Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I in any association with the Gilmore Girls.

Chapter 3

Rory parked her car and hurried toward Luke's. He called her last night in a panic state and told her he was nervous because he was going to propose to Lorelai. She waited all night for Lorelai to call and tell her, but she never did. Rory just figured Luke was keeping her "occupied". It was sweet on some level, but very much disturbing to Rory. When she walked into the diner, she spotted her mom at the counter.

"Mom!" Rory called, heading toward Lorelai.

Lorelai turned around. "Rory? What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked in shock as Rory gave her a big hug.

"I had to come and see it."

"See what?"

"Let me see your hand."

"My hand? Why?" Rory pulled Lorelai's hand out and was shocked when she didn't see a ring on her finger. "What's so fascinating about my hand?"

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The r..."

"Rory!" Lane interrupted. "I'm so glad you're here. Come with me."

"But..."

"I have something very important to tell you right now. Outside." Lane pulled Rory outside as fast as she could.

"Lane, what's going on? Why isn't there a ring on my mom's finger? And where is Luke? I don't see him in there."

"Luke's not here."

"What do you mean he's not here? Oh no, he ran away didn't he? He was too scared to propose last night and he ran didn't he?"

"He didn't run away. I didn't mean it like that. I meant he's not in the diner. He's upstairs in his apartment with Jackson, Morey, and TJ."

"Why?"

"Rory, Luke ran into a problem when he was trying to propose to Lorelai last night."

"Trying to propose? What do you..."

"He didn't get the chance to propose last night. They're not engaged."

"But why not?"

After Lane explained Luke's dilemma to Rory, they headed back into the diner just in time to see Sookie, Babette, and Miss Patty headed toward Lorelai.

"Oh no," Lane said. "We have to stop them before..."

"Lorelai, darling, show us your hands," Patty said.

"Too late," Rory laughed.

"My hands?" Lorelai asked. "What is it about everyone and wanting to see my hands?"

"Sugar, we just want to see it," Babette replied, pulling out Lorelai's hand.

"Oh I'm so excited. Isn't this exciting?" Sookie said excitedly. She looked down and noticed there was no ring. "Where is it?"

"Oh, it's not there," Patty said in a disappointed tone.

"Where's what? What's not there?" Lorelai asked.

"Your manicure," Rory interrupted as she and Lane hurried over to the counter. Lane mouthed "He didn't propose" to Sookie, Babette, and Patty. "We heard rumor Luke took you to get a manicure last night. But I guess he didn't."

"You're all excited about Luke taking me to get a manicure?"

"It sounded romantic," Lane said. "Until I realized I just said that."

"So what did you do last night?" Babette asked.

"Oh it was so romantic," Lorelai cooed. "First, he gave me roses. Then he brought me to the park and we took a moonlit stroll. Of course we ended up making out until our stomachs started to growl. So then he took me to this restaurant my father requested."

"A Grandpa-approved restaurant?" Rory asked.

"That must have been expensive," Patty remarked.

"I could have cooked for you guys," Sookie remarked.

"It was and I know Sookie. But Luke insisted we eat there and order anything we wanted," Lorelai said. "It was like he was a totally different man. He let me have coffee and red meat and he didn't say a word. Of course, the dessert had to be healthy because we were going to share it. Then I begged him for my surprise and he kept trying to change the subject by reminding me how much he loves me and how grateful he is to have been in Rory's life."

"Aw, I liked having him around too," Rory smiled. "Ok, go on."

"So we left the restaurant and he took me home. We sat under the chuppah and watched the stars. Anything else that happened that night shouldn't be shared with the public. You wouldn't believe who we ran into at the restaurant."

"Wait, you ran into someone at the restaurant?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah."

"Before Luke gave you your surprise?" Patty asked.

"Yeah."

"Sugar, who was it?" Babette asked.

Luke sat in his apartment, still in his pajamas with his face buried in his hands. He didn't have the energy to get up and ready for work. Although the night before was great, it didn't go as planned and he didn't accomplish what he was trying to.

