Disclaimer: I still don't own the Gilmore Girls. Although, I wish I owned Luke and Jess.

Chapter 17

"Rory," Lorelai called in a whisper as she tried to wake Rory. "Rory, get up. Luke left. He woke up and he left. Come on, we can follow him."

"You're waking me up at four thirty in the morning to tell me Luke woke up and left?" Rory asked sleepily.

"Yeah. This is our chance to find out what he does."

"Mom, it's too early. I need to rest well for the Thanksgiving dinner."

"Don't you wanna know where he goes and what he does? Come on Rory. He's going to be your step father."

"Make Jess go with you. He's already related to Luke."

"I tried. He locked his door. It'll be like a mother-daughter mission."

Rory groaned. Lorelai was going to keep bugging her until she agreed to go. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Fine. I'm going you, but when I get back Luke and I are talking about having you committed."

"I woke Rory up and we followed him," Lorelai said to Rachel as they crossed the street.

"Did you find out where he went?" Rachel asked.

"Nope. We found his truck behind the diner and he walked out of Patty's half an hour later. We lost him after that. He's been so secretive lately. He leaves early, takes an extra hour on his lunch break, and comes home later than usual after closing th diner. You don't think he's..."

"Luke? No. No. Luke would never cheat on you. He's never cheated on anyone."

"Did you know he hums?"

"I didn't know he hums. He's getting married. People get giddy and yes, they hum."

"You know as well as I do, Luke is no hummer. He's changing and it's worrying me."

"Maybe it's just in your head." Rachel and Lorelai walked into the diner. They gasped when they saw Luke in a polo shirt and khakis. "Or maybe I was wrong."

"Oh my God. He looks like my father!"

Luke looked up from behind the counter. "Do you mind? I have customers," he said.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked as she and Rachel sat at the counter. Luke poured them coffee, then went back to looking for something.

"I can't find my balls."

Rachel nearly choked on her coffee. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"My golf balls. I can't find my golf balls."

"You're going golfing again?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes. Your father wanted to go."

"You're going golfing with my father?" Luke rolled his eyes. Here she goes again, he thought to himself. "I swear, my parents see you more than I do."

"They do not."

"Luke, look at yourself. You look like Richard Gilmore cloned himself and gave the clone your face."

"I'm not turning into your father. He asked me to dress in the right clothes when we go golfing. I have to go. Richard expects me at the club in an hour." Luke kissed Lorelai and grabbed his jacket.

"He's manipulating you! They both are!" Lorelai called after him as he left. "See what I mean? He's golfing. With my father!"

"I guess you were right. He's a horrible golfer."

"Actually, my dad says he's getting better. A real contender."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I think he's just trying to be nice. So, how are things with Max?"

"I'm not sure. We haven't really gone out yet."

"What? I thought you too hit it off on Thanksgiving."

"We did. I don't know what to say around him. Sometimes I think he's out of my league."

"Trust me, he's not. He's just like you and me."

"What did you say to him when you went out?"

"Uh…how's Rory doing in school? I don't remember. It was a long time ago. Rachel, just be yourself and you'll be fine. When's your next date?"

"If you mean our first one, it's Sunday. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come?"

"You want me to go with you on your date with Max?"

"Yeah. You and Luke."

"Like a double date?"

"Yeah. Please Lorelai. Just this once."

Lorelai thought about it for a minute. She knew she should wait for Luke to give an answer, but Rachel was looking at her with pleading eyes. "We'll be there."

Rachel squealed and hugged Lorelai. As Rachel rapidly spoke, all Lorelai could think of was of how she was supposed to tell Luke they were doubling with her ex-fiancé and his ex-girlfriend. Oh what a roller coaster this was going to be.

"Rory," Jess called again. "Rory, did you hear me?"

"I'm sorry Jess. What did you say?" Rory yawned.

"Why are you so tired?"

"Mom woke me up at four thirty and made me go with her while she followed Luke again. She was going to drag you out of bed, but you locked your door. I need to get a lock."

"Why were you following Luke at four thirty in the morning?"

"Because my mother is insane! He's been getting up at the wee hours of the night and goes somewhere. Apparently it's been going on for a while."

