Hey guys, I am sooo sorry I have not updated in so long! I have really been neglecting y'all which I sincerely apologise for but I will definitley try and update a lot more. I have just been so busy and then with my Lauren./Scott fic it kinda just took over... no excuse. Anyway here you go, hope you all enjoy this and tell me what you think :)

26 - Emily's lunchen

"Don't worry hon, everything is ready for Thursday" Sookie told Lorelai for the tenth time that Tuesday evening after Lorelai had run around checking that everything was ready for Thursday.

"I just need it to be right" Lorelai said as she sat down on the stool in the kitchen.

"It will be don't worry"

"I hope so"

"You're annoyed Luke can't come"

"Yeah, I mean I know he has a good reason, but I just miss him and I don't want to take anyone else… I'm not going to… so my mother will just have to deal"

"You can borrow Jackson"

"Thanks hon, I keep it in mind" Lorelai said smiling over her coffee cup. Sookie's coffee was good, but it wasn't as great as Luke's. They had been talking several times a day since she had got back but it wasn't the same as being able to see him whenever she wanted.

THURSDAY

"Okay people, we're running a tight ship here, I don't want to see anything sloppy especially you, I saw the way you handled that salmon yesterday" Sookie shouted through the kitchen as she pointed at one of the frightened looking kitchen helpers.

"Okay Sookie, I think you need to go to the Chemist and get a prescription for more chill pills"

"I was a loud there wasn't I"

"Yeah well I mightn't have heard you if I was in Hartford but otherwise yeah you weren't exactly quiet… So anyway we're all set?"

"Yeah we're good to go"

"Lorelai, you're mother is here" Michel said to Lorelai who rolled her eyes. 'Here it goes' she thought as she walked out of the kitchen, preparing her story of why she didn't bring a date.

"Hello Lorelai"

"Hi mom" Lorelai said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

"The DAR girls will be here in half an hour, is everything set up?"

"Yes mom, everything is perfect, why don't you go into the dining room and sit down, leave it all to me" Lorelai said, she honestly just wanted her mother to leave her alone.

"So where is your date?"

"Umm, well he… he was here but then he got called into the hospital so he had to go" Lorelai lied.

"You're dating a doctor?"

"No, a mental patient, he was out on day release, he had to go back in but he gets out once a month and we write each other everyday, you'll get to meet him in another 30 days"

"Is that funny?"

"Umm…"

"No that's not funny, what you think that going out with some crazed lunatic is something to joke about?"

"Mmm…Apparently not"

"I told you to bring someone, I gave you notice, why didn't you bring someone?"

"Because mom, Luke is out of town still"

"Well why didn't he come back?"

"He's busy mom, he doesn't have to drop everything just because I ask him to, I don't have a date so can we just drop this" Lorelai said as she pinched the tip of her nose, already feeling a headache coming on.

"Is there no one else you could have brought? My friend Linda from the DAR…"

"No mom, I don't want to bring anyone else, Luke is the only man I would want to bring so can we just drop this" Lorelai interjected.

"Fine, well I'm going to look around and check that everything is fine" Emily replied as Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Okay, have fun" Lorelai said sarcastically as she turned and walked from the dining room into the hall, looking down at her feet as she walked, she could already feel the migraine coming.

"Hey stranger" a familiar voice said, waking her from her daze she looked up.

"Luke! What? How?" she said loudly with a wide smile on her face before she hugged him tightly.

"Well I knew how important this was to you so I came back, I've put my life on hold for long enough, so I'm back… for good" he whispered into her ear as he smelt the apple and cinnamon scent in her hair that he had been longing to smell since the second she had left Maine.

"God Luke, I can't believe you did that for me, I missed you" Lorelai said as she pulled back from the hug and smiled from ear to ear as he smiled back at her, a smile he reserved only for her.

"I missed you too" Luke said before pressing his lips softly against hers, holding her face in this hands.

"Damn I so wanna take you upstairs right now"

"I don't think your mother would like that very much"

"Oooh yet another advantage, let's go" she said grabbing his shirt.

"Mrs Gilmore, hello"

"Yeah good joke Luke, although you could just go by the princess of darkness or.."

"Hello Luke" Emily said as she rolled her eyes at her daughters comment.

"Oh mom hi there"

"Lorelai there is a stain in one of the table cloths in the dining room"

"Oh that isn't a stain, I put that there on purpose…" Lorelai started to say but decided that right now might not be the best time to annoy her "okay mom I'll sort it" Lorelai said as she walked towards the kitchen leaving Luke standing there looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Luke" Lorelai whispered, trying to get Luke to follow her, not trusting him in her mothers clutches for even a minute.

"Lorelai I am not going to attack the man, would you just go and sort the tablecloth"

"Fine, be back in a minute" she said, shooting an apologetic look at Luke before leaving.

"So Luke, I didn't think you were going to be back for this"

"I almost wasn't but I left Maine early"

"That is where you were when you left Lorelai well over a month ago, without contacting her while you were there or with any knowledge of when you would return"

"Yeah" Luke said looking down to avoid Emily's glare.

"And they say chivalry is dead" Emily said sarcastically, testing Luke.

