Author's Note: Thanks for the support on this fic. I still don't own Gilmore Girls.

"All That Remains"

Lorelai didn't come home that night. However, what she didn't know was that Luke had not returned either. Instead he decided to stay upstairs in his small apartment. The room once made him feel comfort and safety, but not now. He was struck by how lonely he felt lying there alone. Being left alone with only the thoughts in his head unnerved him.

He knew he'd taken a low shot at Lorelai when he mentioned Christopher. He knew that if Lorelai had her way Chris would have been a larger part of Rory's life. He knew that she'd always left the door open to him and it wouldn't have mattered if Rory had been five or fifteen, if Christopher was ready to be a part of her life he'd have all the access he wanted to her. Maybe that was things that bugged Luke the most. It seemed Lorelai's mentality when it came to Christopher being a father was to have an open door policy and she supported him no matter what. Luke felt like he was trying to get to know his daughter and he wasn't being given the same consideration. He felt like Lorelai would rather him forget he had a child.

Luke sighed and he rolled over in bed. It felt big and empty. He remembered the day Lorelai suggested upgrading to a bigger bed and he told her he didn't need one. Right now the vacant space on the other side of the bed just reminded him of how lost he felt.

Lorelai tossed and turned for about an hour before she grabbed the remote control and turned on the television. She looked around the room and marveled at how different the inn looked from a guest's perspective. She had decided to stay at the inn and not go home that night just in case Luke was there. In her heart she knew that he was probably staying above the diner but she didn't want to take a chance.

Lorelai flipped through the channels and her mind whirled from the day's events. She'd met April and the little girl seemed very nice. She didn't really look like Luke and that was some comfort to Lorelai. She remembered when Rory was about seven. She had started to look like a carbon copy of Christopher and it hurt like hell. For some reason Lorelai had pictured April to be the spitting image of Luke. Seeing Luke's eyes staring back at her in a child that was stranger to her would have been more than she could take.

Consciously Lorelai knew that Luke was a father. She saw the proof before her eyes mere hours ago. However, a part of her was hoping against hope that it was a mistake. How could he be so naïve to believe the DNA tests of a child? It was ridiculous and so uncharacteristic of Luke to buy into something so crazy so fast. Lorelai wondered if his quick acceptance of April as his daughter was somehow tied to his real desire for a family. Maybe he wanted children more than he'd let her believe? She knew she wouldn't resolve anything by staying awake all night and she eventually turned over and sighed.

The phone ringing loudly awoke Lorelai from her sleep. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep, but the sun poking through the curtains alerted her to the fact that it was in fact the next morning.

"Hello?" Lorelai said picking up the phone.

"Hello," Michel's overly friendly voice came through the receiver. "This is your seven AM wake up call. I hope you slept well and you have not eaten the entire contents of the mini-bar up there. It is quite perturbing to have to restock those things after the owners decided to live it up all night."

"Good morning Michel," Lorelai said through gritted teeth. "Thanks for the wake up."

"Well it was lucky for you that I found the Post-It note you left on the computer," Michel replied. "Normally guests call us and ask to be called, but the Post-It was such as classy touch."

"Thank you Michel," Lorelai said again as she sat up. "Hey, no one is there to see me yet right?"

"No," Michel said curtly. "Am I playing your butler again? I don't have to run to your house and let your mother in do I?"

"No, I was simply asking," Lorelai grumbled. "I'm meeting someone for breakfast. I'll be down in a little while."

"I am counting the minutes," Michel replied unaffected as he hung up the phone.

Luke woke early and hurried downstairs to busy himself with work. He'd hardly slept and although he felt exhausted he knew sleep wouldn't come. As much as he willed his mind to stop thinking the thoughts rambling through his head would not abate. He figured that throwing himself into work was the only option he had when it came to escaping what had become his reality.

Luke busied himself with making coffee and stacking dishes while he waited for more customers to enter the diner. It was early on Saturday morning and aside from Kirk and Andrew no one was filing into the diner just yet. For about an hour the menial tasks kept Luke and his mind occupied until the morning rush came. Before he knew it he looked at the clock and it was already 11:30 a.m. It seemed like maybe his thoughts stayed manageable if he kept himself occupied with thoughts that didn't include April or Anna or Lorelai. That was until he heard that damn diner bell jingle and he turned to come face-to-face with his daughter.

