Disclaimer: Amy owns everything but my season one, two, and three DVDs.

A/N: This is not AU, but its alternate-everything else that happens in the show. This takes place beginning of season three. Lorelai knows that Sherry is pregnant, but Chris never came to dinner like in "Haunted Leg"

P.S. I have to admit, I'm definitely not a Chris fan.

P.P.S Thanks again for all the great reviews! Sorry the last chapter was so short. I'm gonna get them together soon, I promise. I have to, otherwise some of you are going to hunt me down!

Lorelai had awaked minutes after Luke had gone downstairs and had started down the stairs after him, when she heard him talking to Christopher. Their conversation had stopped her dead in her tracks. Lorelai had expected that Luke would let Chris have it when he was fully conscious, but she was definitely not prepared for what she heard:

"What the hell did you say?" That's right Luke, let him have it! Hell, punch him again, see if I care!

Christopher's response to the question made her stomach turn. "I said I love her. I love Lorelai." How dare you say that, you pathetic ass? Like hell you do.

"Like hell you do." Whoa, freaky. " I know what I saw last night. If you loved her at all, if you even remotely liked her, you would have never even considered doing what you did, you scumbag. You wouldn't know love if it came up and bit you in your ass."

It was somewhere around this time that Lorelai started to cry. Here we go again, she thought, frustrated and tired of tears. She wasn't sure what drove her over the edge this time. Perhaps it was the emotions of last night coming back to haunt her. Perhaps it was the outpouring of her heart to this man who had come to her rescue so many times in the past, but never to this extent. He really went above and beyond this time, she thought, amazed. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she mentally scolded herself for being so surprised. Why would you think he wouldn't? He always has. He always will…? However, before she could connect these thought any further, she was snapped out of her reverie by Chris's slimy voice.

"Oh yeah? Well then why don't you school me a little bit, Luke? Do you think you love her? Is that what this is all about? You just act like her little puppy dog, hoping one day she'll notice you? It's never gonna happen man. She'll always be hung up on me. No matter how many guys she sleeps with, she thinks we belong together. She wants us together. She always will…"

Lorelai's tears intensified at this point. How could she ever have had feeling for this dirtball? He was, quite possibly the cruelest person she knew, he was even taking that trophy from her mother at this point. And the way he was talking to Luke, when Lorelai heard what she could only assume was Luke punching Chris, she felt only relief. Give him what he deserves, Luke.

"Get out. Now."

God, Luke is amazing isn't he? That was the thought passing through her head when Luke turned around to see her standing on the stairs.

"Lorelai?"

Lorelai just stood in shock at the thoughts that were currently racing through her head about the man that was standing no further than ten feet from her face. Not that she hadn't had these thoughts before. It was just…this is different, she thought. This isn't speculation anymore, this is possibility. Luke wasn't quite sure what to make of her current state. He didn't know why she wasn't moving.

"Lorelai? Are you okay?"

His deep voice brought her back to reality, where she stammered a response, trying to act normal.

"Um…uh yeah, definitely. I'm great."

He smirked a little at her stammer, but he was also still concerned. "You're lying to me. How much of that did you hear?" he asked, worried that she might be mad at the way he had treated Chris.

She shook her head, somehow knowing what he was thinking. "Luke, I heard all of it, but don't worry. I couldn't have handled it better myself." She smiled, sincerely. "Thank you."

Luke held her gaze for a minute, but then looked at his feet. "Well you probably wouldn't have punched him in the face," he said sheepishly.

She smiled again. "Yeah, but it doesn't mean that I didn't want to, there, Billy Budd." She laughed at he own joke, but quickly noticed that Luke was still staring at his boots. "Luke, no offense but do you have some kind of shoe fetish?"

Luke's head snapped up with a confused look on his face. " What? What the heck are you talking about?"

Lorelai giggled. "I just meant that your shoes seem to be uh, very fascinating there. Or at least more fascinating than me or the rest of the world around you."

Luke began to stammer, covering up anything that could be considered emotion, making the system all the more awkward. "No, I uh, just…"

Lorelai frowned at his stuttering, knowing that something wasn't right. "Luke, what's wrong?"

Luke looked up at her, deciding to be honest about his feelings. For once, he thought. "Him."

Lorelai took a breath in, preparing herself for the conversation she knew was inevitable. "Chris?"

"Yeah. He just…I don't know he got to me. All that stuff he said about you, and about…" He took a deep breath and sighed. "…Us. I don't know Lorelai, I mean, I didn't want to let him get to me…"

She couldn't take watching him this upset. "I know Luke, believe me. He's a scumbag, and I hate that he got to you like that. I hate that he did this, but you have to know, he was telling lies. None of what he said was true…"

She paused, not quite knowing how to continue without going too far. He picked it right up though; he was already in rant mode. "But it was, Lorelai, that's what kills me!"

She felt her stomach turn again. "What? No it wasn't Luke! I don't want him. I mean yes, there was a time when I thought that us being together would be the best thing for us and for Rory, that we could actually be a real family in every disgustingly sappy connotation of the word. But not now Luke! He abandoned us yet again, and I see now that that life is not the one I want. At least not with him."

Luke furrowed his brow at her last statement, but continued on in rant mode. "That's not what I meant, Lorelai. All that stuff about me. That I'm you're little puppy dog. He's absolutely right. I mean, there is no one else in town that I would just drop everything to go and help…"

She got mad now. He was just throwing everything back in her face, everything that she had ever felt guilty for in their relationship, and she wasn't going to stand for it. So she cut in. "You think I don't know that, Luke! You think I don't know that you are the best guy in the world to Rory and me. You always have been! And there is nothing that I could ever do to show you how grateful we are, and that kills me!"

He stared at her with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?"

And somehow, something in his stare told her what she needed to know. All those thoughts that were flying around in her head clicked together like a puzzle. And she knew what she had to do. So she closed the gap between them, and she kissed him. Seemingly simple enough, but the second their lips meant, Lorelai wished for a second that she was in a cartoon, so she could see the sparks and stars and hearts that would've been circling them as Luke gave in to what he had wanted for years. It was incredible; it was the best kiss of Lorelai's life, for about five seconds. Then, all of a sudden, Luke's brain woke up and he pulled away.

"Luke," Lorelai whispered, eyes still closed, as he pulled away from her.

He stared at what he was giving up for a second before he spoke. "No, Lorelai. You don't mean this."

And just like that, he was gone. Out the door and down the street, leaving Lorelai alone with her thoughts, which immediately bean trying to process what just, happened. And for once in her life, Lorelai Gilmore knew how it felt when someone ran from you. Someone other than Chris, that is.