Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I so look forward to them! Hopefully this is keeping your interest. This time the plot thickens. I don't own Gilmore Girls or this song...

Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne...

Crazy, but that's how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Maybe it's not too late

To learn how to love, and forget how to hate

Mental wounds not healing

Life's a bitter shame

I'm goin' off the rails on a crazy train

'Damn Rory,' Lorelai thought as she pulled up to the Dragonfly. Why was she behaving like an insolent child? It hurt Lorelai to know that Rory wasn't happy about her relationship with Luke. A mere 24 hours ago Lorelai was amazed that her life had finally appeared to be everything she had always wanted. Rory, albeit mixed up at the moment, was a bright, wonderful, young woman, Lorelai was finally running her own inn, and possibly most of all, she had Luke. Magnificent, sexy, rugged, loving Luke. Now Lorelai was questioning everything: her skills as a mother and her ability to have a successful relationship.

She sighed and rested her head on the steering wheel for a moment. She closed her eyes and silently wished she could go back in time and change things with Rory. But if her wish were granted her entire relationship with Luke would be different, possibly forgotten. The thought made Lorelai shiver. As much as she hated fighting with Rory she didn't want to trade a single moment she shared with Luke to fix it.

Lorelai turned when she heard a light tapping at her car window. She opened her eyes and turned her head. She immediately wished she hadn't. Jason was standing outside her window with a bouquet of flowers in hand. She let out a disgusted sigh and opened the car door.

"Are you famine or death?" she asked sarcastically attempting to walk around Jason.

"Excuse me?" Jason asked bewildered.

"Well I've already encountered war, there's only three more horseman of the apocalypse left and now I run into you, so I ask, which one are you and who should I be expecting next?" Lorelai asked.

"Lorelai we need to talk," Jason pressed on ignoring her rant. "We need to talk seriously about getting back together."

"Oh wait, I get it, you're Conquest! How could I be so blind?" Lorelai continued her discussion as if she hadn't heard Jason. She brushed by Jason and started to walk toward the inn.

"Lorelai, please," Jason pleaded. "I've given you a week to reassess. I was hoping you'd come to the same conclusion I have," Jason said.

"That you and John Hinckley have a lot in common?" she retorted.

"Ah, good stalker reference, I'm impressed. Your quick wit obviously hasn't changed since we broke up," Jason replied congenially.

"Quit smiling at me Jason. And please listen to those key words you just said 'we broke up!' I told you once and I'll tell you again, we're over. I've moved on. Take the hint and do the same," she said turning on her heel.

"Wow, you're in a fiery mood today!" he said rushing to follow her. "Look, these are for you," he said holding the flowers out to her. "Just take them. Regardless of what happens I want you to have them."

"Why Jason?" Lorelai asked not taking the bouquet. "What do you want from me?"

"Closure," he replied simply.

"Closure? So my telling you at least five times that I've moved on wasn't definitive enough for you?" she questioned him.

"I need to know why you ended things and why it can't work. You know me Lorelai I'm a bottom line kind of guy. I need to know the facts," Jason told her.

Lorelai had had it. She was in no mood to deal with Jason right now. She just had a horrible fight with Rory and now Jason was here in some misguided attempt to win her over.

"You want the facts?" she started in on him. "Here they are. One, you sued my father. Two, you epitomize the world I have tried to escape my whole life. Three, I have moved on and four, you have the weirdest quirks I've ever seen Jason. The whole separate bed thing? Weird. I don't want to marry a guy who won't share a bed with me. I want to marry a guy who will share his toothbrush with me. I want a guy who won't talk on the phone while we're on a date. I want a guy who will keep a stupid blue stuffed pig in his apartment even though he thinks it's ridiculous just because I ask him too!" she finished loudly.

"Wow," Jason said after a moment. "That last thing seemed pretty specific. Is there someone who keeps a stupid blue stuffed pig in his apartment because you asked him too?"