"Did you find out where he went?"

"No. I put up a fight til four forty-five. We couldn't follow him so we hunted down his car. It was behind the diner, but he wasn't there. We saw him leaving Patty's at five fifteen. Then Mom spotted something furry and we lost him. Do you know where he goes?"

"If I did, I wouldn't care. So, Luke and Lorelai's honeymoon. We need to figure out where they're going. Did you make a list like I asked?"

"I made a list." Rory and Jess traded lists. "You have weird passions."

Rory looked over Jess's list and frowned. "Jess, what's this? Luke and Mom had lists. These places aren't on Luke's list. Did you even look at Luke's list?"

"His list goes as far as down the street. Did you look at Lorelai's?"

"If it were up to Mom, they'd go to some fictional wonderland she saw in a cartoon."

"Well, half of Lorelai's list would make Luke want to jump off the plane before it landed."

"And Mom would hate the places on Luke's list. Ok. This isn't a problem. All we have to do is think of a place Luke and Mom would both want to go. And no cruises. Make a list."

"Why aren't I surprised you said that?" he joked as he picked up the pen and pad Rory had slid over to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "How's your boyfriend?"

"He's fine."

"Yeah? Must be nice to have a guy buying you everything your heart desires."

Rory looked up from her pad. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Richie treat you well?"

"He treats me like a queen."

"I bet."

"What's with you?"

"Do you love him?"

"What?"

"Does he love you?"

"It's none of your business."

"It's a simple question."

"Fine. Yes."

"So you love him and he loves you?"

"Yes?"

"Then why won't you say it?" Rory opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Jess went back to making his list.

"You lied to Luke about going to school didn't you?" Rory asked suddenly.

"No I did not."

"You came at the beginning of the month and you're not leaving until February."

"I never said anything about leaving."

"What?"

"I'm not leaving. The company found out about the time I fought Dean at that party and they decided to take back the scholarship. I got angry and I quit. Because I didn't have a job, I couldn't pay for my rent so I was evicted."

"So you came to Stars Hollow knowing Luke wouldn't turn you away."

"Basically."

"You know you can't live with him forever. He and my mom are getting married. They're going to want to start a family."

"I know that. I was hoping I could stay with them just until I could get back on my feet. Then I'd pay them back and leave. First, I need a better job than working at the diner."

"Maybe I can talk to my grandfather and see if he could help you."

"You'd do that?" Jess asked, looking up at Rory.

"Yeah. I would."

"So you and Luke are ok now?" Rory just stared at Jess. "I heard Babette and Patty saying you had a little confrontation with Luke about the garage on Wednesday."

"You can always count on those two for late, breaking news. But yes. I apologized to Luke, we had a talk, and we're ok."

"You know, I find it very hard to believe you and Luke fought about the garage. There has to be more to it. More about that garage." Before Jess had time to further interrogate, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." He got up to answer the door. When he opened it, he came face to face with a very familiar person. "Hey Dean."

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked.

"Jess, who's at the..." Rory trailed off when she saw Dean. "What are you doing here?"

"Tom sent me to deliver some papers to Luke. Is he here?"

"Not right now," Rory replied. "What are they?"

"Floor plans for the house. We can't start construction until Tom gets theses papers back with Luke's signature. Can I trust you to give them to him?"

"Not like we have any use for them." Jess took the papers from Dean and turned to Rory. "I'm gonna go to the diner."

"Ok, I expect a full page when you get back though," she called out to Jess as he left. That left Rory and Dean, alone together and uncomfortable. "You wanna come in?"

"Uh, sure." Rory stepped aside and let Dean in.

Luke spotted Richard outside the clubhouse waiting for him. "Hello Richard," Luke greeted as he approached the older man.

"Ah Luke, you're right on time. Come on, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Richard said. Richard led Luke into the clubhouse where Logan and another man were waiting. They stood when Richard and Luke walked in. "Luke, you remember Logan. This is Mitchum Huntzburger, Logan's father and a good friend of mine. Mitchum, this is Luke Danes. He's my daughter's fiancé."

"Good afternoon young man," Mitchum greeted.

"Mr. Huntzburger, pleasure to meet you sir," Luke said.

