Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews, please continue to send them. Like crack, they are like an addiction! :) I don't own Gilmore Girls or this song...

The Trouble with Love Is by Kelly Clarkson...

The trouble with is

It can tear it you up inside

Make your heart believe a lie

It's stronger than your pride...

Lorelai put her Jeep in drive and pulled out of the Dragonfly parking lot. She turned the corner to go to Luke's when something compelled her to turn around and head toward the highway. She suddenly had the compulsion to pay her father a visit.

Lorelai, never overtly affectionate with either of her parents, was incensed by what Emily had shared with her. She couldn't believe that her father would have an affair. Her parent's marriage always seemed to so solid. Sure, they fought sometimes. Emily had recently become increasing more annoyed with her father, but Lorelai never thought it was because Emily suspected him of cheating.

She pulled up to the familiar house about 40 minutes later. She sat for a moment in her car, contemplating what she would say when her father opened the door. Finally she pushed the car door open, stepped onto the porch and knocked. She had to wait a moment before her father answered the door.

"Lorelai?" her questioned her presence.

"Hi Dad," Lorelai said pushing past him and into the foyer. "We need to talk."

Richard stood holding the door handle slightly startled by Lorelai's brisk attitude.

"I wasn't expecting you," Richard replied closing the door.

"Well, never underestimate the power of the pop in Dad," Lorelai said walking into the living room. Richard followed behind his daughter, confused by her visit and curious about her need to see him.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked her as she sat in a chair.

"Yes, please," she replied. "Whatever you're having."

"Well I wasn't planning on having—"

"Trust me, you're gonna need a drink Dad. A big one," Lorelai told him.

Richard gave his daughter a quizzical look. He suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was something akin to the feeling he had when he found out Lorelai was pregnant. He sighed heavily and lowered himself onto the couch.

"What is this about Lorelai? What trouble are you in now?" he asked point blank.

"Oh, I'm not the one in trouble Dad," Lorelai responded hurt by his assumption.

"What, is it Rory?" Richard asked suddenly concerned.

"No," Lorelai said. "I'm here to find out exactly what you were thinking when you started cheating on Mom," Lorelai simply stated.

"Excuse me?" Richard said.

Lorelai stood up and began to pace around the room. "I mean when you and that woman Pennilyn Lott decided to have an affair, did you think about Mom at all? Were you concerned that you were throwing away over 30 years of marriage?"

"An affair?" Richard stuttered for a moment taken aback.

"What? You've had so many you don't remember?" Lorelai shot at him.

Richard stood up and walked over to his daughter. Lorelai had forgotten just how imposing her father could be. It was like she had awakened the sleeping giant, but she didn't care. Her heart broke for her mother. Lorelai had only begun to realize that her mother had poured her heart and soul into her marriage. She didn't have much else in her life. So here Lorelai was, looking at her father, the man who ruined her mother's world.

"This has nothing to do with you Lorelai," her father stated tersely.

"Maybe not, but do you know how I found out about this?" she quizzed him. "Mom called me from France and she ended up telling me. Does that sound normal to you? Mom and I talking about something like that?" Lorelai said.

"She shouldn't have told you anything," Richard said through his teeth. "You have nothing to do with this Lorelai and I think it's time you leave."

"Leave? No way. You don't get to end this like that," Lorelai informed him. "Do you have any idea how awful this is for Mom? Her life revolves around you and your functions and this house. She had to run away to Europe to escape you," Lorelai said.

"Lorelai, I am not discussing this with you," Richard exploded walking away from her and pouring himself a drink.

Not one to be deterred Lorelai let the silence linger for a moment before forging ahead, "So are you getting a divorce?" she finally asked him.

Richard took a large sip of his scotch and let out a huge breath of air sinking into the chair. "I don't know," he replied defeated taking another mouthful of his drink.

"Dad, I know you don't want to talk about this with me, but how could you do this to Mom?" Lorelai asked calming down.

"Your mother doesn't have the entire story," Richard finally told her. "She would like to think that I am despicable and that's fine. If that is what she wants to believe there isn't anything I can do about it," he stubbornly informed her.

"What do you mean?" Lorelai said taking a seat across from her father.

"I mean I'm not having an affair Lorelai," Richard told her. "I admit that the thought crossed my mind and then I came to my senses."

"So then why does Mom think you're having an affair?" Lorelai asked.

Richard finished off his drink and rubbed his forehead as if this topic of conversation were giving him a headache. "She saw me one day. I had met Pennilyn for lunch. Your mother was at the same restaurant with a friend and she saw us. I regret that what happened as I was leaving was not one of my finest hours," Richard began. "As we were leaving the restaurant I kissed Pennilyn in a way unbefitting of a married man. Unfortunately, your mother saw the exchange and that is when she moved out."