Lorelai was breathing heavily and she placed her head in her hands trying to stop the tears that were welling in her eyes. They were tears of frustration and anger and sadness and she fought to keep them at bay. She certainly didn't want Jason to think she was crying over him.

She composed herself and looked up at him. "Yes," she replied simply. "There is a guy who does that."

Jason looked defeated. "So this guy, how long has he been around?"

"Jason," she sighed, but it was clear that he wanted to know. "This guy has been around a while, but I never realized how I felt about him until about two weeks ago."

"And you love him?" he asked.

Lorelai sighed, "Yes Jason I love him."

"So I have no real chance in hell here?" he asked limply.

"No, you don't," she replied softly. "I'm sorry, but did you actually think we were a forever thing?"

"Yeah I kind of did actually," he said lamely. "But now I realize that I was everything you never wanted so I never really stood a chance."

"Jason," Lorelai said softening. "I'm sorry. I started dating you for all the wrong reasons, but we had fun and I thought maybe it might work. Then the whole business thing with my Dad blew up and you wanted to sue him and that's when I realized that it was never going to work."

Jason looked at Lorelai and she thought she saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. She thought it indicated that he finally understood why they couldn't be together. She hoped he wasn't too hurt, but at this point she just wanted him to leave.

"All right," he replied defeated. "So I guess bottom line is that you don't feel the way I do. God, am I really that blind? I really thought we were great together."

"Jason, we were good together, but I honestly think with or without the lawsuit and with or without this other man, we would have eventually discovered that we don't belong together," she tried to tell him.

"Okay," he responded. "Well I know now. I know that I can't compete with another man if you love him. I know I can't change who I am or where I come from so I guess we're at an impasse."

"I'm sorry Jason," Lorelai said sincerely.

"No, I appreciate your honesty Lorelai," Jason said mustering his composure and readying himself to leave. "I hope you're happy with this new guy."

"Thank you," Lorelai replied. "I am very happy with him. I hope you find someone who loves you as much as I love him," she offered guiltily.

"Yeah, thanks," Jason grudgingly agreed. "You're a wonderful woman Lorelai. Maybe one day we can do the friend thing, but for now you won't have to worry about any more unexpected messages from me."

"Good to know," she tried to smile and lighten the conversation. "I'll see you around Jason, hopefully not in the bushes outside my window."

Jason lightly guffawed. "Right, I guess I'll take those fatigues back to the army surplus on the way back to Hartford. Have a good life Lorelai," he said.

"Thanks, same to you," she replied as Jason trudged back to his car with his head hanging.

Lorelai watched him walk away and felt bad. Granted, she didn't feel bad enough to take back what she said, but she was sorry she had to be so harsh with him. Lorelai walked into the Dragonfly feeling her load was a little bit lighter after her conversation with Jason. She was still upset about her fight with Rory, but Jason was just one less obstacle she would have to overcome.

"Hey Luke, we have a delivery," Caesar poked his head around the corner and said.

"A delivery?" Luke asked. "I didn't order anything," he said hanging up the phone.

Luke had been on the phone all day frantically trying to find a stove in the correct size, in stock, that wouldn't have to be special ordered. He had been on the phone for hours with no luck. The lack of customers was starting to disturb Luke. The lunch rush had been okay, but it was nearly dinner and there were exactly two people waiting to eat. He didn't know how he could last for three weeks without a stove.

Luke went to the receiving door in the back and saw a large white truck backing up. A man with a clipboard walked over to Luke.

"You Lucas Danes?" he asked gruffly.

"Luke, but yeah, that's me," Luke replied as he watched the truck back up and park. "What's going on?"

"I got a delivery for a Lucas Danes," said the deliveryman. "I just need your signature right here," he said holding out the clipboard.

Luke picked up the pen and quickly reviewed the paper in front of him. "I don't understand, I didn't order anything. Who sent this?" he asked before signing.