"Hi," April said slightly out of breath. She had a bike helmet in her hand and set it on top of the counter.

"April?" Luke questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"You said I could visit," she said catching her breath.

"How did you get here? You didn't ride your bike all the way here did you?"

"Yeah," she said simply. "I needed to talk to you."

"Does your mother know you're here?"

"No," April said evasively.

"We have to call her," Luke said picking up the phone.

"You can't call her. I ran away. She doesn't know," April said alarmed.

"You ran away?" Luke said hanging the phone up again. His eyes widened when April nodded her head affirming his question.

"Upstairs," Luke said pointing a finger to the stairs. "Caesar, it's quiet out here. I'll be down in a little while."

Luke followed April up the steps and opened the door to his apartment. He pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and directed her to sit in it.

"Why did you run away?" Luke asked her. He folded his arms over his chest and waited for her reply.

"My mom said I couldn't see you anymore," April explained. "She said you knew it was better if we didn't spent time together and I knew she had to be lying so I came here."

"You rode your bike all the way from Woodbridge?"

"Uh-huh," the little girl nodded. Her eyes were slightly glassy and Luke couldn't tell if it was remnants of her cold, the wind she encountered biking or tiny tears not yet formed. He wondered if it could be a combination of all three.

"First of all," Luke said pulling out a chair and sitting across from her. "Your mom was wrong to tell you that I didn't want to spend time with you. If you want to visit then it's okay by me. But, your mom needs to be okay with it and she needs to know where you're going, got it?"

April nodded seriously. "Now," Luke continued, "Your mom told me that you have a father at home. She told me that he loves you very much and that you love him."

"But he's not my real dad," April pointed out.

"Well he might not be your biological dad, but that doesn't mean that he loves you any less. I bet he'd be pretty worried if he knew you biked all the way here."

"Are you mad?"

"I'm not thrilled," Luke said. "You're ten. Do you have idea how dangerous that was?"

"Yes," April replied grudgingly. "But I knew she was lying. I knew you'd want to see me and if I showed up you couldn't say no."

Luke rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. "I understand that," he said. "But this is really something that your mother and I need to discuss. We have to decide how to work this out in a way that's best for everyone. You've got a dad and brothers and I've got a fiancée and it's a little complicated for everyone."

"I know," April said glumly. "But you're nice and my mom made it sound like we could never visit."

"We can visit," Luke said quietly. "But you can't just run off okay? Your mom and I will work this out, but until that time I have to drive you home."

"Can't I stay? I just got here," April protested.

"No," Luke said. "We have to call your mom and let her know where you are and then I have to drive you home. You can visit again when we've arranged it and you have a ride."

"Fine," April pouted.

"Okay, let's go then," Luke said. He stood up and grabbed his keys. Maybe by the time they got to Woodbridge he'd figure out what to say to Anna.

"Chris," Lorelai called as she came into the lobby of the Dragonfly. "We're all set up for you."

"I see," Christopher replied taking a look at the small buffet Lorelai had set up for them. "I really appreciate you seeing me Lore. I wasn't sure if you'd ever talk to me again after what happened at your parent's reception. There's no excuse for how I behaved."

"No, there isn't," Lorelai agreed.

"I know I apologized over the phone and through e-mail," Christopher said.

"The turtle card holding the 'I'm sorry' balloon was my favorite," Lorelai interjected.

"Yeah," Christopher sniffed. "Well there aren't enough e-cards in the world to tell you how grateful I am that you're still talking to me."

"You're Rory's dad and we're always going to be a part of each other's lives. For better or worse," Lorelai said. "How's Gigi?"

"She's okay," Christopher said. "My mom has really been helping out a lot. I think she likes the distraction."

"I'm sure," Lorelai said taking a seat. Christopher sat across from her and just looked at her. She looked as beautiful as ever and Christopher struggled internally to push the feelings he still had for her away.

"How are things?" he asked tentatively.

Lorelai knew instinctively that this was Christopher's way of inquiring about Luke without really asking. "Things are okay," she said. "I know you and Rory have talked. I don't know if she told you but Luke and I are engaged." Lorelai hadn't informed Chris that she was engaged to Luke and she felt like she had to put that piece of information out there quickly.

