Torn – Chapter 3

Good for Advice

A/N: Again, I am overwhelmed by the feedback I have received. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your kind words are honestly the most inspiring out there! I'm glad that I haven't completely ruined the characters… and hopefully I won't in the future, heh.

A few individual review responses: Muffin Is Injured (AKA the reviewer with multiple personalities): I apologize that I was not clear by Luke's statement. It made sense to me at the time because, well, I wrote it. ;) But now that I've re-read it, I can see how it can be construed as unclear. What I meant by "I'd like to see that happen first!" was that he's implying that the chances of her getting engaged, in general, are slim, based on her previous track record, relationship-wise. And please, never ever apologize for rambling - I enjoyed your review a lot. I'm quite a rambler myself, as I have tried not to demonstrate in these A/N's. (And I think I've failed, for the most part. Sorry to those who hate long A/N's!) Nycgirl: While this fic was nothing but an idealistic dream, I considered bringing Jess into the picture. However, after careful deliberation, I decided it would just add a completely different conflict that would not enrich the main plot. Personally, I'm not a fan of 500 chapter fics with a lot of different plots. I agree though – it would certainly be interesting to see Jess and Rachel interact - although they would probably tolerate each other a little more than Jess and Lorelai did, on the show. ;)


"You're not going to do this again, are you?" asked Rory as she clasped a gold heart necklace around Lorelai's neck. Lorelai was holding her hair up with one hand, and tried to turn to look at Rory, but stopped when she realized that she couldn't.

"Do what?"

"You know, get all mad at Luke and not let us go for coffee tomorrow morning."

Lorelai succeeding in turning this time, and grabbed her daughter's cheek with her spare hand, pinching it. "You're so cute!"

"Don't do that!" cried Rory, smacking her mother's hand away from her face. Rory quickly rubbed her face where a pink blotch resembling the shape of her mother's fingers was beginning to form.

Lorelai giggled and dropped her hair, letting it hit her partially bare back, before smoothing her hands down her black dress. "Time?"

"7:01."

"Wow, I'm early."

"Surprising."

"I know!" Lorelai grinned mischievously. "I guess this means I have time for some coffee…"

Rory groaned. "Mom, do you really want to have coffee breath on your date?"

She grinned again, this time while biting her lip. "Who doesn't want coffee breath ontheir date?"

"Never mind, forget I asked."

Lorelai bounced down the stairs and slid into the kitchen, grabbing the coffee pot from its place in the machine and filling it with water. Rory entered soon after, standing in the doorway and watching her mother inquisitively. After a minute, Lorelai noticed her daughter's pensive gaze and looked up curiously. "May I help you?"

"You didn't answer my question before."

"Oh, sorry. Yes, if I could do it again, I would wear those fishnet stockings to the Wagners' dinner party."

"Mom," Rory groaned.

"The look on my mother's face was priceless," said Lorelai, smiling smugly at the memory.

"Mom!"

"Yes?" she asked innocently. "Oh, coffee's ready!"

"Are we going to avoid Luke's again?" Rory attempted, a hint of exasperation present in her tone.

Lorelai sighed. "I don't know, Hon. Let's see how I feel tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," she replied carefully. "Permission to express my opinion, Sir?"

Lorelai frowned. "Permission granted."

"I think Luke was just upset. You both said some things you didn't mean…"

"You weren't there."

"Yes, but between Patty, Kirk, Babette, and, oddly enough, Mrs. Kim, I think I've gotten the gist of it."

"Rory…"

"You know how Luke gets when he's upset… he says things he doesn't mean. Besides, I heard he apologized."

"Rory, can we please not talk about this now?"

"I know you're upset about his engagement, but –"

"Look, I'm not upset, okay? I just wish he'd told me, that's all."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why?' Because he's my friend!"

"So?"

"So… what part of 'he's my friend' don't you understand?"

"So he doesn't have to share every minute detail of his life with you."

"I know that," Lorelai huffed.

"So, why are you upset?"

She sighed again. "I just am; that's all."

"Sure. Could it possibly be because you and Luke –"

"If you say have a thing, I'm putting you up for adoption."

"I was going to say that you and Luke are close, but thanks for the warning," Rory deadpanned.

"Yes, it is because we're close. I mean, I thought he'd –" Lorelai paused when the doorbell rang. "Oh shoot," she said sarcastically, "that's Max. I'd better get the door."

"Mom…"

"Oops, can't talk now, gotta run! Have a good time with Dean tonight, don't do anything I would do!"

Before Rory could say anything else, Lorelai ran toward the front of the house, pausing only to grab her high heels that she'd left sitting on the bottom step, before opening the door.

"Hey Lore –"

"C'mon," urged Lorelai, pushing Max out the door. "Let's get a move-on, we're gonna be late!"

