Stand Still

Summary: Luke and Lorelai broke up after her parents wedding, then she left Stars Hollow when Mike Armstrong offered her that job. But now shes back in town, 5 years later,to give Luke something, onlyto find that he is a very changed man and there's something he isn't telling her. What's he hiding and what will she do when she finds out?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of it's characters. I only write this for fun and don't make any money off of it or anything like that.

Rating: pg13 just to be safe

A/N: So I've been trying to write this story for awhile, I just didn't know how, but I think I finally know what I'm going to do. I hope you enjoy it and if you have any ideas/suggestions please leave them along with a review.

"Here it goes," she whispered to herself as she passed the Stars Hollow sign. It hadn't changed one bit. It was snowing. She had forgotton how beautiful the snow was, especially in Stars Hollow. In New York, where she had been living, the snow was nothing compared to this.

"Good things always happen when it snows," she told herself.

She past those familiar stores that she used to pass everyday, but hadn't seen for the past five years. After Luke broke up with her, her life changed. Mike Armstrong had offered her an amazing job a few weeks earlier, she wasn't going to take it because she wanted to be with Luke. But then she lost him because once again she had screwed everything up. So, she left. It had been five years ago but it seemed like just yesterday.

As she drove around the town she thought about the day she left. She thought about the letter. She still could resite the words she had written to him. She didn't know why but she just couldn't forget them. They were stuck in herbrain, maybe forever.She remembered taping the letter on to the diner door. She used tons of duct tape just to be sure that he would get it. She wondered what he thought after he read it.

Dear Luke,

I've never been good at writing, or putting my emotions into words, or saying goodbye. So this is probably going to be a very crappy letter. I'm sorry for that. I just wanted you to knowI'm leaving Stars Hollow. Everyone will know soon enough, but I wanted you to hear it from me. A few weeks before my parents wedding, do you remember that meeting you told me to go to? Well I went. They wanted to buy the Inn and then give me this really great job. I'd get to travel and I'd get a much bigger pay check. I, of course didn't want to because, well...because I had you... I know I screwed things up between us, and I'm sorry. This is where I always find myself, apologizing for everything I've done, for hurting people I care about. First my parents, then Max, and now you.

So anyway, now I'm taking it. The job, I mean.I think it would be best. I'm leaving today, but before I left I just wanted to tell you something. I didn't think you'd want to talk to me, and I didn't know if I could handle talking to you, so I'm writing instead. I just wanted you to know how important you are to me. You were never just the guy with the coffee to me. You weren't just a friend, or even justa boyfriend to me. You were always so much more. I can'teven describe in words what you are to me.You were always there for Rory and I, no matter what. I don't know what I would have done without you, Luke, I mean that. You were like part of the family, you were more a father to my daughter then Christopher ever was.Like I said, I'm not very good at writing down how I feel, so I guess you'll never really knowexactly how I feel, but I do love you, Luke. I just wanted you to know. I hope you have an amazing life and I hope you are really happy. I really, really do. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me. I really wish it hadn't ended like this, and I truly am sorry.

Lorelai

She ran through her words over and over. She circled the town about 10 times before she finally parked her car at Luke's. She sat there for a few minutes before she grabbed the envelope that had been sitting in the passenger seat for the whole ride,and walked into the diner.

"Kirk, just eat these." Luke told Kirk. Luke's back was facing Lorelai so he didn't see her.

"But, Luke, these are sunny side up. I wanted sunny side down." Kirk said.

"What's the difference?" Luke asked.

"Well...See the sunny side up ones have that little yellow thing facing..."

"Kirk, I know what the difference is. But they taste the same. Just eat these." Luke interupted him.

Lorelai walked closer to him, but no too close. If it wasn't for his voice and the littlefight he was having with Kirk right now, she wouldn't have recognized him at all. He wasn't wearing his baseball hat, or his flannel. And he had shaved. He was wearing clothes that he used to say he'd never be caught dead in. A nice shirt, and nice pants. He looked nice, but not likeLuke.

"But Luke, I wanted sunny side down." Kirk argued.

"Kirk, I'll give you a nickle if you eat these." Luke told him.

"Make it a quarter and you've got yourself a deal." Kirk said.

Luke sighed, he lost again. Kirk always knew how to get his way, kind of like Lorelai. Kirk was just a lot more annoying and Lorelai was a lot better to look at.

It was days like this when he thought about her. She had left five years ago. But days like this, when it was snowing he couldn't help thinking about her. She loved the snow. Whenever there was snow on the ground she got these amazing glow in her eyes. It was something to see.

Luke went to the register and got the quarter. Lorelai walked up to the counter and sat down in front of him, waiting for him to look up and see her.

"I'll be with you in a second." He said still not looking at the person sitting in front of him.

"I'll just have coffee." She told him. He knew that voice, he looked up to see her. Some would say she was the girl who got away. And suddenly she was sitting right in front of him. He hadn't seen her since they broke up five years ago. He hadn't heard from her since the day he found a letter she had written to him duct taped to the front door.

"That stuff will kill you," he said going along with the routine they used to have, before things got complicated.

She smiled and he smiled back. She missed his smile. He missed hers.

"Luke" She said.

"Lorelai..." He said.