"Wow," Christopher replied taking a large sip of his orange juice, wishing that it had been tainted with a splash of vodka. "Congratulations. I'm surprised Luke is the marrying kind."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, he just seems kind of closed off," Christopher said. "But if you guys are happy then that's great."

"We are happy," Lorelai said a little too forcefully.

"Good," Christopher said sincerely.

After a moment of awkward silence Christopher decided to speak. It was his idea to meet and discuss Rory. He'd only recently been in touch with her. It seemed that she was reaching out to him in e-mails and occasional phone calls since the rift with Lorelai.

"I think Rory might be considering going back to Yale," Christopher informed Lorelai.

"Really? Did she tell you that?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"She seems to be working it into the conversation more often than usual," Christopher said. "We met for lunch and she got that look on her face when she was talking about it."

"The glassy doe eyes?"

"The one and only," Christopher said. "She never had a good poker face. I guess she can blame me for that."

"Probably," Lorelai joked. "I'm glad you two seem to be working things out."

"And how about you and Rory? Have you talked to her since her birthday?"

"Since she moved back to Stars Hollow and didn't bother to tell me?" Lorelai asked rhetorically. "Not really."

"You two miss each other," Christopher pointed out. "You need to stop being so stubborn Lore. She really needs you."

"How do you know?"

"I know," Christopher said seriously. "This feud between the two of you is like David Lee Roth and Van Halen all over again."

"She's Halen, I'm Roth," Lorelai quipped.

"Regardless," Christopher sighed. "You need to be the one to make the first move. She got my poker face but your stubborn streak."

"It was my stubborn streak first," Lorelai mumbled. "My mother spent years honing and perfecting it before she passed it on to me."

"Lore," he said.

"I know," Lorelai conceded. "I need to be the one to do the talking and I will."

"Good," Christopher replied taking a bite of his pancakes. "So when's the wedding? I assume I won't be getting another call during the bachelorette party."

"You assume correctly," Lorelai said digging into her breakfast.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So why are you being so evasive? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited," Lorelai protested. "Discussing my engagement to Luke with you is weird okay? You and my mother were pretty much the catalyst for a very brief, but very bad break for us."

"You broke up?" Christopher asked. He hadn't been privy to this information before now.

"Only for a little while," Lorelai said. "And we're back to normal now. Well, we were up until about a week ago anyway."

"Wait a minute, what does that mean?" Christopher pried.

"Nothing," Lorelai mumbled. She lost her composure for a moment and began to rant. "It's just, how come every time I think I have my life set up things come crashing down? I think you and I are finally gonna put things together and wham, Sherry's pregnant. Goodbye yellow brick road. I think things with Luke and I couldn't be better and then boom, Luke has a kid."

Lorelai tugged forcefully at the napkin in her hands as she spoke. "I always think I have it all figured out and then it's like the universe says, 'Wait a minute you're Lorelai Gilmore, I'm sorry, too much happiness isn't good for you.' Is it too much to ask to have things actually work out for me?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Christopher said reaching out and squeezing her hand across the table. "What's going on with Luke?"

"He just found out that he has a kid," Lorelai said simply. "A girl. She's ten."

"He didn't know about her?" Christopher asked skeptically.

"No," Lorelai shook her head forcefully. "Believe me he was as freaked out about it as I was when I found out about it. But he really wants to be a part of her life and I don't blame him for that."

"You do a little," Christopher interjected.

"No, I don't," Lorelai disagreed. "I have a kid. He's never judged me for having Rory. He's never once told me not to see her and now here I am telling him he needs to get another DNA test done. Who am I to tell him that?"

"You're his girlfriend," Christopher pointed out. "This is going to affect you as much as it affects him."

"But I should be okay with it," Lorelai replied. "I'm struggling to be okay with this and Luke never once shied away from me because of Rory. He whole-heartedly accepted her."

"But he knew about her from the day he met you," Christopher pointed out. "It's a lot different to basically have a kid thrown into the mix."