"Look buddy, I just get the call to deliver. There's an 800 number on the bottom of the paperwork if you want to know who ordered it, but you have to sign in order for me to unload the stove," he told him.

"Stove?" Luke asked. Figuring it was better to sign now and ask questions later he hurriedly scribbled his name after making sure he wasn't signing away his soul or first born masculine child.

"Yep," the deliveryman replied taking back the clipboard. "This puppy is state of the art. They usually don't make them this small, but you got a good deal buddy," he said lifting the latch gate on the truck. "Just show us where you want it."

"Uh, right through this door, make a right and you'll see where it goes," Luke replied.

Luke made his way back into the diner and picked up the phone. There was only one person who knew about his stove issues and that was Lorelai.

"Dragonfly Inn, Lorelai speaking," she said.

"You don't happen to know anything about a stove do you?" Luke asked innocently without a hello.

"I might," Lorelai evaded. "It depends on who this is. If it's the FBI then no, if this is Luke then yes," she said grinning.

"What did you do?" he asked as he watched the deliverymen haul the stove across the kitchen floor.

"Well you said you needed a stove and I found you one that didn't take three weeks to deliver," she stated proudly.

"How did you find one? I've called all over Connecticut and parts of New York and I couldn't find anything. How did you know what size to get?"

"Well Sookie, chef extraordinaire, was owed a favor by a guy who knew a guy who had a cousin who had the stove. Four phone calls later and the stove was on its way. Oh and I had Caesar measure the space while you were fighting with Taylor earlier. It was all very covert. I wanted to surprise you," she finished.

"I love you," was all Luke could say astonished. He was amazed that she could accomplish something so quickly, especially since it had taken Luke all day to accomplish nothing.

Luke's sincerity took Lorelai by surprise. "I love you too," she replied.

"You shouldn't have done this," Luke said. "You just opened an inn. You shouldn't have spent the time to worry about my stove."

"Luke it didn't take that long really," Lorelai replied. "Besides I was subscribing to the Emily Gilmore way of dealing with problems—shopping."

"Did you have a bad day? What happened?" Luke asked concerned.

"Rory called. We got into a fight," Lorelai replied flatly.

Luke watched as the deliverymen hooked up the stove. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Not right now," she replied. "I'm just happy I could use my self-pity for good instead of evil. I hope the stove works out," she told him.

"It looks like it's gonna fit perfectly," Luke replied. "Will you be around later? I might actually be able to offer you a hot meal," Luke enticed her.

"I wouldn't miss a hot meal cooked by my hot diner man," she said merrily.

"Okay," Luke said as he flushed slightly. "Well I should go see if they need any help setting up the stove. Thank you Lorelai," he said sincerely.

"My pleasure," she replied. "Bye." Lorelai placed the phone back into the cradle and smiled ever so slightly to herself. 'At least something good came out of today,' she thought to herself.

Later that night Lorelai was just hopping into her Jeep when her cell phone rang. She sat down and pulled out the phone.

"Hello," she said.

"What did you say to Rory?" came her mother's shrill tone.

"Mom?" Lorelai asked shortly.

"Of course it's me," Emily said. "I asked you a question Lorelai. What did you say to Rory? She was fine all morning and then she called you. After that phone call you'd have thought I was dragging her to a live execution!"

"Well Rory and I didn't really stay in France that long last summer maybe she thought the guillotine was still in style," Lorelai responded feebly. Out of everyone in the world Lorelai wanted to discuss her problems with Rory to, Emily was last on the list. 'Hell, I'd rather talk to Joan Crawford about this,' Lorelai thought to herself.

"Lorelai don't do that. Don't deflect attention away from the issue with your flip remarks," Emily said agitated. "Now what happened between you and Rory?"

"We had a fight okay Mom? Are you happy now? Aren't you just dying to do the happy dance around the room? Maybe you could throw a party," Lorelai responded spitefully.

