Author's notes:
First of all, thanks to Daisy Deertree, ilovemrbloom, smile1, SGOU, OTHlover04, Leni, Nyla, and JanieSternin for your reviews. This next chapter is more focused on developing the Luke/Dean friendship, so I hope it's not too boring. Miss Patty is in this part thanks to Leni's suggestion, and I hope it doesn't disappoint! Thanks for reading!
"I just don't understand it," Miss Patty sighed as she sank down into a chair to give her order to Cesar. "I can't believe that sweet little Rory would do such a thing."
"I think it was that Dean," Taylor replied. "That boy's been nothing but trouble ever since he moved her. Remember how crushed she was when he broke up with her three years ago? And now he's done the same thing to poor Lindsay too."
"I can't believe it," Miss Patty murmured. "Poor, poor Lindsay."
"Poor Lindsay and poor Rory!" Babette interjected. "To think that Dean could have been so cruel to both those sweet girls!"
Luke stood behind the counter, pouring coffee into Kirk's cup and trying not to listen to the conversation that was going on six feet away. He'd known that the town would find out eventually, and that no one was likely to criticize Lindsay or Rory. After all, Lindsay was the pretty young bride whose husband had been caught cheating on her not a year after their wedding, and Rory was....well, Rory was perfect to the people of Stars Hollow. Which left Dean to suffer the wrath of the townspeople.
"I'm sure it couldn't have been Rory's fault," Miss Patty insisted. "She would never do anything like that."
"You're absolutely right," Taylor agreed. "And to think I employed that boy at my store for all those years. I never would have done it if I'd known what a louse he was."
"That's enough, Taylor," Luke interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Taylor asked, confused. "I wasn't aware that you were part of this conversation."
"You heard me, Taylor," Luke insisted. "Lay off of Dean."
"Oh, but Luke," Babette protested. "Surely you're not saying that what he did was right, are you?"
"Of course I'm not," Luke replied. "He made a stupid, thoughtless mistake. But cut him some slack. He's just a kid."
"Luke, that's no excuse," Taylor insisted. "Stars Hollow does not condone adultery."
"I'm not saying that Dean didn't do something wrong," Luke continued. "But it's not entirely his fault. Rory was in on this too. Dean couldn't have cheated without Rory going along with it."
"Now listen here," Taylor growled. "Rory Gilmore has lived in this town for almost her entire life. She is Stars Hollow's most valuable asset and I'm not about to sit here and listen to you talk that way about a girl who isn't even here to defend herself."
"Taylor, I know how much Rory means to this town," Luke replied. "And I know what a brilliant and beautiful young woman she is. But she's not perfect. No one is. Rory made a mistake, just like Dean did, and I don't think it's fair to make Dean take all the blame."
"I still say you're crazy," Taylor grumbled, but he was quiet after that. And although the residents of Stars Hollow still gossiped about Rory Gilmore and Dean Forester, the town's attitude wasn't as fiercely anti-Dean as it was before.
Speaking of Dean, Luke hadn't seen him since the story got out. He was likely laying low, and Luke couldn't really blame him. He'd come by the diner a couple of days ago, to get a few items he'd left at Luke's apartment, and to thank him for letting him stay that first night. But it had been several days since Luke had seen him, and he was starting to worry in spite of himself.
He stopped by Dean's house that night after closing up the diner. Dean's father was cool and distant with him at first, but when Luke gave his name, Mr. Forester shook his hand and said that Dean had told him how Luke had helped him that night. Dean wasn't at home, but he spent a lot of time down at the garage working on building another car. Luke could probably find him there.
And sure enough, Dean was there, busily examining the engine of what looked to be a '66 Corvette. Very nice car, Luke thought to himself. He knocked on the wall next to him, and felt guilty as Dean startled, hitting his head on the hood of the car.
"Sorry," Luke apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Hi," Dean grinned, looking genuinely happy to see him. "What brings you here?"
Why was he here? Luke scrambled for an answer. "I...uh, I wanted to see how you were holding up. I know there's been a lot of talk around the town lately."
"Yeah, I know," Dean nodded. "I heard about you sticking up for me in front of Taylor and Miss Patty. Thanks."
"Sure." Luke shrugged aside the thanks. "So how's it going?"
"Okay, I guess," Dean muttered, returning his attention to the car engine. "I still feel like a dog for what I did to Lindsay."
"I'm sure the constant reminders don't help."
"They're not so bad," Dean shrugged. "I deserve a lot worse for what I did."
"You can't change what happened," Luke insisted. "You're always going to wonder if you did the wrong thing, but worrying over it isn't going to change anything."
"You're right," Dean agreed. "Thanks."
Luke shoved his hands in his pockets, wondering where to go from here. "No problem."
"Hey, I'm going to get a beer, do you want one?" Dean offered. "My dad's got a couple boxes in the fridge."
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you underage?"
Dean groaned. "Aw, man, are you a stickler like Taylor?"
The last thing Luke wanted to be was like Taylor. "Well," he started, "I suppose my conscience wouldn't bother me too much if I didn't know you weren't twenty-one."
"Right," Dean grinned. "Don't ask, don't tell?"
"Definitely," Luke agreed. He caught the bottle Dean tossed to him, twisted off the cap, and leaned against the side of the car, sipping thoughtfully. "So have you heard anything from Rory?"
Dean shook his head. "She said she'd write, but it's only been a couple of days. What about you and Lorelai?"
Luke shook his head. "Nothing yet."
"They'll write," Dean assured him. "I have a feeling they will."
Luke continued to sip his beer and wished that he had Dean's confidence.