"Why would you do that Dad?" Lorelai prodded.

"I don't know Lorelai," he admitted. "It happened after Trix's death and I was grieving. That is no excuse, but you saw how upset I was. Your mother told me about the letter Trix wrote. It made me think. I had a horrible fight with my mother before she died and in some misguided way I wondered if maybe she was right all those years ago."

"Right about leaving Mom at the altar? Dad, how could you think that? Don't you love her anymore?" Lorelai asked disbelieving.

"Of course I love your mother Lorelai. I love her more than anyone or anything in this world," Richard snapped. "I don't know what I was thinking. I made a horrible mistake, which your mother saw. Of course once I kissed Pennilyn I realized this, but it was too late. I tired to explain, but your mother wouldn't listen."

Lorelai sat too shocked to speak for a moment. She had to take this all in. A few hours ago her mother told her that her father was having an affair. Now her father was telling her it was only a kiss. Lorelai wasn't sure what to say, or do. Obviously her father had completely violated her mother's trust. He had secret lunches with Pennilyn Lott so of course Emily would assume it was a full-blown affair if she saw them kissing. Her father on the other hand suddenly looked very small and defeated.

"Have you told Mom what you just told me?" Lorelai asked.

"Of course I have Lorelai," he answered matter-of-factly. "But she refuses to believe me. Over 30 years of marriage, you would think she trusted me, had faith in me, but no. She stubbornly refuses to listen to a word I have to say," he said irritated.

"Why should she Dad? She found out about your secret phone calls and lunch dates and then she sees you kissing another woman. Not to mention all the trips you took with Jason. She probably thinks this is one affair in a long line," Lorelai replied.

"Of course, you couldn't possibly see my side," Richard snapped at her. "You couldn't possibly believe that I'm sorry and remorseful for what I've done. This is why it's none of your business. You're more like your mother than I thought," he added snidely.

Lorelai stood up highly agitated. If there was one thing she knew for certain it was that she was nothing like her mother.

"Of course I couldn't possibly expect to have a civilized conversation with you for longer than ten minutes," Lorelai erupted. "You might want to take a look in the mirror before you decide it's Mom who's too stubborn to repair your marriage. You screwed up Dad and it's gonna take a lot to fix it," Lorelai said picking up her purse, throwing it over her shoulder and stomping out.

She had made it to the car and she was shaking. Lorelai and Richard had never been that close. Their relationship was more like the Bush twins and GW. He was had a vague knowledge of what she was up to, but no real knowledge of who she was, but he was her still father. She remembered long ago when he was in the hospital. She was couldn't even go into his room because she didn't know what to say. She loved him, but she also knew they were two fundamentally different people.

Lorelai calmed down before starting the engine. She knew it wasn't good to drive when she was upset. She reviewed the day as she drove. She was so happy with Luke, but all her other relationships seemed to be falling apart. 'Bridget Jones was right,' Lorelai thought as she pulled up to the diner. 'Just when one area of your life picks up, another falls fantastically to hell.'

Lorelai needed time to think, time to clear her head. She drove through Hartford and stopped at a restaurant for a quick dinner. Afterwards she took the scenic route back to Stars Hollow. It was only then that she noticed the time. She was supposed to have met Luke hours ago. Luke was probably worried. She told him she'd be by the diner and then she abruptly left town to confront Richard. It was almost 11 p.m. and she knew he'd be closing.

Lorelai dashed to the door. There was still a light on so she knew Luke must be inside somewhere. She tried the door, which was locked so she tapped on the glass. Luke emerged from the kitchen with the phone tucked between his ear and shoulder. He saw her and immediately murmured something into the phone and hung up. He hurried to the door and unlocked it pulling Lorelai inside in one fell swoop. Luke hugged Lorelai closely to him and held her tightly.

"Where the hell have you been?" he asked not letting go.

"I'm sorry," she said hugging him back. "I had to go to Hartford."

Luke finally released her and took a step back. "Is it your Dad, is he okay?" Luke asked concerned.

"Well his physical health is fine. I'm not so sure about his mental health though," Lorelai began. She told Luke the story of her mother calling and telling her about the affair. She told Luke how she went to see her father and what transpired.

After she was done talking Luke had a few questions of his own for Lorelai. "So, you drove to Hartford on a whim. Did you remember you told me you'd be here for dinner?" he asked.

"Well yeah," Lorelai said. "I'm sorry Luke I just had to see my Dad. I needed to talk to him about all this."

"But you have a cell phone. Your cell phone is always on," he stated.

"I know," Lorelai answered. She was beginning to detect a tone in Luke's voice. It was a tone she didn't enjoy. "I was upset after talking to my Mom so I turned it off."

