Previously....in Part 8

"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'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?

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."

Part 9

A couple hours later they were done and Jess's tiny apartment looked like someone actually lived there.

"Thanks guys," he shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly as they got ready to leave. "And thanks Lorelai, for coming early."

"Oh no problem," she smiled.

Luke closed the door and cringed at her. "Was it bad?"

"What? No!" He gave her a disbelieving look.

"I know Jess isn't easy to get along with."

"He's changed a lot, Luke. He may not be friendly, but he's a lot more civil, a lot less like the I-hate-the-world-punk that dated my daughter." She shook her head. "And you," she slipped her hand in his. "Helping him pay for school. You're incredible."

"Yeah, well," Luke looked embarrassed. "His mom barely makes enough to support herself, much less a son who's living in Manhattan and going to school. Jess works hard. He's going to pay me back."

Once they were outside, Lorelai added, "He told me I made you happy."

"What?" Luke stopped, his arm raised in mid-air to open the truck door for her.

A sly grin grew across her face. "You heard me." She glanced down at the ground. "Luke, how long have you—how long?"

He exhaled loudly and looked around for a second, not wanting to meet her eyes. "Lorelai, I-"

"It's been since Rachel left hasn't it?" She said quietly.

"How the hell did you know that?" Luke sputtered. Lorelai's chest grew tight as his eyes met hers.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "Longer?"

"When you broke your leg," he said softly. A quiet lay between them for a moment before Lorelai pulled him towards her, her lips meeting his tentatively at first, then growing stronger, their bodies pushing up against each other, the handle of the door thrust firmly into her back.

"Why didn't you—I would—I can't believe it's been that long," her eyes shone at him in amazement.

"Well it has," he said a little more gruffly. Lorelai shifted. She was amazed how still a street in New York could be. "How did you know about Rachel?

"She appeared at the inn today."

Luke chuckled. "Sounds like her."

"She asked how you were doing, said something about Liz, I mentioned we went to the wedding together and she assumed we were dating so I told her-"

"Aaah," Luke nodded. "And she told you about when she left."

"Yeah," Lorelai replied. Another pause. "Was it because you were scared?"

"What? Oh, yeah," Luke admitted.

Lorelai could feel her chin quiver and quickly looked at the ground. "Me too," she said softly. Luke brushed the hair out of her face, lifting her chin back up to look at him. Lorelai shivered as she looked at him, thinking of her other relationships—Christopher, Max, Jason—things had never gone the way she had planned. She couldn't bear that to happen with Luke.

"It's okay," Luke pressed his lips to hers as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"What if something happens? I still need—I still want you as a friend, Luke," she confided in between quiet sobs.

"I will always be your friend, Lorelai." He said seriously, his brown eyes darkening.

"Really? Cause I don't want to sit around and listen to sad John Mayer songs anytime soon."

"Yes, really." He hugged her tightly, her head buried in the crook of his neck. "And aren't all his songs sad?" Lorelai chuckled. "We better get you home," he said, brushing a piece of hair out of her face.

She let out a half-sob, half-groan. "Aggh, I'm parked in the ghetto." Luke chuckled as she climbed back up into the truck.

"Luke?" She said after they had driven a few blocks. "You never asked when I knew."

"When?" He said simply, turning to glance at her.

Lorelai thought about it for a moment and realized she wasn't exactly sure. "There wasn't just one. After I broke my leg and you brought me food almost everyday, when you took me to the hospital when my dad was sick, when Rory started Chilton and that dad asked me out. I think you were a little jealous." Yeah, I think it's good that you turned him down.

"Maybe I was," he smiled shyly at her.

"When you made me the chuppah," she said quietly.

"Oh Lorelai," Luke replied. Her big blue eyes were on the edge of tears again.

"Luke," she whispered as he put his arm around her. "We were so stupid. All this time, we must be really dense." Luke chuckled and kissed her forehead. Someone started honking behind them and Lorelai laughed.

"Alright, alright," Luke yelled. "God, I hate New York." When they finally pulled up to her Jeep, Lorelai didn't want to get out of the car. "I'll see you in a few minutes," Luke prodded.

Lorelai gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and climbed out of the truck. "Meet me at home?"

Luke smiled. "Okay." Lorelai started up the Jeep and caught up to Luke at the red light. He waved into his rear view mirror and she waved back, practically bouncing in her seat. Luke let Lorelai pass him before they took the Stars Hollow exit and he pulled in behind her. Luke was barely out of his truck before Lorelai pulled him by his shirt towards the porch. He smiled and bent down to kiss along her neck as Lorelai struggled to open the door. Her purse fell in the hallway, shortly followed by his shirt. As they sank onto the couch however, a tune belted from Lorelai's cell phone and Luke groaned, pulling away.

"Damn it," Lorelai breathed. Luke crossed to pick up her phone and his shirt. "Who is it?"

Luke frowned at the caller id. "It's Rory."