A/N – Huge beta props to ecouteuse and JeSouhaite – you ladies rock.


"Whoever this is, you'd better have a good reason for waking me up," Rory mumbled into the phone.

"Now, is that any way to talk to the woman who birthed you?"

"Mom?"

"And the lady gets ten points! Would you like to try for the bonus round?"

"Mom, it's 6.45…" Rory bolted upright. "Mom, are you okay? Is everything all right at home? You didn't have a run-in with Luke, did you? Oh, man, if Luke said something then I'm gonna have to come right over and-"

Lorelai's chuckles filtered down the phone, interrupting Rory mid-tirade. A perplexed expression crossed Rory's face; she hadn't heard her mother laugh so giddily, so freely, in a very long time. Not since…

Rory gasped. "Mom, is there something you want to tell me?" She bit her lip and pounded her bed in excitement, waiting to hear the words from Lorelai's mouth.

"Hon, there are so many things that I'm dying to tell you. For example, did you know that Taylor increased the price of Red Vines again! Boy, was I mad! I mean, there I was with a Red Vine craving-"

"Mom!"

"Rory," her mother admonished, "didn't I tell you not to interrupt Mommy when she's trying to tell a story? I mean, here I am, keeping you up-to-date on all things Stars Hollow so you won't be homesick and you just cut in! M-"

"Mom," Rory was none too pleased at being kept waiting (especially as she had just been dragged out of a very good dream Andrew had been just about to give her a lifetime's supply of books with no caffeine in her system, and her teeth all fuzzy and gross), "you have ten seconds to spill or else I'll tell Michel to be extra-French today."

There was silence at the other end. And then-

"LukeandIarebacktogether!"

The words ran into each other and were half-obscured by Lorelai's squeals, but there was no mistaking their meaning. Rory leapt out of bed, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and let out such a shriek of excitement that Paris, rudely awakened next door, flung a shoe at Rory's wall. Rory didn't care though; she was too busy matching her squeals to Lorelai's. She jumped onto the bed, breathlessly laughing.

"Mom, that's incredible!"

"I know!" Lorelai burst into joyful giggles, and Rory revelled in the sheer delight in her mother's voice. After a few moments - "Rory?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. I'm still here. It's just…, well it's great to hear you laugh again." Rory smiled as she turned onto her back and stretched out.

Lorelai paused. "Was I really that down in the dumps?"

"Mom, you were the dumps!"

"Rory!"

"Aw, come on, you know what I mean. You know you haven't been laughing since Grandma and Grandpa's wedding-". Rory caught herself too late and winced. Trying to cover up her mistake, she carried on. "Seriously, it's as if you won the lottery or something."

Rory's slip had not gone unnoticed by Lorelai, but she let it go. "Well, I got the something, all right."

"Ew! That's too dirty for first thing in the morning! Have some mercy, woman."

"Sorry!" Lorelai chirped. "Rory, this is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me. Aside from you, of course."

"Why, thank 'ee kindly, ma'am. Now," Rory's voice became more business-like, "tell me exactly what happened. The PG version, preferably."

"Well, I suppose you could say that it all began after you left for your booty call with Logan-"

Rory interrupted her mother with an indignant cough. "That's a… not nice way of putting it, don't you think?"

"Well, honey, it is kind of what happened, isn't it? It did happen, right?"

Rory sighed. "Actually, no."

"Huh?"

"Mom, we didn't sleep together. We just hung out, that's all."

The relief in Lorelai's voice was palpable. "OK, my bad."

Lorelai's sentiments hadn't escaped Rory's attention. Her relationship with Logan hadn't been smooth sailing… well, ever it unsettled Rory to have to keep second-guessing every minute with him. After that one intimate night, she had forced herself to slow down and though Logan occasionally grumbled, she held fast.

But this wasn't the time to talk about that. "You were saying, after I left…"

"Well, anyway, I was going crazy. You know that I painted the garage, right?"

"You mean that retina-searing monstrosity next to our house?" Rory teased, "Yeah, I remember."

"Anyway, I wanted to go outside and add the finishing touches, but it got dark, and I didn't particularly want another run-in with the chuppah."

"Another run-in?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?"

"No!"

"I could have sworn that I had told you. It happened right after Fiddler on the Roof had its last performance at the elementary school. I was looking for my Queen CD, you know, the Greatest Hits one-"

"Oh, I think I have that with me. Let's see… yup, there it is, right next to the Beatles."