"I don't know," Lorelai replied. "I feel so guilty. I, above all people, should be able to accept this, but I'm having a really hard time with it. It's only been a few days but we've been fighting over it and it's just not good. I just don't know how to make this better."

"Maybe you can't," Christopher replied. "Maybe whatever happens needs to run its course. He just found out he has a kid and he missed ten years of her life. That has to be rough."

"I know, and here I am making it all about me. I'm a selfish, horrible person."

"You're not horrible," Christopher said. He reached across the table and took her hand.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you didn't dispute the selfish comment," Lorelai said sullenly.

"If this is meant to work out it will. The two of you will figure it out. You said it's only been a few days."

"Yeah, I guess," Lorelai said. "I'm sorry. This is about Rory, not Luke and his daughter."

"Hey, if you need someone to talk to about this then you can talk to me. I'm always there for you Lore."

"Thanks," Lorelai said. "I just wish I knew how this was going to work out. I was never good at waiting."

"No, you weren't," Christopher replied with a small grin.

Luke clutched the steering wheel tightly. He was on his way back from Woodbridge and he was trying to process what had happened. He took April back to her house and he was confronted by Bill and Anna. For some reason they decided that Luke was to blame for their daughter's Tour de Stars Hollow and they let him know it.

"I'm her father," Bill had yelled after April was ushered into the house by Anna. "You got that buddy? I've been here for the last nine years and she's more mine than she'll ever be yours."

"That's because your wife decided to keep her a secret from me," Luke hollered back.

Luke remembered the look in Bill's eyes and he thought for a moment the man might come at him. Luckily, for both men involved, Anna came out of the house and joined the conversation.

"How could you let her do this?" she asked Luke.

"How the hell was I supposed to know she was going to ride her bike miles to see me? You freaked her out by telling her I never wanted to see her again, which couldn't have been a bigger lie by the way," Luke shot at her. "She's my daughter and I want to know her."

"We're not going to let that happen," Bill said crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't really have a say," Luke said. "She came to find me remember? I'm sorry you lied to the poor girl her entire life and now she's curious about me."

"Why do you care so much?" Anna asked him. "She doesn't need a father. April told me that you're engaged. Why do you need to include her in your life? You can start your own family with your fiancée."

"And forget I already have a daughter?" Luke asked calming down. "You'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Yes, we would," Bill said indignantly. Anna put a hand on his arm. Luke wasn't sure if it was to offer comfort or to stop him from thinking about inching any closer to Luke.

"This is a tough situation for all of us," Anna said. "It would just be easier for everyone if you didn't encourage her."

"April tracked me down okay? I was perfectly happy with my life and then she burst through the diner door and started running her own DNA tests. She came to see me without encouragement. Maybe if either of you had a clue where the hell your precious daughter was and what she was up to we wouldn't be here right now. She wants to know me and I want to know her and that's really all there is to it."

"You better get an attorney," Anna called as Luke walked away. "I won't let her see you without a court order."

"You might want to tell her that," Luke shot back without looking behind him. "Aside from that, you'll be hearing from my lawyer."

Luke pulled his truck into the driveway of Lorelai's house. In his confusion over the shouting match that took place in April's front yard he'd somehow forgotten that they weren't currently speaking and by the time he realized it he was already opening the front door.

"Hello?" Lorelai called.

Luke winced as the realization that he wasn't prepared for a discussion dawned on him.

"Babette?" Lorelai's voice called she walked toward the front door.

"Hi," Luke said as he took a deep breath.

"Hi," Lorelai replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not sure," he replied.

"You're not sure?" she asked skeptically.

"If you knew the kind of day I had you'd believe me when I tell you that I didn't remember that we were fighting until I just walked through the door."

"You didn't remember?" Lorelai repeated slightly offended.

"Can we not do this now?" Luke asked. "Look, I'll walk back out the door and we can pretend that I was never here and you can still be mad at me and I can still be mad at you okay?"

Lorelai saw how tired he looked. She figured he'd slept even less than she had the night before. He looked so sad and defeated that she made a decision in that moment.

"Okay," she said. "Or, you know, we were friends before anything else right?"

"I guess," Luke replied puzzled. He wasn't in the mood for one her riddles. His mind wasn't functioning well enough to remember they were fighting, let alone well enough to decipher what she was getting at.