"Mitchum here owns an empire of newspapers. And I've been trying to get Luke to franchise his diner," Richard joked.

"You work in a diner?" Mitchum asked.

"I own a diner. Luke's Diner in Stars Hollow," Luke replied.

"You should eat there sometime Dad," Logan interrupted. "Luke makes the best cup of coffee in Connecticut and his burgers are great."

"Logan, are you suggesting I drive half an hour to Stars Hollow to eat in a diner?" Mitchum asked. Logan wasn't sure how he should answer his father's question.

"We better get out on the green before we lose our tee time," Richard said.

"I think that's a good idea Richard," Luke said. The four men headed out to the green, Logan keeping as much distance as possible between himself and Luke.

After a round of golf, Luke was in the bar drinking. Richard and Mitchum were in the lounge enjoying their drinks as they talked business and he needed a break from them for a while. He took a sip of his scotch and sighed.

"I never took you for a scotch man," Logan joked as he took the stool next to him.

"I'm not," Luke stated. "I only drink hard liquor when I'm around Richard. Plus they don't serve beer here. Not good beer anyway."

"Mr. Danes..."

"My father was Mr. Danes. I'm Luke. Just Luke."

"Ok. Luke, about the other day in the boat, I take full responsibility for everything that happened. I'm sorry for disrespecting you. You can hate me, just don't get mad at Rory." Luke didn't say a word. He just stared at his drink. "Now would be a great time for you to say something."

Luke sighed. "I don't hate you. I may not like you right now, but I don't hate you. What happened in that garage hurt your credibility to me. I'll admit I did overreact. I'm known to do that from time to time. But if you make Rory happy, you're ok by me. If you do anything to hurt my girl, I will slowly and brutally murder you."

"I'll keep that in mind." They sat in silence. "I never took you for a golf man either."

"I don't golf."

"The attire and back swing say differently."

"I'm just doing this to entertain Richard."

"You must really love Lorelai to learn a mind numbing sport just to satisfy her father."

"Love makes you do crazy things."

"You can say that again." The two men sighed and downed the rest of their drinks.

"Honey, I'm home!" Luke joked as he walked into the house.

Lorelai walked downstairs. "How was golf with Dad?" she asked.

"Boring as usual," he sighed as he took off his jacket and hung it. "Where is everyone?"

"Rory went back to campus and Jess is upstairs in his room."

They went to the kitchen and Luke made some coffee for Lorelai and tea for himself.

"I met Logan's father today. Your father invited Mitchum and Logan to golf with us. Apparently, Mitchum is the newspaper king."

"Dating Logan could open up opportunities for Rory. By the way, the floor plan came today." Lorelai grabbed a folder on the counter and handed it to Luke. "Tom needs your signature for approval before starting construction."

"Great," Luke said looking through the papers. "I'll give these to Tom tomorrow."

Lorelai smiled and hugged Luke from behind. "This is exciting don't you think?"

"We're adding two rooms to the house."

"It's what the additions to the house mean."

"More rooms?"

"Additions to the family silly."

"I know what you meant."

"Are you sure they can get this done before Christmas?"

"All of Tom's guys are working on this, I'm paying them three times the reasonable price, and I'm helping with the construction to make sure the rooms are done in time. It will be done by Christmas."

"Great. Do you think we should tell Rory first?"

"She'll figure it out when there's a big hole in the kitchen wall."

"Whatever you say. I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready for bed." Lorelai put her cup in the sink and turned to go upstairs. "Oh. Rachel asked me if you and I would go on a double date with her and Max Sunday and I said yes."

"Mm hm." A minute later, Luke realized what Lorelai had said and jumped out of his seat to chase after her. "Lorelai! Lorelai!"

Next time on "Meet Me at the Chuppah": Construction on the Gilmore-Danes home begins. Expect Luke to find himself in an embarassingsituation in front of Lorelai and the rest of her "wedding committee." Jess and Dean are forced to work on the project together. A familiar face comes back to town to participate in Luke and Lorelai's wedding. Richard and Emily get closer and Richard goes to talk to Luke about something that leads to an arguement between Luke and Lorelai.