"What do you mean you didn't propose?!?" TJ yelled. "You told everyone you were going to propose. I'm surprised Lorelai didn't know."

"You were so excited yesterday," Jackson remarked. "What happened?"

"Max Medina," Luke replied through gritted teeth. "Max Medina happened!"

"Who's Max Medina?" TJ asked.

"Rory's teacher from Chilton," Morey replied. "He was the cat Lorelai was supposed to marry four years ago."

"He was there," Luke said as he got up and began to pace around. "He was at the restaurant and he saw us so he came over and started talking to us. I couldn't propose after that!"

"Why not?" TJ asked.

"The man is Lorelai's ex-fiancé TJ! I couldn't ask her to marry me with him there."

"Max was a part of Lorelai's past. She loves you now Luke," Jackson remarked.

"I know that. It's just...when Max proposed he sent one thousand daisies to the inn and it was really romantic. Taking her to dinner isn't remotely romantic as that."

"It doesn't matter if it's romantic or not," Morey remarked.

"It matters to me. It has to be perfect."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Hey Luke, it's Lane. You have a phone call downstairs," Lane said through the door.

"Take a message," Luke yelled back.

"I think you're going to want to take it."

"Lane, just take a..."

"It's Richard and Emily Gilmore."

Luke's head shot up. "I'll be down in a minute."

"We'll go downstairs," Jackson said.

Jackson, Morey, and TJ left Luke alone to change. Five minutes later, he came downstairs and spotted Rory.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"I wanted to see Mom's manicure?" Rory replied.

Luke looked at Rory awkwardly and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Luke! I'm so glad you're there," Richard said happily. "Rory told us you proposed last night."

"About that Mr. Gilmore..."

"We're very excited about this," Emily's voice chimed in. "We'd like to celebrate."

"Mrs. Gilmore, that won't be necessary..."

"Nonsense son. We want to. Instead of having separate outings tonight, we're all going to have one big family dinner," Richard said.

"It's at seven, don't be late," Emily said.

"Can we possibly talk about this?" Luke pleaded.

"Of course we can," Richard said.

"Good. You see..."

"We'll talk tonight. We'll see you, Lorelai, and Rory at seven." Click.

"Hello? Mr. Gilmore? Mrs. Gilmore? Richard, Emily. Someone..." Luke accepted that they had hung up on him when he heard the dial tone come from the receiver. He sighed and put the phone down. He turned to Lorelai and Rory. "Dinner's at seven."

"Were you just trying to get out of Friday night dinner with my parents?" Lorelai asked.

"It was worth the try."

"Aw sweetie, you're so naive. I have to get back to the inn. I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah. Tonight." Luke gave Lorelai a quick kiss before she left. Once she was gone, everyone looked sympathetically at him.

"Aw honey," Babette said when she saw the look in Luke's eyes.

"It's just a little road block. Not even a road block. A speed bump," Sookie added. "It'll get better. You'll propose and she'll say yes."

"She loves you Luke. Everyone knows that," Patty said. "Don't we?"

"Yeah," everyone in the diner said.

"We were all rooting for you Luke," Kirk remarked. "We were hoping for a big engagement. Front page news."

"Everything will work out," Taylor added.

"Thanks everyone," Luke said. "I appreciate it."

"It's going to happen. You're gonna marry Lorelai," Babette said. "I can feel it."

"My grandparents don't know you didn't propose do they?" Rory asked.

"Nope," Luke replied.

"You were trying to tell them weren't you?"

"Yup."

"But they didn't let you tell them."

"Nope."

"This is going to be one interesting dinner."

"God help us all."

Rory walked over to Luke and gave him a hug. "I wish Max hadn't shown up," she said.

"So do I. So do I," Luke said softly, hugging Rory back. Sookie, Patty, Babette, and Lane joined in the hug.

A/N: Ok I know there hasn't been any RoryLogan going on, but I wanted to get this out of the way first. Logan might show up in the next chapter, depending how I feel and how the story goes.