"Well Lorelai the girlfriend is still mad about yesterday," she said. "But Lorelai the friend thinks you look like you could use someone right now. So, I say we take off the boyfriend/girlfriend hats and just put on our friend hats right now."

Lorelai waited a moment to see Luke's reaction and he said nothing. She took the opportunity to take him by the arm and guide him away from the door and over to the couch.

"What happened?" she asked him once they were seated.

Luke licked his lips slowly and thought before he answered. He wanted desperately to tell her what had happened but he wondered if he could talk to her about April without her putting up a fight over the paternity test.

"It's okay," Lorelai said resting her hand on his knee. "Whatever it is just tell me."

"April came to see me this morning," he said with a sigh.

"Again?" Lorelai asked. "Anna didn't seem too thrilled about your visit yesterday. I'm surprised she dropped her off."

"She didn't," Luke informed her. "It seems Anna told April that I didn't want to see her. April didn't believe her and she decided to ride her bike to Stars Hollow to see me and get the true story."

"Oh Luke," Lorelai said. "She rode her bike all the way here? That's miles."

"I know," Luke replied wide-eyed. "I slept a sum total of an hour last night and then April comes in telling me she rode her bike to see me. So I try to be the responsible guy. I called Anna and let her know I'd be dropping April off and when we got there I was ambushed by Anna and Bill, who told me in no uncertain terms that I was forbidden to see April again."

"Forbidden?" Lorelai asked.

"Pretty much," Luke said. "As I was leaving Anna told me to get a lawyer if I ever wanted to see her again."

"What did you say?" Lorelai waited with baited breath. She knew the answer. She knew what he said the minute she asked the question. As much as she hoped she was wrong she knew in her heart that Luke had told her he'd get a lawyer. Lorelai braced herself for Luke's admission and told herself that she was okay with it. April was his daughter and he had every right to want to see her.

"I told her she'd hear from my lawyer," Luke said quietly. "I don't even have a lawyer. I hate lawyers and there I was screaming about how she'd hear from my lawyer. What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking that you wanted to know your daughter," Lorelai replied simply.

"Yeah," Luke said. "How crazy is this? Tell me. I mean you think it's crazy. I've only known about April for a few weeks and I'm getting a lawyer to…to what? Get visitation? Get custody? What the hell am I doing here?"

Lorelai could see Luke's mind spinning out of control. The thoughts of April had clearly baffled and consumed him for weeks and Lorelai suddenly saw how selfish she was being about the situation. She wasn't happy about April, but she wasn't tormented over it. Luke was the type of man who cared deeply and he always tried to do right by the people he loved. He was beating himself up for not being there for his child. She could see it in his eyes.

"Luke," she said soothingly taking his face in her hands. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

"I don't know what to do," he said simply as he averted eye contact with her.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't want to abandon her. But she has a family. She has Bill and he obviously loves her. I don't want to screw up her life."

"You won't," Lorelai reassured him. "Having you in her life would be a gift. You're an amazing man and if you think you want to be a father to April then we need to get a lawyer."

Luke looked at her and tried to look more deeply into her eyes. He wanted to know if she was being honest or just telling him what he wanted to hear because he was confused. He saw only sincerity in her eyes and he was consumed with the impulse to gather her in his arms.

"Thank you," he said taking her hand in his.

"It'll be okay," she said running her fingers down the said of his face.

Luke couldn't fight the impulse anymore and he leaned forward and pulled her face toward him. He passionately placed his lips on hers and pulled her closer. Lorelai, surprised by the gesture, responded with more intensity that she realized. She allowed Luke to pull her onto his lap and she straddled his waist as she tugged his coat off. Luke allowed her to remove his coat but not before he ran his hands down her torso slowly and deliberately. They hadn't made love since Luke told Lorelai about April and they both ached for the touch of the other.

"Lorelai," he whispered as she teased his ear lobe with her teeth.

The sound of her name on his lips made the tiny hairs on her neck stand up and she pressed her lips on his forcefully.

"Does this mean we have our boyfriend/girlfriend hats back on?" he asked between kisses.

"I'd prefer if there were no hats involved at all," she said before took his baseball cap off and tossed it across the room.

TBC