"It was a misunderstanding, I care very much about Lorelai and Rory, I'd do anything for them"

"So guys what did you talk about while I was gone?" Lorelai said coming up beside them, though she knew it wasn't something good when she saw the expressions on their faces.

"Guests are arriving, I should go and welcome them all, so should you Lorelai"

"I'll be right out" Lorelai said as she waited for her mom to leave so she could talk to Luke.

"Okay what did she say?"

"Nothing"

"C'mon Luke, I know she said something, it wouldn't be my mother if she didn't"

"It was nothing, just asked about the diner, now c'mon we should get out there" Luke said putting a smile on his face and taking her hand in his as he walked toward the front door. He didn't want Lorelai to get annoyed and start an argument with her mother, this was an important night for her and the business and he really wanted it to go well for her.

"Okay are you ready?" Lorelai said before they walked out.

"Let's go" he grinned as he squeezed her hand gently and they walked out to greet the guests.

Later that night…

The string quartet was playing, guests had just finished dinner and had started to get up to dance. Emily had been watching her daughters interaction with Luke all day, she was fascinated by how close they seemed, the looks and smiles they shared, the way they would whisper things to each other and laugh… she had never seen her daughter like that with a man. Was this diner guy really making her daughter happy?

Lorelai watched Luke as he walked over to her with two glasses of champagne.

"Thought you didn't like this stuff" Lorelai laughed as she took the champagne glass out of his hand and used the other to slide her hand into his, entwining their fingers.

"Hey I told you before I was a compulsive liar"

"You wanna dance?" Lorelai said motioning to the few couples up slow dancing, they hadn't danced since his sister's wedding.

"I don't really dance"

"You did okay at Liz's wedding"

"Yeah but that was then when I was trying to woo you, now I have you" Luke said as he kissed her quickly with a grin.

"Aww please Luke, you've been away for like 10 years, I think you owe me a dance… I'll do something I know you like later" Lorelai said battering her eyelashes and smiling flirtatiously at him.

"I wasn't away that long"

"Well it was the longest we've been apart since we met so it was a long time, pretty please Lukey… you know I'll pay you back later" Lorelai said smiling when he blushed slightly and looked around to check nobody was listening.

"Fine, but just one dance"

"Yay" she said jumping a bit, they set their glasses down and she started pulling him towards the other dancing couples. He put one hand on her waist and pulled her close and she put her other hand in his and placed it on his chest.

"This is nice" she whispered and he smiled down at her, she leaned her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head lightly, smiling to himself as he remembered the last time they had danced. He had been so nervous about it, how she felt about him, full of hopeful expectations as he held her, the woman who had been the object of his affection for so long that he couldn't remember a time when he didn't feel this way for her… and now he had her, he really had her.

Emily was talking with a few of the DAR girls when she saw Luke and her daughter getting up to dance, she pretended to be listening to the conversation but continued to let her gaze drift towards the dance floor. She saw the two of them standing close as they moved slowly across the dance floor, whispering and laughing with each other as they danced, sharing intimate looks and a few small kisses. She didn't know whether to be happy, I mean she wanted her daughter to be happy… but with a man who works in a diner? That wasn't who she ever pictured her daughter with, she was of Gilmore blood yet she was with this lower societal man who worked in a diner… 'no this was not right' Emily thought to herself.

Almost everyone had left apart from people working to help clear up, Luke was waiting for Lorelai to be finished so was lending a hand around the Inn. Emily walked in through the front door, going to say goodbye to Lorelai before she left.

"Mom I thought you'd gone?" Lorelai said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, that would be rude Lorelai"

"Okay mom, night, see you tomorrow night"

"Why did you tell me Luke wasn't coming when he was?" Emily asked seriously.

"I thought he couldn't come, turned out he could" Lorelai said simply, shrugging her shoulders.

"I was talking to Christopher a few days ago…" Emily started before Lorelai interrupted.

"Mom please do not start with your Christopher talk, we are not together and never will be"

"You and Christopher belong together Lorelai, him and Sherry have split up, I know he still loves you"

"Mom, Christopher and I are over, we weren't meant to be and I don't love him so don't start trying to persuade me that we're supposed to be together, in case you hadn't noticed I am with Luke"

"You think you love this diner man Lorelai? You are from so much more than him, you are a Gilmore, Christopher…"

"Mom I swear you better stop right there, Luke and I are supposed to be together, I know we are, I don't love Christopher as anything more than Rory's father, I love Luke, simple as that mom okay?" Lorelai said loudly. She couldn't believe her mom was actually going to start trying to talk her into getting back together with Christopher, couldn't she see how happy she was with Luke? Lorelai didn't know when the last time was that she felt that happy with someone.

Luke who was in the dining room heard the commotion from the hall between Lorelai and Emily, he didn't know whether to check if Lorelai was okay or just stay out of it. He knew that Lorelai's mother had a lot higher expectations of who Lorelai would end up with, so he wasn't very surprised that she didn't approve of his relationship with Lorelai but it still managed to hurt him that she didn't think he was good enough. Although since they had been dating there had always been a part of him that was scared, scared that he wasn't good enough, scared that she would realise that sooner or later and he would lose her… maybe even as his best friend as well.