Provocations and Providence

"Will you marry me?" Lorelai repeated.

"Wow. Uh…," Luke looked down at the floor and started to rub the back of his neck anxiously. Luke's response was cut off by the beeping of Lorelai's cell phone.

"Shouldn't you get that?" Luke asked.

"I thought that cell phones aren't allowed in the diner. Read the sign."

"Well, I'm making an exception, so take advantage of it while you still have it."

Lorelai glanced at Luke out of the corner of her eye, and then flipped open her cell phone. "Yeah?" she said, sounding very annoyed.

"Lorelai, you shouldn't answer your phone so ungratefully, or no one will ever want to call you."

"I'll remember that." Mom, Lorelai mouthed to Luke, and she rolled her eyes. Luke started to smile slightly, but it was quickly washed away by his sorrow. Luke bent his head towards the counter as he wiped it down so Lorelai wouldn't see his face, but she hadn't noticed anything.

"Your daughter desperately needs to see you," Emily persisted. "Please make it a point to come visit her tomorrow as soon as possible."

"If she needs me so bad, why doesn't she just call me?"

"Because she doesn't know she needs you. I can sense it. It's sort of a grandmother-granddaughter thing, if you know what I mean. I also saw her talking on her phone, and she seemed very distressed, but she isn't admitting to anything."

"You were spying on Rory? Maybe we should just turn you over to the CIA, I'm sure you'll be their best agent yet."

"That is hardly beside the point."

"Don't worry Mom, I'll call Rory later."

"I expect to see you for dinner at 5 o'clock shar-". Lorelai flipped her phone closed and put it back in her purse.

"Hey Luke, I'm gonna leave, ok?" Lorelai looked around the diner, but Luke was no where to be found. "Luke?"

"I have something I need to take care of. I'll lock up later. Bye Lorelai," Luke called down the stairs.

"Luke, I-" Luke's door slammed shut. Lorelai blinked back tears, and left the diner, not knowing quite what to do next.

The light outside the pool house was steadily decreasing as Rory finished unpacking her things. Her cell phone rang, and she answered it.

"Uh, Rory?" asked a deep and slightly raspy voice on the other end.

"Yes?" Rory replied inquiringly.

"It's Dean."

"Oh, hi," Rory responded, quite taken aback. Quickly recovering from the shock, she asked, "How've you been?"

"Well, I'm in Boston right now. I've been studying to get into University of Massachusetts, so I guess that would please your grandfather."

Rory let out a slight, forced laugh, remembering Dean's dinner with her grandparents. "That's great Dean."

"Yeah." There was a very tense silence, which Rory chose to break.

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"Well, I was wondering, if you're not too busy, you could come up and see me." Rory was silent, so Dean hastily added, "Or, I could come back down to Star's Hollow. That's fine, too."

"Wow, um…" Rory was at a loss for words. After hearing Dean's accomplishments, she recounted stealing the yacht with Logan, and dropping out of Yale, and suddenly felt very helpless and undeserving.

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have sprung this on you like this. You must have a boyfriend and everything, I'm being stupid."

"You're not being stupid Dean. I just need to think about this a little bit."

"Ok, give me a call whenever."

"Okay."

"Bye Rory."

"Bye." Dean hung up, and Rory stared into space, replaying the conversation over in her mind. She glanced out the window towards the house, and she thought that she saw a figure run from the window, but she didn't give it much thought.

Rory pressed a button on her phone, and it started to dial. Then Lorelai picked up on the other end.

"Hey. I have to tell you something."

"What is it? Are pigs finally flying?" Lorelai responded.

"Dean called." Lorelai dropped her sarcasm immediately. Rory then recounted the conversation with Dean, right down to the length of the pauses.

"Wow, honey, that's incredible. I always knew he was crazy about you."

"Yeah, I know."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I really want to see him, but I don't want to ditch Logan either."

"You just need to follow you're heart, honey," Lorelai offered. Then, in a slightly softer voice, she added, "At least, I used to think that."

Rory heard her, and asked, "Why? What happened?"

"It's nothing."

"No, it's definitely something. Do you think that Eleanor Roosevelt would wake up one day and be totally against everything she fought for, but not tell anyone why?"