"But the movie doesn't start for –"

"Another ten minutes, right, let's go!" She turned around on the porch and called, "Bye Rory, be home by 11!" before shutting the door and practically pulling Max down the steps and toward his car.


Lorelai stared down at her plate, pushing the pasta from one side of the dish to the other with her fork. In the back of her mind, Lorelai felt guilty for ruining their date with her sullenness, but she couldn't help it. The conversation between she and Max had ended long ago, and the comfortable Italian restaurant contained the perfect atmosphere for some heavy-duty thinking. Max looked up from his dinner and frowned, studying Lorelai carefully. He then reached across the table and grabbed her wrist to keep her fork from moving. She looked up, startled.

"What's wrong?" he wondered.

"Nothing."

"Not hungry?"

"Not really…"

"Is this a first?" he asked with an amused smirk on his face.

Lorelai mock-gasped. "Are you implying that I eat a lot?"

"Well, if the shoe fits…"

"Why, Max Medina, I am insulted! I ought to just walk off right now and leave you pathetic and alone! However, I am much too nice to do such a cruel thing."

"Well, I am eternally grateful for your kindness."

"The pleasure's all mine," she replied in a sultry tone.

Max grinned. "You know, that's not going to get me to drop the whole 'you haven't eaten any of your dinner and you've hardly spoken since we got here' pursuit."

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

"Lorelai," said Max sternly.

"It's nothing, Max, really."

"Well, if it's making this date unenjoyable for you in any way, then it's certainly something. After all, I must say, I know from experience that I make great dinner company."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Eaten a lot of meals alone, have you?"

He chuckled. "I guess you could say that."

"I… well, I just had a silly fight and I keep thinking about it, that's all."

"A fight with Rory?"

"No."

"Your mom?"

"I'm always fighting with my mom, that's nothing new."

"All right, well, are you going to at least give me a hint?"

"It's a friend."

"Ah, so… Sookie?"

Lorelai was about to say no, but she quickly stopped herself, studying Max carefully. Suddenly, she found herself confronted by two paths; she had to choose her response quickly: yes, or no? She could lie and say it was Sookie, and there would be no talk of how she was being jealous and possessive of Luke, or she could tell the truth and risk insulting Max by mentioning another man on their date. She sighed inwardly, wanting nothing but to avoid yet another argument. Huh. I guess it's not really a tough decision, after all. "Yep... Sookie."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lorelai," he said sympathetically, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"It might make you feel better."

"I doubt it."

"Just give it a try?"

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. "Well, she decided to ask Jackson to, um, marry her, without telling me. And, yeah, I know that it's her relationship, she can do whatever she wants, yada, yada, yada, but I just wish she would've told me first. I mean, we're best friends and, while we don't tell each other every little thing, we tell each other those types of life-changing things, you know? I don't understand why she wouldn't tell me first, right when the thought popped into her head."

"Well, would you have told her not to?"

"Not to…?"

"Not to marry him."

Lorelai contemplated this: would she have advised Luke not to marry Rachel? She really wasn't sure what she would have done. "Well… I guess I would have told her to do what she thought was right."

"But if she was trying to decide, wouldn't she have asked for your opinion, thus rendering your 'do what you think is right' advice null?"

"Well," she replied tightly, "I guess if she insisted on my opinion, I would've told her not to get engaged."

"Why?"

"Because it's too soon! She's only just starting to date Jackson, how does she know that he's the one? Maybe that perfect person is right there, staring her in the face, but she can't see him because she's been blinded by Jackson's colorful fruit and…" Noticing Max's astonished look, Lorelai trailed off, feeling ridiculous about her tirade.

"I didn't know you felt so strongly against Jackson."

She sighed. "I don't. I really like Jackson. We're friends, I think, but I'm… not so sure he's right for Sookie."

Max laughed. "Have you seen the two of them together? They're like two peas in a pod… literarily."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lorelai forced a chuckle. "I was just being silly."

"That's okay; it happens to the best of us." He grinned, before sobering. "You know, maybe she didn't tell you because she was afraid you'd talk her out of it."

Lorelai paused; she hadn't thought of that before! "Hmm. That makes sense, actually."

"Yeah?" Max smiled. "So, don't be so hard on her or yourself, okay? You two will be fine. You'll both be very happy, both together… and apart…" Max wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Lorelai to giggle. She then stood and leaned across the table to quickly kiss him on the lips, before sitting back down and shoveling a fork-full of pasta into her mouth.


Luke entered his apartment and sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily before plopping down at the kitchen table. Rachel looked up from the pictures she was contemplating, giving him a warm smile.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted."

"Well, it was a long and weird day."

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, it was."

A teapot began to whistle, causing Luke to turn around. Rachel climbed out of her chair and poured the hot water into two mugs. "You want some tea?"