"You look good." She said trying to make things a little less awkward.

He looked down at the clothes he was wearing and realized what she might be thinking.

"Well, uh..."

"All these years...Why change now?" She asked.

"Sometimes change is good." He replied.

"Well, if thats your philosophy then maybe you should move out of this town." She said. "I haven't seen it for five years, and nothings changed...except you." She said.

"Well, actually..." He started, but for some reason he couldn't get the words out. He changed the subject. "So...Hows the job?" He asked.

She knew there was something he was trying to say, but she played along, "Well, I quit." She told him.

He was silent, waiting for some reason.

"I just recenetly did. I wasn't happy there. I guess I should have never sold the Inn in the first place, I don't know what I was thinking...well I do...but..." OK now things were awkward.

"Yeahh..." Luke said.

Lorelai nodded and took a sip of the coffee he had given her.

"How's Rory?" He asked.

"Good." She said.

Another awkward silence.

"Hey, are you busy here, or can you come talk to me?" Lorelai said.

"I can talk." He said.

"Let's go outside." She said.

"It's snowing, it's cold." He said.

"It's snowing, Luke." Shesaid in the "duh" kind of way."Good things happen when it snows," she said quietly and turned to smile at him. He smiled back.

He was always nervous around her, even after all they had been through, he still got that same feeling in his stomach when he saw her. It wasn't a bad feeling, but only Lorelai could do it to him. He hadn't felt it since he last read her letter, which was last year on the first snow of the season.

Lorelai led them both to the gazebo. Luke noticed she was holding an envelope.

"OK." She said.

"OK." He said.

"Well, I have something for you." She told him.

"OK." He repeated.

"Well, you remember that night, before the Inn opened and I was so upset. We were going to go out for dinner, but I cancelled. You knew something was wrong, you always knew when something was wrong. And we sat on that bench." she said pointing to the bench that they had sat on all those years ago.

"Yes," he said.

"I was so upset, so stressed out. You let me cry on your shoulder, on your suit, your very nice suit. But you didn't care. You just let me cry and cry." Lorelai said.

Luke nodded feeling a little awkward about this whole situation.

"And I told you I was running out of money and I needed $30,000." She told him. Before he had a chance to reply she kept going, "And then you gave it to me, you gave me $30,000 so I could open my Inn." She said.

"Well it was your dream." Was the only thing he could think to say.

"Yes it was, and it meant the world to me. What you did and how you believed in me. But I told you that I would pay you back, and so...here." She said handing him the envelope.

"Oh, no, Lorelai. Keep it, please." He said.

"Luke, it's all in cash because I knew you wouldn't cash the check. Your going to take it and your going to use it because if you don't I will be really upset. Do you know how many pairs of shoes I could buy with that money? So...Please, take it. I told you I would pay you back and now I am. I'm not leaving until you take this." She said handing him the envelope. "Put it towards a dream of yours.Take a trip,or buy that blue power ranger suit you always wanted, actually you could probably buy a few with that much cash." She laughed.

"I've always been more of a red power ranger kind of guy," he played along. They laughed together and for the few seconds it seemed like nothing had changed, although just about everything had.

"How long are you in town for?" He asked a few minutes later.

"I don't know. I'm staying at the Inn, my old Inn for a week and then we'll see. I'm a little sad about going there,I know it will be completely changed." She said.

"Well, if you want to save some money, you can stay in my old apartment." Oh no he let it slip.

"Your old apartment?" She asked.

"Well..." He debated telling her, but he wasn't sure what her reaction would be. So, what was he supposed to say?

"I bought a house." He said. Well it was the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Oh," she said. "I'm really fine staying at the Inn. I might even crash at Sookie's for a night or two." She told him.

"OK...But if you need a place, the offer still stands." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled.

Then there was that lovely awkward silence once again.

"Well, I have to go see Sookie, but I'll be back. Five years of being deprived from your amazing coffee, I have a lot of catching up to do!" She said as she began to walk to Sookies.

Luke turned around and walked back to the diner, suddenly becoming very cold. He hadn't even noticed how cold it was until that moment.

So much had changed in just those 15 minutes. Luke went back in the diner and behind the curtain and up to his old apartment. He stood in the almost empty room. There was only a few boxes left in the closet and the couch and his bed were still there. He missed living here, it was his home for so long. The room held so many memories. He hadn't been in here in a very long time. He looked at himself in the miror that was still in the bathroom. He looked at himself, "why change now?" Lorelai's words repeated in his head, and he knew that her visit might just change everything.

Chapter Two: Lorelai visits Sookie. Sookie keepsa secret, but a stranger spills the beans about Luke. Well some of them anyway. How's Lorelai going to react and what will Luke say when she confronts him about it?

A/N: Well? I know it's not typical Luke and Lorelai...But I figured that if this really happened on the show, they wouldn't just act like nothing happened and act how they normally would. I figured they would act a little bit more serious.

And as for the title. I don't really know if it will actually connect with the story, I'm pretty sure it will. But I basically picked it because of Luke and Lorelai's first kiss.

Please review this. Suggestions/Ideas/Comments. I love reviews. They really do motivate me to write more. I want to make this good so if there was something you didn't like, speak up.