"So you turned off you cell phone, you didn't tell anyone where you were going and you made everyone worry about you because you decided to change your plans," Luke started to rant. It was clear his relief to see her had been replaced by irritation at her lack of communicating her change in plans.

"I made everyone worry?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"Yeah, "Luke said pacing between tables. "It was ten and you still weren't here so I called the Dragonfly and you weren't there so then I called your house and then Sookie's house. She said you'd left work hours ago. So then I saw Patty and I asked her if she'd seen you, which of course she hadn't, so then I started to worry," Luke ranted.

"Luke," Lorelai said putting a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd get so freaked out about this."

"Well I did," Luke said. "You said you were coming here and then you didn't show up and no one knew where you were."

Lorelai was surprised by Luke's overreaction to her trip to Hartford. She sort of understood his momentary panic, but she still couldn't believe he called half the town to find her.

"Luke, it was really sweet of you to worry, but I'm fine, see?" she said placing his hand on her cheek to reaffirm her health and well being.

Luke pulled her hand away. "Lorelai, you know I'm not the possessive type, but you can't just make plans and then not show up. All I needed was a phone call so I wouldn't worry."

"Yes Mom. I'll be sure to call next time I'll miss curfew. I have 35 cents in my pocket for an emergency phone call in case my cell dies too," she said mocking him.

"You think this is funny?" Luke accused her.

"Fine it's not funny," she conceded. "But I don't recall making plans to meet at a definite time Luke. I said I'd stop by and now I'm here. I don't see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that I was worried," Luke said. "We talked about you having dinner here. I know you have odd eating habits but you normally don't come here at 11 o'clock for dinner! I was getting worried and no one seemed to know where you were."

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the kind of girl who gives out her daily schedule. I do what I want to do when I want to it. I'm sorry you worried, but I'm fine. Can we just drop it?" she asked irritated. She had just dealt with her father. She didn't need to deal with Luke too.

"No we can't drop it," Luke said loudly. "Don't you understand? We," Luke gestured with both hands to the space between them, "are in a relationship. I was under the impression that when you're in a relationship you shared things, like a change in plans, with your partner."

"We," Lorelai mimicked Luke's hand gesture. "Are also two individual people Luke. I had to take care of something with my family and I did."

"Fine. What prevented you from calling me?" Luke calmed down to ask.

"Nothing," Lorelai said. "We didn't have a definite time commitment so I didn't think it was a big deal."

"There it is," Luke said pointing to her with his index finger.

"There what is?" Lorelai asked confused.

"What you just said. You said you didn't think it was a big deal. It doesn't matter if I think you're lying in a ditch somewhere because I am not important enough to warrant concern," Luke told her.

"Oh Luke, please," Lorelai said. "Do you need me to bring any chips to your little pity party?"

Luke shot her a look.

"Luke, listen," Lorelai started again trying to remain calm. "I love you. I'm sorry if you were worried okay? It wasn't part of my master plan," she air-quoted master plan.

"But you still don't think it was a big deal," he said.

"Honestly? No," she admitted to him.

Luke nodded his head up and down in frustration. He had spent the last hour worried sick about Lorelai and she didn't seem to understand why. He wasn't upset that she didn't show up. He was upset because she hadn't thought to include him in her change in plans, and thereby, excluded him from a portion of her life. He felt like she wasn't taking their relationship seriously. Luke wanted to tell Lorelai everything, from his stove woes to how he got a 2-for-1 deal on toothpaste. Lorelai still wanted to run around the state on her whims.

"Okay, well I think we're done here," Luke discharged her.

"Excuse me?" Lorelai said. "Am I dismissed? Should I bow or curtsey before I take my leave of you master?" she retorted sarcastically.

Luke sighed in frustration. "I mean you obviously can't see my point of view and I can't see yours so we might as well call it a night," he clarified.

"Fine." Lorelai said shortly. "Good. That's good. Just to let you know I'm going home now. I'll be walking about 30 paces to my car, driving down the street and then parking in my driveway. After that I'll be getting out of my car and walking to the front door. It might take me between 30 seconds and minute to get to my front door. Sorry I can't be more specific on the time frame for you," she said as she pulled open the diner door.

"Great, but don't feel the need to inform me of your plans. If I don't see you in a month then I'll know to get a little concerned, but I definitely won't send out the search parties until at least two months has passed," he yelled after her.

'Has the PMS fairy taken over the world? Is it a full moon?' Lorelai thought as she walked briskly to her car. Lorelai thought about her human interaction for the day. Jason. Rory. Emily. Richard. Luke. Each and every conversation had resulted in frustration and anger, with the exception of Emily. Sure, the conversation had started poorly but it went nowhere but up after initial irritation. It was a sad day when Lorelai was able to communicate with her mother better than anyone else. As she drove home and thought Lorelai seriously began to wonder if the apocalypse wasn't neigh.

TBC