"It's a possibility."

"That doesn't matter. What happened?"

"I proposed to Luke."

"You did?" Rory asked, sounding very stunned and excited. "What did he say?"

"Nothing. He didn't say anything."

"Oh. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around."

"I hope so."

The next morning, Lorelai walked into the diner to pick up some coffee for the trip to Hartford. The bells on the door rang over her head, and she sat down at a stool at the counter.

"Coffee, please," Lorelai said to the man behind the counter. She rummaged through her purse, looking for her car keys, and looked up when the drink was set in front of her. "Thanks," she said. Lorelai looked up, and saw to her astonishment, that Kirk was staring back at her.

"Kirk? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was the first person here this morning, and Luke asked me to take care of the diner for a few days. I said yes, and he left, in quite a hurry I might add."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know. He didn't give me any details. I don't ask, I just do."

"I'll believe that," Lorelai responded sarcastically. She took a sip of coffee, and almost spit it out on the counter. "What is this!" Lorelai demanded.

"Herbal tea. All that caffeine that you drink will kill your immune system."

Lorelai sighed, and left the tea on the counter. "I have to go, bye Kirk," she called as she left the diner.

"Wait, you still have to pay for that-" Kirk called after her, but she didn't respond. "No one has any respect for the food industry anymore," he said to himself.

Rory walked up to Logan's front door, and rang the doorbell with a hesitant hand. She knew what she had to do, and how he reacted would tell her a lot. Logan opened the door.

"Hi Logan."

"Hi Rory, I've missed you. How are you doing?" Logan inquired.

"Well, I got a call from Dean last night."

"He was one of your old boyfriends, right?"

"Right."

"So, what happened?"

"Well, he's in Boston, and I am going to go see him." This was the moment of truth for Logan. His reaction to this would prove everything to Rory.

Logan looked a little taken aback. He stared at Rory, and then replied in a shaky voice, "So, this is how it's going to end?"

"No, it doesn't have to end."

"No." Logan shook his head slowly and looked down at his feet. "No, it does."

"But, I wasn't going to do anything, I just-"

"Just what? See him, have dinner, kiss him, sleep with him?"

"No!" Rory cried, shocked at that assumption, despite her history.

"I'm sorry Rory, but I don't think that I could keep a relationship with you, knowing that you're off with other boys. I've made too many mistakes before this, and I don't intend to do it again."

"I didn't mean it that way-"

"Of course not. They never do. I'm sorry, Rory. Good bye." There was a very pained look in Logan's eyes as he said those last two words. But he didn't back down.

"Logan, I-". The door slammed shut, and Rory felt tears well up in her eyes. She now wondered whether she really had done the right thing.

Five o'clock rolled around, and Lorelai was in her car, driving along to Hartford. She was just pulling into Emily and Richard's driveway when she heard the familiar ringing of her cell phone. She jostled around her purse looking for it, and finally managed to pull it out.

"Yello?"

"Lorelai?" asked a female voice.

"Yes?" Lorelai responded inquisitively.

"It's Liz. I just thought that I should tell you that Luke was in a car accident."

"Oh my God. What happened?"

"Well, he was driving up to Rhode Island; I don't know why he was going there. But he crashed. He's in Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, if you want to come and visit him sometime."

"Yea, ok, thanks." Lorelai hung up, and it felt as though her stomach had just dropped down to her feet. She feared that the reason Luke had left was because of her proposal. Maybe he just wanted some time alone to think about it. But in any case, she knew that she had to go see him.

Rory looked up from the book she was reading, to see Lorelai standing outside the pool house, having not even mentioned her arrival to Emily or Richard. Rory hastily opened the door, and Lorelai walked in, with a very heartbroken look on her face.

"Luke was in a car accident. He's in the hospital." Those were the only words Lorelai said. Rory got up instantly and embraced her mother very tightly. There was a precious moment there, a moment only a mother and daughter could have.

"It'll be alright," Rory said soothingly.

"I'm scared for him," Lorelai whispered.

"I know, I am too." They continued to hug, hoping beyond hopes that everything would work out.