Lorelai gasped in outrage. "That's sacrilege!"

"Come again?"

"First of all, you never put the Beatles with Queen. They're two greats, Rory. Two greats should not be in the same room together, let alone the same table-"

"Actually, they're on the floor."

Another gasp. "That's even worse. Queen and the Beatles both deserve a nice cushion, you know, the kind with tassels and everything. They do not live on the floor! That's like… drinking instant coffee when you know that the regular is much better."

"Uh, you dare utter the "I" word?"

"Yes, I dare, you klepto! I want Queen back in my handbag, pronto."

Rory sniggered. "Excuse me, did you say 'in your handbag'?"

"Well," Lorelai replied defensively, "you never know when you're going to need something to drown Michel out. And you know how much he hates Queen."

Rory nodded gravely. "Yes, yes I do. It is a slight which I shall never forget."

"Speaking of slights, did you hear about the daughter who was bludgeoned to death for stealing the music that her mother held so dear?"

"I'm sorry, could we actually get back to the part where this story is related to the chuppah? I do have classes in about 45 minutes, you know."

"Alright, then!" Lorelai's voice became more earnest. "Well, as you know, I'm not exactly the most co-ordinated person around, and so when I was busy searching around in my bag, I walked straight into the chuppah and got a pretty hard knock to the head. And even though it hurt like hell, you know that I'm more the type to spew profanity than cry. But, Rory, I couldn't help it. I mean, I'd just seen Luke at the play and I couldn't stop looking at him, and beating myself up over how I'd screwed everything up-"

"Mom, you didn't do anything. It was Dad and Grandma who had to butt in and ruin everything."

Lorelai laughed softly. "Rory, that's sweet. But let's face it. I haven't exactly been an ideal girlfriend lately. Come to think of it, I've never been the ideal girlfriend. I mean, Luke is always so patient, and he puts up with all my quirks and tantrums, and in short he's just so… perfect and reliable and lovable. And I go and do one thousand different things to screw things up, like lie to him about Chris-"

"-which I totally take the blame for-"

Ignoring her, Lorelai ploughed on, "-and make him rearrange his life to suit me, and generally expect him to wait on me hand and foot, like I'm a diva or something. There are so many things I've done that he's never complained about, and I can't for the life of me imagine why he'd want to be with me. He's incredible, Rory, and any woman should be so lucky to have him in her life. And here I was, all 'Hey, I have Luke; I don't need to be sensitive to his moods or his needs.' The point, Rory, is basically that I'm left wondering, 'What is it that I could possibly have that Luke would want?' And this is exactly what I thought when I saw the chuppah that he'd made for me when I was ready to marry another man – just another raring example of how good Luke is to me even when I'm an inconsiderate ass – and I just started crying. I mean, I lost it, big time. All I could think of was how right he was to stay away from me and how I thought that I would never be with him again, and those tears just kept coming along, and I just couldn't stay out there a minute longer. When I looked back on that evening and saw Luke, and how much I had disappointed him, because it was plainly written on his face – well, I couldn't take it."

Rory could hear her mother struggling to hold back the tears. Wiping her own eyes, she said firmly, "Mom, you're being just a little too harsh on yourself here-" – Lorelai made a noise as if to interrupt her, but Rory ignored her – "I let you have your rant so you will let me have mine. You will not talk until I say it's okay for you to do so. Capisce?"

Lorelai made a noise of assent.

However, Rory found that she'd lost count of all the things she'd had to say. She grunted in annoyance. "Look, what you said was true – Luke has always been there for you. But you're forgetting that you've also been with Luke every step of the way. Who bought his fathers' boat back to stop him from making a huge mistake? Who bailed him out of jail? Who helped make his sister's wedding day memorable for the right reasons? Who, generally, made him a lot less dour and more relaxed? That person is you, Mom. You and Luke were meant to be together, and saying that you're a disappointment to him is going too far. You may confuse, annoy, perplex, and astound him, but I don't think that he could ever see you as a failure, no matter what you did or do. Don't sell yourself short, OK? Don't say that you're not good enough for him. Understand?"

Lorelai almost started crying again, but she managed to restrain herself. "If you ever decide to quit school and become a cheerleader, remind me never to stand in your way."

Rory laughed, overwhelmed by the passion of her mother's words. "I'll keep that in mind."