"I do not want to throw a party Lorelai," Emily said stiffly. "I would, however, like you to tell me what you fought about."

"Forget it. That is between me and Rory," Lorelai stated.

"Well it may be between you and Rory but I have to deal with this child Lorelai," Emily said. "She's been very upset you know. I suspect you do or else you wouldn't have shipped her off."

"I did not ship her off Mom," Lorelai said. "I would never ship her off anywhere. She was having some problems and she needed time away. That's all."

Lorelai was fuming. How dare her mother call her and demand answers this way. She was perfectly capable of dealing with Rory. They had a good relationship. Maybe not so much now, but they were normally close. They were best friends.

"Yes, she told me about her issues with Dean," Emily said. "I'd watch out for that Lorelai. It seems like she has an unhealthy attachment there and he's married. We wouldn't want her taking any lessons from Pennilyn Lott."

That comment stung. If Emily only knew the whole truth. Rory's situation was much worse than Pennilyn Lott having secret lunches with her father. Not only that, but Emily seemed to recognize that Rory had a dangerous relationship with Dean from one conversation and Lorelai hadn't even noticed. Did Rory tell her grandmother more than her own mother? How did Emily know all this?

"Don't worry Mom, I'm on top of it. I know how to raise my daughter. I did it for 15 years without your help. I think that makes me capable," Lorelai spat back.

"You needn't remind me Lorelai," Emily responded hurt and getting upset. "I just want you to keep an eye on that situation. It could get ugly."

"And how would you know Mom? What are you omniscient? Are you the great and powerful Wizard of Oz?"

"No," Emily said shortly.

"Then how would you know Mom? How?" Lorelai pushed her.

"I'd know because your father did the same thing to me Lorelai!" Emily yelled into the phone. "If you think he only had lunch with Pennilyn Lott then you're as foolish and naïve as I was." Emily started to shake slightly, overcome by her emotion. She was stunned that she had let this bit of information escape her lips. She thought it must have been the jet lag that affected her inner censor.

Lorelai sat back stunned. She took a deep breath. "Mom, are you, are you saying that Dad had an affair with—"

"Yes Lorelai that's exactly what I'm saying," Emily replied coldly.

"Are you sure? I mean I thought it was just a few lunches," Lorelai softened, feeling horrible for her mother if what she said were true.

"No Lorelai it wasn't a few lunches. That's how it started. Apparently after the Yale/Harvard game things changed. Their meetings became more frequent and I found out for certain," Emily responded robotically.

"Mom, I'm so sorry," Lorelai offered.

"It's too late for sorry Lorelai. What's done is done. I'm just telling you that Richard and Pennilyn started out with a few innocent lunches, then continued secret meetings and then--. Well from what Rory has mentioned it seems that she is conflicted about her feelings for Dean. I don't want it to get messy."

"I know Mom, neither do I," Lorelai said feeling awful that the situation had already gotten much worse than a few innocent meetings.

"So, will you please tell me why you and Rory are fighting?" Emily tried again. Like a dog with a bone she couldn't be dissuaded.

Lorelai sighed. Out of a sense of sorrow and guilt she felt compelled to respond. "I was upset that Rory didn't call yesterday because it was the grand opening of inn. We sorted things out but then she got upset with me because I told her I'm seeing someone," Lorelai finished quietly.

"You're dating someone? Who are you dating? Are you back with Digger Stiles? Is that why he was at the inn?" Emily asked in quick succession.

Lorelai really didn't want to discuss this with Emily, but she felt compelled to answer out of guilt. She felt sorry for her mother and she thought maybe just answering her questions instead of giving her a hard time might be best. "Yes, I'm dating someone and no it's not Jason. I'm dating," Lorelai hesitated, not sure if she wanted to finish the sentence.

"Who?" Emily pressed.

"I'm dating Luke," Lorelai sighed.