"Yeah, green tea? Thanks."

"Sounds good, I think I'll have that, too."

She handed him a mug, and he nodded as thanks before unwrapping the teabag and letting it soak in the water. After a few moments, she did the same, before stirring the contents with a spoon. Luke eyed her curiously. "You don't have to stir the tea, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but, well… it gives me something to do."

"Ah."

Luke grabbed the string on the teabag and shook it around inhis cup for a few moments, before removing the bag completely from the mug and placing it on top of the teabag's discarded wrapper. Then, he lifted the tea to his lips and took a careful sip, wincing slightly as the hot liquid burned the inside of his mouth. When he placed the tea back onto the table, he was startled to find Rachel studying him intently. He tilted his head to the side, slightly annoyed by the awkwardness that seemed to have attached itself to her gaze. Upon noticing his glare, she quickly looked down at her tea, but Luke knew she had been staring at him for a reason. It would only be a matter of time before she began to speak her mind. However, he knew from her hesitation that whatever it was that she had to say was making her nervous. He did not like to think of what might make someone like Rachel nervous.

"Luke…" she said quietly, pulling him out of his reverie. He looked up, locking eyes with Rachel as she bit down nervously on her tongue before speaking. "Well, I just wanted to, uh, make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," he answered tightly, "thanks."

"Okay, good, good." She forced a smile onto her face. Luke took a long gulp of the now slightly cooler tea, before Rachel spoke again. "It's just, well, if there was something bothering you, you'd let me know, right?"

"Of course."

"So, your little outburst today at the diner –"

"There was no outburst."

"Just a little one."

"There was no outburst," he repeated sternly.

"Okay. Well, about the little whatever-you-want-to-call-it that happened at the diner today between you and Lorelai…" Luke merely grunted in response, gulping down the last of his tea in a few angry swigs. "I don't want you to feel that you can't be friends with Lorelai anymore because of what I said last night. Don't worry; I'm not going to pop up in closets spying on you and such. I'm not like that, Luke, and you know it. I trust you."

"I know."

"If you know that, then there should be no problem between you and Lorelai."

"That's not the reason Lorelai and I had our… disagreement today. She was just being Lorelai and I wasn't in the mood to listen to one of her selfish rants, that's all."

"That's not true and you know it."

"No, she was angry that I didn't tell her about our engagement before it happened. Like that's any of her damn business, anyway," he grumbled, taking his mug to the sink and beginning to wash it out.

"Did you explain that it was just a spur-of-the-moment type thing?"

"No, but why should I? It's my business, not hers."

"Okay, yeah, Luke, I see what you're saying and I agree. But I can also sortasee Lorelai's side…"

He turned sharply to face her with accusing eyes. "WHAT?"

"Luke, calm down," she soothed, placing an arm on his shoulder. "I'm not siding with her: I'm neutral here. I just want to help you, that's all."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine; you're fighting with one of your best friends."

"She's not –"

"Luke, there's no need to cover it up. I know you two are close and I'm not going to get in the way of that, so you shouldn't let anything else get in the way of your friendship, either. Besides," she added thoughtfully, "I really like Lorelai. Hell, she's the closest I've got to a friend in this place, aside from you, of course," she added, flashing him a grin.

Luke placed the now clean mug upside-down on the dish rack to dry, before wiping his hands on a dishtowel and turning to face Rachel again. "I know; I was just feeling a bit… trapped."

"Understandable."

He sighed, sitting down on the chair beside Rachel again. "I said some really horrible things to her, didn't I?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"I should apologize."

"Probably."

Luke sighed again, resigned to the fact that he would have to think of words to excuse the inexcusable things he had said earlier that day. It was hard. Generally, Luke was not a man who spoke his feelings well, especially not under pressure (and speaking to Lorelai was certainly pressure, especially if she was angry with him). After all, hadn't he asked Rachel to marry him instead of just telling her how he felt? Then again, actions spoke volumes… maybe if he did something for Lorelai, he could show her that he was sorry, and perhaps, it would even help to ease the awkwardness of the whole apology process. That could work… Now all he needed was a plan. He groaned inwardly. Easier said than done.


The next morning, Lorelai yelped as she lost her balance, gripping the banister just in time to keep herself from flying down the stairs. After pausing for a moment to catch her breath, Lorelai continued down the steps and ran straight into the kitchen. She thenpounded on Rory's door as she bellowed, "C'mon, Rory, you're gonna be late!"

"One second!"

"Hey, I can wait all day. You're the one who signed up for summer classes. Which, by the way, is crazy, if you ask me."

Rory opened the door and fixed her mother with a piecing stare. "That's why no one asked you. Okay, I'm ready. Can we go?"

"Umm… yep!"

"What was that hesitation?"

"What hesitation?"

"The 'umm.'"

