off her knee. He then applied a bandaid. "There doesn't that feel better?" Luke asked. Sara nodded. "Do you live around here Sara?"
"My daddy does," Sara told him. "I'm visiting him for the weekend."
"Do you know you're mom's phone number?" Luke asked. Sara shook her head.
"I don't know my mom at all," she told him.
"Who do you usually live with?"
"My grandma," she told him. "Her number is 555-4398."
"OK. Can you be a good girl and sit here while I go call your grandmother?" Sara nodded so Luke stood and went to the front desk.
"Hey Luke," John, the doorman said. "Quite the mark on her face. Reckon we should call Children Services?"
Luke looked over his shoulder at Sara then back at John. He shook his head. "She gave me her grandmother's number. I'll just make sure I let her know what happened, I'm sure she'll take care of it."
"If that little girl has ever gone to her grandmother's with marks like that, I'm sure the grandmother knows," John said.
"She may not want to see it, but she can't ignore it when she's told the truth," Luke said. "Can I use your phone?" John passed it to him and watched as Luke dialed the number.

Luke sat up in bed. He was breathing hard and was drenched in sweat. Laying back he stared at the ceiling and whispered, "I made the wrong call."