AN: Wow, thank you for those reviews. I hope this story keeps you happy… Sorry for the delay, I had computer issues.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were with Logan."

"So? I'm your daughter and you left it to grandma and grandpa to tell me that you were engaged. I thought I was your best friend?"

"You're my daughter," Lorelai responded coldly.

Rory sat in the pool house finally realizing how much she hurt her mother. She was supposed to have another date with Logan that night, but contemplated going back to Stars Hollow to make things right with Lorelai. What was right? There was nothing she could do that would change what happened; she wasn't going back to Yale, she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. Rory was lost and about to break down.

"Congratulations. Goodbye, Mom, I love you," Rory whispered into the phone.

"Bye Rory."

That was the end of the conversation. Rory fell onto the couch and the tears started to flow. She had never in her life felt this empty or lost. Last time she'd cried that much was that night when Lindsey answered the phone. Maybe this was even more than that; Rory couldn't do anything but cry. The only thing keeping her even slightly optimistic was seeing Logan in just a few hours.

Lorelai hung up the phone and grabbed a few things then left the house towards the diner. Luke had been her backbone so many times before; she knew he'd be able to help her. She knew he'd be able to make her calm down and for a few minutes forget how great the pain is. Lorelai lost her daughter…to her parents. She could only hope that Rory would one day realize why Lorelai ran away all those years ago.

She walked into the diner and Luke was running all over the place.

"Luke, what's going on?"

"Lane's done working here – she is going on tour with that band of hers and now I have to take care of this by myself."

"So is this a bad time?"

"Take a seat at the counter; I'll be there in a minute."

With a small kiss, Lorelai poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the counter waiting for Luke. When she sat down it finally clicked what Luke had said – Lane and the band were on tour? She wanted to know more about it; she wondered if Rory knew anything about it – maybe Lane had said something to her.

The diner slowed down and Luke finally took the time to look at Lorelai. He could see in her eyes that she was falling apart. He figured she told her parents, it was something that needed to be done. Lorelai looked up at Luke and wanted to thank him for always being there to care about her and take care of her. She was the only thing holding her pieces together.

"Did you tell your parents and Rory?"

"My parents told Rory; Logan was over and I didn't want to bother her."

Just as Luke was walking over to give his fiancé a hug, Emily walked into the diner. He didn't want Lorelai to turn around; Emily would just see the tears forming. It seemed that since Luke and Lorelai started dating, Emily was almost a regular at Luke's.

"Lorelai, can I speak with you?"

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of my fiancé."

"No, it's okay, I'll let you be alone with your mother."

"So, where's the ring?"

"What ring?"

"You said you're engaged, there must be a ring. Or did he not give you a ring when he asked you?"

"I asked him, mom, and no, there is no ring."

"You asked him?" Emily said in disgust.

"Yes, mom…I already told you, my life is falling apart and I don't want to lose the one thing that's stable. I can't lose the one person that's cared about me since I came to Stars Hollow…maybe even my entire life."

"Your father and I have always cared for you and your well being."

"Then why can't you be happy for me?"

"Because I know you can do better than this life. You could live the life you were brought up in."

"I can live in misery? Get out, mom. Don't insult the life I've made for myself, I did this myself – it wasn't your doing or Dad's. This is all me and I'm happy."

"Fine, Lorelai."

Lorelai turned around to face the counter and saw a compassionate look on Luke's face. She didn't want to see Emily walk away; she didn't want Emily to see her cry. You can do better…that was what Emily always said to her. Lorelai didn't want to do what Emily saw as better, she wanted to live the life that she had created. The people of Stars Hollow saw Lorelai as one of the strongest women they knew; she built her own success – she had absolutely nothing and worked as a maid, now she owns her own inn. There was nothing she wanted more in her life career and money wise…but she did want her own daughter. Lorelai looked up again to see that Luke had walked away, but as always – she knew that he would be back.

"Taylor," Luke yelled to the man he usually avoided.

"Can I help you, Luke?"

"I want to buy the Twickam house again."

"Of course, Luke, the papers are already drawn up. Are we still keeping this our little secret?"

"Yes."

That was the end of the conversation; Luke went back inside to Lorelai. He wanted nothing other than to make her happy and he thought that the house would. It was somewhere other than where she'd brought up Rory – not the place where her life fell apart. Lorelai was sitting there with tears in her eyes; he knew her mother's words got to her and he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

"I have to get to the Inn, I'll see you tonight?"

"Of course," Luke responded with a kiss before watching Lorelai walk away.

She walked outside to where the jeep was parked then drove across town to the Inn. Sookie wasn't going to be back to work for a while, but she finally calmed down about the kitchen staff…at least that's what Lorelai thought. When she arrived at the Inn, she saw the Michel had the front staff completely under control – but she heard yelling from the kitchen. She walked in to find Sookie telling the staff that nothing was being done right.

