AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am so sorry this took so long to get up! I've had it written for a while and I didn't have the time to type it. I'm working on the next chapter.

DISCLAIMER: Ooh! A shooting star! I wish to own Gilmore Girls. One year later Nope, Still don't own it. Don't sue me.

Chapter 6: Conflicts 'n such

Three days had passed and Christmas was fast approaching. Ten days, and the mother and daughter were still silent to each other. Rory made the decision to spend the nights at Lorelai's house, on the off chance they could talk. But it didn't happen. Lorelai spent more and more time with Luke and Sookie and less and less time at home.

Lorelai had been bottling up her emotions inside for so long, it felt strange now that practically everyone in her life knew about that secret and it scared her, too. Luke had been supportive, of course. They jumped right into a relationship and she never did that before. Although, none of her other relationships lasted before. There was Chris, Max, Alex, Jason… all of them were in love with her and she thought she was in love with them but she knew that she was in love with Luke.

So she sat in the dinner, full of people, as Lane and Jess scurried around taking orders, and refilling coffee cups. Luke approached her as she stared into her coffee cup, lost in thought.

"We need to talk…" he whispered into her ear and then walked up into the apartment. She got up and followed, her heart racing a mile a minute.

Jess saw Luke was no where to be found and decided to take his break. Telling Lane so, her departed the diner, walking the familiar steps to Rory's house.

As he knocked on the door, it opened and he saw Rory eating a pop tart. She smiled as she saw him but noticed his expression and it quickly faded.

"We need to talk…" he said looking into her eyes. She was backing away from him, her eyes darker, clouded in emotion as her body stiffened.

"You never start a conversation like that…" she said in a low voice then he understood.

"Rory! No! I'm not breaking up with you…" he said, realizing that's what she thought. He saw her UN-stiffen and move toward him. Then, before he knew what happened, she slapped him across the cheek, hard, yelling, "Never do that again!"

Lorelai couldn't believe her ears. Luke was telling her she had to talk to her daughter and for some reason, it made her mad.

"I've seen you through fights and arguments, and this one isn't getting better. Lorelai, they usually do by now…" he was saying it so softly but it still annoyed her. She wasn't having the best week, and this was adding to it.

"You can't tell me what to do…" Lorelai said in a whisper, then, "You have no idea what I'm going through!" She said it a little louder unaware of the open apartment door, and the full diner below hearing her every word.

"Then tell me, Lorelai! You always close yourself off from me! Help me understand!" He yelled it louder than her, and the diner below was confused by what they were hearing. They have seen Luke and Lorelai argue, but it seemed as if they were…

"Don't you understand this is hard for me?! Every relationship I have been in ended badly! I'm scared, Luke! I don't want this one to end, dammit!" she practically cried the last words. That's when the diner below understood. The two people they had been trying to get together for years finally took the step, or rather leap. The finally noticed that they were meant for each other and Miss Patty and Babbette smiled with pride for a second but then it faded as the remembered they were fighting.

"No wonder they all ended!" he yelled bluntly and immediately regretted it. "Oh, god. Lorelai... I didn't "

But it was too late. As the whole diner below held their breaths and were silently cursing Luke, Luke tried walking over to her. She backed away quickly towards the door, tears streaming down her face, and her mouth opened a bit in shock. The listeners didn't know what to take of the silence as they waited.

"Stay…away…from…me…" she said slowly but in a normal voice as she walked quickly out the open door, a hand over her mouth. The diner watched as she hurried to the door, pulled it open and slammed it shut behind her, making the glass leave it's frame and smash to the ground.

Lorelai walked and walked until she came upon the bridge. She didn't know how she got there, but there she was. She was still in a state of shock after what happened but tried to clear herself of all emotion as she noticed the familiar frame that sat at the end of the bridge, reading. Lorelai knew what she had to do as she walked slowly over to her, her flip-flops flapping against the boards.

