A/N: No one would be able to find such a great parking spot in New York like Luke does, but it was just easier that way. Jess is most definitely not mine, but ASP's. (As are Luke and Lorelai.)

Previously in False Starts:

Luke called her later that night. "You're going to kill me."

"Oh I doubt that, you're handy to have around."

"Cesar and Lane can't work in the afternoon tomorrow, so I'm going to have to stay and work the shift by myself. If you would do me a huge, huge favor, could you go ahead and help Jess with some stuff and I'll be there around six? I know you don't get along too well, but this is important to him and I hate that--"

"Luke, it's fine. I think we can manage for a couple hours."

"I really appreciate it, Lorelai. I'll call Jess and tell him to expect you. His place now is not much to look at at all, so be careful." He gave her the address and thanked her again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not promising that your nephew will be alive when you get there, but I'll try."

Part 8

"Lorelai please come out to the desk. Some woman is asking for you." Michel stuck his head in the kitchen's door.

"Is it Ms. Appel again? I was afraid to leave last night because she'd track me down at home." Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"No, no, just come out here. I have other things to do then wait on your friends."

"My friends?" Lorelai frowned at Sookie. "I don't—who would be here?" Answering her own question, Lorelai wound her way to the front desk. "Oh my gosh, Rachel?"

Rachel looked essentially the same as she had years earlier. She held her camera in her hand and wore her usual outfit of an earth tone shirt and khaki pants. Lorelai couldn't help but feel a bit of the jealousy she had the day Rachel returned to Stars Hollow. But she reminded herself that Rachel had always been nice and was in fact, the person who had showed Lorelai the inn. "Surprise!" She said shyly. "I heard that the old inn had reopened, I was hoping you were behind it."

"Yeah! We just opened a week or so ago. It's been a madhouse around here. Anyways, what are you doing around? The last I heard you were off exploring the country again."

"I've been in Colorado for awhile with my fiancée." The glint of her ring finally caught Lorelai's eye.

"Oh, wow, you're engaged!" Lorelai remembered how Rachel had confided in her that she wanted to settle down soon. I guess if not with Luke, than with someone else, she thought.

"Yeah, it's been about a year. He has some property up in Maine so we were there recently and I heard from some people still in the area that I needed to come see the new inn! It looks fabulous; you've obviously put a lot of work into it."

Lorelai exhaled loudly. "Sometimes I thought it would never get done, but I'm so glad it did. It's the most amazing thing."

Rachel nodded enthusiastically and admired the walls. "Hey, how's Luke by the way?" The inevitable question, Lorelai thought.

"Oh, he's fine. Great." Lorelai said quickly.

"I heard his sister just got married recently."

"Yeah, she did. It was a really nice wedding. Gorgeous."

"I didn't know you were friends with Liz." Oops.

"Well, I'm not really. Her son dated my daughter and I met her a couple times when she was in town. Luke asked me to go with him so that's how I--"

"Really?" Rachel looked very pleased. "Are you two?" She trailed off and Lorelai raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, we're dating." Lorelai felt herself blush.

"Lorelai, that's wonderful! Really, I'm so happy for you two." Rachel's face positively glowed. "I hate to say this now, but one of the reasons I left before was because it was obvious Luke had feelings for you."

Lorelai couldn't breathe for a second. "Really?" She squished her face up in confusion. That long? "Um, you want to go sit out on the porch or something?"

"Oh, sure." Rachel followed her outside. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's just Luke is such a nice guy, I want him to be happy. And you were always so nice to me when I was here. And I don't want you to feel like you're responsible for running me off. You're not. It wasn't working out anyways. I'm much happier now and I hope you are too."

"Luke is a really sweet guy." Rachel nodded, smiling. "I just feel kind of silly finding out he liked me then. That was, oh wow, like four years ago?"

"Yeah," Rachel said sadly as she pulled her camera away from her face. "I hope I didn't--"

"No, no, it's fine." Lorelai glanced at her watch. "Oh wow, Rachel, you're not going to believe this but I have to go. I'm actually going to help move Luke's nephew to his new apartment."

"Wow, Jess? How's he?"

"He's alright, I guess. He's enrolling in college in the fall."

"That's great! Tell him congratulations."

"I will. Sorry I didn't get to chat longer. I'm glad you dropped by though!"

"Me too! I'm going to take some more shots, I can send them to you later if you like."

"Alright, thanks!"

"And good luck with Luke!"

Lorelai chuckled and hurried back inside. "Sookie, I'm out!" She yelled as she ran through the kitchen towards the back exit of the inn. As she drove out past the front, she saw Rachel checking out the stables. Funny how things worked out, she thought.

Lorelai looked up at the building. It was an abandoned warehouse that had been turned into a residential building, never mind that the neighborhood wasn't that great.

Knocking on apt. F, a tall guy with several tattoos and a nose ring answered the door. "Does Jess Mariano live here?" Lorelai queried.