"I didn't say 'umm.' I said… 'uhhm.'"

"You know what? I don't have time to figure this out so let's just go. Luke's?"

"Weston's?"

"Mom…"

"Rory…" she admonished in a mimicking tone, before walking out of the kitchen.

"I'd argue," said Rory, following her mother's lead, "but my bus leaves in 20 minutes. Will you take a raincheck?"

"I'll be looking forward to it," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she did so.

The two of them arrived at that door and, just as Lorelai was about to open it, Rory yelled, "Shoot!"

"What is it?"

"I forgot to choose a bus book." Rory turned around and began to retreat to her bedroom. "I'll be right back."

"Ah, that's gonna take forever!" cried Lorelai, following her.

"Fine, then… go ahead of me, order for me, okay? The service there is always slower."

Lorelai sighed. "I don't want to go alone…"

"Then wait!" Rory called from her bedroom.

"Fine, I'll go! Stupid bus book," she muttered under her breath.

"Thanks, Mom!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Lorelai exhaled loudly as she once again headed toward the front door. This time, she opened it, stepping out onto the porch. She closed the door and stopped walking, leaning back against it instead. She really wanted to go to Luke's, but she couldn't. While she was beginning to accept that she had, in fact, been out of line for getting angry with Luke about his engagement, the things he had said to her during their argument had hurt. Sure, everyone knew she couldn't stay in a relationship for too long without running, but no one had ever, truly called her on it. Well, once Sookie almost did, accusing her of running from Max at the exact time she ran from every other man, but, for the most part, no one ever mentioned it. Of course, her mother would, every once in a while, throw in a sarcastic remark about her flightiness, but she didn't usually take the things her mother said to heart, and it was no different in this case. Normally, Lorelai would hate that people were walking on eggshells around her, but, when it came to her love life, she preferred it that way. She was insecure enough about everything, as it was; she didn't need other people's scorn to add to that.

Lorelai began to walk again, heading down the stairs and toward the Jeep absently. Just as she was going to open the car door, she heard heavy footsteps coming down the path toward her house. She whirled around, her heartbeat increasing as she noticed the familiar blue hat and flannel. Luke seemed just as startled to find her outside and, for a moment, they merely stared at each other. Finally, Luke looked away and cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had formed between them.

"I, uh, just came over to give you these." He held a white paper bag out toward her, looking anywhere but into her eyes.

She took the bag, but didn't open it. "Oh."

"There's coffee and donuts in there - one for you and one for Rory."

"Oh, well, thanks, but, well, I, uh, don't remember ordering delivery…"

Luke swallowed hard. "I know, but since you're mad at me, I knew… you weren't going to come to the diner and thought you might want something. I was gonna leave it at your door; I didn't think you'd be up so soon."

"Rory has to go to school for summer classes. Crazy girl; she never takes a break, that one. I seriously don't know where she got it from."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Umm…"

He took in a deep breath. "Well, enjoy the, uh, food. I should go."

"Oh yeah, diner to run and… stuff."

"Yeah…"

Luke turned to leave, but stopped when Lorelai called his name. "Thanks… for the coffee." She paused and they locked eyes. "And um, for not… I mean…"

He smiled. "You're welcome. And I'm sorry about..."

She shook her head, dismissing it."You sure you don't have a few minutes to hang out or something? We have iced tea and I won't make you fix anything this time, I promise."

"Nah, thanks for the offer. I have to get back… I left Rachel all alone at the diner."

She frowned. Hearing him mention Rachel made her heart suddenly sink. "Oh."

"You okay?"

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine! Go back – you're needed. I'll see ya around lunch time."

He nodded at her before smiling slightly. She watched him as he disappeared down the street, before taking a deep breath and heading into her house, clutching the bag to her chest with a slight grin.


A/N: TBC soon. Ah, the wonders of spring break. :D At first, I considered drawing the fight out longer, but really, I could see little point in doing that. Instead, I've tried to make it obvious that, while they're not fighting, there's still tension there. Besides, I need them to be on speaking terms to further the plot. The fight was just a minor detour on a very rocky road. However, I had a lot of trouble ending this chapter – I think I ended up writing it four different ways, before settling on this. I hope it isn't disappointing, but I promise there are more exciting things to come (well, at least I feel they're more exciting)! Anyway, please review, if you'd like. Your feedback means a great deal to me and I promise I am taking all suggestions into consideration… while I already have a good portion of this series written, nothing is set in stone, aside from what has already been posted. (I also have a wonderful outline of the series that includes bullets like, "Rory/Sookie/Lorelai interaction: OMIGOSH, Luke still loves you, he gave you coffee, squee!11!" Obviously, I've changed the wording a little in the real thing, but there's a teaserof the next chapter for ya. :p)

To those who celebrate: have a wonderful Easter!