"Luke, your friend from the diner? The one I asked you about ages ago?" Emily clarified.

"Yep, that's him," Lorelai affirmed.

"But I thought Rory liked him?" Emily asked.

"I thought so too," Lorelai sighed forgetting for a moment that it was her mother on the other end of the line. "I thought she'd be happy, but then she got upset and started saying these awful things. She's convinced I'm going to break his heart and then we'll have no where to eat or something."

"Hmm, "Emily said.

"Hmm? I offer you my life story and that's all I get? If I'd have known that I would have shared a lot more a long time ago," Lorelai stated.

"I was thinking Lorelai," Emily replied. "How long have you and Rory known Luke?"

"Years, why?" Lorelai asked uncomfortably.

"I'm just thinking that maybe Rory feels threatened by Luke," Emily said.

"Threatened? Luke's not scary. I mean he can be a little moody sometimes, but—"

"That's not what I meant Lorelai," Emily interrupted. "I meant that Rory isn't home anymore, she's away at school. You two have a very close relationship. But now Rory is gone and Luke is there. Maybe she feels that Luke is going to take away her special place with you. She's never had to deal with you dating a man who's been around for so long," Emily psychoanalyzed.

"Thanks a lot Mom," Lorelai said. "But Rory never gave me a hard time about Jason and I was dating him. She wasn't that upset when I was engaged to Max."

"Lorelai I didn't mean it as a criticism," Emily sighed. "You said she wasn't that upset about Max. So was she upset at first?"

"Well she had to get used to the idea," Lorelai replied.

"But Max hadn't been around that long. Maybe she's worried that because Luke has been such a stable part of your lives that she'll be replaced. All children go through a stage of disliking one parent because they feel their position with the other parent is threatened. You said you never brought a man home until Rory was in high school so she's probably going through this much later than normal."

"Thank you Dr. Spock," Lorelai stated.

"It's just a thought," Emily said.

"Do you think it might have something to do with Chris?" Lorelai approached the subject timidly.

"Christopher? Why would it have anything to do with him?" Emily inquired.

"I don't know," Lorelai answered. "Rory always seemed to like the idea of me and Chris being together. Maybe Luke is more threatening because she knows it's more serious," Lorelai suggested.

"It's serious?" Emily asked surprised that Lorelai had shared so much information.

"Yeah, it is," Lorelai told her.

Emily felt like Lorelai was connecting with her on a level they had never quite reached before. Maybe it was the security of knowing they were thousands of miles away, but it felt nice.

"I could try to get her open up about it if you'd like," Emily offered. After a brief pause she added, "So you're happy with Luke?"

"Yes Mom, I'm happy with Luke," Lorelai responded grudgingly. She always felt weird about talking to her mother about men. It probably had something to do with the fact that one of their first talks revolved around a man getting her pregnant at 16.

"Well, good then," Emily said trying to smile. Luke definitely wasn't her first choice for Lorelai. Of course most of Emily's choices for Lorelai went ignored. When it came down to it she just wanted Lorelai and Rory to be happy. As much as she hated to admit it, it seemed like Luke usually made them happy, at the very least, looked out for them.

"Mom," Lorelai said. "Thanks. And I'm really sorry about everything that happened with Dad."

"Thank you Lorelai," Emily said, fighting back tears that always came when she thought about Richard.

They hung up the phone and each felt they had a better understanding of the other. Lorelai was pleasantly surprised that her mother seemed to have some sort of insight into Rory's absurd reaction to the thought of her and Luke. Emily on the other hand was happy that Lorelai seemed to open up to her more than usual. Although they each had many problems weighing on their minds they were content with fact that they had seemed to reach a mutual understanding.

A/N: I know there was a bit more dialog between Emily and Lorelai, which may have been slightly out of character. It's just something I would personally like to see so there it is. Please chalk it up to Emily's jet lag and Lorelai's confusion over Rory's reaction to her and Luke. Thanks!

TBC