They laughed together, revelling in the mother-daughter moment that, sadly, was becoming far too rare these days. Finally, Rory cut in, "Now I believe that you owe me one fabulous tale of reconciliation?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I don't have all day, so…"

"Geez, get off thy high horse, why don't you?"

"OK, I have dismounted and am all ears."

"Anyway, I decided to stay in and watch the movies that we'd rented, even though I wasn't really in the mood, but I figured, 'Hey, anything's better than moping, right?' So I pulled out a movie and just shoved it in without even looking at what it was, and then that song came on."

"What song?"

""The Man That Got Away.""

Rory was taken-aback. "Wow."

"Wow is just about right. I would have given anything to turn the TV off, but all I could think about was focusing on the lyrics, and how they were describing everything I was feeling and thinking right down to a T. It was like I were hypnotised or something. If I hadn't been so fed up with crying, I would have started right up again at that moment."

"Then…"

"Then, I heard this banging on the door." Rory held her breath in anticipation. "I was thinking, 'Maybe it's Kirk trying to sell me insurance, or Babette having a gnome issue.' I really didn't want to talk to anyone, so I went to the door, ready to tell him or her to get lost, and I opened it, and Luke was standing on the doorstep."

Rory shivered in anticipation. "Don't stop now, Mom!"

"Hon, you should have seen him. He looked like a wreck, as if he hadn't slept for days, basically about as good as I'd been feeling, all bleary-eyed with a few new lines around his eyes and on his forehead. At the same time, he was exactly as I remembered him, in the baseball cap I bought him, his ratty old jacket and gloves that were falling apart, and he just looked so solid and comforting and dependable. But the most amazing thing was the look on his face. He was…" Lorelai paused, as she tried to find the words. "He had this… this look on his face, so determined, and as if he'd had an epiphany. I could never forget that look even if I wanted to, Rory."

"For how long were you staring at him? That was some thought processing there."

"Here's the thing. It lasted all of half a second."

"What!"

"Rory, I opened the door, got a look at him, and while I was trying to absorb the enormity of seeing him on my doorstep, he just walked in and pulled me into the most incredible kiss ever!"

"Aw!"

"It was so unbelievably spectacular. Fireworks, heavenly choirs, background music, the whole works. If you had taken every single fantastic thing that had ever happened to me, and rolled it all into a ball, it wouldn't have even begun to compare to how I felt. It was as if I'd been born again."

"Mom, that was beautiful. I'm seriously speechless here-" Rory's voice trailed off as words escaped her. Instead, she squealed again out of sheer joy.

Lorelai winced. "Don't mind me; my hearing's not that vital, anyway."

Rory laughed again. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how you said that nothing could ever feel as good and right as being back in Luke's arms?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have you beat." Rory smiled, before continuing softly, "Knowing that your mom is happy again is even better."

Lorelai melted. "Aw, honey."

The silence returned momentarily, but Rory soon broke it. "Is there more to the story? The PG version?"

Lorelai giggled devilishly. "Well, there's a lot more in the NC-17 version. But that's my secret. And Luke's."

"And I pray to the coffee gods that it will remain that way."

"Waking up today was so weird. I mean, it felt like so long since I'd woken up actually looking forward to the day. I was so alienated; I nearly started panicking."

"Was Luke with you?"

"No. He'd already left for the diner."

Rory frowned. "That doesn't seem like the right thing to do, especially as it was your reunion morning."

"But you won't believe what he did."

"What?"

"He found my Luke box."

Rory hissed in frustration. "Oh, man, I wanted to get rid of that."

"Come again?"

Rory sighed. "I knew how much it had killed you to put that box together, let alone dispose of it. I wanted to save you the trouble and lock it away myself."

"As much as I appreciate that, babe, I'm so glad that you didn't."

Now it was Rory's turn to be puzzled. "Why?"

"Hon, not only did he find it, but he brought it back up to my room and put most of the stuff back. Not very neatly, admittedly, but it's all there. The shirt, the dress, the skates, the jewellery, everything."

"You know, it's sounding so repetitive, but I have to say it. Aw!"

"We're going to sort the rest of it out together. As per his instructions."

"His instructions?"

"Yep. It's written right here on a Post-It – To be sorted and put away by you and me. L."

"Luke left a Post-It note?"

"Notes, as in more than one."

"More than one?"