"Sookie, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't bear to be away from my kitchen. I need to make sure that everything's perfect."

"What about the baby?"

"Jackson's okay on his own."

"I didn't mean that baby."

"I know," Sookie laughed, "all three babies are home together and fine. I haven't been here long." Sookie looked at her friend standing in front of her, "what's wrong with you?"

"I'm engaged and before you say anything – I asked him."

"You don't look very happy about that."

"That's the only thing I'm happy about…"

Lorelai went on to tell Sookie about everything from having to get Rory out of jail to Rory dropping out of Yale and moving in with Emily and Richard. There was no way to tell the story without the tears racing from her eyes. Sookie didn't know what to do about her best friend falling apart in front of her. All she knew was that Luke was going to stop Lorelai from completely disintegrating.

After a little while, Lorelai convinced Sookie that the kitchen staff was doing fine and that she should head home to the babies. After Sookie left, Lorelai sat down in the lobby area of the Inn and watched the world go on around her. She saw how successful the Inn was and convinced herself that her life had meaning…even without Rory. Her daughter was everything to her, but now she was gone – she had run away to the world Lorelai escaped. It wasn't the first time Rory had chosen that house as a place to run away to, but it was the first time it was permanent. Lorelai didn't see Rory coming home any time soon; she could only hope Yale was coming back in the future.

That same afternoon, Richard invited a friend over to try to lift Rory's spirits. He brought this friend to the pool house but couldn't find Rory. Richard hoped that his friend would bring back Rory's love for journalism.

He knocked on the door of the pool house once more and this time Rory answered. She must not have heard him the first time; she opened the door and let the two men in. The three of them walked towards the couch before Richard introduced his friend.

"Rory, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine…Bob Woodward."

"Hello…Bob Woodward as in…"

Mr. Woodward shook his head. Rory couldn't believe that she was in the presence of the man who helped uncover the Watergate Scandal 30 some odd years earlier. She knew that he was a Yale alumnus, but didn't realize that her grandfather would know him.

"Bob and I went to Yale together and I thought he would be the perfect person to talk to you."

"But I don't want to be a journalist anymore."

"Why not, Rory," Bob asked, "journalism is an amazing field."

"You're one of the greatest journalists alive; you wouldn't understand what it's like to be told you're incompetent."

"From the way your grandfather talks about you, I highly doubt you're incompetent. People shot me down all the time, but I never gave up – I never let them get me down and now I'm in the history books."

Rory talked to Bob for a little while and he told her his story about the scandal and how it differed from Robert Redford's in All the President's Men. Rory still was unsure of herself when he left, but she considered giving writing another try. He told her to write a piece and he would look at it and give her constructive criticism. She was never going to go anywhere if she quit.

After work that night, Lorelai went to the diner for dinner. After she ate, Luke had some closing up to do and asked her to wait upstairs. Almost an hour later, he joined her upstairs and told her that he had a surprise for her. He pulled a small black, velvet case out of his pocket. Lorelai opened it to find an amazing diamond ring – it was modest yet absolutely beautiful.

"Did you buy this because of what my mother said? Because she said you weren't good enough, did you go out and buy a ring for me?"

"Not at all, Lorelai, I bought it because I love you."

"I proposed to you, not the other way around."

"I know, but that would look ridiculous on my finger."

Lorelai stifled a laugh and took the ring. She wasn't sure what to believe; maybe Luke bought it on his own, or maybe it was because of what Emily had said earlier.

"When did you have time to buy this?"

"I took a break this morning before you came in."

"So you had it when my mother went on her little rampage earlier?"

"Yes, I didn't think it was right to give it to you then."

Lorelai smiled and gave Luke a hug and a simple kiss which slowly grew more passionately. They moved towards Luke's bed and both of them gradually lost their clothing. Luke made love to Lorelai that night making her forget everything else. All she could feel was that she was in love.

Logan had arrived not long after Richard and Bob left and found Rory again crying on the couch. He held her in his arms and comforted her not prying to what the problem was. He could tell that it was more than the night before – that something had happened, but he didn't want to ask.

The boyfriend thing was still very new to Logan so he was going on intuition. His told him that he wanted to hold Rory for the rest of his life. She told him that she was tired and the two went to her bedroom. Logan kissed her softly and let her lie in his arms until she fell asleep. He then kissed her forehead and fell asleep right next to her.

In the morning, Emily came to see if Rory wanted to join her and Richard for breakfast in the main house. Rory wasn't answering the door, so Emily figured she was still sleeping. A few hours later, she went out to the back again to check on Rory and saw Rory and Logan kissing in the living room. It was obvious that the two had just recently woken up and Emily was not at all happy with what she saw. She thought that Rory was going to repeat Lorelai's mistake.