"Rory…" she called out as she reached her, wiping her eyes. Rory looked up as Lorelai sat next to her. They noticed the tears in each other's eyes. Then, Rory spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Jess thinks we're going too fast. He cares about me, I know that. But it is hard to hear your boyfriend say that he wants to slow down a bit…." Rory explained as Lorelai wrapped an arm around her daughter. "Your turn…" her voice was soft and sad.

So Lorelai explained everything. What Luke did and said, leaving Rory speechless.

"Let's face it…" Lorelai started. "Danes men suck…"

"We're good now?" Rory asked hopefully, sniffling a bit.

"Fabbidy Fab…" Lorelai said and noticed her daughters look of confusion. "We have a Christmas Celebration to plan, babe. So lets put ourselves together and not let the men get us down." She and Rory got up and walked away slowly, talking about what was going to happen now with the town's favorite couple.

Jess returned to the diner, a red mark across his face from Rory's slap. He didn't know she had it in her, in that small body of hers. She could slap so hard, but she did apologize.

Jess noticed the door first as he stepped through the frame and over the glass to get to Lane. He noticed then looks he got and that Luke was no where to be found. He hurried over to Lane asking. "What happened?" then motion for her to join him in the kitchen.

"Luke and Lorelai had a huge fight. Yelling, screaming, one step away from Jerry Springer Material. There was glass breaking too as you can tell…" she explained.

Jess sighed as he hopped up onto the counter-top. "Who started it?" he asked sighing deeply not believing it.

"From what we could tell, Luke did. He told her to go upstairs but she started yelling first, right Caesar?" She asked the cook.

"Aye…" he replied going back to the hamburger he was preparing.

"What happened to you?" Lane asked with an amused look on her face pointing to the red mark.

"Rory…" he replied dully and Lane understood.

"You were on the receiving end of one of Rory Gilmore's slaps. Harsh, man. You must have really pissed her off."

"I have to go see Luke…" he replied avoiding her comment and walking up the flight of stairs from hell.

Lorelai sat on the couch as Rory sat on the floor in front of her, watching an old episode of BeWitched.

"I admire Sam," Lorelai stated dully. She just couldn't get into it today, she was so scared that she had lost Luke when they just admitted their true feelings, and she knew she could only blame herself.

"Yep. But you have to admit; Darren is pretty cool too. Accepting the whole witch thing, you know?"

"Men suck, TV men suck even more. They're so happy and nice. Now, Roseanne is a good show for that."

"Yep. Family problems, depressed teens, teen marriages, naked old people "

" Good episode…" Lorelai said cutting her off.

"Lottery winners "

"Wait. Lottery? They won the lottery? When?"

"Yes, mom. You always fall asleep for those episodes. You only caught the early ones."

"Now that makes much more sense."

"What did you do?" Jess asked Luke as he walked into the apartment. Luke was sitting on the couch, his face in his hands. He looked up at Jess and he looked tired, and slightly wasted. It was then that he noticed the several beer bottles that cluttered the coffee table.

"I ruined it. I yelled at her, she yelled back. I insulted her, and she ran out of here looking at me like I was the boogey man. The whole town probably knows by now. I can see the headlines: Luke Danes, murdered by folks of small town Connecticut's Stars Hollow for breaking the loved Lorelai's heart."

"You're making too much of this, man. And you're wasted, so get some sleep. I'll take care of the diner…" Jess replied with a sigh.

"Look at this… Jess has gone soft.

"It's the girl, the girl with a killer slap…" he said touching his cheek grimacing. Luke smirked.

"Thanks Jess…" Luke said letting Jess help him to his bed. Jess shook his head as Luke lay down.

"The Gilmore girls sure have a way of turning a man…" Luke muttered under his breath but Jess heard. He silently agreed as he left the apartment once again.

Author's Note: Hope it was worth the wait! I have a general plan as to where I'm going with this. The next chapter is called; Music resolves everything, so maybe that will give you a little insight. Please review!