"Let her in," a voice came from inside. The tall guy moved away and Jess appeared at the door. "Hey," he said awkwardly.

"How are things?"

"Alright," he shifted awkwardly. "I, uh, would offer something to drink but we don't have anything."

"Sounds like my house," Lorelai tried to smile and followed Jess into a space cordoned off by a curtain. A few boxes were stacked there. This is it? Lorelai wondered.

"The heavier stuff is at mom's and TJ's. They're out on circuit. But we can take these now."

"Uh, where's this new place? My car's like 20 blocks away."

Jess shrugged. "There's the subway."

"Tell ya what, how about I splurge for a cab? Then we don't have to walk with these boxes." Or run the risk of getting mugged, Lorelai added.

"No, the subway's fine."

"Just let me do this, Jess." Lorelai gritted her teeth as she made her way out the door.

"Alright, alright, it's your money." He consented.

The cab ride seemed to last forever and Lorelai felt awkward not having anything to say. "So, uh, what's Rory up to this summer?" Jess asked, his attention still turned to the buildings speeding by outside the grimy taxi window.

Lorelai bit her lip and didn't dare look at Jess. All she needed was to break down in front of him. "Oh, she decided to take a trip with her grandmother."

"Wow, without you? You two were attached at the hip." Jess turned to look at her.

"I couldn't survive a vacation with my mother if I had two suitcases full of Valium."

Jess chuckled. "I understand that."

Lorelai turned towards him. "Aw, your mom's nice. The wedding was beautiful."

Jess shrugged. "It's taken her awhile but she's finally gotten her stuff together. And hey, if she hadn't been such a mess a few years back, my life would be totally different. I never would have come to Stars Hollow or lived with Luke…" He trailed off. Lorelai was surprised to hear something so nostalgic come out of Jess's mouth.

"I thought you hated Stars Hollow."

"It's alright. I could never live there, too many people breathing down your neck and in your business."

"Suffocating," Lorelai finished. Jess turned to look at her in surprise.

"I ran away from home when I was younger," she said simply, realizing how much she and Jess actually had in common.

"But you ran to Stars Hollow."

"Well you did too. I mean, it wasn't your choice-"

"This is it," Jess interrupted her as the taxi pulled over to the curb. Lorelai paid the driver and she and Jess unloaded the few boxes from the trunk. Jess had to be buzzed in. Already a lot nicer than the other place, she thought. Where's he getting all this money? His apartment was on the second floor, a small studio in the corner of the building, the bedroom/dining/living room all in one with a teeny kitchen and bathroom.

"It's not much, but it's better than my old place."

"This is actually really nice. Have you been saving up for this?"

Jess nodded and looked down at the boxes. "Luke is helping."

"He is? Wow," Lorelai breathed as she stepped toward the window. The tiny apartment had a decent view of the street below.

"He should be here soon, right?"

Lorelai checked her watch. "Uh, yeah. Do you want me to help you unpack this stuff?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'll probably leave most of it for later. It's books and CDs and things." As he talked, Jess opened one of the boxes and pulled out the book on top, settling down to read. Lorelai turned her gaze back to the street. Not long afterwards, she recognized the truck pulling up.

"He's here," she told Jess and made her way to the door. Lorelai surprised Luke with a hug when they emerged from the building.

"Hey there," he whispered in her ear. "I see you haven't killed him yet. Good job."

"Did you bring the key?" Jess asked, ignoring their welcome.

"Yeah, it's in the truck. Be nice or I'll make you sit in the back on the way there."

Jess rolled his eyes but opened the door for Lorelai. "After you," he offered. She slid in across the seat, thanking herself for having the sense to wear pants that day. It seemed that they caught all the lights on the way to the bridge, but once they had crossed over into Brooklyn, traffic was much easier to navigate. When they pulled up in front of the small house, Luke handed Jess the key and he took off towards the door. Lorelai squeezed Luke's hand.

"I missed you today," she said softly.

Luke looked pleasantly surprised but leaned in for a kiss, his five o'clock shadow brushing Lorelai's cheeks. "Mmm, I missed you too," he replied as they broke apart.

Lorelai giggled as they got out of the truck. "I've had such an interesting day."

"Really?" She nodded.

"I'll fill you in later. You need to help your nephew." Luke made a face but opened the door for Lorelai, following her inside. After Luke and Jess had loaded the truck with his dresser and stereo, Lorelai was helping Jess pack yet more books into boxes.

"You make him happy," he said quietly and at first, Lorelai wasn't sure who he was talking to.

"Thanks," Lorelai whispered as she followed him out of the room with the last of his things. Luke noticed the strange look on her face as she slid the box into the truck bed.

"Is something wrong? Are you feeling bad? You look a little pale," Luke questioned.

"No, I'm fine." Lorelai caught Luke's frown. "Promise," she said stepping back and squeezing his hand before climbing into the truck for the ride back to Jess's place.