"You know, I managed quite nicely without the echo."

"Sorry."

"I give you note number 2 – There's a large coffee and Danish waiting for you."

"But today isn't Danish day."

"Your point being?"

"Oh, I get it."

"Give the girl a prize."

Rory glanced at the clock, and jumped up in shock. She had exactly 30 minutes to get ready and eat break- Damn! Make that 20 minutes. Paris would need at least ten minutes to give her a lecture on roommate etiquette. Not wanting to interrupt Lorelai, she started getting her things together. "Any more notes?"

Rory could hear the smile on her mother's voice. "I saved the best for last."

"Well?"

"Guess we're both all in together. Love, Luke."

Rory halted her hunt for her philosophy binder. "You'd better not be kidding about that one."

"No joke!" Lorelai's indignation dissolved into wonder. "I thought I was dreaming, too. But it's as real as Michel's French-ness." She shivered.

Rory paused. "Was that a shiver?"

"How do you do that?"

"I have the gift," Rory proclaimed haughtily, before chuckling and resuming the search for the elusive folder. "Why did you shiver?"

Lorelai took her time replying. "I guess… because I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"Yeah." Rory heard Lorelai shift restlessly. "I don't want to screw things up again, Rory."

Rory felt a quasi-maternal instinct when she heard the raw vulnerability in her mother's voice. "Oh, Mom."

"I really need for everything to be right this time. It'd kill me to hurt Luke like I already did."

Rory was ready to give her mother a pep talk, but something stopped her. Instead, she blurted out, "Mom, how do you feel about Luke?"

The pause that followed unsettled Rory. Finally - "I wish I could say that I love him." Even if the words hadn't been clear, Lorelai's hesitant, fearful tone would have said it all.

Rory nearly cried out in surprise, but she checked herself. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, that came out so completely wrong." Lorelai took a deep breath. "I mean, if you're asking how he fits into the scheme of things, he more than fits, he is the scheme of things. I've never felt this way about any other man before, not even your father." Lorelai was again at a loss for words. "I can't imagine my life without him, and I never want to go through this kind of hell ever again. And I'm most definitely "all in". I want nothing more than to be his Lorelai."

"But…"

"But, it's terrifying to feel this way, Rory. For the first time, I'm in uncharted territory. I'm so used to being in control in a relationship, and even before the fiasco, I knew where I stood. But everything's different now. I'm like the little tugboat next to the Titanic, and the Titanic is just every single thing that could go wrong."

Rory furrowed her brow in confusion.

"I guess, what I'm unsuccessfully trying to say is, I feel it all. I wouldn't be surprised if I do love Luke. But I'm not sure that I'm ready to find out, let alone say it. I don't want Luke to say it before I do, and not be prepared to say it back."

"Deja-vu."

"What?"

"I seem to remember a similar conversation taking place about four years back, in Grandma's house, with a role reversal…"

Recognition dawned on Lorelai. "Oh my God, you're me! And I'm you!"

Rory chuckled. "Well, seeing as I'm now Lorelai the Second, let me tell you something." Her voice grew more serious. "Mom, the worst thing you could do right now is to rush into something you're not ready for. I get that you don't want to mess things up. But if you angst over it, and try to take control, you'll never be comfortable." Rory gathered her thoughts. "Mom, it will come to you. Trust me on this one. I can't be specific and say when or where or what you'll be wearing, or guarantee that you'll be prepared on a note-card level, but trust me. You will, one day, freely tell Luke Danes, without any reservations, that you, Lorelai Gilmore, love him."

Lorelai spoke hesitantly, hopefully. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thank you so much, babe."

A smile danced around Rory's lips. "Is that any way to address your mother?"

Rory was never as glad to hear Lorelai snort in derision. "Hell, yeah."

They chatted a little while longer, during which time Lorelai teased Rory about waking Paris up, and Rory kept a running countdown of the time left before she was officially late. Although Rory would have loved nothing more than to continue talking with Lorelai, she had Paris and Yale (…and Logan) to face today. She finally convinced her mother to hang up by making another Michel-related threat.


Back in Stars Hollow, Lorelai felt a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders, removing the last vestiges of the anguish of the past few weeks. She got up and gazed around her room, seeing it with new eyes, wondering at every last trace of Luke that was present there. An enormous grin crept onto her face, as she looked into the future, and saw the next chapter of her life unfold… her life with Luke.